General Chat Thread II

Gloomtastic!

Can we keep things sweet you two?! Not sure what you’re arguing over, it’s boring!

Please take a step away from here for a bit to get it out of your system.

The Gloomster!

Gloomtastic!

In other news........

I think I’ve discovered the worst drinks label ever!

Shenshen

igCorcaigh wrote: »

Anyone experienced with making salsa?

I've found fresh salsa hard to find in the supermarkets recently, and the last time I tried making a chargrilled salsa at home, it was horrible.

The recipes look really simple, but I don't want just chopped raw tomatoes with onion and things.
The supermarket versions are much more juicy. I'm not sure if the tomatoes need to be cooked, or maybe I'm using the wrong tomatoes?

Anyway, after googling, there seems to be so many different types of salsa, with all sorts of fruits like kiwi, apricot, mango, tomatillos (€€€ here)

I'm simple when to comes to salsas, I usually only make one with tomato and onion. I found there are 2 "hacks" to making it really juicy and delicious.

1) Get the tastiest tomatoes you can. I usually use Lidl's vine tomatoes, they are the closest thing to actually tasting like a tomato I've found in Ireland so far. Remove the seeds.
2) Add a tablespoon of tomato puree, and a pinch of sugar. These go an awful long way to increase the flavour of the tomatoes.

Dial Hard

Does anyone here drink filter coffee? Got a bag of Hen's Teeth in a hamper. Smells AMAZING but I don't drink coffee any more. Happy to pop it in the post to someone if they want it.

Faith

Dial Hard wrote: »

Does anyone here drink filter coffee? Got a bag of Hen's Teeth in a hamper. Smells AMAZING but I don't drink coffee any more. Happy to pop it in the post to someone if they want it.

*puts up hand*

I’d love it, and happy to pay for postage to Cork

Dial Hard

Faith wrote: »

*puts up hand*

I’d love it, and happy to pay for postage to Cork

I'll pay the postage, call it a little Christmas gift :-) PM me your address and I'll get it in the post.

tickingclock

Great to see some Christmas spirit. Fair play

Bredabe

To start with, I don't cook meat at all so I'm at a loss on this, any ideas?
I left a container of 375g of brisket chunks to defrost for just over a day, they seemed ok when I put them in a stew pot on the cooker. The recipe had onions, celery, potato, and carrots, and the usual suspects in terms of herbs.

The recipe said to bring to the boil and simmer for at least 2 hours, which I did and the meat was rock hard, knowing brisket likes slow cooking I left it for another few hours, and little change in the texture of the meat.

By mistake, it was put in a slow cooker and is now on its 3rd hour in that, meat still hard, a grey-brown on the outside and a lighter brown in the inside.

So, should I start again or will more simmering in the slow cooker do the trick?

Patsy167

Bredabe wrote: »

To start with, I don't cook meat at all so I'm at a loss on this, any ideas?
I left a container of 375g of brisket chunks to defrost for just over a day, they seemed ok when I put them in a stew pot on the cooker. The recipe had onions, celery, potato, and carrots, and the usual suspects in terms of herbs.

The recipe said to bring to the boil and simmer for at least 2 hours, which I did and the meat was rock hard, knowing brisket likes slow cooking I left it for another few hours, and little change in the texture of the meat.

By mistake, it was put in a slow cooker and is now on its 3rd hour in that, meat still hard, a grey-brown on the outside and a lighter brown in the inside.

So, should I start again or will more simmering in the slow cooker do the trick?

For the bin I would say. No point playing Russian roulette with your stomach

Graces7

Bredabe wrote: »

To start with, I don't cook meat at all so I'm at a loss on this, any ideas?
I left a container of 375g of brisket chunks to defrost for just over a day, they seemed ok when I put them in a stew pot on the cooker. The recipe had onions, celery, potato, and carrots, and the usual suspects in terms of herbs.

