BS: Recipes - what are we eating?

Subject: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 11:00 PM

What are we eating today? I made a Yotam Ottolenghi chickpea dish and it was yum. Two tins of chickpeas with the liquid poured off. Caramelise a couple of onions and garlic to taste; add the chickpeas and then about a tablespoon each of chopped rosemary, thyme and sage, and a tablespoon of anchovies. And slivers of lemon zest - the yellow part of the skin of a (washed) lemon. Let it all simmer and combine; add a couple of cups of chicken stock and simmer a bit more. Mash some of the chickpeas a bit. Just before serving, add a tablespoon each of chopped parsley and chopped mint, the juice of the lemon and a tablespoon of za'atar, and stir them in. Very moreish indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 11:04 PM

Alas, it's the "liquid diet" portion of prep day leading to tomorrow's colonoscopy. Ask me again tomorrow after I get back home! (Sorry to do an immediate side-track on your topic - in my refrigerator I have a wonderful batch of chicken pot pie I made on Tuesday that I reheat and serve with whole grain crackers on top instead of making a crust.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 11:42 PM

Oh, goodness, good luck with the colonoscopy. (Here, I think they're moving more and more to colonography instead, which can be done without anaesthetic, and is supposed to be more accurate… whether it's so or not…) Waiting for that chicken pot pie recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 06:57 AM

I did a sort of spicy cauliflower/broccoli. I think it ran fry some onion, add 1 tsp each of ground cumin and corriander and 2 tsp of mild chili powder. Bit of garlic paste, 1 jar Patak Korma sauce, and a Knorr stock pot (or two?) Add some water and cook the brassica in the mix. Cooked the evening before for consumption the next tea time.

Served with basmatti rice. A typical bodge job of mine but it turned out quite well liked.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 08:33 AM

Mmmm, sounds good! I was watching one of the English chef programmes the other day and they were making "cauliflower steak" - basically frying a big slab of cauliflower as if it's a steak. Must try it! Again, my man Yotam has a recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 08:46 AM

That link isn't working for me, try this one

The fish wouldn't go down here but perhaps I could try something on those lines one day IF feeling really keen.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 09:35 AM

Chickpea and squash stew with couscous, from a recipe by Mark Birman. It’s a less-meatarian dish that somehow manages to get winter squash into Himself. Durn it, I’ll have to hit the supermarket for ginger root, courgettes and a red sweet pepper.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 11:07 AM

Hmm, must check the ginger stocks; haven't been shopping for a couple of weeks - flu.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 04:41 PM

I just made a large pot of my friend E.V.'s Hot & Sour Chicken Soup -- most of it for the freezer as, well, winter's coming! This soup is truly both tasty and beneficial if I come down with one of winter's maladies.

E.V., like me, doesn't so much use a recipe as use an ingredient list and guide.

Thinly slice (today I varied it and used bigger chunks of everything except the carrots) onion, red bell pepper, carrot or zucchini, garlic, ginger and saute in coconut oil until tender.

Add chicken broth and pulled chicken meat. (I cheated and used a supermarket rotisserie chicken -- and put the carcass along with some veg scraps in the freezer to make stock one of these days, also for the freezer.)

Then add Asian fish sauce (nuc mam, nam pla, etc.), chili-garlic paste (or Sambal Olek or other hot pepper sauce), and rice wine vinegar -- all to taste. Adjust the three sauces for your preferred taste or amount of heat. Oh, salt and black pepper.

Believe me, if you're in the throes of a head cold this works a treat. And I find it also settles the stomach and will coax me to eat if nothing sounds good.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 06:25 PM

This takes ten minutes max. We've had a busy day today and this is what I chucked together. With thanks to Nigel Slater, who provided the idea.

Put a pan of your favourite short pasta on to boil in salted water. 250g for two people.

Drain a jar of tuna in olive oil, preferably yellowfin (albacore). If you have tuna in spring water, throw it away unopened.

Put tuna in a bowl and add the following: a tablespoon of nonpareil capers (never use any capers bigger than those). Two cloves of garlic, finely sliced (throw your garlic crusher away - worst bloody invention ever). A helping of chopped fresh parsley (don't arse about: tear the leaves off the parsley, put them into a mug and snip away like mad for one minute with a pair of scissors). Freshly-ground black pepper. A little bit of salt, only if your tuna is unsalted. Five tablespoons of full-fat creme fraiche. Nigel uses double cream, but trust me on this. Mix up everything roughly. You want a few visible tuna flakes.

Drain the pasta and retain a mug of pasta water (you'll need some to loosen the sauce).
Mix the pasta and the tuna mix together. Use pasta water to loosen. I've never managed without it. Serve in warm bowls. Heresy coming up: serve with Parmesan. True Italians would kill me for that, but it works.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 11:44 PM

Oooh, those sound good! Last night I made one of our standard soups: saute onions, shallot and garlic in coconut oil, add a rake of grated carrot and keep going on low-ish heat, add chicken stock (well, I use chicken usually, or sometimes vegetable stock from cubes), then chopped-up broccoli and some flakes of dried hot chilli pepper, and finally a couple of fillets of hake. Simmer till any non-grated bits of carrot are soft and the hake has broken up and disappeared into the soup. Very nice with brown soda bread on the side.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 07:31 AM

I'm doing a risotto this evening, based on scraps of sausage, chicken and stuffing rescued from our last roast chicken dinner that I'd kept in the freezer. There'll be bacon in a t and I'm using by home-made real chicken stock. I'll let you know how it goes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 07:33 AM

Vegetable cobbler last night. Carrots, parsnips and swede for the veg inside. Used Jos-Roll frozen pastry for the cut out rounds on top and Parmesan cheese on the pastry.

I think I’ll do a Quorn mince “cottage pie” for tea today and have with some spinach. Sat, probably pizza and (deep fried) chips. Sun may be be Quorn fillets cooked in a sauce made with a sauce that’s basically a jar of the Korma stuff mixed with a tin of chopped tomato, again with rice. Mon, perhaps macaroni cheese, etc.

As you see, rarely anything needing recipes from me… Still, it does serve a purpose with me haven taken on the bulk of the cooking, we do get fresh veg and it beats the Wiltshire Farms type meals.

Trying to get back to a recipe (mostly followed and omitting the ham), one I must repeat soon is potato and leek gratin it worked out really well last time and we have plenty of leeks , although I found the potato needed a while longer to soften in the oven.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 09:11 AM

Guess who accidentally fired off his last post before editing the damn thing...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 03:17 PM

Steve Shaw -- throw in a few more things (chop up a tin of anchovies, add a can of diced tomatoes) and you've got a good puttanesca.

Love it! Will try your version as a very acceptable variant.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 04:32 PM

This is a good recent food thread: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=165070&messages=20

And I made the "Mexican" version last night:

Instead of cornmeal, I mash up a can of butter beans or white beans or chickpeas and sometimes add a small amount of flour.

The two main variations I have made are:

"Mexican" with corn kernels, red capsicum and chilli through it and grated cheese mixed in and on top.

Zucchini with grated zucchini - and other available veg - with grated cheese in and on it.

A good standby for a quick meal and very good as leftovers.

The mashed beans/chickpeas makes it high in fibre but in fact the mash looks and acts like mashed potato. A sneaky way to add fibre without ruining a dish. I use them for making fish cakes instead of mashed potato, too. Yum!


Also, has anyone tried using the liquid from the canned white beans, butter beans or chick peas as a substitute for egg white. The liquid is called aquafaba. I tried it for making maccaroon thingies. It worked well. No beanie taste. I liked them.

20 recipes for aquafaba

Hubby & I are not on a meat-free life, but have cut meat back considerably and added lots more beanie-type things. One of my fave foods is sausage rolls but now I make a version based on mashed white beans with lots of yummy vege flavours mixed in.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 04:45 PM

My version of puttanesca (whore's pasta, or prostitute's spaghetti) is as follows:

For two people.

Four anchovy fillets in oil

100g pitted black olives, roughly chopped

A tablespoon of nonpareil capers

Chopped fresh parsley

A handful of chopped cherry tomatoes, or a tin of tomatoes

Two cloves of garlic, sliced (NOT crushed: never do that abominable thing)

A goodly sprinkling of dried chilli flakes, to taste

Extra virgin olive oil

Freshly-ground black pepper (no salt)

250g spaghetti


Get your spaghetti on the boil in salted water.

In your biggest and best shallow pan (mine are Le Creuset: snob), gently fry the garlic and chill flakes in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for a few minutes. If the garlic goes brown, you've got it wrong. Just a gentle sizzle.

Add the anchovy and break up the fillets with a wooden spoon until they've melted. Add the capers, tomatoes, parsley, pepper and olives. Simmer until the pasta is done.

Drain the pasta when it's al dente, reserving some pasta water. You may or may not need some. Throw the pasta into the pan with the sauce. Mix well and serve. No Parmesan, but a drizzle of your very finest olive goes well. The whole spirit of the thing is that you use things only out of tins, jars or packets. That's what the ladies of the night would do to fortify themselves for the night's work to come. Gawd knows what their clients thought about the ensuing garlic breath...

In Napoli they would get the Camorra on to you for using anchovies. In other regions the chilli is omitted. That's a shame. You can hold the parsley back and sprinkle it on at the end. You can add dried oregano if you like. Not the worst idea in the world.





Put your

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 06:03 PM

Put thinly sliced carrots in a big skillet. (good use for a salad shooter)
Ditto celery
add place pieces of pre-cooked kielbasa
splash in 1/3 cup white wine

cover and simmer till carrots are cooked and kielbasa is warmed through

serve with good bread, radishes for something crisp.

We had our kielbasa shipped in by Usinger's in Milwaukee. I cooked it and froze it as soon as it arrived. This may not be practical for those across the pond.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 07:24 PM

My chicken pot pie/stew doesn't have a recipe with measurements, but I can tell you what goes in it.

I use cooked chicken, in this case, chicken breast from a package that was frozen hard from the store and I didn't bother to try to soften it enough to use some and put the rest back in the freezer. It all thawed and I had about six large chicken breasts to bake at once; this recipe used 3 or 4 of them, and my chicken dice was about 1" sized pieces.

Chopped onions, sauteed, then add diced carrots and let them soften a bit. Dice red-skinned (red lasoda) potatoes and add them last because they soften up more quickly (though these are the waxy potatoes so they hold their shape better than Russets). I had a cup or more of the liquid from when I baked the chicken and I poured that in along with some water. Salt and ground pepper, and a little dried oregano were the seasonings. Water to bring up enough liquid and let it simmer a little, then add the chicken when the veg is ready and let it simmer again. I mix flour with water to use for thickening and mix it into the liquid. Serve with pie crust if you have it (when my children were small I would make pie crust and cut it out with cookie cutters. The plate of baked shapes was on the table to add to the top of their bowls of stew). I have been using some gluten free crackers with lots of different grains and seeds an it's very good broken into large pieces on top.

The way this turned out, it has probably more chicken than vegetables.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 03:58 PM

I mentioned aquafaba - an amazing little magic ingredient. It's the water you drain out of a can of white beans, butter beans or chickpeas. The bit you usually throw away.

Raspberry Rose Vegan Macarons (Using Aquafaba)

The first part of the rather long recipe at that webpage:

Ingredients

    Macaron Shells:
    250 grams Aquafaba

    1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
    Pinch of Salt
    150 grams Ground Almonds
    130 gram Pure Icing Sugar*
    110 grams Superfine/Caster Sugar
    A drop of Vegan Red Food Coloring
    A few drops of Organic Rose Extract

    Raspberry Rose Buttercream:
    125 grams Vegan Butter Substitute
    55 grams Icing Sugar
    A few drops of Organic Rose Extract
    A few drops of Vegan Red Food Coloring
    25 Raspberries

    Extras:
    Piping Bags with a Round Tip attached
    Silpat Mats or Silicone Baking Paper
    Baking Trays
    Spray Bottle filled with Water

Instructions

    The night before you want to make your Macarons, prepare your Aquafaba. In a small saucepan, bring 250 grams of Aquafaba to a simmer. Let this simmer away until it has reduced to 110 grams of Aquafaba. (I pour it out and weigh it on a kitchen scale a few times in-between to check). Once it has reached 110 grams, pour it into a bowl to cool and then refrigerate overnight.
    Macaron Shells: Process Ground Almonds and Icing Sugar in a food processor and then sieve into a bowl, making sure there are no lumps in your mixture. Set aside.

[**This is the magic bit. Aquafaba acts like egg white.**]   

With a stand mixer fitted with a clean bowl and with clean beaters, whisk Aquafaba, cream of tartar and salt on high till it turns foamy and resembles frothed up egg whites. Make sure there is no more liquid left at the bottom of the bowl before moving on to the next step.


    Gradually add caster sugar in, bit by bit, whilst your mixer is turned on. Add your food coloring and Rose Extract in and then continue whisking on high for another minute. You should end up with a thick, glossy meringue. etc etc

She has other recipes e.g.
Vegan Chocolate Mousse made with Aquafaba (Chickpea Brine)

And there are heaps of recipes on the 'net if you search for "aquafaba recipes". You can use it wherever you would use egg white, as far as I know, so sweet or savoury.


I confess, I didn't precook the aquafaba the night before, blah blah. I just made a simple little crunchy meringue. They were yummy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 05:02 PM

Celebrate all the recipes but sometimes whatever you make is less important compared to the way you cook it.
I use ancient-like clay pots that I soak in water before cooking.
I use separate pots for fish(small) fowl(big) or meat(medium). There will always be some sterilized residue for the next recipe. I buy them from Germany.

If there is too much water at the end , simmer it separately for sauces.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 07:16 PM

I read another aquafaba web page and the reason you boil the chickpea water the night before is only if you have been really diligent and cooked your own chickpeas. Like that's gonna happen!

I'm too disorganised for that so I just open a can of chickpeas or other beans. The liquid in the cans is just the right consistency to start making all the different yummy recipes.

I think I'll try the chocolate mousse recipes next.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 07:24 PM

Donuel, I have owned one of those clay roasting pots for about 40 years. Haven't used it much over the last few years but maybe I should get it out of the cupboard and give it another go. It used to make a lovely roast leg of lamb.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 07:33 PM

I have a Romertopf pot that was at my Dad's house as part of his estate. A friend had given it to him and when she was helping me at his house she spotted it and told me I should keep it. That night she roasted a chicken in her Romertopf and it was amazing—tender, moist, meat falling off of the bones. I've found several others in thrift stores and sold them on eBay; I found one large enough to bake a turkey that I sold earlier this year (I don't think I'll ever do a turkey in one, so that's why I sold it. I brine my turkeys and roast them uncovered.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 07:49 PM

cool, and the skin is still crisp too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 09:30 PM

I take the top off the clay baker before baking is finished to make the skin crisp up.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Joe_F
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 06:07 PM

Today, as an experiment, I bought some beets. I expect I will microwave a beet, and simmer the greens with butter & garlic, like Sicilian spinach. As another experiment, I bought sausage, which I will broil. (Sausage is one of those things I have never eaten except in restaurants.) I will have hot tea. For dessert, sugar wafers.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 06:10 PM

Beets are pretty forgiving, however you plan to cook them. I usually steam or simmer them in shallow water. I used to peel them before I cooked them, but it seems if you cook them then the outer skin slips off easily.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 06:40 PM

Beets are easy to grow. Even I could do it. You do need to thin them, because each beet seed is actually a packet with several seeds in it, and if you don't thin them, the beets are too crowded. You can transplant the tiny seedlings so they don't go to waste.

I used to grow beets then make myself a lunch of boiled beets with butter and black pepper. Whole wheat bread on the side.

But then sex reared its ugly head. It seems that many men have a real hate for beets. My husband hates beets so bad that even the smell of my beets, leftover from cooking lunch, was really awful for him. So I gave up as a beet farmer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 07:24 PM

Well I love beetroot, and regard the corned beef and beetroot butty as a thing of great joy. However, I pee fake blood after eating it. It must run in the family. I think there's a gene. Nearly forty years ago my two-year-old daughter filled the potty with "blood." I rushed her to the doc in blind panic. Said the doc nonchalantly, "have you been feeding her beetroot?"

I had...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 08:54 PM

I suspect that is fairly common, Steve.

The weather turned very cold and blustery here today so lentil soup was on the menu. The simple Egyptian version in my Middle Eastern cookbook - water, grated onion, lentils, seasoned with salt, ground pepper, a tiny amount of cumin, and lemon juice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 09:26 PM

It's a bit hand-to-mouth this end. It's been a whirlwind four weeks since my dad died unexpectedly on 15 October (even though he was 94: he'd been a picture of health)... We've cleared the house, cremated and scattered me dad on Pendle and moved me mum from Manchester to the Westcountry into what's turned out, fortuitously, to be a lovely residential home, just five miles from our house, no mean task. Food has been a bit on the back burner, and fish and chips has been resorted to, but I did a decent chilli last night and we've had the occasional salmon arrabbiata (ask me) as well as fried salmon with lemon sauce, chips and romanesco. I've also done ox cheek casserole, which takes hours to cook but which is not only a dish of great beauty with mash and greens but which also yields plenty of lovely beefy sauce to stir into pappardelle and sprinkle with parmigiano reggiano. I also did an Elizabeth David beef daube, so simple yet so beautiful. As I've had to travel up north three times in four weeks, I've had ample opportunity to buy stuff at Gloucester Services to stock up my freezer. I have three pieces of rolled brisket, several pounds of ox cheek, two gorgeous pieces of pork shoulder with a lovely covering for crackling, and at least six man-sized pork chops which I shall cook the Delia way, with double cream, mushrooms and lemon juice. At times like this, one's gotta eat properly...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 11:34 PM

Next time I get to a store with unadulterated pork sirloin (too many producers add a salty mix to their pork, supposedly because people overcook it so it keeps it moister but it's way too salty.) I have a casserole with tomatoes, pork, onion, and eggplant that is served with mashed potatoes. Mmmmm!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 13 Nov 18 - 10:01 PM

mmm. It's a funny old life, sometimes having reservations over eating meat, being finicky with what meat I eat, normally sticking with meals suitable for me and veggie parents and rarely missing meat, etc.

But a pork casserole along those lines does sound quite tempting at the moment...

But I'l probably leave things till Christmas now. If they still do them, I'll probably go for an Iceland frozen stuffed turkey joint wrapped with bacon again, I found last years surprisingly nice. No indoor cats to share it with this year but I'm sure PussPuss, if still around, would like a slice or two to help me out.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 12:32 AM

I'll post the recipe later. I usually use a sirloin or tenderloin, whichever is available and relatively inexpensive. The eggplant has a fabulous "umami" effect on the rest of the ingredients. I know it isn't something that is like MSG, but it doesn't so much have it's own flavor as it makes everything else taste better.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 10:20 AM

On the theme of meat, Himself and I went shopping in Kitchener yesterday and came home with a pot roast, among other things. Now, pot roast was never a favourite dish in my family, but Himself is a fan so I made up my mind to get good at it.

Step one, get a decent piece of beef, preferably a well-marbled blade roast. Then haul out the Dutch oven; having been blessed with a generous kin group, we possess a Le Creuset braising pot that does the job in style.

Brown the roast on every side in about a tablespoonful of canola oil (high smoke point). Salt and pepper it well on all sides while you're at it. Set the roast aside and wipe out the pot. Next, sauté a chopped onion, some minced garlic, and a couple of ribs' worth of finely chopped celery in olive oil, to which then add dried thyme and about three quarters of a cup of red plonk with a bit of salt and a good grind of pepper, followed by about half a cup of beef stock and a glug of brandy. (It need not be *good* brandy.) Let it all boil for a few minutes, then put the roast back in the pot. Put on the lid and turn the gas down as low as it will go, or put the pot in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave it alone for at least two hours.

When the roast is done (tender to an ordinary fork), fish it out of the pot and put it aside. Put the pot on the hob and turn up the gas. Reduce the pot liquor, stirring constantly, adding thickener if you like (I use beurre manié). Carve the roast, laying the slices (or collops, if you carve as clumsily as I do) on a warm platter. Ladle the gravy over all.

Serve with spuds, carrots, etc. I like to roast them in the oven with onion, garlic and slabs of fennel.

And that's what we had for dinner last night.

Tonight, something much less meat-arian, almost certainly involving chickpeas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 11:51 AM

Thanks SRS. I had to do a bit of looking up on flavours there. I do like aubergine/eggplant and grow 4 plants (Hansel, a small variety that are good from finger size fruit up and usually crop well) in a container in a greenhouse each year.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 03:09 PM

Joe, how did you manage to live in Wisconsin for any length of time with never having bratwurst made on the grill in the summer?

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Joe_F
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 06:31 PM

Microwaving a large beet was not a success. It was undercooked (tough). My second attempt, last night, was far more successful: I peeled it, cut it up, and boiled it. Likewise, beet greens take far more time than spinach.

I never knew there was anybody who did *not* piss red after eating beets. It lasts about a day.

A couple of times, I have made a real borsht (with beef cubes, turnips, carrots, etc., etc. -- not the mere shredded beet with sour cream that you get in a US deli). It is a substantial project, but worth it if you have guests.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 07:42 PM

If you like cold soup, but gazpacho turns you off a bit, you should make salmorejo, the Andalucian dish that resembles a thick gazpacho but which is made very thick by the addition of bread. It's traditionally served in small bowls as a tapas, with a topping of crumbled hard-boiled egg and finely-chopped Serrano ham, with some local breadsticks to accompany. To me, it's the absolute taste of summer and it must be eaten outdoors, and Mrs Steve won't let me make it in winter. Contrary to popular belief, it can be made with top-quality canned tomatoes instead of fresh. In any dish that relies on tomatoes of any kind, there's a magic ingredient that transforms the grub beyond all your dreams. It's a half-teaspoon of sugar. Trust me on that one. Italian cooks use it even if they have the finest sun-ripened San Marzano tomatoes, though they wouldn't admit to it.

I have my own salmorejo recipe but I couldn't possibly post it in November in the northern hemisphere. Ask me again in May.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 07:48 PM

And never skin tomatoes. That's as bad as doing garlic in a garlic crusher, the worst invention ever. If you pulverise the tomatoes with your hand-blender, you won't notice the bits. And anyway, I like the bits!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 09:11 PM

This is what my garlic press looks like, and it's what Julia Child's garlic press looked like. She wasn't snooty about how the garlic got broken up or pulverized for her cooking so I follow her lead.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 03:46 AM

I haven't used a garlic press for ages - a lot of garlic gets left behind and is a so-and-so to remove (no hole-clearing gadget such as comes with the Shopify product). It's easier to smash the garlic under the side of a large knife. And then peel it, with no bother.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:04 AM

Joe, beetroot is superb if you scrub and chop it and add it to the other vegetables roasted under a chicken lengthways-halved carrots, long slices of parsnip, peeled halved onions, whole garlic bulbs, chopped celery, fat slices of bell pepper... The beets add a sweet, earthy flavour. I like to slosh dry vermouth over the vegetables, then the chicken juice basted them further.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:14 AM

Beetroot has been variable here but I've had success with "boltardy" some years. Just a simple boil, peel and slice with young samples is all you need with a salad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:24 AM

1. Take two crumpets out of the packet.
2. Place in toaster.
3. Toast until well-browned.
4. Spread with a great deal of butter.
5. Eat.
6. Give buttery plate to cats to lick.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:37 AM

In fast-cooked pasta sauces I just slice the garlic finely with a small knife. It's better than chopping, which can leave a few unpleasant little nibs. For slow-cooked things such as stews or ragus I just thump the unpeeled cloves with my fist, take off the skin and throw in the broken cloves. You can fish them out at the end but I never do. If I'm baking something such as skin-on chicken pieces (with cubed unpeeled potatoes, thick wedges of onion, strips of pancetta and extra virgin olive oil) in the oven, I separate out the unpeeled cloves and throw them into the baking tray about 20 minutes before the end (they burn otherwise). You can then suck the beautiful, sweet creamy middles out. Another good thing to do with garlic is to wrap the unpeeled, separated cloves of a whole head of garlic in foil with some extra virgin olive oil and bake them in the oven for about half an hour. Squeeze out the lovely middles and blend them with cooked peas, Parmesan cheese and a knob of butter. Makes a fabulous emerald-green crostini topping (thanks for that one, Nigella, you genius). Crushing garlic releases the bitter, acrid elements of the cloves far too rapidly into the dish. Gentle cooking of the cloves sweetens them and adds flavour subtly. I rarely want a pronounced garlicky taste to be the point of the thing. If you're making a pasta sauce, slice the garlic thinly into your pan of cold extra virgin olive oil and leave it to infuse for as long as you like (if the dish calls for chilli flakes, put them in there as well).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:39 AM

As an alternative, one can melt St Agur into crumpets, Sen.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:39 AM

I forgot to say that I always remove the green stalks from inside garlic cloves. Don't want them in the dish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:44 AM

Oh Jon, I'd absolutely love to do that, but unfortunately blue/runny cheese gives me serious vertigo which can last for days. :(

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:49 AM

I like crumpets with the tangy Rose's English Breakfast Marmalade and thin slices of a mild cheese on top. I've been buying Maasdam cheese, which is like a mild swiss cheese, not unlike Jarlsberg.

Hubby used to think I was crazy, but he has been converted to the taste. We don't go much for sweet stuff but the EB Marmalade is more tangy than sweet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:53 AM

Fry some eggs in butter, set aside on a hot plate, whack up the heat and fry your crumpets (or bread) in the buttery pan. A three-minute delight. You can hasten the procedure by toasting the crumpet/bread to about half way before frying.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:57 AM

Helen, I think marmalade (typically made from Ma Made here) is a topping Pip might choose for a crumpet. Not one for me but we are all different...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 02:28 PM

Fried eggs. One of my fave recipes is from Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern Cookbook. I've owned a copy of this book since maybe the 1980's and had to upgrade to a new edition about 15 years ago because the old one was falling apart.

Here is someone else's recipe:
Beid bi Tom

Fried eggs with garlic and lemon
Ingredients
    2 tablespoons butter
    2 cloves garlic, crushed
    juice of ½ lemon or 1 teaspoon sumac
    6 eggs
    crushed dried mint to garnish

Directions

(Roden says, crush the garlic and put it in the lemon juice. Cook the garlic and lemon a bit to soften the garlic and then slide in the eggs.)

    Melt the butter in a large skillet, or use 2 smaller ones.
    Add the garlic and lemon or sumac.
    Slide in the eggs, previously broken into a bowl, and continue to fry gently.
    Rub some of the dried mint in the palm of your hand, letting it sprinkle over the eggs.
    When the whites are set, remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle lightly with salt, and serve.

Yum!

Jon, the thing about seville orange marmalade is that it is not overly sweet and the distinctive tang of the oranges and orange rind is music to my taste buds. I also like Cointreau, for the same reason.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 06:33 PM

I grow my own garlic and it is very easy to peel. It's the "elephant" variety that is probably actually a large leek, but great garlic flavor. The garlic press is simple to operate - crush the portion (I have to cut up my cloves, they're very large) - then use the knife to rearrange the bit left in the press and press it again, or scoop it out into the food being prepared. I don't waste any.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 07:28 PM

I see you're holding out on the garlic-crushing, Maggie. All I can say is, give my method a whirl. I assure you that my garlic crusher (which actually looks uncannily like yours) still lives in my kitchen gizmo drawer, where it resides but never sees the light of day. It harks back to the era in which I totally misunderstood what garlic can REALLY do for dishes, but it still does have sentimental value. Chop, bash or slice your garlic, and use a lot more cloves than you otherwise would. Garlic needs to be add subtle. It does not need to add garlic...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 07:51 PM

I have a garlic roasting thing but I've never gotten around to using it; I think my Dad sent it one xmas and he loved using his. Smashing garlic under a knife is messy and you have to clean the board or counter. There are times when I slice garlic, depending on how it's being used. Like I said, I grow the very large garlic so the skin is robust and it comes off easily. And when I grow garlic here and harvest every spring I have enough to last me all year. It keeps well in a dark area stored in a paper bag.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 07:56 PM

Exemplary. But flippin' 'eck, Maggie, a bit of squidged garlic on your worktop isn't any more trouble to clear up than trying to get all those bits out of your crusher...?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 09:46 PM

It snowed and was cold. So we made a chicken pot pie, with real pie crust on the top and a pretty scalloped design around the edge.
Pie crust, leftover roast chicken, peas, onions, cream sauce, and herbs.

It's work, but it's worth it. I use Jiffy pie crust mix. One box makes two small crusts. The second half of the mix freezes well in the box you buy it in. Just close up the inner bag.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 16 Nov 18 - 01:06 AM

Made lamb meatballs in a spicy soup with freekah, Verra nice, apart from a flaming row with the puppy, who snatched the first few from the table when I turned my back, smashing the plate they were on. Teenagers...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 17 Nov 18 - 12:19 PM

Gyoza for dinner tonight thanks to the new Asian grocery just a nice dog walking distance away.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 17 Nov 18 - 02:29 PM

Steve do you like small hot garlic cloves or big and mild elephant garlic?
I like a little raw hot on uncooked dishes or large quantities of mild in cooked recipes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Nov 18 - 07:09 PM

Mild garlic is about as useful as decaf coffee. No use at all in other words. When garlic is gently cooked, any harshness disappears and all will be sweet, soft and lovely. We've had Yottam's roasted cauliflower tonight, a one-tray dish with chopped Nocellara olives, a horseshoe of sliced piccante chorizo (skinned, natch), two red onions hacked into big wedges, a hefty sprinkling of sweet smoked paprika, a very large cauliflower hacked into florets, a handful of pumpkin seeds and a large glug of extra virgin olive oil. Not least, several cloves of garlic, smashed with the fist then lightly chopped into big pieces. Seasoning of course. You mix that lot in a big bowl then spread it all out on a baking tray on which you've put a big sheet of greaseproof paper. Roast in a hot oven (200C, or 400F for you antediluvian yanks) for half an hour, turning it all over once half way through. When you take it out, mix in a goodly amount of chopped fresh parsley. It's an amazingly beautiful dish. Me and Mrs Steve are very fond of hot spiciness, but if you're not quite as keen you could always use a milder chorizo.

If I need to use garlic in the raw, I just slice it very thinly with a sharp paring knife. I use that in my tuna pasta dish in which the only cooked ingredient is the pasta. The other ingredients are tuna in olive oil, creme fraiche, capers, garlic, parsley and seasoning. Don't be scared of raw garlic, or any garlic, but just cut it up very thinly. Garlic should rarely be the point of the thing, unless you're making garlic mayo in which to dip your chips. English chips, not crisps.

When I buy garlic I'm not concerned with how "hot" it might be. It has to look fresh and feel very firm and not smell manky. Beware of garlic that's on sale well out of season. It can be very harsh and acrid. I've had to give up growing my own because my garden soil is plagued with white rot, which screws up my onions, leeks and garlic and which has spores that live in the soil for twenty years.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 18 - 07:38 PM

I grow garlic from some that I originally dug up in the woods across the street from my house. It's the hard-neck elephant garlic that is probably actually a leek. It can be strong, but since I grow it and keep it for a long time, I think it loses some strength over time. Use more to get the flavor you want.

Our weather warmed this week so I've worked in the yard. Dinner tonight was light—a sharp blond cheddar cheese on whole grain crackers, topped with slices of kielbasa and washed down with a merlot.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Nov 18 - 07:55 PM

I actually cut all my grass today (half an acre). It was surprisingly long considering that we had two quite vicious frosts two weeks ago. My garden's been a bit neglected for a few weeks after my dad died, but my sprouting broccoli bed looks great and my parsnips and leeks are looking good, and my freezer is full of a bumper crop of Autumn Bliss raspberries, best year ever.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 18 - 08:16 PM

I envy you those raspberries! If you look at agriculture maps of the US, you'll see that the state producing the most raspberries commercially is Washington state, where I grew up. We spent summers grazing on various wild patches of raspberries planted and forgotten by neighbors. Pick the berry, blow off any dust or bugs, eat. That was the routine for 9-year-old kids.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 06:24 AM

Many moons ago I tried growing summer raspberries, but they soon got decimated by reversion disease. But the Autumn Bliss ones have been growing merrily away for twenty years and are as vigorous as ever. They are primocane raspberries (they fruit on new season's wood) which means I can hack the whole lot to the ground in winter and I don't bother training them (a bit of thinning maybe). I'm at the mercy of blackbirds occasionally but I don't mind if they have a few, and in indifferent late summers the good old grey mould gets lots of them just as they're getting ready to be picked. It's generally late August before meaningful quantities can be picked. But it's very nice to have them in the freezer for indulgent winter puds. My soil pH is a bit high for raspberries so I put on loads of grass clippings and leaf mould in spring in addition to a layer of compost. Once a year I have to bust my organic principles and give them a dose of chelated iron to stop the leaves going too yellow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 06:39 AM

I had Autumn Bliss and they were fab, but the red fellows, the grey squirrels of raspberries, outbred them.. must replant them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 06:42 AM

My Autumn Bliss ARE red!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 06:52 AM

Oh? Mine were a lovely glowing amber!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 10:07 AM

If mold is a problem put some regular store-strength hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle and spritz them all in a preventative move or if you start to see the mold. And sprinkling ground cornmeal on the ground under them is good for fertilizing and slows or eliminates the mold growth.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 02:07 PM

I have a feeling that grey mould gets in at the flowering stage. I'll check whether hydrogen peroxide fits in with my organic sentiments. I suppose it's only water with an extra dollop of oxygen...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 02:18 PM

I am only organic in my gardening, Steve - that's where this peroxide recommendation comes from! Same with the cornmeal. See Dirt Doctor for lots of organic tips. Near the top on the left side you'll see "Library Topics" and you can search on hydrogen peroxide as a treatment or you can search on mold and see what is recommended.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 04:46 PM

Here is an image of my pork and eggplant recipe:

Flickr Mudcat album.

I serve it with the mashed potatoes, it's a perfect combination. I don't sprinkle parsley because I don't like parsley.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 06:51 PM

We had the Puglian dish orecchiette con cime di rape tonight. You can use any short pasta but orecchiette is the traditional thing and without it the dish would be delicious but not authentic. As a matter of fact, the fact that I use tomatoes is not authentic either, but I think they add a lot. In Puglia they use stringy turnip tops, very nice too, but I've used purple sprouting broccoli or tenderstem to good advantage and tonight I used that new-fangled veg, kalettes, aka flower sprouts. Delicious. If you use tenderstem, you need to cut the stems into small pieces (leave the tops whole), otherwise you end up with a bit too much crunch.

For two people:

Put 250g orecchiette pasta in a very large pan of boiling salted water, having noted the required cooking time on the pack.

In your best shallow casserole pan, put two cloves of finely-sliced garlic into three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add dried chilli flakes (or fresh chillies) to your taste. The dish should be quite spicy but not fiery. Sauté gently for a couple of minutes.

Add a handful of good cherry tomatoes, cut in half. At the same time add a goodly amount of chopped fresh parsley. Simmer that lot gently for a few minutes to soften the tomatoes a bit. Season gently.

Two minutes before the pasta is due to be al dente, throw 200g broccoli/kalettes into the pasta pan. It will slow the pasta down by a minute, which is what you want.

Three minutes later, having checked for doneness, drain the pasta/greens pan quickly and throw the mix into the sauce. You need a bit of the pasta water to go in there. Mix thoroughly and serve up, topped with a grating of pecorino (or parmesan) and a drizzling of your finest olive oil.

You'll find fussier versions of this that require you to pre-cook the greens, etc., but forget all that. This works a treat. It's one of our favourite dishes, and Mrs Steve is very hard to please, I assure you.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 07:03 PM

"I don't sprinkle parsley because I don't like parsley."

How can this be? What's not to like if the parsley is fresh? The only parsley I ever use is fresh out of my garden, always flat-leaf. I wouldn't allow dried parsley into the house. In fact, I find all dried herbs, with the honourable exception of dried oregano, to be utterly disgusting. Dried basil is just about the worst.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 10:42 PM

I'm drying basil on my kitchen counter even as you type. Most of the time I put it fresh into ziplock bags, force the air out, and freeze them. It stays green that way, but for some things, dried works.

I don't like parsley, I'm not particularly fond of kale, I dislike lima beans. There, I outed myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 18 Nov 18 - 11:18 PM

Tried the cauliflower tray bake but it didn’t really work for me. Half an hour: still raw. An hour: drying out. I added olive oil. Then I fell asleep. Woke and it had been put in fridge, rejected as too greasy. Tasted ok to me... maybe my oven’s too slow. Maybe I should have put foil over it...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 19 Nov 18 - 04:27 AM

I wouldn't ever use dried parsley either, but dried thyme is fine by me.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Nov 18 - 07:55 AM

Was your oven hot enough, Thompson? I've never had a failure! 35 mins max otherwise the cauliflower gets overcooked. Only use the best extra virgin olive oil too, enough to coat everything. A bit more fat comes out of the chorizo.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 19 Nov 18 - 08:41 AM

Maybe not - it’s a Neff, so should be good, but it can lie.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 19 Nov 18 - 09:30 AM

Last night it was Murghi Saag that I had made the day before, for some reason this type of food is always better the day after it was made.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 20 Nov 18 - 12:13 AM

A lot of food is better as leftovers - partly because you’re anxious when cooking for others, partly because the tastes blend and intensify overnight. Here’s another good tray bake - very handy for guests because it’s so easy - the blessed Nigella Lawson’s chicken thighs with frozen peas and leeks:

Empty two packs of frozen peas into a chicken-sized roasting pan and give them a smash down. Add the whites of four or five leeks, washed and chopped in 2cm slices. Chopped cloves of garlic to taste. A bunch of dill, torn up. Eight chicken thighs on top. A good slosh of dry vermouth, or white wine if you don’t have it. A scatter of flaky salt, a glug of olive oil, or rapeseed oil.

Cook for three quarters of an hour in a 200c/400f oven, take out and give a mix (but leave the leeks up top so they get caramelised and sweet). Back in for another half hour. Chop a bit more dill over the top and serve.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: sciencegeek
Date: 20 Nov 18 - 03:45 AM

found beautiful escarole at the store so picked up three heads and had a ball... first off was escarole soup

chicken broth well seasoned to taste
sweet Italian sausage formed into tiny meatballs
1 head of escarole chopped
bring to boil and then simmer 1/2 hour
add 1/4 cup of acini de pepe - a tiny pasta just larger than couscous
cook until pasta is done, serve with crusty bread

greens & beans

1# Italian bulk sausage crumbled and cooked in olive oil with plenty of minced garlic
add 4 cans of cannelloni beans
simmer for 20 minutes add water if needed
add 1 head of escarole torn into large pieces
simmer until greens are tender
serve with grated cheese and crusty bread

escarole with angel hair pasta

start pot of water for pasta

add minced garlic to olive oil & heat
add diced tomatoes - canned is fine
add 1 tbsp of capers
season with basil & oregano to taste
add 1 head of escarole chopped into bite sized pieces
cover pan and simmer until greens are tender

by the time escarole is done, pasta should be done, drained and returned to pot

stir the escarole into the pasta and serve with grated cheese

I cook by eye and taste, so adjust to your taste

all three dishes hold well and reheat just fine

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 20 Nov 18 - 03:51 AM

I might try the chicken, leek and peas recipe, but I shall add some green pepper, just to spite the "blessed" Nigella (who threatened to excommunicate anyone who used green peppers - on the grounds that red peppers are SWEETER). That recipe would be ruined by red peppers, but green ones would be rather nice, I think.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Nov 18 - 05:17 AM

"...the blessed Nigella Lawson’s chicken thighs..."

Oh, I don't know. I've always thought she has very nice legs...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Nov 18 - 07:26 AM

100 million Americans will eat Campbells green bean casserole recipe this week.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Nov 18 - 02:49 PM

I'm going to steam some green beans, but no Campbells soup will go near them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Nov 18 - 06:57 PM

I must say, over the past couple of years I've turned away from steaming. I'll still steam chopped sweetheart cabbage in order to ensure that I don't get overly soggy cabbage, but I've taken to boiling all other veg. I've found that hard veg such as carrot batons and tight Cornish cauliflower florets cook much more evenly when boiled, and, when I have awkward veg such as tenderstem, with tops that cook quickly but stalks that take much longer, I'm better off boiling with the shoots covered but with the stalks under water and the heads sticking out above in the steam. A very good idea is to split the lower parts of tenderstem stalks up the bottom inch or two with a sharp knife. When I steam, I find that the water in the pan underneath still ends up with water that looks like I might have lost nutrients. As I understand it, boiling, as opposed to steaming, doesn't really lose much at all. It's texture for me every time. Steamed carrots just don't do it for me at all. A very nice winter veg combo with your roast chicken is steamed organic cabbage mixed with boiled carrot batons. Naturally, you will also need roast parsnips, it goes without saying. And I will not use the cooking water from any brassica to make gravy. It just ain't right.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Iains
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 05:16 AM

Scary vegetable cooking water. The longer you boil it, the more concentrated the pesticide residues.

A school of thought below.
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/should-vegetable-cooking-water-be-saved/

and a recent report:

[PDF]The 2016 European Union report on pesticide

https://www.actu-environnement.com/media/.../news-31777-efsa-pesticides-aliments.pdf
(I do not have much luck linking to a pdf so the link needs copying and pasting)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 06:29 AM

Well just wash all veg thoroughly before cooking or eating raw. That will get rid of almost all residues. My point was that brassica water makes for not nice gravy, and I can't think of a good use anyway for water that spuds have been boiled in, except for when you make those lovely thick winter stews that you boil up for two hours with shin of beef, potatoes, carrots, swedes and onions. I'm making a vast crock of that this weekend, to go with Atora suet dumplings, what else. Just the thing for eating off your knee out of a big bowl in front of Strictly on Saturday and the results show on Sunday. I think she doth worry too much. Eating lots of veg will far outweigh in benefits the risks of ingesting what are probably tiny amounts of toxins.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 06:40 AM

We always steam spuds. Makes them sweeter.

Risotto, though,I make in the pressure cooker (otherwise mainly used for stock). It’s not a classic risotto but a big hearty rice based mixup.

Fry chopped onion till transparent, add some risotto rice (I like carnaroli best), then when it’s glossy, courgette and aubergine and dried mushrooms, then a good dose of stock. A sloshy mix around and the pressure cooker is closed and brought up to pressure.

While it’s coming to pressure and humming away for I think around 10 or 15 minutes, I simmer a handful of frozen shellfish mix with butter and lemon and dill.

Then I take the pressure cooker off the heat and let the pressure off with a long-handled wooden spoon. Add in the liquor from the shellfish and a glass or more of white wine. Stir well and bring back up to pressure. Five minutes and it’s done.

It’s nice with lemon wedges to squeeze over, and/or (sorry, Italians) Parmesan.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 07:25 AM

For a decent cheat's risotto (does away with all that adding and stirring), proceed as usual at first, sauteeing your onions gently (in butter, not oil). If you're also using chopped pancetta, add that now and cut down on the butter. Then turn up the heat and add the rice, just to toast it a little bit, stirring to coat with fat. Add a small glass of white wine and let that bubble for a minute or two. Then add any herbs you're using (chopped thyme is always good) and seasoning. Add your boiling stock (I find that you need slightly over twice the volume of stock as the volume of rice). Bring to a healthy simmer, give it a good stir, turn the heat down, put the lid on and forget it for 14 minutes (open the prosecco).

After that, you need to give it a really good bashing about for a minute of two to bring out the creaminess. Adjust the liquid. Only then do I add any other ingredients, such as cooked peas, broad beans or French beans, or sautéed mushrooms or scraps of leftover chicken or sausage. The world's your oyster. Turn off the heat and add a big knob of butter and a generous handful of freshly-grated Parmesan. Keep checking the liquid level (it keeps on thickening for a bit) and seasoning. For me, the coup de grace (but not for Maggie) is to stir in a handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley. You'll live forever.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 07:45 AM

By this time of the year my solid fuel stove is going full time all day and banked up at night.

It has a large flat top that can be used for slow cooking and heating water. It is very good for 'foil steaming'. Yesterday's offering had a piece of pork belly, one whole, peeled onion, one large peeled carrot (not chopped up) and one large slab of peeled swede.

All of these are placed on one half of a long strip of strong foil. When I remember a few cloves of garlic are put in as well.

The foil is folded back on itself and the three seams are double folded. All four corners get an extra fold. This gets placed on the top of the stove for a couple of hours.

Water comes off the meat and the onions also give off water. Over time this turns to steam. The package blows up like a balloon. Everything is cooked after the ballooning has gone on for about thirty minutes.

The vegetables are a revelation. Super succulent and sweet. I do the occasional vegetable only steam. Parsnips end up a bit dry but an extra small onion mashed up with the parsnip sorts that out.

I think I'll do a vegetable only job tonight, just replacing the meat with a leek. Yummy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Senoufou
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 08:59 AM

Husband's Fiery Horror dinner:-

Brown a large chopped onion in a little vegetable oil.
Add two tablespoons of oil and one of peanut butter, and one tablespoon of salt, plus half a pint of water.

Add three chopped tomatoes and half a jar of tomato paste, a Maggi chicken stock cube and a tablespoon of hot Madras curry powder.
Chuck in four Scotch bonnets and a pile of cubed meat.

Simmer for thirty minutes until both cats and the wife are partly asphyxiated and requiring oxygen.

Meanwhile, using the rice steamer, put a selection of any vegetables in the steaming compartment above and cook with the Basmati rice until ready (about ten minutes)

The Horror left over can be decanted into containers and put in the fridge. It will do for a further two meals.
.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 09:16 AM

I agree that the steamer is for puddings.

I don't "boil" my vegetables, I simmer them, and whenever possible I get organic ones, so using the water shouldn't be a problem.

I am astonished at Thompson's 10 or 15 minutes in a pressure cooker to cook rice. When I used to use a pressure cooker, that sort of timing would have been for a hearty stew of the kind that would have taken several hours in a slow oven.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: MMario
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 12:43 PM

Tonight will be tortellini en brodo (sausage stuffed tortellini, turkey broth) with asiago shredded on top, and a mixed greens salad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 02:14 PM

When I say boil, Jos, I don't mean a rolling boil in deep water. I mean a simmer in as little water as possible, say half way up the veg, with a tight-fitting lid, usually with a pinch of salt. I have pans with glass lids with a small vent (a hole) which means I can see what's going on in there but have the lid tight on. I got fed up with pans with lids that I had to have tottering precariously over the edge of the pan to let the steam out.

We're having my home-made chunky guacamole dip tonight with crudités, followed by cheese and biscuits (I have some Vallage triple creme cheese and a bit of leftover Gorgonzola piccante). I don't go for those abject little tubs of supermarket guacamole. I get two ripe avocados which I mush up roughly in a bowl with a fork. It can be as rough or smooth as you like, but I like a bit of texture meself. Into that goes half a green chilli, finely chopped, six diced cherry tomatoes, the juice of a small lime, a goodly seasoning of salt and some finely chopped parsley. It should be coriander/cilantro really, but Mrs Steve can't abide the stuff (she says it tastes like washing-up liquid) so I use the parsley instead. Maggie could stick with the coriander. ;-) I find it tastes better made at least several hours in advance.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 08:51 PM

I wonder what they're serving over in the Mudcat Tavern?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Senoufou
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 04:19 AM

Ooooh SRS, I can't wait for the Mudcat Tavern to open its doors!
And I hope they'll be serving hot buttered crumpets!

I've been trying for years to persuade my husband to reduce the quantities of salt and fat in his Fiery Horror. A heaped tablespoon of salt is far too much. Imagine his blood pressure! And all that blooming oil. It makes a greasy mess in the dishwasher filter.

I wonder if I hid all the tablespoons? But no, he merely use his cupped hand to hull more and more into the brew, like his mother and sisters do.
He's now discovered Vindaloo microwaveable meals at Morrisons. They have a really HOT one with that logo of five chillies on the packet and a warning printed in red. He often has one as a midday snack before heading off for his work. However can he stand it?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 10:49 AM

It's Thanksgiving day, a holiday in the US on the fourth Thursday of November, so people take the whole week off if they can, or at least take off Friday if it isn't already a part of their holiday. Wednesday is usually a good day to start preparing part of the meal, but this year I was racing to finish putting up a new corner of the fence to keep the dogs in and anything else out. I'm working carefully around the house today because I pulled a muscle yesterday.

The 16 pound (small by most standards) turkey is in the brine as of early this morning. I find it doesn't need to be in the salt and sugar mix for more than 4-6 hours to be very nicely seasoned and salted. I steam-juiced some frozen cranberries this year so instead of our usual sparking apple juice (Martinelli's is the best brand) I'm mixing frozen apple juice half strength, adding a cup or so of my full-strength cranberry juice, then when people want a drink I'll mix it with seltzer to give it a sparkle at the correct dilution.

The rolls will be started soon, the root vegetables that will be roasted will be peeled and cut up. I'm using an extra roasting oven (counter top) for either the rolls or the veg, but since the turkey is really best when it's had an hour to rest, that's plenty of time for other things to go in the oven. (I also have some green peppers that I'll put in with the root vegetables, just because I like roasted peppers.) They'll all get a coating of olive oil, salt, pepper, and anything else that strikes my fancy the roast till as much as possible is caramelized. There will probably be two, possibly three vegetarians here today, so we're going heavy on the side dishes.

Appetizers will be out for when people arrive - this crew always goes for the olives so there will be a can of those out (I didn't get by the fancy grocery store with all of the various olives that are available by the pound), some deviled eggs, cashews, just whatever is around they'll eat. Getting ready for the big meal an hour later, so they don't need to fill up, just graze.

The yeast rolls are homemade, the apple pie is brought by my ex and I have never been able to persuade him to make his own crust so it will be the tough grocery store crust with a pretty good homemade filling.

I'm going to mix up some cranberry sauce here soon and chill it. Make from scratch with cranberries, orange juice, and sugar. Cook it till the pectin is released and it naturally gels.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 11:18 AM

Golly, my pressure cooker wouldn't do a stew in 15 minutes!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 12:43 PM

I love coriander, but there is apparently a gene involved with whether people like that or not. I grow it (comes back voluntarily every fall and winter) and freeze it to use in guacamole, bean dishes, etc. Guacamole is best eaten as fresh as possible. If it has to be stored, I freeze it as soon as possible in ice cube trays to defrost as many as I need later (defrost slowly, microwaves must be used carefully if that is your preferred defrost method. 10-20 seconds at a time.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 02:15 PM

My chunky guacamole is definitely better for a few hours in the fridge. The lime juice prevents any browning of the avocado. I suppose it could be different if you're making that smooth purée of the type supermarkets sell. I too love coriander, but it's denied to me. I suppose I could always sprinkle a bit in last minute, but it wouldn't be the same somehow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 05:36 PM

For our Thanksgiving turkey dish, I sliced a raw turkey breast into thin "steaks" and sautéed them in toasted sesame oil. Dee-licious!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 06:34 PM

I understand that a wild turkey has been terrorising the town of Johnston, Rhode Island, for months. Good for him!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 11:28 PM

My guacamole is made by squeezing a lemon into a bowl then scooping the avocado out of the skin with a tablespoon and using a couple of forks to mash it up, but it isn't smooth like the grocery store stuff. I grate onion into it because years ago my son wouldn't eat onion if he saw it in things but he liked the flavor if he didn't know it was there. I dice up jalapeno or poblano peppers really small and use the garlic press for the garlic. Chop up the cilantro and stir in. Salt and pepper.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 03:29 AM

I saw onion in some recipes and not others and decided against. I'm not a massive fan of raw onion. No garlic in mine either. I don't recall seeing that during my recipe-sweep. My recipe has a small handful of cherry tomatoes, the best I can get, per two avocados, finely diced, which nicely loosens the mix. I found that I need to use a tad more salt than I might have thought I needed. I'm not a salt fanatic.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 03:40 AM

Pressure cooker: Beef stew 15-20 mins. Topside pot roast about 30 mins depending on size. Chicken casserole 5 mins. Plus the preliminary browning and bringing up to pressure. But I wouldn't bother to use it for rice, which only takes 10 mins (15 from cold) anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 05:17 AM

I don't have a pressure cooker, or a slow cooker for that matter, but I can't see how a piece of beef suited to long, slow cooking can properly develop a melting texture and depth of flavour in 30 minutes. Naturally, I stand to be corrected, but I won't be investing in such gizmos any time soon. About thirty years ago I did flirt with a slow cooker. I found that it produced a diagreeably dry texture in meat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 08:28 AM

And we have just ordered a pressure/multi cooker. I'm not quite sure where it's going to go yet or whether or not it will get much use but vegetable soups are one thing we have mind for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 09:24 AM

Carmalize, do not carnalize, a chopped white onion per loaded Yam with chopped jalapenos. spice to your own delight and POOF the Yam is no longer sweet but a crinchy savory treat. Pile on top cooked bacon, cheese and some baked yam then bake again until melted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 10:14 AM

I have an Instant Pot electronic pressure cooker (otherwise known as a multi-cooker), and I give it house room because it cooks whole grains (especially brown rice) perfectly and works boffo as a stock pot. Now, I know you're all going to tell me just to put the stock pot on the back burner of the stove and go to bed, and I did just that for most of my increasingly long life, but I never slept soundly knowing that a gas hob was burning in the kitchen. The Instant Pot can be left unattended, and does not occupy a quarter of the high-value real estate of the stove top.

It also steams the Christmas pudding -- again, without supervision -- and does it in a quarter of the time required to do it the old-fashioned way, in the canner.

If your household eats in the vegetarian/vegan style, an electronic multi-cooker could be a game-changer. Here, the devices are marketed as time-savers, which is rather misleading. What they do is safely handle tasks that otherwise require personal attendance, allowing you to do other things. Where they do save time directly is in pre-cooking beans, which takes only about half an hour.

I tried cooking a pot roast in it and was disappointed in the texture of the meat: stringy. The Le Creuset enamelled iron pot remains unsurpassed for that job.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 10:52 AM

The Instant Pot Duo V2 7 in 1 is on an Amazon (UK) "Deal of the day" today, apparently £80 compared to an RRP of £170.

It was one of the ones we considered and may be a good buy but we opted for a Tefal that was £30 cheaper.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 11:23 AM

I couldn't agree more, Charmion. I have two Le Creuset deep casseroles, a large one (pot roast, bulk ragu production and big stews, etc) and a slightly smaller one (casseroles and stews for two and brilliant for risottos) and a large Le Crueset shallow casserole (best thing for making pasta sauces that need gentle sauteeing of chilli and garlic, etc, as it's big enough to chuck the cooked pasta into and stir in). I've had them for many years and I honestly don't understand all this talk of pressure cookers and electrical gizmos. I feel sorry for whoever has to wash 'em up, and, well, do they REALLY produce good grub...?

I've inherited, at no cost to myself, two glass-lidded pans with vented lids which are perfect for boiling potatoes or veg, and (the coup de grace) a magnificent huge lidded stainless steel frying pan which is brilliant for cooking rare steaks, for starting off pork chops and pot roasts before they go in the oven and for browning minced steak for chilli or ragus.

All these pans need, at most, fifteen or twenty minutes' soaking in hot water with a drop or two of Fairy Liquid to get them clean. I only ever use silicone utensils in them, never metal ones. One thing I've never done is put my Le Cruesets in the dishwasher.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 12:02 PM

In our house rice takes around an hour. Perhaps it’s a slow house.

My mother made the best stews I’ve tasted. She started them in the pressure cooker then moved them to a grungy old casserole in the oven for a couple of hours. Beef or mutton, carrots, celery, bay leaf, thyme, water, and a good slosh of red wine, then a squirt of Lea & Perrin’s Worcester sauce (correctly pronounced Wooster, of course) and a dash of Angostura bitters. Sometimes she’d go wild and add a little orange zest. Oh, and spuds went in too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 12:57 PM

It's WorcesterSHIRE sauce!

Orange zest is a constituent of Elizabeth David's boeuf en daube, though she leaves the rind in strips. If you throw red wine into a stew or casserole, it's best to add it early, before the other liquid goes in, and get it to a merry bubble to give the alcohol time to evaporate with the lid off. Or just boil the wine in a small pan separately, set fire to it then pour it in. Burning the booze is good fun and it avoids a degree of harshness getting into the stew. If you have good stock you shouldn't need the Worcestershire sauce, though adding it does no harm, or the bitters. As for herbs, I might make a little bunch of thyme sprigs, parsley stems and a bay leaf, maybe a little sprig of sage, all tied together with string, that I can remove towards the end. I find I can overdo the bay and I'm always careful with rosemary, which can be a bit of a hooligan if too much is added. I've been known to add bacon pieces to a casserole, though I never put in mushrooms, which I think add nothing. However, the inclusion of soaking water from dried porcini is a great addition. Another Elizabeth David trick is to add a few bits of pork rind. She cuts hers into tiny pieces but I wouldn't want to encounter tiny pieces of soft pigskin in my food, so I leave mine in big pieces that I can fish out before serving up. I get the rind by trimming it off pork chops, which I won't buy if they have been trimmed up. They can freeze until you need them. They add a nice degree of richness. If I'm slow cooking, I leave the carrots, celery and onions in much bigger chunks that I otherwise would. That way they add nice texture.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 01:38 PM

The instant pot duo is also a great way to sterilize your surgical tools, prepare growth medium for mushroom production, sterilize almost anything except for prions (mad cow protein).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 02:03 PM

I remembered some of this discussion last night when most of my small family and a couple of friends were at my house for Thanksgiving dinner. "No one, absolutely NO ONE is to give me one of those multi-cooker things." They asked if this was a xmas list tip. "Yes. You won't find one of those things on my list." It was more of a threat than a non-wish.

The pots and pans and few devices I own each have their own characteristics, and I am not interested in discarding the bulk of these so one thing can take over and do a half-assed job on an assortment of dishes.

I had always thought a rice cooker was overkill, then I started reading what the movie critic and cancer survivor Roger Ebert said about them. He had to get his food through a tube for the last several years of his life, but he was always really focussed on real food. https://priceonomics.com/rice-cookers/. This is just one article about his attitudes, so a few years ago I spent about $50 for a Cuisinart rice cooker that is just what he says, cook and warm, and it has a bonus stainless steel basket that fits over the top for steaming while the rice cooks. I like this because the rice doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan (though in some cultures, "pegau" or singed rice, is a delicacy. My Puerto Rican ex taught us all that you NEVER put the pot in the sink to soak when there is rice stuck burned to the bottom. You scrape out that delicacy and put it on the top of the platter of food.)

The iron skillets are precious for sauteed foods, I have a couple of non-stick pans for other specific things that would be hard on the seasoned finish of the skillets. The stainless deep pot "Dutch oven" has as set of uses (pot roasts, boiling potatoes, soups, etc.) and the deep "chicken fryer" cast iron skillet with the well-fitting lid has others. The deep Cuisinart enameled dutch oven is great for stove-top or oven dishes like pot roasts, stew, etc. The graniteware roaster and the Romertopf clay baker are primarily for roasting chickens, etc. The pressure cooker doesn't get used often, it generally speeds of several of those other tasks already mentioned. I am not convinced that one device can replace all of those and certainly the volume it holds doesn't match all of the other devices.

The rice cooker is perfect for rice and other grains; I add things to it and (for example) have a pot of chicken and rice (isn't that the original comfort food for cultures around the world?) and broccoli or cauliflower steamed to go alongside. I'm not finished exploring the rice cooker, I'm not willing to add another universal device to the kitchen.

/rant off

https://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/the-pot-and-how-to-use-it

No, I am not putting you on the Rice Diet. Eat what you like. I am thinking of you, student in your dorm room. You, solitary writer, artist, musician, potter, plumber, builder, hermit. You, parents with kids. You, night watchman. You, obsessed computer programmer or weary web-worker. You, lovers who like to cook together but don't want to put anything in the oven. You, in the witness protection program. You, nutritional wingnut. You, in a wheelchair.

And you, serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. You, person on a small budget who wants healthy food. You, shut-in. You, recovering campaign worker. You, movie critic at Sundance. You, sex worker waiting for the phone to ring. You, factory worker sick of frozen meals. You, people in Werner Herzog's documentary about life at the South Pole. You, early riser skipping breakfast. You, teenager home alone. You, rabbi, pastor, priest,, nun, waitress, community organizer, monk, nurse, starving actor, taxi driver, long-haul driver. Yes, you, reader of the second-best best-written blog on the internet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 02:41 PM

I don't even know what a rice cooker is. You guys must have very capacious kitchens in which you have room to store all these things.

I cook rice in a non-stick pan with a vented lid. Basmati is the only rice of choice for me unless I'm doing a paella or risotto. The rice goes in the pan and gets two or three rinses with cold water. Drain (I do it roughly, against the edge of the sink). Turn on the ring and boil lots of water in the kettle. Salt the rice (check again later). Put the pan on the high heat and pour in an excess of boiling water. Stir for a minute, get it back to the boil, turn the heat down to a simmer with the lid on and set the timer for exactly twelve minutes from adding the water. Drain well in a sieve or colander - give it a minute. Fluff the rice up with a fork and serve. I really can't be arsed with all this water-measuring and rice-measuring. When I used to do that, decades ago, I got variable, unreliable results. This works every time, though just half a minute of overcooking and the rice won't forgive you. If you really hit the spot with your careful measuring, yours might turn out better than mine, but only very slightly.

Accidentally on purpose, I always cook too much rice. Next day for lunch I melt a knob of butter in a frying pan. Throw in the cooked rice and break it up a bit. Add two or three beaten eggs and a generous amount of cooked peas (anything else you fancy, bacon, mushrooms, ham...). Let the eggs set lightly, stirring gently all the while. Season lightly, put in a bowl and consume while you're watching the one o'clock news. A bit more butter or a squidge of soy sauce is good. It's so comforting that even the latest brexit gloom on the telly won't seem too bad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 03:08 PM

I see I spelled "Creuset" two different ways. I'm working on several other imaginative variants.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 03:17 PM

You STIR your rice during the cooking? That is forbidden in rice cooking circles around here. Not until it is completely cooked is it fluffed before serving. ;-)

Fried rice is a wonderful use of lots of leftovers. I add scrambled eggs at the very end so they don't get too broken up. https://youtu.be/2WJSUVMjNVc The thing they don't mention is that it also comes with an instruction manual, a long list of grains, rice, oats, and more that can be cooked and gives you the proportions. If you're curious, this links the a manuals online source for their rice cooker manuals.

My rice cooker sits on a lower shelf in a small bookcase in the kitchen. That bookcase has two complete shelves of cookbooks and the bottom shelf has the rice cooker, a food processor, and my blender with the glass jar.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 03:34 PM

And I cook basmati rice in a stainless steel saucepan with a glass lid. The lids got a strainer which I find useful.

I think we've tried a few methods of cooking rice but I just use a simple method found on a packet of Tilda Basmati rice. Add about 70-80g rice per person to pan of boiling water. Boil for 12 minutes, drain the water off, put lid on pan and stand for three minutes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 04:07 PM

No, Maggie, just at the very start to make sure the rice and water get nicely mixed and there's nothing stuck to the bottom. Then it's lid on and leave severely alone!

Well said, Jon, tho' three minutes is uncomfortably long: the rice will cook a bit more and might go a bit cleggy. Can we agree on a minute and a half...?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 04:14 PM

And Tilda is a good, reliable brand.

I wouldn't bother scrambling your eggs first, Maggie. Just beat them in a cup and stir into the rice once it's hot in the pan. That way they coat the rice nicely before they set. Mind you, I haven't tried it your way. But you're dirtying another pan, and the worst pans to clean are the ones that eggs have been scrambled in!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 05:21 PM

I don't want the eggs to set in fried rice, I want them to be another loose bit like the pork or chicken and diced vegetables and green onion (scallions) and whatever else happens to appeal to me.

I shop at a Middle Eastern market, where they have massive offerings of rice. I usually buy very long grain Basmati rice and it's nice if I can't read most of the label. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 05:31 PM

Well Steve, 3 minutes (after which I fluff the rice up with a fork) works for me but one should feel free to adapt/adjust as one sees fit...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 06:00 PM

Thank goodness the Bertucci's franchise of Italian family restaurants
has got an entree salad built out of baby arugula greens;
my tummy is now full of fresh crunchy tasty ones.
That way I could get my nutrition and avoid romaine lettuce at the same time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 06:50 PM

Isn't arugula what we call rocket? I like to include a bit of that in any salad. In fact, it grows wild in my garden. Adds a nice bit of spice.

I tend to use home-grown rocket and lettuce in my salads, even at this time of year. I've still got some nice mixed lettuce growing in big pots in a sheltered spot. I'll buy a nice red pepper and some decent cherry tomatoes (mine are finished), cut them up, put them in the bottom of my salad bowl and put in a good tablespoon of my finest Tuscan extra virgin olive oil. I then add a slightly smaller amount of the most expensive, thick, syrupy balsamic vinegar (a bottle lasts me all year). I will not countenance that thin, watery abomination that sells for a couple of quid and totally discredits the name. I then mix that thoroughly with the tomatoes and pepper, and only then put the lettuce and rocket on top. I'll then cover the lot with cling film. I don't mix the lettuce with the dressing until the very last minute as I don't much care for soggy lettuce. There's only one way to toss the salad, and that's to get your two hands in there and enjoy yourself.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 07:02 PM

The Etymology of the Words "Arugula" and "Rocket",
or, why it's called one thing in Northern Europe
and another thing in the Americas

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 07:25 PM

I know the far south of Italy and I've come across "arugula" there. "Eruca" is the botanical Latin name of the genus that includes the plants we call rocket. Unless you're in a posh restaurant that's pretending to appeal to the cognescenti only, it's "rocket" this end. Unfortunately, unless you grow your own (incredibly easy), the rocket we get here in supermarket bags is insipid and just about useless.

I have a couple of lovely recipes that use rocket in a non-salad context. We'll see how it goes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 12:43 AM

Worcestershire indeed, but still correctly pronounced Wooster (the sauce, that is, not the place).
We use a Japanese fuzzy-logic rice cooker that always cooks rice perfectly, whether it’s brown or white, basmati or jasmine, then keeps it hot till you use it.
I’m not that gone on non-stick otherwise. Watch the Storyville episode called Poisoning America, about the largest ever class action to know why.
Made the Guinness stew, it was hearty and was wolfed down. I wouldn’t use housekeeper’s cut for it again, though, didn’t much like the texture.
The next meal when it’s my turn will involve harissa - ‘rose harissa’, the recipe says. I have yet to find an affordable source.
By the way, a couple of years ago I asked the checkout person in a local Polish or Moldovan shop (and you can feck off, Hillary Clinton, telling Europe to “control immigration”) what the great big bunches of dill sold there in winter were used for. The answer was borscht, with pork ribs, beetroot, onions and dill.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 07:54 AM

Well the "controversial" device came today. With the jiggling around I need to do to find it a permanent home, it's likely to be a few days before I get to trying anything on it though.

Coming back to points raised. Its ability with meat (which seems to be the most questioned) isn't an issue here. On the other hand (as well as veg soup) if I could find a few recipes on the nut/chickpea/lentil stew/casserole lines (all missing from the bits I do here now but sometimes feel I ought...) that suit it, I think from my side of things at home, it will justify its existence. Pip may also have her own ideas...

For really fancy btw, has anyone enountered a thermomix. I believe very expensive (£1000+) things that are supposed to do everything from the measuring to the cooking?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 08:50 AM

"supposed to do everything from the measuring to the cooking?"

Wouldn't that take all the pleasure out of cooking?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 09:17 AM

I guess that depends on the cook and time available to fit cooking in life, Jos.

For my personal part, I'm not one who particularly enjoys cooking and does't mind short cuts. I do of course aim, with a very basic repertoire, to produce things that are enjoyed by the family (and, even with my ways, did seem to pass that with visiting family from oz; and brother there can be quite a serious cook when he wants to be)...

Even got praise for my cauliflower cheese from a niece and I do nothing special. Just use a strong cheddar, cut the cauli into larger chunks than say Pip would, leaving more stalk and keep a careful watch on when the veg is cooked (I think it can turn quite quickly from nice and still a bit crisp to soggy, but maybe that's just me...).

So I suppose that all makes me lazy but tries in some ways...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 10:35 AM

Years ago I found a set of recipes in Martha Stewart Living magazine that I started using regularly. I always baked salmon, but her simple salmon steak sauteed in butter won me over, as did the new potatoes that were simmered in water until tender, slightly cooled, then "smashed" enough to split the skins and lower their profile. Those patties of softened potato are then placed in a skillet with butter and turned once and served with salt and fresh ground pepper. All of those little crispy edges of skin (I like this with red or Yukon potatoes, the ones that are a little more waxy). Sometimes I sprinkle chives over the top. I don't remember what Martha called those potatoes, but my son and his girlfriend make "smashed potatoes" all of the time, and when I asked what it was he told me it was the ones I'd been making and he added the standardized name.

Today on Pati's Mexican Kitchen (a PBS cooking program) she made a very elaborate version and she calls them smashed potatoes - using different colors of new potatoes for the variety, and then she puts them on an olive oiled pan, smashes them slightly with a spoon and spoons olive oil and various seasonings and peppers over the top and bakes it all. My sauteed in butter version is quicker and easier, but the point of describing this is that as a comfort food goes, those little potatoes are a family favorite.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 10:42 AM

Thinking smash, anyone heard of "stwnsh"? It's a Welsh word and can be qualified but from my childhood, I'd eg. be thinking of potatoes and swede mashed together here.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Nov 18 - 07:19 PM

I encountered a thermomix which was on display at a food fair about a year ago. Very sophisticated and very expensive. I'll tell you what. I love cooking, though I'm not that good at it. I like to get my hands in there, to do my own chopping, grinding, mixing and timing. I don't need a machine to sort out my cooking. I need a hob, an oven, some good pans and the finest ingredients I can lay my hands on.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 03:06 AM

And to clarify, just in case. I think there is room for more than one approach to cooking and do respect the efforts of those, including a brother, who may take a more dedicated approach.

I suppose “wrong” to me is more about total dependency on microwave meals and takeways. I can see that infirmities can make cooking difficult or impossible (and to some degree, even see that with Pip), can see that there can be the odd day where you simply fancy say fish and chips from the local takeaway, but I become more baffled by the not knowing how to do anything angles. (But Peter/dad was a bit like that. His upbringing was such that a kitchen was purely a woman’s place… We on the other hand were expected to help mum out a little which at least left us with some basics to use if needed).

I must admit though that even I am a bit undecided over the Thermomix – can there be a taking automation too far? - I don’t know. That and perhaps even I will find the pressure/multi cooker a bit strange to start with. I’m more of the “take a few veg from what’s around, taste, try a bit of this, etc.” variety than one for precise weights and measures in advance…

...At least mostly. Another gadget we have is a (Panasonic now and the best we’ve had by far) breadmaker and, while you might try, eg. an extra ½ tsp of salt, a few more ml of water, etc. to get to your ideal, I think you do need to be quite accurate with your measurements there.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 04:09 AM

Even more OT but for those who might use a breadmaker, the things I like about this Panasonic are:

1. "Repeatability". I don't understand all the wherefores but this one produces the most consistent "same loaf each time" of the ones we've had.

2. Others have needed water first and you sort of "balance" other ingredients, starting with the flour, on top. With this one, the water goes in last and it mixes things up before adding the yeast (which goes in it's own slot) after the other bits have had a stir. Perhaps this helps towards getting more consistent results?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 05:09 AM

The salt in bread making isn't just for flavour. Too much, and the dough won't rise properly and the bread will be very dense. Too little, and the dough will rise too much, be very light and fluffy, and seem to be trying to climb out of the top of the tin.
PS. I have never used a breadmaker so I don't know what the effect would be in one of those.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 05:26 AM

I think the principle is the same there, Jos. As far as I understand it, as well as taste, sugar can increase rising and salt restrict rising.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 05:45 AM

Well, Jon, I'll admit to also possessing a Panasonic bread maker. We've had it for around twelve years now and I echo your remarks about repeatability. Actually, all we ever use it for is to make ciabatta loaves (the ones with 500g of strong white flour and extra virgin olive oil) and a 2/3-to-1/3 wholemeal 500g loaf. After many years I discovered that you don't need to add Vitamin C at all. I like the fact that you have control over the quality of the flour (always organic this end) and the amount of salt (I cut it down by about a third). The bread is much better than any shop bread, though I'm the first to admit that using the thing might be regarded as cheating!

I have found that I get a more homogeneous consistency in the finished article if I put the yeast in the pan but mix all the other dry ingredients thoroughly in a bowl first. That goes in on top of the yeast, then in go the oil/butter and finally the water.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 06:15 AM

Years ago, probably in the 1970s, I was invited to one of those sales parties where there was a demonstration of a breadmaker and they tried to sign people up for a regular supply of their flour and their 'special secret ingredient' that speeded up the process. The secret ingredient was vitamin C, but they didn't tell you that (or you would have known you didn't need to buy into their regular supply).
I didn't buy it anyway - a long rising improves the flavour of the bread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 06:28 AM

Flour, I'm not sure it's all organic but I do like the stuff from the localish Leatheringsett watermill (and their outlets).

Jos, I can't know how the machine compares to traditionally home baked loaves (have tried a couple but not say your regular white or whatever loaf) but do believe that it can be easy to better a shop bought (and I'm not just thinking Mothers Pride or whatever cheap sliced loaf) loaf with one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 07:51 AM

Nowt wrong with Mother's Pride for a chip butty...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 07:54 AM

I agree there...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 09:54 AM

I was given a bread machine years ago and thought it was a silly specialized piece of equipment, but I set out to master it and I use mine regularly still. It's a large-capacity one manufactured by Welbilt, in this case sold by another company that branded it. But it's a round 3-pound loaf and when you bake the loaf in the machine you end up with round or half-circle shaped sandwiches and such and that shape seems to dry out fast.

I started using it on the manual setting all of the time now and when it finishes mixing and kneading I remove the dough, shape it and bake it in a regular loaf pan. I make rolls, pizza dough, and more, letting the machine do the initial mixing and I use it after the first rise.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 10:36 AM

That does sound a big loaf, SRS. The most ours will take flour wise (and what I usually use - it will do smaller ones) is 600g/ around 1.3lbs and that seems to me a fairly large loaf.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 01:02 PM

They take about four cups of flour, sometimes a little more.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 04:25 PM

I've found the 500g loaf ideal for most things. The 600g job rises triumphantly above the top of the pan, and the slices are too tall for me toaster!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 05:55 PM

I'm preparing to make my famous banana nut bread that was baked in regular bread loaf pans when I had the kids here devouring it. Now I make loaves in smaller artisanal-style pans that are given to friends who live alone or have just a partner at home now. They don't need all of those calories. It's a quick bread with baking soda and I use a lot of extra bananas so it's more cake-like. I bake the pecans so they give off that warm maple-like flavor and I use butter instead of shortening or oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 06:47 PM

Mrs Steve does amazing banana bread out of bananas that are going a bit past it. We can't do nuts as she's seriously allergic to walnuts.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Nov 18 - 09:11 PM

On Thursday evening (Thanksgiving) I put the entire roasted turkey back into the fridge and pulled it out to get slices for meals; tonight I cut it apart and have the stock simmering. It's just too much to prepare for the meal and do all of the cutting up and soup on the same night. The pot is cooling a little before I pull out the bones and skin, strain the broth, and use that for making soup tomorrow.

For the banana bread, the bananas I'll be using were at the over-ripe state and then I froze them one or two at a time and they're finishing defrosting in the fridge now. I'll make a double batch of batter that will add up to probably six small loaves.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 05:47 AM

I cut the 600g loaf from this one lengthways these days before slicing. I know that leaves you with bread with only 3 sides of crust that might not appeal to many but for our purposes at home it does give 2 loaves of a size everyone is happy with out of one run of the machine.

Our toaster btw, seems quite shallow to me. It's wide and will do crumpets nicely but in terms of shop bought loaves, is more suited to a smaller Hovis brown than much larger.
---
Pip was another who did a banana bread, using fruit past their best. Parent's loved it but I'm not sure it was one of my favourites.
--
Shame about the walnuts. Pip used to do a very nice date and walnut loaf. Seems a long while since it was last made though.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 10:35 AM

I make almost all the bread we eat at home. I've been running a sourdough experiment for several months now, but I recently decided that it's not worth the trouble with just two of us, and only Himself eating more than a slice per day. Also, I have so far failed to produce a wholemeal loaf that I like using the sourdough method. So I'm (reluctantly) going back to active dry yeast.

Disposing of the sourdough culture (its name is Fred) feels like shooting the family dog. I hate the idea, but it must be done.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 10:50 AM

Maybe you could give the sourdough culture to a friend or neighbour, like finding the dog a new home.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 11:37 AM

Agreed - I bet you can find a taker for the next stage of your experiment. :)

My broth is ready to use - with as much turkey as is here I'm going to make a dense turkey pot pie stew with some of it and freeze the extra broth.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 02:39 PM

White sourdough is the best white bread I've ever tasted, my starter is over 10 years old now, it never fails.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 26 Nov 18 - 02:41 PM

Incidently I've tried sourdough wholemeal and sourdough rye and I'm distinctly very dissapointed with both.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 07:08 AM

Thompson I do believe I would enjoy beet root prepared your way.
I have had such an aversion to beets as a result of having to eat Borsch as a kid.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 07:13 AM

I love beetroot and devour it with relish but I have to make a pact with myself not to look down the toilet for the next 24 hours.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 01:19 PM

I love white sourdough bread, but my digestion does not. If I'm going to eat bread more than occasionally, it really has to be whole-grain. A batch of brown is under construction as I type.

Beetroot is great stuff. I like to include it in a batch of roasted veg, with Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, celery root and parsnips, flavoured with shallots, garlic and thyme. The carrots and beets usually have to be parboiled, but it's a small nuisance. Around here, we can get beets in every hue produced by beta-carotene, from pale yellow to darkest crimson. Golden beets are just as delicious as the red kind, but don't result in pink pee.

Just sayin'.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 01:34 PM

I have shifted over the years to giving as many consumable gifts as possible, made at home. This year I've canned both pickled okra and mustang grape jelly and last night I made seven small loaves of banana nut bread that are now wrapped and in the freezer.

I recently send my son and my sister pickled okra, but neither is sure they'll like it, so my advice has been to wait until they have guests over to open the jar. Try it themselves and see if they like it. If not, chances are someone at the gathering will know what it is and like it and they can send the rest home with them. It keeps in the fridge for a long time so they can try that trick at parties all through the holiday season until it's eaten or given away.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 03:42 PM

Aaah, back to the beets. I used to strongly dislike beet foods until I got together with Lady Hillary. She has made a convert of me. She cuts the beets up fine, then boils them and adds a few spices, finishing up with an immersion blender. We make the batch large enough to store in a couple of quart size Chinese Tupperware containers. We generally serve it cold with home made yogurt instead of sour cream [shades of my grandmother].

A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving I made up a batch of leek and potato soup. The problem I had with it was that it resisted taste. No matter what spices I added to it [again, the batch size gave us three quarts for the fridge] it was determinedly bland. Hot sauce, curry, chili sauce no effect.

For Thanksgiving Lady Hillary made up a butternut squash soup that, for its final heating got some ginger and garlic [both fresh]. Delightful.

This weekend we had sweet potato fries at a barbecue restaurant. It came with a dusting of brown sugar that was very good. There was something in the taste which suggested that a bit of finely chopped ginger would go well with it. That will get a try in the next few days.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 27 Nov 18 - 04:12 PM

Sometimes when food is just too bland, what it needs as well as other flavours is a little salt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 29 Nov 18 - 09:19 PM

Unless I want edema, I avoid salt.
This morning, we had home made latkes [potato pancakes] with peach compote[also homemade].

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 29 Nov 18 - 11:14 PM

Unfortunately we have no Mustang Grapes in these parts.
As for wild Tarts, I don't know.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 30 Nov 18 - 06:23 AM

Chocolate digestive bisuits topped with slices of mature chedar cheese...

and a mug of strong black tea [leave the teabag in]...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Nov 18 - 06:30 AM

If food is too bland it could be that you're either leaving out something vital or you're using lesser-quality ingredients. The latter is why shop ready-meals are so high in salt. I always think that there's a "right" amount of salt for any recipe. To cure blandness, my first resort is fresh herbs and/or a tiny splash of Tabasco, maybe a bit more black pepper, depending. The Italians do it right when they start a ragu or a soup with a soffritto made with chopped onions, carrots and celery sautéed in extra-virgin olive oil. For a meat sauce, I add a bit of chopped-up pancetta to that for richness and savour. My chili meat sauce and bolognese always start like that. I find that slow-cooked meat dishes such as ragus and pot roasts are the very devil to judge for salt while you're actually cooking them, and they always taste different once they've stood for a few hours. Start low with your salt. You can always up it later on.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Nov 18 - 06:31 AM

I'm just wondering how you can dunk a choccie biscuit with a slab of cheese on top...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 30 Nov 18 - 07:16 AM

not that I'll be eating them, Fun and festival treats or even making them, but they look good & someone might like to add them to their recipe library

sandra (not a sweet tooth)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 30 Nov 18 - 07:37 AM

Steve - I'm not a dunker..

but guess a solution could be a tightly held sandwich of TWO chocolate digestives
with twice as much cheese in the middle...

chocolate facing inwards...???

I'm not a coffee drinker.. but that might dunk quite nicely in white coffe with a mountain of sugar stirred in...???


[remembering a once a week grammer school dinner from the early 70s..
pudding was coffee, loads of sugar, cheddar chunks, and an apple..]

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Nov 18 - 08:17 AM

I do like a can-do bloke, pfr...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 30 Nov 18 - 10:38 PM

Thai chili sauce disappeared with nary a twinge of the taste buds. We generally limit our salt intake because of my sensitivity to it. If there is some salt in a spice I will chance it but go easy.
If we can taste salt as saltiness it is definitely too much.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 01 Dec 18 - 04:54 AM

Are mustang grapes the same as scuppernong, which I’ve read about but never seen?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Dec 18 - 11:54 AM

No, and they aren't the same as muscadine, either, though I've heard of them in the region.

http://palatepress.com/2010/06/wine/wine-indigenous-american-grape-varieties-a-primer/

Of the six native species that had been growing in North America long before European settlers arrived, some may sound more familiar than others: rotundifolia (muscadine), aestivalis (summer grape), riparia (frost grape), labrusca (fox grape), mustangensis (Mustang grape), and rupestris (sand grape). Over the last hundred years some interest has been given to this rowdy and uncouth bunch of American species. While these grapes are not as widely cultivated or commercialized as vinifera varieties, they do show potential for making enjoyable wines and deserve to be recognized.

The author of the article later dismisses our little Texas grape:

Vitis mustangensis has little to no redeeming commercial qualities. Limited in habitat to Texas, Oklahoma, and parts of Louisiana the mustang grape is highly acidic and bitter in taste. Simply handling the grapes can irritate the skin.

The bit about irritating the skin is true. The first time I picked them it was with bare hands and my hands really smarted after a while. I wear vinyl gloves when I work with them now. The remarkable thing about these grapes with their big seeds and thick tough skins is that they still manage to produce a wonderful rich dark pink/red juice and it's perfect for a sweet/tart jelly. If you've ever tasted tamarind or tamarindo, they are sweet and tart in the same way.

I like the jelly on toast, on baking powder biscuits, and I often will heat some in a small custard cup in the microwave and use it as syrup over pancakes. I think you could use it in place of cranberry sauce in a pinch.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Dec 18 - 12:06 PM

At last, a second good reason to visit Texas. I'd love to try your mustang grape jelly.

Himself and I are going out for dinner tonight, to the Stratford Chef School, where the students are staging "Escoffier at the Ritz". It's an eight-course (!) extravaganza in the Belle Époque style, definitely not the sort of thing we could get at home.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Dec 18 - 12:28 PM

You are more than welcome to come for a visit - the guest room is (remarkably!) clear. The rest of the house, not so much. But when one has grown children who might stop by and you want them to stay for a little while if they can, the guest room is ready.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Dec 18 - 07:14 AM

Ox-cheek ragú last night, a la Jamie Oliver-ish (I'm no slave to recipes). Very cheap, tough, sinewy meat in great big hunks, braised for four hours in red wine, passata and porcini water with onions, carrots, celery, garlic (bashed, never abused by a garlic crusher) a few strips of smoked pancetta and a big bunch of fresh herbs (and a pinch or two of spices). It makes enough sauce both to use as gravy with mashed potato and veg and the chunks of ludicrously-tender meat (that's tonight) and for a goodly portion to stir into fettuccine with some of the diced beef, topped with freshly grated Parmesan and a dash of the best extra virgin olive oil (that was last night). Cucina povera!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 02 Dec 18 - 07:20 AM

I know I'm late doing this but this morning has seen the Christmas cake being mixed and it's now in the oven for over 4 hours.

It weights in excess of 5lb so we will have a fair bit to go at over the festive season!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Dec 18 - 08:33 AM

I got the accent on "ragù" the wrong way round. I knew something wasn't right. The actual ragù is very fine, however.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Dec 18 - 10:28 AM

So you really don't need someone to fix it because it gives you a chance to admire the sauce. :)

This "christmas cake" creature - is this what we Yanks call "fruit cake?" A very large cake that lasts as long as it seems to need to last, when a "normal" cake would be stale after a week, must be a different kind of baked good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 02 Dec 18 - 10:35 AM

Mustang jelly
You better slow that mustang down

Christmas cake has fruit, nuts, eggs, flour, sugar, spices and lots of alcohol. When my father made it the whole house reeked of whiskey from October to January.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 02 Dec 18 - 10:51 AM

A nice flying haggis last night: aka chicken Balmoral. Basically a chicken breast casserole but topped with slices of haggis and some whisky or Drambuie in the sauce. You can try wrapping the chicken breasts around the haggis,but it always worms its way out!
And save your best single malt for drinking: any old blend will do in the sauce - well almost!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 02 Dec 18 - 03:03 PM

Tattie Bogle, the simple use of two cocktail stick through the chicken and black pudding may help to keep everything in place.








.............. or you could fall back on the Glasgow trick and dip it in batter and deep fry ..............





I'll get me coat

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 03 Dec 18 - 03:14 AM

a "normal" cake would be stale after a week

A sponge cake might be stale after a week, but a fruit cake improves with a bit of keeping. Especially if fed with small doses of liquor at weekly intervals.

And yes, a "Christmas cake" is essentially a rich fruit cake, decorated appropriately.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Dec 18 - 03:28 AM

In my day a Christmas cake was iced with about a centimetre thick layer of marzipan, covered by hard white sugar icing, decorated like a Roman temple. Not so much nowadays when we’re all influenced by German and Polish customs.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 03 Dec 18 - 04:55 AM

Christmas cake is traditionally made on the last Sunday in November to give it several weeks to mature. Every member of the household has a turn stirring the mixture and making a wish.
I used to ice the cake with a vaguely flat covering of white icing, a small model fir tree, and footsteps in the 'snow' made with a silver charm of a boot. (Must do it again sometime.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 08:31 AM

Tried the beets under the chicken with vegetables recipe. The carrots and all were good but beets are still to 'earthy' for me.

The leftover red sauce may be a good violin stain with varnish but may not be color fast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 09:03 AM

Yes, fruitcake. I'm a week late starting ours, but I'll get going this afternoon. It's a two-day process in which the fruit macerates overnight in brandy (or other hooch) and the juice of two lemons and two oranges.

I don't ice it: that's not the Canadian style. (Fruitcake is the only thing that's naked at Christmas in Ontario.) Also, the fondant-marzipan icing is very fiddly to make and apply, not to mention expensive (the price of almond paste these days!), and it doesn't travel well, especially in the mail.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Dec 18 - 06:55 PM

Grand Marine' or Drambuie is my choice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 05 Dec 18 - 02:43 AM

Sailor Jerry rum in my cookbook.

While we're on the subject, a good addition to fruit salad is a 50:50 mix of Archer's peach schnapps and Southern Comfort. Just enough to moisten, not marinade!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Dec 18 - 10:31 AM

By the time it's in a fruitcake, any old rum'll do, BobL.

A nice but misguided person once gave me a bottle of Red Label Johnny Walker. The stuff is undrinkable, but it was boffo in fruitcake.

I agree with you on the subject of Southern Comfort in a fruit salad, but we don't eat fruit salad often enough to justify the purchase of an entire bottle of Southern Comfort. I have no experience of Archer's peach schnapps, which may not be available in Ontario.

Tonight's supper will be my sister-in-law's vegetarian lasagne. Himself came home with rather a lot of striploin steak the other day (bin-end sale at the butcher, I gather), so a veg-heavy dish feels like a good idea. It's remarkably like a normal lasagne, but with no meat in the sauce; you could feed it to your lacto-ovo vegetarian teenager without incident. It has three kinds of cheese, though, so the calorie count is not inconsiderable.

And it makes six servings, so that's dinner tonight and two days' worth of lunch.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 06 Dec 18 - 09:47 AM

A nice alcoholic dessert is made by soaking porridge oats in whiskey and honey then whipping in cream just before serving it. Don't give the driver any.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 02:31 AM

Charmion, any old rum will do for any old fruitcake.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 09:40 AM

Okay, BobL, point taken. You can't expect good results if you don't use good ingredients.

That said, I still insist that fruitcake (any old fruitcake) is a suitable destination for Red Label Johnny Walker.

Thompson, I believe the dessert you describe is Atholl Brose. I have an elderly cookbook called "The Scots Kitchen"; its version of the recipe calls for the finely ground oatmeal that I know as "pinhead" oats. Is that what you mean by porridge oats?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 10:46 AM

Richard Wade
known to his friends as Dick Wad has been named Ass. Deputy to Facebook public relations to change minds instead of changing Facebook.


Some recipes will always taste bad no matter what you think about them.
Like Sticky Bitter Bottom Buns, changing the name won't help until you change the recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 05:57 PM

There used to be a retail shop north of Harvard Square,
in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
called "Atholl Brose."
It stocked everything Scottish
and provided access to a tailor
who could custom-fit you for a kilt.

They had a shelf of books, some written in Scots,
like "The Shriek of the Maws."

I don't recall that they sold food, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 06:21 PM

"I don't recall that they sold food, though"

What, not even haggis?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 07:47 PM

We've had salmon arrabbiata tonight. I basically follow Gino d'Acampo's recipe but not slavishly.

For two people you need some fresh keta or sockeye salmon, not tinned, about 300g. Take off the skin (easiest when the salmon is half-thawed). Cut the fish into 1cm dice.

Put your pasta on to boil in salted water. I use pennone rigate for this. I'm not too keen on those little penne tubes but suit yourself.

In the meantime sautée gently two sliced cloves of garlic (do NOT crush) and your own personal predilection of dried chilli flakes in a pan of extra virgin olive oil. The dish is supposed to be pretty spicy so don't hang back too much. After a few minutes add at least one can of plum tomatoes. Only the best will do. I usually add a few more plus a goodly dollop of sun dried tomato paste. At the same time add a good handful of chopped fresh parsley and some seasoning. Let that lot simmer uncovered for a few minutes (or you can make the sauce in advance, which is what I did tonight).

Two minutes before the pasta is ready, turn the heat up a tad under the sauce and throw in the salmon, heat it through for a minute or two then turn off the heat. Have faith, the fish is perfectly cooked. Drain the pasta (keeping a cupful of the water) and toss into the sauce. Mix well, adding a bit of pasta water if needed, and serve. No Parmesan on fish (a mortal sin in Italy). A goodly drizzle of your finest extra virgin olive oil on top is paramount, as it is on most pasta dishes and pizzas. This dish is so quick and easy, and it couldn't be healthier. And it's utterly delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Dec 18 - 07:53 PM

Dammit, I should have said that you need around four tablespoons of olive oil. Also, you can use diced chicken breast instead of salmon, though you do need to stir-fry it for a minute or two before adding to the sauce. Not hard, though, is it!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 10:24 AM

I think I’ll be helping to make a nut roast early next week. My parents had decided on stuffed butternut squash halves from Tesco for the main part of their Christmas dinner. There were a lot of problems with the Tesco Christmas order which also included a bit of turkey for me. It started with the butternut squash item being “unavailable” on the first day Tesco opened their Christmas area and after the order finally got placed, it got wiped by a regular grocery order and all the Christmas delivery booking slots had gone for another attempt at ordering.

Anyway, after some debate, we decided to go for something home made instead and have opted to try this nut loaf which I think looks good. The deal is that I will get all the ingredients prepared and laid out. Pip will then take over. The plan is to freeze until Christmas eve/day.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 10:34 AM

"Keta" is also called "dog salmon" up in the Northwest and Alaska. Go with the sockeye, or go home. It doesn't have nearly as much flavor or color. It's okay if you don't have anything else, but if you have a choice, go with sockeye.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 11:01 AM

I've tried 2 meals in the multi cooker so far, both slow cook.

The first, a sort of red lentil, chick pea and carrot stew came out well. The recipe I based it on called for pasta at a later stage but, not having any, I tipped some arborio rice in and gave the mix about a 15 minute quick cook on "stew" instead. It was popular enough to be asked to do it again.

I started an attempt at a spicy/curry veg meal in the early hours of this morning (couldn't sleep). I've got this one quite wrong. The veg (potato, carrots, parsnip and sprouts) have cooked OK but I've wound up with way too much, rather insipid liquid. I knew there would be no evaporation but the veg themselves seem to have added somewhat to the liquid. I think I'm going to have to try to rescue this one using a pan on the cooker and aim to be wiser next time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 12:13 PM

I agree about the salmon, and keta is lower in those omega-3 oils as well. I didn't have enough sockeye. But actually keta is fine in the arrabbiata, I promise you, and it's much cheaper this end. When I have sockeye I want it nicely seasoned and fried in butter, skin side down to start with, with home-made oven chips (parboiled unpeeled wedges, roughed up, coated in groundnut oil and roasted for 20 minutes in a fierce oven), tenderstem broccoli and some oven-roasted cherry tomatoes with basil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 04:58 PM

I have dried ghost pepper. Anyone ever use it?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Joe_F
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 06:05 PM

Tonight it will be lamburger, Sicilian spinach, rutabaga, tea, & icecream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Dec 18 - 08:50 PM

I've been on my own today and have got pissed off with one thing and another, so I did meself a trough of comfort food tonight which I scoffed out of a huge bowl in front of a repeat of Chas & Dave's Christmas special on the telly.

You need a fairly small roasting tin or Pyrex dish if it's just for one. Oil it well.

Boil about 350g waxy potatoes, unpeeled, for about twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, take about 75g pancetta or streaky bacon (unsmoked for me, but hey) and cut the rashers into inch-long pieces. Grate about 50g Parmesan. Take about 150g of a melting cheese. Gruyere, fontina, mozzarella or taleggio will all fit the bill, though, as I didn't have any of those, I used provolone dolce. Cut the cheese into small slices.

Drain the spuds, let them cool slightly then slice them up. Put the spuds into the bottom of your oiled roasting dish. Insert the pieces of cheese and bacon roughly into the spud layer. Sprinkle with the grated parmesan, making sure that there's a bit left to go on top. Finally, sprinkle a hood dollop of olive oil on top.

Bake for about 30 minutes at about 180C.

I ate mine with some peas as I needed the vitamins. Lovely it was.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 09 Dec 18 - 09:14 AM

I’ve just been looking at an earlier comment about keeping metal utensils away from cookware.

I admit to damaging one stainless steel pan with a potato masher but I guess I accepted I was going to do that and I don’t use that one for things that stick. I’ve tried with the others but, eg. with last set of visiting family, I did a sort of “self service” from the pans. I put a couple of plastic ones out but they were swapped for metal ones, etc. and Pip is the type who can grab the nearest object to hand even if that means a metal knife vs a non stick frying pan (which now is the only thing I have that is non stick coated).

Anyway, she’s asked me to replace some wooden tools for her Christmas present from me (likely to be more used by me but if that’s what she wants I don’t argue) so I’ve bought a set of wooden handled ones with silicon tools and a couple of silicon desert spoons. I’m not sure whether that will help lead to more care but time will tell.

Favourite pan (if a less dedicated type is allowed to have such things) btw is a 16cm Vogue Tri wall (aluminium sandwiched between stainless steel) one which I use for gravy and sauces. It seems to heat more evenly that the Judge ones and less likely to stick (not that I’ve had major problems cleaning the others). I didn’t get a lid (metal and sold separately) for this one but retained a glass lid from an older discarded saucepan that is a good fit if needed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 10 Dec 18 - 06:14 AM

Charmion, I tried that whiskey-honey-cream-oatmeal thing with pinhead oatmeal one time but found it vaguely gritty. I just use the ordinary oatmeal you make porridge with.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Dec 18 - 10:53 AM

Thompson, from its other recipes, I gather that The Scots Kitchen considers vague grittiness to be a feature, not a bug. Its recipe for haggis is fit to fright the French, containing as it does items that are not legal for sale in Ontario.

I have come down with bronchitis and, if it goes the way it usually does, I will lose all olfactory function within the next 24 to 48 hours. During the taste-free days, I will live on tea and toast.

Now that we live in beautiful, leafy Stratford, Ontario, we are within shouting distance of a genuine grist mill that still produces whole-meal flour. Our bread game, always of a high standard, has consequently gone up yet another notch. I make a 100%-whole-wheat sandwich loaf that is, if not to die for, certainly something to live on. Made with flour from the Arva mill, it has a nutty flavour and a firm (but not stodgy) texture that is delicious when fresh and just magnificent as toast. I got great results with standard commercial flour (Robin Hood "Best For Bread"), but the stone-ground flour is notably better.

If I bake today, while still compos mentis, I might survive to next week ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 12 Dec 18 - 11:01 AM

Tonight, something quick and simple - fried turkey meatballs and new potatoes with a good dollop of butter.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Dec 18 - 11:57 AM

The best kind of meal possible - whatever is served - an invitation from the neighbor next door to join her for (in this instance) pot roast after helping her with some yard work.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 13 Dec 18 - 12:12 AM

A favourite Ozzie Christmas treat is made from a commercially-made dark fruit cake. Break up the cake in a bowl and stir in enough sherry (or orange juice if serving it to kids) to make it pliable enough to roll into balls somewhere between a walnut and a golf ball in size. Drizzle melted white chocolate or white icing on top, and decorate with bits of red and green lollies/candy/sweets, depending where in the world you live. Serve in paper cases - they look like mini Chrissie puds.

A plate of these makes a nice gift, if you are into edible givings.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 13 Dec 18 - 04:46 AM

Scots? Wha? Hey!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Dec 18 - 11:42 AM

Salmon was brined overnight and is now in the smoker out on the front porch. This is for a friend, who brought the fish over here because I have the smoker.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Dec 18 - 03:14 PM

We just had a Sunday dinner on a Friday. I like this idea - a fine meal, good company, and no driving at night.

Here's the main dish: Trim the obvious fat from a beef chuck roast, then place it in a slow cooker. Place whole cranberries all over the top surface of the beef. Cook 8 to 10 hours on low, till tender. Let cool some, then put in fridge overnight.

Next day, remove fat. Slice meat, warm in oven. Just before dining, add 1 tsp molasses to the sauce. Optional: add 1/4 tsp cinnamon to the sauce. Serve with noodles.
===========
Notes: I like to use a slow-cooker liner for easier cleanup.
Use the rest of the molasses to make gingerbread, ginger cookies and BBQ sauce. Some people put butter and molasses on pancakes, too.

After dinner, we played music in the living room.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 15 Dec 18 - 07:34 PM

Scots wha hae leftovers tae use up: Random Scran
Piece of previously cooked cod loin, sprouts, leeks, cauliflower (all also previously cooked!) Baked beans, requested by grandchildren for THEIR tea but hardly ate a random few.
Throw randomly on plate, grate strong cheddar cheese over the whole lot equally randomly.
Randomly select 2 minutes on random poweer setting (full) on microwave and zap!
Haute cuisine!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 16 Dec 18 - 05:20 AM

Leeneia, if you ever cook for me, could I ask you just to leave the fat on my share, PLEASE

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 16 Dec 18 - 06:00 AM

What's a slow cooker liner?

Horror story in the Guardian: unsold human food, still in its plastic packaging, is routinely thrown into the mix while making animal food, meaning that meat eaters may be harmed by the plastic the animals ingest and digest.

"More than 650,000 tonnes of unused food, from loaves of bread to Mars bars, are saved from landfill each year in the UK by being turned into animal feed. The system that strips off the plastic wrappings can’t capture it all, and so in the UK a limit of 0.15% of plastic is allowed by the Food Standards Agency. The official EU level for plastic permitted in animal feed is zero although in reality many other countries operate within the same 0.15% limit."

Meanwhile, I made borscht last night: chopped onions and beetroots, belly of pork (I'd thought those strips in the freezer were spare ribs…), celery and a big bunch of dill, and a chopped-up cabbage at the end; stock. It was tasty, but I think I'd put in the cabbage earlier and chop it finer in future, and maybe grate the beetroots before cooking them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 16 Dec 18 - 06:00 AM

None of this foreign muck.

We've booked into the Balti House for Christmas,

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 16 Dec 18 - 11:44 PM

Hi, Thompson. A slow-cooker liner is a tough bag of some clear, synthetic material that withstands high heat. that you put in the slow cooker to keep food from getting cooked on to the ceramic. It saves a lot of scrubbing.

It is made by Reynolds, the company which makes aluminum foil and Reynolds Oven Bags.
==========
when my mother-in-law turned 70, she announced that she was not going to cook anymore. She had cooked for 50 years and was sick of it. I didn't want to follow her example, so I asked myself how I could make cooking more fun.

I decided that I like cooking but dislike cleaning up, so I decided to buy four things:

Reynolds Oven Bags
Reynolds Slow Cooker bags
parchment paper to put under roasting meats
disposable gloves for handling icky things.

I don't often use the gloves, but occasionally they are truly worth it. For example when yanking the purple gobbets out of a raw chicken.

If anybody comments that I am using up natural resources, I can tell them that I drive an 11-year-old car, I have no television, no cable, no boat...on balance I figure I can spoil myself a little.

Another thing I did is buy two cartons of Rubbermaid storage boxes. They stack nicely and are tough.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 17 Dec 18 - 01:37 AM

If you never wash up you are saving on detergent and using less fuel to heat water, so you can set them against the plastic waste (just make sure those bags and gloves don't end up in the sea).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Dec 18 - 04:37 AM

I browned a cheap hunk of brisket in my Le Creuset, set it aside, put some strips of pancetta into the pan to render, added chunks of carrot, celery and onion, fried for ten minutes, added a mug full of porcini water along with the chopped fungus, added a glass of red wine which I'd boiled and burned the alcohol from, a bit of seasoning and a bunch of fresh herbs, put the brisket back in and left it in a slow oven for thee hours. I had to hurry up so as not to miss the Liverpool kickoff. Delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Dec 18 - 10:14 AM

I have a low-power 1-quart crockpot I like to set up overnight to cook my oatmeal for the day or enough for a few days (it reheats well). I forgot the crockpot so I'll slow-cook it in a saucepan on the stove, into which I chop up figs or dates or throw in a handful of raisins, trying to not burn cereal onto the bottom of the pan.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 17 Dec 18 - 01:54 PM

Thanks, Leenia. I use rubber gloves for icky and sticky things, like taking the skins off roast peppers, but I'm afraid I just use the same ones I use for washing up the pots and things that don't go in the dishwasher. I had a pair of 'dirty jobs' rubber gloves for anything germy and non-food, but the demon puppy Oscar seems to have found and destroyed them; must get a new pair.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: SamStone
Date: 17 Dec 18 - 03:32 PM

being diabetic because of Agent Orange (and i don't mean trump) lots of salmon and steamed veggies

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 01:41 PM

Back to our roots - bratwurst and sauerkraut. We indulged in fresh bratwurst shipped by Usinger's in Milwaukee and cooked it right away. Then we put it in the deep freeze.

To precook: poke sausage in several places with a sharp fork. Put in a skillet with water halfway up the sides. Bring water to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Turn sausage over after 15 mins. Simmer for maybe 30 mins. Freeze.

To prepare: Place brats in heavy saucepan. Rinse sauerkraut and spread over brats. Sprinkle with caraway seeds. Add 1/4 water or white wine. Simmer till heated through.

You can eat it on a bun or not, as you prefer. Have chopped onion and good mustard on hand.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Dec 18 - 02:06 PM

42nd anniversary so we're having steak, home-made oven chips (par-boiled in salty water then baked very hot in groundnut oil), broad beans from the freezer, home-grown, and some roasted cherry toms. I must have ribeye but Mrs Steve gets a piece of sirloin because she doesn't like trimming away the sinew (I just scoff the lot). There will be blood. And Rioja.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 11:52 AM

I'm almost finished with a lasagna I made a few days ago of various things that needed using. Tomatoes from the garden, ripening in the house slowly after the first frost in October and now simmered long enough to use for sauce (wearing vinyl gloves I squirt them out of the skins that go into the compost bowl). Some ricotta and mozzarella from the freezer from the last time I made lasagna, and the very wet tomato mix was added to a couple of containers of marinara sauce that had been in the fridge long enough they needed to be finished off soon.

I didn't have any lasagna noodles in the house so I took a box of spaghetti and used it (dry) to make a layer after the eggplant and cheese and sauce layers. More cheese and sauce and then bake it till everything is done. The spaghetti is just fine in there, though it doesn't have the consistency of the large flat pasta, but it tastes good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 05:22 PM

I assume a ground nut is the same as a pomme d'terre.
Out here in the wilderness it is called a potatow.

Simple eggs can be made delicious by a clever hand.
Eggs do not deserve to be assulted by ketchup or hot sauce.
A sprinkling of tarragon and smidge of ground fennel do wonders

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 05:53 PM

Groundnuts/peanuts are seeds, from which oil is extracted, or they can be eaten raw, roasted or made into peanut butter.
If you plant a raw one in a pot you can watch the plant grow, and produce a pea-like flower, from which what looks like a stem will grow and extend downwards until it reaches the soil, where it deposits the seed - in effect, the seed plants itself in the ground, hence the name 'groundnut'.
(I've never heard of potato oil.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 06:15 PM

Groundnuts are peanuts. Groundnut oil is an excellent neutral oil that has a high smoke point.

Our bog-standard lasagne uses a typical bolognese ragu, made with a mix of minced pork and beef, browned then added to a soffritto which includes pancetta as well as onions, carrots and celery. Add all that together with canned plum tomatoes and a good splash of chicken stock. Season well and simmer for as long as you like. I might add a glass of white wine that I've boiled and burned the alcohol from. Some recipes demand chicken liver and milk, but not for me. Mrs Steve insists on garlic, but I'm averse to crushed cloves so I might peel and bash with my fist about eight cloves which go into the mix. As for herbs, either leave them out or just add a sprinkle of dried oregano near the end. Dried basil has no place in any decent kitchen. I'll let you off if you chuck in some fresh basil leaves near the end.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Dec 18 - 10:16 PM

ground nuts? What on Earth do you call carrots?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 03:00 AM

Peanuts, groundnuts, monkey nuts, goober peas or (according to Wiki) pindars.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Ed T
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 08:24 AM

This morning for (later than normal) breakfast,creamed lobster meat on toast with a side of seared scallops.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 08:46 AM

Now that's what I call a breakfast.

I'm partial to a fried egg and potatoes, with some of that Kalle fish roe paste they sell in Ikea on the side, and of course salt and vinegar.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 09:54 AM

Fried eggs on top of a couple of fried Rankin's potato farls make a damn fine breakfast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 10:00 AM

Usually on xmas morning we have pancakes, bacon, etc. but I'm thinking this year I might make baking powder biscuits and serve them with homemade jelly. They fall on both of these like they're starving. I sometimes do a side of Jimmy Dean sage sausage, though I didn't grow up in the south so there is none of that sausage and biscuit and gravy nonsense.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 20 Dec 18 - 10:37 AM

What jelly do you make, Stilly? I made a dose of apple and rosehip jelly a few weeks back; just about to de-mould and re-boil the last jar and lash into it.

Subject: Hinton Xmas Recipes
From: wysiwyg
Date: 24 Dec 18 - 05:21 PM

Thanksgiving-style Xmas Menu


Scalloped Potatoes With Spinach And Cheese

2 pounds peeled Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/8-inch slices
1 1/4 cups 1% low-fat milk
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Dash of nutmeg
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons butter
2 cups sliced Vidalia or other sweet onion
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450°.
Place potato slices in a large saucepan, and cover with water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes or until tender. Drain well; set aside.

Combine milk and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 7 minutes or until golden. Reduce heat to medium. Gradually add milk mixture, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook 5 minutes or until thick and bubbly; stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Arrange half of potato slices in an 11 x 7- inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with half of spinach and half of cheese sauce. Repeat with remaining potato, spinach, and sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450° for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden and bubbly.



Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey and Cinnamon
4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling potatoes after cooked
1/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Lay the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on a roasting tray. Drizzle the oil, honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper over the potatoes. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes in oven or until tender. Take sweet potatoes out of the oven and transfer them to a serving platter. Drizzle with more extra-virgin olive oil.

stove top stuffing for Greg and cheesy arepas for me; cheesy corn and crunch casserole;


GLUTEN-FREE GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE WITH CARAMELIZED MUSHROOMS & ONIONS

1 tablespoon gluten-free cornstarch
2 teaspoons McCormick® Basil Leaves
1 teaspoon McCormick® Onion Salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup thinly sliced onions
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups milk2 teaspoon gluten-free soy sauce
4 ounces (1/2 package) cream cheese, cubed
1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces and cooked

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix cornstarch, basil and onion salt in small bowl. Set aside.
Melt butter in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions; cook and stir 6 to 7 minutes or until golden brown. Add mushrooms; cook and stir 2 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Stir in cornstarch mixture. Add milk and soy sauce; stir constantly, cook until sauce is thickened and bubbly. Add cream cheese; cook and stir until cream cheese is melted. Add cooked green beans; toss gently to coat.
Spoon into 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle top evenly with almonds.
Bake 25 minutes or until heated through and top is lightly browned.


CHEESY CRUNCHY CREAMED CORN CASSEROLE


My thinking is that since we were apart for Txgiving, our last Christmas in the house should be a big deal with items that can be made in advance w double ovens, to prevent packing burnout. Most recipes are oven rather than stove top, and I have some GF adaptations and simplification tricks up my sleeve as well.

I'm thinking quantities to carry over for our Dec. 27 anniversary and the following days before our Jan 1 move to our retirement house.

Greg has already done his signature turkey job, and may also do the scalloped potatoes.

The idea is: not much cooking in that last week before our fast departure, and cooked but frozen leftovers to take, if any.

Since romaine is now considered contaminated, veggies are casserole style. We can always add cherry tomatoes.

I plan on doing the bulk of the cleanup; I'll need that standing time. I also plan on doing the shopping.

My thought is that rather than see this as his "orders" (his default setting), he might look forward to this plan for a boatload of comfort food from his loving wife, as we are apart Thanksgivings day. (I sent him each recipe for pix and mouth watering.)

He's also made a GF cake and cheesecake.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Dec 18 - 11:00 AM

Today being Christmas, I are roasting a duck and making bigarade sauce. There will be steamed pud with custard to follow. I may not be capable of movement for some time after.

Himself, on the other hand, will be looking around for cheese and nuts.

I don’t know where he puts it all.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 26 Dec 18 - 03:53 AM

Xmas dinner was a venison joint, boned & rolled by local butcher. 2lb 8oz was just right for a party of 4, with enough left over to make one small sandwich.
Followed by mincemeat-stuffed peach halves, doused in sherry and warmed in the oven during the main course.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Dec 18 - 09:42 AM

Peaches stuffed with mincemeat — how delightful! Fresh or tinned peaches?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Dec 18 - 11:31 AM

A while back I posted a link to a good comparison of the North American wild grapes, so of course I can't find it now. Mustang grapes are featured at the bottom of this page. I make grape jelly just like in the SureJel package instructions.

Today I'll make a batch of bread pudding because I love it for breakfast or snacks. It reheats very nicely. The rest of my eating is leftovers from the last couple of days.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 26 Dec 18 - 04:52 PM

For Christmas dinner we had Mexican food. It wasn't a deliberate choice; the avocados were ready to eat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 27 Dec 18 - 02:44 AM

Tinned peaches Charmion, it's not a good season for fresh ones. However they do the job excellently. Might try bottled ones sometime, but my dad's recipes for fruit in vodka usually yielded uneatable fruit and wonderful liquor.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 27 Dec 18 - 07:51 AM

The nut roast I mentioned earlier was a success. It froze and reheated (just thawed it and slices in the microwave) well. Rather than splitting duties with Pip as suggested before, I cooked it. It took a me lot longer than the recipe suggested (double the prep time but I’m slow even with a decent knife, a lot longer for the mix with the lentils added to absorb nearly all the liquid and at least 10 minutes more baking time) but parents enjoyed it and I would use this recipe again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Dec 18 - 11:29 AM

BobL, your Dad's fruit in vodka sounds like the cordial I make most summers, which is always delicious but often results in fruit fit only for the compost heap once the liquor is tapped off. I have never made it with peaches (why not? good question); so far, I have used only raspberries or sour cherries. The osmotic process that pulls the juice into the booze reduces raspberries to tasteless pulp, but sour cherries are high enough in cellulose to retain some structure even after six months of maceration, so they are good with yoghourt or ice cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 27 Dec 18 - 10:01 PM

Tonight we had a nice, wintry dish

turkey with root vegetables

Put a liner in a slow cooker. (If you have a scullery maid, you can skip the liner.) Place a turkey thigh in it, pressing the flesh against the crock.

Wash and peel some root vegetables and cut them into bite-size pieces. I used parsnips and carrots. You can add turnips and rutabaga, but I don't because I don't like them. Avoid beets. The world is not ready for purple turkey.

Cut an onion into wedges. Toss the wedges and the root vegetables into the pot.

cover and cook all day on low, until the meat is tender.

As dinnertime approaches, add 1/3 cup white wine or the juice of a lemon. Allow enough time for the alcohol in the wine to evaporate.

At dinnertime, remove the meat and vegetables to a serving dish. Add 1 teaspoon marjoram or rosemary to the juice, stir well and pour the juice over the top.

Salt and pepper are added at the table, as desired.   

==========
We had this with buttered cornbread and steamed cauliflower.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Dec 18 - 04:21 PM

Last night we whizzed off to a very large and quite new chippie called 'Deep Blue' (I think it's a chain of chippies) on the outskirts of Norwich. They seem to fry on demand, and it was all beautifully crisp and fresh (cod and chips)
Sat in the car munching away. It was served in individual cardboard trays with little wooden forks (no plastic, very environmentally friendly)
Quite a treat for us, and most enjoyable.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: robomatic
Date: 28 Dec 18 - 05:22 PM

I got introduced to Texas Roadhouse early in December. So far I've been back twice for the American farm-raised catfish. I bring it up here because I seriously like the place and I'm hoping some of you will tear it down for me before I give it a five star yelp review.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 28 Dec 18 - 06:33 PM

Take away here too today. There was some debate over what to get and from where and I’m not sure my own contribution to that (dad, at that point, was fixed on having ½ pizza and chips and I suggested I could share the one in the freezer with him and fry some chips, just leaving 3 for a takeaway) achieved anything other than muddying the waters further…

Anyway, an Indian takeaway won but I, by then feeling the effects of a sleepless night and having to attend an appointment this morning took what was intended to be a short nap. The tea time meal was over and visiting family had returned to their B&B before I woke up. My veg curry is in the fridge. I might microwave it later but haven’t felt that hungry yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Dec 18 - 08:39 PM

Well we love all the post-Christmas cold meat and we always cook a second, smaller turkey a couple of days after Christmas. I also boil up a large piece of unsmoked free-range ham on Boxing Day in a large pan of water with some carrots, onions, celery sticks, herbs and peppercorns. That gives us a lovely lump of meat and a pan of stock ideal for making pea and ham soup next week. The challenge is to vary the accompaniments. We did have a good old salad on Boxing Day with some ruby gem spuds baked in their skins, very nice but a bit too summery. Next day we had Nigella's quick version of dauphinoise (the one in Nigella Bites, with crême fraiche instead of double cream) with some greens. Delicious. Today I reheated some turkey slices in tightly-wrapped foil, along with some stuffing. Meanwhile I sautéed some sliced banana shallots in plenty of salty butter until they were beginning to caramelise. All that went in layers on warm ciabatta rolls (mayo and tommy-k optional, never for me) to be scoffed messily and greedily keeping over the plates. Nirvana. Tomorrow I'll concoct a turkey curry karahi-style with green peppers. For Sunday I'll make a hearty turkey broth with a soffritto, the smaller turkey scraps and the lovely pan of turkey stock I made on Boxing Day. I'll chuck in some tiny soup pasta ten minutes before the end to make it into more of a meal and we'll have some crusty bread with it. I have another bag of small pieces in the freezer, with which I'll make a turkey and pancetta risotto for Mrs Steve and me some time early in the New Year.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 29 Dec 18 - 06:01 PM

Steve, you certainly have a lot of good ideas for what to do with turkey.

Robomatic, I ate at the Texas Roadhouse once and liked it. I still remember their house-made salad dressing. Delicious!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jan 19 - 11:44 AM

After a week of rich festive meals, normal eating resumes today. Thank goodness; I don't think I could face one more chocolate truffle (oh, maybe just one more ...)!

This afternoon, the last of the orange-flavoured duck gravy is scheduled to become the basis of a batch of carrot-and-ginger soup. Supper will be a mushroom omelette with green onions and a bit of grated Parmesan. We picked the bones of the duck, and now we have lots and lots of lovely duck broth.

The supermarket reopens tomorrow, so I shall sally forth to purchase a bunch of kale in order to make minestrone. Lovely stuff for winter in Ontario.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 19 - 12:45 PM

I have to finish up some cooking that was started on Sunday. The filling for meat pies keeps fine for a couple of days and now I'll finish them - the gift for my ex each year is a dish his mother used to make Puerto Rican chicken empanadillas will go into the freezer to be eaten over the next few weeks. A batch of beans because I'm out of the 12 ounce jars that I keep in the freezer for personal sized portions for easy meals. I used to take the frozen jar in my lunchbox to work, and everything else stayed cold enough in the bag. Time to find another job so I can take my lunch again!

The beans are a riff on a PR recipe, but I add a little heat and I use kidney beans instead of the smaller red beans.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 01 Jan 19 - 12:52 PM

Mea culpa. I forgot to post my favorite egg nog recipe before the holidays. A fellow grad student friend gave it to me many years ago and, other than a few tweaks I continue the tradition.

Coquito, aka Puerto Rican egg nog

2 cans cream of coconut
2 cans condensed or evaporated milk, your preference
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon good quality vanilla
1 bottle good quality dark rum [I prefer Goslings or Don Q.]
Cinnamon, to taste
Nutmeg
Lemon zest

Combine all of the wet ingredients, mixing thoroughly.
Just before serving it up, put the dry ingredients on the mixture in the bowl.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 03:04 AM

Had this on Boxing day, the simplest most delicious pasta dish you can imagine ' spaghettini aglio e olio ' spaghetti, olive oil, garlic and optional chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

the recipe is is in any decent Italian cookbook.


Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 05:21 AM

Indeed, Dave. Equally simple is Marcella Hazan's onion and butter tomato sauce for spaghetti. Into a saucepan you put a can of plum tomatoes, a knob of butter and a whole peeled onion. Simmer for 45 minutes, discard the onion, check the seasoning and viola! Serve with proper Parmesan.

The magic ingredient to add to any tomato sauce is half a level teaspoon of sugar.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 07:58 AM

I'll try that maybe tommorrow Steve.

Cheers, Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 08:19 AM

That tomato sauce is the bomb. It’s even better (if possible) when made with fresh tomatoes, but then you have to skin them which rather spoils the “easy” part of that recipe.

Himself and I are eating our way through Marcella’s “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking”. Last night it was frittata made with the mushrooms that were sitting rather too long in the veg bin. Gone in three minutes flat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 01:59 PM

That's where I got it from. It's the Italian bible, isn't it, Charmion!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 02:09 PM

I'll be drawing down leftovers for a while here, but freezing rain is coating everything today so it's time for something hearty like split pea or lentil soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 02:10 PM

When it comes to fresh vs canned tomatoes, even the Italians frequently use canned. They are often riper, richer and sweeter than the fresh you can buy in shops. Different if you grow your own to ripe perfection before picking them. I much prefer to buy whole plum tomatoes in cans. Cirio and Napolina are good brands, but there are often annoying bits of skin and tough bits of blossom-end rot/greenback in both which I cut out. And I never leave out that pinch of sugar. It sounds wrong but it miraculously improves the flavour - even the Italians do it. Rachel Roddy always does it! I hate skinning tomatoes. When I make salmorejo in summer, my very favourite tapa, I blitz the toms with skin on. It works for me!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 03:01 PM

With canned tomatoes, I now buy the no-salt version. They taste better, fruitier. And my husband wants low-salt food.

With garden tomatoes, I don't bother to peel them. I slice them thinly with a serrated knife, and the peels come out as thin strands that people hardly notice. And maybe tomatoes are like some other fruits, where the flavor and vitamins are in a thin layer right under the peel.

SRS, I know what you mean. We are having pea soup too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 03:13 PM

FLASH! Today's newspaper has an article for the hot food trends for 2019. We need to pay attention to this stuff.

cheese tea - tea sipped through a cap of cream cheese

cocktails will have lower alcohol with more botanicals, shrubs and nonalcoholic spirits like seedlip (whatever that may be) Yes, they said shrubs. How you fit a shrub in a cocktail glass is beyond me.

a new kind of salad green: celtuce with a leafy bitter top. Kind of a cross between celery and asparagus

dandelion greens will also get a chance at culinary fame

seaweed is expected to pop up in teas, jerky, desserts and cocktails

look for mushrooms in cocktails and desserts

kale is out now

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 07:17 PM

I didn't even know you could buy salted canned tomatoes! If I buy canned toms I just want tomatoes. Not basil, garlic, salt or chilli. I can deal with all that meself! If I need a bit of extra tomato-ness but without the sloppy bulk, I add a tablespoon of sundried tomato paste. Definitely not tomato purée, which has no place in my house. Here in Blighty we are blessed in that we have Marks and Spencer's sundried tomato paste. I've yet to find a brand that gets anywhere close.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Jan 19 - 07:42 PM

Anyway, on Monday we cooked far too much lasagne, so I put the leftovers in the fridge, being careful to keep the layering with the crispy top intact. We had it reheated tonight
and it was lovely. Sure, the pasta had gone a bit soft and doughy, but it mattered not a jot. I did add a good splash of water to make up for what might have been lost in the cooking first time round. It was utterly spot-on. Whenever I do lasagne in future, I'll be making too much accidentally on purpose.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: KarenH
Date: 03 Jan 19 - 07:27 AM

There is a 'thing' where you drop tomatoes in boiling water supposedly makes it easier to peel them. I never have much luck with it. ALso it creates extra dishes to wash. Some people cut out the seedy bits. Life's too short.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jan 19 - 10:27 AM

Put the tomatoes in a bowl and then pour the boiling water generously over them. After about 30 seconds take them out and make a little slit in the skin with a sharp knife. The skin comes off very easily. You might still have a bit at the stalk end to trim off.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 09:04 AM

The thing where you drop tomatoes into boiling water is called “blanching”, and it definitely works. It’s also the technique to use for peeling peaches for baking or preserving. Yes, after processing a bucketful, you end up with the kitchen full of steam and maybe scalded fingers if you’re new to the game, but it’s efficient and wastes none of the fruit.

Here in the fruit belt of Ontario we have an embarrassment of riches from August until first frost, so everybody has a hatful of recipes for that six-litre basket of tomatoes, peaches, plums or whatever to be scored at market for a buck because the farmer could not be arsed to take it home again.

At family Christmas dinner I had a long, learned discussion with my niece’s Italian mother-in-law on the subject of preserving plum tomatoes. She buys them by the bushel, literally, and invests whole days in the laborious business of blanching and bottling them. I suggested the tinned article as an acceptable substitute and she gave me what can only be described as a pitying look.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 12:21 PM

I blanch tomatoes or peaches before canning and usually put them into a wire basket to plunge into the large pot of boiling water for about 30 seconds, then have a bowl of ice water to deposit them into so I can peel them quickly. The knife to slice the skin if it didn't already split is the accepted method. The same pot is the one I use for processing the jars.

Steve, I didn't know you could make lasagna without leftovers. ;-) And a tip for the future, if you make several ahead in pans lined with foil then freeze them, you can take the foil-wrapped casseroles out of the pans and put them into plastic bags and keep them in the freezer for a really long time. When you want to eat them, put the foil-wrapped casserole back into the pan you made it in and put it in a cool oven (325^o for a really long time (hours - 3 at least). Better than trying to thaw it first. The best lasagna I've eaten in the last few months was one that had been in the freezer for about three years.

My split pea soup is a little watery because I didn't get out the recipe and was guessing. And I didn't have any celery to chop and add to it. So I'll let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days to set up and get all of those flavors working then I'll reheat in bowls in the microwave.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 12:56 PM

Got any celery seed in the spice cabinet? That will serve.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 01:51 PM

There are few things on Earth you can cook or eat by the 'slab'.
Thank goodness Lasagna is one of them. Then there are ribs and bacon and...

Where you have a feast can be critical. I always wanted to have lunch in the Oracle's chamber inside the Hypogeum in Malta.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 05:31 PM

Celery seed hits my gut for some reason. Once I figured out the culprit I had to stop putting it in my potato salad altogether and I got the rest of the seed out of the house. I can eat celery itself, but the seed, even ground, is a problem. Probably the strength of something in the seed, where as the stalks are mostly water.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Jan 19 - 06:30 PM

Lasagna three YEARS in the freezer? Seriously?
Did it not stand up and salute the colors?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jan 19 - 08:51 PM

It was amazingly good! I have a two-year-old one that will probably get used for a lunch with friends later this month.

I was watching Cook's Country last week and they did a lovely blintz with raspberry sauce (melba). I have everything except cream cheese (it uses ricotta with a small amount of cream cheese) and the frozen raspberries, but I'm planning to try making those for dessert tomorrow. You may have to give them your email to see the recipe, but I don't think you actually have to pay to join the site.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Jan 19 - 03:10 AM

I just rediscovered pease pudding on toast for breakfast. I am a gnome of simple tastes :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Jan 19 - 09:12 AM

a raspberry blintz would brighten this sunny sunday morning.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 06 Jan 19 - 03:24 PM

Tonight I am un-decorating the Christmas tree (never mind the 'discussion' on when twelfth night is - in my house it is 6 January), so I am drinking mulled wine. Recipe:
Sometime before Christmas, simmer orange and/or lemon peel and spices (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves (not too many), bay leaf ... anything else you fancy) in water until well infused. Strain, and add to the liquid an equal volume (at least) of sugar. When the sugar is completely dissolved, bring to a simmer, then allow to cool. Put the resulting syrup in a bottle. I keep it in the fridge but I don't know if that is necessary.
Thereafter, add a small spoonful of the syrup to a glass, add half a glass of red wine (or white wine, or cider, or apple juice for a non-alcoholic version) and top up with boiling water.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 06 Jan 19 - 09:39 PM

Beef with snow peas, Chinese style. other ingredients: white onion, garlic, ginger root, soy sauce, cornstarch, mushrooms, green pepper

If the snow peas are floppy, soak them in tepid water for a couple hours to take up water and become crisp again. This also works for the green pepper you forgot about. (Slice it up first.)


I don't cook the steak in the wok. I cook it separately, slice and add at the last minute. Snow peas are also tossed in at the last minute.

To save hassle, we now cook a big batch of brown rice and put the extra in a ziploc bag, flattened. Freeze. Next time we want rice, we break off a chunk, thaw and eat.

If I didn't say so earlier, we do that with pasta, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Jan 19 - 07:35 AM

I love the idea of instant mulling.

Super Bowl, I like to cook the teams. If it is Rams v. Saints, how about mutton etouffee?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Jan 19 - 06:00 PM

Mrrzy -- HA HA HA HA!

We ate the last of the Christmas pud last night (Little Christmas), and it was absolutely terrific with vanilla ice-cream. I may never make hard sauce again.

It is time to sing the praises of our electronic pressure-cooker, the Instant Pot. It is large and lumpy and takes up way too much space in the kitchen, but it earns its keep by reliably cooking brown rice, wild rice, beans, stock, and -- of all things -- Christmas pudding and other suet-assisted desserts that otherwise have to steam for hours and hours. I can set it up, turn it on and WALK AWAY, even go to bed or leave the house, and when I return to the kitchen nothing has exploded and the contents are perfectly cooked.

My most recent achievement is a pilaff of brown and wild rice that I made last night to go with roast pheasant (from a game farm; we don't know anybody who shoots them). When we had picked the bones of the pheasant -- at just under two pounds, it was a satisfying meal for two and no more -- the wreckage went into the Pot with a couple of carrots and a couple of onions, and in the morning we had a Pot full of pheasant stock. The rest of the brown-and-wild-rice pilaff made an excellent snack.

Wild rice is a thing around here, harvested and sold by the Anishnabe First Nation. It's amazing when combined with brown rice, but a bit astringent all by itself.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jan 19 - 09:11 PM

My son was here for the holidays and heading back to the Pacific NW this evening so we went through what may seem a rather bizarre ritual - stopped by "Chicken Express," a small chain of fast food restaurants that we used to get as takeout when the kids were little. The $16 family pack would feed four of us in a one-salary home. Not sure what the oil is they use for frying. As he grew he continued to buy it for himself, and if you eat it hot and fresh it isn't *too* bad, but he likes it reheated. Gag. And he bought a large order to repack and stash in his luggage to eat and share with his girlfriend when he gets back home. He seems unconcerned about the amount of time it isn't refrigerated, though we always suggest he should freeze it first or take cold packs.

Since he was going to take this order home with him I made one of his favorite home-made dishes for an early dinner before he left - you guessed it - chicken strips. I dip them in flour then egg then into seasoned bread crumbs. Saute in shallow oil in which you've melted 3-4 tablespoons butter.

Kids!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Jan 19 - 04:00 PM

How long did you pressure cook your pudding? I did mine for an hour and it was distinctly overdone.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jan 19 - 07:29 PM

I don't have slow cookers or pressure cookers and I use our ancient microwave only for softening butter in winter when I need a crumpet or teacake. I have a Foreman grill that's been redundant, a white elephant, for ten years. I cooked a two-pound piece of brisket in a Le Creuset casserole on Sunday. I browned it all round in a glug of oil in the hot pan for a couple of minutes, then set it aside so that I could fry some chopped carrot, celery and shallots in the fat (I had to add a bit of butter and I take no notice of the burnt stuff on the bottom of the pan) then I added a pint of beef stock from a cube, a glass of red wine which I'd boiled and burned off the alcohol from, the soaking liquid from 25g dried porcini, then the chopped porcini. I put the meat back on top and brought it all slowly to the boil. While I was waiting I went into the garden and picked a bunch of parsley, some sprigs of thyme, a bay leaf and a small bunch of sage. I tied all these together with string and added them to the pot with some seasoning. That went in a low oven, 140C, for three hours, lid on. The meat was tender and moist, the juices made lovely gravy and we had it, three of us, with mashed potato and sprouting broccoli from my garden. There were juices left over and some goodly scraps of beef, which I made into a lovely ragu to stir spaghetti into the next day, nothing else needed except a topping of freshly-grated Parmesan,

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jan 19 - 07:52 PM

I get very fed up when my mash doesn't turn out the way I want it, usually too sloppy and runny, too gluey or too grainy. I don't like anything in my mash except salt and butter (and plenty of the latter). What I've learned is to always hedge my bets by using at least two, preferably three, varieties of spud. I don't like spuds that collapse in the boiling water so I avoid King Edwards. Also, only a small amount of waxy sorts go in, things such as Charlotte or Nicola. Too much of those risks glueyness. Santé are very good if you can get them. I regard Lady Balfour to be horrid watery things so they don't get in. Most cookery books suggest insufficient boiling time. I reckon thirty minutes is the minimum. If I've put plenty of butter in but the mash is still a bit too stiff, under protest I'll add a drop of milk. I have a potato ricer but using it for mash risks the spuds cooling down too much. I've used it successfully to make gnocchi, for which I boil the spuds in their skins which I can slip off later. That stops the spuds from going too soggy, not great for gnocchi.

Another golden rule is to buy only the best spuds. Even the most expensive spuds are cheap.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 07:21 AM

I’m not fond of mashed anything, so I like my spuds baked. Even an ancient microwave is a great help in this department, as a nuked whole potato becomes a field-expedient baked potato very quickly when plonked on the oven rack beside whatever is in there already.

Here in Ontario, spuds are not marketed by cultivar (e.g., King Edward), but by colour and flesh type — except for the excellent Yukon Gold, a yellow-fleshed waxy potato that makes the best hash browns ever.

I did not expect to fall in like with the Instant Pot, but was won over by its capabilities with respect to beans and whole grains, especially brown rice. The Christmas pudding took half an hour, plus time to come up to pressure and to release the pressure naturally.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 09:29 AM

We always steam spuds, and they don't collapse. To mash them, we add an egg, a dose of butter, the top of the milk; we mash them using the hand masher, not a ricer (which makes mash gluey). Then serve with a knob of butter melting on top.

Le CrEUset is easy to spell, except for Brexiteers.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 10:49 AM

New York Times has a good mashed potato recipe. It addresses an array of desired results. I had listened to Sam Sifton, one of the Times' recipe gurus on a radio program earlier in the week describe making potatoes, so I did it that way and they were perfect. In the past I haven't always drained the potatoes enough and they weren't as fluffy or creamy as I was trying to achieve. My Mom used to talk about keeping some of the cooking water, but that must have been a recipe from decades ago. Milk and butter, and I don't melt them first in an pan, I put a few potatoes into the stand mixer bowl then plop in the butter then add the rest of the potatoes. They're so hot the butter doesn't stand a chance and isn't going to cool anything. I usually use a hand masher first to break them up in the bowl, then use the paddle or whisk to make the finished potatoes. The milk is added at that point so I can watch the consistency. I use Russets for mashed potatoes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 01:46 PM

I would far sooner use warm milk to loosen mash than cooking water. I only ever use a plastic hand masher. Making mash produces more than enough washing-up as it is.

When I cook the following I always cook far too much, accidentally on purpose:

Mashed potatoes
Boiled rice
Sausages
Jacket potatoes

A pile of cold mash can be fried with a knob of butter. Keep it moving to break it up and grate a healthy dose of cheddar into it. Once melted and smooth, put into large bowl, sit in front of telly and devour. Or you can make Irish-style potato farls.

As for rice, melt butter in a frying pan. Add the rice, break it up then break in an egg or two. Throw in some frozen peas (maybe boil them first). Stir around until piping hot. Add more butter if too dry. Fit for a king. Beware of keeping cold rice too long or too warm. Bacterial nasties love cooked rice. It has to be next day only for me.

Cold bangers can just be devoured, but if you slice them carefully lengthways into long, thin strips they make a beautiful butty, preferably with mayo. Or chop them up and add to a risotto, preferably with some cooked chicken scraps and bacon.

