The General Chat Thread

beertons · 06-04-2016 10:50PM

Mystery Egg wrote: »

I love Nutella. I love it on bread. And I love crisps, and adore a crisp sambo. But this? This? I draw the line, sir. The line has been drawn! What next? Ham and jam? Cheese and HONEY?

Wait, cheese and honey is good.

Anyway my point is no, and I forbid it. :pac:

Tbh, I was just having a crisp sambo, and the nutella was left out on the counter beside me. I thought of tayto and Easter eggs from last weekmk, and thought it might not be too bad. I was shocked.

Gloomtastic! · 07-04-2016 12:29PM

How much do you spend on your main meal of the day?

On average I'd say about €10 between two adults and three kids. Usually enough left over to serve lunch for one next day.

foodaholic · 07-04-2016 12:51PM

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Well it WAS one of Dublin's best kept secrets until now!!

I love the place, tiny alright, but the food is just so wonderful. Nice owner/staff, got free expressos etc. The wine is also sourced from the home place. When we ordered the wine, it did need a bit of air, so the owner gave us a couple of "aired glasses" of something else whilst waiting for the red to come right, and when it did, it was gorgeous. As was the food. Glorious, a lovely atmosphere, and jammers too, a good sign.

Whoops !!

Whispered · 07-04-2016 12:56PM

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

How much do you spend on your main meal of the day?

It varies HUGELY depending on what's on the menu. 2 adults and a toddler, shopping usually comes to 50-60ish a week with one week a month coming to 80ish to allow for things like oils, herbs, nut butter etc. Something like eggs poached in tomatoes on top of butter beans with potatoes comes in at less than €2 for the 3 of us, whereas a prawn curry or seafood chowder would be €6+ for 2 of them then another meal for me. Really hard question to answer. How did you work out your €10?

Gloomtastic! · 07-04-2016 01:59PM

Whispered wrote: »

How did you work out your €10?

It's a rough average. Cost of meat plus veg/carb and fresh herbs but not including store cupboard stuff.

Shenshen · 08-04-2016 08:16AM

cee_jay wrote: »

I want a open towards the floor oven with a retractable door.

I got one of those 2 years ago (and yes, I got it because I saw it on the GBBO, not ashamed to admit it), and I absolutely love it. Really, really handy, and very easy to clean, too.

SB_Part2 · 08-04-2016 09:00AM

Shenshen wrote: »

I got one of those 2 years ago (and yes, I got it because I saw it on the GBBO, not ashamed to admit it), and I absolutely love it. Really, really handy, and very easy to clean, too.

I would love one of these as well.

Which one did you get?

Shenshen · 08-04-2016 11:44AM

SB_Part2 wrote: »

I would love one of these as well.

Which one did you get?

I'd have to look up the exact model when I get home. When I was looking, only Neff offered those, I'm not sure if there are others around now?

emaleth · 08-04-2016 01:37PM

If anyone finds themselves near TK Maxx in the ILAC Centre, they have a few Diana Henry books for 8.99 each. I had it away with Salt Sugar Smoke, but Food from Plenty, A Change of Appetite and Roast Figs Sugar Snow are still there.

Gloomtastic! · 14-04-2016 07:21PM

Bazmo's Stuffing Balls just made it on to MasterChef! The dish was a winner.

Whispered · 15-04-2016 11:57AM

I decided to make a real effort with bolegnese yesterday but it didn't seem to work. Can somebody have a look and advise where I went wrong.

One carrot, one white onion, two sticks of celery all chopped into small chunks and fried over low heat until softened. Transferred into saucepan.

70g pancetta and two large mushrooms, chopped, squeeze of garlic purée (had no cloves) fried until softened. Transferred into saucepan.

400g beef mince, fried over medium heat until fully cooked and brown with some darker bits. Transferred into saucepan.

One beef stock cube, one tin chopped tomatoes and half tin tomato purée into frying pan with a good table spoon of dry oregano and a small amount of herbs de Provence. Reduced slightly then poured over meat and vegs, mixed through and left to simmer lightly for two hours (adding water where needed)

Before serving I stirred through a table spoon of pesto as I had no basil and pesto needed to be used.

I didn't taste but my husbands response was "yeah it's nice, doesn't taste like a Bolognese though, it tastes like something from the Indian".

