What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[lisab]

I've always thought that Thousand Island dressing was really good on beans. A bit sweet, but good.

Mmmm, that sounds really good right now!

 

[Moonbear]

Don't know about the salad...might have been something as simple as a vinaigrette. That always goes well on bean salads.

I was able to rescue my sausage mishap! I made gumbo tonight. Didn't add any salt, pepper or garlic, just seasoned with a bay leaf, a little extra thyme, and more cayenne pepper (I ordered some from a sausage-making supplier that sells their ground peppers ranked by scoville units, so you know exactly how hot it is...got the 50K one)...the sausage had cayenne pepper in it but it's the only thing that wasn't overdone. That's what I needed to do with it. Once it had a time for all that seasoning to work it's way out and flavor the entire gumbo rather than just the sausage, it's very tasty. Yay!

 

[turbo]

I had the best lunch the other day, stuffed red peppers and some sort of amazing salad!

I am kind of hoping someone has had this salad before and knows a recipe. All I know it is had some sort of lettuce in it and was topped with a mixture of black beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and maybe some other things I don't remember. So far it is easy enough and doesn't need a recipe of course but I have no idea what kind of dressing was used in it, so if anyone thinks this salad sounds familar and knows what they put in that dressing that would be awesome!

My wife makes a Mediterranean salad that sounds vaguely like that. For dressing, she uses Farm Boy Greek Salad Dressing. It is very low in fat and calories and she loves it. The store she bought it at stopped carrying it, so tonight on the way home, she went to another branch store of that chain and bought all 10 jars that they had. At $3.50/jar it's pretty pricey, but she's hooked on the stuff, and it's so loaded with spices that she only uses about a tbsp of it on a salad.

 

[turbo]

My wife and I just finished supper. I grilled cheeseburgers with toasted rolls out on the grill and dressed them with yellow mustard, my home-made green-tomato salsa, and my home-made dill-pickled jalapeno rings. Wow! What a combo.

I pickled a lot of jalapenos last summer because we had a bumper crop that outlasted the tomatoes (for salsa) and I figured I'd already made enough chili relish. I'll have to pickle some more jalapenos this year so we don't run out. I've been using pickled jalapeno rings on hot dogs, along with habanero relish and mustard - they add a wonderful flavor.

 

[Evo]

I had the best lunch the other day, stuffed red peppers and some sort of amazing salad!

I am kind of hoping someone has had this salad before and knows a recipe. All I know it is had some sort of lettuce in it and was topped with a mixture of black beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and maybe some other things I don't remember. So far it is easy enough and doesn't need a recipe of course but I have no idea what kind of dressing was used in it, so if anyone thinks this salad sounds familar and knows what they put in that dressing that would be awesome!

Scorpa, was it at a restaurant? We may be able to find the recipe on the internet if it's a chain or famous.

 

[Andre]

A nice salad is a variation on Carpacio, which is basically raw beef, sliced paper thin

Serve a few slices with lettuce, olives, capers, sunflower and pine kernels, furthermore ample sun dried tomates, welled with sweetened vinegar.

had that at dining club years ago and it was more than worthwhile to remember the recipe and compose it every once and a while.

 

[turbo]

Don't know about the salad...might have been something as simple as a vinaigrette. That always goes well on bean salads.

I was able to rescue my sausage mishap! I made gumbo tonight. Didn't add any salt, pepper or garlic, just seasoned with a bay leaf, a little extra thyme, and more cayenne pepper (I ordered some from a sausage-making supplier that sells their ground peppers ranked by scoville units, so you know exactly how hot it is...got the 50K one)...the sausage had cayenne pepper in it but it's the only thing that wasn't overdone. That's what I needed to do with it. Once it had a time for all that seasoning to work it's way out and flavor the entire gumbo rather than just the sausage, it's very tasty. Yay!

Congratulations, Moonie! Heavy dilution is about the only way out of a salt/spice mishap. Sometimes some pretty good dishes can result, though.

We have a good local butcher shop that generally has good ground pork sausage (for breakfast patties) but after getting a couple of inconsistently-seasoned packages, I've opted to start with ground pork and season it myself. This is especially important with large dishes when you want pork with typical sausage seasonings, but would rather omit one or two of the spices.

 

[Astronuc]

http://www.chezsophie.com/breakfast.htm

http://www.chezsophie.com/lunch.htm

http://www.chezsophie.com/dinner.htm

 

[scorpa]

Scorpa, was it at a restaurant? We may be able to find the recipe on the internet if it's a chain or famous.

