I believe prawns become tough when overcooked. Add them at the last minute - they don't take long at all.

I make gluten free and dairy free (lactose free) food a lot due to family intolerances. But I have never been asked to make rice free meals.

Gluten free bread - I buy the bread mixes - they are delicious.

Pastry - I use a mixture of mashed potato and rice flour but in your case I would suggest you try gram flour. That, as you probably know, is made from ground chick peas. It's delicious. (You could also try potato flour)

You can use any sort of shortening including lard I suppose (I don't use lard as I don't eat meat or meat products). There are several lactose free spreads on the market - that shouldn't be a problem.

Is there anything that someone isn't allergic to? I have never heard of a rice allergy.

Good luck.

Hello old friends (and I don't mean old in the age sense so don't be offended). I never check the message boards any more though I still use the site for recipes.

I came back because Rosti told me about this thread. It is so true that the fun went out of this place at some point and, living on the other side of the world, I can't post 'live' so to speak.

Cooking is still my passion and I am getting more and more creative in the kitchen. It's very exciting and if this forum was as spontaneous and friendly as it used to be I would be sharing my experiments.

I do miss it.

Wishes can come true TerryDox, as David said. I wonder ......

Here is a link to a US site which says they ship internationally ... worth a look [link]

I think Olly Smith is great too. I have booked to see him at the Good Food Show on December 2nd ... really looking forward to it.

I have never had a problem cleaning my Le Creuset but I agree with the hot water or steaming - NO dishwasher, NO scouring. Bicarb might be worth trying as Snowlight suggests. Bicarb seems to do lots of useful things and will not harm your pans.

I don't know about the freshness question but eggs are easier to separate when taken straight from the fridge, but whisk into meringue or pavlova type peaks much better when at room temperature. So I take mine out of the fridge, separate them immediately and then whisk them an hour later.

Well, it works for me!

This is a very interesting thread. I am not a vegetarian as I do eat fish (I think I got that right, didn't I Rosti?). I do not eat meat or anything containing animal rennet or gelatin.

There are some pitfalls ... you have to be very careful when eating sweets and even cough and throat pastilles ... some of them contain gelatin. I also believe that some of those 'time release' drugs are contained in a capsule made with gelatin.

I eat eggs and always get free range ones and hope that there is no cockerel with the hens! I drink rice or soy milk but that is not because I think milking cows is cruel. Again, it is my choice.

Pattipan, I too resent having to defend my choices. It's my life, my body, and I believe I should be allowed to put into it what I wish ... or perhaps more relevantly - not to consume that which I want to avoid.

Nipple 1 - your post alarms me greatly. When eating out I always ask the wait person (how fashionably PC!) to check with the chef if the, say, sweet potato soup, has been made with chicken stock or vegetable stock and quite often am unable to have the 'vegetable' soup because it has not been made with vegetable stock. The same applies to risottos - I always check.

I can make a very nice vegetable stock, and often do. The Marigold vegetable stock granules are good too. I always roast my potatoes separately from the meat (I do cook meat for friends and family on a regular basis, I just choose not to eat it) and I make such a delicious veggie gravy that the meat eaters don't even realise it is vegetarian (I have to use gravy browning in it, otherwise it is too pale).

I have a weakness which I indulge about three times a year ... I love snails. As a fish eater I can kind of justify eating snails but not quite!

I totally agree with the fact that chefs who prepare vegetarian meals on TV should make absolutely sure that they are only using vegetarian ingredients.

Well done Grisinni. All you need is a bowl and some warm milk and an initial culture. I really don't get these yoghurt machines.

Is the Nicer Dicer one of those things that you 'pump' up and down Fox? I have seen them demonstrated but never tried one.

My pink KitchenAid is coming into its own now that I have started using it. I love it.

Isn't that just so annoying lorri? You wonder why you bought the stuff in the first place! I don't know what to do with it. Sorry to be so unhelpful but I am sure someone will tell you.

You reminded me ... I have loads of lemons. I thought I might make some of those lemons preserved in salt, a Moroccan recipe I think. But what would I use them for?

It doesn't sound great Posset! What if the corn doesn't comply with EU standards? The bumps would be in the wrong place. And a knife works just fine.

I bought my mandolin at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham ... oh I don't know how many years ago.

Talking of which I am coming to UK in November to celebrate various family birthdays and I am going to go to the Good Food Show. Is anyone else?

My mandolin has a safety holder. No worries. I use it all the time ... and have done for years. I still have eight fingers and two thumbs!

It sounds as if whoever comes to your party are in for a treat Tits. Good luck. Do let us know how it goes and I have my fingers crossed for the weather. I was talking to someone in England (near London) on MSN this morning and the weather report was grim.

I have just looked at the date on your posts, 10th August. I only got notified of new messages on this thread this morning (15th August) so I now realise that the party was last Saturday.

Strange - but this website is full of anomalies apparently.

I would still be interested to hear how the gammon and chicken and cheesecake went down!

Sorry Braces, I repeated your answer. Note to self: read all previous posts before jumping in!

I have added lemon juice to double cream or whipping cream, mixed it in and left it to stand for a few hours. The cream thickens with time and is 'soured' by the citrus

I did suggest Taupo sieved the raspberry jam after warming it Gastro, being aware of the fact that pips would be bad news!!

Two coats with an intermediate rest in the fridge is also an excellent idea.

Val, it would be really helpful if you could tell us a bit more about the recipe and where frisiie fits in? I don't know if you are talking about a sweet or a savoury recipe

Hi Rosey. I have cooked a gammon in Coca Cola following Nigella's recipe several times and it is very popular. Her recipe is for a 2 kg joint so it should be ideal for you.

I say it is very popular because that's the best way I can describe it as I don't eat meat myself. But those who have eaten this dish have requested it again so I reckon it is OK.

Don't worry too much about the soaking etc. Nigella doesn't seem to.

Good luck with your gammon, whatever you eventually decide to do with it.

Taupo, I agree with Gastrosurf about putting heated jam on the cake before the ganache. With respect, Gastro, I would suggest melting some raspberry jam (as you are topping the cake with raspberries) and sieving it before brushing it on the cake.

OysterMan, I make tempura veggies in my wok. I rarely make chips but when I do I parboil them and then 'roast' them.

I agree with you, Sesley, about scales. Mine is like yours, no batteries required!

Lola3, I used to use a garlic press until I got my microplane - now the press is redundant.

I agree with Jannymac - my potato ricer is in constant use and not just for mashing potatoes.

I didn't know there was such a thing as a corn stripper, posset. I have bought a KitchenAid - beautiful sexy pink one and it is sitting on my stainless steel work top looking gorgeous. I have yet to use it.

My mezzaluna gets used on a more or less daily basis - a wonderful little tool for someone who doesn't have the knife skills of a Jamie or an Ainsley!

I have had a juicer for several years and although I don't use it on a daily basis I do use it often. There is so much lovely fresh fruit here in QLD and quite often I get given heaps for free. I do agree, Gastrosurf, it is a bit of a pain to clean but I find if you do it straight away it's not so bad. And as for reassembling before storing - I don't do that! I let it air dry and then store it in bits, only reassembling it when I next need it.

Most used gadgets: potato ricer, Braun 3 in 1 hand blender, Braun Combimax food processor, mandolin, pestle and mortar, microplane grater. Least used: ice cream machine (though I wouldn't be without it), a gadget that makes carrots and beetroots into little round curls, bread making machine (gave it away), deep fat fryer (gave that away too).

Interesting post gastrosurf.

I agree with Gastrosurf and Mrs MacOz regarding switching off the oven and leaving them in until completely cold, and like Mrs MacOz I do this overnight. Just don't forget to take them out in the morning. I turned on the oven to bake my bread one day totally forgetting about the cold pavlova in there - Oh dear, the mess and the terrible smell!!!

Hi Jacko21. I was surprised when I did a birthday party for 2 year olds that they seemed to go for the savoury things more than the sweet ones wich the exception of mini cup cakes with pretty icing on top and individual jellies with fresh fruit floating in them. I made blueberry jellies and strawberry jellies (chopped up the strawberries, they were too big for little individual jellies). They loved chipolatas, cheese straws (bought puff pastry rolled out in grated parmesan, cut into fingers and sprinkled with a little cheddar grated with a microplane) and little sandwiches filled with cucumber and Vegemite, cheese, egg mayonnaise, Just a few ideas for you. Hope it goes well.

I agree marigold. I don't use the lids, I use those waxed discs and then cover the jar with a transparent cover which you dampen and secure with an elastic band. If you do this while the jam is still hot they tighten into satisfactory little drums. I spiced some kumquats earlier this week and the recipe didn't call for sterilised jars. In this case I did use the lids, pre-soaked in Milton as Pennash suggested. Thanks for that Pennash, I had never thought of it.

I make jam, chutney, picalilli, lemon curd, marmalade - I love preserving. But I just save all my coffee jars, mustard jars, tomato puree jars, well anything I buy that comes in a glass container. I sterilise them before use and they are, in effect, free.

I don't feel too great about pickled onions since you ask, gastrosurf.

Gastrosurf, another use for that gadget is squeezing the water out of spinach

Interestingly we can buy 'raw sugar' over here. Mind you, living in Queensland which is sugar cane country, I suppose that isn't surprising. You can drive for miles and miles and miles and on either side of the road there are sugar cane fields. The tourist guide we bought when we first came over here exploring called them 'stunning'. Huh! Very samey actually. Sorry, Snowy, not much help to you. I'd go with Rosti's solution but it will make the cake dark in colour

Thanks TerryDox, it's nice to see you are still active on here

The Great British Kitchen link looks good. Australian cups are different again, how confusing can it get?!

I agree with cheese obsessive, a microplane grater is the answer. You get the full flavour of ginger without suddenly biting on a slice of it which can be a bit overpowering IMHO

Hey OysterMan. I live down under too. Thanks for the GFL repeats schedules. I will try and watch them although 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning might be a bit of a struggle! I love Barefoot Contessa as well. I think our food channel is great. I am enjoying Master Chef Goes Large and the Nigella programmes and all Hugh Fernely Whittingstall programmes.

I had an Aga when I lived in England. I miss it. I recommend Mary Berry's New Aga Cook Book. It's fantastic, gives you tips on maintenance, equipment and loads of recipes ... every one I tried worked perfectly.

Good luck, I am sure you will love your Aga but they do take a little bit of getting used to.

That's so interesting Nev. We get quite a few of these programmes over here in Oz on our equivalent of UKTV Food (a satellite channel that you have to pay for).

Tyler Florence is great, Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) does some good programmes too.

We get GFL two weeks late so I expect all the US shows are well out of date by the time we see them but I still like to watch when I have time.

Mary is fine thanks! It's nice to be remembered. Hi Becky, Lesley and Mosey.

I am just really busy at the moment. I am organising a couple of cooking events in Queensland for Ross Burden and also a three day cookery course in New Zealand. I have another job too so bang goes all hope of a peaceful retirement in Australia. Actually I was getting a bit bored with retirement so this is all fine with me.

I did find a recipe for Margarita, thanks Becky. But somehow they never taste the same if you make them at home ... so much better made by a professional 'shaker' specially if you drink them by the beach. Which I am lucky enough to be able to do.

Yes, it reminds me of one of those toys that won't fall over, Wonder Dog. So cute!

I don't really care what it does, to me it just seems like a rather lovely kitchen accessory ... I have some useless ones that don't look nearly as stylish.

If you get rice milk or lactose free milk (available in cardboard cartons) and pudding rice or arborio rice, you can make a lovely baked rice pudding.

Also, you know those bags of frozen fruit you can buy? Well as an expansion on the meringue idea, I sometimes put a bag of 'forest fruits' (defrosted) into a baking dish and cover with a soft meringue mix and bake till the topping is browned but not hard.

Last year at the end of the mango season we got loads of them for next to nothing and I made mango and chilli chutney/jam. I didn't have a recipe, I kind of made it up as I went along. This is fab with all the things you mentioned maraia but favourite as an accompaniment to a curry and with deep fried brie.

Scanpans ... wonderful things. I am saving up for another one! I remember singing the praises of my Tefal pans a few years ago but they haven't lasted whereas I can't see that anything can go wrong with my Scanpans. They are quality with a capital Q!

You can make the choux buns and store them in an airtight container for a couple of days. I don't know about freezing them though.

Thanks Maraia. The little chat boxes can expand quite a lot you will find, just keep typing!

But on this site you can't exchange email addresses and you can't post the recipe unless it is your own and not copied from a book with copyright.

But if it is your own we would love to see it please. (The Ainsley one looks nice but I agree, it's not the same sort of thing)

Very interesting indeed. I thought that my blood was thinner now I live in a warmer climate which is why I feel the cold more. And I also thought I needed more salt because I live in a warm climate and sweat more. (Actually, trust me, I don't sweat ... I am far to ladylike to do anything like that!)

I buy poppadums (the sort you cook at home, not the already puffed up ones). I can serve them to coeliacs as they do not contain any gluten. I wonder if the wheat flour you are using is a bit too heavy. The flours listed in the ingredients are gram flour and rice flour. I suggest you experiment with these. Good luck.

david thegolfer, you aren't a newbie. You posted about Scanpan ... I now own a couple but you have to save up for them. They are worth it.

I'd like to see Maraia's recipe for red onion marmalade too but she may not be allowed to post it.

Ainsley has one on this site but it's not with red onions and the picture doesn't look all that great ... here's the link [link]

As far as I am concerned, yes, that's a no! Sorry. But don't take offence, if anyone had seen your post and read the article they would have responded I'm sure.

I never watched Eastenders when I lived in England but I do now ... I think we are a bit behind you - Shane Ritchie's character is a diamond and is about to get into deep water having just taken out a loan to help Kat's dad out of trouble ... and Den has just come home to discover that Sharon and Dennis are having it off ... OMG - the drama never ends!

Please don't tell me what happens

Daikon, mooli ... same thing I think too

You can use coconut milk to make ice cream too.

It will be gorgeous. I have cooked it and everyone loved it.

Good thinking rday. I use paper muffin cases because the muffins seem to keep fresh for a day or so but normally they all get eaten up so quickly ... why bother? And it's such a waste when you leave all the edges of the muffins stuck to the paper!

Hi. This is a bit of a long shot but I am going to Melbourne in a couple of weeks for a few days. Does anyone have any recommendations for places to eat?

Dunc H, as you live there I was wondering if you could help me?

Any help would be most gratefully received!

If you just want to make a gravy after you have taken your lamb out of the roasting tray then I would suggest you skim off any fat that's floating around. Then add some red wine and reduce a little. If there is not enough gravy from that then I would add some of my vegetable cooking water and thicken with cornflour if you want it thicker. (Make the cornflour into a paste with some of the liquid before adding it, then stir briskly or even use a balloon whisk.)

Oh and check your cornflour, I was horrified when I first started to cook for gluten free diets, some cornflour is NOT gluten free.

You should check out the link above Chef10. The sessions are selling out fast.

Hi! Are you battening down the hatches?

I am praying for everyone in Florida at this time.

I saw Jamie Oliver and Gary Rhodes in the big theatre. But I went to demonstrations by Ross Burden, Brian Turner, Leslie Waters, Tony Tobin .... and several others. They were just demos going on on various exhibitors' stands. It is such a great day out for a foodie.

Crowded? Yes!

We stayed in a B&B which I found on the internet; they offered free lifts to the NEC. Yes, buy the glass and have a great day.

I wish Erika all the luck in the world with developing your 'baby' Nick.

I hope you and Sue and the kids can move on to new things now. I just wish you happy and as healthy as it is possible for you to be xxx

Oh I am so envious! I love the Good Food Show. It's on from 23rd to 27th November. Here's their website tina!

[link]

It would be the only thing that would persuade me to go to England in November ...

'They' being flour mites I assume?

I would recommend you tip the flour out of the bag and into a plastic container (Tupperware type thing) as soon as you get home from shopping.

Seal the lid down carefully. It should be OK then.

Some people say you should put the flour in the freezer first but I'm not sure about that.

Don't keep the flour too long though, just buy smaller bags if you don't use it very quickly. Good luck.

I've always used the greaseproof paper method. But before I ice the cake I take it out and pierce it and drizzle with brandy on a daily basis for several days before icing it. Perhaps it's so full of booze that it's never dry!!!

I was given The Readers Digest Cookery Year when I got married. It's still one of the books I turn to and my copy is falling to pieces. I have seen a recent edition and it has been updated. I think it's a wonderful book.

Also, Delia of course, she's reliable.

Yes I agree tampernaide. I am sure they leave a huge 'safety net' when setting the use by date. I personally rely on my nose in judging when things are 'off'. I am very careful with storing cold rice though and also home made flavoured oils. I have heard they can be dangerous.

Yes, rhubarb crumble is right. Actually I always add a little ginger to mine but I forgot to put that in. Anyway, Essex Girl got it.

Oh you will be creating wonderful things in no time if you are this enthusiastic! Go for it.

If it doesn't taste nice don't drink it, use it for making scones or, as suggested by Fudge's Mum, pancakes. I don't think it will do you any harm so not to worry. I mean yoghurt is positively good for you and that's basically milk.

I buy skimmed milk for myself and semi skimmed for my husband. The skimmed seems to last longer before it starts smelling and tasting a bit 'off'. As Banana says, it's probably the cream that turns first.

But I wouldn't stress about it and anyway, doesn't everything have a 'use by' date on it in England?

OK then.

Rhubarb, caster sugar, plain flour, butter

Didn't it come with a recipe book or leaflet? If so I would recommend you try some from that till you get to know the machine and then start experimenting when you have some experience with it.

Where do you get all this programming info from TD?

Go on Loo, set a new challenge and we will wait till Lizzie gets back to give us the answer to hers.

The only things I use colouring in are my pasta and icing. For pasta I use beetroot and spinach as you say. Also you can use squid ink to make it black but I have never dared!

For icing I use commercial food colourings but you only need a teeny weeny drop.

I find kids go hyper on bought ice cream, bought brightly coloured jelly, and smarties.

marie, can you tell us why you don't like reheating potatoes? I freeze cottage pies and fish pies with mashed potatoes on top. They taste fine when defrosted and reheated. It is a health issue?

Too technical for me! And I don't suppose it would work in Australia. But what fun. Next time I'm in England I will definitely try this.

They sell them in supermarkets. It says nibbed hazlenuts on the label. And yes, they are finely chopped rather than powdered or ground. So you could easily make your own in one of those wizzer gizmos.

Thanks Vic. That is very clever and as I have lots of extremely old cookery books I will definitely be using it.

Yes OK molly but to use them just as servers I have found a trick. You can cook your meat or your veg or whatever to your liking. Before you serve make sure your sizzling platters are smoking hot. Then put the meat/veg on and just before you take them to the table throw over some rice wine or saki or even just some soy ... anything cold ... they sizzle spectacularly!

Hello Cass and welcome to the site, I hope you enjoy it here.

Jan, Nev, Rosti, Wags, Ohforgodssake - what do you think? Shall we start a new challenge?

Not really Fordy, sorry.

There's a cool quiz here (nothing to do with muffins) [link]

Hot or cold, Jon?

Well I am surprised Jeannine because onions are quite sweet usually. Do you mean sour? Perhaps it tastes bitter rather than sour.

I'm not sure what to suggest really. To counteract sour I would use sugar but I can't see why onions should taste sour. Try sugar and see what happens.

Sorry, that's the best I can do.

Ah but on the Internet the miles mean nothing! And it was a pleasure.

Thanks for that Rosti. I have looked at the recipe. I don't fancy pears in it though!

However you have inspired me to try and make my own.

You should jump in more often wags! How long is Lizzie away for Rosti? Should we start another one in the meantime?

I love strong cheddar with dark chocolate spread. On home made white bread. But I can't find dark chocolate spread any more

I like the look of those jax. My Scanpans don't go in the dishwasher either but who cares, they only need a quick wipe out.

Are you talking about the Chinese style ones with wooden trays under them?

If you like rare steak there is no reason why you couldn't cook it on the sizzler. I would suggest you cut the steak into thin strips (stir fry type strips) and then heat the sizzler platters till smoking having oiled them lightly. I would have had the steak strips marinating while the platters heat. Then chuck the steak on the smoking hot platters, put them on the wooden bases (you get some special holders to do this) and take to the table.

I have had mine for ages and the wooden bases are very singed now but still work and have 'character'!

When you clean up the platters afterwards I recommend you spray them with oil before putting away for storage, it stops them going rusty.

Ooops, I just re-read the thread and cat says you can keep it in the freezer for one week. But surely, if it's frozen it would keep for much longer than that?

Where has cat gone? Does anyone else know how long home made coconut cream will keep?

I never even wondered about the calorie count, Johel, I just knew it was a fab cheese. But I did a search for information and it looks like you are right, it seems to be low fat.

[link]

Gram flour is chick pea flour

I use one egg per 4 oz plain flour (which would be 1 egg per 100g of flour now I think). I add a pinch of salt and half a pint of milk.

I increase those ingredients proportionally depending on how many I am catering for. I reckon the basic recipe should serve 4 but I always make more!

Then I follow the same method, get the oiled tins or tin really smoking hot before adding the batter. I cook them till they are very brown as I find that they don't 'fall' so quickly if they have a really crisp crust.

Nearly a year between the question and the answer and the person who asked the question saw the answer. Well that must be a record. So many times I and other regular posters have answered a question and have never known whether the person who asked it ever saw the reply!

Well done ohforgodssake and Jessica.

Congratulations Fordy!

I understand now baiji. But I think they should make that clear in the recipe for those of us who haven't seen Brian making it. Using the word 'cup' automatically brings to mind the American or Australian cup measurement.

I have my own way of making Yorkies and they are always great so I am not about to change my method! No matter what anyone posts or demonstrates on TV. Yeah, set in my ways, that's me!!!!

That's a great idea Jini. I love peeled broccoli stalk and also cauliflower stalk. I eat them raw as a cook's treat. I might add them to my next soup. Cheers!

The Australian version of Ready Steady Cook is on every weekday on free TV and they have just shown Jamies School Dinners. But I agree with Dunc, you need to pay for Foxtel or Austar to get the Lifestyle Food Channel which shows Good Food Live every weekeday (a week or two later than you see it in England). It's quite like UKTV Food in that it has lots of repeats but it also has a good variety of programmes from round the world (quite a lot of English ones).