Jacket potatoes gone cold will develop a soft skin, but no matter. For breakfast, microwave a couple of them for two minutes or so. Put them in a bowl, cut them up to bite size with scissors, add butter and devour. Or add a generous amount of grated cheese instead of butter, microwave for another minute or grill (just get that cheese melted). Delicious. Microwaving them does make a strong potatoey smell. I can scoff cold jacket potatoes just as they are.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 03:33 PM

On potatoes: "add a generous amount of grated cheese instead of butter"
In my case, change "instead of" to "as well as".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 08:55 PM

Quite, but I didn't want to wreck anyone's New Year slimming resolutions.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 10 Jan 19 - 04:49 AM

It's up to people to keep their own resolutions. If they are led astray by your tasty suggestions that's their problem. You are not to blame.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jan 19 - 06:29 PM

Moderation in everything - so add all of the good stuff, but don't eat a huge helping, watch your portions. Mischief managed!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jan 19 - 07:22 PM

Or eat a huge helping but take longer over it. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Jan 19 - 11:32 AM

I wanted something different, so I made Thai chicken.
==========
linguine, boiled as usual

peas, nuked in the wave and drained (supposed to be sugar snap, but I only had ordinary)

chicken fried in a skillet (supposed to be breast, but I used thighs)

sauteed garlic

sauce - 1/4 cup water, 1 T soy sauce, 1 T lime juice. 2 T peanut butter, tiny amt cayenne pepper (I prefer black pepper). Don't thicken; just put the food in a serving bowl and slosh the sauce on top.

The first batch was dry, so the second day I made another batch of sauce, reducing the water and increasing the lime juice.

The peanut butter didn't want to mix with the water, and i wonder if adding a tiny bit of mayonnaise would help with that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 11 Jan 19 - 04:31 PM

I found Waitrose selling frozen herring row (very cheap and nutritious). I thawed them, dipped them in flour with a little salt and chili powder, and fried them in butter, then stir-fried onion, celery, courgette, chestnut mushrooms and a few slices of leek, and served the lot with pasta and a slug of cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Jan 19 - 05:28 PM

My experience years ago made me uneasy asking about recipes. Perhaps its just me but I have wondered if anyone has ha a similar experience.

I was offered a small portion of ribs and non chalantly popped it in my mouth. Suddenly the meat liquified and fell off the bone, all my senses turned into a river of flowing bacon and weak kneed I craved a second bite. I impetously asked "what is the recipe for this" at which point the lady stiffened and acted as if I had asked for her wallet and social security number. She said with tight lips and glaring eyes "This is a secret family recipe!".
It was if I had tried to steal from her ancestors and future grand children's fortunes and destroy the dreams of franchises for centuries to come.
Clearly my question was inappropriate and tantamount to felony.
I assumed that one should never ask except as a compliment not meant to be answered.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jan 19 - 06:28 PM

Recipes are like Irish tunes in a single line of notation. Not even bare bones, but possessing a whiff of an idea. Something to build on, rebel against and stray badly from. I just get meself up into the kitchen, vaguely recall something I once read in a book, then do my own thing. I have one golden rule, which is that no one ingredient, except for the main meaty or fishy one, should EVER be the point of the thing. I do not want every mouthful of any dish to taste mostly of basil/mint/garlic/chilli/apple/onion/thyme. I want integration of flavours, team work from the ingredients. I have few rules, but just a couple are that dried basil has no place in any kitchen, that garlic should NEVER be crushed, and that, if your dish tastes herby, you've got it wrong. Another thing or two I've learned are that the microwave rarely yields decent food and that steaming most vegetables is going to give you inferior results. I'd make an exception for chopped cabbage, but nothing else. Boil your veg in water half way up the veg, always with a pinch of salt, don't overcooked them, and you'll never look back. Sod the vitamins. You'll get plenty of those anyway if you live in the West like me. Food is enjoyment, not medicinal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Jan 19 - 06:33 PM

Don't worry, Donuel. That was an usual experience. Most people are happy to share recipes. It is a compliment that a diner likes a food so much that they ask for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jan 19 - 07:59 PM

I shop at an unusual one-of-a-kind grocery store in town; they buy from chain stores' warehouses with products nearing the sell-by date, and from independent grocery suppliers who were overstocked; when there is meat, poultry or fish it is frozen. The groceries are discounted, often quite deeply, and they have what they have and when it's gone it's gone. I buy a lot of my dairy products there (excellent cheeses, high-end yogurt quarts, bulk packages of eggs, yogurt cups, etc.) and veggies. Fresh veggies are anything you can think of, along with fresh flowers, flowers in vases, flowers in pots, etc.

I had some salmon today for lunch that I picked up there; I only bought one salmon package because I didn't know anything about it the supplier and it's just as well. It was quite oily (which is good) but not particularly tasty. I have resolved not to buy any more salmon there unless it's labeled as wild-caught sockeye or better; this experiment confirmed my mostly-formed suspicion. The unsold the dog salmon comes from wherever.

I cook enough of some dishes to use them for several days - this week it has been split pea soup and rice with chicken for dinner with various other small side dishes. I'm doing a "no-spend" month so these are all things that came from my shelves or out of the freezer. Given the challenge of not buying new ingredients, it's interesting to see what I can come up with.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 11 Jan 19 - 08:14 PM

Is it just me or does anyone else link this thread with the Barrett's oesophagus thread. In the interest of expanding threeness how about a thread about the drugs we all took when we were not ill in any way at all?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jan 19 - 09:41 PM

When I was not ill in any way, I was 23 and in the armed forces. Being afraid of arrest and imprisonment in those days, I used no drugs at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Jan 19 - 10:38 PM

I have never added a sacred or magical mushroom to any recipe except for tea with full disclosure. Some things are better in their fresh and anticipated original organic form like in a salad with your favorite dressing. Although convenient, dried shrooms are tough on the tummy.

Ayahuasca is not one of those things. They say it is like all bitter alkaloids with MAO inhibitors and that it tastes like a dog shit shake with alfalfa flavor and will cause vomiting. I do not believe vomiting is a required gateway to an epicurean psychoactive journey. Besides the idea of saliva as an ingredient turns me off. but that's just me. There are better ways to share spit.

Most of us would prefer a nice crab bisque.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 12 Jan 19 - 05:29 AM

A dogshit shake isn't an appetising description, to be honest.

I'd personally be nervous of any of these hallucinogenics - even cannabis, now that it's been genetically engineered to be much more stoney than it was in my youth. Not that I was any great toker then either…

But with how little we know about the brain and its workings, it seems foolish to me to be seeking what are essentially artificially-induced psychotic experiences.

Incidentally, talking of mushrooms, does anyone else occasionally buy stuff in the wholesale fruit and vegetable markets? It's always super-fresh, you get things that you won't get in most shops, and the prices are extraordinary. You're buying in bulk, but not that much bulk - I sometimes go halvers with a friend or two for a box of something.

And is anyone doing any pre-Brexit stocking-up-just-in-case, and if so what are you stocking up on?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Jan 19 - 03:42 PM

Apologies - in my post on 11 January I meant 'herring roes', not 'herring rows' (I woke up in the night worrying about it, imagining herrings lined up in a row, or even herrings having a row and fighting noisily).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 12 Jan 19 - 04:02 PM

Find some reliable food banks. Did you know a practicing Mormon is required to have a year of food stored?

There is a big difference between artificial/chemistry and billions of years of evolutionary organics. As temporary psychotic episodes go I would not place the sacred mushroom experience into that category of experience. It is a surprise I would not spoil by an attempt to define.
I would only recommend having a theme question or questions and be sure to ask.

As a bucket list experience it is in the top 10. Now they use it for geriatrics having a hard time transitioning.

Its been over 30 years since I even tried a joint but there are several gourmet cooking shows that feature pot as an ingredient.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 12 Jan 19 - 06:52 PM

https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/lobster-or-crab-bisque-229275

double the lump crab meat to 1 lb
salt and mushroom to taste

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Jan 19 - 07:21 PM

I'm a bit bloody annoyed. I did a great big long post about mushrooms this morning but some git pulled the website just as I hit send, and even my "select all-copy" didn't take. Grr.

Anyway.

In a nutshell, I was rabbiting on about the abuse of mushrooms in cookery. Nasty rubbery things in the "Full English Breakfast." Nasty little tasteless buttons in casseroles and stews, I love sautéed mushrooms on toast but they must be thinly sliced and fried in butter with salt and black pepper. Add a fried egg or two, done in the mushroom butter, and you have a breakfast to keep you going until mid-afternoon. If I want to be antisocial for 24 hours, I add parsley and fist-smashed garlic cloves to the sautée. Delia's pork chops recipe, done with cream and chopped mushrooms with thyme and lemon, is a thing of beauty too. But, for a casserole or stew, I use only dried porcini. I soak the fungi in boiling water for half an hour and use the beautiful liquid in the stew, and I chop the ceps finely and add them too.

I don't understand people who use mind-altering substances such as psilocybe or cannabis, still less people who brag about using them. It isn't big and it isn't clever. I use booze with caution and that's more than enough for me, thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Jan 19 - 07:55 PM

Tonight I did a dish that was inspired by, but somewhat distant from, the very last one in Nigella's book Nigellissima. It's a one-pot job that leaves very little washing up, which is highly nutritious and which you can eat out of a bowl on your knee in front of the telly.

For two people with seconds. Get your heaviest pot and put 100g chopped-up pancetta in it. Brown the bacon, then add two chopped carrots, two chopped celery sticks and a chopped onion. You will need to add a good glug of olive oil. Your best. Sautée that lot gently for a good half-hour. You are making what is known as a soffritto. I added a small pinch of dried chilli flakes to mine. Free country.

Weight out 200g of green or brown lentils. Not the red ones. I used puy lentils. Rinse them then throw them into the pot. Add a can of plum tomatoes and a splash of water and 750ml of chicken or veg stock. I used turkey stock. Throw in a handful of chopped fresh parsley and a bay leaf. Smash four garlic cloves with your fist, peel, and throw them in. No chopping and definitely no crushing. Simmer for half an hour with the lid on.

Check and adjust seasoning and make sure the lentils have softened. Then the coup de grace: throw in about 125g of small pasta. It should be something like ditalini or ditaloni, or mini-macaroni. Not the tiniest soup pastas. They wouldn't be right. I don't like tbat cheap little shell pasta much. I mused about whether to use orzo but thought better of it. If you have only bigger pasta, put some in a plastic bag and smash it up slightly with your meat mallet or rolling pin. Anyway, turn up the heat a bit, leave the lid off and get it to a jolly bubble until the pasta is al dente. It takes a bit longer than boiling it in plain water.

Ladle into bowls, drizzle with your finest olive oil, turn the telly on and devour, preferably with a bottle of Italian red.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 02:32 PM

Back in the halcyon days when my waistline was less than 30 inches, I had that generosity of spirit that accepted anything anyone ever offered me. There were lots of oversized, funny smelling hand rolled cigarettes, all sorts of pills, and, fortunately, no developed opiates. I remember preferring stuff that kept me awake to stuff that sent me to sleep though more recently non alcoholic sleep assists would have been welcome.

I suspect that if cannabis becomes legal I would buy some occasionally, and in all honesty it's not the illegality that stops me right now as much as not knowing how to get it and not being sufficiently bothered to find out. This is going to sound weird I know but I can, and do, get 'high' doing Killer Sudoku puzzles and drinking Green Tea, not necessarily at the same time.

What I get from these three threads is to tell the doctors as little as possible. This stratagem has, so far, enabled me to avoid things being stuck into either end. and has not yet led to my untimely end. I did have a spell, many years ago now, of frequent and unpleasant indigestion, and recognised the term hiatus hernia from that. I can't remember what, if anything, I did about it but it no longer happens. No doctors were involved and it went away. I'm not actually recommending this as a way to go for others but I do remember someone once said, "when they get you, they don't let go".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 02:59 PM

A few people Steve does not understand

The misunderstanding about British cuisine being dreadful is defied in this thread. Most dishes here sound very desirable.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 03:54 PM

Not interested, Donuel. Now where's that bloody corkscrew...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Janie
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 05:26 PM

Fixing a beef stew to take to Amos tomorrow for some respite from hospital food.

Sauted onions and garlic until translucent and removed from dutch oven. Cubed a 2lb. sirloin tip roast and browned it in batches in the dutch oven, deglazed the pan with a cheap red wine, added the meat, onions and garlic back to the pot, added more wine, beef broth, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper. Has been simmering about 90 minutes. Will add carrots and potatoes when the meat is nearly as tender as I desire. At the very end, will taste to see if more salt or pepper are needed and thicken slightly with a flour paste.

I think I was in a bit of a rush and did not brown the beef as well/dark as would have made for the very best flavor. Still, likely to be better than hospital fare.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 07:52 PM

Now here's a beef stew that is delicious and trouble-free. Thanks to the sainted Elizabeth David.

For four people. You need two pounds of top rump cut into half-inch thick slices about as big as your palm, 100 g streaky bacon or pancetta, two tomatoes sliced, two carrots cut into rounds, two onions roughly chopped, a few garlic cloves smashed with your fist (NOT crushed), extra virgin olive oil, a glass of red wine and seasoning. If you have some pork rinds, the kind of thing you might trim from pork chops, that's great, otherwise have a couple of rashers of really fatty bacon to hand. Finally, you need a goodly bunch of fresh herbs tied with string. Thyme, parsley, sage, bayleaf sort of thang.

Once you've assembled that lot, the method is ridiculously easy. Everything just goes in cold.

Put a good glug of olive oil into your heaviest casserole. Chop the bacon and throw it in. Put the carrots, onion and tomatoes on top of that. Put in the bunch of herbs and the smashed garlic. Layer the pieces of beef carefully on top. Season well then put the pan on to medium heat for about fifteen minutes. While you're waiting, do the fun bit. Put the red wine into a small pan, bring to the boil and set fire to the alcohol vapour. Watch your eyebrows. As soon as the flame goes out, pour the wine all over the meat.

Cover tightly (foil under a lid), put into the oven at 160C for two and a half hours and forget it. Beautiful with mash and greens. Boeuf en daube as in rustic France. The recipe also includes thin slivers of orange zest, but I don't like that so I always leave it out.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 09:00 PM

I'm going to print out and try some of these recipes. Thanks.

It snowed here. Snow is about 6 inches deep on lawns and sidewalks, and it has piled up on tree branches to make lovely white fans. We celebrated by having homemade gingerbread cake with lemon frosting.

We now have two little girls on our block, and there are two snowmen in the neighborhood.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 09:32 PM

We had a piece of pork this evening, boned and rolled shoulder with a goodly cover of rind, weighing in at about 3lb-plus. I have a trivet which I put the pork into, then placed that in a big roasting tin. Into the bottom I put a pint of water, two sticks of celery, two carrots, two chopped shallots and some herbs. I rubbed salt into the rind (no oil) and then put the meat into the hottest possible oven for 20 minutes. I then turned the oven down to about 130C and went out for the afternoon (I did top up the liquid before we left). After about four hours I ended up with the most gorgeous roasted meat, tender as the driven snow, topped with crackling to die for. And the liquid beneath, once I'd sieved it and skimmed some fat off (I used it to roast my spuds and parsnips), was totally divine.

I have uses for pork fillet (tenderloin), which can be cooked fast, but I won't buy leg of pork. Tasteless waste of money. Shoulder, belly and hocks for me. I bought my pork at Gloucester Services. The breed was Gloucester Old Spot. Damned fine butcher. They sell good brisket too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 10:29 PM

I live in a part of town with lots of Mexican and Central American groceries, and one store in particular has a large tortilla factory in place. I stopped by tonight on my way home and picked up two packages of fresh tortillas, still warm. They're in my freezer now and will be used for lunch with friends in a couple of weeks if I don't get a chance that morning to swing by and get more fresh.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 14 Jan 19 - 05:32 PM

Dad had an unusual meal yesterday. I’d just done the Quorn Fillet meal with a jar of Korma sauce/can of chopped tomatoes for the sauce. When I sat down to eat mine, he said “you haven’t had any chutney” and offered to pass me the jar I’d put out.

The problem was that the “chutney” was a (clearly labelled) jar of home made plum jam that I’d put out to go with the Ambrosia rice pudding mum and I (dad doesn’t like this and was having a yoghurt) were having for afters. To make matters worse, he’d been quite liberal with the “chutney” on his plate.

While I do think a spoonful of jam can go quite nicely with rice pudding, I gather it wasn’t the best to go with his meal...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 14 Jan 19 - 09:08 PM

Fab gammon joint yesterday, cooked for my husband's birthday. Used a recipe from BBC Good Food: not for those on a January detox (as my daughter and son-in-law professed to be!)
2kg gammon grain simmered in full-sugar Coca-cola and various veg for over 2 hours, then baked in a dressing of maple syrup, whole grain mustard, red wine and cloves. Yummeeee!
(the recipe actually said red wine vinegar, but none in 2 supermarkets I tried, so just red wine had to do!) Served with roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese and fresh mini-sprouts.
Followed by birthday cake and lemon tart and ice-cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Jan 19 - 09:33 AM

Heavens, Tattie, that's quite a recipe. What does the Coke do to the veg? Are they edible when the joint is cooked?

After a bit more than a year of consistent use, I think I've about broken the code on the convection oven in our new stove (cooker). It has certainly taken me long enough.

Baking is easy, since I stick to bread, but roasting has been a bit more of a challenge -- especially chicken, which seems to dry out when the oven is hot enough to produce the crackly skin I like. I had a blinding flash of the obvious the other day and put the battered old pan I use in the barbecue on the bottom rack of the oven and filled it with water, then heated the oven to 375 Fahrenheit with the fan on.

I split a four-pound chicken down the back and flattened it (spatchcocked it), laid it out on a rack in a flat roasting tin, and seasoned it with salt, pepper, thyme and dehydrated garlic. I gave it an hour at 375F, then cranked up the heat to 400F for another ten or fifteen minutes.

Result: perfect chicken, thoroughly cooked in all its parts, even the joints, and with moist, flavourful breast meat. Spatchcocking makes it easy to quarter, so I'm not wrestling with the carving knife and slopping dish gravy all over the table.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 15 Jan 19 - 09:38 AM

That's given me an idea. I have a gammon joint in the fridge. I also have a can of shandy that I bought by mistake in Lidl (or possibly Aldi) without reading the teeny-tiny print. The main label is in German and I had bought two cans thinking it was cheap beer, and intending to use it in slug traps, but even the slugs turned their noses up at it.
However, I may try cooking the gammon in it. Fingers crossed, it might taste quite good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Jan 19 - 05:02 PM

Simple cassoulet

Put a liner in a large slow cooker (easier cleanup)
Set 3-4 chicken thighs in it, flesh side down
Drain but don't rinse 1 or 2 cans great northern beans. Add.
Chop one half of an onion, add it
pour on one can tomatoes. I prefer them without salt
slip in some bay leaf
cut up carrots into 2-inch pieces. add them
cut Polish sausage into 2-inch pieces. put on top

Slow cook on low till the chicken is tender and the carrots are how you like them. Remove chicken from bones.

Just before dining, add 1 or 1.5 teaspoons dried leaf thyme.

This is a good dish for when you forgot you were having company until the morning of the day of the dinner.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 17 Jan 19 - 06:30 PM

In answer to Charmion, I saved the (somewhat overcooked!) veg (onion, garlic, carrot and leek) from simmering the gammon and was going to put them into our next pot of soup, but husband found them first and threw them into a meatball casserole! Something of a mix of flavours in the latter but not bad at all!
ANd Jos, yes, why not? Though I would tend to use cider with pork or gammon and beer with beef (when not using Coke, that is!) But then shandy would be sweeter than beer. Let us know how it turns out!
Leeneia's cassoulet sounds good too!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 17 Jan 19 - 08:03 PM

Now that its getting down to 4 degrees F outside were making good basic chili.
Kneed 2 tsp ground pepper into 2 lbs lean hamburger and cook with onion and peppers. Put 1 can kidney beans in croc pot with a small can of Mexican corn and combine with meat & veggies. Add a pinch of cumin and a cup of salsa. Add desired amount of picante sauce or for the bold ground ghost pepper. Slow Cook on low for 4 hours and keep warm.
Serve with French bread & butter.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 17 Jan 19 - 09:06 PM

4 F - that's cold! All this time I thought you live somewhere warm.

Not last night, but the night before we had something we haven't had in 40 years. Wieners, whole-wheat buns, home-made cole slaw. It wasn't our idea; the wieners were a gift.

We hauled out all the extras - ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, chopped onions.
=============
Steve Shaw, I made your pork roast today. It was delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 17 Jan 19 - 10:15 PM

Opps I forgot the can of Tomato sauce. You can double the cans of beans and Tomato sauce to stretch it out.


Leenia, On Monday the DC beltway will be hit by an Arctic blast into the single digits. Upstate NY rarely goes below zero but while in Rochester I experienced a windchill of -63. I ran for cover in less than 5 minutes. Buffalo can drift 6 ft of snow in a single hour!
I've never had visible body hair, its transparent, but I think I have caveman genes. In the cold I am motivated but in the heat I wilt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 18 Jan 19 - 03:47 AM

"shandy would be sweeter than beer"

Well, yes, but compared with the gammon being "simmered in full-sugar Coca-cola and various veg for over 2 hours, then baked in a dressing of maple syrup ..."?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 19 Jan 19 - 12:01 PM

Potato and leek gratin from the bbc good food site today. It’s a recipe I’ve used before and we enjoy. I find I need a bit more cooking time (say 45 minutes both with and without the foil) than the recipe suggests and some comment on par boiling the potatoes to reduce cooking time. I just slice the potatoes, I don’t peel them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Jan 19 - 07:23 PM

We had a dinner party for six yesterday after a snowy day. Served Swedish meatballs, broccoli, thinly-sliced carrots with ginger butter.
A friend brought a fruit tartin and ice cream.

Still, Swedish meatballs are a nice, comfy food for a cold day. It was a relief to dispense with a salad.

I won't share a recipe because I thought the meatballs needed revision.

Donuel, I'm sorry you are getting such harsh weather. We were supposed to be clobbered with 6 to 12 inches of snow, but "dry air", presumably from the desert southwest, pushed the storm to the east. I hear Ohio got it instead.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Jan 19 - 08:16 PM

Right. This is one of the best things I've ever done. If you're having people round, and you start with nibbles and finish with a pud, this is ideal as a main, as it's not heavy at all and is simplicity itself to prepare.

BUT: you can't compromise on the quality of the ingredients. Try to go cheap and you'll be sorry. I know. I've tried.

For two people (which is what I did tonight) you need:

Six very thin slices of the best sirloin. All six together should weigh about 250-300g. I said sirloin and I mean it. Not rump or some unspecified cheap slivers. SIRLOIN.

300g of cherry tomatoes, the best you can find.

Two tablespoons of capers, rinsed. Only the smallest ones will do.

Two cloves of garlic, smashed with your fist then peeled. Do NOT crush.

A pinch of dried chilli flakes, to taste. Heat is not the point of the thing.

A generous teaspoon of dried oregano. Crucial.

About 60 ml of extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

One scant teaspoon of sugar

Put the smashed garlic, whole, into the olive oil in your best casserole pot. Sprinkle in your chilli flakes. Heat gently for a few minutes until your kitchen is full of lovely garlic aroma. Don't let the garlic go brown.

Remove and discard the garlic and turn up the heat. Fry the slices of beef in the hot oil for THIRTY SECONDS EACH SIDE. Any more and your dish is ruined. Put the beef into a dish and keep it warm somewhere.

Throw the cherry toms into the beefy, garlicky oil. When they start to go soft, throw in the capers, oregano, sugar and seasoning. Squidge the tomatoes down into a kind of rough sauce and leave the lid off.

After a few minutes put the pieces of beef into the sauce and cook it all through for three or four minutes. Voila, it's done.

So you have some lovely beef in a lovely, spicy tomato sauce. You can serve this up with crusty bread, or you can do what I do, and what they do in Sicily, serve it up with home-made skin-on oven chips. It doesn't come any better than that and it's so easy. Just don't overcook that steak, that's all.


And happy seventieth birthday to my favourite ItaIian cook, Gennaro Contaldo!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 21 Jan 19 - 02:43 AM

OMG, that sounds sinfully good, Steve. Going to try it the day after tomorrow. (Tonight's my cooking night, and I'm going to make an old hippie dish I haven't made for years - a stir-fry with brown rice mixed in at the end, with lots of vegetables, including chopped Brussels sprouts and sweet peppers and tinned/frozen corn (maize) and dried chestnuts (previously soaked and boiled, then chopped up), and lots of julienned carrots; I'll throw in some leftover frozen chicken meat that's been looking accusingly at me in the freezer - not an essential part, but what the heck) and then sauces to taste, probably soy sauce (or soya sauce as it was called in those days, or tamari by us weirdos) and oyster sauce.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 21 Jan 19 - 04:35 AM

cherry tomatoes, the best you can find
That might be a job at this time of year - supermarket toms can be so flavourless. Fortunately there's an excellent Italian deli in Dunstable, my nearest big town, I might try there.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Jan 19 - 05:09 AM

The Piccolo ones from M&S, the ones from Portugal, have been very good lately and the ones from Sainsbury's, grown in the Netherlands, have been quite good too. I should have mentioned that the originator of this recipe, Rachel Roddy (though it's a traditional Italian dish), suggests cutting up the tomatoes first. That way the bits of skin in the sauce aren't as big. That doesn't bother me one way or the other but I thought I'd mention it. If the toms aren't quite up to snuff the addition of the small amount of sugar makes a miraculous difference. Many Italian cooks do that even in the height of summer when the tomatoes are at their best. You could always use your favourite tinned toms. The sugar is an automatic addition to any tomato-based sauce I ever make.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jan 19 - 11:40 AM

Who eats mutton? Need recipes since the Rams are in the Super Bowl. The US is fairly mutton-free but there are African markets...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 23 Jan 19 - 04:38 PM

My supermarket sells lamb...
========
Last night we had barbecued pork. Take sliced pork left over from Steve's slow-roasted pork, heat gently in a heavy saucepan with home-made BBQ sauce. Serve on good buns. Make cole slaw. Add things to nibble on.

Midwestern BBQ sauce

one small can tomato paste
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses
generous amt of freshly-cracked black pepper
secret ingredient - choose one

   1/2 tsp ground cloves
   grated zest of one orange (buy a zester at a liquor store)
   1 tsp dried rosemary leaves
   or invent your own.

Add water as needed for the application at hand.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jan 19 - 10:07 PM

Lamb, yeah. Mutton?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 24 Jan 19 - 03:31 AM

I used to be able to buy mutton in shops in Exeter in the 1960s but I haven't seen it for years. When mad cow disease happened I did wonder if mutton had been quietly removed from sale because of scrapie - a disease in sheep that is similar to BSE.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jan 19 - 05:13 AM

Gloucester Services sell mutton. It's one thing I haven't bothered to buy there because my local butcher's lamb, reared on his own farm, is as good as it gets. I buy the biggest whole shoulder, on the bone, that he can get me. Be wary of "whole shoulders" in supermarkets because they often remove the fillet to sell separately, which is the best bit. My shoulder usually comes in at seven or eight pounds. I'm not interested in small cuts of lamb (except for shanks) such as those little half-shoulders because I can't get the desired cooked texture in the reduced cooking time needed (for the same reason I don't buy smaller chickens than 2kg for roasting). Cooking the large shoulder is as easy as it gets. Put the meat skin side up in a large roasting tin. Season, then add a few small sprigs of rosemary. Put into a very low oven (120-130C) for about five or six hours. If you like you can turn up the heat for the last 20 minutes to crisp up the outside to get the lusted-after Maillard reaction. After that it needs a good resting, an hour in a warm place not being too long, though half an hour will do. The sticky bits left in the roasting tin make superb gravy. I tend not to roast veg with lamb. Instead I'll boil up some carrot, onion, celery and herbs for half an hour to make some veg stock and use that for the gravy (Mrs Steve always gets that job). It doesn't get any better than that. I'm not a fan of legs of lamb because they are not as tasty as shoulder, they're pound-for-pound more expensive and the meat next to the bone never really gets there for me somehow. I know that some people push garlic cloves into the meat. That's very nice for the hot roast but if I have leftovers for two or three more meals I don't necessarily want a garlicky whiff every time. In our house we can never have enough cold roast lamb. It's good for four or five days in the fridge.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Jan 19 - 06:13 AM

Mutton makes an excellent curry.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Jan 19 - 07:44 AM

Yes, I see almost *only* curry recipes, as is nobody else ate mutton. Thanks for recipes!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jan 19 - 11:45 AM

I love grilled lamb, or sauteed in a skillet, but boiled - nope.

Last night a friend came over for dinner so I rolled the barbecue grill (LP gas) out of the greenhouse and grilled a spatchcocked chicken. In this instance (and after trial and error, the way I usually do it) I split it down the middle of the breast and flattened it with the backbone in the middle. This way the breast is more likely to finish with the rest of the bird; some of the chickens you can buy these days are so big that the breast meat all together takes considerably longer than the rest. Since the point is to take the entire bird off of the grill at once, I don't want to turn the leg quarters into charcoal.

The chicken was perfect. Served with a side of basmati brown rice (and browned vermicelli) in the rice cooker; in the last few minutes of rice cooking I put the steamer pan on top and put fresh broccoli). Salad on the side and a glass of wine (brought by the guest - a nice Pinot Noir).

Primarily I mention this now (January 25) because I was able to grill while many of the rest of you are hip-deep in snow. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jan 19 - 12:23 PM

Stilly, you're an evil woman. The snow in Stratford is going sideways, and our barbecue is in a big, fat drift.

The only dish I make that involves boiled mutton or lamb is Irish stew, and the technique there is really blanching. You put the meat in a soup pot with just enough water to cover and bring it just to the boil, then strain it off and rinse it in cold water. Then put the meat back in the pot with potatoes and onions (NO CARROTS!), with water only about half-way up the solids, cook until the potatoes can be mashed against the side of the pot. At the end, add salt, pepper, rather a lot of minced parsley, a little minced garlic, and a tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Jan 19 - 09:31 AM

I shall have to make lamb. Rats.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jan 19 - 03:28 PM

This weekend I planned to make blintzes when friends were here for lunch, but we were all so full from the pizza we'd already made (we each put our preferred toppings on quarters of large Iraqi flat bread so it's a crispy thin crust) that we didn't make them. I did this morning; I'd never made crepes before but I've cooked pancakes all my life, so it didn't take much adjustment to the crepe requirements.

That said, this was the recipe I posted above, and while the crepes were good and the raspberry sauce was nice the cheese (mostly ricotta, with a little creme chese) was so bland as to be disappointing.

I see a couple of options - find a different mix of cheeses to use in this recipe or go in a different direction entirely and put something else in the crepes.

What would you do with this recipe?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Jan 19 - 10:06 PM

I make blintz filling with dry-curd cottage cheese, an egg, and lemon zest to deal with the bland issue. I got the recipe from the early 70s edition of The Joy of Cooking.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 08:36 AM

I’ve started making a very basic soup using the multi-cooker. They are quite nice for a lunchtime meal (our main meal is tea time) on some of these miserable winter days.

Put 500ml water and 2 crumbled veg stock cubes in the bowl. Add peeled and chopped veg (so far, various mixes of carrot, parsnip, celery, onion and calabrese have been used), enough to sort of come over the water level a bit. Set on “soup/stew” for 15 minutes and forget about it – the machine will enter “keep warm” when done.

Later, put contents of pot in blender and give a whirl. The soup should be pretty thick. Add salt, pepper, cream, milk… if/as needed/desired and give another mix. Have with some thickly sliced buttered toast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 10:19 AM

Two stock cubes plus extra salt in 500 ml? Really?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 10:49 AM

Fair question Steve but I did say something like if/as needed/desired and intended to indicate you could adjust a little at that stage if you wished. I have added both double cream and milk to my own attempts but have not added either salt or pepper.

As a general rule, I tend not to add salt to my own cooking, not even to boil potatoes... and reserve the condiment for chips but I'm sure there are times I feel something does need a touch of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 10:53 AM

If you want savory crepes I like ham and gruyere or comte; for sweet, chocolate and crushed walnuts. Dark dark not-too-sweet chocolate.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 11:15 AM

We are eating stew these days. January will do that.

On Sunday, I made a version of boeuf bourguignon that does away with most of the fussing recommended by such luminaries as Julia Child -- ordinary onions cut in eighths instead of whole pearl onions peeled, for example. We ate it with brown-and-wild rice pilaf on Sunday, and again on Monday with polenta. We will probably eat the rest of it tomorrow for lunch, with toast.

Salt is always an issue with stew and soup. I normally check the seasoning at the very end and add salt only then, and then only if necessary. That boeuf bourguignon has salt pork in it and calls for salt as well; I have made it every winter for 20 years and I have yet to put in any salt, finding the pork provides all the dish requires.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 11:42 AM

Staying on the winter soup/stew theme. I remember one very (by UK standards) cold winter, possibly 81 and in a mostly (we did have a woodburner in the living room but the rest of the house was like a fridge) very cold house, mum had a perpetual (for her veg) soup on the go for a month or so. Bits would get added when the pot emptied and it was very tasty.

Anyone here do these things?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 12:33 PM

We used a Franklin Stove at the farmhouse in the winter and the soup thing was my idea. My current ongoing soup is a leek shalott and onion soup that will evolve into a corn and potato tomato bisque. (avoid using meats) Treat the soup like a houseplant, water it a little daily.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 12:30 AM

Hi, Jon. I bet your cold winter was indeed 1981, because that was the winter after Mt. St Helens blew ash into the atmosphere and reduced sunlight worldwide.

Here in Missouri, where winters are usually rather mild, we had temps of -25F after that eruption. That's -31 C.

But to answer your question, no, I don't keep a pot of stew going on the stove all the time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 09:28 AM

Mine was 1977

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 12:07 PM

What is your favorite soup base?


Do you start with a stock of some sort like beef, chicken or fish, then bolster with something else be it sesame oil or soy sauce or worshishire sauce?
I figure most people start with a packet of spices or a can of mushroom ,celery or cream of chicken Campbell's soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 02:07 PM

I don't buy soup. A good hearty soup base might start with a soffritto of onion, carrot and celery, finely chopped in equal measure, sautéed gently in extra virgin olive oil. That's great if you want to make a chicken or turkey broth made with the scraps from a roast. Throw some scraps of ham in there for good measure. To make that into a meal, add some small pasta for the last ten minutes or so, ditalini or mini-macaroni sort of thing. I would never use stock cubes in such a broth, just the stock made from the carcass. For leek and potato, or a butternut squash soup, you could just sautée the leeks/onions in butter for a few minutes then throw in the cubed spuds/squash, add your stock and simmer until the veg is soft. You can then either leave as it is or blitz with a blender. A good thing to do is to blitz just half of it.

One of my favourite soups is nicked from Gino d'Acampo. The quality of your chicken stock is paramount for this. Chop up half a pound of sliced streaky bacon or pancetta (not smoked for me) and fry it merrily for a few minutes in a good glug of extra virgin olive oil. Add a pound and a half of chopped onion or some shallots and fry with the bacon for about 20 minutes on a low heat. Add two pints or more of stock and a tin of chopped tomatoes. A tin and a half is good, about 500-600g. Simmer gently for three-quarters of an hour. Check the seasoning then serve with some shavings of Parmesan and a swirl of extra virgin olive oil and eat with crusty bread. You will not BELIEVE how good this is.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 02:22 PM

Soups are new to me, Donuel. As is the multi-cooker which I’m feeling my way with on and off… Btw, one thing I’ve found with it (actually mentioned on various web sites but I found out before reading…) that was highlighted by making an utterly tasteless veg curry (rescued by adding stuff and doing on a pan but not even vaguely presentable to anyone as it was) is that, while there is some venting, it’s pretty much a sealed system. This can affect the qty of water you would use for a vegetable meal.

Anyway back more to your question. Mum used to make some very nice soups, watercress and a stilton and celery as starters for Christmas /Boxing days in the past come to mind but I don’t recall her using a pre made base for a soup as such.

That said, I’m pretty well convinced that she has used a can of soup, quite likely the non meat ones on your list, as a quick base for a sauce to go with a meal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 02:56 PM

I find tinned soups to be too salty, too processed and often too gloopy. I make lots of different soups and, as long as you have good stock, you can hardly go wrong. Use the best ingredients, get a good heavy-based pan and a stick blender and you're away. I won't use a food processor because I think it's insane to use a gizmo for ten seconds to produce a ton of washing up. And no dried herbs!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 03:26 PM

I like the idea of the split “blended” and “with bits” soup.

Food processors, etc.

I think the only thing I’m currently using ours for is to grate cheese. I’ll chop a block of the extra mature cheddar mum gets in half, 2 pushes through and done and I’ll bag up what isn’t needed. I find this one convenient. I think mum does use it for a couple of recipes including one for cheese scones.

I’m not sure the blender attachment for the food processor is any more hassle to clean than the stick blender which would get used say to whip cream. In fact the stick one can be a bit of pain getting the cream out of the tool (without wasting it) but maybe you can recommend a better one?

One tool that sits in the bask of a cupboard is a mouli. That was bought to process a glut of tomatoes we had one year and would still be good for that sort of sieving use if we ever wanted to deal with another one. I have sometimes wondered about using it for mashed potatoes but that is one where getting it out of the cupboard, disassembly and washing up after is (I think) beaten easily by just using a hand masher.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 06:17 PM

I have a cheapie stick blender, Kenwood I think, around fifteen quid, that I've had for donkeys' years. It has its own plastic jug thingie. I've told Mrs Steve that, in the extremely unlikely event of a divorce, she's not getting it. Along with a particular carving knife and my cherished stainless steel heavy-based lidded frying pan. My blender-with-jug makes soups, mackerel pate and passata, and, my coup de grace, salmorejo in summer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 07:41 PM

Every time I have the bones and skin from a roasted chicken I put them in a pot, just cover them with water, and simmer for stock. I did the same thing last fall with the turkey carcass. No vege added until it's being used for soup or something else. I freeze it in pint canning jars and lately I've thawed a couple for making rice (in a rice cooker - as careful as I am the rice in a pan on the stove always seems to stick or burn to the bottom. The cooker is perfect every time).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 07:59 PM

Well I reckon your stock would be twice as good if you chucked in an onion, two celery sticks from the outside and a big carrot, all chopped up. A handful of parsley, a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme would complete the picture. Just boil up that lot for couple of hours, sieve it out and you have magnificent stock.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 08:53 PM

All of those go in when I'm actually making a dish with it. I don't remember which celebrity chef I was listening to who said this gives you the most versatile stock, but I have to agree. I don't really want all of the onions and carrot and leafy stuff seasoning my rice, I like the simple chicken or turkey flavor. I can add the rest and make a richer broth when needed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 09:20 PM

It doesn't work like that! Just bung everything into your stockpot...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 10:35 PM

Speak to Jacques Pepin about it. I think he's the one who talked about making stock. Or perhaps Hubert Keller.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 11:00 AM

Thanks for the straightforward stock idea, SRS.

Yesterday I asked the DH to buy one pound of ground beef, and he emerged from the checkout with 3.1 pounds. I like to cook ground meat right away, so I promptly made meatballs for spaghetti and a big meat loaf with it. One half of the meatloaf is now in the freezer.

I have a small collection of ziploc bags containing tomato sauce made with homegrown tomatoes. Last year was not a good year for tomatoes, so these bags are precious. I've found that I can take one and add a can of no-salt tomatoes to make it go further, and it still tastes homegrown.

As I mentioned before, the no-salt tomatoes taste better than salted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 11:18 AM

Can you actually buy salted tinned tomatoes? I came across a can once in Spain of all places many years ago. Disgusting!   

SRS. Adding vegetables to a stock, along with a bayleaf, some parsley sprigs and a couple sprigs of thyme, adds much depth to the otherwise rather insipid bone stock but without any of the flavours intruding. It's a brilliant way of using up the outer bits of onions that you're not sure you should or shouldn't be chopping up, the coarse outside stringy sticks of celery and the carrot trimmings and peelings (or just a scrubbed carrot that's getting on a bit). It avoids food waste and adds greatly to the vitamin and mineral content of the stock.

Next controversial assertion: I never skim the fat off my stock, for therein lieth the flavour......

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 11:24 AM

Last year was a poor year for tomatoes at home too, Leenia. The plants grew and flowered well but few fruit set for some reason.

Again I've not heard of no salt tomatoes. We do use canned ones though. Napolini chopped tomatoes are a sort of stock item for the cupboard here.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 12:01 PM

I leave the fat on the stock, and when I decide to soup it up, then the rest of the flavorings you suggest are used. It heats enough to get those flavors then the veg is discarded and the onions and carrots and whatever are going to stay in the soup are then sauteed and added to the stock.

In the US it used to be difficult to find no-salt vegetables. Now they're pretty much everywhere and don't cost more than their salted variety (fewer ingredients but they have to use a bit fresher food and process it separately.) Salt can disguise some quality issues. This is why I also use frozen vegetables sometimes; they are frozen closer to the field and are usually picked closer to ripe when used for freezing. I use a lot of frozen strawberries because those fruits didn't get as much of the nonsense as the big beefy flavorless berries that appear fresh (probably picked green and ripen on their way to the store). Frozen fruit is usually smaller, riper, and better tasting at the time it's frozen.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 08:00 PM

We had dab fillets tonight. I'm not all that confident with fish but I've learned not to overcook, the killer secret. We had four fillets each (they are small) which cost just over three quid. Dead cheap. I seasoned some flour and I dredged the fillets in it, then pan-fried them quite gently in half olive oil, half butter. Three minutes skin down, one minute flipped. We had the fish with Morrisons mushy peas (the ones that come frozen in 1kg bags) and my home-made oven chips (I will not buy oven chips, which are an abomination). My God, it was the meal of the week.

My oven chips: the spuds are paramount. They have to be the salad waxy types such as Charlotte or Nicola. Starchy collapsibles won't cut it here. Scrub the spuds and cut off bad bits but don't peel them. Cut them into thick chips or wedges, whatever you like. Parboil for eight minutes in well-salted water then drain. Put the drained spuds back in the pan and shake vigorously to rough up the outsides. Don't omit this crucial step. Put the spuds into a baking tray, tossed with a few good glugs of groundnut oil. Put the tray into a very hot oven (250C) for about 20 minutes. I'm telling you, you can't buy chips as good as that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 09:05 PM

I've just remembered my Mediterranean roast potatoes, brilliant with a barbecue or with anything, and they are so easy.

For two people you need 500g salad potatoes. They must be of the waxy type. You need a baking tray big enough to spread the spuds out. Scrub the spuds but don't peel. Hack them into chunks about a half-inch in size and scatter them on your baking tray. Add several good glugs of extra virgin olive oil, two or three sprigs of rosemary, salt and pepper and a couple of cloves of bashed but skinned garlic. Toss all that lot together and put into an oven at 180C.

After fifteen minutes, remove from oven and toss everything around. At this stage, add the cloves, still in their skins, from a whole head of garlic. Mix everything around then put back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so.

Once the spuds are golden they're ready, and you can eat the garlic cloves by sucking out the middles. The recipe is more of a summery thing for us, but it's lovely with some cold meat and a few greens or a salad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Feb 19 - 09:09 AM

Trick from my mom: when you've made stock and used some for soup put the rest in old-fashioned ice cube trays in the freezer (when frozen put in ziplock bags). Each stock cube is about 2 tbs, useful for flavoring up lots of things.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Feb 19 - 11:31 AM

Mrrzy I do the same thing with guacamole. It freezes well. Best to thaw on the counter top, not in the microwave unless you use very short spurts of energy and turn the cubes a couple of times.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Feb 19 - 03:13 PM

I just made some:

Pork Meatballs with Fennel

Mix together: about 1 pound ground pork, 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1 tablespoon fennel seeds (I get mine from an Indian grocery store.)

Roll into small meatballs, about 1- 14 inches across. For easier clean-up, put parchment paper on a sheet pan with low sides. Bake 20 mins at 350 degrees. These freeze well.

Sauce: saute some minced garlic in olive oil. Add more oil and lemon juice until you have a reasonable amount of sauce. If you have an actual lemon, you can add the zest as well as the juice. Add black pepper and some herbs, if you wish. Rosemary and basil are nice.

Cook some noodles. Drain. Return to the pot and gently heat up the noodles, meatballs and sauce. Serve. Add salt at the table as desired.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Feb 19 - 08:30 AM

Fennel as a veg is yum: as an herb, it's too liquorice-y. Weird. Coriander seeds are good, cilantro blechhh. Nutmeg is nicer than mace, too. Love nature.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Feb 19 - 09:53 AM

Fennel seeds I've found unpleasant in everything I've ever tried them in. I can't use coriander (cilantro) because Mrs Steve sez it tastes like Fairy Liquid though I love it. That has a serious effect on my guacamole but I've found that I can use fresh parsley to advantage instead. I find the inclusion of orange peel or zest very odd in savoury dishes and I won't use it. I'm thinking of my chorizo and cannellini bean Spanish stew (which is supposed to have both orange rind and fennel seeds, though not in mine) and my Elizabeth David boeuf en daube. I don't miss it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Feb 19 - 11:09 AM

Made a wonderful-seeming leg o'lamb then got the whirlies and never made the party. And a bunch of parker house rolls. Can they become the top to a sheperd's pie?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Feb 19 - 12:30 PM

There is apparently a genetic connection to who likes or doesn't like cilantro. Something to plug into Google. . .

I burned my mouth on hot cheese on a pizza a few days ago and keep re-injuring it, so today is a day for cooler foods. I had some left-over pancakes in the freezer that were reheated (they never exceed comfortable temperatures and don't have scratchy edges like toast might) and I'm letting my tea cool a bit before drinking (pity, but it must be done.) Salads for lunch and dinner.

I put fruit into my steam juicer periodically, and most recently used it to juice some cranberries that had been in the freezer for a long time. I now mix up a can of frozen apple juice with the regular amount of water, and add a can's worth of my cranberry juice for a nice (and affordable) cranapple juice. I mostly drink tea or water during the day, I gave up regular pop (soda, coke, etc.) years ago. This fruit juice is mostly carbs but is a treat on occasion.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 08:14 AM

Yeah, hating cilantro is indeed a single gene mutation. I called my mom and blamed her when I found that out!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:16 AM

We have a smoked ham hock and some Great Northern beans. Today, I shall conduct an experiment with the Instant Pot multi-cooker to see whether a proper mid-winter bean soup can be achieved in one afternoon.

Tune in tomorrow ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:28 AM

Bean and Bean Gumbo

READY IN: 50mins
YIELD: 8-9 cups         

    2 teaspoons olive oil
    1 large onion, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
    4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
    1 -2 fresh green chili, minced
    1 tablespoon paprika
    1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
    1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
    3 stalks celery, diced
    1 large bell pepper, seeded and diced
    3 cups water or 3 cups vegetable stock, plus
    3 tablespoons water or 3 tablespoons vegetable stock
    2 cups fresh sliced okra or 2 cups frozen sliced okra
    1 1/2 cups cooked black-eyed peas (15-oz. can)
    1 1/2 cups cooked white beans (15-oz. can)
    1 tablespoon brown sugar
    2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
    3 tablespoons cornmeal
    1 cup minced fresh parsley
    1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
    salt & fresh ground pepper

Directions (In spite of the all the ingredients it's pretty easy to make, mostly chopping)

    In a saucepan, warm the oil.
    Stir in the onions, garlic, and chiles.
    Cover and cook on low heat, stirring frequently, until the onions         are tender, about 8 minutes.
    Add the paprika, cumin, thyme, celery, bell peppers, and 3 cups of the water or stock.
    Bring to a simmer, cover,and cook for about 5 minutes.
    Add the okra, black-eyed peas, white beans, brown sugar, and tomatoes and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the    vegetables are tender.
    In a small bowl, whisk together the cornmeal and the remaining 3 tbls.
    of water or stock and stir into the gumbo.
    Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cornmeal is cooked and the gumbo thickens slightly.
    Add the parsley, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

I made this for a Super Bowl gathering the other day with cornbread and brought along some McIlheny's hot sauce. I got it out of the Moosewood Low Fat Favorites cook book and it turned out well, it got all ate up by a bunch of skeptical carnivores. I used frozen okra because we just don't seem to get the good kind here in S.W. FL, canned diced tomatoes because the fresh ones are out of season right now and used half smoked paprika and half sweet paprika otherwise I followed the recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:46 AM

I have a lot of frozen organic okra that came out of my yard last fall. I mostly eat it fried (when fresh) and my daughter swoops in periodically for a bag when her household decides it's time to make gumbo. I've used it in stir-fry a few times.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:49 AM

I love it in black-eyed peas but the "fresh" stuff we get around here is usually dried out and flavorless.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 10:04 AM

Thanks for that nice recipe, gillymor.

I'll have to try thickening with cornmeal, as you say.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 10:12 AM

Cornmeal thickening works well in Chili too, leenia.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 12:53 PM

The okra I eat has usually been picked that day or very recently; I started growing it because my next door neighbor was having trouble growing it. I thought "how difficult can it be?" and put in four plants - and as a result sometimes had to pick twice a day to keep up with it. I gave her most of it, and suggested that she should show me how she cooks it (not boiled!) because I hadn't eaten it that I could remember. Her fried okra was an instant hit. Cut into about 1/2 inch pieces on a bit of a diagonal, moist pieces rolled in seasoned cornmeal (fish fry is good) with a little white flour for sticking purposes. Place in a skillet in shallow hot corn oil, and don't crowd the pieces. They cool on a plate with paper towels and many of them are eaten at the stove by the cook. If I'm here by myself they sometimes never reach the table.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 01:13 PM

I have fond memories of okra fried much like that by a friend from Valdosta, GA, along with farm-raised catfish. The boiled stuff can just too slimy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 03:53 PM

Made Steve's sirloin-tomatoes-capers-garlic-pepper casserole tonight. It was good, but I was a little stymied by the instructions to cut 300g of sirloin into 6 thin strips. Making thin strips, I had about 15. I'd be inclined to put on some more tomatoes, maybe…?

As for what to do with lamb, Irish stew is nice - traditionally it's a white stew, with just lamb and onions and potatoes and herbs and stock, and sometimes barley; however, I happily add carrots.

There are lots of Arab lamb dishes which are very nice - try Yotam Ottolenghi as a source. And the Caribbean curried goat is nowadays mostly made with lamb or mutton rather than goat.

Artificial stocks: I use those gloops of chicken gel by Knorr often, and if a bit more stocky strength is needed without more salt, one of the Kallo very low salt cubes.

Real stock: any roast chicken that passes through our house, the bones and skin go into the pressure cooker, and also the jelly part of the juice of chicken and vegetables and lemon and vermouth that's strained off from the roasting dish. I'll add a couple of stalks of celery, two big carrots, two bay leaves, a whole onion with the skin on, and the green of any leeks hanging around, plus a few herbs - a bit of thyme, mostly. That's pressure cooked for about an hour or an hour and a half, then the dog gets the carrots and celery and the rest of the solids go in the compost bin; the liquid is cooled, poured into plastic boxes and kept in the fridge.

Anyone got a nice recipe for fish stock?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 08:28 PM

I said thin slices, Thompson, not strips. In effect they are just very thin-cut sirloin steaks. The butcher I get them from calls them flash-fry steaks. Best not to have that edge of fat, then they won't curl up. Bash them even thinner if you like. The other night mine got thirty seconds each side in a very hot pan of the garlicky oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 08:40 PM

I like the organic Kallo stock cubes too, Thompson, if I need a lighter stock. And your stock recipe is right up my alley. Here's a cheat's secret: add a Kallo cube to your stock pot. The stock comes out even richer! I never add brassica trimmings to stock.

If I want stock for something like a slow-cooked pot roast, I'll use one Kallo beef cube to 500ml water, I'll soak a handful of dried porcini in 300ml boiled water for 20 minutes and use the liquor from that (look out for the last drop which can be gritty), and I'll boil a glass of red wine in a small saucepan and set fire to it to burn off the alcohol. Mix that lot together and you have a super stock. You can chop up the porcini and chuck that in the pot too. Why not.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 08:52 PM

For a glorious lamb stew, watch Gennaro Contaldo on YouTube making one in Malta (it Googles). It works a treat. If you're making it for the next day hold back the peas until then, then they won't lose their colour. Frozen peas work a treat and don't need long. I used diced shoulder for this. My butcher dices it for me but I found with him that I needed to do a bit of trimming on some of the pieces, but the connective tissue does cook nicely. Not so much dried skin. A great one-pot dish. It may need bit longer to go tender enough than Gennaro says.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:52 PM

Yes, the gel and everything that roasted with the chicken goes into the stock. If I don't have any homemade I use bouillon cubes (I found a robust variety a while back and bought a lifetime supply). I have some beef bouillon in the fridge also. That can help boost the cooking liquid when starting out to braise a pot roast or make stew.

More than once I've seen people mentioning burning off the alcohol in wine. Why? It adds more flavor to whatever you're cooking and is gone by the time cooking is finished.

This evening I made teriyaki chicken, that I haven't made in probably years. Here in the states one of the earlier cooking programs on Public Broadcasting was with Jeff Smith, who was The Frugal Gourmet. Alas, his program disappeared from sight when he was charged with abusing the young man who was his assistant, but his teaching of how to make dishes was top-rate and I have a number of his recipes I still use. And his cookbooks are out there in the used book stores. I gave one to my son, and explained that while the man himself was in disgrace, his cookbook was helpful in teaching how to do the things needed for various recipes.

1/2 cup of sherry (though I didn't have any so used Marsala)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
grated ginger (as much as seems right)

Pour the marinade over the chicken and let it sit for at least a few minutes; I turned it every so often and left it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

I usually use cut up whole chicken parts in the past, but on this occasion I had a deeply-discounted package of organic chicken thighs that had been deboned and no skin. I buy it frozen. Normally skin and bones go in the dish, but when the thighs were half-price to start with and if you bought two you got the second package for 1 cent, I got them. And thighs have so much more flavor. Anyway, use peanut oil if you have it and put enough in a deep skillet or a other lidded pan to brown the chicken. Do it in a couple of batches if needed (I had about 3.5 pounds of meat, so it took two batches). Once it is browned, return all meat to the pot, pour the marinade over the meat, cover it and let it cook for 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

Because I had as much chicken as I did I made half-again as much marinade to work with. And I'll have some wonderful leftovers for the rest of the week!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 02:43 AM

Ooooh, will try that beef stock base, Steve. Will try that next time.

As for the strips, ahhh. Like what my father used to do with veal scallopini for a toast treat - mushrooms simmered in butter, Marsala...

Of course nothing cabbagey in stock, who would DO that!

I’ve just got a tub of bouillon powder - re-familiarising myself with cheap old hippie recipes in case Brexit gets as terrifyingly economy-destroying as looks likely. Do he use it?

We make a cold spinach salad from Japan here that would go nicely as a side dish with your teriyaki chicken, Stilly. Blanch the washed spinach quickly in boiling water, drain it and rinse it off in cold water (this removes any chalkiness) and squash out the water; mix in ground-up sesame seeds, a little sugar and soya sauce (we use Kikkoman). It’s also lovely hot. Here’s a proper recipe https://www.justonecookbook.com/spinach-with-sesame-sauce

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 05:15 AM

Delia Smith always recommended Marigold bouillon powder for veg stock. I found it disgusting and threw it away. I won't use veg stock cubes or powder. If I can't use chicken stock I'll boil up a carrot, onion, celery stick and herbs for half an hour to make my own.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 05:23 AM

Alcohol in wine used for cooking adds a harsh edge to the dish. Unless you're heating the booze very fast, when deglazing for example, it takes hours to evaporate away and there will be some left if the cooking temperature is kept low, even for hours. In a slow cooker the alcohol will hardly evaporate at all even if you leave it cooking all day. It's the fruit and acid elements in the wine that you want, not the alcohol. And burning it off is fun!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 06:25 AM

On the sliminess of okra, which always puts me off, I saw a television programme in which they said you could cure it by soaking the okra in salt and vinegar.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 04:35 PM

The Instant Pot multi-cooker does boffo beans. I made a beans-and-ham-hock stew for the ages yesterday, and it took only an hour, plus time to bone the hock and cut up the meat. Perfect texture, great flavour.

Further to the discussion of stock, above: I'm with Steve Shaw on bouillon cubes. I read the labels on the packets at the supermarket, including the ones that say Organic and whatever, and always end up putting them back on the shelf in favour of the cut-up veg and chicken wreckage that I have used for some fifty years.

It isn't just that I don't know what the finished article will taste like, it's also that properly made stock behaves in a particular way when you boil it down, and I have no idea whether the bouillon cube will produce a similar result.

I'm not so sure of Steve's analysis of the effect of wine, but then every cook has his/her own special understanding of "harsh". Come to think of it, everything I put wine in gets flambéed or cooked for ages, and sometimes both.

As for okra, I have no idea. The only place to buy okra around here is more than half an hour away in Kitchener, and I don't consider it worth the trip.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 05:01 PM

You guys have Better Than Bouillon?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 06:11 PM

This discussion got me thinking about all of the okra I have in the freezer, so I pulled out a gallon ziplock bag (about 5 pounds?) and took it next door. Her husband isn't allowed okra now (he loves it fried) due to kidney stones, but she can eat it. She really likes it boiled and he can easily resist the boiled version—you had to grow up with it fixed that way.

Alcohol in wine used for cooking adds a harsh edge to the dish.

I don't cook often with anything other than regular table wines, but I've had a bottle of Marsala unopened forever because I hadn't thought about how long it would last once opened. There aren't that many things I would make to use the rest of it in a week. But this is what I learned:

What’s the difference and similarities among Marsala, Sherry and Port? They all are fortified wines, but differ in origin, flavor, alcohol by volume levels, and ways of usage.

These are among the best wines to use for cooking. They pack the most intense flavors and—because they’re fortified with a little more alcohol than table wine—have the longest life on the pantry shelf.

Marsala has a medium-rich body that is great for sauces, marinades, meats and seafoods

Port has a rich sweetness and depth that’s especially good in meat-based casseroles

Sherry’s complex roasted nutty flavors can enhance just about any soup, stew, or sautéed dish

From here.

And from another site, the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services in New York State, this one with clinical studies into the question:

Alcohol can be found as an ingredient in many recipes. It can be added as an ingredient to add specific flavors or it can be part of an ingredient, such as extracts. Many cookbooks and cooks tell the consumer that the “alcohol will have burned off," however the process is more complicated than this simple statement implies. Alcohol does boil at a lower temperature than water - 86 degrees centigrade vs. 100 degrees C. for water, though one may have to boil a beer for 30 minutes to get it down to the NA or nonalcoholic category, which by law means it contains less than .5 percent alcohol.

Nutritionists from Washington State University, the University of Idaho and U.S. Department of Agriculture experimented with cooking with alcohol, though not with beer, but with wine and sherry. They cooked two Burgundy-laden dishes similar to boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin, plus scalloped oysters with sherry. Depending on the method (simmering or baking), the temperature, the time and even on the size of the pan anywhere from 4 percent to 49 percent of the original alcohol remained in the dish. Long simmering in a wide pan was the most effective way to remove alcohol; baking appeared to be the least.

I am happy with the way food tastes with no extra effort to remove alcohol beyond the natural cooking time and low boiling point of alcohol. I do use it to deglase, so there it has been happening unconsciously. But last night's delicious teriyaki simmered for 30 minutes so no doubt still contained some alcohol. I'll pass on the boiled beer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 06:33 PM

Well you know me - I have nothing whatsoever against booze, and there's nowt nicer than a boozy trifle or a big glug of Baileys poured over ice cream. But I don't want that boozy edge in a slow-cooked dish, for example. All I can say is try it and see. Burn it off!   

There are some booze additions I dislike. For me, using cider to boil a ham is a no-no. Not keen on beef in beer/Guinness either. In Italian cooking, my speciality, if you're going to use wine, you should use the same wine that you're going to drink with the dish. Using a cheap wine that you wouldn't drink, or worse, "cooking wine," will always give you poor results

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Feb 19 - 06:43 AM

Right, cook with the wine you're drinking, that's what I learned. Also there was a lot of liver damage in my family... Mom could not eat one chocolate with cordial in it... But we were never triggered by food with wine, or flambeeing, so I am pretty sure the alcohol left in, say, mom's coq au vin or beef bourguinion was anything other than negligeable.

Also my sheperd's pie failed: too much liquid, it got above the mashed and created an awful texture.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Feb 19 - 06:44 AM

Was negligible, sorry.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Feb 19 - 12:49 PM

The only alcohol I've ever found had a slightly bitter taste was the Guinness in Guinness stew, but I don't mind it there. Maybe my tastebuds are lacking (quite possible as many years of sinus infections have played merry hell with my sense of smell), but I don't get any bitter undertaste from the slosh of red wine I'll put into a stew or the slosh of vermouth I'll often put in when cooking fish.

Steve, how do you get your sirloin flat? I went to the butcher's today and got him to flatten it, which he did, saying any further flattening would wreck the fibres of the meat. But do you flatten it yourself, for instance by beating the tripes out of it with a rolling pin while invoking the name of your favourite government minister?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Feb 19 - 09:38 AM

food is violent

Vegans won't eat meat
Living things with eyes
will not be their treat
Pigs feet make them cry

Food is violent
Organic or not
Screams are silent
What ever you got

I've beaten some eggs
Not a sound was made
I've fried chicken legs
There was no first aid

I've peeled bananas
Potatoes I've mashed
It sounds like torture
the food that I've thrashed

Make a melon ball
slice a tomato
Your food has been mauled
As if torpedoed

I've whipped cream, crushed nuts
burned red onions
vegetables cut
all by the dozen

Food is violent
no matter your mood
After an ambulence
You'll one day be food

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Feb 19 - 11:48 AM

Heh heh you are *already* food, Donuel!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Feb 19 - 01:39 PM

I never eat tiger
But I do eat meat
As a good driver
the drive throughs are sweet

Food is violence
No matter your mood
You will break silence
When you are the food

Tigers get hungry
In the wild or Zoo
When not caged but free
the new food is you

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Feb 19 - 11:59 PM

This evening I made a batch of my own invention, chunks of zucchini in a casserole with onion, green pepper, Italian sausage, pasta sauce, Parmesan cheese, some wine, egg noodles, and I cleared out some partial things in the fridge and freezer. A couple of peppers I needed to dice and freeze, some went in the skillet, a small container of frozen diced tomato, the rest of a jar of fancy roasted red peppers and feta cheese (by Peloponnese) from lunch a couple of weeks ago. That last ingredient made this dish amazing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 09 Feb 19 - 09:58 AM

Ah, that most delicious of all dishes, ad hoc leftovers jazzing up fresh vegetables!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Feb 19 - 02:30 PM

Yes! And difficult to repeat completely from one time to the next. In season the zucchini, onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, and herbs are all likely to have come out of my garden. It is an "organically" developed dish based upon what was picked in the last couple of days.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Feb 19 - 12:17 PM

It's another cold humid rainy day, so I'm going to bake a couple of things. Starting with a "Dutch Baby" popover for brunch, and then some baking powder biscuits that are rolled out to about 1/4 inch thin, scored into a dozen squares, and each one filled with a raisin/walnut/brown sugar/butter/cinnamon mix. Pinch four corners together, place corners up in the ungreased muffin tin, bake, and they are so good! (I'll come back with specifics after I make them. I'm just dreaming of them now - and they're called "Raisin Bonanzas." It's a recipe from my childhood, no idea where Mom got it. And my kids also love it.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 10 Feb 19 - 02:26 PM

If you were to put the 'Raisin Bonanzas' in the tin the other way up and flatten them a bit, you would have something very similar to Eccles cakes - except Eccles cakes have more currants than raisins.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 10 Feb 19 - 02:40 PM

Then there's Chorley cakes... I don't know the American version but would happily eat either of the UK different versions.

And I'm pretty sure that in the past, mum has used up scrap pastry with the dried fruit type fillings.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Feb 19 - 04:38 AM

Waiting eagerly for recipes for Chorley Cake and Raisin Bonanza.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 11 Feb 19 - 07:19 AM

Maybe my post was misleading but I'm pretty sure I've never had Eccles or Chorley cakes that were not shop bought, Thompson.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Feb 19 - 11:31 AM

I have never made a Dutch baby, I am afraid of things that are supposed to grow in the oven. Shades of I Love Lucy when I was young and fearful. Are they really good?

Meanwhile I have some ground bison. Ideas? I usually make spags...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Feb 19 - 01:04 PM

Hi, Mrrzy. I used to be afraid of yeast cookery too. I got started with Rhodes' frozen bread dough from the freezer case at the supermarket. Their directions are very good. Then somebody gave me a bread machine, and I haven't looked back.

I quit watching Lucy at the age of 9 or 10. Her stupidity was cringe-making.

How about making meat loaf with the ground bison. Mix in some sausage to add flavor and a little fat. Despite all the old jokes about it, meatloaf is good, and it freezes well.
==============
Question for everybody:
I investigated a funny-looking box in my fridge. It's Camembert that we got at Christmas-time. Is it safe to eat, do you think?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Feb 19 - 03:50 PM

There is no yeast in a Dutch Baby, it's a large popover, a very simple concept that perhaps Alton Brown has described on one of his kitchen chemistry programs. And it doesn't grow so large it's a problem unless perhaps you try to do it in a toaster oven.

I have no idea where my mother found this Raisin Bonanza recipe, I copied it onto an index card when I was probably 10 or 12 years old, as I created my own little wooden recipe box. That box is still the heart of a lot of things I make (that I loved and that my kids are particularly fond of.) In our family panoply of recipes it's up there with baking powder biscuits, pancakes, grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken pot pie . . . a classic comfort food that sometimes one is forgiven for making a meal of.

Raisin Bonanzas
Preheat oven to 400; baking time 15 to 20 minutes
Yield 12 to 16, depending on how much you roll out your dough.

Biscuit Dough:
2 cups sifted flour
1 T sugar
3 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup shortening (or butter)
¾ cup milk (or water, for lighter biscuits)

Optional:
Melted butter
Granulated sugar

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening. Add milk/water and mix to moderately stiff dough.
Roll out on lightly floured surface, creating a rectangle so you can cut it into 4" squares. (At this point, if you wish, you can use the melted butter to brush over the flat dough and sprinkle granulated sugar over it. I never bother.) If you roll the dough out thinner and cut the squares slightly smaller you can make 16 biscuits, but you might want to increase the amount of filling for them.)

Place raisin filling on each square, then when it is divided equally, proceed to lift the corners together and lightly pinch. Place each biscuit in an ungreased muffin pan cup.

Filling:
1 cup light or dark raisins
¼ cup brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T melted butter
Walnuts (I use at least 3/4 cup)
Mix all ingredients until blended.

I fed this recipe into My Fitness Pal, yield 12, without the extra butter and granulated sugar, and it comes out at 188 calories per biscuit. Sorry no weights on the ingredients for all of you UK folks.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Monique
Date: 11 Feb 19 - 05:06 PM

Ingredient Conversions Page on "Chocolate and Zucchini" blog to convert American measures into metric. My favorite recipe from this blog is "Very Ginger Cookies".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Feb 19 - 05:12 PM

Funny - I have that exact same set of measuring spoons, including the scratched up paint showing the amounts.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 12 Feb 19 - 01:38 AM

I think the only “proper” measuring spoon we have is the one for the breadmaker. Its tsp (graduated to its ½ tsp) works well with the machine.

Rambling on… One place I’d doubt digital kitchen scales as recommend in the blog is for measurements of only a few grams as can be found in bread recipes. Or at least I don’t think our own Salter set would give repeatable results better than within a couple of grams. In a moment of keenness, I did buy a pocket balance that would be better for that sort of task but in practice, they’ve had very little use.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Feb 19 - 03:31 AM

I use an old set of balance scales - a dish on one side and a set of weights on the other. There is a little movable metal weight on the arm of the balance which can be adjusted for complete accuracy. It never goes wrong.
My grandmother had her own measure for a teaspoon of sugar or salt when making bread - the hollow of the palm of her hand.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 12 Feb 19 - 03:36 AM

Postal scales or jewellery scales are the things to use, or so I've heard. Otherwise use volume measurements: some of my breadmaker recipes specify 15g butter, for which I use a 15ml measuring spoon. Butter, like a surprising number of other foods, has a density close to 1gm/ml.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Feb 19 - 09:51 AM

I am afraid to try souffles, too, mom made them with a high degree of anxiety.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Feb 19 - 10:19 AM

My grandmother, and my father who learned from her, also measured salt in the palm of her hand or between her fingers and thumb.

I much prefer to weigh ingredients, especially for bread. I get a much more consistent result, which pleases my neat-seeking soul.

Today, the plan is to deal with a hunk of lamb neck that looks good for nothing much but stewing, but isn't big enough to make a proper stew. I have never made a ragu, or at least not a proper one, so I think I shall start at the deep end, with this hunk of bony muscles.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Feb 19 - 11:01 PM

Still clearing leftovers out of my fridge, but today I made a batch of broccoli cornbread to warm up to go with meals. Can't eat much at a time, it's very rich. It's a box of cornbread mix, like Jiffy (this one happens to be a different gluten-free brand), 1 stick of butter (in the US this is a 1/2 cup - I used half butter and half olive oil), half a medium onion chopped and browned in the butter (careful not to burn it). Two eggs, 1 cup of cottage cheese (I used ricotta because that's what I had here), and a small package of frozen broccoli, thawed. Mix everything and put in a greased pan.

The recipe gave amounts on everything except the package of broccoli - who knows what size they had in mind - so I imagine you'd want to thaw enough that looks good when you submerge it in the mix. I submerged steamed fresh broccoli in the batter.

This goes in an 8" square pan.

Bake in 350^o oven for 35-40 minutes, though I left it about 45 minutes to get a hint of brown on the top.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Feb 19 - 03:36 PM

The lamb neck did not end up in a ragu, as even Marcella Hazan says to use mince for that. And I failed to disjoint and cut it up, lacking a meat saw, thus blowing a plan to make a hotpot with it. In the end, I pressure-cooked it in the Instant Pot, shredded the meat and dressed it with vinegar and pepper, and served it on rotini with a robust tomato sauce — olive oil infused with chilies, anchovies, garlic, onion, carrot and celery, glug of red wine, defatted dripping from our latest roast chicken, tin of plum tomatoes.

It was really good, with a bottle of Pinot Noir and a sleet storm blowing a gale outside.

I may never buy ready-made tomato sauce again ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 14 Feb 19 - 10:14 PM

So, Charmion, your ugly duckling neck of lamb turned into a beautiful swan of a pasta dish. A rich, flavorful dish like that is greatly enhanced by a sleet storm.

My dear husband and I had a new meal the other night - true frankfurters and cabbage steaks. The DH absolutely loved it. You can find out how to bake cabbage steaks on Youtube.

The frankfurters were shipped in from Milwaukee and were not cheap, everyday hot dogs. They had a mysterious sweet spice to them - not coriander. I couldn't identify it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Feb 19 - 11:35 AM

As hot dogs go most of them are the lowest end of the production line, mechanically separated meat parts. If I have a hankering for hot dogs I used to get the Kosher ones, Nathans or Hebrew National. They're probably just as full of nitrates and such, but seem a little healthier. Most recently I bought several packages of an organically produced hot dogs produced by Applegate that were uncured. The grocery had them all in the freezer section (most meats there were bought near the sell-by date so all goes in the freezer to preserve it). They were very good. But probably not as good as the Milwaukee frankfurters. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 16 Feb 19 - 11:09 AM

I don't know what your sausage is like, Stilly, [whether it's raw or cooked, vacuum-packed or loose] but when I buy fresh, uncooked sausage, I cook it immediately. Then we either eat it right away or freeze it. I freeze it in Ziploc bags from which I suck out the air with a straw.

They keep well, but big batches go into the chest freezer, which is colder than a refrigerator freezer. I think it's -30 F.

A couple years ago I bought raw sausage from the German store in town. It came from their freezer and was professionally wrapped. I put it straight into the fridge freezer. It all spoiled. They refused to reimburse me. I was just supposed to know!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Feb 19 - 03:58 PM

The cognescenti in the UK seek out and stay loyal to the local butcher's sausage. I will not buy any branded or supermarket sausage, nor do I want a link that has had silly things added such as garlic, apple or leeks. Moore's butchers in Bude have been making sausages from pork shoulder for over a hundred years, and I will countenance no other sausage. I want a coarse, juicy meaty texture, a lovely salty spicy hit and no more than a hint of the rusk that makes supermarket bangers, with whatever meat they have in them minced to a sludge, seem like you're chewing a soggy dishcloth. His skins are just right, strong enough to hold the thing together but not so strong that only a hacksaw could cut through, the latter useless in a sausage casserole. Beautiful on the barbecue or in a bun as a hot dog with buttery fried onion and (if you really insist) ketchup, and peerless as bangers and mash with onion gravy. .

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Feb 19 - 08:27 PM

Food preparation this evening used as many things as I could manage from the freezer (a mix I can use for nachos/tacos/burritos) and a few gaps will allow the reorganization (so I can see better what all is in there.)

I baked two large sweet potatoes (large by grocery store standards, not large by what one can actually grow in the garden, which is humongous) to cut into chunks to heat with meals. I bake them to the point of caramelized juices dripping and cooking on the pan to bring out the sweetness. I don't put anything on them, though around the holidays I have a dish that has boiled sweet potatoes mashed with some pie spices, orange juice, and chopped roasted pecans added and small marshmallows on top to add a sweet crust.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 18 Feb 19 - 12:45 PM

Sweet potatoes and pecans! Now that's a good idea. I like the idea of orange juice, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 19 - 04:44 PM

It's a recipe from my old Fanny Farmer Cookbook, the eleventh edition published in 1965. Page 268, "Sweet Potatoes de Luxe." As far as I could tell this volume had all of the same recipes that were in my mother's edition of the book (probably purchased in the 1950s). Farmer was at the Boston Cooking School, and one of the earliest "scientific" cooks, testing recipes before she published them in her books.

A note that I offer to my children when using this kind of book is that current recipes tend to include a lot more information about technique, how to mix, assemble, or cook the recipe in question. Fanny Farmer offered recipes to cooks who knew how to do those things: ingredients, order of assembly if needed, and baking temperature if it went into the oven. There are small drawn illustrations throughout, but not on every page. Pages formatted with two-columns had recipes rarely longer than a single column, and many of the pages will have two, three, or four recipes in a single column.

Julia Child's collaboration on Mastering the Art of French Cooking targeted American cooks who didn't have the French techniques and needed to see directions and illustrations in order to master those dishes. I suspect she set the standard that has been followed by many published and broadcast chefs ever since. Many modern cooks didn't have the advantage of a good Home Economics course or have parents who taught them to cook. My kids learned a lot of cooking at home, so I can usually just send the recipe they want and they figure out the rest.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Feb 19 - 07:47 PM

No-one ever taught me to cook anything. My countless mistakes have been visited on my poor family for decades, but by now almost everything I cook goes down well. I've learned a few golden rules:

Keep it simple. Recipes with twenty ingredients are designed to compensate for shortcomings, not for ingredients to complement each other, and every extra ingredient increases the risk of failure.

Don't be a slave to a recipe. If it says fennel seeds or coriander, and you don't like them, just leave them out. My guacamole is famous, but it has parsley instead of coriander. My idea!

Timings in cookery books are generally useless. Boil potatoes for fifteen minutes until soft my arse. I won't mash glue. I never time meat. So many minutes per pound and so many over? Recipe for disaster. A big chicken two hours, slathered in butter, all but the last half-hour under foil. An average turkey, three hours. Shoulder of lamb, whack it in the oven as is after breakfast at 110C and forget it until five o'clock. Pot roasts the same, maybe for not quite as long, though ox cheeks can take way over four hours. Never had ox cheeks? Loser! Braised steaks two and a half hours. Shoulder of pork with crackling, as with lamb but give it a very hot blast at the very start and the very end.
And never buy little joints. Waste of time and they don't cook nice.

Use the very best ingredients you can find. Insipid chemical golfball tomatoes do not a decent tomato sauce make. In fact, even Italians use canned tomatoes, even in summer. I once read somewhere that the most expensive rice you can find is still cheap. It's true. And a half-teaspoon of sugar in any tomato dish absolutely transforms it. Cheap chicken is not worth eating and it's cruel.

A tiny splash of Tabasco improves almost everything.

Never mince garlic. It turns a lovely, mellow ingredient into a harsh near-poison. I never want to think that if I eat this I'll be breathing out garlic for two days, and I do use a lot of garlic.

Simple Italian pasta sauces are ruined if onion is incorporated. Meaty ragus are the exception.

Strong herby flavours in a dish mean that you have failed. I love rosemary and sage (fresh, not dried) but they can be hooligans if overused. I don't understand anyone who puts mint in peas, though fresh baby mint leaves sprinkled on pea purée on crostini (with roasted garlic, butter and Parmesan as well as the peas) are fabulous. Dried oregano in a beefy tomato dish is super, but if I find a pot of dried basil in your cupboard that's the last time I eat at your house.

I enjoy cooking, especially if have have a large glass of white wine on the go, and as long as I can listen to The Archers and everyone keeps out of the kitchen.

If you have tuna in spring water, throw it in the bin unopened. Don't serve pink salmon to your guests. Don't buy olive oil that isn't extra virgin. It's bullshit that you can't cook with extra virgin. Buy something bog standard such as Napolina extra virgin for cooking but don't heat it too much. Buy a nice Italian estate oil for sprinkling on your pizza (do that in order to not be wrong), for salad dressing and for drizzling on your pasta dish or tostada. If you need to get oil very hot, for home-made oven chips for example, use groundnut oil.

And in less than ten minutes you can have a fish finger or bacon butty that, when you feel peckish and a bit miserable, outstrips by way of huge enjoyment any Michelin-starred poncy recipe.

I'm ducking now...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Feb 19 - 08:07 PM

Your last post should be the introduction to every cook book.
Its all true

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 19 - 08:59 PM

My olive oil is extra virgin and I buy 3-litre bottles at the Halal Import Market. They get oil by the pallet and I never seem to get the same label twice, but I always read them and select oil that comes from one place, usually a town in Palestine or Jordan or Israel. None of this commingled oil from all around the Mediterranean (and probably isn't all olive oil.)

The same store gets dates by the pallet, Basmati rice by the pallet, you get the drift - they import food for a large customer base, people who cook from scratch with ingredients from back home.

I tend to buy produce more at the Asian market across the street from the Halal market. They have a lot more to choose from in a lot better condition.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Feb 19 - 09:10 PM

You're not wrong. But basmati is just a big a minefield as olive oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 19 - 10:32 PM

There are many basmati brands in this store, and I take time reading labels and comparing claims and pricing. Aged, extra long, fragrant, all things to consider. Never get parboiled. Cook it from the beginning yourself.

You should see the rice aisle at the Asian market - double the size and quadruple the types and brands (all in large bags.) It's a large grocery store, and this part of Texas has large Asian and Middle Eastern populations. Lucky all of us that their stores do such a great job with the import foods.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 20 Feb 19 - 06:17 AM

I don't know the reasons but basmati rice can seem to me to vary a bit. We changed from getting "supermarket's own" a few years ago and these days try to stick with the Tilda Pure. It might sound a bit odd but it's one we know where we are with.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Feb 19 - 11:30 AM

The rice is usually in 10 and 25 pound cloth bags that zip and have a plastic liner. They're also stitched closed below the zip so you have to pull the string to get into the bag once you have it home. The rice comes from India, Pakistan, and various other nations and principalities in the region.

The Asian market also has large bags of rice, and while there is *mostly* Basmati at the Halal market, they have a few others such as the fragrant jasmine rice and some yellow rice. I buy a brown Basmati rice to get a bit more fiber from it. The Asian varieties are short, long, round, fragrant, all sorts of types and colors. They have the jasmine rice, pearl type rounder grains, long grains, grains meant for sticky rice, etc. What we see on the shelves in American mainstream grocery stores are maybe three varieties from a crop that has hundreds of varieties from around the world.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Feb 19 - 06:40 PM

We are having spareribs for supper, with brown rice cooked in roast drippings. I cleaned out the fridge today.

The only kind of white rice I buy nowadays is Arborio for risotto. I’ll eat plain white rice at Asian restaurants, but at home I like the nubbly kind.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 21 Feb 19 - 03:17 AM

Any truly delicious vegetarian main courses, not fatty or salty, for someone with high blood pressure?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Feb 19 - 08:53 AM

Ratatouille? Portabello or cauliflower steaks, roasted? I will keep thinking.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 22 Feb 19 - 12:32 PM

Good thinking! I do make ratatouille occasionally but will make it a standard. I make a lentil-rich lamb stew; must find a way to use less or no lamb. No knowledge of roast portobello or cauliflower steaks, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Feb 19 - 03:23 PM

Take whole cauliflower and slice into 2-3 cm slices (1 inch-ish). Preheat oven to whatever is convenient for whatever else is cooking. Put some oil and any spices/herbs you like on the cauliflower "steaks" and pop into oven on big flat sheet. The time will depend on the temp but they are good under- and overcooked too...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Feb 19 - 09:20 AM

I’ve yet to try one but the Guardian seems to offer quite a few vegetarian recipes these days. One I’m planning on trying next week is a sag aloo with aubergine

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 23 Feb 19 - 11:02 AM

I'll certainly be trying that curry - but I was a bit surprised that it introduced itself as a vegan recipe and then finished with
"Serve with chapatis or naan, yoghurt and a little lime or lemon pickle on the side." I thought vegans didn't eat yoghurt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Feb 19 - 11:18 AM

Vegans would not eat any dairy product but I gather there are so called "vegan yogurts" made using vegetable products.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Feb 19 - 11:24 AM

You'll find vegan and/or fat-free sour cream, cream cheese, and yogurt on the Spackle aisle in the hardware store.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 23 Feb 19 - 11:34 AM

I had to look Spackle up. It appears Polyfilla is a reasonable UK alternative. So probably a fillers and sealants section over here.

The vegan alternatives have not sounded appealing to me but, I'm not sure I've ever got as far as trying say a "vegan cheese" to see how a find it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Feb 19 - 11:11 PM

My most farmer-like friend - “What??? No meat????” was raving about vegan food he recently had in a restaurant on a trip abroad; he thinks it was Korean or Chinese.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 24 Feb 19 - 07:46 AM

According to a recent New Scientist article, the production of cheese is almost as bad for the environment as that of meat. In fact it's worse than chicken or pork.
Some vegan substitutes were tested, opinions being generally unfavourable and ranging from "inoffensive" to "resembling half-set PVA glue".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Feb 19 - 08:10 AM

The ultimate Strawberry Tart or rhubarb Pie
The goal is to have a dessert that has a tart bite yet is still semi sweet.

Ingredients for four pies 1 inch deep
four pre made graham cracker crusts
1 pound frozen strawberries
10 frozen cherries ( for color)
1 lb. fresh Cranberries frozen
6 foot long stalks of rhubarb sliced 5-10 millimeters
10 ounces of strawberry preserves or spreadble fruit
corn starch to thicken liquid sauce as it boils down

Directions

Almost cover with water and boil strawberries in large pot until very soft
Cover ith water and boil cranberries cherries and rhubarb in another pot until Cranberries swell up and are soft.

With strainer pour combining contents so you save all the red liquid into a pot.

Add the spreadable fruit or preserves to the fruit and siimmer.
Boil the liquid down adding only enough corn starch to reach desired thickness of honey or thicker.

Place some thickened liqid into pie shells and combine the rest with the fruit. Put the fruit into the pie shells and chill or if you want to bake regular pie crusts se less hick liquid.

This turned out well for me and is on of my better inventions. For taller pies use three or even two pie crusts.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Feb 19 - 08:23 AM

PS
If you allow the liquid and the pot of fruit to cool overnight you can be sure of a thick enough consistency of both. If needed simmer more.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Feb 19 - 01:35 PM

Become peckish after a glass of wine or three.

Wait 'til the missus goes to bed.

Seize can of Ambrosia custard and apply can opener.

Eat furtively straight from can, keeping clanking noises to minimum.

Rinse can thoroughly (don't forget lid) so that rubbish bin won't smell suspiciously of custard in the morning. Hide can in bin under at least six inches of rubbish.

Spend ten minutes utterly consumed by guilt and work out ploy to replace can in cupboard undetected at earliest opportunity.

Clean teeth before retiring. And no custardy belches in bed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 28 Feb 19 - 02:58 PM

And you SHOULD be feeling guilty Steve. That can should have been recycled.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Feb 19 - 03:36 PM

Like Lemon meringue pie can be like a slice of sunshine, my dessert is like strawberry fields forever.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Feb 19 - 05:13 PM

There's comes a time, Jos, when one has to compromise...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Mar 19 - 11:14 AM

I sympathize, Steve. Ambrosia Custard is not my poison, but I can be summoned from the depths of slumber by a sudden craving for butterscotch ripple ice cream. I'm not proud of this predeliction, but consider it a weakness. Fortunately, the best type of butterscotch ripple ice cream is available only in half-litre containers ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 19 - 12:39 AM

The best ice cream hands-down is Kroger's Private Selection Denali Extreme Moose Tracks variety. There's no off switch when it comes to "enough" of that. Alas, the container doesn't recycle.

We've had springlike weather, but we're about to be plunged into the deep freeze for a few days. Time for more soup. Or stew.

I made a batch of oatmeal cookie dough that was spreading out too much on the baking sheet on the first batch. I had to kind of peel them off, but the misshaped blobs still tasted great. The rest of the raw dough went into the fridge and I've decided my best bet is to make one large cookie (on parchment paper on the insulated tray) in my toaster oven in the morning to go with my cup of tea. I don't eat too many at one time that way.

These are particularly good - I made them with chopped dates and walnuts.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Mar 19 - 08:54 AM

I made a marvy roast pork loin by disobeying all instructions... Berbere spice, into hot oven, turn down to normal after 15 mn. So juicy!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Mar 19 - 05:22 PM

Stew it is. Defrosted enough 1-pound chunks of chuck roast (I freeze it that way because I typically use it to make my own ground beef and 1 pound is the amount I usually need.) I'll let it braise for a while and may not eat much today but it'll be ready for tomorrow and Monday when we're down to 21^o.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Mar 19 - 01:07 PM

This week if the freezer died I could move the contents outside and they'd stay frozen. It's cooking weather, though I haven't decided what is for dinner? I don't want to eat stew every day.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Mar 19 - 11:45 AM

The horrible deep freeze has passed and now we can get on with spring. Perhaps this year I'll get seeds started early enough to get some beans and lettuce. Most of our gardening season is too hot for those tender plants.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 06 Mar 19 - 11:57 AM

I know what you mean. After a while, you long for something crunchy. Here's a recipe I got from my in-laws, RIP. It's good.

Chicken Piquant
Sauce: Whisk together 4 T lime juice, 2T veg oil, 2T dried tarragon, 1 t paprika.

Put parchment paper on a baking sheet. Put chicken thighs on sheet, spoon some sauce over.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Turn pieces over and spoon the rest of the sauce on. Continue to bake 25-35 mins more, till well done.

Remove from oven, set on a rack 10 minutes to rest, serve.
==========
And while you have the oven going, why not cook squash or potatoes on the other rack? If squash, poke a hole in it with a corkscrew to let the steam out.
===========
The parchment paper may not be necessary, but it makes for easier clean up.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Mar 19 - 12:53 PM

It’s Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Every year, Himself and I undertake some form of dietary discipline during this season, and this year, as well as booze, we’re avoiding meat. So I brought Madhur Jaffrey’s “Vegetarian India” upstairs and turned out the pantry to see what we have in the way of lentils and beans — and it’s lots. We could go till summer.

On the other hand, I foresee a significant uptick in consumption of coriander leaf, most of 2hich ends up in the composted because Sobey’s sells it only in huge bunches. Parsley, likewise.

Phooey.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 06 Mar 19 - 02:21 PM

I've made some really shit meals recently. Really sodding stupid mistakes.

I just do really stupid things sometimes! Idiot!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Mar 19 - 09:17 PM

Charmion, wash the cilantro, pull the leaves off of the stems, then fill a heavy-duty ziplock bag with the leaves. Zip it almost completely closed and then press down on the bag to remove as much air as possible and finish the zip close. Freeze that flat green bag, and any time you need some, go through the rapid operation of opening the bag and breaking off a chunk of the leaves. Put the bag in the freezer as soon as possible and before the chunk has thawed, give it a rough crumble with your fingers and palms into whatever you're cooking. It's as close to fresh as you'll get if you don't want to buy fresh and toss out 90% of it each time. The entire operation has to take about 20 seconds or the bag and the broken piece begin to rapidly soften.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Mar 19 - 05:09 AM

That's a good idea. I do the same thing with parsley, which is just as good out of the freezer as fresh as long as you don't need it for a sprinkly green appearance on top of the finished dish. I just had a breakfast of two mini-piada (Italian flatbreads), heated in a dry pan then used as a sort of sandwich with a squashed avocado in the middle. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as I was just using up excess purchases, but it was very nice. I suppose I could have manned up the avo with some seasoning and lemon. I'd needed two ripe avocados last night but Sainsbury's were selling off all their ripe 'n' readies half price. You do have to be suspicious of avocados at times (stringy, blackened middles) so, considering the cheap price, I bought extra. They are all perfect, so I now have a stash. I can afford another avocado brekkie tomorrow and I might make my chunky guacamole for Friday. Or we could have a tricolore salad, with slices of avocado, halved cherry tomatoes (the southern European ones have been good all winter) and chopped-up mozzarella, dressed with the finest extra virgin olive oil and a dash of freshly-ground black pepper. Tricolore because it has the three colours of the Italian flag. It's a bit like an insalata Caprese but with cojones...

I rarely bother with buffalo mozzarella. It's expensive and a bit too milky-sloppy for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Mar 19 - 06:13 AM

I like to make sweet and hot or sweet and sour chicken stews.
I start with pre cooked chicken.

The sweet is crushed and chunk pineapple and the sour is aa little vinegar.
The hot ingredient is up to you and the rest is all your favorite veggies. I use piquant hot sauce, sausage bits and a touch of ghost pepper.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Mar 19 - 08:53 AM

Stilly River Sage, once the cilantro is in the bag, throw that nasty stuff away, bag and all. Parsley I preserve in garlic butter...

Yes, I have the genetic deficiency of Cilantro Is Repulsive.

Just kidding for you others.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 07 Mar 19 - 10:07 AM

Big Al, you say you are making mistakes. The first question is, Are you getting enough sleep? Think about it.
=========
I just read a book about the brain, and it said that brain states persist. I find that sleep persists in my brain. That is, after I wake up, I remain foggy for a while. I wait to take a shower (which requires good balance), take medication or drive until I know I am fully awake.

This would apply to cooking, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 05:50 AM

I don't know why I'm screwing up.

1) I left a pasta bake in the oven so long the cheese top was like a frisbee. Couldn't get your teeth into it.

2) I basted a ham i honey/clove powder and brown sugar. Then to warm it up before serving. I microwaved it. The knife, I'd just had sharpened literally bounced off it. Another recipe that defied humam dentistry.

that's so far. I'm not sure its lack of sleep. I sleep, but I'm still on 'musician's hours'.. I was still gigging occasionally up to last month. Though its about six years since i did it as a full time job.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 09:26 AM

I remember when about 19/20, trying to grab every overtime hour on offer. I was setting and operating machines making ball pins for track rod ends then. I made a few mistakes including starting a machine up on myself and figured I was becoming a danger to myself and those around me.

More recently, my sleep has been erratic with nights with no sleep for quite a while. It does affect me but I don’t think it’s led to mistakes in cooking recently. That’s mum’s department lately. She stuck a load of sauce to the bottom of my favourite pan the other day. Yesterday’s casualty was MaMade and the big pan. A lot of the marmalade was salvageable but a bit discoloured. I think the remaining stuff should clean out of the pot with another go today. I think we put these down to another enemy, stress…

Onto food. I did try the Sag Aloo last week. A couple of changes: I opted to use a salad (said Jazzy on the packet) potato instead of the Maris Piper and didn’t bother peeling, mild chill powder (fearing the other might be to hot for here) and the whole packet (500 vs 400g) of spinach. The illustration seems to show small chunks of aubergine but mine (not that I mind this) wound up as part of the gravy. It was liked here and is one I’ll do again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 10:50 AM

Help! Savoury pie for Pi Day ideas? Not sheperd's.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 06:38 PM

I told you about that stash of extra avocados I accidentally bought. Well I peeled a couple of them tonight (they were perfect) and mashed them up roughly with a fork. I added a good squeeze of lime juice, a small pinch of chilli flakes and some salt and pepper and mixed it all up. I set that aside for an hour. Then I took a good handful of some particularly nice cherry toms (I bought them in M&S and tried to ignore the fact that they were almost certainly grown in the plasticos in Almería province in Spain), chopped them into little pieces and put them in a bowl with a little bit of my very finest Tuscan extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Next, I took a few slices of panna Pugliese, a lovely, elastic, gluten-rich toasting bread from Puglia (you can buy it in Waitrose). You could use a good ciabatta instead. While the grill was heating, I basted, very slightly, each slice with a garlicky olive oil of my own making (easy - just smash a garlic clove with your fist and soak it in a few glugs of olive oil for a bit). Grill the toast on one side, flip then baste the other side and grill again. Cut the toast into pick-uppable pieces and top some with the avo mix and the rest with the tomato mix. Sprinkle a bit of chopped cilantro or parsley (I used parsley out of my garden) on the avo toasts and, optional, some baby basil leaves on the tomato toasts. An extra drizzle of your best olive oil on the tomato toasts is a sine qua non.

I'll tell you what. This is SO easy. The whole thing took me twenty minutes (and I've never done it before). It's food fit for a king, it fills you up, it goes great with any wine of a Friday night and it's vegan to boot!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Mar 19 - 11:35 PM

I wait till avocados are on sale then I let them ripen and make a large batch of guacamole and freeze it in ice cube trays. These are then stored in a freezer zip lock bag, and when needed I one or two cubes and let them defrost at room temperature or carefully zap them a few seconds at a time in the microwave. There is so much oil in them that it doesn't take long to soften. Don't put tomatoes in guacamole you're going to freeze, they are weird when it thaws.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 09 Mar 19 - 11:23 AM

I love avocados. I don't peel them, however. I scoop the flesh out with a teaspoon. It's easy and leaves only a thin film of flesh behind.

I like the sound of your recipe for avocado toast, Steve.
============

Yesterday my Dear Husband hoisted himself into the dark, dusty attic of my old church to check for leaks and seal up new holes. I thanked him and asked, "Would you like something special for dinner as a reward?"

I had some possibilities in mind: roast pork with baked sweet potatoes, steak aux poivre, baked chicken with herbes de Provence... He had his own possibility; he wanted tuna and noodles.

the DH's tuna and noodles

Boil up some noodles or other form of pasta
While pasta is getting ready, drain one can of tuna in water
Make a cup of cream sauce
Chop or grate 3/4 cup cheddar cheese or other cheese of your choice Melt the cheese in the hot cream sauce
When pasta is done and drained, mix the drained tuna, cheesy sauce and noodles in a big serving bowl. Serve.

We haven't made this in 25 years. To me, tuna and noodles is a recipe for kids. The DH used to make it without the cream sauce. He simple threw the cheese onto the hot noodles, which clumped together in blobs. I like this way better.

It seems to me that some herb or flavoring ought to be added, but I don't know what.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 09 Mar 19 - 11:24 AM

Big Al - about that ham. Was it pre-cooked or not? Sometimes it's hard to tell from the packaging.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 10 Mar 19 - 01:43 PM

I did my dad a “birthday treat” on Friday. It had been a long day for him as he had an appointment at the city hospital and (accompanied by mum) was away from about 2pm, getting back a while after 7pm. I suggested that as it was so late that some (deep fried frozen chunky) chips and I for one had snacked might be nice. I then learned that he’d asked on the way home in the ambulance if he could have chips when he got home! Sometimes the simplest of things are the best.

–
Another OT thing. One I was pondering a couple of months ago and don't think I've mentioned here... My basic attempts are in a fairly small but I’d think reasonably well equipped kitchen and based around cooking for three. I wonder how people do more of more with less.

I think the hardest kitchen we had would have been the original (I later managed to move the kitchen out to an existing extension) kitchen in the second house we lived when in N Wales. It was a long thin corridor of a room with a spiral ring radiant electric cooker at one end and the sink at the other. I don’t remember anything in the way of work top space other than a little around the sink side. Microwaves weren’t around (or at least not a common feature of a UK kitchen) then.

She’d still manage to present a 3 course Christmas dinner with all the trimmings (and touches like glazed carrots, etc. as well as something veggie for herself) probably for ten (six in the immediate family for starters) with everything served perfectly warm.

Maybe it’s easy to some but the juggling acts I’d think it must involve seem beyond me.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 19 - 08:02 PM

I had two beautiful organic bell peppers that needed to be used soon so I took ribeye steak out of the freezer, used the rest of an onion in the fridge, and made a batch of fajitas (served in tortillas that I buy from a bakery up the street and freeze a few hours after they were made). I didn't want to set up the grill outside so I added some smoke flavor, a little Hoisin sauce, and salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Saute the beef but take it out still pink, then fry the onions and peppers in the oil the beef seasoned. Add it all back together for a couple of minutes and it's dinner. (The term "fajita" is "skirt" in Spanish, and these are traditionally made with skirt state that is grilled then sliced thin. I didn't have that, but I did slice the steak very thin.) Everything is cut into long strips to cook and it lines up easily in the tortilla. I topped them with some Tapatio hot sauce and a couple of tablespoons of guacamole on each one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 10 Mar 19 - 11:18 PM

I think I'll try those fajitas. Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 11 Mar 19 - 02:49 AM

I think I might replace the 'smoke flavor' and the garlic powder (neither of which I have) with smoked paprika and with garlic.
I can't eat guacamole (much as I would love too) so perhaps a few slices of tomato instead.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 12 Mar 19 - 01:37 AM

I do this with close-to-the edge peppers: cut them up in big pieces, put these under the grill, skin side up. When the skin blackens, put them in a bowl, close covered. When they’re cool, pull off the skin & discard it..put the pepper pieces in olive oil. Delicious as a tasty extra on things like cheese sandwiches.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 12 Mar 19 - 01:44 AM

By the way, Aldi have started selling frozen avocados, very good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Mar 19 - 05:10 AM

I do the pepper-skinning trick too, but I rapidly put the hot, blackened peppers into a polythene bag which is then sealed for a few minutes. Keeping them all steamy seems to be the secret.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Mar 19 - 05:45 AM

The effect is the same using a covered bowl or a plastic bag - both trap the steam and loosen the skins - but if you are trying to cut down on using plastic, the bowl is the way to go.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Mar 19 - 09:24 AM

So no clingfilm?

You can wash and reuse plastic bags...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Mar 19 - 10:22 AM

But how many people do wash plastic bags nowadays?
Though I remember how thrilled my mother was when plastic bags first appeared, probably sometime in the 1950s, and how she washed them and hung them to dry on the rail in front of the cooker.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Mar 19 - 12:23 PM

I have silicone lids that form an airtight seal on a bowl or saucepan. They really help on the cutting down on clingfilm thing.

I loathe clingfilm, not for environmental reasons (I'm ashamed to say), but because it's expensive and so damnably hard to handle. Waxed paper! Zip-lock bags!

I wash zip-lock bags. Really.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Mar 19 - 12:54 PM

Any salad dressings that have neither sugar nor cream? I make mustard vinaigrette but there must be others...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Mar 19 - 01:59 PM

Our go-to is one part balsamic vinegar to three parts of extra virgin olive oil. The quality of those two ingredients is paramount: I use the thick syrupy type of balsamic that costs about ten or twelve quid for 500 ml, never that watery cheap stuff, and an Italian EVOO that costs about ten quid. Cheaper extra virgin is for cooking gently with, not for dipping or dressing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 15 Mar 19 - 09:44 PM

I've experimented with salad dressings quite a bit over the years. My current favourite starts with three big table spoons full of plain soya yogurt, a teaspoonful of marmite or propriety yeast extract well mixed in and finely chopped garlic and chili. After that I just chop up whatever salad stuff I have until the bowl is full. I usually include a tomato for sweetness and part of a red or yellow capsicum for colour.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Mar 19 - 05:42 PM

Last night I made an 8" x 8" pan of cornbread using a gluten-free mix (with other types of flours, like rice and potato, instead of wheat for that part of the recipe). It's a sweet cornbread, and takes a lot longer to bake than the box says, but it's tasty. And a lot for one person, so I cut it in quarters and took a quarter to my elderly neighbors across the street and we visited about various topics, then I took a quarter to the not elderly but older neighbors next door, and we visited about various things. I took her the box so she could see the contents because he is on a diet low in the foods that his kidneys use to make stones.

I didn't really need to take food to go check on them, but it always makes for a more well-rounded conversation. And I won't be eating the entire pan of bread by myself. (I got home from next-door to find my ex's car in the driveway; since I'd left the door unlocked and the gate open, he'd headed in to visit with the dogs until I got back, and he also had some cornbread with tea.)

Food (whatever you have on hand) is a great way to initiate and sustain conversations. It's probably how we will eventually achieve world peace.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Mar 19 - 08:29 AM

Balsamic vinegar is too sweet for me... Any vinaigrettes with nothing added for sweetness?

As a separate question, when did everything savory start including sweet?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 18 Mar 19 - 09:06 AM

I blame the television chefs: for example, Nigella Lawson said she would excommunicate anyone who used green peppers, because red ones were sweeter and therefore 'better'.
Even though, from my point of view, the green ones taste more interesting and are better because they are less sweet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 18 Mar 19 - 09:11 AM

For the dressings, just use white wine vinegar, cider vinegar (said to be good for arthritis), or lemon juice (extra vitamin C) instead of the balsamic.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Mar 19 - 09:53 AM

Yep, freshly-squeezed lemon juice instead of balsamic is good. However, you wouldn't be using much balsamic anyway. You wouldn't notice the sweetness. Don't use bottled lemon juice and only use the finest extra virgin olive oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 19 Mar 19 - 02:33 PM

Two days ago I invented a real taste treat. i made cole slaw with a dressing of vegetable oil and lemon juice. Then I put in some dried spearmint leaves. We had some and I thought, "Meh".

The next day we had spicy Mexican food, and I got ought the rest of the cole slaw. The spearmint had had time to infuse the entire dish. A mouthe
ful of that cold, minty cole slaw after spicy, tomatoey meat dish was an absolute treat.

I feel that sure that finely minced peppermint would taste as good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 19 Mar 19 - 03:44 PM

There are lots of attractive mint flavours - apple mint, pineapple mint, strawberry mint, etc. and plain old garden mint - but the two that I never use in food are spearmint (tastes of chewing gum - horrible) and peppermint (tastes of toothpaste - not what I want in my dinner).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 19 - 10:05 PM

Last year I made homemade corn tortillas for a taco lunch that friends were coming over to share. When they arrived I put some tilapia fillets into the oven and while those baked I prepared the rest of the toppings for fish tacos. I'd never eaten fish tacos, let alone made them, but as it happened the last friend to arrive brought a cold black bean salad with tomatoes, onion, cilantro, and a vinegar dressing that was PERFECT as the topping to finish our tacos.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Mar 19 - 10:26 AM

If one wants to make a vinaigrette without mustard, how does one emulsify it?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Mar 19 - 11:59 AM

A tiny jot of mayonnaise will do it. Less than half a teaspoon. If you make a small batch and eat it all right away, you may not need it.

h=Here's my basic recipe:

Two parts oil of your choice. Corn, canola, olive. I like Smart Balance with omega 3.

One part of something astringent. Lemon juice, lime juice, juice from a garden tomato, some kind of vinegar. You might want to dilute the vinegar.

Some black pepper.

An herb. I like tarragon with lime juice. Basil with lemon juice.

Put everything in a medium-sized bowl and whisk till the mayo disappears.
=============
I'm asking myself how pineapple juice, orange juice or pureed strawberries would do as an astringent ingredient.

For our small family, I find that 1/4 cup oil plus 2 T of juice makes a useful small batch of salad dressing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 20 Mar 19 - 12:38 PM

How do I make myself a sly treacle pudding while my is in hospital recovering from a hip replacement?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 21 Mar 19 - 03:50 AM

You can get microwaveable individual ones in M&S. They're not bad either.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 25 May 19 - 07:21 AM

A vegan coming to lunch or dinner - any good main courses? I'm going to make some ratatouille, and steam fennel over orange juice and white wine, but what's a wow-worthy main course?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 May 19 - 09:10 AM

Orecchiette con cime di rape. It contains olive oil, cherry tomatoes (in my version), chilli, parsley, garlic and seasoning, as well as the main ingredient, which in Puglia is rather stringy turnip tops or similar greens but which I replace with tenderstem broccoli. I leave the florets whole but chop the stems into small pieces.

Put on the orecchiette pasta (or other short pasta, but I wouldn't use tubes) in boiling salted water in a big pan. Slice the garlic thinly and sauté gently in the olive oil with chilli to taste (I use chilli flakes). You want a bit of heat. When it starts to sizzle (it mustn't go brown), add a handful of halved cherry tomatoes and a handful of chopped fresh parsley. Season. When the pasta has two minutes to go, throw the broccoli into the pasta pan (honest: some recipes have you cooking the greens separately but you absolutely don't need to do that). When the pasta is al dente and the broccoli is cooked but still with slight crunch, drain, retaining a bit of the pasta water. Add the pasta/broccoli mix to the sauce. Stir well, adding a bit of the retained water if needed. There you go. We have this with parmesan but that is completely optional and would typically be served without in Puglia unless you ask for some. A final dressing of extra virgin olive oil is good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 May 19 - 09:31 AM

Like Steve said.

We have pasta-and-greens for supper sometimes, usually with cheese but sometimes with toasted pine nuts, which would be vegan. I've never been to Puglia and never expect to go, so I have no idea if that's canonical.

This dish also works with boiled potatoes, especially leftovers. For greens, use literally anything a bit bitter, even kale (which needs steaming before it goes in the pan). Instead of tomatoes, I like to add the juice of a lemon if I have any lying around idle.

The other vegan dish I like well enough to serve to guests is Madhur Jaffrey's channa dhal with meat spices, served with rice and a cilantro=and-lime chutney. Jaffrey also has a terrific recipe for channas with tomato and spinach. In fact, if you plan to entertain the vegans often, Thompson, "Vegetarian India" by Madhur Jaffrey is well worth buying.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 May 19 - 09:45 AM

A few pasta dishes are vegan until it comes to the cheese on top at the end. I'm thinking of the Sicilian dish pasta alla Norma, which has a delicious tomato and aubergine sauce. You'd normally sprinkle some salted ricotta (ricotta salata) on top, but often in Sicily they would replace the expensive cheese with toasted breadcrumbs on pasta dishes. I haven't tried that on that dish but it could work. It works on pasta con la sarde well enough.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 25 May 19 - 10:29 AM

Thanks! I hadn't thought of pasta!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 19 - 11:41 AM

Though it isn't exactly soup weather, I made a small batch of chicken soup last night to use for lunches this week. Soup and salad for warmer summer days.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 27 May 19 - 04:01 PM

Apologies if I missed it, but:

On 14 November last year, Steve Shaw said: ‘I have my own salmorejo recipe but I couldn't possibly post it in November in the northern hemisphere. Ask me again in May.’

So I'm asking ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 May 19 - 08:33 PM

Right then, Jos. This is my recipe using the best vine-ripened tomatoes you can get your hands on. They must be fully red-ripe, not green about the gills, but mustn't have started to go soft and squishy. You can use canned plum tomatoes instead, but they must be the best. Cirio is a good brand.

Salmorejo is a cousin of gazpacho, but it's thicker and is served very cold in small quantities as a tapa, best on a hot, sunny day. The quality of your ingredients is paramount. Any one ingredient that is below par will ruin the dish. Silk purse, sow's ear, etc.

For four, you need:

About a pound and a half of vine-ripened tomatoes
The yolks of two hard-boiled eggs
At least 100ml of the very best extra virgin olive oil
A goodly dash of sherry vinegar (essential)
One smallish ciabatta, slightly stale is best, no hard crusts left on
Half a teaspoon of sugar
Two peeled garlic cloves
Salt

First step: blend everything except the bread into a rustically smooth paste. Ps. Don't bother to skin the tomatoes!

Second step: break up the bread and soak it in your paste for ten minutes. Best to slightly underdo the bread if you're not sure how much to use. You can always tweak with a bit extra later on.

Third step: blend again now that the bread is in. If it seems a bit runny, add a bit more bread. Taste for seasoning, then just chill for a few hours or overnight.

Salmorejo is always served with a sprinkling of chopped hard-boiled egg and a pinch of finely-chopped Serrano ham on top. A mini-breadstick or two is generally served. It should be served very cold, maybe in a glass that has also been chilled. It will keep and Improve for a day or two in the fridge.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 28 May 19 - 02:32 AM

That's great Steve, thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 28 May 19 - 12:09 PM

How's about desserts? And normally I'd make smoothies, but is there any alternative to yogurt? (My go-to smoothie is made in a Nutrabullet with orange juice, almond milk, yogurt, frozen mango, frozen mixed berries including blackcurrants and blackberries, and a banana and a couple of passionfruit, oh, and a squish of honey.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 May 19 - 09:26 PM

I weeded one corner of the garden where herbs sprawl through the tall grass, and some mint is drying hanging over the kitchen sink (the strands pulled out by accident with the grass. I'll harvest it for real in a day or two.)

My garden has oregano, rosemary, bay laurel, cilantro, lemon balm, thyme (though I think it needs replanting, the patch got shaded out and disappeared last year), garlic, onions, and more I'm probably not remembering right now. I'm not seeing basil yet this year (it usually reseeds itself) so I'll have to plant more. I love being able to step outside to pick fresh what goes into my cooking, but I realized this spring that I've been doing less cooking after I went through 18 months of steroid treatment for PMR (finished tapering last fall). After research I was careful about what I ate (avoiding foods that are considered a source of inflammation - since we didn't know why I had this, it seemed wise to avoid foods that might be cuplrits.) I eat less wheat than before, but I'm resuming a more "normal" diet. Now to lose the weight I gained during the couple of years of PMR (it took a while to realize there was a problem and wait on doctors to diagnose it.)

I love things like focaccia with olive oil, herbs, and Parmesan cheese, made with herbs from the garden. If friends are coming over and that is underway when the arrive, it's one of the most welcoming smells imaginable. I'll probably make it for friends coming for lunch on Saturday.

On the other side of the driveway are the tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and again, more that I've forgotten to catalog. It's going it late, but it's going in, and if I can keep the stink bugs from demolishing my crops, maybe I'll do more cooking this year. Pardon me while I go pour the watering can with added organic Spinosad over the top of things I planted yesterday . . .

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 30 May 19 - 10:07 AM

But dessert?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 19 - 10:59 AM

I use smoothies for breakfast most times - I use yogurt (only the varieties that are all cultured milk, I like some milkfat in there but will use non-fat if that's all that is available) with really ripe banana and a generous handful of frozen fruit, usually strawberries, but I'll use blueberries if I have no strawberries. A touch of honey or stevia if the bananas aren't super sweet. Into the blender, and there you have it.

I love bread pudding for dessert, apple cobbler, or quick (soda leavening) breads like banana bread, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, etc. All homemade. And the breads can be made in bulk then stored in the freezer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 31 May 19 - 09:08 AM

Ew stevia... Tastes like saccharine or aspartame or other artificial sweeteners. I know stevia isn't artificial but ick. I envy those who can eat it. Wonder if it's like cilantro, genetic taster non-taster thing?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 31 May 19 - 10:15 AM

Never heard of stevia, what's that then ?


Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 May 19 - 04:49 PM

I ate a very small amount of sweets sweetened with Stevia a couple of years ago. They turned my stomach into a fair copy of a cement mixer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Joe_F
Date: 31 May 19 - 06:02 PM

Half a can of Hormel's chunky chili, with a slice of onion chopped & mixed into it, zapped, then garnished with cubes of seriously sharp cheddar.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 01 Jun 19 - 01:27 PM

I mistakenly tried Heinz 'no added sugar' baked beans, thinking that meant they would be less sweet. How wrong I was. They were incredibly sweet, having been sweetened with stevia, and the sauce had a vile, slimy, jelly-like texture. Totally inedible.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Jun 19 - 08:17 AM

Some nondiet pops [sodas] have it now.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Jun 19 - 12:31 PM

Stevia is a plant in the dandelion family. It contains glycosides in its leaves that are hundreds of times "sweeter" than sugar. You're welcome to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 02 Jun 19 - 12:41 PM

Another food plant causing sweetness problems is globe artichoke. It affects the taste buds so that whatever you eat or drink soon after eating the artichoke will taste sweet, whether you want it to or not.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: mg
Date: 03 Jun 19 - 03:46 AM

people vary with response to stevia. i thrive on it...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jun 19 - 04:39 PM

Glad to hear that, Mary! I buy bulk jars at the Vitamin Shoppe in town and decant it into a smaller container on my tea preparation tray.

Smoothie for lunch today, and to appease the taste buds wanted a salty snack, I had a couple of slices of hard salami and a couple of slices (they're all fairly small) of smoked gouda, leftover from lunch this weekend, brought by a friend. I've been making a decaff version of Market Spice Tea (Mary should know that one!) that I use for iced tea. A hint of Stevia in it and it's great instead of soda pop, fruit drinks, and other sugary drinks. (My father would be shocked that I add any sweetener to Market Spice tea, it was his favorite and he drank it without anything added. Mary also knew my father.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Jun 19 - 10:50 AM

Mg, how are you on cilantro (the leaves)?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Jun 19 - 08:36 PM

I like stevia. I also like aspartame, which tastes so much better than that stuff it replaced: saccharine. Now, that was just nasty.

Last night, I made a really good chicken-and-rice-type dish using farro instead of rice. I browned some chicken pieces (sprinkled with Old Bay seasoning) and set them aside, then added garlic, onion and reconstituted porcini to the pan, followed by farro. For liquid, I used stock, and the water from soaking the porcini, with some lemon juice, seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme. The proportion of liquid to farro is the same as for rice.

I let the farro cook in the big sauté pan for half an hour before putting the chicken pieces on top of the half-cooked grain, put the lid back on and let it alone until the farro was done. It was just delicious — the grains plump and tender, but chewy. With a cheap bottle of Provençal rose, it was a terrific meal. Definitely a recipe to add to the rotation.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 19 - 09:55 PM

Charmion, that sounds wonderful. I don't think I've ever eaten farro. I've used quinoa in place of rice a few times.

Saccharine is my fall-back sweetener if Stevia isn't available. There was a Facebook discussion about sweeteners, and Mudcat's own Max Spiegel popped in to offer his opinion about artificial sweeteners, and it was something like "sphincter leak" - enough of a remark to send me researching these things more. Splenda was quickly dropped off of my "acceptable" list.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: mg
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 12:57 AM

i rarely encounter cilantro but i don't think i get a bad taste from it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 09:07 AM

Ok I have a question: I was defrosting some steak for stroganoff, on a plate, and some juice collected on the plate so I thought I'd use it in the sauce, so I put it in the measuring cup. I added hot water but when I came back with my Better Than Bouillon there was something like a jellyfish in my measuring cup. What happened?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 10:01 AM

The "juice" that leaked onto the plate was watery blood, Mrrzy, and you cooked the protein in it when you added hot water to the cup. Hence the strings.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 10:35 AM

Was it edible? I knew it was blood but I never saw the like.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 11:39 AM

If it seems gross don't add it or you won't enjoy the dish as much, no matter how delicious. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 05:42 PM

Many thanks for the vegan recipes; I ended up making Pasta Alla Norma, the Ottolenghi version but without ricotta, and will make it again; it was very nice! Smoothies (made fattened with almond butter, in absence of yogurt) went down well as an aperitif.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 08:39 PM

Yes, Mrrzy, blood is edible, if not particularly palatable to most people without some help from the rest of the ingredients of a black pudding. Nomadic herders such as the Masai get much of their dietary protein from blood at certain times of the year, bleeding rather than killing their cattle.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Jun 19 - 11:14 PM

I knew the blood was, that's why I was gonna cook with it. But could I trust the jellyfish zombie?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jun 19 - 09:12 AM

Absent a contaminant such as E. coli, cooked blood will not make you sick, Mrrzy, but the texture you describe makes it unlikely to integrate pleasantly into most dishes I am familiar with.

When making a dish that includes blood, such as the really old-fashioned version of coq-au-vin in which the blood of the elderly rooster is used to thicken the sauce, you handle it like raw egg. You don't just dump a beaten egg into hot milk and expect to end up with custard; you add the hot milk slowly to the egg while beating the mixture vigorously to retard the cooking process and, thus, prevent the egg protein from curdling. Likewise, the coq-au-vin is made by stewing an old cock in wine and, when the meat is cooked, beating the winy cooking liquid into a bowl of the reserved blood of the bird, then adding it back to the stewpot. Cook a bit more to integrate the whole, then serve.

You will notice that this process assumes that you have killed and bled the cock yourself -- not common in this day and age, except perhaps among people who raise poultry in a somewhat nineteenth-century way.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Jun 19 - 09:45 AM

Aha, tempering. I just didn't think of it. Thanks all, I had fears of it coming back out of the disposall and doing The Blob on my cat in the middle of the night.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 19 - 01:22 PM

Not much in the garden yet, everything was planted late so it's still small. But it's time to start thinking about cooking with all of the herbs I have out there and dry some of that mint for tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Jun 19 - 02:00 PM

I discovered a wonderful breakfast the other day. Toasted bagel spread with chopped herring and beetroot and horseradish chutney. Must be my East European heritage coming out :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 08 Jun 19 - 03:45 PM

Wow, that sounds great Dave, must try it.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 09 Jun 19 - 01:08 PM

A friend passing through today said she'd found a wonderful way to serve fizzy water on ice: add long slivers of cucumber and shreds of fine-chopped mint. A party in your mouth, she says.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Jun 19 - 05:11 PM

That sounds marvy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Jun 19 - 09:18 AM

Chicken legs on the barbecue! With Old Bay seasoning!

Green salad, and maybe some boiled patates tossed in butter with black pepper and chopped green onion.

And a bottle of rosé. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario sent me an email declaring Rosé Day on Saturday, but I was too sick then to take part -- and besides, surely that is a moveable feast? If not, it should be.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jun 19 - 11:42 PM

I buy avocados when they're on sale, make guacamole, then freeze it in an ice cube tray, heaped up on each cube space. I store the green "cubes" in a zip lock freezer bag, pulling out one or two at a time. They defrost fairly quickly at room temperature; microwaving them can go from frozen to cooked quickly. Only do a few second bursts at a time if you must defrost that way.

• Avocados
  
• Lemon Juice
  
• grated onion (my son used to refuse to eat onion if he could see it)
  
• garlic (through a garlic press)
  
• salt
  
• finely diced seeded jalapeno peppers (I use ~ 1 pepper per 2 avocados)
  
• cilantro, chopped small if fresh (I freeze it in a zip lock bag, flatten with the air out, so I can break off a portion and quickly crumble it into what I'm making
  

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 12:26 AM

Leftover chicken breast was pulled apart and added to a skillet of sauteed slices of onion and bell peppers, plus a little smoke flavor, resulting in a nice filling for fajitas. Corn tortillas came out of the freezer and were heated then filled. Topped with guacamole and shredded lettuce. Taptatio sauce added a great accent.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 06:37 PM

Another thing to do with avocado - after you remove the kernel, fill the cavity formed with honey or, in my case, maple syrup..."My Diet"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Jun 19 - 10:14 PM

I was surprised to read that Liquid Smoke is actually made with smoke. I had assumed it was just a bunch of flavorings.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 09:03 AM

I heard that yesterday, and was also surprised.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 10:54 AM

I've been aware of that for a long time. However, smoke flavor is like smoke - not good for you if you do too much too often.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 11:15 AM

This morning a quick breakfast of a square of broccoli cornbread. Here is my recipe, using a gluten-free mix of a brand called Firenza. It's a sweet recipe, and is one of many products I've had in my freezer from when I was eating a pretty exclusively gluten-free diet.

The full recipe here is meant to be baked in a 9" by 13" cake pan. I half the recipe and bake it in an 8" x 8" glass pan.

2 boxes Jiffy (popular American brand) cornbread mix
1 medium onion, chopped
2 sticks butter (American sticks are 4 oz or 1/2 cup)
1 carton (16 oz) small curd cottage cheese (I used ricotta)
4 eggs
1 small box or bag of chopped frozen broccoli, thawed.

• Spray 9" x 11" pan with spray oil (Pam is a brand here; I spread on ghee)
  
• Saute the chopped onion in the melted butter until just tender. Don't worry about the amount of butter, you need it for liquid in the mix.
  
• Combine everything and still until well mixed.
  
• Put in greased pan and bake at 350^o oven for 43-45 minutes.
  

My observations: I fry the onion in a small amount of butter and melt the rest carefully in the microwave so it isn't super warm, just melted. There is so much butter in this that greasing the pan seems redundant. I usually have to bake for about 50 minutes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 11:32 AM

Sounds yummy. Big fan of cornbread here, don't make it well though. Like gazpacho. Found some single-serve gazp online, delish. But I am ashamed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Joe_F
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 06:24 PM

Chili as before, but dessert will be

F DESSERT

On a slice of pound cake, pour a capful of brandy or rum. Cover with sour cream. Spread jam or marmalade on top. Sprinkle with Brownulated & cinnamon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 08:34 PM

Brown rice pilaf with chicken — onion, garlic, olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes, sauté until the onion is soft, add a cup of brown rice and stir it around for a while until the grains look a bit translucent on the ends, then add about two and a half cups of chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then clap a lid on and turn down the burner as low as it will go. When the rice is about half cooked (try with a fork), brown some chicken pieces — legs are best— and put them on top of the rice. Put the lid back on and cook until all is done.

I use a large sauté pan for this. If you put Old Bay seasoning on the chicken, it’s extra good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 19 - 10:18 PM

Charmion, I make a variety of rice and chicken in my rice cooker that sounds similar. I start sauteing the chicken pieces (thighs, cut up chicken breast, any of it without skin) and let it finish cooking in the rice cooker (I usually use brown Basmati rice). I like to add sliced mushrooms to the chicken cooking then that is also put in with the rice.

Comfort food. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Jul 19 - 09:02 AM

SRS, I make that pilaf often because Himself just loves it. It's easy, savoury and nourishing, and it usually generates a substantial quantity of leftover rice that makes a great lunch when nuked with an egg in it.

Yesterday, Himself drove all the way home to Stratford from Altamont, NY, a suburb of Schenectady, where he had been camping at the Old Songs festival. A freaky wind that pushed the tent around meant he got little to no sleep, so he was running on fumes. I worry about that man.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Jul 19 - 02:45 PM

Bison or venison spaghetti tonight? Bison feels more American somehow... Not that deer-hunting isn't American... But deer are international. Happy 4th to you ex-colonials!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 03 Jul 19 - 05:58 PM

I do love a peanut butter and jam sandwich and will be packing one for the office tomorrow (4/7/19) morning - the other will have iceberg lettuce, vegan cheese, black olives, butter beans and ketchup (photo here ).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 08:48 AM

Mrrzy, Poland and Belarus also have bison, known to science as Bison bonasus, but they are too endangered to eat. Here's a Wikipedia article about them.

I like Zubrowka Bison vodka, which is flavoured with Hierochloe odorata (buffalo grass) harvested from the Bialowieza Forest, home of the last herd of European bison. Both the bison and the forest are very, very protected, if Wikipedia is to be believed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 11:31 AM

Just reading through this thread. Very impressed Steve Shaw with all this posh stuff you know about food.

I find it all quite hard to relate to.

I think maybe one's attitude to food says something about your character. I think maybe one chooses ones battles. The thing you tussle with. To me its all about six fucking strings and a lump of wood - a conundrum, I face up to every day - and never seems to resolve itself.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 11:40 AM

Big Al, what do you eat when you eat?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 04:11 PM

just stuff. nothing clever.

i fry spanish onions in a wok add curry powder. can of sweet corn uncle bens rice. can of tuna.

or fry spanish onions in a wok add curry powder. can of tomatoes. can of red beans. two veg oxo cubes. quorn mince.

or fry spanish onions in a wok add curry powder. shredded cheese. put in 5 minute chef - add whipped up egg.

or fry spanish onions in a wok add curry powder, add corned beef. add baked beans, serve on toast or baked spud.

got a pressure cooker, when i feel adventurous. the pressure cooker is good and quick for cassweoles. but you've got to boil off the watery consistency - cos the water can't escape.

we like oven fish and chips.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 08:19 PM

Don't like curry much, do you...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 19 - 09:47 PM

. . . or onions.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 06 Jul 19 - 02:00 AM

I use a medium curry powder. It helps the onions caramelise.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jul 19 - 11:19 AM

Fish tacos today for lunch with friends; the corn tortillas are still hot from the Mexican grocery store that has a bakery inside. Cebeche appetizer and guacamole and pico de gallo to go with them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 06 Jul 19 - 11:57 AM

you got Mexicans coming round, or do you eat that stuff regularly?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Jul 19 - 12:15 PM

She lives in Texas, Big Al, where that stuff is normal grub.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Jul 19 - 12:24 PM

Big Al, your recipes remind me of my Dad, whose cooking always began with chopping up an onion. I don't honestly remember him making anything that did not have onions in it. That might be a Brit thing.

Dad made five dishes: beans out of a can with stuff added (starting with onions); omelette; curry according to a British Army recipe; lasagna from the recipe on the side of the pasta box; and coq au vin for when people came to dinner. He could also fry an egg, more or less.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jul 19 - 12:41 PM

Charmion is correct&mash;I live in Texas where there is "TexMex" that I'm not particularly fond of (it's a stylized mashup where everything is greasy and topped with gobs of tomato sauce and melted cheese) and then there is the closer to authentic regional food from different parts of Mexico and further south. I lived in Arizona for a couple of years, right at the border. There was a town two miles across the border that had excellent little restaurants (versus the nearest American town 35 miles away that didn't have such great restaurants). So I ate out in Mexico several times a week. And we were about an hour's drive from the northern end of the Sea of Cortez, so there was a lot of fish on the menu along with the typical chicken, beef, pork, etc.

My side of town here in North Texas has a lot of large grocery stores that serve clientele from South of the Border. Not just Mexico, but Central and South America as well, but I'd say the lion's share of customers are from Columbia northward. The grocery store a couple of miles north of me has a tortilla bakery running every day that has excellent quality flour and corn tortillas and a few other flattened breads I'm not sure what they're called.

This is in contrast to many Middle Eastern stores near the campus where I worked, where I bought a different array of spices and foods, and the flat breads are pita and tandoori (Iraqi flat bread - the size of a modest pizza).

There are plenty of American grocery stores here with all of the advertised products and brands, and they try to carry International foods, but really, if you want a better selection and fresher products, you go to the store frequented by that particular segment of the immigrant culture here.

I didn't grow up down here, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest where the International food at the time was Chinese and Japanese, and then I lived for a while in New York City where you eat just about anything that suited you, you simply needed to travel to the right neighborhood.

The fastest way to get to know people is to share your food and their food while you speak together and listen. Trump needs to stop going to McDonalds and KFC and eating those tough over-cooked steaks of his and get out into neighborhoods and eat a more International diet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Jul 19 - 09:43 PM

I cook a good number of Italian dishes these days. I can't be bothered with a pasta machine so I buy dried pasta. I've found that the bronze-die pasta, especially from Gragnano in Campania, is by far the best (try Tesco!). There are some unwritten rules. First, garlic and onions shouldn't be in the same dish. Mostly, it's onion that is left out. Second, pasta dishes don't need half as much sauce as some Brits think. Third, pasta sauces from jars are invariably way too claggy. Too much onion and tomato. It's so bloody easy to make your own! Fourth, no parmesan with fish, ever. Fifth, do not use a garlic crusher. Use more garlic but slice it up. Even better, use four times as much but just smash the peeled cloves with your fist. Sixth, don't bother skinning tomatoes. If the skin bothers you, just cut the toms up first. But tinned plum tomatoes are brilliant anyway. Seventh, any dish that contains any amount of tomatoes is infinitely improved by the addition of half a teaspoon of sugar. Eighth, ignore the idiots who tell you not to cook with extra virgin olive oil. Use it but just don't let it smoke. Any other oils are simply inferior. Ninth, never use dried basil. Vile. Dried oregano is fine, especially on pizzas. Most Italians use far less herbs than you'd think. We spent a week in Puglia, eating at superb restaurants in Lecce, and hardly whiffed a herb all week. Tenth, any pasta dish is improved in the serving with a goodly drizzle of your best olive oil on top. Eleventh, parmesan absolutely must be freshly grated on top of the dish. No need to give anyone any choice here. Twelfth, there is no such dish as spaghetti bolognese. Use tagliatelle or pappardelle or fettuccini instead, and. mix the sauce with the pasta. A pile of pasta with a puddle of sauce on top is just risible. Last, always conserve a cupful of pasta water. More often then not your sauce will be too dry/thick. The pasta water is used to thin the sauce to the correct consistency.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jul 19 - 10:05 PM

We will have to agree to disagree. Not only do onion and garlic go together, they are essential parts of many dishes I make (and the Puerto Rican dishes I learned from my mother-in-law; her sofrito is based on peppers, onion, garlic, and cilantro).

I picked up ceviche (various spellings - it's a Mexican dish, raw fish marinated in citrus with onions and peppers and cilantro) for lunch with friends yesterday and had the rest for dinner tonight. Mmmmm!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Jul 19 - 10:17 PM

You can mix onion with garlic in non-Italian dishes, but honest-to-goodness Italian chefs don't mix them. Feel free to check it out. The onion makes pasta sauces too claggy/gloopy. You're not disagreeing with me. You're disagreeing with Italian tradition! And no self-respecting Italian would ever use the abomination which is dried basil...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Jul 19 - 11:08 AM

You get no argument from me on dried basil, Steve, or the onion-or-garlic issue with respect to pasta sauce. Most non-Italians attempting to cook Italian food are using inferior ingredients (well, inferior to Italian standards), especially tasteless tomatoes, hence the effort to boost the flavour any way they can. I like Marcella Hazan's advice to put an onion in whole and fish it out when the sauce is done, thus avoiding the claggy texture.

I made her tomato, butter and onion sauce the other day to eat with linguine. But I had only Mexican tomatoes shipped all the way to Ontario to work with (they were on special!), so I tossed in a bunch of fresh oregano from the garden to help out. The result was so good I wanted to eat it with a spoon right out of the saucepan -- but not Marcella's classic sauce. So sue me.

Sofrito, on the other hand, is not Italian, and does require both onions and garlic. I know it as the first stage of paella and a whole lot of other Spanish dishes; I have never been to Puerto Rico and never expect to go, but I'm not at all surprised to learn that PR cooking starts with sofrito.

The other cuisine I attempt that goes in for both onion and garlic in the same dish is Indian -- practically every dal dish in Madhoor Jaffrey calls for both, plus a whole whack of other stuff to add flavour to otherwise pretty well tasteless, if nourishing, legumes and grains. The function of onions in a dal dish often seems to be to thicken the sauce; you chop them so finely that they go into the pan as a mass of aromatic fibre. Garlic, on the other hand, goes in at the end, with the spices fried in oil that make up the tarka.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Jul 19 - 03:29 PM

When I was in Ireland in the 90's they hardly ever cooked with garlic, but fed it to their pigs.
You have taught me a new word: claggy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jul 19 - 06:20 PM

Soffritto is the basis of many an Italian dish, including bolognese ragu (great for lasagne too) and some soups. It includes extra virgin olive oil, onions, celery and carrots. Maybe some pancetta, depending on the recipe. But never garlic. Never. Not in Italian dishes. Marcella's onion and butter sauce is so simple and so amazing. We have it as is on spaghetti with parmesan. The best thing is to buy a white onion. It's easier to remove at the end. I made a large batch two days ago. I'm thinking of using it in gnocchi alla sorrentina. There'll be basil in there and a ton of mozzarella (never buffalo - not worth the money). I never bake that gnocchi dish. Not worth the hassle.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jul 19 - 09:02 AM

Chicken fricassee. The Monday night supper when imagination has hit bottom and people must still be fed.

One chicken leg or two chicken thighs per person
Olive oil
At least one onion
Garlic ad lib
Shallots if you have them
Dried thyme and oregano, if liked
Salt and black pepper
Zest and juice of one lemon, or about half to three-quarters of a cup of wine if you happen to have it lying around.

1. Slice up the onion, shallot and garlic (note Steve Shaw, above).
2. Put a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a sauté pan and brown the chicken pieces. Salt and pepper them liberally, and scatter with herbs.
3. Add the sliced onion, shallot and garlic to the pan around the chicken pieces and scatter the lemon zest over the chicken. Put the lid on the pan and turn the gas to a low murmur. Leave it alone until the chicken is cooked.
4. Take the chicken pieces out of the pan and add the lemon juice; turn up the gas and reduce the contents of the pan (the onions etc) to a thick sauce. Spoon it over the chicken and serve.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Jul 19 - 11:05 AM

Chick fric. A fave but the skin is never crispy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jul 19 - 06:41 PM

My point was that Italian dishes rarely if ever contain both onion and garlic. Non-Italian dishes may differ. I don't see the point of using both onions and shallots in a dish. Shallots are onions. In fact, I use banana shallots instead of onions in most dishes. If you like crispy chicken skin, which I do, you'll like this one-tray dish. And it has garlic AND onion, but not as you know it.

Per person, you need either two large or three smaller free-range chicken thighs, bone-in, skin on. Not legs, which, unless part of a whole roast chicken, are cat food. You also need some best-quality salad potatoes, about 250g per person, scrubbed (not peeled) and cut into small chunks. You also need a few shallots OR onions, cut into big chunks or wedges. That'll do for now, but later you'll need one bell pepper per person cut into four large pieces, a generous amount of fresh parsley and two heads of garlic broken into unpeeled cloves.

Get one, two or three large oven trays. Your stuff needs to be spread out. Slick the chicken, onion and potatoes with extra virgin olive oil. Season. Chicken skin side up. That goes into a 200C oven for fifteen minutes. After that time, throw in the unpeeled garlic cloves and the pieces of red pepper. Slick them with the oil in the trays. You may need to loosen the spuds and onion pieces. Put the trays back in the oven for another 25-30 minutes.

Your chicken will be beautifully cooked and will have crispy skin. Sprinkle the whole lot with chopped parsley and serve up. It's gorgeous but will stink out an unventilated kitchen all the next day. Thanks to Nigella Lawson for the inspiration. Make sure everyone gets a fair share of the garlic cloves. You can suck out the incredibly sweet, soft middles with gay abandon. Now THAT'S how to eat garlic. And chicken skin, Mrrzy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 10 Jul 19 - 02:31 AM

The thing I never understand about Italian cooking is those sachets of pasta they sell in the supermarket. They all reputedly have things in them that I like - but I can never taste what its supposed to be.

I have a friend who lived in Italy a number of years and she eats the sachets with a bit of olive oil.

Mind you, she is a weird cook - she made me a fish pie once and I swear to God, I reckon there was maybe one fish finger in the whole bloody thing.

That lasagne thing in Goodfellas that they did in prison looked good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Jul 19 - 07:59 AM

Steve, that sheet-pan chicken thing looks like a cousin to half a dozen recipes in any given Jamie Oliver collection. I make it without the slices of red pepper; next time, I'll toss those in, too. Roasted red pepper is always good. (Except, of course, when I burn it a bit too much. But hey.)

