For the love of Produce...
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Okay.. sorry for the dumb question but...
How do you know figs are ripe? Is it when they get a bit soft?
Also, can you just eat a fig like an apple? What does it taste like? I have some in my fridge. Like I said, stupid question but I have never had figs.
Not living in a part of the world where we can grow figs in the garden I buy them from the supermarket. They’re ripe when there is just a slight give when you squeeze gently between your fingers.
If you cut one open, it should be a deep plummy red inside, if it’s pale or even yellow/green it’s not ripe.
Personally, I wouldn’t eat one like an apple, I’m not fond of the texture of the skin when it’s raw, but I’m sure you could. I much prefer them cooked in some way.
The taste is hard to describe because it’s unique…sweet and aromatic, almost like a sharper, fruitier honey flavour - that’s the best I can do to describe it! 😂2 -
BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »Okay.. sorry for the dumb question but...
How do you know figs are ripe? Is it when they get a bit soft?
Also, can you just eat a fig like an apple? What does it taste like? I have some in my fridge. Like I said, stupid question but I have never had figs.
Not living in a part of the world where we can grow figs in the garden I buy them from the supermarket. They’re ripe when there is just a slight give when you squeeze gently between your fingers.
If you cut one open, it should be a deep plummy red inside, if it’s pale or even yellow/green it’s not ripe.
Personally, I wouldn’t eat one like an apple, I’m not fond of the texture of the skin when it’s raw, but I’m sure you could. I much prefer them cooked in some way.
The taste is hard to describe because it’s unique…sweet and aromatic, almost like a sharper, fruitier honey flavour - that’s the best I can do to describe it! 😂
Depends on the variety of fig. Some figs are green inside. I have three different varieties, and one is green inside and outside. One is green outside and purple inside. The other has huge, dark brown/purple figs that are deep purple inside.
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Wow, that’s interesting! I had no idea, the only figs I’ve come across are all brown/purple on the outside. The only different types I’ve seen are either the smaller more pointed earlier varieties or the bigger, rounded ones, about the size of a satsuma.
I think one type is Turkish and the other is Greek, but that’s the extent of my knowledge! 😂1 -
Not the best use of my fermented cherry tomatoes that I posted upthread a bit… but could no longer resist trying a few .
Eaten on the side of a vegetarian Jambalaya and some Tenderstem Broccoli.
The tomatoes are kind of fizzy and intensely ‘tomatoey’ with a scented hint of basil and garlic. They’re softer than a fresh tomato, but not mushy, if that makes sense. Definitely recommend as an easy foray into the healthy world of fermented foods at home!
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On vacation in Valencia, which is in a part of the world where we order grilled vegetables at almost every meal. Both versions we ate so far have beeen great. The first was at an upscale tapas bar, and the second, just as good, at a cheaper casual tapas bar with waiters in T-shirts instead of waistcoats.
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A third order of grilled veg in Valencia in a mom and pop restaurant.
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We're still in Valencia. Tonight a tapa of roast asparagus sprinkled with parmesan and dressed with tapenade laced with a few drops of truffle oil was a pretty good combination.
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Being that I'm isolating, I'm working with what I've got on hand. Fortunately there's some good stuff to work with.
Yesterday I thought I was going to roast some cauliflower as the one I have is about ready to get made. I'll roast that tonight. But I wanted soup, and when I was going through the cupboard I noticed I had plenty of split green peas. Perfect.
I started by briefly sauteing some chopped onions, then added a fair bit of thinly sliced celery and diced carrots. Then I added some diced red-skin potatoes; that's what looked like diced ham of course, and a small handful of coarsely chopped shishitos. I added the dried peas and stirred them with the veggies briefly. I briefly added some coarsely chopped garlic. Lots of garlic. I added a quart of broth, then went outside and picked a couple bay leaves and tossed them in. That was about it. I just simmered it about 60-90 minutes, then turned it off and let it sit a half hour before reheating and eating. While I waited, I chomped on a delicious sweet carrot. I'm grateful a friend dropped off so much produce even though I wasn't sure I'd be able to eat or willing to cook. It's been a windfall to have it there in the refrigerator.
