quote:

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Originally posted by Lyda*Rose:
Has anyone had experience in using plant based milk substitutes like rice, almond, or soy milk in cooking? Would unsweetened versions act like real milk in soups or white sauces and gravy? Thanks!

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I use unsweetened soya milk as a dairy replacement. It takes a bit more effort to get a lump free white sauce with soya milk than with normal milk and there is according to other people a distinct taste to anything made with soya milk. It's also messier when used in tea or coffee. You can always tell which mug is mine from the residue at the bottom.

Rice milk has a watery taste and I have never managed to cook with it and not have it split. It also doesn't add anything dish.

Most people I know swear by almond and cashew nut milk as their preferred substitutes and would use cashew for white sauces as it's a creamer texture.
 

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Posted by Jengie jon (# 273) on :
 
My solution to that is to blend silken tofu with soya milk with flavourings until I get the right constituency then heat.

Avocado with it makes a really rich creamy sauce.

Jengie
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
I haven't tried it yet, but I was thinking of using coconut milk as a substitute. Has anyone had any experience with this?

Moo
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
I have used soya milk successfully in pancakes and Yorkshire puddings, but they are nicer with some flavouring. The other trick is using soya cream to add creamy textures to sauces. The problem is I am usually substituting gluten free flours too, but buckwheat pancakes work.

I have also made rice pudding successfully with coconut milk. That one I like with dried fruit, such as apricots, as sweetener and cardamom pods, but the same person who can't eat wheat or dairy can't eat cardamom seeds either.

We can get hold of a butter substitute based on coconut oil that works well, avoids whey powder and doesn't have a strong taste.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
We use soy milk for virtually everything to minimise cholesterol intake. Some friends use coconut substitutes, as she is lactose intolerant and he says that they may as well use the same. The only time dairy milk is used is in making bread when the mix will be put into the machine well before the dough needs be ready to be baked. Then we use milk powder, too great a risk of liquid milk either soy or cow going sour beforehand.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
We use soy milk for virtually everything to minimise cholesterol intake. Some friends use coconut substitutes, as she is lactose intolerant and he says that they may as well use the same. The only time dairy milk is used is in making bread when the mix will be put into the machine well before the dough needs be ready to be baked. Then we use milk powder, too great a risk of liquid milk either soy or cow going sour beforehand.
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
Thanks for the replies. Sorry I didn't get back here sooner. I think I was particularly interested in making sauces and I'm pleased to hear about the nut milks. I think I'll head for Trader Joe's and get some unsweetened almond milk to try chicken a la king. And coconut milk sounds like a winner for desserts.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I need some ideas for savoury dishes for someone whose teeth aren't up to much. She managed Christmas dinner with shredded and cut up turkey, and the sausage stuffing, though not the bacon round the chipolata. The potatoes, parsnips and sprouts were OK. I have served shepherds' pie with added lentils and mushrooms (though they bothered her), and the meat filling with added tomato and mascarpone sauce the following week. This week was fish pie with haddock, which went well. She had problems with frozen peas, preferring tinned ones, as they mash down, and the fresh carrot batons didn't either.
I suspect Indian or Chinese might not be appropriate. I know she eats tinned spaghetti on toast, but that doesn't really count!

I can manage dessert recipes OK.
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Because I'm actually part piglet and part soup-dragon I'd advocate any kind of soup that takes your (or her) fancy, especially at this time of year when you want something warm and comforting. And nearly every kind of soup can be pureed without coming to much harm.

If you add some nice soft bread or rolls, it would make a very decent (and quite filling) lunch or supper.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
It seems that quiche type things are OK, which extends the repertoire a bit! (She wanted one bought after shop-shut time!) I don't think puree is quite needed yet. Though possibly the veggies can go that route. (I might try cauliflower rice.)

And I can see problems involving soup and my Dad's rugs under the table.

I used to have a story book from which I read to classes, and there was a Chinese story involving a creature called a Nunguama, which threatened to eat an old widow woman, and the shocking part of this was that Nunguamas were known to be very messy eaters. And it has come to mind, of late.

[ 17. January 2017, 21:34: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
How about a Risotto?

It's tasty and the varieties are endless.
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
Or pasta with ragu and grated Parmesan, Penny S? You could up the stewed fruit for roughage.
 

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Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :
 
This sounds like my Grandad (short of teeth and likes traditional British food).

He enjoys casseroles where the meat is tender and falling apart. They go well with mashed potato (tasty, easy to eat and soaks up juices from said casserole). On the same lines, shepherd’s/cottage pie has mash and everything else chopped up small. He also finds fish not very hard to chew.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Sounds a bit like where I was going anyway. This weekend is probably going to be meaty sauce (whether ragu or casserole or mince (though I think I won't use the veal)) under a potato gratin. Tinned veggies. Rhubarb something or other to follow. Probably layered with custard and breadcrumb crumble. (I have a lot of breadcrumbs.)

[ 18. January 2017, 13:18: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
Use short pasta - may horrify the purists, but perhaps easier for her to manage.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Oh, yes, shells and stuff.

Today, unexpected visit (possibly). Mince based. But, since I have some leftover frozen chestnut and sausage stuffing, which she liked, it will be some sort of poultry mince. (I have a Spong mincer, if the supermarket has no ready minced stuff.) Can't be beef because it needs to be slow, and there isn't enough time. The liquid will be Campbell's condensed soup. Chicken or mushroom - haven't decided. (I have long enjoyed Peg Bracken's 'I Hate to Cook' style of recipe.)
 

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Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on :
 
Quick freezing question:

I took some soft fruit out of the freezer yesterday to make a crumble, but it turns out I defrosted rather more than I meant to. Which isn't a problem, I've now got two crumbles waiting to be cooked. However, we are probably only going to want to eat one right now, so I would like to freeze the other one. My question is, should I cook them both and freeze one after it is cooked, or should I just cook the one I want to eat today, and freeze the other one uncooked and just defrost and cook when I'm ready for it?
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
I would freeze it uncooked. The baking would crisp it up when next you want to eat it. Baking it now and then freezing and reheating won't get you crispness.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I am not going to have a Spong mincer much longer. It was far too messy and the blades didn't stay where they were supposed to be.
And I didn't use soup. I found a chicken casserole mix in the cupboard and used that, as I thought it would go better with the stuffing. Cooked the meat in the mix in the microwave, them crumbled the stuffing over it, spread it with mash (because there wasn't enough gratin) and added the gratin on top.
Friend's mother praised it! And asked how I managed to do things at short notice. But she needed extra gravy. Further filing away for the food preparation for her.
Don't know if she is coming tomorrow - she's being discharged tonight. I think they are kicking her out too quickly. This is even less time than last time. Apparently, being more than a week between the two admissions flags it as no problem.
Think I might do macaroni cheese if she does come. With extra things like peas in it. And runny sauce.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Definitely macaroni cheese. She ordered it today from the hospital menu, and what she got was something like shepherd's pie. What a lot is hidden in that description!
 

