BS: Recipes - what are we eating?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 10:19 AM

Two stock cubes plus extra salt in 500 ml? Really?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 10:49 AM

Fair question Steve but I did say something like if/as needed/desired and intended to indicate you could adjust a little at that stage if you wished. I have added both double cream and milk to my own attempts but have not added either salt or pepper.

As a general rule, I tend not to add salt to my own cooking, not even to boil potatoes... and reserve the condiment for chips but I'm sure there are times I feel something does need a touch of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 10:53 AM

If you want savory crepes I like ham and gruyere or comte; for sweet, chocolate and crushed walnuts. Dark dark not-too-sweet chocolate.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 11:15 AM

We are eating stew these days. January will do that.

On Sunday, I made a version of boeuf bourguignon that does away with most of the fussing recommended by such luminaries as Julia Child -- ordinary onions cut in eighths instead of whole pearl onions peeled, for example. We ate it with brown-and-wild rice pilaf on Sunday, and again on Monday with polenta. We will probably eat the rest of it tomorrow for lunch, with toast.

Salt is always an issue with stew and soup. I normally check the seasoning at the very end and add salt only then, and then only if necessary. That boeuf bourguignon has salt pork in it and calls for salt as well; I have made it every winter for 20 years and I have yet to put in any salt, finding the pork provides all the dish requires.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 11:42 AM

Staying on the winter soup/stew theme. I remember one very (by UK standards) cold winter, possibly 81 and in a mostly (we did have a woodburner in the living room but the rest of the house was like a fridge) very cold house, mum had a perpetual (for her veg) soup on the go for a month or so. Bits would get added when the pot emptied and it was very tasty.

Anyone here do these things?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 29 Jan 19 - 12:33 PM

We used a Franklin Stove at the farmhouse in the winter and the soup thing was my idea. My current ongoing soup is a leek shalott and onion soup that will evolve into a corn and potato tomato bisque. (avoid using meats) Treat the soup like a houseplant, water it a little daily.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 12:30 AM

Hi, Jon. I bet your cold winter was indeed 1981, because that was the winter after Mt. St Helens blew ash into the atmosphere and reduced sunlight worldwide.

Here in Missouri, where winters are usually rather mild, we had temps of -25F after that eruption. That's -31 C.

But to answer your question, no, I don't keep a pot of stew going on the stove all the time.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 09:28 AM

Mine was 1977

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 12:07 PM

What is your favorite soup base?


Do you start with a stock of some sort like beef, chicken or fish, then bolster with something else be it sesame oil or soy sauce or worshishire sauce?
I figure most people start with a packet of spices or a can of mushroom ,celery or cream of chicken Campbell's soup.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 02:07 PM

I don't buy soup. A good hearty soup base might start with a soffritto of onion, carrot and celery, finely chopped in equal measure, sautéed gently in extra virgin olive oil. That's great if you want to make a chicken or turkey broth made with the scraps from a roast. Throw some scraps of ham in there for good measure. To make that into a meal, add some small pasta for the last ten minutes or so, ditalini or mini-macaroni sort of thing. I would never use stock cubes in such a broth, just the stock made from the carcass. For leek and potato, or a butternut squash soup, you could just sautée the leeks/onions in butter for a few minutes then throw in the cubed spuds/squash, add your stock and simmer until the veg is soft. You can then either leave as it is or blitz with a blender. A good thing to do is to blitz just half of it.

One of my favourite soups is nicked from Gino d'Acampo. The quality of your chicken stock is paramount for this. Chop up half a pound of sliced streaky bacon or pancetta (not smoked for me) and fry it merrily for a few minutes in a good glug of extra virgin olive oil. Add a pound and a half of chopped onion or some shallots and fry with the bacon for about 20 minutes on a low heat. Add two pints or more of stock and a tin of chopped tomatoes. A tin and a half is good, about 500-600g. Simmer gently for three-quarters of an hour. Check the seasoning then serve with some shavings of Parmesan and a swirl of extra virgin olive oil and eat with crusty bread. You will not BELIEVE how good this is.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 02:22 PM

Soups are new to me, Donuel. As is the multi-cooker which I’m feeling my way with on and off… Btw, one thing I’ve found with it (actually mentioned on various web sites but I found out before reading…) that was highlighted by making an utterly tasteless veg curry (rescued by adding stuff and doing on a pan but not even vaguely presentable to anyone as it was) is that, while there is some venting, it’s pretty much a sealed system. This can affect the qty of water you would use for a vegetable meal.

