His parents coming for dinner..help

dezzyd

Mods: Please move if this has come up before..
Ok, OH parents are coming for dinner, they are very "traditional" eaters, meat, two veg kind of people, whereas I myself am into mexican, indian etc etc. Anyway, how the hell do you cook cabbage As in bacon and cabbage? Do ya just boil in water till soft or should it be crunchy or what?? (I have never had cabbage myself obviously) Thanks, appreciate any advice!

MagicMarker

Why are you cooking it if you don't know how/have never had it yourself?

Cabbage & bacon is feckin' rotten anyway.

Cook whatever you want, tis your house.

jd

Steak would be easy if they are traditional. Or roast stuffed loin of pork is straightforward as well!

cazzycaz

Maybe they would love something a bit different!! Surprise them!:D

who what when

Lamb!!

You cant go wrong with lamb!

jam_mac_jam

Dont cook bacon and cabbage, have a nice roast chicken or beef with roast veg and potatos if you have to do something traditional at least have something nice. There are some lovely ways to do roast chicken, garlic cloves herbs and a lemon up its ass.

dezzyd

jd wrote: »

Steak would be easy if they are traditional. Or roast stuffed loin of pork is straightforward as well!

Thanks JD, fryed steak? Would sirloin be best for that?

boodlesdoodles

If I were you I'd do a traditional roast dinner like roast beef or chicken with the usual trimmings. Do something you're confident with. You can't beat a chicken and as its summer time serve it with potato salad, coleslaw etc. The secret when having people over for dinner for the first time is to do something you're comfortable with. So for instance, it might mean you cool down your curries completely. I recently did food for a communion and I just said it was a chicken curry rather than Chicken Makhani because I knew if I said it was Indian food a lot of them would have turned their noses up at it. They were like savages eating it! Lol!

dezzyd

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Dont cook bacon and cabbage, have a nice roast chicken or beef with roast veg and potatos if you have to do something traditional at least have something nice. There are some lovely ways to do roast chicken, garlic cloves herbs and a lemon up its ass.

Lemon up its ass Would you just put garlic cloves in the roasting tin with the chicken?

jam_mac_jam

dezzyd wrote: »

Lemon up its ass Would you just put garlic cloves in the roasting tin with the chicken?

Trust me, it feels very wrong when you do it but so tasty, half the lemon first. Peel garlic cloves roast whole it wtih the chicken. Little bit of butter or olive oil on the skin and then rub and herbs on top, salt & black pepper. yum

boodlesdoodles

Gotta agree with jam on the lemon and garlic. Also if you gently tease the skin away from the breast and squish some soft butter directly under the skin helps to increase the crispiness! I'm drooling now

dezzyd

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

Trust me, it feels very wrong when you do it but so tasty, half the lemon first. Peel garlic cloves roast whole it wtih the chicken. Little bit of butter or olive oil on the skin and then rub and herbs on top, salt & black pepper. yum

Thanks jam, and other posters, glad I posted this - was never a fan of bacon/cabbage in first place - have some ideas now though!

dezzyd

boodlesdoodles wrote: »

Gotta agree with jam on the lemon and garlic. Also if you gently tease the skin away from the breast and squish some soft butter directly under the skin helps to increase the crispiness! I'm drooling now

Oh am looking forward to putting the lemon up its ass :eek: Thanks for the tip boodles, love crispiness!! Sorry now, but...roast or mashed potatoes?

boodlesdoodles

dezzyd wrote: »

Oh am looking forward to putting the lemon up its ass :eek: Thanks for the tip boodles, love crispiness!! Sorry now, but...roast or mashed potatoes?

