Agree totally! What was the beet sauce used for...?

Mmm, looks scrumptious...! Thanks for the link, I tried to do a search earlier but couldn't find it. It looks like a good recipe, easy to follow. I'm not good at baking but I'm very tempted to try it :)

That sounds really good, and suspiciously low carb lol!! Nice to see you again mcf :)

My favourite is sweet potato - no need to prepare or add anything, just put it (whole) in the oven!

As mcf said...Chilean sea bass. Sorry, meant to put that in but forgot!

Beetroot experiment #1

Had roast pork for dinner which was roasted on a bed of the following:

1 large fennel bulb, cut into chunks
1 onion, quartered
1 large beetroot, in chunks
4 small Fuji apples, quartered
The peel from 1 large orange (white pith removed)

Lightly coated everything with Spanish olive oil and Himalayan salt and roasted in the oven as per usual time and temperature for roast pork.

Rather good result, with caramelisation of
veg/fruit and unbelievably good cooking smells wafting through the whole house. No leftovers!

And just realised...can't post photos here (?!).

Ok, you start measuring the Dragon Berry Rum...I'll start stripping my name, starting with the super......hehe...

Hi, I've been contemplating a trial dish of duck with a purée of Macadamia and maybe a bit of cranberry sauce or jelly on top...which might also work in mini tart shells. The puréed macadamia would have a bit of olive oil and good sea salt plus the nuts themselves but not much else. It's still a thought at this stage, so if you decide to give it a go, do give it a trial run beforehand...apparently, the combination of duck and macadamia nut purée is divine.

Funnily enough, I DID think that! Lol

Hah! Sounds like you and I need to switch names here :P lol!

What a good idea! I imagine the colour would be absolutely stunning! Can't wait til you try it either lol. Please come back and post a photo if you can!

Wow, some great suggestions :) I'd like to try your drink. How many parts each? I'll probably come up with something after the third drink lol!

Brilliant, thanks jojogumabew, and thanks again Ptipois!

Excellent! Must try it out. Thank you very much, Ptipois :)

Thanks chocokitty for starting an interesting thread and special thanks to everyone else for all the helpful info. Has anyone here come across any Singaporean or Malaysian Chinese restaurants in Paris by any chance? I'm thinking of the Hainanese Chicken Rice dish in particular...but would be interested to know of any Singaporean or Malaysian places even if they don't offer that particular dish...

Hi, what a good idea! :) I know exactly what you mean about French food fatigue! Would you care to share the names (and addresses if possible or the location) of the two ramen places you will be going to? Thanks.

You're welcome juster :) Lemon juice and yakitori sauce sounds lovely, I'd love to try that! Don't worry too much if you can't bear the thought of eating the eyes, it's great that you are eating the head! Love to hear what your mum says....... And ipsedixit and 1POINT21GW, I'm thrilled to hear you eat the eyes too! An ex-boss called me a cannibal when he saw me eat the eye of the fish once lol. I said, it's a fish eye, not a human one lol! This is why I devour a fish head in private nowadays lol!

Sorry, no CanadaGirl. The latter is only right if they were talking about Egg-in-the-hole.

Well done!! That's a fantastic first attempt. It's actually how I remove the gills too (just use my hands and rip them out). As fourunder suggests, kitchen scissors would be better (I just don't like having to wash the scissors afterwards!). The blood is normal. The head of the fish is actually my second favourite part after the belly. I don't try to halve it which is a nicer way to present it, as I only cook it for myself, and turn it over when I'm done with eating one side. I usually steam or poach heads and season with soy sauce at the table. Sometimes I make Soupe de Poisson (puréed fish soup) and my favourite way of cooking it is as a Malaysian Fish Head Curry. If it is a large head, I'll spend some time picking out the fleshy bits and saving them in a separate air-tight container in the fridge for another meal (or several other meals). Oh, and (not for wusses) I love eating the eyes (spit out the hard centre of course)!!

I can't get enough of beetroot. I have it raw in salads, also roasted and diced with crumbled feta and lightly roasted walnuts...but I hate it pickled! I'd love to hear how you use this vibrant veg in your cooking. I'm thinking...what would it be like in a pork stew...etc...for a change from salads. Have you used it in an interesting way before? All ideas and/or recipes would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Angela1, best answer! It's a no brainer. If you are an invited guest, you're invited to turn up and be a guest, not a kitchen hand. For some reason, ordinarily nice people become martyrs when they play host. If it's such a chore, why the hell are they doing it?

You're right, it's sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter. Your friends are confusing it with another dish called "Egg-in-the-hole".

Usually......

Sashimi-grade salmon
or Swordfish
or Toothfish
Baby spinach leaves
and/or broccolini
Tins of sardines in springwater
Eggs
Smoked salmon
Avocados
Gruyere and/or Papillon Roquefort
Extra virgin olive oil
Raw Almonds

and No/Home Brand paper towels! LOL :)

That's the point the OP was making here - whether it's an omelette or a two course meal or a veggie tray, it should be good :)

Why would you have to swap, though? *blinks*

Every meal is precious because there's only a limit to how many meals each of us have in a lifetime. Therefore every dish should be well-thought-out and the most important preparation starts in the mind. This isn't being obsessive. It's just a matter of making sure you/others have the best. It's good practice to live your life being and having the best whenever you can. Never compromise because you get something great when you don't compromise (not just in terms of food but in all things).

I tend to spend weeks thinking, reading recipes, and researching the dish/es I intend to prepare. I do this especially for any occasion where others will be eating with me or eating my food. People should be honoured for someone to put so much into a meal just for them and for their pleasure. I know I would be if someone were to do that for me. In fact, I'd be chuffed.

ROFL! This is the funniest thing I've read on a food forum! Thanks very much for sharing, I shall forward it to all my hot foodie friends who will also appreciate it lol

Unreal lol. I thought I was the only one! Well, growing up, I was the only kid who ordered this while everyone else had normal burgers...and the same when I grew up and was meeting someone at McD, I would still be the only one ordering it lol. I guess I liked it at first because it was a different kind of burger. Then later, liked the flavour of the creamy/tangy tartare sauce with the fried fish.

Hi, I use a very simple marinade for chicken wings now after observing a guy at a BBQ Chicken Wings stall at a Chinese coffee shop in Kuala Lumpur. It really is more a brine rather than a marinade, but it is pretty tasty! Unfortunately, I go by taste when making this and by the look of the brine too, so I've never measured it and never asked the guy at the stall for a recipe. It's basically a soy sauce brine with a lot of water, some soy sauce and some sugar. If you mix it up before adding it to the chicken, taste it...it shouldn't be salty or sweet. It should almost be like a soup or a broth and not strong in flavour like normal marinades. So it shouldn't be so salty you can't drink it as a soup, for instance... The trick to this isn't really the marinade but the brining. Allow the chicken to "marinate" in this soy sauce brine for at least 3 hours. Then grill or barbecue. It should come out evenly browned but just a lighter shade of brown, but still tasty despite the lack of salt or other seasoning. Next time I make this, I'll measure what I put into it and post a proper recipe lol.

Lol at scoffing the cheese before cooking! :)

For me, there are two things - "Hand" or "Thumbs-up" brand peanuts from Malaysia (I love these so much I've had a whole bag and not eaten a proper meal!).

The second is Nutella hazelnut spread (I eat it with a spoon straight out of the jar AND finish half a 500g jar without thinking! Sinful or dangerous?!). I definitely can't have this in the house!