Anyway back more to your question. Mum used to make some very nice soups, watercress and a stilton and celery as starters for Christmas /Boxing days in the past come to mind but I don’t recall her using a pre made base for a soup as such.

That said, I’m pretty well convinced that she has used a can of soup, quite likely the non meat ones on your list, as a quick base for a sauce to go with a meal.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 02:56 PM

I find tinned soups to be too salty, too processed and often too gloopy. I make lots of different soups and, as long as you have good stock, you can hardly go wrong. Use the best ingredients, get a good heavy-based pan and a stick blender and you're away. I won't use a food processor because I think it's insane to use a gizmo for ten seconds to produce a ton of washing up. And no dried herbs!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 03:26 PM

I like the idea of the split “blended” and “with bits” soup.

Food processors, etc.

I think the only thing I’m currently using ours for is to grate cheese. I’ll chop a block of the extra mature cheddar mum gets in half, 2 pushes through and done and I’ll bag up what isn’t needed. I find this one convenient. I think mum does use it for a couple of recipes including one for cheese scones.

I’m not sure the blender attachment for the food processor is any more hassle to clean than the stick blender which would get used say to whip cream. In fact the stick one can be a bit of pain getting the cream out of the tool (without wasting it) but maybe you can recommend a better one?

One tool that sits in the bask of a cupboard is a mouli. That was bought to process a glut of tomatoes we had one year and would still be good for that sort of sieving use if we ever wanted to deal with another one. I have sometimes wondered about using it for mashed potatoes but that is one where getting it out of the cupboard, disassembly and washing up after is (I think) beaten easily by just using a hand masher.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 06:17 PM

I have a cheapie stick blender, Kenwood I think, around fifteen quid, that I've had for donkeys' years. It has its own plastic jug thingie. I've told Mrs Steve that, in the extremely unlikely event of a divorce, she's not getting it. Along with a particular carving knife and my cherished stainless steel heavy-based lidded frying pan. My blender-with-jug makes soups, mackerel pate and passata, and, my coup de grace, salmorejo in summer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 07:41 PM

Every time I have the bones and skin from a roasted chicken I put them in a pot, just cover them with water, and simmer for stock. I did the same thing last fall with the turkey carcass. No vege added until it's being used for soup or something else. I freeze it in pint canning jars and lately I've thawed a couple for making rice (in a rice cooker - as careful as I am the rice in a pan on the stove always seems to stick or burn to the bottom. The cooker is perfect every time).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 07:59 PM

Well I reckon your stock would be twice as good if you chucked in an onion, two celery sticks from the outside and a big carrot, all chopped up. A handful of parsley, a bay leaf and a sprig of thyme would complete the picture. Just boil up that lot for couple of hours, sieve it out and you have magnificent stock.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 08:53 PM

All of those go in when I'm actually making a dish with it. I don't remember which celebrity chef I was listening to who said this gives you the most versatile stock, but I have to agree. I don't really want all of the onions and carrot and leafy stuff seasoning my rice, I like the simple chicken or turkey flavor. I can add the rest and make a richer broth when needed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 09:20 PM

It doesn't work like that! Just bung everything into your stockpot...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jan 19 - 10:35 PM

Speak to Jacques Pepin about it. I think he's the one who talked about making stock. Or perhaps Hubert Keller.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 11:00 AM

Thanks for the straightforward stock idea, SRS.

Yesterday I asked the DH to buy one pound of ground beef, and he emerged from the checkout with 3.1 pounds. I like to cook ground meat right away, so I promptly made meatballs for spaghetti and a big meat loaf with it. One half of the meatloaf is now in the freezer.

I have a small collection of ziploc bags containing tomato sauce made with homegrown tomatoes. Last year was not a good year for tomatoes, so these bags are precious. I've found that I can take one and add a can of no-salt tomatoes to make it go further, and it still tastes homegrown.

As I mentioned before, the no-salt tomatoes taste better than salted.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 11:18 AM

Can you actually buy salted tinned tomatoes? I came across a can once in Spain of all places many years ago. Disgusting!   

