  Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 168 Registered: 06-2007 |
Information ? Anyone? Iron Ore Stew is to die for. Amaranth Lodge. Used to be on Gratiot and McDougall The Stew is touted to be an extremely potent aphrodisiac. | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 176 Registered: 06-2007 |
I will bump this up just one time, in the fleeting hope that someone can help. If you never had Iron Ore Stew, I would liken it to never having sex, or a single malt Scotch whiskey or petted a little puppy dog. I may have to archive this post and resign it to the past. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1055 Registered: 08-2007 |
OK, I never had Iron Ore Stew and never heard of the Amaranth Lodge. It's Masonic, right? which would explain my lack of knowledge. Well, I thought I was pretty happy up til now! I did find that Bob Allison published the recipe for Iron Ore Stew his Ask Your Neighbor Menu Minder Issue of March 1993, and it is also in his Cookbook number 13, and you can order it for $6.00 here: http://www.askyourneighbor.com /orderbac.htm I am going to order it as it is never too late to start living, right? | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 179 Registered: 06-2007 |
Gashekwe: Thank you for the info. I will pursue it. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1071 Registered: 08-2007 |
Here is the History page of the Order of Amaranth. http://amaranth.org/NewHistory .asp | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 180 Registered: 06-2007 |
Gashekwe: When I was a teen-ager I did not know an 'Amaranth' from a Pomegranate. Perhaps that is the delicious, astringent flavor in my Iron Ore Stew???? Thank You G. I listed the site in my "Favorites." | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1077 Registered: 08-2007 |
Well, I hope we find out, if I ever remember to mail this order to Bob Allison. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1078 Registered: 08-2007 |
Hmm, I knew that sounded familiar, here is a description of amaranth from Cookinglight.com: Amaranth (AM-ah-ranth) was a principle food of the Aztecs. It has a slightly peppery, molasses-like flavor with a faint nuttiness. The grains (or seeds) are tiny, shiny, and can be yellow and black. They're so small that they seem almost lost when served alone as a side dish. But amaranth is good as a thickener in soups because, when cooked, it has a slightly gummy texture, like okra. Try amaranth flour, along with wheat berries, in our Wheat Berry Bread. | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 182 Registered: 06-2007 |
G. I have to chuckle as I read your last post. (#1078) I can, in all honesty, say, that your above analysis of the taste of Amaranth is accurate because I can remember the esoteric flavor of it. (Esoteric meaning, "only meaningful to the enlightened few.") Or maybe I was mesmerized by the promise of the aphrodisiac charms that the STEW promised. Seriously, I appreciate your research on the subject. I do not have the acumen necessary to research things as succinctly as younger people do. This old dog just loves learning something new all the time. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1079 Registered: 08-2007 |
Well, I bet they didn't put amaranth in the stew, but we shall just have to wait and see if we get the recipe from Bob Allison. I love to look things up, and the internet makes it a lot easier than going to the library and traipsing all over for different subjects. We've ranged from recipes to Masonic history to New World nutrition here. Of course I still like the library for the in depth info and cross checking. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1189 Registered: 08-2007 |
Iron Ore Stew 3 carrots, scraped 2 potatoes, peeled 1 medium onion 2 cans tomatoes 7 cups water 1 cup tomato juice 1 teaspoon salt 1 pound ground beef 3 teaspoon pickling spices 1/2 teaspoon crushed chili peppers Grind first four ingredients to medium coarseness. Put in large pot, 4 to 6 quart size. Add water, juice and salt. Crumble in beef. Add pickling spices ad chili peppers, tied in a bag. Simmer, covered, one hour, or until carrots are tender. Stir occasionally. Serves 6-8. Dated 12/7/78 and said to taste like that served at the Amaranth Club. Pickling spices! Who would have thought? Merry Christmas, and thanks for the stories, Tponetom! (Message edited by gazhekwe on December 21, 2007) | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 187 Registered: 06-2007 |