Yes, shallots are onions, but they taste slightly different from yellow onions, and they caramelize faster -- presumably because they are sweeter. I like the combined effect, which I'm sure is lost on others. YMMV. By the way, what's a banana shallot? I have never seen anything of that name in an Ontario supermarket.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Jul 19 - 09:03 AM

That sounds great, with all that garlic. Would be good with cauliflower, ya think?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Jul 19 - 10:03 AM

Why not, Mrrzy? With enough olive oil, most anything will roast nicely.

Stronger-tasting members of the cabbage family might not be so successful, however — oh, wait. Perhaps Brussels sprouts?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 12 Jul 19 - 10:12 AM

I buy Pakistani/Indian ingrediants at the Halal Supermarket in Bradford and Chinese ingrediants at the Chinese Supermarket in Leed, NEVER EVER buy British supermarket oriental sauces [ Tesco etc ] I once ran out of preserved black beans so to save a trip to Leeds I got a sachet of black bean sauce from Tesco's, it tasted like it was made with 4 ounces of sugar in it, bloody awful, so sickly sweet it was unpalatable to me.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 19 - 10:55 AM

The tomato plants in my yard are large but producing zero, so I bought some "vine ripe" tomatoes a while back. Didn't get around to using them all for slicing, so now they're simmering for sauce. And I realize this is a summer smell I've missed - cooking tomatoes as I prepare for canning.

The grapes across the road survived the clear-cut by bulldozer, but they're still not ripe. It's a late year for them, mostly because of the overcast and extra rain. They're usually ready around the Fourth of July. I make mustang grape jelly, and the house smells wonderful with the steam juicer perking away.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 12 Jul 19 - 02:24 PM

Long ago, the newspaper had a recipe for Alabama white sauce. It's delicious on chicken. Some people use lots of ingredients, including hot sauce, but I don't.

Roast, saute or grill some chicken
Mix the following:

one-half cup good mayonnaise (serves 2-3 people)
about 4 tsp apple-cider vinegar
12-15 grindings of black pepper
Stir till smooth. Consistency should be that of gravy.

Serve the chicken and spoon the Alabama white sauce over it.

Since measuring mayonnaise in a measuring cup is a pain, I just take a big spoon and eyeball approx half cup. After that, amounts are a judgment call. Cooks here can handle it.

We had this on the 4th of July with a tossed salad and carrots with butter and ginger. Watermelon for dessert.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Jul 19 - 12:44 PM

Banana shallots are also called echalions. They're bigger then typical shallots and are elongated. The traybake chicken idea comes from Nigella's book How To Eat. She puts everything in at the start. I found that if I do that the peppers and garlic cloves burn. That's why I delay putting them in for the first 15 minutes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Jul 19 - 01:56 PM

Thanks, Steve. I’ll try that next week.

Echalions are unknown to me, at least by that name, but I have noticed that the shallots sold around here are much bigger and longer than shallots (échallottes) we’re back in the day. Maybe what Sobey’s Is peddling as shallots are actually the other thing.

Dave H’s point about Chinese sauces is spot on. There’s the real stuff, and then there’s the imitation made for non-Asian Americans and Canadians who want to believe they’re cooking a bit on the wild side without running any risk of an unfamiliar flavour. I find that a good way to identify the real stuff is to look for Chinese or Japanese characters on the label. Fortunately, North American cuisine has integrated enough Asian dishes that a basic range of real Chinese, Indian and Japanese ingredients is available in most supermarkets, alongside the fake sugary American version.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 19 - 09:40 PM

Copper River salmon - sockeye salmon from a particular river drainage in Alaska. They're running now, so get them while you can. A rich red meat, and usually very expensive. It came in today at Costco for a modest $12 a pound, so I bought a couple for myself, called my ex and bought a couple for him and tomorrow I'll get two for my daughter and one for a friend. They're about 2.5 - 3.0 pounds per package. I have three fillets cut into pieces and brining overnight. I'll smoke them tomorrow. And my ex will use the same brine for overnight tomorrow and I'll smoke his on Wednesday. Repeat for daughter. Friend wants to freeze what she can't eat.

The high end grocery store up the road will have the larger fish whole or in larger fillets, and it will be half again or double the price per pound. I wish Costco had the larger fillets, you really get the good fat flavor out of those.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Jul 19 - 10:33 AM

Wow, SRS. Bounty indeed. We don't have a Costco membership, mostly because I find the place profoundly intimidating, but occasionally I regret that policy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Jul 19 - 10:53 AM

You can go with a friend, Charmion. I do that every coupla years. And echalion is a great word. Makes me think of the onion knight... A shallot escutcheon. On a stallion.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 16 Jul 19 - 11:08 AM

Wiltshire Farms tonight as neither mum or I (both had bad nights and a few daytime things to deal with) feel like cooking. These frozen meals aren’t brilliant but pretty acceptable all the same and I think are used a fair bit particularly amongst elderly and other groups that might find cooking difficult. We order 10 meals at a time and that stock probably lasts a month and I suppose we regard them as a useful standby.

Hopefully I’ll do a Quorn mince “cottage pie” tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jul 19 - 11:17 AM

Jon, I found some Lean Cuisine Chile Lime Chicken with rice frozen meals at my local discount grocery (2 for $3) and loaded up as long as they had them. I figure $1.50 for a 250 calorie lunch or dinner is pretty good, and they were actually quite good. Up until this point I never bothered with frozen meals. Now I glance into that frozen food section to see if anything interesting turns up.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Jul 19 - 03:17 PM

Last year at the beach I suddenly found that I had eaten the last shrimp I ever wanted to.
I got over it. Off to beach tomorrow! Yum!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Jul 19 - 02:08 PM

My first batch was in longer than needed—because this is a fairly lean salmon it dried out and is a little jerky-like. The next batch spent only about 3 hours in the smoker and is perfect and quite moist. Another batch is in now, and I have one more scheduled for the day. I smell like fish for some reason.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jul 19 - 11:02 AM

So what are you all eating when the weather is really hot?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Jul 19 - 01:32 PM

Pasta, with fresh tomato sauce. It involves a fair amount of boiling and simmering, but it's light and savory.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jul 19 - 04:30 PM

I like chef's salads - the combination of a lot of ingredients on top of a bed of torn or chopped lettuce. It usually involves at least one form of julienne-type cut up meat (ham and chicken are my favorites), chopped green onion, grated (using the big holes for long strips) cheese, and around the outer rim alternating segments (depending on the size of the tomato) of tomato and halved hard boiled eggs. Usually one or two tomatoes and two boiled eggs. I have a mix of sesame seed, pepitas, sunflower seeds and sliced almonds called "Tours mix" that is roasted briefly then stored in the fridge for salads. Zesty Italian goes on top. Yes, I know, store bought, but it is pretty good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Jul 19 - 06:23 PM

Hot soup (spicy hot and temperature hot) is my go-to hot weather food.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 19 Jul 19 - 12:22 PM

I have a new cooking approach that saves energy. My energy. When I bring home a package of meat, I cook it all, freeze it in portions, and finish prep on the day we eat.

Recntly I bought a package of pork steak. The DH grilled it all over a wood fire. That night, we had the pork steak, corn on the cob and cole slow. (There's a hot-weather menu for you.)

Two weeks later, we used some for Grampa's Pork and Beans. Cut the pork steak into strips. (Kitchen shears work well for this.) Flavor a jar of B&M beans with onions, ketchup and maybe brown sugar. Add the pork and heat gently.

One day I thought, why not be more natural and add real tomatoes instead of ketchup? The DH was so upset, you would have thought I had given his puppy away. Now I let him flavor the pork and beans himself.

A couple more weeks passed. We had the pork with an Indonesian flavor. Sizzled the strips with onion, made a sauce with peanut butter, lime juice, soy sauce, garlic, ginger root, black pepper. Served with fried sweet potato, avocado, salad.

I get tried a lot. I find that cooking meals in steps this way makes mealtime more fun.

When I cook pasta, I cook the whole package, eat some and freeze some in plastic bags. It is so much easier to pull out the package and heat it with the sauce than to cook up a small batch from scratch.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 19 - 09:47 AM

I cooked ahead for breakfast this week by making a batch of buttermilk pancakes, then freezing them two at a time. They're better if they defrost on their own, then 30 seconds in the microwave. I know, for purists this is probably an abomination, but homemade warmed over is better than anything you can buy (horrors!) but it's a quick way to pamper myself. I'll make more soon to use up the rest of the buttermilk.

Often buttermilk is sold in quart or half-gallon containers that means all but a cup or two goes to waste. There is a local high-end grocery that has a pint bottle. It isn't my favorite brand, but it is package for my kind of use. (I prefer to buy cultured dairy products without gelatin, guar gum, etc. I want it cultured to reach the proper consistency and without the various additives.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 20 Jul 19 - 12:36 PM

Friday night desert is Vanilla Swedish Glace ice cream with a sticky toffee or blueberry muffin!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 02:30 AM

I want Steve Shaw for a wife. Though I'd be in trouble when he caught me sneakily crushing garlic. Wait - what am i saying? Would I ever cook with Steve for a wife? No, I'd be out gathering roses to present to him!

Leeneia, thanks so much for the handy tip about cutting meat in strips with the kitchen shears!

Do people have any tips on cooking aubergines? I imagine myself like Nero, sending the legions toiling across Africa, Palestine, Judea, Spain and Italy with amphorae of oil enough to supply me every time I cook an aubergine.

We're increasingly skipping meat on various days; Steve will flinch, but I love Aldi's vegan bangers (cauliflower- or pepper-based).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 05:44 AM

Good heavens, you really know how to charm a chap! :-). See you at the church gate...

I've got nothing against bought stuff every now and again. I cheated with some lasagne last week by using cheap jars of M&S bechamel instead of making my own, and I've just devoured three Warburtons crumpets for breakfast. I did buy some shop burgers and "chicken flatties" for an emergency barbecue last week and was very disappointed with both. Short cuts don't always do the trick. Ready meals are nearly always terrible but I make an exception for M&S moussaka, which is very nice with a bit of salad and garlic bread.

As for aubergines/egg plants, they consistently defeat me. They always look great and feel plump, but I can never seem to get the skins tender enough to eat. And there's so much conflicting advice as whether to salt or not, how to oil them... Last September we found a taverna on Kefalonia that served gorgeous wafer-thin battered aubergine slices deep-fried. I put about ten pounds on that week.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 11:16 AM

I know people eat the skin, but I never do, it seems to have a bitter taste. If I'm cooking a homegrown eggplant (none in the yard this year - the garden is a hot mess) I don't bother with the salt and sit and rinse step because I don't let them grow huge, I pick them around 12 to 16 ounces.

If you're making babaghanouj, then roast them in a medium oven (350 - 375) for 45 minutes to an hour until you can see the skin starting to slip. Sometimes they'll burst (warning!) but usually once they've baked enough you can pierce it and start pulling and the skin will slip off. Do your mashing and add ingredients from there.

If you're making eggplant Parmesan, peel it, leave them in a bowl of water, and take them from there to a plate of white flour then a bowl of egg then a plate of seasoned bread crumbs, using the "wet hand, dry hand" approach. I thought I'd invented that myself, but it seems some of those cooks on TV talk about it also. :)

Use shallow corn oil (1/2 inch) and add a generous pat of butter for great flavor. As much as I love olive oil, it isn't for frying.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 11:22 AM

I prefer our home grown aubergines when we have them. I choose a small variety called Hansel. I usually pick them at about 3 – 4 inches long.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 12:06 PM

Funny you should say that about olive oil. In this weekend's Guardian Rachel Roddy, one of my very favourite writers on Italian food, blows the myth that you shouldn't cook with olive oil right out of the water (sorry, Maggie!). For years now I've kept two types of extra virgin olive oil in the house, one of them usually the bog-standard Napolina/Berio type and the other a superior Tuscan oil. The first is used for most of my cooking and the second for salad dressings and sprinkling on pizza or pasta dishes at the end. Only ever extra virgin. I won't use the over-refined non-virgin stuff. The only rule is to avoid letting the oil smoke, so stand with it and go gently. If I need really hot oil, say for frying a steak or for making my oven chips, I use groundnut oil, which has a high smoke point and a neutral flavour. Eggs and salmon are fried only in butter in my house. That's about the extent of my frying armoury. If I'm making a soffritto or if I'm sautéing sliced garlic and dried chilli flakes at the start of making a pasta sauce, for arrabbiata for example, a good trick is to put the garlic and chilli flakes, or the chopped veg, into the pan of cold oil. You can do that hours in advance if you stir it around a bit. We purists who make life tough by refusing to mince garlic save time later by doing that. Usually, you can then make your sauce in the time it takes to get the pasta al dente. An unspoken rule of Italian cooking in any case is to never leave the kitchen while the pasta is boiling. And always save a bit of pasta water when you drain, in case the sauce needs loosening.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 12:42 PM

Sainsburys delivered a vegan pasta source last week, not ordered by us I might add, and I have never tasted anything so vile in all my life.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 02:22 PM

What is wet hand dry hand?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 02:24 PM

Oh, and that church gate? Something old will be some aged cheese, something new a fruity little prosecco, something borrowed, perhaps a particularly nice traybake, and something blue…?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 02:25 PM

Bought pasta sauces are generally claggy and terrible overcooked mush. Make your own!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 02:58 PM

I'm fruity enough, a little ripe perhaps, but blue? Don't tempt me...!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 03:03 PM

Steve, I wouldn't use that much olive oil to fry the eggplant, just like I don't use it if I'm breading and frying fish. It uses too much of it. Corn oil is cheaper for that kind of use.

If I'm frying eggs or cooking pancakes or just about anything that just requires a splash of oil, then I do cook in olive oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Jul 19 - 05:44 PM

I think it comes down to flavour. In Italian cookery I want olive oil, or butter if it's a northern Italy recipe. For really hot frying, an oil that doesn't easily smoke. I'm happy with groundnut oil but I'm sure there are others. I've tried the received-wisdom method of frying eggs in an olive oil/butter mixture. But with eggs I want butter, and, once I remove the eggs to a warm plate I can quickly whack up the heat and use the residual butter to fry my bread, on to which I can then dump my eggs. Breakfast in four minutes flat. My God, it's good...

Pancakes, butter. Nothing else will do for me. As for fish, some olive oil is a bit too assertive for delicate fish flavours. I tend to use butter. Jayz, I love butter.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 03:43 AM

Eggs? Bacon fat!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 06:05 AM

If you have any bacon fat! I have bacon butties but for some reason I seldom cook bacon and eggs at the same time. Could be because I have this predilection for the occasional all-day full-works breakfast in The Lounge when I visit my daughter in Truro. Can't have heart-attack-on-a-plate TOO often! But I concur...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 09:43 AM

Funny, as I get older I've rather gone off bacon, at least as a breakfast item. My stomach wants a gentle introduction to the day, and bacon is a bit abrupt. An orange and a bowl of muesli is about my limit, plus coffee.

The other day, I bought a couple of trout fillets at the supermarket, on special. They were a bit on the thin side, and just a shade too long to fit in our larger non-stick skillet, so I put them under the broiler.

Gas-fired cookers sold in Canada traditionally did not have broilers, so I never developed that skill. But then we renovated our kitchen and bought an up-to-the-minute cooker with a broiling burner, and now I'm having regular flashes of the culinary obvious.

So the fish fillets. I laid them skin-side-down on a cookie sheet, sprinkled them with a comparatively subtle barbecue rub (supermarket trout needs all the help it can get, such as a tasty crust), and very gently misted them with olive oil from a spray bottle so they would not dry out. Then I popped them under the broiler for maybe seven minutes. No turning.

Effing delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 10:09 AM

We eat lots of fish but I won't buy farmed fish of any kind. A couple of weeks ago we had black bream from our local fishmonger. Several times in the spring we had dabs. All lovely. Anything I've never tried before gets fried in butter, as with sockeye salmon fillets, which never fails. A very good fish for the barbie is John Dory. I get the fishmonger to render the beasts into two skin-on fillets which I grill with the two halves put back together. I do like to taste the actual fish so I never overdo the marinade/baste. Maybe a bit of olive oil and a squeeze of a lemon and a whiff of garlic. Only a whiff. Maybe a sprinkling of fresh thyme leaves. I season it just before cooking. Delicate fish on the barbie can go on one of those perforated alumin(i)um trays. I think the best way to cook a thick piece of fillet, something like hake, cod, haddock or pollack, skin on, is to open-bake it, well basted, skin side down, on your oven tray just after you've done your oven chips, which you keep warm after decanting on to another tray. Getting the timing right is always fun, but better slightly underdone than overdone. Skinless and boneless fillets can go in the oven wrapped in foil with some butter and salt, or poached on top in milk. The latter is very nice with mashed potato, green beans and parsley sauce, which I make using Delia's all-in-one method. Easy enough.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 11:32 AM

I've never tried (consciously) oven chips before, but on a lone night last week got oven sweet potato chips in Aldi. They were ace!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 11:59 AM

Buy some salad spuds such as Charlotte or Nicola. Cut them into wedges. Don't peel. Par-boil in well-salted water for seven minutes then drain in a sieve. Let them dry off for a minute then return to the pan and rough them up, as with roasties. Put on an oven tray and coat with groundnut oil. They need about 20 minutes in a very hot oven, around 230C. Turn them around just once. Better by miles than any oven chips you can buy in shops and a healthy way to eat spuds as they don't take up too much oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 12:32 PM

"what are we eating? give peas a chance..."...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 12:47 PM

I don't eat bacon often enough to go through the package before it gets old, so I buy it and re-wrap it in plastic wrap, two slices at a time. I suppose I could freeze it on waxed paper first then put it in a single container (for the person bound to protest the use of so much plastic.) I get the thick-sliced variety so that's enough to go with eggs or to break and fit onto a sandwich that benefits from bacon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 01:41 PM

I did not see an answer but wet hand dry hand is, use one hand to dip in milk/egg and the other hand for flour etc. Keeps your hand(s) from getting all eggy/floury. I am bad at this technique as I forget in the middle and just use my right hand which ends up looking as if it needs to be fried... Also this is for dipping multiple things; if it's just one thing, who cares.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 04:32 PM

I just love getting my hands into food. Much better than stirring with spoons, etc. I make huge amounts of stuffing for freezing. Get yer hands in there! You can make far better burgers if you do the mix by hand. You get the feel of gently combining and forming by hand without crushing. Tossing a salad? Only hands will do a proper job! If I need to squidge canned plum tomatoes, my hands are by far the best tools. Squeeze a lemon through your fingers to catch the pips. You can even separate egg yolks and whites through your fingers. A fish pie mix is best when you get your hands in there. If I'm doing stuffed jacket potatoes with cheese, only your hands can get the blend right. Enjoy your cooking!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 05:21 PM

I'm not hands-on quite so much, but a friend taught me that trick for making baking powder biscuits, and I also do that for pie crust. It breaks the butter into the flour perfectly, better than a wire pastry blender.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jul 19 - 07:36 PM

You are intimately touching the food that you're about to cook and give people. Won't it be so much better for your caresses? What's more erotic than that!

Well, I can think of....

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 10:05 AM

I have salad servers-tossers that work- but most definitely don't.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jul 19 - 10:24 AM

I spent a bunch of years working in hospitals, so I developed a bit of a thing about keeping my hands clean. Also, I'm the person who cleans everything in this house, and I'm keenly aware of how often one is interrupted when up to the elbows in something really messy -- Sod's Law is always at work. Consequently, I'm not crazy about hand-mixing wet and/or sticky foods, preferring to use a silicone spatula. For tossing salad, I have a pair of large, long-handled serving spoons. They work just fine.

I'm not shy about kneading bread or cleaning a fish, so it's not a phobia or nothin'.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 02:42 AM

The "Clean hand, messy hand" method can come in useful, in my case usually when jointing a chicken.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 09:58 AM

"Clean hand, messy hand" is also the thing to do when wrapping servings of meat -- such as chicken pieces -- for the freezer. Around here, we can get "portion-size" bags (actually the right size for three to four portions); I like to turn the bag inside-out over my clean left hand, stack the contents in the palm, then turn the bag right way round.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 01:10 PM

Several years working in photographic dark rooms
left me with ingrained methodical discipline regarding keeping my bare hands out of bad stuff,
and avoiding cross contamination...

Handy transferrable kitchen skills...

My mrs however, is a food poisoning disaster waiting to happen...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 04:33 PM

Request from a friend. Anyone have any recipes for sweet-and-sour that taste all sticky like those in Chinese takeaways?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 10:24 PM

Try this? I liked both... https://dinnerthendessert.com/sweet-sour-sauce/

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jul 19 - 11:47 PM

I note that Mrrzy visited the Roadkill Thread right before she came here - leaving me wondering if she had a flattened squirrel recipe. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 04:35 AM

Gosh, I've assumed for years that Mrrzy was a bloke! Deluded I have been by those first two letters...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 06:35 AM

"...visited the Roadkill Thread right before she came here"

Using the other hand I hope.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 09:30 AM

I went shopping yesterday and bought two kinds of fish that are sorta new to me.

The first is tilapia, which Steve Shaw would presumably reject outright because it is widely farmed. I assume these fillets were not from wild-caught fish because I could buy them without feeling a deep pang in the wallet. I have read that tilapia is very popular with people who make (and, presumably, eat) fish tacos, so I plan to cook them à la Méxique (or my idea thereof), with lime juice, garlic and cilantro.

The other is a big packet of frozen fillets -- it was on special, of course -- of a species marketed here as "basa", which Wikipedia tells me is Pangasius bocourti, a catfish native to the delta of the Mekong River. Now, I know that our neighbours to the south consider catfish to be a staple food and, often, a great treat, but I have a hard time overcoming prejudice against the species that thrives in the Ottawa River and its tributaries. I was brought up to consider catfish (called barbotte where I come from) to be dangerously inedible because of its bottom-dwelling, scavanger nature -- but then, when I was young, the Rideau River was but a step up from an open sewer. Thanks to public health efforts and stern regulation, things are better now.

Back to the basa. Anyone out there with a good catfish recipe they'd care to share?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 05:04 AM

Tilapia were a hippie thing - the ideal life included a conservatory with a fish pond in it, in which tilapia would be raised as food, and the water regularly used for enriching the vegetable patch and renewed from a clean water supply.

How to eat them is another question; I've never actually met one. The BBC has a bunch of recipes; the coconutty one sounds nice. I wait in anticipation for news…

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 10:13 AM

Thompson, I was very interested to read the Wikipedia entry on the species, from which I learned that, as a food fish raised in captivity, tilapia has literally millennia of history. As a cook, I am here to tell you that tilapia has nothing much to offer in the way of flavour, and seems to function best as a proteiny backdrop to whatever seasonings and veg with which one cares to cook and/or serve it.

The lime juice, garlic and cilantro version worked, but only because we were hungry and we like cilantro. I should have used rather more garlic and lime juice, and started with a reduction to intensify the flavours before putting the fish in the pan. It now occurs to me that tilapia would work well in a curry sauce ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 10:20 AM

Thompson, I just looked at the BBC recipes, and they seem to have drawn the same conclusion I did: tilapia is so bland that it can take literally any combination of flavours, the more assertive the better. In future, I will definitely go the curry route.

You may find tilapia in both fresh and frozen form at your local supermarket. Here in Ontario, frozen tilapia is about as cheap as fish gets, but the fillets run very, very small. The fillets I cooked yesterday were fresh, and ran about half a pound each. I cooked them as I would sole, without flour or bread crumbs and in an open pan.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jul 19 - 11:26 AM

Tilapia is a mild-flavored white fish that is sustainably raised, as is much of the catfish sold in the marketplace these days. I cook it much as I might red snapper, it can be baked, sauteed, fried, etc. I've used it in fish tacos (which are filled with so many other flavors that the fish is essentially like Charmion said, the protein base for the layered meal.)

Catfish is something I've always eated fried, when it was breaded in a seasoned cornmeal. Whole-skinned or filleted. With lots of lemon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 09:46 PM

At last I am getting homegrown tomatoes from my garden, so tonight we had a Chinese dish, tomato beef. It has other vegetables as well - green pepper, onion, snow peas. We had it with "rice blend", (a whole grain food similar to rice). Watermelon for dessert.

It's a delicious dish, but it takes a lot of prep. I had help.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jul 19 - 10:41 PM

I finally pulled the three large tomato plants when I realized the grower must have started them from seeds harvested from a hybrid. They were sterile, large plants and not a single tomato. Even with blossom set (that forces fruit without pollination.) I'm hoping for a fall garden but I doubt I'll get any tomatoes this year.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jul 19 - 09:41 AM

White peaches are in the grocery store now; when they're ripe they have a more intense peach flavor. I tend to look for freestone peaches, whatever variety I buy, just because they're easier to eat or cut up for cooking, though I'll eat the others if that's all that is available.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Jul 19 - 11:20 AM

White peach juice + prosecco = Bellini. Mmmm!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Jul 19 - 06:48 PM

I am not a female. Just fyi. Given the choice I prefer They to He but She does not apply. Luvs. Feed me something yummy now! I've been traveling and nothing was truly delish except one salmon-on-a-salad...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Jul 19 - 07:44 PM

Mrrzy — chicken off the barbie. Split up the back and flattened, laid out on the grill over a pan of water set on the tiles (gas barbie, BTW), skin well dressed with the same spice rub as for Memphis-style pork ribs. Smoker. Gas up high until the smoke starts to roll, then whack the chicken down. After about fifteen minutes, turn the gas low. Leave it alone with the lid down for as long as it takes.

Hack the cooked chicken into quarters and serve with crusty bread and good beer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Jul 19 - 07:48 PM

The first peaches of the summer appeared in the Stratford market yesterday, very early cultivar. Freestone varieties usually come in late August, and these are, indeed, a cling-ish peach. But deee-licious!

After eating three over the sink, I put in some quality time with the dental floss. Worth it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 28 Jul 19 - 08:13 PM

You're so perspicacious, Mrrzy, you had me fooled.

Charmion, thanks for the chicken idea.

Now I'm all set up to make Nogales chicken stew, a recipe I got from a Hispanic grandmother at church.

Brown some chicken pieces in a big skillet. (I use thighs)
Remove chicken, saute chopped yellow onion.
Replace chicken.
Add tomatoes, either from the garden or canned, no-salt tomatoes.
Add the juice from a can of high-quality canned corn. The canned corn taste is essential.
Cover and let simmer.
After a while, add chopped zucchini.
Add chopped green pepper.
Let cook till chicken is tender.
Season with chili powder to taste, prob. 1 to 2 tsp.
Just before serving, add the corn kernels and let them warm up.

*The idea is not to cook the zucchini and green pepper to death.

The original recipe called for dredging the chicken in flour, but I don't bother.

Serve with corn bread, avocados, guacamole, watermelon and other summery stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jul 19 - 08:52 PM

That flattened chicken is "spatchcocked." Like this.

I felt like something for dinner, but not fancy. There was a cup of buttermilk in the fridge that needed using so I made a batch of pancakes. The leftovers are wrapped and frozen for future meals. It didn't take long to make and hit the spot.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 06:47 AM

Did I ever tell you about my whore's pasta, spaghetti alla puttanesca? Takes as long as it takes the spaghetti (dried, not fresh - this dish is store cupboard only!) to boil.

For two people. Get 250g spaghetti on to boil in salted water. No oil. Get a big, heavy, shallow pan and put two big glugs of extra virgin olive oil in it. Add dried chilli flakes to taste (it's supposed to be pretty spicy), two cloves of garlic finely sliced (not crushed) and three or four anchovy fillets out of a tin. Sauté that lot for a couple of minutes then add about 2/3 of a tin of tomatoes, a tablespoon of capers, about 100g of pitted black olives out of a tin (chop them up a bit), a handful of chopped fresh parsley (optional) and some pepper. When the spag is al dente, drain it and quickly throw it into the sauce (it's always worth keeping a splash of pasta water in reserve). Mix thoroughly. No Parmesan. Get it right and it's a masterpiece. Nigella suggests serving it wearing a tight low-cut dress and garish red lipstick with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth.

We've taken to eating any pasta dish the Italian way. Just a fork, no spoon, no knife, just a lot of slurping keeping over the bowl. Ottimo! We're having gnocchi alla Sorrentina tonight. Lovely long stringy bits of mozzarella, a challenge to the consumer!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 07:24 AM

It would be better with whole black olives chopped up, pitted olives all seem tasteless to me.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 10:40 AM

I learned spatchcocked chicken from a book, and it took me a while (and a few nicked fingers) to perfect the technique. The New York Times article recommends pressing down on the centre of the breast to flatten the bird, but this method is unreliable for two reasons.

First, the flattening manoeuvre is designed to break or dislocate one or both of the clavicles at the sternum, and this always happens at the weakest point -- which may not be at the sternum, where you want the break to be. Second, most fryer chickens (the best size for spatchcocking) are so young that their joints are very flexible, so pressing might not achieve the aim at all.

So the better method is to take your stiff, very sharp knife (the one you used to cut the ribs away from the backbone) and cut the cartilage that covers the point where the clavicles join the sternum. (Note that shears won't do this job.) Then turn the bird over and press it flat, with your knuckles or the heel of your hand on that joint. The result will be a firm snap, at the sternum.

Steve, I would love to try your puttanesca recipe, but I would have to do it with somebody else's husband. Mine won't touch it -- or arrabiata, either. One of his few flaws is a prejudice against hot peppers.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 10:54 AM

You don't need to cut out the spine and flatten the breast, if you want you can cut down the middle of the breast and flatten it at the spine. The point is to flatten the bird, either way works.

I agree, Steve's pasta dish sounds good. Maybe I should pick up some anchovies, I think I have the rest.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 12:31 PM

Stilly, I have tried cutting down the middle of the breast, but the result was much drier breast meat. Also, I found cutting along the sternum to be more awkward than along the backbone. Finally, it looked even more deeply weird than the other way.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Jul 19 - 01:16 PM

Charmion... I don't play with barbies. Ha ha ha ha ha! I need to get me one, though- and make that chicken!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 12:11 AM

I grew up eating pasta with a fork only, but slurping was not allowed!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 08:58 AM

Spatchcocking is a great technique, Mrrzy. With a non-trivial investment of skill and effort in the kitchen before the company comes, you get a faster-cooking, moister bird that you can quarter quickly and efficiently when it's time to get dinner on the table.

I use a Cutco knife with a sturdy, seven-inch serrated blade for the initial prep, and a pair of poultry shears to quarter the bird when it comes out of the oven.

Cookbooks focussed on barbecuing are the best source of recipes for spatchcocked chicken. I like Steven Raichlen's "The Barbecue Bible", which introduced me to the whole world of spice rubs and smoke cooking.

Yeah. You need a barbecue. If you live in quarters where you can use one without risk of burning down the building, what are you waiting for?

By the way, Raichlen actually favours charcoal as a barbecue fuel; he thinks gas is for wussies. Gas is efficient, however, and I recommend it if cooking is a thing you do primarily to feed yourself and family and not as a hobby activity.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 10:44 AM

I habe great shears for spatchcocking, which always sounds deviant. However, coming back from 10 days at the beach, I find I did not have enough seafood. Moules Mariniere [accent grave] happening tonight but at a restaurant...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 11:12 AM

Hold on. I think 2 tsp chili is too much for the Nogales chicken stew recipe I put above.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 11:13 AM

I try not to keep onions and potatoes in the fridge, but in the hot time of year, it becomes a necessity to keep them from spoiling fast. This morning I checked out a bag of white potatoes on the counter and found a couple too far gone to save and a couple that needed a bad spot trimmed.

I have a recipe that originally came from Martha Stewart Living on one of the cards she has in each issue—four items you can make that add up to a nice meal and the cards are perforated so they are recipe cards to keep. The salmon meal she recommended that had grilled fish, steamed asparagus, and potatoes (I don't remember the dessert) is one we eat often.

The small or new potatoes are simmered until you can pierce them easily with a sharp knife. Let them cool a few minutes (or save them in the fridge to finish later) then heat a small skillet with a generous pat of butter and each potato is put on a work surface and using the heel of your hand gently compress it until the skin splits and some of it extrudes, but the potato is still in one piece. Place these in the gently heated butter and let them cook until they are browned on each side and those little edges sticking out have started to crisp a little. I use salt and fresh ground pepper and that's it. I always thought of them as Martha Stewart's potatoes, but my son and his girlfriend were telling me about a meal they made that included "smashed potatoes" and I asked what that was. Apparently they needed a name for that MS recipe and it works. So I'm making smashed potatoes to use for meals this week.

I also have some larger potatoes that I cut into chunks (usually about an inch on one side is the largest) and they saute in olive oil and get the salt, fresh pepper, and some seasoning (sometimes smoked paprika) treatment. They reheat nicely. And this is what I use to put in tacos when vegetarian friends come over and can't eat the fish or beef.

Cooking things in the morning so you don't have to heat up the house during the afternoon or evening is a practice in this hot climate. It's going to be in the high-90s or low 100s (in the 37C range) for the next few weeks. Cooking outside is also popular. See Charmion's discussion of spatchcocked chicken, for starters.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 12:06 PM

Gas is a lot cheaper than charcoal and I haven't noticed any lack of flavour. My barbie is a somewhat ancient Weber Q220 job with a lid. Using the best quality ingredients is the way to go. Buy the best butcher's sausages and never buy burgers from a shop. I buy top-quality minced steak from an online Scottish butcher (Donald Russell, Brits) and a pound of that makes four superb, beefy-flavoured burgers that cook quickly. No onion, no mustard, no seasoning, no nothing. Just open the pack and gently form four burgers. I make a big dint in the middle so that they're shaped like a huge red blood cell. I baste them on the grill with something oily and spicy, but that's it. I want to taste beef. I don't baste the sausages at all. Other good things to barbecue are cobs of sweetcorn and halloumi cheese cut into large slices. I use a griddle plate for delicate stuff such as fish (mackerel fillets are really good, with a garlicky and herby marinade of olive oil and lemon juice), best cooked with the lid down. Any fish with skin on. John Dory is brilliant. Tuna steaks aren't the easiest things to get just right. Albacore/yellowfin is much nicer than skipjack, which I find a bit coarse. Swordfish cooks well, if you like its flavour. I found last week that cherry tomatoes on a skewer are lovely and they don't take long. Peppers are good but they take much longer. I don't barbecue chicken very often. Strong barbie flavours override the delicate flavour of the chicken for me, and breast meat dries out way too fast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jul 19 - 09:42 PM

Shish kabobs on the grill are amazing; beef or lamb, small onions that were parboiled before being skewered to speed the cooking, and quartered bell peppers (small enough that they cook with everything else. Small tomatoes or quartered large tomatoes round it out.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 04:57 AM

I always steam potatoes rather than boiling them, then put a clean teacloth over them to absorb the steam after taking the steamer off the salty boiling water.

New potatoes are delicious with salty butter and chopped dill.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 10:57 AM

Not a lack of flavor, Steve Shaw, but a quite different flavor. I love gas-grilled anything, but I *LOVE* anything charcoal-grilled.

The mussels were great. Crab tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Jul 19 - 12:54 PM

Steve Shaw, we eat chicken often, and in summer I always cook it on the barbecue. To prevent that chicken-leather effect, you put a beat-up old roasting tin on the tiles of the gas barbecue -- i.e., under the grids, but over the burner -- and fill it with water. Put the grids back, and light the barbecue. When it's hot enough to do the business, the water in the pan will be simmering. Thus, the chicken is bathed in steam while it cooks -- obviously with the lid down -- and the meat comes out wonderfully moist. The steam does not result in soggy skin; it emerges crisp and delicious.

Twice recently you've mentioned John Dory. That's a species I have never seen in a shop; is it a strictly European fish, or is it perhaps called something else on this side of the Herring Pond?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 12:41 AM

Yesterday I didn't give a thought to dinner until the last minute. Fortunately we had the wherewithal for that summer favorite, the BLT. (bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich). Homegrown tomatoes made them especially good.

My dear husband, the DH, loves to cook over a wood fire. Years ago we came across a grill in a county park in Iowa that he really liked. Fortunately, it still had the manufacturer's name on it, and we ordered one for ourselves. (The company acted surprised. They were used to selling to parks.) He makes excellent steaks, hamburgers and pork chops on it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 06:17 AM

John Dory, reputedly from jaune dorée, or yellowy goldy, is this. Verra tasty. The BBC has a rake of recipes here. Of course, eating shellfish now that we've poisoned the sea with plastic is probably not a good idea, so some might be avoided…

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 08:55 AM

Thanks for the link, Thompson. That is definitely not a critter I have ever seen laid out on ice in this country.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 09:30 AM

I have a feeling that they don't inhabit your waters.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 09:41 AM

Leeneia, what is the brand of grill your husband likes?

It looks like the John Dory is everywhere EXCEPT North and South America.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 07:07 PM

It was a perfect barbie night tonight. Normally we have a burger followed by a.n. other but I rang the changes tonight. We had mackerel fillets with skewered veg and a weird but very nice Waitrose "Mexican-inspired bean burger" wot I'd got cheap, froze and forgot about. It was just right. I didn't marinade the mackerel but I just made a baste of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, thyme and seasoning.

Everything was delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Aug 19 - 10:03 PM

I'm doing a frugal "No Spend" month this August, so am making meals as much as possible from the cupboards and fridge and freezer. Tonight was a thawed tandoori bread and I used 1/3 of it to make what amounted to three thin-crust pizza slices. I still allow myself to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables, gas for the car, dog food, etc., but am being more resourceful with the materials already here. I'll make a crock pot of oatmeal with chopped dates that will be my breakfast for the next few mornings.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Aug 19 - 10:55 AM

Hi, SRS. The grill came from the RJ Thomas Mfg Co., which also uses the brand name Pilot Rock.

https://www.pilotrock.com/userdocs/Pilot%20Rock%20Catalog_250.pdf

Ours is an infinitely adjustable one with a single shelf. Two shelves might be better.

You have to dig a big hole and bury the base. It takes a robust person to do that. (Parks don't want people going off with their grills.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Aug 19 - 12:11 PM

Thank you - and I agree, that is a good-looking grill. Back in the 1970s I worked for the Forest Service at a station that had a crew house but didn't want to deal with the problems of a kitchen. They put a couple of the standard-issue USFS fire grills in the ground outside the building, expecting we would go to the trouble to build a fire each time we wanted to eat. We got resourceful with hot plates and electric saucepans instead.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 10:05 AM

I enjoyed the salad visiting (oz again) brother made last evening.

1 bowl of basmati rice with chopped/cubed tomato, sweet pepper, onion, cucumber, pine nuts, mint, chives and parsley mixed in.

1 bowl divided into sliced beetroot, sliced tomato and nice small lettuce leaves (from the garden. I’m behind and no tomatoes starting to ripen yet… but could at least supply that, and mum, the herbs).

Also available, olives, sliced buttered baguette and, for those who can stand them, hard boiled eggs.

Simple again but I seemed to get lots of different and interesting “mouthfuls”.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 10:23 AM

This week I made several small single-serving pizzas using portions of a large tandoori (Iraqi) bread, and each evening I was able to use herbs and sweet banana peppers from the garden.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 10:46 AM

Nice when your own grown stuff can make some contribution, SRS.

Mum’s (who deal's with these things) previous main herb area (both sides of the uncovered part of a pigsty and needing access for logs stored in the sheltered part) collapsed last winter so it’s been a rebuild. We got 8ft of metal staging for one side and were able to reuse an old aquarium stand with 2x2 timber on top for the other. All container grown, say up to 10” pots with some space on the ground for 6 larger tubs.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 11:02 AM

I can do hardboiled eggs if I can eat just the yolks. Like the devil part out of deviled eggs (Mimosa eggs, in French). I need a partner who only likes the whites...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 11:19 AM

Mrzzy, I'm just odd with eggs. I don't remember the event but I believe it stems from me being violently sick after eating a (soft) boiled egg (free range and supplied by my grandmother) when I was very young.

I'm fine with egg in cooking but the more it resembles an egg, the more I struggle and I can heave at the smell of a hard boiled one.

As part of a family who has in the past kept chickens, ducks and geese for eggs, maybe that is a shame. But that's how it is.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 12:59 PM

I can consume eggs with relish in any shape or form. When I was a student I drank them straight out of the shell for breakfast. Delicious, and no washing up. I hadn't heard of Salmonella at the time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Aug 19 - 07:11 PM

Jon Freeman, look up conditioned taste aversion. One-trial learning, no extinction. In my case it's Bailey's Irish Cream. But also I prefer my eggs hidden.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 12:34 AM

I have a friend who grew up in England and eats strange things like a soft-boiled egg standing upright in a little stand. One morning I saw her dip a piece of toast in the egg, and the oily, glistening, slimy yellow yoke blooped out of the top and gooshed down the eggshell. (At way too early in the morning yet!) At the site, my stomach heaved in its moorings, and I spent the rest of breakfast staring at my own knees.

So I'm with you if you say you don't like eggs.

If thoroughly disguised, say in a Quiche Lorraine, I like them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 12:45 AM

What we are eating at my house:

My brother and SIL sent four packages of Wisconsin cheese, and we are going to have Welsh rabbit made with beer. (I believe the recipe is in the Joy of Cooking.) I will make a round loaf of crusty bread for dipping.

A friend of mine just sent me the link to this video. He makes good no-knead bread using this recipe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0t8ZAhb8lQ

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Aug 19 - 09:51 AM

My mother used to make soft boiled eggs for us and serve them in the little egg cup with the top chipped off by tapping with a spoon. That egg-filled top was left sitting beside the cup for the contents to be scraped out as the first bite.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Aug 19 - 09:53 AM

I didn't think to make more oatmeal overnight (I use a small crockpot and it comes out so creamy after barely simmering all night) and I don't feel like cooking anything so I had a slice of apple pie for breakfast. There's one slice left and it might make it to tomorrow, but there is no guarantee.

I love pie for breakfast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 07 Aug 19 - 07:12 AM

Last night - Lincoln Sausage and chestnut mushroom risotto.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Aug 19 - 11:58 AM

Is there a better sauce for mussels than white wine amd butter, with or without onions or even mirepoix, with or without cream? I am a seeker. No beer, no Pernod (gaaah)... Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Megan L
Date: 08 Aug 19 - 12:23 PM

Mrrzy I do them a few ways cider (or apple juice for my tt friends) with a finely chopped shallot and a little cream at the end. There is also a nice thai inspired one with lemongrass coconut milk OI found at food republic, Im not great with chillies and couldn't get kafir lime leaves or galangal so I used some grated ginger and lime zest

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 09 Aug 19 - 03:16 PM

Chuck roast was on sale, so I bought a big piece and cooked two dishes in slow cookers - Mexican pot roast and chuck roast stewed in beer. We froze most of it, but tonight we will be having Mexican pot roast, corn on the cob and guacamole.

What is Lincoln sausage? I see it has its own festival.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Aug 19 - 03:21 PM

Thanks MeganL...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Aug 19 - 04:59 PM

I pulled a package of a half-dozen large organic chicken thighs from the freezer and they're marinating now in sherry, soy sauce, a little sugar, and some grated ginger. Cook it up later in peanut oil and I'll put some basmati rice in the rice cooker and steam some cauliflower or broccoli in the top compartment. This time of year always make more than you'll eat at one meal so you don't have to heat up the house as often.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Aug 19 - 11:51 AM

Last week I bought a solitary mango from a local large chain grocery store (employee owned, and good prices, but not always the most knowledgeable about how to handle some produce). It is still on the counter waiting to ripen or rot; I suspect it was refrigerated in such a way to mess up the ripening process.

A few days later I was in a Middle Eastern grocery store (many of the employees barely speak English) that knows exactly how to handle all of it's produce, and I bought a case of mangoes of the typical size, large but not gigantic, and they're ripening beautifully and are sweet and juicy. These were a good price - the case of 9 was $6 and I shared them with a friend (who is Puerto Rican, grew up with his own mango trees, and knows exactly when they're perfectly ripe).

The same thing happens when I by large avocadoes at the Mexican grocery up the road from my house; again, it's an ethnic store where they barely speak English but they know how to handle the food they carry and you can be sure the aguacate are beautifully ripe and ready to use when they say so (there is a box stacked with the fruit on the counter next to each cash register). Those guacs are expensive, $5 each, but they are large and perfect. The same Puerto Rican friend also had avocado trees, so is a perfectionist about buying them.

Produce as a category isn't one-size-fits-all like many of the big-box grocery stores treat it. More and more I try to buy from the stores that know what they're doing with their fruit and veggies—and you can often learn from other customers. I was looking at plantains one day in the Fiesta grocery store near me (a chain that serves Mexican/Central American shoppers) and a tall black woman, from Jamaica, and I were talking about them. She reached out and took the green banana from my hand and set it aside, and handed me a different one. "This -look at the skin, those spots on the other one aren't a good sign." When they're green they're cooked like a potato (tostones), when they're ripe, they're baked and have a wonderful sweet banana flavor (a dessert, with butter and a little cinnamon sugar if you like), but if you get a bad one they just dry out and aren't much good for either use.

This isn't to say that no one who grew up with the typical US grocery-store environment knows how to handle produce, but there's a learning process that many of them seem to have missed, or the system of fruit and vegetable delivery and storage doesn't make possible.

/rant off/

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Aug 19 - 10:45 AM

What am I eating? Not much today; we just returned from a week of restaurant meals on holiday.

It's high summer in southwestern Ontario, so my shopping objective is corn (maize). In its husk, to be eaten off its cob after steaming on the barbecue.

Oh, and tomatoes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Aug 19 - 10:51 AM

Avocado: not ripe not ripe not ripe not ripe aha you went to the bathroom so I rotted. But when they are good they are very very good.
Made a great chicken soup (no noodles) with mirepoix and thighs and a lot of Berbere spice. Leftovers made a lovely noodle dish (no broth).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 19 - 10:09 PM

I picked up a jar of garlic Alfredo sauce (Aldi's brand) and will use that with the tandoori bread to make some small personal pizzas. Chicken, basil, Parmesan, fresh sliced tomatoes, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 01:37 AM

Mrrzy - loved your avocado joke. How true.

My tomatoes have not been ripening. A website says it's because the weather here is too hot. (Never heard of that one!) But I collected several as a test and have put them on the wide windowsill along with an apple to supply ethelyne gas. They said to put them in a brown paper bag, but if I did that, I would forget to check them.

Wish me luck. My own theory is that we are going on a trip in two weeks, so they are waiting for us to go out of town, and then they will turn a beautiful ripe red and be devoured by squirrels.

Maybe tomorrow would be a good day for fried green tomatoes.

Slice green tomatoes about 1/2 inch thick.
Melt butter in a skillet.
Dip tomatoes in corn starch.
Fry tomatoes in hot butter till outside is crisp and inside is soft.
Grate a little pepper on top.

If you have never had them, green tomatoes are tart. They make a nice contrast to mild foods like chicken.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 11:00 AM

Saw the avocado thing on a friend's fridge, who also had a magnet pad labeled Chopin Liszt. How musical and food-related!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Aug 19 - 11:27 AM

I took my Chopin Liszt to the supermarket and left Mrs Steve a note saying I'd be Bach in a fugue minuets...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Aug 19 - 11:05 AM

Steve Shaw: shame, shame.

I am still craving mussels.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 14 Aug 19 - 02:08 PM

My understanding is that "green tomatoes" in American recipes usually refers to tomatillo(e)s, a thing I've heard of and even tried to grow, but never tasted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 14 Aug 19 - 02:09 PM

Ooh, avocado soup sounds good!

If you want them exactly ripe, cheat and buy them frozen; Aldi does them, as does Iceland.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 14 Aug 19 - 02:14 PM

And mussels: for me it's white wine and butter and lots of garlic and finely-chopped parsley, let them release their liquor and cook for a very few minutes till sweet, then remove the mussels (or pour out the liquor) and reduce the liquor/wine/garlic/parsley and add a slosh of cream. Serve with crusty French bread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Aug 19 - 05:44 PM

There are recipes for green tomatoes that use just that - green (unripe) tomatoes. I make relish when I have enough green tomatoes in the fall (picked before the first frost). Tomatillos are similar, but they have that husk (calyx) and aren't in the same genus, though they're all Solanaceae family. They're apparently more tart, though when they're quite ripe they're sweeter and similar to the tomato and can be substituted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: David Carter (UK)
Date: 15 Aug 19 - 03:28 AM

Green tomatoes are used in some south east asian recipes. They go well with chicken.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Aug 19 - 10:33 AM

Fried green tomatoes are too big, I think, to be tomatillos. Here in Virginia, at least. Tomatilloes?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Aug 19 - 09:23 AM

Grilled pork tenderloin.

Here in Hog Heaven (Stratford in the headquarters of the Ontario Pork Council for a reason), pork tenderloin is often on special at the supermarket. It doesn't taste like much if simply roasted, so it's a good idea to marinate it in something fairly acid, such as fifty-fifty lemon juice and olive oil, and to add lots of garlic and thyme.

I dislike the fiddly task of stripping the fascia (the silvery skin of connective tissue) off the tenderloin, so I cut it into medallions before putting it into the marinade. After about half an hour of immersion at room temperature (longer in the fridge), take out the meat, shake off the excess marinade, and lay the medallions on a cutting board. Cover them with a sheet of waxed paper and flatten them like schnitzel. I prefer the rolling pin method.

Then grill the medallions (now more like ovals) either on the barbecue or under the broiler. They cook fast, so don't leave them unattended for a minute. Very good with rosé and a heap of grilled or stir-fried veg.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Aug 19 - 09:55 AM

Though my recipe calls for a less lean meet, I have an eggplant, tomato, and pork casserole that is a favorite cold weather dish and I use tenderloin because it's relatively inexpensive and very easy to cut up for the dish. I start making it in the fall when the eggplants are still producing and the weather has cooled. I serve it with mashed potatoes. This is a recipe I scanned for someone ages ago and I have it in my Flickr account. I landed on this recipe when I was trying to find a way to use as many things from my garden as possible and I had lots of tomatoes and eggplants. It comes from Tess Mallos' The Complete Middle East Cookbook, a book I have given to all of my family members. My mother liked it and years ago gave copies to her sisters (one who is married to a Turkish immigrant who loved these recipes).

The funny thing about this book is that the newer editions are expensive paperback, but I go to Bookfinder.com and I search for the book using "The" in the title (my librarian friends scratch their heads on this one - it should drop out and not affect the search, but that isn't how this works) and I choose "used or out of print" then look for the hardcover editions. I can usually get them for under $10; I just ordered another one for under $5. I keep extra copies to use as gifts. I had a copy at the library where I worked and we had lots of international student employees. Sometimes that book was used as the ice breaker, other times it was used to compare recipes, because Mallos has it broken down by country so the same general recipe appears in different forms several times in the book. I gave that office copy to a co-worker when I retired because though it sometimes was a distraction, the bonding that people do over food is one of the fastest methods I can think of.

BTW: When I have extra eggplants I peel and cut them up and cook and then freeze them, so I always plan for a few for that casserole by cutting them in quarters length-wise, browning all sides, and freezing. Then they're ready for the casserole even out of eggplant season.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Aug 19 - 01:12 PM

When you said Use the book as an icebreaker I thought of As an icepick. The visual did not work.

I am still on a mussel hunt. But I am afraid to cook them myself. So I might go back to the place that tried to sneak in Pernod. Ugh. But I think if they skip just the Pernod it might be quite good...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 18 Aug 19 - 06:58 AM

Wasn’t feeling hungry the other day so I just had a few of the cooked potatoes on a plate with some butter. I don’t know what they were except not Charlotte, planted late here and as our one sample for the year and in a spot we later had doubts about… They were wonderful – firm flesh and great sweet and nutty flavour. Not a great crop (not that we try for much) but say 2/3 a carrier bag left and I look forward to eating more of these “new potatoes”.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Aug 19 - 09:27 AM

We had a feed of corn (on the cob, maize to you Brits) last night, a variety new to me called Trinity Bicolor. Sweet as all corn seems to be these days, and only a bare whisper of true corn taste. The strongly flavoured yellow corn varieties of my youth seem to have vanished, probably because they ripened later and produced fewer cobs per stalk. Sigh.

Unwilling to set loose a storm of husks and cornsilk in the kitchen, I tried baking the cobs in their husks in the oven. It worked, and now I doubt that I will ever boil corn again.

Trim the hanging bits of corn husk off each cob, and the top of the silk tassel. Fill the sink or a bucket with water and soak the corn for about 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and lay the cobs on the rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Using tongs, lift out the cobs and lay them on a heat-proof surface to cool for a few minutes. When you can handle the corn without pain, peel off the husk (it will come off easily, taking the silk with it) and get busy eating.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Aug 19 - 10:50 PM

I made cranapple juice last week after steam-juicing cranberries from my freezer. I wanted to use the pulp so I found a cranberry bar online that uses a boxed yellow cake mix for the flour portion of the recipe. Lots of sugar and butter in it - these are rich so cut them small, but they sure are good! I tried making something one time before and it was way too complicated. This was easy, and the house smelled marvelous by the time they came out of the oven. Allrecipes cranberry bars.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 19 Aug 19 - 11:51 PM

back to the corn... I think the only sweet corn we have at home these days comes from a Birds Eye frozen packet where it is mixed with peas – to me it’s not a bad standby to have in the freezer.. Years ago, I remember cans of a “Jolly Green Giant” brand.

As for it on the cob, it never was common here but we did have a few seasons of growing about 6 plants. From that, I do believe it’s a veg best cooked very soon after harvest (something that wouldn’t be achievable with supermarket produce) so it was worthwhile for a few treats. A problem now though is none of us have the teeth that would enable munching into the cob as I’d like to.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 03:59 AM

"best cooked very soon after harvest"

Which gives me an excuse to repeat an old tale about some folks discussing the best way of ensuring their (home-grown) corn was at its freshest when cooked.

The first said "I get the water on the boil, go and pick the corn and run - not walk - with it back to the kitchen, and put it straight in."
The second said "I set up a camping stove next to the corn patch, get some water boiling, and can cook the corn the instant it's picked."
The third said "I set up a camping stove right in the corn patch. When the water boils, I bend the plants over so that the cobs dangle in it. That way, they're cooked even before they're picked!"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 09:51 AM

BobL, my family practised your first method (run-not-walk-back-to-the-kitchen) of corn preparation when I was young and, since we grew a tender white variety called Country Gentleman (now long disappeared), that was just about right. (My mother would probably have started a grass fire if she had ever been given custody of a camp stove.)

The corn we eat these days comes from local farmers who bring it to market in great heaps in the back of pick-up trucks. It is picked just after dawn, cooked within the day, and eaten before dark. Not optimum by the standards of true corn purists, but okay for our aging olfactory senses.

I never buy corn on the cob at the supermarket. That's just sad, and totally unnecessary in southwestern Ontario, where corn has grown since time immemorial. I see it there, all wrapped in plastic, and wonder if the people who buy it come from Mars or Antarctica, or perhaps had their tastebuds (and common sense) shot off in the war.

Jon Freeman's remark about teeth is very pertinent, however. I thank every higher power there is that I still have a full set of natural-grown, original-to-me choppers, inelegant as they may be, for at the age of 65 I can still gnaw a bone or a corn cob to good effect. Mind you, I have to set aside enough time later for a close encounter with the dental floss, but there you go.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 10:17 AM

When I lived near the shore in Delaware during summers we'd catch a bunch of blue crabs and then run out to a u-pick farm and gather up some Silver Queen corn and within a couple of hours they'd both be on the boil (not in the same pot) and I can't imagine corn that tasted any better.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 11:17 AM

There was a Nero Wolfe novella in Trio For Blunt Instruments that was made into the TV episode Murder Is Corny. He has specific requirements that the corn be picked and delivered very quickly (and then other information about how to cook it.)

My Facebook page is messed up so I asked the question about the source of this story in the Wolfe Pack page then had to go there via my pitbull's account to read their answer since my original post disappeared. (This is getting really old!)

As a kid in Seattle one of my favorite meals every summer was when Mom would get the fresh corn (she grew up on a farm so I imagine had a good idea of what fresh corn was all about) and boil it and keep bringing it to the table. We got one dinner each summer of just corn on the cob, as much as we wanted to butter and salt and gobble down. With six of us I imagine that must have amounted to a case of corn. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 12:28 PM

I find that corn on the cob from local supermarkets is quite good. We shuck it, pull off the silk, put it on a plate with 2T of water and microwave it on high for 5 minutes. You have to let it cool off before you can eat it.

Nero Wolfe's instructions (IIRC) were to bake the corn unhusked, in the hottest possible oven for 45 minutes. I would never do it; it's unthinkable to run a hot oven on a hot summer day.

Cook's Illustrated magazine just had a recipe for country ribs, Spanish style, and we are going to try them today with corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes. "Spanish style" calls for lots of spices from my spice collection.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 06:02 PM

Supermarkets here sell corn on the cob that goes by the name "supersweet." It can be very nice, though it's been known to be a bit chewy. Ten or fifteen minutes on the barbecue, not too roaring, renders it delicious. No need to wrap it in foil or anything. Just keep it turning.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Aug 19 - 09:59 PM

Them mussels were YUMMY without the Pernod!

And yet still I crave. Vitamin deficiency or something?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Aug 19 - 11:08 AM

I froze this year's wild grape juice because so far I haven't gotten around to making jelly. And while I was in there I evicted a gallon freezer bag of mystery meat, probably cooked turkey. I had some turkey legs and thighs from 2016 that were sealed in the Food Saver vacuum bags and they're a different story&mash;stuff saved that way really does last a long time. I think tonight I'll try making some soup with the thighs; if it isn't any good tomorrow is trash day (though I expect it to be just fine).

This is a "Frugal" month, where I'm trying to spend as little as possible beyond the usual bills and gas and occasionally picking up fresh fruit and vegetables. I'm coming up with some interesting meals with frozen items. I'd forgotten I had a couple of pounds of Jimmy Dean sausage in the freezer so I had a few ounces of that alongside my bowl of oatmeal this morning. All of this cooking is better-aligned with cool-weather, but still delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 21 Aug 19 - 12:53 PM

I found an aubergine “in hiding” today. The other fruit that have formed are much smaller but this one somehow got to about 10 inches unnoticed. I chopped it up together with a courgette and a tub of mushrooms and cooked it it some (in the recycling bin now and I can’t remember what it was) “cook in” sauce. Parents seem to be tucking away happily as I type.

One thing I’m sometimes in two minds about with this sort of hash up is whether to do rice or some pasta with it. I’m none too sure that some of my “cooking” would go down to well with some here but I’m curious anyway. Rice would usually be preferred here but I think either could be used and wonder about others.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 21 Aug 19 - 03:08 PM

One more reminiscence about sweet corn on the cob.

How my mom found out about
corn on the cob
and pressure cookers, I do not know,
but the two went together, in her kitchen,
as strictly as white with rice.

We gobbled it down as though we had all changed into hogs.
(provided sufficient margarine/butter and salt, that is)

The pressure cooker, I reckon,
would shorten considerably the cooking time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Aug 19 - 03:12 PM

Margarine will considerably shorten your life. It has not been allowed in our house for 25 years. Butter is the word you're looking for.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 21 Aug 19 - 03:19 PM

My wife left me 20 years ago, not had margerine in the house since.

Horrible stuff.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Aug 19 - 03:59 PM

I would think pressure cooking would overdo the corn. One point I took from Nero Wolfe was that "American housewives murder corn on the cob" or something along those lines, by boiling it for 10 minutes or more. I took note and usually only have it in the water long enough to get hot, probably 5 minutes.

My dogs love corn on the cob and my Labrador retriever is particularly adept at eating it off the ear row by row, human-style. The other dog it's a bit of a wrestling match to keep her from taking the entire cob to consume. Yes, it is possible to have leftover corn, and this is how I dispatch it. You should see those two gobble it down if there is butter on it. (Agreed about margarine, I haven't used it for years. I adopted friend's policy, who once pointed out that she didn't use much to spread, etc., so she might as well use butter. I also cook with it and have stopped using shortening. I use butter or oil instead.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Aug 19 - 06:59 PM

Mrs Steve and I have this tradition of not cooking on Wednesday nights. The core of the menu is always cheese with Bath Olivers. We have a repertoire of accompaniments/starters. It could be avocado with prawns and Delia Smith's seafood sauce, or my version of mackerel pate* with toasted Crosta Mollusca Puglian bread (two quid from Waitrose, does us twice, freeze half of it), or just assorted nibbles.

Tonight it was assorted nibbles. We had a pot of Greek olives with feta and sun-dried tomatoes (M&S), a small pot of habas fritas, a small pot of almonds, half a jar of caperberries, some Sungold tomatoes from my greenhouse and some baby cucumbers, sliced longways, also from my greenhouse. The cheeses were a hunk of Montagnolo (a soft blue triple-creme cheese from Germany) and a hunk of Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire. My God, we ate well. We washed it down with a bottle of Puglian Primitivo (oddly, the label said Zinfandel, genetically identical). Sweet dreams, dearest...

*The mackerel pate is disgustingly delicious and disgustingly easy. Make it the day before for best flavour. If you have a hand blender it takes about four minutes not counting the washing up. If you haven't got a hand blender, there's something seriously wrong with you...

You need two cans of mackerel in olive oil, which you should drain and discard the oil, one heaped teaspoon of hot mustard (Colmans English innit, not that grainy stuff), one tablespoon of full-fat creme fraiche, a grinding of black pepper (no salt, please), a dash of Tabasco and the juice of a good half of lemon. Do not use that abomination which is bottled lemon juice. Get yourself a fresh unwaxed lemon. You won't regret it.

Put the whole lot into a jug and blitz it to almost death with your hand blender. You will have to shove it down the side of the jug a couple of times. It's very quick. Scoop into a nice ornamental pot (I have a lovely collection that I bought in Andalucía). Just before you serve it up to your beloved, coarsely grate some lemon zest on top. You need some really good hot toast and butter to go with it. The Puglian toast is magnificent if you can get it.

As with many things, I can't tell you how much better this is if you make it the day before and stick it in the fridge...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Aug 19 - 08:18 PM

That sounds like a wonderful Wednesday tradition!

I'm still clearing the freezer so I had the last two small pieces of cod, breaded and pan fried with homemade tartar sauce and I'll nibble something more later. I also defrosted half a multi-grain baguette that I toasted for a crostini later in the week. I made some carrot salad yesterday (ground carrots, raisins, mayonnaise) and I baked some sweet potatoes, so it could be something like that. It has been up to or over 100^o for the last three weeks and I just don't feel like sitting down to one meal all at once.

A single malt Scotch (better for me to drink after a meal) finishes the evening.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Aug 19 - 11:36 PM

Hee hee that was supposed to be mdash but mash was way more culinary!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Aug 19 - 09:39 AM

I stopped buying margarine when I finally managed to persuade Himself that butter would not take him to an early grave with heart disease. I haven't eaten the stuff myself since I was a child, and my parents bought it because it was cheap.

I must confess that it took me way to long to learn that, with respect to food, "both good and cheap" typically applies only to what's in season where you live, if you're lucky.

Yesterday I went out to Canadian Tire and bought myself a Food Saver vacuum-sealer. This is a gadget that vacuum-packs food for storage in heat-sealed plastic bags. As soon as I brought it home, I set it up in the kitchen and promptly packed up two trays of chicken legs bought on special the day before. This task normally takes a great deal of fiddling around with clingfilm, zipper bags and masking tape, with mediocre results. With the Food Saver, time on task was cut by at least half, with much less accompanying mess. The resulting packages look just like the vacuum-sealed items in the butcher's freezer, and I expect them to be as resistant to damage. Himself tells me that vacuum-sealers are very popular with "preppers" -- the people who think they can survive the Zombie Apocalypse if they only pack away enough freeze-dried soup mix in their basements. I hope the Food Saver is the only thing we have in common ...

All this was brought on by the discovery of a package of chicken parts damaged by freezer burn. I remember that package, an awkward thing of corners and odd angles, and it was a damnable nuisance to wrap. I hope that's my last freezer-burned item. It would also be nice to reduce our holdings of baggies and clingfilm, which I loathe because it can't be recycled and it always twists into useless clumps.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Aug 19 - 06:28 PM

I wish to report a culinary failure. I bought a beautiful big cauliflower yesterday for a quid. The weather later on today was unexpectedly benign, so we thought we'd have a barbecue. I found a recipe for barbecued cauliflower steaks. You cut the whole cauliflower into thick vertical slices, baste them with garlicky olive oil and barbecue them gently (I used one of those perforated aluminium trays) for six or seven minutes each side.

Well what a waste of a good cauliflower. Dry, acrid, ruined. And it took twice as long as the recipe said. Binned it. Never again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Aug 19 - 07:19 PM

Thanks for the report, Steve. I thought it looked too good to be true.

Marcella’s cauliflower — the one where you boil the entire head whole, then smush it up with olive oil, Parmesan, salt and pepper — was such a revelation to me that I’ll never eat it any other way again.

Oh, except for that Madhur Jeffrey recipe where you break a whole cauliflower into florets and cook it in a wok with turmeric and nigella (no kidding!) seed. I could eat the whole thing myself, cooked like that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Aug 19 - 08:34 PM

Well as you can imagine, Charmion, I possess Marcella's "bible," and as soon as I saw your post I looked up that cauliflower recipe. It will be next on my cauliflower hit-list and I shall report back. I must have posted our favourite Yotam Ottolenghi cauliflower recipe before, the one with chorizo, sliced olives, pumpkin seeds and paprika. I really must get to bed now but I'll post it tomorrow if I haven't already.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Aug 19 - 10:42 PM

Um, cooking things twice as long as the recipe says usually does result in dry/acrid/burned, in my experience. I have had great experiences with grilled cauliflower steaks, oh do try again. Maybe thinner slices? I'd hate for you to miss out...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Aug 19 - 10:43 PM

I've been tempted to put some links at the top of the thread to various recipes posted here, but there are so many that are casual yet actionable descriptions I wouldn't know where to start.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 23 Aug 19 - 11:03 AM

We have made the cauliflower steaks with olive oil both fried in a skillet and baked in the oven. Both are good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Aug 19 - 04:36 AM

We did a very simple barbecue this evening. Very basic, very delicious. The main player was mackerel fillets, three each, quite large. I had to spend half an hour pin-boning the buggers, but it was worth it. I made a baste of lemon juice (fresh lemons or forget it), a squidge of garlic, a sprig of thyme, a dash of Tabasco and, not least, extra virgin oil. We had salad potatoes, cut in half, coated in extra virgin olive oil and seasoned, baked on a tray in a hot oven for half an hour, and cherry tomatoes skewered and done for five minutes on the grill. It was a beautiful evening too. Lit the fire pit and dotted a few citronella tea lights to ward off the mozzies. Bliss.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Aug 19 - 04:44 AM

That was yesterday evening. I started the message last night and finished it this morning. Don't ask... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Aug 19 - 06:43 PM

I've been over to my local one-off gourmet surplus grocery that sells deeply discounted foods, many that came from the grocery store supplier because they weren't sold to the stores, others that are extra after big events (there's a high-end store that does cheese and fish and fruit and chile and other events during the year; the extra ends up here.) I'm concluding a frugal month and the purchases were mostly to restore dwindling supplies of fresh vegetables. I'll be eating a lot of asparagus because I couldn't resist buying two bunches for ten cents each. Green and yellow bell peppers and poblano peppers will be sliced and frozen.

Yesterday I brought home a rotisserie chicken and I'll be using it this week in various dishes - with these fresh peppers the first thing I'll do is pull a breast apart and mix the shreds in with sauteed sliced onions and poblanos for fajitas. I have frozen corn tortillas that will go with those. I top it with some of my thawed homemade guacamole, lebne (works like sour cream) and a few dashes of Tapatio hot sauce.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Aug 19 - 07:20 PM

Last night we had a food emergency. I was going to barbecue some rather magnificent cod loins, skin on, but I'd misjudged the amount of time needed for it to thaw. Normally, that wouldn't matter, but I found that pinboning half-frozen cod is impossible without wrecking the fish. I therefore abandoned the fish, returning it to the freezer (discuss...), and we had cheese instead. But what cheese. Aside from the small lump of Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire that we had lying around, we tried a French one that we'd never tried before, namely blue d'Affinois. What a magnificent cheese. With those two to hand, we were in cheese heaven. The d'Affinois is a soft blue, double-cream cheese. You don't need much as it's very rich, but, begod, it's a beauty....

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Aug 19 - 05:03 PM

Tonight we had line-caught pollack from Bude Bay. Our fishmonger prepared it beautifully for us, fresh as a daisy it was. I made some oven chips from "Jazzy" potatoes (cut into wedges, parboil for eight minutes in salted water, drain well, coat with groundnut oil and bake for 20 minutes in a very hot oven). Meanwhile I made some mushy peas from the frozen Morrison's article, 20 minutes' boiling in sparse water. I basted the skin-on fish fillets in olive oil, lemon juice, fresh thyme and a whiff of garlic, plus seasoning, then baked them open for about nine minutes in the hot oven (turned it down a tad first) on the chip tray (I put the chips on another tray first). Nirvana.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Aug 19 - 07:29 PM

"Groundnut" - would that be peanut on this side of the pond?

I found some pollack buried in the back of the freezer. It won't be as wonderful as yours, but it makes a great breaded and fried fish to go with pan-fried potatoes (cut into chunks and sauteed in olive oil and seasonings), a homemade form of fish and chips.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Aug 19 - 07:46 PM

Yep, peanut equals groundnut.

The hardest bit of cooking skin-on fish in the oven is the timing. Tonight, my pollack fillets, which were quite thick, took about nine minutes in a 200C oven. They tell you to test whether the fish is opaque all through and going flaky. That is not easy! Much better slightly underdone, rather than dry and tough because you've lost your nerve. I nearly always get it right these days.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Aug 19 - 09:54 AM

Tomatoes are in season in Perth County, and therefore cheap, cheap, cheap.

I bought a three-litre punnet of Romas from down the road yesterday, and spent a messy hour rendering them into sauce with oregano and basil from the garden. A heavenly scent permeated the house, bringing Himself out of his study with a distinctly greedy glint in his eye. Pasta for supper, with grated Parm and chorizo, and a green salad on the side.

That batch of tomatoes produced enough sauce for four meals, if I don't let myself at it with a spoon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Aug 19 - 10:40 AM

Stumbled across a shop selling damsons this afternoon. I'll prick 12oz of them and put them in a jar containing a bottle of vodka and 6oz sugar. By Christmas I'll have a bottle of beautiful liqueur to wash down the Christmas cake.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Aug 19 - 12:44 PM

Ceviche. First attempt yummy but not cevichy, more like a salad with yummy fish in it. Advice?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Aug 19 - 12:59 PM

I've never made it, I buy it from a couple of local sources.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Aug 19 - 03:29 PM

Also check the Italy thread if you aren't hungry enough.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Aug 19 - 07:46 PM

Steve, I do that vodka thing with sour cherries or raspberries. Never tried damsons — are they what we call Italian or prune plums?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Aug 19 - 08:06 PM

I've done it quite a lot with raspberries. I love the end-product but no-one else does. So I have a secret personal supply of raspberry gin unmonitored by Mrs Steve... :-)

Damsons are like small, dark plums, about the size of a large cherry tomato, quite tart in the mouth but excellent for jam - and for damson gin or vodka. I use them in the same way as sloes, tiny wild plum-like things that ripen in late autumn on blackthorn bushes. They are very astringent in the mouth but they make superb sloe gin. The general formula is 12 oz pricked sloes or damsons to one 70cl bottle of vodka or gin, along with 6oz sugar (you can always add more later). Keep for at least three months in a wide-necked jar, shaking occasionally, then decant into clean bottles. The cloudy residue looks unattractive but is what I regard as "cook's treat"... you can profitably freeze the fruit for a day or two first, which obviates the need for pricking.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 29 Aug 19 - 03:47 AM

Selling damsons? Good grief Steve, they're free for the taking round here (Aylesbury Vale). There were orchards full of them back in the days when their juice was used to dye straw for the Luton hat industry, and they're still to be found a-plenty in the local hedgerows.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Aug 19 - 04:27 AM

They're pretty rare round here, unfortunately. I remember once picking hatfuls of them from hedges in South Wales. They make glorious jam, and the stones all float conveniently to the top in the preserving pan.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Neil D
Date: 29 Aug 19 - 04:01 PM

My wife just made low-carb turkey schnitzel using breading made from crushed pork rinds and almond flour. This morning I made a sloppy Joe omelet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 19 - 01:29 PM

We had a respite from summer with a couple of rainy days earlier this week, so I pretended it was back to "cooking weather" and made a batch of turkey stock and later a batch of chicken stock (from the carcass of the rotisserie chicken). The chicken stock will go into the freezer but I'm planning to make a very small batch of turkey soup. Just because it's so long since I've had soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Aug 19 - 06:21 PM

Must confess that I'm a winter soup man mostly. In summer I've rarely made gazpacho, but I've often made salmorejo, the Andalucian thick tomato bready stuff that's probably more a tapa than a soup, served cold with breadsticks and a topping of chopped hard-boiled egg and scraps of Serrano ham. I'll hang on for colder weather before telling y'all about me hot soups...

But keep making that real stock. Utterly paramount...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Aug 19 - 12:26 PM

Dunno whether you Americans can get the BBC News website (not the TV one), but there's an interesting item on there today entitled "American cheese: does it deserve its bad reputation?"

Because of tariffs it's unlikely that we'll be tasting each other's cheeses any time soon, but I'd be interested to hear your comments about the item and the cheeses mentioned, or not mentioned, therein. Don't worry, it's quite sympathetic!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 01 Sep 19 - 08:15 AM

Here’s a link to the BBC article.

Drifting a little… Cheese came in briefly in conversation with brother in oz (a bit NE of Brisbane) on his last visit. Apparently he can find some very nice cheese but he’s never managed to find something along the lines of a simple Cheshire.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 19 - 09:57 AM

There is a long-lived cooking show on Public Television here in the US called Cooks Country and it's companion America Test Kitchen. They ditched the host who established the program a few years ago; too bad. But they still make some pretty interesting dishes, and on a repeat program yesterday they did a pretty interesting Eastern North Carolina Fish Stew.

I logged in to the free part of the site but this recipe isn't appearing. The description is:

Locals have loved this hearty, tomatoey, bacon-infused stew for decades. For our version, we staggered the cooking of the onions and potatoes instead of dumping them both in at once. In a handful of tests we found that any mild, firm whitefish worked as long as it was cut into chunks of equal size and added toward the end of cooking. An oddball addition to this dish is poached eggs, which are layered atop the stew and cooked in a covered pot over medium-low heat until silky in texture.

You can set up a free account, and once you're in, try navigating to the recipe via the search box. I couldn't get to the video or recipe I first landed on, I had to log on and search again to get to it, and with a free account I can only see the video. Take notes if you want to try cooking it.

This is the video if you already have an account.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 19 - 10:06 AM

Steve and Jon, my favorite sharp cheddar is a UK import they sell in the Costco warehouse club here. Coastal Rugged Mature English Cheddar Cheese. Even better than this is one of the aged blond cheddars that comes out of the Ag school at Washington State University. Cougar Gold is my favorite. Since it's so hot here right now they let you know they won't ship until it's cooler weather.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Sep 19 - 10:27 AM

Well whaddya know, SRS: your Rugged Coastal is made at the same dairy, Ford Farm, as our very favourite cheddar, Wookey Hole cave-aged. I don't recall seeing it anywhere but I'll be looking out for it from now on.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 01 Sep 19 - 10:58 AM

It's available from their online shop

It's one I'd considered trying if (not yet done...) also ordering a bit of the Cave Aged Cheddar.

(A small order of 2 or 3 online makes more sense to me with our transport limitations than say trying to get to Aylsham M&S).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 19 - 02:24 PM

They only deliver to England and Wales, but I think the fact that they show the Coastal cheese in the wrapper means they load it up and send it abroad. That's the same wrapper we get here. That producer has some very nice varieties - I hope you all enjoy sampling them! That ballcap looks nice, but it is a bit pricey, though they say they ship free.

Costco buys things in bulk to sell in their warehouse clubs and they don't buy every brand that's out there, they try to get the best value for what they charge and this cheese is (so far) always in stock. That can't be said about everything they carry.

Two small loaves of banana bread are in the oven since I had three very large bananas one step away from the compost and I already have at least three pints of frozen bananas already. I'll freeze one of these and use the other for breakfast for a couple of days. A slightly warmed up slice of banana nut bread with a cuppa tea is a very nice way to start the day.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Sep 19 - 02:42 PM

How odd that, despite the planetary gulf between us, we both relish cheddar cheese from the same dairy. Also, for the record Mrs Steve makes banana loaves all the time, and we freeze them too. I'll pass on the tip for breakfast but I fear we'll be sticking to that "healthy" rabbit food with wood dust in the bottom of every box that goes by the name "muesli..." :-(

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 19 - 11:43 PM

As close as I get to rabbit food is cooking oatmeal for breakfast. Slow cooking, in a small crockpot so it's creamy. I use Old Fashioned rolled oats or steel cut (Irish) oats. And add raisins or cut up figs or cut up dates.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 02 Sep 19 - 11:28 AM

Porridge, for which Flahavan’s is chosen, is a quite popular winter breakfast food for my parents. At the moment though, dad is on Weetabix and mum on Mini Shreddies. Jordans Original Crunchy was once a favourite of mine but I don’t have the teeth for the stuff or the breakfast appetite at least not usually – if I was (almost never) away and someone offered me a cooked bacon and sausage meal I’d likely jump at it...

–
Made another aubergine mess the other day. This time a bit of stock and basil together with sweet pepper and courgette..

–
I’ve got (and it’s probably my lot) about a guess of 3lb of Roma plumb tomatoes coming up to ripe. Not sure yet whether they will become a soup or a ketchup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 02 Sep 19 - 01:59 PM

Murghi Badami tonight. Just need to add a touch of cream and a tad of butter, served with various accompniaments, flat bread, lime pickle, mango chutney etc .............

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Sep 19 - 10:10 AM

I think I'm due a change in dietary tone, and the postings about South Asian-style grub are giving me ideas.

The other day I did pork ribs, and my digestion is still a little stunned from the experience. Himself asserts that my ribs are "the best", but if we ate them more often bad things would happen.

But they are very delicious.

This recipe requires an entire pig's worth of back ribs and a barbecue. I have a gas-fired one.

Lay out the racks of ribs on a large platter or tray, and pat them dry. Using a shaker and the back of a spoon, rub into every surface the following mixture:

1/4 cup sweet red paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper (this is tiresome)
1 1/2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons celery salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

Let the ribs sit for a while: an hour or two on the counter, or up to eight hours in the refrigerator. (Who has that much space in their refrigerator? Not I.)

When it's time to cook, set up the barbecue with a large pan under the grill, laid on the tiles that cover the burners. Edge the pan over to one side and fill it with water. In the space beside the pan set a smoker, which in my case is a half-open packet of aluminum foil containing wet wood chips. Light the barbecue, close the lid, and heat it until the first puffs of smoke appear.

Then lay the racks of ribs on the grill and turn down the gas as low as it will go. Depending on the efficiency of your barbecue, you may choose to turn off one burner completely -- not the one under your smoker. Go away and leave it be.

At this point, make the vinegar-based "mop sauce" that is essential to this style of barbecue. This sauce consists of either a large spoonful of American-style ballpark mustard and about a teaspoon of salt, or a spoonful of the spice mix, dissolved in about half a cup of cider vinegar.

When the ribs have been cooking for about an hour, take a small mop or pastry brush (I have a silicone one that does the job perfectly) and slop the mop sauce over the ribs. Cook for about half an hour longer, until you see the meat pulled away from the ends of the bones.

To serve, lift the racks off the barbecue and lay them on a platter or board. You can bring them to the table whole, for maximum effect, or cut the racks in half. I prefer to cut all the bones free so the diners can eat as many or as few as they want.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Sep 19 - 01:18 PM

I cooked my last lot of ribs, in their marinade (which must have something in it that will go sweet and sticky), wrapped tightly in foil in a very low oven for about two and a half hours, then barbecued them fairly gently for a few minutes, with a bit of baste that I'd reserved. They were grand, and I saved money by not using all that barbecue gas! They do need long, slow cooking, whatever you do.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Sep 19 - 04:20 PM

Our barbecue uses gas from the house supply, by way of an outside tap. It is an almost unspeakably better arrangement than the bottled kind, which always gives out at the most inconvenient time.

The sticky sauce version of pork ribs is most common in Canada, but once I had tried the dry rub technique I could never go back. It’s less messy, and far less likely to scorch.

That said, I never turn up my nose at barbecued ribs, however they’re dressed. That would be beyond foolish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Sep 19 - 07:02 PM

Heartily agreed. I have this strange historical agreement, lost in the mists of time, whereby I have TWO propane cylinders at any one time within my contract, therefore I can't run out of gas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Sep 19 - 09:32 PM

My parents had an oven version of ribs that was very good, it was a specialty Dad cooked for some of the Song Circle meetings held at his house. I wonder if I have a copy of that recipe somewhere? (They were divorced in 1970 but had joint custody of that recipe.) Now I'll have to go poke around in the cook books and boxed files I have from their houses.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Sep 19 - 09:35 PM

I have found oven-cooked ribs have a preferable texture to me if cooked dry then slathered at the end, say, last 15-20 mn.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Sep 19 - 05:46 AM

I think tightly-wrapped in foil and very slow-cooked is well worth a try. I've only done it the once and we had lovely, tender meat falling off the bone: just a few minutes on the barbie at the end. You can do the oven-cooking part well in advance too, then all your mates at the barbecue will think you're a genius.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Sep 19 - 11:47 AM

Unfortunately, Steve, that oven method works only with sticky sauce. Dry-rub technique means barbecue all the way, with all the nuisance pertinent thereto, but the results are GREAT.

I have also heard of pre-cooking ribs in an electric pressure-cooker, such as the Instant Pot, and finishing them under the broiler with a coating of the aforementioned sticky sauce. I'm not sure it's worth the trouble -- the photographs posted on Facebook by fanatic Ipotheads look kinda grim to me -- but there is a large segment of the North American population that considers pork ribs just one step short of ambrosia. I'll leave the pressure-cooked version to them.

Last night we dined out at one of Stratford's better eateries to celebrate my birthday (I turned 65 yesterday and am still slightly stunned at the very thought). For the first time in recorded history, I turned down not only the six-course tasting menu but also the port and the post-prandial brandy in favour of a clear head and co-operative digestive system in the morning. (It worked.) Himself was gobsmacked, and was still shaking his head when we got home. Sad to say, I might finally be growing up a little.

Tonight's supper is baked fish with wax beans and sliced tomatoes. Earth has not anything to show more fair than an Ontario tomato in the last couple of weeks before the first frost.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 05 Sep 19 - 02:39 PM

Remember Charmion, growing OLD is compusory, growing up is optional.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 19 - 04:58 PM

Today my daughter was describing a grilled or fried cauliflower with tahini sauce that she's enjoyed recently. That sounds like a great way to eat it, and I have a recipe to test. I will report back.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Sep 19 - 12:08 PM

I got today’s tea, an attempt at a flan, a bit wrong. I don’t think I baked the case I made first from frozen pastry long enough and perhaps my filling (sliced shallots and mushrooms softened in the pan, a bit of lemon thyme, some of our salad tomatoes sliced added uncooked and topped with a cheese sauce) was a bit wet. It looked good coming out of the oven and tasted nice but was spoiled a bit by the pastry having a soggy bottom.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Sep 19 - 12:24 PM

Over the last couple of years I've been making quiche in a non-stick bundt pan instead of a pie pan with a crust. It comes out great, was gluten free when I was avoiding such things, and looks really pretty. (We dish it out of the pan, we don't turn it out.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Sep 19 - 12:27 PM

Jon Freeman, you will have soggy-bottom problems any time you put raw tomatoes -- or, indeed, any other fruit -- into a pastry case without something to either absorb or thicken the juice. Tapioca does the job nicely with berries, stone fruit, apples or pears, but I've never tried to put tomatoes in a pie (other than pizza) so that one's a bit of a poser for me. Perhaps a tablespoon of seasoned flour would work ... or just live with the sog, since it tastes good.

Major kudos for extempore cookery, though.

Can something be a flan if it doesn't involve custard? Colour me Canadian, and consequently ignorant.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Sep 19 - 12:56 PM

I think others might call that meal a tart but it is a (savoury) flan at home.

Today’s was a bit of a “use up” job. Shallots had hung in the porch for months, mushrooms needed using and the number of ripe tomatoes in the kitchen has been increasing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Sep 19 - 07:05 PM

Quiche??

I can only do simple cooking. I can't do stuff with big lists of ingredients. If I have a piece of fish, or a steak, I need to know how long it needs, not what esoteric additives might enhance it (unless I can do them in advance). That doesn't mean I'm timid. Far from it. I always try to get the best quality ingredients and I want to keep the cooking simple.

Tonight we had some thick skin-on fillets of wild Alaskan sockeye salmon. It isn't river salmon, the preserve of the hooray Henrys this end, but it's pretty good. For me, it's gentle pan-frying in butter for ten minutes, with a quick flip with two minutes to go. I don't know what that white stuff is, but it's easy enough to gently scrape it off.

We had that with tenderstem broccoli and a tangy tomato sauce made from my own Sungold tomatoes. And salad potatoes (the bigger ones cut in half) baked for half an hour with extra virgin olive oil and seasoning in a hot oven.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Sep 19 - 07:11 PM

Last night, we had a Russian friend in for dinner and gave him a completely American meal — the ribs I wrote about a few days ago with corn on the cob, a big green salad and cornbread (which is indissoluble from barbecue), followed by mixed berry cobbler.

Himself and our guest, who is young and therefore sturdy of digestion, ate themselves into a shared food coma.

It’s been a while since I fed a man in the prime of his life, and it ain’t half amazing to watch the groceries vanish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 08 Sep 19 - 12:47 PM

Not cooking yet but might be tomorrow. Dad said he a got me a nice birthday cake yesterday. I didn’t feel like the cake, perhaps as I’d eaten too much chocolate, but took a look at the cake today. What he thought was a cake is a packet of “Betty Crocker Supermoist Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix” he must have found on Amazon!

I’m not 100% sure I fancy something that says “Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering” but I’ll give it a whirl and should be able to persuade mum to make some chocolate butter icing to go with it (possibly easy but I’ve never made it).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 19 - 03:02 PM

That "white stuff" is some of the fat from the salmon and is very healthy for you if you eat it, but there should be plenty more in the meat. Depending on how thick that fillet is, you may be cooking it a bit too long. Let it be flaky but it doesn't need to turn completely solid pink from being well-done.

Quiche isn't a whole bunch of ingredients, just a few. I saute and crumble bacon that is combined with chopped and sauteed onions, add it to the pan, then it's the usual custard mix of eggs and milk. I usually sink some kind of vegetable in there, like small florets of broccoli. You could make them with all sorts of stuff, but those are the basics. You could make a crust and bake it like a tart or a pie, but I make it in a non-stick bundt pan.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Sep 19 - 12:12 PM

Friends are coming over for an informal dinner this week (we alternately talk about everything in the world and bitch about our old employer) so the challenge of making things that a vegetarian can eat that doesn't make him feel like an afterthought. The quiche will be made without bacon (he is okay with eggs and milk) and other things will have meat options (if we have pizza we make them each ourselves and the toppings are various.) Usually this time of year I would be using the copious tomatoes and eggplants from the garden, but the garden just never took off this year. I'm lucky I have herbs.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: open mike
Date: 09 Sep 19 - 02:21 PM

For pizza i like the various vegetarian pepperoni options avaialable.
the weather is turning cchilly....nearly frost time....and the house could use a warming from the oven being on...I plan todo a Mock Mince Meat pie with green tomatoes, apples and raisins today. A traditional fall recipe....my mom often made it for her uncle.

Also i will be making a sauce from strawberries and rhubarb...maybe even a pie from that too.

A couple of days ago i made a cheese cake....to take to a memorial for a friend who has passed away. It was a Kentucky Derby Cheese cake with graham cracker crust, and a topping of caramel with nuts and bourbon.    i added cocoanut to the topping, too. sort of llike german cake frosting.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Sep 19 - 09:16 PM

I never overcook my fish, Stilly...

We had my somewhat unconventional chicken arrabbiata on Sunday. For two of us I used about 300g of skinless, boneless free-range chicken breast cut into bite size, a can and a half of Italian plum tomatoes (or skin your own ripe ones), two cloves of garlic, sliced (not minced, not ever!), a good pinch of chilli flakes, or chopped up chillis, to taste (I like it hot), four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and some chopped fresh parsley. The pasta we had was bronze-die pennone (big tubes). I don't care for those slippery little penne pasta tubes. I want more bite. 200g is more than enough.

Sauté the chilli and garlic gently in the oil in a big heavy frying pan for a couple of minutes. Turn the heat up a bit and add the tomatoes, parsley and some seasoning. At this point, put on the pasta in loads of salted boiling water and set the timer for what it says on the packet. No self-respecting Italian cook EVER adds oil to the pasta water. Keep stirring that sauce to break up the tomatoes and simmer it gently uncovered. When the pasta has about seven or eight minutes to go, stir-fry the chicken in a bit of hot oil in a separate pan (don't let olive oil smoke though). When the chicken is nicely coloured all over (two minutes) stir it into the tomato sauce. Let that simmer gently for a few minutes until the pasta is ready. Drain the pasta, retaining a mug full of pasta water just in case (I usually need a little bit for this). Throw the pasta into the sauce and turn off the heat. Mix thoroughly: you want the sauce to coat the tubes inside and out. Add a splash of pasta water if you think it's a bit too dry. Serve on warm bowls, sit on the sofa, lean over your bowl and devour with a fork whilst watching Strictly Come Dancing.

I got the idea of adding something proteinaceous to arrabbiata from Gino D'Acampo. He uses raw skinless salmon, cut up into small cubes, instead of the chicken. You just throw the fish into the sauce at the end, one minute before adding the pasta. The salmon cooks perfectly in the hot mix in less than two minutes. Trust me!

No cheese needed either. I suppose you could add Parmesan or pecorino to the chicken version, but in Italy it's a mortal sin to put Parmesan anywhere near fish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Sep 19 - 09:44 PM

I have a casserole thing I make with zucchini or yellow squash or calabash, any of the type where you don't seed or peel them; onions, peppers (bell peppers of whatever color is available - there are some beautiful jewel colors, not just green any more), a cut up link of Italian sausage, tomatoes (usually home canned or a store-bought can), cut up squash, some cheese (provolone, mozzarella, etc.) melted into the mix, a little wine if I have it, and at the end add a little water if I need so I can add some pasta to simmer. Parmesan cheese is good added also, at the end. Today I had a little container of crumbled goat cheese a friend had left here on her last visit and she's coming again tomorrow so I figured I ought to use it up. It's different, it melted into the juices and it's creamy; I wouldn't do it again intentionally but I'm not throwing it away either.

I don't object to goat cheese, I just don't have much experience with it. It comes in things and I eat it, but I haven't learned enough about it to really know what to do with it other than crumble on salad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 11 Sep 19 - 02:07 AM

Try it (goat cheese) melted it on mushrooms - big flat ones - under the grill.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Sep 19 - 05:49 PM

"I don't object to goat cheese, I just don't have much experience with it. It comes in things and I eat it, but I haven't learned enough about it to really know what to do with it other than crumble on salad."

It could have been me saying that. In my case I wouldn't even crumble it on salad, but I wouldn't crumble any cheese on salad...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 11 Sep 19 - 06:16 PM

St Helen's Farm mild goats milk cheese, as sold by Tesco, melts nicely for cheese on toast and makes a very good cheese sauce for cauliflower cheese. I'll be nibbling thin slices with a glass or two of port tomorrow night.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 19 - 11:42 PM

Is that Mt. St. Helens in Washington State? We seem to be having a lot of cross-pollination of our cooking cheeses in this thread. (I grew up near there, even climbed that one before it blew it's top.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: The Sandman
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 01:05 AM

if god had intended us to follow recipes, He wouldn't have given us Fanny Craddock.”

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 03:13 AM

Stilly River Sage wrote: Is that Mt. St. Helens in Washington State? )

This is a UK cheese. There's a place called St Helens, note no apostrophe, near Liverpool UK but this product is labelled made in York. YO42 4NP. Nice cheese, soft and crumbly, a bit like Cheshire cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 04:23 AM

Supermarkets here invent suitably rustic-sounding fake names to make it sound like their produce comes from rural idylls. In truth, much produce comes from dozens or hundreds of farms. There are names like Willow Farms, Ashfield Farm, Oakham Chickens, Birchwood Farm, Farm Stores, Lochmuir Salmon. These places simply don't exist, and the names are used to fool us into thinking that their produce ISN'T produced on an industrial scale in locations they'd rather we didn't see. Cathedral City cheese is produced not far from us, an hour's drive from the nearest cathedral city, and its milk comes from around 300 farms, arriving in massive articulated tankers. A few years ago its advertising included lovely photos of the Cornish coast at Bedruthan Steps and made great play of the association with the wild Atlantic Ocean. Well it would take you a good hour to drive from the cheese factory to Bedruthan Steps, and the extremely ugly factory, owned by Dairy Crest, is close to a disused airfield miles from the nearest seaside and certainly not within sight of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 04:31 AM

And I know that there IS an Oakham, but the M&S chickens bearing that name come from nowhere near the real Oakham.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 09:55 AM

We have that same "farms" branding in Canada and the U.S. I assume that the corporate behemoths behind most of the cheese we see in supermarkets (such as Kraft in this country) want us to be so distracted by nostalgic visions of milkmaids and farm wives meditatively turning cheeses in breezy creameries that we don't ever bother to look at, let alone think about, their real production methods.

This summer I added frittate, learned from the famous Marcella Hazan, to our rotation of supper dishes. It's not exactly low-cal, but what really good dish is?

Frittata is an Italian egg dish that includes grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese and rather a lot of cooked veg. For two people, four to six eggs (depending on appetite and what else is to be served), 20 to 30 grams of cheese, and a substantial heap (250 to 300 grams) of steamed broccoli, blanched haricots verts, blanched asparagus or what you will, as long as it's not what I think of as a wet veg -- i.e., not tomatoes. (I often use a mix we call "veg haché", which includes cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini (aka courgette) and red onion, all sliced fairly fine and sautéed fast with olive oil and garlic.)

First, turn on the broiler so it's good and hot when you want it.

Then beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the grated cheese and then the cooked veg. If the veg has cooled, good for you for thinking ahead. If not, add it gradually while beating so the egg doesn't curdle.

Use a skillet than can go under the broiler. Put it on the hob, add a substantial knob of butter, and let the butter foam and get a bit brown, as for omelette. Add the egg-and-veg mixture and cook as for omelette.

When the sides are cooked but the top is still runny, pop the skillet under the hot broiler and leave it there until the entire top of the frittata is brown and puffy.

Frittate can be served either hot or at room temperature, as the main dish with bread, or cut in wedges as part of a selection of antipasti.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 10:56 AM

You can also slip the frittata on to a large plate, then invert it back into the pan to cook the top. Most times when I've tried that I've failed abysmally. So I resort to your grilling-the-top method. I always worry about how "done" the underneath is. Good grub though, even if you've managed to wreck it!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 11:48 AM

That sounds amazing, Charmion! I had to pull up a conversion table to figure the proportion of the veg to the eggs (we don't do grams down here very often.)

We also had eggs last night. I made a modified Quiche Lorraine for friends - no crust, baked in a Bundt pan. And I decided I wanted to increase it from 2 cups of milk to three, adding an extra egg. I realized I had only 2 1/4 cups of milk after I'd added the extra egg, so I scooped some whole milk yogurt into the cup, thinned with a little water, and mixed it all into the milk. Onions had been sauteed and small florets of broccoli added (I have a vegetarian friend so no bacon). The Swiss cheese was in a stack of slices so I ran them over the slicing edge of the grater and ended up with long thin strips that I spread around.

The resulting quiche was delicious, and interesting, but probably not typical. The cheese wasn't really mixed around much so there was a stringy layer in there, so we had to pull each serving loose from the rest like a stingy piece of pizza or lasagna.

I winged it for the rest of the meal - I'd picked up some small (but not new) red lasoda potatoes and simmered them to the point where I could easily pierce with a knife, then cooled. When it was close to time to eat I put a couple of tablespoons of butter (and kept adding as needed) into a skillet, took each potato and leaned on it just enough until the skin was split and it was a bit smashed but not broken apart. They were lowered into the butter and sauteed on both sides, and ground pepper and salt over the top. These went so nicely beside the quiche, and the rest was a fruit salad a friend bought. Various types of iced tea (we are in Texas!) accompanied it.

Dessert was cranberry bars that I have probably describe before in this thread. Weeks ago I used my steam juicer to get the juice from several pounds of frozen cranberries and kept the pulp sweet/tart complement to the meal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 02:45 PM

I suspect the naming extends beyond supermarkets. I’d doubt that Buttercup Farm (from whom we got some quite reasonable outdoor furniture), Farbrook Farms (sometimes used for bird food) or Wiltshire Farms (frozen meals, probably targeted at the less able) have much to do with farming.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Sep 19 - 06:11 PM

Tonight I cooked Mrs Steve and me a simple steak dinner. The steak was thin-cut sirloin, which I trimmed of most of its rim of fat and carefully removed the veinings of that translucent connective tissue that doesn't render with flash-frying. I don't understand that stuff on a rare-to-medium-rare steak. It doesn't render at all in that short cooking time and I'm not up for chewing rubber. Anyway, I put the fatty trimmings in a small saucepan, heated it gently for half an hour and ended up with enough lovely beef fat to cook the steaks in my best frying pan. No flavour of the fat lost, and a decent cook's nibble for me... Don't tell her...

Before I cooked the steak I got my accompaniments sorted out. First, the chips. I had some lovely salad potatoes which I cut into chips (skin on). They were par-boiled in well-salted water for seven minutes, drained, roughed up then coated in hot groundnut oil on a baking tray. They went into a very hot oven for about 20 minutes. The veg was tenderstem broccoli, which was boiled for about six minutes in salted water (I don't believe in steaming). I also chopped up a big handful of my home-grown cherry tomatoes, adding a tablespoon of capers, seasoning and a good pinch of dried oregano. Stand by...

The steaks were fried in a very hot pan (my best one) in a smearing of that beef fat I mentioned. 60 seconds per side, then on to a hot plate which I covered up and then put into a warm oven to rest. The tomato mix went straight into the frying pan with the meaty juices, and the broccoli went on.

Six minutes later, chips went on warm plates, then the steak, then the broccoli then the tomato sauce. Bejaysus, we ate well tonight...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 13 Sep 19 - 10:37 AM

Well our plumb tomatoes have gone to tomato soup, some for freezing. Not tasted yet as mum is still working on it but feel confident will come out nice.

I’m not sure what it is with me and tomato soup but I’d go as far as to say that I've had some (including the Heinz tins) that I either don’t think much of or actively dislike. The simple Delia recipe (or the combination of that and the fresh ripe Roma?) she’s using is however one I’ve enjoyed in the past.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Sep 19 - 12:54 PM

Tomato soup is surprisingly challenging, Jon Freeman, largely because its success depends entirely on the quality of the tomatoes. (Fresh, ripe Romas are the best.) Do too much to a tomato soup, and it fails because it's not actually tomato soup; it's a something-else soup with tomatoes in it. But if you do too little, the taste is off unless you're very lucky. Tomatoes need salt and sometimes a touch of sugar to get the flavour right.

It's cream of tomato soup that I loathe. Even when made lovingly from scratch by a kitchen expert, its flavour often has an undernote of library paste, and the texture is awful unless you purée it perfectly and strain out every seed, which is way more work than it's worth. In restaurants, the "home-made" tomato soup never is.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Sep 19 - 02:40 PM

Admittedly not a pure tomato soup, but Gino D'Acampo's tomato, onion and pancetta soup is as good as soup gets. I could give the recipe but I'm in a bit of a hurry right now. Then, for a different take, there's pappa al pomodoro, a lovely thick Tuscan tomato soup made with stale bread.

Just one thing: if you use good quality canned Italian plum tomatoes, your soup will be as good or better than soup made with fresh. "Good quality" is paramount. Here in the UK I've used Cirio, Napolina and Waitrose own-brand to good advantage. No canned tomatoes should contain salt or herbs or garlic. If you want any of that, use plain canned tomatoes and add the other stuff yourself. A half-teaspoon of sugar added to ANY tomato sauce or soup is a touch of magic. All right, don't believe me...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Sep 19 - 07:34 PM

Here's Gino's amazing soup. Apologies for the fact that it's not exactly a pure tomato soup, but it's so good...

For four people, you need half a pound of pancetta (not smoked, and it can be little cubes or, as I prefer, snipped-up thin slices), a pound and a half of finely-sliced onions (he sez white, but I use banana shallots), peeled weight, two and a half pints of chicken stock (feel free to use organic stock cubes), and a 400g can of good-quality tomatoes (or use your own) and a big glug of extra virgin olive oil.

Gently fry the onions and bacon in the oil for a good fifteen minutes until all is soft and squishy. Throw in the tomatoes and stock. Season, bearing in mind the saltiness of the pancetta. Simmer for a good half-hour. At the end, check the seasoning again.

Serve this with some parmesan shavings on top together with a few torn basil leaves. Keep the EV olive oil bottle to hand. Given a huge hunk of crusty bread with abundant butter and you have a meal, not just a starter. If there's a better soup, I've yet to meet it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Sep 19 - 08:57 PM

Steve Shaw, I’m a-gonna make that this week.

I have chicken stock in the freezer and a bowlful of tomatoes on the sideboard, but pancetta requires a trip to Kitchener, 40 km away. I also want pignoli, so the trip won’t be wasted.

I’m always in the market for a great soup recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Sep 19 - 03:25 AM

You could use streaky bacon, which I suppose is what pancetta is anyway. Go easy on the olive oil at the beginning, as you'll get a fair bit of fat from the bacon/pancetta, and you'll get more still if you use your home-made chicken stock. Chef's instinct!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 Sep 19 - 03:16 PM

Out of vegan butter today, I drizzled rapeseed oil on toast, topped with mushrooms, beans and rice plus, as ever, plenty of tomato sauce. My poem "My Diet".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Sep 19 - 03:46 PM

"Vegan butter"? Call it sommat else! I can't believe it's not not butter!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 Sep 19 - 03:51 PM

What would you call it then, Steve?! Vegan margarine? Vegan spread (but that could other spreads). The brand Vitalite call it Dairy Free Spread.

I drink soya milk...is that okay?!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Sep 19 - 09:28 PM

I looked up what pancetta is. Raw pork belly, salted and hung for at least three weeks in a cool place. That is not going to fly in my house.

Walkie, I have cracked-wheat toast with walnut oil on it for breakfast every weekday morning. That's similar to your toast and rapeseed oil. (Walnut oil is said to be good for the heart.) A friend of mine learned to do it on a trip to France and shared the idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Sep 19 - 09:39 PM

Does a flank steak marinade have to have a salt component? I find oil, vinegar or lemon, and spices/herbs to be just ducky. Am I missing something?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Sep 19 - 10:39 PM

I have also printed up Steve's tomato soup recipe to try soon. I'll work out something to use instead of pancetta (I don't know if I've seen it around here, I'll have to look.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 05:18 AM

There's nothing weird about pancetta. It's the Italian take on streaky bacon, and many an hotel restaurant in Italy will serve it fried for breakfast. Delicious. You can occasionally buy it in the piece, but generally it's sold either as a small dice (cubetti) or as very thin slices, which look just like a fine version of streaky bacon. Pancetta is cured pork belly (as is streaky bacon) with no rind. Drape a slice or two over your baked chicken pieces for the last ten minutes for a lovely salty crunch. I can't imagine a meaty ragu, or a meaty risotto, that doesn't start with some sautéed pancetta that adds flavour depth as well as some lovely rich fat to fry your onions. I generally use the unsmoked version. Like most cured meats, it carries that baggage of nitrites/nitrates that worry some people. Not me. Streaky bacon is a good substitute though it may need a bit more cooking.

For me, pork belly is the tastiest part of the pig with the possible exception of guanciale (cured pig's cheek). You can use pancetta cubes instead of guanciale in carbonara, though the latter is more traditional (and even more delicious). I've even used sliced pancetta when the shops are closed and I've felt the urgent need for carbonara. It works. If you put cream in your carbonara, though, I may never speak to you again...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 08:37 AM

Steve, the first carbonara I ever ate, made by my Norwegian first husband (aka Mr Wrong), had streaky bacon, rather a lot of frozen peas, bechamel sauce, and no egg. I liked it then, but have since learned better.

Of course, Norwegians would put bechamel sauce on a peach Melba if you let them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 10:18 AM

Man I saw an article on whiskey versus whisky and now can't find it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 11:03 AM

Mrrzy, it's probably in this thread somewhere. We covered just about every aspect of the topic in 400+ posts.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 12:09 PM

Thanks Leeneia - when my bottle of rapeseed runs out I will look to give walnut oil a go (a few years ago, I spent quite a while looking for rapeseed oil in a supermarket, before realising it was labelled vegetable oil).

And, sorry Steve, I still can't think of a better term than "vegan butter"...maybe not Full Monty Margarine?!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 12:13 PM

Well it's not butter, in the same way that a Linda McCartney sausage is not a sausage and a nut cutlet is not a cutlet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 01:13 PM

Rape seed oil is labeled "Canola" in the US - an abbreviation for Canadian Oil Association

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 04:21 PM

Never been to Canada, SRS, but I imagine some of the land and climate there would be similar to where it is grown here.

Also, whatever you spread your toast with, next time you make beans on toast, try dabbing in some mint sauce.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 05:42 PM

The only oils I use these days are groundnut oil for really hot frying, everyday extra virgin olive oil such as Napolina for general cookery and a top-quality extra virgin olive oil for salad dressing and sprinkling on a finished pasta dish or pizza (a bottle lasts for ages). For certain dishes it has to be butter, for example in risottos, and for frying eggs it's butter for me every time. There are some shortcuts I simply don't take. I don't use tomato or garlic purée. The only dried herb I will ever use is oregano. If a recipe calls for lemon juice, it comes out of a real lemon, never a bottle, and cheap watery balsamic vinegar has no place in my house. An expensive bottle of that lovely, thick balsamic lasts for ages, and it's great for mixing with olive oil as a salad dressing or to dip your bread into (which they never do in Italy) or sprinkling on a bowl of strawberries, though round here it has to compete with good old Cornish clotted cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Sep 19 - 07:51 PM

Canola is controversial in the UK. Last time I heard, most canola grown in Canada was GM, enabling farmers to use glyphosate weedkiller on the growing crop. Well we don't allow GM crops here. Oilseed rape is lovely and yellow but it is environmentally unfriendly, requiring lots of pesticide input, and it requires heavy nitrogen fertilising. I haven't researched the other oils as much in these regards, but I won't be buying canola/rapeseed oil any time soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 17 Sep 19 - 03:10 AM

Vegan butter is in good, or at any rate acceptable, non-dairy company: peanut butter, apple butter, shea butter.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Sep 19 - 04:48 AM

I suppose so. Grunt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Sep 19 - 10:03 AM

"Vegan" butter is margarine, renamed by today's cool kids.

Corn-oil margarine was what my Jewish classmates had on their all-beef salami (Shopsy's, with the rabbinical seal of approval on the wrapper) sandwiches back in 1965. Parev, so okay with meat. Roll the calendar forward about half a century and lo! it's being marketed to a new dietary minority.

That's fine, as long as I don't have to eat it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 19 - 10:37 AM

I stopped using Canola a dozen years ago when I discovered the Middle Eastern grocery (Halal) where I buy olive oil. I get peanut oil across the street at the large Asian market. In each instance they sell so much that what they have on the shelves is so fresh it will last once I take it home (and I buy the 3-litre bottle of olive oil). I only posted the name in case it was something that WAV was seeing in his store.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 17 Sep 19 - 05:51 PM

Frankly, I have not looked into how environmentally unfriendly growing rapeseed oil is...I have only thought the opposite because it grows locally.

I have heard that soya has resulted in a lot of slash-and-burn of virgin forest in South America.

Thanks, SRS, but to again be frank, I don't like halal or kosher due to the cruelty involved - even though I majored in anthropology, I think some customs should be outlawed by the UN.

Some anthropologists would rationalise that you have to take a part/whole approach etc. - I hate such unnecessary suffering, as suggested in my poem from WalkaboutsVerse "A Good Life"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Sep 19 - 06:41 PM

Not wishing to inject too much controversy into this lovely thread, but I find more than a little hypocrisy in the criticism of the slaughtering methods of other cultures from denizens of those western countries that tolerate industrial-size abattoirs which terrorise soon-to-die animals, battery-egg or barn chickens with hardly enough room to move and which have to endure the stench of their dead compatriots, not to speak of treading over their dead bodies, pigs reared "intensively" in what John Seymour called Belsen-houses, and all manner of animals transported hundreds of miles packed like sardines in huge trucks to slaughterhouses. Speaking of killing animals for food, and John Seymour, I remember reading in one of his books that the kindest way way of killing a pig for food is to have have the animal peacefully rooting around in a field one minute, then dispatched unsuspectingly straight to heaven the next via a shotgun to the head. You're a veggie, grand, so we let you off. But why focus on the one culture whilst ignoring your own?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 19 - 07:15 PM

Beyond offering the name of the oil to round out information in a remark, I always ignore WAV. I don't read his poems and I don't bother with his weird philosophy on anything.

I have a chicken breast baking in the toaster oven, that will probably go into something like fajitas or sliced and used on top of a pizza. Cooking a whole chicken when you live alone is rarely practical.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Sep 19 - 09:43 PM

I know, I know...

Anyway...

Tomorrow evening it's risotto made with leftover chicken. It's adapted from an idea of Nigel Slater's (I don't really do recipes but I often do "adapted-froms"...). I'll let you know...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Sep 19 - 09:21 AM

Wait, canola isn't a plant?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Sep 19 - 09:23 AM

Oh and thanks, Stilly. It was a new article but that did not make it new news.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 19 - 11:40 AM

While looking for something else I came across a couple of old food threads.

YouTube chefs and, though I didn't link it, my old thread on broccoli cornbread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 19 - 05:44 PM

This is a food thread, let's keep it that way.

Nice lunch today, I thawed a piece of that Copper River salmon (I smoked about 2/3 of what I bought and froze the rest in portion sizes), some steamed cauliflower, and reheated pan-fried potatoes. The dogs follow closely when I cook and know the smells of the foods they are liable to get trimmings from (salmon skin, edge of steaks, primarily). When I'd eaten the last of the cauliflower I picked up the knife to cut the salmon skin in half and both dogs popped up like magic - I really must be predictable, that they know the motion that leads to their treat!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 19 - 11:30 PM

Steve, I had to substitute for the pancetta, a mix of bacon and diced ham (and it had the smoke you cautioned about) and the bottle of stock I had in the freezer that was close to the correct amount was turkey stock (I have cubes, but preferred to use the real stock). And I ended up with more tomatoes (proportionately) than your recipe calls for, but I get the drift. I'll hunt for the non-smoked greasy pork to try it again later. This was okay, but I can see how it would be much better non-smokey, so I'll work on it. I made a half-size batch because I didn't have enough onion to make full sized. And that is a LOT OF ONION. Did you really mean a pound and a half?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Sep 19 - 07:27 AM

Gino's ingredient list:

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.
250g diced pancetta.
700g white onions, peeled and finely sliced.
1.5 litres chicken stock, made with stock cubes.
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes.
to taste salt and black pepper.
4 tablespoons fresh parmesan cheese shavings.
6 fresh basil leaves.

I just googled "Gino D'Acampo tomato and onion soup" for that (I'm out and about today). You can use any onions or shallots but you need that amount. Like you I prefer to use my own stock. Turkey would be fine. Ham doesn't sound right. The best sub for pancetta would be streaky bacon. He says cubes but snipped-up rashers are fine. The basil leaves add a nice herby touch at the end. They're a bit wasted if you just cook them in.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 19 Sep 19 - 07:40 AM

I had quite a few leftover boiled potatoes yesterday. So it was shallow fried reheats here too. We just had baked beans and veggie burger/bakes with them.

Apple crumble for pudding plus I stewed the remaining cooking apples we’d bought for the freezer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 19 - 11:11 AM

Most of our bacon here is hickory smoked, so I hoped the ham would be a bit less smoky and have the flavor. Every so often I see other types of bacon so I'll have to look carefully for a while.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Sep 19 - 11:29 AM

Oh dear! I couldn't live without unsmoked streaky bacon. If I ever come to the States, I'll smuggle a few packs over in the hold bag inside my socks...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 19 - 12:41 PM

Fat back is probably the closest that is easily available, but that's all pork fat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 19 Sep 19 - 04:06 PM

Into my usual "One-Pot Cooking" (reheated in the office microwave) I added edamame instead of baked/haricot beans today - their nutty flavour makes a nice change.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Sep 19 - 10:11 AM

Planning a kind of medley of flank steak and beef Stroganoff, with accents of gulyas. Guess who just learned how to spell StrogAnoff. Mushrooms, sour cream, bacon fat. Who even needs the beef...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Sep 19 - 10:12 AM

Steve, we might have to visit you in Food Smugglers' Gaol. In Canadian airports, the Department of Agriculture deploys beagles in little green jackets to locate luggage packed with bacon and sausages by scoff-law foodies. I hate to think how our fiercer neighbours to the south respond to that problem ... Werewolves. I'll bet that's it. Werewolves with steel teeth.

It is harvest season in southwest Ontario, and the landscape is almost obscenely lush with bounty. The corn is as high as a mastodon's eye, and the peaches ... Oh, the peaches! The muskmelons! Oy! Tomatoes! I have eaten a tomato with every meal since the middle of August. It doesn't get better than this.

But soon enough the frost will hit and soup season will return. A review of the pantry produced several Mason jars with a few ounces of black-eyed peas or half a pound of Great Northern beans. There's a beef rib in the freezer, left over from the tomahawk steak a few weeks ago, and pot barley. Not to speak of the usual litter of carrots and celery. But that can wait till after the first frost.

Until then, peaches!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 20 Sep 19 - 03:56 PM

Sounds good, Charmion - I'd have those peaches on cereal, with soya and maple syrup.

Another thing I like to do is fill the hole left after removing the large stone from an avocado with maple syrup, then tuck in with a teaspoon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Sep 19 - 06:29 PM

If I see avocados on special offer I buy them and, unbeknowns to Mrs Steve, scoff them au naturel with a furtive teaspoon. Our typical avo dish is avos with Delia Smith's seafood sauce and prawns, with a liberal sprinkling of sweet or smoked paprika. The sauce tastes fifty times better if you make it a few hours in advance. Another one is tricolore salad, devastatingly simple yet devastatingly delicious. Take two ripe avocados and slice them thinly. Take two big blobs of mozzarella (maybe 200g) and slice them thinly. Take a big handful or two of the best cherry tomatoes you can lay your hands on and cut them in half. Get a big shallow dish and arrange the slices of avo and cheese artistically. Alternatively, just chuck them into the dish at random. Scatter the chopped tomatoes on top. Grind a few grinds of black pepper on top. Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of your finest extra virgin olive oil over the whole thing and finish off with a few torn baby basil leaves. As with everything, the quality of your ingredients here is paramount. No shitty shop tomatoes, no rock-hard or blackened avocados, no bog-standard olive oil, no bloody dried basil (this should not ever infest your kitchen at all, frankly). It's an amazing dish as long as you stick to those rules. And you don't need buffalo mozzarella. You never do. Get this right, which is easy, and you have a healthy summery supper for two. It needs wine..

Actually, Mrs Steve accuses me of always planning meals "that need wine." Don't tell her, but she could be right...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Sep 19 - 06:32 PM

Er, the avocados are au naturel, not me. Though I won't guarantee that the two conditions never collide...

Down, girls...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Sep 19 - 09:59 AM

Fill the hole with a good vinaigrette.

My beef was superb. Never again marinate a whole steak and slice after. All that lost juice (sigh)!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Sep 19 - 10:15 AM

Last night we were eating frittata again, the result of turning out the right-hand veg bin in the fridge. (Left-hand veg bin is stuff that keeps -- i.e., roots 'n' tubers.) Eggs are cheap in Perth County, where poultry production runs a close second to hogs. (Yes, the cooked breakfast is a thing here.)

As I shovelled the eggy, cheesy, veggy forkfuls down my neck, I said to Himself, "You know, a lot of great food is downright easy to make." Himself is wary of such pronouncements, as I tend to misoverestimate his familiarity with certain domestic tasks, but for once asked me to elaborate. "Frittata, for example, requires exactly two cooking skills: chopping veg to uniform size, and adding hot food to raw egg without curdling the egg."

"Ah," he said, in his lawyerly way, "but you also have to know when to stop cooking, and that is the hard part."

Come to think of it, knowing when to stop is the secret to many -- dare I say most? -- things in life.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Sep 19 - 06:32 AM

I have a flat-cut piece of brisket, about 2.5 pounds. I've rolled and tied it as tightly as I can. I'll melt some fat (dripping or butter - haven't decided yet) in my Le Creuset casserole and sear the meat all round until it's all nice and crusty. I'll put the meat aside and sear some coarsely-sliced celery and onions in the fat. Off the heat I'll put the meat back in with the veg and add about 3/4 pint of stock (I might use a beef cube or some porcini soaking water or a mixture). The liquid needs to come up to about three-quarters the height of the meat. I'll add some seasoning and a few sprigs of thyme (not dried - I'd rather leave it out than use that) and a fresh bayleaf from my bush.

I don't know how long it'll need, but I'll be guessing at about three hours or a bit more in the oven at a cool 130C. I cover the pan with foil before putting the lid tightly on. I'll give it a quick check after a couple of hours to make sure it isn't drying out. If it is, I'll add boiling water. When I reckon it has an hour to go I'll throw in some little carrot batons. You can put these in at the start but they'll be a bit squidgy (or just put very big bits in at the start). At the same time I'm thinking of putting in some roasties. Or I might do mash. I'll see how thick the liquid is at the end. If it's too thin I might thicken it with a bit of flour but it shouldn't need it. Some nice thick slices of meat with greens and spuds and that gravy. Yum. Oh, and a bottle of Negroamaro...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Sep 19 - 07:28 AM

Your house should smell wonderful, Steve.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Sep 19 - 09:28 AM

Well I gave it four hours in the low oven and it was glorious. Carving not needed - just gently prise chunks away, and any fat or sinew came away really easily. I did have to thicken the gravy just a little bit. Brisket is my very favourite cut for pot roasting in the piece. Lovely flavour, and slow cooking doesn't dry it out like some of those other cuts such as topside or silverside. I use thickish slices of top rump when I make Elizabeth David's boeuf en daube, but that's just two and a half hours in the oven.

I have more than enough for cold meat with jacket spuds this evening, and anything left will go back in the leftover gravy to make a sort of ragu to stir into ribbon pasta, with Parmesan on top. Mrs Steve will want a clove or two of garlic in there. Thinly sliced, never minced!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Sep 19 - 09:34 AM

By the way, I didn't thicken all the gravy as I wanted all options for the prospective ragu to remain open. I ladled enough out for the two of us and thickened just that amount with a teaspoon of plain flour which I made into a thin paste before adding it. I'll not buy gravy granules or browning or anything like that. Banned from the house, as with margarine, low-fat-anything and dried basil. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Sep 19 - 11:17 AM

What's all this fuss about dried herbs?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Sep 19 - 02:00 PM

Dried oregano is fine. A must-have on a Margherita. All the rest are acrid, dusty powders which insult the flavours of the fresh articles. The climate is poor here for basil but there is always a pot of it on my windowsill. I grow a lot of parsley, and any excess can be frozen as is. I have a big clay pot of sage, three big pots of mint (two sorts) and two big pots of lemon thyme in my garden. I have a bush of bay which I don't let grow too big. There's a nice rosemary bush out there and I have more growing from cuttings. I can always buy a little bag of fresh of anything I'm lacking. In m'humble, if all you have is dried (except for oregano), your food will taste a lot better if you just leave it out. In several visits to Italy I've found far less use of herbs than I expected. As ever, one man's fish is another man's poisson...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Sep 19 - 03:51 PM

If dried thyme is okay for all my Lebanese neighbours back in Ottawa, who seemed to eat it by the kilo, it's okay for me. Picking the leaves off the stems is a little too much like separating fly shit from pepper for my taste. I put dried thyme in cockaleekie stew -- actually, in most chicken dishes -- and on potroasts, rub it into steaks and spray it all over the place (with oregano) when I'm making lasagna or pizza. The fresh article is a fine thing in a bouquet garnie, with which one has a string to pull out the woody stem, but for ease of use and perfectly adequate flavour (in m'humble) I'm happy with the dried version. I keep it in a Mason jar with the lid tight shut and go through it quickly; maybe that makes a difference.

The climate of Ontario, even in balmy Stratford, is much too cold for bay and rosemary, so I have to settle for what I can find at the supermarket. I now have sage, tarragon and a patch of oregano in the garden, and next spring I'll find a spot where I can cultivate mint without risking a Mongol-style invasion of the rest of the property. As for parsley, that will go into the new bed behind our new patio, where I can pop out of the kitchen for it at the last minute.

Last night, I had a rather spectacular success with a leg of lamb in the barbecue, at low temperature with a smoker. I rubbed the outside liberally with garlic and thyme (yes, dried) and Montreal steak spice, and sprayed it lightly with olive oil before putting it in the barbie just as the first puffs of smoke were emerging. I let it be for almost two hours and took it out to rest when the meat thermometer said 140 degrees Fahrenheit -- just a bit pink.

The flavour was amazing.

We ate it with corn on the cob -- probably the last of the season, a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers, and a bottle of respectable Spanish red. There's lots left, and we'll be eating it all week.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Sep 19 - 04:35 PM

Dried thyme is harsh and aggressive. Fresh sprigs are the easiest things in the world to strip the leaves from twixt finger and thumb, and there's no harm if tiny bits of softer stalk stay in there. 30 seconds'-worth of snipping with scissors in a cup is all you need. Easy and fragrant, no trace of the flavour of a Mediterranean dusty hot old drought. Most of the time I just thrown in the sprigs anyway, leaving the job of pulling out the stalks at the end (count 'em in, count 'em out!). And it's so easy to grow.

I never want herbs to be the point of the thing. They should be adding subtle je ne sais quoi, not a massive herby hit. If you put something like dried basil in a dish, no matter how little, it will taste of dried basil. For the same reason I never use a garlic crusher. All that harshness going in all at once and bad breath tomorrow. I'll use three times as much and either smash it a bit with my fist or crack the cloves with the flat of a knife blade, then in it goes in big bits to release its fragrance gently. For a pasta sauce I just slice the cloves into thin slices with a sharp knife then sauté gently in extra virgin olive oil. It mustn't go brown. It does need a bit more busting up for a pesto, I'll admit, but still not minced. In m'humble (good expression, that, eh, Charmion!)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 24 Sep 19 - 11:28 AM

I've been cooking with dried herbs for fifty years, and I think they're fine. When guests come for dinner, the food always disappears, so it's not just my opinion.

I add the herbs shortly before serving the meal. The flavors and aroma of herbs come from huge, delicate molecules, and long or hot cooking is bad for them.

There is (was) a store near me that sells nothing but spices and herbs from big jars. One day I put my nose at the top of one and smelled the contents. Ewww! I bet that pot had not been washed for years. I'll get my spices another way, thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Sep 19 - 10:14 AM

Love dried thyme, especially with mushrooms. Dried rosemary, marjoram, marvy. You are supposed to use less dried than fresh, maybe you're not measuring "properly" and that's why they seem harsh and aggressive?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Sep 19 - 10:27 AM

Nope. Drying loses the aromatics that makes fresh herbs so gently fragrant. Maybe I'm lucky to have a climate conducive to herb growing. Once you get into the habit of fresh only you won't go back to dried. Except for dried oregano.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Sep 19 - 01:54 PM

Which has to be added when serving, and not cooked into the dish.

I remember taking fairly small twins to an Italian place that offered oregano, and one child asked what it was. The waiter kind of froze so I said, it's an herb that makes everything taste like spaghetti. The mildly surprised waiter totally agreed.

Mom grew herbs (except dill, which tended to lie down once it was a cm tall) so I do know the difference. Dried are fine and smell marvelous when in hand, so most of the aromatics are still there, concentrated even, so use less of them...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Sep 19 - 04:28 PM

One man's fish is another man's poisson...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Sep 19 - 09:43 AM

Ooh, good one.

Anybody try Impossible Burger? It is at my store now. I read the ingredients. Big mistake as I had wanted to try it...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Sep 19 - 11:26 AM

As a rule I despise and avoid farm raised salmon, but there is one variety from the north of Norway that is very good, is raised differently than most of it, and my ex has been buying it every so often for smoking. We had Copper River salmon last summer and the fish sold to Costco were smaller so they didn't have the fat reserves of larger fish, something that makes it taste even better. He brought by some fish he had prepared for smoking (cut into the size strips he prefers) and I made the brine and did all of that, then smoked it yesterday morning. He came by in the evening and left some with me and we packaged the rest for himself and our daughter. Yes, I did most of the work but I own the smoker and the brine is cheap and the amount left here was perfect for breakfast this morning.

I'm working on convincing him it's time to retire so he can borrow the smoker and smoke fish on his own schedule.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Sep 19 - 05:43 AM

We had the salmon version last night of the arrabbiata dish I mentioned on 10 September. You make the tomato sauce in exactly the same way but just add the little cubes of salmon a minute before the end. By the time you've drained the pasta and thrown it into the sauce the salmon is nicely cooked. This is one of my best and most reliable recipes and it's very healthy (no cheese!).

Maggie won't like this, but I use wild keta salmon in this dish. It's half the price of the wild sockeye and, let's face it, the flavours in the dish are hardly subtle enough to allow the taste of expensivo salmon to shine through. To get the salmon neat and clean in little cubes, rather than all raggity, I deal with it semi-frozen: easy to skin and easy to snip into little half-inch cubes. I'm thinking 200g salmon before skinning per person, which is generous, but I need me omega 3 innit...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Sep 19 - 09:51 AM

If you want to eat dog salmon that's fine with me; I've bought a lot of pieces frozen over the years. Just don't pretend the pink stuff tastes anything like the darker red varieties of fish!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Sep 19 - 10:04 AM

I know it doesn't but on the other hand you eat dried basil...   ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Sep 19 - 10:41 AM

I live far inland, where most fresh fish is either insanely expensive or farmed. (Fresh fish from the Great Lakes is available only in summer, and it's still pricey because the fishery itself is under threat and the supply is limited.) Keta salmon (Onchorhynchus keta, sold in Ontario as chum salmon) and pink salmon (Onchorhynchus gorbuscha) are among the few wild species we can get fresh that don't cost the earth.

I like to use these species to make gravlax. Whatever they lack in flavour and texture is overcome by the curing process.

And I am becoming resigned to farmed fish. Carefully.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Sep 19 - 12:11 PM

I would always use wild sockeye if I wanted a nice fried slab of salmon. I never buy farmed fish of any kind and I always ask the question before I buy. Around here farmed seabass is common. Wild bass is much more expensive. I must confess to not being a fan of smoked salmon. I eat it when it's served up but I wonder what the fuss is about. It still feels like I'm eating raw fish. In Kefalonia last year I was miffed to see all the fish farm enclosures around the coast. I suppose most restaurants there that serve fish use farmed. If you ever go to Kefalonia, drop in at Ellie's restaurant in Fiskardo and have the kleftiko lamb. You'll be in heaven.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Sep 19 - 05:12 PM

The Spanish - paella - and Italian - risotto - are, of course, world famous European ways of using rice; occasionally, I simply use the absorption method in one pan then add and stir it into my usual pottages.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Sep 19 - 10:58 PM

Farmed catfish is one that I've eaten for years, it's a good choice, as is tilapia. The salmonoid fish don't fare so well when they're farm raised. And I find it an offense against all that is holy amongst fisherpeople to see my local high-end grocery offer "farm-raised steelhead." Steelhead can't be sold, it is only a game fish (at least in Washington state, but probably a federal USFW rule in the entire Pacific Northwest) and steelhead is the anadromous larger older fish that was once a rainbow trout. Farming a fish with such a wonderful life history, keeping it in pens all of its life - bah!

I'm ignoring the bad poetry being dropped into the thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Sep 19 - 12:07 PM

Ooh I found this y'all might like... I wanna try the toaster. Must make toast yummy for weeks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpd_CUX2o98

I apparently don't know how to use the blicky button.

---

Fixed! ----mudelf

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 29 Sep 19 - 12:52 PM

I don't like the farming of fish either, SRS - as in this poem "On Fishing Regulation"

And, being full of the milk of human kindness, here is Mrrzy's link.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Sep 19 - 03:42 PM

Is that full-fat lo-fat lower-fat skim? Thanks Walkies!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Sep 19 - 04:22 PM

Literally the only reduced-fat substance we allow in the house is semi-skimmed milk, and then only because it's the best thing for a mug of tea. For years we used it for our cappuccinos (we have a bean-to-cup coffee machine with built-in milk frother).   Recently I've discovered that full-fat milk is better for cappuccinos: more body and more reliable froth. If Mrs Steve is out I just make meself a very large espresso. We don't use milk on cereal. We've taken to using Alpro unsweetened oat "milk." You can usually find it for a quid a litre somewhere or other on special offer. The unsweetened light soya equivalent is very nice but I've taken to worrying as to whether I should be using soya, the way the world is going. I doubt whether those tetrapaks are ethical, come to think of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 30 Sep 19 - 04:53 PM

I used to use oat milk in tea, having previously tried various kinds of soya and hemp milk. Soya is environmentally bad and hemp milk is expensive. There was just one oat milk that was labelled 'made in the uk' so I stuck with that, until I discovered tea with lemonade.

Revelation.

Not your standard floor sweepings tea bags but proper whole leaf tea. Ceylon long leaf black tea can be bought on ebay and Gunpowder Green Tea from a Rusholme Indian deli. These are continental style teas, less bitter than the teas marketed to be drunk with milk in the UK.

I've treated myself to a glass teapot with a diffuser which can be closed off to prevent stewing and makes clear up simple. Tea with lemonade is amazing. About one quarter to one third lemonade depending on taste. It still works when the tea is cold, in hot weather it is better.

The only tea bags I use now are for Rooibus tea if I want one at night, with lemonade of course.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Sep 19 - 04:55 PM

I am afraid of Roobios.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Sep 19 - 07:30 PM

I drink far too many cups of tea per day to arse about with elaborate brewing regimes, so, for my sins, I'm a confirmed pyramid or Yorkshire teabag man, and I like it a bit stewed and not too much milk, thanks. No sugar. I know that proper leaf tea is grand, but all that mess six times a day...? The coffee, on the other hand, is just a once-a-day ritual, generally late morning. From shovelling the beans into the top to sitting down with a nice frothy brew takes about three minutes. A strong espresso, just over a minute.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Sep 19 - 08:42 PM

I buy loose tea (my kitchen has a cart full of many varieties here) and use a stainless steel strainer over the lip of the cup I'm going to drink out of. Measure the proper amount then pour water just off the boil over it. I usually have a second cup, so I use the same tea plus a half-portion added to it for the second.

I've been drinking a Middle Eastern brand (Alwazah) that comes in various qualities, from tiny fragments to the larger leaf pieces. I used to drink an English tea (Yorkshire Gold) that was the tiny fragments and cost more than the Alwazah. Several years I took one of our student employees to lunch at a buffet restaurant affiliated with the Middle Eastern grocery store next door, and we walked through the store - she pointed at a can and said this was her mother's favorite. I picked up a can and she protested that I didn't need to buy it for that reason, but I trust that the mother in this Iraqi family has tried different teas and settled on a good one. I started researching the grades of teas, and it's quite fascinating. And that store is interesting; I was talking with a young man one day about a jar of loose tea from this company and I realized that as we handed it back and forth we each turned the side we could read to the front to make our point - so I used the English language side and he used the Arabic side. (I love this store for this very reason - people bond over food.)

I have a lot of Chinese teas, purchased at a very good tea and spice import store in Seattle's Pike Place Market. I've bought Chinese tea at a large Asian grocery in the city where I used to work, and I've bought other Indian teas at the Middle Eastern store. So much of the world drinks tea and they import and flavor it in different ways. Jasimine tea at the Asian market versus cardamom tea or Earl Grey from the Middle Eastern market (that is across the street from the Asian market). I love living in a multi-cultural community.

Earlier this year the Middle Eastern grocery switched suppliers and started bringing in a different type of tea, from Turkey. I tried it and it was awful - reading the package it says it has to brew for a really long time. I despaired getting my good tea anywhere else, but I think their tea-drinking customer base protested and the next time I was over they had all of my old favorites. And I poured that Turkish tea into the compost pile.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Oct 19 - 02:01 AM

Tonight we had broccoli souffle with a little ham on the side. Salad. Fruit for dessert.

Just in case you are looking for an idea for tomorrow's dinner.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Oct 19 - 02:32 PM

I fried some of the okra from the garden, but I cooked in in the used oil I'd already fried some fish in, so as expected, it was a richer taste, not bad, but I think I prefer it just corn oil with the cornmeal-coated okra slices. It was an experiment.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 01 Oct 19 - 02:49 PM

I actually drink sweetened soya, Mrrzy, but accept, as Steve and Stanron suggest, that it may not be that environmentally friendly - slash and burn, etc.

I've bean! tempted by a coffee machine but still only have a percolator as an occasional change from instant, I'm afraid.

I like Darjeeling tea but it is much more difficult to get hold of than Earl Grey, e.g.

Never tried tea with lemondade....

At uni, I wrote a 5000 word essay on chanoyu - the Japanese tea ceremony - but have only experienced the earlier but less famous Chinese tea ceremony (photos attached to my poem here).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Oct 19 - 05:50 PM

I'd sooner hack off the family jewels wth a rusty machete than drink instant coffee.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 01 Oct 19 - 06:04 PM

Ouch! But you then, Steve, may appreciate the care they put into the Ethiopian coffee ceremony - wiki
.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Oct 19 - 06:29 PM

They roast and grind the fresh beans. As far as I'm concerned, instant coffee is devil's vomit. Until we went to Venice in 2010 we didn't drink any coffee at all. One day we stopped off at a bar in Burano. We asked for two cups of tea. They brought us two small cups of not-very-hot water, a tiny jug of milk and two tea bags. We could not get a decent mash. In despair, we traipsed along to another bar and plucked up the courage to order two cappuccinos. We didn't even know what a cappuccino was. It was a Damascene moment. Within weeks of arriving home we'd bought a cheap espresso machine (with milk frother) with our Tesco vouchers and a separate grinder. What a faff, but what a revelation. That machine did us proud but it capitulated via huge leakiness after a couple of years. We dispensed with the separate grinder and bought a bean-to-cup machine for ourselves as a mutual Christmas present. We've never looked back. Making coffee from fresh beans isn't the cheapest way but it's a damn sight cheaper than going to a coffee shop and the coffee is delicious. Keep your beans airtight in the fridge!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 01 Oct 19 - 06:43 PM

...I've just gone as far as looking at the cheapest bean to cup machine at Argos - Morphy Richards, £80...tempting.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 01 Oct 19 - 06:48 PM

...but there is still quite a lot of "devil's vomit" in the cupboard to use up! Azera Intenso, which I do quite like.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Oct 19 - 06:52 PM

Well I've only ever bought the one, a Delonghi Caffe Corso. I'm very happy with it. You can get a refurbished one on eBay for about £160. For others read the reviews or look them up on the Which? website. And no, I won't give you my Which? login.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 01:06 AM

How fondly I remember sitting at their kitchen table with my mother and father, both in their eighies, talking and drinking instant coffee. Both are dead now. I would drink any amount of instant coffee to have them back.

