How do I search just the message boards, please?

Er.... I'd add garlic and bay leaf as well and I'd probably omit the red lentils.

Somehwere on this messge board is a recipe for perfect rice
(cup of rice, cup and third of water, microwave 8-10 minutes. Brill)

Is there a similar recipe for sticky rice, please?

Thanks.

I've been given a lot of dried apricots, peaches etc. I've never used them before can I make cakes, deserts with them? What else can I use them for.

Oh! I never meant that to rhyme. There are a whole host of varieties of rice (e.g 'sticky' rice) in my local Chinese supermarket. Which sorts are most appropriate for which dishes? Does anyone know a good recipe book for doing differnt types of rice and which are most appropriate for which sort of dish oir course? Thanks folks.

The love of my life said she saw a Rick Stein show in which he did a Chinese-style pork stew - that no one apparently thinks is Chinese. Involved dried orange peel, Szechaun pepper and off course pork - cooked slowly.

Can anyone think of where I might find this recipe - or a similar one, please.

Yes. I agree with those who see presenters as being there because of their family connections. Fort is basically boring and pretentious.

I find the whole program irritiating. I'm not a good cook but i like to have a go (and the children enjoy my efforts - they say). Yet, i 've seldom seen anything on MK that makes me want to have ago at the recipe.

If it's not broke, you shouldn't try to fix it.

Thanks, again Chef. I'll try with Puff Pastry - it'll be easier!

When I made pastry first time I'd obviosly had done something wrong. Maybe not 'crumbily' enough when I put in fridge. When I tried to roll some of the pasty rolled but not all of it. Difficult to explain. Didn't bind properly.

Is there a fool proof pastry recipe anywhere? Preferably one that I can put all the ingredients into a food processor.

I've tried making it a couple of times without any great success.

(I've also googled for perfect pastry).

PS Thanks Chef - I tried the chicken pie but the pastry turne dout awful!

Well I typed left over chicken and didn't get anything. That is why I asked for help.

Why bother posting negative comments?

What to do with it other than have with pasta, mash or make a curry.

I want to buy a pair of cheap plastic food tongs. I've tried every where in Liverpool city centre.

(I refused to buy the only pair I saw £8 with Jamie Oliver's name on them. I am irritated by this increasingly common practice)

Any one know a cheap source? Thanks

I've got 800g of boneless 'pork roast joint'.

What's the best method of cooking it?

I'm thinking, very slowly wrapped in foil. All ideas welcomed. Thanks

I've been given about 10 tins of Princess salmon. I don't normally buy it. Other than having with salad what else may I use it for?

Thanks

On 'Great Food Live' last week there was a recipe ham with mustard with cider/samsuma sauce; and three vegetarian dishes - all of which looked nice. How may i find these by date? Thanks folks.

i'd just about got used to this web site and then they change everything!

A lot of recipeshave chillie powder as an ingredient. If I prefer not to use powder what should I use instead?

I saw this recipe on UKTV last week
[link]

I presume that I take all cloves, cinnamon etc out of pan before add other ingredients.

I don't like to use chilli powder what would people recomment in stead. More chiillies - I still have lots growing in the kitchen!

Thanks folks

Above recipe look's good.

I like to fry with garic, add to regu and have with pasta etc. Yum!

Sorry for the delay in replying. I had each of them in a huge pot. Just watered them occasionally.

I have seen them in England. I'd try 'Asian shops' etc. Not quiet sure how to express this.

I lived in Sydney and while you gloat it gets really hot and humid as well
I like the cold and the cool as well.

I must say I miss the food of Sydney. The quality in shops here is very poor. Supermarkets in UK have too much power and a lot to answer for. To get food that is the quality of the average cafef/restaurent you have to pay mega bucks here.

A surplus here too.

Any thoughts, folks? Thanks

My basil plants are all going dam busters! Yippee. I;ve made pesto, basil oil etc.

But if I blitz with olive oil and put in ice cube try in freezer will it last until autumn/winter?

Well before I returned to England I would have obtained them from the three trees I had growing in pots in my front garden! I never used the leaves but made jam with the fruit.

