OT to Yvsa Food Flavor w/o salt

firkin

firkin

Joined
Jan 26, 2002
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Yvsa,

You probably know most of what's below aready, but I thought I'd post these in case there's something new to you here. I don't have to restrict salt, but I try not to use a lot cooking since it's already in so many things. And I like intensely flavored food and drink. (If I could afford to buy whisky faster than I drink it I'd have a fine Islay collection).:)

Chipotle peppers (usually smoked jalapenos) can provide a nice smokey flavor where you'd have used bacon or ham hocks, like in beans. That is, if you like the heat--I suspect you do!!

Roast skinny eggplants in the broiler, or better, over a gas flame. Let cool and take the smokey-flavored inside from the charred skins and blend with garlic or onions for another "smoked"-like taste. Or blend with yogurt and dried mint.

Dried "Mexican Oregano" is much stronger and tastier (to me, anyway) than the Mediteranian types. Often cheaper too. It's actually a different plant.

You can drain the water/whey from yogurt by hanging it for a few hours in a dish-towel or cheese-cloth to get something like cream-cheese. Season it with fresh or dried herbs, pureed garlic, black pepper, roasted red bell peppers, etc. If you're missing cheese this might help. Tart-tasting "natural" brands work best.

Marinate meat before cooking. Use citrus juice, other acidic fruit juice, or wine and spices. Fresh pineapple juice, garlic and chilis is awesome for pork. Keep a close eye on it, the pineapple juice can start to over-tenderize (i.e. dissolve) the meat after 15-25 min at room temp.!

Many vegetables can develop surprising flavor if they are given a very thin coat of olive oil and roasted in the oven at about 400-425 degrees F. I was pretty surprised the first time I did this cauliflower.

If you knew all this already, sorry for wasting your time!:)
 
Per Jeff Smith ( The Frugal Gormet ) use lemon, garlic, and wine, as they have the ability to trick your tongue into thinking there is more salt in the food than there is. There are other tricks too.
 
and add Vinegar.

The fat free Italian dressings also spice up fish when you coat them with it before popping into the oven to bake.
 
You can drain the water/whey from yogurt by hanging it for a few hours in a dish-towel or cheese-cloth to get something like cream-cheese. Season it with fresh or dried herbs, pureed garlic, black pepper, roasted red bell peppers, etc. If you're missing cheese this might help. Tart-tasting "natural" brands work best.
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My wife has done this and we use it as a sour cream substitute(IIRC) Its very good:)

Thanks for all these great ideas:)
 
Cant say much for the taste, but the Mayo Clinic dietician recomended substituting chicken bullion for salt. They also recommended canola oil as the only semi-healthy oil to cook with. Then again when have dieticians been known to be gourmet chefs.
 
This thread somehow reminds me of my Cherokee Grandmother's kitchen --gallon tin can full of bacon grease on the back of the wood burning stove and a bowl of salt, not a shaker, tossed on by pinch or handfull. Breakfast -- 1/4 inch thick fried bacon, eggs cooked in bacon grease, potatoes cooked in bacon grease, biscuits with plenty of home made butter and jam, and gravy, of course made from bacon grease and bits.

She lived to be 82 and it was a fall and broken hip that took her out.

Probably reasons for my bypass surgery.

But damn it was soooooo good!!!
 
They also recommended canola oil as the only semi-healthy oil to cook with.
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Really? I thought that Olive oil was the best for your ticker. They contradict themselves every other day anyway:D Tomorrow BOTH oils will cause cancer, heart disease, and the plague.
 
I never really trust them doctors anyways. My great-aunt is in her late 90s, and she still smokes a couple packs a day (backwards), and drinks a bottle of her home-made moonshine a day. Then again she's a witch-doctor :D

Anyone hear the cold-water bad story?
 
Stay away from "canola" oil. It is really just renamed rapeseed oil, and processed to limit or remove some of the things that do nasty things to folks. Fortunately I detest the taste and didn't eat it anyway even before I heard of it's alleged toxicity.
 
