BS: Recipes - what are we eating?

Subject: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 11:00 PM

What are we eating today? I made a Yotam Ottolenghi chickpea dish and it was yum. Two tins of chickpeas with the liquid poured off. Caramelise a couple of onions and garlic to taste; add the chickpeas and then about a tablespoon each of chopped rosemary, thyme and sage, and a tablespoon of anchovies. And slivers of lemon zest - the yellow part of the skin of a (washed) lemon. Let it all simmer and combine; add a couple of cups of chicken stock and simmer a bit more. Mash some of the chickpeas a bit. Just before serving, add a tablespoon each of chopped parsley and chopped mint, the juice of the lemon and a tablespoon of za'atar, and stir them in. Very moreish indeed.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 11:04 PM

Alas, it's the "liquid diet" portion of prep day leading to tomorrow's colonoscopy. Ask me again tomorrow after I get back home! (Sorry to do an immediate side-track on your topic - in my refrigerator I have a wonderful batch of chicken pot pie I made on Tuesday that I reheat and serve with whole grain crackers on top instead of making a crust.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 11:42 PM

Oh, goodness, good luck with the colonoscopy. (Here, I think they're moving more and more to colonography instead, which can be done without anaesthetic, and is supposed to be more accurate… whether it's so or not…) Waiting for that chicken pot pie recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 06:57 AM

I did a sort of spicy cauliflower/broccoli. I think it ran fry some onion, add 1 tsp each of ground cumin and corriander and 2 tsp of mild chili powder. Bit of garlic paste, 1 jar Patak Korma sauce, and a Knorr stock pot (or two?) Add some water and cook the brassica in the mix. Cooked the evening before for consumption the next tea time.

Served with basmatti rice. A typical bodge job of mine but it turned out quite well liked.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 08:33 AM

Mmmm, sounds good! I was watching one of the English chef programmes the other day and they were making "cauliflower steak" - basically frying a big slab of cauliflower as if it's a steak. Must try it! Again, my man Yotam has a recipe.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 08:46 AM

That link isn't working for me, try this one

The fish wouldn't go down here but perhaps I could try something on those lines one day IF feeling really keen.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 09:35 AM

Chickpea and squash stew with couscous, from a recipe by Mark Birman. It’s a less-meatarian dish that somehow manages to get winter squash into Himself. Durn it, I’ll have to hit the supermarket for ginger root, courgettes and a red sweet pepper.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 11:07 AM

Hmm, must check the ginger stocks; haven't been shopping for a couple of weeks - flu.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 04:41 PM

I just made a large pot of my friend E.V.'s Hot & Sour Chicken Soup -- most of it for the freezer as, well, winter's coming! This soup is truly both tasty and beneficial if I come down with one of winter's maladies.

E.V., like me, doesn't so much use a recipe as use an ingredient list and guide.

Thinly slice (today I varied it and used bigger chunks of everything except the carrots) onion, red bell pepper, carrot or zucchini, garlic, ginger and saute in coconut oil until tender.

Add chicken broth and pulled chicken meat. (I cheated and used a supermarket rotisserie chicken -- and put the carcass along with some veg scraps in the freezer to make stock one of these days, also for the freezer.)

Then add Asian fish sauce (nuc mam, nam pla, etc.), chili-garlic paste (or Sambal Olek or other hot pepper sauce), and rice wine vinegar -- all to taste. Adjust the three sauces for your preferred taste or amount of heat. Oh, salt and black pepper.

Believe me, if you're in the throes of a head cold this works a treat. And I find it also settles the stomach and will coax me to eat if nothing sounds good.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 06:25 PM

This takes ten minutes max. We've had a busy day today and this is what I chucked together. With thanks to Nigel Slater, who provided the idea.

Put a pan of your favourite short pasta on to boil in salted water. 250g for two people.

Drain a jar of tuna in olive oil, preferably yellowfin (albacore). If you have tuna in spring water, throw it away unopened.

Put tuna in a bowl and add the following: a tablespoon of nonpareil capers (never use any capers bigger than those). Two cloves of garlic, finely sliced (throw your garlic crusher away - worst bloody invention ever). A helping of chopped fresh parsley (don't arse about: tear the leaves off the parsley, put them into a mug and snip away like mad for one minute with a pair of scissors). Freshly-ground black pepper. A little bit of salt, only if your tuna is unsalted. Five tablespoons of full-fat creme fraiche. Nigel uses double cream, but trust me on this. Mix up everything roughly. You want a few visible tuna flakes.

