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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Heaven: Recipe Thread - The Second Course
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HenryT
Canadian Anglican
# 3722
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sine Nomine:
If you were going to make a crabmeat, red onion, and avocado salad, what bottled dressing would you use? I’ve been using a Vidalia onion and tomato one but it’s a little sweet.
Newsman's Own balsamic dressing with herbs is quite nice, to my taste. Or just an ok balsamic and good olive oil. (Good balsamic is expensive, but I can get an "organic balsamic" for $6 a half-litre that's worth using.)
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"Perhaps an invincible attachment to the dearest rights of man may, in these refined, enlightened days, be deemed old-fashioned" P. Henry, 1788
Posts: 7231 | From: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Dec 2002
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welsh dragon
Shipmate
# 3249
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Henry Troup:
quote:
Originally posted by welsh dragon:
...gooseberries, topped and tailed,
Also, you will get gooseberry sawfly - soap and water used regularly early on will increase the yield of usable fruit.
We have these massive shield-shaped beetles that have polished off the rhubarb - and I can't work out what they are from googling. Any ideas? (should prob switch to the gardening thread for this...)
Posts: 5352 | From: ebay | Registered: Aug 2002
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rugasaw
Shipmate
# 7315
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Posted
I have just picked a bunch of sand plums and blackberries. Does anyone know anything interesting to do with them? If not jam or jelly will be made.
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Treat the earth well, It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children. -Unknown
Posts: 2716 | From: Houston | Registered: Jun 2004
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frin
Drinking coffee for Jesus
# 9
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Posted
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Freelance Monotheist:
Anyone know what I can use here in France as an equivalent to cream cheese? The stuff we do have is savoury and usually has garlic/herbs in it, so not suitable for a sweet cheescake!
Fromage blanc is a soft white cheese usually available in france. I googled to see if I could find cheesecake recipes containing it, and there are some - particularly jelly/gelatine based cheesecakes. I haven't linked to one as I haven't tried or tested it, but it looks like a plausible replacement.
'frin
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"Even the crocodile looks after her young" - Lamentations 4, remembering Erin.
Posts: 4496 | From: a library | Registered: Apr 2001
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Freelance Monotheist
Shipmate
# 8990
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Posted
Thanks 'frin!
I'd guessed fromage blanc was the closest thing to cream cheese, but wasn't totally sure it would work.
Will probably just adapt a recipe on the'net or something and I'll be sure to let you lot know how it goes.
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Denial: a very effective coping mechanism
Posts: 1239 | From: Paris, France | Registered: Jan 2005
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Beautiful Dreamer
Shipmate
# 10880
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Posted
I just made chicken soaked in balsamic vinegar and with cilantro, garlic, and oregano. It is still in the oven. I will let you know how it turns out, but the kitchen smells incredible.
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More where that came from
Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!
Posts: 6028 | From: Outside Atlanta, GA | Registered: Jan 2006
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Josephine
Orthodox Belle
# 3899
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by rugasaw:
I have just picked a bunch of sand plums and blackberries. Does anyone know anything interesting to do with them?
Oh, make a blackberry crisp! Fill a baking dish with blackberries, then mix butter and flour so they're crumbly. Add some vanilla powder to the crumbly mixture, or sprinkle a bit of vanilla extract over the blackberries. Bake until the berries are bubbly and the top is crisp. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Summer heaven!
If the sand plums are sour red plums, I think it's hard to do any better than make jelly with them. I loved my grandmother's red plum jelly on warm bran muffins, with just a bit of butter. Yum.
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I've written a book! Catherine's Pascha: A celebration of Easter in the Orthodox Church. It's a lovely book for children. Take a look!
Posts: 10273 | From: Pacific Northwest, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Beautiful Dreamer
Shipmate
# 10880
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Posted
The chicken with the spices and balsamic vinegar was really good. I suggest trying it.
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More where that came from
Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!
Posts: 6028 | From: Outside Atlanta, GA | Registered: Jan 2006
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soggy_amphibian
Shipmate
# 2487
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Posted
multi-national pizza
Ingredients:
Peshwari naan [that coconutty stuff]
Sweet + Sour sauce [value stuff is fine]
Chicken
Ham
Peppers [frozen slices work good]
Pineapple [tinned chunks work good]
Cheese [think I used just mild cheddar, but Red Leicester would do fine, as would both]
Instructions:
Might be worth heating the naan some to make it crispy. I didn't, so eating it with forks not fingers was easier.
