Thread: Peasant Dishes; Simple and Hearty

Originally Posted by ControlFreak1

Dammit.
Are you a sadist Brad? I think that you just like making out stomachs growl.
Really love the pepper mill.
I love pepper, especially white pepper, black or red will do, especially very finely ground, definitely freshly ground.
I think that you should start a cooking/food forum.

Grazie molte!

That pepper mill is a Perfex from France. Scarlett and I were in Williams Sonoma and she said for Xmas she'd buy me any of the pepper grinders they had. I grabbed that one immediately because it was easy to load and put out the most pepper the fastest of any I'd ever seen. Scarlett was going to win because I cook mostly for her but when she saw it was a $200 machine she had a brief wave of regret. The regret passed and she kept her promise. It is easily the best pepper mill I've used. Mine is a 6" monster. It would be too big if I had smaller hands. It lloks like they don't make the 6" any more but the 4" is the same except it needs to be filled more frequently: Perfex Cast Aluminum Pepper Mill Reviews - Cooking.com

Brad,

Made your recipe today for lunch. I'm happy to say we had none left.

Thanks again.

Try the Minestra recipe I posted. You will really like it.

David

Originally Posted by icedog

That pepper mill is a Perfex from France. Scarlett and I were in Williams Sonoma and she said for Xmas she'd buy me any of the pepper grinders they had. I grabbed that one immediately because it was easy to load and put out the most pepper the fastest of any I'd ever seen. Scarlett was going to win because I cook mostly for her but when she saw it was a $200 machine she had a brief wave of regret. The regret passed and she kept her promise. It is easily the best pepper mill I've used. Mine is a 6" monster. It would be too big if I had smaller hands. It lloks like they don't make the 6" any more but the 4" is the same except it needs to be filled more frequently: Perfex Cast Aluminum Pepper Mill Reviews - Cooking.com

Thanks Brad.

Rod

Man! I ran to the gun safe and quickly grabbed my Kalashnikov! Heck! I thought you said we were going to hunt peasants!

Originally Posted by flylot

Man! I ran to the gun safe and quickly grabbed my Kalashnikov! Heck! I thought you said we were going to hunt peasants!

I think that's against the law.

In most places anyway.

My favorite peasant food at the moment is Thai som tum. It is a salad made from green papaya. I can't give you the recipe because I have never made this myself. It is far too easy to just walk across the road to buy it.
Anyway, some of the ingredients are thinly sliced papaya, thinly sliced carrot, dried shrimp, peanuts, palm sugar, fish sauce, chilies and chunks of tomato. This is all put into a mortar and pestle and bashed and crushed and mixed together. It tastes delicious, has no fat and if you like hot food, this will knock your socks off.

Man this thread is great.
So Japanese peasant food...Come to think of it, Niku Jaga would be about as peasanty as it gets. The name means "Meat [and] Potato".

Goes like this:

Get some thinly sliced beef and some potatoes.

In a good sized pot, lightly sautee the beef in a little sesame oil.

While the beef is browning, chop the potato into generous, chopstick sized chunks.

Throw the taters in with the beef and let them cook a little in the beefy goodness.

Add:
Water to cover, a generous splash of soy sauce, a splash of mirin (sweetened sake) and a little bit of Bonito-flake stock (Katsuodashi if you know any Japanese) and bring to a low boil. Sugar if you think you'd like it sweeter (I don't). Reduce heat to a simmer, and let it go until the potatoes go all brown and melt in your mouth.

Eat and thank god you're alive.

I have no idea what the amounts are, my MIL and wife just make it by the seat of their pants. It's one of the few dishes my MIL makes that is better than my wife's...it's good old home-cooking, and man do I love it.

Traditional west coast Norwegian peasant food.

Cod (straight from the fjord) and potatoes with a modern twist.
Italian red wine - Farnese: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

Thanks for this thread idea, Brad. It's a great one.

My Grandpa Larry was a great man. He grew up on a farm in rural Minnesota, fought in the Korean War and became nearly completely deaf from it. As kids, we didn't think much of having to get right up to his ears and yell in order for him to hear us; that was just how Grandpa was and, kids like to yell, don't they? Later, he moved his family to Minneapolis and he became a milkman. Chain smoking Pall Mall straights did him in too early. He was kind and tough as nails at the same time with a great laugh.

He was of 100% German descent and I don't know if his Creamed Eggs were of German origin, or something he either made up or gleaned from someone else that he worked with. Either way, when we'd go down to visit my grandparents, we'd go to church, then Grandpa would make skillets of creamed eggs for everyone. It's simple, it's inexpensive and it's great comfort food. My grandparents didn't have much money with five children on one income so they made due with what they had and used the knowledge they gained from growing up on the farm to get by.

Can someone please try this recipe and tell me how someone outside of our family feels about it?

Ingredients:

Dry toast two slices per serving. The drier the better. Grandpa used white bread, but I use whole wheat.

"Half and Half" cream

Butter or olive oil (he used butter, I use olive oil)

Eggs. Two per serving cooked to your liking fried any way other than scrambled.

Fresh cracked pepper and salt to taste

1. Toast the slices of bread.
2. Heat the butter or oil preferably in a cast iron skillet and crack in the eggs. Season liberally with fresh cracked pepper and some salt. I believe a lot of cracked pepper is a key component of this recipe.
3. After frying for a minute or so, pour the cream over the eggs. Use enough cream to saturate the toast when done and to be able to pour a bit over the eggs when serving.
4. Cook the eggs in the cream to your liking. I prefer sunny side up with the yolks medium or slightly runny.
5. Put two pieces of dry toast on a plate and pour enough hot cream over the toast to saturate.
6. Serve one fried egg on each piece of toast pouring the remainder of the cream over the eggs. Serve immediately.

I do so wish I had a gas stove to cook on again. Sadly, I'm relegated to using an electric stove in our current home, the bane of those who like to cook.

Chris L

You guys are killing me being on a diet here!!