Weekly Cooking (and related issues) Thread

[Jamestown1630]

Coxhinas are little chicken croquettes and a very popular street food in Brazil. The chicken is poached, shredded and mixed with cream cheese and various seasonings, wrapped in dough, and then deep fried. The poaching broth is reserved to make the dough, which is sometimes made partly from mashed potatoes. They're supposed to resemble a chicken leg, but most look more like pears, to me; you can shape them any way you like. Here is a basic recipe, and then some links to videos showing variations. The 'Food Busker' has a way with them that looks especially flavorful:

https://www.thespruce.com/coxinha-brazilian-chicken-croquettes-3029668

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMtQhqDHD-M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54K-Ub4QHbA

For your Hallowe’en, Betty Crocker has these cute ‘Owl Brownies’:

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/frosted-owl-brownies/dc6c2966-4b9b-46fb-abd8-81849cea1b7d

When you work (and play) all day with words and language, it is restful and rejuvenating to leave it all for a while, and engage the visual arts, or music. My husband has recently become interested in handpan drums, and we found this amazing woman, Yuki Koshimoto, playing the Hang:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYF415wnZ0w

[Jamestown1630]

The cool thing about this recent closet-purging/divestment is that when we donate at the thrift store, they give us a 30 per cent-off coupon to use on our next purchases. The day we took all those bags of things, we found a NIB ice cream attachment kit for our KitchenAid - got it for less than $10. Haven’t tried it yet, and sometimes the ‘freezing liquid’ within the walls goes bad; but it looks pristine. Watch this space for ice cream experiments and recipes ;-)

[Jamestown1630]

You have mail.

[Aliska]

My mom made some for her club which means they were special, it must have been in the 50's though. She sent me to the butcher shop on my bicycle, which she usually didn't patronize, to get some chunks of beef, pork and veal on skewers. I never saw them after that, and we (Dad, me and sister) didn't get any which we usually did.

I wish I knew how she cooked them only I won't knowingly eat veal for years. I would dredge them in flour, brown them, might be good for the crock pot or slow cook in the oven with moist heat.

[Jamestown1630]

I wouldn’t buy veal either, but there has been improvement on this front. Eight states have outlawed crate confinement, and there is legislation going on in two others. If you really want/need it, you can seek out producers that are operating humanely.

This is an animal welfare issue, not an ‘animal rights’ one. Some of the practices have been really inhumane.

[Aliska]

Thank you for that JT1630. I love weinerschnitzel, had the best ever when I went to Europe. Then I saw a photo in a magazine of a poor little calf, chained, in the dark to make them anemic so their meat will be white.

I'll check out if there are more humane growers and sellers now; that is good news that there are any.

[Jamestown1630]

http://straussbrands.com/our-meat/veal/veal-group-raised

I don’t know anything about this company; it’s just something that I found, and perhaps an indication that things are moving in a better direction.

[Aliska]

Thank you; I bookmarked the link.

[greeneyes]

You have my sympathy. Currently having my own back issues.

Had laser therapy today and taking mega strong anti inflammatory. Xray tomorrow.

[PrincessB]

Have you ever tried to freeze some of your basil? I’ve done it in ice cube trays with a little olive oil coating. Dunked those cubes into tomato soup, sauce and all sorts of dishes over the winter. Not quite the taste of fresh, but a nice bag full cuts down on basil winter.

[Liz]

epicurious.com does this Basil Salt. Salt is a preservative,
keeps the basil flavor going til the real thing comes up.

BASIL SALT

ING •3 cups fresh, washed basil •1/2 cup kosher or coarse sea salt •2 gar/cl

METHOD Blender/pulse all ing. Spread on sheetpan; dry out 3-5 days.
(A food dehydrator helps.) When fully dry, blender/pulse; pulverize into
fine crumb. Decant into shaker.

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve been seeing a lot about laser therapy for back issues, but I’m not sure what it’s supposed to do. Does it help you?

(I have degenerated discs and get muscle spasms that I assume are compensating. It’s something I’ve had since my 30s, and may be due to something originally congenital.)

