Eat, Drink and Be Merry, For Tomorrow We Diet!

[Julie]

Ok, I'm curious now, how do you make Cholent?

I clicked the link and this is what it gave me:

Cholent (Yiddish: טשאָלנט, tsholnt or tshoolnt) or Hamin (Hebrew: חמין‎) is a traditional Jewish stew simmered overnight, for 12 hours or more, and eaten for lunch on Shabbat (the Sabbath). Cholent was developed over the centuries to conform with Jewish religious laws that prohibit cooking on the Sabbath. The pot is brought to boil on Friday before the Sabbath begins, and kept on a blech or hotplate, or placed in a slow oven or electric slow cooker until the following day.

There are many variations of the dish, which is standard in both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi kitchens.[1] The basic ingredients of cholent are meat, potatoes, beans and barley. Sephardi-style hamin uses rice instead of beans and barley, and chicken instead of beef. A traditional Sephardi addition is whole eggs in the shell (haminados), which turn brown overnight. Ashkenazi cholent often contains kishke or helzel – a sausage casing or a chicken neck skin stuffed with a flour-based mixture. Slow overnight cooking allows the flavors of the various ingredients to permeate and produces the characteristic taste of cholent.

[USSWisconsin]

I clicked the link and this is what it gave me:

I wonder what kind of seasonings Ben would use? It sounds good, but the recipe is a little vague on the herbs and spices.

[USSWisconsin]

Okay USS, where did you learn to cook like that ?

I've had lots of good teachers, and read quite a bit too, French cooking is a basis for a lot of things, Indian, Korean and Cajun cooking covers other stuff, I am friends with a great chef in Nawlins and he showed me a couple things... My daughter's Mom is a good cook too, she makes Chinese and Vietnamese stuff (sort of a French- Chinese fusion) pretty well, and I picked up on that too. I grow a massive herb garden every year and have to find ways to use it. I make a mean pesto too - I use cashews instead of pine nuts and Asiago cheese... I like cooking shows too, that Lydia lady from Italy is pretty good, and the grill guy does some amazing things too.

[USSWisconsin]

1 cup basil leaves and flowers
1 cup oregano leaves
1 cup grated Asiago cheese
1/2 cup cashews
1/2 cup extra virgin olive Oil - very fresh - if it has a bitter taste don't use it, it should be sweet and fragrant

chop herbs lightly in food processor, add nuts, cheese and oil
grind to desired consistency ensuring it is well blended
serve over pasta, on seafood or as a topping on steaks
good on toasted bagels too

keeps in refrigerator for a month or two in a sealed mason jar
freeze an extra batch for winter

[bigross86]

Ok, I'm curious now, how do you make Cholent?

Thankx for reminding me. My computer was acting up all day yesterday, so I didn't have much time.

If you're making a cholent for 10 people, here's what you're gonna need:

A Crock Pot
5 handfuls of beans
5 hanfuls of barley
3 potatoes peeled and cut into medium sized pieces
3-4 carrots peeled and cut into medium sized pieces
1 onion, chopped into medium sized cubes
2-3 garlic cloves, thinly diced
1 kg meat (almost any kind works, I prefer chest or forearm) in nice big chunks
2-3 Tbsp tomato paste
Paprika
Mixed Herbs
Seasond Salt
Black Pepper

Fry the onions and garlic, when brown toss in the meat but don't fry all the way through, just for some light browning on each side. Once that's done, toss everything into the Crock Pot and leave it on high. Cover with water. Cholent will be done within 12-14 hours or so. (Individual Crock Pots/Slow Cookers may vary). If you wanna save on cleaning out the crock pot, there are slow cooking bags you can buy, just put the bag in the crock pot and put everything in the bag. Pour water inside the bag so it covers everything, and 2/3 of the way on the outside of the bag. Add water if necessary during coking if you see it's drying out

Some people prefer Cholent juicy, some like a stew, some like it nice and sticky. Personal taste is key. Experiment with it

The beautiful thing about Cholent is that it's rally hard to ruin, and very easy to play with. Sometimes I'll add beer or Coke just to get a different flavoring

[S2]

Brew one pot of very strong coffee. (French roast bean freshly espresso ground will do nicely)

Buy a box of Nestle's Abueleta or Ibarra mexican chocolate. No powdered mix. Solid chocolate. Either will come with six disks of chocolate, each comprised of eight wedges.

Put three wedges into a beer mug. Cover with milk and microwave until soft-watch your microwave that the milk doesn't boil over.

Remove and add coffee. Stir vigorously. VERY vigorously. Use a long spoon to assure the chocolate at the bottom is completely dissolved. One spoonful of sugar. Heavenly.

Add whipped cream and you move into another realm.