Drain the pasta and retain a mug of pasta water (you'll need some to loosen the sauce).
Mix the pasta and the tuna mix together. Use pasta water to loosen. I've never managed without it. Serve in warm bowls. Heresy coming up: serve with Parmesan. True Italians would kill me for that, but it works.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 11:44 PM

Oooh, those sound good! Last night I made one of our standard soups: saute onions, shallot and garlic in coconut oil, add a rake of grated carrot and keep going on low-ish heat, add chicken stock (well, I use chicken usually, or sometimes vegetable stock from cubes), then chopped-up broccoli and some flakes of dried hot chilli pepper, and finally a couple of fillets of hake. Simmer till any non-grated bits of carrot are soft and the hake has broken up and disappeared into the soup. Very nice with brown soda bread on the side.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 07:31 AM

I'm doing a risotto this evening, based on scraps of sausage, chicken and stuffing rescued from our last roast chicken dinner that I'd kept in the freezer. There'll be bacon in a t and I'm using by home-made real chicken stock. I'll let you know how it goes.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 07:33 AM

Vegetable cobbler last night. Carrots, parsnips and swede for the veg inside. Used Jos-Roll frozen pastry for the cut out rounds on top and Parmesan cheese on the pastry.

I think I’ll do a Quorn mince “cottage pie” for tea today and have with some spinach. Sat, probably pizza and (deep fried) chips. Sun may be be Quorn fillets cooked in a sauce made with a sauce that’s basically a jar of the Korma stuff mixed with a tin of chopped tomato, again with rice. Mon, perhaps macaroni cheese, etc.

As you see, rarely anything needing recipes from me… Still, it does serve a purpose with me haven taken on the bulk of the cooking, we do get fresh veg and it beats the Wiltshire Farms type meals.

Trying to get back to a recipe (mostly followed and omitting the ham), one I must repeat soon is potato and leek gratin it worked out really well last time and we have plenty of leeks , although I found the potato needed a while longer to soften in the oven.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 09:11 AM

Guess who accidentally fired off his last post before editing the damn thing...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 03:17 PM

Steve Shaw -- throw in a few more things (chop up a tin of anchovies, add a can of diced tomatoes) and you've got a good puttanesca.

Love it! Will try your version as a very acceptable variant.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 04:32 PM

This is a good recent food thread: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=165070&messages=20

And I made the "Mexican" version last night:

Instead of cornmeal, I mash up a can of butter beans or white beans or chickpeas and sometimes add a small amount of flour.

The two main variations I have made are:

"Mexican" with corn kernels, red capsicum and chilli through it and grated cheese mixed in and on top.

Zucchini with grated zucchini - and other available veg - with grated cheese in and on it.

A good standby for a quick meal and very good as leftovers.

The mashed beans/chickpeas makes it high in fibre but in fact the mash looks and acts like mashed potato. A sneaky way to add fibre without ruining a dish. I use them for making fish cakes instead of mashed potato, too. Yum!


Also, has anyone tried using the liquid from the canned white beans, butter beans or chick peas as a substitute for egg white. The liquid is called aquafaba. I tried it for making maccaroon thingies. It worked well. No beanie taste. I liked them.

20 recipes for aquafaba

Hubby & I are not on a meat-free life, but have cut meat back considerably and added lots more beanie-type things. One of my fave foods is sausage rolls but now I make a version based on mashed white beans with lots of yummy vege flavours mixed in.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 04:45 PM

My version of puttanesca (whore's pasta, or prostitute's spaghetti) is as follows:

For two people.

Four anchovy fillets in oil

100g pitted black olives, roughly chopped

A tablespoon of nonpareil capers

Chopped fresh parsley

A handful of chopped cherry tomatoes, or a tin of tomatoes

Two cloves of garlic, sliced (NOT crushed: never do that abominable thing)

A goodly sprinkling of dried chilli flakes, to taste

Extra virgin olive oil

Freshly-ground black pepper (no salt)

250g spaghetti


Get your spaghetti on the boil in salted water.

In your biggest and best shallow pan (mine are Le Creuset: snob), gently fry the garlic and chill flakes in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil for a few minutes. If the garlic goes brown, you've got it wrong. Just a gentle sizzle.

