I have been strangely inspired to write by a friend's bad experience in a restaurant.
I eat out very rarely. Apart from it simply not being in the budget, it's neither necessary nor convenient. The closest decent restaurant is a 45 minute drive. When I do go out it's normally to visit friends, at their homes. So they cook. I work from home. I'm a good cook, my husband is a good cook, and my sons are good cooks. All in all, eating out is currently not a big thing in my life.
But if I do eat out I expect good food. And good service. I only eat fast food in extremis, and consequently, it's not cheap for us to eat out. When I'm spending $50-100 on a meal it'd bloody well better be good.
For a start I do not wish to eat something I could cook better myself. This applies to the vast majority of hot plain vegetables, BTW, so I hardly ever order them.
In fact, I really don't want to eat something I can cook myself anyway. I tend to chooses dishes that I wouldn't have at home. Unfortunately, I have had a taste of very fine cuisine and my standards are quite high.
Which is not to say I insist on posh food. Not at all. I love fish and chips and I'm perfectly content with a decent steak or even a really excellent burger.
The point is, whatever it is, it had better be good, it had better be served well, in an appropriate amount of time, and it had better not cost an arm and a leg. That is to say it should be worth what I pay for it.
I have voiced these views many times over the years, and usually people agree with me. When they don't it's normally because their lifestyle involves eating poor food out of necessity, i.e. business trips with insufficient expenses, long drives away from civilization, unpredictable hours, whatever. They suffer and suck it up.
Occasionally the objection I get is that I should be grateful I have enough to eat, as so many people in the world don't.
This is a very silly objection. If I were poor and starving I'd be grateful for a bowl of rice, and I'd probably enjoy it. When you are incredibly hungry some very ordinary things taste great.
But I'm not poor and starving. If I eat bad food it doesn't help the poor and starving. It doesn't help me either.
In fact as is common here in the decadent west, I'm financially comfortable and overfed. So it makes absolutely no sense for me to eat bad food. I will not starve if I reject something on the grounds of quality, and therefore I can sensibly do so.
There is no logic whatsoever in eating bad food. So I refuse to do so. I won't eat just because it's there. I don't need the calories. I won't eat just for something to do, and I certainly won't eat when I'm not actually hungry.
Now, then if in the situation that even though I am reasonably hungry, and I've travelled some distance to your restaurant, and you put bad food in front of me, I am not going to eat it. Because I'm paying for that. At least 5 times what it would have cost me to cook it at home. Which, generally speaking, as I said, with a few exceptions, I'm perfectly capable of.
Yes, I will return things. Yes, I will complain. Yes, I will refuse to pay. Yes, I'll get up and walk out if the service is too slow, or rude, or whatever. Done it before and will do it again.
There is absolutely no excuse for a restaurant to serve bad food. It's a purpose-built facility for cooking, with qualified staff.
Thursday, 26 December 2013
Saturday, 26 October 2013
Cornish Pasties
When I mentioned these the other day I had a lot of people ask about them.
The recipe is very easy.
Cut up into small cubes (1/2") some stewing steak, onions, carrots, potatoes and rutabaga. You need about the same quantity of vegetables as meat, or heavy on the vegetables is fine for economy. Toss together in a bowl and add salt and LOTS of pepper.
Roll out pastry into elongated rounds, place a handful of the filling on one half, avoiding the edges. Paint the edges with beaten egg to seal, fold in half, then crimp around the edge to make a strong seal. Brush tops with egg and bake at 175C for about 40 minutes.
It's simple because this is peasant food. This was what tin miners took for their lunches. That's the reason you find them in South-West England and Chicago, because when the tin mines in Cornwall were depleted the miners emigrated. A little bit of social history there.
There are plenty of variations, including seafood and dessert versions. You can even do savoury at one end and sweet at the other to make a two course meal. And modern pasties include chicken tikka masalas, surprise surprise. So you can be very creative here.
There are a few things to remember when making them.
1. The ingredients go in raw (for the traditional recipe) so it's very important that the pastry is airtight. Everything steams in its own juices inside, like a mini crockpot. So always check there are no holes, and be generous with the egg glaze.
2. For the same reason the pastry needs to be slightly thicker than you'd normally roll it out, so use a pastry that's not too dense. It can be flaky or shortcrust, but we like the halfway-between-the-two recipe on the back of the Tenderflake tub. However, the steam effect does make the inside "fluffy" so this is a really good project for those still nervous about making pastry. (Note: The authentic Cornish Pasty pastry is either suet-based or butter-based depending on who you ask, and I'm not getting into that argument.)
3. They are good hot or cold, but don't try to transport them hot, they fall apart easily. Left to cool they freeze well so it's a good idea to make a lot.
What to have with them is totally up to you, as it's really a meal in itself. I usually serve baked beans simply because that's what my family like. As you already have both pastry and potato included, you don't really need another carb, but nobody said this was diet food anyway, so you can also serve mashed potato or fries. I like ketchup on mine, BTW.
The recipe is very easy.
Cut up into small cubes (1/2") some stewing steak, onions, carrots, potatoes and rutabaga. You need about the same quantity of vegetables as meat, or heavy on the vegetables is fine for economy. Toss together in a bowl and add salt and LOTS of pepper.
Roll out pastry into elongated rounds, place a handful of the filling on one half, avoiding the edges. Paint the edges with beaten egg to seal, fold in half, then crimp around the edge to make a strong seal. Brush tops with egg and bake at 175C for about 40 minutes.