Gazhekwe: You have made my day and delivered me to Gourmet Heaven! Hallelujah Brothers, Hallelujah Sisters! Of course there is a story regarding my passion for Iron Ore Stew and I am going to dedicate that story to you and will keep you in my prayers even though I don’t pray. (Oxymoron there I guess.) Caveat! This is a happy story,,, with a very sad ending. Another oxymoron. So here goes. The time was early December, 1944. I was in my Junior year at St. Joe’s High School. I had just turned 16 in November and was eligible to apply for a lucrative, part-time job during the two week Christmas Holiday vacation period. The United States Post Office Service was desperate to hire anyone who could remember the alphabet and had numerical skills that would enable them to recognize and make the transition of four numbers on an envelope as being consistent with the same four numbers on the address plate on a house. Of course, you had to remember the name of the street you were on as well. It was a tricky job. The reward for mastering and committing these skills was fantastic! Hold your breath now! I was paid the munificent sum of 75 cents per hour. I was given a convoluted work day schedule that ensured my never having a ‘light’ day as opposed to lugging 16 tons of advertising pap on special days. (Pap, like in Webster’s # 3 definition.) Whatever. I managed to get in forty hours of freezing my face, fingers, feet and fanny. I recall that experience as being the worst F----ing job I ever had. Freezing, that is. My mail route was near the Amaranth Buffet on Gratiot and McDougall and I would stop there for lunch. Lunch being 15 cents for a bowl of Iron Ore Stew. The counter clerk would tell us young guys that “this stew will put Iron in your Pecker.” We laughed, pretending to understand what he was saying. I would leave the Buffet with a warmth in my stomach that stayed there for the rest of the work day. Hence, my passion for the Stew. An analogy to that experience would be, never forgetting your first love affair. Pre pubescent, of course. Peggy and I had been ‘going steady’ for two months or so. I had extravagant plans to give her an expensive Christmas present. Nickel “Cokes” at the Candy Store had been straining my finances up until then. I had picked out a 16 dollar locket at the Jewelry Store. Payday came at the end of the month. 28 dollars and some change after all the deductions, which were about 2 dollars for S. S. and the “victory” withholding tax. I was giddy! Ten dollars had already been pledged to my mother. Four years before, when I was caddying, it was determined that I would pay one third of my earnings for “room and board and lunches” and that agreement was axiomatic, non-negotiable. (I wish I had that arrangement today.) That was the happy part of the story. That same evening, with my wallet loaded with greenbacks, by pal, Hal, came by with his 1936 ford and we went joyriding down Lake Shore Drive with 3 other gang members. We stopped along the way to patronize the “pop corn vendor’ who was parked on Vernier. We horsed around for a while and then went home. When I went into our house,,,,,disaster! No wallet. I raised over to Hal’s house and we searched the car. Then we drove back to the now, long gone, pop corn vendor area and we searched the grounds for half an hour. Nothing. No Locket for my beloved. No more Iron Ore Stew because I did not have the proverbial pot to,,, well, you know about that. That was the worst Christmas I ever had. Peggy did get her locket a few months later and she still has it. My last visit to the Amaranth Buffet was in 1946. I wonder if that “iron” thing the guy told a us about would work for octogenarians. Naw, just kidding. I will page you in the future and let you know how the recipe works out. I hope I will remember the taste. I do remember that all of the ingredients were diced. No large chunks of anything including the meat. Thank you, Gazhekwe. I almost forgot to mention that the warmth in my stomach must have come from the Chili Peppers! Tpone | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1200 Registered: 08-2007 |
Great story, thanks so much! I am so glad this got here in time for the holidays. We are having a tree party tomorrow and I think I will make it for the warming qualities. It seems it will feed a small army, and probably be even better the next couple of days. | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 189 Registered: 06-2007 |
Gazhekwe: I am looking forward to consummating an end to this manic craze I have for the Iron Ore Stew. I finally located the "pickling spice" (in one can) at our local Fry's Super Market which is a subsidiary of Kroger's. The ingredients of said can are as follows: Mustard Seed - Cinnamon - Ginger - Bay Leaves - Red Pepper - Caraway - Allspice - Black Pepper - Coriander - Cloves - Soybean AND Cottonseed Oil. Suggestions of usage are printed on the can as well. "Use in pickles, relishes, preserves, gravies, STEWS; for cooking pork, veal, tongue, lamb, beef, vegetables; boiled or poached fish and seafood; marinades, sauerbraten, barbecue and spaghetti sauces." (Chili Peppers are omnipresent in Tucson.) I have to wait until the Holiday frenzy is finished before I test this magic potion. In her cooking instruments, my mother had a multi-perforated metal ball about the size of a golf ball. The two hemispheres screwed together to allow spices to be inserted. A dangling chain connected the sphere to the edge of the pot to allow removal, or adding to, the spice ball. (I can’t remember the proper name of the spice ball implement.) If I do not post another word about the efficacy of all this rhetoric, you will know that I have either 'died and went to heaven' or else I have one hell of a stomach ache and can't respond. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1214 Registered: 08-2007 |