Originally posted by firkin
Yvsa,

You probably know most of what's below aready, but I thought I'd post these in case there's something new to you here. I don't have to restrict salt, but I try not to use a lot cooking since it's already in so many things. And I like intensely flavored food and drink. (If I could afford to buy whisky faster than I drink it I'd have a fine Islay collection).:)
Click to expand...

Firkin thanks a Million for your help!!!! Actually I have a very, very small collection of very good Whiskys from the Islay and the reason I have it is because even though I love a good Single Malt as well as a really Good Bourbon among other things alcoholic I am very limited as to how much I can drink.
The bastards have taken enough pleasures from my life and I'll be Dayumed if I give up a glass of good Smoke now and then.:)

Chipotle peppers (usually smoked jalapenos) can provide a nice smokey flavor where you'd have used bacon or ham hocks, like in beans. That is, if you like the heat--I suspect you do!!
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Firkin I do love the heat too!!!! I just finished off a couple of chunks of wonderful Habenero Jack Cheese.:D
Good stuff!!!!!
And I haven't heard about substituting chipolte for baco or ham hocks!!!! That will definitely come in handy!!!!

Roast skinny eggplants in the broiler, or better, over a gas flame. Let cool and take the smokey-flavored inside from the charred skins and blend with garlic or onions for another "smoked"-like taste. Or blend with yogurt and dried mint.
Click to expand...

We got some long skinny ones (egg plant) at the Asian Market we frequent just a few days ago.
They may also be good with some pureed chick peas and garlic, hadn't thought of that either. :-)

Dried "Mexican Oregano" is much stronger and tastier (to me, anyway) than the Mediteranian types. Often cheaper too. It's actually a different plant.
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I've heard this before and have been looking for it, but haven't shopped in the right area of town as yet.
Tulsa is kinda funny, to me, in that the markets in some parts of town cater more to the ethnic groups surrounding them than do others.
There's one nice supermarket that has a large Hispanic clientel and has many Hispanic Foods. That's where I got my small stone pepper grinder.:)

You can drain the water/whey from yogurt by hanging it for a few hours in a dish-towel or cheese-cloth to get something like cream-cheese. Season it with fresh or dried herbs, pureed garlic, black pepper, roasted red bell peppers, etc. If you're missing cheese this might help. Tart-tasting "natural" brands work best.
Click to expand...

Actually I have done this before, but it's been quite a while back and I had forgotten so many thanks for the reminder!!!!
Although I have never mixed it with other goodies, just used it in place of cream cheese for potatos and the like.
I do miss cheese a lot and come to find out cheese is bad in that it has a lot of salt.
I never knew that either.

Marinate meat before cooking. Use citrus juice, other acidic fruit juice, or wine and spices. Fresh pineapple juice, garlic and chilis is awesome for pork. Keep a close eye on it, the pineapple juice can start to over-tenderize (i.e. dissolve) the meat after 15-25 min at room temp.!
Click to expand...

This is something we haven't done much of in the past. We still like a really good steak now and then, but over the past year, even before my heart problems, we have been migrateing to eating a lot more fish, chicken and even a whole Turkey.
We still have a turkey in our freezer we need to eat pretty quick.

Many vegetables can develop surprising flavor if they are given a very thin coat of olive oil and roasted in the oven at about 400-425 degrees F. I was pretty surprised the first time I did this cauliflower.
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We have a nieceling and a sister that comes to the Sweatlodge, actually Sis has one of her own so we get to Sweat twice a month, that are vegetarians and it may be rubbing off to an extent. It's no longer as important for me to have meat for every meal as it used to be.
I love fresh vegetables and barring getting them fresh I will settle for frozen with some of them like peas and corn.
I can eat those just thawn out with no cooking.:D
We will give that a try!!!!

