Happiness and lard
First I talk about smoking cigarettes on the cheap, and now I’m advocating lard. Yes. Lard.
I have a deep and abiding loathing of margarine. It’s bad, unhealthy, the taste and texture is wrong, and it screws up recipes. Butter and lard are far superior. Lard more so than even butter in most cases.
Now, all 125 pounds of me can come out of the lard closet and explain why lard is better than hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Mainly because lard is not hydrogenated vegetable oil. It is a solid waxy fat that is washed of salt and rendered from porcine (aka pig) abdomen fat. It doesn’t have a distinct taste or smell, and when melted should be completely clear bearing a light gold color. The containers sold at Walmart and local grocery stores are usually Armour brand and should be avoided unless there are no other alternatives (as they are partially hydrogenated and a pure shocking white– newbie lard!)
While I’m not advocating any sort of diet, I will say that hydrogenated vegetable oil doesn’t seem to suck for baking goods until you compare those baked goods with those made with lard. Lard makes for lighter, moist breads and perfectly crisp flavorful cookies– hydrogenated vegetable oils don’t. If you prefer that lovely buttery taste in pie crusts and cookies, blend 1/2 butter and 1/2 lard– I swear the lard enhances the buttery flavor.
Lard also excels in price, about $2 less than Crisco per pound, $2.30 less than margarine, and about $4.20 less than butter. Also there is no need to refrigerate lard, so long as the container is free from contamination, it can be snapped closed and kept in the pantry or cupboard.
Lard was the cooking fat of choice right up until the 1940s and quite possibly the reason why most modern homemakers cookies and pie crusts don’t taste nearly as good as great-grandma’s is because with the advent of margarine we’ve forsaken lard.
The best proof will be your taste buds, buy some lard (not the newbie lard, go to the butcher and see if they sell prepared lard without the hydrogenation, if not check the farmers markets or check with your favorite search engine.) Then do a side by side comparison with your favorite cookie or bread recipe.
Filed under DIY, frugal shopping, recipes | Comment (0)Recipe: Spiced mashed potatoes
First, I think we should note that this is probably one of the best, completely vegan, recipes if you are into that sort of thing, and does not require gravy or sauce of any sort to impart flavor. It is however, not low carb. By using garlic instead of onion or by adding a handful of walnuts or sunflower seeds to the potatoes while they are simmering you can vary this recipe to your hearts delight. Olive oil will give a more golden color than sunflower oil.
Servings 2 (large)
Ingredients (all to flavor, and texture preference, increase to your hearts delight) 2 large peeled white potatoes or 4 medium sized unpeeled red (or new) potatoes, 3 tbl sp olive or sunflower oil, 3 tbl sp diced red onion, 1/2 tsp basil (dried, use considerably more if fresh), 1/4 diced olives (black or green according to preference), 1/4 cup diced bell pepper (any color) and salt (to taste.)
Cut the potatoes into thick slices (about 1/2 inch each), in a medium sauce pan cover slices with water and bring to a simmer.
In a skillet heat oil to medium high. Put all of the other ingredients into the oil and fry just slightly. Remove from heat, leave uncovered and set aside.
When potatoes are soft enough to smash with a fork, drain water. Mash potatoes to your preferred consistency. Pour the fried ingredients (including the oil) over the potatoes. Add salt if needed. Garnish with olives or slices of bell pepper, serve hot.
Large batches can be made ahead of time and frozen, also makes a good stuffing for twice baked potatoes.
Filed under DIY, recipes | Comment (0)Apples!
I so love apple butter. There was a place just outside of Astoria, Oregon that had the most divine apple butter road side stand, when I was a kid we’d always stop by, leaving our money in a jar (it was honor system) and go home happy. I haven’t been up that way in years, I imagine that the stand is long gone and the orchard behind it has changed hands at least a few times.
But the taste remains. Small red pie apples, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.
