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Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

Posted on 02/11/2016 4:03:51 PM PST by Jamestown1630

I've always liked canned beets, pickled or plain, and usually in salads; but I've never cooked or eaten fresh beets before. I decided to try a simple roasted beet for my first experiment.

Beets peel better if they're roasted first, so I didn't peel them at the start. Cut off the stem ends, leaving about an inch for a 'handle' (what to do with the greens will be a later project). Also, cut off any long, skinny root, and then wash the beets well - dirt seems to especially collect up near the stem.

Place the cleaned and dried beats in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt rubbing both all over the beets, and wrap the beets tightly in aluminum foil. Place the beet packet on a rimmed baking sheet that is also lined with foil - easier cleanup in case the beets 'leak'. Bake in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for one hour, or until a sharp knife pierces them easily.

Let the beets cool, and then remove the skins (do this in a bowl in the sink, to keep pink juice from going all over the place.) You can then slice or quarter, and salt and pepper them; and they are ready for a quick heating at serving time. They have a different, rounder flavor than canned beets, buttery and sweet - just greater 'dimension'.

There's no getting around the fact that beets are a mess to deal with; and I'm not sure I'd do them very often. But I'm not making that decision until I try making a real Borscht (does anyone have a favorite recipe?) and until I try this recipe from McCormick:

http://www.mccormick.com/Gourmet/Recipes/Salads-Sides/Roasted-Balsamic-Beets

_________________________________________________________

Another recipe I had time to try this past week was Beer Bread. A recipe by Gerald Norman has been going around the Internet for many years, so that's the one I used.

I was surprised at how this came out. I had imagined that it would have a texture like muffins, or any quick bread; but the dough looks like yeast-raised dough as soon as you stir in the beer, and the baked bread has a texture that's sort of a cross between a quick bread and an English Muffin. Even though mine was cooked a little too long, it came out very flavorful with a lovely texture.

The recipe suggests that if you like a softer bread, you should mix the melted butter into the dough, instead of pouring it on top, and I think I would prefer it that way - the outside of the bread basically 'fries' in the melted butter if the butter is poured on top, and this tends to make the outside hard.

I halved the sugar, because I wanted a more savory bread (it seems to me that you could play around with this recipe a lot, with all kinds of savory additions like herbs and cheese); and mine resulted in one that would be great with jam, just butter, or as an appetizer with almost any kind of spread:

http://www.food.com/recipe/beer-bread-73440

______________________________________________________

We have become interested in the health benefits of Bone Broth. Last weekend we tried making it for the first time, and now have many containers of rich, gelatinous 'goo' in the freezer, ready for recipes.

I'm going to be experimenting with this and will post about the results, culinary and salutary; but for now, here is a recipe for Cream of Mushroom Soup that I'm going to try this weekend. We found it in the almost encyclopedic book on Bone Broth, 'Nourishing Broth', by Sally Fallon and Kaayla Daniel. (I've seen other FReepers mention Fallon's first book, 'Nourishing Traditions', and am anxious to get a copy of that, as well):

http://www.blogher.com/homemade-cream-mushroom-soup-recipe

-JT


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Food; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: beerbread; beets; bonebroth
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

When my neighbor makes cobbler to take to pot lucks, she gives me the juice leftover from the cans to make jelly.

Save your corn cobs to make corn cob jelly which tastes similar to a light honey so can be substituted. Of course, the cobs can go into a stock.

If you have old preserves, use it up in filled cookies. The Betty Crocker “Filled Cookies” recipe is great (basically a sugar cookie) and they come out like a pop tart only a bazillion times better. It has to be preserves because jelly will leak out. I need to try this with some old cans of pie filling. Hubby doesn’t care for pies but loves cookies so that might be the ticket.


101 posted on 02/13/2016 8:54:29 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: MomwithHope

I use ice trays for yogurt starter. A quart of yogurt calls for 2T starter (already made yogurt with live cultures) and that’s about what an ice cube is. Take one cube out of the freezer bag and it’ll thaw by the time the milk has been heated/cooled.

Don’t know why it took so many years to figure out that shaking the jar to incorporate the starter saves time and you don’t have to dirty a whisk.


102 posted on 02/13/2016 9:04:31 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: Jamestown1630

A feral cat, who would watch me in the garden, had kittens in the garage a couple years ago. Those are the best cats ever. They won over hubby who was always a dog person. He’s constantly fretting over them and is up checking all night if one doesn’t come in. They absolutely love the water his polish sausages are cooked in.


103 posted on 02/13/2016 9:16:39 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: Grammy

When we were in Russia, the borsch was heavenly. It didn’t have meat in it and I don’t think much of anything but cabbage and beets.