SRS. Adding vegetables to a stock, along with a bayleaf, some parsley sprigs and a couple sprigs of thyme, adds much depth to the otherwise rather insipid bone stock but without any of the flavours intruding. It's a brilliant way of using up the outer bits of onions that you're not sure you should or shouldn't be chopping up, the coarse outside stringy sticks of celery and the carrot trimmings and peelings (or just a scrubbed carrot that's getting on a bit). It avoids food waste and adds greatly to the vitamin and mineral content of the stock.

Next controversial assertion: I never skim the fat off my stock, for therein lieth the flavour......

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 11:24 AM

Last year was a poor year for tomatoes at home too, Leenia. The plants grew and flowered well but few fruit set for some reason.

Again I've not heard of no salt tomatoes. We do use canned ones though. Napolini chopped tomatoes are a sort of stock item for the cupboard here.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 12:01 PM

I leave the fat on the stock, and when I decide to soup it up, then the rest of the flavorings you suggest are used. It heats enough to get those flavors then the veg is discarded and the onions and carrots and whatever are going to stay in the soup are then sauteed and added to the stock.

In the US it used to be difficult to find no-salt vegetables. Now they're pretty much everywhere and don't cost more than their salted variety (fewer ingredients but they have to use a bit fresher food and process it separately.) Salt can disguise some quality issues. This is why I also use frozen vegetables sometimes; they are frozen closer to the field and are usually picked closer to ripe when used for freezing. I use a lot of frozen strawberries because those fruits didn't get as much of the nonsense as the big beefy flavorless berries that appear fresh (probably picked green and ripen on their way to the store). Frozen fruit is usually smaller, riper, and better tasting at the time it's frozen.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 08:00 PM

We had dab fillets tonight. I'm not all that confident with fish but I've learned not to overcook, the killer secret. We had four fillets each (they are small) which cost just over three quid. Dead cheap. I seasoned some flour and I dredged the fillets in it, then pan-fried them quite gently in half olive oil, half butter. Three minutes skin down, one minute flipped. We had the fish with Morrisons mushy peas (the ones that come frozen in 1kg bags) and my home-made oven chips (I will not buy oven chips, which are an abomination). My God, it was the meal of the week.

My oven chips: the spuds are paramount. They have to be the salad waxy types such as Charlotte or Nicola. Starchy collapsibles won't cut it here. Scrub the spuds and cut off bad bits but don't peel them. Cut them into thick chips or wedges, whatever you like. Parboil for eight minutes in well-salted water then drain. Put the drained spuds back in the pan and shake vigorously to rough up the outsides. Don't omit this crucial step. Put the spuds into a baking tray, tossed with a few good glugs of groundnut oil. Put the tray into a very hot oven (250C) for about 20 minutes. I'm telling you, you can't buy chips as good as that.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 31 Jan 19 - 09:05 PM

I've just remembered my Mediterranean roast potatoes, brilliant with a barbecue or with anything, and they are so easy.

For two people you need 500g salad potatoes. They must be of the waxy type. You need a baking tray big enough to spread the spuds out. Scrub the spuds but don't peel. Hack them into chunks about a half-inch in size and scatter them on your baking tray. Add several good glugs of extra virgin olive oil, two or three sprigs of rosemary, salt and pepper and a couple of cloves of bashed but skinned garlic. Toss all that lot together and put into an oven at 180C.

After fifteen minutes, remove from oven and toss everything around. At this stage, add the cloves, still in their skins, from a whole head of garlic. Mix everything around then put back in the oven for another 20 minutes or so.

Once the spuds are golden they're ready, and you can eat the garlic cloves by sucking out the middles. The recipe is more of a summery thing for us, but it's lovely with some cold meat and a few greens or a salad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 01 Feb 19 - 09:09 AM

Trick from my mom: when you've made stock and used some for soup put the rest in old-fashioned ice cube trays in the freezer (when frozen put in ziplock bags). Each stock cube is about 2 tbs, useful for flavoring up lots of things.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Feb 19 - 11:31 AM

Mrrzy I do the same thing with guacamole. It freezes well. Best to thaw on the counter top, not in the microwave unless you use very short spurts of energy and turn the cubes a couple of times.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Feb 19 - 03:13 PM

I just made some:

Pork Meatballs with Fennel

Mix together: about 1 pound ground pork, 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1 tablespoon fennel seeds (I get mine from an Indian grocery store.)

