Post by macmex on Nov 6, 2023 10:40:37 GMT -6
I am becoming more and more of a fan of winter melon (a.k.a. wax gourd). I've found that it can be used heavily in just about any soup or stew. Here's one dish I made over the weekend. It turned out great!
Saturday I decided to butcher one of our old roosters. I'm pretty sure he was two or three years old. We have a bunch of youngsters running around and I need to butcher some of them too, but the older birds, well, they're special. They need to be cooked low and slow, and, they produce the most flavorful meals of old when properly cooked. I placed the carcass in our crock pot Saturday evening and set it on low with only, perhaps a half a cup of water added. I let it cook all night and much of Sunday.
After lunch on Sunday I cooled the crock pot to the point of being able to handle things without getting burned. Then, I deboned the whole thing. It was super easy after cooking that long. This left me with at least 4 lb of pure, mainly dark, chicken, which I placed back in the crock pot. Then I diced up a couple onions and a good portion of winter melon. I also added about 4 cups of chopped green tomatoes. Our daughter who lives on the property with us often joins us for meals, so I refrained from adding any chili peppers. She's actually allergic to capsaisin. Instead I seasoned this dish with seasoned salt, curry and black pepper.
As an aside: this is the curry powder I used.
Hard to believe, but I actually purchased it back in 1976 or 1977, when I first had my driver's permit. Didn't know what to do with curry at the time and dabbled with it a bit over the years, without really having any sort of a "light bulb moment." I just didn't hit it off with curry for a while. In part this was probably because I didn't really focus on it. Also, in my early years, I tended to overdo it with black pepper and chili pepper. Anyway, I've always said I was a slow learner
. It took until I was in my 60s to happen upon the wonders of curry. I began to use a tablespoon of curry to a crockpot of stew or soup, finding that it imparted an amazing flavor. I took this picture because I finally used up my jar. Now I will have to look for more!
Here's a picture of the mix when I first added the onions and winter melon.
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I've learned that one can add so much cubed winter melon that it looks like overdoing it, and it will turn out perfect. It cooks down, giving the stew a wonderful texture. It's really hard to describe. In and of itself, it's kind of tasteless but mixed into a stew or soup, it's really good.
I set this back on low and left it for several hours. Then, at bed time I added about 2 cups of macaroni elbows. I never added more than a cup of water in the entire process and, apparently the winter melon provided the necessary moisture for the macaroni.
By this morning the whole pot was beautifully done. I tasted it and had to resist the temptation to have this for breakfast AND lunch!
Instead, I served up enough for our lunches, adding a healthy shake of Flat Iron Pepper Flakes to my own, I vacuum sealed and froze more, so that we can have it later. Over all, this whole process left me feeling rich. You can't get food as good as this in any restaurant!
Anyone else have experience using winter melon?
I don't know just what to call this dish, It looks like a stew but perhaps a bit thicker.
Homegrown ingredients used: the chicken, onions, green tomatoes, winter melon. I should have added garlic but forgot, and well, it tasted so good I'd be afraid of overdoing it by adding anything else.
Saturday I decided to butcher one of our old roosters. I'm pretty sure he was two or three years old. We have a bunch of youngsters running around and I need to butcher some of them too, but the older birds, well, they're special. They need to be cooked low and slow, and, they produce the most flavorful meals of old when properly cooked. I placed the carcass in our crock pot Saturday evening and set it on low with only, perhaps a half a cup of water added. I let it cook all night and much of Sunday.
After lunch on Sunday I cooled the crock pot to the point of being able to handle things without getting burned. Then, I deboned the whole thing. It was super easy after cooking that long. This left me with at least 4 lb of pure, mainly dark, chicken, which I placed back in the crock pot. Then I diced up a couple onions and a good portion of winter melon. I also added about 4 cups of chopped green tomatoes. Our daughter who lives on the property with us often joins us for meals, so I refrained from adding any chili peppers. She's actually allergic to capsaisin. Instead I seasoned this dish with seasoned salt, curry and black pepper.
As an aside: this is the curry powder I used.
Hard to believe, but I actually purchased it back in 1976 or 1977, when I first had my driver's permit. Didn't know what to do with curry at the time and dabbled with it a bit over the years, without really having any sort of a "light bulb moment." I just didn't hit it off with curry for a while. In part this was probably because I didn't really focus on it. Also, in my early years, I tended to overdo it with black pepper and chili pepper. Anyway, I've always said I was a slow learner
. It took until I was in my 60s to happen upon the wonders of curry. I began to use a tablespoon of curry to a crockpot of stew or soup, finding that it imparted an amazing flavor. I took this picture because I finally used up my jar. Now I will have to look for more!Here's a picture of the mix when I first added the onions and winter melon.
[/urlI've learned that one can add so much cubed winter melon that it looks like overdoing it, and it will turn out perfect. It cooks down, giving the stew a wonderful texture. It's really hard to describe. In and of itself, it's kind of tasteless but mixed into a stew or soup, it's really good.
I set this back on low and left it for several hours. Then, at bed time I added about 2 cups of macaroni elbows. I never added more than a cup of water in the entire process and, apparently the winter melon provided the necessary moisture for the macaroni.
By this morning the whole pot was beautifully done. I tasted it and had to resist the temptation to have this for breakfast AND lunch!
Instead, I served up enough for our lunches, adding a healthy shake of Flat Iron Pepper Flakes to my own, I vacuum sealed and froze more, so that we can have it later. Over all, this whole process left me feeling rich. You can't get food as good as this in any restaurant!
Anyone else have experience using winter melon?
I don't know just what to call this dish, It looks like a stew but perhaps a bit thicker.
Homegrown ingredients used: the chicken, onions, green tomatoes, winter melon. I should have added garlic but forgot, and well, it tasted so good I'd be afraid of overdoing it by adding anything else.
