What's cookin', good lookin'?

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Pulled pork with jerk seasoning on corn tortillas with pineapple habanero salsa and guacamole, baked sweet plantains, and rice. A no nonsense plate of yummies

https://41.media.tumblr.com/16fa274665b9e1bcf94c0fa23bddc033/tumblr_noznivciVR1ttoj3bo1_400.jpg

 

[seela]

Thank you Seela! The food looks like it was (for the most part) a fun adventure in its own right A few of those plates do look like they were meant for a giant's table but must just look yummy! I am blown away by the market. It looks like no market I have ever been to!! Was that a busy shopping day, out a normal day, do you know?

The food was ok, but I wouldn't recommend Belarus as a culinary destination. We tried both high end places and cheap eateries and the only thing that seemed fancier about the food in the high end places was the plating. The flavors were very much the same. The fancy places also had lots of French and Italian dishes and less Belarusian.

The day at the market was just a usual day. That's not the busiest part of the market by the long shot. Most people were buying fruit and vegetables in the stalls outside. I couldn't take many pics there because there were guards everywhere and no photography signs. After the brief get together with the KGB I didn't want to push my luck.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

The food was ok, but I wouldn't recommend Belarus as a culinary destination. We tried both high end places and cheap eateries and the only thing that seemed fancier about the food in the high end places was the plating. The flavors were very much the same. The fancy places also had lots of French and Italian dishes and less Belarusian.

The day at the market was just a usual day. That's not the busiest part of the market by the long shot. Most people were buying fruit and vegetables in the stalls outside. I couldn't take many pics there because there were guards everywhere and no photography signs. After the brief get together with the KGB I didn't want to push my luck.

No photos, such a foreign concept in the age of the camera phone!
Besides, I wonder what they are afraid of showing??

 

[seela]

No photos, such a foreign concept in the age of the camera phone!
Besides, I wonder what they are afraid of showing??

I don't know. There were lots of no photo signs there. At least all public offices and metro are no photo zones. I think they're afraid somebody's planning a bombing or something and uses the photos for that.

There's been two bombings in the Minsk metro, so I guess that makes sort of sense.

 

[Cumference]

...After the brief get together with the KGB I didn't want to push my luck.

What?

Have you told about that elsewhere?

(I would be careful in Belarus too. It is not exactly a modern pinnacle of democracy, freedom and human rights )


Forbidding photography is a good marker of "level of dictatorship and suppression".
For some reason, "that kind of humanoids" do not like to be documented.

 

[seela]

What?

Have you told about that elsewhere?

(I would be careful in Belarus too. It is not exactly a modern pinnacle of democracy, freedom and human rights )


Forbidding photography is a good marker of "level of dictatorship and suppression".
For some reason, "that kind of humanoids" do not like to be documented.

Yup, I told about my trip in the blurt thread on this page here.

The no photography signs were mostly around government buildings and metro stations, and also on that market place. Other than that nobody cared what you took pictures of.

I went in expecting the place to feel depressing and suppressed, because I had read so many accounts from other people stating exactly that. That wasn't my experience at all. Sure, there were lots more police on the streets than you would see here, and there were the ominous nation building posters everywhere, but other than that it didn't seem that different from Warsaw, for example. At least not that different from the Warsaw I first encountered when I went there 12 years ago.

 

[Cumference]

Yup, I told about my trip in the blurt thread on this page here.
....

I've seen it now.
Thanks!

 

[seela]

It's rhubarb time of the year again and I baked today. What are these? Pies? Tarts? I don't know. Smells good anyways.

Someone with more patience would have no doubt rolled the pastry into a pretty rectangle. Not me. I don't mind my edges a little wonky.

I poached the rhubarb in light caramel and I added some raspberry vinegar and raspberry juice to it as well. The apple was poached in limoncello caramel. I simmered the leftover liquids into syrups and drizzled it over the fruit. The pastry is kinda puffpastry-ish, but I used half butter, half quark and rolled it like puffpastry but didn't put any butter between the layers.

 

[LWulf]

I've never had rhubarb, in spite of a girlfriend who promised to make me some, once (and never did), and now seeing your delicious looking ...tarts(?) seela.

On my own burner, I've discovered the wonders of ground chicken breast and have taken to making chicken meatballs to mix with my spaghetti and also tried making meatloaf out of it.

To make beef (which I can't eat anymore) meat loaf , I would cover it with tomato sauce (covered with tin foil so it doesn't dry out too much) and allow the meat soak in the flavor while baking.

I used the same principle and essentially the same recipes for the chicken meatballs and chicken meatloaf. I can't say it turned out well, but it wasn't too bad either. I need to work on this a bit...

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

I've never had rhubarb, in spite of a girlfriend who promised to make me some, once (and never did), and now seeing your delicious looking ...tarts(?) seela.

On my own burner, I've discovered the wonders of ground chicken breast and have taken to making chicken meatballs to mix with my spaghetti and also tried making meatloaf out of it.

