The General Chat Thread

IvyTheTerrible

Any recipe I use where you remove the onions and then cook the meat before putting the onions back in, it's because the heat goes way up to brown the meat, and that would burn the onions. It would also interfere with the browning process too.

the beer revolu

Tarzana2 wrote: »

Made a beef stew last night - the broth was flavoursome, the veggies were tasty, but the meat was disappointing. It was tender but dry at the same time. Not sure if I'm describing that too well. The chunks broke up easily but chewing the meat wasn't a pleasant experience. You know when you're chewing meat and it gets that stringy, almost furry texture in your mouth? Would this just be down to it being crappy enough quality meat? I got it in a supermarket.

Would "cardboardy" describe the texture?

Sounds like you used round steak - a common mistake.

the beer revolu

corblimey wrote: »

Two questions occurred to me during the cooking of this dish (which turned out very well, my misgivings about quinoa notwithstanding) and hopefully this is the right place to put them rather than adding a new thread?

1. The directions say to fry up the onions, then remove them and start with the chicken. The only other dish where I have to employ this 'start again' approach is with my jambalaya, but even then the first step is to cook up the chorizo, remove it and start with the veg in the resulting chorizo'd oil, so that makes sense. Here, I don't see why I remove the onions, adding them back when I'm adding the balti paste and quinoa?
?

A way around this removing stuff from the pot is to use a casserole pot and a frying pan.
Brown stuff in the frying pan and transfer to pot one at a time.

Or, for example, when making a stew, I'll brown the veg in the pot, then use the pan to brown meat in batches and add to pot. Then I deglaze the pan with whatever liquids I'm using.

MissFlitworth

We are having slow cooker brisket & onions for dinner tonight and I dunno what to do with it as a side dish. We had mash last night so bit mashed out. Was thinking twice cooked baked potatoes with cheese and bacon bits but, would that be the kind of dinner that KOs us through sheer over indulgence in richness?

the beer revolu

MissFlitworth wrote: »

We are having slow cooker brisket & onions for dinner tonight and I dunno what to do with it as a side dish. We had mash last night so bit mashed out. Was thinking twice cooked baked potatoes with cheese and bacon bits but, would that be the kind of dinner that KOs us through sheer over indulgence in richness?

Pearl barley or wet polenta would both be good.

beertons

Steamed a few of them fish balls I bought last week. Yuck. Into the bin with them. Don't think I'd like them in anything. Scratch that one of the try list anyway.

Tarzana2

Faith wrote: »

It sounds like you used a very lean cut of beef? In a stew, you typically use tough meat with a lot of fat and connective tissue that breaks down over the cooking process to give a velvety feel to the meat. If you had dry but tender meat, it suggests overcooked lean meat.

Yeah, actually, going by the nutritional info, it must have been lean, only 135 kcals per 100g, which is pretty low for beef. Other stewing beefs would be 200+ kcals per 100g, probably reflecting the extra fat. Damn, got a few days portions of this to eat. Hate food waste but really don't want to eat this. Maybe the neighbourhood foxes will get a little treat!

Tarzana2

the beer revolu wrote: »

Would "cardboardy" describe the texture?

Sounds like you used round steak - a common mistake.

Yes, cardboardy is exactly what it was!

So in the butchers, if they have pre-cubed stewing steak, don't buy if it turns out to be round steak?

What are the best beef stew cuts? Cos a good beef stew is a damn fine thing.

IvyTheTerrible

Tarzana2 wrote: »

Yes, cardboardy is exactly what it was!

So in the butchers, if they have pre-cubed stewing steak, don't buy if it turns out to be round steak?

What are the best beef stew cuts? Cos a good beef stew is a damn fine thing.

I use a mix of "collier and poitrine" it needs a long cooking but it's so tender. I'll find the names of the cuts in English.

Kovu

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

I use a mix of "collier and poitrine" it needs a long cooking but it's so tender. I'll find the names of the cuts in English.

Collar and breast it appears.

I also learned to not google image search poitrine. :pac:

Minder

Tarzana2 wrote: »

What are the best beef stew cuts? Cos a good beef stew is a damn fine thing.

Oxtail, beef shin and short rib are all excellent for long slow cooks. But be prepared to double the cooking time for many recipes. 90 minutes won't do a short rib or shin any justice. Whereas 3 hours will give you beef heaven. Also, don't mess around with pre cut pieces. Much better to cut larger pieces yourself from a whole piece of shin or a slab of short rib.

Tarzana2

Minder wrote: »

Oxtail, beef shin and short rib are all excellent for long slow cooks. But be prepared to double the cooking time for many recipes. 90 minutes won't do a short rib or shin any justice. Whereas 3 hours will give you beef heaven. Also, don't mess around with pre cut pieces. Much better to cut larger pieces yourself from a whole piece of shin or a slab of short rib.

