Just a random thought that occurred to me (which, as you may have noticed, happens with tedious regularity) ...
One of the key social interactions between humans seems to centre around food, the preparation, the eating ... I'm no psychologist, and I'm not interested in going down that route, but it struck me as odd that we talk about so many off-topic things, but almost never talk about food.
I've been talking to some people I haven't known particularly well up until recently (and, in fact, a couple of people that I already did know well) and I was startled at their apparently wilful ignorance of all things culinary. I mean - I don't want to spend half the day in the kitchen, but why wouldn't I want to be able to prepare at least a handful of decent meals? Why should it be surprising that -- if left in a kitchen with an assortment of herbs and spices and a selection of vegetables -- I can knock up an acceptable meal from scratch in 30-45 minutes?
I will admit to having become slightly poncey through continual exposure to all these TV cooks, but I am eternally grateful to my parents for taking the time to show me how to cook a few basic meals, since this has served me well in later years. I've even become particularly adept at cooking tasty food in a low fat stylee.
So, any cooking hints my esteemed fellow boarders would like to share?
Here's a couple of mine:
Chilli con Carne is just as nice with turkey mince, and better for you. If you don't add cumin, then do. If you already add cumin, then try a tablespoon of HP Brown Sauce.
For every two people that you're cooking for, add two squares of really good dark chocolate near the end of the cooking process. I know this sounds insane, but try it.
Extra healthy tip: don't put any oil in the pan. Stick a can of tinned tomatoes in first, add your chopped/crushed garlic and your chillis (or chilli powder) and bring to a vigourous boil. Use this to brown your mince, and then add the onions and the rest of the ingredients on top of that.
Anyone else want to offer anything?
Cheers!
Jim
Grated carrot. If making a vegetarian dish, it helps beef up the consistency, for want of a better term.
or just add meat.
More than mine's worth.
Or veggie mince for a low fat alternative to meat. I've served up some veggie spagboll to friends before and they couldn't tell the difference. Well until the "Bronx Cheers" anyway.
Whamlum Casserole
This version of the casserole includes broccoli, cauliflower and carrot, but those might easily be exchanged for more bell peppers, or sweetcorn, or whatever's in the cupboard and needs eaten. Really, the bell pepper's optional as well, but it's always been in there. Oh, and the tuna can either be there or not, depending on mood.
Essentials:
1 * Onion
1 * courgette (aka zucchini)
4 * cloves garlic
1 * bell pepper
1 * tin tuna flakes
1 * tin chopped tomatoes
1 * squirt of tomato puree
1 * 150g of cheese
vegetable oil
Random bits:
1 * big bit of broccoli
1 * big bit of cauliflower
1 * carrot
Herbs:
rosemary
chives
parsley
mixed herbs
hot chilli seasoning
Instructions:
Finely chop the onion and fry it in vegetable oil (in a big saucepan, wok or hybrid). Add rosemary and chives to taste (less is more).
All the vegetables (except the courgette) get chopped (whichever way suits) and added, in the order of longest to cook first.
Add the garlic (minced through a garlic mincer-thing) and hot chilli seasoning to taste.
Add the tuna flakes.
When it's all hot, add the chopped tomatoes and a squirt of tomato puree to taste.
Leave to simmer for now.
Finely slice the courgette (a cheese slice is useful) and fry the slices up in a separate pan, with oil and mixed herbs.
When the courgette is cooked, place the big stir fry into a casserole dish. Layer the courgette slices over the top carefully. Place the dish in the oven at pizza-heat (approx. 200 celsius).
Grate the cheese.
After about 20-30 minutes (the dish should be bubbling hot), take the dish out, sprinkle the cheese on evenly and then sprinkle parsley over the top sparingly.
Back in the oven for 5-10 minutes.
Out and serve. Yum.
I can't really offer any tips, except; Always enjoy cooking and have a passion in your food. This will always reward. Throw in herbs into gravies, sauces and soups at every opportunity. Add to pastas too. Thyme is full of iron. Parsley is a dark horse.
Mint is a surpriser and the basil has so much to give alongside all the others.
I recently did an Italian with fennel for the first time instead of onion out of curiosity. pleasantly surprised as raw, it is renowned for being very aniseedy. Fried before adding mince( And I use oil. I love oil properties) it is lot mellower. Though I will probably have a stab at Jim's style in the near future too.
"Or veggie mince for a low fat alternative to meat."
Indeed. The brown sauce and chocolate thing works particularly well with Quorn mince in a chilli instead of meat.
Cheers!
