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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 12, 2021 16:09:42 GMT
While tod2 is having a completely inappropriate beef and mushroom pie in the heat of summer, I am having a completely inappropriate Greek salad in the chill of winter. Climate change?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 12, 2021 18:12:05 GMT
We had the same spicy chicken and vegetable soup as last night because there was quite a lot left from yesterday. If anything it tasted even better.
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Post by lugg on Jan 12, 2021 19:14:19 GMT
If anything it tasted even better. I think that is true of many dishes. Comfort food for me tonight, so I have cooked that great English classic - Chicken Tikka Masala. There will be enough to freeze for another day. It is by no means traditional as I have added spinach, butternut squash and bananas because that is what I had in the fridge.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 13, 2021 6:34:25 GMT
Lugg I've heard of serving bananas as a side dish with a very hot curry but never actually cooked in the curry. I'm intrigued. Were they slightly green and did they go to mush and act as a flavouring?
Yes Kerouac, seems we go with what we feel like no matter what the climate! The pastry was very good. A sort of cross between a dumpling and a savoury shortbread. The middle was spongy-ihs and the well draped pastry over the edges was crisp.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 13, 2021 15:44:25 GMT
I have used banana and cucumber slices as a garnish for extremely spicy curries in the past, and it was an excellent addition. Nobody should think that I was intelligent enough to think of this myself, but I read it off the side of a tin of Singapore curry sauce many years ago, and it was the best advice ever.
Tonight I will be having a fried cod fillet with mashed potatoes.
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Post by lugg on Jan 13, 2021 18:45:10 GMT
Lugg I've heard of serving bananas as a side dish with a very hot curry but never actually cooked in the curry. I'm intrigued. Were they slightly green and did they go to mush and act as a flavouring? Hi No not green and in fact they were just getting to be over ripe ... I add them right at the end of the cooking time so they don't go to mush. But if you like a sweet flavour in your curry you could add them all or maybe half of them earlier so they do mush into the sauce. I think bananas and chicken go very well together; years ago one of my favourite dishes was Chicken Maryland - never see it now unfortunately.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 14, 2021 10:33:00 GMT
Preparing a dish in advance during these hot days is torture at times. One of those times was today as I had to have a very hot oven. We have aubergines/brinjals coming on too fast so have to make something tasty out of them for dinner. That's why we planted them in the first place!
So, today I made simple stuffed brinjals using fried mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini's, onions, tomatoes, garlic and chopped parsley. Only spice was a vegetable salt - except when it came to stuffing the baked whole aubergines. When I split them to make a hollow for the stuffing, I rubbed a small amount of Umami paste on the inside of the aubergines.
I will complete roasting or heating them again at dinner time. I'm hoping they will be a repeat dish as more brinjals ripen.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 14, 2021 17:58:33 GMT
That sounds absolutely delicious, Tod! They must have been really mounded up with all those lovely ingredients. Did you incorporate the flesh you scooped out in order to made the hollows? When I made stuffed eggplant recently, I had leftovers which re-heated nicely. Really, they're perfectly good cold or at room temperature, too.
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Post by Biddy on Jan 15, 2021 1:21:28 GMT
Looking for a tried and true chicken butter recipe. I know I have come to the right place. Phenomenal cooks on this site.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 15, 2021 2:51:38 GMT
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Post by whatagain on Jan 15, 2021 5:36:40 GMT
I cooked a jambonneau (part of the rear leg of a pig), with a wok of several vegetables and several spices (i take them at random, sniff, and select) and some pasta. I got a good score, everybody liked it but Marie, who doesn't like any meat these days.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 15, 2021 7:50:56 GMT
Bixa - Indeed, they were delicious but a tad too spicy for me. My fault for rinsing out the last of the Sabal Oelek in the jar and pouring all of it in to the mixture. And no, did not scoop any flesh out as they were medium size so when baked for an hour were perfectly soft but not collapsing mushy, if you know what I mean. I simply took a sharp paring knife (so the blade was short) and carefully made a slit. Then taking a fork and a small wooden spoon gently pried the brinjal open. What I decided to do then was to remove the "bunches"of seeds. This left lots of space for the filling. I think I told you this before, but here's a reminder that brinjals come in what looks like male and female fruit. Look at the bottom end and find a "navel or bellybutton" round spot. This is a male brinjal. An elongated mark means its female.' You want to use the males. Less seeds. Also smaller brinjals have under developed seeds and are nicer to eat. So as Chef John of Food Wishes says "Look for dots not slots".
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Post by casimira on Jan 15, 2021 15:23:08 GMT
As the weather last evening was just perfect, we went out to a new neighborhood bistro and sat outside and dined on raw oysters and shared a large spinach salad. A California Pinot Grigio to accompany the ice cold, slightly salty (perfect) oysters.
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Post by lugg on Jan 15, 2021 20:59:37 GMT
As the weather last evening was just perfect, we went out to a new neighborhood bistro and sat outside and dined on raw oysters and shared a large spinach salad. A California Pinot Grigio to accompany the ice cold, slightly salty (perfect) oysters. That sounds just an absolutely perfect meal with perfect weather.
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Post by lugg on Jan 15, 2021 21:01:35 GMT
Look at the bottom end and find a "navel or bellybutton" round spot. This is a male brinjal. An elongated mark means its female.' You want to use the males. Less seeds. Also smaller brinjals have under developed seeds and are nicer to eat. So as Chef John of Food Wishes says "Look for dots not slots". I had no idea but now on a mission .