Ha oddly enough it was at the hospital cafeteria, I was shocked at how good it was. Obviously it was no where near homemade quality but I know if I could figure out the dressing I could make a homemade version that would be a million times better.

 

[chaoseverlasting]

For all the women who've gone through pregnancy, do you guys really have hunger pangs? If so, what kind of food do you guys go for?

 

[turbo]

Ha oddly enough it was at the hospital cafeteria, I was shocked at how good it was. Obviously it was no where near homemade quality but I know if I could figure out the dressing I could make a homemade version that would be a million times better.

Scorpa, try to locate some Farmer Boy Restaurant's Greek dressing. It is very low in fat and cholesterol, and it may be what the hospital was serving on their salads.

 

[wolram]

I was bored so i made a chili and peppers cake, i de seeded the chili and chopped them into little rings, cut the peppers into fine strands and put them in a normal cake mix with currants, it tastes great.

 

[turbo]

Currants and chilies - something I never imagined seeing together in a single recipe.

 

[Moonbear]

For all the women who've gone through pregnancy, do you guys really have hunger pangs? If so, what kind of food do you guys go for?

If you're asking because you're trying to anticipate what to expect of someone pregnant you will be around a lot, I'm sorry to inform you that it's different for every woman. (I don't have kids, but have been around plenty of pregnant friends and relatives.) Some will just crave one particular food throughout pregnancy, others will crave weird foods, others it's something different every day or week, and for others, what they crave one day makes them nauseous the next.

The cravings are actually the easy part to deal with...assuming you have a 24 h grocery store somewhere nearby. Harder to deal with or predict are when the foods that she has always eaten and enjoyed suddenly seem horrible to her and just the smell of it cooking sends her off retching.

 

[wolram]

Currants and chilies - something I never imagined seeing together in a single recipe.

I think if i replace the currants and peppers with cherries it will be even better.

 

[turbo]

For lunch I had left-over roast pork on rye with mustard and my home-made dill-pickled jalapeno rings. Mmm!

To make those, I used my standard dill pickle recipe with fresh flowering dill from our garden and pickled rings of fresh jalapeno chilies instead of cucumbers with a couple of cloves of fresh Russian garlic in each jar. I try to save the garlic for last, but I usually end up fishing it out of the bottom of the jar and eating it before the peppers are gone.

 

[wolram]

I am a nibbler, i only eat a biggish meal occasionally, often times i make cheese straws and cakes, not very healthy, so do you make any good (nibbles) i need ideas.

 

[turbo]

Do you have a source of small (8-10") soft flour tortillas? If so, you can make very nice sandwiches out of about anything in your larder. Just top the tortillas with anything you like and roll them up to make a "wrap" sandwich. You might try wrapping a little green salad and thin-sliced tomato with canned re-fried beans and sliced chilies, maybe with a little shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese. These are very easy spontaneous meals that can go well with a salsa dip or can be served with a small bowl of chili or soup.

It's pretty easy to eat light and healthy meals - you just have to put some planning into it before you go shopping for food so you'll be prepared.

 

[wolram]

Sounds good, i will look out for tortillas, i can use what is left of my chili relish for a dip.

I have a pack (about 20) birds eye chili's to use up, they are hot equal to scotch bonnet if not more in burn, do you have a sweet chili dip i could use them in?

 

[turbo]

Do you like jellies? My wife makes sweet jellies out of chili peppers, and the jelly is very good. When we have people over for a cook-out, she will open a jar of sweet chili jelly and make up a big tray of different types of cheeses, crackers, salami, sardines, and other snacks so people can make their own combos. If you think you'd like to make sweet pepper jelly (and will process the jars properly so you don't die of Listeria) I will locate that recipe and post it.

 

[wolram]

I would like to give it a try, i have learned my lesson about processing jars, i can still just see the scar, i like blue berries are they in the jelly recipe?

 

[turbo]

No berries - just peppers, sugar, pectin, etc. The nieces and nephews learned early on that the green jelly (jalapeno) was potent but tasty and that the pink jelly (made from ripe habanero chilis) could blister their mouths. When another relative would show up that hadn't tried the jellies yet, they'd try to steer the greenhorn to the nice, pink jelly. The little sneaks!

GREEN PEPPER JELLY

1-1/2 cup green peppers
½ cup Jalapeno pepper
7 cups sugar
1-1/2 cup white vinegar
6 oz. Pectin

Bring to boil, add pectin, boil
3 minutes and process.

Chop the peppers finely. You can omit the green peppers altogether if you'd like and use 2 cups of chilies (my preference). We've had a batch or two that failed to jell, but even if it's runny, it tastes great, so don't panic. Make sure that you process the jars (boil them in a hot water bath for 20 minutes) so that the pop-lids will seal with the centers depressed.

