The Home Cooking Thread

[Guest Mee-9]

Cooking a meal for my gf tomorrow because it is our anniversary and I'm a bit poor (and because you can't shag in a restaurant). No idea what to make her though any ideas? It has to be nice and it has to have meat in it but they are pretty much the only criteria.

Dont make her ote.

Go chippeh, Battered Sausage and chips

Bit of fish if you've got the dosh.

[Mee]

Dont make her ote.

Go chippeh, Battered Sausage and chips

Bit of fish if you've got the dosh.

Touché.

Granby Hall chip shop Dave?

[The Doctor]

you're all wrong. Make a nice pasta dish, something with a sauce you can make using high volumes of booze (probably wine).

[broughtonblue]

Jamie olivers ministry of food. Bought this book for the mrs last Christmas and it has transformed the way we cook, easy, brilliant recipes=lovely food. Plus keeps other half in kitchen whilst I watch telly

[AoWW]

Anyone have any good, fool-proof recipes for sweets as I've got to make a selection for a Christmas Fair next weekend? I'm thinking along the lines of coconut ice, turkish delight, maybe chocolate truffles... that kinda thing.

[The Doctor]

Chocolate fudge:

250g granulated sugar

425g sweetened condensed milk

25g Unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

250g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

125g milk chocolate, broken into pieces to decorate - (optional)

1 Grease and line the base + half way up the sides of a 7 inch cake tin with non-stick grease-proof paper

2 Put the sugar in a large heavy based saucepan with the milk, butter and vanilla essence, heat gently until the sugar dissolves.

3Bring to boil and boil for 5-10 minutes stirring frequently until the temperature reaches 115 C on a sugar thermometer (alternatively, drop a teaspoonful of the mixture into a bowl of iced water. You should be able to roll the mixture into a ball between your fingers)

4 Remove from heat and beat in dark chocolate until melted, pour into prepared tin and leave for several hours till set

5 Remove from tin, peel away paper. Cut the fudge into small squares. Leave on a grease-proof paper lined tray to dry out

6 If decorating put the milk chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and leave until melted. Holding a piece of fudge between finger and thumb, dip into chocolate to coat the base + 2mm up the side. Return to paper and leave to set.

Cream Truffles:

125 ml double cream

250g dark chocolate, finely chopped

2 tablespoons cointreau, brandy, rum or coffee flavoured liqueur.

to decorate:

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

125g dark chocolate, broken

50g milk chocolate, broken

1 tablespoon slivered almonds, toasted

1 bring the cream just to the boil in a small heavy based saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate till melted. Turn into a bowl and stir in liqueur. Chill until quite firm

2 put the cocoa powder on a small plate and dust palms of hands with cocoa powder. take a teaspoonful of cream/chocolate/liqueur mixture and roll it into a ball about 2cm across. roll this in cocoa powder.

3 use about a third of the mixture to make more cocoa coated truffles and place on a grease-proof paper lined tray

4 shape the remaining mixture into balls, 2 cm across and chill until very firm

5 put the dark+milk chocolate in seperate heat-proof bowls and melt. using a fork or cocktail stick, dip a few into the melted dark chocolate allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl. transfer to the grease-proof lined tray.

6 when about 2/3rds have been coated, decorate some by lightly touching with the back of a fork to give them texture, decorate a few more with the almonds

7 dip the remaining cream truffles in the melted milk chocolate. Put the remaining chocolate into seperate piping bags, fitted with writing nozzles

8 decorate the plain truffles with lines/swirls/whatever pattern you like of chocolate. chill for a week before serving

i also have recipes for doughnuts, rocky road, tablet (think thats already on here somewhere) and many others but i'll post some of them tommorrow

[Bugg]

This is about the only home cooking I can do

[The Doctor]

Digging this up again.

Opening myself up for a truck load of mocking comments here, but I'm coming for you Jamie Oliver you cυnt:

http://www.studentcooking.tv/videos/do-the-right-thing/cooking-at-the-green

[NeilyBoy]

Digging this up again.

