The General Chat Thread

Dizzyblonde · 13-05-2014 06:25PM

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

Anybody have a link to this porridge bread I keep hearing about?

http://www.mummypages.ie/recipes/porridge-brown-bread
I made it yesterday - it's really nice with jam.

Dizzyblonde · 13-05-2014 06:28PM

Loire wrote: »

Anybody here into juicing? Mrs Loire wants to buy one so we can make juices from fruit and veg.

My Phillips juicer is languishing in the attic. It takes moments to make juice, about a minute to drink it - and 15-20 minutes to take the bl***y juicer apart and clean it. Most juices have to be drunk immediately too, so it's not like you can make a load and drink it over a day or two.

catho_monster · 13-05-2014 06:42PM

We bought a masticating juicer a few months ago (the nom nom nom kind oscarBravo has) because the other half was having a shocking time trying to shake off man flu lasting months so we decided to throw some nutrients at the situation. Knocked it right on the head.
We have a juice instead of lunch every (work) day now. We try and focus on veg with only a small bit of fruit (because the fruit is all sugar in fairness). Our logic is that juicing all this veg helps us get the nutrients of far more veg a day than we'd be physically able to eat.
Recommend it, to be honest.

catho_monster · 13-05-2014 06:46PM

Ps the one we have takes about three minutes to rinse clean. Irish made too. Green value I think the make is?

dee_mc · 13-05-2014 06:47PM

Moody_mona wrote: »

Any thoughts on buying/storing chicken fillets (not looking for food safety advice, I know it's not allowed) I'm just after throwing out in date chicken fillets because of the toxic smell of eggs when I opened them, and I'm sick of wasting money. Bought them on Sunday; do I have to buy just as I want to use them?

I've found the same lately with chicken fillets from Aldi (not an effort to name and shame, i find their meat great in general) - they just don't last more than 2 days in the fridge, even though we keep it very cold. Just last week i had to return a pack that was decidedly off colour, 2 days before the use by date. IMO it's worth freezing if it's not going to be used within 2 days, although in fairness Aldi are great for a no-quibble replacement (even without receipt) if it does happen.

oscarBravo · 13-05-2014 06:53PM

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

My Phillips juicer is languishing in the attic. It takes moments to make juice, about a minute to drink it - and 15-20 minutes to take the bl***y juicer apart and clean it. Most juices have to be drunk immediately too, so it's not like you can make a load and drink it over a day or two.

As catho said, a masticating juicer is pretty easy to clean. It also doesn't oxidise the juice like a centrifugal juicer does, so we make juice for two days at a time.

This is the one we got.

fiddlechic · 13-05-2014 07:34PM

A word of caution re numbers on thermostat in fridge. They are not consistent.
My granny bought a new fridge a couple of years ago. Set it to 4 as her old fridge 4 was second coldest.
Things kept going off very quickly.
She returned fridge and bought a new one. It worked, but was warmish too.
Then my aunt copped on what was happening. 1st fridge had 10 options, 10 being coldest. 2nd fridge 4 out of 5 with 1 coldest!
So it's read the instructions time.

oscarBravo · 13-05-2014 07:45PM

I don't understand why fridges can't just have thermostats with, you know, temperatures on them.

Merkin · 13-05-2014 07:58PM

I'm so gutted. The man we buy our eggs from told my husband today that all his little hens were murdered by a fox last night.

The hens were so well looked after and that was reflected in the sublime quality of the eggs, I've never tasted anything like them. I HATE foxes!

iwantmydinner · 13-05-2014 08:00PM

Foxes are the WORST

tampopo · 13-05-2014 08:02PM

Merkin wrote: »

I'm so gutted. The man we buy our eggs from told my husband today that all his little hens were murdered by a fox last night. The hens were so well looked after and that was reflected in the sublime quality of the eggs, I've never tasted anything like them. I HATE foxes!

Me too, mine were killed by foxes. Hate them also. Heard on Mooney on Friday that they are NOT protected. They are classed as vermin. Unfortunately if you get rid of urban foxes in your locality, more move in. . .

Merkin · 13-05-2014 08:21PM

Oh you poor thing, you must have been so upset. It's the needless cruelty that gets to me. I don't understand why they'd kill every little hen when they're not even bothered to eat them, it's so frenzied and horrible.....grrrr

Loire · 13-05-2014 10:32PM

oscarBravo wrote: »

As catho said, a masticating juicer is pretty easy to clean. It also doesn't oxidise the juice like a centrifugal juicer does, so we make juice for two days at a time.

This is the one we got.

