General Chat Thread II

Mystery Egg

Lads, halp. Have a party coming up with about 8 kids and 12 adults. I am very tired post Covid and want it to be absolutely as simple as possible. Usually I do finger food, wine and cake but finger food is actually quite a bit of effort.

Any suggestions for really easy refreshments? Happy to do things in advance.

igCorcaigh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235406#Comment_119235406

For the food part: a big bowl of chilli, with rice, tortilla breads, salads, corn taco shells or crisps, let people assemble their own. I've no idea about the drinks part, but that should be easy enough.

Gloomtastic!

Sorry to hear you’re not feeling the best Mystery.

Due to COVID, a few weeks ago, we had 30 people turn up at our house with an hours notice, all looking to be fed.

The intended host brought burgers and sausages which we bbq’d but I managed to pull together a couple of nibbles which went down really well.

Tapenade. This tapenade recipe is the dogs. We served it with toasted sourdough bread.

https://lovingitvegan.com/olive-tapenade/

I also did lots of sausage rolls. Mostly based on this Jamie Oliver recipe but I add lots of grated Parmesan to the ground fennel seeds. These are amazing and everyone will comment on them.

https://devonmama.com/recipe-sausage-rolls-fennel/

Good luck!

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119235406#Comment_119235406

Two large trays of pasta bake (semi-cooked pasta - add salt to the water!, tomato-based sauce - whatever kind you like, white sauce (or ricotta - make sure it's well drained, chopped boiled spinach - make sure it's well drained, nutmeg, parmesan), stir everything together, put lashings of cheese on top, bang it in the oven until it's completely cooked and it has a nice crust at the top); serve it with salad, bread, and whatever else you like that can come out of a jar (e.g. olives, artichokes in oil, etc).

Mystery Egg

Thanks guys. I got Covid in January and since then I have had one bacterial infection after another. I had pneumonia in May and then had a holiday in Italy and felt much better after, but now the chest infection is back again. :(

Some great ideas there. Gloomtastic your food sounds absolutely delish but like a load of hassle. :D

I think I might go for the chilli option as I can make it completely in advance and just do rice on the day. I know at least half the children won't eat that, but I could do frozen pizzas for them without too much hassle.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119236466#Comment_119236466

My teenage son has been taking me to task lately because he believes I now only cook things that are easy to prepare. He’s right but I haven’t acknowledged it yet. 😇 😜

With a food processor or blender, the only thing you have to with the tapenade is stone the olives. Two jars will take you 10 minutes.

I can have 24 sausage rolls in the oven in 5 minutes max. Puff pastry is very forgiving. I’ll try and do a video for you tomorrow and post it here.

woodchuck

Honestly, if you're not feeling great, I'd keep it really simple with frozen stuff you can just put in the oven. E.g. Frozen pizza, spring rolls, cocktail sausages, sausage rolls etc. Have some bowls of crisps, dips and sweets too. Sorted, with minimal effort! If you've any energy leftover, maybe add a basic salad.

Gloomtastic!

Ok, so the sausage rolls took 8 minutes, not 5. Here’s the before pic…..

And here’s the after…..

I forgot to put the sesame seeds on the top but hopefully they’ll still taste fine.

I did a video but I never realised I have a few mannerisms when I’m preparing food that I’m definitely going to try and get rid off! 😝🙄😋

Muahahaha

Looks delish, do you deskin the sausages or just wrap them in pasty whole? Also whats the method, where does the parmasan come in?

Black Sheep

They look great!

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119240335#Comment_119240335

No deskinning. I’m going to try and attach the video. It explains it all. Please forgive the frequent schlerping. Not sure what that’s all about! 😝😝😝🤯

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6f708ashi7u5sfj/sausage%20rolls.mov?dl=0

Do try and remember the sesame seeds, they add a different texture.

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119240639#Comment_119240639

great technique, I must give this a go at the weekend. What brand/supermarket do you get the puff pastry from,Iwant toget the same size to do 24 of them.Also would they freeze well uncooked if I dont need the full 24

igCorcaigh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119240639#Comment_119240639

You make it look so effortless @Gloomtastic!