Opening myself up for a truck load of mocking comments here, but I'm coming for you Jamie Oliver you cυnt:

http://www.studentco...ng-at-the-green

That's how I cook my meals anyway, except I do it to have less washing up and because I'm too lazy to cook things like rice or pasta separately.

I think I may even be accidentally more eco-friendly than he is: I'd've cooked the onions & garlic & herbs/spices with the chicken, added the chorizo when the chicken's white, then the veg when the chorizo's crispy, then the stock, bring to the boil and add rice - which I'm presuming would've been slightly quicker than cooking each meat separately (as long as the pan's big enough).

In fact anything I cook right now can be summed up as: Meat & onions & garlic &herbs/spices, add veg when the meat's browned, add stock/chopped toms (so, liquid basically), chuck in rice/pasta when it reaches the boil. The fact that the rice/pasta never gets drained off can make your food a bit starchy, but hey; less washing up!

PS. What kind of a d!ck takes the seeds out of a chilli? That's where all the spice is!

[The Doctor]

That's how I cook my meals anyway, except I do it to have less washing up and because I'm too lazy to cook things like rice or pasta separately.

I think I may even be accidentally more eco-friendly than he is: I'd've cooked the onions & garlic & herbs/spices with the chicken, added the chorizo when the chicken's white, then the veg when the chorizo's crispy, then the stock, bring to the boil and add rice - which I'm presuming would've been slightly quicker than cooking each meat separately (as long as the pan's big enough).

In fact anything I cook right now can be summed up as: Meat & onions & garlic &herbs/spices, add veg when the meat's browned, add stock/chopped toms (so, liquid basically), chuck in rice/pasta when it reaches the boil. The fact that the rice/pasta never gets drained off can make your food a bit starchy, but hey; less washing up!

PS. What kind of a d!ck takes the seeds out of a chilli? That's where all the spice is!

I do.

As for the eco-friendly bit. I'm not, I don't go out of my way to be eco-friendly - but chicken out, everything else in, spice up, return chicken is the basis for most of my dishes.

[Phube]

PS. What kind of a d!ck takes the seeds out of a chilli? That's where all the spice is!

Gah.... Will EVERYONE please learn that: Spice =/= Heat!

Things can be spicy and not 'hot' at all. And Vice Versa things can be hot and not spicy!

EDIT:

My own Chili con Carne recipe rules!

Chilli con Carne

Serves: 4 Prep time: 30 mins Cooking time: 2 hours (min)

Ingredients:

• 500g minced beef (good stuff!) (Pre-brown if you want to remove the fat)
  
• 1 tbsp oil
  
• 1 large onion (finely diced)
  
• 1 red pepper (chunky diced)
  
• 1 carrot (v. finely diced)
  
• 1 celery stick (v. finely diced)
  
• 2-3 cloves garlic (crushed)
  
• 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder
  
• 1-2 chipotle chilli(s)
  
• 1 tsp paprika, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, ground cumin
  
• ½ tsp dried majoram
  
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
  
• 125ml red wine
  
• 1 litre beef stock (good stuff)
  
• 410g can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
  
• (Optional – 1 can sweetcorn)
  

Method:

1) Heat oil in big pan. Add onions, celery carrot – stir frequently for about 5-8mins until soft, squidgy and translucent.

2) Add the garlic, red pepper, chili powder, paprika, ground coriander, ground cinnamon and ground cumin. Stir through and then cook for another 5 mins – again stirring occasionally.

3) Add the mince and brown for approx. 5 mins making sure that it has all broken up. Make sure heat is quite high as to fry not stew the mince.

4) Add the red wine and simmer until most has evaporated.

5) Add the stock and chipotle chilli(s) and bring back to the boil.

6) Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, sugar and majoram. Plus salt and pepper to taste. Stir.

7) Once simmering, turn down the heat as low as possible, cover the pan and gently heat for as long as you can! Stir occasionally to stop the mixture catching on the base of the pan. If it gets a bit dry just add a little water.

