I have never used ceramic, I use gas. But a friend of mine has a ceramic hob and is a very keen cook. I will ask her for you.

No, what was it like? Give us an idea? Was it thick, thin, creamy, tomato based? Strong herb or spicy flavours.

You know you could always ask the restaurant, they may not give you the recipe but they may well tell you what's in it. Then you can post for ideas or experiment yourself.

I know that's not much help.

Hi tigger

Are you looking for Chinese takeaway style lemon chicken all stodgy and in batter with a thick sweet sauce, or a light chicken dish thats citrusy and sharp?

sorry, thats .com not .co.uk

www.reshmamartin.com.

Hi fm,

Have you been to Reshma Martins site to ask her. She teaches Indian cookery and is not only very knowlegable but really lovely and glad to help.

www.reshmamartin.co.uk

Hi Loopster and welcome to the message boards.

I can't post the recipe as it conflicts with the copy right rules but I'm sure I can post the spices off the top of my head.

smoked paprika
salt
chinese five spice powder


I've made this and it was wonderful.

Just rub in the spices, a teaspoon or so of each to taste and you'll be right.

Well so did I actually FORDY, so dont feel too badly. I came on to post the like and realised I had it wrong.

I think Lakeland Ltd (www.lakelandlimited.co.uk) do one big square tin that you can adjust the sides to make different sized tins. I don't know how successful this is cos I have loads of baking stuff in all different sizes and what I haven't got I borrow from the Paris restaurant. But I do know that baking tins can be horrendously expensive and this may be a cheaper way of gaining several sizes for the several tiers you may wish to make.

ok I will confess, my OH is not too interesting on the sarnie front.

I've known him for 10 years and he will only eat three kinds of sarnies and that goes way back to the previous 10 years too.

He eats peanut butter, blackcurrant jam or tuna paste.

Now as unappetising as that sounds, there is worse news to come.

He eats the same filling for around 2 years (just realised thats almost to the month actually) then changes for one of the other two, the next one in the cycle of course, then 2 years on he goes for the last one before starting again. I just can't tempt him with any other filling.

It's a good idea to add a little salt to the eggs before cooking them because it helps to break up the white and the whites and the yolks will amalgamate better.

If you don't like the milk seeping, then you can use less or for a fuller flavour use cream.

Butter gives a wonderful rich taste but of course loads on the calories rather too much.

Finally a good handful of chopped parsley and some black pepper make it really tastey.

I know the one you mean Essex Girl, but I haven't used one. I use a potato ricer too, they are great.

Hi Bongo,

As I said on another thread, its worth looking at www.wingyip.com and www.hoohing.com.

Hope that helps.

Hi brucey-b,

Books for cooks do have a website but they don't list their books as they change too quickly. www.booksforcooks.com.

My advice would be to visit bol.com regularly as they often have introductory offers on books at sixty percent off the rrp.

Also I find Tesco.com have an amazing collection of books and also offer discounts.

I have around 800 (last count was ages ago though, so possibly more) cookery books, I just love them for inspiration.

Hi cheers


I'm sure everyones recipes are great but in the restaurant we wouldn't add butter or olive oil or anything. They sear beautifully in a dry pan and slightly caramalise automatically. I personally wouldn't add anything, sorry to repeat myself but I just wouldn't. Dry fry them briefly and add them to a salad with avocados chopped and panectta or any type of fatty bacon grilled and the excess fat removed. Use kitchen paper to dab them dry.

Add balsamic vinegar as a dressing and you have my all time favourite dish.


Enjoy every mouthful. x

Hi Nimisha

I would also use a mixture of flour and butter, it's known in the trade as beurre manie and is used to thicken all sorts of sauces as well.

Best way I would say is to turn up hungry at snoozys house. She does the best herby, creamy scrambled eggs I've ever tasted.

My kids have always called them scrummy eggs instead of scrambled eggs. A genuine slip from my daughter at a very young age, but it stuck. Well they are scrummy!

Sorry ohforgodssake, I don't know. But if you like pomegranates I think you will love pomegranate molases. It's a thick syrupy sauce made from the fruit itself and is absolutely delicious used as a salad dressing. It acts in a similar way to balsamic vinegar when used as a salad dressing, bringing a sweetness etc.

Well done JO405,

The mascapone also adds a creamy taste as well as stops it setting too hard. Thanks Gaye, you keep passing on the info.

Another tip besides the excellent alcahol one is to add more sugar or better still glucose syrup. Sugar stops it setting too hard.

This is especially important when making sorbet as this can set rock hard. When it comes to sorbet the rule of thumb is more water for harder sorbet, more of the sugary stock syrup for softer.

Imagaine a ice cube, it sets hard as there's nothing to stop it.

Yes good idea Rustie, I love starters but then can never manage my main course, so canape sized starters is an excellent choice.

To have pre starters and starters is too much I agree but they do serve them in many restaurants and some people for special occassions.

I think your choice of books were wonderful as I said in my previous post, as long as the buyer knows they are bite sized portions before purchasing.

Hi Christopher,

My nephew has such a severe nut allegy and egg allegy the poor thing has to carry a life saving emergency injection pack with him at all times. I bought his mum a book called The Allergy-Free Cook Book by Maggie Pannell. It not only has recipes but contains information about allergies too. If you are going to cook for this nut allergy sufferer on a regular basis, I would highly recommend the book as this is such a complex area.

I have or have read all the books that Rustie mentions and they are truely wonderful books. Especially Amuse-Bouche. I would say however, these books contain many recipes that are sort of canape sized and would make excellent pre-starters or entrees or indeed, hors d'oeuvres. You could of course make the recipes larger into a starter size portion.

Whilst Shane Osborns book is my favourite on the subject, I also have Appetizers, Starters and Hors d'oeuvres by Christine Ingram, Soups and starters by Linda Fraser and a real favourite is Australian Womens weekly, starters and soups.

All excellent but the Austalian Womens Weekly has the advantage of a picture with every recipe and a really good price tag.

Hi Doppleganger,

I was in books for cooks last week in London and I flicked through a book by Shane Osborn. Its called starters and its rrp is £18.99. Amazon are currently selling it for £13.29 which is a saving of 30 percent.

I would highly recommend this book for its recipes and photography.

Hi DeeR

I go to Chinese supermarkets for my supplies. I know this is not always possible so here's two good websites so you can buy on line. www.wingyip.com and www.hoohing.com. They both have several branches and both offer different things at the different branches. I visit many shops selling these ingredients but these two are my favourites and sell at the cheapest prices too.

Well worth a look.

Hi sugarpuff,

I agree with rday, they have a similar taste but are totally different vegetables so I also wouldn't substitute it. I would suggest you use either all 3 if suggested in the recipe or at least the celeriac and the swede as they have the most flavour. Hope it turns out ok.

or sauce in this case. x

thanks camelia, curry recipes can be so temperamental, its good to know one has been tried and tested

x

Yes sugarpuff, but it is the celeriac that will give it the taste.

celeriac does actually taste like a mild form or celery

loads of people say they dont like celery but it makes such a difference to a stock which in turn makes such a difference to a stock

try it.... its great

that sounds fab jenifer, thank you. I will definately try it out.xxxx

hi spud

river cafe do a chocolte nemisis that is to die for, I cant post the recipe here but it can be easily found. if you have trouble, post and let me know, I will try to get it to you. There are wonderful websites around supplying us with wonderful recipes

hi sugarfuff

turnip is a white root veg and swede is an orange root veg. Swede is sweeter. However, the Scotts, call a Turnip Swede and so as long as you know which is which you will be fine. All are lovely with a little butter and grated fresh nutmeg.

Hi Nathan,

Just stopping by, been so busy lately but just thought I'd stop by to see how everyone was. Good to hear you are still into catering. Good luck my lovely. xxx

got room for me in your suitcase Nick?

got room for me in your suitcase Nick?

Hi bhavesh,

mine was very fresh, really, it was just bluish-grey and so were all the bathches I bought around that period. I know it wasn't caused by not being fresh but good advice though, thank you.

Have a lovely trip frexy and orange curd is nice too.

Hi Sonia,

I posted about this just a few weeks ago. I bought some that looked normal on the outside but bluish grey on the inside. It spelt and looked just fine so I posted and was given good advice on here to go ahead and use it. As it was my instinct from the look of it to do so, I did and it tasted just the same. A few weeks on and I'm still around to post, so no ill effects here either.

Sorry, but I have to put another vote in for the dreadful deck dates. I don't think we can single James out though as the only good thing on it, after all, he read the format and still went for it, how stupid is that?

No, it's thumbs down for James and the programme.

Welcome to the boards bananarama,

Try using plenty of vegetables, oily fish and leaner cuts of meat. Cut down on salt, sugar and fats. The fresher the ingredients the better, they contain more of their minerals and vitamins when fresh.

Let us know if you need anything more specific and how you are getting on with your course.

That sounds nice spammy, but gcalmske, a teaspoon of dijon mustard and a grating of fresh nutmeg will transform any sauce dish.

And somerfield and Tesco. There's more availability now and is popping up all over the place.

well then try Nisbett again, they do charge for delivery for orders under £75 but I think it is under £5 so still better than the £9. You never know kromusdomus, you may even see other things you fancy when you go and look at their website.

Hey Steve,

At least you know your students are paying attention, even if it is only to your little Britain quotes, lol.

As for being a great teacher, I have no doubt about that, you helped to produce one of our great chefs at Paris and your tv shots are really superb.

Keep up the good work, hope to see you soon on the box.

Oh I would love a show like that, preserves are sooo popular right now.

NO! SURELY NOT! Not visiting books for cooks and you've only got a hundred.

SOMEONE TELL THIS PERSON TO LAY DOWN. I have a rather obsessional collection of books and when I was in books for cooks it was a case of got it, got it, got it, not, got it got it..... but .... who can resist looking. I can feel a wander round my library coming on. sigh. Do come visit Menards, visit Mammas books for cooks.

I don't know why, but it certainly isn't just the breast. So agree with Livewire.

It's done that way for easy carving.

Hey Sandraz,

I'm too far too really, I have 10 minutes to the train station, 50 mins on the train, 30 mins on the tube and a twenty minute walk and all the waiting on connections in between. So I only go when it co-incides with other stuff and then I do the lot. Visit books for cooks opposite the spice shop, walk the length of Portobello market and lots more. So it doesn't seem so far if you take all that into consideration. But not exactly a quick nip into a spice shop.

My friend always slices lemons and freezes them so that each G and T has ice and a slice all in one

My friend always slices lemons and freezes them so that each G and T has ice and a slice all in one

Hi Sandraz,

I was in the spice shop last week, it really does have everything you could want. It's a tiny little shop but is packed from floor to ceiling. a little spicy paradise.

Well at the restaurant we cut the fillet (or tenderloin) into thick steaks and marinade it for a few days in red wine and juniper berries, bay leaves and a few black peppercorns. Then just fry it off like a beef steak. It's much stronger in taste but much the same. Another thing we do, again treating it like a beef fillet steak, and that's to make venison wellingtons. Cut a small steak, put pate on top and wrap in pastry. You could also put mushroom duxelle and a sage leaf or bacon on top of the fillet or any combination before encasing it in the pastry.

With the shin, its quite sinuy (now I know I've spelt that wrong) sinuey, whatever. So it's good chopped up finely and made into course pate or a terrine of some sort.

Hi Rachel,

Can do, it won't make a lot of difference. It's not necessary though so I would say only do so if you've already finished it off that way. If not, I wouldn't bother. Hope it turns out really tastey.

Thanks guys,

My insticts tell me to use it, it looks and smells so fresh and isn't wrinkly or anything like that. One end is more normal looking so I've used mostly that part. Its very pale bluish grey as well so it doesn't look unappetising.

Thanks for your advice and research

Hi all,

I bought some fresh root ginger this morning and it looks perfectly normal on the outside. The flesh on the other hand has a blue/green/grey tinge. It smells the same and appears fresh etc. Is there something wrong with it or is there different types or times of the year when this occurs.

Please help, I want to marinade my chicken ready for tonight so the sooner the better. Many thanks.

Hi mover,

If you never buy another book again after this one, you won't care, but buy this one. I have hundreds of cookery books and this one really is one of my favourites. It has absolutely every single recipe featured on the programme and I rate it enormously.

Well worth buying

Yours sounds a bit posher than mine though Rustie, whilst I am talking 10 years ago it was still well under a tenner.

Oh Essex Girl,

What a shame about the disappointing meal. Are you absolutely sure you followed the instructions correctly? Perhaps you should practise it a couple of times until you perfect it as it did sound sooo good.

What does broccoflower look like BeccaNurse? We have something called romonesco here which is a green cauliflower and goes to a point in the centre of the flower rather than round like cauliflower. Then we have purple flowering brocolli which looks a bit like straggly florets of brocolli. Is it like either of those?

Quite right Essex Girl, you get ready frozen profiteroles too.

I know what you mean about the perfume too, but then once upon a time I used to think leg warmers were cool.

Southend is beginning to calm down a bit but I don't go there much myself. I go for the sea front but not for the shopping. With Bluewater and Lakeside so handy, I usually head that way for my retail therapy.

Try Paul Hollywoods recipes, I bet theres one for scones on here under his recipes as he made them on Good Food Live once.

Did you use the same size tin helon?

It really shouldn't be kept for long even with clarified butter Rachel. A few days, 4 at the most. It does freeze well though, so you could make a batch and freeze blocks between grease proof paper and just put a little in your fridge at any one time.

and deep fried in tempura batter is delicious, especially with a dipping sauce.

I do brocolli cheese like cauliflower cheese too, but I put both in the same dish and then pour on the cheese sauce. Spring onions chopped up are nice in it too.

I like mine as much as the £100 we use at work. Not often you can say that when it only costs around £20.

CUSTARD who said custard. About 10 years ago (when I was a little girl ) I was wearing the body shops vanilla perfume. A little boy passed me and turned to his much and said, umm that lady smells of custard. I never wore it again. Still, at least that means his mum probably makes real custard with vanilla pods.

none that I know of grey bear. I would love the delhi belly cook book too.

He also has a restaurant but I don't think he has published a cook book from there either.

Sorry stu I don't know. Have you tried to record it so you can slow it down or pause it and get the song details. If you find out the name you could then do a google search or something.

I loved both the first and second series of a house in France. I think it was a tremendous shame that Nigel and Nippe were plagued with problems from start to finish. Nigel always seemed to come up with the ideas and filled with enthusiam rushed ahead and always seemed to come off worse. He seemed to be messed about by beaurocracy both with the sale of his British home and with his lack of understanding of the French authorities. His new French girlfriend seemed just as illusive.

It was his idea to open an Indian restaurant in France and Nippe brought Reza over. Again the whole project seemed to be plagued with problems from getting hold of the correct spices, to getting bookings and the chef only arrived the day before so no practise runs.

I heard it reported on the BBC news (don't know why it got on there, but) that Nigel lost £40,000 because the business failed. Lets hope he got lots of money for the show to help out.

Never know, he might do a third series, make loads of money and a great success of his next project.

p.s. I don't mean any old foie gras by the way, I mean the exact gold tinned variety that they were eating.

I really like to see the taste tests done by Guy after searching out wonderful and exotic foods. They all enthuse about the taste and I wish I could taste it too.

Well today I could. Jeni, Alex and Guy were saying how wonderful the foie gras is and I must agree as I have eaten some myself.

It's funny really, because Guy went all the way to France to get his, I just went to www.relishthecontinental.com for mine

So it's agreed, it really does taste as good as they say it does.

Well I would have loved to have seen more of Richmond and its offerings and less of the chef as I already know what he looks like. I only saw the episode where he made stew and only saw the inside of a tent. I love to see other areas of our country and their specialities. I have almost a complete set of 57 tiny little paper back books each of which is regional. As I have never heard of Hendersons relish I had a look through the one called Favourite Yorkshire Recipes but there is no mention of it in any of the recipes. After hearing everyone sing its praises I will definately get hold of some since it is so highly regarded.

Hi ChrisMeech,

well they wouldnt be vegetarians if they ate fish they would be pescatarians.

Sorry, just a bit touchy on the subject. Vegetarians eat vegitation only, well each to their own.

No start again, sorry ChrisMeech, have they any other dislikes. As far as I am concerned, if you can manage two one pot meals it would be best. After all, one pot meals can be done in advance and just served in a big pot (or two) in the centre of the table.

What I find difficult is that the vegetarians would be quite happy if everyone at your dinner party was offered THEIR choice of food, but not the other way around. So why should your carnivores miss out on account of the minority.

I personally would do 2 one pot meals. So everything is prepared in advance and can be served to who ever wants what.

I did have a pescatarian friend who once who suggested we should just have a one pot meal and done with it, baring in mind there was one pescatarian and five carnivors. Oh I said, are you sure you want to eat the same as us, no was the answer, the entire dinner party had to change to accommodate her!

I came here to say the same thing Gaye, I am so glad it is working for you. xxx

Hi Vics

the brand Kallo make a liquid concentrate called Just Bouillon which is actually quite nice. I've tried the vegetable, chicken and beef. Not a bad alternative at all.

oh spiny,

I have to agree on all said about the US fridge thing. I wanted a big fridge, so I got HELGA, and she is wonderful. She is 76cm x 72cm x 184cm exterior measurements and has a 31 cubic feet capacity. I love Helga. Didn't want to waste space with a freezer when I have one and as a result get a silly little fridge.

We seem to be the same person on pararallel lines. Dernanerna Dernanerna, in case you don't recognise it, that is the twighlight zone music.

Yes I fancied the 900mm and the 600mm ovens but really didn't want such a monster in the kitchen as a 1500mm so I went with the 1200mm instead. I use the flap down opening compartment underneath the ovens that runs all the way across the bottom to warm my plates. I do roasts and baking in the big oven and can get most everyday stuff in the little one since I use the top alot. Mine is about 6 years old now so maybe I can try to leave it behind if I move and get one without the bbq.

Glad to be of service, only wish I had known before. What ovens are you having, 2 x 600mm or 1 x 300mm and 1 x 900mm. I have the latter.

One question though, how could you get rid of the orange and brown kitchen?

Hi spindlylegs

I have a Brittania 120 rangecooker. You can choose whatever combinations you want on the hob. I went for 4 burners a fish burner and a electric lavastone bbq. So it sounds like you are in luck .

The element isn't a problem and the lava bricks do need changing as the drips of fat and marinade do indeed coat them.

Personally I would never have one again and would prefer a solid plate instead.

The food does taste bbq like it would with a gas bbq so I suppose it does its job.

The reason I would never have one again is that the grid you put your food on is far too near the lava bricks. Although you can adjust the heat of the element from 1 to 12, I like it fairly hot to get the brown markings on food.

The problem with the lava bricks being too near the food is that even a tiny amount of fat drips and immediately causes flames to shoot up and burn the food. The room fills up with smoke and the food burns. Even with an extractor fan, the smoke alarm never fails to go off and we have to open all the doors and windows to let the smoke out. I ask you, if the weather was hot enough for that all year round, well, you may as well bbq outside in the traditional manner.

My advice is don't bother, get a griddle pan for your markings, you don't get a charcoal bbq taste anyway.

I would definately not recommend them and wish I had found out before I purchased one.

Let me know what you decide to get.

mostly yes, and could even try a little hot water, that works with hot emolsions like hollandaise and bernaise.

Yes that will work Rustie if it's quite badly separated, if it's only a little, then taking some out and whisking it for a minute or so and then slowly adding the rest will do.

I'm sure you can use almost any red wine for a beef stew unless it says its sweet on the label. I;m no wine expert but I most certainly would cook your dish with all you've mentioned except the sherry. Sherry is a fortified wine and the cream ones are usually sweet. The dry ones are not red, so I would use a cabernet or merlot definately.

Hi stephen,

Lemon juice or white wine vinegar will of course add to the taste but will also react to it and thicken it still further.

You should add water to thin and acid found in lemons and vinegar to thicken.

Hi Sonia,

I haven't seen them around that often but I know for a fact you can get them from a few catering suppliers I use on a regular basis. They are www.nisbets.com however, in the current catalogue they are mostly quite cheap, between £10 and £20. I don't suggest spending alot on everything but do feel this is an investment that warrants a larger layout. One of my colleagues bought one that was very short and light weight and now he wishes he had spent a little more. www.chefs.net do a selection including a £27 victorinox one.

well larderboy sums it up. My boss told me when I started working at the Paris Restaurant, the make you use depends completely on what you feel comfortable with. Hold it feels in your hand and how easy and comfortable you feel using it. It's nothing to do with expense or big brand names.

Thanks Essex Girl, bit of a drive from me then, I live near Southend. Good to meet you.

Well I always use duck fat to make confit of duck. I buy a few ducks, take the breasts off and freeze a couple and have some for dinner that evening. I then remove the legs and salt them and add spcies and bay leaves and leave them covered in the fridge over night. All the remaining bones and trimmings, I cook very slowly in a low oven to render down all the fat. After the legs have been in the fridge over night, I cook them slowly in the duck fat, topping it up with vegetable oil if they are not quite covered. Remember you will need a vast amount of fat to cover the legs.

Dannyboy is right, confit of duck should be cooked in duck fat. Goose fat however, is superb for roast potatoes.

Hi incognito,

What a shame you obviously missed Steve Walpole demonstrating the art of using knives just last week. The main thing is to start off slowly and get the technique correct before worrying about speed. Speed only comes from constant practise, usually chefs prep vegatables every day for months and gradually pick up speed.

As for sharpening knives, it is best to do it little and often and get a good steel. I swear by my diamond steel which was £40. Whilst it's quite expensive, the whole of my range of knives whould be useless without it, so absolutely essential in my book.

Hi Essex Girl, I'm an Essex girl too where abouts are you, just roughly I mean.

You could always get a diamond sharpening steel. It only takes a couple of strokes to acheive the same results as dozens of strokes of an ordinary steel. I used to hate sharpening knives before my diamond steel, now I enjoy it, like Martino says, its part of the joy of cooking.

Ditto but without the chocolate just don't like it. But Silvana did a lovely looking one on GFL or bites last week. Have you looked at her recipe. Knock em dead tomorrow, honeybunch. xxx

Thanks Feathers,

Got that book, first one I looked at in fact, doh, never mind, it was late and all that, blah, blah, blah, can't think of a better excuse. lol godfather, you know how to make me giggle.

I went to the other one first, doh, now I've done it wrong tee hee.

OOh cookery books are my obsession I have around 800. I too love pictures for inspiration. I have some very expensive books but the Australian Womans Weekly books are definately a big favourite. At around £5 each, they have a picture for every single recipe. They also have a cookery book on almost any cusine you could think of. They are soft backed and therefore don't take up a great deal of space. You could collect them gradually and have a recipe and a picture for virtually everything.


I give them a really big thumbs up.

Well done Feathers,

Can you tell me where you found it, was it in one of her books, if so which one. Thank you.

And izzbizz, what you doing baking at that time of night, milk and biccies before bed Did they turn out nice?

Hi izzbizz,

I had a look through all six books I have of hers in the hope that I could find it for you. But I can't find any recipe for chocolate cookies. I see what you mean though, I did a recipe search too to try to help, but the sugar is missing from the ingredients list.

Come on Uk food, help us out here please.

Hi Nathan,

well firstly, we don't work together, we are both Essex girls but Snoozy has moved to beautiful Dorset.

Yes we are both chefs, snoozy cooks for people for a living as do I. And let me tell you she is both a wonderful host and a wonderful cook. I work in a smallish michelin rated restaurant called Paris, www.theparisrestaurant.net but not for much longer. Don't get me wrong here, it's a wonderful restaurant and I have a wonderful boss and colleagues, but, nobody in the business stays in one place for too long. You may find this too, us chefs need constant stimulation and new styles of cooking. I have been there for three years and feel like spreading my wings.

So thank you for your kind words and well done you for going for the pomme anna. A really lovely looking dish and so tastey. I am absolutely thrilled it went down a storm, thats what its all about, makes you feel fantastic when you see people enjoying your food, makes it all worth every minute of the hours of prep. Well done you, keep posting Sweetie, love your posts.

Oh Gaye,

You are good! You sound like you've done a mini marathon. I bought one a year ago and I only ever average 7,000. You are supposed to aim for 10,000 so I do seem to be quite behind.

Hey Forbye,

they used to say that to me too, didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or what.

But as I have got older, but don't tell anyone, I have decided that I know I can cook, so don't care what anyone thinks and insisted on being taken out more. Its great. Cos if its good then I really enjoy the treat, same as everyone else, and if its not so good, then they appreciate me more, next time I cook.

So its worth a try,

oh now I know why Ive been confused, we have 2 Grigson threads. does anyone else agree, by the way that these new dead smilies, the roll eyes looks menacing and scarey not annoyed

I'd forgotten that, well done Forbye. No one here would think you were being pushy for helping out. Thank you and keep up the good work.

Welcome to the message boards, hope you enjoy talking to us.

Ok sweetie,

you have a look, it's always lovely to see people there.

Welcome grubhead,

Thanks you two sweeties for your kind words, but I must just point out it's not actually my restaurant, (would be nice if it was) but I do work there. The website address is www.parisrestaurant.net just for your info although Loughton is a long way away.

I live and work near Southend. Welcome to the boards grubhead, hope you enjoy chatting to us all.

Or Nick,

Or even nepotism Nick. doh silly me.

Hi Nick

Nebatism is when you get a job on the strength of a member of your family being "in the know" or "in the business". Like when you see so many actors following in their parents foot steps that were brought up knowing and mixing with all the "right" people.

This doesn't necessarily mean you wouldn't have the talent to do the job, but you may not have had the opportunity to have been selected to do the job.

xxx

Yes I saw that thread after and thought you answered much better anyway.

Hi jennifer,

It's just a normal shallot shaped like a banana. It's slightly longer than a normal shallot and chefs like them as there is less peeling etc. You can use ordinary shallots for any recipe requiring them and you won't find the end result any different.

When you said Aaron was her little lap dog little eddie, my first thought was, no this could well be his big break. Today, Sophie mentioned he could do his asparagus soup on his own programme. So I guess he's hoping that it will set him of on a celebrity carer.

Has any noticed that Margarite Pattern was there again. Perhaps it should have called Grigson and Pattern.

