Subbing "processed" food ingredients with "from scratch"

[cmarchibald]

I recently acquired my mother's recipe collection, which she has spent the last few years typing up and organizing electronically. It's a combination of old family favorites going back to great-great-grandmothers, recipes acquired from friends and old fashioned recipe swaps, and various and sundry dishes we've "discovered" along the way through modification and experimentation.

I love so many of these foods, and I love to cook. Problem is that (for a variety of health-related and other personal reasons) I am trying to stop using processed foods altogether. Not to mention, I'm living in the Philippines now and many of the standard processed items are not available to me here (or they are so expensive as they are imported from the US I'd prefer not to spend that money).

So when I come across an old family favorite that calls for, say, a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup.....I still want to make the recipe, but I'd prefer to make it without buying a can of soup (which is often not available anyway).

So I'm starting this thread where I and others can ask the greater cooks among us how they would make a recipe if they had to substitute a pre-packaged ingredient with something they made from scratch.

My first question is: How can I substitute any condensed cream soup?

Mushroom, chicken, broccoli....I've got dozens of family favorite recipes that call for these and I'd like to make them. I'll post a sample recipe if need be.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Zereh]

I'm one of those weird people who hate (no really, HATE) cream of anything soup. I don't know why, it just is.

I would start with a basic bechamel sauce (butter, flour, milk, S&P and nutmeg are the traditional ingredients). And then add flavors according to what kind of condensed soup you're trying to replace.

You can do tons of things to vary your bechamel, like:
*use stock to replace the milk
*add about 1/2 of cheese for each cup of milk / stock
*add fresh / dried herbs
*add onion to the liquid that you heat for the bechemal (remove before adding to the flour+butter)

Best of luck to ya! =)

 

[MSC]

Hi cmarchibald, found this link that might be what you're looking for.
http://www.ifood.tv/network/condensed_soup/recipes

 

[cmarchibald]

Zereh, I'm the same way....I only ever use them in recipes but I'd rather do something with fresh ingredients.

MSC, thanks for the link!

Next question: I have a lot of recipes that call for crumbled Ritz (or similar) crackers for filler. What's the best sub in that case?

 

[jabbur]

Any type of cracker would work. I don't know how much crackers are used in the Philippines or if they have a "native" cracker. Depending on the recipe you could sub bread crumbs or oatmeal for the filler. I've been known to use oatmeal in my meatloaf at times. The flavor may change without the Ritz crackers but if they are only used for filler, they may not add a whole lot of flavor anyway.

 

[cmarchibald]

Any type of cracker would work. I don't know how much crackers are used in the Philippines or if they have a "native" cracker. Depending on the recipe you could sub bread crumbs or oatmeal for the filler. I've been known to use oatmeal in my meatloaf at times. The flavor may change without the Ritz crackers but if they are only used for filler, they may not add a whole lot of flavor anyway.

I can't get Ritz crackers here but there is a very very similar cracker that is native made here that I've used a few times. But if I wanted to get away from buying crackers just to crush them up to use for filler in a casserole, what would I use? Bread crumbs seem best for the recipes I'm thinking of....but let's say I wanted to get REAL hardcore and make something totally from scratch, no processed foods at all.....what kind of bread should I bake for the crumbs? Does the bread need to be a few days old or will fresh baked work?

 

[retiredguy]

How can I substitute any condensed cream soup?

Something like Campbell's cream of mushroom soup imo is so unique to me that I could ID with a blindfold among 10 other mushroom soups. My mother used it in many of her recipes.

But unavailable as it is where you are... hummmm. I suppose as a recipe substitute I'd Google the soup to find the contents and just try and duplicate it the best i could.

Not that I'm any kind of expert and frankly can't hold a candle to 99% of the posters here. but a couple of weeks ago i used the directions from bean with bacon soup to make some up and it turned out real good.

 

[betterthanabox]

I would think that you would want to have some white bread and a little that you dried into the bread at a low temp. When I think of ritz I think more of a buttery crunch. Have you looked a recipies for how to make a ritz cracker? You could start there. other than that why not just make a crouton and then crush it up.

