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Cooking for Sanity


johndglynn

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Happy Easter all.

Seeing as it was such a nice day we went out for a (responsible social distancing) family walk in the fields just near us where the kids could run off some energy and see some wildlife.

This changed my mind about our roast lamb Easter meal so I butterflied it and stuck it on the barbie instead. Nom nom nom nom.

Surely there must be some great bbq cooking going on over the last few days chaps?

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Told Mrs BB about your baked cauliflower cheese recipe @jevvy. She only flipping made it yesterday!
And yup, totally delish. Kind if intensifies the flavour of the cauliflower. Had with lamb chops, mash, peas, carrots and gravy. Looked so good photos were thought of post stuffing. Thought about the iPhone endoscope but not really what you guys wanna see. 😂 Have some cauliflower cheese left so I’ll snap a pic 👍 
@ALEX P that lamb looks beautiful mate 👍

Love this thread

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For the veggies on here, that went with my roast chicken today:

Chili, lime and roasted parsnips with chimichuri sauce, then sweet potato chips with smoked paprika. 

 

Nothing crazy, but perfect to go along side a roast. 

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Edited by Fred
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They look superb(e)! Just had lunch here, which was fried carrot and potato mustard mash from the other night, spoon of double cream on that, with a tin of chili sardines (Sardinas Picantes) and a fried egg. Lunch yesterday was reheated chicken biryani with some bombay potato and a bit of cheese nan. The carb fest continues with pork and beef lasagne tonight! Am a touch low on carrots so need to get a bit creative :D

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27 minutes ago, johndglynn said:

They look superb(e)! Just had lunch here, which was fried carrot and potato mustard mash from the other night, spoon of double cream on that, with a tin of chili sardines (Sardinas Picantes) and a fried egg. Lunch yesterday was reheated chicken biryani with some bombay potato and a bit of cheese nan. The carb fest continues with pork and beef lasagne tonight! Am a touch low on carrots so need to get a bit creative :D

I just love tined sardines. I don't touch tined food or frozen but Sardines is just irresistible!! 

Proper eclectic taste John you have. 

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18 minutes ago, Fred said:

I just love tined sardines. I don't touch tined food or frozen but Sardines is just irresistible!! 

Proper eclectic taste John you have. 

Me either but sardines yum!! Chili sardines or peppered smoked mackerel fillets with salad leaves make a perfect lunch for anyone trying keto or low carb - picantes even come with the dressing and a couple of chilis. Bit of nice lime juice and done!

16 hours ago, ALEX P said:

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This looks bloody lovely @ALEX P!!

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Whizzed up another quick lasagne last night. So easy and so delicious. Served with rocket and a spoonful of roasted red pepper and mushrooms (not everyone likes mushies in my house). Takes about 1hr 15mins to make if you take your time.

Recipe is chopped onion (good size), chopped celery and chopped carrots in roughly equal portions (aka mirepoix/sofrito), soften those slowly in a wok with some olive oil. Carrot softness will give you a clue to when they are ready. Five minutes before you go to next stage add a spoon of butter, two tsps of chopped garlic and a tsp of chopped red chili. Leave that for a couple of mins then add either six chopped and deseeded medium tomatoes or a tin of plum toms. Turn heat up a bit. Use the tin to make some concentrated beef stock; half a tin of boiling water over a beef stock cube or stock pot (you could add a handful of puy lentils and add a bit more water here if you fancy). Leave that alone for a bit, just stir slowly. When it is reduced a bit, add a couple of tablespoons of tom puree and whizz it with a stick blender, leave the texture a little rustic.

Empty the wok into a mixing bowl then cook the meat. Heat the wok then add a couple of tablespoons of veg oil or olive oil. A pound of mince: half pork mince, half beef. My aunt used to add chicken livers here (optional). A tablespoon or two of plain flour and plenty of salt and pepper. Brown it: be nice to it. Don't go too hot. Get it off the heat as soon as it's gone slightly dark. Add the sauce you made until the mix is a decent consistency. Heat that and get it a little sticky.

Now bechamel/cheese sauce. You need some nice grated cheddar and half a punnet of soft cheese. Melt a chunk of butter in a pan and add two tablespoons of plain flour. Watch the heat. Add milk when that blends to a paste. Start with maybe two/three cups of milk, keep mixing and let it come together smoothly. Add some cheddar. Add some soft cheese. Keep mixing. Add some herbes du provence. Keep adding cheese and tasting, splash in some milk now and then. You need a good amount of sauce for this - at a guess I would say I use at least 250mls of milk here but maybe more. Consistency needs to be thicker than gear oil but thinner than blue gasket or face mask! You will have to play with this bit over several iterations.