It's simple because this is peasant food. This was what tin miners took for their lunches. That's the reason you find them in South-West England and Chicago, because when the tin mines in Cornwall were depleted the miners emigrated. A little bit of social history there.
There are plenty of variations, including seafood and dessert versions. You can even do savoury at one end and sweet at the other to make a two course meal. And modern pasties include chicken tikka masalas, surprise surprise. So you can be very creative here.
There are a few things to remember when making them.
1. The ingredients go in raw (for the traditional recipe) so it's very important that the pastry is airtight. Everything steams in its own juices inside, like a mini crockpot. So always check there are no holes, and be generous with the egg glaze.
2. For the same reason the pastry needs to be slightly thicker than you'd normally roll it out, so use a pastry that's not too dense. It can be flaky or shortcrust, but we like the halfway-between-the-two recipe on the back of the Tenderflake tub. However, the steam effect does make the inside "fluffy" so this is a really good project for those still nervous about making pastry. (Note: The authentic Cornish Pasty pastry is either suet-based or butter-based depending on who you ask, and I'm not getting into that argument.)
3. They are good hot or cold, but don't try to transport them hot, they fall apart easily. Left to cool they freeze well so it's a good idea to make a lot.
What to have with them is totally up to you, as it's really a meal in itself. I usually serve baked beans simply because that's what my family like. As you already have both pastry and potato included, you don't really need another carb, but nobody said this was diet food anyway, so you can also serve mashed potato or fries. I like ketchup on mine, BTW.
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Turkey
Thanksgiving is always followed by the question of what to do with the leftover turkey. Having discovered this year that I really don't like it reheated, I thought I might put together a rather fuller dissertation on the whole theme.
I have an issue with poultry. It's a minority thing, but I'm not the only one. By having the courage to talk about it, I have learned that quite a few people share my issue. It's complicated and cannot be explained to those who don't share it, but if you are interested, it goes like this.
Farmed poultry, by which we are generally referring to chicken and turkey, have two flavours each, not one. One is released by fast cooking and one by slow cooking. This is not my imagination, it is a known culinary fact, and is used by chefs to make it the flexible meat it is.
Most people enjoy both of these flavours. In fact they've probably never really thought about it, or even been aware of it. They are just as happy with fried chicken as with chicken stew.
Some of us are sensitive to the difference. Some are so sensitive, in fact, that it tastes like two completely different foods. So sensitive that even the smell, and not just the taste, is totally different.
And of those who are aware of the difference, some of them like one more than the other. However, some actively dislike one to a much greater extent.
A final subset is those of us who find the smell and taste of slow-cooked poultry extremely unpleasant indeed. Not just "not to my tastes", but can cause nausea. Yes, really.
When you consider the widespread popularity of foods such as chicken soup and chicken stew, this always causes a surprised reaction. Which is fair enough.
But if you find a taste/smell offensive, then you do, and that's that. And, like I said, it's not just me, and we're not being difficult.
If you wish to make fun of people who find slow cooked poultry offensive, have at it, but try to remember it. Thanks awfully.
I am used to the offhand remarks. I don't expect sympathy. Just know that if you are cooking chicken stew I may have to leave the premises. OK?
THEREFORE
Having roast a turkey for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or whatever leads to a few weird conversations. Roast turkey (fast cooked, yes, actually) is something I enjoy, but I prefer it cold. And I have to explain that repeatedly too. But I love nothing better than a cold roast turkey sandwich. No fuss. Just bread and butter, slices of turkey, and a bit of salt. Yep. That simple. It's good. I never tire of it.
Of course you can fancy it up. You can add anything. If I seek variety my usual additions are Branston Pickle (British food, Google it if not familiar, it's widely available in Canada), Heinz Salad Cream (ditto), or some nice crisp lettuce. Or both of the last two.
And I'm sure you can think of many other things you can put in a turkey sandwich.
So. After the roast has cooled we separate the meat, fat, and bones, etc. The meat is divided between light and dark. The fat goes to the dogs. The bones go to make stock. The breast meat is my prize. My sandwiches. You may prefer dark meat for yours, and you are welcome to it.
So, we can cut up the meat and freeze it for later use. This does away with the issue of "Bored with turkey". Of course not everyone has a freezer, so they have to use it right away. So how many things can you make from leftover turkey?
It cannot be counted. The only limit is your imagination.
The obvious one is our first go-to meal, "Day After Soup".
This is where you use up not only meat, but the vegetables, the gravy, the stuffing, and even the cranberry sauce if you like.
Day After Thanksgiving/Christmas Soup
Sauté some onions, carrots, and celery, very finely diced. Cut up and add meat, potatoes, and any vegetables, then add stock. You can throw in the strangest things to this. I've tossed in sausage rolls before now. It all cooks down and nobody notices. You probably won't need any herbs or seasoning if you include the stuffing and gravy, but otherwise the usual: salt, pepper, and some herbs to taste.
Bring it all to the boil then simmer until it looks like soup (at least an hour). Serve with bread and butter.
Turkey Pie
This can be done two ways.
1. Follow the soup instructions, but make it much thicker. Add less liquid and/or include a thickener. If there is enough potato included that may be sufficient, otherwise thicken with flour or whatever you normally use.
2. Cut up your turkey meat, and dice up a couple of onions. Sauté this until the onion is soft (or the meat is slightly browned if you like). You can add other vegetables (leftover or new), and mushrooms are good. You can put all of this into the pie as is, or you can add a sauce. I usually make a béchamel but with half milk and half stock.
Turkey Stew
Thicker version of soup, using leftover and/or new vegetables.
