General Chat Thread II

Graces7 · 06-10-2022 7:20am

The soup season has arrived out here.. Wind and rain and a chill in the air... True stockpot soup... thanks to the slow cooker... mmmmm ! No recipe... Oddments of vegetables and chicken ... lentils for a sturdy texture... The aroma alone warms the heart....

Black Sheep · 06-10-2022 7:26am

I generally still buy the cheapest, because we use such a high volume that it's worth it. To be honest, when you are using them in the broader context of a properly seasoned dish, and using stock, wine, tomato puree or another cooking liquid, I think the difference between the basic and a step or two up is negligible. Yes, the premium Italian stuff is nicer, but the way we use it I don't think we could justify the price and to be honest if I cooked a really slow ragu properly I still question if most people could tell.

One thing I do is I use the whole canned option rather than crushed. It takes a little longer to break down when cooking, and you may have to assist via a bit of mashing, but a lot of people (myself included) believe that what's selected for whole tomato cans is generally graded of a higher standard than what goes into crushed. I'm inclined to think a lot of what you could call tomato trimmings does into crushed. If anyone follows Kenji Lopez Alt, he also argues that there is a taste difference, if you begin the cook from whole, but I don't recall the science.

Muahahaha · 08-10-2022 8:24pm

Thinking of adding shepherds pie & cottage pie to the winter rotation and I need to buy a new dish for it as the lasagne one is way too big for what I want. Will likely be making it with two pounds of lamb mince (900g), anyone know what size oven dish would suit that quantity and how many portions do you get from it, 4 or 6? And how does it freeze, does the potato topping get grainy after defrosting? Im not sure whether to go large enough for batch cooking and freezing some or if its a meal better eaten within a few days and not frozen

Graces7 · 09-10-2022 5:26am

It freezes well.

leahyl · 13-10-2022 5:47pm

Didn’t know where to put these so said the general thread would be best! Was in Venice from Sat to Tuesday and here are some of the food offerings! Venice was fab btw - such perfect weather and busy but not ridiculously so! And every bottle of Prosecco we had was amazing!

Graces7 · 15-10-2022 4:34pm

That last wonderful post cannot be followed! WOW! New thread maybe?

snowgal · 17-10-2022 11:53am

looks yum!! Venice is on this list now! I received a jar of ivy honey.... anyone any thoughts, ever tried it?

Mystery Egg · 21-10-2022 8:36pm

My friends give me a jar or two of ivy honey every year. I love it drizzled on buttered toast. I try not to use it in cooking, it's too good, and I want to taste it properly.

Graces7 · 25-10-2022 5:37pm

Honey drizzled on bacon is.... divine..

Mystery Egg · 25-10-2022 10:14pm

I've a question. Does anyone know what kind of oil Romayo's use for frying?

L1011 · 25-10-2022 10:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119793535#Comment_119793535

I'm almost certain its beef dripping - it certainly was many years ago when my vegan mates asked.

They notably say that nothing other than some pizza is vegetarian let alone vegan (the 'veggie' items have egg and/or milk allergens declared)

Muahahaha · 25-10-2022 10:54pm

Handy guide to cheese & cracker combinations

Mystery Egg · 27-10-2022 4:17pm

Anyone know how I can unfollow a forum?

Gloomtastic! · 27-10-2022 4:37pm

Is it something I said? 😋

On a mobile, scroll to the top of a thread and click on the star until it is no longer yellow.

On the desktop it’s a blue flag insignia.

New Home · 27-10-2022 4:45pm

If on the desktop, go to the main page of the forum and deselect the bell (top right hand side, Subscribe/Unsubscribe).

Mystery Egg · 27-10-2022 8:57pm

I'm on the mobile and I want to unsubscribe from an entire forum, not from individual threads. I'll try your suggestion New Home when I'm on a desktop. Thanks!

New Home · 27-10-2022 9:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119801841#Comment_119801841

On the mobile, click on the three horizontal bars on the top left, go to "My Forum" and de-select the star beside the one you want to remove.

Mystery Egg · 27-10-2022 9:53pm

Thanks.. It's not working. It shows every thread in the forum but none of them are starred, so I can't de-star.

New Home · 27-10-2022 10:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119802100#Comment_119802100

Ok, try this. Go to the parent forum, e.g.: https://www.boards.ie/categories/social-fun

then click on the cogweel beside the forum you want to get rid of and select "Unsubscribe".

