Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff
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@dogmeat I want to upvote you twice. Awesome.
BBQ is great fun,
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So we have guests coming on Saturday. Will be 8 x adults and a bunch of kids. I will be out all morning and not home until 3pm, looking to eat around 7pm for adults.
So fck all prep and cook time on Sat.
I will have a few hours Friday however.
Current plan is to make a lasagne for the kids Friday than can reheat easily, and supplement with sausages and bread rolls. They never eat much anyway.
For the adults though, I'm a bit torn. My BBQ is embarrassingly shit. It heats to between 170 and 220 with lid down/up, so a shitty range, and it's also tiny.
My usual go-to is a lamb/pork shoulder, but I just won't have time unless I put it on 50 dehrees at 8am when I leave the house.
Another constraint is my wife doesnt want me to spend the whole time in the kitchen rather rather entertaining.
So I'm currently leaning towards pork belly, crackling, roast spuds, gravy, and a couple of salads.
Any other suggestions?
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@nzzp said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@voodoo said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@nzzp said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
Saw this on special at the weekend and gave it a try.
Pam's Finest Slow Cooked Chimichurri Beef Brisket
Our Brisket is cut from prime New Zealand beef, cooked low and slow for 14 hours with a flavoursome Argentinian inspired rub.Review:
Lacks flavour, incredibly boring. Good work on getting a pull-apart brisket (braised), but was absolutely flavourless.Regular price of $18 for 450g; even at a third of that it's not worth it. Avoid.
I expect much, much more from you.
Very disappointed.
I apologise publicly.
Heated up some smoked brisket last night and ate on Tacos. Was just sensational, just a step change. So I redeemed myself and clogged my arteries, all at the same time.
The thing is, what if it wasn't terrible? Like, maybe this time would be different?
My man
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@voodoo I'm not a lover of pork so faced with your situation I would butterfly a leg of lamb rub it with smoked paprika salt and pepper and throw it on BBQ where it will be ready inside 30 minutes.
Save the hassle of gravy by finely chopping up a shit load of rosemary, oregano, thyme and garlic and spreading across your carving board with a glug of olive oil. Rest lamb on this board for 10-15 minutes then carve (i prefer thicker slices but personal preference) the herbs garlic oil and any meat juices will create a lovely moist finish to the lamb.
Just a bit less hassle and time than for your pork.
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@dogmeat said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@voodoo I'm not a lover of pork so faced with your situation I would butterfly a leg of lamb rub it with smoked paprika salt and pepper and throw it on BBQ where it will be ready inside 30 minutes.
Save the hassle of gravy by finely chopping up a shit load of rosemary, oregano, thyme and garlic and spreading across your carving board with a glug of olive oil. Rest lamb on this board for 10-15 minutes then carve (i prefer thicker slices but personal preference) the herbs garlic oil and any meat juices will create a lovely moist finish to the lamb.
Just a bit less hassle and time than for your pork.
Cheers for that - I always find those butterflied legs a bit tough TBH - I've never butterflied one myself, but even from a quality butcher they always come out a bit chewy.
That said, my mouth is watering at then thought of one, so maybe I'm due another crack!
Hate entertaining without proper prep time!
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@voodoo beef wellington? Can do most of the prep the day before, finish it in the afternoon and it always tastes amazing, even if the visual finish isn't perfect
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@voodoo Butchers usually don't make the meat all one thickness (impossible to get perfect but you get what I mean) It's why I butterfly them myself. I cook it so it will be between rare and medium rar. It comes out the texture of a steak, so not melt in your mouth but not what I'd call chewy.
I totally get what you mean. Prep is so important. Hate it being rushed.
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@nzzp or move away from roasted meat entirely and do some form of casserole that you just reheat on the day. Beef rendang with nasi lemak and lots of ice cold beer.
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@dogmeat said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@nzzp or move away from roasted meat entirely and do some form of casserole that you just reheat on the day. Beef rendang with nasi lemak and lots of ice cold beer.
damn that sounds good - I have never successfully made a great curry, it's my major kitchen weakpoint (amongst many minor ones...). Do you have a good rendang recipe?
Beef Bourguignon I can do though
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@nzzp said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@voodoo beef wellington? Can do most of the prep the day before, finish it in the afternoon and it always tastes amazing, even if the visual finish isn't perfect
I've never tried that - reading the various posts on here about keeping it dry etc, it sounds hard!!!
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@voodoo said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
damn that sounds good - I have never successfully made a great curry,
Impossible to make a curry that everybody likes. Curry basically means gravy or sauce but most associate it with spice / heat. I don't make them for a group, you can't please everyone.
@dogmeat has it with the casserole / stew type idea though. I usually go with lamb shanks and you will have enough time. Some smashed / roasted (or mashed) spuds, greens. Sorted.
