Text 14392, 161 rader
Skriven 2007-04-21 14:28:05 av Carol Shenkenberger (6:757/1)
Kommentar till en text av Glen Jamieson
Ärende: Re: TRAVELS 922 70419
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*** Quoting Glen Jamieson from a message to Carol Shenkenberger ***
GJ> only posted that 4 weeks ago.
CS> Yeah, I'm not too horrible behind!
GJ> And you are not bad up front, either! (VEG)
Zap! Got me! <giggles>
GJ>
GJ> _Anything_ can be, and is eaten as breakfast, somewhere. My normal is
GJ> toast with all sorts of toppings, from Vegemite or sardines to diced
GJ> eggplant or curry sauce.
CS> Humm. I can wrap my mind around the sardines but not the eggplant or
CS> curry sauce on toast. I wouldnt turn my nose up though if offered it!
GJ> It depends a lot on what I find in the fridge in the morning... The
GJ> spicy eggplant is particularly nice.
Humm! I'll keep it in mind. I'm not a major eggplant fiend so only when there
is a glut, do it get it. My favorite way to make it stems off something i
cant get here in Japan. Ground lamb mixed with spices, corn, green pepper,
black olives then filled into the center with a goodly topping of bread crumbs
and romano. I don't have that im MM but recall reading it and making it. A
sort of med-greek sort of fixing with a little USA fusion? I'd like to have
eggplant made by one who uses it often to see what I'm missing.
CS> Toast with a little butter and grape jelly of apple butter (apple
CS> butter more north USA) would be the standard.
GJ>
GJ> Grape jelly and apple butter are toppings I have never tried, or even
GJ> seen sold here.
The apple butter, I wouldnt be suprised if you didnt have it. Sure, you grow
apples but this is a product from an area with a glut of them and a need to
preserve them. Colonial times (pre-revolution-USA) sort of thing that people
still like. Easy to make too. You have to wrap your mind around the fact
that its a dark brown. It's normally spiced with a little nutmeg and
cinnimon. Goes great on hot toast with a little butter under it.
Grape jelly though? That suprises me? I imagine it is there but you havent
noticed. I do seem to recall the jelly/jam section (now that I think about
it) was pretty small at that place in Darwin. The popular ones are a vibrant
dark purple and coloring is added to make them that way. The natural version
is still purple if you use the right grapes, but not so much so. It's
considered a perfect match with peanut butter (which you've probably seen but
i do not recall sold in Darwin?).
GJ>
CS> them then. With 'sorguhm sugar' if you were lucky.
GJ> I've never come across sorghum sugar. Is it perceptably different
GJ> from cane or beet sugar?
CS> I am not sure what it comes from. I suspect beet? It isnt all that
CS> different from corn syrup (karo). Think of it like a precipitating
CS> water solution of sugar but very thick. A bit darker in color but i've
CS> only had it at folks homes and they made their own.
GJ> I looked it up in my dictionary and Grolier, and read that although it
GJ> is a grain mostly used a stock feed, there is a sweet version from
GJ> which a sweet syrup is made.
I am not sure if she had it named really 'right'. I am only sure she didnt
make it from corn. It was a tan color, quite thick, and had a slight 'bite'
that was other than cane sugar.
Gotta keep in mind, these ladies cooked things from 'ages past' that they
learned from their own grandmothers and they were themselves pushing 70 by the
time little ol' me encountered them. The lady I learned this from, learned it
from a woman who'd learned it herself about the time of the US civil war.
This area is too remote, to have been noticed by the Civil war antics in that
recent contremps <grin>.
It ya havent figured it out, I'm a down south gal from the small town area and
my memories and experiences in some ways, just dont match the others here who
come from big city backgrounds (big city as based on my ideas of 'big' and not
nessecarily how they'd term it). Ruth Hanascka might come close though.
I even tried to tell everyone 'red eye gravy' was called that because of the
ham bone eye and didnt have coffee in it.... It doesnt where I come from.
It's juice from a bean-pot with ham and a few mashed beans. maybe chicory
boiled and leftover for the water added (that would then make the coffee
connection). I *literally didnt get it* that my version was 'non-standard' as
it was the only one I knew.
CS> big washtub of hot water before she started breakfast so it would be
CS> melty and pour well. It's related to Molassis (never could spell that,
CS> hope you know what I mean).
GJ> Coming from a culture which only knows cane sugar derivatives, your
GJ> varieties of sweet syrups, from Jim's maple, to beet sugar to your
GJ> sorghum is interesting. I wonder if there is much difference in
GJ> flavour between them?
Oh yes! Much difference. Had a bit of a maple candy? Even the artifical
kind? Thats maple syrup. Its somehow 'sweeter per cubic inch' than logic can
account for with a tree-y sort of thing going on. Had fresh beets just boiled
up and noted the earthy flavor? Thats inthere in beet sugar and in the
'sorghum' I was used to but the 'sorghum' had something else too and it wasnt
the almost burnt corn flavor of molassis. Perhaps an almost kiwi-like hint
without the tang? Like a sunwarmed stalk of grass was also in there which is
weirding me out as other posts say its a grass but I am not sure what she used
other than she also gre sugar beets...
I dunno. I just was happy to eat it.
GJ> greatest and most unexpected discoveries in America. I have tried a
GJ> few times, but never managed to get them as good as those in the
GJ> "Burrito" restaurant in San Antonio. Had good ones in Monterrey,
GJ> Mexico, too.
CS> Oh, I can make pretty good ones. The missing part is due to the
CS> food-cops. Lard is an essential. If you are making them without that,
CS> then you are missing out. Come to think of it, regular OZ bacon fat
CS> would be just about right to make them.
GJ> As I said to Jim who made the same suggestion, I will give that a try.
I'll look over my memory for you. Since you can get dried beans just fine,
you'll want to experiement with types. This is one time where the type of dry
bean will make a small but telling difference.
Pinto beans would be the classic. I dont know if you have them there. They
are a mostly light tan backround with reddish spots. They take longer to cook
to soft than most. Pink beans (they are basically 'pink when dry' vice red)
would be my next choice. Red beans will work but be careful to not get adzuki
'sweet red' as that will not work (those are the tiny red ones, wont work for
this).
Put one part beans and 4 parts water in a pot then bring to a boil and draw
down the heat to a bare simmer. Let'em do their thing, adding water as needed
to keep it very loose for about 2 hours on the stove (gosh it's been ages
since i stove made beans!). Its ready when it only faintly resists
'squishing' a bean between your fingers.
Cook up a mass of regular OZ bacon, perhaps 2 lbs or more. Let the fat collect
til you have about 1 knuckle thick of fat, then add the soft beans at about
1/2 cup at a time, mashing them into paste as you go along, and adding more
til it's a bit too runny but 'close' to what you want. Cook this down til a
bit dryer than you want and then put a lid on it. Let this gently steam and
add a little water and spices (use a light hand with spices this time). Add
garlic whole cloves if you wish at this stage.
Taste test and it it tastes 'watery' add more drained beans. If it still
tastes watery, you overcooked the beans <grin>.
I'm sorry. This one is as hard to describe in words as 'kneed the bread til it
feels right'!
CS> stop cooking that way due to my cholestrol but as a treat 'now and
CS> again' I make them.
GJ> I don't have that problem, and in any case I would not cook beans all
GJ> that often.
I make them all the time, but seldom that one anymore.
xxcarol
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