Food for thought- Building extreme hunger

[benevolance]

Baked beans ..I am not sure there is anything any better than that for supper when it is a little chilly and you have been outside all day long working.

Fresh Molasses brown bread is a pretty close second...and if you get the bread with the beans...I guarantee the husband will never ever think about leaving for another woman

The wife took me out for supper last night to the Steak and Ale...And it was pretty good!

I wish she had made me something like homemade stew with steaming brown bread rolls out of the oven instead though

as you can probably tell I have this thing, this obsession about good food!

The worst part of growing up is that my appetite has been cut in half from the time I was 15.... It was heaven to be a teen ager and be able to polish off a whole loaf of fresh bread as toast in the morning...or sit down and devour a whole chicken.

My appreciation of good food has grown...But I cannot sit and eat 3-4 plate fulls for supper any longer.
:'(

I think we should have a recipee section...I mean  if you are homesteading you have to do all your own cooking... Plus it would be a great way to glimpse into the lives of the regulars here...A lot can be said about a person based on what they eat!

My favorite type of cooking is when you enter into the wilderness and you have to  assemble the cooksite, campfire and look around the woods to find what you need to get supper cooking.

Surely I am not the only one that has gone into the wilderness and used the applejuice  for drink day one  and the half gallon can as the coffee pot for the rest of the week...

stuff like that...

Okay I am rambling all over here there is enough here for several threads I think and none of it will get you in trouble with your wife Glenn!

[Jimmy C.]

Ever wonder how the restaurants make it?
http://www.copykat.com/asp/recipes.asp


Steak and Ale Meat Marinade

http://www.copykat.com/asp/copykatrecipe.asp?recipe=15


Durgin Park Baked Beans

http://www.copykat.com/asp/copykatrecipe.asp?recipe=127



Baked Beans Quintet

http://www.copykat.com/asp/copykatrecipe.asp?recipe=563

[glenn kangiser]

Here's your section , Peter- Did we get your favorite baked bean recipe yet? :-/

[Billy Bob]

I think that's a good idea,  guys. I, too, am no longer the trencherman I was in my youth, although I have the profile to suggest otherwise.  If I can only eat 1/3 as much, then I must enjoy it three times more!

Good job on the Durgin Market recipe, Jimmy!  For those who don't know, the Durgin Market Dining Room is an old timey place that used to cater to the butchers around Faneiul (sp?) Square in Boston, aka Bean Town.  They make the quintessential Boston Baked Beans.  (The prime rib is top hole, too.)

All the talk about corned beef and beans, etc., inspired me the other night, so here's my recipe for real good, real quick bean soup:
Try out a couple of slices of lean, streaky bacon over low heat.
Saute' some onions, garlic, carrot, Bell pepper, (you know the drill), in the bacon fat.
Add this to a quart of simmering stock, (I used the pot liquor from the corned beef), along with a 15 oz. can of refried beans, and a fifteen ounce can of whole beans.  (I used black beans on both counts.)
Let it work for about fifteen minutes, and you have good soup. Try it with a tablespoon of sour cream!
A little left over cabbage and some diced tomato are good additions.  I also threw in a teaspoon of Cajun seasoning.
This concoction, particularly when assembled with the aforementioned corned beef leftovers, is the sine qua non of gas generation feedstocks so be forewarned, or forearmed, as appropriate! [smiley=cool.gif]

[glenn kangiser]

I love it, Billy Bob.  Down with Bean-o.  I won't even allow the stuff in the house. :-/

[Daddymem]

Best ever crockpot BBQ meat

We have used this for venison, moose, beef, pork, and chicken. (bad cut, good cut, doesn't matter)  All come out fabulous.  Adapted from a recipe found online a while back.

Hunk up couple three pounds meat into a bowl.  Cover the meat with a can or two of beer (any old type will do).  Throw in some bay leaves, a couple spoonfuls of chopped garlic and chopped up onions.  Cover it and let it sit at least overnight in the icebox.  In the morning throw it all in the crockpot and cover it with half a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (my favorite is my homemade stuff or a hickory type). Set it and forget it on low.  Let her cook all day.  Just before you are ready to dig in, take hunks of the meat out and shred it between two forks on a cutting board.  Pile the shredded meat into a bowl.  It is up to you if you want the garlic and onions in the mix, but discard the bay leaves.  Mix in the remaining BBQ sauce.  I usually add spoonfuls of the liquid from the crockpot as I stir until it looks the right consistency.  Throw it on a bun with some cheese and toast it. Oh yeah!  And if that don't get your horn tootin, ask for Mommymem's three bean chili.

