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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Signs of the Times - April 20, 2010

Family Food Store Advertisements 
Food Prices  4-20-2010
Location: Texas

 








(Adverts for illustration only. Foods displayed are NOT for sale.)


Today's Entrée 

Cooked Shrimp and Cajun Trio Sauce ... (it's ALL in the sauce)

When you are in a rush to drum-up some hoer doers for unexpected guests, here is a quick and easy way to do exactly that.

If you are fortunate enough to live near a food store which sells cooked shrimp on a platter, serve them  to your guests with this delicious Cajun-style sauce (WOW!

Don't let the ingredients fool you either,  or get you saying things like, "What? Horseradish! That is only served with beef!"

Not true. Wait until you taste this simple and easy to prepare spicy sauce which, BTW,  is good for beef, pork and seafood. For about a buck you can make enough of this sauce to serve with your cooked shrimp platter. Most folks already have the stuff to prepare it with lying around in the frig.

How's that for frugality? A shrimp platter like the one advertised above contains between 100 - 120 shrimp (yes, I know ... that's kinda small isn't it?).  But, sometimes we can't always get what we want.

There were moments when I had to use these kinds of spur-of-the-moment guerrilla tactics to get the job done. It works well enough when you find yourself in a tight-spot for time and you have to help feed a bunch of hungry folks.

Ingredients for Cajun Trio Sauce

1 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. ketchup
1 tsp yellow mustard
1 tsp creamy horseradish sauce
1/2 tsp Tabasco Sauce

(multiply ingredients to prepare more)

Instructions

Blend everything together well. Use this spicy sauce as a dressing for cooked food-stuff like fried beef or pork strips, boiled/broiled shrimp or boiled crawfish, and smoked fish. It is EXCELLENT on regular beef burgers, too.

Tip: You can adjust this recipe to your particular taste. For example, I like to add a teaspoon of lemon juice to this sauce when I prepare smoked fish.

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Monday, April 19, 2010

Nutritious Meat Loaf with Oatmeal

Add Whole Grain Power to Your Meatloaf

Most folks will agree that enough information has surfaced over the last few decades which says that rolled-oats is good for everyone because of its nutritional benefits. Here is a meatloaf which calls for 3/4 cup of 100 % whole grain rolled oats.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
  • 1 cup tomato juice
  • 3/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup chopped onions
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten
  • 1 1/2 tsp. of DIY Cajun Seasoning

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan. Combine meat, tomato juice, oats, onions, egg and seasonings. Mix well and form into a loaf and place it in the baking pan. Cook for 1 hour. Let stand  for a few minutes before slicing. Signature Icon

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Soluble and Insoluble Fiber in Oatmeal

What is the difference?

Today I read the label on a 42 ounce box of Quick Oats when I came across the words Soluble Fiber and Insoluble Fiber (2g. ea. per 1/2 cup serving). So, I did a little research on the dietary fibers which I want to share.

First, I want to tell you about rolled-oats. It is just one of the several ingredients which I add to my Top Cats Premium Homemade Dough Bait formula: "Made for Women ... But, Men Can Use It, Too!" (that was gonna be my slogan). But, I never got the business off the ground and into the mainstream (pun intended).

Here is a partial image of a business card I made-up years ago (the address and phone numbers were omitted) when I was thinking about producing the bait in large quantities. But, I am retired! So tell me, why would I want to go back to work? I prefer to make the bait and go fishing myself.


I only make my Magic Bait for friends and acquaintances who don't mind forking over $3 a biscuit. (BTW, it ships well, too.) So, most of my customers take advantage of the 4 for $10 special. And, they pay for the shipping. No complaints, yet.

One biscuit can catch a mess of catfish enough to feed the whole family and still have some fish and bait left over. (I have done it several times.) So, the price is not that much when you consider the benefits.

It takes me time and a certain process to make the bait. I have to work the dough by hand as I would a loaf of bread ... except  more!

One biscuit is about equivalent to 50 night crawler worms (without the slimy and smelly  mess). It is as pliable as Play dough, too. It took me 16 years to perfect this formula and only one other person besides me knows what is in this good-smelling bait which attracts catfish like bees to honey (and he ain't tellin').

That aside,  (I tend to get side-tracked every now and then),  what about soluble fiber and insoluble fiber?

What is the difference?

What I have learned is that the soluble fiber in oatmeal is what makes it turn gelatinous. I think anyone who has eaten oatmeal can attest to its gooey texture. Well, that is the soluble fiber.

Insoluble fiber, on the other hand, leaves the body in much the same composition as it was introduced ... as a bulk material which is beneficial in gently scrapping the inside walls of our intestines, thus keeping them squeaky clean and tidy.

So, I will be searching for some really good and unique oatmeal recipes, for that reason, so that I may share them with you in the future. If you have any good ones you would like to share,  you may do so in the comment section below.

As for the catfish, I don't really think it matters to them one way or the other about the solubility of fibers. Do you? Signature Icon

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Ancient Seafood Fricasseé

 … (an excerpt from Ancient Greek and Roman Recipes)

Cooks

As far as we know from the relevant inscriptions, during the classical era cooking was the profession for men who were free citizens.

From the Hellenistic period onwards though, cooks were specialized slaves. As Menander writes, "the good slaves-cooks were paid a lot of money and had a prominent position in domestic affairs".

In ancient times
, there were quite a few collections of recipes but only a few extracts have been saved.

Most recipes and other details concerning nutrition can be found in "Deipnosofistis" which was written by Athineos who at the same time with the seven wise men, also accounts seven great cooks.

The greatest were Agis and Rodos who made the best fish, Afthonias who made the best sausages and Nireas from Chios who made a divine fish-soup.

Note: The following recipe is my attempt at an American translation of the copy sited in the above noted reference:

Ancient Seafood Fricasseé  (MINUTAL MARINUM)

Ingredients:
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  • 1 lb fish fillet (e.g. salmon)
  • 2 cups white wine
  • 4 cups beef broth
  • 3 leeks, chopped
  • 1/2  cup oil
  • Salt, coriander, pepper, fennel, oregano to taste
  • a little bit of starch or flour to thicken the sauce


Instructions:
---------------
Chop the fillets into small pieces. Put the fish in a pan, add salt, oil, wine and broth. Chop leek stalks and coriander and add to mix. Cook approximately 30 minutes on low to moderate heat. When well done add the oregano and fennel (to taste) to the fish fricasseé. Boil again shortly. Then thicken sauce with starch, sprinkle pepper on the fricasseé and serve.

Special Note: I guarantee if there were any Cajun cooks back in Ancient times they would have most certainly used catfish or sac-o-lais (crappie) instead of salmon, and they would have added onions, bell peppers and celery to the recipe.

Let me know how it turns out if you decide to prepare it, okay?

Bon Appetit! Ahheee!! Signature Icon

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