Calling All Cooks

[Alelou]

There are tons of programs for converting recipes on the web. Just google it.

[aadarshinah]

All I can say is, sweet meats are where I draw the line. Maybe it's just me, but my meat should not be sweet, nor should there be any fruit (other than the tomato) near it....

In other cooking news, I learned last night that, no matter how desperate you are for chocolate, never try making pudding from scratch. Never.

[Alelou]

A lot of Asian cooking uses quite a bit of sugar to flavor meats. Pad Thai has chicken and shrimp but it's practically dessert. Teriyaki has sugar in it. So does hoisin, plum, etc. Practically every Asian recipe I use calls for sugar.

Which is probably why I like it all so much. Spicy and sweet, yum.

A science teacher I used to go camping with also taught me about throwing raisins in the goddawful instant chicken soup. It's surprisingly delicious. (Anyone who likes chutney on curry already knows this.)

And then there's the Swedish custom of serving meatballs with lingonberry sauce, and the Danish custom of stuffing chicken with apples, and our tradition of serving turkey with cranberry sauce. They're all yummy. And apple sauce or fried apples and onions is a real delight with any pork dish.

So personally I would just be stopped by the unlikelihood of finding a jar of sour cherries. It's not a big item here that I've ever noticed, and assume maraschinos would be too sweet.

When I was in Germany I did notice some people ate their muesli with cherry juice instead of milk -- now that's sweet.

[WarpGirl]

All I can say is, sweet meats are where I draw the line. Maybe it's just me, but my meat should not be sweet, nor should there be any fruit (other than the tomato) near it....

In other cooking news, I learned last night that, no matter how desperate you are for chocolate, never try making pudding from scratch. Never.

What happened, did the tempering not go well? You have to add a tiny bit of the hot melted chocolate to the eggs to heat them up than add it to the rest of the chocolate.

I draw the line for fruit and meat with citris in most cases, because my father made a grapefruit pineapple chicken thing that was beyond disgusting!

[aadarshinah]

i don't know what exactly went wrong, only that it tasted disgusting. I think it was the recipie's fault.... My brother has gotten me additcted to Top Chef: Just Deserts and the winner of the second episode made this Margarita Bombe thing that I'm dying to try, except that a) it involves tequila, which means my mom would never go for it, and b) I've never made anything similiar, so it mightn't turn out well at all.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

And then there's the Swedish custom of serving meatballs with lingonberry sauce...

It's more like a lingonberry jam than a "sauce". And it's quite tasty. I guess you could say meatballs with potatoes, lingonberry jam and gravy is our "national dish" (if you don't count pizza or spaghetti )

[WarpGirl]

There's a thought Swedish Pizza! Every culture on earth had some version of pasta. In North Arfica it's cous cous.

[Alelou]

Yeah, our cranberry sauce (the chunky kind) is similar (but not quite as tasty). And the non-chunky kind comes out of a can in this slippery gelatinous hunk that you slice. So 'sauce' is putting it loosely.

I'd like to try growing lingonberries, but the plants are expensive and I fear the deer will find them tasty. So ... we just go to IKEA and stock up once in awhile. Which reminds me that we're way overdue for that. We got desperate and used blackcurrent jam instead recently. It's not the same.

[Distracted]

I've eaten venison with lingonberries. It was yummy. But I generally prefer my meat more savory than sweet. I've got a killer venison roast recipe I got from my dad. It's practically the only thing he cooks. Be careful with the seasoning blend, though. It's easy to make this recipe so peppery it's inedible.

Goes like this.

Venison Roast with Rice and Gravy

Ingredients:

One average-size venison roast, bone-in
(If you're in the US you need to get friendly with your local hunt club or go buy a rifle and take shooting lessons. Or you can do what I did and marry or give birth to hunters. Make sure your hunter treats his/her venison like fine meat and doesn't parade around town with dinner on the hood of the car all day. Try that with a rib-eye steak. I'll bet it won't taste very good after a few hours.
In Australia or New Zealand just go to the supermarket. Same for Germany, I understand...only you'll probably pay top dollar for imported New Zealand venison there. I suppose you could use beef but it won't taste the same.)

4 cups mixed seasoning vegetables
(Where I'm from these come pre-chopped. They're mostly onions with a little sweet green pepper (Bell pepper), garlic, and parsley mixed in. You can always make your own but I don't like to because it makes me cry.)

Worchestershire Sauce

Cajun style seasoning blend
(I use Tony Chachere's brand Creole seasoning)

Olive oil

Chicken soup base, chicken broth, or bouillon cubes to flavor the gravy if you're cooking venison.
(If you use beef bouillon you'll overpower the flavor of the venison. If you cook a beef roast you'll want to use beef soup base or bouillon.)

Cornstarch to thicken the gravy

Cooked rice

Mix the vegetables and some worchestershire sauce together in a bowl. Add seasoning blend to taste. Stuff the roast with the mixture by creating tunnels in the meat with a long thin knife and then shoving in as much of the mixture as will fit in each tunnel with your fingers. (Wash your hands frequently or the cayenne in the seasoning blend will start to make your hands burn before long.) Once you've got as much of the mixture stuffed into tunnels as will fit, then coat the roast with olive oil, dump the rest of the seasoned vegetables on top, and start browning it in a large iron pot with a lid. (Make sure the pot will fit the entire roast inside because you'll be closing the lid later.) Keep turning the roast and browning it, the darker the better without actually burning it. Don't leave it unattended. Venison has almost no fat so it will scorch easily if you don't keep turning it. Once it's VERY brown, add 2 cups of chicken broth, cover the pot, and turn the fire down to medium low. Check every 30 minutes or so and keep adding water to keep the gravy from scorching. Turn the roast periodically. Keep simmering until you can flake the meat off with a fork. Depending on the size of the roast it may take a couple of hours. Once the meat flakes slice it up as best you can in the gravy. You probably won't be able to pull the roast out of the pot without risking it falling apart in chunks, but that's what you want. Remove the bone. Add enough water to make the gravy volume you want. Once you have your tender meat slices/chunks simmering in gravy, thicken the gravy by adding a couple heaping tablespoons of cornstarch to 1/8 cup cold water, stir the mixture until smooth, and pour it in the pot. Stir well and simmer to thicken. Serve over hot cooked rice with garlic buttered French bread, green beans and a nice salad.

[WarpGirl]

My mom LOVES venison! Loves it. Me I eat it when I don't know I'm eating Bambi's mother. (Yes the movie got to me OK) But I am going to see if I can get some people we know to give me some venison and make this. Of course I'll have to de-Cajun everything by omitting the onions. But come on Dis you my dear are a Doctor and wouldn't want me poisoning myself or my mommy. But I owe her majorly. She just bought me a 1930's dressing table with a HUGE beveled glass silver backed mirror. I owe her a good dinner and she never gets to eat Venison.

[Distracted]

Hmmm. I suppose you could stuff the roast with garlic, bell pepper, parsley and maybe celery chopped up.

[WarpGirl]

Carrots. I loath celery, would carrots be okay?

[Distracted]

Don't think so. Carrots would make it sweet.

[WarpGirl]

Hmm... Must think... I could suck it up and do celery, mommy loves it, and it is for her... Thanks for the warning.

[Alelou]

D, your recipe sounds delicious and would also be excellent revenge on the deer.