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Finnforest View Drop Down

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Posted: October 03 2015 at 22:06

yeah baby!
Nice....

emigre80

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Posted: October 03 2015 at 22:34

amazing. I usually make traditional tiramisu but I will definitely give that a try. Also it would give my husband a non-crème brulee excuse to get out the blowtorch....

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Posted: April 20 2016 at 17:30

Vegetable Cheese Almond soup.....

Damn that was good. No recipe though. I just "wing it" with what I have on hand. Shocked

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Posted: May 06 2016 at 18:29

...not sure of that one Jim, they look like three ingredients that should never meet, then I tend to look upon any vegetable served with cheese with a degree of suspicion.

When I was a kid corned beef hash was a meal we ate often because it was cheap and Mum could feed a family of four using an onion, few potatoes and a small tin of Fray Bentos Corned Beef. It was also a regular item on the school dinner menu though somehow was never as good as home-made.

So normally for me this one of those last minute meals that gets thrown together using tinned corn beef and left-over mashed spuds. Tonight I made Corned Beef Hash, though not a traditional one. To be precise I actually started making it last Monday when I went to the supermarket looking for brisket and came home with ox cheek. I cured this by rubbing it in a blend of salt, sugar and coarsely ground peppercorns before wrapping it tightly in cling-film and storing it in a Tupperware™ container in the 'fridge for 4 days. After the cure there are two paths to take - the first is to smoke it and then steam it (pastrami) or simply boil it for several hours (corn beef) - I chose a third option, which was to pressure cooked it for 60 minutes in a broth of water, carrot and onion, two bay leaves and a few juniper berries and then hot-smoke it today for an hour or so over mesquite wood chips.

Since the smoker was fired-up for the beef I quickly quartered a few small potatoes and microwaved them on a plate for 90 seconds before putting them in the smoker alongside the beef.

To make the hash itself I fried off some thinly sliced onion in butter then tossed in some diced raw potato and a crushed garlic clove. Once everything was starting to colour I poured over enough beef stock to cover the spuds and brought it to a gentle simmer until the potatoes were cooked through (topping up the stock frequently to prevent it drying out). The smoked beef was then sliced (I say slice, the meat took one look at the knife and fell to pieces, so I hacked at it) and the smoked potatoes roughly chopped, then both were added to the pan of potato and onion and the heat turned up so the stock could evaporate off and the mix of potato and salt beef starts to catch on the bottom of the pan. It was finished off by placing it under a hot grill for 5 minutes to crisp-up the top.

Often when making the quick version I add mustard and Worcestershire sauce as it cooks (and sometimes even Tabasco™) but this time decided not too. I put both condiments on the table but everyone agreed that the hash didn't need them.

I served this with steamed broccoli and some home-made baked beans (bacon lardons fried 'till crispy with thinly sliced onion, then add a tin of cannelloni beans, half a jar of passata, two table spoons of brown sugar, a glug of red-wine vinegar and some water - simmer until the sauce is thickened, tasting the sauce half way through cooking and adjusting the ratio of sugar and vinegar to get the balance of sweet and sour that matches your preference).

As we were sitting down to eat daughter remarked that she had been looking forward to this all day - happily she wasn't disappointed.

Edited by Dean - May 06 2016 at 18:36

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emigre80

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Posted: May 06 2016 at 18:45

Sounds amazing. I grew up with tinned corned beef hash (like your mother, mine had to feed a lot on a very tiny budget) and can't stand the sight of it. Yours I would eat happily, in fact I would have turned up for the beans alone.

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Posted: May 06 2016 at 21:18

^^ on the contrary my good man....it was a vegetable soup with a bit of cream and good grated Parmesan for some richness due to the lack of any meat. Not much cheese really, I could have called it a creamy vegetable soup instead. Certainly nothing like Beercheese or anything approaching it.
And I've always loved chopped nuts in a vegetarian soup although I realize that isn't for everyone.

We made a similar soup again since but threw in some leftover pulled rotisserie chicken. Yeah....way better with some bird LOL

Edited by Finnforest - May 06 2016 at 22:56

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Posted: May 09 2016 at 14:45

A simple carrot and parsnip salad, delicious and fresh. The thin slices make it very easy to chew and you can go whatever direction you wish with the dressing. I just grabbed a bit of vinegar, lemon, oil, dijon mustard, brown sugar, salt. The photo is not mine....looks like they threw in some green herbs too.

emigre80

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Posted: May 09 2016 at 15:10

excellent idea, I will have to give that a try.

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Posted: May 20 2016 at 13:28

It's very good but the trick is to play with the dressing until it suits you. The veggies will hold their own no matter what.

I've been playing with it. First, while not as visually "pretty", I got rid of the carrots and going all Parsnip. I love the parsnips. I deleted the oil, which I never really like on my salads. I love dark brown sugar and the combination of that molasses-ey sweetness with some heat from horseradish, or just hot, mustard...is the winner for me. The splash of vinegar and lemon keep things fresh.

Then you can decide how much dressing is best...too much and you overpower any personality of the parsnip, which is a veggie that I love the taste and aroma of.

Definitely, just mess with it and try anything. I just planted some mild white radish in the garden....and can't wait to try some slices of that in this salad.

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Posted: May 20 2016 at 15:26

When I was growing up salad was a depressing plate of limp lettuce, cucumber and tomato smothered in Heinz salad cream. The only salad I ever looked forward to was fruit salad, which Mum served as a main course (i.e. not in a sugar syrup and served with cream) with bread and butter and if we were very good, a scoop of ice-cream.

I rather like root vegetables in my salad but I've never been a fan of sweet dressings because there are enough sugars in vegetables as it is (especially root veg), though I will add a small amount of fruit occasionally (halved grapes, tangerine segments... that kind of thing)... [not that I've anything against sugar].

I like the idea of just using one or two types of veg in a salad (rather than the throw in everything from the veg-box approach). One of my favourites is from Vivek Singh (of The Cinnamon Club restaurant in Westminster) which is simply thinly sliced fennel and apple dressed in a yoghurt raita, which basically yoghurt and lemon with a mix of spices (cumin, coriander, chilli, ginger... whatever appeals really) - topped with the roasted chilli cashews I mentioned several pages back this eats well with fish fresh off the BBQ grill.

Other favourites -

Grilled onions with shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese: trim the top & bottom of each onion then cut them in half, brush with oil and sit them on the grill - when edges start to brown flip them over. Once they are cooked through remove and allow to cool. Separate the rings and arrange them on a serving dish with shavings of parmesan (I use a potato peeler) - a sprinkle of lemon - a drizzle of EVOO - and a smattering of salt'n'pepper to taste.

Celeriac and apple remoulade ... match-sticks of celeriac and apple in a mayonnaise flavoured with vinegar, mustard, chopped shallots, capers and tarragon.

I also like to add edible flower petals to my salads ... they don't add much to the taste but they make it look pretty - violas, roses, dandelions (pluck the petals from the flower heads), chives, marigolds, nasturtiums and borage are all edible.

...I had my first Caesar's Salad the other day - what a disappointment that was, life must have been really dull before that sorry excuse for a salad was invented. Wink

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emigre80

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Posted: May 20 2016 at 15:38

^ a Caesar salad can be great if made well, if not it's a very dull experience.

thanks for all the salad tips, both of you. We are getting weekly vegetable shares from a local farm and are having to come up with lots of things to do with vegetables, these ideas will help.

Dean, my husband still uses salad cream on his salads occasionally, he thinks it's a real treat and reminds him of home. I just shudder.

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Posted: May 21 2016 at 01:20

emigre80 wrote:

Dean, my husband still uses salad cream on his salads occasionally, he thinks it's a real treat and reminds him of home. I just shudder.

it has a unique tang that's for sure, I haven't had any for years but the memory of the taste persists.

Some days we'd forgo the salad and just have salad cream sandwiches...

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Posted: May 21 2016 at 16:17

Salad cream? Is that basically Mayo? Mayo is awesome....food of the Gods. I always tell people that a sandwich is just a Mayonnaise delivery device. Wink

Gotta be good Mayo of course, preferably homemade.

I hear you about Caesars...I'm not a big fan either. I do like a sweet dressing though IF it is balanced somehow with heat for contrast.

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Posted: May 22 2016 at 02:27

Finnforest wrote:

Salad cream? Is that basically Mayo? Mayo is awesome....food of the Gods. I always tell people that a sandwich is just a Mayonnaise delivery device. Wink

Gotta be good Mayo of course, preferably homemade.

Salad cream is to mayonnaise what Spam is to a pork chop. It starts out with essentially the same ingredients but the final product is somewhat different (and unique). The main ingredient in salad cream is vinegar followed by water, then the oil:

So it hasn't the flavour neutrality that you get with mayonnaise - if you use salad cream in a sandwich all you'll taste is salad cream as it would overpower everything else.

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Finnforest View Drop Down

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Posted: May 22 2016 at 10:10

^

Ahhh.....Ok, we have a similar, hideous product, known as "Miracle Whip" which some people think is interchangeable with Mayo....but far from it. It's nothing like good Mayo.

emigre80

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Posted: May 22 2016 at 10:15

Miracle Whip and Salad Cream - two abominations that should be banned from every household.

Whenever I meet someone who claims that Miracle Whip is mayonnaise, I know immediately I am in the company of someone who not only has no taste buds, but is likely to - horrors - try and press their favorite cheese ball recipe on me.

I hate cheese balls.

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Posted: May 22 2016 at 10:27

I find mayonnaise somewhat cloying, though I occasionally use a bit of it for sauces that require some amount of creaminess. Needless to say, I wouldn't be caught dead using Miracle Whip or salad cream. I make salad dressing from scratch, using whatever catches my fancy - though extra-virgin olive oil is a must, as is good-quality vinegar.

A Person

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Posted: May 22 2016 at 10:28

Hellman's >>>>miracle whip

emigre80

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Posted: May 22 2016 at 10:30

A Person wrote:

Hellman's >>>>miracle whip

this.

A Person

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Posted: May 22 2016 at 10:31

Raff wrote:

I find mayonnaise somewhat cloying, though I occasionally use a bit of it for sauces that require some amount of creaminess. Needless to say, I wouldn't be caught dead using Miracle Whip or salad cream. I make salad dressing from scratch, using whatever catches my fancy - though extra-virgin olive oil is a must, as is good-quality vinegar.

A recipe I've recently found and liked is a combination of olive oil, sour cream, and lemon juice. It was with a chicken parmigiana recipe but I like it in general.