Friday, March 30, 2018

Macaroni Salad/ May Celebrations

      Hello again, everyone. I know I have been away for a while again, and I have a great reason. While I have been cooking things up in my absence, I have not been cooking food. No, no, no, I have put much time into my second passion of natural soap making. I have created several "signature" scent and additive concoctions that seem to being flying off the proverbial shelves. I say proverbial because I do not actually have a store, as of yet, nor a working website, but I am working on both those options as I write this. Even though times flies by in the speed of light times 10 around here, I don't ever seem to have enough to address everything I want to. Someday, maybe?
     This evening I took some much deserved time-off to try to catch up on things and I got a look at the food celebrations for May. At first I was surprised that May is National Barbecue Month, then I realized that Memorial Day, the "unofficial start of summer" rounds out the month, so why not? And the observed Memorial Day Monday is also National Barbecue day and National Hamburger and Cheeseburger day. Someone was thinking on this one. 
     While I love hamburgers and cheeseburgers as well as anyone I think we should address some of the other foods often served at the traditional Memorial Day "cookout". Learning that cooking foods on a grill, whether gas or wood or charcoal, is not what real "barbecue" means, I have been trying (with much difficulty) to refer to backyard  cooking as grilling, and reserving the term "barbecue" for the real thing.  Whether I will ever address barbecuing in the pages of my blog has not been decided yet, I think I have a lot more research to do before I would even attempt to try to sound like I know what I am talking about. Maybe I just have so much respect for real  cooks, chefs and others that spend many years perfecting their methods of barbecue, and I don't want to insult them by pretending I belong in their class. For not, at least, with a few more years of practice and experimenting here, well, don't be surprised one day if I throw my 2 cents in on the topic as well.
    One day. Maybe.
     So what traditional sides are served on National Barbecue Day?  I think that really depends on where you are, regionally at least.  Speaking strictly for this blogger I admit we are B.O.R.I.N.G. We do the traditional Macaroni Salad, Potato salad, Cole slaw. We do occasionally, however, kick it up a bit: Cucumber and onion salad, carrot and raisin salad, Caprese salad with home made Mozzarella, homegrown Tomatoes and Basil-which is awesome when you have produced everything--if we only owned the cow and milked her ourselves, then, it would be a 99% self sustained dish, but as for raising dairy cow...I pass thank you.
   The men around here also like Italian Pasta Salad, which is a "take" on antipasto, however, they seem to miss the point that the "salad" is supposed to be a salad made with the things you would find on an antipasto platter, mixed in with some kind of pasta and mixed with an olive oil and vinegar dressing, The antipasto salads I have seen, and even made by mixing the ingredients requested by my menfolk, are so far from what a real antipasto is that I cannot even bring myself to eat it. I did learn, recently, however, one of the problems I have with this type of "salad" is that I do not like it cold. I can eat is right after its made and still warm, or room temperature, but once it chills, I do not like it. I don't know if its the oil and vinegar on the cold pasta, but I just don't see what everyone gets all warm and fuzzy over.
    Macaroni salad and potato salad, on the other hand OMG-- I just love them! The most astonishing thing about those two salads is that I use the same dressing recipe for both, oh and for cole slaw and carrot salad, now that I think about it. One dressing all salads. How convenient is that? Ready? Here goes:
Start with 1-1/2 cups mayo
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup white or cider vinegar. Sometimes you have to add a bit more sugar, I think because of the vinegar. Sometimes its a bit more tangy than others, probably happens during distillation. Who knows? Anyway, these measurements are approximates, but really really close. 

Mix the sugar and vinegar to start melting the sugar, add the mayo, and stir until smooth. Now here's a first: if you are making macaroni salad, and ONLY macaroni SALAD, rinse the macaroni in cool- cold water. Yes you read that correctly. You need to rinse the pasta and cool it before mixing the dressing into it, otherwise all that dressing will be sucked up and vanish into the pasta. Yes it still tastes great, but it dries out the salad so much I found I was forever making additional dressing and adding it later. Tried rinsing the pasta in cold water an Voila! problem solved. The pasta still absorbs some of the dressing,  but it does not suck it all up, leaving it dry. Who knew? Probably someone out there. And now we know, too.
     Macaroni salad, in my opinion also requires about 1/4 cup diced red and/or green bell pepper. the raw pepper imparts its mild flavor into the dressing and gives the salad just enough "umph" to make it what my childhood dreams are made of.