 

[wolram]

Where you say 1-1/2 cup peppers is that in small dice?

 

[turbo]

Chop the peppers finely and use a measuring cup to gauge how much you have. I like stuff very hot, so if I were going to make this jelly, I would knock out all the (sweet) green peppers and use a full 2 cups of chili peppers. You can use a small food processor to chop the peppers like we do, or you can just chop them finely with a chef's knife and a cutting board. I like them chopped very fine so that the jelly will have an evenly-distributed heat. In other words, chopping coarsely will give you some spoonfuls that are much hotter than others.

 

[scorpa]

Scorpa, try to locate some Farmer Boy Restaurant's Greek dressing. It is very low in fat and cholesterol, and it may be what the hospital was serving on their salads.

I will keep an eye out for it, I have never heard of that brand though so I may have to do some searching.

 

[Evo]

Ok, Moonbear won the Gumbo war.

Evo<-----still is not putting okra in her gumbo

I challenge Moonbear to a Gumbo throwdown!

My Dad's Shrimp, Crab & Oyster Gumbo

1 med. onion, diced
1/2 cup of butter
1/4 cup of flour
6 cups of chicken broth
1 can (around 1lb) of HUNTS tomatoes, crushed (if you don't use Hunts, it may not taste as good)
salt & pepper
3 tsps minced parsley
1/4 tsp thyme
1 clove garlic
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 lb crab meat (use the good stuff folks and DO NOT SUBSTITUTE SURIMI)
12 oz oysters (if you can't stand oyters, omit, or at least use some of the oyster liquor for flavor)
1 1/4 tsp gumbo file powder

In a deep saucepan, melt the butter and saute the onion until it is limp, but not browned. Stir in the flour, then slowly add the chicken broth, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth.

Then add the tomatoes, parsley, thyme, garlic, bay leaves and salt & pepper to taste. Cover the pan and simmer for one hour.

Meanwhile, pick over the crabmeat to make sure all shell and cartilage are removed.

Ten minutes before serving, add the file powder, shrimp, crab and oysters, stir well & bring back to a simmer and simmer for ten minutes. Serve immediately over hot, buttered white rice.

 

[Moonbear]

Ok, Moonbear won the Gumbo war.

Evo<-----still is not putting okra in her gumbo

I challenge Moonbear to a Gumbo throwdown!

This from the person who makes herself sick eating fried okra?

 

[Math Jeans]

Does anyone here subscribe to Chili Pepper magazine? I found a cool recipe for Hot and Sour soup in there.

 

[Evo]

This from the person who makes herself sick eating fried okra?

I *love* fried okra!

I just found a gumbo recipe that has poached eggs in it.

 

[Astronuc]

Ok, Moonbear won the Gumbo war.

Evo<-----still is not putting okra in her gumbo

I challenge Moonbear to a Gumbo throwdown!

My Dad's Shrimp, Crab & Oyster Gumbo

1 med. onion, diced
1/2 cup of butter
1/4 cup of flour
6 cups of chicken broth
1 can (around 1lb) of HUNTS tomatoes, crushed (if you don't use Hunts, it may not taste as good)
salt & pepper
3 tsps minced parsley
1/4 tsp thyme
1 clove garlic
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
1 lb crab meat (use the good stuff folks and DO NOT SUBSTITUTE SURIMI)
12 oz oysters (if you can't stand oyters, omit, or at least use some of the oyster liquor for flavor)
1 1/4 tsp gumbo file powder

In a deep saucepan, melt the butter and saute the onion until it is limp, but not browned. Stir in the flour, then slowly add the chicken broth, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth.

Then add the tomatoes, parsley, thyme, garlic, bay leaves and salt & pepper to taste. Cover the pan and simmer for one hour.

Meanwhile, pick over the crabmeat to make sure all shell and cartilage are removed.

Ten minutes before serving, add the file powder, shrimp, crab and oysters, stir well & bring back to a simmer and simmer for ten minutes. Serve immediately over hot, buttered white rice.

You forgot the 'OKRA'!

Hmmm - Evo and Moonbear wrestling in gumbo. Hmmmm.

 

[Evo]

You forgot the 'OKRA'!

NO OKRA!

