many aeons ago, there was a thread on here about making bread .... it died, perhaps because man shall not live by bread alone ..... anyway, there seem to be a fair number of people on this site who enjoy cooking, so i thought to start a thread for recipes and associated topics.

i'm assuredly no expert, but i reckon i cook tolerably well, and i know that any recipe i paste here, genuinely works - even for those who can only shop from supermarkets!

a starter recipe follows ......

Coconut oil has a high smoking point , and its a MCT oil which is healthy for you , its about 97% saturated fat but the body treats as a carbohydrate. Good for your hair and skin as well if you use organic cold pressed virgin oil.

My Malaysian lodger uses peanut oil in much of her cooking. High smoke point, though not good for those who have a peanut allergy.

I gather that the part that causes the allergy is removed during refining,

Is that possible ?

Wiki

Most highly refined peanut oils remove the peanut allergens and have been shown to be safe for "the vast majority of peanut-allergic individuals".[9] Cold-pressed peanut oils may not remove the allergens and thus could be highly dangerous to people with peanut allergy.

Good to see a thread without arguments, shows it can be done. :-)) Question - how many grape seeds to make a ltr of oil, send your answers to -------- lol.

or a sensitive smoke detector, hays.,.

How many kilograms (or lbs.) of grape seeds does it take a liter of grapeseed oil?



One ltr of grapseed oil has approximately 34 ounces in it. It takes three dozen grapes to make one pound, and one pound makes about 1 ounce of grapeseed oil. Therefore you would need about three times 34, and this is 102 pounds of grapes.

excuse me, but does that take us back to sunflower oil being the best high smoke point and neutral oil?

Smoke point chart and write up -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_point

Very interesting chart , safflower come's top then. Canola oil is very unhealthy, in America and Canada its all GMO as well

Agreed, a very interesting chart.

i'm amazed that even extra virgin olive oil has such a high smoke point ..... however, i fear that once it reaches that point it is likely to or even will take on an acrid taste

TOMATO RISOTTO WITH MONKFISH AND SCALLOPS

Here you have two recipes for the price of one – both are delicious in their own right.

Recipe for 4
1 kg Monkfish, cut in good sized chunks and rolled in flour
8-12 Scallops – trim as usual and cut in half to give thinnish discs.


50 gm Butter
6 tbsp Olive oil
1 Medium onion, finely chopped
1 Large clove garlic, finely chopped
1.5 kg Fresh plum tomatoes – peeled, deseeded and chopped
1 bunch Flatleaf parsley – chopped, stalk end finely and leaves coarsely
1 tbsp Tomato and olive tapenade
6 Sundried tomatoes in oil – chopped quite finely
1 tspn Saffron strands (very large pinch will do!)

160 gm Risotto rice - e.g. arborio or carnaroli
300 ml Vegetable stock
Water
60 gm Parmesan - grated
Salt and pepper – to taste

Method
Melt the butter in a frying pan, and when it has stopped foaming, add the monkfish (only)
Cook briskly for a few minutes, turning it regularly, until the outside outside is golden and the fish not quite cooked.
Scrape up the crunchy bits stuck to the bottom of the bottom of the pan and remove these and the fish to a bowl or dish.
Be aware that a fair amount of liquid will seep out while the fish is resting.

Heat the olive oil over a moderate heat in a heavy large frying pan.
Add the onion and soften for 5-10 minutes without letting it burn.
Add the garlic and ⅔ of the chopped parsley and continue cooking until the onion is a pale gold.
Add the rice, turn up the heat a little and stir so the rice is coated with oil.
Cook for a further minute or two.
Add a bare 2 teaspoon of salt and a good grinding of fresh pepper.
Turn the heat down to the low side of moderate.
Add the stock, ½ the chopped fresh tomatoes, the sundried tomatoes, the tomato and olive tapenade and the saffron.
Stir the rice regularly to make sure it does not stick, adding quite small amounts of water as necessary as the liquid evaporates.
After about 15 minutes add the remaining chopped parsley and tomatoes and mix in gently.
When the rice is tender after perhaps a further 10 minutes - it should still have a slight bite to it - turn off the heat and add the parmesan.
Check and adjust the seasoning.
Cover with a lid (or tin foil) and leave to rest for 5 minutes.


Scallops
I haven’t forgotten!
Ideally - and I should have written this bit earlier, but I rote this recipe a couple of years back and have now found this better .....
Prep the scallops (please used diver-caught; they should be almost beige in colour)
Put in a single layer in a dish with kitchen paper and some more kitchen paper on top
Put in the fridge for 30 minutes or so, to allow the moisture to be drawn off
Heat a ribbed cast-iron pan (failing that, an ordinary frying pan will do)
When it is seriously hot and everything is ready to serve, add a tiny bit of oil, or even none at all and pop the scallops in the pan for a bare ½ minute on each side.
They should now have a caramelised exterior while retaining a wonderful sweet and juicy middle.

Dish up the risotto adding the the scallops on top.

Serve with a salad of lamb’s lettuce and rocket, dressed simply with olive oil and vinegar.
For this, I like the very fruity Bertolli Robusto olive oil and sherry vinegar.

As to wine, I would recommend either a light Chardonnay or better still, an Australian Semillon.

Very nice, :-))

over the last few years, i have written up about 30 of these for our local fishmonger/butcher
all are pretty basic, and even the fish pie (a stunner), i can do in about an hour from start to finish, though m-in-l reckons it takes her 1/2 a day!

==============

btw, beef cheeks are also really tasty and cheap and take minimal effort to prep
effectively you cook them VERY slowly, as for oxtail, as otherwise they will be tough rather than unctious

Fish pie is a really quick dish. I tend to use smoked haddock, cod or unsmoked haddock and lots of prawns, some large and small. It is pretty much a bechamel sauce and lots of mash.

Talking of mash, how do people like it? I hate the cheffy mash that pervades these days. It is far too much pureed and runny.

I like Edwards or Marris Piper. I use a potato ricer or a metal masher. Add a small amount of milk (whole milk). A generous knob of butter, grated nutmeg and grated parmesan, plenty of salt and pepper. The object being to get a fluffy mash that is not sloppy at all.

Sometimes I add a little fresh cream at the end of mashing with milk and butter and sometimes a laughing cow cheese triangle or two depending on how much I do and what I am having it with. Must admit I always go for King Edwards wonderful roasted as well as chipped. I am apparently renowned for my roasties, so pleased I have a talent somewhere, ha!

It would be interesting to know people's secrets for roast potatoes and of course Yorkshire pudding.