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Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

Posted on 04/09/2015 4:04:37 PM PDT by Jamestown1630

I'm still thinking about gardens, and vegetables - especially summer squashes.

I found the following in the Smith and Hawken 'Gardeners' Community Cookbook' (a great recipe book!)

Summer Squash with Spinach Filling

For the Squash:

Boil 2 large or 4 medium, whole Summer Squash until they can be easily pierced by a knife tip, but are still firm. Allow to cool slightly, and then split them lengthwise, and remove the seeds with a spoon. Set Aside.

Spinach Filling for Summer Squash

1 large bunch spinach, using leaves and tender stems, coarsely chopped and well-drained (3/4 lb.)

(often I just buy bags of baby spinach for this, and steam them slightly in the microwave.)

4 T butter

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp. red wine vinegar

Salt

Wilt the still-moist spinach in an ungreased, heavy saute pan over medium heat, or in a microwave bowl at high heat. Drain briefly and then squeeze dry and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and stir until wilted, about 3 minutes.

Add the spinach, sour cream and vinegar, and salt to taste. Stir to blend.

Spoon the spinach mixture into the hollows of the squash halves. Place in an oven proof tray and bake at about 350 degrees until heated through and the squash tender.

Filling can be made ahead and kept in the refrigerator overnight.

(I've also seen similar recipes that add some cheese to the spinach mixture; I think Parmesan would be great.)

Another summer squash recipe is one that I found in the Martha Stewart magazine many years ago; I thought it looked so nice, I even bought the little oblong pan from a specialty store, to make it. (But you don't need that; it can be made in any tart pan with a loose bottom; depending on the size/shape of your pan, you may have to increase the recipe and get creative with the 'lattice' effect.

Looks fancy, but is easy to make and turns out lovely for a special occasion:

http://www.marthastewart.com/344192/summer-squash-lattice-tart

Lastly, a quick sauce for steamed zucchini:

Mustard Sauce for Steamed Zucchini

(Low Fat, but you can add butter :-)

Mix in a saucepan:

½ C. Chicken or Vegetable Broth

1 Shallot or Scallion, minced

1-1/2 tsp. fresh Tarragon

2 T. Dry White Wine

1 T. Arrowroot (or cornstarch)

1-1/2 tsp. Fresh Tarragon (or ½ tsp. dried))

1/8 tsp. Black Pepper

Cook uncovered 2 or 3 minutes. Melt in 1 T. butter, if desired.

Serve over steamed vegetables; especially good with Zucchini.

-JT


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To: V K Lee

We haven’t seen it, but will definitely look for it. My husband is a devotee of coconut oil, as long as it hasn’t been ‘fooled-around with’. He believes that coconut oil is one of the healthier oils.

He’s just wondering how they get it to spray - coconut oil goes solid at average room temps. Maybe a chemist could enlighten us........

-JT


81 posted on 04/10/2015 7:50:46 PM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: MomwithHope
Usually I try to keep them picked when small, like you would for zucchini. But with this one, if you some of them and they turn into baseball bats, you can leave them on the vine until they turn tan :)

They keep fairly well, too.
82 posted on 04/10/2015 8:34:49 PM PDT by Ellendra (People who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.)
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To: MomwithHope

Oh, I forgot to mention, this variety also has more solid stems than most squash, so the bugs have a harder time infecting them.


83 posted on 04/10/2015 8:39:08 PM PDT by Ellendra (People who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.)
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To: Jamestown1630

Well, what do you know!! Thanks for the update. Was aware that about 2-3 months ago Google began making changes in their searches...Pam Gellers “Atlas Shrugged” site had their name changed as commented at the time on FR. Then when checking my list of go to recipe sites, found that many of those had been changed as well. Then remembered certain sites commenting the owners had been contacted by Google to help in the new assembly of sites and combining these. Must have been a considerable undertaking for all concerned! You must be another Sherlock Holmes to have found the info on Pam Lanier’s site and their name change. Both BB sites are now no longer available but due to the Wayback Machine at Web Archives....their recipes are not lost forever. Much to be printed should they ever be tossed into the wastebasket of history.