Still love Sophie though.

Oh this is one I haven't tried, must be the only one I haven't tried, more like.

I think I need an anti food diet. any suggestions (no please) no suggestions

oh I forgot to mention. My Mums cooking was... well it can only be described as.... 'ORIBBLE! So perhaps thats why I wasn't head hunted for the programme. lol

Well I don't want to insult Sophie cos I love her way. I mean her lovely nature and the way she is at home with the cameras and makes you feel like a friend. She clearly just wants to pass on her knowledge and inspire us as she does not come across all cheffy. Just not her style. I have seen her in chefs whites (well I use the term loosely) she wore the coloured jackets you can buy. Go Sophie! But she has choosen not to in this instance even though her assistant Aaron is wearing whites. She holds her knife like a pen which is a cardinal sin which just says to me, cook, love cooking, don't get all ponsy about it and just enjoy it. She makes no claims to be a chef, she has acknowledged the nebatism even in the opening titles. She is to me, someone who is as enthusiastic about food as I am, and I for one find that an inspiration on its own. I think if there is critism here, it should be in the format of the new show, not with Sophie Grigson.

so you added freshly grated nutmeg then anyway? great minds eh? and what great minds we have darling.

Hi snoozy,

Don't forget a little grating of fresh nutmeg in between layers of potato with your pommes anna, a real lift to the dish.

Hi Nathan,

Just thought I'd say, I did the same as you only it took me a little longer. I worked for 20 years in accounts before deciding to take a major pay cut and go to catering college. This along with working extremely long hours in a lovely little michelin rated restaurant. I have absolutely no regrets. So well done you for your courageous move.

And Nathan, as for taking snoozy's advice, you won't go far wrong there, I can asure you. Snoozy cooked thai rice for me recently and it was wonderful, as was the thai fish cakes that accompanied it.

So let us know how it all went.

Hi James,

Welcome to the message boards. There are several books out that encourage you to eat the right foods for your body type and the menopause is one of them.

The one that I consider to be the best is a hamlyn book published by Ted Smart. It's written by Sally Lewis and its called Menopause - Food solutions, recipes and advice to relieve symptoms. The rrp is £12.99 but it can be picked up more cheaply and its ISBM no is 0-600-60626-0.

Les hope your mum will be pleased to know.

My opinion Nathan is to go to a department store of some size and try holding some different make knives to get a feel of the grip and what you find comfortable. Personally, I don't feel comfortable holding/using global knive and find victorinox brilliant.

As suggested, Nisbets have a good range, they have some Japanese knives that are incredibly light and so very sharp. A college of mine has some, they are called Seki Magoroku and available from Nibets.

Once you have invested in a good knive, make absolutely sure you get a good steel. The round ones are pretty much rubbish. I paid £40 for a diamond steel which is oval and my knives are as good as the day I bought them. It's better to sharpen them little and often. Without a good steel, you may as well buy any old cheap and nasty knife going.

As for a set of knives. The ones put together in a package form aren't always ideal. I have many knives as I have collected them over the years, but if I had to choose, I would have one 8" cooks knife, one 10" cooks knife, one 6-7" cooks knife, one diamond steel, one 4" utility knife, one turning knife, one 6" filleting knife (a boning one if I couldn't find a good filleting knife) one bread knife, on pallete knife. I know it sounds alot, but you can build up gradually.

I would not invest in a meat fork, 2 prong type personally, as in the restaruant we never stab meat, you loose all the juices, we hold the meat and if it is too hot, we hold it with a clean tea towel.

I think it is only on sky and cable but if anyone knows any different .......

well being a user of gram flour I came to off my assistance, but since you are on the case Reshma, I will leave it in your capable hands.

Lovely to hear from you again Reshma and a big welcome to you muuffin each

I know what you are saying Nathan, but I they didn't do the jumping from chef to chef thing last week, today is the first time in many, many months. I can only remember them doing this once before. So an entertaining extra if you like. As for the audience, it is only on Fridays. So you will be pleased to know, that our beloved Good Food Live is still as good as ever.

Tamasin Day Lewis did a wonderful fig tart, the recipe is in one of her books and I believe it is also on the UK Food recipe data base.

Lucky you Vanessa.

Well I have to say I love the new Friday show. It's vibrant and fun. As for missing the recipes, I would agree with you Nathan if this was going to take place everyday. But for one day a week, it's nice to see a different format and know that we can get all the information from the website. Perfik, just perfik. Well balanced and entertaining and I think that the presenters seem to be having more fun too, what to you think Simon? you enjoying the live audience?

I get mine from www.hoohing.com. I get loads of supplies from there including some fantastic fresh asian/chinese vegetables. They do deliver but I have no idea about minimum order or delivery charge as I also go in person. But an interesting site to have a look around.

My Kenwood Food Processor came with a recipe book and a video to accompany it.

Hi KMDRosa,

Sloe is the fruit of the blackhorn. Thats a thorny shrub commonly found in Europe. Its looks like a very small blue plum on the outside and has firm green flesh on the inside. It is very juicy with a sour flavour.

I may not be a complete lady but I am all woman!!

Oh I don't know what you are all talking about, for a minute there I thought you meant when I was kissed by Raymond Blanc, but then I re-read and saw you meant when I was kissed by Jean Christope Novelli. Oh so much more memorable than when ainsley planted one on my cheek.

As for Simon the hands Rimmer, well lets just say ..... he was a complete gentleman.

not really but you can buy home and commercial cookery equipment for www.ccs.net and www.nisbets.com

I'm with Sonia,

Having met him a couple of times he is sexy in the flesh too and has a very dry sense of humour which I quite like. Swears even more in the flesh though too.

ps.

Sometimes I bump into my nearly 18 year old coming in late (or should I say early hours of the morning) at the weekend and she asks ''are you just getting up or just going to bed now?''

Hi Sonia,

I just don't seem to need much sleep so if I'm not going to bed around 3am ish due to working late then a few posts here then an hour watching tv or so to wind down, then I tend to go to bed at the sort of time most people consider normal. If I do, then I'm up and about around 3am onwards. So I'm either going to bed or getting up around then anyway. Most people just accept that I am very odd.

Thanks Terry,

The link is great to know especially if like me you are a Floydie Foodie I will definately pay the site a visit.

Does anyone know yet if it is the first one in the series? Looking at the line up for this week and next, we have 8 episodes to come so it really looks as if it is starting today.

xxx to Terry

Does anyone know if this is the first episode of the series of Floyd on Fish that is showing today as I have recorded many of his tv series and would like to tape this one but only if it at the start of the series.

So far I have recorded 12 other series including:

Floyds American Pie
Floyd on Africa
Floyd on Britain and Ireland
Floyds Fyord Fiesta
Far Flung Floyd
Floyd around the Med
Floyd on Italy
Floyd on Spain
Floyd on India
Floyd on France
Capital Floyd
Floyd Uncorked.

I know I am missing other series as his last book, Flash Floyd says he has written 20 books and made 17 series. So with Floyd on Fish I know of 13. Does anyone know what the other ones were? I would love to find out. I did a search on Amazon and found that many of his books were no longer in print but it did help me find some of the above series.

If anyone knows either of the above questions (is it the first episode of Fish and what other series he has made) I would be most grateful.

lol Porridge, I love your description of Georgio.

It just amazes me that they go to all that fuss and you think they are creating a banquette and then at the end, you just get a plate of pasta with a bit of sauce on it.

I have seen it, but didn't like it much. I did however, only watch a little bit of it. I will give it another go in case I am missing something. Thanks DeLeeder.

I have the book too and I must say it is one of my favourites. It has every single recipe from the series which I think is great and some lovely pictures to make you want to cook them. I loved the series and the way the chefs made it all look so quick and easy.

Wow, I didn't see this before and I didn't know it was on again now. I will certainly look out for it. I have recently bought a couple of really good Greek/Mediterranean books and would love to see a programme about Greek cookery.

Thanks guys.

Well no such luck for me then, been up a hour and a half already.

thank you all, thank you kiwichef and thank you reshma in no particular order. I have learnt loads.

Thank you all.

Oh well I have never cooked with coriander root. Sounds very odd cos they are tiny little thread like things unlike a stem of ginger, for example. So I might be completely wrong here talking about the roots of the coriander I buy from the supermarket. Anyway, in all my local supermarkets you can get packaged cut herbs and herbs growing in little pots.. which have roots. If these are the types of roots you mean, why not buy a little pot of growing coriander.

Hi OllyP

If you go to the recipe section in the orange panel on the left hand side of this screen and in the search box type in roast chicken, then leave the next box saying recipes and click on go. The 4th recipe on the list is for roast chicken and is stuffed with halved lemons. The recipe is by Tamasin Day-Lewis.

I think Floyd is fantastic DeLeeder. Floyds Fyord Fiesta isn't my favourite but I still think its good. My favourite of his was probably Floyd on France but with so many of his programmes to choose from, it's hard to pick just one.

ok, I've found th website address for the pier now, www.pier.co.uk

Hi wino,

have a look at some catering websites. I use Nisbets mostly, www.nisbets.com andContinental Chef Supplies, www.chefs.net. You get quite a selection a and of course it is for commercial use so most ot the stuff is hard wearing.

Oh what a shame, thanks for that Livewire. I'm ok though, I have the book and it really is one of my favourites. Hence giving it a mention.

Still, shame about them deleting stuff.

Hi Terry darling,

Can't reply to my emails at the moment but well done for finding out the info.

Silvana Franco did it too on The Best, her recipes will be listed on the BBC website.

The Pier is one of my favourite shops and the have a website. They do some lovely dishes from around the world.

sorry lynn, dont quite understand, are you asking for a source or do you have a source to offer.

well there are loads of ideas, and you can just make them to taste. I have done parsnip, carrot, basil, pomegranite and campari and loads more.

Hi Amanda,

It's important to use the correct potatoes, ie new potatoes will always have lumps as they are not the ones for the job. Maris piper are good and I like desiree but if you look on most bags of potatoes they have ticks to let us know whether its best to use to roast, fry, mash etc.

Once you've got the right potato for the job, make sure you cut all the pieces the same size. This will mean they all cook evenly and you won't have bits that are slightly undercooked which will of course not mash down.

When you are mashing, you could try using a potato ricer. They are around £8.00 - £9.00 but will last a lifetime.

The best mash is calorie ridden but as you prefer to be sensible then a raw egg beaten in will give a good smooth texture (the heat of the potatoes will cook the egg so it's not dangerous). Add seasoning to taste and a dash of milk.

Suggestions to add to the finished mash: -

finely chopped herbs
grain mustard
cooked bacon pieces
spring onions
cubes of brie
grated Yr-fenni cheese =mustard grain cheese
philadelphia light mashed into the potato
spoonfuls of horseradish to taste (great with roast beef)

the list is endless and you can add more than one to the mash. The finely chopped herbs can give enormous flavour and don't have any calories at all!

Hi Mijas Pueblo,

I love tapas and always have them when I go and stay with my Dad who lives about a 30 minute drive from Allicante. I will have a look at the website you have mentioned for more ideas, thank you.

Hey Terrydox found out that page 48 of Gary Rhodes new British classics has a recipe. So well done, Terry, I have checked my copy and yep, its there alright.

Hope that helps julie.
xx

Yes let us know how you go Anna, if I had some sun, any sun at all, then I'd dry it outside too. Lucky you.

You can get it over here, we use it in the restaurant but I don't know where we get it from, so perhaps the deli idea is a good one. Anyway, it is available over here.

I don't know how to sun dry them Anna, don't seem to get much sun, at least not this year. But you can dry them in the oven. Many fruits like apples, pears etc can be done in the same way.

you make a stock syrup which is caster sugar in water and boiled rapidly so it reduces into a syrup. Let that cool, then dip slices of fruit into it and place on a baking sheet, on non stick paper of some sort and bake very slowly on a low oven. When they come out they will be soft but will crisp up once cooled. They need a few hours to cook.

Oh Nick I'm going to France in September too, Ooh la la! I'm going to Montpellier

Thank you :D

Hi Rustie,

Thats interesting, I knew about Rillettes and Rillons, but I hadn't heard of Rillauds. I know all can be served either way, but traditionally, as you mention, Rillettes are served cold and Rillons are served hot. But do you know the traditional way for Rillauds to be served?

I have looked in New British Classics Terry, and he does something like salad cream but its not listed as Salad Cream.

Hi julie,

I've looked through all the Gary Rhodes books I've got and I can't find a salad cream recipe. Is he calling it something else do you know?

Have you looked at the BBC food website, you can search for recipes there and Gary Rhodes books are all BBC books. If not try the same site for Delia Smith recipes or her own web site, she has a recipe for just about everything.

Good luck. Let me know if you find he has called salad cream something.

I dont, sorry julie, but to soften up ice cream when you make it in a normal ice cream maker, add some mascapone. It gives a really rich creamy taste and texture.

Hi Brack,

We make pork rillets in the restaurant and serve it with salad and chutney or red onion marmalade and toasted brioche.

Basically, it's just very slowly cooked belly pork. Slowly cooked so it is tender and falls apart easily. Start by cutting the pork into small pieces, you must retain the fat for it to be moist. Add some spices, any you like really but traditionally, the French would use, thyme, mace, salt, garlic, pepper and crushed juniper berries. Mix everything up and put it in a loaf tin or terrine and pour over some white wine to help to keep it moist. cover and cook in a very low oven for around 4 hours. Turn out and let the excess fat run off through a sieve and shred with two forks. Keep it in the fridge until needed, oven should be around gas mark 1 so very low indeed.

and so easy to make Alex, so you can continue to eat it cheaply with every meal :D

Hi all,

Well I like the diversity of programmes on offer but have to say that whilst Reze is entertaining, he is offish with people I was amazed when he told Nigel somebody or other that his decor was awful in his newly renovated house in France. The programme was about Nigel and his friend Nippi renovating a house in France then opening an Indian restarant. Reze was asked for advice and help with the restaurant, he was offered a roof over his head at Nigels house and so why he felt he should critisize the decor of the house beats me. The restaurant was understandable, he was asked for his opinion, but as a guest in someones house, you wouldn't expect them to pick holes!!!!

Well perhaps this will make you laugh (or not) but its what made me read zoom in on your post ravenfaith.

My ex hubby from a long time ago loved hearts. So I did em often. Then he had heart surgery, a triple by pass in fact and was obviously very poorly.

Anyway, always wanting to please my diners, I gave him hearts and he was ... well shall we say rather upset. Didn't actually lead to the afore mentioned divorce but what can I say. he didn't want to eat them. Funny that.

both sound nice blondie, keep the ideas coming.

I do prefer pears poached in white wine though with blue cheese and walnuts. Thanks for the idea, I'll try that next.

Hi ravenfaith

stuff them with stuffing, the packet stuff is fine, then pour a little stock or water over them to keep them moist, cover and cook long and slow. Quick cooking will make them tough. Long slow cooking will have them all tender.

Hi Gilly,

I did watch you tasting champagne and you were great.

And Georgie, are you saying I don't share nicely like a good girl?

Hi relishmama,

I just made a quiche type thing really, blind baked a pastry case and chucked in what was handy. I love the combination of cheese and something slightly sweet together even though I am not a sweet tooth. The flavours just off set each other perfectly.

I have also tried the jelly with a straight forward cheeseboard which was delicously too. I'm sure there must be so much more I can do with it. Has anyone got any recipe suggestions for me?????

I am going to take the jar to work with me on Friday, see what ideas my boss can come up with.

I think it would go great with game, a bit like a redcurrant jelly would. Sometimes I put redcurrant jelly in my jus/gravy for game but feel it would be a shame to dilute this jelly like that. So may be my famous dollop action on the meat itself would be better.

I am going to try it at work with our smoked duck breast. I think the combination will be superb.

Any other ideas anyone. I just can't get enough of it. :D

I had the most dreamy lunch yesterday.

I made goats cheese and sun blushed tomato tarts and served then with my usual red onion marmalade. But since I was given some Gelatina di Balsamico (Balsamic Jelly) by my generous guest relishmama at the weekend, I put a dollop on top just before serving.

The tart melted the jelly very slightly and it dripped all over it. The sweetness of the jelly against the sharpness of the goats cheese was a match made in heaven.

So fab was it, that I wanted to do it again for breakfast/lunch (brunch) today, but I didn't have the time to make the tarts. So, I just did cheese on toast (cheddar) and dolloped a tea spoon of balsamic jelly on that. So quick and still so tasty.

Make sure you've got vast stocks of this jelly relish, cause I don't think it's something I'm gong to be able to live without.

Can't wait to try the other goodies you brought me.

Hi all,

yes like I said, polenta is available anywhere but fine corn meal is harder to find. I did buy some in Tesco and Somerfield though, so stll quite readily available.

Hi legs,

Before you go on line and have to pay postage and wait for delivery etc, have another look in absolutely any supermarket. It is indeed, polenta and that can be bought almost any where now a days. I think web sites can be a great way to buy unusual stuff that you can't get readily, but this is very common everywhere.

Good luck.

Oh don't Helen,

that was last year, bless his heart. Tell you what, he reckons I have to rub oinment in the scar every single night, so you can take over and play nurse at the weekend since you're so concerned. lol

But yes, I have put an order into every major supermarket in Essex for their entire stock of white wine and I think I may have enough to fill the fridge and even enough for you lot this weekend. what do you reckon Georgie?

ok, so here's the question, what is all sparkly and shiney, stainless steel and really cool. Oh and absolutely ENORMOUS?

Any ideas anyone? A final clue is its in my kitchen and only just fitted through the french doors at the back of my house. :D

Last clue, I love it :O

Hi Kelly

Well this is such an old recipe but so lovely.

Get several layers of newspaper and dampen them with water. lay you trout on the newspaper with any sort of stuffing/flavourings etc you like. then wrap and bake for about 15 minutes until the paper has dried out and the trout will be perfectly cooked. The newspaper will of kept the trout moist and when you unwrap it, the paper usually sticks to the skin and pulls it all off cleanly. Delicious.

The spray to prevent ice reforming so quickly sounds great Livewire, I had no idea you could buy any thing like that.

But as far as defrosing a freezer quickly, I empty it, put a bowl of boiling water in it and shut the door.

speeds things up no end.

Green peppercorns are easier to find nowadays and I've even seen pink peppercorns recently. Years ago it was murder trying to find pink ones. Only Noels massive cattering packs were available.

It's great to know that our local shops and supermarkets are starting to listen to what we want now a days.

well done laura,

now you know you can do it, there's nothing to stop you having your cake and eating it! :D

Can I have a slice with a cuppa

ooh sounds lovely jaybee, didn't need our help at all then. I think in fact, we should be asking you.

I may well try your battered balls myself :D

Oh I never get invited to those parties, thats why I don't know about the list. I am probably on the Z list and only get an invite when no one else can :D

Still, I do enjoy our parties here though, we haven't had one since Martinos birthday have we? Perhaps we should have one this weekend.

Sorry Rustie!!!

Whats all this about??

Whats the A list, is there a B list and what on earth are we all talking about??

Hey Terry,

what do you mean, Rustie and blondie, don't forgot your other favourites.

I need a mention too. :D

Oh and just a thought about the mash,

have you seen my creamy brie mashed potatoes. I posted it nearly a year ago so probably not. But it did go down very well at the time.

Well back to sausages,

Home made pizza is so much better tasting than frozen/fresh ones and I like to top it with mixed meats such as salami, ham and little balls of sausage meat taken from the sausages and other meats too.

lol Rustie,

Well I will complain to the builder tonight when he gets home from work. lol.

As for the calculations, I did the outside ones myself and it goes through my front door comfortably! (Sideways)

The disgruntled courier was on the phone to his company and I was on the phone to the company from where I purchased the fridge and who I may add chose the courier company. They are going to ring me when they have arranged a 2 man delivery but have issues about getting it through the door without the packaging as any damage caused at that stage (unpacked) will be liable to the couriers. Then when I sign for it, down to me.

I wouldn't mind, but due to the new building regulations in my area, I have an extra wide front door for easy disabled access. So what does everyone else do when they want a new fridge. :(

Ah well, it always happens to me. Don't you just love waiting in all day for deliveries.
So I get to do it all over again.

Hi relishmama,

I'm just waving goodbye to it now as it disappears into the distance along with the little old chap who was sent to deliver it on his own. bye, bye, .....

So Rustie jinxed me. The little old delivery man, couldn't get it through the door in it's packaging cos the pallet is 2" too wide.

He could get it in if it was unpacked but he can't do that without a 2nd delivery man. I insisted on this anyway as I want to check it over before I sign for it.

Funny how someone can set up a courier business and not realise that you can't expect a little house wife to turn into an unpaid delivery person at the other end. He did suggest leaving it on my drive, such a helpful man, but I told him that I would still have to be the other delivery person even when my husband gets home as we would still need 2 of us.

bye fridge. Oh the companies not totally useless though, they managed to get my credit card payment through on the same day as the order went in. :devilish: so quite efficient really.

Oh I love Douglas Chew too. He's on sky travel and sky travel plus.

He goes to different areas and samples the local food and then demonstrates some recipes.

A bit like the Keith Floyd programmes in layout, a really worth while watch.

Thanks Niel,

I have done my calulations, but this will help with future calculations.

Hi Jen,

It's not that you can't eat them when there's no R in the month, it's to do with their breeding season and if we all ate them, the stocks would run out and they would become extinct. So I think if you only having a little paddle and a couple of portions, they should survive that .

Hope you enjoy your trip, it's sounds lovely.

Posh to me is more like canapes than tapas, wouldn't you agree snoozy?

Canapes can be almost anything including sweet or savoury.

Have a look at this website, they actually sell them, but you can read what they sell and get some really good ideas.

www.canapeum.com. More ideas than you could imagine.

Thats my favourite too snoozy.

Don't forget to ask him how he wants it cooked laura, that will make quite a difference to the finished dish. It could be anything from blue to very well done, so you need to make sure you know how he likes it cooked.

Good luck, hope it all goes well.

Stop it, I look forward to you reporting your success. And yes indeed Lil'Abbey is works for all moloscs.beanz69 is exactly right about the farmed mussels as with oysters and Trudi is correct about the ones in the sea.what a helpful bunch we are. Pats on all our backs, all round. :D

Yes I saw that one ages ago, they are re runs at the moment. I was surprised they kept their colour so well after cooking.

I bet they do, I was just reading the loin recipe you gave relishmama. Blimey Snoozy, they all sound so good you've got me planning my entire next weeks menu. So pork loin tomorrow .....

YUMMMMMEEEEEEE. :D

Oh Snoozy,

that sounds so yummy, I love mussels and I love cheese, so this one is a must for my scrap book. I will definately have a go at this one, thank you.

Hi CarolineX,

I've never been to one but I have got the book. It was on offer at bol.com very cheaply. A really nice book, well worth a read.

Sorry I don't but what's a Woll pan?

I just get my mussels from the supermarket but I always ask when they came into the store. Then I only buy them if they came in that day. If they are not in season, the supermarket won't have them anyway, so you can use that as a guide. The fresh ones need to be alive and they taste soooo much better than pre packed. So you really must give them a try.

Anyway, when you get them home, open the netting immediately and throw out any that have damaged or cracked shells or any that are open and stay open when you apply a little pressure to them. Put the rest in a bowl of cold water and if you have some porridge or ready brek, sprinkle some in the bowl. They will feed on this a stay plump, this will also go through their system and purify them a little, get rid of any grit. Put the bowl in the fridge and leave them there until you want to cook them.

They take no time at all to cook as you will see from a recipe search. I love Moules Mariniere best. But add a little chilli and it gives the dish a lift. You gonna post your spicy version then Snoozy?

Once cooked (which is as soon as the shells are open) check for any that stay closed. Throw these away as they could make you ill. So must be closed before cooking, must be open after cooking. Thats the only rule.

Mussles are so cheap and we all love them. My 5 year old son just loves picking them out of their shells and eating them.

Well if not Rustie, I could get in craned in through the roof like Gordon Ramsay did with his big oven. Just have to cut a hole through the upper 2 stories. :D

But one way or another ......

Thats right Rustie and there is also a recipe for it on this website. It is under "just for starters" the programme with Ross Kelly where he goes to different houses for different courses of food preparation. I remember watching and thinking the tin would explode and Ross asked if it would too, but no, it didn't.

My fridge is arriving Monday afternoon, so that should cheer me up. Horaah horaah (Probably a bad day for my dentist though, he should receive my stroppy letter by then :D )

Oh and a break down is sky £41.00 per month, BT broadband £30.00 per month and then usual BT phone rental and call charges on top.

Yes, everyone I know who has sky as opposed to cable claim it is much more expensive if you want all the channels and separate broadband and phone connection. So you are best sticking to cable and cutting channels you don't really want. :(

You don't get some of the great foodie programmes on sky travel either Georgie, the ones like Douglas Chew cooks Asia. It's very good.

But you probably dont get the extortionate bill either, I think it's just gone up again £41.00 per month now and thats just the tv, not phone/ internet package etc.

oh gosh another memory lane mervyn,

well all I remember is my Mum just hated cooking so you got what you were given. Tee hee

well the boys have gone now, obvioulsy their bed time, but we are still talking about there silly threads. What are we like? lol

its ok to take longer than 5 minutes Trudi, as long as you don't want to put it in a sandwich.

only 5 minutes Trudi,

shame ultra chef was only looking for sandwiches that take 5 minutes to make!

oooh sounds even more yummy Trudi

Trudi do you like spicy food, if so, put some chilis into a little white wine vinegar and simmer, cool and add to some honey. Honey and chilli over goats cheese or many other things is wonderful.

sorry excellent chef, I meant to say ultra chef in my last post, all you new top chefs around can get a little confusing. I do hope your work appreciates how excellent and ultra you both are

now that we have rescued it you mean snoozy .

But nice try excellent chef, perhaps they can change the recipe in the restaurant where you work, where was that now?

yes indeed larousse,

So now thats 2 amendments to Ultra Chefs homous recipe. It's sounding tastier already.

Well Ultra Chef,

It's good to hear that you are having a go at making humous, but I think I should point out a major error in your recipe. You talk about boiling chick peas with olive oil and salt. If you add salt to the chick peas whilst boiling them, the skin will toughen and they will be as hard as marbles. Salt should always be added right at the end of cooking with any pulse or bean.

