Side note is fried ice cream still a thing? There used to be a chain called “chi chis” I’m guessing it was national but I could be wrong. I was forced to eat bad Mexican at Midwest portion sizes to get that dessert. It was a special kind of child abuse.

If I can ever get that ***** back!

Good idea, I've got no shot of ever getting a handle on my diet with ideas like this coming my way. I might be able to do a faux fried by making a popsicle out of the ice cream and then dipping it in the crunchy bits until all sides are covered

I haven't heard about any in a while, I vaguely remember Chi-chis, IIRC, they had huge chimichangas

Everything was huge. Even the kids menu. I tried to get something small because my parents wouldn’t let me eat dessert unless I ate my whole entree. Every time I see a giant ass wet burrito or plate of nachos I get triggered.

Edit: apparently you can still eat at chi chis in Luxembourg, belgium, austria, UAE and Kuwait. But closed all 65 location in the us an Canada in 2004.

anyone here remember Schwan's from back in the day? they're a frozen food delivery service we used when i was a kid living in OK. i had forgotten about them until i saw one of their iconic yellow freezer trucks driving around a few months ago, surprised they are out in the PNW.
they had chocolate and strawberry ice cream bars (different bars for the different flavors) that were covered in some sort of crumble similar to what yim mentioned above, but after a quick glance at their website it doesn't look like they carry them anymore.

I've heard of Schwans but never seen them where I live

Are you talking about these bars:

A good humor toasted almond sends me back. I haven’t thought of or had one in at least 15 years and I suspect I’d be disappointed but damn were those delicious. I feel like I still see the odd schwanns truck here in Michigan.

Ha, thats really weird. You'd think they'd be dead everywhere by now

those are Good Humor but Schwan's was pretty similar. i found a snip of a classic ad.



adding some ground toasted nuts to the crumble mix seems like a solid idea
walnut or pecan if you want to highlight TX, but i think i'd prefer almond, or possibly hazelnut or pistachio. could also add some amount of popped rice cereal like cocoa krispies or cookies & creme krispies to the crunch mix but not sure how they would hold up to freezing.

another idea is a blend of the cinnamon toast crunch mixed with something like cocoa pebbles or cocoa puffs to get a pseudo mexican chololate thing going on.
you can probably find lots of inspiration from the stoners in the 'what's the deal with cereal' thread.

I totally remember this place, must of been a chain. I remember telling my mom I wanted to go there for my 14th birthday also mostly just because of the fried ice cream. Was never a fan of Tex Mex. They closed down not much later due to them over serving someone that got into an accident.

Lol we totally had Chi Chi’s in the Pittsburgh area when I was growing up. Ads on all the time. The closure happened fairly fast IIRC.

EDIT: Welp, this explains it:

“In November 2003, a month after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Chi-Chi's was hit with the largest hepatitis A outbreak in U.S. history, with at least four deaths and 660 other victims of illness in the Pittsburgh area,[8] including high school students who caught the disease from the original victims.[9] The hepatitis was traced back to green onions at the Chi-Chi's at Beaver Valley Mall near Monaca, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Pittsburgh.[10] Chi-Chi's settled the hepatitis A lawsuits by July 2004.[11] At the time the suits were settled, Chi-Chi's had only 65 restaurants, fewer than half of the number of four years prior.[12]”

Seems to be some still around in east Asia and the Middle East. Next time your in Kuwait, pop in, just avoid the green onions.

Oh wow this early 90s commercial. This food looks terrible, no wonder they went bankrupt. That ice cream though...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LYjDKfu_AEE

lol, there's that damn chimichanga that sent me into a food coma on Sundays

good find

Hey cooking people!

Just recently gotten around to making things like pulled pork/beef/shredded beef. And hope there are some people with plenty of experience in this.
So typically the methods people seem to use is 125c/250f or somewhat higher from anywhere around 5-10 hours depending on the meat.
The results have been great, however the thing is the meat will basically always be well done in this way. I like meat more on the rare side (flavor and texture)

Is it possible to get the meat "falling apart" cooking it on very low, like 65c/150f for a really long time? I mean if you did that for hm, 24-48hours would this be achievable or it wouldn't happen? Anyone tried this or similar? Pretty new to this type of extended cooking so curious.

It sounds like you want sous vide, and there are plenty of resources available on that topic. You can absolutely do sous vide pulled pork. If you're intent on using a smoker or something, I can't help with such extended cook times.

Edit: vv It's also worth noting that sous vide is now available to the masses. Five years ago, you were looking at borderline four figures for a huge, specialized appliance. Now, there are a few decent immersion-style sous vide machines for around a hundred bucks, and more advanced ones for a bit more.

As space said, sous vide is the oath you’re looking for. Plenty of low temp long cooks, I’ve done 48 hour short ribs and 72 hour briskets quite a few times. Recently did a 36 hour chuck roast which was interesting. Cooking temps were in the 130s

Joules sous vide > Anova IMO if you don't mind using a phone app. It's just smaller, easier to store, and easier to use in a stock pot (because it's smaller) for small jobs.

And I loved my Anova until I literally set it on fire.

My 3rd iteration of Buffalo Cauliflower, and currently in 1st.




Was inspired by the video in link and had all the ingredients so made these and added some recent pickled onions on top.

Those look mighty fine. Good work.

Looks great. I made it for the Superbowl and once since (have 2 caulis in the fridge though). Second time was much better than the first. Now I guess I need to get busy so I can try it on tortillas, lol. I used the same recipe as you, but the first time I didn't use anything except foil on the pan and lost most of the batter to stickage. The second time I used parchment paper and it worked really well, I just think I need to minimize the liquid/batter in between the pieces because it wasn't that great crisped up. I actually ended up trimming the pieces with scissors to get rid of that part after all was said and done.

I did the same, but didn't break out the scissors. I pulled it off like a MAN!

And thanks SpaceAce.

I have one more recipe to try, which I think involved almond flour and frying in coconut oil, but I can't find it rn.

I started off pulling it off like a MAN, but it was taking too much of the good parts with it. So I used the scissors, like a SURGEON.

Thank you guys about sous vide tips. We sear everything first before using this technique right? I see there are many devices and at the low end from like $100. Have to do some research. Would be really interesting to try this on a variety of stuff

Well you keep snipping your cauliflower then, DOC.