thanks for the recipes :) I don’t eat a lot of meat so the black eyed pea cakes sounds like a good one.
Save for later. Thanks!
What shortage? I just shopped for the week and we have planned three chicken, two pork and one beef meal. Then we’ll have to start working through a bunch of leftovers!
Please make sure I’m on the ping list. It either did not show up in my pings or disappeared.
Thanks.
Your invitation to the May 2020 Monthly Cooking Thread.
This month: Dealing without - or stretching - MEAT!
What’s up with Sarah Moulton’s eyes?
What’s up with Sarah Moulton’s eyes?
BTW the Blue Angels used to wake me up on Sat mornings when I was in the Navy (hungover) and it pissed me off!
Black eyed pea cakes sound fascinating. Will definitely hold onto that.
In prepping, I froze a whole bunch of ham steaks that take up little room in the freezer, and maybe 3 lbs of hamburger cooked into half pound packages. Then defrost the hambugers for low meat dishes like lasagna, as long as I still have the dairy ingredients and use the ham for bean and lentil soups.
Thinking in advance, I looked up how to freeze eggs and bananas. I’d already read that freezing milk was a bad idea. So now I’ve been defrosting them. DO NOT FREEZE BANANAS. Major yuck. As for the eggs, I followed directions, pricked the yolks and added a pinch of salt. Result when defrosted is that the yolks are almost hard and impossible to mix into dishes like corn bread mix or over easy eggs or matzo balls. White was fine. So my plan for the next batch of fresh eggs is separate the eggs, cook up something with the yolks that can be frozen, and freeze the whites.
Bookmark, sounds really good.
chili relano casserole is one of my favs....crowds like it too....I use mild chilis(cans) but usually add a can or two extra....
Pickled Pork.
Get the cheapest pork you can find and cut into small pieces. Anything around one inch is good.
For three pounds of pork you will need the following.
Two cups of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of salt
1/2 cup pickling spice.
1/4 cup brown sugar
Heat the vinegar on the stove, add the salt and sugar and stir to dissolve. Add the spices in a cloth bag. Trust me on this step. Otherwise you have to pick the spices off the meat and that is no fun!
Simmer for about five minutes and let cool on the stove.
Take out spice bag. Place in bottom of a gallon zip top bag and then place pork pieces on top. Pour cooled brine over the pork, force out air and seal bag. Put bag in container in case of leakage and store in the refrigerator for at least a week.
At that point it is done but you can leave it for another week if you like. Or you can take out, drain and divide into quarter pound portions and freeze.
I do not recommend you do what I did and forget you had a batch going in the basement refrigerator for two months. :)
A quarter pound flavors a large pot of beans.
How to use.
Thaw the pork, brown in a bit of bacon fat, add beans and water to the pot and cook as normal.
Great topic. Thanks!
Super burritos can be made with very little meat. Rice, beans, salad, salsa, sour cream and avocado are cheap and the meat can be just for flavor.
Any asian stir fry can be made using meat just to flavor the dish.
Hamburgers can be stretched with oatmeal, breadcrumbs, rice
So can meatballs.
Vegetarian meatloaf made from lentils.
Enchiladas can be stretched with rice and beans so can taco meat.
There’s all kinds of ways to stretch meat.
I can roast packed into pint jars and instead of doing slices by themselves I mix the roast into two cups of gravy and spoon that over mashed potatoes.
Thanks for the recipes. I am going to make them.
This site has some really good vegetarian recipes. It was hard to convince my husband to try them, but he did like them. The black bean burgers were good too.
https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-lentil-nut-meatloaf/
I love butternut squash, so loved this brunch idea. Yasmin Fahr is a great cook, with many recipes at Serious Eats. Her cookbook “Keeping it Simple” is great.
Ellendra: I didn’t check to see if you shared already, but if not, share your experience at our local meat processing place this week.
When Beau is off hunting, I’ll often eat all veggie-based meals, but with him he prefers meat, salad, a side veg and potatoes or rice.
Our freezer is still pretty full of wild game, fish and burger. We can probably weather this. ;)
I made up an odd little recipe when I was in my late teens. My kids love it and call them rice burgers. I’ve used them in patty form and for use in stuffings for vegetables covered in tomato sauce and baked.
