Olives (was Kraft to cut salt in its foods)
 

In article >,
brooklyn1 > wrote:

> On Sat, 20 Mar 2010 14:29:22 -0600, Omelet >
> wrote:
>
> >In article >,
> > brooklyn1 > wrote:
> >
> >> >One can make "gourmet" olives out of canned olives.
> >>
> >> Well, you really can't, seasoning cheapo olives doesn't make them
> >> gourmet olives... no more than dressing toasted english muffins with
> >> jarred sauce and spinkling it with velveeta and various herbs/toppings
> >> makes it gourmet pizza
> >
> >That's why I put it in "quotes" dear. ;-)
> >Ok, call them "psuedo-gourmet" then. <g>
> >
> >Seriously tho', since you are leaching the commercial brine out of them,
> >this works pretty well. I dare you to try it and, of course, tweak it to
> >your own personal tastes.
>
> I've done the same thing often but they're still cheapo olives. I buy
> those broken salad olives and eat them right from the jar, they're
> okay all dressed in a bean salad but not in a million years would I
> call them gourmet. Gourmet olives are kind of a blind article, kinda
> like buying premium coffee beans, unless you actally taste you have no
> idea what you're buying, that's why olive bars exist... no one ever
> asks to taste the brined olives, no more than they ask to taste the
> American cheese at the deli... when the price says $3.99/lb folks know
> they're the same cheapo olives as the ones in jars/cans. The only
> thing that makes some cheapo olives cost more is size, the larger the
> more they cost, but all the sizes taste exactly the same.

I still find the green salad olives to be WAY too salty, so do give them
two water changes before even attempting to eat them. I guess your salt
taste/tolerance is higher than mine, and that's ok! I just really do
enjoy playing with my food, and re-flavoring cheap olives does improve
them...

YMMV!
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>

"Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck." --Dalai Lama

Olives (was Kraft to cut salt in its foods)
 

In article >,
PLucas1 > wrote:

> > Gourmet olives at a fraction of the price.
>
>
>
> Moochos grassyass Ms Om........ I was just about to post a request for
> this ;-)
>
>
> I bought a jar of green olives especially to give this a whirl.
>
>
>
> --
> Peter Lucas

You are welcome! I hope it works as well for you as it does for me...
:-)
--
Peace! Om

Web Albums: <http://picasaweb.google.com/OMPOmelet>

"Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck." --Dalai Lama

Now here's an olive bar
 

"Tracy" > wrote in message
...
> gloria.p wrote:
>>
>>
>> http://www.pbase.com/liz_elliott/image/71404198
>>
>> gloria p
>
>
> Beautiful pictures of Morocco. Some day I will go. Every year is "maybe
> this year".....
>
> Tracy

Same here. I ended up going through the entire collection and there were
some very interesting photos.

Now here's an olive bar
 

"Tracy" > wrote
> It sounds like a really fantastic concept, but I doubt my husband would be
> willing to do something like that. He really, really dislikes group tours.
>
> -Tracy

Has he been one one? A few years ago I'd have agreed with him, but then I
went on one. It was fantastic. We had some free time so it was not al
structured, we met some fun and interesting people, we saw things that would
have taken much longer on our own time and half would have been missed, and
our luggage was carried for us. They do have some advantages. If you are
serious and he wants to find out about them, I'd gladly talk to him.

Kraft to cut salt in its foods
 

On Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:06:21 -0700, Lin
> wrote:

> blake murphy wrote:
>
> > i was going to say.
> >
> > yoo-hoo, lin.
>
> Thank you kindly, dear sir! Admittedly, when I would peek in the group
> from time-to-time, I'd be looking for your posts. You make it very easy
> to get caught-up. However, it doesn't look like I've missed much --
> except you guys!
>
Lin, WB (however short your stay)! :)


--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

Kraft to cut salt in its foods
 

In news:rec.food.cooking, "J. Clarke" > posted on
Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:53:05 -0400 the following:

> On 3/20/2010 4:16 AM, Damaeus wrote:
>
> > Does that mean my taste in food is not refined? Or that I just like fresh
> > food that tastes fresh? I don't need wine in my taco meat to enjoy it.
> > Why put it in my chicken gravy?
>
> I think that what it means is that you started with the wrong dish and
> didn't have it prepared by somebody who knows what he's doing. Marsala
> is something of an acquired taste--most wine does _not_ taste like
> that--and poorly prepared chicken Marsala can be pretty putrid.