Always roast potatoes! Goose or duck fat make for lovely roasties but I usually use olive oil. Lately as I've been doing Weight Watchers, I have used the no-cal spray and the spuds come out just as nice as if I'd used oil.

jam_mac_jam

dezzyd wrote: »

Oh am looking forward to putting the lemon up its ass :eek: Thanks for the tip boodles, love crispiness!! Sorry now, but...roast or mashed potatoes?

must be roast. boil them first for about 10 mins drain the water and put a lid on and bash them off each other, not enough to break them but it makes them more crispy. drop them in very very hot oil, i use olive other people would swear by goose or duck fat, make sure its hot though and let roast

dezzyd

boodlesdoodles wrote: »

Always roast potatoes! Goose or duck fat make for lovely roasties but I usually use olive oil. Lately as I've been doing Weight Watchers, I have used the no-cal spray and the spuds come out just as nice as if I'd used oil.

Cheers boodles, love the roasties myself. Is goose fat in most supermarkets?

Drake66

What is all this about bacon and cabbage being rotten?

It is actually a stellar dish if done right. It is also very easy to prepare. Whip out the old pressure cooker. Bring it to the boil. Bacon joint in (I like to work whiskey mustard into it). Lock it up and cook for an hour and 20 or depending on the size. Whip out the steamer (or you can just do it in the pot). Tear the cabbage leaves into it. Throw a few ladle fulls of the cooking broth from the bacon into the pot. Steam for 5 or so minutes until the leaves are nice and soft but still have a little crunch. Season it and add some butter. Carve the meat and serve with well seasoned creamy mash.

Bacon and cabbage done. A very tasty dish

dezzyd

Drake66 wrote: »

What is all this about bacon and cabbage being rotten?

It is actually a stellar dish if done right. It is also very easy to prepare. Whip out the old pressure cooker. Bring it to the boil. Bacon joint in (I like to work whiskey mustard into it). Lock it up and cook for an hour and 20 or depending on the size. Whip out the steamer (or you can just do it in the pot). Tear the cabbage leaves into it. Throw a few ladle fulls of the cooking broth from the bacon into the pot. Steam for 5 or so minutes until the leaves are nice and soft but still have a little crunch. Season it and add some butter. Carve the meat and serve with well seasoned creamy mash.

Bacon and cabbage done. A very tasty dish

Jaysus... Whiskey mustard! Your talking to a novice here Thank you Drake, never done bacon/cabbage myself, now I know how! Except for whiskey mustard..

boodlesdoodles

dezzyd wrote: »

Cheers boodles, love the roasties myself. Is goose fat in most supermarkets?

Yeah a lot of the shops seem to do goose fat now. I've seen it here in Limerick in Dunnes, Supervalu and Tesco. Great thing about it is that it returns to solid form so you actually can use it over and over again for about 3 or 4 months or until it smells off.

You'll be grand and for basic food recipes I swear by Delia Smith's complete cookery book. It got me through my first big Christmas and its covered in food stains so it shows how much I've used it. I would recommend it to any novice cook for the basics.

dezzyd

boodlesdoodles wrote: »

Yeah a lot of the shops seem to do goose fat now. I've seen it here in Limerick in Dunnes, Supervalu and Tesco. Great thing about it is that it returns to solid form so you actually can use it over and over again for about 3 or 4 months or until it smells off.

You'll be grand and for basic food recipes I swear by Delia Smith's complete cookery book. It got me through my first big Christmas and its covered in food stains so it shows how much I've used it. I would recommend it to any novice cook for the basics.

Thanks for that boodles, I am just starting off so appreciate any advice!! Am nervous of in laws coming around but am glad of posters ideas

No1XtinaFan

I love bacon and cabbage!

Ponster

Or if you can't be bothered but are looking for the same taste do as I did yesterday.

Mashed spuds + steamed cabbage (or cook cabbage in the potato water) + lardons are mixed together. It's Colcannon-like I suppose.

The left overs can then be made into potato cakes the next morning



To answer the OP, in times of need a good roast chicken is the perfect meal. Yes, you can do things to the skin and stuff it with things but you don't have to if you spend the money on a good bird, dab a little butter/olive oil on it and roast.