Whereabouts do you live Dunc? And can you recommend a good Aussie monthly food magazine? (I'm on the Sunshine Coast hinterland, QLD)

It does seem strange to me that we are getting a Brian Turner recipe with cup measurements.

This might help

[link]

My coconut scraper has arrived, along with a really lovely little book full of information about coconuts and how to deal with them and several fantastic recipes. I can't wait to get cooking.

The coconut scraper is fabulous. It is made of wood with a metal scraper at each end. It's a bit bigger than a potato peeler but double ended. One end is a curved corrugated blade and the other end is a series of tines with tiny tubes at the end. Gosh it's hard to describe! I wish I could post a link to a photograph of it but I tried before and it doesn't seem to work.

I can't wait to buy another coconut now and start experimenting. Cat, if you make your own coconut cream and don't use it all at once do you know how long it will keep for?

You have to cook it Two lilos and then store it, covered. Then you steam it again on Christmas Day. I think it would be OK to make it now and keep it if you wanted to but there is a day called Stir Up Sunday which is the traditional day for making your pudding, every member of the family should give it a stir.

I have found a link which gives you all the info plus another recipe. This one needs a lot longer steaming time than Nigel Slater's recipe but to me it has the advantage of using vegetarian suet. I guess you could just replace the suet in Nigel's recipe with the veggie type.

[link]

Well done Lizzie. It's the easiest and quickest sweet and sour sauce recipe ever. I use it a lot with variations.

Your turn.

What a fantastic idea Wigglywormy. I have a cookie recipe that I use to make hanging decorations for the Christmas tree. They can be ginger or not. I will have to look in my piles of notes to find it for you. These cookies hang on the tree for 12 days or so ... they should be ideal. It's now nearly 1 a.m. in Oz. I will look in the morning. Night night

Yes

And just trim the crusty bit off the edge ... not the ends, just the rolling edge if you see what I mean

I think she found it tina!

No

Tana Ramsay made tomato ice cream on GFL and nobody seemed to like it much if I remember rightly!

How about this?

Orange juice
Lemon juice
White wine vinegar
Sugar
Tomato puree
Light soy sauce
Salt
Cornflour
Water

salt and pepper
yoghurt
lemon
tomatoes
mayonnaise
tomatoe puree
basil

Heavens to Murgatroyd, that's one wierd ice cream and I certainly won't be stopping you to buy one essex girl, thanks all the same!!!!

I posted here earlier when the boards were closed but it hasn't appeared. You go tina, I haven't a clue!

Yes Tina, ridiculously expensive really, but I spent quite a lot on Tefal pans a few years ago and they are supposed to last for ages but they haven't. I only use wooden or plastic utensils in them and the coating is wearing off. I think it may be because of using salt and sugar etc. which are abrasive.

DeepFried, yes of course you can. I have Le Crueset (all presents as they too are expensive!!!). But the frying pan has a wooden handle. The others need oven gloves to pick up ... and muscles!

Well it is either a very strange ice cream or a string of weird onions!

I am sure jennifer is right on this one. Fruit cakes are made with dried fruit, not fresh. I have made a rhubarb cake (Nigella Lawson) with fresh rhubarb and of course banana cakes use fresh bananas. You can put fresh berries in muffins. But a 'fruit cake' is made with dried fruit as in Christmas Cake and Wedding Cake.

Have another go lamf, baking a great cake is so rewarding. Good luck.

I will let you know what it's like when it arrives

You should try and get this book 'The Fat of the Land' by John Seymour. ISBN 0571105327

It's a great read even if you never achieve complete self sufficiency. There's another book by the same man called 'Self Sufficiency: the science and art of producing and preserving your own food'.

Amazon have it [link]

I have discovered Scanpan ... they are very expensive but absolutely marvellous. I am collecting them gradually - very gradually. They say you shouldn't use that spray oil in them, not sure why but I don't.

I buy the non stick ones, trust me, they are amazing.

Here's a link so you can see what they are like [link]

Well surely you make the meringue in the normal way, with whipped egg whites and caster sugar which you then cook and leave to cool. Then you crush them up to make your Eton Mess. Or you can buy them ready made. I hope I'm not wildly off track here, I haven't seen the programme yet!

I know the link I posted wasn't very helpful, Light, but I just wanted to make sure you didn't wander into the countryside and gather things that would, at the very least, made you extrememly ill!

Books are good but a real live expert guide is better.

If you go for a book perhaps The Easy Edible Mushroom Guide by David Pegler might be a good one to start with.

Available on Amazon [link]

You have to be careful! See this link [link]

That's great news Vic, it would be fun to be able to post pictures of our own creations. Yes, Flickr is a great site too, I know a number of bloggers who use it all the time.

No that doesn't work. It was a link to a photo which I put on the internet via photobucket. Hey ho ... lots of places allow these links

Experiment
[IMG][link]

Could we get this facility here perhaps?

I belong to a forum where you can post your own food photos. We are not professional photographers but our food looks really great without enhancements (well nearly always)

Yes, Jan-Ice we see Great Food Live here. I think it's a week after it's shown in England. It's on a channel called Lifestyle Food which also airs lots of other foodie programmes, American, Australian, English ... huge variety. They show a New Zealand one presented by a cheery, fairly large lady who cooks 'home' type things. She's a laugh. Sorry, I've forgotten what it's called but you probably know it.

Hi Mrs. WW, hope all is well with you.

Oh my! I bought a coconut and there's a special offer on the label. You send for the cook book and you get a 'free authentic coconut scraper'

I'm sending off tomorrow!!!

If you need to be wheat free because of coeliacs then you need to make your bread in a different bread machine.

I use gluten free bread mixes and a different loaf tin. They are fine.

Rice Krispies are good for breakfast.

Never trust cornflour, some cornflour contains gluten, don't ask me why but it's a minefield!

Clare you can tell when they are past their best ... either they go mouldy or they taste stale.

I make cakes all the time but there are only two of us in our household unless we have visitors. I tend to cut big cakes in half and freeze half or make muffins or cup cakes and freeze some. They de-frost really well.

Fruit cakes keep for ages whatever fruit you put in them. I have never put fresh fruit in a fruit cake though so can't answer that bit.

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I am sorry if you were disappointed amiacook! But hollandaise is a great sauce.

Aberdeen ... autumn there then. My beloved brother lives in Shetland and is getting right peeee' d off with the weather up there. No summer this year. Hope it's not so bad with you.

Sanatarium marmite is not marmite. That's the one I can get here.

Vegemite is sweeter than Marmite ... and Sanatarium marmite is ... Oh I dunno ... just NOT Marmite!

When I went to South Africa it was with my ex husband and he was on a business trip. I was along for the ride.

When in Durban I had the BEST time! A rugby team were staying in the same hotel as us ... we played backgammon and table tennis and cards while my husband was off on business.

I hope you have a lovely visit to Australia in January

Oh Mosey! I have just looked at my post, I didn't mean threat!!!! Sorry, I meant thread.

Hi Mosey. I have just caught up with this threat. We live on the Sunshine Coast, just over an hour north of Brisbane, QLD. We love it here.

I visited South Africa years ago and thought it was beautiful (well most of it was) and have always wanted to visit again. It's on our list of places to visit .. whereabouts do you live?

Thanks cat. I have never seen the original grater for sale but I have seen it used on TV programmes, it looks great fun (or should that be grate fun?). I will buy a coconut tomorrow, I think I will use my microplane grater. Tomorrow night I am making Laksa so instead of using a tin of coconut cream as I usually do I will make my own. What fun!

I can see why you like that recipe Watching William!

And those links you posted were absolutely fascinating jvm1. I wonder where you buy the jellyfish, presumably at Asian supermarkets.

Boney, there are dangerous jellyfish at certain times of the year on the Queensland coast but further north than we are. We often see turtles in our rivers and I have seen huge ones on the Great Barrier Reef. I don't think sharks eat turtles, well I have never heard of it. I love turtles, they are amazing to watch. I would never eat one!

My sister lives near Bath and she uses Riverford too. You can change your order online week by week if you want to or you can just have a regular box containing what's best at the time. When I was staying with her in August I used everything that came (except the artichokes) and it was all fabulous.

I haven't seen the advert but I'm sure the sauce will be hollandaise. If you type 'hollandaise sauce' in the search bar and select 'recipes' from the drop down menu you will find lots of dishes which include recipes for hollandaise. Good luck.

Further to my last post, Jan-Ice, I researched buying Marmite in Australia back in February. I found this site www.bluethistle.com.au and I contacted them enquiring about Marmite. I received an email from a company called Chocolate Boulevard (they don't seem to have a website) who had received my enquiry via Blue Thistle. They said

Quote
Your contact details have been passed onto me by Blue Thistle in regards to a enquiry you made about marmite.

125g Jar Marmite by Unilever costs $10.95 each * we do not carry this and will need to be ordered in.

125g Jar Ourmate by Unilever costs $6.95 each (this is always in stock)

The only difference in the products is the label. Our supplier has changed the name due to Sanitarium owning the rights to the name Marmite in Australia.


We can arrange delivery via Australia Post and freight would depend on volume and weight of goods ordered.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks
Juanita Heath
Director - Georgia Sarah Pty Ltd
Unquote

I never followed this up but perhaps you might like to, it will surely be cheaper via Australia Post to NZ. Good luck.

I totally agree Jan-Ice. We can get Vegemite here and also a product called Marmite but it's not Marmite at all.

Nice one jvm1. That made me laugh!

I never thought of trying that jvm1. So I am trying it now. It's 3 p.m. here so .... ummm ... 6 a.m. in UK.

-----, that is very interesting. I am confused about horizontally and vertically though. When I have seen coconuts being grated on those machines you talk about they seem to lie them on the side and grate them. That would be horizontally? But if you stood it up right then it would be vertically ... so I am not sure which way to do it for maximum milk. I can get cheap fresh coconut and would far rather use your tips because at the moment I use the canned coconut cream. Thanks for posting this interesting information.

Hi Mrs-penrhos, I saw your post the other day and when I logged into Delia's website the recipe of the day was for quick bramble jelly and I immediately thought of you. But because of the opening hours on here I could not post the link ... it is so annoying. I often see posts I want to respond to but can't and by the time the site is open I have either forgotten or gone to bed!

Anyway, here is the link for the bramble jelly, it looks quick, easy and delicious.

[link]

I think that info might be out of date Spadge. I believe veal is humanely produced these days. I don't eat meat anyway so I shouldn't really be putting my oar in here.

That is interesting Livewire, thanks. We have pillows filled with buckwheat which I bought from a TV shopping channel. They are supposed to be very good for your posture I think but they are so noisy! Every time I turned over my pillow woke me up. We don't use them any more. Perhaps I should tip out the buckwheat and cook it ..... only joking!

I watch Martha occasionally here in Oz. She doesn't exactly make one laugh! But she shows some great tips and things. The only thing is the show is SO American, not that I have anything against Americans, far from it. Another show I find too American is one called NapaStyle with Michael Chiarello or something similar. It's got great recipes and he's a really good presenter but it's OTT somehow. Is it me?

Interestingly an electric frying pan is often part of the equipment supplied in self catering accommodation over here. I had never used one before but they are really good.

Hi TerryDox, nice to see you again.

Hi Mosey, where in Oz does your stepson live? Hi Rosti, ha ha ha to your post! That is funny. The measures I have taken, ie the plastic containers, are working so far so I haven't had to resort to the freezer which is just as well as I don't eat meat!!!

Quick and dirty, kitu?

Great reply, thanks Livewire.

Strangely, American cups and Australian cups are different just to add to the confusion. I tend to guesstimate these days!

Thanks for the bay leaf tip, Frexy. I have a little bay tree and will put a sprig in the larder. That's also a good idea about putting a new bag of flour in the freezer. Thanks wor Jackie. What hot and humid country do you live in Mosey?

I'm not really sure what they are goldie. I just found this product in the supermarket which treats them (well it's rather like fly paper, they are attracted to it and then they stick ... gross I know). Anyway I bought a pack just in case and put one in my larder and, lo and behold, I caught some moths. Next time I did a major clean I found a couple of caterpillar type thingies which rather freaked me out. Anyway, at the moment I seem to be squeaky clean in my pantry, thanks to my plastic container fetish!!!

Goodness George, what a fantastically helpful response. I was just going to say that I cook for two coeliacs and use cornflour and rice flour a lot (but watch out with cornflour - some of it is not gluten free!). I buy gluten free pasta which everyone likes, it's based on rice flour. I make gluten free cakes using ground almonds a lot, they are moist, rich cakes. Nigella's Clementine cake is a good one [link] You might also like to look at www.celiac.com. Good luck Nancy.

I'll call them tomorrow jac!

I have a juicer which I use a lot but not as much as I would if it was easier to clean. It's not a Jack Lalanne ... it's a Breville. If you are serious about juicing and are interested in the health benefits then I recommend you get 'Raw Juices Can Save Your Life' by Dr Sandra Cabot, isbn 0958613710. As some of you may know my husband had prostate cancer which was causing severe problems in the waterworks department ... I made him the diuretic juice from this book and it was almost like a miracle! He noticed an improvement in his function (sorry if this is too much information) the very next day!

I am sure they will sort it out soon. I quite like this new look but there are some things that need sorting. Perhaps they should have done a bit more testing before they went 'live'.

Since I have lived here in Queensland where it is generally warm and humid I have learnt to keep everything in 'tupperware' containers. They sell loads of different ones over here and I have a large selection in my larder. I don't store anything in bags any more. I had an infestation of flour mites, oh that was so YUK. Then I got pantry moths .... even worse! I cleaned my larder completely and now take everything out of its bag as soon as I get it home. It's worth it! I never have to chuck anything out now and as the containers are dishwashable and go on for ever I am actually saving money. Well that's what I tell my husband when he asks 'Do we really need another plastic container?'!!!

Oh you wouldn't have recognised me, I had foils in!

Glad to hear I'm not the only one jennifer264! I haven't tried deleting yet ... too busy just now. This is no help to Geoffg though, unfortunately. Sorry Geoff

Goodness Geoffg, you are right, Alex Mackay has disappeared from the list of chefs. I am sure he used to be there and I put one or two of his recipes in 'My Recipe Box' on this site. I have just gone to have a look and I now have heaps of recipes I never put there, it's full of stuff I don't want and don't need. I just don't understand it. I will spend some time soon deleting all but the ones I actually chose to put there!

So then I thought I would try and be a bit more helpful and searched the recipes for steak ones, and the first thing that came up was Zucchini and Artichoke Frittata. Oh dear! I think there may be some teething problems on the site since the update.

Are you Australian or English jac? I get my hair done at Mint in Mooloolaba and have an appointment tomorrow. Oh my goodness, it's a small world!!!

Have you ever tried Le Relais in Flaxton? Superb place. And The Terrace just outside Maleney is also great. I will have a look at the Marrochydore places you recommend, thanks.

Hey jac ... I live on the Sunshine Coast too! Well, hinterland. We go to England in the summer, not the winter. Christmas in England would be just too cold for us these days!

Where are your favourite eating places here?

Oh I think perhaps we should start a new thread for Sunshine Coast restaurants or this will get confusing!

Sorry I don't have any suggestions for London restaurants but you seem to have had some good guidance already.

You can find it here Ridge

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Huh! Cheers for that TD. Now I know what I'm missing and I have to stay up all night to listen to the Ashes. But, hey, I still don't regret moving to Queensland and I can still chat to all you on UKTV Food which means a lot

Steamboat is a way of serving food. We had it in Brunei. I suppose it's like an Eastern fondue. You have raw meat/fish/veggies and you cook your own choice of ingredients in broth which is boiling over a burner on the table. At the end of the meal the broth has become a delicious soup in theory. We also had noodles to cook in ours and two different broths, one meat based and the other fish based. It was fun and delicious.

pieeater, someone is selling a steamboat set on ebay Australia, perhaps you could search ebay UK? FYI here is the link [link]

Hi Livewire, nice to see you again. Yes, sorry, I should have read your post a bit better. I see Rambutans are on there, they are my husband's favourite.

Hi spangled! Nice to see you again.

Well I'm not sure about that link Livewire. The dragonfruit I have seen doesn't look like that at all. If you have a look here you will see what I know as dragonfruit

[link]

As for the fruit on the link you posted .... well it's a new one on me!

Since replying I have searched and this looks like a useful site to start from, Kirsty. Seems that IBS people need to watch their gluten so not much different from what I have to do. Check it out [link]

I don't know anything about IBS Kirsty, sorry. But I do lots of children's parties and they have to be lactose and gluten free. It does make it harder but it's not impossible and I quite enjoy the challenge. There are hundreds of websites that you can use for help ... just google for them. It's fun, trust me! If you make it a chore it will be a chore, if you make it a challenge it will be fun. Good luck and have a great party

What do you recommend as a good knife sharpener Maxine? Hubby can sharpen mine with a steel but I just can't get the hang of it. Rob, I agree with most of the above except I don't have and don't need a microwave. But I need a microplane grater for nearly every meal. My measuring jug and my potato ricer are in constant use too. I have an ice cream maker and love it and use it a lot, and a juicer which I use less (pain to clean up). Could not cope without my Braun Multipractic and my food processor which I bought a citrus juicer attachment for.

That's a kind thought jennifer but Australia is really really strict about bringing foodstuff in. You aren't allowed to bring honey or any sort of fruit or peanuts etc. etc. I am sure they would balk at sourdough starter! When I get back I will figure out how to get going. Thanks for your help.

I have bookmarked that site to refer to when I get home in August. Thank you so much jennifer

Thanks Kamila

I've never tried sourdough. I saw it being made in America and even had corn chowder served in a sourdough loaf which was delicious. How do you start it Jennifer?

There are lots of meringue recipes on this site Loo Loo. Try this one for really basic meringues but look in the recipe section for all sorts of other ideas.
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Chris, how brave of you! I have never tried those but they look fantastic. I mostly make basic every day breads from Paul's book. I love the cottage loaf recipe and the crusty cob. The ingredients are practically the same ... but that applies to lots of the basic recipes.

I long to try the Brie and Brioche Parcels (page 45) but worry about our cholesterol levels!

Well I can't argue with PH ... THE man when it comes to bread. I bake nearly all my own bread. Mostly my rolls come out crispy but once they have been out of the oven for a while their crust gets softer. I use around the same quantities as Paul, well, I would, I use his book! But I cook at 220 ... maybe my oven is just different

Kamila, could you give us quantities for this please? Ie, what proportion of milk to butter?

You can make your own double cream. You need one of these machines (this is just an example I found on Ebay, I am sure there are others around) [link]

Gary Rhodes does a fab pie that's like steak and kidney but with mushrooms. Personally my favourite is mushroom stroganoff ... I just use a normal stroganoff recipe and then divide it into two, put flash fried beef strips into hubby's and have a meat free version for me. With rice and a crispy salad, it's hard to beat!

I love Margaritas ... can you give me the recipe? Pretty please

Thank you so much ChockyNicola. As my sister lives near Bath she might be able to fine that Italian, but I would love to go to The Hole in the Wall. I remember when I was little my parents going to see Flanders and Swann at the theatre in Bath and then going on to eat at the Hole in the Wall and Flanders and Swann were eating there too. They were so excited and told us kids all about it next day. It didn't mean much to us then but I have never forgotten their joy! Strange what you remember innit?

Was it very expensive ChockyNicola? I would like to got there for my birthday with a party of about 6-8.

Chop it and freeze it in ice cube trays in a teeny bit of water, then you don't have do de-frost heaps at a time, just enough for one dish

I will look out for that, Tim5.

Bill Granger and Neil Perry are great Aussie TV chefs and also Peter Evans. There are lots of others but they are the first that spring to mind.

I bought a state of the art gas barbecue when we came here 2 years ago and it is wonderful. But not much different from cooking in the kitchen I have to admit, just doing the same thing outside! And we have the weather for it, so why not?

We are lucky in Australia as we get a lot of programmes from other countries. We get lots of UK ones - Ready Steady Cook, Great Food Live, Sophie's Herbs, Sophies Weekends, Tamasin's Weekends, Kitchen Invaders, and lots, lots more. But we also get some from South Africa and lots from America. Australia have just started their own version of Ready Steady Cook. I have only seen it once but it was fun. Their larders are much more extensive than the UK larders and they need a bit of practice but I am sure it will develop into a good show. Perhaps the UK will buy it soon!

Not packed yet! Gimme a break. Actually I don't have to take too much with me as my warm clothes are all stored at my step daughter's house. Cunning, huh?

Has anyone ever been to The Hole In The Wall? I remember my parents going there in the late '60s. It's still there and I wondered whether it is still as good as they used to say it was.

Here's a link to a site which has some reviews of Ed Baines' Restaurant. Not using Tinyurl this time. Better safe than sorry! [link]

We get Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals over here in Oz. I like watching it. I am sure they get Nigella in America.

You can always trust Mary Berry. She is brilliant!

I have a v-slicer too. I use it all the time. I feel safe with it as it has a guard. I do remember Sylv once saying that her plastic v-slicer had broken when she was using it and she got cut badly so I have used mine cautiously since, but I am not really scared of it. I have had it for years and years (bought at a very early BBC Good Food Show)

What search engine do you use, Frexy? I've tried Ask Jeeves and Google but I can't find it!

Thanks for letting us know Sonia. I am so pleased you are OK.

Thanks for the recommendations Victoria. I don't think you can get from Bath to Bristol in 10 minutes but I have looked at the Olive Shed website. We will be visiting Bristol as I have a niece and a nephew living there.

I am getting so excited about going back to England now ... only 11 more sleeps!

Sonia, I hope you have been to the doctor or the hospital now. I have been thinking of you. Hope you are OK and please let us know as soon as you are up to it. Healing thoughts are coming to you from Australia!

Sonia you will be fine. You really need to get it dealt with as if you let it stay there you could get an infection. Go to A&E or phone your GP. Do it NOW!

Thank you Tony, I have found the website for La Tasca in Bath. It looks great. My sister lives near Bath ... I will recommend it to her. Perhaps she can check it out for me!

Doctor I think. If bread won't dislodge it I can't suggest anything else. How annoying for you, I hope you get it sorted out soon.

I re-heat cold rice in a little oil and some butter, adding left over peas and bits and pieces if I have them. If I haven't any left over onion I cook some finely chopped onion and add that. Then I make an omelette in the pan I cooked the onions in and roll it into a swiss roll shape and thinly slice it and toss that into the rice. I add soy and serve. It is always loverly!