104 posted on 02/13/2016 9:19:32 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: kitchen
Could never bring myself to eat sweetbreads, kidney, or brain.

How about fried mountain oysters?

I wish stores would sell organ meats but they don't anymore. When we butchered our own, we ate everything.

105 posted on 02/13/2016 9:24:08 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: leaning conservative

Be sparing with the green peas as they will quickly over power the stock.


106 posted on 02/13/2016 9:31:10 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: greeneyes

When you cook a whole chicken, cut off the raw wings and freezer bag them. You won’t miss the wings off the roasted bird and many people don’t care for them as much as the other juicier parts. A bag of wings at the store is costly when you’re paying for mainly bones. With your frozen wings, it’s almost like they’re free.


107 posted on 02/13/2016 9:35:59 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: bgill

That sounds nice and easy. I used to make yogurt when we had our own fresh goats milk. That plus kefir, cheese etc. Now we stick with home brewed kombucha, store bought kefir, and our own sauerkraut and pickles. Big on fermented foods here. Tried kimchi last year but I didn’t care much for it.


108 posted on 02/13/2016 9:43:37 AM PST by MomwithHope (Missing you /johnny (JRandomFreeper).)
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To: bgill
No.

My Basque friends tell me that real men dock their sheep by biting 'em off. Sometimes one gets swallowed by mistake. Life goes on.

109 posted on 02/13/2016 10:32:34 AM PST by kitchen
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

I was just now shelling some peanuts and was throwing the shells in the compost bucket. Then I had a thought that the skins (not the shells, of course) and the trash at the bottom of the sack and the salty bits at the bottom of already shelled containers could be saved for broths that will be strained. Sure, only a spoonful is left in the bottom of containers but if your family ate a lot of peanuts then it’d add up if kept separated in the freezer. It might add a change of pace.


110 posted on 02/13/2016 11:47:11 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: Yaelle

Bake a chocolate sauerkraut cake. That or a pineapple angel food cake are my favorite birthday requests. Seriously, you don’t taste the sauerkraut. You can do a cake from scratch but the easiest is a dark chocolate boxed mix. The dark chocolate, like a swiss chocolate, is bigger on the chocolate flavor. Follow the instructions on the box. Add a can of sauerkraut that has been rinsed, drained and chop the larger pieces. Bake as directed. It is so rich and moist, you don’t need a frosting.


111 posted on 02/13/2016 11:57:51 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: Yaelle

Bake a chocolate sauerkraut cake. That or a pineapple angel food cake are my favorite birthday requests. Seriously, you don’t taste the sauerkraut. You can do a cake from scratch but the easiest is a dark chocolate boxed mix. The dark chocolate, like a swiss chocolate, is bigger on the chocolate flavor. Follow the instructions on the box. Add a can of sauerkraut that has been rinsed, drained and chop the larger pieces. Bake as directed. It is so rich and moist, you don’t need a frosting.


112 posted on 02/13/2016 11:57:52 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: bgill

He is an EXTREMELY FUSSY eater so I need a very plain chocolate cake. Myself, the sauerkraut cake I’d adore.


113 posted on 02/13/2016 12:19:16 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: Liz

Mmmmmm, this one might just do.......

Will keep you posted. Going shopping for ingredients soon. Thanks!


114 posted on 02/13/2016 12:21:56 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: Jamestown1630

Ooooh, or this one???? Kiddo might like this one better than the flourless one. And ganache is proof of Gd’s existence.


115 posted on 02/13/2016 12:27:44 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: leaning conservative

You can cook your broth from 12 hours to 48 hours.


116 posted on 02/13/2016 1:17:20 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: leaning conservative

That is a good question, are there veggies to not put into a veggie broth? I think I would leave tomatoes out because they change the flavor too much. I can’t think of others to leave out. If you do leafy veggies I would only do kale or other tough ones.


117 posted on 02/13/2016 1:19:19 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: NorthstarMom

You will love it.


118 posted on 02/13/2016 1:19:56 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: bgill

LOL! Your husband reminds me of my Dad. We had a cat named Duke, an outdoors cat. My father worried a lot, if that cat was not in the house before we all went to bed at night.

We always joked that he cared more about the cat than he did about us kids. I guess he thought we could take care of ourselves ;-)

-JT


119 posted on 02/13/2016 8:02:26 PM PST by Jamestown1630
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To: Yaelle

And even more than beer is, it’s proof that he loves us ;-)

-JT


120 posted on 02/13/2016 8:05:16 PM PST by Jamestown1630
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