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Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :
 
Minced shepherd (or sheepdog), perhaps?
 

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Posted by Aravis (# 13824) on :
 
Couscous is good - soft, quick to prepare and it sticks together more than rice, so you don't drop as much while you eat it. It makes a change from mashed potato which features very heavily in most soft diets!

Bread and butter pudding. If you cover the dish while cooking it probably won't crisp up enough to bother her (haven't tried this as I prefer it crispy). You can make a savoury version by omitting the sugar and adding grated cheese instead, and serve with soft veg of some sort.

Sweet potato and squash bake well and become soft, as long as you peel them well, add oil and keep them close together in the tin, and again covering them will help as steam will keep them soft and eliminate the crisp edges which are harder to chew.

PM me if you need any further advice as I can ask the dietitians at work - they come across this problem all the time.

Some ready meal companies do soft diet meals - it might be helpful to have a couple of those in the freezer if she's in and out of hospital at short notice.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
Cook pumpkin in the microwave, then peel and mash it. Scrub the peel first with the potato scrubber. Easier to peel, less waste and cooking it in the microwave gives a much better flavour, and it's not watery. A good base for all sorts of soft things, like minced beef, chicken, lamb, turkey or a lentil casserole.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Thanks Aravis. Turned out macaroni cheese was definitely not wanted, so I had to improvise with some tins of bolognese sauce, some instant potato and some tinned veggies. Tried cauliflower, but it didn't mash down as well as I thought it would (it was from frozen stuff).

Hadn't thought of cheesy B&B pudding - which I like myself. Would need to get white bread, but that wouldn't be a problem - I like to have some around for normal B&B pudding, Queen of Puddings and such like.

Also had to abandon Apple and Blackberry pudding because of the seeds - good thing she mentioned the problem with raspberries.

I won't go so far as getting ready meals in - I'd like to have meals for all of us, but recipe suggestions from people in the field would be welcome. No need to re-invent the wheel.

I have a suspicion that squash and its allies might not be welcome, based on a discussion over the meal about courgettes (zucchini) and marrows.

[ 21. January 2017, 19:11: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Penny S:
I have a suspicion that squash and its allies might not be welcome, based on a discussion over the meal about courgettes (zucchini) and marrows.

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Try grating zucchini finely and cooking with a bit of oil or butter. The problems with the marrow family generally are that they go watery very easily and also that they collapse into a tasteless mess.

[ 21. January 2017, 20:21: Message edited by: Gee D ]
 

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Posted by Kittyville (# 16106) on :
 
i came here to post the New Celtic Cooking recipe for butteries for Piglet and Stercus Tauri, but then realised that would be an issue with copyright. Unfortunately, I can't find it online, but I did find a Haity Biker's one on BBC Food which looks very similar (other than using lard as well as butter).
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Here we are.
 

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Posted by Stercus Tauri (# 16668) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Piglet:
Here we are.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Huia:
Rose of Sharon I think shin beef is absolutely the best meat to cook in a slow cooker. It's also one of the cheapest cuts to buy, which makes it my first choice for cooking.

Yours sounds more interesting than mine though as I am seldom organised enough to get the wine too. Can I come to dinner please?

Huia

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quote:

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Originally posted by Piglet:

If time allows, give the meat a bit of a sear first in a spot of olive oil, then de-glaze the pan with a little wine and tip into the slow-cooker with the meat and veggies - it'll give ever such a better flavour and colour.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Kittyville:
i came here to post the New Celtic Cooking recipe for butteries for Piglet and Stercus Tauri, but then realised that would be an issue with copyright. Unfortunately, I can't find it online, but I did find a Hairy Biker's one on BBC Food which looks very similar (other than using lard as well as butter).

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quote:

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Originally posted by Roseofsharon:
... I was concerned by the small amount of liquid, which didn't cover the meat & veg, so I added more stock, and the resulting gravy was disappointingly thin.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Piglet:
]You'd be surprised at how little liquid you need in a slow-cooker .

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Yes, I do get a bit confused, I know that there is no evaporation, so you need less liquid, but you are also to cover the meat & veg with the liquid, otherwise the top layer dries out. The liquid in this particular recipe was 7fl oz red wine (for the marinade) and 1/4 pt of stock, thickened with cornflour, to 750g meat and 359g shallots. It came nowhere near halfway up
Even with the extra stock there were a couple of crusty bits of meat on top at the end of the cooking time.
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
The crusty bits on the meat are my favorite parts!
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
You press a sheet of baking paper right down to cover tightly at the sides - keeps everything moist and tender, especially if you have put the meat in first and poured the vegetables and any liquid onto the top.
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Gee D:
You press a sheet of baking paper right down to cover tightly at the sides

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Thanks - will try that next time!
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I usually put the veggies in the bottom of the slow-cooker, lay the meat on top and then pour over the wine and stock so that everything gets covered.

Also, despite what the books say about not lifting the lid, I've found that a quick stir (you don't need to have the lid off for more than a few seconds) part-way through the cooking time won't do it any harm, and will help to keep it nice and moist. If you're doing bigger pieces of meat, such as lamb-shanks (which could have been made for slow-cooking), turn them over with tongs so that they stay moist and cook evenly.
 

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Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
Moving on from slow cooker winter foods to summer. It is hot down here in Sydney. One of out hottest summers and whille I generally have only myself to cook for, I take care to make proper attractive meals. Without too much to fuss about them and without much use of the oven to heat my place up.

I had some small chicken thigh fillets left. I cooked them quickly on good oil so they did not dry out. I have just had some balcony pots repotted with herbs which are thriving. I picked lemon thyme and fresh mint which I chopped finely in a bowl. Cubed a mango and added it to bowl. Some good quality chilli flakes to give it some zing. It made a wonderful salsa for the chicken and I had a colourful salad as well. Be careful with the chilli if you do not use it much. I probably put a lot more in than others would.
 

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Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :
 
The other night we had some people round our house for the purpose of our mutual spiritual edification. Someone brought a load of fruit to share including kiwis. We have four of them left. Neither my husband nor I are very keen on same; does anyone know a recipe we could hide them in to avoid them going to waste?
 