I work in a michelin rated restaurant in Essex called Paris.

So where do you two chefs work then?????

Looks like I missed all the fun while I was loafing around :D

Welcome excellent chef,

Welcome to our boards.

I see you are a chef of great experience or great fun. Whichever, I hope you enjoy talking to us and I hope you learn a few tricks of the trade

Oh snoozy,

can I bring my kids round to your house, they adore fajitas.

Playing at putting them together is part of the fun, but they love them none the less.

So many years I took my now 17 year old daughter to pizza hut to find she had piled her plate high with the salad from the buffet cart and wasn't interested in the pizza.

Give there tastes buds a chance, let them loose with some flavours.

Gosh blondie, 10! How do you ever get time to actually go to work with 10 people to cater for and pick up after.

There are 4 of us in our family but people drop in all the time. My sons only 5 so when he has friends round, their parents come to dinner too. My daughter is 17 and has friends round either not at all or in crowds. I have a steady stream but it never reaches 10 on a day to day basis.

So are you still working in restaurants or doing your outside catering thing? I have cut my hours in the restaurant, I like to work but take things a little easier now a days.

Well I can vouch for the fact that Georgie really doesn't like papaya but you have also found some new things you do like recently haven't you.

I don't like chocolate very much. I like almost everything else.

hi snowy, we haven't spoken since it was the Welsh Saints day, St Davids Day, so that must have been back in March, but Wasabi is a stronger form of horseradish. Now don't curse me, cos you are less likely to get wasabi than horse radish locally, but it is sold on line so you could give it a shot.

Good luck honey.

jarlesburg or yarlsburg is another perfect one for the job.

Hi pjs2

you need a good cooking cheese like the swiss cheeses, ie emental or one beginning with L that I cant think how to spell, Lard... something or other. Whatever, its a very nutty good melting and cooking cheese that you would use in a fondue for instance. They are all cheeses with the big holes in that melt well and go all stringy.

oooh I love the names,

have been busy for a couple of weeks and come back to find some fab new people with some fab names. Welcome to you all, makes me sound very dull. :D but I'm not :devilish: :P

Hi lacey-cat,

I didn't see the programme but in the book of the same title, there is a recipe for "fire-fist Alcaulco chorizo quesadillas"

So as we can't print the recipe here due to copy right restrictions, you may like to go to the BBC food website where you can do a search using the title to help you.

No I can imagine blondie, but the ones I've been looking at are 600 ltrs or 1100 ltrs.

Now with Rusties conversion I know now that the 600 ltrs is just over 21 cubic feet and the 1100 ltrs is just under 39 cubic feet. So the smaller one will be ample even though it often feels like I am cooking for a whole football team.

Thanks guys, I can choose now with out ordering something totally unsuitable. :D

Thats fantastic Rustie, thank you so much, I can always rely on you to find out what I'm looking for. I have an idea of the cubic feet I want, but couldn't find out how many litres it was. So thanks again, I will be well on my way now.

Hi Relishmama, I have contacted the supplier and they contacted the manufacturer. But they just gave conversions for their few and so I still couldn't work out any others or guess at them without more examples. I am not sure how big it will be exactly but I can get an enormous one at less than half the price of its equivalent of an American fridge freezer. The US ones look nice, but I don't need the freezer bit any way.

I want a new fridge but you have to be a Mathematical genius to buy one it seems.

Can anyone help me with the conversions?

I have looked at alot of domestic fridges and American style fridge/freezers and the interior size is given in cubic feet. They are all much too small or, in the case of some of the American ones, nearly big enough but too expensive.

So I looked at some catering suppliers and found what appears to be ideal and much cheaper but the capacity are given in litres.

Whats a girl to do! I mean I have conversion charts that converts metric into imperial and visa versa but not litres into cubic feet or visa versa.

Can anyone help? Terrydox, I know you are a whizz in the maths department. Any idea?

you lucky thing Suzzy,

I think they freeze well.

Afterwards they are very mushy like all soft fruit that is frozen, but better than throwing them away. then they add so much to crumbles in the winter.

In the summer though, they are good in summer pudding.

Well I don't know dr doolittle but perhaps you could do a search of the internet. To narrow things down, you could search Elisabth Luard, she has written a book called sacred food. I don't know if it includes this dish but worth a look, there are also book s written precisely for Jewish people and may include it. If not, see if someone can aske jeni, she may know.

Good info Lisa,

I will check out kelco as I love to collect cookery books.

I have to say that although taste is dearer than bol BY FAR, it does actually offer slightly more choice or the same choice but with more expensive p & p. The initial offer is great and you only have to buy 4 more books. I can always do with 4 more books. The prices are discounted but only by a few pounds but when addded to the p & p it isn't great, but you can always use both sites.

I go to bol first and buy the 60% off books, then go to taste and buy the ones I want that have only 20% off at bol. There by full filling my commitment to taste so I get the introductory offer and still getting the cheap books from bol.

Really it depends on how many books you buy at the end of the day.

I just love them sprinkled on bread before its baked. We do it at the restaurant. Mostly, we use a mixture of pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, pine nuts and sun flower seeds. Yummy.

oh gosh,


I have been off watching Gordon doing his thing and come back to find you are all so rude. Makes me wonder why I bothered with Gordon in the first place.

both rubbish, why not just watch the real thing, I mean hells kitchen here!

chicken and rice a classic and can be served hot or cold. Add a fresh green salad and you' re sorted.

So blondie, do you use my local Moldan salt :D

Blondie I would so love to chat to you shame we cant exchange personal details. Some sits you can but we are not allowed to mention them.

oh blondie, that sounds wonderful, you lucky thing. where abouts in the country is it held and is it every year. I would love to go.

We have an annual air show which my hubby went to but not my cup of tea, so I had a quiet day, but very nice thank you.

You not at work then blondie? Night off or early one? lucky thing you

polboy hmm, hope I am still on the food channel

I don't think there is anything wrong with your frying pan, just what you put in it. I shallow fry loads on my diet, I just don't use any fat/oil. If you use a non stick pan, you can "dry fry" food. It works great with fish and meat and adds no calories to the food. It gives a browned outside to meat which adds to the flavour and then if turned down, cooks it through. Lovely!

well ckristoff

I love the smell of freshly ground spices including pepper. I would always use freshly ground as pre- ground starts to loose its flavour from the moment it is ground.

A peppermill can be so expensive but also very cheap, once it is purchased, you can have freshly gound pepper for years to come, so why compromise. Of course it's your choice, but a peppermill can be picked up very cheaply now a days, so why worry.

Hi,

Bit late but pull out the little stem thingy at the top, this will help it to rippen from the inside outwards.

No sorry prem22,

not enough to go on I'm afraid, but have a look at the recipe section on this site. You may well find the whole recipe listed for you.

Welcome, hope you enjoy chatting to us all here.

Well I would say not to go to pub type of restaurants. There are some very good gastro pubs that are ok before everyone shouts at me, but run of the mill pubs deep fry and microwave almost everything. Better pubs and restaurants make things from scratch and don't rely on frying and reheating ready prepared frozen food.

Hi jax47,

Savoury has another name too, you know like the common name for plants and the real name.

I know this is no help but I can't think what the other name for it is, but they should know this in a garden centre as Trudi has said, so giving that a try is a good idea. Can't help thinking it's lovage, that has two names, but probably wrong. So best to find out from the experts.

Hi Andy,

did you get this one from the same source as your masala?

hi ed 147,

It is commonly said you should sharpen your knife every 10 -20 mins or so.

I personally would advise you to get a really good sharpening steel, worth around £40.00. This may seem alot, but once you have it, every knife you've ever bought will last for ever after just a few strokes on the steel.

So alll knives are like new all the time.

Far more important to buy a diamond steel than a knife any day

Hi nomesky,

Had a think, and personally I'd just like to pack the celeb chef and the champagne. But if I had to think of a foodie suggestion, then I just love quiche.

Not the rubbery plastic ones you get from the supermarket. But a homemade one that is freshly cooked and has souffled up.

With so many things you can put in it, it's hard for someone to say they don't like it.

Welcome Michael,

I've seen that site too, very interesting. You can join and they send you a regular newsletter.

All I know is, I can get google on my home page using yahoo, but with msn, it needs to be found an indeed plays hard to get. So I haven't yet used google very successfully on msn.

So what is your pop up blocker then Nick or relish?

And how do I get in touch?

Well sounds like you've got all the ingreients to me, so just play around until you find something you like.

If it helps, my opinion would be to soften the butter, just leave it out a room temperature for a while. Chop the ingredients finely an mix well with the butter. Put the butter onto a piece of cling film and roll into a tube. After its been in the fridge for a while, you should be able to cut discs off and place on top of your food to melt and run all over it.

Actually, herb and anchovy butter is one of my favourites. Especially served with fish and brown bread. Yummy.

Sorry Kea

Can't help you on this one, but perhaps some may be able to.

Thanks Carole1,

I'm sure we are allowed to go off topic for such a good cause details on "a huge success" off the menu.

Its great when someone reports here on actually doing the recipes juliedrops, but maybe one glass of veno too may made you shout at us (caps lock on)

No really, I love the programme too and did all sorts of baked fish on the barbie today to celebrate the sun shinning.

Haven't heard of a 2nd series though. But I would definately watch if there was one.

sorry Nick,

but all said here before

Don't suppose anyone would bother bringing you a presie then Blondie.

Well Gaye, if you bothered to buy and transport something as heavy as potatoes all the way back for me, I would love you for it. I bet your friends did too.

Oh and by the way, the Jamie Callum autograph that you went out of your way to get for the Amazing Daisy charity fund, helped to raised £30,000, Thanks for caring xxx

Well I am impressed with that way of thinking Martino, to use coconut milk is truley inspirational.

athough to do a curry starter, how ever mild you will need a strong main if you are to taste it.

Great idea Martino.

What about a cheese starter, after all it is made from milk. There are hundreds out there or is that not what is expected.

As for soup, one of the best I've ever tasted is a courgette soup. It's made with milk and semi skimmed at that, but everyone thinks its made with cream its so rich.

What about agar agar? It's an extract from seaweed. Directions for use are on the pack. That might be a workable alternative.

Well I am lucky enough to have several Asian, Indian and Chinese stores in my area, and I have to say that the range is enormous. I find that there are things there that you just can't get in even the biggest supermarkets. Black cardamon for instance, I searched high and low then found a big bag for around 50p in my local Indian shop.

Fantastic.

Hi Lisa,

Yes you will be able to eat it like ice cream. You can now call it a parfait, so well done for making that.

As for the gelatine, I can't help. At home and at work, I always use the leaf gelatine which is soaked in a medium like your wine, but usually milk for a pannacotta or cold water. When it has softened it is then mixed into a dessert mixture which must be hot to dissolve it completely. When the mixture cools in its moulds it should be set.

So if you do it again and use leaf gelatine, I could help you if things go wrong. Sorry, I can't on this one but I'm sure someone here will know.

Still, enjoy your parfait.

Well yes I have to agree with blondie,

I meant to say ask the waiter to ask the chef the ingredients, but forgot on my long post. Very good idea. Tell the waiter you are allergic to something, then they will be more specific in their ingredients list.

Chilli is a very odd thing. Do you eat chilli in other dishes?

oh dear tigger,

that sounds nasty. Well of course the best advice is to see your doctor. Other than that, you could try illiminating ingredients one by one. You could do this by dabbing on your tongue, or eating the ingredients separately over a course of days, and note when one causes a reaction.

Here are the most common ingredients so you can try, if you decide to:

chicken
onion
tomato puree
mustard seeds
cumin seeds, ground
coriander powder
chilli powder
cooking oil
salt
possibly red food colouring
tinned tomatoes
cardamon pods
cinnamon
ginger
garlic
garam masala
soemtimes different nuts are added, these are a common source of allergic reaction, ie coconut, almonds or others

Well there could be many less, or many more ingredients, they probably have their own recipe, but these are some of the most common ingredients.

I am no doctor, don't quote me here, but you have probably tried some ingredients like chicken or tomatoes so can probably rule them out immediately

Hope this helps

that's a deal snoozy, and you can coach me on my spelling :D

Hi harq

Firstly, I hadn't realised you were making a sugar curl. I assumed you would start with something easy like a sugar nest. This just means flicking a spoon thats been dipped in the caramel back and forth. This makes lots of long strands which can be slipped of the steel and rolled into a colomn. This looks great stood up on top of creme brulees etc.

Secondly, well done for doing a curl and a basket.
Keep in mind that whilst you were quite right to oil the bowl, if any oil gets into the caramel, it will be ruined, it wont work after that. In the restuarant we make baskets over a ladel then sit it upside down on tarts and things, it looks nice.

Lastly, you mustn't leave your caramel on even a low heat, it will burn and be bitter and smell is aweful. But you can reheat your caramel when you want to re use it. Good luck.

Hi snooty,

I know my spelling needs improvement, you just look out for me and let me know if you spot another.

Glad you enjoyed their site. , well done Georgie for suggesting it.

I have to agree with you Mary, I think you are right about the caramel being slightly too cool. It's a really tricky one that can only really be shown or achieved by practise. Then once you know what sort of consistency it should work every time. Too hot and it won't make strands, it won't stick together and too cool and it will clump together and make blobs.

I can't see how it could be sliding of the steel though either. So more info please harq.

yes, yoghurt not water, that helps.

hi glynis

Tesco also stock a good range, however the web site Georgie mentioned is very good. They stock things you can't get any where else. Also, once you have placed an order, they keep your details on record and send you regular updates of their products and recipes that are ideally suited to their products.

Well worth a visit.

It most certainly does Mary, a real WOW factor. You ought to see the kitchen when we have a function. We can manage the steady flow of diners reaching their dessert, but have a function and we need all hands on deck. 75 - 85 creme brulee "nests" in 10 minutes makes the eyes water

Thanks blondie yes I was talking about those, EPs. They have a website and as I said, the garlic is horrible. The ginger not so bad and the chilli a little better.

You can find their website on the jar, only I don't have a jar here.

Yes Porridge, they do have a sort of a brine and a slightly bitter taste. I haven't seen a garlic paste, I have seen garlic bits in a sort of brine. Very bitter indeed.

I tried the garlic, it is horrible. The ginger is ok but not great. The chillis are better but still not as good as the real thing. If you can, always use fresh, but freezing as Georgie says is very good. For my Indian cookery, I make a paste of ginger and garlic in the food processor and then freeze it.

As ready for use as any jar in the cupboard or the fridge.

If you look on the label of the lazy brands you will see they have a web site, its quite interesting.

Sorry Mary, I missed your post until now. I'm afraid there really isn't any way but to do them at the last minute. They will probably only hold for around 10 - 20 minutes. If they are in the fridge, they will deteriorate even quicker. In the open air, they will last a little longer than chilled, but really not long enough to do before a meal for instance.

sorry thats not good news so it's just back to at the last minute.

lol sharon,

perhaps thats where Im going wrong :D

I typed bowels, but didnt find anything

I am satisfied, OH has brought some toblerone, it was delish, for the first triangle, strangely, now I am bored with it...

my versions are quite interesting too!

the mind boggles... but whatever, oh has just gone up the road for some

Well I have been using a Nacto tamarind conentrate and a dried tamarind. I had no idea that they were used for different styles of cooking, thanks Ross.

Now you see, thats where I could do with going on a course or something to explain this sort of stuff.

If there is one anywhere out there, please let me know, I think it would be invaluable.

Yes, me too, I like cats, and like you, I couldn't eat a whole one.

Well done Carrie

there you go grirl, easy peasy as I said, just go for it like you did this time. :D

Well in the short term, until you can get a proper childlock as Georgie suggested, I have found an emergency child lock is to put an elastic band around the handle and the cupboard next door.

Not permanent of course, and you may not have a cupboard next to it or indeed a handle that sticks out, but just a help in an emergency.

Hi morrissey

Welcome to the boards. There are so many flavours that can be added to mash, hot or cold, then reheated to make a new edge on a new meal.

I'm obviously not talking of a new dish here, like porridge, just revamping mash for a new one.

some ideas are to add horseradish to mash to go with beef.

apple (cooked to a puree or bought apple sauce) to a dish with pork or gammon

a variety of cheeses to be added with a fish dish
grainy mustard to go with whatever you like grainy musty as a condement with

As I say, the list is endless, add some fridge or store cupboard goods to plain mash and make a meal of it.

Saffron is nice, it makes a dramatic colour but you will come up with whatever ingredients you like best

Hi oyveur and sanio,

i just love thes technical points you menitoned, would never of seen them my self, but keep pointing them out, it make it so much more fun on the re runs

oh yes, thats what I should have said :D

hi Galla

Welcome to the boards

Do you know which programme you saw tarragan mouse on or which presenter. Was I good food live or good food bitses, as they briefly covered it this, this week.

If Good food live, then I think you mean when they cooked lamb chops and topped them with a chicken and taragon mousse and a taragon leaf and caul fat.

If so, get the lamp chop and top it with...
chicken mousse

chicken breast pieces, egg whites and any flavourings you like. Blintz up in a processor. Its the egg whites that will make it fluff up into a souflee. Put some of the souflee on top of the lamb chop, place a leaf of taragon and cover in cawl fat. Then bake until ready.

forgot to mention, its so hot it reeeeaaallly burns, so be very careful

when I say dipped into, please note the earlier suggestion of a spoon, NEVER PUT YOUR FINGER IN

hottest thing in the kitchen, I can promise you, not patronising here, just have been burnt. It really is hot stuff.

hi carrie

no, i would use caster sugar, it is finer and will melt quicker, so less chance of the caramel burning before the sugar melts

and yes it sounds complicated, but it couldn't be simpler, you just try it and see.

You will melt the sugar into caramel in minutes and then it will be stringy when dipped into and pulled up into threads/strands whatever and then it will be ok to spin.

go for it girl, its easy peasy.

let me know if you have any probs

Welcome Carrie

The way we make caramel sugary things in the restaurant is to put some caster sugar into a heavy based pan and slowly heat until you find the right colour. Too dark and it will taste bitter. so as soon as the sugar has melted is great.

at this point, the caramel will be too runny. Take it off the heat, if it is darkening quickly even off the heat, put the base of the pan into some cold water to cool it more quickly. Make sure the water doesn't go over the side of the pan into the caramel.

Your caramel is now made, the only way to spin sugar is to make sure it is at the right consistency, so you will have to practise if you have no one to show you this. If it is too hot, it will be too thin and will not make strands too thick and it will clump together. You need to get it to a fast running but thick consistency. Its so hard to discribe, but so easy to do, no wonder the recipe isn't printed. So dip a metal spoon into the caramel, with a wooden handle if possible, then let the excess drip off into the caramel pan, when it starts to drip/run off, flick it back and forth other a sharpening steel or something similar. When you have finished, slip the strands off and wrap them round to make a tube or ball as desired, before it sets hard.

The caramel can be made in advance, but heated and made into a shape immediately before serving.

Welcome Oxxx,

Glad to have you aboard hope you join in with us mad lot.

I really enjoyed the Kylie Kwong programmes, but the rings were fine by me, she was in her own kitchen after all, not her restaurant.

I am very impressed, you read ALL the Tamasin hair posts, wow. Bet that kept you busy for a while

Hi Rachel6

I know alot of big department stores do them, Debenhams, House of Frazer, John Lewis etc, and some web addresses for catering equipment are

www.nisbets.com
www.chefs.net
www.lakelandlimited.co.uk

have a look and let us know if you have no luck, we can think again

me too Al85 and yes it does work every time, hope its in time Anna G

well done dorz for being like most of us, well done Terrydox for being..... not like most of us, did anyone get the statistics?????? well done Rustie for being helpful and most of all


well done Caroline R for your apology, you were not wrong to express your opinion, but glad you can see a different version now. Rustie has helped me so many times and so many other people, I don't know where I'd be without her.

So hopefully everyone is happy now.

yes, if someone wants to help me in the future, please feel free. I will be most grateful, thank you

you are forgiven

Well CarolineR,

forgive me, but I think the phrase you are looking for is "thank you Rustie for taking the time and trouble to look this up for me"

Or am I the only person here offended by your attitbude to someone that has just helped you and me for that matter and countless people as well.

Rustie appears helpful, polite and friendly here, please try to follow suit.

Welcome Kea,

and lucky you with your new kitchen, hope it's turned out just as you wanted. now all you have to do is cook

I haven't had time to look through loads of sites but I can give you some interesting contacts.

www.mycookshop.com for scott and sargeant
www.lakelandlimited.co.uk for lakeland
www.nisbets.com professional catering suppliers
www.chefs.net as above

also many department stores do them.

Have fun looking

Hi knockstaple,

I have asked around and a very respectful source has told me their way of making tortilla wraps.

1 1/4 lb (550g) masa harina (as mentioned above)
4 oz (100g) plain white flour
1 pint (525ml) hot water

Mix all the ingredients together and kneed for around 5 minutes (or put in your bread maker for the shortest cycle).

Then roll out into circles and dry fry on a heavy based frying pan until the colour desired. Flip over and dry fry the other side.

Hi knockstaple,

Well since you are so excited about this that you are shouting at us all, I will come to your rescue about the tortillas. I have to say though, it is hardly worth using a breadmaker, unless it does a quick cycle. You see the longer cycles add more air into the dough and a tortilla is very flat. It is actually a Mexican flatbread.

There are two main types dipicted by the flour used. One used Maize called masa harina which translates as dough flour. This is the oldest type. Then wheat was introduced and this became the prefered type.

As for an actual recipe, I am still searching. Not an easy one to find. I will keep trying.

and it would be only once blondie.

No, come on now, everyone saying its no good, Jenies should know if his local restaurant is the best. Its probably convenient and easy to find as its probably the only restaurant within a 60 mile radius thus making it the number 1.

Seriously now, I found it to be 10 times the standard of a Beefeater and thats what I consider to be the nearest type of restaurant.

Welcome Rocket-Ron,

have you looked at the catering websites/catalogues. I use Nisbetts alot www.nisbets.com and ccs - www.chefs.net

both have a great range.

Yes indeed, I too enjoyed this programme. I once saw a programme years ago about this cookery school, it followed them as they (husband and wife) rode into rural areas on their motor bike. They decided to open a cookery school which started very basically. It is so lovely to see it has grown. I for one would love to go their.

by eggsaming his previous form perhaps

well I'm sure it went, spam eggs, beans, eggs, spam and spam at one point

We all use ceramic steels at work, they take very few strokes to get a blade as sharp as you could ever want. Nisbetts do a very light weight one for £12.99. I paid about £40 for mine, but I'm sure a cheaper one would be perfectly adequate for use at home. The only time I would use a block is if I had a bendy knife, like a filleting knife. Ceramic steels are great for rigid knives but bendy knives are hard to sharpen at the tip and came give an uneven edge.

No I am not offended but I will think twice before offering such highly skilled cooking tips in the future to omlettes, I am an eggs benedict girl.

Glad to know Im not alone, I just felt that I should eggstend my chefs training to helping others. The colours of the different parts of the eggs comes quite far into my training, it can come several years down the line, so I wouldn't eggspect everyone to be as eggsperienced.

oh well that told me then. Now lets crack on with something more interesting.

are we all bored, if not, why are we eggsagerating this point so much. Surely we have eggsausted it by now.

Surely my eggsbertise in knowing the names of the colours of the egg parts (I have had chefs training) should have put pay to this thread.

I love:

The Best and surfing the menu

I hate:

Beauty and the feast and eat it up

I loved but am thoroughly bored with:

Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson

All my agency work is keeping me on my toes

Just a thought Terry,

we often buy double yolkers from the farm shop, in this instance I would say egg yolks AREN'T white.

Well Terry,

Egg yolk isn't white its yellow, what eggs do you usually use?

So more correct to say egg yolk ISN'T white then, in answer to your question

So the recipe here is for?????

So is the recipe for scrambled eggs panty man?

Hi Pam

I have the most beautiful wooden work tops all round my kitchen and I don't mind oiling them. I use danish oil. Whilst they look supberb and my ideal choice regarding looks, I do have a few complaints.

If I lived alone, I would have no trouble with choosing wood, however, my lot never stop leaving something on the work top that is wet. Ie, overflow their juice with water or tea cup with the kettle and leave a ring or some drips. If the drips are left they usually dry but on occassion take the colour out of the wood. yes this will ALMOST always come back when oiled, only thing is, mine don't mark it twice a year, so I have to put up with a very tatty looking worktop or oil it frequently.

I also find, that although it was very expensive and hard wood, a jar dropping out of the overflowing condements cupboard will leave a dent and sometimes a lined dent to match the bottom of the jar.

I would say that while I love the look of it, I find it doesn't look its best all the time especially in frequently used areas and around the sink area.

I don't want to put you off, I just wish I'd known a little more about it first.

My really old Kenwood Chef mixer that belonged to my Mother, one of the first out, has a dough hook, a mincer, a liquidiser and an attachment like the one in your picture. I always called it a whisker and thought it whisked ok until I got a new kenwood Food Processor that whisks like a dream.

So its not much help, but I think its a whisker too.

If you buy a new Chef, the basic attachments will come with it so it shouldn't matter if yours are old anyway.

stop it you two, girls don't do that anyway. I thought we were discussing serious religious events here that are symbolised by food. What with the Palm Sunday connection.

Religion as in, Easter is about eating chocolate, Christmas is about eating too much oh, and getting pressies. Harvest festival for eating loads and being plentiful. Yep, I'll have to try Carlins now that I know what they are.

Yes,

I always keep some in the freezer but I usually use it for cooking. Not saying here that theres anything wrong with it raw after freezing, not at all, but I usually use mine to wrap stuff in, ie, chicken breasts, pork fillet etc.

Hmm, Ross Burden, Southend....yum

200 others, not quite what I had in mind :devilish:

And yes Martino, you are quite a handful sometimes.

Gosh sorry to be thick, but I wasn't all that at maths. I must confess I do usually use Martinos method, write my findings down then know for future.

Does our lovely Pastry Paul Young have any advise????

Perhaps we should count the grains Martino :D: save probs with different types.