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Post by tod2 on Jan 16, 2021 17:18:51 GMT
I'm getting mighty tired of (not washing up several pots and pans because Mr.Tod does that), but I have to pack them away when all sparkly clean again. My wash-up area is away from the main kitchen so it's a backwards and forwards trot. I never knew dinner plates could be so heavy when piled up. So, I'm leaning more and more towards one-pot/pan meals like a stir-fry. Last night I made a stir-fry using baby calamari tubes sliced in rings, some frozen prawns and the usual onion, bell pepper, garlic and this time I put in a teaspoon of Umami paste with ginger. Its very salty like soy sauce so I went easy on it. I see my tube is imported from the UK.
Served the seafood on plain white rice. Perfect.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 16, 2021 17:43:32 GMT
Shrimp dim sum tonight and also some small chicken bits that I placed in one of the steamer baskets. No work and almost no cleaning up! Yay!
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Post by lugg on Jan 16, 2021 18:21:19 GMT
For some reason I had a yearning for a jacket potato tonight - so I have one baking very slowly in the oven so that the skin gets really dark and crispy , which is how I like them. I will have it with a red pepper and spinach quiche and coleslaw.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 17, 2021 14:17:43 GMT
Today I made a "Sticky Garlic, Thyme and Goat's Cheese Quiche". Recipe from a magazine. I made it exactly to the script with one exception - I got a friend to make the pastry. She makes the most awesome melt-in-your-mouth pastry. The quiche was lovely. Maybe could be a tiny bit more cheesy but it was silky and I was very pleased. I had to use a cake mould as I do not have the traditional quiche pan. Magazine photo:
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Post by casimira on Jan 17, 2021 15:13:39 GMT
WOW Tod!! Those look delicious!!! I haven't made a quiche in ages but you do inspire with yours.
T. made a Zinfandel of Beef yesterday and again it did not disappoint. It's a Julia Child recipe that T. has perfected over the years.
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Post by onlyMark on Jan 17, 2021 15:21:16 GMT
Tod, did you blind bake the pastry first?
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Post by tod2 on Jan 17, 2021 16:46:28 GMT
Hi Mark - Oh yes indeed I did. I'm going to put the recipe up in the Galley section.
Casimira - All I drank while in America was Zinfandel wine. I just loved it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 17, 2021 16:50:07 GMT
The quiche looks excellent.
Tonight I deep fried some chicken strips rolled in egg, seasoning and Japanese bread crumbs. Not bad, but it proved to me that it is not worth the effort for one person when there is a fried chicken place right across the street.
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Post by casimira on Jan 17, 2021 17:28:44 GMT
Tod, there is enough of the Zinfandel leftover in the bottle after making the dish for us to imbibe as an accompaniment.
Kerouac, I would tend to agree about going to the trouble of deep frying anything for just one person. I don't do it for just 2 of us. So messy and I hate dealing with the oil splattered stove afterwards. Do you use Panko when you say Japanese bread crumbs?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 17, 2021 17:55:08 GMT
The brand was not Panko, but it looks just like Panko.
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Post by lugg on Jan 17, 2021 18:21:23 GMT
That Quiche ... yummy
I will look up Zinfandel beef because it sounds very appealing Casimira.
I hear you K2 - I am not even sure if it is worth it for more than one. But I do enjoy it as a treat.
Chicken fajitas for me tonight.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 18, 2021 0:47:40 GMT
I would tend to agree about going to the trouble of deep frying anything for just one person. I don't do it for just 2 of us. So messy and I hate dealing with the oil splattered stove afterwards. That has always been my feeling about deep frying, plus it seems like a waste of oil which you also have to figure out how to dispose of later. No wonder air fryers have been such a big hit.
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Post by casimira on Jan 18, 2021 14:06:10 GMT
I haven't ruled out getting an air fryer and have explored the various models. But, until we find some new configuration for our tiny kitchen I have no space to accommodate one. The other factor is we really don't eat that many fried foods.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 18, 2021 16:33:43 GMT
Oh dear Casimira you have got it all wrong. An Airfryer is for ALL cooking. Take tonight for instance. I made potato wedges, and a beautifully grilled spatchcock chicken in my Airfryer. The chicken was bought all marinaded in a lovely sauce and all I did was place it in some tin foil and put it in the Airfyer. After 30min I flipped it over and then when I judged it was cooked through I tore open the foil and let it get a beautiful mahogany colour. At breakfast time I put some cheese scones in for 5min to warm through. For desert tonight (after a divine chicken) I will warm up some lovely Apple crumble Danishes. My Airfryer in a MIDEA. It was the cheapest one on the shelf and although I thought too big at first - it's proved fabulous for my needs. The main thing to look out for is it must have a solid removeable plate in the bottom - not a wire basket. Trust me. You will find washing/cleaning it so much easier.
I watched a video on all the things you can cook in it and was impressed with the demo on green beans - my favourite veg!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 18, 2021 16:48:41 GMT
Hubby bought one a couple of years ago (air fryer) he bought it from a shopping channel and fully expected to be able to immediately produce the delicious meals shown in the advertisment. After making some hideous inedible messes he threw a wobbly and put the disappointing device in the loft.
I really love cooking and enjoy having multiple pots and pans fizzing, boiling and baking away. I may play with the air fryer at some point but when it was new I wasn't allowed to experiment without constant supervision and 'helpful suggestions'. I am not a violent person by nature but I almost stabbed my beloved in the eye with a fork. The air fryer needs to stay in the loft until after lockdown or there could be bloodshed.
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