Yummy.

I have seen two programmes on UKTVfood in the past couple of weeks where the presenter introduced a recipe and did not acknowledge its source. The one I saw today was called the 'Inman's Delight' and was a middle-eastern recipe with aubergine. It's a recipe I use taken from a recipe book on middle easternfood. I bet the cook used the same bok that I do.

I have my doubts about how cooks can claim to own the copyright on a particular recipe - which are often hundreds of years old - this makes me even more sceptical.

My understanding of Thai cooking is that they do not use olice oil. Otherwise my approach is similar to that of Monica above.

I heat the groundnut or veg oil until it is fairly hot. Then add ginger, garlic, chilies (and sometimes spring onions) unt. Cook until veggies start to turn brown. Remove from heat, allow cool. Strain trough sieve into container. Store in fridge,

Quantities - 10 fl oz of oil; at least 6cloves of garlic. about three inches of fresh ginger as many chilies as you wish.

Hope this works for you. Last time I did tis I ws living in Australia. Not done for a while

I'll try your ideas of using less chocolate or white.

Bear in mind the person who showed me this recipe was a top French pastry chef so there may have been something extra he did that I have forgotten. I've been doing it for a couple of years and my family have only just started to complain. I've been using Belgian chocolate

I always do belly pork on a low heat.. I add water, soy sauce, rice wine. At end add corn flour to thicken. I have a recipe somewhere but its on a CD disc that I can't find at the moment. Sorry

Well we all like Pea and mint soup. Put pound of peas in 3/4 litre of stock. Cook. Purree with bunch of mint. Serve hot or cold. I prefer cold - very refreshing in this hot weather.

Numerous variations include adding bacon pieces and puree with peas. I like the idea of adding (green) chilli.

How some people can write this as a recipe and then claim copyright on it amazes me. Er - yes I do have a thing about this subject at the moment. Where may I start a thread on this issue?

I used to live next door to a French chef. The original recipe came form his mother. When the cream had reached boiling point. He owuld add the chocolate in pieces and allow it to melt. He put fruit - bananas, or strawberries (or anything in season) at the bottom of a tin lined with cling film. Then pour mixture over it. Then literally leave overnight. Turn out the tin and then slice it.

Essentially its a large carton of double cream and two slabs of choccy from a wel known store called Sainsburys. If you try it let me know - or if you need further help. I still like it but family prefer it a little less heavy. I might just try adding a whipped egg white cos that might lighten it. I had hoped that someone would have known more than me! I share copyright of this recipe with the world.

There is recipe I do that consists of bringing 250 mls/8 fluid ounces of double cream to the boil, then adding a lb/500 grams of chocolate to it. This mixture is then poured over fruit placed in the bottom of a loaf tin. Then placed in the 'fridge to cool. When cooled it may be cut into slices.

My problem is this. Suddenly, all my family have gone off it because the resultant 'cake' is too heavy. If I half the amount of chocolate will I still be able to slice it? If I add a beaten up egg white will this make it lighter and will I still be able to slice it?
Thanks

Hi. There is a recipe for bellypork in one of Delia's books.

Incidently, I fail to see how Chefs can claim copyright for recipes that have been around centuries.In my opinion all they appear to do is add or substract an item

It was not virgin oil. It was the same olive oil I've used before with onions and nothing happened previously. Incidently, it was a rather bright colour. I threw it out. Felt really uneay using it.

Thanks for the replies.

I made a paste of some onions and garlic. Fried them in olive oil. They turned green. This has never happened to me before. They looked fine before I began. Olive oil is perfectly normal as well.

Has this happened to anyone else? How is it to be explained?

Hi sexy betsy - I am going to try it with milk. I've been adding double cream at the end. I thought the original recipe with milk in was an error!

disqqworld - just post anyway.

I've made a 'chocolate banana terrine'. The recipe said 250 mls (8 oz)double cream and 500 grams (1 lb) chocolate. I did this. (Bring cream to boil - then add chocolate).The sauce was, we all agreed, a bit heavy (but nice). How could I make it lighter? (Other than that yummy and decadnet). Is there in fact a perfect combination of chocolate and cream.? Thanks folks.

