What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[Evo]

I've been watching Masterchef UK and in restaurants, meat is almost always cooked medium to well. Here in US restaurants, they refer to medium rare steaks as "normal", but in the UK medium is "normal". I also wonder about their aging and grading, I'll have to look that up.

 

[AlephZero]

Not sure how things are in the UK, but in the US beef is graded, based on meat quality. Highest to lowest, it's: Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter, Canner.

The UK "naming system" is based more on which bit of the cow you are eating, rather than an abstract notion of "quality".

But the US food industry seems to want keep the concepts of "meat" and "bits of dead animal" separate from each other..

Though cynics might say there are 3 grades of steak in the UK: cow, horse, and other.

 

[Evo]

The UK "naming system" is based more on which bit of the cow you are eating, rather than an abstract notion of "quality".

But the US food industry seems to want keep the concepts of "meat" and "bits of dead animal" separate from each other..

Though cynics might say there are 3 grades of steak in the UK: cow, horse, and other.

Ah, thanks for the information! I guess the more expensive restaurants would have access to better grades of meat and aging? I'm used to steaks that don't even need a knife, they are fork tender. I remember eating steak in France and it was like shoe leather, it required so much chewing, it made my jaw hurt and I couldn't finish even the small piece I had. I guess that is why usually their meat dishes are stewed or braised.

 

[lisab]

The UK "naming system" is based more on which bit of the cow you are eating, rather than an abstract notion of "quality".

But the US food industry seems to want keep the concepts of "meat" and "bits of dead animal" separate from each other..

Though cynics might say there are 3 grades of steak in the UK: cow, horse, and other.

 

[Evo]

Funny, another thing that shocked me was that in the UK masterchef, someone that can make what they call "chocolate fondant" is considered a master and held in awe. It was a chocolate cupcake that when cut into, the inside is uncooked and runs out. It's what we in America call a "lava cake" which is labeled as "easy" and 'basic skills" in American recipes. I don't think there is a school mom out there that hasn't mastered this thing. I don't know what they are doing that makes it so hard. It was originally a mistake made by a chef that undercooked a chocolate cake and the middle was runny, but tasted good.

 

[turbo]

My wife has a recipe for "raw apple cake" that is to die for. I'll have to dig it up and post it. The guys around here love it. We have one neighbor that wants to help with the snow-removal, and another that wants to help with the firewood, and they both love that apple cake. It's not too sweet, but it has enough cinnamon and nutmeg to bring you back for another piece.

 

[Evo]

turbo, need your help on this one. They had a sale on some lovely bell peppers and I want to make stuffed peppers, but I was thinking this time to simplify and cut the peppers up and mix the cooked rice, tomato sauce and ground beef all together casserole style.

What do you think?

 

[turbo]

turbo, need your help on this one. They had a sale on some lovely bell peppers and I want to make stuffed peppers, but I was thinking this time to simplify and cut the peppers up and mix the cooked rice, tomato sauce and ground beef all together casserole style.

What do you think?

That sounds good. I'd probably saute some bacon and onion to start with along with the ground meat, and then toss in some potatoes, tomatoes and cooked rice. Some shredded cheese on top would be nice. Tomato sauce/paste would be mandatory, IMO. Good luck. With the garden coming in, we have more sweet peppers than we can eat, so we have to consider freezing them.

 

[Evo]

That sounds good. I'd probably saute some bacon and onion to start with along with the ground meat, and then toss in some potatoes, tomatoes and cooked rice. Some shredded cheese on top would be nice.

Ooooh, YES! Bacon, onions and cheese! You da man! That sounds so much better than what I had planned. Thank you!

Actually bacon, onions and cheese sounds good all by itself.

 

[netgypsy]

I've done this with both stuffed pepper and stuffed grape leaves which are really time intensive and both turned out great. You can microwave the peppers first so they are nearly well done, fix the rice and sauce separately, layer the peppers or grape leaves and rice and sauce or mix the rice and sauce, then layer and top with tomato sauce, cheese, whatever you wish for the peppers.

For the stuffed grape leaves I don't use tomato sauce but fresh tomato in small quantities, lemon, lamb or beef and lamb ground, mixed, and mint as well as the usual seasonings and I cover the grape leaves plus rice mix before I do the final microwave with the rice mix on top whereas the peppers I top with cheese or sauce or both and leave uncovered when I do the final microwave. To me they taste equally as good as the oven method and it takes so much less time.

