The Cookery Thread

[Bunnylump]

Sorry, never in my life cooked one. Hey, you should ring James Martin on Saturday kitchen!

[LAT]

I've never cooked one either. It's just that they came with the onions so I thought I might as well plant them. Shallots and onions I have no problem finding uses for!!

[Bunnylump]

Mmmm (finishes licking out the bowl, leaving pleasing black stripes at the corners of her mouth) home made blackcurrant ice cream with salted liquorice ripple. Now come on. This is proper handsome.

[chazzie]

Sounds complicated........ very nice

[Bunnylump]

Not complicated at all (thank you Nigella, I love you.)

Cook 150g blackcurrants for 5 mins with 2 tbs lemon juice. Stir in small tin of condensed milk and 300g double cream. Whisk for a little bit until it's stiff. Put half of it into a freezing container, then drizzle 1.5 tsp of salted liquorice paste on the top. Swirl it about a bit with a cocktail stick, then add the other half, do the same again and then freeze it. You don' t even need to churn it (apparently) so I'll report back when I've tried it frozen.

[Wulfruna]

Sounds interesting.... We've got loads of blackcurrants this year.
Can I just check that you do mean condensed milk - or is that evaporated (which comes in small tins)?

[Bunnylump]

Yes, definitely condensed, the tin I used was sort of between the small evaporated milk size tin and a big soup tin (guessing about 400g?) You need condensed because it's sweetened - otherwise it would be very sharp.

[Wulfruna]

Yes, that makes sense. I might give it a try, although just as blackcurrant without liquorice (maybe swirled with something else......)

[Bunnylump]

Don't forget to get it out of the freezer about 10-15 minutes before you serve it out (otherwise it's too hard.)

[Laura]

Not sure whether this should be on here or the "help required" thread! Did anyone watch the bake off tonight? I really want to have a go at making whatever those chocolatey nutty swirly bread things were that they showed on the trail right at the end for next week's episode, but they're being very cagey this year and not telling the TV guides what the recipes are. Does anyone have any ideas what they might be? It might not even be chocolate, could have been cinnamon maybe, I'm just guessing from the very short clips!!!!

[Laura]

Bother. To make it even more difficult, it seems that they were signature bakes, not the technical challenge, which means that those recipes may not exist anywhere. Still, any ideas???

[Bunnylump]

Sorry, haven't watched it yet. I'll let you know when I've had a chance to catch up!

[Bunnylump]

I've been on a mission to increase my cholesterol. Well, why wouldn't you when your damned doctor prescribes you a low dose of statins? He did follow this up with "Actually, I'm on them too, so that I can eat more bacon." Crazy fool.

Anyway, once in a while can't hurt, eh? So, to this end, today's gloriously easy creation.

Espresso Ice Cream with stuff

This is actually a modified Nigella recipe, without the expensive bit (some Espresso liqueur that apparently you can order online for a mere £18 a bottle) and with some extra toppings and without the weird bun bit.

300ml double cream (sorry, cholesterol level)
175g condensed milk
2.5 tbs espresso powder
2 tbs brandy (had some left over from Christmas cake making!)
A few toasted, chopped walnuts
Maple syrup

Put the cream, condensed milk, espresso powder and brandy in a big bowl and whip like mad for a very long time. It will eventually form soft peaks, but not before you've given up all hope of it ever doing so. Spoon this into an ice cream tub and freeze for 6 hours.

Amazingly, this doesn't need ANY whisking during freezing, and doesn't set rock solid, so you can serve it straight from the tub.

Sprinkle with walnuts and a little maple syrup.

Mmmmmmmm

[LAT]

This is what is on the menu tonight - I've made it before, and it's SCRUMMY. It's an actual Greek recipe from my a friend of a friend who lives in Pefkos, Rhodes.

Greek beef

2lb stewing steak
2 medium onions
3 cloves garlic, crushed
4tbsp tomato puree
1/2 pint red wine
3tbs red wine vinegar
2tsp soft brown sugar
6 whole cloves
1tsp cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1 lb shallots
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs chopped coriander

Heat 3 tbs of olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish and fry meat gently. Lift meat out with a slotted spoon.

Add a little more oil and fry onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in tomato puree, wind, red wine vinegar and sugar and return the meat to the pan.

Put cloves, cumin seeds and cinnamon in a spice ball (or tie in muslin) and put in the casserole dish with the bay leaves.

Season and cover with a lid. Put casserole in a preheated oven 325 F or 170 C and coof for an hour and a half, stirring occasionally.

Peel the shallots and cook in boiling salted water for 2 mins. Drain and add to casserole. Cook for a furthe hour or until the meat is tender.

Remove casserole from oven and take out spices. Stir in lemon juice and re season. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with crusty bread or rice or greek potatoes.

PS I'm trying the Greek potatoes tonight for the first time. If they are a success I'll give you that recipe too. Better go, guests about to arrive!!!

We got around to trying this tonight and really enjoyed it. I did have to add some stock/water as it dried up rather but it was delicious.

[LAT]

OK, the potatoes were to die for. Nicest version of "roast" potatoes I've ever had. And they went really well with above dish.

Patates sto Fourno

5-6 potatoes, peeled and cut into eveny sized wedges
125ml olive oil
1tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
Two lemons, juiced (plus more for serving)
125 ml good chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to gas 6

In a large mixing bowl, add the sliced potatoes and toss them with the remaining ingredients until they are well coated.

Line a large roasting tin with aluminium foil ( I used a teflon sheet). Place the coated potatoes in a single layer and drizzle them with any remaining marinade. At this point the dish will look improbable - there is a lot of liquid in the pan.

Bake in the oven for an hour to and hour and a half. Carefully turn half way through. The liquid will gradually bubble away leaving lovely moist potatoes with crispy edges.

Re-season with salt and pepper and serve with lemon wedges so that a little more of this can be added if desired.

And we had these with it!

[Bunnylump]

Oooh, lovely! Glad you liked it!

[Bunnylump]

I made some Mughlai chicken today modifying a Nigella recipe to make it more healthy. Definitely worth a go. Instead of the cream and yogurt, I just used 0% fat Total yogurt with stock.
https://www.nigella.com/recipes/mughlai-chicken

[LAT]

Sounds good!

My recent cookery ideas have been rather more mundane. I bought a small cabbage and a bag of carrots, prepared and blanched them and froze then in usable portions. So if we get confined to quarters we have some fresh veg to fall back on.

[Bunnylump]

That's actually not a bad idea. I have some carrots, I might do that too (assuming I have any more freezer containers, that is!)

[LAT]

I used little plastic freezer bags.
I've also put some milk into ice cube bags so if we can't get to the shops for fresh milk N can have some milk in his tea. (I have my tea black anyway so I wouldn't be as bothered!)