Ask the A2K cooks!

So...how'd it turn out? I've made corned beef and cabbage a couple of times using the recipe that came with the crockpot. It was really good except Mr.Irish complained about the cooking odors, so the second time I made it I plugged the crockpot in in the garage!

On the saffron...I hope it keeps a good while because that stuff is darned expensive!!!

Pretty good, Irishk!
And thank you for that information, Butrflynet.

I bought mine already "corned" (from the fantastic local butcher shop) & cooked it in a similar (but different! ) manner to Butrflynet's recipe.

Mine (from a recipe book) included: brown sugar (a tablespoon), red wine vinegar, mixed spice, half a garlic head (the actual recipe called for a whole garlic head for 2 kg corned beef - that got me pretty excited! - but I halved it for the quantity I was cooking), carrot, onion, bay leaf, black peppercorns & a few sprigs of flat-leaf parsley.

Tonight (3rd corned beef meal now) I sauteed 1/2 a shredded cabbage in olive oil & butter in my gigantic saute pan, with some salt & pepper .... PLUS made a batch of creamy mashed potato to go with it. (Quickly steamed some baby peas at the last minute for a bit of colour.)

Perfect meal for a woman in dire need of comfort tonight!

(Oh I didn't eat all the cabbage tonight, by the way. That would have been a bit much!)

... on the question of cabbage smells, Irishk, possibly my house reeks after my sauteed cabbage episode tonight ... but as I'm in the process of getting over a cold, my nose isn't working wonderfully well, so I'm in no position to know about it!

Your garage idea is a good one. I like it!

Yes, I hope the saffron does keep. I have no idea if it has a "use by" time limit or not, which is why I asked.

why not just plant the crocus from which saffron is collected

I also used already corned corned beef. (Sorry, Alton).

I'm going to start putting the purchased date on my spices.

Farmerman: good idea.

Recalling our exchange about the tartness of currants and how Europeans tend to like them but Americans usually don't.... In Germany, we have a tart variant of cherries called Sauerkirschen. My German-English dictionary translates them as "sour cherries" or "morello cherries". They'd be in season around now, and I miss them. Can you get those in America? And if so, where would you look for them?

Yes, at Trader Joe's, Thomas. They're in a clear jar with juices (Sauerkirschen Kompott)

Whole food sometime sells them fresh.

Thanks, CJ and littlek!

Thomas - you're in New Jersey. Get out to the farmer's markets (many of them have websites telling you what's in each week).

It is a bit late in the season for fresh local ones, as cherry season up here was about a month ago, so you may need to go to a retailer - but do try to avoid that route if you can.

Oh, our farmer's markets have plenty of cherries. But it's specifically sour cherries that I'm looking for, and those seem to be scarce---both on farmer's markets and in retail. (Their season comes after that for regular cherries, so they should be in season about now.)

From my favorite cook's thesaurus website:

http://www.foodsubs.com/Fruitsto.html



Check out these sites for ordering via internet:

http://www.thecherrystop.com/iqfredtartcherries-420ozpackages.aspx

http://kingorchards.com/store.htm?item=11

Thanks for the links, Butrflynet!

Putting together what your quote says about transport with what Beth said about farmer's markets, I got the idea that maybe I shouldn't be looking for a farmer's market or a retailer. Maybe I should be looking for a pick-your-own farm that has sour-cherry trees. And low and behold, I found some!

Thought I'd share this link with you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_cherry_soup

Have you ever made this soup and do you have a favorite recipe? It sounds like it would be quite tasty.

I found this one but don't know if it is the same:

This Hungarian recipe for sour cherry soup goes by many names -- meggy leves, cseresznye leves, meggykeszoce, cibere -- and its sweetness varies with the cook. It's typically served cold in the summer when cherries are plentiful.

This soup is traditionally made with tart dark-red Morello cherries, but any tart pie cherry, like fire-engine-red Montmorency cherries, will work in a pinch, as long as they are fresh or at the very least frozen (don't use canned). Never use a sweet Bing cherry. Some recipes call for cinnamon and cloves, and the cherries are left unpitted!

Makes 6 servings of Hungarian Sour Cherry Soup
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

* 6 cups water
* 1 pound fresh sour cherries, pitted
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 1 cup sour cream
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon confectioners' sugar

Preparation:

1. In a large saucepan, cook cherries with water and 3/4 cup sugar until done, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix sour cream with flour, salt and confectioners' sugar until smooth.

3. When cherries are done, temper the sour cream mixture with a few ladles of hot cherry liquid, whisking until smooth. Transfer to the pan with the cherries and whisk until smooth. Simmer 5 minutes, but do not boil.

4. Cool to room temperature in an ice water bath. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the soup (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate until cold. Serve cold as a first course as they do in Hungary or as a dessert with a dollop of sour cream or whipped cream.

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/02-037.htm#dates

Our local farmers' market (the sellers have to be local producers to get in) had fresh sour cherries in mid-late July this year.

It looks like you've got at least three farms you can go to - give 'em a call and get picking!

I have such a taste now for sour cherries that I'll go to Trader Joe's today and
pick up a jar (they're imported from Germany) and with a little whipped cream:
ahhh heaven!!!

littlek, sour cherries are great for the Rumtopf too!

I've posted quite a bit about cold cherry soup over the errrr decade. Great stuff. Our German-Russian variant is different from the Hungarian - but I imagine the Hungarian one is easily as pleasing.

I thought this was a great suggestion, farmer, till I read more about it. :



How many would I need to grow to meet my (tiny) needs?
Apart from that, the right varieties & the correct methods of cultivation, collection, drying & storage, etc, are very important. It sounds like you'd really have to know what what you're doing! No wonder saffron is so expensive!

But you've inspired me to grow crocuses again, purely for the flowers. They're lovely.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffron

I made shepherd's pie last night for the first time. I got a recipe from the Internet. It wasn't bad, but I think it could have been better. The meaty part was a little bland.

I sauted a chopped onion in butter. I added salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, peas, and meat stock. And of course the meat.

What could I add to bring up the flavor a bit. Or maybe I should add more Worcestershire sauce.

Any suggestions?

perhaps one of these>
garlic
savory herbs of some sort
chile pepper if you like it
a little bit of curry powder

I rarely use Worcestershire so I'm not very savvy about what works with it.. I finally bought a small bottle recently, I forget for what intended recipe, and haven't used it..