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BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?

23 Oct 00 - 05:23 PM (#325606)
Subject: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Zebedee

OK,

I have some peas. I want to have some 'mushy peas.' What do I do?

Looking at the packaging on a can of Mushy Peas, I find out that said peas are 'processed' but quite what that 'process' is is not mentioned.

Does anyone know?

Any advice appreciated.

Zeb


23 Oct 00 - 05:25 PM (#325609)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

What exactly are "mushy peas"? I've never heard of them in this corner of the li'l ol' USA.

always hoping to broaden my culinary horizons,
Alex
O..O
=o=


23 Oct 00 - 05:30 PM (#325619)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Llanfair

To make mushy peas you need to start with dried peas. Soak overnight as per instructions with the tablets that come with them. Drain and rinse, then boil to within an inch of their lives with a little mint. A knob of butter, then mush them---lovely.
Cheers, Bron.


23 Oct 00 - 05:37 PM (#325626)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Zebedee

Llanfair,

Thank you - I feel sure that I can dry my peas, but what are these 'tablets' that I need to boil them with?

Zeb


23 Oct 00 - 05:40 PM (#325631)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Jon Freeman

Here is a recipe I found on the internet:

225 g dried marrowfat peas
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
15 g unsalted butter
salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a large basin, soak the peas overnight (or for at least 4 hours) in three times their volume of cold water, with the bicarbonate of soda. Rinse the peas well and put them into a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and thenreduce the heat to simmer for approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours stirring from time to time, until the peas are cooked and have fallen to a softened mush. If they appear too wet, continue cooking over a low heat to drive off any excess moisture, but take care to keep stirring, to prev nt them burning on the base of the pan. Beat in the butter, salt and pepper to taste. Yield: 4 servings

Jon


23 Oct 00 - 05:40 PM (#325632)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Peter Kasin

Ditto here. Is it like a thick pea soup? Or do you want to know how to cook peas so they're mushy? If that's the case, if your market has dried peas in bulk, go for split peas and simmer them in a little less water than the recipe for split pea soup calls for, for about three hours. They'll end up very thick and mushy. Great with simmered carrots and onions, which soften after a long simmer, as well. Making a large pot of it and freezing it instead of making it fresh each time will shave off hours of extra cooking time.


23 Oct 00 - 05:42 PM (#325633)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Peter Kasin

With split peas, it's not necessary to soak them before cooking.


23 Oct 00 - 05:44 PM (#325638)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Skipjack K8

How does the home brewer achieve the day-glo green colour?

Skipjack


23 Oct 00 - 05:45 PM (#325639)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Zebedee

Many thanks, this is really useful.

But can someone expain what 'marrowfat' or 'split' peas are?

I'm sure that they must have been 'normal' peas once...

Zeb


23 Oct 00 - 05:46 PM (#325641)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: DougR

Chantyranger: thanks, that sounds very good and I'm gonna try it. I, too, had never heard of mushy peas.

DougR


23 Oct 00 - 05:47 PM (#325643)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Split peas are dried green (or yellow) peas. They shell them, and then the two halves fall apart, causing them to be "split."

They are the base of Split Pea Soup, an American delicacy (best brand: Anderson's).

Dunno what those others are.

Alex
O..O
=o=


23 Oct 00 - 05:49 PM (#325646)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Jim the Bart

Take some regular peas and keep them in your shoe for about a month. Then throw them away. You'll thank yourself.


23 Oct 00 - 05:52 PM (#325654)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Jon Freeman

According to my dictionary:

Marrowfat pea - a rich kind of pea, called also the Dutc admiral pea.

split-pea - a dried pea deprived of its seed-coat and thus broken across at the embryo.

Jon


23 Oct 00 - 05:55 PM (#325656)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Peter Kasin

Jon, you mean split peas come from deprived backgrounds? No wonder it takes so long to soften them up.


23 Oct 00 - 05:57 PM (#325657)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Peter Kasin

I forgot to add that the carrots should be very finely chopped so that they'll blend in with the peas when they cook and soften better.


23 Oct 00 - 06:06 PM (#325671)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

Mushy peas are not usually made with split peas, but with whole dried peas, marrowfat being a particularly large variety much favoured for mushing.

Personally I'm not keen, but if you mix in enough butter they're just about edible, and a staple in the north of England (I'm a southern softie, prefer petit pois).


