Of Viands and Victuals

[Subdeacon Joe]

Take the filling from "

Cabbage Piroshki Using Egg Roll Wrappers" above, add some mayo and mustard, maybe a little pickle relish, and it makes a rather nice "egg salad" for sandwiches.

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

There's tuna noodle casserole, tuna and pasta etc but does anyone make Tuna and Rice?

Its a simple quick dish for guys or girls that hate to cook!

I use jasmine rice, tuna, a little olive oil and add grated Romano or Parmesan cheese. You can also buy tuna in oil and just use that. I have this probably once every couple weeks.

[Subdeacon Joe]

SEASONING INTERNATIONAL

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

LAMB

 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/541248084439145?mibextid=9drbnH&s=yWDuG2&fs=e

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

On 2/5/2023 at 8:22 AM, Rye Miles #13621 said:

There's tuna noodle casserole, tuna and pasta etc but does anyone make Tuna and Rice?

Its a simple quick dish for guys or girls that hate to cook!

I use jasmine rice, tuna, a little olive oil and add grated Romano or Parmesan cheese. You can also buy tuna in oil and just use that. I have this probably once every couple weeks.

My wife is allergic to seafood protein, not iodine: out of respect, I'll not fix fish unless she's gone for a few days and I can air out the hacienda afterwards.

This tuna rice recipe sounds good, looking forward to making it! Thank you for this!

[Subdeacon Joe]

22 minutes ago, Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 said:

My wife is allergic to seafood protein, not iodine: out of respect, I'll not fix fish unless she's gone for a few days and I can air out the hacienda afterwards.

This tuna rice recipe sounds good, looking forward to making it! Thank you for this!

 

Substitute in shredded chicken.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Some culinary humor

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

An Eastern European twist on Chilies Releños.

 

Take the filling from "Cabbage Piroshki Using Egg Roll Wrappers" above.

 

Roast some mini-bell peppers and remove the skins.  Slit one side and carefully remove the seeds.  Stuff with about a TBS of the cabbage mixture and carefully close with a toothpick.

 

Dust all over with corn starch, dip in an egg wash, coat with bread crumbs seasoned to your taste. 

 

Place in air fryer, cook at 385°F for about 12 minutes.

 

 

[Buckshot Bob]

If someone wants to make some pasties 

Lehto’s is still in business and is one of the places tourists always stop for pasties in da UP 

https://www.lehtospasties.com

Edited February 22, 2023 by Buckshot Bob
Added link

[Alpo]

I started reading that first recipe, and was thinking that while I knew that a pasty was big, that thing was going to be huge, with 3 pound or so of meat and six to eight potatoes?? And then I see it's rolling out the dough for 8.

 

Still gonna be big.

[Buckshot Bob]

22 minutes ago, Alpo said:

I started reading that first recipe, and was thinking that while I knew that a pasty was big, that thing was going to be huge, with 3 pound or so of meat and six to eight potatoes?? And then I see it's rolling out the dough for 8.

 

Still gonna be big.

Here’s the history of the Pastie

https://www.lehtospasties.com/pages/pastie-history

[Subdeacon Joe]

Stolen from FB with permission from the author.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/606494777062616/permalink/741526906892735/?mibextid=Nif5oz

 

Baking Powder/Baking Soda and how they work

 

The term quick breads is a name often used for breads leavened bread that do not have to wait for yeast to cause the bread dough to get fluffy, this is accomplished by using a chemical process that produces CO2 aka Carbon dioxide.

 

To many who really don't know understand science, the idea of eating bread that was made lighter by mixing chemicals in it to produce CO2 might seem a little frightening because both names are buzz words in this day and age and tend to symbolize bad things.  CO2 is a very useful part of our atmosphere  and everything in the world are made out of one or more chemicals except nothing in a vacuum.   If still confused, a basic review of chemistry might be needed, if you just spit your coffee on the screen you are my kind of people.