There are detective novels set in Canada by Dean Kaplan. In them, the tec often mentions sitting at the kitchen table with his mother and father, talking and passing around a single tea bag. He doesn't know how lucky he is.

Their other son, the doctor who lives hundreds of miles away and is too busy to call home, is the golden boy, of course. Silly people.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 02:03 AM

Leenia, thinking of parents sat with coffee. I’m not sure my mother has ever liked coffee as a drink or flavour. Even in childhood and with a box of chocolates, she’d have to be sure she wasn’t getting one with a coffee centre.

Back to hot drinks. One I enjoy but virtually never get round to making (but what do I? Instant decaf coffee has long been a bit of a habit with me…) is a cup of cocoa made with milk heated in a saucepan. I’ve never really been a fan of the drinking chocolates but I could get something I liked from the cocoa powder.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 12:01 PM

I'm thinking of extirpating the terms "reduced fat," "low alcohol," "sugar-free" and "decaffeinated" from my lexicon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 12:18 PM

I so miss coffee and tea, but any tiny amount of caffeine turns me into a violent and horrible person I cannot be, so there you have it.
I have *dreams* about coffee though, where either I crave it desperately, or I drink it and it's marvelous, then sometimes it turns into a nightmare of me having had coffee.
I had been a (decaf) tea drinker for over a decade before that caffeine started getting to me too... Love tea (milk and suhgar) but it is coffee I dream about...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 12:21 PM

Here's what I've made for this evening, to have with some Puglian toast (the stuff you might use for bruschetta), some cherry tomatoes and some cheese and crackers. I got this pâté recipe from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall years ago. It's so easy and quick, as long as you have a stick blender:

Two cans of unsmoked mackerel fillets in olive oil, drained
One tablespoon creme fraiche (full fat or I'll never talk to you again)
One teaspoon of hot made mustard (Colman's English for choice)
The juice of just over half a lemon*
Freshly-ground black pepper (no salt needed)
A few drops of Tabasco

Put everything in a jug and blend, pushing it down the sides once or twice. You don't want it lumpy but don't overdo it. Ideally you should make this the day before and keep it in the fridge, or at the very least a few hours in advance. Just before serving it I like to grate the lemon zest over it.

Any decent bread will do, but I do think toasted is best.

*The lemon juice is the one thing that can make this go out of balance. You need some, but if you add too much it's spoiled somewhat. So go easy. And lemon juice comes out of a lemon, never out of a bottle or a plastic squeezy pretend lemon. Why would anyone use that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 02:04 PM

Mrrzy - how about a nice cup of herbal tea? I'm not so keen but notice a lot in the office are.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 05:15 PM

Martha Stewart's Facebook page pushed out this recipe today; it was originally published in the magazine last year. I can't do anything about the video, and these days they bounce all over the screen if you try to scroll past it. You can click to turn it off. And if you get the same ad I did, I will say here and now that I don't eat Spam. We had too much of it when we were kids.

Turmeric ginger chicken soup sounds wonderful and is quite beautiful. I'm going to try this soon; I have some chicken broth in the freezer but don't have any chicken in the fridge at the moment. I'll have to cook some, or pick up a rotisserie chicken next time I'm at Costco. (I like the seasoning on Sam's Club's chickens better, it's saltier and more complex, but the Costco chicken is better for putting in other things because of the light seasoning.)

https://www.marthastewart.com/1524910/turmeric-ginger-chicken-soup

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 05:21 PM

I pulled it out of the web page and formatted for print:

Turmeric-Ginger Chicken Soup

1 thinly sliced garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
6 cups Basic Chicken Stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
3 ounces angel-hair pasta, broken in half
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Microgreens and thinly sliced scallions, for serving

DIRECTIONS

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, saute garlic, turmeric, and ginger in oil until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add stock; bring to a simmer. Add pasta; cook 1 minute less than per package instructions. Add chicken; heat through, 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice. Serve with microgreens and scallions.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 06:48 PM

Well you and I agree on most things culinary, Maggie (bar dried basil and minced garlic). I must say, though, that I'm at a loss as to why anyone would wish to pollute lovely, hearty, homely chicken broth with ginger and turmeric. Yikes. If you have a good stock and you start with a soffritto (for soup, not TOO finely chopped), you can hardly go wrong. As for the chicken, leave some nice big chunks in there. The angel hair is a nice idea, though I've used ordinary noodles to good advantage. I've also used basmati rice instead. I've found that a few drops of Tabasco lifts any soup. I would only ever make chicken soup with stock made from the carcass from which the meat was taken, and I don't skim the stock. If I think it's a bit fatty I'll reduce the amount of oil used for the soffritto.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Oct 19 - 11:42 PM

Two-fold - they do sound interesting (an Asian flavor) and turmeric and ginger are particularly healthy for you and are good with chicken. It sounds like a wonderful departure from the usual chicken soup.

Tonight I thawed a package of organic boneless skinless chicken breasts (I shop at a place that has all meat frozen, it came from the grocery distributors near it's sell-by date, so was frozen). A lovely small batch of Teriyaki chicken with the last of some white rice left from a Puerto Rican dish (that calls for white rice, not my usual Basmati rice).

This is a simple recipe I learned from The Frugal Gourmet, a wonderful cooking show that had a long run until it had it's own version of #MeToo leveled at the host. Disappointing (but I kept the cookbooks, and I have a branded tall brass pepper mill that was probably part of a PBS package during a fundraiser).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Oct 19 - 05:54 AM

'Tonight I thawed a package of organic boneless skinless chicken breasts (I shop at a place that has all meat frozen, it came from the grocery distributors near its sell-by date, so was frozen)."

Oddly, just twenty minutes ago I did the exact opposite with two packs of organic boneless skinless chicken breasts that Sainsbury's were selling off cheap on the chicken's use-by date. I snipped 'em into bite-size, portioned them into "feeds two" and whacked them in the freezer. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 03 Oct 19 - 03:24 PM

My poem on "Spearmint Tea"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Oct 19 - 06:07 PM

I tried green tea for a while. I found it to be bitterly unenjoyable. Fruit teas, so-called, consist of viciously-powdered dried fruits that retain nothing of the vitamins and fruity charms of their original ingredients. I don't know about herby teas because I haven't tried them. Wild chamomile grows round here and I like to crush a flower and sniff it. Lovely. I love the heady vanilla perfume of winter heliotrope and I can cup and sniff the blossoms of meadowsweet until the cows come home. The Rosa rugosa in my garden is exquisitely scented. Gorgeous. I rub the leaves of scented pelargoniums and sniff my fingers. Orgasmic. And what's better than a rubbed handful of basil leaves raised to the nose? But that's how I want these things left. Not boiled in water to be drunk. Whoever came up with that, I ask myself. Enjoy nature's fragrances as they are meant to be enjoyed. But give over boiling them in water. Grab yourself a builder tea bag and enjoy life!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Oct 19 - 07:07 PM

There are lots of great green teas. My daughter was in Japan last year and brought back a gift of samples of several types; the largest bag was the least expensive, the smaller ones are quite pricey.

I stopped by a restaurant supply business near my house this afternoon to look at their frozen sausages. They carry a variety, and I can get some of the really good Czech varieties there. I wasn't disappointed today. I use them in dishes as flavoring, I don't usually eat just the whole sausage, though on occasion a plate of sausage and sauerkraut is nice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 03 Oct 19 - 07:09 PM

If you make green tea the in same way as you make black tea it will be way too bitter. Black tea is made with boiling water. Green tea should be made with boiled water which has been left to cool a little bit. You can find the precise details on-line. I usually wait until the kettle has stopped singing and that works for me.

Incidentally, If you drink tea without milk you should really drink it from a glass cup. It won't enhance the taste but it does look good. There are plenty of heat proof glass cups available these days. You can use a normal glass with green tea if you put a spoon in the glass before pouring or put some lemonade in first.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Oct 19 - 07:29 PM

Yes, I let the water stop boiling and give it a little while to still before I pour it over the cup. I use a different strainer for green tea (so I don't get residual from the black tea; I soak them in a water and bleach mix only periodically.) And making this in a white cup is helpful; if it's a dark cup you can't see that the tea has brewed, and it's usually a very light color (though it has a rich flavor).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Oct 19 - 11:55 AM

Walkaboutsverse, the French call herbal tea granny pee, which I find hysterical.

I like vervain/verbana, and that cherry thing from the red zinger people, but neither take milk well. Open to suggestion here. I actually like a cup of chicken broth [better than bouillon] polluted with hot sauce and lemon (from a horrible bottlel) but want a real coffee or tea substitute. Apparently Postum still exists but eewww.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 04 Oct 19 - 12:16 PM

Mrrzy wrote: Open to suggestion here

Try rooibos tea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos

like normal tea but no caffeine and low tannin content and can be taken with milk.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 04 Oct 19 - 02:53 PM

Re packet noodles, I usually put the sachet of flavouring into a mug, stir, then add it to the noodles in a pan; I often add tofu as well as soya sauce for a bit of protein but today, for the first time, I had noodles with baked beans - not bad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Oct 19 - 04:34 PM

Yes, I don't know why I am afraid of roobios. I should get me some, thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 04 Oct 19 - 04:46 PM

I have drinking chocolate in the cupboard as a change from tea and coffee, but each with soya rather than milk.

Never tried nor heard of rooibos until now.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 04 Oct 19 - 05:01 PM

In Fiji, I joined some locals with a nice cup of kava/yaqona...and soon went a bit numb in the mouth.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 09:38 AM

The Norwegian expression for weak tea is “danserinatiss” — ballerina’s pee. This never fails to make me snicker.

I drink smoked tea, Lap-sang sou chong. I’m told that Chinese people make it for foreigners who had their tastebuds shot off in the war and never really liked tea anyway, but I just love the stuff. It is the flavour of my father’s tea, selected when I was about 10 and my family moved from the country, where we had our own well, to the city, where the water came from the river and stank of chlorine. On the one hand, no fear of typhoid, but on the other, your Earl Grey was a little too much like swimming pool.

I put milk in it, and sweetener. I drink it out of a large beer mug. So sue me.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 10:20 AM

...rather than a tankard, Charmion?!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 02:10 PM

A stein of tea. I like the idea.

I find it entertaining that I miss tea more than I miss coffee when awake, but what I dream about is coffee.

Gonna get me some rooibos (always read that as roobios) later today. We shall see.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 04:41 PM

It is the aroma of coffee that yanks me from the arms of Morpheus most mornings, but when Himself is away and I’m on my own I would rather have tea. For me, coffee requires company, but tea goes well with solitude. Besides, when Himself is at home, he brings me cup after cup of coffee, as my lap is usually full of cats and he is far too normative to allow the large beer mug for coffee-drinking. The beer mug is necessary for tea because, again, my frequently cat-besat situation prevents refills. Besides, a small cup goes cold too quickly.

When is a beer mug a tankard, Walkies? My tea mug is earthenware, and I have always believed that a tankard was made of metal — traditionally pewter or silver. Am I wrong?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 05:18 PM

I was drinking way too much tea, probably a quart every morning in my very large (16 ounce) mug. I'm now using a 10 ounce cup and limit myself to two of them. They're small enough they don't have time to get cold before they're finished.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 05:58 PM

I think a beer mug would be better for your tea than the folkie cliche of drinking from a pewter tankard, Charmion...although I have seen someone turn up at a bar with a tankard hooked to his trousers/belt.

I myself have more than just keys hooked to my trousers - when the strap of an otherwise good watch wore out, I tried adding it to my key ring and have stuck with that method ever since.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 06:10 PM

My decaf coffee consumption has gone down a bit lately. Partly as I was drinking too much anyway and partly as I’m advised not to have one (or tea…) within a certain time of the iron tablets I’m taking 3 times a day Apparently some things can interfere with the iron absorption.

We still have cups of tea/coffee but plain water in “sports” water bottles is “in” here at the moment. Thinking it might be handy in the future, I got one from Amazon when I was asked to drink a quantity of water over the 45 minutes before an appointment. I liked it and thought one might be better for dad than having a glass of water at his table. We’ve each got one now. Mum’s travels with her depending on whether she is in the study, living room or trying to do something outside.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 07:03 PM

I go about with a water bottle, too, Jon Freeman. I keep one in the car, and I have one in my shopping basket. For older folks whose hands shake or have lost strength, a bottle may be easier to manage than a glass.

Besides, I’m a tightwad who resents paying good money for water that I have for my taxes at home.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 07:19 PM

Sure, Charmion. That applies more to dad but mum’s hands and arms aren’t what they were either. Both find these 500ml containers with a press button flip top nice to handle.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 08:00 PM

Anyway, to try to get back more to food. Just a reheat with more rice today. I did a root veg curry thing on Thursday night for Friday tea and nearly always make enough for two meals. Everyone is happy with this 2 days in a row.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 08:56 PM

Weak tea is called gnat's piss round here, Charmion. I regard caffeine-free tea and coffee as not tea and not coffee. I can't understand this need to lug water around all the time that afflicts some people. The only time I'll do that is on my holidays in the Med on hot summer days, and then it's just a 500ml bottle that I can refill at drinking fountains, which is occasionally only. Some people think that drinking a ton of water is good for you, that it somehow flushes you out. It doesn't. Your body just chucks it back out almost straight away so that your blood doesn't get diluted (we call it homeostasis), down the lavvy or in a hedge somewhere, and any toxins that are inside you end up still there, awaiting your body's natural systems to delete them at their leisure. I'll admit that drinking when you're thirsty should never be ignored. The main sign that you're not drinking enough is constipation. I rarely tote water around and I never suffer from the aforementioned issue.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 19 - 10:56 PM

Over the years there were staff events at my university where they gave away a number of BPA-free insulated tumblers (they're translucent and have air between the layers) with a lid and acrylic straw. I also bought a batch of acrylic straws (and a couple of extra brushes for cleaning them). These do for me around the house and in the car and they're sturdier and more durable than the soft plastic water bottles. Ice in the fridge is filtered and I usually fill it up from the tap. For some reason water coming through the fridge filter tastes more like chlorine than the tap water does. I use the filtered water for the glass kettle but I fill it the night before so it sits on the counter and any chlorine dissipates.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 02:25 AM

Carrying a bottle of water around all the time in the UK is just fashion.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 04:57 AM

Dave Hanson wrote: Carrying a bottle of water around all the time in the UK is just fashion.

As with many things this all depends on context. When I worked as a volunteer steward for folk festivals (you know, the real folk police) I always took a small bottle of water or cold tea with lemonade on my duties.

If I'm sitting around the house all day or nipping to the shops there is no need. Intensity of hangover can increase the likelihood but I'm having a sober month right now so no bottled drinks.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 05:38 AM

You see people round here, taking a stroll on the sea cliffs or around the Bude Canal (it never gets that hot round here), lugging two-litre plastic water bottles with 'em! I suppose I shouldn't judge...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 07:28 AM

By the way, nice place Bude, in my opinion - my late auntie and uncle from Manchester retired there; hence my poem, from WalkaboutsVerse, "Birdwatchers' Bude"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 07:49 AM

When I was still college professing, I did not allow my students to [rudely, to my training] eat nor drink during class. In the latter years I would hear that they literally could not go one hour without water.
Bullshit. Spoiled brats. You just don't need to have constant water intake. Well, maybe some medical conditions, but just regular folks? Nonsense.
I miss my job!
Meanwhile I have purchased but not tried rooibos. It still scares me.
Made some kickass bison and mushroom spaghetti, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 08:51 AM

Wouldn't mind joining you, Mrrzy - with you having some extra bison!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 10:51 AM

It was yum, though I do say so myself.

Meanwhile I had a nice hot cup of rooibos this morning. Not sure I like the actual flavor but a hot cuppa was soooo nice. Will keep trying, though. Again open to suggestions for herbal comfort... Soothing. Don't like the taste of chamomile unfortunately.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 11:33 AM

You could blend chamomile withe something else, ginger would probably be good. I drink a strong cup of it before bedtime if I'm a bit wound up from the day. I do like the flavor and I buy it in bulk and spoon enough into the tea sieve that it's a fairly strong flavor.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 01:23 PM

Last night I was watching the local PBS "Create" channel and there was a program about all of the great homemade pies that are sold at roadside stands, particularly in New England. I watched those pies being made and knew I had to do something soon. I called my daughter and we have a date this week to have dinner and she'll bring a pie pan over and we'll make two pies, one for each of us.

Lemon meringue, I think.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 01:46 PM

Don't know a lot about pies but in Adelaide, South Australia, they plonk a pie on a bed of peas and call it a pie floater.

In Wigan, England, I think a lobby is a potato pie without a crust.

At school in Sydney, after eating one from the corner shop, we'd often say "live by the pie, die by the pie"!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 02:35 PM

I guess terms vary Wav but mum used to do her own lemon merengue pie, a bigger one to be divided rather than individual and it was delicious. It’s not something I remember having in a long while though.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 03:02 PM

The homity pie can be a thing of beauty, as can the steak and kidney topped with a vast crust. But, as a northerner living in north Cornwall, there can for me be only one of two numero uno pie-like objects: the Greenhalgh's meat and potato pie (or preferably two), purchased on Bury Market or from Dominic's in Radcliffe, or the Chough bakery's large steak pasty from their tatty harbour-front shop in Padstow. Either must be eaten slightly too hot, in the street, absolutely never taken home to reheat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 03:03 PM

Long time ago, but I've also enjoyed Lemon meringue pie, JF - very moreish...

And, further to the above, if in England someone is seemingly carrying a few extra pounds, the question may be raised "Who's eaten all the pies?!"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 03:10 PM

Diverging slightly, I wrote this poem about the Cornish pasty "Tin-Miners' Lunch"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Oct 19 - 09:16 PM

My aunt makes the best Cornish pasty in Creation. She's Canadian, of mostly Irish descent, and lives in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

So there.

Himself came home with an unfamiliar sort of pasta the other day, in a plastic bag with a label in Hungarian. Boiled up, it's a bit like spaetzel, a staple of the southern German diet, but somewhat smaller. Tonight we had lamb stew ladled over heaps of it. With beer. Sunday supper at its best.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Oct 19 - 09:51 AM

Nokedli! Wonderful Hungarian spatzlish stuff. Also csipetke, irregular-shaped pinched-off kinda egg noodly stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Oct 19 - 09:54 AM

There are rules.

From the Cornish Pasty Association website:

ON THE INSIDE

Just good, wholesome ingredients, put together with love and care

Roughly diced or minced beef
Sliced or diced potato
Swede (turnip)
Onion
Seasoning to taste (mainly salt & pepper)
No meat other than beef, and no vegetables apart from those listed can be used in the filling. There must be at least 12.5% beef and 25% vegetables in the whole pasty. All the ingredients must be uncooked when the pasty is assembled and then slowly baked to develop all that famous Cornish pasty taste and succulence.

ON THE OUTSIDE

The pastry can be shortcrust, rough puff or puff, but it has to be savoury and able to withstand baking and handling without breaking. Pasties went down the mines, across the fields and out to sea, so they had to be up to the job. It can be glazed with egg, or milk, or both, to give the finished pasty its wonderful golden colour.

THE CRIMP

Here’s where the pasty comes into its own. Once it’s assembled, the edges are sealed by crimping them to one side, creating the characteristic Cornish pasty shape. If it’s not crimped, it’s not Cornish.

WHERE WAS IT BORN?

Any product sold using the Cornish pasty name must be produced west of the Tamar, in the wonderful county of Cornwall.

WHAT DOES
PGI STATUS MEAN?

SINCE 1993, THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) HAS PROVIDED A FRAMEWORK THAT GIVES LEGAL PROTECTION FOR NAMED REGIONAL FOOD PRODUCTS AGAINST IMITATION ACROSS THE EU.

So, even if your aunt is sticking strictly to the rules, in Quebec she can only make a "Cornish" pasty, never a Cornish pasty. I know she's not in the EU, but I sincerely hope you won't be condoning a similar thing to what the yanks do when they call their fizzy wine "champagne." ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Oct 19 - 11:34 AM

The US winemakers have to call the fizzy wine "Sparkling Wine."

This morning I have chicken tenders thawing for something for dinner and a piece of Copper River salmon thawing for lunch.

For the salmon we don't gild the lily around here, it's a simple matter of sauteing in butter with salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder. Perfect!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 07 Oct 19 - 12:28 PM

You tell 'em Steve...picturing you with a Cornish pasty in hand, it brought to mind that song from school/boy scouts about "tomatoes are soft and they won't hurt your skin"!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Oct 19 - 01:40 PM

My aunt is considerably older than the EU and sometimes I think she will outlive it. If I tried to tell her she makes mere “Cornish” pasties, I’d get a snort for my trouble.

When leaving her house, facing a drive of four to five hours on the autoroute, she always me a packed lunch, often a pasty. No eating in motorway cafes for her kin-group!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Oct 19 - 02:12 PM

From the Vinepair website (google):

The 100-Year-Old Loophole That Makes California Champagne Legal

I had a furious row online once with a yank who vigorously defended this deception. It wasn't on Mudcat!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Oct 19 - 12:01 AM

Hmmm.

Most sparkling wine from the US is called sparkling wine. There does seem to be an exception:

http://blog.wine.com/2013/01/inaugural-california-champagne-controversy/

Korbel Wine Cellars began producing “California Champagne” in the late 1800s, when using the term “champagne” on wine labels outside of champagne caused no worldwide ire. They have continued to do so, even with the sale of the company, a sale that mandated continuation of the term “champagne” on the label. They are old school. They’ve been using the term for years and have no reason – or requirement by law – to change. But other wineries who produce sparkling wine in California who are “grandfathered” in do not use the term, mostly out of respect for the Champagne region. Interestingly, the majority of California sparkling wines who continue to use “California Champagne” on their labels are priced below $15. Those pricing their wines in the $30+ brand themselves as California sparkling wine. It reflects the fact that the majority of wine consumers on the market most likely do not understand the difference of Champagne and sparkling wine.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Oct 19 - 05:40 AM

We're not even allowed to put "champagne-style" or "made by the champagne method" on the label. Interesting that you say that your superior sparklers are never the ones to indulge in this chicanery. Inferior stuff piggybacking on famous names is annoying.   The cheap discounter supermarkets here (Aldi and Lidl) produce own-brand stuff with labels as similar to Heinz, Campbell's, etc, as they can legally get away with making them.The trouble with champagne is that much of it is overpriced and disappointing. For a quarter of the price you can often get a vintage Cava that's every bit as good, and other French regions make a "cremant" that is indistinguishable from champers but about three or four times cheaper. And don't get me started on cheese names...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Oct 19 - 08:32 PM

We're so close to autumn weather, finally, that I can almost taste it. . . this weekend begins cooking season.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 10 Oct 19 - 02:25 PM

Yesterday, the temperature plunged and the sky turned gray. It rained a lot. It was a perfect day to fire up the oven. A supplement in the newspaper had an article about a woman who bills herself as "The Pioneer Cook." She had moved from San Diego to a ranch in Oklahoma, and apparently the media think that when she moved, she not only traveled miles but went back a century or so.

Well, she offered a recipe for curried cauliflower, which is baked in a 450-degree oven. (That's really hot.) How she could think that the pioneers had access to curry powder, kosher salt and red wine vinegar is a mystery, but she did. Nonetheless, I made the recipe and it was good.

I made the usual modifications. Didn't add salt; in our house, we never put salt in anything because of the DH's blood pressure. If you want salt, you can use the salt shaker. I cut the amount of curry powder, and the food still burned my mouth.

The recipe said to bake the cauliflower for ten minutes, then take it out, turn it over and bake it a further 10 minutes. I decided "the heck with that". A 450-degree pan is dangerous to handle, and opening the oven loses a lot of heat. So I just let the food cook for 20 minutes, let the pan cool some, and it came out fine.

In the nice, warm kitchen the DH made chicken salad with poppy seeds in it, and we served it over cut-up garden tomatoes. It worked well.

So there are two ideas for you: curried cauliflower and chicken salad with tomato.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 10 Oct 19 - 03:02 PM

10 portions of Murghi Dopiaza made today, two to eat 8 for the freezer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Oct 19 - 07:46 PM

Bejaysus, I did my take on the Northumbrian dish panhaggerty tonight, and what a triumph it was! You do need a pan that you can put under a hot grill...

Here's what I did, for two, bearing in mind that Mrs Steve and I are greedy buggers...

Grab a pack of streaky bacon, preferably unsmoked and dry-cured, about 200g. Cut the rashers in half and carefully fry them in a sauté pan in a little glug of oil. I had to do mine in two batches. You want the bacon almost crispy with the fat rendered. Put the bacon to one side. You need that pan with all its fat.

Grab two good-size carrots, peel them and slice them thinly. Grab two medium onions, peel and slice thinly. Grab about 500g of potatoes, peel them and slice them fairly thinly. No need to overdo it. You also need 350ml chicken stock.

In the bacon pan put in a thin layer of your sliced spuds. Add a layer of onions, then carrots, then bacon. Season lightly. Repeat these layers until you've used everything up. The very top layer should be potato. Pour in the stock. Simmer that lot under a lid for about 15-20 minutes.

Check that the spuds and carrots are done, then grate at least 150g of strong cheddar on top. Put the pan under a hot grill for six or seven minutes until the cheese is bubbling and going golden.

There, you've done it. We had ours with some greens, but you could just eat it on its own or with a bit of crusty bread. Brilliant for a miserable winter's evening. As with anything I ever cook, the quality of the ingredients was paramount. Silk purse, sow's ear, etc....

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 12 Oct 19 - 11:46 AM

None that hungry so just the simple Cheshire cheese (we used to call Welsh Rarebit but I now think that is something more involved) on toast for tea today. Bit of mustard powder and milk in a pan. Crumble in a pack of supermarket (nothing fancy) Cheshire and heat up. I’d not attempt a complete melt with this, in fact I think a touch of “bittiness” is part of the enjoyment. I don’t think it works with Cheddar – that can turn out a bit stringy and I think it suits the tang of Cheshire better.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Oct 19 - 12:27 PM

Steve, on your panhaggerty, you slice the potatoes and carrots but don't do shaved slices - they're thick enough to be a little firm? Sounds interesting.

I made two lemon meringue pies yesterday and my daughter stopped by to pick up hers. We had intended to make them the evening before but took too long over dinner. I don't use shortening for crusts any more, I use butter.

It was quite cool this morning, almost down to a frost but with a couple of degrees to spare. It's time for soups, and I have some frozen turkey pieces to start out with.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Oct 19 - 12:49 PM

Do you guys make your own curry (the spice, not the dish)?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 12 Oct 19 - 01:17 PM

Things vary for me, mrzzy.

It varies.

At one rare end I might try to follow a recipe.

At the other and often used for a meal with Quorn fillets, I’m using a jar of a Korma sauce mixed with chopped tomato and onion.

Something like my root veg curry things are a bit random but would at least start with frying onion, adding cumin, coriander and a mild chilli powder. Maybe some root ginger, maybe turmeric… it’s just how it goes at the time. No expertise and they differ but they all seem to come out OK, and better if they are made a day in advance.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Oct 19 - 01:55 PM

I just sliced the spuds thinly by hand. I do have a mandoline but in this case the thickness (or thinness) wasn't too crucial and I don't like to make extra washing up! The vegetables in my way of doing it are mostly in liquid or sticking out into steam, so they didn't take long to cook. It wasn't like a gratin that you bake uncovered. I have a 24cm sauté pan with a vented glass lid (I like to see what's going on) which was ideal for two and which will do for three when my sisters here next week. I used a bit too much stock (I served the panhaggerty with a slotted spoon so as not to have it too sloppy in the bowl) but now I'm left with a small amount of thick and delicious gravy which I can always find a use for. My pan is ancient with loose rivets so I've just ordered a new one. I'm not too keen on non-stick, which seems to be the thing with the type of pan I want unless I pay £150 for a Le Crueset, but I suppose my new one will at least let go of my frittatas a bit more easily. It's crucial that I have a handle that won't suffer heatstroke as it sticks out of the front of the grill, so no plastic.

Anyway, slow-roasted whole shoulder of lamb tomorrow! I'll join Extinction Rebellion NEXT week...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Oct 19 - 02:16 PM

I lived in Newcastle for more than a dozen years but never got around to trying panhaggerty, Steve, but yours sounds good - I'd be tempted to stuff some of it in a stottie (much easier to find there in Greggs, e.g.).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Oct 19 - 04:11 PM

Yes, Mrrzy, I mix curry spices for each recipe. I buy them ready-ground — I’m not sufficiently hard-core to roast and grind whole spices at home — but the variations from recipe to recipe are great enough that I don’t bother with mixes except garam masala. Southern Ontario has so many people who make South Asian food at home that most supermarkets carry ground and whole turmeric, cumin, coriander, cardamom and cinnamon in large cellophane packets.

I have a couple of Mahur Jaffrey books and I’m not afraid to use them.

Can’t remember when I last had any use for pre-mixed curry powder.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 13 Oct 19 - 08:17 AM

I used to make curries from scratch using the individual spices, but gave up when decent bottled sauces such as Patak's appeared on the market and gave better results. How do you tell which are the decent ones, other than by trying them all? Rule of thumb: check the list of ingredients, and if they include modified starch, reject.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Oct 19 - 10:46 AM

I ask because I made something once with lots of spices and when it was done it tasted like curry. Accidentally but deliciously.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Oct 19 - 07:07 PM

BobL, try Spice Tailor curry mixes. There's a good number of varieties and, to my way of thinking, they are better than those jars of curry sauce, which I find are overcooked, dull and claggy. A typical pack consists of a sachet of dried spices, including a dried chilli, a base sauce that you stir-fry the meat/veg with and a main sauce to do the final simmer until the meat/veg is cooked through. If you like it hot, the Fiery Goan is very nice. I've been known to add a dash of creamed coconut and I always cut up the spices a bit with scissors. Very good with diced chicken breast, chick peas and whatever rice/naan/pappadoms you prefer. And mango chutney and raita, of course.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Oct 19 - 07:44 PM

We don't have curries very often and I get fed up of throwing out jars of spices that I bought in a flush of enthusiasm, used once, only to discard years after they expired. We get our spicy hits mostly from chili con carne or from Italian dishes such as arrabbiata or orecchiette con cime di rape. Or from Spice Tailor cheat recipes. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 19 - 10:05 AM

Himself loves curry, which his mother learned to make in Malaya (as it then was) where the family was posted in 1958. (By herself, my mother-in-law travelled by air from Colchester Barracks to Singapore with four children, including Himself in nappies. I remain amazed.) I grew up on an Anglo-Indian version of curry that my father's family learned from one Mrs Mott, who had been in service in Poona before becoming my grandmother's cook circa 1930.

Most curry dishes are even better reheated, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Oct 19 - 12:57 PM

Lots of things are better reheated. Mom said to leave things overnight so the flavors can marry.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Oct 19 - 01:45 PM

My Scandihoovian mother who grew up in the relatively white bread Pacific Northwest made awful curry. It involved one can of Coleman's curry that was in the cupboard, and though I lived in NYC for several years and ate in Indian restaurants, I need to work on developing an interest in anything called "curry" because of those early years. You don't want to know what her chili tasted like (think spaghetti sauce over beans). There were several other attempts at international cooking, more or less successful, but usually mispronounced. My Puerto Rican husband was in stitches when I told him about growing up with Mom's 'Arrows con polo' (pronounced that way).

How mild was the Northwestern diet? I remember what a big deal it was when you could finally buy bagels.

There was a lot of Asian food, primarily Chinese and occasional Japanese, when I was growing up in said Pacific Northwest, but not a lot of curry (not in those places.)

I've had a lot of interest in the wide range of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods, and most of the ingredients are easy to get here (so is Indian and Asian, because this is a highly multicultural area in urban North Texas).

This isn't to say there was nothing good to eat there. After all, when the tide is out the table IS set. Clams, oysters, crabs, mussels, etc., and lots of fresh and saltwater fish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 19 - 04:12 PM

The old freezer died and some things got soft, but not too much defrosted completely, and today the new freezer was delivered, set up, and after chilling for four hours, is stuffed with the perishables that were in coolers since this morning when I emptied the old one. It was still working, but barely. Now that 50-year-old freezer is going to be recycled.

And I have some cooking to do with things that should be used soon. I can make baked goods and refreeze them, to start with. I do a mix of pumpkin and sweet potato in a spicy bread that is amazing, and some of the frozen sweet potato can go in with the fresh pumpkin here that I'll steam soon. The original recipe is just pumpkin, but I was short on the recipe a while back and added sweet potato to make up the volume and the results were mindblowingly good!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Nov 19 - 01:31 PM

Big noodly soups. Getting cold.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Nov 19 - 02:06 PM

We're having bacon and three-bean risotto tonight. I'll use about half chicken stock and half veg-boiling water, which I won't salt. The "three beans" are a variable feast. Tonight it will be 150g each of broad beans, sugar snap peas and peas. They get boiled first in enough water to give me about 400 ml water, and I'll have to use an organic stock pot this time as I haven't got any stock in the freezer. I need around 700 ml on standby. I put a big knob of butter in my cast-iron small casserole and fry about 100g snipped streaky bacon or pancetta until almost crisp. Then I add about three chopped banana shallots and fry for another five minutes. Into that goes a few sprigs of fresh thyme and about 275g of risotto rice. I turn up the heat and add a small glass of white wine. After this toasting of the rice I add the hot stock.

Now here's the cheat. I add the stock all at once. That much rice needs about 600 ml of stock, keeping a bit in reserve. Season (easy on salt) stir like mad, bring to a gentle simmer and put the lid on for fourteen minutes. Drink the rest of that bottle (share). When time is up remove the lid and stir really vigorously for at least two energetic minutes. Test for al dente. When you're happy, add the cooked veg, a big grating of fresh Parmesan cheese, some chopped fresh parsley and either a big knob of butter or two tablespoons of full-fat creme fraiche. You may need a bit of extra stock, depending on how you like your risotto. Stir and allow to sit off the heat for a few minutes. As long as you've done that vigorous stirring, it will be just as good as a risotto made the laborious way.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Nov 19 - 05:55 PM

I can’t remember when I last made a pumpkin pie, but Himself came home yesterday with three little pie pumpkins instead of one of the great watery ones we normally use to make a jack-o’-lantern. So this morning I steamed them in the electric pressure cooker (a Very Useful Device) and ended up with a little over a kilo of orange mash.

Now, until today I was under the impression that pumpkin pie is a fairly standard item — custard with mashed pumpkin stirred into it baked in pastry. I was so wrong. I made the mistake of Googling for recipes and ended up with at least ten variations, some requiring a pre-baked shell and calling for molasses, bourbon and fresh ginger root, and others forbidding a pre-baked shell and calling for maple syrup, heavy cream and extra egg yolks. Finally, in desperation, I Googled for the recipe that used to be printed on the label of Libby’s canned pumpkin, a staple of Ontario cuisine circa 1965, which called for evaporated milk (how post-war!) and always worked, especially if you doubled the ginger.

And I found it. The Libby trade name now belongs to Nestlé (boo!), and the recipe irritatingly tells you to use branded ingredients, all from the Nestlé stable. So I used what we had in the house — except evaporated milk, which I haven’t bought since about 1968 — and it just came out of the oven both looking and smelling precisely as it should.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 01 Nov 19 - 06:55 PM

Well, we had soul cakes.

Interesting taste, probably the vinegar that does it.

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Nov 19 - 11:19 PM

There's a recipe I like in the old Better Homes & Gardens cookbook a friend gave me in 1974 that I still use. No branded products, and though it calls for evaporated milk (that I did actually buy last year and still have) I often just use regular milk for the entire amount. I have no idea why evaporated milk is called for, it's just a custard.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 02 Nov 19 - 12:18 AM

Thanksgiving is coming. Lady Hillary and I have agreed on a pumpkin risotto [Arborio rice] with pine nuts.
We also generally make a tomatillo, cranberry and jicama salsa in place of ordinary boring, cranberry sauce. We're adding some pomegranate vinegar to the salsa.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Nov 19 - 10:51 AM

I started making my own cranberry sauce from fresh berries a couple of years ago - there is a world of difference and it's much better than the jellied can stuff.

I have a container of defrosted sweet potato so this afternoon will steam my pumpkins and make some pumpkin/sweet potato bread and freeze it. I have whole dates here to chop and walnuts and butter - it all comes out quite rich.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Nov 19 - 01:44 PM

Mrs Steve makes cranberry sauce every year. I think the cranberries come from the US. I'm not that keen on sharp, sour things on a plate of what is generally comfort food, but I always have some of hers. Much better than what comes out of jars.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Nov 19 - 03:33 PM

My grandmother used to make cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries... We have the recipe. Someone makes "gran's cran" every year... My only job this year is a dessert that is both chocolate and not pie, as we have apple, cherry, maybe pumpkin, and pecan, at least...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Nov 19 - 03:42 PM

I always make cranberry sauce from the berries; it’s easy and far better than what comes out of a tin. And you can buy fresh cranberries for cheap at the supermarket at this time of the year (the harvest is on now) and chuck ‘em in the freezer for future reference. Commercial cranberry sauce is always too sweet, and I like to put just a bit of orange zest in it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Nov 19 - 09:59 AM

I don't buy shop pesto. I've never tasted any that wasn't greasy, salty and a little bit bitter. I happened to have three or four windowsill pots of basil lying around so I've used them up today before they went downhill. I have done pesto the traditional way with my pestle and mortar, but I honestly can't be arsed these days as I have a very nifty hand blender with its own jug.

I made one lot of Marcella Hazan's, which I'll stir into some spaghetti this evening after the fireworks at the old people's home. The ingredients are fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil (my best Tuscan), pine nuts, garlic and salt. That gets whizzed into a paste, then I added a hearty grating of parmesan cheese and a slightly less hearty grating of pecorino Romano. Following Marcella, I worked the cheese in with my hand (which was very clean), which keeps the mix airy and light. The bonus is that you can lick your fingers after you've finished.

I made another lot which we'll have on crostini on Friday evening. This is one of Gino d'Acampo's recipes. It's basil, pine nuts, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, parmesan and a goodly amount of sundried tomatoes drained of their oil (I hate the salty, dry-packed ones). You can whizz it all in one go but it's better to do the whizzing in two steps, leaving the cheese and oil until stage two. The paste is quite thick, ideal for spreading on to bruschetta or crostini. The finishing touch is to sprinkle some deseeded, finely-chopped tomato and some baby basil leaves on top. I'll need another topping for Friday night but I haven't decided on one as yet. I'm a bit weird with my bruschetta and crostini. I always brush both sides very lightly with garlicky oil before toasting. The rubbing with garlic method can tear the bread, but that's just me being clumsy, and I'm not changing now. The bread quality is paramount. I normally use Crosta Mollusca pane pugliese, but if I haven't got any a nice sliced ciabatta will do the job.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Nov 19 - 10:50 AM

Yikes, omission red alert!!! Right at the end of making Marcella's, you add about an ounce of soft butter (I melted it slightly in a pan), just after the cheese. I mixed it in with my fingers again. What Mrs Steve's eye don't see...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Nov 19 - 11:42 AM

I made a robust batch of tomato beef vegetable soup last night; I sometimes use a ham hock in soup, but didn't want to dig one out so did a mix of a half-pound of beef chuck roast and two slices of thick-sliced hickory smoked bacon, run through the grinder attachment on the stand mixer. Because of the recent freezer change out I had a quart of tomato juice (from garden tomatoes last year or the year before) to use as much of the liquid, along with a couple of pints of canned tomatoes that I need to finish up this year.

I started out sauteing chopped onion, then added the meat to brown along with it, then started adding vegetables according to how long they take to soften. Diced carrots and green beans spent the most time that way, then I added a bit of water so other things could steam (potatoes, kidney beans I prepared a couple of days ago) and then started adding the tomato stuff. I dehydrated mushrooms last year so I threw a handful in. The rule of thumb that I *think* came from Lynne Rossetto Kasper (The Splendid Table cookbook and long-running radio show) is to not add any tomato products until things like onion are at the point you want them, because once tomato is in the onions won't soften any more. Seasoning was (as usual) a hefty grind of black pepper, salt, oregano, and a dollop of Balsamic vinegar.

I finished with slivers of cabbage stirred in. It's a nice beefy/smoky/tomatoey soup. Great smell, great mouth-feel. More stuff than liquid, but not as thick as a stew.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Nov 19 - 05:48 PM

I miss brothy soups in restaurants. They seem to think thick and full of stuff is better. And while a good stew is delish, it is not Soup. (I feel like Eeyore or zpooh or Piglet here.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Nov 19 - 06:39 PM

Well we had the Marcella pesto stirred into spaghetti this evening. It needed to be loosened with a splash of pasta water (Marcella suggests that), and we grated a bit of extra Parmesan on top. It was an utter class act, and so simple. That woman was a bloody genius. I have her book and will rely on it muchly from now on!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Nov 19 - 06:56 PM

Chicken soup is the one I'm most likely to leave "brothy," with mostly stock, though I'm as likely to make chicken pot pie (very thick/stewlike) as I am to make chicken soup these days.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Nov 19 - 08:06 AM

Mrzzy, you should eat more in Italian, Chinese (actually, Cantonese) and Japanese restaurants if you are in search of brothy soup. Their cuisines have never heard of the blender as a soup-maker’s tool.

Tortellini in brodo and egg-drop soup are my faves.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Nov 19 - 09:30 AM

I used to make Xmas treats like whiskey balls or schwedy balls but now I make a treat inspired by Monty Python called Crunchy Frog.
I take whole half walnuts, that look like the body of a small frog and in a double boiler I melt Dove chocolate to dip the walnuts and set down on wax paper. For the chocolate head I make a head out of epoxy, this takes bit of sculpting skill, to make a mold out of several thick aluminum foil sheets and pressing the head shape into the foil. I dab the chocolate into the mold and attach the head with some more melted chocolate. For the eyes I use a tiny round confectionary before the chocolate is cold.

You can make brown red or brown green versions but who cares, they taste alike unless you add peppermint oil to one batch or a hint of cinnamon to another.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Nov 19 - 09:42 AM

Use a hardening clay instead of epoxy paste like I did if you are more familiar with clay.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Nov 19 - 10:21 AM

The risk of someone accidentally eating clay or epoxy is great - why not use a jelly bean or something the right size and shape that is food?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Janie
Date: 06 Nov 19 - 04:03 PM

One can certainly use regular milk instead of evaporated milk to make pumpkin pie. But there will be some differences. Pumpkin contains a lot of water. It will often require longer cooking times, and the texture and flavor of the custard will be different and less creamy if regular milk is used.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 06 Nov 19 - 05:31 PM

Peperonata. I say peperonata, but I'm sure some will have conniptions about what I made! The recipe I have (naturally, I don't follow it; where would be the fun?!) says a couple of red bell peppers, a can of Pomodoro tomatoes, the right amount of chili (it doesn't say "the right amount of chili" but that's what it means, as every recipes does, right?).

So, naturally, I ignore this. Green peppers are added because A) they're to hand & B) Why not enjoy the contrasting colours? Onion. Oooo! Wrong! Yet, the first google you hit for peperonata has garlic & basil in the ingredients. Can't stand garlic meself, but onion I love, so why not. And yes, basil was included (the plant will not last much longer; it's already dropping leaves all over).

So, peppers (various), onion, tomatoes (not Pomodoro), basil, chili. It won't be peperonata by somebody's standards, but it's damn tasty! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Nov 19 - 02:50 PM

I made a tool to make an impression in tin foil for a mold and not to eat the impression tool. You silly goose, I guess you are not a tool and die maker or death mask maker or hollywood face mold maker.

I suppose you could mold your exact face for a birthday cake but the notion of eating one's face seems morbid.

We have about 10 recipe channels on TV and the food looks scrumptious

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 07 Nov 19 - 02:56 PM

I used to be a moulder! My instructional poem, from WalkaboutsVerse, "Diedactic"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Nov 19 - 06:07 PM

I made a variant of Steve Shaw’s oven chips the other day, using the teeny-tiny potatoes that French-speaking Canadians call “grelots”.

Boil the potatoes till just tender, then crush them slightly with the back of a spoon on a plate, or between your hands. Toss them in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then spread them on a baking sheet. Bake at 400F (I don’t know what that is in the other money) until brown and crisp.

Boffo, I tell ya.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 07 Nov 19 - 06:48 PM

Charmion wrote: I don’t know what that is in the other money

I learned this between 55 and 60 years ago so it might have got a bit twisted since then but I seem to remember -32 x5 /9.

400-32= 368

368/9 = 40.9

40.9 x 5 = 204

call it 200 C

Off topic reference to another thread but this is a result of a Grammar school education.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Nov 19 - 06:49 PM

Using olive oil is the Mediterranean way. You could also throw in some unpeeled garlic cloves and a sprig or two of rosemary. In fact, you could even skip the par-boiling. We do it that way quite a lot! Just cut the unpeeled spuds up quite small and bake them for half an hour. My family love spuds done that way to accompany barbecues, but with anything really.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Nov 19 - 08:49 PM

Steve, I learned all that calculation in Grade 9 science at the age of thirteen, and promptly put it right out of my head. Like most Canadians, I live with three different systems of measurement simultaneously, hardly ever bothering to convert because each system applies to only certain aspects of life.

So temperature is Celsius unless it’s the oven, in which case it’s Fahrenheit because the stove is American. Beer comes by the Imperial pint (20 fluid ounces) at the pub because the glass is British, and many Canadians still have a vestigial memory of what a real pint and quart are. Milk comes in four-litre packages, put up in three plastic pouches in a plastic bag. Why three plastic pouches and not four? Because when the system was designed, people were accustomed to Imperial quart bottles, and 1.33 litres is quite close to that. I weigh myself in pounds, but I buy cheese and meat by the kilo. I buy gasoline (petrol) by the litre, but understand fuel efficiency best when expressed in terms of miles per American gallon.

When the government converted us to the metric system back in the late ‘70s, the change was supposed to simplify our lives. It did no such thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 04:24 AM

This post surely should be about Thousand Island dressing...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 04:28 AM

I know off by heart all the temperature conversions within the UK meteorological limits. Beyond that, if I'm reading an American recipe I just ask Siri what it is in Celsius!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 04:34 AM

I printed a little conversion chart (degC, degF, gas#) onto a label which I stuck to a kitchen unit next to the oven. I'm still trying to invent one for calculating microwave times at different power levels.

OTOH when the computer world went metric half a lifetime ago, I had to learn the 25.4 times table...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 04:45 AM

I bought a cheap second-hand copy of Nigella Bites on Amazon. It was the American edition! I still can't get my head round this "cups" malarkey. Mrs Steve bought me a set of "cups" measurers!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 07:50 AM

Steve, if you were Canadian (of a certain age), you would have, not only the American cups, but also the Imperial gill/pint/quart measures that belonged to your English immigrant grandmother, the government-approved beakers with both American and metric graduation on them, and an electronic scale that does both metric and U.S. Standard, and for all you know troy weight as well.

So, with all this clag in your kitchen, of course you measure everything with your Mark I human eyeball and your good right hand.

Many of my recipes, especially for bread, have metric weights written in over the American cups and tablespoons. Weighing the ingredients is far more precise (important with baking) and saves washing up all those volume measures (important when one is lazy).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 10:23 AM

I weigh more food than I used to, but haven't gotten to the dry ingredients yet.

Charmion, you wrote:
Boil the potatoes till just tender, then crush them slightly with the back of a spoon on a plate, or between your hands. Toss them in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then spread them on a baking sheet. Bake at 400F (I don’t know what that is in the other money) until brown and crisp.

I'm sure I described the boil the small potatoes until just tender in my "smashed potato" recipe that I probably shared here. But my version (from Martha Stewart) is that once it is slightly smashed, then slip it into a skillet with melted butter and saute it on both sides. That buttery goodness makes the edges crispy, and all it needs is salt and pepper to make it perfect.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 01:48 PM

I have been known to order wonton soup, hold the wontons.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 06:04 PM

To be honest I'm not a weigher or a measurer. When I follow a recipe for the very first time I'll stick to the prescribed amounts, but after that I'm a rebel. I never stick to prescribed cooking times for meat. Big joints are always slow cooked at really low temperatures (not chickens). I never look at those so-many-minutes-to-the-pound-plus-20-minutes-over suggestions.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 07:05 PM

That works with most things, but not baking (breads, cakes, pies, souffle, etc.). That's the chemistry formula you have to be careful with, in many instances.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 07:08 PM

Very true, but those things are definitely Mrs Steve's department!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 09:40 PM

With big joints, I usually do like you, Steve, with the low temperature method, but the single most important getting-it-right tool I have for meat is an instant-read probe thermometer.

With birds, I roast at a fairly high temperature, baste like a bastard, and leave em in the oven or barbecue until the ankles look right.

Yeah, I know. Not very precise, but in some 50 years of making dinner I have yet to poison anyone.

With any large piece of meat, or even a thick steak, I find things go better if I take it out of the fridge well in advance so the middle isn’t near frozen when i5 goes in the oven. Himself is not a fan of overly rare anything.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 08 Nov 19 - 10:59 PM

Tonight we had meatloaf flavored with Mideast spice from the corner market. It was delicious.


1/4 cup oatmeal
one-half of a can of diced, salt free tomatoes
1 tsp mideast spice
about 1 1/4 lb ground beef (we like the 80%, more flavor)

In a big bowl, stir together the oatmeal, tomatoes and spice. Add the ground beef, breaking it into lumps about the size of a tangerine, so it's easier to mix. Spray the beaters of an electric mix with Pam spray for easier clean-up, then mix the batch at low speed.

Put parchment paper (for easier clean-up) on a rimmed baking sheet, mold the meatloaf into a meatloaf shape and bake at 350 for one hour.
===========
Make a second meatloaf with an additional 1.25 pounds ground beef, the second half of the tomatoes and one tsp dried rosemary or Italian seasoning. You can bake both loaves side by side at 350 for one hour.

After the hour, gently transfer loaves to oven rakes over a second pan or tray to rest. When pans have cooled down, drain fat into a grease can, then discard on garbage day. Roll up parchment paper and put in a plastic bag left over from something else, freeze and discard on garbage day.

These freeze well in a one-gallon plastic bag.
===========
On a day when you're feeling tired, it's so nice to simply take a meatloaf out, warm it in the oven 300, zap a vegetable or two, and dine.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Nov 19 - 10:00 AM

Baking parchment deserves an ode in its honour. I started using it much too late in life; when I think of the hours wasted in greasing and scouring bakeware over more than 40 years of cooking, I heave a sigh of regret. But it just wasn’t widely available in Canada until recently, although my 1935 English cookbook mentions it as The Thing for covering pudding basins and baking meringues on.

I used to use the broad side of a paper grocery bag, but then the supermarkets all went to plastic.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Nov 19 - 01:44 PM

Looking for a good flourless chocolate cake recipe. Dont want to try all the internet ones...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 09 Nov 19 - 06:24 PM

I haven't read this thread or posted to it for a while so I can't remember whether I have posted this recipe here before but I made them again a week ago and they are tasty and satisfying.

I tried frying some in the frypan but they were a bit mushy so I added an egg, but then I had the oven on for something else the next day so I baked the rest of the mix anyway.

Note: If you are vegan, try using aquafaba instead. That's the water from a can of chickpeas or white or butter beans - not sure if the water from the black beans works. You can whisk the bean water until it resembles egg white and use it as an egg substitute. (Makes great meringues too. You'd never guess it was not egg based and it doesn't taste like beans at all.)

Black Bean-Quinoa Burgers

Black Bean-Quinoa Burgers

Serves 8
Here's a delicious veggie burger you can whip up from scratch. Any steak seasoning (which is just a combination of herbs and spices) will work to give the patties a rich, hearty flavor. Stash a few in the freezer for busy weeknight meals. For super-easy cookouts, bake the patties ahead, then reheat them on the grill. Serve with your favorite burger fixings.

•        ½ cup quinoa
•        1 small onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
•        6 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped (¼ cup)
•        1½ cups cooked black beans, or 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained, divided
•        2 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp.)
•        2 tsp. dried steak seasoning
•        8 whole-grain hamburger buns

1. Stir together quinoa and 1½ cups water in small saucepan, and season with salt, if desired. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. (You should have 1½ cups cooked quinoa.)
2. Meanwhile, place onion and sun-dried tomatoes in medium nonstick skillet, and cook over medium heat. (The oil left on the tomatoes should be enough to sauté the onion.) Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until onion has softened. Stir in ¾ cup black beans, garlic, steak seasoning, and 1½ cups water. Simmer 9 to 11 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.
3. Transfer bean-onion mixture to food processor, add ¾ cup cooked quinoa, and process until smooth. Transfer to bowl, and stir in remaining ¾ cup quinoa and remaining ¾ cup black beans. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and cool.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F, and generously coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Shape bean mixture into 8 patties (½ cup each), and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, or until patties are crisp on top. Flip patties with spatula, and bake 10 minutes more, or until both sides are crisp and brown. Serve on buns.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Nov 19 - 08:18 PM

For two.

Cut 300g free-range skinless boneless chicken breasts into strips. Stir-fry them fairly gently in 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan. After four minutes, add a glass of dry white wine and let it bubble for a minute or two. Then add 150g of chopped-up dolcelatte cheese and about 150g of creme fraiche (if you have the low-fat stuff, throw it in the bin and rush to the supermarket to get the real stuff). Simmer for three or four minutes, remove from the heat, add 2tbsp snipped chives and season (easy on salt, plenty of freshly-ground black pepper).

In the meantime you need to boil up 250g of flat pasta. It could be pappardelle or fettuccini, in which case you need to sit at the table, or something shorter if you want to eat it off your knee with a fork in front of Strictly. But flat it must be. Gigli would be good. When al dente, drain quickly and throw into the chicken sauce. You may or may not need a bit of pasta water, so keep some back just in case. Mix well, add a bit of pasta water if it needs it (it tends to thicken as you eat it), put it in warm bowls and top with more freshly-ground pepper. The ultimate winter comfort food. Flavours incredible.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Nov 19 - 10:11 PM

Aaah, Steve. The day I find crème fraîche in a supermarket in Stratford will be the great gettin’-up mornin’ after the Foodie Party finally seizes power in Ontario. For that matter, dolcelatte is a thing I know only from reading the New York Times cooking pages — on line, of course.

I might try making your chicken dish with cultured sour cream ... but then it would not be your chicken dish. Sigh.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 12:58 AM

Mrrzy, this is my favourite flourless cake recipe. It's not chocolate, but I've used similar ingredients but less eggs and added melted chocolate to make chocolate brownies. I have used the processed almonds & eggs idea for a few different experiments including a crumb base for a chocolate ganache tart and I've liked the results of everything I've tried so far.

The main idea is to use processed almonds or almond meal instead of flour and lots of eggs to bind it together and slow cook it in the oven to allow the eggs to do their thing. Variations on flavour can be made by using a different fruit, e.g. stewed apples, peaches or apricots, etc.

Orange & almond cake

Note: I also make the orange syrup from a slightly different cake recipe to pour over the cake. See below.

Makes 1 cake
Ingredients
•        2 large navel oranges, (choose oranges with unblemished skins as the whole fruit is used in this recipe)
•        5 eggs
•        1 1/4 cups (250g) caster sugar
•        2 1/2 cups (250g) ground almonds OR whole almonds processed in a food processor to the desired crumb size
•        1 tsp gluten-free baking powder*
•        Pure icing sugar to serve
Method
1.        Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line the base of a large cake pan.
2.        Place the two whole oranges in a large microwave safe bowl, cover with water and put a plate on top to keep the oranges under water. Bring to the boil and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes ensuring that the oranges remain covered with water. Drain and cool. Chop the oranges into quarters, discard any seeds, then place the chunks including the rind into a blender and puree until smooth.
3.        Beat the eggs with the sugar until thick, then add the orange puree, ground or processed almonds and GF baking powder and mix well.
4.        Pour into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour. Leave the cake to firm up in the pan for 20 minutes then turn out, remove the baking paper and turn over to finish cooling right way up. This cake definitely mellows with a little time and can be prepared up to 48 hours in advance.
5.        To serve, sift icing sugar on top and decorate with orange zest and almonds. OR poke a some holes in the cake pour orange syrup over the top. See recipe below for orange syrup.
Source

Orange & almond cake

Orange Syrup
•        1 orange
•        155g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
To make the orange syrup, use a zester to remove the rind from the orange. (Alternatively, use a vegetable peeler to peel the rind from orange. Use a small sharp knife to remove white pith. Cut rind into thin strips.) Juice orange.
7.        Step 7
Place rind in a saucepan of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Drain. Return to pan with orange juice and sugar. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar dissolves and the syrup thickens.
8.        Step 8
Turn cake onto a serving plate. Use a skewer to gently prick the top. Spoon over syrup. Cut into wedges to serve.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 06:15 AM

Charmion, use double cream instead. If you can't get dolcelatte, use Gorgonzola (either piccante or dolce). The original recipe was cream and Gorgonzola, but we just like it a bit lighter, that's all, which is why I changed it to creme fraiche and dolcelatte.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 09:41 AM

That cake sounds marvy, thanks! How much chocilate (dark, I assume) do you add when?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 10:05 AM

I'm glad Steve and others are about the joy of cooking and not the precision of cooking. The sense of transient accomplishment is far more pungent and delicious than mowing the lawn.
Many of the skills take only a few extra minutes to do with grand results. I was briefly an Italian cook but never a chef with a myriad of techniques.
For those willing to devote the time to writing a cookbook I would like chapters on how to feed 20 or more or how to feed 2. Then instead of recipes a series of skills that would apply to many recipes at a time so people could mix and match.
Some-many failsafe recipes would build confidence and ambition.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 02:08 PM

Now you are asking, Mrrzy. I would probably just use one block of dark cooking chocolate for that amount of cake. To ramp up the chocolatey-ness you could also add a couple of heaped teaspoons of cocoa.

I would mix the cake ingredients together and add the melted chocolate at the end.

I usually melt chocolate on half power in the microwave one minute at a time and stir it after each minute. It usually takes about 3 minutes all up.

I'm tempted to try this out, but using the orange as well. I love orange and chocolate flavours together.

Also, when I boil the oranges I keep the water in a bottle in the fridge and add a bit to cold mineral or soda water, usually with a splash of Angostura bitters. Yum in summer. Very refreshing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 03:06 PM

Mrrzy, I meant to say a block of cooking chocolate in Oz is 200 grams or 7 ounces. I usually go for the type which is a high percentage of chocolate, i.e. not as much sugar.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 05:13 PM

Orange chocolate is a foundation of my marriage but I've never boiled an orange before.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 05:51 PM

There’s a first time for everything, Donuel.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 10 Nov 19 - 06:01 PM

Boiling the whole orange makes it nice & mushy to add to the cake mix, but also incorporates the tang of the orange peel without being overpowering.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Nov 19 - 02:49 PM

Ever since Mrs Steve bought me the book a couple of years ago, I've become a massive fan, a disciple almost, of Marcella Hazan. To be honest, the first time I follow a recipe I'm a slave to it (after that I'm a terrible rebel). So tonight I followed, trepidaciously, her recipe for beef braised with onions. Normally, if I have a hunk of a cheap cut of beef, it gets browned, then put in a pot with carrots, onions and celery, with some stock and/or red wine and a big bunch of herbs, then bunged in the oven for several hours at low temp. Very nice....

Well forget that. This was a revelation, so simple, and so different from those general (very nice) beef casseroles...

You need a heavy pot with a good lid. You need a piece of brisket weighing about two pounds. Don't even think of using a cheap topside roasting joint. It won't work. Get brisket or forget it. I know that yanks can get flat brisket. I much prefer to roll it and tie it with string, but it's up to you.

You need to incorporate about two ounces of pancetta/streaky bacon into the meat. Just shove some bacon pieces into the ends. She suggests using one of those needle jobbies that can thread the bacon deep into the joint. Sod that. She says to shove a few cloves into the meat. I didn't have any and I concluded that it matters not a jot.

Next, you need three or four big onions that you slice very thinly. Put the onions into your casserole. Layer a few rashers of pancetta/streaky bacon on top. Put the piece of beef on top of that then season well. It goes in at 150C for about three and a half hours. It needs turning occasionally. Just mash some spuds and boil up some greens. Voila.

The big thing is the lovely, slushy, brown onion sauce. No other gravy needed. This sets this dish apart from all those lovely pot roasts and casseroles.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 02:59 AM

Steve, could the bacon be laid on the flat brisket and rolled up with it? Easier than using a larding needle, especially if you don't have one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Nov 19 - 06:13 AM

Why not? In essence, I was just shoving the bacon into the folds at each end of the roll. Which is sort of what you're suggesting, except that my method is less efficient! I wasn't going to cut all that neatly-tied string... I think Marcella wants the bacon to be in more intimate contact right through the meat. The recurring philosophical kitchen question arises: do I buy a special piece of kit just for one recipe that I might use once or twice a year at most...?


...Unless, of course, I can dig out a few more dishes that call for a larding needle... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 03:16 AM

I always asked myself three questions before buying stuff that had taken my fancy:

1) Do I really need it, or can I get by without it?
2) Can I afford it?
3) Have I got somewhere to keep it?

To go ahead with the purchase three yesses were necessary whilst I was married, thereafter two sufficed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 10:24 AM

I, too, worship at the shrine of Marcella Hazan. Her big book, "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking", is a revelation, not least because so many of her dishes are not only supremely delicious but also not at all difficult to make. Marcella leads my personal household pantheon along with Mark Bittman, who also came to public attention through the New York Times. Unlike Bittman, who never saw a new food he did not want to wedge into (North) American foodways, Marcella never strayed from her native heath, the cuisine of Italy.

Tonight we are eating lamb, specifically a Norwegian soul-food dish called fårikål -- literally, lamb with cabbage. Mr Wrong, to whom I was married for a few frankly unpleasant years, was Norwegian, and the silver lining of that cloud was that he was nice to cats and a good cook. I owe this recipe to him.

The essential ingredients are lamb, bacon fat, cabbage, peppercorns and salt. Nice-to-have extras are lardons (instead of the bacon fat), minced garlic (which is not canonical but a major umami booster) and celery root. Some people add water to reduce the risk of scorching and flour to thicken the gravy, but I do not.

Take a kilo or more of lamb shoulder and cut it up into hunks a bit bigger than bite-sized. Core and slice a small cabbage into fork-manageable pieces. Crack the peppercorns -- a tablespoon or so.

In a dutch oven or a large skillet with a close-fitting lid, brown the lamb well in the bacon fat, and salt it liberally. Scatter the cracked peppercorns on the lamb, then pile the cabbage on top. Put on the lid, and turn down the heat to minimum or put the pot into a low oven. Leave it alone for at least 45 minutes, then take off the lid and stir up the pot -- juice from the cabbage will have generated a fair amount of gravy by this point. Check the texture of the cabbage (and celery root, if used). If it's tender, the dish is ready to eat; if not, put the pot back on the hob or in the oven until it is.

If you want to use lardons, add them to the pot first and render out as much fat as you can without scorching them, then add the lamb. If you want to add garlic, slice it (if you're Steve Shaw) or mince it finely and add it to the pot while the lamb is browning. If you want to add celery root, peel and dice it into one-inch cubes and mix it into the lamb before piling on the cabbage.

Serve fårikål with boiled potatoes, which you mash into the gravy with the back of your fork, and red wine or any kind of beer you like.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 10:31 AM

That lamb with cabbage sounds marvy.

I also try to follow recipes the first time and then add my spin but it doesn't aways work, and there I am, spinning.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 11:37 AM

I always do the recipe by the numbers the first time, but I almost always end up changing the order of tasks and the proportion of some ingredients, especially sugar, salt and fat, which can often be cut without harming flavour. Veg content and herbs I usually increase, sometimes by a lot.

The big exception is baking with non-yeast leavens, a chemistry-based process with which I am reluctant to meddle. I understand the workings of baking soda well enough to know how much of what is necessary, and most published recipes get it right.

Baking with yeast is quite another story. Flours can be highly variable, and temperature has a strong effect on yeast performance, so the behaviour of a specific recipe can differ sharply from winter to summer, say. So I add "enough flour to make a firm dough", one of my favourite phrases from Victorian cookery. Yesterday's bread was made with no-name flour from the supermarket, and I must have used a good half-pound more than I did with the last batch I made with the stone-ground stuff from the Arva mill. The weight difference probably comes from water content; the supermarket flour is much drier.

But the real thing is you have to pay attention to what your ingredients are doing. A decent cook can't be asleep at the switch!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 02:00 PM

Garlic is very cheap. Any dish that I cook that undergoes longer or slow cooking that has garlic in the recipe will contain far more garlic than you could ever add if you minced it - but it will not have that harsh whiff or acrid garlicky taste. I just peel a small handful of cloves and either bash them with my fist or squash them with the flat of a knife. In they go, more or less whole but busted a bit, and in that state they release their lovely fragrant sweetness slowly and gently into the dish. Finely-sliced garlic is best in pasta sauces that sauté in the same time as the pasta boils. Garlic mincing is just brutal. Almost as brutal as using dried basil. That stuff should be illegal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 02:20 PM

I agree with you on dried basil. Also dried chervil, marjoram and parsley.

I smash and dump my garlic, too, mostly on account of laziness. But the over-trained in our midst will often default to the most labour-intensive preparation method available to them, thus qualifying as Stakhanovites. I have moments when I slip in that direction.

Minced garlic does have a true home, however, and that is in Indian food, especially dal. The blandness of boiled peas cries out for the brutality of minced garlic in large quantities, not to speak of vicious little chillies, lots of grated ginger, lashings of lime juice and heaps of chopped coriander leaf. Bring it on!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Nov 19 - 06:34 PM

I don't really do Indian food from scratch so I'll take your word for it apropos of the garlic, sceptic though I am. Dried oregano is indispensable. We've had a dingdong here about dried thyme. I won't use that. I have several pots of lemon thyme in my garden at all times, and that's the stuff I always use. Mint too, though it needs a bit of management if you want it in winter. I have a pot of sage, though I seldom use it, and there's always a rosemary bush if I need a sprig or two for roast lamb or for Mediterranean roast potatoes with whole garlic cloves. It's fresh or nothing. We appear to agree on other dried stuff. The point is that you can always leave herbs out if you haven't got fresh. Another good thing to do is think ahead and freeze chopped herbs. I always have some frozen parsley. As for basil, you can buy windowsill pots all year found. It's admittedly not quite as good as your own, but it's not bad at all. I've found that most cooked dishes that require basil don't suffer too much if you just leave it out. Basil is indispensable for tearing raw on to tomato and mozzarella salads, on certain pizzas and on bruschetta toppings. The baby leaves are always the best. And pesto of course. Basil cooked for a long time might as well not be there, unless you go for the abominable dried version. Note that Marcella agrees with me on this!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Nov 19 - 08:59 AM

Baking is chemistry. I don't mess with those recipes.
I like dried marjoram.
I love garlic and often mince it.
I am a heretic.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Nov 19 - 12:01 PM

We like drinks too? DC is apparently serving subpoena coladas. I laughed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Nov 19 - 10:23 AM

Good one, Mrrzy! (Too bad I'm allergic to coconut)

Last night I made a batch of the chicken and vegetable filling that goes in chicken pot pie (onion, carrot, potato, peas). Alas, I didn't have any frozen peas to add, and to give it more heft I added a single parsnip, not usually featured in my chicken pot pie.

When my children were small and I started making this from scratch instead of buying store-bought highly-processed pot pies, they were at first reluctant to eat the stew. So I made pie crust, rolled it out, and used cookie cutters to create shapes to bake. They sat down to dinner the first time I did this and wanted to dive into the crust characters but were told they had to be placed on top of the bowl of stew. This worked well, and as often happens, was something they insisted upon and participated in for future chicken pot pie meals. There were lots of holiday shapes used over the winter months. Making an entire crust and baking this dish like a pie is just too much work and too many carbs. I didn't make pie crust for myself last night, I used some of my favorite large whole wheat crackers instead.

I don't usually add garlic to this did, but did last night. I grow my own and it saves very well in a paper bag in a dark place in the pantry. It added a nice bright touch.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 15 Nov 19 - 10:58 AM

I am currently making soup from the last iteration of left overs.
Chicken cheese and veggies. The cheese is added last before serving on very low heat.
Because much of the added chicken was made with sour cream there was plenty of room for seasoning with sesame oil, celery salt, garlic powder, pepper, carrot threads, old bay and salt to taste.

Its a white soup with lots of color from multi colored peppers, corn, carrots and a few peas. I give it a B.

Anybody heard of grains of paradise? great name.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Nov 19 - 11:27 AM

"Grains de paradis" is how I have it written on the masking tape label in my spice drawer, most likely because I bought this wonderful pepper from a French-speaking Burundian woman selling central African products in the By Ward Market in Ottawa. It is particularly good on pan-fried salmon, and I reserve it for that purpose as I have no idea where to find more here in Perth County, where the people of central Africa do not tend to settle.

Today's supper is a vegetarian lasagne featuring portobello mushrooms and three kinds of cheese (ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan). I doubt that Italians would recognize it as food fit for their families, but it works for us, not least because it goes well with our favourite red plonk and the Le Creuset baker I make it in holds enough for six ample servings. Himself easily vanishes two servings at a sitting, so one batch does two meals.

As Steve Shaw reminds me, dried oregano is a critical staple. Without rather a lot of it, our veggie lasagne would not be worth eating.

The essential ingredients are: olive oil, two bell peppers (I like the red ones), one yellow onion, two or three celery ribs and about a pound of mushrooms, all diced; oregano and thyme ad lib, with salt and freshly ground black pepper; a large (28 fl oz) tin of diced tomatoes; eight raw lasagna noodles; and 500 g of ricotta, 350 g of shredded mozza, and rather a lot of grated Parmesan.

Discerning punters might like to jazz up the sauce with a couple of anchovy fillets mashed into the olive oil at the beginning, a sprinkle of dried chillies, and a small (5 fl oz) tin of tomato paste. I also put garlic in the sauce, and I know Steve would not because of the onion.

Sauté the diced veg in the olive oil, add the herbs and salt and pepper, add the tomatoes, simmer for a few minutes. To assemble, take a large flat baking dish and ladle in enough sauce to cover the bottom, then put down the first layer of lasagne. On top of the raw noodles spread half the ricotta cheese and half the grated mozza, then ladle on another layer of sauce evenly across the cheese. Next, the rest of the noodles, the rest of the ricotta, about half the remaining mozza, and the last of the sauce. Finally, dress the top with the last of the mozza and all the Parmesan, carefully covering the entire top surface with cheese. Sprinkle dried oregano liberally on top of the Parmesan.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes and rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 19 - 02:21 PM

If your Parmesan is genuine Parmigiano Reggiano, I have to tell you that it can't be vegetarian. The law states that it must be made with calf rennet. That's fine for you and me, but if I'm cooking a pasta bake or anything else that is meat-free for vegetarians I ask them in advance without pressure whether Parmesan is acceptable. You may need to check out your mozzarella on this score too. Several other cheeses are, as far as I know, always made with animal rennet, including pecorino romano, emmenthal, Gorgonzola, manchego and gruyere. Of course, what the eye don't see... But I can't work that way!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Nov 19 - 06:38 PM

Yes, our Parm is the real thing, and the mozza comes from an Italian-method cheesery.

Fortunately, I am not at present cooking for any doctrinaire vegetarians, so rennet is not an issue today. But I’m glad to know, as we have veggie friends who I do not wish to offend.

The anchovies are also problematical for those who prefer not to eat anything with a face.

So maybe I should call this dish less-meat-arian.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 19 - 07:48 PM

I tend to avoid onion in most pasta sauces as I feel it makes them a bit claggy. Ragu for Bolognese is different. In that case the cooking is so long and slow that the onions are completely assimilated. I wouldn't put garlic in there but Mrs Steve wants it, and it's caused furious rows. My compromise is to throw in a handful of bashed garlic cloves. That way, we get the sweetness of the garlic without the acrid harshness that the minced thing adds. I think that if garlic is ever the point of the thing, then it has to be the fresh young cloves of spring garlic that haven't even had time to grow a papery skin yet. I adore the whole garlic cloves in olive oil that come Marché style in jars. I can easily eat half a jar of those at a sitting. I say this to emphasise that I'm a garlicophile par excellence. But mincing garlic is akin to drinking dry white wine at room temp or decanting warm champagne until it's as flat as a witch's t*t. Philistinism personified.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 16 Nov 19 - 02:40 AM

I'll have to dig out my infamous Garlic Soup recipe sometime - six cloves per person, crushed and lightly sautéed before being simmered in chicken stock. I got it from Car magazine of all places - the author, a car stylist, used it as an unfair way of winning arguments.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 19 - 11:15 AM

I looked up "claggy." I don't think American tomato sauce does that, Steve. :-)

I'm preparing to store some fresh mushrooms for myself; I slice them then saute them in butter till wilted and freeze them in the small takeout plastic containers in portions that can go on some of my favorite dishes (topping on pizza, put into soup, etc.).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 19 - 04:39 PM

Thick, sloppy, sludgy...My tomato sauces might have garlic but not onions, except for Marcella's onion and butter sauce, but you take out the onion at the end anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 09:34 AM

Last night I made our clay-pot version of baked chicken and rice, in which I replace the Arborio called for in the original recipe with brown rice. It took me a while to figure it out, but the brown rice comes out perfect if you parboil it for about ten minutes before putting it in the pot.

This technique involves a cooking vessel made of unglazed terra cotta. Ours is the type called a Romertopf.

Essential ingredients are rice, chicken stock, onion, bone-in chicken parts, salt, pepper and thyme. The advanced class may choose also to add lemon juice or white wine (dry vermouth works well), garlic, mushrooms, bell pepper, and Old Bay seasoning.

Put the clay pot in the sink to soak for at least 15 minutes, but half an hour is better. While it is soaking, parboil one cup of brown rice in two cups of chicken stock, smash the garlic, and dice the onion, mushrooms and pepper.

When the pot has finished soaking, put the parboiled rice with its stock in the bottom. Add the lemon juice or wine, the thyme, salt and pepper, and all the vegetables, and stir it all up. Lay the chicken pieces skin-side-up on top and sprinkle Old Bay seasoning all over them.

Put the lid on the clay pot and put it in the COLD oven. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour, maybe a tick more.

This reliably delicious dish is both cheap and particularly nice in winter. It also reheats well.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 10:12 AM

I don't get the issue with minced garlic. Tastes fine to me...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 12:21 PM

It is far too assertive in any Italian dish I've ever cooked. All the powerful and strident raw garlicky hit is released into the dish at the beginning. Way too harsh for me. Gently squashed or finely sliced garlic releases its lovely aromatic sweetness into the food. Squashed for long cooking and sliced for a 10-minute sauté. You can also bake whole cloves, skin on, for half an hour wrapped in foil with olive oil, then squeeze out the lovely soft middles for mixing into a bruschetta topping. Or you can just throw whole unpeeled cloves into your baking tray with 1/2-inch diced unpeeled potatoes, seasoning, olive oil and rosemary sprigs for Mediterranean-style roast potatoes to go with your grilled burger. You can put two whole heads' worth of cloves in there and just suck out the middles as you eat the spuds. We fight over them. I tend to give the garlic a bit less time than the spuds so as not to burn them. Someone mentioned garlic soup. Delicious.

I do make Delia Smith's seafood sauce with minced garlic, used with caution, but I always make it the day before so that the garlic and other flavours blend. It's an assertive dish with horseradish and cayenne as well as the garlic, so the garlic sits quite well in it. Apart from that my garlic crusher never gets used. A small amount of garlic goes into my mini-blender when I'm making pesto, but I emphasise a small amount!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 02:07 PM

Charmion, I think I'll try your Romertopf recipe. I bought one so long ago I can't remember when but it has been in the cupboard unused for quite a while. I used to roast lamb with rosemary and garlic surrounded by veges in it. Yum!

Steve, I don't know the science of it, but years ago I was told to pre slice or mince garlic and leave it for a few minutes before using it. Some strange alchemy to do with the air changing the chemicals in the garlic. When I say that I mince the garlic, I mean by cutting it fairly fine and crushing it with the flat of the knife.

Allright, well that was a test of my Googling skills but here is one article by Tara Parker-Pope about leaving the minced or chopped garlic for a while before using it, however this is to boost the beneficial health effects:

"Many home chefs mistakenly cook garlic immediately after crushing or chopping it, added Dr. Kraus. To maximize the health benefits, you should crush the garlic at room temperature and allow it to sit for about 15 minutes. That triggers an enzyme reaction that boosts the healthy compounds in garlic."

I also throw the garlic in for the last few minutes only after I have fried the onions to the stage that I want them so that the garlic doesn't burn and get that bitter/acrid flavour.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Nov 19 - 02:36 PM

I use my Romertopf for roasting chicken with vegetables around it (carrots, potatoes, onions - no matter how many vegetables I add I always run out of veg before I run out of chicken when it comes to eating). I'll have to try the rice, that sounds good. The thing about the chicken in that clay baker is that it's falling off of the bone but still moist, unlike most other forms of cooking to the falling-off-the-bone stage.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Dec 19 - 01:40 PM

I resurrect this bulky old thread today to sing the praises of Cheddar cheese from Wookey Hole. It is truly delicious, and worth the swingeing price charged by Vincenzo’s delicatessen in Kitchener, which would be more accurately named if the sign said Cheese Heaven.

I bought a tiny piece of the Wookey Hole on Steve Shaw’s recommendation. Just so you know, Steve, if I end up in the poorhouse, you will be to blame.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Dec 19 - 02:12 PM

Thank you for pulling it up and reporting back on that cheese! I was at Costco a few days ago and wondered if Steve had tracked down that particular cheddar I mentioned before.

I made a batch of lefse this weekend and am slowly reheating a couple at a time and buttering and sprinkling with cinnamon sugar. Mmmmm!

Also, when friends came over for lunch on Sunday I made a batch of falafel. My recipe is from a Middle Eastern cookbook, this particular recipe is from Israel, and it uses bulgar wheat and a small amount of flour as binders. I'll probably make some more this week just for myself. I made the tahini sauce ahead and had pita bread in the freezer that I baked slightly and cut in half before letting people put their sandwiches together.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 17 Dec 19 - 04:34 PM

I don't have a place to store a clay pot. I believe I'll try the chicken and rice recipe in my Dutch oven.

Other news: I have been having fun with the bread-making methods of Steve Gamelan, who has YouTube videos for no-knead bread. Here's the first one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yePMpoyXwys

I've made the round white bread and the olive bread. Next I will try buttermilk bread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 19 - 09:53 AM

The cholesterol needs to come down a few points so I am going to have to make sure bean dishes and breakfast oatmeal are on the menu regularly. Which is fine with me, I enjoy both.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Dec 19 - 01:03 PM

I cut out cheese (except for a cheese course), lost 2 stone and brought my cholesterol to where it belongs...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Dec 19 - 08:11 PM

Oh gosh, an aficionado of Wookey Hole in such a far-flung locale! It's great that you tracked it down and found where you could find it in good condition. It's made from pasteurised milk which is supposed to be a downer, but Mrs Steve (Nicky) and I have subjected ourselves to blind tastings (I tried not to cheat) and found Wookey to be better than Keens, Montgomery's, Westcombe and Gould's, all of which are made with unpasteurised milk and which are much-vaunted.

I don't suppose you'd appreciate the fact that I can get a 200g hunk for two quid...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 19 - 09:01 PM

It apparently can't be purchased anywhere (online) in the U.S.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Dec 19 - 09:08 PM

No, Steve, I don’t appreciate that fact AT ALL. I suspect that, with the eensy-weensy piece I purchased, I also paid its first-class passage from Heathrow by BOAC or whatever you guys call it now.

Today we’re drinking a delicious Viognier from Narbonne (a gift from Himself’s brother) with salmon from Norway (purchased at Sobey’s). No terroir issues here!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Dec 19 - 09:39 PM

Well today was our 43rd wedding anniversary, and we were supposed to be having champers with a classy red to follow, but we were both so knackered after visiting me old mum and trying to get ready for two separate Christmases (families? Who needs 'em!) that we decided to put it off until tomorrow. I still managed to cook Mediterranean cod in tomato, caper and thyme sauce. Very nice, but the spuds were too soft. There'll be a next time...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Dec 19 - 05:14 AM

My most recent cheese discoveries are Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire (I think I've mentioned it before): firm, rich and tangy, not your typical bog-standard crumbly Lancashire (nowt wrong with that, of course), and Kit Calvert's Wensleydale. I like any kind of Wensleydale but this one isn't like the others. It's creamier and more complex. I believe that it was that great dalesman Kit Calvert who rescued the Wensleydale creamery from extinction. What a man! His story is very romantic and well worth a quick google.

The legendary Mary Quicke, who once personally sold me a pound of the superb Quicke's extra mature cheddar in her farm shop in Devon, was awarded the MBE. I think Ruth Kirkham is equally deserving. I think I'll write to the Queen!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 19 Dec 19 - 05:26 AM

Steve, if you went to the Creamery in Hawes you would be sadly disappointed.

Yes they do produce Wensleydale Cheese but then they "bastardise" most of it with ginger, cranberries, gin, rum, caramelised onion, apricots, pineapple, chilli, beer, balsamic onions, orange and garlic!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Dec 19 - 05:50 AM

I will not eat any "cheese" that contains anything other than rotted milk, starter and salt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 22 Dec 19 - 02:46 AM

Not even sage Derby?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 23 Dec 19 - 01:41 AM

A few comments:
Tilapia has no inherent taste or texture of its own . . . FEH!
"Rotisserie chicken" tastes as it does because of its high salt content, so if you tend to retain water broil your own.
Many years ago on a sailing trip we trailed lines off the stern of our boat. The only times we caught mackerel was off sewage heads. I have not eaten mackerel since.
A digital thermometer is very handy. We cook our birds, especially turkey, at an oven temperature of 250F. We set the thermometer alarm 5 degrees below the official "done" temperature. No one has ever complained about dry bird when we prepare this way.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Dec 19 - 07:15 AM

Barnacle, where in the turkey do you plant the thermometer probe? Is it the kind that plugs in to a socket in the oven, so the “thermometer alarm” is on the control panel of the stove?

We have such a stove, and I am contemplating your low-temperature technique.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Dec 19 - 10:16 AM

In the Asian grocery store some time ago I got talking to a guy who said that while the farm-raised tilapia in most grocery stores (including the Asian market) is so mild because of the way it's raised, if you catch it and eat it yourself out of a non-farm pond it tastes much better. Apparently he had access to a body of water with tilapia that was quite tasty.

The WSU Creamery sold out all of it's cheeses earlier this year and won't sell more till it's old enough. (Reminds me of the cartoon of the proselytizing mice going door-to-door announcing "Let us tell you about Cheeses.")

The news this morning warns against eating raw cookie dough. I don't, anyway, but apparently it isn't just because of raw egg hazards, but also because there can be E. coli in the wheat flour if there was anything on the grain before it was ground into flour. Now some companies pasteurize their eggs and pre-heat their flour to about 100^oF before it goes into production so to avoid illness. You can eat raw Pillsbury or Nestle cookie dough if you wish, but if you buy pre-made (processed) cookie dough you are dead to me. That is all. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Dec 19 - 03:37 PM

The freezer is full so recipes for the next month will be crafted to draw down the chicken and various frozen garden vegetables (lots of sliced and frozen hot peppers, for example). So chicken fajitas, chili, bean recipes, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 27 Dec 19 - 12:19 AM

Earlier tonight I watched a program about Heston Blumenthal and it mentioned his 'triple cooked chips'. The three cooking stages are, simmer, low temperature fry and high temperature fry. After the simmer and the first fry the chips were subjected to desiccation. Has anyone tried this? Most chip shop chips today are kind of soggy. Fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside sounds like Heaven.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Dec 19 - 08:23 PM

All you need is a bag of salad spuds, some salt and a few glugs of groundnut oil.

Scrub the spuds but don't peel. Cut into chip-sized pieces. Par-boil in salted water for eight minutes.

Meanwhile, turn your oven up to as high as it will go and grab a roasting tin.

Drain the spuds and leave for a couple of minutes to dry out. Put them back in the pan and shake like mad until all the edges are frayed. Put into the baking tray and coat generously with the oil. Put into the hot oven for about twenty minutes. One good turn half way through is good,

Do this and you will never fret over bought chips ever again. And you'll live longer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Dec 19 - 10:04 PM

I've seen television programs that demonstrated how to make chips (what we call "fries" here) with two cooking steps - fry for a bit in the oil, take it out, then put it back in a few minutes later. That's also the way to make tostones, a related kind of fried food made of plantano or plantain bananas. When they're green you can make them into fries, when they're ripe you can bake them and they're sweet and very good with butter and cinnamon sugar. For tostones you fry them a couple of minutes, then each cross-sectioned piece is flattened a bit, put in salty water for a minute, drained, and then back in the oil till it's finished frying.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 28 Dec 19 - 02:52 AM

Life is too short to cook chips 3 times.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Dec 19 - 06:32 AM

I agree. Leave that to the chippies. SRS, mine can't be called fries because they are first boiled then baked.

If you can get firm little salad spuds that you know will hold their texture, a very simple way of cooking them is to wash them, cut them in half, coat them in extra virgin olive oil with a pinch of salt, stand them on their cut ends on a baking tray and put them in a hot oven (200C fan) for half an hour. You can easily make them Mediterranean style if you want to. Just throw in a sprig of rosemary and a handful of unpeeled garlic cloves. I might wait ten minutes before adding the garlic as it's nice to have the cloves soft and sweet for sucking instead of burnt. One toss half way through is good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 30 Dec 19 - 12:25 AM

Sorry to take so long getting back, Charmion. We use an external digital thermometer but I see no reason for the integrated unit in your oven not to work.

We put the probe into the breast in the middle of the meat as it seems to give consistent readings.

By observation, we have figured out why stopping the cooking at a few degrees before it's officially done works well. The temperature in the outer meat is hotter and averages itself with the temperature in the middle of the meat. If you bring the core temperature to the officially declared "done temperature," it is overcooked and dry.

Check the thermometer calibration by using water at several known temperatures. Most likely it's accurate but it's nice to be sure. Trust but verify.

We did a prime rib in the oven this weekend and put several potatoes in the roasting pan, where they could pick up some of the flavor. A few onions went in, too. When the meat was done, we pulled the potatoes and onions. We pulled the skins off and mashed them with chopped up onions, added eggs and made potato pancakes [latkes]. Delicious! The texture is different from latkes made with shredded potatoes but, when fully cooked, is quite acceptable.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Dec 19 - 07:07 PM

I have a rusting old oven thermometer for checking the accuracy of the oven. I may have used it five years ago and I haven't a clue where it is. Other than that, I'm not interested in sticking probes in lumps of meat to find out if they're "done." I know when they're done by appearance and by experience. I've never poisoned anybody and I don't serve up underdone or dried-out meat. I've cooked two 5kg turkeys in the last five days. The rules are:

Don't stuff the turkey

It must be fully at room temp before cooking

Don't use one of those throwaway foil cooking tins. Get a proper baking tin with lots of room in it

Cover the breast with lots of streaky bacon

Put foil over the bird

Turn up the oven to 180C (fan). Put in the turkey on a lower shelf

The 5kg bird needs three hours, then 45 minutes to rest. After an hour and a quarter, take off the foil

After another hour, take off the bacon and baste the bird

Keep an eye on it for the remaining 45 minutes. Baste it once or twice and, if the breast is going a bit too brown, put a small piece of foil on just the breast for a few minutes. You might decide that it can come out a few minutes early

Here's what you don't do:

Never compromise on the quality of the turkey. Genuine free-range and a slow-growing breed are the minimum. Most frozen turkeys are very poor

Never turn the turkey

Never fiddle with the oven temperature. Leave it alone

Never try to cook a huge turkey in a normal oven. Attempts to cook a twenty-pounder in a little oven are doomed to failure. You're far better off with two smaller birds (and you get four drumsticks and four wings...mmmm...) 5kg/12lb is tops for me

I had two perfect turkeys this Christmas. I've made all the mistakes I've mentioned above but, after fifty-plus years of turkey cooking, I'm getting there.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 31 Dec 19 - 12:06 AM

Steve, I can also cook by smell. It works. A thermometer is more reliable and lets you vary the cooking conditions to meet you needs that day.
Have you ever tried an Empire frozen turkey? It might change your opinion about frozen birds.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 19 - 10:30 AM

I live in a state that is smack in the middle of the US, on the southern border, and it has several layers of tradition. I'm in the Northern part of this Southern state that is more anglo than the Southern portion of this Southern state (where it has the huge influence of Mexico.) This time of year, it is typically lumped with the "Deep South" which are states on the SE corner of the US. In that part of the South, there is a tradition of eating black eyed peas on New Years Day, but I grew up in the far upper NW corner of the contiguous US in Washington, so I don't bother with the peas, they have no appeal or tradition for me. I don't put gravy on my baking powder biscuits, either (another rather loathsome practice down here, especially when it is totally bland "milk gravy" with no flavor to speak of.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 01 Jan 20 - 04:42 PM

Time to visit the Irish-American restaurant
and order
some Guinness beef stew.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 02 Jan 20 - 02:37 AM

Adding beer to a beef casserole never fails, but it doesn't seem to make much difference what sort of beer - lager, light ale, bitter or stout, all give similarly excellent results. Does anyone else find this?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Jan 20 - 09:51 AM

BobL, maybe it's the subtlety of my taste buds, but I can tell the difference between boeuf Flamande, a stew of beef and onions made with Belgian-style light ale, and a beef stew made with onions and Guinness. Boeuf Flamande has a sharp, winy flavour, and the Guinness-based dish is sweeter, with a distinctly caramel character. Evidently you are getting different mileage.

For Hogmanay, after I paid the bills and tidied the house, I made faisan à la Normande for the first time. Pheasant is available from our favourite farmer, Mrs McIntosh, and Himself took it into his head that it would be kinda nice. So there I was, looking for crème fraîche in the dairy case at Sobey's -- and I found it, tucked in beside the cottage cheese. I guess the foodies have completed their take-over.

The technique of braising the pheasant was rather messy, as it involved two birds that had to be rolled over every fifteen minutes in a snug-fitting casserole that also contained apple slices and diced shallot simmering in cider. Also, like many French recipes, it preoccupied me to the extent that I barely remembered the other items on the menu, such as veg. Fortunately, Himself's sister had given us a pie, so dessert was taken care of. When all was done and dished up, the pheasant was fine but the sauce was a bit bland; it could have done with a dash of cider vinegar. I'll know better next time.

The fun part was pouring 50 ml of flaming Calvados over the birdies in the casserole, and extinguishing the trussing string when it caught fire. What larks!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jan 20 - 07:34 AM

Have you lot quit cooking, or what?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 06 Jan 20 - 07:36 AM

Another batch of Marmalade has just been bottled.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Jan 20 - 12:54 PM

We made a huge lasagne two nights ago. It's a collaboration, strictly speaking, as I let Mrs Steve make the béchamel ( we use strong cheddar mixed with parmesan and I don't care what anybody thinks) and assemble the thing. We are somewhat at odds over the ragù. She thinks I should be adding garlic-crusher garlic and I think garlic shouldn't go anywhere near. I compromise by chucking in a few peeled cloves that I've bashed with my fist. Over the years I've secretly removed dried herbs from the mix altogether. I'd rather hack off the family jewels with a rusty machete than add dried basil. As it's Christmas I did add a little sprinkle of dried oregano this time. A sprig of thyme wouldn't hurt. I always start with a soffritto in which I include some chopped unsmoked bacon or pancetta. The soffritto is equal parts chopped celery, carrot and onion in extra virgin olive oil, sautéed until the veg is softened. I brown the meat separately, not too much at once, by dry-frying in a big stainless steel frying pan I've inherited. The meat is half minced steak and half minced pork. Once browned it goes into the soffritto along with a bit of chicken stock, tomatoes (one 400ml tin of plum tomatoes fewer than the number of pounds of meat) and some seasoning. Maybe a splash of wine. That needs a good hour or more at a simmer. Two hours wouldn't hurt. Adjust for correct sloppiness with a bit more stock or tomato. Adding water is far too disappointing. Then it's over to the assembly dept. We cook it for about 40 minutes in a 180C oven. Leftovers are perfect microwaved for breakfast the next day. Either you serve it up with a drizzle of your finest olive oil on top or you're wrong. Some garlic bread and salad goes well. I've seen it on offer in pubs with chips. If you see that, call a constable immediately.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jan 20 - 01:37 PM

Our family holiday gathering was yesterday and my fridge is stufffed full of leftovers. There won't be any original dishes prepared until some of that is drawn down or frozen. That said, I do have a bowl of chick peas soaking to make a batch of falafel tomorrow; this is to test the new food processor (higher capacity - my old one was woefully under-powered and had a tiny bowl) and take some of the patties over to family who contributed this new tool to my kitchen. (I made a couple of batches of falafel balls last week with the small deep fryer, but this time I'll use shallower oil in a pan and cook flattened patties to eliminate the cleanup involved with the fryer.) The falafel comes now because the son who gave the food processor flies back to the West coast later this week.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 06 Jan 20 - 03:57 PM

Ah hem ………………. Bechamel doesn't have cheese in it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jan 20 - 04:14 PM

Of course it does - if you add it. "White sauce" - the basis of so many recipes. At my house, many of them have cheese.

I mean, really, WHAT would you want it FOR if it didn't have cheese added?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Jan 20 - 04:58 PM

Ah, Raggytash is right. She makes the béchamel then stirs cheese into it, which I suppose makes it not béchamel any more. We all have our ways...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Jan 20 - 06:29 AM

When it has cheese in, it becomes Mornay sauce.

If you care.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Jan 20 - 07:39 AM

I tried to invent a sesame vegetable soup with Tons of hearty ingredents. It grew bigger and worse.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Jan 20 - 08:54 AM

The 'soup' was worthy of a Shel Silverstien poem.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Jan 20 - 10:50 AM

I live in Philadelphia.

Sorry.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jan 20 - 12:38 PM

Good idea, Don!

This - Make 2020 the Year of Less Sugar is what I need to work on. It includes a link to a lecture I need to listen to. (If the article doesn't open across the pond let me know and I'll do some cut and paste).

Whether you are thin or fat, you can benefit by reducing the sugar in your diet. “It’s not about being obese, it has to do with metabolic health,” says Dr. Robert Lustig, professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, and one of the first to raise the alarm about the health risks of added sugar. (His 90-minute lecture called Sugar: The Bitter Truth has been viewed more than nine million times since 2009.)

“Sugar turns on the aging programs in your body,” Dr. Lustig says. “The more sugar you eat, the faster you age.”

https://www.nytimes.com/programs/sugar-challenge.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Jan 20 - 12:52 PM

Damn. You posted that ten minutes after I'd just polished off a huge box of fudge... :-(

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 08 Jan 20 - 01:41 AM

I invented a new chicken dish yesterday.

Save the grease from cooking breakfast pork sausage. Chill it, and the burned bits will sink to the bottom. Don't use them.

Cut chicken thighs in half, warm up on low power in the wave. (They brown better when warm.)

Cut up and saute an onion in some of the sausage grease

Remove the onions, set aside in a pretty bowl

Brown the chicken thighs on one side.

Meanwhile, use salad shooter to slice up carrots and celery

when the chicken is browned on one side, turn it over and start browning that side.

put the carrots and celery in a ring around the meat

put lid on, simmer till meat is tender, maybe 30 minutes more

(I find I have to cook chicken much longer than recipes say.)

Remember those onions? Shortly before it's time to eat, stir 1 tsp sage into the onions, then return them to the skillet to heat through.

You'll notice there is no salt. The DH doesn't like it. Let diners salt it themselves at the dinner table.

Remove the food with a slotted spoon (so fat drains off) and serve. This was GOOD.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jan 20 - 05:37 AM

A "salad shooter?"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Jan 20 - 02:37 PM

The salad shooter is a mechanical slicer-dicer that I last saw in a TV infomercial back in the days when we still had TV — a very long time ago. Think of a crank-action mandoline.

We are still in a food coma from New Year.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jan 20 - 06:00 PM

I have a mandoline but I can't be arsed with it. I find that slicing my veg with a good sharp knife to be very therapeutic, especially if I stick some Mozart on and stay mindful while I'm slicing. I too am in a post-Christmas coma. There's stuff in the freezer to keep us eating well. And there's always cheese.

As a diversion, here's a new angle: stuff I never use. I've already trolled SRS about her despicable resort to dried basil. ;-). I'll add to that soy sauce, any oil infused with something (I'll infuse it myself, thanks), fennel seeds, ready-ground pepper, sticky jasmine rice, tomato purée, olive oil that isn't extra virgin, sunflower oil, canola oil, margarine, anything that says low-fat on the label, instant coffee, any shop-bought frozen vegetables except for peas, and calabrese. Calabrese. Ye gods, tasteless mush!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Jan 20 - 08:18 PM

The kitchen scale just died, following the computer into electronic oblivion.

F*** my life.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Jan 20 - 08:44 PM

Things I won’t use:

Shortening — that is, solid vegetable fat (e.g., Crisco) for use in frying and pastry. I use lard or butter for pastry, on the rare occasions when I make it, and oil for frying.

Also margarine. It took me ten years to convince Himself that the stuff is awful, and he’s better off eating butter. Science eventually caught up with me.

Macaroni and cheese mix. Yuck. Just yuck.

In fact, pretty well any kind of mix. If there’s a mix on the market, I can make it better and cheaper from scratch. The one exception to this rule is angel food cake, which takes a dozen eggs and a lot of skill and luck to make with real ingredients — and then what do you do with a dozen egg yolks?

Instant anything. Coffee, iced tea (I mean, really?), hot cereal, soup from a sachet, pot noodles, gravy (e.g., Bisto), Minute Rice, mashed potatoes in a box, Bisquick. Most of the stuff they sell in the middle of the supermarket.

Most frozen veg. I agree with Steve about peas and, when I butcher a Hubbard squash, I usually dice it and freeze half for future reference.

All canned veg, except tomatoes, which are technically fruit. In my dreams, I sometimes find myself back in Germany during an exercise, which I know is going on because I’m dressed in wet combat clothing and facing a Melmac plate of alert rations: canned sausage with instant mashed potatoes and canned creamed corn on the side.

Unlike Steve, I use canola (rapeseed) oil. Too many people are allergic to peanuts these days.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jan 20 - 09:21 PM

I suppose. Peanut oil is our go-to for very hot frying, mainly for oven chips. I didn't know you could get Bisto over there. I'd rather hack off me dangly bits with a blunt hacksaw than use Bisto. Its presence in our house would constitute an immediate divorce issue. I don't use canned veg either, but I'm assuming that you're not including pulses there. Ideally I'd soak all my beans and chickpeas overnight but I don't. I use canned or tetrapacked every time. Chickpeas especially are pretty good out of cans. I won't buy anything like that if they're salted or in a mix with chilli and herbs. I'll control all that meself, thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jan 20 - 09:23 PM

Now there's an image. You in wet combat clothing. I'm just off to start dreaming...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Jan 20 - 02:27 AM

Actually, I've heard several nutritionists and popular cooks discuss frozen fruit and vegetables. Typically the produce in those bags or boxes was picked ripe and frozen very close to the field; this in contrast to fruit or vege picked early enough that it will ripen while travelling to wherever it will be stored. It never has the full flavor of vine-ripened when it is treated that way. If you're cooking with fruit or vegetables and choose to use frozen, you'll typically get good quality.

Process foods, there are very few I use. Pasta sauce (and I'm picky about the one I use) is about it, an acceptable shortcut.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 20 - 05:47 AM

I never use bought pasta sauces. Rustling up a quick tomato sauce is pretty simple, and I find the creamy ones in the shops to be too claggy/starchy/oddly thickened. I do use Spice Tailor curry packs though. Questionable authenticity at best, but a lot better than those ones in jars. Frozen peas can be pretty good. I can ever understand why frozen broad beans are never anything like the ones I grow and freeze myself. They're always very small with thick, tough skins and starchy middles. I'm one of those people who can't be arsed to shell broad beans. I've used frozen broccoli to make broccoli and Stilton soup, not especially successfully. The problem with most frozen veg is the watery/floppy/soggy texture. I've always been an aficionado of slightly-undercooked, fairly firm, slightly crunchy veg. I think I was conditioned by my parents boiling coarse, dark green cabbage to within an inch of its life in incredibly salty water, and by an aunt of mine many years ago who used to boil up the cauliflower in advance until very soft then reheat it just before plating up. Can you imagine that....

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jan 20 - 07:18 AM

Yes, Steve, I was quite a treat for the eye back in the day. I still have an ancient snapshot of myself on the open ramp of an M113 armoured personnel carrier, and it is proof that at that time of my life I was tired, not very clean, and dressed by somebody who either did not care or failed to notice that I am not male.

As you say, pulses are the other exception to the rule against canned veg, although I buy only chickpeas in cans, probably because they are not usually the principal ingredient in a dish.

I used to buy bottled tomato-based pasta sauce, but stopped when I discovered Marcella Hazan.

I know all that about the nutritional value frozen veg, but I can’t get past the texture. Also, there’s the memory of military cooking to contend with — vast pans of peas mixed with diced carrots boiled from frozen and set out on the serving line in the junior ranks’ mess. Oy.

When on holiday in England some years ago, I was treated to a pub lunch of pie with mushy peas. The pie was okay, I guess, but I had a very hard time with the peas, which came from a can and tasted like all my worst memories of youth. Fortunately, the local cider was strong enough to cancel the effect.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 20 - 11:11 AM

Some pub mushy peas are terrible, which is a shame. Bad texture, dodgy added colour (absolutely not needed). They're easy to make. You start with those starchy marrowfat peas. You can soak them overnight, or, around here, you can buy cheap kilo bags of frozen part-cooked ones for a pound in Morrison's. One bag does the two of us around four times. You can't do much cheaper than that. With those, all you do is simmer them in just a bit of water for about 20 minutes, once they're warmed up (you start from frozen), with a bit of salt. When they start to break up, help them along with a fork or your spud masher. You may need to adjust the liquid a bit to get them mushy enough. That's it. The soaked ones need simmering for a bit longer, otherwise just as easy. They're great with fish and chips.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 20 - 07:05 PM

If that puts you off, try this instead. Boil up your frozen peas until done to your liking. Drain and add a small knob of butter and a sliced garlic clove. Use your spud masher to bust them up. You don't have to go mad. If you like (I don't), add a small quantity of finely-chopped baby mint leaves. There you go. Rich man's mushy peas!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Jan 20 - 08:01 PM

I tried a new hybrid fruit purchase. They are 1/2 Mandarin Oranges and 1/2 Navel orange. They virtually peel themselves, are large and more reliably sweet than Navals.
Sumos:^)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jan 20 - 08:13 PM

Half mandarin, half navel? I’ll look out for those.

The only good thing about food availability in January is the abrupt appearance for a very short time of citrus fruits at a price that feels not quite as ruinous as usual.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jan 20 - 09:36 PM

There is a local grocery store (high end) that does various promotions, and about now is their citrus fruit one. All of that stuff is harvested and at a reasonable price. I get a bag of ruby red grapefruit at my local discount grocery, leftover from the high end grocery promotion.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jan 20 - 05:49 AM

Not sure about grapefruit. I've heard bad things...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Jan 20 - 06:42 AM

Grapefruit causes time release medicines to release all at once.
Cantlopes and mellons are sometimes brought to rapid ripening
with traces of arsenic.

The new apple is called cosmic crisp. It is not as tart as honey crisp but never turns brown when cut in half even after a week.
The traditional McKintosh is my next best favorite.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jan 20 - 07:00 AM

Well I hadn't heard that, but I take two time-release medicines...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Jan 20 - 07:51 AM

The action of grapefruit on medicine is partly in the stomach lining changes and not the time release mechanism alone.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Jan 20 - 08:02 AM

Don't drink grapefruit juice if you're taking any of these medications,

Some statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs): lovastatin (Mevacor), atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor, Vytorin). ...
Antihistamines: fexofenadine (Allegra)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 23 Jan 20 - 03:37 AM

If you're taking grapefruit-incompatible medication (as my partner is), you should have been advised accordingly. If in doubt, ask a pharmacist.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Jan 20 - 06:52 AM

Grapefruit contains a chemical that inhibits a gut enzyme that breaks down certain medicines. Doses are calculated taking into account the fact that some of the drug will be broken down by this enzyme before it can act. So, if you've eaten grapefruit you may get an overdose of the drug because your gut isn't breaking any of it down. I understand that the grapefruit chemical is also present in Seville oranges. It is absent from other citrus fruits. You can find lists of medicines that are affected online. Most medicines aren't affected, but better safe than sorry, eh!

I can live without grapefruit but not without Seville orange marmalade...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Jan 20 - 07:16 AM

Separation by hours of the two should be enough

There are many interactions that are worse or unknown.

Life: you pay your money and you take your chances with medicine.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jan 20 - 04:47 PM

Here's one a friend shared on Facebook recently. The text at the beginning describes the author's experience with the dish. From Texas Monthly magazine: Carne Guisada, a spicy meat stew that goes down well in a tortilla.

Sylvia Casares’s Frontera Carne Guisada
Serves 8

• 3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
  
• 3 guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed
  
• 1 chile de árbol, stem removed
  
• 1 cup chopped white onion
  
• 1 cup chopped tomato
  
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
  
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
  
• 2 teaspoons Holy Trinity*
  
• 1/4 teaspoon Mexican oregano
  
• 2–3 bay leaves
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  

*In a spice grinder, combine 3 peeled garlic cloves, 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds, and 1 1/4 teaspoons peppercorns, along with 1 tablespoon water. Process into a smooth paste.

In a large saucepan, combine the meat with 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Skim the froth, then cover and simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the chiles with 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool.

In a blender, process the chiles and their liquid until you have a smooth sauce, about 1 minute. Pass the sauce through a strainer, and reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid.

To the meat in the saucepan, add the onion, tomato, and bell pepper. Stir in the 1/2 cup chile
liquid, tomato sauce, Holy Trinity, oregano, bay leaves, and salt.

Simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and stir until golden in color. Remove from heat and add a small amount of liquid from the stew pot and stir to remove any lumps.

When the meat is tender, whisk in the flour mixture. Stir occasionally while simmering for about an hour, or until the stew is thickened. Serve immediately.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Jan 20 - 05:51 PM

I'd use about eight peeled garlic cloves, squashed with my fist and slightly busted up, and leave them out of your holy trinity. It sounds great but I'd have to use whatever chillies I could find. I do live in remote Cornwall, y'know!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Jan 20 - 06:01 PM

Actually, I do have a bit of an issue with bay leaves. I do have a bay tree I can raid for fresh leaves, but I do wonder what the leaves actually contribute to any dish. I know that I've overdone bay at times and have had to trash the dish. So if I use less, I can't detect their influence. Hmm. I tend to leave them out these days. Other spicy additions I'm suspicious of are cinnamon and fennel seeds. Tiny amounts only of the former and none of the latter. Overdone rosemary can be a bit of a hooligan too. Someone gave me some pistachio biscotti they'd made the other day. I had to spit out the first mouthful as it was overwhelmed by cinnamon. Mrs Steve is eating them so mebbe it's just me!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 24 Jan 20 - 12:20 AM

The salad shooter fad was all over when I finally bought one. I love putting carrots in them and shooting the thin circles of carrot into the pot. Carrots sliced thin taste better.

A couple weeks ago I finally used the blade that shreds. I produced shredded carrots for carrot bread. It was good too.

About dried basil, Steve. There used to be a spice store near me, next door to the natural foods store, with its sagging floors and dingy walls. The spice store seemed to acquire a degree of sincereness via osmosis.

One day I was there searching an elusive curry powder with flowery accents. I made the mistake of smelling the big jar that held the powder. Ewuuu! I don't think they had washed it for years. I tried smelling others jars, and it was the same story. The new product was probably all right, but the stuff stuck at the bottom...moldy-smelling and caked on.   

Maybe you hate dried basil, Steve, because you once got some of that stuff from the bottom of the jar. I use dried basil often, and it's fine, but I buy it in little jars from the supermarket.

After a while there was a fire in that building, and the grocery store and spice store never came back. And finally I found the wonderful curry powder. It is S&B Oriental Curry Powder, and it is made in Tokyo. Comes in a red metal can. A Chinese friend helped me find it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Jan 20 - 02:46 AM

Get Madhur Jaffreys book ' Indian Cookery ' you will never buy curry powder again when you have made the real thing.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jan 20 - 05:36 AM

You won't find any self-respecting Italian chef using dried basil. Check out Marcella's book, for example, and Gino d'Acampo is even more scathing. It just gives all the wrong flavour notes, way too acrid and assertive. In summer I have basil in my garden. The rest of the time I have a pot on the window sill. Other than in pesto, I think the best way to use basil is torn into the sauce at the last minute, or baby leaves sprinkled on top of the finished pasta dish or pizza* or salad, always with a sprinkling of your finest olive oil.
I might have mentioned this before, but in 2016 we spent a week in Puglia (in lovely Lecce) and we ate out every night. The food was always first-rate. Herbs were hardly used at all. Even the tomato and olive oil bruschetta (glorious bread) didn't have any at our favourite eatery. The lovely young woman who waited on us and befriended us never did make it to Cornwall...   :-(

*Depending on the pizza, I might prefer dried oregano cooked on top...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jan 20 - 10:52 AM

I don't have a salad shooter but I did buy one of those salad spinners at a thrift store a while back. It works well and means I'm liable to do a better job of rinsing the lettuce ahead of time. I used to rinse it of then pile the leaves in a dishtowel (tea towel) and step on the porch and give it a quick swing around the remove water. The spinner, as low-tech as it is, is much more efficient.

Time to transplant the asparagus from the bed where it doesn't get enough light to one on the other side of the house. I used to get a pretty good crop but it has been unhappy lately. It's such a luxury to pick the vegetable and carry it in the house in time for the meal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jan 20 - 06:29 PM

I made a risotto tonight using a ton of accidentally-bought excess veg. It was a triumph. I'm watching the FA Cup on Match Of The Day at the moment, but I'll post my method later...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jan 20 - 12:40 PM

I have a batch of red kidney beans simmering, and after they're soft I'll add the rest of the ingredients, most pulled from the freezer. A large ham hock, a 1lb chub of Jimmy Dean sausage (I prefer Italian sausage, but this works out also), bags of chopped onions and green and hot peppers. So far the only fresh item is a bay leaf from my tree in the yard and I have a large garlic from last spring's harvest. There are also some home-canned tomatoes that are on the elderly side but still okay for a dish like this. I put the finished beans into 12oz jar portions that go into the freezer. The seasoning that goes in with the sauteed onions and peppers will be salt, ground black pepper (from my large brass Turkish pepper mill), a large dollop of ground cumin, oregano (fresh from the yard), chili pepper, and at the end I'll crush in a handful of the frozen cilantro (grown here in the yard, sealed in a bag with the air pressed out and frozen) and a healthy dollop of capers. You put those in when cooking is finished and turn the heat off a couple of minutes later.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Jan 20 - 08:55 AM

Hyacynths have been poking their leaves up for the last couple weeks.
The only veg is chives in the yard.

Steve did you ever realize that what you eat or offer stays with you or others in essence for about seven years until it is all replaced?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 20 - 09:35 PM

The house smells wonderful after making a pot of lentil soup (an Egyptian recipe) that is very simple - water instead of stock, red lentils, a shredded onion, and when finished cooking a pinch of cumin, a healthy grind of black pepper, a little salt and lemon juice. Served with an extra squeeze of lemon. The restaurant where I order it serves some crispy baked strips of pita bread, but I'm fine with it plain.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 31 Jan 20 - 07:30 AM

Veggie Reuben, A local Grocery/Cafe/Bookstore "Food and Thought" introduced me to these, in fact I lived off of them in the aftermath of the last hurricane for about a week when F and T was about the only restaurant that stayed open during the power outages. I substitute roasted zucchini for the corned beef, F and T sometimes uses grilled eggplant. Rye bread is essential here.



    Russian Dressing
    Roasted Zucchini, 1/4" slices
    1 1/2 cups sauerkraut
    8 slices rye bread
    Swiss cheese, sliced
    Butter

Squeeze the liquid from 1 1/2 cups sauerkraut.
Spread butter on one side of each of the 4 bread pieces. Heat a griddle pan to medium high heat. Place 4 pieces of bread on the griddle, buttered side down. On each piece, spread some Zucchini, cheese, sauerkraut, Russian dressing, more cheese, and then another piece of bread. When the bottom bread is browned, flip the sandwich and cook until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 31 Jan 20 - 04:20 PM

Just added 5 new pics from my "One-Pot Cooking" today.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 Feb 20 - 07:52 AM

Re Gary Rhodes, RIP, on ITV just now, such a shame that one of the very few English chefs who championed our own good culture & cuisine left for, & died in, the greedy UAE.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Feb 20 - 09:58 AM

It's February, the dead heart of the Canadian winter, and I have not the faintest idea of what to make for supper.

The only thing to do is open the freezer, close my eyes, reach in, and grab. Culinary roulette.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Feb 20 - 11:54 AM

I have the ingredients and found a good-sounding recipe to make a batch of pasta e fagioli this evening. The idea came along when my gourmet discount grocery had some cans of cannellini beans and I knew I had just about everything else in the pantry or freezer. I did have to go purchase some celery, of which one or two stalks will be used and the rest will rot until it is thrown out. I don't particularly care for it on it's own but it's okay in other stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stanron
Date: 15 Feb 20 - 12:41 PM

This is probably culinary heresy but I love celery with a smear of yeast extract (Marmite or Vegemite) down it's length and a more substantial covering of peanut butter on top. I can almost guarantee that you won't find this in Italy or France but it goes down a treat in this bit of east Manchester.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 Feb 20 - 03:58 PM

I have never tried Marmite and didn't much fancy Vegemite when I tried it as a kid in Aus...but maybe it's time to for another try - with or without celery, which I sometimes add to a stew, as in the poem above.

Had, as often, a very simple quick breakfast this morning -

chopped up half of a large flat mushroom, plonked them into a mug and added boiled water for a couple of minutes, before draining and placing in a sandwich with just vegan spread and salt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 15 Feb 20 - 04:02 PM

I'm eating sweet potato pie with cinnamon

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Mar 20 - 03:48 PM

mmm whats on hand peasant soup

1 lg. can tomato soup
1 tomato
1 cabbage
4 potatoes
1 cauliflower
1/2 green pepper
1 can black beans
1/2 onion
1 full bottle salsa
4 glugs Tampico hot sauce
1 glug green salsa sauce
2 glugs of sesame oil
3+ pinchs salt
pepper to taste
Water to cover ingredients
boil like hell in large kettle with lid then turn down low for a couple hours

Makes 8 to 15 servings

It peaks by the third reboiling

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Mar 20 - 09:25 PM

That'll send the cartoon steam blowing out of your ears!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Mar 20 - 10:08 PM

It wouldn't work. Good soups are simply made with very few ingredients which need to be of the highest quality.

I've been a bit unadventurous lately but, when I have a minute, I'll be back with an idea or two...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 10:09 AM

Himself and I had the neighbours in to dinner last night. I made a very fine carrot and ginger soup.

About a pound and a half of carrots, peeled and sliced thin
Half a litre (two American cups) of chopped onion
About a thumb's worth of fresh ginger root, peeled and finely minced
Butter
A litre (or American quart) or so of chicken stock
Three or four strips of zest taken off an orange with a veg peeler and enclosed in a large infuser or tea ball
Salt and pepper

Put a piece of butter the size of a hen's egg in the bottom of a soup pot. When it foams, add the onions and ginger and stir them around until the onions are beginning to brown. Don't let the onions get browner, but add the carrots and stir them around, too. Sprinkle the veg with enough salt and pepper. Pour in the chicken stock. Toss in the infuser with the orange zest.

Put the lid on and simmer for long enough to make the carrots very soft. Then remove the infuser and puree the soup very thoroughly. Serve sprinkled with your favourite green herb -- parsely, chives, dill, etc are all good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 02:21 PM

Rough cut fibrous peasant vegetable soup worked for me. It was the first time I have felt normal since surgury.

The secret ingredient was 1 large apple.

It is pleasant and practically meaty now.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 03:11 PM

Donuel, here is a meat-free soup from the Moosewood cookbook. I've posted it here several times I'm sure. It's my favorite winter soup.

Gypsy Soup

3 – 4 tablespoons of olive oil\
2 cups chopped onion
4 cloves crushed garlic
About 1 inch of minced ginger root to taste
2 cups chopped, peeled sweet potatoes
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (I use canned most of the time because good tomatoes are rarely in season down here)
1 cup chopped sweet peppers
3 or 4 cans of chickpeas as you like but I crack them all with a potato masher for a better texture.
3-4 cups vegetable stock or water with a Knorrs vegetable bullion cube
1 Tsb. paprika
2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoon basil
Splash of sea salt just to brighten up the vegetables
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of cayenne
1 or 2 bay leaf depending how strong they are
1 tablespoon soy sauce

In a soup kettle or large saucepan sauté onions, garlic, celery and sweet potatoes in olive oil for
about 5 minutes. Add seasonings, except soy sauce, and the stock or water. Simmer, covered, fifteen
minutes. Add remaining vegetables (except for bell peppers) and chickpeas. Simmer another 10 minutes for so (then add bell peppers and adjust spices) until all the vegetables as you like them.
I sometimes sub carrots for sweet potatoes and sometimes use both.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 03:14 PM

Maybe start out with one teaspoon of tumeric and go from there.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 04:20 PM

Don't dribble any of that soup on your shirt - it'll leave stains!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 04:39 PM

I forgot to add that it should be served and eaten in the nude.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 04:57 PM

Bottled spag sauce always has sugar, blecch. Classico didn't used to but it does now.

Doctors don't warn about grapefruit nor about antibiotics interfering with the pill, nor about diaphragms [contraceptive ones] only working reliably in the missionary position. But they should. Doctors should warn, I mean.

Meanwhile, speak, well, write to me of ceviche. Internet recipes seem to be contradictory.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 06:52 PM

HAHAHAHA I can't really get naked, slings and supports of outrageous fortune oppose me and takes arms against a seam of troubles, And by opposing, ends most appetite. To fry: to broil; No more; and by endless chopping exhausts.

But every day is better and I intend to try these!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 07:03 PM

Mrrzy how did you know I have spent 20 years refining ceviche'?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 07:12 PM

I cooked a piece of rolled brisket a la Marcella Hazan yesterday. You need a lump of meat weighting about 2lb and about 6oz of unsmoked streaky bacon without rind (or pancetta), three or four onions and (according to her) five cloves (not garlic, clove cloves). Last time I tried it the cloves permeated everything, including the cold meat next day, so I left them out this time. No need to brown the meat. Get your heaviest lidded pot that will fit the meat snugly. Slice the onions thinly and lay them in a thick bed at the bottom of the pot. Cut the bacon into one-inch pieces and use half of them into gaps in the roll of meat (or use one of those larding needles wot I have not got. Scatter the other half of the bacon on top of the onions. Put the meat on top and season well. It does need to be securely covered. That's it. It goes into a fairly low oven, about 150c, for around four hours. You need to turn the meat occasionally.

The meat ends up beautifully sweet and the onions turn into a delicious mush. We have this with roast potatoes (mash would be good too) and some greens. Some of the onion mush passes for "gravy." I must admit that the onions produce a very full-on flavour, which I like, but I won't be abandoning my other brisket method, which browns the meat in butter, adds carrots and an onion and beef stock half-way up the meat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 07:14 PM

I meant to say, use your finger to force half the bacon...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 07:36 PM

Were you quoting from Hamomelette, Don?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 11:27 PM

I haven't had the energy to do much cooking, but I've created leftovers whenever I do cook, so they can be recombined later. And thank goodness for the overstuffed upright freezer. I've drawn down most of the store-bought frozen lunches, I have a few jars of my homemade Puerto Rican beans (a recipe I've modified a lot since I learned it from my mother-in-law), and with frozen bread and good cheese in the fridge, things like grilled cheese sandwiches are tiding me over nicely.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 06:29 AM

Yep. Never cook for one night if you can bulk up for two...or three...or four... those cheesy toasties will restore your strength, Maggie.

We had jacket spuds last night. I always do too many. For breakfast this morning I microwaved a couple of smaller ones for two minutes, cut them in half, scraped some cheddar on top and microwaved again for 30 seconds, just to melt the cheese. A little knob of butter and Bob's yer uncle. That'll keep me going until teatime (unless I can find a crumpet or two in between...)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 09:07 AM

Details, Donuel, details!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 10:32 AM

Leftovers, known to sensible people as "cooked food ready to eat".

Our Sunday night dinner party had but one flaw: the only leftovers were one serving of soup and some rather fine cranberry-flavoured gravy that would probably go well with pork. Must dig pork chops out of freezer ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 10:33 AM

I have recently (last couple of years) developed an appreciation for ceviche. So many things can go into it. The Mexican grocery nearby makes it, and it's very good, but I researched the main fish and it is one that is commercially farmed in China, so I've backed off of that and look for some with locally sourced wild-caught fish, or farmed in the US (fewer heavy metals in the flesh).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 10:47 AM

A Mexican friend of ours makes it with farm raised tilapia and it is excellent.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 11:18 AM

I won't buy farmed fish at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 11:39 AM

I much prefer farm raised tilapia and catfish to the ones I've caught myself but opt for wild on all other species, especially salmon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 03:34 PM

I make ceviche with my own caught trout, it's excellent.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 04:05 PM

Bbbbbbut HOW do you make ceviche??!?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 08:06 PM

I don't even know what ceviche is.

If you have decent bread for toasting, and you are in a hurry and can't be arsed to make anything that takes more than seven minutes, make this:

Drain two cans of mackerel in oil. Chuck the oil away.
Put mackerel in blender. I care not a jot, any blender will do.
Add a dash of Tabasco, a teaspoon of hot mustard, a tablespoon of creme fraiche, a grinding of pepper (salt not needed) and the juice of three-quarters of an average lemon. Blitz in your blender. Stir it around and put it in an ungodly little pot
. Ideally, I'd say leave it until tomorrow. But an hour or three is transformative.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 08:13 PM

Its not a recipe but an adventure

The traditional recipes use uncooked fish, veggies and salsa but instead of heat let seafood soak in Citrus juice overnight which will 'cook' 1/2 inch chunks of any type of seafood you desire. If you use lime juice it may be too limey for your taste. I discard the citrus marinade when the fish is done. Lemon lime may be to your taste and part fresh orange juice is mellow.

My fish selection is often Patagonian shrimp (south atlantic)
Sea scallops, talipia, catfish - all sliced 1/2 inch or less and marinated 24 hours. [I get added flavor if I first *lightly* saute' the fish before marinating]

Dice veggies about 3 times the volume of total seafood;
3-4 tomatos, 3 onions, 3 stoplight peppers but only 1/2 pepper per color (red green yellow) MAYBE you like a smokey chile in there too... deveined clerey 3 stalks,
One or two bottles of your favorite salsa - mild or medium chunky or southwest

Experiment if you dare with small star fruit, kiwi, finger lime or something tropical
Be careful - pinapple takes over

season with regular pepper, Tampico picant sauce or a little bit of old bay and fresh citrus juice to your liking from 3 or 4 fruits, I like to taste the lime.
I don't add salt but let it be your last judgement

It will vary but by day 2 it has a past familiar taste

It will be gone in less than 5 days.

I shy away from cumin cinnamon or oregano but you may discover your own secret ingredient.

Its a real 'wing it' recipe so go as nuts as you dare.
Lets hope you use the biggest bowl you own

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 09:18 PM

Rick Bayless has some recipes on his cooking program on PBS; he lets the fish or other seafood sit in the lemon or lime for sometimes just a couple of hours.

Scandinavians aren't the only ones who "cook" fish in acid (vinegar or citrus) and the peppers and herbs in the Mexican dish make it all the more appealing. A typical serving is to use a large tortilla chip, or use a tostada (cooked corn tortilla that is crisp) and put on a layer of sliced avocados or spoon on a generous helping of guacamole, then spoon the ceviche over the top. Mmmmmmm! Such a nice summertime meal. (I get it in regular Texas restaruants, Mexican restaurants, and general Hispanic groceries: Wikipedia says ceviche/cebiche/seviche/sebiche originated in Peru.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Mar 20 - 09:22 PM

"...and put it in an ungodly little pot..."
I have no idea what the spellchecker was thinking of here! Any pot will do, godly or not...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Mar 20 - 09:31 AM

It is the marinade time I worry about... Overnight seems long, the 45mn some Internet recipes say seems too short. I made some before and the fish was as rubbery as badly made octopus. Also how much hot pepper to not damage my wussy friends.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 11 Mar 20 - 10:31 AM

I’ve been doing a bit of very basic baking recently. Chocolate cake, lemon drizzle cake, sultana buns and cheese scones have all gone down well here. I made a birthday cake for dad. A simple sponge with a bit of vanilla essence in and peppermint butter icing. I used yellow food dye in the sponge and green in the icing to make it a sort of “Norwich City” cake. He was delighted with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Mar 20 - 11:55 AM

John Freeman, that is not what I call basic baking; you're headed straight for the advanced class.

I'm a good cook with all kinds of skills, but if I turn out a good cake it's by accident, not design. My pastry is worse.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Mar 20 - 05:54 PM

With the big pile of seafood (mostly shrimp) and a 1/2 inch of citrus juice, it needs stirring and contact with juice, however you wish to do it. Never could afford enough scallops or lobster. Does Peru even have lobster?

I bet the Inca had plenty of citrus to cover'preeserve seafood. I refrigerate but it is ingenious how they came up with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 12 Mar 20 - 07:55 AM

No, these few attempts have been really easy, Charmion. Like Mary’s Chocolate Cake - just weigh the bits into the bowl and let the mixer do the work.

I think the next cake I do will be a bit different as it’s prepared in a saucepan. I’ve only made it once before but it’s been a family favourite for a while.

Porter Cake
7fl oz Guiness Original
6oz butter
1lb mixed dried fruit
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
60z light soft brown sugar
1tsp bicarbonate soda
3 eggs (beaten)
10oz plain flour
2tsp mixed spice

Topping
2tbs demerara sugar
2tbs flaked almonds

Heat Oven to 130C

Put butter, fruit, sugar, orange and Guiness in a large saucepan and slowly bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes stirring gently. Cool for 10 minutes.

Stir in bicarbonate of soda (this can froth up a lot).
Stir in the beaten eggs
Add flour and spice and mix well.
Pour mixture into loaf tin and sprinkle the top with the sugar and almonds
Bake for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 12 Mar 20 - 08:26 AM

That Porter cake looks interesting, Jon and might be the thing for a St. Pat's gathering next week. Can you divulge what "mixed spice"(s) and "mixed dried fruit"(s) are involved?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 12 Mar 20 - 08:32 AM

I think of 5 spice when I hear mixed soice

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 12 Mar 20 - 08:43 AM

We'd just buy them as described in the UK, gillymor. But looking at the packages I have:

The dried fruit is mostly sultanas and raisins with a bit of candied orange and lemon peel.

The ground mixed spice jar says: Cinnamon, corriander, ginger, dill, nutmeg, clove.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 12 Mar 20 - 08:57 AM

That sounds good, especially like the spices. Thanks, Jon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Mar 20 - 10:21 AM

My ceviche was a huge success! Marinated onions tiny tomatoes celery cukes jalapeño (one, in fear, not enough), corn, garlic overnight in lime juice, lemon juice, vinegar and orange juice, then took it all out of the marinade and put in the fish sliced thin (sword and tuna) with extra lime and orange juices, oregano and marjoram, and put the veg back to hold the fish down, added olive oil on top, about an hour before we tossed, served with slotted spoons, and ate. Yum yum! Just needed either a lot more jalapeños or some cayenne.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Mar 20 - 11:01 AM

That ceviche sounds fabulous! I grow jalapenos every year, but also poblano, which aren't as hot but have a great flavor. I often put poblano in place of the hotter ones.

I'm closing in on a month of inactivity due to surgery, and don't have much of an appetite. I'm making sure to have a few standard foods handy; I make oatmeal three or four servings at a time in a small crock pot, then reheat a bowl in the mornings. Cheese sandwiches, French toast, pasta, beans a rice, easy to make or reheat are on the menu. The goal is to get enough protein during this healing process.

Sugar is not my friend; I have a toe that is somewhat arthritic after bunion surgery years ago and after three weeks of almost no sugar I ate a few chocolate caramels and it became red and sore late in the day. Alcohol has a similar effect (from past experience; I'm not allowed alcohol now). Using myself as a home science project I've proven what I suspected.

I have managed to keep the kitchen fairly tidy and the dishes run in the dishwasher regularly. I think a pot of lentil soup would serve for several days if I can motivate myself. I'll use the food processor to grate the onion - even though there is more cleanup of that device, it means fewer tears during the process.

I tried ordering out one time, a pizza. The process was unsatisfactory all around and what arrived was expensive, cold, and salty. I have ingredients here for making my own using flatbread in the freezer, but I should have ingredients ready to go ahead of time so I can fix it quickly when I feel hungry.

This is part of a self-care process I have to maintain since I live alone now (with three dogs who are all thumbs/tongues in the kitchen). Add to that the self-imposed isolation of the covid-19 pandemic and I need to have people call to check on me regularly that I don't just disappear one day, undetected. All of you, check on your friends and neighbors, by phone if not a conversation several feet apart on the front porch or down at the street. (My next door neighbors know I'm alive - I gave them a small loaf of hot broccoli cornbread last night, making sure I didn't touch the bread itself or the plate it would rest on. She gave me a ride to the doctor in her car this week so our germs are already kind of commingled.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Mar 20 - 05:29 PM

Heavens to Murgatroyd, people!
You're all homebound and nobody will talk about
what is cooking in the kitchen?

I'm still here at a mental health clinic,
long-term residential type, will be here for a while
(if you are following the thread on the subject).

The residential kitchens have wonderful cooking but even they
are human and the occasional SNAFU happens.
This one happened with suppertime dessert.
I don't know what this dessert is called elsewhere,
but we Yankees call it "angel food cake."
When properly baked, it ends up being mostly air,
just impossibly light stuff. Well ...

something went wrong before it went in the oven, I suppose.
One kitchen-savvy patient guessed that
the wrong pan might have been used, in the interest of
making large quantities for all the patients and staff for supper.

Anyway, no angels in this pastry --
looked as though it had been stepped on by a camel,
almost as flat as pita bread.
I thought the whole thing was really funny.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Mar 20 - 05:44 PM

Can't eat angel food cake because of its horrid texture. That one might have been good!

Looking for complicated multistep recipes. Maybe bœuf bourguinion.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Mar 20 - 06:33 PM

Salmon and salad or meat lasagna or chedder cheese and broccoli soup or ham and potatos or apple blueberry fry cake or grilled ham and cheese, eggs, oranges, apples, and myriad snacks

I don't drink but for dessert I wet my lips with Drambuie
Next month I will be unable to eat any carbs fruit or sugar.
So for now I splurge.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 29 Mar 20 - 03:39 AM

This afternoon I made "Matrimonial Cake", a recipe from my Canadian friend in B.C., it's her mother's recipe. Uses oatmeal (in Oz we use rolled oats), flour, brown sugar, butter, with a filling of dates cooked in water and a tablespoon of brown sugar. When it finishes cooling down I will cut it and we can try it, as the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Or so it is said.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Mar 20 - 10:45 AM

For my late breakfast this morning I'm making baking powder biscuits (my recipe has extra loft by using some cream of tartar with the baking powder). I'll take a few to the next door neighbors (carefully packed in clean plastic with tongs) - I don't have enough in a batch for sharing across the street as well, so tomorrow I'm making some of my homemade whole wheat bread and I'll make what is usually one large loaf in two smaller pans and take one across the street. I need to get more flour pretty soon. The big stores empty out but the small ones seem to have it, if I can get in when they're fairly empty of other customers.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Mar 20 - 02:53 PM

Fried up some cabbage for lunch in this morning's bacon grease and it tasted so Hungarian I added paprika and sour cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Mar 20 - 07:02 PM

From something called Edible History:

https://youtu.be/SNVUd_RllI0

I could not get Tasty to give me the real link.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Mar 20 - 08:57 PM

I made a wonderful beef stew yesterday with half a blade roast of beef and the fridge leftovers, especially the tail ends of three kinds of gravy and the heel of a bottle of vermouth.

I’ll never be able to do it again, and it’s really delicious — if a bit odd.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 07:37 AM

I baked two fillets of sea bream in the oven on Friday, more or less following a recipe I found on BBC Good Food. It's always more or less with me. I roasted a handful of garlic cloves in their skins for half an hour, wrapped in foil with some olive oil. Meanwhile I made a big foil parcel with an inner lining of greaseproof paper, big enough to wrap the fish in, folded over at the edges to keep the sheets together. The fillets went on there, skin side down. I squashed the garlic cloves a little bit but left them whole and scattered them on the fish. I added a splash of white wine, a splash of olive oil, a little touch of dried chilli flakes, a little sprinkling of chopped fresh rosemary leaves and some salt and pepper. The fish must be loosely but securely wrappedThat went on a baking tray into a pretty hot oven (200C fan) for ten or twelve minutes. I thought the embellishments might have been a bit much, but the results were absolutely delicious. We had the fish with a wedge of lemon on the plate and with a sprinkling of fresh parsley (sorry, Maggie. Just leave it off!) with mini-potatoes baked in their skins in olive oil, and some greens on the side.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 09:50 AM

Stilly, speaking as a totally medically UNqualified person, would you have a touch of gout by any chance?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 10:08 AM

On our last shopping trip, at 0800 on Sunday (!), I found a package of two frozen Rock Cornish game hens at a screaming deal price. Now, back in the Paleolithic Era, when I was young and learning to cook, a game hen was about the size of a man's fist -- and not a large man, at that. These things are at least twice that size, about the weight of an old-fashioned fryer chicken (i.e., about a pound and a half each).

Himself has visions of Rock Cornish game hens for Sunday dinner dancing in his head. I'm thinking of cooking them as if they were pheasants, a la Normande, with a sauce of cider and creme fraiche. (New computer doesn't speak French. Zut alors.)

What do y'all think?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 11:33 AM

Thompson, no, why do you ask? I do have a new knee as of last month, if I have been talking about difficulty walking. Total knee replacement is major enough that it takes a while to get over. I'm not able to go to Physical Therapy now so I'm doing my exercises every day and hope they're enough. And I'm getting to where I'm willing to stand in the kitchen for more complicated recipes.

Which brings me to today. I have discovered an abundance of apples in a bin in the fridge; I buy them regularly but haven't eaten them as much as usual. So I am going to make some hand pies (though when I finish they usually end up being more the size of Stromboli.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 01:41 PM

Our home is being remodeled, and our kitchen is packed into other nearby rooms. There's a sink in the dining room (with protective mat), the fridge is the only thing in the kitchen, and we have a toaster and hot plate on a low filing cabinet. Food and tools are crammed into every nook and cranny.