Well, I have to say I was surprised at a whole cup per person. I haven't actually weighed my rice, so I do feel I'm not qualified to join in here, but I do measure my rice in cups. I use one tea cup (not american cup measure) for two people, if on the other hand we are talking about unusual size cups, ie, mugs or expresso cups, then this should be expressed. Scuse the pun :D:

Anyway, back to the original post, BN do you know
if you have a professional rice cooker or one made for use in the home. This can make quite a bit of difference to your method of cooking. For instance, because of the high risk of bacteria in rice, a domestic rice cooker should cook the correct amount of rice to be consumed. Cook, eat, job done. You should not remove the lid, dish some up and replace the lid repeatedly, although once or twice isn't too bad, but don't quote me, it's not advised by those who could be sued as this can cause bacteria to multiply quickly. For example, it would be no good for a hot buffet table on bonfire night with chilli etc. A professional rice cooker on the other hand, has a more sophisticated temperature control and can keep the rice "fresh" even when the lid goes on and off. Ie. pubs etc sometimes have a sort of choose what you want, heated display cabinet and the queue might choose rice with their dish intermitently.

Let me know the make and model and I will look in my catering books and see if I can identify which catagory yours falls into. Its most likely to be domestic as the commercial ones are ridiculously expensive for the home cooks use.

Hi all,

I agree Georgie, dinner with Mr. Anderson sounds nice but Please may I come to yours instead Rustie. Those fillings sound delicious, just my cup of tea.

I'd also like to say how thoughtful it is of Blondie to give us the imperial measurements. I'm an oldie but I have to use metric alot at work, otherwise our younger chefs look at me as if I'm speaking to them in Russian or something, but I have to say it took some getting used to at first. A real pain, so thank you for taking the time to convert your recipes for those my age who haven't been made to make the change. I do hope you found it easier to change over than I did.

Hi Debbie,

I don't know but I think you can. What I suggest is that you phone the manufacturer to be on the safe side. If you don't know that, phone Lakeland Ltd, they are so helpful and they sell them. You don't have to mention that you didn't buy it from them after all. You can find their phone number on their web site.

Hi Sonia,

Yes it is similar and yes it does need peeling.

Hi Brad and welcome,

I always use 00 flour but I don't see why you couldn't try another type. After all it is a type of pastry.

I'm sure someone here will be able to suggest another type

hope you enjoy the boards

Gosh,

Thats a hard one, I do hope someone can help you as I'd be very interested to hear about this too.

Hope it goes well Debbie anyway.

Not just quiet last night Andy, but quiet alot lately. Everyone must be very busy. I miss all our regular posters.

Hi there, Curry king Andy,

That sounds really delicious

HI Hotspot,

Welcome to the boards. I'm not sure what you're doing wrong with your cake but I'm sure someone here will be able to help.

ps. Try typing with your caps lock off, when you type in capitals it means you're shouting. Hope you enjoy the chat, we're a nice bunch really.

Stainless steel steamer. Excellent!

Just an after thought, some butchers don't get much of the animal in to their shops, so they rarely get these specialised cuts, apparantly when they do, they like to keep them for themselves. So Rusties web site suggestion or some other may be your only option.

Actually its sort of the neck area.

Its 2 small muscles joined by an elastic membrane (the supporting muscles of the diaphragm.) The butcher splits it open, tirms it and removes all the skin and membrane. Onglet must be well hung, the meat is then tender and juicy. In the past it was not a popular cut, but now it's accepted that it makes a prime steak. Whether fried or grilled, it should be eaten rare, otherwise its really tough.

I have eaten this in my local restaurant, it is an unusual cut though.

Yes it does have a meaning really. If flour gets too old it gets infested with psofyds also known as weavles.

There has recently been another thread discussing this. If you do a search of the chat site, you might be able to find the thread where there is quite alot of information from our fellow posters.

Hi there DBs,

No this is not text message talk this time, this CTM means Chicken Tikka Masala.

Hi Rachel,

I love the combination of bacon and avocado. I saute off some chopped mushrooms, cut up some cooked bacon and mix with chopped avocado. After that you can add all sorts of things, or just leave it like that. I add broad beans when they are in season. Or prawns as they go so well with the bacon and the avocado. Any of these makes a nice addition to a buffet or salad.

When I want to spoil myself, I get a big pile of salad leaves on a plate, then sprinkle some chopped bacon, or pancetta, some parmesan shavings, scallops (king or queen) chopped avocado and then season and drizzle some balsamic vinegar over the top. This is one of my very favourite lunches and takes hardly any time to prepare.

I'd just like to add that in Britain we can get two different types. The huss avocado has a black skin and there is another that has a green skin. They each keep their own colour. You can tell when they are ripe by gently pressing the bottom of the rounded end to see how firm it is.

Try to prepare them immediately before use, but a short delay can be overcome by rubbing a little lemon juice over the flesh. They will not go black inside unless they are very ripe or exposed to the light.

I like them cooked and raw. So many things can be done with them.

Hi Ley,

I hope you enjoy them both. Are there many differences between the ingredients listed. I will get my Rick books out and have a look.

Lucky you having it twice. do remember though, Scottish lobsters are much nicer than Canadian. You can tell the difference by the colour. Canadian ones are the bright pinky, orangy red colour and the Scottish are darker, maroony black colour.

Hi ley,

I posted one under the recipe section of this chat site that didn't have any tomatoes. Try typing in Lobster Termidor in the panel at the top of this page, leave the next panel saying chat, and then go. Let me know if you can't find it.

well helloooo,

I've just seen Leslie Philips, ding dong, I was picturing that Williams carry on man. I don't know. It started with some very interesting facts before presenting the first award. Well worth a watch so far. Looks like the tapes running ok.

Sorry to hear that Rustie, want to borrow the tape if it comes out ok (never a certainty, you know how I am with gadgets)

Gosh,

If I didn't know you were such a gentleman Andy!

Hi Rustie,

Not sure if I have heard Lesley Philips say ding dong, but now you come to mention it, I have heard Ross say it loads of times. I know what you mean now though. I was too busy folding up my ball gown to pay attention properly.

oh well, and I just went to try on my ball gown.

I haven't got a clue what the diiiing-dooongs is all about though.

Well since it looks like everyone else has gone to bed, it looks like my keys are the only ones in the bowl. So congratulations kiwichef. So where's the date gonna be, the next rather grand affair like the Restaurant Awards perhaps. :D:

Sorry Georgie, pipped you to the post, will I ever be forgiven

Just thrown mine in, anyone else?

Yep, you've said it Georgie, and he calls us a slippery lot.

Good job I just love you for your cooking kiwichef.

Hi kiwichef,

Not a home wrecker but a man of your word, I hope, promised snogs need to be honoured. :devilish:

Yes I have to agree with Mary and Ian here, sorry Cheers, but we have done this one so many times. Please dont let this stop you posting in future, but there are several threads on Tamasin still currently running so another one was just a bit ...aaaaahhhh... as I said yesterday. Please do not let our reaction make you feel unwelcome, this is more about other people lately not liking our wonderful entertainers, than you making one point.

Has this thread been edited under the new rules of critisism or am I using the site incorrectly. If yes then, good. If no, then I just came to say

aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! not again.

However, now that I am here there seems to be a bit of a post, even if it is not relevant to the bit we see on the boards, so I will happily help.

I have,

Simply the best,
The art of the tart,
Good tempered food,
Tarts with tops on

I believe there are others. All well worth a read in my opinion.

At the restaurant, we use either filo or samosa pastry. Usually samosa as we have a great Indian store next door. I don't think there is much in any of the wrappers.

Hi DB's you are so kind. I have been reading your posts regarding your restaurant with interest.

There is not a picture of me or any of the chefs besides the proprietor. You see, it is not actually my restaurant although I wish it was. I just work there as part of a team. Did you get any ideas from the web site for your theme nights?

A weekend in Dawlish sounds great but not possible until the summer. I'm so glad the feed back is so good from your customers. This fact along with the fact you are actually running a restaurant and not just working in one like me, says to me you are far from amateurs, I admire you, you are truely professionals in my mind.

I love the live bit of Saturday kitchen but not the repeats of the shows. I'd rather have half our of a fab live show rather than 1 /12 hours with an hour of repeats.

I couldn't watch Ricks new show as it clashes with several others so I'm relying on my saviour, UK FOOD to show it in the future.

Hi Gaye, I loved the first series of house in France but the second series, with the Indian restaurant in the Ardeche is more enjoyable again. Poor old Nigel though, Nippe always seems to put him down and he tries so hard. Sometimes I think Nippe would like to see him fail with Selene or work etc but I wonder also why if they both own the property (bought for holidays) Nigel gets to live there all year round. So Nippe never gets to use the place with his family and without Nigel. Oh well, love it all the same.

sorry to go off thread a little, but it is a foodie programme in a way.

Thats right Lynne,

the dish is extremely mild. My 5 year old eats it but not usually anything hot. Just very flavoursome, not at all hot. The chillis are 2 very small chillis or 1 large, if you're worried (and theres no need to be) try it with one first.

Have you looked at www.reshmamartin.com web site. she is a cook on GFL and has an admirable website that I am a big fan of. If she doesn't show the recipe in her recipe file, then you can contact her and ask her. She is so helpful, I know she wouldn't mind.

Trudi is right they are called weavles but their scientific name is psofids. They also can survive in paper and books. Apparantly, if you keep your flour in an air tight container in a cool place you shouldn't get them, but I still have got them under these conditions. My advice is, just don't keep flour too long. Use it or loose it.

Same here, I've got several. My most expensive were Salter at £22.50 each but this was 12 years ago. My favourite is the new range of Bart spices with grinders. They are around £2.50 with the pepper in it and they work very well. What I like is that they have a good range such as cajun, fruits alfresco and spirits of fire. They all come with grinders and this makes it very convenient to use instead of pepper but for a different punch. Great on things like scrambled eggs etc, where I would of just used pepper in the past.

Thanks Frexy, I will definately be making this one.

Hi Frexy

Can you gives us the recipe for rhubarb and fig or is it a secret. It sounds dreamy. Figs can go from 24p to 59p each. So this could be a really cheap one to make in the summer.

Hi Trudi,

I don't know what BTW means and will probably feel really stupid when I find out. So the web address of where I work is www.parisrestaurant.net. Its small but very nice.

I agree with you about buying better quality produce, it always tastes better and the texture is usually so much more tender. Mmmm, I haven't had gammon for ages, I think I'll have some this week.

Sounds lovely Frexy. I've made jam before but never marmalade. In the summer we go to our local "pick your own" farm and I buy lots of fruit and make jam then. I pretty much stick to boring stuff, so perhaps you have some ideas on the jam front or any unusual preserves. Do you preserve anything else, you know like lemons or anything. I bought some marmalade from a farmers market recently which was grapefruit marmalade with scotch whisky which was very nice. I remember you making marmalade in Florida.

I worked as a chef in a pub for 6 months and we had frozen mash that was microwaved in minutes and sausages had to be deep fried. Frozen peas and gravy from a baine marie. All done in a matter of minutes so that the food was served and eaten and the seat vacated for the next victim. I had no say in what was cooked or how it was done. I always did the best I could, but at the end of the day, that couldn't turn it into anything it wasn't.

That's why I love my present boss so much. Well that and the fact that he's georgous (as someone pointed out after looking at our website) He listens to any ideas we have and allows us to cook using our passion for cooking and it makes very happy staff and customers. The down side is that the food is dearer. We actually spend the same amount of buying our steak in, as the pub sells a steak meal for. The pub steak is like eating a tasteless piece of leather that gives your jaws a good workout and the restaurant steak just melts in your mouth.

I would pay more but not everyone will and so I think there is a need for both places, I just know which one I prefer to work in.

Sorry I missed you yesterday Snowy, we haven't spoken for ages. How did it go yesterday. What do the French think of Welsh cusine?

Yes Reshma like my tutor does things the authentic way, so different from the takeaways. I prefer them personally, but my hubby doesn't, they're all good in their own way.

Thanks for letting me know Lynne, it's full of flavour but very mild, great for fussy kids, like my 5 year old.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Hi Gaye,,,xxx

Did I post my life story? ohh theres so much I'd rather not tell

'm fed up with being respectul now. I just want a chat with my friends.

I was going to suggest Adrians way. So now I would just like to add to it if you don't mind. That is, if you haven't got a mandolin to get really thin shreds, use a potato peeler instead.

I think it's great you experiement so much. That's the way some of my best sauces are born. Hope they let you out of work for a little chat, I would miss you if you weren't here at all.

me too in previous years (bw - before work as a chef)

I didn't eat basic food. I ate magnificently at work between the 12 oclock sitting and the 3 oclock sitting whilst running round like a headless turkey!!!

for Georgie and Andy, thank you for your interest, hope you like it.

90g onion finely chopped
2 tsp ginger and garlic paste (equal quantities chopped and whizzed in the processor)
2 green chillis chopped ( the tiny ones, birds eye)
1 tbsp coriander powder
30g ground almonds
30ml water
1 tsp salt
500g chicken breast cut into cubes


sauce

60g onion finely chopped
5 tbsp oil
3 black cardamons
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick (2 inches)
150ml plain yoghurt
150ml single cream
30-40g coconut cream
1 pinch saffron strands
2 tbsp caster sugar
fresh corander
1/4 tsp garam masala

In a food processor put the onions, ginger and garlic paste, chillies, ground almonds, coriander powder, salt and water and blend for about 2 minutes.

Put the chicken in a bowl, pour the blended ingredients over the chicken and mix well. Keep in the fridge for 1 hour.

heat the oil in a pan, add the cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon stick and onions. Fry until golden brown.

add the chicken mixture and fry for 5 - 7 minutes over a medium flame, stirring all the time until the oil separates.

Lower the heat, add the yoghurt a tablespoon at a time. cover the pan and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Put the saffron strands in a pestal and mortar, add a little warm water and to soak, then grind together.

Add the coconut cream, the single cream and the saffron to the chicken, stir and simmer for a round 5 minutes.

Garnish with fresh coriander and garam masala.

Serve with naan or plain pilau rice.

Discard the large spices when eating the curry.

Remember, you cannot ruin a curry by making it too spicy etc except by adding too much salt or too much chilli. All the other spices will flavour but not ruin a curry. Always be cautious of the chilli and salt content. You can always add more later.

I certainly will try the next one, how about if I wear my chefs whites?

I have to disagree with the chicken falling apart though, sorry.

But really both work well, I just thought I'd mention it to share my experience. As you probably agree, it's an unusal cooking method if you follow our traditions. (I think thats why I'm so fascinated).

I love to see other cultures but I've mentioned that many times when discussing programmes shown on our beloved channel.

Hi Andy,

Yes the CTM was really tastey. I will definately cook it again, well done you.

When I went to my Indian cookery course, I was really surprised to find that it is traditional to put the chicken in much later than I have always been taught as in any European dish. I have always cooked curries in the same order of your recipe, but my classes surprised and interested me as the method was changed. Just thought I'd mention in case anyone is interested.

Any way, nearly all the curries started with frying the spices as you and I would, but then nearly always the tomatoes and garlic and ginger, more spices and water. Then when the oil separates, and only then, the chicken goes in, raw. So it doesn't get browned as you and I do it. I thought this was odd and nearly every curry took on the same format. The reason I thought it was odd is because in so many cultures we brown the meat and this all seemed backwards from the way I've always been taught. My teacher assures me this is the way that it should be done. Both turn out fine though. I just thought you might be interested.

I forgot to post my Korma, but I will and you will see how the method is backwards to our way oc cooking.

I have been so amazed by this programme that I have refrained from posting my opinion until I knew what my opinion was. I still can't make up my mind why I am watching it, it's so incredibly odd. Whether I watch it to be amazed at how much weirder it could possibly get or just because I am hoping something interesting will actually happen, I'm still trying to work out.

Completely odd.

Seems that Jackjones is on his jackjones on this thread. Seems to be the only person to actually like it so far.

Oh Trudi,

I've only just seen your post. Thank you so very much for your kind offer. I have a problem with microsoft and I can't get connected via my usual route. I have to go round the houses and cannot get to some of my stuff at all as it always says it cant find the server.

I have been advised by a mobile repair man and my local repair shop to wipe everything and take it back to as it was when it arrived and then re install what I need. I am just not looking forward to doing it. I've spoken to microsoft, BT broadband, yahoo, repair people. It's driving me mad.

But I'll get it sorted, thank you again.

do you know, Im really getting a thing about Terrydox. I think I love you... big words and all
I love what you say

Hi Georgie,

I can't remember everything, but I am quite sure she baked them in the farmers wood burning stove. So the fact that they were not boiled, in my mind, is why they kept there colour, but as I said, I don't know for certain.BALLS AGAIN, sorry, balls in your court again. hee hee hee

not sure if it will be any help, but have you tried:

www.clearspring.co uk

www.goodnessdirest.co.uk

see what you think.

Well I don't know as I've not been lucky enough to find them, BUT, my thinking would be

1. yes they would taste the same
and
2. no the colour would not be retained if boiled. Unless in there skins. I'm thinking here of purple sprouting brocolli or purple cauliflower. Both need steaming to retain their colour.

But, you have the ball in your court. Please tell us your findings. I would love to know. The only time I've seen these cooked are when Tamasin Day-Lewis did them in the wood stove thing with the farmer who grew them and leeks. She also made a leek vinagrette. Did you see that one?

I am disappointed almost every week as we do not live anywhere near a Waitrose, you lucky thing you. Pleaase Georgie, let us know how they taste. I think you are like me in that if I see anything slightlly unusual or interesting, I can't resit trying it.

Hi Georgie,

Glad to see you back today. I believe you treat these potatoes exactly the same as ordinary ones.

You didn't say which supermarket you bought them from. I haven't seen purple ones but would love to.

Where did you buy them from.

No all joking aside, hope your computer is sorted out soon Rustie, mines being a nightmare at the moment and for the last 6 weeks.

I hate being ruled by my computer instead of the other way around.

as long as she's back here is all that matters, Martino.

My goodness,

Am I right in thinking that our Georgie has got one over on our Mr. Burden on a plant life subject. Well done both of you for an enterainting conversation.

Martino! at least I asked the question privately via e mail, (Quote Ainsley - what are you like?")

Hi snoozy,

Yes we have a dispenser for our "elepants toilet roll". paper towel from a dispenser.

You know, this is what makes up Georgies charm, her cheeky behaviour I mean. Just emailed you Georgie but it failed to deliver due to my computer troubles. Seems I can only REPLy to emails at the moment.

Well at least no scarey spider potaotes eh?

Yeah I saw the post Andy, I'd love an instant chat room and OH would like lots of sauce so I will look.

I feel a little under pressure after your OH Korma stories but all I can say is that my tutor provided the recipes and we love them. So I do hope your wife does too.

Love Lindsay with and I xxx

sorry, but couldn't possibly work without getting my hands well and truely in there. I promise I wash them though as everyone does in our restaurant. It comes as second nature and so most of the time, we dont even think about it or make an issue of it. Our hands just get washed so often, that it becomes the most natural thing in the world. Not something we have to think about or mention.

Not saying it shouldn't be mentioned, but in a restaurant, we all work there for the love of food and pleasing our diners, not poisoning them.

When I was about 6 years old, I had a potato man. One where you stick the feet and the features in and make a face. When I'd finished playing with it once, I put it in the box with the bits and in my wardrobe. When I got it out to play with, weeks later, I had the biggest fright of my life. I screamed and screamed as I thought some sort of spider had eaten it. The sprouts were at least 4 inches long. But I seem to remember they were around a foot. But that was just my bad memory.

Needless to say, we didn't eat that one.

Hi Andy,

I haven't yet heard the dates. At the moment we (at the restaurant) are all concentrating on the Restaurant Exhibition at Olympia, today, tomorrow and Wednesday. Its a shame you couldn't go to that, I know you'd enjoy it. I love it so much more than the Good Food Show as you can mix with the professional chefs etc. Theres no barriers etc as we are all in the trade so to speak and there must be about a third of the amount of people there so you can see everything properly.

Anyway, your curry should be Wednesday or Thursday. You do seem to have scored alot of fans with this one. Well done sweetie.

My list of curries etc, (if anyone's interested)

Onion and potato bhajia
fish or mushroom bhajia
mint sauce (riata
cucumber riata
cutlas
meat samosa **
pilau rice
bombay potatoes
chapatti and parathas
bhatura
daal
lamb curry
chicken curry
cicken briyani **
chicken korma **
butter chicken **
chicken dhansak
tandoori chicken
mince kebabs
aubergine and potato barhji dry)
sweetcorn and cocounut curry
chickpea curry **

I would take me forever to post them all so better to do the favourites. The ones with the asterix ** are my personal favourites.

Hi Guys,

PLAIN NAAN BREAD made without braking copyright rules,

750g self raising flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion seeds (nigella seeds or ajawana seeds - all the same thing)
1 sachet of dried yeast
1/3 mug of oil
warm water to mix


SPICEY NAAN BREAD

* 1 small onion chopped up
1 cupful of fresh coriander
1 cupful of fresh fenugreek
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies chopped*

Method

1. Put the flour in a large bowl
2. Add the salt, dried yeast and onion seeds. Mix well *
3. Make a well in the middle, pour in the oil and warm water, and mix until you have sticky dough.
4. Cover with a damp cloth and leave for about 2 hours in a warm place.
5. Take a portion of dough and gently roll out to about 6 inches in diameter (sprinkle flour if dough sticks).
6. Heat a frying pan on a medium to low flame for a few minutes.
7. Place the naan in the frying pan.
8. Just cook the bottom side until brown spots apear, slide out onto the grill pan or if it fits, put the pan with the naan bread, under a hot grill until golden brown.
9. Remove from heat, brush with oil or butter to serve.

Well we made them in class and they were great and then they turned out ok at home. So I would recommend this recipe.

Also, it has a fab texture and flavour if you stir in some mascapone cheese after cooking and before churning. Its dreamy!

Hi Andy and well done for being our Curry Guru.

I love you, but now that you've got "steves mum" here, I know I'm second best. lol.

I don't want to steal Andys thunder cos ( I am cooking his curry on Wednesday) but you all seem to want curry recipes like I did prior to my cookery course.

Would anyone like my recipes that I learned. BEFORE THEY ARE "CUT", I HAVE HAD TO ADAPT EACH AND EVERYONE TO SUITE MY FAMILY" but they are all fab. I have about 16 recipes. I will go now and find my file and list them for anyone to request them. None need bought curry pastes. With very little effort, you can make your own. And I mean, VERY little effort, but truely divine tastes. Hope this is ok on the curry gurus site, kiss, kiss, kiss to Andy

Hi Anna,

I'll post the naan recipe tomorrow when I've dug it out. It's definately worth a try.

Oh gosh, watch out, Rustie and Martino have a cream history

I can't understand why they don't use double cream in Europe, how very odd.

I used to use a masher but find it hard going for large quantities. That's where a ricer comes in so handy. Ikea and Lakeland Ltd do them. At work we use an enormous mouli, but you can get baby ones for home use. I think a baby mouli works exactly the same as a ricer though. Glad to hear you like my Creamy Brie mash Jennifer, thank you.

Hi Andy

Your curry sounds very popular so I will definately give it a try during the week.

I must admit that I am enjoying home made curries now since I did my Indian cookery class last term. My hubby, who always chooses CTM from the takeaway, ate my Chicken Korma the other night and said it was the best curry of any sort he had ever tasted. I did home made naan bread, lamb samosas, prawn curry, vegetable curry, tandori chicken bomay potatoes with spinach, pilau rice, potato and onion barjees and shop bought popodoms with pickles. I did have company, this was not all for us. But the point of this is, I didn't get a CTM recipe on my course and it is the one thing I regret. Now that you have posted yours, I will make it and fill that gap.

Thanks Andy, and well done, everyone seems to be enjoying your recipe.

oh this is getting so silly, LOL

perhaps, instead of being kind, you could be king (or queen) of the jungle and eat chickens and ostriches stuffed with insects.

Sorry, thats the best I can come up with.

Cringing,


I have admitted shame, now Rustie, please be king, I already have egg on my face.

Bowing my head in shame. I will now go and joke with the chicken in my fridge in order to make amends.

Please excuse my shameful behaviour on such a sensative subject.

Ps. Even the chicken did not find my joke funny

Yes Terry, I mentioned the bacon as I love to cover my chicken in bacon which I cut up after its cooked and mix with cabbage. But, and I must apologise now, I was joking. I didn't expect it to stay on once I turned it up on end. I usually put half a lemon and half an onion inside by chickens cavity "bum" for all you lot. But I will be trying this one for sure. Sounds fab.

pierogi is the only polish food I know, it's sort of ravioli and can be sweet or savoury.

My Mum used to do baked apple with sultanas and syrup which could be replaced with honey.

If I was to choose a "week" Frexy, I think I would have a someone else should cook it for you week" or is there one already?

But I can't seem to get the bacon to stay on the chickens breast when I stand it up. Maybe its the can I'm using. I know we went from cans to bottles, perhaps a bottle in a chicken is harder to achieve than a chicken in a bottle.. oh thats a ship or a message, isn't it.

Hi rpm

You can also get them from Lakeland Ltd who have shops and a web site and from Nisbetts and ccs chefs catering suppliers.

I'm sorry, not having a pop at you snoozy, but at the many "vegies" around who have the stupidity to call themselves vegies when they eat living creatures, ie fish.

Those who refrain from meat and poultry but eat fish are pescatorians, not vegitarians.

Oh this really gets my goat.

I think it is the only series. I like her cooking too, but as far as knowing anything about her, only what I see. She is not a trained chef, you can tell by the way she does things, but in my opinion, she is a lovely cook and I like her recipes. It's also interesting seeing other countries and their local recipes. My father lives in Spain so alot of her cooking is familiar but I love to see any programmes that involve other countries and their traditions, Giaconda included.

Hi Becca,

just read this post as my computer has been in for repair. Sorry to hear your bad news but no, please don't keep your nose out of these threads, I like it in the threads. I did miss the casserole posts, but thank you now that I have read it.

