The General Chat Thread

Dial Hard

Gloomtastic! wrote:

Risotto?

Yeah, risotto might be a good shout with all that starch.

Mushrooms are an absolute no go, sorry, they were in the dinner that made a return engagement last night so I think I'll be avoiding them for a while.

otnomart

I would make: Cesar's Salad with warm grilled chicken and bacon

Gloomtastic!

otnomart wrote: »

I would make: Cesar's Salad with warm grilled chicken and bacon

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about my other go-to recipe for leftover chicken.

Dial Hard

I didn't cook anything in the end. Had half a bag of chipper chips and felt like a new woman after them! Is there anything starchy, salty carbs can't do?

kylith

Crustless quiche containing broccoli, mange tout, spinach, asparagus, sundried tomato, and some spuds. and very nice it was.

kylith

Ha, just realised I put my last post in completely the wrong thread

I spent hours yesterday simmering a tomato sauce. Just a basic one with onions and garlic that I can lob in the freezer and use for bolognese or shakshuka but it was delicious. I went to bag it up today and.... my hand slipped. Half of it went all over my legs, my feet, the floor... I could have cried.

Dizzyblonde

I did that once with a huge tub of soup I'd made, pressed too hard on the lid and it all shot off the counter and went everywhere. I wanted to run away

Cedrus

I did it with a pressure cooker full of hot stew that I hadn't vented properly, it was like a volcano, extremely lucky I wasn't scalded.
Took hours to clean the cooker and kitchen though.

cefh17

Cedrus wrote: »

I did it with a pressure cooker full of hot stew that I hadn't vented properly, it was like a volcano, extremely lucky I wasn't scalded.
Took hours to clean the cooker and kitchen though.

I did that before with means, had vented it but twisted it too much so it spat black bean cooking liquid on the cream walls.

BaZmO*

Not as bad as this genius!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bITUjh6pWkc

Faith

I got some curried lentils from Aldi over the summer. Popped them in the microwave at work and stupidly grabbed them by the top when taking them out. Steam shot out and startled me so I dropped the container. Spilled all down my leg, shoes and all over the floor. Not only did they burn the living shîte out of my legs (I still have a bright red welt on one) but it looked like I’d puked all over the kitchen

Whispered

I did it with pea soup in a blender. All over the kitchen about an hour before new tenants were due to view the house.

New Home

Ditto with a large, large pot of soup, one of the handles broke off. The soup even ended up on the ironing board. The cat helped clean up a bit...

Shenshen

I think I posted that in the kitchen disasters thread - I tried to make a smoothie and hadn't realised that the bottom bit (with the blades) was detachable and screwed in. I must have twisted it while cleaning the whole thing together, so when I tried taking the blender out of the socket, it detached and the smoothie spread all over the food processor and the worktop. No smoothie for me, but lots of cleaning.

I made a huge pot of madras curry for the family using the recipe from Curry Addict here on boards. Took me hours to make, the base for the thing alone is 2 hours. The recipe calls for making individual curries for each person but I was doing a huge batch of one type so it was all in the one pot.

I toned down the spiciness a bit, as I felt it was easier to make it spicier if required towards the end. Sure enough, it needed an extra kick. I used my glass, dried chili grinder that I got in Lidl to add a little heat and the whole thing shattered in my hand and fell into the pot.

No clean up but the heartbreak was 10 times worse as I had to bin it. I was nearly crying into my takeaway as I was eating it.

B0jangles

Deleted User wrote: »

I made a huge pot of madras curry for the family using the recipe from Curry Addict here on boards. Took me hours to make, the base for the thing alone is 2 hours. The recipe calls for making individual curries for each person but I was doing a huge batch of one type so it was all in the one pot.

I toned down the spiciness a bit, as I felt it was easier to make it spicier if required towards the end. Sure enough, it needed an extra kick. I used my glass, dried chili grinder that I got in Lidl to add a little heat and the whole thing shattered in my hand and fell into the pot.

No clean up but the heartbreak was 10 times worse as I had to bin it. I was nearly crying into my takeaway as I was eating it.

Oh god... I've made curry base a few times myself- that is a true culinary tragedy

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Has anyone heard of the Zwilling brand of kitchen/oven ware? Supervalu are doing an offer at the moment with their Valu Club card where you get tokens and trade them in for money off these Zwilling things. I'm just wondering what kind of quality they are?