Everything that had an acquired taste when I was growing up was something
that tasted like shit: black coffee, beer, cabbage rolls, and wine.
Basically drink it until you can keep a straight face so you can pretend
you like what used to nearly induce vomiting.

Well anyway, I don't see how you can mess up chicken marsala just because
it has wine in it. If all the ingredients and amounts are the same, who
cooks it isn't going to alter the way it tastes all that much.

Damaeus

Kraft to cut salt in its foods
 

In news:rec.food.cooking, "Janet Bostwick" > posted on
Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:30:29 -0600 the following:

> "Damaeus" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> > I don't usually salt a pizza that has meat on it, but one time I made a
> > pizza with a few leftover pepperonis and a lot of onion and green pepper,
> > so I did dash a wild spattering of popcorn salt over the whole top of it
> > before topping it with mozzarella. Nothing that would make it salty, but
> > would replace the salt that might normally be found if it had sausage and
> > more pepperoni on it. I knew what I was doing, in other words. I don't
> > normally salt pizza, but in that case I made an exception since I was out
> > of meats I could use on it.
>
> You do know there are pizza types made without salty meat? A famous one,
> Pizza Margherita, is made only with crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, a little
> olive oil and a few basil leaves. It may be that you are accustomed to
> salting food to get flavor instead of appreciating the flavor that is
> already there from the ingredients. Mozzarella is already quite salty.

Yes, I know. I've had the type of pizza you describe, and I've made one
from scratch, myself. I don't turn everything into a saltfest, but to me,
if meat doesn't have some kind of salting, it's just too bland for me. I
like meat flavored a variety of ways, but some salt on it just makes all
versions better.

Damaeus

Kraft to cut salt in its foods
 

Damaeus wrote on Sun, 21 Mar 2010 08:20:20 -0500:

>> On 3/20/2010 4:16 AM, Damaeus wrote:
>>
> >> Does that mean my taste in food is not refined? Or that I
> >> just like fresh food that tastes fresh? I don't need wine
> >> in my taco meat to enjoy it. Why put it in my chicken
> >> gravy?
>>
>> I think that what it means is that you started with the wrong
>> dish and didn't have it prepared by somebody who knows what
>> he's doing. Marsala is something of an acquired taste--most
>> wine does _not_ taste like that--and poorly prepared chicken
>> Marsala can be pretty putrid.

> Everything that had an acquired taste when I was growing up
> was something that tasted like shit: black coffee, beer, cabbage
> rolls, and wine. Basically drink it until you can keep a
> straight face so you can pretend you like what used to nearly
> induce vomiting.

> Well anyway, I don't see how you can mess up chicken marsala
> just because it has wine in it. If all the ingredients and
> amounts are the same, who cooks it isn't going to alter the
> way it tastes all that much.

Since this thread continues, might I now avoid the ignorant "rotted
grapes" part and say that Chicken Marbella does contain a little white
wine (not Marsala), olives, prunes (!), oregano and capers. Apart from
needing an overnight marinade, it is excellent.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Kraft to cut salt in its foods
 

On 3/21/2010 9:20 AM, Damaeus wrote:
> In news:rec.food.cooking, "J. > posted on
> Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:53:05 -0400 the following:
>
>> On 3/20/2010 4:16 AM, Damaeus wrote:
>>
>>> Does that mean my taste in food is not refined? Or that I just like fresh
>>> food that tastes fresh? I don't need wine in my taco meat to enjoy it.
>>> Why put it in my chicken gravy?
>>
>> I think that what it means is that you started with the wrong dish and
>> didn't have it prepared by somebody who knows what he's doing. Marsala
>> is something of an acquired taste--most wine does _not_ taste like
>> that--and poorly prepared chicken Marsala can be pretty putrid.
>
> Everything that had an acquired taste when I was growing up was something
> that tasted like shit: black coffee, beer, cabbage rolls, and wine.
> Basically drink it until you can keep a straight face so you can pretend
> you like what used to nearly induce vomiting.