The Creole Cookery Book, published by the Christian Woman’s Exchange of New Orleans in 1885, calls gumbo making an “occult science” that “should be allowed its proper place in the gastronomical world.” A New Orleans gumbo, the book maintains, “can be made of scraps of cold meat or fowl, a few oysters, crabs or shrimps, and, with a couple of spoonfuls of well cooked rice, is a very satisfying and economical dinner.” The editors include several recipes for gumbo, one of which incorporates filé (spelled “fillet” in the book). Some of the recipes are made with various greens and herbs, but, curiously, there is no mention of okra as a gumbo ingredient, although the book includes three recipes for okra soup.

I am with the "no okra in gumbo" faction.

http://www.southerngumbotrail.com/history.shtml

Moonbear is of the "okra" faction.

Lafcadio Hearn’s La Cuisine Creole, published in 1885, contains recipes for several gumbos made from a variety of ingredients—chicken, ham, bacon, oysters, crab, shrimp, and beef, among them. Some of the recipes are made with okra, others with filé. Although there is no mention of a roux in any of the recipes, some of them call for the addition of flour or browned flour as a thickener.

 

[lisab]

I'm with you, Evo - no okra in gumbo!

The base of my gumbo is a roux of flour and peanut oil. It takes a lot longer than using lard or butter, but the results are well worth the 30-45 minutes of constant stirring.

 

[Moonbear]

You forgot the 'OKRA'!

It also is missing the cayenne pepper. You can't make gumbo without some heat in it!

Hmmm - Evo and Moonbear wrestling in gumbo. Hmmmm.

If I'm wrestling in it, I think I'll go with Evo's version...mine might burn if it gets into crevices under clothing.

I can't write out a proper recipe for mine...I have a written recipe, but I haven't been following it so closely in a while (especially this last time...the andouille sausage I made was so over-salted and too much black pepper that I didn't add either to the gumbo).

I wasn't making such a large batch this time, so I used about 1/2 c flour and 1/2 c canola oil for the roux (yeah, yeah, not butter...shoot me ). While that was browning, I browned the sausage in a separate pan (oh, probably a pound of it...4 or 5 links), and in yet another pan, sauteed the okra in some canola oil. When the roux was browned, I added a chopped onion and diced green and sweet red peppers (about a cup total I guess). About a cup of chopped celery too. Added those veggies to the roux until they started to soften, then added the sausage (with the fat drained off), and the okra, which by then is no longer stringy. I only had large cans of diced tomatoes, so added about a half can (I don't taste any difference in brands, and my recipe wasn't sponsored by Hunts ...any brand will do, just make sure its JUST tomato and none of the ones with seasonings added). Since I didn't have any chicken, I used a can of chicken broth, but it's best if you have homemade chicken broth (I usually cook the chicken to make the broth, and then add the meat from the chicken along with about 2 cups broth...you want it to be liquid enough to work it while it cooks, but not runny). Seasoned with a big bay leaf (or use a couple if they're small), some thyme (there was a lot of that in the sausage too), about a teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper (in addition to what I already had in the sausage), and some basil. (Usually, I also add lots of garlic when I sautee the onions, salt and black pepper, but the sausage I made had a lot of all of those, so I didn't add more.)

Bring to a boil, then let simmer until you can't stand waiting any longer to eat it (at LEAST an hour, but longer is better). Near the end, add the file (a mound in the palm of my hand...maybe a tablespoon?), bring to a final boil, and serve over rice (file shouldn't be added earlier or it will make the gumbo stringy).

 

[Moonbear]

I'm with you, Evo - no okra in gumbo!

It's not gumbo without okra, it's just stew. That was our chat debate today. Gumbo derives its name from the West African word for okra, which is where the plant came from.

The name "okra" is of West African origin and is cognate with "ọ́kụ̀rụ̀" in Igbo, a language spoken in Nigeria. In various Bantu languages, okra is called "kingombo" or a variant thereof, and this is the origin of its name in Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French.

*bold emphasis mine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okra

And a non-wiki source:

0kra (Hibiscus esculentus) is also called "gumbo" in this country, although the latter term is more often applied to soups or other dishes which contain okra. Both of these names are of African origin. "Gumbo" is believed to be a corruption of a Portuguese corruption, quingombo, of the word quillobo, native name for the plant in the Congo and Angola area of Africa.

http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/vegetabletravelers/okra.html

 

[turbo]

Evo, okra has no reason to exist apart from gumbo, you heathen!

 

[Moonbear]

By the way, I do love the explanation that gumbo is a corruption of a corruption of a word.

 

[turbo]

MB, Evo is a wimp with a gimpy arm. You could take her easily in a gumbo-wresting match.

 

[Moonbear]

MB, Evo is a wimp with a gimpy arm. You could take her easily in a gumbo-wresting match.

Especially if I throw her into my spicy gumbo.

