Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

I used to work near a little 'hippie' co-op food store, and would frequently buy my lunch there. My favorite lunch was a sandwich of whole grain bread, a shmear of hummus, slice of cheese, tomato slices, mayo - and a big blob of alfalfa sprouts. At the time, I had no idea how nutritious those sprouts were, I just liked the freshness and crunch of them, and alfalfa sprouts remained a favorite addition to sandwiches.

Since then I've learned that sprouts - and microgreens - are among the most nutritious things that we can eat, and that they are very easy to grow in a home kitchen. The seeds store easily and have an amazing shelf-life, which should make them very interesting to the 'preppers' among us - fresh, highly nutritious greens, almost 'on-demand', without the need for a garden! (I recently read that the seeds can actually be frozen, to extend that long shelf life even further, which was a surprise to me; it's something I want to experiment with, and compare germination rates with unfrozen ones.)

One of the places where we purchase seeds has a guide to storing and shelf life of the various seeds:

https://sproutpeople.org/growing-sprouts/sprouting-basics/seed-storage/

About the same time that I was frequenting the hippie store for my lunches, a friend of mine became interested in the 'Fit for Life' diet/health approach, and gave me the Diamonds' first book:

http://www.amazon.com/Fit-Life-Harvey-Diamond/dp/0446553646

While I never became a devotee of the entire plan, there were lots of great recipes in the book, and one of my favorites was this, which they called:

'Award Winning Potato-Lover's Salad'

6 red-skinned new potatoes

2 T. Butter

1/2 tsp. sea salt or seasoned salt

1/4 tsp paprika

2 cups broccoli florets, chopped and steamed until just tender

4 cups head lettuce, chopped

2 cups spinach, chopped

2 cups red cabbage, finedly shredded

1 cup alfalfa sprouts

Dressing:

1 large clove garlic, minced finely or crushed

2 tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

fresh ground pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 to 2 T. mayonnaise

Place potatoes whole and unpeeled in a vegetable steamer, covered, over boiling water for 20 minutes or until almost tender.

Remove potatoes from heat and quarter or cut into 1/2 inch cubes (peeling is optional). Place in large bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan and pout over potatoes; toss well. Add sea salt and paprika, mix well, and place in one layer on a cookie sheet. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes.

Place lettuce and spinach in a large bowl, add sprouts (separated so they don't clump). Add the shredded cabbage. Cut the broccoli lengthwise into thin slivers and add to greens.

For the dressing, peel the garlic and crush or mince; place garlic in a measuring cup, add lemon or lime juice, salt, olvie oil and herbs. Whisk in mayonnaise, and whip the dressing until thick and creamy. Pout over salad and toss well.

Add the potatoes to the top of the salad and season with salt and pepper if desired. Serves 2. _________________________________________________________

The following video shows how to sprout seeds at home:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmKctMME_xc

(My one reservation is that I wouldn't suggest a beginner start with a seed 'mix'. We have not had the best luck with those, because of the different sizes and germination rates of the seeds in many mixes. So far, we grow one type in each jar.)

Lastly, here is a Mung Bean Sprout/Mango salad that I haven't tried yet, but which looks very good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXWFm80VOc4

[ken5050]

I have now THREE times failed in an effort to grow cilantro. It's driving me nuts. I have an extensive, thriving herb garden (and soooooooooooo much more enjoyable now that I have my new herb stripper) and all the plants do well. I have three pots of basil..which for me, is almost a staple...and I love fresh pesto. After the recent scare about bad cilantro, I figured, how hard can it be...bought some seeds...first two times..NOTHING germinated..this time I have ONE pathetic puny little seedling..

One more question for the group: anyone use buttermilk powder..like this instead of the real deal when baking? Success..thoughts?

[elcid1970]

My Army Dad made us SOS with chipped beef. Learned later it was the only nonperishable form of beef during WWII.

Then we got Swiss steak, & Salisbury steak, but these didn’t taste like REAL steak, which was a luxury for us.

Only when I was in the Army did I learn what “SOS” stands for. Kinda like “snafu”.

;^)

[PROCON]

It was breakfast fare but I bet it would be good over any potato dish too.

[Califreak]

There’s an outstanding pasta salad in one of their books.

