What can you expect in the Food Thread on PF?

[turbo]

I think I am going to make a pot of chili this weekend...anyone have any tips or tricks they would like to share? The kind I make is good it just isn't very exciting.

If you haven't made your chili yet, here are a couple of tips. Brown the hamburg in a very hot pan first, then you can brown the onions and the chopped green peppers and chilies after. I find that the meat does not brown as nicely when you try browning it with vegetables that release juices. Next, whatever beans you have been using for your chili, substitute canned black beans for them instead. I've used about every type of bean at one time or another, and black beans have the best flavor, IMO. And don't strain out the bean juice - toss it right in the pot - you're going to want to simmer the chili to blend the flavors, anyway, and there's no sense in tossing that juice with its flavor and nutrients. Now for the heat - you shouldn't try to get all the spiciness from one source. To get a complex heat, use some crushed red pepper, some cayenne, some ground black pepper, as well as a fresh chopped jalapeno or two. Maybe a bit of hot curry powder, too. Crushed fresh garlic goes really well in chili, too. I always brown it with the onions peppers, etc. You can use garlic powder in a pinch but browned fresh garlic is much more flavorful.

 

[Evo]

Next, whatever beans you have been using for your chili, substitute canned black beans for them instead.

You buy canned beans??

 

[turbo]

You buy canned beans??

Yes, We don't have enough garden-space to grow the beans that we use, so we have to resort to using organic canned black beans. We use a LOT of black beans and trying to grow them would hurt our efforts to be self-sufficient with chilies, green peppers, tomatoes, etc. For the same reason, I will not plant sweet peas, corn, white onions, or potatoes in my garden. Those vegetables are cheap, commonly available year-round, and would inhibit my ability to grow the special vegetables that I need to make pickles, salsas, hot chili relish, etc. My garden is about 50'x35' and I'd like to expand it, but right now, it fills our freezers and gives me ample produce to make salsas, relishes, pickles etc. Logistically, I can't justify a bigger garden unless I start planting stuff that is wasteful, low-yield, etc.

Edit: I should mention that we have bags of dry black beans, but when you decide to throw something together, you don't have time to pre-soak the beans, simmer them, and save them for your meal. Canned black beans are perfect for impromptu meals.

 

[Moonbear]

I've never found enough of a difference in flavor to justify the time it takes to soak dry beans, so always use canned too. Besides, if I had to rely on dried beans, I'd probably never eat any beans at all...I rarely decide a full day ahead what I'm going to cook to have enough time to soak them fully.

I made a turkey chili tonight, but it's still pretty bland. It's a good start, but not spicey enough. I had some dried peppers that I hadn't used before, so wasn't sure about their heat and didn't want to add too many. Apparently, it's not much, because I taste no heat at all (the rest of the flavors so far are nice, but need to be "warmed up" a bit). I think I'll play with my pepper sauces and see what happens to it by the time I have another bowl tomorrow.

 

[turbo]

I've never found enough of a difference in flavor to justify the time it takes to soak dry beans, so always use canned too. Besides, if I had to rely on dried beans, I'd probably never eat any beans at all...I rarely decide a full day ahead what I'm going to cook to have enough time to soak them fully.

That's the point. Creative cooking is like dancing, and it's pretty darned tough to think far enough ahead to prepare dry beans for throw-together meals. We always soak dried beans for new England-style baked beans, but that is something that we always plan ahead.

I made a turkey chili tonight, but it's still pretty bland. It's a good start, but not spicey enough. I had some dried peppers that I hadn't used before, so wasn't sure about their heat and didn't want to add too many. Apparently, it's not much, because I taste no heat at all (the rest of the flavors so far are nice, but need to be "warmed up" a bit). I think I'll play with my pepper sauces and see what happens to it by the time I have another bowl tomorrow.

Moonie, try to mix up the sources of heat in a dish like this. Ground black pepper, cayenne, crushed red pepper, and any other form of heat that you can toss in, will contribute to a rich rolling heat. That's the way to come up with hot dishes that are irresistible.

 

[Evo]

Beans don't really need to be soaked. I found this out after many years of believing that soaking was the only way to cook them. I throw dry beans straight into any stew or soup I'm making. I cook only dry beans. No canned beans come close to the flavor of home cooked and they are so easy to make.

