Food and drink thread

[EggFace]

Having the rest of last nights dirty doner kebab meat in a brioche bun and brown sauce and bloody lovely it was but please don't pita me.

[Futtocks]

9 minutes ago, EggFace said:

Having the rest of last nights dirty doner kebab meat in a brioche bun and brown sauce and bloody lovely it was but please don't pita me.

Nothing wrong with leftovers, most of the time.

My problem is leaving enough for next day's breakfast. Mixing the selected remains of a Chinese takeaway into an omelette (aka "Egg Foo Breakfast") is a dish I haven't done in ages.

[EggFace]

22 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Nothing wrong with leftovers, most of the time.

My problem is leaving enough for next day's breakfast. Mixing the selected remains of a Chinese takeaway into an omelette (aka "Egg Foo Breakfast") is a dish I haven't done in ages.

Egg Foo Breakfast I have to give that a try as I find Chinese better on the day it's delivered unlike Indians which taste so much better on the 2nd day.

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, EggFace said:

Egg Foo Breakfast I have to give that a try as I find Chinese better on the day it's delivered unlike Indians which taste so much better on the 2nd day.

It depends what you've ordered of course, and some dishes might need the sauces scraped/rinsed off before stirring the meat & vegetables into the eggs, to avoid making things too sloppy. It is very much an improvised dish.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I tried Cornish Yarg cheese for the first time yesterday. I prefer a stronger cheese but did really like how creamy this one was. The taste of the nettles was very subtle, I would have liked that to be more prominent. Despite the tastes only being subtle I did like it and have some left to finish today. 

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I tried Cornish Yarg cheese for the first time yesterday. I prefer a stronger cheese but did really like how creamy this one was. The taste of the nettles was very subtle, I would have liked that to be more prominent. Despite the tastes only being subtle I did like it and have some left to finish today. 

Yarg make a wild garlic variant, which I didn't like at all, but the original is really nice.

[CanaBull]

These popped up in my local Asian store a while back. Had to give them a go. Reminded me of old Seabrooks Roast Chicken but with that hint of lemon. Top notch flavour!

[Futtocks]

A new Spice Tailor kit, Coastal Mango Curry, appeared on the shelves my local supermarket, so it would be rude not to investigate.

I made it with a pack of diced venison* and did a slow cook instead of the timings they recommend for chicken. Served with a sort of pilau rice recipe. Very rich and satisfying.

*the UK's venison population is at a high not seen in centuries and, while the price isn't too dear (yes, I couldn't resist), more cuts of the meat should be more widely available.

[Futtocks]

Crosta & Mollica gluten free pizza. The nearest thing to a real pizza base I've found yet in the GF world. It doesn't hold a candle to real pizza dough, but I have to accept certain strictures or stay awake all night in pain.

I added torn-up shreds of fennel salami and a light spray of olive oil, then gave it a going-over with the blowtorch after cooking, just to get the salami crispy and the cheese bubbling.

The main hitch is that it seems to be only available frozen and, not having a freezer, I have to buy it on the afternoon of the day I eat it. In my first experience of this, I let it sit in the fridge for a day and it started to fall to pieces.

Edited December 16, 2024 by Futtocks

[Futtocks]

Late night drams over the Festive period so far:

• Maraschino cherry liqueur
• Salted liquorice vodka
• Pea pod vodka
• Jaffa Cake rum
• Peanut butter whisky liqueur

[Futtocks]

My air fryer was delivered 10 minutes ago.

All it took was a 33% discount for me to join a religious cult.

[Farmduck]

1 minute ago, Futtocks said:

My air fryer was delivered 10 minutes ago.

All it took was a 33% discount for me to join a religious cult.

I don't get it. Who eats fried air anyway?

[Bearman]

I made some mince biltong this afternoon in my air fryer.

To flavour it, I made a marinade with  Worcesterhire sauce, dark Soy Sauce, some brown sauce, mustard, salt and pepper and a few dried chilli seeds.

[sam4731]

6 hours ago, Futtocks said:

My air fryer was delivered 10 minutes ago.

All it took was a 33% discount for me to join a religious cult.

This.

I refuse to get an air fryer. It's just one big cult. The same people that just a few years ago would have you believe that you'd need nothing but a slow cooker to do all your cooking in.