No I am planning on self catering or staying with rellies most of the time! Eating out in England is so expensive and rather disappointing compared to eating out in Australia. Last year we were shocked at the prices we paid and we had overcooked fish and soggy chips etc. etc.

Thank you so much for the link to the menus at Fishworks, WOW! I really wanna go there now .... yummy.

Thanks Helen. I have had a look. It doesn't give any prices ... ominous! Has anyone been there?

I was watching GFL today and Martin Blunos was on and Jeni said 'Hurry up and open your restaurant' so I assume Lettonie has closed or changed hands, does anyone know?

Thanks tas. I too love Mitch Tonks but didn't realise his restaurant was in Bath. Will try and find his website.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I know Martin Blunos's Lettonie is in the area. Has any one been there? Is it exhorbitantly expensive? I always like his style on GFL. Are there any other lovely places to go? I will be in England on my birthday in July and will be staying with my sister near Bath. I wanna be spoilt but have to prod in the right direction! Help me, please ...

City Bay Views is absolutely brilliant, I endorse Nick's recommendation. It is not cheap though.

I have a juicer even though I live in Australia! It's a Breville and I love it. It is a bit of a pain to clean but as honeyblonde says, if you do it straight away it's not that bad really and (I kid you not) you do get better at it!

Raw Juices Can Save Your Life by Dr Sandra Cabot is a marvellous book. It's very expensive for a small paperback but it is well worth having, belive me.

[link]

This site tells you how to make SRF. Can you buy molasses? That would do instead of black treacle I think.

Wait till you see him eating puffer fish!

Yes, I have the book. I watched the series and read the book more or less at the same time. I enjoyed it too.

Lady R, I used to have an Aga when I lived in England. They were selling woks on QVC and several times I asked if they were suitable for Agas and every time they said no. You might like to look at buying an electric wok. My niece in Brisbane has one and it is really good.

Perhaps they aren't husband and wife?

Another favourite dipper for cheese fondue in our house is radishes. I usually put out a selection of things and the bread always goes first! I think it's because the cheese sticks to it really well so you get more. It tends to slide off the veggies. I use a similar recipe to Blondie and have tried it without the cornflour but it's much better with.

I suggest you remove it from the freezer about 20 minutes before you want to serve it.

Glad to hear it Sugarpuff. It impresses the *....* out of people doesn't it? And so easy and scrumptious. Your boy must take after you, good taste. Did you hear about the man who said to his wife 'Our son got his brains from me'. His wife agreed saying 'Yes, I know, I still have mine'.

I always use Delia's recipe now. It keeps and never separates and I think it is just lovely. [link]

AlyshaJane first brought it to our attention. Isn't it fab? Just go to www.tinyurl.com. It's so easy and so clever

Now that, Alysha, is really, really clever!

Bacon, perhaps you should start a new thread on the Eating Out topic and I could respond to you there, rather than highjacking ahp's mandarin thread?

Nigella's Clementine cake. I am sure it would work just as well with mandarins. It is delicious and very useful for me as it is wheat and gluten free. [link]

Have either of you emailed UKF and told them about this error?

Snowy, are you cooking for a long time on a low heat on the hob? If so, why don't you get the casserole up to heat on the hob and then transfer to a low oven for the remainder of the cooking time? That might work.

Nick and Mrs WW, I don't use meat in my casseroles but I always sautee off the veggies before adding the stock. Never tried using Guinness, that's a good idea. I wonder if I can get it out here?

[link]

This might be a good place to start, Toties

Snowy I have just tried Livewire's link again and it is working. Are you highlighting and copying the URL and then pasting it into your address bar?

There seem to be two ways to spell this dish and I eventually found a link by typing escalivada. Try this:

[link]

Mine was given to me by my husband. It has a soppy inscription which I will keep to myself! We are still married.

Well done, Livewire!

I have the book that accompanied the series (back in 1989!).

It is called 'The Victorian Kitchen' (no suprise there!) and it's by Jennifer Davies. Published by BBC Books ISBN 0563206853.

It's a lovely book.

Sorry, that long link has made the thread wide and difficult to read, my apologies

Before I managed to find proper bread flour out here in Oz I was struggling with my bread making. Then Kirsten sent me some dough improver which made a husge difference. It comes from Lakeland and this is the link
[link]

Well somebody did post the recipe for you coziq but it has been deleted for copyright reasons. We are not allowed to post recipes unless they are our own. You might try the library and borrow Nigella Bites. I have had a look on her website but can't see the choc lime cheescake recipe there.

Oh dear, I was expecting my two great nephews and great niece for the weekend and I've bought 16 pots of yoghurt. Now they aren't coming. They are the flavoured yoghurts and Keith and I just don't eat them. Can I freeze them? Or are they destined for the bin?

There's a great fish restaurant called 'Live Bait' in Leeds

Have you visited their website crisp monster? It is indeed a closely guarded secret! [link]

You might get a result if you used anchovies and butter and then added some spices, pepper and perhaps some cumin, and whizzed with one of those hand held blenders. Then you could taste and add a bit more of this and a bit more of that till you get the sort of paste you are looking for.

Actually, this is a very interesting idea, making your own. We love the stuff and I haven't actually seen it for sale over here, I might have a go myself!

My Late Lunch with Ross has been so much fun to organise and plan. It has taken up a lot of time but I have enjoyed every minute of it. I would never have imagined myself organising something like this till it just seemed to happen.

I meet Ross off his plane on Thursday morning. And I am not even nervous. Doing this has given me so much confidence! He will be lovely and we will get on like a house on fire, I just know it.

Keith is really looking forward to it too so everything is fine here. Papers are covering the event, TV local news might but I guess it depends on what is newsworthy that day.

I am SO looking forward to it. And I promise to send a full report when it's over. Thanks all, for your interest and support.

I'd suggest you buy whipping cream cyngler. Delicious stuff, no additives! Goodness, Kraft Foods recommended this site? We are getting well known, amazing.

And welcome to the site by the way. Glad to have you with us.

You need 16 friends ideally. And you don't have to have a big dining table, he can do a buffet style one, it says on the website.

I have had three write ups in the press about this Late Lunch and today I had a call from a Brisbane based paper called the Courier Mail. They want to cover the event on the day with photographer. And also the local TV station are thinking about covering it too. I never realised it would get this big. I am so excited and so nervous ...

Keith scanned the newpaper articles which include photos but there is no way I can show them to you, such a shame.

I am impressed BeccaNurse! Even though Australia is on the same voltage as England, when we moved out here I didn't bring any of my electrical stuff, not even hairdryer.

Why? Well so I could get all new ones, of course! And I did and I'm pleased with them all except the fridge and freezer which aren't nearly as good as the Siemens ones I had in England. I just want an ice cream machine now ... Father Christmas let me down by leaving it too late and they were all sold out. Men!

Yes they are good Alysha. I wonder if it's possible to hire them in UK? You could look into that Scarborough Cookie. In Thailand if you go out for a meal they always seem to serve the rice from one of those electric rice cookers.

Yeah Lesley 1621! They would sue me!!!!!!

Actually I have managed to find nearly everything now (Australians are so so helpful and lovely!). Most of the things I cannot source I have found a substitute for. Thanks Alysha for your brill input.

I will report in full after the event. Ross arrives on the 20th ... OMG! only 8 more days.

I make this often, it's really popular. In fact, instead of a birthday cake, this is what my hubby wanted on his 70th!

I thought 'The Best' was a lovely programme and Sylvana seemed to get on really well with Paul and Ben. Was there a fierce competetive element to this programme or were they all cool about whether they won or not? They were all pretty level in the end as I remember it. I can't wait for this programmme to be snapped up by our Aussie cooking channel! Well done Sylvana. (Oh and any comments or inside information about those two lovely men you worked with?)

And now I think I will definitely stay up till gone midnight tomorrow and join the chat.

Yes we do

I am a great admirer of Sylvana too, loved her in The Best. Question is .... do I stay up till half past midnight to join the chat?

Yes we get it. It's shown every day (twice) and normally it's one week behind yours. But over Christmas and New Year we have had all sorts of old stuff, fascinating. But we don't see GFB. (Oh, and you have to have pay TV to see it, that's the equivalent of satellite I think)

Thanks Alysha for such constructive suggestions.

Actually one of the journalists who has written about me gave me a restaurant contact, very useful. And I have been down to Brissy Chinatown and found most of the things I need there but only frozen lotus root.

Will definitely check out those two websites today though, many, many thanks.

Oh Relish! You are so so funny. I am charging money for this ... it has to be PERFECT!

But normally, that's exactly what we would do, no worries!

Yup, it's all his fault.

I will get it sorted! And I will let you know how it goes, when it's gone. No worries .... as we say out here

Oh I was just thinking about hosting a Late Lunch ... nothing special

Yes, I know what you mean vash ... you feel you have an obligation to keep on feeding the xxxx thing. Nice idea, BAD experience (IMHO before I get jumped on)

Heavens to Murgatroyd, I am feeling flushed with success! I haven't looked at this site but Georgie posted it in March 2004. Hope it helps.

[link]

Yes I am sure there is one on this site from a couple of years ago ... I will search for you. Actually I bet Rustie will be able to find it long before I do. So watch this space!

I remember doing the same thing with a live yoghurt culture which just grew and grew and got so scary! You were supposed to exchange it with friends and neighbours but it overtook me and I didn't like to kill it .... softie that I am.

Sympathy winging its way across the miles, Terry. And if you were thinking what I was thinking earlier, phew, it's gone.

Boundary Mill sounds a bit like a factory outlet village. Am I close? Bargain prices?

Oh, and one more. Fresh lotus root. I can get frozen ...

Oh no! A sniffle, that's major in man speak. Poor old you. No idea what you are talking about when you say Boundary Mills, sorry! But it sounds like a shopping place. However, if you are sick you really should stay at home with hot toddies I think.

Aaaaw, Terry! You will get over it ....

Hey you lot who live in Oz like me, can you possibly guide me to a supplier of taro, also known as dasheen or cocoyam? I also need to find chilli flowers (my chillies are past the flowering stage now) and chrysanthemum leaves and flowers. Oh, and fermented wheat flour, also known as beng fun. Would any of you know of a place I could perhaps get them mail order? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Terry haven't you ever heard that expression, 'you only regret what you don't do'? Oh it is so true!

I didn't buy an ice cream machine when I saw it ... thought I'd get Keith to buy it for me for Christmas. Huh! Sold out now.

Hi Marie. I live in Queensland, north of Brisbane but well south of Cairns. I am not that keen on Cairns itself as it is a very busy holiday place. When we go up there we stay in Port Douglas, a lovely place, and you can get to the Barrier Reef from there.

Ross is coming to do a Late Lunch here at my house on 22nd January. No we are not related!

None of the recipes call for creme fraiche, Rustie. It's an Oriental menu! All going well thanks.

I'm a Pom I'm afraid Phoenix! But I live in Queensland now, an hour and a half or so north of Brisbane. Sunshine Coast hinterland. Been here for 16 months and loving it! It's great to have other Aussie residents on this site now.

Whereabouts are you Phoenix?

Doesn't she have a timer on her oven then?

My indispensable kitchen gadget is my timer. I am such a hectic type of person ... I put something in the oven and then go off and do something else. If I didn't ALWAYS put my timer in my apron pocket I would burn everything!

KJthe1st, that's a brilliant idea, I must try it. I have tried making tomato juice with fresh tomatoes in my juicer but it's not very good sadly.

However, the juicer is marvellous for juicing other fruits and vegetables and some combinations are delicious (some are not though, one has to be careful!)

And as for cooking large quantities, Galumph, Delia wrote a book called 'One is Fun' ... all recipes for a single person.

Take it back I would say. That's definitely not right.

Yes I agree that this is an easy and scrummy dish to make. I totally agree with Rustie, if you don't want it squashy use new potatoes. I do this dish with both starchy and waxy potatoes, whatever I have to hand. Different results but fantastic taste every time (and I use just about the same ingredients as Whitbug except I never add tomatoes ... might try next time)

New British Classics page 372

Oh how interesting goldie! And it was my sister's birthday too, and St Andrew's Day. More and more interesting

Yes Flaky, I love typos too. I made one two or three years ago and am STILL being reminded about it.

Leftover lamb? Slice it up and layer it in an oiled dish with sliced onion and sliced potaotes, seasoning each layer with S&P. Finish with a layer of potatoes. Pour in some good stock, dot the top with butter and bake long and slow till the potatoes and onions are tender and the top is gold and crispy.

For a 1.2 litre pudding basin you need 225g butter, 175g sugar, 4 eggs and 225g SRF. A 1.2 litre basin serves 6-8. You could make 2?

I made such an easy pudding the other day. I had some over-ripe mangoes so I pureed them. Then whipped up some cream really stiffly and folded the mango puree through lightly so it was a gorgeous white fluffy mixture with golden marbling. I was going to add lime juice at the end but it really didn't need it. You could do this with any soft fruit. It looked and tasted great!

Sometimes I do!

Yes, senior moments they are called, cep! If it's not on the shopping list it gets forgotten usually. And, of course, I always come back with more stuff than I've got on the list ... well shopping would be very boring without the odd impulse buy wouldn't it?

I suppose I could give you clues ....

And probably copyright .... I have the book but can't post the recipe, so sorry

I don't bother with tofu much so can't really comment. But, vegegirl, we mostly eat vegetables, just vegetables. There are so many ways to prepare them and so many different ones to buy. And compared to meat and fish they are cheap! I incorporate cheese and eggs into our diet. It's so incredibly easy to cook delicious vegetarian food. My hubbie is a meat eater but only eats meat when we go out. Otherwise he is perfectly happy eating veggies as long as they are interesting!

£90 per head plus £65 for the wine? OMG!

And what extraordinary dishes!

I do mine by hand Chef ... it's very therapeutic! I make bread at least twice a week, I don't own a breadmaker. Shame really because I could make jam if I did (allegedly).

Ah yes! Forgot about that. I am surprised they are allowed to sell it on ebay ...

Yes!

Tulip-Fairy (what a lovely name) has 4 level teaspoons for 8 oz of flour. You have 1 oz baking powder to 1 lb flour. 1 lb flour is twice 8 oz. Therefore it should be 8 level tsps for 1 lb. unless I am totally confused. And as for what Rustie said, well I am definitely totally confused! So how many teaspoons do you make it, Rustie, for 1 lb flour?

Thanks Martin, but it was not my problem, it was millym who asked the question. Do you suppose 8 level teaspoons of baking powder is 1 oz?

Kromusdomus, thank you for that tip about the tinfoil. For the first time I have been able to use the whole bunch (sorry, suppose that should be head) of celery. It really works. Brilliant!

Might try it with radishes too, now there's a thought. Because I still haven't bought radish seeds, memory like a sieve!

I remember a chef (Lesley Waters I think) saying it is better to make your own SRF as you don't know how old the shop bought stuff is and it can lose it's raising power over time.

I have a tub of Ward's baking powder (gluten free) and it says

'Mix two teaspoons of Ward's baking powder to a cup of plain flour and then sift thoroughly several times.'

Cups ... Aussies and Americans use cups, I can't get my head around them! But if you can find a conversion table this might help. Hope so.

That's what I was going to say frexy, then I wondered about the eggs ...

Alysha Jane, anyone can post a tip but you are right, I don't think anyone outside UK can win a prize. Shame really, I could do with a bottle of champagne!

You make bread in your food processor Chef de Maison? How, pray?

Nice offer Martino. Will you bring some for me too please?

I suggest you look in a cookery book for a recipe for a roulade. Once you have the basic roulade you can fill it with anything. I am a ..... Oh no, do I have to go here again .... non meat eater, not a vegetarian as I eat fish. I make a lot of roulades, they are easy, tasty and impressive.

I did the survey but didn't answer any questions I didn't want to ... I wish there was a 'mind your own business' option though. Don't really know why I bothered as I live in Aus and I don't think you can win prizes from UK sites.

[link]

That's the link jennifer264

Same here, icing sugar, egg white, peppermint essence and a little green food colouring. Yummy!

I don't think it is the same thing at all. Cornmeal is coarsly ground maize or corn. Cornflour is very very finely ground to a powder. You would get a totally different result.

Well Riggs, yesterday I posted congratulations to you on getting to the quarter finals of the Masterchef programme but my message has disappeared. So I'm saying it again .. Well Done!

Mine's a Braun Combimax 650 and I find it brilliant.

I remember it being widely available in supermarkets. As a non meat eater I use agar agar instead, but have to confess, without huge success.

I don't think the famous kid bars actually contain much chocolate! Agree with Livewire totally, buy the best you can afford.

Well done Flaky, and isn't it nice to hear a thank you everyone?

Laura and Blackburn, try copying and pasting the link Ramona gave above. The link on the homepage didn't work for me either but I have got there now

alysha jane, I didn't know you lived in Australia too. Are you Aussie?

Likewise, if I see these smoking bags available over here I will let you know.

cannot cook seems to have stopped posting, and so does Andey who won the prize for the best Christmas tip. I wonder why?

These sound wonderful. I wonder if we can get them in Australia. Have you seen them cannot cook?

As you do ....

Goddess, Pod! But apart from that, I totally agree.

Celery is in the fridge wrapped in tinfoil. Will report results.

Totally forgot to buy radish seeds DOH!!!!

That sounds delicious Porridge. Will definitely try it. I guess you could substitute other nuts or even use a mixture of different ones, couldn't you? Thanks for this recipe.

cannot cook, have given you a better response on your other question.

Paul, Keith Floyd is one of my foodie heroes, and so is Delia

Hmmmmm, well cannot cook, you could try a bookshop or www.amazon.co.uk or www.thebookpeople.co.uk. I haven't checked those sites but, hey, even your library might have it.

Have you tried Delia's recipe for braised celery from her Vegetarian Collection? It is really lovely, prawnfiller. It is on her website too

[link]

Well I'd better head out and buy some celery at once, Kromusdomus, and experiment! Will report back soonest.

And while I'm out I will get some radish seeds. Not one to let the grass grow, me!

Yes I know poission but they sell radishes in such big bunches here!

Have never thought of using tinfoil Kromusdomus, will try that.

I think I will grow my own radishes too prawnfiller, they are really easy aren't they? But will continue to buy celery.

Thanks for your suggestions everyone.

After this question came up the other day I specially looked in the supermarket and big cd is right. Our shelves are loaded with fresh Hokkien noodles of all shapes and sizes. I must try some ....

Small world innit?

This is a question about storage. I buy a bunch of radishes or a head of celery. I can never get through them before they go limp. I have tried storing celery upright in water and also wrapped in clingfilm. I have tried storing radishes with their green tops left on and with their green tops cut off. My juicing recipes require the celery leaves and the radish leaves so I need to keep them.

How do you guys store these two ingredients?

Nigella's recipe for lamb shanks is fantastic. Every time I have made it people have raved. It's in Nigella Bites, page 189.

We contemplated retiring there too Mrs WW but eventually settled for sub tropical Queensland mainly because of the climate but also because of the people, the community, the views .....

Well we just love it, and NZ is easy to get to when we want to visit. It certainly is a lovely place.

We rented a self contained room with sea view in Paihia and loved it there. I think it was in Paihia that we found a restaurant with a huge lobster over the door which was very good! Also we went to Russell, and this is not foodie but you may like to know that there is a german lady on Russell who has a shop and she dyes silk and weaves and makes really lovely clothes. I bought some silk trousers and a matching tunic top from her. Still one of my favourite outfits!

There are some fantastic restaurants in the Americas Cup area in Auckland. They have built a wharf and all the restaurants are on the waterside. It's a really buzzing area. We have spent quite a lot of time there. I can't recommend any particular restaurant, we tried a different one every time and were never disappointed!

In Christchurch we found a very good seafood and vegetarian restaurant but neither of us can remember the name of it so this probably won't be much help. It is on the south side and on the circular tram route, I remember it was well advertised. Very informal and you can eat al fresco. It was very crowded each time we went, always a good sign I feel!

Have a lovely time. I want to go back!

I'm with Shona then!

I can't speak for the whole of Australia but here on the Sunshine Coast we are getting up to around 27. But it's not summer yet! It's warm but we have a pool and a sea breeze ....

Sorry!

Hi Kelly

My method for poaching whole salmon is to put it into a preserving pan (or a fish kettle, I used to have a terrific fishmonger who would lend me a fish kettle when I bought a salmon from him). Then cover with cold water. Bring the water to the boil and as soon as it boils, switch it off. Leave the salmon in the pan until the water is cold. This works every time and it doesn't matter what size the salmon is.

Well I don't whip the egg white. You have obviously done this often, so does the icing sugar incorporate well into whipped egg white? How much do you whip it? Soft peaks, stiff peaks?

Spooky. I replied to this thread while you Brits were all asleep. But it's not here.

What I said was that a lot of chefs do this leaving the tail on business these days but frankly I find it a bit annoying. No offence Cep, but you have to pick up the prawns to get the meat away from the shell and then you have to lick your fingers and it all gets a bit messy. Such a girl, me!

Yes Spadge! But if you have a burning question you just want to ask it don't you?

I see Rachael Ray with her 30 Minute Meals show over here in Oz on a pay TV channel. She is lovely. Cooks great food (a bit too meaty sometimes) and she is such a sweet personality and has a great giggle!

Many thanks. Video and all!

Parker, that is her surname, it suddenly came back to me!

There's a site that sells frozen food and they have just added Mushroom, Cranberry and Brie Wellington to their range. This is how they describe it:

'Sauteed mushrooms, cranberries and seasoned spinach with hazelnuts are folded together, topped with brie and encased in a light puff pastry.'

So basically the same as Geordie Al and cep have suggested but with the addition of spinach and hazelnuts which would give it an extra dimension. It sounds delicious and I am going to try it!

Thanks jennifer264. So I assume it was a kind of souffle topping then. I might try it! I haven't got any haddock but I may make a whiting meringue pie tonight! Will let you know how it comes out. I love trying new things.

wossie, if you type 'wild boar' in the search box above and select 'recipes' from the drop down menu you will find there are several recipes for wild boar on this site. Why not give one of them a go? And let us know how it went, won't you?

Yes it doesn't sound great but it was apparently on TV so I am hanging out to hear about it ....

