Milagai
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Posts posted by Milagai
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I've been able to find frozen spinach, at least up to a day or so ago.
has that been pulled too?
RE substitutes, what about kale or collard greens?
Milagai
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Spinach, Baby Greens! It's in the processing folks. Mr. Chardgirl has been farming for 3 decades, at least one of them in the earlier days of the spring mix/baby greens time. He just tonight wrote an article for our newsletters about it:
Spinach Opinions from a CA organic farmer
cg
Thanks Chardgirl and Mr Chardgirl for that article!
I admit to being a fan of the prebagged greens, though
I always have washed them b4 use.
But I'll see them in a new light from now....
Milagai
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The time.com site has an article with a little more detail:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,...1535476,00.html
1. Washing alone will not get rid of the bacteria
lurking in cut and torn surfaces, stalks, etc.
2. Cooking at 160 deg F (though they don't say for how long)
will kill the bacteria.
Milagai
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In addition to what has been said above, desi moms (I guess all moms)
introduce the foods in very small quantities, gradually increasing.
You want to start with a 1/4 or 1/2 tsp and observe whether there
are any allergic reactions or any other difficulties. Adjust accordingly.
A little later, (i.e. maybe around the 12 month stage onward)
when more dal type foods: e.g. khichdi as mentioned, or
another south indian favorite: toor dal cooked and pureed,
with maybe 1 small piece of carrot or green bean or similar vegetable,
then a lot of desi moms add a few drops of ajwain water or
saunf water to the dal.
This helps prevent / relieve gas that these new solid foods
can create in the beginning.
My mom had a "baby masala" that she learnt from a Punjabi friend
and taught all of us: roast and powder:
jeera, saunf and ajwain together.
Add a tiny pinch to baby's food, or boil a little in water and
make add some drops of the water to the food.
Milagai
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I'm sure I'm gonna get blasted for moral relativism on this, but:
Once we have accepted the basic proposition that it is okay for humans to kill animals for food--much as other carnivores do, with the difference being that the others don't bother to skin them, cut them up into neat pieces, and cook the pieces first--then what aside from cultural preference dictates that we may kill this animal but not that one?
I'm sure that there are more than a few Americans who cried when Bambi's mom got shot and get up in arms when hunters are sent in to thin deer herds that threaten to ruin urban parks or suburban lawns, yet do not think twice when offered venison for dinner.
Philosophically speaking, while I wouldn't want to be near anyone that does this, if someone in this country wanted to open an abbatoir that produced dog meat for export to countries where it is an acceptable dish, I wouldn't stop them from doing so. I am pretty sure, though, that the operator would have a very hard time finding willing workers.
Horsemeat falls into this same category, with the only difference being that it seems to me that the taboo against eating it, despite what the House of Representatives says, is not as strong as that against eating dogmeat.
While I was typing this, it just hit me: Are there any human societies that eat cats?
I agree wholeheartedly with almost all that you said above.
Once (as you said) you accept that it's OK to kill another
animal for food, then go all the way - eat all edible parts of everything.
I've been a little baffled by previous posts/threads on how
people will savor animal A, B, and C, but get all squeamish
about D, E, F (pigs yes, bunnies no! cows of course, horses never!, etc.).
Almost all of that is cultural preference - even adventurous eaters
in western countries might feel some qualms about bats or grubs.....
Some of it of course is personal taste - not liking the flavour
of something.....
The only point I might add is when you say: "what aside from
cultural preference dictates that we might kill this animal but
not that one"
is that in the current day and age we have to consider
endangered species, and methods of killing and collecting
that indiscriminately scoop up and destroy all in their path,
leading to the extinction of the very creatures we seek....
This is very different from cultural preferences or personal tastes.....(IMO)
Of course, now it might be my turn to get blasted.....
Milagai
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please don't laugh
Why is milk/cheese only from cows, sheep, goats, and water buffalos?
Why not horse milk, llama cheese, camel cheese, etc?
I'm guessing milking an omnivore/carnivore would make funning tasting milk...or would it? Bacony flavored cheese anyone?
If I made anyone vomit, sorry
Well, llamas, camels, horses etc are all herbivores, so don't meet
your carni / omnivore hypothesis....
Camel's milk is used in those communities who have lots of camels.
Same for mare's milk in Mongolia,
Yak milk in the high Himalayas,
most if not all of these are used as milk and other milk products
(fermented, cultured, drink-like or cheese-like, etc. etc.)
Wasn't Cleopatra supposed to bathe in donkey's milk?
Tiger's milk anyone? The problem would be to get it.....
Milagai
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That whole Chatham sq area of Cary has a great "little India"
feeling with several good eateries, grocery stores and other shops.
Cool Breeze chaat, wonderful biryanis in the shop across the street,
great Bangla sweet shop, etc.
Milagai
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Peanutgirl: your pictures look identical to the ajwain
in my spice cupboard. Do yours have that distinctive
aroma when crushed?
