BS: The other recipe thread is too long

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Oct 22 - 12:58 PM

I don't mind the little stoned manzanilla olives, dressed with lemon, herbs and garlic, but I prefer the big stone-in ones in oil. We use the cheapie black ones to make a simple tapenade and I put a good handful into whore's spaghetti (aka pasta alla puttanesca). I want anchovies in mine, Napoli-style, but if you leave them out you have a vegan dish. It's extra virgin olive oil, chilli flakes, sliced garlic, black olives chopped roughly, chopped parsley, passata or tinned tomatoes and capers. No cheese. It's deliciously spicy.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Oct 22 - 12:45 PM

Maybe more recently than you, Steve, I have also developed a love of olives - Greek Halkithiki olives are particularly good, I've found.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Oct 22 - 12:37 PM

I've never eaten okra...

We don't cook on Wednesdays. It's cheese (eaten with Bath Olivers or matzos) and whatever nibbly bits I have in. OIives are a must. I have some stone-in nocellara ones which are delicious. Sungold tomatoes from the greenhouse. A few cashews or pistachios. Garlic cloves from a jar, Marché-style. The aperitif will be a glass of Portuguese Alvariño then a bottle of Nero d'Avola (er, there are two of us...)

I'm a bit worried about tonight's Camembert. It's spent two days stinking the fridge out and tastes very ripe. I think I might end up liking it.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Oct 22 - 12:35 PM

...don't think I'll get eggs on my next visit to the supermarket but, for the first time in several years, I may give the ladies' fingers another try..?

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Oct 22 - 12:09 PM

B12 is added to lots of non-milk "milks" and breakfast cereals. I'd like to humbly suggest that the adoption of a diet for anything other than genuine medical reasons that then requires you to take supplements in our rich western world implies that you're going somewhat against Mother Nature. Boil an egg!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Oct 22 - 12:07 PM

I frequently post photos on Instagram of my garden and things around the yard, and there are the cooking photos that often involve my garden produce. Okra is just topping out now as the most productive crop, and I've fried and pickled a lot.

A friend who grew up in the next county south from here spent much of her working life in Indiana, then moved to the shore of Lake Michigan to retire. The further north, the less likely to find okra in her area farmers' market, and she has been known to verbally wince in the remarks section under my photos of fried or pickled okra. A couple of years ago the market got some good okra and I remember it was a big deal for her.

It dawned on me last week that I could send her some of my okra and if it only took 2-3 days it would be in great shape (what you see in the store is rather battered and was probably picked a couple of weeks earlier). So I took a Priority Region A box (US Postal Service gives a price break on this box - no idea why - but I use it when I can) and lined it with a layer of thin bubble wrap then filled it with okra, lined up enough to use the space as efficiently as possible. I managed to get four pounds four ounces of okra in that box, and it only cost $10 to mail. I mailed it on Thursday morning and she got it arrived on Saturday afternoon. The photo she posted on Facebook after she opened the box showed it was indeed in perfect condition.

The next day she posted photos of several jars of pickled okra, and the remainder was going to be fried.

I have so much okra (I put in five plants this year) that I always struggle to keep up with the fresh crop as I pickle it, eat it, and give it away. The US Department of Agriculture has inspection stations going into California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona to do with vital produce such as oranges, apples, grapes, avocados, etc., but there is no vital okra crop in Michigan so we're safe sending these pods in the hibiscus family north to near the Canadian border. And my friend would easily have paid $10 for inferior okra at the local farmers' market. Win/Win.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 Oct 22 - 11:35 AM

Yes and, according to the experts, B12 is the vitamin vegans have to be careful to get enough of; as I may have said a while back, I buy vegan cheese slices with added B12, rather than taking tablets.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Oct 22 - 06:01 PM

The only people in the western world who need to stress about protein are vegans, who need to ensure that they're getting the full spectrum of essential amino acids. A normal mixed diet will give you all the protein you need and more.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Oct 22 - 04:33 PM

New meat: alligator. Was very like pork. Blackened, with braised cabbage. Delish.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 10 Oct 22 - 03:52 PM

With a couple of vegan alternatives (stock and spread), I think I'd like it either way - noting that there are peas in Raggytash's recipe for protein.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Oct 22 - 01:21 PM

Chuck a tin of cannellini beans in there and you have a meal!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Raggytash
Date: 10 Oct 22 - 10:46 AM

I've been making soup recently, todays was Vegetable.

