BS: The other recipe thread is too long

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Apr 23 - 03:29 PM

I don't think you can get smoked salmon here that isn't farmed fish. I never consciously buy farmed fish, and I always ask.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Apr 23 - 12:40 PM

I make smoked salmon after marinating in a salty brine, but I could do a simpler brown sugar rub and see how it turns out.

I should probably think about making a tray to put wood chips in for when I use the gas grill. Smoke flavor in anything cooked in that would be good.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Apr 23 - 11:14 AM

We eat lots of smoked mackerel, which I love, and I love proper kippers even more (not those floppy things in a boil-in-bag with a lump of butter therein), but I'm not a fan of smoked cheese or smoked bacon. I can occasionally get thick pieces of uncoloured smoked haddock here which is amazingly good in a fish pie alongside some other fish that isn't smoked.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Apr 23 - 11:06 AM

When clearing some storage shelves in the garage I discovered a lifetime supply of smoker wood chips. I will have to consider making more meals with smoked meat. Chicken with smoke flavor is wonderful in fajitas, but not so much in chicken pot pies. Same with beef, some dishes are good, others it is too much.

I love smoked sharp cheddar cheese, but it doesn't take much and on the top shelf only.

What else might I smoke? (This is a "Little Chief" aluminum box with 3 shelves and a heating element in the bottom where the pan of chips is set.)

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 Apr 23 - 09:10 AM

Just simmer the alcohol away, that's all. I never miss white wine out of risottos. Elizabeth David uses red wine in her boeuf en daube, but she boils it in a small saucepan and sets fire to the vapour before adding it to the beef. Good fun, is that! Residual alcohol in a finished dish is not good.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Apr 23 - 09:02 AM

Big on spashes of white wine, here. In recipes, I mean.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Donuel
Date: 12 Apr 23 - 09:37 AM

On the other side of the dietary hoity-toity class-conscious entitlement fence,
are vanilla bean brown butter (orange clove) rice crispy treats. :^/
or (Lemon etc)
Upgrading prosaic snacks/meals is cheap and fast for a stressed planet. Soy flour can often replace regular flour and has protein.
Limiting meat by 90% is as meaningful for global warming as electric cars and trucks. Idealism has its place but the hunger and desire to have or eat what pollutes most or what others can not have is an easy gluttonous greed to overcome. Still, man can not live by tortillas alone.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Apr 23 - 03:38 AM

Dammit, I forgot the splash of white wine!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Apr 23 - 07:21 PM

Spaghetti with prawns, lemon, sundried tomato paste, chilli and rocket.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 11 Apr 23 - 04:46 PM

Someone asked me what my favorite thing to cook was.

I was stumped.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Apr 23 - 11:38 AM

I found a kind of dark printout of a recipe for a rum cake that my ex likes (he's not much into sweets). A friend emailed him a photo of her recipe and it doesn't print well.

As I transcribed the recipe into a new Word document to save this morning I almost added the note "Don't ever actually make this." It sounds really rich and terribly sweet, so I'm surprised the ex would even touch it.

Making some refrigerator pickles today. Lots of garlic and just a little heat, to make them interesting.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Apr 23 - 10:57 AM

I like salsa omelets. The last two ingredients depend on my mood.
Italian moods would include cheese and oregano, if Mexican, a bit of cumin and hot pepper relish. We don't have blood sausage so I'm rarely in an English mood. If an American mood happens then it's just ketchup or a full blown western omelet.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Apr 23 - 12:31 PM

Does anyone here ever make their own mozzarella or cottage cheese? I make yogurt occasionally, but haven't tried the other two.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Mar 23 - 06:14 PM

This week I am joining the ranks of those who must reduce sodium intake. A new medication has a possible side effect of slight increase in blood pressure, and this week I learned from my slightly-younger brother that he has had to cut out salt to avoid taking blood pressure medications. We have always been pretty much in lock step with some of these health/lifestyle changes so I'm making the move before I'm told I need to. (I have a physical coming up next month.)

Cooking-wise it means some of my shortcuts will leave the building. The chicken and beef and veggie bouillon all have salt as the first ingredient. The smokehouse almonds and the sesame sticks are history. Potato chips will be scarce. I think I can figure out popcorn with less salt (they do make a potassium chloride product that can substitute in some places). The smoked sausages I love will be scarce or very small portions. Smoked salmon, likewise.

So, throwing the question out there - those of you who have already made the salt sacrifice, what kind of cooking changes did you make?

