Of Viands and Victuals

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

I've not seen hot dogs in a can.  Jars, yes.  Cans, no.  I don't consider the little Vienna Sausages to be  hot dogs. 

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

 

 

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Colonial Comfort Foods available on Amazon for …… $60!

 

 

Edited September 23, 2024 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984

[Subdeacon Joe]

Serving a Moonlight Picnic in 1914. Two waiters to serve 30 people. Zoom in to read everything.

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

13 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Serving a Moonlight Picnic in 1914. Two waiters to serve 30 people. Zoom in to read everything.

 

That last line “cut sugar” might be new to some.

 

before granulated sugar sugar was sold in loaves. The consumer cut the desired amount from the loaf.

 

note Sugarloaf mountain in Maine.

a sugarloaf is pictured.

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

1 hour ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

That last line “cut sugar” might be new to some.

 

before granulated sugar sugar was sold in loaves. The consumer cut the desired amount from the loaf.

 

note Sugarloaf mountain in Maine.

a sugarloaf is pictured.

 

 

Thanks for catching that. 

 

The list does call for e pounds of loaf sugar. But, interestingly enough, I don't see sugar nippers listed. 

 

https://hearttohearthcookery.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/sugar-nippers/

Edited September 24, 2024 by Subdeacon Joe

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

 

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Years ago I made my own mustard. I decided to do it again with a more inquisitive approach.

 

Ultimately I'd like to have a tangier smooth product akin to Grey Poupon for use in various salads and dressings.

 

Basically there are three types of mustard seeds, yellow, brown, and black with brown and black being more tangy, black is claimed to excel. The heat in mustard is not capsaicin but Allyl isothiocyanate and 4-hydroxybenzyl isothiocyanate which are also responsible for the heat in horseradish, wasabi, and garlic.

 

Mustard, the condiment, consists of a mix of seeds, vinegar, and water, wine or beer, and can be flavored with numerous other optional spices and herbs. Since I am looking for something Dijon-like I will use a dry white wine and white wine vinegar.

 

Do I soak the seeds and then grind them or grind first and then combine ingredients which seems to be a less messy approach?

 

I set up two jars, one with preground mustard and one with seeds.

The basic starting formula (recipe)

2 oz brown mustard seeds

2 oz yellow mustard seeds (yellow is also called white)

3 oz dry white wine

3 oz white wine vinegar 

 

I chose a 1:1 ratio for the liquids, it can be altered to 3:1 or 1:3 to taste.

 

If all the liquid is absorbed add a little more. Be careful, better is the enemy of good here.

 

I let the mixes settle overnight before blending. I use a Nutri 1000W personal blender with the 12 oz cups for this. After a minute on the blender it was clear that both jars needed more liquid. I like this because I can run multiple experiments without changing jars, each experiment has its own jar and blades.

 

The jar with seeds needed a LOT more liquid, so much more that I put part of the jar into a deli container to use as a mustard rub and added wine to the remainder and continued to blend.

 

Later optional addins, onion or shallot, salt, brown sugar.

 

Wrapping up here: I really don't think I can grind the seeds as well as a commercial mustard, so anything I do will have rustic quality, more so if I soak the seeds before grinding..

 

to get a more dijon like flavor, more wine, less vinegar.

 

I must try again with all dark seeds.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Remember when pistachios were red and your fingers would get red eating pistachios?  No more, right?

 

back in the RED days: Iran produced the world’s pistachios and carefully supervised the harvest. In those days the nuts were collected from the ground after they ripened and fell. In that state some had reddened and some had not. To make the nuts more appealing a red dye was used to make them uniformly red.

 

Enter an enterprising American nut smuggler…. He smuggled a few nuts out of Iran and began a pistachio orchard in California. Californians invented tree shakers which would make the trees drop their ripe nuts into collection baskets. Voilá, no more ripe nuts on the ground turning red, more need to die all the nuts.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

14 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Remember when pistachios were red and your fingers would get red eating pistachios?  No more, right?

