What's for dinner?

[mickthecactus]

To be honest I find ordinary mashed potatoes pretty dull and boring.

[onlyMark]

I always add stuff or do something with them. Potatoes in general. Just boiled is certainly dull.
Funnily enough on a different forum I mentioned the following as something I do involving potatoes - Pan Haggerty, Boxty, Rumbledethumps, Welsh cakes, Tattie scones, Potato floddies, Hutspot, Llapingachos, Patatnik, Tombet, Champ, Colcannon, Bubble and Squeak, Farls......
All good potato recipes.

[mickthecactus]

I picked up pork steaks in tomato and cheese sauce from the reduced section in Tesco (their reduced section can have fantastic bargains) and had them with little roast potatoes Italian style using the Charlotte potatoes I grew. It was all excellent, with enough left for lunch tomorrow

Btw, don’t like gnocchi.

[kerouac2]

I love potatoes but have never understood gnocchi.

[bixaorellana]

An honest recipe for mashed potatoes would read: two cups potatoes boiled and mashed. 3/4 liter heavy cream. stick or two of butter. enhancement tip: cup of bacon grease plus chopped bacon if there is any. Garnish with parsley sprig or sprinkle of paprika.

Really, plainly cooked potatoes, either boiled or pan-fried, are tastier than mashed. They're nice cold, too, with maybe some vinegar & a sprinkle of salt.

Gnocchi are stodge.

Tonight for supper I had Eye-talian sloppy joes: toasted bread topped with smashed meatball & sauce with a sprinkle of mixed parmesan/romano.

[mickthecactus]

Aug 16, 2024 3:38:58 GMT bixaorellana said:

An honest recipe for mashed potatoes would read: two cups potatoes boiled and mashed. 3/4 liter heavy cream. stick or two of butter. enhancement tip: cup of bacon grease plus chopped bacon if there is any. Garnish with parsley sprig or sprinkle of paprika.

Really, plainly cooked potatoes, either boiled or pan-fried, are tastier than mashed. They're nice cold, too, with maybe some vinegar & a sprinkle of salt.

Gnocchi are stodge.

Tonight for supper I had Eye-talian sloppy joes: toasted bread topped with smashed meatball & sauce with a sprinkle of mixed parmesan/romano.

I suspect your mashed potato recipe wasn’t invented by a cardiologist.

[kerouac2]

I made aubergine (something I almost never eat) stuffed with cooked aubergine pulp, chopped mushrooms, chopped garlic and some leftover pork fragments. Covered it with a slice of mimolette cheese and popped it in the oven for a bit. Came out much better than expected, but it will still not increase the frequency of my aubergine consumption.

[mickthecactus]

Aubergine isn’t for me either.

[bjd]

I don't like eggplant (aka aubergine) either but will eat it in thin lengthwise slices grilled on the bbq with a bit of olive oil.

[bixaorellana]

You all have something wrong with you.

[htmb]

It’s not for me either.

[tod2]

I love Brinjals (Aubergines) in almost any form that makes them tasty. Eg: Moussaka, Imam Bayildi , Baba ganoush, and my favourite quick lunch snack... slices of brinjal kissed with garlic olive oil and grilled then dipped in tomato ketchup before taking a bite! My mum always coated them in batter first but I prefer them plain.

[bixaorellana]

Finally ~ another grownup!

[kerouac2]

Moussaka is okay. I was once introduced to something called "eggplant pizza" long ago. It was actually not a bad idea. You cut those thin slices of aubergine and top them with standard pizza toppings before putting them in the oven. This cuts out the useless bread stuff. It sounds better than it tastes.

[onlyMark]

This is my favourite usage of eggplant. I do eat variations of eggplant quite often -

seonkyounglongest.com/eggplant-rollatini/

[onlyMark]

Excellent dinner tonight.
Can't beat a bowl of mushy peas. Ok, I know it is revolting to many but my upbringing introduced me to it at an early age, usually though as an accompaniment to fish and chips. As I can rarely have easy access to fish and chips (since 1994) I have developed a nostalgic taste for a bowl of these.
Healthy and tasty.
The sprig of parsley is for display purposes in homage to K2's presentations -




This was the side dish. Pickles again. Onion, red cabbage, cucumber and fresh radish -




"Pudding", known obviously more widely as dessert, is fresh melon sprinkled with coconut and a dash of lemon juice, plus vanilla yoghurt and raspberry jelly -



Epic.