This has to be one of boards most epic posts, thank you!

miamee

Great video @Gloomtastic! you made it all look so easy. I might even try sausage rolls myself 😁

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119240994#Comment_119240994

Sorry, missed this one. Aldi pastry/cocktail sausages. No idea about freezing but I'm sure they'd be fine.

sdp

Fair dues @Gloomtastic! , brilliant video😀 never tried cheese in them. looking forward to trying it. I freeze uncooked sausage rolls all the time without egg wash, not sure how the cheese would hold up? thanks again for great video .

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119245042#Comment_119245042

nice one, wont get the chance to make them this weekend but will definitely give it a go next week

anewme

I've been making those Jamie Oliver sausage rolls for years with a different tweak.

I use large flavoured sausages, ie Tesco Honey and Mustard, or Pork and leek or whatever other flavours you fancy.

I slit the sausage end to end and then just peel the skin off it and place it on the pastry. Do it again to the next one and stick it to the one previously, so its like a long line of sausage meat. Sprinkle over the fennell seeds, parmesan and then the sesame seeds on top. Then slice into whatever size you want.

Made them for the office a few times and have so many requests for them.

The honey and mustard sausages go down really well in this house.

L1011

Supply chain delays and holidays mean I'm still stuck with the not-a-kitchen with no sign of getting out of it that soon. However, I'm beginning to cope without an oven by changing what I cook a bit.

Does mean that if I want chips, they need to be fried - have a little Tefal Oleoclean Compact that can just do two portions at once - and there's quite a lot of abuse of the BBQ chamber as a gas oven, with a lot of pfaffing you can get it to hold any temperature from about 150-250 - but everything gets very well done on the bottom! Managed to construct a proper steak frites last night that way.

Considering bringing the garden table in as the actual kitchen space has been consumed by the microwave, hob and now fryer!

Muahahaha

Anyone know what supermarket might sell string for tieing up chicken legs & wings to the bird? And what section you would find it in, dont think Ive ever seen it anywhere but surely Dunnes or Supervalue have it?

igCorcaigh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119290274#Comment_119290274

Isn't that called twine? You might be able to get some in places like Dealz or Flying Tiger. Maybe more the arts & crafts section rather than the food section is where you might look?

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119290309#Comment_119290309

yeah I know the hardware shops sell twine but it can often be quite stringy stuff. Arts and crafts shop would likely so something cleaner but Ive none of them close to me

Gloomtastic!

Why don’t you ask in your local butchers?

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119290483#Comment_119290483

Check the pound shops, they often have cotton twine. You'd be better off washing it, before using it on food, though.

L1011

I got 1KG of Greek Yoghurt free on Lidl+

Now, what the hell do I do with it?

igCorcaigh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119328336#Comment_119328336

For breakfast, with berries/honey/granola/muesli.

To add to curries or for making raita, as I do.

Smoothies perhaps, I wouldn't know what to do with so much yoghurt though. I bet it could be easily frozen, if you have freezer space (I have not tried this).

OT:

I will never understand why yoghurt is sold in such big tubs...

I don't eat it for breakfast, and my only use is for adding to curries or making raita, so I might only need a tablespoon or two at one time, and it doesn't seem to last that long either.

The activia tubs that come as a miltipack are all I can use, but not every supermarket sells them.

New Home

Add grated cucumber, salt, A LOT of fresh garlic, some fresh dill or some fresh mint, and voilà, delicious tsatziki.

New Home

You can also use it to make smoothies, or you can blend it with sugar and tons of fresh summer fruit, stick it in the freezer and stir it regarly until set to make frozen yogurt. Proper Greek yogurt is usually much less acidic and has a creamier consistency than plain yogurt.

New Home

You can also use it to make yogurt cake, mini plum cakes or a yogurt tart (much like a cheesecake).

Sorry about the three posts but I kept thinking of stuff.

woodchuck

I bought Greek yogurt this week just because I had a hankering to have some with fresh fruit. I cut red grapes in half, chop up a kiwi and mix it up with some yogurt. Makes a nice, filling, reasonably healthy snack!

But I do hate that it comes in such big tubs though, always goes to waste and/or I eat way more than I should. Maybe I'll do a curry at the weekend and make some raita to go with it! If it hasn't gone off by then...