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Mar 23 - 01:37 PM

That's a new idea. Chicken pot pie is one of the DH's favorite things.

Sometimes I like to make chicken gumbo for variety, but I cannot handle hot, spicy foods. So I used chicken thighs and Klement's snack sticks, which are spicy but don't burn my mouth.

We are all experienced cooks here, so I'll just give a brief recipe. The secret is in how you handle the lemon.

saute onion, garlic, green pepper celery

brown chicken, cut sausage in pieces. Add 1/2 cup water? Use your judgment.

prepare a lemon. grate the peel and toss it in. remove all the pith you can. chop up flesh, saving the juice

after a while, add chopped okra,

cook gently till chicken is done.

10 mins before serving, add the lemon

5 minutes before service, stir in some dried thyme

let guests salt their own at the table

Either serve like a stew or serve with rice on a plate.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 04:40 PM

I had a rotisserie chicken here that still had a lot of meat so yesterday made a chicken pot pie filling. I don't bother to make the crust any more (or at least, not very often). I use broken up crackers on top.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Mar 23 - 12:31 PM

I like chicken pineapple black bean entre. Just google your favorite recipe and if you want to make it international just add a couple more ingredients. For Thai add a tablespoon of peanut butter and a smidge of ginger or coconut milk or for Mexican add cumin and salsa. etc.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Mar 23 - 02:56 PM

Against all internet advice I broiled the bison steaks. Not even a bit dry or tough, just yum. Ha!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Mar 23 - 04:58 PM

Fruit pizza for Pi day, made with shortbread cookies ground fine with just enough butter, prebaked, for crust. Slightly sweetened cream cheese for the middle. Strawberries, blackberries, pineapple. Glazed with a little maple syrup with lemon juice.

The crust worked beautifully.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Mar 23 - 11:12 AM

New leftovers soup:

Canbage raised in chicken broth with Bavarian spices
Berber-dry rubbed pork loin
Duck-bacon swiss cheese beef burger

With

A little white wine and goose broth to deglaze the pork pan
A handful of cherry tomatoes

Yum. Again.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Mar 23 - 03:14 PM

Yes, there's nothing like having the crockpot doing the work for us, filling the house with delicious smells on a cold winter day.

Well, how cold is it where you are, Stilly?

Other news: the DH and I got a kick out of a video we saw today - little kids in Pasadena, California screaming with joy and running around their playground, catching small hailstones.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Feb 23 - 04:23 PM

We've had several days of cold and overcast weather, prompting me to make comfort food. Breakfast yesterday was homemade buttermilk pancakes (the extras are frozen for future breakfasts). For tonight I have the crockpot out, currently simmering the beef for stew that I'll assemble as the afternoon progresses. This is a relatively low-power crockpot even on its "high" setting, but it's nice to not have to hover over the stove for a couple of hours.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Feb 23 - 08:40 PM

I get dried ground pepper from a friend's garden but cayenne would work, or hot paprika...

Tried a meat pie keto recipe combo. Not a successful pie but a successful exeriment!

*Almond parmesan crust was yummy but didn't go well with the pie. Taken from a quiche recipe, would probably be good with quiche. Made ahead, baked.

*The meat filling was delish. Bison onions garlic browned with a cube of goose broth and some psyllium husk capsules, highly experimental but thickened it nicely and it held together beautifully without needing tomato paste. Sprinkled marjoram on the crust and on top of the filling. Made the day before.

*mashed topping of cauliflower and broccoli, dried, then butter and garlic and onion powder. Made and cooled before pie assembled.

Baked an hour at 350. It was beautiful. But the topping didn't go well with the filling tho it was good, and the crust really didn't go with either.

When assembled baked and served the botton crust did not hold together but the filling stayed marvelously in the slices. The topping browned nicely.

So, the filling was ace, the topping meh, the crust nsuccessful but tasty.

And I still have a couple of weeks till Pi Day...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Feb 23 - 06:17 PM

I did a single-tray tray bake tonight that worked a treat, though there will be slight tweaks next time...

For two of us, I scrubbed about a pound of salad spuds (the ones that hold together when you boil them), which I cut into half-inch chunks. I confess that I par-boiled them for five minutes, though I'm not sure they needed that. They went into a big bowl with a chopped-up red pepper, some chopped (not crushed) garlic, a few sliced shallots, a 150g skinned and chopped-up genuine Spanish chorizo (not that "cooking chorizo" rubbish), a big glug of extra-virgin olive oil, a tablespoon of sweet smoked paprika and seasoning. I gave that lot a good mix and spread it all out on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. That went in the oven for half an hour at 180°C.

