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Finnforest View Drop Down

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Posted: June 27 2016 at 14:32

Yeah the difference is quite noticeable. I feel lucky this woman will drive from farm into the city. She has a good niche business though. Most farmers won't do this. She comes into the metro once a month and delivers eggs for hours at various locations. Even given the gas expense it has to be a winner.

Epignosis

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Posted: June 27 2016 at 14:45

We live in the country, and a student gave us a dozen eggs from their farm. My wife and kids had never had them before- they all agree those eggs were superior.

We go through eggs like mad though because of the cake business. I never wondered until now how farm fresh eggs might change the taste of the cake. Lamp

https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays

Finnforest View Drop Down

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Posted: June 27 2016 at 15:11

Rob, if you can find them at a cost that is not so far above regular eggs, try it. I do believe it would improve the quality.

Dean

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Posted: January 03 2017 at 09:47

Chilli Gingerbread...

I've been making traditional sticky old English gingerbread for years and never thought of putting chilli in it before, I tried it this weekend on a whim and I kid you not, this is seriously good - a cake that fights back and is not for the faint-hearted.

The recipe is adapted from a very old copy of the Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook from the 1970s so all the measures are in imperial:

1. Grease and line a 7" square cake tin - my mum used to bake it in a roasting tin rather than a cake tin, this is often cooked in a loaf tin but I prefer to use a larger tin so that the finished cake is like a thick tray-bake.

2. Weigh-out wet ingredients into a medium saucepan:

4oz butter
6oz black treacle
2oz golden syrup
4oz soft dark brown sugar

Since measuring treacle and syrup accurately is nigh-on impossible what I do is spoon out treacle and syrup in rough quantities and then add enough dark brown sugar to bring the total weight up to 12oz.

3. Then bring them to a boil on the hob and simmer until all the butter has melted. Remove from heat and add:

10 fl.oz milk (½pint)

4. Allow to cool

5. Weigh out dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl:

8oz self-raising flour
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of allspice (or mixed spice)
4 teaspoons of ground ginger
½ teaspoon of hot chilli powder (it may be tempting to add more, but I'd advise against it until you've tried it with this quantity first).

6. fold-in cooled wet ingredients

(you can add two beaten eggs here but I forgot and it came out perfectly regardless - with the self-raising flour and bicarb there's quite lot of raising agent without the eggs).

7. pour into cake tin and bake at 150ºC for 75-85 minutes.

8. Allow to cool then cut into squares.

9. Gets better (stickier) with age, but seldom lasts that long in our house.

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Mascodagama View Drop Down

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Posted: January 03 2017 at 09:54

Bloody hell, I've not had any proper gingerbread for years and now I want it! With chilli sounds a great add, gonna try making some this weekend

Dean

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Posted: February 13 2017 at 08:12

Had left-over chilli for my mid-day snack today only to discover that we where right out of tortilla chips. Not wanting to go through the palaver of boiling plain rice just for one person I thought, 'tortilla's are just corn meal, water and a touch of oil so they can't be that difficult to make...' except while I'm refitting my kitchen locating the temporary storage place where rarely used ingredients like the corn meal are currently hidden proved harder than expected and all I could find was half a packet of fine polenta ... at which point I thought to myself 'meh, close enough, at worse I'll end up with some fried polenta to eat my chilli with...' so proceeded to mix a cup of polenta with some warmish water and a dribble of olive oil... and while I couldn't bring it together as a dough I succeeded in forming a soft, albeit very crumbly paste that could be rolled into the requisite shape between two sheets of cling-film. Flipping them into a frying pan proved tricky but from four attempts one managed to hit the oil in a crumpled heap and the second hit the edge of the skillet and fell into the gas flame but fortuitously the final two came out flat and cooked to crispy loveliness.

Sure they tasted a bit grainy and polenta-like but when sprinkled with rock-salt and munched with a mouthful of fiery chilli they served their intended purpose.

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Atavachron View Drop Down

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Posted: February 15 2017 at 02:04

Love me some happy kitchen accidents .. and a good story

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy

Dean

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Posted: April 29 2017 at 03:03

This one's in honour of the OP, Eric.

After first hearing of this strange American breakfast dish in this thread ten years ago I've finally plucked up the courage to make some for myself over here in Blighty...