 

back in the RED days: Iran produced the world’s pistachios and carefully supervised the harvest. In those days the nuts were collected from the ground after they ripened and fell. In that state some had reddened and some had not. To make the nuts more appealing a red dye was used to make them uniformly red.

 

Enter an enterprising American nut smuggler…. He smuggled a few nuts out of Iran and began a pistachio orchard in California. Californians invented tree shakers which would make the trees drop their ripe nuts into collection baskets. Voilá, no more ripe nuts on the ground turning red, more need to die all the nuts.

 

Izzat why they're now green?  

 

And kudos to that "enterprising nut smuggler!!"  

[Subdeacon Joe]

A true culinary delight! I think from 1936.

 

 

And:

Tropicana Sundae - 57 Prize-Winning Recipes, H. J. Heinz Company, 1957

Edited October 2, 2024 by Subdeacon Joe

[Subdeacon Joe]

Some desserts from:

 

https://archive.org/details/365dessertsdesse00nels/mode/1up

 

— Ginger Pudding. One-eighth of a pound of suet chopped fine, 1/2 cup of molasses, 3/4 of a cup of water, 1/2 tablespoonful of ginger, 1/2 teaspoonful of salt, 1/2 teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little water, flour enough to thicken. Put the soda in the last thing before the flour. Put in a mould or pudding bag and boil 2 hours. Sauce — 1 tablespoonful of butter, 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar, a wine-glass of sherry. Beat all to a cream.

 

5.— Potato Pie.

Boil either white or sweet potatoes until well done; mash and sift them through a coarse wire sieve ; to a pint of pulp add 3 pints of fresh milk ; a tablespoonful melted butter; 2 eggs; a teacupful of sugar; 1/2 teaspoonful salt ; nutmeg or lemon to flavor. Bake it with an under-crust of rich paste.

 

Macaroni Pudding.

One cup of macaroni broken into inch lengths, 1 quart of milk, 4 eggs, 1)2 of a lemon juice and grated peel, 2 tablespoon fuls butter, 3/4 cup sugar. Simmer the macaroni in half the milk until tender. While hot stir in the butter, the yolks well beaten up with the sugar, the lemon and lastly the whipped whites. Bake in a buttered mold about Yr> hour, or until nicely browned. — From "Common Sense in the Household," Marion Harland, Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons.

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Scottish Lasagna 

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

I love these short titles:

 “The complete confectioner, or, Housekeeper's guide to a simple and speedy method of understanding the whole art of confectionary: the various ways of preserving and candying, dry and liquid, all kinds of fruit, nuts, flowers, herbs, &c. And the method of keeping them fresh and fine all the year round; the different ways of clarifying sugar; with directions for making fruit pastes, bomboons, pastils, compotes, fruit ices, cream ices, marmalades, jellies, jams, cakes, puffs, biscuits, tarts, custards, cheesecakes, sweetmeats, fritters, creams, syllabubs, blanc-mange, flummeries, ornaments for grand entertainments, dragees, syrups of all kinds, nicknacks and trifles for desserts, strong cordials, oils, simple waters, milk punch that will keep 20 years, and all sorts of English wines. Also, the art of making artificial fruit, with the stalks in it, so as to resemble the natural fruit. To which are added, some bills of fare for desserts for private families.” Written by Hannah Glass.
From Hathitrust
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015093177494

 

 

The receipt posted with that:

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Taking apart a pig

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA66TTftC2O/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

4 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

Taking apart a pig

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA66TTftC2O/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

the major difference there between pigs and bovines is that cattle start by counting down 6 1/2 vertebrae from the tail (while hanging) and cutting the spine and make a knife cut following a rib to separate fores from hinds. Then a band saw and knife are used to separate the cuts which are thrown onto a conveyor belt for further processing.

