Real Cowboys Love Their Pintos (Beans)

Cowboys and beans. In this article we visit a cookbook featuring real and legendary cowboys, drop in at the famed King Ranch, chow down on a TexMex chili-gravy bean recipe and … believe it or not … rustle up a chuck-wagon pinto bean pie.

Yes, I am from an era when John Wayne was boss in America, a nation that still honored the spirit of the hard-working, hard living, good hearted cowboy. Maybe that image is somewhat just an imaginary legend? So what, many societies are guided by myth that suits their character. 

   But we are here to talk about food, and when you talk about cowboy food you are

Kitchen Table Tidbits #9: Eat a Daisy, Enjoy Fake Cheese, Munch More Walnuts

In this Tidbits we look at flowers as food, a judge’s opinion that you should know your cheese is fake, some screw-ups with the federal school lunch program, and nuts to you – walnuts, that is, and they are good for you.

1. HUNGRY? EAT A FLOWER: Yes, there are many edible flowers. It is best to eat what you’ve grown on your own in order to avoid pesticides or other contaminants like roadside exhaust. Some of those on the list are common knowledge, like arugula or basil. Or maybe you would like chrysanthemum and English daisy petals, although they are said

POTATOES CAN KILL YOU, TRUE OR FALSE?

Potatoes are a beloved commodity. Chances are, you find it hard to imagine a steak without baked potato or fries, a hearty stew with no spuds, a picnic where you look around in vain for the potato salad. 

   Surely potatoes are safe to eat.

   Of course that is generally true. But deaths do occur. My research says very rarely, usually resulting from solanine poisoning.

   One strange instance was not a result of eating. According to the Daily Mail, in 2013 the Chelysheva family suffered loss of father, mother, brother and grandmother, killed one by one after entering a cellar where they stored potatoes for the winter. 

   What happened? 

   

Kitchen Table Tidbits #8: Men Depressed by Vegetarian Diet, Meat Safety, "Bad" Fast Food, Catfish Inspection

In this installment we look at men who suffer depression from vegetarian diet, your right to know where meat comes from, why laws need to be changed, fast foods that science says are unhealthy but have their tempting qualities, and some new safety policies regarding store-bought catfish steaks.

1. MEN MAY SUFFER DEPRESSION FROM VEGETARIAN DIET: I'll bet the networks will pick up on this one, a good controversial scare story and backed by a highly regarded publication, The Journal of Affective Disorders. The study looked at any number of other factors that might be causes such as health, employment or marital problems. According to Food Safety News, the study says: “Nutritional deficiencies (e.g., in cobalamin or iron) are a possible explanation for these findings, however, reverse causation cannot be ruled out.” Reverse causation probably means that depressed men might turn to vegetarianism hoping for relief. The complete study is behind a darn pay wall so I won't link to it but it may become public as the story gets more media attention.

Kitchen Table Tidbits #7

For this installment we have a free book on bugs in your food, a great guide to roadfood, the huge overlooked settlement in the “pink slime” case, and some political analysis from a food perspective.

1. FREE HANDBOOK IDENTIFIES BUGS IN YOUR FOOD: Did you know that there is a government handbook, available free, that tells how many bugs are allowed in your food? Well, there is. Layla Eplett, an anthropologist writing in Scientific American suggests that we eat one to two pounds of bug parts a year in our food, allowable under FDA guidelines. Allowable bugs include thrips, aphids, mites, maggots, fruit flies, insect eggs, rodent hair, excreta and a couple of types of caterpillars and worms.

The Complicated Simplicity of Scrambled Eggs

A Simple Matter: Scrambled Eggs

You would think there is nothing easier than to scramble an egg. But if you research the matter, you may conclude that scrambling is as complicated as unscrambling.

   This is due to the diversity of opinion regarding how to do it. Should you use cream, milk, butter, water, no additive at all? To whisk or not to whisk? Start with a cold skillet? A heated skillet? Cook the dish quickly? Take your time, as much as half an hour?

   Plus, we need a psychological assessment of the cook or chef. According to food writer extraordinaire MFK Fisher, eggs should never be scrambled by “a nervous, harried woman, one anxious to get something on the table and get it over with.”

   Keep calm and scramble your eggs.

   That warning is in keeping with the counsel of many other chefs or cooks who advise “patience” as a primary ingredient of the dish.

   Fisher says scrambling should go on for half an hour. This is seriously contrary to advice elsewhere. You find it said that a minute is sufficient time.

  

                      Choosing a Good Egg

   Before we actually scramble, though we should consider -- what sort of eggs?

  

Some Questions (and Some Answers) About Beef Stew

A Lot of Goodness, Basic Beef Stew

I have no idea why. Here it is the middle of summer and I am thinking about hearty beef stew. Maybe my mind, or my appetite, needs a vacation from summer. Maybe you would like to join me?

   I have to confess that, in years gone by, as a bachelor living alone in a remote mountain cabin, I got very interested in stews at any time of year, a one-pot meal that might feed me for three days.

   You name it, Burgoo to Mulligatawny, I studied stews. But my standby was that traditional favorite, simple beef stew. Yes, simple, but still some questions arose. Questions about herbs, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, meats.

   I kept some notes, you may find them helpful.

What Are the Proper Herbs for Beef Stew?

   First of all, what's an herb and what's a spice? Herbs, I am informed, are the leafy part of the plant, while spices are roots, flowers, bark etc.