Surely you remember the movie ‘Babbettes Feast” At one time Geocities had a site that was written by a food critic in Chicago. A dinner theater was featuring BF and the actors involved actually cooked the dinner prepared by Babbette. This was written up on a Geocities site....and GC discontinued their service back in 2009 I believe. Fortunately, Web archive came thru with that gem of history so it was found and printed. The writer of the article told how the menu at the theater was made and basically gave recipes for the meal.... Love that movie. It’s one that will never be forgotten. LOL - sorry.Just wished to sing the praises of the web archives and how much they are used to this day. Exactly how long certain sites will be found there remains a mystery. Thanks once again
VK


84 posted on 04/10/2015 10:51:37 PM PDT by V K Lee
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To: RedStateRocker

Thanks. I have the vacuum sealer already so this seems like a logical next step.

One last question, can you cook things, refrigerate the packets, then warm them up and sear the outside a day or two later, or is it best to eat them as soon as they’re done?


85 posted on 04/11/2015 6:12:27 AM PDT by KosmicKitty (Liberals claim to want to hear other views, but then are shocked to discover there are other views)
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To: V K Lee

A consumer, chef survey.

1. How do you prefer to keep your recipes collected thru the years? Clip, hard copy/printed and in a binder (with sheet protectors), recipe cards,computer software or an on line site you control, accordion divider, sheets in a file folder neatly placed in a file drawer?

2. Once collected how do you categorize these. By certain ingredients, meal courses, types of dishes, helpful extra cooking equipment used - pressure cooker, deep fryer, microwave)

Do you have a special location for those recipes seen and found but not yet tried...a ‘To Try Soon’ catagory and is it used often?

Another special catagory..Christmas meals, or any holiday meal for that matter. Do you have those recipes you made year after year for your family in a form that can be passed down to your children and relatives?

Any pros, cons, or suggestions for each of the above would be greatly appreciated. Neither my GM nor my mom left us girls with much written in the way of recipe information. DS has her collection on her computer...still runs on DOS thanks to her DH and his knowledge. Can’t trust computers in all that information could go pfft in a flash. On line site, same thing...thank you Web Archive!

Recipe cards easily misplaced and once gone, until a certain recipe is planned, one would never know it was accidently tossed, loaned, or whatever.

Just curious questions for a curious mind. At the moment, here it is clip, print and tape to sheets of white paper, filed in folders, in drawers, and labeled - 6 file drawers full of paper, and two accordion dividers with recipes clipped Many are there which have never been attempted; kept only because ‘plan one day to get a ‘roundtoit’

TIA for your input


86 posted on 04/11/2015 10:56:07 AM PDT by V K Lee
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To: Jamestown1630

From Soup to Nuts

This soup with fresh corn, peanuts, jalapenos, and hominy sounds interesting. It was found in the web archives on an old site of Peanut Institute Org
To see the site itself go to Web archive and use plug this URL into their system
http://www.peanut-institute.org/recipes/?p=83
To see a copy of this recipe click here
http://web.archive.org/web/20110616120614/http://www.peanut-institute.org/recipes/?p=83

SWEET CORN AND PEANUT SOUP
1 gal. water
8 oz. hominy
2 tbsp. sweet butter
2 ea. white onions, diced
3 ea. garlic cloves, minced
2 cup carrots, peeled and grated
2 oz. fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 gal. corn stock
2 cup dry-roasted unsalted peanuts
5 tbsp. smooth peanut butter
4 ea. jalapeño chiles, stemmed and diced (including seeds)
10 ears sweet corn, shucked, kernels cut off cobs and roasted
5 ea. cilantro sprigs
In a small stockpot over high heat, bring the water and hominy to a boil. Boil for 35 minutes, then drain the hominy and rinse it in cold water.

Melt the butter in a large stockpot over high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and carrots and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the ginger, stock, peanuts, and peanut butter. Bring to a boil and whisk until the peanut butter is evenly incorporated. Decrease the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 35 minutes.

Uncover the stockpot and puree the soup with a handheld blender until smooth. Add the hominy, jalapeños, and roasted corn. Simmer 5 more minutes. Strip the cilantro leaves from the stems and julienne.

Ladle the soup into shallow bowls. Sprinkle some of the cilantro leaves over each bowl and serve.

