Spring Cleaning

Tired of seeing the bottoms of your copper pans looking all black and discolored? Here's how to clean them.

...or if they're already there, they're gonna stay all the way back there, gathering dust until I bequeath them onto my children.

Nah, I wouldn't do that to them.

1. Tuna Helper - I just don't like that the talking glove only has four fingers. That's scary.
2. Dinty Moore Beef Stew - childhood trauma
3. Hormel Corned Beef Hash - if you have ever seen it in the can, you will wonder if it was really Alpo that had been mis-labeled.
4. Vienna Sausages - those tiny ones that come in the pull top can.  
5. Boxed macaroni and cheese - okay, it's not that bad when you eat it, but when you make it and you see the cheese that looks like Tang, you have to wonder...
6. Canned mushrooms - they're slimy and no matter what you do to them, they taste like metal
7. Velveeta - someone, please, tell me how this is cheese
8. Spam - 'nuff said.  

I have this jar, yep the very one in the picture, full of Tamarind Paste. Well, full less about a teaspoon. It has been sitting in the back since a failed attempt at an egg curry. Thought today was a good reason to investigate what else I could use it for.

A search over the net revealed a really fascinating post about Tamarind Tort. Apparently this recipe was on the BBC Radio 4 Food programme back in 2004. But the recipe dates from 1730 from The Complete Practical Cook by some chap called Carter. It uses a rich pastry base - Paste Royal also detailed - and has the tamarind paste rolled into little balls with sugar. These are placed in the par-baked shell and then filled with a custard before completing the bake. Sounds really interesting.

On the actual BBC site they have Papaya in Tamarind Syrup but this uses fresh tamarind - one half of a tamarind pod to be precise - so I am not sure I can use the paste as a replacement. Or to what quantity. I think I might start making a simple dipping sauce. This one via Wagamama is a mix of malt vinegar, light and dark soy sauce, tomato ketchup and sugar. Plus the tamarind paste of course. Served with salmon cakes.

Luckily the use by date is very long - it should be fine until October 2007!

Behind all the other odds and ends, stacked up alongside some canned tomatoes, was this lone, canned Heinz Treacle Pudding. Generally known as cake and not pudding on the US side of the Atlantic, this traditional British dessert is a round of sponge cake that is saturated with a golden syrup known as treacle. Treacle is a type of light molasses that is left over during the sugar refining process. It makes what would otherwise be a plain and fairly dry dessert moist and sweet, so the combination of treacle and sponge is a time-honored British favorite. Come to think of it, the combination of treacle and nearly anything is a British favorite.

The label on the cake promised that it was microwaveable, meaning that I could avoid a 30 minute stove-top steaming just to eat it. I put it on a plate, covered it with a microwave-safe bowl and hit "start."

Pasta e fagioli, or sometimes just "pasta fagioli," is a simple Italian bean and pasta soup. It's a great way to use a glut of dried beans in your pantry, but I don't usually make it just to use up things I have stored. When I feel like eating it, I just go to the store and buy everything (even the pasta because I never seem to keep stuff too long in the pantry any way). Some people use a smoked ham or bacon to "flavor" pasta e fagioli, as is the case for many bean-based soups, but I keep mine pretty simple.

Cook 1/2 c. finely chopped onion and 2-3 finely minced garlic cloves in 2-3 T. olive oil over medium-low heat. Add 1 15 oz. can plum tomatoes that have been chopped or crushed (I do it by hand), about 2 T chopped parsley and about 1 tsp dried oregano. Stir and cook until combined, about 2 minutes. Add 1 15 oz. can of chicken broth and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Add 1 15. oz can of cannelini beans that have been drained of their "bean juice" and 8 oz. elbow macaroni that has been cooked.

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.