 

[turbo]

Especially if I throw her into my spicy gumbo.

Ooh! The mucous membranes ought to flare up pretty well if you've got enough crushed red pepper and cayenne in there! (can I sell tickets?)

 

[turbo]

I think Woolie takes plain cake mixes and throws in the extras.

 

[wolram]

I just made a normal cake mix and added, 1tsp ginger, 20 finger chilies chopped, and 4 pieces of stem ginger chopped (about a 1/4 cup), as you can see the cake caught a bit on the top, i left it a tad to long.

 

[Evo]

I just made a normal cake mix and added, 1tsp ginger, 20 finger chilies chopped, and 4 pieces of stem ginger chopped (about a 1/4 cup), as you can see the cake caught a bit on the top, i left it a tad to long.

If I make this and it's too sweet, you're a dead man Wolram.

 

[wolram]

If I make this and it's too sweet, you're a dead man Wolram.

Oh heck, i just guess the sugar, i am sure i use less than normal.

 

[Evo]

My girlfriend's jalapeno cornbread

After I tasted this, I had to have the recipe.

3 cups buttermilk cornbread mix (she uses Aunt Jemima)
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup olive oil
3 eggs, beaten,1 cup chppoed onion
2 tablespoons sugar
1 can cream style corn
1/2 cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers (8)
1 1/2 cups grated Mexican Blend cheese (Monterey Jack, Mild Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla and Asadero cheeses)
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of flour

Combine cornbread mix and milk in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients in order. Pour into three greased 8-inch square baking pans, or one 9x13x2 inch baking pan and one 8-inch square baking pan.

Bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes.

She used a cast iron skillet and poured a little olive oil on the bottom to fry the cornbread a little while baking (that's my favorite way except I use the traditional bacon drippings if I have any). After the bread is done, she pours melted real butter over the top.

 

[arunbg]

Hey, why don't you guys post some pictures of what you are making along with the recipes? I know if turbo posts pictures, a lot of people will be running to the kitchen to grab a bite
I'll try to get a picture of my gulab jamuns that I'll be making today evening.

 

[Astronuc]

It's not gumbo without okra, it's just stew. That was our chat debate today. Gumbo derives its name from the West African word for okra, which is where the plant came from.

I have to go with Moonbear on this. We always had okra in the gumbo we made, and it had shrimp and andouille sausage or chicken or both depending, and seasonings, and certainly filé powder.

I'd have to add the hot peppers or hot sauce to my own since the rest of the family didn't particularly care the spiciness.

Nevertheless, I approve of Evo's dad's recipe.

 

[wolram]

Thats a keeper Evo.

 

[Astronuc]

I just made a normal cake mix and added, 1tsp ginger, 20 finger chilies chopped, and 4 pieces of stem ginger chopped (about a 1/4 cup), as you can see the cake caught a bit on the top, i left it a tad to long.

What the heck is 'normal' cake mix?

After I tasted this, I had to have the recipe.

3 cups buttermilk cornbread mix (she uses Aunt Jemima)
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup olive oil
3 eggs, beaten,1 cup chppoed onion
2 tablespoons sugar
1 can cream style corn
1/2 cup finely chopped jalapeno peppers (8)
1 1/2 cups grated Mexican Blend cheese (Monterey Jack, Mild Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla and Asadero cheeses)
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of flour

Combine cornbread mix and milk in a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients in order. Pour into three greased 8-inch square baking pans, or one 9x13x2 inch baking pan and one 8-inch square baking pan.

Bake at 350 F for 35-40 minutes.

She used a cast iron skillet and poured a little olive oil on the bottom to fry the cornbread a little while baking (that's my favorite way except I use the traditional bacon drippings if I have any). After the bread is done, she pours melted real butter over the top.

Now I could go for that. I was thinking of jalapeño cornbread when I first saw Woolie's recipe.

We used to make hush-puppies, which are fried cornbread, which are even better with cheese and jalapeños.

 

[Evo]

The footnotes on my Dad's recipe call for a ton of tabasco and fresh chiles from his garden. He couldn't eat anything unless he had a pile of chile peppers and tabasco.

Also, you use either okra or gumbo file, but not both. If you don't believe me, look it up.

 

[turbo]

I don't think about taking pictures of meals-in-progress, but the hot chili relish/salsa stuff is an exception, partly because I love them, and I don't think that people have a decent connection with the foods that they love. If people have to go to a store to buy salsa, they are trapped. If they can grow some of the ingredients, they have some freedom, and if they can harvest their own chilies, tomatoes, herbs, etc, they are free.