Cooking tips and wonderful flavour combinations

viktorvaughn

Well-known member
check out the beautiful colour of these chillies..

a.JPG
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Cooked my first ever flambeed steak at the weekend. Aw hellz yeah. Nice thick bit of beesteak, seared on the outside and still purple in the middle, swimming in cream, black pepper and singed brandy. Gonna do this again really soon. Omph.

Also, it's really exciting to cook. Fucking three-foot flames leaping up from the pan, it's like cooking at a Rammstein gig or something.
 

nochexxx

harco pronting
i'd be interested to find out what these mushrooms are and whether they're safe to eat or not? to my shock and horror i discovered the old man has a habit of foraging fungi
unbeknown the him, and frying the bastards up for tea. anyway, during his visit he left these critters behind after plucking them from my garden.

464809731.jpg
 

nochexxx

harco pronting
Cooked my first ever flambeed steak at the weekend. Aw hellz yeah. Nice thick bit of beesteak, seared on the outside and still purple in the middle, swimming in cream, black pepper and singed brandy. Gonna do this again really soon. Omph.

Also, it's really exciting to cook. Fucking three-foot flames leaping up from the pan, it's like cooking at a Rammstein gig or something.

always think it's a crime not to use the juices from the same pan and fry fungi or some other accompaniment afterwards. besides, what better way to spend those few minutes whilst leaving your streak to rest. add mustard, thyme, white pepper, salt and cream to your chosen veg!
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Is that because you were less worried about burning down your flat in the Netherlands than you would have been in London? ;)

Those chillies do look awesome. I have some (dried) anchos, chipotles and kashmiri chillies in my cupboard...gonna make a vin-alho/vindaloo with some of the Kashmiris, any ideas for recipes with the others that bring out their uniquenesses?
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
i'd be interested to find out what these mushrooms are and whether they're safe to eat or not? to my shock and horror i discovered the old man has a habit of foraging fungi
unbeknown the him, and frying the bastards up for tea. anyway, during his visit he left these critters behind after plucking them from my garden.

464809731.jpg

Look like field mushrooms to me - get stuck in. The only ones in that family that you can't eat stain bright yellow almost instantly when bruised and have a slightly unpleasant inky smell, but I'm pretty sure the ones in that photo are fine, I mean if they were bad they'd probably look yellowish already just from having been picked.

Kinda dodgy to be eating mushrooms without knowing what they are though, you should mention that to him!

Bit late in the year for mushrooms but there's still loads of stuff fruiting over here too...
 
Last edited:

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Is that because you were less worried about burning down your flat in the Netherlands than you would have been in London? ;)

Not with the agent hanging on to my deposit of two months' rent!

It was a bit disconcerting but the alcohol burns off in a couple of seconds so it's not dangerous as long as you keep your nerve and a steady hand on the pan.
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
Not with the agent hanging on to my deposit of two months' rent!

It was a bit disconcerting but the alcohol burns off in a couple of seconds so it's not dangerous as long as you keep your nerve and a steady hand on the pan.

Keith Floyd's coq au vin involves some fairly energetic flambe-ing iirc - you start off browning everything then bung in a glass of brandy, get it warm, and set fire to it before you start stewing.
 

nochexxx

harco pronting
Look like field mushrooms to me - get stuck in. The only ones in that family that you can't eat stain bright yellow almost instantly when bruised and have a slightly unpleasant inky smell, but I'm pretty sure the ones in that photo are fine, I mean if they were bad they'd probably look yellowish already just from having been picked.

Kinda dodgy to be eating mushrooms without knowing what they are though, you should mention that to him!

Bit late in the year for mushrooms but there's still loads of stuff fruiting over here too...

thanks Tea, that's given me more confidence to stick'em in a pan. i have some porchini books at work, so will go through them later. :cool:
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
Is that because you were less worried about burning down your flat in the Netherlands than you would have been in London? ;)

Those chillies do look awesome. I have some (dried) anchos, chipotles and kashmiri chillies in my cupboard...gonna make a vin-alho/vindaloo with some of the Kashmiris, any ideas for recipes with the others that bring out their uniquenesses?

Good one for the anchos and chipots in the Observer this Sunday

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/dec/02/chilli-con-carne-recipe?newsfeed=true

I like the idea of the coffee in the chilli, not seen that before. Makes sense but none of the Mexican/New mexican books I got mention it, so it must be HERESY.

Which makes it even better.
 

luka

Well-known member
g'day luke here, id like to share a little tip. leftover mashed potato fried in butter. you can even put other leftovers in with it such as cabbage. this makes a really good breakfast when you combine it with eggs, poached or fried, the choice is yours.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
g'day luke here, id like to share a little tip. leftover mashed potato fried in butter. you can even put other leftovers in with it such as cabbage. this makes a really good breakfast when you combine it with eggs, poached or fried, the choice is yours.

we had that for dinner tonight, funny enough. with leftover sprout tops and leftover chicken made into chicken club sandwiches with bacon, it fuckin rocked.
 

routes

we can delay.ay.ay...
PEAS are amazing, put them in a bowl of water and blast em in the microwave for 2 mins and bob's your mother's brother. i like putting them in a salad or mashing them with a bit of salt and vinegar and having them as a condiment for whatever. they also work amazingly well in that leftover mash/cabbage bubble and squeak breakfast.
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
The definitive egg fried rice recipe is basically rice, peas, bacon, egg and twice as much onion as you think you're going to need. You can add a bit of cold roast pork or chicken or prawns or something if you want, but the peas, egg, bacon, onion combination is where the magic happens.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Good one for the anchos and chipots in the Observer this Sunday

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/dec/02/chilli-con-carne-recipe?newsfeed=true

I like the idea of the coffee in the chilli, not seen that before. Makes sense but none of the Mexican/New mexican books I got mention it, so it must be HERESY.

Which makes it even better.

Thanks -may well give that a go, never cooked chili con carne before and don't like the versions in non-Mexican restaurants much. Coffee is indeed an interesting addition, and I have some Mex oregano in the cupboard waiting to be used.

As to the chicken livers peri peri, looks good too. made similar stuff with balsamic vinegar before - balasamic and tomato puree combo tends to turn out pretty well, perhaps with red wine too.
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
I've never made a paella but I thought they generally included quite a lot of extra flavourings - saffron, paprika, herbs, stock etc - plus maybe some other vegetables and stuff, whereas the fried rice is only seasoned with soy, and is much more about the combination of egg, pea, onion and bacon.

Also with paella I think the rice is cooked in the stock with everything else whereas the rice for fried rice is pre-cooked and allowed to cool before using it.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
The definitive egg fried rice recipe is basically rice, peas, bacon, egg and twice as much onion as you think you're going to need. You can add a bit of cold roast pork or chicken or prawns or something if you want, but the peas, egg, bacon, onion combination is where the magic happens.

To get the egg fried rice tasting like a takeaway, add preserved mustard greens chopped not too much to the oil. Tastes wicked. Then egg then when it's half cooked add the rice and whatever. Top Fuschia Dunlop tip.
 
Top