I've also done stuffed cabbage using this method but a student used bulk crumbled sausage with the rice and no tomato and topped with kraut, - cover when doing the final microwave - and it was really good. It was an old ethnic recipe his mother made.

I also use onions, fresh garlic and sometimes sausage in the pepper recipe. Sounds yummy Turbo!

 

[Evo]

netgypsy! Where the heck have you been? I thought you died.

 

[turbo]

The peppers are overwhelming us. Green and red-on-the vine are too much. Probably have to resort to chopping, flash-freezing and bagging. Not a bad thing, but can be too much to process at times.

 

[turbo]

I love this time of year. The garlic is all out out of the ground, and though it has not been fully cured, it is ready for use, fresh.

I'm a big fan of bacon-fat, but that can overwhelm subtle vegetable flavors, so I tend to use butter. Mince a clove of garlic and toss it in a preheated skillet with butter. Don't be afraid to use "too much butter" because we want to use the butter to cook other vegetables and we want it infused with garlic. While the garlic is cooking, chop onions, peppers, and thin-slice new baby potatoes. Add these in any order you wish, but be aware that when you add them to the skillet, the temperature will drop quickly, so you will have to turn up the heat if you want to brown your vegetables. I am a heathen, so I like to add a hot dog to the mix. (Applegate Farms ballpark franks) Thin-slice the hot dog and dip in mustard while enjoying the browned vegetables. Add a side of steamed string beans, and I'm a happy camper.

A small salad is always welcome, too. We have cucumbers, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and some cider vinegar to drizzle on them. I dread winter when all we get is store-bought produce from thousands of miles away.

 

[lisab]

I just realized I don't like goat cheese. It tastes particularly "goaty" to me.

I've had the extreme pleasure to own goats -- ah, such wonderful animals! I adore them! But they do have a unique stink that isn't nice. I thought it was an oil or wax in their fur, but no. It's in *them*, because I definitely taste it in cheese made from their milk.

 

[Evo]

I just realized I don't like goat cheese. It tastes particularly "goaty" to me.

I've had the extreme pleasure to own goats -- ah, such wonderful animals! I adore them! But they do have a unique stink that isn't nice. I thought it was an oil or wax in their fur, but no. It's in *them*, because I definitely taste it in cheese made from their milk.

Oh, you have to get REALLY EXPENSIVE goat cheese, goats that live in a day spa, eat only flower blossoms, get their nails done, sea mud massages, Yanni music.

Even then, you take only a small dab of goat cheese from milk collected on a leisurely Sunday afternoon, after a ride through the country (the goat, not you). Be sure to do Dolphin Rainbow Chakra cleansing over the cheese daily.

 

[lisab]

Oh, you have to get REALLY EXPENSIVE goat cheese, goats that live in a day spa, eat only flower blossoms, get their nails done, sea mud massages, Yanni music.

Even then, you take only a small dab of goat cheese from milk collected on a leisurely Sunday afternoon, after a ride through the country (the goat, not you). Be sure to do Dolphin Rainbow Chakra cleansing over the cheese daily.

 

[turbo]

About ready to go back to bed. I woke up hungry and had to fix up a mess of scrambled eggs. If you like scrambled eggs, learn to fix them while you are awake so that you can fix them when you are half-asleep. I don't ever want dry, rubbery scrambled eggs. If they are not moist and fluffy, count me out.

 

[skyshrimp]

I picked a couple of apples today. I peeled and cored them, then reduced them in a pan with dark muscovado sugar, cinnamon, a little water and a splash of brandy. I had that with a large spoonful of extra thick double cream on top.

 

[Evo]

I picked a couple of apples today. I peeled and cored them, then reduced them in a pan with dark muscovado sugar, cinnamon, a little water and a splash of brandy. I had that with a large spoonful of extra thick double cream on top.

Sounds wonderful!

 

[lisab]

It's kind of a stretch putting this in The Food Thread, but ah well.

My husband and I just made our first two batches of hard apple cider. I'm not one to brag but dang they turned out really good :!)!

The last step in cider making is mixing. Once the apple juice is fully fermented and developed, all the sugar has been transformed into alcohol (thanks, yeasties!) and it's dry, dry, dry. Like the driest champagne. Some people like it like that, but most find it undrinkable.

So the last step is mixing, to make a palatable drink. You mix the fermented cider with any number of ingredients, usually apple juice concentrate, sugar, pear juice, berry juice...use your imagination!