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Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
If you want to tenderise any meat, rubbing with slices of kiwifruit helps considerably. Does not impart the flavour, the enzymes tenderise the meat. Or not just rubbing but leaving sitting in glass dish would do the same.

[ 02. February 2017, 08:53: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
 

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Posted by Kittyville (# 16106) on :
 
Thanks for that reminder, Lothlorien - I knew that, but had forgotten.
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
I'm not crazy about kiwi fruit but have used it sliced in a fruit salad with other tropical fruits such as mango, banana, papaya and pineapple. I make a salad dressing with a little orange juice mixed with passionfruit pulp and a teensy splash of white balsamic vinegar. I've served this with plain vanilla ice cream a few times, to some success.

The herb and vegetable garden has survived the drought and I'm making a large jar of basil vinaigrette to store in the fridge as well as pesto with surplus basil and rocket leaves. Plenty of courgettes and ripe tomatoes, so planning vegetable lasagna and Caprese salads for the last of the summer weather.
 

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Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
That sounds interesting, Mary Louise, although I rarely have icecream in the house. Not a fan really. I wish I could say remarks about the last of the summer weather, Still getting two or three days a week around 38 ° C here, a couple more between 32-35 and the rest mostly around high 20s. Today was cooler but it mounts again till next Tuesday. I am glad for many reasons that I do not live in Moree in NW NSW. They have had more than 35 consecutive days of temps round 37.

One son lives in foothills of mountains and another in Sydney's west. Their temperatures are higher again.

[ 02. February 2017, 09:38: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
Here is a neat little idea that I have filched from the brain of Himself -

For a low calorie but tasty dressing for fresh fruit salad mix a little cinnamon powder into some yoghurt and let it stand ab it - for extra taste make a lassi with the yoghurt, cinnamon and a ripe banana - you can even add a date or two.

Yes, you are right, I am spoilt rotten - and I love it!
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
Try a passionfruit or 2 in the banana lassi - goes very well indeed and you can easily convince yourself it's healthy.
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
There's a lovely Nigella recipe for chicken marinated in yoghurt, cinnamon and lemon, then cooked with cardamom and nuts, and served with saffron rice.
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
Those Middle Eastern spices and flavours appeal to me too, Piglet. Next month we'll have ripe pomegranates and quinces, so I plan to make lamb and chicken tagines and some Iranian jewelled rice.
 

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Posted by Celtic Knotweed (# 13008) on :
 
Currently very chuffed. I modified my flapjack recipe to a mix of treacle and golden syrup instead of just golden syrup, and added pumpkin seeds. The resulting batch was strongly approved of by the rest of the office, with one person asking when I was bringing in another batch
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I tried my hand at making tomato chutney today (I used a recipe for Ballymaloe chutney from the interweb), and it doesn't look at all bad. It needs a week or two to mature, so I'm going to have to exercise patience.

[tangent]
I think Patience would be a good name for a dog; when you're taking it for a walk you'd be exercising Patience.

I'll see myself out.
[/tangent]
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I got some charcuterie at the farmers' market on Saturday, and we had some of it with the tomato chutney and home-made French bread for supper last night.

Definitely a winner, and very easy to make.

Must get myself some more Mason jars; I wonder if the supermarkets here sell "wonky" vegetables at cheap prices?
 

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Posted by Pomona (# 17175) on :
 
Barely a recipe, but tonight's supper was delicious and brought back some childhood memories. Sainsburys sells tins of soft herring roes (also called milts) as part of their Basics range. I remember my nan serving cod and herring milts in my childhood, often in a sort of thick pancake using a basic batter mix. Tonight I had them sauteed with some sliced cooked new potatoes until browned, and then served with salt and malt vinegar. Really delicious and so cheap, and I imagine they'd be really good devilled or with welsh rarebit. I seem to remember cod milts being a bit more delicate in taste and texture but the herring roes are still only mildly fishy and have a wonderful creamy texture. Waitrose sell fresh milts on their fish counters and John West do tinned soft cod roes, in addition to the Sainsburys tins.
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I have a vague memory of liking cod roe when I was very young - IIRC Mum made it into a sort of fish-cake with those bright orange breadcrumbs you used to get in a packet.

In other news, how are everyone's Easter lamb recipes?

I'm playing it safe - slivers of garlic, crushed coriander seeds and rosemary stuffed in slits all over the meat, and baking for about half-an-hour per lb.

Gratin dauphinois potatoes and carrots with orange juice and aniseed to go with it.
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
Sounds delicious, Piglet.

I wanted to make roasted cauliflower this year (something different), but this suggestion met with less than resounding enthusiasm from family and friends. So I'm doing a large shoulder of lamb with rosemary, lemon juice, anchovies and Dijon mustard, done in a slow oven for about six or seven hours. With carrots (I may try your way of doing carrots, Piglet), roast potatoes and -- minty peas, perhaps? Followed by apple crumble and custard.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I had a success with a made-up veggie thing the other day. It wouldn't have been a success if the supposed veggie had turned up, because it turns out he is vegan.

However, some wholemeal breadcrumbs, and chopped onion (from out of a tin, I am afraid) and a jar of tomato and ricotta sauce from a discount store I happened to have by me. The mixture layered in a dish with a custard of egg, milk and cheese and topped with grated cheese before baking.

It was praised by my difficult guest!

It also works cold with salad cream. But I have odd tastes.
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
Penny, the wonderful American food writer Laurie Colwin who wrote Home Cooking had a chapter on what she called 'Nursery Food', to be served to crochety difficult invalids, fussy children and those in need of basic comfort eating. A savoury mush with no hidden surprises.

The Easter Sunday slow-roasted lamb with rosemary, lemon juice & anchovies was delectable and there isn't much left over, so lamb sandwiches with mustard for supper this evening. To the roast, I added quartered onions and a halved bulb of garlic after three hours, and then potatoes for the last hour and everything was caramelised (not crispy) with some oniony brown jus in the bottom of the roasting dish.
 

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Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
My son put several anchovies in the gravy he made yesterday from slow cooked leg of lamb. Along with the red wine I poure over the meat, the gravy was thick, dark in colour and rich. Delicious as my mint had died back a bit so no mint sauce freshly made. Hate commercial stuff, far too sweet.

[ 17. April 2017, 06:04: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
We had lamb leg steaks yesterday, with fresh mint sauce with the mint from the garden. I'd cut up her meat as it seemed a bit resistant when I tested it with a blade. She then swamped it with ketchup, after liking the sauce! The meat had no flavour, apparently.
 

