What I learned today

[Jenise]

The last batch I made was a count of about 30 or so. All from one head of cabbage, so it's important than the inner leaves be as flexible as the outer leaves. Stick to what works for you, of course, we all should. But if you'd needed every leaf on that head, wouldn't you have had to put it back in the boiling water after peeling off the outer layer? That's the way the boiling method always worked for me. Boil, wait, peel, boil, wait, peel. Took a lot longer than dealing with a head that's soft all the way through.

My cabbage head was not a huge one, more on the medium side and after 5 to 7 minutes the cabbage is taken out of the gently boiling water to drain and cool. As I stated in another post, the leaves were not cooked but were pliable enough to roll. They finish cooking after stuffed and put into the oven.

[Jenise]

Karen, I'm doing a sherry tasting dinner on Wednesday night and have been planning my menu. Concurrent with that effort, I had purchased the goods needed for another batch of cabbage rolls and thawed out the head of cabbage I froze for same. Somehow, it occurred to me yesterday while reading Spanish cookbooks that if I leave out the sauerkraut, substitute chorizo for Betty's kielbasa, and use smoked paprika instead of sweet that we would leave Hungary behind and land in Spain!

So yesterday I made them and they're fantastic. But an interesting thing: this cabbage was a large one, as big as the one I used previously by diameter but though it felt as hard it was a looser head, a green cabbage with fatter leaves with more folds vs. a white cabbage, so it only yielded 17 leaves. But 17 fat leaves, so my rolls are larger than the ones I made a week ago.

An interesting lesson in cabbage picking.

Humm....we may get different types of cabbage in our areas. The ones I get at Farmer's Market are definitely different than the ones I get at our neighborhood market. They are green, some lighter green than others. The one I used was not a huge head, since I am cooking for myself only, and had another application to use it for as well. I love cabbage these days and eat a lot of it.

[Jenise]

Stores don't differentiate between cabbage types beyond savoy and napa. All dense-head cabbages are simply sold as 'cabbage' as if they're all one type because a given store will only have one type at a time depending on what's seasonally available, but they're not. As I understand it, the white cabbage (it's not really white, just generally lighter in color) is what's used commercially for sauerkraut and is the typical winter cabbage. Super dense, thinner leaves = finer strands of kraut. As one gets closer to spring the cabbages get greener and lighter in weight--exactly the difference between the two heads I bought several weeks apart for cabbage rolls. The sweetest cabbages are the ones that are very green and conical in shape. Haven't seen them yet this season.

Not that I learned it today but making chili reminded me that over the years I have stopped adding tomato paste to a dish without first cooking it along with some fat and seasonings until it is dark and caramelized which really ups the umami. If I want a fresher tomato taste I use the double concentrated paste in a metal squeeze tube and do not caramelize.
My son does not eat red meat and makes a Bolognese style sauce for pasta, polenta and risotto using ground turkey. When the paste is first caramelized I was fooled into thinking he used beef.

I always use tomato paste in the chili and caramelizing it along with spices added sure makes a difference. When I first read to do that in a recipe years ago, I thought it was silly but quickly learned it is not. Chili is one of my favorite things to make, so easy, so tasty and one can hide many veggies in the mix. Our kids loved it too, and never knew mom was sneaking in so many things they thought they disliked! Even to this day, and our kids are in their 50's, when they ask for a recipe and I send it to them, they are amazed at what I sneaked in. Too funny...

[Jenise]

Today I learned that carrots sauteed in butter with golden raisins that have been soaked in Amontillado is AMAZING.

carrots sauteed in butter with golden raisins that have been soaked in Amontillado is AMAZING.

I must try that.

Yes the carrots sound good.
Learned that accidental fusion can be good. Had made a batch of Bolognese Friday. Sunday for lunar NY had made longevity noodles (the gluten-filled version we saved were long lo mein noodles, stirfried with shiitake, maitake, and a little cabbage, Chinese sausage, and kakuni (because I didn't have as much sausage as I thought). Was trying to figure out what to do for dinner Monday and Betsy said let's do the Bolognese over the noodles. Actually really enjoyed (though I picked out bigger pieces of sausage, as it is rather sweet).

[Jenise]

Sounds delicious, Dale. I'm making braised napa cabbage with rutabega for dinner tonight--brothy, but denser than a soup as I'm imagining it. (It's a dish I made up in my head today.) You've inspired me to take it Asian with the addition of Chinese sausage, which I love.

