On Sat, 09 Jul 2016 23:55:20 -0300, Joy Beeson
wrote:



8 July 2016

A while back I bought some Orzo salad, and thought that it would have
been much better if it had been made from real rice. Rice cooked the
way I usually cook it would be too sticky; I thought that I'd cook it
like pasta: boil in an excess of water, taste at intervals, drain
when al dente.

I talked to my resident rice expert and she says that to do what you
are talking about you boil the rice, as you say, when it is done to
your satisfaction then you drain off the boiling water and wash the
cooked rice in cold water several times. She says at least 2 or 3
times and she emphasized it must be COLD water, she even mentioned ice
cubes in the water.

Today, needing exercise, I set off to ride to Pierceton's vestigial
farmers' market (one table fewer and it would have been a "farmer's
market"). The plan was to go out by Pierceton Road, and come back
through Sprawlmart, where I would (among other things) buy feta cheese
so that I could make rice salad.

The predicted rain didn't arrive and it was bright and sunny the whole
time I was out -- with a high of 85F. At four in the afternoon, the
traffic on Pierceton Road required too much attention to allow me to
sip constantly as the weather demanded, and on the way home I
frequently felt almost nauseated from drinking too much too seldom --
and from being dehydrated.


I reflected that water went down faster with a little something in it
-- I'd drunk diluted lemonade on the way out -- and thought that this
was an excuse to buy some of the fresh ginger I'd seen in the grocery.
I could cook ginger root in my drinking water; nineteenth-century
haying hands all agreed that putting ginger in your drinking water
kept it from upsetting your stomach.

Here ginger is often suggested as a "sea-sick" medicine. When we
lived on the boat my wife used to chew it when we were at sea and it
seemed to work for her.

Do note that, here, at least, there are two types of ginger and
different kinds are used to cook different dishes. There is the "new
Ginger" which still has the juice in it and "old Ginger" which is just
the same ginger dried. As far as I can tell (what do I know about
cooking :-) they both have the same flavor but the new ginger has a
lot more "bite" to it.


Then I remembered that "boil whole grains, drain" was exactly the
recipe that I used to use to make barley water when
complex-carbohydrate drinks were all the rage. (I gave it up when I
learned that the carbs in the water coagulated when the drink was
frozen, and the curds clogged the valve of my bottle.)

Doctors put rice in drinking water for babies with cholera, to make
the water go into the dehydrated child instead of passing through.

So I think I'll boil my ginger in rice-cooking water.

I wonder whether rice water coagulates when frozen?

I just put all the remaining Black Japonica Rice in the fridge to soak
for three days -- this switchel is going to look like root beer. I'll
buy ginger root on my way back from tomorrow's farmers' markets.

I think I'll use fresh lemons instead of vinegar, and honey instead of
molasses.

We'll be well into July before I get it made, but we have all of
August to go.


9 July 2016

Grumble, gripe. I was reaching for the ginger root when I noticed
that it was USDA organic.

Principles can be inconvenient sometimes. I was tempted, but reflected
that even though I can't stop the amalgamation of church and state,
that's not a reason to help it along. This is not as big a pain as
passing up the only cultured butter I've ever seen: dried ginger is
what the haymakers had in mind anyway, and I already have some.

Again, over here, the exact same vegetable sold from a different table
without a "Organic" tag on it is much cheaper than that which is
labeled "organic".

I never realized how "with it" we must have been when I was a kid and
we had a garden. Heck, everything we grew was organic :-) Well, maybe
except the tomatoes which were sprayed with "Paris Green" for the
tomato worms but veggies should be washed anyway

I think that I'll boil a lemon with the rice. Lemon would be good in
the salad. Boiling with acid might make the rice sweet, so I may
chicken out. [Definitely will chicken out: I like my lemons raw.]

The rice will be ready to boil on Monday. Grump. Sunday is for
walking, I'm washing clothes on Monday, and Weather Underground says
the rest of the week will be rainy.

Not rainy enough: the corn I got a close look at on the way home
yesterday appeared to be on the verge of curling.
--
cheers,

John B.