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Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :
 
Auguste Escoffier's Provencal recipe: marinade your (boneless) roast with honey, olive oil, mustard seeds, coriander and red pepper corns (and probably a couple of other things I've forgotten). Very, very tasty.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Penny S:
We had lamb leg steaks yesterday, with fresh mint sauce with the mint from the garden. I'd cut up her meat as it seemed a bit resistant when I tested it with a blade. She then swamped it with ketchup, after liking the sauce! The meat had no flavour, apparently.

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Have you thought of something such as moussaka or lasagne? Both soft, easy to eat with no need for a knife, just spoon and fork, can taste good and also be nutritious. A green salad if she'll eat that, or some green vegetables on the side - cooked frozen peas are easy enough to eat with spoon and fork, or a pouch of the mixed vegetables now available.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
It was nearly 90 degrees on Easter Sunday here, so we had an archetypically American dinner: thick T-bone steaks on the grill. My son, a young man of hearty appetite, always approves this and my husband does all the grilling. I devoted my energies to cutting up a large head of escarole and braising it with olive oil, garlic, onions and oregano. Everything was eaten up, no leftovers.
 

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Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
Just been reading this through for ideas.

Thanks for the hint re using baking paper in the slow cooker GeeD, it could solve some difficulties.

I noticed some comments regarding kiwifruit. I don't like the original green ones, but I do like the newer golden variety. They are sweeter and smoother skinned. If they're not sufficiently ripe put them in a paper bag with an apple, the gas the apple emits ripens the fruit.

Huia
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
It means that you need little or no added liquid (any wine can be boiled down to little more than a glaze), as the juices from the meat and vegetables will keep things going well, and turn into a much more richly flavoured sauce.
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I've just discovered the joy of cooking with fiddleheads, which are being sold at a stall round the corner from where we live.

We were at a dinner party a while back where the starter was fiddlehead soup, and today I tried to recreate it, with what I think was a fair modicum of success:

Fiddlehead Soup

A little butter and olive oil
8 oz fiddleheads, trimmed and rinsed
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt, pepper and a pinch of basil
About 1½ pints chicken stock
About 6 Tbs double cream

In a casserole, heat the oil and butter over a low-medium heat, adding the veggies as they're prepared along with the garlic and seasonings.

Cover and allow to sweat for about 10 minutes, making sure it doesn't catch.

Add the stock, stir and bring up to a boil.

Turn down the heat, cover and simmer gently for about half an hour or until the veggies are soft.

Remove from the heat, and whizz with an immersion blender until smooth.

Return to the heat, stir in the cream and allow to heat through and serve with good bread and butter.
 

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Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
Is there a culinary, (as opposed to a religious) reason for using kosher salt? The recipe I'm looking at is for potato and leek soup.

Thanks

Huia
 

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Posted by Pangolin Guerre (# 18686) on :
 
Piglet: Saffron - judiciously used - also works well. Just a very little. So does fresh tarragon (not together!).

Huia - Kosher salt is not iodised.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
At least in the US, kosher salt is marketed in larger crystals. (Imagine the salt that you see on a pretzel.) So if you're sprinkling it onto something like a steak or a salad, you get a crunch when you bite a crystal. The finer regular salt dissolves faster.
If you're adding it to soup or stew I cannot imagine it makes a difference at all.
 

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Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
Thanks Brenda and Pagolin. I usually ignore the label and use whatever comes to hand for soups, this one's potato and leek. I can see it would make a difference to the 'mouth feel' for the breads and steak though.

When I was a child the only salt we had was common (non iodised) and iodised, both fine - now the variety is a bit bewildering. Mum always used iodised in her cooking because New Zealand lacks some important trace elements in the soil, including iodine.

Huia
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Thanks, PG - interesting idea, although wouldn't the combination of the yellow of the saffron and the green of the fiddleheads give a kind of weird colour?

My only contact with kosher salt (or "koshered" - AIUI the name refers to a process it goes through rather than any religious connotations) was when a friend was going through cancer treatment and had been told she could only have kosher salt, so I baked her some French sticks using it instead of ordinary salt.

As I recall, it came out just as nicely.
 

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Posted by Pangolin Guerre (# 18686) on :
 
As to the size of the grain of salt, I buy only coarse. I keep a mortar and pestle by the stove, in which I grind my coarse into fine, and leave in the mortar. This way, I always have fine salt at hand for salting pasta water, brining, adding a dash to whatever, and the 'mother box' of coarse in the cupboard. A bit of extra labour, but bespoke granularity.

That's an interesting fact about NZ's soil. In North America almost all salt was iodised (I forget now, but something to do with thyroid, goiters, etc.) I don't know why that is no longer a problem here. Where are the ship's biochemists when you need them?

[ 25. May 2017, 01:50: Message edited by: Pangolin Guerre ]
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
I use flaky Maldon sea salt which is expensive but used sparingly.

We get iodised Cerebos salt out here in South Africa and that is what was commonly used when I was a child. I am also not sure why iodised salt was thought important in southern Africa and when I next need a distraction from work deadlines I shall Google it.
 

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Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :
 
Pangolin, Mum said goitres were common here when she was a child, (and she developed one herself) which is why I use iodised. Selenium is also lacking in the soil which is why farm animals here are dosed with it. Two brazil nuts a day can make up for this (but no more as excess can lead to nasty side effects).

Huia
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
Both are available here, next to each other on the supermarket shelves. My recollection is of being told that because of the iodine deficiency in our diet (and I can't remember why we have one) we should get the iodised version. Of course that predated the availability of flaked salt grown in the Himalayan streams abounding with dolphins etc, just as mineral water is.
 

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Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :
 
No exotics available here but what is available is the low sodium stuff which we tend to use as both Himself and Herself do to tend to like well-salted food. My GP is happy with us doing this and wishes more of his patients would follow suit.
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
We usually have a box of Maldon salt in the larder (it comes from D's part of the world, so we feel that we're helping the Essex economy). We only use it for the table, where it's kept in a mortar and we can take it by the pinch.

For cooking and baking (baking bread uses quite a lot of salt) we just use bog-standard iodised salt which we buy in bulk and keep in a salt-pig beside the stove.

[ 25. May 2017, 21:12: Message edited by: Piglet ]
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
What is a salt pig?

Moo
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
There are some things for which salt is essential - eg making bread, and of course preserving citrus fruits. Otherwise we basically don't use salt, but will use ham, bacon, anchovies which add both saltiness and their own flavour to dishes.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
A salt pig.
 

