BS: The other recipe thread is too long

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 May 21 - 01:13 PM

I like most herbs and spices in small doses (though the possession of dried basil should be an arrestable offence), but I'm not a fan of cinnamon and if the recipe has it I leave it out. Mrs Steve demurs, but then we never have coriander/cilantro because she says it tastes like washing up liquid. So we're evens.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 May 21 - 01:21 PM

I like cinnamon on toast or porridge.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 May 21 - 02:43 PM

A repeat but, just now on the Beeb, the Hairy Bikers on their Med Adventure were cooking Spanish meatballs or albondigas, with - more to my taste - patatas bravas.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 May 21 - 05:23 PM

I missed that, probably because I was watching Chelsea triumph over Real Madrid. I'll be catching up with that one. The Hairy Bikers are not to be ignored!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 May 21 - 05:55 PM

Agreed - I think they actually met while working behind the camera, but have gone on to do a lot of good stuff in front of it.

We get the gist of the area they are in, some good humour, and the food they prepare certainly looks good.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 05 May 21 - 06:20 PM

Agreed!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 May 21 - 08:54 AM

Details on albondigas?

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 May 21 - 12:03 PM

Without going to google, definitely paprika/pimenton as the key Spanish spice, Mrrzy; but, once Steve looks into it, I'm sure he can give the culinary details better than I...

Mostly vegan, in 2018, I enjoyed patatas bravas, with a glass of sangria, at one of many nice tapas bars in Barcelona. Fried chunky potato chips (I recall the Hairy Bikers boiled them first), again with paprika.

The other dish I enjoyed on that trip was vegetable paella - it always seemed to be second down on restaurant lists, after the seafood option.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Jos
Date: 06 May 21 - 12:22 PM

I googled and found this:

Hairy Bikers Moorish lamb meatballs

Is that the one?

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 May 21 - 12:28 PM

If I were making Spanish tapas-style albondigas I'd use a mixture of beef and pork mince and make them small. I don't use eggs (though a yolk in the mix is unobjectionable) and I definitely wouldn't use breadcrumbs. I'd be inclined to make them quite spicy so I might add a bit of smoked paprika and a pinch of dried chipotle chilli flakes, to taste, as well as salt and pepper to the meat mix. Smoky is good. Make them into small balls as mentioned earlier and brown them for four or five minutes only in hot oil. Set the meatballs aside, leaving the oil in the pan. For the tomato sauce I'd use good-quality canned plum tomatoes (don't buy ones with salt added). Slice a couple of cloves of garlic and sauté them in the meatball pan. Add more oil if needed, which it probably will be. No cheap oil please. To be authentic, use a Spanish extra virgin olive oil. Get the garlic sizzling but don't let it go brown. You could add some chilli flakes too, bearing in mind that you've already spiced up the meatballs. A pinch of dried oregano make evverthang super. Add the tomatoes and some salt and a scant teaspoon of sugar. Break up the tomatoes a bit and let it simmer without the lid on for half an hour or until you see the oil wanting to float. After the first fifteen minutes or so, throw in the meatballs. For a tapas table you could have the meatballs, padron peppers fried in hot oil (I do them outdoors as they spit and smell) then sprinkled with sea salt, some strong blue cabrales cheese and, to start with, a little bowl each of well-chilled salmorejo with some cold crumbled hard-boiled egg yolk and some little slivers of jamon iberico on top. Maybe a bowl of olives and some crusty bread for the cheese. Get your guests in the mood with a bottle of Cava and have a nice Rioja to hand as things get going. Good living is that!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 06 May 21 - 12:30 PM

Oh yes, and some of those big chunky spicy wedges...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 May 21 - 12:39 PM

Certainly the one, Jos, as there is also the patatas bravas on the plate; as ever, Steve's option also seems good and thorough.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 May 21 - 12:45 PM

also, if you'll pardon the pun, I find sangria, along with sherry, can at times be a bit too moorish!!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 06 May 21 - 02:56 PM

Thanks for the meatball advice.