Waaza: yr information on names pretty much lines up with what
I have ...
re cinnamon vs cassia - I don't think I've ever handled
real cinnamon sticks in my life....
Milagai
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ketchup, either plain regular ketchup, or any of those maggi
variations (chili-garlic, etc.)
Milagai
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Thanks for the tip on not using caraway, Anzu because I had
often seen caraway described as a substitute....
and I do agree that oregano smells similar to ajwain so it's
likely a good substitute....
What about mail order for the OP's friend?
Milagai
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Or expanding / adjustable waistbands and lots of bright colours.
Which is why Indian clothes work best with Indian food.
(Almost infinite room to expand / contract in saris, salwar-kameezes,
dhotis, pajamas, etc.; and drip away, you can't tell whether
the turmeric and saffron coloured blobs on the outfit came
from the cook or the dyer ! )
Milagai
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As a student I wouldn't label this as academic dishonesty.
As a professor, I'd say the answer depends on what parameters
the instructor has set up front - has s/he said it's OK to consult others,
to what extent you can consult, (e.g. ask for ideas but develop recipes on yr own,
etc.); how to separate ideas from others (citation and attribution) vs.
your own innovations (you'd want others to give you credit for your
own ideas if they use them, for e.g.).
Assuming it's OK with your instructor to seek help from here,
here's an idea: chhole-pizza, now a routine Indian snack from
street vendors and from desi branches of Pizza hut....
re ingredients and procedures - there are dozens of recipes for chhole
and also for pizza all over the place. anyone who knows anything about
cooking would be able to amalgamate them and generate ingredient lists,
cooking procedures, etc.
Milagai
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Maybe any of the desi chefs lurking here can chime in,
but my memories of Delhi street food suggest that
seekh kababs are usually made over the horizontal
charcoal grills, not in the (slanting) tandoors.....
I've seen the boti type (chunk type) kababs, whole chickens
etc. made in the tandoors.
How is tandoori fish made to stick without falling off, I wonder...
Milagai
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Hi: interesting project - I'm not any kind of
tandoor experienced cook, but a couple of ideas:
1. food falling off: the angle of your tandoor may
be steeper than those in restaurants? the solution
may be to find skewers with hooks or squiggles at one
end to keep the ingredients on. the other end is ordinary
for sliding on and off ...
2. naan - what flour are you using now?
i've seen a lot of variation in recipes - ranging
from all purpose flour to white flour, but i imagine
something closer to white flour (maida) would work better?
milagai
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I should add that many vegetarian foodies of my personal acquaintaince do not care for those modern mock-hamburgers and mock-hotdogs etc. one bit, but find themselves using them--or worse, having them thrust upon them by well-meaning but clueless non-vegetarians!--at events like barbecues, where all the omnivores are chowing on beef burgers and the harried (non-vegetarian) host decided to put no real creative effort into providing a non-meat alternative.
JMHO: Of all the possible evils, I'd rather have the mock whatevers
than be presented with fish, chicken, things made with beef stock,
or be told "you can just pick the turkey out, right?".....
(all actually happened to me).....
baby steps......
OTOH: I've been afflicted more times than I can count by people
(both meater and veggie) who dislike and pick out and throw away
all kinds of lovely vegetables - from asparagus to tomatoes,
who are deeply suspicious of beans,
and who won't eat analogs either, what DO they eat?
Milagai
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(I too think its idea of using bulghur, rather than TVP or some other godforsaken crap, as the texture component in its vegetarian chili an extremely successful idea--and matched with the beans in that chili, voila: complete protein in one dish!).
Just for the record: the "complete protein" myth was long ago
exploded by nutritionists - your body does all the combining needed
all by itself, from various plant based foods eaten over the day.
You DONT have
to actually create combinations in every dish you cook.
Most vegetarian cuisines however do have strong traditions of
food combinations - e.g. dal and chapatis, beans and rice, etc.
that just go together, and that effortlessly do this work for you.....
You'd never eat dal or beans just by themselves (for a meal
I mean, not one of those raiding-the-fridge-at-midnight snacks).....
Milagai
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If you go back to your original thread, you'll find that a number of excellent books were mentioned. Have you tried any of the ones by authors in the U.S.? Are they accessible at libraries if too expensive to buy?
Echoing Pontormo's question to the OP:
1. Can you tell us titles of books you *have* tried?
2. Do they represent typical vegetarian cookbooks available in the UK?
3. Are some of the vegetarian cookbooks previously suggested
(that don't have the fake and soy issues) not accessible in the UK?
Pontormo: thanks for the feedback on the Moosewood bks,
and I got a good laugh out of that name Passionmelondragon etc.
What's the story behind that person's name?
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i also feel this way about all the fake meats out there. if you're a vegetarian, embrace it...don't run around trying to find fake bacon and fake burgers and particularly fake hot dogs (why make an already gross product even grosser?). why bother? just eat the real thing if you want it. but i know even the buddhists ate fake meat (wheat gluten and tofu skin) years and years ago...
