Goober Peas soup

Actually us yanks refines the British measurements to suit our needs.a British gallon (imperial) is larger then our gallon.I know an British pint is 20oz. Compared to ours which is16oz.that is one of the reasons a gallon of gasoline costs so much more in England then here because it is about 38oz. More then ours.

I always thought those pints of English beer were rather generous (or at least the kick) and now I know why. :biggrin:
 
The King's Arm Tavern at Williamsburg recipe is in this thread.

We have had it there several times. It was always delicious.
I'm not sure if that was the restaurant that we ate at because that was way back in the mid 70's.but i did fall in love with the soup.i also had rabbit that was cooked in an iron skillet and my kids were upset with me because i was eating Bugs Bunny.
 
We have eaten at every tavern in Williamsburg. They all have good fare and love the décor. Williamsburg has always been a favorite place. The last time we were there we bought the plates and mugs for each tavern. They are displayed on our kitchen wall.
I bet that looks nice.Williamsburg is great living history.
 
I had not heard of using peanut butter until now, but my grandmother always used lard in making pie crusts.


Going back to bed now- running into 2 impossible topics this morning is depressing. Pie crust pastry defeats me, wonder if using lard would make a difference? Our grandmothers' crusts were always amazing, weren't they? Perfectly gold, flakey, all the right crunch on the edges.

Wish they'd call it something other than ' lard '. It just doesn't sound like something you'd be willing to eat. They'd sell a lot more of it, called " Never Mind The Calories, Wait ' Til You Taste Your Pie ", albeit little long for a label.
 
Pie crust pastry defeats me, wonder if using lard would make a difference?

I hate making pie crust and am always convinced mine will be awful, however hubby and the kids always rave about it so I dunno. Leaf lard pie crusts do have the superior texture, but I confess I prefer butter when it comes to flavor. Keep thinking I should try half and half, but it wouldn't be really half and half because lard crusts use a tad less lard than a butter or Crisco crust would. One third less? I forget. One key is to keep everything cold and, as with biscuits, don't over work it.

The refrigerated Pillsbury crusts (the ones rolled up in a box) are not nearly as good as homemade, but they're better than any restaurant pie I've ever had, even the Amish restaurants people rave about (although I admit Amish restaurant pie crust is generally superior to other restaurant pie crusts). I like thin, crispy crusts, and most restaurant pie crusts are too thick and pale for me. Maybe I just have weird tastes there.

Wish they'd call it something other than ' lard '. It just doesn't sound like something you'd be willing to eat. They'd sell a lot more of it, called " Never Mind The Calories, Wait ' Til You Taste Your Pie ", albeit little long for a label.

'Lard' is a pretty utilitarian name, but of course it was pretty utilitarian -- they cooked with it and used it to grease joints and made soap and candles with it. Which is true of kitchen greases in general. Tallow (generally beef fat) is the one that nowadays sounds totally non-foodish to my mind; first time I saw a recipe call for tallow I was pretty surprised!

But I do know what you mean, because 'pork' is a word that doesn't sound like something I'd want to eat. Grew up eating it, too, and still eat it, but I think the word 'pork' sounds just nasty. I had a secular Jewish friend who would eat bacon and sausage, but wouldn't eat anything with 'pork' in the name, which is an approach that makes perfect sense to me.

EDIT:

Holy cow, I forgot entirely to comment on the thread topic!

I like peanut soup, although the first one I ever made was African, and I continue to prefer them a bit spicer than most American recipes from the nineteenth century that I've run across. But I'm sure there were plenty of people in the nineteenth century like my youngest, who would pepper their bland peanut soup to the point it was spicier than I personally can tolerate. Or they would if pepper was a common table condiment. Or maybe they'd throw chutney in it. Or mushroom catsup. Hmmm.

That's one thing that isn't often mentioned when it comes to some cultures with bland cuisine -- I've often wondered if sometimes those with tricky tummies stuck to the basic, while everyone else spiced it up to personal preference, since that's what we do at home sometimes. When I was growing up, British food was often condemned as bland, but at the same time they had all manner of chutneys and mustards floating around that were maybe used at home on more things than hot dogs.
 
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I hate making pie crust and am always convinced mine will be awful, however hubby and the kids always rave about it so I dunno. Leaf lard pie crusts do have the superior texture, but I confess I prefer butter when it comes to flavor. Keep thinking I should try half and half, but it wouldn't be really half and half because lard crusts use a tad less lard than a butter or Crisco crust would. One third less? I forget. One key is to keep everything cold and, as with biscuits, don't over work it.

The refrigerated Pillsbury crusts (the ones rolled up in a box) are not nearly as good as homemade, but they're better than any restaurant pie I've ever had, even the Amish restaurants people rave about (although I admit Amish restaurant pie crust is generally superior to other restaurant pie crusts). I like thin, crispy crusts, and most restaurant pie crusts are too thick and pale for me. Maybe I just have weird tastes there.



