The General Chat Thread

beertons · 17-01-2016 08:28PM

Got a kebab a few weeks ago and I got it wrapped in a skinny naan bread, like a wrap, but thicker. Would anyone know where I could get something like that? Tasted a lot nicer than a wrap, as it was made fresh. I'd love to even have a go at making them myself.

TeletextPear · 17-01-2016 09:31PM

beertons wrote: »

Got a kebab a few weeks ago and I got it wrapped in a skinny naan bread, like a wrap, but thicker. Would anyone know where I could get something like that? Tasted a lot nicer than a wrap, as it was made fresh. I'd love to even have a go at making them myself.

The Aldi Mediterranean wraps sound like what you're looking for...

Nekarsulm · 17-01-2016 11:27PM

Has anyone else here tried the Aldi spinach wraps? They seem to hold together much better than ordinary plain ones.

Dial Hard · 18-01-2016 12:40AM

TeletextPear wrote:

The Aldi Mediterranean wraps sound like what you're looking for...

Are they back???!!!

*runs off to remake the lamb kebabs recipe from the Cooking Club*

angeldelight · 18-01-2016 03:55AM

Dial Hard wrote: »

Are they back???!!!

*runs off to remake the lamb kebabs recipe from the Cooking Club*

If they're not back in Aldi you can get the very same product in Dunnes

Zelda247 · 18-01-2016 10:44AM

Do you guys eat chicken a lot? Both myself and my husband love meat but we don't like eating it every night as obviously its not healthy. My husband does not like fish so thats a no no just wondered what most people do?

Taboola · 18-01-2016 11:10AM

Why is eating meat every night obviously not healthy?

kimokanto · 18-01-2016 12:33PM

Zelda247 wrote:

Do you guys eat chicken a lot? Both myself and my husband love meat but we don't like eating it every night as obviously its not healthy. My husband does not like fish so thats a no no just wondered what most people do?

Trying to eat less meat in our house too, not easy but we like fish so must be hard for y ourselves. We are doing veggie meals twice a week & quiche/omelette once a week.
Chicken is very versatile too. If you can get the hang of portioning whole chicken yourself saves â‚¬â‚¬ & gives lots of options.
If you like curries check out "Manjula's Kitchen" YouTube for great veggie options.

Taboola wrote:

Why is eating meat every night obviously not healthy?

There's more & more evidence that red meat should be once/max twice a week. Increased risk of bowel cancer among others.

Taboola · 18-01-2016 01:28PM

kimokanto wrote: »

There's more & more evidence that red meat should be once/max twice a week. Increased risk of bowel cancer among others.

Zelda247 never said red meat, just meat. We were told fat was the devil for awhile as well.

I don't buy it.

Faith · 19-01-2016 01:33AM

Mod note: This is not Nutrition & Diet (thankfully!!). Please leave discussion of what's "healthy" or not over there, thanks.

The Black Oil · 22-01-2016 09:12AM

Was listening to a Christmas episode of This American Life yesterday. They were talking about people deep frying turkeys. :eek:

rubadub · 22-01-2016 10:35AM

The Black Oil wrote: »

Was listening to a Christmas episode of This American Life yesterday. They were talking about people deep frying turkeys. :eek:

I think some posters here were doing it too. Its a big thing for thangsgiving. I see it was wasteful of oil as so much is needed, and where do you store this massive deep fat fryer that is only used once or twice a year.

Some are simply just big pots heated by gas burners outside.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_fryer

Whispered · 22-01-2016 01:15PM

Can anybody recommend a good brand of noodle. I desperately want to make a chowmein at home but the poxy noodles are nearly always awful.

Too thick or break up too easily.
I may have asked about cooking method before but I'm specifically looking for a good brand to try.
Thanks.

Loire · 22-01-2016 02:09PM

Work has been crazy since Xmas. Worked every day since Dec 27th. The freezer really came into its own, but that too was finally depleted this week. The lowest point came last night when the kids had fish fingers, waffles & beans for dinner.

