Fun Stuff > CHATTER
A Cooking Thread?
pwhodges:
I often mash potatoes with a certain amount of sweet potato and of celeriac added. Not too much, as they can make the mash go watery.
Ignominious:
I've I'm roasting or baking anything, I'll often pop boiled celeriac or sweet potato into the oven for a few minutes to dry out a bit before mashing so it comes out firmer.
TheEvilDog:
I use a potato ricer when I'm making mash, making for a far creamier end product than using the old masher. But it also depends on the variety available at the time.
Rooster potatoes - Noted for their clean looking russet coloured skins and very shallow eyes. The flesh of the potato is floury and has a deep earthy flavour. I've found they're not the best for mashing, but are best suited to roasting or as a baked potato.
Kerr's Pinks - A late maturing main crop variety which has a pink skin and creamy white flesh with a flourier texture, works well baked or steamed, but again, not very good for mashing.
Queens - An early maturing crop which stands out with its white to yellow skin and white flesh. It has excellent flavour and floury texture. Good all rounder.
Golden Wonder - like the Rooster, but its skin is more brown than the Rooster's deep red. But its more of an all rounder than the Rooster.
Maris Piper - Golden skin and creamy white flesh with a floury texture. Another good all rounder but best suited for roasting or for chips.
Cornelius:
--- Quote from: LTK on 29 Oct 2017, 16:07 ---There's a traditional Dutch dish called hutspot, which I could translate as hodgepot as it's just a hodgepodge in a pot. You basically boil carrots, onions and potatoes in the same pot until they're all tender and then you mash them together with some milk and butter. The end result has a strongly characteristic taste that none of the ingredients achieve on their own. Good with a smoked sausage and some nutmeg. I should make that again soon.
--- End quote ---
In Flanders, we do it a tad differently; first, add turnips, celery and cabbage; when everything is boiled, stew it, and leave out the milk. Add fried fresh bacon and sausage. It's better if you leave it overnight, but then, do not cover the pot, or it might sour faster than you like. Generally, I make a batch, that lasts me about a week. Good cold on bread as well.
Whatever you do, don't follow the Huysentruyt recipe - but that goes for most of his recipes.
Morituri:
So anyway, it's a really simple recipe. I'm writing six times as much here as a cookbook would but that's because I'm naturally verbose. I make these from time to time, and people like them.
Cheesy Crackers
Ingredients:
8 oz cheddar cheese (prefer sharp) ~= 250 grams
4 tbsp butter ~= 75 ml
1 cup flour ~= 250 ml
1 tsp salt ~= 7 ml
1 tsp red pepper ~= 7 ml (I use cayenne - tastes vary)
3 tbsp water ~= 50 ml (unless you use a mild cheddar or "wetter" cheese; possibly more if you use an extra-sharp)
Implements:
Food Processor
Oven
Refrigerator
Cookie sheet (ideally two)
Parchment paper
Long straight-edged knife
Kitchen scale, measuring spoons
Start with cold ingredients. Cut cheese into chunks one ounce or smaller. Cut butter into chunks one tablespoon or smaller. Put all ingredients except water into a food processor and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal.
Sprinkle water into mixture and pulse once or twice more. It'll still look like coarse meal, but now a bit stickier. Divide dough into halves; each half is about the amount that will cook as an 11x13 inch (30x32 cm) sheet. Put it in the fridge to chill for at least ten minutes, and preheat the oven to 350 f (175 c).
Spread dough out on parchment, cover with another sheet of parchment, and roll flat. It helps to start with very light pressure and gradually increase it once the meal/dough starts sticking together. Be careful to roll sheets out to even thickness, because if one edge is thinner it will burn before the other edge is done.
You may want to even up the edges by peeling the top parchment off, folding the bottom parchment (and irregular edge of dough) over, then unfolding the bottom parchment, putting the top parchment on again, and rolling it out flat again.
Finally peel off the top parchment, put the bottom parchment and dough onto a cookie pan, and bake.
It takes 10-20 minutes depending on oven and cracker dough thickness, so watch carefully. Remove them from the oven when they start to darken. If you're not at least a little bit worried that they might be burnt, then they aren't done. Slightly burnt is better than undercooked.
When they come out of the oven, remove parchment and cracker sheet from pan and cut into squares. A long knife with a straight edge that can reach all the way across the sheet is ideal. You have about one minute to cut them; after that they'll harden and break instead.
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