Delicious slow/er-cooked food ....

@ehBeth,

Quote:

Set made a great meal in ours the other day. A giant pork rib roast, a bottle of Brazilian beer, onions, some kind of fruit, lentils, white kidney beans, a can of Habitant bean with ham soup. 8 hours. That was sooooooo delicious

Interesting, ehBeth. (Not being an expert in these things .. ) I've been reading up on French cooking ... & have discovered that beans are often cooked with meat, (as Set has done). The cookbook I have open in front of me has a recipe for a leg of lamb cooked in a 180C oven with beans, rosemary, onions, garlic, crushed tomatoes, etc . ("Lamb Bretonne") Looks very good!
I'm curious about the inclusion of beer. Never done that. Obviously the dish doesn't end up tasting of beer ( Wink

), so how does beer impact on the taste?

(I would love to cook more dishes like yours & the one I've described, but a whole leg of lamb, or a giant pork roast in a one person household? A person wouldn't eat anything else all week! ... Which makes me think that maybe we should introduce a "cooking for one" type thread here. There must be ways that similar dishes could be created with smaller quantities of meat (But which ones?) & more cheaply, or course. Just a thought, anyway.)

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msloga, don't fret about the amount of food cooked, Freeze part of the dish, and use it thru out the season. Ive been doing this for many years, because it takes as much time to prepare for one as it does for 6...so freeze the rest. Seal it carefully, and when you are in a hurry, dunk the package in a tub of ice water. It defrosts quickly and most of the time you can heat it up in the microwave. It sure beats McDonalds.

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@glitterbag,

What a coincidence, glitterbag! As I read your post just now I have the very dish I described (above) cooking away in the oven! (I am not making this up, I swear! Wink

)

Actually I'm a great believer in cooking up lots more than is needed & freezing the rest for later. (There are some evenings when I honestly don't have the energy to face cooking even the simplest dish - say nothing of the washing up, after...) However, I have my doubts about freezing a roast. But if I have to do it, I will!

... and let's face it, anything home-cooked beats McDonalds! Wink

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@msolga,

Hiya Ms. Olga! I thought of you when I put together this sauce last night. We're going to try it on fish, rice, whatever, see how it goes. It's supposed to be kinda, sorta Indian. I did taste it, and it was good, but I want to purée it all together and really get it going:

Ingredients:
Torani (or any other brand) fat-free coconut extract, 1/4 c
Torani fat-free almond extract, 1/4 c
Turmeric, ground, 1 tbsp
Curry powder, 1 tbsp
Nutmeg, ground, 1 tsp
Tomatoes, canned, whole, no salt added, 1 can
Carrots, raw, 2 cup, chopped
Cumin seed, 1 tbsp
Coriander seed, 1 tbsp
Pepper, black, 1 tbsp
Chicken Broth 99% Fat Free, 1.5 cup
Onions, raw, 1 cup, chopped
Cilantro, 1 c. leaves
Garlic, 4 cloves
Cinnamon, ground, 1 tsp
Chili powder, 1 tsp
8 plum tomatoes, chopped roughly

Place all ingredients except for cilantro into slow cooker.
Cook for 10 hours on high or until ingredients meld.
Remove ingredients and finish by pureeing in food processor, with the cilantro leaves.

Number of Servings: 16

Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 47.5
Total Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 65.3 mg
Total Carbs: 6.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.8 g
Protein: 1.0 g

I am going to try it, probably today over tofu with rice and vegetables, depends on how I can jigger my caloric needs for the day.

1 Reply

@jespah,

My, that does look good, jespah! (Notes: spice, garlic & chili. YES!!!! Very Happy

)
Bet it smells amazing, too! I may give that a go, but it will have to be a smaller quantity. Too bad coconut products don't freeze all that wonderfully, hey?

So what's your verdict of the tofu, rice & vegetables dish?

I'm interested in the idea of the "fat-free coconut extract". I haven't come across a similar product here. If I can find something like that, it'd be good, because many coconut milk (wouldn't even dream of cream!) products "disagree" with me. (Too rich, causing tummy upsets. Which eliminates quite a few dishes - like quite a few Thai curries - which I would really like to cook, but can't. Drats. Sad

)

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@msolga,

It turned out rather well -- I've tossed it on rice, mainly, so far.

The Torani fat-free coconut extract (it comes in these huge bottles, looks like you're buying booze) is stuff I order from Amazon. Dunno how much it would be for you to ship there. I found the sauce to be sweet and spicy, pretty much just what I wanted. I also didn't totally puree it, more like pulsed it a few times with the food processor so there are some chunks in it, and that's good for the texture.

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@msolga,

msolga wrote:

However, I have my doubts about freezing a roast. But if I have to do it, I will!

I'm curious about this. Why the doubts about freezing a roast? It's pretty much standard practice here.

Ahh, the beer. It sort of takes the place of a fruit juice or vinegar as a tenderizer for meat. Depending on the particular beer, and other seasonings, there is either no flavour impact or a very mild one.

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@msolga,

msolga wrote:

I'm interested in the idea of the "fat-free coconut extract". I haven't come across a similar product here. If I can find something like that, it'd be good, because many coconut milk (wouldn't even dream of cream!) products "disagree" with me. (Too rich, causing tummy upsets. Which eliminates quite a few dishes - like quite a few Thai curries - which I would really like to cook, but can't. Drats. )

Interestingly, perhaps, my dentist's assistant has told me that coconut cream and milk are traditional weight loss aids in a number of cultures - they are noted for the same side effect as the tablets Jes has been using in her weight-loss program. She recommended coconut milk as the natural alternative to the tablets.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Quote:

I'm curious about this. Why the doubts about freezing a roast? It's pretty
much standard practice here.