But your sentences are entertaining. I don't think I'm the person to tell you about smilies. It took me ages to pick them up and yet they are so easy. There are lots of people better qualified, so I'll leave them to it. But these are my favs... when you do : rolleyes : but without the spaces I have left, :devilish: : devilish : again no spaces, : mad : :P: : P : : angry : ; ) : cry : : eek : : blurgh : there are more. But just don't leave spaces between the : : like I have, and they will come out

Since almost everyone has opted for my favourite, knives that is, can I take my tv. I also put in on a cookery programme when I cook and enjoy the companionship of a fellow chef. Or perhaps a fellow chef from work to talk food with while I cook.

Oh Jennifer, we posted at the same time, I must admit, thats why I looked. :D:

Yes this really is delicious, also delicious done the same way is, parsnip, yam or sweet potato, spinnach and beetroot. Most root veg in fact. I haven't tried shredded celeriac but have a feeling that would be good too. Try the others Scottlet, see if you like them too.

Yeah, Floyd has been Far Flung on sky travel, uncorked, Floyds Fyjord Fiesta and others, around the Med and I think on Spain, and France.

I love Floyd whether he is far flung, on Fish, India or any way up you like. A great chef and a great entertainer. Bravo Floyd. I loved seeing Rick Stein as such a young chap on fish and also felt the same when I saw Gary Rhodes on Floyd long, long ago.

I think the above and even Lakeland Ltd, mail order or shops across Britain. Also CCS www.chefs.net.

BeccaNurse,

sorry to go off track, but how lovely to have you back. I have missed you so much. soooo pleased to have you posting again. kiss kiss, speak soon, please

Good for you Arnavaz. Great to hear you all enjoyed it.

Not really Dave,

But years ago I bought a Schwartz spice rack full of 25 herb bottles and just replaced those I didn't like and refilled those I did. However, nowadays, schwartz (and I'm not necessasarily indorsing them, I love the Bart spices range, personally) but Schwartz do print the names on the top of the jar which I think is fantastic as you can store them in a drawer and find them easily without lifting up each one.

Two really good points Rustie,

this is one of my very opininated areas very close to my heart, and I so love to hear everyone elses opinions voiced on it.

Come on girls, I'm sure we can show em a thing or two.

Oh, I missed the programme but keep hoping that perhaps it was pre recorded and she could of washed her hands off screen/edited so to speak, but I must say it doesn't sound like it.

I'm glad I missed it actually as I would have been heaving. Not sure about Tamasin though, bubbi, perhaps we could say human rather than hygienic.

May be Huggy, there are more male celeb chefs on the show as there are so many more male chefs in the industry. More to choose from perhaps. Who knows. Perhaps women still have to proove themselves as better rather than equal in order to get, what would you think Trudi?

Well Glory, I think you will find, as I have that celebrity chefs rarely goes beyond blokes. Yes I know we have the fantastic Lesley Walters and Rose Gray and Ruth Rodgers and I could say more, but generally, we have male chefs and female cooks. Ie the tremendous Sophie Grigson and Lotte Duncan etc. They can all cook but the women cooks seem to have a more homely down to earth attitude to cooking the same dishes as the more cut throat males have to offer. Have you noticed that women are very well liked but men chefs are fancied. Either because they are cute or sexy. Men don't seem to rate women/chefs like this so we are not rated in the same way.

So to sum it up, women have to cook to be cooks, men have to cook or be cute or sexy or all of the above. So women will always come second best. Do I sound very pesimistic? I don't mean to be, I would just like to see more female chefs as celebs.

Just don't over cook this precious merchandise!!!!

I'm not sure what you said Georgie, but its what you meant to say, well, you havent even bid yet! Go on, splash out, you know you want to. :devilish:

LOL Rustie, just bid again on another thread :D: certainly can't see you as defective, you have worked so well up to now.

Not knocking your opinion Huggy, I for one love to hear them all, but just felt I should say that, as far as the quantities go, we and perhaps the Tanners, know that the recipes will be on this site for us to find them. Just a thought.

Thanks wannabe, I had forgotten this thread was about foie gras. I was enjoying the banter too much. And I have to say, my head has grown bigger from the very kind words from Arnavaz, I'm am so glad your dinner went well. Good for you :D:

But yes, So many supermarkets have asked me what it was!! how very odd. I can't belive people haven't heard of it even if they haven't tasted it.

I raise you 10p for Rustie. Sorry Rustie, just had christmas and the kids birthdays. I will save up for later in the year if you haven't been snapped up for your entertaining and informative posts which we all love and appreciate.

Oh they never encourage you to eat in your room, besides the smell, they are missing out on evening meal revenue.

BeccaNurse, where have you been, I've been pining. :(

Right, skewered boy scouts over an open fire, poached boy scouts etc, etc, please don't delete this, I know my friends will know I am joking.

Do have a good time at camp.

I laughed Gary, LOL

Well please start ignoring me now, cause when I spent many a lonely week in a hotel, on civil services business, all I did was look for the local bar and eaterie with my colleagues.

Yeah, I know you're talking longer term, but still, we all felt free and Drrrruuuuunnnnkkk No really, I know what you mean

Well I'm definately no nutricianist, but I do remember doing fairy cabbages, (brussells) and fairy trees, (brocolli) probably not much help though Huggy. I will think anyway, although you seem to be such a together person on this sort of thing, I do hope we can help. At least you have realised the definciency, there you are, a together person on this type of thing!! Shes so lucky to have you there.

I like to keep recipes simple, no quantiites where they dont matter etc. With salsa, I think the only important thing is to keep it light and cruchy fresh.

so chop up EVENLY (whatever size doesn't matter, the smaller the better, just as long as they are roughly the same size)

all three colour peppers, courgettes, red onion, celery if you like it. No rules at all here. Then very fnely chop some red chilli and mix thoroughly, and squeeze some runny honey over. Mix well and taste. I know this doesn't exactly sound like a recipe, but thats how we cook, TO TASTE. Instead you could squeeze some line over the salsa and chop some corriander for a lime and corriander salsa. Also drizzle some of the excess juice over the tuna as it goes out and can also go over the salad if you don't have a dressing.

What about teriyaki tuna? Mike Robinson did a Teriyaki recipe of some sort, so a search of his recipes will give you a base, then marinade your tuna (not for long though, it will take on the flavour quickly) and sear. I can go into more detail if you want, but I think you'll go great with my sketchy recipe.

Sorry, a little bit over come there for a moment. Bless!!

Tears of joy of course, and I must say, that I have met some truely wonderful and inspirational people here too.

I don't know about the rules in your own home Oscar, I did enjoy watching 2 point 4 children just from this point of view. The re runs are on about 6 am so I don't catch many. I've seen documentaries on the tv which don't always show stainless steel everything though. I'll ask our comis chefs NVQ instructors to see if they have any info. As we do NVQ in the work place (it's called Hospitality plus) they run all sorts of courses to do with the hospitality business and are a wealth of information. They know everything from health and hygiene, kitchen and larder to alcohol laws etc. I will have a chat next time one visits.

I'm touched right to the centre of my heart Oscar.

I think you'll find there is a queue Carole, but you did ask first.

Hey Ross or Fionna, pirogi is also known as piroski or something similar, isn't it? Does anyone know? You know, the one you can have sweet or savory like little ravioli parcles shaped like half moons.

That sounds nice aheadsun.

Peter, I have posted a recipe for lobster thermidor under the recipe section of the chat site. If you fancy that, you could do a search.

As for tuna, we serve seared tuna in the restaurant and one of my favourite accompaniments that we do sometimes is a honey and chilli salsa. Served with a salad. The salsa can be made ahead, and the tuna takes minutes to sear. Would you like the salsa recipe? It is quick and easy to prepare and can be made so mild that it is just a hint or strong with chilli for a real kick.

I have made zillions of mistakes in my kitchen, that's how I have learned (as well as my training) but that came after. So what if it goes wrong, so what? I know this can be expensive so you want to get it right for that reason, but other than that, I just have a go. If it's not nice, adjust it until it is, ie; more seasoning, a stronger sauce etc. Only rarely can a little mistake not be rectified, no one needs to know if it is a rescue job. Just let them think you meant to do "that" as long as it is edible, they needn't know any different. As there is no absolute right and wrong sauce, for example, to go with something, who knows what it was supposed to be.

Theres a thread somewhere on the recipes part of this chat site that has a good recipe for smoked salmon parcels, stuffed with the type of cheese you say he likes and some shellfish. Why not do a search of the chat recipes.

Well I tried many local big name supermarkets and found some of the butchers didn't even know what it was. What a joke. I couldn't find it anywhere so now I order it from work and have it delivered with the rest of our meat order. Very handy indeed. I'll start the bidding for Rustie with £10, I'm sure she'll fetch a high price.

I second Rustie and Georgie,

I like it, did either of you ladies mind the black and white/colour thing?

I also think we need all kinds of styles, from the frantic pace of cook like a chef to the fun of ready steady cook, from Nigel Slaters laid back style to Jamie who actually shows quite a bit more than just cooking in my opinion, go karting, baby sitting his nieces etc. To the extremes of cringing and boredom with beauty and the feast.

If everything followed the same format, how boring it would all be. :P

Hi fionna,

a good friend of mine and ex fellow worker (another chef) is from Poland and has lived in England for around 4 years now. He loves his homeland and the opportunites he has here. He wants to open a restaurant here. He is a lovely man and has friends come over alot, his name is Pawel. He talks often to his friends in Poland but only goes back for holidays.

How lovely to think this site reaches such far a field. I will tell him about this site in case he has the time to chat here.

Definately seafood then or a fish dish of some sort the balance the menu.

Pan fried scallops with a salad, moules mariniere, lobster thermidor are all classics but of course there are so many others. Let us know if you are interested. I find that seared tuna or sardines are a huge seller in the restaurant.

A starter or a pre-starter of baked camembert is so intimate. You buy one in the box, any brand. Take the inner wrapper off and put it back in the box. prick it on top and rub a garlic clove over it and you can sprinkle on some soft thyme and a dash of olive oil. Put the lid on and wrap in tin foil to avoid any leaking and bake for around 15 minutes at around 180 c. Serve with crusty in the middle of the table and the two of you must lean close together to dip crusty bread in. Or even lightly cooked asparagus for an afrodisiac effect.

So simple but then the starter is out of the way so you can concentrate your time on the main course.

I also try to get my dessert done so I can linger over the main and enjoy a glass of wine without worry about more cooking.

Yes John, the sugar work does feature in EVERYTHING doesn't it!

I thought it was tremendous. Down to earth. Food I like to cook at home. Not so flash that I wouldn't have the know how or ingredients. Interesting background of the Tanners and meeting their staff. I love to look into kitchens, professional or at home.

Definately thumbs up. Very pleasant, entertaining and I love the way the brothers get on. They work so well as a team. Love it.

If I can think of anything to critise it would only be the black and white and back to colour thing, I find this a little irratating but certainly not enough to miss an episode.

I will definately follow every episode with interest. Lovely boys, their parents must be very proud.

Doesn't help me with my lack of coupons. :C

No sorry Ian, just joking. Thank you for that.

aheadsun is quite right, and as much as cranberry sauce is great, no doubt there, it is also just as nice with red onion marmalade, not better just different. Equally delicious.

Wow your daughters boyfriend must be smitten.

No I haven't tried them myself, I have books like these to help me with work but personally, I don't like chocolate. I have to get other chefs to taste it when I cook it.

Glad to hear you are enjoying them though.

I think classic moules marinier is very hard to beat as a starter. One of my favs.

I have those days too Oscar, hope it gets better. White roses are my second favourite Arum Lilies are absolutely stunning, lucky thing Sharne.

Hi Baxter,

I have a book called "La Maison du Chocolat - Transcendent desserts by the legenday chocolatier" by Robert Linxe. ISBN 0 - 8478 - 2343 - 1. Its a beautiful book and it won the best professional cookbook award in France in the year 2000. Wonderful photos and recipes. I think I bought in from Amazon a few years ago. Lovely book.

Hi Oscar,

I was just tuning in here to post the same. Toblerone is wonderful when used in a fondue. Great minds think alike.

As for a lovely day, I thought so too, until we did it that is. Every year is hassle. As you say, flowers are very expensive on the day, restaurants often have set meals, as I mentioned, hotels and restaurants are booked so we have to think along way ahead for any plans. And to top it all, it's such a busy time at work, I usually get asked to work anyway. So I cook the day before or after.

I have to say, this is our 7th anniversary and we have only just become organised far enough in advance to cope. So you and I will both be very busy on the day! I'm a yellow rose person, are all flowers dearer that day or just red roses?

Hi Samantha,

Some people do dinner parties at home, prepare everything, then take it round to paying guests houses and cook, finish and serve the food. Great for people who want a dinner party but don't have the time or maybe the expertise to cook.

Thanks blondie

What a fab idea pigster, way to go.

I have always bought mine and the restaurants from www.Nisbetts.co.uk a wonderous store for every cook.

Steaming with anger for not having enough and for next offer Gaye :D:

but the fact that I have collected so many frying pans in 3, would you believe, yes indeed folks, 3 sizes, means that I have 3 different hat sizes to suit all of my family. How posh will we look at Ascot if we go. Yes please, drool away lesser beings (those without 3 sizes of safeway frying pan hats) :P

I find the wooden ones are a nithgmare, but the plastic ones from Lakeland ltd, shops around but mostly mail order are very good.

Fantastic for barbary duck breast, but for all sorts as well.

Sounds nice Paul,

I shall be cooking for hubby too, we used to go out but I find that restaurants are definately not at their best on such a busy time. Usually they have set meals and charge much more in my experience.

It's our wedding anniversary on Valentines day and going out prooved a disaster even from day one, our wedding day. We were told we didn't need to book a table in the restaurant if we had booked a room, only problem was, when we went down to our evening meal, we were told "its valentines day, of course we have no tables spare.

So JUMs, I will be looking at this post for our friends ideas too.

Thanks Rustie,
But I suppose I was just being greedy anyway, you know, you've got the stamps, you want the goods, but as I say, I collected around 8 fryingpans so can't really grumble.

Shelly,

If you live near me, or can get to me, I will teach you to cook in my kitchen for free. I love to pass on my knoweledge of cooking more that anything else in the world. If it wasn't for the wonderful chefs I have worked with over the years, I would not know what I know now. Contact me for a fun filled , guarnanteed educational few days. Anyone with a love of food welcome, honestly.

Well I saw that the casseroles weren't oven proof so I stocked up on about 8 frying pans for when my family wrecks them with the wrong cleaning materials. ( sorry, I was just fantasing there) or the wrong cooking methods. (also a fantasy, everyones denies use of the kitchen and there is still not evidence anyone has found it's location to date.)

I was annoyed that I had 22 stamps out of my last 25 when I went in to redeem them (reading that this would end 17th jan) only to find, that collecting points ended 3rd of Jan. I'd spent £236.00 and couldn't get another frying pan with 22 stamps. UUUHHHHH!!!

Mix some in some mashed potato - yummy

Yeah Gergie,

what every gal dreams of

Have to back up Kathy on this one. Deep fat fryers get to incredibly high temperatures, nothing much can survive that! Unless of course you left your marinade out. But I'm sure everyone would have refridgertated as Kathy has said. Pesonally I have no probs here.

I can't remember but if its any help, then use 6 leaves of gelatine to a pint of liquid. This is an average for something like a mousse. This is the norm but can change depending on what you are making. Chocolate for example sets a little harder so you can use less and alcahol sets less easily so may need a leaf more. If this doesn't help, then let me know what you are making.

Gaye, that's really interesting, thanks. I love the idea of a foodie week. I'll definately be checking out their website.

I have done a few day trips to France but really fancy this now. :D:

Hi Georgie,

Yes I read about Gordons cooker in Delicious (I posted details if anyones interested, but I put it under the "delicious" magazine review bit.) And Georgie, did you read the bit about his wife having her own small kitchen on another floor?

My cooker is a Britannia which are made in Italy. I like it because you can choose how it is made. ie, gas or electric oven and or hob. fish burner, bbq, wok, 4 ring, 6 ring, 8 ring, 600 300 wide oven or 900 600 etc etc. and lots more so you get exactly what you want.

Well thats what it is all about in my view, the TWINKLE, but Im sure others may have contributory factors.

Well done Danny boy

I have spent £40 on my "diamond steel". its worth ten times any knife set. Whats the point in getting good or bad knives that are blunt in 5 minutes.

Well Curtis Stone CAN cook but..

Well each to their own, Keith and AWT dozens of for James Martin, then theres Rustie for Gino and Georgie for Ross and me for Simon Rimmer, Guy Wooley and and and ... oh stop it!!!

They are all lovely, what would we do without them????

So many Sparkly that it is hard to know where to start. Faster and simpler to do a bit of "chat Searching" on this web site first.

Hope this helps, too numerous to say.

Also, GFL/GFB did a programme on it, try searching there.

good luck with your canapes. Have a fab time

Tell you what Honeybee,

I'v always wanted to visit the channel Islands, so you send me a list of where I should stay, a family of four with fab restaurants to eat in, and I will bring you stuff from the main land. hows that?

i've had very few holidays and to spend all that moneyand have a rubbish stay somewhere only to find out, that up the road to wherever you are in whatever country you are isgreat is a nightmare.

so fair trade. and I'll come to conqueuer another "before I am forty" quests. Is Kevin Woodford there or is he in Jersey or Guernsey or am I totally showing my lack of geographical skills now.

Still, since I would like to visist all, I don't really care.

Hi Gaye,

No I found it fifteen or so years ago and over the years have changed almost everything except that it contains potatoes. So in a way I created it but from inspiration else where. Perhaps that's how all things are born.

It's a good idea not to deviate the first time so you can see what it's supposed to be like, but after that, you MUST deviate. It's part of the fun. Blue cheese of any kind is absolutely fabulous. Sometimes I use a soft dolecate type and put less brie in or just crumble hard stilton types in as extra. Also, Saint Agur is a very soft blue and can be substituted for some of the cream cheese.

Hope you enjoy it with Stilton.
Lindsay x

I video taped Tamasin kitchen to show my hubby how I dream my kitchen should look. He laughed and said he couldn't see the difference between hers and our kitchen. I mean the new one here for those who may have only seen the old one.

But what about her fab oven I said, oh yes he agreed, the same except for that.

and what about that huge centre work station that looks great and must be a dream to work on, ok he agreed, the same except for that.

and what about the huge table that seats about 8 in the kitchen I asked, ok, he said we haven't got that

So what does make our kitchen the same as her fantasic new one I asked, Well its got units and stuff in it, he said.

Men! Sorry to the good ones,

Hi Ben,

Karens adviced about being seasonal is spot on. This makes it more affordable, the flavours should be at their best and shows you have some knowledge in this area. Also, make sure its a well balanced meal (you know) dont do loads of carbohydrates, ie pasta, potatoes, bread and very little vegetables etc). I hope this isn't stating the obvious too much but it is important that you are seen to show some knowledge here as well as how to cook. What to cook is just as important. Local food and a little knowledge of it is good, it shows you've taken an interest and also, choose a little colour using carrots, green veg etc, to make it look eye catching. Or a starter can look appetising using some tomato for colour etc.

As for actual recipes, it would be better if you sort inspriation from books as Karen has suggested, they may have a picture and you will be able to get a clear idea of how to plate something up, along with the things YOU like or think is appropriate.

Let us know how you get on and what you have decided to cook.

allllll that besids ( and not for one moment under estimating Georgie, she knows that, im sure) Girls still dont smell etc. or my previous 8 years work of denial is down the drain. - excuse the pun.

So all this is news to me, thank you Georgie, I always like to find new info, but just dont tell anyone ok?

Well I have but mine doesn't smell. You know what they say though, ladies don't make smells do they, of course not. Ladies don't f..t. Its just a myth. So this must just be for men to read. :devilish:

Thanks for that Jill, I must of missed this when you posted it originally. I just had a look today to write down Georgies info as I'm seeing the person who posed the question today. I have written your info down too.

Georgie, is the turkey club for turkeys only to join, or can anyone join :devilish:

I'd just like to say, I've tried a few of Reshmas recipes from her site and they are wonderful. I have just completed a 10 week Indian cookery course and I learnt so very much about the differences in cooking methods, which I have to say are so much wider than I had imagined. Do try them. I also recommended the site to my class mates on the course and they all agree, its great stuff.

Well I'm like Jill, I've mentioned before my stand by favourites but once you've found something popular that works well, I say great stuff.

My favourite is creme brulee, its simple, can be flavoured in as many ways as I can think of and can be made the day before.

Hi Lynda,

I usually used cream cheese mixed with some mascapone cheese as this lightens it so its not too sickly.

You can then put in any or all of the following. Prawns, chopped lobster, chopped crayfish, etc. I like a combination so that you get taste and texture. Personally, I'm not kean on the mayo in it as it could make it a little runny and not sit as well in the parcel, but of course, up to you. Also some lumpfish caviar (just a John West roe in a jar at £1.49 from most supermarkets) it looks great and tastes great. Then your capers would be nice and some lemon or lime juice (unless your capers are in vinegar, then it might be too much with the lemon, so do it to taste.Then season.

The mixture and the parcels can be made up the day before and covered and kept in the fridge.

Welcome Cactus,

I've never used them so I'd be very interested in this myself. However, in the meantime, I looked in my book called Street Cafe Morocco by Anissa Helou. They are called "hamed makbus" and the most highly prized ones are very small and called "doqq" so it may be worth you doing a google search or something.

The book also says only buy the ones preserved in salt although I always thought it was oil or vinegar or something. The book does have a recipe for preserving them but I can't post it for copyright reasons. Another book that may help you is called Crazy Water Pickled Lemons by Diana Henry. I can't say from first hand experience though as I am still trying to get hold of a copy myself.

I've probably not been much help to your actual question but theres so many helpful talented cooks here, I'm sure we'll both find out soon enough.

Well done Paricia,

Always watch the show, now that you are best buddies with James, we should say nice things in your presence :D:

Risitto. uhmm. So many flavours, it' endless.

Yeah, while its perfectly ok to freeze, apparantly, Nigella freezing from peoples left over glasses is what got her a bad reputation in the US for being "dirty". She didn't do well after that over there but yes, do freeze wine but not for too long as it never reaches very low temperatures as it has a high sugar levels and as with everything with high sugar or alcahol, it never freezes at a low enough temperature to freeze hard and last long.

So do freeze but not for months and months

will look at my tv guide, thanks Georgie

If we all put our heads together here Michelle you'll find a huge number of fab ideas from fab cooks. In my opinion, you should get as much done in advance as possible so that you two can spend the evening together EATING not with you doing too much cooking. I would suggest that for starter you do Lobster Thermidor as it is for special occassions and can be done the day before. I have posted a recipe for this on the recipe page. I know you spoke about not liking fish but I know loads of people who like shellfish even though they are not keen on fish.

Then after the main course, a very light dessert. Like a mousse or something. Saltabocca is a lovely main course and whilst it's traditionally done with veal, chicken or turkey, it's great with pork tenderloin or several other meats. I can let you have a recipe if you like. It contains, meat, dijon mustard and sage leaves mostly. a grain mustard or brandy jus goes wonderfully with it.

Hi Huggy,

That sounds really nice, I think I'll try the scampi version.

Ranting allowed I think. These things are not cheap and you must have been so disappointed. I'd be furious. Let us know what it cooks like when you know yourself.

Well I have to give it ten out of ten for novelty value, but I'd rather wrap mine in wet news paper layers and bake until the newspaper is dry, then its cooked. Works for me anyway.

Frexy,

How delicious they are like that. I also love it like that but only if it is fresh (sorry alive). Scottish lobster (which I get from work) is alive and very deep red in colour but Canadian is very much pinker from the supermarket and hasn't the flavour as it is always pre-cooked and who knows, probably frozen. I bet it's a presie you'll never forget.

Hi Huggy,

If you're concerned about cost, you can make it go further as I have said in ramekins. You can also make it go further by adding prawns or/and saute mushrooms. When you say scampi (and I really don't mean to be rude here, but I take it you don't mean the breaded ones, although you could peel the breading off I suppose) they would work fine. Any firm fleshed crustacian, like tiger prawns, scallops, crayfish, crawfish, king prawns etc or a mixture of any. I find lobster not very expensive, around £8.99 in supermakets for a Canadian one, IF it serves 8. Just over a pound per head for a starter isn't too bad. I also find that put back into its shell, and served 1 lobster between 2 just too filling. We can't eat anything else afterwards, hence the chips and salad main course.

Well done Georgie, a little research reveals alot. I said to the person in question, it's probably to do with Christmas but he laughed and said what about the rest of the year. Oh well, I will certainly pass on your findings to date. Many thanks.

Hi Johel,

I live in Essex. On the outskirts we may have green fields etc, but not where I live. It is very built up, each of us having small gardens, so no local farmers.

Having said that, I do drive 30 mins to a fortnightly farmers market. Although I have not seen any there, I go as everything else is wonderful. I'm also not sure if I like them yet as I have never tried one. I do like duck eggs though as I used to keep ducks. Barbara and William, very messy creatures.

Do we eat turkey eggs?

I was asked on Sunday, we eat fish eggs, quails eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs, chickens eggs, ostrich eggs, why don't we eat turkey eggs? Or do we? Anyone know?

My version of lobster thermidor contains tarragon but traditionally, I have been told it should not. I think it makes it and is not overpowering, so worth a try.

Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a main course

2 boiled lobsters

For the sauce:

200ml dry white wine
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
4 tbsp dijon mustard
4 shallots, finely chopped
2 tsp dried tarragon
2 tbsp chopped fresh pxxxxly
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp plain flour
500ml single cream
2 egg yolks
50 ml double cream
seasoning to taste
4 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
100g jarslberg, grated or a stringy, melting cheese

1. Remove the claws and the legs from the lobster and split the body in half length ways right through including the head. Remove the flesh from the body, legs and claws and cut into pieces around 1cm dice and place in a bowl. After you have discarded the dead mans fingers and the intestine, scrape out any bits left in the shell and place to one side ready to serve the thermidor in later. (This is a very filling starter, so sometimes I put the thermidor into ramekins and serve with brown bread and a salad. It makes it go alot further, say up to 6 - 8 people. Not too dear as as starter then)

2. Bring the vinegar, wine, mustard, shallots, dried tarragon and parsley to the boil and continue to boil until reduced by half. Remove from the heat and set aside.