Roll into small meatballs, about 1- 14 inches across. For easier clean-up, put parchment paper on a sheet pan with low sides. Bake 20 mins at 350 degrees. These freeze well.

Sauce: saute some minced garlic in olive oil. Add more oil and lemon juice until you have a reasonable amount of sauce. If you have an actual lemon, you can add the zest as well as the juice. Add black pepper and some herbs, if you wish. Rosemary and basil are nice.

Cook some noodles. Drain. Return to the pot and gently heat up the noodles, meatballs and sauce. Serve. Add salt at the table as desired.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 03 Feb 19 - 08:30 AM

Fennel as a veg is yum: as an herb, it's too liquorice-y. Weird. Coriander seeds are good, cilantro blechhh. Nutmeg is nicer than mace, too. Love nature.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Feb 19 - 09:53 AM

Fennel seeds I've found unpleasant in everything I've ever tried them in. I can't use coriander (cilantro) because Mrs Steve sez it tastes like Fairy Liquid though I love it. That has a serious effect on my guacamole but I've found that I can use fresh parsley to advantage instead. I find the inclusion of orange peel or zest very odd in savoury dishes and I won't use it. I'm thinking of my chorizo and cannellini bean Spanish stew (which is supposed to have both orange rind and fennel seeds, though not in mine) and my Elizabeth David boeuf en daube. I don't miss it.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Feb 19 - 11:09 AM

Made a wonderful-seeming leg o'lamb then got the whirlies and never made the party. And a bunch of parker house rolls. Can they become the top to a sheperd's pie?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Feb 19 - 12:30 PM

There is apparently a genetic connection to who likes or doesn't like cilantro. Something to plug into Google. . .

I burned my mouth on hot cheese on a pizza a few days ago and keep re-injuring it, so today is a day for cooler foods. I had some left-over pancakes in the freezer that were reheated (they never exceed comfortable temperatures and don't have scratchy edges like toast might) and I'm letting my tea cool a bit before drinking (pity, but it must be done.) Salads for lunch and dinner.

I put fruit into my steam juicer periodically, and most recently used it to juice some cranberries that had been in the freezer for a long time. I now mix up a can of frozen apple juice with the regular amount of water, and add a can's worth of my cranberry juice for a nice (and affordable) cranapple juice. I mostly drink tea or water during the day, I gave up regular pop (soda, coke, etc.) years ago. This fruit juice is mostly carbs but is a treat on occasion.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 08:14 AM

Yeah, hating cilantro is indeed a single gene mutation. I called my mom and blamed her when I found that out!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:16 AM

We have a smoked ham hock and some Great Northern beans. Today, I shall conduct an experiment with the Instant Pot multi-cooker to see whether a proper mid-winter bean soup can be achieved in one afternoon.

Tune in tomorrow ...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:28 AM

Bean and Bean Gumbo

READY IN: 50mins
YIELD: 8-9 cups         

    2 teaspoons olive oil
    1 large onion, chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
    4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
    1 -2 fresh green chili, minced
    1 tablespoon paprika
    1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
    1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
    3 stalks celery, diced
    1 large bell pepper, seeded and diced
    3 cups water or 3 cups vegetable stock, plus
    3 tablespoons water or 3 tablespoons vegetable stock
    2 cups fresh sliced okra or 2 cups frozen sliced okra
    1 1/2 cups cooked black-eyed peas (15-oz. can)
    1 1/2 cups cooked white beans (15-oz. can)
    1 tablespoon brown sugar
    2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
    3 tablespoons cornmeal
    1 cup minced fresh parsley
    1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
    salt & fresh ground pepper

Directions (In spite of the all the ingredients it's pretty easy to make, mostly chopping)

    In a saucepan, warm the oil.
    Stir in the onions, garlic, and chiles.
    Cover and cook on low heat, stirring frequently, until the onions         are tender, about 8 minutes.
    Add the paprika, cumin, thyme, celery, bell peppers, and 3 cups of the water or stock.
    Bring to a simmer, cover,and cook for about 5 minutes.
    Add the okra, black-eyed peas, white beans, brown sugar, and tomatoes and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the    vegetables are tender.
    In a small bowl, whisk together the cornmeal and the remaining 3 tbls.
    of water or stock and stir into the gumbo.
    Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cornmeal is cooked and the gumbo thickens slightly.
    Add the parsley, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