Lentils cook in about 30-45 minutes and all I add to the water is garlic and salt. Lentils are so flavorful, it's almost a sin to cover up their flavor.

 

[turbo]

Many local variations of baked beans (and other bean dishes) are cooked for a long time at low temperature. If the beans are not pre-soaked, they can be mealy and dry, in comparison to beans that have been properly prepared before cooking.

 

[Evo]

Many local variations of baked beans (and other bean dishes) are cooked for a long time at low temperature. If the beans are not pre-soaked, they can be mealy and dry, in comparison to beans that have been properly prepared before cooking.

I'd agree with you there. But in a soup or stew that has plenty of liquid, I sear the meat then throw the dried beans into the pot along with the liquid right at the start. Any homemade soup, chili, or stew is going to cook for at least a couple of hours, which is plenty of time for the beans to cook and the added bonus is they become more flavorful from cooking in the seasoned broth.

Fear not the dried bean. Plus at 50 cents for a pound of dried beans, the same amount of canned will set you back about $5.

 

[OmCheeto]

Beans don't really need to be soaked. I found this out after many years of believing that soaking was the only way to cook them. I throw dry beans straight into any stew or soup I'm making. I cook only dry beans. No canned beans come close to the flavor of home cooked and they are so easy to make.

Lentils cook in about 30-45 minutes and all I add to the water is garlic and salt. Lentils are so flavorful, it's almost a sin to cover up their flavor.

Gads I hate stopping by this thread. It always makes me hungry.

As a bachelor, I invariably buy canned beans for my semi-annual chili makin's. But the thought of lentils makes me drool. I remember a few years back, I actually had time to make a batch of lentil soup. That was before I bought my first crock pot; last year. (I tried making spaghetti in my crock pot about 3 months ago and ended up with tomato noodle soup. I love to experiment. But, puleez, learn from my failure... Don't try it!)

Will Lentils survive a night in my crock pot? And I've forgotten what else to add. Just garlic and salt? It seems like there should be about a pound of diced pork or a big juicy steak in there somewhere.

 

[Evo]

Will Lentils survive a night in my crock pot?

they'll probably turn to mush.

And I've forgotten what else to add. Just garlic and salt? It seems like there should be about a pound of diced pork or a big juicy steak in there somewhere.

Lentils are often made with cumin, curry powder, sausage, etc...

But to savor the flavor of the lentil, I just put rinsed lentils into a a large pot, cover with about 2 inches of water, add salt and garlic. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer 30-45 minutes depending on how soft you want them. My girls love lentils this way.

 

[OmCheeto]

they'll probably turn to mush.

Lentils are often made with cumin, curry powder, sausage, etc...

But to savor the flavor of the lentil, I just put rinsed lentils into a a large pot, cover with about 2 inches of water, add salt and garlic. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer 30-45 minutes depending on how soft you want them. My girls love lentils this way.

I don't have 30 minutes!
I'll try them in my crock tonight and let you know how it turns out.
Better yet, PM me your address, and I'll FedEx some in the morning.
Gads I love lentils(and FedEx).
If they're not good when I wake up, I'll send you a small box of chocolates as a consolation prize.

 

[Evo]

I don't have 30 minutes!
I'll try them in my crock tonight and let you know how it turns out.
Better yet, PM me your address, and I'll FedEx some in the morning.
Gads I love lentils(and FedEx).
If they're not good when I wake up, I'll send you a small box of chocolates as a consolation prize.

Yes, let me know what happens to them.

Chocolates are always welcome.

 

[Moonbear]

Moonie, try to mix up the sources of heat in a dish like this. Ground black pepper, cayenne, crushed red pepper, and any other form of heat that you can toss in, will contribute to a rich rolling heat. That's the way to come up with hot dishes that are irresistible.

I had added all of those, plus some chipotle peppers, but either it wasn't enough, or the peppers are getting old and losing their heat. But, I found my container of the really good hot chili peppers I had grown myself. After crushing a few of them into the chili, I verified they were still hot by the sting when I rubbed my face (after already washing my hands twice!). That should put some kick in.

 

[OmCheeto]

Yes, let me know what happens to them.

Chocolates are always welcome.

I warn you. My crock pot has two settings!

 

[OmCheeto]

I warn you. My crock pot has two settings!

