The General Chat Thread

pampootie · 22-01-2015 10:10PM

Brilliant, thank you. How much would you use in a curry paste? I wonder if I could knock up a few jars of paste to freeze, they sent me quite a bit of it

Minder · 22-01-2015 10:14PM

Don't most recipes call for a thumb sized piece? not very helpful as that would depend on the size of your thumbs. The three usual suspects in thai cooking - lemongrass, lime leaves and galangal freeze really well, cut it into disks first.

pampootie · 22-01-2015 10:18PM

Perfect, looking forward to experimenting with it. I love when they send me stuff I've never had before, it's great fun!

Cedrus · 22-01-2015 10:18PM

pampootie wrote: »

I've gotten some galangal in my veg box this week, never had it before. Is it similar to ginger in terms of flavour? I usually freeze my ginger and grate it straight from frozen as I want it in dishes, can I do the same with this?

It's broadly similar to ginger but I think with less fire but more aroma, more peppery but less sharp if that makes any sense.
I've frozen ginger when I've bought way too much, but I think it ruins it so I couldn't recommend freezing galangal as it is more subtle. However, the best way to compare them might be to treat them the same.

Cedrus · 22-01-2015 10:31PM

Minder wrote: »

Biting on one is about as pleasant as finding a full nugget of cardamon in the last spoon full of curry.

I like crunching cardamoms! :eek: Well 1 or 2

Mrs Fox · 23-01-2015 09:22AM

Galangal is ok to freeze. It's slightly woodier than ginger. As per Minder, slice them into discs. You're better off doing this than blitz them, which will make it lose its flavour if not used immediately.

dibkins · 23-01-2015 12:47PM

I'm gonna make onion soup tonight. Last time was a disaster. Has anyone got a picture or a video of what the onions should look like before i add the stock etc?

the beer revolu · 23-01-2015 01:01PM

dibkins wrote: »

I'm gonna make onion soup tonight. Last time was a disaster. Has anyone got a picture or a video of what the onions should look like before i add the stock etc?

They should be almost mahogany colour but not burnt. It takes about 30 minutes stirring over a med low heat. Lots of onions. If you don't use enough fat/oil they will burn easier. Slice onions pretty thin.

kylith · 23-01-2015 01:10PM

Having a bit of a dinner party tomorrow, two omnivores and a vegan. Since it's Burn's night Sunday the menu so far is haggis, veggie haggis, roast potatoes, roast carrots. Nibbles of pork gyoza and mushroom gyoza, roasted garlic hummus and crudités. Dessert to be crumble, rhubarb if I can get some but it seems to be out of season, and sweet bean mochi.

And since I can't be trusted unsupervised in Fallon & Byrne's I have a mix of tomatoes for roast tomato soup and a whole rabbit that will be slow cooked in stock and white wine. And a load of bits and pieces that just caught my eye.

Alun · 23-01-2015 01:15PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

They should be almost mahogany colour but not burnt. It takes about 30 minutes stirring over a med low heat. Lots of onions. If you don't use enough fat/oil they will burn easier. Slice onions pretty thin.

Yes, it takes longer than you'd think. I need to do this a lot for some curries, and always use a mandolin to get uniform thickness slices otherwise the thinner slices will brown quicker than the thick ones. Also, as you say, lots of oil/fat, otherwise the slices in direct contact with the fat will cook quicker than the ones sticking out of it. You can speed the process up a bit by having the heat a good bit higher to start with and gradually reduce it as the onions brown.

Bored_lad · 23-01-2015 04:16PM

kylith wrote: »

Having a bit of a dinner party tomorrow, two omnivores and a vegan. Since it's Burn's night Sunday the menu so far is haggis, veggie haggis, roast potatoes, roast carrots. Nibbles of pork gyoza and mushroom gyoza, roasted garlic hummus and crudités. Dessert to be crumble, rhubarb if I can get some but it seems to be out of season, and sweet bean mochi.

And since I can't be trusted unsupervised in Fallon & Byrne's I have a mix of tomatoes for roast tomato soup and a whole rabbit that will be slow cooked in stock and white wine. And a load of bits and pieces that just caught my eye.

You'll struggle to find rhubarb at this time of the year unless you have some frozen yourself.

the beer revolu · 23-01-2015 04:30PM

@Kylith

I'd urge you to remove the saddles from the rabbit and quickly cook them. Too delicious and tender for slow cooking.

kylith · 23-01-2015 06:08PM

Bored_lad wrote: »

You'll struggle to find rhubarb at this time of the year unless you have some frozen yourself.