It is? I always thought it was a no-no, ehBeth. (Not that I've been a great roaster of meats - apart from chicken - & generally I don't roast meat in large enough quantities, being just a one woman/one cat household. The recipe I cooked (above post) said "not recommended for freezing". You mean I could have frozen some of it & it would have been OK? Now I find out!

As for the beer-as-tenderizer-of-meat thing: You just include it with the other ingredients at the time of cooking, or beforehand?

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Quote:

Interestingly, perhaps, my dentist's assistant has told me that coconut cream and milk are traditional weight loss aids in a number of cultures - they are noted for the same side effect as the tablets Jes has been using in her weight-loss program. She recommended coconut milk as the natural alternative to the tablets.

Really?

That's interesting, ehBeth.
(However, my problem with coconut cream/milk is that it upsets my stomach, for some reason. What a nuisance!)

1 Reply

@msolga,

Hi msolga,

This thread is my idea of winter bliss. Thank you-thank you-thank you.

I started at the start and haven't read all yet, so this info may have been covered, but
1 navy beans are haricot beans to an Aussie, and
2 Spiral make a low-fat coconut cream that might work for you and any health food store will have.

I will post some recipes when I get a minute if I don't short out my keyboard, drooling, first.

See ya'.

1 Reply

@spikepipsqueak,

Hey, spike! Good to see you! Smile

A low fat coconut cream, you say? Surprised

Available at the Spiral place in East Brunswick?
I'm gonna try some!
Glad you found some recipes you like here, spike. Yes, yes! Do send some of yours. The more the merrier! Very Happy

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@msolga,

msolga wrote:

The recipe I cooked (above post) said "not recommended for freezing".

<snip>

As for the beer-as-tenderizer-of-meat thing: You just include it with the other ingredients at the time of cooking, or beforehand?

the lamb? perhaps the texture would change in that one? don't know. I never really think twice about freezing until it's something that has a lot of milk in it (then again, we freeze our bags of milk and those come out all right)

The beer can be used as part of a marinade, or simply in the pot with the roast. I probably wouldn't do both, as too much tenderizer can sort of dissolve the meat.

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@ehBeth,

Thanks for the beer info, ehBeth. I'll try it. I've never actually used any meat tendrizer before, so I'll check out what difference it makes.

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@msolga,

This is the one I thought of when I saw the thread title. I've always wanted to try it but I suspect you'd need quite a few people to get through it.

I'm working from memory, here, so I hope I haven't forgotten anything.

Shoulder of lamb, lidded casserole large enough to fit it in.

Rub garlic into the meat and throw the cloves into the casserole. Seal the meat in a little olive oil. Place the meat and any pan juices into the casserole. Add some oregano (Greek, if you can get it), lemon (juice and rind) and tomato juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook at about 100C or use a crockpot and leave it all day. If you are home, baste the meat with the tomato juice occasionally.

I have seen a variation of this that has the meat on a bed of onion and whole tomatoes piled on top of the meat.

Another variation puts in potatoes for the last few hours of cooking but I would prefer to bake them separately and have them crisp.

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@spikepipsqueak,

Sounds delicious, spike! Oh yum!

That has made me terribly, terribly hungry!

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@msolga,

gosh, I was looking all over for the slow cooker thread. Turns out there's like...3 of them!
Someone gave me a slow cooker and I made bachelor chili. I call it bachelor because it's simple and quick.

I put a lb of ground sirloin, lb of tiny-cubed pork, a can of kidney beans(15oz) a can of water(15oz), a package of Carroll Shelby's chili ingredients, half a minced Vidalia onion, a Tbsp of sugar and a 1/4 cup of "masa" into the crock pot and turned in on low. Prep time is about 5 minutes.

4 hours later....done. Served with shredded asiago(on sale!) and sour cream. Had to open a bottle of Beamish Irish stout ....had to.

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@panzade,

Thanks, panz! Sounds good! (What's - roughly - in Carroll Shelby's chili ingredients, for an Oz equivalent substitute?)

I'll post this to the slow cooker thread for you. Here's the address for later reference!:
http://able2know.org/topic/133109-8#post-3692469

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@msolga,

I thought of you, msolga, when someone came into the shop looking for the ingredients for "proper" baked beans to eat on the 4th July. So I begged him for the recipe, he just dropped it in today.

OLD FASHIONED BAKED BEANS

2lbs dried navy (haricot) beans
2 qts cold water
1 medium onion, sliced
1 tbsp salt
4tsp cider vinegar
1tsp mustard
2tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
1/16tsp black pepper
1/2lb salt pork, sliced
10-12 servings

Wash beans thoroughly. Add cold water, cover, heat to boiling and simmer for 30 mins. Drain and reserve liquid.

Place onion slices in the bottom of a bean pot or 10 cup casserole. Combine the next 7 ingredients and turn into the bean pot.

Add the beans and enough hot drained liquid to cover. Arrange salt pork slices on top and bake in very slow oven for 7-8 hrs.

After 4 hrs remove and mash 2 cups of beans and stir carefully into remaining beans.
Continue baking for remaining time. Adjust liquid as required to keep beans just covered. Remove cover for last hour to brown pork.

He added that bacon does fine for the salt pork and that he thought 3-4 fours cooking was enough.

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@spikepipsqueak,

Thank you for that, spike. Hey, that looks pretty easy! Very Happy

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Delicious slow/er-cooked food ....

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