The General Chat Thread

RacoonQueen

B0jangles wrote: »

Like biscoff cookie spread? It's usually in dealz, but it's only a dinky little jar for 1.50.

Had never seen it in there before! Nabbed 4 jars today. Actually works out cheaper as dunnes always charged 3.99 for a 400g jar but 200g jar is 1.50 in dealz.

Penn

What's the best way to break up mince? I make chilli in the slow cooker and usually brown the mince in a pan first, but no matter how much I try split the mince up half of it ends up in clumps by the time it's browned. What's the best way to get it to a proper chilli consistency?

Graces7

Penn wrote: »

What's the best way to break up mince? I make chilli in the slow cooker and usually brown the mince in a pan first, but no matter how much I try split the mince up half of it ends up in clumps by the time it's browned. What's the best way to get it to a proper chilli consistency?

Needs to done before cooking; ie "mash" it.. wrong word; use a fork and separate it all when raw then brown it keeping it moving and apart

Graces7

Anyone else eating home grown garden produce? Just started here and enjoying greens from broccoli and the first of the kale. All else is late out here but peas podding etc

BaZmO*

Penn wrote: »

What's the best way to break up mince? I make chilli in the slow cooker and usually brown the mince in a pan first, but no matter how much I try split the mince up half of it ends up in clumps by the time it's browned. What's the best way to get it to a proper chilli consistency?

If there is a better way other than just good ol elbow grease I'd love to know too!

Penn

Graces7 wrote: »

Needs to done before cooking; ie "mash" it.. wrong word; use a fork and separate it all when raw then brown it keeping it moving and apart

Yeah that makes sense I suppose. I was afraid I'd be mashing it into clumps myself by doing that as normally it seems to separate a bit easier while it's cooking, hence why I do it while frying. But I guess if you hammer the sh*te out of it both before and during cooking it might break apart easier. I'll give it a try anyway. Cheers!

rubadub

Penn wrote: »

What's the best way to break up mince? I make chilli in the slow cooker and usually brown the mince in a pan first, but no matter how much I try split the mince up half of it ends up in clumps by the time it's browned. What's the best way to get it to a proper chilli consistency?

supermarket mince is usually not all mashed together. I tank the lid off and ruffle it apart with 2 forks.

I think butchers tend to mash it a bit to reduce air contact, as it can go brown fast, while the supermarkets are usually flushing the packet with inert gas. A butcher might mince it freshly for you and leave it all loosely separated.

Kat1170

Also don't overload the pan, easier to sperate it if done in smaller batches. Shouldn't take much longer as the smaller amounts fry off easier.

Dizzyblonde

I find a wooden spatula works best for breaking up mince. Once it starts to brown I chop through it and keep going until it's all browned and in fine crumbs. If you're not using a non-stick pan you could use a pastry masher, that might be quicker.

Graces7

starting to enjoy eating from my garden; out here in the wild atlantic we are way behind others...

Salads are getting interesting; adding nasturtium flowers and baby leaves.... and greens are the leaves of long gone broccoli and the new season kale that will cut all year now.
Peas are podding and always lovely eaten raw straight from the pod while standing in the sunshine...

Graces7

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I find a wooden spatula works best for breaking up mince. Once it starts to brown I chop through it and keep going until it's all browned and in fine crumbs. If you're not using a non-stick pan you could use a pastry masher, that might be quicker.

Now THAT is what I call a MASHER! WOW!

beertons

Thinking out loud to myself, opinions please.

Doing a butterfly leg of lamb on bbq. Have all the spices ready, paprika, cayenne, ginger, garlic, coriander, Garamond masala. Plan was to make a few cuts, mix butter and oil with the herbs and rub it into lamb. Does this sound right, or would I be better to swap the butter oil mix with natural yougart?

The Hill Billy

I'd use those spices as a dry rub for the lamb & leave out the butter/oil or yoghurt. Best if you could marinate the lamb in the rub overnight.

beertons

The Hill Billy wrote: »

I'd use those spices as a dry rub for the lamb & leave out the butter/oil or yoghurt. Best if you could marinate the lamb in the rub overnight.

Done. Thanks very much HB.

rubadub

I have been watching a lot of food videos on youtube at high speed. I'm not sure if youtube have changed something but they do not sound too much like chipmunks and the video is not choppy. When half way through some I even forget I have increased the speed. I think they might have some effect to stop it sounding speeded up.

Some videos are infuriatingly slow so this does not only let me watch more in the same time but I do not get as annoyed saying to the screen "c'mon get on with it!"

Maybe they go slow to elongate it for more money, or maybe non english speakers. That video with the cats posted in another thread is still too slow at 2x speed! You can select 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 and 2x speed.

Cedrus

beertons wrote: »

Thinking out loud to myself, opinions please.

Doing a butterfly leg of lamb on bbq. Have all the spices ready, paprika, cayenne, ginger, garlic, coriander, Garamond masala. Plan was to make a few cuts, mix butter and oil with the herbs and rub it into lamb. Does this sound right, or would I be better to swap the butter oil mix with natural yougart?