Add the anchovy and break up the fillets with a wooden spoon until they've melted. Add the capers, tomatoes, parsley, pepper and olives. Simmer until the pasta is done.

Drain the pasta when it's al dente, reserving some pasta water. You may or may not need some. Throw the pasta into the pan with the sauce. Mix well and serve. No Parmesan, but a drizzle of your very finest olive goes well. The whole spirit of the thing is that you use things only out of tins, jars or packets. That's what the ladies of the night would do to fortify themselves for the night's work to come. Gawd knows what their clients thought about the ensuing garlic breath...

In Napoli they would get the Camorra on to you for using anchovies. In other regions the chilli is omitted. That's a shame. You can hold the parsley back and sprinkle it on at the end. You can add dried oregano if you like. Not the worst idea in the world.





Put your

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 06:03 PM

Put thinly sliced carrots in a big skillet. (good use for a salad shooter)
Ditto celery
add place pieces of pre-cooked kielbasa
splash in 1/3 cup white wine

cover and simmer till carrots are cooked and kielbasa is warmed through

serve with good bread, radishes for something crisp.

We had our kielbasa shipped in by Usinger's in Milwaukee. I cooked it and froze it as soon as it arrived. This may not be practical for those across the pond.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Nov 18 - 07:24 PM

My chicken pot pie/stew doesn't have a recipe with measurements, but I can tell you what goes in it.

I use cooked chicken, in this case, chicken breast from a package that was frozen hard from the store and I didn't bother to try to soften it enough to use some and put the rest back in the freezer. It all thawed and I had about six large chicken breasts to bake at once; this recipe used 3 or 4 of them, and my chicken dice was about 1" sized pieces.

Chopped onions, sauteed, then add diced carrots and let them soften a bit. Dice red-skinned (red lasoda) potatoes and add them last because they soften up more quickly (though these are the waxy potatoes so they hold their shape better than Russets). I had a cup or more of the liquid from when I baked the chicken and I poured that in along with some water. Salt and ground pepper, and a little dried oregano were the seasonings. Water to bring up enough liquid and let it simmer a little, then add the chicken when the veg is ready and let it simmer again. I mix flour with water to use for thickening and mix it into the liquid. Serve with pie crust if you have it (when my children were small I would make pie crust and cut it out with cookie cutters. The plate of baked shapes was on the table to add to the top of their bowls of stew). I have been using some gluten free crackers with lots of different grains and seeds an it's very good broken into large pieces on top.

The way this turned out, it has probably more chicken than vegetables.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 03:58 PM

I mentioned aquafaba - an amazing little magic ingredient. It's the water you drain out of a can of white beans, butter beans or chickpeas. The bit you usually throw away.

Raspberry Rose Vegan Macarons (Using Aquafaba)

The first part of the rather long recipe at that webpage:

Ingredients

    Macaron Shells:
    250 grams Aquafaba

    1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
    Pinch of Salt
    150 grams Ground Almonds
    130 gram Pure Icing Sugar*
    110 grams Superfine/Caster Sugar
    A drop of Vegan Red Food Coloring
    A few drops of Organic Rose Extract

    Raspberry Rose Buttercream:
    125 grams Vegan Butter Substitute
    55 grams Icing Sugar
    A few drops of Organic Rose Extract
    A few drops of Vegan Red Food Coloring
    25 Raspberries

    Extras:
    Piping Bags with a Round Tip attached
    Silpat Mats or Silicone Baking Paper
    Baking Trays
    Spray Bottle filled with Water

Instructions

    The night before you want to make your Macarons, prepare your Aquafaba. In a small saucepan, bring 250 grams of Aquafaba to a simmer. Let this simmer away until it has reduced to 110 grams of Aquafaba. (I pour it out and weigh it on a kitchen scale a few times in-between to check). Once it has reached 110 grams, pour it into a bowl to cool and then refrigerate overnight.
    Macaron Shells: Process Ground Almonds and Icing Sugar in a food processor and then sieve into a bowl, making sure there are no lumps in your mixture. Set aside.

[**This is the magic bit. Aquafaba acts like egg white.**]   

With a stand mixer fitted with a clean bowl and with clean beaters, whisk Aquafaba, cream of tartar and salt on high till it turns foamy and resembles frothed up egg whites. Make sure there is no more liquid left at the bottom of the bowl before moving on to the next step.


