speaking of bivalves does anyone else find the freshwater mussel lifecycle odd in that is has to spend time as a fish parasite?
I've read about that, there's one type of freshwater mussel native to this area where I now live that do just that. Considering that mussels are not very proficient swimmers I think it's a evolutionary speaking very wise choice.
There's not many freshwater mussels that are considered edible here, and most of those that are, are on the endangered list. Will have to revisit this in a year or two.
Strongly considering making a tiny pond with a little stretch of brook(?), throw some minnows in there and toss in some of my aquarium freshwater shrimp when they're too many.
There's not many freshwater mussels that are considered edible here, and most of those that are, are on the endangered list. Will have to revisit this in a year or two.
Strongly considering making a tiny pond with a little stretch of brook(?), throw some minnows in there and toss in some of my aquarium freshwater shrimp when they're too many.
I could walk out my door in ME and harvest a bucket, that ended when they discovered that 100yr. of dumping privies into a pit in the middle of a tiny island had to eventually do something bad.
I just saw an add for PEI mussels overnight air for $85/lb you need to be desperate at that price.
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Horse sweat is my goto. You know that smell when you walk by a stable and they're just bringing in the horses after exercise? That's hing (for the first 5 minutes of cooking).
When I was in the Caribbean last year I walked through a mangrove thicket ("swamp" I guess and I think there was a wet lagoon but the path was dry sand, though inches above sea level), and just off the shore were oyster beds. The water looked a bit murky just by the beds, but no effluent sources anywhere around. There were some heron-like birds getting their lunch in the shallows. I know they get a lot of oysters in Louisiana etc, but have never seen them in the Caribbean. I think of edible oysters as something that grows in cold water (NS, PEI), so have been curious about those ones.
And what a bunch of bologna that was back then nezy. I am glad we have smartened up and made seafood so expensive.
Wait, what?
Tell me about your falafels, please. I made some last year, and my researches said to soak dried chickpeas then grind them up in a food processor. It worked, and they were tasty enough, but I have never had such gas in my life, it was actually quite uncomfortable. I have wondered whether it had to do with the particular chickpeas I used, or maybe they should have been at least partly cooked before grinding and frying them. I have eaten falafel lots of times and never had that experience (though all pulses give me gas to some degree, but that was the worst).
Hing - I was all apprehensive when I bought my first bottle of hing, due to all the folks on the net complaining about the smell. It turned out that the smell, though weird and borderline unpleasant, wasn't anywhere near as pervasive as the complainers said it would be. This is possibly because I got the blended powder rather than the pure resin. Having said that, I still keep the hing bottle in its own sealed outer bottle - no smell problems.
I barely notice it now in cooking as all the Indian dishes use it, but the resin is double wrapped and we grind as needed.
Still no bread flour so tomorrow will experiment using Atta flour as we have a 10kg bag of that
Still no bread flour so tomorrow will experiment using Atta flour as we have a 10kg bag of that
I usually break out the hing only when I'm working with some sort of legume, a tsp or so for a pot. I haven't found it to be obtrusive.
The same Indian gal at work who complains about my lack of salt hates hing, as her Dad likes his food well-laced with it. That household must be fragrant...
On that note, the turkey keema I fixed on Sunday night made the house smell wonderful. I'm still eating that same pot of keema, and hope to hit the bottom soon.
The same Indian gal at work who complains about my lack of salt hates hing, as her Dad likes his food well-laced with it. That household must be fragrant...
On that note, the turkey keema I fixed on Sunday night made the house smell wonderful. I'm still eating that same pot of keema, and hope to hit the bottom soon.
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I also use the "compounded", powdered hing/asafoetida, it has no smell until it hits the hot oil. The unpleasant aroma lasts a couple of minutes, then the "true" aroma settles in, which is more like onions. A lot of Brahmins use a lot of hing because they don't eat onions and garlic. It is an unusual aroma, and actually kind of subtle, but when I smell it I am instantly transported back to south India. Funny how aromas have a powerful memory, even though I can't "recall" a smell on demand.
Falafels are made of soaked chickpeas otherwise they fall apart when fried. I make them with onion, lot of parsley and spices. If you want them to be soft they should be wet.
As for the gasses - chickpeas are pretty "gassy" (cooked ones also-I know as I often make chana masala) but not more than some other legumes (beans, peas).
The west coast of FL has lots of oysters, a couple of years back they had a huge problem with paralytic shellfish poisoning (red tide). An uncle of mine got it in ME from local oysters and almost died.
Speaking of oysters :
Hog Island Just Opened a Delivery-Only Oysters and Bloody Mary Bar - InsideHook
Hog Island Just Opened a Delivery-Only Oysters and Bloody Mary Bar - InsideHook
Mare's sweat is what I think of grated mountain yam in Japanese cooking. A dorm mate at MIT played Dynamo in the Arnie movie Running Man, he played Miles Gloriosus in my MIT senior play.
Wrenchone you should remember Erland.
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Last night was meatloaf care of Mrs. Weldon. Lots of them there goodies and it didn't look special, but you will probably understand.
You see this was a crab meatloaf. Didn't know it existed. Finely ground pork is used as a binder but only as necessary. There are many things you might not think about when it comes to meatloaf. Black fungus and cloud fungus are a couple but she is hesitant to tell me much more 'cause when she saw the look on my face after my first bite, I asked her of she'd marry me again.
She said no chance but let's move on. It was done by her previous knowledge and if she ever cares to share, I will too. I know you think crab is too much to do that with and you're right. We just have a glut of shelled, cooked and frozen crab that has to be used before it gets 'snowy'
Cheers to everyone, stay safe.
You see this was a crab meatloaf. Didn't know it existed. Finely ground pork is used as a binder but only as necessary. There are many things you might not think about when it comes to meatloaf. Black fungus and cloud fungus are a couple but she is hesitant to tell me much more 'cause when she saw the look on my face after my first bite, I asked her of she'd marry me again.
She said no chance but let's move on. It was done by her previous knowledge and if she ever cares to share, I will too. I know you think crab is too much to do that with and you're right. We just have a glut of shelled, cooked and frozen crab that has to be used before it gets 'snowy'
Cheers to everyone, stay safe.