White Trash Delicacies

[fresco]

Is the moment when it explodes where the term "screaming eagles" comes from? BTW, this may open up a whole new area for discussion--dangerous delicacies, where the preparation involves a degree of risk.

Edited July 3, 2003 by fresco (log)

[Katherine]

There is no danger that the can will explode. Canned goods are processed under much higher temperatures and pressures than you can achieve in a regular pot on your stove.

Sorry to explode your myths.

[fresco]

When you put it that way, it seems to make sense. Must be an extremely persistent myth, though, because just about every mention of boiling evaporated milk in the can warns of the danger of explosion.

[Nick]

There is no danger that the can will explode. Canned goods are processed under much higher temperatures and pressures than you can achieve in a regular pot on your stove.

Sorry to explode your myths.

Sorry, Katherine, but many years ago (many, many years ago) my grandmother put a can of brown bread into a water bath to heat it. She'd always done this, but this time she forgot to punch a hole in the top. End of the can blew off, resulting in brown bread all over the ceiling.

This is a true story, not a myth.

[Katherine]

If you were to put the can in an oven at 450 degrees, it might explode at some point, but the net effect would be contained in the oven, ie., a godawful sticky/smoky mess.

[Katherine]

There is no danger that the can will explode. Canned goods are processed under much higher temperatures and pressures than you can achieve in a regular pot on your stove.

Sorry to explode your myths.

Sorry, Katherine, but many years ago (many, many years ago) my grandmother put a can of brown bread into a water bath to heat it. She'd always done this, but this time she forgot to punch a hole in the top. End of the can blew off, resulting in brown bread all over the ceiling.

This is a true story, not a myth.

The can was probably defective.

[Foam Pants]

I'm new here.  Lord help me, this is the first forum that I've felt compelled to respond to...

My fantasy white trash menu:

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

Chicken Ketcha-cola

Velveeta Fudge

Danger Pudding

Oooo! Stawberry pretzel salad. Takes me back to my college days! I loved that stuff. Went well with the tater casserole food service made.

[slkinsey]

I hesitate to divulge the recipe for danger pudding.  Because, much like the name, it is dangerous (pause for spooky music).

(recipe snipped for brevity)

Isn't this the same recipe as dulce de leche?

Nothing white trashy about that! It's a hip foodie ingredient -- or, at least, it was a few years ago.

[Jaymes]

5) Open can.  Insert spoon.

I just want to reiterate what E said.

I've done this for years when I did not live in a place where I could buy the Mexican cajeta, like Alaska.

The secret is simply to allow the can to thoroughly cool before opening.

If you try to open the can while it's hot, the scalding liquid bursts out, and it is indeed quite dangerous.

[hannahcooks]

Funeral potatoes . . .

Are those a specific variety or the name of the recipe? Either way I need to explanation!

edit: Welcome hannahcooks!

Funeral potatoes (also, in Utah, known as Mormon potatoes) is a name for a potato casserole involving frozen hash browns etc. Recipes vary, and I've never actually made them, but they are good in that guilty pleasure gross food way.

and thanks!

[megc]

It seems to somehow involve the old "boil a can of evaporated milk for one hour" routine.

I was taught a pudding recipe involving boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk for three hours - one hour on one side, the second hour on the other side, and the third hour involves rotating the can on its curved side throughout the hour. After the can cools down one gets access to the caramel by opening both ends of the can and pushing the caramel out into a bowl. It is then combined with whipped cream, mixed until smooth, and then layered between Nilla wafers. Set the concoction in the fridge for several hours, and by that time the wafers will have softened and it becomes a very, very sweet thing. My grandfather, who grew up in and around Beloit, WI had the recipe.

[Nick]

There is no danger that the can will explode. Canned goods are processed under much higher temperatures and pressures than you can achieve in a regular pot on your stove.

Sorry to explode your myths.

Sorry, Katherine, but many years ago (many, many years ago) my grandmother put a can of brown bread into a water bath to heat it. She'd always done this, but this time she forgot to punch a hole in the top. End of the can blew off, resulting in brown bread all over the ceiling.

This is a true story, not a myth.

The can was probably defective.

I'm not sure about that as she'd previously taken care to make a small hole to vent the can while heating.

While we're on this, I think the higher processing temperatures you mentioned were before the can was sealed to pull a vacuum. I'm just speculating, but whether the can would explode or not on subsequent heating might depend on whether the can became hotter than processing heat, the contents, and the "head-space" over the contents.

[elyse]

I have always heard that heating a (closed) can in water is extremely dangerous unless completely submerged. Maybe Dave will pipe up.

meg, that sounds completely delicious.

[col klink]

Funeral potatoes (also, in Utah, known as Mormon potatoes) is a name for a potato casserole involving frozen hash browns etc.  Recipes vary, and I've never actually made them, but they are good in that guilty pleasure gross food way.

and thanks!

Actually I was looking for a derivation for the name "Funeral Potatoes" but a description of the dish is important too!