Jim
the hp sauce! great minds think alike!!!
my chili always gets rave reviews because of the secret ingredient...try a bit of soy sauce as well just after the mince has browned....yum!
my gran's scrambled eggs.
plenty of butter or good marge
just batter the buggers til set DO NOT LEAVE RUNNYISH! right at the end add a couple of tablespoons of milk(full fat) and allow to quickl warm through and use as the "gravy" (or 'liquor' i think the posh term is)
and use well done toast wi' plenty of butter.
well said Krombasher. mixed herds also work fantastically well when add to potatoes as they are boiling.
And when making gravy add some soy sauce.
If you are making a Bolognase sauce or any kind of dish that uses a tomato
based sauce as well as the salt and pepper add a generous teaspoon full of honey.
It does something to the sauce and massivly improves the taste and has some sort of alchemical reaction with the rest of the ingredients.do the same when making a Chilli.
Do not prick those sausages before frying as the juices from inside the sausage will leak out if you do.
Glad i worded that one right.
If you are making a white /bechamel sauce or custard use a whisk when you add the milk and add the milk cold.Guaranteed no lumps.
If you are making French bread Pizza 0or cheesy garlic bread lightly toast the topside before covering it with sauce ,cheese etc or else if you dont you will end up with a soggy horrible mess under the topping which is horrible.
Raisins or sultanas on a Pizza.Not too many either.You wouldnt think it works but it does.
Aberdeen Angus Beef.Its the tastiest.
>> Or veggie mince for a low fat alternative to meat.
As an omnivore who lives with a vegetarian, just about every meat substitute available tastes bugger all like what it's supposed to. Vegetarian mince is probably the only alternative that passes the professed flesh test simply because, more than any other substitute, it's easier to hide the taste with a sauce.
I'd rather knock up a dish that doesn't need to pretend it has meat in it.
Brown sauce ? in Chilli? Heresy....
Try marinating the meat (or meat alternative) in a mix of 1 shot of Tequila and 1 teaspoon of chilli powder per pound for at least a day prior to cooking...
Fresh tomatos, fresh kidney beans half an onion 2 fresh chilli's and a spoonful of Tabasco (again per pound)...
Now that's the chilli I want to be made into when I die...
Although I'm with you on the 2 squares of dark chocolate...
Oh and BTW Cubed meat works Waaaaaay better than mince (unless you're putting it in Chimichangas or Burrito's or whatnot...)
I do all the cooking in my house and its rather therapeutic. Given my recent history of depression, it gives you fantastic focus and a real sense of achieving something in a relatively short period of time. I spent about 5 years as a veggie, but now rather enjoy meat of good quality, unlike most meat eaters Id rather eat vegetables than poor quality meat.
Hints and tips are all about saving time. A Sunday morning is when I normally cook, I get up even at the weekends at 7-8am so spend sunday morning cooking a number of meals for the week. Prepare vegetables and such like.
So I spend time making soups casseroles and other dishes such as cottage pies. It means you have an instant ready meal (without the E-numbers and the crap like that). Other thins that are good additions to meals are pulses, a handful of lentils and beans to casseroles or mince dishes adds a load of fibre. Vegtables are great roasted or mashed, I tend to mash together swede carrots potatoes and squashes to go with sunday roasts. Onion and garlic is great roasted and the garlic loses its bitterness turning sweet. If you do it in the same tray as the meat, you get all the flavour in the juices of the meat making a lovely gravy.
If your a meat eater, any bird tastes great if you stuff butter and herbs between the flesh and the skin. I also tend to marinade meat a lot. Adding in vinegars and oils. The one thing I find difficult with my families diet is fibre, adding in extra into sauces and soups really helps.
Thats about it for now.... more later as I think of it...
Oven-bake a large dish of mushrooms for about fifteen minutes and collect the juice. Great for stock, especially if used in gravy.
Pan-fried red onions in port are pretty tasty, too.
Chilli needs Worcester Sauce, a lime or two and meat. Preferably stewing steak or something rather than mince. If you have to settle for mince, then red wine can be good for taking the pink off it.
I also favour whisky over brandy in my chicken liver pate. Gives it a Scotch Bite.
I make a great steak dinner with mushrooms and onions and mashed potatoes (with a hint of mustard in the potatoes)
But you just cannot beat a chicken and mushroom pot noodle sandwich.
Except now that golden wonder have sold pot noodle to god knows who they just arnt the same.
The noodles are thinner, the flavour now lackluster... just not wot they used to be.
Such a shame.
