The General Chat Thread

Mr. CooL ICE · 18-08-2014 11:11AM

Had my first actual coconut! They were 60c each in Aldi, so I thought it would be fun, even if there was a risk of destroying my kitchen trying to open it. Used a tack hammer and screwdriver to open the eyes and drained the milk into a cup. It was amazing. Tapped the 'equator' of the coconut with the hammer a few times and was able to split it in two.

I scooped out the flesh and blitzed it in the food processor. Added some flaked almonds, melted coconut oil, melted dark chocolate, some vanilla whey powder, a teaspoon of molasses, mixed and let it set in a tin in the freezer. An hour later, I topped with some more dark chocolate. Delicious.

Kovu · 18-08-2014 02:22PM

Going through a bit of a love craze for orange passion fruit at the moment as Lidl have them in.

Only problem is, it looks like I am eating a bowl of frogspawn with my breakfast :eek:

annie.t · 18-08-2014 07:19PM

.Kovu. wrote: »

Going through a bit of a love craze for orange passion fruit at the moment as Lidl have them in.

Only problem is, it looks like I am eating a bowl of frogspawn with my breakfast :eek:

Yeah the inside looks horrible but is sooooo good

love em

fiddlechic · 18-08-2014 07:22PM

fitzcoff wrote: »

My father called over early on and himself and my eldest went mushroom picking, I now have a bucket of field mushrooms, any ideas what to do besides soup?

My dad has a field that teems with wild mushrooms - generally not until September though - my favourite ways are fried in loads of butter and serve on brown bread; or if you're feeling lazy, microwave them in a little bit of milk, salt and pepper - I do it in 30sec bits, until just tender. So good.

Faith · 18-08-2014 11:51PM

I'm working myself up to try poutine:

Chips, gravy and cheese curds. The Canadians swear by it...

Dizzyblonde · 19-08-2014 02:28PM

It's just as well you're so far away Faith, because I'd mug you for that

confusticated · 19-08-2014 08:51PM

Had some French friends staying with me for the last week (so have been eating lots of nice things!) and they gave me a thank you present of Le Petit Larousse Patissier cookbook...I've just been looking at the pictures all evening, it's so beautiful. Rethinking my Cooking Club ideas now!

Faith · 20-08-2014 09:13PM

We just took a wander through an ethnic market here in Vancouver. Omg, it was amazing! Huge tubs of spices, half of which I'd never heard of. So many types of vegetables, again half of which were completely alien to me. And the best bit of all was a 1.3kg bag of peeled garlic for just a few dollars! I hate peeling garlic more than nearly any other kitchen job!

It was quite an eye opener compared to my local tesco in cork

Dizzyblonde · 20-08-2014 09:18PM

Sounds like food heaven Faith - you'll be discovering new things for ages

I finally had lunch in The Fish Shop in Blackrock today - it was amazing.

B0jangles · 20-08-2014 09:28PM

Faith wrote: »

We just took a wander through an ethnic market here in Vancouver. Omg, it was amazing! Huge tubs of spices, half of which I'd never heard of. So many types of vegetables, again half of which were completely alien to me. And the best bit of all was a 1.3kg bag of peeled garlic for just a few dollars! I hate peeling garlic more than nearly any other kitchen job!

It was quite an eye opener compared to my local tesco in cork

I'm weird, in that I like chopping veggies very much but I still hate dealing with fecking. garlic. It's sticky and annoying and the papery thin skin sticks to your fingers in the Worst Way.

Faith · 20-08-2014 10:27PM

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Sounds like food heaven Faith - you'll be discovering new things for ages

I finally had lunch in The Fish Shop in Blackrock today - it was amazing.

+1 to both! It's a brilliant city for food. I still haven't tried poutine, but I'm definitely going to in the next couple of days

.

Glad you tried The Fish Shop too! It's so lovely.

B0jangles wrote: »

I'm weird, in that I like chopping veggies very much but I still hate dealing with fecking. garlic. It's sticky and annoying and the papery thin skin sticks to your fingers in the Worst Way.

Exactly. Garlic is one of my favourite foods, but preparing it is the worst.

fiddlechic · 20-08-2014 11:15PM

Faith wrote: »

Exactly. Garlic is one of my favourite foods, but preparing it is the worst.

Extreme jealously at Vancouver and the peeled garlic in particular. Made pearl barley risotto tonight that required 2 whole heads of peeled garlic. I nearly gave up half way through and thought "sure the papery bits are probably full of fibre" - but thankfully persisted!

Marty McFly · 20-08-2014 11:19PM

Faith wrote: »

We just took a wander through an ethnic market here in Vancouver. Omg, it was amazing! Huge tubs of spices, half of which I'd never heard of. So many types of vegetables, again half of which were completely alien to me. And the best bit of all was a 1.3kg bag of peeled garlic for just a few dollars! I hate peeling garlic more than nearly any other kitchen job!