The recipe said to bring to the boil and simmer for at least 2 hours, which I did and the meat was rock hard, knowing brisket likes slow cooking I left it for another few hours, and little change in the texture of the meat.

By mistake, it was put in a slow cooker and is now on its 3rd hour in that, meat still hard, a grey-brown on the outside and a lighter brown in the inside.

So, should I start again or will more simmering in the slow cooker do the trick?

I KNOW that this is a stooopid question? But how much water did you add please? From your description it sounds as if the meat was roasted rather than stewed. Needs total immersion

Bredabe

Graces7 wrote: »

I KNOW that this is a stooopid question? But how much water did you add please? From your description it sounds as if the meat was roasted rather than stewed. Needs total immersion

Not a stupid question at all, I put enough water to float the veg, which even after 5 hours of simmering wasn't significantly reduced.

The Black Oil

Picked up everything today - turkey, ham, etc.

Turkey is a stuffed breast 2.3kg. In the past we've had the full bird it's generally been 45 minutes per kilo, iirc. Presume this is OK to follow again re weight and time?

the beer revolu

Patsy167 wrote: »

For the bin I would say. No point playing Russian roulette with your stomach

Please stop telling people to throw out food without good reason.

I'd leave it in the slow cooker for another few hours, the meat should soften.

Graces7

the beer revolu wrote: »

Please stop telling people to throw out food without good reason.

I'd leave it in the slow cooker for another few hours, the meat should soften.

Thank you

One thought occurs. Did you put it all in cold water or boiling? If cold, that may well be your answer as at low temps it will take a long long time to reach a cooking temperature and to retain it. for meat especially.

I have a vague niggling memory of doing that with similar results.

And yes, persevere. Or even move to a large pan on the hob? Faster cook. Worth trying. If the veg are cooked just the meat . . ( I tend to the unorthodox! Meat is too precious to waste. )

igCorcaigh

Texas Chilli...

https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/texas-chili/

This seems like an interesting take on Chilli con Carne.

No beans and no tomato...

I would be tempted to at least put some sundried tomato paste into this, but I've been wanting to make a chilli using stewing beef instead of the mince, which I find a bit too gloopy.

Definitely the smokey dried chillies like Ancho and Guajillo would be very good. Or just a bit of the Gran Luchito paste, which I love!

Graces7

Declaring my Christmas dinner a resounding success.... Just been raiding the oven where the turkey reclines...gently infused with sage and cranberry …. shared pickings with three of the cats and now have apple pie and custard…

And a food hamper arrived from over the water to add to the fun... HUGE apple pie! I am totally and happily " overhwellumed" with food... Wonderful!

RacoonQueen

Christmas day is literally the only day of the year I would eat a roast dinner so I always really enjoy the change (unless xmas parties because I don't eat roast dinners I always like to go for the turkey and ham at them normal years). As someone who eats a lot of veg generally and would have a plate full of different veg when I cook for myself, my brothers scabby veg portions always shock me :pac:

phormium

I eat a reasonable amount of veg usually but for me Christmas dinner is a feast of turkey/ham/stuffing/bread sc/cranberry sauce with some roast potatoes to help soak up the gravy, I really don't have sufficient space to get in my veg quota on that day so always go with tiny real veg portions

the beer revolu

At ours, even just taking a tiny bit of everything, you end up with very big plate.
Some roast carrot, parsnip, beetroot, garlic, potatoes, a few sprouts and some red cabbage and there's hardly room for ham, spiced beef, stuffed turkey leg and breast!

Bredabe

Graces7 wrote: »

Thank you

One thought occurs. Did you put it all in cold water or boiling? If cold, that may well be your answer as at low temps it will take a long long time to reach a cooking temperature and to retain it. for meat especially.

I have a vague niggling memory of doing that with similar results.

And yes, persevere. Or even move to a large pan on the hob? Faster cook. Worth trying. If the veg are cooked just the meat . . ( I tend to the unorthodox! Meat is too precious to waste. )

I put it in cold water as per the instructions, brought to the boil and simmered for quite a few hours, got called into work and when I got home they had used the broth for breakfast!