I cooked a meal last night out of whatever was left in the fridge and a few bits and pieces from the cupboard. Not at all planned, and shopping hadn't been done. Here's how:
Peeled and parboiled 4 small carrots.
Sliced and grilled remaining cherry tomatoes with a sprinkle of salt.
Splash of olive oil in a glazed dish.
Half a chopped onion, grilled tomatoes, chunky chopped cougette, last few silverskin pickled onions from the jar, parboiled carrots chucked in the dish and worked around in the oil.
Quick splash of balsamic vinegar.
Sprinkle of salt.
Handful of ready-prepared breadcrumbs sprinkled on top (bought them for a special occasion - it's not as poncey as all that!)
Roasted in the oven on gas mark 6.
Great!
Even better with chunks of peppers, a bit of garlic, anything else you want to bung in as well.
"If your a meat eater, any bird tastes great if you stuff butter and herbs between the flesh and the skin."
MMMMMmmmmm
Which recipe book did that come from ?
Avoid "Table salt"
Use Sea Salt instead.Its healthier and you need less of it besides Table Salt tastes horrible.
I will not eat bad quality meat at all and will happily be vegetarian/wholefood if i cant get flesh of the right calibre.
Most important when making a Bolognase sauce or suchlike:
A dash of red or white wine vinegar
and a dash of Lemon juice.
Make your own ice cream using only milk ,cream ,fruit ,honey ,nuts whatever .I dont bother using eggs as well and the lower in fat the milk and cream or dont use cream at all ,it comes out more like a sorbet.Its a bit of a labour of love as it takes 8 hrs ,stirring frequently.
And why is it so hard to get green Pasta ?
Lasagne sheets : for some reason its very hard to get proper Lasagne sheets.Mostly its that no pre cooking required Rubbish.Horrible .Its got to be De Cocco or one of those makes and if you are really lucky you find the type that has the crimped edges.Pre cook the lasagne to al dante like you do other pasta.It wont overcook inside the Lasagne when its baking.
Cover the top of the Lasagne by sprinkling generous amounts of grated fresh Parmesan [Reggiano] over the white sauce before baking.
Green pasta? Hmmmm...... Sainsbury's?
Here's my recipe for a pretty good simple 'n' lazy stew. As with just about everything else, ever, it pays to mess about with ingredients and do whatever the hell you like. It's piss-easy, though:
1-1/2 lb chopped/cubed meat (beef or turkey are both good, which probably indicates that just about anything you care to try will work)
1 large chopped carrot
1 large chopped potato
2 chopped onions
2 cups mushrooms
2 teaspoons flour
a bit of water, red wine, salt, pepper herbs, and so on and so forth
as much of your favourite/available veg as you care to involve
a tin of tomatoes
Fry up the meat in a big pan with a bit of olive oil 'till the meat is sealed.
Add everything else bar the flour, with one cup of water and one cup of wine -the tomatoes will give all the remaining liquid you need (handy, see?)
Simmer for an hour with occasional stirring, then take out about a cupful of the broth, mix well with 2tsps of flour, and return to the stew for 15 min.
Eat a damn fine stew.
I've had good results from replacing the wine with equal proportions fruit juice and whiskey, although you may understandably not wish to waste good drinkin' booze on an experimental stew. Also worth trying is a good beer, though be warned the old adage 'don't cook what you wouldn't drink' holds doubly true for beers.
'til recently, I never thought I could make me own soup...
Off my facebook blog...
Location: The Kitcken Duh!
Mood: creative
Music: Rammstein - Mutter LP
Creamy Honey Mustard Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
1 Chicken Breast (about £2-3 for 2)
Cheap Ass White Wine (around £2 a Bottle.)
Honey (70-80p per Jar)
English Mustard (Ditto)
Small Onion (10p ish...)
Double Cream (90p per tub)
Rosemary (God Knows, â??s been on the Spice Rack fâ??r ages...)
1 Chicken OXO (See above)
Method:
Put the Chicken breast in a small pan, cover it with water and boil it up for about 3-4 songs.
Meanwhile, chop up the Onion dead small. stick it in a pan and fry it gently for a song or two.
Take the Chicken out of the pan (Set the water aside for a mo.) slice it up into small chunks, then throw it in the blender untill itâ??s well shredded.
Leave the blender running while you mix the OXO in with the Chicken Water, add about 3 teaspoons of Mustard and 4 of Honey to the liquid and stir, then chuck this over the Onion.
Open the Wine and take a few swigs to get over the fact that the noise has just totally drowned out Feuer Frei
Throw the Chicken in with the rest of the ingredients and stir in about 1/4-1/3 of the tub of Cream. Bring to the boil.