The coup de grace was that, once I'd put that into two bowls, I topped it with two fried eggs in each bowl. Imperative that they were runny.

It was delicious. But the tweaks next time? Cut the spuds slightly smaller and don't par-boil. I wanted 'em crispier, frankly. Also, a bit more oil. I think I'd spread the mix more thinly over two oven trays in order to get everything a bit more crispy. I might even add a small dusting of ancho chilli flakes. But it was all really good, and it won't be long before I try it again with tweaks!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: leeneia
Date: 24 Feb 23 - 01:59 PM

This is a new area of cookery for me, Mrrzy. I've made cabbage layered with meat before, but never bison and venison. And I've never put pepper on the bottom of the pan.

When you say "hot pepper," do you mean cayenne powder?

Thanks for the info.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 22 Feb 23 - 05:51 PM

Mixed ground bison and venison with food-processed onions garlic parsley. Greased loaf pan, powdered with hot pepper. Layer of thickly-sliced cabbage, layer of meat, repeat, end with cabbage on top. Pressed down hard, enclosed, set overnight. Next day in medium oven for hours, made tomato butter sauce on stovetop with too much hot pepper.

Served slices of meat/cabbage with sauce and sour cream. The hot sauce balanced but I should have salted the cabbage. 3 of us ate about half the whole meatloaf and most of the sauce. I added a smidge of soy sauce to mine.

Next day the half reheated beautifully but there was less sauce. Ate about half.

Next day added goose broth from the solstice to the quarter still left, made a yummy bowl of soup. Yummy.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: leeneia
Date: 21 Feb 23 - 01:04 PM

Sounds good, Mrrzy!

Here's a good and easy recipe for a cold winter night.

1. Put some chuck roast in a slow cooker. Don't bother to brown it.
2. Add chopped onions. Don't bother to saute them.
3. Add 1 - 2 bay leaves.
4. Pour in 1 cup of beer.
5. Cook on Low till meat is tender - prob. 8 to 10 hours.
6. Refrigerate till next day.
7. Remove and discard fat from top.
8. Slice meat thinly, trim fat.
9. Check amount of liquid. If needed, add water to make a decent
   amount of gravy.
10. Thicken liquid with 2 T of Wondra flour. Boil at least 2 mins to
    cook flour
11. Return meat to liquid, heat through.
12. Just before dining, stir in 2 tablespoons ketchup.

Serve with noodles or mashed potatoes to hold up the gravy. Salt at the table. This dish has a very Old World taste that reminds us of winter in our Wisconsin homeland.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 Feb 23 - 12:53 PM

Smoked pork with dry rub. And the cheesesteaks tasted Just Right.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Feb 23 - 08:18 AM

I've just realised that I forgot the garlic on Jan 10 too!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Feb 23 - 08:14 AM

Apropos of my 10 Jan mushroom soup recipe, I've made it several times since. On one occasion I didn't have any stock so I used a stock cube. That soup was very disappointing. I've just made a batch using home-made veg stock. I had a couple of carrots and some celery threatening to go to waste, so I made stock using them, along with a few shallots, a bay leaf and fresh thyme from the garden. The soup is delicious, and it's vegetarian. Had I used olive oil instead of butter it would have been vegan! I completely forgot to add the garlic, and we didn't miss it one bit.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Jan 23 - 11:42 AM

Aw really? No answer to my alfredo question either. I think the thread is too long, again.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Jan 23 - 03:25 PM

Ok bbq party questions:

A) Sauces
I usually make mine hot, sweet and sour. Think brown sugar vinegar hot pepper in a tomato base.

Trying new ideas, because keto. So one idea is still tomato based with vinegar and hot pepper, hot and sour but not sweet.

Another idea for the hot-pepper wusses is maybe maple syrup mustard? Garlic honey mustard is a thing, and this one can be sweet, but should look different, unconfusably. I have maple syrup but not honey.

Other ideas? I'd like to make several, like 4.

B) Ribs
I have 2 full racks, d'où 4 sauces desired. The ribs will be pre-par-cooked low slow oven. I am thinking one rack in dry rub and one in pineapple juice? Other ideas?

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Donuel
Date: 13 Jan 23 - 02:56 PM

Anytime we have tuna in any form it is required WHEN we serve it TO YELL SURPRISE!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: leeneia
Date: 13 Jan 23 - 12:54 PM

the other day I discovered that sweet potatoes taste good with mace. I sliced them thinly, stirred the mace into the oil and sauteed them.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Jan 23 - 09:32 PM

I have made a surprising discovery: I don't like bratwurst. I thought I liked all sausage-type stuff but maybe not *this* place's bratwurst... but no. I don't like any of it.