Cover the naan [the Indian portion of the meal] with sweet and sour sauce [the Chinese portion].
Put pineapple chunks [ummm... some tropical country. Or shall we just say Hawaii?] in the sauce on the naan.
Add some of the pepper slices. The aim is to get as much of each ingredient on as possible, and more if you can.
Cook the chicken and the ham. The ham I had was in little cubes already, which was nice. The chicken we cut up while it was cooking. Cover the pizza [Italian] with chicken. Cover that with bacon.
Cut the cheese into little chunks, and cover the pizza with cheese chunks [cheddar and Red Leicester: English].
Make the oven hot, and put the pizza in the oven to make the pizza hot.
Remove the pizza when it is cooked.
Eat.
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Buffy: I don't like you hanging out with someone that... short.
Riley: Yeah, a lot of young people nowadays are experimenting with shortness.
Posts: 712 | From: Back at home | Registered: Mar 2002
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rugasaw
Shipmate
# 7315
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Posted
Decided to try out my mom's new berry juicer. It strains out all the seeds so I could not help but try to make jelly. I did save a bowl of those fresh wild blackberries to have with some cream. I can't describe the joy of eating fresh blackberries and cream.
I will have to let my mom make some wild plum jelly later. We did not pick enough of the plums to make jelly. Wish I could help her but I am in my own state now. I will just have to raid her pantry for plum jelly next time I go up there.
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Treat the earth well, It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children. -Unknown
Posts: 2716 | From: Houston | Registered: Jun 2004
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Nats
Shipmate
# 2211
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Posted
Gosh what was this doing on page 2, no one cooking at the moment?! Any way, smoothies....
I have just bought this and it is huge. Much bigger than our old one. So now I need some really good ideas for using it to justify the space it is using. Old one was used for mincing down bolognaise so the children couldn't pick out the vegetables, making hummus, bread crumbing stale bread, and liquidising soups. Anyone got some good smoothie recipes? I have some frozen fruit and some fresh (though on a vege box scheme so not much exotic fresh) and would love some ideas for those.
(The ice crusher is primarily so that it doesn't matter if I forget to defrost the chickpeas before making hummus...!!)
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life is purple
Posts: 376 | From: Swindon, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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Campbellite
Ut unum sint
# 1202
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Posted
Speaking of chickpeas, once upon a time there was a recipe for a salted snack made from chickpeas. I have browsed this entire thread and could not find it. Does anyone have a clue? Thanks.
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I upped mine. Up yours.
Suffering for Jesus since 1966.
WTFWED?
Posts: 12001 | From: between keyboard and chair | Registered: Aug 2001
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Mamacita
Lakefront liberal
# 3659
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Posted
Campbellite, I checked on the old recipe thread (I have it saved as a Word document) and searched for "chickpeas." No luck. No crunchy snacks, just some hummus-like dip and a few cooked veg recipes.
[ 12. June 2007, 22:41: Message edited by: Mamacita ]
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Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
Posts: 20761 | From: where the purple line ends | Registered: Dec 2002
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Mamacita:
Campbellite, I checked on the old recipe thread (I have it saved as a Word document) and searched for "chickpeas." No luck. No crunchy snacks, just some hummus-like dip and a few cooked veg recipes.
I wonder if you would find it if you looked under 'garbanzo'.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Mamacita
Lakefront liberal
# 3659
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Posted
Good idea, Moo. (I have a cold and my brain is all locked up.) Still no luck, though.
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Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
Posts: 20761 | From: where the purple line ends | Registered: Dec 2002
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TubaMirum
Shipmate
# 8282
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Posted
Here is my current out-of-this-world favorite seasonal snack.
Take some fresh-picked strawberries, quarter them, and sprinkle them with sugar. Take some heavy cream and whip it. Take an angel food cake.
Wait till the strawberries ooze juice. Put everything in the fridge until it is snappy cold. On a hot day, make parfaits with these ingredients and serve.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh................
(Substitute shortcake for the angel food, if you must. Go ahead!)
Posts: 4719 | From: Right Coast USA | Registered: Aug 2004
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basso
Ship’s Crypt Keeper
# 4228
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Posted
Campbellite, google for 'toasted garbanzos'.
Here's one.