3. Melt the butter and stir in the flour. Gradually stir in the single cream and simmer until it's thick. You must stir this constantly to avoid it catching. When it's thick, strain this into the wine and vinegar mixture and add half of each of the cheeses. Set aside.

4. Beat together to egg yolks and double cream then beat this mixture into the sauce above and season to taste.

5. Lay some of the biggest pieces of the lobster in the lobster shells to make sure there is an even spread. Mix the rest of the lobster, little bits etc into the sauce and poor into the shells. Top with the remaining cheeses.

You can now bake immediately or cover and put in the fridge until the next day.

Bake for 10-15 minutes in a pre-heated oven at its hottest, around 250 C or gas mark 10 ensuring the lobster is piping hot in the middle.

Serve with a little salad as a starter or as hubby insists, chips to did in the thermidor sauce and a salad as a main course.

I bought a set of Le Cruiset years ago and was really pleased with them but found that if the biggest one was full up with say potatoes and boiling water, it was so difficult for me to lift that it was really dangerous. I do still use them for caramel and such as they are very good for even cooking.

I finally gave up on then about 2 years ago and now have 18/20 stainless steel and find them really wonderful. They heat much quicker than the Le Cruiset because of the base and the handles aren't wood so more practical for the dishwasher and the oven.

Hi JohnC1,

I think you have summed it up with the little bearing bit, I was thinking after todays show that it wasn't at all like a restaurant but reminded me of a magic show.

The chef/magician kept saying, and here's the trick and asking everyone to help him and I was half expecting glamorous assistants to rush over wearing sparkly leotards with tall feathers on their heads. Especially the way his assistants marvelled at the end results. Very entertaining.

What about very slow, quick traditional cooking. I know, I know, what's she going on about.

We'll why not do a casserole. It's so warming in the winter and everyone loves dumplings, especially herby ones. If you have a slow cooker all the better.

Either way, QUICKLY chop everything up, brown off the meat and chuck it all in the pot for a SLOW cooked traditional meal that seems to be done all by it's self.

Hi Huggy,

I'll post the lobster thermidor on the recipes thread as it helps to find it later.

A little story for now,

after my father in law ate the lobster thermidor mentioned above, he said it was the best thing he had ever tasted. Many months later, he ate at the restaurant where I work. My boss had made it that time and we were debating about Tarragon. I always put it in, he never does. The next day my father in law phoned me and said "the food was wonderful last night, but were you working?" I told him I was and he said "Why on earth did you change your thermidor recipe, it wasn't nearly as nice as when you made it at home".

So, even my wonderful bosses thermidor is not as good as mine

And again after Mary, think of all those scales sticking to clean cups etc.

Come on then JJ, do tell!

Hi Keith,

Well done on your bread. What Panasonic have you got? is it the one where the bits go in the lid and drop in automatically?

Mine is one of the first out and I really think they have progressed a very, very long way. Mine rarely turns out ok and so I end up making bread by hand as we do in the restaurant every day. But at home, I'd rather use a machine if I thought it was reliable. I have read all the post on the bread maker equipment threads but hearing your news, I thought I'd just ask what one you've got. After all Santas coming soon and since Jeni won't share her six pack, bow tied secretaries, I'm going for the bread maker instead, fingers crossed.

Well the other year, I wanted something totaly different as the tradtional bit had been done to death over the previous weeks and so I thought, sunshine, the medeterranean to be a complete contrast.

I had 14 to cater for including children and so did italian dishes of pasta, meat, vegie and fish. There are loads of recipes on this site for Italian and I'm sure Martino could give you some ideas.

I find that it's relatively quick so alot of different dishes can be made (thus making it look as if you've created a feast for them to marvel at) and I haven't met many children who don't like pasta of some kind.

Jamie Olivers recipes are good for this type of thing too, and you can find his recipes on the BBC web site or in his books.

May be this is too drastically different from what you had in mind. But worth a thought anyway.

how wonderful,

some of us are married to people who are not really sure which room the kitchen is.

Well Sarah,

It just shows you, you or he can't please all of the people all of the time .... or maybe he was just having a bad hair day, oh sorry thats not fair, he has after all got rid of the silly scarf. (was that to hide his rollers) No say no more, I feel I need to duck again :devilish:

I can see exactly where your coming from Keith but I need the twinkling eyes of Guy Wolley and Simon Rimmer. AWT has all the qualities you say but no eye thing and as you say cute. We are not talking cute here Keith we are talking sexxxyyyy.

No the eye twinkling is truely essential! Every man should have a little t winkle.

Bless your heart Arnavaz,

My recipe is a variation on a recipe I found a couple of years ago.

1/2 jar mild peppadew, drained (keep the juice for later)
3 large shallots or 1 red onion
3 garlic cloves crushed
1/2 cucumber grated
2 small peppers, 1 green and 1 orange for instance
2 large sticks of celery
1 small tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 litre tomato juice
150 ml water
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
1 large grated carrot.

Put all liquids to one side, and finely chop or whizz in a processor all other ingredients but make sure they don't go to a mush. Add liquids to chopped ingredients. Serve over a couple of ice cubes placed in the bottom of a bowl and either add a swirl of cream or better still basil oil and a basil leaf. Day one its good, the second and third day the flavours will have infused and a good get ahead tip after that, but after that the water starts to come out of the veg too much and makes it taste a little weak and watery.

basil oil: basil leaves into a processor with a little extra virgin oil. Whizz up until pulpy. Add enough oil to make a sauce consistency. Best made several days in advance so that the basil infuses into the oil.

Hope you like it. Why not try it in advance and taste it first before your guests. You can use half the peppadew now as a test and as long as you keep them in the fridge, you can use the other half when making it for your guests.

Hi Glory,

I think it was Simon Rimmer who smoked food with a smoker on GFL but I have seen James Martin do it in a wok on his programme delicious.

I have seen many types in catering catalogues but they are around £100 and are not big but heavy duty.

I have also seen one in Scott & Sargeant cookshop - www.mycookshop.com (product code WN642) for £44.95. Its 28cm x 38cm x 9cm.
It looks fine to me but I haven't seen one in real life.

I like James Martin as much as the next person but this page looks like he is the only chef on What's on UK Food.

So come on girls, let's hear it for all those other sexy chefs and presenters. What about Simon, Guy, Gino, Ross, come on you know who they are.

How did they turn out Huggy?

Hi Sarah

I think you've got it in one. I do not on anyway dislike him but can only make my mind up on our one and only very very brief meeting. He didn't smile didn't speak and seemed in a terrible rush. Obviously busy but you must make time for your fans if you want them to love you. The autograph which was for charity only took a second of his time but I will add in his defence, was not a scheduled signing so clearly an interuption in his day all be it seconds of his day.

No I do not dislike him, on the contrary, just found Simon to be really caring about ALL his public. On this note, so too was Guy Wolley, what a lovely man, and ooooh very good looking. Definately some twinkling eyes there too.

Perhaps I catch JM on a less busy time next year.

Hi Mary,

Your guests always seem to enjoy your parties, you sound like a wonderful host. So I was wondering if you have been to many locals parties yet? I was just wondering how the food they cook compares to back home. It always interests me how different countries have different foods available but with exportation making it possible to get most things, it is most interesting to see what they do with it. Have you discovered anything you really love thats new out there?

perhaps I should duck before I speak but having met james and Simon Rimmer on friday, I certainly know whos eyes twinkled and who oozed charisma and it wasn't jm.

Chargers can be different sizes and different colours, I tend to use different chargers with different courses, ie; if I am serving a palate refresher in the form of a soup, or a starter soup, I will send the bowl on a slightly bigger plate/charger. then bring that charger back with the bowl and use it again or another more suitable with another course.

I think its do what you like, if you think it looks nice, your guests probably will too.

Supercook, the brand that do the fod colourings and flavourings do it in very tiny quantites.

Naini,

Do you know that Paul Hollywood is answering questions live on Good food live on Friday. He is a master baker. If you go to the good food live/bites part you will see a thread about asking him a question. He will definately be able to help you as he is such an expert. If you do not get the programme over there, let us know and we can post what ever he advises here.

Hi kamila,

Where in Spain do you live, my Father lives in Alicante but I never see him as he won't come over to England. I have made so many trips, but I don't go now as we only have a holiday once in the blue moon and don't always want to go to the same place for it, ie his house. But I have got to know the area a bit as he first went out there 20 years ago. So he is right down in southern Spain, where abouts are you?

Hi Furface,

Freezing is fine, but reheating will make it go hard. You see, the reason for cooking it off the meat is because you need to render alot of the fat off which it won't do when attached to the meat unless you cook it forever and the meat is ruined. Once the fat has gone to a certain degree, it will harden. When re heating, it will go brittle as there is no fat to keep it moist. I know it should be crisp but not like a brick.

What about freezing now and on Christmas eve, cook the pork by all means if you want to, but save the crackling for cooking on the day when you are cooking or reheating the other dishes for dinner.

yes Georgie,

I've no doubt with your cooking experience that you are aware, that it can be done the day before and just grilled on the day. Great to get ahead so there is time for socialising and tasting the local vinatage.

Last time I cooked for Christmas (at home) it was Lobster thermidor for starter and black pudding stuffed saddle of lamb with blackberry sauce. I thought we had all had enough turkey in the run up to Christmas although I must confess, I do love the traditional way.

At work we offer the traditional Christmas faire as well as confit of duck, bass, Scotish Sirloin, Seared tuna, braised lamb shanks or chicken breast stuffed with roquefort and wrapped in parma ham for mains. So I will be cooking all of those this year.

Hi Susan,

I've been using Doves Farm Foods for ages now as they do such a fab range or flour like rye, rice, soft grain etc. (I have also noticed Tamasin Day-Lewis also uses it on her programmes, probably in her case as it is organic). While I was at the NEC Birmingham, I picked up a leaflet at their stand and was interested to see a large heading, Gluten Free. I am not aware if I have inadvertantly tried any of these but do recommend their products as far as taste and quality etc. Heres their web site address: www. dovesfarm.co.uk. You'll have to check it out as I don't know how much this will help, I'm not really up on allergies but it sounds promising.

Hi there Stud,

I think a little ginger would go well with this pickle but that's just my preference.

Hi Debbie,

Muddy waters is Baby Veg's fav rest. and I have heard more good reports than I can count but I haven't yet been. We are booked though, so hopefully baby veg will see this and fill you in.

Bada is one of our fav rests. and also has loads of good reports. Definately worth a visit.

If you live in Brentwood, then very near to you was little Hammonds. It had an excellent reputation but has just changed hands. although I have not eaten there since, it still is getting some good reviews. My absolute favourite restaurant at the moment is Teriss 108 which again has recently changed hands and I have now been 3 time since. It has wonderful service, fantastic food and is reasonably priced. It is in Brentwood High Street so you probably already know it but if you haven't tried it yet, it is not worth going a single step further.

Pigster, yes please keep in touch with us all here.

Hi BeccaNurse,

Nice to have you back, I hope you're enjoying your Mums visit.

Yes you can use milk choc instead of plain. But still use the golden rule, use good quality choc, ie 70% cocoa solids. Lindt do this quality in both milk and plain and also Green and Blacks organic do, but the latter is more expensive. Most supermarkets do both now a days.

pigster

do you live in NZ?

Firstly ditto Rustie, exactly what I would have said and then I would suggest the mixture you are using. It sounds to me as if you've got it summed up.

Hope it turns out ok.

I have kept cakes for years and they still taste absolutely fanastic. I usually cocktail stick skewer the bottom and then add alcohol then a week later, turn the cake up the other way and repeat. I do this every week until marzipan stage.

Bubbi,

I've just seen your post about the Cuisinart name dropping and having read what LLC said I have to say that she's probably right. After all, have you ever heard Jamie Oliver say food processor, I have'nt. He always says Magimix.

Just thought I'd say

Thanks LLC,

apart from the cameras, I liked the show and now you have found the recipes I will cook some of them. Thanks for the web info.

Hi Karen,

Hope she feels well soon.

Yeah, yuk, I remember,

Well you've got more restaurants in your neck of the woods than the rest of us put together. (Barring London of course)

I met someone really interesting at a party on Sunday who lives right on your door step, and guess what, he recommends your fav and our fav in your area.

I'm sure that is enough for anyone else to say, well it seems popular so here goes.

Muddy Waters and Bada, both in Chelmsford in Essex.

Do try these, no bad reports from lots of people.

thanks Marion,

Obviously you are not going this year or you would have a said. If I'm wrong here, let me know, it would be great to bump into people from here.

Otherwise, thanks I've been before, I know I will enjoy.

I think that fillet steak will always melt in your mouth but not have the full taste of some others.

Rump will be more tastey but not as tender.

Sirloin is in between.

Rib eye is one of my favs, and still needs to be treated differently again.

Absolute fav is T-bone which has a T shape bone with a piece of fillet one side and a piece of sirloin the other.

My hubby calls this a flintstone dinner when I cook this.

Well done Pete,

You started a whole new message board, see you Friday at the show. Don't forget the badge.

IL have tried loads of recipes for here and there one or two that I have used in the Restaurant. But off hand I can't think of any in particular.

Hi Jill,

Mind? Thank you very much indeed. I was getting to think I had dreamt it. You know, after alot of posting, you go to bed and still keep posting, or that just me.

Keith, yes, I love New Quay. It's breath taking. I took many a blustery breezy walk along the stretch of beach that goes on forever.

Hi Snowy,

I've learned loads too and also love the family atmosphere. I loved it when I went to Cardiff, I went a couple of times with courses for my work. I also went on a course to Mold and Tenby. I used to work in an office before. I have been to the Brecon Mountains twice on school trips but it was a little rural for me.

Some friends of mine moved to La Rochelle this summer, but I don't have too many details so don't ask me where or anything. We keep in touch via her mobile phone.

It sounds like a wonderful climate. Lucky you

I was just wondering how it went too.

Hi Snowy,

I can't find the gooey cake either now. But found the parfait so perhaps thats what she was talking about when she spoke to me. Somehow though, I don't think so.

BECCANURSE,

We want to make gooey cake!!!!! Where was the post. :(

Wow, France. I'd love to live in France. Whereabouts? and where did you live in Wales. I have made Welshcakes but will definately have a think about your offer for Mams recipes. Thank you so much.

Welcome fuschia girl,

I bet Mary from Australia would agree.

We have had a few but they are usually one programme out of a whole series. Celia Brooks Brown sometimes appears on GFL and so does Ursula Ferrigno who, I'm sure you will know, are both vegies.

Hi BeccaNurse, sweetie,

You just reminded me with the mac & cheese that you can't eat dairy, but just a moment ago I was looking for your gooy cake so I can make it this week. I found your parfait and it sounds so nice but has cream. Poor you. I will make it this week.

xxx

Hi sstily,

Let us know how your Thanksgiving goes. It sounds like fun.

Hi Andy,

Sorry I've been really busy at work this week. Our 2nd chef has been off celebrating his 30th so I've had alot of extra shifts. But I have been thinking though.

Spinach and Stilton parcels would be good done in either filo pastry, like little drawstring bags or puff pastry like mini wellingtons. If puff, mark some cuts into the pastry for the steam to come out.

Cook the spinach first, I just do mine in a saute pan with a tiny knob of butter and well seasoned, don't forget nutmeg tastes lovely grated over it. Ring it out well and allow it to cool so it doesn't make the pastry soggy. Watch out for the salt though, some cheeses are a little salty, but pepper is good.

Now just put the stilton, or goats cheese is nice, on top of the spinach and wrap. For added twists of flavour, red onion marmalade inside sweetens the parcels beautifully or even a slice of very ripe pear or poached pear if you feel adventurous. If puff, brush with egg and bake until golden brown. If filo, either deep fry or brush well with melted butter and bake. If you fry, watch out it only takes a minute or two otherwise you'll loose all your cheese in the bottom of the fryer. I, personally would choose to bake until the pastry is done. After all, the fillings are already cooked.

Terrines are great party food. They can be made of so many dozens of things, can be done in advance and look stunning when sliced. They go quite a long way also. You can do vegie ones, meat, fish. I love the versatily of terrines. I bet theres a recipe or two on the web site. Make sure it's VERY well chilled before slicing so it doesn't break up. You can freeze alot of them too.

You can make sausage rolls, everybodies fav with a twist. Cheese and onion ones, cheese and tomato, sausage and tomato, sausage and herby ones. These can be done and frozen a few weeks before. Just warm them through before serving.

I will think more, but just wanted to make a start.

Will speak soon.

Hi Keith,

I lived for six years in Caridgan after 3 years in Cambridgeshire before returning to Essex.

I don't know what BeccaNurses cake is as I haven't made it yet, but it sounds scrummy. Have a look at her posts as I can't remember which thread it is on. I have a suspiscion that it is on "help an American". I'm sure she'd love to know what you think of it if you make it.

Go Frexy :D:

Hi Garry,

I've scanned my pictures after a quick lesson. But cannot upload them as I've tried loads of ways and it doesn't work. My daughter tried too but no luck. Any suggestions?

I wanted you to share Keith. I think I'll have a go at that this week along with BeccaNurse gooey cake.

I lived in Wales for 6 years and one of my favourites was Cawl. Yum! does Mummy have this recipe too. I have a good idea for about how to make this and could do a search, but I'd rather have a traditional recipe.

Oh come on Garry, your fans await you. We want a photo. I'm sorry to hear you weren't very happy with it but it sound delicious.

As for not rising, did you cook it from frozen or thawed. That was a great tip by the way Rustie, I didn't know that but will definately remember it for future. If you defrosted it, did you let it get too warm before cooking?

I bet with all that filling, it must have looked "big" if you know what I mean.

Wecome Chrysalis

I don't know either, just popped in here as I wanted to know the answer to your question myself.

I sooo agree with Gaye, they seem like a lovely couple, i'd like to seem them host a show or two together, I'd like to see how they spin off each other. I bet it would be really entertaining.

I haven't got sky plus but isn't good that we now have uk food + 1 hour. Sky Channel 151.

I must admit, he wasn't a fav of mine or the opposite until I saw him put everything into these kids futures. I respect and admire him for all he's done on that score.

Hi Victoria,

so glad you liked it.

Well its lovely to have you along, Welcome. Love the name.

Sorry, for some reason beyond me, this seems to have arrived at the wrong posting, bear with us and sorry

Andy I will look into buffet food, will post again.

Darl Priestess. MM, Where do you come from DarkPriestess, you sound like a friend from another site. BB

oh I feel we are ganging up. (although we are right lol)

Thank you Andy, I did respond to the other post earlier today. I will look for a pastry parcel I think worthy of you.

If I share a secret recipe with you it will not be a secret, but I will have a think and see what I can come up with.

I have to go with Rustie, I'm a southerner

Karen,

dont get me wrong, that sounds wonderful for turnips, but when you have a baby turnip, you really want to eat it whole to enjoy its baby size and marvel at it.

I will remember your tips though for big ones.

I think this one is pretty good although its not the one that I did. Why not go on to Pastry Pauls thread, Any Sweet/dessery dilemas and ask him. He is so pro training and knowledgable. Give him a call/post Richieq

Gary

all we do is boil them at the restaurant and then a little melted butter before serving. Sorry. I just thought I'd say as nobody else has responded.

A little boring, sorry.

Well done Garry.

Thanks for that Georgie, I will have a look.

What a good idea, they should make a panto like they make those ads, like the can-can one.

Yeah I did join, but trying to pin my daughter down to a whole 10 minutes indoors without any freedom or her mates, well do you have a 16 1/2 year old. I am doing a 15 week course at computers but when I say to my dauughter "I'm so pleased with my clip art" she laughs and says - year 7 Mum. At least I am trying. My hubby understands the scanner, but when he tried to show me how to photocopy something, I got so bored and went up the local shop the next day. If you want my pickies, ask Baby Veg, she also came to my dinner party and took photos, she is a brill computer bod too. I would love to know more about this stuff, hence my 15 week computer course. ASK BABY VEG I'm still learning.

Can't find anything on it myself (self confessed,can't do the computer thing) but I will look out for it on our screens, thank you

Well done (eagle eyes) Karen, this will be a great help, I'm sure. Nothing like wanting to do something but at the same time worrying about doing something until it is done and dusted. Then it's gone.

Or is it hawk eyes and eagle ears. Well, whatever, well done Karen.

Hi there BeccaNurse,

Your posts are so full of questions, that I am sorry if I miss any, but I must say, for this reason they are very interesting.

I have never heard of Jaque pepin. And by the way I love Marmite to bits. When I was pregnant both times, Marmite on toast was the only thing I fancied and always stopped the all day morning sickness to go away. I am not really a fan of Bovril but then I like the salty taste of Marmite. Do you think that because I ate it all the time I was pregnant, that was why my children can't get enough of it. Louise eats twiglets in her sleep almost.

I don't really know why my aunt went, nor everyone else in my life (but thats another strory). I was just a baby, but I believe from conversations, it was because she thought she would have a better way of life. I don't know if that is true, but she certainly wouldn't of had such a big house or a swimming pool as she has now. Who knows! Have you read my post on of the menu called "CELEBRITIES - please read this" I am trying to keep the thread going for a geogous little girl.

Yes a perfect time Frexy,

After a big Sunday lunch when you want to nibble.

As a brunch or snack. as dinner with a buffet.

They are snack food really Sstily. My Aunt has acquired the accent but then she would after nearly 40 years I suppose. I have only met her a few times, but I think she's great.

I'd make a batch of brulees, if you have enough little dishes to put them in that is.

They can be made a day before and covered and left in the fridge. Then bring them out and burn the tops and serve.

Hi BeccaNurse,

the site was probably off the menu around about Aug-Sept time. Try doing a search or click on my name and it will give you all the posts I've done.Whizz through a good few pages until you are nearly at the start and look for me introducing myself. Then click on that conversation and it will take you there to everyone else on the thread. This is a long way round so only do it if a search fails. Rusties the expert in these things, I'm getting better but still a lot to learn.

I haven't tried the cake yet but I will and I'll have to look to see what US books I've got. I don't think I've got many. Julia Childs is a legend but I haven't got any of her books.

Just a by the way, my Aunt on my mothers side lives in Georgia, Atlanta. She moved there around 40 years ago. One day I'd like to visit. (Actually one day I'd like to have a holiday anywhere).

You say its nice to have a friend, you have lots here.

BeccaNurse,

Bless your heart. So sweet, but Georgie is our celeb, she looked fab on GF Bites yesterday.

Verbal diarreah, no. Alot of us have introduced ourselves, it is nice that you have. If you do a search of the site you will find the thread.

I can't tell you much about me as I'm very boring.

Just turned 39, 2 kids, 17yrs and 5yrs, hubby, house in Essex, love talking to you guys, watching the food channel, playing games on the computer and cooking. Oh yes and I'm obsessed with collecting cookery books, I have nearly 700 now.

I am a pastry chef but as I work in a small Restaurant, 60 covers, I do lots of other stuff as well. The Restaurant is called Paris and is in Wescliff on Sea, near Southend on Sea. We are a really great team and they are a great bunch. My boss is fab, he takes time to teach everyone and it's ok to of thought I was older. I get my name as I am the Mum of the kitchen, everyone is younger than me at work, everyone but the Maitre D. My daugther did work experience at Paris and even noticed the Mum thing.

Thanks Rustie,

And yes refreshing cooked is definately necessary.

Hi Theresa,

I've bought it in Tesco Extra at Pitsea, which is near Basildon and Tesco in Southend.

Hi Steven, from a fellow Essex foodie.

p.s. even Michel Roux thinks it's ok frozen and he's won loads of awards for pattiserie. So Garry, you'll have to make up your own mind. But don't try and rush it at the last minute, or you may be disappointed.

Good luck with what ever you do, but don't forget we want the pictures.

Hi lynn,

Honestly you can freeze it. I've done it myself and it works just fine. But as I said, best results if frozen uncooked.

Delia gave me the best advise to be honest, about when to stir and when NEVER to stir. Now my rice is fine. Have a look at a book of hers or look on her web site.

I had trouble for years, thought I'd never grasp it, but then listened to Delia and have not had a failure ever since, about 8 years now.

BeccaNurse,

Can I just say that you may have learned so much from this site but already you have given so much to this site. I have read alot of your posts and you are very informative and very, well enjoyable to read, if that sounds right. It's lovely to read your posts.

and Sstily,

Mary didn't take up my offer for adoption, but with a step mother like you, I am still open to offers. I'm just 39 and looking for a mother figure that fits the bill like you, no seriously, you are doing a job and a half by just caring so much to get it right. I have been in your step daughters shoes, she is a very, very lucky girl.

It's lovely to have you here.

Yeah,

Tesco do their own brand in a black crisp bag style called Tesco Garlic Bread. But look for them with the crisps not the bread.

I'm sure it will be a success so I'll look forward to the new piccy. On Sunday, one of my dinner guests gave me photos of my dinner party the other week. I wish I could show you them, but alas, I'm a thicko.

Well you could make croutons to sit the toppings on but for ease, garlic bites are a good idea. Crackers go soggy quickly but garlic bites hold up all evening.

One nice topping is to blitz up a tin of pilchards or sardines in tomato sauce in the blender (bones removed of course) then throw in some cream cheese and if you like a little tomato puree and blitz again. This can be piped or tea spooned on top and garnish with a piece of olive or parsley.

A very similar one to Victorias Mum is to make filo baskets, just cut out squares of filo and brush with butter, place two together on the cross, push into a baking tin with cups (like a bun tin, if you have one) and bake until brown. When they are cool you can fill them with loads of different fillings as you could vol au vents. The reason I said they were similar is because I usually fill them with mayonnaise mixed with wasabi (japanese horseradish). This is green and colours the mayo but you can use horseradish. I also top mine with a piece or seared beef or tuna. You can make a batch of the filo cases a few days before and keep them in an air tight container ready to fill on the day. They melt in your mouth and look very impressive.

I think the yorkshire ideas a good one for speed.

Ps If it's anything like your choux bun dish on the travel pictures, you'll knock em dead.

Sorry Garry,

You know you shouldn't get me started on food! lol

Ok Loraine,

Sorry to ask the obvious but I just wanted to make sure. Another question I should have asked is, hot cold or both?

