Monthly Cooking Thread - March 2020

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Those broccoli patties would be good for breakfast, too! Thanks!

[Liz]

Great idea........

[Jamestown1630]

I remember reading something about the eating of fish on Friday having had some kind of economic or market purpose.

[gnarledmaw]

Yes but dont tell Roman Catholics that because the ones that dont outright believe it get hysterical.

There were some similar traditions in the pre-Christian era. Catholics had a tradition of “fasting” which only meant no red meat but it wasnt just Fridays. It was also Wednesday’s and Saturdays and just about every holiday and not just for single days but for whole seasons. The “pope” that later made it political was Henry VIII as monarch of the Church of England that said no one had to eat “popish” meat. It was actually Edward VI that made fish on Fridays mandatory for tax reasons.

It was Paul VI that stepped in and made the modern rules. This means that at least for American RCs its actually OK to have alligators, frogs, iguanas, or snakes on Friday because for these purposes they count as “fish”.

Locally its just a cultural thing that near everyone does. Every Friday men would usually get walleye and older women generally ordered yellow perch bone in for more flavor and young women and kids ate boneless perch. The starch you were offered in the old days was a buttered dark ryebread onion sandwich. I wont eat at the places that try to cheat me out of my slice of onion. Maybe because we so regularly eat so much fish here that frog legs tend to be on the menu more often than Ive seen elsewhere.

So to sum up, I, a non catholic, have to eat onions on rye on Fridays because generations ago “pope” Edward needed some money which he didnt have because Henry VIII was pissed at Rome who ate too much fish because some pre-Christians thought fasting was a good idea.

It all makes perfect sense now.

[gnarledmaw]

Thats not correct.

I only eat frogs on Fridays at restaurants that serve buttered onion on rye sandwiches because past generations of Catholics were unwittingly attempting to collect taxes for “pope” Edward who was broke because in part Henry the VIII was pissed at Rome that ate too much fish because pre-Christians thought it was a good idea.

[Jamestown1630]

You are a wealth of fascinating information.

I still insist that people who have had relationships with and reliance upon horses find the notion of eating them abhorrent - just as with dogs.

I had an ‘ancestor’ - my Grandmother’s second husband - who told the story of a time when he and his unit had to slaughter some of their horses to survive. It was always told as a solemn and horrifying story; and I think it always has been to many who have known and relied upon horses.

[Jamestown1630]

The first time I had frog, it was in a paella at ‘El Bodegon’, an old DC Spanish restaurant that featured flamenco dancers. (Rumor has it that it was a CIA ‘spook’ hangout, back in the day.)

The waiters had fun with us kids - they’d pour juice or soda into our mouths from the porrón, after giving a little show of expertly dribbling it all over their faces, down their noses, into their mouths.

I didn’t know it was frog, until after I’d eaten it. Tasted just like chicken, to me.

https://dcflamenco.com/blog/2002/07/23/el-bodegon-a-piece-of-washington-dc-flamenco-history-july-23-2002/

[Liz]

Enjoy this delicious unusual bread fresh. Best consumed day made.
Saran leftovers tightly or store in air-tight container.

Japanese Condensed Milk-Filled Bread

ING Bread 200g bread flour + 2-3 tb flour (to help with stickiness of the dough) 20g sugar 3g salt 3g instant yeast 30g condensed milk 130g warm milk (105F) 20g unsalted butter (softened) Condensed Milk Filling 20g condensed milk 20g unsalted butter (room temperature)

METHOD Combine warm milk, bit sugar, yeast; activate approx 5 min. Once foamy, add rest ingredients in a stand mixer with dough hook and start kneading on low speed. Mix smooth, dough holds together when you try to shape it into a ball. Add extra flour a bit at a time if you notice too much dough sticking to the bottom. There should be a bit of dough sticking to the bottom of the bowl but not too much. Coat the dough ball in some vegetable oil to prevent the dough ball from drying out. Then, cover the bowl with some saran wrap and place it in a warm place to allow it to rise (~ 30-40 mins). Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300F and prepare the condensed milk filling by mixing the butter and condensed milk until it turns into a relatively smooth paste.