If you knew all this already, sorry for wasting your time!:)
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Not a waste of time at all. I really appreciate any help that anyone can come up with.
I have always said I never get bored, but if I were to be bored it would be with food.
I can never understand these guys who only eat meat, taters, corn and green beans.
There are just too many exciting tastes to explore to limit ones self to just those.

I have also discovered the wonderful world of vinegars and that satisfies my craving for tart and sour I've had for over a year now. I believe my body was trying to tell us all something for quite a long time now and I'm just glad I survived the finding out what the problem was. I've been feeling much, much better the last few days for a wonderful change!!!!!!!:D

Down at the Asian Market we frequent they even have the Fruit Durian(SP?) that's supposed to be so wonderful tasting while being so frightfully smelly.
I haven't gotten up enough courage to try one as yet as they're pretty dayumed big, but if I ever do I will let you y'all know how it was.:)

Federico if you made it this far what is the "Anyone hear the cold-water bad story?" story behind this?
I would like to hear it.:)
 
Instead of looking for "Mexican Oregano", try looking for it under the name Cilantro.

And don't forget to buy the Hungarian mild or "Noble Rose" paprika. Any paprika that doesn't come out of Hungary, especially the Sged region, is nothing but food coloring. The Noble Rose has a mild richness in flavor like no other. Once you appreciate how rich the mild is, then try the hotter kind and you'll still taste the richness behind the burn. Garlic, Paprika, Sour Cream, Onion, Sauerkraut and Sausage are all staples of Hungarian cooking.
 
Yvsa,

glad some of that was useful. If you couldn't enjoy food, life would be a lot more boring indeed.

You can actually take the well-drained yogurt and press it while still tightly tied in the cloth under weights and get something a little more solid that's a little more cheeselike too. Depending upon your salt restrictions and taste you could blend it with a touch of some really strong cheese, like blue cheese if you just have to get some of that aptly described "ripe" flavor from that comes from aging.

Regarding durian, I STRONGLY recommend that you see if they have any frozen in samller packages before you drop the bucks for a fresh one. I've had the frozen a couple of times, and it gets pretty durn smelly as it warms up. I get used the smell and enjoy the unique taste in small amounts as I find it pretty rich. And it doesn't taste like it smells!! The texture of fresh is surely better though. If you didn't have a big party, I think you might wind up burying a good part of that whole durian out on the back 40 somewheres. :D You sure wouldn't want everything in your fridge to smell like durian, no matter how much you like it. You could probably take leftover out of the amazing-looking rind and freeze it, I guess. Quadruple bag it. One (close to accurate) description of durian I've heard is:

"eating the finest custard in an outhouse":D :D

Adventures in Eating indeed!
 
Instead of looking for "Mexican Oregano", try looking for it under the name Cilantro.
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Sorry, but NO, NO, NO!!!

Cilantro (Coriander plant) is sometimes called Chinese parsley, so Mexican parsley wouldn't surprise me. Dried cilantro is almost tasteless compared to fresh.

Oregano and I suppose "Mexican oregano" (never had this fresh) seem to be the opposite, tastes much stronger when dry. I find the Mexican oregano in cellophane packets hangin on a display rack that also has other Mexican things like dried corn husks, peppers and various herbs and spices. Many grocery stores here have such a display.

However, I couldn't agree with you more concernig the paprika!!!!! And I love Hungarian cooking too.
 
I wondered if it was parsley.
Said nah, gotta be something else.

If I've made it this far thru the day and that's the worst mistake I made all day, I'm turning in now before I really screw up
 
Jeeze, I've made worse mistakes before the coffee's started, or even before visiting the head for the first time in morning. I'd say you done good today.:D
 
The whole cold water=bad thing was some wierd study saying that cold water (well generaly cold anything) was bad for the body as it put it through stress from a drastic temp cahnge. They advocated drinking water no cooler than room temp. I personally think if it comes down to only drinking warm water, Id rather have the ill health :D
 
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