Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Bluesummers]

As for the rest, I have no idea why you're making such a fuss about this.

Sorry, it's not meant so much as a fuss, but more of a "why overcomplicate things" kind of rant. It just enhumors me.

[Pilchard123]

Wot, no butter?

I thought your name was Paul, not Chad...

[LTK]

As for the rest, I have no idea why you're making such a fuss about this.

Sorry, it's not meant so much as a fuss, but more of a "why overcomplicate things" kind of rant. It just enhumors me.

If adding two ingredients to the dish counts as overcomplicating things then you've obviously never made bechamel sauce.

[Lines]

You know what, if LTK found a way to make eggs taste better, then hey, that's cool. Some people don't want boring eggs! Granted I kind of hate eggs and will only eat them scrambled or fried and 90% of the time on a sandwich with bacon. (Heck yeah BLTEs and bacon, egg, and cheese sammiches.)

[Redball]

I need to practice my egg prep. I haven't quite gotten the proper timing for boiling, or for scrambling. OK, don't laugh. Whatever you're thinking, don't laugh.

[LTK]

I don't have one of those egg-puncture thingies that are supposed to keep the egg from cracking in the pan when you boil it, so instead I fill a pan with warm water, put the eggs in, put it on the fire and leave it for fifteen minutes. That gets you a hard-boiled egg that doesn't crack.

Apparently the rapid temperature change that happens when you dunk eggs in boiling water makes the interior expand so quickly that the shell cracks, so you get strands of egg white leaking out. Puncturing the bottom lets the pressure equate more easily. But if you put in the eggs before the water's boiling, the pressure change isn't as rapid, so no cracking. And you don't have to wait for the water to boil, so win-win.

[Papersatan]

Those egg punch things are not standard kitchen equipment in the US.  The first time someone told me they couldn't make boiled eggs because they didn't have a punch I had no clue what the meant.  The standard way here is just starting from cold water.   

I have a pasta salad I make in the summer which calls for hard boiled eggs and I always gook the eggs and the pasta int he same pot at the same time.  The eggs always come out perfect, so now I replicate that when I just make eggs.

Eggs in plenty of water, bring to a boil, when it boils throw in a mug of cold water so that it stops boiling, then cook for 9-11 more min.   The eggs are always done, but not over done and they seem to peel nicely, though I have been told the ease of peeling is mostly related to the age of the egg.

[LTK]

Yeah, I've had eggs that stick to the shell a bit after boiling when they've been in the cabinet for a long time. I've been told that rinsing them with cold water helps, due to the aforementioned expansion/contraction, but it didn't do much good for the old eggs. Regardless, I always peel them submerged in cold water, I burn my fingers otherwise.

But why the mug of cold water?

[Papersatan]

When I cook them with pasta adding the pasta cools the pot down, so when I cook them without I replicate that by adding the water to cool it down.

[pwhodges]

Supper this evening: Paprika Chicken:



Three large onions sliced in thin rings, with some chopped garlic.
Fry in casserole until soft (I sweat them fatlessly, because of my diet).
Add one tablespoon of paprika.
Fry for another minute.
Add three large chicken breasts, cut in chunks (browned first if you like),
one large jar of pickled grilled red peppers, drained and cut into strips,
one tin of chopped tomatoes.
Bring to boil; heat in oven at 180/350 until chicken is cooked, better at least 45 minutes, longer is good.
(4-6 helpings)

Served above with wholemeal basmati rice and locally grown purple sprouting broccoli.

[Boiled Dove]

That looks tasty!!!

When I make eggs on the weekend (never seem to have time during the week) I take whatever leftover grain, usually rice or quinoa, and any leftover onions, veggies, and saracha (salt pepper and cumin too) and heat them up in the pan first. then I add the eggs (2-3) on top of that and scramble in the pan. Finish with some cheese and enjoy.

[GarandMarine]

As stated else where tonight was the night of Pizza making deliciousness. I did a BBQ Steak n' Bacon with onion and bell peppers (and some garlic) using a Colby cheese mix, and a more traditional Pepperoni and mushroom, which had more garlic, an Italian blend of cheeses a little onion and a very disappointing sauce sadly. I used Namaste gluten free mix to do the crust and I must say I'm very satisfied with the results, of the the few Gluten Free foods I've actively enjoyed. Normally I'm of the "I don't know what gluten is, but apparently it's delicious!" school but this was pretty good, if a bit harder to work with then normal pizza dough.