Too late for this leg, but I find yogurt excellent for BBQ marinades, it gives the meat a chance to cook before it starts burning. I only use charcoal though. a gas grill might be more controllable.
On charcoal, butter is a disaster, just an accelerant,

Cedrus

rubadub wrote: »

I have been watching a lot of food videos on youtube at high speed. I'm not sure if youtube have changed something but they do not sound too much like chipmunks and the video is not choppy. When half way through some I even forget I have increased the speed. I think they might have some effect to stop it sounding speeded up.

Some videos are infuriatingly slow so this does not only let me watch more in the same time but I do not get as annoyed saying to the screen "c'mon get on with it!"

Maybe they go slow to elongate it for more money, or maybe non english speakers. That video with the cats posted in another thread is still too slow at 2x speed! You can select 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 and 2x speed.

You are probably right about the monetisation aspect, obviously they can get more ad breaks in if they extend it. There has to be a golden rule of advertising but it's fairly haphazard, some long vids have 6 ads and some have only one.

I really enjoy watching "Americans abroad" vlogs, for a nation so infamously inward looking, their views, surprise and delight in exploring the world can be fabulous, but God do they waffle "you said that five times already, get a shuffle on FFS"

Tom1991

Anyone found jars of various tomato based pasta sauces gone downhill over the past few months.

From own brands to the big brands the jars of sauce seem to be flavourless across the board.Aldi especially as they used to do a lovely tomato and chilli one which was handy.
Dunnes own brand tomato and chilli was great value for a long time but since the label changed and it’s in a bigger jar it just doesn’t seem the same.
I know I can always just get a tin of tomatoes and make my own but was always nice to have a jar for when we were in a pinch!
Best I can find flavour wise is the ballymaloe pasta sauces but while they have great flavour I find them very thin and watery consistency wise.At 3.50 a pop aswell it ain’t cheap either.

New Home

It depends on when they were produced/canned. There's a massive difference between summertime tomatoes (or tomatoes that have ripened outdoors) and greenhouse, out-of-season tomatoes. Try "Mutti", they are expensive but they're the best around, IMO.

Markcheese

New Home wrote: »

It depends on when they were produced/canned. There's a massive difference between summertime tomatoes (or tomatoes that have ripened outdoors) and greenhouse, out-of-season tomatoes. Try "Mutti", they are expensive but they're the best around, IMO.

Got a bottle of mutti ketchup recently... Really thick tomatoey... Its almost gone... 😀

Markcheese

New Home wrote: »

It depends on when they were produced/canned. There's a massive difference between summertime tomatoes (or tomatoes that have ripened outdoors) and greenhouse, out-of-season tomatoes. Try "Mutti", they are expensive but they're the best around, IMO.

Got a bottle of mutti ketchup recently... Really thick tomatoey... Its almost gone... 😀

New Home

Didn't even know they made ketchup... they have peeled tomatoes, peeled "datterini" tomatoes (like cherry tomatoes but shaped more like dates), concentrated tomato puree, and different kinds of passata. IIRC, they also have sauces. Pricey enough, but to me the difference is unbelievable.

igCorcaigh

Gochujang, the Korean chilli paste.

Just recently discovered this, and I'm liking it.
I don't find it particularly hot, but very pungent from the fermented soy bean. Salty and unami.

I'm going to try it tomorrow with stir fried cabbage and eggs.

I also found it really good in tomato pasta sauce! I know, broken a food rule, but after someone recommend putting fish sauce in tomato sauce, I'm feeling a bit reckless...

Have you tried Gochujang?
Any recommended uses?

igCorcaigh

New Home wrote: »

Didn't even know they made ketchup... they have peeled tomatoes, peeled "datterini" tomatoes (like cherry tomatoes but shaped more like dates), concentrated tomato puree, and different kinds of passata. IIRC, they also have sauces. Pricey enough, but to me the difference is unbelievable.

Mutti are the best!
Didn't realise they made ketchup...

RacoonQueen

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Had never seen it in there before! Nabbed 4 jars today. Actually works out cheaper as dunnes always charged 3.99 for a 400g jar but 200g jar is 1.50 in dealz.

The problem with small jars...I can set one aside for eating with a spoon and use others for baking. When using big jars I just keep them for baking.

Problem or positive. Depends on how many spoonfuls I eat. :pac:

Kat1170

Where can one procure this Mutti ketchup.

igCorcaigh

Tom1991 wrote: »

Anyone found jars of various tomato based pasta sauces gone downhill over the past few months.

I generally make my own tomato pasta sauce from canned tomatoes. Just needs a long time to simmer down. Don't like the jarred sauces at all!

Try it with butter and onion.

https://food52.com/recipes/13722-marcella-hazan-s-tomato-sauce-with-onion-butter

RasTa

This just popped up on my twitter. Haven't ever thought about making a banana sandwich in years but used to love them as a kid with the cheap white bread.

New Home

That's all kinds of "No" to me. It just tastes "green".

Gloomtastic!

RasTa wrote: »

This just popped up on my twitter. Haven't ever thought about making a banana sandwich in years but used to love them as a kid with the cheap white bread.

Blast from decades past! I seem to remember loads of sugar being added to our banana sandwiches. Not sure the kids today would eat them so willingly.