Turkey Curry
Start with stew, add curry spices.
If you were expecting recipes for the last two you are missing the point. This is food from LEFTOVERS. I have explained soup/stew/curry in other blogs, so you can refer to those, but the idea is to make it up as you go along.
Turkey Quesadillas
Again, refer to how my quesadillas are not really quesadillas, but if you:
Take two large flour tortillas.
Cover one with chopped up turkey, grated cheese, maybe some sautéed veggies, and some Tex-Mex spices (see my Taco blend blog),
Top with the other tortilla.
Bake it until cheese is melted, everything else is hot through, and the tortilla has slightly changed colour.
Then serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole and whatever else you want.
It will be a very good quesadilla even if it's not authentic.
Likewise Turkey Tacos
Just throw the chopped up turkey meat and spices in with grated cheese, chopped lettuce, tomato, and green onions, and add salsa.
Turkey Generic Italian
Make a meaty tomato sauce by adding chopped up turkey to sautéed onion, peppers, and garlic, add tomato sauce, and then herbs and spices as required. Other vegetables can be added such as mushroom, zucchini, and so on. Use this over pasta, in lasagne, with orzo, etc etc.
Turkey Primavera
Instead of tomato sauce add béchamel sauce, with plenty of black pepper and use fast cook veggies. Peas and corn are good.
Turkey Carbonara
As above. Add bacon. Don't shush me.
Turkey Risotto
Bit more complicated, so take any risotto recipe, as you'll need it for the rice/liquid proportions, follow that and invent the rest with turkey and whatever vegetables you feel like.
Turkey Stir Fry
Speaks for itself. Serve with rice or ramen noodles.
Turkey Generic Middle Eastern.
Same as stir fry but add chick peas and harissa. Serve with rice. Oh yes it is. REMEMBER: THIS IS LEFTOVERS, not haute cusine.
Turkey Goulasch
Like curry but with different spices. Serve with sour cream.
Don't tell me I'm wrong: Goulasch just means "stew".
Turkey Salad
Chunk of cold turkey. Add lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, and green onions. Choose your dressing. I never said it was an imaginative salad, but it's a salad.
This should keep you going until you run out. You can also make meatballs, and a ton of other things, but I never want to hear you say you're bored with it. Thank you.
I have an issue with poultry. It's a minority thing, but I'm not the only one. By having the courage to talk about it, I have learned that quite a few people share my issue. It's complicated and cannot be explained to those who don't share it, but if you are interested, it goes like this.
Farmed poultry, by which we are generally referring to chicken and turkey, have two flavours each, not one. One is released by fast cooking and one by slow cooking. This is not my imagination, it is a known culinary fact, and is used by chefs to make it the flexible meat it is.
Most people enjoy both of these flavours. In fact they've probably never really thought about it, or even been aware of it. They are just as happy with fried chicken as with chicken stew.
Some of us are sensitive to the difference. Some are so sensitive, in fact, that it tastes like two completely different foods. So sensitive that even the smell, and not just the taste, is totally different.
And of those who are aware of the difference, some of them like one more than the other. However, some actively dislike one to a much greater extent.
A final subset is those of us who find the smell and taste of slow-cooked poultry extremely unpleasant indeed. Not just "not to my tastes", but can cause nausea. Yes, really.
When you consider the widespread popularity of foods such as chicken soup and chicken stew, this always causes a surprised reaction. Which is fair enough.
But if you find a taste/smell offensive, then you do, and that's that. And, like I said, it's not just me, and we're not being difficult.
If you wish to make fun of people who find slow cooked poultry offensive, have at it, but try to remember it. Thanks awfully.
I am used to the offhand remarks. I don't expect sympathy. Just know that if you are cooking chicken stew I may have to leave the premises. OK?
THEREFORE
Having roast a turkey for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or whatever leads to a few weird conversations. Roast turkey (fast cooked, yes, actually) is something I enjoy, but I prefer it cold. And I have to explain that repeatedly too. But I love nothing better than a cold roast turkey sandwich. No fuss. Just bread and butter, slices of turkey, and a bit of salt. Yep. That simple. It's good. I never tire of it.
Of course you can fancy it up. You can add anything. If I seek variety my usual additions are Branston Pickle (British food, Google it if not familiar, it's widely available in Canada), Heinz Salad Cream (ditto), or some nice crisp lettuce. Or both of the last two.
And I'm sure you can think of many other things you can put in a turkey sandwich.
So. After the roast has cooled we separate the meat, fat, and bones, etc. The meat is divided between light and dark. The fat goes to the dogs. The bones go to make stock. The breast meat is my prize. My sandwiches. You may prefer dark meat for yours, and you are welcome to it.
So, we can cut up the meat and freeze it for later use. This does away with the issue of "Bored with turkey". Of course not everyone has a freezer, so they have to use it right away. So how many things can you make from leftover turkey?
It cannot be counted. The only limit is your imagination.
The obvious one is our first go-to meal, "Day After Soup".
This is where you use up not only meat, but the vegetables, the gravy, the stuffing, and even the cranberry sauce if you like.
Day After Thanksgiving/Christmas Soup
Sauté some onions, carrots, and celery, very finely diced. Cut up and add meat, potatoes, and any vegetables, then add stock. You can throw in the strangest things to this. I've tossed in sausage rolls before now. It all cooks down and nobody notices. You probably won't need any herbs or seasoning if you include the stuffing and gravy, but otherwise the usual: salt, pepper, and some herbs to taste.
Bring it all to the boil then simmer until it looks like soup (at least an hour). Serve with bread and butter.
