Prog Chefs Unite!!!

No musac in the kitchen, but with the noise from the oven, extractor fan, food processor, hand whisk and concentrating on the sounds of food cooking I probably wouldn't hear it even if there was.

I actually prefer no music while I cook.  In a John Cage kind of way, I enjoy the sounds of my family in the evening.

This evening I discovered that if you mix my two favourite Italian drinks, limoncello and prosecco, in a cocktail with a dash of lemon juice and a little crushed ice you very quickly get very pissed.

Slartibartfast wrote: Ah May 5th.  A day in my country where we celebrate our neighbors independence day by having Mexican beers, margaritas, Tex-Mex food, or those of us with more genuine tastes in food Mex-Mex.   On the menu today authentic.  I'm making baked green rice and a new one for me, marinated zucchini salad.  My honey is making scallop ceviche and salmon in tequila cream sauce.  No alc (I have to be a good boy these days.) frozen margaritas which is basically ice and limeaide in a blender.

Historical amnesia, Slart? 

Mexico did not declare independence on the fifth of May.  Cinco de Mayo is a minor holiday in Puebla, Mexico celebrating their victory over France in the Franco-Mexican War. 

Mexico's Independence Day is September 16.

http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/cinco-de-mayo-is-not-mexican-independence-day

I've largely ignored this thread since the beginning but as I do the majority of cooking maybe I'll pop in more often.

Just made Croissants for the first time... not a complete success but the results were edible and very tasty.  My intention was to make them for breakfast, so I set the bread-maker to make the dough last night so I could (I thought) simply roll out the dough and bake them when I got up... Nope - didn't read the recipe all the way through to the end first - the dough is layered with a pack of butter, rolled, folded and chilled for 30 minutes three times before the croissants are cut and shaped, they then have to rest for another 30 minutes before they can be baked for 20 minutes, which meant we ate breakfast at noon. Also, I should have searched YouToob for  a demonstration of rolling them, because I missed an important step of stretching the triangles of dough before shaping which results in flakier and more elegant rolls. What I cooked was not pretty or photogenic, but they cooked pefectly (not doughy) and tasted like croissants should when served with some reduced sugar apricot jam. Next time I'll do more prep the night before...

Sourdough is too much like alchemy for me .. or witchcraft  - I know I should try making a sourdough starter but instant yeast is too easy to use and a lot easier to catch.

Dean wrote: Have you tried beer (best bitter of course) instead of water... now that's really nice bread - rustic and wholesome. I haven't perfected baked-bean bread yet, just can't get enough "heinz" flavour into the breadmix.   One thing that surprised me was those cheap supermarket pizza base mixes (just add luke warm water) - using the breadmaker to mix and need those makes the best pizza I've ever eaten.

Must try that with the beer, sounds interesting... worth using a little olive oil & some black olives too in a basic recipe; toast the result & eat with a good pate; wonderful.

Never tried the pizza bases though

Dean wrote: I have a cupboard full of junk I've used once and has never seen the light of day since.

I'll see your pasta machine & electric steamer, and raise you an electric juicer & smoothie maker. There is one thing I bought, though, fully expecting for it to eventually be consigned to the 'dusty-bottom-cupboard' graveyard & that's this mini food processor:



Takes up next to no room, very efficient, very useful & easy to clean (and cut yourself on the blades whilst doing so )

Dean wrote: The only gadget that has become indispensible to me is the breadmaker - I could make bread by hand, but it is much more pleasurable to set it up before I go to bed and wake up to the smell of freshly baked bread in the morning than it is to spend spare hours I don't have needing and proving dough

Me too - ironic as this one of those kitchen gadgets most people buy & only ever use once; personally, I use if all the time - excellent piece of kit, so long as you don't mind a hole in the bottom of the loaf.