On the irritable thread a sub sect of pesto recipes appeared. Toast or not to toast the pine nuts. Wild/bear garlic or rocket instead of basil. Decisions.
So what has been tickling your taste buds these last few weeks?
I made (though I say it myself) some rather tasty forced rhubarb jam.
First thing I thought when I saw wild garlic pesto – TMFTL
Have just made a batch of chocolate cornflake cakes, which are setting in the fridge. These are the ones made from melted chocolate*, butter, golden syrup and cornflakes**, but my partner remembers ones her mum made, which had cocoa and icing sugar, and remained a bit gooey.
* decent milk chocolate, not 60s retro ‘Scotbloc’, or whatever that abomination was called.
** though Rice Krispies are equally good, possibly better.
I’ve been cooking like a bastard, in fact most of my daily thoughts revolve around what I’m going to eat tonight.
Made a blinding venison mince chilli, dreamed up by a bloke who shoots his own mince. Ingredients are mostly standard (onion, garlic, cumin, ground coriander, paprika, tomato paste, beef broth(!), chorizo or bacon if you like). Can’t find the recipe now, but what makes it interesting is the chilli paste. He uses dried ancho, pasilla and guajillo, but you can choose any combination. So happens I had a stash of various exotic chillis, including ancho, chipotle and anaheim so I used them, plus a kashmiri for luck. Break up and deseed the chillis and soak in boiling water for an hour, then put in a food processor with a cup of the soaking water and – this is the killer – a cup of strong black coffee. The resulting paste is amazing – not massively hot, but really tasty, as is the chilli.
I know there are a fair few chilli heads around, if I find the recipe again I’ll post it.
Found it!
https://honest-food.net/venison-chili-recipe/
No Worcestershire Sauce? The flexible ingredient that enhances almost everything, with the possible exceptions of lemon posset and Glenlivet.
Didn’t miss it…
While we’re on the subject, is it just me or does Worcester Sauce have less taste than it used to? It’s almost as if they’re watering it down.
It’s an inferior product, as anyone from Sheffield – home of Henderson’s Relish – will be only too pleased to advise you.
As my Sheffield friends never tired of saying…I have a bottle in the cupboard as it happens, and not entirely convinced. But not actually the answer I was looking for…
With restaurants and Hawker centres (most common food source in Singapore) being only open for takeaway / delivery, we have been cooking most days and it’s now got to the point where I struggle to come up with new things to do (so this thread could be useful). Added to that my wife is vegetarian and so have the added complication of feeding two meat eating teenagers, a vegetarian and me that is happy either way…….
As such, there have been a few dishes that have become ‘standards’ that are rolled out on a regular basis…..
1) Penne pasta with Parma ham / mushrooms (originally Mary Berry I think)
– cook penne
– two packs of Parma hame snipped into small pieces – sauté in dry pan until slightly crisp
– add 250g mushrooms, quartered – saute for 2 mins or so
– add 200ml tub of creme fraiche. Allow to bubble up
– add cooked penne, 100g grated parmesan and some flat leaf parsley
– serve with salad
– vegetarian option is to put a handful of cherry tomatoes, some mushrooms, sliced garlic, a fresh chilli as any other veg I have to hand (couple of asparagus are good) in a small roasting tin with a tbsp of olive oil and grill for 5 mins (allowing the tomatoes to slightly char). Squish all together with a tbsp of rice or red wine vinegar and serve with some of the penne.
2) Soy braised Chicken thighs
– brown 8 chicken thighs in tbsp of oil in a large casserole dish. Put to one side.
– chop 1 red chilli. 3 garlic and 2.5cm ginger, bunch of spring onions sauté in pan
– mix 2 tbsp soy, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar and 2 tbsp brown sugar in bowl
– add soy mixture to garlic etc in pan . Add back in chicken (skin side down). Add one star anise and a few strips orange rind
– add 50ml water or stock, 2 tbsp of orange juice
– cover and put in oven at 170degC fan / 180degC for 40mins – turning chicken after 15 mins and taking lid off for final 10mins.
– serve with rice and green veg
– optionally can thicken sauce with cornflour (I never do this though)
– vegetarian option is to do half portion sauce / garlic / etc with 2 portobello mushrooms instead of chicken in smaller casserole and cook alongside. Add a little more liquid and no need to turn / take off lid
3) Puff Pastry Pizza (from Jamie Oliver)
– on a baking tray (30cm?) add one red onion (quarter and spilt into petals), a roughly chopped pepper, a sliced courgette and 250g cherry tomatoes. Add oregano (fresh is best but dry okay). Toss with olive oil. Roast in oven at 180degC for 50min, tossing halfway.