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Posted by Moo (# 107) on :
 
Doesn't the salt clump in humid weather?

Moo
 

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Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gee D:
There are some things for which salt is essential - eg making bread, and of course preserving citrus fruits. Otherwise we basically don't use salt, but will use ham, bacon, anchovies which add both saltiness and their own flavour to dishes.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Moo:
Doesn't the salt clump in humid weather?

Moo

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Moo:
Doesn't the salt clump in humid weather?

Moo

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Moo:
Doesn't the salt clump in humid weather?

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gee D:
Thickening soup with flour????

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Firenze:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Gee D:
Thickening soup with flour????

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Absolutely core to potage paysanne imo: the little roux with the bacon fat and stock at the beginning is transformative.

Also, in the more refined embodiment of buerre manie it's rescued many a sauce.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
... I don't think [Worcestershire sauce] works with things like trifle!

---

Please tell me this isn't the voice of experience ...

I've never used flour to thicken soup (my soups tend to be quite thick enough of their own accord, usually by virtue of a handful or two of pulses of some sort); if they're not, I'd probably just add another potato. I use buerre manié to thicken the sauce in casseroles - or, if time is short, a slurry of cornflour mixed with a little wine or water.
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
Out here in the Cape we have maizena, cornflour, and I use that although it can flatten the taste if used with delicate flavours (parsnip soup). I find that if I dust chunks of beef or lamb in seasoned flour before browning, that helps to thicken the sauce or stock.

My standby for flavour oomph is a little sweet smoked paprika, not of course for trifle.
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
The only time I use flour is to make a roux for gumbo. (Mmmm...gumbo!) Most of my soups are made with broth from chicken or turkey carcasses, and seem to be pretty thick after throwing in all the other stuff I can find in the fridge.

Soup is the bomb! It was my secret weapon to get young Daughter-Unit to eat vegetables, since she loved soup. She had no idea that gumbo (her favorite) was full of okra, peppers and onions!
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by jedijudy:
...[soup] was my secret weapon to get young Daughter-Unit to eat vegetables ...

---

D. reckons the mark of a good restaurant is to make soup that he likes from vegetables that he doesn't.
 

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Posted by Barnabas Aus (# 15869) on :
 
As promised in All Saints, herewith the recipe for slow cooker orange and brandy marmalade. Still trialling the mandarin recipe, so will report back later

Ingredients

3 large lemons, quartered
6 large oranges quartered
1 1/2 kg of caster sugar
1/4 pint of Brandy

Instructions

Take the quartered lemons and oranges and quarter them.In 3 batches use the grater attachment on a food processor to blitz the fruit up.
Add all the blitzed fruit into the slow cooker and add the caster sugar.Give it a real good stir.
Put the slow cooker on high for 6 hours, giving it a stir every 2 hours making sure get all the sugar off the bottom off the pot.It should be quite thick, and a very dark orangey brown colour.
Switch off the slow cooker and take the pot out of the base.
Place 8 small to medium sized clean jars in the oven on 150°c/Gas 2 for 20 minutes.
Stir the Brandy into the marmalade.
Take the jars carefully out of the oven using oven gloves and place them on a baking tray.
Take a funnel and using a ladle decant the marmalade into the jars.I reused jars I’ve been keeping for preserves.Screw the tops on after half an or so once the jars have cooled down.The orange and Brandy marmalade sets on cooling.
Keep stored in a dark cupboard and eat within 3 years, but I don’t think you’ll leave it that long.Once open, keep in the fridge and use within 6 months.
 

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Posted by Clarence (# 9491) on :
 
Thank you BA, it looks very achievable. I can even use our own lemons
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
The local big-brand convenience store sells off speckled bananas at 4p each, and as i like a banana sliced into my porridge in the morning we stock up whenever they put them out. I also turn them into a variety of quick desserts, or an easy chocolate/banana cake.
This week mr Lil and I went in separately and both brought home a bagful, so now i have a banana glut as well as the usual courgette glut.
Time to try a courgette & banana cake recipe or two!
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I fished out some readymade ready-rolled shortcrust pastry from my freezer to convert leftover mince into a pie, only to find that some of it has dried into curls.
Before I throw it out for the birds, has anyone any idea of how I could use it for human consumption? It occurred to me that it is not unlike pasta, and could be used for a version of macaroni cheese or similar.
 

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Posted by wild haggis (# 15555) on :
 
Don't know if you can do anything with pastry gone into curls. Why not try coating it with grated cheese to make cheese straws?

But sounds as if it has been watching "Frozen" for too long.

I had a glut of courgettes a few years back and a neighbour gave me a recipe for a wonderful courgette chocolate cake.

I loved it and so did others.
Not my husband though - but then I think he just thought courgettes and cake didn't mix.
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
I do have a tried & tested Courgette & Chocolate cake, but the recipe ! found for courgette & banana cake gives a superior result. It will certainly be my go-to recipe whenever the supermarket's glut of over-ripe bananas coincides with my courgette glut.

the only problem with courgette cakes (and any using fresh veg or frui) is that the glut often comes during humid weather, and these cakes do not keep long in those conditions.
Luckily, we had several visitors in the next day or so after I made the courgette & banana.
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Do courgettes in cake serve the same purposes as carrots?
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
1, To get rid of gluts.
2. To add moisture to the mix.

But not.
3. To add sweetness.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
I am stuffing my courgette/marrow with last week's pork mince with apple, augmented with breadcrumbs. Not sure what to do with the excavated flesh, though.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
Correction, with chicken, and the pulp will be mixed with tomato soup. There wasn't enough pork. And not tonight as I can't stand up for long enough.

[ 07. August 2017, 17:21: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
Have acquired myself a small chest freezer, so Mr RoS has had to budge up in the garage and let me have a little more room. Two kilos of a courgette/onion/tomato stew are now freezing down, and I am compiling a list of dishes that can be made with that mix as a component part - suitably augmented with differing herbs, spices and other aromatic flavourings.
Courgette supply has slowed down, thanks to s few dull days and a nasty salty, blustery wind, but there is a chocolate courgette cake in the fridge, which we have been eating on alternate days as a dessert - I cut us a slice each, give it a turn in the microwave and top with chocolate custard I have bough half-a-dozen 4p bananas today, so will have another go at the courgette/banana cake

Mr RoS has been helping an old lady in her garden today, and has come home with a bagful of plums, and another of windfall apples. I got that freezer just in time!
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
The courgearrow will be doing two meals, being that big. The stuffing was very smooth - I hadn't needed to put breadcrumbs to bulk it out, but I think it could have done with the texture. The stick blender, which has difficulty with small quantities of veggies, just loved reducing leftover casserole to pate, almost instantly. Chicken, carrot, assorted veggies and other things, plus fresh parsley for flavour.
(My guest does not know that she has eaten peas AND lentils on the same day as having baked beans for lunch. She does not like too many pulses for fear of dire consequences in her bowels*. Or celery, or onions, or wholemeal bread. But wants a loosening medicine.)
Today it was served with carrot, swede and potato mash. Not sure what tomorrow. Butternut squash might make it a bit heavy on the squash family.