Normally I would have used a lot more peas. I used a light hand this time for some reason. It was less thick than what I would usually make, and it was really really good. I hadn't eaten yet for the day, and I knew I could use the calories, so I ate it all. Easy recipe, and I'll make it again.
Tonight I'll do the cauliflower. I usually either break it down into large florets or roast it whole. For a change, I'm going to slice it into quarter- or half-inch slabs and roast those. I hope they turn out. I will probably make some quinoa to go with it.
Tomorrow I might break in to the lentils. I've been craving lentil barley mushroom miso vegetable soup. I have some beets, but I don't think they'll go good in that soup. I'll do the beets later in the week. I have a few kinds of potatoes, and I'm thinking of a few fun ways to cook those.
Hey - I have to keep myself entertained while I'm staying away from other people.
I did take a nice walk today since it wasn't pouring rain and the temperature was in the 50s. I hope that wasn't too energetic. I think I feel fine, but I do NOT want to overdo it and set myself back. Tomorrow is the last nicer day for a while, so maybe I'll go drive out to the bird refuge, by myself, and see how many species I can see.
I'll be making up for not doing much cooking in the summer to avoid heating up the house. I've got some fun ideas. Black bean soup in the next few weeks. Maybe even red beans & rice.
Be safe out there, okay?7 -
Morning!
Just making a shake.. wish pomegranates were easier to peel! I've read the peel can be eaten ..but haven't found a tasty recipe to make it less bitter.
Time for Dragonfruit , pom and watercress breakfast smoothie!
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SafariGalNYC wrote: »Morning!
Just making a shake.. wish pomegranates were easier to peel! I've read the peel can be eaten ..but haven't found a tasty recipe to make it less bitter.
One trick to getting the arils out is to:- Get a big bowl of water
- Cut the fruit in half or quarters
- Hold the fruit upside down over the water
- Bang on the exterior of the fruit with a big spoon
- When all the arils are out, compost the rind
- Scoop out the arils and... EAT
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Uh oh.
I did it.
I didn't quite mean to but.... So my plan was to make some vegetable barley lentil soup. And I did. And I used an awful lot of vegetables. Before I added the water, I realized I'd need a bigger pot, so I took out the six-quart enameled cast iron Dutch Oven. Holy cats. The darn thing is almost full. So I reckon when it's done, I will also be full.
I bet it will freeze well. I will let it sit overnight first so the flavors can all meld. I will probably reheat the whole pot tomorrow, have some more, let it cool, and portion some out for the freezer. Then I guess I'll be eating whatever I don't freeze for the next few days. I reckon I won't be cooking so much in the next day or two. Unless I just decide to freeze most of it. And if it's not very good, maybe I won't even freeze it. I just kind of winged it, and that's why it turned in to five quarts of soup.
I used some of the last tomatoes from the garden that were starting to look kind of sad sitting on the window sill ripening.
Onions, carrots, celery, carrots, mushrooms, chiles, potato, tomato, lentils, barley, and stock.
Good thing I like soup. I guess one good thing is I won't be tempted to eat it ALL like I did with the split pea soup the other day. I don't regret it, but it might have been nice to have some left over. But there wouldn't be that much left even if I hadn't eaten it all. It was mmmmm.4 -
@mtaratoot
I think I turned you onto papas arrugadas after I posted a picture from a restaurant serving in the Canary Islands, where the recipe is from. They would have been traditionally cooked in Atlantic sea water. We were there last February and I found them astonishingly good especially with unsalted grilled meat. You were meant to take a bite of the salty potato between bites of unseasoned BQQ'd meat.
The classic method of English roast potatoes with the first par boiling step is to roughten up the surface when you shake them in fat (traditionally duck fat or goose fat, but butter or olive oil is nice too). Fluffing and roughening the surface of the softened potatoes causes them to hold more fat and get more crispy. The best results I have had was when I accidentally par boiled the potatoes a little too long (say 4-5 minutes) in salted water. They were super soft on the instead but crispy on the outside but not particularly attractive as they had started to crumble apart after a shake in the fat in the dry cooking vessel.