 

Note that that guy did not have a chainmail glove on his left hand, at least I dont think he did.

[Subdeacon Joe]

7 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

the major difference there between pigs and bovines is that cattle start by counting down 6 1/2 vertebrae from the tail (while hanging) and cutting the spine and make a knife cut following a rib to separate fores from hinds. Then a band saw and knife are used to separate the cuts which are thrown onto a conveyor belt for further processing.

 

Note that that guy did not have a chainmail glove on his left hand, at least I dont think he did.

 

It looks like a Kevlar or similar cut-resistant glove.

[Camille Eonich SASS # 48444]

These are excellent!  They can be frozen individually and baked when you want one.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/bacon-cheddar-chive-scones-recipe

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I’m not going to pay $12.99 for the ebook, but. …. Garfield is said to have been fond of the squirrel soup.

 

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Made roasted red pepper hummus today. No big deal, recipes are everywhere.  BUT I did the Bobby Flay thing and added two Calabrian chilies.

 

Eilidh, my helper, smiled and raised her eyebrows. I gave her a deli container to take home.

[Subdeacon Joe]

I learned a new term today.   One of my brothers messaged me with an article about Helms Bakery and in the article was the word "viennoiserie."  I had to search it.

 

"Viennoiseries (French: [vjɛnwazʁi]; English: "things in the style of Vienna") are French baked goods made from a yeast-leavened dough in a manner similar to bread, or from puff pastry, but with added ingredients (particularly eggs, butter, milk, cream and sugar), which give them a richer, sweeter character that approaches that of pastry.^[1] The dough is often laminated."

 

Which seems to describe a lot of Mexican soft breads and pastries. 

 

Now, to go down the rabbit hole of why so many Mexican baked goods seem to fit this category.

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Crispy Onion Snacks

1 large, 2 medium Onions, pick the type you like, peeled.

About half a cup to a cup of your favorite Fish or Shrimp Fri mix. I like Zatarain’s
Same amount each of Corn Starch and AP Flour.

If you want more spice, by all means add it – I bet some Old Bay would be good.  But Salt, Cayenne Pepper, Curry Powder, whatever floats your boat.

Oil for frying. 

Put your pot of Oil on the stove, a couple of inches of Oil in it, on high heat.  Don’t overfill – I’d say no more than half full.

While the oil is heating put the dry ingredients into a large plastic container with some sort of snap on lid, or a paper bag.  I used a 10 cup plastic container. Shake it to mix them.  Set aside.

Peel the Onion.  Don’t cut it.  Put your mandolin set to whatever size you like., I would say no lower than 1 ½ though  – I used my Oxo Goodgrips Adjustable Hand Held set to 2 ½- and slice the Onion directly into the dry ingredients.  Snap the lid on. 

Shake the heck out of it to break up the slices into rings and to coat the Onion with the mix 

Working in batches, shake off the excess coating and drop the Onion rings, strings, clumps into the Oil.  Use your spider or slotted spoon to stir it around some so they don’t stick.  When the Onion is browned to your taste, remove from Oil and drain on paper towels. Add salt to taste. 
Enjoy.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Playing with food again.

 

Onion, Potato, and Barley Soup

3 or 4 Large Onions, peeled and sliced about 1/8 inch thick

7 or 8 cloves of Garlic (more or fewer to your taste), minced

5 medium Potatoes, cubed in 1/2” to ¾” cubes, peeled if you like

½ pound Pearl Barley

3 TBS Beef Base, can use vegan Beef Flavored Base, or Beef Broth

A couple of TBS of oil/grease.  Butter, Olive Oil, Vegetable Oil

Salt and Black Pepper to taste.

Water – may be unnecessary if using Broth/Stock. Total about 2 quarts.

In a heavy soup pot/dutch oven heat oil/ butter over medium heat.