Pour the whole mix back into the blender for another song (Rein Raus, bastards...)
Pour the soup back in the pan, get it boiling gently, throw in a bundle of rice noodles, a handful of rosemary and about a quater of the bottle of wine (assuming thereâ??s that much left...)
After about a song the noodles should be cooked nicely.
Serve in a bowl, finish off the wine, and put the CD back on to catch what you missed.
Soupy Twist.
kangaroo sausages rock, especially when cooked with black bean and garlic sauce
Everyone seems to think their chilli is the best.Patently,this is not the case as MINE is the bestest!
But...however you like your chilli,my advice is cook it long and slow if you can,till it's almost dry.I would leave it about two hours on a low heat after all the ingredients are in.Delicious!
I made my own naan bread for the first time on Saturday too,to go with Mangalorean Chicken from Anjum Anand's recent book.Supoib!
M.
My mum makes the best dumpling soup EVER!
on Channel 4 at 2.30am tonight!!!
One for those with a sweet tooth - add a handful of Maltesers to an apple or pear crumble before putting the topping on. Delicious little chewy honeycomb nuggets.
Mashed Potato: add finely chopped chives. Freeze dried is surprisingly acceptable if you don't have fresh.
Alternatively, wholegrain mustard or horseradish sauce depending on what the mash will be accompanying.
Rice: I know brown rice is supposed to be the healthiest, but I find it all but undigestible. Basmati is the next best thing, and tastes much better. Find an Indian/Asian supermarket and buy a five or ten kilo sack of the stuff next to nothing.
Some people make a right song and dance over cooking rice, and I have no idea why. I've tried cooking basmati rinsed and not rinsed, and I can't tell the difference, so I never bother rinsing. YMMV on that point.
Here's how you cook basmati rice ... into a pan. 1.5x the volume of water to the volume of rice. Bring to the boil. Stir once. Stick the lid on. Turn it down as low as it will go. Leave it alone for 15 minutes.
Resist the temptation to stir. You will end up with rice pudding.
It's done. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off but leave the lid on if you're not ready. It will happily sit and steam for at least another 15 and keep its heat if the rest of the meal isn't ready. Right before you dish up, take the lid off and fluff it up with a fork. Pretty much perfect every time.
To accompany chilli, add lemon or lime juice to the water before bringing to the boil.
To make it look like you've done something posh, stick 1/4 tsp of turmeric into the water and a fistful of frozen peas before bringing to the boil.
If serving with a Thai dish, fine chop some spring onions and bung them in when you fluff up the rice at the end.
If serving with Indian, use the rice pan to soften some very finely chopped onions before you start the rice. Only use a tsp or so of oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Onions in, heat until they soften. Heat off. Rice in, water in, turmeric and peas in, back to the boil and as described above.
Works a treat.
Cheers!
Jim
Onion Sauce:
Slice a load of Onion.Fry it very gently and slowly in butter for as long as it takes for the onion to caramelise. Add cream and a bit of black pepper.
Good with Sausages and Mash.
"Slice a load of Onion.Fry it very gently and slowly in butter for as long as it takes for the onion to caramelise. Add cream and a bit of black pepper."
For anyone, like me, with a horrendous family history of heart disease, who is condemned to a largely low-fat existence, it is possible to create a perfectly acceptable white sauce base using skimmed milk, cornflower and a minimal (the equivalent of a couple of tsp) amount of butter or marg.
Obviously, on its own, you wouldn't want it on your plate, but if you're going to add softened onions or leeks, then it's perfectly good. For a cheese sauce, use the strongest cheddar you can find so you don't have to use so much.
Cheers!
Jim
"Hints and tips are all about saving time. A Sunday morning is when I normally cook, I get up even at the weekends at 7-8am so spend sunday morning cooking a number of meals for the week. Prepare vegetables and such like."
Yeah ... we plan our menu for the week ahead and then cook stuff fresh that can be frozen in individual portions and reheated quickly and easily as an alternative to pre-packaged convenience food.
Generally speaking, stews, curries, soups, bolognaise, chilli, shepherd/cottage pie base. Get it out of the freezer in the morning, be eating within 30 minutes when you get home in the evening.
Cheers!
Jim
Absolutely.
I dont have a fat problem but i am still careful about these things.As long as you eat things that are high in Antioxidants then you should be fine.Thats what i do.
Like the Ice Cream i posted earlier.Use skimmed milk and no cream and you end up with a sorbet that is actually mostly water but still lovely.
