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Mar. 3, 2007 I like to read odd and forlorn cookbooks because I love food and the comforting pastime of eating but I also always hope to find some delicious dish that's been forgotten in this modern day age of limited public culinary offerings in the chicken nugget/hamburger world. There is nothing more down-to-earth than preparing food from scratch. Unfortunately, taking a frozen box of mechanically separated boneless chicken and emptying the contents in a toaster oven has made people of today anything but down-to-earth. The appreciation of good food is rare, the modern age palate having been raped by cheap fat, extra salt, and monosodium glutamate. I much prefer the chicken recipe in The Virginia Housewife (written in 1824) that begins with the words," put your chicken in a cage and feed it moderately for a fortnight." Of course, I wouldn't give up modern day convenience, but there is something sad about how far removed people are from the food they eat: Chicken raised in giant warehouses out of state, vegetables trucked in from Mexico, fruits flown in from Chile, grains grown hundreds of miles away in huge monotonous fields. A century ago, it wasn't this way at all. The above mentioned cookbook explains how meat should be stored for the year. City folks could buy their side of beef from a butcher, however, they were outnumbered by farmers who raised their own cows. The home cook needed an empty molasses cask capable of holding thirty gallons of brine, also enough room for the side of beef. Before refrigeration this method of preserving meat was a necessity which is not so today but the appetizing result is still popular especially on St. Patrick's Day when corned beef is the traditional meal. All commercial corned beef is made out of brisket which is unfortunate--an eye of round is a much better cut. If you want a different cut of beef for you holiday dinner this year, you can make your own corned beef from scratch. Here's the recipe. 3 pound beef roast. 1 gallon of water 8 ounces of kosher salt 3 ounces of brown sugar 1 tsp of pepper corns 6 bay leaves 1 tsp of ground coriander 1 tsp of cinnamon 1 tsp of allspice 1 tsp of whole cloves 1 tsp of saltpeter or sodium nitrate (optional) You can make corned beef without it but it won't turn red when it's cooked. 1 onion chopped up 6 crushed cloves of garlic Bring the brine to a boil and let it cool down completely. Then pour it on the beef, cover, and refrigerate for two weeks. Take the beef out of the brine, cover it with fresh water, and simmer for at least three hours. Incidentally, according to George Leonard Herter, author of The Bull Cook, this recipe is also good for venison, peccary, antelope, moose, and bear. I like the leftovers even better. Here's the recipe for red flannel hash. bacon grease leftover meat leftover diced potatoes (double the amount of potatoes in ratio to beef) leftover diced beets leftover diced carrots one chopped onion basil dill Sautee the onions in the bacon grease then mix them with the other ingredients. Put the hash in the pan and cook over medium high heat until the bottom of the hash is brown. In Augusta there is a dish served in barbecue restaurants that I've never seen anywhere else. I call this Augusta Hash. leftover barbecue meat--shredded onions tomato juice black pepper Simmer together and serve on rice ------------ About the author Mark Gelbart: My book, Talk Radio, is a black comedy about a radio talk show host who gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured by a loser. www.mark-gelbart.com Email: agelbart@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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