Tommy Joe > wrote:

>On May 17, 2:14*am, (Steve Pope) wrote:

>> Start by slicing and sauteeing the "trilogy" (or if you like, "trinity")
>> of onion, green bell pepper, and de-stringed celery until soft.
>> Season with Bay Seasoning (the commercial product) and some cayenne
>> and black pepper. *Add in a decent amount of vegetable stock (but
>> don't make it into a soup...). *Then add the already-cooked red beans.
>> Proceed with another round of all seasonings. *Tangentially, "Bay
>> Seasoning" is pretty salty so there is no need for additional salt.
>> (Including when initially cooking the beans). *It will now be a slush
>> or stew consistency.
>>
>> Prepare some short-grained brown rice. * There are now two ways to
>> serve it: (1) Stir in some file' powder into the bean mixture, then
>> serve immediately over rice. *(2) Serve the bean mixture over rice,
>> then sprinkle file' on each serving, perhaps as per each diner's
>> request.
>>
>> I might also add a few drops of "El Yucateno" habanero sauce, but that
>> is optional.

>Thanks. But, not that it's the be all and end all, when it
>comes to popeyes red beans and rice, I think most of the taste comes
>from the bacon. Just a guess. But it's not like your recipe is
>inferior to popeyes recipe - it could be better - it's just that with
>popeyes the main taste comes from the bacon, which of course has salt
>in it. Anyway thanks again.

By all means include bacon, andouille, and/or ham. The recipe should
not need any adjustment other than watching the sodium level.


Steve

On May 18, 12:16*am, (Steve Pope) wrote:


By all means include bacon, andouille, and/or ham. *The recipe should
> not need any adjustment other than watching the sodium level.


My question now is this: If you had the formula for Popeye's
chicken (which no doubt includes plenty of salt - as does just about
all fast foods, even those not thought of as salty) - if you had that
formula, do you believe it would be possible to make that dish with a
bit less salt and still retain a good deal of the flavor? I'm not
sure. I'm not sure it would suffer all that greatly. Perhaps in the
sense of always comparing one to the other - a nostalgia type thing
maybe - yes, in that case it may never measure up. But, to make their
recipe just as they make it, but with lets say half the salt, I wonder
how people would react to it's taste in a comparison test between
people who have never had either the mix either way - yours or the
original. Yeah, they might go with the salty one because they're used
to it. But we don't know that for a fact. Here we go again with the
blindfold test thing from me. Can't help it, it intrigues me. I
can't believe the popeyes recipe would suffer that much if made
exactly as is but with a bit less salt. But of course as always I
could be wrong.

TJ

Tommy Joe > wrote:

>On May 18, 12:16*am, (Steve Pope) wrote:

> >By all means include bacon, andouille, and/or ham. *The recipe should
>> not need any adjustment other than watching the sodium level.

>My question now is this: If you had the formula for Popeye's
>chicken (which no doubt includes plenty of salt - as does just about
>all fast foods, even those not thought of as salty) - if you had that
>formula, do you believe it would be possible to make that dish with a
>bit less salt and still retain a good deal of the flavor?

Depends upon your personal salt tolerance. If you've been eating
a lot of salty food of late, a low-salt red beans and rice would
taste bland, or at least that would be your first impression.
Conversly, if you were routinely eating low-salt, then it would
not seem like it's missing anything.

The confounding thing is that things that are just somewhat
saltier than your typical diet tend to taste really good,
especially the first couple mouthfuls. This has led to some chefs
trying to out-salt each other in what can become a vicious cycle.

This is tangential but I believe it's possible to train oneself
to ignore the lack of salt in one's food and still appreciate its
flavors. In our house, we routinely cook food with zero added salt,
and we do not feel we are missing anything. This includes chili, pasta
sauces, you name it. The interesting components of flavor are
largely (*) those that stimulate the olfactory senses; salt doesn't do this.

> I'm not sure. I'm not sure it would suffer all that greatly.
> Perhaps in the sense of always comparing one to the other -
> a nostalgia type thing maybe - yes, in that case it may never
> measure up. But, to make their recipe just as they make it,
> but with lets say half the salt, I wonder how people would
> react to it's taste in a comparison test between people who
> have never had either the mix either way - yours or the original.

