Cooking tips and wonderful flavour combinations

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simon silverdollar

Guest
this recipe is very loosely based on something i once ate at Ottolenghi:

it's like a fake pizza, made from polenta.

-roast some tomatoes with olive oil, and then leave to cool.

-cook some polenta with chicken stock; just pour the polenta into the boiling chicken stock (you'll need about twice as much stock as polenta, as a general rule) and stir for about a minute. then add a little bit of milk.

-the polenta should be a sticky, almost doughy consistency.

-pour the polenta out on to a really well greased baking tray, or even better one of those non-stick silicone baking sheets, into a roughly round shape around an inch thick.

-bake the polenta in a hot oven for about half an hour, or until the top begins to crisp up and go golden.

-while this is happening, fry some chilli and garlic and add some spinach to wilt. i like to add a bit of dried mint.

-take the polenta out of the oven, and spread greek yogurt on it.

-then add the spinach, and finally the tomatoes.

-back in the oven to heat through.

-grate over some hard cheese e.g. pecorini. eat!

really really nice, very easy, and looks pretty spectacular. and obviously it lends itself to all sorts of alternative toppings, just like a proper pizza.
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
Parsnips? Anyone? I don't like 'em that much, but seem to end up with a lot at the mo, so any startling revelations? :)


Been thinking about that polenta pizza idea a lot, but never getting there.
 
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simon silverdollar

Guest
curried parsnip soup is meant to be a good one. i think nigel slater gets quite evangelical about it. i've never tried it tho.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
From a great Jewish cookbook I picked up in some bargain bookstore:

Blcok of feta
Yellow pepper and green chili, roasted in oven til skin is black, and then,er ,flayed.
Few tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
Juice of one lemon
Few tbsps of olive oil

Process all of the above together, serve with pita. Consistency shuld be slightly runny - if not, add a bit more yoghurt.
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
Well, it's beef tripe basically, isn't it? So something that involves a long slow simmer to soften and then combining with a sauce - I've had amazing tripe with tomato sauce before, not sure what to do with beef though. Tripe and onions is the other classic.
 

nochexxx

harco pronting
Well, it's beef tripe basically, isn't it? So something that involves a long slow simmer to soften and then combining with a sauce - I've had amazing tripe with tomato sauce before, not sure what to do with beef though. Tripe and onions is the other classic.


i'm no expert as to what it is exactly but i reckon your most probably right. it was a gift from a polish friend who considers it a delicacy. i asked him what part of the animal it was but he didn't know the english name. it looks like intestines and he did mention that if i found out what part of the animal it was i wouldn't want to eat it. i tried coaxing a reciepe but his limited command of english made it difficult for me to understand what he was on about, besides we were extreamly fucked from more than several neat does of Zubrovska.

i like this idea of having it with onions, will try that, are there any other components to this dish?
(actually scrap that, just had a google on the internet and the recipes all have milk which i'm not a big fan of. )
 
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viktorvaughn

Well-known member
i'm no expert as to what it is exactly but i reckon your most probably right. it was a gift from a polish friend who considers it a delicacy. i asked him what part of the animal it was but he didn't know the english name. it looks like intestines and he did mention that if i found out what part of the animal it was i wouldn't want to eat it. i tried coaxing a reciepe but his limited command of english made it difficult for me to understand what he was on about, besides we were extreamly fucked from more than several neat does of Zubrovska.

i like this idea of having it with onions, will try that, are there any other components to this dish?
(actually scrap that, just had a google on the internet and the recipes all have milk which i'm not a big fan of. )

there are Szechuan recipes for intestines, probably in a tomato based sauce with lots of dried chilli, garlic and Szechuan peppercorn
 

nochexxx

harco pronting
there are Szechuan recipes for intestines, probably in a tomato based sauce with lots of dried chilli, garlic and Szechuan peppercorn


i'll have to try something like this next time.

tonight i cooked it with onions, garlic, left over mash, basil, tomatoes, parmesan and spring onions. it was well yum.

i'm a tripe convert, although i wonder how healthy they are?


interestingly there was only one tripe receipe on the bbc website, why does england always let food tradition slip?
 

nochexxx

harco pronting
great website for finding out nutrition data.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/beef-products/3483/2

this is what it had to say about tripe. based on these facts i'm not sure if i will be eating it too often


"The good: This food is a good source of Protein and Zinc, and a very good source of Vitamin B12 and Selenium.

The bad: This food is very high in Cholesterol. This food also contains Trans Fat."
 
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simon silverdollar

Guest
just bought some Nduja from borough market, after trying some and being blown away by how good it was:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/jul/28/nduja-sausage-ingredient-italy

i am SO excited about this. It's kind of like salami, but very soft -you can spread it on bread - and made with pigs head and lots and lots of chillis. the guy i bought it off recommended mixing it with cream for a pasta sauce. that's my weekend pretty much sorted.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
How much was it?

Recipe I made up based on greek afelia:

Broccoli heads steamed and then fried in olive oil,then add coriander seeds (slightly crushed), lemon rind, lemon juice, pork, splash of dark soy sauce, maybe bit of Worcestershire, fry some more, and then braise (?) in water (or ideally wine and water combination) until done.
 
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