Be Excellent To Each Other

Soy sauce and garam masala? What the fuck have you just made?

OM NOM NOM.

Debating making tres leche on the weekend, which is basically "sponge cake soaked in three milks" (half cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk). Also got some tuna steaks, which I'm going to sear and serve with steamed new potatoes and salsa verde, maybe. The last element is inspired by the incredibly aggressive basil plant that is trying to take over my kitchen and needs to be taken down a peg or two.

Cider >>>>>>> Apple Juice

I like all them things in the recipe, Grim... has just pwned juuuuuu

I griddled tuna steak with soy sauce, rapeseed oil and a japanese spice mix thing that Hel got me last year (in Japan!). Served with sliced, sauteed Anya potatoes and a quick ratatouille I think. It was amazing, even if I did overcook it mightily.

Holy fuck balls! Just made some incredible baked chicken breasts. Two lovely free range breasts, a few sticks of asparagus and some cherry tomatoes. Mix the lot of it up in a bowl with a few cloves of garlic, a good olive oil, salt, black pepper and a sprig's worth of rosemary leaves. Then shot the asparagus, tomatoes and garlic cloves in the baking tray, followed by the breasts on top. Then pour the oily/rosemary/tomato juices over everything, and shot a couple of whole sprigs of rosemary on the breasts. Add a dash of white wine and bung it in the oven for 25-30 mins at 200C.

It were right good! The juices in the bottom of the baking tray are indescribably delicious! Served with my special mustard mash and some steamed veg. Although you could probably get away with leaving out the steamed veg, because there should be plenty of food already. But we're greedy bastards.

And even though I've literally finished eating this seconds ago, and as soon as I tucked in I thought "ooh, I'll post this on the forum", I failed to take a photo. What a mook.

Don't shoot the food.

We have just purchased a new food processor. Watch this thread!

Double chocolate chip muffins. Taste test to come.

Yes yes, but will they blend?

(look lovely GJ )

just made yoghurt too, want to make more but lacking in ingredients.

Just turn everything you have in your cupboard into the mixer and turn into a cake tin, bake at 200 for 30 mins.

Let us know how it goes.

(before the poisoning sets in)

This has been made and is chilling in the fridge.This turned our pretty good. Pics to follow.

I've put some pics in the Objection: Salad! group on flickr. There'll be posts about them later, but for now I thought I'd put the pics up.


Asparagus and prawn risotto with roasted cherry tomatoes by PenLlawen, on Flickr


Toad in the hole by PenLlawen, on Flickr


Half-pound cheeseburger with french fries by PenLlawen, on Flickr


Seared tuna steak with salsa verde and steamed Jersey Royal new potatoes and runner beans by PenLlawen, on Flickr


Tres leches by PenLlawen, on Flickr

That Yorkshire came up nice (that's what is around a toad in the hole, right? I can't do that. I think I never out enough oil in, and I'm scared of very hot things, especially hot oil. All reasons I am not a chef...

That Toad does look superb. The Tres Leche also.

Mimi - hot oil is indeed vital to a good rise. Just don't do what I once did and try heating the oil in a ceramic dish on the hob. Shatter, splatter, ouchie.

That all looks very posh, did it cost much and/or take ages to make?

I think I'm doing well if I chuck some extra ham on a Waitrose pizza.

Someone once said the oil should be smoking. That'd just make me too nervous, I think. The thought of what you did on your job makes me feel slightly nauseous...

That was just me being an idiot. Heating the oil in the oven before pouring in the batter is the right way to do it, and an ovenproof dish will never shatter under those conditions.

Saying the oil should be smoking is fine for some oils, but not others - because they have wildly different smoking points. Extra virgin olive oil has a pretty low smoking point, nut oils have very high smoking points. I'd probably go for around 200-220C. What did you have the oven at for that TitH, Doc?

180 to roast the sausages, then I removed them and increased to 230 to heat the oil but it it wasn't in there long enough, there wasn't quite enough sizzle when the batter went in. The batter on the bottom was a little soggy when it came out.

The "smoking" advice is really for when you are using dripping, I'd say. These sausages didn't drop much fat when I pre-cooked them so I added some groundnut oil to bulk it out.

I've since bought a vitreous enamel tin that can be used on the hob, which will help the next one I think.

The sausages also weren't coloured enough on most of their surface, only the bit that was poking out was the colour I wanted. I always find that tricky to judge -- I've had times where I've browned them too far and then the top bit has burnt. I think perhaps I need to colour them across 3/4 of their surface only.

Oh, you tool

It was from this Alton Brown recipe but I wouldn't use it again -- he uses a butter cake, rather than a sponge, so it's a little too rich.

Did you know what tres leche was? I have never heard it mentioned over here, although it's a common dessert in Mexican restaurants in America. For Beexers who don't know, it's basically a very light and airy sponge cake left to soak in a combination of evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, cream, and then topped with more whipped cream and (optionally) toffee or caramel syrup. Healthy!

Umm, yes. Frequently both. Still a lot cheaper than eating out though; I think most of those plates of food cost about a fiver, perhaps slightly more.

