Cooking Questions 4: More questions about cookery

[maarsen]

After seeing Ini's question, I went out to the mall (to look at headphones, not eggs) and stopped at the grocery store, where I see my local No Frills now carries President's Choice free range brown eggs for $4.99 a dozen. They were fifty cents off as an introductory price, and so I bought a carton since I was down to 4 eggs. They are almost double the regular price, but they say the hens are raised in an open concept environment where they are free to roam. I hope I can trust the Loblaws brand.

Unlike cows, 'brown' hens lay brown eggs. The colour has no significance to how healthy the eggs are. My mom once had a few guinea hens who laid blue speckled eggs. When will No Frills start selling those?

[Inigima]

We will sometimes roughly chop up cauliflower and pulse it in batches in a food processor until you have bits the consistency of couscous. We'll saute it up, sometimes with grated carrot and onion, til tender and serve our curry or whatever else over it.

Thanks, I will give that a try. I don't super love cauliflower on its own, but with the other strong flavors that might be a really good texture.

[Deedles]

Mmmmm. Must try the cauliflower couscous. I love roasted cauliflower with cumin seeds, so this might broaden out that application. How long do you sautée it for? What do you use? I'm guessing about ten minutes as small pieces, oil salt and pepper, but that's just a guess.

[Arkhangel]

After seeing Ini's question, I went out to the mall (to look at headphones, not eggs) and stopped at the grocery store, where I see my local No Frills now carries President's Choice free range brown eggs for $4.99 a dozen. They were fifty cents off as an introductory price, and so I bought a carton since I was down to 4 eggs. They are almost double the regular price, but they say the hens are raised in an open concept environment where they are free to roam. I hope I can trust the Loblaws brand.

Thanks. The Happy Egg ones are also Certified Humane, which doesn't seem to be as good as Animal Welfare Approved, but might be as good as I can get.

http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/confinement_farm/facts/guide_egg_labels.html

Just to be clear, and to build on what that link says, cage-free and free range are not the same thing. Cage-free may simply mean that the hens are not in individual cages, but are crammed by the hundreds or even the thousands into sheds which may be poorly maintained, unhygienic and much too small for that number of birds. Cage-free is usually better than caged, but often not by much. Likewise, I would be wary of something calling itself an 'open concept environment' - that sounds like a euphemism for exactly that kind of giant shed set-up. If you possibly can I would really encourage everyone to either buy eggs from reputable local farmers (who are at least more likely, although not guaranteed, to take better care of their hens) or certified organic/RSPCA-approved. I know they can be more expensive and it might mean you have to eat a few less eggs, but surely it's worth it not to support industrialised cruelty.

[Summah]

It would be nice if we had better laws protecting animals from cruelty in animal husbandry practice and it's nice in theory to say:

know they can be more expensive and it might mean you have to eat a few less eggs, but surely it's worth it not to support industrialised cruelty.

But this is not necessarily a viable option for poor people. Many poor people's entire food budget comes from food stamps and usually works out to something around $6 or less a day per person depending on family size, so if someone buys eggs that cost more than twice as much that money has to come from somewhere else, so they'll have less chicken or fruit or vegetables or whatever. And especially if you carry this theory to its logical conclusion, so not just free range eggs, but milk from a lower cruelty dairy, meat that wasn't shot up with antibiotics living on a feed lot etc, clearly this is not something poor people can afford to do unless they become vegans (and that presents its own challenges)

[Inigima]

Yeah I don't think anyone is suggesting that you need to buy organic fair trade etc etc if you're on a tight budget. If you're not and you have that luxury, though, it's worth considering surely.

[Arkhangel]

It would be nice if we had better laws protecting animals from cruelty in animal husbandry practice and it's nice in theory to say:

But this is not necessarily a viable option for poor people. Many poor people's entire food budget comes from food stamps and usually works out to something around $6 or less a day per person depending on family size, so if someone buys eggs that cost more than twice as much that money has to come from somewhere else, so they'll have less chicken or fruit or vegetables or whatever. And especially if you carry this theory to its logical conclusion, so not just free range eggs, but milk from a lower cruelty dairy, meat that wasn't shot up with antibiotics living on a feed lot etc, clearly this is not something poor people can afford to do unless they become vegans (and that presents its own challenges)

Obviously there are a lot of things which are different for you if you're living on the poverty line, including how much you can afford to pay for ethical products - but if you have the money to do it without adversely effecting your own well-being, which many people do, then I think you should avoid supporting an industry which routinely causes immense suffering to living creatures.

If that means buying more expensive meat three times a week instead of cheap meat full of hormones five times a week, in my opinion it's worth it to support ethical producers - and as a bonus, it's probably better for your health too.

[Inigima]

None of you guys believed me, so I got photographic proof:

http://i.imgur.com/ZyB9dZV.jpg

That's a can of Goya dark red kidney beans. Note the sugar. In fact, nearly every brand of kidney bean on the shelf at Giant had sugar in both the light and dark varieties of kidney bean. (Goya has none in their light red kidney beans.) I wanted dark red; I had to buy organic ones to get them without sugar.