Um...... How did that happen? Where did I go wrong? (Cannot use wine because of the baby)

Gloomtastic! · 15-04-2016 01:54PM

Whispered wrote: »

I decided to make a real effort with bolegnese yesterday but it didn't seem to work. Can somebody have a look and advise where I went wrong.

One carrot, one white onion, two sticks of celery all chopped into small chunks and fried over low heat until softened. Transferred into saucepan.

70g pancetta and two large mushrooms, chopped, squeeze of garlic purée (had no cloves) fried until softened. Transferred into saucepan.

400g beef mince, fried over medium heat until fully cooked and brown with some darker bits. Transferred into saucepan.

One beef stock cube, one tin chopped tomatoes and half tin tomato purée into frying pan with a good table spoon of dry oregano and a small amount of herbs de Provence. Reduced slightly then poured over meat and vegs, mixed through and left to simmer lightly for two hours (adding water where needed)

Before serving I stirred through a table spoon of pesto as I had no basil and pesto needed to be used.

I didn't taste but my husbands response was "yeah it's nice, doesn't taste like a Bolognese though, it tastes like something from the Indian".

Um...... How did that happen? Where did I go wrong? (Cannot use wine because of the baby)

Weren't you curious to taste it after that comment to see what he was on about? Maybe you've mixed your herbs/spices up and you used coriander leaf instead of herb.....

Whispered · 15-04-2016 02:08PM

No I don't eat meat. Definitely used herbs de Provence.
Even if I used a bit of chilli in it I'd understand. Does that sound about right for a bolegnese? Maybe it was the stock?

LaChatteGitane · 15-04-2016 02:39PM

Whispered wrote: »

No I don't eat meat. Definitely used herbs de Provence.
Even if I used a bit of chilli in it I'd understand. Does that sound about right for a bolegnese? Maybe it was the stock?

It does sound like a classic bolognese (or a variant of it). Although wine is an ingredient I wouldn't want to eliminate. It doesn't have to be half a bottle, a glass in the early stages of cooking should do. I don't think Italian babies get drunk on that, so why would Irish babies.

I usually fry off the meat together with the veg, add a little oregano before tomato concentrate. Then the wine. The wine should evaporate before adding stock. Leave to simmer uncovered for an hour, maybe two. The bolognese should be of a thick consistency and not much liquid.
At the end I sometimes add a splash of milk.

Whispered · 15-04-2016 04:20PM

LaChatteGitane wrote: »

It does sound like a classic bolognese (or a variant of it). Although wine is an ingredient I wouldn't want to eliminate. It doesn't have to be half a bottle, a glass in the early stages of cooking should do. I don't think Italian babies get drunk on that, so why would Irish babies.

I usually fry off the meat together with the veg, add a little oregano before tomato concentrate. Then the wine. The wine should evaporate before adding stock. Leave to simmer uncovered for an hour, maybe two. The bolognese should be of a thick consistency and not much liquid.
At the end I sometimes add a splash of milk.

Great thank. The reason I left out the wine is that I've read it retains 5% of the alcohol even after 2.5hours of simmering and I just wouldn't feel right giving it to him at his age. (I'd worry it would make him sleep and I'd catch myself spiking him :pac:). Does it make a huge difference? If it does I might do a batch for the baby and freeze in portions, then one for the adults.

taco.cat · 15-04-2016 04:22PM

Did you season it correctly? It's pretty hard to give feedback when you didn't taste it yourself, tbh. There's nothing in what you described that could be pinpointed as the issue, except you don't mention seasoning. Was it definitely basil pesto? Maybe that's the odd one out. I've never put pesto in a bolognese.

Whispered · 15-04-2016 05:17PM

Definitely basil pesto. I didn't use salt because I figured the stock would be salty enough. I did use pepper. I'm just struggling to see where I deviated from a normal bolognese recipe to the point it apparently doesn't taste like a bolognese at all. He said he could taste the herbs etc. Maybe he just doesn't know a good spag bol when he has it :cool:

Merkin · 15-04-2016 05:20PM

Whispered wrote: »

Great thank. The reason I left out the wine is that I've read it retains 5% of the alcohol even after 2.5hours of simmering and I just wouldn't feel right giving it to him at his age. (I'd worry it would make him sleep and I'd catch myself spiking him :pac:). Does it make a huge difference? If it does I might do a batch for the baby and freeze in portions, then one for the adults.

