The General Chat Thread

the beer revolu

Can I do a fry up in my slow cooker?:D

pigtail33

Faith wrote: »

Hmm... I’m not sure about the calibre of recipes on the massive Instant Pot Facebook page I joined...

I'd recommend joining the official "Instant Pot® UK Community" on Facebook. There can be quite a bit of noise on it, but it's where I get a lot of my recipe ideas from. I think there was a thread on it here somewhere too, but it hasn't been active in a while...

Welcome to the Instant Pot club!

Dial Hard

the beer revolu wrote: »

Can I do a fry up in my slow cooker?:D

Pretty much.

I think the question most of them really needed to be asking wasn't *Can* I cook this in my slow cooker, but *should* I?

Also, some of the photos... good lord.

rubadub

Was looking at "airfryer donuts" on youtube and she just opened a can of "biscuit dough" and made them. I'm waiting for the chicken curry recipe where they just bang a ready meal in the microwave.

Faith wrote: »

It’s arriving today. I wonder if I spent £70 on another appliance that will just sit in the cupboard!

it is brilliant, I am using it a lot more than I thought I would. I already have a pressure cooker but the timer function and safety of this is great, like a microwave or airfryer. No babysitting it, no steam pumping out, just a small bit at the start and then zero.

You can put minimal water in it and have no worries of it boiling dry. I did pork belly strips in it with no water, had them on slow cook for about and hour and all the liquid came out of the pork, then was able to pressure cook without having to add water, just added some spices and a spoon of hoi sin.

L1011

Dial Hard wrote: »

I left the slow cooker group on Facebook I briefly joined because pretty much all the "recipes" were meat, veg and packet sauce. Also, the incessant posts of "Can I do [meat patently unsuited to slow cooking] in my slow cooker?"

Packet sauce - American targetted group I presume?

The amount of American "recipes" that are basically three ingredients one of which is a branded packet is insane.

If it was an Instant Pot branded group it'll be infested with Americans who don't realise the idea existed before the brand.


edit: If I'd read back the previous page before replying I'd have seen all of this has already been mentioned. Oops.

Dial Hard

L1011 wrote: »

Packet sauce - American targetted group I presume?.

Nope, Irish.

Addle

Can anyone recommend a relatively simple recipe book, with mostly every day ingredients?
I want to get one for someone in recovery after illness who has a lot of time on their hands, but has never had a curry or cooked pasta before.

Gloomtastic!

Addle wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a relatively simple recipe book, with mostly every day ingredients?
I want to get one for someone in recovery after illness who has a lot of time on their hands, but has never had a curry or cooked pasta before.

Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mary-Berrys-Complete-Cookbook-recipes/dp/0241286123/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=51644242685&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqqGlvPmb5AIVibbtCh1RkgLUEAAYASAAEgJtkPD_BwE&hvadid=259099112623&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1007850&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=b&hvrand=9500213259195993294&hvtargid=kwd-329641188844&hydadcr=21198_1749483&keywords=mary+berry+complete&qid=1566664893&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Addle

Ideal. Thanks.

L1011

Got a quite cheap enamelled cast iron dutch oven in Homestore a while ago after having coped without one for years. Did a

The heat retention and distribution properties for low temperature oven cooking versus the steel pot I used before is transformational - no sticking, nothing burning to the sides and so on. Really should start a thread on "important cooking things you didn't realise at first" as there's been a few over time.

L1011

Somehow managed to cut off some of the middle of the post there, should have been "Did a chilli in it this evening".

Planet X

Yes.......bought two Lodge Cast Iron skillets this year, should've bought them 20 years ago.
And that's coming from virtually a full set of Le Cruesert.

Cast iron, once seasoned properly is more non stick than non stick pans

BaZmO*

Planet X wrote: »

Yes.......bought two Lodge Cast Iron skillets this year, should've bought them 20 years ago.
And that's coming from virtually a full set of Le Cruesert.

Cast iron, once seasoned properly is more non stick than non stick pans

Yeah they’re fantastic if used properly. I have one that tbh I mainly use for cooking steaks. I can get it searingly hot and it takes no time to clean.

Planet X

Yeah.......I got a chainmail scrub for cast iron.
Dogs back wheels.

Muahahaha

Is it just me or is turmeric one of the most infuriating ingredients to work with? I dont know what it is but it seems to get everywhere and stain everything yellow. Wooden spatula, edge of the pan, white countertops all stained yellow and it really soaks in :mad:

L1011

I specifically changed to a steel-shafted immersion blender due to my plastic one having gone a hideous shade of yellow from tumeric.


It bleaches off my counter tops no bother, though. I buy it in larger bags and dispense to an IKEA spice jar with decent enough control and good rigidity compared to the small shop jars - and make sure to do that transfer over some damp kitchen paper to immediately control any spills!

rubadub

L1011 wrote: »

I buy it in larger bags and dispense to an IKEA spice jar with decent enough control and good rigidity compared to the small shop jars - and make sure to do that transfer over some damp kitchen paper to immediately control any spills!

