Jan. 26th, 2004
(no subject)
Jan. 26th, 2004 07:22 pmI went to quick-soak some beans a while ago--not ideal, but they sounded good for supper--and was glad I chose the pot I did. It was already full of beans my mom had apparently put on to soak earlier. :) That tended toward the funnier because I couldn't find enough pinto beans, so had decided to cook red beans; I guess so, since most of the last bag of pintos was already in the pot!
I'm slightly irritated at not being able to make cornbread. The oven heating element is still not working, though Sidney said he could fix it a couple of weeks ago. Pinto beans fairly scream for cornbread. I can just make corn cakes on a griddle again, though--I'd almost forgotten, the last time I fixed them, that I really kind of prefer their texture. Less crumbly and chokey. I may do some again with a surprisingly tasty Cherokee twist--throwing in some drained beans with part of the batter, once the beans are done. I haven't had a chance to try the baked version, though that's a sweeter and wheatier basic batter than I prefer, with a slightly high-sounding bean ratio for my taste. A buttermilk base is better, IMO. My mother finds the idea of putting in beans as offputting as mashing potatoes with anything besides butter and milk (she can get strange about some basic foodstuffs), and wouldn't even touch the bean cakes.
I am fighting a strange urge to package up a few cups' worth of good local cornmeal, as much as I tend to use it. (Big Spring Mill products from Elliston, mmm.) Food products are certainly readily available elsewhere, but Southern white dent corn is difficult to match. Besides baked goods, the flavor and pearly color of very simple preparations like mush/polenta are so lovely. I don't know if it's common varieties, growing conditions, or both, but I just haven't been that impressed with European flour corn products. A lot of national-brand ones tend to be truly crappy here, for that matter. What they're using in there, I might grow for animal fodder. Selecting for yield over flavor is frequently a poor idea.
Cooking beans (and very possibly making some canned greens edible) also gave me a fleeting urge to smuggle in a small chunk of proper seasoning meat, because bacon is just not the same in the few cases one really does need it. I think I can resist that one. *g* It reminded me of a story I got a kick out of, from a guy who went to visit family in Poland. Right before he left, his uncle butchered and sent him home with a suitcase full of sausages and things, with which he nervously managed to make it through Customs. (Obviously, edible sausages just can't be found here. *g*) I can too easily picture various relatives doing something like this, the way they press huge boxes of pickles and jams on me every time I go to visit. :)
I'm slightly irritated at not being able to make cornbread. The oven heating element is still not working, though Sidney said he could fix it a couple of weeks ago. Pinto beans fairly scream for cornbread. I can just make corn cakes on a griddle again, though--I'd almost forgotten, the last time I fixed them, that I really kind of prefer their texture. Less crumbly and chokey. I may do some again with a surprisingly tasty Cherokee twist--throwing in some drained beans with part of the batter, once the beans are done. I haven't had a chance to try the baked version, though that's a sweeter and wheatier basic batter than I prefer, with a slightly high-sounding bean ratio for my taste. A buttermilk base is better, IMO. My mother finds the idea of putting in beans as offputting as mashing potatoes with anything besides butter and milk (she can get strange about some basic foodstuffs), and wouldn't even touch the bean cakes.
I am fighting a strange urge to package up a few cups' worth of good local cornmeal, as much as I tend to use it. (Big Spring Mill products from Elliston, mmm.) Food products are certainly readily available elsewhere, but Southern white dent corn is difficult to match. Besides baked goods, the flavor and pearly color of very simple preparations like mush/polenta are so lovely. I don't know if it's common varieties, growing conditions, or both, but I just haven't been that impressed with European flour corn products. A lot of national-brand ones tend to be truly crappy here, for that matter. What they're using in there, I might grow for animal fodder. Selecting for yield over flavor is frequently a poor idea.
Cooking beans (and very possibly making some canned greens edible) also gave me a fleeting urge to smuggle in a small chunk of proper seasoning meat, because bacon is just not the same in the few cases one really does need it. I think I can resist that one. *g* It reminded me of a story I got a kick out of, from a guy who went to visit family in Poland. Right before he left, his uncle butchered and sent him home with a suitcase full of sausages and things, with which he nervously managed to make it through Customs. (Obviously, edible sausages just can't be found here. *g*) I can too easily picture various relatives doing something like this, the way they press huge boxes of pickles and jams on me every time I go to visit. :)