Soop's Profile
Gravy
This bought to mind another [potential] problem - sometimes I roast the taters under the chicken. Sometimes I don't, but it adds another dimension
Gravy
Yeah I make a bad-ass bechemal, but I reckon it might be a bit too much effort while juggling all the other bits and pieces.
Gravy
Not bad ideas. I did make a gravy with the duck... giblets? once. The heart neck and kidneys I guess
Gravy
Thanks man - though anything that requires that much stirring would be pretty hard for me to juggle with all the other bits and pieces.
How long do you reckon the whole process takes?
Gravy
I see. It seems like this whole idea of a mirepoix is pretty uncommon.
Just to clarify (as I should have done in my original post) it's a big old thick metal roasting tray with a rack the chicken sits on. pretty much this: http://static.petersofkensington.com.au/images/ProductImages/966039-Zoom.jpg
How much butter do you need?
Gravy
Ah Jung, unfortunately, home made stock is a luxury I can ill afford. I have a tiny (ice-box) freezer, which is currently taken up with a ham, and I find it really hard to freeze stock in a usable manner.
However, I can see this producing a wonderful gravy.
Jesus, I don't have room for it, or the money right now, but I'm pretty sure a proper freezer would not only improve my quality of life, but also pay for itself over the years by being able to freeze left overs, and things like stock.
Gravy
Well sometimes I make a jus with steak - by deglazing the pan with some red wine vinegar, reducing to about a tablespoon or less, and then adding a knob of butter. I suppose this would work with the chicken, but without the veg?
The veg is always too hard to mash as well, I tried using a potato ricer (I think it's the carrots)
Gravy
Hey Hey
I can never seem to make really good gravy. I've tried a number of recipes (notably Jamie Olivers (from his xmas special a few years back)), but it never comes off quite right.
Right in my case, is Bisto*-like; not sweet, an umami, rich gravy, though I quite like a thin gravy.
The other day, I roasted a chicken, and since we had some veg on the way out, I threw a roughly chopped onion, about 5 sticks of celery and about two handfuls of carrot sticks (I don't buy carrot sticks, I buy carrots - I find pre chopped veg strange, but I digress), then topped it up with about 2-3 cups of water. I considered putting in the wine then, but didn't.
Well, the chicken came out, and sho' nuff I had some stock, but that wouldn't make gravy on its own. I removed the veg, tipped in the rest of the chicken juice and put it on the hob, adding the glass of wine now. When that had boiled off, I had some very sweet tasting stock. At this point it seems that chefs have some kind of gravy, but I had to resort to adding Bisto to this. And very nice it was too.
Well downstairs, I just saw The Hairy Bikers (TV Chefs) making their gravy, and they seemed to make a flour/fat roux with their pork fat, which of course they developed with water into a delicious gravy.
Is gravy always such a pain in the ass to make? Is there no secret, simple technique to make even an acceptable gravy? I understand it might be different from meat to meat, so for a standard, let's select roast chicken, though I'm open to other techniques.
*Bisto is a make of gravy granules in England, not sure if they have it in the states
My Fajitas were Inedible... What Did I Do Wrong?
well, my $0.2 .. I've made carne asada, and it was great. But honestly I don't find skirt to be that flavoursome. In most recipes that require it, I find rump tends to give me a better flavour. Pasties, things like that.
and for fajitas... I'd probably give it (rump) a dry rub, maybe a touch of olive oil. Then pan fry it.
sides for smoked turkey
That sounds wonderful! You should stck that up in the recipes!
Want to cook a goose, need advice/ recipes/hints
ummm... Well, this won't help much, but my friend cooked it slow and low for like 4 hours, tipping out the fat all the time. came out lovely, like lamb almost.
sides for smoked turkey
mmm, that sounds good... Hey how about some roasted asparagus spears too?
sides for smoked turkey
Hi! Hmm. Well I'm not a fan of turkey, and I haven't tried this one, but I find turkey can be a tad dry. So I guess you'd want to make up for the no gravy. How about a nice potato salad? Not particularly innovative, but I imagine it would go really well.
And Chow had a feature on potato salads a year or so back, could be some inspiration if you're bored of plain ol' potato salads.
what to do with tomato sauce
Hmm. What kind is it? I take it it's not like ketchup, but more like a pasata? If it is, try searching for pasata, you'll probably find a lot more ideas.
But yeah, it should make a pretty good sauce for pizza with some oregano in there, and don't worry about using it in a pasta sauce - it will be fine.
also, if you're making a ragu, for lasagna or bolognese, it should be perfect.
