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 ......

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"?

The wine experience started with a sharp intake of breath when we saw the price of the wines, though many of the wines didn't match the list on the website. The house wine was Chateau La Croix de Perron Lalande de Pomerol AOC, I think as I wasn't doing the ordering, which seems to be a mix of a number of grapes, but was decent enough to satisfy all. €24 a bottle. Most others started at €40 per bottle. It seems the markup on wines in Paris restaurants is the same as everywhere else, unless you order the house wine by the carafe.

of course it's a mix .... pomerol has a preponderance of merlot but with some cab franc and a little cab sauv .... the wines are generally soft and approachable

if the restaurant was reputable, you'ld probably have found that the house carafe wine was more than fit for purpose ..... did you notice if many tables were opting for that, for that is always a good clue?

I think it was the kind of restaurant where the clientel are happy to have a decent Chateau bottle on the table. I agree that in many less expensive restaurants the house carafe is very drinkable......it's a social statement to have a bottle on the table!