23 Oct 00 - 06:40 PM (#325689)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Morticia

remember to add lots of pepper........this is the one of the few instances where I prefer white pepper to black......otherwise they will give you awful indigestion.


23 Oct 00 - 06:40 PM (#325690)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Max Tone

Don't Bother, they're green mush.
Folk in the NE of England eat them out of tins, occasionally, but usually out of late-nite chip shops, with soggy chips, (---ffffffloppy fRENCH fRIES -- to you US linguists)
Imagine green refried beans!
Rob


23 Oct 00 - 06:44 PM (#325692)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Cobble

Hey Greyeyes petit pois just don't go with steak and kidney pie or good old fish and chips!!


23 Oct 00 - 06:50 PM (#325697)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

Mushy peas don't go with anything. A surefire way to ruin a good bit of battered cod or a decent pie. I prefer my veg fresh.


23 Oct 00 - 08:00 PM (#325742)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Jon Freeman

Just wondering whether there is a N/S divide on this one and if so where it is. I am Shropshire born and don't care much for mushy peas although in fairness, I have only tried the chip shop variety.

Jon


23 Oct 00 - 08:53 PM (#325758)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Micca

Bron, you remind me of my friends description of Superman "legs of Iron, Fists of steel and a knob of butter"****BG***
On the mushy peas subject... they are disgusting and make me heave, I don't like pease pudding either.. a puree of legumes is a no-no for me, Dahl too....... VOM...


23 Oct 00 - 09:11 PM (#325765)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: DougR

On the other hand ...maybe not.

DougR


23 Oct 00 - 09:12 PM (#325767)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Cobble

Jon There appears to be a N/S devide here. Mushy peas are best cooked and eaten at once, the chip shops keep them stewing, ugg!! Talking about chip shops I once saw fried Mars Bars for sale in a chip shop in Scotland, this sounds disgusting, any one out there tried them? How do they keep the chocolate from going all goooooeeee?? Mrs. Cobble


23 Oct 00 - 09:13 PM (#325769)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Jon Freeman

Maybe it is just the chip shop peas I don't like then and I would like "real" mushy peas, I've never thought about it but I love Dahl and I would imagine I would enjoy the split-pea soup.

Jon


23 Oct 00 - 09:39 PM (#325779)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Thyme2dream

I saw the fried Mars Bars, but was afraid to try them-and I thought America was bad with all our drive thru junk food nonsense! I loved most chip shop food, but it was durned hard to find a healthy snack there! oh no...now I'm missing Stovies too!


24 Oct 00 - 06:16 AM (#325948)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Mrs.Duck

Does noone watch the ads? First you take a pea and separate mit from all the other peas. Then you remind it of the good old days in the pod with the family. When you have reduced it to tears you pop it into a tin and hey prest 'mushy peas' It must be true I saw it on the telly!!!!


24 Oct 00 - 08:55 AM (#325998)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Liz the Squeak

Marrowfat peas are the ones left over when all the petit pois have been taken out. They're the really fat buggers that no one really likes except me (I'm weird, I like sprouts too....). Boil 'em to buggery, add salt, pepper, enough butter to drown a cat and mash em up... yummmmmmmmmm. The dayglo green can be achieved by adding a drop of food colouring if you really must have it. The original colour comes from the preservatives and colourings added to make the grey green mush look appetising. Mushy peas should not be the odd fat squishy pea sitting in a green puddle. The whole should resemble mashed potatoes or oatmeal/porrige.

And I'm a confirmed southron, so the N/S divide is meaningless.

LTS


24 Oct 00 - 09:46 AM (#326028)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Steve Latimer

Here's a vote for Mushy Peas from a Canuck. I was introduced to them many years ago when I was in England and Scotland. I can't imagine haveing a Pub Pie without them.

They are nothing like split peas. They are much bigger, almost like a green Chick Pea. Several British style pubs and a few Fish & Chip places in Canada offer them. St. Andrews Fish & Chips in Scarborough is an authentic Scottish F&C shop and make good ones. They are not mashed, just boiled until they become mushy.

But then again I love Split Pea Soup, Green Pea soup, Lentil Suop, and Navy Bean Soup, all of which are hated by a lot of people I know.