It's not actually the temperature of the oven that bothers me, it is more that it is hot, splashy oil Also, I will almost certainly never use enough oil, I use tiny amounts, and then only if I absolutely can't get by without. Come here and hug me, non-stick pan.

I have exactly that problem when doing toad in the hole in La Creuset pots. I find you have to use a metal tin otherwise the underneath just doesn't conduct enough heat to crisp up, regardless of how much oil you use and how hot it is.

Good lord!

That all looked superb, well done. Hungry now.

Re: oil - I've gradually become more cavalier with it. Often when you eat out it's pretty clear that everything has been swimming in the stuff. There is a happy medium: quite a lot of oil

Hot oil is fine unless you belm with it like Craster with his ceramics, or Miss Malabar and her insistence on throwing ingredients into pans — she currently has several blisters on her arm from where she splashed oil last week, the moron.

That all looks delicious, Rich. Must remember to invade your house at some point and force you to cook lovely food for me.

Hot oil is fine unless you belm with it like Craster with his ceramics, or Miss Malabar and her insistence on throwing ingredients into pans — she currently has several blisters on her arm from where she splashed oil last week, the moron.

That all looks delicious, Rich. Must remember to invade your house at some point and force you to cook lovely food for me.

Yeah, I've made it once before. It's good, but you're right that it's brutally rich and sweet. I don't have enough of a sweet tooth for it, to be honest.



The more the effort, the more the satisfaction, in my view. This morning I made eggs benedict that required prepreparing a shallot vinegar reduction and letting it steep overnight, cooking egg yolks in a water bath at 65C for an hour, then making it into hollandaise while I did the rest of it.

About 14 hours to make brunch - but it was by far the best eggs benedict I've ever eaten

Unless, as someone or other told me once, the glaze is cracked and water has seeped into the pottery. Then, as the water expands as you cook with it, it can just explode into pieces in the oven. This makes quite a mess in the oven floor if it's a casserole, I am informed.

Cheers dude! Looking back through them, I'm really happy with that set of pics.

So, for no particular reason I've decided to buy some beef liver and experiment with slicing it into goujons and deep-frying it. I have a vague idea where it's all going to end up (the bin), but I'm going to have a crack at it anyway.
However, I need advice from the Hivemind... what kind of sauce/dip to have with it (if it's successful)? I was thinking because of how strong beef liver is, that a nice, light aioli (perhaps with added lemon) might offset the sheer weighty flavour of the liver. Or, even though I'm not much into such things, maybe some kind of fruity sauce instead?

Anyone experimented with cooking liver or had a nice liver dish in a restaurant?

I've never enjoyed liver (except for foie gras). I await your report of the outcomes

All looking great, Rich! You're quite the dynamo in the kitchen these days!

One thing, though - oil for toad in the hole/Yorkshires? Use lard, fools! My Nanna would throttle the lot of you!

Fucks sake. I was crowing earlier about perfecting (basic) hollandaise second time around. Actually, I've come to the conclusion that most "difficult" classic skills are actually simple as piss, but you've still stolen my thunder.

I'm sure what you've made is lovely too, Riles. Man, they grow up so fast.

Malc - I'm not a big cow's liver fan, but I adore chicken livers. You want something sharp to cut the richness. I'd be looking for something like a lemon+caper mayo. Alternatively, a leaf salad dressed with a sharp vinaigrette (I know!)

Liver should only be eaten with bacon and onions. And red wine.

Cheers! I've got a jar of capers, so I'll give it a whirl.

Blimey, it worked!

As a quick appetiser with a dip, they're excellent, and the caper-lemon mayo worked a treat (I added garlic as well).
Soaking the liver in milk for a couple of hours beforehand really seems to get rid of some of the strong flavour, then I just rolled 'em in seasoned flour, dipped them in a bit of egg and coated them in some fresh (and very fine) breadcrumbs. About 3-4 minutes in the deep frier and they were perfect, and really tender.

And not an onion or bit of bacon in sight!

Nice one!

Today I had super noodles with a side order of Cracker Bread. Keep your posh food.

Oh, and I even made them in the microwave...

You're working on my level Mimi, Super Noodles (the capitalisation is important) and fish fingers are still one of my staples. (Although you wouldn't have the fish fingers, mind you, I don't think there's much fish in them.)

HP Sauce can cover up a multitude of culinary sins.

I made a lovely dinner of rib eye steak, home made garlic and herb potato chips, green beans and chestnut mushrooms with balsamic vinegar.

It was delicious

The chips were basically little roast potatoes, they took about 30mins to cook, including par boiling, I tossed them with mixed herbs, garlic and sea salt then put them in a roasting pan with a generous amount of hot oil.

That there is a good looking dinner. Those 'chips' look fab.

Om nom nom! That looks fab, flis!

Peanut butter snickers muffins.

Peanut butter?

To the belm corner with you.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.
\

This man speaks the truth

Lies. I tried peanut butter and it was lovely.

EDIT: In fact... new poll!