Ladles and Jellyspoons, I present:

Biscuits & Gravy!

(English stylee)

Following some intensive (and extensive) research on the interwebs I finally settled on a biscuit recipe that is essentially unsweetened scones made using buttermilk with a baking powder/BiCarb mix to provide the rise. Being English I chose Lincolnshire sausages, these have a strong sage flavour that I felt wouldn't get lost in the gravy and after removing the skins the sausage meat was crumbled into a hot pan to develop a nice gnarly crust. The gravy is a simple white sauce made in the pan used to cook the sausages: after removing the bits of sausage I fried off some extra sage and a few leaves of thyme in a knob of butter, then used a spoonful of plain flour to make that into a roux before slackening it off with full-fat milk to produced a smooth white sauce. I seasoned this generously with lots of fresh ground pepper then added the sausage back into the "gravy" and let that bubble away for 10 minutes while I made the biscuits.

On reflection I could have used a touch less BiCarb in the biscuits - while they were superbly light there was a slightly salty BiCarb aftertaste that I could have done without. In future I'll use less and make a slightly denser biscuit as the gravy would easily stop them being too dry.

What?

Dean

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Posted: April 29 2017 at 03:43

PS: recipe for two "biscuits"

½ cup Self-raising Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda <--- I'd use less.

pinch of Salt

20g Butter

65ml Buttermilk

sift dry ingredients together. Rub in butter 'til it resembles bread crumbs. Using a knife stir in buttermilk and gently kneed to form a dough. Do not over kneed. Press out on a floured surface to around 1cm thick then using a large coookie cutter make two generous sized biscuits. Place on parchment covered baking sheet and bake in an oven at 200°C for ten munites or until a nice golden brown.

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Tom Ozric

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Points: 15916

Posted: April 29 2017 at 04:22

My Dad just made these really tasty Hungarian patties of Egg, Breadcrumb, Flour, Broccoli bits and seasonings, fried into these crispy discs that are delicious. Think I'll have another 1 or 2 soon.

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
Finnforest Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Offline Points: 16913	Posted: June 27 2016 at 14:32
	Yeah the difference is quite noticeable. I feel lucky this woman will drive from farm into the city. She has a good niche business though. Most farmers won't do this. She comes into the metro once a month and delivers eggs for hours at various locations. Even given the gas expense it has to be a winner.

Epignosis Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: December 30 2007 Location: Raeford, NC Status: Offline Points: 32524	Posted: June 27 2016 at 14:45
	We live in the country, and a student gave us a dozen eggs from their farm. My wife and kids had never had them before- they all agree those eggs were superior. We go through eggs like mad though because of the cake business. I never wondered until now how farm fresh eggs might change the taste of the cake.
	https://epignosis.bandcamp.com/album/a-month-of-sundays

Finnforest Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Offline Points: 16913	Posted: June 27 2016 at 15:11
	Rob, if you can find them at a cost that is not so far above regular eggs, try it. I do believe it would improve the quality.

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: January 03 2017 at 09:47
	Chilli Gingerbread... I've been making traditional sticky old English gingerbread for years and never thought of putting chilli in it before, I tried it this weekend on a whim and I kid you not, this is seriously good - a cake that fights back and is not for the faint-hearted. The recipe is adapted from a very old copy of the Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook from the 1970s so all the measures are in imperial: 1. Grease and line a 7" square cake tin - my mum used to bake it in a roasting tin rather than a cake tin, this is often cooked in a loaf tin but I prefer to use a larger tin so that the finished cake is like a thick tray-bake. 2. Weigh-out wet ingredients into a medium saucepan: 4oz butter 6oz black treacle 2oz golden syrup 4oz soft dark brown sugar Since measuring treacle and syrup accurately is nigh-on impossible what I do is spoon out treacle and syrup in rough quantities and then add enough dark brown sugar to bring the total weight up to 12oz. 3. Then bring them to a boil on the hob and simmer until all the butter has melted. Remove from heat and add: 10 fl.oz milk (½pint) 4. Allow to cool 5. Weigh out dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl: 8oz self-raising flour 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda 1 teaspoon of allspice (or mixed spice) 4 teaspoons of ground ginger ½ teaspoon of hot chilli powder (it may be tempting to add more, but I'd advise against it until you've tried it with this quantity first). 6. fold-in cooled wet ingredients (you can add two beaten eggs here but I forgot and it came out perfectly regardless - with the self-raising flour and bicarb there's quite lot of raising agent without the eggs). 7. pour into cake tin and bake at 150ºC for 75-85 minutes. 8. Allow to cool then cut into squares. 9. Gets better (stickier) with age, but seldom lasts that long in our house.
	What?