Turkey Pie
This can be done two ways.
1. Follow the soup instructions, but make it much thicker. Add less liquid and/or include a thickener. If there is enough potato included that may be sufficient, otherwise thicken with flour or whatever you normally use.
2. Cut up your turkey meat, and dice up a couple of onions. Sauté this until the onion is soft (or the meat is slightly browned if you like). You can add other vegetables (leftover or new), and mushrooms are good. You can put all of this into the pie as is, or you can add a sauce. I usually make a béchamel but with half milk and half stock.
Turkey Stew
Thicker version of soup, using leftover and/or new vegetables.
Turkey Curry
Start with stew, add curry spices.
If you were expecting recipes for the last two you are missing the point. This is food from LEFTOVERS. I have explained soup/stew/curry in other blogs, so you can refer to those, but the idea is to make it up as you go along.
Turkey Quesadillas
Again, refer to how my quesadillas are not really quesadillas, but if you:
Take two large flour tortillas.
Cover one with chopped up turkey, grated cheese, maybe some sautéed veggies, and some Tex-Mex spices (see my Taco blend blog),
Top with the other tortilla.
Bake it until cheese is melted, everything else is hot through, and the tortilla has slightly changed colour.
Then serve with sour cream, salsa, guacamole and whatever else you want.
It will be a very good quesadilla even if it's not authentic.
Likewise Turkey Tacos
Just throw the chopped up turkey meat and spices in with grated cheese, chopped lettuce, tomato, and green onions, and add salsa.
Turkey Generic Italian
Make a meaty tomato sauce by adding chopped up turkey to sautéed onion, peppers, and garlic, add tomato sauce, and then herbs and spices as required. Other vegetables can be added such as mushroom, zucchini, and so on. Use this over pasta, in lasagne, with orzo, etc etc.
Turkey Primavera
Instead of tomato sauce add béchamel sauce, with plenty of black pepper and use fast cook veggies. Peas and corn are good.
Turkey Carbonara
As above. Add bacon. Don't shush me.
Turkey Risotto
Bit more complicated, so take any risotto recipe, as you'll need it for the rice/liquid proportions, follow that and invent the rest with turkey and whatever vegetables you feel like.
Turkey Stir Fry
Speaks for itself. Serve with rice or ramen noodles.
Turkey Generic Middle Eastern.
Same as stir fry but add chick peas and harissa. Serve with rice. Oh yes it is. REMEMBER: THIS IS LEFTOVERS, not haute cusine.
Turkey Goulasch
Like curry but with different spices. Serve with sour cream.
Don't tell me I'm wrong: Goulasch just means "stew".
Turkey Salad
Chunk of cold turkey. Add lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, and green onions. Choose your dressing. I never said it was an imaginative salad, but it's a salad.
This should keep you going until you run out. You can also make meatballs, and a ton of other things, but I never want to hear you say you're bored with it. Thank you.
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
And the kitchen sink
When I talk about Tom's cooking, people who understand the autism spectrum are often surprised, because it is typical for ASD people to be fussy eaters.
However, if you actually look into it further, ASD can affect tastes two ways. It either results in very particular food requirements, in not just taste, but in texture and presentation. Or it results in a person who will eat virtually anything that isn't running away. Tom is the latter type.
I think part of it comes from being the 5th of six. In a large family you either grab what's going and eat it, or miss out. It probably also helped that I never had any truck with fussy eaters, not even right at the start of my mothering career. This is dinner and you have two choices. One is hunger. I could go into great detail about that whole attitude (which was coloured partly by low income) but let's just say, I never actually considered the possibility that a child might refuse something. When you approach it that way, your expectations tend to be met.
Not that Tom never had strange eating habits. He was a food thrower. He was also a messy eater. Nobody ever needed to ask what he had had for dinner because it was all down his shirt.
Anyway, fast forward to a 20-year-old Tom and he has learned not to wear his meals. But more importantly he has become an extremely competent cook. This is not at all unusual among Aspies, especially if they DO have strong food preferences. They become adept at making things exactly so. Tom eats anything so his culinary skills are pretty broad. He is famous for his pastry, but he's also very good with seafood.
However what he likes best is Indian food. He will eat curry three times a day, AND snack on it in between. I assume that when (if) he moves out, he'll make a big pot once a week or so and live on it. He could do a lot worse. It's very economical, and perfectly healthy if served with some fresh veggies.
The point here is that curry when cooked by a person of English heritage is not REALLY Indian food. The way I cook curry - the way he learned, the way he likes it - has been filtered through English culture for around 200 years. Today in England recipes by top chefs are re-introducing many of the spices and vegetables we hadn't bothered with (too difficult to obtain, or too expensive) for so long, and it's all become very authentic again, with such a massive import trade from South Asia. These are now trendy not just in Britain but all over the world. Which is great.
But out here in the Canadian countryside, we cook a vaguely Victorian style of curry. You can too. It won't win any awards in posh circles, and cooks in Mumbai would mumble. But it's good, it's easy, and it's economical.
Think of stew. Any stew. A stew you know well, perhaps or one you just made up. You can put anything in it really, but bear in mind this is going to cook quite a long time, so don't use vegetables that are ruined by long cooking. Of course "ruined" is a matter of personal taste. I would not use broccoli or green beans, but your mileage may vary.
Stew is easy, it can be made from leftovers. It doesn't even need meat if you have none or want to avoid it - this is a very good way to make a vegetarian dish.
Not only that, this doesn't need to be hot. You can give it to the youngest child, and add only the merest hint of hot spices (no more than in ketchup) and they will enjoy it. My youngest grandson is a huge curry addict.