Makes a GREAT base, btw, for spanish coffee too. Save that recipe for a different time.

[USSWisconsin]

Gun Grape's squab recipe (offered as a solution to the Brazilian drug carrier pigeon menace)

Brazil's pigeon drug mules
Sounds good, I didn't want to loose track of it

[bigross86]

Courtesy of Gun Grape:

Although squab is a young domestic pigeon I'm sure you could use an older one instead. Just cook it longer at a lower temp. Or hang them in a cooler for a week after you shoot them. Works for other game birds.

Whole Roasted Squab Stuffed with Eggplant and Bacon Dressing

Ingredients

* 12 ounces raw bacon, diced
* 2 cups onions, chopped
* 1/2 cup celery, chopped
* 1/2 cup bell peppers, chopped
* 1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced
* 3 tablespoons garlic, chopped
* 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
* 1 tablespoon finely parsley, chopped
* 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
* 4 cups crumbled corn bread
* 2 cups chicken stock
* Salt and cayenne pepper
* 6 whole squabs
* Olive oil, for drizzling
* 12 whole shallots
* 2 cups Demi-glace
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 pound haricots verts, (blanched)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large saute pan over medium heat, render the bacon until crispy, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the onions, celery, and bell peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the eggplant and continue to saute for 3 minutes. Season with salt and cayenne. Stir in 2 tablespoons garlic, thyme, parsley and green onions. Remove from the heat and turn into a mixing bowl. Stir in the corn bread and stock. Mix thoroughly. Season the dressing with salt and cayenne. Season each squab with olive oil, salt and cayenne. Stuff each cavity of the squab with about 3/4 cup of the dressing. Toss the shallots with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the stuffed squab and shallots on a parchment-lined roasting pan. Place the squab in the oven and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the squab is golden brown and the juices run clear. Remove the pan from the oven and separate the sections of the shallots. Place the shallots in a saucepan and cover with the veal reduction. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper (this is a shallot reduction). In a large saute pan, melt the butter. Add the haricots verts and the remaining garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Serve the squabs with the haricots verts and a ladle of shallot reduction.

[Julie]

Although not very fond of meatloaf, the family was wanting some, so I tossed something together that turned out very delicious and wanted to share it:

3 pbs. sirloin hamburger meat
Garlic powder
Montreal steak seasoning
one onion chopped
salt and pepper
Zesta crackers (1/2 pack crumbled)

I did not measure the seasonings, just spinkled them in there until it smelled good.

Mix the above ingredients together well and form into loaf and place in baking pan. Take a straw and poke several holes in the top of the loaf.

Topping:

In a bowl, mix about a half of a bottle of ketchup (Heinz is what I used), one cup or so of brown sugar, and a squirt of mustard. Pour over the top of the meatloaf.

Bake at 325 deg. for 45 minutes (uncovered). It must have been really yummy cuz there were no leftovers.

[jennyisfun]

Random fact: The Chinese traditionally do not approve of drinking cold beverages with heated food, as its believed to cause gastrointestinal distress. This is why they drink hot tea.

well, actually it depends, here most of young ppl dont mind and we kind of dont like tea, and just 40+ and old ppl like tea and the thing is we dont drink tea when we eat.

[JAD_333]

well, actually it depends, here most of young ppl dont mind and we kind of dont like tea, and just 40+ and old ppl like tea and the thing is we dont drink tea when we eat.

An interesting observation.

Welcome to the WAB. You should introduce yourself here: http://www.worldaffairsboard.com/wab...tml#post869994

[USSWisconsin]

Roasted carp

One small whole carp about 2# (1 kilo) cleaned and scaled
one 1/4# of butter
1 cup finely chopped herbs (oregano, rosemary, marjoram and thyme, chives and or mint optional)
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
one clean, new pine board about 1/2" thick, a little larger than the carp
melt the butter in a pan
cook the onions in the butter until transparantadd the herbs to the butter mixture
Place the carp on the pine board in a large baking pan and drizzel the herb and onion butter over it - try to get most of it on the fish and board
bake for about 45 min at 350 deg - until carp is completely cooked - it will be white and flaky in the middle


carefully remove the board with the fish and herbs on it from the pan and place on a serving dish


then scrape the carp off into the garbage and serve the pine board

[Officer of Engineers]

well, actually it depends, here most of young ppl dont mind and we kind of dont like tea, and just 40+ and old ppl like tea and the thing is we dont drink tea when we eat.

HEY!!!!! Wait! I'm over 40. Never mind. Carry On.

[bigross86]

My mom is 51 and doesn't drink tea. She drinks hot water...

[dave lukins]

then scrape the carp off into the garbage and serve the pine board