    Gradually add caster sugar in, bit by bit, whilst your mixer is turned on. Add your food coloring and Rose Extract in and then continue whisking on high for another minute. You should end up with a thick, glossy meringue. etc etc

She has other recipes e.g.
Vegan Chocolate Mousse made with Aquafaba (Chickpea Brine)

And there are heaps of recipes on the 'net if you search for "aquafaba recipes". You can use it wherever you would use egg white, as far as I know, so sweet or savoury.


I confess, I didn't precook the aquafaba the night before, blah blah. I just made a simple little crunchy meringue. They were yummy.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 05:02 PM

Celebrate all the recipes but sometimes whatever you make is less important compared to the way you cook it.
I use ancient-like clay pots that I soak in water before cooking.
I use separate pots for fish(small) fowl(big) or meat(medium). There will always be some sterilized residue for the next recipe. I buy them from Germany.

If there is too much water at the end , simmer it separately for sauces.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 07:16 PM

I read another aquafaba web page and the reason you boil the chickpea water the night before is only if you have been really diligent and cooked your own chickpeas. Like that's gonna happen!

I'm too disorganised for that so I just open a can of chickpeas or other beans. The liquid in the cans is just the right consistency to start making all the different yummy recipes.

I think I'll try the chocolate mousse recipes next.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Helen
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 07:24 PM

Donuel, I have owned one of those clay roasting pots for about 40 years. Haven't used it much over the last few years but maybe I should get it out of the cupboard and give it another go. It used to make a lovely roast leg of lamb.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 07:33 PM

I have a Romertopf pot that was at my Dad's house as part of his estate. A friend had given it to him and when she was helping me at his house she spotted it and told me I should keep it. That night she roasted a chicken in her Romertopf and it was amazing—tender, moist, meat falling off of the bones. I've found several others in thrift stores and sold them on eBay; I found one large enough to bake a turkey that I sold earlier this year (I don't think I'll ever do a turkey in one, so that's why I sold it. I brine my turkeys and roast them uncovered.)

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 07:49 PM

cool, and the skin is still crisp too.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Nov 18 - 09:30 PM

I take the top off the clay baker before baking is finished to make the skin crisp up.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Joe_F
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 06:07 PM

Today, as an experiment, I bought some beets. I expect I will microwave a beet, and simmer the greens with butter & garlic, like Sicilian spinach. As another experiment, I bought sausage, which I will broil. (Sausage is one of those things I have never eaten except in restaurants.) I will have hot tea. For dessert, sugar wafers.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 06:10 PM

Beets are pretty forgiving, however you plan to cook them. I usually steam or simmer them in shallow water. I used to peel them before I cooked them, but it seems if you cook them then the outer skin slips off easily.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: leeneia
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 06:40 PM

Beets are easy to grow. Even I could do it. You do need to thin them, because each beet seed is actually a packet with several seeds in it, and if you don't thin them, the beets are too crowded. You can transplant the tiny seedlings so they don't go to waste.

I used to grow beets then make myself a lunch of boiled beets with butter and black pepper. Whole wheat bread on the side.

But then sex reared its ugly head. It seems that many men have a real hate for beets. My husband hates beets so bad that even the smell of my beets, leftover from cooking lunch, was really awful for him. So I gave up as a beet farmer.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 07:24 PM

Well I love beetroot, and regard the corned beef and beetroot butty as a thing of great joy. However, I pee fake blood after eating it. It must run in the family. I think there's a gene. Nearly forty years ago my two-year-old daughter filled the potty with "blood." I rushed her to the doc in blind panic. Said the doc nonchalantly, "have you been feeding her beetroot?"

I had...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 08:54 PM

I suspect that is fairly common, Steve.