An untrained taster will almost always report that the item with 30%
more salt per mouthful tasts better. It takes an almost conscious
effort to mentally factor this out. When tasting something, especially
if tasting something critically, I tell myself, "Are there high levels
of salt, sugar, and/or fat that are seducing me? Ignore those."


Steve


(*) with appropriate deference to umami and capsaicinoid receptors,
which are shown to be separate pathways

On May 18, 1:41*am, (Steve Pope) wrote:

> Depends upon your personal salt tolerance. *If you've been eating
> a lot of salty food of late, a low-salt red beans and rice would
> taste bland, or at least that would be your first impression.
> Conversly, if you were routinely eating low-salt, then it would
> not seem like it's missing anything.

> An untrained taster will almost always report that the item with 30%
> more salt per mouthful tasts better. *It takes an almost conscious
> effort to mentally factor this out. *When tasting something, especially
> if tasting something critically, *I tell myself, "Are there high levels
> of salt, sugar, and/or fat that are seducing me? *Ignore those."


My salt preference depends on the dish. For example, I have
tried to eat tabouli without salt or low amounts of it and I think it
sucks. But cooked foods are different. I have made beans many times
with no salt at all and never felt the need to add. But if I want to
add, since there's so little salt already in the mix, I'll do it.
Yes, I guess it depends on the individuals perceived need for salt,
but as far as the popeyes read beans and rice recipe goes, I'm
guessing a good portion of the salt could be removed without me crying
about it. I am not against salt, I just prefer adding my own.
Sometimes at whole foods I'll buy two scoops of an unsalted variety of
nuts with one scoop of salted added, then just mix them up. I hardly
ever cook with salt since it can be added later or not at all. Yeah,
regarding Popyeye's beans and rice, I'm sure if my sole intent was to
find a perfect replication I'd have to swing toward the more salty
versions - but that doesn't mean it's the best version, only the one
that most reminded me of the one I remember liking.

TJ

On Thu, 17 May 2012 21:30:52 -0700 (PDT), Tommy Joe
> wrote:

>On May 18, 12:16*am, (Steve Pope) wrote:
>
>
>By all means include bacon, andouille, and/or ham. *The recipe should
>> not need any adjustment other than watching the sodium level.
>
>
> My question now is this: If you had the formula for Popeye's
>chicken (which no doubt includes plenty of salt - as does just about
>all fast foods, even those not thought of as salty) - if you had that
>formula, do you believe it would be possible to make that dish with a
>bit less salt and still retain a good deal of the flavor? I'm not
>sure. I'm not sure it would suffer all that greatly. Perhaps in the
>sense of always comparing one to the other - a nostalgia type thing
>maybe - yes, in that case it may never measure up. But, to make their
>recipe just as they make it, but with lets say half the salt, I wonder
>how people would react to it's taste in a comparison test between
>people who have never had either the mix either way - yours or the
>original. Yeah, they might go with the salty one because they're used
>to it. But we don't know that for a fact. Here we go again with the
>blindfold test thing from me. Can't help it, it intrigues me. I
>can't believe the popeyes recipe would suffer that much if made
>exactly as is but with a bit less salt. But of course as always I
>could be wrong.
>
>TJ

Holla... rice and red beans w/pokechops for dinner last night...
nothing could be easier to prepare, all in one pot, and YUMMY:
http://i45.tinypic.com/2jdkeut.jpg

On May 18, 9:02*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:

> Holla... rice and red beans w/pokechops for dinner last night...
> nothing could be easier to prepare, all in one pot, and YUMMY:http://i45.tinypic.com/2jdkeut.jpg



Looks good. Because I make food to last 6 days (as a rule), my
beans are usually cooked down more, and instead of putting them on top
of rice or mixed in with rice, I put the beans in a soup bowl and toss
a handful of rice in the center. That's because I use the microwave
to heat soups and stews and lots of things. That dish of yours looked
good. I'm a bit routine oriented, like most people, even those who
won't admit it, and am the type who doesn't like working at my meal,
so I'd probably cut the pork chop up ahead of time and either keep it
to the side cut up or even slide some it into the rice mix. Looks
good though. How about a little spinach running through the mix?

TJ