I guess it needed 3...
Lentil brick anyone?

 

[turbo]

I had added all of those, plus some chipotle peppers, but either it wasn't enough, or the peppers are getting old and losing their heat. But, I found my container of the really good hot chili peppers I had grown myself. After crushing a few of them into the chili, I verified they were still hot by the sting when I rubbed my face (after already washing my hands twice!). That should put some kick in.

That's a risk you take when you get cavalier about chilies. My home-grown habaneros are WAY hotter than the ones you can buy in the store, and the only safe way to chop them is in a food processor, then transfer them from the chopping bowl to the pot with a spatula. I tried chopping some by hand a couple of years ago, and my hands burned for days! Even when I thought the burning had gone (2-3) days later, getting my hands wet washing dishes, etc would touch it off again.

 

[Evo]

I guess it needed 3...
Lentil brick anyone?

Not enough water, eh? That's sad.

 

[Astronuc]

I warn you. My crock pot has two settings!

How much water did one use. I think lentils and beans need at least 2-3 times the volume of water. Most recipes seem to say just to cover the lentils, and they take 10-20 minutes. If they simmer overnight - in which case they'll be overdone - turn them way down. I think, overnight with a limited selection of settings, it would be best to cook them over 10-20 minutes, and then turn off the cooker and let them sit.

 

[turbo]

In college, I made a lot of lentil soups, and experimented with ingredients. One of the simple ones involved frying up some bacon, then saute some chopped onions and celery and crushed garlic in the bacon grease. Transfer the vegetables to the soup pot, tear up the bacon and toss that in the pot, add dry lentils, cover well with water and simmer until the lentils are done. Seasonings are a matter of choice, because the flavor of lentils can easily be overpowered by too much of anything. Maybe just a little salt, some black pepper, and a bit of basil. The left-over lentil soup will thicken as it sits, so if you don't want to deal with bloated soft lentils the next day, learn to make just enough for your meal. Lentil soup with some of my home-made whole-wheat bread was one of my favorite meals back then. Easy to make and very cheap.

 

[Astronuc]

Man am I craving lentils over basmati rice at the moment. After the chat and reading this, all I can think of is Zz's chicken, Evo's pork and lentil recipes, and turbo's hash and lentils, and stews.

 

[turbo]

I just had some left-overs for breakfast. Basmati rice mixed with black beans and corn, seasoned with some of my hot tomato-based salsa and some home-grown herbs from our freezer. While we were chatting about rice and beans yesterday, my wife was out in the kitchen whipping that up for supper.

We grew lots of cilantro, parsley, basil, etc, last year and we have found that if you cut the herbs, rinse them off, shake off the extra water and put them in zip-lock bags in the freezer, they keep much of their fresh flavor. It's great to go out to one of the freezers open those bags and grab some of this or that herb to make a soups, casseroles, sauces, etc. Another tip - if you grow string beans, don't wash them or snap the stems. As soon as you pick them, spread them out on a tray in your freezer so they freeze as quickly as possible, then transfer them to zip-lock freezer bags. The beans won't stick together because they are dry. When you want beans, take a colander out to the freezer, grab as much as you want out of the bag and put the colander under running luke-warm water to rinse the beans and start thawing them as you snap the beans and remove the stems. These are the freshest-tasting frozen beans ever. The trick is to get them frozen as fast as possible. If I'm picking beans on a hot day, I'll make several trips to the freezers during the picking so that the beans don't spend much time in the heat after being picked.

 

[vincentm]

Beans don't really need to be soaked. I found this out after many years of believing that soaking was the only way to cook them. I throw dry beans straight into any stew or soup I'm making. I cook only dry beans. No canned beans come close to the flavor of home cooked and they are so easy to make.

Lentils cook in about 30-45 minutes and all I add to the water is garlic and salt. Lentils are so flavorful, it's almost a sin to cover up their flavor.

Yea, beans don't need soaking. I just toss them in water and bbring them to a boil. YUM!

 

[wolram]

Spelt, i had never heard of it but apparently it is a very ancient grain, it seems it is easier to make bread with it and the resultant bread is tastier.

 

[turbo]

My wife and I have not played around with spelt. Our favorite bread is onion-rye, and my wife has perfected a so-so recipe into something that rises and bakes very well in a bread machine. The kitchen smells really good during the baking phase - wonderful bread for toast and for sandwiches.