FINAL Once dough is done rising, roll into a rectangle; evenly spread w/ filling. Cut into 4 even pieces. Then, stack on top of each other. Divide into 8 even pieces.

Arrange each piece in loaf pan as shown above. Cover with saran; let rise 30-40 min til doubled.

Bake 300 deg 30 min. Serve lightly dusted with icing sugar.

[Liz]

Japanese recipe.

[Jamestown1630]

It’s very pretty.

[Liz]

Knockout, visually gorgeous salad---outstanding presentation for an elegant dinner party, or first summer salad.

Signature salad at SW Restaurant, Wynn Resort, Las Vegas....an exquisite presentation.

ING Romaine Lettuce Mixed greens Butter lettuce Vegetables (cut .25”) Watermelon or red radish
Red onion uncooked green beans, Diced tomato Grilled asparagus Fava beans Diced avocado

DIJON VINAGRETTE 3/4 cup Dijon 2 Egg Yolks
1/5 c Champagne Vinegar 2 Tb L/Juice cup Canola Oil Tb Light Brown Sugar K/S/P

ASSEMBLY Pile equal parts veg, crisp chp bacon in round mold. Dress w/ vinaigrette, k/s/p.
Unmold on salad plate.

GARNISH crisp salted shoestring potatoes, tomato cubes, truffle oil drizzle.

[Jamestown1630]

I love those ‘thready’ potatoes.

I bought one of those frozen shrimp rings recently, and was unhappy with the cocktail sauce - it’s very sweet, and not like sauce I remember.

I went looking for a recipe, hopefully a lower-carb version, and found this:

Use low-carb ketchup, or at least one without cane sugar. I used True Made Foods Lower Sugar Ketchup’ from the health food store - 3 g. carb per tablespoon.

Mix 1/2 cup with a heaping teaspoon of horseradish to start; then adjust to taste.

It’s very good - not carbless, but I think it must be significantly better than the stuff that comes with the shrimp, and tastes great if you’re used to real, spicy cocktail sauce.

[Liz]

The recipe I use starts with plain old store brand cocktail sauce blendered with horseradish and whole unpeeled lemon slices, and 3-4 dashes of hot sauce.

[Liz]

Can't have a recipe thread w/out a chocolate recipe.

Triple Layer Fudge Brownie Cake

CAKE micro/melt 1 1/2 C butter, 6 oz chp bitter/choc; stir smooth. Stir in 3 c sugar. Add 5 eggs singly, beating each well.
Stir in 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1 1/2 c flour, 3/4 tsp salt. Bake in 3-9" cake pans greased/floured 350 deg 23-25 min (pick test).
Cool 10 min; liftout to rack; cool completely.

Once cool, make Frosting---and immediately spread between layers, on top/sides. Store in fridge.

FROSTING melt 16 oz chp semi/sweet/choc on med. Gradually stir in 3 cups h/cream. Heat to gentle boil;
boil/stir a min; transfer to bowl. Chill 2-3 hours to pudding-like consistency, stir 2-3 times. Lastly, Beat to soft peaks.

[Jamestown1630]

I’m on a diet. You’re evil.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Where did all the pawpaws go and why are you eating bananas?

Pawpaws did not go anywhere. They transplant poorly, tend to put out suckers, are not self pollinating and are an understory tree. I have a small grove (actually just about four trees that have cloned themselves) because I have the land for it and I make a pawpaw custard that I freeze.

But Pawpaws have a really short shelf life, do not ripen off the tree, do not ripen all at the same time and do not travel well.

If you stop by my table at the Farmer's market you can occasionally find some but unless they manage to produce a tree that produces a fruit with a thicker skin that ripens at about the same time they will remain a rarity.

[Liz]

I did what I had to do. When I spot a chocolate recipe vacuum, it is my sworn duty to fill it.

[Jamestown1630]

My apologies. My personal weakness is not an excuse for impugning your honor :-)

[Liz]

That’s very big of you to own up......oops......I meant its very slim of you......

[Jamestown1630]

I’m not ‘big’.

I’m going low-carb to protect myself from Covid-19.

(That’s my story...)