If anyone is in the English Market on Sat morning and see a guy with a rucksack, in a state of delirium, say Hi!

Loire · 22-01-2016 02:10PM

Work has been crazy since Xmas. Worked every day since Dec 27th. The freezer really came into its own, but that too was finally depleted this week. The lowest point came last night when the kids had fish fingers, waffles & beans for dinner.

If anyone is in the English Market on Sat morning and see a guy with a rucksack, in a state of delirium, say Hi!

The Black Oil · 22-01-2016 05:39PM

rubadub wrote: »

I think some posters here were doing it too. Its a big thing for thangsgiving. I see it was wasteful of oil as so much is needed, and where do you store this massive deep fat fryer that is only used once or twice a year.

Some are simply just big pots heated by gas burners outside.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_fryer

Main concern from the podcast was fire risk. Fortunately, we have William Shatner on hand to explain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYkRF_FmD40

B0jangles · 22-01-2016 07:16PM

Whispered wrote: »

Can anybody recommend a good brand of noodle. I desperately want to make a chowmein at home but the poxy noodles are nearly always awful.

Too thick or break up too easily.
I may have asked about cooking method before but I'm specifically looking for a good brand to try.
Thanks.

I always use lidls dry egg noodles and find them very good, they are quite thin but they have never broken up or gone mushy on me while being fried

beertons · 22-01-2016 11:56PM

Want to do a roast beef on Sunday. Never done it before, and dunno where to start. What cut of beef? Do I cover in foil? Anyone wanna come cook it for me?

Nekarsulm · 23-01-2016 12:10AM

Ask butcher for a roast, simple as. Adk for one with a bit of fat on it. Into a roasting pan with 2 or 3 pints of water. 180 degrees for 2 hours. Thrn it over after an hour. Don't let it try out, add water if needed. Leave the lid off for the last ten minutes to get a nice colour. Let rest on a dish for ten minutes before carving.
Add a half pint water to the juices in the roasting pan, put large tablespoon cornflakes into a pint measure and blend with cold water. Get rid of all lumps. Put roasting pan onto a cooker ring at a low setting and stir in the cornflour mix. Add a chicken stock cube and keep stirring. If it gets too thick Add a little more water. Now get your bottle of gravy Browning and very very sparingly dribble some in while stirring till you get the colour you like. Job done.

PS to go a butcher, never a supermarket. Tell them you want Angus or Hereford meat. Tell them you don't want Continental breed meat. The reason for this is Continental breed are very lean meat without enough fat to a) keep itself moist and b) give you juices for gravy.
Best of luck!

Kovu · 23-01-2016 10:14AM

I see the word 'cornflakes' in there Nek. Please don't use cornflakes

Rib roast is my personal favourite, it's a fattier cut of meat and has more flavour imo. I slow cook it over a stock mix in a roasting pan and sealed tight with foil. Quite similar to Nek above.

Nekarsulm · 23-01-2016 10:25AM

Aaargh! The mother of all typo's! CORNFLOUR not cornflakes.

vicwatson · 23-01-2016 10:36AM

Loire wrote: »

Work has been crazy since Xmas. Worked every day since Dec 27th. The freezer really came into its own, but that too was finally depleted this week. The lowest point came last night when the kids had fish fingers, waffles & beans for dinner.

If anyone is in the English Market on Sat morning and see a guy with a rucksack, in a state of delirium, say Hi!

A low point?, jesus ya cant beat fish fingers waffles and beans.:P

Aldi super 6 and Lidl offers till Sunday will sort you out with great dinners.

Gloomtastic! · 23-01-2016 10:40AM

Went to Aldi for my last couple of roast beefs. Both really good, matching our butchers no problem.

I follow my Mary Berry recipe. Smother in softened butter, sprinkle generously with plain flour and season well. Place in a roasting tin, uncovered, with a quartered onion and a chopped carrot. Put in a preheated oven at 200c for 25minutes then turn down to 180c. 25mins a lb.
After roasting allow to rest for at least 30 mins wrapped in tin foil while you deglaze the tin to make the gravy.