Oh yeah, I always do beef stew for 3-3.5 hours.

Loire

Beef cheek is also great low & slow

Cedrus

the beer revolu wrote: »

Sounds like you used round steak - a common mistake.

Round steak is fine for stew, but it's a one hour stew not a three hour one and it will never be as good as shin or oxtail, it is however a lot easier to get if you're limited to shopping in supermarkets.

Tarzana2

Cedrus wrote: »

Round steak is fine for stew, but it's a one hour stew not a three hour one and it will never be as good as shin or oxtail, it is however a lot easier to get if you're limited to shopping in supermarkets.

So for this particularly cut, I probably just cooked it for way too long? Gonna force myself to eat it anyway. The other elements are tasty, and I hate wasting food!

Cedrus

Tarzana2 wrote: »

So for this particularly cut, I probably just cooked it for way too long? Gonna force myself to eat it anyway. The other elements are tasty, and I hate wasting food!

It would seem so, I'd cook round steak for about an an hour to hour and a half on the hob, 20 minutes in the pressure cooker and that's pushing it.

If the meat is really unpalatable but

Tarzana2 wrote: »

the broth was flavoursome, the veggies were tasty

I'd scoop the meat out and give it to my dogs and just go with the sauce on some lovely waxy spuds (I hate the balls of flour that are adored by so many).

Tarzana2

I love waxy spuds too but I have to say I like to use floury ones in stew because I like that they disintegrate into the stew and thicken it nicely.

I like both waxy and floury shpuds, I think they both have their uses.

Tarzana2

Cedrus wrote: »

I'd scoop the meat out and give it to my dogs and just go with the sauce on some lovely waxy spuds (I hate the balls of flour that are adored by so many).

You've given me an idea, I have some sausages in the freezer which I could defrost overnight and fry up tomorrow. Scoop out the meat, replace with the chopped up sausages, feed the meat to the foxes and we'll all have happy bellies. :pac:

BaZmO*

^^^ LOL

Mrs Fox liked that post!

Mrs Fox

*Sending my clan to Tarzana's:D

Loire

Anyone ever cook a shoulder of lamb? I tried yesterday and it was 95% fat The amount of meat I got from it was enough for 2 adults and not the 4 I was trying to feed. I was left with a mountain of grizzly fat that just went in to the bin. Such a waste of money and time!

Mrs Fox

Loire wrote: »

Anyone ever cook a shoulder of lamb? I tried yesterday and it was 95% fat The amount of meat I got from it was enough for 2 adults and not the 4 I was trying to feed. I was left with a mountain of grizzly fat that just went in to the bin. Such a waste of money and time!

That sounds like a lot of fat. Shoulder is what I use for stew. I've also made (brace yourself, beer revolu) pulled lamb vindaloo with a large chunk of shoulder. It was from Simon Rimmer's recipe of c4 Sunday Brunch.

Alun

Loire wrote: »

Anyone ever cook a shoulder of lamb? I tried yesterday and it was 95% fat The amount of meat I got from it was enough for 2 adults and not the 4 I was trying to feed. I was left with a mountain of grizzly fat that just went in to the bin. Such a waste of money and time!

I sometimes buy a shoulder of lamb to debone and cut into chunks for making curries. An average shoulder will easily provide 1kg of lean meat if not more in my experience. Sounds like you were just unlucky.

the beer revolu

I love slow cooked lamb shoulder.
Yes, a bit fatty but delicious.

I also use it in stews.

Loire

Nah, this was just a lump of fat with a token amount of meat and even that was fatty. I'll have a chat with the butcher next time I'm in - won't be looking for something off or anything, just to warn him if someone else gets something similar. Was gutted to be honest as was all excited Sat night thinking about cooking it yest morning. Still, bigger problems in the world!

Miaireland

Sounds like you were unlucky to be honest. I use shoulder in curries and find it ideal for crowds. However my butcher recently changed the farm from which he sources his lamb as he said that he had issues regarding quality.

Markcheese

Hhhmmm , bone in shoulder of lamb - either good old lamb stew - or morrocan(ish) lamb tagine - yeah it's a bit fatty - but it shouldn't be excessively so ..

LaChatteGitane

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?

I have never, ever peeled a butternut squash in my life. When roasting, the peel et all goes tender.

dee_mc

LaChatteGitane wrote: »

I have never, ever peeled a butternut squash in my life. When roasting, the peel et all goes tender.