24 Oct 00 - 09:56 AM (#326036)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: catspaw49

I'm with Micca......Although I will eat them out of politeness, there is nothing you can do with a pea that's going to make it worth a damn. when I eat them at all, I prefer them whole and undercooked since I can swallow them without chewing the mushy little bastards. A friend recently served up a split pea soup that I remarked on as being quite good. She then told me it was "Split Pea" and I asked what the recipe was. As I expected, by the time all the other stuff was added, the peas were less than 10% of the recipe!!! I tried the same recipe using corn, just for laughs, and it was better!

And HEY FOLKS.....We will deep fry anything here in the states. Can you eat it? If so, batter it up and THROW IT IN THE FAT!!! My current favorite is deep fried pickles. The Bananas and Ice Cream are both interesting too.

Spaw


24 Oct 00 - 10:27 AM (#326050)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Steve Latimer

'Spaw,

Is there anything less healthy than deep fried Pork Rinds. I have to admit, I've been known to get a bag or two when I'm in West Virginia.

I've told this story on the 'cat before, but I think it's worth repeating here.

On the trip that I discovered Mushy Peas I was touring England and Scotland with a Canadian Hockey team. There were a few guys on the team of Italian extraction. They weren't crazy about Pie and Peas which we'd pretty much been living on, so when we stopped at a Fish & Chips shop near the England/Scotland border they were pretty excited to see Pizza on the menu and ordered it. The owner went to the freezer, pulled out a frozen pizza and threw it into the same deep fat fryer that he did the Fish and Chips in. Now I've always been willing to try just about anything, but I passed on that. Apparently it was absolutely terrible. So Mars bars don't surprise me.


24 Oct 00 - 11:27 AM (#326082)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Jon Freeman

Wow Liz, I always knew I was weird but didn't know it was because I love sprouts. I also love cabbage and spinach -is there any hope for me?

Jon


24 Oct 00 - 11:49 AM (#326100)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: SINSULL

I had mushy peas with my first lunch in Australia. It was fascinating to watch the natives push them onto the back of a fork and eat them. Yum - with lots of pepper. Also love Pea Soup - my own is best and lentil soup. Or mushy lentils with rice. The Indian restaurants here fry lentil cakes - iddly? not my favorite. Fried Mars Bars sounds disgusting but in my youth I was known to imbibe in Frozen Milk Shake Bars. They stuck an ice cream stick into the candy bar and froze it. Works with Milky Way too.
Thanks for the recipe Jon. I will try it once the weather turns cold here.


24 Oct 00 - 11:54 AM (#326105)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: catspaw49

Steve, if you occasionally succumb to the pork rind thing, the little family owned butcher shop in my little village here makes their own and they are FAR superior to the commercial fare......including some flavors. The "Salt and Vinegar" has GOT to be the MOST unhealthy thing I can think of but man alive are they good!!!

Spaw


24 Oct 00 - 03:21 PM (#326259)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: okthen

just to be pedantic (I get so little chance) petite pois are a seperate variety

cheers

bill


24 Oct 00 - 03:26 PM (#326266)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

I too love split pea soup ( my recipe involves a lot more than 10% pea) and dahls, and sprouts, and cabbage. I am in fact a complete omnivore. I eat things which make ordinary mortals spew at the thought, including wobbly bits of animals barely cooked. The fact that I can't stomach mushy peas will give those of you who haven't tried them an idea of just how repulsive they really are.

Incidentally Scottish chippies also sell deep fried haggis which I quite like, needs plenty of brown sauce tho'.


24 Oct 00 - 03:32 PM (#326271)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

I love deep-fried pickles! I was very wary when my southern belle wife pressed them upon me (at a real dive of a diner in Townshend, Tennessee), but was quickly converted.

I also like split-pea soup and petit pois (frozen not canned) and creasy/greasy greens (tie-in to Pink Anderson thread).

Alex
O..O
=o=


24 Oct 00 - 03:38 PM (#326278)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Lepus Rex

Ewww, is this some sort of British food? Do you put Marmite on it?

---Lepus Rex


24 Oct 00 - 03:53 PM (#326285)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

Marmite could only improve it, but it would be a waste of Marmite.


24 Oct 00 - 04:01 PM (#326295)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Bite your collective tongues! And don't knock it till you've tried it. Both fried pickles and greasy greens are from the American South.

Alex
O..O
=o=


24 Oct 00 - 04:09 PM (#326305)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

Sorry, I thought we were still on the Mushy peas. Fried pickles and greasy greens sound great.


24 Oct 00 - 04:13 PM (#326307)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Oh, my mistake. I didn't realize the thread had crept back to its starting point! You're right, mushy peas sound dreadful.