Aus is great Trudi

Make it tipton. It is fantastic and wheat and gluten free. Wonderful!

Eves, saw this and thought of you! It's actually on the home page today.

[link]

Fish pie with meringue topping? How did she make the meringue savoury? This sounds really interesting.

I make burgers for visiting children (though I hate doing it) and I do buy mince, but not extra lean. I think you need the fat to keep them moist. I put a knob of cheese and a little ketchup or chilli sauce in the middle as a surprise. Works really well and keeps them juicy in the middle.

Gill, I have New British Classics and in the introduction to the recipe Gary says that the rouille works as an enhancer to the sweet pepper discs and the total prawn cocktail flavour and says it's not essential to make but is worth it.

Well I would but I don't think the recipe is on the site yet. I assume when you say you saw it on today's show you mean Good Food Live on 23rd November? Will watch out for it in a couple of weeks here in Oz.

Thanks Ken, will try this

Hello LindsayGlover. When I read your question something in my memory said 'This is a question of tempering'. I don't do much chocolate cooking, though I am now tempted to. Anyway I typed 'tempering chocolate' into Google and found this site which seems to explain it. Hope you find it useful.

[link]

I find my bread comes out of the oven very crusty too but it soon softens up to the extent that I sometimes have to put bread back into a hot oven for a short while before serving to crisp it up again. It could have something to do with the humidity here, I'm not sure. Sorry Mary-T (namesake!) that's not really helpful is it? Just interesting.

I make pavlovas a lot and do the same as carol and prawnfiller, make a hollow before cooking and it comes out like a 'nest'. Never sandwiched two together though. I always leave them in the oven, switched off, till they are completely cold.

Be careful when using this method though. The other week I did it and then turned the oven on really high to cook some bread forgetting that the pavlova was still in there. OMG ... the smell! And ruined my baking sheet!!!!!

I have explored that site further. I can use them on my hair, my face, my hands, my feet ... I have an endless supply of free avocados. I am definitely going to try this! Thanks Livewire, what a star!

Oh my goodness, Livewire! Thank you so much. I have looked at some of the many recipes on there, Avocado Angel Eggs look lovely, and the Avo Marmalade I will definitely try. Also the Avo smoothie, and the pancakes in the children's section. What a find. It's now bookmarked ... again, many many thanks.

Hi Marion. I'm still hunting for avocado recipes! We are completely overrun with them at the moment. The Daniel Green recipe for avocado soup with poached salmon which is on this site is still my favourite and I make it with poached prawns too. Yummy!

Hello Flaky and welcome. Do you make other stocks too?

I don't eat meat but I make vast quantities of veg stock on a regular basis and freeze in usable quantities. I also save all my fish bones and prawn shells which I freeze until I have enough and then I make a fish stock out of them which I clarify with egg white and a bit of cheap white fish. It takes ages but I have the time and I really get satisfaction out of doing it. Plus I find that all the bought stocks are too salty.

Hmmmm ... the dynamics between those three was so good. I'm not sure how my three would interact but they would be Alex Mackay, Paul Bloxham and Paul Young. If you insist on a female being included it would be Merilees (can't remember her surname).

That gave me food for thought!

Of course I don't see all the UKF programmes out here but there is a channel called Lifestyle Food and they are showing lots of British programmes which is really great for me. I see GFL every weekday and I think we are only about two weeks behind you. I loved The Best. And Chalet Slaves with Mike Robinson, that's fun and being aired here at the moment. I see Ready Steady Cook most days with Ainsley but have no idea how old these programmes are. All in all since we got satellite TV and I have been able to watch this Lifestyle Food channel I have been spoilt! They have just shown the whole of Delia's How to Cook series which was interesting as I didn't see it when it aired in the UK.

alysha jane ... that is so funny! Good thought!!!!

Aliz, sometimes manufacturers put on-line handbooks on their websites, you could try that.

I have a juicer and a book called 'Raw Juices Can Save Your Life' by Dr Sandra Cabot. Before hubby's operation he was having great difficulty with his water works (sorry if this is a bit too much information) and I made him a diuretic juice recipe and the effects were stunning. It made a difference the very next day. I make different recipes for myself. I make two batches of juice a day, that's four glasses. We both feel better for it.

It is a pain to clean, I agree. But the health benefits are well worth it. I spend about 45 minutes a day juicing. This includes all the veg prep and the clean up afterwards. That's not so long really is it?

So come on, guys. Get your juicers back out of the cupboards and try again. You will feel the benefit I promise. We have.

The Australian Woman's Weekly comes out once a month. How Australian is that?! It's a good magazine, I often buy it.

Hi Nick. I have been away from the boards for various reasons. Hubby had prostate cancer, now sorted. We had visitors. We had a holiday in England and then another one in Australia. But I'm back now.

Microwave meringues ... I used to use that parchment paper to sit them on, the non-stick stuff, and I made them a bit bigger than Rustie and only two at a time. They are great fun to watch, it is so quick! I don't have a microwave any more though

I used to make microwave meringues a lot mschocolatebutton. What went wrong with yours? Perhaps I can help if I know what the problem was.

Hi sue. We were visiting a dear aunt just outside Chichester when we had our trip to UK recently. We had the best evening at The Walnut Tree in (I think) Runcton. It was near Runcton anyway and I'm sure you could find it. It's a pub but the food was really good and table service. Of course all evenings depend on the company and the mood etc. but I recommend this place. It was very busy too, always a good sign!

Sweetcorn is fab, I agree. Celery is better. Is avocado a veg? If so, that tops my list.

I use ginger a great deal in my cooking and endorse Frexy's opinion. Get a microplane. They are simply excellent. I wondered about buying one because they are quite expensive but they are so very good they are worth every penny. (Good for parmesan and garlic too)

Sorry, Dorz. Was feeling a bit flippant!

The energy bars sound great Baxter and I'm definitely going to put some on my next loaf. Are they pre-toasted, MammaChef?

Shorts? It must be nice and warm in England then! Perhaps I won't miss Aus so much on our visit it we get nice weather.

What is it that Sarah Beeny pours down the loos when they are refurbishing places? That should to it

There's nothing like a foot exfoliation session in the sea! I did mine today too.

Well when I 'did' a pumpkin a couple of years ago at halloween when I had kids visiting I couldn't bear to throw those seeds away (there were hundreds of them!) ... so I washed them and dry roasted them in the bottom oven of the aga for hours (in a single layer, well as near as possible to a single layer) and then just sprinkled them with salt. They disappeared in minutes, everyone loved them!

Well there are a couple of Gary's recipes here www.websbestrecipes.com but they are hard to find on the Internet I must say! I expect he wants us all to buy his books rather than get his stuff for free! Can't really blame him I suppose though other chefs seem to be very generous about sharing their ideas.

Cheers, we as a family consider a picnic is not a picnic without a flask of coffee and/or tea and some chocolate biscuits (preferably Penguins).

Reading all the above ideas makes me want to go on a picnic RIGHT NOW!!!

Gary Rhodes' Smoked Haddock Scotch Eggs. They are in At the Table page 31 but I haven't found them on the Net

Georgie, that sounds wonderful and it also sounds like somethine one could easily do at home. I might try making something like that tomorrow night, if I can find big enough balls, the little ones would be hopeless of course ... size IS everything in this case

I don't think mozzarella balls should smell good, they should smell ... well, cheesey. And they definitely need to be really well squeezed before use otherwise they will not perform well on a pizza. Nobody wants a limp pizza after all, so get rid of any fluids, that's my advice.

I think you may have a problem with what things are called levisjean. I personally don't know what cake flour or top flour are. As for ground almonds, you should be able to get those in any supermarket in England. When I came to Australia I asked for ground almonds and nobody knew what I was talking about. Here it's called almond meal. Probably the products you are looking for are there, but called something slightly different.

I use Delia's recipe for foaming hollandaise. It's in her Summer and Winter collection books. The great benefit of it is that it keeps for ages, days even. I went on Delia's site to see if I could find a link for you and to my utter amazement it's Recipe of the Day today!!!! www.deliaonline.com. How spooky ....

Thanks Jemima and jax. I will let you know. We will probably be in Leeds for 4 nights including a Friday and Saturday so will book if we decide to go to The Olive Tree (which is likely after that write up!). Great to have feedback from UK Foodies, thank you very much!

Thanks beanz. Have made a note of that.

Any other suggestions anyone?

I agree with Kenneth, MammaChef and Trudi; keeping knives sharp is the key. I have never been able to master the art of sharpening them on a steel so I use a little hand held knife sharpener which is fantastic. Kirsten, who used to contribute to these boards, got it for me and it's made by Kitchen Devils. Highly recommended.

Goodness, it's only next month and I will be back in UK. I would love some info about restaurants in Leeds as we are going there to take a cousin out for a birthday meal and my niece out for a 'just lovely to see you again' meal. Cousin is 60, niece is 22. Any suggestions?

There are some here [link]
And a forum with recipes here
[link]
Hope this helps

I looked in Rick Stein's Seafood for you, Keith. No joy. Sorry!

Use cornflake crumbs instead of breadcrumbs. I use them on fish all the time now even though neither of us is gluten intolerant. I just prefer them now that I have discovered them due to cooking for wheat and gluten free diets.

I did a Google search for potato pastry as I found a recipe in a gluten free cook book which was ridiculously expensive so I didn't buy it. I found one on the following site, together with loads of other info. Probably worth a look.
www.peter-thomson.co.uk/glutenfree.html

Well I like both versions of RSC. At the moment I can see both too, lucky me. Ainsley's version is on one channel at 5.30 and then I get to see really old Fern ones at 6.30. I love them both but agree about the touchy feely habit Ainsley has, I don't think I would like it to be honest. But he has a huge personality.

Oliver's Twist is showing at the moment here in Oz. I have watched a couple. They are excellent and very much done on the same lines as The Naked Chef although he doesn't talk to that lady. He cooks for friends and family and special occasions and you see him doing the shopping etc as well. If you liked Naked Chef, you will like this. He's still just as manic but he's definitely grown on me!

Well Nick, as you are a jam maker I won't do quantities exactly. In any case I don't have an exact recipe. I based my ginger marmalade on a very old recipe I have always used combined with recipes from the Readers' Digest Cookery Year. I don't do any of the peeling and paring stuff, just bung 3 lbs (or so) or washed oranges into 6 pints of boiling water for an hour and a half. Leave to cool. Quarter and remove pips. Chop roughly. Reduce the cooking liquid by half and strain. Return fruit to cooking liquid adding about 3 inches of grated fresh ginger and 2 inches of fresh ginger julienned and 6 lbs of sugar. Boil to setting point.

At the moment the ginger here is really fresh and newly harvested so I'm about to make a batch of this. I will be using Valencia oranges which are quite sweet so will be reducing the amount of sugar and probably adding some lime .... good luck.

Totally agree with Martino and Chef de Maison, those microplanes are fantastic

Does your potato bread have any gluten in it Martino?

Hi Nick, no it's calmed down again now. In fact it's rather boring. Shopping and cooking for two is a bit tedious really having had 6 weeks of catering for between 10 and 20. Actually the catering wasn't too bad because it's what I love, but the cleaning and the washing was a nightmare!

Too hot? Oh no. It's lovely. We swim most afternoons but we are wearing pyjamas at night. There is a huge temp drop when the sun sets.

Would you like a recipe for ginger marmalade?

It was me who started the re-using water bottles thing I think and I got it from a natural parenting site here in Oz. So Georgie did them a huge favour by doing that research as there were lots of young Aussie mothers worrying.

I don't know abour water filters but perhaps I should as we rely on rainwater for everything: washing, cooking, drinking and swimming. And it's all collected off our roof and possums play on our roof and there are birds up there too. And we found an enormous snake skin in the gutter.

However, we are fit and healthy!

I know you are getting all summery there (well I assume you are) but evenings are probably still reasonably chilly. How about a huge bowl of home made soup with croutons or bread? Add a cheese board and some fruit. Should keep most people satisfied I would think.

I've just been thinking about your comment ... sliding off the steel in what way? Breaking, snapping? Or just sliding off the end? It may seem absolutely obvious but you do have to hold the steel horizontal. I'm sure it must have been sliding off for another reason but I can't quite picture it.

Well harg7769, I don't pretend to be any sort of an expert here but I wonder if you let it cool down a tad too much? MammaChef to the rescue!

Rhubarb cobbler is good. There are cobbler recipes in most of my cook books and hundreds on the internet if you Google for them.

Thanks MammaChef, I thought that would be the answer! It's still worth doing though, just for the 'Ooooh's' and the general 'Aren't you clever' and 'How do you do that' type comments! Makes one feel good!!!!

I made it Nick. It was great. I gave lots away and thought I had kept enough to see us through till next mango season but ... WRONG! I added apple and used home grown 'blow your head off' chillies. Also I used ripe mangos though your recipe recommended under-ripe ones. The end result still had a good mango-y texture though. Yes, definitely good enough to include in your range.

Well beanz69, the recipe I use (from The Hungry Monk) says to boil it for 3 hours which is what I always do. I have heard you can boil for less time but have not tried. Over three hours? Well I dunno!

No, don't pierce the can but make sure the water never boils dry or you will have a caremel covered kitchen.

You could buy some packs of dried fruit such as apples, apricots, raisins, sultanas etc and make up variety packs. I don't know if you can get such a good range in UK as I can here. I get mango, pawpaw, pear, pineapple and stuff. I buy heaps and make a mix in a big tupperware. Visiting kids love it (so do their parents ... so much better than sweets and crisps!).

Hi MammChef, well done with those instructions and well done to Carrie on your success!

MammaChef, I quite often do spun sugar and also caramel 'shards' to decorate puddings but I always do them right at the last minute because I am afraid they will go soft quickly. That's not always convenient if I'm giving a party so I was wondering if you know how long they 'hold up' for? Any advice would be gratefully received.

Oxxx, I recommend you use your brandy for other things as suggested. For the best vanilla flavour in any dish, seeds scraped out of a pod just has to be the best. (Not the best grammar, sorry, but I'm sure you will understand!)

Yes RGJ! So when are you going to try page 44?

This business about dried versus fresh yeast is tricky. Paul says use 25 percent less than the recipe states if you are using dried. We had a long discussion about that. Does it mean use a quarter of the amount or three quarters of the amount? Whatever it means I use heaps less than you RJG! I made my Crusty Cob (page 20) with one sachet of dried yeast.

I haven't put any sugar in so far. It's odd because I thought yeast 'fed' on sugar and that's what made the bread rise. But that's clearly a misconception as very few of Paul's recipes have sugar in them. They work brilliantly. The potato focaccia on page 62 is begging to be made soon! Please let me know which other ones you try. It's such fun and so satisfying making bread isn't it? (Plus the house smells fab!)

I don't think he mentions bread makers at all. But the recipes are really easy to follow and the results I have had so far have been superb. Next I'm going to make the baguette which uses a slightly different method in that you make a batter and leave it to rise overnight. My sister arrives on Saturday evening after travelling all round India and a bit in Malaysia. I thought I would welcome her with nice fresh home baked bread. Haven't seen her since last July, exciting!

Hi RJG, I made the cob loaf on page 20 which also has a tablespoon of salt. I didn't put quite that much in (I make bread all the time and never use that much) but still the loaf was a little salty for our taste so next time I will add less.

I have a variation on the Pain de Campagne recipe (page 39) in the oven at this very moment and this one has no salt at all. I didn't have any rye flour so my version has somewhat more white bread flour together with some celery seeds and some poppy seeds. I also used olive oil instead of the softened butter.

Paul does say somewhere that we should experiment so I have! I've just had a peek in the oven (without opening the door) and it's looking good so far.

I can't find one on this site or on Delia's but have found one here [link]

It's not tried and tested by me though, sorry, but I hope it might help

Oh yes, Adrian, that's a good idea, hollandaise or a garlic hollandaise would be gorgeous ....

Well not every new member reads every thread before posting as we all well know. But it is so tedious all the same! Poor Sue55 probably doesn't know it has been discussed ad infinitum.

Well I think a mild sweet chilli sauce would go well with both of them. Or, more of a dressing than a sauce: grated ginger, grated garlic mixed with a little sesame oil and let down with vinegar and vegetable oil .... slightly oriental and it might work I think

Yes Anna, I have used it for indigestion too and it's marvellous but I had forgotten. Thanks for reminding me.

Hello jch and welcome to the boards. Another parent of twins, there are several contributors who have twins: Aya, Georgie, Martino ....

I made my first bread using Paul's book today. It took me ages to decide which recipe to do first and in the end I opted to begin at the beginning so to speak and made the Cob loaf. It was fabulous. SOOO pleased! I needed a little more water than the recipe said but that could be to do with altitude or humidity or any number of things, and next time I would use slightly less salt, but it was a real success. Thank you Paul! Next it's going to be that melting brie inside brioche ... oh YUM!

What a very sensible and down to earth and comforting post, Susie

It is a really good idea to have a few meals in the freezer for those days when you can't or don't want to cook. You know, when you get a bad cold or sprain your ankle.

I often cook too much of things like casseroles, curries, pasta sauces, soups etc. and freeze half ... they are so easy to defrost and reheat and in fact some of them taste better the second time around.

No problem Pamela, have a great evening xxx

Don't panic Pamela. Just follow whatever recipe you are using for caesar dressing and make your salad. You can add warm chicken or cold chicken, it doesn't matter. If you add hot things to lettuce it will make the lettuce 'wilt' which means it will lose its crispness.

Or Australia

Because when I got my pasta machine, Martino, the recipe in the accompanying booklet was just flour and eggs. That's why! But now I know different I will experiment.

Or dried in your 'by hand'

If you go to ingredients on this site and select yeast it says they are easily interchangeable and you use half as much dried as fresh. Personally I always use the dried.

Yes Snoozy, that's what prompted my post. (My remark was really to explain to Martino why some of us (uninformed people) might have been surprised when he suggested pasta for vegans, I was). But I need wheat free pasta! I make cakes by replacing flour with ground almonds, I use cornflake crumbs instead of breadcrumbs for coating fish and chicken and I have rice flour which sits in the larder waiting to be used for something! I really must start experimenting with wheat free pasta but have had a few health issues recently so haven't felt very adventurous.

I make my own pasta and use only flour and eggs. I'm another one who didn't realise it could be vegan! I buy wheat free pasta now because my nephew is wheat intolerant but I haven't yet had the courage to try making my own with rice flour or whatever the substitute for durum would be.

Hello Snowy, it's been a while since you last joined us. Welcome back. I know there are lots of lovely Welsh cheeses, how about a Welsh cheeseboard instead of a pudding?

Oh thanks ... shame about the coriander Martino!! Must try charmoula marinade asap. Ive got mackerel steaks tomorrow, think it would work on them?

What's a chamoula marinade Kimi?

Remembering the corn chowder I had has made me want to make it so I have been searching the Internet. It's amazing how many of the recipes have heaps of bacon in them or are based on chicken stock. But I found this one which I am going to try. It sounds lovely and a bit different:

[link]

Who was it posted a link to Amazon yesterday? How did you post a link? Wish I were that clever!

Good luck Jan. How long till the saltpetre arrives in your letterbox? It seems a huge quantity, do you use salt as well? I am looking forward to regular updates on your progress with curing. Hope it all goes well. I remember HFW doing it, he smoked his in a chimney and it turned out like parma ham I think. You could start a cottage industry ....

I had corn chowder served in a hollowed out sourdough loaf when reluctantly passing through LA on our way to Oz. It made the enforced stop-over worth it! Scrumptious.

My Good Housekeeping cookery bible tells me that chowder is an American stew-like soup that originated in New England. Its main ingredient is usually shellfish, eg. clam chowder. The name is thought to have derived from the Fench chaudiere, meaning stew pot.

The corn chowder I had was totally vegetarian however, I checked.

I am not a vegetarian but I do not eat meat, ie. I eat mostly veg but include fish in my diet from time to time. When I have visitors I usually choose to cook a fish meal for them since that is what I am best at. Sometimes I offer a completely vegetarian meal. Sometimes I cook meat and provide lots of veggie dishes to accompany it. And oft and anon I find that the main vegetarian dish which I have made so I don't have to eat the meat is the dish that gets finished first.

I went out to lunch the other day and was 'treated' to carrot and orange soup made with chicken stock despite the fact that mine hosts knew I am a non meat eater. My stomach rebelled ... it was not pleasant.

Yes, it's my choice not to eat meat. No I don't expect my guests to eat a meat free diet when they come here. Last weekend I cooked chicken and it was declared by my two nephews to be the best they had ever had.

On the other hand I have been asked for vegetarian meals by my visitors because my vegetarian meals just happen to be very, very nice indeed.

I don't think your post was very respectful Pinwald

Oh, poor you Ray. As you are allergic to alcohol then I would suggest you simply leave it out of your recipes. Make sure you use a good, flavoursome, well reduced stock and I'm sure everything you cook will be delicious.

Another suggestion: when I lived in England I'm sure I remember seeing 'Brandy Flavouring' in little bottles on the baking aisles in Sainsburys. You could try that perhaps.

And you can squish the water out of your spinach with it too.

Hand held potato masher for me too, or quite often a potato ricer. But NEVER any lumps! Crushed new potatoes are allowed to be 'lumpy' but not mashed potatoes.

It was the same in Dorset KarenJ5 - boxes were delivered to the local health food shop, very economical (though we all still had to use our cars to collect them!)

No Jennifer264. Sorry, I don't eat meat so you won't catch me cooking an ostrich on my barbie with a can of XXXX up it's rear end. But I do eat fish so if you fancy a barbecued barramundi steak ......

Well I don't know about the regulations in UK McVities. But that is a worrying article! I don't eat meat. I wonder what the Aussie laws are on labelling? Welcome to the sit McVities and I'm sure you will enjoy the banter!

By the way, my husband loves them. I have never tried them. Both times I have eaten lobster I have been very ill and the same thing happens with crab though I eat prawns all the time. This bug thing looks rather lobstery so I hesitate to try it. But I will, when I have a free day the following day and am feeling brave. And I'll let you know!

That's very good news. I'm so pleased. Thanks for letting us know, Huggy

Catfish is lovely. I used to have catfish sandwiches (American style sandwiches) for lunch when I went out to stay with my friend a few years ago. She was part of a 'ladies who lunch' set. I tried it once and ordered it from then on, delicious! But I know you are now going to ask me what it was similar to. Please don't. I can't really remember!

