Most overrated and underrated proteins - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberdoc 

That's why God created braising.  To take a well exercised, really tastey piece of meat, and make it butter tender.  ;-)

It is a cool fall day, I'm thinking beef short ribs or lamb shanks will be on the dinner plates tonight.

mjb.

KH -

I grew up in Rhode Island, the New England reference was just meant to imply local freshness. Even growing up on the bay I know a bluefish in the fridge for 2 days is radically different from one caught this morning.

As for the frogs, I'm happy to figure most of it out between my library and the web. Not to open another debate, but the fear comes from my desire to cook it but not kill it, though I get the problem with this.  I'll think about the PM.

beets are soo underrated..the rodney dangerfield of vegetables(i don't get no respect!).....roasted, steamed, grilled,red or orange... cold, hot, whatever you want to do do them, they can take it, they are so fabuloso..hands down in my book!

joey

I recall watching either Iron Chef or Iron Chef America where the theme ingredient was beets.  I was quite surprised that none of the final dishes included beet greens in any form.  I don't do beets very often but when I do I get them with the greens and make use of them.

mjb.

Is there any more underrated proteine source in the "rich" Western world than dried beans?

For many people in poorer countries it's their only source of proteine, it's cheap and nutritious and if you ask me... delicious.

Although there's been a slow change (with the various vegetarian trends as impetus), the problem is many people associate dried beans with poverty and privation. Plus, of course, they prefer the convenience of opening a can.

In the American South, of course, soup beans and cornbread are a time-honored tradition. So we probably eat more beans, per capita, than most other folks. Beans are also very popular in the Southwest; and the "cowboy cuisine" fad is another engine driving their popularity. And if anyone thinks New Englanders are going to give up their baked beans (always made, properly, from dried beans) they better give it another think. Ain't gonna happen.

Every western European country has at least one signature dish based on dried beans, and foodies here are having a ball exploring that world (not to mention arguing points of authenticity).

I would have to conclude that, celebrity chefs aside, calling dried beans underused, at least in America, overstates the case.

     I find that dried beans are underrated.  The difference when cooked in a simple recipe or used in a soup or chili is quite large in both taste and texture.  It's really like a different product to me.  I've even found that soups that I added it to where I previously used meat didn't need the added meat because the beans held up so well.

  An overrated protein?  store bought bacon

  dan

Quote:

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer 

Although there's been a slow change (with the various vegetarian trends as impetus), the problem is many people associate dried beans with poverty and privation. Plus, of course, they prefer the convenience of opening a can.

 

In the American South, of course, soup beans and cornbread are a time-honored tradition. So we probably eat more beans, per capita, than most other folks. Beans are also very popular in the Southwest; and the "cowboy cuisine" fad is another engine driving their popularity. And if anyone thinks New Englanders are going to give up their baked beans (always made, properly, from dried beans) they better give it another think. Ain't gonna happen.

 

Every western European country has at least one signature dish based on dried beans, and foodies here are having a ball exploring that world (not to mention arguing points of authenticity).

 

I would have to conclude that, celebrity chefs aside, calling dried beans underused, at least in America, overstates the case.

I gottta go with KY on this one pinto beans and cornbread where a staple in house as a kid I love em although I very rarely fix them anymore .... I probably haven't had pinto beans in the last 14 yfears (the wife basically banned them after I ate a plate right after we got married )

I also agree that venison is highly underrated my family practically lived on the stuff as well as rabbit and squirrel and my wife and son love venison (my son is nuts over venison jerky)

ky,

 sorry if this is a bit tangential, which is par for the course for me,... i know that dried beans are huge in the southwest...the indians, the anasazi, the mexicans, the spanish, the cowboys, ranchers.. all of them...i just don't know how they cooked them!...they must have had nothing else to do, no massacres or wars to fight, no land to conquer, no cattle to drive...at this altitude, it takes beans FOREVER to cook...like days! like maybe 4 or 5 days...when i was running the backside restaurant at the ski resort here, we were at 10,500 and it took a week to cook 20 #'s of black beans...all day, all night...i asked for canned beans, f&b, being ever so budget minded, sent me dried.....as i said, all day, all night.....

joey

No, unfortunately it wasn't.  Mose took control of the computer while I was out on a sales call.  It won't happen again.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by tylerm713 Dwight, is that you?

