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

[Vietnam Vet From New Mexico]

Most of the people in my unit gripped about SOS but I loved it, maybe because my dad always made it.

[V K Lee]

A side note:

That Lemon Bar recipe is tempting. Tried the site given and a notice appeared that it was temporarily down asking the owner to contact them. So...using the URL you supplied traveled on over to the Wayback Machine/Web Archive The Sisters recipe was included there.

Liking anything simple, this will certainly be a new addition as DH loves Lemon Bars LOL perhaps he might feel bold enough to make these on his own.

[oldvirginian]

When I was growing up WV was referred to as “the lost counties”, because VA and WV didn’t recognize a common border until the 1980’s.
Seems right they would leave the mustard and onions off.
Perverse idgits.

My dad’s side of the family is pretty much Scotts through and though, but I don’t think they retained any Scottish recipes.
My mom’s side of the family is English and German. We did inherit a taste for sausage and kraut.

Dipping pizza in ranch dressing?
Never heard of that one!

[oldvirginian]

Thanks for the links, I’ll try them out.
Soy crumbles? No, I think I will just use lean ground beef!

[oldvirginian]

Thank you, I will give it a try.

[Liz]

Thanks for the luscious Lemon Pillow Cake----it's a recipe I'll treasure. Here's another fast lemon recipe. Put it in the oven when you sit down to dinner---et voila---dessert is ready when you're done.

INSTANT FRENCH LEMON TART

METHOD Blender smooth whole lemon in 8 pieces,
1 1/2 c sugar, 1/4 c butter, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 4 eggs.

Bake gently in tart shell 40 min 325 deg (careful, top tends to burn).

SERVE w/ a dollop of crème fraiche aside each slice.

=========================================

Into garnishes?

Here's how a famous French restaurant serves its Lemon Tart.

[Liz]

For those of us who can never have enough lemon recipes.

LEMON GLAZED MONKEY BREAD

PREP Stir cup br/sugar, tbl lemon zest,
4-serving box lemon pudding/pie filling (not instant).

METHOD Separate 2-16.3 oz cans Pillsbury® Grands into 16 biscuits.
Cut each into 1/4's. Toss w/ 3/4 c melted butter.

ASSEMBLY Roll buttered pieces in pudding mixture.
Layer in sprayed tube pan. Bake golden 350 deg 25-30 min
(cook well in center). Cool in pan 10 min.

Invert on pretty server. Drizzle glaze over warm monkey bread.

SERVE warm; diners pull apart.

GLAZE stir cup conf, enough lemon juice for drizzling consistency.
Add 1-2 drops yellow food color.

[ken5050]

I’ll try it...I have plenty of seeds left..

[V K Lee]

Is this the recipe you remember seeing on The Sisters Cafe Site? Ask only due to the fact that it calls for lemon cake mix rather than white but all else seems the same.
Two ingredients. Two ingredients! Does it get much better than that when you are in a pinch? Or when you just have a sweet tooth and don’t feel like slaving in the kitchen? Seriously, the lemon bars are mixed, in the pan, and the bowl is washed before the oven is even done preheating. And the best part is… these lemon bars are totally yummy! They taste kind of like a dense, chewy cake. Very lemony, but not too tart. Definitely different than traditional lemon bars (I do like regular lemon bars better), but for the work they rock just the same! Once you try them, you will find yourself stocking lemon cake mix and lemon pie filling… it doesn’t get easier than this!
Two Ingredient Lemon Bars
Submitted by Mindy ~ The Sisters Cafe

1 Lemon Cake Mix
1 (15.75 oz can) of Lemon Pie Filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the cake mix and pie filling until moist and well blended. Do not over stir. Place in greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until golden brown on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream.

[V K Lee]

What a Burger, and in the good old days, Hardee’s as well Both are far better than Micky D’s and BK.

[Rodamala]

Hardee's and Carl's Jr. are pretty much the same product.

