BS: Recipes - what are we eating?

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.