[Artemis Webb]

I’ve used that.

It works fine but it doesn’t have as long a shelf life as one might think.

[oldvirginian]

Help!
Desperately looking for a good hot dog chili recipe.

We usually bought the Texas Pete brand hot dog chili.
It was perfect.
The beef was finely ground and it had a thick consistency that kept it where you put it.

The company that produced it was bought out by a competitor and the Texas Pete brand was discontinued.

All the brands sold in my area are watery and the chunks of beef are more suited to chili *beans*.

If anyone has a recipe for a non-spicy, thick hot dog chili please post it or mail me.

My perfect hot dog is a beef dog (Hebrew National preferred) on a slightly toasted bun with mustard, onions, chill and slaw.
On occasion I go with mustard and sour kraut for a taste difference.

[WakeUpAndVote]

Deer season is upon us. This will be done over noodles!

[ken5050]

The person who told me about it said they keep theirs refrigerated after opening. Her in FL that’s pretty much a given

[Jamestown1630]

I used to use buttermilk powder a lot; it’s very useful when you can’t reliably find the ‘real thing’ in the store. I mostly used it in biscuit-baking.

I’ve never tried to grow cilantro; but I seem to remember that it’s supposed to be very tolerant of cold, and can stay in many gardens almost year round if covered up a little in Winter. Maybe yours is too hot???

-JT

[PROCON]

Yumm, sounds tasty, especially adding the sour cream.

[ken5050]

What a sec...are you suggesting that it’s TOO HOT in Mexico to grow cilantro?

[Jamestown1630]

Well, I don’t know where in Mexico they grow it ;-)

Not all of Mexico is all-hot-all-the-time...

-JT

[randita]

I used to call it ground beef stroganoff, so they thought it was something fancy - LOL

[Trillian]

I’m not a big fan of sprouts, but I did make a delicious apple cobbler last night. I’ve made this three times already in the last few months.

Apple Cobbler

Ingredients:
Filling:
2 1/2 cups of diced honeycrisp apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon plus 1 cup of liquid they were simmered together in.
1 stick butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar

Topping:
2 cups Baking Mix (recipe follows)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup milk

Instructions:
Place butter in medium sauce pan and melt. Whisk in flour, brown sugar and liquid from apples.
Place over medium high heat while stirring constantly until mixture is smooth and creamy.
Bring ingredients just to a boil, stirring constantly, and then remove from heat. Stir in diced apples.
Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and pour in filling.

For Cobbler Topping
In medium mixing bowl, stir together baking mix and brown sugar.
Add milk and stir until smooth and well combined.
Pour over filling in pan. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Homemade Baking Mix

1 1/2 cups of flour
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons of dry milk
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
2 teaspoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons of shortening

Mix well in kitchenaid until grainy.
Makes about 2 cups.

[Twotone]

I saw a ‘quick & easy’ lemon bar recipe on Facebook. The person said to take a white cake mix & a can of lemon pie filling, beat them together & then bake. I tried to do that but found the mixture too dry to mix. I ended up adding an egg & a small amount of water (quarter cup?) just so I could work it. The result was the softest, most melt-in-your-mouth lemon cake I’ve ever had. I used cream cheese icing & it was terrific. Now I always keep a white cake mix & lemon pie filling on hand for any event that requires a dessert. VERY simple, & everyone I’ve served it to has wanted the recipe.

[Jamestown1630]

I will save that; I found this, which may have been the idea:

http://www.thesisterscafe.com/2012/05/ingredient-lemon-bars

[Mariner]

One of my favorite samwiches is whole grain, ristic bread, with cheddar, guacamole, red onion and alfalfa sprouts.

It's far better than it sounds.

[Califreak]

http://www.noshcookbook.com/2011/07/original-tommys-chili-recipe.html

Original Tommy’s Chili

(Renowned LA burger joint)

Good stuff!

[MomwithHope]

After that last day in the sun I just rinse once and eat or refrigerate. They are not wet. Have not heard of them growing in your drain. I usually run the disposal after rinsing out hulls and seeds that did not germinate.

[Jamestown1630]

The red onion sounds like a great addition to my sandwich, too.

Thanks!