Feck, I do love rhubarb crumble. Ah well, some other fruit it'll have to be.

the beer revolu wrote: »

@Kylith

I'd urge you to remove the saddles from the rabbit and quickly cook them. Too delicious and tender for slow cooking.

Will do that when I'm jointing it tomorrow. Thanks for the tip.

Minder · 23-01-2015 07:53PM

Can i reduce the image sizes in omg.wthax.org? I see other posters using this image hosting site and posting smaller pictures, but i can't figure out how to get my images to be smaller. I either have some monstrous banner sized photo, or a thumbnail.

Kovu · 23-01-2015 07:57PM

Minder wrote: »

Can i reduce the image sizes in omg.wthax.org? I see other posters using this image hosting site and posting smaller pictures, but i can't figure out how to get my images to be smaller. I either have some monstrous banner sized photo, or a thumbnail.

Imgur's "large thumbnail" option always works for me!

Alun · 23-01-2015 07:59PM

I use tinypic.com, which allows you to choose from a number of common sizes and will automatically generate the IMG tags as well.

Applause · 23-01-2015 08:04PM

Any ideas on how I could make bacon and cabbage a bit more exciting?

the beer revolu · 23-01-2015 08:18PM

Minder wrote: »

Can i reduce the image sizes in omg.wthax.org? I see other posters using this image hosting site and posting smaller pictures, but i can't figure out how to get my images to be smaller. I either have some monstrous banner sized photo, or a thumbnail.

I reduce in paint.net before uploading to wthax
(I go to 20% for my pics)

It's about time we started to see some of your amazing sounding food.

Faith · 23-01-2015 08:32PM

Kovu wrote: »

Imgur's "large thumbnail" option always works for me!

That's what I use. I don't think you can resize with wthax, and the pictures are always huge.

BaZmO* · 23-01-2015 08:43PM

I just reduce the size in MS Paint and then upload them to whatever thread I'm posting in. I find that some of the hosting sites let the pictures expire after a while. The Cooking Club is full of dead links of pics that once were.

angeldelight · 23-01-2015 10:16PM

Kylith I saw rhubarb in M&S yesterday

MissFlitworth · 23-01-2015 10:21PM

angeldelight wrote: »

Kylith I saw rhubarb in M&S yesterday

There this evening too

If I take photos on my phone I resize them there (using an app called Simple Resize or somesuch) and then upload to photobox, or I resize using the editing tool on photobox.

Just made guacamole with a chipotle en adobo in it. The smokey flavour & the lime is so nice. Roll on nacho o'clock!

heldel00 · 23-01-2015 10:23PM

I wish I lived with you Mrs Flitworth :P

kylith · 23-01-2015 10:29PM

angeldelight wrote: »

Kylith I saw rhubarb in M&S yesterday

OOooooo! Which one?

Dizzyblonde · 23-01-2015 10:38PM

Minder wrote: »

Can i reduce the image sizes in omg.wthax.org? I see other posters using this image hosting site and posting smaller pictures, but i can't figure out how to get my images to be smaller. I either have some monstrous banner sized photo, or a thumbnail.

I use Tinypic and copy and paste the code for message boards, it produces a nice size picture.

angeldelight · 24-01-2015 07:55AM

kylith wrote: »

OOooooo! Which one?

Liffey Valley

MissFlitworth · 24-01-2015 09:52AM

Bags of rhubarb in M&S in Jervis too

kylith · 24-01-2015 10:59AM

MissFlitworth wrote: »

Bags of rhubarb in M&S in Jervis too

Deadly. I am so there today! I may even buy extra so I can re-enact scenes from my childhood of being given a stick of rhubarb, a bowl of sugar, and told 'Now, eat that and stop annoying Nanny'.

Kat1170 · 24-01-2015 12:03PM

Now I know this is going to be regarded as heresy by some here

but what is your 'go to' instant gravy on those occasions when you just can't be bothered or are just too darn tired, to make the proper stuff. Which one do you find the nicest.

The Hill Billy · 24-01-2015 12:10PM

Applause wrote: »

Any ideas on how I could make bacon and cabbage a bit more exciting?

Eat it while on a roller coaster!

Maybe fry the cabbage with butter & garlic instead of boiling, & serve with fancy spuds instead of plain ol' mash or whatever.

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