[Papersatan]

You know how the longer you stir or knead a batter or dough the stretchier and tougher it gets?  That's the gluten.  As a result gluten free things tend to suffer from an 'incorrect' texture. Gluten is also why cakes and brownies and the like should not be over stirred, and why some rolled cookie doughs need to rest after you make them; to let the gluten "relax". 

[GarandMarine]

Interesting, I suppose that's why the dough mix I was using had the consistency of cake batter over the consistency of "proper" pizza dough? Hmmm... the pizza place I used to work for back in the dark ages is doing gluten free crusts as an option now, I'll have to go ask how they do it. 

[LeeC]

looks delicious!!!!!!
http://imgur.com/gallery/oHqx3ZW

[LTK]

Reese's pieces. Another strange and arcane relic from the colonies.

[LeeC]

Reese's pieces. Another strange and arcane relic from the colonies.

arcane?!

[GarandMarine]

Arcane in this context meaning delicious of course

[lepetitfromage]

My office smells like deliciousness....like warm bread....and a hint of savory seasonings, reminiscent of steak. Oh god. I need to go find out what this is. And confiscate it. Gotta check to see if...um...if it's poisonous. Yeah. That.

[Metope]

It's a rainy, cold, and generally miserable Glasgow day, as usual. I came home, had a nap, and when I woke up my flatmate had cooked an amazing lamb curry and left me a note saying I could help myself. I think I love her, this curry has cured my rainy day blues.

[Metope]

... And my other flatmate randomly brought me apple tart just now. Is it my birthday today or something? This is great!

[LTK]

The frozen banana mix posted earlier prompted me to try a banana and peanut butter sandwich.

That was pretty fuckin' delicious.

But now I've completely spoiled my appetite and I don't want to eat the spaghetti with oyster mushrooms, cream sauce and cheese that I made yesterday.

[LTK]

Hey! Hey! Isn't anybody eating anything around here?

I found a recipe for an oven dish with gnocchi di patate, spinach, bell pepper, pasta sauce and mozzarella. The supermarket didn't have any gnocchi so I used pre-cooked potato slices, since I figured another potato-based product would be a good substitute. It doesn't fit very well though, so next time I'll just use macaroni.

Has anyone else ever made anything with gnocchi? What's it like?

[pwhodges]

I just eat gnocchi with sauce, like pasta.

We had visitors last weekend, so there was a lot of cooking.  However, there was no real opportunity to take photos.  Here is the remains of a (home-grown) Rhubarb Upside-down Cake after we'd eaten the rest; it's a really delicate recipe, with lemon:



Tonight I did Chicken Sate; marinaded chicken kebabbed with pepper, and a peanut samba with soy and chilli, served with rice (sorry for crappy deblurred phone picture):

[Aimless]

So it turns out it's possible to make mayonnaise using milk and oil (and salt, lemon, pepper etc of course) and an immersion blender. Really nice. However it also turns out that extra virgin olive oil turns into a ridiculously bitter and utterly vile substance when blended in such a way. Something about polyphenols becoming exposed? I don't know, but whatever the reason I strongly recommend against blending olive oil for more than a little while.

[TheEvilDog]

I made gnocchi a couple of weeks ago. Wasn't a total success, but it wasn't a failure either. If I try it again, I'm going to go for a different method, mash the potato instead of ricing it.

Also made a homemade peppercorn sauce last night.
Sauted half an onion until translucent. Added 300ml of beef stock. Stir until boiling. Brought down to simmer for about 10 minutes. Then I added a teaspoon of dijon mustard and about 150g of half fat creme fraiche and still until the creme was melted and the sauce thickened. Finished it off with a tablespoon of twisted black pepper and stirred it through. Quite nice too.

[Welu]

(click to show/hide)

I convinced my Mammy to make an Epic Meal Time inspired meatzza. It was delicious. Don’t let the photo fool you. Except since I know what it tasted like the photo actually makes my mouth water.

[Aimless]

Made a meal based on this the other day:

http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/sous-vide-salmon-in-the-kitchen-sink/

Served the salmon with some delicious zucchini pasta and a creamy cheesy mushroom sauce. I gotta tell you, it's a great way to make fish even my otherwise very particular mumsy loved it.

Got myself a spiralizer too:

http://www.amazon.com/Paderno-World-Cuisine-A4982799-Tri-Blade/dp/B0007Y9WHQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Probably the most fun thing I've gotten for the kitchen in a very long time. I'm not usually a big fan of boxy single-use tools, but it's just too much fun to be able to easily make oodles of super-long zoodles, croodles, poodles and even... appoodles...? (the last is great in crumble pie)

[Carl-E]

Your new toy reminds me of one of these;

We have one, picked up at a yard sale several years ago - the design is based on a 19th century Amish device. 

