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Atavachron 
Special Collaborator 
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65505 |
 Posted: June 16 2011 at 03:02 |
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I have no doubt that butter makes all the difference, I threw in a nob tonight in lieu of the huge dollop of sourcream I usually put on .. and yes the anise would throw-off the whole thing, too dominant a flavor
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: June 25 2011 at 08:23 |
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Debs's mother is unwell at the moment so she's travelled up to Shropshire for the weekend to look after her; Alex is still at Uni so It's just me and the cats. Last night I threw together a quick corned-beef hash made with leftover mashed potato and a small amount of swede (a rumbletum with corned-beef), I stirred in half a tin of baked beans in the final minutes of cooking because I couldn't be bothered dirtying another pan just for those, I don't eat it very often because Debs doesn't like corned-beef, (but while the cat's away...). Tonight it's pan-fried fillet steak (on offer at the supermarket, too good an opportunity to miss), perhaps with baked potato rather than the usual (for me) rosti or chips, and served with fried mushrooms (with a touch of garlic) and whatever vegetables are in the garden. Tomorrow I'll prepare a chicken chassuer for when Debs gets home, that can cook while I'm pottering around in the garden (weather permitting).
This morning I picked ˝kg (1lb) of raspberries from a self-sown bush I discovered while clearing the undergrowth (more like overgrowth) at the top of the garden - I was looking for my rhubarb, but alas that has disappeared through neglect - not sure what to do with those, a Pavlova would be my first instinct. The gooseberry bushes are overloaded with fruit this year, they'll be ready in a week or so, as are the redcurrants - I don't eat those as a fruit, but make redcurrant jelly to serve with duck and/or lamb - they could do with a lot more rain (more than the pathetic drizzle that's coming down at the moment anyway). I took the time to prune the apple trees this year, so hopefully they will produce a glut of eating apples (of unknown variety, they were here when we bought the house) - I must plant a brambly apple tree, I love those apples when baked into a pie with blackberries and a pinch of cinnamon. Once I've cleared the top of the garden I intend to plant a lot more fruit trees and bushes - I find them to be of more use to me than home-grown vegetables (and a lot less work).
...and it tasted good - not great, but good. There's something lacking that I can't quite identify and don't think I will without returning to Cornwall to re-taste the original. The flavours develop in waves as you drink it, but it lacks that oomph I got when I tried it before - perhaps it was the variety of lavender flowers I used (or the quantity) - another lavender has come into flower, this one smells quite a bit stronger than the previous one, so maybe that will make a difference. I'll keep experimenting until I get it right (not that the current batch is wrong of course - it's still a many times better than any soft drink you can buy commercially)
...a success - not too lemony and just the right amount of elderflower flavour - the colour of the flowers didn't make any difference to the final drink, but hey-ho. I've a lemon verbena in the herb garden that I use the leaves from to make lemon-scented olive oil, in South America they use the flowers to make a soft drink in the same way I used elderflowers here... if it ever flowers that's certainly worth a try.
Made the ginger beer plant last Sunday and have been feeding it every day with more sugar and more ground ginger, so that will be ready tomorrow to convert into 4 ltrs (7 pints) of ginger beer. The "plant" is like the sourdough starter used to make sourdough bread - yeast, water, sugar and ground ginger is put in a large jar and fed with more sugar and ginger each day for a week, after that time the liquid is filtered off and mixed with sugar-water made by boiling ˝ltr of water and 1kg of sugar until the sugar has dissolved, this is then diluted with 3˝ltrs of cold water and bottled; after a week the result is gingery fizzy pop that has been know to explode glass bottles if mistreated. It's called a plant because you use half the filtered sediment to start the next batch (without adding more yeast) - the other half you give to a friend so they can start their own ginger beer plant (though if you want to keep your friends, its probably a good idea not to).