Can anyone recommend a good cookbook for a home baker?
Well, I'm not sure now it's purely pastry... but when I see "baking" I immediately think of Dan Lepard. man's a genius. And he's just got a new book out!
My (friend's) Cassoulet Recipe
Ok Harters, here you go - this is made of delicious, and produces a really nice thick, creamy sauce, perfect for dipping some crusty bread in. There's a lot of meat in this (sometimes it feels like too much!), but mix it up as you feel necessary. It's supposed to be a peasant dish where you bung in what you have, and this isn't a "traditional" recipe.
Ingredients:
celery (I use about 4-5 sticks
Carrots (say 3)
big onion
fresh thyme
4 chicken/duck legs
4-6 toulouse sausages (or whatever else you want, herby ones are nice)
100g pancetta (or again whatever you have)
about a cup of nice white wine, but not necessary
a pint of stock, chicken or veg
4+ cans of beans, doesn't really matter what, but it's nice to mix them up. Flageolet go really well, and last time I also used borlotti, butter beans and canellini
oil to cook. I use olive oil, but I know that's weird to some.
A big oven/hob-proof dish, I think mine is 2.3 quarts
Method:
first you need to brown the meat, so chicken legs first. Then set them aside on a plate and brown the sausages and pancetta.
Remove the rest of the meat (put it with the chicken)
Add the onion, diced, to the pan, and soften it.
Then throw in all the celery and carrot, and pour the wine on, and let it cook away a little.
Add in the stock, and then throw everything else in the pot in a big mix, chicken legs last.
Now you should be able to sit the chicken legs on top of everything else, with their skin unsubmerged.
Once it's nice and hot, stick it in the oven for 2 hours with the lid on, about gas mark 5, and at the end, remove the lid and crisp up the chicken, about 20 minutes.
Then serve in a bowl! Yum! Winter food! Oh, and also, it shouldn't need any seasoning, so don't be tempted to add salt.
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
Ooh! I like pheasant! (or was it partridge?)
That would go perfect in a cassoulet IMO - want my recipe?
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
FYI, I know we said chicken, but I'd just point out I made a huge cassoulet (my friends recipe) using loads of carrots and celery that needed using 4 chicken legs, toulouse sausages, pancetta, and 4 cans of beans. It *just* fit in my big pot, and fed me and others well for days! I reckon I got 8 meals out of it maybe? Or 7 and a half because I put some of the beans on nachos (yum) and that's at a cost of about £10.
It doesn't get much better.
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
I'd agree Harters. For me at least, I rarely post on this board because a quick check reveals loads of London restaurant threads. I think to myself " I could probably rephrase this and ask it on the home cooking board".
and then there's one less person in this board.
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
It was an old irish recipe, when they used to bulk up the pie by using cheap oysters, but I read it 2 years ago in the Guardian xmas special. Probably still on their site somewhere...
Yeah, here, about halfway down (though the other recipies are good too :) )
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/05/northern-ireland-winter-warmer-recipes
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
Yeah! Carnitas! That's a super idea! In fact, mexican is probably a great idea for some cheap meat recipes.
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
Excellent idea! I love liver and bacon, I'd happily wolf some down with some mash!
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
It's the one that looks like oxtail, I get it from Sainsbury's, and it's quite tender. I tend to butterfly them if they're thick, and pan-fry them :)
Yeah, the pork chop thing is my friend Scouse's recipe. I gave him some and he said he enjoyed it
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
Oh, Theresa, spot on!
I actually cooked a scouse the other day, and I used 2 packs of lamb neck, and 5 lamb chops :)
And I've had ham shanks exactly as you've described, a great cheap cut.
But I love lamb neck, I can eat them just as I would a steak. and I like chump steaks too. So tender.
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
Hey, thanks for all the replies everyone. Bavette is a great example.
I was surprised again when I went to get a couple of cans of corned beef yesterday - £1.70 per can of the value stuff! Swear it used to be about 20p a can...
and Harters, great reply as usual. Reminds me of a beef shin and oyster pie I've been wanting to make for 2 years now!
What's a cheap cut of meat just now?
Don't worry, I'm not going hungry or anything, but I just got in a whole internet-chain starting from why corned beef is so expensive these days. Got me thinking about, obviously everything is more expensive these days, but generally, when one type of food that used to be cheap becomes popular, it rises in price, and usually something else has to step into the cheap void.
what are the best potatoes to bake?
Perfect, that's everything answered :) I asked my friend and she said she cooked them on about 6/7 which is way hotter than I did!
Thanks Harters et al!
