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 ......

Making risotto this evening.

I use Vialone Nano rice if I can get it. If not then I use Carneroli rice. I try and avoid Arborio rice.

I cook some finely chopped onions and garlic slowly in olive oil without burning. I crush the garlic and work it with the blade of a large cooking knife with salt to help mash it into a pulp. When the onion is soft I add the rice (about 8 to 10 oz for 4). Heat the rice for a couple of minutes to release the gluten, turning the rice slowly. I use a large heavy pan.

Add hot chicken stock bit by bit stirring regularly letting the rice get sticky each time but not sticking to pan.

I cook some bacon, celery, mushroom, dried porcini with water added, small pieces of chicken. I use the water used to reconstitute the porcini to add to the rice being careful not to use the sediment left as it can be gritty.

Test the rice for texture and when al dente and creamy, take off the heat. Stir in some butter and freshly grated parmesan (I use grana which is cheaper and more traditional). Add the separately cooked chicken mixture, stir and serve.

It must be time I started cooking it.

As an addition to the yorkies, i add a small quantity of mixed herbs just to give them a bit of added flavour. Roast beef today, i put it in a hot oven at 9am and turned down to gas2.5 for an hour then gradually turned up the heat with a final half hour on 7. that was finished at 12.30 and left to rest in the warm, left the roasters in reduced fat at gas7 for half hour which gave them some crunch, then in with yorks. for 25 min. beef was juicy and tender with very bad but delicious crispy layer of fat on the outside.,.

What cut of beef was it bb? If you don't mind me asking.

I believe it to be fillet of beef, The reason for not being sure is this Angus was walking in one of my farmers orchard a couple of months ago and I bought an 1/8th when it was butchered. This = 44lb of a range of meats including mince. But the label had fallen off this piece in my freezer.
Edit: needless to say the steaks were scrumptious and have all gone. infact the last was xmas eve.

Wish I could find an Angus!! Sounds good to me.

3.5 hours to cook a piece of beef!
must have been a whole side :-)
clearly you like your beef very very well done :-(

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breed of beef
i am told that dexter makes some of the finest eating, but you'ld prob need to track that down on the net
certainly uk grass fed beef has, to my mind, far the better flavour than the (dreaded) grain fed stuff so be-loved by the amis
grass fed = more marbling = better flavour and texture


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freezer
we must be in the very small minority who don't even own one, other than small space on top of our fridge

I like to cook long and slow on very low gas, doesn't dry or over cook the meat but allows the fat to ouse down through and over it as it cooks rather than crisp it up in an hour. Meats always tender to eat and falls off the bone. (if there is one).
edit: afraid I'm not into the french way of eating meat thats raw in the middle......

it would do .... so does oxtail or even beef cheeks!

I personally prefer my beef rare and only buy rib off the bone these days to save paying for the bone, sirloin or rib eye rolled and depending on the size probably cook on high for just over an hour or so, I always ask for an extra piece of fat to put on the top whilst cooking - brisket which I love is obviously different and slow cook that. I have never been able to cook silverside/topside successfully. I cannot seem to get it rare and tender so I gave up wasting money on those cuts. It is a good thing that we all differ.

Freezer...."we must be in the very small minority who don't even own one"......
I'm really surprised at that as even making stock, the only way to store it is to freeze it in cube size. Where the hell to do store your chips and peas then? ;o)

i reckon topside, let alone silverside and the like are too lacking in fat to be cooked rare .... the intrinsic meat grain is all wrong too

btw, you're kidding yourself if you think you aren't paying for the bone when buying it boned out

if you like long slow cooked beef, then it's certainly worth trying short ribs
as with oxtail and similar, these need very long and slow cooking, and as with oxtail, the meat will pretty much fall off the bone when cooked

if you can be bothered, you can then add a further layer of texture and flavour via bbq or grill with some sort of glaze

TOMATOES
in uk, it is only during the summer that you are likely to be able to buy - better to grow - tomatoes that have any flavour at all
i happen to grow some of my own, about 3/4 varieties, and inevitably more are produced than can be used at the time

therefore, at the back end of the season, or even when looking a bit over-ripe on the vine, pick them and freeze them whole
by doing that, they become very easy indeed to peel, purely by dumping them in some warm or hot water

when you have a stack, probably 1-2 kg, chop them up and it matters not if they are still frozen, and cook them down into a pretty thick thick paste
pour this paste into mould(s), ideally no more than say 2cm thick, so that chunks can be broken of fairly easily

i find this an invaluable and well-flavoured staple for any number of recipes

Not sure who wrote:

"you are frightfully full of self-importance for no good reason

i have indeed started the occasional thread, but unlike you, especially on the NOWT thread,i feel no need to commandeer them once they are up and running"

whoever it was, it certainly wasn't posted on this thread, so can't have anything to do with the subject matter here

Manuel.


I thought you were the subject of the thread.

You must be the object.

8-)

I went shopping this afternoon. One item I bought was Marsala. I like it in sauces. I considered Madeira, but it is generally a bit too heavy. I had a look on Google for a sauce. I found this

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/pork-medallions-mushroom-marsala-sauce.aspx

The second ingredient was Kosher salt. Pork medallions with Kosher salt?

cynic
Talking of Madeira, have you ever tried Sercial? It is a very dry form of Madeira and quite drinkable as you would sherry. Another interesting one is white Port, also dry and a bit like Fino sherry.

i am very fond of old madeira, but it's not that easy to come by ..... sherry is also much under-rated ..... in my 20s, i used to drink it several times a week, but i have not bought any for quite a while as i'm not sure how long it will stay fresh once opened

along similar lines, i still have some 1927 banyuls, which is extraordinary, and somewhat like a really good tawny port

Sherry keeps for a very long time because it is a fortified wine. The Marsala was 18%.

You can buy very old Madeira at reasonable prices. There are sellers with bottles going back to the 1800s. I bought someone a bottle from somewhere in the Fulham Rd as old as that.

Has anybody out there grown new potatoes in their greenhouse and if so can I put them in large planters, I have read that a 1ft wide and 1ft deep container would do but I am not too sure. Obviously space is needed down at the bottom for the crop. I must be mental but I feel like having a go.