[greeneyes]

Some Chiropractic treatments/adjustments help immediately. But I don’t think laser is one of those.

It is supposed to help reduce inflammation and aid in healing. I don’t think it’s something that is supposed to have an immediate impact-just help. Just like Ice helps reduce inflammation due to a twisted ankle.

For most of a person’s body, using heat to bring more blood to that site help’s the body heal itself. While the heat feels good when you have joint pain, that doesn’t really help so much with the healing.

The joints heal using synovial fluid, hence slow movement of that joint is what helps with healing. It takes at least 14 months or longer for a joint to regenerate.

The machine beeps when it detects inflammation, and then the laser is used. I am better than I was 2 weeks ago, and it’s been gradual improvement - not instant. I am taking anti inflammatory Rx, hot Epsom salts baths, exercising, laser therapy, and Chiropractic adjustment, so I can’t say for sure what is making the difference.

I did some research on laser therapy and it seemed to me to be worth a try. In general, it seems that Chiropractors are better at treating back pain that MDs.

The joints of the back can be regenerated with regular Chiropractic treatment, really good healthy whole food diet, and exercise to move the joints.

For example, simply sitting on a bench and moving your foot forward and back a few inches would work the knee joint sufficiently to aid in regeneration-the body does the rest.

Even years ago, my Granny had a good Chiropractor who helped her a lot with similar issues as you have with the back.

[Jamestown1630]

Thanks very much. Yes, heat helps, but my chiropractor explained to me that only so much will help - he likened it to a glass that you fill with water, and eventually it’s just overflowing and doing no good.

I find Chiro adjustments very helpful, as well as physical therapy - the stretching of the lower back especially. I’m just so busy with other stuff, and lazy about doing it. When you go for treatments, you’re sort of under the gun, and have to perform. After you learn it all, and need to keep it up at home, you get lazy ;-)

I need to quit being lazy! and realize that at my age, this is just as important as the other ‘busy work’ ;-0

[greeneyes]

Me too. I went for physical therapy when my knee froze up, and I used to do the exercises for low back pain daily, then several times a week and less and less.

While I used to have back pain, the surprising thing to me is that my back isn’t hurting. It’s from the glutes all the way to the end of pinkie toe. Especially the butt, thigh, calf and heel.

[MightyMama]

Oooh. I absolutely HAVE to do that.

[Jamestown1630]

Have you tried a big pillow or wedge underneath knees? That has helped me a lot.

[greeneyes]

Yes. Has not helped the areas of pain - thigh calf heel or butt. Have ordered a cushion designed for sciatica relief, but it hasn’t been delivered yet.

That’s why I can’t sit at the computer. Tried all of my cushions pillows and chairs. The recliner is it and that’s only with the help of pillows and heating pad -especially the heat.

[pugmama]

These are hilarious! I am going to make them for the Halloweeners in our neighborhood.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/10/halloween-vampire-cookies-graham-cracker-marshmallow-smores.html

[Jamestown1630]

Very clever ;-)

[Liz]

Making sponge cakes to roll up with different fillings is a dream---
they bake in minutes. Here's a great cake that makes a deliciously
attractive presentation for your fall dessert table.

PUMPKIN CAKE ROLL

CAKE ING 1/4 c conf 3/4 c flour 1/2 tsp b/powder 1/2 tsp b/soda 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp salt 3 lge eggs cup sugar 2/3 cup plain canned pumpkin, cup chp walnuts (optional) FILLING: 8 oz cream cheese, cup conf, 6 tb butter, tsp vanilla.

CAKE PREP Grease 15x10" jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease/flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with generous layer of conf.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; set aside. Separately, beat eggs and sugar til thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into greased/lined pan. Sprinkle w/ nuts option.

BAKE 375 deg 13-15 min (top springs back when poked).Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FILLING: BEAT smooth cream cheese, cup conf, butter and vanilla.

FINAL Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese Filling over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in saran; chill an hour or more. Sprinkle w/ conf before serving.

COOKING TIP: Looks like a time-consuming recipe but it goes together quickly. Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the baked cake so it will not stick.