'Lard' is a pretty utilitarian name, but of course it was pretty utilitarian -- they cooked with it and used it to grease joints and made soap and candles with it. Which is true of kitchen greases in general. Tallow (generally beef fat) is the one that nowadays sounds totally non-foodish to my mind; first time I saw a recipe call for tallow I was pretty surprised!

But I do know what you mean, because 'pork' is a word that doesn't sound like something I'd want to eat. Grew up eating it, too, and still eat it, but I think the word 'pork' sounds just nasty. I had a secular Jewish friend who would eat bacon and sausage, but wouldn't eat anything with 'pork' in the name, which is an approach that makes perfect sense to me.

EDIT:

Holy cow, I forgot entirely to comment on the thread topic!

I like peanut soup, although the first one I ever made was African, and I continue to prefer them a bit spicer than most American recipes from the nineteenth century that I've run across. But I'm sure there were plenty of people in the nineteenth century like my youngest, who would pepper their bland peanut soup to the point it was spicier than I personally can tolerate. Or they would if pepper was a common table condiment. Or maybe they'd throw chutney in it. Or mushroom catsup. Hmmm.

That's one thing that isn't often mentioned when it comes to some cultures with bland cuisine -- I've often wondered if sometimes those with tricky tummies stuck to the basic, while everyone else spiced it up to personal preference, since that's what we do at home sometimes. When I was growing up, British food was often condemned as bland, but at the same time they had all manner of chutneys and mustards floating around that were maybe used at home on more things than hot dogs.
Tallow is what originally McDonald's used in their friers,thats were they were so good back in the day.
 
That's one thing that isn't often mentioned when it comes to some cultures with bland cuisine -- I've often wondered if sometimes those with tricky tummies stuck to the basic, while everyone else spiced it up to personal preference, since that's what we do at home sometimes. When I was growing up, British food was often condemned as bland, but at the same time they had all manner of chutneys and mustards floating around that were maybe used at home on more things than hot dogs.


So funny! Thank you, I never found it bland but was never brave enough to say so- always thought everyone knew something! Got addicted to the Brit green grocer, really fresh meats and dairies ( where else can you pour cream from the top of your milk? ), ridiculously rich pastries and dense breads. I'm not a big eater, either.

You've just decided me to a. find some good English chutney and b. make a meat pie this weekend. Picked that up when living there- no one cares how the pastry looks like patchwork ( mine does, end up piecing the dratted thing together over holes ) if the gravy is good.
 
Got addicted to the Brit green grocer, really fresh meats and dairies ( where else can you pour cream from the top of your milk? ), ridiculously rich pastries and dense breads. I'm not a big eater, either.

That's the other thing, I think -- freshness. I could never understand the badmouthing of Midwest food when I was a kid, until it dawned on me that all the people badmouthing it were eating in restaurants. Well, yeah, Midwest restaurant food back then was not the best, but Midwesterners didn't eat out for the food -- they ate out to socialize. The good food was home cooked, and part of the reason home food was so good was it was fresh -- cooked to order, often as not, fruit and vegetables in season, etc. If you can get corn on the cob from a farm stand that was picked on request, why in the world would you go mucking it up with anything? I don't even put salt or butter on mine.

Canned or frozen vegetables get doctored up, sure, but they never really compare to the fresh stuff. There are so many super-simple recipes that taste incredible made with fresh ingredients that taste flat and boring made with standard supermarket fare. For that matter, "standard supermarket fare" varies from place to place. A friend of ours moved here from the east coast, and he whined and moaned constantly about how New York City and the East Coast were so much better when it came to everything, except he was pure astonished at the quality and quantity of fruit and vegetables at his local supermarket. And he didn't even go to a supermarket favored by home cooks! It's just that, around here, even the people who hardly cook know what good fresh food looks like.

Places where he's mostly lived, everyone eats out every chance they get, so no one insists on good, fresh fruit and vegetables in their grocery stores, and no one gets them, either. Sort of like how it used to be hard to find file powder outside of the South -- local demand determines what you can get hold of. Even locally, you can tell the difference between a store patronized by people who mostly eat out, versus one where a fair percentage of the clientele cooks regular, and proper, meals. Home cooking is a luxury, in the sense that it takes time, not just the time to make it, but the time to learn in, and if all the adults in the home work full time, that's just not the 'luxury' most people pick. So they go for more highly flavored stuff rather than the simple stuff that relies on freshness to be good.

I piece my pastry as well. Some Big Name cook once said that he doesn't trust home cooking that looks too pretty, and he was referring specifically to pie crust, so I cling to that.
 
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