Onions, carrot, celery diced to about 5-6mm chopped tomatoes (tinned) sweet corn, peas and spinach leaves and chicken stock cubes.

Rather good it is too especially with homemade bread and homemade butter!!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 10 Oct 22 - 10:30 AM

...I prefer the smooth variety nowadays - rather than fragments of nuts getting stuck between my poor old teeth (I recently went to a dentist for the first time since repatriating, 1997, only to be told they are beyond having a splint).

And, a new trick for an old dog, I'm using scissors more-and-more nowadays to cut food straight into a pot - a bit like many Mediterranean folk do with a small knife.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Oct 22 - 08:20 PM

Peanut butter is manna from heaven, but I've yet to meet a lover of peanut butter who doesn't confess to occasionally scoffing it straight from the jar (in my case, especially after a few glasses of summat non-non-alcoholic ...) I simply can't have it in the house. Damn. Begod, I could just eat some now. I haven't got any. Damn...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Oct 22 - 07:57 PM

Peanut butter and jelly go on bread for a sandwich. Butter OR jelly go on toast.

I'm nearing the goal of my weight loss effort over the last six months and am looking at the kinds of things I can start making that can be eaten over a space of a few days and stay good (versus something that has to wait until every other day to be eaten and won't keep long enough to be used completely). The New York Times ran a recipe for Yogurt Cake that is a less rich and lower calorie dessert than cheese cake. I love lemon, and I bet something like slightly sweetened raspberries would be good on top (the "macerated fruit" she mentions).

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Oct 22 - 06:33 AM

Since last on here (I think it was this millennium), I have indeed tried splitting an avocado into a savoury & a sweet snack, as above - tomato- and soya-sauce in one seed-hole, & golden syrup plus single soya cream in the other. Also, where Americans tend to like peanut butter & jam on toast, I like to add such syrup & cream, as well.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Sep 22 - 09:33 AM

That sounds marvy!

Got a double grocery delivery by accident so am going to try cold cucumber soup with cream. Ideas welcome!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Sep 22 - 06:16 AM

I was cooking fish with boiled spuds from the garden, French beans and parsley sauce last night, so at the same time I thought I'd crack tonight's grub as well so as to avoid another spell of kitchen swelter. I made a big pan of peperonata, following, more or less, Rachel Roddy's recipe in the Guardian. It's ridiculously easy to do and it's healthy and delicious.

It's a large onion, one clove of garlic peeled and squashed but left whole, two red peppers, two yellow peppers, six large tomatoes, a splash of red wine vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar (you can leave that out if you want). And extra virgin olive oil. A big, heavy pan with a lid would be good.

You slice up the onion and fry it gently with the garlic in about six tablespoons of olive oil and a good pinch of salt for a few minutes. Cut the peppers up into thick strips and add them to the pan. Stir, then put the lid on and cook them gently for about 15 minutes. When they're going soft, chop up the tomatoes roughly (if you're fussy you can skin them first, but I see absolutely no need for this dish) and throw them in. Let all that lot bubble away with the lid off (crucial) for about 45 minutes, adding the red wine vinegar and sugar and stirring occasionally. Just check the seasoning and that's it.

We do what Rachel says and have it with sausages. I cook the bangers completely first, cut them into bite size, add them to the caponata, bingo. You could just have the caponata with crusty bread instead. Chips even. You can just leave the sausages whole and let them finish off in the caponata for a few minutes, but chopping them up first means that the flavours blend nicely AND that you can eat it with a fork out of a bowl in front of the telly. And why not. It's Friday night and a nice glass or two of red will wash it down in epic Italian fashion.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Sep 22 - 07:39 PM

Today yak tenderloin steak seared in duck fat with mushrooms and thyme. A sauce to use up some cream with onions garlic celery in lemon butter. Cauliflower rice. All in one big bowl.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Sep 22 - 09:31 PM