Must be served with Yorkshire puds! This is the best recipe I've found although adding some salt to the batter helps add flavour. http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9020/best-yorkshire-puddings

Drooling now just thinking about it. :rolleyes::)

the beer revolu · 23-01-2016 07:17PM

Blindly thinking that meat from all butchers is better than meat from all supermarkets is very flawed. There are so, so many really poor butchers around that I would sooner trust a supermarket than a random, untried, unrecommended butcher. Having said that, though, a good butcher who knows what you like is a friend for life.

The timing for cooking a joint of meat is entirely dependant on its size.

I'd agree with kovu on rib roast (preferably bone in). You will pay handsomely for good roasting beef, though. If a butcher suggests round roast for your Sunday roast, walk away and never darken their door again.

The Mary Berry guidelines look good but the timing will also depend on how well you like it done. You will find lots of roasting times and temperatures online.
I would always roast prime beef uncovered.

StripedBoxers · 23-01-2016 10:38PM

Lads, is anyone here having issues with the Spanish garlic from Dunnes/Aldi/Supervalu lately?

The last few times I've gotten it, its been soft, sprouting, and sometimes black.

This week I got three different nets of it, two were black when I went to use them so they ended up in the bin, the one from Aldi was sprouting and soft.

Its like this when I buy it, so its not how I store it (I keep it in a cupboard).

Anywhere to get decent, usable garlic? I'm not near any markets so supermarkets/shops are my only option, unless I can get it online, which I doubt I can.

Kovu · 23-01-2016 10:49PM

I got some in Lidl a couple of weeks ago- the week they were 50c.
Still as good as the day I got it but I keep mine in the shed outside where it's cooler. The mild weather might be causing an issue in transport & storage.

Nekarsulm · 23-01-2016 11:17PM

the beer revolu wrote: »

Blindly thinking that meat from all butchers is better than meat from all supermarkets is very flawed. There are so, so many really poor butchers around
.

Ah that's true, but at least if you get a tough or stringy piece of meat in the butchers , you can march in and read them the riot act. Less effective in a big supermarket.

L1011 · 26-01-2016 05:20PM

Trying to make the Hairy Bikers beef biryani as recommended on here.

I've found out so far that it does not scale down well - the recipe is for 6 and I'm trying to half it but from the volume of some of the spices (1/8th of a cinnamon stick is a bit hard to judge!) through to the onion/garlic/ginger/chilli mixture just being too small for my food processor to really get in to - had to stop repeatedly to push stuff off the sides.

Even if it turns out crap I've not done that much work with raw(er) spices in a while so I've practised my pestle skills at least.

StripedBoxers wrote: »

Anywhere to get decent, usable garlic? I'm not near any markets so supermarkets/shops are my only option, unless I can get it online, which I doubt I can.

Have you no actual greengrocers near by?

Quality concerns still exist - rather like the post about there being crap standalone butchers directly above yours - but I've generally found far better quality control there. All my garlic recently has, at worst and a week out from buying sometimes, had a tiny sprout in the middle of a clove.

rubadub · 26-01-2016 05:32PM

Got garlic in supervalu with very little taste, I have heard of this complaint before. Is there a particular origin which is stronger tasting, or get it in a particular shops, like Asian or East European ones.

Back to using my jar of garlic paste. Tesco now sell a brand which the asian shops carry. This Nishaan brand. Nothing amazing, but at least it tastes of garlic!

http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=267144432

StripedBoxers · 26-01-2016 11:09PM

L1011 wrote: »

Have you no actual greengrocers near by?

Quality concerns still exist - rather like the post about there being crap standalone butchers directly above yours - but I've generally found far better quality control there. All my garlic recently has, at worst and a week out from buying sometimes, had a tiny sprout in the middle of a clove.

I have, and have had the same issue with them, either sprouting or black.

Picked up another pack of garlic yesterday in Dunnes, its not black, its sprouting though and has zero flavour. Zero.

I'd use the paste/powder etc but when frying steaks etc the paste isn't really an option (for me at least).

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