One cut through the spiral apple and into a large bowl go the slices, mixed with some cinnamon and sugar, and then into the pie shell it goes.  It cut's the apple pie-assembly time down to minutes rather than hours of coring, peeling and slicing. 

[LTK]

The supermarket smoked salmon brands are either completely tasteless or ludicrously expensive, so I bought a salmon filet instead to go with the spaghetti and fennel, and fried it in a pan.

It was heavenly. It was so tender inside it almost tasted liquid, yet that doesn't mean that it was runny. It reminded me of eating at a restaurant. I must eat that more often.

[bainidhe_dub]

What's a good thing to do with a bunch of tomatoes? I have this much tomatoes and they won't be good for very long.

[ackblom12]

Make some tomato sauce and can it?

[Aimless]

What's a good thing to do with a bunch of tomatoes? I have this much tomatoes and they won't be good for very long.

1. dry them 2. confit them 3. pickle them in vinegar with some salt, sugar, pepper, cinnamon, ginger and possibly onions (prefer green tomatoes for this) 4. make tomato leather 5. Make tomato-water and use it in delicious cocktails based on vodka, gin or good tequila 6. ratatouille

Your new toy reminds me of one of these;

Want... I shall not rest until I have one of these in my possession! I. Shall. Not. REST!

Still, the spiralizer has continued to deliver on its spiraly tangly promises, most recently in the form of butternut squash noodles. Was a bit tricky to sauté them to a good compromise between crunchy and fall-apart-mushy but it was delicious.

Over the past few weeks I've come to realise that the ziploc-bag-kitchen-sink-method is probably my all-time favourite method for making salmon. It was all right with tuna too, but salmon has yielded the best results. The fish is incredibly flavourful, soft-yet-firm, just flaky enough, has an almost creamy mouthfeel and is in every way very rewarding. I suspect these successes can to a great extent be attributed to the brining, a simple addition to the cooking process that has taken both fish and meat to a whole new dimension for this lazy shoot-from-the-hip fish-and-poultry-desiccator.

In other news, cashew butter is easy to make and can be turned into some of the best flourless cookies ever. No doubt it'll be great in many other baked foods. Easy to make and goes well with lemon and vanilla. Coconut butter wasn't as satisfying but still showed promise

[TheEvilDog]

I got some Jamie Oliver cooking knives a couple of weeks ago and I love them. They're just so freaking sharp, there's hardly any effort in cutting or chopping anything. I've even been able to slice cooked chicken breasts into wafer thin strips and not break them apart.

[Barmymoo]

I just got a last-minute cancellation place on a vegan cookery course funded by the Vegetarian Charity. They will reimburse travel costs, pay for a hotel the night before and provide breakfast on the day, and the class is six and a half hours long and totally funded by the charity. They'll be teaching us knife skills as well as a bunch of other stuff, and I'm really excited! I went to a great cooking class at the local cookery school here on Tuesday, which was £30 for two hours (pretty good value as cookery schools go) and there were a few things from that which I can't wait to make again.

Also, my first fruit and veg box delivery will arrive tomorrow morning, and I've stocked up on store cupboard ingredients from the nearby community shop which sells lentils, chickpeas, pasta, rice, ground almonds, nuts etc by the scoop at a cheaper price than the supermarkets. Living here is already incredibly good for my cooking!

[Barmymoo]

Looks like no one else loves the cooking thread but me

I just finally got round to making broccoli and potato soup with the sad-looking broccoli from my veg box last week. It's delicious! I love soup. Wish I had some crispy white bread to dip in it but I ate an entire white bloomer loaf in two days and didn't feel I could justify buying another one so soon...

[GarandMarine]

Haters are welcome. It's curry time.

Katsu Kare カツカレー


Everything you need to make a basic curry! The little bowl of shrimp is just my own personal touch. Since they're cooked already, I'll toss them in at the end!

I prepared these tiger shrimp and pork cutlets (the "katsu" part of katsu kare) before I started taking pictures. They're flowered, dipped in egg and then rolled in panko (Japanese style bread crumbs).

The meat is browned lightly, then while it's still a bit pink, you add your veggies. Turn regularly then add enough water to cover. (For a large amount like I did, about six cups is what you want)

These are the curry blocks! Just toss'em in. I did a full recipe (roughly) so I used a full box. Which is to say both curry squares. You want to break them into fours, and gently set them in the veggies and meat after the veggies are done cooking. then mix till the blocks disappear. Add a little milk and let simmer!

