Slothrop
Tight but Polite
How much does this have to do with bacon deprivation? I know my (veggie) girlfriend goes mad for anything from rauchbier to smoked paprika basically because it partially satisfies her bacon cravings...
Cooking tips and wonderful flavour combinations
- Thread starter baboon2004
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Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Yeah we'd noticed, lololol.
This should go in the beer thread really, but St. Peter's are now doing a smoked beer. I was expecting it to be black like a German Rauchbier but it's very pale. It's pretty much the beer version of a nice smoky Islay single malt. Pretty good if you like that sort of thing. They've got it in the JTav, had a bottle yesterday.
Slothrop
Tight but Polite
Having spent my lunchbreak looking at dozens of brands of plain, spiced, fermeted, fried and dried tofu in about four oriental supermarkets, I'm not convinced it's commonly available. Found some in a health food store, though.
Other recent obsession: pickled walnuts. They're one of those things that I keep seeing in sainsburys but never actually buy, but I finally got around to trying them. Generally nice with cheese and things, also for an easy but impressive looking starter, you can make little towers (because gourmet food comes in little towers) out of alternating slices of pickled walnut and cooked beetroot, and garnish it with a blob of sour cream and some watercress.
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baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Yeah, I think health food stores might be better than chinese supermarkets for smoked tofu.
How are the walnuts pickled? Don't think I've ever had those. Haven't ever really bought walnuts either, though aubergine with walnut/garlic paste is one of my favourite things ever.
How are the walnuts pickled? Don't think I've ever had those. Haven't ever really bought walnuts either, though aubergine with walnut/garlic paste is one of my favourite things ever.
Slothrop
Tight but Polite
Apparently the walnuts are picked when they're still green and then pickled whole. They're sort of golfball sized and taste like pickled gherkins but walnutty rather than gherkinny.
Good call on the smoked tofu it's amazing. Probably the baconiest veggie food I've yet to try. I dipped it in salt and pepper and cornflour and then shallow fried it and served it with a dipping sauce.
Good call on the smoked tofu it's amazing. Probably the baconiest veggie food I've yet to try. I dipped it in salt and pepper and cornflour and then shallow fried it and served it with a dipping sauce.
viktorvaughn
Well-known member
On a non pickled walnut tip i recently had a bowl of stilton, walnuts and cooked beetroot for lunch with a pack of oatcakes and it was just insanely tasty, one of the best marriages of flavour of recent times and so simple...tried and tested I suppose.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
http://www.thinksicily.com/guide-to-sicily/food-and-wine-in-sicily/locatelli-recipe.aspx
this looks great, though i really can't be arsed to make my own pasta.
this looks great, though i really can't be arsed to make my own pasta.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Even including halloumi? Guess that's not smoked, though.
Walnuts with blue cheese on either brown bread or digestive biscuits is a classic and deservedly so.
Slothrop
Tight but Polite
Yeah, it's the smokiness that's the key, I think.
I've been making a lot of noodle soup recently. You can get a surprisingly good (and very easy) broth by simmering a few dried shitake, a couple of whole dried chillies, a couple of star anise, and a couple of slightly bashed slices of ginger for an hour or so in a standard from-a-cube veggie stock with a couple of tsps of soy. Take all the solid stuff out before you add your noodles and 'bits', then slice the shitake and put them back in. Loads of room to tweak it (and let me know if you think of anything particularly interesting...)
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
I was thinking about black cardamom the other day (clearly I need a life) - what other things can you put it in?
I've also been thinking about pestos. There's a nice one I'm going to make with basil/mint/almonds/chili/pecorino/garlic; anyone have favourites they'd like to share?
I've also been thinking about pestos. There's a nice one I'm going to make with basil/mint/almonds/chili/pecorino/garlic; anyone have favourites they'd like to share?
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
See some posts from me a few pages back about laksa. Got really into it for a while last year, generally pretty successful I thought. Works best if you can get decent fresh white fish and/or large raw prawns at a price that isn't ridiculous.
i have a few different routes i go down with noodle soups:
a thin / clear one made just with a nice stock like you mentioned,
a laksa type one with stuff blitzed up and coconut milk and stock added,
a spicy sichuan / hunan style one with chilli bean paste
a dan dan noodle esque one with some stock added to make it more of a soup than just a sauce. i sometimes also add some peanut butter or sesame paste to this one which is probably not authentic but it tastes good.
i love noodles.
a thin / clear one made just with a nice stock like you mentioned,
a laksa type one with stuff blitzed up and coconut milk and stock added,
a spicy sichuan / hunan style one with chilli bean paste
a dan dan noodle esque one with some stock added to make it more of a soup than just a sauce. i sometimes also add some peanut butter or sesame paste to this one which is probably not authentic but it tastes good.
i love noodles.
viktorvaughn
Well-known member
With a nice stock I sometimes just add noodles and loads of nice green veg, chilli oil, soy and any shreds of meat or fish from the stock making...well nice. Could add preserved veg also.
viktorvaughn
Well-known member
another good sichuan one is to made a base of pixian bean paste, chopped garlic and chopped ginger, fry in oil for 3 minutes, add water and a veg stock cube (or real stock) and a pack of chopped pickled mustard greens.
you can then go anywhere with that - poach some bits of salmon, add shredded chicken, add noddles or extra veg, add some dumplings or nice soft tofu.
you can then go anywhere with that - poach some bits of salmon, add shredded chicken, add noddles or extra veg, add some dumplings or nice soft tofu.
mistersloane
heavy heavy monster sound
Achiote seeds
http://www.daisycooks.com/pages/recipes_detail.cfm?ID=2
We had some for a while but obviously they weren't good or something and weren't that impressed.
Re-bought from the Borough Market spice lady and, fuck me. Cooked in oil, removed and then cooking rice and onions with them is just the best thing ever. Like a really...meaty...saffron. Really, really, really fucking nice. Like, really nice.
http://www.daisycooks.com/pages/recipes_detail.cfm?ID=2
We had some for a while but obviously they weren't good or something and weren't that impressed.
Re-bought from the Borough Market spice lady and, fuck me. Cooked in oil, removed and then cooking rice and onions with them is just the best thing ever. Like a really...meaty...saffron. Really, really, really fucking nice. Like, really nice.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Never bought the seeds, but have the paste at home, and mixed with orange juice and smeared over fish to grill, it is indeed one of the best things ever
This is why I'm happy to shell out to keep dissensus running, little morsels like this. Achiote! Andale!