Since restaurants are closed, we order take-out for dinner every other day. As for the rest, we have gone through most of the frozen dinners I had ready. Now comes the real challenge - cooking good things to eat in this spartan setup. I believe I'll be relying on my slow cooker.
==========
Charmion, have you cooked those Cornish hens yet? I find they are dense and lean and do not lend themselves to roasting, so I invented this dish:

Cut Cornish hen in half using strong shears, being sure to -
discard the back, along with the icky organ bits stuck to it.

You may use a slow-cooker liner if you wish.

Press the hens, meaty sides down, against the sides of a slow cooker, where the sides and bottom meet.

Sprinkle with dill weed or seed.

Splash with white wine, maybe one-half cup.

Cook on low for a long time. How long depends on how big they are.

You may want to saute a little garlic and sprinkle that in, too.

Serve each diner half of a hen along with other good stuff. Let them add salt and pepper themselves.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 02:12 PM

Thanks, leeneia. I don't have a slow cooker, but I do have a clay baker -- and a recipe for game hens on rice cooked therein. I have never tried dill with poultry ...

These birds are the largest game hens I have ever seen. Splitting them will be no problem; spatchcocked is one of my favourite ways to cook birds.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 02:16 PM

My next door neighbor came through with a #20 package of flour from Costco; this is good because my neighbors have benefited from my baking. Yesterday I delivered small loaves of my whole wheat blend recipe; the neighbor across the street has severe medical underlying stuff that has kept her indoor for years, so is grateful to know she hasn't been forgotten. We're all going to come out with expanded waistlines if we're not careful with all of this bread.

The neighbors (the Costco trip) are older than me and I need to convince them to let me make the next few runs. (She went because her son has an "essential" job and can't get out and needed toilet paper.) I can also shop at Costco, a place they prefer, and it is big an airy, so if one can get in without having the queue around the block, it is doable. And for once I'm glad that they have all of their produce encapsulated in plastic. I can bring it to the counter where I process this stuff - take off and discard the plastic and then (for safety sake) wash the fruit or veg, then clean the counter. It's much less likely to have germs from a speculative shopper.

We're setting groceries on the porch and backing off these days. We are well fed. I fear this is not the case for much of the rest of the world. In the US infrastructure gaps are being addressed with emergency gestures from various companies and schools and political entities; it is clear to all (one hopes) that high speed Internet is not a luxury, it is an essential a utility as water, electric, and telephone. It needs to be regulated to make sure it is available to all. The modern version of rural electrification.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 04:50 PM

I thought of gout, too.

I just found a make-[or rather capture]-your-own-yeast recipe in the news. I wonder if I'd have better luck with wild yeast... I am not good with the store-boughten kind.

Anybody here hunted their own yeast?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 06:10 PM

Well I bought a bag of wild rocket for an Italian recipe. A couple of days later, I found a bag in another shop that looked a lot better. So I did the recipe (spaghetti with prawns, chilli, lemon and rocket, since you ask), then had all this rocket left over. So I made some rocket soup. All it took was an onion, some potatoes, a couple of veg stock cubes and the rocket, blitzed. It was a lightweight soup but very nice at lunchtime with a bit of crusty sourdough.

Jamie Oliver came on the telly the other night making a fish pie that had frozen spinach in the recipe. I couldn't find frozen spinach so I bought a big bag of fresh. Then, two days later, I found frozen spinach in a different supermarket. So I had this bag of spinach going begging. I hate waste, so I found a recipe for spinach and lentil soup. You start with a classic soffritto of carrot, celery and onion, softened up for half an hour in olive oil (extra virgin at all times, please...). Once softened, I added 140g green lentils and three pints of weak veg stock. After half an hour I threw in the spinach, about 250g. After a few minutes I blitzed the lot and checked the seasoning. The recipe sez to serve it with a good swirl of cream and a sprinkling of crispy bacon on top. I haven't got that far yet, but the basic soup tastes great and I'll probably freeze it tomorrow as we're replete with stuff still to eat up (a good position to be be in). I have a big pan of finished chicken stock from the Sunday roast but I'm saving that for my signature roast chicken and bacon risotto on Saturday night. I wonder whether I'll get my just reward... ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Apr 20 - 03:58 PM

What means blitzed in this context?

Anybody on the wild yeast thing?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Apr 20 - 09:25 PM

“Blitzed” means puréed with a blender, Mrrzy, either the jug or stick type, though people who finally acquire a hand blender never go back.

Wild yeast is what you’re working with when you use a sourdough starter. Give it a try — but be prepared to change your dough-handling technique radically if you’ve only ever used active dry yeast.

I love sourdough bread, and we were baking sourdough for several months a year or so ago, but with only two of us eating the results I found myself with six months’ worth of bread in the freezer. Baking sourdough — especially with whole-grain flours— really raises your bread game, though; you learn a lot about your ingredients that you never knew you didn’t know.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: mg
Date: 03 Apr 20 - 02:17 AM

i made bacon and fried it with leftover and not overly fresh coleslaw mix. lots of black pepper. it was good. have to make it tomorrow too and i might add just a speak of sriracha sauce.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Apr 20 - 01:59 PM

Steve, you are cooking some interesting and healthful things nowadays. Good for you.

Charmion, I think my recipe would taste good in a clay pot. Just cook it slowly.

My Dear Husband is always forcing me to eat spinach. Maybe I will make Steve's spinach and lentil soup. The DH is always on about green, leafy vegetables. I can see his point, but he insists that cauliflower is a green, leafy vegetable. How does that work?
==============
Things in short supply in my area:

toilet paper
eggs
flour
yeast
cherry tomatoes (ya gotta have some fun)

I didn't want to, but I finally ordered a pound of yeast from Amazon.
I'm trying to picture a lot of beginners trying to make bread with no one to guide them, and it's not a pretty picture.

The first week of the quarantine, all the canned beans were gone, but now they're back. Wonder why. ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 03 Apr 20 - 04:29 PM

Morrison's large Cottage Pie with extra peas!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Apr 20 - 05:54 PM

Cauliflower fully deserves to be regarded as a "green," even though it isn't green. It has the same range of nutrients as other brassicas. And it's high in fibre. Just don't overcook it, that's all. I love it and almost always have one in the house through the winter (not the same one all winter, I hasten to add). We're rather fond of tenderstem too. Cooking it just right can be a bit of a challenge. Ordinary calabrese I find to be bland and uninteresting. It can be OK in soups.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Apr 20 - 06:48 PM

During the winter, I make up batches of what I call “veg haché”, using a cauliflower, a broccoli crown, a red onion and a smallish zucchini. I cut all the veg into wok-type thin slices, toss them in the biggest mixing bowl, and refrigerate the mixture in a snap-top box. I weigh out servings of 200 to 250 grams, and sauté the veg in a non-stick skillet with garlic, salt and pepper. The mixture also works very well in a frittata.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Apr 20 - 07:17 PM

You've reminded me of a frittata recipe I got from Gino d'Acampo which has courgettes (aka zucchini). I'm thinking I might revive that one next week. We had the spinach soup tonight and it was really good, and so simple. For two of us (I tend to be generous), just before serving it I stirred in about 100 ml of double cream (wot I believe you call "heavy" your end) and sprinkled the soup bowls with a little bit of crispy pancetta. I'll use the rest of the pack of pancetta in my signature risotto tomorrow evening, leftover chicken bits with bacon and creme fraiche. I'm sure I've posted that one before.

I have a massive hunk of shoulder of lamb in the freezer that I bought months ago, intending to produce a feast for about six people (and have leftovers). That can't happen for the foreseeable future, obviously. So I'm going to thaw it tomorrow and cook it on Sunday. Mrs Steve and I will be feasting on cold lamb all next week. We love that, though I know some people don't. If there are scraps I'll make a ragu, the recipe for which I know I have somewhere. I'll put the hunk into a very low oven first thing on Sunday (seasoned simply and topped with a few scattered sprigs of rosemary) then forget it until it's time to do the roasties (about six o'clock). I have a new idea for roasties as it happens, but I need to make sure it works the way I want it before going large with it!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Apr 20 - 11:14 AM

Made Hungarian-esque stuffed cabbage last night. One recipe said to make a little ball of the didn't-come-out-even stuffing in a kind of meatball so you can use that to check whether the rice was cooked... Brilliant. Started with raw rice and raw ground pork and only nuked the outer cabbage leaves so they could roll.

Still airing out the microwave, though!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Apr 20 - 11:50 AM

Am postponing the lamb until next weekend. I'm doing a beery beef stew tomorrow instead. It's a Jamie Oliver one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Apr 20 - 12:26 PM

I did a delivery order from Aldi - my first ever grocery delivery. I included a case of dark beer, and though I don't feel like drinking beer right now, it's a nice thing to have for when it's a bit warmer out and the meal is right for beer. And it is good for things like making beer bread. If you don't have yeast, it'll work in a pinch, but plan to eat it while it's hot because it doesn't taste as good day-old.

I buy yeast a pound at a time (Sam's Club or Costco) and keep one of the two packages in the freezer till I need it. I'd hazard a guess that I have about 1/3 of a pound in the fridge now in a jar I measure out of when I bake. If you pull up Instagram and search on bread you'll find that the world is baking up a storm these days and there are some beautiful loaves showing up (the kind that bake on a sheet, not in a pan). I delivered my homemade bread shaped into much smaller loaf pans last week and my neighbor across the street called to offer effusive thanks - she has COPD and simply never goes out (hasn't for ages) but now no one can come in to visit her (her daughter, in particular). It seems bread is a great surrogate for having someone actually come in for a visit (I use tongs to drop it into a brown bag that was stored in the pantry long before COVID-19 came along then, wearing gloves, hand it over at the door to her son who lives with her. Now I'll have to set it down and let him step out to pick it up since we're staying 6' apart.)

I'm trying to not have too many things going in the fridge at once, but I have a couple of servings of lentil soup, a couple of servings (at least) of my chicken fajitas, I have some cooked pasta and jar sauce in there to make into something. There is a bit of chicken breast, and I think if I mix the chicken with the pasta sauce over pasta with melted mozzarella, I'll be happy with that dinner. Once I've cleared out a couple of these things I'm going to make my crustless quiche.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Apr 20 - 12:50 PM

We also have a hunk of lamb in the freezer for Easter. A boned leg, if I recall correctly, almost the last of the whole lamb we bought from our favourite farmer last fall. We should be eating goose with Himself's brother and wife, but now obviously not. The goose is also sitting in the freezer, larger than life and twice as frosty.

The silver lining in this cloud is that, by the time we can invite someone over to help us eat that damnable goose, summer will have arrived and I will be able to cook it outside, thus not filling the house with the smoke that seems to be the inevitable result of roasting waterfowl in a convection oven. The last time I cooked a duck, I thought we would be feeding the fire brigade, too.

The current soup in the fridge is bean-and-kale minestrone, a recipe that always makes about a gallon. It freezes well, fortunately but, unfortunately, the kale always turns an unattractive olive-drab colour, exactly the same shade as the combat uniforms we wore back in the Cold War. I close my eyes and eat it anyhow; the flavour and nutritional value are not affected.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 04 Apr 20 - 05:17 PM

The DH and I still have a temporary kitchen (home renovation.) We've been going along nicely, alternately food from the freezer with restaurant take-out, but now we find fewer locals are selling take-out.

I assume they found that not enough people order food to justify the expense of running the kitchen. That's unfortunate.

So soon the DH and I will have to tackle actual cooking in our makeshift set-up. It won't be too bad. But tonight we will use the last of the cooked chicken to make curry. Here's my recipe:

Thinly slice a ripe pear or apple. Leave the peel on for flavor.

Put a little oil in a big skillet.

Saute minced garlic in it.

Add the sliced fruit and some pieces of chicken - I like thighs, trimmed of fat.

You can go to the trouble of removing the garlic temporarily and browning the chicken first, but I don't bother.

Cover the skillet and cook till the chicken is tender and the fruit has broken down into a smooth sauce.

Just before dining, add curry powder to taste, at least one teaspoon.
As I wrote before, I like the Oriental curry powder with its flowery aromas.

Meanwhile, cook rice with raisins in it and chop up green onion. Serve the chicken over the rice and sprinkle the green onions on top.
========
I have found that all the stress of the renovation and covid, etc makes us so tired that when dinnertime comes around, we don't feel like cooking anything. So I will cheat and make the sauce ahead of time. It won't be as good, but needs must.

Today we getting the dust out of the work area. We are sick of breathing it and tracking it around. The DH goes through with a big broom and sweeping compound, and I follow with a shop vac.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Apr 20 - 05:45 PM

Ooh was this good:

Chopped a bunch of parsley, a little less dill, a little less mint, into bowl
Chopped a cucumber, into bowl
Hammered the tail end of my bag of almonds and sprinkled the salt over the cukes
Cut a bunch of grapes in half using the 2-plate trick and put on top of cukes
Added the choppedish almonds
Poured a good amount of lemon juice over the top
Drizzled on a decent amount of olive oil
Tossed with spoons
Ate with spoon oh truly yummy

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Apr 20 - 08:28 PM

I have two or three large (6+ pounds) chickens in the freezer; I imagine what I can do is let one thaw then cut it up and offer a portion of it to my ex or the neighbors, talking with them ahead of time so they expect it and with the understanding that it will be cooked right away. I'd have to cut it up and bag it, hand it over with gloves, and they'd have to immediately cook it once it's home (to kill any germs transferred to the bird) and carefully discard the plastic bag for the same reason. Half a bird is plenty for one person for a lot of leftovers. There's a small (~ 12 pounds) turkey in there also, but it's my "spare" bird bought last December because invariably during the year there is an occasion when someone from out of town visits and we have several friends and family over. But this year not any time soon.

I wonder at how nerve-wracking it must be to have the workers in and out of the house right now. The same is happened with a friend here, and they're both higher risk due to age and underlying health issues. For now there has been plastic sealing off the kitchen from the rest of the house, but as soon as it comes down there will be other people germs available to commingle with everyone in the house.

Stay safe!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 04 Apr 20 - 08:47 PM

Steve wants us to use extra-virgin olive oil. That reminds me that the International Olive Oil Standards Board has promulgated further grades for olive oil.

Extra Virgin
Virgin
Girl next door
No better than she should be
Been around the block.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Apr 20 - 04:41 AM

I think that those refined olive oils are horrible things. A lot of nonsense has been written about extra virgin olive oil, such as that you shouldn't cook with it. What you shouldn't do is get the oil so hot that it smokes. But I don't have many dishes that require me to heat oil that much before putting something into it, and if I do need really hot oil I'll use groundnut oil instead. A lot of my Italian dishes start with gently sautéeing sliced garlic and chilli flakes, sometimes with an anchovy or two to melt. Gently being the operative word. Extra virgin oil is ideal for that. I have two grades of extra virgin oil in the kitchen, a big bottle of relatively inexpensive stuff for cooking and a much more expensive but superb oil for sprinkling over finished dishes or for salad dressings. Marcella Hazan would tell me off for not using the latter for everything. She has a point, but that would cost me a fortune.

And don't get me started on those horrid bottles of cheap and runny balsamic vinegar...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 05 Apr 20 - 07:14 AM

Wild garlic.

There's miles of it along the streambanks around here. I've been collecting bagfuls of it on walks and stuffing every spare space in the freezers with it. Use like spring onion or leek, for cooking or raw in salads. I've planted some in the garden but for some reason it prefers to grow near running water, which we aren't - who knows, we might get lucky. We already have a fair bit of self-seeded sorrel, so we're doing ok for fresh greens.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Apr 20 - 09:31 AM

Steve have you ever wondered if you had become a world class chef rather than an exhausted teacher, that your life would have benefited?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Apr 20 - 07:01 PM

No it wouldn't. Basically because I can't stand anyone to be in the kitchen with me. And that would apply even if the kitchen was 10000 square metres. No, I don't want any help. No, I'll peel the spuds myself. No, you don't chop veg my way so put that knife down and walk away slowly. Please get away from that sink - NOW. You want to know if there's anything you can do to help? Sure. Just bugger off into the other room and watch telly.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 05 Apr 20 - 11:03 PM

On a more relaxed note, we are getting ready for our isolated and virtual Passover. Tonight I spotted a couple of apples on the back of the counter. Chopped them up, skin on. Added some date syrup, cinnamon and cashew bits. Next time, I may try nuking the apple bits. Taste was good.
Getting more date syrup can be problematic as I don't remember which kosher shelf it was on. Will keep eyes peeled.   
It is really nice having all sorts of stores within a few miles--not so many in walking distance as we had in Brooklyn but a good variety.
Even found a place that sells beef kabonosy. Fresh, not dried.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 11:38 AM

Made a chicken curry last night whose leftovers will be arroz con pollo, if that is allowed. Miscegenation, or something.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 01:43 PM

To me Curry must have been used to diguise the flavor of spoiled meat.
Nope Curry curries no flavor with me.
Other Indian spices however are a spectral experience.

I have had some success with using savory liquors in sauces.
Chocolate liquor and dark chocolate is a good one for some seafood like lobster or scallops.
Drambuie works in some tomato or barbecue sauces. 100 proof PEACH and real cream is great for spongecake and other desserts. Goldbergs 100 proof cinnamon makes great cookies. Schnapes not so much.
I do not use wine because of the sulfites.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 03:54 PM

Donuel, consider that the warmer a region is, in general, the stronger the spicing is, especially of foods that tend to go bad. QED

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 04:25 PM

But if Steve had particularly nice clients perhaps we could form a commune and have him as our exclusive cook…?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 04:55 PM

Jack, no need to freeze the garlic. The best way to store the wild garlic is to pull the whole plant (or dig - my garlic always seems to grow quite deep) and knock off the worst of the dirt and save the corms to use for planting elsewhere later (or knock some back in the same hole so more plants sprout next year.) I let the batch of plants stand in a large bucket in the laundry/mud room and dry over a couple of weeks till the moisture has all moved to the garlic bulbs or simply dried out; cut off the tops, leaving a couple of inches of neck for easier handling. I knock off any remaining dirt then put them into a craft grocery bag and store them on a dark shelf in the pantry. They will last a year or two that way. I dug up some wild garlic in the woods across the road from me years ago and over time have it come in in several areas of the yard. It's actually a wild leek, or is referred to as a hardneck garlic.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 05:09 PM

Mrrzy, no need to worry about miscegenation between the curry chicken and the arroz whatever. The world that can accept curry wurst can accept anything. Or how about Tex-Mex won ton? I vow to you I have seen a recipe for that.
==========
I am trying to combine cooking during a kitchen re-do with life under Covid quarantine. My yeast supply is down to 1.5 teaspoons. I eat cracked-wheat bread, the only bread with good fiber in it for breakfast, almost every day. Here I sit - low on yeast and no oven.

So I have combined a recipe from "Artisan Bread with Steve" (see his YouTube videos) with directions from another YouTube on how to bake bread in a crock pot. The beauty of Steve's recipes is that each one takes only 1/4 tsp of yeast.

If you are looking for something fun to do, check out Steve's artisan, no knead bread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 05:09 PM

Don't poke the bear or chef. Some maestros can be rather intense.
The older we get, the more spicy and colorful foods become satisfying and stimulating.
Look at the uncensored expressions on the face of little kids eating a more than usual seasoned food. Its agony or ecstasy.

They say its not the steak, its the sizzle. Bull, some dishes are just for show like turkey wings flambe'.

Oh, from memory a quick and easy way to fumigate your entire apartment is to put a can of Boston Brown Bread in the microwave for 20 minutes instead of 20 seconds.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 06:07 PM

Maggie, I think that Jack may have been referring to the leaves of wild garlic, aka ramsons, Allium ursinum. They are sprouting all over the place in partly-shaded woods and hedges right now, and, as far as I know, only the leaves are used, and you have to bag them over about six weeks through mid-spring. They have a lovely, fresh, subtle garlicky aroma, and the leaves are used in a good number of recipes. Naturally, Jack can speak for himself.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 08:46 PM

Are they the same as chives?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 09:26 PM

This is what I'm talking about.

There are lots of wild chives and onions that sound a lot like what you describe. "Society garlic," for one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 09:28 PM

No, nothing like. Ramsons has broad lanceolate leaves whereas chives has cylindrical leaves, like grass at casual glance. Ramsons, garlicky aroma. Chives, more oniony and not at all garlicky.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Apr 20 - 09:36 PM

Just look up Allium ursinum, Maggie.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Apr 20 - 12:09 AM

Read the Redwall books for ideas.

The curry arroz con pollo was not as good as the original curry...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Apr 20 - 09:49 AM

Himself made naan the other day, in an iron skillet like bannock. It's delicious and rich -- easy to eat too much, but worth the calories. The dough is made with ghee and yoghourt.

We got the recipe from an email sent out by the Stratford Chef School, a local institution doing its bit to make isolation less onerous. The recipe was adapted from a commercial source by one of the instructors, a chef and bread guru named Eli Silverthorne, who if there's any justice should get the keys to the city if not the Order of Canada.

The recipe is a bit long so, if anyone of you lot would like it, drop me a PM.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Apr 20 - 10:37 AM

Well the stuff in the yard (lbs of it) sure smells good when I mow it.
Its a natural yard so it is mostly purple and white violets, garlic stuff, and various grasses. Most people would consider these plants as weeds.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Apr 20 - 01:23 PM

If your garlicky stuff is growing in grass, it could be crow garlic, Allium vineale, which has fairly tall wiry stems, bulbils as well as flowers and a few leaves that look a bit like chives. In the US it's an invader from this side of the pond. You can use it like garlic, but it's a tough old thing and the flavour and smell is very strong and unsubtle. If it gets into pasture and is grazed by animals, the meat and milk takes on a disagreeable garlic whiff. If it grows in grain crops and is harvested with the grain, the same taint happens. It's not my favourite plant.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Apr 20 - 04:48 PM

I'm late in starting raised beds but I've removed the edge fence stuff from my old garden and have a number of bedding plants I'm keeping alive in pots until I get the soil redistributed. We have a long growing season here so a late start isn't a huge problem (though we just had Easter and my neighbor swears by not planting tomatoes until Easter.) Gardening has become all the rage now, clearing out area nurseries, so I'll probably have to start some crops from seed. I have a stash of old seeds and hopefully some of them are viable.

Today for lunch I finished the last of the eggplant Parmesan I made last fall and froze in a single-portion Pyrex covered dish. It actually made two portions because I haven't been eating as much after the surgery. As I get more active I'm sure that will change. The eggplants came from my yard. (I got high points a few years ago when Mudcat's Joe Offer came through town and we walked out to the garden and I picked an eggplant to use for dinner.)

I brewed some green tea with lemon balm the other day; it's my "house tea" this time of year because lemon balm escaped a pot years ago and grows all around the patio. It's only a light hit of caffeine so I can drink it in the afternoon. The ice in the freezer is made by an automatic ice maker, and most of it has sublimated in the freezer without being used. I've tossed the batch and turned on the rapid ice button. I dropped a cube and the puppy picked it up and skittered out of the kitchen with it like I was going to take it away from her. Such a cutie!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 08 Apr 20 - 09:32 PM

You may recall that I said I would cook bread in the slow cooker because we have no oven right now.

It worked, in the sense that it finally produced some edible bread. I had to cook it for far longer than the video said, and I had to take it out and turn it over. The final product is rather rubbery, but since I toast it every morning, that's not so bad.

Fortunately Amazon shipped my new supply of yeast earlier than they said they would, so now I can go back to my reliable bread machine.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Apr 20 - 08:00 AM

I want Joe Offer to stroll through *my* yard!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 09 Apr 20 - 09:12 AM

Getting set up for last night's seder was an adventure. First the good, Using Nyafat and sesame oils, the matzoh balls came out both light an solid. a friend asked where I found Nyafat. It was in a sealed jar in the back of the fridge. Looking it up on line, I later found that the product had been discontinued mere than a dozen years ago,
Now the ugly. After sticking the turkey in the oven, we discovered that the heating elements had failed. We ended up with fillet of flounder. Good, but not what we had planned. As the turkey had become partially cooked, we fiddled with the controls and got some heat from it, to the point that the turkey cooked very slowly and was quite juicy to be eaten tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 09 Apr 20 - 11:07 AM

Currently I'm on an adventure to create the hottest chilly burger I can create,any good recipes out there ?

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Apr 20 - 11:25 AM

Penzey's brand of Berbere spice has made people's eyes bleed. I find it wonderfully hot.

Anybody ever tried one of those steak-of-the-month mailed meats things? Several here: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/cnn-underscored/best-meat-delivery-service/index.html

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Apr 20 - 05:48 PM

It's kind of late to plan to order out today, but I'll look into picking up something for dinner tomorrow. I'm tired of my own cooking, though what I've been coming up with is fine. I miss eating out. I get sandwiches sometimes, Chinese fairly often, and there's a Mexican restaurant up the street from me that I always go to for sit down meals, but I'll think about what I want to carry out.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 09 Apr 20 - 07:35 PM

We haven't done any shopping or take out for over a month. We could ration for a couple more months. At the peak of infection my wife wants to get curbside comfort food Friday. Wegmans is better stocked than Giant or Safeway. There are limits on everything but my tastes are either so prosaic or strange they had everything on our list.

While loading I will play 'Don't stand so close to me' followed by 'Come a little bit closer'.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 09 Apr 20 - 11:27 PM

This AM we did a visual on the oven. It turned out that the lower element had fractured. Whatever, the refrigerated turkey was delicious. As it's just the two of us, about 3/4 of the meat has gone into the freezer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 07:09 AM

Made my first roasted crispety shaved Brussels sprouts, crowded the pan so not all were crispety but yum. Will have to try again with larger pan. In same oven also roasted first try at a single cornish hen, trying to cook for one. Bottom skin not crispy so next time will put on rack because also yum.
Brussprouts were flavored by soaking some crushed garlic, cayenne and coarse salt in a little olive oil and tossing them in that. Ground coarse black pepper over.
Hen had some more crushed garlic, cayenne and marjoram in cavity, plus ground coarse salt on outside after rubbing with olive oil.
Tried to time it to come out of oven at same time but veg were done first so 3 courses: veg, then all the salty crispy skin off the bird, then the bird itself.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 10:57 AM

We're eating our way through the freezer.

Cornish hens are a very fine thing. I like to spatchcock them (split up the back, break wishbone, lay flat) and roast them on a rack, rubbed with olive oil and liberally sprinkled with sea salt and herbs. Many recipes call for a very hot oven, but I have found that 375 degrees Fahrenheit works very well, with convection.

One Cornish hen is a slap-up meal for one person, with leftovers if s/he is neither greedy, nor my husband on any given day. I swear that man has a hollow leg.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 11:40 AM

I'm making a second batch of rolls this week, and around midday my ex will pick them up when he delivers groceries for me. Since he uses a place called the UPS Store (in the US - they serve as a private post office so his parcels aren't left on his porch where they too often were being stolen) he goes once a week, and then pops across the street to the little but generally well-stocked Aldi. He always used to go to Albertson's or Walmart on adjacent corners at the same major intersection, but I guess people assume because they're large they'll have more stuff, yet they're routinely stripped of many staple items. I told him about shopping at Aldi because I couldn't walk well through those big stores right after the knee surgery, and I was finding they weren't low on most things. They do post limits, which helps. I think he's a convert to the idea that the little stores are simply doing a better job at keeping up their supply.

I couldn't face another homemade dinner last night and then decided what I really needed was breakfast for dinner. I made a Dutch Baby (with an 8" skillet I preheat it in the oven, then drop in 2T of butter to melt before pouring in the batter (1 large egg, 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup milk, whisked until smooth). Bake 20 minutes at 425^o. (I find with this oven that about 18 minutes is enough - you can judge by the amount of brown around the rim of the thing.) Pour over a little maple syrup (I use Mapleine and make a home version) and beside it I had two strips of thick-sliced bacon. And since I have a couple of ripe bananas I made a small banana/strawberry/yogurt smoothie as a chaser.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 06:32 PM

SRS, we are glad you are improving. Do you use commercial or homemade yoghurt? We use about a tablespoon of Chobani Greek yoghurt as a starter. It comes in tubes and does not seem to go bad. Depending on how long you let it sit in your incubator [oven with the light on] before draining the whey off, you can set it for any firmness you like. 1/2 gallon of milk makes about a pint of really good stuff. We use the A1 or A2 whole milk for the best results.

Spring is upon us and we await a call from our friend who lives on the banks of the Delaware River. He has promised to call when the shad beginning running so we can catch our own. Pickled shad, slow broiled shad roe wrapped in bacon. [If broiling, watch for the bones as shad are a variety of herring] Now that's heavenly!

One thing about fishing is that it's one of the few social sports you can enjoy while maintaining a 2 meter distance between participants. [I prefer 2 meters to six feet because we are Ham radio operators.]

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 06:45 PM

Your dinner sounds delicous, Mrrzy, though I for one could not handle cayenne pepper. I like to saute brussels sprouts too. I cut them in half, brown on one side, steam for a while, then sprinkle with lime juice and black pepper.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Apr 20 - 09:54 PM

Over the years I've made a lot of yogurt, using the directions in a Middle Eastern cookbook (heat the milk, mix the starter, put it in a large bowl topped with a plate wrapped in several layers of towels and leave it on the counter overnight. It's magic by morning.

However, I have a gourmet discount grocery warehouse where they have the high-end yogurt (often quite thick, with no thickeners, just cultured, several brands) for extremely reasonable prices (an $8 pint for $1.50, for example) and cases of 12 cups for $2 each (the whole case) so I get the Siggi's flavors that way and am very happy with the quality.

I eat a lot of oatmeal and prepare it with brown sugar and a lot of milk over the top; I use My Fitness Tracker to keep track of the amount of calcium (also calories, but the calcium is the thing that is most important right now as someone with osteopena). This gives me almost 50% of the calcium I need in a day. Yogurt is another part of that routine.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Apr 20 - 11:10 AM

Some like it hot, leeneia! Totz optional, the cayenne.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 12 Apr 20 - 12:14 AM

I just noticed. The output should be 2 pints per half gallon of milk. The milk we use is organic as we seem to get the best result and are lactose intolerant. We use the firm stuff in place of sour cream or cream cheese [try it with lox on a really good sour rye.]
Just got word--the shad are running. Off to the Delaware tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 12 Apr 20 - 06:59 AM

Used to make yogurt; best way of getting it to set in a cold climate was putting it in the bed with the hot blanket on and the duvet over it for a few hours.

Everyone in Ireland seems to be frenetically digging lazy beds and putting in potatoes, and reclaiming gardens and starting food seeds. The weather has been glorious for the whole lockdown period so far, but today some much-needed rain has arrived and the gardens and hills and fields are going "Aaaah!"

I'm trying to get scorzonera going. This is a long, sweet root, which is perennial and provides years of good eating; it's sweet-tasting (kind of like salsify) but is supposed to be good for diabetes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Apr 20 - 07:01 PM

Imma try a chicken salad tonight. I have a thigh I kinda dredged in onion and garlic powders, cumin and cayenne for chicken broccoli from lunch, a few grapes, chopped celery and almonds, maybe some green peppers, sour cream lemon dressing with fresh dill. We shall see.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 12 Apr 20 - 09:01 PM

Well, we're not dining on Shad tonight or making pickled shad or any of the other pleasures, like shad roe, that are associated with catching a fish. We ere at several locations and only saw two fish landed today. We will make another try when they are running stronger--perhaps next week. A lot of broken surface walking, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Apr 20 - 09:19 PM

They’re In the River

Sapidissima

If you're not a subscriber to The New Yorker you may have to look for these at your library, but John McPhee has written about shad and shad roe several times over the years.

I cut up some (previously) boiled red potatoes tonight and pan friend them to crisp edges and had them with a piece of pan fried in butter Copper River salmon; I think it's the last piece frozen last summer. And for the first time in at least two months, I had a beer with dinner. While I was recovering from surgery on narcotics, no alcohol was allowed, and I didn't want to drink any when I was on a lot of Tylenol.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 13 Apr 20 - 06:26 PM

This one?
Armand Charest: "You take a shad. You put it in a pressure cooker with a brick. you cook it for eight hours. Then you throw away the shad and eat the brick."

Subject: RE:Who can solve the supply chain question?
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Apr 20 - 09:57 PM

The supply chain runs on 2 seperate tracks; grocery and commercial (institutions and restaurants).

People fearing lock down and insufficient supplies put stress on the grocery side and the commercial side has much less demand and are destroying food at the source like milk, eggs and plowing ripe crops under. Yes much of it rots.

People are not accustomed to buy eggs by the gross or 40 lbs packages of chicken. The commercial track always had their own distributors and packaging.

Federal intervention is sorely needed to turn things around or severe food shortage may derail rich nations. We could have neither bread or circus. Inaction will lead to the most dire scenarios we dare not imagine.

I have already seen two lanes of cars waiting in 10 mile long lines for 20 lbs of free food bank food.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Apr 20 - 11:04 PM

The food chain is not a machine, it is people and they are getting sick to the point where Smithfield plants even in South Dakota are shutting down.
The workers are mostly immigrants not likely to give info to an ER.
Houston we have a problem.

Society will have to change their habit of hate and exploitation or accept their own demise as a consequence of said beliefs.

The unintended consequences are a revenge only in our imagination but it is happening and only a better imagination can save us.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 12:58 AM

Sounds like this is the year to set up a produce stand at the curb in the neighborhood. Your garden surplus will go on someone's table, whether you sell it or give it away is up to you.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 08:21 AM

Banana Pecan pancakes was a great way to start the day.
1 thinly sliced banana and up to a 1/3 cup of crushed pecans, 3 eggs, heaping tbl of sour cream and milk until correct consistency, enough for 6 pancakes.
I used a little whipped cream instead of syrup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 08:34 AM

That sounds scrumptious.

Any ideas for a pork loin?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 02:59 PM

Ooh here is an idea: using frozen hash browns (thawed and dried) as a crust for a savoury pie.

Makes me wish I had some frozen hash browns.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 03:04 PM

I've been enjoying McPhee's "The Founding Fish" as a bathroom book. That way I get to enjoy it in small doses. The personal anecdotes mixed with history make a very flavorable [sic] book. Based on the article linked to and his personal history, I suspect that much of the content appeared in the New Yorker.
Despite the denigrating comment shad are fantastic eating, whether pickled or broiled. I prefer pickled, as shad are very bony, being of the herring family, and the pickling dissolves the bones.
My friend Andy, an inveterate fisherman, is of the catch 'em and throw back persuasion. He says that the hen shad have not arrived in the river as of this morning.
I say, why torture the fish unless you're going to do the respectful thing and consume it?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 07:35 PM

With no chicken in the store I bought fresh turkeys. For the next couple weeks we have variations on a theme of turkey meat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Apr 20 - 08:58 PM

The last time I was in a large grocery store (over 2 weeks ago) they were up to their eyeballs in fresh chicken. Maybe it's a regional thing.

I'm glad to see someone else enjoys reading John McPhee. He really has had an amazingly long career with some fantastic subject matter. One of his first I read many years ago was Encounters with the Archdruid: Narratives About a Conservationist and Three of His Natural Enemies. It takes place (at least part of it) in the forest where I worked for a few years.

I made a batch of cinnamon rolls and gave them to three friends. The ones I kept here I had for dinner. I deliver hot baked goods right out of the oven, put into bags with tongs and delivered wearing gloves.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Apr 20 - 09:44 AM

I got some cinnamon rolls from a local bakery but soooooo sweet as to be inedible, which I am still sorry about.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 20 - 01:56 PM

I put a little icing on most of them, except for one friend. It's a basic roll dough rolled out and paint on melted butter then sprinkle cinnamon sugar. It actually isn't that much sugar per roll if you don't go crazy with the icing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Apr 20 - 05:05 PM

They went crazy with the icing. After the 1st bite I took all the icing off, but it was still too sweet. I remain bummed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Apr 20 - 09:45 PM

That's the difference between home baking and buying from commercial bakeries. And my next door neighbor texted "I didn't know homemade cinnamon rolls were so delicious!"

Dinner tonight, after weeding out front and not wanting to spend much time at the stove, was already boiled red potatoes, diced and added to a little oil in a skillet to brown around the edges. A healthy grind of black pepper and salt were all they needed. A small bowl of cottage cheese, a slice of ham, and several broccoli florets. Hit the major food groups. Topped off with a small Scotch. My first in a very long time. Nice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Apr 20 - 11:05 AM

I think today's project will be stuffed cabbage again with ground venison that my shopper subbed for the missing bison. My last attempt at stuffed cabbage was delish. However, I am totz out of paprika (sweet and hot Hungarian and smoked Spanish) - and Penzey's has been declared non-essential.

Anybody got a good source for Hungarian paprika, in particular?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Apr 20 - 11:33 AM

I found it on Amazon, and after comparing a lot of ratings and container sizes, ended up buying a 16oz bottled from a company called "Spiceologist." It's very good and that much is close to a lifetime supply. It looks like that isn't available (it was also a reasonable price). Smoked paprika, 16 oz this is a US result, I'm not sure where you are doing your ordering from. I notice on a UK site where I order vet supplies that they have suspended taking orders right now because they can't guarantee that they'll be able to ship to the US.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Apr 20 - 10:50 PM

Thanks. I ended up stirfrying the venison in a little butter, soy and worcestershire with some garlic and onion powders for thickening, marjoram and oregano, deglazing with white wine, then added a ton of mushrooms with thyme and cayenne and cooked them down, adding a bit of water here and there so all the spices went into a gravy, adding a large amount of sour cream and devouring it as stroganoff. Started at 8:10, scarfed by 8:30. Man. I do like cooking projects but sometimes I could just eat straight from the pan and save a minute.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Apr 20 - 10:35 AM

Last night I put red kidney beans to soak and this morning I rinsed them and added fresh water and a ham hock and am now making the variation on the Puerto Rican recipe that my late mother-in-law taught us. Puerto Rican cooking has a sofrito but it doesn't use the hot peppers like you find in Mexican food. Lots of garlic and onion. I do add a little heat, but not enough to make the dish hot, just to give it a little extra kick. It involves adding things like cooked squash as a thickener (if you have it). I add meat near the end, usually hamburger or some kind of sausage (when I had my next door neighbor giving me venison sausage her son gave her I loved that flavoring! Alas, she moved.) The final additions are a large portion of cilantro/corriander (fresh leaves) and at the end as you're turning off the heat, I use a fork to scoop a bunch of capers out of the large bottle in the fridge. 1/4 cup or more, I'd guess. The little vinegary salty burst on the tongue is wonderful in these beans.

I freeze it in 12 ounce jars for future meals.

Serve over rice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 17 Apr 20 - 05:10 PM

Lady Hillary marinates our venison overnight and it comes out delish. I guess we have to dig it out of the freezer when we are nearly done with the turkey.
We made an eggplant parmesan last night but there was too much liquid in the result. Perhaps we will add some ground beef tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Apr 20 - 06:19 AM

We've got Jamie Oliver on the telly showing us how to cook in a crisis. I tried one of his recipes last night, the one with cod (I used pollock because I had big chunks of it, wot is needed for the recipe) wrapped in smoked pancetta with lentils and spinach. He used one of those pouches of lentils but I started from scratch with puy lentils, which I cooked in weak veg stock with an onion and a bouquet garni (fresh parsley, thyme and a bay leaf, which is wot I had). Once the lentils are cooked, everything happens in one big frying pan (gotta be big).

Season the fish with pepper, then wrap the chunks in the pancetta slices. It doesn't matter if the ends stick out a bit. Fry the wrapped fish in a bit of extra virgin oil, medium heat. Depends how big the fish is, but my big thick pieces needed about ten minutes. Turn them a couple of times. Put the fish aside on a warm plate then throw the lentils into the frying pan with a splash of red wine vinegar. Check the seasoning. When the lentils are warm, push them to one side of the pan and throw some big handfuls of baby spinach in (I used about 200g for two of us).

Pile the lentils on to two warm plates and lie the fish on top. Put the wilted spinach on the side.

This was very classy eating, I can tell you. A couple of points: I do have pouches of lentils, but one 250g pouch wouldn't have been enough for two of us, and two pouches would have been too much. I started with a dry weight of 180g uncooked lentils, which was just the right amount once cooked. Second, the pancetta annoyed me by promptly dropping to bits as its fat melted away, which sort of ruined my presentation! Didn't spoil the flavour, however. Next time I think I'm going to try prosciutto instead of the bacon, hoping that it'll hold together better. I could use smoked streaky bacon, but I sometimes find that the smokiness is a bit too much for me. But wait until you can get some lovely thick chunks of very fresh white fish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Apr 20 - 06:22 AM

I forgot to add that a sprinkle of your very finest extra virgin olive oil over the finished dish adds a real extra touch of class...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 18 Apr 20 - 07:47 AM

I prefer a nice salad with mandarin orange and pecans followed by Yotam Ottolenghi with caviar instead of anchovies and an entre' of blue fin tuna wrapped in thinly sliced Kobi or sea bass in white wine sauce and Dorberstort&Sorbet for dessert. But tonight I had Nathan's hot dogs in Bush's baked beans with a Dunkin Hines brownie for dessert.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Apr 20 - 09:07 AM

I read puny lentils, and an entire bluefin tuna. Both surprised me enough to re-read...

Stuffed my cornish hen last night with crushed garlic, perforated cherry tomatoes, and leftover soubise. I am learning to really like cornish hen. Put a cabbage steak to roast under the bird that was on a rack this time over a baking dish. Yum. Had planned to eat half the bird, all the stuffing, and the cabbage. Ate the whole bird and all the stuffing then had the cabbage cold for midnight snack. Tum again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Apr 20 - 11:27 AM

I used puy lentils because they are what I had. They're my favourite. I sometimes use green lentils. I don't think I'd use red ones in this recipe. I forgot to mention that I fried a rosemary sprig alongside the fish. I'm not sure that it added that much, to be honest. I'm cautious with rosemary. It can be a bit of a hooligan if overused. I use it when roasting shoulder of lamb and when I do my Mediterranean-style potatoes for barbecues, in the latter case with as many unpeeled garlic cloves as you like. Nothing like sucking the sweet middles from the skins once they've had half an oily hour in the oven with the spuds.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Apr 20 - 11:48 AM

I got a sprig of rosemary impaled through my tonsil once. Thought it was a fish bone but noooo...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Apr 20 - 11:55 AM

I hardly ever mix garlic and onion in a recipe, and only then under protest from Mrs Steve. My quick pasta tomatoey sauces don't contain onion, just garlic, except for Marcella's onion and butter sauce, which is a definite one-off. There's no garlic in that one, of course. I don't like oniony clagginess in tomato sauces. It's grand to muck about with bolognese-type ragù to suit your own taste, but most, if not all, authentic Italian recipes don't use garlic. And I always use a mixture of minced beef and pork, never just beef alone.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 19 Apr 20 - 01:40 PM

Ok this was weird but it is working:

Started to make tabbouleh (chopped cukes parsley dill mint) then realized I was out of tomatoes so added half an avocade and liberally drizzled with lime juice and put that back in the fridge while I baked a swordfish steak with dried herbs, big squished garlic, and a ton of butter. When that was done took the fish out of its sauce and flaked it on my salad, added a little olive oil, that is lunch.

Meanwhile I had some leftover soubise (rice cooked in a lot of onion and chicken broth), put the fish's sauce on *that* which will be where I start with dinner.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 19 Apr 20 - 02:57 PM

Last night was salmon with asparagus and rice. We added some of the liquid from the eggplant parmigiana of the night before to the rice. Quite good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 19 Apr 20 - 06:12 PM

Ooh, aspergrass. I should get me some of that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Apr 20 - 08:20 AM

Sacrilège !

https://slate.com/culture/2020/04/a-parisian-who-hates-french-fries.html

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Monique
Date: 20 Apr 20 - 08:46 AM

C'est peut-être parce que c'est une parisienne de NYC.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Apr 20 - 09:52 AM

That poor woman doesn't know her luck. To plumb the depths of potato depravity, I give you frozen chips, a frequent feature of Canadian menus, courtesy of the McCain family of Florenceville, New Brunswick.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Apr 20 - 08:21 AM

I was truly disappointed on my last teip to France at all the frozen fries. And no bidets, unrelatedly.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Apr 20 - 09:52 AM

When in France, home of heavenly bread and pastry, and probably hundreds (possibly thousands) of wonderful baked, sauteed, steamed and scalloped potato dishes, why bother with chips (fries) at all?

As for the lack of bidets, I'm Canadian so I never got the memo. I still think they're for washing one's socks.

Today, we are eating variations on cabbage -- i.e., leftovers. There's the Norwegian lamb-and-cabbage stew that was supper on Sunday, and the kobi keema (Anglo-Indian cabbage-and-mince curry) that was supper yesterday. Cabbage may be the only green vegetable that reheats successfully, though I'll be glad to hear of any others.

Kobi keema is a great dish, sort of a sub-continental version of Hamburger Helper:

Put up to an ounce (30 grams) of ghee or mustard oil in a large skillet with a close-fitting lid. On medium to high heat, saute:

* 2 onions, finely sliced or minced, as you like
* Minced (or sliced, if you must) garlic galore
* Minced ginger root, also galore

When the onions are translucent and beginning to brown, add:

* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon ground termuric
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
* 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground clove

Stir the spices thoroughly into the onions & garlic, and add:

* 1 pound (500 grams) minced beef or lamb

Stir and mix the entire contents of the pan thoroughly, breaking up the inevitable clumps of mince. When the meat is fully integrated, add:

* 1 small or 1/2 medium to large cabbage, cut into ribbons (about finger wide) or forkable-sized chunks, as you like.

Pile the cabbage on top of the meat and onions, and clap the lid on. Turn the heat down as low as it will go, and do something else for at least half an hour. Then check the tenderness of the cabbage, and mix the cabbage down into the meat (or the meat up into the cabbage). If the cabbage is tender and sweet, serve. If it is still a bit resistant to the tooth, put the lid back on for another ten to fifteen minutes.

Serve with rice, roti or chapattis, and raiti if you like. We have found that whole-wheat tortillas stand in well for chapattis. Warm them in a dry skillet for best results.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Apr 20 - 06:36 PM

Tail end salad: tail end of lettuce, last half of cuke and of avocado, last few cherry tomatoes, end of my vinaigrette... And some anchovies from newly-opened jar.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Apr 20 - 06:43 PM

I had the best blt in months tonight.
I'm easy to please.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 12:50 AM

tonight the mystery meat from the freezer had gone off. It smelled horrid. Lady Hillary made a quite satisfactory meatless meal from pasta mixed with bok choy, spinach, garlic and scallions. The veggies were lightly sautéed. [We saved the scallion bottoms to grow more.] Added extra virgin olive oil and some butter for that certain je ne sais quoi. Quite satisfactory.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 10:02 AM

I know what that je ne sais quoi was! Butter!

I am increasingly glad I can *cook* - given some raw meat and/or veg, a heat source, and some spices/herbs/fat, I can be pretty much sure to produce (haha) something delicious.

I am "off" pasta these days. What happened there I don't know.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 01:32 PM

It sounds like the meat packing industry is in trouble. It's probably time to add a bit more meat to the freezer, if it is still to be had. My freezer is a godsend, it's a tall one I bought a few months ago to replace the slightly larger one I'd bought a dozen years ago at an estate sale for $30.

I seem to be "off pasta" also but I need to get back to using it, because I have quite a bit around the house. Stir fry with vegetables and chicken, I think, will be my next use of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 03:19 PM

Meat packing is in trouble -- who knew? Do you ever get the feeling that COVID-19 is pushing the reset button on rather a lot of consumer society right now?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 03:44 PM

Totz.

Smoked trout on my salad today...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 05:56 PM

I am not much fussed at the prospect of having to dial back on meat. I will happily eat beans, lentils and the like instead.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 06:32 PM

Meat is nature's very own fast food, in more than one sense of the word.

Cooking a steak takes ten minutes, fifteen tops, from fridge to plate, and a chicken roasts in an hour. Both options taste just fine seasoned with nothing but salt, and even that is optional if one is hungry enough, especially if the item is grilled over charcoal. A decent bean dish, on the other hand, takes hours and lotsa ingredients. It is possible to eat beans that come with nothing else, but only a starveling would want to.

Lentils are a bit speedier, but you're still looking at an hour from pantry to plate, and the requirement for onions, garlic, herbs and spices, salt and pepper at very least to make them palatable.

Vegetarians are an industrious bunch.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 07:52 PM

I think I'd be soleing my shoe with your steak, Charmion. Even a decent thickish steak is two minutes a side in a very hot pan, maybe two and a half, then a good rest in a warm oven. Cover it up and you can rest a steak for half an hour. Consume with your own home-made oven chips and a big handful of cherry tomatoes, left whole but roasted in their skins for about five minutes in the oven, having been doused in extra virgin olive oil, pan juices, salt and pepper and a bunch of fresh basil leaves. Fresh, I said. Dried basil is a kitchen abomination. Chuck in garlic cloves if you like. But never crushed/minced. Crushed garlic wrecks everything. As for lentils, for two people boil 180g of brown or green lentils in stock, with herbs of your choice (a bayleaf, some dried oregano, maybe a sprig of rosemary), a very finely-chopped onion, and seasoning, for half an hour. Meanwhile, brown enough sausages for two for five minutes, then chuck them in, juices and all, into the lentil pan. I've done this with sausage meat formed into meatballs, having found that some bangers can give you a disagreeably-chewy skin. Let that lot cook for about half an hour, until the lentils are al dente. There you go. Italian bangers and, well, not mash but damn good anyway. All the better if you can find sausages that are Italian style, with no added bread, coarsely-chopped meat and a touch of fennel.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 07:59 PM

Oops. I should have said that chopped fresh parsley sprinkled on top is a heavenly addition. There, I've alienated Maggie three times now, with parsley, fresh basil only and no crushing the garlic... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 09:16 PM

Yes, Steve, I'm not coming to dinner at your house next week just for that! ;-)

I visited my favorite gourmet/discount/surplus grocery store today during a quiet part of the afternoon and brought home frozen chicken breast, sockeye salmon filets, several cases of single-serving yogurts, and a case (8 pints) of blueberries. I freeze most of them and will give some to a friend, along with some of chicken. I dropped off cheese, apples, and some other trifles at another friend's house. While many grocery stores are out of various categories of stuff and other limit quantities, this one tends to sell things by the case and their Facebook page urges shoppers to "shop for several families." So I shopped for three households today.

Salmon and some steamed cauliflower for dinner, and a piece of apple pie for dessert. Yesterday I made several small pies - not exactly hand pies, but shapes of dough with apples in them that were sealed against one side of some small pie pans. I lined the pans with foil and they ended up about the size of half-pies and were enough for 3 or 4 servings. Think apple pie shaped like a large calzone or stromboli. I delivered them right out of the oven, telling both neighbors to meet me at the door with a large plate and I slid the foil and pie out of the pan for hot delivery. I also took one of these over to my ex. Baked goods perk up everyone's day. I had leftover apples so made what ended up being kind of a large tart in the smallest of the tin pie pans. (I picked these up to sell on eBay but never got around to it.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Apr 20 - 11:11 PM

I like garlic best crushed, what do you guys have against it?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 12:41 AM

ANZAC biscuits.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 05:59 AM

Crushing garlic releases all its acrid sulphureousness into your dish all in one go. You control the amount you want this to happen or not using a knife, or even by leaving the cloves whole. For pasta sauces, which I start by sautéeing the garlic (often with chilli and/or an anchovy or two), cut into thin slices, for a couple of minutes. If it turns brown, throw it away and start again. Just a gentle sizzle. Finely-sliced cloves are even good raw, for example in my tuna sauce which also has creme fraiche, parsley and capers (always only the little nonpareil ones). For stews I squash the cloves slightly with the flat of the knife and in they go. For Med-style potatoes with rosemary and olive oil, I just break a couple of heads up and throw in the unpeeled cloves. In all these dishes I use a lot more garlic than if I were using it crushed. The uncrushed garlic gently imparts its beautiful sweetness into the dish as it cooks, completely missing from crushed garlic, and if the cloves are whole you can suck the middles out to your heart's content. We fight over them in our house. The only time I would mince garlic (I have an electric mini-whizzer for the job) is to make pesto, and then I would use less than a whole clove for quite a large amount of pesto. And never onion and garlic together in my grub. I have one bruschetta topping that involves roasting whole garlic cloves in foil and oil for half an hour, then squeezing out the middles to add to a pea, Parmesan and butter purée. Thanks, Nigella.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 08:26 AM

I love the occasional mouthful of crushed garlic. Dishes with minced garlic always needs more garlic, I find. Whole roasted is good too, put on toast, yum. But crushed remains my go-to for stove-top dishes. Thanks for the long explanation!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 10:14 AM

Steve, I respect your opinion greatly, but we may be talking about steaks of a different cut.

The steak I have in mind is a striploin, ribeye or (when we're rich) a porterhouse about an inch thick and stone cold, having just been removed from the refrigerator. I season it with salt and pepper, thyme and garlic, and whack it down on a cast-iron grill pan that is as hot as the strongest hob on our gas stove can get it. I give it four minutes a side, by the timer on the microwave, and then rest it for about five minutes. Result: medium-rare -- that is, pink under the char and red in the middle. Himself prefers not to hear it moo.

But I notice you do not challenge my assertions about the labour-intensive nature of a vegetarian diet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 10:32 AM

I disagree that bean dishes (and also soups) are labor intensive on the whole. We make about 2 a week and eat on them for about 2 weeks. Prep time is usually less than a half hour, play your banjo
while it simmers, freeze most of it, auto-defrosting and nuking take about 6 minutes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 12:44 PM

Gilly, my position is that meat is usually easier and faster, not that beans are necessarily difficult. Your mileage may vary.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 01:04 PM

Beans, beans taste fine, sang (loosely speaking) Shel Silverstein.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 01:09 PM

My point is that if you make it in fairly large quantities, as I do, and freeze separate portions of it for future use it's not all that time-consuming. I've gotten a bunch of quick and tasty recipes from 2 of my favorite cook books, Moosewood and Fast Vegetarian Feasts.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 01:21 PM

Made some chili. Its a typical recipe but then all cooked ingredients go in a slow cooker. No matter how seasoned I add some ketchup for sweetness, a few drops of picant sauce for heat and a heaping tbl spoon of whipped cream cheese that mellows everything out with a creamyness.

Anyone can make a chili that causes screaming, just add ghost pepper.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 01:30 PM

I'll sometimes put a dollop of sour cream in the middle of a bowl of chili and take a little with every bite.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 03:24 PM

Crushed garlic is a very fine thing indeed, and much to be preferred in European cuisine. Asian cooks mince it, however, and cook it in very hot oil with ginger, to excellent effect. They seem not to care that its chemistry is messed up, and their food tastes wonderful.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 05:02 PM

I always use canned beans. A cinch, and every bit as good as soaked. I even use the water. I never buy canned beans that are in anything other than plain water. Your steak should be out of the fridge for at least a good hour before you cook it, exposed to fresh air. No chef worth his/her salt cooks a steak from fridge-cold. Try it and see.

I was a garlic-crusher for years before I saw the light. Martha Stewart and Elizabeth David, as well as most Italian cooks, would both scoff in your general direction for using a garlic crusher. It is the tool of those who don't get garlic, guys!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 06:21 PM

By “crushed”, I mean “whacked flat under the broad part of a kitchen knife”.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Apr 20 - 06:48 PM

Then I forgive you... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Apr 20 - 10:40 PM

The fan that blows cold air from the freezer into the cooler compartment of the fridge is dead, I've called a repair person who will arrive on Monday. This has gone out before. I've moved as much as possible to a small bar fridge (the larger ones people used in dorms, or put in a wet bar in the house) that I inherited from a friend. I don't use it often, but when I do, it's a lifesaver. Usually around Thanksgiving I shift shelves and put a large stock pot with brine and a turkey in.

I've turned the non-cooled part of the fridge into an "ice box"—literally stuffing bowls of ice and tubs of ice (frozen in the large upright freezer that was replaced a dying freezer last fall). The things that don't really need to be super cold but should be cool are doing okay in there for the time being. And my meals are stuff that is very easy to make and don't require going to the fridge more than once or twice. Grilled cheese sandwich for dinner, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Apr 20 - 07:52 AM

Roasted, slowly, some amazing duck legs. Now I have a little jar of duck fat, so I have to buy potatoes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Apr 20 - 10:53 AM

We are now at the time of year when I’m desperate for spring veg but Ontario is still too cold to produce any. The supermarkets have a few bunches of Mexican asparagus, but it’s poor stuff that costs the earth. Basil is strikingly absent, thanks to the virus. Everything in the veg bins looks as if it has been there since Ash Wednesday.

I made a green version of pasta puttanesca the other day, with hot-house spinach wilted in the anchovy-garlic-capers-olive base of the sauce. The only olives in the house were black so it did not look quite as elegant as I hoped it would, but it tasted great so I closed my eyes. Himself inhaled a great heap of the stuff. A success.

Tonight it’s magret de canard from the freezer, with duck bought from our favourite farmer at the last market before the lock-down. I might have to improvise an orange sauce from marmalade. I’m told worse things happen at sea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Apr 20 - 05:33 AM

My puttanesca (which we call prostitute's spaghetti) also has half a can of tomatoes and a good pinch of chilli flakes. Black olives are de rigeur for puttanesca in our house. For two of us I use just three anchovy fillets and consume the rest of the can like a greedy cormorant whilst cooking the sauce. Never any cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Apr 20 - 03:08 PM

Last night I made a crustless quiche (baked it in a non-stick bundt pan) that is fabulous. I had about 12 ounces of cream and I added milk to make up the 2 cups needed and I notice that there is a lot less whey in the bottom of the pan this time, though there is a lot more fat to go on the cook!

It is Quiche Lorriane, after a fashion - I sauteed onions in a little bacon grease then added some diced up ham and 8 ounces of Swiss cheese to the bottom of the pan, then went around the ring adding small broccoli florets before pouring over the egg/milk mix. It will be wonderful for leftovers for a few days (I reheat at a lower power in the microwave to prevent it from forming hard edges or bubbling hot spots to burn myself on).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Apr 20 - 06:14 PM

Pasta tonight. Again.

This time fusilli, with a sauce confected of cherry tomatoes, some elderly mushrooms, and a couple of sweet Italian sausages. Green salad on the side. Plonk to go with.

I have eaten the last of the minestrone and therefore must make more. I scored a big bunch of basil at Sobey's today -- Hallelujah! -- but the other thing I crave, a nice big bag of frozen berries, is apparently a thing of the past for the foreseeable future, according to a very depressing article in the Wall Street Journal.

The silver lining of the cloud is the beer section at Sobey's, which is very nice. I was afraid I would start a riot in there, however, because I could not find Himself's preferred IPA and people were obviously getting tired of waiting for me to stop hunting about so they could get in and do their own hunting about.

Shopping nowadays is all social distancing, and following the arrows, and not keeping other people waiting. Kinda tense.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 Apr 20 - 07:17 PM

Found some spring roll wrappers in the freezer the other day and allowed them to defrost slowly. Dinner tonight is spring rolls containing scallions, carrot slivers, basil [fresh, of course] and ground beef. The sauce is a mixture of plum sauce and low salt soy sauce. Yummers.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 Apr 20 - 09:25 PM

I forgot to mention that they were skillet fried in sesame oil. when doing this keep the rolls moving and cook them longer than you think you need to unless you want the meat to b very rare.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 29 Apr 20 - 10:03 PM

To return to the matter of frozen Canadian chips: six months ago my husband and I were tourists in Newfoundland, and one night we ate in a Mexican restaurant.

We got to thinking and wondered why there are no Canadian restaurants in Mexico. Just think, poutine, mashed potatoes, cod, boiled potatoes, more cod...

We soon doubted the viability of the idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Apr 20 - 10:01 AM

Leeneia, much local ink is spilled over the problem of defining Canadian culture in general, and Canadian cuisine in particular. Nobody can do it. Some say we haven’t any, but my theory is that we have too many. Every immigrant culture brought its food ways, and the First Nations have theirs.

Old-fashioned Newfie cuisine is all about food that will grow in a sub-boreal maritime climate and keep in a cold cellar. Before vitamin tablets and canned orange juice, people who refused to eat sauerkraut were at real risk of scurvy. If I had grown up in an outport, I would find the very idea of Mexican food positively intoxicating.

When I was posted to Halifax back in the 1970s, I discovered the donair sandwich, a deliciously messy variant of the gyro, a staple of Greek street food. At that time, donair was unknown in Ottawa, my hometown. I don’t know who brought donair to Halifax, but my money’s on some immigrant from Piraeus who got off the boat at Pier 23 and opened a diner.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Apr 20 - 06:52 PM

How do you know there are no Canadian restaurants in Mexico? Wait, are there any in the States? Are there any in Canada?

Meanwhile has anybody made brik, it is Tunisian?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Apr 20 - 08:33 PM

Ok weird... I have often made garlic-y butter by smashing garlic and putting it butter on top of the stove, just in a measuring cup, not on a burner, to melt while the oven was on cooking things for garlic butter to go onto. But this time all the garlic turned bright green. Why?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Apr 20 - 08:47 PM

It was trying to tell you not to make garlic butter. Blimey, you yanks and your garlic...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Apr 20 - 09:58 PM

My favorite Mexican restaurant (not TexMex) is open for take-out orders only. I picked up two chimichanga orders yesterday (it's a big messy tortilla rolled around smoky beef and cheese and I get it topped with the ranchero sauce, not the queso.) They're huge and the most prudent way to approach this is to eat half and save the rest so I have a couple more days worth of food from that pickup. Their chili rellenos are fabulous - you can get them with the beef or with cheese. The poblano pepper is singed and peeled, then a slit allows to remove seeds and stuff the contents. It's dipped in an eggy batter and fried and is to die for. And their fish and shrimp dishes are wonderful (it has the beef and chicken dishes but is mainly a seafood restaurant.)

I have a couple of loaves of homemade whole wheat bread baking. I gave bread to the neighbors and to my ex yesterday, but didn't keep any for myself. A lot of this will go in the freezer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 May 20 - 06:31 AM

I made a Jamie Oliver lockdown fish pie last night. The result was far less than the sum of its parts, though it must have been good for us. He mashed peas and lemon zest in with the potato topping, which added nothing, and it has carrot, milk, onion, cheese, spinach, flour, mustard and lemon juice in the sauce. Everything was hiding everything else. He uses white fish and salmon, no smoked fish, which were poached in advance in the milk, which I thought was a mistake, as the flaked fish in the finished dish, which had to be baked in a hot oven for over half an hour, was definitely overcooked. And the whole thing was a real faff to put together. Oh well. I'll stick with what I know.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 May 20 - 09:54 AM

Fish pie is definitely a dish that requires simplicity, and is much better when it includes something smoked. I would prefer Jamie Oliver's ingredients made up as fish cakes with veg on the side.

Another round of pasta puttanesca last night, this time a tomato sauce version with a tin of tuna added at the end, and garnished with fresh basil leaves. Oh, that was good. Steve Shaw, I would never have made this without your periodic comments on the subject, so I owe you a debt of gratitude. Plus, it's a pantry dish; except for the basil, everything in it came from household staples.

For four normal servings: 350 grams rotini, large (28 fl oz) tin of tomatoes, olive oil, enough anchovies, enough garlic (smashed and sliced), half a teaspoon of crushed dried chillis, half a cup of sliced black Kalamata olives, two tablespoons of capers, black pepper fresh from the mill, a tin of tuna (drained and broken up with a fork), chopped fresh basil or oregano.

I make the sauce in a large saute pan.

Soften the anchovies in the olive oil, add the garlic and cook gently until golden, add chillis and capers, grind peppermill over all. Pour in the tin of tomatoes (juice and solids), mix well, and let the sauce simmer very gently until it has reduced to the correct consistency. Add the olives and the tuna, cook long enough to warm them through, and taste. Add salt and/or pepper if you think it necessary; if you want more salt, you did not put in enough anchovies or capers at the beginning. Add freshly drained pasta to the pan and toss. Sprinkle chopped herbs. Eat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 May 20 - 02:34 PM

That sounds lovely. The only thing is that I don't like to colour the garlic. I watch it like a hawk so that it simmers gently for a few minutes, then the next ingredient(s) goes in before it goes brown. Also, I simmer the chilli with the garlic. I might use a bit less tomato too, but these things are a question of personal taste, not matters of principle (as with, for example, no garlic crusher and no garlic mixed with onion!)

I'm doing Gennaro Contaldo's stay-at-home pasta sauce tomorrow. It's on YouTube. I love Gennaro. It's onion, chilli, red and yellow peppers and bacon. I'll keep you posted!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 May 20 - 05:27 PM

Imma make those duck legs again:

https://www.thecitycook.com/recipes/2010-04-01-slow-roasted-duck-legs

I don't use cherries and with only 2 legs, it doesn't take a full 2 hours for the basic roasting time. Still a half-hour before and close to an hour after, though.

Soooooooo good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 May 20 - 07:33 PM

I've had good duck in restaurants but I've never got on with it in my kitchen.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 May 20 - 09:39 AM

I've got pretty good at duck breast, which I treat a bit like a steak, but I need more practice with legs. Around here, ducks are usually sold frozen, and whole, which is inconvenient (at best) when you have only one or two people to feed. Our only reliable source of cut-up duck is Mrs McIntosh, our favourite farmer, who raises them for the restaurant trade. But the lock-down means no markets, so Mrs McIntosh and her duck particles are out of our reach.

Mrrzy, do you have access to the New York Times cooking app? I found a gonzo recipe for duck with blackberries there ... and all kinds of other great stuff. One of its benefits is the comments function, where people who have cooked the dish write about what worked for them and what did not, and what changes they made to the recipe for their tastes and kitchen equipment. Like the rest of the NYT content, it's not free, but I find it well worth the money.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 May 20 - 03:58 PM

I get my sis who subscribes to send me NYT recipes.

Meanwhile what about the garlic turning green?

Also trying taters, hobbits, in duck fat. Have heard they are amazing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 May 20 - 05:20 PM

Well, they were good, but not amazing. Where did I go wrong?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 May 20 - 05:50 PM

I've enjoyed Mexican takeout this week while I'm making twice-daily trips past the business on my way to an empty house to feed the cats. (I'm wearing a mask yesterday, today, and tomorrow to not breathe anything into the house should I be a carrier). My friend is back home tomorrow night after a visit with elderly parents who have been isolated for the last couple of months.

The last order was beef fajitas and they reheat nicely and stretch for several meals, though next time I'll ask them to hold the rice. I don't really care for the Mexican style rice (it's like my Mom's version of Spanish rice) with tomato sauce and such. Refried beans are okay.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 May 20 - 08:07 PM

Gennaro's stay-at-home pasta sauce, which we consumed with tagliatelle, was a joy, and I'm not normally an aficionado of cooked peppers. We'll be doing it a lot. Just google it. He's a sweetie. I had a fresh red chilli to use up, but it didn't give us enough of a chilli hit. I'll stick with dried chilli flakes in future, as I know where I am with those.

We had a lovely lump of brisket tonight, pot roasted in the oven for over four hours, with celery, carrots, onion and a bit of leftover bacon, and a bunch of fresh herbs all tied up (I had bay, parsley and thyme). I used some soaking water from dried porcini for stock and (confession time) a stock cube. I browned the beef in butter then used the same pan to sauté the veg and bacon for five minutes. The meat then went on top of the veg, seasoned, and in went the herby bundle and all the stock. I turned it a few times. I could just pull it to bits with a fork, no carving needed. We had it with mashed spuds and greens, though we did reflect that it would have worked equally well as a roast with all the trimmings. It was a definite success. I'm going to try to make a chilli con carne with the leftover bits of meats. I'll let you know...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 May 20 - 11:45 AM

Per the google it was the copper in the butter.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 05 May 20 - 01:24 AM

Tagine this evening, using rice as the starch. Plenty of figs and dates, a tablespoon [from grandma's old silver set] of coriander, cut up pork, two medium oranges and some bok choy greens. Tomorrow we will add zucchini to the left overs.

I'm getting the urge to make more matzoh balls. Perhaps in a chicken soup. Found Nyafat in the back of the fridge and added a teaspoonful to the last batch. The matzoh balls were so light we had to anchor them so they wouldn't float away. Grandma's tablespoon was just the right measure for them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 May 20 - 09:18 AM

I test-fired the barbecue on Sunday with a boned pork shoulder, the gas turned down as low as it will go, a large smoker packet, and a pan of water on the tiles. It took forever; good thing it doesn't matter these days if we eat late. Delicious, and that's us fixed for ready-to-eat animal protein for the rest of the week.

We are definitely seeing supply-chain problems now. During my last foray at the supermarket, I saw large vacuum-sealed packets of instant yeast, the kind your local pizzeria should be using but isn't, on the shelf where the household-appropriate jars of active dry yeast should be. The products are not interchangeable; a fair amount of boring technical adaptation has to happen before an old-fangled bread recipe will work with pizza yeast. Worse, the 250-gram commercial packet of instant yeast had a supermarket sticky label on it that said "Dry Active Yeast". Which it ain't. Instant yeast is far more concentrated than the dry active kind, so 250 grams is a hell of a lot. Good thing I read labels.

But the people who make the household-appropriate little brown jars have been laid off. Likewise the people who make egg boxes that hold a dozen, and the people who print the Robin Hood trademark on paper flour bags. So the yeast companies don't have little brown jars to fill with dry active yeast to sell to Sobey's to sell to me, and farmers are dumping their eggs because they can't get boxes that hold a dozen and Sobey's is reluctant to stock up on flats of 30. The Robin Hood flour company recently laid their hands on some plain white flour bags, which explained the literally no-name flour I saw on the shelf.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 05 May 20 - 10:04 AM

The supply of chain is fine. I can buy all the chain I want.
Food is a different matter. Yep, lotsa ham and turkey. If you combine them just right you can make pigs fly...
Strawberry pancakes made with strawberry yogurt sour cream and whipped cream in the batter was good with great strawberrys on top. It was very strawberry and drowned in whipped cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 May 20 - 10:08 AM

Shades of Portnoy's Complaint there, Charmion? Bwahahahaha!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 05 May 20 - 12:22 PM

Things do seem to be running more and more in the Soviet mould. It is also reminiscent of stories our mother told us about rationing in the Second War, with a main difference being that we do not have to surrender any ration coupons to buy what is available, although stores are taking to rationing the amounts of some products that each customer can buy on a given day.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 05 May 20 - 03:48 PM

We are still in the renovation stage, with small appliances on top of the filing cabinet.

Yesterday we returned to childhood. In the old days, all seven of us would go to the grocery store on Saturday and stock up for the week. Back at home, we all helped put the food away. Then we would have hamburgers and potato chips for a casual dinner after all that hard work. There would be a vegetable or a salad, too.

We didn't have much money, but we did have the full array of condiments which an American has the right to expect: ketchup, mustard, pickle relish and onions, either raw or fried. Buns were toasted in a 250-degree oven, a gourmet touch.

The idea of putting lettuce and tomato on a hamburger came later.
I don't care for it - too squishy. When a restaurant serves me that, I turn the lettuce and tomato into a small, surreptitious salad.
==========
So yesterday we had hamburgers, potato chips (the smallest package), asparagus, avocado and strawberries.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 May 20 - 09:19 AM

Sorry, Mrrzy, you lost me. I never read Portnoy's Complaint; wherefore the Bwahahaha?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 May 20 - 09:43 AM

Sexual reference to "boned pork shoulder" - you didn't miss much not reading it, Charmion.

Ordered out yesterday to support my local. Prefer my own cooking though...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 May 20 - 11:22 AM

Yesterday I made a grocery run for my ex and myself - it usually happens when I've gone too long without fresh produce. I found flour on the shelves for him (I recently gave him 3 pounds out of a bag a neighbor scored for me a few weeks ago) and bought huge T-bone steaks (Product of Mexico) on sale. I'll cut them into portions and freeze the bones for making soup later. I think the meat in some of my bean recipes in the future will be ground chicken. I usually grind up pot roast (cut up and frozen in 1-pound portions) to make my hamburger for tacos, nachos, bean dishes, etc. I don't buy pre-ground beef because there can be serious health risks with multi-sourced ground beef.

Dinner last night included rice cooker basmati rice and 4 ounces of sirloin pork chop. I used to eat much larger portions of meat than I do now; age and wisdom have something to do with that change. I find the combined fork of rice and a small piece of pork to be most satisfying.

One way to clear more room in the freezer is to take out a large jar of steam-juiced mustang grape juice and make jelly. I was out of jelly after sending a care package to a friend in New York City (along with 2 boxes of vinyl gloves and 2 homemade face masks).

There is a loaf of homemade bread in the freezer that will come out soon; it takes me a week to eat a small loaf by myself so the first couple of days are sandwiches or toast, after a couple of days the container goes into the fridge to keep longer and I make breakfasts of French toast. Most of it is gone but I might pop the end in the freezer so when I get near the end of the next loaf I'll have enough to make some bread pudding.

At the store yesterday a man in a mask with a toddler in a mask asked about yeast and I sent him to my favorite restaurant supply store where a one-pound vacuum packed brick costs $3.15. It will be a lot of yeast, but it keeps well in the refrigerator or freezer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 May 20 - 12:12 PM

I like home-made hamburgers with nothing but HP Sauce and a slice of red onion. In restaurants, I'll eat them dressed with all manner of clag, but never ketchup, mustard or that sweet green pickle relish. My life-long dislike of ketchup has me wondering sometimes if I really am a true-born Canadian ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 May 20 - 05:02 PM

My burgers are made with the best minced steak I can lay my hands on and nothing else. Pure beef. For the barbie they are 150g each. I mould them with my hands, being very careful not to over-compress, and make a hollow in the middle, so it's the shape of a giant red corpuscle. I do baste it on the barbie, with a home-made concoction of tomato sauce, mustard, a drop of red wine, some Worcestershire sauce, a splash of oil and seasoning. It goes in a toasted bun with some wild rocket and caramelised onion chutney. If we're having burgers just fried on a cold night, I'll make six small ones out of the pound of steak. No seasoning, no onion, no nothing. They are fried in a tiny amount of groundnut oil in a very hot pan for 2 min 30sec a side, then allowed to rest in a warm oven for at least ten minutes while I get my chips, greens and baked cherry tomatoes sorted. No bun. If my burgers aren't ever so slightly pink in the middle, I've failed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 07 May 20 - 12:44 AM

Don't knock the green stuff. It's a useful ingredient.
Do you like seafood with tartar sauce--just mix a bit of relish and some mayo.
Lobster sauce--melted unsalted butter with lemon to taste. A good Maine lobster has a touch of salt already. If you want it saltier and the sea near you is clean enough, put kelp or other seaweed in the steaming vat; or you can just add salt to the solution.

Salad dressing--catsup mixed with mayo, relish optional.

Cocktail sauce--some catsup and freshly ground horseradish.

Catsup--tomato sauce, either homemade or commercial and a good vinegar; if you like it sweet, add some sugar to taste.

Mayo--plenty of recipes on line.

When I grind up a batch of horseradish, I wet it down with balsamic vinegar for a taste that's rich and powerful. No need for salt.

By mixing my own basic sauces I find no need for preservatives or salt and make them to my taste. I also get to control the amount of sugar.
None of the ingredients are exotic and there are no unpronounceable chemicals involved.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 May 20 - 05:40 AM

You can dress salads however you like, but if that salad has lettuce and/or slices of cucumber in it, or big chunks of bell pepper, I'm going home. And heaven forfend that anyone should serve up one of those seventies horrors that had peanuts or bits of tinned mandarin orange in them. Or cold rice...

A very nice salad that's almost a full meal if you eat enough of it is one that I saw printed on a box of Sainsbury's cherry tomatoes. It's like a caprese but with testicles (not real ones). Slice up a ball or two of mozzarella (can't be arsed with that expensive sloppy buffalo stuff - Galbani's finest will do me), slice up two avocados thinly (they must be perfectly ripe: paramount) and chop some of the best cherry toms you can get your hands on in half, about 200g mebbe. You can layer the avo and cheese artistically in a shallow serving dish of some kind by alternating the slices in a swirly pattern, or you can just chuck it all together. Throw the tomatoes on top. Season with a bit of freshly-ground black pepper. Sprinkle your very best extra virgin olive oil over it all and finish with some freshly-torn basil leaves*. Simple. The box calls it tricolore salad, because it has the three colours of the Italian flag. As they hardly use avocado at all in most of Italy, I doubt its authenticity, but it's delicious of a warm summer's evening.

*I said fresh. Put that pot of dried basil down and walk away slowly. Tomorrow, it will make the perfect partner for your kitchen waste bin...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 May 20 - 11:15 AM

I think yak-stuffed pepper today...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 May 20 - 12:09 PM

Yup. I think of them as cannibal peppers as I add the chopped-up parts of the pepper lid to the stuffing. This time chopped the pepper lid, a jalapeño, and a garlic clove, mixed with ground yak, marjoram, oregano, hot paprika and one grind of salt. Put most of the chopped stuff in first then most of the meat on top, dug a little hole in the top for a dab of duckfat (yak is really lean), and it is in a 350° toaster oven with tin foil on top. After a while I will remove the tin foil hat. Lunch for 1! I am learning.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 May 20 - 01:04 PM

I have some whole milk Greek yogurt I want to finish up so this morning I mixed in a couple of scoops of a stevia/sugar blend with vanilla flavoring (it's awful in tea or most things, but it does give yogurt a boost). I wanted it sweeter because I have a fresh pineapple to eat also and it's a bit on the tart side. So, a cup (more or less) of yogurt and about 3/4 cup of broken up pineapple. That was a nice springtime breakfast alongside a cup of tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 07 May 20 - 02:28 PM

Of all the rice I've tried, Basmati has the best aroma.
Homemade fresh pasta likewise is superior.
Some things can't or shouldn't be improved upon-
But what about Avocado? It is such a complete food it is practically therapeutic.

I was also surprised at how nutrishious simple watermellon is.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 May 20 - 05:15 PM

Steve Shaw, I learned to eat rice salad in the south of France, where pasta salads and lentil-bean salads are also a thing. At the height of summer, you make it early in the morning when the heat isn’t blistering quite yet, and let it sit and think about itself (the French have a word for that — mijoter) until lunchtime, when you eat it with a glass of cold white wine and then lie down for a while if you have any sense.

The first Ontario asparagus is in, hallelujah, and I bought a kilo. I can eat asparagus until I piss green. With hollandaise sauce, it’s a dish fit for the Prince of Baden, but it’s also fine poached for six minutes and raced to the table with a squirt of fresh lemon juice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 May 20 - 09:55 AM

Question: my shopper delivered raw instead of roasted almonds, so I looked up how to roast almonds and put half on a baking sheet, single-layer but as many as would fit, into heated 350F oven for 10 mn, stirring after 7.

The roasted almonds are now soft and tasteless.

Tried one raw one, crunchy and yummy. I don't like the idea of raw almonds, though.

What did I do wrong? I checked several recipes, all said 350, all said 7-10 mn, none said Do not crowd.

Is there a way of redeeming the inedible ones I tried to roast?

I eat a LOT of almonds, but these are now gross. Should I just embrace earing them raw? I usually eat roasted unsalted, so it's not the lack of salt that made them tasteless.

Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 May 20 - 12:34 PM

Burma!

Apparently I panicked. Now that they have cooled, they are crunchy and delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 09 May 20 - 11:17 AM

Last night spent about an hour pickling shad. I'll know in a couple of days about the result. Used the pickled herring recipe from Jewish Cookery, Leah W. Leonard, 1968 edition. Didn't have milt and did not include sour cream, both of us being lactose intolerant.

Shad roe tomorrow. The only major ingredient other than the roe is bacon. Slow cooked is best, with the bacon under the roe. According to McPhee, the bacon may have to be finished to crispness after cooking the roe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 May 20 - 02:17 PM

Blueberry muffins delivered, hot out of the oven, to a couple of neighbors, with a few left over for myself. I put on a mask and vinyl gloves to lift them out of the baking pan and onto paper plates that were popped into brown paper bags that have been folded away in the pantry for months.

Baked goods are a way to perk up people's week, though after the apple pie episode two weeks ago the house got smoky every time I turned on the oven because of the pie syrup that dripped onto the floor of the oven and the element. I ran the self-cleaning cycle a couple of days ago (after scraping up most of the burnt-on sugar). Much better now, I could smell the muffins and not worry about a smoke flavor being picked up by the batter.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 09 May 20 - 07:34 PM

Couldn't wait. Made the shad roe with bacon today. It was as good as I recalled it being. Have to go for more next week.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 May 20 - 09:53 AM

Spatchcocked for the first time yesterday, a cornish hen, with garlic that got crunchy instead of soft and some cabbage in the side. Marjoram and paprika and salt. Delish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 12 May 20 - 10:38 PM

It's May, but it's wintry. Only 53 out, and this is the traditional day time to plant tomatoes. So I made a winter dish: Turkey with root vegetables.

Two turkey thighs
one half of a big yellow onion, chopped
root vegetables of your choice. I used parsnips, carrots and potatoes.
lemon
1 tsp dried rosemary or marjoram

Put the turkey in the microwaves and nuke it on half power till it is lukewarm. I figure this kills germs and makes it cook faster.

Line a large slow cooker and put the two thighs in the bottom. Add the root vegetables of your choice, then strew in the onions.

back later

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 13 May 20 - 01:36 AM

(Note: parsnips cook faster than carrots, so I put the carrots next to the ceramic pot and put the parsnips in the middle. Small red potatoes dotted the outside.)

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, till tender.
Remove batch from the slow cooker VERY CAREFULLY, put in a bowl and chill till next day.
When it's time to eat, remove the meat from the bones. Put the meat and veg into a large pot and heat. To the juice which remains in the cooking bag, add the peel of one lemon, grated, and the juice thereof.
Stir in the rosemary/marjorum. Add juice to the pot and heat through.

Add salt and black pepper at the table.   
================
I like my microplane for grating the lemon peel.

https://www.amazon.com/Microplane-40020-Classic-Zester-Grater/dp/B00004S

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 May 20 - 12:17 PM

Mmmmmm. Microplane.

I acquired my first zester only a few years ago, and now almost never use the box grater that always tears the skin off my knuckles.

Maybe it's time to up my game with a microplane.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 May 20 - 12:58 PM

I have a Microplane zester which does a good job if you want the zest very finely grated. When we bought it it had a black coating, which has now worn off in the middle. I suppose we've eaten it. I also have a old-fashioned zester which scrapes off larger slivers of zest for when you want to see the zest, which I usually do. I have another Microplane for finely grating cheese, ideal for Parmesan.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 May 20 - 01:01 PM

I have found that parsnips, like green peppers, take over. That is a spoonful of sauce that has green peppers in it will taste like green pepper even if there is no green pepper in that spoonful. Which is fine, I like green pepper. Not that fond of parsnips but if they'd stay in their lane, like carrots (a spoonful of chicken soup made with carrots tastes better than one not made with carrots, but it doesn't taste OF carrot unless there is carrot in the spoonful), I might like them better.

Others finf the same?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 May 20 - 01:27 PM

Whatever that black coating was, Steve, you seem to be thriving on it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 13 May 20 - 03:17 PM

I agree with you about green peppers, Mrrzy. I tend not to put them in sauces. Sometimes, when a dish seems to demand them, I slice them thinly and serve them raw, so that people can add them at the table. This works well with Mexican food, which tends to be squishy and could use a crisp note.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 20 - 03:31 PM

My son was an extremely picky eater well into middle school years, but he gradually realized that just because he didn't want to SEE onions in something didn't mean he didn't want to taste them. There was an occasion when I was making chicken fajitas for each person to make (with flour tortillas and we topped with guacamole, salsa, lettuce, etc.). At some point he was watching me fix the dish, or maybe I was making it for him - he said he wanted the sliced onion and poblano pepper to cook with the chicken, but if I would serve him just the chicken after it was finished then he'd be okay with it. He's the reason I started grating the onion to go in guacamole - so he could taste it and not pick it out.

Since then he went away to college two states away he wasn't able to come home to eat regularly. He soon discovered that his friends from college had some interesting foods. The year he and a couple of friends moved off campus into a rental house he called home and asked me how to roast a turkey and make the fixings. Now his girlfriend will tell me about what he's cooking - and including sauces.

It's wonderful to watch them keep growing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 May 20 - 08:06 AM

Do we want one of these chopping boards with built-in scale and knife-sharpener?

Blicky

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 May 20 - 10:19 AM

No, Mrrzy, we don't want a cutting board with a built-in scale and knife-sharpener. At least not in this parish, where a good chopping board is one that can go in the dishwasher.

Today, in this parish, supper will include pears poached in wine. Because Friday.

The ingredients are: six firm, ripe pears that are not Bartletts (Bosc are best), plonk wine, the rind of a lemon, half a cup of sugar, and either a small piece of cinnamon bark or two or three whole cloves.

Find some completely undistinguished red wine, such as the kind that comes in a box or a Tetrapak. Depending on the size of your pot and your pears, you may need two bottles. If you have a bottle of crap white wine, you can use that for one bottle, but you will want red for the other.

Put the wine, the sugar and the spices in a steel or enamelled saucepan, bring it to a boil and simmer for five minutes.

While the wine is heating, peel the pears. If you are not a French cuisine purist, slice them in half and remove the core with a melon-baller. (If you are a French cuisine purist, leave the cores alone or remove them from the blossom end of the pear, which is fiddly and likely to waste too much pear. Either way, leave the stem on.)

If the pears are whole, stand them in the bottom of the pot and string the lemon rind around them. If the pears are halved, ensure that they are completely immersed and get the lemon rind in there any old how. Simmer very gently until the pears are just tender.

Put the pears in the wine into the fridge to chill, preferably overnight. In the morning, remove the pears from the wine with a slotted spoon; you will notice that they are now a robust shade of purple. Strain the wine back into the saucepan and boil it down into a light syrup; it should not quite coat a spoon. Cool the syrup and pour it back over the pears.

If you did this with whole pears, serve them standing upright in a pool of syrup; if the cores are still in, your diners will hold the stem with one hand and ply the spoon with the other. Halved and cored, these pears are ambrosial set on top of a scoop of vanilla ice cream with the syrup ladled over.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 May 20 - 10:38 AM

Funny, Maggie, my son's just the same with onions. When I'm chopping up onions/carrots/celery for anything I like to keep the pieces quite big. I like texture in food. I don't really understand the concept of "finely chopped" or, with garlic, "minced." ;-)

Anyway, I've been really badly poorly for over a week so, if I eat at all, I'm eating soft and bland. I didn't realise how much I liked porridge and scrambled eggs. I am well on the mend, I hasten to add, though the wine stockpile is holding up well.

I could eulogise all day about cooking eggs... So cheap, so easy, so quick, so tasty...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 May 20 - 11:05 AM

Feel better soon Steve Shaw! Eggs are marvy. Also soups. Hot soups.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 May 20 - 11:31 AM

I know I'm sick when my idea of Lucullan fare is a poached egg on toast, and tea is the only beverage with appeal.

Please be well soon, Steve. Your opinions are valued, if not always complied with. (Still mincing garlic sometimes over here.)

BTW, Steve, how do you use garlic in a vinaigrette? I put a clove or two in a bowl with some large-grain salt and smush it to paste with a pestle. Does that technique meet the Shaw Standard?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 May 20 - 12:17 PM

Funny; I know I'm coming down with something when lemon smells like soap instead of like lemon (not lemon scented soap, it tends to smell more like one of the blue brands). So far all are healthy in my small but dislocated world, though several of us are struggling to keep the seasonal allergies from getting to the sneezing point. These days that scares people.

I'll be harvesting my elephant garlic (actually some kind of a leek) soon. It keeps for a very long time (I'm still using garlic from two years ago). Keep it in a brown paper bag in a dark cool (but not refrigerated) place. Mine lives in the pantry.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 15 May 20 - 11:57 PM

stuffed cabbage with spinach and mushrooms tonight. we were going to have the spinach tomorrow but a few of the leaves started to go bad. Raisins in the stuffed cabbage--nice and sweet. Orange sauce with the cabbage.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 May 20 - 01:42 PM

Was going to make soup with ground yak and all the veg I still had a little of (tail end of cabbage, last brussels sprouts, handful of spinach, half an onion, last garlic cloves of the head) so I melted some butter with paprika-marjoram-oregano (my current go-to trio), a little white wine and some chicken broth, but I forgot the yak and made a marvy veg soup. Seriously yum. With the end of the sour cream. I now have a lot of room in my fridge!
My freezer, on the other hand, is bursting at the seams. I have apparently narrowed my hoarding to just there. I have got to stay away from the farmers' markets for a while!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 May 20 - 10:15 AM

I fired up the barbecue yesterday for a feed of ribs that I bought at the farmers' market, open again at last. These were the largest pork ribs I think I have ever cooked, far longer and meatier than the "baby" back ribs sold at the supermarket. After cooking for nearly two hours, the meat had not achieved the falling-off-the-bone state considered desirable in barbecue circles, but Lord, it was delicious.

I guess they came from a Large White hog in the prime of muscular life, rather than the usual adolescent pigling.

Asparagus and mushroom pilaff on the side. Urp.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 May 20 - 10:23 AM

Mrrzy: ground yak? Are you ordering your groceries from Katmandu, or perhaps Ulan Bator?

I imagine it's like bison: beef, but leaner and denser.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 May 20 - 11:52 AM

I think it may be better to slow-cook ribs for a couple of hours in the oven first, marinated in stuff and wrapped in foil, then finished on the barbie.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 17 May 20 - 12:13 PM

Stilly River, if you feel a sneeze is about to happen you can stall it by pressing your upper lip directly below your nose. It seems to cut off the message between your brain (the part of it that works without your permission) and the sneeze muscles.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 May 20 - 01:35 PM

Appalachian yak, local! I was also amazed. Yeah, super-lean, tastes more like venison or even lamb to me, rather than bison.

I think tonight I shall support a local restaurant and order delivery.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 May 20 - 01:42 PM

It's funny, the trick that usually has been helpful (because the un-sneezed sneeze is so uncomfortable) is to look at a light source to get the sneeze to follow through. That's now best done only at home when you're alone! :)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 May 20 - 02:34 PM

You can stop a sneeze by firmly pinching both sides of your nose twixt finger and thumb, about half way up. Grand if you're just about to shake hands with the Queen. Otherwise, let it all hang out with a massive, orgasmic roar (going into total body-relax mode just before the sneeze). You'll see what I mean, and the Pope can't complain about that...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 17 May 20 - 06:28 PM

Yesterday, Lady Hillary and I were out in West Nowhere, Pennsylvania for a couple of major parts for her '81 Celica GT. He pretty much lives off the land, says he never has to buy red meat. There is a herd of elk on his property nd he is hoping to get one this year. If he bags one, we agreed that we would swap a couple of pounds for one of my homemade knives. We've never had elk before but he says it tastes better than venison and does not need to be as heavily marinated.

On the way home we stopped in Phillipsburg, NJ just as the fishermen were hauling out. They gave us a couple of roe shad. We cleaned them when we got home. As I ruptured one of the roe sacs in the process, we had a shad roe omelet for breakfast with the bacon used for cooking and some homemade yoghurt on the top. A breakfast fit for a king, or for George Washington, who adored to eat shad. The flesh from the two fish we were given went into the pickling jars last night. Two fair sized shad became four quart sized mason jars of fish. Later this week we will see how well the pickling dissolved the bones in the first batch.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 May 20 - 10:51 PM

Sounds like quite a culinary adventure!

several weeks ago I found some really nice frozen Sockeye salmon filets at my favorite discount grocery and bought a few, but I wish I'd bought more. They are so good! Had one for dinner tonight. Now I'm thinking about shopping tomorrow - I bought some corn on the cob last week that turned out to be wonderful, and I'm hoping they still have some this week. We take turns shopping so I'm going to see if my ex wants some also. I try not to go out more than once a week, and I keep a note on the calendar about where I went in case it ever becomes important. These are hard times, especially in a state with numbers continuing to rise and a governor who is "opening up the state."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 18 May 20 - 10:39 AM

The huge pork ribs were just as delicious cold, with cornbread and salad, as they were hot. But they would not meet Suthun standards for tenderness, requiring full exercise of the teeth despite being very thoroughly cooked.

Not sure about why. Perhaps something to do with fat content of the meat? Age and/or breed of the donor pig?

I have never eaten shad roe, living as I do more than a thousand miles from the Atlantic coast. Is it one of those delicacies that is available for two or three weeks of the year, and does not travel? (Like smelt used to be, until the invention of flash freezing ...)

Elk are farmed here in Ontario, and we have become depressingly casual about dining on elk rump, which makes the world's best sauerbraten by far. Yes, I know it's not supposed to need all that marinating, especially when it's from a farm, but it sure tastes great.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 May 20 - 01:00 PM

I *love* sneezing. I wouldn't stop one.

My delivery Chinese was great, and I didn't cook it.

Today preparing for duck legs with garlic green beans, lava cakes for dessert, for Thing1 tonight. Thing 2 will have spaghetti and salad, with more lava cakes for dessert too, Wednesday. Their actual bday is tomorrow but I am busy.

What I want to know is, *who* gave *my* twins permission to turn 25? Don't they realize that is 625 parent-years?!?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 18 May 20 - 01:11 PM

Last week I made bean soup. My mother made it this way with ham hocks, but the DH wanted more meat, so I modified it. I use a slow cooker because it does something magical to the sausage, giving it a delicious, velvety texture. Also it causes the spices in the sausage to escape and flavor the entire batch.
=============
Ingredients: one pound of dried baby lima beans. 2 bay leaves, 1/2 of a good-sized yellow onion, one package of cryowurst. Optional carrots

What is cryowurst? It is our own name for mild, firm sausage which is about one-inch in diameter and is packed as one long link in plastic. I like the Eckrich brand. Bought on sale and put in the freezer, it keeps a long time.

Soak the beans overnight in cool water. Next day, put a liner in the slow cooker, and add the beans. Add 5 cups of water.

Cut the cryowurst into pieces about 1/2 inch thick. Cut those pieces in half, if you wish. Chop up the half-onion, not too fine.
If you want carrots, chop them now. Put the wurst, onion, carrots and two bay leaves into the slow cooker and cook on low. After about 4 hours, check to make sure there is enough water. If not, add some.

Cook for a long time, (8 hours?) till the beans are tender. (There is no need to take the beans out and run them through a blender.)

This makes enough for two generous meals for two people. We like it with cornbread.

Let diners add salt and pepper at the table.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 18 May 20 - 01:13 PM

Images of cryowurst:

https://bit.ly/2WEPvXw

---

Link shorted via bitly. --mudelf

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 18 May 20 - 02:25 PM

I, too, enjoy sneezing but sometimes it just isn't a good idea - not just if you are about to meet the queen, but when you don't want to be heard, or when you are doing something delicate with flour or icing sugar and you don't want to send most of it flying round the kitchen. (I'm pretty sure the sneeze comes back later, so you won't be missing out.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 May 20 - 04:53 PM

If you smelt your roe it ain't fresh.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Halved a recipe for 12 muffin-sized lava cakes but it made 8, mighta made 10 but I tried to keep it down to 6. Recipe here, in French.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 18 May 20 - 05:17 PM

I made that last month leenia.
Flounder in panko last night.
Super hearty veg soup tonight

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 18 May 20 - 06:53 PM

The boy who cryowulf said the vessel with the pestle has the pear wine that is poison, the Palace chalice with the pellet has the brew that is true.
Which ones for you?
RE: images
More hot dog than being sausages but hot sausage is better than dog and beans.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 18 May 20 - 07:05 PM

Perhaps when the elk comes through, we'll give sauerbraten a go. Thanks for the idea. Found a recipe that includes garlic. We may try that one.

Questions of garlic, cucumbers, etc. are a matter of personal preference and should not be inflicted on others. If you do not like an ingredient, that's your problem. I used to hate beets and brussels sprouts until someone taught me how to make them properly. Now, I make borscht both with and without beets, depending on how I feel that day.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 18 May 20 - 08:27 PM

I did not think it possible to make borsh edible to a western pallet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 18 May 20 - 08:39 PM

How western, Donuel?

I live in western Ontario, and I love borscht. I don’t care if it’s the Russian kind, the Ukrainian kind, the Polish kind or the kind they make in delis in Montreal, it’s great stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 May 20 - 11:55 PM

My neighbor regularly offers me some of her chicken salad (I like it on crackers), so I know she usually has celery around. I use it so rarely it always goes bad before I can make more than one recipe (I'm not particularly fond of it, but the flavor is part of some dishes, so I don't just eliminate it.) I'll ask her if I can get a couple of the individual stalks and make another batch of Pasta e Fagioli. I have everything else in the pantry or freezer, and I have some beef broth I made a few days ago I want to use. In hot weather, sometimes a bowl of soup and a slice of bread is all you need for a meal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 19 May 20 - 08:57 AM

I thought borscht was a beet soup.

The lava cakes were a bit salty. Recipe said a sprinkle of salt on each one but there is no other salt in the recipe so next time I will use unsalted butter for buttering the tins. Also I cocoa-ed rather than floured the buttered tins.

Also first use of silicone muffin tin liners. Worked a treat. We'll see how they do in the dishwasher...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 19 May 20 - 09:53 AM

Borscht is indeed a beet soup, Mrrzy. But it's made in a variety of styles, some rustic and robust, others sleek and sophisticated.

I have some silicone loaf molds that I decided were okay for fruitcake but not for bread because the sides flex. Now, a loaf pan liner made of silicone -- that just might work.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 May 20 - 11:54 AM

There are very few things I don't like, but I must admit that I'm not overly keen on beetroot. Perhaps a corned beef and beetroot butty once in a while, but that's about it. Could be something to do with the fact that it, er, goes right through me...

I also tend to steer clear of anything with rhubarb in it, though I'd be polite enough to eat it if you served it up. One thing, probably the only thing, I would eat only if you held a gun to my head is apple sauce, or anything else with sloppy cooked apple. If the cooked apple stays in pieces I'm OK, otherwise you know what you can do with it!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 19 May 20 - 02:01 PM

Borscht seems to be a generic Eastern European word for soup, just as caldo is in Spanish.
My grandmother used to make a fantastic beef and cabbage borscht, either with or without beans. She also made beet borscht, which my grandfather loved with sour cream. My palate was not developed enough at that age to appreciate it.
My favorite "grandma soup" was a thick chowder [in the original sense] which I eventually learned was a lentil soup. Again, she made it either with or without beef, depending on her mood or her plan for the rest of the meal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 19 May 20 - 06:58 PM

The last time I went to a Ukrainian church bazaar, the list of lunch offerings definitely said “borscht” and definitely had nothing that looked like beetroot. I thought I had merely missed it.

Perhaps the silkiest home-made soup I have ever had the pleasure to sip was a Polish borscht as deep red as a fine claret, with a blob of sour cream in the middle of the bowl. It had just the slightest tang of vinegar, or perhaps lemon juice. Of course the recipe was a closely held family secret. I did not dare to ask.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 20 May 20 - 01:34 AM

Yes, vinegar can be an ingredient in beet borscht. You can vary the taste by using different vinegars. A touch of horseradish can also be worked in.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 20 May 20 - 05:51 AM

I love beetroot and have had the odd successful year (it’s been hit and miss for some reason) growing our own. Just boil, rub the skin off and slice. The beetroot must be small and young though. Our neighbour will sometimes give us some larger older ones and they just come out sort of woody in taste and texture. I gather they may be OK baked but I’m not sure I’ve tried that.

We have grassed over one bed in the vegetable plot and put some 5 (for now, it would take a couple more) 50cm containers there instead. I believe 2 of these are destined to have rhubarb in them. I hope it does well. Each to their own of course but it is well liked round here.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 May 20 - 08:57 AM

I love rhubarb, and one of the few things I regret about our current abode is that our shady garden lacks a good sunny spot in which to grow it.

Old-fashioned Ontario recipes for fruit pies and cobblers often include rhubarb to add tartness, an inheritance from the early 19th century when lemons were an expensive foreign indulgence. I have a wonderful recipe for a summer "shrub" or fruit drink that uses rhubarb juice boiled into a syrup and flavoured with orange and clove. Wonderful on a hot day mixed with plain seltzer, club soda or Perrier.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 May 20 - 12:44 PM

Rhubarb yum. Beets not unless in borscht, then yum.
Defrosted some noodles in spaghetti sauce and made more spag sauce to go with (as frozen part was way more noodles than sauce).

Upon tasting defrosted noodles, discovered they were with chili. Oops. Shoulda made more chili.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 20 May 20 - 01:01 PM

When we were cleaning the shad, we reserved the livers, also. I had them along with our roe omelets this morning, prepared the same way as the roe. The taste was definitely stronger than the taste of the roe and a little bit like calf's liver. We will definitely be having it again.

Last night's dinner was lobster ravioli in a sauce Lady Hillary created. The remainder will be made up with oysters. Po' boys tonight, perhaps. We may put it over pasta if we don't go with the po' boys.

Yes, we like our seafood.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 20 May 20 - 01:15 PM

I like beets. I used to boil up a batch, peel them and cut them up, butter well and eat with whole wheat bread for lunch. Oh, and lots of black pepper.

That was when I was still a bride and hadn't learned that my husband hates them with a purple passion. He says they taste like dirt. He objects to how the house smells, hours after they've been cooked. When I understood that, I gave them up.

Later I learned that this serious dislike of beets seems to be a male thing. Too bad, because they seemed easy to grow. But what does it tell us that even the bugs won't eat them?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 May 20 - 06:50 PM

I am renewing my love affair with... Iceberg lettuce.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 24 May 20 - 08:33 PM

Well, we opened one of the jars of pickled shad tonight. Apparently the flesh is too delicate for a multiday pickle. Oh, well, chopped herring makes a good spread for snacks and sandwiches.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 May 20 - 09:49 AM

Hmm. Iceberg lettuce is a very fine thing in hot weather.

Since grocery shopping has become a damnable nuisance, I have returned to making our salad dressings at home. Last year, I put up some tarragon vinegar, and it is THE BOMB in a vinaigrette. I would also like to make bearnaise sauce (damnable computer won't spell in French), but the last time I did that I suffered a vigorous protest from my digestive system.

I made a beef stew the other day, thickened with red lentils (split masoor dal) instead of beurre manie. (Himself's niece and all three of her children have celiac disease, so I occasionally experiment with gluten-free food that is not an almost-but-not-quite imitation of the real thing.) The resulting sauce was a little grainier than I get with flour, but completely acceptable. Also, the lentils add protein without fat.

Of course, beef stew always tastes better with half a bottle of plonk in it, and rather a lot of mushrooms.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 May 20 - 10:57 AM

Now I find meself not in full agreement there. I find that wine can make stews harsh and can even dry out the meat. If a recipe calls for it, I do what Elizabeth David does, boil the wine first in a little saucepan and set fire to it until the alcohol has gone. And whoever thought it was a good idea to add cans of Guinness or cider to stews or a boiled ham should never be allowed near a kitchen again As for mushrooms in stews, no thanks. The texture is never right for me and the flavour has dissipated. I'll soak some dried ceps in a jug for half an hour then use just the liquid as part of whatever stock I'm using. You have to be careful to decant the liquid from its gritty dregs. It may seem like heresy but I don't use the actual fungi, which I find add nothing, but the soaking water is fantastic. I want my mushrooms sautéed in butter, seasoning and parsley, garlic even, and eaten on toast, or baked in cream with a pork chop a la Delia Smith. Rubbery boiled fungi are no things of beauty.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 May 20 - 01:05 PM

I haven't had mushrooms in stew, but in dishes like beef stroganoff they are heavenly. Wine is good in stew and even in with the pot roast, but I don't put in huge amounts. A dollop will do.

I did my weekly take-out order on Friday and brought home a double order of beef fajitas from my favorite Mexican place up the street. They did mess up the order a bit; I asked for corn tortillas and they included flour instead. The corn is a much nicer flavor for those (and smaller so you limit how much you load up on - it's a good way to pace yourself with these things.) They also included the Mexican rice that I've never been particularly fond of and asked them to leave out. I suspect the trays of rice, refried beans, and fajita toppings are prepared somewhat ahead of time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 May 20 - 02:04 PM

To avoid harshness, anything with added wine should be allowed to bubble cheerily with the lid off for five or ten minutes. You need to let all the alcohol evaporate. Golden rule no 2 is to use only decent wine. If you use bad wine, i.e. stuff you've bought but find is barely drinkable, as sure as eggs is eggs it will ruin your dish. In Italian cooking you'll often be advised to use the same wine you're going to drink.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 25 May 20 - 03:25 PM

Te golden rule is, if you wouldn't drink it, then it's not fit to cook with.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 May 20 - 03:34 PM

Spot on, Dave. A similar rule applies to tomatoes. You can't make a decent tomato sauce with rubbishy, chemical-golfball shop tomatoes. If the toms are a tad disappointing but not complete rubbish, a scant teaspoon of sugar works wonders. I'll use those little piccolo toms to make a sauce, otherwise I'll use tinned plum tomatoes as long as there's no added salt in them. And if you want to kill a tomato, keep it in the fridge. And there's good science behind that advice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 May 20 - 04:59 PM

Well, I agree with you, Steve. I drank the other half of the bottle.

As it happens, I do use Elizabeth David's flambe thing -- it's part of the fun of a gas cooker, and I was thrilled when I finally learned the trick of it. But we'll have to disagree on the mushrooms -- after all, what's boeuf bourguinon but a beef stew with mushrooms?

Dried cepes are available here, and I use those, too. I break up the slices of mushroom before pouring the boiling water on them; perhaps that's why I've never noticed them being unpleasant.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 May 20 - 11:20 AM

I always make my own salad dressing as bought one (here) always have sugar and/or cream. It's not for my coffee, dudes.

Also made a 9x13 pan of flourless chocolate cake topped with rolled-thin (cracked my rolling pin!) almond paste decorated with m&ms into an American flag, not forgetting the yellow *friiiiiiiiiiiiinge* (Hair lyric). Best flourless choc in a while:

12oz dark chocolate (340g)
3/4c unsalted butter (170 generous g)
6 large eggs
1c sugar (200 scant g)

Melt choc and butter and combine. Beat eggs till frothy, add sugar and beat for, like, 10 mn, while choc cools. Fold choc into eggs.

I used salted butter and cocoa to prep the pan as there is no salt in the recipe. Worked a treat.

Bake about a half-hour to 35 mn at 325°F/low side of 165°C.

I served with vanilla ice cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 26 May 20 - 02:00 PM

Thanks for the flourless cake recipe, Mrrzy. I'll try that when we can have a group in the house again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 May 20 - 08:42 AM

It is divisible... Half, or a third, would make one 8" pan, I would think. That recipe made a LOT of deeply truly chocolatey cake.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 May 20 - 11:30 AM

Mrrzy, how does one "scant" a measurement in grams? Himself suggested using a pharmacists' scale like what the cops confiscate when they raid a meth lab, but with normal kitchen gear it seems kinda difficult.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 27 May 20 - 02:49 PM

Scant, only just or barely.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 May 20 - 02:56 PM

Measure to just shy of, or measure exactly then remove a fraction of a tsp? For generous, measure to just over, or exact and add a tsp or fraction thereof?

Shouldn't be difficult, especially with a digital scale. Mine is analog, so I go with kinda the width of the needle.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 27 May 20 - 03:05 PM

You wouldn't need a pharmacist's scale for 200 grams-ish. (Reminds me of a Fanny Craddock recipe in a magazine years ago that insisted on 12 3/4 ounces of black treacle (woe betide you if you accidentally measured out 13 ounces).
My scales have a dish one end and various weights to put on the other end, like a see-saw. They are always accurate and never ever go wrong.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 May 20 - 04:20 PM

We have a battery-powered digital scale that goes down to the gram, or an eighth of an ounce.

It's amazing how less messy the kitchen is now that I weigh out all the ingredients when making bread. It didn't matter so much in our old abode, where we had an enormous kitchen with a great, big work surface, but now we cook in a galley and you have to sit down at the dining table to find the space to change your mind.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 May 20 - 06:18 PM

A galley, you say? What sort of vehicle?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 May 20 - 09:49 PM

It’s a 1974 three-bedroom Suburban, EB, with four maple trees and two bathrooms. The kitchen is a galley that extends across the back of the house between the dining room and the back door, with only enough room for one person to work efficiently; if two people try to work together in there, bad things can happen. It’s what my aunt the architect called a one-bum kitchen.

Mind you, rather a lot of money ago it was much worse, with a dangerous lack of ventilation, horrible cabinets and a leak in the ceiling from the bathroom sink upstairs. It’s now about as good a kitchen as it can be, but there’s not much we can do about its essential galley-ness.

So Himself makes breakfast and does the baking, and I make dinners and plan the menus. Even division of labour, and we don’t spill boiling water on each other.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 May 20 - 10:02 PM

My mother had an odd house with a really strange kitchen. You walked into a space where there were some cupboards on one wall, and it had a couple of halls coming into it and the downstairs door; you walked to the corner of that space and through a slim doorway into a space that had probably six feet by three feet of floor space. It had counters on all four sides, with the stove on one side and the sink on the next side. That one-butt kitchen literally would not allow a second person to even enter the space without problems.

My weekly takeout was today, when I stopped at a favorite barbecue place and as I was trying to read the signs on the door a waiter walked up to my car door and took my order. It's nice to see these folks are adapting to these strange conditions to stay in business, and by doing my part I have a couple of more meals out of it. Less time in the kitchen for me. (I ordered the chopped beef brisket and their whole wheat rolls, with onions, pickles, and sauce).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 28 May 20 - 05:19 AM

We have a battery-powered digital scale that goes down to the gram, or an eighth of an ounce.

Our kitchen scales have a resolution of 1g too but I don’t think I’d trust them for small measurements. We also have a pocket balance (ACCT-500 here) kept on a shelf in the kitchen. I’d use those if say I want to weigh a few grams of yeast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 May 20 - 07:59 AM

Mom had a scale that was a scoop seesaw thing. Wonder who got it. I also covet her brass mortar-and-pestle, decorating my 2nd sister's house. I would be using it to mortar-and-pestle with. But I digress.

Made the individual lava cakes again. Got that recipe *down* now. It was the birthday of my long-time friend who died last year, so the widow and the brother (local) and I got together and zoomed with his New York friends and the Florida brother. It was great. Lotsa stories told, and meaningful t-shirts worn.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 May 20 - 09:24 AM

I remember my mother's brass mortar and pestle, Mrrzy, but I'm glad I don't have it now; it was less well designed than these earthenware ones made by Mason Cash, and a damned nuisance to clean.

Since stonking heat has returned to Perth County, barbecue season is well and truly upon us. Finally, it's warm enough to leave the kitchen window open all night (hoping the burglar is out of town), and therefore to run the self-clean cycle on the oven. When cricking my neck at an angle I usually avoid, I observed that it is also time to remove the evidence of too many steaks, sausages and bacon rashers from the exhaust fan over the stove.

Cooking isn't all beer and skittles, damn it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 28 May 20 - 03:59 PM

Anyone got a good recipe for pasta e fagioli? Thinking about making it with some rose coco beans I was given (same bean as borlotti).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 May 20 - 05:01 PM

Thanks for that link, Charmion. I have a wooden one and a stone one, and I don't clean either (but I only grind spices in it). I never use the wooden one, too soft.

When in doubt about recipes, Thompson, I look at Bon Appétit and Epicurious first...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 May 20 - 11:24 AM

Thompson, when I make pasta e fagioli, I use any beans I have handy and any short pasta ditto. It comes out as a variant of minestrone.

Cook half a pound of beans (I do this in an Instant Pot).

Take a large soup pot and put two to four ounces of diced bacon or pancetta in the bottom and start it cooking out. Add chopped onion (at least one medium) and/or garlic, celery (2 or three ribs, chopped) and carrot (2 or 3, chopped quite small but not grated). Add oregano and thyme, dried or fresh, as you will, with black pepper from the mill and a few crushed chillis. Cook until the onion looks done. Then add a large tin of tomatoes (28 fl oz in these parts) and about a quart (US or Imperial, your choice) of decent stock, followed by the cooked beans and about half a pound of short pasta. Stir it up, and add more stock if you think it necessary. Bring to a boil and simmer until the pasta and the carrot have achieved a good texture. If you like kale, add it now and cook about another 10 minutes, then add salt (if necessary) and chopped basil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 May 20 - 07:46 PM

Made stuffed cabbage again... Yak meat mixed with some onions oregano marjoram worcestershire wrapped around a cherry tomato that had holes poked in it, wrapped in a cabbage leaf softened by a mn in the microwave, toothpicked. Made 3 little packets. Browned in bacon grease with smooshed garlic, then cooked in chicken broth for 45 mn or so. Took the packets out and added some couscous to the broth, ate the contents of 2 of the packets standing there waiting for the cous to cous. Poured rest of stock and cous onto 3rd packet and the leaves from the 1st 2 and added sour cream. Yum. And I have leftover broth and cous for dinner.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 May 20 - 08:26 PM

Right. But no garlic, yeah?

One thing about dishes that have pasta chucked in for the last few minutes. Either eat it straight away or, if you freeze it or have it tomorrow, put up with pasta that has gone horribly soft and doughy. Best to hold back on the pasta as a last ten-minute additive. Batch it up sans pasta...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 May 20 - 08:39 PM

Agreed, Steve. Except with respect to the garlic and/ or onion issue, upon which we must agree to disagree.

When I make this, I freeze it in 750-ml containers without the pasta and basil, which I add when reheating it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 20 - 10:38 AM

I've made this recipe a couple of times:

https://www.cookingclassy.com/olive-garden-pasta-e-fagioli-soup-copycat-recipe/

Invariably I have to make some change, like the last time I didn't have the cans of tomato sauce but I had a large can of tomato puree (six of one/half dozen of the other?) that I used instead. And I follow the tip about cooking the pasta separately since I'm not going to eat it all at once. This makes a robust amount of soup, so I spoon some of the cooked pasta into the bowl, top it with soup, and nuke it before adding grated Parmesan cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 30 May 20 - 01:14 PM

Minestrone is one of the most adaptable -- and adapted -- dishes I make. The only beans I have ever put it in it that really didn't work were black (turtle) beans, which actually tasted fine but gave the soup an unpleasant puce colour. It's the only way I can get Himself to eat kale.

If you don't have fresh basil leaves lying around on the day you make it, you can put a dollop of pesto (assuming you have that) in the bowl when reheating it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 May 20 - 02:18 PM

I had some black beans (I cook ahead and freeze them in jars) that I added along with a couple of other kidney bean varieties. They tasted fine; I don't add the liquid from the beans, that could make a difference. The tomato is so rich that none of the beans are going to change that color.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 31 May 20 - 12:44 PM

I've decide that, as the texture of the pickled shad is poor, I'll try a fish pie in a few days. The taste should work. One thing about experimenting with food, you can always throw out your failures. Either that, or redirect them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 31 May 20 - 06:30 PM

I mostly eat my failures, figuring that from the dead stones of my failed dishes I will build the road to chefdom.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 08:39 AM

Ya know, I pretty much never cook with beans. Lentils, sometimes. Chickpeas, sometimes. Green/string beans, yes. But regular beans are just not in my pantry.

I don't dislike them. I just don't cook them. Hmmm.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 09:30 AM

EBarnacle, do you think your disappointing pickled shad would be good as a spread, perhaps blended with cream cheese? Or perhaps you tried that and I missed it.

Last night I tried Steve Shaw's recommendation of starting a load of ribs in the oven and transferring them to the barbecue to finish. Disappointing, and I'm sure it was all my fault for letting the barbecue run too hot, or leaving them in too long, or something. The flavour was good, but the texture left much to be desired -- the meat at the bone was tender and moist, but just under the spice crust it was dry.

Next time, I'll use the barbie all through, but keep the heat properly low and allocate at least three and a half hours to the operation.

We live and we learn. Also, like Thompson, we eat my failures. It's a long time -- possibly decades -- since I buggered up anything so badly we couldn't eat it, but I confess I'm not crazy about the taste of what should have been.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 09:53 AM

Thanks for the pasta e fagioli recipe, Charmion, and the pasta tip, Steve. I'll ask for bacon bits to be put on the shopping list and make it in a couple of days.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 10:40 AM

2 things: I have burned myself *again* - after maybe 4 decades of not burning myself cooking this is 4 times in 10 days.

Also in my attempts to cook for one I invented this with math:

Rhubarb Crisp For One

Preheat toaster-oven to 350ish

1 stalk rhubarb, 3T+1t sugar, 2+1/5t flour, mix, put in buttered ramekin.

2T+2 1/3t brown sugar, 1 grind sea salt, dash cinnamon, 2T+2t flour, mix for topping

Top

Bake 45 mn

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 01:34 PM

I burn and cut myself quite often, Mrrzy, much to Himself's dismay; I'm sure he thinks that one of these days I'll do myself a major mischief. But I feel less bad about it than I used to because I learned at the Stratford Chef School that cooks who don't burn and cut themselves at least sometimes don't cook much. It's like the pitcher that goes to the well too often: the odds are that eventually a bad thing will happen.

Many years ago, I damned near took off the tip of my left index finger when bisecting a large acorn squash that rolled unexpectedly, taking my hand with it, just as I was bringing down the knife at full force. That cost me a trip to the emergency ward for stitches and a stern lecture from a young doctor who looked as if he had never cooked anything more complex than scrambled egg on toast in his whole life. I have been cutting up chickens, boning shoulders of pork, chunking hard vegetables, and hauling smoking hot roasting pans in and out of ovens for more than fifty years, and that's the worst I've done. So far.

That said, how's your eyesight?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 01:42 PM

I expect to have a glut of radishes in about a month.

Now I like radish and know if I don't pick them all they will go "woody"

So my question is how can I preserve them or make something with them?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 02:49 PM

Feed them to the livestock! Radishes are SOOOO overrated. They just grow fast for beginning gardeners. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 04:26 PM

My eyesight's great, but I only found out after a 60-mile round trip to Barnard Castle.

Radishes are everything I don't want to put in my mouth. And when I grew them years ago, every bloody one had cabbage root fly in it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 04:53 PM

Livestock!?!?

I live in a duplex apartment, the only livestock is a visiting cat :-)

Any more ideas ……………??

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 05:19 PM

I heard or read somewhere that if you let the radishes go to seed you can add the seeds to curries. I haven't tried it though.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 08:22 PM

Eat the shoots before they achieve radish-ness!

Sorry, bit late with that ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 08:50 PM

New glasses. Can I blame them?

I haven't cut myself (yet?) but I have cut into a fingernail or two. I am suggestible, though, so I think tonight's dinner will involve no knives, just in case!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jun 20 - 10:59 PM

Yesterday I used up a bowl of smallish poblano peppers from my garden and a couple of onions that have been around here for a while (and I have some onions from the garden to use once these are gone) and some cooked chicken breast to make chicken fajita filling. Corn tortillas from the freezer (picked up at the local panaderia and frozen immediately because they sell them at about 25 per package and I can't eat them that fast) and the usual toppings (guacamole from the freezer, the last of the sour cream, and Tapatio hot sauce). I made those yesterday, had some today, and probably have one more meal to go out of that bowl. Mmmmm good!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 01:08 PM

Another recipe for 1: spinach soufflé

Preheat toaster-oven to 375°

1T +1t butter (plus ramekin)
Parm to dust buttered ramekin
...butter and dust ramekin

5 oz chopped fresh spinach
Some minced onion
...soften onions then cook spinach down, in the 1T butter

1t flour
Dash of hot paprika
1/3 c milk
...make béchamel with the 1t butter
...add spinach to béchamel

Several grinds black pepper
Good grind salt
Dash nutmeg
1 egg
...beat till flufffy

Then add hot spinach mixture to egg in increments, folding and not cooking egg

Put in ramekin, bake till lovely (30m)

Mine is still in the oven. I will tell you how it goes...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 01:16 PM

I need a glossary

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 01:37 PM

Oh was it good. I checked after 20 mn and it was poofed, but reallyreally dark brown almost burnt on top, so I put a square of tinfoil over it for the last 10 mn. Prolly shoulda checked at 15 mn.

The butter-parm dusting turned into a side-and-botton crust of deliciousness. I used salted butter so it was fine with salt only in the egg part, I had wondered.

It unpoofed as I ate it like all good soufflés.

There was a smidge of liquid underneath that softened the parmy crust, but it wasn't more than could be sopped up by the bites of soufflé, which had been another worry.

I am enjoying using so much math, too! This one was arithmeticked from here.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 02:53 PM

Mrrzy and Donual: I assume that 'parm' is grated Parmesan, that 't' is teaspoon, that 'T' is tablespoon, and that 'c' is cup.
I do like 'flufffy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 02:57 PM

PS I'm not sure where Mrrzy's 'maths' comes in, unless the measurements were adapted from a recipe for lots of people.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 06:21 PM

French recipes often seem to use those single-letter codes for various sizes from soupspoon to pinch. Kind of feels like a cross between knitting and cooking!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 06:53 PM

"Last night I tried Steve Shaw's recommendation of starting a load of ribs in the oven and transferring them to the barbecue to finish. Disappointing, and I'm sure it was all my fault for letting the barbecue run too hot, or leaving them in too long, or something. The flavour was good, but the texture left much to be desired -- the meat at the bone was tender and moist, but just under the spice crust it was dry."

Well I had a stack of ribs that had already been separated (not ideal but it's what I had), and we enjoyed them muchly on the barbie tonight. I marinaded them for several hours in a very simple mix of tomato ketchup, a big dose of muscovado sugar, a dollop of hot English mustard, a good dash or three of Worcestershire sauce and a goodly heap of sweet smoked paprika. After that I put them in a baking dish with all the baste and covered the dish tightly with foil. They went in the oven for almost three hours at 150C. All they then needed was ten minutes on the barbie, basted with whatever juices were still left. They were very nice indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 07:35 PM

Oops sorry yes. Parm=parmesan.

But I thought all recipes could use t for tsp, T for tbsp, etc.

And yes... The link serves 6. Mine serves 1. Lotsa math (singular, on this side of the pond)!

"Fflufffy" is a movie reference... Points if you get it!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 08:00 PM

You yanks have got this bloody daft "cups" thing. I accidentally bought a second-hand copy of a Nigella book that was written in American. It's full silly stuff about cups and a weird thing called "heavy cream." I had to buy a set of Yankee "cups" fer chrissake. I'm so resentful about the fact that I had to buy them that I never use 'em... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 08:35 PM

I see what you did there, Steve, and I see why it works and why what I did doesn’t.

I have never used a sweet sauce with back ribs; I use a dry rub and vinegar mop sauce, Low Country style. (I learned about ribs from a nice lady at church. She was from Raleigh, North Carolina.) An important part of the technique is smoke, which I can’t do in the oven without bringing the fire brigade down on us. So I had that batch of ribs in the oven at 275 degrees Fahrenheit until they were fully cooked, and then put them in the barbecue to smoke.

We ate some cold for supper tonight, and they were actually great — texture good, flavour just right. So not the failure I had convinced myself I had committed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Jun 20 - 10:11 PM

Wait, Brits don't measure in cups? What do you use?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 02:11 AM

Measures, here in the UK we have these things called ' measures ' they are good for measuring amounts of ingredients for recipes etc.

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 05:44 AM

Measures? Apart from different sizes of spoons, I measure dry goods in pounds and ounces, liquids in pints or fractions thereof, or fluid ounces.
More recent recipes use grams/kilos and litres/mls - in which case I use maths to convert them to something I understand.
PS. US pints, gallons and fluid ounces are not the same size as the UK ones.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 06:39 AM

I measure pasta for two by the half-packet, olive oil by the glug, salt, pepper and dried chillis by the pinch, garlic by whatever takes my fancy, soffritto by the equal volumes, approx., of onion, celery and carrot, chicken by the one breast/two thighs each, flour by the sprinkle, enough for a burger by a handful of mince, herbs by sheer instinct, basmati rice by a scant mugful for two (I might do extra to fry up for tomorrow's breakfast), cheese by how much of the chunk is left after I've grated it, eggs by the egg and tomatoes by the can. I might measure amounts carefully if thickness of a sauce or a batter is paramount, otherwise I just seem to know.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 06:46 AM

I'll use whichever of imperial or metric is given in a recipe or, where both are given, the one I feel suits me better for the recipe, eg. I like to think of my sponge cakes as 8oz of butter, flour and caster sugar.

American measures are something else though. They use cups for one thing and their liquid measures are different (eg Imperial pint is 568ml, US pint is 473ml). I'm not equipped to deal with these and would have to do some conversions.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 06:51 AM

And on Steve's type of measurement's, the "some" is used round here, eg, some potatoes, some carrots, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 09:21 AM

Thanks to the French for the metric system, so much simpler than any other measurements.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 09:46 AM

How is it that when a recipe says "1kg potatoes" it never tells you whether that's the weight before peeling or after?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 10:11 AM

Good question, Steve.

As a Canadian, I have been cooking with weird measures my whole damn life. Old Canadian cookbooks use British measures, gills, pints and quarts, and modern cooks have to be alert to the fact that the pint in question is 20 fl oz Imperial and the quart is 40. You know you have one of these books when you notice that it does not call for cup measures, but half a pint.

Pounds and dry ounces are blessedly consistent, and professional recipes, especially for bread, are written that way. When the metric system hit us in 1978, we just converted, and Canadians of a certain age are very good at multiplying and dividing by 2.2.

But sometime in the 1930s the American cup, at 8 fl oz, invaded Canada, and the schizophrenia started. I particularly dislike bread recipes that use volume measures for flour; flour is quite variable enough without faffing about with filling your measuring cup JUST SO and then realizing that it's wrong anyway. Weighing out two pounds (or a kilo) of flour is far easier. Also, you don't have half a dozen measuring cups to wash after.

Butter is another ingredient often called for in volume measures when a weight measure is both easier and neater. One tablespoon of butter is half an ounce. How hard can this be?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 10:18 AM

On a different topic, I bought a bag of shaved brussels sprouts, which I adore, but to my shame did not cook them (waaaasteful, I know) and now the bag is distended to the bursting point. If I leave it alone will it explode? Are fermenting [I think] brussels sprouts edible?

I *am* working on not getting more food than I eat while still only rarely going to a store.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 10:27 AM

For butter or cheese, if you know how much the slab or packet weighs you can just cut off an appropriate sized piece.
The trouble with 'spoonful' measures is that they can be level, rounded, generous and/or heaped. My grandmother used to measure the teaspoon of salt she needed, when breadmaking, in the hollowed palm of her hand.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 12:26 PM

What on earth are shaved brussels sprouts?

And has anyone - Steve? - got a reliable Caesar dressing recipe that doesn't involve ladling in shop-bought mayo?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 12:45 PM

Here's one, but it has raw egg in it. I would never eat raw egg.

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/easy-homemade-caesar-dressing
======================
Last night I made a delicious easy dinner.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp veg oil
one half of a rotisserie chicken from the deli
pasta for two people, cooked (penne pasta is good)
one-half of a can of sliced black olives, drained
1/4 to 1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
olive oil
pinch of oregano - to taste

Amounts are approximate and can vary acc. to your taste.

Heat the veg oil in a large skillet, saute the onion till tender. You could even brown it if you'd like. Meanwhile, remove the meat from the half of a chicken and cut it into bite-size pieces. Kitchen shears are helpful here. Be sure to include the skin, which is flavorful.

When the onions are done, add the chicken and pasta and heat through. Just before eating, add the olives and oregano. Splash on some olive oil to taste so the batch is not too dry and stir gently. Serve.
============
This recipe is based on a favorite of mine from a restaurant now out of business. The original included some kind of mild, smooth cheese which acted as a binder, but I don't know what kind of cheese it was. It's good without it, anyhow.

I read somewhere that you shouldn't heat olive oil too high, so that's why I use veg oil for the onion.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 03:27 PM

You can heat extra virgin olive oil for cooking almost anything. If you need to heat the oil on its own before adding anything that might cool it down a touch and dilute the oil with other liquid, onion or tomatoes for example, just be careful not to let it smoke. I start many a dish by sauteeing sliced garlic and crushed chillis in extra virgin olive oil. The olive oil, the garlic and the chilli all benefit from gentle sauteeing with just a bit of sizzle. If your garlic colours, you've overdone it and you'll have to start again. And a soffritto is easily done with extra virgin olive oil. I don't use refined olive oil, ever. That belongs in my diesel car's fuel tank. If I want to use really high heat, for example to sear a steak or cook my oven chips, I'll use groundnut oil instead.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 05:11 PM

Thanks, leeneia!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Jun 20 - 11:12 PM

They are brussels sprouts sliced really really thinly.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 04:59 AM

Aaah, thanks, Mrrzy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 01:18 PM

On choosing the best/healthiest oil for frying, this BBC News item from about five years ago, regarding the programme "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor", comes down in favour of olive oil (though they seem not to have tested peanut/groundnut oil. They do not recommend sunflower oil or corn oil.
They also recommend butter, goose fat and lard, and say that saturated fats can be good for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 02:39 PM

The only oils allowed in our kitchen are two qualities of extra virgin olive oil (one for cooking, the other for sprinkling over pasta dishes, pizzas or as salad dressing) and groundnut, for all very hot frying. Roasties are done in the meat fat from the roast, or, failing that, either goose fat or beef dripping.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 03:36 PM

I visited the discount gourmet warehouse grocery store today and came back with a couple of months-worth groceries to go in the freezer and to hand off to a couple of friends. I still have to go out regularly to buy the produce I'm not growing, but I'm reaching a point where I'm using my own peppers, garlic, onions, and tomatoes. I'm also trying one of their frozen pizzas; after the bad experience with the cold salty delivery pizza from Dominoes I am following the advice (probably from this thread several months ago) to do a frozen one. I make my own pizzas often enough, but sometimes it's nice if someone else made it for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jun 20 - 04:19 PM

The verdict is in - the frozen pizza is much more satisfactory than the takeout or delivery one from Dominoes. It wasn't salty, the crust was a nice texture, and two slices was plenty for a meal. I've wrapped up the rest and will reheat in the toaster over over the next couple of days.

I did sprinkle some herbs over the top, and after having it otherwise in it's original form, in future I might add some thin sliced extra onion or peppers or black olives. As a child I was all about the extra cheese and as much greasy pepperoni as possible; now I really love the thin-sliced vegetables and a little meat goes a long way.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Jun 20 - 06:32 AM

I have never bought a pizza in any shop, frozen or not, that had any more flavour than the cardboard box it came in. We have a takeaway pizzeria of high repute in Bude called La Bocca which we are intending to try shortly. We also have an "Italian" restaurant that's quite nice though thoroughly inauthentic. Last time I went, the wines-by-the-glass were all non-Italian and they clearly considered that a pizza wasn't a pizza unless it was decorated with those silly little mozzarella balls (uncooked) and unless the top was festooned with huge amounts of rocket. Edible but odd. The best pizzas we ever had were in a grubby little pizzeria in Napoli. We were the only non-Italians in there (always a good sign). We had a margherita and a pizza fritta, both huge and both wonderful. A terrible rainstorm raged outside and we sat close to their wood-fired oven. I'd choose a margherita every time, always dressed with the finest extra virgin olive oil. A good pizza isn't convenience food. It's heaven on Earth, and what red wine was invented for. In Rome we found a superb restaurant that served pinza pizzas (they wouldn't like my calling them pizzas...). The base, made from long-fermented dough, is far lighter and fluffier than a normal pizza base and there's just the right amount of lovely crunch. Now that was FOOD!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jun 20 - 10:55 AM

The best pizza I have ever eaten we made at home, on a sourdough crust. If I start making pizza again, I would have to pop down to the sourdough bakery and bum some starter -- yes, we live near a sourdough bakery and the boss gives away starter if you ask nicely. We are blessed.

One of the local good restaurants (we are further blessed by the presence of several) is an Italian-style joint with a pizzeria downstairs and a white-tablecloth dining-room upstairs. Their pizza is about the best I've ever had in a restaurant (no, I've never been to Italy), with crisp crust, a variety of sauces, and an even wider choice of dressings that they don't pile higher and deeper. If you're a "house special with the works" kind of diner, they will do you an Ontario-style thick crust with tomato sauce and a load of cheese, but not if they can help it.

I don't know where the load of rocket fad came from, but it's here, too. Rocket has its place, but heaped higgledy-piggledy on a perfectly innocent pizza is not it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Jun 20 - 11:13 AM

To me, a thick crust pizza is not a pizza. It's cheese on toast embellished with (usually cheap and shitty) sparse toppings. Bits of stale ham or little discs of "pepperoni" or slimy bits of blackened, soft mushrooms. Or processed chicken.   Even worse are those stuffed crust ones. A pizza base should be very thin in the centre and have a narrow rim that has a nice bit of crunch. And spare me from wedges of cold "pizza" served at buffets...Nearly as bad as those horrid little pots of "pasta salad" consisting of doughy little pasta tubes bathed in something congealed that used to be tomatoes... Italy should wage war on us!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jun 20 - 01:10 PM

I buy Iraqi tandoor bread (a large thin round piece that is stuck to the inside of the tandoor oven for a few minutes) and put what I'm not going to use right away into the freezer. It serves as a wonderful thin pizza crust in a hurry. The modern Middle-Eastern bakeries have a metal oven, top-loading free-standing or built in, and the flattened dough is transferred from the work surface to the side of the barrel-shaped oven via a really gnarly looking fuzzy pillow thing.

When I make my own pizza crust I used to use a modified bread (loaf) recipe, but now use one I found in Martha Stewart Living that is simply the best. Biancho's pizza dough.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jun 20 - 11:49 AM

Well, Steve, when all is said and done, what is pizza but bread and cheese with trimmings?

I’ll get me coat ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Jun 20 - 12:02 PM

If it's a real pizza, greater than the sum of its parts is what it is.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 Jun 20 - 12:42 PM

One of the advantages to living alone is having whatever you want on your pizza.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 06 Jun 20 - 02:57 PM

I'm with Charmion on rocket. A nice salad, but what's it doing in my hot dinner? And I'm with Steve on gluey thick-crust pizza. Pizza should be delicate and crunchy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Jun 20 - 04:09 PM

Well I've made soup with rocket and it was very good. Also, we have it wilted into our spaghetti with lemon, chilli, prawns and rocket, with a bit more chopped-up rocket sprinkled on top. Very nice. We had that last night. Our favourite thing do with rocket is to have it in a toasted bun with a barbecued burger along with caramelised onion chutney. I make the burgers with pure minced steak, no seasoning, no onions, no nothing. The great thing about rocket is that, once you've sown it, you never have to sow it again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jun 20 - 09:42 PM

In hot weather involved cooking is less appealing, and we're in the high 90s now (I think that translates to mid-30s Canada and UK). A cheese omelette with salsa and a side of steamed broccoli, followed by a bowl of vanilla yogurt was plenty. The house iced tea is made of green tea bags and several generous sprigs of lemon balm brewed in a 1/2 gallon jar. Sweetened with a little stevia, this is wonderful over ice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Jun 20 - 06:20 AM

Stevia turns my stomach into a cement mixer. .