So, start your stew, that is, brown the meat and base vegetables, add your long-cook vegetables, and add any combination of:
Tomato juice
Coconut milk
Stock
It can be 1/3 of each, or half and half of any two, or whatever ratio you like, but it's best with more than one. Add salt and pepper as required, and a generous amount of garlic. It should already taste good.
Now your spices.
You can buy "curry powder" ready blended, and some of them are perfectly adequate.
BUT. The hot spices (cayenne) are already included. To get more flavour, you have to add more blend, which means you get more heat. You can, if you wish, use curry powder as a "base" and add more individual spices, but if you are doing that, why not just create your own blend?
It is fun, no..it is FUN. Huge fun. A bit of this, a bit of that.
But it can also be intimidating if you haven't done it before.
So here's my "starter" or "beginner" spice blend, which you cannot go wrong with.
You need
3 parts coriander
3 parts cumin
1 part ginger
1 part turmeric
The parts can be teaspoons, tablespoons, or cups. If you use cups you'll make enough to store in a jar for several meals. Having made up this blend from that ratio, add as much to your stew to give it a lovely rich flavour. Of course, you can add other spices that you like/are familiar with. There are many possibilities. But if you do just these 4 it will taste like curry.
Having done that, NOW add the hot spices, either fresh chilies or cayenne powder, as you wish, and as little or as much as you want. You are complete control of the heat of this dish.
Now simmer it until everything is tender. Add any short-cook vegetable you want at the end (I like to throw peas in) and serve with rice and/or naan bread, or for variety, over a baked potato. \
Mrs Beeton would be proud.
However, if you actually look into it further, ASD can affect tastes two ways. It either results in very particular food requirements, in not just taste, but in texture and presentation. Or it results in a person who will eat virtually anything that isn't running away. Tom is the latter type.
I think part of it comes from being the 5th of six. In a large family you either grab what's going and eat it, or miss out. It probably also helped that I never had any truck with fussy eaters, not even right at the start of my mothering career. This is dinner and you have two choices. One is hunger. I could go into great detail about that whole attitude (which was coloured partly by low income) but let's just say, I never actually considered the possibility that a child might refuse something. When you approach it that way, your expectations tend to be met.
Not that Tom never had strange eating habits. He was a food thrower. He was also a messy eater. Nobody ever needed to ask what he had had for dinner because it was all down his shirt.
Anyway, fast forward to a 20-year-old Tom and he has learned not to wear his meals. But more importantly he has become an extremely competent cook. This is not at all unusual among Aspies, especially if they DO have strong food preferences. They become adept at making things exactly so. Tom eats anything so his culinary skills are pretty broad. He is famous for his pastry, but he's also very good with seafood.
However what he likes best is Indian food. He will eat curry three times a day, AND snack on it in between. I assume that when (if) he moves out, he'll make a big pot once a week or so and live on it. He could do a lot worse. It's very economical, and perfectly healthy if served with some fresh veggies.
The point here is that curry when cooked by a person of English heritage is not REALLY Indian food. The way I cook curry - the way he learned, the way he likes it - has been filtered through English culture for around 200 years. Today in England recipes by top chefs are re-introducing many of the spices and vegetables we hadn't bothered with (too difficult to obtain, or too expensive) for so long, and it's all become very authentic again, with such a massive import trade from South Asia. These are now trendy not just in Britain but all over the world. Which is great.
But out here in the Canadian countryside, we cook a vaguely Victorian style of curry. You can too. It won't win any awards in posh circles, and cooks in Mumbai would mumble. But it's good, it's easy, and it's economical.
Think of stew. Any stew. A stew you know well, perhaps or one you just made up. You can put anything in it really, but bear in mind this is going to cook quite a long time, so don't use vegetables that are ruined by long cooking. Of course "ruined" is a matter of personal taste. I would not use broccoli or green beans, but your mileage may vary.
Stew is easy, it can be made from leftovers. It doesn't even need meat if you have none or want to avoid it - this is a very good way to make a vegetarian dish.
Not only that, this doesn't need to be hot. You can give it to the youngest child, and add only the merest hint of hot spices (no more than in ketchup) and they will enjoy it. My youngest grandson is a huge curry addict.
So, start your stew, that is, brown the meat and base vegetables, add your long-cook vegetables, and add any combination of:
Tomato juice
Coconut milk
Stock
It can be 1/3 of each, or half and half of any two, or whatever ratio you like, but it's best with more than one. Add salt and pepper as required, and a generous amount of garlic. It should already taste good.
Now your spices.
You can buy "curry powder" ready blended, and some of them are perfectly adequate.
BUT. The hot spices (cayenne) are already included. To get more flavour, you have to add more blend, which means you get more heat. You can, if you wish, use curry powder as a "base" and add more individual spices, but if you are doing that, why not just create your own blend?
It is fun, no..it is FUN. Huge fun. A bit of this, a bit of that.
But it can also be intimidating if you haven't done it before.
So here's my "starter" or "beginner" spice blend, which you cannot go wrong with.
You need
3 parts coriander
3 parts cumin
1 part ginger
1 part turmeric
The parts can be teaspoons, tablespoons, or cups. If you use cups you'll make enough to store in a jar for several meals. Having made up this blend from that ratio, add as much to your stew to give it a lovely rich flavour. Of course, you can add other spices that you like/are familiar with. There are many possibilities. But if you do just these 4 it will taste like curry.
