General Chat

I'm vegetarian so he has to eat vegetarian or go without unless he or OH is cooking.
As I grew up on British stodge that is what I make usually and you can't really tell the difference with Quorn so we have cottage pie and rasher pudding and the stew has Quorn in it. Egg and rasher pie is veggi too.

I'm really just learning my way around herbs and spices and am a bit cautious with them because I don't want to spoil a whole dish with my experimenting and I could so easily turn it foreign!

Sharron, I have one who is of the 88 long winters, he is an authority on 'foreign muck', and he has never eaten any, to the best of my knowledge.
He likes tomatoes, cheese and onion, being a vegetarian, and when I suggested he tried a pizza, he went a funny colour, and I thought he was going to write me out the will. LOLOL
Julia in Derbyshire

I think you misunderstand me.I know where to buy it,I just want to know what it tastes like before I part with fourpence.

Being addicted to all things sour I put a drop of cider vinegar in lemonade and also drink it diluted like squash,wierdo! Have never thought to put it in cooking.

Have to be careful as I am feeding he of the ninety long winters and it could be foreign muck.

Wendy, does coriander leaf taste like fresh coriander or does it get much stronger when dried?

Hi Sharron, you can buy chinese 5 spice in a jar same size as all other herbs,i usually get mine in the co--p but most stores have it.its very usueful.
another product i use botttles of is apple cider vineger,its great in casseroles and stews ,i add it to my meatballs too,---oops forgot to put it on list of ingredients.in fact i put it in most things i cook,except cakes.just a couple of lid fulls saves,messing about with spoons.
there used to be a great herbal shop in Skegness which is near to me where you could buy little bags of any spices for under a pound,they used to fill the container twice over.but they closed down.and the well known health food shop charges twice as much.
have managed to find a good seller on ebay,cheap too.

I use loads of coriander leaf and when i found it on ebay i ordered some,not being very good at maths /conversions i thought i had ordered 5 small packets,this great big parcel arrived with 6 x100grams. well gave some to a friend sold some at our W.I for the funds and i still have heaps left,the seller is very good and put the sell by date on the pack and it is well sealed. wont make that mistake again.
so if you cant get what you want its worth looking on bay.

happy cooking
wendy

Tell me about 5 spice. What are they? What does it taste like?

Always on the lookout for ways to spice up the leftovers but hate chilli with a vengeance.

Once tried Italian style Oxos and they were truly vile, made my cooking taste worse than ever,if that is possible! Hence the leftovers!

a PS to my meatball recipe,as i dont use salt in my cooking---only on raost spuds,i tend to add stuff to make it tasty-- i some times add chinese 5 spice to the mix .you can add salt if you use it,but i prefer not to.

Sharron - you make me howl, and I love your postings. LOLOL
Julia in Derbyshire

We had Hanging Pie for tea last night and will finish it off tonight.

It was some stew and other stuff I had hanging about,tarted up with a bit of tomato ketchup,tin of spinach and some black bean paste. I put a suet crust on it and baked it.

So I will have made fourteen portions out of one pot of stew.

Currently starring in 'A Christmas Carol'.

Gordon, that sounds nice, almost like Steak Diane I would think.

Simple one, good steak fried in a pan to taste.

Remove steak from pan to rest. Pour some Brandy in the pan and mix up the pan residue (if the pan is very hot the Brandy could ignite so be warned).

Let the mix boil off the alcohol, then mix in single cream, and boil/mix, down to a good thickness. Once a good thickness is achieved, add some French mustard and stir in quick, as soon as mixed, off the heat and serve with the steak.

Gordon.

Made an egg and vege rasher pie today. I am glad you reminded me about them.

Thank you Heather, will try that.

Try cooking the sausages for a toad in the hole first to remove excess fat in them

Thanks for the apple tips and the meat balls look interesting too, building up quite a lot of recipes here. Would be good if they were also on the culinary thread on Chat though.

my recipe for meatballs

quantity to suit 3-4 people.

pound and half lean mincemeat.
1 slice fresh bread made into breadcrumbs
1 large red onion,finely chopped
1 large carrot grated.
1 tablespoon coriander leaf
2 teaspoons celery salt
olive oil
2oz butter
1 teaspoon mixed herbs(i use herbs de provence)
tablespoon soy sauce
tin chopped tomatoes.
some boiled water,amount will depend on how thick you like your sauce.

If you have a food mixer put bread and onions in it and whizz till finely chopped,then add mincemeat and whizz till everything combined the mix should be quite smooth.

heat the oil and butter in a deep frypan adding the herbs,soy sauce,coriander,celery salt.

take walnut size pieces of the meat mix and roll into balls place in frypan over low heat cook for a few minutes turning them till browned,
then add the tin tomatoes and carrot,stir gently together.
i usually peel the carrots with a peeler and use this to make thin slices of carrot adds a bit of interest to the dish,saves the bother of chopping them,and they cook quicker in the mix.


cook over low heat for approx 20 mins.

serve with rice or pasta.

enjoy.

wendy

Another little thing I sussed with apple pies. If you are making for the freezer use one of those corner plate racks in the drawer of your freezer and you can freeze three pies at a time in the drawer.

Of course this only works if you are the proud owner of thee pie plates.

Not a recipe or favourite meal but something I did last year.

If you have some decent cooking apples off your tree or whatever,put the corer through them and freeze them as they are.
You just have to line them up in the baking dish.Put the butter and sugar and whatever else you put in your baked apples in the hole and bake them.

Thanks Sharron. Yes I have that problem with toad in the hole.

Hope Liz enjoys a macaroni cheese soon, then.
Unfortunately whenever I've tried a toad in the hole my batter only rises around the outside of the dish - which looks as if it should, all nice and crunchy brown - but I'm left with the sausage and a soggy interior! N'er mind!
Keep up the recipes - a most enjoyable topic here...