Yes, a tea ball would be perfect! I don't have one, so I cut up an old rag tee shirt and made a bag. I think they may have tea balls at the grocer in the gadget aisle, or Bed Bath and Beyond. I would be more eager to make it again if I didn't have to sew up a bag for the spices. I need to get one. We made this and it didn't kill us, so I think you will be safe. I fed some to Cambrian, and he said he would come in here and tell how he liked it. | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 190 Registered: 06-2007 |
Jan. 1, 2008. 10:20 AM. Now this is proof positive that great minds travel in the same circles. Twenty minutes ago my wife and I were talking about "tea balls." I did not know that was the proper name for it. I referred to my 'Webster's and found a picture of it. No big deal about that. Here is the eerie part of this post: Our discussion ended and I came into our bedroom to change my clothes. I noticed a 'tear' in the clean Haynes 'shorts' that I was going to wear. I decided to cut them up and use them for rags. As I was cutting, it occurred to me that I could use that soft, porous material to make a 'spice' bag. At that very moment I was waiting for my computer to boot up. I then accessed this site and found your post. I bust out laughing, thinking about your tee shirt and my shorts! When I told Peggy about it, she gave me that quizzical look that speaks volumes for whatever is on her mind. Like, "Has your senility finally overcome your common sense.?" I acquiesced. I will not use my shorts for a tea bag or a spice bag. She said she had some ‘Virgin’ cheese cloth I could use. We will see | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1222 Registered: 08-2007 |
Heh, you are supposed to use cheesecloth, not old undies, but hey, they were clean undies, right? | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 194 Registered: 06-2007 |
Gazhekwe: The jury is still out on my first attempt to follow the recipe. I was afraid there was way too much liquid prescribed, but I used it all anyway, 7 cups (56 ozs.) plus the tomatoes and the juice. After one hour of boiling/simmering, nothing was developing, so I scooped out 4 cups of the juice in addition to the evaporation of another cup or so. The pickling spices and the chili pepper did their jobs but I wound up with a strange, yet edible, hamburger/vegetable/spicy soup. I will try again, later, and just reduce the water content and get some greasy, fat hamburger for a heavier flavor. I do enjoy cooking and experimenting. My wife encourages me but keeps asking if I am keeping my Life Insurance Policies up to date. I found a tea ball at the .99 cent store. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1236 Registered: 08-2007 |
I used the amount of liquid in the recipe and it was quite soupy. Is it supposed to be really thick? It made a LOT! It was very filling, and not brothy. I had it simmering several hours. Oh, I browned the hamburger first and also sweated the onions in the hamburger drippings. I always think onions benefit from a little fat. | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 195 Registered: 06-2007 |
Gaz: It is suppose to be half way between soupy and thick. Mine boiled/simmered for 3 hours. I used a New York Strip steak (diced very small)that was tougher than hell and had no fat on it. BIG MISTAKE! In my next batch I will use fatty ground beef, 80%. to get the entire flavor of the meat and let it do the 'tango' with the spices. (No browning) Ditto the onions. I had a little over a gallon and a half before I employed my bilge pump and removed some of the liquid. I wound up with a little over four quarts of pretty good soup. I can sense the flavor that I want, being there, but it is out of proportion. I will persevere. Thanks for sharing this burden with me. I do enjoy cooking. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1240 Registered: 08-2007 |
Maybe I didn't add all the liquid. My soup pot is four quarts and it was very full. I don't have one big enough for more than four quarts. Let me think... I put in the two cans of tomatoes. It didn't say what size cans, so I used the 16 oz cans of crushed tomatoes. If you used the bigger cans, you definitely had more volume than I did. I added the tomato juice, a whole 12 oz can, so reduced the water to 6 1/2 cups. Then I might have not had room for the last cup and a half of water. The finished consistency seemed about right. I coarsely ground up the veggies in my food processor so they were in little bits. |