   I am just publishing posts that have been sitting in limbo --forever-- I had lost my password and moved and well life took over. 
    Now that I've been able to get back into my blog I plan on seeing how I can get restarted. 
    BUT..... I am about to embark on a long distance move. Like over 1200 miles! And beach and sand and hot humid muggy weather...sounds divine to me! I'm going to Florida! I'm not promising anything, because I do not know what I'll be walking into down there, but... I intend to try.
    Wishing you all the love and luck in the world. 
    Praying I receive the same.
    Until we meet again, I love you all.

~barbara

March Madness...again

     March is upon us once again, seems I always get back here for March.

      Instead of complaining or giving you 1,000 reasons why I have been MIA, how about we just pick up where we left off and just get on with this?

      In a previous post, I am sure, I began telling you about the food celebrations for the month, and because there are so many I probably skipped a few. Maybe I can fix that.

     March is National Celery Month and while I am not a huge fan of straight up celery it is indispensable when it comes to cooking especially when it is combined with onions, and bell peppers in the "holy trinity" of Louisiana Creole and Cajun cuisine. Celery, onions, and carrots make up the French mirepoix, often used as a base for sauces and soups. I certainly use celery in cooking, however, I dice it up very small, because I do not like to bite into a piece of celery. The flavor it brings to the party, however, prevents me from altogether omitting it from my cooking.

     March is also National Flour Month; I have a very strong attachment to flour; unbleached flour is my personal favorite, and I admit I am a big fan of King Arthur Flour. Until I find a way to grow, harvest and mill my own wheat I am stuck buying commercial flour and that's the way it has be.

     Flour, like celery,is not a stand alone ingredient, but there would be far less food products in the world without flour. No cakes or cookies or pasta or bread. Heaven forbid.  Seriously.

     The next food celebration for March is Frozen Foods, so important are frozen foods that not only is March the month they are celebrated, but frozen foods also has a special day, March 6th. With the current trend to go all natural and fresh its a wonder why this is being doubly celebrated, unless, of course you consider Ice cream, sorbet and gelato. Those are frozen foods to be celebrated!

   March also is the National Nutrition Month which highlights First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to raise a healthier generation of kids, and No Kid Hungry which the entertainment industry has embraced.  Raising children to eat properly and teaching as many people as possible how to eat properly is a cause near and dear to my heart. Coming from an immigrant family learning how to stretch the food dollar with nutritious and delicious foods is a combination of skills which need to be handed down to each generation. Our forefathers immigrated here for a better life for their children, feeding them was one of the top priorities on their list. 

  Moving along, March is also National Noodle Month, which goes hand-in-hand with National Flour Month. Noodles offer so many options it boggles my mind. Noodles can mean almost anything, and now with the invention of the Spriralizer® you can make "noodles" or noodle-like foods out of just about anything!

 Moving along, March is National Peanut Month, National Sauce Month and National Caffeine Awareness Month, the latter being one that many of us will sigh and roll our eyes, "they're going to tell us all the evils of caffeine". Yeah, I will have to investigate that one before I weigh in on it. I had to mention it, however, otherwise I would be remiss.

     March also has a few week-long celebrations: the second week honors Chocolate Chip Cookies and National School Breakfast Week, the third week is American Chocolate week.
     One special celebration is Maple Syrup Saturday observed on the third Saturday of March; and who could forget the most famous Irish celebration of them all? March 17, St. Patrick's Day- also known as Corned Beef and Cabbage Day?