I made this for a Super Bowl gathering the other day with cornbread and brought along some McIlheny's hot sauce. I got it out of the Moosewood Low Fat Favorites cook book and it turned out well, it got all ate up by a bunch of skeptical carnivores. I used frozen okra because we just don't seem to get the good kind here in S.W. FL, canned diced tomatoes because the fresh ones are out of season right now and used half smoked paprika and half sweet paprika otherwise I followed the recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:46 AM

I have a lot of frozen organic okra that came out of my yard last fall. I mostly eat it fried (when fresh) and my daughter swoops in periodically for a bag when her household decides it's time to make gumbo. I've used it in stir-fry a few times.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:49 AM

I love it in black-eyed peas but the "fresh" stuff we get around here is usually dried out and flavorless.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 10:04 AM

Thanks for that nice recipe, gillymor.

I'll have to try thickening with cornmeal, as you say.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 10:12 AM

Cornmeal thickening works well in Chili too, leenia.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 12:53 PM

The okra I eat has usually been picked that day or very recently; I started growing it because my next door neighbor was having trouble growing it. I thought "how difficult can it be?" and put in four plants - and as a result sometimes had to pick twice a day to keep up with it. I gave her most of it, and suggested that she should show me how she cooks it (not boiled!) because I hadn't eaten it that I could remember. Her fried okra was an instant hit. Cut into about 1/2 inch pieces on a bit of a diagonal, moist pieces rolled in seasoned cornmeal (fish fry is good) with a little white flour for sticking purposes. Place in a skillet in shallow hot corn oil, and don't crowd the pieces. They cool on a plate with paper towels and many of them are eaten at the stove by the cook. If I'm here by myself they sometimes never reach the table.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: gillymor
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 01:13 PM

I have fond memories of okra fried much like that by a friend from Valdosta, GA, along with farm-raised catfish. The boiled stuff can just too slimy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 03:53 PM

Made Steve's sirloin-tomatoes-capers-garlic-pepper casserole tonight. It was good, but I was a little stymied by the instructions to cut 300g of sirloin into 6 thin strips. Making thin strips, I had about 15. I'd be inclined to put on some more tomatoes, maybe…?

As for what to do with lamb, Irish stew is nice - traditionally it's a white stew, with just lamb and onions and potatoes and herbs and stock, and sometimes barley; however, I happily add carrots.

There are lots of Arab lamb dishes which are very nice - try Yotam Ottolenghi as a source. And the Caribbean curried goat is nowadays mostly made with lamb or mutton rather than goat.

Artificial stocks: I use those gloops of chicken gel by Knorr often, and if a bit more stocky strength is needed without more salt, one of the Kallo very low salt cubes.

Real stock: any roast chicken that passes through our house, the bones and skin go into the pressure cooker, and also the jelly part of the juice of chicken and vegetables and lemon and vermouth that's strained off from the roasting dish. I'll add a couple of stalks of celery, two big carrots, two bay leaves, a whole onion with the skin on, and the green of any leeks hanging around, plus a few herbs - a bit of thyme, mostly. That's pressure cooked for about an hour or an hour and a half, then the dog gets the carrots and celery and the rest of the solids go in the compost bin; the liquid is cooled, poured into plastic boxes and kept in the fridge.

Anyone got a nice recipe for fish stock?

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 08:28 PM

I said thin slices, Thompson, not strips. In effect they are just very thin-cut sirloin steaks. The butcher I get them from calls them flash-fry steaks. Best not to have that edge of fat, then they won't curl up. Bash them even thinner if you like. The other night mine got thirty seconds each side in a very hot pan of the garlicky oil.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 08:40 PM

I like the organic Kallo stock cubes too, Thompson, if I need a lighter stock. And your stock recipe is right up my alley. Here's a cheat's secret: add a Kallo cube to your stock pot. The stock comes out even richer! I never add brassica trimmings to stock.