Do you mean simple because you need to make a lot or something, so not too much time involved or do you mean simple as in nothing too fiddly?

Possibly Garry,

but I haven't tried it so would hate to ill advise you.

This would be one for Pastry Paul.

If you want my opinion though, I would use creme pat also known as pastry cream. This is the custard type stuff found in Danish Pastries. I would be happy to give you my recipe or you can do a search if you prefer. This is good, as it will make the pastry soggy over time, of course, as would cream, but will hold better, in my opinion, than custard. Another option is to flavour the cream with baileys or anything of your choice or some pureed fruit. You could use frozen or fresh berry type fruits for this passed threw a sieve or pureed apple, peach, loads of stuff to give extra flavour. You may need to add a little sugar but you'd have to do that by taste.

There more choices for you!!

That sounds lovely Garry,

I did tiny choux buns as petty fours at my dinner party and they worked great after the week in the freezer.

Michel Roux also says that the pastry keeps well in the fridge for 3 days and then once cooked for several days in an air tight container. So lots of options to choose from.

Lakeland Limited do them in store as well as on line (which I know you don't want) but also by mail order over the phone.

Hi Garry,

Yes you can freeze at both stages but I prefer before cooking as they then don't have any chance of going soggy. (Which won't necessarily happen)

I have only stored it uncooked for 1 week following Michel Roux's advise, but I would have thought it could be kept longer than that.

Debbie,

That's awful to hear about your daughter, after all they are not only responsible for her well fare when she's there but should be teaching her about safety in the kitchen.

Kisses to make her better, bless her.

Welcome abe,

I remember eating this at school and I loved it.

That sounds nice Chud,

I've never had it but if I can't get it I will use your recipe and Rusties substitute of swordfish.

No Georgie,

my course was an adult education course at my local school. £50 for 10 lessons. Yes I had to pay it all out at once so obviously felt the pinch but if you work it out, £5 per lesson, wow.

and then if you are on benefits (not saying you are personally) you get all sorts of help.

Then theres the social side of meeting new people interested in the same thing and then theres just the getting out. Something I only really do when I go to work as I have Jobe who's coming up to 5.

Adult ed is in the day and evening but less suscribed ones like cooking as opposed to english etc tend to be in the evenings. Great, let hubby do the chores and head out for the evening. Very theroputic.

I can honestly say I have learnt loads. I do cook for a living but a good chef never stops learning his/her own trade let alone a new cultural theme.

I do know what you mean though, I dream of a proper course in a proper posh place, but we are talking hundreds or thousands, and do you know, since working in a restaurant, I think over the years I have picked up so much that it would probably be a waste of money. Thank you my lovely boss.

I learn from every thing I see or hear, I only wish I devoured knowledge about other subjects in the same way I do for food, if I did I might have gone for something that paid well, unlike cheffing.

Reshma,

Thank you so much for filling me in with all the bits I wanted to know. My course if just over half way through and I have learned that Indian cookery is completely the opposite to French/British cookery in the methods used. ie we always brown our meat first and then theres the oil separation in the Indian style and the water in, dry it out, water in, dry it out is fascinating as it so affects the end result. A real revalation.

Your site is lovely, I can't think of anything I would like added or changed.

My favourite part of the course has been the breads. I've learned loads and loads of breads and thoroughly enjoy them. Oh and now for the big headed bit, when we did samosa's my teacher said mine were so lovely, had I done much cooking and had I handled pastry much, she said she could always tell when someone had. A little I said. Well I don't want to let anyone think I might know what I'm doing as in the class I don't. Really getting to grips now with the methods etc. I can cook a really good curry at home now. Money well spent.

I think courses are fab.

How very kind.

Have a lovely time and I will look back at the post I missed.

Hi Reshma,

How kind of you to comment on my food and what an honour that a tv chef like it.

I saw you on Saturday kitchen during Dwahli and thought your recipes were great but I'm not really brave enough to try them.

I visited your web site just before you went to India and I thought it really was a lovey site. I posted this to you but it had probably gone too far down the pile by the time you got back.

Glad you like the mash.
Lindsay

It's a good way of barbequeing any bird.

Well you could coat them in chocolate but then you'd loose some of the liquid as you'd have to drain them to enable the chocolate to stick. At work, we just put the cherries in a glass with some of the liquid and then put ice cream on top. You could always decorate it with chocolate chards if you wanted. As for 3 different ones, personally, I wouldn't mix them. Just make the same dessert 3 times and have 3 desserts.

Sorry to butt into your thread Paul, just got a little excited by the cherries.

Wow Untamed Chef and Rustie,

both sound right up my street. UUmmmm

OOOOOOOhhhhh Victoria,

You've made a type of guinette cherry, you lucky thing, goes wonderful with ice cream.

So much innovation in here!! I love this site.

That sounds lovely Trudi, I'll have a go at that.

Mary,

I agree about microwaving baked potatoes but beacause these go in the oven for a bake afterwards they go crispy round the bottom.

Then again, if I'm not baking them afterwards I only microwave them as mines a microwave oven and grills and conventional cooks etc.

Oscar,

They are good things to add, I've added those to the creamy brie mash I mentioned in this recipe at the top as possible extras.

Keep the ideas coming.

Hi Marion,

Delias Gratin of prawns is an absolute winner in my book. You must try it.

When I was young I was force fed baked potatoes with no butter or anything. I think that's why I've rebelled and put butter and cheese on everything.

Well after years of complaints from the small children that we were, my Mum started scraping out out baked potatoes and mashing them with the tiniest bit of butter and putting it bake in the skin. (She was beautiful and slim though, but not a good cook)

Over the years of MY cooking this has turned into:

bake potaotes in the microwave
scoop out the middle and mash it with everything you like, butter, cream whatever and place in a bowl.

Fry some bacon (but this can be omitted), some sauted mushrooms and some fried onions. Mix together with the mash and stuff it all back. Grate some cheese and bake.

Serve with baked beans.

All can be done ahead of time up to the baking stage so you can go out and then come home and stick it in the oven until its done or microwave it and stick it in the oven to brown.

You can add almost anything that can be added to the creamy brie mash as well as sweetcorn and anything that takes your fancy.

You can also add egg yolks and whisk up the whites and add these separately. This makes a much lighter dish that almost souflees in the oven.

This is a really filling, hearty dish that is cheap and easy to cook.....and we love it.

no sorry,

search only brought up your question as well.

Trudi,

Isn't made by Canadian TV?

Mary,

The New Zealand chap is Peter Gordon. His book is called the Sugar Club and I can recommend it.

But surely it's good to have this fast paced programme as well as the more relaxed ones, it gives us variety. But still think the camera men look funny.

I've got the book, its very good.

Deep fried wafer thin slices are absolutely delicious and look really fancy if you put it on top of a dinner of any sort.

They are a bit like crips.

You know you both,

summed it up with could not make my mind up. Desparately wanted to watch and learn things new but unable to watch because of the prats.

Never the less, I welcome the programme, SOMETHING NEW, what else could we ask for.

I am actively awaiting a camera to fall over a wire or a cooked dish. But whilst I cant say it is the best thing I have seen, I am very grateful for experiencing something else. Well done you lot.

Thanks Rustie,

I will have a look. Just got to get the dinner party out of the way first.

Thanks again.

Hi Garry,

Nisbets sell expomats. They are plastic mats that can be re-used over and over. They go to extreme temperatures and I use them at home as well as in the restaurant where I work.

www.nisbets.com

Another cheese in the same family of Fontina is "stinking bishop and tallegio" they both smell very strong and melt beautifully. They taste wonderful. Sainsburys used to do fontina on account of a fantastic prawn and fontina dish Delia used to do.

Lorry,

I don't know what went into Curtis Stones recipe which makes it hard to say what went wrong. But the most common reason for this sort of dish curdling is if you use the wrong cream.

Double or whipping cream has a much higher fat content and acts a little bit like butter in a sauce, it thickens and flavours it but single cream is so tempramental I wouldn't usually consider using it in a sauce.

But as I said, I don't know what you did use so I don't know if this helps.

It depends whether you want a restaurant style one or a traditional one like those that would be cooked at home traditionally.

Hi Samantha,

I am going to do a Tiramisu for my dinner party. I usually used a combination of AWT and Delias with all sorts of my own inspirational happenings.

I'll have a look at Tamasins as you and your guests enjoyed it so much.

Thanks for that and great to hear that your party was enjoyed by all.

Rusties right

lamb fillet is the long round tender piece of meat that runs along the back from its neck to its bottom. The part nearest its bottom is where best end of lamb comes from and this is the fillet.

Its exactly the same on a cow so if your butcher knows about fillet steak where beef is concerned, he will be able to find a fillet of lamb.

Hi Mary,

Louise is doing very well thank you. She's coming home this morning so I need to use the computer early before she gets here and takes over. She hates being stuck in so shes being given all rights over the sky remote and computer for a couple of days to make her feel better.

I do your way too sometimes. It is a delicious way to serve spuds.

Dauphinoise is a classic but takes time to slice the potatoes and layer them up. Then I find quite a long time to bake.

If you want all the flavours but are not bothered by the presentation then try my creation.

Peel and boil some potatoes and put them into a oven proof dish. Add a some seasoning over the top.

Pour some double cream over them. Quite alot as it is sort of a sauce.

Great some cheese over the top. Season again and add some nutmeg.

Bake until slighly browned.

For those of you who are wondering, I do eat potatoes without cheese but if I had a choice I would only do this on days when Earth is spinning backwards and I get mistaken for a super model.

I will post my stuffed jacket potato recipe soon and yes it has cheese in it.

Hi Mary,

later today when I've time to type my list. I also have 2 new recipes to post.

Hope your party goes great. You must let us know about the ice cream. Sounds yummy.

I don't know, it's very poncey or ponsey whatever. As I have said, I do like all kinds of dinner parties not just posh ones but if you have certain friends who love to eat posh nibbles, then you want to do that for them. So it's the most complicated poshest nosh I can conjure. Alot of people will say things like "but I would prefer to be less in the kitchen and more with my friends " and I can see that. But I spend time with these friends all the time, this is not about that. This is about making them feel very spoilt and letting them know that the hours I put in for them is a pleasure and I always know it is appreciated. I will get my list of courses out and bore you with every detail as long as you don't tell me off for being ponsy

Mary,

Still laughing from copyright reasons......... I give you permission to publish as long as you deposit the discussed amount into my bank account. I know 6 figures is extreme, but hey, it;s good isn't it?

But really, I'm so glad you liked it. I knew you would!!!!

Hi Mackerel,

I can get it in my local Sainsburys. If you can't you could try "stinking Bishop" or any of the ones that Stinking bishop make. They are similar to fontina as they melt beautifully and stink to high heaven. Tallegio is another similar one.

Hi Vicoria,

Any thing that I would serve with mash I would serve with this mash.

We like hearty winter dishes of liver and bacon, or sausage and mash or put it on top of mince for a shepherds pie.

It goes great with stew as with anything with gravy really.

Its great for vegies as it's almost a meal in itself and could hold its own with just vegetables.

As Mary said though, don't put it with anything too delicate as it will over power it.

Go for the good old fashioned meals that go with any old mash.

Happy eating.

Sorry about double posting,

IAN, when I am logged in, why does every so often (when I've only been online for around 10 minutes) does it ask me to log in again and then say my post failed? I'm getting frustrated with it now and for the first time it has said it failed, it obviously didn't this time. Any info?

Hi Claire,

Yes you can add herbs to mash but make sure they are soft ones. By this I mean, basil, thyme in little pots from supermarket (not the stuff we can grow in our gardens in our climate) oregano, corriander, chives, tarragon.

Just don't use woody hard herbs like bay, rosemary etc.

Some people add a raw egg to their mixture, it should sort of cook with heat of the mash so it's not too risky and does give a lovely colour to the mash.

If your mash is often cold, try doing it to the just been mashed stage and bake it in the oven until everything else is ready. That way, you don't have to worry about getting everything ready at the same time as it will sit there happily for around 20 minutes. You can sprinkle some cheese on top before you bake it if you don't like a crust on top.

Thanks Mary for the suggestion of my creamy brie mash, and you're right it is really rich and takes alot to stand up to it. Almost a meal in it's self.

Hi Claire,

Yes you can add herbs to mash but make sure they are soft ones. By this I mean, basil, thyme in little pots from supermarket (not the stuff we can grow in our gardens in our climate) oregano, corriander, chives, tarragon.

Just don't use woody hard herbs like bay, rosemary etc.

Some people add a raw egg to their mixture, it should sort of cook with heat of the mash so it's not too risky and does give a lovely colour to the mash.

If your mash is often cold, try doing it to the just been mashed stage and bake it in the oven until everything else is ready. That way, you don't have to worry about getting everything ready at the same time as it will sit there happily for around 20 minutes. You can sprinkle some cheese on top before you bake it if you don't like a crust on top.

Thanks Mary for the suggestion of my creamy brie mash, and you're right it is really rich and takes alot to stand up to it. Almost a meal in it's self.

Thanks EllieB and Marion for your support, I'm sure it will be worth while.

I have today received a Scott & Sargeant cookshop catalogue (www.mycookshop.com) and on page 31 they have 2 of the books we have been discussing. So Andy and those of you who want one, there are 2 different covers and they cost £22.95 each.

An update on my book. Although I am pretty thick when it comes to computers, my daughter is trying to be patient with me and teach me how to use our scanner so I can put my photos into print and my friend and my cousin are going to use their digital cameras when they come to my dinner party on the 8th Nov. I do all sorts of dinner parties from help yourself and tuck in to a 9 course extravaganza. I enjoy and love all the hours it takes to prepare. The 8th is going to be a 9 course and as my guests are as passionate about photography as I am about cooking, I'm hoping this will add to my book.

Don't know if I trust them with the dessert photography though, we all like wine with our food!

Hi Mary,

those avocado bowls I was telling you about are now on sale. Product code 44C009 are now £2.50 + vat each or £1.99 + vat each if you buy 6 or more.

I don't know if this is any help to you as I don't know if they ship abroad, but if you want to have a look, its www.nisbets.com

Hi Jacqui

I agree with Rustie and Bubbi about the reducing thing and what Bubbi says about caramel.

I too have a good one for best and a cheaper Moderna one for everyday.

The cheaper one has a good taste but is very thin.

I reduce it as suggested and add a tiny amount of demerara sugar to take the edge off the sharpness.
Which of course is the same as Bubbis supermarket caramel.

I make it very think and its great on salads when you don't want to make a dressing and also good for drizzling as it stays on the plate as inteneded.

Hi Ian,

I'm so sorry, I seem to have let the cat among the pigeons but Rusties last post does raise the issue of "pot luck"

I do really understand the copyright thing we have been discussing and I don't want to cause further bother, but I do have one more question.

When I watch GFL and someone cooks a dish, is this breaching of the copy right as they are TELLING us the recipe. If not, what about the re-cap which has the recipe in word form.

Not many of the recipes I have seen have been original. Some are such classics that the original could probably not be traced and some are original but often have a twist on something I have seen. But what about the rest. And how can they over ride copy right if at all.

Sorry to be a nuisence, just curious to know what I can do to get round this bind that I'm sure you and the viewers feel with sharing.

YES YES YES ANDY

Seeing chefs working in their kitchens would be great.

I love the new progs which take us to the kings college where jamie and ainsley were taught. One of our chefs at work has just finished a 3 year course there too, he is so talented. I think with him though, it's just part of him and the college has developed what was already there, plain to see.

but wou;d love to see more

fantastic lizzie

we all want to share our recipes but do not want to be sued. If we can state there origin at birth, so to speack, then we have a chance of them being shared.

wow, \\\\i can always use an ice cream recipe, thanks mary and marion

Sorry Georgie,

I have no idea

No Marion,

I think everyone realises you are here to help and advise, it's just the site is too delicate to get
entered into sueing argument. My recipes are not my own invention, but perhaps my own creations from there on. I am following your recipes so if you get anything new, I will be the first to look xxx

Mine are untitled but ancient

hI nick

Ostrich steack is great but is so mcuh more lean, it needs cooking diferently.

sorry, got cut off,

what cut you are happy to afford.

I'm sure you know different cuts mean different dishes. If you want to know more, please, let me know.

Hi Baly

Now you are going to get confused.
I like fillet steak because it is the most tender around. od if you want if on the rare side of otherwise it is lost.

My husband loves rib eye steak. a cheaper cut but so tender if you want it more cooked.

BALY, stop focusing on what cut you like and start focussing on what you want to cook. When you have decided on what you want to cook and what you want your dish to become, then decide on what cut you re

I'm starting to feel really bad now. I thought it would be fun, but now I feel really bad for starting something.

So I'm going to tell you what has happened to me recently to make me excited about cooking. I think I should start a new chain on off the menu

Thank you Rustie,

I am always grateful to you for pointing out the rules etc of the site. As I have said before, I can touch type and cook and there lies the story. I am computer illiterate but love talking to you guys and learn so much and hope to contribute where I can.

Most of my recipes do come from work and from years of dozens of peoples experience. Try tracing that back to someones recipe if you dare, a life times work I imagine.

Rustie, I know and so do so many others that you had nothing to do with Marions recipe being deleted and whats more I love your technical imput. If I post a recipe, it's either from hand me down experience from work or an elaboration of this. There lies the difference. Keep up the good work, Rustie, you keep me in check. I'm striving after my course to be as tehcno as you. I think you know from my previous postings that I admire you.

But still, well done Marion, you tried to give us a recipe we would all enjoy, and thank you for that

Gosh, Im holding my breath,

I wouln't know where to look for this sort of stuff but am hugely interested.

Also, is the husband current? She does kiss the American cheese man in a rather healthy way, unlike a relation I mean.

The more we all seem to post masses about this woman, the more I am a fan. I have all her books and am just waiting (ha ha) for the go ahead to replicate her fantastic kitchen. Post me in my next life to see if it's been fitted yet.

I never had CFN but craved it all the time. I was under the impression you had to have cable and unfortunatley we do not have it in our immediate area. It is promised to us as surrounding areas have it but now I have UK Food Channel, I don't care what else there is.

I must say though, I have seen quite a few good foodie programmes on the travel channel 181 satellite. They are not as good as uk food but an alternative if there is a repeat you have seen. Keith Floyd featues big and I like him and Culinary chefs or something is great which involves foreign chefs doing their thing.

Hi Marion,

I'm so sorry your recipe was deleted, I would have love to have read it. I didn't see it before it went as I get very busy at work at the weekends.

If it's any consolation, my recipe is so far from the original (of which, like you I don't know where it comes, that it's not really anyones)

The original had no mustard or any the cheeses I suggested. It's developed over 15 years and become what it is.

I've also posted recipes for creme anglais and stock and stuff like that. But they are classic recipes that I learnt from work and could be learnt anywhere.

Chin up and good for you for having a go.

Hi Marion

great idea about the oil. I bought some recently in my local supermarket. It comes from New Zealand and if extra virgin cold pressed 100% pure. One is normal and one is infused with New Zealand Horopito Pepper. They are made my The Grove TM.

You never know Mary, you could become an oil baron.

HELL NO RUSTIE,

Sorry,yes I meant hello.

I didn't have school dinners, so this one leaves me cold.

I had horrible sandwiches forever.

Oh, I know he has uprooted them from all that is normal and I am not making a judgement on that at this moment, but don't they cheek him and their Mum. My 16 year old would never speak to me that way, nor I my parents. I am always a little shocked at the way they speak to their parents. What about the way one of his children waited up for him and gave him a mouthful for being late home. Ok for the wife but surely not for any of the children.

Hi Marion

Thank you for your kind words. I will indeed post some of my favourites out of the millions I have up my sleeve. I bet alot of our fellow posters also have millions of favourites. We should perhaps have a regular spot of SOMEONES FAVOURITES

Hi all,

great to hear you are still trying it.

Well done

Helll Rustie,

Yes that sounds like the one in the cafe.

Hi Mary

I don't know if they supply abroad but Nisbets catering supplies do those dishes in white.

www.nisbets.com
product code C009 at £2.99 plus vat each(£3.51)

Hi Tracey,

I have got several recipes for Manchester Tart but as I've never made it before, I wouldn't like to say which would be best. Needless to say though, that they are all quite similar, which I suppose they have to be otherwise it wouldn't be the same tart.

The ingredients remind me of a lemon meringue tart although in a cafe once, they served it and it looked more like a tart base, spread with jam and a custard tart filling.

Hi Mary,

Another really simple, really tastey thing to do with avocados is to quarter and saute some button mushrooms. Crisp up some bacon and cut into pieces. Cook and shell some broad beans and chop up some avocados and mix everything together. Delicious served at room temperature as a sort of salad.

Sorry, pressed tab by accident, I didn't realise it would send;

Continued from above,

75g 3oz mixture of mozzarella and cheddar,grated
(I like to use fontina or any cheese that goes stringy when cooked)

Mix the onion, stock or water and curry paste in a small saucepan and cook for a few minutes over a medium heat until the onion has softened and the liquid reduced.

Mix together the jam, mayo, yoghurt and prawns.

When the onion mixture has cooled, mix it with the prawn mixture.

You can pop this in the fridge at this stage for putting together later. (makes a good starter with all the work virtually done in advance)

When you are ready to serve, half and stone the avocados. Cut a sliver from the bottom of each so that they sit level.

Fill the avocados with the mixture and top with the cheeses.

Place them under the grill unti the cheese has browned.

The avocados will be warm but not really cooked.

Serve with a salad.

Hi Mary,

I forgot about all your avocado trees.

Serves 6

1 small onion
4tbsp veg stock or water
2-3 tsp mild curry paste
1 tbsp apricot jam
3 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp greek yoghurt
200g 7oz cooked peeled prawns
3 large ripe avocados

Hi Yvonnue,

It sounded like you really did like it too. Well done for giving it a go.

Hi Rustie,

Yes that is nice to know.
Thank you.

Sorry Rustie, got cut off

I was going to say, that you seem to know the web like the back of your hand and I hang on evey word when you give web site details, so it goes without saying, i'd so love to hear what you think of my recipie. PPPPPPPPPPPPPPllllllllllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaseeeeeeee try it soon and let me know if you liked it.

Hi Rustie,

Why haven't you tried my mash???????? you know I

Do you mean the repeat repeat repeat reapeat........................................

I too seem to appreciate repeats. Have you seen the debait going on, on this site Lesley?

Hi all,

Been very busy at work for the last week and a half but you all brought a tear to my eye with your praise when I looked today.

I don't claim to have originated it but have added to it over the years.

Its stood the test of time of around 15 years and we still don't tire from it. It is geogous though, isn't it? and yes it really, definately is the Brie bits that does it. anything else is a bonus.

What's really great is that it can be just mash (if you dare to call it JUST mash) or it can do all the other things mash can do, ie. cottage pie etc.

Thanks guys,

one of my other favourites is HOT avocado and prawn, lightly curried starter.

It really doesn't taste of curry, just a round full flavour and everyone is surprised to have hot avocado.

A real gem of a recipe. do you want to know more?

I missed last week as I had other things on and thoutht I'd chatch the repeat I keep stumbling across later in the week. Only this week I actively looked for it and couldn't find it. So bated breath for another week then I suppose.

Hi Mary from Australia,

Consumming Passions was definately from Aus. He actively promoted Australian Fare A bit like Flavours of Britain promote British fare.

He would say things like "and this Syrha - Australian of course, goes well with it" etc etc.

I liked the programme very much as it gave us a little taste of overseas.

For this reason, I'd quite like a sneaky look at foreign chefs. I'd like to see things from all around the world.

Mike Robinson has done Safari Chefs and Challet Slaves and then theres Galley Slaves. These are obviously British commisioned programmes about food abroad.

The above are very good but I still think there is room for a few foreign programmes. Not necessary but nice, maybe. I just love wacthing all food programmes.

Bless your heart EllieB but yes I think it is too tricky to sort out.

I HAVE MADE A DESCISION.

I am going to make my own book using my computer. If the dodo book or the cook in the book produced a hard back book I would be sorely tempted but as they are not, I think I could produce one to the same standard. After all, they are just sprial bound and you can get that sort of stuff from stationers as well as perspex covers etc.

I'll let you know how I get on with it.

P.s. I have got a lot of photos and recipes already done as I had to do this for my NVQ2 catering. They are in in A4 pockets in a lever arch file.

Hi Rustie,

good point about finding short hair in food, same here.

I awlays tie my hair up when I cook at home because it gets in the way and irratates me hugely.

I do the same at work because of the above and because it gets so so so hot in the kitchen that it is nice to keep it off neck.

My arguement all along has been that Tamasins hair seems to get in her way.

As for chefs who have long hair that is not tied up, well I can't think of any that haven't been mentioned.

Hi Marion,

Yes, thats a good idea as at work we often add horseradish to mash.

How did we get back to hair when it started out as Tamasins daughters?

Anyway, Ainsley wears a hat to make him feel more like a chef. He is always saying things like, you love watching cheffy things like chefs chopping stuff up and theres a cheffy tip for you.

This reminds me of an embarassing moment that happened to me recently.

I left work at 4pm and drove home in my chefs whites as I was in a rush. I got in a thought I'd get the dinner started before I got showered and changed. There were wonderful smells of my cooking when someone knocked at the door. I felt really stupid answering it in my chefs whites as I'm sure the man thought I had dressed up just to cook the dinner.

AND I HAD MY HAIR TIED UP but no hat.

Thank you all for your kind words. I so pleased you like.

Ps Nick, it has got mustard in it already. I have said english mustard but grainy is good if you want to make it different. Just increase the quantity.

Hi Lesley,

Well I guess you liked it then having had it twice.

Love the name and that you added extras, the list of them are endless.

Thank you Jill,

I have used panettone and brioche but never Huggys things.

Comeon Huggy, tell me more so I can fantasize.


I have wondered for ages, are you male or female.

huggy is so neutral. I need to know as you cook like an angel. I will try your variation on b&bpud, if it works I will put it on in the restaurant.

Yes Yes Yes,

I think we have covered this subject, we have all really said enough about Tamasins hair. She is a good cook remember and very entertaining in the process.

Rustie has my complete support with her theory that it is her kitchen, let her do as she likes in it ( I have said so in earlier postings)

And KathyG just thinks she looks uncomfortable as I have also agreed with before, again in earlier postings.