8) With 20 mins until serving remove the lid and add the kidney beans, bring to the boil and bubble for 10 mins (again adding water is needed). Final tasting to see if it needs more seasoning.

9) Cover and turn off heat and leave to stand for 10 mins.

10) Serve with nachos, rice, sour cream, guacamole etc. Etc....

[Captain...]

Digging this up again.

Opening myself up for a truck load of mocking comments here, but I'm coming for you Jamie Oliver you cυnt:

http://www.studentco...ng-at-the-green

First of all that is not Paella, that is a chicken and chorizo rice dish, the Spanish would be spitting at the computer screen watching that.

Secondly poor pronunciation, cho-ri-tho and pa-ey-ya (at least your pronunciation of paella wasn't pie-ella).

Otherwise good work, I'm sure Jamie Oliver is shitting in his own mouth at the competition.

[NeilyBoy]

Gah.... Will EVERYONE please learn that: Spice =/= Heat!

Things can be spicy and not 'hot' at all. And Vice Versa things can be hot and not spicy!

I see your point, and kinda agree with it since I did say "spice" which can mean many ingredients, but out of interest; if I'd phrased it "it takes all the spiciness out", would you still be mad? To me when people say something's spicy it's pretty clear they mean it's hot.

[Phube]

I see your point, and kinda agree with it since I did say "spice" which can mean many ingredients, but out of interest; if I'd phrased it "it takes all the spiciness out", would you still be mad? To me when people say something's spicy it's pretty clear they mean it's hot.

Yup still mad! You'd need to say: "Takes all the heat out of it" as the seeds (more specifically the membranes that hold them) contain no flavour/spice just hotness!

Hence the 'everyone' bit.

[The Doctor]

First of all that is not Paella, that is a chicken and chorizo rice dish, the Spanish would be spitting at the computer screen watching that.

Secondly poor pronunciation, cho-ri-tho and pa-ey-ya (at least your pronunciation of paella wasn't pie-ella).

Otherwise good work, I'm sure Jamie Oliver is shitting in his own mouth at the competition.

It was paella rice, hence paella dish?

[dave the caveman]

First of all that is not Paella, that is a chicken and chorizo rice dish, the Spanish would be spitting at the computer screen watching that.

It was paella rice, hence paella dish?

The Spanish would be saying om nom nom, looks like a nice jambalaya.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1167651/chicken-and-chorizo-jambalaya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jambalaya

[rico]

Home made haslet

skin 7 sausages,mix sausage meat with one egg and 2 tablespoons of stuffing mix

transfer to ovenproof dish and bake for 30 mins or until meat turns brown

leave to cool down and thickly slice

[Guest]

...finely slice

It was all going well until that point.

[rico]

It was all going well until that point.

i like it to last

[Guest]

i like it to last

So do I. Sadly, my slicing skills can be lacking at times

[cambridgefox]

My Mrs made a home made suet steak and kidley pie.Some Jamie Oliver recipe with marmalade, spices, stilton and any other thing you wouldnt expect in it. It was fantastic the wife even took some photos,she was that impressed.

[Guest]

I've been uploading photos of my creations, along with recipes to both my Facebook, and to a friend's cooking blog. It's one of the few things I've been pleased with myself over.

[rico]

So do I. Sadly, my slicing skills can be lacking at times

have amended just for you

[Guest]

have amended just for you

Ha ha! Would you be upset if I said it should read "cut into irregular wedge shapes"?

[Leicfox]

Home made haslet

skin 7 sausages,mix sausage meat with one egg and 2 tablespoons of stuffing mix

transfer to ovenproof dish and bake for 30 mins or until meat turns brown

leave to cool down and thickly slice

Love haslet and will try your suggestion. I usually get 300g from Sainsburys thinly sliced as It's tasty and cheap 36p per 100g, you can't go wrong. The women behind the counter hates me though as her arms dropping off when she's finished slicing.