The General Chat Thread

Alun

Shenshen wrote: »

Palak = Spinach

Now here's an interesting thing .. I always thought spinach was saag, but it appears it's not ...

Palak is spinach and Sarson is mustard greens and Saag is a generic name for cooked and puréed greens.

See http://allotment2kitchen.blogspot.com/2009/04/saag-and-palak-difference.html

Shenshen

Alun wrote: »

Now here's an interesting thing .. I always thought spinach was saag, but it appears it's not ...

Palak is spinach and Sarson is mustard greens and Saag is a generic name for cooked and puréed greens.

See http://allotment2kitchen.blogspot.com/2009/04/saag-and-palak-difference.html

Thanks for sharing that, the article was really interesting. Had I known about that before, I would have tried to get a Sarson Ka Saag while I was over.

Maybe next time!

kylith

I’m thinking of getting myself a portable induction ring for when something needs a long, slow simmer as I hate leaving the gas on that long. Has anyone got one? Any thoughts?

Gloomtastic!

kylith wrote: »

I’m thinking of getting myself a portable induction ring for when something needs a long, slow simmer as I hate leaving the gas on that long. Has anyone got one? Any thoughts?

Get a slow cooker instead?

oscarBravo

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Get a slow cooker instead?

Seconded. They're as cheap as chips, and incredibly useful.

Ryath

kylith wrote: »

I’m thinking of getting myself a portable induction ring for when something needs a long, slow simmer as I hate leaving the gas on that long. Has anyone got one? Any thoughts?

Plus one on the slow cooker.

Don't get the tefal one anyway if you want to simmer. I have one and it can't run low. 1 on it is still a very fast simmer it's on the verge of boiling. It probably would be just about ok with a large pot. There's no comparison to my kitchen induction hob 1 on that is about the same as a low on a slow cooker it barely blips away it's .

We use the portable one for family camping (I manage fine with a little primus when it's just me! ) so it's good for what we need just making a small and quick amount of food. Just need to keep a very close eye when I'm cooking rice by absorption method.

Do wonder if any of the other one's are any better ikea one is pretty cheap and they are often in Aldi.

Actually just checked specs on Ikea one and it looks pretty decent it's more compact than the tefal and has cable storage. I still keep the tefal in the box for camping. Controls are properly incremented too.

Power Level|1|2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7 |8 |9
Power |100W |300W |600W |900W |1100W |1300W |1500W |1700W |2000W
https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/doc/advice_and_instructions/tillreda__aa-1855961-4.pdf

rubadub

If going for a slowcooker I would consider the instantpot or similar.

kylith

I have a slow cooker, which I love (I currently have a ham hock in there), but I don't really fancy getting it out and having another pot to clean when I just need a sauce simmered for half an hour.

oscarBravo

kylith wrote: »

I have a slow cooker, which I love (I currently have a ham hock in there), but I don't really fancy getting it out and having another pot to clean when I just need a sauce simmered for half an hour.

Ah, here. Half an hour is no length of time to leave gas on.

kylith

I have cannister rather than mains, so I’m paranoid about running out. Silly, I know.

oscarBravo

kylith wrote: »

I have cannister rather than mains, so I’m paranoid about running out. Silly, I know.

So do I If you're on a low simmer, you're using frig-all gas.

One of the hobby projects I've been long-fingering is a pair of makeshift weighing scales that periodically weigh my two 34kg gas canisters and reports back to my home automation system. So many electronics hacking projects, so little time!

Graces7

kylith wrote: »

I have cannister rather than mains, so I’m paranoid about running out. Silly, I know.

Not silly. Understandable but you need to get a spare bottle like many of us do. As soon as one runs out, change it over and get a new one .

Mind you I still managed to run out even so; the house move confused me. I have great neighbours as I cannot carry the bottles and put both empties at the end of the drive.... magically they got replaced with full ones very quickly .

But invest in a spare? Too risky in winter else.

Graces7

oscarBravo wrote: »

So do I If you're on a low simmer, you're using frig-all gas.

One of the hobby projects I've been long-fingering is a pair of makeshift weighing scales that periodically weigh my two 34kg gas canisters and reports back to my home automation system. So many electronics hacking projects, so little time!

Just try picking it up; if you can it is nearly empty

oscarBravo

Graces7 wrote: »

Just try picking it up; if you can it is nearly empty

That involves going outside, and worse still doesn't involve messing around with a soldering iron :pac:

tampopo

would you roast spuds unpeeled? Feeling decided lazy

The Hill Billy

They'd be baked potatoes then.

vicwatson

tampopo wrote: »

would you roast spuds unpeeled? Feeling decided lazy

Or if you slice them, hassleback potatoes

Gloomtastic!

tampopo wrote: »

would you roast spuds unpeeled? Feeling decided lazy

Just cut them into similar sized pieces, no problem and more fibre!

tampopo

Thanks everyone. Feeling decidedly lazy-and thick!

should have known. Wedges, of course. Just wanted/needed confirmation. Thanks

Faith

Thoughts about how to use up leftover roast beef? I'm thinking of either doing a hash or just basically doing another roast and gently reheating the meat in the gravy. But I'm curious about what others do!

oscarBravo

In our house it would probably end up in either biksemad (Danish hash), nasi goreng, or sandwiches.

odyssey06

Faith wrote: »

Thoughts about how to use up leftover roast beef? I'm thinking of either doing a hash or just basically doing another roast and gently reheating the meat in the gravy. But I'm curious about what others do!

If it's slices, either that or hot steak sandwiches with oven bread.

If it's pieces \ strips \ mince then something like a pasta bake \ ragu.
You could also do lasagne or cottage pie.

If there's not much left, beef croquettes.

New Home

Or you could slice it and lay it flat on an oven dish, cover it in tomato sauce, grated cheese or mozzarella chunks, some oregano, stick it in the oven until hot and when the cheese has melted it's ready.

autumnbelle

Any good ideas for using up left over slowcooked ham

odyssey06

autumnbelle wrote: »

Any good ideas for using up left over slowcooked ham

If enough for meal, would go nicely with pasta in carbonara sauce.
If just some pieces left, perhaps in an omelette or with scrambled eggs.

RacoonQueen

Has anyone seen the tins of caramel in Aldi recently? My local one still has the condensed milk but now caramel (and no longer has the sticker for the caramel)
They have ring pulls which the carnation ones don't so my lefthandedness prefers these ones even before the price difference!

Ryath

Was looking them for myself the other day in Aldi but they only had condensed milk. The carnation ones I got later did have ring pulls though.

Lady Haywire

Was in a Lithuanica shop today looking at the condensed milk & they have flavoured ones! Hazelnut and chocolate :eek:
I've taken to having a spoon of it in my coffee so I only wanted normal stuff but though they'd be nice for baking.

The Hill Billy

Faith wrote: »

Thoughts about how to use up leftover roast beef? I'm thinking of either doing a hash or just basically doing another roast and gently reheating the meat in the gravy. But I'm curious about what others do!

Always sandwiches for me. With thinly sliced onion, horseradish, salt, white pepper & Worcestershire sauce.

Penn

I used to make brown rice by just putting it in a saucepan of boiling water, reduce heat and leave it on low heat for 25 minutes, then drain the excess water. Friend told me I should only be putting in twice as much water as rice (so I put in 60g rice with about 150g of water to be safe) and to put it in with cold water, then bring to boil in the water, then reduce to low heat and leave for 25 minutes. I've seen other recipes online saying this was the best way too.

Both times I had to throw the rice out as the water was long gone and the rice was near as solid as before I cooked it. Am I doing something wrong or being led astray?