I wonder why.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jan 23 - 05:51 PM

I made a very nice mushroom and spinach soup yesterday which tasted great today. I used about 2 1/2 pints of not too strong chicken stock (home-made).

I fried four chopped banana shallots in butter along with a finely-chopped medium potato. After a few minutes I crumbled in about 400g chestnut mushrooms and added a slug of sherry, the zest of a lemon and a handful of fresh parsley. Once the mushrooms were well softened I added the hot stock, brought it to a simmer and left it for about 15 minutes.

After that I added a whole 200g bag of ready-washed baby spinach, left that to wilt for a few minutes then whizzed the whole lot, leaving it a bit rubbly rather than too smooth. The seasoning was a bit trial and error but I got there in the end. The aim was to have a hearty soup that we could drink from a big mug. It was lovely and we have enough left for two more lunchtimes. A lot of mushroom soup recipes call for cream or milk, but we both felt that the soup was delicious without that. You could easily leave out the sherry.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 Jan 23 - 05:15 PM

Dried oregano is fine, but dried any other herb will find no place in my cupboard. If it isn't fresh, I'd rather leave it out. I have found that I can freeze fresh flat-leaved parsley for a good few months and it's more than satisfactory.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 10 Jan 23 - 11:25 AM

Dried basil tastes less like licorice than fresh. I dislike the licorice flavor, so I prefer dried.

Am going to try a choucroute garnie, which to me means saurkraut in wine with sausages. To be authentically Alsacian I would need juniper berries... so, inauthentic. Faux.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 09:02 AM

You can cut down the herbs and spices if you start with high-quality ingredients. We spent a week in Puglia in southern Italy, ate superb food all week and didn't detect any herbs and spices. Simple grub with best-quality ingredients. The best bruschetta I ever had in my life was at a little café in Lecce. It consisted of lovely local bread, lightly toasted, topped with just extra virgin olive oil and chopped tomatoes. No garlic, no oregano, no basil. When I made my stew I tasted the raw carrots and swede for sweetness. I've been known to ditch whole batches of both if they didn't taste sweet and fresh.

Hope you've all thrown out that nasty little tub of dried basil!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 08:18 AM

Sounds delightful. I don't know if I could make anything without spices, though.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 04:49 AM

I've thought about doing it in the oven, but my big Le Creuset, full to the brim, would be a bit of a menace to keep taking out to check its progress/stir it/add seasoning. My hob is induction and doesn't throw out any sideways heat. The ring is turned down so that I see just a few tiny bubbles on top. In other ways I'm a big fan of slow cooking in the oven. I'll put in a big piece of lamb or pork in the morning, set it to 110°C after an initial hot blast and forget it until teatime...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: BobL
Date: 09 Jan 23 - 03:30 AM

Sounds very much like my Bob-standard beef casserole, the only differences being:
1) Liquid is half a pint or so of beer. Any sort, from pale ale to Guinness, will do.
2) Start off in a slow oven (300°F, 160°C, gas #2), and wind the temperature down as needed to keep the pot just on the point of boiling.

I opine that since water boils at 100°C and isn't going to get any hotter, any additional heat will just be wasted. The only exceptions are pasta, where the movement is needed to keep it from sticking, and of course if you're reducing stuff. I invite discussion.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 08 Jan 23 - 07:09 PM

I've just made a huge batch of Mrs Steve's mum's stew. Tragically, I never met her, as she died of cancer just before I met Mrs Steve 49 years ago.

It's ludicrously simple. The only ingredients are shin of beef, carrots, swede and shallots (or onions). Everything gets chopped up, the meat and spuds into one-inch pieces, the swede into half-inch chunks, the carrots into rounds about half an inch deep and the shallots just sliced however you want them. The whole lot goes into a big pan of water and is simmered for as long as it takes, maybe two and a half hours. No stock, no wine, no spices, no herbs, just salt and pepper.

As for amounts, that's a variable feast. I like to think that the meat, carrots, swede and onions are in roughly equal volumes, but I don't sweat it.

I make it the day before, reboil it on the first day, portion it out into the required number of days (I make enough for three days for the two of us, which means about 1.25 kilos of meat) and put today's lot into a big pan. That gets heated through, and when it's bubbling away I put in some dumplings for twenty minutes.