It's ready, are you?

One of the katsu frying away. I used cooking chopsticks for my frying and I keep finding them more and more useful in the kitchen now that I've tried it.

Two of the katsu and all of the tiger shrimp (minus two that were eaten for taste testing >.> the third katsu is in the pan, and the forth is where there next to my cooking chopsticks.

And it's ready to eat! Itadakimasu! いただきま!

[Carl-E]

Damn... I can smell it from here... 

I love panko.  We did some zucchini slices in it a little while ago. 

[bainidhe_dub]

I used my peeler/slicer/corer to make a honey crisp apple pie today! I took it to my sister's housewarming party and it was well received, but then I forgot my pie pan. My sister's new house is 70 miles away(!).

[Lines]

Ooo, how did honey crisps do in a pie?

[Pilchard123]

Do you have a more detailed recipe for that, GM? It looks good!

(What on earth is a curry block?)

[Redball]

It appears to be like a bouillon cube, a block of curry powder.

[Lupercal]

They're just so freaking sharp, there's hardly any effort in cutting or chopping anything.

Could you not just...y'know, sharpen your old knives?

Made an awesome Pad Thai last night, had no coriander though. Anybody know of a decent replacement for this particular 'erb?

[bainidhe_dub]

The honey crisps did quite well, didn't get too mushy and everybody liked it. I used Pillsbury crust and followed this recipe for the apple mix. I made her cherry peach pie last summer and it came out nice so I saved the recipe for any fresh fruit.

[Barmymoo]

Sharpening knives works to a point (haha oops, accidental pun!) but if you've got cheap crap knives to start with, it's no use. I have cheap crap knives to start with, and I'd love some proper quality ones but I'll manage for now.

[Redball]

I doubt if I've ever owned good knives. What I need even more is to sharpen the crap knives I own more often, and probably with something better than the motorized sharpener on the back of my electric can opener.

[GarandMarine]

Do you have a more detailed recipe for that, GM? It looks good!

(What on earth is a curry block?)

Curry blocks are mass produced curry sauce in convenient block format, the comparison to bullion cubes is a solid one. Check your local asian market. They should have them.

Otherwise I based my curry on this video:

Changes I made:
I made more obviously
I did cubed steak instead of thin cut beef
added shrimp
and I seasoned the meat with salt, better and garlic, and I browned it in extra virgin olive oil.

[Pilchard123]

Awesome, thanks!

[Aimless]

(preheat oven)

1. Buy chicken legs

2. Separate the skin from the meat, pull it back over the end but don't remove it completely

3. Use the back of a chef's knife (or the edge of a heavy-ass Chinese-style cleaver?) to chop through the bone just above the place where the skin attaches to it. One swift chop!

4. Separate the meat from the bone.

5. Chuck bones with attached meat scraps into a saucepan (fry a little then cook with garlic, onions, etc. Start making some stock).

6. Chuck meat into a meat-grinder or a food processor along with eg. onions, garlic, a large pepper, etc. I also threw in some pitepalt.

(optional step for those who go the meat-grinder route: fight with and yell at malfunctioning grinder for a very long time, create a mess trying to diagnose the problem, yell more, give up, punch yourself in the face upon realizing the blade wasn't in, proceed to grinding step)

7. Add yummy things to the goo, eg. soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, salt, spices, whatever you like. I also added an egg and some rolled oats.

8. Stuff the goo into the chicken skins

9. Pull together the edges, fold the excess over some of the seams if possible and seal it all up with a couple of toothpicks per satchel (or, if you're good at that, tie up neatly). Satchel? Pouch? I don't know.

10. Pat the satchels dry. Salt and pepper and, if you like, sprinkle with some nice spicy brown sugar

11. Fry in a frying pan

12. Put some thick long slices of zucchini (one per satchel) into an oiled oven-proof dish

13. Place chicken on zucchini, place dish in oven.

14. Make soup with stock (we made wild mushroom soup. A better idea might be some vichyssoise. If you like your soup cold you'll of course have to wait a while before putting the chicken into the oven).

15. Decide when chicken is done. Remove from oven, let it cool a bit, remove toothpicks.

16. Eat soup!

17. Eat chicken


Many steps but honestly not very difficult. Apart from the optional meat-grinder-fighting step it was an enjoyable and delicious experiment

[Lupercal]

So this is a dinner I made last sunday night. My parents were away, my mum can't eat red meat, so I took advantage of her absence by doing quick-fry steak and the largest Yorkshire puddings I've ever made or eaten. Look at them!