*Usually, given the quantities she eats, there would probably be enough roughage to induce looseness in a dormouse.

[ 09. August 2017, 20:08: Message edited by: Penny S ]
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
Another panful of the courgette/onion/tomato stew made this morning. I used some later, mixed with cooked leeks, herbs & garlic and topped with cheesy wholemeal crumbs as a veggie 'bake' for dinner with home-grown yellow wax-pod beans.

Yesterday's halved, stoned and open-frozen plums were bagged up and the rest cut up and put on trays for their turn to open-freeze.
I'm wondering what type of plum they are -n they are the size and colour of damsons, but do not taste like damsons. Maybe a bullace? The bullace we had in our old garden were a green variety, and didn't ripen until about October.
I also made a small batch of a piccalilli style chard-stem pickle.

This was longest I've spent in the kitchen since we moved house (admittedly I brought several years worth of preserves with me, including chutney made in 2013, and jam dating back to 2010).
Maybe my cooking mojo is returning?
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
Sounds as if the chest freezer has inspired you, Roseofsharon! I like vegetable gratins as a side dish and make them most weeks with leeks, bulb fennel or a courgette mix. I sometimes grate Parmesan with a light sprinkling of bread crumbs or Panko on top.
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
What do I do with a ridge cucumber when the person I am feeding doesn't do salad? And is off fish at the moment, so tuna (definitely barred) and tinned salmon sandwiches are out.
And I have more courgettes...
 

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Posted by Firenze (# 619) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Penny S:
What do I do with a ridge cucumber

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Penny S:
What do I do with a ridge cucumber..

---

only one?
We have had several, and would have had more, if I had remembered that everything dries out so quickly here and watered them. Luckily Mr RoS eats salad almost every day. and I love cucumber sandwiches so using up what cucumbers we did get was no problem. Had there been a glut of them then I would have made bread & butter pickle with the surplus.
You'll just have to feed your guest with what she will eat, and keep the cucumber all to yourself.
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
Our neighbor has been supplying us with veggies from her dad's garden (she doesn't like them but feels compelled to take them)...we wound up with an over-supply of zucchini, so I made blueberry zucchini bread -- simply spiced, with vanilla and a little cinnamon -- then made slightly spicier zucchini walnut muffins. The latter had no fat in them other than a half cup of Greek yogurt, but came out with the perfect texture. ( I spent half of them back to the neighbor.) I still have about a cup of shredded zucchini left that might get mixed with shredded carrot and turned into fritters.
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
Mr RoS brought home another abundance of little purple plums, cooking apples, eating apples and pears yesterday evening, so today has been spent preparing them for the freezer.
The plums had to be washed as some were a bit squishy, and there were bits of grass & twig amongst them. They are drying on trays, and those that are still OK in the morning will be halved, stoned & open-frozen,
Today I have put 2kg cooked apple, 2kg diced poached pears (ready to make chocolate ginger pear crumble come the winter) and 1kg pears in red wine into the freezer - Oh, and yesterday I had frozen another kg of the courgette.onion/tomato stew and one of a sweetpepper & onion mix.
Should have bought a bigger freezer!!
 

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Posted by Penny S (# 14768) on :
 
The cucumbers have not been as enthusiastic as the courgettes - they are not growing under the beans, which may be related to this - and are miserable wispy things - one fruit per plant, I think. I am growing them on a slanting frame of plastic trellis, as shown by Alan Titchmarsh in a magazine, but they aren't happy.
I have a Savoy cabbage, or did when I last looked - but a guest was enthusing today about a cloud of butterflies. The cabbage is under netting, but even so....
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
I lost the two outdoor cucumbers I intended to grow - maybe to slugs - but two 'spares' I bunged into a container already home to a flourishing tarragon plant have done quite well - they are even managing to continue producing after I all but killed them by forgetting to water them. They've given us enough for salads for two - although not anything like enough to make Bread & Butter pickle. Maybe next year?

I noticed quite a few Cabbage Whites fluttering around my garden today. I've tried growing Romanesco cauliflowers this year, but they are very tall and the netting is touching the topmost leaves, so are very accessible to the passing butterfly population. I expect they will be like green doilies in a short while. I love Romanesco, but its not in any of the shops around here.
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
Is it possible for two adults to polish off three pounds of mushrooms in three week Why, yes...yes it is.

Earlier this month we visited Ludington, MLi on the Lake Michigan shore.
It's a great foodie destination for many reasons, but our food discovery this time was a mushroom farm, in a nearby village, that specializes in gourmet species like shiitake, trumpet and pioppini.It turns out that this facility has a market on premises each Friday where people can buy mushrooms directly at a significant discount. So we scored two pounds of royal trumpets and a pound of pioppinis. We have enjoyed these ' shrooms in omelets,with roasts...so good.

It was also really interesting to get a look inside one of the growing buildings. The mushrooms are grown in in sealed, glassed- in rooms under special lighting. They're grown in sawdust. It was like a science fiction film, except that we didn't wind up similarly sealed in a sterile room under glass...and we came home with a big sack of mushrooms.
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
Does anyone have a favorite recipe for sangria? This is the perfect time of year to get gently sloshed on adult fruit drinks.
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
It's peach season here so I have pea he's on the mind...here is a,reasonable facsimile of a sangria we enjoyed at a,restaurant in Ludington, overlooking Lake Michigan:Sliced peaches -- white if you can get them; a bottle of Moscato, other white sparkling wine or even Riesling; 1 liter peach flavored sparkling water; 1/4 cup peach or apricot brandy.