Slice Onions and mince Garlic, add to pot as you go. Add some Salt and Pepper.  If using a powdered Soup Base go ahead and add it now.  Once all Onions and Garlic are in, put lid on pot and lower heat.  Stir frequently to prevent burning.  Let it cook for about 20 to 30 minutes to draw out moisture and cook down. 

Add Barley and Water or Stock/Broth, increase heat and bring to boil.  Once boiling reduce to a bare simmer, cover, allow to cook for about 30 minutes, or until Barley is done.  Adjust seasoning and serve.

 

Add herbs if you like, I think some Thyme or Marjoram would go well in it.  Play with it, make it your own.
 

[Rip Snorter]

Alton Brown Beef Barley Rules.

Edited November 18, 2024 by Rip Snorter
Typo

[Subdeacon Joe]

9 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

Elton Brown Beef Barley Rules.

 

I've made his brother Alton's version. Pretty darned good.  But no beef in the house and won't be until Christmas.   Hence the vegan Beef Base.  And we wanted the onion and potato to be the dominant flavors, the barley was an afterthought when my wife said, "I really want a beef and barley soup, but we don't have any barley."  Which I knew was wrong - we had some from the Food Bank that she had forgotten about.  

 

This was as best as I could remember and guess at the quantities.  Some details I didn't put in - I used two large Sweet onions and two medium-small yellow onions, 4 medium yellow potatoes that were unpeeled and then after I added the barley I peeled and cut up 2 medium Russet potatoes.  

[MizPete]

On 11/18/2024 at 8:00 AM, Subdeacon Joe said:

I used two large Sweet onions

Oklahoma Charlie, whose family ran a catering business, told me not to waste my sweet onions (for which you pay extra) when cooking.  He said regular onions release their sugar when heated.  Keep your sweet onions for using raw.

[Subdeacon Joe]

21 minutes ago, MizPete said:

Oklahoma Charlie, whose family ran a catering business, told me not to waste my sweet onions (for which you pay extra) when cooking.  He said regular onions release their sugar when heated.  Keep your sweet onions for using raw.

 

They were free. 

[Subdeacon Joe]

How to serve bread to a crowd. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA3IFayoFLo/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[Subdeacon Joe]

I've discovered a new to me culinary rabbit hole.   This one in Polish.

 

It looks like the ingredients are sugar and curing salt.  Now I  need to try to figure out how long the process is.

 

Beautiful knife work at the end.

 

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

12 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

I've discovered a new to me culinary rabbit hole.   This one in Polish.

 

It looks like the ingredients are sugar and curing salt.  Now I  need to try to figure out how long the process is.

 

Beautiful knife work at the end.

 

 

Definitely salt and sugar; he often says cukier and sól.

[Subdeacon Joe]

28 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Definitely salt and sugar; he often says cukier and sól.

 

I found the drop down menu and figured out that one was a list of ingredients.   Sugar and curing salt.   

 

 

 

That,  per Google Translate,  

Kanat Kwasior Official: kwasiorofficial
Ingredients: pork chop salt + peclosol 50/50 sugar
Salt-to-sugar ratio is 2:1 ripening temperature 3-13 degrees

Edited November 26, 2024 by Subdeacon Joe

[MizPete]

On 10/11/2024 at 8:20 PM, Subdeacon Joe said:

Taking apart a pig

My high school chemistry teacher admitted that, when she married, she did not know how to cut up a chicken.  But she could dissect one.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

3 hours ago, MizPete said:

My high school chemistry teacher admitted that, when she married, she did not know how to cut up a chicken.  But she could dissect one.

It’s different when parts are in a little bag.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Mebbe a little OT, but for Hank's granddaughter Charlotte's recent birthday party, Sassparilla Kid "spatchcocked" a young pig and cooked 'im up in his OMC ("Oversized Mobile Cooker")  

 

Da Pig

 

Last Year's Pig

(Sassparilla, birthday girl Charlotte, yours truly)

 

The Kid and his Cooker