BaZmO*

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Has anyone heard of the Zwilling brand of kitchen/oven ware? Supervalu are doing an offer at the moment with their Valu Club card where you get tokens and trade them in for money off these Zwilling things. I'm just wondering what kind of quality they are?

As far as I know they’re decent quality. They have a shop out in Kildare Village and even though it’s an outlet their stuff is still expensive enough so I’ve always assumed that they’re a quality brand. Can’t say I’ve ever owned any of their products though.

https://www.kildarevillage.com/en/shopping/brands/zwilling/

Shenshen

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Has anyone heard of the Zwilling brand of kitchen/oven ware? Supervalu are doing an offer at the moment with their Valu Club card where you get tokens and trade them in for money off these Zwilling things. I'm just wondering what kind of quality they are?

I know them as top-quality brand for kitchen knives from Germany.
No idea what items Supervalu are offering, but if they are knives I would absolutely recommend them.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Shenshen wrote: »

I know them as top-quality brand for kitchen knives from Germany.
No idea what items Supervalu are offering, but if they are knives I would absolutely recommend them.

Not knives. There's a few different sized bowls, a 3.5L casserole dish, a roasting dish, a pie dish, a salt & pepper grinder, and a griddle pan. Think that's it. I'm eyeing up the big casserole dish. They stock them in Arnotts and they're fairly pricey so I'm assuming they're decent enough.

oscarBravo

We've been slowly building a collection of Zwilling kitchen knives, and they're a joy to use. Lovely ergonomic handles and steel that holds a really good edge.

If the rest of their cookware is a patch on their knives, it will be top notch.

igCorcaigh

Got some of the Cully & Scully veg & chicken soup tonight, just to have something to eat.

Added fried onions, chicken, chilli, cumin, fresh fenugreek and coriander leaves, was out of turmeric.

It made it really good!

Bit I'm thinking the soup would make a great base for a curry.

The fresh fenugreek leaves were worth checking out though, as are fresh curry leaves. Pure random find.

rubadub

Saw this on facebook, pure mank. Was out last year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRN9hJXUtwU

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/glitter-gravy-london-pub-fox-under-the-hill-christmas-dinner-a8111026.html

Christmas is undeniably a time for sparkle and huge roast dinners, and because this is 2017 someone has decided to combine the two.

Yes, glitter gravy is now a thing.

At The Fox Under the Hill pub in South-East London, diners are being offered the opportunity to “upgrade” their roast dinners throughout December with sparkly gravy.

Because who wouldn’t want glittery turkey?

Traditional gravy infused with sparkly edible glitter, it’s on offer as a side with a selection of the pub’s festive meals, including traditional roast turkey with all the trimmings, butternut and cashew nut roast and Christmas pie.

The pub is part of the Hungry Horse group, who say that if the gravy gets equally sparkling reviews, it may be rolled out across the company’s 292 pubs across the UK.

Ashish Patel, general manager at the Fox Under the Hill, said: “Christmas is one of our favourite times of the year, as it’s the one time we can go all-out on festive decorations, twinkling lights and Christmas cheer!

“We’ve seen some wacky food trends over the years, and our glittery gravy is no exception – it’s the perfect way to spread festive cheer in December.

“We’ve had some great reactions from guests so far as they add a bit of seasonal sparkle to their Christmas meals with our glittering gravy.

“It would be great to see the dish added to all Hungry Horse Christmas menus across the UK!”

Glitter, sequins and sparkle have become the trends of the moment that just won’t die.

We put it on our faces, in our hair and increasingly in our food. But a dusting of glitter on a cupcake is one thing, glittery gravy poured all over your roast is another.

Is glitter actually going to make your roasties, sprouts and pigs in blankets more appealing to eat?

From the video, not everyone’s convinced the gravy looks exactly tasty, but in the Instagram age in which we live, it’ll probably go down a treat. Think of the Boomerang.

Michellenman

Was making a big batch of guacamole for breakfasts this week. Not being able to tell how ripe an avocado is from the outside has got to be the most frustrating thing about guacamole. Both of these came from the same packet, were in the same veg basket and were the same firmness when prodded. Cut em open? One is totally rotten. I’d already diced my onion and tomatoes so my ratio is totally off now arrrgh.