I do any sort of decanting like that in the sink, I also find it easier since my hands are not up as high as they would be on a counter which I would find more awkward.

Old plastic drink bottles can make good funnels too, as they usually have a lip which can rest well on a container such as a small spice jar. i.e. the threaded section goes into the jar and the large diameter bit under the threads rests on the glass. With a regular funnel it can kick off to one side while pouring and cause it to fall over.

the beer revolu

Muahahaha wrote: »

Is it just me or is turmeric one of the most infuriating ingredients to work with? I dont know what it is but it seems to get everywhere and stain everything yellow. Wooden spatula, edge of the pan, white countertops all stained yellow and it really soaks in :mad:

Try working with fresh turmeric!
Imagine grating garlic that stains everything yellow.

Lady Haywire

the beer revolu wrote: »

Try working with fresh turmeric!
Imagine grating garlic that stains everything yellow.

And if you forget the gloves, you get a fabulous disguise as a 50 a day smoker!

rubadub

Ice in a ladle



I did this one below recently (not my pic), pouring the remaining juices into a jar and turning it upside down and stick it in the fridge. So all the fat rises and hardens. Now I pour the stock/juices off and also have a jar of tasty spiced fat for cooking eggs in.

Dial Hard

Making a tomato & red pepper stew with the last of the Aldi lamb sausages from the freezer. They're the Mediterranean ones (the merguez got nommed long ago) and they smell absolutely DIVINE. Aldi need to make these a permanent fixture, stat.

L1011

I have checked luggage on a one night trip to Amsterdam as a quirk of what fares were booked.

I'm bringing a case so I can bring home fritesaus and other random Dutch condiments - they have excellent condiments to make up for awful basic ingredients as far as I can tell

Please don't judge me. Much anyway.

zell12

Aldi currently have 4 avocados for 49c, flown from México

Tesco are introducing avozillas (4 times bigger than average size) for €4 each

"They are extremely rare and come from just four trees grown by one of the world’s biggest suppliers of avocados in South Africa."
https://www.checkout.ie/fresh-produce/tesco-ireland-announces-return-80128

Shenshen

zell12 wrote: »

Aldi currently have 4 avocados for 49c, flown from México

Tesco are introducing avozillas (4 times bigger than average size) for €4 each

:eek:
Even bigger avocados? I might be the only one here, but I'm puzzled as to why we'd need those. I do eat avocados a fair bit, but for my salad for lunch, I usually try and find smaller ones, so as to not having to waste them?

L1011

Mentioned this on the Dinner thread; but if you want to get a vague idea of what supply chain problems we could have after Brexit - go to a retail multiple that uses ABP for all its beef and take a look at what they have in. Or more accurately don't have in.

This is without any stockpiling by end users going on.

Now, beef won't be something we have any issues with after Brexit of course (if the current problems are sorted); but if you have a limited repetoire, now is time to learn how to cook anything and everything. The products that are processed/packaged/landbridged via the UK are quite diverse and sometimes surprising.

leahyl

Shenshen wrote: »

:eek:
Even bigger avocados? I might be the only one here, but I'm puzzled as to why we'd need those. I do eat avocados a fair bit, but for my salad for lunch, I usually try and find smaller ones, so as to not having to waste them?

You'd want to be making a lot of guacamole :pac:

otnomart

Quick question:
What is your fave method to avoid crying when cutting onions ?
Thanks !!!

Have done a quick search and also found "Put a Match in Your Mouth"; I don't smoke and don't have matches at home so will not try that one !

I do not want to risk cutting them in water, but I have tried to put them in a bowl of water as soon as I peeled them, and I do cry a bit less.

Graces7

otnomart wrote: »

Quick question:
What is your fave method to avoid crying when cutting onions ?
Thanks !!!

Have done a quick search and also found "Put a Match in Your Mouth"; I don't smoke and don't have matches at home so will not try that one !

I do not want to risk cutting them in water, but I have tried to put them in a bowl of water as soon as I peeled them, and I do cry a bit less.

someone I knew used to keep a whole slice of bread in her mouth. Makes sense! Stops the juices and absorbs them. Looked odd but worked! ( I am only ever cutting one here so not an issue)

Dizzyblonde

I start breathing in through my mouth before I even peel the onion. It works perfectly as long as you have no distractions and are alone, because if you start talking you'll breathe in through your nose :rolleyes:

L1011

I found that using an utterly obscene amount of them in everything I cooked eventually desensitised me. Fight through it and come out the other side stronger

That and I find the loose ones my greengrocer sells were less biting than the ones in plastic nets anyway but it's unlikely to be precisely the same ones elesehwre