SLB

Hello folks, long time no bean-posts. I'm looking for ideas of what to do with pigeon peas besides Caribbean-style rice-n-peas. I find pigeon peas to have a distinct (and kind of funky) taste, so I never want to eat them plain as a side. I do like rice-n-peas quite a bit, but I have a pound of the beans in my cupboard, and another half pound cooked up in my freezer; I thought maybe I could branch out. Who eats these? What are you doing with them?

This article may be of interest: https://story.californiasunday.com/resnick-a-kingdom-from-dust

I live in a NYC apartment with windowboxes only, and in any event failed to get winter stuff planted this year. [I think that's supposed to go in the Flower Gardening thread . . . .] But anyway, I spied this on the train the other day, on the back of someone's very large instrument case. I thought of y'all.

I confess I had forgotten all about Pimento cheese until I recently ran across a picture from @Shelby who was having a sandwich of it for breakfast on one of those blogs. Suddenly I wanted a pimento cheese sandwich, bad. And then this thread. And finally, I just came back from Vermont, where the cheddar is EXCELLENT. It's gonna be a weekend of pimento cheese trials, that's for sure.

Thanks for the tip, Shalmanese.

I read something recently that suggested that I substitute different less-refined sugars -- such as demerara or turbinado -- for the brown sugar that is called for in so many confections. What do y'all think of this? Does it make sense? It seems that the volumes would be dramatically different, because of the large crystals in retail raw sugars.

Thanks!

Bumping this topic, as I'm thinking about getting me a cleaver (for bones). @kayb, are you happy with your selection? Those Dexters look heavy. But my, are they beautiful.

Here is my wee batch of very-late-season aji dulce peppers, with a few hotter ones in there for good measure. I started out thinking I was going to use a recipe with strong seasonings like horseradish, and mid-stream realized that I was not gonna do alla that. Because I like basic pickled peppers on my food (the kind you buy at the store!). Plus, I kind of wanted to taste just this pepper.

I mean, it is the holidays . . . .

Mushrooms. I'm comparing HungryChris's pickled 'shrooms with two pickle recipes from the Joy of Pickling, the "Marinated Herbed Mushrooms", and "Polish Mushroom Pickles". None of these is processed. I kinda messed up the HungryChris procedure, I made my own vinaigrette instead of the prescribed "good Italian dressing", which I didn't have. My own vinaigrette was tasty enough, but the olive oil in it promptly solidified -- duh -- making for a nice grease cap. Not the worst that could happen, but not adding much to the flavor mingle, either. Also, I'm pickling a very small quantity of aji dulce peppers that some nice dude had at the farmer's market. They were delicious raw, I hope I don't mess 'em up.

ChocoMom, I have an excellent family recipe for baked beans that has ground beef in it. I encourage you to give it a try.

Yes, Frantoi Cutrera. Good stuff.

Yeah. Especially when the actual food actually looks like that.

The one on the left, which isn't their unfiltered oil; maybe I'll try it. I'm going back for the refund this evening. [ The oil on the right is my very favorite finishing/dressing olive oil. This may be my last bottle of it, though, because it is too damn high.

Oh, I like peppery oils. I don't think of it as "mild", though; it comes through stronger than I'm looking for. And I agree that I don't actually need extra-virgin for these purposes, although I don't want a totally neutral oil; I just like the taste of the Fairway house blend. It was pretty mild. The suggestions are really helpful, thank you.

I don't true-fry, but I sautee in it regularly. It's the oil I would use to slick up veggies for roasting. I will use that mild oil for dressing if the other flavors in the dressing are going to be extremely prominent. I don't think one needs extra-virgin for these purposes, but I liked the mild taste of the Fairway one (until recently), and it was available in bulk. For real frying, I use mass produced corn oil or lard. I read somewhere on eG that this was akin to an old-wives-tale, but I'd thought olive oils wouldn't take the extended heat of frying. Not that I'd want the taste of it in my fried foods. It's true, though; I do use a lot of oil, all the oils. I'm kind of a high-fat eater, honestly. Thanks to all of you for the suggestions. I was feeling kind of crazed with the thought of having to taste my way back to an old-standby.

For a decade, my basic mild olive oil, not for dressing or finishing, was Fairway Market's blend. I'd buy the 3-liter cans, and be very happy. Well. Something Has Happened. I bought a can last week that was so bitter I thought it might be rancid. I tried to give it peppery -- I've had Sicilian oils that pack some serious bite. But no. Ultimately I decided it was just bitter, after trying to cook with it (I know this is idiotic, to try to cook the bitter out of oil . . . but WHO HAS TIME TO LUG OLIVE OIL BACK TO THE STORE???). Sigh. I found the time, complained to the store, and exchanged it for a new can. Unfortunately , it's giving the same bitter. I mean, this stuff is nasty. I sent a detailed email back to the store manager, and will be taking it back for a refund. So now I need a recommendation a decently priced genuinely mild-flavored olive oil that I can get in larger volumes. I know the oils I like for finishing, and don't have any interest in purchasing them in large quantities. I'm hoping to short-cut the ole' trial and error method, sigh. You guys got any recs?

Awww. Chile'. I understand.

Thanks, that is useful. Beyond the lime pickle, I've found this thread inspiring, and also stunning. I stumbled in here because I was researching a freezing method for something or other, which led me to preserving generally. Now I'm trying to locate some space in my apartment kitchen for some new gear . . . .

Thanks for chiming in, @sartoric. And just to clarify -- you store in the cupboard without additional processing, just with the vinegar-plus pack?

Thank you so much!

Sartoric, this is from several months back, but could you post the exact recipe for these? If anyone else has an Indian-style lime pickle, I'd love to have their recipe.

I ran across this on a thread here recently (I don't remember if the actual post was in fact recent), but Jane Grigson's "The Mushroom Feast". Oh man. Grigson will make a person reconsider all her life's choices.

Seconding the ask for the recipe.