Mascodagama Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: December 30 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 5111	Posted: January 03 2017 at 09:54
	Bloody hell, I've not had any proper gingerbread for years and now I want it! With chilli sounds a great add, gonna try making some this weekend

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: February 13 2017 at 08:12
	Had left-over chilli for my mid-day snack today only to discover that we where right out of tortilla chips. Not wanting to go through the palaver of boiling plain rice just for one person I thought, 'tortilla's are just corn meal, water and a touch of oil so they can't be that difficult to make...' except while I'm refitting my kitchen locating the temporary storage place where rarely used ingredients like the corn meal are currently hidden proved harder than expected and all I could find was half a packet of fine polenta ... at which point I thought to myself 'meh, close enough, at worse I'll end up with some fried polenta to eat my chilli with...' so proceeded to mix a cup of polenta with some warmish water and a dribble of olive oil... and while I couldn't bring it together as a dough I succeeded in forming a soft, albeit very crumbly paste that could be rolled into the requisite shape between two sheets of cling-film. Flipping them into a frying pan proved tricky but from four attempts one managed to hit the oil in a crumpled heap and the second hit the edge of the skillet and fell into the gas flame but fortuitously the final two came out flat and cooked to crispy loveliness. Sure they tasted a bit grainy and polenta-like but when sprinkled with rock-salt and munched with a mouthful of fiery chilli they served their intended purpose.
	What?

Atavachron Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65258	Posted: February 15 2017 at 02:04
	^ Love me some happy kitchen accidents .. and a good story
	"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." -- John F. Kennedy

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: April 29 2017 at 03:03
	This one's in honour of the OP, Eric. After first hearing of this strange American breakfast dish in this thread ten years ago I've finally plucked up the courage to make some for myself over here in Blighty... Ladles and Jellyspoons, I present: Biscuits & Gravy! (English stylee) Following some intensive (and extensive) research on the interwebs I finally settled on a biscuit recipe that is essentially unsweetened scones made using buttermilk with a baking powder/BiCarb mix to provide the rise. Being English I chose Lincolnshire sausages, these have a strong sage flavour that I felt wouldn't get lost in the gravy and after removing the skins the sausage meat was crumbled into a hot pan to develop a nice gnarly crust. The gravy is a simple white sauce made in the pan used to cook the sausages: after removing the bits of sausage I fried off some extra sage and a few leaves of thyme in a knob of butter, then used a spoonful of plain flour to make that into a roux before slackening it off with full-fat milk to produced a smooth white sauce. I seasoned this generously with lots of fresh ground pepper then added the sausage back into the "gravy" and let that bubble away for 10 minutes while I made the biscuits. On reflection I could have used a touch less BiCarb in the biscuits - while they were superbly light there was a slightly salty BiCarb aftertaste that I could have done without. In future I'll use less and make a slightly denser biscuit as the gravy would easily stop them being too dry.
	What?

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: April 29 2017 at 03:43
	PS: recipe for two "biscuits" ½ cup Self-raising Flour 1 teaspoon Baking Powder ½ teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda <--- I'd use less. pinch of Salt 20g Butter 65ml Buttermilk sift dry ingredients together. Rub in butter 'til it resembles bread crumbs. Using a knife stir in buttermilk and gently kneed to form a dough. Do not over kneed. Press out on a floured surface to around 1cm thick then using a large coookie cutter make two generous sized biscuits. Place on parchment covered baking sheet and bake in an oven at 200°C for ten munites or until a nice golden brown.
	What?

Tom Ozric Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: September 03 2005 Location: Olympus Mons Status: Offline Points: 15916	Posted: April 29 2017 at 04:22
	My Dad just made these really tasty Hungarian patties of Egg, Breadcrumb, Flour, Broccoli bits and seasonings, fried into these crispy discs that are delicious. Think I'll have another 1 or 2 soon.