Had some leftover salmon so I made some bacon to go with my omelette, flaked the fish into some spinach wilting in the bacon grease, and added a duck egg in the middle. Ate the bacon while the rest was cooking. I am bad at keeping bacon around.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 08 May 21 - 09:02 AM

Did not finish my salmon thing. Next day did not finish a big salad. Breakfast *next* day was leftover salad with leftover omelet which was somehow better than either dish had been, and both had been yummy...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Jos
Date: 09 May 21 - 05:19 PM

I find that left-over omelette makes a tasty sandwich.
(I have taken to making my omelettes far too big, just so as to have some left over.)

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 May 21 - 05:19 AM

If you want really good eggy leftovers, make frittatas instead. Plenty of variations are possible, and they are often even better eaten cold the next day. Very nice to take for picnics and you have tomorrow's lunch with no effort at all.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Jos
Date: 10 May 21 - 06:06 AM

Yesterday's omelette was a Spanish omelette, so today's left-overs are very like a frittata.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 May 21 - 02:33 PM

I was reading an article from US interpretive naturalists talking about using this invasive (in the US) weed for pesto. It occurs to me that for some of you, this is a native delicacy.

Do nothing about invasive plants

Until recently, ignoring problems in hopes they’ll go away hasn’t served me well. However, a decade-long study done by Cornell University researchers has clearly shown that avoidance is the best way to manage garlic mustard (Allaria petiolata), a pernicious exotic plant. Evidently I’ve been doing a great job in the fight against this aggressive and troublesome invader.

Native to most of Europe and parts of western Asia and northwestern Africa, garlic mustard is in the cabbage and broccoli family (Brassicaceae), and indeed was imported to North America as a culinary herb in the early 1800s. It’s not entirely evil, as it has the spicy tang of mustard with a hint of garlic, and can be used as a base for pesto and sauces, and to flavor salads, soups and other dishes. Unfortunately, eating it has not worked well as a control strategy.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 May 21 - 06:11 PM

It's a benign native here. I don't eat it myself, but I believe that the young leaves are very nice sprinkled in salads. If I want a garlicky hit from a wild plant I'll use the young leaves of ramsons, confusingly often referred to as wild garlic (Allium ursinum). It's at its best right now, but it goes to bed for the summer.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 10 May 21 - 07:13 PM

It's "Alliaria," by the way. It means "like Allium," a reference to its garlicky aroma, not to any relationship with Allium. Allium and Alliaria are wildly unrelated genera.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 May 21 - 10:50 AM

It is interesting how some flavors span species. Like the lemon (citrus fruit) duplicated to a degree in Lemon Balm (mint family) and other plants. Licorice flavor in both ferns and umbels (fennel). Root beer in sassafras and in something else I just read about recently. Chocolate mint plants, or cacao.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 May 21 - 03:56 PM

I've just potted up three nice lemon thyme plants. It's the only thyme I use these days. Brilliant in risottos, brilliant with fish.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Donuel
Date: 11 May 21 - 05:54 PM

If one can not cleanse the pallet with wine the order one eats different flavors is importnt. I can not taste oranges if preceded by licorice.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 May 21 - 06:10 PM

I can't imagine cleansing my palate of licorice by drinking wine. I'll try anything once but I might save my favourite Rioja for something else.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 11 May 21 - 06:25 PM

Star anise also tastes like licorice.

I just bought samphire, I think for the first time in my life, and fried it with tofu and some soya sauce, before placing them on toast - not bad.

I guess I could also add it to my pottages...any other ideas..?

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 May 21 - 08:16 PM

Taking the hint from Jos, I made us a big Spanish omelette tonight. I got the idea from the BBC Good Food website. You need a couple of shallots sliced up, a red pepper chopped up, 500g of unpeeled Jersey Royals sliced a bit thicker than a £2 coin, a good handful of chives and nine eggs.

Boil the sliced spuds in salted water for 15 minutes. Fry the shallots gently in butter for ten minutes (your frying pan needs to be about 10 inches across and needs sloping sides), adding the pepper after three or four minutes. Beat the eggs with the snipped chives and a goodly amount of seasoning. Drain the spuds and put them in with the shallots and pepper. Pour in the egg mix. Keep the ring fairly low. I put a lid over my pan. After ten minutes, put the pan (lid off!) under a hot grill for three minutes. I wrap tinfoil round my pan handle to protect it. Don't forget how hot it might get. Viola!