Alex
O..O
=o=


24 Oct 00 - 05:33 PM (#326365)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Cobble

In defence of mushy peas, they can be a veeery moooving experience!!!! Mrs cobble


24 Oct 00 - 05:35 PM (#326366)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

So can Metamucil, Mrs. C, but that doesn't make it part of my diet! :-)

Alex
O..O
=o=


24 Oct 00 - 05:48 PM (#326379)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Cobble

Touche..... Mousethief Mrs C


24 Oct 00 - 06:29 PM (#326436)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: hesperis

Mushy peas sounds good! Thanks for the recipe!

Of course, I love split pea soup. There's this place up in Huntsville that makes really good pea & bacon soup, it also has the world's best - well, maybe not the absolute best, but pretty d*mn good - fries and gravy. Oh, it is SOOOOO good!

Has anyone else had spanakopita? I hope I remembered how to spell it. It's spinach and cheese wrapped in this gorgeous pastry. You can get it at Kensignton Bakery in Toronto, if it's still around. (I haven't been there in about 5 years or so.)


24 Oct 00 - 06:38 PM (#326442)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Sorcha

I make spanokopita, and what I make is better than you will get in any restaurant!!


24 Oct 00 - 06:39 PM (#326445)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Sorcha, can you come over to my house? Do you make taramasalata too?

love that Greek food,
Alex
O..O
=o=


24 Oct 00 - 06:42 PM (#326450)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Sorcha

No, but I do mean dolmas. Grape vines in the back yard.....will go look up tarasmaswhatever.


24 Oct 00 - 06:59 PM (#326467)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Sorcha

mousethief--YUCK UGH GROSS That stuff has fish roe in it!!


24 Oct 00 - 07:18 PM (#326479)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Lepus Rex

Mmmm, dolmas. Even a repulsively named thread like this one is making me hungry???

---Lepus Rex


24 Oct 00 - 07:24 PM (#326482)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Lepus Rex

Mmmm, dolmas. Even a repulsively named thread like this one is making me hungry???

---Lepus Rex


24 Oct 00 - 07:28 PM (#326486)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Max Tone

The key to the best Pea and Ham soup is the timing: Make sure you have Green/yellow split peas in the cupboard whenever you buy a ham!
Boil the ham,(with onions, veg, herbs, spices or whatever you have that needs boiled up), remove it to do the honey roast bit, and bung in the peas (And NO salt).
Simmer until the ham's ready. Eat the ham.
Leave the soup overnight, and eat the next day, after boiling/simmering until just your fave texture.
If you really manage to get ahead of yourself, you can pre-soak your peas the night before, and then cook the ham in that water; this way, the soup might be ready to eat before the main course is cooked.
I managed it once, but I think the soup tastes better, if left to stew overnight.
Rob


24 Oct 00 - 07:44 PM (#326498)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: GUEST,mousethief (a la librarie)

Hey, Sorcha, don't knock it till you've tried it!

And the dolmas sound great. I'll set the table.

Alex
O..O
=o=


24 Oct 00 - 08:01 PM (#326521)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: hesperis

I mean Kensington Market! *sheesh* on me.

Sorcha, when am I coming over for a leetle visit? Hmmmm?

I start taking my allergy treatments this friday.
Hopefully by the next millenium I will be able to eat all those wonderful dairy foods. Oh, goodness sakes, I haven't had Kraft Dinner in so long that I am actually wanting it badly! The real cheap stuff, too! (Not their kitsch-gourmet 'White Cheddar' stuff. Original Kraft Dinner. *Gasp*)


24 Oct 00 - 08:04 PM (#326527)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Sorcha

I ate fish eggs once. BLICK SICK! Any time, hesp.


24 Oct 00 - 08:10 PM (#326536)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: GUEST,mousethief

Ick, Hesp. That really is sick.

Sorch, once you get the taramasalata all mixed up, you don't realize it's fish eggs. It really is delicious. I can't stand to eat caviar (and going to a Russian church, it's presented to me far more often than you might otherwise guess!). But taramasalata is great. And souvlaki, and dolmas, and spanikopita, and ....

Now I'm making myself hungry!