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Jun 20 - 10:07 AM

Hm, I wonder would that spaghetti recipe work with mizuna, which is coming on in the garden.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 07 Jun 20 - 11:17 AM

I've never heard of mizuna - is it a herb?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Jun 20 - 11:29 AM

Well I'm up for trying anything, but the spicy flavour of wild rocket is an integral part of that dish. It's a Jamie Oliver one, by the way, if you want to google it. Frozen prawns work well (thawed out first!) but you want the larger ones, not cocktail prawns.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 07 Jun 20 - 11:36 AM

Take away Pizza - because we had a full loyalty card it was free, so naturally we had a large!! Ingredients were chorizo sausage, tomato, various other unrecognisable bits and of course cheese!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Jun 20 - 12:36 PM

Mizuna (correctly pronounced MEEzoona) is a Japanese vegetable. Easy peasy to grow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Jun 20 - 01:42 PM

At about 2 inches thick of incredible ingredients in the deep dish this is the best pizza I have ever had. the crust is heavenly

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Jun 20 - 01:50 PM

https://giordanos.com/our-story/

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Jun 20 - 02:24 PM

That is not a pizza.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Jun 20 - 10:26 AM

That is not pizza as you know it, Steve, but it is indeed pizza as it is made and sold in great heaps on this side of the Herring Pond.

I wouldn't eat it, either.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Jun 20 - 11:53 AM

To return to an old thread of mine, broccoli cornbread is good with a meal, or sometimes a small piece by itself as a meal when you don't feel like eating much (hot weather).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 08 Jun 20 - 04:17 PM

That looks like a quiche to me and as we say on this side of the pond "real men don't eat quiche"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jun 20 - 04:37 PM

If that's a quiche, it's a bit garish. As a real man I eat quiche in secret only. But I can't see me eating that one. A side view of a wedge of it might reveal more. But one thing's for sure: it's no pizza.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Jun 20 - 07:56 PM

Its a one of a kind and as such I proposed marrige at Giordanos, as well as my father did 28 years before me.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Jun 20 - 07:57 PM

Nothing on my plate tonight as the zoom sing thing lasted all the way to my neighborhood assoc meeting going on now.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Jun 20 - 10:55 AM

It's over 30 degrees Celsius and steamy, so last night we had spatchcocked chicken and grilled asparagus off the barbie. The kitchen stove is staying off until the weather breaks.

Grilled asparagus is supposed to be easy, but it's tricky. The websites with advice on such matters say two to three minutes, turn once, two to three minutes more, but the shoots were still rather too solid to the tooth. Next time, I think I'll turn again and give it about another two minutes.

Roast chicken should rest before carving anyway, and grilling the veg gives me something to do while I wait. Something besides drooling, that is.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 10 Jun 20 - 02:19 PM

Advice, please. Desperate for anchovies, a couple of which I throw into all kinds of dishes but especially into lamb stew, I turned to Amazon.
Reader, I bought a kilo.
They just arrived, and to my horror, turned out to be preserved in salt, rather than oil - well, they said preserved in salt, but I assumed this meant salt and then oil.
But… opening them in horror, to take out a few to be going on with and reseal the big jar, I discovered - they're absolutely fecking delicious. I can't stop licking my fingers. So sweet and gently salty. Oh. My. God. Now I know why the Romans wanted garum in everything. I'll be hard put to it not to put them in everything from ice cream to porridge.
But what are they normally used in? Italian people and Italianite cooks, help, please!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 10 Jun 20 - 03:49 PM

Well, I wanted a snack so I opened one of the sealed jars of pickled shad. As expected, the bones had completely dissolved. So had the meat. The smell was fine, with the slight foulness that was present in the beginning completely gone. I spread it on a slice of plain matzoh and the taste was really luscious.
I might use a bit less vinegar if I ever do this again, though. As mentioned, the meat just does not stand up to pickling.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Jun 20 - 10:10 PM

Broiled for the first time ever. Small flames.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 12:42 AM

Was talking with an older cousin. On several occasions she accompanied her mother to market to get fruit for fruit soup. i had never heard of this but it sounds good. The only hint she recalled was that her mother made it a point to get fruit that was slightly overripe. That could have also been because of a reduction in price.

I have never had it but Lady Hillary says it's very good. Says that she had it as a cold soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 03:09 AM

For fruit soup, maybe try one of Elisabeth Luard's books? Maybe European Peasant Cookery? I can take a look after breakfast, see if I find it.
As for the overripeness, I make banana bread with overripe bananas. It's not a bit nice with fresh bananas, but if the bananas are black, it's just right.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 03:58 AM

No luck with European Peasant Cookery, Carla Emery or Mrs Beeton. But the internet offers this Hungarian fruit soup, made with plums and peaches. I'm a little suspicious of the "optional" cream - cream would completely change it so… say what?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 10:21 AM

Another of Elisabeth Luard's books. The Princess and the Pheasant, has a soup called Ajo Blanco:

3oz blanched almonds
4 cloves garlic
2 tbs olive oil
2 pints cold water
salt
1 tbs white wine vinegar
handful of white grapes

Liquidise oil, garlic, almonds and 1pt water. Add the other pint of water. Season with salt and vinegar. Leave to infuse in the fridge for an hour. Peel & pip grapes. Before serving, add grapes and a piece of ice per serving.
(I've shortened her language a bit)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 10:36 AM

Hungarians like cold fruit soups. Also cold wine soup. Cream tends to be decorative rather than ingrediential. I made that word up but I like it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 10:49 AM

The fruit soup with which I am most familiar is made with morello cherries, the light red sour kind also best in pies and jam. Indeed, it is a Hungarian delicacy, and the cream in question is the ever-popular garnish blob of sour in the middle of the bowl.

In Ottawa, where I used to live, there was once a lovely Hungarian restaurant with servers in embroidered blouses and a dark-haired gent playing the zymbalom -- very exotic in Ontario in 1970. I'm sure everyone involved in the business was a refugee from the other side of the Iron Curtain. Their menu had all the eastern European staples, for a wonder not adapted to Canadian tastes numbed by too many years of Kraft cheese and baloney, including cherry soup and chestnut mousse ... Oh, Lord, the chestnut mousse!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 11:53 AM

I'm going to search for a recipe for chestnut mousse. It sounds wonderful, and I have some preserved chestnuts left over from Christmas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 12:19 PM

Thompson, I'm watching with interest for any reports of how you manage to use that many anchovies!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 03:01 PM

I normally buy a massive jar of anchovies in oil every year or so at Christmas, when the local Italian shop sells it for gift purposes, and use them up gradually. I suppose I'll do the same with these, but I'll have to try to keep them covered in their salt.
Already thinking about a recipe for spaghetti with anchovies and black olives, involving a good handful of parsley and some parmesan.
And of course there's always Jonsson's Temptation.
And the lamb stew and lentil soup they normally go into. And the odd lot of scrambled eggs.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Jun 20 - 03:45 PM

anjovis=sprats https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/janssons_frestelse_24036

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 12 Jun 20 - 02:36 PM

Ohh yes, Jansson's Temptation; I don't know who Jansson was, but his temptation is well worth the tempting.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Jun 20 - 11:26 AM

It took me years, nay, decades, to admit to mom that I hated chestnut mousse and would she please stop making me make it every $mas. Gesztenyepire, in Hungarian. Aka Chestenyet Myush, in our house. Burning fingers, the ricer, and then that inedible ugly-colored glop to show for it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 20 - 12:04 PM

For me it was both the turkey stuffing and tomato aspic. Can't be bothered to eat either of them when there are much more tempting dishes on the table.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Jun 20 - 12:17 PM

The chestnut mousse I remember was flavoured with chocolate -- not a lot of chocolate, just enough -- and blended with whipped cream. I rather suspect that the restaurant had perfected a production technique that reduced the nuisance quotient to a workable commercial level.

I think of any dish containing chestnuts as a monument to our ancestors' skill at making the best of a very unforgiving agricultural economy. In France and Italy, chestnuts were roasted and ground to eke out supplies of expensive wheat flour; they were free for the gathering in the forests where peasants were not allowed to hunt.

But yeah, major nuisance. And if your diet normally includes foodstuffs that are easier to make delectable, why bother?

I love Jansson's Temptation, and for the life of me I can't think why I have yet to introduce it to Himself, for whom I have been cooking lo! these many years. Possibly because I was introduced to it by Mr Wrong, my Norwegian first husband? More likely because the leftover boiled potato is unknown in our house.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 14 Jun 20 - 06:47 AM

The recipe in Donuel's link doesn't involve left-over boiled potatoes, though if you wanted to use them it should be easy enough to arrange.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Jun 20 - 10:54 AM

So I notice, Jos. Maybe the issue was the prodigal use of cream, and not the potatoes. Back in those days, we were all supposed to shun milk fat -- what a mistake that was!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Jun 20 - 11:36 AM

Now at $mas we have rocket crumple and gulyás. Rocket crumple how we pronounced rakott krumpli, which is yummy:

Cold leftover sliced boiled potatoes, prettiest slices reserved
Cold sliced hard-boiled eggs
Kolbász or other spicy sausage, casings removed, sliced
Butter and lots of it
Sour cream ditto

Butter a deep baking dish. Bottom layer potatoes, dot (like a slice per tater) generously with butter, slather with sour cream, layer of egg, layer of sausage, another layer of potatoes. Push down hard and everywhere on potato layer. Add more butter and sour cream, repeat, not forgetting the pressing. Finish with top layer of the pretty potato slices, butter top generously. This dish takes more butter and sour cream than you'd think. Use smaller dish with more layers rather than bigger dish with fewer layers.
Bake at 350F for an hour at least, till top layer is a deep brown. When serving make sure you serve vertically, so each serving has some of the top crunchy taters and some of the bottom layer of taters that have soaked in the juices of sausage etc. The butter and sour cream cannot be stinted or no juice will form to carry the egg and sausage flavors through the potatoes. So, so delicious.
One sister makes a meatless version with mushrooms instead of the sausage. That is also good and some hot paprika around the mushroom layers gives the sauce some spice the way the kolbász does.
There is no edible vegan version. We have tried.
Heart attack on a plate, sure, but you'd die happy!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Jun 20 - 11:41 AM

I am going to try smashed potatoes soon.

In the meantime I tried those muffin-sized burgers in bacon, where you line a muffin tin hole with bacon and put burger meat with whatever inside, and the burger past was yummy but the bacon never crisped. Advice? Hotter oven, maybe?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Jun 20 - 03:22 PM

Or was it that silicone cups don't get as hot as the tin itself?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 07:48 AM

Would you not do those 'muffins' on a baking sheet, and put a toothpick through the rasher to hold it in its circle around the mince?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 08:50 AM

Today I am enduring a bout of gut misery, the third in ten days, so I'm eating very little and all of it bland and soft. Never have I been so glad of a humble boiled egg.

Himself is baking -- I can hear the rattle and bang of mixing bowls downstairs. White bread, this time, appropriate for a convalescent digestion.

Mrrzy, you'll never get crisp bacon in a muffin cup, however hot the oven, because the rendered fat can't drain away. Thompson's method will probably work.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 12:17 PM

Thanks. And on a rack, too. Good idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 12:30 PM

Me three on the bacon suggestion, Mrrzy.

Fruit flies are trying to take over the kitchen so I have a couple of attempts at traps (water with sweet stuff sitting on the counter under an under-cupboard light to attract them). And a sticky sheet for the garden pegged to a shelf.

I haven't baked for about three weeks, and while I miss the bread, the house is so hot (I don't keep the AC on real low) it will rise super fast so I need to really pay attention if I bake this time of year.

I've decided that making a batch of paste e fagiole every month or so is a good way to 1) use up stuff in the freezer and fridge and 2) have a solid meal that even in summer will work. A small bowl with a salad will set me up and I don't need to cook anything else for days at a time.

Lately, though, I've been using some of the pasta that I kind of loaded up on at the beginning of the pandemic (I bought three bags). I have some of that fancy ruffled-looking armoniche (link clipped from a Reddit post where the person is asking how to use it. Silly person! It's pasta!) that I'm pairing with Rao's "homemade" artichoke pasta sauce and slice up some baked chicken breast with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Jun 20 - 02:22 PM

Those are radiatore, chez nous.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 19 Jun 20 - 08:41 AM

It is June so - Herring!!!
My favourites are:
Herring dipped in oatmeal (fried in butter)
Soused Herring made into a roll then slowly/gently baked in seasoned vinegar and water, then eaten cold, with salad. (i do not like the consistency if raw fish!)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 20 - 12:24 PM

I made banana bread as a birthday gift/party favor combo yesterday, but this time of year you won't often find me heating the big oven. This is when the counter-top toaster oven comes into it's own. For larger meals the portable convection oven or even the roaster oven can be placed on a table outside the kitchen door so the heat is dissipated out-of-doors. I have a small terracotta charcoal grill I sometimes set up for making enough chicken or sausage or burgers to use for a couple of meals. The big gas grill needs work (I suspect mud dauber wasps or other nesting-in-skinny-places wasps plugged a gas line). Then there is the metal barrel charcoal grill tucked into the garage that comes out sometimes for large orders, like when I buy a case of Hatch chili peppers and need to roast them. That'll come up in August or September (and I usually let the store roast them now since it doesn't cost me any extra and it's a lot of work).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 21 Jun 20 - 11:06 AM

We had a traditional meal last night. Pork chops, corn on the cob, salad, fruit.

Though our salad was new-fangled - a wedge of iceberg lettuce with saladacious toppings such as diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, green onion. In restaurants they always include bacon. Blue cheese dressing is usual. (I'd given up on iceberg lettuce till I encountered the wedge.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Jun 20 - 01:27 PM

Firm believer in hot [temp and spice] soup in summer...

Ground lamb, last half onion, garlic, tail end of cabbage, white wine, chicken better than bouillon, Berbere seasoning marjoram oregano, and at the end some marvy market spinach and leftover green beans from supporting local restaurant. Sour cream. Yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 20 - 08:58 PM

I have been known to run out and buy a beer when the mood strikes, usually at one of the nearly convenience stores. But the store I used to prefer (that has my favorite brand of beer) is so flagrant in their disregard of social distancing and protecting their staff, let alone their customers, that I have to plan ahead and shop elsewhere. I'll be picking up a case of my favorite beer at a store that does a good job of protecting people, but since stores have been closing earlier to disinfect everything, I can't just run out to that grocery store.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 23 Jun 20 - 09:19 PM

Soups, stews and cold weather comfort food here right now, being winter. Am getting in the mood to bake a batch of date squares because Himself is The Date Conoisseur Of The Universe, but it might wait for a day or two until the mood builds up to the point where it can no longer be ignored.

I use my Canadian friend Lois' mother's recipe for Matrimonial Cake; Lois grew up in eastern B.C. The same or very similar recipe is called Matrimonial Cake in western Canada and Date Squares elsewhere. Himself has really enjoyed his date squares while visiting Toronto, and elsewhere in Ontario.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Jun 20 - 09:49 AM

The date square is an essential Canadian food item, right up there with the butter tart. I'm so glad to know that it is now infesting Oz; in my chauvinistic opinion, it's one of our better exports.

The thing about the date square (and the butter tart) is that it could be made in the dead of winter by people who did not own a refrigerator or a freezer, and could not afford fresh fruit out of season.

It's approaching the height of summer in Ontario, and I think we have reached surfeit with respect to strawberries and asparagus; my heart no longer leaps up, as it did in late May, when I see them at the market. Now, I'm longing for raspberries, corn and peaches.

I can't believe that I'm actually a wee bit tired of strawberries. That's just wrong.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Jun 20 - 10:10 AM

Tonight I'll be mostly eating a chip butty.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Jun 20 - 11:55 AM

Ooh yum. Had a bacon butty the other day.

Need inspiration for a recipe swap this weekend...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jun 20 - 06:57 AM

Strawberries like wot I recall from my youth are, sadly, very elusive these days. It seems that the dreaded Elsanta and, latterly, Malling Centenary have cornered the market. I mean, where's the flavour! I grew my own for years but I was constanly afflicted by millipedes and grey mould. Finally, a pair of badgers rolled around in my beds and trashed them. At least we have Rodda's clotted cream...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Jun 20 - 07:32 AM

Steve, since one of your formost expert talents is botany, do you find flavour has suffered because of breeding mono culture? strains?
I find ripeness is critical in strawberry flavour.

Do you own a Hortus?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jun 20 - 10:13 AM

I know Steve is enough of a gardener to have ready access to parsley and similar greenstuff any ol' time he wants it. I suffer badly from envy.

Ripeness is critical to the flavour of strawberries. I have been making strawberry jam and related preserves since the age of 12, and I can say with authority that the best results come with fruit that has achieved the condition we Canadians call "dead ripe" -- on the cusp of collapsing into red mush. You know it's there when you pull on the hull and the leaves pop off with no loss of flesh. Or you could eat one, but market traders tend to frown on that practice; customers swooning with bliss clutter up access to the stand.

Size is also a factor, and that depends on the cultivar. "Jam berries" are smaller than the Bobdignagian items that come from Mexico in plastic boxes, and they don't travel well. I wish the growers would indicate the cultivar on their packaging, but only the "tree fruit" growers do that, and only because their customers insist; apples, for example, vary widely in sweetness and cellulose content, so their culinary potential varies just as widely. don't think the berry business is quite there yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 25 Jun 20 - 02:06 PM

In this season, I have cooked less than usual but sometimes make a meal of blueberries, cut up strawberries [use 'em before they go soft], pitted cherries and yoghurt. The yoghurt seems to make everything taste sweeter.
And yes, I agree about the ripeness of fruit, especially melons. I truly miss the sweetness of properly ripened cantaloupe. In that respect melons are getting more like avocados--you buy them hard and watch for that moment of ripeness before they go downhill.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jun 20 - 03:12 PM

My very favourite summer fruit is picota cherries. They're the little ones with no stalks from Extremadura in Spain and you only get them for a few weeks, starting soon. They're as cheap as chips too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 20 - 03:22 PM

A sandwich on whole wheat bread with mayonnaise, fresh cucumber pickles, home grown tomato, and sliced baked chicken. The more places I can find to use those tomatoes and other garden crops, the happier I am!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jun 20 - 07:54 PM

I've recently discovered that cherry tomatoes (it's imperative that they are flavoursome to begin with, otherwise don't bother) are amazingly good if you thread them on soaked flat wooden skewers (I mean, whoever thought that round skewers were any good...) and barbecued for a max of five minutes. No messing around with marinades or added flavours. A bit of rocket on your burger and some of those tomatoes with your sausages or chicken wings gives you the veg you need to stay healthy. Substitute barbecued corn on the cob for spuds and you eating so healthily that the two bottles of wine each/crate of ice-cold lager (non-American) per person will do you no harm at all. Just stay in bed and accidentally skip 24 hours.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Jun 20 - 07:56 PM

YELLOW CHERRIES stay at the peak of sweet ripeness for weeks.
Just like we don't get Spanish produce, I bet you don't these.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jun 20 - 08:37 PM

Try repeating that in plain English.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 26 Jun 20 - 12:51 AM

No tomatoes - no. Just no.

One of my earliest childhood memories is of my mother holding me down with one hand and trying to force-feed me tomatoes with the other. Is it any wonder that, even at my advanced age, I still don't eat tomatoes?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 27 Jun 20 - 02:55 PM

Jennie, you are angry with your mother, so you punish yourself by not eating the many delicious dishes with tomato in them. Does that make sense?
========
Last night we had our Double Goop Dinner. A restaurant called Paradise Cafe used to mix chicken-breast bits with cream cheese and ancho peppers and serve it with chips. I modified it to make Goop of Paradise.

Cook chicken breast any way you like. Chop it fine.
Mix together: cream cheese, lemon or lime juice, tarragon, black pepper. If cheese is too stiff, it's easiest to soften it with milk yogurt or sour cream. Otherwise you have to use elbow grease.

Serve with corn chips (we like no-salt chips.)
======
In addition make guacamole and eat that with chips too.

It's cool to serve these with blue corn chips, but I can't find them without salt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 20 - 04:12 PM

It's time to have a few things handy for assembling what in the US is called a "Chef Salad" - it is an ample bed of lettuce topped with shredded or small sticks of cheese, then some kind of meat, at least one. Chicken, ham, turkey, are all good. Halved hard boiled eggs to edge the plate, alternated with whole or halved tomatoes, depending on their size. I usually use an Italian dressing, usually one of the fresh ones from the grocery store, but I have some bottles in the pantry also. Mmmmmm!

Meanwhile, I'm also preparing to make enough marinara sauce plus some kind of meat (sausage, but I have also been known to add cut up chicken) for a couple of days' meals. And make extra pasta. I keep it in a container in the fridge and reheat by pouring boiling water over it in a bowl. Purists may not like this, but it works when its so hot and humid and you don't want to cook every day.

I'm going to make a batch of hummus soon, starting by soaking the garbanzos, not using canned peas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 27 Jun 20 - 05:34 PM

It makes perfect sense, leeneia, but I don't like the taste of tomatoes at all......which is probably the reason I didn't want to eat them in the first place!

We probably all have foods which we like, and foods which we don't. I don't like tomaties, but apricots now......oh my goodness, I just lurve them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 30 Jun 20 - 04:19 PM

Supper tonight is leftovers — creatively put together to make a new meal.

I lost my "personal shopper" a couple weeks ago (he went back to work), so I'll soon have to make a quick well-planned foray to the grocery store for mostly perishables. And I felt it best to avoid the store this week before the July 4th holiday.

So... I had some ziti pasta left in a mostly empty box, so I cooked it up. The ziti were longish, so when they'd cooled, I cut them in half.

My bunch of celery is almost kaput, so I finely diced two interior stalks (leaving a couple small interior stalks for emergency crunch before my shopping trip). The shallots need to be used, so one of the remaining got chopped up. And cut a bunch of cherry tomatoes in half.

And a couple days ago I pan fried a large marinated venison steak. I've had a couple meals already from it, so I sliced up the rest into little chunks.

Seasoned salt (sparingly) and Penzey's "World's Best Ground Pepper" and mayonnaise to hold it all together. Had a couple bites before I put it in the fridge — it's going to be a tasty supper.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jul 20 - 11:36 AM

Today we're trying something new.

We have company coming for supper, a treat for us, after months of isolation. As family -- Himself's brother and SIL, recently moved to town -- they're in our bubble.

We now have a firepit in our garden, and Himself is forever banging on about outdoor cookery. So today we will do some.

There are four racks of back ribs, but room for only two in the barbecue. So two will be cooked Chinese-style in the Instant Pot, sauced with an exotic sticky concoction from a New York Times recipe, and finished on the grill over the firepit. Himself will be in charge of that, since he has long arms and tolerates heat far better than I do. He likes sitting in a lawn chair with a beer and a pair of tongs.

The other racks will be smoke-cooked in the barbecue with a dry rub. I have done this before, so no drama (I hope).

I will also make cornbread in a skillet (in the house, I'm not crazy). And salad, because nutrition.

It's stonking hot today in Perth County, so outdoor cookery is a Good Thing. Let's hope we don't get that thunderstorm Environment Canada is teasing us with.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Jul 20 - 01:30 PM

Hi, Jennie. What you say makes sense. Also, I love apricots too.

Charmion, your upcoming party sounds delightful.
===========
Last night we had Quarantine BBQ chicken

Order ribs from a barbecue place. Save the little plastic cups of sauce they give you.

Trim excess fat and skin from 3 or 4 chicken thighs. Kitchen shears are good for this.

Warm the chicken to room temperature in the microwave at half-power for about 4 minutes. Helps it brown better and kills the germs (I figure.)

Meanwhile, cut a sweet potato or two into slices about 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick. No need to peel them.

Put a small amt of oil in a non-stick skillet. Put in the chicken, skin side down and brown it. Then turn it over and gently spread the BBQ sauce on the browned side.

Put in the sweet potatoes, mostly around the outside of the pan. Or you can cook the sweet potatoes separately. It depends on your mood.

Cover and simmer till chicken is tender and sweet potatoes are cooked.

You can eat it at this stage, but I like to chill the food overnight and remove the chicken fat which has risen to the top and solidified. Then I reheat to serve.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jul 20 - 03:56 PM

I had a bunch of small onions harvested from the yard a couple of weeks ago that needed using. I sliced them up along with some small poblano and a few jalapeno peppers from the yard and added some sliced frozen organic bell peppers, stirred it all together, then added a couple of shredded chicken breasts with Mexican spices (cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, chili powder). I'll use this to fill some corn tortillas and bake as a pan of chicken enchiladas for several meals this week. Top them with tomato sauce, salsa, and lots of cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Jul 20 - 04:23 PM

Chitten the chat shootin the breeze
ticklin the ribs inventin degrees
piled higher and deeper BS is cheaper
Than Harvard, Wheaton or Yale

Learning to cook by hook or by crook
is like stealing from out of print books
The art of cuisine is almost obscene
in textures tastes and smells

Who puts the shish on your kabob
or relish on your hot dog
Who puts a pinch of salt on your egg
or sauce on your gonzofazoul

Your imaginary Chef can
Who has a secret rhthym
that you can't understand
but your secret cook knows

What the Chef does with a can of
whipped cream very few have known
When its done right turn out the light
Because you'll begin to glow

Who takes chocolate ice cream
and puts it on you to make steam
if they spill chocolate syrup
you know they'll clean it all up

The loving cook knows
all the best ways
to cure your weary woes
with hot buttered rolls cuz

there's no need for faking
When the aim is to please
The dish is in the making
and not a recipe

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Jul 20 - 05:45 PM

Misread as Put a small ant in a non-stick skillet...

Crunchy!

Raw tomatoes, which I disliked till fed them in some street food in Istanbul in [I think] 1975, still have the taste I remember disliking. Kind of metallic. I just like it, now.

Most other foods I used to dislike but don't anymore have no taste I remember disliking, so I don't grok why I used to dislike them. But I can tell, with raw tomatoes.

Hope that makes sense.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 02:16 AM

No ' grok ' doesn't make any sense to me.


Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 09:35 AM

Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein. Grok.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 10:15 AM

Mrrzy, that metallic taste of raw tomato is why many people sprinkle the cut fruit with sugar or salt, and your gradual adaptation to it is an example of what happens to the human olfactory sense with a bit of age.

I am very interested in what people liked or disliked as children, and how those reactions change or don't with time. It seems to me that negative reactions based on texture (slimy, mushy etc.) tend to persist, but pure taste reactions (metallic, acidic, "hot") are likely to change if the person tries the food again in later life.

Himself was a definite refuser of hot peppers of all types when we first took up together back in the old century, but he loves the aromatic flavours in south Asian dishes. Consequently, over the years, he has gradually adapted to a bit of heat, especially if combined with acid (with lime juice in a chutney, for example). Likewise, he loathes cooked spinach, but he will eat it when mixed into dahl. But kidney beans are a complete show-stopper -- he can't stand even the sight of them. It's the mealy texture that triggers his gag reflex, so the typical American chili does not grace our table. I sometimes eat it at Tim Horton's when we're travelling.

My trigger food for many years was oatmeal porridge. My parents used Quick Quaker Oats, a type of parboiled rolled oats that is no longer on the market to the best of my knowledge. It had a distinctive slimy texture that revolts me to this day. I successfully weaned myself of this problem about ten years ago with steel-cut oats and large-flake rolled oats cooked with spices and dried fruit. The slimy texture was not there to trigger memories of my mother's frequent rage, and now oatmeal is part of our routine menu.

Both of us loathe liver when it is served "natur", but we both like sausages and pates that contain ground or minced liver. I think that's a combination reaction, to the texture of organ meat and to the intensity of the flavour. Change the texture and attenuate the flavour, and poof! the dislike is gone.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 11:15 AM

I loathed the processed peas we used to have with school dinners - couldn't eat them without gagging. I haven't tried them since, or the nasty looking green mushy peas served up in English chip shops, so I don't know if my taste has changed, but I very much doubt it.
In a Rochdale chip shop, however, I was once given a little pot of brown peas, which were totally different and delicious. I believe they were Carlin / Maple / Parching peas. Has anyone any more information about them?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 01:16 PM

They were probably what we called black peas (they were more brown than black) . My mum, who owned a chippy in Radcliffe for ten years, served them up for free at the bonfire every November 5. You had to take your own mug and spoon. They were always served vinegary. I used to buy them dried on Bury Market until quite recently. You can quite likely still buy them.

We are having mushy peas with dabs and home-made chips tonight. You can buy kilo bags of frozen marrowfat peas for a quid in Morrisons. You simmer them with some salt and a bit of water for 20 minutes, and voila, mushy peas much better than the chippy ones.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 01:23 PM

Thanks Steve. I don't remember the ones in Rochdale being vinegary. It wasn't bonfire night, it was during the Rochdale Rushcart. If I can find some dried ones I'll experiment.
I won't be trying your mushy peas though, even if they are better than the chip shop ones.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 01:26 PM

I know what your old man means about the texture of red kidney beans, Charmion. I don't use them in anything else besides chili. But you can use any bean in chili. On one occasion when I thought I had tinned kidney beans but didn't, I just put a couple of cans of baked beans in a sieve, washed away the tomato sauce and used them instead. They were fine! I have a feeling that I pretended I'd done it on purpose....

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 04:13 PM

Quick oats are still out there and going strong, but I always buy old fashioned if I'm going that route. I use steel cut oats a lot now, cooking them overnight so they're fully cooked and no crunchy bits.

Lima beans. I didn't like them as a kid and I don't like them now. Liver and kidney. Mom used to fix them when I was a kid but I think met so much resistance from us she finally stopped.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Jul 20 - 06:07 PM

Lima beans are called butter beans this end. They can be a bit dry and grainy, but I was brought up on them and I like them. They're good to mush up into some kind of dip or to spread on bruschetta, mixed with other stuff such as olive oil, rosemary and chilli flakes. If I'm using canned beans I tend to stick with cannellini or borlotti. Or chick peas if I think the recipe can take the substitution. Or all three.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 01:56 AM

Chilli should be made with pinto beans, but I don't expect it makes a lot of difference.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 04:04 AM

I think my choice reflects what I can easily lay my hands on in this remote fastness. I shall be looking out for pinto beans...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 05:23 AM

Pinto beans are the only ones I've ever come accross a shortage of [ a few years ago mind ]

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 10:02 AM

Quick Quaker Oats are still around.

I used to only like peanuts out of what are loosely called nuts. Now I only dislike cashews, but like all other nuts (again, loosely speaking).

I didn't used to like hot spice, now I prefer it.

Still hate cilantro.

Texture is still a thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 10:55 AM

Chili con frijoles is made in Texas with pinto beans. There are lots of other US regional bean dishes that are meant to be bean dishes (it can be argued that the original chili is just a sauce, hence the names recognizing the additional ingredients, con frijoles or con carne. Beans or meat.)

I prefer to cook with kidney beans, they have better flavor and are nutritionally a notch above pintos. The little red beans are used in a lot of Puerto Rican bean dishes, but when I was learning recipes from my late mother in law, I didn't have little red beans available. So I used red kidney beans.

"Ranch style" beans is a pinto bean dish you often find in Texas barbecue places, and they usually have a couple of choices, sweet or savory.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 12:33 PM

I didn't know that about chili, Stilly; thanks. And here I am, sixty-five years old, and I finally learn that "frijoles" is beans.

I guess, then, that "chili", as a culinary term, is somewhat analogous to "curry" in that it indicates a cooking style with a certain range of ingredients and flavourings, rather than a particular dish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 12:52 PM

Pinto beans look like what the Indians call Rose Coco and the Italians call Borlotti, but this wiki makes them seem different…

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 06:08 PM

Bit of a freezer disaster last week. The door of our smaller upright freezer had been slightly ajar for around two days without our noticing. Everything except big blocky things had completely thawed, though still very cold. I had to ditch a few items such as two packs of bacon, some raw prawns and some tuna skewers, not to speak (lamentably) of a huge tub of very nice vanilla ice cream. I've done two trial cookings of things that got thawed then which got a panicky refreezing, and they all passed the test, namely some home-made meatballs (they were delicious), some classy uncooked artisan sausage rolls (I have three more packs, so thank God for that) and some Marks and Spencer ultimate mash, of which I had five packs. I'd bought them at the start of the lockdown, to my shame, as I never rely on ready-made mash. I cooked just the one as a trial, and it was fine. I have a truckload of the finest local butcher's sausages in there in the hope of many a summer barbecue, and I'm assuming they'll be fine. I also have a considerable number of free-range pork chops that are vacuum-packed, and I'm pretty certain they'll also be fine. One or two other items we'll be devouring in the next day or two. Some things you'd eat yourself but wouldn't risk disappointing your guest with!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 07:44 PM

I've had that happen with the freezer door - and after such an event make sure to test the door every time.

I picked another bowl of tomatoes and am now looking at several quarts of tomatoes when I can. I blanch and peel then dice, though these tomatoes are smaller and I may blanch and can them whole in pint jars.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 07:52 PM

Even in our Cornish greenhouses we can't pick tomatoes for at least another three weeks. I always grow a cherry variety called Sungold: they are delicious and they resist soil-borne tomato diseases....

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 09:05 PM

Steve Shaw, your story is why I do not and never will own an upright freezer.

We have a small chest freezer Himself purchased in 1991 when he was posted back to Canada from Germany, having won the Cold War. The technician who replaced its thermostat some ten years ago told us to keep it going as long as possible because they don’t make ‘em like that any more.

In summer, I go out to the garage to exhort it to extra effort and promise it wine and roses if only it survives another year. So far, it’s working.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jul 20 - 09:26 PM

We had a chest freezer at my mom's house growing up, and it was a black hole. So much stuff got buried and forgotten down in the bottom. Upright are so much easier to organize (though I still manage to lose track of stuff; with my old freezer it was defrosted twice a year and reorganized. I'll have to work out a routine like that for the new one.)

Chest freezers are always the go-to freezer for murderers trying to confuse investigators about the time of death. That's the other reason why I don't want to have one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 05 Jul 20 - 03:34 AM

There is never ever enough room in my chest freezer to hide a body.
However, it is still going, having been given to me by someone moving to a smaller house back sometime in the last century.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 05 Jul 20 - 04:12 AM

We had to lose our chest freezer in following The Second Great Flood of 2017 (plumbing problems) - because we were away on the weekend it happened we had a partial blackout, due to electrical cords and a power board sitting in water. The fridge wasn't affected but the chest freezer was, meat had started to drip out the bottom (talk about a body in the freezer) so it was taken away unopened and disposed of.

We didn't lose much food, and it was covered by insurance anyway. I did, however, lose some alpaca knitting yarn that was stored in a plastic bag to kill a couple of flying bugs and that, in the fuss of having to throw out much of our furniture, I just forgot about. It was discontinued years ago so could not be replaced. Sigh.

Now we have an upright freezer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Jul 20 - 09:14 AM

Jos... It's a chest freezer, not a whole-body freezer, eh?

Ice cream can be refrozen?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Jul 20 - 08:23 PM

Ice cream can be refrozen if you churn it — y’know, do what was done to make it the first time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 20 - 11:48 PM

It looks like someone could start an interesting thread just to do with the fate of freezers, chest or upright. :) Too bad about the yarn. You might have wanted to slam the lid closed if you'd gone in looking for it, though, so you saved yourself from one of those awful views that can't be unseen. Or smelled.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 06 Jul 20 - 01:56 AM

Honestly, SRS......when I realised that my yarn had gone it seemed such a small thing considering the amount of flood damage to the house, furnings and other Stuff, but in the end it was those small things that tipped me over the edge.

Back to recipes!

Pumpkin scones are an Aussie favourite, and a recipe idea currently sweeping the internet in Oz is two-ingredient pumpkin scones. One needs a tin of condensed pumpkin soup, and self-raising flour. You empty the soup into a bowl and add enough flour to make it stiff, roll out on a floured board, and cut into squares or rounds. Bake. Spread with butter. Enjoy. While shopping earlier I bought the tin of soup (always make my own soup, very seldom use tinned) so, when the mood strikes later in the week, I plan to have a go.

Two ingredient pumpkin scones

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 06 Jul 20 - 02:15 AM

Maybe the pumpkin scones could be made with a tin of other pureed fruit, such as apple. Or how about other kinds of soup - mushroom scones, anyone? Tomato scones?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jul 20 - 09:59 AM

Pumpkin soup? Condensed, in tins? Yikes. You Ozzies will eat anything.

Of course, Squash soup is a completely different class of article. Totally.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jul 20 - 10:04 AM

In Ontario, we are approaching peak tomato/zucchini season. In a week or two, green-thumbed neighbours will start sneaking about with baskets to deposit on doorsteps in the dark of night.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jul 20 - 10:35 AM

That's the classic behavior in the Pacific NW as well. And zucchini can grow so very large very fast if you're not watching them.

This morning's breakfast will be a whole ripe mango that needs to be eaten. If I feel need for any more I'll reheat a little of the oatmeal I made on Sunday. Yes, it's a lump in the container, but scoop a few spoons-ful into the bowl, shape it a bit, nuke it, add brown sugar and milk and you are scouring your arteries and meeting about half of your calcium needs for the day.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jul 20 - 11:09 AM

Did I describe my "house" iced tea mix? I never drank iced tea until I moved to Texas, and now I can't imagine life without it. To cut back on the caffeine, I use green tea. In a 2-litre glass jar I suspend 3 green tea bags and use a generous sprig (several inches long with several leafy stems) of lemon balm that grows unrestrained outside my back door (it escaped from a pot). After brewing I sweeten it with three level tiny scoops of Stevia. Once it's cold I put ice and a little water into a glass and fill it with the tea. The point of iced tea is not to be the same strength as a cup of hot tea, hence the extra water. If you use the hot tea to try to make a cup of iced tea the cubes melt too fast and it's too dilute. There is a sweet spot, when the tea is only a little warm, when you can start making a glass that will come out perfect. I make enough to drink for a couple of days, hence the added water once the tea is chilled.

I can drink this into the early evening and still get to sleep at night (I have to stop drinking black tea by early afternoon).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Jul 20 - 06:44 PM

Are spicy hot foods really good for you in hot weather?
I like slushys made in my Red Sox mini fridge from flavored water.
Its probably bad for me in hot weather.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Jul 20 - 07:18 PM

I will eat or drink anything at any time of the day or night. What I eat or drink is no predictor of the kind of sleep I'll have. In this regard I do consider myself to be truly blessed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Jul 20 - 08:00 PM

Oh, Steve, you are indeed blessed.

I just split a bottle of Pinot noir and a rib steak with Himself. If I were so misguided as to follow that up with cheese and port, my nocturnal misery would be unconfined.

It’s a sad fact that, when my olfactory senses finally developed to the point where I could truly appreciate such things, my digestion got other ideas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 07 Jul 20 - 01:38 AM

Charmion - 'pumpkin' in Ozziespeak is pretty much any vegetable (or are they actually fruit?) in the squash family with an orange flesh. Butternuts, to us, are pumpkin. So are Queensland Blue pumkins, green and yellow striped Japanese (Jap) pumpkins, you name it.

I made some yummy roasted pumpkin soup last week using a Queensland Blue, but tinned will do to try the scone recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Jul 20 - 08:58 AM

I think I knew that, JennieG. I was being sarcastic.

North Americans are weird about the fruit of genus Cucurbita. Acre upon acre of pumpkins (the big, round orange kind) are grown here, but I'll bet money that a substantial proportion of them end up in landfill and compost bins after a couple of weeks on doorsteps as Hallowe'en decorations. Pies and sweet breads are about the only ways most of us eat the flesh, if we bother at all, and most people use canned pumpkin because, you know, convenience. We're a bit more flexible with squash, but not much, and the long-keeping winter squashes are often served sweetened.

Most of the recipes I know for squash or pumpkin that are not sweet are from Asian and African cuisines. I have never seen canned pumpkin or squash soup in a grocery store.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Jul 20 - 12:23 PM

Spicy food cools by making you sweat [haha typoed Swear] a lot.

I made iced tea finally by making 4 cups of double-strength tea in a bowl, waiting for it to cool, then putting it into an 8-cup pitcher and adding 4 cups of cold water. Sweetened in individual cups by a tsp of maple or simple syrup. Had I wanted to sweeten the whole pitcher, I'd have double-sweetened the hot before diluting.

I need ideas for baked burgers, no buns, roast veg to go with so it can all be done in one oven... Got anything for me?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jul 20 - 02:26 PM

You're not asking for a suggestion to combine them (like shepherd's pie). You want to make hamburger patties and roast vegetables? It's an easy matter to find recipes for roast root vegetables, etc. I suppose you could use a lidded container and steam/bake the meat (and add smoke flavor, etc.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Jul 20 - 03:50 PM

Thanks... Looking mostly for baked burger ideas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 07 Jul 20 - 08:35 PM

I'm with you on convenience, Charmion. It isn't difficult to prepare from scratch, but sometimes having some of the work done for you is good.

Apart from pumpkin scones Ozzies haven't really gotten into the sweet pumpkin thing - although I do remember my Nanna Davis making gramma pie. As a child, I could never quite decide if I liked it or not.

Our autumn trips to Ontario have coincided with Tim Horton's pumpkin spice muffin season. One bite of those goodies and we were goners, now I make my own; canned pumpkin is unknown here, so I bake cut-up pumpkin (leaving the skin on, no seasoning) in the oven until cooked, peel, and puree the flesh. It keeps in the freezer in one cup bags, many recipes seem to use one cup.

Haven't made any for a while, I can hear them calling......

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 08 Jul 20 - 02:17 AM

Until I looked at the link I just assumed that Gramma Pie was a recipe commonly made by Grandmas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 08 Jul 20 - 03:00 AM

That's what I thought when I was a kid too, Jos!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Jul 20 - 08:48 AM

Uck on pumpkin anything. Or pumpkin-spice anything.

I may just make a stir fry with my ground meat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Jul 20 - 12:57 PM

That gramma pumpkin your Nana made into pie, JennieG, is called a crookneck squash in these parts. It's a winter squash like the Hubbard and butternut varieties, but less often seen in supermarkets. People who grow their own like them.

I have mixed feelings about so-called pumpkin spice, which is ubiquitous in September and October, thanks to Tim Horton's and every other pastry purveyor in these parts. A good pumpkin pie has ginger, clove and nutmeg in it as well as cinnamon, but I can't detect anything but cinnamon in the Tim's version. And it doesn't belong in coffee, except as a light dusting on the foam of a cappucino.

This morning, Himself whipped up a batch of bannock at zero dark thirty, so I emerged from the pit to the smell of frybread wafting through the house. Worse things happen at sea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jul 20 - 06:45 AM

I adapted a recipe by Gino D'Acampo a couple of nights ago and it was a triumph. For two people you need:

250g dried linguine (or spaghetti or tagliatelle)
A sprinkling of dried chilli flakes, to taste (it needs to be quite spicy)
About 125g diced pancetta or unsmoked bacon
A big garlic clove
About 30g FRESH basil (or forget it)
A big double handful of the best cherry tomatoes, cut in half
100ml of the finest extra virgin olive oil, plus an extra glug to fry the bacon
Salt
Parmesan or pecorino, freshly grated.

Start the pasta pan going with loads of boiling salted water. It should taste like the Mediterranean.

Turn on your oven very low (100C) both to warm your bowls and to soften the tomatoes on a small tray (they need to keep their shape, not fall to bits).

Use a hand blender or whatever you use to whizz the 100ml olive oil and garlic for a minute. Add the basil, stalks and all, and whizz again for another minute. It needs to be quite smooth.

Meanwhile, fry the bacon with the chilli flakes and a glug of olive oil in a small frying pan until rendered and not quite crispy - it took me about eight minutes, so next time I'll do this while the pasta is cooking.

When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain it but keep a bit of pasta water just in case. Tip the pasta back into its pan and just add everything else to it, stirring carefully off the heat to thoroughly coat the pasta. Decide whether it needs a splash of pasta water to loosen the sauce (mine didn't but it was a marginal decision).

Transfer the grub into warm bowls and sprinkle the cheese on top. There you go. It's simple and quick and it's a star performer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Jul 20 - 08:05 AM

Stir fry with ground bison, zucch and asparagus. Not bad at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jul 20 - 09:55 AM

Imma gonna try that, Steve. Himself likes a pasta dish on the side or as a first course, and this one would be perfect.

The sauce looks like a pesto with sun-dried tomatoes that's sold here in jars, but much better because it's made with fresh everything.

The whizzing of garlic, olive oil and basil would go well in a food processor, if one is to hand. I have found that the food processor is heavy and awkward and takes up a lot of space both in storage and on the work surface, but it really rocks in a messy, labour-intensive job like pesto.

We are now heading into the shank of tomato season in Ontario, when we eat tomatoes with every meal including breakfast and the midnight snack. I'm always looking for new ways to use tomatoes, especially the small ones that are perfectly fine until abruptly they're not, and the whole punnet goes over when I turn my back on it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 09 Jul 20 - 01:07 PM

Because I have time on my hands I've gone back to making bread. Todays offering is a white loaf, glazed with egg. It's just come out of the oven and looks great. Just let it cool and little and then lather a slice with fresh Irish Butter. Uuummmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 09 Jul 20 - 01:38 PM

Back to pumpkin pie spice. I've decided that when you put the Big 3 spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger), all you wind up with is a rather sharp, scratchy taste which I dislike. So now I just pick one of the three and use it.

When I was a kid, spice cake was a popular dessert, and I never liked it. Now I know that that was because of that scratchy effect I mentioned. A couple years ago I made spice cake using only ginger, and I liked it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jul 20 - 06:31 PM

Don't be tempted to over-elaborate. Just really good olive oil, garlic and FRESH basil. It's a sort of stripped-down pesto, no pine nuts, no cheese. Keep it that way. I love the simplicity of Italian cooking. All it takes is the finest ingredients you can lay your hands on. I got that from St Marcella and I'm sticking to it! And no dried basil, not ever. Ruinous stuff.

On pesto, I don't know what it's like your end, but I won't buy ready-made pesto. It's unfailingly horrible. Pesto needs your finest olive oil, freshly-peeled garlic and basil that you've just gathered yourself, as well as freshly-grated Parmesan from that big chunk in your fridge and pine nuts that are so good you can hardly resist just tipping the pack into your mouth. No sunflower oil, no dried this or reconstituted that.

I make a special pesto for bruschetta topping that also includes sun-dried tomatoes, but I may have mentioned it before...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jul 20 - 08:42 PM

I have never understood the US obsession with pumpkin. It's bland and mushy and utterly uninteresting. I can make a very good soup out of butternut squash, and can roast chunks of it in the oven to go with my roast. As soon as I read that your pumpkin spice is full of cinnamon, well that's me out.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Jul 20 - 09:07 PM

The thing about pumpkin, Steve, is pie, and that’s associated with the American Thanksgiving holiday, which is massively more emotive and/or evocative than English harvest festivals or the Canadian version of Thanksgiving. Almost as powerful as Christmas. I am quite satisfied to eat pumpkin pie about once per year, myself. Himself, on the other hand, would eat it every week if I would make it that often.

Now squash is another matter. (Yes, I know it’s botanically almost indistinguishable from pumpkin.) I cannot get squash past Himself’s teeth unless it’s in a certain Moroccan stew I make occasionally and serve with couscous. I like it baked, stewed, steamed, roasted before a quick fire — you name it, but I have to eat it alone. I haven’t tried mixing it with custard and serving it in a pastry case, however. Not that desperate yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 09 Jul 20 - 10:07 PM

I don't mind the pumpkin spice taste. Although there are squillions (well, nearly) of recipes to make your own, I thought I would try a ready-made one so brought a little box back from Canada with me. Brand is Club House, ingredients are listed as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and it smells good.

I usually drink my coffee black with three drops of milk, but have tried pumpkin spice latte. Not bad, but I couldn't drink it every day all year round.

The link to the information on gramma, aka crookneck squash, was interesting. Nanna's sisters lived in the Hunter Valley a couple of hours north of Sydney, which is where gramma pie seems to have been very popular - and it may have been unknown in other parts of Oz. When Nanna left her first husband she went to the town where her sisters lived, so perhaps picked up the idea from there. She earned her living as a cook and her pies were good.

Except that I was never quite sure if I liked gramma pie.......

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 20 - 12:50 AM

I love pumpkin pie, and in my book, Thanksgiving is a better holiday than xmas. I loved the gathering of family and friends as I was growing up, and it still is the holiday I am most interested in celebrating as fully as possible. Not to do with pilgrims, everything to do with my loved-ones getting together. Even if it isn't exactly on the date of the official US holiday.

That said, my ex is from Puerto Rico, and squash/pumpkin gets used in savory dishes, like as an addition to bean dishes. No spice seasonings, it vanishes into the dish, simply providing nutrition and thickening.

This evening I had a 6oz piece of Haddock that I've had in the freezer. I bought a couple of packages of frozen fish planks at my favorite discount/gourmet grocery, and gave one to a friend. I heard from him that they're really good, so I dug it out and thawed some. And the simple butter in the skillet, flour, salt and pepper on the fish was just perfect. Lemon squeezed over it, with an extra grind of pepper, and it's a rich white fish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 10 Jul 20 - 12:55 AM

You bring back the memories, Stilly. My mother used to cook fish that way, and I always liked it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 10 Jul 20 - 02:28 AM

' Fish planks ' that's a new concept for us here in the UK

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 10 Jul 20 - 10:34 AM

We fry fish coated in a crispy panko egg coating. It tastes fancier than it is. Flounder is quick and other fish take longer at lower heat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Jul 20 - 11:33 AM

Thansgiving > $mas

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Jul 20 - 02:22 PM

See what I mean, Steve?

I don't get it, myself, but I'm not American either. In fact, the festive desserts of my far distant youth were trifle, mince pies, and Christmas pudding with "hard sauce" (aka brandy butter), and if that ain't a cultural throwback to the Empire I don't quite know what is!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Jul 20 - 04:07 PM

"Fish planks" is simply referring to the frozen fillets that have a board-like consistency.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Jul 20 - 04:13 PM

As soon as I read 'fish planks' I knew exactly what it meant, even though I had never come across it before - it's such a good description.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Jul 20 - 09:22 PM

Flash-frozen fish fillets = fish planks. Typically sold in heavy plastic bags in quantities up to a kilo, depending on where you shop. Pollock, basa, tilapia, perch, sometimes haddock, rarely cod nowadays.

The fish plank was preceded by the fish brick, a pound or so of fish fillets packed into a rectangular waxed-cardboard box and frozen. My mother, who could ruin rations for NATO, would set the oven at 350F, put a frozen fish brick in a baking tin lined with tin-foil, smear the top of the brick with corn-oil margarine, and bung it in the oven “until done”.

No wonder I started cooking at the age of 12 — in self-defence!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Jul 20 - 09:15 AM

I love my frozen swordfish fillets... In a toaster-oven with butter and spiced, in half an hour you have meltingly delish swordfish and a tasty sauce. Yum yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Jul 20 - 09:32 AM

On the rare occasions when I have seen swordfish for sale in Canada, it was fresh (or at least not frozen), cut into steaks, and paralytically expensive. About the only wild-caught fish we can afford nowadays is local pickerel and smelt, in season, or haddock trucked from the coast. The last time I bought cod, it came from Iceland and cost the earth.

Sigh.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Jul 20 - 09:48 AM

Love swordfish but in the last 20 years they have gone from huge adult steaks to tiny baby steaks and I don't have the heart to buy it anymore.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Jul 20 - 02:34 PM

Ran across an article on the diff between stock (made with bones) and broth (made with meat), so there is no such thing as "bone broth" - true?

Discounting veg stock/broth for this question.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Jul 20 - 04:13 PM

I’ve been cooking a long, long time, and I first heard the phrase “bone broth” about 2015. As far as I can tell, it’s what I’ve always called stock, or meat stock, if I’m talking to vegetarians.

Now, stock and broth are different things. Stock is what you get when you put bones and vegetables in water, boil them for an extended period, and strain out the solids. It becomes broth when you add it to fresh ingredients and cook ‘em up into soup. Concentrate and clarify it, and you get bouillon. Concentrate it to a gluey consistency and the result is demi-glace.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 13 Jul 20 - 04:47 PM

Just what I was thinking - stock is an ingredient.
If I wanted a light supper and was offered a bowl of broth and some crusty bread - well that's what I have just eaten. If I was offered a bowl of stock I might be less enthusiastic, even with crusty bread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Jul 20 - 07:21 PM

If I have a chicken carcass I boil it up for a couple of hours with whatever scrappy bits of onion, celery and carrot I have to hand. A bay leaf will go in there, along with some fresh thyme and some black pepper. Not salt. Parsley if I have it. Strain that lot and you have lovely stock. It should go without saying that the chicken should be free-range. If I have the giblets they can go in, but not the liver.

I won't use that awful Marigold vegetable bouillon. Used in the recommended amounts, it's way too salty. For veg stock I boil up some scrappy old outer celery stalks, some carrots with their peelings, an onion or two, a bay leaf and whatever herbs I have. Super!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jul 20 - 08:37 PM

If you have bones you want to make broth with then it is much improved if you bake them before you put them in a pot with liquid. Especially beef bones.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Jul 20 - 08:53 PM

Agreed, though oddly I don't have much call for beef stock in my cooking. I don't think that you really need to roast bones for a chicken stock. I don't suppose you can beat a damn good beef stock for French onion soup...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Jul 20 - 10:16 AM

Professional cooks make "white" and "brown" meat stocks, the difference being whether the bones have been roasted before going into the pot.

White stock is for all those dishes in which the meat flavour is subordinate to vegetables, such as most veggie soups (leek & potato, carrot & ginger), or the meat is mildly flavoured -- pork, most poultry, rabbit -- and the primary flavouring is mildly acidic (especially white wine, lemon, lime and apple) or aromatic (e.g., tarragon, oregano, marjoram or thyme). Brown stock is for dishes with caramelized ingredients, especially onions and seared red meats, and bitter flavourings, including the tannins in red wine. Of course, lots of exceptions apply, especially for non-European cuisines.

French onion soup is traditionally made with the beef shin that on other days would go into the pot au feu, and the onions must be carefully browned (caramelized) before the stock goes into the kettle. It's a "poor folks" dish that reached its present form in 19th-century Paris, where people crowded into industrial neighbourhoods would eat in cheap brasseries because their inadequate homes did not provide much in the way of cooking facilities. I think its popularity in North America is almost entirely due to Julia Child and Simone Beck; I imagine that Elizabeth David and her cohort probably did the same in Britain.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Jul 20 - 10:27 AM

It's really hot here now but I finally got some good cheese so I'm thinking a batch of macaroni and cheese, with crumbled Italian sausage in it, would be a quick dish. It reheats fairly well (add a little milk, microwave at a medium high and stir several times).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Jul 20 - 01:13 PM

Mac & cheese with Italian sausage in it. I like that idea, Stilly.

We still don't have a stove (renovation) so I can't roast or bake. But recently I bought a flat piece of rump roast and loaded it with lemon pepper. Put it in the slow cooker and strewed sauteed garlic thereupon. Cooked it on low about 7 hours. Probably could have been six.

Took it out. Refrigerator overnight. Sliced thinly across the grain, removed fat, made sandwiches. Excellent. Tomorrow we will use the rest with noodles and the liquor from the cooking.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Jul 20 - 05:11 PM

I would like to thank whoever taught me that picking over crabmeat for shells is best done in a *metal* bowl, so you can *hear* the shell pieces your eyes and fingers missed.
So had crab set aside in lime juice, chopped a shallot, crushed some garlic, cut up a half-zucchini and a defrosted cod fillet into pieces that ranged from small dice to large chunks. Melted a rather lot of butter, turned on kettle, cooked shallots in the butter with some smoked paprika and a smidge of cayenne, after a bit added garlic, after a bit added zucch, tossed till small zucch pieces almost done, then added rather a lot of white wine, cooked down till big zucch chunks almost cooked, added fish, tossed till big fish pieces almost done, then added some boiling water and chicken [better than] bouillon, and when it came back to the boil added the crab and lime juice, stirred, turned off, did something else for about 5 mn, then ate. Yum, yum, yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Jul 20 - 12:35 PM

Tomates provençales:

Slice tomato[es] in half, set skin-side down/cut side up on baking dish. Salt, pepper, some parsley, some basil, more garlic, glug of olive oil on cut sides. Bake in hot-ish oven, 15-20 mn. Then don't try to eat them, they are little pools of lava. Wait. Have patience. THEN eat.

Most recipes have bread crumbs but mom's never did.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Jul 20 - 09:56 AM

Himself affects to dislike grilled tomatoes, Mrrzy, but I bet he'll like your Mum's recipe.

We had ferocious thunderstorms with tornado warnings yesterday, so no barbecue. Instead, I roasted the Sunday dinner chicken Marcella Hazan's way, with a lemon inside.

Heat the oven to 375F.

Take a chicken of medium size -- 1.5 to 2 kg (three to four pounds), pat it dry, and pull out the pad of fat from the vent. Take one large or two small lemons and stab them through and through with a skewer, making at least 20 holes in each. Put the lemon(s) in the cavity of the chicken and close the vent with a skewer. Truss the chicken just tightly enough to keep the legs and wings from sprawling, and set the chicken breast down on a rack in a smallish roasting pot. Salt and pepper all the surfaces you can reach, and put the blob of fat on the chicken's back.

Roast for half an hour, then turn the chicken over. Salt and pepper again, and baste if you feel like it. Roast for another hour or so, cranking up the heat to 400F for the last 20 minutes to brown the breast. Total roasting time should be 25 to 30 minutes per pound, or a hair over an hour per kilo. Carve and serve immediately.

If you're a bit of an overachiever, you could ream the lemon and use the juice in soup, especially avgolemono.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Jul 20 - 10:39 AM

I am a big fan of poking holes in things and sticking them into poultry cavities. Cherry tomatoes in game hens, lemons in chickens, larger tomatoes in ducks...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Jul 20 - 11:58 AM

Cooking is piecemeal right now; a fillet of haddock for dinner last night, an omelette for lunch, the morning oatmeal in a crockpot. There haven't been any large cooking operations beyond the steam-producing canning of a case and 1/3 of homegrown tomatoes (16 pints). The irony of canning is that it happens when the house is already too hot.

I made hummus last week that has been a nice late afternoon snack before a light dinner.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Jul 20 - 03:44 PM

I don't agree with carve and serve immediately. A rest of up to half an hour is extremely beneficial in m'humble.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Jul 20 - 09:14 PM

Steve, I normally agree with you on resting a roast chicken, but this Marcella recipe is an exception. If the stars are in alignment, the skin puffs up most marvellously, and it’s nice to get it to the table like that — it deflates within a few minutes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Jul 20 - 04:46 AM

As an avid consumer of chicken skin in whatever state it's in (as I've cooked the bird, I steal skin in any case during that resting phase in a most surreptitious way...), I'll stick with giving it a rest...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jul 20 - 08:56 AM

I love chicken skin, too. Those diet nazis who threaten coronary collapse if we eat a gram of avoidable fat have a great deal to answer for.

But why steal it? I eat chicken skin right in front of God and everybody, even going so far as to take it from Himself's plate, and so far have not suffered for the practice. (Himself is known to wield his cutlery defensively when he detects untoward interest in the grub in front of him.) Is Mrs Steve so fierce a competitor?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Jul 20 - 09:53 AM

The chicken skin on a roast chicken doesn't usually make it to the table [say I, licking blistered fingers]. Cook's perks.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jul 20 - 07:08 PM

The afternoon was spent mowing and trimming the back yard and it's in the low 90s (this is a "cool spell") so a big dish of salty potato chips and a bottle of Topo Chico sparkling mineral water hit the spot for a late afternoon snack.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Jul 20 - 07:45 PM

We have family here. They all believe in spag bol except for me. I make tons of ragù which I freeze, ready to go. My ragù is half pork, half beef. They've never heard of ragù with pork in it. Yes, that red thing is a piece of carrot. My ragù starts with a soffritto of onion, celery, carrot and pancetta. Theirs are just onion, minced garlic (ugh) and beef. My ragù shouldn't have garlic in it but Mrs Steve insists, so I bash a few cloves with my fist and throw them in. My ragù doesn't have herbs, but theirs has dried basil. I'd rather hack off the family jewels with a rusty machete than add dried basil, so I offer torn fresh basil leaves at the end. They think I'm mad. Bolognese sauce served with spaghetti does not exist in Italy, so I offer the finest pappardelle instead. Nope, it has to be spaghetti. Anyway, it was a triumph. A plethora of empty dishes!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jul 20 - 10:02 PM

Feeding the family is often a mixed blessing. Among my many reasons to enjoy the company of The Brothers and their excellent wives is that they happily eat what I set before them with evident pleasure and no argument. But the relative who still wants to smoke at the table, or eats only this and never that and has a new food phobia at every visit ... That’s when one must flex that hospitality muscle and tough it out.

I get the impression that spag bol is not actually Italian at all, but Brit, like chicken tikka masala. Is that in fact true?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 12:25 AM

I think it might be Murrican. But bol in Italy would never be matched with spag. Wrong shaped pasta for the sauce's consistency.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 04:27 AM

The tourist areas of Italy have spag bol on their English-translated menus, but Italians don't eat that. Ragù of that sort needs a ribbon pasta or lasagne. Another Brit outrage is to dump the spaghetti on a plate then just pile the sauce on top. Yikes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 04:40 AM

In any family gathering it's axiomatic that someone "won't like" something you had in mind to serve up. With us, one person won't eat prawns. Another can't stand peas. Another, broad beans. Someone else, tuna. Yet another, cauliflower. "Er, does this have anchovies in it?" Olives...blue cheese...raw tomatoes...parsnips...chorizo...And don't get me started on Brussels sprouts...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 06:18 AM

I love Brussel sprouts, par boiled then sauteed in garlic and chilli.


Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 06:51 AM

I like 'em done any which way, as long as they're those nice tight ones and not overcooked. Never from frozen. It don't work.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 07:28 AM

I agree about frozen sprouts Steve, they always defrosted very soggy.

Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 07:37 AM

I love sprouts, but it would never ever occur to me to look for frozen ones, or to use them if I did come across them by accident.
And I much prefer fresh peas rather than the frozen ones everyone else seems to take for granted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 07:46 AM

Get some sprouts, cut in half lengthwise discarding any wrinkled outer leaves. Slice thinly across the width - I don't use the last bit, the thick stalk, just the finely sliced leaves. Slice a couple of bacon rashers, more or less, into very thin strips.

Heat a small saute pan, and throw in (not literally, of course - more like gently place in pan) your bacon and sprouts. Cook, stirring, until bacon is done and sprouts are tender. Season to your taste. Yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Jul 20 - 04:14 PM

I like the leaves all taken apart and roasted, toss in oil and whatever you like first. Don't crowd the pan.

But meanwhile -and this us why I like cooking shows- y'all ever heard of, or use, a dry roux? Toast plain flour in hot oven till dark, use for thickening but later in recipe than a usual roux?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 09:31 AM

Mrrzy, I think I remember an American -- perhaps Cajun? -- recipe calling for dry (or dark) roux, but I have never used it myself. Toasted flour would not clump the way the raw article does when added to hot liquid, but its flavour would be comparatively strong.

However ... I would not like the job of toasting dry flour even in a very low oven. It would take very close watching, and some of it would scorch anyhow. On the whole, the whole idea strikes me as something to do only if flour is the only potential thickener you have and even bacon fat is pretty scarce.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 10:54 AM

Yeah, I think the concept is you don't need [the lovely] fat *and* shorter cooking time as the flour is already cooked.
I saw it in that New Orleans chef show, so yeah, we might have seen the same source.
He did it in a 375°F oven with flour laid out less than an inch high and not within an inch of the sides of the sheet pan, stirring occasionally. Once it's toasted, the flour keeps, so I might toast some just to see ce que ça donne. I'll report back, if I do. I don't usually thicken with flour but it looked yummy, somehow, done this way.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 11:23 AM

I don't watch cooking shows -- no cable -- but I once owned a cookbook by Paul Prud'homme. He was one of the chefs swept by the no-fat, no-salt, no-sugar fads, so that'll be where I saw it.

I gave that cookbook away when I saw the huge efforts (and vast lists of ingredients) he prescribed in his quest for ways to imitate traditional dishes without cooking them the traditional way. I concluded that I would rather make them the traditional way and just eat less.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 04:30 PM

I don't have cable either, this one showed up on PBS over the air.

Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly with just making the recipe and not trying to find a long way round.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 06:48 PM

Read this article on using kitchen gadgets in new ways, and lemme tell you, trying to get corn off the cob using a Bundt pan did not even work a little bit. And I am still cleaning the Bundt pan. The kernels squished and clung to the cob, I ended up with some corn juice and just went back to the knife.
But some ideas were cool!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jul 20 - 09:21 PM

A peach cobbler just came out of the oven, made with a combination of peaches from the freezer and a large can from the pantry. I wish I had ice cream. Stores close early now, but maybe tomorrow I can go through the dairy store drive through and get a pint of hand-packed vanilla. Even with the cornstarch in the recipe it's still like peach soup. Mmmmm!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Jul 20 - 01:21 PM

Sounds marvy!

I made a kind of ratatouille for one... Half a zucch, half an onion, whole smallish tomato, all sliced thin. Melted some snail butter into small round glass dish, rubbed around pan. Put slices in, vertically, all the zucch first then tomato between most, then onion between most. Crushed several small garlic cloves, stuck randomly down inside. Sliced some more snail butter on top, put in 350° toaster oven for 30-35 min, then put a fresh tuna steak next to it, with butter and a dash of smoked paprika. Took whole lot out after another 10-15 mn.
The ratatouille needed a little salt but boy, what a yummy lunch. I have about half the ratatouille left.

Snail butter: parsley shallot garlic some coarse salt, either food-processed or chopped/minced to within an inch of their lives, mix with softened butter, roll in parchment paper into log shape, freeze in ziploc bag. Take a slice off slightly-softened log whenever you want. I go through a batch a month, roughly, made with a double-sized [to Americans] brick of European salted butter. That is why I did not salt my ratatouille, but next time I will.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 25 Jul 20 - 02:08 PM

Courtesy of Facebook, I got the recipe for the mustard-based barbecue sauce used by the defunct restaurant that was my favorite during my younger days. I've been eating a lot of stuff with barbecue sauce on it. Not just meats, but darned near everything. Except donuts.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Jul 20 - 08:07 AM

Mustard-based bbq sauce? Tell us more...?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jul 20 - 11:00 AM

Uh oh - asking about American barbecue sauce is opening a HUGE kettle of worms - it deserves its own thread. It falls into a couple of categories: what meat are you discussing and how was it cooked, and what sauce are you serving with it (or marinating in).

Charles Kuralt, the late CBS news moderator/travel reporter had an essay about North Carolina BBQ that compared it to other types around the US, and while it may not be lost forever, I can't find it at the moment. It is a short but seminal study of the state of smoked/grilled meat in the United States.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 26 Jul 20 - 11:38 PM

For lunch today we had some of the cauliflower and chorizo soup made yesterday in the slow cooker......and it is jolly good. I used to add bacon to cauli soup but will use chorizo in future; it improves the colour (it's not grey now!) and does wonders for the flavour.

I used the leftover cauli in the fridge, plus half a reasonable sized cauli, chopped (so about 3/4 of a whole cauli). Roughly chopped one onion, roughly sliced two chorizo sausages (each about 4-5 inches), fried them together for about five minutes first then added to the cauli. The rest of the home-made chicken stock - over half a litre - plus a litre of commercial stock plus a couple of teaspoons of chicken stock powder. It needed a bit more water, a couple of cups max. Simmer until cauli is soft, allow to cool for safety, then smoosh it with a stick blender. There's enough for a few lunches.

As today's weather is bloody cold, very windy and rainy, soup was a good choice for lunch.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 05:44 AM

I've been meaning to try roast cauliflower, which friends tell me is ace; however, they vaguely say "Just add your own spices and stuff and a spritz of oil". I'm a little cowardly about what spices and stuff might be good - advice, please… Steve Shaw? Everyone?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 05:49 AM

Incidentally, going back to Leenia's comment about never being willing to eat a raw egg, are American eggs more dangerous than European?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 09:13 AM

Dunno, Thompson, but we North Americans are very firmly conditioned to keep eggs in the fridge for fear they will go bad while our backs are turned. I've been told that the washing commercially produced eggs are subjected to removes an important protective coating from the shells, but I really don't know whether or not that is hooey.

It is worth noting that, before the electric refrigerator, milk for domestic consumption came only in pint and quart bottles, and eggs were sold in twos, fours and sixes -- i.e., enough for one household for one day. As well as the convenience of weekly (rather than daily) grocery shopping, post-war advertisements for refrigerators stressed the "safety" and "modernity" of the all-electric kitchen, free also of the dreaded gas-fired cooker with a pilot light.

In the country village where my family lived during the 1950s, electricity was more than a little iffy. My mother used to complain about how the farmers would bring down the grid by all turning on their milking machines (also a brand-new thing) at the same time -- right when she was cooking supper. Refrigerators were small and inefficient, and freezers were so rare that Mr Daly the grocer rented lockers in his walk-in freezer. This practice was so important to the villagers that people who were heading out for groceries said they were "going to the Locker".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 09:20 AM

Mrrzy, a mustard-based barbecue sauce is simply a mix of prepared mustard, vinegar, and water to which various spices are added. The recipe I use is heavy on chili powder. Adding sweeteners, ketchup, or tomato sauce is a controversial practice that may offend purists.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 12:01 PM

BWL, that mustard-based sauce you describe sounds like what I've been told is "mop sauce", to be applied to ribs and other barbecued cuts that have been dressed with a dry rub.

I learned about barbecue from an elderly lady who grew up in North Carolina.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 12:50 PM

Roast cauliflower, eh? Try this Yotam one. For two people you need a big cauli or two smaller ones. Break them into florets, not too big, not too small and put into your biggest mixing bowl. Add the following to the bowl: three good glugs of extra virgin olive oil, a handful of pumpkin seeds, a nice chorizo ring, about 150g, cut into little rounds (skin it), a big teaspoon or more of paprika, about 30g of good-quality green olives roughly chopped up, two chopped-up red onions (leave them chunky) and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Get in there with your hands and mix everything together. Get a baking tray about 30x40cm and line it with greaseproof paper. Dump the mixture on it and spread it out. Bake that in a hot oven, about 200C/425F for about 25-30 minutes, until the florets are nicely browned and softened, giving it a good stir about half way through. Serve it up in warm bowls with chopped fresh parsley sprinkled on top.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 02:04 PM

Oooh, that sounds good! Thanks, Steve Shaw.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 02:45 PM

Steve, should that chorizo be fresh or cured?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 06:16 PM

At "200C/425F for about 25-30 minutes," I'm not sure it would matter if the chorizo were fresh or cured, Charmion.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 08:07 PM

Well, Yotam says cooking chorizo, but I always just buy those rings that you can eat raw if you want (I never want). there are some pretty spicy ones, and they're fine, but slightly milder ones are better with the cauliflower in m'humble. All a matter of taste. But I'd always tear off the skin.

We've had it a good few times since I saw Yotam's recipe four years ago, Thompson. It never fails. The recipe was in the Guardian under the heading "Easy Ottolenghi" and you can still find it. It's a lovely supper for two, quite filling in spite of tbe lack of bulk carb!

But do call me just Steve!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Jul 20 - 10:18 PM

I like my cauli roasted whole: make a sauce of melted butter or olive oil with what you like, for me hot paprika garlic oregano marjoram salt, about a half cup. Take core out of cauli being careful not to separate the florets. Put not too snugly upside down in a dish with sides, pour most of the sauce carefully into the depths of the cauli, then turn it over, painting outsides with rest of sauce. Bake right-side up at whatever oven temp you're cooking everything else, for at least 40 mn. If you can pull the fork out easily when you stab it to see if it's done, it's done. Might take over an hour at 300, or 45 mn at 400. Yum. Slice into wedges to serve, pouring over some of the sauce which will have collected.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jul 20 - 10:16 AM

I have a small pan of red kidney beans simmering this morning, then I'm going to assemble as small batch of paste e fagiole. I have a 6 ounce NY strip steak that was grilled a couple of days ago in the fridge (a friend was going to come for dinner, then couldn't make it. Instant leftovers). I'm going to run that through my grinder and use it to make a small batch of soup. The smoky beef flavor should be nice. If it needs a little more meat I'll use something else, maybe some sausage, to bulk up the meat percentage. I have the rest of the ingredients around here and I'm aiming at about half of the amount of the "normal" generous recipe.

Shopping is a fraught process, with the COVID-19 numbers rapidly increasing here in Texas and throughout the US. The Walmart stores in town open at 6am on Tuesday mornings for seniors, and my next door neighbor told me about this, that the store was pretty close to empty. That was my experience today, and I also visited another grocery store (Winco) that has early hours and between the two managed to get myself back in business with fresh fruit and vegetables. (I shop at Walmart maybe twice a year; today's trip was to load up in the pharmacy area to replace my extremely outdated cold remedies, etc.)

I went a little crazy on the Winco pasta aisle. I got out of the habit for a couple of years when I was avoiding foods made with wheat. Treatment for Polymyalgia rheumatica doesn't say to avoid wheat, but since it is an inflammatory food, I figured it was worthwhile to cut back for the 18 months I was tapering steroids. Now the various shapes and sizes are in their bags in the freezer for a few days (standard practice in a hot climate). I'm using up the rice pasta I have here (some will go in the soup today).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Jul 20 - 03:30 PM

Made cornbread-for-one yesterday, just to have some dry out for cornbread stuffing for tonight's cornish game hen.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jul 20 - 10:15 AM

Today, I must do something with the bucket of pitted Montmorency cherries Himself brought home on Monday.

Most of them will go into a four-litre pickle jar with sugar and two litres of Alberta vodka (cheapest available) to macerate until Christmas, when I will tap off the liquid and bottle it. The resulting cordial -- called "cherry bounce" in old cookbooks -- usually weighs in at about 25 percent alcohol, and it has a bright, clear flavour that I don't think would be improved by a higher alcohol content. It doesn't keep well, however; the flavour begins to fade a few months after bottling.

The 19th-century recipe I started with calls for "unaged whiskey", which I think probably meant moonshine. It works best with high-acid fruit, especially raspberries and sour cherries.

Here's the formula:

Two cups (500 ml) fruit
One cup (250 ml) clear grain alcohol at 80 proof
Half a cup (125 ml) granulated white sugar
Two tablespoons (30 ml) brandy

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 20 - 11:02 AM

There is a fruit equivalent to sourdough, a countertop jar of fruit that was fermenting in place and we had to add new fruit periodically to the mix. It was probably in the late 60s that my Mom had a tightly lidded glass canister with the fruit. What was that called and how do you get it started? I'm willing to bet someone here has had or made that mix before. And was the fruit fresh or cooked before adding?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jul 20 - 12:37 PM

Stilly, in German, that is called Rumtopf, and in French it is a type of macédoine. I don't know of an English name for it.

The fruit is fresh, and the jar should be kept in a dark, cool place (i.e., not on the kitchen counter).

The idea is to add each kind of fruit as it comes into season, starting with strawberries and finishing with plums. It works best with berries and small drupes (apricots, plums), and each layer has to be topped up with both sugar and liquor -- traditionally, rum. If you do it right, it does not -- repeat, not -- ferment; it macerates. It comes out at Christmas, when the fruit-lquor mixture is ladled over ice cream, custard desserts (including bread pudding), rice pudding or plain cake.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 20 - 01:02 PM

This is something different from that, it was supposed to keep fermenting as long as the fruit was added regularly. We had to go in and pull out fruit (and of course eat it) to make room for the new fruit that was added. It sounds like a deadly experiment now, doesn't it? Brandied fruit? That pops into my head, but doesn't necessarily make sense with this process.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jul 20 - 02:54 PM

If it’s fermenting, you’re a jailbird and you’re making prune-o!

Really. No kidding; that’s how it’s done in the Big House.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Jul 20 - 03:30 PM

The okra plants are still small, producing only a couple of pods a week so far. I expect that to change soon, but in the meantime, I decided to enjoy the little amount by piggybacking their prep on another dish. Today I made breaded chicken strips and got a small bowl for mixed cornmeal fish fry with a little flour. Roll the damp cut-up pieces of okra in it and add it to the oil at the end of the chicken. It's a modest amount of friend okra, but that means it gets eaten when it's fresh.

Breaded chicken is a treat I don't make often. Most of the time I bake chicken breasts to use in several dishes - some of it diced to go on a salad, a few slices on a sandwich, or cut into pieces that are put on top of a pizza. It's good cut up and added to marinara sauce over pasta. A source of protein in a dish without the entire meal being just chicken.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jul 20 - 07:53 PM

Himself brought home another bucket of cherries — marked down!

So, as well as about six litres of fruit ‘n’ booze hiding away in the darkest corner of the basement, we have a batch of plain-Jane cherry jam, a batch of fancy compote that becomes Cherries Jubilee with only a little help, and four litres in the freezer to become pie in the fullness of time.

I’m tired and my feet hurt, but the kitchen still looks like a bombed-out bordello so I have a ways to go yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Jul 20 - 09:40 AM

I am enjoying my own cooking so much I have been failing in my endeavors to support local restaurants by ordering delivery. I look at online menus and thing But I could make that here, and better. Last night had a simple salad -farmer's market lettuces, red tomato, yellow tomato, handful of almonds, homemade vinaigrettes [not a typo: a little of my garlic-herbs one and more of my mustard one].
Vinaigrette: start with red wine vinegar, add salt and, if using because you're not using good Dijon mustard, garlic and/or herbs, in a clear glass jar. Fill jar about 1/4 - 1/3 full if planning on mustard, and between 1/3 and 1/2 full if not. Swirl jar, looking up at bottom, every few minutes or whenever, and progress only when salt has completely dissolved. Then add mustard till jar is about half-full if going that way, and stir or kinda fold in, till unified with vinegar. Either way, pour olive oil in, in really thin stream while stirring vigorously, till jar almost full. Close jar lid tightly and shake, starting with a gentle turn of the wrist and progressing to vigorously, to emulsify. Don't just add all the oil and shake, or you won't get the right texture.
If you used mustard it should stay emulsified. If not, shake vigorously before each use.
This yields a close to 1:1 ratio of vinegar [and mustard if using] to oil; some prefer closer to 1:2. Adjust as needed.
This also takes more than a pinch of salt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jul 20 - 11:10 AM

Mrrzy, I understand that sentiment about liking your own cooking. There are so many options right here in front of me, though it is nice some days to let someone else cook. And I choose those takeout orders strategically, something that reheats well and isn't messy to divide into storage containers for several meals.

A friend brought just a quart Baggie with a few cherries so they will be the "sit in front of the TV and eat then pitch the pits into a bowl" snack today or tomorrow.

The paste e fagiole came out good; it was a smaller batch than made previously but it wasn't small. I had about 8 ounces of meat (that ground steak and a piece of Italian sausage also run through the meat grinder) for seasoning. This is a soup that could easily be made vegetarian so it doesn't really matter if I didn't have the full amount the recipe calls for. And ground as fine as it was it gives the flavor while being barely detectable by sight.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Jul 20 - 11:18 AM

I've just made some Mayonnaise to go into a coleslaw I will be making later to accompany the stuffed crust pizzas I made last week and froze.

Looking forward to our evening meal with a glass or several of wine!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Jul 20 - 12:30 PM

Had some egg whites going spare so I'm made some meringues that it will fill with strawberrys and cream for my good lady later!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Jul 20 - 08:23 PM

Raggy, you are a Good Spouse. Isn’t that an Eton Mess?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 31 Jul 20 - 08:39 AM

Felt a little iffy so had a large mug of chicken Better Than Bouillon with a dash each of lemon and hot sauce. Mmmm.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 31 Jul 20 - 12:24 PM

Charmion, an Eton Mess is when it's all smashed up together.

I much prefer something that looks aesthetically pleasing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Jul 20 - 12:51 PM

Then, Raggy, I think you may have committed Pavlova.

I have read about these elegant confections but never attempted to construct one myself. I stand in awe of those who do -- especially since they always insist that "it's so EASY!"

Sez they. I remain impressed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 07:20 AM

This is why the mise en place is so important: I had most of the ingedients for my sauerkraut soup already sizzling when I realized I could *not* open the jar of sauerkraut!

Still, it was a yummy sausage-and-veg concoction...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 07:30 AM

When I can't open a jar with a metal lid, usually when it has been sitting in the cupboard for some time (years), I usually find that hitting the lid with a sharp object to pierce it will do the trick.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 08:41 AM

Back in the mid-70s, I worked in the Navy hospital in Halifax. Sterile distilled water came in cylindrical 80-oz brown glass bottles with short, narrow necks and small screw-on lids that were always stuck fast after their trip through the autoclave. To open such a bottle, we would upend it and gently rap the edge of the lid on the hard terrazzo floor. This technique never failed, and I use it to this day when I have to open a large jar. It’s less effective with small jars and bottles; dunno why.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 08:56 AM

A technique with bottles with narrow necks and small screw tops is to grip the bottle top between a door and the door frame at the hinge side of the door. This holds the bottle very tightly while you put all your strength into turning it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 09:57 AM

Rubber gloves will help to hold then tightly.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 11:08 AM

Oh, I whacked it, hot-watered it, and I even have the thingie that usually works, that improves grip and increases moment arm [who says you never use high school physics?] but noooo. Tonight Imma sic my son on it. Then next time I'll be ready.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 12:14 PM

Raggytash, I suddenly find myself in possession of three egg whites at the height of soft fruit season. So I shall make a Pavlova or blow up the kitchen trying!

You have inspired me. It’s your fault.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 12:56 PM

When a jar is difficult, I turn it upside down in a bowl or pan of HOT water and leave it until it opens. Usually works.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 01:42 PM

Something about the contents of a jar that is so reluctant to open - just so it wasn't swollen and shut!

I have one of those rubber-lined multi-size lid grip things that I bought while I was in the throes of PMR - weak hands were a feature of it; I use a pliers on small bottle screw tops if it won't open. I suppose the "pierce the lid" tip would work - just such a hazard to work around that now sharp metal. Rubber gloves work. I have a flat thin rubber disk that I think was meant as a sink stopper but that also works on some jars. That doorway method sounds effective but I'd be afraid of leaving a mark on the wood.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 01 Aug 20 - 01:44 PM

Go for it Charmion, it really is very easy ..............honest!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 08:00 AM

Well Charmion, how did you get on with making Meringues?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 08:32 AM

Scotsman went into the bakers shop. Pointing to a confection in the window, he asked the baker, "Is that cake or a meringue?"

"No, you're right, it's a cake..."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 09:23 AM

We've had something like this for opening the odd stuck jam jar or bottle lid for over 20 years and while not used often, it's been very useful to have around.

We also have an electric jar opener somewhere but I took it out of circulation. It's beyond me why but both parents were capable of thinking it was the tin opener and getting it quite stuck - I had some struggles freeing it.

Oh and I don't know if others do it but a family thing anyway. When you do pass the item with the top to someone else and they open it with ease, you say "I must have loosened it".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 11:42 AM

It's so hot right now in Texas I could put meringues on parchment and slide it onto the afternoon hot pavement to cook.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 03:15 PM

It was so hot yesterday I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 03:41 PM

Yesterday I started with the recipe for Jansson's Temptation from Donuel's link back in June, then added garlic, leek, courgette, a bit of left-over cauliflower and some fresh herbs.
Not that I'm wedded to the 'five-a-day' mantra, but I like to add a few extras.
I made a lot, so guess what I'm having tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 08:09 PM

Raggytash, I made the Pavlova and it was boffo. It was also easy, as advertised.

I started with a recipe by Nigella Lawson, but that did not take me far — for one thing, I had only three egg whites and she wanted four, but a little arithmetic fixed that. Also, we had no whipping cream, and I had neither the time nor the inclination to make a fruit sauce, so I dressed it with vanilla ice cream and sweetened thawed strawberries.

I can definitely see myself doing that again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 02 Aug 20 - 10:10 PM

Charmion, a little finely-grated chocolate atop your pav is not bad either. Of course it needs to be good quality, preferably dark if you like it......not cheap crappy stuff.

(Places tips of fingers together in front of mouth and blows kiss to pav)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Aug 20 - 10:38 AM

Jennie, I always try to avoid crappy stuff, which is sometimes surprisingly expensive.

The chocolate idea will appeal to Himself, who would eat a bushel basket if it came with chocolate on it. Do you add that when the meringue is still warm?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Aug 20 - 10:42 PM

Son failed. I whacked it harder and heard it pop, then it was bare-hand openable.

Something came up on another thread ... Were any of you taught to use scissors rather than a knife, with basil?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 03:27 AM

I use scissors for most herbs. Nobody taught me, I worked it out for myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 03:57 AM

Snipping herbs with scissors in a cup or jug saves washing up. The exception is basil. Keep the baby leaves to sprinkle on the finished dish but tear the bigger leaves with your fingers and add them just before the end. And always include the leaf stalks of most herbs. Just cut them up small, that's all.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 06:51 AM

No, I would add the grated chocolate once all has cooled down. If you serve with whipped cream, just sprinkle on top of the cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 07:30 AM

Good on you Charmion, told you it wasn't difficult!!

Anyone ever had Greek Basil, it has much smaller leaves than normal but with an intense flavour. I much prefer it when on the rare occasions I can get hold of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 07:48 AM

Yep Raggy. I've neither made this in a while nor had close to the same success with the plant (and have no basil of any sort planted this year) but the best pesto we ever made used the Greek Basil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 07:49 AM

Hmmm... Basil in excess has a licoricey flavor I don't like, but I am always curious to try new things.

Mom used a knife to chiffonade other herbs. Just basil has to have scissors.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 03:37 PM

I roasted a chicken yesterday, so today I must make chicken salad.

I've been told that "most people" prefer the breast meat, so I guess that's yet more proof (as if I needed it) that we're weird chez nous -- we like the legs and the wings best, and eat the breast last. So it often becomes chicken salad, especially in summer.

Cold roast chicken breast, sans skin, cut up in half-inch cubes
chopped celery
chopped apple (don't peel it)
finely sliced onion
thyme (dried or fresh, your choice)
garlic salt
freshly ground black pepper
mayonnaise thinned with vinaigrette

The amount (by volume) of apple & veg should be equal to or a bit greater than the amount of meat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 04:01 PM

Neither the chicken breast nor the legs are the best part. The best part is the thighs. And always keep the skin on, it's the other best part.
And it's good for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 04:06 PM

I fully agree with Jos, the thighs are the tastiest part of a chicken.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 06:14 PM

I've been thinking Charmion ...........an unusual event for me I might add! .......... if you made Meringues what did you do with the egg yolks?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 04 Aug 20 - 06:15 PM

The thighs, wings and underneath meat are the best. On every roast chicken there are two little oysters of underneath meat that we wrestle each other for in our house. But Mrs Steve has yet to discover the sheer joy of the parson's nose, which is by far the tastiest bit of a chicken, but which no-one in our house has ever discovered, apart from me. Long may that remain so.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 04:14 AM

Is Mrs Steve not a mudcatter then? Otherwise you've given the game away now.

(My mother always had the parson's nose, but didn't say why.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 05:39 AM

No she isn't, though one can never rule out the occasional rummaging in my history. I neither know nor care! I've always felt that investigating your partner's online interactions would be a certain path to misery.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 08:59 AM

We called it the pope's nose.

I read in a Chinese cookery book that the best meat on the chicken is in the middle joint of the wing. I still like thighs and those nuggets the Shaws wrassle over. Those go to the person who gets the chicken out of the oven.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 09:08 AM

Decades ago when I was still working as a chef we used to roast up to a 100 chickens at a time.

The chefs would descend upon them like a plague of locusts when they came out of the oven to pick out the oysters.

The clientele NEVER saw them!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 09:33 AM

The oyster bone was a particular treat for a small child in my family, and the chicken's tail was the parson's nose, or the Pope's nose, or (when we were feeling extra ecumenical) the Moderator's nose.

Now that I carve the chicken, the oysters and the Moderator's nose are MINE. Himself gets the legs.

Answering Steve's question about the egg yolks: They went into the rich French pastry I made for Saturday's sour-cream cherry tart. It's a fairly ridiculous recipe with a quarter pound of butter and three yolks, and a damnable nuisance to roll out, but I've never found anything better for a fruit-and-custard pie.

The cherries were the light red Montmorency type known around here as "pie cherries", and I made the custard with crème fraîche (now available in Perth County!) instead of American-style sour cream, and it was boffo.

I probably won't make another pie until Thanksgiving, when I will use the frozen remainder of the pumpkin pulp yielded by last year's Hallowe'en shrunken heads. For that, English-style plain pastry is best.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 09:35 AM

Sorry, that wasn't Steve's question but Raggy's. But the answer stands.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 04:12 PM

It's the pope's nose on a turkey at Christmas. I know, because Terry Wogan said so. Once your chicken/turkey has rested for a few minutes, you, the chef, go into the kitchen on your own to remove and devour said appendage. There is a certain way of pulling off the "nose" so as to also remove an immoral amount of the skin just behind it. You are perfectly justified in doing this, and the beauty is that no-one will know that you've done it. It makes your aperitif glass of white wine taste twice as good. Lines the stomach too, so to speak. Shhh...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 12:45 AM

We still don't have an oven, so I invented Pork Calypso, which is sort of Caribbean. It doesn't have the red pepper of Caribbean seasoning, and it's not grilled or roasted, so I gave it a new name.

Pork Calypso

Pork butt or shoulder (same thing) . Select the flattest cut.
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
many grinds of black pepper

Line a reasonably-sized slow cooker with a Reynolds slow-cooker liner. Put the meat in the microwave and nuke it at medium power about 5 minutes to kill the germs and make it lukewarm. Set it in the slow cooker and rub the spices and black pepper onto top. Place it in the cooker so as much of the surface is pressed against the pot as possible. Add 2-4 tablespoons water.

Cover and cook on Low till very tender, maybe six hours. Remove carefully* from pot and let cool about 40 minutes. (set a timer) Refrigerate on a trivet till next day and discard fat.   Slice and serve with pasta, using the cooking liquid to make a sauce. Or make sandwiches. Delicious!

I wonder whether one should remove the cooking liquid with a basting bulb halfway through cooking. Hmmm...

Sweet potatoes and pineapple go well with this, but not in the same dish.

The beauty of the slow cooker is that its gentle heat does not destroy the spices.
===================
Removing the meat can be dangerous, because the bag can break and dump hot food on a person. But I don't want to put that hot, heavy pot in my fridge. So I set the cooker in the sink. Then I gather the top of the bag together and slip a steel bowl the same diameter as the slow cooker under the bag as I lift it out. I think this is safe. I leave the food in the bag and in the steel bowl to cool in the fridge.

Over the years, I have used many slow-cooker bags, and only one ever broke. One was enough to convince me to be careful.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 01:33 AM

"Pork butt or shoulder (same thing)"

I thought "butt" was what Americans call the rump - or does it also refer to the shoulder? I'm confused.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 06:48 AM

"Put the meat in the microwave and nuke it at medium power about 5 minutes to kill the germs and make it lukewarm."


Leeneia, I think you will find that germs absolutely delight in being lukewarm!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 07:10 AM

Six hours in the slow cooker should kill off most of the germs, though - I wouldn't bother with the microwave.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 07:27 AM

I noticed the butt=shoulder too. I thunk they meant Any really big piece of pig.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 08:30 AM

The cut of pork matters a lot. Leg and fillet are more or less tasteless. The fattier the cut, the better the flavour. I always use shoulder for a good roast to feed the masses, preferably on the bone but even boned and rolled is fine. Always slow-roasted for hours, with a boost at the end to crackle the crackling. As a gourmet for two, you can't beat belly on the bone. Good pork sausages are made from shoulder. One of my favourites is the herby, cured Italian pork jowl (guanciale), for a peerless carbonara. It's extremely fatty but begod it tastes wonderful. Free-range pork, preferably not the boring Landrace breed, always tastes much better than Belsen-house pork, and has a much nicer texture. A thick-cut pork chop, baked with mushrooms, lemon, fresh thyme and cream, done the Delia way, is a thing of beauty too. I cut the rinds off and freeze them to go into my boeuf en daube when the weather turns cold.

Discussions about how to get good crackling can get very heated. For me it's good, deep scoring with a Stanley knife, just seasoning without oil and a 15-minute hot boost at the end of roasting. Shoot.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 11:31 AM

The American "pork shoulder butt" is the upper, or butt, end of the pig's foreleg, including only the muscle and bone of the shoulder joint and upper back.

The pig's actual butt, or bum, is the ham.

(I also translate from French.)

I'm with Steve Shaw on the issue of pork lusciousness -- the shoulder wins by miles. Loin and leg roasts benefit hugely from smoking and curing, which is why ham is so much easier to find than a fresh leg roast of pork. It also explains all the variant forms of bacon, of which my favourite is Canadian-style peameal ...

Hmmmm. Let's talk about bacon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 12:07 PM

Can I just put in a word for the shoulder of lamb, which, like the shoulder of pork, is far tastier than the leg.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 01:45 PM

I put big pieces of meat in the microwave to warm them up from fridge temp to room temp, thus saving energy because the wave is so efficient. Also, it doesn't hurt to kill germs which could get transferred to surfaces and to implements before cooking.

After the nuking, it's the meat that's lukewarm, not the bacteria, which have been boiled to death from the inside by the microwaves.
===============
Steve, your pork recipes sound delicious. Loved the pun about crackling.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 07:02 PM

Jos, oh yes, shoulder of lamb. I will not buy leg of lamb. Years ago, our butcher, with whom I'd cultivated a brilliant relationship (it helped that he was a bird and butterfly aficionado, as indeed am I, along with my penchant for wild flowers), bought his pork, free range, from Mrs Quicke MBE, her of Quicke's cheddar cheese in Newton St Cyres in Devon. She's a lovely lady is Mrs Quicke, which I can attest to from buying cheese from her in person from her lovely farm shop. A large part of Mrs Quicke's pigs' diet was the whey from her cheese making. I've never tasted pork that good before or since. Unfortunately, Mrs Quicke stopped keeping pigs, but our butcher tracked down another excellent source of pork. I never found out where he sourced his lamb (though here in Cornwall butchers nearly always source local), but it was amazingly good. Since he retired, I've been getting my lamb from a local man who farms his own sheep. His lamb is absolutely superb.

It has to be whole shoulder and it has to weigh in at at least six or seven pounds, or more. If you buy shoulder you absolutely must ensure that it's whole shoulder and that the fillet has been left in. I once bought a supermarket allegedly whole shoulder, only to find that that the fillet had been removed, presumably to be resold at a higher price.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Aug 20 - 07:11 PM

By the way, in m'humble the only way to cook a goodly piece of shoulder of lamb is very slowly. Chuck away those repressive cookery books that say "this many minutes to the pound and that many over..." etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 07:16 AM

A good leg of Lamb is a thing of beauty.

The best I have ever had was from Calveys Butchers on Achill Island, County Mayo.

Across the road from the shop is a grass sward down to the sea, this is where the lambs are reared. The meat is slightly salted due to the proximity of the sea blowing salt onto the grassland.

The leg of lamb from there I would put alongside the best of meat from anywhere and be confident it would be the top one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 08:51 AM

It must be a matter of regret for you that, while you were enjoying your leg of lamb, two other lots of people were enjoying shoulders from the same beast even more...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 09:03 AM

If I could I would send you one Steve, I'm fairly confident it would challenge your viewpoint! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 09:10 AM

Nah, you can't tell me that a shoulder from the same beast as your leg doesn't taste better! Do feel free to send me one, however. Diced leg makes a superb Italian lamb stew... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 05:27 PM

That’s often what I do with a leg of lamb, too, Steve.

Perhaps the most challenging hospitality-related task I routinely undertake is carving a bone-in leg of lamb. It ends up in collops, every time; my Dad, a master carver, would be ashamed. But I know several delicious lamb stews — one is even Italian! — and serving stew is a no-brainer — trivet on table, pot on trivet, Bob’s yer paternal relative.

It’s a source of great sadness to me that other Canadians have discovered the lamb shank, and now they are terribly expensive. I used to be able to buy a whole beast’s worth of shanks for about ten bucks, but now they cost about that much per each! I buy them anyway, and gnaw the bones. I don’t dare eat a lamb shank in public.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Aug 20 - 06:10 PM

That's happened with lamb shanks here too. It amazing how stuff that you loved for its cheapness as well as its flavour suddenly gets all popular and expensive. It happened here with John Dory, one of my absolute favourite fish. Cheap as chips a few years ago, now so expensive that it's affordable only as a a rare treat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Aug 20 - 11:00 PM

For a complete change and because I have 5 pounds of them I need to use I had a baked potato for dinner, served with sour cream, bacon, and chives. It was salad for lunch, and dessert this evening was a smoothie because I have some very ripe bananas to use. (Banana, big dollop of yogurt, a splash of milk, the rest of the bag of frozen blueberries, a little sweetener, and since I'm working on strengthening my fingernails, a teaspoon of dried gelatin.) It was at least 101^o today so the fact that I cooked anything is pretty phenomenal.

I have the end of a loaf of bread and a little in the freezer, enough to make a bread pudding tomorrow, and I have 3 cups of black beans soaking overnight. I'll cook beans tomorrow and freeze most of them, reserving some for a beef and bean mix I make that I use for nachos or burritos or tacos, depending on what kind of tortilla or chip I want to use with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Aug 20 - 09:55 PM

Sometimes you have to just muscle through a tough time, and turning on the stove when it's so darned hot out is a struggle. But today I took out a pound and a half of top sirloin beef from the freezer, onions, peppers, and black beans that I cooked this morning, and made a batch of my "taco/nacho/burrito" mix. I made enough that I put a couple of jars into the freezer.

Tonight I used up some leftover restaurant tortilla chips and scooped up my "nachos" - the filling on the plate topped with some thawed leftover guacamole (plus some of my homemade thawed to even it out - the restaurant stuff was awfully spicy hot), sour cream, and a few dashes of Tapatio hot sauce.

The beans had soaked overnight so they simmered for about 90 minutes this morning then cooled and I also put several jars of them into the freezer. If I'm going to do this I might as well make extra for later.

Tomorrow I'll make the bread pudding.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Aug 20 - 08:17 AM

I remember life without a decent freezer. Things are better now.

Himself has gone camping for a couple of days, leaving me (gratefully) at home, so I'm eating girl food -- toast, cheese, salad and tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 11 Aug 20 - 01:51 PM

SRS, I commiserate with you on the 101 temperatures. I've lived through heat up to 108, but this August has been milder here in Missouri. Bitter thought - with such a good summer, why aren't my tomatoes thriving?

I made some chili con carne yesterday. All the usual ingredients, but I season it at the end of cooking with chili powder and cocoa. Cumin seeds go in at the start.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Aug 20 - 11:16 AM

Somehow I am supporting local businesses this week. Ordering out, eating on restaurant patios, not cooking...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 20 - 08:49 PM

Using half of a tandoori flat bread (large) pulled from the freezer I made another pizza. Since I'm out of mozzarella at the moment it was an odd mix of cheddar, Swiss, and Parmesan. Lots of other stuff as I used leftovers and pulled a couple of other things out of the freezer. There is 1/4 of it left for lunch tomorrow. A glass of red wine with it, and I'm finished.

I caramelized some onion, cooked 2 strips of bacon to crumble, defrosted some sliced sauteed mushrooms, sliced a half of a baked chicken breast, used some Alfredo sauce, the cheese mentioned above, and some thawed slices of red bell pepper. Dried basil sprinkled over the top. It was stacked with goodies but since it didn't have tomato sauce it wasn't as sloppy as some pizzas can be.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Aug 20 - 01:31 PM

Tonight, we shall dine al fresco, on fire-grilled sausages and a salad made from some of everything in the veg bin. It's summer, by God, and we are RETIRED (sort of), and if we want to light a fire and drink beer 'til late on a Wednesday night, who's gonna stop us?

Besides, Environment Canada says the weekend will be wet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 13 Aug 20 - 02:29 PM

Sounds good to me.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Aug 20 - 02:51 PM

Isn't it funny how sometimes retirement is just about as busy as when you were "employed."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Aug 20 - 08:30 AM

Actually, Thursday night, but when you’re retired (even sort of) you sometimes lose track.

Yes, Stilly, it is funny — both peculiar and ha-ha. But most of all I think I’m living under Parkinson’s Law: work expands to take up all available time. Now that I have ten to twelve hours (including overtime and commuting) per weekday that are no longer contracted to the Department of National Defence, I find it necessary to do all kinds of things that never seemed important before.

Such as, for example, reading for at least a couple of hours in the afternoon and doing the New York Times crossword puzzle after breakfast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Aug 20 - 10:19 AM

I'm not retired. I'm in my post-paid years

Stilly, your pizza sounds delish, but gow did you freeze sautéed mushrooms? I'm lucky if mine even make it to the table, I eat'm up so.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Aug 20 - 07:36 PM

Accidentally put this into peeves thread...

I started off to stuff half an avocado with crab salad, but it kinda took a sharp left... Now I have a big bowl of chopped lettuces tomato avocado celery dill parsley with crab and lemon on top, with vinaigrette and almonds. Yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 15 Aug 20 - 08:18 PM

We make pizzas from Lebanese flat bread. Tonight Himself will spread ready-made pizza sauce (tomato based) on his, followed by sliced salami, sliced leftover roast white and sweet potato, liberally topped with a grated cheese mix - cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan. Mine will be spread with cream cheese (because I don't eat tomato), black olive tapenade, contents of a small tin of salmon, a few capers, amd finished with the same grated cheese mix.

Purists would probaby shudder. We like it.

You can also make crispy nibbly things with the same bread. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning, bake until crispy. Break into pieces. Enjoy with dip or just on its own.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Aug 20 - 08:44 PM

I buy mushrooms in a large quantity at a favorite discount gourmet store (they buy from the grocery warehouses that didn't manage to send all of their stock to grocery stores). So when I can find them I slice them, then saute in butter and package them in plastic restaurant carryout containers (poor man's Tupperware) and into the freezer. I usually package maybe a 1/2 cup in each container so pull them out in multiples if I need more. They're very soft, but they work on the pizza.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Aug 20 - 08:09 AM

Wonder if I could resist just eating them all long enough to freeze any. Gotta sauté in butter with thyme, though. Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Aug 20 - 08:26 AM

Bread pudding for breakfast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Aug 20 - 11:27 AM

I sent Himself to the market yesterday, and now I’m knee-deep in tomatoes. The Romas will become pasta sauce, but what is to become of the dozen not-quite-ripe beefsteak tomatoes set out on a tray in the hope they might become ripe before they rot?

Anyone with a good chutney recipe, now is your time to be kind and share!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 16 Aug 20 - 01:55 PM

A touch of salt, a touch of italian seasoning and leave in a VERY low oven overnight and put into jars with some VERY good olive oil would be my suggestion! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Aug 20 - 04:12 PM

Raggytash, before they go in the oven, do I skin and chop them, and what sort of vessel should I put them in? And what constitutes Italian seasoning chez vous?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Aug 20 - 09:11 AM

Made a kind of ratatouille-y thing but there was an occasional bitterness. First time I've used eggplant; the recipes said no need to peel. Should I have pelt, though? To avoid bitterness?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 17 Aug 20 - 09:32 AM

Mrrzy, did you include courgettes / zucchini? They can be bitter if the plant they came from was under stress, such as short of water, or if it was from a seed resulting from cross-pollination from another variety of squash. This has been a problem recently, especially when people have saved their own seed from last year, but it has also happened with seed from commercial suppliers, who have had to recall some batches of seed. If it is bad, don't eat it as it could be poisonous.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 17 Aug 20 - 09:33 AM

Charmion, just cut in half, skins and all.

Italian seasoning can be bought here in jars. It is a mixture of dried Oregano, basil, red bell pepper, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Aug 20 - 09:57 AM

I peel the eggplant, even the smaller ones, as a matter of course, though the small ones (under about 16 ounces) don't need the salt and sit an rinse treatment.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 07:23 AM

Yes zucch and yellow squash, but I et all of those. Then when I reheated my garlic-oil based slice of pizza I scooped out all the leftover garlic onion tomato from under the uneaten eggplant and put that on top, boy was that yum.

I'll give the eggplant one more try without the skin. I have half of it left

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 07:48 AM

I get the feeling there can be a bit of debate over the need to salt and or peel aubergines/ eggplants. I feel certain that there is no need with the baby variety I like to grow (but didn’t this year) but could wonder more with others. Sites including (I think) a BBC one I found up yesterday seem to suggest that just about all newer varieties are less prone to bitterness than older ones and others may reference the size of the fruit and the condition of this skin. The best speculation I’ll make there is that you need to make your own judgement call.

I did use a (supermarket) aubergine in a mix on Sunday btw. It together with our own courgette/zuccinni and a can of chopped tomatoes became a layer in an attempt at some sort of veg lasagne. I just cubed the unpeeled fruit for this and there was no bitterness.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 07:53 AM

As I do when confronted with a glut of anything edible, I consulted my favourite book of preserving recipes, “Put a Lid On It! Small Batch Preserving for Every Season” by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. Sure enough, this oracle had a solution to my tomato problem: Gingered Tomato Marmalade.

I’m pretty sure it’s an old Canadian recipe because it has Imperial quantities expressed in U.S. measures. It yields six 8-ounce jars.

5 cups (40 fl. oz. or one quart Imperial) chopped, skinned tomatoes
2 large oranges, rind and flesh, chopped very fine
1 large lemon, rind and flesh, chopped very fine
3 tablespoons finely minced ginger
4 cups white granulated sugar

To chop the citrus fruit, cut them in hunks to remove the seeds and do the rest in a food processor.

Mix the tomatoes, oranges and lemon in a large stainless or enamelled steel saucepan and bring to a full rolling boil. Add the minced ginger, and then stir in the sugar, keeping the boil going. Continue boiling to gel stage, then bottle and seal in a water-bath canner.

It’s a nice, mellow marmalade that will please ginger fans. Without the ginger, it’s like orange marmalade without the acrid bite of the Seville article, and not so achingly sweet as commercial preserves.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 10:58 AM

Well your post just got me looking again at the Victoria plum tree, Charmion. We still need to be sure there are no nasty things inside as we had one year but I've managed to pick 8lb of fruit that look good to me so there may well be plum jam on the way...

I've lost the gages but we have enough damsons to make something (mum will probably go for damson cheese) and the crab apple tree has done something this year so crab apple jelly could be on the cards.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 04:16 PM

If you have Damsons John .............. please, please make Damson Jam.

My Grandmother used to make it, it was the best Jam I EVER had, a thing of great beauty.

I now have my Grandmothers Jam pan, it must be at least 100 years old and on the rare occasion I manage to acquire Damsons I make Jam.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 05:02 PM

Well I've picked them Raggy but I'll leave it to mum to decide what she wants to do with them. She will be in charge of the making. I'll just provide whatever assistance she wants.

Incidentally, she reckons damsons were plentiful in her home county of Shropshire - something like every house had a damson tree.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 06:00 PM

Damson jam is indeed a fine thing. Unfortunately, nobody grows damsons in southwestern Ontario. At least, no one who's willing to bring them to market in Stratford.

I'm knocking off preserving until I can get my hands on some new crop Cortland apples, Flemish Beauty pears and Italian plums (the kind for drying into prunes) to make my justly famous Five-Fruit Chutney. (The other two fruits are Roma tomatoes and zanthe currants.) It's the best damned chutney I've ever eaten, bar none, and by George I have the recipe!

When the plums finally hit the market, I hope I will have sourced some more quarter-litre Mason jars. They're rare as hen's teeth this year.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 06:31 PM

Would that be half-pint jars to us in the US? Odd that they would be scarce, but I suppose this year more people could be canning.

The cucumbers are beginning to climb the fencing materials put out yesterday (those probing curly strands appear and cling quickly) and the okra have lovely blooms not swamped by ants. It is August and usually if these are planted in a regular garden they're huge by now, so there will be a diminished crop, but there will be a crop.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 07:18 PM

Damson jam me arse! Only make damson jam (which is lovely, and the stones all float to the top) if you have an excessively large amount of damsons. Otherwise, it would be criminal to not use your damsons to make damson gin. Grab a very large kilner jar and put in it one pound of pricked damsons and six ounces of sugar to each 75cl bottle of gin. Swirl the jar around every day until the sugar has dissolved. Then leave it until the week before Christmas, give it a last swirl, then either filter it through a muslin bag or just let it settle and decant it a few times. More of an and/or really, but you do sort of want it clear. Much better then slow gin. You'll live forever.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 07:20 PM

Slow sloe, quick quick sloe...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: robomatic
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 08:22 PM

I am working on my first moussaka right now. Giving myself today to start and tomorrow to finish. Right now i'm shaving eggplant and wondering why I bought an English cucumber...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 19 Aug 20 - 03:22 AM

I just checked my blackthorn bush. It has produced one sloe.
If it is still there in a couple of months time I shall put it in an egg cup of gin, and keep it until Christmas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Aug 20 - 03:29 AM

If you freeze sloes for a few days before making the sloe gin, you don't have to do all that tedious pricking. I bottle of gin, 12 oz sloes, 6 oz sugar. Use decent gin and a light muscovado sugar for the best result.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 19 Aug 20 - 03:50 AM

There's no need to do all that tedious pricking anyway, never mind freezing.
Just put the sloes in a jar, add gin, and the sloes swell up in the gin, which causes the skins to split.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 19 Aug 20 - 06:54 AM

We haven’t done sloe gin in a number of years but, as I cut a lot of blackthorn back this year to keep the farm track clear, I doubt if we’d have many to pick. Not in the nearest patch anyway, I’m not sure what’s happening further up the field.

I hope there is new growth and they come back well next year from where I cut it. I may no longer have use for the berries but the blossom looks quite splendid earlier in the year.

Not an excess of damsons btw but I got a very worthwhile to us just over 4lb of fruit from the tree.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Aug 20 - 09:17 AM

Yes, Stilly, a quarter of a litre is quite close to eight fluid ounces or half a US Standard pint. On this side of the border, one pint is (still) twenty fluid ounces Imperial.

250-ml Mason jars (the jam size) usually get scarce in late summer, but they vanished earlier this year than usual, even from Wal-Mart. I doubt that people are canning more than in previous years; Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart have great stacks of the 500-ml and litre jars that are popular for putting up fruit, veg, pickles, tomato sauce and juice. I think it more likely that the manufacturers are making something else — ventilators, I hope.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 19 Aug 20 - 11:00 AM

No stones in MY damson jam, I pick them all out, tedious as hell, but makes for a much better jam.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 19 Aug 20 - 02:07 PM

Damson plum jam is only rivaled by sour cherry preserves. Damsons win, but it is a contest.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Aug 20 - 07:16 PM

Squidge your damsons during the boiling, with a spud masher or by squashing them against the side of the pan, and the stones are set free and float to the top. Cue your slotted spoon. Easy!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 20 Aug 20 - 07:07 AM

Steve me owld love, I trained as a chef when I left school !! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Aug 20 - 08:37 AM

Maybe damsons are special, but in my experience fruit stones don’t float; they hover in the middle of the jam or they sink. So stoning plums and cherries is a thing we do.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Aug 20 - 12:25 PM

We went to Lowe's (national chain) for a new refrigerator yesterday and discovered there is a refrigerator shortage. We wanted a simple black one, suitable for the small family, and they had one. By this I mean that there was not such a fridge in other stores in the city, in the warehouse or online. Lowe's had one fridge we could use, so we bought it and were lucky to get it.

We wanted the Whirlpool but wound up with the Fridgidaire because it would fit in our space. Because of Covid19, factories are not operating. Scary.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Aug 20 - 01:07 PM

Leeneia, things are much the same in Ontario. All manner of goods and materials are still unavailable, from Japanese barbecues to canning jars to pressure-treated lumber, and the reason given is always COVID-19. Let us hope that refrigerators are in short supply because the factories are turning out ventilators.

On the other hand, we finally have plenty of hand-sanitizer. Gin from local producers is in short supply because they're all making sanitizer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 20 Aug 20 - 06:47 PM

There are severe bottle necks in supply chains, some at source, others along the way. I have been waiting two months for a bicycle part that was ordered from Japan and is to come from who knows where. No one can forecast when the labour, materials and shipping space are going to be available.

That's 2020 for you.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Aug 20 - 06:57 PM

Nah then. Mush up those damsons during the boil, use a spud masher or whatever you like, and the stones will come to the top. Stop agitating and try It!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Aug 20 - 07:10 PM

Trump killed the Post Office portion of the supply chain; better not mail order any fancy cheeses right now or it will be nothing but a moldy mess by the time it arrives.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 21 Aug 20 - 11:49 AM

I made (I’ll say 99% stone free) damson jam today. I got 4 ½ of the 1lb jars of jam. I picked the stones out with the help of a slotted spoon and think that’s the best way. I’d not want to try to stone them first although that is the way with the freestone Victoria Plums…

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Aug 20 - 06:41 PM

I found this ridiculous recipe on the Guardian website. It's vegan, it's cheap, it's hardly any work - and it works.

All you need for two people is two cans of plum tomatoes, a 250g pouch of cooked lentils, olive oil, salt and spaghetti. Now here in the UK you can buy cans of plum tomatoes that are unsalted. Essential, I'd say. You can also buy 250g pouches of puy lentils, Merchant Gourmet brand, which are very good. You could use canned lentils, or you could boil up your own. But why work?

There are steps that are counter-intuitive, but have faith...

Gently empty the two cans of tomatoes into a sieve. Catch the juice and use it for something else (I drank mine). Rinse the tomatoes gently (honest!), then dry them as much as possible (I spooned them onto two layers of kitchen towel). Aim to keep them whole. Put the tomatoes into an ovenproof container that will accommodate them snugly. Almost cover them with extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with salt. Bake them open for two hours at 120C, which is about 250F.

When they're done, get your lentils hot and slightly sloppy in a pan. Smash up your oily tomatoes and add them to the lentils. Keep the mixture hot. Check for sufficient salt. Meanwhile, cook 250g spaghetti as usual. Drain, put back in the pan and add the tomato/lentil mix.

I tell you, this trouble-free dish has potential. With a new recipe I always follow the amounts and instructions slavishly. But next time I will bake a whole garlic clove with the tomatoes, I'll sprinkle in a touch of crushed chilli flakes and some freshly-ground black pepper and pay close attention to the saltiness (I underdid it slightly tonight). But no cheese and no herbs, and definitely no onion.

We decided that cheese was not needed. This dish was so easy, so cheap and so tasty. You just have to remember to get the tomatoes in the oven two hours before you need to eat. I'm growing San Marzano tomatoes this year but they're a bit slow to ripen. When I have enough red ones I'll skin them and use them in this recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 21 Aug 20 - 07:03 PM

I think that recipe is one to try for the three of us here. I'll have to get some cooked lentils in our next grocery shop.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Aug 20 - 10:02 PM

Your lentils and semolina in the pasta combined create a complex carbohydrate, so it would be filling and act like a protein.

There is a brand of tomatoes here called Muir Glen that sells whole fire roasted tomatoes. I imagine they would add a little more kick to that recipe. I used half of a large can of them yesterday in making a summer casserole I invented for myself a number of years ago. As I've remarked before, it probably has a name and has been made by others.

Chop a small to medium onion (white or yellow, not sweet, they don't have as much flavor), chop at least on medium sweet pepper (this is really dependent upon how much you feel like putting in). Garlic. I saute the onion and pepper in olive oil, add the garlic chopped, and last night I didn't feel like cooking an Italian sausage separately so I slipped off the casing and set it in the middle of the onions and peppers, and went back to it a couple of times, to cut in half length-wise and put flat slide down, and then later to cut each half into little bites for the dish. I cut a calabash (calabasa) squash (like a mottled white and green zucchini) that was probably about 12 ounces in size, into bite-size pieces (not slices, they're difficult to work with) and added to the onion/pepper/sausage mix and covered the pan so they would soften. They don't need to be completely cooked now because they'll finish with later steps.) I seasoned this with a healthy grind of black pepper, and handful of dried oregano (from my garden) crumbled by hand and dropped in, and a little bit of salt, to taste.

Once the calabash is softened some then add enough canned tomato to make it really tomato-y, so I used about 1 1/2 cups of the tomatoes from that large can. I added maybe 2 cups of liquid (some of it flavored with a chicken bouillon cube that had been sitting around for a while so I decided to finish it off). Once the whole thing is simmering I put in at least a cup or so of some kind of pasta. Last night it was small shells. And when the pasta was about finished I put in some grated cheese (I'm not picky here, I had some Swiss cheese to use up.) Give that a little time to melt in, then dish it up into a bowl. I ate it like that, but I imagine a nice crusty garlic toast with it and a glass of wine would make it a meal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 22 Aug 20 - 02:34 AM

"Squidge your damsons during the boiling"

I take it that the squidging is to be done during the first boiling, before adding any sugar to convert the cooked fruit into jam.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Aug 20 - 01:19 PM

My farmers' market sometimes has tiny normal onions [not shallots not pearl] and they are marvy for cooking for one.

Would that delish-sounding lentil thing work with fresh tomatoes?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Aug 20 - 02:47 AM

It's jam season, and a friend has delivered me a big bag of applea and
this recipe.

She tells me that when she made it she didn't have cinnamon but put in much more ginger than recommended, to get a real gingery zing, and it was spectacular.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Aug 20 - 03:11 AM

I'm thinking of getting a damson tree on dwarf stock this autumn, to be able to make damson jam, and damson tart to which my mother addicted me. She said leaving the stones in while cooking intensified the flavour.
The damson jam I made last year was to a simple French recipe for confiture de quetsch, adding nothing but lemon juice and demerara sugar and macerating the fruit overnight before fast-boiling in the morning. It was paradise.
The house is clanking with saved jam jars - when we run out of homemade jam we buy Folláin jam, which comes in very cute pots (but I think is only available in Ireland) and save the jars and lids.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Aug 20 - 04:29 AM

I might try that slow tomato dish with the little bead-shaped pasta sold under the name Besvajecne cestoviny - "eggless pasta"; they turn out kind of like pearl couscous but with a more distinct wholemeal taste.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Aug 20 - 05:03 AM

Pasta shapes make for a very interesting topic. Speaking of little beady things, we tried fregula pasta from Sardinia and didn't much care for it: too many little bits and too chewy. On the other hand we love orzo, which looks like rice grains, but we use this as an integral part of the sauce, which it thickens beautifully as it releases its starch. Very nice in a sauce with peas and bacon. I don't like pasta shapes that vary in thickness as I don't like chewy middles. The biggest culprit is trofie, which I don't buy, but there are others. I like big tubes such as pennone rigate, which I use in my arrabbiata dishes. I like orecchiette for a pasta bake and for the traditional Puglian dish with chilli and wilted greens. I don't get on with bucatini, so my Amatriciana is served up with spaghetti. Heresy! We never have fusilli for that thick middle reason. Whatever we have it must be bronze die pasta. I suppose spaghetti is our most-used overall. It's a religion in our house that pasta is always eaten from a bowl, that the sauce is always mixed with the pasta, never just dumped on top, and is eaten with a fork only with much slurping. There's no such thing as spaghetti bolognese in Italy (except on tourist menus) but I've failed miserably to wean my family off it, though I've stopped drowning it with minced garlic and I don't allow dried basil to come within a mile of the house.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Aug 20 - 05:45 AM

Yes, too-chewy pasta rather divides you from your flavours.

By the way, I normally thicken my lamb stew with barley, but have discovered that freekeh is even nicer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Aug 20 - 06:55 AM

I get my pasta boiling (salt only, never oil) then set the timer for one minute less than the packets instructions. Thereafter, it's obsessive tasting for al dente-ness at frequent intervals. In traditional Italian cookery it's regarded as sacrilege to leave the kitchen while the pasta is boiling...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Aug 20 - 01:46 PM

Two topics running simultaneously. I feel like a person sitting at the good end of a dinner party.

First, jam -- making of. In Ottawa, where we used to live, I collected jam jars from the church (I usually put a couple of dozen jars of jam in the annual bazaar), and from several friends and relations. Now, far away from those friends and relations and with the church shut down because of COVID-19, I'm cut off from the black market in Mason jars and actually have to buy them. Everyone else is in the same boat, so of course the shops have none.

This year's output of Five-Fruit Chutney will probably have to go into half-litre jars; consequently, I won't give any to people who are not wildly enthusiastic about chutney.

Pasta shapes -- I never gave much to pasta shapes until I acquired a copy of Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Traditional Italian Cooking, but even now my first concern is whether the pasta is likely to spray sauce around the dining table on its way from dish to Himself's gaping maw (he's not the neatest eater in the grid square). I like rotini, which holds a handsome quantity of sauce without incident, and penne, ditto. Somehow, I have managed to arrive at the end of my 65th year on Earth without ever having cooked radiatore; I should fix that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Aug 20 - 06:36 PM

I've never been much of a fan of normal penne. Maybe it's too many horrid cold pasta salads in the past (a disgusting idea). I recently discovered penne mezze, a much smaller version, very nice too, and I've already mentioned the big pennone that I use in arrabbiata dishes. I tried a spicy, meaty dish with Mrs Steve using paccheri, but she couldn't handle it. Humph. One of our favourites is gigli which looks like little trumpets. It comes from Gragnano and cooks in seven minutes, and it's great with delicate fish dishes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 24 Aug 20 - 03:22 AM

I can never bring myself to touch anything labelled 'macaroni' because of the indescribable inedible horror we were served up with school dinners as a dessert.
If in doubt I go for tagliatelle, which seems to go pleasantly with anything even if a real Italian might not approve.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Aug 20 - 11:43 AM

Jos, you have my sympathy. Thanks to a childhood spent in the 1950s and '60s, I find mushy food in general, and macaroni and cheese in particular, notably unpleasant. I'm trying to get my head around the notion of a "dessert" featuring overcooked macaroni, and it's not sitting well even mentally.

Last night I left the kitchen when I should not have done, got into a conversation about kittens with Jane Across The Street, and forgot about the brown rice I was parboiling on the stove before assembling a chicken dish to be baked in a Romertopf. It's decades since I last actually forgot something on the stove long enough for it to be completely wrecked. The stench hovered in the house for hours, and I had to make the chicken dish with white rice that came out gluey and bland.

Suitable punishment.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Aug 20 - 01:29 PM

Steve, you know that the name "orzo" means rice, don't you?

A Lebanese friend showed me how she cooks rice with orzo.

With a little olive oil in a heated pan, she puts the orzo portion of the recipe in and stirs it to brown it. I'd say I use 1/4 cup of orzo with every cup of rice. Brown the orzo and once it is the color you want then pour in the dry rice (or wet if you washed it) and stir it around enough to heat the rice up, then pour in the water, cover, and cook. The orzo is a nice brown accent in the white rice when it's finished.

A variant on that is the Basmati rice I cook with vermicelli, doing the same thing so the pasta is a browned accent in the long-grain rice. This is probably the progenitor of the box mix "Rice-a-roni," that uses rice and vermicelli and a chicken bouillon cube.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Aug 20 - 06:56 PM

Yes, I know what orzo means, Maggie! That's a very interesting idea, though I'm best, with my limited skills, trying to keep things simple...

I thought I'd try the stripped-down traditional version of risotto that the Italians call risotto bianco. Jamie Oliver suggests using pesto added at the end. I made my own pesto but I departed considerably from his risotto recipe. I don't need celery or garlic, thanks. And I don't make risottos with olive oil, just butter, but that's just me. So here's what I did...

For the pesto I picked a great big bunch of basil from my garden. Maybe three big handfuls of leaves, stalks removed. That went into my whizzer with a SMALL clove of garlic and a handful of pine nuts, which I'd toasted gently first. The mix was a bit thick and dry, but I managed it after a couple of scrapings. That went into a bowl, to which I added a handful of freshly-grated Parmesan. I dribbled in my very best extra virgin olive oil a bit at a time, stirring all the time. A bit more cheese, a bit more oil, until I was happy with the slightly sloppy texture. It did need a bit of salt.

For the risotto, I made about a pint and a half of vegetable stock in advance (a mix of carrots, celery, onion, bay leaf, thyme and parsley, boiled for two hours). I used my smaller Le Creuset casserole. A big knob of butter went in, followed by two banana shallots, chopped roughly. After about ten minutes on low, I threw in 275g carnaroli rice and turned up the heat. Once the rice was coated and toasted I threw in a small glass of very decent Italian white wine. That was boiled for a couple of minutes in order to get the alcohol out. Then I threw in 600 ml hot stock. You have to stir for a couple of minutes to prevent sticking, but, after that, put the lid on and simmer at a low heat for 15 minutes. No stir! Have faith! I do tend to season in steps as I go along, but do your own thing. It does need salt.

After 15 minutes, turn up the heat slightly then beat the living daylights out of your risotto for about three minutes. Make sure your grains are firm but not chalky, the death of any risotto. You need to take the pan off the heat, then add a big knob of butter and a a handful of freshly-grated Parmesan. Once that's done, ladle the grub into bowls, add a dessert spoon of pesto, scatter a few basil leaves, sprinkle with Parmesan and bob's your uncle. It doesn't hurt to wait for a few minutes...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Aug 20 - 10:00 AM

I invented something that worked...

Marinated pork loin cut on bias into medallions
Preheated 425°F oven with pan in it
Put medallions flat on bottom of hot pan
Covered with sliced tomatoes, salted, parsley
Put a lot of sliced zucch and yellow squash into marinade bag then on top of dish
Baked for about half an hour.

It made a yummy yummy sauce, the pork was tender, the veg a little crunchy in spots.

Served with multicolored tiny potatoes parboiled then finished in same oven with some snail butter.

Ate all the meat and am planning yummy soup with leftover veg, sauce, and potatoes.

Marinade was a ton of smushed garlic, olive oil, a little salt, and Berbere spice from Penzeys. Meat, veg, parsley and garlic from local farms.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Aug 20 - 10:11 AM

What's a marinade bag, Mrrzy? Does it go in the oven, on top of the meat?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Aug 20 - 02:19 PM

Just the ziploc bag in which I'd marinated the meat. Took the meat out, stuck the veg in to pick up the leftover marinade, took veg back out. Rinsed bag for recycle bin after.
Thanks for asking, I hadn't realized I'd been unclear!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 26 Aug 20 - 07:13 PM

Your pork loin recipe sounds delicious, Mrzzy.

I'm making something simple today. Beef chuck roast in a slow cooker with Baron's Meat & Fish spice which I bought on the island of Grenada. Grenada is proud of its spices. I bought a bag of bay leaves there which are very different from our bay leaves. I hope I didn't violate an international treaty by bringing them home.

When the meat is tender I will de-fat it, then serve it with pasta or slice it up for sandwiches.

Whenever I type the word sandwiches I remember a cafe in Paris which had a sign offering "sandwichs." I wonder how they supposed we pronounce that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Aug 20 - 08:06 PM

I know, I love that! It works in French of course, which just goes to show...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 27 Aug 20 - 03:43 AM

They pronounce "sandwich" something like "sahnveech", don't they?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Monique
Date: 27 Aug 20 - 05:49 AM

Jos, we pronounce sandwich as "sahndweech" because there's no such a thing as a "short /i/" (as in "bit") and a "long /i:/" (as in "bee") in French. Some old people might even pronounce it as "sahndweesh" because our written "ch" is pronounced as your "sh". But it's not pronounced "sahndveech" as far as I'm aware. Most people pronounce "sandwich" and "sandwiches" the same way. Those you might pronounce the plural as "sandwiches" are the pretentious ones who want to show they know some English. In French "w" is pronounced "w" in words of English origin except in "wagon" and "w.c". It's indeed pronounced "v" in words of German origin (walkyrie, wisigoth...).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Aug 20 - 06:13 AM

You could be an accent coach for Jollywood Monique :^/

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Monique
Date: 27 Aug 20 - 06:20 AM

Ah Mrrzy, the plural of words of English origin have been gallicized and we have "des sandwichs", "des matchs", "des coachs"... and the final "s" is silent -like all the final "s" in French except in words of Occitan origin (pastis!)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Aug 20 - 06:22 AM

Just call the whole thing off and call it a butty. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Aug 20 - 09:34 AM

Smothered chicken. It's a southern American thing that probably started out French.

Spatchcock a smallish chicken -- a bit more than a kilo in weight is best -- and salt and pepper it well. Take a large skillet, oil it lightly, and heat it; when it is hot but not scorching, lay the chicken in it with the skin side down. Choose a plate (not your best Wedgwood) that is a a bit smaller in diameter than the skillet and put it on top of the chicken with enough weight on it to squash the chicken as flat as it will go. (I recommend two large tins of tomatoes or a small kettlebell.) Turn down the heat under the skillet to a bare murmur, leave it be for about half an hour, then turn the chicken (I use two egg-turners, one in each hand), put the weight back, and cook for half an hour more.

Take the chicken out of the skillet and put it on a platter. Reduce the amount of fat in the skillet to about two tablespoons, saute some garlic in it, then make a roux with two tablespoons of flour. Add two ounces of white wine (I use dry vermouth) and let it boil, then 14 ounces of chicken stock and some thyme or tarragon. Bring it up to a boil and put the chicken back in the skillet, cut side down (no need for the weight). Reduce the heat so the sauce just simmers, put the lid on, and cook until the chicken is thoroughly done.

Put the chicken back on the platter and cut it into serving pieces. Raise the heat under the skillet and finish the sauce, reducing it to the correct consistency and adding salt and pepper if necessary. I like to toss in a chopped scallion and maybe some parsley at this point. Pour the sauce into a gravy boat. Serve with rice or mashed potatoes and green beans.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 30 Aug 20 - 05:25 AM

Very interesting about the Occitan words ending with S, Monique! What about names - Dumas, Dreyfus, Degas?

Does anyone make a tian? It sounds like something I'd like to add to the weekly round.

I make risotto in a pressure cooker, being terribly lazy and having to drag myself away from writing to cook. The pesto sounds like an interesting addition; best pesto I know is made with seaweed and sold by Blazing Salads in Dublin. I approached it with caution but became a wild-eyed convert after tasting it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 30 Aug 20 - 07:34 AM

By the way, what on earth is this recipe writer talking about with "The medium grain white rice can be substituted with long or short grain white rice. This recipe is not suitable for: brown rice, arborio (risotto) rice, paella, basmati or jasmine rice"?

What is the rice she specifies?

https://www.recipetineats.com/zucchini-gratin-unintentionally-healthy/

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Aug 20 - 07:42 AM

Mongo pork chop tonight. Haven't decided how.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Aug 20 - 08:29 AM

Thompson, your recipe writer doesn’t know the difference between “substituted” and “replaced”. I see that error frequently these days.

The “medium-grain” white rice she wants you to use is probably an American cultivar. In my experience, “paella” is dish made with rice, not a type of rice, and it works best with a high-starch cultivar such as Arborio. The other white types she identifies are long-grain cultivars.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 20 - 11:02 AM

The rice I use here for most of my cooking is a very long grain Basmati, but when we get together at the holidays to make the Puerto Rican dishes learned from my late mother-in-law, someone has to go out and buy a bag of the short grain "American" rice. It makes a difference that is more than aesthetic.

Most American mainstream grocery stores have a "long grain" rice that is a long grain of that American rice cultivar, but it isn't long compared to rice cultivars from other parts of the world. They will also have a few specialty varieties in small expensive packages and who knows how old they are if they don't sell well. If you go to one of the big import grocery stores here (I shop a Halal Middle Eastern market and one that is still locally referred to as "Saigon-Taipei" even through they changed their name and ownership a few years ago. They have an aisle of rice in the way you find snack chips or dog food in an American store. Bags and bags of different brands and varieties.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Monique
Date: 30 Aug 20 - 05:23 PM

Thompson, I'll answer later, I'm on vacation with a tiny cellphone that wants to write as it sees fit.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 31 Aug 20 - 04:35 AM

Meanwhile, a few jars of apple-and-ginger jam made and a few pots distributed, some apple-and-rose-hip jelly to be made from crab apples and the eglantine's hips, and a big bag of a neighbour's damsons waiting in the fridge for more Demerara sugar to arrive for jam-making.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Sep 20 - 09:08 PM

Ok first ever asparagus crab soup. Yum, yum.

Was going to chop garlic and onion and ginger but lazed and opted for powder. Was out of garlic powder.
Set a kettle to boil, melt some butter in a pot, add hot pepper flakes and powders. Add chopped-on-diagonal aspergrass, cook 3 mn. Add some lemon juice. Add boiling water and chicken bouillon. When returns to boil, add crabmeat and the kernels off a cooked ear of corn. Bring back to boil but not on high flame. Taste, decide whether sour cream in the bowl would be a good idea. Turned off, let sit 5 mn. Serve into bowl with sour cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 02 Sep 20 - 05:29 AM

I was given half a dozen Duck eggs yesterday, so my good lady with have a sponge cake this evening, probably packed with strawberries and cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Sep 20 - 10:00 AM

Raggy, what makes ducks' eggs better for sponge cake than chickens' eggs?

Cake is not my thing, so this query originates with Himself, who fancies ducks' eggs boiled for his breakfast and is willing to spend serious coin to get them. Himself also loves cake and would like more of it in his life.

I draw my cake line at fruitcake in the fall, and several forms of gingerbread. I admire people who can produce sponge cake at all, let alone on impulse, and achieve the desired result without fuss and fretting.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 02 Sep 20 - 10:22 AM

Duck eggs are much "richer" in flavour which makes for a great sponge.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 20 - 12:26 PM

The dishes that let the eggy flavor through would really benefit from duck eggs, it sounds like. One of my favorite cookies is the Snickerdoodle*, and though the flour and sugar ratio would need to be adjusted to the larger volume of egg, I'd love to see how those tasted with duck eggs.


*The recipe was a regular on the bag of General Mills white flour for ages. We made them in Home Economics class in junior high school, the first time I ever had them, and it's about the only useful thing I remember from those classes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Sep 20 - 12:54 PM

Next time I make custard (by which I mean the real thing), I'll nick a couple of Himself's stash of ducks' eggs and see what a difference they make.

School cookery class -- what a subject for discussion!

The only really useful thing I learned from cookery class -- that was in Grade 7, when I was 11 years old -- was how to make pancakes and quick-breads raised with baking powder without setting fire to the house. The cookery teacher's method of making cocoa was ridiculous -- it involved a syrup of water, sugar and cocoa powder -- and the unspeakable ado she generated over making soup belonged in a Feydeau farce. I learned more from my Dad, who introduced me to the mysteries of roux and omelette when I was about 12.

Beyond that, it was all cookbooks and taking chances.

Oddly, I have never much liked TV cooking shows or the videos that proliferate on YouTube. I like something I can prop up against the coffee-maker in the kitchen, and the 21st-century version of that is an iPad with the New York Times cooking app.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 02 Sep 20 - 06:33 PM

I love duck eggs as I am not fond of the albumen, and duck eggs are mostly yolk.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Sep 20 - 11:49 PM

Here's something new that's very old:

Aided by Modern Ingenuity, a Taste of Ancient Judean Dates

The harvest of the much-extolled but long-lost Judean dates was something of a scientific miracle. The fruit sprouted from seeds 2,000 years old.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Amergin
Date: 08 Sep 20 - 02:16 AM

I call them Copper Poppers.

Copper Poppers

6 jalapenos, cut in half lengthwise
1 thing of softened cream cheese
some chives
some sliced mushrooms
shredded cheese.
12 rashers of bacon

preheat oven to 450 degrees

chop up chives, mix them with the cream cheese.

scoop seeds and core from jalapenos.

put a bunch of the cream cheese mixture in each half.

Lay a couple sliced mushrooms atop the cream cheese mixture.

Sprinkle with shredded cheese

wrap bacon rasher around jalapeno, and set aside, til you have a dozen ready.