Diced tomatoes there were similar. Giant's house brand doesn't have them but most of the others do. It's also weirdly common for them only to offer an "Italian style" that already has basil and whatnot in it.

Giant seems to be the worst offender; most of the other stores (Shop Rite, Wegmans) have decent selections of tomatoes at least. I normally buy Cento. Beans I have to check every time.

[Summah]

Weird, I just checked all my beans again and again none of them have sugar, maybe you live near the sugar addicts r us giant? I have goya garbanzo beans and pinto beans, safeway cannellini beans, and rosarita refried beans and none have sugar, is it just certain kinds of beans? or all beans? I also have various brands of diced tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce without sugar. I never thought to check for sugar in beans or tomatoes (except flavored sauce) until you mentioned it a while ago, but the giant near me I've been ok so far. Have you considered using dried beans, I don't think it's possible for those to have added sugar.

Eta: I know nothing about this website and its about vegetables not beans, but the explanation makes sense http://foodnuti.com/2011/09/why-is-sugar-in-canned-vegetables/

[Fragile Bird]

I think many people have mentioned they have had no difficulty finding canned vegetables that have no added sugar. But others have found to their surprise that stuff they've been buying does have added sugar. It goes to show you need to check labels all the time.

[Summah]

I don't doubt ini has this problem, I just think it's strange because I believe we live in the same city, I do most of my shopping at giant, frequently buy goya brand, but have never had this problem, but many food companies have different versions of the same food for different parts of the country and its quite possible that for whatever reason the giant I shop at has SW beans and the one he shops at has SE beans or something like that.

[Nas!]

Thanks, I will give that a try. I don't super love cauliflower on its own, but with the other strong flavors that might be a really good texture.

Gods, I love cauliflower. Cauliflower is special to me. Have you ever tried roasting it, Ini? Brings out a little sweetness. My favourite part of the cauliflower is the (er, heart?) part where the florets all meet. I trim the outer bits and eat it raw and I am very, very happy.

[Inigima]

Weird, I just checked all my beans again and again none of them have sugar, maybe you live near the sugar addicts r us giant? I have goya garbanzo beans and pinto beans, safeway cannellini beans, and rosarita refried beans and none have sugar, is it just certain kinds of beans? or all beans? I also have various brands of diced tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce without sugar. I never thought to check for sugar in beans or tomatoes (except flavored sauce) until you mentioned it a while ago, but the giant near me I've been ok so far. Have you considered using dried beans, I don't think it's possible for those to have added sugar.

Eta: I know nothing about this website and its about vegetables not beans, but the explanation makes sense http://foodnuti.com/2011/09/why-is-sugar-in-canned-vegetables/

I don't doubt ini has this problem, I just think it's strange because I believe we live in the same city, I do most of my shopping at giant, frequently buy goya brand, but have never had this problem, but many food companies have different versions of the same food for different parts of the country and its quite possible that for whatever reason the giant I shop at has SW beans and the one he shops at has SE beans or something like that.

We do indeed both live in Baltimore. This problem is specific to kidney beans, and in Goya it's specific to the dark red kidney beans (their light red beans don't have sugar). I've bought Goya chickpeas and black beans many times and I'm pretty sure those don't have sugar.

It wasn't just Goya, either. Hanover, Bush, etc. all had sugar in their kidney beans, and I believe it was both varieties.

Gods, I love cauliflower. Cauliflower is special to me. Have you ever tried roasting it, Ini? Brings out a little sweetness. My favourite part of the cauliflower is the (er, heart?) part where the florets all meet. I trim the outer bits and eat it raw and I am very, very happy.

I have not. And for this particular use I won't be, but I'll keep it in mind.

[Alia Atreides]

Is there an ethical way to buy eggs?

I'm not prepared to become a vegan at the moment, but I'd like to support chickens being as minimally miserable as I can.

Ideally I'd like to know if I can do that in a grocery store. I've bought everything from $2 Wegmans eggs to $4 organic eggs to $5 "Happy Egg" brand and everything in between. Many of them have labels like "free range" that may or may not have any real meaning. Sometimes a company offers two products, like "vegetarian fed eggs" and "cage free" eggs, and I'd like both to be true but they only offer them in those two mutually exclusive categories, probably.

If buying Happy Eggs at $5 a dozen is what it takes, fine. If I'm being hoodwinked and the chickens in question are approximately equally miserable, I'll buy my $2 eggs and deal. I'm willing to pay for it but I want to know I'm paying for something real and not just being tricked by some marketing asshole.

People have told me that farmer's markets might be a good bet. I'd certainly consider it but they tend to have narrow windows when they're open, often at weird times. "Tuesdays 12-3" are just never going to work for me. Maybe I can make it work, maybe not; there is a limit to how hard I'm willing to work to do this. (As there is for you, if you eat eggs; if you had to go to Tibet to get ethical eggs, I'd see you back at Wegmans buying $2 eggs next week.)