[jb52761]

Ok...I refrained from commenting earlier on this thread, but here goes...Here's my Bean recipe.....Chuck Wagon Beans...my aunt gave me the recipe but I embellished it over the years, and people RAVE about them...for a pot luck or big batch...

1 or 2 pounds ground beef, browned, drained
1 green pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 1 red pepper, all finely chopped
5 cans beans,  assorted, drained (lima, red, wax,chili,kidney, doesn't matter, just get some variety)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 whole orange, seedless, peeled, finely chopped
1 whole package mini smoked sausages (wienies)
1 1/2 to 2 bottles BBQ sauce, your choice
Generous squirt of ketsup, mustard
1/4 cup or so brown sugar
Sometimes I add can of drained water chestnuts, other chopped veggies...Put all in a big foil baking dish, the disposable kind is what I use, bake at about 300-350 for a few hours, stirring now and then......make it a day ahead and take to a reunion, week-end building bash, whatever...it's always better the day after so flavors blend...people ask me to make this for them and bring it to summer and fall parties every year.....enjoy.....

[benevolance]

I love barbeque and chuck wagon beans..

Best idea I have ever had for a thread methinks!

[Amanda_931]

Speaking of crock pots--here's an odd recipe for corned beef.  Called "Pilgrim Succotash" in a cookbook I no longer own.

It involves

White beans started in the crock pot

Corned beef added a bit later.  Salting early  is supposed to be a problem with cooking beans I've never had the problem with this dish, even if I toss everything in at once.

Chicken pieces and a couple of cut-up potatoes

If you want, some cut-up rutabaga--not sure I love cooked rutabaga--if I have it at all, it usually just gets eaten raw--I feel the same way about their cousins the turnips.

some frozen or canned corn--apparently root word for succotash means corn, so you're required to do that.  I'd prefer the less sweet frozen corn (not likely to do this when fresh sweet corn is around).

The combination of chicken (squirrel would do as well) and corned beef and beans and potatoes sounds a bit weird but tastes great.

I mostly don't cook that way any more.  But that  one is a keeper.

[mikeschn]

A recipe section is a good idea...

We have something similar on the teardrop forum and the guys love it...

http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=16

Mike...

[benevolance]

Amanda.

Where I used to live on the east coast in Canada..It was barely worth skinning and cleaning a squirrel...But down here in Tennessee and the Carolinas...They have the massive mammoth giant grey squirrels....These suckers are huge! Easily twice the size...I have yet to eat one of them...But I bet they are pretty good eating!

Killer recipee btw

[Amanda_931]

I was reading a cookbook today.  Their Brunswick stew recipe said two squirrels or one hen.  So we can assume they were the grey squirrels?

I really do like that corned beef recipe.   Here, I could probably just cook it for me.  The beef-eaters I know right now tend to get sick with anything but organic, grass-fed beef.  So unless I corn my own....

[Amanda_931]

I took what might have been stuffed peppers to a pot-luck dinner.

I didn't feel like dirtying up a second pot, cleaning out the microwave, etc.

Saute, an onion, some garlic either in water or a bit of olive oil--if you use oil you could add some cumin seed here.

Add a couple of of small cans of tomatoes, well smashed up. heat to simmering/boiling

1/2 a cup of cornmeal, stir because it's going to want to stick on the bottom, some chile powder, (tony Chacherie's cajun seasoning? oregano or whatever), at least 1/2 a can of pinto beans, and maybe a cup of frozen corn, stir until it gets thick.  

Then either stuff your peppers (for with the quantities listed) with the mixture, or cut the peppers up and just toss them in.  If the latter, use low heat, keep stirring frequently.  if the former, put the peppers into a microwavable pot with a little water in the bottom, cover and nuke on medium power, maybe as much as half an hour.

I think it's a little better with stuffed peppers--too much like ratatouille this way, but it was still good.  And the vegetarians in the crowd were happy.

Not as written, that's an official recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks.

[Sassy]

Amanda, I just finished reading your recipe - it's almost 10pm & I was out plastering the archway on the "RV" garage for the past several hours, but it sounded so yummy, I almost got up enough energy to go make it!  If Glenn was here tonight, I probably would have...  

[Amanda_931]

Back the last time I had my hands on the book, I copied that recipe out onto the computer.  If you'd like it I'll send it.  

[Sassy]

Please do!  After writing the previous reply, I went looking for something to eat... didn't really want to cook anything - found a can of refried beans with jalapenos in them - heated some up with cheese on top - pretty good & pretty fast...