      Sadly, very sadly, our Irish ancestors did not really enjoy corned beef much before they settled in America, escaping their homeland due to poverty and starvation spurred by the failure of the potato crop for a few years. Of course the reason the peasantry was so reliant on potatoes is regrettable, as well, due to some competition between Catholicism and the Church of England the English stripped the Irish Catholics of their lands and forced them into the position of tenant farming, and setting up an entire people to nearly starve to death as a result of the potato blight. One thing affects the other on a grand scale. It always amazed me that the strain of potato that was susceptible to the blight that caused the tubers to rot in the ground was not the only species of potato, just the one that flourished in the Irish climate and eventually nearly caused the demise of an entire class of people; the entire country of peasants put their lives in one basket, so to speak.
     Moving back on track, we start with the daily celebrations and as every month's celebrations March's are just as diverse as any other month's. A few years ago I made a Frozen Coconut Torte on March 13 for that day's celebration, and unfortunately working full time out of the home and more appropriately, out of the kitchen, it is indeed difficult to post my personal forays into the food celebrations; most of the time I hand off cooking duties to my right hand, the Big E, and he's done great with cooking for the family. I greatly miss cooking all day and posting photos of my creations, perhaps in my next life, or after I retire, whichever comes first I will be able to indulge myself. In the meantime, I have to make do with what I have "Bloom Where You Are Planted – 1 Corinthians 7:17-24. Okay I hear ya.
     This year we get to observe Good Friday in March, as it is a movable holy day, that coincides with the full moons in spring, if I remember correctly, and Easter, as well; Good Friday is also National Hot Cross Bun day.

     This year I think we will tackle Hot Cross Buns, which will also honor National Flour Month and I will get to work with a sweet dough, which I don't get to work with very much. I am getting excited!
    The following recipe is courtesy of King Arthur Flour:
Hot Cross  Buns:

  • 1/4 cup apple juice or rum
  • 1/2 cup mixed dried fruit
  • 1/2 cup raisins or dried currants
  • 1 1/4 cups milk, room temperature
  • 3 large eggs, 1 separated
  • 6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 4 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Topping
  • 1 large egg white, reserved from above
  • 1 tablespoon milk


Icing


  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 4 teaspoons milk, or enough to make a thick, pipeable icing

Instructions

  1. Lightly grease a 10" square pan or 9" x 13" pan.
  2. **Mix the rum or apple juice with the dried fruit and raisins, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave briefly, just till the fruit and liquid are very warm, and the plastic starts to "shrink wrap" itself over the top of the bowl. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Note: If you worry about using plastic wrap in your microwave, simply cover the bowl with a glass lid.
  3. When the fruit is cool, mix together all of the dough ingredients except the fruit, and knead, using an electric mixer or bread machine, till the dough is soft and elastic. Mix in the fruit and any liquid not absorbed.
  4. Let the dough rise for 1 hour, covered. It should become puffy, though may not double in bulk.
  5. Divide the dough into billiard ball-sized pieces, about 3 3/4 ounces each. A heaped muffin scoop (about 1/3 cup) makes about the right portion. You'll make 12 to 14 buns. Use your greased hands to round them into balls. Arrange them in the prepared pan.
  6. Cover the pan, and let the buns rise for 1 hour, or until they've puffed up and are touching one another. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F.
  7. Whisk together the reserved egg white and milk, and brush it over the buns.
  8. Bake the buns for 20 minutes, until they're golden brown. Remove from the oven, and transfer to a rack to cool.
  9. Mix together the icing ingredients, and when the buns are completely cool, pipe it in a cross shape atop each bun.
**  Being microwave-cautious I will, instead, warm the liquid and soak the fruits until they are plump.

  I have been doing some research on Hot Cross Buns and was a bit surprised to find they have been around since pre-medieval times, although probably not the same, exact recipe, however the tradition of sweet bread with dried fruits and a cross across the top, sometimes made into the actual dough, sometimes an icing. Here's a link to a very interesting piece about the history of Hot Cross Buns: Hot Cross Buns  Who knew?

     Now that my mouth is watering, I am going to go start collecting what I need to attack this recipe.