This morning 20 Grade "A" bourbon vanilla pods arrived in the post - I knew what it was before opening the parcel - the smell was overpowering but heavenly. I'll be using some of those to make my own vanilla extract (three split pods and a cup of white rum or vodka in a screw-top jar and left to mature for a couple of months) and the rest for vanilla sugar (either put the whole pod in a storage jar full of castor sugar, or blitz pod and granulated sugar in a food-processor or blender until the sugar is at the "castor" stage ... don't over do it or you'll get vanilla icing sugar... and that's not a lot of use). Buying in bulk from eBay appears to be a bargain - 20 pods for the price of 2 in a little glass jar from the supermarket, and they look a lot fresher than the Schwartz™ ones. Time to dig-out the icecream maker...
 bon appétit  Edited by Dean - June 25 2011 at 08:39 |
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator 
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam Joined: April 29 2006 Location: Atlantais Status: Offline Points: 29630 |
Posted: June 25 2011 at 14:31 |
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I'm assuming Levi's is actually ginger beer and called ginger ale? Ginger beer as I know it is like ginger ale but made with fresh ginger and has bite that the standard ginger ale soda does not. Anyway, the ginger beer as I know it makes a really good drink with dark rum: the dark and stormy.
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: June 25 2011 at 14:42 |
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Yeah Levi's stuff is ginger beer - I'm not sure why he calls it ginger ale - to me ginger ale is stuff like Canada Dry that's made with carbonated water, ginger beer produces its own fizz naturally through fermentation.
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Finnforest
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Online Points: 17076 |
Posted: June 25 2011 at 14:53 |
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Nice post below, Dean. Redcurrant jelly sounds wonderful. I recently picked the meager crop of Rhubarb from behind Mom's lilacs and brought them to her, she made a nice rhubarb sauce which is great over good vanilla ice cream.
Last night I was dragged out to a "southern" restaurant for cajun food. OMG, what a freakin' nightmare. I don't know how you live like that Rob. Cajun this, blackened that, fiery this, smoked that.....my intestines will be protesting for days. Pass the maalox. Tastes good, but I guess it needs a strong gut. The baking powder biscuits were great though, I mostly ate those to minimize the damage from the peppery sh*t they put all over my chicken. |
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...that moment you realize you like "Mob Rules" better than "Heaven and Hell"
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65505 |
Posted: June 25 2011 at 18:11 |
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Vernor's gingerale is the only brand I'll buy
I know the Chinese are fond of aged tea leaves and buds, do the English do this? I always noticed when I'd try to recreate something from a favorite restaurant - like say a real Philly cheesesteak sandwich - I could never get it to taste quite as good. Eventually I realized part of the problem was that I wasn't using a big old seasoned griddle, black and caked with decades of grease and burned-in flavor. Makes all the difference |
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: June 26 2011 at 05:31 |
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Not that I know of, though most large towns have shops that specialist teas where that kind of thing can be bought I wouldn't say the more exotic stuff is particularly popular. We Brits really do like our "everyday" (Indian Assam/Darjeeling blend) tea in vast quantities.
I know what you mean, most of what we recreate at home is a fair copy of what professionals can do with the right ingredients and the right equipment - even something as simple as pizza isnt the same when cooked in a domestic oven compared to one cooked in a wood-fired brick or clay oven, with all the flavours of 1000s of pizzas cooked before it stuck to the bottom of the crust.
 In this case it may even be psychological - eating at "15" was a big deal for us, the ambiance, the setting, the food itself and the fact that it was a "celebrity" restaurant will have affected our perception of how things tasted, and more importantly, our memories of them.
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What?
