The General Chat Thread

Loire · 15-11-2015 07:11PM

Speaking of steaks....

I was in Debenhams last week and picked up one of those "250 things every bloke should know" type of books (I know). Anyway, I saw this deadly sounding sauce for a steak and decided to give it a go Friday night - it was out of this world:

Whilst the steaks are resting, add a glass of red wine to the frying pan and reduce right down (keep the heat on high) - it will get a bit thick. Take it off the heat and add a good knob of butter and mix into the reduction until fully melted in. Pop it into a ramakin with a small spoon and it's good to go. This is really nice.

Old Perry · 15-11-2015 07:20PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

Almost any marinade will probably stick to any pan.
You could clean off the marinade, cook your steak and pour the marinade over at the end to heat through.

Probably want to cook that marinade in some way also?

Loire · 15-11-2015 07:42PM

Holiday's Are Comin' !!!

Neyite · 16-11-2015 05:09PM

Snap Loire, I did my (first ever) Christmas cake at the weekend too. I had to make a few substitutions to the recipe so it should be... eh... interesting.

If its sh!te I'll fob it off on unsuspecting visitors :P

Merkin · 16-11-2015 08:51PM

Can anyone recommend a good spiralizer please? There are lots with quite significant reductions on Amazon at present but not sure which one to go for!

AmyPL · 16-11-2015 09:50PM

I have this one Merkin, I think there's a lot of ones out there with pretty much the exact same design.

It's not as fancy as those hand-cranked yokes with the different attachments but it does the job for my courgette noodles!

Tilly · 20-11-2015 09:58AM

I'm clean eating till the silly season starts but for the life of me i cannot make banana pancakes. I'm using one large banana and a med egg. It just seems all too runny and i burn them even tho i dont think the pan is super hot. What am i doing wrong people?

dibkins · 20-11-2015 10:12AM

The mix is really runny before you put it on a pan. I like to add a little bit of flour to thicken it up. Not sure why they are burning - they go brown in spots on me, but nothing major. They don't take long to cook at all. I use large eggs so maybe your ratio is off a bit?

Dolbert · 20-11-2015 10:12AM

If it's a large banana, use 2 medium eggs

Tilly · 20-11-2015 10:13AM

Thanks guys. Will try two eggs in the morning and see how i go

The Black Oil · 22-11-2015 09:39AM

I tried Gordon Ramsey's restaurant in Heathrow. The food (braised lamb) was great...the price less so.

Tom Dunne · 22-11-2015 10:24AM

So as you may recall, I am living in the Middle East. Yesterday, while in the supermarket, I was delighted to find Irish beef. I bought myself two decent fillet steaks and a bag of beef cubes.

I was extremely disappointed to find the fillet steaks we just short of shoe leather when cooked. So bad in fact that neither myself nor herself could finish them. I did mine rare and herself had hers well done, so it was not down to the cooking.

I would like to think that it is a bad batch or something, because if that is the standard of beef we are sending abroad, it won't last long.

The Hill Billy · 22-11-2015 11:33AM

Was it in branded packaging? If so, I'd give the producer a shout to see what they have to say for themselves. I'm sure that the steaks didn't come cheap, so I'd be looking for compensation.

Tom Dunne · 22-11-2015 12:32PM

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Was it in branded packaging? If so, I'd give the producer a shout to see what they have to say for themselves. I'm sure that the steaks didn't come cheap, so I'd be looking for compensation.

No, it was the supermarket's own branding. I might have a chat with the lads behind the counter, though these tend to be low-level, poorly-paid Asian immigrants, so no so sure how far that would get me.

In terms of cost, here in the ME, things such as meat are heavily subsidised, so two Irish fillet steaks actually cost me the equivalent of 4 Euro.

Kovu · 22-11-2015 12:51PM

Very strange, Irish meat is usually marked on packaging somewhere with a factory number. Is/Was there any Fxxx or Fxxxx number on it anywhere?