To make beef (which I can't eat anymore) meat loaf , I would cover it with tomato sauce (covered with tin foil so it doesn't dry out too much) and allow the meat soak in the flavor while baking.

I used the same principle and essentially the same recipes for the chicken meatballs and chicken meatloaf. I can't say it turned out well, but it wasn't too bad either. I need to work on this a bit...

I make half chicken / half beef meatballs, and I make them very small - about the size of a nickel. I chop and caramels shallots to go in the mix, and I even add a splash of cream. I'm guessing you need to keep the fat content down? But adding the shallot can help with flavour and moisture, and keeping the size small would mean less cooking time which could help moisture content. Maybe you could add a little parm to the mixture. Another thing might be finely chopped mushrooms. If you can get them to give up their liquor while they are cooking in the meatball, that would be yummy

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[desertslave]

It's rhubarb time of the year again and I baked today. What are these? Pies? Tarts? I don't know. Smells good anyways.

Someone with more patience would have no doubt rolled the pastry into a pretty rectangle. Not me. I don't mind my edges a little wonky.

I poached the rhubarb in light caramel and I added some raspberry vinegar and raspberry juice to it as well. The apple was poached in limoncello caramel. I simmered the leftover liquids into syrups and drizzled it over the fruit. The pastry is kinda puffpastry-ish, but I used half butter, half quark and rolled it like puffpastry but didn't put any butter between the layers.

My dad loved rhubarb and Mom loved him, so she would make him rhubarb pie. Nobody else would eat it, which pleased him immensely. I tried some that was mixed with strawberries, once. Nope, not my thing. The plants are pretty, though!

 

[desertslave]

I have a craving, and it's grocery shopping day so....

I'm going to teach my son how to make chicken marsala. It's a simple enough dish and something good to add to his repertoire.

I'm going to go American with my serving, though, and serve it with pasta. I know it's traditional to have separate courses, but I'm an infidel.

 

[midwestyankee]

My dad loved rhubarb and Mom loved him, so she would make him rhubarb pie. Nobody else would eat it, which pleased him immensely. I tried some that was mixed with strawberries, once. Nope, not my thing. The plants are pretty, though!

We had rhubarb growing in our backyard when I was in school. My mother would regularly make strawberry rhubarb pies and jams, which were most excellently awesome. Later in life, my father-in-law's favorite pie was strawberry-rhubarb so it was generally available on special occasions. I do miss that pie. Since son #1 and I are the only ones who really enjoy it, it's a bit of a rarity these days.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

I was always slightly terrified of rhubarb as a child, given that my grandmother always told me it was poisonous, and couldn't tell me exactly when I could know it was safe to eat. So I always avoided it... still do

 

[midwestyankee]

A very wicked and lazy treat is fresh cut rhubarb dipped in superfine sugar and sucked, like sugar cane can be sucked.

Yes. My mother used to get quite angry with me for taking the sugar bowl and a sharp knife to the garden.

 

[midwestyankee]

I was always slightly terrified of rhubarb as a child, given that my grandmother always told me it was poisonous, and couldn't tell me exactly when I could know it was safe to eat. So I always avoided it... still do

As I recall, the leaves can be a bit frightening and sticky. I don't think I ever heard the claim that it was poisonous, but we surely avoided the plants until the leaves calmed down.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[LallyH]

I was always slightly terrified of rhubarb as a child, given that my grandmother always told me it was poisonous, and couldn't tell me exactly when I could know it was safe to eat. So I always avoided it... still do

I think the leaves are poisonous to my rabbits - they still try to nibble them so I have to chase them off!

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Yes, the leaves are poisonous. The stalks contain the same compound, but less of it.


The think to consider is that many things are toxic, even essential nutrients, if eaten in poor balance or excess. So, a diet of pure rhubarb would probably be inadvisable. A rhubarb yoghurt daily, or a rhubarb pudding often during its season....probably not so bad.

You are so right, and perhaps it's high time I try playing with the stuff

 

[Cumference]

Yes, the leaves are poisonous. The stalks contain the same compound, but less of it.


The think to consider is that many things are toxic, even essential nutrients, if eaten in poor balance or excess. So, a diet of pure rhubarb would probably be inadvisable. A rhubarb yoghurt daily, or a rhubarb pudding often during its season....probably not so bad.

It is oxalic acid
Actually the table in the link lists less oxalic acid in rhubarb than in spinach.

(And the content varies with the sort)

Rhubarb is fantastic, but you must not be shy with the sugar!
Rhubarb was actually primarily used for medicinal purposes until the prize of sugar came down to a manageable level.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Yes, oxalic acid.

I sometimes make my rhubarb totally sugar free. . And dislike it over sweetened. Jp it needs to taste like rhubarb at tart, not just sugary for me.....the older stems, I agree, need more.

Rhubarb still is used for medicinal purposes in home remedies and by herbalists.

We have a very delicious rhubarb liquor, lovely with prosecco or champagne. Maybe that's a good way to ease your self in to it Collar?

That would work for me!!