Now lets vote

do we want to see Tamasin


1000000000000000000000 votes


or do we want to have her cut (not hair cut) from the tv.

000000000000000000000000000000

we would all miss her kitchen and her cooking and her great friends and relatives.

Hello EllieB

If your guests do eat fish, fruits de mer is very good but indeed very expensive.

It's difficult coming up with non meat French stuff as the French do like their meat so much.

I will consult my book shelves.

Hi Jill

I think the tarte au citron is a great idea, very french and made in advance. Whilst soufles are not difficult as some people think, if I do one at a dinner party I always do it for a starter so I can have a drink and relax and know I have nothing major to do near the end of the meal.

Hi EllieB

Does this mean the non meat eaters will eat fish and shellfish?

Hello Rustie,

I've now had a chance to look at the dodo site. Very interesting indeed. Thank you very much.

Have you ever thought of taking over from google, you have more sites tucked up your sleeve than they do. If ever I want to know something about anything, I think I'll ask you. I've looked at loads of sites you've reccommended to other people too and they've all been interesting. Thank you.

Hi Jill,

Yes I am a member but thanks for taking the trouble to send the info. I have seem the file and I think it's a good idea for home but as a gift I wanted it to be posh and look like a real book. (So that I can pretend to be a real writer)

So pleased you're all going to have a go. More tastey extras (or insteads) are:

a very creamy blue cheese
Y Fenni cheese (Welsh cheese with mustard seeds)
tiny flecks of chilli
horse radish sauce
finely grated root ginger
chopped up herbs (basil or parsley or corriander)
re hydrated sundried tomatoes chopped

oh its endless, but the original is still the best

Hi Lesley,

The beauty of the dish to me is finding a whole chunk of brie melting into my mash. Thats why it is so important to keep the brie chilled until it is mixed. Other wise it just becomes part of the mash and the beauty of it is lost. I do hope you enjoy it. I have loved it for so long.

Hello Marion,

Cholestrol rich,

NOOOOOOOOOOOO,

Not this version. As I said when I promised to post it, I chuck in other things depending on whats in my fridge. OOHHHH, some really nice extras are:

pieces of crispy bacon ( all and or )

cooked cabbage (like colcanon in a way)
a big pile of any cheese grated
sweetcorn (but a bit too healthy)
mushrooms
well sweated onions (but not browned)

and so many more ....enjoy

EllieB

thank you so very much for all that you have listed. I will try WH smith again tomorrow and let you know how I get on. I don't want to upset your sister, but if I am unsuccessful, perhaps I will not be able to resist. A huge thank you for your kindness

Hi Ginner

Someone did make bonofie pie on the "just for starters" prog. Try looking on this site under that catagory.

jennifer

what about deep fried lettuce. No not really, "don't try this at home" just joking 'cause you're so right.

Hi Huggy,

Well you cannot overlook all the different steamed puddings in this catagory, ie. spotted dick, roly poly, treacle sponge pudding, all with lashing of hot custard. Another all time favourite has to be bread and butter pudding.

Now youv'e got my taste buds going and I've had to rush over to the bookshelves and get my copy of the pudding club book out. I haven't looked at it since last year so I'll enjoy a good look through.

Oh Jennifer,

We seem to be on line at the same time, so I thought I'd look it up in Tamasin book to see if there was an address for Sally Edwards. Whilst there is one in good tempered food, there is not one in tarts with tops on which is a much more recent book. The problem could be then that in the first series Tamasin did, Sally moved to a new cafe, the one we saw today. So I don't know if this is the old or the new address but here it is anyway.

The Crescent, Taunton, Somerset. TA1 4DN.

Tamasin did mention Somerset food on the prog today but that could of course mean her own.

PS I often but very crispy bits of bacon in my creamy Brie mash, I suppose you won't be trying that then.

Hi Jennifer

I don't know about where it is but I wouldn't think it is vegetarian.

Today she cooked broad beans with cherry tomatoes on brushetta with some sort of PARMA HAM type bacon. Didn't catch anymore than that, sorry.

Hi Frank and FrankJ,

I too have a Morphy Richards but propably an earlier model than either of yours, 48220. I was given it and started using it all the time but there was so often something wrong that I stopped using it. My problems were that the top sank in alot of the time like yours FrankJ and also that the bread is ALWAYS so dense and heavy.

I have tried the trouble shooting but it has made no difference. Iv'e tried packets and the booklets own recipes with no different results.

I am thinking of buying a Panasonic with the tray in the lid which poors nuts etc in when appropriate because Jeni said how much lighter the texture was from this one when they did a test on GFL recently. She said that the cheap ones were much heavier than the dearer ones and the gadget man who brought them in said this was probably because the cheaper 2 had a fast bake time of 1 hr and the panasonic fast bake was 2 hours. This is was the cycle tested on them all.

My bread maker doesn't have a fast bake and takes 4 hours and is still dense.

At work we make bread by hand on a daily basis but I wouldn't bother every day at home on a daily basis just now and then.

So I really can't decide whether to get another one when I don't use this much, or if I would use it if it made better bread.

Hello EllieB,

HELP

I was soooo excited that I went to my local WH Smith straight away. They didn't stock it but would order a blank favourite cookery book. Of course, I don't know what to order. Do you have an ISBN nmber or anything printed on yours or are we talking more on the line of a scrap book?

Hi Lydia

Yes, that is the one but I don't know 20 people interested enough in my cooking ideas to give them to, but brilliant idea all the same.

I probably know of around 8 people who would want one. May be i'll have to wait to be a celeb chef first. ha ha

Great to hear Jennifer, thanks for that

Hi EllieB

A couple of years ago a saw an add in a mag that said basically that this printing company would print up into a proper book, recipies you send in to them. I thought what a great idea but it cost around £100. Well, what an expensive book! Obviously as they need to do a lot of work for a one off book copy. Well I wanted one to give to a friend but wasn't prepared to spend that.

Now you have suggested this, I am going to start a book immediately for my friend.

Thank you soooooo very much for the great idea. It's the same thing only cheaper and so much more personal.

for 4 servings (if you don't eat mountains like my family, that is)

900g (2 lb) baking potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
40g (1 1/2 oz) butter, I use 60-80g though
4 spring oinions, sliced
1- 2 garlic clove, crushed
100g (4 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature (you can use a herby flavour one if you like) 120 ml (4 fl oz) single cream or milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp mustard powder or 2 tsp ready made English mustard
225 g (8 oz) cold Brie, cut into 1 cm (1/2") pieces
Some grated Cheddar, Red Leceister or stringy type cheese (ie Gouda or Ementhal) for on top
fresh thyme, to garnish

Preheat oven. cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small pan . Reserve 1 tbsp of spring oinions for the garnish. Fry the rest gently with the garlic for about 2 mins until soften.

Drain the potatoes and mash until smooth. Beat in the garlic butter mixture, cream cheese, cream, salt and pepper. When the mixture is smooth and needs no more mixing, very carefully stir in the Brie. You want to keep the chunks in tact. Spoon the mixture in to a buttered 1.75 litre (3 pt) casserole and sprinkle on the grated cheese. Bake for 15 nims or until top begins to brown. Garnish with the thyme and reserved spring oinion.

COOK AHEAD TIPS

If you stop after putting the potatoes into the buttered casserole (BEFORE THE FINAL BAKE) you can keep the mixture in the fridge for a day or two.
Once baked though, it's not quite so nice to reheat.

When you dig into the baked dish, you will find tiny melting chunks of the Brie....oooooohhhhhhh delicious.

If any of you do decide to make this dish, let me know if you liked it. I love to know.

Enjoy.
Lindsay

Sorry Georgie, Lorraine and Jennifer,

I've been so busy at work but will go right now to the recipie section and post CREAMY BRIE MASH.

By the way, have you all noticed that all of us, including me, think of comfort food as heavy, warming foods. Does nobody need to be comforted in the summer? ha ha

Hi Sped,

Yeah, I have to agree with you. I requested him and Jean Christophe Novelli last year but no joy.

I have met them both a couple of times at Restuarant Exhibitions and they both seem to be very serious about cooking and training new talented chefs rather than going for the more entertaining side.

Hi Farmers Wife,

A very good way indeed.

I once did a stock in my slow cooker over night and all day. Superb but no real difference in my time. Both took as long to prepare and finish and both cooked away happily on their own.

Hi Sharon

The curry recipe is in Rick Stein's food heroes book - ISBN 0-563-53474-5 by the BBC. This is his main food heros cookery book and has a white cover. The 2nd book on this subject is more of a directory than a cookery book and has a sort of pink cover.

Hi Lesley,

I have some of Silvanas books and they are lovely with good colourful pictures the lot.

One thing to look out for though, I have found that loads of her recipes have been published in a book and then completely reprinted in another co-written book down to the last full stop. Same pictures, everything. A bit annoying really to pay for the same book twice.

Eg Salsas relishes and dips is a beautiful book, however, sauces, salsas, dips, relishes, marinades and dressing which Sivana co-wrote with christine France has just taken the first book and slotted the entire thing in as a chapter in the second. Since I bought the smaller version last, I could have saved my £7.99 and just used the recipes from my first book.

about 15 years ago i found a recipie for the best mash I have ever tasted. it was called creamy brie mash and I have never served it without someone saying they wanted the recipe or that it was the best mash they had ever tasted.

I will find it and post it on the recipe section/

I have used this recipe for dinner parties ever since, and still use a versoion at home EVERY time I make mash. It varies with what I have in the fridge/cupboard but is basically the same.

will send it soon, hope you try it

Oh Georgie,

I am the same size as you what a co-incidence.

But to get me to that size, you need to add 10
divide by 2, double it and add 4 takeaway 12 and add 6. then we can arrive at the perfickkkk figure.

Marywho I am so jealous of because she lives in Australia with avoados (sorry, I just want to come and live with you) is right about the prawns being bigger and aslo being called Dublin Bay Prawns, but the main difference is that a prawn lays on its side like a crevette (which is its larger version) whereas a languistine lies on its tummy with 2 small claws out front like a baby lobster.

Hi Paul,

Whilst I agree stock is time consuming, it's not actually your time it takes up. It takes 5 to 10 minutes to get it giong and 20 minutes to finish up.

The time consuming bit happens on its own when you can get on with something.

Please try a stock at least once. Once you have, you will never want anything else. And yes as Wattsie said, you can freeze stock.

Once you have a stock, you can turn it into almost any sauce you like, madiera jus, brandy and cream sauce, I could name dozens!!!!!!!

I posted a recipe for stock to Bestmum when she asked for help with a rich stock.

Click on MammaChef's name and go to page 6 where you will find my recipe. Its the one we use at the restaurant where I work.

Honestly, it's so easy, give it a go one weekend when youv'e got time on your hands and freeze some for another day.

Let me know if you need any further help with my recipe ( just in case I haven't explained things properly)

Hi Cathy,

you are not alone. Bonofie pie was done on the uk food channel by Alan Ledgeway on the programme "just for starters" and his recipe can be found on site if anyone wants to follow it.

Hi Chrisy,

I live near a Tesco Extra and it is a really big store. I bought some mushroom stock cubes called themla mushroom soup & seasoning cube in a pack of 3.

Probably not the same as yours but may be worth a try as it is more accessable until you sort out your usual.

Obviously I couldn't say, having not tried yours, but it may even be of similar quality.

Hi Mozzar

Do you want wood in particular or any chopping board advice?

I used high density polypropelene boards.

My pet hate is anything hard like ceramic, glass or even marble (sorry lesley). I use marble for all sorts but not chopping - so why is it called a chopping board!!

All the hard materials blunt your knives. Wood doesn't but does absorb odours and bacteria.

Think about poly and if it you want to know more, let me know, if it's wood, then go for a very hard wood.

Rustie,
you are lilke paging the oricle.

You know everywhere to look and every bit of advice I need to know as I'm pretty rubbish with computers.

I can touch type and cook but computers ....alas no.

Hi lesley,

I haven't but I will now. I heard that he was a real tyrant in the kitchen. I know we need to run a kitchen like a tight ship, but I heard he was very ruthful indeed. I won't say more.

Hi Sped,

I am about to look at the site but before I do, there is a book out by El Bulli and although I am becoming the book review lady with all my hundreds of books, I have to say I didn't buy this one. It retails as £75.00.

Also, I remember Ed Baines cooking something up on GFL that he had eaten at El Bullis and putting it in an eggshell. I didn't think that looked very appealing although Ed was raving about it. The eggshell dish actually put me off buying the book.

That's what made me laugh, the kids being food critics.

I spend ages cooking and the other day my father in law popped in and ate with us. As it was short notice, I just stuck to the menu I had planned. He raved and groaned with delight over the brandy, mushroom and cream sauce made with a homemade stock. It was exactly as we use in the restaurant at work and was, if I say so myself, delicious. My lot said it was ok.

The next night we had the rubbish sausages my lot demand (no herbs and high meat percentages for them), oven chips and baked beans.

The huge reviews must have been heard for miles.

Why do I bother?

Are we missing the point though!!!

Yes these chefs are absolutely gorgeous and yes they can cook but do you think it might be a bit like pop idol.

When Jamie was discovered it was for his personality apparantly and lets face it, Ed and James to name but a few are scrummy, but what about all the ordinary chefs out there, are they picked to appear on the tv?

They are certainly not beating down my door for an exclusive.

I don't think it is a coincidence that they are either good looking or have a great personality, I think it is what we want as viewers and the people who spot our celebs know this. I'm not saying it's true in every case, but lets face it, we wouldn't want to watch someone who bored us to death or anything like that would we.

There are plenty of talented chefs out there, why not pick the cute ones. We are not lucky really, this is just todays society. Like the very talented pop idols who were rejected because they didn't quite look the part.

I still think the chefs are drop dead gorgeous though, not questioning that.

Hi Jill

Nice of you to notice,yes I have changed my nickname.

If you want to know why, look under "off the menu" - banish to devil chef.

xxx

Hi Reshma,

I have now checked out your site and was very impressed. It is very professional and informative. The bit about yourself is really interesting but I wanted to know where you learned to cook Indian food.

Alot of cultures teach their children, but if your mother couldn't get the ingredients while you were growing up in Wales, could she still convey the methods etc. You also said that your cooking came on in leaps and bounds in London, did you learn Indian cookery there or just improve it.

I only ask as I am interested in learning Indian, Thai, and Chinese cookery skills, hence my course above. I'm hoping I can do so in our culture where it is not very often that our parents teach us.

After all, I learned to cook well enough to become a chef of modern European food and my mother didn't teach me anything about cooking. She hated it.

Hope you can still pick up on this post when you come back from your fab hols. Have a great time.

Thanks Jill

I ordered my book from bol and it came last week so you may not have to wait too long.

Whilst not a UK food channel programme, Jeni did interview John Burton Race the other week and plug the book and the programme, so I'm sure I can still talk about it here.

I got the book last week and laughed alot about the trials and tribulations of the family. I too have a 16 year old daughter who is "in love" and couldn't have taken her abroad if I carried her.

I loved the programme even more than the book when the 1st episode went out last night. You really get involved with the family and how each one feels about the move.

I laughed when none of them liked his french onion soup that he had taken so much trouble to make. That also reminded me of my family.

Kids eh!!!!

Penny32

I've also seen Harissa in the Bart spices range and also a recipe for it in one of Rick Steins books. It doesn't look that hard to make although I haven't tried it myself.

If you have any of his books, have a look, if not, let me know and i'll look through mine and see which one it is ( I saw it a while ago and can't remeber which one it was off hand)

Reshma,

It's lovely to hear from you on this site and even better to hear you have a web site. I will be checking that out.

I start a 10 lesson course in Indian cookery at evening class next week and I'm really looking forward to it.

Have a great time on hols.

Hi BFC

I too went to the Restaurant Exhibition in London, I went on Monday. It was as good as usual, did you enjoy it too?

I bought the Rosemary Castle cook book over a year ago. Its really great and has a web site address at the back. www.castlecook.com.

Hope that helps

Bestmum,

For a rich beef stock - Chop some onions, not too small, celery, carrots, leeks tops and brown them off on a high heat to caramilse them along with a little oil. Not olive oil as it won't get hot enough. Add some beef bones and any beef trimmings you have and brown those too. If it is a large bone, ie; forerib joint, you can brown it off in the oven first if you wish. What ever you do, don't allow all the above to Stew and make sure they fry. So high heat and dont keep stirring it as it brings the temp down.

When everything is brown add some read wine and bioling water from the kettle. Bring it all to a simmer but don't let it boil as it will go cloudy. I don't add herbs to my stock, I prefer to add herbs or flavours to my sauce that I make from the stock. This way you can make a big batch and freeze some stock and use some for a sauce.

Now allow this to simmer for as long as you can, the longer the better, I leave mine over night or all day long. You should really use a heat defuser as it is hard to keep the temperature low enough.

When you have simmered it for as long as you can, strain the liquid to remove everything from it. Now put it on to boil. Yes I mean boil now that there is not bits in it. When it boils rapidly you may get a scum forming on top. Skim this and leave to boil. Do this for a while until you get little or no scum, 20 minutes should be loads. You now have a good stock. It can be reduced and if you want to add a thickener that doesn't ruin the flavour use Bisto Best. NOT the ordinary granules.

Hope that helps.
Lindsay

Rustie you did make me laugh.

Georgie, I actually watched it today but missed the vote. I only watch it if I'm in the kitchen cooking and therefore miss quite alot.

I just pick up the odd idea, usually from the quickie bag but don't really pay a lot of attention.

Every time I watch Ready Steady Cook, it seems to be that if a chef looses the competition, he wins the chance to do the quickie bag. I must admit I have only seen about 65% of the Ready Steady Cook programmes so I may have just missed the ones where the above doesn't apply. If that is the case, it is quite a co-incidence.

I like the quickie bag and don't mind if its always the looser, but then why bother to have the audience vote. Do they really think we wouldn't notice!

Has anyone else noticed this?

What can I say, thank you. It's been very hard with a young family but I was so determined to succeed. I have, I am out there, it's such hard work with the rest of my responsibilities but

its soooo worth while.

If you need anyone to talk to I'm here, so too are many people that can help you.

Go for it

vix B,

You are right and wrong in my opinion!!! I think there is lots of money to be made in a deli and thats where I think you are wrong. I also think it takes a huge amount to set it up in the first place.

I also think you it wouldn't hurt you to work in the food industry first so you know what you are talking about to your suppliers and customers alike. They will only respect you if they think you know what youre looking to buy or sell.

It might be good for you to get out there first. You say you loved every minute of it. So do it. If you find its not for you, do something else.

I did accounts and book work from leaving college until I was 37. I then decided, with what I have learnt the hard way (by trial and error) I could have learnt better and quicker in the trade.

Everyone said I should be a chef and now I am they say my cooking is even better.

Learn all you can if people are willing to teach you.

Don't waste any opportunities given to you.

BFC,

At the restaurant whrere I work, we have a constant flow of work experience students coming through our kitchen. Some realise after its definetly not for them and some just picked it because their friend did. Occassionally, we get a really keen teenager who is then offered work on Saturdays with us. 2 Saturday boys have just left school having worked with us for 1 year and have started with us full time. They are both taking NVQ1 in the work place and I think my boss is great for encouraging them. My boss also encourages us to help them and pass on what we know.

Good luck to you with your quest.

Are you going to the restaurant show at Olympia? I am going on Monday. I had a great time last year, hope some there's new stuff there this time.

My name has turned out to be a little unfortuante!

When I put my name down here as Lindsay and found there were several, I seemed to end up with Lindsay666.

I told the chefs I work with about my name as they are interested in chatting with you all and now they call me devil chef.

Snowy,

I forgot to mention that you will find this anglaise a little thin as a traditional hot custard, that's why in the restaurant we serve it chilled. You can add any flavours you like to it, chocolate, liqueurs, nuts, fruit purees or any combination of these.

What about orange liqueur anglaise served chilled beside a hot chocolate pudding.

Have that one night, then add some marmalade and churn it so the next night you can have orange ice cream for dessert.

Just watch out not to add too much alcahol to anglaise that is for ice cream as this will hinder it setting.

We must share cooking knowledge as in other countries passing on from mother to son and daughter. Big fat chef and pastry paul young, well done. You are trulely a great help to others. If I had encountered you years ago, I wouldn't of had to learn the hard way. So curious was I, that I became a chef with a family to raise and learnt the hard way.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, I just hope I can assist at least some as you have.

Well done. I really believe cooking should be shared. After all it is in so many countries and communities but it is not passed on in England in the way it once was (not that I'm that old)

Snowy

Anglaise is so easy to show you but perhaps not so easy to describe. I'll do my best

Use 6 egg YOLKS to 1 pint of milk

1) Separate the eggs keeping the yolks
(its up to you if you keep the whites for meringues etc)
2) Mix them up a bit
3) Heat the milk to a good hot simmer or almost boil (it doesn't matter if it boils at this point but not really necessary)
4) Pour the hot milk onto the egg yolks WHISKING ALL THE TIME. do not put the yolks to the milk as they will scramble!!!!
5)Now put the mixture back into the pan stirring CONSTANTLY so that it does not catch on the bottom.
6) As soon as the mixture coats the back of the spoon it is done. REMOVE FROM THE HEAT IMMEDIATELY.
7) Pour into a bowl through a sieve to catch any stray scrambled egg.

You now have a basic anglaise. Add your flavour to taste and caster sugar while it is still warm. Once it cools, the sugar will not melt and will fall to the bottom of the bowl and not flavour as required. You can add almost any flavour to this and use it as a custard (anglaise to be posh) or churn it in an ice cream machine and you will have ice cream.

Good luck, let me know how you got on. If you have any queries let me know.

Tamasins did a lovely recipie with leeks in viniagrette. check out her book or her recipies on this web site.

The problem with white chocolate is that it is sugar and fat and not good cocoa solids so cooking with it is not as easy and therefore less recepies are about.

Why not make an ordinary gateau and decorate it with white chocolate. You can melt white choc and spread it onto baking parchment or greaseproof in oblong shapes and put it in the fridge. When its set, peel it off and place the oblongs all around the sides sticking up past the top of the cake. You could also make chocolate "rolls" by scraping the chocolate off with a knife (but this is better done off of marble than paper).

You might find that the contrast between the gateau and the white chocolate looks more interesting and it wouldn't be as sickly as using all white chocolate.

Bijou is right in everything he says. And Delia also says you must use very fresh eggs for this other wise the eggs won't stay together well. She also says the opposite for boiled eggs. Use older eggs for hard boiled eggs as the membrane is so tight on a fresh egg that is very hard to peel and can rip off pieces of the white.

I

Bestmum

I have a book with loads of courses in, some of which are for children and for all over the country and abroad. The guide to cookery courses by Eric Treuille. Metro publications. www.metropublications.com. I bought mine through amazon. cost £7.99. ISBN 1-902910-05-2

Snowy

You can make ice cream using milk. Just make an anglaise (let me know if you need a receipe for this) add the flavours you like and then churn it. The anglaise should be rich enough to make creamy ice cream. If it isn't you can add some mascapone to it before churning for a fab texture.

I am a chef and make ice cream in the restaurant where I work on a very expensive machine.

At home I use a little machine that you freeze the bowl first. They both work great, its the ingredients and flavours that matter.

I'm a chef in a Michelin rated restaurant and when I'm there I use an £800.00 ice cream machine. It works like the home £250.00 to £300.00 one. It's great just chuck the mixture in and 20 minutes later freeze great ice cream.

When I'm at home I use a delongi one but I don't think it's any better or worse than any make of one the sort that needs to freeze the bowl.

As long as you leave the bowl in the freezer permenantly, you never get disappointed if you suddendly want to make ice cream.

At the end of the day, both ice cream at work and ice cream at home come out the same.

As Rustie said, it's the ingredients that matter. Only, at work, I have resources to ingredients I wouldn't at home so making up new flavours is more fun there for that reason. All ice cream machines make the same quality ice cream in my opinion, and its not any more fuss to use a cheaper one if the bowl is always frozen and ready for use like a built in freezer type.

Well thats my opinion and I use both all the time.

Sarahq, you didn't read all of my posting, there are 2 daughters, Clarissa and Miranda.

I don't know what they did with the rest of my posting but i'll do it again...

Clarissa who starred in "Clarissas first roast" and then theres Ben who was about to start university in the last series who starred in "boys can cook too. " Now in this series we have Miranda who has been away at university who brought student friends home to dinner. The only thing I've never noticed is a husband but then I guess one could turn up like the children do from time to time.

Sarahq you have obviously been concentrating too hard on the hair and not the programme content.

By the way, don't you all just love her friend George. I'd love her to be my mate. She seems loads of fun.

No no no Sarahq, apart from all of her children being called darling, they also have names Clarissa who's about 12 from the last series who starred in

Yes indeed Deborah. Well done Tamasin, a thoroughly enjoyable programme.

Oh, now I feel a bit of a fraud. I was actually suggesting that the hair moving sway came into my home and the flying hair stayed in hers amongst her guests. I agree with alot of what you say about hygiene and certainly in my house as in yours, standards do matter but at the end of the day, I like to give these celebs a bit of excentric licence. This is due to it being for entertainment and inspiration with some degree of learning thrown in. I don't see it as a documentry and like to think that I would know that I should tie my hair back without Tamasins demonstrating. When it's something like washing your hands after touching raw meat though, I think it's quite good when some chefs mention it as they do it, but not every time. You do make an interesting point about the re-runs and books etc. Still, must cook for the family now, just off to get a hair toggle.

Oh silly me! I posted a coment today in the Off the menu chat room about Tamasins hair and was so surprised that there wasn't anything else said before. Well now I've found you all. I think the programmes great as she's natural with people, ie: she asks guests, what do you think of the new kitchen just like we would, other celebs pretend they're used to nothing less. However, it was her hair that prompted me to chat. I believe that if her family and guests wish to eat flying hairs it's up to them and her in her own home, however that incredibly infuriating swaying to move it constantly drives me spare and does come into my home when I watch her. I therefore feel I can express an opion upon it. It ruins the programme for me. Does she even realise how often she moves it? I bought the books which helped pay for the fantastic kitchen, now use some of the money for a hair toggle!!!!!