The popularity of sauerbraten also hints that this book has quite a fixation on sweet and sour, but especially the sweet! I kept finding raisins in so many things. Sometimes it seemed like there was a demented logic to the inclusion. Raisins are round. Lentils are round. Why not throw a couple round things together?
Yeah. Ham and lentils really need some raisins.
Sometimes they're tossed into traditional dishes that don't often have raisins, like veal birds.
Sweetness doesn't always mean raisins, though. Maybe those Lutheran ladies will cook their meatballs in a syrup that sounds more like it should be a soak for a spice cake on a baking show.
Maybe they'll decide that the only logical accompaniment to salmon is banana.
Oh, and diced pineapple, too, because banana by itself might not be sweet enough.
If the meat is insufficiently sweet, it can also be stuffed with Sweet Stuffing.
Don't worry if your apple is a bit tart and the raisins aren't quite giving you the sweet punch you require. Sweet stuffing reinforces the fruit with three quarters of a cup of sugar.
Lutheran ladies might also pour in some lemon/ lime soda where none is expected, like stroganoff (unlike their moose-stroganoffing sisters).
And of course, if things seem like they still might not be quite sweet enough, the Lutheran ladies can always add raisins and lemon-lime soda! The ingredients are not mutually exclusive.
I'd better end this post now. I don't want to get diabetes before the desserts come out, and desserts are far better than meat buried under/ stuffed with a pile of sugar.
I've heard of making cake with a bottle of soda but cooking meat!!!??? NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! Would this work for people who can't have their dessert until they finish their meat? I mean you can have both together. Of course dessert may have less sugar.
ReplyDeleteThere are sooo many recipes for cooking meat in soda, but I think Dr. Pepper tends to be more popular among the non-Lutheran ladies. Maybe they think non-clear sodas are too sinful?
DeleteReading through all these, all I could think was of how miserable your childhood self would've been to end up in these ladies' church basement. 😂 That spiced simple syrup from the meatballs would probably be really good in the right winter cocktail, too (one of my favourite winter drinks is a spiced brandy Old Fashioned!). But on meatballs? I might pass, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you see it as not necessarily great on meatballs. I know I might be in the minority on not wanting to mix sweets with things that are too savory, but come on! Simple syrups definitely have their place, but not here.
DeleteYes, I often think the projected number of servings for these recipes seems on the conservative side! The recipes could serve a crowd... of people who might take a spoonful to be polite.
ReplyDeleteI think people used to like food a lot mushier (or at least not care about texture as much). So many recipes call for cooking something (Noodles! Green beans! Broccoli!) until it's fully done and then baking it in a casserole for another hour at least.
Yes! Got to hide the sogged-out, squishy veg in the hopes that they will accidentally get eaten.
ReplyDelete