Alex
O..O
=o=


25 Oct 00 - 02:37 AM (#326770)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: GUEST,mike Cahill

The deep fried Pizza reminded me of a chineese? chippy in Oswestry in shropshire where they deep fried cheese and onion pies


25 Oct 00 - 04:19 AM (#326795)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: GUEST,Paul Burke

Lancashire folk tale (almost on topic here):

A couple of hundred years ago, the harvest failed in the area around Grange over Sands in NW Lancashire. The small supply they had ran out early in the winter, and being poor, they had no way of buying in more.

So the vicar gathered everyone together in the church, and they prayed for relief.

That night, a fearsome storm blew up, and in the night the cry went up "A ship is aground!". The sandbanks around Morecambe Bay are fearsome in the daylight, but the villagers knew them well, and their heroic efforts eventually brought the crew ashore safe and sound.

As soon as it was light, the whole village set to to salveage the ship's cargo. It turned out to be mostly dried peas, which were gratefully hauled ashore. The village was saved from starvation, and that winter became known as Pea Soup Year.

The opinions of the neighbours are not recorded.

Paul Burke


25 Oct 00 - 05:50 AM (#326805)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Llanfair

Herring roes!!!Now you are talking!! Fry quickly in a little butter, and spread on toast with a squeeze of lemon. Absolute heaven.
I love all veggies, cooked or raw or in- between, with the exception of beetroot for some reason. I make pea and ham soup, but you MUST soak the bacon/ham in cold water overnight first, or it will be too salty.
Cheers, Bron.


25 Oct 00 - 12:29 PM (#327037)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Too bad about the beets, which are wonderful. Have you tried beet greens? Lightly steamed with lemon and butter. Lovely!

I used to like, but no longer like, brussels sprouts. They seem very bitter to me, and taste like aluminum.

Alex
O..O
=o=


25 Oct 00 - 12:41 PM (#327048)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: MMario

*drool* [wiping mouth]

This is a difficult thread to read...too many tasty things being described...


25 Oct 00 - 01:01 PM (#327058)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Bert

I love any kind of peas, beans, lentils, Dal. You name it. Max Tone said it perfectly, Mushy peas are refried beans made with peas.
THE VERY BEST WAY to eat fish eggs is in 'buckling' but I've never seen the things this side of the pond, dammit.


25 Oct 00 - 01:21 PM (#327073)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Bert, what's buckling?

Alex
O..O
=o=


25 Oct 00 - 01:32 PM (#327086)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Bert

It's a herring that is chosen for it's large roe and it is cooked in smoke.


25 Oct 00 - 02:47 PM (#327133)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Steve Latimer

Mousethief,

I always found Brussel Sprouts to be bitter too. Until my ex found a simple recipe for them that was delicious.

Boli the sprouts until tender, add some butter, Parmesan cheese and Pepper.

The Parmesan Cheese seems to really counteract the Bitterness usually associated with Brussel Sprouts, makes them almost sweet. God, I miss them (the Brussel Sprouts).

You haven't tasted bitter until you've had Collard greens.


25 Oct 00 - 03:18 PM (#327144)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Bert

Actually Brussels Sprouts shouldn't be picked until the frost has been on them.

Bert


25 Oct 00 - 03:22 PM (#327148)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

"Ice" brussels sprouts cost more than the regular kind, though, don't they?

Alex
O..O
=o=


25 Oct 00 - 03:27 PM (#327151)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Bert

I don't think I've ever seen them on sale as such, but I'd be willing to pay more if I KNEW they'd been frosted.


25 Oct 00 - 03:28 PM (#327154)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

My ex was often quite frosted, and yet was capable of being bitter at the same time.

Alex
O..O
=o=


25 Oct 00 - 03:32 PM (#327158)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Steve Latimer

Here's to bitter, frosty ex's. (Are there any other kind?)


25 Oct 00 - 03:52 PM (#327169)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Bert

Yeah, and the frosty ex's also 'cost more than the regular kind'


25 Oct 00 - 04:03 PM (#327177)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: MMario

Bert - I don't know if they are still available, but the equivilant of your 'buckling' used to be available in little mom and pop stores on Cape Cod - for a very very short season every spring. smoked herring in spawn. course the allowed legal take was incredibly small.


25 Oct 00 - 05:10 PM (#327209)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

Brussel sprouts shredded and stir fried with a dash of soy sauce is a good ploy for people who aren't keen on them normally.


25 Oct 00 - 05:15 PM (#327214)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Frosty X's sounds like a breakfast cereal.