 

Some common quick breads quickly but not limited to are biscuits,muffins, many so called cakes, pancakes, most corn bread and there are many more one can think of, most use either baking powder or baking soda aka sodium bicarbonate in them in combination of an acid substance, the most common of these being sour milk, cultured butter milk molasses,or vinegar and some fruit juice most often lemon juice is the one.  And just to keep things straight or make it more confusing baking powder is a mixture of baking soda and one or more dry chemicals that are acidic, but don’t react in dry form but do when wet.

 

Now for those who were paying attention in science class this is the same as when you mixed vinegar and Sodium bicarbonate, or the ever popular YouTube gag of Coke and Mementos  or any other mixing of an acid and alkaline substance, most of these are really not suitable for use in baking. But since this is not a chemistry class we will move on.

 

Here are a couple other ways to make gases to bread with out using the above, these date to the late 18th Century not the middle of the 19th Century.  These are so obscure they are almost not even remembered and we won’t dwell on them at this time.  Neither is useful in modern cooking because they have two bit disadvantages most will not like unless you are really interested in historical food.  The first one, called Hartshorn,  has to have a lot of very strong spices like cloves, cinnamon and coriander to cover the taste of the ammonia gas it produces making the product taste like that. Pearl Ash is fine hardwood ash, which is mixed with an acid substance similar to how baking soda is used.   The product needs to have little or no fat in it or a process called saponification will give you the taste of soap in the product by making a small amount of soap from the shortening,  this method also needs fairly strong flavored spices with it.   Both can still be obtained by googling  Pearl Ash or Hartshorn although it is no longer made by distilling deer antlers which gives it the common name, the proper one is Ammonium bicarbonate.

 

In the late 1840's baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate or as it was often called in the 19th century, “salertus” or salaeratus, meaning aerating salt) was introduced on the market as a better, cheaper alternative to the previous two that left a lot less after taste in the baked goods. Baking soda reacts with a moist acid substance in the dough such as sour dough starter, molasses or buttermilk as well as others. If you don't understand how this works, put a couple of tablespoons of baking soda in a glass, put the glass in the sink and add a cup of vinegar, the bubbles in the foam are CO2 gas. When this acid/alkaline reaction happens in a dough or batter it causes it to get light and fluffy, the advantage is the action is quicker than waiting for the yeast to fed and multiply to produce our Carbon dioxide.

 

One disadvantage of using an acid substance and baking soda as a leavening is in some cases the leavening action will not be as great as when you use baking powder. The action that produces the CO2 will be limited by the amount of acid in the liquid Adding more liquid of course will change the consistency of the dough. When making something with a pourable batter the results will be similar to using baking powder, when making something with stiff dough the amount the dough raises can be quite a bit less. Also our liquids will vary in PH depending on the source, sour milk, butter milk, molasses or sourdough will not have a constant acidity.

 

Another development from around the same time was what are often know as baking powders or sometimes were know as yeast powders even though they do not use yeast to provide the leavening.. These are a dry mix of an acid and alkaline substance that reacts with each other when wetted while making the dough. These mixtures can be one of several substances mixed together; some that were sold in the past are not really safe mixtures for food. The safe mixtures in this time used a mix of two parts Sodium bicarbonate, one part cream of tartar (Potassium bitartrate ) an acid substance often obtained as a byproduct of wine making), this was mixed with one part corn starch to prevent caking. This is called single acting baking powder and releases CO2 when wetted. These are called single acting baking powders.

 

Many cookbooks will say to use baking soda and cream of tartar in a 2-1 mix as a substitute for baking soda. Always take into account that when mixing up substitute single acting type that if you don't add the cornstarch then ¾ teaspoon of this is equal to 1 teaspoon of regular baking powder because it lacks the cornstarch used as an anti-caking prevention. If I mixed it to use at home in the kitchen I would leave the corn starch out and if I mixed it in bulk to take on a trip I would add the cornstarch.