– take out tray, oil the sides and cover with sheet of puff pastry. Tuck in edges. Back in oven for 30 mins
– turn out onto board and sprinkle over fresh basil and a ripped up ball of mozzarella. Drizzle with thick balsamic.
– I also then cut in half and add either Parma ham or smoked salmon to one half for teenage boys, leaving vegetarian half for my wife and I.
– serve with salad.
Looks nice, but an hour and a half to make a pizza?
And old student favourite was the pitta bread pizza. Then it was a pitta bread with a smear of tomato purée, cheddar and whatever veg I had, put in the oven for ten minutes.
I had basically the same for lunch today, albeit with passata tricked out with a drop of mushroom ketchup and fresh basil, and a decent mozarella. The salad was fancier than it used to be too, with baby spinach, roasted pepper and pine nuts (which I toasted to perfection then forgot).
If I was in the office it would basically have the same stuff in a sandwich. It was just rearranged and partially cooked. Lovely lunch though, even if it was a slightly fancier version of what I was cooking 30 years or more ago.
True – but there’s only 5-10 mins hands on. The rest is just heave in the oven..
I hope that’s not a gas oven you’re heaving in.
I’m doing well with my dyslexic typing this week – first Roget Waters and now this. It must surely be due to Apple quality not being what it used to be – bring back Steve Jobs etc etc
Addendum – in both the pasta and pizza recipes, the cherry tomatoes should be halved (was doing from memory). Yellow pepper works well on the pizza – for the colour mainly.
Cheese on toast
Beans on toast
Toast
Beans
Cheese
Worcestershire Sauce also needed for cheese on toast.
⬆️ Arf.
I’ve mentioned this before but I used to work with someone who never ate. Smoked fags and drank coffee though. I had to go on a course with her one day and shared a tense train journey with her when I asked her what she liked to eat. The reply was “I quite like toast.”
I work with someone, or did, whose daily intake is as follows:
Breakfast: 1 x cappuccino
Lunch: nothing solid. Maybe black coffee.
Dinner: vegetarian option, doesn’t like spicy food. sometimes only cheese and crackers.
Unsurprisingly, there’s not an ounce of fat on him.
Where’s the prawn rocket Twang was talking about?
Google is your friend:
https://lmgtfy.com/?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jamieoliver.com%2Frecipes%2Fpasta-recipes%2Fspaghetti-with-prawns-and-rocket-spaghetti-con-gamberetti-e-rucola%2F
Think I will try this.
Changed patterns have enabled me more frequently to take advantage of the fish van that comes to our local market straight from Fleetwood of a Friday morning. It may be more expensive than supermarket fish, but it is a completely different proposition – succulent, full of flavour and good texture. Hake is my current choice. Bring the flavour out by frying first in butter, also to crisp the skin, then bake on a low heat for maybe 10 minutes. Vary as you wish; maybe a smattering of chill flakes, or capers, or pink /green peppercorns; nothing too strong – the fish should speak for itself. I will ring the changes with salmon or skate.
You can’t beat a really fresh piece of fish. Living on a small island, fish is one of our staple foods and is always very very fresh. One if my favourite meals is just a very simple steamed whole sea bass (has to have head, tail et al) – either steamed by itself for no more than 10 mins or with a touch of soy and grated ginger.
Having said that, we recently had some Tasmanian Salmon that that local supermarket had in – again steamed (in foil in the oven with lemon, olive, basil) – munch nicer than the usual Norwegian / Atlantic that we normally get.
The hot smoked salmon from the butcher in Snug is apparently to die for – and he does mail orders* (though Singapore might be pushing it).
*This post may have been created purely to point out there is a town in Tasmania called Snug.
Yes, ginger and soy is another great influence.
I’ve had a great rhubarb crop this year (hardly much to boast about I know, it’s practically a weed) and have gone to town pairing it with its great companion, ginger (powder, stem, crystallised, take your pick).
Jam, muffins, flapjack, crumble (the crumble bit made using porridge oats due to a lack of flour at the time) and some Eton mess type affair with the meringue made from the water out of a can of chickpeas (aquafaba).
Looking forward to the courgette glut later in the summer.
I tried roasting rhubarb with brown sugar a while back – that was pretty good.
Can’t beat a Shetland bannock. This demonstration was done by the GLW a few days ago and has proven very popular.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/212996366458200/permalink/244987459925757/
I was watching Rick Stein’s Mexico programme on iPlayer yesterday and he used a Gastrique (red wine vinegar and sugar, reduced) in a tomato sauce. I Googled it and it seems pretty vague on not only quantities to make it but also how much to add to, say, a couple of tins of tomatoes. Anyone used it and can offer some info?
I suppose it’s suit to taste.
I often chuck a bit of balsamic in when I’m making tomato sauce, which I suppose is a vinegar and sugar reduction.