I make my own apple butter now, usually from the green Granny smith variety of apples, a little honey, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s not complicated, and doesn’t take that much patience and is definitely worth the effort.
First, find a good deal on apples. If you aren’t familiar with the apples you’re buying don’t worry, you can always tweak the recipe with some sugar or lemon to come up with the flavor you most prefer. If you want to have some fun, mix different apples together for a unique treat.
I almost always start with a big bowl of ice water and a few table spoons of salt, peel and core the apples (ideally at least 1 pound.) Once that’s done you can start cooking down. In a large sauce pan simmer a quart of water (more or less doesn’t really mater), start putting apples in, and turn down the heat a little (just enough to prevent the sugars in the apples from caramelizing, as the apples turn to pulp and the water evaporates keep adding apples. Cook down as much as humanly possible without going insane (for me this is about an hour) have a book or crossword puzzle to entertain you. Take an ordinary table spoon and use your mixing spoon to drizzle a little sauce on it, taste. If it’s too bitter add sugar, brown sugar, honey or corn syrup; if it’s too sweet add some lemon juice or citric acid powder.
When the apple butter reaches the desired consistency season to taste with cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Freeze or can according to preference.
Now, some people make apple butter so that it’s barely any thicker than apple sauce, I’m not going to say that’s at all wrong, because it is a matter of taste. However, thicker apple butter doesn’t make toast at all soggy, so the consistency I go for is rather thick. Thicker apple butter takes more time, so if you must leave the kitchen, just pour what you have into a crockpot and set it to low or medium. It should be fine while you’re away.
If you want to make your apple butter just a little less humble for gift giving, make a batch of caramel and alternate layers of caramel and apple butter. It’s extremely rich, and when heated makes a fantastic topping for baked cheese cake or ice cream.
Filed under DIY, canning, food, recipes | Comment (0)Under pressure– cooking
Pressure cookers are usually thought of one of those things that grandma used, dangerous and intimidating as it seemed, to store her preserves and can her winter veggies. Not quite an appliance on it’s own, not just another pot or pan, the pressure cooker is a must have device for any savvy and frugal cook.
Pressure not only injects fluid into the food and speeds up cooking time considerably, it also softens hard materials like seeds, bones, cobs, and kernels.
Not only will you have the assurance that you can store food for months, you’ll know exactly what went into that food. Things you may not have considered for canning: soup, stew, chowder, bone meal, sauces, gravy, sliced citrus fruit, salted meat, potatoes, carrots and homemade pet food are all good candidates.
And you’ll be able to prepare things like hummus, hominy, bone meal, berry syrup, and berry preserves on the fly (without hours upon hours of cooking and waiting) to store for a later date or to serve up the same day. You can also speed the preparation of foods for storage by giving them a run in a pressure cooker.
A few tips to get you started:
- Always read the manual before using your pressure cooker and follow the instructions for your model.
- Buy the smallest pressure cooker size that will accommodate your needs, filled with water and food they can be quite heavy.
- Do not try to recycle self sealing jar lids
- Keep extra jars, rings and seals on hand
- Look for sales on the produce your family prefers
- Pressure cook bones, cobs, shells, husks, pits and kernals before throwing them in the mulch pile (they will break down much faster)
- Pressure cook bones and corncobs for your pets to chew on (their teeth will thank you)
- Core and pressure cook apples and pears in a spiced or maple syrup for a sweet treat
Kitchen: Cast-iron
For those of us that use cast iron cookware it’s unimaginable to switch back to copper bottom frying pans and Teflon coated cookware, aluminum is simply out of the question.
My cast waffle iron consistently produces perfectly formed and cohesive waffles with so little effort that switching to a Teflon waffle iron would be a clear sign of mental illness.
Cast iron offers an even distribution of heat throughout the cooking surface and sides, non-stick properties, durability, and lightening fast clean up when it’s cured correctly and properly cleaned.
Filed under DIY, food, frugal shopping, recipes | Comment (0)