For
PS There is a restaurant near the University of Michigan that is notorious for its high- octane sangria,gallons of which are sold on football weekends. At first glance it seems like the standard red wine and citrus-fruit recipe. But I found out that its secret ingredient is a generous glug of ultra- cheap fortified wine like those beloved of Skid Row dwellers (Mad Dog 20/20 and the like, for American Shippies.)
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 
Thanks! I'll check out the local peaches. I love sangria with an extra punch. I think I remember having some with a splash of port wine of all things. It sounds like it would be nasty but it was actually quite good.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Because you're serving the sangria on ice, or chilled, you can get away with quite a lot. Making it sweeter and more alcoholic is a good move, because the ice will dilute it.
 

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Posted by jedijudy (# 333) on :
 
Copied from "A little piece of me" because it looks really good:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Aravis:
My perfect apple crumble recipe:
Peel two Bramley apples and cut into small chunks, but don't precook it. Place in baking dish. Add a little soft dark brown sugar (1tsp is probably enough) and a little water. Sprinkle sultanas or raisins over the apple.
For the topping: approx 4oz plain flour, 2.5 - 3oz butter, 2 oz Demerara sugar, 1oz jumbo oats (if you can't get these, dry porridge oats will do), pinch of cinnamon. Spread evenly over the apples, bake for 30 mins at 190 degrees C.

This works better than standard recipes because:
- the apple isn't too sweet but has a toffee flavour. The more solid apple and the sultanas mean it's fruit, not just mush.
- the oats and Demerara make the topping crunchy and chewy

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Lothlorien:
I once knew a man who published cookbooks. He told me the ingredients in photos in such books are usually raw to preserve vibrant colours. .

---

That has been standard practice in cookbooks for many years, and isn't the only photographic 'cheat' that is used. I am surprised that it was news to you.
It's hardly fair to blame him, he would probably be out of business if his food photography wasn't up to the standard of all the other glossy food-porn for sale these days.
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
Lothlorien, that might be why the raw vegan dishes on Instagram always look so luscious. Cooked food is mostly brown and no amount of food colouring or rose-tinted lighting can do much about that.
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
My mother was an excellent cook, and there aren't too many dishes I can make that she didn't make better...but I recently discovered the joy of poaching eggs in custard cups instead of slipping the eggs directly into the water. I can't believe it took me 56 years to learn this trick, but it means many more poached eggs at our house...no more raggedy edges. (You start out by cracking each egg into a small, heat-proof, buttered custard cup; placing the cups in a pan you fill with maybe an inch and a half or two inches of water, closing the lid tightly, bringing the water to a simmer and then cooking for maybe five minutes, until the white goes opaque but the yolk is still soft.)
 

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Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :
 
You know you can buy an egg-poacher, right? Shallow pan with lid, insert containing 4 or 6 non-stick cups each ready for one egg. Looks like this.

I think something very much like this was my second cooking acquisition as a student (after the toaster). I am aware that it is possible to poach eggs "naked" but I never have.
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
In my case I was trying to think of ways to use a set of custard cups that were in an auction box lot we bought years ago, that just kept migrating from cupboard to cupboard, and somehow survived our move as other things were left behind. I'm a whim I Googled "poaching eggs in custard cups."
 

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Posted by Celtic Knotweed (# 13008) on :
 
A plea for help! We managed to get tomatillo seeds to grow this year, so 2 plants promptly took over the end of the greenhouse. Any recipes or suggestions for using the resultant fruits? Being in the UK, they aren't something that shows up in the local shops, so I have no real idea about their use.

Did have a look in the one Mexican cookbook I own - that had a grand total of 2 recipes using them!
 

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Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
CW--

Maybe they can be preserved? (Dried, canned, frozen...) I haven't cooked with them; but ISTM most foods can be preserved, and that would take some pressure off of you. There must be instructions online.

Good luck!
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 
A very quick search yields this:

https://whatscookingamerica.net/tomatillos.htm

The introductory paragraph will give you a pretty good idea about them.
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
Tomatillos make a delicious salsa verde. We canned some many years ago, and it waa one of our better cooking experiments. It included garlic, onions, jalapeños, lime, a little sugar, cilantro...one of our favorite uses for salsa verse is white chili -- chicken, chicken broth, onion, garlic, salsa verde, cumin, kalapeños, white beans. Great with a squeeze of lime, some chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
A friend has given us a rosemary plant in a pot, which is lovely, as it's the very nicest herb to put in anything that has lamb in it, and also makes a delicious flavouring for bread-sticks.

I made a batch the other day of the twisted, soft rather than crunchy type: I mixed some finely-chopped rosemary with a little olive oil in a bowl that had been rubbed with a cut garlic clove and brushed the sticks with the mixture before baking them, and they were really rather good.

I might make some actual proper rosemary-and-garlic oil and let it steep for a while, and it's great being able to snip off a twiglet or two whenever I need it.

I've kept it indoors: I hope it'll be happy enough beside a window throughout the winter (it certainly wouldn't survive outside!).
 

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Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :
 
Yes, indeed, rosemary is yet another indication that God loves us, and that She wants us to be happy.

I'm partial to a nice, grilled Lamb Chop, and sometimes brush it with crushed garlic, or at other times with some dried rosemary (depending on whether I'm appearing in Public later in the day).

The Episcopal Palace, alas, doesn't run to a garden as such, but next year (DV) I intend to grow a bit of rosemary, and a bit of mint, in pots.

Supper-time approaches - Garlic Chicken Kievs (baked in the newly-lit Episcopal Stove), a Baked Potato (lightly brushed with Olive Oil and Salt), and, if I feel like it (!), a glass of red WINE.



IJ
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
I love rosemary too. Any tips for getting it to survive the winter indoors? I have a goot- tall shrub on our patio, and we're approaching hard frost weather here. I have a glass kitchen slider door with a southern exposure where I could keep it, but I know they can be tricky to keep alive.
 

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Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :
 
I thought rosemary was a fairly hardy shrub - it seems to survive Ukland winters without too much trouble (once established), but it has to be admitted (despite what President Barking Dog thinks) that global warming may have something to do with that.

We have a couple of small bushes (about a foot high) in the garden at Our Place - on the north side, but catching the sun from east and west in early morning and late afternoon.

IJ
 

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Posted by ThunderBunk (# 15579) on :
 
Rosemary hates wet winters, or at least having cold wet feet during winter. It survives in the far east (R) because of the exceptionally good drainage, i.e. the fact that our soil consists mostly of sand.
 

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Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :
 
Well, the spot I mentioned is well-drained, so that obviously helps. Thanks for the info!

IJ
 

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Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :
 
The planter that runs along my front walk is planted with rosemary -- it loves the Arizona climate.
 