Spelt sounds good, though. I prefer basmati rice over most white and brown rice varieties because of its rich nutty flavor when steamed. Spelt might make that kind of a difference in dishes in which we use regular white and whole-grain flours.

 

[Evo]

Spelt, i had never heard of it but apparently it is a very ancient grain, it seems it is easier to make bread with it and the resultant bread is tastier.

I've made spelt, but not in a bread, maybe it's edible in bread. I've also made quinoa which unlike spelt (a type of wheat) is a member of the goosefoot family and was eaten by the Inca. Ack. There are reasons that we improved on ancient grains.

The spelt recipe was a nasty, unpalatable, sticky mess, but it was supposed to be something like cream of wheat. It is NOT a substitute for rice in texture. Maybe as an additive to something like bread, I guess spelt flour is ok.

 

[Moonbear]

Yea, beans don't need soaking. I just toss them in water and bbring them to a boil. YUM!

Bleck...I've tried it that way, because people have told me you can do that with beans. They end up with NO flavor and a nasty texture. I'll stick with canned beans.

 

[Evo]

Bleck...I've tried it that way, because people have told me you can do that with beans. They end up with NO flavor and a nasty texture. I'll stick with canned beans.

Oh Moonbear, I'm going to have to make you my minnestrone soup. It'll change your mind. The beans are soft and moist and have absorbed the flavor of the soup. Of course you can't do it if you are whipping up a 30 minute soup, my soups usually cook for 2-3 hours.

The trick is to compensate for the dried beans by adding enough liquid and increasing the seasonings to flavor the beans.

 

[Moonbear]

Oh Moonbear, I'm going to have to make you my minnestrone soup. It'll change your mind. The beans are soft and moist and have absorbed the flavor of the soup. Of course you can't do it if you are whipping up a 30 minute soup, my soups usually cook for 2-3 hours.

The trick is to compensate for the dried beans by adding enough liquid and increasing the seasonings to flavor the beans.

I've simmered soups for that long with dried beans (after boiling them by themselves a while to get them started) and they're still awful. If that was the only way I ever had beans, I'd think beans were nasty things unfit to be eaten. I think canning preserves them better than drying and then trying to reconstitute the things. They lose something in the drying process.

 

[_Mayday_]

Burger King anyone?

I myself live simple food, like pasta or homemade pizza and homemade bread. Anyone got any suggestions for working with Pasta? I have the pasta but I am looking for ideas in terms of flavours with the pasta. I already have this tomato/chilli flavour which is great but I think I need a change...

 

[turbo]

Oh Moonbear, I'm going to have to make you my minnestrone soup. It'll change your mind. The beans are soft and moist and have absorbed the flavor of the soup. Of course you can't do it if you are whipping up a 30 minute soup, my soups usually cook for 2-3 hours.

The trick is to compensate for the dried beans by adding enough liquid and increasing the seasonings to flavor the beans.

That's critical. If you are cooking with dried beans, you have to have high heat for several hours to get good results. If you are slow-cooking New England-style baked beans at low temperatures over a long cooking time, the beans will be mealy and flat-tasting unless you soak them overnight first or parboil them in boiling water for a while. If you want to shorten the time and try parboiling, here's how to test the process - use a fork to rescue a bean or two from the boiling water and gently blow on them. If the skins split and cleanly curl away from the beans, they are ready for slow-cooking. If not, you risk dry mealy beans. This is ancient French-Canadian technology, but it works. When your winter meals revolve around beans, salt pork, molasses, etc, you learn how to make it palatable. I not only learned these tips from my mother and grandmother, but from an old fellow who used to contribute bean-hole baked beans to each PTA supper because he was a nice guy and he had grand-children and great-grandchildren at that school. When I was a little kid in grade school, and we went to the PTA suppers, I would always find Calvin and ask which table his baked beans were on, so I could sit there. He was a cook on the Kennebec log drive, and the cook-staff preceded and accompanied the log-drive crew down the river. It was the responsibility of the cookee to stay ahead of the crew with a skiff, get to the pull-outs, and boil beans while he started a roaring wood fire in a stone-lined baking pit. When the wood had burned down to coals, he would transfer the parboiled beans to the cast-iron kettle with the molasses, mustard, salt, pepper, salt pork, etc, and lower that big pot into the bean-hole to cook slowly over the course of the day - covered to prevent the heat from escaping. Depending on the speed of the drive (rapids, rock-gardens, and ledges could make driving wood difficult) he might try to get ahead of the crew, but would normally hang back and prepare breads, biscuits, etc and help the drive cook prepare the evening meal.