Get a cookie sheet, lay it with foil or parchment paper. set a broiler rack atop it. Lay dozen copper poppers on the rack.

Bake for a half hour, then shut off the oven, and let it sit for another five minutes.

Put on a plate, enjoy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Sep 20 - 09:46 AM

One "thing" - my kind of measurement.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Sep 20 - 10:09 AM

I would probably like those "copper poppers" rather too much, but Himself would take one look at the jalapeno peppers and flee.

Our gas barbecue (all the rage in 2000) had its swan song the other day, with a batch of smoked pork ribs that were really quite boffo. But it is now so wonky that cooking on it is an exercise in compromise, and it's not at all effective in cold weather, of which we have lots.

So, since we're brimming with spare money this year (not!), we have purchased a Kamado Joe, and it's coming tomorrow. Consequently, at my advancing age, I now have a whole new cooking technology to master.

YouTube is full of videos starring solemn men with advanced beards and leather-trimmed aprons demonstrating techniques with large cuts of meat slathered thickly with sauces made with improbable ingredients. (Finely ground coffee? Really?) They use "cook" as a noun to identify, not a person, but the experience of preparing food, as in, "That was a perfect cook" -- i.e., I achieved the result I hoped for. Much of their advice is useful, but their style kinda gets up my nose.

Does Nigella do barbecue?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Sep 20 - 12:08 PM

What is a copper popper?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Sep 20 - 02:17 PM

Scroll up for recipe, Thompson.

I now eat crab and asparagus soup alla time. Takes no time, is delish, amazing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 20 - 05:33 PM

The caterers at the university where I worked used to have a nice array of appetizers to offer when we set up special events in the library. The one that people scooped up fastest was the bacon-wrapped dates.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 08 Sep 20 - 05:37 PM

Thanks for the article about dates, SRS. That was interesting.

As a gardener, I noticed the techniques used to coax the ancient seeds into germinating: warming, careful hydration, a plant hormone and enzymatic fertilizer. I wonder if home gardeners can get hold of that plant hormone and enzymatic fertilizer.

And now you've got me thinking that it's time to make a loaf of date bread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Sep 20 - 05:40 PM

Better than bacon-wrapped dates are water chestnuts rolled in brown sugar then wrapped in bacon. Crunchier.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 09 Sep 20 - 08:06 AM

I might look for something else to coat the water chestnuts in, such as sesame seeds. I wouldn't want them to taste sweet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Sep 20 - 01:16 PM

Ah but it goes so well with the bacon! But I grok the fullness of no sweet in my savory foods.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 10 Sep 20 - 03:30 AM

Sorry, but what does "grok the fullness" mean?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Sep 20 - 10:27 AM

"Grok" is a Heinlein word, invented for his 1961 novel "Stranger in a Strange Land" to identify a degree of understanding that surpasses mere understanding, if you get my drift.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Sep 20 - 10:48 AM

Our new Kamado Joe barbecue arrived yesterday. The kamado is an egg-shaped charcoal-fired outdoor cooker that can be used for roasting, smoking and baking (notably pizza) as well as grilling. For us, it is definitely an insane luxury, but my book contract and giving up (because of COVID-19) all the expensive fun things we like to do in summer provided enough excess capital to allow it. Besides, after 20 years of chickens and ribs, the old gas barbecue had become tricky and unpredictable.

After a trip to Crappy Tire for charcoal, which is much more expensive these days than I remember, I took the Kamado Joe for a spin last night with a pair of chicken legs. They came out delicious, which encouraged me no end. But I can see that the Big Thing about kamado cooking is managing the flow of air through the top and bottom vents, which is how one controls the internal temperature.

YouTube is full of helpful (and not very helpful) videos, so I'm learning fast. For my next trick, I shall smoke some beef ribs, a dish that Himself loves beyond all measure, which will require something like five hours of cooking at about 250 degrees Fahrenheit. I wonder if I can resist constantly running out the back door to check the thermometer on the Dome of the Beast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 10 Sep 20 - 12:23 PM

Thanks Charmion. If Mudcat had a like button, I take it I would have got a thumbs up.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Sep 20 - 10:11 PM

Nicknamed the Dragon, I presume.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Sep 20 - 10:05 AM

Ah, no, Mrrzy. This household already has a Little Red Dragon: Himself's car.

The kamado is also red, and it will belch fire if I open it recklessly, but so far it doesn't seem to be the kind of inanimate object that acquires a personal name -- not sure why. Its thermometer even looks a bit like the All-Seeing Eye ... but that's not a Good Thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Monique
Date: 11 Sep 20 - 10:57 AM

Charmion, I made your gingered tomato marmelade, it's delicious! (more fat on my hips!)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Sep 20 - 11:26 AM

Excellent, Monique! I'm so glad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Sep 20 - 03:17 PM

Ok I made rabbit stew with some red wine and broth for the liquid. I had meant to add the juices from the defrosted rabbit but forgot. So I take all the rabbit pieces out, serve myself one with a bowl of sauce, then see the juice I had forgotten about and added it to the hot stew.
Baaaaaaad idea. The whole potful coagulated into something I am afraid to eat. It still *smells* tum, but looks like barf.
Do I have to throw the whole thing out? Can it be rescued? What happened?!?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Sep 20 - 07:35 PM

The juice from the thawed rabbit was partly blood — raw blood. When you put it in the hot stew, it cooked and, like raw egg, did so in a yucky fashion.

It should be safe to eat, but the texture leaves much to be desired.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Sep 20 - 09:53 PM

Wow. That sounds like a difficult choice. And a mistake you'll never make again. I would probably put it in the fridge to think about eating it then end up tossing it all later.

I am getting okra from the garden but not fast enough to save up for a large batch of pickled okra, so I'm going to plan B. I've ordered an Asparagus steamer that includes a lifter, a tall narrow pot that will hold a single jar at a time. I'll make the brine for my pickles ahead and when I get enough okra for a jar I'll pick one of my peppers to add to it, use some of my home-grown garlic, and pack a jar to process. That pot will heat quickly and do the job (heating a stock pot takes forever and probably runs up the electric bill). This way I can do the "small batch" approach of even a single jar. One at a time in a deep large pot would be very inefficient. I'll also be making some pickles, both processed and fermented, as my cucumbers grow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Sep 20 - 10:38 PM

Stilly, that is so exactly what I did.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Sep 20 - 04:11 AM

What a waste. Even if you didn't fancy the sauce, the rabbit meat could still have been made into a lovely pie with a few tasty additions such as mushrooms, garlic, herbs ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Sep 20 - 11:08 AM

I’m with Jos on the rabbit issue.

I must confess to having done something very similar with duck blood and a small pan of gravy. Fortunately, the gravy was an after-thought nice-to-have, so I could bin it with only a small pang of regret and self-recrimination.

I sent Himself to the market again, and now I’m wondering what he will come home with.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Sep 20 - 08:16 PM

We're all wondering now what he came home with!

I bought an asparagus cooker/steamer and it arrived this morning (via Amazon) so today I processed one jar of pickled okra. I only had enough okra for one jar and it would rot before I got enough for more; it's a slow year in a small garden. I'm also getting some nice cucumbers so I'll be doing single jars of cucumber pickles as well. If I do one jar a week until the first frost that might give me 7 or 8 jars of okra. Every little bit helps! Once the cucumbers get growing they produce pretty fast and I have a couple of more days before I start picking those. I do both processed and fermented cucumber pickles, and the variety I grow is recommended as best for pickling.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Sep 20 - 08:53 PM

Whenever I thaw out any meat for cooking, there's blood that I always discard. I haven't read any recipes that say to use it. Dunno whether I'm right or wrong, but my instinct is to ditch it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 13 Sep 20 - 04:51 AM

I did see a French recipe for jugged hare that included red wine and a lot of garlic, and the blood, but it was for a fresh hare. I suspect that the liquid after freezing would be rather different and I wouldn't use it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Sep 20 - 10:17 AM

I know that recipe, Jos; in Germany, where I cooked it, it’s called Hasenpfeffer. The blood is used to thicken the sauce, like the egg in an old-fashioned fricassée, and it’s handled just like raw egg — tempered first with a bit of the hot liquid.

Himself came home from market with a large packet of mysterious sausages, half a dozen ears of corn, too many tomatoes again, enough peaches even for me, and a report on the imminent availability of chutney ingredients, specifically Italian blue plums.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Sep 20 - 01:16 PM

Yesterday, I smoked beef ribs in our new Kamado cooker, to universal (well, Himself and the neighbours) acclaim. The process took six hours, not counting the time required to prepare the meat, and I must have dashed out the back door at least a dozen times to check the thermometer, even though I could see it quite clearly from the kitchen window.

The butcher was inordinately pleased to learn about this change in our cooking habits. “Brisket next?” he said eagerly, the gleam of opportunity in his eye. I rather doubt it; a brisket starts at four to five kilos, and we aren’t allowed to entertain a crowd big enough to eat all that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 13 Sep 20 - 02:28 PM

You don't have to have a whole brisket. Most is sold in smaller pieces.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Sep 20 - 08:17 PM

That's right. I buy rolled brisket at about one kilo. That will do both us twice, once hot, once cold.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Sep 20 - 11:04 PM

No, I said I had taken all the rabbit out. Been eating that one's furry little ass all week.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Sep 20 - 09:09 AM

Excellent, Mrrzy. Waste is inherently bad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Sep 20 - 10:48 AM

Hey, has anyone here tea-smoked anything, like a duck? Recommendations? Why do recipes put raw rice in with the tea? I assume you don't eat that rice...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 14 Sep 20 - 02:19 PM

I have had a home smoker for many years, I've never used anything except oak sawdust or oak shavings, hot smoked seatrout is sublime.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Sep 20 - 03:42 PM

I have a Luhr Jensen Little Chief smoker that uses chips of wood. When I do salmon I typically use alder, since that what is used in the Pacific NW for smoking fish. When I do meat like chicken or turkey I often use mesquite, and for milder things like short time smoking of cheese I use some of the other woods like apple (they sell bags of chips).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Sep 20 - 07:31 AM

I have tea-smoked a duck, Mrrzy. It was a messy business, but produced delicious results.

The rice in the smoker generates the bulk of the smoke. The tea is flavour.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Sep 20 - 09:04 AM

Ah, thanks. Does it have to be black caffeinated tea? I have an absolute ton of verveine as Amazon sent me 12 oz when I ordered 1. I will eventually drink it all, but wondered about using it to smoke my next batch of duck legs.
The chicken mom made was divine.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Sep 20 - 10:34 AM

I'm pretty sure you have to use the leaves of Camellia sinensis if you wish to achieve a tea-smoked duck that tastes like the Chinese article. Vervain (aka verbena) is not even closely related, and I doubt that any flavour it would impart would be tea-like.

Did your mother use tea, or some other leaves, to smoke her chicken? I assume it was a smoked chicken ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Sep 20 - 02:37 PM

Some normal black tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Sep 20 - 03:18 PM

Mrrzy, you should get her recipe.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest (i.e., Stratford), it's Chutney Day, thanks to Himself, who chivvied me out to the organic farm shop up the road to buy fruit. I'm not sure why he's so anxious about it, but chutney seems to be very important to him this year.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Sep 20 - 03:32 PM

Too late for getting recipes from Mom. I do have her cookbooks, though. I should look through them more thoroughly.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Sep 20 - 04:38 PM

My mother collected cookbooks, a lot of them the free ones that came with product box tops and were handed out in the grocery store. She also had one that was a monthly subscription to categories of recipes, each month a new booklet arrived that was put into this huge binder book cover. It has some of the most bizarre recipes - it's the kind of book people look through and laugh and share recipes.

I keep a plastic file box (probably intended for the large 6" floppy drives) that all of my folded printouts fit into. When I find one online that works for me I print it with the URL on the page so I can find it again (because people do ask). I have my own set of favorite cookbooks, none of them particularly recent. And there is a little wooden card file that I was given as a child that I've continued to use for those family recipes I learned at home.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Sep 20 - 05:53 PM

I made an amazingly good pasta dish tonight in which the only non-raw ingredient was the spaghetti. Get a big bowl and chuck in the following, in any order you like. For two:

A big fistful of chopped fresh parsley
Half as much chopped fresh marjoram (or fresh oregano)
About 70g freshly-grated Parmesan
One clove of garlic, finely chopped
The juice of 3/4 of a lemon, along with all its zest
Three big glugs of the best olive oil you can lay your hands on
About 350g of the best, sweetest cherry tomatoes you can get. Don't do this recipe with shitty tomatoes. I have a glut of lovely Sungold in my greenhouse just now: they were perfect. Chop them roughly.
A pinch of salt

Everything is fresh and raw. Get your hands in there and mix it thoroughly.

You also need about 40g of unsalted pistachio kernels, which you blitz into a rough powder then set aside.

Boil up the spaghetti (250g for two) in salted water. When al dente, use tongs to transfer the pasta into the bowl with the sauce. You definitely need some pasta water, so don't be fussy about draining. In fact, I found I needed even more from the pasta pan. Mix the sauce and pasta and put into warm bowls. Sprinkle the pistachio powder on top. Cheers to Jamie Oliver for the idea, though I changed a few details. So fresh, so light. If any of those ingredients are only available to you dried, don't bother with the recipe. This is all about untrammelled freshness.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Sep 20 - 06:12 PM

Boy that sounds good.

Made my first successful gazpacho yesterday. I wonder if it was yummy because it took over 3 hours on the phone *and* chat with the kitchenaid people to get my new food processor to turn on, or because it was, actually, yummy. Farmers market onion, garlic, tomatoes, cuke, hot green pepper of some kind, and some parsley, slice of Wegmans bread, and dashes of store-boughten cumin, smoked paprika, oil, and vinegar. Added some extra chopped cukes and hot green pepper to the bowl. Ground some salt and pepper into the machine.

Then today I had my amazing asparagus crab corn soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 01:34 PM

Three quarters of a lemon, Steve? How in culinary heaven do I ream a quarter of a lemon, and how much difference would it make if I just reamed both halves of a smallish lemon?

That said, your pasta with fresh tomatoes and herbs looks like the answer to late-summer bounty. My oregano has already gone to seed, however, and the parsley's looking poorly -- we're tippy-toeing up to our first frost.

You have a greenhouse. The green-eyed monster has me by the neck!

Meanwhile, I have a pot of flanken (beef short ribs) braising in the oven (three and a half hours at 275 Fahrenheit), for dinner with The Out-Laws tomorrow. The entire house smells of beef and wine, and the deliciousness has only just begun. The pot will sit in the fridge overnight, and tomorrow I will take off the fat, strain and reduce the sauce, and serve with parsley, chives and lemon zest, and a hunk of polenta.

Himself still wants to know why I could not do this in the barbecue, but the on-line consensus of cooks is clear: flanken belong in a pot, nestled in plenty of mirepoix, and all but immersed in wine and stock. Not one barbecue recipe for them could I find, but literally hundreds of braising treatments -- add carrots, sweet potatoes and prunes, and you get tzimmes, which (I just learned) is traditional for the High Holidays.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 03:38 PM

Ok help me with meatballs: I mix minimally, they are delish, but the texture is way too *hard* - every time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 04:41 PM

OMG...breathing heavily - whew.   I, I just had a religious experience,
and no, it had nothing to do with the bathroom.
It may be old hat to you but I just ate a fruit labeled Mammoth Mango.
It was as though I had never had a mango before. It was as wide as both hands thumbs to middle fingers and as tall as my wrist to finger tip. Each bite of cool 5cm. smooth deliciousness followed another. For 1/2 an hour I sat stunned afterward at how good it was. I don't know where its from since I only saw that one at the store. My senses are are still vibrant and colorful.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 05:16 PM

Mrrzy, do you put breadcrumbs in your meatballs? That's the traditional way to make them less like a hockey puck.

Donuel, I thought I had experienced Peak Mango with a large red specimen shipped to Canada from Jamaica, but your Mammoth Mango seems to have taken you to an even more exalted region of Fruit Nirvana. I shall look for that variety in the extra-special fruit'n'veg store the next time I'm in The Big City.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 05:31 PM

Use a mixture of pork mince and beef mince. Mix gently with your fingertips then roll into balls very gently - no squeezing - which are quite small, about as big as a cherry tomato. You can add whatever you like to spice them up, but you don't need egg or breadcrumbs. My current favourites are meatballs made as above but with caramelised red onion chutney added to the mix. These are fried for about eight minutes in extra virgin olive oil to brown them. Set aside and make a spicy tomato sauce in the frying pan, using top-quality tinned plum tomatoes, seasoning, fresh basil, chopped garlic and chilli. No onion. Once the sauce is made, throw the meatballs in and heat through for a good few minutes. Superb with your home-made oven chips or with good crusty bread. Use only free-range pork mince and beef mince that is at least 10% fat, preferably more. If you want rock-hard meatballs, squeeze them too much, cook them for too long and head for low-fat mince. Low-fat is a dirty word.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 06:04 PM

I do not use bread crumbs or egg. Hmm. I do add fat... These were bison with chopped mushroom stems and minced garlic and onion, oregano and marjoram, hot paprika, and duck fat, barely mixed then plopped into the caps of the mushrooms. Slice of fresh tomato on top of each. Toaster oven at about 325, about a half hour. Ate out of a bowl as there was so much juice, it was delish, but the meat part between shroom and tomato was what I am working on.
Sometimes I make them outside of a tiny tomato each. They aren't *dry* but it is not the texture I am reaching for...

Thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 09:28 PM

Despite the black spot scourge on oranges from Florida there is a special naval orange called #1. They were the the best oranges in my life.

I admire the skill some people have acquired in the art of flavours and presentations of special dishes. I was never exposed to that discipline so luckily I am happy with fish and chips and bangers and mash.

I knew a girl Hanna who free loaded/lived on Maui for a year and she turned orange from eating almost nothing but Mangos off the trees.
I now understand the special diet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 09:53 PM

Here's a mango recipe idea from a cook book published by my son's primary school in 1988. I can vouch for it being very good.

Mango fruit dip:

Peel a mango, remove stone and mash flesh with a fork. Stir in one tablespoon or so of flaked coconut - preferable not shredded as it's too messy to eat. Stir in enough sour cream to make it runny. Cover and refrigerate overnight, it will be firmer when cold.

Serve in a pretty dish in the centre of a platter, surrounded by fruit for dipping.....whole strawberries, pieces of stone fruit (apricot, peach, plum), anything your little heart desires really. I have also served it dolloped on cut-up fruit salad.

Makes a pretty centrepiece for a table, when we can entertain more than two people again. I have served it as a Christmas table centrepiece.

Somehow, though, I suspect a mammoth mango might be a bit much for this!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Sep 20 - 11:17 PM

Capriccio salad tonight, from thinned out basil plants (I put seeds in a pot a few weeks ago, and they're all about 4-6" tall now), some mozzarella balls I've been meaning to use, and some grape tomatoes. Drizzled with Balsamic vinegar. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 18 Sep 20 - 02:32 AM

Low fat = no flavour.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 18 Sep 20 - 07:08 AM

Should have said, low fat low flavour.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Sep 20 - 09:41 AM

That sounds like one excellent mango, Don! In her book Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes described eating some fresh Italian pears that were so good you "needed to eat them in private."

I find mangos purchased from stores where they sell a lot of them and sell to customers who really know their mangoes means I get the best mangoes. So I shop at the Asian or Halal market and they're usually much better (probably handled correctly and allowed to ripen properly). This usually means not storing them in a refrigerated space.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Sep 20 - 09:58 AM

My father, who served in the British navy during the Second World War, ate his first mango in 1943 at a shore station near Mombasa. Beached for a short time between a radar course in South Africa and his next ship, he took his turn as Petty Officer of the Watch, which meant supervising the base defence force. He chose to conduct his hourly tour of the perimeter sentry posts by way of the mango trees that grew all over the area, much to the amusement of the Kenyan soldiers who did the actual guarding.

I suspect that, after four years of war and Royal Navy rations, he would have stopped at little to get his hands on freely available fresh fruit.

When we asked how one eats a mango, he said, "First, take off your clothes and get into the bathtub."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 18 Sep 20 - 12:14 PM

Dad told me he was a leading seaman and doing extra duties for leaving something unsecured. He did his rounds with a rifle with its bayonet fixed, and the amusement largely came from the way he used the weapon to extend this reach for the fruit, which were in trees with biting insects (ants of some variety, as I recall, so likely a symbiotic relationship).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Sep 20 - 12:31 PM

I stand corrected on the rank and reason. The rest of the story stands.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 19 Sep 20 - 02:07 PM

You were likely still correct on both points. Maybe the wartime RN was different, but one can still be a leading seaman and tasked as the Petty Officer of the Watch, and that can be a task assigned as an extra duty (master corporals are regularly scheduled to serve as Base Duty Sergeants). Dad recounted the story when I had asked him if he had ever had to do extras.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Sep 20 - 04:16 PM

Yes - I thought about ants when I read the story about picking fruit (thinking he was lucky if there weren't ants). We were staying with my in-laws in the West Palm Beach area of Florida where mango trees grow easily. On a walk we tried picking some but the fire ants were vicious. We suffered for the fruit we did manage to pick.

Today I was at the gourmet discount grocery I visit for bulk items and the "Saturday Market" that opens into the warehouse had lots of carts and pallets of fruit, including some mangos that were mostly too soft but I found a few that were just right. They aren't the usual green/orange ones but they aren't the yellow ones either. Amazingly smooth consistency and a nice sweet slightly tart flavor. Eaten leaning over a kitchen counter and plate, undressing not required.

I picked up vegetables also, and berries, etc. I found several pounds of mushrooms and the dehydrator is now running. Saturdays can sometimes be a zoo down there but I timed it to get in and out in 15 minutes and people stayed pretty well spaced.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 20 Sep 20 - 06:18 AM

Beef Wellington for us tonight. A nice 2lb 2oz piece of fillet with chicken liver Pate and pureed mushrooms in a puff pastry parcel.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Sep 20 - 08:08 AM

Oh, Raggytash. You’re my kind of guy.

I have never managed to put all my various cookery skills together sufficiently to mount a Beef Wellington. It’s the pastry part — everything else is well within my capabilities.

Do you make your own puff pastry, or buy it frozen? (First or seventh dan black belt?)

When I want to get fancy with fillet steak and pâté, I go with the comparatively easy Tournedos Rossini.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Sep 20 - 08:16 AM

Ooh I *love* tournedos rossini. Imma try that soon, thanks for the memory.

I have no wish to try making beef wellington. Love the dish but yeah, no.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 20 Sep 20 - 09:08 AM

Making puff pastry is fairly easy ........... but time consuming.

Rough puff pastry is even easier.

However ..........

On this occasion I cheated and bought some.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Sep 20 - 08:14 AM

Its so cold I made chili con carne' with real fresh chili peppers. The heat is subtle but long lasting with a pleasant quintesence.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Sep 20 - 08:15 AM

I have puff pastry in my freezer. Also phyllo. Afraid to try either, really. But I have a virtual recipe swap coming up...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 23 Sep 20 - 08:44 AM

My good lady got a phone call from our Daughter-in-law, could Nick make me some of his wonderful Chilli-con-Carne.

8 portions will be delivered to her this afternoon, two portions will be kept for to-nights meal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 23 Sep 20 - 10:08 AM

Did you mean ' filo ' pastry ? Mrrzy ?

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Sep 20 - 10:35 AM

Same thing, different spelling. I've made it from scratch - once - that's why I buy it now.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Sep 20 - 03:55 PM

Yes it is probably correctly spelled phi something lambda something!

I saw my mom make it by hand so I have reason to be afraid...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Sep 20 - 10:36 AM

I have not maintained, let alone improved, the pastry skills I learned in my teens, when I could produce quite excellent flaky pastry with two knives and a fork. Those days are long gone; now, I can knock together a pie dough (plain pastry to you, Raggy) with the help of a food processor, but puff pastry and filo (phyllo) are well beyond me. It took me a while to conquer my pride, but the frozen article is just fine, especially since Himself doesn't have to listen to me swearing half the afternoon.

Today supper will be Kaessler, or smoked pork chops, a local delicacy. I dunno what breed of pig they come from, but Kaessler tend to be sizable; Himself (who favours Big Food) came home from the market once with a specimen so large that I could barely squeeze it into the grilling pan.

We had our first frost last weekend, so w have probably seen the last of the sweet corn for this year. Sad ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Sep 20 - 02:39 PM

I purchased a whole brisket today. It was on special (that‘s my story and I’m sticking to it). I may yet come to regret this.

My current cunning plan is to separate the layers of meat — the flat and the point — and trim off the excess hard fat, and freeze the pieces for future reference.

Any advice youse all might have to offer is eagerly anticipated.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Sep 20 - 12:33 PM

I have a tub of fresh mozzarella balls that I've been drawing down slowly before they're too old. I also have some commercially organic grape tomatoes that are the only store-bought tomatoes that actually taste like the home-grown ones. And I have a pot of basil sprouts and every day or two I thin a couple of the sprouts out and make a salad, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

I enjoy various forms of sweet potatoes (the Beauregard variety is what we get here most often) and I'm going to boil then mash a couple of large ones. Add a little orange juice, some pumpkin pie seasonings, and it's almost dessert with no added sugar. At Thanksgiving I make that in a large casserole and top it with browned marshmallows, a classic illustration of "gilding the lily."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 27 Sep 20 - 02:14 PM

With a brisket I would dice some onions, some carrots, a touch of leek, a bit of celery and braise the brisket for several hours.

My grandmother, who was a superb cook, would add Barley.

As a child I hated Barley (and still do) but I defer to her abilities so a hand full of Barley would add a touch.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 12:55 AM

I eat a lot less meat than I used to. At one time it was a chicken breast on each plate along with the rest of the meal and the entire breast would be eaten by each person. A steak, a large pork chop.

I baked a chicken breast with ribs yesterday and stored it in the fridge to use for the next couple of days. I picked up some hot fresh corn tortillas this evening so I shredded part of that breast (about 2/3 of the meat), seasoned it, and rolled it into eight tortilla "flautas" that are fried in shallow oil. Two is plenty for a meal, topped with guacamole, sour cream, some hot sauce and some chopped iceberg lettuce (good for dishes like this because it adds a crisp topping). There are three more meals to go from the rest I stored in the fridge, and the rest of the chicken might go in a sandwich, might be sliced and put in marinara sauce on pasta, etc.

There are still times I will eat a larger portion of the protein part of the meal - it more often has to do with fish than meat.

Have others noticed this tendency? I think for me it has to do with cutting back on meat because of awareness of how meat is processed, handled, and most importantly, raised. Meals usually cost less with less meat, and certainly I get a lot more groceries for the dollar if I'm not buying meat every trip to the grocery store. And it isn't healthy to eat as much as we used to.

I haven't caught up with every post lately, so apologies if you've already discussed this recently.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 01:48 PM

So, Raggytash, with respect to brisket, you belong to the European/Jewish faction that prefers to braise? Do you know anything about “breaking down” a packer brisket — I.e., separating the flat from the point?

I’m more and more convinced that I should freeze the whole thing and cook it whole, when we have the five thousand to feed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 03:21 PM

My first bit of advice regarding brisket would be DON'T cut the fat off. It's delicious. Especially after long slow cooking.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 04:16 PM

You must keep the fat if you're going to cook the brisket barbecue fashion. I used to buy sandwiches from an early version of a food truck (back in the 1980s) - the guy told me that sometimes people brought him meat to barbecue for them but they'd cut off too much fat and he'd have to find some extra from one of his to add to it, to keep the meat tender through the slow process.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 06:59 PM

When discussing brisket we should be clear as to whether we're talking about cooking it "flat" or cooking it rolled. Mrs Steve and I wouldn't cook huge hunks of brisket as we'd never munch our way through it all. My ideal, for two, would be a piece weighing about a kilo or just a bit over. One hot, one cold. And it would invariably be rolled and tied in our house. I agree about leaving the fat on, though I always insist that there is only a limited amount of sinew inside the roll.

I brown the brisket all round in my Le Creuset deep casserole with butter (snug fit necessary) then remove the meat. In the meaty pan I then add some roughly chopped carrot, onion and celery, along with about 100g of pancetta cubes, frying that lot hotly for about five minutes. If it needs more butter, it needs more butter. Then I need some stock, enough to go halfway up the piece of beef. I don't go a bundle on stock cubes, so I might make a veg stock by boiling up any scruffy celery, carrots and onions I have, along with a bay leaf, thyme and parsley, and, crucially, the soaking water from a handful of dried ceps (beware sand in the bottom of your ceps soaking water). You can chuck the mushrooms in as well if you like, but that isn't to my taste.

Put the brisket back in, on top of the veg, and season well. You definitely need a bouquet garni (a bunch of parsley, thyme and a bay leaf, tied with string). Add the stock up to halfway up the joint. Bring it to the simmer. Stick the casserole, lid on, in a low oven (maybe 130 C) for a good four hours. The lid should be really well sealed, so a piece of foil on the pan, then the lid, is good.

About once an hour, turn the brisket over.

This is grand with mashed potatoes and a simple green veg. You'll have all the sumptuous gravy you need.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Sep 20 - 08:19 PM

So.

Following instructions from an Australian caterer's video (the only one with the camera pointing down at the meat so I could see what she was doing), I separated the flat of the brisket from the point, and took off a lot of the fat, concentrating on the big hard lumps that don't render out. Leaving a substantial quantity behind, I still removed about two kilos of fat from 6.5 kilos of brisket.

The two pieces -- flat and point -- are now in the freezer until the appropriate occasion comes up.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, I made a leek and potato soup (also contains celery, onion and carrot, so not canonical) using stock from a ham hock I cooked a couple of weeks ago to go with beans. With thyme, black pepper and a little allspice, the flavour is quite boffo.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 29 Sep 20 - 04:39 AM

Steve has it right Charmion.

My Grandmother would put it in the oven before she went to Mass at 8.30 ready for Sunday Lunch at 1 O'clock.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Sep 20 - 10:44 AM

I use Steve's technique for pot-roast, Raggy, usually with a cut we in Canada call a chuck roast that is otherwise good for little but hamburger.

Brisket is the cut used for pastrami, known here (and very popular) as Montreal smoked meat, so it isn't widely available in supermarkets -- the delicatessen people grab most of them. But our local Sobey's occasionally gets a shed-load of large hunks of meat, such as whole beef tenderloins, so I always look in the Deal of the Day area when hunting and gathering. This brisket is the first I have ever seen that was not a special order and the centrepiece of somebody's garden party. I ascribe its appearance to the growing popularity of American-style barbecue, by which I mean low-temperature cooking with smoke.

Such a huge cut of meat is what I call rich people's economy. With the more common whole beef tenderloin, for example, you pay a risible price per pound and break it down yourself, thus obtaining at least a dozen servings of fillet steak plus super-lean off-cuts to put in your mince. BUT you have to be able to cough up a substantial sum (more than Cdn$75.00) without time to plan for it, you need freezer space to store what you don't eat immediately, and you need the kitchen skills to cut it up and trim it correctly, and then cook it properly.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Oct 20 - 01:48 PM

Here's a recipe I invented for chuck roast. You need to buy a bag of cranberries in the autumn.

one slow-cooker liner
one chuck roast
some cranberries
1 Tablespoon molasses
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Line the slow cooker. Remove excess fat from the chuck roast, place it in the cooker. Place cranberries all over the top of the meat. Slow-cook on low 8 -9 hours or until tender. Just before dining, remove the roast to rest a while. Stir in the molasses. Wet the cinnamon and add to the liquid.

Slice the meat across the grain and serve with noodles.

(I like to chill the meat overnight and remove the fat from the liquid.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Oct 20 - 02:05 PM

I should mention that one must be careful with slow-cooker liners. They save a lot of clean-up, but if you lift the batch out of the pot while still in the liner, the liner can break, possibly dumping the hot food and causing bad burns. (I've had one break, but I wasn't burned.)

To refrigerate the food, the best idea is to set the cooker in the sink, then lift the bag out while slipping the bowl under the bag as it comes out. Use a thin bowl, such as a steel one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Oct 20 - 02:08 PM

Why bother with the liner, Leeneia? Washing a crock-pot isn’t all that difficult, surely?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 01 Oct 20 - 03:07 PM

And don't remove the fat - even if you can't bring yourself to eat it, the meat will taste all the better for having been cooked with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Oct 20 - 04:41 PM

Lamb bacon. Just sayin.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Oct 20 - 01:06 PM

And where do you obtain lamb bacon, Mrrzy? The idea has appeal, I must admit.

This weekend, I shall try braising lamb shanks in our new Kamado Joe cooker. I have a recipe, and I'm not afraid to use it. (Yes, a pan is involved, and it sits on the grill. The idea is to infuse the braising shanks with delicious smoke flavour.)

I am still learning about effective use of charcoal in the kamado; only the largest chunks are truly efficient because of the need for airflow through the fuel basket. After 20 years of cooking on a gas grill hooked into the house fuel supply, I'm still coming to terms with the price of charcoal, especially the large-lump kind the kamado needs. Guess what? It's the most expensive kind there is.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Oct 20 - 12:21 AM

Re: the beef

There will be enough fat to make the dish rich and tasty.

If beef is cooked in the slow cooker for a long time, a tough, burned-on ring will form all the way around. Both my slow cookers are quite heavy and awkward to handle. So I use a liner.

A few years ago I decided that after fifty years of cooking I could spend a little money making cleanup easier. So I buy the following:

slow-cooker and oven-roasting bags
parchment paper for under roasting meats
disposable gloves for really icky jobs
non-stick spray as necessary

I don't want to be a person who gets too old and tired and quits cooking.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Oct 20 - 11:21 AM

Farmer's market, Charmion. I have been eating the Uncured but might try the Smoked next time.
How it can taste like both bacon and lamb simultaneously is beyond me. Sooooo goooooood.

Small adventure of the day: decided to pound my flank steak flatter before marinating it. Stuck it in the big ziplock [unsealed] bag I was gonna use for marinating it, and pounded it. It got a little bigger but not a lot thinner, but hey. Took meat back out of bag and put all the dry stuff in (onion and garlic powder, hot paprika, marjoram oregano savory, salt) and picked up the bag to mix those before adding oil and vinegar, and it went EVERYWHERE ... I had split the bottom of the bag pounding, and not noticed.

So got what was left into a new bag, mixed, added some vinegar and a a little more oil, mushed in all into a paste, spread it out around the bag, put the meat in, squished it all around, it is now sitting in the fridge. I will flip and resquish every few hours till dinnertime.

Cleaning up was a riot. Someone is gonna have to move my stove, a bunch went between it and the counter. And my socks smell marvy!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Oct 20 - 11:43 AM

I have made that mistake more than once, Mrrzy. Somehow, it never happens in a spot where the fall-out won't land under and behind the stove or fridge. Murphy's Law in action.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: sciencegeek
Date: 03 Oct 20 - 05:58 PM

just had my first bowl of stuffed pepper soup, something I've only seen locally here by Lake Erie...

nice thick soup perfect for this cold, damp day and seems simple enough to make at home:

diced green pepper, ground beef, rice, diced onion, chopped tomato and some canned tomato sauce or puree... saute ingredients and then long simmering or use crock pot... minimal seasoning and serve with fresh bread

to me, it tastes better than having stuffed peppers which never seemed to meld the flavors in an enjoyable fashion

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Oct 20 - 06:02 PM

I was thumbing through recipes in my old Fanny Farmer Cookbook and noticed one I've never even read through on the same page as my favorite sweet potato recipe (deLux, with marshmallows).

It's a potato (Irish) recipe that I'll give a try and if it works I'll report back.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Oct 20 - 11:47 PM

I make a pan-fried sliced potato regularly, sauté in olive oil usually, and lots of spices added, including smoky paprika. Today I was looking at the potato recipes in the book above and spotted "Lyonnaise potatoes." I tried making it according to that recipe and didn't end up with what it suggested I would - apparently if you mix everything just right and cook really slowly the bottom browns and it cooks together enough to be "flipped over like an omelet." Didn't happen, and it came out a little too caramelized, but is still edible. I then turned to YouTube.

The version I see there uses either uncooked or or sliced previously boiled potatoes, plus the onions and the butter and salt and pepper. And I'll make it in the way I do my regular pan-fried potatoes, just adding the onion after the potatoes have partly browned so they don't burn. (The recipe demonstrated on "Cooks Country" will work just fine for me, but no layer of potatoes like the book suggests.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 04 Oct 20 - 12:16 PM

Easy remedy Stilly River Sage, cook the potatoes in one pan and the onions in another and then mix!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Oct 20 - 01:21 PM

The flank steak was yum, despite adventure.

It is the only cut of beef I make well. Most of my steaks are tough.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Oct 20 - 10:53 PM

I regularly make a dish with onion, green peppers, broken up Italian sausage, cut up zucchini or calabash or yellow squash, and tomato sauce. Instead of diced tomatoes I used a can of pureed tomatoes that needed to be used and it came out a bit thick and intense, so I cooked a pot of pasta to stir in and it came out pretty good. I also dropped some balls of mozzarella that needs to be used (fresh) and grated a fair amount of Parmesan to give it a little kick. It'll take a while for the skillet to soak before it all comes off.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 06 Oct 20 - 10:10 AM

That sounds like a delicious and healthful, recipe, SRS, especially on a cool autumn day like today.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Oct 20 - 10:19 AM

Stilly, I would make your sorta frittata in a non-stick skillet, but I'm lazy like that.

I'm waiting for a dry day to try a new cooking technique: "smoke braising". I found an interesting recipe for lamb shanks with, as the author puts it, "Asian flavours"; the shanks are half-immersed in a spiced marinade of soy sauce, sesame oil and Shaoxing wine and cooked in a smoker burning at about 225 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 to 10 hours. I hate tending the barbecue in the rain so I have put it off twice, but even in the fridge the thawed lamb shanks won't keep much longer. Environment Canada promises only "30% chance of rain" tomorrow (it's raining pitchforks today), so here's hoping.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Oct 20 - 10:55 AM

Sounds marvy.

Made tough beef again despite marinating and pounding. I should stick to other meats. Don't know what I do wrong with beef. The stew was *delish* though.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: sciencegeek
Date: 08 Oct 20 - 07:11 AM

hard meatballs or dumplings like matzo balls is directly tied to how much compression they receive... which is why so may commercially made meatballs are so tough - the machine squeezes them too much...

the mixture needs to be blended but not overworked... then take whatever amount you need for the size you want and lightly roll in your hands to shape them...

adding breadcrumbs or shredded bread will lighten them if they are allowed to soak up moisture prior to forming the balls and cooking... just like a boiled pudding or dumpling, outside moisture penetration requires along period of simmering to fully cook and that's tough on the meat because the natural fats get removed in the process... it's a balancing act... just like all the seasoning should be in the mix before cooking, they will only pick up a small amount of flavoring from the cooking water, sauce or gravy unless the cooking process is a long one ... though using a pressure cooker may have a different result - never used one for that

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Oct 20 - 09:16 AM

Blue sky in Stratford, lamb shanks in the Kamado, fingers crossed.

I bought myself an electronic gadget that monitors both the cooking temperature inside the barbecue and the temperature inside the food. Today I’m giving it its maiden voyage. The leaflet that came with it says it was designed for “competition cooking” — what a laugh! I just care about not wasting some very expensive meat, not to speak of my valuable time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 08 Oct 20 - 11:55 AM

I hope your device works, Charmion. Won't it be nice to have meat that's been perfectly barbecued?
==========
My newspaper and its relatives are running a recipe contest with a top prize of $500. I have submitted four:

Beef Arm Roast with Cranberries
Cornish Hens with Dill
Chili for the Choir
Basil Bread

The recipes have to be original or one's own adaptation. I figure the chili and the bread are different enough to be adaptations.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Oct 20 - 06:10 PM

Good luck with the competition!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Oct 20 - 10:40 AM

Chili for the choir? Lotsa beans?

Ideas for my boar roast?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Oct 20 - 12:11 PM

What cut is your hunk of boar, Mrrzy? Is it marbled with fat, or very lean? Does it have bones?

My experiment with electronic monitoring of the barbecue was more frustrating than helpful. The gadget has two probes, one for the food and the other for the air at grill level inside the barbecue. The aneroid thermometer mounted in the dome of the kamado has a sensor that reaches well into the interior space, but it is several inches above the grill and, of course, only about two inches from the inside of the dome itself, which was losing heat to the chilly outside air.

The electronic sensor clipped to the grill reported a temperature some 30 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit above the temperature shown on dome thermometer. What to think?

The lamb shanks were good. Not great, but good. Himself thought they were boffo, but his appreciation was not affected by the effort I had to invest in the preparation, not to speak of the (not inconsiderable) cost of the charcoal. The next time I cook lamb shanks like that, I'll put them in the oven and save myself a lot of trouble and mess.

For my next trick, by Monday I have to confect a Thanksgiving dessert that is (a) portable and (b) not pie. Suggestions?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Oct 20 - 12:21 PM

You could do hand pies. Apple turnovers. Cranberry bars.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Oct 20 - 12:58 PM

It says it is a roast. I think it might be twined so it might also be rolled. No bone. About 2 lbs.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Oct 20 - 07:37 PM

If it’s twined, it’s rolled. If you don’t see any fat innit, I suggest wrapping it with bacon and roasting it gently in a low oven, about 300F. Use a meat thermometer to ensure that it’s well done but not overdone.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Oct 20 - 11:31 PM

I am reporting back.

So I read a lot of recipes and then did my own thing, which was to sear the roast on all sides in duck fat then put it in a loaf pan on top of some sliced onion and shallot. Then I put on top onion powder and garlic powder to thicken the eventual gravy, and marjoram oregano savory, stuck a tomato in chunks down the sides, and poured in red wine about 2/3 up, lid on, into 275 oven. After about 45 mn I flipped it, took it out of the oven after about another 45 mn, took roast out onto foil and poured sauce into saucepan to boil down while I sauteed some asparagus in snail butter. Sliced roast into 4, put the two middle underdone slices back into the oven for 15 mn while guest and I ate the ends which were perfect with the asparagus and soubise [render onions in butter, toast rice, add (2xrice, the more rice the less liquid) hot broth, reduce to low, cook 20mn without lifting lid]. So that was at about 7:30 that I turned the oven and asparagus and sauce burners off and we ate.

And it was *delish* - chewy but not tough, not all all dry. Asparagus rules, soubise sopped sauce, success.

Then we had some chocolate-covered things and watched an odd Australian movie, then we talked about grief for a while, then we had some ice cream, then guest left at about 11. At which point I realized I had never turned off the burner under the rice.

Luckily I always make a lot of rice so there will be leftovers for fried rice. And the burner was on Low...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Oct 20 - 02:51 PM

Said rescued leftover rice, with its odor of the burned bottom, tasted like it had been cooked on the barbie. Wonderful! *Not* recommending the recipe, however.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Oct 20 - 03:53 PM

Rice cooked to crisp not quite scorched condition on the the bottom of the pan is called "pegao" and is fought over in Puerto Rican families. The rice is scooped onto a plate and the crisp part is set on top and everyone dives for it when the plate is set on the table. Woe to the cook who puts that pot in the sink before the rice is chipped out!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Oct 20 - 01:27 PM

Today is the day to make dill pickles.

My garden produced mostly tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers this year. I'm freezing peppers (the poblano are really happy right now and growing profusely; I'll pick them right before the first frost to get the most size on them). Last night I made chicken fajitas with a bunch of those poblanos, onion, and shredded chicken. The garlic in it was also from my garden. There were some years when the onions were also from the garden, but this year they're a bit too deep and behaving more like leeks.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Oct 20 - 04:39 PM

I'm blessed with white rot fungus in my soil, which has black spores that live for twenty years. So I can't grow onions, leeks or garlic. I can buy pretty good leeks and onions these days, but I lament the quality of shop garlic. Very hit or miss.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: sciencegeek
Date: 11 Oct 20 - 07:16 PM

Steve... I had a similar problem with damp clay soils and cold wet spring weather that changes to baking heat - so I went to raised beds and container cropping... I found non woven growing bags of differing sizes and grow my Egyptian onions, garlic and other kitchen crops in them using potting mix, sand and compost... they are easy to fill, move around and being porous they don't drown my seedlings and not expensive to buy in bulk. I just put in 100 saffron crocus bulbs in a bunch of them and they are taking off just fine.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 02:17 AM

I buy garlic at any Asian grocers stall in Westgate Market in Bradford, it's 5 times the quality and 10 times cheaper than any British supermarket, they sell it by the pound, not 30 or 35 pence per clove which is a total rip off.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 10:38 AM

Well Dave, there are many glories in this beautiful, remote bit of north Cornwall, but, sadly, Asian grocers' stalls are not among them. Maybe I should convert a piece of flower bed that's never seen an Allium into a garlic patch...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 04:26 PM

I did hope I had accidentally made pegao! But no.

And it is not coming out. Tricks? It was a new pot.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 08:28 PM

It would be interesting to hear others' takes on ragu/bolognese sauce recipes. What meat? Milk? Chicken livers? Wine? Herbs?

Mine has half pork, half beef, one 400g tin of tomatoes for every pound of meat, about 50g diced pancetta per pound of meat, a large white onion per pound of meat and some bashed garlic cloves (never minced or crushed). I start off with a soffritto of fairly finely-chopped carrots, celery and that white onion in equal amounts. The pancetta goes in with that as well. After about twenty minutes the meat goes in, stirred and broken up until it's browned all through, then the garlic. Then the tomatoes go in, with a teaspoon of sugar, along with about 130ml chicken stock to each pound of meat and some seasoning. I'm a bit reluctant to add wine so I don't add much, and red or white, who cares. I don't add any herbs until the very end when I chuck in some torn basil leaves. The whole lot is simmered for about three hours uncovered. No milk or chicken livers for me.

There are heated family disputes here. If it were down to me I'd leave out the garlic, but I've had to compromise, adding it bashed but never crushed. I refuse to add any dried herbs. No compromise there. They insist on red wine, so I use it, but a splash only. My son objects to the pork (not on religious grounds), but he doesn't seem to notice that I've used it. My five-year-old grandson objects to the "green bits" (the basil), as Daddy uses the horrendous dried stuff which doesn't show up green. And they all want it served on spaghetti, which is anathema. It has to be pappardelle or fettuccine for me, but I lost that one long ago. I throw the pasta into the sauce and mix thoroughly, whereas my son heaps the sauce onto the middle of a pile of spaghetti. Useless. And there's only one way to eat it, and that's slurped with a fork only. I smirk in the general direction of anyone employing a spoon, or, worse, a knife. At least we're all agreed that freshly grated Parmesan is de rigeur. None of that inferior grana padano muck, and definely never ready-grated. A little drizzle of the best olive oil on top is nice, along with a little scattering of baby basil leaves, but such things are optional.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Oct 20 - 09:31 PM

What is your distinction between bashing and crushing? I bash mine *to* crush them. Or did you mean like in a garlic press? Infernal machines, those.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 04:31 AM

Either bashing it with my meat mallet (putting cling film on top first) or squashing it with the flat of a knife. The second method is more eco-friendly, thought I'm so clumsy that bits of garlic usually end up shooting all over the kitchen. There's a garlic crusher in the drawer somewhere but it rarely sees the light of day.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 05:34 AM

Someone once bought me a tiny ceramic dish with a very rough inner surface, to be used for rubbing garlic cloves. It's a lovely ornament full stop. One very useful piece of kit I have is a flexible silicone tube about three inches long. You put an unpeeled clove into it then roll it on the worktop. Miraculously, the clove emerges perfectly peeled and your fingers remain untainted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 06:11 AM

Incidentally, I abhor the practice of putting a bowl of grated Parmesan on the table to be passed around. The cook grates on the Parmesan, preferably at the table, but in the kitchen will do. And I don't expect to be asked for extra! Again, this is a battle I lost long ago...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 07:15 AM

Right now I’m hardly eating at all. Stress does that to me.

The regular crew here knows what’s happened in my part of the forest, so I won’t say more on that.

I’m looking at a pantry, fridge and freezer packed with food I know I will never eat now — starting with all that brisket, now vacuum-sealed and neatly frozen. Big tins of tomatoes and chickpeas can go to the food bank, but what about two kilos of moong dal in a canister? Four kilos of bread flour?

I know I will eventually start making and eating bread again, but right now the very idea makes me feel ill. Whole-wheat flour is perishable ... What to do?

Suggestions would be welcome.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 07:24 AM

If you have the space in the freezer make bread and freeze it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 07:26 AM

Howdy Charmion...

For what it's worth, I've always found that the use-by dates on bags of bread flour this end can be ignored for two or three months. Mind you, I use a bread machine. Dunno whether that makes any difference.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jeri
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 08:39 AM

If you keep the flour away from moisture and insects, it'll last forever. "Use by" dates are when the company that makes them will ensure quality, because they can't guarantee your storage conditions.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 09:20 AM

I love my silicone tube garlic peely thing.
Charmion, thank you for posting. I am thinking of suggestions but they all come up against the pandemic, like inviting peple over to cook something, or asking around the soup kitchens. I will keep thinking.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 02:48 PM

Charmion, I know you will be feeling as if life has come to an end, but it hasn't. There will come a time when there will be friends to invite and cook for. You needn't dispose of everything. Just keep them for later on.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 06:03 PM

Whole wheat flour turns rancid unlike white flour; I would bag it in freezer ziplock bags and put it in the freezer.

Charmion, if you're not feeling like cooking or baking for yourself, do yourself the favor of picking up a couple of small baked good next time you're out, and a take-out meal or two. Or check the freezer section for some prepared foods - they've gotten better over the years. Having something ready to go, to toast or microwave or bake makes eating easier and more tempting. You probably won't ever eat lamb shanks again, so set those aside.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Oct 20 - 09:32 PM

Found this in the Peeves thread, from the 11th:


Ok forgot to get asparagus so there I was with my crab, and no crab and asparagus soup on this cold and rainy day. So farmers' market lettuce and tomatoes, crab, half an avocado, a handful of almonds and my vinaigrette made a great salad. But I am still cold, and it is still rainy. Poor Charmion.

Addendum: today was gorgeous but my heart is still rainy. Sauteed mushrooms with half the leftover boar with thyme and a little white wine. Pas mal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 14 Oct 20 - 04:13 PM

Here's something new. A number of American newspapers are having a contest for original recipes, either main dish, side dish or dessert. The recipe can be one you invented from scratch or modified from an existing recipe.

There are several prizes of $100 and one of $500. I have submitted four so far, mostly for the fun of it and for something to do. It will be nice if some of my creations show up in a national cookbook.

You can submit here: https://www.kansascity.com/stuffyourpockets
=================
Charmion, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 06:49 AM

With regard to flour it does deteriorate quite dramatically if not used within a very short period.

If I haven't used flour within 3 months of purchase I tend to bin it.

I know the "shelf life" is supposed to be 12 months but I wouldn't dream of using flour that old.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 07:20 AM

Raggytash, when you write that, do you mean all flour, whether white or whole-grain?

I keep the whole-wheat and rye flours in airtight plastic containers in the refrigerator to reduce the risk of weevils and rancidity. We have always gone through bread flour (high-gluten white from hard wheat) at a fair clip, so I store that in a three-gallon earthenware crock on the pantry shelf.

If I really have to bin it, how would you go about disposing of six or so kilos of flour?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 08:01 AM

Keeping it airtight is a good idea, but I wouldn't keep it in the fridge. Every time you open a bag of cold flour a certain amount of condensation will ensue, which will shorten its shelf life.

As for disposing of flour, have you got any friends who may be going to Republican rallies? ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 08:47 AM

In my kitchen Charmion that means all flour. Having said that I throw very little away!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 09:18 AM

I keep flour for years as I rarely use it. Never had it be weird. In Abidjan you had to sift the worms out but not here...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 10:06 AM

Thanks for the tip, Steve. Okay, I'll move it to the pantry, and start baking again when I feel like eating again. I'm giving myself a fortnight to stay freaked out before I set about the un-freaking process.

I can put ground caraway in the rye bread now, and have steamed spinach for super. Edmund hated caraway and cooked spinach.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 01:18 PM

Charmion - I've got flour in my cupboard that's rather more than a decade old, still in the packet, still fine. As for bread flour, I only make bread intermittently these past few years because I eat so little of it now (it's easier to stick a "reduced" sliced loaf in the freezer, even if it is commercial cardboard! ;-) ). But I stopped using bread flour long ago.

Have you ever tried using ordinary flour? The gluten is only there to aid the 'rise'. If you use ordinary flour, you simply get a denser, chewier loaf. It's still perfectly good bread! One possible use for that 10lbs+ (what is this kilo thing, woman? ;-) ). Add cheese! Add onions! Add mustard, pepper, anything you like! If the only alternative is the compost bin (or fork it straight into the veg patch; I'm assuming one or t'other is available), you might as well experiment, right? ;-)

P.S. Worked out the Edmund reference after a pause. Condolences. My appetite, too, is the first thing that disappears when I feel manky. But what would you want him to do if things were reversed? Get on with things? Take a deep breath and... Keep reminding yourself that he still lives, if only in many people's hearts! ;-)

P.P.S. I'm still trying to use up last year's onions (so 14 months old). Lunch today was a couple of onions, some red cabbage & celery (ditto to the 'eating up'), spinach that was only on the field 3 days ago, stock, plenty of tarragon, and a smoked haddock fillet. All souped with a couple of tsps of (ordinary!) flour to thicken a little. Tasted alright to me! But I shan't submit to Kansas City - I'm sure I'd be disqualified (under Trumpery) as a 'bloody foreigner'! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 02:56 PM

In Canada, Raedwulf, we are kinda sorta metric -- bulk foodstuffs such as flour are sold by the kilo, and we use American recipes so we measure out eight-ounce cups of it to make up our bread dough. Unless we have been to cooking school, in which case we do everything by weight and measure it out by the kilo and the gram, thus saving a heck of a lot of washing-up. I'm lazy like that, so, when I went to the Stratford Chef School to learn sourdough baking, I adopted the scale method with a glad cry.

In re: bread flour vs. all-purpose flour -- Most Canadian wheat is the hard, cold-climate type (Durum) that is particularly high in gluten, which is why mass-produced pasta the world over is generally made of Canadian flour. All-purpose flour here is half Durum and half soft wheat that could come from pretty well anywhere. If I buy flour from the mill at Arva about 40 km down the highway, which I try to do whenever I need flour, it's local Durum.

As for Edmund and feeling manky, in the 25 years I knew him, he was never manky once, let alone manky enough to be off his feed. The night he died, he put away most of a rib-eye steak with a heap of stir-fried veg and half a bottle of rather decent claret, and looked around for dessert before remembering that we had both taken a solemn vow to lose the five or so kilos of flab we put on while the whole province was locked down and the gyms were closed. But you're quite right; he always fussed and fumed when I was sick with bronchitis and not eating because the disease knocked out my olfactory functions.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 03:35 PM

Yeah, I know all that, Charmion. In Canada, you're kinda sorta, well, you're Canada, ain'tcha? ;-) The point being that (laugh! I'm teasing!! ;-) ) you might as well experiment with that flour as bin it. Even if you don't currently feel in Evil Ruler of the World mode, you can always experiment on whoever's nearby by feeding them your latest etcetera, right? ;-) And you never know. You can hardly not be tempted to have a little nibble yourself, and maybe things start to fire again...

Take a deep breath & go for it, girl! Little as I knew him here, I'm bloody sure CET will be cheering you on! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 04:19 PM

Charmion, how about calling up a food pantry and asking if they would like the food, either for clients or for staff. If they come and get it, you will be saved some hard work.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Oct 20 - 10:57 PM

Leeneia, I would, but the stuff I’m most concerned about isn’t in its original packaging, but in big Mason jars and plastic canisters with airtight lids. Would the food bank accept two kilos of moong dal in a large jar, especially if I want my jar back?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Oct 20 - 09:05 AM

I would ask the food bank.

I tried to go apple picking but they would only let you pick a peck and I did not want 10lbs of apples so I wandered through the store and decuded to taste-test a bunch of unfamiliar apples. I took pix of the signs but when I got them home realized I can't tell the 3 reddish varieties apart. I think one is Stayman one Jonagold one Winesap. I recognize the Ambrosia and the Candy Crisp.
So far I ate one small reddish... Quite apple-y but a little astringent, excellent crunxh and juiciness. Next time I'll mark them or something.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 17 Oct 20 - 12:57 PM

Charmion, I've been thinking back to when my father died, and my mother was overwhelmed. She got help from a local Senior Center, who often counseled her that it was too soon for her to deal with the things she was worried about. And she thought it over and agreed.

Right now I think it is too soon for you to be worrying about the food. It will wait a couple of months. For the few things that won't keep, put it in a Ziploc bag and give it to someone you know.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Oct 20 - 07:50 PM

Dinner tonight - I have a few packages of Hillshire Farms cheddarwurst that I picked up from the freezer section in my local gourmet discount grocery. They're ok on occasion - today I buttered and added garlic powder to a split roll (like a hoagie of bolillo rolls) that I broiled then added a couple of spears of my homemade tart garlic fresh pickles on the bun. Pickles really improved the experience, the tart with the salty cheesy of the sausage. Washed down with a Negra Modelo beer.

Meanwhile, on the stove a big pot of beans is simmering, so far the red kidney beans, water, bay leaf from my tree in the yard, and a ham hock. I'll add the sofrito and meat and such later. This is the big pot that will later be measured into 12 ounce jars and frozen. I used to take a jar to work for lunch along with a container of rice. It still makes sense to measure it out this way because those meals can be eaten at home and it's way too many beans to try to eat in a few days. And who knows how to make a small batch of beans, anyway?

The beans will have peppers from the garden (the poblano are producing heavily right now). I have canned tomatoes from last summer to use also.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Oct 20 - 07:52 PM

Okay, leeneia. I’ll stop fussing about it.

My brothers and their wives came all the way from Ottawa for the funeral — an eight-hour day of travel each way and no fun. One of my sisters-in-law made eggs Benedict for all of us before they set out out on the return journey, a tour de force. Her Hollandaise sauce is to die for, actually worth the calories.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Oct 20 - 07:58 PM

"Garlic powder"?? What the hell is that??

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jeri
Date: 17 Oct 20 - 08:07 PM

Garlic powder - Wikipedia is a cool site that can answer many questions.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jeri
Date: 17 Oct 20 - 08:09 PM

I buy granulated garlic for those times when I'm out of the real stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Oct 20 - 04:21 AM

If I'm out of garlic the supermarket is three miles away. If that's all I need I'll save the planet and either manage without garlic or do a different dish. I do use ground spices such as paprika and chilli flakes and the one dried herb I'll use is oregano. I'm sure that the spice shelf at Morrison's has powdered garlic but my incurious eye has never strayed in that direction, and it never will!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 18 Oct 20 - 04:23 AM

I can't remember ever being out of the real stuff - at least not since about 1969, living in a place without supermarkets and where the local greengrocers (remember those?) hadn't heard of such exotic produce,

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Oct 20 - 04:24 AM

I've just read on wiki that you can keep garlic powder for FOUR YEARS.

Bwahahaha!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Oct 20 - 09:34 AM

I use onion powder and garlic powder instead of flour for dredging and thickening.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Oct 20 - 02:17 PM

What a food snob you are, Steve!

A Mrrzy just pointed out, the dried onion and garlic (what I have is granulated, the powder is a little to fly-away to use easily) are excellent for seasoning bread crumbs for breading and frying foods. They're a shortcut when you're doing a value-added spice adding to jar marinara sauce, etc. I must have about 15 pounds of the homegrown heads of garlic (with huge cloves) in the pantry, it's not like I don't have and don't use. And the way it's stored here, it lasts for 2 or 3 years - the fresh stuff.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Oct 20 - 06:27 PM

How am I a food snob when I can purchase a cuchina povera garlic bulb for about 20p all the year round? How is garlic powder an improvement on real garlic? I'm scratching my head here. A lot of my cooking is Italian. Tonight we had spaghetti with prawns, lemon, chilli, sundried tomatoes, garlic and rocket. The lemon was a fresh lemon with its juice and zest. The garlic was two cloves finely sliced straight into the hot extra virgin olive oil. The chilli was dried chilli flakes. The rocket was out of my garden. I got the spag perfectly al dente and Mrs Steve gave me 9.5 on ten (a half teaspoon too much lemon). We'd been out all day sitting with my Mum in hospital 50 miles away, which is why I had to resort to dried chilli flakes. The whole thing took me twelve minutes. Why would I cut corners using abject dried garlic? You'll be telling me next to use bottled lemon juice...

Good cooking means not cutting corners via processed ingredients. I will not use dried garlic or any dried herb bar oregano, which works brilliantly for reasons I know not why. I won't use lemon juice out of a bottle. It isn't proper lemon juice. Dull as ditchwater. One of those cushion bags of rocket? Useless. Either grow your own (in my garden I can't stop it) or don't bother. These things make a massive difference. It took me one minute to finely slice two garlic cloves, and my fingers smelled beautifully of cooking. It took me twenty seconds to squeeze the juice from a real lemon. Cut corners and you lose all the joy of real cooking. Anyway, that's what I think...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Oct 20 - 10:31 PM

I must say, Steve Shaw, according to you there is no joy in all the cooking I do. How sad and limiting for you. I am filled with joy by my dried and my fresh herbs, by my fresh and my frozen veg, by my boiled chicken necks and my better than bouillon... but not by yeast, which refuses to cooperate.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: sciencegeek
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 02:32 AM

dried spices and herbs fill a niche and here in the USA can be found everywhere that sells food... and that includes what we call dollar stores...

and it's a sad fact that in spite of being a wealthy country, that wealth does not reach down to many people who live virtually hand to mouth...

without transportation, many live in cities and have little access to fresh produce, etc.... and packaged processed food needs all the help it can get

I grew up with dried garlic and onion powders along with various Italian dried herbs... when used in cooking it works just fine and is very cost effective and time saving for the cook who might have plenty of other things that need doing

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 02:50 AM

I can see the point in dried herbs but dried garlic ? never come accross this, fresh garlic is so widely available dried seems superfluous.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 06:56 AM

Getting back to damsons, there's a hedging version called Shropshire Prune, a heavy fruiter with, I'm told, beautifully scented blossoms; if it's grown on Pixy rootstock it'll make a fine hedge for the garden, and then produce delicious fruit, which personally I make into jam; I've yet to try one recipe which includes walnuts.
I got presents of damsons and made them into jam this year; didn't try the damson gin, but if I do in some future year I'll do it without adding sugar (or pricking the fruit - the gin will get in there anyway). Made sloe gin a couple of years, with no sugar, and it was very good.
Charmian, deepest sympathy. Ar slí na fírinne anois é.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 10:27 AM

If you have mosquitos then dried garlic is your friend. Buy the largest container (granulated garlic is sold by the gallon in the warehouse clubs). Take off the lid but not the sealed safety lid. Instead, take a sharp pencil and pierce that safety lid a dozen or more times to turn it into a huge shaker. Then walk around the perimeter of the house and do a general sprinkling with the garlic. I do a zone about 10 feet in depth around the house. It repels mosquitoes for weeks, and only needs to be repeated about once a month. One of those containers will last for a long time because it isn't a dense layer of granulated garlic, it's simply sending that smell out. (The yard smells like an Italian restaurant after this application).

Science geek nailed it as far as the income and grocery resource distribution in the US. Regardless of the source of spices, or if they are fresh or not, if some type of seasonings are available and people can learn to use them then it's working.

This week I'm preparing to make a batch of relish, because the cucumbers are still producing. The poblano plants are leaning they're so full of beautiful peppers. Still getting a few okra and the onions and herbs are happy. Fall weather offers a second burst of growth in this part of the world. The batch of beans I made this weekend had garlic (fresh) and peppers (picked minutes before I used them) and bay leaf and oregano from the yard.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 10:54 AM

Egg nog is hardly ever called refreshing but if you use 1 part egg nog, 3 parts milk and half a teaspoon of Drambuie per 3oz. serving, its pretty good. I'm not a fan of nutmeg.
The kids love dipping their graham crackers in it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 01:13 PM

Charmion, I'm glad to hear that your siblings came for the funeral. Good for them.

The Hollandaise sounds wonderful. I used to make Bernaise (sp?) sauce from the Joy of Cooking. It was a revelation.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: sciencegeek
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 01:47 PM

didn't know you could use granulated garlic for pest control that way... but we did make a slurry out of it and dosed the cats with it to help with worms and flea control... we had cats that loved it sprinkled on their moist cat food... garlic breath you wouldn't believe lol

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 03:09 PM

I've heard of using a garlic infusion watered onto garden plants to deter slugs and snails, but never could bring myself to 'waste' good garlic. The same goes for beer traps - I'd rather drink the beer.
But I shall look for a source of cheap garlic powder or granules as I would have no qualms about sprinkling them all over my vegetable plot.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 04:13 PM

Well you can buy tubs of alleged "organic pest repellent" here (at considerable expense) that clearly pong of stale garlic. I can attest to the fact that they don't work.

Garlic is a beautiful thing. Roast it whole or in cloves (in foil with olive oil), throw unpeeled cloves into your Mediterranean roast potatoes (don't forget the rosemary sprigs), or in your one-tray baked chicken pieces, bash the cloves with your fist to chuck into stews, slice thinly to sauté in olive oil for your pasta dishes, stuff garlic pieces into nooks and crannies in your roast lamb, but always fresh garlic. And only ever mush it up, in very small quantities, for pesto. We buy little jars of garlic cloves in oil and herbs, Marché style, that we eat avidly in quantity. Garlic abuse should be a criminal offence to be dealt with by the nearest constable. No tubes of "garlic paste," no crushing cloves in a press for ragù, no dried garlic. I'm thinking of starting a change.org campaign...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 05:20 PM

You are a great chef but what about a baker Steve. I think a 3 Tier cake sounds good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 05:34 PM

Garlic Pepper Tea is a starting point for a sound organic program. It repels a lot of stuff.


Garlic Pepper Tea Recipe

This is an organic insect and disease control product made from the juice of garlic and hot peppers such as jalapeno, habanero or cayenne. It is one of the few preventative controls that I recommend. You would really have to use a lot of it to even hurt small beneficial insects and it is effective for both ornamental and food crops.

To make garlic-pepper tea, liquefy 2 bulbs of garlic and 2 hot peppers (hotter the better) in a blender 1/2 to 2/3 full of water. Strain the solids out and add enough water to the garlic-pepper juice to make 1 gallon of concentrate. Use 1/4 cup of this concentrate per gallon of spray. To make garlic tea, simply omit the pepper and add another bulb of garlic. Add two tablespoons of molasses for more effectiveness. To apply to plants, use a quart spray bottle, pump-up sprayer, trombone sprayer or backpack sprayer. Hose end sprayers are not great choices.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 06:52 PM

I'm a cook, not a chef.

Mrs Steve and I are currently enduring straitened times. My mother is in hospital an hour's drive away and is not going to come out. We have to go every day for many an hour to sit with her. There's just us, no-one else. Hospital rules, and they have coronavirus. To look after us I'm trying to prepare, in advance as much as possible, something healthy and nutritious for each evening when we get back late from the hospital. I can't bear the idea of resorting to junk food at a time like this. Last night we had spaghetti with lemon, prawns, chilli, garlic and rocket. Tomorrow we're having orecchiette con cime di rape, with home-grown tenderstem. Dead quick, dead easy, veggie. Tonight we had pasta with chickpeas (pasta e ceci). I prepared the whole thing last night bar the final adding of the pasta.

Forget tomatoes. You don't need them. No chilli either. For two people, a can and a half of chickpeas, rinsed. A smallish onion, chopped. Two cloves of bashed garlic (use your fist). Two sticks of celery, finely chopped. A good teaspoon or two of FRESH rosemary, chopped up. Your finest extra virgin olive oil. About 300ml chicken stock, preferably home-made.

Gently sauté the onion, rosemary, garlic and celery in a small glug of olive oil in a medium-size lidded saucepan. After about twenty minutes add the chickpeas and stock. Simmer that lot for about half an hour. Get a slotted spoon and remove about half of the chickpeas into a bowl. Blend the rest of the soup with whatever you use to blend. I swear by my stick blender. Put the reserved chickpeas back into the pan.

That's as far as I went with it last night.

So tonight I heated up the mix and seasoned it. Go easy on the black pepper but it does need some. When it was boiling, I threw in about 120g of small pasta (ditalini or mini-macaroni would be good, but all I had was a bag of small shell pasta. It was ideal). The mix thickened up a bit too much so I added a bit of boiling water. The pasta took about ten minutes to get to al dente. That lot went into two bowls and was drizzled with my finest EV olive oil and sprinkled with FRESH torn basil leaves. We had it with a bit of warm crusty ciabatta. It was a triumph. It sounds like it shouldn't be, but it was so easy, so delicious and so nutritious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Oct 20 - 08:14 PM

BY the way, I've got nothing against dried spices. I'm not a fan of middle-eastern cooking or of curries, though the very occasional blowout in a good Indian restaurant is something I do enjoy. I will use dried spices when they're called for. But most of my cooking doesn't call for them. I do use paprika, whether sweet, or hot, or smoked, and nutmeg occasionally. I grate fresh nutmeg and won't use powdered. I'm very wary of it. One grate too much can wreck a dish. I simply can't understand why anyone would use dried herbs (except for oregano). They grow so easily in gardens, containers or pots on the windowsill. Parsley freezes perfectly. Garlic can be bought for next to nothing all year round. Mrrzy castigates me for having this attitude. Mrrzy needs to know that cooking with shortcuts is hardly shortcuts at all. There's nothing so joyous as picking a sprig or two of fresh basil, even if it's from a pot on the windowsill, and sprinkling the torn leaves on top of a pasta dish or a pizza. You can't do proper Italian cookery with dried basil, dried parsley, dried garlic or dried thyme. And in this day and age there is simply no excuse for trying to do so. I live in a remote part of England that totally lacks shops of non-British ethnicity. But our supermarket has all the fresh herbs you could ever wish for. They may not be as good as what you grow yourself. But they're a damn sight better that those abject little jars of dried herbs that bear little resemblance to the fresh article. Nothing sad about me, mate. I've been there with all that processed, dried crap. I've moved on and it's been a revelation. Have a go. Your first task is to bin any dried basil that resides in your house. No self-respecting Italian cook would ever use that, and, though you might think you can, you can't improve on real Italian cooking with your dried herbs!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 12:32 AM

Several years ago I bought a pot of fresh basil and had it sitting on the kitchen windowsill, handy to pluck a leaf or two. After a couple of days Himself and I both noticed a very objectionable smell, as though a cat had sprayed around the kitchen - and we realised it was the pot of basil. From that day on, fresh basil has never seen the inside of my kitchen.

I don't enjoy the smell of cat wee in my food.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 06:43 AM

Occasionally a bought pot of basil will start to get blackened leaves after only a few days for some reason. The plants are crowded together in the pot and it isn't unknown for rot to set in at the stem bases. They're not supposed to be long-term plants. You can't beat basil from the garden, but you have to have the right climate. I've never had a cat-wee smell from basil, though I've had it occasionally from potted begonias, and I have horrible mildew on a gerbera just now. Stuff happens. Try again!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 06:57 AM

By the way, after I've ravaged a potted basil plant for cooking I put the pot outside somewhere sheltered and give it a good feed. I've had a few excellent "second crops" that way this summer, and the basil is actually better, by dint of fresh air and sunshine, then the first picking. I potted up two windowsill pots of parsley in June in larger pots outdoors (after rabbits had wrecked my first sowing) and now I'm swamped with freezer bags full of lovely frozen parsley ready for wintery tribulations.

A good tip I got from an Italian chef is to put those tough basil stalks in when you're making tomato sauce. You can fish them out at the end (count them in and count them out) and you get the benefit of lovely basil flavour in the sauce. The leaves can be torn into the sauce at the end or used for something else, pesto for example. Another great addition to cooking tomato sauce is an old Parmesan rind. After about half an hour in the sauce the cook gets the treat of a lovely, chewy bit of softened cheese, and the sauce ends up with added depth of flavour.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 08:15 AM

I live in a part of the world where fresh herbs are freely available in the garden, but only for about three months of the year. Even in a home greenhouse, tender annuals like basil and chervil don't stand a chance in an Ontario winter. Supermarkets of the better sort stock fresh herbs grown hydroponically in commercial greenhouses and they're the bomb, especially since the alternative is the abject little jar, which, incidentally, costs an alarming sum.

I favour dried oregano, too. Also dried thyme, pace Steve. But for rub mixes for steaks, ribs and other barbecued meat, either grilled or cooked "low and slow", there really is no substitute for dehydrated & granulated garlic and onion, and dried thyme goes in that, too. It's a style of cookery in which most fresh herbs are just wasted.

The daily combined route march and vigil Steve describes is a wicked trial of strength, both physical and mental. In my admittedly arrogant and unasked-for opinion, the cucina povera meals he describes are ideally suited: tasty, nutritious, creative and above all quick and easy to make *once you know how* (note emphasis) so you're not washing dishes at effing midnight.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 08:27 AM

Washing dishes at midnight? You have to be joking.
They'll be just as unpleasant next day so why spoil a lovely evening?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 08:37 AM

Very sorry to hear of your sad travails, Steve.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 09:07 AM

I didn't castigate, I said How sad. And it is sad that you insist [which by now you are] that I not find joy in my cooking. I *personally* find no joy in attempting to grow live plants, which I have tried, and having them all die, which they all have.

I would *never* try to tell people who grow fresh herbs and have fruit arbors and vegetable gardens that there is no joy in their cooking just because *I* am not fulfilled by what they do. I cook with as much farmer's market produce as I can, including the fresh herbs available, and I also cook extensively with dried herbs and spices, and fill myself, and the folks I feed, with joy in so doing. So there.

And how condescending of you to say I need to know cooking with shortcuts is hardly shortcuts at all. Do you grow your own black pepper, make your own ricotta for lasagna, harvest your own salt from the ocean? If not maybe you need to learn not to tell others what they need to learn. And if so, bully for you, but I still think you ought not tell others there is no joy in their way of cooking with purchased salt and pepper.

And separately from you being on my case, what is wrong with shortcuts? If it makes cooks happy and creates deliciousness, why *judge* how?

Ok back to me: fresh herbs in stores, since mine won't grow so I prefer not to grow them myself, are limited to dill, oregano, parsley, mint, and thyme, here. No fresh savory or marjoram or any of the other herbs I like to cook with. I do buy fresh parsley, mint, and dill, but prefer dried thyme and oregano. These bring me joy. If they don't bring *you* joy that does not make me *wrong* -just different. And vivent all the differences.

Ok back to recipes: Made a large batch of my now-famous crab and asparagus soup, alas with frozen corn as fresh corn is no longer available at my farmers' markets [but frozen allows me the joy of corn in my soup, ok, laying off Steve Shaw now {grin}] so as to be able to reheat the rest instead of making another single helping. Still delish but with a slightly different flavor and texture. An interesting experiment. And I am now out of red chili flakes.

Also I am discovering that hummous is yummy when plopped into all kinds of things, like a spoonful in a bowl of soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 09:29 AM

Easy, tiger. Each to his own. Let's remember that it's a cookery thread. Many a cook gets passionate about their way of doing things. The only time to get cross is when someone who thinks they are helping gets under your feet in the kitchen. Fresh herbs for ever!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 10:03 AM

A few weeks ago I needed fresh basil and couldn't find any so I strew a few seeds in a pot and now I have lots of basil. I've been thinning the plants as I use them. And I will pick and dry much of this crop because they won't survive the first frost. They're in several pots so one will attempt wintering in the sunroom (and will last for a little while before it dwindles), and one will go into the greenhouse where I hope to remember to go water it. I have a lot of oregano here that I picked and dried and use all of the time. When I am making things like focaccia or pizza I go pick fresh and chop and add it.

It took me about a week of careful meal selection to draw down the fridge contents since I'd ended up with more than usual after a happy return to more cooking when the weather cooled a couple of weeks ago. I have frozen jars of beans now and a container of rice that I'll use with meals for a few days. I tend to freeze meat in small portions (whole chicken breasts, leg quarters, beef cut into one pound pieces or into single serving size. I thaw a pound if I'm making soup or beans or something like that.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 10:29 AM

"The only time to get cross is when someone ... gets under your feet in the kitchen." Even when they *are* helping, cross-ness can be hard to resist.

My dear SIL kicked the cats' water dish while clearing the table of plates bedewed with her heavenly Hollandaise sauce. Then she was about to step in the spilled water ... I nearly lost it. I still feel small.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 11:33 AM

Each to his own, from Steve Shaw to me? That's rich.

I now have both hummus and tahini. Am going to start adding spoonsful of one or the other to, probably, everything savory.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 01:13 PM

You've had a bad shock, Charmion. It'll take a while to return to normal, I guess.
==========
Now would be a good time for folks to make my recipe for cassoulet, posted on Jan 19th.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 04:26 PM

Comfort food for lunch - a grilled cheese sandwich. I added a slice of ham (so had to put cheese on both sides so it would all stick together).

To be a perfect comfort food meal, of course, it would have also included a bowl of Campbell's cream of tomato soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 04:29 PM

Leeneia, I really like cassoulet, so I looked for your recipe posted 'on Jan 19th'.
After searching for about three hours (I am NOT exaggerating) I found this:

Simple cassoulet

Put a liner in a large slow cooker (easier cleanup)
Set 3-4 chicken thighs in it, flesh side down
Drain but don't rinse 1 or 2 cans great northern beans. Add.
Chop one half of an onion, add it
pour on one can tomatoes. I prefer them without salt
slip in some bay leaf
cut up carrots into 2-inch pieces. add them
cut Polish sausage into 2-inch pieces. put on top

Slow cook on low till the chicken is tender and the carrots are how you like them. Remove chicken from bones.

Just before dining, add 1 or 1.5 teaspoons dried leaf thyme.

This is a good dish for when you forgot you were having company until the morning of the day of the dinner.

It was posted on 15 January 2019.
Is that the one you meant?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 05:09 PM

There will be no thick basil stalks in any tomato sauce for me, Steve. I don't eat tomatoes.

It is possible to enjoy pasta with sauce that hasn't been kissed by a tomato, you know.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 05:34 PM

Jennie G - Look at Steve's post on 19 Oct 20 - 06:52 PM. It contains several pasta recipes and includes the words

"Forget tomatoes. You don't need them."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 06:26 PM

No sweat, guys.

My dear old mum (91) died at four this afternoon. We were at her side and her passing was incredibly peaceful and not at all untimely. We've had to drive to the hospital for five days in a row, a round trip of a hundred miles every time, and sit in vigil with my mum. We're totally knackered. I've tried to get my ducks in a row every day so that I can cook a really nutritious meal every evening within a few minutes. Tonight we had a take on a traditional Puglian dish, orecchiette con cime di rape. I used gigli pasta instead of orecchiette, I put in about twenty cherry tomatoes (my own) into the sauce and I used my home-grown tenderstem instead of the traditional turnip tops. It has tomatoes, chilli flakes, garlic (sliced, not minced), parsley (fresh), extra virgin olive oil, greens and pasta, with just a bit of cheese grated on top. Incredibly tasty, incredibly healthy. Just what we need right now. Off-topic I know, but we had a very jolly family Zoom this evening, across the world from Cornwall to Yorkshire and New Zealand. My mum would have loved that, but she would have preferred fried egg and chips to the pasta... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 06:35 PM

Jennie, I make sauces of all kinds, many of which don't use tomatoes. I make creamy and cheesy sauces to go with chicken and, as Jos said, sauces with beans or chick peas without a tomato in sight. I can do a killer carbonara, toms excluded. I like variety and, though I love tomatoey sauces, I wouldn't dream of boring Mrs Steve with them night after night. The fact is that Italian cooking does use tomatoes a lot, and that's the kind of cooking I go for because it's generally simple and difficult to get wrong. But each to his/her own, eh?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Oct 20 - 06:51 PM

Maggie, a toasted cheese sandwich is a thing of beauty. I like the option of sticking some ham in it. There are times when a thing like that is what you need and nothing else will do. As Nigel Slater said, a salty bag of chip shop chips, eaten in a butty with terrible white bread and too much butter (so much that your teeth leave little cliffs in the butter when you bite into the sandwich), eaten when you're a bit pissed, is just what you need after a long night in the pub. I think he said that there's joy in licking the salty greasiness off the fingers. Especially if it's someone else's fingers...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 12:12 AM

Sorry to hear about your mum, Steve.

I have been known to add smoked salmon to cheese sauce - made from scratch, of course. Yummo! (kisses fingertips)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 03:24 AM

Now chip butties...

A colleague of mine used to enjoy a chip-filled baguette with his lunchtime pint, we called it the "Chip Butty French". You could also have a Chip Butty Turkish (in pitta bread) or Mexican (wrapped in a tortilla).
Any other variants?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 04:08 AM

White (what Steve and I would call plastic) bread, DRIPPING and then chips ............ MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 05:47 AM

It has to be chip shop chips. And they have to be dripping with vinegar. And very salty. It is not acceptable to include ketchup in a chip butty in m'humble. And the butty is made of a whole slice of thickly-buttered bread, folded in half with the chips inside, never cut with a knife. I deeply regret the modern practice of cooking chips in sunflower oil. It must be beef dripping or lard. I know about these things. My dear old mum had a chippy in Radcliffe for over ten years when I were a lad. Fish and chips were 11d in those days. I used to bash the spuds for her in the chippy back room for 7s 6d a week.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 06:59 AM

The Canadian equivalent of the chip butty is poutine: hot, hot, hot chip wagon fries (note idiom) topped with fresh cheese curds and brown gravy from a can — the canonical brand is Franco-American from Montreal.

I’m probably risking my citizenship in admitting it here (or, indeed, anywhere), but the very idea revolts me.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 08:37 AM

This week has been set aside for making Christmas cakes.

1 kilo mixed dried fruit
300 grams mixed nuts
200 grams glace cherries
200 grams mixed peel
the rind of two lemons and two oranges

Liberal slosh of Brandy

That will be left overnight then tomorrow

250 grams of butter and 200 grams of brown sugar will be creamed than the addition of 4 eggs, mixed spice, cinnamon, black treacle and marmalade salt and flour which will then be combined with mixed fruit and nuts ready for the oven at 140ish for 3 or 4 hours.

Thats the first part!!

Two cakes were made yesterday two more tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 09:26 AM

Now having 4 lemons sans peel I bought some limes and am making a Lime Pickle.

Limes and Lemons are being salted as I type.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 09:34 AM

I don't know how people can bear to put vinegar on their chips, with or without the fish. It destroys the delicate flavour.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 09:52 AM

Spot on Jos.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 10:21 AM

Sorry about your mum, Steve Shaw.

I love poutine.

Chips are fries over here and crisps are chips so I was misreading a lot if this but once the penny dropped I went back.

I actually like crisps in my sandwiches. Adds crunch and salt and grease. No flavored crisps, though, and certainly not vinegar. I do not get the vinegar on potato products thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 10:42 AM

Raggy, your fruitcake recipe looks almost, if not precisely, identical to mine. Where did you get it? My recipe came from a leaflet attached to a tin of black treacle.

I might make one batch (three loaf-shaped cakes) this year for my rellies and my old college buddy in Toronto. And myself, of course. I'm not sure I could face February with no fruitcake in the house.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 10:42 AM

Mrrzy, it's malt vinegar, and it's glorious. It's milder than other forms of vinegar. I got into the habit of dumping it on fish and chips, along with too much salt, but the salt crystals were smaller, more powdery, than the usual ones over here. ("Salt Sense" is close.)

One thing that I think I discovered about the chip was they had a slightly sweet tast. I figure out how that happened when I cooked a potato that had been around a little while. Apparently, some of the starch had converted to sugar. I've found it's nearly impossible to do it on purpose, and I may be wrong about it all, but English chips were SO much better than what I get over here.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 11:19 AM

It's more or less something I cobbled together from vague memories, a tad a common sense and a good deal of experience.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 01:09 PM

Jeri, if you store your potatoes in the refrigerator instead of a pantry or dark cool area they'll over time take on a sweeter flavor. I don't care for it, that's why I try to only buy as many as I'll use in a few weeks and keep them in a dark area of the pantry shelves.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: sciencegeek
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 01:32 PM

must admit that I do love malt vinegar and putting it on fries/chips adds flavor that I enjoy... add adding apple cider vinegar at the table when having boiled dinner - ham or corned beef- makes the cabbage easier to digest... we also use a good mustard or mustard sauce with wild abandon lol

vinegar is a prime ingredient in both mustard and ketchup/catsup... so not sure where the objection to straight vinegar comes from... but to each their own

and while I do salt my food, I've cut back on how much I use because I want the enhance not overwhelm the food's flavor... and processed food is mix of salt, sweet and grease far too often

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 01:38 PM

Stilly, that's what I figured. I just never could keep them that long. I supposed pubs can do it. because they buy a LOT of potatoes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 02:12 PM

Condolences you ol garlic tyrant.
You have gone a long way in dispeling the American myth that English cuisine is world famous for being bad.
It may have been started by GIs in WWII.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 02:42 PM

Thanks for the memories, Steve.

I keep my onions and potatoes dark by wrapping them in a piece of dark cotton cloth and putting them in a basket. The baskets are on top of the fridge. (This saves cupboard space.)

Lately, however, the DH has been on a no-white-food campaign. No ordinary pasta, no white rice, no white bread, no potatoes. Bummer!
===========
Steve, thanks for sharing the memories.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 02:48 PM

Au contraire, I am the Garlic Protector! I protect garlic from being cruelly minced or comminuted in one of those horrendous presses, and I rail against the brutal practices of turning it into a ghastly paste inside a squeezy tube or dessicating and atomising it so that some deluded soul can somehow think they're "improving" their chicken by rubbing it into its skin. I am vehemently opposed to violence against the noble clove! Always remember that garlic thins the blood, gives you that good-time feeling and adds ten years to your life - but not if you release it's beauteous charms all in one go, for it will punish you with bad breath and acrid notes for ever!

Cheers for all the good wishes. My mum did very well in her 91 years, she always kept her mind, her passing was peaceful and far from untimely and there's no misery here. Thank you all.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 03:28 PM

Oh no, don't slay that potato
let us be merciful please
don't dice it or flake
for god's sake don't bake it
don't shed the poor blood
of that poor helpless stud
it's the worse thing
that you'll ever do
oh no don't slay that potato
what never done nothing to you

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 03:50 PM

Regarding "vinegar is a prime ingredient in both mustard and ketchup"

Not if you make up your own mustard with mustard powder, it isn't.
And I loathe ketchup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 05:23 PM

Mash'm ta-dum something stick'm in a stew [Samwise on the potato].

Malt vinegar is still vinegar and must be kept away from my spuds.

Garlic is wonderful whether mangled or not.

Tonight will be yak and cabbage curry, I think. Something North African instead of Indian is another possibility.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Oct 20 - 11:35 PM

I love French fries dipped in tartar sauce. Something I learned in the Pacific Northwest and my kids got from me. I don't see people do that very often down here in Texas.

Steve, I missed your remarks earlier about your mother's passing. I'm glad it was peaceful, and you had her for as long as you did. I think we are of-an-age and my mother died more than 20 years ago. I'd have loved to have had time to spend more adult years with her, and have her see all of the wonderful things my children have learned that hark back to things I learned from her when I was a child.

Tonight I took some flat bread out of the freezer - tandoori bread (the flat bread baked in a tandoori oven) to make a blond pizza (no tomatoes or tomato sauce) with alfredo sauce, mozzarella, chicken, bacon, onions, peppers, and basil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 02:25 AM

When I was a young soldier serving in [ then ] West Germany we used to buy chips [ French fries ] from a Schnell Imbiss or an imbiss stube and they were always served with mayonaise, loved it.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 04:50 AM

Not wishing to be in competition with Raggytash, but this seems like a good opportunity to post my own fruit cake recipe, which has acquired a favourable reputation locally.

Ingredients in order of appearance:
175ml tea
30ml Sailor Jerry or Captain Morgan Spiced Gold rum
100g glacé cherries, quartered
200g unsulphured (which usually means organic) dried apricots, cut into raisin-sized pieces
550g cake fruit (mixed vine fruits + candied peel)

200g each butter, Demerara sugar, plain flour
¾tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 large or 4 small eggs (total 200g in shell)
65g flaked almonds

Additional rum.

For U.S. readers 200g = 7oz, 175ml = 3/4 cup, 30ml = 1 fl. oz.

Put the tea and the rum into a 1 litre / 2 pint sealable bowl. Add the cherries, then the apricots, and finally the cake fruit (i.e. stickiest first). Stir as you go, to make sure the fruit is all separated.
Put the lid on the bowl, give it a good shake, and invert it. Shake & turn at intervals until the liquid has all been absorbed by the fruit and no puddle remains at the bottom. This will take a while.

Set oven to 150°C / 300°F / Gas 2. While it heats up, line an 18cm / 7" square cake tin with buttered greaseproof paper, place on newspaper folded into 4 on a baking tray, also wrap newspaper folded into 4 around the tin. Tie with string or use metal paperclips.

Cream the butter and sugar. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Sift and fold in the flour + baking powder + salt. Finally, stir in the soaked fruit and the flaked almonds.

Pile the mixture into the cake tin. Smooth off, leaving a saucer-sized depression in the top. Bake in mid-oven until a meat thermometer stuck into the middle reads 92°C / 198°F - about 2¾ hours (Your Oven May Vary).

When cool, remove from tin and peel off the greaseproof. Turn the cake over and distribute 1tbsp rum over the base. Wrap in foil and leave for a week. Unwrap, pour another tbsp rum over the base, rewrap and leave for another week. The cake is now ready to enjoy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 06:19 AM

Always interested to hear other recipes BobL

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: sciencegeek
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 06:43 AM

one area of research has been the genetic basis of taste and how it influences food preferences ...

vinegar is one food item that is influenced by your genes... so there's no point in arguing merits when it's hardwired in to either like or dislike a specific taste

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 07:04 AM

In my case not wanting vinegar on my chips isn't genetic. I just don't like vinegar on my chips.
I will happily use vinegar (or fresh lime or lemon juice) in a salad dressing, and I do like pickled onions. I don't know how, or why, one would attempt to pickle onions without vinegar.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 07:22 AM

Jos, try thinly slicing onions, add a good splash of lemon juice and sprinkle with salt. Leave aside for 15-30 minutes and then eat.

It makes a passable "pickled onion"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 08:01 AM

I'll try that Raggytash, though for myself I don't need an alternative to pickled onions as I really like them (in malt vinegar, of course).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 09:33 AM

My dislike for cilantro is genetic.

I went with vaguely North Africa - berbere spice, browned yak in duck fat, added oregano-marjoram-savory, cabbage and my last fresh tomatoes. Yum.

My grandmother was Quaker so did not add booze to her fruitcake. She was also Russian so she made it in January and let it ferment all year. Great stuff, that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jeri
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 09:51 AM

I can't see how not liking vinegar is genetic. You don't need the genes, you can simply not like it.

Cilantro, on the other hand, is. I think some people (like me) just taste it differently. I know when somebody's put it in food (even just a tiny bit), and while I don't like it, it's not usually enough to get me to not eat whatever it is.

Dried vs. fresh: oregano is better dried, garlic tastes the same to me, thyme is a little different, and rosemary is completely different. It's all based on personal taste.

I wonder who sells yak around here.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 09:52 AM

Dave Hanson, I am another NATO veteran who first encountered mayonnaise on chips at a Schnell Imbiss. That's one of the few applications in which mayonnaise from a jar (preferably Hellman's in this part of the world) actually works better than the real, genuine, home-made article.

My husband and I both served in Germany, some ten years apart. Our private conversation was speckled with Soldatendeutsch -- stuck in a Stau on the way to the Schnell Imbiss kind of thing. The late 20th-century version of ex-Raj people whose shot of whisky was always a chota peg.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 10:17 AM

Love It Charmion, one of the other great delights of German Cuisine was the schinkenbrot, raw bacon sandwhich which I also loved.

I feel very nostalgic for my time in Germany now.


Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 02:26 PM

You must have been up North, with BAOR. (Or were you with Riff-Raff Air lines?) In the Baden area, where I was, the great treat was schnecken (snails), served with lashings of garlic butter and cheese on top, or spargeln (asparagus), served with Hollandaise and pfannkuchen with a couple of slices of Westphalian ham on the side.

No wonder lots of us got fat.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 03:24 PM

BAOR in Osnabruck. Not many places you can send men with tanks.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 05:59 PM

What — no one offered you the famous all-expenses-paid visit to CFB Suffield, home of the British Army Training Unit? It’s just a few (dozen) klicks down the road from Medicine Hat, Alberta. Delightful in January and even better in mud season!

The Wehrmacht used to hang out at CFB Shilo in western Manitoba. They had more tanks in Canada than Canada had anywhere.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jeri
Date: 22 Oct 20 - 06:25 PM

There's an asparagus soup recipe I got from Tom (curmudgeon) with bleu cheese that's great. The more condensed version works great as a sauce on the sparagus.

I got my Misfits box a little while ago. Apples and limes out the wazoo, and the biggest beet (I'm guessing it's a beet) I've ever seen. It's just a bit smaller than the acorn squash that was in there. I cooked the fingerling potatoes (Amazing Hulk-sized) I got 12 days ago, and they were so sweet they could've been dipped in chocolate.

Mayonnaise on chips is wonderful. We used to get a brand of crisps that were fried in lard, and they were really good. I noticed they weren't in the store the last time I looked.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 07:58 AM

My condolences, Steve.

Thing about chips is that in their homelands, they're made with particular breeds of potatoes which are floury rather than waxy. (My own favourites are Golden Wonder, which lead to the conceit of Ireland being called Golden Wonderland.)

Once you've got hold of the right spuds, to make your chips you either boil/steam them in their jackets and peel them, or if you're lazy you peel them then boil/steam them (sweeter if you steam them), them you chop them up while hot, and plunge them straight into the boiling oil in a basket, and take them out when golden. Real purists then put them back in for a second frying, but I've never gone that far.

To be really good they should be deep fried in animal fat over a charcoal flame. To be really, really good they should be accompanied by battered ray wings and a wedge of lemon, but there's only one place in Dublin (in Meath Street) where you can get ray wings now.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 08:18 AM

In eastern Canada, the perfect potato for chips comes from Prince Edward Island or New Brunswick; unfortunately, I do not know the cultivar. The "right" way to obtain chips is from a chip wagon, which is a small truck with a deep-fryer installed in the bed and a serving hatch in the side of the box body. Chip wagons may also offer poutine, a confection that I do not dare attempt to digest for fear of bad things happening.

The Canadian chip order is traditionally delivered in a small pressed-paper tray or a "toot" (cone) of stiff brown paper, slathered with ketchup (not by me; hate the stuff, and fortunately vinegar is also available), and eaten with a toothpick. The traditional habitat of the chip wagon is outside hockey arenas and curling clubs.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 09:01 AM

Thompson, when you say that the potatoes are "sweeter if you steam them", do you mean that you think being sweeter is better?
A couple of days ago the discussion was about potatoes being sweet, concluding that it was caused by keeping them too long - I got the impression that at least some people, like me, don't want potatoes to taste sweet. If mine are sweet I assume they are going off, and throw them away.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 09:47 AM

I still use them if they're sweet, but now I know better than to keep them in the fridge unless it's really necessary (because they're starting to sprout and I'm going to use them very soon).

Throw them out in the garden and grow some more.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 12:13 PM

It may be an urban legend, but I have heard that potatoes in Ireland are so sweet that diabetics are advised to avoid them.
They're not sweet like sugar, but there's an underlying sweetness that's part of their deliciousness.
The first potatoes in Ireland were called "An Spáinneach Geal", or "The Bright Spaniard"; we have always grown them in the same style as the Peruvians - the duplicitously-named lazy-beds formed by making a ridge a metre wide, putting the potatoes in rows along it and folding and earthing up on top, continuing to do so as the leaves grow, to make a long stem that produces many tubers along its length.
Some recipes here.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 12:17 PM

Here's Teagasc (agricultural avisors) advice on growing potatoes, with favourite cultivars. I don't like Roosters much myself, but love Records - but I think that's mainly because Roosters are kind of industrially grown.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 04:58 PM

Poutine is arriving on menus here in Charlottesville, but it is usually adulterated with something like parmesan. Ugh.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 05:34 PM

Charmion - I tried poutine once on one of our Canadian visits. It was very delicious and I could have eaten it more frequently, but I think of it as a heart attack on a plate.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 08:23 PM

Well Mrs Steve is 70 on Sunday (she doesn't look it, and don't tell her I said it), and we're having me daughter and her feller and our bubble friend round. I'm doing Elizabeth David's boeuf en daube. It's been a winner before and I'm sure it'll work again. I'll cook it tomorrow and we'll eat it on Sunday. I've never known any daube, stew or casserole that isn't ten times better the day after it's been made. We'll be having it with mashed potatoes (for which I always use at least three different varieties, which irons out any weaknesses) and a stack of tenderstem. A class act, I hope.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Oct 20 - 10:19 PM

I’ve made that daube, Steve. It are deeelicious.

What’s “tenderstem”?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 03:11 AM

Tenderstem is a variety of broccolli.



Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 03:23 AM

Thompson what do you mean, PEEL THEM? The skin is the tastiest part!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 04:08 AM

BobL - If you cook the potatoes in their skins then take the skin off and make the potatoes into chips, you can fry the skins until they are crisp and eat them all yourself. (A selfish greedy pig? Me?)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 05:48 AM

Tenderstem is more akin to sprouting broccoli than to calabrese (the most boring vegetable on the planet). Its green spears are atop long green stems which cook nicely along with the spears. I find that steaming doesn't work too well, so I pack the tenderstem snugly in a lidded pan with the stems mostly in the water and the spears mostly sticking above. Very unforgiving if overcooked. Pinch of salt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 07:03 AM

Yes, yes, of course the peel is the best part of the potato, but there are those who peel potatoes before chipping them. I don't know why, myself.
I have the last of a present of hard green apples and the whole of a present of hard green pears from two neighbours; I'm dithering about what to do with them, but… probably a ginger jam…

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 12:13 PM

Potato skins make potatoes worth eating.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 06:17 PM

This afternoon I turned on a movie and spent the two hours listening to it in the background while assembling the chopped ingredients (including cucumbers, pepper, and garlic from the garden) for a more-or-less dill relish. I had two recipes I couldn't decide between so merged them a little bit. Added mustard seed and one hot pepper to the mix that called for red bell pepper. And the dill recipe didn't have any onion or garlic like the other one did (but the other second recipe was full of sugar and had cornstarch as a thickener.) We'll see how it turns out. The proportions of vege to apple cider vinegar was good, though there was a lot of liquid left over at the end, since cucumbers are so wet to begin with.

The jars processed for 15 minutes and are now cooling, with some leftover in a jar in the fridge to sample once it's had a little time to sit and merge flavors. Yield: three pint jars and six half-pint jars.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Oct 20 - 08:18 PM

I've made my own version of ribollita today. I start with a fairly coarse soffritto of carrot, onion and celery (I like texture in me grub). Best olive oil of course. Once that's done (at least half an hour if not longer) I throw in a tin and a half of plum tomatoes, a teaspoon of sugar, a small pinch of chilli, a few cloves of fist-smashed garlic, two cans of cannellini beans and about 800 ml home-made veg stock. Seasoning of course. Simmer that lot for half an hour then add a big bunch of cavolo nero, torn up with coarse stems discarded. After about fifteen minutes it's done. But don't eat that until at least tomorrow or the next day. My amount does two of us twice. To serve it, you need two big slices (one each) of toasted bread that you've rubbed with olive oil and garlic. Put the toast in the bottom of the bowl and spoon the thick soup on top. Drizzle with your best olive oil and shave some Parmesan on top. You need chianti.

I don't use herbs or red wine in this recipe and I won't use the fennel seeds that some recipes recommend. There are herby flavours in my veg stock but I never want herbs to dominate.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 09:15 AM

I can never not eat till the next day, I have to make enough for there to BE a next day's worth. Kudos.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 09:41 AM

Ribollita is expressly intended for the next day. Its name means reboiled.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 10:02 AM

I've been enjoying regular batches of Pasta e Fagioli soup this year, though in the height of summer I didn't make it as often. It's time again to round up the ingredients.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 11:50 AM

How do ye make ye're vegetable stock?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 02:26 PM

Oh I know Steve Shaw but my will power won't...

Veg stock is made chez nous by boiling all the veg garbage (ends of things, peels, onion skins etc) with some herbs spices and salt, and then straining it through cheesecloth.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 04:11 PM

I like to roast the vegetables in the oven first, to give an extra boost to the flavor. Be sure to run boiling water over the pan or foil to get all of the wonderful baked-on drippings. Then go from there to put it in a pan of water to simmer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Oct 20 - 10:39 PM

My veg stock consists of roughly-chopped carrots, unpeeled, celery and onions (the outer layers that you're never too sure about are ideal). A sprig of parsley, thyme and bay go in there. Season. Boil it for at least an hour. No leaves or trimmings from brassicas should ever be included. You will live for ever!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Oct 20 - 05:37 AM

Though the seasoning can be omitted, depending on what the stock is for. In fact, I don't usually add salt, and I might just throw in a few whole black peppercorns.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 27 Oct 20 - 03:57 AM

Salt would only add flavour to the bits that are going to be thrown out. In this case, you want all the flavour to remain in the liquid so definitely no salt.

I usually make chicken stock (carcass + carrot + onion + celery if available) in a pressure cooker. I found long ago that this way, the bones ended up all crumbly and harmless, and the strained remains could safely be offered to the cats who were trying to break down the kitchen door. This avoided a disposal problem - we had paper waste sacks at the time, and any wet waste had to be wrapped in lots of newspaper.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 20 - 02:31 PM

Good idea, Bob! You'd get all of the marrow goodness out of the bones that way also.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Oct 20 - 02:50 PM

Tried peas instead of corn in my asparagus crab soup. Still good but not quite as. Added my usual spoon of hummus, yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Oct 20 - 03:40 PM

I make stock in an Instant Pot electronic pressure cooker, which sits on the counter and can be left unattended, and indeed the results are excellent.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 20 - 11:28 PM

I followed my own advice this evening; I didn't have many vegetables handy, but the carrots, parsnip, and onion baked in the Dutch Oven in the oven for a while, then I added chicken breast (bone and skin included) and some necks and wings and let them all roast. When I pulled out the breast and added water to the rest it turned into a beautiful golden broth that I let simmer for a while as the breast continued to bake in the oven. When the breast was finished the skin was dropped into the pot and the meat in a box in the fridge. Tomorrow I'll make soup using the chicken breast and fresh vegetables (to be purchased during senior shopping hours tomorrow).

The house smells really good this evening.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Oct 20 - 10:30 AM

My mom used to make good dumplings, but I've not had great luck with them. Does anyone have a fool-proof recipe? To add to the chicken soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Oct 20 - 02:48 PM

I had such a huge collection of nuts and berries I turned them into breakfast cereal by blending to chop: walnuts pecans cashews peanuts dried soft cranberries and tart cherries - and when it was a consistancy I liked I added Rice Crispies and a few more whole dried cranberries. With milk and bananas it was good.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Oct 20 - 10:05 AM

Breath of the wok - how do *you* make fried rice?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Oct 20 - 02:04 PM

This looks as good a place as any to ask this. I am going to do a mutton curry in the slow cooker next week. I do cheat and use a sachet of sauce but my question is about the meat. I need to de-bone some mutton leg pieces. If it was just for me I'd be happy with leaving the bones in but someone I am cooking for would hate it.

What's the best way of getting shut of the bones before the curry reaches her plate?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 30 Oct 20 - 04:04 AM

Fried rice: there are essentially two ways.
1) Boil it and then fry it,
2) Fry it and then boil it.

So you can fry up cold leftover boiled rice with additions & flavourings of your choice.
Or fry uncooked rice briefly, then add an equal volume (or slightly more) of stock and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, by which time the liquid should be absorbed. Additions & flavourings as before, except that some are better fried before the rice is added.

No doubt I shall be told this is not be a patch on the real thing, but it works for me.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Oct 20 - 06:10 AM

In conversation with a drinking friend about my Christmas cakes that I made earlier this week he stated he didn't like Christmas cake because it had "flies" in it. He meant raisins and sultanas which he really doesn't like.

That got me thinking. Could I make a Christmas cake without these items so today I am making a cake using dried apricot and figs instead of raisins and sultanas.

I'll let you know how it turns out!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 30 Oct 20 - 07:01 AM

Is that 'flies' as found in 'squashed fly biscuits' (whose real name eludes me at the moment)?

Oh yes, I've remembered: Garibaldis.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Oct 20 - 07:50 AM

Currants Jos, I've remembered what we called them as children!

But the guy in question doesn't like those, raisins or sultanas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 30 Oct 20 - 08:07 AM

You could try dates as well, and prunes - but maybe the prunes should be in the Christmas pudding to make it a real plum pudding.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Oct 20 - 11:11 AM

About deboning can you make it bones in then cool, remove meat from bones, reheat and serve the next day?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 30 Oct 20 - 01:06 PM

Or you can debone wearing rubber washing-up gloves so you don't burn the little fingies. Same with skinning roasted peppers.
How much water do ye put to yizzer vegetales for stock?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 31 Oct 20 - 07:55 AM

As it turned out there wasn't much bone. I removed what there was using scissors and put them in a pan to boil up for stock.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 31 Oct 20 - 10:13 AM

Water to cover plus a couple of inches.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Joe_F
Date: 31 Oct 20 - 06:33 PM

Bacon, liver, & onions (a classic bachelor dish)

Cut a strip of bacon into squares. Saute with a coarsely chopped onion slice. Put chicken livers on top. When they are half done, turn them over & add mushroom slices.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Nov 20 - 10:42 AM

Hi, Dave. Does your loved one dislike the texture of bones or merely the presence of them on the plate?

I ask because meat cooked with the bones in comes out different from meat cooked without them. The broth is thicker, for one thing. It's hard to describe. My dear husband, the DH, always prefers to have the bones left in.

With a slow cooker it's pretty easy to cook the food, take out of the meat, let it chill till it's safe to handle, and remove the bones. Put the meat back in, and you have the best of both worlds - boneless meat with rich gravy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Nov 20 - 11:32 AM

I have seven quarts of strawberries (purchased at deep discount at my town's discount gourmet grocery warehouse) in the freezer, soon to be transferred to the steam juicer. The results will be perfectly clear strawberry juice and a nice dense pulp to use for jam or baking. I'll make strawberry jelly this week, something I haven't done for a while.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 02 Nov 20 - 12:13 AM

That sounds delicious, Stilly. I managed to grow some strawberries one year, and we made jam. Sad to say, I could never do it again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Nov 20 - 05:49 PM

You just reminded me, Stilly, of the several litres of pitted sour cherries in *my* freezer. I currently have enough jam in the pantry to last the rest of my life, so I have to think of something else to do with them.

No, pie is not the right answer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 03 Nov 20 - 08:43 AM

One word, Charmion: Kirschwasser!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Nov 20 - 08:50 AM

Someone sent me this useful guide to making fried rice. Though with a bit of a sick tummy (writhing and ouching), allied with a stuffed-up nose, but both of them nearly better) what I'm really longing for is some chicken, ginger and corn soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 20 - 10:17 AM

I pick up rice for a couple of family members when I'm shopping at the Halal market in the university town where I used to work. I bought a bag this time after carefully avoiding the parboiled ones, only to have the recipient look up "super sela" and find it's the same thing, kind of, as parboiling. It's a way to cook ahead in the hull. He would like to exchange, but I think I'll donate that bag to the food bank and try again. Returning items in this time of COVID-19 is difficult.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Nov 20 - 08:34 PM

I made a batch of chicken soup and added egg noodles and it was perfect this evening. Especially since my sinuses are upset by humidity and allergy factors. The soup was soothing and the steam off of it therapeutic.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 03 Nov 20 - 09:12 PM

My sinuses too are tortured at the moment; one thing that helps them is hot lemon, honey and ginger; another is making chicken stock (we boil a few chicken carcases for two hours in the pressure cooker with carrots, onions, herbs and celery); the chicken vapour soothes the mucous membranes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 04 Nov 20 - 03:33 AM

Dad's Cure All - hot water, lemon, honey - and a single measure of your preferred spirit. Dad's was rum, mine is either spiced rum or whisky. Plus Stones' Ginger Wine.
The hot water unblocks the sinuses, the lemon and honey sooth the throat, the consequent feeling of relief is boosted by the alcohol. After three you'll feel MARVELLOUS.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Nov 20 - 08:37 AM

Okay. Chicken soup. I can do that. And I have noodles.

BobL, your Dad's cure-all was my Dad's cure-all, too. He made it with Navy-style demerara rum; I sorta prefer Jameson's whiskey, but any booze'll do (except maybe gin).

I'm still not cooking properly. I really do have to get back at it or bad things will happen.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Nov 20 - 05:58 PM

No no no. It *has* to be Irish whisky.

I can drink again! Over Halloween I had 4 hot whiskies over the course of the evening.

Like whichever Clancy Brother it was said... You don't really need the cloves.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 05 Nov 20 - 03:03 AM

Irish whiskey is essential for that most enjoyable nightcap, whiskey-and-milk. Hot or cold.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Nov 20 - 10:11 AM

[Oops. Pesky E.]

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Nov 20 - 12:28 PM

Charmion, I think making yourself a batch of chicken soup will be a wonderful ceremony to start to reclaim the kitchen and your appetite. I made enough that it will last for a few days, and this is the soup that I started by putting all of the cut up but unpeeled vegetables in the Dutch oven in the oven and let them roast. Once the veggies had been in for a while I added a couple of chicken breasts with skin and bones into the pot in the oven and let the meat bake and the chicken fat add to the vegetable flavor.

Once the pot was back on the stovetop I took out the chicken and let it finish baking in the oven and in the pot added water and let it simmer for a while. before discarding all of the solid vegetables. I added the chicken bones and skin to the pot and it simmered a little more and the finished meat cooled and went into the fridge. I bottled the stock with all of the fat and waited a couple of days until I made the soup with a new batch of vegetables (onion, carrots, celery, potatoes sautéed in a little olive oil and several dollops of the retained chicken fat for flavor), a large cube of chicken bouillon (a good brand for the "value added" flavor) and at the end added the cubed chicken and the egg noodles.

It is one of my better batches. It wasn't like making soup from an entire bird carcass, but it came out just as strong.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Nov 20 - 08:34 AM

There's also a Scottish dessert that I used to make for dinner guests when killing people with your car was less disapproved of: soak oatmeal in honey and whisk(e)y for a few hours, then just before serving beat cream and mix it in. Call heart ambulance and serve.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 07 Nov 20 - 08:47 AM

Although I'd heard of kimshi[ Korean pickled cabbage ] I had not come accross it until today so I bought a tin, absolutely delicious.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 07 Nov 20 - 09:25 AM

Cranachan Thompson ! :-)

My method is to use a brandy basket (a basket made out of Brandysnap biscuit) Whip the cream till stiff add a little plain yogurt, honey and the whisky soaked oatmeal and whip a little more. Add copious amounts of Raspberries and spoon these through the mixture and spoon into the Brandy Baskets.

The raspberries are essential !!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Nov 20 - 11:10 AM

Am gonna try duck legs on the grill today. I will report back. Advice welcome en attendant.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 07 Nov 20 - 11:51 AM

DON'T !!!!


The amount of fat in the duck legs will probably cause a fire!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 20 - 06:53 AM

I like to roast duck legs in the oven, on a bed of hunked potatoes. For one or two, do it in an iron skillet.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 Nov 20 - 12:00 PM

That was my fear too, Raggytash, but they were marvy. About an hour on low, skin side up mostly, then 10mn on higher to crisp. Yum, yum, yum.

My only regret is not having all that marvy duck fat in a jar. Going back to oven for next time, for that reason.

This was also my first time with fresh, never frozen duck legs. Frankly I did not notice any difference...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 20 - 12:18 PM

Raspberries, eh?
And this brandy basket - do you make it or buy it made?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 08 Nov 20 - 02:43 PM

Let's put it this way Thompson ............. it's a lot easier to buy them!!

Brandysnap biscuits that are normally tubular will do nice nicely.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 20 - 04:17 PM

But how do you weave them into a basket?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 08 Nov 20 - 04:38 PM

On the rare occasions I make them I use a small muffin tin to shape them. Most of the time I just use the tubular kind as they are and plonk them into the Cranachan (like a flake in a 99!)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Nov 20 - 05:27 PM

I've steamed the second pie pumpkin (cut up into chunks first) and once this one is peeled and mashed I'll keep some of it in the fridge for baking this week. The remainder goes into the freezer.

I have a sweet potato to boil and I'll keep some of that mashed in the fridge also. My pumpkin bread recipe went from great to fabulous when I started adding some sweet potato to the pumpkin. I also use melted butter in stead of oil. I have a bunch of very small baking pans and these loaves are frozen for use later, but with the first batch I'll share with friends and neighbors. I was baking last spring and sharing, but then it got too hot. Now we're back to baking season and this bread with pecans and cut up dates is a great start.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Nov 20 - 02:27 PM

More steaming, this time using the Mehu-Liisa Finnish steam juicer to reduce 7 quarts of frozen strawberries to 3/4 gallon of clear juice and a quart of remaining solids. The house smells wonderful! Freezing the berries before steaming assures the most juice because the cells in the fruit are already ruptured from the cold. Jelly-making is on the schedule this week. I use some of it for gifts and send some to my children who love this.

I started making jelly when my teen-aged son complained about the "lumps" in the preserves I was buying. I made him help me that first time so he could see how jelly is achieved; we did both the steam juicing and the jelly making. He is in his late 20s now, and often surprises me in the things he was paying attention to in the kitchen, such as when he contacted me about how to roast a Thanksgiving turkey when he was 21 and living with friends in a house (after two years in a dorm). I wouldn't be surprised if he's making jelly for himself in his Seattle home. (Despite his protests that he didn't need to know how, just before he left for college I made him participate a couple of times in the making of "real" popped corn, oil in a pan with butter-flavor salt and learning how to let it pop just enough before taking off the heat. The constant jiggling and lifting of the pot is essential to prevent burning. This turns out to have been a wildly popular skill with his housemates over the years.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Nov 20 - 08:16 PM

What we had for dinner this evening. But there are recipes for fresh on the WWW.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Nov 20 - 05:26 AM

They were making a strange object on Great British Bake-Off last night called a pond pudding, which involved steaming a whole lemon in sweet stuff inside a suet pastry crust, and then pouring on crème anglaise. Nobody got it right. It looked entirely revolting. Has anyone eaten or made this?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 11 Nov 20 - 06:12 AM

Today is the one day of the year when I make a dish with Pumpkin in it.

It is a Lamb Stew with Black Eyed Beans using the pumpkin normally left over from making a bonfire lantern.

It is very unusual for me in as much as I simmer the Lamb for an hour before adding anything else to skim off any fat or foam.

So simmer the lamb for an hour, skim add the Black eyed beans and continue cooking, add onion, garlic, tomato puree, thyme, a small splash of oil, mixed spice, black pepper, salt and hot pepper sauce, continue cooking and then add the diced Pumpkin.

I an led to believe this is an Africa dish in origin that in truth should use Mutton which is very difficult to obtain where I live. It has also worked very well with Goat but again I cannot source that were I live.

The pumkin makes a great carrier for the flavours of the other ingredients.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Nov 20 - 01:46 PM

I do like crème anglaise but ewww.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 20 - 11:00 PM

Kroger's Private Selection products are, as far as I have tested so far, very good, and quite reasonably priced. I'll have to look into that pizza. If you're dealing with clogged arteries you don't want to go exploring their ice cream selections, but some of those are (literally) to die for.

That lemon-steamed-baked thing does sound pretty awful.

I made a batch of oatmeal cookies last night that came out as good as they ever have. I like the crispy, not soft, and these were crunchy as ever. I added pecans (baked before adding to the mix) and raisins. They are very sweet, but what an amazing flavor. I gave some to the neighbors next door and I'll take some across the street tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Nov 20 - 09:09 AM

Quick diet this week, got a physical coming up and I like to game the system.

Yesterday lunch was some cuke slices with hummous. Dinner was a swordfish steak with butter and almonds. Day before dinner was broccoli and asparagus in chicken broth. Lunch was salad with tomato cuke crab almonds artichoke hearts. Today lunch will be a duck egg. Not sure about dinner, probably crab and asparagus soup, or a salad with a tin of smoked trout. Yeah, that. That will be lunch, actually, now that I have thought of it. And down to only 3 chocolate-covered almonds, or one dark chocolate almond butter cup, after the meal, from my usual handful. And I should really ramp up the Wii bowling.

Also today a new batch of snail butter will happen. Some will help in the crab and asparagus soup, in which I will skip the corn this time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Nov 20 - 03:54 PM

Lots of "honeymoon* salad" but the blood work is done so BURGER tonight! I have been craving something very American since the election.

*Honeymoon salad: lettuce alone.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: JennieG
Date: 16 Nov 20 - 11:50 PM

Oh my......that "lettuce alone" honeymoon salad was around when I was a Sweet Young Thing back in the 1960s! Thanks for the memory.

We would sometimes say "lettuce alone and honey on top".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Nov 20 - 05:20 PM

Ordered a burger. Ate half and hit the wall. But boy was it good!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 03:59 AM

Steve Shaw - what size are those tins of mackerel in oil that you use for mackerel pate? Lidl sell sardine-tin-sized tins, but do you mean those or the hand-length ones?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 06:52 AM

I use Morrison's (nearest supermarket) mackerel fillets in olive oil which are 125g. Two of them, well-drained. Definitely just plain mackerel in oil, no fancy tomatoey/chillified jobs! The easiest thing to get wrong is the lemon, usually by adding too much of it. I never add extra salt.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 10:37 AM

Ah, great, that's the sardiney size.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 10:41 AM

Are there any other ingredients, as well as the mackerel and lemon juice?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 11:58 AM

Drain the mackerel well (two cans) and put into the jug of a hand-blender (or whatever you do to blend). Add one teaspoon of English mustard, one tablespoon of full-fat creme fraiche, a grinding of black pepper, the juice of a generous half a lemon and a *little* splash of Tabasco (or leave it out). Blitz well and whack it in the fridge. I find it tastes much better the day after I've made it. An option is to zest the lemon on top once you've put it into a nice bowl. More than enough there for two. We have it with buttered toast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 12:25 PM

Nah ............... far better is to nip up the road to Fortune's Kipper House buy two or three kipper fillets. Put these into a food processor add a generous teaspoon of English mustard and a generous teaspoon of Horseradish sauce, a good grind of black pepper and a generous squeeze of lime juice and blend until smooth. Just before you remove it from the blender add a little cream to bind it. Chill before use!! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 12:39 PM

Kipper version sounds good too. Especially if you serve it while humming The Rustical Farmer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 12:52 PM

Sounds good to me. If I have a kipper I'll have a real one open like a big butterfly, not one of those pathetic jobs in a plastic bag with a knob of butter that you boil in the bag. That is not food. Due to the aroma (me)/stink (Mrs Steve) of the cooking fish, I'm obliged to cook and eat it outdoors. I have a big old frying pan and one of those ten-quid camping stoves that uses a butane canister. The kipper is done in butter for five minutes, then, all alone, I eat the lot, skin, bones, fins, the lot. My ancestors were probably seals. I even have to bring a bowl of washing-up water outside to clear up.

I have another recipe somewhere for a slightly posher version of mackerel pate that uses those fillets of smoked mackerel you can buy and some chopped-up gherkins, great for a starter if you get people round. I'll see if I can find it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 01:51 PM

Fortune's kippers are a thing of beauty, no plastic bags or lumps of second rate butter get near them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 02:26 PM

I like the canned kippered snacks (Brunswick kippered boneless herring fillets) but you can't eat them just anywhere. If I ate them at work at lunch I had to stand over the sink at the back of the room (our cavernous office in the basement used to be where various arts were performed to repair books, etc., so there was an industrial steel sink). Pull the ring and open the lid carefully (no splashing of oil!) then eat out of the can with a fork (don't get it on your face, fingers, or clothes). A hefty squirt of dish soap went into the empty can and it was washed in order break down the oil and remove it from the can and wash completely down the drain. Also wash the lid with dish soap, then take the whole can out and discard the recyclable tin in the recycling container on the next floor up in a large open area.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 18 Nov 20 - 03:06 PM

Tell you what Thompson if you PM me your address I will vacuum seal some and post them to you. If the mail in Ireland will carry them, they should do the mail in the UK does.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Nov 20 - 01:10 PM

Leeneia asked a question about kolaches (Czech rolls) on the Bacon Gizmo thread that I answered with a bit of a travelogue around Texas and now I'm thinking it's time for a road trip into the Hill Country south of here and visit a bakery or two to bring home some of those wonderful fruit or sausage-filled rolls.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 20 Nov 20 - 04:36 AM

Thank you, Raggytash, but not while the pandemic is still raging. I brought a DVD down to the post office the other day to send to France (don't tell my family: I'm not allowed in shops) and the clerk asked me what it was. When I told her, she shook her head and said "Sorry, we can't take it - only essentials can be sent at the moment."
Even in non-pandemic days, however, the post from England to Ireland is strangely dodgy. If I send a couple of rose cuttings to a friend in Cork I pop them in the postbox for the 5:30pm pickup, and he'll have them at 9am next morning. But I've sometimes waited weeks for books coming from England.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 20 Nov 20 - 06:33 AM

I ordred some mandolin strings from a local music shop, it took 2 months for them to travel 12 miles in the post, I also ordered some banjo strings from a company in the USA [ Musixnow.com ] it took them 3 days to arrive from the USA.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Nov 20 - 07:21 AM

A few years ago I ordered six little diatonic harmonicas from a US shop over the phone at three in the afternoon this end. I was utterly gobsmacked when they turned up at midday the next day by courier....

(They were unavailable this end but the US price was so much cheaper that, even after paying the postage and import duty, I paid no more for them than I would have in a shop here!)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 20 Nov 20 - 07:48 AM

I sold a Bacon tenor banjo to a guy in New York, the courier picked it up on the Thursday, I got an email from him on Saturday saying it had arrived safe and sound and he was well pleased. How good is that ?

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 20 Nov 20 - 07:52 AM

Incidently it was Fed Ex. Never known a better service.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Nov 20 - 09:22 AM

I used several small loaf pans last night and made a double batch of the pumpkin bread recipe from The Joy of Cooking. I substituted 25% of the pumpkin with mashed sweet potato for an even richer tasting bread.

These will be gifts to neighbors and a couple for the freezer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Nov 20 - 10:55 AM

I got sent a dobos torte through the mail. Amazing. Wonder if chocolate counts as "essential" for the gubmint...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 27 Nov 20 - 04:14 AM

Made a lamb stew with a tin of chickpeas, a tin of tomatoes and pumpkin and sweet potatoes chopped in, plus stock (homemade and gel) and a dash of chilli. Not bad at all served over brown rice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Nov 20 - 11:45 AM

I was ok about no Thansgiving till late last night AND NOW I MUST FIND PIE 'cause I ain't makin' one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Nov 20 - 12:53 PM

We did a movable feast here; I roasted a large chicken, made my famous yeast dinner rolls (always requested at family events) and instead of many other vegetable side dishes I roasted vegetables. This wasn't by recipe, I simply cut into large chunks what I had here—Yukon gold potatoes, large carrots, yellow squash, celery, onion, and a poblano pepper in a bowl, tossed it with olive oil and ground black pepper and tossed in a few fresh sprigs of rosemary. It baked until everything else was ready and they were wonderful.

I had some large takeout containers so cut the chicken down the middle and packed it in a former rotisserie chicken container, added vegetables to a similar black-bottomed container, and dropped dinner rolls into a brown paper bag so they wouldn't get soggy in transit.

I handed these out the door to my ex, who came by with the pies he always brings to the meal. In this instance, since we always do both pumpkin and apple, he carefully cut and removed half of the pumpkin pie from the pan and put in slices of apple. It was surgically neat - amazing!

In previous years we always distribute pie to family members after the meal so we've had practice. I also have lots of extra glass pie pans around because my daughter takes her share up to her house and those pans are sometimes lost for years. I make a point of buying extra glass pans at the local Goodwill for this very reason. One day when my daughter and her roommates move out of that house they will come across a stash of more than a dozen pie pans.

My children fixed meals with their roommates at their respective houses. We missed having friends and family at the table this year, but hopefully next year can resume those activities, all alive and well to join in.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 Nov 20 - 08:09 PM

I usually make a cranberry/tomatillo/jicama salsa for Thanksgiving. Not enough energy this year and it's just Lady Hillary and me. Instead, I made up some cranberry sauce with a little jalapeno, finely chopped and mixed in during the cooking. I went with about one inch of a medium jalapeno and it came out with just a background taste of the pepper.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Nov 20 - 10:40 AM

Bought a slice of cherry pie. It was HORRIBLE. Still craving. What are your cherry pie recipes? Any have a magic marzipan layer?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 28 Nov 20 - 01:41 PM

My sympathy about the cherry pie, Mrrzy. Did ice cream redeem it any?

Our Thanksgiving was boring. Yesterday two friends who are very Covid-conscious came to dinner. We dined on the deck at tables 10 feet apart, and the DH grilled sausages on the outdoor grill. In addition we had my cole slaw, bowls of balls, and pecan pie. (the first pecan pie I ever made.)

Bowl of Balls is a dish I invented one day when I felt too tired to cut up salad. I got out a very pretty bowl and put cherry tomatoes, radishes and green olives in it. (I suppose black olives would be nice too.) That's it. You put the spherical food in the bowl and you put the bowl on the table.

It was cold, so we took turns standing in front of the grill, which was holding a nice wood fire. Later we put on masks, went inside and conversed in our new music room, where we can sit far apart. It was a lovely evening.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 28 Nov 20 - 03:34 PM

Stilly, that's cute about the pie plates. I wish I could stop by your place and have a piece of pie. I'd bring the ice cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Nov 20 - 05:20 PM

I love your bowl of balls.

Nothing could redeem that awful pie. I did not even think of ice cream, it was that bad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Nov 20 - 05:30 PM

Why spoil the experience for the ice cream?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Nov 20 - 06:31 PM

I've almost forgotten what it's like to eat out, but if I've had a great nosh in a restaurant I invariably call for ice cream for my pud. And then an espresso grande. And then a taxi home. And then... ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Dec 20 - 12:20 AM

Tonight we had a fine dinner. Moroccan chicken (slow cooker), avocados, brown rice, crudites, a smidgeon of pecan pie.

Crudites: I cooked broccoli spears in the wave for two minutes then dropped them into a bowl of cold tap water. Took them out after a while, let them drain. It improved them, though I don't think anything will ever make broccoli actually good. Added radishes for contrast.

Nowadays when I cook rice or pasta, I cook a big batch and freeze the extra in Ziploc bags. I flatten the food inside the bag and press channels into it with the side of my hand, to make serving-size portions, easy to take out and thaw. Saves steps and dishwashing. (Maybe I posted this already.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Dec 20 - 09:56 AM

Hey those ain't cru-dités if ya cook'm!

How do you make Moroccan chicken? Mine has cinnamon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 01:04 PM

This morning I baked three chicken breasts because I tend to use the pre-cooked meat in various dishes, or assembling things for dinner. For example, I might use leftover spaghetti sauce and layer some chicken with mozzarella and spoon the sauce over the top and bake it to serve alongside pasta, chicken parm without the breading but still good, and a healthier arrangement. Or shred the meat to put in a couple of tortillas for quick enchiladas or a chef's salad. A whole chicken is usually too much to use, but these breasts will be fine for the rest of the week and over the weekend.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 01:22 PM

You could bake skin-on chicken thighs instead of breasts. The meat is tastier, it's cheaper, you can boil up the bones with a bit of onion, carrot, celery and herbs for stock and the crispy skin is a secret cook's treat and a half. Just lay them on a baking tray skin side up, season well, dribble olive oil over them and bake them at 200C for 45 minutes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 01:30 PM

Wot, no Christmas baking?

I have been asked for my fruitcake recipe. It makes three standard loaves, and takes at least two days.

Ingredients:

Fruit:
- 2 pounds of currants
- 12 ounces of dark Thompson raisins
- 12 ounces of golden raisins
- 4 ounces of chopped citron
- 4 ounces of glace cherries
- a cup (8 fl oz) of chopped blanched almonds
- three tablespoons of molasses or black treacle
- 3 fl oz rum, brandy or rye whiskey
- 2 lemons, grated rind and juice
- 2 oranges, grated rind and juice

Cake:
- 1 pound of butter
- 1 cup of demerara (dark brown) sugar
- 8 large eggs
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon grated allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Mix the fruit thoroughly in a bowl and cover it with something airtight. Let it stand for at least a day, preferably two.

On baking day:

1. Butter and flour three standard loaf pans, or line them with parchment paper.

2. In a very large bowl, cream together the butter (you'll want to soften it in the microwave) and brown sugar, and beat in the eggs. Blend the dry ingredients in a smaller bowl.

3. Beat the fruit mixture and the dry ingredients in alternating spoonfuls into the butter, sugar and eggs. Brace yourself for some heavy lifting; the batter will be very stiff.

4. Divide the batter among the three loaf pans. I weigh the loaded pans to be sure they are as close to the same size as I can get them. Level the batter with a fork.

5. Bake in a low oven -- 275 degrees Fahrenheit -- for about 2 hours. When they're done, souse each loaf with at least a tablespoon (preferably two) of the liquor you put in the batter, and let cool in the pans.

6. Distribute to discriminating friends. Particularly good with tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 02:25 PM

Charmion: - "at least a tablespoon (preferably two) of the liquor you put in the batter"
Did you mean "of the liquor you put in the fruit"? I didn't notice any in the batter.
Too late for this Christmas, but the best cake I ever tasted came from Trinidad, and the fruit had been soaked for a lo-o-o-ng time in rum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 02:31 PM

I buy meat frozen from a deep discount grocery that has a lot of high-quality items (tons of gourmet things in tiny jars, etc.). And when I buy leg quarters and such, that's what I do. But I also can buy organic skinless boneless chicken breasts at half of the original price and don't have to do anything with it except cook it and use it. And if I made stock every time I had chicken I'd be overflowing with it.

Thanks for the recipe, Charmion! And in case anyone is wondering, one of the links at the bottom of each post is "Printer Friendly," which will allow you to bring up just that post and send it to your printer without having to fuss with selecting or saving and putting in another file.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 02:43 PM

Jos, the fruit ends up in the batter ... But I see your point, you persnickety person, you.

We’re you an editor in a previous life?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 02:47 PM

Stilly: If you can't bear not to use chicken breasts (although thighs are so much better), at least use chicken with the skin on - for the flavour, tenderness AND health benefits.
According to a website I found (https://goodyfeed.com/8-reasons-why-having-chicken-skin-is-actually-healthy/),
"Chicken skin contains Omega 9 or oleic acid. It’s a monounsaturated fat that is also present in olive oil, and it encourages the formation of high-density lipoprotein, HDL, which helps to manage glucose sensitivity."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 02:51 PM

Charmion, what's that you're saying about a PREVIOUS life?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 04:54 PM

"We’re you an editor in a previous life?"

Low-hanging fruit for an editor, if ever I saw it. :)

Charmion's fruitcake also goes well with whisky, whiskey, brandy, calvados, bourbon, applejack, Yukon Jack, and several other forms of "tea."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 07:19 PM

Give over, bro Andrew. That damned apostroph'e inveigles itself into everything due to the spell check/predictive text bully. Your sis is one of the most literate members of this parish, right up there with your's truly...

See what I did there...?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 08:22 PM

Otto Korrekt strikes again!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 08:41 PM

Otto is an ares.

I am rediscovering the leek. Chop some clean ones, sauté in butter with whatever spices/herbs you like, add whatever broth, marvy 10mn soup. Sometimes also meat, or fish, or crab. If so brown meat before leeks, or add fish and coat before adding broth, or add crab just enough before serving to bring back to the boil. Other veg are good too, add with leeks. A little white wine cooked off before adding the broth, or lemon juice added after the broth, helps if it's too sweet. 15 mn soup if doing the wine step.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Dec 20 - 08:54 PM

Jos, I think you missed the part about where I frequently buy the chicken. It is a good quality discount store but they don't carry everything all of the time. Often what they have are skinless boneless chicken breasts, quite often organic, and despite the distaste that the author of that article holds toward chicken without skin, I can make it into many delicious meals. And unless it's crisp, there is no way I'm going to touch the skin. Making soup stock with bones and skin is how it gets used when I have a whole bird or quartered with bones and skin. The store in question sometimes have boneless skinless chicken thighs and those are marvelous for things like chicken teriyaki. There is still a lot of fat in the meat on those. At the regular grocery story I buy the minimally processed chicken (no injected salty crap) and it's usually breast or leg quarters with the skin and bones.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 02:49 AM

Stilly, I missed the bit about your grocery store because you posted it while I was checking up on the health benefits of chicken skin and then finishing my post, and I didn't go back and check for intervening posts before clicking 'Submit'.
I'm glad you are getting organic chicken - better for the environment, and for the chickens.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 03:48 PM

Mrrzy, since you have discovered the leek, do you know about cockaleekie soup? It’s a traditional Scottish dish that need not be made with an “auld cock” or a worn-out layer, as my Scots Kitchen book recommends, but must contain barley if it is to be reasonably authentic.

(Rolling up my sleeves ... Ahem!)

For rather a lot of cockaleekie — it freezes very well — you need:

- Two or three rashers of side bacon, cut into lardons
- Enough garlic (I like four or five cloves, smashed)
- 750 g to 1kilo of skinned, boned chicken thigh meat, cut into bite-sized hunks
- 200 g hulled barley (not the pearl kind)
- Three large leeks, trimmed of their roots and leaves, and sliced as finely as you like
- About a litre and a half of chicken stock
- Thyme ad lib.
- Enough salt (quantity depends on bacon)
- A dash or two of Worcestershire sauce

In a large Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, brown the lardons and sauté the garlic in the rendered fat. Then brown the chicken pieces, working in batches so as not to crowd the pot. Put all the chicken back into the pot, and add the barley, stirring it about until all the grains are well-coated with bacon and chicken fat. Then add the sliced leeks, and stir about until they are a bit wilted. Add the stock and thyme, bring to a boil, and then simmer until the barley grains have burst. Add a splot or so of Worcester, stir, taste, and then add as much salt as it needs.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 04:01 PM

Further to my last: “... bring to a boil, and then *simmer* until the barley grains have burst.”

---

Instructions corrected! ---mudelf

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 04:24 PM

I just looked at my fruitcake recipe, and spotted a grievous error.

Where it says 2 1/3 cups of flour, it should say *3 1/3* cups of flour!!!

Most of the quantities in a fruitcake recipe can be fudged a bit, but not that much.

---

Again, fixed. ---mudelf

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 04:28 PM

Charmion, I misread that as Need not be made with a worn-out lawyer...

Thanks! I do like cockaleekie soup. Also Vichyssoise. Closet leek soups.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 07:28 PM

A good half of traditional Northern European soups have leek in them. If you live in even the rockiest parts of Wales or Scotland or France, you can grow leeks and kale, which explains la cuisine pauvre to my satisfaction.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Dec 20 - 08:48 PM

This reminds me that it's time to make a batch of lentil soup. It's always surprising how orange lentils turn green when cooked, and green lentils turn brown. My favorite recipe comes from Egypt, and I prefer it with water vs stock. Lentils, grated onion, water, and not much else (I have to pull out the book - there is salt and pepper and I think a little lemon.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 06:27 AM

Thanks, Mudelf.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 10:56 AM

Nice to see you back, Charmion.   