Personally, i believe that the most underrated protein source here in the UK is rabbit. Lean and healthy but it's so far out of the mainstream. 3 rabbits per two people makes a great meal.

Get a pressure cooker for high altitude beans.

Fear not the tripe! Properly cleaned and prepared I almost guarantee you'll love it, especially if you like other types of offal already. I live in Southern California and let me tell you, tripe tacos at a good taco shack is a revelation. 

Brains on the other hand, not my favorite, I like all sorts of creamy things, but just couldn't quite get into the texture of any variety I've tried thus far. But hey, if i get the chance to try them prepared for me, I'm not gonna turn them down!

But I think in American dining especially, there has been a real resurgence of people to eat "poor people" food. On the other hand, it could be for the same reason that I love legumes, cheap! I've just recently started making legumes a much larger part of my diet and let me just say, 1-2 dollars worth of any legume, 6 bucks in some poor misunderstood cut of collagen rich meat, will feed me every day for a week! You just can't beat that kind of flavor for value. Especially on a line cook's hourly wage. 

Black bean, discovered it in Brazil...nice.

Commercial chicken, I'm soooo sick of the tasteless, water logged, 6 week old bird!!

I had to laugh when I read the (badbabara) rabbit and the (radleycooks)"poor people food" comments. I was at the butcher and I asked for 8 lamb shanks as we were broke (just lost the business) and had asked friends for dinner. $96.00 for dog bones!!!!!, oh well, chefs made it trendy so....

When will we see the finalists on "Masterchef" do rabbit confit, I wondered, cause I got a whole farm full of trendy little "stud" bunnies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dorine 

Most overrated: turkey in any form, and especially the holiday roast turkey. Inedible! There are people who for some inexplicable reason expect it, so I have been dutifully making turkey at Thanksgiving for the past 35+ years, but I refuse to eat it. I make a tasty toast ham or standing rib roast for the feast, too. The idiocy of using ground turkey anywhere that ground beef, pork or lamb tastes far better, or of trying to call an atrocity of strips of protein made from turkey "bacon" or passing off ground turkey and spices as sausage. Also chicken breasts, goes doubly for skinless and boneless; all sources of moisture and flavor have been removed.

You can keep your ham and rib roast lady. Turkey is a delicious bird - especially wild. Roasting a turkey whole with it's cavity crammed with stuffing is the best way to ruin it. From the sound of things, that's what you've done for the past 35 years. Try breaking the turkey down into smaller sections before roasting. It's way easier to season and cook properly. Inedible... Refusing to eat it... you sound like my little nephew. 

I have a hard time calling chicken over-rated. If it wasn't 50c/lb, i wouldn't be able to heat well on my entry-level chef's salary. but then again, i'm talking about whole chickens, each part being used eventually. not just the breast. I do definitely agree with chuck being under rated. would a few of you be willing to send me a few of their chuck recipes?

I really like fish heads (especially salmon), but the other chefs at work always cringe when I cook it at work.

Beans.  I try hard to ignore the slight pear=like texture of them.  I know they are a great source of protein and virtually fat free, low cost etc, it's just to me, my tongue can't stand the feel.  Lychees(not in the protein group) have this same kind of mouth feel. 

Whereas lentils, ahh ,now, they are much better.  The red ones are great for a quick meal, as in a pumpkin soup or with rice they make a great addition.  Split green peas take lots more time but the flavour is great.  Haven't tried the yellow ones.  I imagine they'd be good too.