Last time I had Hardee's was in Colorado, and it was a pretty good burger. What blew me away, however, at Hardee's were the special Buffalo Waffle Fries they were running at the time. Waffle Fries, with a bleu cheese dressing poured over them, bleu cheese sprinkles, and then Frank's Red Hot over the top. I would ask for extra Cheese sprinkles and they would throw another scoop on, no charge.

Man, those things alone were a meal unto themselves.

[Hiskid]

This is such a great weekly thread! Totally enjoying your work.

Lemon desserts can never be lemony enough! When I make lemon bars, I use lemon cookie dough as a base and add extra lemon oil.

Thanks for the sprout advice. Definitely have to try. we really like sprouts.

[Hiskid]

There is a hot dog only restaurant in South Carolina that serves something similar to this, but the cole slaw is made with blue cheese! Yummy.

[greeneyes]

I love the Hebrew National dogs. Sometimes I add them to my scrambled eggs instead of sausage or bacon.

[Twotone]

I’m pretty sure what I saw was a white cake mix, & it works really well. But I didn’t actually go to that link - someone was just noting what they were using for easy lemon bars. A lemon mix would make it that much more lemony!

[greeneyes]

I know they are nutritious, but I just haven’t ever found any I like.

Today, I am making crock pot yogurt. It’s the only way I can get yogurt without all the additives or sugar that I don’t want.

[oldvirginian]

Best hot dogs made.
I try to stock up when they are on sale.
They are the only brand name I will pay for.
Everything else I will buy the house brand.
Hebrew National dogs are my guilty pleasure!

[V K Lee]

Thanks! Either white or lemon mix sounds dandy. Have shared this with a friend but actually gave her the white mix when doing so. Wrote her again telling her about the lemon mix and in her words “I was going to use lemon anyway. She loves lemon. Must be why we get along so well :-)

[Jamestown1630]

When I was a kid, my maternal Grandfather prided himself on baking a Lemon Layer Cake for each of the Grandkids, on their birthdays. (I don’t think his wife was much of a cook, and Pop took great pride in his cakes.)

I remember the icing being all swirl-y on top, and sprinkled with those tooth-destroying silver dragees. I know it was made from scratch; I don’t have the recipe; but I’d love to taste it again - it was a fabulous cake.

This would have been in the early 1960’s. If anyone has a scratch recipe for Lemon Layer Cake from back then, let me know.

(RIP, Pop!)

-JT

[Ellendra]

I’ve grown lots of sprouts, and even had a stand at the farmer’s market selling them one year. They can be simple, but there are a few things to watch out for:

1. Make sure your equipment is CLEAN!
Not just normal dishes-clean, I mean sterile. Hot water and bleach!

2. Look and smell before you eat.
The right environment for sprouts is the same as what’s needed to grow mold. Look closely at the sprouts, do they have lots of hairs when that variety shout only have a single taproot? Is it the color it should be? Smell them, do they smell like they should? After you grow a few batches, you’ll know what they should look like.

3. Don’t overcomplicate.
Rinse them with clean water twice a day, keep them covered but with access to air, but otherwise let them do their thing. I grew dozens of pounds of sprouts in giant foodsafe storage bins. You don’t need specialized equipment. All they need is air, moisture, and time. Anything that will provide that will work.

4. Know what sprouts can be eaten, and what can’t.
General rule: if you can eat both the seed and the plant, you can eat the sprout. Don’t try it with nighshades, do try it with legumes and cruciferous veggies. I have no idea about squash. Sunflower and pea sprouts are a little different, because you’re supposed to plant them in the dirt and then cut off the top to eat.

And, if you’re looking at this as a prepping thing:
5. Choose something that provides lots of seeds per plant without cutting into your food supply, and is easy to harvest the seeds from.
I probably wouldn’t grow alphalpha for sprouts, because it would be hard for me to harvest enough seed to be worthwhile. On the other hand, I once grew a radish that produced so many seed pods that each plant looked like a porcupine and was big enough to take over the garden. If I wanted sprouts, I’d look for a plant like that.