Dizzyblonde

That's so annoying! I'm not good at judging the ripeness of avocados, and only use them occasionally so I find the frozen ones great.

cefh17

Michellenman wrote: »

Was making a big batch of guacamole for breakfasts this week. Not being able to tell how ripe an avocado is from the outside has got to be the most frustrating thing about guacamole. Both of these came from the same packet, were in the same veg basket and were the same firmness when prodded. Cut em open? One is totally rotten. I’d already diced my onion and tomatoes so my ratio is totally off now arrrgh.

I find ALDI always pack (or rather, put on shelves) a ripe one and a rock hard one in those two packs, so annoying if you wanna use more than one at once!

Michellenman

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

That's so annoying! I'm not good at judging the ripeness of avocados, and only use them occasionally so I find the frozen ones great.

I heard they were good for smoothies but wasn’t sure how well they’d defrost to slice or make guacamole, might have to give them ago next time! Do they take long to defrost?

juke

Michellenman wrote: »

I heard they were good for smoothies but wasn’t sure how well they’d defrost to slice or make guacamole, might have to give them ago next time! Do they take long to defrost?

I don't think they'd work so well for guacamole - I find them tasteless and very mushy.

Dizzyblonde

Michellenman wrote: »

I heard they were good for smoothies but wasn’t sure how well they’d defrost to slice or make guacamole, might have to give them ago next time! Do they take long to defrost?

They defrost really quickly. I've made guacamole with them and found them fine, but I don't make it often so probably wouldn't notice the difference between them and fresh ones.

Faith

If you wanted to make a one-pot dish that can be left simmering/in the oven for a good while, and will suit fairly bland tastes, what would you make? I had thought of stew, but you need something carby to go with that.

Whispered

You could put the potatoes in with the stew. Or else cheat and buy some frozen mash so you can do the stew in the oven and 5 mins before serving do the mash. (It's actually probably the handiest thing is the WORLD to have in the freezer and very tasty)

Otherwise a cottage pie might work.
Pasta bake maybe.

New Home

Faith wrote: »

If you wanted to make a one-pot dish that can be left simmering/in the oven for a good while, and will suit fairly bland tastes, what would you make? I had thought of stew, but you need something carby to go with that.

Pasta bake? Lasagne? Sheperd's pie?

EDIT: whoops... too late! Beaten to it.

Maybe a hearty soup, with potatoes, beans, pearled barley and lots of veggies?

Dial Hard

New Home wrote: »

Pasta bake? Lasagne? Sheperd's pie?

They're not one-pot dishes though?

What about a pot roast of some description, Faith?

New Home

Probably not in the sense of throwing all the raw ingredients in at the same time, no. But with a little bit of preparation they do fit the description of "one-pot dish" (e.g. one single oven dish or casserole) "that can be left simmering/in the oven for a good while, and will suit fairly bland tastes".

Dizzyblonde

A stew is probably your best bet - you could have it with crusty bread for a no-cook carb.

Faith

Lovely ideas, thanks!

oscarBravo

As an alternative (or addition) to potatoes in stew, I like dumplings. Self-raising flour, suet, water and salt - add fresh parsley if you like. Drop wee balls of the dough on to the top of the stew half an hour before serving (keep the lid on).

Whispered

That reminds me. I bought "boil in the bag bread dumplings" for a few cent in lidl today. Is there anything nice I could do with them? I don't eat meat so stew is out. I'm totally unfamiliar with them so dunno what they'll be nice with.

New Home

Tomato soup, perhaps? Or veggie bolognese sauce. You could also have them with a clear vegetable stock.

igCorcaigh

Whispered wrote: »

That reminds me. I bought "boil in the bag bread dumplings" for a few cent in lidl today. Is there anything nice I could do with them? I don't eat meat so stew is out. I'm totally unfamiliar with them so dunno what they'll be nice with.

Might be good in a Chinese hotpot.... But, failing that, could you treat them like gnocchi? Simple tomato and basil sauce with grated parmesan?

Whispered

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Might be good in a Chinese hotpot.... But, failing that, could you treat them like gnocchi? Simple tomato and basil sauce with grated parmesan?

Oh a creamy tomato and mascarpone might be nice too.

otnomart

Whispered wrote: »

That reminds me. I bought "boil in the bag bread dumplings" for a few cent in lidl today. Is there anything nice I could do with them? I don't eat meat so stew is out. I'm totally unfamiliar with them so dunno what they'll be nice with.

Butter, sage and grated Parmigiano cheese (like for italian Canederli)

Whispered

I love this forum, so many times I've posted something like this, not having a clue what to do with ingredients and almost every time I've gone from "hmmm I'm not sure I will find a use for this" to "OMG I better go get more of this quickly!"

