Scraping carrots

[Addie]

I always ate celery right from the garden when it first broke through the dirt. Wash it off with the hose.

Peppers? I can't ever recall finding strings on peppers. No mater what color they are.

 

[GotGarlic]

I always ate celery right from the garden when it first broke through the dirt. Wash it off with the hose.

Peppers? I can't ever recall finding strings on peppers. No mater what color they are.

I wasn't saying they have strings. Just that the skins aren't digestible. They're mostly cellulose, which the human body does not break down.

 

[Caslon]

I'm not sure, but don't people peel celery because the outter fibers have a stronger "celery taste"? I can't think of the proper term. Bitter? Less sweet? More acrid? Harder to chew, more fibrous, stringy..etc. etc. etc. ?

 

[msmofet]

No need to peel baby carrots. Bigger carrots I do. My 1950's potato peeler I inherited still does fine, for celery too. Hehe, it hasn't dulled after all these years.

I used to have that exact peeler for my potatoes. But since arthritis I replaced it with the OXO version with a nice wide handle.



I also have an OXO for carrots/other veggies (the straight one just seems easier for straight veggies).

 

[Caslon]

As kids, we would go into the house garden, yank a carrot, small celery growing, or any other veggie we fancied at the moment, wash it off with the hose, and eat it. Then get back to playing. I wasn't until I started to help my mother in the kitchen and watched her peel all the veggies that I learned to do the same.

Every 3 year old kid with a craving for a mud pie was protecting our species. Dirt...it does our species good. That was then, tho.

 

[GA Home Cook]

yes I peel. On celery the bigger stalks have some "sinew" type strings that I just grab with the edge of my paring knife and strip off. They are tough to me.

 

[larry_stewart]

MY grandmother used to peel mushrooms before putting them in her soup. What a pain in the butt that must have been.

 

[dragnlaw]

MY grandmother used to peel mushrooms before putting them in her soup. What a pain in the butt that must have been.

too funny you should mention that... I was just thinking how I get a funny look on my face as in "WIT" everytime I read about someone 'peeling' mushrooms!

 

[Caslon]

hehehe...peeling mushrooms.

 

[Addie]

I wasn't saying they have strings. Just that the skins aren't digestible. They're mostly cellulose, which the human body does not break down.

My apology. I misread what you meant. As a child, I ate them raw. Now, I don't even look at them in the store. Not even if they are on sale. My system does not like peppers in any manner.

 

[Addie]

MY grandmother used to peel mushrooms before putting them in her soup. What a pain in the butt that must have been.

I was watching some TV chef and he peeled his button mushrooms. So the next time I had them and was going to put them in an omelet. I managed to peel two and then proceeded to dice them after I had rinsed all of them. You lose too much of the mushroom. You're right Larry. It is a big pan in the butt!!!

 

[Andy M.]

MY grandmother used to peel mushrooms before putting them in her soup. What a pain in the butt that must have been.

Back in the 70's when I was newly married, my then wife heard me praising my sister's marinated mushrooms. DW found a recipe somewhere and decided to surprise me with marinated mushrooms! She said she was disappointed in the flavor and they were very hard to make. She spent hours peeling the mushrooms and all the rest of the prep. They were good but different.

Later, while visiting my sister and BIL, she related to sis how difficult the process and asked how she found the time. Sis laughed and said, "Oh, I just open some cans of mushrooms and mix them with Italian salad dressing and garlic." DW never made her recipe again.

And that's my 'peeling mushrooms' story.

 

[Caslon]

And that's my 'peeling mushrooms' story.

"Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1958 movie), they peeled giant mushrooms to make new soles.

 

[Andy M.]

"Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1958 movie), they peeled giant mushrooms to make new soles.

So you're saying mushrooms are sole food?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I'm not sure, but don't people peel celery because the outter fibers have a stronger "celery taste"? I can't think of the proper term. Bitter? Less sweet? More acrid? Harder to chew, more fibrous, stringy..etc. etc. etc. ?

My Dad taught me a celery buying trick when I was a kid. Do not buy the dark green stalks. They will be the tougher, more bitter celery. Instead, look for a stalk with the lightest outside ribs. The darker the color, the stronger the taste and texture.

Celery is a real pain to grown. The neighbor behind our first house had a nice size garden for a busy guy with a family and a 1/4 acre lot. He grew celery twice. I wasn't sure which he considered the bigger pain: carefully tying paper bag paper around each stalk to keep the sun off of it, or the grubs that crawled down the stalk and nibbled the ribs. The celery he gave us those two summers was tender and sweet, but you had to watch out for the extra protein. I didn't mind dirt, but I don't want to eat bugs.

My Grandma always said you had to eat a bushel of dirt before you died. Kids these days are gonna live forever - and with some of the kids I've seen, I'm not sure that's a good thing.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

MY grandmother used to peel mushrooms before putting them in her soup. What a pain in the butt that must have been.

I will admit to peeling mushrooms, but only when they are so old my choice is peel or toss. If you know how to do it, it isn't much bother at all. I'd rather rescue a sad mushroom and saute it up rather than pitch it because the skin was getting "yuck".

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Rinse, repeat...then chop and saute. Freeze the mushroom if needed, no need to peel.

 

[Sagittarius]

Celery: Why do I peel for salads ?

Curious. Why do you peel for a salad? I mince celery for salads. I've never noticed a problem with the outer layers.



This is not true for all fruits and vegetables. The skins of bell peppers, for example, are not digestible, so no nutrients from them are absorbed by the body. There are lots of nutrients in the meat of the fruits, though.

Got Garlic,

My grandmothers and mom always peeled celery for salads but never for a cruditie ( washed and scrubbed ) of little stalks for dipping ..

Bell Peppers: As a norm, I do not use red bell or green bell in salads, except for a Greek Salad or Stuffed Bell Peppers.

I usually use as an ingredient in Gazpacho, French Gaspacho, and in Sofrito, the base of all Mediterranean stews and rices. I had forgotten to mention Bell Peppers, however, I slice extremely thin and then mince for recipes calling for them. I also employ Basque "Piquillo" tiny sweet red peppers and usually purchase " italian Style Peppers " which are shaped like a horn, which I prefer to Bell ..

 

[larry_stewart]

I will admit to peeling mushrooms, but only when they are so old my choice is peel or toss. If you know how to do it, it isn't much bother at all. I'd rather rescue a sad mushroom and saute it up rather than pitch it because the skin was getting "yuck".

I get it if its done to salvage and aging mushroom, just like anything else, cutting out the bad parts to keep whats good.

My grandmother was in her 80's and had bad arthritis in her hands. The effort it must have taken her to prepare the mushrooms was unimaginable. I loved her soup, and appreciated the effort she went through to make it. Luckily, I was able to get the recipe from her before she passed. To this day, i make it just as she did ( with the exception of not peeling the shrooms )

Im guessing it must have been the way her mother taught her, cause she lived during the depression, and didn't have much, so I was a little surprised that she would not make use of the whole shrooms by peeling away the outer portion.

 

[GotGarlic]

Bell Peppers: As a norm, I do not use red bell or green bell in salads, except for a Greek Salad or Stuffed Bell Peppers.

I usually use as an ingredient in Gazpacho, French Gaspacho, and in Sofrito, the base of all Mediterranean stews and rices. I had forgotten to mention Bell Peppers, however, I slice extremely thin and then mince for recipes calling for them. I also employ Basque "Piquillo" tiny sweet red peppers and usually purchase " italian Style Peppers " which are shaped like a horn, which I prefer to Bell ..

Okay. My point is that it isn't always true that most of the nutrients of vegetables is in the skin. Bell peppers are just one example of that.