It's not carbonated at this step, we have to buy some stuff to do that.

We came up with several mixes we like. Fun hobby!

 

[Evo]

It's kind of a stretch putting this in The Food Thread, but ah well.

My husband and I just made our first two batches of hard apple cider. I'm not one to brag but dang they turned out really good :!)!

The last step in cider making is mixing. Once the apple juice is fully fermented and developed, all the sugar has been transformed into alcohol (thanks, yeasties!) and it's dry, dry, dry. Like the driest champagne. Some people like it like that, but most find it undrinkable.

So the last step is mixing, to make a palatable drink. You mix the fermented cider with any number of ingredients, usually apple juice concentrate, sugar, pear juice, berry juice...use your imagination!

It's not carbonated at this step, we have to buy some stuff to do that.

We came up with several mixes we like. Fun hobby!

How fun, making your own booze!

 

[dlgoff]

Awesome. Save some for New Years Chat lisab.

 

[dlgoff]

Here's something new. At least for me. It's a pickled hot & sweet salsa.

Veggies
7 lbs (before coring) - Jalapenos
2½ lbs - Red Onions
1 lb - Yellow Onions
~3 lb (after pealing & dicing) - Tomatoes
4 big - Bell Peppers

Pickle Stuff
9½ cups - White Vinegar (5% acid)
14 cups - Sugar
4 cups - Water
2 pouches - Mrs. Wages Sweet Pickle Mix

The time consuming part was coring the Jalapenos. Otherwise it was real easy to make; although it does still have to age for 24 hrs. Anyway, put Pickle Stuff in large pot and bring to boil. Remove from heat and put in Veggies; gently mixing in tomatoes last. That's it. I sampled it before covering and I'm wanting more as I type. Here's before and after pics.

 

[Evo]

It looks great. I've never had sweetened jalapenos before.

 

[dlgoff]

Yea. Me either. It was an experiment. It tasted really good so I'm hoping that after it ages/pickles it will be even tastier. I should be able to refrigerate and freeze since I don't want to bring the heat back up for canning. The crispiness is what I'm trying to achieve.

 

[dlgoff]

I should be able to refrigerate and freeze since I don't want to bring the heat back up for canning. The crispiness is what I'm trying to achieve.

I let them stay in the pickle stuff for ~48 hours and it really helped bring out the heat. I didn't core the smallest peppers.

I decided to go ahead and hot-water can them; it didn't effect the crispiness. It's more like hot & sweet relish instead of salsa. Here's the results.

 

[amos carine]

I've been imagining having a blending diet sometime in the future when I can afford to eat better. I almost don't think I'll ever have the cash flow though. I think it is a shame that the food people eat is usually the unhealthiest through out all of their life in the years before, during or just after child rearing years. I personally think good food is important most through personality development and when a person might have kids. Even though I think this, I haven't radically changed my eating habits, but only in small ways (too poor to buy sweets/extras). So I've been dreaming or craving a diet for the future.
I would want a lot of veggies, say cucumbers and bells and leafy things and tomatoes, you know, what ever kind of vegatable is handy or cheap at the time. And also to add some fruits, which I don't peel if the peel is edible. Does anyone else not peel Kiwi or Mango? So have like a veggie and fruit blend, and maybe eat fish or nuts on the side. I'd even consider eating horrible tasting stuff, but blended foods may surprisde you for how tasty things may be that look like and sound like complete crud!
I had a blended drink of two sticks of celery, a large tomatoe or open hand of cherry tomatoes, at least 4 cups of spring mix lettuce, about 80-100g of carrot, an apple or bannana, and whatever else may be around the kitchen, for about a week before I left my home and the house blender, and generally felt at least a little bit better than before, or I do now.

 

[turbo]

I let them stay in the pickle stuff for ~48 hours and it really helped bring out the heat. I didn't core the smallest peppers.

I decided to go ahead and hot-water can them; it didn't effect the crispiness. It's more like hot & sweet relish instead of salsa. Here's the results.

Looks great, dlg. My garden is not coming in all that well (too much rain), so I might not be able to make salsa this year. Hot peppers like hot, dry weather and sun. I've still got some left from previous years, and ought to be able to get by.

 

[dlgoff]

It's more like hot & sweet relish instead of salsa. Here's the results.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/8826/wdqp.jpg

It worked great as relish. Here's lunch.

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/9952/xznc.jpg

 

[Evo]

Yumm!