Tom Dunne · 22-11-2015 12:54PM

Kovu wrote: »

Very strange, Irish meat is usually marked on packaging somewhere with a factory number. Is/Was there any Fxxx or Fxxxx number on it anywhere?

The packaging laws out here are quite different.

I reckon it was shipped in a larger piece and then chopped up into steaks. So I'd guess the factory/origin details were on the larger piece.

Kovu · 22-11-2015 12:55PM

Tom Dunne wrote: »

The packaging laws out here are quite different.

I reckon it was shipped in a larger piece and then chopped up into steaks. So I'd guess the factory/origin details were on the larger piece.

Ah ok. Strange one!

dibkins · 23-11-2015 09:58AM

The Black Oil wrote: »

I tried Gordon Ramsey's restaurant in Heathrow. The food (braised lamb) was great...the price less so.

I had an awesome pulled pork burger there earlier in the year. it was on expenses, but me and my colleague were still a bit taken aback when we saw the pound to euro conversion!

Harry Palmr · 23-11-2015 08:08PM

What are the best potatoes for roasties?

the beer revolu · 24-11-2015 09:31AM

Harry Palmr wrote: »

What are the best potatoes for roasties?

I like roosters or Kerr's Pinks.
Reckords have great flavour but are a bit too floury.

The Hill Billy · 24-11-2015 09:52AM

I've been using Queens recently which are very floury, but have been making my best roasted ever. Par-steaming for 8-10 mins. Quick shake in the pot to ruffle the edges & into a hot roasting dish. The job's Oxo.

Harry Palmr · 24-11-2015 11:43AM

Mine turned to mush yesterday, I think I did leave them too long but was rather shocked at how far they'd broken down - ended up chopping up onion into them frying instead!

MissFlitworth · 24-11-2015 11:50AM

We did a bit of a roastie experiment a few weeks ago where over 3 weeks we tried Roosters, Maris Pipers and a potato who must remain anonymous as I've forgotten the variety (it was one of the Lidl organic bags). Roosters were our winners, second was anonospud and third were Maris Pipers which went to serious mush on me.

Dizzyblonde · 24-11-2015 12:21PM

I use Roosters too, and steam them first. If I boil them they disintegrate.

Harry Palmr · 24-11-2015 12:38PM

Cheers, steaming is the way forward I think - they are Wolden Gunder and on the bag it says for roasts boil for 10 minutes! Clearly they have never actually done so.

Loire · 24-11-2015 02:28PM

Sous-Vide comes to Lidl for 69.99....

http://www.lidl.ie/en/Offers.htm?action=showDetail&id=33285

Old Perry · 24-11-2015 10:32PM

Loire wrote: »

Sous-Vide comes to Lidl for 69.99....

http://www.lidl.ie/en/Offers.htm?action=showDetail&id=33285

Anybody have an opinion on what these might be like? Worth the money? Always wanted to try these method of cooking.

Gloomtastic! · 25-11-2015 12:20AM

Old Perry wrote: »

Anybody have an opinion on what these might be like? Worth the money? Always wanted to try these method of cooking.

Most things electrical I've bought from Aldi or Lidl haven't been worth the money. Luckily I save the receipts and they give the money back no quibble.

Loire · 25-11-2015 04:22PM

Old Perry wrote: »

Anybody have an opinion on what these might be like? Worth the money? Always wanted to try these method of cooking.

If I bought one I know exactly what would happen...my first attempt would end up in the Disaster thread and then, swiftly, it would be lobbed up into the attic with lots of other paraphernalia

Harry Palmr · 25-11-2015 06:19PM

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I use Roosters too, and steam them first. If I boil them they disintegrate.

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Cheers, steaming is the way forward I think - they are Wolden Gunder and on the bag it says for roasts boil for 10 minutes! Clearly they have never actually done so.

Success! About 15 mins then 30 in the oven.

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