Thanks for that. After talking herself out if it that one looks pretty good, easy to clean and cheap - think I'll take a punt. Thanks also for the other posts re: sugary content of fruit, the idea was always to go heavy on veg as an easy way to get it into us and the kids. We eat quite well but this would, hopefully, tick off our 5 a day in one go.

Thanks again all!
Loire.

tampopo · 13-05-2014 11:01PM

Merkin wrote: »

Oh you poor thing, you must have been so upset. It's the needless cruelty that gets to me. I don't understand why they'd kill every little hen when they're not even bothered to eat them, it's so frenzied and horrible.....grrrr

Yeah, more the OH than me. I did a job in the garden recently and wanted to show. Burst into floods of tears. Refuses to go into the garden now, which is a waste.

Anyone want to buy a coop!!!! (and a dust covered blender too btw!)

Loire · 13-05-2014 11:30PM

Animord wrote: »

Or you could borrow mine and say "look honey - a lovely juicer" and when she gets bored in a months time you can quietly return it to me - she will be none the wiser...:P

Great idea. There must be an app for that!!

sillymoo · 13-05-2014 11:34PM

I have to admit I was sceptical about the porridge bread when I first saw the recipe but I said I needed to stop being a silly sillymoo and try it before posing judgement.

All I can say is wow. So easy to make and tastes wonderful!!! I am looking forward to some more for lunch tomorrow!

IvyTheTerrible · 14-05-2014 06:37AM

oscarBravo wrote: »

I don't understand why fridges can't just have thermostats with, you know, temperatures on them.

Ones that are sold to labs have the temperatures on the thermostats, I honestly don't know why they don't have it on all fridges.

Also, chicken going off quickly isn't necessarily due to the home fridge, there's a whole long cold chain in the process that isn't always respected - how long does the chicken stay on the shop floor before it's put into the shop fridge? The shop fridge may also not be at the right temperature.

Merkin wrote: »

I'm so gutted. The man we buy our eggs from told my husband today that all his little hens were murdered by a fox last night. The hens were so well looked after and that was reflected in the sublime quality of the eggs, I've never tasted anything like them. I HATE foxes!

My in-laws had 3 chickens and 2 roosters, two of the chickens have been killed in the last 6 weeks by dogs that that have gotten into the garden! (and why won't the kill the roosters??). No trouble with foxes so far...

hardCopy · 14-05-2014 09:20AM

A fridge thermometer is a handy investment for very little cost.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000EW92YO/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We bought one last year to confirm our suspicions that our fridge just wasn't right. Saved us a fortune on wasted food and the landlord fitted a new fridge. We went weeks with the fridge at dangerous temps before we realised how bad it was.

Mellor · 14-05-2014 09:47AM

Osso buco in the oven right now.
A bit nervous that it won't break down. 1 hour down, still a bit tough. 1+ hour to go

fiddlechic · 14-05-2014 10:33AM

Since the granny's debacle of buying 2 fridges in a matter of months, I now have a fridge thermometer. I occasionally look at it, and it's always 3degrees. Nothing freezes, everything nicely cool.

the beer revolu · 14-05-2014 11:00AM

Mellor wrote: »

Osso buco in the oven right now.
A bit nervous that it won't break down. 1 hour down, still a bit tough. 1+ hour to go

It will still be quite tough after an hour.
It'll get there but might take closer to 3 hours.

MissFlitworth · 14-05-2014 09:57PM

Watching 'Best Food Ever' on Netflix (the sandwich episode) and so far have discovered that the type of person who buys a $100 steak sandwich is the type of person recognised universally as a sap and also that you can definitely put too much meat in a sandwich

the beer revolu · 14-05-2014 11:33PM

Or, if you can't pick up and eat it, it isn't a sandwich.

MissFlitworth · 15-05-2014 07:58AM

I think the idea was that you ordered a 'sandwich' but in reality got a giant pile of meat that you divvied out between 2-3 people and went to the pickle bar (this I can 100% approve of) for condiments and the actual bread for your sandwich. it just looks so unappetising piled up like that! Everything they made was giant and a bit wasteful looking

Dubl07 · 15-05-2014 08:00AM

Loire wrote: »

Anybody here into juicing? Mrs Loire wants to buy one so we can make juices from fruit and veg.

Been there; tried that. Life is too short to spend it cleaning gunk from a juicer. Gnaw on a carrot, eat some veg or fruit. We gave ours away.

quaalude · 15-05-2014 10:25AM

sillymoo wrote: »

I have to admit I was sceptical about the porridge bread when I first saw the recipe but I said I needed to stop being a silly sillymoo and try it before posing judgement.

All I can say is wow. So easy to make and tastes wonderful!!! I am looking forward to some more for lunch tomorrow!

