I hope you like this post. It may be the last thing I ever type.
Well, you probably won't get that lucky. :)
Yesterday I made a late, but great, soup. It was like my Garden Stew, only with hamburger instead of stew meat, cabbage instead of corn or beans. It was delicious. I dug the last of the carrots to put in it, some red potatoes from my garden plot, just divine. I made a lot. I filled my 16-quart stockpot for the occasion.
As is my habit sometimes, instead of refrigerating it (it had a lot of heat within), I covered it and left it on the stove. Sometimes I keep it at a simmer, but sometimes I just count on the earlier boiling to take care of it. I didn't simmer it, but knew I'd be serving it up again today, so I wasn't worried about it.
In the midst of baking pumpkin and cookies, I got a bit delayed, so didn't turn the heat back on until later in the afternoon. It simmered up nicely and I dished it out to the girls and myself, as Hubby had been called on an off-season service call this morning, and the quick fix turned into an 11-hour day. At my first bite, I was a bit perplexed. It tasted... vinegary. I cocked my head to recollect Hubby's comment the night before; "put some vinegar in it. It's good that way." Had he been so bold as to season the whole pot? I didn't think I much cared for it, if he had. I tried calling him on his cell phone, but he didn't answer. The girls weren't too thrilled with today's flavor either, but there were cookies to be had if they finished their dinner. I commiserated with them and we pondered if Daddy had abused our meal.
After the girls were finished (and I mostly), Hubby managed to call and say he was headed home. I told him I had a very, very important question to ask, and did he happen to add vinegar to the soup this morning?
He had not.
*gulp*
He'd had some in his thermos for lunch, but said it tasted fine. He did add vinegar to his thermos, though. Then he recalled the difficulty he'd had in opening the thermos, and that it had been under considerable pressure when the seal finally released.
*gulp*
He feels fine, though, and figures we'll be okay as well. This really shouldn't be too much to handle; we brew kombucha and kefir and yogurt and all sorts of bacterially-enhanced things. Why should hamburger soup be any different? *gulp*
6 comments:
Oh dear. I actually do this a lot. A lot more than I should admit to. Never overnight, but often I'll cook up something in the morning and then forget to put it away or simmer it until dinner time, or later, or I'll forget to put away something after dinner and it will sit there for several hours. Or until my husband wakes up to go to work and notices it. Not a huge deal, but when humidity is high...yikes. We've had a few close calls, but needless to say, we've been ok. So far. :) I think you'll be all right.
I might be kind of dumb, but I don't understand why the fact the thermos was pressurized would mean something. Physics wasn't my favorite class and I skipped Home Ec altogether. :)
Annie, I actually am well-versed in the whole food-handler's stuff too. But, being so weird now and into all the lacto-fermented stuff, I'm realizing our germophobic (understandable, in restaurants and such!) lifestyle is overkill.
The pressure was due to the 'fermentation' of the product. Ahem.
When Hubby returned, he said that in some places (poland?) they'll cook up a pot of whatnot, then sit it on their back porch (in all weather) and let it 'rot'. Especially cabbagey stuff. :)
Eep! I hope you don't die ;)
Gross.
Still, rotten meat is so foul you couldn't possibly have mistaken it for edible. So I'm guessing it pickled/lacto-fermented instead. Perhaps because you have so many other lacto-fermented foods around, and the good bugs are in your kitchen environment more than they are in the general environment?
Do keep us posted though!
Whew, I am with ya girl! It must be Weird Meat Week. I thawed out some "gift" venison the other day and went to browning it all up. It was a LOT, but I knew I needed to at least cook it all and then freeze leftovers if need-be. The boys and I dug in, and noticed that the meat was very, very spicy. I am not sure if it was the spices or the actual meat, but pretty soon we were all running for the bathroom. Ick. Daddy is the only one who hasn't had his stomach reject the deer meat yet. So, it's all his now!
Rachel, so far my sore throat has returned and brought with it some congestion. But no grim reaper knocking.
Merl, no, though there was hamburger in it, it had been well cooked (as had the entire stew). It must've been a 'pickling' of sorts, though one I won't repeat if I can help it. Hubby hasn't minded it, however, and enjoyed some for dinner tonight even. Ya never know...
MamaJ, that is very weird! Some 'sausage caliente' that was mismarked, perhaps? Maybe it'll induce labor... :)
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