I always just use plain flour for a white sauce.
Leeks in Cheese sauce.
"If your a meat eater, any bird tastes great if you stuff butter and herbs between the flesh and the skin."
MMMMMmmmmm
Which recipe book did that come from ?
To be honest Pete, one of my best friends was a chef in a restruant he gave me the recipe years ago when I left Uni. Ive used it ever since. I assume its the standard for most chef's (Devon's Daddy will be abel to tell us), so it probably appears in recipe books of that I have no doubt.
The thing is I have a number of cookbooks, I read them. Take note of what I like and then add different ingredients and change it. I think thats what cooking is all about changing recipes given to us by our peers and parents creating our own...
yer "Eating home made carrot and butternut squash soup" Slips
"I've tried cooking basmati rinsed and not rinsed, and I can't tell the difference"
I was sceptical about fartin about with rice but soaked for half an hour in cold water before cooking is the way forward.It means it takes less time to cook and for most meals,you can have it soaking while you prep & cook.
I'll meet your onion,water and lemon joose Jim,and raise you a tsp of cumin seed and a tsp of garam masala.Fry the cumin first-about 30 secs-add the onion,cook until nice and browned as you say,add garam masala and salt(if you want),add rice & water & peas(if wanted),bring to the boil,cover and simmer on lowest heat for about 5-10 mins.Formidable!
M.
"I dont have a fat problem but i am still careful about these things."
Bit worried about how i worded that as it was a reply.Just for the record i wasnt implying anyone else has a fat problem.
Avoid *all* prepackaged supermarket heat up meals at all costs.
Utter utter pointless revolting tasteless Shite.
This includes things like Quiches and Pizzas , pies , you name it.
Except for M+S who are not as expensive as you might think and a guaranteed safe bet if you dont want to cook.
For example a quiche from a supermarket.Read the ingredients.Its like an fucking chemistry /laboratory experiment.
I dont know what the problem is.All you need is eggs ,flour,cheese etc.
Same with mass produced cakes etc.
I wont eat any of it.
throw some chopped coriander in with rice while it's cooking, just sets it of nice...
ADVANCE PREP IS THE WORD OF THE DAY BOARD
if you want to make a really amazing meal for 6 friends family do it day before.slowly.
cook off vegetables,when coked throw in ice water,make cold and drain put in fridge.
get meat,selection of herbs andj oil,marinade for a day.
veges, easier,pre cook all nice items,look for colour and textures variety.
then on day, make up sauce,plenty of great packet ones out there,
put vege in micro wave,quickly cook meat,which is tasting ace,
put on plates,and pour on sauce.
vege diners, offer texture,colour,flavours,and when hot put on some vege cheese, and grill
use a little tomato jioce or V8 warmed up as a sauce.
wonderful
About sodding time, DD.
Never buy the cheapest tinned tomatoes . There are hardly any tomatoes in the can and those that are are tasteless and watery as is the juice.
Waste of time.
Avoid Polytunnel Strawberrys as well .
The Polytunnels deface the countryside and the strawberrys are tasteless and have the wrong shape and texture and never any juice in them.
I often do this :
make a salad out of grated carrot ,sliced red or white cabbage , mixed seeds ,alfalfa shoots and whatever else you like in salad mix in some vinegarette dressing.Then a dd a generous amount of Hummous to the inside of a pitta bread and fill it with the salad then eat it.
Here's a very cheap and versatile sicy tomato sauce that I use on everything from pasta to enchiladas to falafel.
700 ml of Passata (Asda smart pice - 34p)
1 veg stock cube
100 ml of water
2 shallots finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - crushed
1 teaspoon of chilli powder (vary according to how much spice you like)
1/2 teaspoon of caster suger
Throw all ingredients in a pan and heat through for around 20 minutes until reduced.
Really simple to assemble, can start it reducing and then go off an prep your other food.
I'm veggie and use quorn bacon and things for the convenience of sarnies but of late we've stopped on quorn mince etc. because it's very expensive compared to a handful of red lentils which do the same job.
Aduki Bean burgers : Get like a load of Aduki Beans together man .Soak them until soft and then mash them up with a potatoe masher and add seasoning and some chopped onion and mix together then form burgers out of the mix and then fry like burgers.
M+S Chicken and Leek pie.
Recommended.
If you are making a big pan of soup and you do it often then get one of those hand held mixers that you liquidise with as it saves all the hassle of using a blender and washing it out.
I like pouring a small amount of cream into a bowl of soup as i like the way it disperses into the soup.