Having done that, NOW add the hot spices, either fresh chilies or cayenne powder, as you wish, and as little or as much as you want. You are complete control of the heat of this dish.
Now simmer it until everything is tender. Add any short-cook vegetable you want at the end (I like to throw peas in) and serve with rice and/or naan bread, or for variety, over a baked potato. \
Mrs Beeton would be proud.
Monday, 30 September 2013
The Gravy Myth
I promised my food groupies a dissertation on gravy and I keep my promises.
There is this myth that making gravy is difficult. No, it isn't difficult, BUT it's intensive and trying to do it at the same time as all the other things you are doing when serving a meal is a bit of a bother. Even with assistance, I find this to be one of the frustrating aspects of cooking. For that reason I am trying to get into the habit of saving the meat juices from one roast dinner, and using them for the next one.
Anyway, there is more than one way to make gravy, but you need the same ingredients no matter what.
Some fat.
Some meat juices.
Some flour.
Some stock.
Some flavourings.
If you have these you don't even need the roast meat/pan. You can make gravy out of the blue as it were. You can even make gravy using other types of fat (butter, olive oil) but we are concerned here with using the fat from the same thing as we are pouring it over.
What most people do is take the roast meat out of the pan, and put the pan up on top of the stove, skim off most of the fat from the juices, add flour, whisk like crazy, then add stock, and flavourings.
This is a classic gravy method, but it does assume that you have the facility to do this. I don't. My roasting pan is huge, if I want to put it on top of the stove I have to remove ALL of the others pans in use, which as noted earlier, only works if I'm not actually cooking a whole meal and trying to serve it RIGHT NOW.
So, what I do is pour off all the fat and juices into a jug. separate out the fat and juices and do the thing in a saucepan.
The next question is about stock. I've posted about this before but I want to stress something right here and now. If you find it difficult to make stock, or you just don't have time, good quality stock cubes will do just fine. I use them unashemedly, and here's my rationale.
Stock made from stock cubes is not as good as good home made stock, but it's infinitely better than bad home-made stock.
Gravy made from meat juices and good stock cubes is EXPONENTIALLY better than commercial gravy.
There is only one commercial gravy I will even eat, and that's Knorr Gravy Granules. I use this for things like sausages, because nobody, not even Gordon Ramsey, can make gravy out of the juices from sausages. It cannot be done. Yes, I know there is such an entity as "sausage gravy", but 1) it's not actually gravy, and 2) it's not what I'm seeking.
Even then, I use vegetable water to make it up, rather than plain water, as it tastes sterile otherwise.
So, here is a step by step guide to making a good gravy in a saucepan.
1. Pour off all the meat juices that you have into a large jug. Scrape the pan well. If you have a turkey you probably won't need to scrape.
2. Let the fat rise to the top, and skim it off into a separate container. This is the fiddliest part of the job. You can buy special jugs with the spout at the bottom, but I can't get on with them. Use a flat spoon and skim.
3. Now put a few spoonfuls of the fat into a saucepan over a low heat. Fat is flavour but too much fat is greasy, so you don't need very much.
4. Stir in enough flour to make a paste. This lump is called a roux. Scientifically it should be half fat and half flour, but it's just as easy to eyeball it as to weigh it. And it is MUCH easier to judge by eye how much flour you need faced with just the fat, than when adding it to a mixture. Start with just a little, and add more until you get your paste. If you can pick the paste up with your fingers - but only just - it's right. It shouldn't be as dense as pastry, but it shouldn't have any "drip" to it either.
5. Cook this gently for about a minute, moving it around.
6. Now add back the meat juices very slowly while whisking, a little at a time, so you don't get lumps. If you have a large turkey this may be sufficient liquid to get your gravy to the thickness required. If not, now add stock, again slowly, whisking constantly, thinning the gravy out to the desired texture.
7. Now taste it. You may be happy with just salt and pepper added (if you used a commercial stock cube you may not need extra salt, so check first), or you may want more flavour. We like ours with herbs added, and you can also add wine, garlic, onions (cook onions first, either separately, or in the fat right at the beginning) etc.
If you follow those steps it should work fine. The usual issues people have are with lumps (from not whisking enough), runny gravy (adding the liquid too fast and overdoing it), or tasteless gravy (using poor quality stock).
If you want to plan ahead, you can save the meat juices by letting them go completely cold in the fridge (will become a jelly-like texture). At this point it is even easier to skim off the fat, as it settles and thickens from chilling. You can then freeze them separately. Then, next time you have a matching roast dinner, you can prepare the gravy leisurely while it cooks.
You can also freeze gravy. It will separate when thawed but is easily whisked back together over a low heat. It WILL be a little thinner, so make any gravy you intend to freeze a little thicker initially.
There is this myth that making gravy is difficult. No, it isn't difficult, BUT it's intensive and trying to do it at the same time as all the other things you are doing when serving a meal is a bit of a bother. Even with assistance, I find this to be one of the frustrating aspects of cooking. For that reason I am trying to get into the habit of saving the meat juices from one roast dinner, and using them for the next one.
Anyway, there is more than one way to make gravy, but you need the same ingredients no matter what.
Some fat.
Some meat juices.
Some flour.
Some stock.
Some flavourings.
If you have these you don't even need the roast meat/pan. You can make gravy out of the blue as it were. You can even make gravy using other types of fat (butter, olive oil) but we are concerned here with using the fat from the same thing as we are pouring it over.
What most people do is take the roast meat out of the pan, and put the pan up on top of the stove, skim off most of the fat from the juices, add flour, whisk like crazy, then add stock, and flavourings.