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Epignosis
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: December 30 2007 Location: Raeford, NC Status: Offline Points: 32550 |
Posted: June 26 2011 at 11:14 |
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And to think I made my simple huevos rancheros for breakfast. Eggs, cheese, and hot sauce on a tortilla.  Although truth be told, I'm feeling it.  My family comes to our house once a month and I cook for everyone. Today, it's braised pork in white wine, served with a side of rice pilaf. My mother is making a salad and my sister is making a dessert. |
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Finnforest
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Online Points: 17076 |
Posted: June 26 2011 at 11:35 |
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Mmmm, now that sound pretty tasty
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...that moment you realize you like "Mob Rules" better than "Heaven and Hell"
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Padraic
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 16 2006 Location: Pennsylvania Status: Offline Points: 31169 |
Posted: June 26 2011 at 19:40 |
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Tonight was a feeble attempt to recreate what I had at a restaurant about a week ago, but anyways:
Pan-seared ribeye - deglazed pan with just a little chicken stock, then sauteed onions and chanterelle mushrooms. Served over a bed of something called "Golden Jewel Blend" - Israeli couscous, orzo, baby chickpeas, and red quinoa. While very tasty, the restaurant version was wagyu sirloin with chanterelles over spaetzle - but of course a good deal of whatever they did, they didn't share, but the result was one of the best steak dishes I've ever eaten. Washing all this down tonight with a Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley (Oregon). |
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The Neck Romancer
Forum Senior Member 
Joined: June 01 2010 Location: Brazil Status: Offline Points: 10185 |
Posted: July 04 2011 at 19:54 |
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That sounds fantastic pat.
i maed a fried pineapple with cinnamon powder, ricotta cheese and ketchup  |
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Triceratopsoil
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 03 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 18016 |
Posted: July 04 2011 at 19:55 |
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Caio?
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65505 |
Posted: July 06 2011 at 17:00 |
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Andouille tonight, fresh uncooked and not smoked (uncharacteristic for Andouille), a baked potato, and in lieu of red cabbage some nice pickled beets .. a very not-so-German meal
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Triceratopsoil
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 03 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 18016 |
Posted: July 11 2011 at 15:05 |
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Anyone here like to put less common vegetables in stir-fry? I'm a particular fan of radishes, cucumber (slice it then cut the centres out), zucchini, and corn.
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65505 |
Posted: July 11 2011 at 17:45 |
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^ I can't say I'd put any of that in stirfry except maybe the corn-- no, I tend to stick to what I know will work well; sugarsnap peas, scallion, green beans, broccoli, cashews or almonds, yams, ginger, tons of garlic of course ..
I didn't care for the raw un-smoked Andouille, I can't see how you'd ever not want to cure or smoke a sausage, otherwise it's just questionable bits of raw meat, fat and spices .. heck I can do that at home anytime |
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Triceratopsoil
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 03 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 18016 |
Posted: July 11 2011 at 17:48 |
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You should try radishes, it's amazing how well they turn out. Just cut them into smallish pieces. Same with zucchini, both of them seem to compliment just about anything. Edited by Triceratopsoil - July 11 2011 at 17:49 |
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: July 11 2011 at 18:32 |
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I prefer zucchini (courgettes in English) to be salted, drained and dried on a paper towel to draw out some of the bitterness before they are stir-fried, that way the caramelising from the frying isn't figthing against any bitter taste. I've never tried cooked radish, but normally I wouldn't put root veg into a stir-fry anyway because the cooking time is too long, however a root veg that can be eaten raw like a radish I guess would be worth a try - apparently they lose their peppery fire when cooked and that seem a little pointless as I only eat them for the heat - I'd definitely put radish leaves and stems in a stir-fry though, cooking it like chard or pak choy.
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Triceratopsoil
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 03 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 18016 |
Posted: July 11 2011 at 18:36 |
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Maybe I'm just used to nice zucchini from the garden, but I've never had a problem with them being bitter at all. Radishes, like zucchini, tend to when cooked absorb the flavours around them, so they end up being mostly a texture/colour thing, but if you save them and put them in near the end they retain some of the crunch and heat.
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 30 2006 Location: Pearland Status: Offline Points: 65505 |
Posted: July 11 2011 at 18:38 |
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I remember radishes being peppery-hot as a child but now they just seem bland.. I wonder if it's me or the radishes
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Triceratopsoil
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 03 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 18016 |
Posted: July 11 2011 at 18:42 |
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Probably the radishes. I recommend growing your own. I made two small wooden raised planters out of some scrap wood, keep them right in the backyard, and planted radishes in each, a week apart. Since they don't take long to grow, you can keep having them as long as the season by planting more when you pick them. They will taste a lot better than store-bought too. |
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Dean wrote: