The General Chat Thread

homemadecider

I am finally back in Ireland, all sorts of married and honeymooned! We spent 3 weeks in Jamaica and then a few nights in Toronto on the way home. I have loads of food photos - will go through them this week and post some. I can safely say my new favourite foods are lobster and jerk chicken. I ate them until they were coming out of my ears.

Trying to catch up on all things Boards now - there's a lot to see! Your Xmas dinners look amazing.

Bonus non-food pic... I met Jamaican Santa on Christmas day!

Dizzyblonde

Congratulations and welcome back!

IvyTheTerrible

Congrats!

Lingua Franca

Congratulations, that must have been the trip of a lifetime!

Mrs Fox

Congratulations and welcome back homemadecider. Can't wait to see photos.

Dizzyblonde

heldel00 wrote: »

https://www.facebook.com/Independent.ie/photos/a.397665663469.175401.96796398469/10153021952058470/?type=1
There's obv a market out there for the good ol crisp sammidge! Imagine the tourists tryin to get their head around that! "Oh gee you irish are crazy!"

Someone was thinking along the same lines. A crisp sandwich café has opened in Belfast


https://www.facebook.com/98fm/photos/a.247863692584.135688.70730467584/10152744016587585/?type=1&theater

Mrs Fox

^^^ extra 50p to have your crust taken out?

Dizzyblonde

Mrs Fox wrote: »

^^^ extra 50p to have your crust taken out?

:eek: I'll cut it off myself thank you.

eisenberg1

Mrs Fox wrote: »

^^^ extra 50p to have your crust taken out?

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

:eek: I'll cut it off myself thank you.

They can fcuk right off:(

BaZmO*

£3.95?! :eek:

I think I'd rather go into a deli and get 2 slices of buttered bread and then buy a package of crips meself.

MissFlitworth

I think that crisp sandwich shop photo is crisp sandwich shop photoshopped. Just with the 'bagel & lox' on the menu & the loaves of bread as big as yer man's head. I could be wrong though but hopefully the prices & truly bizarre crust fee are the figment of the 'graphics persons' imagination

Faith

MissFlitworth wrote: »

I think that crisp sandwich shop photo is crisp sandwich shop photoshopped. Just with the 'bagel & lox' on the menu & the loaves of bread as big as yer man's head. I could be wrong though but hopefully the prices & truly bizarre crust fee are the figment of the 'graphics persons' imagination

Seems quite possible, as this was posted on Twitter:

Dizzyblonde

£3.95 is a bit steep!

Faith

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

£3.95 is a bit steep!

Is it though, when it's served with soup and chips? Looks like a decent feed:

MissFlitworth

I'm having a crisp sandwich for lunch tomorrow. TWO crisp sandwiches January be damned.

heldel00

^^^ Hon ya mad yoke ya!!! I might actually join ya! Two fingers to you January!

Gloomtastic!

Sold out by 2pm! Fair dues to them......

http://www.thejournal.ie/belfast-crisp-sandwich-cafe-1878538-Jan2015/

MissFlitworth

I'm hoping the option to add 'sauce' to your crisp sandwich is fake in the 98fm photoshopped looking photo. I'm imagining brown or ketchup and I'm getting the serious texture squicks

the beer revolu

Called around to my folks yesterday.
Found my 88 year old dad (who was extremely unwell, incapacitated, confused and off his food in early December) preparing homemade chicken Kiev for their evening diner!

Bought breadcrumbs, though.
Slipping standards!

The Hill Billy

Happy days, tbr!

kylith

Why would you want chips with a crisp sambo? "Hi, I'd like some carbs and fat with my carbs and fat please".


I told my brother to marry his now wife on the basis of her crisp sandwich - she'd had a Meanie blaa for breakfast the first time I met her and I told him she was a keeper.

Loire

Hi all,

Picked up the free Tesco magazine the other day and it's really good for a freebie. Lots of interesting dishes in.

Loire.

Toto Wolfcastle

kylith wrote: »

"Hi, I'd like some carbs and fat with my carbs and fat please".

Sounds awesome. I think that might be my motto from now on.

MissFlitworth

Loire wrote: »

Picked up the free Tesco magazine the other day and it's really good for a freebie. Lots of interesting dishes in.

I shall pick this up on my lunchtime stroll today!

Loire

MissFlitworth wrote: »

I shall pick this up on my lunchtime stroll today!

it's surprisingly good to be honest & gives cost and calorie info per portion.

Dizzyblonde

Faith wrote: »

Is it though, when it's served with soup and chips? Looks like a decent feed:

Lol, I thought it was just for the sandwich

Gloomtastic!

Nisbets have 11" pizza trays for a little over €4 inc. VAT with free delivery at the moment!

https://www.nisbets.ie/Tempered-Pizza-Pan-8mm-x-270mm/F007/ProductDetail.raction

Tilly

I'm on a detox this week and trying to stay away from this forum

Loire

Tilly wrote: »

I'm on a detox this week and trying to stay away from this forum

Safe yourself the bother!

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/05/detox-myth-health-diet-science-ignorance

Loire.

Tilly

Loire wrote: »

Safe yourself the bother!

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/05/detox-myth-health-diet-science-ignorance

Loire.

Oh i'm not drinking any of that green shíte or doing anything like that. Just cut out dairy, wheat and any of the other good stuff for 5 days. It's just to get me used to eating clean again.

The Hill Billy

In bed right now, relaxing after a crazy week of packing, cleaning & paperwork for the move home.

Mrs Billy is downstairs preparing a steak & kidney pie as a treat for my homecoming dinner. The smell is amazing. Níl aon tintean mar do thintean féin!

beertons

Any suggestions as to what do do/how to cook fish balls? I don't want to do a soup. And I've no deep fat fryer. Will I steam them and eat them with a salad? Cook in a wok with coconut milk? I should have thought about this before I bought them.

Mystery Egg

beertons wrote: »

Any suggestions as to what do do/how to cook fish balls? I don't want to do a soup. And I've no deep fat fryer. Will I steam them and eat them with a salad? Cook in a wok with coconut milk? I should have thought about this before I bought them.

Pretty much anything that calls for deep frying can be shallow-fried.

What about putting a cm of oil in a pan and frying them, then turning half way?

Alternatively you could brush them with oil and oven bake.

Loire

Just made the most amazing soup! Sweet potato, onion, celery, leek, loads of mushrooms and carrots. Perfect on a night like this..

Triboro

The Hill Billy wrote: »

In bed right now, relaxing after a crazy week of packing, cleaning & paperwork for the move home.

Mrs Billy is downstairs preparing a steak & kidney pie as a treat for my homecoming dinner. The smell is amazing. Níl aon tintean mar do thintean féin!

Would Mrs Billy share that recipe i wonder?!!

heldel00

Loire wrote: »

Just made the most amazing soup! Sweet potato, onion, celery, leek, loads of mushrooms and carrots. Perfect on a night like this..

You'll be able to answer this for me Loire. I made soup last week with butternut squash. Lovely but I peeled the squash before roasting and it took forever (never mind almost slicing off a finger). Can I chop, roast and then peel?

oscarBravo

Mmm, steak and kidney pie. I made a chicken, leek, mushroom and bacon pie on Sunday; I could see myself following it up with a beef pie this weekend.

Stheno

oscarBravo wrote: »

Mmm, steak and kidney pie. I made a chicken, leek, mushroom and bacon pie on Sunday; I could see myself following it up with a beef pie this weekend.

recipe please?

If anyone is interested in the Paul Flynn cookery book, it's now half price in Lidl, picked it up earlier and there are some nice recipes in it

oscarBravo

Stheno wrote: »

recipe please?

I pretty much winged it. Let's see... I fried off some bacon lardons and set aside, then fried off a couple of sliced leeks and set aside, then ditto some quartered mushrooms and finally a pack of chicken mini-fillets cut into bite-sized pieces. When the chicken was nicely browned I melted in a chicken stockpot, then added everything back in with some sage and tarragon, added a little water, a good splash of cream and a glug of sherry, reduced it for a few minutes and then thickened it with a cornflour slurry and seasoned with a little salt, a good twist of pepper and the juice of half a lemon.

While that was cooling I rolled out some shortcrust pastry I'd made earlier and left resting in the fridge, lined a pie tin, filled it with the chicken mixture and topped with the remainder of the pastry, then stuck it in the oven at 180 for about half an hour.

The pastry was simply 225g of plain flour and 100g of a mixture of butter and lard, rub in until its breadcrumby, add enough cold water (just a couple of tablespoons) to bind it into a dough and leave it in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Loire

heldel00 wrote: »

You'll be able to answer this for me Loire. I made soup last week with butternut squash. Lovely but I peeled the squash before roasting and it took forever (never mind almost slicing off a finger). Can I chop, roast and then peel?

Hi,

Just realised in my post I mentioned that I used sweet potato, but in fact user butternut squash. In any case, I'm not sure as it was my first go! I peeled beforehand - cut the squash in half and peeled with a peeler...found it OK to be honest..

Loire.

Loire

Hi all,

Planning on getting a new kitchen in the coming months. Really happy, as our current kitchen is at least 30 years old!

Any tips?

Loire.

angeldelight

Loire wrote: »

Hi all,

Planning on getting a new kitchen in the coming months. Really happy, as our current kitchen is at least 30 years old!

Any tips?

Loire.

Double oven definitely!

Gloomtastic!

Loire wrote: »

Hi all,

Planning on getting a new kitchen in the coming months. Really happy, as our current kitchen is at least 30 years old!

Any tips?

Loire.

Lucky you!

Don't forget the golden triangle - fridge, sink and cooker. Keeping it easy to move from one to the other makes for less stressful cooking.

Loire

angeldelight wrote: »

Double oven definitely!

Only have space for a single oven as it will need to go under the hob. Am OK with that though as we use the hob for most things

Loire

If anyone has any recommendations for a particular brand / model of appliance also that would be super!

Loire.

Mr. CooL ICE

My parents renovated their kitchen a few years ago. They had a Stanley stove which they wanted to keep, but added a steam oven and induction oven top. It's awesome.

Dizzyblonde

Loire wrote: »

Hi all,

Planning on getting a new kitchen in the coming months. Really happy, as our current kitchen is at least 30 years old!

Any tips?

Loire.

If you have the room, get a larder cupboard with lots of space between the shelves so you can throw all your food in there - and have room to find it then. For symmetry our kitchen fitter split it in two and put one each side of the fridge.
I like big fridge but didn't want an American style one so I got a Fisher & Paykel and I love it. I also have a Fisher & Paykel dish drawer dishwasher and they're nothing but trouble. Ireland doesn't have the water pressure for them so you keep getting a Fill Fault and have to press the pause button. So you can't leave them on and go out.

iwantmydinner

I always like the tall, narrow cupboards that slide out on tracks, my dream (and far-distant) kitchen will definitely have them.

the beer revolu

Loire wrote: »

If anyone has any recommendations for a particular brand / model of appliance also that would be super!

Loire.

I'm very happy with my Electrolux oven.
Was not impressed with previous Whirlpool oven.

I'd hate to live without a double oven, though.

Gloomtastic!

Loire wrote: »

If anyone has any recommendations for a particular brand / model of appliance also that would be super!

Loire.

Bought a Zanussi oven last year with electric hob. Hob is crap!!!