The weather turned very cold and blustery here today so lentil soup was on the menu. The simple Egyptian version in my Middle Eastern cookbook - water, grated onion, lentils, seasoned with salt, ground pepper, a tiny amount of cumin, and lemon juice.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 09:26 PM

It's a bit hand-to-mouth this end. It's been a whirlwind four weeks since my dad died unexpectedly on 15 October (even though he was 94: he'd been a picture of health)... We've cleared the house, cremated and scattered me dad on Pendle and moved me mum from Manchester to the Westcountry into what's turned out, fortuitously, to be a lovely residential home, just five miles from our house, no mean task. Food has been a bit on the back burner, and fish and chips has been resorted to, but I did a decent chilli last night and we've had the occasional salmon arrabbiata (ask me) as well as fried salmon with lemon sauce, chips and romanesco. I've also done ox cheek casserole, which takes hours to cook but which is not only a dish of great beauty with mash and greens but which also yields plenty of lovely beefy sauce to stir into pappardelle and sprinkle with parmigiano reggiano. I also did an Elizabeth David beef daube, so simple yet so beautiful. As I've had to travel up north three times in four weeks, I've had ample opportunity to buy stuff at Gloucester Services to stock up my freezer. I have three pieces of rolled brisket, several pounds of ox cheek, two gorgeous pieces of pork shoulder with a lovely covering for crackling, and at least six man-sized pork chops which I shall cook the Delia way, with double cream, mushrooms and lemon juice. At times like this, one's gotta eat properly...

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Nov 18 - 11:34 PM

Next time I get to a store with unadulterated pork sirloin (too many producers add a salty mix to their pork, supposedly because people overcook it so it keeps it moister but it's way too salty.) I have a casserole with tomatoes, pork, onion, and eggplant that is served with mashed potatoes. Mmmmm!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 13 Nov 18 - 10:01 PM

mmm. It's a funny old life, sometimes having reservations over eating meat, being finicky with what meat I eat, normally sticking with meals suitable for me and veggie parents and rarely missing meat, etc.

But a pork casserole along those lines does sound quite tempting at the moment...

But I'l probably leave things till Christmas now. If they still do them, I'll probably go for an Iceland frozen stuffed turkey joint wrapped with bacon again, I found last years surprisingly nice. No indoor cats to share it with this year but I'm sure PussPuss, if still around, would like a slice or two to help me out.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 12:32 AM

I'll post the recipe later. I usually use a sirloin or tenderloin, whichever is available and relatively inexpensive. The eggplant has a fabulous "umami" effect on the rest of the ingredients. I know it isn't something that is like MSG, but it doesn't so much have it's own flavor as it makes everything else taste better.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Charmion
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 10:20 AM

On the theme of meat, Himself and I went shopping in Kitchener yesterday and came home with a pot roast, among other things. Now, pot roast was never a favourite dish in my family, but Himself is a fan so I made up my mind to get good at it.

Step one, get a decent piece of beef, preferably a well-marbled blade roast. Then haul out the Dutch oven; having been blessed with a generous kin group, we possess a Le Creuset braising pot that does the job in style.

Brown the roast on every side in about a tablespoonful of canola oil (high smoke point). Salt and pepper it well on all sides while you're at it. Set the roast aside and wipe out the pot. Next, sauté a chopped onion, some minced garlic, and a couple of ribs' worth of finely chopped celery in olive oil, to which then add dried thyme and about three quarters of a cup of red plonk with a bit of salt and a good grind of pepper, followed by about half a cup of beef stock and a glug of brandy. (It need not be *good* brandy.) Let it all boil for a few minutes, then put the roast back in the pot. Put on the lid and turn the gas down as low as it will go, or put the pot in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave it alone for at least two hours.

When the roast is done (tender to an ordinary fork), fish it out of the pot and put it aside. Put the pot on the hob and turn up the gas. Reduce the pot liquor, stirring constantly, adding thickener if you like (I use beurre manié). Carve the roast, laying the slices (or collops, if you carve as clumsily as I do) on a warm platter. Ladle the gravy over all.

Serve with spuds, carrots, etc. I like to roast them in the oven with onion, garlic and slabs of fennel.

And that's what we had for dinner last night.

Tonight, something much less meat-arian, almost certainly involving chickpeas.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 11:51 AM

Thanks SRS. I had to do a bit of looking up on flavours there. I do like aubergine/eggplant and grow 4 plants (Hansel, a small variety that are good from finger size fruit up and usually crop well) in a container in a greenhouse each year.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 03:09 PM

Joe, how did you manage to live in Wisconsin for any length of time with never having bratwurst made on the grill in the summer?

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Joe_F
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 06:31 PM

Microwaving a large beet was not a success. It was undercooked (tough). My second attempt, last night, was far more successful: I peeled it, cut it up, and boiled it. Likewise, beet greens take far more time than spinach.

I never knew there was anybody who did *not* piss red after eating beets. It lasts about a day.

