Text 7700, 124 rader
Skriven 2006-11-19 16:53:00 av JIM WELLER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JOAN MACDIARMID
Ärende: cider
=============
 -=> Quoting Joan Macdiarmid to Dave Sacerdote <=-

 JM> I can still get cider that tastes just like it used to
 JM> at my Farmers Market, but it is labeled as "irradiated".

What a great idea.

E-coli contamination is a rare but real hazard when windfalls are used.
That handles the safety concern without heat and without affecting the
taste.

Since cider leads to vinegar....

MMMMM-----Meal-Master - formatted by MMCONV  2.10

     Title: Anything Infused Vinegar
Categories: condiments, info, herbs
  Servings: 1 text file

           vinegar
           herbs
           spices

Our word "vinegar" comes from the French "vin aigre" or sour wine.
Virtually every culture on earth uses vinegar as a flavoring (alone or
blended with other flavors), as a preservative, or as a beverage.

Adding the flavors is the simplest job in the kitchen. Combine the
vinegar with the flavoring agents and wait a month. Want to shorten it
to days? Stand the uncovered bottles of vinegar with their flavoring
agents in a pan of hot water (180 degrees or so) for an hour or two,
then let them cool, cap them and wait about three days for the flavors
to develop. Store in the dark.

What flavors? How much to use? In which types of vinegar? What size
bottles? Well, here's some of what I have, in a wide selection of
bottles, most of which hold 750 ml. As far as how much of the flavoring
to use, I just put stuff into the bottles until I don't think I should
put any more. I find that three or four sprigs of fresh herbs is good.
From one, up to a dozen cloves of garlic, but less if other flavors are
to be emphasized. Peels of two citrus fruits. A cinnamon stick.

* Orange/white - distilled vinegar with the peel of one or two oranges.
Peel the orange with a vegetable peeler so none of the white gets into
the vinegar. The white (or pith) is bitter. Great for fruit salads or
molds.

* Lemon/white - peel of two lemons. Does magic for oily fish like tuna
or salmon. Two or three drops on ripe melon is a pleasant shock.

* Grapefruit/cider - obviously citric but people look confused for a
moment until they figure it out. Has a sharp edge that cuts through
oiliness. Fresh tuna, salmon or, best, mackerel.

* Garlic/red wine - five or six peeled cloves of garlic on a skewer in a
tall-necked bottle. Very decorative that way. Or, one clove of Elephant
garlic in a large-mouth jar. Full, rich flavor and full scent. Mostly
for salads and only with friends. Garlic/white wine is more subtle and
somehow graceful although not as bold as the red.

* Cinnamon/cider - I first tried a tablespoon of ground cinnamon. One of
my aesthetically less successful efforts. Tastes good, looks bad. The
vinegar ends up cloudy and there's a ring around the inside of the
bottle at the top of the liquid. Now I use a large cinnamon stick and
leave it on heat for about 3 hours.  Surprising what a tablespoon in an
apple pie does; toss with apple slices before putting into the shell.
Good in a Waldorf Salad.

* Peppercorn/cider - one of the best. A half cup whole, black
peppercorns in the bottle. Open the bottle and smell the sweet, pure
scent of fresh pepper. A few drops on a steak is terrific. Use it in a
beurre blanc for meat. Add some to barbecue sauce or demi-glace.

* Shallot/cider - nasty tasting, stinky and an altogether,
no-doubt-about-it failure. Despite the clear facts, I keep hoping it'll
improve with age but so far the hope is vain.

* Ginger/cider - a good one. One good sized hand (that's what the full
root is called) of fresh ginger, sliced thin and put into the vinegar
for a week or so. Run it through a strainer before using to take the
slices out. Use in fish poaching liquid. Makes a wonderful mayonnaise
for tuna salad or anything like it.

* Anise/white - Anise seed tastes and smells like licorice. About a
quarter cup of seeds. Good on fruit salads, white-fleshed fish, strongly
flavored vegetables like broccoli.

* Mint/white - a couple sprigs of fresh or quarter cup of dried mint
flakes - make a highly aromatic vinegar. Nice on salads, especially if
there are fruit included. Add a few drops to marinade and/or gravy for
lamb.

* Basil-Garlic/cider - Superb as part of an oil and vinegar salad
dressing or a blended vinaigrette for cooked vegetables. Broccoli,
cauliflower and cabbage work beautifully with this one. Five basil
leaves and three cloves garlic.

* Honey/cider - Quarter cup honey - complete with tiny pieces of
honeycomb. Very quiet touch of sweet and sour and the very small waxy
pieces of comb add a nicely puzzling texture note to salads and fruit
compotes.

* Jalapeno/Anaheim/Cayenne/Habanero peppers/cider - one or two of each
type of pepper in the bottle. Bites the tongue hard if you're not
careful. Judiciously used, this one makes marinades, salsa, mayonnaise
and salad dressings sing. The scent is rich and peppery and it makes
sauces sparkle.
                       
  From: Bob Pastorio To: Foodwine       
 
MMMMM-------------------------------------------------


Cheers

Jim, in Yellowknife




... Practice safe salt: use condiments
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