Posts: 4358 | From: Bay Area, Calif | Registered: Mar 2003
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Cranmer's baggage
Ship's Opinionated Dame
# 1662
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Posted
I've discovered a great easy way to cook rhubarb. Wash rhubarb, trim stalks & cut into 1 inch lengths. Place the fruit in an ovenproof dish, and sprinkle liberally with salt. Cover with cold water, and leave to stand overnight. Drain off the brine, and rinse well. (I pour the rhubarb into a colander, and run it under the tap for a few minutes). Return rhubarb to ovenproof dish, cover, and place in a moderately slow oven (150 C) for 1.5 - 2 hours. Sweeten to taste with honey, sugar or artificial sweetener.
I love this method because the salt water draws out the bitterness from the rhubarb, and it needs much less sweetening. It also needs much less baby-sitting than stove-top cooking.
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Eschew obfuscation!
Posts: 1537 | From: the apple isle | Registered: Sep 2003
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Nats:
Anyone got some good smoothie recipes?
Tip in contents of fruit bowl... I have a dedicated juicer and the main thing is to balance out 'thick' fruit (which will form a sort of puree) with 'thin'. Thick fruits are peaches, apricots, plum, nectarines, mangoes, bananas. Thin are all the citruses, plus Asian pears and grapes. Apples, pears, cherries and strawberries are somewhere between thick and thin.
This week, I did one large honey mango to 2 clementines, one orange and two bananas and an apple. Another good thing, if you have a lot of very sweet fruit, is to toss in a segment, peel and all, of either lime or lemon.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Geneviève
Mother-Hatting Cat Lover
# 9098
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Posted
I just choose fruits in a combination I want to try, and depending on what's available. I've discovered that a judicious addition of frozen fruits is ok if those fruits are out of season.
Then I add some plain yoghurt, and sometimes a bit of honey or bottled berry juice if I want some sweetening. It's pretty much up to you.
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"Ineffable" defined: "I cannot and will not be effed with." (Courtesy of CCTooSweet in Running the Books)
Posts: 4336 | From: Eastern US | Registered: Feb 2005
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Anna B
Shipmate
# 1439
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Posted
Just made blackcurrant preserves for the first time... When I look at the little jars lined up on the pantry shelf I feel self-satisfied as a Siamese cat after an orgasm.
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Bad Christian (TM)
Posts: 3069 | From: near a lot of fish | Registered: Oct 2001
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rugasaw
Shipmate
# 7315
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Posted
Thinking of jelly is there a good way to use jelly in a savory dish. like blackberry or plum jelly and pork loin?
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Treat the earth well, It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children. -Unknown
Posts: 2716 | From: Houston | Registered: Jun 2004
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Mamacita
Lakefront liberal
# 3659
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Posted
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif) AnnaB, that's worthy of the SoF Quotes File.
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Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
Posts: 20761 | From: where the purple line ends | Registered: Dec 2002
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Anna B
Shipmate
# 1439
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Posted
Mamacita: ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
quote:
Originally posted by rugasaw:
Thinking of jelly is there a good way to use jelly in a savory dish. like blackberry or plum jelly and pork loin?
The answer to that question would be yes, only this is entirely the wrong time of year for it, rugasaw! You are not supposed to be fantasizing about these things in Texas in June, unless BBQ is involved. Sheesh! I need a cold drink just thinking about fruited pork loin...
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Bad Christian (TM)
Posts: 3069 | From: near a lot of fish | Registered: Oct 2001
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Nats
Shipmate
# 2211
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Posted
Now I have a glut of strawberries and want to make strawberry frozen yoghurt. How much sugar per lb of strawberry's anyone?? I was thinking 50/50 strawberry purée and yoghurt.
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life is purple
Posts: 376 | From: Swindon, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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Anna B
Shipmate
# 1439
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Nats:
Now I have a glut of strawberries and want to make strawberry frozen yoghurt. How much sugar per lb of strawberry's anyone?? I was thinking 50/50 strawberry purée and yoghurt.
I'd do 60% strawberries to 40% sugar, personally. The lower amount of sugar will allow the berry flavor to shine.
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Bad Christian (TM)
Posts: 3069 | From: near a lot of fish | Registered: Oct 2001
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rugasaw
Shipmate
# 7315
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Posted
Alas, I have no smoker so I must go out for brisket.
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Treat the earth well, It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children. -Unknown
Posts: 2716 | From: Houston | Registered: Jun 2004
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daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by rugasaw:
Thinking of jelly is there a good way to use jelly in a savory dish. like blackberry or plum jelly and pork loin?