Today I learned that double fermented soy sauce is Killer Stuff. Bought some LKK brand yesterday in Canada. It's extra concentrated and potent just as you'd guess, a perfect condiment-level soy sauce.

never heard of that, will check HMart, and if not there go to Chinese supermarket

[Jenise]

It's wonderful. I don't think I'll ever be without it again.

jenise, if you ever have any trouble finding lap cheong where you are, we can get it locally - at the Superstore at the bottom of our street! I have some for breakfast every morning.

[Jenise]

jenise, if you ever have any trouble finding lap cheong where you are, we can get it locally - at the Superstore at the bottom of our street! I have some for breakfast every morning.

Lap Cheong is no problem for me, there are a few Asian stores in town where I can get it. I'm amazed your Superstore has specialized Asian products though. I'm also surprised, given that it's sweet, that you like it!

[Jenise]

Yesterday I learned that factory canning was invented in 1909 here in Seattle--for salmon!

Depends on how you define factory canning, I guess. Canning was invented many years before. Here's an interesting history from Can Manufacturers Institute (which mentions Pacific salmon): https://www.cancentral.com/can-stats/hi ... h-industry

[Jenise]

Larry, good on you for teaching me another lesson about fact-checking. The errant fact I shared was part of a special program one of the network news stations featured last weekend about all the achievements, primarily technology but also music and food, that have come out of Seattle.

I made cassoulet a week ago Sunday and we've been diligently eating our way through the fancy pork-duck and beans. The last portion, two days ago (== day 9) was bad. It was clearly the beans that had gone off. I was able to rinse off the meats and add them to sauce for a couple plates of emergency tortellini.

I've never had beans go off before. I can't explain it. It does not make sense that the beans are actually at fault (these were organic Great Northerns from Whole Paycheck). And the meats were still good. So it must be something that went into the ragout but that's a pretty ordinary list of vegetable, broth, etc. The only possible candidate was the bacon?

Or, it could just be that I pushed my luck a little too far this time.

Maybe this goes in the thread "What I didn't learn today"

Larry, good on you for teaching me another lesson about fact-checking. The errant fact I shared was part of a special program one of the network news stations featured last weekend about all the achievements, primarily technology but also music and food, that have come out of Seattle.

Shucks.

People sometimes died from the early cans, soldered together with lead/tin, from lead poisoning. That's also one reason, according to some, why the Roman Empire fell: lead piping.

Jeff,

I have a lot of experience with managing leftovers since I love to cook but also almost always dine alone. I'd say that 9 days is pushing it a bit for something like cassoulet that doesn't have much intrinsic protection (high salt, spice, or acidity) against bacteria or mold. Just bad luck of the draw, I think. It only takes one spore to start spoilage. The meats probably retain enough salt to discourage the bacteria a bit, but the beans are attractive and wide-open targets.

Next time, divvy up the cassoulet into serving portions and freeze some of them. I've never tried it but I would guess that cassoulet would freeze well.

-Paul W..

...something like cassoulet that doesn't have much intrinsic protection (high salt, spice, or acidity) against bacteria or mold.

Hm. Good point. I tend to have a light hand with salt and it is a big potful so the bacon and confit might not have yielded enough into the ragout.

Next time, divvy up the cassoulet into serving portions and freeze some of them.

Interesting idea. Thirds would work well, in my case. Thanks!

[Jenise]

Yesterday I learned that tomato powder is a good thing.

I was making taco meat (ground turkey with chiles and rice for absorption and bulk) that was actually going to become a plate of nachos I could feed Bob as I left for lunch and a movie with friends. I usually add a knob or two of tomato paste to punch up the chile flavor but turns out I don't have any. Not the usual patty of it in the freezer nor the back-up can in the pantry. What to do, I wondered aloud, and then a far-off memory of me ordering an envelope of tomato powder, a thing I didn't even know existed prior to stumbling over it on Amazon. Must have been two years ago, long enough ago to wonder if I had ordered it or only thought of ordering it.

Well, I found it, unopened. And it's GREAT! I'll get a lot of use out of this.

When buying that goat meat yesterday, I found out that Oshkosh, Wisconsin is the second largest home, after Madison, in Wisconsin for refugees from the Middle East. Their baker arrived from Damascus a month ago and the daily flat breads are wonderful. Explains the popularity of the market and the rapid turnover of stock. It's a tiny store but manages to stock just about all the ingredients of North African, Middle Eastern and Near Eastern/Caucases cuisines. So happy to have such a nearby source and very happy to support