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Post by mnjrutherford on Jan 29, 2011 8:54:36 GMT -5
Grits my dear Imonty, grits! Polenta is grits but, if my understanding is correct, they prefer to chill them in a loaf then slice and fry the patties.
I am a "suthun belle" on my momma's side and a Spaniard on my father's side. So I can easily understand the fusion of Mediterranean and American cuisines. Think of fried grits (add some Parmesan cheese to them before pouring them into the loaf pan to chill) with a ladle of "sauce" made from gently fried onions, sweet peppers, garlic, and fresh tomatoes. A little chopped fresh parsley or sweet basil sprinkled over the tops... I think you would get your head around it pretty quick after the first couple bites! ;o)
We do have some recipes in the "Homesteading" section. Least ways I think it's in the homesteading section... I am kitchen focused so if there is anything you are interested in, ask me and I'll send you in the right direction. Your neighbor OzarkLady is a soap maker. Bunkie and I are hoping to learn how to make shoes. Some of us knit and sew. This is a very talented bunch...
LOL... I need to scoot, my oldest is marching around the house saying, "WE ARE HUNGRY". I guess that means I need to get breakfast on the table!
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Post by cortona on Jan 29, 2011 19:33:23 GMT -5
MJ wath you know is the norten use..we simply have a large table used to do bread in origin that we put over the table and we put a first layer of wel ragù is something different of wath you explain(that is summer salsa but is better called sugo)we start wit olive oil in a pan, we add onions, carrot, parsely,a bit of rosmarino and a realy little bit of sage,a dressed garlic clove, we gently frye this mix and after we add some milled beef, some milled pork meat or sausage and little byte of pork meat(or some mushroms of the agaricum family) and start to cook it and after some minute we add pummarola (salt and black pepper as you like)and we let it cook down for probably 2/3 hours as the wole thing thiken a bit,you can use also wild boar meet or wath meet you like but the secret is time and slow fire. after this we boil the grit and a minute before the greet is ready (the mans of the family stir continuosly the boiling grit and that is a lot of fun trust me)we put a layer of sugo over the bread table after this we put the boiled grit andanother layer of sugo plus parmigiano layer over the top of it..and we eat it just with the fork, usualy in the center of the table and of the grit we put the bigger pieces of pork meat so the first that reach the center can have the best piece.
the wole thngs can look a bit primitive but is absolutely delicius and plus a lot of fun(usualy wen all the relative are at the table we are aroud 20/25 persons).
hope you understand at least rougly wath i want to show.
Emanuele
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jan 30, 2011 11:23:11 GMT -5
Wow Emanuele... My mind dances with the images of you description. Yes, I can see it. My Daddy taught me the the first part of "sauce", is called "sofrito". He taught me to make the sofrito in one "olla" or frying pan. Then, in a larger "olla", or a pot, we fried the "carne picado" which was only beef because we didn't have other meats at that time. He would add a blend of herbs sold here as "Italian Seasoning" (which has MARJORAM, THYME, ROSEMARY, SAVORY, SAGE, OREGANO, AND BASIL), red wine, green olives stuffed with red peppers, and sometimes capers. When the sofrito was soft and the tomatoes were broken, he poured it into the meat mixture and cooked it over night.
I find the idea of layering the polenta with the sauce most intriguing. What a grand party you must have making and consuming this marvelous stuff!
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Post by cortona on Apr 20, 2011 12:38:15 GMT -5
some news from my progect, and good news! i have reived some interessant corn seeds from an american fellow garden:red flour hopi navajo seneca blue bear dance, hopy navajo withe mix,zuni b lue flour,taos pueblo blue and hopi chin mark(that Carol Deppe mention in is new book)seond good new is that i've recived the first paket of seeds from grinn(the bush maxima seeds but this means that seeds arrive!!!) so the second one with corn seeds are on the way! i've prepared the patch, tilled and fertilized with cow manurue; now a question wath about the flawor differences based about color? somebody tell that blue are bad... so i'm unsure if i've to add blue corn to my mix, every comment and tips are welcome!