If you're not a vegetarian, maybe you're not in much position to
judge
?I totally agree that it's misguided to approach vegetarian cuisine
from a deficiency perspective and try to fill in the non-meat gaps,
rather than taking it in its own right.
But if someone wants to be vegetarian, and wasn't raised that way,
and misses meat, and finds analogues tasty, then why the &*(^ not?
Also - there seem to be many of the Buddhist type restaurants
(at least in the US) that are based on the fake meats, that this trend
seems alive and well and not back in the old days......?
Milagai
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From the "stating the obvious" department:
Most Indian cookbooks are free of the soy sauce
dilemma and the meat analogue approach.
Ethiopian cuisine also has great vegetarian food.
Gosh: there have to be lots of Mediterranean menus
that would fit these requirements......
I've found Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks:
World Vegetarian and
World of the East Vegetarian Cooking
really helpful to incorporate Indian and non-Indian slants to
vegetarian cooking.
I've also heard excellent things about Deborah Madison's books.
Question:
What do you all think of the Moosewood cookbooks?
I've gleaned a good recipe or three from them over the years,
but I've found they need a LOT of tweaking because they are very
bland as written (e.g. I routinely triple the spices).
It's from them I got the great idea to add bulgur to vegetarian
chili for bulk and chewiness.... It works excellently......
Also, I've always been bugged about the fact that in their international
recipe collections, cuisines of Italy, China, etc etc are written by
people with actual experience and connection to the cultures, but
the section on India seems to have been written by someone
with no India connection whatsoever, who
learned all their dishes second or third hand from a cookbook while playing
Ravi Shankar sitar music for the "total" experience.....
Especially for recent editions, couldn't they have updated with
contributions from more connected sources?
Milagai
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Read the NYT article about jackalopes?
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/health/2...html?ref=health
Milagai
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Has anyone tried Kefir cheese. In Middle Eastern markets it is also called Labne. The reason I mention it here is because it is essentially yogurt with all the liquid taken out. It is wonderful, with a thick consistency and the tart taste of yogurt. Its a cultural thing for most, something I have grown up with. If you make yogurt you may want to try it. All you do is take the yogurt and strain the liquid through a cheesecloth. Then you take what is left and spread it on some really good pita bread. Great breakfast with some olives!!
I totall agree with this idea; it's great and I didn't know that this was called labne.
In India, you take this strained yogurt, add a little cream, powdered sugar, saffron,
and cardamom (variations include mango), and voila! Shrikhand!
The world's easiest and very spectacular dessert....
Milagai
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Finally a word to describe what we do all the time!
And I love chickpeas too!
I dash home from work and have to feed cranky self
and family within a short time with minimum effort, and
yet it has to be "cooked" (i.e. not totally from a box).
It has to be a complete menu!
This is what I often make:
1. Set rice on to boil (the whole process takes ~ 15 mins for 2 cups basmati rice).
2. Make sundal:
2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed.
Tarka: oil, hing, mustard seeds, 2-3 dry red chillies broken into the oil,
1 sprig curry leaves from freezer.
If I have it - 1/2 onion finely diced.
When the tarka pops, add the onion, toss, add the chickpeas, toss,
add salt, splash of lemon juice, and (if it's the right season) add
1/2 cup diced unripe (sour) mango.
Garnish with grated coconut (from my freezer) and chopped cilantro.
Can be served hot or cold.
Can "cheat" and gussy this up with more spices (minced ginger and green chillies
and some diced tomatoes).
This whole thing takes about the same 15 minutes as the rice.
I have a few other dal recipes that can be made in a similar
time frame - not canned - here's where a pressure cooker is
a godsend!
2. Make a "sabzi" (veg) - this is the most time consuming,
as I have to chop something - broccoli? cauliflower? some such thing.
Quick to cook - ~ 15 minutes of sauteeing - the chopping takes time....
3. I always have yogurt in the fridge (I make ours as we go through
a huge amount each week).
Voila! complete meal. Takes about 30 minutes.
Sometimes I can do pasta and a very simple sauce in a similar
time, but only in the summer when the tomatoes are at their best.....
No known sauce - I just wing it.....
Needless to say, any food (whether quick or slow) has to
taste good or none of us are going to be happy!
Milagai
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Just as an interesting sidenote, "wild rice" isn't even rice at all!!
It is grass seed!
all rice is grass, even "regular" rice is a type of grass.....
the "regular" rice is oryza, and what people call "wild rice"
is related, zizania. but both are grass.
actually i have heard that botanically, most grain crops of the
world, ranging from rice to barley to wheat to maize, are all grasses.
non-grain food grass crops include sugarcane.
non-grain, non-food grass crops include bamboo...
Milagai
Are you chicken?
in Food Media & Arts
Posted
I'm so glad there is more coming;
this was one of the best things I've read
recently. So funny.
A star is born!
(bawk buk buk buk!)
Milagai