The General Chat Thread

Haven't made chicken live pate in a while and decided to pick up some livers this morning. Got 1/2lb for 1 euro. Only needed to use half of that so freezing the other half. So for a large ramekin of yummy pate it's.....50c!!! Ok there's a generous amount of butter too, but the whole thing is well under a euro. Had a sneaky taste and it's divine. Gonna be a nice starter tonight!

the beer revolu wrote: »

I wish supermarkets would all use vac packs for all their meat - like the Aldi premium steaks. I hate the big plastic packs they use for most of their meat. Too much packaging and the meat doesn't keep well.
But I only occasionally buy meat from the supermarket.

It is all down to costs and appearance of a meat on shelves.

They pump extra oxigen into the packs so they keep a nice colour for longer. Nothing wrong with that but after I tried those vacuum packed Angus Steaks , I don't think I can eat those regular ones any more. They are a bit pricey, so not for everyday cooking:mad:

dipdip wrote: »

Your recipe please my good man.

But of course!

1 ramekin's worth

1/4 pound of chicken liver, fried very gently in butter until cooked through (a high heat will result in "hard" liver meat which you don't want). Add to a food processor.

Edit: Add 1.5 times the weight again of softened butter to the food processor. (I cut the butter into thin slices and put on a plate to soften whilst the liver is cooking).

Fry 2 chopped mushrooms and 2 cloves of sliced garlic in butter and add to the food processor.

Blitz the whole lot - it should be nice & soft.

Pour into the ramekin and the most important bit - add a layer of melted butter on top.

Put a Bay leaf on top of the melted butter and then pop into the fridge for a few hours to set.

Take it our and hour before serving, get some good bread and away you go!

Loire.

dipdip wrote: »

Sounds beautiful Loire, thank you. Nice with a bit of apple chutney and some crusty bread I reckon.

Never tried it with apple chutney but I'd say it would be good alright.

Have meself a giant loaf of crusty Rye bread from the bakery to go with it tonight!

Jezek wrote: »

surely not extra oxygen

It's not oxygen they use, it's nitrogen. Oxygen would make the meat go bad much quicker.

wonski wrote: »

It is all down to costs and appearance of a meat on shelves.
:

I see no reason why the vac packs would cost more than the big pumped packs.

Lidl do cheaper cuts in these packs now.

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I came across 2kg crates of cherries in Supervalu yesterday and couldn't resist. Then I realised we'd never eat them all so I made a cherry pie. Haven't tasted it yet, it's cooling - but it smells good.

Mega drool!!!! DB, that looks fantastic!

wonski wrote: »

Oxygen for a red meat, pretty sure about this. 70-80% iirc.

Sure it's not, I remember this from my Home Ec Leaving Cert days, and also it makes common sense not to oxidise the meat. Fat goes rancid in oxygen, meat gets discoloured, and aerobic bacteria take over.

Hmmm, I'm making fallafel and homemade flatbreads.

Nom, nom.

I also figured out an easy way to make falafels without a lot of cleanup. Throw the chickpeas into a plastic bag and crush them, and mix the ingredients, in that. At the end you just throw away the plastic bag :P

Minder wrote: »

Oxidisation of myoglobin to form oxymyoglobin is what is sought in Modified Atmosphere Packaging. Oxymyoglobin is bright red. Oxygen levels need to be up to 80%. Aerobic bacterial growth is inhibited in carbon dioxide. So the balance of gas used in MAP is CO2.

Source [url][/url]

I had no idea, I guess I was wrong!

Okay bit of a broad spectrum here.

But looking at cooking something different today never cooked pork steaks so was thinking stuffed pork steak but can't find any good recipes and don't want to buy one already stuffed.

Anyone know any good recipes? Or even a nice recipe for another random cut of meat?

Marty McFly wrote: »

On my search for ideas which drew a blank so I'm going the butchers to see what tickles my fancy.


But did decide to do either pulled pork or brisket tomorrow for dinner using this sauce [URL][/URL]

I've done the ribs using this and it has been delicious so I reckon on dlow cooked pork or beef could be nice .

I sometimes do a stuffed pork loin - I butterfly it and pound it till it's thin enough, add stuffing -maybe a spinach based one, or one with apple and sausage, and tie it up . in the oven it goes then

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Made this during the week. It was delicious, so tender.
http://www.inspiredtaste.net/21117/perfect-roasted-pork-tenderloin-recipe-with-apples/

That looks good but just a tad to late just back from shopping might try that during the week .

Decided to try something a little bit different going to stuff it with mozzarella, chives, chilli and chorizo then wrap it in puff pastry, and herself is making cheesecake for desert.

Bit of a cheat meal brewing.

Don't you just love how a slow cooker ends up leaving the whole house wafting of delicious food, I'm nearly drooling here.

emaleth wrote: »

I do this too, it's delicious - though I don't do the pocket cutting thing, I cut the fillet in half lengthways and pound each piece out a bit wider, then tie the whole shooting match back together with twine before roasting.

Another really nice thing to stuff pork with is black pudding. Pork stuffed pork, if you will Apple sauce to go with.

try a nice apple-sausage next time, pork on pork is lovely. Wrap the whole thing in bacon for the triple-threat