Use dried beans or rice or a mixture of both and keep them after each use. They go on for ever!

Well there is a compay here that exports them so they must end up somewhere!
[link]
And this site has a photo of one but I think it's a cooked one!

I got this information from [link] where there is also a picture of one.


Quote
Description

Moreton bay bugs grow to a length of 28cm and over 0.5kg. They are reddish-brown in colour with speckling and have dull yellowish tails. This species can be distinguished from the Balmain bug by the position of its eyes, which are located at the outer edge of the carapace.

Habitat/distribution

The Moreton bay bug lives on muddy or sandy bottoms in oceanic waters to depths of up to 60m. It buries itself during the day and is active at night. They can be found throughout Queensland coastal waters, as well as in northern New South Wales and off the northern coast of Australia.
Unquote

As to whether you can obtain them in England, well you guys are in a better position to establish that than I am.

Why can't you get coriander in Italy?

Sorry to hear about your problem Susie but l'm sure you will cope. I believe you just have to be sensible ... no need to panic. And this is the site to be on, so many people who know so much about food and diet and, as you have already discovered, if we don't know the answer we can usually find someone who does. Good luck and lots of love.

I don't always have coriander available when I need it so I leave it out. Most things I cook are OK without it but I invariably find they are better with it. However, if you don't like it, don't use it. I can't really think of anything that tastes like it. Perhaps you could just add a little extra of any other herb you are using, or a bit more spice.

You can make it yourself by mixing together half a pint of double cream and two tablespoonfuls of plain yogurt in a glass bowl. Cover it and leave in a warm place for about 12 hours. It will thicken up and then it will be creme fraiche.

Oh could it be another scare like the plastic bottle one that I started?

As for cod ... we hear over here that it's because the seals are eating too much cod, so kill more seals. But killing seals is totally unacceptable so ....

LOL Rustie. I just know you would never lick a bottle without washing it first! Thanks again Georgie for a wonderful bit of research xxx

I used to go camping regularly with my sisters ... Oh how I miss them! I've got a wonderful book that would be a great help to you. It's called The Backpacker's Cookbook (forward by Nick Nairn). It's by Dave Coustick and RRP is 4.99. ISBN 1 897784 38 4. Packed with great ideas. Good luck and have fun.

My niece passed it on to me and she got it from a 'Natural Parenting' site, so now their minds are going to be put at rest too. What power the Internet has, for both good and bad!

Hooray Georgie! I did say when I posted this that it was unsubstantiated and it is a scare going round Australia at the moment. I can now put everyone's mind at rest. You are a star and thank you.

Clare, remember, ice cream is not supposed to be health food!!!!

How about adding some honey, ginger, garlic and Chinese 5-spice powder? I haven't a clue what King Do spare ribs are but I include these ingredients in my Chinese marinades

At a guess the recipe sderby is after is called Fragrant Stir Fried Beef!!! I can't find it on this site though, sorry

I hope it all turns out well Huggy. I think you are being very sensible and a good diet is good whether you are anaemic or not anyway!

Salmon fillets are so easy to cook and really delicious and good for you. I like to sear them in a very very hot pan so that the outside is crispy and brown but the inside is very rare and succulent. Now that they farm salmon it's very reasonably priced in UK (and our Sainsbury's very often had salmon fillets on special offer on Sundays for some reason)

We stayed in a hotel in Leeds once and took a bottle of Tia Maria up to our room. The bar prices were exhorbitant. We were sitting in bed drinking Tia Maria out of large plastic tooth tumblers and playing cards. I spilt mine. It was dreadful ... smelly, sticky, dark brown. Oh dear! We didn't own up, still feel bad about it today!

Or pop out to Japan for a vacation?

www.magimix.com/UK/glaciers.php

Sounds like a great machine Clare!

Hi Huggy, if you go here

www.goaskalice.columbia.edu

and search for 'fruit sources of iron' you should find a page with lots of useful advice about iron together with info about stuff that inhibits iron absorption. I hope you find it useful.

Another double posting, sorry

Well don't quote it, let it rest in peace!

Perhaps he did! I dunno

I'm never harsh on Rustie. She knows what I mean. Where has my typo got buried, Rustie?

Georgie it was a really silly one about me not eating meat which I got badly wrong and it came out as if I only ate fish eaters or something like that and I have never lived it down.

Nobody wants to come to my place for a meal now in case I cook them!!!

I hope the travel plug adapters are up to sandwich makers! Good idea.

I didn't mean anyone was 'sad' for staying in. I just didn't want to think of anyone sitting in their room because of worrying about their calorie intake.

Now, a hotel room cookbook .... that's a thought isn't it?

Oh, expletive deleted. I knew I'd clicked twice, just a slip of the finger, sorry

Yes, it was the PET that was the problem in the article I posted. A new thread? Well OK. Where do you think would be best? Equipment? We are in recipes at the moment and the garlic oil question has been totally hijacked, sorry Jaybeetee. The question is, do we know if we've got a PET or a PVC bottle?

Serves you right Rustie! Everyone took the bleep out of me when I made a typo, now it's your turn

I bid 60 dollars. But I'm not too keen on paying extra for P&P to Oz so surface mail will do

Yes, Roseanne. But in the middle of the night I remembered it wasn't that show anyway, I think it was 2.4 children.

A bowl of water and an empty Fairy Liquid bottle are brilliant toys! Pan lids and wooden spoons are wonderful musical instruments too.

If you find anything to substantiate what I posted, Alison, please let us know.

Marie, if you click on MammaChef's name it will bring up all her past posts (and there are an awful lot of them!) and you will discover that she is a chef and a mine of information.

Me too Jaybeetee, I chuck chillies and garlic and herbs into oil bottles and keep it for ages. I was horrified when I read that it can go off!

Another thing, and slightly off the subject, do you all re-use your plastic bottles? I use plastic milk containers, washed out, for juices to take on picnics. (When I say 'washed out' I mean put throught the dishwasher - worst thing!) And when I buy a bottle of mineral water I keep the bottle, re-fill it, chill it and take it out next time. Bad idea apparently.

I was sent this and I cannot vouch for it but it certainly made me think!

''Many are unaware of poisoning caused by re-using plastic bottles.
Some of you may be in the habit of using and re-using your disposable mineral water bottles (eg. Evian, Aqua, Ice Mountain, Vita, etc), keeping them in your car or at work. Not a good idea. In a
nutshell, the plastic (called polyethylene terephthalate or PET) used in these bottles contains a potentially carcinogenic element (something called diethylhydroxylamine or DEHA). The bottles are safe for one-time use only; if you keep them longer, it should be for no more than a
few days, a week max, and keep them away from heat as well. Repeated washing and rinsing can cause the plastic to break down and the carcinogens (cancer-causing chemical agents) can leach into the water that YOU are drinking. Better to invest in water bottles that are really meant for multiple uses. This is not something we should be scrimping on. Those of you with family - do please advise them, especially children."

I am not one for scaremongering but this was sent to my niece from a 'Natural Parenting' site in Oz and I just wanted to tell you all. And also, since receiving this I have noticed that some of the small bottles of mineral water do actually have 'designed for single use only' or some such message printed on them somewhere (very small).

Oh you don't want to sit in your room on your own all evening surely? That sounds so sad and lonely. If you are exercising that much you should be able to indulge yourself a little and you can usually find a fish or chicken dish with salad and you could ask them to leave off the sauce. Steve, don't make yourself miserable and lonely ... life is for living!

Martino you forgot the easy and cheap option: go to your local library and borrow the book. Most UK libraries have a really good selection of cookery books. Hey, joing the library is free in England, use it guys!!

Rabbits in the kitchen? Whatever would Nigella and Tamasin say?

I thought goldfish bowls were narrower at the top so I wonder how you turned the jelly out? Or did you serve it in the goldfish bowl?

I remember an episode of .... Oh bother I can't remember the name of the show, a large American lady married to the man who played Fred Flintsone. They had three children. It was an American sitcom. Anyway one day he put the goldfish into the blender and it got blended but after the show they showed you that it didn't really!

Sharne, I wish you hadn't reminded me about microwaves. I remember reading about a lady who washed her poodle and put it in the microwave to dry it off.

Sorry, I'm going now

Bread flour was a problem here at first but I have found it now thank goodness. I haven't looked for dark brown sugar. Thankfully double cream is readily available! *smirk*

Roasting tins are ideal for cat litter too

I posted about my mango chutney today and gave all the ingredients but not many quantities. I used four cloves of garlic, a teaspoon full of each spice and about 3 inches of ginger. Don't know how much vinegar, just what I felt was enough. I assume if you post recipes in this way, rather guessworkish, you can't be sued for breaching copyright. Correct, Ian?

You could make cranberry jelly and keep it for next year. Jelly is very time consuming to make but when you produce a few pots of crystal clear, gleaming red jelly, it is SO satisfying!

Oh Oscar!

Reverting to the dishwasher method of cooking salmon, I suppose if your salmon is tightly wrapped in foil it would be OK.

Martino, I don't have a pasta pot. I use my preserving pan for making pasta, stock and jams and chutneys.

If my hubby did that, Debbie ... oh I don't know what would happen!

When doing some Indian cooking once I needed some gram flour. Not having any in the cupboard, I ground some dried chick peas ... voila!

Yes, Matthew, I'm sure caster sugar is just more finely milled than granulated sugar. I buy both. And equally sure that SRF is plain flour with raising agent which is why I don't buy it but make my own.

Interestingly the garden flower Love-in-the-Mist is also known as Nigella damascena so it must all be the same family.

Made it today. It's absolutely lovely! I used 2 kgs mangoes. I have to say that peeling and dicing that many mangoes is a sticky, slippery, aromatic, finger threatening business! I added limes, chillies (5 of my home grown 'blow your head off' ones, seeds and all), an onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin and four small dessert apples for no other reason that they were in the fruit bowl and really going past their best (waste not, want not!). Oh, and white wine vinegar. Because the mangoes were very ripe and juicy it took nearly two hours to cook down to a good pulpy consistency. We have tasted it and it's fantastic. Hopefully after a month or so maturing it will be even better.

Snowy, my book is simply called Rick Stein's Seafood, ISBN 0 563 53417 6. I see they list it as Rick Stein's Seafood School Cookbook on Amazon. I don't know whether his future books will have such a comprehensive guide to the various seafood 'families' which is what I particularly love about this one. It also has wonderfully illustrated 'techniques'. I highly recommend it.

Has anyone actually cooked salmon in the dishwasher? What about all the chemicals in there, the dishwasher powder residue, the rinse aid and the salt? Oh it doesn't sound too good to me but I have heard that it's done.

And while I think of it I also use my pasta machine to make flat bread thanks to James Martin.

Another alternative use for a gadget was suggested by someone fairly recently but I can't remember who. It works a treat, I've been using it ever since. Use a potato ricer to squeeze out spinach after cooking. Brilliant.

Oh YUM! I must try that. Sounds like a lovely summer drink served icy cold. I'm off to the bottle shop right now ....

I think I'll try that next time Martino, with a tempura style batter I assume?

Snowy, I am faced with lots of fish I have never heard of here, particularly reef fish. I buy anything now ... I'm adventurous gone mad! I cook fish all sorts of different ways. I've got Rick Stein's Seafood which is invaluable. You can identify just about anything using that book and then you can see what 'family' it comes from. After that you can find a recipe for something similar and adapt it. Don't be scared ... just go for it!

Thanks Nick

It happens to be the mango season here so they are fantastically cheap at the moment. I bought a whole box full today and I'm going to make chutney. Does anyone have a great recipe. My plan is to make a basic chutney with all the spices and a few apples together with the mangos and then towards the end of cooking to add some more mango in largish chunks in the hope that it turns out a bit like the Sharwoods stuff. Any guidance would be gratefully received (Hope Nick, River Cottage is on line today!)

I get perch here. It's lovely white fish and doesn't taste too powerfully 'fishy' if you see what I mean. I flour, egg and breadcrumb it sometimes and then fry in very hot oil. Also I cut it into strips, toss it in seasoned flour and shallow fry briefly in butter and serve on cos lettuce with cashew nuts and sweet chilli sauce. It's gorgeous!

I think you need to borrow Nigel Slater's book from your library, I'm sure it's in there. 'Real Food' ... I think that's what it's called but someone will put me right if it's not.

We used to roast ours over an open fire, i.e. log fire. I don't think the temperature is critical. Just make sure you prick the skins first otherwise they will explode. You could do them on top of the wood burner in a frying pan with a lid on. I remember eating them with butter and salt, yummy ... but probably unacceptable these days!

Halloumi cheese just dipped in flour (no need to season, it's very salty cheese) and shallow fried in a minimum of oil is always popular. I cooked it for me on Christmas day with turkey for the rest of the guests and I only got a tiny bit ... the meat eaters loved it!

Veggie bakes are popular too. Sliced vegetables carefully selected for colour and flavour, layered attractively in a glass oven proof dish, covered in a 'custard' made of beaten eggs and milk with a lot of seasoning, baked. You can top with cheese and then grill for a lovely tasty brown finish.

I also agree with Martino, curry ... you won't miss the meat at all!

Oh dear, Nick. That doesn't sound good news!! (What does it mean?) Happy New Year by the way xx

Chips

All of Australia, Martino?

And I'm sorry Cla but I haven't another cream maker to send you. But perhaps if Martino doesn't get on with it, he could pass it on to you?

Hi Cla, I love the sound of that recipe. Do you think you could use cornflour or rice flour instead of ordinary wheat flour? I might just have a go and experiment unless you can tell me it just won't work! Welcome to the UKF boards.

Happy New Year, Paul. Thanks for your help with wheat free recipes. Hope you and all the UKF team have a wonderful 2004.

Thanks for reporting back Kamila and I'm glad you had a good time. Brilliant sounding food, though of course I would not have chosen the partridge. The salmon starter sounds like a meal in itself! And the pudding is making my mouth water.

I am a little disappointed that you didn't have a detailed description of layers of clothing being peeled off between courses, I was rather looking forward to that!!!

Happy New Year xx

Tamasin referred to hers as an Aga but it isn't just an Aga, not with those gas (?) rings at one end!

I've had my pasta machine for years and years, Ploppy. I have never cleaned it with water. I just brush it down with a pastry brush (a cloth doesn't do the job). To be honest I hadn't thought of the raw egg problem. Once your pasta is made and has been through the machine time after time after time to smooth it, thin it and then cut it, all that's left on the machine is a little flour. Anyway, nobody has ever been poisoned by my pasta so that's all I can say on the subject.

I cooked asparagus yesterday but I couldn't get any small, new, thin ones so I used a peeler to peel the stalks and then steamed them. They were lovely. The snapped off ends and the peelings have now turned themselves into a lovely asparagus soup.

We used to go to the Harbour Heights every year for my birthday dinner. Then a few years ago it went completely down hill. The service was awful, mostly students and grumpy ones at that. We were so disappointed. The food was still great though. I'm glad to hear they have revived their high standards. Will go back next time we are in England. Thanks for letting us know keren.

I make a brie omelette. It's divine!

I re-use all my jars, jam, marmalade, mayonnaise, olives ... anything that comes in a jar! Put them through the dishwasher and store them till needed. I didn't bring any with me to Oz though so my niece and her m-in-l are saving them for me now! (The lady who bought our house in England got a fantastic collection of clean jars with lids!)

Hello Rea and welcome to the site. I'm sure you will enjoy it. My advice about the truffles is that you should look at the 'best before' date on the tub of cream that you buy and that would be the date by which the truffles should be eaten and in the meantime they should be stored in the fridge.

Would he be able to eat mousses? You can make easy smoked mackerel or smoked trout mousse. Also souffles are nice and soft. I should think a cheese souffle for supper would be nice!

I should never visit this message board, it only makes me jealous!

I like them all really, some more than others of course. I just think .... well I could never do that! And admire them for it. I think people like Nick Nairn and Tony Tobin have come into the limelight through cooking but have developed the skill to entertain as well as educate. More power to their blenders I say.

Georgie, the weather here is very uncertain too! We went to a produce market early last Wednesday morning and got absolutely soaked. But warm rain isn't nearly as wet as cold rain, trust me! We get massive storms, thunder, lightening, hail. But mostly we get sunshine ..... we quite like a little unexpected downpour! (I don't do cold)

Oh we need the peeling off details too I think, Georgie! Hope you have a wonderful time Kamila. I love getting up and only putting on 4 items of clothing each day, sometimes only 3! Life is so much easier and more comfortable in the sun. Sorry everyone, I just can't resist telling you about it!

Anyway, have fun Kamila and I look forward to hearing all the details: what you wore, what you peeled off and what you ate!

Sorry Theresa, there are so many issues here. I have lambs gambolling in my paddocks. I went deep sea fishing last week and witnessed a bloody carnage. I don't eat lambs but I do eat fish, in fact I have a freezer full of some of the fish I witnessed being slaughtered. (There were 13 men and me on the boat and most were sea sick but I was not!) Kangaroos are not a threatened species so I suppose it's OK to eat them. What's the general concensus here?

Georgie! It's not a strip club they are going to!!!! Peeling off should only be applied to oranges.

Well done to Beefeater. We used to eat at a Harvester sometimes because it was right opposite Sainsburys and we were never disappointed. I'm not sure why these chain restaurants are so despised. They are cheap, cheerful, good quality and the service is generally excellent. Nothing innovative, but so what?

Just don't eat them. They deserve to live! Would you eat a dolphin?

Three cheers, gold star and three house points for Martino for that recipe. Well done mate!

Rachael, make the most of it! I have a pasta machine and I use it lots. I am very haphazard about my pasta ingredients. What I do is put some flour in the food processor and add an egg and whizz it. What I look for is a breadcrumb consistency. If it's too wet I add more flour and if it's too dry I either add a little water or beat up another egg and add that bit by bit. When it's crumbly I take it out of the processor and squidge it together and start putting it through the machine on the widest setting. I fold the dough in three and put it through again and fold again and put it through again and on and on and on until it is smooth and silky and shiny. Then I start turning the machine down, ie. making the dough thinner. It's terribly unscientific but it works for me! If I'm making a lot I find a pasta drying rack (given to me by my darling sister) is invaluable but only to keep it all separate. When I have finished cutting it all I cook it right away. I have dried it and stored it but frankly it's so much better freshly made I wouldn't bother again. Good luck with it Rachael. As you can probably tell, I'm a complete believer in home made pasta, it's not all that much trouble and it's so delicious and so quick to cook once made!

Debbie!

I'd need it well wrapped up and I would like to run the dishwasher empty a few times as the chemicals you have to put in them are fierce!

Sorry, I think I may be talking about the wrong thing here. It's over an hour since I posted that answer and I might be talking about Anchovy ketchup rather than anchovy essence. I'm not sure. But it's been worrying me so I had to come back and post my doubts!

I used to get it at Sainsbury's. It was alongside that fabulous and indispensable Mushroom Ketchup!

oscar2 perhaps you should e-mail GFL and mention this oversight in the recipe? I'm sure they would appreciate the feedback.

Personally I would still steam for an hour, Huggy. It won't do any harm and you don't want cool middles do you? I've never had a problem turning out my puds so don't worry about that. I'm sure they will be fine. Pouring warm brandy over and lighting it, as Martino suggests, will add that certain 'je ne sais quois'. Happy Christmas!

Sounds wonderful Keith! I have been hand making bread for a while here as I left my bread machine in UK. But I have been using ordinary plain flour as I couldn't find any strong bread flour. Some loaves have been quite good but mostly they are too dense. Today I found proper bread flour, yipee!

I am also baking cakes. I found cakes rather hit and miss in the Aga I had in England but now I have an electric oven and I have discovered a new passion for baking! I'm turning into a Domestic Goddess, heaven help Keith's waistline!!! (that's my Keith, not you, bread-baking Keith!) We will all be queueing for Weight Watchers at this rate though.

Martino, all I remember is exactly what Gaye has said. I don't think semi skimmed or skimmed milk had been invented when that machine came out. I do remember pumping through more than once for a thicker cream. I'd be careful if cooking with it ... it might separate out again! I only used it for making cream for puddings and corn flakes. Good luck, and do please report back again xx

Thanks Georgie. I tried to find the story from Good Food mag on line but without success. I have thought about taking out an overseas subscription for it but decided against. Aussie foodie mags are a better bet as they use ingredients I can obtain easily.

Why is he so theatrical, Georgie?

We will have our niece, Jo, with her hubby and three children. I simply cannot decide what to cook but I think it will be a barbecued something-or-other! For the last two years I have made Christmas pudding ice cream in England and will do that again this year as it's much more suited to the climate here. A Christmas table set with crackers and tinsel on the deck in the heat doesn't seem quite right somehow so I will try and Australianize my traditional table if I can but to be honest the ideas aren't flowing out of me! I simply can't get it into my head that it's Christmas at all ... it's hot and rainy today and we got soaked at a local produce market this morning. We came home laden with fruit and herbs and ginger and veggies and spent hardly any money at all!

Excellent! I'm so pleased it got there OK! Good luck with it Martino.

Might even be worth coming back to England to watch that one! I totally adore hot air balloons ... only to look at, you wouldn't catch me going up in one!

Rita I hope Jackie tries that recipe. What a great first post. Thanks for taking so much trouble and welcome to the site. Hope to see lots more of you!

Meringue based puds? And you can make a curry with oil instead of ghee if you like I'd have thought.

I'd imagine they are all very similar Lindylou as they must be franchises. I know it's all fake but it is a good atmosphere isn't it? And good fun.

Well I was right (and wrong). www.rainforestcafe.com.

They don't seem to have any in NZ or Oz so it must have been in America we visited! When I saw the picture on their home page I immediately recognised that circular bar and we were in California when we went to that one.

The only one they list in London is in Piccadilly Circus.

I think this is a chain because I'm sure I've been to one in New Zealand and one somewhere in Australia. We loved it too!

Thanks Huggy! I had a really lovely thank you card today from all 6 guests. It was very flattering.

The lunch went very well thanks Martino. The guests were gratifyingly impressed!

I hosted lunch for 8 today. Everyone kept offering to help. But it's MY show! When I have family staying we all muck in but today was 'guests'. I agree, guests are guests. But family are allowed to help.