It won't work if you only use https://www.boards.ie/categories

Hope this works for you.

woodchuck · 28-10-2022 8:11am

Yeah I think you need to go "up a level" for whatever forum you want to unsubscribe from.

Planet X · 05-11-2022 11:21am

Delia Smith Mincemeat.

Out of the way……….😀

12 hour soak. Tomorrow, low heat in oven for three hours, cool and add booze. Sterilise jars and jar up 👍.

Muahahaha · 05-11-2022 9:39pm

Thinking of getting a food processer on Black Friday if there are some good offers about, Kenwood Multipro is the model Im hopig to get. Anyone here got a food processor and how do you find it?

L1011 · 05-11-2022 9:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119838701#Comment_119838701

I replaced mine with a stick blender and chopper jar setup. Used to have both, lost a part on the stick blender, thought it wasn't available as a replacement part so bought a totally new one - the linked one - with a much bigger bowl and different attachments.

(The part was replaceable, so its been replaced and the old one in the holiday house now and replaced a stick blender and power hand mixer there)

Provides blending, chopping, beating etc. Food processor was given away as it stopped being used.

However, it has nothing to even vaguely assist with dough. I don't bake. If you do, this isn't an option!

Planet X · 06-11-2022 11:07am

A bit of batch cooking / Slow cooker Chili Con Carne. Ready for the freezer. 👍.

Dry kidney beans, overnight soaked and 18 minutes in the Pressure Cooker.

2 tbsps. of cocoa powder added to chili half way through the 5 hours of cooking. 1 tbsp of Polenta added also.

Planet X · 06-11-2022 12:49pm

^^^^

Muahahaha · 06-11-2022 1:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119838724#Comment_119838724

thanks. Funnily enough the reason why Im considering getting a food processor is to get away from my stick blender for soups as it just doesnt do the job very well, it leaves grainy bits no matter how long I blend it. But I think my stick blender is only 250 watts so it is vastly under powered whereas the Bosch one you have is 750 watts so Id expect that to proper puree a soup. Did that package with the attachements cost much?

I think I'll get the Kenwood Multipro if it is reduced on Black Friday. It also has an inbuilt scales which can replace my cheapo Aldi scales which has been temperamental lately and turning itself off at random. I like the idea if I am batch cooking and need a mirepoix I can just chuck the onion, carrot and celery into a processor and have it chopped in seconds. I'll also use it to chop garlic and ginger in large quantities and then freeze the mix in those tiny little Sistema pots so its ready to go for stir frys and other Asian cooking. The spice mill attachment will also come in handy for making garam masala from seed. I do have a coffee grinder but I dont like putting spices through it for fear they will leave flavours on the burrs.

Im not a big baker but the recipe I make pizza dough with results in a 1.6kg dough so I think its too much for a food processor to handle anyway. So I wont be throwing out the stand mixer which can handle that quantity (just about)

L1011 · 06-11-2022 3:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119840507#Comment_119840507

€100 for the pack - stick blender and all the accessories - in Powercity.

I have a separate spice grinder that I had before; useful thing to have on a food processor if you don't have one.

New Home · 06-11-2022 4:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119840507#Comment_119840507

In case anyone is looking for a recommendation for a handheld blender/blender stick, I can't praise the Kenwood Triblade enough. The other handheld blenders I tried aren't a patch on this. It's very powerful, leaves the soup extremely smooth and doesn't splash at all (I think it's due to the the squared, open slots on the wand). It's very powerful and it almost creates a vacuum/suction that would lift the pot as you use it.

I got mine (the HB724, just like the one in the picture) a good 10 years ago and it's been working perfectly ever since. The only issue I'd have with it is that the whisk attachment isn't very strong (can't really handle anything thicker than brownies or it overheats, but it makes meringues and fluffy omelettes in 30 seconds flat 🙂) and the little rubber damping rings tend to degrade after a few years and get stuck in the main body, but I've been able to remove them quite easily with a small embossing tool (see last picture) and stick them back into place with some blue tack. I've only fully replaced them once.

I haven't tried the newer models, but I'd say they're as good if not better - the wand locking mechanism has been improved, for instance.

anewme · 07-11-2022 12:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119841198#Comment_119841198

Does that have a potato ricer as an attachment? If so, I bought it and it sat down after barely a year. Bought a Lidl stick blender afterwards.

New Home · 07-11-2022 12:46am

Yes, it does. Sorry to hear yours didn't work, mine is still going strong and I've used it a lot, almost on a daily basis. Was it the ricer that broke, or the motor part?

General Chat Thread II

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