It was quite an eye opener compared to my local tesco in cork

:pac: I was just giving out about the exact same thing tonight while cooking dinner.

fiddlechic · 20-08-2014 11:31PM

I even tried this shake in bowl method early - but it doesn't work on lidl garlic, a minute of shaking later, and the skins were still clinging on for dear life.
http://www.saveur.com/article/Video/video-How-to-Peel-a-Head-of-Garlic-in-Less-Than-10-Seconds

Gloomtastic! · 21-08-2014 04:00AM

You guys, with your garlic peeling phobia, are weird!

Faith · 21-08-2014 04:48AM

It's so fiddly and thin and sticky! And if the skin is thick and brittle, you run the serious risk of impaling yourself underneath your fingernail as you try to peel it off.

Mellor · 21-08-2014 05:07AM

Get one of these, prob pick it up for 2 euro

BaZmO* · 21-08-2014 07:54AM

Just gently smashed each clove with the flat part of a kitchen knife and the skin will come off in one go. Works on the same principle as the gadget above. To make it even easier I just cut off a little bit of the root end first.

Overflow · 21-08-2014 07:55AM

For those in Dublin, if you haven't already been, I highly recommend you check out Cavistons Food Emporium in Glasthule. It is food heaven !!!

http://cavistons.com/food-emporium/

I got two kilos of muscles for 8 euros, some samphire and they threw in a huge bunch of parsley for free ! I wanted to buy everything !

BaZmO* · 21-08-2014 07:59AM

Overflow wrote: »

For those in Dublin, if you haven't already been, I highly recommend you check out Cavistons Food Emporium in Glasthule. It is food heaven !!!

http://cavistons.com/food-emporium/

I got two kilos of muscles for 8 euros, some samphire and they threw in a high bunch of parsley for free ! I wanted to buy everything !

A kilo of mussels is about €3-€4 in SuperValu. Mussels in general are very cheap to buy.

IvyTheTerrible · 21-08-2014 07:59AM

BaZmO* wrote: »

Just gently smashed each clove with the flat part of a kitchen knife and the skin will come off in one go. Works on the same principle as the gadget above. To make it even easier I just cut off a little bit of the root end first.

This is exactly what I do, works like a charm!
If the skin is being extra clingy, I just cut through the skin in one place before doing the above.

Overflow · 21-08-2014 08:03AM

BaZmO* wrote: »

A kilo of mussels is about €3-€4 in SuperValu. Mussels in general a very cheap to buy.

Not much difference so, I did buy 2 kilos

My point was not that they were cheap anyway (probably more expensive), but the amazing selection of food they sell.

Gloomtastic! · 21-08-2014 08:34AM

Overflow wrote: »

For those in Dublin, if you haven't already been, I highly recommend you check out Cavistons Food Emporium in Glasthule. It is food heaven !!!

http://cavistons.com/food-emporium/

I got two kilos of muscles for 8 euros, some samphire and they threw in a huge bunch of parsley for free ! I wanted to buy everything !

I spent a year working in Glasthule and getting my lunch from Cavistons. Put on a couple of stone I reckon, the soups and the ribs were just the best!

beertons · 21-08-2014 08:55AM

Did anyone see the programme on BBC2 last night about the amount of meat we eat? Didn't like the American place, where they fed them corn and antibiotics? There was a banned ingredient too, well in the eu, was it a steroid? I think I'm going to double my chicken/Turkey/fish intake on a weekly basis now.

IvyTheTerrible · 21-08-2014 09:00AM

beertons wrote: »

Did anyone see the programme on BBC2 last night about the amount of meat we eat? Didn't like the American place, where they fed them corn and antibiotics? There was a banned ingredient too, well in the eu, was it a steroid? I think I'm going to double my chicken/Turkey/fish intake on a weekly basis now.

Ehh, sorry to burst your bubble, but there is so much crap put into chicken too (unless you buy organic free range).
In terms of traceability, it's a lot more reliable on Irish beef than chicken.

iwantmydinner · 21-08-2014 09:09AM

Quality Irish beef and lamb, with the Bord Bia stickers, will never have those nasty things in it.

Roesy · 21-08-2014 10:02AM

Anyone have any tried and tested recipe for fondant potatoes? Have had a look online, seems like a lot of small variations. Have a couple of nice fillet steaks defrosting and I'm looking for something slightly different to accompany them.

BaZmO* · 21-08-2014 10:23AM

Roesy wrote: »

Anyone have any tried and tested recipe for fondant potatoes? Have had a look online, seems like a lot of small variations. Have a couple of nice fillet steaks defrosting and I'm looking for something slightly different to accompany them.

I've done them pretty much like this loads of times. They're hard to get wrong tbh.

MissFlitworth · 21-08-2014 10:32AM

Ah, fellow garlic preparation haters, I thought I was alone in the world. If there is a single other food stuff as annoying to prepare for the pot I have yet to find it. Sticky, gets under your nails, annoying to cut, explodes everywhere when 'crushed'. Pity it's so nice

Roesy · 21-08-2014 10:36AM

BaZmO* wrote: »

I've done them pretty much like this loads of times. They're hard to get wrong tbh.

The hairy bikers had something like 5oz of butter in theirs which just seemed like a lot. I'm not anti butter by any means but that just seemed like an awful lot. Will give those a go later. Does seem really straight forward though.

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