Alex
O..O
=o=


25 Oct 00 - 05:20 PM (#327219)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Lepus Rex

Since this is all off-topic, but still repulsive-food-loved-by-Brits related, I've got a question: On this BBC radio show I was listening to the other day, they were touring a French sausage casing factory. Some story about how they've had to lay off lots of employees---I forget the detail. But anyways, the reporter and the 'Anchor' guy were acting like stuffing meat into intestines was an unusual and repulsive way to make sausage. What the hell do the English use for casings, if they're so nauseated by intestines? Or were these guys just not sausage fans?

---Dick van Patten


25 Oct 00 - 05:22 PM (#327220)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Perhaps just ignorant sausage fans.

Alex
O..O
=o=


25 Oct 00 - 05:56 PM (#327263)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Jon Freeman

Well I am English and I always thought that was how saugages were made. Mind you I have lived in Wales most of my life.

Jon


25 Oct 00 - 06:09 PM (#327278)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Liz the Squeak

Nope, they use either real pig intestines, or a processed version of the same. The real ones tend to give the shorter, fatter sausage, the processed ones (intestines, sometimes of other animals, mashed and reconstituted) are the ones that give production line sausages that split as soon as they hit the hot pan..... I suspect it was the look of the machine that made the announcers lose it, it forces the meat into the skins, after the skin has been threaded onto the nozzle of the machine, like a condom on a particularly productive willy. Pressure and speed are of the essence or else you get a long limp sausage, or burst the skin. It is quite an erotic experience skinning sausages, almost pornographic.....

LTS


25 Oct 00 - 06:42 PM (#327304)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Sorcha

Biologically,the small "breakfast" sausages are sheep casings, the weiner/brat/banger size are pig, and the large sandwich types are beef. All sizes also come in "non biological" edible and non-edible. Non edible is a paper that must be peeled off before eating.

I know this because I used to make sausages at home. The local packing house (which also makes sausage) would order cleaned biological casings for me. NO WAY was I going to clean intestines. It involves stripping the gut, then peeling out the middle layer of the intestine. It is kinda gross............


25 Oct 00 - 07:23 PM (#327351)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Max Tone

In the ol' days, nothin' was wasted; sausages, leather an' glue were the ultimate by-products of animal farmin'. Triple-packaged modern stuff just doesn't compare.


25 Oct 00 - 08:24 PM (#327402)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: GUEST,Gerry in Vancouver, BC

I like mushy peas too. They have very good ones at Penny Farthing Fish & Chips in Burnaby right next to Vancouver. The best fish & chips too. Run by a friendly Geordie family. They use canola oil to fry the F & C in....yummy and not greasy.


26 Oct 00 - 02:07 PM (#327906)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: L R Mole

Old punch line: Hold the chicken, and make it pea soup.


26 Oct 00 - 02:30 PM (#327918)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Steve Latimer

Reminds me of my grandmother's recipe for Chicken Soup. First, you steal a chicken.


26 Oct 00 - 02:57 PM (#327937)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Zebedee

Back to bitter vegetables:

Courgettes (zucchini) are really bitter sometimes, but other times sweet.

I never know until I've cooked them.

Any tips?

Zeb


26 Oct 00 - 03:02 PM (#327941)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

I've never had bitter zucchini (courgettes), but I've had a couple of eggplants (aubergines) that were just nasty. I can never tell before cooking and eating them which will be good and which won't. I've given up buying them.

Alex
O..O
=o=


26 Oct 00 - 03:15 PM (#327951)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Liz the Squeak

Here's a foodstuff (yes, it is....) that hasn't been mentioned here, and I only mention them now because the intestines creep got to me.... how many out there have eaten faggots? This is a large meatball made with all the bits left over (allegedly)and served with onion gravy. My parents used to love them, and served them regularly, I turned vegetarian just so's I wouldn't have to eat them!!

LTS


26 Oct 00 - 03:26 PM (#327960)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: catspaw49

I have never eaten a faggot. Trust me on this.

Spaw


26 Oct 00 - 03:29 PM (#327964)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Liz the Squeak

They create internal gasses that could cut through steel plate, so it's probably just as well!!

LTS


26 Oct 00 - 03:42 PM (#327974)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: GUEST,Ickle Dorritt-given up with the cookie

I have been known to faint clean away at the sight and smell of mushy peas absolutely disgusting. But oysters with a dash of lime juice and tabasco sauce -now your talking real food!!!