What wines have you tried (and don't say "all of them"). If they all
taste like shit to you then you haven't been exposed to the right wines.

Look for "Sauternes" (make sure it's French--there is some really bad
crap produced under that name in other countries), "Beerenauslese",
"Eiswine", "Ice Wine", or "Tokaji Aszu", "Cream Sherry", or "Port" (but
make sure it's from Portugal--same deal as Sauternes). You may get a
real surprise. Or it may all taste like shit to you.

I used to think the same thing you do. A glass of Sauternes was a real
eye opener.

> Well anyway, I don't see how you can mess up chicken marsala just because
> it has wine in it.

It's not "just because it has wine in it", it's because it has _marsala_
in it. If someone told gave you a sample of something that tasted
marvelous then told you that it was made with goat ****, would you
assume that you could just pour some goat **** in a pan and replicate
the recipe? Well that's pretty much what you're doing with chicken
Marsala--you're taking something that is pretty vile and trying to make
something very nice out of it. It's doable, but it's not something
you're going to hit on the first try.

> If all the ingredients and amounts are the same, who
> cooks it isn't going to alter the way it tastes all that much.

You'd think that, wouldn't you. Needs to cook for the right amount of
time at the right temperature--you need to boil off some volatiles but
you don't want to boil off _all_ the volatiles. And there's a sequence
involved. And "the right time at the right temperature" is going to
depend to some extent on which particular bottle of marsala you were
using. This is more critical with marsala than it is with, for example,
sherry. Need to keep sampling until it hits the spot. There's probably
some other chemistry going on as well.

In honesty, I can't make it. But I've had it a few times in good
Italian restaurants and it's been quite nice. And in other places where
it was pretty much chicken boiled in goat ****.

Now here's an olive bar
 

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> "Tracy" > wrote in message
> ...
>> gloria.p wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.pbase.com/liz_elliott/image/71404198
>>>
>>> gloria p
>>
>>
>> Beautiful pictures of Morocco. Some day I will go. Every year is
>> "maybe this year".....
>>
>> Tracy
>
> Same here. I ended up going through the entire collection and there
> were some very interesting photos.


That's the same tour we took in January, but this lady's photos were
much better than ours.

I found the photos by Googling "Morocco souk olives" and was
amazed--even some of the people in the Sahara camp were the same ones
assigned to our group as was the henna lady. It was a wonderful trip.

gloria p

Now here's an olive bar
 

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> "Tracy" > wrote
>> It sounds like a really fantastic concept, but I doubt my husband
>> would be willing to do something like that. He really, really dislikes
>> group tours.
>>
>> -Tracy
>
> Has he been one one? A few years ago I'd have agreed with him, but then
> I went on one. It was fantastic. We had some free time so it was not
> al structured, we met some fun and interesting people, we saw things
> that would have taken much longer on our own time and half would have
> been missed, and our luggage was carried for us. They do have some
> advantages. If you are serious and he wants to find out about them, I'd
> gladly talk to him.
>
>
>

That was exactly our experience, Ed. We have traveled with over half of
the group of 13 people twice now and are planning more joint tours.
The scenery, food, and local people we met were outstanding, but the
group we were with made the trip so much fun. We had laughter all the way.

gloria p

Kraft to cut salt in its foods
 

On Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:06:21 -0700, Lin wrote:

> blake murphy wrote:
>
>> i was going to say.
>>
>> yoo-hoo, lin.
>
> Thank you kindly, dear sir! Admittedly, when I would peek in the group
> from time-to-time, I'd be looking for your posts. You make it very easy
> to get caught-up. However, it doesn't look like I've missed much --
> except you guys!
>
> --Lin

that's very sweet of you to say, lin.

your pal,
blake

Now here's an olive bar
 

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
>
> "Tracy" > wrote
>> It sounds like a really fantastic concept, but I doubt my husband
>> would be willing to do something like that. He really, really dislikes
>> group tours.
>>
>> -Tracy
>
> Has he been one one? A few years ago I'd have agreed with him, but then
> I went on one. It was fantastic. We had some free time so it was not
> al structured, we met some fun and interesting people, we saw things
> that would have taken much longer on our own time and half would have
> been missed, and our luggage was carried for us. They do have some
> advantages. If you are serious and he wants to find out about them, I'd
> gladly talk to him.
>
>
>

Thanks for the offer! I don't think he is quite ready for a guided
tour. Maybe in a year or two. I think it depends on the destination.
One would definitely benefit from a guide in Morocco.

