F**d, Glorious F**d!

[Jim_Campbell]

"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

[Jim_Campbell]

"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

[Peter Wolf]

 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.

[Slippery PD]

"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
 

[Mikey]

"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.

[Peter Wolf]

"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.

[scutfink]

throw some chopped coriander in with rice while it's cooking, just sets it of nice...

[Devons Daddy]

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

[Eric Plumrose]

About sodding time, DD.

[Peter Wolf]

 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.

 

[Peter Wolf]

 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.

[Tiplodocus]

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.

[Peter Wolf]

 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.