Dumplings: 100g self-raising flour, 50g shredded beef suet (Atora this end), a pinch of salt and enough water to make a fairly stiff but not too dry dough. That can be rolled into six or eight dumplings that are just floated on top of the stew.

We tend to serve this on top of a few extra boiled spuds in great big bowls and eat it in front of the telly. If you're cold when you start to eat it, you'll be bloody hot by the time you've cleared your plate. To me, though I know it's subjective, this is the ultimate winter comfort food. And no cooking for the rest of the week!

Just one thing about the beef: any cut good for slow cooking would be good, I'm sure. We've always gone for shin. I get mine from an online butcher and it needs no further prep. If you buy it from a butcher you may need to remove some tough skin. What look like awful sinewy bits render beautifully after all that long cooking so no need to go mad with the trimming!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 24 Dec 22 - 05:39 PM

Ganache is very forgiving. Tried to make truffles out of the leftovers. Can reheat add cream or choc, recool resolidify rather ad infinitum...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Dec 22 - 06:11 AM

I did correct "braking" but I sent the wrong edit! I'll try to get it eggsactly right next time...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Dec 22 - 06:08 AM

I love eggs in any shape or form (though I prefer to start with ones that are egg-shaped). I suppose we all have our own ways of cooking them. I like soft-boiled eggs mushed up on buttered toast but I love cold hard-boiled ones at picnics. For the mix for an egg sandwich (always called egg butties in our house), I boil them until they still just about have a slightly runny middle, then chop them up painstakingly before mixing generously with mayo. I fry eggs in butter, never anything else. I have a glass lid that fits my small frying pan and I just put in the eggs on a medium heat, put the lid on and leave them to it. No basting required, then I don't waste the butter, using it to fry a slice or two of bread whilst keeping the eggs warm. Butter has become astronomically expensive here in the last few weeks.

I cook omelettes on one side only in butter, until there's just a touch of runniness left, then add whatever (cheese usually), fold it over and leave in the pan for a minute. Scrambled, I pour the mix into a nonstick frying pan of hot butter then almost immediately turn the heat off whilst braking everything up with a spatula. They must be very soft and almost runny for me. Half a minute too long and you have rubber shavings, very disappointing.

For omelettes and scrambled, my three golden rules are:

Three eggs per person
Don't overdo the beating
No milk, just salt 'n' pepper

I've been messing about recently trying to get nice poached eggs. I use a non-stick frying pan with water at least an inch deep that is just gently simmering. No salt, no vinegar, none of that daft swirling of the water. I just slide in the eggs one at a time. I found I can do three at the same time, though I tweak the heat to keep the simmer going. It's hard to know exactly when they're done but two or three minutes seems about right. I then put them on a sheet of kitchen towel on a warm plate to dry them a bit so that they don't make my toast soggy.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: leeneia
Date: 21 Dec 22 - 01:41 AM

Just a menu idea. It's good and cold, and I wanted something rich and warm for dinner, so I made turkey mole in the slow cooker, made cornbread (Jiffy mix) and let the DH make a nice salad. I always like a little sour cream with a dish like this.

Perfect to eat when a cold wind buffets the house.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 22 - 05:38 PM

This recipe thread is beginning to be quite long on its own.

Over the last few days I've had a couple of disappointments in the baking department. I was converting a bread (it's actually almost a batter) from the old recipe with egg beater and bowl to one that would work in a bread machine (through the kneading, then shape into small loaves and bake) but one of the three batches was a blob. And it took two tries to get the spritz (that are made with a cookie press) to come out right. I am pretty sure it was operator error, but I've made these so often over the years it's hard to conceive what I could have done that would literally render both of them trash-worthy.

The rest of the baking was good and I'll be distributing small bags to friends and neighbors of a mix of these things each wrapped in waxed paper.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 Nov 22 - 08:37 PM

Hmm second try at Alfredo and the same thing happened... It smelled like Alfredo (1, 2, 3, where's-your-breakfast) but the cheese insisted on turning into its own blob and never unified with the butter. What am I doing wrong?

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Nov 22 - 12:35 PM

A good thing to do is scoop out the middles and mix it with some good cheddar cheese and bits of crispy bacon. Stuff it all back in the skins and put it back in the oven for 15 minutes. Or you could mix it with blue cheese such as Gorgonzola and some shredded smoked mackerel, then back in the oven for a bit. Don't do what some abject Brits do and dump a tin of baked beans over the spuds. A horrible waste of a decent potato is that. Though baked beans on the side of the stuffed spuds isn't the worst thing you can do.