I've made a 'chocolate banana terrine'. The recipe said 250 mls (8 oz)double cream and 500 grams (1 lb) chocolate. I did this. (Bring cream to boil - then add chocolate).The sauce was, we all agreed, a bit heavy (but nice). How could I make it lighter? (Other than that yummy and decadnet). Is there in fact a perfect combination of chocolate and cream.? Thanks folks.

I have cooked the recipe below a few times now. I hesitated about using milk at the beginning and added some double cream at the end.

My children prefer this sauce so much that they ask me to make the same when I do spag bol. One good thing is that one child swears he doesn't like onions but has not recognised their presence in this dish.
[link]

I tried this recipe. My family like it, but prefer it with the jiuce of one lemon. Have made it about six times now. Will it work with orange juice? any similar recipes using just three ingrediants? I usually find that the simpliest recipes work the best with my family.

My family refuse to eat crusts and I get 'fed up' (joke?) of eating them all. I make bread crumbs wit them and use them in meatballs. I've also made bread and butter pudding.

Do people have any other ides of using crusts? (To some extent - the sneaker the better!). Thanks folks

I am prepared to buy the expensive stuff, But I do not know which of them are worth the money. Dees anyone have any views on the range carried by Sainsburys or Tescos. I don't want to be deceived by packaging etc.

Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks

I started a thread asking where I could buy it. I get emails telling me that someone has posted to thread. But I cannot log on or find it even via search. Help please!

Someone told me to half fill with salt. Heat up for 10 minutes then throw salt away, oil pan and then you can start to cook.

Is this true?

My children insist that they have chicken on Sunday. Fine I make stock from bones on Monday etc. They don't really like it two days running. I don't like waste.

What can I do with left over chicken so that it looks different? Or does not look like chicken. Thanks folks.

Where can I find saltpetre?

How do I find recipes from yesterday's show?
I forget what they were and I think the site has changed so that they are not as easy to find as they used to be.

I want to grow herbs and possibly some veggies in a small confined space. Any advice re books etc would be more than helpful.
Thanks folks

Yes I've had the same problem

Hello all. I have no experience of gardening at all. However, I used to live in a house where someone had created a herb garden. I would like to recreate one. Unfortunatley, I only have a small backyard. I would be grateful if anyone could recommend reading material on this. The thread on growing spuds in a bin bag sound like the sort of stuff I need to know. Would I need to put holes in the bag? I really have no knowledge on gardening.

After 25 years of being with the same woman she finally got me the Christmas present I really wanted. It is a Le Creuset pan frying pan which will allow me to put lines on food such as steak and tuna. I can't think of how to describe it other than. Waht is the best way to use it? Do I oil the pan or the food? Is it liek a wok and does not need to be washed? Source for recipes. All help gratefully received. (Her 'You can't really want THAT for Xmas'. Can anyone explain to me why she asks me every year what I want and then never buys it.)

Yes, thank you all. I know what to get now. A good tip Lesley.

To all those that replied to my request 'how to use goose fat?' A real bug thank you. My kids all commented on how the potatos were, without being prompted. I'm going to continue using it.

Do you get enough fat from one goose to use every week? We are a family of four. Use especially for spuds and parsnips.

I'm with the pestle and mortar. Alternatively - a jar with a lid would be just as effective. Make sure lid is tight when you shake. I think Jamie Olicer as enough money and I doubt that he actually 'invented' it as advertisement claims.

I would be grateful for people's views on the most approriate meat mincer. I want to make my own mince and try makiing my own sausages. I've seen some cast-iron ones at about £20 which you clamp to a table, insert meat turn handle and mince comes out the other end. Is it worth paying much more than this? Advantages and disadvantages? Thanks folks.

Thanks. I saw this just in time. Am going to do exactly as you say. Cheers. This site never lets anyone down!

I have been given a tin of fat goose. I presume I use it in exactly the same way as oil, butter, lard etc. I want to have a trial run before 'Stressmas' comes. Thanks folks.