I have a recipe my mom used to make which she called "chuckwagon casserole"

brown ground beef with onions, drain fat, add stewed tomatoes, cut up green peppers, whatever seasonings you want, let it cook for a bit (approx 20 min) to get all the flavors blended,, pour a bag of noodles (I use the organic whole wheat) & pour a little water over the noodles to make sure there's enough moisture to steam them, liberally sprinkle grated cheese over it all, cover & let cook until noodles are "al dente" (I don't like soggy noodles) & cheese melted & serve.  (unfortunately, I don't usually measure stuff)

This is a quick one pan recipe - for some reason,  really like it... I can remember, though, when I was in high school, I hated green peppers & so did my sister.  We begged my mom not to put the peppers in the casserole, told her they ruined it... she insisted on putting them in, so I grabbed the pepper & ran outside, my mom had to chase me out into the street to get it!    Funny, now I love green peppers...  

[Daddymem]

Green bean burger casserole:

Cook up a package of egg noodles.
Brown and drain ground beef.
Boil or steam green beans (somtimes I cook them with the noodles).
Combine noodles, ground beef, green beans, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and around a half can of milk.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Sorry, quantities are up to you, just wing it.  Even better after it sits overnight.  I usually make a huge pot of it and eat it several times over the course of a week, good, cheap, stick to your ribs meal.

[Sassy]

Hey Daddymem, you're my kinda man!    We had a discussion at work awhile back - all the women said they liked to cook a large quantity & could eat left-overs for the rest of the week, all the guys said that to repeat a meal more than once in a month, was too often... one said he didn't like a meal repeated more than once every couple months, but then, he does all the cooking at his house   ...

I've made that recipe a lot too, it's another one of my favorites - but I add some sour cream to it - I like the tang it gives (lots of times I use non-fat organic yogurt because it gives the same flavor but not the calories).   Anymore, I can't eat dairy products unless they are organic because there are so many hormones, antibiotics etc in the regular milk.  I'm kind of a hypocrite cuz I still eat junk food...  :-/

[deertracks]

Love that green pepper story Sassy... I still don't like green peppers and leave them out in exchange for just about anything else! My hubby feels deprived. This food thread is going so well it may need it's own section with a recipe exchange for hungry builders!!
deertracks

[glenn kangiser]

I was going to spare you guys, but you keep bringing up peppers.

There was a post card on the wall of a truck dispatch office with a picture of the Mexican Flu-Flu Bird.  It lives on a diet of chile peppers and refried beans and flies backwards to keep it's tail feathers cool.

Nevermind. :-/

[Billy Bob]

Lol, Glenn!  Timing is the key to comedic genius; I had just sat down with a couple bean burritos and green pepper tabasco sauce for a late supper, and what do I read?

Good recipes, folks!  They remind me of that old rhyme:

"Peas porridge hot,
Peas porridge cold,
Peas prridge in the pot,
Nine days old."

For the uninitiated, peas porridge is thick pea soup.... the kind you make a big batch, and eat it 'til its gone!  [smiley=wink.gif]

BTW, Sassy, I'm in the "leftovers are good" camp, too.  So many things are better after they meld for a day or so.   Besides, wasting food makes me crazy.  Thanks for the tip about the yogurt..

Peas Porridge:
Put two cups of dried peas in a kettle with three cups of water, a chopped onion, and your favorite seasonings, (I like a few peppercorns and a bay leaf).  If you are not vegan, a smoked ham hock or a leftover hambone, something like that, may be added also.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer until the peas are mushy. ( Add water if neccesary. )   Eat for several days. [smiley=wink.gif]

[Amanda_931]

I have a cookbook written because the author decided she couldn't use fatback or ham hocks--and other fats in nearly everything the they way she had.

She decided that onions carmelized in a bit of olive oil worked to add depth of flavor to things like beans and greens.

Not the same flavor, mind you.

Cook thinly sliced onions for a long long time half an hour, stirring occasionally, over very low heat in enough oil to cover the cover the bottom of the (otherwise uncovered) skillet.  

I like the results, but may do this outside next time, at least with the vent fan on.  

The onions end up sweet, soft, and brown.

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks, Billy BoB.  I needed that.  I seem to have bombed here so much lately. :-/

PS -- Have you been walking backwards?  

[Billy Bob]

Lol, yes! Yesterday. And landed on my tail feathers in a 30yd. dumpster!  Had to look around to see if anyone saw my essay on physical grace. [smiley=vrolijk_26.gif]

[CREATIVE1]

Another idea(sounds too easy, I know)

Fish without a hitch:

In a wok, boil water, ginger, hot peppers, white wine, or whatever captures your fancy.  Take whitefish or some other similar whole fish, make big slits in the sides.  Turn off the heat, throw it in!  Putter around with the side dishes, drink some of that wine.  When the fins wiggle free/pull loose, it's done.  Love this dirt simple stuff.