A couple of times, I have made a real borsht (with beef cubes, turnips, carrots, etc., etc. -- not the mere shredded beet with sour cream that you get in a US deli). It is a substantial project, but worth it if you have guests.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 07:42 PM

If you like cold soup, but gazpacho turns you off a bit, you should make salmorejo, the Andalucian dish that resembles a thick gazpacho but which is made very thick by the addition of bread. It's traditionally served in small bowls as a tapas, with a topping of crumbled hard-boiled egg and finely-chopped Serrano ham, with some local breadsticks to accompany. To me, it's the absolute taste of summer and it must be eaten outdoors, and Mrs Steve won't let me make it in winter. Contrary to popular belief, it can be made with top-quality canned tomatoes instead of fresh. In any dish that relies on tomatoes of any kind, there's a magic ingredient that transforms the grub beyond all your dreams. It's a half-teaspoon of sugar. Trust me on that one. Italian cooks use it even if they have the finest sun-ripened San Marzano tomatoes, though they wouldn't admit to it.

I have my own salmorejo recipe but I couldn't possibly post it in November in the northern hemisphere. Ask me again in May.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 07:48 PM

And never skin tomatoes. That's as bad as doing garlic in a garlic crusher, the worst invention ever. If you pulverise the tomatoes with your hand-blender, you won't notice the bits. And anyway, I like the bits!

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Nov 18 - 09:11 PM

This is what my garlic press looks like, and it's what Julia Child's garlic press looked like. She wasn't snooty about how the garlic got broken up or pulverized for her cooking so I follow her lead.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: BobL
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 03:46 AM

I haven't used a garlic press for ages - a lot of garlic gets left behind and is a so-and-so to remove (no hole-clearing gadget such as comes with the Shopify product). It's easier to smash the garlic under the side of a large knife. And then peel it, with no bother.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Thompson
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:04 AM

Joe, beetroot is superb if you scrub and chop it and add it to the other vegetables roasted under a chicken lengthways-halved carrots, long slices of parsnip, peeled halved onions, whole garlic bulbs, chopped celery, fat slices of bell pepper... The beets add a sweet, earthy flavour. I like to slosh dry vermouth over the vegetables, then the chicken juice basted them further.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:14 AM

Beetroot has been variable here but I've had success with "boltardy" some years. Just a simple boil, peel and slice with young samples is all you need with a salad.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:24 AM

1. Take two crumpets out of the packet.
2. Place in toaster.
3. Toast until well-browned.
4. Spread with a great deal of butter.
5. Eat.
6. Give buttery plate to cats to lick.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:37 AM

In fast-cooked pasta sauces I just slice the garlic finely with a small knife. It's better than chopping, which can leave a few unpleasant little nibs. For slow-cooked things such as stews or ragus I just thump the unpeeled cloves with my fist, take off the skin and throw in the broken cloves. You can fish them out at the end but I never do. If I'm baking something such as skin-on chicken pieces (with cubed unpeeled potatoes, thick wedges of onion, strips of pancetta and extra virgin olive oil) in the oven, I separate out the unpeeled cloves and throw them into the baking tray about 20 minutes before the end (they burn otherwise). You can then suck the beautiful, sweet creamy middles out. Another good thing to do with garlic is to wrap the unpeeled, separated cloves of a whole head of garlic in foil with some extra virgin olive oil and bake them in the oven for about half an hour. Squeeze out the lovely middles and blend them with cooked peas, Parmesan cheese and a knob of butter. Makes a fabulous emerald-green crostini topping (thanks for that one, Nigella, you genius). Crushing garlic releases the bitter, acrid elements of the cloves far too rapidly into the dish. Gentle cooking of the cloves sweetens them and adds flavour subtly. I rarely want a pronounced garlicky taste to be the point of the thing. If you're making a pasta sauce, slice the garlic thinly into your pan of cold extra virgin olive oil and leave it to infuse for as long as you like (if the dish calls for chilli flakes, put them in there as well).

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:39 AM

As an alternative, one can melt St Agur into crumpets, Sen.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:39 AM

I forgot to say that I always remove the green stalks from inside garlic cloves. Don't want them in the dish.

Subject: RE: BS: Recipes - what are we eating?
From: Senoufou
Date: 15 Nov 18 - 04:44 AM

Oh Jon, I'd absolutely love to do that, but unfortunately blue/runny cheese gives me serious vertigo which can last for days. :(