Today a friend was over and we had lunch from leftovers in the fridge. A little bit of eggplant Parmesan, a small Caprese salad, a dish each of babaghanouj with pita bread. It all added up to a nice meal. It also cleared out several of the containers in the fridge when I was starting to run low of containers and lids.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 28 Sep 22 - 07:42 PM

Another *marvy* leftovers soup:

Meat from drumsticks leftover from roast chicken
Some leftover Crying Tiger [thai flank steak] with its sauce
About a third of an onion left from making körözött [a Hungarian spread]
Half a lime leftover from mojitos
Mystery demi-glace leftover from deglazing something and kept for just such a purpose
Nonleftovers: celery and a garden tomato, and some lemon-garlic butter

Heated butter, added garlic powder and hot pepper
Celery and onions, 5-7 mn in that
Meats, lime juice and sauces, tomato cut on top
Simmer lidded till tomato disintegrates

Serve with crème fraîche as it is sour enough.

Never to be repeated, of course!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Sep 22 - 10:42 PM

Um, yeah, no thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Sep 22 - 08:04 AM

Nope.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 27 Sep 22 - 06:48 AM

Never have, S, and probably never will try vegan lamb chops or bacon! but I challenge you to give those vegan pies (similar pastry, of course) and sausages a go (I was surprised by how tasty they are).

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 27 Sep 22 - 06:32 AM

Good luck with all that. Not for me. I've never understood why vegans make meat-shaped and meat-coloured food, vegan sausages, etc. I once saw vegan lamb chops in Sainsburys that were the same shape and colour as real lamb cutlets. You can get vegan streaky bacon in M&S that has the same stripey appearance as the real thing, though the copycat colours are positively lurid. I know not what tofu and quark are and I'm not buying them. It's too late to change me.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 27 Sep 22 - 06:16 AM

Sounds great, S, only I go for the Plant Chef vegan pies; & also like their Cumblerland-like vegan sausages, as another change from my pottages/one-pot veggie and bean stews.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Sep 22 - 07:57 PM

Well tonight we had a rather classy (in m'humble) Melton Mowbray pork pie from M&S. they are hellishly calorific, but we don't exactly do it every day. Everything else was out of the garden. We had salad consisting of Sungold cherry toms and some mini-peppers that I haven't grown before, which were sweet, crunchy, spicy and delicious. We shared the last cucumber I'm going to get this year. I made some oven chips with my Nicola potatoes, unpeeled, cut into wedges, par-boiled in salty water then baked for 20 minutes in groundnut oil in a very hot oven on a shallow tray. It was all delicious and everything from the garden is strictly organic. I suppose I'll have to confess that we both had a little splash of Hellman's mayo to lube the chips a little...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 26 Sep 22 - 05:46 PM

"Incidentally, I can't help reflecting that both pizza and coleslaw are both non-English concepts" (Steve)...and hopefully that, as indicated above, I have nothing against fair-trade.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Donuel
Date: 26 Sep 22 - 07:26 AM

We have Mad Mike's which is a pretty fair giant pizza.
I tried the Croissant pizza that has an outstanding crust.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Sep 22 - 06:26 AM

I can't imagine slopping coleslaw on top of a pizza. Oh, the picture of horror in my mind...

Incidentally, I can't help reflecting that both pizza and coleslaw are both non-English concepts...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 26 Sep 22 - 04:20 AM

Even normal coleslaw is something I find singularly unattractive. The very thought of vegan coleslaw...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: BobL
Date: 26 Sep 22 - 03:32 AM

Presumably vegan coleslaw uses eggless mock-mayonnaise.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Sep 22 - 09:56 PM

the lack of English restaurants and tea rooms (home cooking on the high-street) is shameful - not least for overseas tourists wishing for a taste or our fare.