And speaking of Morocco, I am making a beef tagine for dinner
tonight. I have a nice 7 bone chuck roast and will use a recipe
similar to this:

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/mai...eat_Olives.htm


I don't really follow a recipe, since I have made it so often, I
don't need one - but this basically how I make a tagine. I might add
potatoes or artichoke bottoms.

I usually do not add lemon to beef tagines. That's just me. I prefer
lemon with chicken.

Tracy

Now here's an olive bar
 

On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:13:53 -0400, Tracy > wrote:

> And speaking of Morocco, I am making a beef tagine for dinner
> tonight. I have a nice 7 bone chuck roast and will use a recipe
> similar to this:
>
> http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/mai...eat_Olives.htm
>
Just curious. Do you stick with powdered ginger or have you switched
to fresh because it's so available in this day and age?
>
> I don't really follow a recipe, since I have made it so often, I
> don't need one - but this basically how I make a tagine. I might add
> potatoes or artichoke bottoms.

I used the frozen "hearts" and cooked them when I made chicken (thanks
for your help!). They turned out fine, not tough and certainly not
mushy, which is what I'd think the canned bottoms would turn out to
be.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

Now here's an olive bar
 

Tracy wrote:

>
> http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/mai...eat_Olives.htm
>
>
> I don't really follow a recipe, since I have made it so often, I don't
> need one - but this basically how I make a tagine. I might add potatoes
> or artichoke bottoms.
>
> I usually do not add lemon to beef tagines. That's just me. I prefer
> lemon with chicken.
>



Do you make your own preserved lemons? Do the become really salty?

I have enjoyed all of the Moroccan recipes that I have made from
Christine Benlafquih but one thing puzzles me. When we were in Morocco
recently nearly every tagine and savory dish contained cumin. I brought
some home along with saffron but I have not run across any cumin in her
recipes. I love the Moroccan cumin, it is much more flavorful than the
Mexican version. Do you use much of it in your Moroccan recipes?

gloria p

Now here's an olive bar
 

sf wrote:
> On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:13:53 -0400, Tracy > wrote:
>
>> And speaking of Morocco, I am making a beef tagine for dinner
>> tonight. I have a nice 7 bone chuck roast and will use a recipe
>> similar to this:
>>
>> http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/mai...eat_Olives.htm
>>
> Just curious. Do you stick with powdered ginger or have you switched
> to fresh because it's so available in this day and age?


I usually use powdered ginger.


>> I don't really follow a recipe, since I have made it so often, I
>> don't need one - but this basically how I make a tagine. I might add
>> potatoes or artichoke bottoms.
>
> I used the frozen "hearts" and cooked them when I made chicken (thanks
> for your help!). They turned out fine, not tough and certainly not
> mushy, which is what I'd think the canned bottoms would turn out to
> be.
>

My husband recently found a store which sells frozen artichoke bottoms.
I have used the frozen artichokes - which work well, but I find them to
be a bit on the pricey side.

Fresh is good too, but I hate cutting away all the good parts of an
artichoke to get to the bottom, so, when we can get fresh, we steam them
whole instead of using them in tagines. Usually.

Tracy

Now here's an olive bar
 

gloria.p wrote:
> Tracy wrote:
>
>>
>> http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/mai...eat_Olives.htm
>>
>>
>> I don't really follow a recipe, since I have made it so often, I don't
>> need one - but this basically how I make a tagine. I might add
>> potatoes or artichoke bottoms.
>>
>> I usually do not add lemon to beef tagines. That's just me. I prefer
>> lemon with chicken.
>>
>
>
>
> Do you make your own preserved lemons? Do the become really salty?

Yes, I make my own lemons. They aren't really salty to me. You rinse
them off before you use them.
>
> I have enjoyed all of the Moroccan recipes that I have made from
> Christine Benlafquih but one thing puzzles me. When we were in Morocco
> recently nearly every tagine and savory dish contained cumin. I brought
> some home along with saffron but I have not run across any cumin in her
> recipes. I love the Moroccan cumin, it is much more flavorful than the
> Mexican version. Do you use much of it in your Moroccan recipes?
>

I really like that site too.