Redcurrant jelly goes very nicely with venison and also with lamb.
One year I made jelly from berries from the Rowan (Mountain Ash) trees that decorate the housing estate where I live, and it went very nicely with lamb too. The trees around here have red, orange or yellow berries, but I don't remember much of a difference in the jelly colour though.
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006
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Yangtze
Shipmate
# 4965
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Posted
Gosh, I didn't know they were edible. I used to have a beautiful rowan outside my house until a van drove into it ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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Arthur & Henry Ethical Shirts for Men
organic cotton, fair trade cotton, linen
Sometimes I wonder What's for Afters?
Posts: 2022 | From: the smallest town in England | Registered: Sep 2003
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
I come, vulnerable and foolish-looking, in need of help. I'm rather embarrassed so please don't laugh at me.
Before I go into my problem for which I require diagnosis, let me explain my situation. My grandmother mothered seven children: six girls and one boy. Being very much a lady of her generation, she had certain ideas about what men do and what women do. Cooking was not on her list of "what men do". I once heard my uncle protest when she accused him of being hopeless in the kitchen because she had taught all of her daughters how to cook but not him.
Because of family history and complicated circumstances, it was my grandmother who brought me up. Having learnt a lot from having brought up seven children, she modified her ideas slightly and I am very, very garteful to her that I know how to do most things to take care of myself in and around the home. However, a man in a pinny in the kitchen is still an image with which I doubt she will ever be comfortable.
Over the past 18 months or so, for various reasons, I have had much spare time on my hands, and have decided to teach myself various things. Among them have been calligraphy (at which I am still useless), the process of copy-editing and proof-reading, and, most recently, cooking.
What has spurred me on in the last venture has been my recent exposure to the delightful goodies that my eastern European fellow-parishioners prepare whenever we have a parish bring'n'share lunch. I have acquired uite a few recipes and have managed following many of them with some considerable success. My pride and joy were the Bulgarian stuffed peppers - more paprika next time, though, I think.
However, one thing that keeps disappointing me is cake. I baked English soul cakes a few weeks back and was very pleased with the biscuit-like result, (which is actually what they're supposed to be like, I'm told). However, my pineapple upside-down cake keeps failing miserably and I would be very grateful if somebody were to offer a suggestion as to why this may be.
Here are the ingredients as they were given to me:
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk
3-4 cups flour
vanilla essence
1 tin sliced pineapples
I creamed my butter and sugar after allowing the butter to reach room temperature for a couple of hours. That all turned out nice and fluffy. I added the vanilla essence, and the my flour and eggs, and then the other ingredients. The mixture consistency was a thick fluid rather than a solid bread-type dough, if you know what I mean. In addition to the above, I added the juice from the pineapple tin for flavour (please don't tell me off for using tinned pineapple). I baked it in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 4 for about 30-40 minutes.
The first time I did it, it was fine. It turned out rather light and was very tasty. I was delighted with the result. The second time I tried it, it was nasty. A knife came out of the middle clean but the cake was extremely heavy. While it had baked all the way through, it was extremely heavy and, after I had the first slice, by the time it had cooled down it had turned rock solid. I could have sold it to a construction firm and perhaps made a fair amount of money on a new style of building block. I went meticulously over everything that I had done and it turned out that I had got confused about the conversion of the measurements (the recipe had been supplied to me with measurements in cups, which is completely foreign to me. I had looked up the conversions the first time round but the second time I did it from memory).
Anyway, satisfied that I had found the cause of my problem, I made a third attempt today. The results have been exactly the same as those of the second attempt, even though I sat down before starting and carefully worked out what these cups are in "real" measurements - (for which read "metric" - the stuff they teach you at school).
I feel really defeated and I'm sure there's something glaringly obvious that I'm doing wrong. It's just that my lack of experience in these things means that I don't know what it is. Is adding the pineapple juice what is causing the problem? Perhaps it's simply too much liquid. The recipe doesn't specify self-raising flour so I used plain. Could that be it? Also, the recipe I was given gives no indication of cooking time or temperature, so I just got it from googloing "pineapple upside-down cake" and using the directions from a different recipe from the one I have been following. Is my temperature too high/low? If so, how come it turned out fine first time round?
Any help would be very well received. Thank you so much.