 

Around 1890 what is called double acting baking powder came on the market; these mixes contain substances that release C02 when wetted, most often the Sodium bicarbonate with two acidic powders, one which reacts upon wetting and the second reacts with heat, these acid powders can and do vary with the brand.  Double Acting types are the most common on the market today and are more fool proof, plus give more time to bake the product after mixing the dough. If the single acting type is desired and can not be bought, then with the above formula it is easy to mix.

 

When buying double acting baking powder it does pay to read the label, not all use the same ingredients. In most if not all cases the alkaline substance is bicarbonate of soda, the problem arises with the dry acid substance, some use aluminum compounds for that. The problem with that is two fold, it has never been proven or disproved fully, but there is a possibility of a link between aluminum compounds and Alzheimer’s. To be truthful I doubt most of us will ever eat enough aluminum from our cooking to worry that much.

 

The real problem with these baking powders is that they do have somewhat of a metallic taste; some people do notice this, if you take baking powders that have aluminum and ones that don’t and taste them, the difference can be surprising. How much of this will be noticed in you baked goods can depend on the flavor itself of the baked good and how much baking powder you use. I simply try to not buy the baking powder with the aluminum in it because sometimes I make things that I use extra baking powder to increase the loft.

 

If one does not mind carrying two kinds of white flour then one can just buy self-rising flour, another product that came out in the 1850’s, simply this is flour that already has the baking powder and the salt added, it is very handy,  I’m using it more and more in recent years when I’m going to be doing a lot of quick breads, it is easy to use, just leave out the baking powder and salt in the recipes you already use.

 

One must remember if using a recipe like most corn bread recipes that use both white flour and another one such as corn meal or whole wheat, both of them must be of the self-rising type or you will have to add enough baking powder to make up for the non-self rising.   This I not a real big problem, fairly simple math, myself for this type of a quick bread recipe I just use AP flour, regular cornmeal and add the amount of baking powder the recipe calls for.

 

When using baking powder in a recipe, some will call for both baking soda and baking powder. This may seem confusing at first, but it is often because some of the ingredients are slightly acid and the baking soda is used to reduce the acidity, but adds leaving at the same time. These recipes when they are studied do reduce the amount of baking powder compared to a similar recipe that does not use an acid in them. This is not a problem when following established recipes, but when going off on your own and developing recipes this needs to be taken into account.

 

When developing new recipes or modifying old ones, a guide is handy to have on amounts of leavening needed to make the item come out as we desire.

 

When using a liquid acid substance and baking soda, a basic guide is:

 

½ teaspoon of baking soda to 1 pint of sour milk, or cultured buttermilk.

½ teaspoon of baking soda to 1 cup of molasses.

½ teaspoon of baking soda to 1 cup of sour dough starter.

 

When using baking powder a good guide is to use:

1  teaspoon of baking powder to each cup of flour.

Edited February 22, 2023 by Subdeacon Joe

[Alpo]

I have a simple question.

 

If the dry acid and baking powder does not react with the baking soda until they get wet, why does a can of baking powder have a shelf life?

 

Not just baking powder, but baking mixes - Bisquick for example - and packaged muffin mixes. They're good for maybe 2 years, and then they won't rise.

 

It can't be because of the baking soda. Baking soda is dug out of the ground. It has been around since the beginning of time. But once you put the dry acid with it to make baking powder, it starts to react, and it starts to die.

[Subdeacon Joe]

46 minutes ago, Alpo said:

I have a simple question.

 

If the dry acid and baking powder does not react with the baking soda until they get wet, why does a can of baking powder have a shelf life?

 

Not just baking powder, but baking mixes - Bisquick for example - and packaged muffin mixes. They're good for maybe 2 years, and then they won't rise.

 

It can't be because of the baking soda. Baking soda is dug out of the ground. It has been around since the beginning of time. But once you put the dry acid with it to make baking powder, it starts to react, and it starts to die.