The cumin thing is weird. I don't think it should be in everything. It
is better in beef or lamb dishes, not chicken, IMO.

I just took a quick look at my copy of Paula Wolfert's book and she does
use cumin quite a bit, but it's not in everything.

I use cumin in kefta/meatballs and in kabobs but that's about it. My
husband likes to sprinkle a combination of cumin and salt on certain
things like hardboiled eggs or beef tongue which he pressure cooks or
grilled lamb.

-Tracy

Now here's an olive bar
 

On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:05:19 -0400, Tracy > wrote:

> My husband recently found a store which sells frozen artichoke bottoms.
> I have used the frozen artichokes - which work well, but I find them to
> be a bit on the pricey side.

I only buy them on sale or from Trader Joe's, so they aren't a bad
price for me.
>
> Fresh is good too, but I hate cutting away all the good parts of an
> artichoke to get to the bottom, so, when we can get fresh, we steam them
> whole instead of using them in tagines. Usually.
>
I know exactly how you feel about that. Me too!


--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

Now here's an olive bar
 

On Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:32:55 -0600, "gloria.p" >
wrote:

> Do you make your own preserved lemons? Do the become really salty?

They are quite salty, but you rinse them very well and the saltiness
diminishes significantly. I suppose if you are salt sensitive, you
could soak them in fresh water for a while after you rinse them off.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

Kraft to cut salt in its foods
 

In news:rec.food.cooking, "J. Clarke" > posted on
Sun, 21 Mar 2010 10:52:38 -0400 the following:

> On 3/21/2010 9:20 AM, Damaeus wrote:
>
> > Everything that had an acquired taste when I was growing up was something
> > that tasted like shit: black coffee, beer, cabbage rolls, and wine.
> > Basically drink it until you can keep a straight face so you can pretend
> > you like what used to nearly induce vomiting.
>
> What wines have you tried (and don't say "all of them"). If they all
> taste like shit to you then you haven't been exposed to the right wines.

I couldn't list them all. I've tried too many.

> Look for "Sauternes" (make sure it's French--there is some really bad
> crap produced under that name in other countries), "Beerenauslese",
> "Eiswine", "Ice Wine", or "Tokaji Aszu", "Cream Sherry", or "Port" (but
> make sure it's from Portugal--same deal as Sauternes). You may get a
> real surprise. Or it may all taste like shit to you.
>
> I used to think the same thing you do. A glass of Sauternes was a real
> eye opener.

Maybe I'm just white trash. I like white zinfandel, but people who really
know wine seem to think of white zinfandel as the Kool-Aid of the wine
aisle.

> > Well anyway, I don't see how you can mess up chicken marsala just because
> > it has wine in it.
>
> It's not "just because it has wine in it", it's because it has _marsala_
> in it. If someone told gave you a sample of something that tasted
> marvelous then told you that it was made with goat ****, would you
> assume that you could just pour some goat **** in a pan and replicate
> the recipe? Well that's pretty much what you're doing with chicken
> Marsala--you're taking something that is pretty vile and trying to make
> something very nice out of it. It's doable, but it's not something
> you're going to hit on the first try.

I didn't realize marsala was vile fresh out of the bottle.

> > If all the ingredients and amounts are the same, who
> > cooks it isn't going to alter the way it tastes all that much.
>
> You'd think that, wouldn't you. Needs to cook for the right amount of
> time at the right temperature--you need to boil off some volatiles but
> you don't want to boil off _all_ the volatiles. And there's a sequence
> involved. And "the right time at the right temperature" is going to
> depend to some extent on which particular bottle of marsala you were
> using. This is more critical with marsala than it is with, for example,
> sherry. Need to keep sampling until it hits the spot. There's probably
> some other chemistry going on as well.
>
> In honesty, I can't make it. But I've had it a few times in good
> Italian restaurants and it's been quite nice. And in other places where
> it was pretty much chicken boiled in goat ****.

Then TGI Friday's probably wasn't the best place for it, if it's all that
involved to make. lol

Damaeus