Grapes:plumped raisins::orange juice:orange juice from concentrate.
To make The Horse Hair Stopper, or The Sleeping Beauty.
To what end does one plump a raisin?
I believe the goal is to have a plumper raisin.
Soaking golden raisins in gin was reported to us as a cure for arthritis.
You have to eat the raisins, not just soak them.
I plump them in brandy or sherry for a garnish on a desperately inauthentic turkey curry I make with Thanksgiving leftovers. For other things, I've never really bothered, but if you wanted a soft, juicy raisin rather than a hard chewy raisin, that's how you get them.
I suppose it's a holdover from when fresh grapes weren't available year-round.
One also uses plumped raisins for baking in certain recipes. Like LB, I prefer to use booze rather than hot water.
Plumper raisins are more attractive visually and pleasanter to eat.
You can also just buy relatively plump raisins from some vendors, but they cost more $.
If you're sauteing the raisins with other, moisture-containing veggies, they'll usually plump up on their own.
(I know this is not what you're doing. But in case you're going to do it in the future and you think, gee, should I bother to plump the raisins first?)
Every raisin but one is relatively plump by some definitions.
There could be a bunch of equally unplump raisins at the bottom of the plumpness scale.
You just need a better plumpness scale in that case.
There could be an intransitive plumpness scale.
Plumping raisins with alcohol is pretty standard; with water just sounds dumb.
An intransitive plumpness scale would obviously make recipes too complicated.
I'm not sure I know of any recipes that depend on a plumper-than relation, transitive or otherwise.
2: I could not have called these names to mind for anything but it's also immediately where my mind went.
Doesn't championship of the world depend on plumping raisins, too?
Oh, I see that 2 is waaaay ahead of me there.
I plumped a raisin this very night!!
It's so so so much nicer to have rehydrated raisins. I use hot water if alcohol wouldn't match the dish; for example, tonight I used water to rehydrate some fairly dried out sultanas for couscous. (Alternatively, you could just put them in the couscous with the water, but that changes the absorption rates and I'm fussy.)
I also use hot water for my raisins for porridge, since I don't generally want something alcoholic first thing in the morning.
Basically, I'm a plumped raisin evangelist. If they're not perfectly fresh, you should be plumping them. (I really love soft, fresh, chewy raisins but once you have them open for awhile even the originally nice ones lose their moisture.) It's a much nicer eating experience.
Oh, I just read the thread. 11 is totally right. Now I want pasta with swiss chard, pine nuts, and raisins.
Mmm. Or couscous with zucchini, onions, pine nuts, and raisins.
Or anything at all without zucchini.
25: So good. I really liked this combination as well.
Raisin-filled cookies are traditional Christmas fare in my family. Now I want to try plumping the raisins with brandy.
I bet brandy, raisins, and quince would go nicely together.
Cognac-plumped raisins go with everything (contra my statement above).
Also wonderful are brandy-plumped prunes.
I do not for an instant believe that cognac-plumped raisins would go well with pozole.
Fine, fine, have it your way, contrarian.
My mom used to plump raisins when I was growing up. Especially if they were old and super dessicated.
I bet brandy, raisins, and quince would go nicely together.
You'd win that one. Since I had the necessary to hand (quince paste), I tried it. Large quantities probably not advised, though.
Plumping raisins with alcohol is pretty standard;
"I haven't got a beer belly. I've been plumping myself with alcohol."
Sometimes I'll plump raisins just because I'd rather have a warm dessert. Those times are mostly in the winter.
I plumped a raisin in Reno, just to watch it swell.
36: I think we have both winter and dessert in ways you can't understand.
There were winters, but it wasn't a winterocracy.
"I see you are an idiot, whatever else you may be. Answer me, once and for all, or I shall lose my patience. Are you human?"
Fuck, I thought JP had been spying on me talking to my children.