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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Freelance Monotheist
Shipmate
# 8990
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Posted
Definitely use the self-raising flour & sift it too, 'cause that helps incorporate air & makes for a lighter, fluffier cake (I think? ![[Paranoid]](graemlins/paranoid.gif) ) and helps prevent lumpification (yes, it is a word, 'cause I just used it) of the mixture. And I'd advise against the use of the pineapple juice, as that probably doesn't give the cake mix the right texture.
Maybe try the online recipe you googled, as I know you're not supposed to chop and change measurements, so maybe the same applies to recipes?
Possibly completely useless information, but it's worth a try!
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Denial: a very effective coping mechanism
Posts: 1239 | From: Paris, France | Registered: Jan 2005
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Josephine
Orthodox Belle
# 3899
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Saint Bertelin:
Here are the ingredients as they were given to me:
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup milk
3-4 cups flour
vanilla essence
1 tin sliced pineapples
<snip>
The recipe doesn't specify self-raising flour so I used plain. Could that be it?
Probably so. Are you sure you didn't use self-rising flour the first time, when it came out right? A cake has to have something in it to make it rise. Usually that would be baking powder or baking soda, and neither one is in your list of ingredients.
Try it again, but use self-rising flour. I bet that will take care of it.
And if you add pineapple juice, reduce the milk, so that the total amount of liquid in the recipe is still one cup. Better still, leave out the pineapple juice entirely until you find out whether the recipe works if you use self-rising flour. If it does, then you can try making other changes.
If I remember when I get home tonight, I'll post my mother's recipe for pineapple upside down cake.
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I've written a book! Catherine's Pascha: A celebration of Easter in the Orthodox Church. It's a lovely book for children. Take a look!
Posts: 10273 | From: Pacific Northwest, USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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welsh dragon
Shipmate
# 3249
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Posted
What is an "English soul cake"?
I would have thought that "soul cakes" would probably be American!
Posts: 5352 | From: ebay | Registered: Aug 2002
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Otter
Shipmate
# 12020
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Posted
Yep, looks to me, too like it needs self-rising flour. I think pineapple upside-down cake generally has a fluid batter, rather than a dough like a bread, but I'm not positive.
I would be inclined not to substitute pineapple juice for the milk, as the fat in the milk (and the butter) will have a tenderizing effect on the cake. Instead of adding or substituting the pineapple juice in the batter, you could try pouring it over the cake once its been baked, or thicken it with a bit of cornstarch and use it as a sauce or glaze.
Here's three recipes I would trust:
This one is probably the most straightforward
And then there's this whichhas slightly more interesting ingedients
And finally, one from Alton Brown, my absolute favorite TV chef. It is, however, a departure from tradition. Still looks good, though...
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The plural of "anecdote" is not "data", YMMV, limited-time offer, IANAL, no purchase required, and the state of CA has found this substance to cause cancer in laboratory aminals
Posts: 1429 | From: Chicago, IL 'burbs | Registered: Nov 2006
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by rugasaw:
Thinking of jelly is there a good way to use jelly in a savory dish. like blackberry or plum jelly and pork loin?
Oooooh yes. I have a friend who lives in the countryside and every year generously distributes jars of apple/rowan or quince/thyme or whatever was abundant that autumn.
Whenever I do a roast of beef or lamb or venison, I decant the meat juices into a saucepan, add red wine and a good dollop of the current fruit jelly.
Or if it's a casserole - ditto. It will enrich the dish, and counteract the acidity of the wine.
For grilling, a glaze incorporating jelly is equally good.
[ 20. June 2007, 19:40: Message edited by: Firenze ]
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
Thank you, all of you!
I did sift the flour but I'll definitely try self-raising next time round. I used the same bag of flour all three times, though. Hmmm.
I'll bear in mind what you've all said about the pineapple juice as well. That may be a contributory factor.
Another friend suggested to me that I may want to separate the egg yolks from the whites, and add them separately, leaving the whites till last and whisking them before folding them in. I think it's for the same reason that you suggest sifting the flour, Freelance Monotheist.
Josephine, if would spare that recipe, I'd be very grateful. Thank you.
Thank you, Otter, for the links and tips.
