Monthly Cooking Thread, January 2022

[Jamestown1630]

Years ago, a satisfied customer sent a gift basket of goodies to my husband’s office, and he came home with a few of the things that were in it.

One of them was a little jar of Capelin ‘caviar’.

I had never had any experience with fish eggs; but one taste of that, and I was hooked.

True caviar only comes from the sturgeon fish, and I’ve never been – and will probably never be – in the tax bracket to afford the best of that. What’s available to me is properly termed fish roe; and I very much like some of the varieties that I’ve enjoyed.

I like it so much that I asked for Christmas – and received – some caviar serving items (which was kind of silly, because I’m the only one in my circle who likes this; but I live in hope of converting people.)

One of the ways that caviar is traditionally served is on tiny ‘pancakes’ called ‘blini’. You can make these in several ways – with yeast, or using baking powder. Including buckwheat flour makes them more Russian-Authentic - and they are a great conveyance for lots of other appetizer things.

Here is one done with yeast:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/russian-blini-recipe-buckwheat-pancakes-1136797

And another done with baking powder:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/260537/easy-blini-russian-pancake/

I wish you all a very good New Year! (It has to be better than the last two!)

-JT

[Jamestown1630]

Happy New Year to All!

-JT

[TianaHighrider]

Happy New Year 💥❣

[TianaHighrider]

That looks so yummy ❤

[lee martell]

Those Blini look pretty neat. I may give that a try.
They are like tiny crepes.
I’ve only had one caviar experience and found them to be extremely salty. I only took a nibble. No more than that.
Are they all this way, or do other caviar have a different impact?

[Fai Mao]

We made Chinese dumplings for new years today.

[Jamestown1630]

And ro you!

[sockmonkey]

Why don’t you post your hopping John recipe on the Monthly Cooking Thread?

I have no idea what it is, but I think it’s some New Year’s dish with black eyed peas??? Enlighten me.

[Jamestown1630]

There’s another Russian version of the pancake called a ‘blintz’, which is more like a crepe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blintz

I don’t mind the ‘salty’. But there are lots of varieties. You just have to experiment.

The Capelin that I first enjoyed is apparently the same stuff that the Japanese call ‘masago’, which you routinely find on sushi - or California Roll - in the US.

[Jamestown1630]

We used to make really good pork ones, with the ‘bug sauce’ for my brother.

I love them. You probably don’t need it, but I’ll post the recipe next week.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Is there a ping list for this thread topic?

[Fai Mao]

We used pork, bok choi, bean sprouts, shitake mushrooms, ginger and carrots.

[Jamestown1630]

You have to eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day!

My husband’s a Yankee, and he has to have his pork and sauerkraut; but my folks are from Virginia!

This is a really great black-eyed pea recipe, if you don’t want to eat them just plain:

https://saramoulton.com/2013/12/black-eyed-pea-cakes-with-salsa-mayonnaise/

[Jamestown1630]

I’ll add you, if you want...

[leaning conservative]

Happy New Year to you & everyone on this most wonderful of threads! And yes, dear Lord, please be a better year!

That looks so delicious. Speaking of caviar.....my mother in law sent us a Christmas box & she made biscotti, cookies, & included other fun food things...... including a jar of faux caviar made with seaweed. It will never be opened😵‍💫🤔🤔I think I will pass it on & I’m thinking it will get passed around a lot😜Gross!

[JennysCool]

Happy New Year! Thank you for the always-enjoyable and helpful threads!

[doorgunner69]

I cannot make tamales, the traditional southwest New Year food, so I make a monster pot of chili....

[Jamestown1630]

LOL! You mean, passed around like a fruitcake?

(I actually think fruitcake has gotten a bad rep - probably due to Johnny Carson. My husband and I love it.)

There’s something called ‘Texas Caviar’ - if you aren’t into fish eggs - and it’s pretty good:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_caviar

https://www.foodnetwork.com/fnk/recipes/texas-caviar-8635108

[Jamestown1630]

Tell us your chili recipe!

(I’ve been wanting to learn tamales - I live across the street from a Hispanic market, and I see people buying the stuff for it all the time. Maybe next thread...)

[Blurb2350]

Bug sauce! Boy does that bring back some memories. My grandparents called it bug juice. That was way back in the days when Chinese food — even gloppy bright red sweet-and-sour pork with chunks of canned pineapple — was an exotic rarity.