That made enough for two of us to have a nice big wodge for tea (we had greens with it) and some good eating for lunch (cold) tomorrow. I make a lot of frittatas but I haven't done this before. It was very good, but the slight tweaks needed will be more butter and more seasoning next time. To get things like this right, you really do need to know your pan and your cooker very well, otherwise it'll either take too long to set or you'll burn the bottom, or both. Best to keep the heat fairly low but not too low.

I'm making meatballs tomorrow for two separate feasts in a few days' time. I'll use three pounds of minced steak, a pound of minced pork and about six tablespoons of caramelised onion chutney. Enough for eight portions. That all goes into a bowl with some salt, mixed together and made into balls slightly bigger than bite size and quite a bit smaller than golf balls. Formed gently without squeezing. They open-freeze nicely. To cook them, I'll fry them for about six minutes in extra virgin olive oil to brown them, then throw in two cans of plum tomatoes (best you can get is paramount). I'm adding a bit of salt to that and enough chilli flakes to really spice up the sauce. Get the heat up to simmering and let them bubble gently for about 20 minutes. Right at the end, I'll be tearing a handful of fresh basil leaves in (no fresh? Leave it out, or a sprinkle of dried oregano would be good). That's it, so simple. We have it with home-made oven chips but it also goes well with plain boiled rice or some crusty bread to soak up the lovely sauce. No onion, no garlic, in case you think I'd forgotten.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 May 21 - 09:35 AM

The Spanish omelette was delicious eaten cold. I'll be doing that one again.

We don't cook on Wednesdays. It's been cheese and wine night for us for decades (otherwise it's wine at weekends only). I have a lump of Montagnolo d'affine for tonight, a soft German blue cheese with a delicious grey furry rind, and some Wookey Hole cheddar. I put out little bowls of nutty things such as cashews, pistachios and/or sweet almonds, with some cherry tomatoes, nocellara olives and some Marché-style garlic cloves (you can eat twenty of those without effect - don't ask me how they achieve it). I have a jar of pickled caperberries, which I love, but Mrs Steve isn't so keen. We have a glass of white to start with then it's red the rest of time. I refuse to divulge how long that means... ;-) We've discovered some very nice little sourdough crackers, made by Peter's Yard, great with cheese, though I'm also a fan of Matzo crackers, one ingredient only, white flour, 19 calories per cracker and a superb vehicle for cheese. Mrs Steve is a big fan of Bath Oliver crackers, also made with white flour but soft-baked with no browning on them. I love them too, but they are far more calorific, and I'm currently trying to convince my doc that my weight is heading inexorably downward...

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 12 May 21 - 12:53 PM

Not sure if it's a Wednesday but, from work trips, I know some hotels have meet-the-staff cheese and wine nights, Steve.

Good tip re tinfoil to protect pan handle.

More spice next time with the omelette - I've repeatedly heard Spanish love their paprika..?

And further to the above on samphire: on the negative side, as with some herbs, like rosemary, it can be a tad woodie; but, on the positive side, a slight taste of the sea for vegans.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 May 21 - 05:16 PM

I'll eat samphire but I do have to wonder whether it's less than the sum of its parts. I thought about adding paprika but as it was my first time with that recipe I thought I'd stick to orders this time.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 May 21 - 09:07 AM

Snicker... The Spanish love Hungarian paprika, no?

Having appeased the shade if my Hungarian mom, I can say that I like the Spanish smoked paprika too. But for hot, Hungarian is better, imho.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Charmion
Date: 13 May 21 - 10:31 AM

Sunny and a bit warmer in southwestern Ontario, so it's time to break out the barbecue. I have invited the rest of my bubble to dinner tomorrow, and thus ensured that I will not procrastinate.

Chicken and ribs, with cornbread and a crisp green salad. Rosé is on special at the liquor commission, so we might get a bit squiffy.

If the warmth of the day persists to suppertime, I’ll put the guests to work burning deadfall branches and my husband’s old client files while I finish cooking. Then we can toast marshmallows over the coals for dessert.