There are a lot of unfriendly jokes about fruitcake, but there must be plenty of people who like it. The Collins Street baker of Corsicana, Texas, takes orders from 196 countries.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 11:46 AM

That Collins Street Bakery fruitcake is the industry standard, as far as I'm concerned. But those calories do go straight to all of the worst places. Maybe if I make my own I won't eat it so quickly. :-/

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 11:50 AM

OK I got the nuts dried fruit and other fruit.
What else do I need?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 11:55 AM

I have made 4 christmas cakes each weighing 4lb 4 oz. They now need to be smeared with Apricot jam to hold the Marzipan in placed and then be covered in icing.

One is for my son and his family, one will be halved for his mother in law who is single and might be overfaced with a full cake which leaves 2 and a half cakes.

One will be devoured in double quick time, the half will follow suit.

The one remaining .................. hmmmmmmmmmm ...........

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 12:03 PM

Firstly Donuel you should have started back in late September, early October. These cakes need to be fed with alcohol.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 04:51 PM

I am about halfway through my first attempt at yule log. The cake is rolled in a towel, cooling. I will report back...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 05:12 PM

We prefer specialty fish treats for the holidays. My ex buys the salmon (either wild sockeye, or there is a very good quality of farm-raised Atlantic salmon from Norway) and cut it into the right sized pieces. I made the brine (two bowls because recipients like different levels of saltiness) and they're in the fridge till about midnight when they will be washed off and left on plates in the fridge to form a crust over the fish that then helps catch the smoke from the smoker tomorrow. Low-temperature smoke using a Little Chief smoker. We'll divide this batch between three of us this year because the most distant child isn't going to fly for xmas this year. So we sent him his own Little Chief smoker and for xmas he can open that and make his own fish. My sister lives up there and can point him to places to buy good salmon for this project.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 18 Dec 20 - 05:25 PM

What a cracking present!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Dec 20 - 08:53 AM

Today, I shall bottle the cherry bounce liqueur I put up last summer. My only problem is that I seem to have only three half-litre beer bottles with wired-on porcelain stoppers — not the sort of thing for which one just pops out to the shops in southwestern Ontario.

Crap. Must figure this out. Mason jars might work, for that hillbilly vibe, but it’s a bit of a challenge to pour a neat shot from a fruit jar into a Bohemian crystal pony glass.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Dec 20 - 01:05 PM

Do you have any faceted 1/2 pint jelly jars? They won't pour much better but they'd look very pretty. You could screw on one of these when it comes time to pour.

Fish is in smoking. I hadn't cleaned the rack last time (my bad) and had to scour the shelves and drip pan first, but I gave the fish extra time to form that outer skin and it looks really good - I may make a note to try to wait 10-12 hours and not the usual 8 before starting smoking.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 19 Dec 20 - 05:26 PM

Any Grolsch bottles about?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 20 Dec 20 - 09:00 AM

Any soft drink bottles such as those that come full of tonic or soda water should be strong enough to cope with it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Dec 20 - 09:44 AM

True, Jos, but how to seal them? I'm not a home brewster, so I don't own a crown capper -- and, for cherry bounce, which is about 40 proof and has a strong flavour, I need re-sealable bottles. Furthermore, I doubt there's a single soft-drink company in southern Ontario that still uses glass bottles in sizes larger than 355 ml, which is the typical single serving in North America.

After a major rummage in the Glory Hole, I came up with three 750-ml swing-top bottles to supplement the three 500-ml beer bottles. They had been down there a while, and one of the beer bottles had been used for be-herbed vinegar, so I had to do some plain and fancy cleanage, but the six bottles turned out to be precisely enough. Note to file: buy a bottle brush.

But -- lesson learned. If I'm to continue making cordial, I must find a reliable source of bottles. I used to accumulate enough Grolsch (and similar) empties over a typical year, but this household's primary beer fancier is now tipping his pint in the afterlife.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Dec 20 - 10:26 AM

Amazon to the rescue. The rest of the search..

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Dec 20 - 01:25 PM

Yup. That’s what I will need.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Dec 20 - 02:02 PM

I had to look up the brand of beer (Grolsch) to be sure what you were talking about. I had a bottle that soy sauce came in one time, good sized, but I don't think you could ever get all of the flavor out of the bottle and rubber gasket.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Dec 20 - 09:32 PM

Ok, my first goose, my first bûche. The goose was superb: scalded, dried, oiled, salted inside and out, cloves from 3 heads garlic inside plus dusting of smoked paprika, forgot to prick till after the first baking time, set on cabbage steaks. Bake 1.5 hours covered at 350F, baste and remove liquid, cover again bake 1 hour ditto, crank up to 425, roast 1/2 hour uncovered, remove all liquid and the garlic from the cavity, roast another 1/2 hour while making gravy with the garlic.

Oh yeah I forgot, roasted neck rest of insides, kept for soup. Fried the liver in butter separately and ran through food processor with the garlic before putting in gravy. Liquid for gravy was what was in the bottom of the separator from the goose and some white wine.

The skin was marvy, deep, deep brown, so crispety crunchety, amazing. The goose itself was yummy, juicy, wonderfully flavored. I have 1 wing, 1 thigh, and the main body left.

The bûche was toute une histoire, but not delicious. The cake itself was problematic from the start: the volume said 1 1/3c and the weight said 160g but the two were miles apart, requiring way more flour to make the weight [should I have weighed then sifted?]. However the frangelico cream was yum as was the ganache so hey. And I made marzipan mushrooms and snowed vanilla sugar on it and it was beautiful.

I have taken notes on the recipe I used. I will totally do it again. Meanwhile any advice for a better cake part?

This was fun!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 21 Dec 20 - 03:39 AM

Never measure flour by volume, it varies too much. For example, sifting increases the volume. With weight, you know just how much you've got.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Monique
Date: 21 Dec 20 - 05:03 AM

Conversions page of "Chocolate & Zucchini" (interesting cuisine blog, I love her ginger cookies). A digital kitchen scale (~$15) is a good investment!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Dec 20 - 09:19 AM

That is what I thought, BobL, but it did not work in this instance. I have posted the question to the site where I found the recipe. I will report back. There were answers to recent posts so I have hope

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Dec 20 - 04:42 PM

Ok I made soup with my goose caecass. How was I supposed to do it?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Dec 20 - 08:20 PM

So it tastes good?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Dec 20 - 08:23 PM

Whenever I think about what to do with a goose carcass, I find myself singing about soup to the tune of Little Deuce Coupe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Dec 20 - 09:29 PM

Har!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Dec 20 - 10:04 AM

Today, I must -- absolutely must -- make the Christmas pudding, and the hard sauce. The butter has been on the kitchen bench since yesterday, so it should not be totally brick-like in texture.

Here's the pudding recipe. It comes from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, courtesy of an old Army buddy, who got it from his ex-mother-in-law (a very military relationship). It's the only Christmas pud recipe I know that is not designed to feed the five thousand.

- 1 1/2 cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of "mixed spices" (I use allspice, nutmeg and a dash of cinnamon)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 3/4 of a cup of chopped suet
- 1 cup of raisins
- 1 cup of currants
- 1 cup of grated carrot
- 1 cup of grated potato

Prepare a steamer -- I use a large water canner with a trivet in the bottom -- and grease a medium-large pudding basin. I use a large water canner with a trivet in the bottom, and a No 24 Mason Cash pudding basin, the size that's 19 cm (7 1/2 inches) in diameter at the top.

Blend the flour, baking soda, spices and salt in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order given and mix well. Work quickly, as the baking soda reaction begins on contact with the carrot and potato. Cover with foil or parchment and steam for 3 hours.

This pudding does not swell. The raw mixture is not a batter, but a sort of granular mess, and it solidifies and develops a cakey texture as it steams.

Let the pudding cool to room temperature and refrigerate it if you make it more than a day or so in advance. Reheat by steaming if you must, but I prefer the microwave. Turn it out into something fireproof, douse with warmed rum or brandy, and bring it to the table blazing. Serve with hard sauce (aka brandy butter), or hot lemon sauce.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Dec 20 - 10:07 AM

Should have re-read and edited ... Sorry about that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Dec 20 - 12:56 PM

Hmm. Mrs Steve makes the Christmas puds in September or October, and they don't live in the fridge either. We've even had year-old ones before now. No problemo!

I'm keeping it simple for Christmas Eve. I have a one-kilo lump of boned and rolled free-range unsmoked gammon. I've soaked it for 24 hours and will throw away the first boiling, in the hope of getting a stock that's not too salty for soup. It will go into my biggest pot, covered with water to which I'm adding a carrot, a stick of celery, an onion, parsley, thyme, a bay leaf and a few peppercorns. I can't understand people who ruin the ham (and the prospect of good stock) with horrid things such as coca-cola or cider. I reckon it will take about 90 minutes-ish. It will go nicely with some greens, mashed potato and my home-made parsley sauce, which I'll make while the greens are cooking and the ham is resting. There'll be plenty of cutting for the next few days of cold turkey (the bird, not the withdrawal from anything). Can't wait! Just off to get it going...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 24 Dec 20 - 01:39 PM

In the past I have made a four bird roast. I bone out a Capon (castrated male bird) take the breasts from two Ducks, 4 pheasants and 8 Quail.

This year I have decided to let the butcher do all the work. Not only is a bought one a whole lot cheaper I don't have to spend several hours buggering about. So the butchers 4 bird roast in Turkey Duck, Pheasant and Grouse.

I also bought a whole fillet of steak ............ the cost of that made my eyes water!! and have taken the tenderloin from the centre to roast.

That little lot will feed us for days.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Dec 20 - 02:04 PM

Ah, well, Steve, your Christmas pud is a different class of article. That recipe I posted above is a Canadian confection of probably German origin, but also influenced by English and Scottish foodways — not to speak of what happens to a recipe that has passed through several generations (including the Great Depression and at least one world war) and lateral transfers from family to family.

As written, it consisted only of the list of ingredients and the instruction to steam it for three hours. I have made it at least a dozen times, with my own adjustments. The sauce recipe that came with it is a real Depression artifact — consisting of brown sugar, butter and boiling water thickened with cornstarch and jazzed up with vanilla, it’s familiar to many Canadians as a component of « pouding chômeur » (pogey pudding).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 25 Dec 20 - 12:15 PM

Recently I bought a leek, and now I can't find the recipe that called for it.

What do I do with a leek? Cut it up and saute, like an onion? Or what?
It looks like a giant green onion, and cooked green onion turns slimey - I hate it.

I have eight chicken thighs to cook, so any suggestions for a chicken recipe that uses a leek would be appreciated.
=================
Thanks for recipe, Charmion. Now I know what Christmas pudding is.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Dec 20 - 01:56 PM

Chop it up and rinse the parts well, leeks can have a lot of grit. I put into a big bowl of water, swish, and remove from top of water, do not pour out. The grit will sink, the leeks float.
I recommend soup if you don't like the texture of some cooked veg. In broth, nothing is slimy.
But I would roast the chicken thighs...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Dec 20 - 01:56 PM

This steamed pudding would be perfect in my steam juicer. I'll have to consider making it. How long does it keep (assuming it lasts long enough to be kept?)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Dec 20 - 06:10 PM

I'll ask Mrs Steve for the recipe, Charmion, but there's no guarantee she'll let me have it... Some cooks are like that... ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Dec 20 - 09:36 PM

Leeneia, I posted a recipe for cockaleekie stew a week or so ago. It calls for leeks, chicken thighs, barley and chicken stock, plus some optional stuff to enhance the flavour.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Dec 20 - 09:38 PM

Stilly, that pudding keeps for at least a week in the fridge, and it freezes well.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 09:22 AM

Well the ham stock was ideal for making soup, not too salty, so all that soaking I did paid off. The ham is delicious too, so that's a double win. Before Christmas I bought a pack of big flat mushrooms, going cheap for 50p. I didn't want to waste them so about an hour ago I made them into soup, as follows:

In my cast iron casserole I fried some shallots and some chopped celery in olive oil. After about 15 minutes I crumbled up those mushrooms and threw them in. Once they'd reduced down a bit, I added about two pints of the ham stock and let it all simmer for five minutes. I carried the pot to the sink and whizzed it all to a rubbly broth with my stick blender. I put it back on the heat and added a pack of Merchant Gourmet pre-cooked Puy lentils (which are an excellent ingredient). After a few more minutes I decided to whizz the soup again. The texture was great for drinking out of a mug, thick and hearty but not too thick, and the seasoning just needed a quick tweak. It's delicious, and a big mug of that was all I needed for my lunch. There plenty for both of us tomorrow too. I've seen other mushroomy soup recipes that call for Worcestershire sauce (weird...) or cream, but I honestly thought that further embellishments were unnecessary. During the season of eating tons of rich stuff, something low-fat and nutritious like this is just what's called for, I reckon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 09:33 AM

When it comes to cleaning leeks, this is what I do. I don't want too much dark green top but I do want some of the fresher, brighter green stuff, so that's where I cut the leek. I then slice off the rooty bottom, only removing the minimum sliver required. Then there's the judgement of how many outer layers need to be discarded. One? Two? I have the same issue with shallots and onions... You can always chuck the outer, non-papery bits into the stock pot. To get any grit out of the top of the leek, I cut a deep cross down into it, then hold it, cut top up, under a stream of cold water, spreading out the cut segments. That does the trick.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 10:31 AM

I like the dark leafy tops. I used to clean leeks your way, Steve Shaw, but I find if I'm going to chop'm anyway, that they are a lot easier to clean if already chopped.

The goose liver, some white wine, and all the garlic that was inside my goose made a marvy spread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 11:17 AM

Thanks, Charmion. I'll make some cockaleekie soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 06:08 PM

Well I prefer to wash any vegetables, including spuds, while they are still only minimally trimmed, as I have no desire to wash away nutrients and flavour, which is what you'd be doing if you washed them after all the chopping up. Less waterlogging my way, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 09:22 PM

The other day I bought 5 little $0.98 sandwiches in the freezer section of my local grocery that I was going to add to the "community fridge," a place where people in the neighborhood 4 miles north of me can go to find food when nothing else is available for purchase nearby - a "food desert." Then I realized that these sandwiches couldn't be added. The county health department insists that meat be shelf stable, not just cooked and frozen, because there are no guarantees on the fridge temperature. So I tried one of them tonight. The list of ingredients is intimidatingly long, I won't buy more, but I won't waste these. And to tonight's sandwich, a buffalo chicken breast meat patty and bun, I added mayonnaise, a few drops of my favorite hot sauce, and a couple of my homemade garlic dill spears. Not bad.

Next week I'll find some canned tuna and other shelf stable protein to add to the shelves next to the fridge at that location. I donate to the county food bank, but I also try to add food ingredients or quick to fix meals (soup cups that need just boiling water; cans that have pull-tab tops for homeless to be able to eat, etc.)

We have suddenly reached a critical state for millions on the US. While Trump fiddles millions starve. Literally. Benefits for several important food and unemployment programs ended today and tomorrow unless the bill is signed or congress acts quickly (if the bill is vetoed). If the bill isn't vetoed it will run out the clock and then it is too late for this congress to act. Trump is a cretin and I wish the COVID had done him in.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Dec 20 - 09:38 PM

I can't think that you'd have got anyone better.

I'm one of those people who bought a large turkey before I knew that hardly anyone could come. It was a lovely turkey as it happens, moist and flavoursome, a free-range bronze job, and I cooked it well (never easy...). It's a challenge, but I've already got a hot turkey bap with stuffing and onions, a turkey and ham risotto and a sort of turkey cottage pie lined up. There may be sandwiches too...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 09:07 AM

Any nutrients that can wash off the surface of a raw veg, I am not gonna worry about.

But I also like onion and garlic powder to thicken a soup. Heretic, I am.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 12:24 PM

After picking off all the meat I could, I crammed the goose wreckage into the Instant Pot along with the customary carrot, onion and celery. The result is about four and a half litres of dark stock with a wonderful aroma, and it's chilling in the fridge while I decide what should go into the first batch of goose soup.

Wild rice, I think, after the mirepoix, and chopped leg meat.

Any suggestions out there?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 12:29 PM

Yep. Include some bacon in your mirepoix.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 12:34 PM

If you're going to freeze some of your soup, don't add rice to the portion going in the freezer. Same with pasta. Not good once it comes back out and is reheated. Add some afresh once the soup's thawed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 01:26 PM

Still mostly pottages but also purchased the big 3 Christmas desserts on my last outing to the supermarket - cake, pudding, and mince pies...plus a bottle of sherry.

On TV, soups/stews are usually thickened with flour but for my pottages, rather, I like to add oats - the same oats that, for breakfast, I make porridge with, adding sugar and/or peanut butter, jam, sultanas, tofu...

(When visiting SE Asian countries, I enjoy rice porridge/congee for breakfast.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 02:01 PM

Stop with the bad poetry, WAV. Confine it to your own thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 03:32 PM

Ah, yes, bacon. None in the house. Damn.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Dec 20 - 08:17 PM

Then get thee to a bacon emporium posthaste. A house sans bacon is a mere house, not a home....

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 10:41 AM

...can't a vegan bring home the bacon in terms of making his or her castle, Steve?!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 10:48 AM

Nah. They have to bring home the bakin', and even then only if it's made without lard or butter.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 10:57 AM

On a more serious note, I heard that the only vitamin vegans struggle to obtain is B12, but I also noticed at my local supermarket that Violife add that to their vegan cheese slices, so I make a point of having one slice a day.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 11:31 AM

Cheese slices !!! Ugh !!!!

Probably processed from Devils spawn.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 11:41 AM

...quite tasty - especially grilled on toast or a cream cracker

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 11:48 AM

last night I made Argentine scallops wrapped in bacon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 12:28 PM

Look out for B12 added to things such as soya/oat (etc.) "milks." Alternatively, don't be a vegan... Millions of acres of land on this planet can support animal husbandry but not arable farming, in highlands, on steep or rocky slopes or in areas with seasonal droughts or poor or unirrigated soils. Millions of children in developing countries can't afford fancy supplements to compensate for what they wouldn't get from a vegan diet, and without milk, for example, they would be in dire straits. Subsistence farmers in those countries can't afford expensive chemical fertilisers and rely on animal manure to keep their land in good heart and to feed their crops. Veganism must be a personal choice to be kept quiet about, free from evangelism. I know you weren't doing that. I'm just sayin'.

An interesting thought is that not a single human being has ever started life as a vegan.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 12:41 PM

...but, then, we are the only mammals that keep drinking milk after infancy.

It's true, though, that a lot of the sad slash-and-burn farming in South America is to grow soya.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 12:54 PM

Even meat eaters need extra B-12. I've been on an OTC formula for several years, along with a very low dose of iron, after the PMR diagnosis. They ran every blood test under the sun and while these deficiencies weren't the cause of the illness, they were recognized along the way.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 01:10 PM

Good for you, Walkie. Our bodies need B vitamins.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 01:33 PM

Thanks, Leeneia - of course, last century many had an eye for spinach!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 03:16 PM

Misc leftovers, and anything in the fridge with expired "use by" dates,
gets through in the pot to be boiled safe enough to eat..

Stir in Tesco Madras sauce, then chuck in healthy frozen veg for the last 5 - 10 mins..

Every meal is unique, no 'recipe' is ever accurately repeatable...

The pot gets emptied and washed every week or two,
after the last remains become boiled up into "home made soup"...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 03:18 PM

errrm.. "gets thrown in the pot"...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 04:09 PM

From watching NHK, seems not so different from sumo stew/chankonabe, PFR, or my "One-Pot Cooking".

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 04:49 PM

yep.. survival cooking skills I had to learn for myself when I left home,
and said goodbye to mother's finest cooking from packets and tins..


Now I see 'one pot cooking' seems to be a trendy thing...

Btw.. sumo one pot meals look very appetising.

A British celebrity chef confirmed this,
when he took on a TV challenge to cook a sumo training school's lunch,
at least as good as their own traditional recipe...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 05:06 PM

Vegans had better worry about their B12. The rest of us, on western diets, need worry about very little except for Vitamin D in winter (or if you insist on never exposing yourself to sunshine in summer). As for B vitamins, unless you're one of those very fussy people who refuse to eat your greens, you'll get all you need from your diet. Those non-greens eaters should maybe worry slightly about folic acid (folate, or Vitamin B9), especially if they're thinking of getting pregnant. The supplements industry never ceases to incense me. The vast majority of people never need supplements of vitamins and minerals. A varied diet which includes good-quality veg is all we need in that regard. Never join the ranks of the worried well...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 05:23 PM

Anyway, we're still ploughing through a mass of turkey that was originally destined for far more people than just the locked-down two of us. Tonight, Mrs Steve and I had hot turkey baps...

Two big baps per person. Slit and butter them.

Wrap a healthy stash of leftover turkey and stuffing in foil. Put that into the oven at 180 degrees C. You also need to cook a few slices of streaky bacon. I do this in the oven too. In the meantime, slice up a big handful of banana shallots and get them frying in butter.

Warm up two big plates and put on the buttered baps. When the bacon is near-crispy, the onions are soft and starting to brown and the turkey is hot, put some onion on the bap bases. Add turkey and stuffing. Add bacon pieces. Add more onions. Really heap everything on. Mrs Steve: add cranberry sauce. Not for me, thanks. Put tops back on baps. Put on warmed plates. Devour using hands only. You'll get into a terrible mess but you won't half sleep well.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Dec 20 - 11:40 PM

I ended up with a lot of bok choi in my goose soup, Charmion. It was yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 06:00 AM

Bok choi is also one of my favourite greens.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 06:20 AM

WAV, while I don't care for your poetry I enjoyed viewing the pictures of your vegan dishes. You've managed some very nice presentations there.
I eat a mostly plant based diet with some seafood and dairy and I take a B12 supplement that keeps my feet from tingling in the middle of the night.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 06:34 AM

So if my feet start a tingling through the night, Gillymor, I may goto 2 slices of Violife cheese per day...

This morning I had one of my favourites from the "My Diet" photos linked above - simply pan fry a few scoops of tofu with vegetable oil for a while, before adding soya sauce, until the snow white tofu turns a light brown; then scoop it onto toast or (this morning) crackers. I also added tomato sauce onto half them for a bit of variety, and other times I will sprinkle some herbs...

Some say tofu is bland but not this way, I feel, and the crunch of the crackers makes a nice contrast in texture to the slippery tofu.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 06:44 AM

It's a bit more complicated than that, WAV, you'd be well-advised to seek out more info on essential nutrition from a source that you trust.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 06:52 AM

I was being light-hearted but, frankly, I have never looked that thoroughly into vitamins, etc., and as with Steve, have never taken tablet supplements. Experts say we need so much of this thing called protein and that, if we avoid meats, we have to make up for it with legumes so (almost blindly) I do so - and the same applies to hearing about vitamin B12, as above, where a slice a day of that cheese seems to be enough...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 06:59 AM

The supplement works for me though I also get B12 through my diet and if the cheese works for you then good on ya.
Since I started using tofu as an occasional source of protein about 25 years ago the stuff that's become available has improved leaps and bounds. I mostly avoid the slimy stuff and go for the textured variety depending on the dish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 07:11 AM

In my local Tesco I think they only have the J-Basket variety of tofu, but I shall look out for other textured varieties.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 07:06 PM

I really do not like tofu.

Giant swordfish steak sautéed in snail butter. Ate about half, planning a soup for tomorrow.

Kinda sorry I already made soup with what was left of my goose bone broth. Maybe I'll use some of the extra cream I have and make chowdah...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Dec 20 - 07:50 PM

Somebody round here must be working for a tofu company. I've posted twice to say that I don't know what tofu is, and both posts have vanished. There appears to be some very weird modding going on here...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 03:53 AM

Tofu is a kind of bean curd made of soy beans. I tried it once. I heard somewhere, probably Radio 4, that to make it palatable you have to soak or simmer it (can't remember which - maybe both) in stock, before you do anything else with it.
I haven't tried that yet, there are plenty of other nice things to eat, but it is probably very good for you and useful if you are a vegan (in which case, use vegetable stock).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 04:51 AM

I agree with Jos - but, as above, frying it in vegetable oil with soy sauce added until it goes a light brown, makes for a very tasty topping for toast or crackers. (It is bland without suchlike.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 05:30 AM

Here's an article on prepping tofu for stir fry. though my wife slices it a little bit thinner-

How To Stir-Fry Tofu

We added it to this dish the day after Xmas, adding sliced baby bella mushrooms. It came out great.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 06:00 AM

gillymor's link for tofu preparation tells you to press the tofu between sheets of kitchen paper to remove liquid, but doesn't mention any use of stock before cooking - and it includes the instruction to "arrange the tofu in a single layer in the hot, oiled wok and let it sear for a minute to sear", which deserves a place in the "Language pet peeves" thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 06:43 AM

Talking about daft instructions in recipes, I've just scaled a recipe down from one that says "serves six to eight" as there are only two of us. The instruction, one that's oft seen, was "season to taste." Whose taste, especially were I cooking it for six to eight!

As it happens, it was really good. I got it from Jocelyn Dimbleby in an article about how to use up leftover turkey. I changed it quite a lot, (a) because I had spare stuffing and bacon (can be left out, though I'd always add the bacon meself), (b) because I will not be lacing my cooking with nutmeg or ground cinnamon any time soon, both flavours that I can live without.

For two or three people, you need about 12oz leftover turkey meat (with a bit of stuffing if you have any left). No skin or bone, and chop it up quite finely, but not minced.

Get a heavy pot and make a soffritto with chopped bacon (or not), onion, celery and carrot, fried gently in olive oil for half an hour. When it's all nice and soft, turn the heat off and throw in most of a tin of unsalted plum tomatoes without the juice. Or use fresh ones that you've skinned. Throw in the meat, a goodly dose of dried oregano and a good pinch of salt. Mix everything up and put into the bottom of a shallow ovenproof dish. No more liquid!

Now the topping. You need an equal mixture of peeled potatoes and peeled sweet potatoes. Judge the amount according to how hungry you think you may be. Cut them up and boil or steam them until they are soft. Add two big tablespoons of creme fraiche and about 2oz of strong cheddar cheese, grated. "Season to taste" (heheh). Mash it all up and use it to top the turkey mix. Grate a bit more cheese on top and dot it all over with little nibs of butter.

I did this hours in advance and it didn't suffer, a very handy thing to be able to do. It goes into an oven at 180C fan, (350F, sez Siri) and it needs about 35 or 40 minutes-ish. We had it with green beans, but any simple veg, or a salad, would be good. It was delicious, comfort food par excellence, and a really good extra string to the bow for using leftovers. I reckon we'll be doing it with chicken as the year rolls on.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 06:57 AM

Re seasoning - keep on the shelf a lot of spices and herbs individually or buy the tried-and-tested combinations of different regions (Mixed Spice, Mixed Herbs, Curry, Garum Masala, Chinese 5 Spice, Japanese 7 Spice, Piri Piri, Ras el Hanout, Chimichurri..? At the moment, I have some of both but - living in a small studio-flat - am running out of space.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 11:27 AM

...another alternative, if pressed for seasoning space, is, as you may know, allspice, which is the one spice - a dried berry - bearing the flavour of a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg (thereby, perhaps, avoiding some of the culinary gobbledygook).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 11:40 AM

Three or four - or even a dozen or so - spices don't take up a lot of space.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 12:16 PM

Hmmm, Steve, do you think that might work with cold goose?

I have rather a lot if cold goose at present.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 01:32 PM

Why not? The original recipe is called Poulterers' Pie. I've never eaten goose: is the actual cooked meat fatty? If so, I think I might minimise the amount of oil in the soffritto, maybe rely on just the bacon fat...

...or leave out the bacon...

NOOOOOO!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 02:05 PM

I have half a cupboardful of spice jars each of which I bought for one dish and never used again. I need a clearout. I have celery seeds, ground cinnamon, cumin, ginger, chilli powder, ground and whole nutmeg, cloves and ground cloves, fennel seeds an' mo', most of them out of date. I do use a lot of crushed chillies, sweet and hot and smoked paprika and dried oregano. If I didn't have any of the others I'd get by very happily on just those.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 02:36 PM

Goose is simply the BEST bird to roast. There is not a lot of meat on the birds (certainly in the UK) but the flavour is brilliant and you get a bonus of Goose fat to make roast potatoes for weeks afterwards!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 04:12 PM

Steve, if you do it right, the meat is not greasy. It's well worth reading up on goose cookery before tackling your first.

To ensure that the rendered fat flows quickly and efficiently off the bird, I pierce the skin all over with a needle-sharp skewer, inserting it at an angle to avoid hitting the meat. I keep the oven temperature low -- about 325 Fahrenheit -- so the fat does not scorch in the pan, and spoon off as much fat as possible after one hour and two hours of roasting. Some cooks recommend steaming the bird in the Chinese fashion, but that's messy and, in my opinion, unnecessary. When the breast meat is at or above 170 Fahrenheit, spoon off the last of the fat and crank the oven up to 400F for about 10 minutes to crisp the skin. It should then rest for at least fifteen minutes before carving.

A 12-pound goose will take about two and a half to three hours, depending on how chilly it is when it goes in the oven.

Much tosh is talked and written about stuffing for goose, but I don't recommend it; by the time the bird is ready, a stuffing is drenched in fat. Dressing to go with goose should be baked on the side, in my admittedly arrogant opinion.

With the first load of rendered goose fat taken out of the pan, you're ready to prepare the potatoes. Quarter and parboil them, then toss them in a bowl with a tablespoon or two of goose fat, some salt and pepper, and maybe some herbes de Provence (if you're me). Pop them in the oven in a skillet or baking dish when you have raised the oven temperature to crisp the skin of the goose.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 07:17 PM

That sounds similar to how I cook turkey. My 5kilo/12lb turkey gets a cut lemon, chunks of onion and a wodge of butter stuffed up its arse. The whole top bit gets covered in unsmoked streaky bacon. Then foil goes over the top. The oven is preheated to 180C fan. The bird MUST have been at room temp since at least the night before. In goes the turkey, which is then left alone for two hours. After that, the foil comes off and a good basting is applied. After about another 20 minutes, the bacon comes off, the turkey is basted and back in, uncovered, it goes. After exactly three hours in total, the bird comes out to rest, covered loosely with foil. You have at least 45 minutes to fire up the oven for your roasties, parsnips, stuffing balls and chipolatas.

The key points are:

Buy the very best quality free-range turkey you can find.

Don't be tempted to have it bigger than about 6 kilos. Only big ovens or Agas can hack huge birds.

It absolutely must be at room temp before you start, and that means all the night before out of the fridge.

Don't be tempted to overcook. Fear of food poisoning has ruined many a good turkey and given it a bad reputation for dryness and tough texture.

Don't put stuffing anywhere near the turkey. Any meat that's next to stuffing won't cook properly. It won't kill you but you won't eat it.

Final point: if I'm in your house when you cook a turkey, you will not be getting the pope's nose. Comprenez?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 07:25 PM

Chipolatas? What are those?

Your turkey method is familiar — that’s how my grannie did it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 08:04 PM

Chipolatas ................. Hmmmm

Get a bog standard, but good quality sausage, pinch the skin in the middle a few times till you end up two sections, then twist, and then snip with a knife or with scissors.

You will end up with TWO small sausages, which is what the butchers sell at 4 times the price of a sausage.

That is a Chipolata.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 08:53 PM

A chipolata is a more or less full-length sausage but about as third as thick. My butcher makes superb pork sausages. His chipolatas use the same meat as his full-size pork sausages and he weighs them at the same per-pound weight.. You must have funny butchers up yon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 09:25 PM

Technically you are correct Steve, However, at Christmas the perception is that Chipolatas are half sized sausages, often wrapped in bacon!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 09:56 PM

With turkey? And all the other elements of a Christmas feast?

Urp.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Dec 20 - 11:03 PM

When I made my goose it stayed in the hotter oven longer and it was the most GORGEOUS brown, the crispiest skin evvver, and the meat was not even a little overcooked.

I cleaned but did not slice all the cloves from 3 full heads of garlic and put them in the goose. The flesh was marvelously perfumed. Later all that garlic became other things.

Tonight I made a kind of cioppino-like dish with the leftover panfried-in-snail-butter swordfish and some crab, with zucch. Yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 20 - 12:08 AM

On xmas eve I made a batch of the filling for Puerto Rican empanadillas (meat pies) for my ex as part of his usual annual gift, and I kept a small bowl of it for myself. He didn't want the pie crust part this year (too many carbs) so will heat and spoon it over rice. But I made a couple of small crusts and fried a couple of pies for dinner. Other places call their meat pies "empanadas," but in PR they are empanadillas. These were made with a lean pork tenderloin, cut up and added to sofrito, then tomatoes (pureed whole canned), cilantro, capers, and finished with green olives and pimentos in the pies.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 31 Dec 20 - 04:17 AM

Doesn't "empanadilla" just mean "little empanada"?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Dec 20 - 12:01 PM

Due to severe incompetence by our government and the sudden abolition, first of Christmas then of New Year, it's just two of us in front of the telly with spag bol tonight...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Jan 21 - 12:32 AM

We celebrated with spare ribs, coleslaw and red wine. Then we whooped it up with two sessions of Antiques Roadshow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Jan 21 - 04:56 PM

My goose soup turned out good, but rather rich and a bit strange. It has leek in it, along with the mirepoix of celery, garlic, carrot and bacon, and the last quarter-kilo of wild rice I’ve been hoarding.

Most of it will have to go into the freezer, as a single plateful does me very well for supper. Fortunately, now the goose itself is out of the freezer, there’s room!

Steve, I have not forgotten your advice about adding rice later if you’re freezing soup. Wild rice is not actually rice (Oryza sativa), but a native North American grain the Ojibwe people call « manoomin »; its genus name is Zizania. It doesn’t turn into library paste if frozen in soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 01 Jan 21 - 05:44 PM

Well tonight we were blessed with the company of our son and his partner (to whom he has just become engaged, on Christmas Day) and our new grandson.

We started with a simple Smoked Salmon salad followed by a roast of Fillet Steak with Pomme Lyonnaise, Petit Pois au Beurre and although I hate to say it a Cauliflower & Broccoli Cheese. This was followed by home made Ginger Cup Cakes and/or home made Double Chocolate Cup Cakes with home made Strawberry Ice Cream.

Needless to say copious amounts of alcohol were consumed by those not responsible for the baby.

We sat at the table at 4.30, they have just left at 10.40 and a grand night was had by all.

Happy New Year to you all!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 21 - 07:32 PM

Empanadilla is what they call them in Puerto Rico, but I don't think they're any smaller than the empanadas that are made in Mexico, Central America, the Philippines, etc. It's just what they call them.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 02 Jan 21 - 12:53 PM

C'est un drôle de nom de genre, Charmion. "Zizania" was the plant of discord, so it was an odd approach to apply to the wild aquatic grasses of North America.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Jan 21 - 05:19 PM

I'm experimenting with a new smoothie maker. New flavors include banana pear cinnamon, Chocolate banana mango, Cranberry-jellied cherry pomogranite, pineapple honeycrisp apple, bluberry peach clove, Lemon honey applesauce etc.
water added as ice but no milk. I'll leave it to others to invent cocktails.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Jan 21 - 10:28 PM

as to zizania palustris,
Wikipedia says it is the official state grain of Minnesota.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Jan 21 - 10:03 AM

Official state grain? What next?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 03 Jan 21 - 10:17 AM

I wonder who designated it the official state grain. Did they invite nominations, draw up a short list and ask people to vote? Or did a wealthy seed producer suggest it, and slip some influential state official a wad of notes in a plain brown envelope?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Jan 21 - 12:55 PM

What next, Charmion?
I'll tell you what next, in the state of New Mexico
(just north of El Paso, Texas):
the local politicos passed an act in 1989
which made New Mexico the first state in the union to have
an official cookie, the Bizcochito.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Jan 21 - 01:29 PM

Qui a lu La zizanie, album d'Astérix?

Je ne savais pas que t'étais francophone. Ô frère de Charmion.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 03 Jan 21 - 01:32 PM

Pas francophone, mais bilingue.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Jan 21 - 02:01 PM

Si une des langues est le Français...


Made my sore-throat-cure soup- chicken broth, hot pepper, lemon juice. Drink from mug as hot as you can.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Jan 21 - 05:02 PM

Raggytash, your family dinner sounds wonderful. Congratulations on the new baby.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 03 Jan 21 - 05:40 PM

Mrrzy, on a tous lu /La Zizanie/ il y a 50 ans, à peu près. Our parents bought Astérix books to encourage us to read French. They rather enjoyed the books themselves, too.

For the last nearly 20 years, I was a procedural clerk--greffier à la procédure--at the House of Commons of Canada, and the ability to function at a professional level in English and French (both written and spoken) was a prerequisite for the job. Before that, I was a soldier and served in French-language and bilingual units.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 03 Jan 21 - 06:07 PM

Thank you Leeneia, we are very proud Grandparents of a beautiful baby boy and loving every second of it!!

I should have expanded of Pomme Lyonnaise.

Cut potatoes into 1 inch cubes and par boil. Cool under a running cold water tap and then drain. Ideally they are then baked until golden brown, although I cheated and deep fried them, then mix with onions that have been browned in a frying pan.

One of a thousand or more ways of preparing potatoes!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Jan 21 - 04:52 PM

Why has it taken me so damned long to discover cocoa with rum in it?

Delicious, nutritious (sorta) and relaxing! Can’t say better than that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 05 Jan 21 - 03:24 AM

a.k.a. a Lumumba. Used to live on them, holidaying in Majorca half a lifetime ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 05 Jan 21 - 11:37 AM

I have long enjoyed cocoa with a shot of blended or vatted malt whisky in it. If the game of "Dead Ants" had instead involved "Død tante/Tote Tante," I might have got into the game.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jan 21 - 11:44 AM

I have a 1 quart low-power crock pot from the 1970s that is at its best when used for making oatmeal overnight, started right before bedtime. I have a glass electric kettle for boiling water, so while it heats I plug in the crock pot, add a little salt, cut up a few dates, add either old fashioned oats or steel-cut oats, then pour the boiling water over the oats and the pot is hot enough to cook them. Starting with cold water results in a mess by morning that would take a lot longer to finish.

I alternate the dried fruit; sometimes I cut up dates, other times I add raisins.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Jan 21 - 06:41 PM

Yotam Ottolenghi is the guest on the latest episode of The Food Chain (BBC World Service), which should be available in podcast soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 12:07 AM

Lately I'm poking around the fridge and thinking about different combinations of the usual ingredients. Just for a change. If I land on something that is particularly successful, I'll share it.

I made an omelet the other days with some leftover chopped green bell pepper and onion, sautéed with some breakfast sausage. Cheese added before flipping it in half, and adding hot sauce on top. Not bad, but next time I'd use a different kind of sausage. I prefer it to be savory, but that sausage was too salty.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 03:29 AM

"Hot sauce" isn't very specific. What kind of sauce? And does "hot" mean it contained chilli, or that you heated it up first? Or maybe both?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 05:54 AM

I take it that the sausage and green peppers were on the side and not in the omelette...?

A cheese omelette is a thing of beauty, and it's done in a trice. I'm not a big fan of non-stick, but for omelettes I have a pair of not-too-big non-stick frying pans, which are ideal. The cheese should be something like a strong cheddar and you don't need too much.

I'm not saying my way is the best or only way, but here's how I do an omelette:

Turn the heat up to very hot. Beat three eggs, not too much (very important), with some salt and pepper. Absolutely no milk. I can never understand why anyone puts milk in eggs for omelettes or scrambling. Get the frying pan very hot and drop in a knob of butter, at least an ounce. Only butter, no oil. When the butter sizzles like mad and looks like it's going to go brown, pour in the eggs and swirl to cover the pan. Leave alone for 20 seconds. Then tilt the pan and get the runny middle to come to the edge all round. There should still be some runny middle left when you add the cheese and/or flip the omelette in half. You are not making something to sole your shoes. As soon as you've flipped, turn off the heat under the pan. The hot pan will do the rest. After a few seconds turn the omelette over and leave for a few more seconds. Scoop your chips or whatever on to a warm plate and put the omelette next to them. Something green will make you feel like it's doing you at least some good. Manna from heaven in m'humble. If I have a spare bread roll kicking around, I'll have an omelette, without the cheese, for my breakfast, half of it inside the buttered roll and the other half just for greedy devouring. Keep your face over the plate and avoid company as you feast. Large mug of builder's tea essential.

My dad always overcooked everything. His idea of an omelette was to not flip it but to fry it on both sides until it was so rubbery that you could have slapped someone's face with it for sixty seconds and it still wouldn't have dropped to bits. In my teen years, when I'd copy his method, I found it to be surprisingly edible, but in no sense whatsoever do I now look back and think to myself "Now that's what I CALL an omelette..."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 06:05 AM

I seem to recall seeing the Hairy Bikers making an omelette from scratch in under a minute by just cracking the eggs into the hot pan with seasoning, then beating the mix all around until it was set just so. It was some kind of contest to see who could make the fastest omelette. I think the verdict was that it turned out quite well but would have been even better without the bits of shell. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 07:16 AM

Sometimes if I have an onion that has started growing long green sprouts, I chop the green part and add it to the cheese in a cheese omelette. The combination of onion and cheese seems to magically create a third flavour that wasn't there before (a bit like the way mixing blue and yellow paint produces green paint, which wasn't there before).

That Hairy Bikers' method, without the addition of bits of egg shell, is the way I make scrambled eggs - leaving some recognisable yolk and white in the result.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 07:23 AM

That's what I do too. A very small non-stick frying pan is the ideal thing for that. I bought just the thing in Lidl for £3.99. No more gouging of burnt egg off the bottom of the pan for me! And still a bit sloppy for me, please! I can't quite remember how Dave and Si managed to produce an omelette rather than scrambled.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 08:27 AM

My omelette method is just like yours, Steve. It’s how they do it in France.

Milk in the beaten egg softens the curd, which some people like. I do it when scrambling, but not for omelette.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 08:38 AM

A French Canadian in Montreal told me she always use a drop of water, rather than milk, so that the steam will help the omelette rise.
But I reckon the eggs make it rise anyway, without extra steam.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 10:35 AM

My omelet method is pretty much like Steve and Charmion concur is a good one. 1-2 teaspoons of water, two eggs, etc. But yes, in this instance I didn't want to stop and wash and reheat the pan so I added the egg to the browned chopped peppers and onions (there wasn't much of all of that, maybe 1/4 cup, and it was a half-ounce of the sausage) and moved the pan around to spread out the egg. Add the lid for about 30 seconds to help it set up, then cheese and struggled with this one to get it out of the pan because some of the fried bits stuck. It wasn't as pretty as usual.

Hot sauce I use a lot these days is a Mexican pepper sauce brand called Tapatio. It won't send steam out of your ears but you can feel the heat and (most importantly) it adds a complementary flavor to the eggs. And this is a sauce, not a salsa.

Years ago, probably in my teens, I was watching an American television game show called What's My Line, and after identifying whoever the guest was, for some reason he cooked an omelet on stage. As he was setting up, regular panelist Arlene Francis said something about starting with milk and he was all over her - "NEVER use milk, always use water, just a tiny amount" (that's actually paraphrased - mostly I remember being impressed by his passion on the topic). I resolved at that time to use only water. I think it was confirmed by Julia Child at a later date, only use water.

When I make scrambled eggs I also only use a little water, same exact method, except the eggs are stirred around once they're in the pan.

There's a little OCD in play when I cook fried eggs for myself, and the dogs have caught onto it. When I crack the egg and carefully apply to the hot pan, if at the first the yoke breaks, it bugs me, so it gets a quick stir in the pan and is cooked just long enough to be solid for easy distribution to the three waiting dogs. (Sometimes it breaks when flipping, and if it isn't too bad, I live with it if I can corral the liquid yoke.) So when I make fried eggs for myself they're sitting there hoping I break all of the yokes. If I'm going to eat scrambled eggs, they're beaten briefly with a fork in a bowl with the aforementioned water the same as for omelets. I don't care for pan scrambled. My

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 12:29 PM

Well all I can say is that I've been making omelettes and scrambled eggs for over half a century and they always turn out well - without water (or milk). In fact, I've never heard of the addition of water before the mention in this thread. Blimey, the albumen is 99% water anyway!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 01:27 PM

Well I just googled "perfect omelette" and flashed through the first two pages of results (I may have missed something). Only one website, the American (I think) Epicurious, suggested adding water or milk. At least two big names said don't do it (including Jamie Oliver). Felicity Cloake, who is a food writer in the Guardian who tests recipes, made omelettes with milk, with water and with neither. She found that both the milk and water robbed the omelette of richness and gave unsatisfying results.

My mum used to add milk to scrambled eggs, then overcook them. I've tried with and without, and I found that milk just made the eggs less rich. I've never heard of adding extra liquid to omelettes. A good thing to do with scrambled eggs is to melt the butter in the pan then pour half of it into the egg mixture, mixing quickly, then putting the eggs in the pan. Plenty of butter is the key. It's crucial to get the eggs off the heat while they're still at least half-runny.

Chachun à son goût!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Jan 21 - 05:31 PM

Duck eggs. Soooo much better than chicken eggs I find. Scrambled in butter mmmmm.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jan 21 - 09:14 AM

I had the rellies (BIL and family) in for a steak dinner last night, as we’re all desperate for conversation and I have a freezer full of meat that otherwise won’t get eaten. Not to speak of rather a lot of wine that otherwise won’t get drunk.

Roasted cauliflower seems to be our new favourite veg dish. Recipe:

- A cauliflower, small or large, depending on the size of dining party
- Olive oil
- Salt, pepper, and herb & spice mix of your choice

Heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (400 with fan). Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.

Break the cauliflower into florets and cut the florets to more or less consistent size, about an inch and a half in diameter. Put the pieces in a large bowl, anoint with oil, and sprinkle flavourings with abandon. Toss.

Spread the cauliflower pieces on the sheet pan in a single layer and put the sheet pan on the middle rack of the oven. Roast until generally browned and tender to a fork, which usually takes about half an hour.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jan 21 - 10:05 AM

We bake cauliflower that way too. I find that a large cauliflower does two of us. I got my idea from Yotam. I put the florets into a big bowl. Then I add a sliced-up chorizo (mild or hot 'n' spicy, either is good, but skin it first), a small handful of pumpkin seeds, about two ounces of chopped-up green olives (no stones), salt and freshly-ground black pepper, a generous dose of paprika (smoked is good) and several glugs of extra virgin olive oil. Get your hands in there and mix thoroughly, then spread it all out, as you say, on a tray lined with greaseproof paper. Half an hour in a fairly hot oven, stirred half way through. When it's done, I sprinkle the whole lot generously with freshly-chopped parsley. It's one of our favourites is that, and it works every time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Jan 21 - 11:10 AM

That's interesting, Steve.

Now, do you think some grated parmesan would work in place of the chorizo?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Jan 21 - 11:48 AM

If you make an oil- or butter-based sauce with your spices, paint the outside of the whole cauliflower with some of it, then turn the veg upside down and introduce the rest of the sauce into the cauliflower's insides, between the stalks, and bake whole at slightly lower temp, say 400F, for a slightly longer time, maybe up to 45mn. Cut into halves if small, quarters for large, to serve. A total fave.

I use crumpled tin foil, or a couple of toothpicks, to keep the cauliflower nicely upside-down.

I strongly prefer cooked to raw cauliflower, but I think that is a minority view...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jan 21 - 01:05 PM

I concur - I don't care for raw cauliflower or broccoli. They're much better cooked.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Jan 21 - 01:50 PM

Small amounts of pickled raw cauliflower can be good, otherwise it needs to be al dente. Cauliflower, like sprouts, is very unforgiving if even slightly overcooked. I had an aunt who I dreaded going to visit if she was cooking Sunday lunch. To save time she pre-cooked the cauliflower early in the morning then reheated it for the lunch. The merest touch with your fork and it totally disintegrated. Vegetable abuse writ large.

Adding the chorizo turns it into a proper full meal. Yotam suggests it as a side dish if you leave out the sausage, and suggests that you up the amount of paprika. Unless you're a veggie I'd include it. You'd be pleasantly surprised: the little rings of chorizo turn agreeably crunchy around the edges. I like my black pudding done like that too, but that's another story. Not sure about adding Parmesan. I might try it next time, but the sausage stays. It's a one-tray meal and we can scoff it out of a pasta bowl in front of the telly. Sorry about the parsley, Maggie. I'm sure a bit of coriander would be a good sub.

We're very fortunate in Cornwall as we live in one of our major cauliflower-growing areas. All the supermarkets sell Cornish cauliflower and it's very fresh. Cheap too. I won't buy cauliflower that isn't tight and firm in the curd, or discoloured in any way, and I always give it a good sniff before purchase. Limp outer leaves are a no-no too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 12 Jan 21 - 10:12 AM

Hmmm... Cauliflower is one of the few veg I really like overcooked. Mush that woman's cauli my way!

Made what I thought was a tactical blunder: had leftover pork loin that had been marinated in an Oriental style, sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger. Totally forgot how I'd cooked it, so just thought of it as leftover pork, and decided to make sauerkraut soup with it, Eastern European style, rosemary, celery seed, some leeks. Adding the meat after chopping it, ate the last sesame-y piece and thought Uh oh, this will not work.

But it did. It was absolutely de-yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jan 21 - 03:29 PM

On Twitter I follow mystery novelist Laura Lippman, who does a lot of cooking also. And today she posted photos of a pizza they made, with big chunks of fresh mozzarella, sausage, tomato sauce, etc. But the feature that was one of the "slaps forehead!" moments for me was that it was on a paddle to slide onto a stone in the oven, sitting on a piece of parchment for the easy sliding. Something to try the next time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 13 Jan 21 - 04:54 PM

I've started baking cauliflower, too. I cut it into slices of even thickness so it bakes more evenly.

Advice for people who dislike broccoli and brussels sprouts - try putting lime juice on them. It's delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Jan 21 - 08:21 PM

My 10.05am recipe from the 11th should have also included two roughly chopped red onions. Dammit! Anyway, I have the ingredients and we are having it tomorrow!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 10:10 AM

The Google has failed me again.

I bought too much fresh-ish-by-American-standards cream for my solstice bûche. Now, a month later, I have an unopened glass container of something fairly solid that has been in the fridge the whole time.

What do I have? Is it something like crème fraîche? Ricotta? Still cream, just solidified? Cream cheese? Cheese? My assumption is that it is still edible...

Thank you!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 11:19 AM

Use-by dates? I'm using a chorizo ring tonight that expired in September. Looks good, smells good - but I am cooking it. Sliced ham: always seems ok two weeks out of date. Unopened milk, fine for two or three days past. Sniff. Out of date eggs, crack 'n sniff. Best for omelettes or scrambled. Hard cheese, ignore date. Soft or blue, not quite so forgiving but generally good for at least a few days past. Throw that cream away.

"Out-of-date wine?" Huh? I don't understand...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 03:46 PM

Really? It isn't a usable dairy product that just isn't cream any more? Aw.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 04:21 PM

Mrrzy, open it and smell it. If it smells OK and there is no sign of mould or - very important - anything turning pink, it will probably be fine.
I also had some rather solid cream, use-by date mid-October. I added it to a pasta sauce along with some white wine and herbs, plus leeks and mushrooms. It was delicious and there have been no ill effects.
Trust your nose.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 05:24 PM

Spoilage organisms usually make food smell (and look) off, whereas harmful organisms rarely do. Manufacturers are super-cautious about use-by dates, and they'll tell you that they have your safety at heart. What they really want is for you to throw perfectly good food away and buy more. It's fine to use your nose and eyes but you need to use your intelligence as well. Dairy products and leafy salads are among the worst offenders when it comes to giving you a dodgy tum. It's also worth remembering that products such as soured cream, yoghurt and creme fraiche are produced using carefully-nurtured cultures. They're not just fresh stuff that's gone a bit off. and that pasteurising milk is a compromise to avoid changing the taste of the milk by too much.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Jan 21 - 08:06 PM

Slightly mangled English there. I got distracted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 15 Jan 21 - 05:14 AM

Your English didn't look mangled to me, Steve.
If I am going to eat out-of-date food I do usually use it in a cooked dish so that possible harmful organisms that wouldn't survive heating are dealt with. One can also try a small amount of the food and then wait a while in case anything nasty happens, but if I thought that might be a good plan it would be a sign that the food should be thrown out anyway.
I am happier to throw away salads as they go into the compost, and are thus not wasted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Jan 21 - 09:40 AM

If it smells like stinky cheese, is it cheese? I am still wondering about my cream bottle.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 09:40 AM

Mrrzy, you will just have to decide that for yourself. I can neither see nor smell your cream.
The cream I used a few days ago that was three months out of date just smelled like cream, though it was so thick you could have spread it on bread. When I added it to my simmering sauce it melted like butter.

One food that I would never ever take chances with is cooked rice. The result of eating it can be very unpleasant - even deadly.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 09:50 AM

I have to admit to not being a great lover of pasta in any form. It is not my go-to food ............. however.

Earlier this year I had a basil plant that went rampant so I made a jar of pesto. That now needed using so I made some pasta (Tagliatelle) but added a generous amount of the pesto to the dough.

Even if I say it myself it was sublime.

Incidentally in the past when rolling out my pasta (with a pasta machine) I have added basil leaves, folded the dough over them and rolled again and again until the required thinness has been achieved. That dough when cut into Tagliatelle or spaghetti is rather good too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 10:20 AM

The last time I had a container of cream that was past it's sell-by date (that isn't the same as "toss it date") I mixed it with milk and used it in a quiche.

I buy organic milk because it seems to last a lot longer in the unopened container if I don't get to it right away. We're talking weeks, not days.

Last night I chopped onions that I sautéed in the chicken fat from the bird I roasted this week, then let diced carrots and potatoes simmer in it, added a little water with the drippings, a little bouillon and some turmeric before adding some frozen green peas, followed by large dice chicken breast and thickening it with a water flour mix. Instead of eating this chicken pot pie mix in a crust (a lot of work and way more calories than I need) I simply break some good whole wheat crackers over the top of the bowl.

Yesterday was such a windy day that when you stepped out into it the wind pulled the warmth from your body. The chicken stew was the perfect remedy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 10:48 AM

You don't care much for pasta, yet you have a pasta machine...?

I never buy jars of pesto. I always make my own. We have a little mini-chopper electric gizmo that's great for blitzing the garlic, basil* and pine nuts, then it's a matter of mixing in the Parmesan and extra virgin olive oil. I like to be in control of ingredient quality and freshness. It's somewhat distressing to see how a great big bunch of basil turns into a teaspoonful!

There's a Gino d'Acampo variant that adds sundried tomatoes in oil to the above ingredients. I like to leave that one a bit knobbly. It makes a superb bruschetta topping, sprinkled with a few baby basil leaves and Parmesan shavings. The best bruschetta bread I've found in this country is the Crosta & Mollica pane Pugliese, imported from southern Italy. Another pesto version by Jamie Oliver isn't really like the usual idea of a pesto at all, though he calls it one. He uses olive oil, basil, Parmesan, blitzed almonds (you can use skin-on ones) and halved cherry tomatoes. He puts everything in a big bowl and scrunches it all up like mad with his hands. It's fantastic with spaghetti, beautiful and rubbly. My ordinary green pesto goes really well on top of a simple risotto bianco. Keeping it simple cuts down the chance of mistakes. That's my kind of cookery!

*Absolutely the only time I ever blitz garlic, and I use just half a clove!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 16 Jan 21 - 11:06 AM

If I'm going to eat pasta I prefer to make my own fresh, using egg and egg yolks with a little olive oil in it.

Aside from that the machine was gift from a friend!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Jan 21 - 10:03 AM

I was thinking of making my duck legs confit as I have all that goose fat but it seems more a method of *preserving* duck than cooking it, and since I plan to eat my duck legs, I think I'll go back to my usual recipe. Am I right about confit?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 17 Jan 21 - 10:19 AM

Yes, Mrrzy, you’re right.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Jan 21 - 01:22 PM

Mwah! They are in their salt bath now.

Subject: BS: Immersion blender soups
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 12:03 PM

Don't know what is up with the search function but I can't find the recipes thread and a search for recipes or eating seems to bring up every thread, hundreds of'm, with nothing resembling eating or recipes in the thread title, but possibly in the thread itself [brexit might be a recipe for disaster?] so, voilà.

I am not allowed to chew for a while per my periodontist who did terrible things to my gums. And I just got an immersion blender. I am actually not in pain but obeying dicta.

So today I made my usual crab and asparagus soup with the rest of my leeks too, and then gooshed it. Yum, yum. BUT: it made a foam on top. I don't like foam. Is there a technique I could learn? The first time I used it was making eggnog for 1, and I just figured I should have predicted that the milk would foam...

I did not anticipate the soup foaming. Help?

Mudelves feel free to subsume this under another cooking thread, I just could not locate any. But I did try.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 12:12 PM

Refresh (for Mrrzy)

Subject: RE: BS: Immersion blender soups
From: Donuel
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 12:14 PM

A little oil will help. I'm big on smoothies, moule's, meat sauces...

Subject: RE: BS: Immersion blender soups
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 12:36 PM

.. but.. fizzy soup sounds cool...

You might have just invented the next new multi million $$$s profits trendy young foodie craze...???

Subject: RE: BS: Immersion blender soups
From: Raggytash
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 01:00 PM

If you bring it to the boil again the foam will disappear.

Subject: RE: BS: Immersion blender soups
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 01:22 PM

Ooh raggytash perfect solution! I will reheat the rest I was thinking of chilling, and report back.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 01:24 PM

Thanks Jos! I just saw it was here and thought I was crazy. So glad you were being kind, and I wasn't going blind!

Subject: RE: BS: Immersion blender soups
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 02:07 PM

I hadn't known about immersion blenders, but in 2002 I married into a household that had one. I soon grew to love it. I use it mostly on pea and lentil soup, but it comes in handy for other things.
My soups don't foam. What are you doing wrong, Mrr? ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Immersion blender soups
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 02:26 PM

I wonder if you are turning on the blender before it is completely immersed? I've never seen soup foam. I use it, like Joe, in lentil and pea soup, but I've also used it on egg whites when I wanted them to fill with air (meringue) - and since it isn't really immersed there, they do fill with air.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 02:32 PM

We had a Mexican dinner last night, and out of the blue I made a Key Lime pie. Few pies can be easier.

bake a small pie crust - I like the kind you buy ready to bake.
mix the following filling
1 can SWEETENED condensed milk
1/3 cup lime juice
refrigerate the filling for a while so it thickens
when it's time to eat the pie, put the filling in the crust.

Tradition says to top with meringue, but I can't be bothered. We put Reddiwhip (real whipped cream from a can) on top.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 03:12 PM

That was my question too, Joe! Maybe because it was a very brothy soup...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Jan 21 - 06:08 PM

Is an immersion blender what we call here a stick blender/hand blender? You plug it in, stick it into whatever you want to whizz, press a button and Bob's yer uncle? Being careful not to pebbledash your shirt front/whole kitchen? I can't contemplate life without my Braun stick blender. When done, unscrew the bottom bit, wash it up, bingo, one little piece of kit in your drainer. Cost me £22. Mrs Steve has these wonderful food processors/mixers/chuff knows what they're all called. Take up half the kitchen. What I do know is that, with them, you do ten seconds of whizzing, then you have a massive mound of washing up that you can't put away for three days until it's all thoroughly dried. The path to insanity if ever I saw it. You steal my stick blender, I break your face... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 04:14 AM

I think 'immersion blender' is a better name - it reminds you that the whizzy bit should be immersed BEFORE you turn it on.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 09:22 AM

Yes, stick blender. Don't understand how I lasted so long without one.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 12:28 PM

I got a new food processor a couple of years ago (I selected it and placed it on my xmas list on Amazon). The thing I like best is that while there are a few parts they are all easily cleaned. I got one large enough to make the full recipes of a few things that I like and it's much less messy than making things is stages with the small processor (that was given to the Goodwill as soon as the new one was out of the box). My stick blender is a Braun also, and it came with a bowl and blade that the wand runs, and it gets used frequently for chopping, but for big things (like making falafel, etc.) the large machine does the trick. I used it to shred the zucchini for bread a while back and it saved a lot of time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 12:53 PM

I'm not that fond of our stick blender which also happens to be a Braun but it doesn't have a bit at the bottom I can unscrew.

I don't find either the food processor or food mixer hard to wash although I will concede they do consume worktop space and may only be run for very short times.

My main use for the food processor is as a cheese grater. Cut a pack of (usually) the Cathedral Extra Mature (which I think both Steve and I like) lengthways in half and I've got what I want for a cheese sauce with the rest to be bagged up as something convenient for sandwiches.

The mixer was idle for a long while but it's my go to device for the cakes (except the Guiness cake one which is made in a pan) and cheese scones I now do. A 20 second wizz does as well as mum used to spend longer on with the wooden spoon and I've everything washed, dried and put away long before the food is cooked.

But I guess there is an each to their own on a lot of this and today I'd say great to whatever works for anyone.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 02:20 PM

Stick blenders are good for soup as you can stop while there are still some solid bits to give it texture instead of ending up with a uniform slupp.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 05:04 PM

Sigh. Reduced to uniform slupp. Someday I will be allowed to chew again.

Also kinda completely off carbs. I did an experiment and yup, the next day my equanimity is shot.

Between my shrink and my periodontist, all I got is slupp.

Luckily... I *like* slupp.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 05:13 PM

Re: "Luckily... I *like* slupp."

I'm glad about that. It sounds as if life might be grim otherwise.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Jan 21 - 07:46 PM

"Cut a pack of (usually) the Cathedral Extra Mature (which I think both Steve and I like) lengthways in half and I've got what I want for a cheese sauce with the rest to be bagged up as something convenient for sandwiches."

It's fantastic for a lasagne or cheese on toast, or just for a quick cheesy nibble, but just grate it with your grater! You can wash that up in eight seconds!

Incidentally, I must say that I'm not keen on cheddar for a cheese sandwich (heresy, I know...). I much prefer a crumbly Wensleydale or Lancashire, either with slices of slightly salted tomato or with tomato relish. The one that Waitrose sells is a thing of beauty... Incidentally, I regard grated cheese on a sandwich as an abomination. I want it in thin, crumbly slices or not at all...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 03:27 AM

The only problem with a stick blender is cleaning it afterwards.
Ideally I'd give the blade a quick whizz in the sudsy washing-up water, but the sink is six feet from the power point (a legal requirement) and the blender flex only three. Probably on purpose.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 04:19 AM

The bottom bit comes off mine. I just waggle it up and down in soapy water in the plastic jug it came with. Easy!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 04:48 AM

I must admit that my own preference for a cheese and tomato or salad sandwich is something along the white crumbly lines.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 05:51 AM

"Stick blenders are good for soup as you can stop while there are still some solid bits to give it texture instead of ending up with a uniform slupp."

True, though you can also simply remove a proportion of the chunky soup before whizzing, then put it back in afterwards.

In our house, the most important rule for a sandwich is to be extremely generous with the filling. I have no time for the pathetic single slice of ham or roast beef. The bread must be well-buttered, right to the edge of the slice (crucial). I like to make a good, thick mixture of roughly-chopped hard-boiled egg with a large dollop of Hellmann's mayo (not that reduced-fat muck). I'm also very fond of a corned beef and beetroot butty. I care not a not about the inconvenience of the beetroot slices constantly dropping out. Just sit over the plate...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 06:05 AM

Not a jot

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 01:07 PM

Ok today's slupp report:

Tried reheating the frothy brothy soup. Worked some, thanks. Yum gooshy crab asparagus soup.

Today made a much more full-of-veg soup (cabbage, spinach, parsley, carrots) which when immersion-blended made a purée/potage kind of texture, no foam.

So the foam seems to be a broth issue. Easy fix: add broth later.

Have acquired cukes and avocado. Cold soup next...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 01:52 PM

Steve, did you ever get your hands on any of that Coastal Rugged Mature English Cheddar that I buy here but that is made near you? (It was discussed a long time ago in this thread.) This weekend I grated some to pile on slices of a kalamata/onion yeast bread I was given by a friend, and it really makes it perfect.

I experimented with oatmeal yesterday. I usually make it overnight in an old low-power crockpot, but I hadn't and I wanted some and my rice cooker was out, so I cut up dates, added a little salt and the oats and water and 30+ minutes later I had very nice oatmeal not scorched to the pot in any way. It still is easiest to set up overnight in the crock pot, but if I decide to make it the morning I want to eat it, I'll switch to the rice cooker instead of a pot on the stove.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 05:54 PM

I haven't seen it here and it's very unlikely that the major supermarkets would stock it around here, as we don't really have their big flagship stores here in Cornwall. What I can tell you is that it's made at the same dairy at Ford Farm as my absolute favourite Cheddar, Wookey Hole cave-aged. If that's anything to go by, the one you can buy over there must be superb. I'll keep my eyes peeled...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jan 21 - 08:21 PM

I have taken to eating the local cheddar on toasted whole-meal bread spread with apple butter made in the next township over. The intense apple flavour goes a bomb with the cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 07:56 AM

Last evening for our locked-down Burns supper, haggis and tatties take-away from Deacon Brodies(sic) Pub. (For those of you who know Ottawa, that's the former Mayflower on Elgin Street that has been sold and transformed into a restaurant with a whisky bar.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 08:44 AM

I have no idea where one could procure a haggis in Perth County. Not enough Scots in these parts.

So Burns Night chez moi amounted to a solo performance of "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose" addressed to the cats, and a small shot of Famous Grouse before bed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 11:34 AM

Grouse!!

Urhhh !!

Fit only for cleaning drains.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 01:37 PM

I'd drink it if you gave it to me. But I will not part with money in exchange for whisky that contains grain spirit, or even for one of those bland "blended malts."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 02:27 PM

Whisky ? Lagavulin, Ardbeg and Laphroaig, the worlds finest.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 03:20 PM

Dave H, it sounds as if you have a peat fixation--as do I, although I tend to Bowmore 12, as it's a damn sight cheaper than Lag in these parts. Laph and Ardbeg do not have the same appeal for me. MacLellan is little better than training whisky; I think it gets all its peat flavouring from being in a location downwind of the other distilleries.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 03:21 PM

I'm right with you there, but I'd add Talisker Ten (definitely not the grossly inferior Talisker Storm or Talisker Skye, and spare me from Laphroaig Select). Ardbeg Ten is gorgeous, but if you can get someone to treat you, you simply have to try Ardbeg Uigeadail.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 03:23 PM

That was to Dave. Bowmore too if you like, but that's a bit down my pecking order.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 06:16 PM

Cut avocado in half, looked at it, filled the hole with vinaigrette and ate that. Soft, but not soup.

Tomorrow I get to chew.

My sister reminded me of our post-op mom being fed puréed iceberg lettuce.

I have not yet stick-blended a salad, but I was tempted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 06:21 PM

Mrrzy,

I have never thought of blending a salad ............

however I think if you got the ingredients just right .............

I'll think I'll have a play at the weekend.

I'll let you know next week!!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 06:22 PM

There is a very helpful thread called Question about Scotch, started by Kendall several years ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Jan 21 - 07:37 PM

I just reread that whole thread. I'm very biased towards the island malts, but 'twas not always thus. I worked my way through some much lighter and unsmoked ones first. I always found Glenfiddich to be thin and a bit sharp. I could never understand a friend's obsession with Glenmorangie, and I must say that I regarded Aberlour as somewhat dull and characterless. For a light, floral one I'd occasionally go for The Glenlivet. I don't bother with any of those these days. In a whole year I might drink about six bottles of malt and I don't drink other spirits. I never buy them, always relying on my nearest and dearest to know what I like and get them for my birthday and Christmas (which, conveniently, are six months apart).

One man's fish is another man's poisson...

Anyway, I did a cheat's short-cut chili tonight. Starting with a ready-made batch of bol sauce from the freezer, I cut up and fried a red pepper with a good sprinkling of dried chilli flakes. To that I added the bol sauce, a small pack of red kidney beans, a spoonful of sundried tomato paste, a handful of cherry tomatoes and a hearty sprinkling of hot chili powder, dried oregano and sweet smoked paprika. I cooked basmati rice while that was simmering, and bingo, it was very nice and very inauthentic. We had it with a tub of soured cream and a bit of grated cheese. It's quite healthy with all those tomatoey things in there as well as the onion, celery and carrot in the soffritto that started the bol sauce (last July!). Sometimes a freezer raid is all you have the energy for (I'd just spent all afternoon mending someone's boiler, which was of a type I was totally unfamiliar with. Only got sprayed by a jet of water the once!)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 08:58 AM

By "small pack of red kidney beans", Steve, do you mean the frozen article or some kind of fresh ready-to-use product?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 09:35 AM

A little tetrapak box of them, in unsalted water, about 350g I think. Many years ago I was poisoned by raw red kidney beans that I'd been soaking. You need eat just a handful of raw ones to give you the worst vomiting and diarrhoea this side of cholera. Which, of course, I didn't know, but I do now! I've never lost my aversion to soaking the dried beans. Not on my watch!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 11:15 AM

I have been told that after soaking the red kidney beans you must boil them for at least ten minutes before further simmering, to destroy the poison.
Does anyone know at what stage runner beans from the garden might become poisonous? Would it only happen if they are dried and then soaked, or are they a different variety of kidney beans?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 11:17 AM

I put 2 cups of red kidney beans to soak last night so today I'll consider what all to put into that pot. I add a little heat, but mostly it's a typical sofrito (onion, green or hot peppers, seasonings) and a meat (sausage or ground beef), tomato base (whole tomatoes mashed or tomato sauce, from my home-canned or from cans purchased that are in the pantry). I have sausage in the freezer that I can use, so I'll save the beef for another day (the sausage is already sausage, the beef needs to be thawed then run through the grinder on the stand mixer.) When this is finished I'll freeze most of it in 12 ounce jars for meals in the future.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 05:17 PM

Cheat? Shortcut? From someone who called me out for using powdered onions and garlic instead of flour to thicken things? I snicker, and tee-hee while I'm at it. But that chili sounds deyum.

So yeah, chewing. Am kinda scared of it!

Also falling back in love with salmon. Which does not need chewing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Jan 21 - 06:51 PM

Thicken things with powdered onion and garlic? Buy a bag of flour and buy fresh garlic and onions. Dunno where you live, mid-Antarctica perhaps, with no shops, in which case I could sympathise... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 08:24 AM

I don't use flour. I use flavory powders instead.

Why did you do a shortcut chili?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 10:56 AM

Because I'd spent all afternoon at an old friend's house fixing her boiler, which is of a type I'm completely unfamiliar with, and needed to grab something quick for tea. It was fine. I know that chili recipes are a bone of contention: tomatoes or not, minced beef or chopped beef, fresh chillis (and which type) or chilli powder, add chocolate or not, which herbs and/or spices, accompaniments, which rice...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 12:24 PM

Well, though I admit to being vaguely interested in how on earth powdered garlic or onion could possibly thicken anything unless used in indigestible quantity, and am absolutely up for being wrong, those items will never appear on any shopping list of mine. If you don't like flour, use a spud.

I'm cooking a green tortilla tonight. For two it will contain a banana shallot, two garlic cloves, four eggs, 3/4lb frozen peas, chopped fresh parsley, chopped fresh thyme, half a pound of baby spinach and seasoning.

Starting with a big pan because of that spinach: I'll fry the chopped shallot in extra virgin olive oil until it's soft, then throw in the sliced garlic cloves, the peas, the thyme, the parsley and the spinach. A bit of seasoning.

In a big bowl I'll beat the eggs, not too much, and season. When the veg is softened and cooked down, I'll throw it all into the egg bowl and mix thoroughly. There you go. Cook that in a frying pan in the usual frittata manner, including a deft flip for the last couple of minutes. I've been known to grill the top instead if I lose the courage to do the flip, but beware of burning the bottom.

This is very healthy. We have it with a few home-made mini baked potatoes, dine in o,I've oil and cooked in a hot oven for half an hour. The tortilla is great cold for to orrows breakfast.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Jan 21 - 12:27 PM

I thought I'd hit the review button but hadn't, hence that dodgy final paragraph.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jan 21 - 08:02 AM

I’ll make that for myself, Steve.

Though I have to ask — why call it a “tortilla”? Until today, I had never seen that word used to signify anything but a Meso-American flatbread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Jan 21 - 08:19 AM

Dammit, I meant frittata!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Jan 21 - 08:22 AM

A tortilla can mean that here, too, but it's also what we call a Spanish dish, like a frittata made with eggs, sometimes an onion but with the addition of hunks of potato.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 29 Jan 21 - 09:25 AM

I've always thought of a tortilla as a Spanish omelette, and I only came across 'frittata' fairly recently - a frittata seems to be just the Italian version of a Spanish omelette.
Does it depend on which side of the Atlantic you are?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 03 Feb 21 - 01:34 PM

I'm quite sure from a visit to a Barcelona tapas bar a couple of years ago that their word for an omelette - with potatoes and, maybe, onions - is tortilla.

Mostly, I have oats in the cupboard which I add to my pottages, as in this poem but, for a change, I buy rice, fusilli or, on my last 3-weekly visit to the local supermarket, couscous:

The packet recommends 4 parts couscous to 5 parts water but I added half a cup of couscous and a full cup of instant veggie soup to the onions I had already sweated in the pan; then simply garlic powder, salt, pepper, a splash of soy sauce, and tofu for a bit of protein. It's, also, worth saying twice, one feels, yum-yum!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Feb 21 - 05:32 PM

So Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers... Yay NOT New England again. So for the Bucs I decided to make a single osso buco [no party, boo] and for KC I figured anything with bbq sauce... But then I found out Russel Stover is headquartered there, so Imma cheat and buy chocs.
Boy am I glad not to have to hunt up Yet Another New England dish!
And I read several osso buco recipes but will use my mom's. No tomato.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 12:48 AM

I treated myself to breaded chicken tenders last night and had a few leftover to heat in the toaster oven this evening. Flour, dip in egg, then roll in seasoned bread crumbs. Heat shallow oil (no more than a half inch in a small skillet) and add a couple of tablespoons of butter for better flavor. Don't crowd the meat, do just a couple at a time, and let them cool enough so they don't burn your mouth when you start munching on them.

I started making these because when the kids were small because the take-out ones we used to buy at a local chicken restaurant were expensive and the grease was cloying. I'm not sure what they fried in, but I knew I could do better. I make these now when my son comes home to visit. It's a compliment to the cook when an arm snakes around the corner and grabs one off of the paper towels they're cooling on. :-) Just have to get him to leave enough for the rest of us.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 04:51 AM

WAV mentions the very popular fusilli pasta. I've always found it to be a bit dense in a slightly repressive way, so I thought I'd mention a new discovery I've made, fusilli bucati. It's a similarly short pasta made of tight little spirals of hollow tubes (like bucatini, which, like fusilli, I don't get on with). It's lovely with any sauce that calls for short pasta, much lighter than fusilli. I've been buying up bags of it in Waitrose. It's interesting that pasta shapes in all their variety, not withstanding the fact that they're basically all made of the same thing, make all the difference if you select the "right one..."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 07:26 AM

And it's all durum wheat, so it should be all the same price but it's not !

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 08:23 AM

This chocolate lava cake recipe includes a history of lava cakes and a comparison of frozen vs undercooked middle for the lava, if you are interested.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 09:50 AM

I have been told that after soaking the red kidney beans you must boil them for at least ten minutes before further simmering, to destroy the poison.

Does anyone know at what stage runner beans from the garden might become poisonous? Would it only happen if they are dried and then soaked, or are they a different variety of kidney beans?

Didn't see an answer to this (apologies if someone has & I missed it), Jos. The 'poison' in red kidney beans is something called phytohemagglutinin (AKA 'muck'!). Boil for 15 minutes after soaking; for 30 minutes if unsoaked is the usual advice.

It seems that ALL beans contain this compound to some degree. It's only bona-fide toxic in high doses, but I can speak from personal experience here. I can't remember now whether the salad I made included home-grown broad beans or green (French) beans. I do remember I had to cry off my game of squash after work. Two to three hours after eating it, I threw up the entire bloody lot! Red Kidney beans have a higher concentration of Muck, but all beans contain some of it, so never eat 'em raw! No, the concentration won't increase once harvested, whatever the bean. But equally, always cook the raw bean!*

*Canned beans were cooked before canning...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 10:06 AM

Thanks, Raedwulf, for a very helpful reply.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 10:20 AM

You can eat raw broad beans (fava beans) to your heart's content. I eat pounds of the things as I'm shelling them and the old boys in southern Spain, doing the same, often don't let them get anywhere near the kitchen. I haven't eaten raw French beans. Why would I!

As for pasta, Dave, there is more than one grade of durum wheat and one of them makes higher quality pasta. On top of that, some pasta is made using bronze dies, which roughen the surface and help the pasta to pick up more sauce. The fact that some pasta is "big brand" is another factor in price. Look for "pasta Di Gragnano" on the label. Gragnano is a town in Campania, between Sorrento and Naples, in the hills overlooking the Bay of Naples, the place of my dreams. Gragnano's claim to fame is its pasta. The Waitrose one I mentioned is from there. Sainsbury's and Tesco also sell theirs. A very good short one is Gigli from Tesco, fantastic with a sauce made from tuna, capers, garlic and creme fraiche, but I've never eaten a disappointing pasta from Gragnano. They are very proud of their tradition. These ones generally cost about £1.70 for 500g, easily enough for two people twice. As with rice, even expensive pasta is cheap, and I don't go for very low-priced ones. Everyone seems to eat De Cecco in Italy but I find it a bit so-so. It's a lot cheaper there than here. And don't be deluded by Napolina. It isn't an Italian company at all, owned as it is by Princes. Last time I looked, their HQ was on the waterfront in Liverpool! Their bronze-die spaghetti is fine but I don't care for their tinned tomatoes at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 10:45 AM

As for recent meals... If you look after them, real onions last an incredibly long time. When I say "real onions", what I mean is not something you bought from a supermarket that's been in store for months & months, and consequently go off 3 weeks after you paid for them. I've given up trying to grow the bloody things, but I haven't bought more than the very occasional one in more than a decade.

I get to pick them off the fields after harvesting (gleaning, not scrumping! ;-) ). Or off the road side from what spills when the over-filled trailers behind the tractors going to the storage sheds over the river at the end of my road drop the inevitable few.

I've still got probably 30-odd red onions that are about 18 months old (I've not even started on what I garnered from last years harvest!), so I'm a bit of a "what can I make that involves an onion" cook at the mo. It's not difficult, let's face it! ;-) The last few days, because I've been feeling lazy, have revolved around microwaving:

A) Onion that needs using up;
B) Protein component (properly fried bacon bits, or several thick slices of corned beef that simply melt under heat...);
C) Other veg (handful of home-grown carrots from the freezer, sliced stick of celery, etc);
D) Other flavours (paprika; the spice that's fallen off the biltong (home-made) onto the greaseproof in the fridge; half a can of tom's + herbs, etc)
E) Spud, if I can be bothered to scrub & chop one (yes, home-grown again).

I cheerfully admit to being an impromptu cook. I have maybe 3 dozen cookbooks of one stripe or another. I rarely look at them. "I have this, I have that, I can make a meal..." Isn't that the joy (AND the Art AND the science of cookery?). And I'm in no way cordon bleu. Food should please the nose & the tongue. I do just plonk food on a plate; what does it matter what it looks like? But I only have to feed me, and I am well fed! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 11:09 AM

I can't grow onions because my soil contains white rot. I might occasionally buy a big white onion to make Marcella Hazan's onion and butter tomato sauce, or for a pasta bake or for patatas a lo pobre (poor man's potatoes, a superb Andalucian dish). Otherwise I've taken to using banana shallots instead of onions for almost everything. They cook down much more quickly and have a lovely sweet flavour. Red onions take ages to cook down and I absolutely will not eat raw onion in any shape or form. I gave up decades ago on those disgusting pub "ploughman's lunches" with their cheap cheddar hunk, wilted lettuce and cucumber and raw cabbage and onion slices. I'll use spring onions in a recipe if I really have to, but do not ask me to eat a raw one. I once grew a six-pound-plus onion for our local flower and produce show. I wiped the floor with all the opposition and the judge told me that it was the biggest onion he'd seen in years. Once home, I decided to cut it up and cook it. No way, José. It was bloody disgusting.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 11:14 AM

Steve - Oh, the temptation to point out what a poisonous swine you are, so obviously they wouldn't make you sick, etc... ;-) It was probably raw French beans that did for me. I've grown both regularly, but broad beans are an early crop & I think this incident would have been later in the year.

As for why I would eat raw French beans? Because I grew them! And because I was making a salad!! And there they were!!! Never again... :o

Broad beans, incidentally, do also contain Muck, but apparently in "relatively low concentrations", which may explain why you've never experienced any adverse reaction. Broadly (see what I did there? ;-) ) speaking, in light of previous experience, I'd be rather reluctant to eat a raw bean these days. To each their own!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 11:50 AM

Mmmmm… Interesting. I do actually like raw onion; onion in any state from straight out of the ground through to "how more cooked could this be?!" Onion marmalade, mmmmmmmm….

But, I grant you, whilst sweet onion is an oxymoron frankly, you don't want too pungent an onion if you're eating it raw. It's always a bit hit & miss (& the sulphur increases with age, which is the "Arrrgh!" part of proceedings), but every lunchtime work salad I've ever made included a chopped raw onion...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 12:02 PM

Yes, Steve (05 Feb 21 - 04:51 AM), the dry pasta packets I've tried always say Durham Wheat Semolina (same as couscous, by the way, which folks don't usually think of as a pasta).

The reason I like fusilli is that I can easily see when they have enlarged enough to be al dente; but I shall look out for fusilli bucati...among goodness knows how many shapes the Italians have come up with...?!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 01:15 PM

I like big tube shapes such as pennoni. They go very well with my spicy versions of arrabbiata. Oddly, I never use ordinary penne though I once found a smaller version called mezze penne that I haven't found since. Pity. I'm rather fond of those big short tubes called paccheri, great with a meaty, spicy sauce that includes Italian sausage or 'nduja. I also use orecchiette ("little ears"), traditionally made by the old ladies in the village streets of Puglia as they gossip away the hot afternoons. It gets used in the traditional Puglian dish orecchiette con cime di rape. In Puglia they relish that with rather stringy turnip tops (I know, because I ordered it in a backstreet restaurant in Lecce called "Mama"), but I cheat and use purple sprouting broccoli instead (and untraditional cherry toms, just a handful). Orecchiette is also really good used in the traditional pasta bake they eat all over Italy, the one with loads of mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, and home-made tomato sauce. My favourite dish using spaghetti is a Sicilian sauce containing chilli, garlic, prawns, white wine, sun dried tomato paste, lemon juice and chopped wild rocket. We have to have spag bol because Mrs Steve insists on it, even though the Italians would laugh. I prefer pappardelle for that as the sauce sticks better to the pasta, but that's a battle I've lost. I do sneakily include minced pork in the sauce, and big bits of garlic - it shouldn't have garlic in it at all but she insists, but I do refuse to use a garlic crusher. One has to keep the peace...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 01:22 PM

Spag bol in Bologna is like a needle in a haystack, apparently.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 03:37 PM

Raedwulf, I've never heard that about kidney beans, but then, I would never try to use them without a great deal of cooking, so the problem has never arisen. The two methods of preparation in my household are, if I think of it the night before I sort, wash, then put to soak overnight. That water is poured off and fresh added before cooking. If I am using them the same day I sort, wash, boil for 2 minutes then let sit for an hour. I pour out that water and fill the pot with fresh and then they need to simmer for at least an hour before I start to add anything more than a bay leaf or ham hock.

Onions - I can grow onions here, and I have some that have been in the same spot for a couple of years; I cut off stalks and use them as needed, they don't have the bulbs (though I suppose if I thinned them they'd form in later generations). I'll start the bulb onions from seed or sets, though every time I plant onion sets I swear it's the last time; that's one garden activity that kills the back.

I am so disappointed with the length of time store-bought onions keep these days. It used to be they were kept in a dark cupboard or even the fridge and kept for a long time. My home grown hard-neck garlic (in this case, as much leek as garlic, the sort they call elephant garlic) I have some in there that is three years old. Store it in a dark paper bag in the pantry.

One of my dishes that I created to use much of my garden produce (tomatoes, onions, green peppers, zucchini squash or yellow squash) has crumbled Italian sausage, onions and peppers chopped and sauteed, then squash cut in irregular shaped chunks so it is easily turned in the pan (slices just lie there); when the onions are the way I want them and the squash softened I add tomatoes. Sometimes I add cheese, or sprinkle Parmesan over the top. Lately I've been boiling a few frozen cheese ravioli and mixing them into the bowl of the squash mix. Other times I make it with enough tomato juice (from my canned tomatoes, in particular) and add whatever pasta is handy at the end so it cooks long enough to be tender.

There are some things that are better kept cool and dry but not in the refrigerator, but here in Texas I have a difficulty with cool anywhere in the house for about six months of the year (since I don't want to run the air conditioner at such a low level and break the bank with the bill). I've thought about how to invent some kind of cooler cabinet that has air circulating through and no moisture problem. There are some coolers that would work the way I want, that can run on an auto battery but they are incredibly noisy. This would be my answer to the basement or root cellar of northern locations. Think "pie safe" for vegetables.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 04:38 PM

Spag bol in Italy is heresy, I've been told. Wrong shape of pasta. Horrors!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 04:46 PM

SRS - Yep! That sounds like my standard "Anything" recipe! And isn't it amazing how it always turns out so tasty... ;-)

Veg & ground are funny things. Here's something daft that'll make folks grin. And produce quite a few "I never..." or "So that's why..." I can grow onions. I can grow snowball turnips. I can't grow purple-top / Milan turnips. Now, isn't that daft? I don't know why. When I moved here a dozen+ years ago, my neighbour told me the land was no good for e.g. swedes. They rot in the ground before they're worth harvesting. Ditto Milan turnips, but not snowballs. Isn't that silly? I've no idea why it should be so...

I can grow onions, but... You lose 10% to wastage anyway, and most of the rest, size-wise... I dunno, it's probably me, but they never seem to make any size. I can pick up more than a year's supply from gleaning. I'm back to where I was. When I lived in suburban London, onions & potatoes were a waste of my small garden. They're cheap supermarket staples. I can pick bigger & better off the fields & the verges, so why bother? I do grow potatoes (if anyone wants a decent multi-purpose Main-crop spud, I recommend Lady Balfour; don't believe the seed spud F1 nonsense; I've been replanting spuds from last year's crop for more than a decade!), but it's leeks for me.

Again, they don't usually reach anything like s/m size. But, swipe me, are leeks ever easy to grow! Easier even than onions. And whilst mine don't reach s/m size, leeks are relatively sodding expensive in the shops. Oh, plus leeks will happily stand over winter, if your winters are none too harsh. Much depends on how much space & time you have. But if you're trying to grow your own, always start at value for money.

Potatoes, onions, carrots are all dirt (!) cheap sm staples. So grow an unusual spud, something else from the allium family, etc. Higher value crops like tomatoes & peppers will grow very happily in containers, so even if you've not got a garden, just a sunny windowsill...

Etcetera! Sorry, this is supposed to be a recipe thread, not a gardening one...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 05:06 PM

I look out on allotments but don't have any kind of garden; my dad says that, if I ever do, start with potatoes as they will naturally till the soil as well as giving a first crop.

I do, however, grow mint in my studio flat, which goes great with new potatoes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 21 - 05:36 PM

Well I can't agree about Lady Balfour. They appear to be several supermarkets' organic staples, but I find them tasteless and too watery. For my money you can't really get a good all-rounder. For years I've been growing the second-early Nicola. It crops early so it beats the blight, it bulks into a heavy crop, the spuds are clean and tasty and are high in dry matter and they keep. They are not good for mashing, that's all, but they are superb for any other purpose. I also grow the first early Sutton's Foremost. They are lovely as new potatoes and they still taste as good right into August. I'm scoffing them in the first week of June if I get my skates on in March. I won't grow maincrops as I get blight, and it gets on to my tomatoes.   

I'm not going to bollock you for constantly replanting your kitchen spuds, but you really shouldn't be doing it. You will get a build-up of virus diseases which aphids will spread to your neighbours. That's almost as bad as parking a caravan in your front drive for fifty weeks of the year for your neighbours to "enjoy," or to deliberately feed street pigeons in your pocket handkerchief back garden.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 12:09 AM

Raedwulf, the thing that I sometimes stop and marvel at is that all of these distinctive flavors that go into that dish came out of the same soil in the yard. Garden magic.

I get the best luck with the red potatoes "Red lasoda" variety. And the sweet potatoes that grow best are "Beauregard."

And of course we stray into garden topics on a cooking thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 03:08 AM

I think the best tasting potatoes I've ever had were Pink Fir Apple. I seldom see them where I live but they are superb.

They were crossed with Desiree to provide for Sainsburys supermarket Anya potato which are a poor substitute.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 05:10 AM

Pink Fir Apple are lovely but I found that they don't grow "clean" and they fall over at even the first hint of blight. Also, you get a lot of tiddlers. Hard to clean for cooking. A bit wasteful. Anya are next to useless in m'humble. When I grew Desiree I got several huge spuds and a bunch of tiddlers per plant. Good spuds though. I think that one of the best spuds to grow is Santé. Lovely flavour and texture and they grow nice and clean. The spuds have dainty dimples and can be a pain to peel, but then I hardly ever peel spuds that I've grown myself!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 06:44 AM

Ratte is similar to Pink Fir Apple in some regards and is well thought of and is nowhere near as nobbly. Waitrose sometimes sell them in little bags. Those are always of low quality. I keep meaning to try growing my own. Charlotte are easy to grow to a big size but despite their reputation I find them a bit characterless. If you can get Nicola there's no point growing Charlotte. These salad spuds are great for home-made oven chips done in groundnut oil. No peeling. Cut them into good-size wedges and boil in well-salted water for eight minutes. Get your oven as hot as it will go. Strain the wedges and leave to steam for two or three minutes, then put them back in the pan and rough them up. Get a baking tray big enough to spread out the chips and put some groundnut oil in it. Put that over a ring on the cooker to get the oil hot then throw in the chips, tossing them around to coat, then into that hot oven for about 25 minutes or so, tossing them half way through.

Depending on what you're having the chips with, you can muck about a bit. Cajun seasoning is good. For Mediterranean-style, cut into half-inch chunks instead of wedges, don't bother with the parboiling, use olive oil instead of groundnut and throw a couple of rosemary sprigs and a big handful of unpeeled garlic cloves in the tray after about ten minutes. The little cloves can be peeled and squished with the flat of a knife and thrown into the oil. Season well. The oven doesn't need to be quite so hot, maybe about 200C. We have them a lot in summer with our barbecues, or you can do them the same way in the same tray as chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on) that you're baking in the oven. 45 minutes does it. We wrestle each other for the garlic cloves, to suck out the sumptuous middles, so we always put plenty in.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 08:41 AM

Never wasted any of them Steve, a quick scrub with a brush under a running tap, don't bother to try and peel them. I just wish I could find them more often.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 10:15 AM

Or put them in your garden sieve and give them a jet wash with the hosepipe, shaking as you go.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 10:19 AM

Don't have a garden sieve!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 10:42 AM

Anyone use salsify or scorzonera? Whenever I get them I cook them in buttermilk then make a béchamel with the buttermilk to pour over them, or else steam them and serve them with butter and lemon juice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 03:37 PM

What the fuck is scorzonra ?

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 05:07 PM

I had to google to find that it's a root vegetable, frankly and, being full of the milk of human kindness, thought I'd give the link
link.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 21 - 05:20 PM

Well I've grown them as it happens. OK, but we decided that we could use our space a bit better! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 07 Feb 21 - 02:12 PM

Thom - I've tried growing both. The harvest wasn't worth the effort. Again, that's probably me being a distinctly amateur gardener. And I can't remember what the heck they tasted like.

Steve - Nope, sorry, going to entirely disagree with you about Lady B's. Good, productive, disease resistant, tasty. Multi-purpose is only an added bonus. I'll bear in mind your Nocila… Noci… Nicola! recommendation for another year, but quite honestly I've given up on first- & second- earlies. I never seem to do well with them. Again, that's likely me failing as a gardener. But I have tried a dozen or more varieties of spud. Heritage & unusual (Orkney Black, and some purple variety), Kestrel's and Casablancas & Christ knows what else. But the Lady B's never fail me. I've had as much as 8 1/2 lb out of one plant (I've no idea what rates as "good" for a main crop spud), and a single spud of 1lb 10oz! It's a good spud.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Feb 21 - 02:28 PM

Bloody water bombs they are. I don't grow maincrops because I get blight almost every year (32 out of 34 here). The first and second earlies at least give me something even if the blight gets here early, say mid- to late-July.

We're having roast chicken tonight, a five-pounder, free-range Creedy Carver, Devon born and Devon bred. Roast spuds, parsnips out of my frosty garden, an organic sweetheart cabbage, steamed, stuffing balls and, for a change, some roasted butternut squash chunks instead of carrots (I had half of one to use up). We wrestle for the skin but the parson's nose is mine and I'll brook no dissent on that one. A drumstick and several slices of tit each. Mrs Steve is currently making the gravy using my homemade stock and we are well under way with the Sabbath bottle of prosecco. A nice bottle of Argentine Malbec to wash down the fowl. I forgave Galtieri decades ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 07 Feb 21 - 02:42 PM

...but have you forgiven Devon?! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 07 Feb 21 - 04:58 PM

Oh, and by the way... I didn't say I keep replanting the spuds in the same bit of ground. That's how you get build up of pests & diseases. I'm fortunate in having a large garden & therefore a large veg patch. I have to put up with bloody botrytis, which affects all Solanums (potatoes, tomatoes & more) and is even more ineradicable than white rot.

Always rotate your crops. Even if you can only shift things 20-30' from where you grew them last year, it helps. Which is what I do (by more than 30'!). I plant spuds from last year's harvest, Steve. But not in the same bit of ground.

And if anyone is wondering about the F1 thing... F1 seeds / etc are (supposedly) the best / most productive / disease resistant, etc, etc. But you're also always told "They don't breed true / don't replant / etc". I can't unequivocally declare "Cobblers" on this, but... The companies who sell you seed want you to buy more seed next year (or the year after, etc). Do you think they're wholly truthful? I've happily re-used Lady B spuds year on year. I've also in the past bought a knock-off bag of s/m spuds (Georginas) & used them successfully as seed spuds. Leeks? Leeks will cheerfully self-seed themselves all over the sodding place! You can grow peppers from the seeds of those you buy. Etcetera. You get the general idea - it doesn't hurt to try, does it? ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Feb 21 - 09:23 PM

Ok, I forgot. I don't *like* ossso buco. But it was fun making it. Russell Stover, par contre, makes some kickass chocolates.

Maybe the KC would have done better if I had made bbq, though.

Advantage of living alone: taking a small bite out of each of the dark chocs.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 07 Feb 21 - 09:27 PM

You've got the wrong end of several sticks, wulfie. I have to hit the sack. Tomorrow is another day.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Feb 21 - 08:14 AM

I've never heard of Botrytis on spuds. You'll get it in the greenhouse if conditions in there are stuffy and damp and it'll attack your raspberries in wet weather, etc. It isn't a thing that rotation will limit. You just have to work with it, as you do with slugs and greenfly, etc.

As for your spuds, seed potatoes that you buy every year (and you should) are grown in cool areas such as northern Scotland where aphids are far less likely to spread virus diseases. The seed tubers are matured in the ground and are kept in cold storage over winter, treatment that has them romping away in the spring. They are tested and must be certified disease-free before they can be sold. None of this applies to your Lady Balfours. You are taking a risk, probably getting a lower yield than you should be getting and you're indulging in false economy. So good luck with that.

As for F1 seed, they are expensive to produce and are generally sold in smaller quantities per pack. They will always give you consistent results. If you want the same F1 variety (e.g., my wanting to grow Sungold tomatoes every year, an F1 variety), you must buy fresh seed. You will not get Sungold, or anything like, from seed you collect from Sungold tomatoes from your greenhouse. Most likely you will get a ragbag mixture. In addition, F1 varieties have the advantage of possessing hybrid vigour. It's all in the science and you'll just have to trust your seed company. But do have fun cutting corners, though you won't know what you'll get until it's too late to start again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Feb 21 - 08:19 AM

Incidentally, every potato in the world called Lady Balfour is a clone of the original cross that produced the variety. Genetically identical.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 08 Feb 21 - 09:47 AM

I've never heard of Botrytis on spuds. Then, as usual, you don't know as much as you think you do, nor as much you like to tell everyone else you do. Look it up; gray mold (or grey mold, if you prefer...) affects potatoes. I may be confusing what sometimes affects my spuds with what sometimes affects my toms (especially in cool, damp years), but it doesn't really matter. As you say, as I already said, there isn't any way of getting rid of it, only of managing it.

My spuds grow healthily, from spuds that have usually been stored for anything up to 6 months. Your comments about aphids, blah, etc, may or may not be true, but they don't match my experience in the slightest. I only get cropping problems when, for reasons of weather, time, ill health (which usually means bad back!), I don't / can't give the garden the time it needs.

I'll admit to having regularly practiced one false economy - out-of-date seeds! ;-) They do last longer than the "sow-by" dates on packets would have you believe; in most cases, I've found that 2-3 years beyond are still productive, but 5, 6, 7+ is pushing it! ;-) In other respects, I tend to give more veg away to neighbours than I ever have a shortage problem.

Remember, Steve, I'm not trying to lecture people, to say "do this". All I'm saying is "I've done this & it's worked for me". Your way is to say "Huh! Rubbish!! I know better, don't do that, it won't work!!!" It doesn't hurt to try, and if it isn't successful, then do something else. Other folks can make their own minds up. But they won't try something new if it never occurs to them that they could. I prefer my approach to yours.

All gardening is somewhat experimental. No gardener ever stops learning. Unless they stop experimenting, anyway... ;)

Incidentally, every banana you buy (if you do) in a s/mkt is a Cavendish clone. So what?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Feb 21 - 10:28 AM

Soil health, micronutrients, and the flora of a healthy biome will be different from one garden to another, so you what you both are reporting probably reflects the soil in your area. It isn't just weather that makes a difference. From my organic gardening guru's page on Early blight: Control this disease by planting resistant cultivars and soaking seed in a disinfecting solution such as a hydrogen peroxide mixture before planting. Spray plants with compost tea, treat soil with cornmeal products.

The hydrogen peroxide is the 3% solution you buy in the grocery store, and it is a way to kill fungus. By soaking your seeds you are killing any spores that might come along. Cornmeal products are also good to kill fungal spores in the soil and on plants. If you make cornmeal tea - soak a cup of cornmeal in a few cups of water for a while then strain the solids and spray the liquid on plants where you want to prevent or slow blight. Here are more cornmeal uses.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Feb 21 - 10:58 AM

What you have on your spuds that you're calling grey mould is almost certainly potato blight. Now you have cheerfully demonstrated some lack of knowledge, so kindly don't tell me that I don't know as much as I think I do. I've been growing vegetables (and flowers) for almost 50 years and it so happens that I have a degree in botany (which included extensive work on plant pathology)...

Blight either comes in on the wind or has overwintered in your garden (or in next door's garden) on "volunteers" (potatoes that you missed last year). If you see those regrowing you should pull them up straight away. The minute spores can't overwinter as free spores in the soil. Washing seed potatoes before planting is probably useless. Seed that is carrying blight spores probably wouldn't have made it anyway, and, in this country at least (yours too as far as I can gather), seed potatoes are raised in northern areas free of disease and must be certified disease-free. Tomatoes can suffer from potato blight too, though the plants can often grow through it. Not so with potatoes. If you get blight early you'll lose most of your crop. If it strikes when your spuds already have good bulk, the best thing to do is to cut off all the tops (which you can compost: the spores won't survive) and leave the spuds in the ground for a couple of weeks. Most of the spores will wash harmlessly away down the sides of your earthings-up. There's no organic solution to an attack of blight. Get the spuds in early, grow first-earlies or second-earlies and keep your fingers crossed!

Blight on leaves looks like brown patches that spread very quickly over your crop. Each brown patch has a whitish fringe - that looks just like grey mould. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raedwulf
Date: 08 Feb 21 - 05:47 PM

Lecture, lecture, lecture. I know more than you do, blah, etc. Never stops, does it, Steve? "I've..." You don't know how long "I've..." do you? How many degrees have you got? Cos you've boasted & shoved down everyone's throat how You've Been A Teacher and how You're The Mudcat Authority On The English Language ere now.

How many degrees do I have, Steve? Do you know? Do you know what they're in, Steve? No & no. You don't. But hey, why miss an opportunity to leap to conclusions, especially if you see an opportunity to assert your "expertise".

As per Mudcat usual where you are concerned, impossible to have a conversation with Steve that doesn't involve Steve insisting how right Steve is. Dropping out of this; people want to read about... Whatever. They don't want to be reading petty squabbling. You can have the last word if you want it. Bye.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Feb 21 - 07:09 PM

I made bubble and squeak tonight. Unbelievably, I've never made it in my life. I had some leftover cabbage and roast potatoes from last night, a sad-looking mixture. After trawling around for recipes, I settled on one that added some crispy bacon and a bit of fried onion. I fried the onion in butter and added the bacon bits (unsmoked streaky). Once everything was sizzling nicely and colouring up, I threw in the mashed-up spuds and cooked cabbage. After another ten minutes I squashed it all down to get the bottom browned. Found it impossible to turn it over in one piece so I grilled the top to get that brown as well. It was hellishly tasty, though next time (and there will be a next time) I'll be putting in a bit more black pepper. Other suggestions gratefully received!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 08 Feb 21 - 07:13 PM

I confess to not reading every word - has "to chit or not to chit" been tackled yet?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Feb 21 - 07:46 PM

Chitting earlies is definitely recommended, but it's not so crucial for maincrops. If you forget to buy your seed potatoes until the last minute, just bung 'em in anyway. They'll grow! They'll probably have chitted in the shop anyway, though it isn't quite as good as when they're nicely spread out. If you get them with really long, skinny sprouts, try to plant them without breaking them off. They'll still come good!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 09 Feb 21 - 08:16 AM

I must admit I'd sometimes wondered why seed potatoes always seem to come from Scotland.

We will probably grow a sampling again this year. It could be Charlotte which suit me fine but maybe we give Nicola a whirl or ... I don't know, we'll see what happens.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 09 Feb 21 - 08:48 AM

I've been given a small bag of fir apples; can one chit these?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 09 Feb 21 - 09:17 AM

What's chitting, please?

Until this week, I thought it meant running a tab at the Officers' Mess.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Feb 21 - 09:38 AM

Just sit your seed spuds in a tray with the ends with most eyes upward. Then just leave in a bright frost-free place until you're ready to plant them out. They'll start to grow knobbly little dark-green sprouts. That's chitting. When you plant them out, make sure the sprouted end is pointing up, more or less. Chitting gives them a head start. It wakes them up so that they're raring to go once in the ground.

You can chit pink fir apples. I hope you bought seed potatoes!

Jon, all I can tell you is that I've grown both for many years, and I've given up with Charlotte because Nicola are better (in m'humble).

I understand that it's been a thing in the US to economise by cutting seed potatoes into pieces, each with at least one eye. When I did this one year some of them didn't grow. It's not something I'll be doing again.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 09 Feb 21 - 09:41 AM

An article on chitting potatoes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Feb 21 - 10:07 AM

Good to see an article backing me up! Just a couple of points: I never rub out "excess" shoots and I don't get an over-abundance of tiddlers. Damaging a tuber in that way just before planing doesn't seem such a good idea to me. The other thing is that spuds will chit in the bag if you buy them a good while before planting. If they do that it's best to then spread them out in trays.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 09 Feb 21 - 10:27 AM

Empty egg boxes are useful as chitting trays.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Feb 21 - 05:25 PM

I have a lovely crop of purple sprouting broccoli at the moment. Just for once there's no sign this year of the annoying grey-green cabbage aphid, and the freezing cold we've had for a few days must be seeing off the slugs, which are normally active all year round in these parts. Purple sprouting, home-grown, has to be my very favourite winter veg (in the summer it's broad beans).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 11 Feb 21 - 12:18 PM

Changing the subject, as gardening is a future fantasy in Ontario at the moment.

On my last visit to the supermarket, they were giving away “meal kits” — small brown cardboard boxes containing (according to the packers) everything required for a meal of Jamaican-style jerked chicken for two to four people. I accepted one (free food!) and followed the directions. The box contained a plantain, a sealed plastic packet of skinless, boneless chicken thighs, a tiny Zip-loc bag of basmati rice, a tin of red kidney beans, a bag of shredded cabbage and carrot for coleslaw, a lime, and little packets of mixed spices for each dish.

First, the amount of food was certainly plenty for three and sufficient for four, so I’m still working my way through it. Its Jamaican-ness is doubtful, as the mixed spices are deficient in the oomph I associate with island cuisine. I would never have tried cooking plantain myself under other circumstances and I remain unconvinced in this world that already has potatoes, but I’ll gladly eat it again if it is cooked by a Jamaican person to his or her taste. The spice mix for the rice and bean dish did not contain salt, which is odd, and the recipe called for too much water.

On the whole, I’m glad I did not have to pay for this first excursion into the world of meal kits. They are advertised relentlessly and I know people who use them with pleasure, but I don’t see myself doing it again.

What do youse all think of meal kits?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 11 Feb 21 - 12:50 PM

Meal boxes in the UK are horrendously expensive once you get passed the introductory offers.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Feb 21 - 02:36 PM

I made a batch of banana bread today, split into two small pans and with lots of roasted pecans in the batter and placed on top.

My ex is Puerto Rican (born there, moved away as a child, but lived in a PR neighborhood in NYC) so we have a number of dishes we make.

Plantain (platanos) have two stages - really green, or ripe and yellow. When they're green, we make the Puerto Rican dish of tostones - peel the banana, cut it into slices on the angle that are about an inch thick. In a shallow pan of oil gently sauté them for a few minutes then set them to drain on paper towels. Once they've cooled a little, put the heel of your hand on each slice and squash it until it's about a half-inch thick and it has lots of little rough edges sticking out. Place each of these in a bowl of salted water for a few minutes, then pat them dry and put them back in the oil to finish cooking. They are an equivalent of fried potatoes in how they are eaten and in their consistency.

Ripe platanos are peeled, patted with butter and wrapped in foil, then baked in a medium oven until it's soft. Cool it a little bit, then open the foil and sprinkle in cinnamon sugar. If you didn't put butter in when you baked it, then add it once it comes out of the oven, and follow with the cinnamon sugar when it's time to eat it as a dessert.

I was looking over the supply at a local Hispanic grocery one day and struck up a conversation with a woman who was originally Jamaican. She took the plantain from my hand and handed me a different one - pointing out the mottled pattern on the first one and said that wasn't a desirable fruit. I get some of my best cooking tips from other shoppers in the produce section.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Feb 21 - 06:52 PM

My asparagus was all ooky but brocvoli cauliflower crab soup is yummy too...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 02:24 AM

What does "ooky" mean? Is it good or bad? Is it the same as "yucky" [bad]?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 06:37 AM

"brocvoli cauliflower crab"

And what's this? Is it all one thing, some kind of vegetated crustacean sea creature (there is such a crab, called the decorator crab, but, to my knowledge, it uses seaweed to stick all over itself and has never managed to access a supply of broccoli or cauliflower), or is "brocvoli" a hybrid between broccoli and cavolo? Or broccoli-stuffed ravioli?

I can imagine that the soup is good, but I might chuck a wodge of blue cheese in there if it were me...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 09:08 AM

Ooky asparagus that owes its disgustingness entirely to texture could become a rather nice soup. Just sayin'.

Blue cheese in a soup featuring crab? Would it not extinguish any crab flavour?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 10:27 AM

You might want to do that if the soup was made from a brocvoli cauliflower crab... :-)

I've never worked out what the fuss is over asparagus, and we never have it as an actual vegetable, but it does make very nice soup. It does need a good trimming first though. I once had a bowl of asparagus soup in a restaurant in Liverpool. It had a lovely flavour but was full of what I can only characterise as split matchsticks!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 02:41 PM

Above I mentioned couscous as a change from my customary oats.

Today I did a similar thing: 1 cup of instant veggie soup, half a cup of couscous, plus baked beans, iceberg lettuce, tomato sauce and spices; but, this time, I enjoyed adding a handful of sultanas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 02:54 PM

Hmm .... that sounds ........... disgusting.

Steve, asparagus as you know is "stringy" personally I love it as a vegetable. I use the lower woody ends of the stems to make soup which I blend thoroughly and then pass through a sieve to remove the "stringy" bits.

A dish of beauty.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 03:32 PM

I took a photo which I could add to my "My Diet" poem, but then you'd probably say, Raggytash, that it looks disgusting, too.

However, I googled and found another adding not sultanas but a "Generous handful of raisins (optional)" here

Either way, for me it was sweet and savoury and pretty healthy, too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 03:35 PM

By the way, is there another way of linking to our photos on Mudcat? (Forgive me, I've only been on here since March 2006!)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 03:41 PM

I doubt that any photograph could improve on what my imagination conjured up !

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 03:46 PM

Hope I haven't caused too much dribbling, Jos!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 04:08 PM

Not dribbling, exactly - maybe I should have said "compete with" instead of "improve on" ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 04:39 PM

Just watching a programme called "Greg Wallace: Big Weekends Away" and seeing him in a Barcelona tapas bar certainly made me crave a bit.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 05:26 PM

The Barcelona tapas bar programme (I have been to Barcelona tapas bars, and it would have shown me what I already knew) was on at the same time as the Stonehenge programme, which was the one I chose (I have been to Stonehenge, but the programme added to what I already knew).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 05:42 PM

Thanks - I shall watch that on Catch-Up tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 06:36 PM

I know all about how to snap asparagus spears, Raggytash. I've made asparagus soup many times. I have a feeling that the Liverpool joint didn't really understand it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 03:47 AM

New topic, let's see if anyone has some answers.

My breadmaker makes excellent pizza dough, but far too big a batch - enough in my case for 6 pizzas. Easy-bake yeast doesn't seem to survive freezing, so the spare bases must be fully proved and baked for 5 minutes before being frozen. Pizzas made from these frozen bases are OK, but not brilliant.

Once upon a time, when I made pizzas the old-fashioned way using fresh or dried regular yeast, the dough could (if I remember right) be frozen raw, and would prove on thawing. The results were excellent. Also I have, in the past, bought frozen croissants and the like, which would thaw and prove overnight at room temperature.

So - is it down to the yeast? And if so, could I use regular yeast in the breadmaker by making up a starter first? Any suggestions welcome.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 05:16 AM

BobL, you don't have to use your breadmaker, just because you have it. You say:
"Once upon a time ... I made pizzas the old-fashioned way using fresh or dried regular yeast. ... The results were excellent."

Could that be the answer?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 07:48 AM

I’m with Jos on this one.

Lots of people use bread machines for dough preparation, but I just don’t understand why — it’s a big, clunky, expensive gadget that does a task that I have always managed nicely with a wooden spoon and my two hands.

It’s easy to over-think yeast baking. I suggest reverting to the most basic technique you know, and making just enough for immediate consumption.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 08:35 AM

I've baked my own bread for over 20 years all by hand, plain white, wholemeal, granary, rye, no knead white [ brilliant bread ] and of course sourdough, I can make ciabata but it's such a pain I buy it now when I fancy some.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 10:47 AM

My ancient Panasonic bread machine makes a lovely "ciabatta loaf." All it takes is 500g organic strong white flour, a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of sugar, 3tbp extra virgin olive oil, a teaspoon of yeast and 350 ml water. Yeah, it feels like a loaf and looks like a loaf, but it tastes like ciabatta (and lets face it, have you ever bought even a half-decent shop ciabatta? All crust and big holes just where you don't want 'em...)

I've yet to make my own pizza dough. I'm not a lot of use with a rolling pin and I feel strangely inferior when I see those Italian chaps making a pizza base by swirling a piece of ever-thinning dough round their heads. One day, one day...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 11:10 AM

Made something vaguely resembling coleslaw... Had a quarter head of cabbage which became a huge bowlful when food-processed, added some raw carrot, and my vinaigrette. Yum.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 11:13 AM

I've rarely eaten coleslaw that didn't get me thinking of worthy rabbit food with added watery white liquid. I'm sure yours is delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 02:03 PM

I made something new last night. It was a hit with the DH.

Slice cauliflower into pieces about half an inch thick. (They will probably fall apart. That's okay.) I used one half of a head to make 2 generous servings.

Melt 2 T of butter in a big skillet.

Sprinkle in 1 T fennel seeds. Sprinkle them all over, don't leave them in a pile.

Place the cauliflower on top of the butter and fennel seeds, flat side down.

Don't go off - this dish needs watching.

Saute at fairly lively heat till side one is browned somewhat. Turn, cover, and cook at somewhat lower heat till tender. Listen to the sizzle. An experienced cook can tell when a dish is sizzling dangerously fast, and we are all experienced cooks.

I believe I cooked it covered for about 12 minutes, but that's just a guess.

Tip: the goal is to caramelize the surface of the cauliflower to make a fascinating new taste. The inside should be cooked through and tender.
================
I buy fennel seed in an Indian market and keep it in the freezer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 02:04 PM

For something else to do with fennel seed, see my Pork Meatballs of Feb 19, 2020.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 03:24 PM

Steve Shaw, I agree with you on most coleslaw. But yeah, this was delish [I have detailed my vinaigrette before].

Took some of my not-quite-coleslaw and added a handful of almonds and a trout fillet I had left over, flaked. A different delicious thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 07:25 PM

Yeah, crunching in a laboured manner through raw shredded carrot, onion and wodges of cabbage, incl stalky bits, in watery mayo (or is it salad cream...)...I mean, what's that? Prison food?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 03:16 AM

Decent mayo doesn't contain water. You have to make it yourself, as all the commercial brands do. BTW I would love to be corrected on this.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 06:50 AM

Well there's a bit of water in the egg yolks and in the wine vinegar/lemon juice. When you mix the mayo in with all that carrot, cabbage and onion, a fair bit of water will inevitably come out of the cut veg. The upshot is that typical coleslaw is a fairly runny mix, the runniness contributed mainly by water, I should think.

Munch, munch, munch... Nurse, I believe I have RSI of the jaw...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 07:01 AM

By the way, if I'm given it I eat it. But I'm not going to be looking for it, let alone making it...

Another thing that I can't understand people wanting to eat is cold pasta salad.

Or bread sauce.

Or Branston Pickle. Burnt.

Or certain things in 1970s salads. Cold rice, peanuts and little flecks of tinned mandarin orange...

Or a pineapple ring on top of a slice of gammon.

Or thick-crust pizza. Even worse, those vile stuffed-crust pizzas (can you still get them?), or chicken on a pizza...

Glad to share! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 07:11 AM

I love bread sauce, especially cold on Boxing Day with other cold food from the Christmas dinner. And some interesting pickles (not Branston).
Otherwise, I can happily live without the other things in Steve's list.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 07:28 AM

I'm in a minority of one in our house when it comes to bread sauce. I have the same joke every Boxing Day: "Is there any bread sauce left over from yesterday? There's a bit of wallpaper peeling off up there..."

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 09:14 AM

No mayo in my slaw. No onions. Thought about some celery and green pepper, which might go into the leftovers.

A quarter wedge of a cabbage head usually makes enough cabbage for one side-dish serving. Somehow in the food processor it inflated into needing my biggest mixing bowl, and made three full meals.

*Magic!*

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 03:54 PM

My cole slaw

Two parts veg oil (I use Smart Balance)
One part lemon or lime juice
A few gratings of black pepper
A flavoring - dried basil, dried tarragon, poppy seeds, dried dill
A tiny bit of sugar so the citrus juice isn't too sour.
Whisk well.

If it's in the house, add a tiny bit of mayonnaise to emulsify so the oil and juice don't separate. (I simply dip the end of the whisk into the jar and pick up a little mayo.)

Add to chopped cabbage. The cabbage does not need to be in the near-liquid state that they serve in restaurants. You can add celery or carrot, but be warned that the carrot will turn it a funny color if you don't eat the cole slaw up promptly.

Whole cherry tomatoes are nice too. Don't cut them up, because people don't like pinkish-green food. Cherry tomatoes left in the batch will get soggy after a while, (24 hours or more) so drop them in right before dining and be sure to eat them all up.
==================
Amounts: to make cole slaw for two people, I buy the smallest cabbage I can find, and I use half of it. For the dressing, I use 4 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of lime or lemon juice. This makes more than we can eat in a meal, but not so much that it gets too old in the fridge.

It's so nice to have cole slaw ready so you don't have to make salad when you're tired.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 05:30 PM

Haven't tried it yet but I think we can buy both a vegan mayo and coleslaw now; Koreans, of course, would insist on fermenting the cabbage - Kimchi.

Have never made any kind of bread but agree with Steve re the ciabatta I've bought. I prefer baguette consumed the day of purchase or, if not, sliced and put under the grill.

When I was living in Newcastle upon Tyne, I loved a stottie - especially stuffed with chips.

But, most of the time, I have Warburton's sliced bread.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 06:26 PM

Louis Armstrong was said to swear by red beans and rice,
so when the dining hall served it for supper tonight,
I cheerfully ordered a portion.

Supposed to have a happy combination of amino acids
in between the legumes and the grains.
And the nice complex carbohydrates
satisfy the appetite
and prevent, hopefully,
the dreaded Midnight Munchies.

Goodnight, Mr. Armstrong, wherever you are.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 06:46 PM

I enjoyed frijoles y arroz/refried beans and rice when I visited Mexico.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 06:53 PM

Well if there's one thing I will never be doing, it's fretting about what combination of amino acids I'm getting or about whether the carbohydrates I'm eating are complex ones, etc. I just like good grub. I do understand that some people have to wrestle with these things...


By the way, I'm thinking of becoming gluten-intolerant... (google it - you'll get the funniest YouTube ever...)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Feb 21 - 09:49 AM

I like red beans with brown rice, cooked with a Louisiana-style mirepoix of onion, celery and sweet red pepper, and well spiced. It really does need hot sauce to be worth eating.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 Feb 21 - 02:19 PM

Apart from the red peppers, Charmion, that sounds tasty to me.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 Feb 21 - 09:35 PM

Brown rice: I can see the point of spicing it up,
as brown rice is kind of hard work, chewing-wise.
A bit of a penance eating it and getting it down.
Of course my digestion is happy to get the fiber,
but brown rice does not make my mouth water.


The red beans and rice dish from the other evening
was in fact mouth-watering good.
The rice was NOT brown.
It was some sort of long-grain hybrid ,
similar to basmati but probably not exactly basmati rice,
and it was a pale color.
I don't know what it had been cooked with, but
it darned near melted in your mouth.

The sort of dish that gives the illusion of being light and fluffy
and before you know it,
you have gobbled up two big servings of the stuff.

No,actually, I didn't eat two servings,
which would have meant going back to the dining hall kitchen.
Although it was so tasty that I wished I had done so.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 17 Feb 21 - 03:26 AM

Today I be mostly eating chips.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 17 Feb 21 - 12:04 PM

I, too, like chips, Dave, but have never cooked them.

Rather, yesterday, I got some new potatoes and, today, prepared them this one-pot way:

Boiled and drained before adding a mug of instant veg soup; then, after stewing a while, baked beans, chopped iceberg lettuce & portobello mushrooms, some sauce and spices, plus fresh mint leaves - the plant I grow in my flat needed a hair cut!

Photos (including a mashed option) added here "One-Pot Cooking"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Raggytash
Date: 17 Feb 21 - 12:21 PM

Made Parkin today, haven't had any for years. I made one for us and one for my son. Just need to leave for 3 or 4 days to mature before eating.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 19 Feb 21 - 12:37 PM

Ok I looked up Parkin.

Made a surprisingly good soup with leeks, zucch, onion celery green pepper, garlic, sauerkraut, some of its brine, and some chicken stock. Oregano marjoram hot pepper. Really good reheated.

My Instacart person found me an avocado that is *perfect* today. Already ate half with vinaigrette in the hole. Gonna put crab and horseradish in the other half's hole for afternoon snack.

As I am no longer eating pork chops with my usual apple sauce, I have started putting more things on the pork chops. Yesterday it was a generous rock salting pressed with onion and garlic powders and smoked paprika, fried in my garlic-infused goose grease. Followed someone's instructions to flip every minute instead of really searing one side before flipping, and basted with the grease. The chops were juicier than usual this way, I recommend it. Quick sauté of market spinach with hot pepper in the pan for a side.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 19 Feb 21 - 12:58 PM

As I may have mentioned above, for an avocado sweet, I've done similar to Mrrzy with golden syrup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Feb 21 - 01:51 PM

I've been known to halve two avocados and just eat them both out of the skin with a spoon for my lunch. Getting them in perfect eating condition isn't always the easiest thing. You see people in the shop picking them up and giving them a squeeze. That's no guide. If the avo yields a bit when you press your thumb into the stalk end, and there are no soft spots, you've got a good 'un. If it's rock-solid all over, it won't ripen properly and it'll go all stringy with black bits inside.

A really good thing to do with them, especially in summer, is to make a tricolore salad (tricolore, the three colours of the Italian flag). You need for two, at least 11/2 avocados, if not two, thinly sliced lengthways, a 250 g lump of drained mozzarella (Galbani good), cut into coin-sized slices, and half a pound of the best cherry toms you can get your hands on, each one cut in half. You can just chuck the whole lot together and mix it up, or you can get all arty-farty and arrange it all nicely in a big salad bowl. Sprinkle a small amount of salt and a generous grinding of black pepper over, drizzle your finest extra virgin olive oil over the whole lot and tear some fresh baby basil leaves on top. You absolutely must have the best avocados and tomatoes you can find. On a hot summer's evening, it can be a main course in itself.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 19 Feb 21 - 04:13 PM

thanks for the tip about the stalk of the avocado, Steve. I'll try that.

Last night's dinner took two gadgets. I used the spiralizer to turn zucchini into mock-pasta. The sauce had Italian sausage in it.

Recently the DH bought escarole. I sliced it up crossways and sauteed it in olive oil. I used the second gadget, which you might call a shredder, to shred a carrot lengthways and add to the escarole. After a while I added chopped red onion. It turned out well.

The shredder is a souvenir from a trip to Florida, specifically to a big outdoor flea market. I can feel the warm and sunny skies now.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 20 Feb 21 - 06:35 AM

Can anyone tell me how to get celeriac right? I always seem to decide it's ready too early; the resulting stuff is nice, but it's not the texture of mash.
Keboroxu, if your brown rice is chewy, you're not cooking it long enough, and maybe not adding enough water. There's a nice dish where you use rice (I use short-grain brown rice) and lentils, adding them to caramelised fried onions, with a sprinkle of salt. If you squeeze a bit of lemon over the top it's heavenly.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 20 Feb 21 - 07:22 AM

...add a chowpatty & you have pretty-much the staple diet of millions of Indians (& mine on my visit there: dahl and rice; "China and India in 1988"

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Feb 21 - 09:26 AM

Thompson, how are you cooking celeriac now?

I’m no fan of mushy food so I don’t mash anything, including spuds. I like celery root diced quite large and braised with cabbage and lamb in the Norwegian style, or in a dish of roast veg with carrots, parsnips and crushed garlic.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Feb 21 - 02:23 PM

Tricolore is the three colors of the French flag, too. Or any 3 colors.

Got some overcooked broccoli as a side with my support-your-local lunch delivery today, set it aside to make yummy soup with. Curry style, I think - found all *kinds* of things cleaning out my spice cabinet!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 20 Feb 21 - 11:33 PM

I made a new kind of salad tonight, and I think it's good enough to impress company once the quarantine is over.

I made a conventional tossed salad - lettuce, tomato, green onion, red onion. Then I opened a small jar of artichokes in a brine that includes oil. I mixed some of that liquid with mayonnaise along with some dried basil (thyme would be good too) and black pepper. Then I put all the artichokes in the salad. What luxury! The salad was delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 21 Feb 21 - 05:04 AM

Sounds good, Leeneia, but no vinegar/something acidic as is usually added with vegetable oil..? Maybe enough from the mayonnaise..?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Feb 21 - 01:00 PM

The curry was excellent. Making stuffed cabbage with the leftovers:
Carefully take outer leaves off head of cabbage, as intact as possible. Nuke 2 mn to soften. Separated veg from sauce of curry. Put veg into cabbage leaf, roll, tuck, put in dih for oven as crowded as possible but in 1 layer. I made 3. Meanwhile I fried up some Irish-style bacon, ate the big meaty parts, and stuck the fatty ends among my cabbage rolls. Deglazed bacon pan with liquid from curry, poured over cabbage. Whole thing now in oven for 45 mn.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 21 Feb 21 - 08:55 PM

Beautifully browned. Served with dollop of sour cream.

Hungarian curry? No paprika, but cabbage bacon grease sour cream...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 23 Feb 21 - 12:44 PM

Good question, Walkie. The vinegar is already in the marinade that the artichokes are bottled in.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Feb 21 - 01:18 PM

Got that, Leeneia - sometimes I use the excess vinegar from a jar of pickled onions or gherkins.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Feb 21 - 02:38 PM

I had two packages of beef and one of pollock in the freezer that was frosty when the power finally came on, so I cooked it. I made a batch of a nacho filling (I use it in tacos, burritos, nachos, etc.) and much of that is in the freezer now. I made a small pot roast the next night, and on Sunday night I made whiting stew (celery, carrots, potatoes, onions). It made a lot of the soup/stew, so I've shared it with a friend. I have leftovers for the rest of the week now.

My big upright freezer is only a couple of years old and was a real champ - after three days my next door neighbor with a generator realized they had extra capacity they could send my way so we ran an electric cord and the freezer was plugged in. When I finally opened it I was glad to see that it held up well. I have lots of frozen berries in there and none of them had melted into blobs - they're all still frozen hard and individual berries. I bought this to replace a 50-year-old mid-century modern harvest gold freezer that has in the past been less good about keeping things frozen solid in power outages.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 23 Feb 21 - 03:12 PM

We made lahm bi ajeen last night. It's a recipe in the Claudia Roden Book of Middle Eastern Food which I first bought in the '90's but had to upgrade to a newer edition because the first book was falling apart from overuse.

new edition

Lahm bi ajeen is a soft doughy pizza or pide style pastry with a lamb or beef and tomato and onion filling which is delicately spiced and topped with some lightly toasted pine nuts.

Quicker and less complicated than a home made pizza, but it's a bit like basil pesto for me because as soon as the thought of lahm bi ajeen enters my head I feel compelled to make some. Yummo!!

Darnit! I just thought of basil pesto. I love it. So now I'll have to make some. The store-bought jars are nowhere near as addictive as home made pesto.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Feb 21 - 04:06 PM

The closest thing I've had to that, Helen, is Manakish Zaatar in the wonderful Museum of Islamic Art, on a Doha stopover between Manchester and Sydney to visit my family in 2017.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Feb 21 - 05:34 PM

I won't buy shop pesto. It never tastes right, and is never anywhere near as appetising as home-made. I suspect economies in their choice of oil and cheese. Unless you can grow your own basil, awkward in the Cornish climate, you have to buy the potted growing stuff, which isn't too bad if it's glossy and fresh-looking. I don't bother if all I can get is a bunch of limp leaves in a plastic bag. The pine nuts are a bit pricey too. So it isn't the cheapest, but I agree, it has to be home-made, even with a pot of fresh shop basil if that's all you can get. The one thing I think can be overdone if you're not too careful is the garlic...

I bought a huge pot of basil last weekend for a pasta recipe that calls for a basil sauce, which is just basil, a touch of garlic and quite a lot of extra virgin olive oil, all whizzed up. Then I suddenly got ill and didn't do the recipe. I think I'm OK now and the basil still looks good. So it could be Friday night with a good glug of the ould Italian red...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Feb 21 - 08:03 PM

Should have said I'll post the recipe after I've done it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 09:06 AM

Oddly enough, Wegman's, a US mass-grocery chain, has the only good store-boughten [a local term] pesto I've ever tried. Who'd'a thunk it. Otherwise, yeah, homemade is best.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 12:28 PM

My five-minute mini-research into the own-brand green pesto of three supermarkets and one "big brand" revealed the following additives that are not allowed anywhere near my home-made pesto:

Waitrose: salt

Tesco: Yoghurt, sugar, milk, bamboo fibre, cashew, salt

Sainsbury's: Rapeseed oil, salt, potato flakes, vegetable fibre, egg lysozyme, grana padano

Big brand (Sacla): cashew, salt, grana padano, glucose, lactic acid, potato flakes, flavourings


Rapeseed oil is ultra-cheap compared with extra virgin olive oil. Just wrong for pesto. Grana padano is a cheap Parmesan substitute which is banned from our house. Why anyone would need to add extra salt to something with a sufficiency of Parmesan just defeats me. The percentage of pine nuts, where stated, was one percent or less. Hardly any, in other words. I suppose cashews are much cheaper. One cashew nut per pot, d'you suppose? :-). As for some of the other additives, well I'm scratching my head...

The other thing is that, with home-made, you have full control over the QUALITY of the cheese, the oil and the basil.

I'm really glad you prompted my research project!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 01:08 PM

Locally grown rapeseed oil had become so common here in England that bottles of it were usually labelled "vegetable oil"; however, due to some farming regulation mentioned on CountryFile a few months ago, we will no longer see lots of yellow fields in our countryside; and, indeed, on my last visit to Tesco, I had to go for sunflower oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 01:59 PM

Those "lovely" fields of endless bright yellow are a monoculture, usually sprayed with insecticide. One year I walked across 3/4 mile of oilseed rape (on a public footpath) on a sunny May afternoon and didn't see or hear a single insect or bird. A bright yellow desert. The rapeseed oil is very controversial apropos of health risks and is subsequently being superseded by canola oil, which is highly processed and which is generally a GM crop. Fine if you're happy with that. Not for me, thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 02:15 PM

I just looked it up: "the ban of neonicotinoids has meant growers can no longer control cabbage stem flea beetle populations, which are decimating the OSR crop across the country" (Farming UK)
.

I used to have food-miles in mind when I chose rapeseed oil - taste-wise, I didn't find much difference (apart from olive oil which, of course, has a very distinctive taste, that I enjoy occasionally, as I do olives).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 06:03 PM

Well finding the right olive oil is a minefield, I'm the first to admit. The first thing I'd say is that only extra virgin oil will do for me. Other, cheaper olive oil is highly refined. This is never what I want. Secondly, it's a myth that you can't cook with extra virgin olive oil. You just have to avoid overheating it, that's all. A lot of my Italian dishes start with gently sautéeing sliced garlic and chilli in olive oil, gently being the operative word, no colouring up, no smoke. As soon as you add the next ingredient, tomatoes for example, the overheating potential is nullified. Same with a soffritto. I've been using a Tesco Sicilian extra-virgin oil for cooking as my go-to for a long time. It's about six quid for 500ml, but bejaysus a bottle lasts ages. I also have a superior oil for making pesto, for salad dressing, for sprinkling on a pizza or for dressing any finished pasta dish. I might spend ten to twelve quid (M&S Tuscan in the square bottle is lovely, £10, or I may go for the Sicilian or Tuscan Waitrose 1 ones, at £12-odd.). That sounds extravagant, but each bottle lasts me for months.

The only non-olive oil I use is bog-standard groundnut oil. That does for my oven chips or for frying a steak or anything else that needs real heat. Most fish in our house is fried in butter!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 06:16 PM

As for neonictoinoid insecticides, I'd be glad to see them banned from the planet. I have a very strong feeling that the government and the vandalistic farming industry connive in playing down the hazards. As neonics are systemic, they get into the nectar and pollen and poison pollinating insects. In turn, insect-eating birds are poisoned. We already have a near-catastrophic collapse in insect and songbird populations and I have no doubt as to what the main culprit is. If you see your spray label listing acetamiprid as an ingredient (you'll need your magnifying glass - don't know why...), don't use it unless you really hate bees...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 06:17 PM

That would be neonicotinoid!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 24 Feb 21 - 06:18 PM

As I say, last time I got sunflower oil from Tesco; and, the time before, what I think was the very same olive oil you mention, Steve; and I may give groundnut oil a go next time..?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Feb 21 - 11:02 AM

Groundnut oil = peanut oil?

I now like olive oil.

New stove! Recommend a recipe for one, using multiple burners and, maybe, the oven? I remain afraid of broilers. Mom *always* set something on fire using hers.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 25 Feb 21 - 12:21 PM

When I was a lad/before repatriating from Aus. to England, there was an advert where a chap said in a Godfather-type voice "oils ain't oils" - which was referring to the motoring kind but could also be applied to culinary matters, I guess. (Not sure where deep-frying oils can be reused as a biofuel..?)

As I say, the only one that really stands out from the others I've tried is olive oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 25 Feb 21 - 12:47 PM

From a BBC news item, "How to run your car on chip oil":

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7047128.stm

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Nov 24 - 01:42 PM

I was sure we had a more recent general Recipes thread, but I am not seeing one. This could go under Fish or Soup but I thought general would be better, and I'll be shocked, *shocked* if it's really been this long since I posted or sought any recipes here. I really *have* been depressed. Or couldn't find the Part II thread, more possible.

Anyway, (rereading) I have learned to love the broiler. I may have burned things but nothing has yet caught fire, hah, dear dead mom, I do this better than you!

But I digress, to quote Tom Lehrer. And just like that, it's a music thread!

Anyway, here is what I made for lunch today:

Had a generous slab o'swordfish and a bunch of cherry tomatoes, and all the online recipes seemed to want capers, but I went a different way.

I took all the non-red cherry tomatoes from one of those 1.5 lb containers, sliced'm all in half and put the halves in a big coffee mug; they pretty much filled it. Mashed and chopped a generous amount of garlic, put that in.

Added generous salt, fresh pepper, hot paprika and oregano, some onion powder, then a little vinegar and a generous couple of glugs of olive oil.

Nuked it for a minute for the oil to bloom the paprika. Put a medium dab of Dijon mustard on a serving fork and mashed that all about every 10-15 seconds during the nuking.

Then, turned on the toaster oven to 350. Let that sit while it preheated.

Once the oven was ready, fished all the tomatoes out of the soup mug and put them on the bottom of the large square of tin foil I'd put over the toaster oven tray. I buttered the fish on one side, put it butter side down on the tomatoes, buttered the top, then made a dish out of the tin foil that was not too snug against the fish but smaller than the tray, and about 2" deep.

Carefully poured the soupy sauce with its lovely garlic bits all over the fish. It came close to the top of my improvised dish, so I crossed my fingers and set a timer for 30 mn, intending to check it at 20. I forgot to.

When the timer dinged, the top of the fish was lightly browned, the sauce was bibbling near the top of the tin foil which had not leaked, yay, and the fish was perfect to my fork test, still very firm but cooked through.

To serve, used the serving fork to fish the fish out into a big soup bowl, then carefully carefully picked up the tin foil container and poured all the lovely sauce and everything into the bowl.

If that last step wouldn't have worked I'd have used a spoon to scoop put all the tomatoes, then the sauce itself wouldn't have been too heavy any more and could have been poured over the lot.

It was absolutely delicious. I do love my own cooking.