This is a classic gravy method, but it does assume that you have the facility to do this. I don't. My roasting pan is huge, if I want to put it on top of the stove I have to remove ALL of the others pans in use, which as noted earlier, only works if I'm not actually cooking a whole meal and trying to serve it RIGHT NOW.
So, what I do is pour off all the fat and juices into a jug. separate out the fat and juices and do the thing in a saucepan.
The next question is about stock. I've posted about this before but I want to stress something right here and now. If you find it difficult to make stock, or you just don't have time, good quality stock cubes will do just fine. I use them unashemedly, and here's my rationale.
Stock made from stock cubes is not as good as good home made stock, but it's infinitely better than bad home-made stock.
Gravy made from meat juices and good stock cubes is EXPONENTIALLY better than commercial gravy.
There is only one commercial gravy I will even eat, and that's Knorr Gravy Granules. I use this for things like sausages, because nobody, not even Gordon Ramsey, can make gravy out of the juices from sausages. It cannot be done. Yes, I know there is such an entity as "sausage gravy", but 1) it's not actually gravy, and 2) it's not what I'm seeking.
Even then, I use vegetable water to make it up, rather than plain water, as it tastes sterile otherwise.
So, here is a step by step guide to making a good gravy in a saucepan.
1. Pour off all the meat juices that you have into a large jug. Scrape the pan well. If you have a turkey you probably won't need to scrape.
2. Let the fat rise to the top, and skim it off into a separate container. This is the fiddliest part of the job. You can buy special jugs with the spout at the bottom, but I can't get on with them. Use a flat spoon and skim.
3. Now put a few spoonfuls of the fat into a saucepan over a low heat. Fat is flavour but too much fat is greasy, so you don't need very much.
4. Stir in enough flour to make a paste. This lump is called a roux. Scientifically it should be half fat and half flour, but it's just as easy to eyeball it as to weigh it. And it is MUCH easier to judge by eye how much flour you need faced with just the fat, than when adding it to a mixture. Start with just a little, and add more until you get your paste. If you can pick the paste up with your fingers - but only just - it's right. It shouldn't be as dense as pastry, but it shouldn't have any "drip" to it either.
5. Cook this gently for about a minute, moving it around.
6. Now add back the meat juices very slowly while whisking, a little at a time, so you don't get lumps. If you have a large turkey this may be sufficient liquid to get your gravy to the thickness required. If not, now add stock, again slowly, whisking constantly, thinning the gravy out to the desired texture.
7. Now taste it. You may be happy with just salt and pepper added (if you used a commercial stock cube you may not need extra salt, so check first), or you may want more flavour. We like ours with herbs added, and you can also add wine, garlic, onions (cook onions first, either separately, or in the fat right at the beginning) etc.
If you follow those steps it should work fine. The usual issues people have are with lumps (from not whisking enough), runny gravy (adding the liquid too fast and overdoing it), or tasteless gravy (using poor quality stock).
If you want to plan ahead, you can save the meat juices by letting them go completely cold in the fridge (will become a jelly-like texture). At this point it is even easier to skim off the fat, as it settles and thickens from chilling. You can then freeze them separately. Then, next time you have a matching roast dinner, you can prepare the gravy leisurely while it cooks.
You can also freeze gravy. It will separate when thawed but is easily whisked back together over a low heat. It WILL be a little thinner, so make any gravy you intend to freeze a little thicker initially.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Cheesy Breadsticks
Here's our basic bread recipe:
In a large bowl:
6 cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
And set aside
In a measuring jug:
2 cups tap-hot water
4 teaspoons traditional active dried yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
When the yeast water froths (about ten minutes) mix it into the flour blend.
Knead well. 5 minutes in an electric mixer, or 20 minutes by hand. It should feel smooth and elastic. Add a tad more flour if too sticky.
To this basic recipe, for the breadsticks, add 1 tablespoon garlic powder along with the flour.
Cover kneaded dough with cling flim or a damp tea towel, and leave to rise until double in size. Depending on room temperature this could take several hours so allow time. Don't be tempted to use it before it has doubled! Pre-heat oven to 200C.
Now roll it out to fill a large parchment lined baking sheet, and cover with cheese (we used parmesan and cheddar, you can use others) and any herbs you feel like. Doesn't need a second rise. Cut into strips with a pizza wheel then bake about 20 minutes. Cut through again before serving.
In a large bowl:
6 cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
And set aside
In a measuring jug:
2 cups tap-hot water
4 teaspoons traditional active dried yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
When the yeast water froths (about ten minutes) mix it into the flour blend.
Knead well. 5 minutes in an electric mixer, or 20 minutes by hand. It should feel smooth and elastic. Add a tad more flour if too sticky.
To this basic recipe, for the breadsticks, add 1 tablespoon garlic powder along with the flour.
Cover kneaded dough with cling flim or a damp tea towel, and leave to rise until double in size. Depending on room temperature this could take several hours so allow time. Don't be tempted to use it before it has doubled! Pre-heat oven to 200C.
Now roll it out to fill a large parchment lined baking sheet, and cover with cheese (we used parmesan and cheddar, you can use others) and any herbs you feel like. Doesn't need a second rise. Cut into strips with a pizza wheel then bake about 20 minutes. Cut through again before serving.
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
Eat What You Like
I've touched on this many times, but it's part of a whole area of thought that bugs me, and while I'm talking specifically about food here, believe me, this extends to every other aspect of life.