26 Oct 00 - 07:31 PM (#328122)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: guinnesschik

Faggots sound rather similar to chitterlings, or "chitlins," which are the remnants of what's scraped out of the intestinal, usually pork, casings. They sound absolutely repulsive, but taste pretty good. 'Specially with a lot of garlic, onion and tabasco sauce.


27 Oct 00 - 04:17 AM (#328388)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Dave the Gnome

Like everything else there are good and bad mushy peas. I am a born and bred northener but admit that the peas from most 'chippies' are pretty bad. There are some exeptions though and they serve a greyish-green mush - tastes far better than it looks. Best I had were in a pub years ago where they sold pie and peas. Meat and potato pie at the bottom of an old fasioned pint pot - the type with dimples and a handle - and then filled up with mushy peas, served with loads of vinegar and eaten with a long handled spoon. Yummy!!!

Next best thing - and round about the season for them - black peas. Bowl of them with salt, pepper and vinegar, eaten stood around the 'Bommie'. Amazing that no-one ever blew themselves up releasing all that methane in close proximity to naked flames....

Anyone for a burnt potato from the ashes???

Cheers

Dave The Gnome


27 Oct 00 - 03:42 PM (#328709)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

Eggplants sometimes need to be sprinkled with salt and left under a weighted plate in order to draw out the bitter juices. In days of yore this was a standard procedure but these days most of the bitterness has been propogated out of them. I've never come across a bitter courgette, bland maybe, but not bitter.


27 Oct 00 - 03:53 PM (#328718)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Zebedee

Greyeyes,

I'll try the eggplant salting trick on cougettes. I've had a few really bitter ones recently. Maybe it's a seasonal thing.

Thanks

Zeb


27 Oct 00 - 04:11 PM (#328733)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Steve Latimer

Hey you people on the other side of the pond, I've watched Coronation St. for years.

What is a Hot Pot?


27 Oct 00 - 04:23 PM (#328744)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

Lancashire hotpot is a dish of lamb or mutton (usually best end of neck) onion and (optionally) veg, laid in a dish and topped with sliced overlapping potatoes which if dotted with butter will form a lovely crisp crust. It should always be served in the dish it is cooked in, and traditionally would also contain kidney and oysters (which used to be extremely cheap and were used to supplement the more expensive meat)but rarely does nowadays.


27 Oct 00 - 04:27 PM (#328746)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Steve Latimer

Greyeyes,

Thanks. I'm sorry I asked.

Steve


27 Oct 00 - 04:40 PM (#328754)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Sounds delicious, except for the kidneys and oysters. Thank goodness those have gotten more expensive recently.

Alex
O..O
=o=


27 Oct 00 - 05:10 PM (#328786)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

It is really delicious, traditionally people who didn't have their own ovens would take their hotpots to the village baker after the days baking was done and leave their hotpots there to cook in the residual heat left over from the baking.

Kidneys and oysters are not often included nowadays, it's mostly meat,onion and potato.


27 Oct 00 - 05:20 PM (#328797)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: mousethief

Meat, onion and potato are a fine combination! Neat story about the village oven. Those days are gone, aren't they? Simpler times that I've never known, anyway. I was born in the crass commercial 60's, and it's only gotten worse since then.

Alex
O..O
=o=


27 Oct 00 - 05:27 PM (#328805)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Greyeyes

But we gain as well as lose with progress. There has been a great revival in the last few years in the UK of traditional, quality made craft foods which is great to see.

I can't believe a thread about mushy peas has reached 100 posts. It doesn't deserve it.


27 Oct 00 - 06:47 PM (#328852)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Zebedee

It deserves at least 300


27 Oct 00 - 08:18 PM (#328901)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Cobble

Mushy Peas Yum Yum.


28 Oct 00 - 12:12 AM (#329000)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: Peter Kasin

OK, NOW I know what mushy peas are. But, hey, I still like the thick split pea soup recipe. One question, though, about mushy peas. Why is such an unappetizing word as "mushy" used for them? Or does that word have a different ring to it in the UK when applied to this dish?


28 Oct 00 - 09:03 AM (#329140)
Subject: RE: BS: How can I make 'mushy' peas?
From: GUEST,Greyeyes, at work.

No. An unappetizing word is used because they are completeley unappetizing. They look and taste horrible. If you can imagine what a bunch of dried peas, boiled and mushed would look like, that's it. The word is well chosen, trust me.