Bean-hole beans are a Maine tradition. They are cooked slowly in a rock -line pit for many hours, and the beans must be parboiled or they will come out mealy and dry.

 

[Evo]

I've simmered soups for that long with dried beans (after boiling them by themselves a while to get them started) and they're still awful. If that was the only way I ever had beans, I'd think beans were nasty things unfit to be eaten. I think canning preserves them better than drying and then trying to reconstitute the things. They lose something in the drying process.

From the tv show I watched on making canned beans, they are made from dried beans, not fresh.

 

[turbo]

Burger King anyone?

I myself live simple food, like pasta or homemade pizza and homemade bread. Anyone got any suggestions for working with Pasta? I have the pasta but I am looking for ideas in terms of flavours with the pasta. I already have this tomato/chilli flavour which is great but I think I need a change...

Make sure that you saute the meats at high heats to get the browning going, and make sure that you saute the vegetables that are going to go into your sauce. It doesn't matter if you're going to make a spaghetti sauce or if you're going to build a lasagna. If you don't brown the meats and vegetables before you construct your pasta meal, you're going to end up with bland crap. Once you've got the basic ingredients prepared and ready to go start constructing your sauce, while simmering. You have to keep tasting unless your know what your doing, and if you forgo the tasting, you're going to screw up whenever your ingredients don't meet your expectations.

Good opportunities for spicing up a small spaghetti sauce include the addition of Italian sausage or finely sliced pepperoni. Mushrooms don't add that much, but having a nice selection of Italian hard cheeses to grate over the results will impress your guests.

 

[_Mayday_]

Make sure that you saute the meats at high heats to get the browning going, and make sure that you saute the vegetables that are going to go into your sauce. It doesn't matter if you're going to make a spaghetti sauce or if you're going to build a lasagna. If you don't brown the meats and vegetables before you construct your pasta meal, you're going to end up with bland crap. Once you've got the basic ingredients prepared and ready to go start constructing your sauce, while simmering. You have to keep tasting unless your know what your doing, and if you forgo the tasting, you're going to screw up whenever your ingredients don't meet your expectations.

Good opportunities for spicing up a small spaghetti sauce include the addition of Italian sausage or finely sliced pepperoni. Mushrooms don't add that much, but having a nice selection of Italian hard cheeses to grate over the results will impress your guests.

It's 02:10 am here and I have to wait 7 hours until that is possible, I'm so hungry! I've tried a creamy sauce in the past with mushroom but as you have said it can be quite bland. Thanks.

 

[OmCheeto]

Not enough water, eh? That's sad.

Yes. I used plenty of water...

How much water did one use.

Just as much as Evo said to use. 2" above them. 32 ounces of water for 1 lb of beans.

I think lentils and beans need at least 2-3 times the volume of water. Most recipes seem to say just to cover the lentils, and they take 10-20 minutes. If they simmer overnight - in which case they'll be overdone - turn them way down. I think, overnight with a limited selection of settings, it would be best to cook them over 10-20 minutes, and then turn off the cooker and let them sit.

I put in raw chorizo and was afraid I would kill myself if I undercooked it.
Have any of you seen raw chorizo? It's disgusting!

But it was definitely overcooked. It was still malleable when I woke up and didn't taste too bad, but I'm sure it is brick hard by now. Maybe I can use it as a base for my spaghetti sauce tonight.

 

[turbo]

Good luck, Mayday! Cooking is pretty simple on theoretical terms, but pretty darned complicated on practical terms. I wish I could start a cooking school to push this home. Cooking is not some arcane art, but a a skill that can be handed down. I don't need to charge someone $40K a year to teach them how to cook, but I'll bet if I could get some people to rent some low-cost places during the summers, teach them to raise the best garden-fresh food, and train them in freezing, canning, etc they could be among the most sought-after cooks in the world, especially in small restaurants that want to free themselves from large suppliers of supplies/herbs/produce.