 

"Baking soda is dug out of the ground. It has been around since the beginning of time."

 

That's the reason. Air can't get to it in the ground.  Although most baking soda is manufactured rather than mined. But still, it gets made and packaged, not really exposed to air that much.

 

You buy a box of it. Open the box, dig into it with a spoon.... and air .... and moisture.  You sort of close the box, but those boxes don't really close, so you get some air circulation... and moisture.

 

A few days later you get into it again.  You introduce more air.  And moisture.  

 

See the pattern?   It slowly degrades because it is hygroscopic.   The more often you get into it the faster it degrades.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Early 1800s Curry

 

https://www.ganjing.com/video/1fgtqe7arb42MRNmq7SEESwy91cl1c

[Sedalia Dave]

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Ok, here’s a pet peeve of mine about culinary practices, maybe you don’t care, you should not anyway.  If you go to a culinary school it will be quickly pointed out that there is a difference between a dry cup and a liquid cup and the difference can be demonstrated. Very important to heed.

 

Now, nothing in the kitchen has been manufactured to NBS standards.

 

to me the whole concern is BS.

[Subdeacon Joe]

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

Ok, here’s a pet peeve of mine about culinary practices, maybe you don’t care, you should not anyway.  If you go to a culinary school it will be quickly pointed out that there is a difference between a dry cup and a liquid cup and the difference can be demonstrated. Very important to heed.

 

Now, nothing in the kitchen has been manufactured to NBS standards.

 

to me the whole concern is BS.

 

 

Mom used a US Navy coffee cup for both.  Sometimes she would use a mason jar if she needed a quart.

 

For TBS and tsp she would use soup spoons and teaspoons.  Vanilla was measured by the capful.  All the other ladies she knew did the same.  Maybe not the Navy cup, but they had a certain cup that they used.  And just eyeballed the portions of a cup.  I don't think I used any regulation measuring spoons until in my 20s.  For a lot of things I still don't use them.  I just pour baking powder, baking soda, salt, and small quantities of sugar into my hand.  Drives my wife crazy. "How do you know how much you're putting in?  That can't be accurate." I poured some baking powder into my hand, told her it was a TBS, then scooped it up with a tablespoon measure.  I was maybe 1/16 of a TBS short.  Maybe.  Next a tsp of salt.  Dead on.  

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

13 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Mom used a US Navy coffee cup for both.  Sometimes she would use a mason jar if she needed a quart.

 

For TBS and tsp she would use soup spoons and teaspoons.  Vanilla was measured by the capful.  All the other ladies she knew did the same.  Maybe not the Navy cup, but they had a certain cup that they used.  And just eyeballed the portions of a cup.  I don't think I used any regulation measuring spoons until in my 20s.  For a lot of things I still don't use them.  I just pour baking powder, baking soda, salt, and small quantities of sugar into my hand.  Drives my wife crazy. "How do you know how much you're putting in?  That can't be accurate." I poured some baking powder into my hand, told her it was a TBS, then scooped it up with a tablespoon measure.  I was maybe 1/16 of a TBS short.  Maybe.  Next a tsp of salt.  Dead on.  

 

I did that when I was teaching how to make banana muffins in Novomoskovsk.

 

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

Made my own Oklahoma Burgers (aka "Smash Burgers) last night.  Infinitely better than bought.  4 oz of ground chuck rolled into a ball, then  pressed flat (about 1/4" thick, about a 5" circle).  Liberally season with kosher salt and black pepper.  Butter a hot skillet (medium high).  Place patties in hot skillet, and immediately press about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of very thinly sliced onions on top, and over sides of patties.  Cook three minutes, and carefully flip, cooking two more minutes on second side.  When flipped, place bun bottom on the patty and stack top of bun on this.   Put lid over the entire skillet.  This steams the buns.  Remove buns, and place slice of American cheese on each patty, and cover for 30 seconds.  Remove all, and assemble burgers.  Recommended condiments and dressing are mustard and pickles.  I opted for mustard only, but I did make mine a double.  Nearly hurt myself eating it all, but it was so worth it.  The crust developed on the patty from the high heat is one of the signature traits of this burger.