I enjoy my food. I enjoy talking about it. I enjoy cooking. I declare myself a foodie. However, there are those who say I don't qualify, because a) I don't eat everything (some of the things I don't like are widely popular, making me appear picky), and b) I don't over-indulge. I don't think it's funny or clever to eat until I groan or feel ill. YMMV.
There are several ways in which people take it upon themselves to criticize what other people eat. I think this is complete bollocks. Sure, there are things I wouldn't eat, so I don't eat them. End of problem. If somebody else wants to eat it, not my problem.
It's fun to joke about these things sometimes. There are the same basic rules in these discussions as in all discussions. Teasing should be kept under a certain level so that nobody is hurt. Know who you are joking with. Preaching is not acceptable, ever.
I am so done with food preachers. They are no different to any other preacher. I have no time for preachers.
If I like cheap supermarket yellow mustard, I shall eat it. I don't give a shit if it's not gourmet. I also occasionally buy expensive fancy mustards, and I like those too. But for my ham sandwich at lunch, I'm perfectly content with the yellow stuff.
But I am a person with a certain attitude. I'm not affected by the opinions of others. Most importantly, I never have been. I was born with that attitude, and encouraged by a mother who believed in the right of people to have opinions of their own. Yes, she was a radical for her day.
However, I still come across those who try to sway my opinion. After 5 decades, I think I know what I like.
I'm not worried about me. I can look after myself. I do get annoyed when I see others being picked on.
In a world where we already have enough of this nonsense going on, do this, don't do that, be this, don't wear that....we don't need food bullies. That's what they are.
"You shouldn't eat that"
Says who?
"It's not good for you."
Maybe not. And? Mind your own damn business.
"That doesn't go with that."
Nope, but I like them together, so bugger off.
"That's not authentic."
So? I like it. Get over yourself.
"You should try this."
Why? You should try shutting up.
"You're not going to eat that, are you?"
Yep. And it's mine, and you can't have any.
"I didn't want any."
So what's the problem?
And let's not forget:
"You shouldn't eay animals."
Oh really? I have canine teeth and a digestive system that can process it. There are clues there.
And so on.
You've all seen it, maybe you've been a victim of it. Maybe you've been guilty of it. Well, it's bollocks.
Eat what you like. So long as you are not forcing your tastes on others, it's all good.
I have made a conscious decision to call processed food just that. Not junk food. If I refer to what somebody eats as junk food, simply because it's not something I eat, I am being judgemental, and it's wrong. So long as they don't make ME eat it, where is the problem?
"Oh, but I'm concerned about their health."
I doubt it. You are just saying "What I eat is better than what you eat, ner ner ner ner ner."
Bullying. It's bullying.
No, I don't want to eat it. And I will say so. And that's fine. That's me. But I will not tell another person what they SHOULD or SHOULDN'T do. Should is a very ugly word.
I enjoy my food. I enjoy talking about it. I enjoy cooking. I declare myself a foodie. However, there are those who say I don't qualify, because a) I don't eat everything (some of the things I don't like are widely popular, making me appear picky), and b) I don't over-indulge. I don't think it's funny or clever to eat until I groan or feel ill. YMMV.
There are several ways in which people take it upon themselves to criticize what other people eat. I think this is complete bollocks. Sure, there are things I wouldn't eat, so I don't eat them. End of problem. If somebody else wants to eat it, not my problem.
It's fun to joke about these things sometimes. There are the same basic rules in these discussions as in all discussions. Teasing should be kept under a certain level so that nobody is hurt. Know who you are joking with. Preaching is not acceptable, ever.
I am so done with food preachers. They are no different to any other preacher. I have no time for preachers.
If I like cheap supermarket yellow mustard, I shall eat it. I don't give a shit if it's not gourmet. I also occasionally buy expensive fancy mustards, and I like those too. But for my ham sandwich at lunch, I'm perfectly content with the yellow stuff.
But I am a person with a certain attitude. I'm not affected by the opinions of others. Most importantly, I never have been. I was born with that attitude, and encouraged by a mother who believed in the right of people to have opinions of their own. Yes, she was a radical for her day.
However, I still come across those who try to sway my opinion. After 5 decades, I think I know what I like.
I'm not worried about me. I can look after myself. I do get annoyed when I see others being picked on.
In a world where we already have enough of this nonsense going on, do this, don't do that, be this, don't wear that....we don't need food bullies. That's what they are.
"You shouldn't eat that"
Says who?
"It's not good for you."
Maybe not. And? Mind your own damn business.
"That doesn't go with that."
Nope, but I like them together, so bugger off.
"That's not authentic."
So? I like it. Get over yourself.
"You should try this."
Why? You should try shutting up.
"You're not going to eat that, are you?"
Yep. And it's mine, and you can't have any.
"I didn't want any."
So what's the problem?
And let's not forget:
"You shouldn't eay animals."
Oh really? I have canine teeth and a digestive system that can process it. There are clues there.
And so on.
You've all seen it, maybe you've been a victim of it. Maybe you've been guilty of it. Well, it's bollocks.
Eat what you like. So long as you are not forcing your tastes on others, it's all good.
I have made a conscious decision to call processed food just that. Not junk food. If I refer to what somebody eats as junk food, simply because it's not something I eat, I am being judgemental, and it's wrong. So long as they don't make ME eat it, where is the problem?
"Oh, but I'm concerned about their health."
I doubt it. You are just saying "What I eat is better than what you eat, ner ner ner ner ner."
Bullying. It's bullying.
No, I don't want to eat it. And I will say so. And that's fine. That's me. But I will not tell another person what they SHOULD or SHOULDN'T do. Should is a very ugly word.
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