Cooking tips and wonderful flavour combinations

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I put some (wild mushrooms) in a risotto today...

Aw hellz yeah. So simple, so good. In September I made a big risotto with some of these bastards:

k-p1090226.jpg


just shrooms, herbs and Parmesan to finish. I like how meaty they taste.
 

slowtrain

Well-known member
You guys have got me all looking forward to autumn now....

That said, orange and fennel (anise) ice cream will be the bomb, I'm gonna try that out next time.

Also yes, salt goes brilliantly with the plain vanilla. Mine was a bit too sweet, but with something bitter in it the salt would work brill.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
There's an amazing gelato place in Soho in London (Archer St, for those that live here), and their pear ice cream is to die for.
 

slowtrain

Well-known member
Yeah, gelato would be ace.

The recipe I have is great coz its super easy and doesn't require an ice cream machine.

I will share it on dissensus:

Ingredients:
2 eggs - yolks seperated from whites
1/2 cup sugar (caster is best)
1 cup cream - whipped
whatever you want to flavour it with - will require different amounts depending on what it is and how liquid/solid/acid/whatever it is - just roll with it. e.g, one teaspoon of good vanilla extract.


1. Put egg whites in a bowl and whisk until stiff, gradually adding sugar
2. Add flavouring
3. Add egg yolks
4. Add whipped cream and fold it all together
5. Whack it in a container (this makes one litre)
6. Smack that bad boy in the freezer and leave it for a while. (If you wanna get real fancy you take it out after an hour or so and whisk up all the sediment from the bottom, but really its OK to leave it, you just get some slushy sediment which is nice as anyway.)

EDIT: This is super super creamy shit.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
aubergines coated with chickpea flour/turmeric/chili/salt, then fried, and served with heated yoghurt/ground cumin seeds. Really great. Could probably put a bit of tamarind or something else sour in the yoghurt too, and counterbalance with some sugar.

PS add flour to the yoghurt while heating to stabilise it/stop it separating
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
PS add flour to the yoghurt while heating to stabilise it/stop it separating
I'm doing that! How do you get the flour to stick to the aubergine? Dip it in egg first or something?

I'm also doing that icecream as soon as we have space in the freezer. Some part of me thinks that chilli + something (maybe chilli, lime and vodka?) is a good idea...
 

grizzleb

Well-known member
Wouln't a bit of water work? I've never used chickpea flour before so you could probably just ignore that.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
I'm doing that! How do you get the flour to stick to the aubergine? Dip it in egg first or something?

It should stick automatically as the aubergines are quite, um, moist. Don't salt the aubergines before doing this recipe.

Chickpea flour and water makes a lovely pancake, but shouldn't be needed here...
 

slowtrain

Well-known member
I'm doing that! How do you get the flour to stick to the aubergine? Dip it in egg first or something?

I'm also doing that icecream as soon as we have space in the freezer. Some part of me thinks that chilli + something (maybe chilli, lime and vodka?) is a good idea...

I was tempted to add some chilli + kaffir lime stuff we had sitting around but restrained myself.

Yeah, it really has opened the floodgates.

Heading to the fancy pants supermarket this afternoon to pick up some yum stuff.
 

petergunn

plywood violin
i would make that icecream, sounds delicious, expect I know that if I made it once, it would open the floodgates.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/nov/03/how-to-cook-perfect-meatballs
of interest to fans of Goodfellas.


i love meatballs, but i feel like that article is sorta shit... too much "could do this, could do that" and in the end they make weird gross meatballs,,,

they are right, in that it should be 2/3 beef to 1/3 pork, but i like breadcrumbs and parm or preferably romano in my meatballs, also there is no garlic in their recipe which is sorta crazy... they are correct in using parsley, (could add a lil basil, too) but i really disagree when they say using an egg makes them gloopy...

fennel is for sausage, leave it out of meatballs,,,

truth be told, the test for a meatball's flavor is to eat it cold w/ no sauce... i am betting theirs would taste like old meatloaf... the cheese and the garlic really adds to the taste...
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
It's easy to make the mixture too sloppy if you use too much egg. Half an egg is fine for a pound or more of mixture, and you can add breadcrumbs if it's still too wet. Not too many though, otherwise it detracts from the meatiness.

I made some meatballs once with these smoked beef sausages from Albania. They actually had 'smoke' listed as an ingredient. Smoked bacon for extra smokiness, onions, garlic, chilli, basil...dollop of Marmite as well. They were the nuts, though I say it myself.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Sausages AND meatballs?!

Insane. But in a good way.

Edit: pork chops, rather. Still amazing. I love mixed-meat recipes like that.
 
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nochexxx

harco pronting
haven't got the guts to make it myself, one day though. Pete UM had a go and it sounded proper cardiac cooking.
 
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