[Subdeacon Joe]

VINTAGE. BEANS. WEIRD.

 

This guy is loud and over the top but I think he's fun to watch.

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/mbob-hscO6Y?feature=share

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

TORTILLAS

I just found this one, I'll try it in a month, but it sounds good.

 

Bacon Tortillas

Ingredients

 

4 slices bacon

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

1 tablespoon bacon grease

3/4 cup warm water

 

Instructions

Place the bacon in a skillet and cook on medium heat, turning once, until it’s just beginning to crisp, about 7 minutes. Place the cooked bacon on a paper-towel lined plate and pour out 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease, reserving the rest for another use. When the bacon is cool enough to handle, finely chop.

To make the tortillas, in a medium bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Stir in the chopped bacon until well distributed. Add the oil, bacon grease, and warm water, and stir until a soft dough is formed (if it feels too wet, you can a more flour, a tablespoon at a time.) Cover the dough and let it rest for 1 hour.

After an hour, divide the dough into 8 balls. Lightly flour a clean surface and one at a time place a dough ball on the floured surface, pat it out into a 4-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about 8 inches in diameter. If the bacon falls out of the dough as you roll, pick them up and then lightly press them in the center of the tortilla, flip the tortilla, and then continue rolling.

Keep the rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

In a dry cast-iron skillet heated on medium high, cook for 30 seconds on one side, flip it and then cook for 1 minute on the other side. It should start to puff a bit. Flip it again and cook for 30 more. Place cooked tortillas in a basket lined with cloth or a tortilla warmer. Repeat process for remaining balls of dough.

These will keep refrigerated for 1 week.

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

An old cookbook.  PDF

 

 

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951d02396340i&view=1up&seq=5

 

Samples

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

MEXICAN  DESSERTS HISTORIC

 

In PDF

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://lib.utsa.edu/sites/default/files/UTSA-Special-Collections-Recetas-Cookbook-2020.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwji6Mr21vP9AhVkMX0KHd3yDTwQFnoECB8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw2A3VvgDfm2wxyN-5fbPYCI

 

https://lib.utsa.edu/about/giving/recetas-cooking-in-the-time-of-coronavirus

 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Subdeacon Joe

[Subdeacon Joe]

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

[MizPete]

On 3/11/2023 at 5:27 PM, Subdeacon Joe said:

 If you go to a culinary school it will be quickly pointed out that there is a difference between a dry cup and a liquid cup and the difference can be demonstrated. Very important to heed.

It matters only with very picky baked goods.  Like pound cake.

[Subdeacon Joe]

2 hours ago, MizPete said:

It matters only with very picky baked goods.  Like pound cake.

 

How did you manage to get my quote of Marshal Mo attributed to me?

[Subdeacon Joe]

https://historyfirst.com/17th-century-english-guide-to-chocolate-published-for-first-time/

[MizPete]

19 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

How did you manage to get my quote of Marshal Mo attributed to me?

I have no idea, unless it's a special talent.

[Subdeacon Joe]

[Subdeacon Joe]

Parthian Chicken

Apicius 6.8.3: Pullum Parthicum: pullum aperies a naui et in quadrato ornas. teres piper, ligusticum, carei modicum. suffunde liquamen. uino temperas. componis in Cumana pullum et condituram super pullum facies. laser et uinum interdas. dissolues et in pullum mittis simul et coques. piper aspersum inferes.

 

https://blog.crystalking.com/ancient-roman-food-parthian-chicken-recipe

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Subdeacon Joe

[Subdeacon Joe]

 

[Subdeacon Joe]