General Chat Thread II

Planet X

It’s mayonnaise.

Jam/ chutney funnel.

Dial Hard

I'm going on a knife skills course this weekend, which was part of my Christmas present from my OH. The only annoying thing is that I can't bring my favourite knife with me, because he's bringing it to the knife sharpening course that I bought him as part of his Christmas present, which is completely coincidentally happening on the same day 😆

Dial Hard

Also, I think I'm going to cancel my BBC Good Food sub and go with NYT Cooking instead. I don't really rate GF and the app is buggy as fook, whereas NYTC seems to be full of great recipes.

Gloomtastic!

Cancel away. You still get great recipes on BBCs food site for free.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food

The only decent thing on the Good Food app is their Yorkshire Pudding recipe. Luckily I’ve kept a copy of it. 😉

magicbastarder

my wife's favourite subscription is to mob; i have certainly enjoyed the benefits of it!

where is that knife skills course on? and the knife sharpening one?

New Home

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123132151#Comment_123132151

If DH tells you she'll have to kill you. She'll have sharp knives at hand. And she'll know how to use them. 😁

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123131077#Comment_123131077

It's funny you say that, I am being marketed the NYT Cooking quite hard at the moment, on social media.

Are the recipes in US measurments, though, or can they be converted on the site? That would be a deal breaker for me.

As far as BBC Good Food goes… Unless it's a BBC recipe from a chef I recognise, I agree the standard seems to have fallen in recent years, there's some dubious on there, from contributors I don't know.

The Nal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123133382#Comment_123133382

They cant be converted on the site but easily done. Its only cups and ounces really. They have some great recipes on there.

Dial Hard

Just pulled the plug on Good Food. It was only €29 a year but pretty much all the content is available for free anyway, and as I said, the app itself is glitchy AF.

My sister has an NYT Cooking sub and raves about it. She's screen-shotted a few recipes to me and they've all been excellent. But yeah, a measurement converter would be nice!

The Nal

Telegraph is also excellent at 3 quid a month.

Did you smash it

bin or boil or something else?

Gremlinertia

Part of a soup base, I have to say I'm one who steams it and eats it with the rest of the veg/dinner

igCorcaigh

I'm one who would return it to the Earth and focus on more exciting things!

New Home

I'd peel it and stick it with the rest to cook. It's yummy.

Planet X

Our daughter, years ago, took great exception, when she was young, to the stalk on broccoli. Fair enough, but we kept it like above, chopped it into discs and put it in stirfrys. Didn’t even notice it. Result.

L1011

I have tried to get over my hatred of broccoli and cauliflower caused by my mother serving frozen, microwaved to mush mini florets of each as a kid. Actually sweetcorn is an issue from that too, texture is the problem there.

It's not working. I've managed to reintroduce some fish, something else she ruined with the cheapest breaded products ever, baked to a crisp; but those veg are just gone for me.

That said, my severe issues with her cooking lead to a "well, cook your own food!" moment as a teenager, and an ability to ask for whatever ingredients I wanted; plus she shopped at Superquinn so the options were pretty good. Think that served me well in the end.

Gloomtastic!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123142036#Comment_123142036

Fair dues.

sammyjo90

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123142036#Comment_123142036

I'm exactly the same. Can manage stir fried tenderstem broccoli now but cauliflower....if it's not small and in a curry or in piccalilli I don't eat it 😅

magicbastarder

My wife cooks tenderstem broccoli with oil, lemon and salt and it's lovely. Can be done in an air fryer.

sammyjo90

Regional thread is pretty dead, does anyone here have recommendations for great places in Belfast? Looking at lunch in XO but that's as far as we've gotten so far.

magicbastarder

i had a very nice steak in millar's beside the waterfront a few months ago. made nice by them having accidentally served me a more expensive steak than i ordered.

Mollyb60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123156118#Comment_123156118

Do you mean a takeout lunch - soup/sambo type thing or a sitdown meal?

Sawers shop on Fountain Street is the best shop in the city - does absolute monster gourmet sandwiches. And as a bonus it's a fantastic food shop.

For sitdown meals, depends on what you want. I've heard great things from the Mourne Seafood Bar but it's not my thing so I've never been. Coco on Linenhall St is always solid, as is Cafe Parisien (and has lovely views over City Hall too). The waterfront's Millar's is a good place too. Ox is your high end fancy sh1te that I wouldn't be bothered with. You'll pay dearly for your pigeon breast and single piece of broccoli there. My favourite restaurant in the city centre is Ginger on Great Victoria St but I'm not sure if that opens for lunch. Waterman House on Hill St gets good reports also and it's beside my favourite bar in the city - the Harp Bar.

Good luck - it's a great city.

The Black Oil

Been watching Gary Eats lately. Decent bloke and a little older than your typical YouTuber.

sammyjo90

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123157866#Comment_123157866

Thanks both of you.

We are every much into the high end fancy sh1te so always try one place on a trip 😁

But other suggestions are always welcome cause you can't eat like that everyday. I'll look them up

Black Sheep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123157953#Comment_123157953

MrDeanes in Belfast just got a bib gourmand, so certainly worth a look, if you can make a booking work.

Waterman House looks good, more conventional Italian style cooking. I have a booking there later this month.

Ragin' Ramen is excellent and a quirky take on ramen (The spice bag offering is memorable).

The Mourne Seafood Bar is a classic, as recommended above. You have to go there, if you haven't been, but be aware it's somewhat resting on its laurels these days. Go in and get a bunch of small plates, and try to limit the amount of them that are fried dishes, for best results.

OX is consistently a good one star option. I tried the Muddler's Club and was less impressed. Also has a star, but when we went in the dining room had a bit of a cloud of greasy steam / smoke from the kitchen hanging around. Entirely possible it was a problem with extractor fans that one night, but it put us off on a bad foot. Compared to OX, the menu is a little less cohesive, I wouldn't bother. Also tried Eipic, before it closed, which was Deane's one star. That was a cracking restaurant and more old-school in approach than OX. But you've got to be pretty consistent at getting bums in seats to survive in Belfast…

Last suggestion:- Flout for pizza, if you can stand the queues. Easily the best large NY style pizzas in Ireland, bar none.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123132151#Comment_123132151

Sorry, didn't want to reveal both my and the OH's whereabouts to the internet at large, you never know who might be lurking!

The knife skills course was at Dublin Cookery School in Blackrock. I enjoyed it, although I think they'd be better served offering different "Complete Beginners" and "Confident Cooks" versions as there was a very wide spread of skills across the group - I'm pretty sure one or two people had never even held a knife, like.

Knife sharpening was with www.hewn.ie. Eamonn is based in Ennistymon but does workshops in Dublin every few months. Mr. DH really enjoyed it, said it was well worthwhile. I'm still waiting on him to sharpen my knife, though…

(👀 👀)

sammyjo90

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123158236#Comment_123158236

Amazing thanks :)

magicbastarder

cheers - i've become the knife sharpener for my family (mainly due to owning tools rather than any innate skill). might be a way of sending a subtle hint.

ZX7R

Have mutton chops become a thing of the past.

Have had plenty of lamb chops lamb leg steaks.

But haven't had a mutton chop in a long long time.

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123198512#Comment_123198512

You don't really see mutton any more, in my experience but having said that I've found that some of the middle Eastern shops with butchers counters have some pretty mature lambs, certainly hogget, if not mutton.