Thanks Livewire. This is useful. I will substitute Brie or Port Salut. Fontina is not available in my local Sainsbury's - lots of things (e.g. goose fat) that you would want to buy not there either. I used to live in Sydney and the local corner shop had fontina cheese and goose fat.

A recipe by Paul Bloxham for Tartiflette or 'potatos with cheese' mentions the above cheeses. My local stores don't have them. What alternatives are them to these that I could use in what sounds like a yummy recipe

One of the things I've not been able to do well is make perfect chicken soup. Is there such a thing. My mother used to make chicken soup with barley, but I haven't a clue of how she did it. Any hints, advice, please?

I buy my young one's sausage rolls. Both are full of the hydro fats which I am told I should avoid. Don't want to give them heart attacks in 20 years. Any advice similar alternatives? Anyone know an easy recipe - which of the bought pastry's can I use in such recipes? Thanks folks

Yo, Hello. My loved one saw 'Good Food Bites' today, friday. There was a recipe for tuna with three different sauces (including sweet chilli). I have tried to find them via searching recipes but I can't find any that seem familiar. Is there anyone out tere that knows what they are, please. Thanks.

He did a chorizo chowder yesterday. Did he use milk or a chicken stock. Will it make any difference?

On a recent post which I cannot find I asked about the origins of ox tail soup. One of the replys gave me a link to an American web-site. I e-mailed them and this is the answer I got which others may find as useful as I do.
Several foods pop into mind with regards to "imported" traditional British fare. For starters:

CANDIES
These were imported from Arab cuisine. British favorites such as toffee, brittle, comfits, lollies, etc.
About candy (general notes):
[link]

Recommended reading:
1. Medieval Arab Cookery/Rodinson, Arberry & Perry
2. Sugarplums and Sherbet: The Prehistory of Sweets/Laura Mason

FRUIT JAMS & JELLIES
Also, untimately, derived from Arab cuisine. The "legendary" story of marmelade may intrigue your students: [link]
ABOUT JELLY (brief)
The fundamentals jellying process was known in ancient times. These techniques migrated to Europe in the Middle Ages and evolved with technological advancements and new ingredients.

"The history of jelly, chonicled by Brears (1996)...is complex. Generally, it would seem that confectionery type jellies, and jelly preserves, developed from attemps to conserve pectin-rich fruit extracts...Modern dessert jellies, on the other hand, appear to be descended from medieval dishes based on calves' feet or other meat stocks, carefully clarified and flavoured. A wide range of gelling or setting agents was known to medieval cooks. The animal kingdome was represented by gelatin in the form of meat stock, isinglass, and hartshorn. Plants provided pectin-rich juices from quinces or apples; and various kinds of gum...Late medieval and 16th-century cooks made savoury (or savoury/sweet--many had an ambivalent character) jellied dishes using meat such as capon, chopped fine, mixed with cream or almond milk, flavoured with spices, sugar, or rosewater. These were known as cullis, gellys, or brawn. Another ‘set' dish was a leach, made from cream or almond milk with isinglass. A sweet ‘crystall gelly' was made with calves' feet stock, highly spices (ginger, pepper, cloves, nutmeg), sweetened, and further flavoured with rosewater. These dishes, which are recorded in early 17th-century cookery books...were ancestors of sweet confections such as blancmange as well as of the explicitly savoury aspic dishes which proliferated in the 19th and early 20th centuries."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 417)

RICE PUDDING
Borrowed from Indo-European cultures by way of Southern Europe
[link]

BACON
Hogs were introduced by the Roman conquerors
[link]

FISH & CHIPS
The chips, of course, are "New World" foods
[link]
About potatoes (featured prominently in many classic British dishes):
[link]
About chips/fries (possibly of Belgian origin)
[link]

TEA
This was imported from the Far East; British "tea" began in the 18th century
Recommended reding:
A Social History of Tea/Jane Pettigrew

GENENERAL REFERENCE:
Food and Drink in Britain Fr0om the Stone Age to the 19th Century/C. Amme Wilson
Oxford Companion to Food/Alan Davidson