Serves 4 to 6.


87 posted on 04/11/2015 4:30:13 PM PDT by V K Lee
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To: KosmicKitty

I would guess that as long as it hasn’t spent too much time at unsafe temps....

Just did a rack of baby backs. Rubbed ‘em with a chicago style rub, cooked for 9 hours to 133, smoked for 15 minutes and then over flame for 3 minutes.

Good :-)


88 posted on 04/11/2015 7:54:59 PM PDT by RedStateRocker (Nuke Mecca, deport all illegal aliens, abolish the IRS, DEA and ATF.)
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To: V K Lee

1. Organized? Me?

My nutritional research is in a spreadsheet that I’ve email to myself back and forth as I worked on it. The two menu plans from that research that I keep gravitating back towards are in a notebook, and posted in odd places like this thread :)

Other recipes that I find are written on the backs of envelopes and bits of scratch paper and tucked into and between my cookbooks. My cookbooks have their own shelf.

2. I don’t have things categorized. I’m the kind of person who, if I set something down, I will know where it is. My bedroom may look like a tornado hit it, but if there is something specific I want to find, I can just about reach blindly into a pile and find it. It’s only when someone else moves it that things get lost.

Same with recipes. If I think of a recipe I read years ago, I can see the page it was on. And then it’s a matter of finding which book matches that page.

That said, find what works with the way your own mind is geared. What works for one won’t work for another.


89 posted on 04/11/2015 8:26:31 PM PDT by Ellendra (People who kill without reason cannot be reasoned with.)
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To: V K Lee

How recipes evolved.....Ever wonder how/where the term recipes/receipts came into being? And why receipts are now, usually, termed as recipes? The info shared by this site gives a short lesson on how this came about. An interesting read. And it must be true cause we read it on the internet :) LOL. Seriously, it does make sense when one thinks about it. The click will take you directly to the site

The origin of the word Recipe:

http://web.archive.org/web/20040714162605/http://www.paulgraf.net/kitchen/main-copy.html


90 posted on 04/11/2015 9:28:59 PM PDT by V K Lee
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To: Ellendra

Thanks for your input! Much appreciated. If only the memory would never fail us. More beets for this chicken.. once fairly good at remembering but now there are times memory takes a short vacation. Till searching for that Sweet Potato Souffle made several Christmas Dinners ago! Thanks again.
VK


91 posted on 04/12/2015 5:23:05 AM PDT by V K Lee
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To: RedStateRocker

Oh do those ribs sound good. Thanks for all the help. :-)


92 posted on 04/12/2015 5:36:57 AM PDT by KosmicKitty (Liberals claim to want to hear other views, but then are shocked to discover there are other views)
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To: Jamestown1630

Rehashing the salad dressing.

Just remembered a special salad dressing which was long forgotten. It is more of a spread than a dressing but even eating it out of the jar with a spoon is justified. The name is BROCKLES. Delicious. Years ago Dallas had a restaurant (on East Grand Ave IIRC) and as children an young adults we would frequent the place. They had a house dressing which was, literally eaten with a spoon it was so good. Well, perhaps not a spoon exactly, but we did spread it on saltine crackers. They would be eaten just as fast as the salad itself. The dressing was sold in supermarkets for a few years. Then the eatery closed, the dressing disappeared off the shelves and fans in the area shed more than a few tears. This site found today and although have not yet tried their recipe, others seem to believe it comes very close to the original Brockles (may she rest in peace)
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/sauce-spread/dressing/brockles-secret-special-dressing.html

VK


93 posted on 04/12/2015 6:23:50 AM PDT by V K Lee
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To: V K Lee

Remembering Brockles jarred to mind another long gone restaurant.. called Jay’s Marine Grill. It was located just across from Love Field Airport. Walking into the place your first gaze would fall on the VERY LARGE FISH TANKS placed inside the dining room. These actually had tropical fish which would delight the children to no end. We’d go up to the glass and watch..but the sign read no tapping on glass please and the hands remained to the sides or behind the back. The grill’s signature was their fresh, hot, home made rolls and popovers. Before, during and even after the meal, the bread-girl would stroll thru the restaurant as if to mimic a peanut-vendor and the ‘get your hot peanuts here’ metal box hung with a strap around her neck. The rolls, good; but the popovers...really something special. If you’ve never eaten a popover you will probably find them to be much like Yorkshire Pudding. Crispy outside and moist inside. They can be made any number of ways but the plain and the onion have always been favorites here.
http://home.insightbb.com/~bonnett/popover/recipe_links.htm

And other long forgotten Dallas restaurant.
The Spanish Galleon (in a building which resembled an old ship aLa Disneyland (seafood) which was located in North Dallas across from Sterling Jewelry.