If I want stock for something like a slow-cooked pot roast, I'll use one Kallo beef cube to 500ml water, I'll soak a handful of dried porcini in 300ml boiled water for 20 minutes and use the liquor from that (look out for the last drop which can be gritty), and I'll boil a glass of red wine in a small saucepan and set fire to it to burn off the alcohol. Mix that lot together and you have a super stock. You can chop up the porcini and chuck that in the pot too. Why not.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 08:52 PM

For a glorious lamb stew, watch Gennaro Contaldo on YouTube making one in Malta (it Googles). It works a treat. If you're making it for the next day hold back the peas until then, then they won't lose their colour. Frozen peas work a treat and don't need long. I used diced shoulder for this. My butcher dices it for me but I found with him that I needed to do a bit of trimming on some of the pieces, but the connective tissue does cook nicely. Not so much dried skin. A great one-pot dish. It may need bit longer to go tender enough than Gennaro says.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Feb 19 - 09:52 PM

Yes, the gel and everything that roasted with the chicken goes into the stock. If I don't have any homemade I use bouillon cubes (I found a robust variety a while back and bought a lifetime supply). I have some beef bouillon in the fridge also. That can help boost the cooking liquid when starting out to braise a pot roast or make stew.

More than once I've seen people mentioning burning off the alcohol in wine. Why? It adds more flavor to whatever you're cooking and is gone by the time cooking is finished.

This evening I made teriyaki chicken, that I haven't made in probably years. Here in the states one of the earlier cooking programs on Public Broadcasting was with Jeff Smith, who was The Frugal Gourmet. Alas, his program disappeared from sight when he was charged with abusing the young man who was his assistant, but his teaching of how to make dishes was top-rate and I have a number of his recipes I still use. And his cookbooks are out there in the used book stores. I gave one to my son, and explained that while the man himself was in disgrace, his cookbook was helpful in teaching how to do the things needed for various recipes.

1/2 cup of sherry (though I didn't have any so used Marsala)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
grated ginger (as much as seems right)

Pour the marinade over the chicken and let it sit for at least a few minutes; I turned it every so often and left it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

I usually use cut up whole chicken parts in the past, but on this occasion I had a deeply-discounted package of organic chicken thighs that had been deboned and no skin. I buy it frozen. Normally skin and bones go in the dish, but when the thighs were half-price to start with and if you bought two you got the second package for 1 cent, I got them. And thighs have so much more flavor. Anyway, use peanut oil if you have it and put enough in a deep skillet or a other lidded pan to brown the chicken. Do it in a couple of batches if needed (I had about 3.5 pounds of meat, so it took two batches). Once it is browned, return all meat to the pot, pour the marinade over the meat, cover it and let it cook for 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

Because I had as much chicken as I did I made half-again as much marinade to work with. And I'll have some wonderful leftovers for the rest of the week!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 02:43 AM

Ooooh, will try that beef stock base, Steve. Will try that next time.

As for the strips, ahhh. Like what my father used to do with veal scallopini for a toast treat - mushrooms simmered in butter, Marsala...

Of course nothing cabbagey in stock, who would DO that!

I’ve just got a tub of bouillon powder - re-familiarising myself with cheap old hippie recipes in case Brexit gets as terrifyingly economy-destroying as looks likely. Do he use it?

We make a cold spinach salad from Japan here that would go nicely as a side dish with your teriyaki chicken, Stilly. Blanch the washed spinach quickly in boiling water, drain it and rinse it off in cold water (this removes any chalkiness) and squash out the water; mix in ground-up sesame seeds, a little sugar and soya sauce (we use Kikkoman). It’s also lovely hot. Here’s a proper recipe https://www.justonecookbook.com/spinach-with-sesame-sauce

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 05:15 AM

Delia Smith always recommended Marigold bouillon powder for veg stock. I found it disgusting and threw it away. I won't use veg stock cubes or powder. If I can't use chicken stock I'll boil up a carrot, onion, celery stick and herbs for half an hour to make my own.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 05:23 AM

Alcohol in wine used for cooking adds a harsh edge to the dish. Unless you're heating the booze very fast, when deglazing for example, it takes hours to evaporate away and there will be some left if the cooking temperature is kept low, even for hours. In a slow cooker the alcohol will hardly evaporate at all even if you leave it cooking all day. It's the fruit and acid elements in the wine that you want, not the alcohol. And burning it off is fun!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jos
Date: 06 Feb 19 - 06:25 AM

On the sliminess of okra, which always puts me off, I saw a television programme in which they said you could cure it by soaking the okra in salt and vinegar.