I've peeled them for chutney, almost killed my lovely OXO goodgrips peeler and had a few near misses - came close to cutting my fingers a few times!
If you must peel it, I'd recommend cutting it in 4 first so that you can grip it better. But for soups etc I would just roast it and peel it after, really enhances the flavour

Alun

I always peel them and have no problems doing it with my trusty ancient "Pomfix" peeler ...

http://www.amazon.de/Westmark-WE6045-60452270-Sparsch%C3%A4ler-Pomfix/dp/B000JICQ3C

Harry Palmr

I have just discovered hot water pastry! Pity I didn't know about this method before.

http://gourmetdough.com/pastry/how-to-make-hot-water-crust-pastry

Excellent results in my first go.

the beer revolu

LaChatteGitane wrote: »

I have never, ever peeled a butternut squash in my life. When roasting, the peel et all goes tender.

You're back.!!!
How about some pics of your lovely dinners?

LaChatteGitane

the beer revolu wrote: »

You're back.!!!
How about some pics of your lovely dinners?

Heheh, I think my mojo has disappeared somewhere between Belgium and Ireland. Maybe some day it'll come back.
It should, as I now have a brand new kitchen (still a few things to finish, mind you) and we have free range pigs for meat. Just waiting for our veggie plot to develop and lots of inspiration (the latter is why I'm here)

Dizzyblonde

Welcome back LaChatteGitane

Mrs Fox

LaChatteGitane wrote: »

Heheh, I think my mojo has disappeared somewhere between Belgium and Ireland. Maybe some day it'll come back.
It should, as I now have a brand new kitchen (still a few things to finish, mind you) and we have free range pigs for meat. Just waiting for our veggie plot to develop and lots of inspiration (the latter is why I'm here)

I can still picture the setting of your last Christmas in Belgium - baby blue theme all around and pine on the dining table. I thought it was amazing and so inspiring.
Ok freak stalker mode over. Nice to have you back.

MissFlitworth

Mrs Fox wrote: »

.
Ok freak stalker mode over. Nice to have you back.

*freak stalker 2 tags in*

Welcome back lechat! We have missed you round these parts!

Loire

LaChatteGitane wrote: »

Heheh, I think my mojo has disappeared somewhere between Belgium and Ireland. Maybe some day it'll come back.
It should, as I now have a brand new kitchen (still a few things to finish, mind you) and we have free range pigs for meat. Just waiting for our veggie plot to develop and lots of inspiration (the latter is why I'm here)

Welcomed back! Think you just about signed off when I signed on round these here parts. Have drooled over your previous posts though so please put that kitchen to good use!!

confusticated

God I love a roast chicken dinner. Roasted a chicken on Saturday so I've had the same dinner three days in a row, but I don't think I'd mind having it again tomorrow if there was any left to have!

Tarzana2

Loire wrote: »

Beef cheek is also great low & slow

I had pork cheek for the first time last summer and LOVED it, so I'm very keen to try the beef version!

the beer revolu

Tarzana2 wrote: »

I had pork cheek for the first time last summer and LOVED it, so I'm very keen to try the beef version!

Me too. I effing love pork cheek but. while I've had beef, I've never cooked it.

The Black Oil

Started chopping celery and the cat made her presence known. Anyone got a cat instruction manual?

Stheno

Anyone want to come to my house and cook dinner?

I was working from home today and lost track of time. Started at 8:30 took a half hour break at 3pm and finished at seven when I looked at the clock and realised the time :eek:

Now I'm too tired to cook

mollybird

im going to do a surprise dinner for me and the hubbie tonight. The surprise being that i don't know what im going to make. hahaha!!!

when im too lazy to take anything out of the freezer i like heading down to supervalu and seeing what i can put together that's different from the normal things i cook.

Find i can get into a rut and not try out new things im usually one for doing curry's, pastas, pizza's, indian's, chinese. After that ive no idea where to go so tonight's dinner should be a bit of fun.

dibkins

Pick a random number and count down that many posts in the Cooking Club forum:P

Loire

Unbelievably busy day in work today. All sorts of problems & not nearly out of the woods yet. When I do eventually get home it will be "chipper & beer here we come"!!

mollybird

so have decided to try my hand at a guiness and beef pot pie. here's hoping it won't be a disastor

Dizzyblonde

Loire wrote: »

Unbelievably busy day in work today. All sorts of problems & not nearly out of the woods yet. When I do eventually get home it will be "chipper & beer here we come"!!

Takeaway Wednesday

Tilly

Blueberry muffins

pampootie

I've gotten some galangal in my veg box this week, never had it before. Is it similar to ginger in terms of flavour? I usually freeze my ginger and grate it straight from frozen as I want it in dishes, can I do the same with this?

Minder

I tend to use galangal sparingly. It has a numbing quality a bit like sichuan pepper and too much of it can easily spoil the flavour of a dish. Either add it to home made curry pastes or cut it into disks about 1/2 a centimetre thick and use it as an aromatic only - so don't eat the disks. Biting on one is about as pleasant as finding a full nugget of cardamon in the last spoon full of curry.