[fifi]

Jaymes is right about the sweetened condensed milk... I have done this for years. You barely simmer it for about 3 hours. Now you have dulce de leche. The difference is that there is no air in the can to expand and explode, unlike the can of bread. I usually do several cans at a time in a big pot with a dish towel in the bottom so I don't have to listen to the "bump, bump". Be sure to scrub the label adhesive off or you will have a nasty residue in your pot that is a bitch to clean.

[Jaymes]

..about the sweetened condensed milk...  You barely simmer it for about 3 hours. Now you have dulce de leche.

Commerically prepared "dulce de leche" in Mexico is called "cajeta."

You can buy it in jars, and in squeeze bottles. You can buy the plain caramel, or with some sort of booze added.

Mexicans love this stuff and pour it over ice cream, stir it into milk, ladle it over cake, smear it on toast, melt it to make a delicious sauce for crepes, use it for a Mexican version of Bananas Foster.

You can find it in grocery stores where Mexican products are sold. The only thing, if you want the TRUE Mexican cajeta, is to look to see if it is made from goat's milk. They sell some sort of wimpy US version in some stores, but trust me, it is nowhere nearly so good.

[IrishCream]

Funeral potatoes are basically the same thing as Cracker Barrel hash brown casserole...lots of copy cat recipes on the web. Hash brown casserole I actually like them!

Edit to add: they are a common thing to take to an after funeral "wake" in the south. Along with many of the other casseroles and salads described in this thread!

Edited July 4, 2003 by IrishCream (log)

[fifi]

Damn you Jaymes!!!

Real goat's milk cajeta. Be still my heart! I haven't been able to find it. I suspect that the empty space on the shelf at Fiesta is where it belongs but it just sells out before I get there.

[Jaymes]

Damn you Jaymes!!!

Real goat's milk cajeta. Be still my heart! I haven't been able to find it. I suspect that the empty space on the shelf at Fiesta is where it belongs but it just sells out before I get there.

I buy it at Central Market.

They only have one brand, Coronado, and one style, quemada, but that's fine - it's one of my favorites.

Although I do see it at the Fiesta here as well.

And I know where you live, girlfriend. Mexico ain't that far. You could always drive over there for the weekend and load up, you know. When I lived in Galveston, I drove to Laredo to spend a coupla days at least once every other month or so.

So I just checked and you could be in Progresso (which I now like better than Laredo) in 7 hours. So you get on the road about 8 am Friday morning, and you're sucking down the Margaritas by 3pm.

Shop and party and party and shop until noon on Sunday, and you're home, all snug and cozy in your little casa gringa by 8pm.

Pantry stocked with cajeta aplenty.

Edited July 4, 2003 by Jaymes (log)

[Katherine]

The cans are sealed and air is driven off by the heating process, resulting in collapse on cooling again.

Was anybody actually present when the can exploded? Perhaps the water bath went dry. That would do it for sure.

[Nick]

The cans are sealed and air is driven off by the heating process, resulting in collapse on cooling again.

That bears some thinking.

[Nick]

Was anybody actually present when the can exploded? Perhaps the water bath went dry. That would do it for sure.

Yes, my grandmother was present. She also cleaned the ceiling. If the water bath had gone dry, it's unlikely the "explosion" would have happened as there would have been just heat to the bottom. But, who am I to try to figure all this out? Let's get back to white trash delicacies. A truly delightful subject.

[fifi]

And I know where you live, girlfriend.  Mexico ain't that far.  You could always drive over there for the weekend and load up, you know.  When I lived in Galveston, I drove to Laredo to spend a coupla days at least once every other month or so.

So I just checked and you could be in Progresso (which I now like better than Laredo) in 7 hours.  So you get on the road about 8 am Friday morning, and you're sucking down the Margaritas by 3pm.

Shop and party and party and shop until noon on Sunday, and you're home, all snug and cozy in your little casa gringa by 8pm.

Pantry stocked with cajeta aplenty.

That sounds like a plan to me.

Gotta get to Central Market. It is inside the loop here and not in my usual travel plans.

Yeah... I like Progresso. A few of us would go down to a friend's ranch a few years ago for a dove hunt. She had a driver and vans to take us to Progresso for lunch (read... tequila, therefore the driver) and shopping.

[Katherine]

Was anybody actually present when the can exploded? Perhaps the water bath went dry. That would do it for sure.

Yes, my grandmother was present. She also cleaned the ceiling. If the water bath had gone dry, it's unlikely the "explosion" would have happened as there would have been just heat to the bottom. But, who am I to try to figure all this out? Let's get back to white trash delicacies. A truly delightful subject.

Actually, if the pan had gone dry, it would have been more likely to blow up, because in just a few minutes of dry heat the entire can could have become superheated. (I think processing tops out at 260 degrees.)

Gotta get some of that country ham down there.

[adobohead]

my first post!

this is a late entry to this thread, but a friend of mine once stumbled upon a recipe for tiramisu involving Hostess Twinkies and instant coffee.

yuh-uhm.