If you have a farmer's market by you I would buy from them there, usually the Farmer's will be quick to answer your questions on how their birds are kept. We pay more for our eggs for this reason. There is a good explanation here on Web MD about the various egg raising types.

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/egg-types-benefits-facts

and now perhaps maybe a question. I have a some nice Duck Eggs from the farm in my fridge anyone ever cooked them before I was thinking of just making some simple Cheese Omelettes with them tonight. I also have Duck Bacon to go with them as well :).

[Inigima]

Thanks. I actually just signed up for a CSA with an accompanying egg share so his problem is going away. I doubt sincerely I will use more than a dozen eggs a week on average and will have to up my consumption to use them up.

I'll likely be asking for lots of help in this thread when I start getting my CSA produce in a couple weeks and it includes lots of stuff I don't know how to prepare.

[Summah]

Ini, I don't eat kidney beans often, but I'll be extra careful about reading labels for them now, but obviously you don't want that extra sugar (and neither would I), I'm 99% sure cooked dried beans can be frozen and then used for a variety of things, not just soup (like the texture doesn't get funky), so at least for kidney beans, maybe you could cook 1 lb bags and freeze it roughly can sized servings to use in your regular cooking.

[Uldra I]

Here's a great tip from the kitchens of D. Lothston:

If you call slightly burned microwave popcorn, "Smoked Popcorn", then everyone will think it is delicious and want to know your recipe! ;)

Any other wonderful kitchen tips out there?

[Inigima]

Just got home with my haul from the first week with the CSA. It contained the following:

- Carrots, smallish ones. Greens attached. Can you eat carrot greens or should I just trim them and toss them?

- Radishes. I have basically no idea how to prep these, but I have cookbooks.

- Scallions

- Bok choi. I have no idea how to prepare this either. To the cookbooks!

- Green butterhead lettuce

- Spinach

- Arugula

I have ideas for a bunch of this stuff but if you have suggestions I'm all ears.

[Fragile Bird]

Yum!

- Carrots, smallish ones. Greens attached. Can you eat carrot greens or should I just trim them and toss them?

Small carrots with the greens still on them are usually steamed or boiled whole, the greens cut to about an inch or so, and elegantly draped on your plate. Your diners use knife and fork to slice them up, and generally leave the greenery uneaten.

- Radishes. I have basically no idea how to prep these, but I have cookbooks.

It's funny to me that many people these days don't eat radishes. I wash and trim the tops and tail, and then slice thinly and add to my salads. I don't eat sandwiches anymore, but when I used to I added slices to meat and cold cut sandwiches to add heat. I do make 'sandwiches' with lettuce wraps though, layering sandwich fixings in lettuce leafs and rolling them up. Radishes can range from very mild to quite sharp. These days I have been making matchsticks of them and adding them to my Sunday night dinner salads, since my friends like heat but they rarely used radishes.

- Scallions

TP could tell you more about various uses of scallions in Chinese cooking. They are onions, and you can use them pretty well anywhere you use onions. I chop them finely for salads, I use them in the lettuce wraps, I put chopped scallions in broth, in omelettes, and a few other things as well.

- Bok choi. I have no idea how to prepare this either. To the cookbooks!

I usually grill bok choy in a frying pan as a side green or chop it up for a stir fry.

- Green butterhead lettuce

Butter lettuce is delicate and sweet. I use the leaves in my wraps, make lovely salad with it, and use it in pea soup or any other green soup I make. I used to make sorrel soup, but I can't eat sorrel anymore (not good for my kidneys), using half sorrel and half butter lettuce.

- Spinach

Endless uses. Steam and use as stuffing for your omelette, or for eggs benedict, or for a base for a poached egg. Steamed or grilled, add chopped boiled egg for a side dish. Salads, especially with fruit like strawberries and mandarin oranges (or any orange). Soup. Smoothies. Tons of things, your vegetarian cookbooks will have lots of ideas.

- Arugula

Has a nice peppery taste, one of my favourite salad greens, either alone or mixed with other lettuces. Use in sandwiches, use in soups, use in smoothies.

I make a fancy salad now and then, by taking a vegetable peeler and an english cucumber (the long type), and slicing full length pieces off the cucumber, making a small bundle of arugula and wrapping the cucumber slice around the bundle. Present the bundle on a salad plate, drizzle with your favourite vinaigrette. Delish!

[Inigima]

Second week haul:

- Strawberries(!)

- Lettuce

- Pac choy - apparently very similar to bok choy, I will probably stir fry this again

- Scallions - I am eating an omelette made with these right now

- Chard - I've never really eaten chard, but the email said I could treat this like spinach, so I have it in my omelette as well. I know I can also just straight up saute it.

- Carrots - Probably stir fry fodder again

- Spring mix - I pretty much have to use this for salads, right?