I'm very grateful. This is rather humbling. I know that, unlike other cooking, baking can be a bit of an exact science, and the thing about recipes is that they often assume a foundational knowledge of terminology and methodology. There are basic things (such as using self-raising flour) which would be so obvious to most people that it may not be specified in all recipes. The result is that some numpty like me comes along, follows the recipe to the letter, and still comes out with poor results because the success of the recipe relies on the cook possessing additional knowledge that I simply don't have.
Welsh Dragon, soul cakes are a late mediaeval English tradition. Beggars would go from door to door on All Souls' Day, offering to pray for the souls of the dead of the household in exchange for food. Over time, the food became standardised as a sort of biscuit or cake, similar in flavour to a hot cross bun. There are a couple of recipes online.
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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Nats
Shipmate
# 2211
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Posted
When I make pineaple upside down offerings (I have done cake and muffins in this style) I do my sponge cake recipe which is this:
Take some eggs. 4 for a decent sized cake tin, more or less depending on your tin/muffin containers etc.
Weigh them, in their shells
This weight is then the amount of fat (I use marg) sugar (granulated is fine) and SR flour you need.
I throw it all in a mixer, but if you are doing it properly you will cream the fat and sugar then add eggs and flour (sifted, and definately SR!) I then add 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder per 2 eggs to help the raise. If it seems stodgy add a bit of milk but it's not normally required when using marg - more often when using butter.
Put pineapple and glace cherries in the bottom of the tin(s) chuck cake mix on the top, bake make custard, serve and eat.
Delicious!
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life is purple
Posts: 376 | From: Swindon, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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Mamacita
Lakefront liberal
# 3659
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by St. Bertelin:
My pride and joy were the Bulgarian stuffed peppers - more paprika next time, though, I think.
These sound yummy. Would you mind posting the recipe sometime?
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Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
Posts: 20761 | From: where the purple line ends | Registered: Dec 2002
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
Thanks, Nats. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
quote:
Originally posted by Mamacita:
quote:
Originally posted by St. Bertelin:
My pride and joy were the Bulgarian stuffed peppers - more paprika next time, though, I think.
These sound yummy. Would you mind posting the recipe sometime?
I wouldn't mind at all.
Ingredients:
- 4 peppers (I think that yellow and green work best for this recipe as red would be too sweet).
- 500g pork mince (beef may be substituted but pork is traditional)
- 100g rice (I use Basmati but others should do)
- 1 large red onion
- 1 tin of chopped plum tomatoes (or equivalent amount if using fresh rather then tinned)
- chopped parsley
- ground cinnamon
- olive oil
- salt, pepper, paprika
Method:
Boil the rice until just cooked. Do not allow to become too soft or fluffy.
Remove the seeds from the peppers by cutting a hole in the top and removing the stem, then clean any remaining in the inside. Wash.
Finely chop the onion. Heat oil in the pan (I realised mid way through this that the wok would have been better than our large frying pan for this), and fry the onions for about 2-3 minutes. Add the mince and fry for a further 5 or so minutes until the mince is cooked.
Add the rice, tomatoes (save the juice for later), and parsley, then season liberally with salt, pepper, and paprika, and a proportionally smaller amount of cinnamon to taste. Mix well. Cook for another 2 minutes and then take off the hob.
Using a spoon, tightly stuff each pepper with the mixture until full. Arrange the peppers, upright, in a casserole dish, and half fill the dish with water and the tomato juice. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and place in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 5 (which I work out to be 190°C). Uncover after a half hour and allow to cook for another 20 minutes or until the peppers are cooked and soft at the base.
Serve each pepper in a dish with a small amount of the water.
Serves 4 as part of a main meal.
Tip: The lady who gave me this recipe told me that covering the dish is the way it is traditionally done but what she has been doing only recently is placing the peppers in the over without the foil cover, and just leaving them until the water is entirely evaporated. I have tasted them done by her using this method and they were much nicer than my own - the peppers themselves were much more tender and the flavours from the pork, onion, and seasonings were more concentrated - but I just don't have the guts yet to try it myself. You may wish to.
Also, if anybody tries it and does decide to use garlic (which is what I thought was missing as I was eating it), please let me know how it works out. Thanks.
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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babybear
Bear faced and cheeky with it
# 34
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Posted
Saint Bertelin, first up, baking is something that takes practise. You wouldn't go ice skating and expect to be good at straight away. You would expect to learn the basics and improve over time. The same is true of baking, get the basics right and then practise.