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Apr 20, 2011 14:12:00 GMT -5
wath about the flawor differences based about color? somebody tell that blue are bad... so i'm unsure if i've to add blue corn to my mix, every comment and tips are welcome! Corn is like most other foods, taste ends up being personal preference. Some people like bland food, other people like flavorful food. Around here, blue corn chips are sold at the market so a significant portion of the population must find them appealing. I don't find blue kernels to be distasteful. If you grow blue kernels together with your other corn and decide that you don't like them it's easy enough not to plant blue kernels next year. I expect that you'll be doing some selecting for taste no matter what color of seeds you plant. The worst tasting corn I ever tried to eat was a white/yellow. |
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Post by cortona on Apr 20, 2011 16:05:37 GMT -5
thanks joseph! what you tel me is true! i can eliminate it at the ne round of sowing. i wil add it to the mix! it can pass down some interessant genetic!
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Post by mnjrutherford on Apr 21, 2011 8:15:10 GMT -5
Question: When you are selecting cobs to harvest for seed, what precisely do you do?
In my mind, I imagine it's necessary to peel the cob while still on the stalk in order to examine it for bugs and what not. Then, pull the covering back, mark the cob in some way, and allow it to start drying down.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Apr 21, 2011 10:05:14 GMT -5
Question: When you are selecting cobs to harvest for seed, what precisely do you do? Depends on what I am searching for.... If I am selecting for taste (sugar) I'll cut the end of the cob off with my pocket knife, right through the husk, and taste the cob. If it's extra sweet I tie a ribbon to the cob. If it's unpalatable I pick the cob and toss it. If it's average I pick it for market. If I am selecting for color at early milk stage, I peel the husk back and look at the cob. Anything with lots of color (or with a few kernels brilliantly colored) gets a ribbon so I'll remember to harvest it later. My help knows that they don't pick anything with a ribbon. If I am selecting for cob shape or size, I'll leave the corn alone until it has matured. It's very typical for me to go out to the field after the corn is well matured and shuck the cobs right on the plant, and let them dry that way for a few weeks before bringing indoors for further drying. I normally do my selections after corn earworms are active, so I'll know before opening the husk if there is a bug problem. That might influence my decision to select/de-select a cob or it might not. The bugs that adversely affect my corn are not winter hardy here, so they have to be brought in by the Hatu winds which are unpredictable. |
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Post by cortona on Jun 7, 2011 15:00:19 GMT -5
some news from my progect, the corn grow good but we have one wet spring after a serie of dry ones, the plants are around 1,5 feet and are growing actively(we have an almost tropical climate hot and umid....rayn almost everiday in the last week), the second good news is that today i've recived the bulk of the grinn seeds, the customer office have decided that corn seeds can't be so bad...urraaaaaiii!
the next season of the progect looks more interessant tan ever and this one looks like the practise one before the real thingh.
hope to give some interessant news ..or at least simply news to you guys!
best wishes
Emanuele
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Post by raymondo on Jun 8, 2011 7:46:10 GMT -5
That's good news Emanuele. Best of luck with corn project. I hope to start mine this spring (November).
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Post by cortona on Jun 8, 2011 18:19:39 GMT -5
if you can recive seeds from me i'm more tan happy to share corn seeds with you! it are all flur corn but some are realy realy...beautiful!
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Post by raymondo on Jun 9, 2011 6:15:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the offer Emanuele but we cannot import corn seed, except at great expense. I have a number of different varieties I plan to combine to develop a locally adapted flour corn. I'm looking forward to it.
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Post by cortona on Jul 10, 2011 15:32:05 GMT -5
some news from the corn patch, the mostly part of the plants are tassellyng but..not so much are sending out cobs... i dont know if is a problem or is natural, the ones that are active are almost surely good pollinate, the second good news is that the corn being in the middle of my little vineyard have passed almost untouched the hail storm that destroyed almost all my garden sop i can continue to try with my experiment(some plants are bigger to realy bigger tan the others and of course it are late for my experiments but probably it end to be saves for et year in order to maximise the biodiversity)
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jul 11, 2011 5:43:36 GMT -5
Sounds like you have a plant Cortona. Congratulations on what sounds like a good start to your learning process!
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Post by cortona on Aug 23, 2011 17:16:47 GMT -5
good news from my progect, i've harvested the first cobs for this year, it are 9 little cobs the mostly part are of the papago corn with some colered kernels that are crossed with yellow(tossed out because it means crossed with flint variety)blue/pink two are of indian mixed corn(i've recived it as a mixed flour flint tipe)and it are exactly wath is expected:withe with purple/stripped purple kernels, some other cobs are stil drying on the plants (it are mostly short variety no more tan 60 cm tal) the other plants that are taller are stil maturing the cobs so i wil split the program in two to see wath work better little plants or the taller ones(but some cross happen anyway so....i'm an happy breeder ;-) )
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