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 ......

i'm afraid i'm not a pud person, but it sounds as though you either add too much liquid (so soggy) or not enough (so dry) or do not allow long enough for the liquid to soak through.

I wonder if brioche or even panettone would be a better "outside" than supermarket "squodge" bread?

Manuel,

Has the Master Chef any experience of Salting (curing) chicken?

How bad is it?

What are your periods for salting and for which recipes.

never tried, but interesting to investigate.
given the intrinsic dryness of chicken and the effect salt has on drawing out juices, i'm surprised to hear it is a worthwhile procedure

I have seen recipes in the past, and done it years ago.

I thought it would accentuate the taste.

But I think I made a mistake when I tried it recently and salted for too long a period.

It didn't seem to draw out as much "juice" as I would expect with "pork", however it did rather firm up the flesh, but even though I soak and washed it, as I would do for a ham, it was still salty which spoilt its taste.

(I paid the price for not preserving the half chicken in the freezer out of "interest".)

I have a guess it would be wiser only to pre-salt for a couple of hours before using,

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Larousse Gastronomique.

First bought a copy in the sixties and subsequently gave copies to male friends, to be given to their future wives when they were getting married, as useful instructions and future expectations.

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I am now going into hiding.

,

Decided against turkey this year and have now ordered a goose. Cooking the goose seems pretty easy ( no pun intended) but any recommendations re vegetables very welcome. For some reason I can't bring myself to put sprouts and goose together. (Delia recommends red cabbage....hmmm, not sure about that!)

a goose will serve no more than 6 or 8 if you're miserly, so be aware of that ..... cook as you would a duck - i.e. prick the skin all over and roast initially breast side down and on a trivet so the fat can drain into your roasting dish
assuredly you need something quite acidic to counter the fattiness and richness of the goose, and hence the suggestion of red cabbage

savoy cabbage or cavalo nero would counter-balance well too

on the other hand, stick with sprouts, but puree them with a little cream, and add crispy bacon lardons and chestnuts (buy whole and vacuum packed by merchant gourmet from your supermarket or deli)

I can do a nice mince and mash dish , i keep the ingredients as close to my chest as Col Saunders.

Cheers Mr C. I quite like roast (baked) fennel, but not many others do, so maybe cabbage is the answer. Apparently spuds roasted in goose fat are the best, so that should appease any doubters!

Thanks jb, but if I served up mince & mash at Christmas I probably wouldn't make it into the New Year! ;o)

hadn't thought of fennel
it's quite sweet, so would still recommend something acidic as well

If you have ever fancied some jam and haven't got any, you can make it in a few minutes in a microwave.

Use 2 cups (crushed down) of fruit, 1 1/2 cups of ordinary sugar.
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice for strawberries (reduce for sharp fruit)
1/2 teaspoon of butter (not sure why)

put the ingredients in a large bowl and microwave full power (850w) for around 15 minutes boiling. Test a small amount on a cold saucer to test if set. If not then boil for another 2 mins and test again.

You can put in a couple of strips of the lemon peel to encourage setting and then remove.

The jam keeps pretty well and can be frozen.

I often make very small quantities with left over fruit or sometimes I might just buy one punnet of strawbs or raspberries etc. I just make an estimate of the smaller amount of suger. It has always worked so far.

Fred1new - 20 Feb 2014 23:05 - 36965 of 36965

GF,

Bye the way he Manuel did start what could have been an interesting thread for some on food.

If he had refrained from being obnoxious it is possible that many may have contributed to it.

My skin is thicker than the most and Manuel is often amusing!.................ends


absolutely agree Fred this thread like his FTSE 250 thread is lacking input and is becoming very boring.

More and more posters turned off because of his obnoxious attitude and lazy communication skills.

Personally If I were management Id close both of his threads down.

please feel free to add recipes or anything else to do with culinary arts or skills

it's probably beyond you, but perhaps you could construct or just post some simple, cheap recipes so the impoverished of your parish can learn to eat well and healthily on say £5 a day rather than eating ready-meals, crisps and biscuits

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on a more general note, i'ld be interested to hear how many of you still have genuine fishmongers in your towns ... or even a regular van that offers fresh fish

it's a sad fact that all sorts of factors ranging from the pernicious supermarket chains, to high street rents to a general lack of support for our local businesses have destroyed most of this once stalwart purveyor

there also seems to be a wide-held belief that fish should be cheap ..... it was indeed perhaps 50 years, but certainly no more and for good reason

A lot of people cant afford £5 per day on food never mind spending money on ready-meals crisps and biscuits.

Do you not think you are a wee out of touch cynic.

Denis Skinner ‏@BolsoverBeast 3m
There are a lot of people in the UK not eating 2 days a week.
Unlike Osborne, they're not doing it voluntarily.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/george-osborne-52-diet-chancellor-3166066

We have a fishmonger who has a permanent post on the land of a home reared cattle farm who have opened a huge farm shop, 2 miles away. I bought a cod loin from him for £6.50 which I suppose could have fed 2 (not a chance with me) and a small but chunky piece of hake which was very tasty for £2.50 as it was the last one. The hake was absolutely delicious. We also have a fish man calls around the village once a week.

Very lucky to have all those resources 3m unfortunately although we have a farmers market on a saturday we have no fish outlets other than fish holes.

Terrible dried up fish and chips, cant use animal fat anymore Im told, as to be veg oil.

Wonder if this is an EEC thing.

Quite a few in Norfolk and Suffolk Mr C. Most of them are only offering the catch of the day landed at Lowestoft, but still, it's all fresh and 'reasonably' priced, though it's the usual "we charge this price to cover the cost of diesel" argument. Plenty of dabs, cod, whiting, crabs and mussels at the moment.

I don't think fish was ever cheap. It was a once a week thing and not just for religious reasons.

Absolutely Hays therefore my out of touch comment re-Cynic above.

Wasnt it Fridays??