That looks great, I'd love to try it.
But I've a question about the quantity of oats - the recipe says "2 tubs of porridge oats".
I take that to mean you use a 500ml tub of natural yogurt, then rinse it out, dry it, then it filled with oats is "one tub of porridge oats" is that right?

Dizzyblonde · 15-05-2014 10:31AM

quaalude wrote: »

That looks great, I'd love to try it.
But I've a question about the quantity of oats - the recipe says "2 tubs of porridge oats".
I take that to mean you use a 500ml tub of natural yogurt, then rinse it out, dry it, then it filled with oats is "one tub of porridge oats" is that right?

Yes, that's right - the full recipe and instructions are here http://www.mummypages.ie/recipes/porridge-brown-bread

quaalude · 15-05-2014 10:39AM

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Yes, that's right - the full recipe and instructions are here http://www.mummypages.ie/recipes/porridge-brown-bread

Jaysus, I must be going blind, I read that but didn't see those instructions!
Sorry, and thanks for that.

catho_monster · 15-05-2014 12:08PM

catho_monster wrote: »

I've not made the sauce, because I already have a cracking bbq sauce recipe, but the technique and rub are all good...

foodaholic wrote: »

Any chance of the recipe ?

Right, so here it is. I don't know if it's a BBQ sauce in any traditional sense of the idea of BBQ sauce, but I use it where others use BBQ sauce (as an after-glaze, not a marinade). I never have pulled pork without it. I never have chicken wings without it (use the Franks coating technique, combined with butter, FTW), its gorgeous over roasted veggies, its gorgeous in a stirfry, its gorgeous over a fried egg on toast.

In fairness, its just flavoured sugar, so how could it not be good. But, do not let the amount of sugar shock you. You don't use much. And it stays good forever in the fridge.

2/3 cup water
1 cup pineapple juice
3 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons minced white onion (I mini-food processor it)
2 tablespoon Jack Daniels, or regular whiskey, or I successfully tried honey rum once too.
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Put water, pineapple juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium/high heat. Stir occasionally until mixture boils then reduce heat until mixture is just simmering. Let mixture simmer for a few hours, until sauce has reduced by about 1/2 and is thick and syrupy. Take care, it might boil over if its on too high a temperature or if your saucepan is too small.

The reducing process has been known to take hours for me, but I usually make x4 this recipe and leave it on low in a massive saucepan so I don't have to watch it carefully.

Store in sterilised jars/bottles in the cupboard. Refrigerate when opened.

B0jangles · 15-05-2014 12:21PM

B0jangles wrote: »

Make Shrimp and Chorizo Gumbo!

Or maybe Jambalaya (easier)

I have a nice jambalaya recipe if anyone is interested

I just remembered that I never actually posted this, so first you need to make your creole spice mix - the recipe below will make enough to make 5 or 6 jambalayas:

Creole Spice Mix wrote:

This is a modified version of the one used by US TV cook Emeril Lagasse - his original mix has a lot more salt. I reduced it because I wanted to be able to add more spicyness without oversalting

Ingredients

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1/2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme

Store in an airtight jar

And the actual recipe is:

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya wrote:

Serves 4

Ingredients
vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 large pepper, seeded and chopped
2 sticks of celery minced
dried red pepper flakes
3 (thick kabanosi or silesian or raw chorizo) sausages (around 1/2 lb maybe?) , sliced into 1/2 inch rounds - I get mine in the polish supermarket
2-3 chicken legs, skinned and jointed.
2 cans of tomatoes (one liquidized, the other chopped roughly if they are whole tomatoes)
1-2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon (or more) creole seasoning
1 cup uncooked easy-cook rice (I know, I know but it really does work best because it really does not get mushy)
Smoked paprika

Instructions

Heat oil in a large cast iron pot. Add onion, pepper and celery - saute until translucent.

Add garlic and a pinch red pepper (or more if you like heat) and saute until garlic is fragrant.

Add sausage and chicken and cook until the surface of the chicken turns white all over.

Add all the tomatoes, bay leaves, and creole seasoning. Cover and reduce heat and cook until the chicken is done.

Remove it from the pot and allow it to cool enough to strip the meat from the bones.

In the meantime, add the rice to the pot and cook until it is done and the liquid is mostly absorbed. Add a bit of water/stock if it seems a bit too dry.

Add about 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika.
Stir the chicken back in once the rice is done.
Check the heat/salt/smokiness and add more dried red pepper and smoked paprika if needed.

Note: if you want to make it with shrimp instead of chicken, just stir the raw shrimp in right at the end and let them cook through gently in the hot rice mixture for a few minutes til pink and opaque.

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