Livewire. You were spot on an excellant site. I emailed them and got the following reply, which I hope may be useful to someone. Although not exactly what I asked for it is still very helpful. The kindness of strangers is often awesome. Several foods pop into mind with regards to "imported" traditional British fare. For starters:

CANDIES
These were imported from Arab cuisine. British favorites such as toffee, brittle, comfits, lollies, etc.
About candy (general notes):
[link]

Recommended reading:
1. Medieval Arab Cookery/Rodinson, Arberry & Perry
2. Sugarplums and Sherbet: The Prehistory of Sweets/Laura Mason

FRUIT JAMS & JELLIES
Also, untimately, derived from Arab cuisine. The "legendary" story of marmelade may intrigue your students: [link]
ABOUT JELLY (brief)
The fundamentals jellying process was known in ancient times. These techniques migrated to Europe in the Middle Ages and evolved with technological advancements and new ingredients.

"The history of jelly, chonicled by Brears (1996)...is complex. Generally, it would seem that confectionery type jellies, and jelly preserves, developed from attemps to conserve pectin-rich fruit extracts...Modern dessert jellies, on the other hand, appear to be descended from medieval dishes based on calves' feet or other meat stocks, carefully clarified and flavoured. A wide range of gelling or setting agents was known to medieval cooks. The animal kingdome was represented by gelatin in the form of meat stock, isinglass, and hartshorn. Plants provided pectin-rich juices from quinces or apples; and various kinds of gum...Late medieval and 16th-century cooks made savoury (or savoury/sweet--many had an ambivalent character) jellied dishes using meat such as capon, chopped fine, mixed with cream or almond milk, flavoured with spices, sugar, or rosewater. These were known as cullis, gellys, or brawn. Another ‘set' dish was a leach, made from cream or almond milk with isinglass. A sweet ‘crystall gelly' was made with calves' feet stock, highly spices (ginger, pepper, cloves, nutmeg), sweetened, and further flavoured with rosewater. These dishes, which are recorded in early 17th-century cookery books...were ancestors of sweet confections such as blancmange as well as of the explicitly savoury aspic dishes which proliferated in the 19th and early 20th centuries."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 417)

RICE PUDDING
Borrowed from Indo-European cultures by way of Southern Europe
[link]

BACON
Hogs were introduced by the Roman conquerors
[link]

FISH & CHIPS
The chips, of course, are "New World" foods
[link]
About potatoes (featured prominently in many classic British dishes):
[link]
About chips/fries (possibly of Belgian origin)
[link]

TEA
This was imported from the Far East; British "tea" began in the 18th century
Recommended reding:
A Social History of Tea/Jane Pettigrew

GENENERAL REFERENCE:
Food and Drink in Britain Fr0om the Stone Age to the 19th Century/C. Amme Wilson
Oxford Companion to Food/Alan Davidson

Where can I buy goosefat?

I am reading 'Bloody Foreigners' by Robert Winder. On page 31 he says that 'hardship rather than gsstronomic fitness led them to invent ... oxtail soup'. Before their arrival in Britain butchers apparently left the tail on with hide. Can anyone confirm this provide more information? Anyone know any books that will help me find futher such information,.FOr instance, I was told at school that some words for food eg beef are Norman in origin and others - the food of the poor - is from Anglo Saxon. I think it might be interesting to find out more. Thanks

What can I do with left-over pork? Thanks.

Please, is there anyone able to tell me how to make 'cajun seasoning' or something similar. Thanks.

What are the differences between mustard seeds? Does it matter which sort I use in a recipe? The recipe I want to do is Coriander Chicken Curry by Merrilees Parker from Good Food Live. It does not specify which sort to use. Thanks.

Yo. Thanks for the reply. A great help. Now that I know where it is I can go and look it up in local bookshop. If they have it!

I saw a recipe on the TV yesterday which involved corn, blanched baby onions and possibly other things all mixed together. Unfortunately I was not taking that much interest. It looked really good and corn isn one of the few veggies that my children ASK for. Anyone know the programme or recipe, please.