Your oven should be heating at gas 6 while doing the sauce. Put a lasagne dish wiped with olive oil in there to heat. Get your fresh sheets of lasagne pasta ready. I dip mine in hot water for a few seconds while assembling just so they don't go in cold. Start with a layer of meat, then a layer of bechamel then pasta. Seal each layer with the pasta - trim the sheets to fit in one layer.

Build this up in three layers, then finish with a layer of bechamel on top and shave some cheddar over the top. If you freeze cheddar, it shaves perfectly with a decent knife. Can also grate some pecorino in there too. Don't spare the cheese.

Into the oven for 20-25 mins, watch the top doesn't burn. Middle of dish in middle of oven works well for me. Not kidding, this is awesome and goes down a treat. You may find that it is too liquid or not liquid enough first few tries, keep at it as every house needs a "dad's lasagne" recipe.

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Nice one John, I am making a Vegetarian lasagna for tomorrow's lunch. 

 

A few pickles and confit ready for the next few weeks

Pickeled shallots in cider vinegar

Pickeled daikon

Confit mushrooms with walnuts

Mexican pickeled chilies

 

(might try that chicken stew) 

 

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Edited by Fred
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Selection of maki rolls tonight to go with a ramen soup. I never rolled so many makis that quick. I must be the only idiot out there prepping sushies for it's crew. Lol

 

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24 minutes ago, johndglynn said:

Fred, no one could ever accuse you of not earning your wages! Amazing work!!

Thanks you very much John.

We were at sea before the lock down, so most of the guys have not been outside for nearly 2months.

So the least I can do is to try to keep the moral up by having fun around lunch and dinner. They are a fantastic bunch of kids. 

Cooked 2 banana breads. One plain banana and one with chocolate. That recipe is awesome. I can post it if some are interested? 

 

 

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Me and Mrs ACE have been busy in the kitchen too!

She made some awesome Easter cupcakes

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I've been busy baking too, bread and croissants being the main achievements:

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Recipe is from Paul Hollywood's "Bake" book, link here Paul Hollywood's Croissants

 

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This one is adapted from this recipe I used 50% wholemeal bread flour / 50% white bread flour and added some pumkin / sunflower and sesame seeds

Chilli is always a good recipe to have in your repertoire, this one is my own, I make my own chilli powder from 2 dried ancho chillies and 4 dried red chillies, just whizzed up in a spice grinder. Fry off a couple of chopped onions with 500g of good quality minced beef, when brown add a 3 good sized cloves of garlic (crushed), cook for a minute or 2, then add the chilli powder, 2 teaspoons each of cumin and coriander powder, a tablespoon of dried oregano, a 4 squares of good quality dark chocolate, a couple of rich beef stock pots (I use knorr), cook for a few more mins, add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, a tin of kidney beans, 200g of chopped mushrooms, simmer for half an hour or so, the add 3 chopped peppers and simmer for another half hour, might need a splash of water if it gets too think. Season to taste, maybe add a little brown sugar if the tomatoes are a but sour.

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Made this deep pan pizza based on this recipe added our own toppings, including some sausage meat balls made using our home made sausage meat :D 

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Looks like everyone is eating well at the moment, keep up the good work!!

 

 

 

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On 4/13/2020 at 3:11 AM, Busybee said:

Told Mrs BB about your baked cauliflower cheese recipe @jevvy. She only flipping made it yesterday!

Cool man, did Mrs BB enjoy it?

On 4/13/2020 at 11:06 AM, Fred said:

Chili, lime and roasted parsnips

We did some roasted parsnips and carrots yesterday to go with a leg of lamb.

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Tinned mackerel salad on sourdough with chilli and a dab of french dressing...

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@AirCooledExcellence we were going to do one of those deep pan jobbies - what was it like?

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Banana bread:

110g soft butter

225g sugar

2 large eggs

285g plain flour

1tsp bicarbonate

1/2tsp salt

4 ripe bananas, mashed

85ml buttermilk

1tsp vanilla essence

 

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy using and handheld mixer. In the meantime, mix the flour, salt and bicarbonate. Add eggs and flour alternatively to the fluffy butter/sugar mix so it doesn't split. With a spatula fold the bananas, vanilla and buttermilk to the mix

Pour in a tin then cook for about 1hour at 180c.

 

Enjoy

 

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39 minutes ago, jevvy said:

Nice 1 @Fred loving these pics please keep them coming please.

Thanks Jev, nothing special, just hearty food for crew. I'll try to find pics of what we do for guests.

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4 minutes ago, Fred said:

Thanks Jev, nothing special, just hearty food for crew. I'll try to find pics of what we do for guests.

Nothing special he says :D this all looks mad!! Loving your recipes @Fred

I am making paella tonight: learned in 9republic's Barcelona kitchen!

 

 

 

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