[kerouac2]

I had a cold dinner of smoked salmon with lime, dill and crème fraîche, sliced avocado, Malaysian roti with hummus and also my home grown basil.

[mickthecactus]

The pickles would have been lovely with a nice platter of cold meats and cheese.

Mushy peas? No.

[tod2]

Mark, were those out of a tin? OR, did you buy dry Marrowfat Peas and cook them ? Home made is a lot better.

[onlyMark]

Bought dried marrowfat peas, soaked then overnight with some baking soda, rinsed and simmered for half an hour.
The tinned ones even I won't eat.

[bixaorellana]

You boys are treating yourselves quite nicely!

Mushy peas fascinate me. I have had fish and chips meals in England which include the peas, but I have no way of knowing if those were good versions or not. I'm predisposed to like them since I quite like cooked split peas, but mushy peas seem to be something that cooks up to something between fresh and dried peas.

I imagine they could be found in the US in a store with Indian ingredients, but my closest chance where I live would be AmazonMexico, at a whopping 1,479.55 pesos for two pounds. I could save those 79+ dollars for a trip to the UK instead.

[kerouac2]

Tonight I'll be having a simple insalata caprese (called just "tomate mozzarelle" in France) along with the leftover piece of stuffed aubergine which must be consumed. I hope the microwave improves it.

[onlyMark]

It needs to be a large pea Bixa. In fact only marrowfat peas will do. Everything else pales in comparison no matter what variations some pseudo chefs say will suffice.

[fumobici]

Those peas don't look all that mushy Mark, they should be visually indistinguishable from guacamole in my experience.

[bjd]

The only time I have seen anyone eat mushy peas was in a fish and chip place in Yorkshire. The peas were indeed blended smooth and a dark green colour. Still looked revolting but without the lumps.

[onlyMark]

Fumo/bjd, I'm afraid you have probably seen commercially made ones. You should be able to see that it is peas/they are peas. It is a personal choice though as to how mushy you want them.
Also - "Most commercially produced mushy peas contain artificial colourants to make them green; without these the dish would be murky grey."
Traditionally, and this is the way all mushy peas used to be made - "Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight in water with baking soda, and then rinsed in fresh water, after which the peas are gathered in a saucepan, covered with water, and brought to a boil, and then simmered until the peas are softened."
This is how I make them and how chips shops used to do it - in the back room would be a very large saucepan soaking the peas for the next day.
Mine in the photo are how they should be, though if you prefer, they could have been boiled a few minutes longer and a bit more 'mushy'.

My parents owned a pub at one time. We did sandwiches as food, that was all. Apart from when we had a darts match on and my mother would make mushy peas - just in that way. Nowadays I have no idea what chip shops use but I'm sure they don't make them themselves.
I've just skipped through a few 'authentic' recipes on the internet.
Abominations.
Using the wrong peas/frozen peas, adding double cream, butter, blending them, mashing them.......... my god....

"In Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and parts of Lincolnshire, mushy peas are often served as a snack on their own. In Nottinghamshire they are traditionally accompanied by mint sauce, and sold at open-air events such as fairs or fêtes. In Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, mushy peas served with chips is called a 'pea mix'." (or just a 'mix' in my area).
You didn't see because I'd not added it yet, but the vinegar I douse them in. It should be mint sauce but I don't have any so just the vinegar - but it should not be any of those fancy apple cider etc types, it should be malt vinegar. Same to make the mint sauce with and what you'd naturally put on your fish an chips anyway.

All I can say is the mushy peas in 99.9% of chip shops, restaurants, on market stalls, will be commercially made and a poor effort at it too.
It's not surprising they are not liked.
I bet Mick is gagging now.

[mickthecactus]

What’s even worse is I really like tinned marrow fat peas.

[kerouac2]

Give me dahl over mushy peas any time.

[mickthecactus]

Yup.

[onlyMark]

A good dahl I can always go for but lentils always need something doing to them to make them tasty. Raw peas are wonderful and peas by themselves as in above, are good. You don't have to do much to peas.