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Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
The window sill may not be the best place for it. It needs light but heat exchange through glass from hot to cold will create a draught that it probably won’t like at all. Certainly rosemary hates over watering and wet feet.
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
Lucky enough here in the southern hemisphere to have bushes of rosemary alongside lavender, sage, origanum all year round.

Minced rosemary tips are delicious topping focaccia together with a little chopped black olive and grated Parmesan or crumbled feta.
 

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Posted by Gee D (# 13815) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by MaryLouise:
Minced rosemary tips are delicious topping focaccia together with a little chopped black olive and grated Parmesan or crumbled feta.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by LutheranChik:
I love rosemary too. Any tips for getting it to survive the winter indoors? I have a goot- tall shrub on our patio, and we're approaching hard frost weather here. I have a glass kitchen slider door with a southern exposure where I could keep it, but I know they can be tricky to keep alive.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by John Holding:
... awesome rosemary hedges in Edinburgh ...

---

My sister had a pretty awesome rosemary bush in her garden just outside Edinburgh; AFAIK it was planted in the ground, and didn't need to be taken in for the winter.
 

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Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :
 
This is possibly an inheritance from British colonialsm here but here goes. It is spring here and i have been having an enormous salad with tin of tuna, cheese, cold leftovers etc for protein.I enjoy it for lunch. I bought a piece of corned silverside the other day and have just cooked it for lunches for some days. The usual treatment is into a large saucepan with a peeled onion, mine was large so I cut it in two. A few tablespoons of brown sugar and about the same volume of vinegar as there is sugar.

Cover with water, put lid on and bring to boil. Simmer gently, 30 minutes for every 500 gm. Turn heat off and leave to cool in the liquid if it is to be served cold. If serving hot with parsley sauce it can be removed and sliced.

I obviously have not used vinegar in quite a while. I had a small bottle from a winery in Southern Highlands of raspberry wine vinegar. Very expensive. Two bottles of red wine vinegar and no plain, ordinary vinegar at all. I used the red wine vinegar. Meat was different but very good. No obvious taste of red wine, but just an unusual but very good, full flavour.

Mine is now sliced and will be used over the next week or so, however long it lasts.

I have added both malt and cider vinegars to my shopping list.

[ 12. October 2017, 04:46: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
I pulled a pound roll of what E1 and I thought was ground pork, only to find that it is breakfast sausage...I still made it into a,meatloaf with shredded apple insude and bacon on top, and hope it will be tasry ( it smells very good in the oven), even though it comes perilousky close to breaking E1's rule about no breakfast foods for supper.
 

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Posted by Celtic Knotweed (# 13008) on :
 
Many thanks for tomatillo suggestions, will be trying them out as we get a chance to pick tomatillos.

LutheranChik - what's the different between breakfast sausage and any other sausages? Round here I would put the same sort of sausage in a fried breakfast as I would bake in toad-in-the-hole for dinner.
 

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Posted by Roseofsharon (# 9657) on :
 
My double oven is now only a single oven, as the smaller one has died and cannot be repaired as it is obsolete - so the slow cooker is back in use to save cooker space when we have visitors.

Younger Son & family visited last weekend and I rather fancied making a slow cooker tagine - but YS doesn't eat lamb (following a childhood trauma) so I traipsed round the butchers in the surrounding area and eventually found one that sold goat meat, as that seemed to be nearer the authentic taste than beef.

I'd never cooked goat before, so was a little anxious, but it was tender and delicious.
 

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Posted by LutheranChik (# 9826) on :
 
Celtic Knotweed: This side of the pond, breakfast sausage ( very often sold loose or in patties) tends to be heavy on the sage, with marjoram, savory, maybe rosemary, and pepper...occasionally a sweet element like maple syrup may be added. It's a much more assertive sausage than, say, a bratwurst. It's a popular stuffing/dressing ingredient, for the same reason.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
Thanksgiving is approaching in the US. I told the Washington Post about my family's recipe for sticky rice stuffing, and they published it here!
 

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Posted by Lyda*Rose (# 4544) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Thanksgiving is approaching in the US. I told the Washington Post about my family's recipe for sticky rice stuffing, and they published it here!

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Looks yummy! I copied it into my recipe file.
 

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Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :
 
For those of you who don't want to use up a Washington Post click, here's the recipe on my blog!
 

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Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :
 
Do folks here know if you can store onion bhajis once cooked?

Background: For my birthday I received a load of curry kits, included in which was a pouch full of ingredients for doing the 'perfect' bhaji - a food which I have never cooked before in my life.

With most of the curries, I was OK to cook it all up together and then freeze portion by portion (I should probably add that I live by myself and so only ever cook for one) but don't know if that'll work with a bhaji.
 

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Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :
 
According to the packs of ready made curries in the supermarkets you can freeze onion bhajis. I've done it a few times and they've been fine.
 

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Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :
 
Improvised meal chez rouge and damn tasty (essentially this came about as a result of having much leftover samosa filling):

Peel 500g of potatoes and two carrots and chop into small dice. Cook in salted boiling water until soft. Break up with a potato masher (the potatoes will break up more than the carrots) leaving a bit of texture. Add one tin of green peas.

Finely chop one yellow onion. Heat some vegetable oil. Pop one teaspoon of cumin seeds and add two teaspoons of curry and one of mild paprika. Add the onion and sweat until translucent. Mix with the other vegetables and add a bit of chopped ham.

Tip all the above in an oven dish and cover with grated cheese. Bake in oven.

Cheap, warming and very yummy.
 

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Posted by Graven Image (# 8755) on :
 
I made Pho with left over turkey from Thanksgiving. I just used regular recipe for Pho and used the turkey for stock in place of chicken. Outstanding was the response all around..
 

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Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :
 
I'm currently waiting for a chicken curry to cook. It's based on a recipe in the Leftovers chapter in the old Delia Smith books, and uses both curry powder and real spices (ginger, turmeric, cumin). I didn't have everything the recipe called for, so did a bit of substitution, (chopped small potatoes in place of a green pepper - not sure how that'll work out), but it smells quite good.

I'd better go and turn off the heat under it ...

* * *

... have now added the cream and turned off the heat; it should all meld nicely between now and tomorrow lunch-time.
 

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Posted by MaryLouise (# 18697) on :
 
Sounds tasty, Piglet. I like to make raitas of chopped tomato, onion and coriander, yoghurt with mint and naan breads on the side,together with a big dollop of Mrs Ball's Homemade Chutney.
 

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Posted by Kittyville (# 16106) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by la vie en rouge:
Improvised meal chez rouge and damn tasty. Cheap, warming and very yummy.

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