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 ......

alsace riesling
is delicious and perhaps a little different from what you might expect
it's worth spend an extra few shillings to get something from a really good grower - hugel or zind humbrecht and the like -and ideally with some good bottle age ..... 2007 was certainly excellent and also from memory 2009

in fact, alsace wines, like mosels are excellent value as the general pleb (chuckle) is confused by them so will avoid them

if you find you like the alsace riesling, then try others like pinot gris ..... you should find your local majestic warehouse staff very knowledgeable as i believe they get some decent training through the wine and spirit trust (an excellent organisation), unlike your supermarket staff who will know bugger all

Thanks. Only three being offered on the MJW website, but might try one of them. As the mussels here are cheap and plentiful atm (though less so this year due to last years storms affecting the mussel beds) it won't be too expensive a mistake.

you'll need about 800 gm mussels pp, unless you're greedy like me in which case you'll guzzle close on a kilo

try your mussels with ginger, chilli, garlic and onions and a splash of wine and a handful of chopped parsley or coriander at the end

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what's your choice of alsace riesling at mjw?
any decent indy wine shops near you?

I have an account at MJW, so that is the easiest option for me.
Choice is: Clos St-Jacques Riesling 2011, Riesling 'Les Princes Abbés' 2011 Domaines Schlumberger, Kuhlmann-Platz Riesling 2013 Cave de Hunawihr.
Apparently the Prince Abbes bottle is 'Very Dry' (like sucking on a lemon!) so might avoid that one.
The problem is that they all have distinctive bouquet and flavour, which might overpower the mussels, but no harm in trying!
Indy Wine shops????? Not heard of it , so probably not in Norfolk.

indy = independent!

of the 3 from mjw, i think i'ld plump for the clos st jacques ..... it should work fine with the mussels

how much would you (normally) be prepared to spend on a bottle of wine?

I tend to make one or two trips a year to France and stock up on french wines, so setting a price is tricky. Auchan has a very good selection and as the € is weak, if you buy enough it makes the trip worthwhile.
In the UK, my max price is probably £15 at MJW, but have been known to pay a little more than that in a restaurant (usually for rubbish!).
I'm not a great lover of the Beaune or Rhone wines which are a bit heavy for me, so that keeps me away from the expensive end of the market.

Duck this year. Couldn't face ploughing through an enormous Norfolk turkey.

goose also makes a change though it will only ever serve 6 or 8 at a pinch
at least with duck you can just cut it with poultry shears into 4 sections - easy peasy

Canada Goose is quite cheap this year, so the car wash guys told me.

I thought those guys were eating swan most of the time now?!!!

PANCAKES

ExecLine
Today is 'Pancake Day'.

This is how Raymond Blanc makes them:

Best ever pancakes from Raymond Blanc on HD Vimeo .... https://vimeo.com/119536302


cynic
pancake filling
instead of boring old sugar and lemon try this ......
philadelphia cheese or similar
stem ginger in syrup
fresh raspberries

chop up some stem ginger
whip it into the philly adding some of the syrup

put a dollop inside your pancake and add some fresh raspberries

it's stunning, and better still if you can make the philly + ginger mix the day before

MaxK
Or try a galette, stuff whatever you like into them.

http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/galettes-de-sarrasin/

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cynic
ah yes .... galettes are excellent and very versatile, but better with savoury than sweet
my recollection is that there is still a good proportion of white flour, though that's no good if you're gluten intolerant

mozarella, tuna, anchovies and tomato
chicken in a good white sauce with sweet corn
loads and loads of possibilities

they're best if made on the big 30cm+ round steel plates
then fill, form into a flat parcel with the filling in the middle and griddle with some butter until moderately crispy

Mr C........just as a matter of interest, I am due to eat here in a few few weeks (just a convenient meeting place for french contact) and have come across their wine list.
I confess most of it is way beyond my sphere of knowledge, without referral to an internet search engine, but do any of the names spring out at you? Fortunately the bill will be shared, so cost isn't too important. I expect I will be eating steak of some kind......some of the nouvelle cuisine on the website isn't quite my cup of tea.

Sorry, above link gone a bit awry!

http://s409322080.siteweb-initial.fr/les-cartes/carte-des-vins/

Having trouble inserting as a hyperlink.

Château de Fosse Sèche
i know this ...... they make a very good Saumur Champigny which, with some bottle age, is quite smokey ..... it's quite chunky and may well better served just chilled

So you are stumped on the rest?!! That's a bit worrying! ;o
I have a feeling asking for the 'House Red' might be frowned upon!

not worrying; it's just that they're producers i do not know
i happen to like that saumur champigny and it's a bit out of the norm, bog standard house claret or blend or whatever

if unsure, never be afraid to ask the sommelier .... i often do, especially for italian wines which i do not know ..... if you tell him what you're eating, he should guide you properly and sensibly; just make sure he doesn't try to to sting you for something more expensive than you want to pay

if they have a generic burgundy (pinot noir) from a really good grower, that can prove to be excellent value ..... named burgundies are definitely not!

hi harry, i hope you found i guided you well ......

meanwhile, does anyone have any experience with cooking with pressure cookers?

as we use quite a lot of chicken stock during the year, and it steams and stinks the kitchen out every time i make a batch, a commercial-size pressure cooker will overcome that prob

however, there have to be more everyday tasks for which these gadgets are really useful - and do a really good job too ....... dried pulses are an obvious

I'm not sure it will cure the problem. I had a Malaysian (chinese) student staying with me and she regularly used the pressure cooker to cook whole chickens (they don't roast them as we do) and as there is still some steam which escapes from the pressure valve, the house regularly suffered.....and of course you have to go outside when opening it, which most people don't. They are widely used all across Asia, but seems that they have fallen out of fashion in Europe. My father used to cook whole ox tongues in one, but somehow it just sits gathering dust now.

it's also a time issue
what i don't know is whether or not if you cook say an oxtail casserole, will the flavour be as good as when cooked for 4/5 hours in a low over

how was your "wine experience"?