response 220 of 494:

Jan 5 19:01 UTC 2002

Plainish Beef Arm Pot Roast
Food & Drug Mart was selling nice-looking about-brick-size hunks for
$1.49/#, so i decided to try something new.  Browned it in a dutch oven
with a bit of olive oil, salt, & pepper, then threw in a chopped-up big
yellow onion & got that a bit cooked, then added water & simmered it.
After a couple hours i pulled off the big/obvious fat with a fork (threw 
away) and added more water.  Couple more hours and i ate some (tender &
yummy if needing a bit more salt & pepper).

Now i've got a dutch oven in the fridge with ~1.5# of pot roast & ~24 oz.
of yummy juices...  Eat it plain for a few meals with bread to get the
juices?  Back to the stove & add potatoes, etc. to dress it up?  

response 222 of 494:

Jan 6 13:53 UTC 2002

I'd be interested in pressure cooker, Sindi.

response 224 of 494:

Jul 16 15:27 UTC 2002

How old are your spare cookers?  The new designs are supposed to be a lot
safer than older ones.

response 226 of 494:

Jul 16 16:39 UTC 2002

Glad to hear it.  ;-)

response 228 of 494:

Jul 28 21:52 UTC 2002

(this is a recipe for a blueberry pasty.  most of you who are familiar with
pasties know them as the meat pie carried by immigrant miners during the 
early days.  recently, a business in Marquette sponsored a contest to
develop blueberry pasties of both the sweet and savory variety, not 
necessarily with meat.  this was the winner of the sweet division.)

---

Carson's Blueberry Pasty

Pastry:

1¼ cup flour, chilled                   2 tbsp shortening, chilled, diced
¼ tsp salt                              8 tbsp butter, chilled, diced
¼ tsp cinnamon                          ice water (about 5 tbsp.)


Combine flour and salt in food processor.  Add shortening and butter and
pulse until crumbly.  Add ice water, a tablespoon at a time, pulsing
between additions, until dough holds together when pinched between
fingers.  Shape dough into four balls, then flatten into discs and
refrigerate.


Filling:

2 cups blueberries                      ¼ cup water
½ cup sugar                             1 tsp lemon peel
½ tsp cinnamon                          ¼ tsp allspice
cream cheese, diced (optional)          Granny Smith apple, diced (optional)
golden raisins (optional)

Combine blueberries, water, sugar, lemon peel, cinnamon, and allspice in
saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then boil and stir for about 8 minutes.  Set
aside to cool. 

Preheat oven to 375º.  Roll out pastry discs into circles about 1/8"
thick.  Add 2 or 3 tbsp of blueberry filling to center, along with cream
cheese, apple, and raisins, as desired.  Fold pastry over topping.  Seal
and crimp, then pierce with fork.  Place pasties on cookie sheet, then
place in oven.  Bake at 375º for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and serve hot.

response 230 of 494:

Jul 29 04:18 UTC 2002

Thanks, Carson =)  I chose to save this one as well, since I'd like to 
see if it's as delicious as it looks =)

response 232 of 494:

Jul 29 14:20 UTC 2002

Do you have the savory winner?  That sounds intriguing as well.

response 234 of 494:

Aug 25 05:42 UTC 2002

Er, how do you dice cream cheese?

These do sound pretty tasty, though.

response 236 of 494:

Oct 12 03:37 UTC 2002

Lately at my house we've discovered various veggie loaf recipes.  Out of the
two we've tried, both were yummy.  Now I'm wishing I'd tried making veggie
loaves years ago!  Here's what I cooked for dinner yesterday.  This is from
the book "Friendly Foods" by Brother Ron Pickarski, O.F.M. -- a wonderful
and fascinating cookbook.


Millet Loaf
===========

1 1/2 cups millet
3 3/4 cups water
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 1/2 cups peeled and finely diced carrots (I used the food processor to make
   two carrots into "carrot rubble")
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced onions
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sesame oil (I used the yummy toasted kind)
1 1/2 teaspoons dill weed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup pistachio nuts or sunflower seeds (optional) (I used chopped pecans)
3 tablespoons unbleached flour
3 tablespoons gluten flour (I substituted bread-baking flour for both flours)

Rinse the millet and put it in a medium saucepan with the water and 1/2
teaspoon sea salt.  Cook the millet, covered, over medium heat for about 30
minutes or until soft; the millet should absorb all of the water.  (If the
grains are too moist, the loaf will not bind properly.)

Saute the carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in oil for 6 minutes, or until
the onions are translucent.  Add the seasonings, including the remaining
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.  Mix the cooked millet and the vegetables together,
along with the nuts or seeds, if you wish.  Mix the two flours together and
add them to the millet mixture, blending it well so the loaf will hold
together.

Lightly oil and flour a large loaf pan.  (I used a nonstick pan and skipped
oiling and flouring.)  Press the millet mixture into the pan and bake in a
preheated oven at 400 degrees F for about one hour.  (If the millet mixture
is warm when you put it in the pan, reduce the baking time to about 45
minutes.)  Allow the loaf to cool for 10 minutes; then carefully remove it
from the pan.  To avoid breaking the loaf, you may wish to slice it while it
is still in the pan.

Serve with ginger dressing.


Creamy Ginger Dressing
======================
1 1/2 tablespoons peeled and chopped ginger (we got a really amazing ginger
   root at Whole Foods, peeled and chopped it and stuck it in a ziplock bag
   in the freezer for later use, so I simply broke off about the right 
   amount of ginger for this recipe) (I'm not sure what makes one ginger root
   amazing and the rest of them all ordinary.  Best guess is that it's
   freshly harvested.)
1/2 cup peeled and chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup peeled and chopped onion (I skipped this)
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup white miso (I didn't have white on hand, so used barley miso instead)
2 tablespoons tomato paste (we have one of those toothpaste tubes of tomato
   paste, so squeezing out this amount was easy)
1 tablespoon Sucanat (a sugar replacer -- I skipped this and didn't miss it)
3 tablespoons lemon juice (I used red wine vinegar instead, because we were
   out of lemons; using genuine lemons would probably have been better)
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns (I used a bunch of ordinary black pepper
   from our pepper grinder instead)

Place all ingredients in blender (I used a food processor) and blend until
the dressing is smooth.  This will take about 5 minutes.

(The dressing turned out to be a bright red-orange color -- not what I'd
have expected of something called "creamy ginger dressing".  Actually, it
reminded me of ketchup.  Well, maybe really amazing gingery gourmet
ketchup.)

response 238 of 494:

Dec 15 23:36 UTC 2002

Cold symptoms in full force today - sore throat, and oncoming runny nose. 

So, I decided it was time to save a little money and figure out to make my
own ginger tea instead of buying it at Eastern Accents.

~4 cups water
about 1/4 cup finely sliced fresh ginger root
2-3 teaspoons honey

Get water up to boiling or thereabouts.  Add honey and ginger, remove from
heat.  Steep at least 15 minutes, probably an hour would be a bit on the long
side.

Nice and strong!

response 240 of 494:

Dec 16 12:25 UTC 2002

Well, I find it tasty.  :)

response 242 of 494:

Dec 16 19:56 UTC 2002

I used to keep the ginger in the hot water for hours,  bringing the concoction
(decoction, actually) just toi a boil each time I wanted a hot cup.  Keep
adding water until it gets too weak.  Then start over again waith a handful
of new ginger.

response 244 of 494:

Dec 17 04:20 UTC 2002

I'll have to give that a try.  I have some fresh ginger root that I 
bought this weekend for a Thai dinner I made.  I could use it up with 
Ginger tea!