After more than a year of pandemic restriction, we are easily amused.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Donuel
Date: 13 May 21 - 10:42 AM

There used to be a npr show that challenged a female chef to devise a meal from what was in the fridge and pantry. My great omlette this morning was like the show. Some of her challenges were impossibly difficult.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 21 - 11:05 AM

Lynne Rossetto Kasper. The Splendid Table. That was always a fun game. A caller would name the things in their fridge and pantry and sometimes Lynne suggested something good. Sometimes it was dreadful, but she usually managed a "less is more" dish.

She retired a few years ago. She had a perfect radio voice.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Charmion
Date: 13 May 21 - 12:20 PM

Pantry supper, also known as day-before-payday supper, is less of a challenge if you typically have pasta and a tin of tomatoes in the cupboard and capers, olives and anchovies in the fridge. Puttanesca!

Way too often, Edmund would come home with something strange he bought on the way home from work. "What do you think you could do with this?" I think that's the Iron Chef Challenge.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 13 May 21 - 12:57 PM

Paprika in goulash, Mrrzy?

Or sprinkled on those marshmallows for an extra smokey flavour, Charmion?!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 13 May 21 - 01:02 PM

We call puttanesca whore's spaghetti :-) but, in addition to your list of ingredients, I start by sautéing some garlic and chilli flakes. And no cheese!

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 May 21 - 11:26 PM

Think Outside the Banana. Eat the Peel.

After the British chefs Nadiya Hussain and Nigella Lawson developed recipes using banana skins, the British cooking public is perplexed.

In November, the British cookbook author and food personality Nigella Lawson shocked her nation when she demonstrated a recipe from her latest cookbook, “Cook, Eat, Repeat,” on her BBC television show of the same name. It wasn’t royal family-level scandalous. Still, based on public reaction, you’d think she’d caused a major controversy.

And all because she’d prepared a fragrant dish of cauliflower — and banana peels.

“I certainly didn’t expect newspaper headlines about it!” she said in an email. “It’s hard to overcome the cultural assumptions about what is and is not edible, and to start eating what we have customarily regarded as waste.”

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: BobL
Date: 14 May 21 - 03:07 AM

The skin is mightier than the banana.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 May 21 - 06:41 AM

I'll swear that as a teenager I read somewhere that you can dry banana skins and smoke them and they're even better than pot...

Don't try this at home! :-)

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 May 21 - 11:32 AM

An urban myth long-since debunked. https://theuijunkie.com/smoking-banana/

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 May 21 - 12:37 PM

From a reliable source (TV programme on Kew Gardens), I learnt yesterday that the banana plant is a herb.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 May 21 - 03:44 PM

Heheh. I love that photo of an old lady trying to light a banana :-). Banana plants are botanically herbs simply because they're non-woody. Not suitable for sprinkling on your pasta dishes... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 14 May 21 - 04:03 PM

...although in Ethiopia, ensete is a staple.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 May 21 - 04:33 PM

Bananas are herbs *and* berries, I just found out. I had known they were an herb.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 May 21 - 04:10 AM

The meatballs with caramelised chutney that I mentioned a couple of days ago were a big success last night. I should have said that the amount of tomatoes I mentioned was for four people, not all eight! They are SO simple, just meat, the chutney and salt. No mucking about with onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg... The fewer ingredients, the less chance of messing up. By the way, Mrrzy, I formed them with gentle rolling in the palms, no squeezing, and not a single one fell to pieces in the sauce, and their texture was perfect.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: Mrrzy
Date: 15 May 21 - 09:51 AM

I will try that next time.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 May 21 - 10:45 AM

I've never tried currywurst, but heard it is basically just adding curry powder, instead of mustard, to ketchup as a sausage dressing.

I have both in the kitchen so gave it a go - not a bad combination, one feels.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 May 21 - 10:49 AM

I have never tried German mustard, either, but apparently it is quite sweet; I have however tried English, French and American and, on this occasion, I prefer the latter.

Subject: RE: BS: The other recipe thread is too long
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 15 May 21 - 12:14 PM

...but, as I say, not sure if German is wurst..?