I saw a cookery programme just the other day where they were using chard. It comes in a purple variety too. To me it seemed like a slightly coxxxxr version of Pak Choy, Bok Choy, whatever you want to call it. You cook the leaves and the stalks. I love braised leeks but (I'm not a professional chef) it just occured to me that braised celery might be fab with chard. Another different texture.

Define 'snob' please Martino

Agree. Rick Stein has been heard to say that if there's one recipe from his book people should try, it's this one!

I'll be there, no worries, Mate!

I made Nigella's recipe for lamb shanks, they are slow cooked (but again, not 24 hours). I didn't eat them (as a non meat eater) but all the people who did absolutely raved about them. I think the recipe was in 'How to Eat'. They were served with cous cous.

Hello Reshma. That sounds like a good idea and I will try it next time. The lime and chilli relish I made today turned into a dressing and in the end it has quite large bits of lime in it. I made it with the first picking of my home grown chillies and I didn't know how hot they would be. I know now ... VERY! But I'm pleased with the dressing although I will warn my guests to treat it with caution.

BTW Campbell, she will love this site! [link]

Glad to be of help pigster. It's always a bit risky recommending restaurants but I have eaten at Il Palios probably 10 times and never been disappointed. Please report back after your visit. Whereabouts in NZ are you going to live?

I don't have a steamer BaltiBoy. I just fold up a teatowel, place it in the bottom of a large pan, put the pudding basin in and fill the pan with water up to two thirds the height of the pudding basin. Then put it on to boil with the lid on the pan, loosely unless you have lids with steam vents. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil dry. This method works for me.

Hi Martino. The cucumber soup is so easy it's embarrassing! I can't post the recipe as it's from the Readers Digest Cookery Year. Will e-mail it to you. I made it this morning and it's chilling and infusing in the fridge now. I haven't got a recipe for the Red Emperor yet Martino! I've made masses of little choux buns this morning. I'll try bonet another time. I've never made a semi-freddo but often thought about it. What time does your flight arrive?

Thanks Huggy, I'm feeling a bit more confident now. It's just that it's such a special day for Keith, I'm sure you understand that I want it to be extra wonderful!

Small lumps for me too, except in mango chutney where I prefer them large. I'm experimenting at the moment with a lime and chilli relish type thing to serve with my Red Emperor tomorrow. Every ingredient so far is very finely chopped!

Unlike claire-23 and like Debbie our guests help with peeling, washing and general prep. Keith will not allow anyone to help load the dishwasher. In his opinion he is the only person in the world who can do this task properly. This is an opinion I nurture and love!

Emma, some sweet things are actually better with a pastry without sugar in my opinion. Apple pie for example is much nicer with a pastry crust with a bit of a salty flavour, not over done but no sugar.

Pigster, I can recommend Il Palio's in Brockenhurst in the New Forest. They are good at catering for large parties (we used to go there for office Christmas parties). The food is excellent, the service cheery and fun. Good Italian food and reasonably priced. I have also been to a very good Chinese restaurant in Lyndhurst but I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it. (Il Palio's get booked up so don't waste any time if you decide to go for that one!)

Can you find a suitable Finding Nemo picture and trace the design, then use your own icing, or ready made bought icing? Making your own would probably be best as you could get the colours exactly right. You might find some helpful hints on this site: [link]

I used to make cream in this machine really quite successfully DJ Chef, honestly!

Hello Orcadian and redheadkiwi. Two new posters I think and with fab names! Welcome to the boards. I agree, redheadkiwi, I only make enough coleslaw for one sitting at a time. Also using homemade mayo is much nicer and since the invention of those hand held blenders making mayo is so easy!

Thanks for all your suggestions. I have decided to go for choux, thanks Huggy. I'm a bit nervous about this party as my reputation goes before me and these are people I have never cooked for before (except for one of the couples). It is an important day for Keith and the other men. I don't know what we women will do while they all reminisce (it looks as if that's spelt wrong but I checked and it's correct!). I've never cooked whole red emperors before so now I am worrying about how long to do them for .... oh, you know what it's like .... one can get oneself in a totally unnecessary state about things. I'm sure it will be fine!

I have done successful roulades before, good thought Trudi. Terrines nearly always seem to have gelatine, Karen, does your recipe? I have lots of fresh limes .... strawberry and lime tart ... *thinks* Thanks for the suggestions xx

No problems Marion! I didn't take offence at all and I SO agree with you about the written word as against the spoken word, and also you can't see people's expressions as they talk which can make a huge difference to what they mean by what they say!

If I could send you some avocados I would do so gladly. We can't even give enough away to stop some going to waste. Such a shame!

On Monday I am catering for a very special reunion. It involves 3 men from Keith's army days plus their wives. One of them lives quite near us and we have met up several times since we arrived here. Another lives near where we used to live in UK so I know them and their wives quite well. The third is an Australian who just happens to be passing through and Keith hasn't seen him for 40 years! Yes, honestly! So anyway, they are all meeting up here for lunch on Monday and I'm catering. I have bought two huge Red Emperor fish, whole. I'll stuff them with lemon and lime and herbs and butter etc. and roast them and they will be stunningly delicious with no effort! For the starter I'm going to do Lebanese Cucumber, Mint and Yogurt soup (a cold soup from Readers Digest Cookery Year which I have done lots of times before and is lovely - surprisingly lovely actually). But pudding? Hey hum. I'm stumped!!! It will be a hot day. We will probably be eating outdoors. I can get wonderful fresh strawberries and thought about serving them simply with cream. But all of us who live here can get lovely fresh strawberries .... searching for inspiration my UKFoodie friends!

Marion, I wasn't meaning to be smug about my avocados. I was just responding to your question about what we had all tried cooking from the site and the show.

Karen G, I buy so many things from the Internet. It's wonderful!

I haven't explored it much yet but the foodtv.ca site looks very interesting. Thanks LLC.

I want to see this programme now!

There's one on Aussie TV called Iron Chef. It's totally incomprehensible! But I still watch it when I remember.

Hello Dublin. That's a hard question. The only time I use dry ginger is in cakes or biscuits. I use grated fresh for everything else and I never measure it, I just grate it and bung it in. Taste when it's cooked down a bit and add a bit more if I think it needs it. Cooking is so much about tasting and adding and tasting again, don't you think? Welcome to the site and I hope you have a great time here.

Thanks Jill! I have been thinking about FrankiesLady. I wonder how she is getting on. Does anyone know if she is OK?

I think they are a bit scared to do this Nick because they don't have any qualified dieticians on the staff. Did you read, quite a while back, the thread started by FrankiesLady? I wonder where she has gone? She suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome if I remember rightly (which I know has a quick name but I can't remember it). I think she called her thread 'A Plea for Allergy Sufferers' or something like that. You should be able to find it. If I had thought bit more I'd have looked before I started posting wouldn't I?!! Sorry xx

Hi Marion. I did post a reply to this but it got lost! Sorry.

I have made Daniel Green's Avocado soup with poached salmon and Vincent Cheung's steamed fish stuffed with minced prawns. Both were great. I have also made James Martin's flat breads but I'm not sure if the recipe is on the site. They are easy and great for parties.

I did a smoked fish recipe but I can't remember who cooked it. I wouldn't do it again, I have to say it was horrible! But it was probably just me doing it wrong.

The 'My Recipe Box' section of this website contains quite a few recipes just waiting to be tried. Unfortunately, now that I can't watch the show I have to rely on the website and thank goodness it's here!!!

Well it seems that the film won't have Jamie in it and it will all take place in America. Well sorry, is it just me? What exactly is the point here? Apart from Jamie (or his charity) getting loadsa dosh and good luck to him! Here's a long link to an article in the Telegraph [link]

Goodness, how difficult Ruth. I only have to make everything wheat free and that's hard enough. A veggie terrine sounds a good idea and I wonder if a soup might work? Protein and carbohydrate separate? That means no bread or croutons with the soup though .... Hmmmmm ... thinks

sstilly, you can get Walkers Crisps! www.expatshopping.com

I remembered my stepson having this dish (or a similar one, it required 24 hours notice anyway) at a restaurant in Ringwood so I e-mailed him yesterday and asked what it was called. He says it's called Kurgi Lamb (or possibly Kurgy). I hope you manage to track down the recipe David.

My mother used to make Bara Brith like that, soaking the fruit in tea. It was fabulous. I made Nigella's banana loaf today. It's nice but definitely needs some cinnamon or mixed spice as your recipe has, Keith. I saw a post earlier from someone who was trying to make another Nigella recipe - chocolate cake I think, but it had gone wrong. I've never had a Nigella recipe go wrong but hadn't tried that particular recipe. I'm sure someone on here will be able to help!

Oooh Kiwichef. I hope the new cookery school will be near me! But I suppose you are thinking about NZ being realistic. Still, that's only a short flight away!!!

I'm sure AWT said they wouldn't eat Lunch and Dinner as they so sweetly called their pigs. But he says on his website that their offspring may not be so lucky! Incidentally his website is sadly in need of updating - in the smallholding news he's talking about what a lovely spring it is! He is still one of my favourite chefs to watch.

Hey we are talking Panto here. The principal boy has to be female and the ugly sisters have to be male .... heavens to Murgatroyd neither of those guys could be Prince Charming - they are too masculine!

That actually should have read Cinderella I think

Every morning I say to myself 'I will not look on the 'What's on UK Food' thread or the 'GFL' thread because it just makes me jealous. Yet I always look! I so wish I had seen Jenni, Sophie and Lesley. And I am sick as a pig I never saw Georgie and Maria. Anyone got a video they could send me? Pretty please ???

Panto: Cinderalla.

Cinders - Celia Brooks-Brown (for her looks and figure)
Buttons - Lesley Waters (for the high kicks)
Ugly Sisters - Ross Burdon and James Martin (because they could carry it off)
Fairy Godmother - Jenni (who else, she would be lovely in glittery stuff)
Prince Charming - thinking ......

I'm going to try the choc fondant. I've printed out the recipe. Just have to say, though, it doesn't look like a few fresh raspberries in the picture ... they look too smooth and there's lots of juice! Still looks scrumptious though.

I got mine from Sainsbury's

You definitely need unsalted butter (melted) and milk (heated), You put them both in the top part of the machine and pump through, then if you want thicker cream you can pump through again. The only trouble is I can't remember the proportions. I posted it off yesterday, Martino. I could send it Airmail or Economy Airmail and I chose Economy Airmail (sorry!). When I asked how long it would take to get to Italy the post lady didn't have a clue! She said she would guess about 3 weeks to get to England, can't think why as there are hundreds of flights between Australia and England! Never mind, it's on its way ....

MarkV's recipe for Bubble and Squeak is nice but you can make it with left over mashed potato too and I always add some chopped fried onions. You can use up all sorts of 'left over' veggies in it. I love it!

Well remembered Carole1! I'm impressed. Welcome to the site abe, I hope you enjoy yourself here.

Update:

Yesterday I went into a shoe shop bearing the cream maker. I apologised for my cheek and explained that I wanted to send this object to Italy and asked if they had a spare box. They came up trumps with a nice sturdy shoe box. The cream machine caused such interest ... they wanted to try it out and it was all I could do to get out of the shop with it still in my possession! So I'm posting it tomorrow Martino, Monday. I don't know how long it will take to get to you but I will send it airmail so not too long hopefully. Can't wait to hear what you make of it!

Damp cotton will just scald you I think. I bought some of the five fingered gloves which are supposed to be good. They weren't any better than good oven gloves but they didn't wear out as fast.

Wait till you get it ... it's a tough job to pack but I'm working on it. Don't name the baby till it's born

Have you actually made the toffee by boiling for only 2 hours Joe Peddos? I often make it but always boil for 3 hours as directed in 'The Deeper Secrets of the Hungry Monk' (who invented it). If I can get away with boiling it for 2 hours instead it would be great! Does it still come out a nice toffee colour after only 2 hours?

Sorry, forgot to say ... welcome to the site Untamed Chef. Have fun!

Untamed Chef, sometimes if you are cooking a cake for a long time it is a good idea to wrap brown paper round the cake tin so that the outside doesn't get burnt. I always used to do this when Aga baking. And I generally had to cover the top as well at some stage of the baking process. For this I used to use tin foil. Essential to keep an eye on cakes I think, whether they are in the oven for 20 minutes or 5 hours, I always keep checking!

Well that's a hard one jackie! I think I used a ginger biscuit recipe from an old Good Food magazine. As to temperature, I don't know. I used to cook on an Aga which was a hot oven. And I would check them and take them out when they were done. The more trays I baked the longer they took as the Aga would lose heat. I suggest you follow your recipe. Aga cooking is so different from conventional oven cooking, sorry to be so hopeless!

Hey Martino, this is probably the most travelled cream maker in history! It came to the other side of the world from England and now it's heading back to Europe again. I hope it makes you happy as Gaye says!

Hi Martino, welcome back. I have replied to you under the Salad Cream thread ... just to say I will be in touch! That sounds like a threat doesn't it .... Be afraid, be very afraid!

Hmmm ... it's been sunny all day here and the temp was a comfortable 25 degrees C. Sorry, I'll shut up now!!!!

You are more than welcome Martino! Sorry I wasn't around at the time you originally had this conversation. I will be in touch. Where have you been for 40 nights, or is that a rude question?!

One colour in a small hole frexy. But you can mix them, as long as you use larger chunks, if you have a bigger hole. If you use lots of little chips of different colours you don't get the differentiation. Experiment. You will be madly impressed with yourself!!!

Lovely MammaChef. I do a similar thing but only add butter and a bit of garlic to the mashed baked potato. Then I whisk up some egg whites (how many depends on how many potatoes I'm doing!) and fold them in. Then pile mix back into skins and bake in a hot oven. They souffle up and look and taste spectacular! (Oh, and I don't bake them in the microwave. I think I have said before that I find micro baked potatoes slimy though possibly the addition of other yummy stuff changes this.)

Yes, Karen, mine does too .... and BeccaNurse, you might like to go to Sylv's site which has a conversion chart [link]

Gas mark 5

Lotte, you are a star! I miss watching you so much. I get to see Sophie Grigson's Herbs sometimes and Ready Steady Cook. Jamie's Kitchen finished about a week after we moved in. I hear my birthday message was read out on GFL. Thanks for that Jeni! Thanks goodness for this site or I would be totally cut off!

Smaller tree on a table, Deborah? I know what you mean though. Even small children were a bit of a problem when I did mine!

Yes it is confusing isn't it Trudi! See the post dated Thursday 30th October from me to loiner. Now the site is over a year old we probably need the year as well as the day and the month on the posts! But given the recent struggle perhaps that's asking a little too much ....

Hi Paul. I decorated my Christmas tree entirely with edible decorations a couple of years ago when I had loads of children over the festive season. I made the above mentioned biscuits. Rustie is SO right about not forgetting the hanging hole (which I found I nearly always had to enlarge when I took the biscuits out of the oven and while they were still hot as it doesn't need to be a big hole and tends to close up when the biscuits spread. Instead of tinsel I popped heaps of corn and then threaded it on cotton and it looked very pretty. I also studded oranges with cloves and decorated with pretty ribbons. They smelt lovely but were a bit heavy. I bought candy canes and those foil wrapped chocolate decorations. I tied up little bunches of dried red chillies (nobody ate them but they added colour!) and I threaded cranberries and draped them around too. I'm sure I did other things too but can't remember them at the moment! Good luck.

P.S. Thanks for the caramel recipes on another thread. I have printed them out. My caramel nearly always goes bitter.

Hello Jackie57. I make the biscuits you are talking about for Christmas decorations to hang on the tree and they look really pretty, like stained glass. I also did the same thing with a gingerbread house, ie. I gave it stained glass windows and then put a tea light inside. All I do is use a standard ginger biscuit recipe, cut out the biscuits and then make a hole in the centre. Then crush some boiled sweets (not to a powder, just fragments) and put them in the hole. Bake. Easy peasy and they look lovely and kids adore them.

I had a look on his website but the recipe doens't appear to be there lougough. Sorry I can't post it for copyright reasons. I suggest you watch out for repeats of this show, there's bound to be at least one. And watch it with pen and paper at the ready!!!

Hello loiner and welcome to the boards! You must have been having a very good explore of all the topics before posting for the first time as it is almost a year since this topic was started. You will find that we all have to agree to disagree about certain things here but all opinions are welcomed and discussed. Just a word of warning, duck if you saying anything against Paul Hollywood or James Martin! They have a huge fan base here (deservedly) and so does Jeni Barnett (again, deservedly in my opinion). Joking aside, I hope you have fun here ... keep posting!

Would a preserving pan do the trick?

This is one of the most popular dishes I do for meat eating visitors and it is ridiculously easy!

Get some decent sausages and fry them off. Cut them into chunks. Fry off some chunkily chopped onion and a little chopped garlic. Put all this into a casserole dish, add a tin of baked beans, a tin of butter beans (drained), a tin of chick peas (drained). You can vary the beans, I like using the pre-chillied red kidney beans (not drained). You can also add some fried off celery and mushrooms ... anything really. I don't eat meat so I make one with sausages and a smaller one for me and my sisters just leaving out the sausages.

You can't really go wrong and it is lovely! Good luck!

Well I think that was extremely enterprising of you nomesky, well done. Sounds to me as if you don't really need any help. You are the sort of person who will find a way round any little cooking hitches!

I didn't know you could get an electric one. I use the manual one and have to agree it is quite hard work!

I always use butter too and I agree with you Debbie. It always puzzles me when recipes call for unsalted butter and then tell you to add salt, why pay the extra for unsalted butter?

If you use mince with a fair amount of fat in it, ie. not the extra lean stuff, you can make your burgers with just the mince, no additions whatsoever. If you press them firmly into shape and then refrigerate them for an hour or so they will not fall apart when they are fried. I do this so I know it works!

Claire, just use enough milk to get the mash to the consistency you like. Add a little at a time and stop when you are happy with it.

I used to use my microwave for melting chocolate and occasionally re-heating left-overs. Personally I think microwaved jacket potatoes are revolting, they go slimy! Didn't your microwave come with a booklet and some suggestions? I'm sure they usually do. I don't have one any more and I have to say I don't miss it at all (except that the timer and clock on it was useful).

Good for you Samantha! One of our original posters was called Ralph and he had a real 'thing' about Tiramisu and salmon. How I wish he was still with us ... he would have enjoyed your post! Welcome to the site and I hope you have fun here.

Early bird, MammaChef! I slice potatoes on the mandonlin and boil them in milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg for a short time. Then pile them into a shallow dish, add cream, top with cheese and bake ... very similar to your way but with sliced rather than whole pots. How is Louise?

MammaChef, your dinner party is on the same day as my housewarming party. I am so looking forward to it .... the first party I have thrown in this country. I've invited 30 adults and 15 children. Strangely Australians don't seem to go in for replying to invitations as the only two replies I have had so far are from the only two English couples I have invited! The weather should be lovely by 8th November and I'm planning to buy one of the amazing barbecues you can get here and serve salads and barbecued kebabs, some meaty, some fishy and some veggie. And I'm going to make avocado icecream tomorrow to see what it's like and if it's good I'll make gallons of it for the party! When do we get to see your menu?

It will be eaten often in this family!

Mark, what a brilliant idea! I spend ages squidging my spinach in a sieve .. the ricer would be heaps quicker. Thanks!

MammaChef, I had a lunch party today and did your grilled avocados with prawns. I served them with hot crusty rolls, a simple salad of iceberg and rocket and the pineapple, orange and coconut salad, the recipe for which I posted a while ago. WOW!!! What a mega success it was. Thank you so much. My friend Linda asked for the recipe but I said I couldn't give it to her for copyright reasons......

Just one more thought, Claire, have you tried a potato ricer? I have one and it's fantastic. I 'rice' potatoes straight on top of a fish pie, no butter, no milk, then put it in hot oven and it goes lovely and crispy on top. You can get them from Nisbets for £9.49 but I bought mine from Sainsburys (can't remember what it cost) and I haven't seen it since I arrived in Oz so that must be another thing that didn't make it!

You might want to watch or record Wednesday's programme Claire and see the recipe for vanilla mash!

Delia always uses an electric whisk to do hers. I tried it and ended up with just about every surface in the kitchen covered in bits of potato including the ceiling. Try adding a bit of cream instead of milk perhaps ... not too much. And do you add plenty of salt when you are boiling the pototoes? They need it IMHO. Check out Mamma Chef's recipe for brie mash, it's delicious. But serve it with something light, I served it with a fish dish which was far too rich!

With gherkins in the eye sockets and red pepper for the mouth Trudi? YUK, mega YUK!!

Back to cream makers. I have a Bel cream maker. It works perfectly. I never use it as cream is readily available here. I trawled back through stuff that happened whilst I was travelling and found the thread where Martino was asking about cream and Rustie got him the machine etc etc. Well, Martino, if you still want one I will send you mine with pleasure. I promise it works, I've just been out to the kitchen and pumped some water through it and there is pressure there.

Hot or cold?

[link]

Sorry Rustie! I blame Trudi for taking us off topic. It wasn't me. Heavens, I'm learning from the kids .. it's never 'my' fault!!!

Good innit Trudi?!! I bought a load of Christmas pressies off Ebay last year. I might have a go at the Aussie one soon.

Hmmm, that recipe uses cream Rustie. I wonder if schools would have done that in the 50's? Lots of other dressing recipes on the site though, I have bookmarked it! I found another one too: [link]
Oh isn't the Internet so much fun?!!!

Thanks Jill. The avocado-oil.co.nz site tells me I should be able to buy their brand locally. Wonderful. I will look for it tomorrow. Ta muchly xx

The Olivado site is great Marion. Thanks! I've asked Jo to get me some in Brisbane and I see its available in Sainsburys and Waitrose in England. If anyone buys some and tries it I'd be so interested to get feedback, thankyou.

Well that's a thought Marion. Now I wonder how you extract the oil from avocados? I might have a surf of the Internet and see if I can find out.

Oh but there is this site Cynthia, I don't know if the recipe you want is on it. [link]

Yes Cynthia, I have the recipe, but only because I have the book! You could go to your library and see if they have a copy of it. But we can't post the recipe on this site ... copyright! Sorry.

Fantastic! Thank you so much. I am sure that cooking avocados is a bad idea and these recipes are just the sort of thing I'm looking for. (Leave out the bacon though!)

