Terminalcoffee discussion

Use this thread to discuss vegetables.

For example, when did brussels sprouts get so expensive? Or have they always been expensive? And why are they so hard to find all of a sudden? Is it because it's winter, or just because I happened to hit the store when there was only one box left?

And napa cabbage - while not as expensive as brussels sprouts per pound, they are so enormous that each one costs around $8. That's a lot for a cabbage. I mean, it's good, but I don't know if it's that good. I guess if you're making kim chi or slaw for a ton of people it's a good buy.

I'm totally tired of green beans. I'm taking a vacation from these particular beans.

It's difficult to find frozen collards here. Much better to cook these than buying fresh and having to wash and wash to remove the dirt.

I found some gorgeous water cress and I have been eating it ceaselessly!

Oops..watercress, not water cress!

I've never had watercress. Is it bitter?

Scout wrote: "I've never had watercress. Is it bitter?"

It shouldn't be bitter unless it has been harvested too late in the growing cycle.

It does have a slight bitter taste but I like it!
It also tastes of the onion family.

I've read in novels about having watercress sandwiches for tea. I looked it up, and it wasn't just watercress. They also put on the sandwiches cucumber, onion, and butter. I could go with that for tea. Too many sweets are not for me.

I like sweets for tea but prefer savory in general!
You should definitely try a watercress sandwich for tea, Scout!

Leshawn wrote: "I like sweets for tea but prefer savory in general!
You should definitely try a watercress sandwich for tea, Scout!"

Try substituting cream cheese in place of the butter on the 'traditional' Watercress and Cucumber sandwich.

There is an egg and watercress sandwich that looks good too in one of my cookery books.

For those who are gluten sensitive or out and out allergic, these sandwiches are one thing that are very good on thin gluten free bread!

So many ingredients. So few meals in a day. Oh well . . .

Hey! There is always snack time!!

I've always wondered about the English tea. It's served around 4:00 and includes biscuits (cookies) and sandwiches. How do the English eat this and then have supper without becoming as round as a biscuit?

Scout wrote: "I've always wondered about the English tea. It's served around 4:00 and includes biscuits (cookies) and sandwiches. How do the English eat this and then have supper without becoming as round as a b..."

Remember, the word svelte is not an English word.

Right.

emm wrote: "Last week I attempted to make ratatouille and I followed the recipe from The Frugal Gourmet and it came out incredibly salty. I had never made it before and was über-disappointed"

Interesting. For some reason I too have been thinking about ratatouille lately, first because I watched a Facebook live thing where Daniel Boulud was making his recipe on Martha Stewart's Facebook show. It looked pretty good, but the way it was cooked was so labor intensive and pot-intensive, several of the vegs had to be cooked in different pots so their favors wouldn't meld until it went in the oven. I don't want to clean 3 different pots. I love Daniel Boulud, he always seems so cheerful, and Martha seems like a chilly Satan standing next to him. Then I watched another ratatouille video on youtube and that seemed almost as ridiculous. So bottom line, I have never made ratatouille.

I haven't made it, either. I've ordered an America's Test Kitchen cookbook and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. I watch the program on PBS, and those guys figure out the best way to cook everything. I learned by watching that you should never salt mushrooms while cooking them; it draws out the liquid and makes them rubbery. And always dry meat with a paper towel before searing, or it will steam instead of brown.

There is a two pan recipe for ratatouille in The Silver Spoon cookbook that I use a variation of when I've made it. It involves cooking a whole chicken in one pan/skillet and the vegetables including the tomatoes in another.

Salt and Pepper, i.e. 'seasoning' is to taste. All the ingredients are expected to be fresh so it is seasonal. I don't always like winter vegetables so . . . winter tomatoes from hothouses or elsewhere other than local rarely are any good.

It calls for discarding the whole garlic cloves before adding the chicken as do several of the recipes for ratatouille that I know.
A spritz of lemon for the acid brings the flavors together after the chicken has been added.

In Daniel Boulud's version when it came out of the oven, he broke four eggs over it (strategically placed over the top) and put it back in the oven until they were soft-cooked. Then there was a second version where he had four eggs just barely cooked in their shells, then unpeeled, and the four unpeeled eggs placed on the ratatouille which went back in the oven so the eggs cooked just a little bit more. In both versions the eggs became soft-cooked, just in different ways (broken, and non-broken).

Scout wrote: "I haven't made it, either. I've ordered an America's Test Kitchen cookbook and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. I watch the program on PBS, and those guys figure out the best way to cook everything..."

Did you receive that ATK cookbook? What do you think of it?

Black radishes are really good. They pretty much taste like red radishes, maybe a tiny bit more pungent. I like them either raw or cooked.

Asparagus is starting to appear at the market more and more.

This is one of my spring favorites. Grilled, steamed, etc. doesn't matter. Have had three nice batches already! One mess of it was even white! And I didn't have to pay the premium. I think the store was trying to move it as they had A LOT!

A good batch before long is going to be made into soup.

I roasted some eggplant with some olive oil and salt today. Soaked it in salt water beforehand. It was still bitter. Maybe it was the olive oil.

Eggplant gives me nausea. I think it's the texture.

Is it better to put tomatoes in the fridge or leave them on the counter?

Scout wrote: "Is it better to put tomatoes in the fridge or leave them on the counter?"

ON. THE. COUNTER. !

Once they are cut it is ok to refrigerate them for a short while to keep them fresher. Until you are ready to use them leave them alone with one or two exceptions.

1. If they come with little stickers from the store, take the sticker off as soon as possible. They damage the skin and make them spoil more rapidly.

2. Should they be harvested on the vine, leave them on the vine until either they start to fall off on their own (and then remove all of them from that vine fragment), or 24 hours before use.

If you must store them for a long period; Then refrigerate them in one of those green gas absorbing bags. It does help to slow ripening.

Tomatoes can be frozen at home quite successfully and they wil keep a loooong time that way.

A great tasting tomato smells like a wet horse.

Thanks. Never heard that one about them smelling like a wet horse.

I recently read about a couple of tricks for keeping fruits fresh. If you buy a bunch of bananas, wrap aluminum foil around the cut ends to keep them fresher longer. Place them with the cut ends facing up. I've only tried this once. It seemed to work, but I need to try it a few more times to be sure.

This next one does work. Wrap apples individually in paper towels. I put rubber bands on mine. Put them in the crisper at the bottom of your fridge. It's true that one bad apple will ruin the rest when they're stored together because of the gases it emits. The paper towels keep the gases in check for a while.

Had some amazing sweet potatoes from Whole Foods, two varieties. Purple flesh, and white flesh. I think one may have been Japanese. They were less sweet than orange sweet potatoes. Incredibly creamy.