For the patties mix together equal parts cooked rice (cooled) and ground beef. To taste add parmesan cheese, chopped fresh parsley, minced garlic, salt, pepper and just enough dry breadcrumbs and eggs to bind it all together. It’s as if you were going to make a meatball mix with the addition of rice and breadcrumbs. Use a burger press to make the patties and grill on the foreman grill.
I don’t use exact amounts for this since it’s in my head and I go by texture. I usually serve it with garlic mashed potatoes and sometimes a gravy.
Around here, most of the actual grocery stores are selling out of just about every kind of meat. But, I live within easy driving distance of 3 small meat processors, each of which has their own store on-site.
2 days ago I stopped at Hoesly’s Meats in New Glarus. Their parking lot was full, and people were standing in a line that stretched almost to the street. The store building itself was off-limits to customers, but they had converted it so they could do business through the windows. It was hard to tell, but it looked like they had between 5 and 8 people working in the store itself, no idea how many were handling the processing side. But the coolers were fully stocked, in spite of the demand, which confirms my suspicion that some of the farmers who normally sell to the bigger processors are bringing their animals to the smaller ones instead. Hoesly’s had lots of beef and pork, and a little venison, but I didn’t see any other types of meat. I’m pretty sure they’re only set up for big animals.
(When I was looking for a meat processor to handle my chickens, the nearest one equipped for poultry was 4 hours away. But Hoesly’s was at the top of the list for processing steers and hogs.)
Yesterday I swung by another processor, Bavaria Sausage. They were closed at the time, but I wrote down their hours and order procedures. Looks like they’re doing curbside pickups, with orders taken by phone. Their website says they’re experiencing high demand also.
My family tends to eat a lot of meat, so I’m glad the little guys are keeping up with demand. Reports of meat shortages are getting bad enough that my dad is asking for advice on raising meat chickens this year. And crazier still, Mom is letting him!!!
A common trait of Peruvian style cooking is the dual use of potatoes and rice. “Aji” is typical of that trait. “Aji” is a simple crowd pleasing dish that can be prepared as spicy or creamy as desired. I good naturedly think of “Aji de Gallina” as “Peruvian Chicken a la King”.
Aji de Gallina
1-2 skinless chicken breast halves
3 cups water
Salt & Pepper
3 slices white bread or day old rolls
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ red onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon (or to suit) aji amarillo chili pepper paste (Peruvian yellow banana pepper)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ cup walnuts or pecans, finely chopped
½ cup evaporated milk or half-and-half
Salt and pepper to suit
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2-3 hard boiled eggs
2-3 Yukon Gold potatoes, boiled and fork-peeled
3-4 black olives per servings
Parsley sprigs for garnish
2 cups cooked white rice
Boil the chicken uncovered over high heat for about 20 minutes. Season the water with salt and pepper, To suit, further season the water with bay leaf, garlic powder or other seasonings.
When cool enough to handle, fork-shred the chicken and set aside. Strain the stock and reserve.
Tear the bread into pieces and place in a bowl. Add one cup of the stock.
When the bread has absorbed the liquid, process or hand combine to form a paste. Reserve.
In a large fry pan, heat the oil and cook the onion and garlic over medium heat for about 10-minutes or until the onion is translucent.
Stir frequently not allowing onion & garlic to brown.
When cooked, add the aji amarillo. Once combined, add the dried oregano and cook an additional 5-minutes.
Add the bread and one cup of chicken stock to the fry pan for 3 minutes, stirring constantly until the mixture starts to thicken.
Stir in the shredded chicken, nuts, and cheese. Carefully season with salt & pepper allowing for the saltiness of the Parmesan cheese.
Stir in evaporated milk or half-and-half and turn off the heat.
Typically Aji de Gallina is a rich yellow color. Color is achieved by adding turmeric powder to the chicken mixture. Add by teaspoon until desired color is achieved. Turmeric is neutral in taste.
The mixture should be creamy. If too thick, stir in a bit of chicken stock or additional milk.
Fork-peel the boiled potatoes, cut in thick slices and place several pieces on each plate. Top with Aji de Gallina and serve with white rice at the side.
Garnish with hard boiled eggs; sliced, quartered or halved and purple Peruvian Botija olives, Kalamata olives or canned black olives.
Note: Jarred aji amarillo and Peruvian Botija olives are commonly stocked at most Latin or international grocery stores.
Yield: 4 servings