Dial Hard

Making Buffalo mac & cheese this evening with the last of the ham and the cheese board remnants. Will stir a bit of 'Nduja in too. I'm craving a bit of spice after the past few days.

Muahahaha

Anyone know can you re-use pickling liquid, would seem a shame to throw it out. Its apple cider vinegar, salt, sugar and some peppercorns.

New Home

You could use it to dress a salad with some oil.... but I don't know how long it'd keep. Nor would I know if it had any additives.

Dizzyblonde

Muahahaha wrote: »

Anyone know can you re-use pickling liquid, would seem a shame to throw it out. Its apple cider vinegar, salt, sugar and some peppercorns.

Yes, plenty of recipes say you can reuse it once. I've pickled sliced cucumbers and added more when there were none left.

Muahahaha

Nice one, was only hoping to reuse it the once so will do that as I didnt want to throw out the best part of a bottle of apple cider vinegar which would seem such a waste.

Without straying into food safety territory does the liquid go off after a while or what happens it when there is sugar mixed with vinegar? Also is apple cider vinegar the primary liquid used in pickling or are there others to experiment with? Im mainly pickling red onions for mexican tortillas but wouldnt mind experimenting with other flavours and foods. Ive never been a big fan of cucumbers but maybe picking makes them taste a lot better?

the beer revolu

Muahahaha wrote: »

Nice one, was only hoping to reuse it the once so will do that as I didnt want to throw out the best part of a bottle of apple cider vinegar which would seem such a waste.

Without straying into food safety territory does the liquid go off after a while or what happens it when there is sugar mixed with vinegar? Also is apple cider vinegar the primary liquid used in pickling or are there others to experiment with? Im mainly pickling red onions for mexican tortillas but wouldnt mind experimenting with other flavours and foods. Ive never been a big fan of cucumbers but maybe picking makes them taste a lot better?

I like white wine vinegar for pickling, too.
I reuse and/or add to pickling liquid, especially with chillies.
I guess if you keep reusing it, eventually it isn't really vinegar anymore as it would take in liquid from from the veg each time.

rubadub

Muahahaha wrote: »

Ive never been a big fan of cucumbers but maybe picking makes them taste a lot better?

I find cucumbers repulsive, I sometimes have to leave the room if somebody in work eats them in the canteen. Its a genetic thing. However I adore gherkins. Whatever the chemical is must be altered or neutralised.

the beer revolu wrote: »

I guess if you keep reusing it, eventually it isn't really vinegar anymore as it would take in liquid from from the veg each time.

If you could get hold of strong acetic acid you could add more in, the stuff chippers use. (you were possibly looking for this before yourself).

I use the spent juice in pickle jars, mix with mayo or ketchup to make a sauce for burgers or chips.

Patsy167

I've re-used pickling juice for beetroots. I buy the vacum-sealed packs, rinse, pat dry and then add to the jar

Muahahaha

rubadub wrote: »

I find cucumbers repulsive, I sometimes have to leave the room if somebody in work eats them in the canteen. Its a genetic thing. However I adore gherkins. Whatever the chemical is must be altered or neutralised.


If you could get hold of strong acetic acid you could add more in, the stuff chippers use. (you were possibly looking for this before yourself).

I use the spent juice in pickle jars, mix with mayo or ketchup to make a sauce for burgers or chips.

Like yourself I love gherkins but not a major fan of cucumbers, I can tolerate then in small quantities in a salad chopped up but would remove big slices of them on anything else.

Making a burger sauce from some of the liquid seems a great use for it. And yeah I have a bottle of the chippers acetic acid in the kitchen, had just forgotten the name of it.

L1011

I had to throw out (shop bought) pickles this summer as my partner had swiped the majority of the pickling liquid for burger sauce!