I wouldn't recommend using a recipe that used cups when you intend to translate it into metric. The cup system is done by volume, metric is by weight. The possibilities for introducing error is high for a new baker. I suggest that you use metric recipes to start with and then when you are more confident in the kitchen you can start experimenting with cup recipes. (For Americans and Canadians I would recommend it the other way around. Use the measures that are common in your culture, then start playing later.)
As you rightly said, baking is more of a science than cooking. Things like oven temperature, size of the baking tin, the temperature of the eggs, etc are important they alter the chemistry of the recipe.
Delia Smith's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course would be an excellent book for you to get hold of. I have an earlier edition on the book, and it is starting to fall apart through years of use. She explains the 'why' of cooking and baking.
Delia also has a rather wonderful website that does a similar thing. Delia's guide to baking and Delia's sponge cake recipe & instructions.
She will take you through the basics and give you loads of good ideas and suggestions. Trust Delia, she is the baker's friend. She will explain the need for raising ingredients in cakes (be it air, or SR flour or Bicarb).
But to be going on with, a basic sponge cake recipe:
150g SR flour
1 tsp baking powder*
150g marg
150g castor sugar
3 medium eggs
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1 small can of pineapple rings
Allow all ingredients to come to room temp.
Take an 8" cake tin and grease the sides, and put a bit of greaseproof paper in the bottom.
In you don't have a fan oven, put it on to start heating. Fan ovens don't need anywhere near the same amount of time to get up to temperature.
Open the can of pineapple, drain the juice, drink the juice (mmmm... lovely). Arrange the sliced pineapple in the bottom of the cake tin. Eat any pineapple that is left over (mmmm... double lovely).
Sift into a bowl the flour and baking powder(to remove lumps and add some air). Add the other ingredient, apart from the pineapple rings, and start whisking them together.
Spoon the cake mixture onto the pineapple, and make the top fairly smooth. Pop into the oven 170C(lower for a fan oven) for about 40 minutes. You know how to test the cake already. When it done, let the cake sit for about 30 seconds. Gently slide a knife around the sides to loosen it. If you are going to eat it straight away, transfer the cake to a serving plate, otherwise let it cool on a cooling rack (prevents the bottom from getting soggy). This would be good with some warm syrup drizzled over it, or served with cream or ice cream.
This will produce one large cake. If you would prefer to have a sandwich cake (or layer cake) then use two 7" sandwich tins, and cook for 25-30 minutes.
Once you have this basic recipe you can change it in many ways. To make a chocolate cake leave out the pineapple, but include about 30g of cocoa to the flour at the start. If you don't have cocoa you can use drinking chocolate, but you will need about 50g of that.
The same recipe can be used for coffee and walnut cake. Add 75g of finely chopped walnuts to the cake mixture just before you put it in the cake tin. Then when the cake is cool make some butter icing**, by adding half to 1 tsp of instant coffee to the liquid. How much coffee you add is up to your taste.
You can make a lemon cake by zesting a lemon and adding most of the zest to the cake mixture. Keep a little bit back for decoration. When the cake is cool top it off with 'water icing', but using some lemon juice instead of water. Add the remaining zest to the top.
Ginger sponge cake can be made using a small jar of crystalised ginger. Drain the ginger and chop into tiny bits. Add these to the cake mixture just before it goes into the tin. When the cake is still warm use the syrup to drizzle over the cake; some of the syrup will be absorbed.
Apricot cake - chop 9 dried 'ready to eat' apricot halves, add to cake mix. Make a runny 'water icing' and drizzle over the cake whilst it is still warm.
*Baking powder is a mixture of sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar. It helps the cake to rise and be light and fluffy. You will be able to find it beside the flour in a supermarket.
** Butter icing
140g/5oz butter, softened
280g/10oz icing sugar
1-2 tbsp liquid
a few drops food colouring
Method
1. Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
2. Then add the remaining icing sugar with one tablespoon of the milk.
3. Beat until creamy then add the food colouring and mix well.
4. Add extra icing sugar to thicken or a little extra milk to make more runny if necessary.
Posts: 13287 | From: Cottage of the 3 Bears (and The Gremlin) | Registered: May 2001
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Jodi
Shipmate
# 2490
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Posted
quote:
Open the can of pineapple, drain the juice, drink the juice (mmmm... lovely). Arrange the sliced pineapple in the bottom of the cake tin. Eat any pineapple that is left over (mmmm... double lovely).
Funny, that sounds so much like a lot of my recipes.