Thanks a mil, loads of gorgeous sounding ideas.

BaZmO*

I love one pot dishes. It's great to do all the prep, throw it in the pot, clean up and then just wait for everything to be done a few hours later.

I don't know why it's taken me so long to do it but I made whole chicken veg soup over the weekend for the first time and it was amazing. A little more work than "prep & cook" but pretty easy.

Basically simmer a chicken in water for a few hours, take it out and strip all the meat from the carcass, put the meat back into the water (essentially stock), and then add in chopped up veg (onions, celery, carrots) and a bouquet garni (I used whatever was growing in the garden. Then leave to simmer away until veg is tender. I added Orzo pasta (you could also use noodles) towards the end to give it a bit of substance.

So simple but so tasty and wholesome.

For a little more flavour I added in a couple of bay leaves, peppercorns, and a single star anise when boiling the chicken.

tickingclock

I've some cold roast beef left over from dinner on Monday night. We've had sambos already. Any dinner suggestions for it please?

Shenshen

Whispered wrote: »

That reminds me. I bought "boil in the bag bread dumplings" for a few cent in lidl today. Is there anything nice I could do with them? I don't eat meat so stew is out. I'm totally unfamiliar with them so dunno what they'll be nice with.

Would those be from one of their "Alpine week" specials?

If so, the best way to have them is with a mushroom stew. Not sure if you can get your hands on some wild mushrooms, chanterelles work best.
If you can't, a mixture of chestnut mushrooms and maybe some oyster mushrooms would work, too.

My favourite recipe for this is :

Chop or slice the mushrooms. Finely chop an onion and a clove of garlic.
Heat some butter in a pan, add the onion and garlic and fry on medium until the onion starts going transparent. Add the mushrooms and keep frying on a medium heat for another 3 or 4 minutes. Increase the heat for the last minute.

Add a good swig of cognac or brandy. Reduce this down a bit, then add a tub of cream. Let it simmer for at least another 10 minutes on a low heat, to make sure the mushrooms are cooked through and have released flavour to the sauce.
Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle generously with chopped parsley.

New Home

tickingclock wrote: »

I've some cold roast beef left over from dinner on Monday night. We've had sambos already. Any dinner suggestions for it please?

Have it cold with a sauce made by blending mayonnaise, tuna in brine or oil (drained), a couple of capers and a couple of anchovies, a few drops of lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Slice the roast beef as thinly as you can (wafer thin if you have a slicer), lay it flat on a plate or a tray and cover it completely with the sauce (doesn't have to be tol thick). Leave it in the fridge until chilled.

You could also have it with an Italian "green sauce", made with gherkins, capers (the ones in vinegar, not those preserved with salt), spring onions, hard boiled eggs, fresh garlic, green pepper (the vegetable, not the grains), plenty of parsley, oil, good quality white wine vinegar, some white pepper and a tiny pinch of salt, and then either a mashed boiled potato, or fresh breadcrumbs soaked in vinegar and then wrung out. You put all the "solid" ingredients in a blender and blend until they're finely chopped, then whisk in the oil and the vinegar. Sounds like a joke but it's a real thing, and it's very tasty.

The third thing you could do is to slice it, lay it flat in an oven dish, cover it with a decent tomato sauce, chunks of mozzarella (the fresh type, but well drained), and a sprinkle of oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Stick it in the oven until heated through, and until the mozzarella has melted nicely.

the beer revolu

tickingclock wrote: »

I've some cold roast beef left over from dinner on Monday night. We've had sambos already. Any dinner suggestions for it please?

If you have gravy, you could make hash.
Just fry a coarsely chopped onion until just starting to brown a bit, add gravy and diced chunks of beef and heat through.
Serve with mashed potatoes (preferably leftover, fried) and reheated veg.
A favourite Monday dinner from my childhood

igCorcaigh

As is, with potato salad and dressed leaves.

L1011

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

A stew is probably your best bet - you could have it with crusty bread for a no-cook carb.

Read this yesterday and realised I had a stew to re-heat for dinner; went for bread to save time, probably wouldn't have thought of it otherwise.

Today, my partner thought he'd taken out a frozen pasta sauce but its actually the filling of a cottage pie so I've had to boil some spuds up when I wasn't intending to, so they got cooked anyway!