 

[jabbur]

You could use any kind of bread. I'd either let it sit out and go stale or toast it then crumb it. There are recipes out there for crackers but I'm not that good of a baker. I don't think I could get the proper crunch on my own. Others probably can but I'm not that adventurous!

 

[cmarchibald]

Next up!

I have a recipe for a casserole that I really want to make, but it calls for a pkg of ranch dressing mix (the Hidden Valley Ranch powdered variety). I don't have any and can't buy it here. Can I substitute something else without having to go buy a bottle of ranch dressing?

 

[Zereh]

I found this recipe in several spots, so I can only assume that it works well as a substitute. And while it makes a huge amount, you could just use it as a guideline to figure out what spices to use to replicate the flavor:


Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

15 saltines
2 cups dry parsley flakes, minced
1/2 cup instant minced onion
2 tablespoons dry dill weed
1/4 cup onion salt
1/4 cup garlic salt
1/4 cup onion powder
1/4 cup garlic powder

Dump all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until completely powdered.

To Use: combine 1 Tbsp. dry mix, 1 cup of may & 1 cup of buttermilk.

 

[Zhizara]

Next up!

I have a recipe for a casserole that I really want to make, but it calls for a pkg of ranch dressing mix (the Hidden Valley Ranch powdered variety). I don't have any and can't buy it here. Can I substitute something else without having to go buy a bottle of ranch dressing?

Do you have Italian salad dressing mix? What's the casserole like? Is the ranch dressing for seasoning?

I like the recipe to make your own, too.

Thanks, Zereh, I printed out my own copy!

 

[cmarchibald]

Do you have Italian salad dressing mix? What's the casserole like? Is the ranch dressing for seasoning?

I like the recipe to make your own, too.

Thanks, Zereh, I printed out my own copy!

It doesn't call for actual ranch dressing, so I wouldn't want to make ranch dressing necessarily. It calls for the powdered mix to use, as you guessed, for seasoning.

Here's the recipe:

Squash Casserole

6-8 yellow or zucchini squash
1 large onion or 3-4 green onions, chopped

Cook squash and onions together in a small amount of water until tender. Drain. Mash or process in food processor.

Mix squash together with:

1 cup of mayonnaise
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch®
dressing mix
2 eggs, beaten
12 crackers, crushed
1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese,
grated

Put in greased casserole dish.
Bake about 30 minutes at 325o F.

Add topping:

2 cups cornbread crumbs

Top with cornbread crumbs and drizzle with melted butter. Turn oven up to 400o F. Bake another 10 minutes.

 

[Zereh]

Saw this today and thought of this thread:

Better-Than-Condensed-Soup White Sauce
makes about the same as one 10-oz. can

3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, stock or combination

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Blend in the flour and salt, cooking until bubbly.

Stir in your choice of milk, stock or a combination of the two, using a wire whisk to prevent lumps. Cook until just smooth and thickened.



Optional flavors and add-ins (replacing various “cream of…” condensed soups):

cheese: add 1/2 cup grated cheese and 1/4 t. dry mustard

tomato: use tomato juice as liquid (instead of milk or stock); add a dash of each: garlic salt, dried onion, basil and oregano.

mushroom: saute 1/4 cup chopped mushrooms and 1 T. finely chopped onion in the butter, before adding the flour.

celery: saute 1/2 cup chopped celery and 1 T. finely chopped onion in the butter, before adding the flour.

chicken: use chicken broth/stock as half the liquid. Add 1/4 t. poultry seasoning or sage, and diced cooked chicken, if desired.

for other varied flavors, try: curry powder, garlic/onion/celery salt, grated nutmeg, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, chopped or blended vegetables, chopped parsley, chopped chives, chopped hard-cooked eggs.

 

[GrillingFool]

Just a thought, cmarch....
An awful lot of mixes and seasonings that might be hard to get in the Philippines
can be crammed into a flat rate Priority Mail envelope or box.. 4 pounds worth, and sent there for $13.25.