OK, so the time came for me to try this parboiling potatoes before roasting thing.
The one thing I have to say about it is... OH WOW - it's the SCHNITZ! Just what I was looking for.
I took one each of four different kinds of potatoes and went to town. I added a little baking soda to the water plus lots of salt. I simmered for about ten minutes, then drained and then let the extra moisture steam off. Then I tossed with olive oil, fresh rosemary from outside chopped fine, some thyme, some black pepper, and some paprika.
Oh wow.
The liability: It is an extra two steps and an extra pot to clean.
Is it worth it?
The answer isn't yes. It's HELL YES!!!!
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@mtaratoot
I an bit familiar with adding baking soda to potato water. What does increasing alkinity do for the potatoes?0 -
We returned from vacation in Valencia and hit the market briefly before we had to head for the airport. I bought some dried fruit I am not familiar with. Dried hibisicus, dried cherries and dried strawberries. I was thinking of adding a few dried cherries to a salad tomorrow with some of the cabrales (=blue goat cheese from Asturia) I picked up. Any ideas on what to do with dried hibiscus and dried strawberry, besides just eating as is?0
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@mtaratoot
I an bit familiar with adding baking soda to potato water. What does increasing alkinity do for the potatoes?
Before I started, since I've got plenty of time while I'm trying to get back to full health, I poked around the internet for other experiences. I came across one from a trusted source that described some experiments. Being a recovering scientist, I dig experimentation. In fact, before I roasted these spuds (four kinds), I thought I was going to make a beet and potato soup. I never found anything like what I wanted to make, but I was going to make it anyway. Then I realized I must have already cooked the beets I had, so all I had was potatoes. Many kinds of potatoes. I had some fingerlings, some Yukon golds, some red skinned potatoes, some purple potatoes, and these potatoes a friend gave me that are red on the outside and a pretty rose pink inside.
The experimenter had previously recommended adding vinegar to the cooking water to acidify. This was supposed to help the potatoes hold together. In their current experiment, they used larger hunks of spuds, so the idea of breaking down the pectin actually was beneficial, so they suggested just a bit of soda. I added a half teaspoon to a half gallon of water.
After I simmered for probably longer than I needed, I drained and then put the potato chunks back in the cooking pan to let them steam off excess moisture.
When I tossed them with the olive oil and spices, at first there was a pool of oil in the bottom of the mixing bowl. The softer exterior of the potato eventually soaked up all this oily goodness. There wasn't anything left in the pan.
I reckon I will continue to play around with this method with shorter parboiling and differing oven temperatures. I think I could have gone a bit lower; I ran the oven at 425 with the convection fan running.
I read a quote the other day. I don't recall it verbatim, but it was something like: Anyone who says they don't like potatoes is probably just trying to make trouble.5 -
Does anyone know the best simple way to cook these mushrooms? Got the today at the farmers market and the are rather large! Remote in the picture for scale
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widgit808 Does anyone know the best simple way to cook these mushrooms? Got the today at the farmers market and the are rather large!
I slice them vertically and sauté them in oil. Love them (as I do most mushrooms)
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@widgit808
Any idea what kind of mushrooms they are? They look really fresh.
Mushrooms often release a lot of water when cooked. If you just want to cook and eat them by themselves to fully enjoy their flavor, start with a dry saute. No oil or butter. Cook on relatively high heat, and pour off any liquid that comes out. Save that liquid! The reason to do this is that if you just leave them cooking in the liquid, you're boiling them, not sauteing.
When they stop giving off moisture, then add a little butter and turn down the heat. Cook gently until they are pretty much fully cooked. If you add garlic, don't add much. This from a die hard garlic fan. You can overpower the delicate flavor of mushrooms with too much other flavor.
Then, as they are fully cooked, slowly add that liquid back in. It's full of flavor. As the moisture evaporates, add a little more. Keep going until all the liquid was returned back to the mushrooms.