Dress it up however you want but air fryers are just mini ovens. Yes they are cheaper to run than conventional ovens but they are not the wonder miracle appliance that will solve all of our cooking problems.

[Futtocks]

2 minutes ago, sam4731 said:

This.

I refuse to get an air fryer. It's just one big cult. The same people that just a few years ago would have you believe that you'd need nothing but a slow cooker to do all your cooking in.

Dress it up however you want but air fryers are just mini ovens. Yes they are cheaper to run than conventional ovens but they are not the wonder miracle appliance that will solve all of our cooking problems.

As my kitchen won't accommodate a double oven, this gives me two different heat zones - my regular fan oven and the air fryer. Being much smaller than a full-sized fan oven, it also heats up much quicker, thus wasting less electricity.

I suspect the temperature control will be more accurate too, although I'll be testing that with my thermometers and logging any offset I need for future use.

I gave it a first run in 'dehydrate' mode today, drying out the unused part of the bunch of thyme I used for the Sunday roast. First proper cook tomorrow.

Only a total lunatic would claim that a slow cooker was a universal cooking solution. It is a brilliant bit of kit, but only for specific purposes.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I've had a couple of tasty lunches in a row! Yesterday I had Haggis for lunch and today I've had Doner Kebab! 

[Lucy_1873]

Love Haggis. Is up there for my favourite foods alongside black pudding and chicken livers.

[Futtocks]

I recently bought a Wacaco Nanopresso - a hand-pumped espresso maker. 

There's a bit of a learning curve to it, but once you get it right, it produces a remarkably good cuppa, crema and all. I use an Aeropress most days because it makes coffee the way I like it, but an espresso is a nice treat every now and then. 

 

[Futtocks]

Jolly Hog brand pork, apple and black pudding sausages, spotted and bought on spec at Morrison's.

Not bad at all! About halfway through cooking, I rolled them in a tablespoonful of tomato and chilli chutney, to make a glaze.

Edited February 14 by Futtocks

[Futtocks]

I went to Morrison's to see if they had whitebait in stock, as I reckon the air fryer could be really good for getting them crispy.
No luck this time, as their frozen fish section was out of order.
So I have a Szechuan ox cheek curry simmering in the slow cooker instead.

[Lucy_1873]

Oh yes, a good curry is something to behold. My favourite from my local Indian is King Prawn Tikka Badami!

[DI Keith Fowler]

20 hours ago, Futtocks said:

I went to Morrison's to see if they had whitebait in stock, as I reckon the air fryer could be really good for getting them crispy.
No luck this time, as their frozen fish section was out of order.
So I have a Szechuan ox cheek curry simmering in the slow cooker instead.

Haha why is this such a common thing with Morrisons, my local one is the same. That one specific fridge seems to break down constantly.

Re: airfrying I tried it it was not ideal, I don't mind deep frying whitebait but you can't really use the oil after as it goes very fishy which seems a waste.

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, DI Keith Fowler said:

Haha why is this such a common thing with Morrisons, my local one is the same. That one specific fridge seems to break down constantly.

Re: airfrying I tried it it was not ideal, I don't mind deep frying whitebait but you can't really use the oil after as it goes very fishy which seems a waste.

Yes, but there's another branch not very far away which I'll try next weekend, so fingers crossed.

As for air frying, I saw a method that still uses a fair bit of oil, but isn't either deep-frying or dry-frying. I won't deep-fry because of the waste issue.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

I've just had me first ice cream of the year from the ice cream van. Ice cream van coming round on 16th February!

First thing I said to the bloke was, "Is it summer already?", which made him laugh. 

I noticed his Southern accent and asked where he was from. He's moved to the next town over from me and is originally from Epsom. Asking him why he came up here, he said simply, "a better way of life". 

The northern way of living certainly is better!

[Lucy_1873]

1 minute ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

I've just had me first ice cream of the year from the ice cream van. Ice cream van coming round on 16th February!

First thing I said to the bloke was, "Is it summer already?", which made him laugh. 

I noticed his Southern accent and asked where he was from. He's moved to the next town over from me and is originally from Epsom. Asking him why he came up here, he said simply, "a better way of life". 

The northern way of living certainly is better!

What ice cream did you have