Little Bit of Sweden - the Swedish Smorgasbord where it was all you could eat. Shrimp made with their special sauce, watermelon rind pickles, pickled hearing, the list goes on. Rather than a buffet line, the serving center was a large, electric ‘lazy susan’ which was encircled by the guests...think of a herd going to the hay ring awaiting their turn to dive in. As one left the building, at the cashier’s post was a dish of pillow mints. As a very young child, it was said that when I was offered a mint from the staff, the entire dish was grabbed by little hands and almost left the building. Parents would never let me live that one down.

Dallas also had The Southern Kitchen. Family style dining where the food served would be brought to the table in large bowls and the family would portion themselves.

Big Boy burgers - A more upscale McDonalds with waitresses and tables.

Surely there are others here who are familiar with Dallas. What places do you fondly remember?


94 posted on 04/12/2015 7:02:57 AM PDT by V K Lee
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To: V K Lee

OOPS Another forgotten YOUNGBLOODS This was fried chicken. The name throws you off, but the chicken was very good. They had their bldg on the Fair Park Grounds for a very long time. Do remember the water wheel at the side which would actually turn with water rushing thru. This was across from the Pepsi? stage where Ike and Tina Turner were seen in a performance. Come to think of it, believe Bordens owned the building before Youngbloods. Elmer and Bessie, Mr and Mrs Cow resided at Borden’s during the Fair, itself. Youngbloods is remembered as being the place where French fries were first eaten with honey. Fried Chicken and FF covered with honey, not just honey BUT really good honey. Better than dessert.

The End.


95 posted on 04/12/2015 7:21:22 AM PDT by V K Lee
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To: V K Lee

Actually, Mrs. Cow’s named was Elsie, not Bessie. Sorry, Mr. Cow,


96 posted on 04/12/2015 7:23:34 AM PDT by V K Lee
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To: V K Lee

I bet that would be great on a hamburger.

The article indicates that the recipe was received from the Brockles family, who apparently aren’t marketing it; so I would guess that it’s authentic.

-JT


97 posted on 04/12/2015 8:39:44 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Ellendra

That’s how I find quotes in a book; I can always visualize the text, and know whether it was recto or verso, how far into the book it was, etc.

But when I first got married and my husband and I discovered that we liked cooking together, I put together a ring binder with those page-protector slips; everything goes in there, categorized: salads, vegetable sides, meat, poultry, etc.

That way I can just cut something out of a magazine, or scan it from a book; or slip in a recipe card that someone has given me.

Of course, now it’s grown to several ring binders...;-)

-JT


98 posted on 04/12/2015 8:45:38 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: V K Lee

V.K., the Brockles family has a blog:

https://brockles.wordpress.com/

Lots of comments and reminiscences.

-JT


99 posted on 04/12/2015 9:05:00 AM PDT by Jamestown1630 ("A Republic, if you can keep it.")
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To: Jamestown1630

Remembering the good old days as we just found that a favorite place to dine in Muenster, Texas was closed about a year ago. The restaurant named The Center was the hub place for the small town. The best and largest chicken fried steak. Yum. and the most wonderful seasoned fresh green beans. Not to mention their fried okra and other goodies. Sad day especially for the local teens who began their road to employment and college at the Center. It causes one to weep. Oktoberfest in this small German town will never be the same. However, it will still be visited as Fischers Meat Market draws them in like flies. Still areason to make the town a stop on the map.

Thanks for the Brockles blog link. Already sent to more than one :) Memories Memories.


100 posted on 04/12/2015 10:22:02 AM PDT by V K Lee
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