The cooking thread and what are you having for dinner tonight beansnikpoh?
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Cullen Skink and possibly haggis if I’ve got room. Followed by a nip of scotch.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי1 -
I like Haggis but it has to be good Haggis.
This week has been a smashing super tasty week so far. Sometimes it's just rinse and repeat but this weeks menus:
Sunday: Seychelles fish
Monday: Sea bass
Tuesday: Chicken, mushroom and Pak Choi noodle soup
Wednesday: Chilli con carne (3 hours in the oven, it was delish)
Torsdag: Swedish meatballs. the gurls are having pasta*, me; mash
Friday: Lamb Biryani
Saturday: Chicken kebabs
*In the Uppsala Uni internal rag and as the staple of a student diet, this combo with ketchup was eloquently coined 'Spaghetti rouge'.
seanoconn - gruagach craic!2 -
Highly impressive advance menu which I’d be more than happy to eat, the boys however…
one doesn’t like fish, both don’t like mushrooms one doesn’t like creamy sauce so most curries are out. one doesn’t like meatballs one doesn’t like lamb, both don’t like kidney beans or spice. Creativity and menu’s are a challenge They do eat whole healthy food though, the boring whatsits
Seychelles fish?
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0 -
Very simple and very delicious.
Make a tomato sauce using onions, celery, tinned plum tomatoes and tomato puree.
Finely chop the onions and celery sweat them down in butter and pure sunflower oil. Add a tin of plum tomatoes - mash them beforehand. Do not blend.
Add a dessert tablespoon of puree. Posh technique is to put the puree in a bowl and add in warm water incrementally until you have a smooth, consistent runny mixture. This adds a bit more water to the sauce and blends in better than simply chucking it in.
Season with a teaspoon of brown sugar, salt, pepper and fresh parsley if you have it.
Simmer for an hour (or more if preferred). That's if you want it fresh and lively or a bit richer. It's then freezable and can be pulled out at any time to complement quite a few recipes including a Bacalao recipe I make.
Take some bog standard white fish like Pollock. Breadcrumb the fish, Sautee.
When cooked, place on kitchen roll to remove a bit of the oil. Place the fish on top of the sauce in the pot, being careful not to stir. Let the fish settle in to the sauce whilst you cook the rice by absorption.
Serve on the rice. Easy peasy.
An alternative is to just put the fish on the plate with the sauce on the rice.
seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
Hungarian Goulash followed by rice pudding.
Superb.
seanoconn - gruagach craic!1 -
Home made rice pud?
Gizza recipe. If it's ambrosia with a blob of jam, I'm not marking you down.
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Home made. 300ml of double cream added plus ground nutmeg and a conservative amount of golden granulated near the end.
seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
Yeah sure.
In a skillet, brown off some diced beef of your choosing in olive oil (not too much). About 500gms for a family of 4. I use brazing steak. Add a dash of red but not too much either or it smacks of Bourguignon, simmer the wine off.
Add 2 medium sized chopped white onions to the same pan keep them moving with a pinch of salt to avoid burning and sweat them down for 5-6 mins. Add 1 decent sized red and 1 yellow bell pepper. I like them julienne rather than chopped - about 2cm strips. Add a tin of chopped plum tomatoes, beef stock, Bay leaves, Thyme, a generous helping of paprika, black pepper and salt.
Put the lid on the skillet for 30 mins to simmer and then transfer to a preheated oven and casserole pot at 165 deg fan.
Now, here's the thing: Some recipe's add flour to the onions and beef as a thickener, I don't. I like the juices it creates on a slow cook which are especially good for soaking up with a nice chunk of bread say, baguette or soda bread. So the amount of stock is down to your preference and how much/type of potato you add.
Cook for 90 mins, add roughly chopped carrot and diced potatoes (the spuds cook very slowly so don't cut them into large chunks). Cook for a further 1 hour. Check the spuds just in case it needs a bit more cooking time.
No need to stir the pot very often. Just let it simmer in it's own juices. The alternative is whole baby potatoes with skins which is my choice but couldn't find any today.
Serve up in a bowl.
seanoconn - gruagach craic!1 -
Nice one pinno. Do you ever use smoked paprika, or a mixture of sweet and smoked?
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He wanted the recipe for rice pudding you dumb dumb.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0 -
Yes but not in this case. The smoked overwhelms.
[smoked paprika on my poached eggs]
seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
I went to catering college prior to Uni. One day we made rice pudding. The food we made went into the student canteen for sale, and a lad on the course decided to stir the finished rice pudding, breaking the skin on top of the pudding. This was back in the days when chefs were still rather an aggressive lot and the idea of kitchen welfare was anathema to them. Seeing this lad stir the rice pudding, the chef lecturer looked at him and shouted "who told you to stir that you T***". Obviously that would be instant sacking today, and rightly so, but back then it barely raised an eyebrow!
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I’m with the chef, the skins the best bit.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי1 -
Yeahbut if you do it on the cooker, it's best to stir often to prevent it catching and that stirring makes it creamy.
Oven done rice pud is ace though and a different texture.
seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
Having a first crack at Cassoulet next week.
this seems like a pretty comprehensive guide
tips welcome.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0 -
I love cassoulet. Never cooked it mind. I recommend a trip to Castelnaudary. In fact, that part of France slaps.
That guide is pretty comprehensive, and I'm sure it'll be delicious, even if not precisely authentic.
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There is no single authentic recipe as far as I know, although many regions in France will claim it as their own. Basically, that means you can use whatever meat you prefer. I think the classic version is duck leg, toulouse sausage and pork belly, although this can be a bit hefty for some.
Personally, I don't like the breadcrumbs on top as some recipes suggest. You can also cook it a day in advance which allows the flavours to develop and then just reheat to serve.
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Would love to visit. Shame about all the French people hanging about.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0 -
Yeah that’s it, it was peasant food, using preserved leftovers so I probably shouldn’t be too precious with it. I intent to make a big batch so the day after will be even better (hopefully) once marinated longer as you say.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0 -
Might have difficulty tracking Toulouse sausage down. @beansnikpoh if you’re in the village butchers anytime soon, would you have a gander at the sausages and let me know if there’s anything suitably garlicky or herby.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0 -
I'll pop by Wednesday
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I know there's umpteen recipes, but the recipe in the guide uses fresh chicken, which I've never seen, but as the chap says, using duck fat, should taste similar.
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Closest they have is Italian sausage or spicy Italian sausage. Fennel in the plain Italian, garlic and chilli in the spicy one. They also have merguez. Toulouse sausage seems to be right out of favour. A couple of online butchers do them, but you used to be able to get them in the supermarkets.
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ginger pig do toulouse sausages, might be one near you...
my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny0 -
Brill, thanks for that, gives me options.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0 -
Cassoulet turned out well.
luxuriously tender pork belly, bacon, sausage and duck, nestled in creamy beans infused with all that glorious fatty goodness.
Didn’t confit the duck in the end but just as well as it might have made the dish too salty, as I wasn’t using homemade chicken stock, shop bought has quite a bit of sodium.
As a main course on its own, cassoulet can’t quite rise above the elements of its parts, fatty meat and beans. I think it would excel served as a small portion starter or with other dishes for a main. Was it worth 2 days of faff? Not convinced but glad I gave it a try.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי1 -
Good work.
I've had some lovely ones, but I am a glutton for rich food. I bet yours was lush.
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Wonderful copy/pasting there Seano.
seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
My own words thank you. I was educated in one of the finest schools in Wimbledon you know.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0