WAV, You just can't stop doing it, can you? Stick to your bad poetry thread. We live in an international world and people can cook what they want where they want. Merchants and chefs set up to sell what they think will be attractive to consumers in an area. End. Of. Story.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 25 Sep 22 - 05:35 PM

...vegan coleslaw is included in such (hopefully) fair-trade, these days, R.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Raggytash
Date: 25 Sep 22 - 05:24 PM

"and we can even get vegan options - I like mine with coleslaw"

I don't think that Coleslaw is vegan !!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 25 Sep 22 - 05:11 PM

...but please let me add this: out and about a fair bit the last couple of days with my nephew visiting Manchester, the lack of English restaurants and tea rooms (home cooking on the high-street) is shameful - not least for overseas tourists wishing for a taste or our fare.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 25 Sep 22 - 04:56 PM

I think, SRS, the quality of frozen pizzas has improved a lot the last few years, and we can even get vegan options - I like mine with coleslaw (never tried it with sauerkraut, L..?) & ketchup on top.

And, D, I also like a French raspberry conserve - Bonne Maman is very good, readily available in England, and worth paying a bit more for, I feel.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Sep 22 - 01:09 PM

I have to limit sweetness so quality outranks quantity. I bought Elderberry jelly as well as French Black Raspberry preserves.
I can titrate the amounts easily and they are both delicious.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: leeneia
Date: 25 Sep 22 - 12:44 AM

Does anybody else look at YouTube much?

I've looked at several channels that purport to be German cooking videos, but I've noticed several things:

   they all use the same, predictable ingredients: onion, bell pepper,
   tomato, eggs, broccoli, common cheeses. Nothing new and
   interesting

    they involve lots of chopping & prep. Too much work!

    they make silly claims. "I make this every day."

    after all the work, the dish doesn't seem very appetizing.

I've been watching to improve my German and find new recipes, but I've decided these were made just to get views. Thank goodness for the "Don't recommend channel" button.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Sep 22 - 11:15 PM

Frozen pizza, a nice cheesy mushroom slice from one I found at my discount gourmet grocery, topped with a few slices of pepperoni and extra cheese, washed down with a Shiner Bock beer. Steamed broccoli on the side. As I near my weight loss goal and want to eat "normal" foods I really need to be careful with portion control.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Sep 22 - 06:53 PM

...reminded me of an advert in Australia: "some men eat like sparrows; some men eat like lions" - for what it's worth, I was a bit more lion-like a couple of decades ago.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Sep 22 - 06:48 PM

Yes, in my case - so much so that I only "have half" (On the Buses, I think the TV serial was)! and then place the used atop the unused half in the fridge, to help keep it fresh for my next meal/next day!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Sep 22 - 06:42 PM

I've been known on many an occasion to cut an avocado in half, discard the stone and just scoff the whole thing via a teaspoon. You guys who can cut open an avo and eat only half of it must have the appetite of a sparrow!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 23 Sep 22 - 06:37 PM

As I may have posted a while back, I do similar to Mrrzy only with golden syrup...but I may try that savoury option next time...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Sep 22 - 08:30 PM

One of my fave lunchy things is a half avocado with the hole filled with vinaigrette. Eat with a spoon. No need of a plate, even.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 Sep 22 - 06:34 PM

With the avo it's my tricolore salad (though we don't add balsamic vinegar - therein lies another tale, as I'm very fussy about balsamic) and we love it. It's good calories for everyday eating, though the cheese and avo are, admittedly, a bit calorific for a weight-loss aspiration. Actually, mozzarella is less calorific than most other cheeses.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Sep 22 - 04:42 PM

You try it and tell me how you like it. I'll stick with mozzarella on the Eggplant Parmesan. :)

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Sep 22 - 11:06 AM

You could replace some of the Mozzarella with some avocado... calories for calories?

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Sep 22 - 10:39 AM

Avocado is a great food for a healthy diet, a healthy fat, etc. But as you say, there are calories. And they have to be used all at once or frozen, pretty much. I have a lot of homemade guacamole in the freezer that was portioned into ice cube trays then frozen before dropping them into a zipper freezer bag. Each one is about 1/4 cup for calculating calories.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Sep 22 - 07:06 PM

That's like my tricolore salad except that you don't include some slices of avocado. I know that avocado is a bit calorific, but it's really good for you... With the avo, it's a complete meal for us on a warm summer's evening.