The Cookery Thread

[Bunnylump]

It was. And everyone else that came to the barbecue thought so too...

[gill216]

I put homemade lemon curd into lots of different things. I call it my secret ingredient. Cakes, icing, even curry!

Surprising that no-one has spotted it yet. When I make a batch I get visitors for tea and toast.

And Lynn ( 123 dragon) shut up if you are reading this.

[gill216]

The mahonia (oregon grape if you want to identify it) berry jam is yummy! Not unlike blueberry but the berries have quite large seeds. I put them in a pan, boiled them for a few minutes and then mashed them to a pulp and strained them through an ordinary sieve.

Added an equal amount of sugar plus a bit and boiled them up again. It reaches setting point really quickly so have your jars ready if you give it a go.

As the leaves look very like holly leaves and are just as prickly then the bush is going to get cut back in December and my sons florist girlfriend is going to make me something with them. She doesn't know yet.

[LAT]

We have a bush in our garden too but I've never thought of cooking the berries.

Does anyone have a good recipe for Coronation chicken that doesn't use mayonnaise? I'd like to do it for a big family lunch in a couple of weeks but my daughter doesn't eat mayonnaise (about the only thing she doesn't eat) so I have been trying to find a recipe with eg yoghurt instead of mayonnaise but with little success.

Or could I just use yoghurt instead? Or would I need to add anything to achieve the right consistency?

[Bunnylump]

Not sure how yogurt would work, but if you are going to try it then I would suggest Total Greek yogurt, which is much thicker than many other types.

I did find this on t'internet, but I haven't tried it.
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Coronation ... tion=1%2F2

[gill216]

http://www.a2citychickens.com/chicken-r ... n-chicken/

I found this one that uses neither cream or mayo.

[LAT]

Thanks for the suggestions. The second one is odd in that it says it doesn't use mayonnaise yet there are 5 tablespoons in the ingredients list!
I guess I could leave it out though anyway.

[Bunnylump]

My friend Jill just told me that she has successfully made coronation chicken using Crème fraîche instead of mayonnaise because her son doesn't like it.

[LAT]

Aaah, great! I was wondering about Crème fraîche so that is good to know.

[Bunnylump]

These were quite nice as an accompaniment vegetable tonight.

Aubergines with oregano and red onion

500 g of small aubergines, halved or quartered, lengthways depending on size.
2 tsp dried oregano
olive oil
1 small red onion, sliced really thinly
1/2 tsp salt
3tbs red wine vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbs water

Pour 2tbs regular olive oil into a tin and sprinkle the oregano into it. Put the bits of aubergine in and splosh them about a bit to coat them. Bake in the oven, gas 9, for about 15-20 mins until slightly golden and soft.

Plonk the bits of onion into the red wine vinegar with the salt and leave them while you cook the aubergines. They should go a pleasingly pink colour. It also serves to remove any bitterness from the onions.

When the aubergines are ready, take them out of the oven and place on a serving dish. Mix the extra virgin olive oil, garlic and water into the onion mixture. Dollop this over the aubergines.

Serve at room temp or cold. I did them with brown rice and baked tarragon chicken but I think they would probably go well with grilled meat / sausages etc. too.

[LAT]

We had chicken and aubergines last night too, but they were cooked together. It was the first time I'd tried the recipe and we all enjoyed it.

[Bunnylump]

I think we need that recipe,please, LAT...

Aubergines are also really nice if you salt slices and leave them for about half an hour to remove the bitterness, then rinse them, and fry the slices in olive oil until they go sort of crispy round the edges. Then layer them alternately with a basic tomato sauce (I mean onions, basil, tomatoes, tomato puree and a teaspoon of sugar cooked up beforehand, not the type from a bottle!) and a nice strong grated cheddar. Then bake that in a moderate oven for about 20 mins. Then serve with crusty bread. The only trouble with this recipe (although it is very yummy, and good for vegetarians) is that the aubergines seem to absorb quite a lot of oil as you cook them, and of course there is cheese as well, so it's not that good for the waistline...

[gill216]

Here's one that has been surprisingly successful. A few of us have tried these out on different groups of people and used the words " Don't ask whats in them just taste" and they've been demolished in seconds. I had a jar of pimiento stuffed olives I wanted used up. I bought them for halloween to make spooky eyes in eggs with. I don't like olives much and neither did most of the people who loved these. Make a double batch, you will probably eat the first batch yourself. My friend had to start again on a Sunday morning because she'd promised a batch to her Sunday lunchtime friends but ate them after the pub on Saturday night.


3 oz grated cheddar ( more if you really want a cheesy taste)
5 oz plain flour
2 tablespoons of butter or marg.
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

Mix it all together to make a dough and then make dough balls wrapped around an olive.

Bake at 400F or 200c for 15 mins or until golden brown.

[Bunnylump]

Mmmm they sound nice!! But then I love olives...

[Bunnylump]

This was possibly the easiest meal I've ever knocked up. Now all you clever cook types probably think "Why on Earth is she telling us this, it's obvious!" Well, I'd never tried it because I thought it might be hard.

I'm calling it Crunchy Pesto Trout

Rainbow Trout fillets
Natural breadcrumbs (I used the sort you get out of a packet, but I expect you could be fancy and grate some stalish bread if you had some.)
A few heaped teaspoons of basil pesto (I used Sacla organic)
Grated zest of a large unwaxed lemon

Brown basmati rice
Juice of one lemon
Splash of basil oil


Mix the breadcrumbs with the pesto and lemon zest. Oil the bottom of a baking tray with a tiny bit of olive oil.
Press the breadcrumb mixture into the top of the trout fillets with your hands.
Stick the trout in the oven, gas 7 for just shy of 1/4 of an hour, or until the crust gets a little bit brown round the edge.

Meanwhile, cook the brown rice, then stir in the lemon juice and basil oil.

This went well with steamed broccoli spears.

Ridiculously easy, completely yummy, very healthy and not that fattening!!

[LAT]

That does sound good. But why do you oil the bottom of the baking tray rather than the top?

[Bunnylump]

Because I was originally going to say to oil the bottom of the fish (skin side) which is actually what I did, then I realised it was far easier to oil the tin.

The thing I was most impressed with was that all the crusting stayed on the fish, and kept the fish itself really moist underneath.

[Bunnylump]

This was the result of one of those "OK what do I have that I need to use up?" moments, involving a whole punnet of figs and a pot of Apertina feta cheese cubes... And it was completely scrummy.


Pretty figgy cheese tarts

2 sliced red onions
olive oil
2 tsp demerara sugar
2 big dollops of Total natural Greek yogurt
Sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
6 fresh figs, quartered lengthways
feta cubes

Fry the onion slices slowly in the olive oil until they start to caramelise, help it along a little right at the end by stirring in the sugar and frying for a few minutes more.

Grease a muffin tin, then put the sheet of puff pastry right across the top. Slice in situ with a sharp knife into squares around each muffin hole. Poke the pastry into the holes so that the edges still stick out.

Mix the yogurt into the onions, then spoon a bit in the bottom of each of the pies.

Pop two quarters of each fig in the top so they point upwards.

Sprinkle the feta cubes over the top.

Bake gas 7 for about 15-20 mins.

Serve with a green salad.

[giraffe]

You do have some weird things in your fridge.

Would it work with a two week old kiwi fruit and some 30% less fat cheddar?

[Bunnylump]

I don't rate your chances!!