That's it. Serve over rice. Or, if you want to be decadent, splash in a little half and half or cream right before serving.
I love mushrooms.2 -
Those look like what my local mushroom purveyors call "King Trumpet" mushrooms . . . tentatively, maybe Pleurotus eryngii? (My mycological ID skills are weak - apologies!) I like them roasted, usually cut them vertically into halves or thick slices depending on the size, and oven-roast. They're quite firm, maybe even a little chewy that way. I'm sure they'd be great sauteed or whatever, too, though.2
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@annk18 @mtaratoot @AnnPT77 thank you all for the suggestions! 3 huge mushrroms and 3 ways to cook so i can try each 🙂0
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@mtaratoot i tried your method tonight and surprisingly these mushrooms produced virtually no water as other mushrooms do! Just as delicious as roasted but couldnt achieve all your steps due to the lack of water. Very interesting!0
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@mtaratoot i tried your method tonight and surprisingly these mushrooms produced virtually no water as other mushrooms do! Just as delicious as roasted but couldnt achieve all your steps due to the lack of water. Very interesting!
That's great. I guess they're meaty and don't have that much liquid. When I collect chanterelles, they release SCADS of liquid. @AnnPT77 thinks these are a type of Pleurotis (oyster mushroom). When I collect or buy oysters, they also have a fair bit of liquid, but I'm really not familiar with this particular species.
Boletus edulis (King bolete, Porcini, cep) are also meaty and don't give up much liquid.
I'm glad they were delicious.3 -
The chili-powdered dark-roasted salted squash seeds from my Georgia Candy Roaster squash-freezing fest also count as produce, I think? They're tasty, for sure. I put a couple on a table fork in the photo so you can see how big/plump the seeds from this variety are even after roasting.
The last 4 squash (of 6 total) yielded two 2-cup bowls full of seeds, not to mention the . . . I think it's 27? . . . 2-cup bowls of smashed roasted squash downstairs in the freezer.
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That looks quite delicious. Alas, not compatible with my current "forever diet" but who knows? Perhaps in the future. Right now, I just finished off 50 g of cooked soybeans with 250 g No Name Oriental-style vegetable blend (my number one favourite blend) with half a tablespoon of curry powder and a bit of lemon juice. I have to be careful with my portions because it is something I easily overeat on.The chili-powdered dark-roasted salted squash seeds from my Georgia Candy Roaster squash-freezing fest also count as produce, I think? They're tasty, for sure. I put a couple on a table fork in the photo so you can see how big/plump the seeds from this variety are even after roasting.
The last 4 squash (of 6 total) yielded two 2-cup bowls full of seeds, not to mention the . . . I think it's 27? . . . 2-cup bowls of smashed roasted squash downstairs in the freezer.
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Neighbor Bob has brought me a pineapple. In Michigan. In November. 🤷♀️
I like pineapple, so I expect to enjoy it. Thank you, neighbor Bob!
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Neighbor Bob has a pretty frickin' amazing garden eh?
I need to stop making vegetable miso barley soup. Because... Oh screw it. I'll keep making it. I made a new batch today with lots of veggies, Blue Streaker Barley, split peas, AND lentils. I should be eating well for pretty much the rest of the week for about twenty bucks.2 -
When we were on vacation we had an amazing salad. The first picture is presentation at the tapas bar, and the next two are my attempts to re-create it at home. I got a good result with store bought cooked beets (first attempt used pickled beets which wasn't right), lemon and olive oil vinaigrette, tangerine slices topped with smoked sardines we dragged home from the market in Valencia. If you don't have smoked sardines, use any cold smoked fish such as smoked salmon or trout. If you are vegetarian substitute fish for a salty cheese such as feta. If vegan use pitted olives. This salad takes about 5 minutes to put together.
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Thanks @mtaratoot !! I’m going to try that pomegranate cutting technique! 😉1
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I have a love affair with beef shortribs. When you smoke them, after 9 hours the fat with the seasoning ends up crispy and crackly.0
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