I have had burgers with the beefburger replaced by avocado. So you get all the usual burger stuff, salad, pickles, melted cheese etc. but no meat and it's all in a sesame bun and I love them! I never ate burgers, not even when I ate meat!

I don't need to cut the bottoms off my avocados. I have avocado shaped dishes, they are so cool! I've got to find some more because I'm giving avocados away all the time and everyone wants the dishes now.

Thank you so much for those recipes, they will definitely been tried and I will report back xxx

In Heidi they were 'goat herds', well Peter was, but he didn't own the goats just looked after them for other people. Goat husbanders? No, too cumbersome. Perhaps they are goat breeders?

Lindsay/MammaChef I would be really interested to hear you avocado and prawn starter recipe. Avocados and prawns are abundant here. But the only thing that worries me is when I made an avocado souffle it tasted bitter. However, when I made avocado soup it was lovely but that recipe only warmed the avocado, it didn't cook it as such. Please let us have your curry recipe when you have time. (I made the brie mash and it was delicious, thank you!)

Thanks, Jill, for the info about Surfing. There's a good chance I might be able to catch it over here in that case. I will watch out for it. MammaChef I think Mike Robinson is one of the best UK Food chef/presenters and Chalet Slaves was excellent but I only caught one Safari Chef before I left. We do get some UK cooking progs over here now that we have got 'pay TV' installed but I haven't had time to watch any yet! I know we get Nigella and Jamie and Rick Stein. I will have seen them all but I'm one of those people who love repeats! I always seem to pick up something new that I missed before. (I read books over and over and over again too. I have a couple of favourites that I generally read once a year!).

Strange Steve. There are several brands of it on the shelves here! I posted a message to Jill thanking her for posting the research she did but it seems to have gone missing in cyberspace. I feel good about buying it because Jill's post makes me feel it's almost good for us! But I can't believe there would be so much of it on Australian supermarket shelves if it was industrial oil and unfit for human consumption. The Internet is weird!!!

Surfing the Menu seems to have had a general thumbs up all round. What was it about and if it wasn't English, what was it?

So true Rustie and it's even worse in Oz, but I'm still resisting it! I have told Jo's m-in-law off for using 'language' in front of the kids ... she looked at me in amazement! We are great friends now and I still tell her off and I really think she is trying to moderate her language in front of the children but it is so much second nature to her that she doesn't even realise she's doing it half the time. I am determined to continue to be a real prude about it though, it offends me!

Bostrom, my answer is going to be very disappointing I'm afraid! I started buying Canola oil as soon as I arrived here, firstly because it said on the bottle 'cholesterol free' and secondly because it said the only ingredient was canola oil and thirdly because it was Australian! I don't know what canola is. I'll have to do a google search as suggested by Rustie and find out. I'm sure vegetable oil would do fine, Canola doesn't have a strong taste. I'm having my first lunch guests tomorrow and I'm doing the same dish again as it's quite impressive looking and delicious tasting!

That Consuming Passions shortie programme that comes on from time to time, isn't that Australian? Of perhaps he went over to England to make that series, I don't know.

Carli, we used to roast chestnuts on an open fire so the barbecue should be best. Make sure you slit or prick the shells otherwise, as you have discovered, they explode. But leave one unslit and when that one explodes you know all the others are ready!

If you shell and peel them and then boil them in stock for 40 minutes or so you can strain them and rub them through a sieve, or bung them in the liquidiser. The result is chestnut puree which you can keep in sealed jars but I'm not sure of the shelf life, sorry. You will probably use it all before you need to worry though!

They are not plastic but some sort of Teflon as Georgie says and I used to buy them from Sainsburys

Hello Bleach. Lesley is right, Food for Free by Richard Mabey is very good. It was published in 1972 by Collins and issued in paperback in 1975 by Fontana. Sorry, no ISBN.

Another recommendation from me is The Fat of the Land by John Seymour. It's actually about self sufficiency and apart from anything else is a good read but also contains lots of information about gathering, preparing and preserving all sorts of things, wild and cultivated. Well worth getting. It was published by Faber & Faber in 1961 ISBN 0 571 10532 7.

Hi Bostrom. This is a coincidence as I found red snapper on special offer locally and bought lots, most of which I froze for later. The stuff I get here is huge fillets though, not whole fish as Trudi is talking about. Tonight I made a dish which was inspired by a meal we had recently in a sea front restaurant (eat your hearts out!). I made a salad of mixed leaves (only crunchy ones, nothing limp; cos, iceberg, romaine etc) with some thinly sliced celery, matchsticks of apple, orange segments, pine nuts, and some sliced white cabbage. I dressed this salad with the juice of the orange mixed with some sweet chilli sauce. Then I sliced my fillets of red snapper and quick fried them in canola oil and butter very briefly. Put some salad on the plate, added a few slices of snapper, more salad, more snapper. Sprinkled with seasame seeds and ... bingo. Keith said it was the best meal I have cooked (or prepared; there wasn't much cooking involved) since we moved in to our new house! I enjoyed it too. When we had this in a the restaurant it had fresh cashews (unsalted) but I substituted the pine kernels because I didn't have cashews, and it was still lovely!

Carrot pudding? That just has to be tried! Thanks jaya!

Well it may have been another contestant as it sounds more Oriental than Indian doesn't it?

Well there's a brie like cheese with blue veins called Cambazola and there used to be a lovely one called Lymeswold but I haven't seen that for ages and ages.

Please, Lesley!!!

Hi Caroline. That's easy! Just zoom down to your bookshop or library and procure a copy of Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes. It's marvellous. You can make them Stink Bugs' eggs, Hot Frogs, Frobscottle, Wormy Spaghetti, Fresh Mudburgers .... the list goes on. It's perfectly wholesome food mostly, just imaginitively presented and named! Good luck and have fun.

Thanks Rustie! Reshma was talking about her website when I was in England but I don't think she had actually launched it. It's a lovely site, highly recommended! She has certainly had an interesting life. I well remember her being runner up in the Chef competition and she was so good on that. Was she the contestant who used that clever machine to make noodle type things?

I believe they have a factory outlet in France Lesley. You might be able to get some good bargains. If I were you I wouldn't take your UK pans with you .... get new ones for the holiday home!!!

Thank you so much Paul!

Thank you so much Paul!

And he's still in Oz, Rustie?

I went on that website Jill and left a message for him. I told him he'd been featured on RSC and that it had created a new interest in him and asked him to let us know what he is doing now. I don't really care actually as I've never heard of the man, but I thought it would be fun to find out!!! Perhaps he now lives just down the road from me .....

My hair falls out all the time and it's short! Hair in food is horrid but it's not going to kill you. Harmful bacteria that you can't see ... now that can be dangerous. But even so, as I said on another thread, we all have some immunity. If we get over sterile we will lose that and cases of food poisoning will go up! Well, that's what I think anyway. My kitchen is clean but not sterile. I bet most people's are the same.

You cynic, KathyG!

How come I've never heard of him then? I'm off to look him up on the Internet!

Aha! I'd better look out for him or was that programme so old that he's no longer on the scene?

Well done Le Creuset!!!

Er, who is he?

I e-mailed Le Creuset asking where in Australia I could get a replacement handle for the lid of my casserole which has disintegrated (the handle, not the lid) probably due to years of use in an Aga which could be a little bit too hot. Within 2 hours I had a reply asking for my address and saying they would send a replacement straight away, no charge. Wonderful service!

We were discussing avocados in the ingredients section recently. Yesterday, in order to use up some of my plentiful supply, I made a vegetable stock and then a couple of litres of avocado soup from a recipe book I have. This morning I was exploring the site and see Daniel Green's recipe on the Menu of the Week. I made mine almost exactly the same way (except using cream rather than yoghurt) and I'm serving it tonight with poached whiting rather than salmon (it probably won't have the same visual impact but should be lovely). Thanks for the idea! By the way, the soup tastes absolutely divine!

Hello Paul. I wonder if you have a recipe for a wheat free banana cake? My niece is looking for one as it's her son's birthday on Friday. I'm wondering whether to try and adapt the chocolate one you posted.

And Ainsley wears a hat. Why?

Kids absolutely love helping me make pasta. It takes three times longer but it's worth it! And when they are old enough they are intrigued with whipping egg whites. The first time they do it they keep asking 'is that enough?' when they have barely started and when they have finished they are gobsmacked that 2 egg whites can turn into such a huge mound of meringue. It's lovely!

That is a really interesting site, Rustie. I tried one of the quizzes on it earlier today but it was hard (I'm ashamed to say I only scored 4/10). The hangman game is fun! I've bookmarked this site.

I agree with MammaChef that bread and butter pudding is scrumptious and if anyone has Gary Rhodes' New British Classics, the B&B pud recipe in that is fantastic. I've made it several times.

Lesley, I would love to know how to make rosemary soap.

Thanks Paul. At the moment I am spending so much money on bits and pieces for my new home that I think I will try taking it off the heat before it's the colour I want for the time being. I haven't bought my ice cream machine or food processor yet so sugar thermometer is low on the priority list.

I used to enjoy The Best so much. We are about to subscribe to a pay TV service over here and there seem to be a few cookery shows on it. I will let you know if they are any good. They will have a struggle to make up for not getting UK Food any more though!

With regard to the caramel, Paul, I made toffee apples with the grandchildren before I left England and was disappointed as the caramel was a bit bitter. I know this is because I overcooked it slightly but is there a foolproof way of telling when to stop? Or must I get a thermometer?

Oh YUM Paul! Calorie free of course!!!

That's a lovely idea Ellie!

And if the water boils dry the can will explode so it's very important to keep it topped up. You can boil several cans at the same time and they keep for ages.

Mmmmmm, the tuna bake sounds delicious, Rustie. Must try that and it sounds like something kids would like!

That's a nice recipe bostrom. I've never used ice cubes but it's a good idea. Glenys, I do tempura suppers sometimes and make a batter similar to bostrom's and dip all sorts of things in ... spring onions, nice mushrooms, prawns ... almost anything! Serve with a couple of dips (or just use soy sauce and a sweet chilli sauce - bought) and it's a lovely finger meal.

And the main similarity is that they are all delicious whichever way they lie! I'm gettiing an orange tree, a lemon tree and a grapefruit tree too, MammaChef. You'd better come out for a visit!

Victoria, I've just searched for previous threads on this and the best way I found was to type in 'condensed milk' in the search bar and select 'chat' from the drop down. Then number 5 brings up some into about making caramel from condensed milk.

Perhaps you could try boiling up a can of condensed milk as per Banoffi Pie? There are several threads about that on here. When it's boiled and cooled it's quite thick and would need to be spooned over the meringue but it should work I think. A bit of cream piped over the top and it would be a dream! You'd have to get the toffee made soon though to be in time for Sunday. Good luck and have a lovely party for your Grandad!

Langoustines are Dublin Bay Prawns which are bigger than tiger prawns or shrimps (I looked it up in 'Rick Stein's Seafood')

Australia is very big Brenda! Where are you going? Would be happy to answer any questions but perhaps a new thread is called for.

The Marigold vegetable stock powder is good, Nigella is always singing its praises. But I (being a non meat eater) make a vast quantity of vegetable stock from time to time and freeze it in user friendly quantities. It's easy but takes a long time as has been mentioned. IMHO the only absolute essentials for a veggie stock are onion, celery, carrot and bay leaf. Apart from those I chuck in just about anything I've got (if you add onion skin you get a lovely brown coloured stock).

Well you certainly have a point there, Rustie! Somehow one's own hands never seem to be as dirty as other people's! Strange.

Thank you for that, Jill. I have looked at the recipe and it sounds well worth trying. Last night I made an avocado souffle adding lemon juice and some finely chopped spring onions. Keith loved it but I thought it tasted faintly bitter so won't be making that again. Karen, your chilled soup sounds fab too and I'm going to try your idea, Rustie, to make something sweet from them. Tonight I'm making banana ice lollies for Deklan and Finn - whizzing bananas and milk with some honey and freezing. Hope it works! Gosh, it's good to be back!!!!

Scrambled eggs

Marvellous ideas .... thanks! Lesley, an ice cream machine is high on my wish list at the moment but strangely I haven't seen any in the shops here yet except second hand. I must admit that my priorities were mixer, toaster and kettle but having got those now I must look more seriously for an ice cream machine. I make a mean souffle, Rustie, so will definitely try that. I wonder if avo has enough flavour though. Will try it and report back! Thanks for your contributions everyone.

I'll try that! And heels .... wearing flip flops all day and every day my feet are a horrible sight!

I agree with you, lesley. We eat at all sorts of places and hubby never gets any problems. I do, but my stomach gets upset before I go on holiday just with excitement so it doesn't take much! The only thing I really object to is when people handle food, eg. make a sandwich for you, or hand you a loaf of bread, and then take money with the same hands and give you change. Money is filthy stuff, it even stinks! I had an ice cream today and the girl who scooped it into the cone had a glove on and she carefully took the money in the hand she held the scoop in, not the hand with the glove on. But I have seen others serve food and take money with the same hand. Yuk!

Much much better! I think they were a spin off from some surgical instrument development.

Everything seems cheap to me and sometimes I think it's because I am converting back to sterling wrongly but it's not. I bought fresh raw tiger prawns the other day and was astonished how cheap they were. I actually can't remember but I have decided to keep the receipts for a while because I really can't believe I am paying so little. Fruit and veggies are very cheap but you can only get what's in season. They don't seem to import out of season stuff (which is good IMHO). However the strawberry season is in full swing and lasts 9 months! Tomatoes taste like tomatoes. I reckon by and large I am spending a third of what I used to spend in UK on food shopping.

As we have masses of avocado trees on our new property I have been trying to think of new ways to use them apart from avocado prawns and guacamole. Australians spread avocado on toast and eat it in sandwiches and I quite like that but wanted to be a little more enterprising. So here are two ideas I have come up with which you might want to try if you find cheap avos at any time.

The first is to make a hollandaise using Delia's foaming method and adding mashed avo (it has to be almost over ripe) to the basic mix before folding in the egg white.

Second is a salad. Avocado pieces, orange segments, pineapple chunks. Mix all together, drizzle with a little balsamic and olive oil (very little, the orange juice could be enough on its own actually) and then sprinkle with shredded coconut and toss a few white marshmallows over the top. I made this for my niece and her children and they all absolutely loved it. I was able to use fresh pineapple but perhaps a can of pineapple might be better in UK because you have the sharpness of the orange and you don't want a tart pineapple with it, you need a really sweet one. We had it to accompany fish with rice and, though it may sound funny, trust me, it was delicious!

If anyone knows or can think of any interesting things to do with avocados, please let me know! I have hundreds and hundreds of them (literally)!

I bought 17 bananas today for the equivalent of 50p and 20 apples for £1. I would like to try making banana jam. Without giving away your exact recipe, Nick, could you give me a hint as to how you do it? Where does the pectin come from? Do you add lemon juice or something?

This isn't an unfortunate name but here in Australia they call strimmers 'whipper snippers' which I think is much nicer, don't you?

And having been off the boards for three months it has pointed me to yet another fascinating topic. And I too want RedSquirrel to come back and finish that post ... we need to know ... please!

And why is this thread under the Ingredients topic? I really want to know!!!!

I can't really imagine what banana jam is like. I just picture mashed bananas which are slimey so the jam is instantly unappealing, even with the addition of chocolate. But I'm sure kids would love it.

Oh sorry, Seaside, I forgot about the last bit of your question. I'm pretty sure that those little tins of dried yeast give you equivalent quantity information on them.

I'm sure you could use dried yeast instead. Apparently some supermarkets will sell you fresh yeast if you just go to the bread counter and ask, or you could try your local bakery. This has been asked before on here and people do seem to be able to obtain fresh yeast. You can buy puppies in pet shops and they are living organisms! So is yoghurt come to think of it.

That's what this site is all about, Henry. Exchanging ideas, tips etc. I will miss it so much! Happy ice creaming!

Henry, I just use tupperware type containers from the supermarket or kitchen shop, or recycled ice cream cartons from bought ice cream which I put through the dishwasher. Sometimes the lids go out of shape though!

I use agar agar too Juliana. I get it from my local health food shop but they have to order it specially, it's not on the shelves as a rule. I wonder why?

Hi Gaye. I shouldn't be posting either as I'm packing my entire life up to move to Australia, but one can only pack for a limited number of hours a day. I hope you have a wonderful weekend in Italy.
Hi Juliana, thanks for the info. It's dark now so I'm not going to check for flowers, plus there is thunder and lightening going on and I feel safer indoors! But will look tomorrow, I don't think the leaves are at all furry so you are probably right, marjoram! Thanks xxx

Wasn't that what Reshma did in the Chef competition, Lesley? I think I remember her making thin strings using an implement rather like a potato ricer? And also I remember a cooking item on GFL when someone had punched holes in the bottom of something but my memory is so vague as to be completely useless to Juliana! Sorry.

Hi Gaye. I have a very healthy clump of something in my garden but I'm not sure if it's oregano or marjoram! I have tried to identify it from books but they look the same to me. Any idea how I can tell? I just use it anyway in whatever I fancy!

Therese, I think basil is best grown indoors. I don't know about lemongrass, never tried it. My chives go on from year to year, perhaps it's because I use them such a lot and they get chopped back as you suggest.
Georgie and Rhianon, as I mentioned my rosemary is not in a pot. However I have pansies which have been decimated by ants this year. It's never happened to me before. SOOOO annoying!

Hi Rachel. I don't want to be an interfering old bag but if you are doing coursework you must be very young. I would think you are too young to be going on a diet. Just eating sensibly would probably work for you, plus exercise. Perhaps you are just eating too much of the wrong stuff (like I do!). I'm sure you know what a 'healthy diet' consists of and the benefits of regular exercise. I don't like to hear young girls worrying excessively about weight. You are probably still growing out of puppy fat. Take care xx

Lovely stuff on that site Deborah. If I wasn't moving in 16 days I might be tempted! Well found. I'm sure lots of board members will love it. Thanks.

Oh, and by the way, because it's so big and woody I always use rosemary twigs for kebab sticks, delicious!

Good luck Gaye. I just want to add that my rosemary which is going mad is not in a pot, just planted on a steep bank in my garden. It gets a lot of sun and we live near the coast so don't get much snow. However, I have never been kind enough to shake snow off my rosemary, Juliana, and it has survived quite hard frosts. Hope you get some going soon Ruth.

I don't really understand about tempering chocolate. I just melt it in a bain marie as the TV chefs usually do or in the microwave if I'm feeling brave and am in a hurry. Never had a problem. But you can get a machine to do it which I found doing a Google search. I have to ask 'Why?' unless you are doing it professionally! But here's the website www.chocolatier-electro.com/english. Chocolate isn't scary .... xxxx

Ooh! Fantastic. Have spent all day on the beach today with kids. Just come on line to catch up on e-mails. Whilst on I popped in here and sure enough, all working like a dream. Thanks! (Phew, it aint 'alf 'ot 'ere today! SPF 30)

Ian, I tried to get back to the Yorkshire Pudding thread using the search facility on the site and also got a huge error message box, so I tried a couple of other searches and still got the error message. I think the search engine is having a funny five minutes.

Oh dear, should I be proud or ashamed? My rosemary is totally out of control! I use it a lot in cooking but it is still taking over. I started it from a little rooted shoot pulled up from my mother's garden at about this time of year. Try pulling a bit off your neighbour's Gaye!

No I am sure you are right Lynne, the shortening is the fat, be it margarine, lard or butter. I wonder why it is called that?

Thanks for the link to the recipe Sara. I don't know why I couldn't find it yesterday!

Those River Cafe ladies use it. Does that encourage you to try it? What AWT recipe? I can't find it.

Hi Colleen. Gary Rhodes' smoked haddock scotch egg recipe is in 'At the Table'. It's a long recipe. I can't post it because of copyright but you could borrow the book from your library perhaps. I do that with cookery books before I buy them to make sure I want to spend the money. If you borrow 'At the Table' I'm pretty sure you will want to buy it, if so, go to Amazon ... cheaper than the bookshops usually!

When I lived alone and before I gave up eating meat I would buy a chicken and roast it. Next day it would be fricasse, next day - curry, next day - pilaf and the carcass would be soup. Wonderfully nourishing economical things, chickens!

I used to have a restaurant and once a family came in to dinner the night before going on holiday. The mother of the party drank loads and when she left she was definitely over the top. Apparently she was sick all night. Then they tried to sue us because they couldn't go on holiday. They failed! Nobody else in the party was ill, and nobody else who ate in our restaurant that night was ill either. I am not suggesting for a minute, Maria, that you drank too much. It's just that your story and the subsequent comments brought back that memory.

I think Simon's idea of tempura is lovely but it's not too good if you don't eat it very soon after it's cooked as it loses it's crispness. Ages ago on GFL somebody did some canapes which looked so lovely I made a note of them. One was popcorn popped in butter with paprika and garlic salt added and sprinkled with grated parmesan while still warm. Another was quails eggs boiled for 1 1/2 minutes and then dried and deep fried served with a dipping sauce made with soy, fish sauce, 5 spice powder and lime juice. And there was another which was cubes of pear and camembert put on skewers, blasted in the oven drizzled with brandy. Yummy! Then there's Bruschetta, always nice and you can put absolutely anything on them. And bowls of interesting olives and nuts ....
Have a lovely day Toni!

Sheila, when we were looking at Australian properties last year we found several with Kaffir lime trees growing in the gardens. When I eventually get out there I will plant one if there isn't one already growing! Ideal climate in Queensland. I will not leave this site even when I am in Australia so I will be able to supply you 'mail order' as it were! I don't know what the customs regulations are. Perhaps I shouldn't offer till I've checked!

I have been very busy lately and unable to watch UK Food but saw Sophie's Weekends yesterday for the first time. It was SO good! Thank you UK Food. More like this please! I was able to watch two episodes, the brunch one with the lime curd carol mentioned, and the one where her friends came a day early .... I didn't really believe that, but it did show what you can do with what you've got! Lovely programme, I will try and watch as many as possible now.

I am pretty sure that Karen is right in that it's the addition of vinegar that makes meringue stay marshmallowy on the inside. Most Pavlova recipes also include a little cornflour. Whether this has any effect on the centre I do not know, but I always add it to mine! Hope this helps, Jan. Please let us know how you get on. (Nigella has a fool proof recipe in How to Eat)

Sorry I'm late joining this conversation but haven't had a moment lately and am just catching up with the message boards. Stephen the idea of a DVD is so great! I'm moving to Oz soon. I'd buy a DVD and would hope you would continue to produce them so I could still watch GFL and other UK Food programmes in Australia, I just know I'm going to miss UK Food when I leave! Please do it!!!