One of my favourite sponge cake variations is to soak some sultanas in brandy or sherry overnight, then add them to the mixture with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. I like fruit cake, but I like sponge cake with fruit in even better!
I have a somewhat idiosyncratic way of making my buttercream. I mix in as much icing sugar as the butter can possibly take, until it's in a solid ball, then add enough liquid - often slightly warm - to make it very soft, and whip it with a fork to get in plenty of air. I then prefer not to eat it until it's been left out overnight, if I can possibly resist it, so it gets a thin crust on it, with all the soft creaminess inside. Coffee and walnut is my favourite. And my mouth's watering now!
Posts: 73 | From: UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167
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Posted
IIRC the pineapple upside down cake that I made in school Cookery lessons also had golden syrup with the pineapples, so it was nice & gooey/sticky on the top when turned out - so nice that very few puddings got all the way home instead we had sticky desks or a sticky bus ride home, sharing with the unfortunates who didn't have Cookery that day.
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006
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babybear
Bear faced and cheeky with it
# 34
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jodi:
One of my favourite sponge cake variations is to soak some sultanas in brandy or sherry overnight, then add them to the mixture with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg.
I was excepting the end of that sentence to be 'then drink any alcohol that hasn't been sucked up by the fruit'.
Posts: 13287 | From: Cottage of the 3 Bears (and The Gremlin) | Registered: May 2001
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
Babybear, thankyouthanktyouthankyou!
I've followed your recipe (and bunged a bit more fruit in) and it's in the oven now on Gas Mark 3. I'd say there's about a half hour to go.
I'll let you know how it turns out.
Thank you, as well, for the butter icing recipe. It's useful to have for future reference when doing other cakes as I don't much care for hard royal icing - I don't have very much of a sweet tooth, you see - and I find frosting too gloopy, but butter icing I can handle. Yum.
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Saint Bertelin:
Ingredients:
- 4 peppers (I think that yellow and green work best for this recipe as red would be too sweet).
- 500g pork mince (beef may be substituted but pork is traditional)
- 100g rice (I use Basmati but others should do)
- 1 large red onion
- 1 tin of chopped plum tomatoes (or equivalent amount if using fresh rather then tinned)
- chopped parsley
- ground cinnamon
- olive oil
- salt, pepper, paprika
Please forgive. You want about 4 or 5 tablespoons of the tomato and not the entire tin. ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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babybear
Bear faced and cheeky with it
# 34
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Saint Bertelin:
Babybear, thankyouthanktyouthankyou!
I've followed your recipe (and bunged a bit more fruit in)
did you remember to follow the instructions about drinking the juice and eating up the leftover pineapple?
Posts: 13287 | From: Cottage of the 3 Bears (and The Gremlin) | Registered: May 2001
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by babybear:
quote:
Originally posted by Saint Bertelin:
Babybear, thankyouthanktyouthankyou!
I've followed your recipe (and bunged a bit more fruit in)
did you remember to follow the instructions about drinking the juice and eating up the leftover pineapple?
Oh my yes, and as for the result:
![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
Thank you so much again. I'm off now to take some to my local nun friend. By the time I saw your post earlier, I had already been to Tesco to get self-raising flour but hadn't got any baking powder, so I nipped round the corner to pinch some from her as she's only round the corner.
I did the peppers too, again, but this time with garlic and much more paprika. I'll take them out of the oven when I get back and report back here.
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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Nats
Shipmate
# 2211
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Posted
I ought to report back on my strawberry frozen yoghurt.....
yummmmmmm
I weighed the strawberries and put in half the weight again of sugar. Blitzed it, added yoghurt (not a huge amount but no idea how much!) and a little bit of whipped double cream (it was there, it needed using up...) and froze in an ice cream machine.
Scrummy
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life is purple
Posts: 376 | From: Swindon, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
That sounds naughtily yummy.
Peppers were splendiferous. Extra paprika and garlic made it.
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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rugasaw
Shipmate
# 7315
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Posted
I went ahead and cooked jellied pork loin. I had some peach jelly I added some brown mustard (stone ground would have been better), honey vinegar, and a touch of wasabi powder. I reserved some for dipping. It was absolutely wonderful.
Saint Bertelin, I will have to try your stuffed bell pepper recipe. It sounds great.
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Treat the earth well, It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children. -Unknown
Posts: 2716 | From: Houston | Registered: Jun 2004
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