:eek: I am such a bad mother! Baby Merkin has a penchant for any of my recipes that gave wine in, especially bolognese and he much prefers a white wine gravy to an ordinary one! Maybe it's because they get him a bit tiddly!

Whispered · 15-04-2016 05:26PM

Merkin wrote: »

:eek: I am such a bad mother! Baby Merkin has a penchant for any of my recipes that gave wine in, especially bolognese and he much prefers a white wine gravy to an ordinary one! Maybe it's because they get him a bit tiddly!

Haha no I know loads of people who say it evaporates and does no harm. I nearly wish I hadn't read that it doesn't all evaporate tbh. I'm sure it does no harm, just now I know, I'd rather not give it. In saying that he gets more sugar than he should and that is probably worse than wine in a sauce. Plus this "low salt for baby" thing, yeah, I stopped that once he hit a year. Normal stuff now for him, again, probably worse than wine.

LaChatteGitane · 15-04-2016 05:38PM

Whispered wrote: »

Haha no I know loads of people who say it evaporates and does no harm. I nearly wish I hadn't read that it doesn't all evaporate tbh. I'm sure it does no harm, just now I know, I'd rather not give it. In saying that he gets more sugar than he should and that is probably worse than wine in a sauce. Plus this "low salt for baby" thing, yeah, I stopped that once he hit a year. Normal stuff now for him, again, probably worse than wine.

Flavourwise it does make a huge difference.

5% of alcohol retained from 12% wine is 0.6 %.
You only use a glass (20 cl) for a whole pot of ragù. A spoon of wine vinegar has more alcohol in it.

Whispered · 15-04-2016 05:48PM

Really? Are you sure? If that's the case I might try it.

Merkin · 15-04-2016 06:04PM

LaChatteGitane wrote: »

Flavourwise it does make a huge difference.

5% of alcohol retained from 12% wine is 0.6 %.
You only use a glass (20 cl) for a whole pot of ragù. A spoon of wine vinegar has more alcohol in it.

Whispered wrote: »

Really? Are you sure? If that's the case I might try it.

(Baby) Bottoms up so then!

LaChatteGitane · 15-04-2016 06:28PM

Whispered wrote: »

Really? Are you sure? If that's the case I might try it.

Here is a link to a website about cooking with and for kids http://www.cookingwithkids.com/part4/recipes.html scroll down to the green box text

Whispered · 15-04-2016 06:35PM

If he gets rowdy I'm sending him your way!

At what stage of cooking should I add the wine?

the beer revolu · 15-04-2016 06:55PM

Whispered wrote: »

Really? Are you sure? If that's the case I might try it.

Yes. Think about the amount of alcohol in a glass of wine. Now think think about out 95% of that taken away. Now think of the size of the pot of sauce that contains that tiny bit of alcohol and imagine what percentage of it baby might consume. It's hard to fathom how little alcohol would be in baby's portion.

beertons · 15-04-2016 06:57PM

Merkin wrote: »

:eek: I am such a bad mother! Baby Merkin has a penchant for any of my recipes that gave wine in, especially bolognese and he much prefers a white wine gravy to an ordinary one! Maybe it's because they get him a bit tiddly!

If they sleep well, carry on.

LaChatteGitane · 15-04-2016 07:40PM

beertons wrote: »

If they sleep well, carry on.

LaChatteGitane · 15-04-2016 07:44PM

Whispered wrote: »

If he gets rowdy I'm sending him your way!
At what stage of cooking should I add the wine?

I first saute the veg together with the meat. Then I add tomato paste/concentrate. Cook that out a bit. Add wine (white or red, depends on who you're talking to). Let it evaporate. Then the stock goes in.

Will you send him before or after the bolognese.

BuffyBot · 15-04-2016 08:46PM

Then I add tomato paste/concentrate. Cook that out a bit

Certainly a key thing to do. A lot of people just dump it into the sauce like other liquids, but it really needs a bit of frying and cooking out with the base vegetables before the liquid goes in.

Whispered · 15-04-2016 09:35PM

BuffyBot wrote: »

Certainly a key thing to do. A lot of people just dump it into the sauce like other liquids, but it really needs a bit of frying and cooking out with the base vegetables before the liquid goes in.

I did this. (Dumped into the liquid). Ok so a few things to try. I used all beef. I did read 2/3 beef to 1/3 pork is the way to go, what do you think? Oh and finally the pancetta is "unsmoked". Might that have made a difference? Should I have used smoked?
Gonna try again on Sunday

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