Sylvia is right Louise, IMHO. The people who created the recipe for Banoffi Pie made the ultimate. I have had numerous imitations in various places, some of them don't remotely resemble the original. All you need to do is make shortcrust pastry and bake it blind in an 8 inch (sorry, don't do metric) flan tin. You need the pastry thin so it goes crispy. Beforehand (and you can do lots at a time, as Sylv said) you boil unopened cans of condensed milk for 3 hours. The finished pud, the PROPER pud, is the toffee which results from boiling the condensed milk poured into the thin pastry flan, then a layer of sliced bananas, topped with cream which has been whipped with some caster sugar and about a teaspoon of instant coffee (not granules, it must be powder). It looks best if you pipe the cream on with a star nozzle. EVERYONE loves it!

Gary used 175g of sifted self raising flour with a pinch of salt and mixed in 75g of vegetarian suet and then added cold water to make a soft dough. No other ingredients. Hope that helps Stephen.

Mine's an Imperia too. I use it often. You can do fabulous things with home made pasta and I absolutely love it. I used to hang my pasta on string strung between two chairs but now have a wooden pasta drier which is marvellous. If you leave freshly made pasta in a heap it does have a tendancy to stick together so it's much better to hang it out to dry as it were. I don't know what a smart chopper is but I bet your pasta machine comes out of it's box and gets used on a regular basis. You may need a bit of practise, my first effort was not brilliant, but you soon get the hang of it. When you want to experiment, apart from making different flavours, such as adding spinach, tomato paste, herbs, even squid ink, you can do lovely looking pasta sheets with whole leaves of basil folded inside and you can see them through the pasta sheets. Very impressive! Go for it Keith!!

Out of interest I did a search on 'Crotin' and found the following definition ... it must be a different sort of crotin!!
"a mixture of poisonous proteins found in the seeds of a small Asian tree (Croton tiglium) related to the spurges"
I also found a recipe containing Crotin and it said 'small goats cheese disks', so Rustie is right (as usual)!!!

Susana I have had another look through my Nigella books and the Greek Lamb Stew does have macaroni in it. Well done Carole. The book (Nigella Bites) calls it ditalini or macaroni. I have never heard of ditalini! I would not be allowed to post the recipe here so hopefully you will be able to find it on the website Carole suggested

Hey, where has the rest of this thread gone? There were loads of posts between Rustie's and Kims.

For the rings, go to your local DIY and buy drainpipes. Cut them to size. Plastic for puds which you want to chill or freeze, stainless steel for hot stuff. I'm sure this has been recommended on GFL. Dead cheap too!

Hi Susana, you say you were watching Nigella earlier. Where? I'm so annoyed I missed that! Which series were you watching? I have looked in my books and can't find a recipe that fits the bill, can you give me some more clues?

Penny, you can gently wipe the cake over with a damp cloth and you can also use a little cornflour and rub it gently over for extra polish. I got the tip from one of Jane Asher's books and I have done it and it does work.

Hi Samm. A belated welcome from me too. You certainly get the prize for the prettiest posts! I agree with Trudi and Carole, I'd love to try some of your recipes. It's great to have a new contributor. I hope you enjoy the message boards as much as we all do.

If you want to whip something up then a casserole is no good! They take ages but are no trouble as you just leave them in the oven to do their stuff for hours. And they don't spoil. So I think Turdi's idea was a good one. But if you want something instant then a omelette is good. Takes no time at all and can be absolutely delicious. Serve with a salad and french stick. If you click on recipes and choose 'dairy and eggs' then refine by chef and choose Ross Burden, there's a great omelette recipe with crab and spinach. But you can do anything with an omelette, as long as you don't over cook it. Good luck.

Hi Jean, Karen has given you a recipe for this under the Cream of Watercress Soup thread.

Hi Emma, this has been asked so many times before. I apologise to regulars who have already heard the explanation but brand new people simply can't be expected to know. The thing is, Emma, that UK Food can't put every recipe they broadcast onto this site automatically. They require permission from whoever wrote the recipe and probably the production company that broadcast it in the first place and it could cost a lot of money to buy the rights even if they were allowed to. I don't know the ins and outs. But if you think about it you can understand that if someone like Nigella has made a TV series and published a book on the back of it, they won't want all the recipes from the book published for free on the Internet. I have suggested this before, why don't you go to the library and borrow the book/books? I know you are new to the site and we love new people joining. Perhaps you might like to explore some of the old posts ... you will find lots of information! Welcome, and I hope you enjoy it here.

Hi Val, you posted this question twice and I responded to you under the other thread. I hope you found it though my answer was the same as Monica's. Good luck.

Down girl!!!

Trudi, I went there .... it's a big blue page with 'Carluccio's, the place for Italian food' written in white. And that's all! Am I missing something?

Oh Penny, I'm sure you don't really need instructions on feminine wiles! Go for it!

Well Sean, that sounds interesting. Was this an impulse buy? Did it have any instructions? I have always cooked my rice in a pan of water with (mostly) successful results. But when I was in Thailand I noticed that nearly every restaurant and café had an electric rice cooker which surprised me. But these rice cookers were not holey spherical objects! I will watch this topic with great interest to see if anyone can help you. The holes in most colanders would let uncooked rice fall straight through; I assume your thingy has small holes more like a strainer?

Kirsten is right. That's the recipe! Shame it is the only one they put on their site. Their Brown Bread Ice Cream is to die for!

There has been a (virtually) direct copy of a Nigella chocolate recipe on this site since Sunday. I'm amazed!

Is this a recipe you have seen recently on UK TV Sheryl? If so, what programme?

The recipe in Jamie's Kitchen is for Beetroot Surprise Pudding mentioned above. It is a sort of cake, but it is definitely not red!

Hi Carolyn. I have frozen home made pasta - just blanched it and froze it, but personally I think it is better if you dry it. I occasionally do that, but mostly make enough for one meal. The best thing about home made pasta is that it is fresh, fresh, fresh in my opinion! It loses some of that if you freeze it or dry it.

Well done, Sharon. Thanks.

Hello George William and welcome to the message board. You are pressing all the right buttons. You are saying all the right things too. I hope you enjoy the site and make more contributions.

At the moment it's the last topic on page 2 under this heading (Equipment) It's called 'Salt and Pepper Wooden block'

There is a fairly recent discussion about this somewhere. I will try and find it and let you know where it is.

I have all Nigella's books Christine so I could help you although you realise I can't copy the recipe and post it. I could give you some guidelines though. I have found a recipe for chicken with noodles but it uses chicken breast, not roast chicken. It is strips of chicken marinated in a Chinese style sauce and stir fried with noodles. Is this the one you are after? I will keep looking for something with roast chicken.

I think Richard was probably talking about Tony Tobin rather than JM. However I think Tony is doing a fantastic job co-presenting this week.

Monica you have made my mouth water. I love your recipes! I wish I had read this one before going shopping today. It's ideal for me because the chicken doesn't go in until the end so I could have added chicken to half the curry for hubby and left the other half meat free for me. As it is I bought mussels for tonight, but your recipe is going in my book! Thanks. xx

Pretty good service from Divertimenti one has to say, Sandra but doesn't it just prove that you really have to shop around? Sorry I recommended Divertimenti before checking Nisbets. I must have bought something from them (Nisbets) in the past because I regularly get sent their catalogue. I do virtually all my shopping (apart from food) either by mail order or on the Internet. I started doing this when I was working full time and valued my weekends too much to spend them shopping, and it is now such a habit that I really don't like going to real shops very much any more.

Andrew, do you do a lot of lurking?

Kirsten, I agree about Nisbets. Today I went there to look for the knife sharpener you recommended (Kitchen Devils I think you said it was called). I couldn't find it but found a pasta machine and the Chantry knife sharpener, both heaps cheaper than Divertimenti or anywhere else that I have seen.

Oh Rachel, isn't it awful when that sort of thing happens. I have often heard chefs on TV say 'put a little in and then taste, you can always add more but you can't take it out!' That is very good advice, specially when you are cooking something for the first time. I do hope this hasn't put you off trying Thai food, or other UK Food recipes.

I have a very old knife sharpener and want a new one. I was thinking of investing £30 odd and getting a Chantry since it was recommended. As a result of Kirsten's suggestion I had a look at Nisbets. Whilst I can't find the Kitchen Devil one mentioned I see they are selling the Chantry reduced trom £25.99 to £19.99. That seems good value.

Whilst I agree that Trudy might have thought twice before posting as she did for the very first time, she did follow it up by being helpful with a lemon curd pudding recipe. Before we totally discourage her from ever posting on this site again, perhaps we should wait and see. She may turn out to be a very valuable contributor who has lots of lovely recipes to share with us!

Hello Sandra. Welcome to the site. Sorry to hear you have been ill and that sounds pretty serious.

I think David's idea about using Tesco's home delivery service is a good one. Also Sainsbury's offer the same service. I usually shop at Sainsbury's and they do quite a good range of the more unusual veggies including a lovely variety of wild mushrooms. They have a section with speciality foods too where you can find all sorts of goodies.

As for buying a mandolin I suggest you try Divertimenti. There is a link to them on the home page. I have also seen one advertised on one of the shopping channels. I have a plastic one which was really cheap (I bought it at the Good food Show about 6 years ago) and it has a safety guard which is brilliant.

Good luck, Sandra. I hope you are fully fit soon.

Have you applied to be on RSC LynneF?

The Good Food Show this year is from 26th - 30th November and you can find out the latest info here: [link]

They haven't got celeb chef appearances up yet but I expect they will be sorting it out soon. These things have to be organised well in advance.

Suzanne, who is a chef, recommends the Chantry knife sharpener in the other thread called 'Knives' in this section of the forum. She should know! I'm sure you wouldn't damage your knives if you use a decent sharpener.

In that case, Jill, you will be able to help two people who have posted requests for his recipes today. Go on, it's a challenge ... prove it!!!!

Why don't you invest in a Chantry knife sharpener? Knives need sharpening often so it would save you money in the long run. They are available from Divertimenti (theres a link to them on the Home Page). I think they are around £30.

I have a Gourmetbaker bread machine. When I first got it I used it to bake loaves with great success but now that I am more experienced I only use it to make the dough and use the oven for the actual baking. If your bread works when you bake it in the oven but the same mixture does not work when you bake it in the machine then it would suggest there is something wrong with the machine's temperature or timing. I suggest you take it back under guarantee. There's nothing more frustrating than having spent quite a lot of money on something that doesn't work and it certainly sounds as if you have given it a fair trial. Good luck Frank.

Paula, if you go to recipes then choose 'Pork, bacon and ham' and then refine your search by chef you will find three pork recipes by James. I think the roast pork one might be what you are looking for as he roasts it and then covers it with mustard and presses fresh herbs into the mustard. Even if it's not exactly the right recipe, it does sound lovely. Hope this helps.

I haven't the first idea what Japanese breadcrumbs are. I'm sure I saw him do this recipe on the show and I don't remember any mention of 'Japanese' breadcrumbs. I would imagine ordinary breadcrumbs will be just fine!

No need to apologise Lesley. I had a look at that site anyway. It's very interesting.

Hope it's in the freezer Carole.

If you are sad then lots of us are Sylv! Who invented those glass ones anyway? The back is peeling off one of mine because I lean it against the tiles behind the Aga to dry it. I don't actually use it but sometimes one has to do a bit of wiping down (only because one has ones house on the market you understand). And I never put my wooden boards in the dishwasher. But I have still managed to warp them because they too get dried by the Aga. I can't wait to move. New chopping boards, new food processor .... now shall I buy a Kitchen Aid or a Kenwood?

Thanks Lesley, it was someone else and in response to the original query I posted this site: www.xynergy.co.uk. Manuka honey and other good stuff available plus info!

Tracey, I agree. I have all four of Nigella's books. They are so readable aren't they. She's a little like Nigel Slater the way she talks about food. Even if you don't use her recipes (which I do, with great success) they are nice books to own. How to Eat is probably the best, and Forever Summer is perhaps a little disappointing compared to the others, but I don't regret buying it.

I much prefer to chop on my wooden boards. I have been given two of those glass ones as pressies. They look pretty but are very hard to chop on. They are far too slippery and I always feel they are ruining my knives. I use them to cover a stain on my worktop! I have several plastic ones for the reason stated above (which is even more important if you are a non meat eater like me but cook meat for friends and family). Some of them are nicer to chop on than others. You need to shop around and do a touchy feely job on them before buying one!

And I believe this is the first time you have posted on this site. Welcome! Constructive information such as you have offered will be welcomed by one and all. Don't leave us .. we are nice!

Great post Julie! And I'm so happy to hear you have recovered from anorexia, I believe it's a difficult thing to overcome.

He's often on Ready Steady Cook! And didn't I see a trailer for his Delicious series on UK Food the other day? I expect they are going to re-run it.

Failing that it's the usual answer ... you have to have the book. But you don't necessarily have to buy it. Don't forget your library!

Didn't he enter the UK Food Chef 2002 competition with his brother or am I thinking of someone completely different?

I use plastic ones for raw meat as you can put them in the dishwasher, Georgie.

Get James Martin equipment from here Amina: www.wahlshop.co.uk/acatalog/

Yes Rustie and I LOL you back!

Lesley, I know what lol is meant to mean but I always read it as 'lots of love'. It's nicer!

It doesn't have a long shelf or fridge life because of the eggs. I wouldn't worry, Rosie, once you have made it it will not have time to go off!

Jamie's Surprise Pudding isn't very red either though.

I don't eat meat simply because I don't like it. I ensure I get enough protein by including lots of pulses and nuts in my diet. I also eat eggs and cheese. My step daughter barbecued me a vegetarian sausage and it tasted revoltingly meaty!

I'm another turner!

A lot of chefs on TV bang on about eating stuff that's in season and I agree to a point. But I bought some lovely asparagus tips (buy one get second half price) from Sainsburys this week. They were truly delicious and I do think we can be a bit 'precious' about this subject. After all we all use modern technology in our kitchens. Who does not have an electric whisk at the very least? With the speed of air transportation and the efficiency of chilling these days I wonder if imported stuff isn't just as fresh and palatable as 'in season' produce which may perhaps have been driven down from the north of England to the south, or vice versa. I totally support the 'buy British' thing and will always buy English produce when it's available but I hate being made to feel guilty about a treat like asparagus in February! What do you all think?

Susie, all the cassoulet recipes I have ever seen need more than one type of meat in. You should use pork belly, duck, sausage ... all sorts. I don't believe just chicken would work very well at all. (I don't eat meat so what do I know?!!!!!)

Susie, all the cassoulet recipes I have ever seen need more than one type of meat in. You should use pork belly, duck, sausage ... all sorts. I don't believe just chicken would work very well at all. (I don't eat meat so what do I know?!!!!!)

Well done Linda. A thank you means so much xxx

Hi Susie. I have one suggestion, are you sure you are cooking it for long enough? If you cook it long and slow the flavours should deepen and intensify. I think tinned beans are fine and you do need rather fatty meats in this dish.

Hi Dave
I have two Indian cookery books which I depend on. They are both very old and paperback and don't have pictures so they are not good for total beginners. However they both tell you how to blend your own spices to make various different seasonings for curries.

The Complete Book of Curries by Harvey Day. ISBN 7182 1134 0 published by Kaye & Ward.

Indian Cookery by E P Veerasawmy. Published by Mayflower Books Ltd, no ISBN ... it was published in 1969!

Have you thought about borrowing a couple of Indian cookery books from your library. If you find one you like then you could go out and buy it. I borrowed both the Gary Rhodes books that I own before buying them to make sure I really wanted them!

Paul, that will be hard for Karen to do without having your e-mail. If you go to the 'Making Contact' thread you should be able to work something out. You don't have to be with Blueyonder. Go and check it out.

Barbara, how wonderful. 8 children. My bestest friend has 7 and wanted so much to have another one but sadly got cancer and had to have a hysterectomy. We met because we were in next door beds! You will have to double the quantities of the flan for your lot! What are the age ranges? I

Mine is always smooth. I boil them for 3 hours. I can't tell you what it said on the label as they lose the labels when you boil them. The three cans in my larder at the moment have hand written labels saying 'caramel for banoffee'. I have never had one go off so I don't even date them these days!

I have printed off the recipe and intend to try it soon Susie. It didn't look so hard when Eric Lanlard made it on screen. I'm going to make it next time I have guests. I think it would do for a pudding, not just for tea. I will post a report when I have tried it, please let me know if you make it before me!

2 onions, 6-8 spring onions, 100g cream cheese, 200 ml whipping cream, 1 egg + 1 yolk. 6 slices gruyere. He mixes thyme into the shortcrust pastry too. Dorset!

I didn't know you could get skimmed condensed milk Rachel. I wouldn't risk it. It's a pudding after all and not meant to be low calorie! I would recommend a shortcrust pastry case rather than the digestive biscuit bottom personally but perhaps you should try it both ways and let us know which you prefer!

To put it another (and better) way, Lesley with initial cap and lesley without initial cap! Hey, it's Friday. The improvements should happen today shouldn't they? I can't wait to see what they are!

Oh I just spotted the difference. Lesley (upper case) and lesley (lower case) Hopefully Ian is sorting this out!!! Bless 'im!

Barbara, I have 'At the Table' and have made this flan a couple of times. It is lovely. The trouble is we aren't allowed to post copied recipes from books. It's understandable as Gary would rather you bought the book! Basically you make a flan case. The two onions are ordinary onions and spring onions (pre cooked) and the filling is cream cheese with added egg and cream. Gary adds cooked new potatoes. Once baked you allow to cool and then put slices of Gruyere cheese on top, melting it under the grill before serving. You will be able to make it from these clues I should think!

If what you say is true Monica I think I'd better put some in everything I cook from now on. No more flatulence in our house would be an absolute miracle!

I think if you include oil and vinegar or wine in your marinade it should work. Just add whatever extra flavourings you like such as Worcester Sauce, soy sauce, garlic. I believe it is the vinegar or wine that does the tenderising.

It is 6 of everything (in ounces if weighable): plain chocolate, butter, caster sugar, eggs, ground almonds. Plus 1 tblsp brandy and a pinch of salt.

Cream butter and sugar well then add egg yolks gradually, then melted choc and brandy. Fold in whisked whites with salt. Pour into prepared tin (28cm loose-bottomed tin or 4cm deep flan ring) and bake at 190 for 15 mins, reduce temp to 180 for another 30-40 mins. Test in usual way for doneness!

Hope this gives you some idea.

Trudi, I think you are talking about Hillaire Belloc's Cautionary Rhymes (or something similar). Henry King who chewed little bits of string and the little boy who got eaten by a lion.

I have several Gary Rhodes chocolate cake recipes. Can you describe it in more detail and then if I have it I will either summarise it here to avoid breaching copyright rules or e-mail it.

Karen, that is delightfully tasteless! I wonder what 'shortening bread' is?

Preheat oven to 180. Put pav in and immediately turn oven down to 150. Cook for an hour and a quarter and then turn off the oven and leave the pav in till cold. But you must put fruit on, pouring marsala over just won't work!

Oh sorry Jo. I was picturing a chopping board with little wells for S&P incorporated. I watched a tiny bit of James Martin and I now see what you mean. I'll keep my eyes open when next shopping!

Happy birthday, Janice xxxx

Do you fill up the salt and pepper wells each time you use the block and then throw the salt and pepper down the drain when you wash it up?

Who cares Kristina as long as it was nice! That's what cooking is all about. Just go for it and try. If it doesn't work try something different next time. Thanks for letting us know!

I heard Ed's seasoning tip - grind up some cabbage before using it for anything else. Well I've used mine so it's to late to do that, it's about 6 years old. The only thing I would say to you Darry is to get one that is rough inside otherwise everything just slides around. I have a pretty wooden one which is used for decorative purposes only. The one I use is heavy and I have just looked at the bottom of it and can't read it all but it says something like '.. eton Brook' and then 'Made in England' Sorry that's not very helpful. Just feel them and buy one that doesn't feel smooth I suggest.

No Karen I think that's the first time I've heard you mention it! The reason I haven't got one is because of the Aga as I said. My step daughter has a slow cooker and absolutely loves it. Her smoke alarm goes off every time she cooks in her oven!

I know the little jars seem expensive but even buying the small quantities I quite often find they have gone out of date before I have finished them. I use a lot of spices but not the same ones every time. Mostly I try to get the whole seeds or pods or whatever rather than the ready ground. I think buying larger quantities for less money would be a false economy for me as I'd probably end up throwing even more away and I don't believe in using old spice because they definitely go 'flat'. I love opening my little dark cupboard and seeing all my little jars and smelling that aroma!

What's Food Monthly?

Lovely Karen but we don't all have slow cookers! I'll probably get one when we move but an Aga owner doesn't need one, she has the bottom oven!

Agreed, Lesley, the longer the better for brisket!

I use brisket for pot roasting. Into a heavy oven proof pan with tight lid put whole shallots, carrots cut into big chunks, celery, garlic, any root vegetables you like cut into big chunks again and the meat. Pour in enough red wine and good stock to more or less cover. Put on the lid and place in hot oven till it comes to the boil then turn the heat right down so it barely simmers and leave for hours! Sometimes I put the potatoes in as well but they can break up too much and as this comes out with lovely juice I tend to serve mashed potatoes with it. It is always popular in our house and people are surprised that I (as a non meat eater) can produce such a delicious meaty meal! I use a Le Creuset pan for this, they can't be beaten for this type of cooking.

Would it withstand Aga heat?

There's a thread on the Good Food Live section under 'Evaporated Milk'. It digresses a bit into chats about Gary Rhodes but there's lots of info about boiling up condensed milk to make Banoffee Pie.

Hi Mervyn. This has been asked recently but I'm not surprised you couldn't find it as it's been posted on the Good Food Live board rather than the Ingredients one! Look at 'Weird Spuds'.

Oh I know the one you mean Sylv! The one who goes to the burger shop wearing her apron and then nicks her son's bread by telling him it's too hot? Well I only saw it once and that must have been by mistake because I normally mute the TV and have a cuppa or chat to my husband or flip channels and watch The Salon for 5 mins (which