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@snowy spot on fella.
also, @voodoo roasted spuds - follow this recipe for a monster win
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/12/the-best-roast-potatoes-ever-recipe.html
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@nzzp That's how I do them (didn't know about the soda though).
Earlier in the thread I said to add some polenta grains, it is a winner. Toss the spuds in polenta after par boil. Crunchy outside, and soft inside. Perfect roasties.
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@voodoo said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@dogmeat said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@voodoo I'm not a lover of pork so faced with your situation I would butterfly a leg of lamb rub it with smoked paprika salt and pepper and throw it on BBQ where it will be ready inside 30 minutes.
Save the hassle of gravy by finely chopping up a shit load of rosemary, oregano, thyme and garlic and spreading across your carving board with a glug of olive oil. Rest lamb on this board for 10-15 minutes then carve (i prefer thicker slices but personal preference) the herbs garlic oil and any meat juices will create a lovely moist finish to the lamb.
Just a bit less hassle and time than for your pork.
Cheers for that - I always find those butterflied legs a bit tough TBH - I've never butterflied one myself, but even from a quality butcher they always come out a bit chewy.
That said, my mouth is watering at then thought of one, so maybe I'm due another crack!
Hate entertaining without proper prep time!
That's because you are dealing with 4 major muscles that work in different directions with different grains. You will usually carve it in a way that means you end up going with the grain somewhere.
Trick is to separate the muscles.before slicing. If you cook it on the bone then post cooking butchery is easier as the muscles contract and you can just run your knife down the connective tissue.If you butterfly it the only way you get even cooking is to cut through the middle of a muscle lengthwise. You can still separate before slicing, it just isn't as neat.
Meat cooking 101. Always rest and always slice across the grain. -
@voodoo If you can do bouef bourguignon you can definitely ace a killer
countrycurry.Ignore @Snowy 's well meant comments. If someone doesn't like your curry they're not worth knowing.
I've done this and it came out OK https://rasamalaysia.com/beef-rendang-recipe-rendang-daging/
I have also done her beef massaman but that requires a serious (7 hours or so) amount of prep.
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@crucial that's what I do but I failed miserably with my explanation
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@dogmeat said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
Ignore @Snowy 's well meant comments. If someone doesn't like your curry they're not worth knowing.
I have to admit the people that can't handle heat in my curries don't get invited anymore.
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@voodoo look back for my bowl of red recipe. It's a winner.
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Right, lots going in the MR household.
Right now, I'm slow cooking (oven) a brisket chilli, courtesy of Tom Kerridge. Nothing too out there, reasonably standard recipe, will post how it goes.
Saturday is 10 year wedding anniversary. There's a local fish monger called The Fish Shop (Camberly, about 20 minute drive) which is relatively famous. Everything is fresh, mostly from Cornwall and it generally sells out by 9am. So, I've ordered scallops, oysters, king prawns and crab meat. My gift to my wife is a gourmet 5 course dinner, fully cooked by yours truly. Thinking something like this
Raw oysters with home made shallot vinagerette
Scallops with horseradish and a root veg puree (not decided which one yet - an tips?)
Crab Linguine
Chili & Garlic Tiger Prawns with Sautéed Bok Choi
Sticky Toffee with Vanilla Ice CreamMaking everything from scratch ingredients except the ice cream. I know that's a bit of an odd dessert to have with this meal, but it's the wife's favourite.
Have some Moet, Cloudy Bay & a Poully Fumy to go with the seafood and a nice red to go with the dessert.
Wish me luck! Will post some photos if doesn't turn out extremely shit.
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@majorrage All quick cooks, just before eating. As long as you prep well should be sweet mate. I love scallops, pea puree and black pudding personally. Or switch out BP for crispy bacon
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@majorrage Not a root vegetable but cauliflower puree goes well with scallops as does haggis - little slices of fried haggis topped with a scallop and a shallot butter sauce.
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@majorrage said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
a root veg puree (not decided which one yet - an tips?)
Both of the other suggestions are great with scallops, but if you do specifically want a root vege, parsnip puree is good.
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@snowy said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@majorrage said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
a root veg puree (not decided which one yet - an tips?)
Both of the other suggestions are great with scallops, but if you do specifically want a root vege, parsnip puree is good.
Give pumpkin and ginger a go . Then drizzle with Kecap Manis and top with fried shallot.
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@crucial said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
Give pumpkin and ginger a go . Then drizzle with Kecap Manis and top with fried shallot.
Nice. Starter for tomorrow sorted. Will have to use frozen scallops though? Don't think ours are around at the moment? I will modify my pumpkin and ginger soup recipe (it's really good, so will stick with it, just less liquid). Nice touch with the Kecap Manis, haven't dug that out of the pantry for a while. A bit of crunch from shallots. What could possibly go wrong...
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All the puree suggestions are great, so here's another one
Celeriac with crispy pancetta, lemon zest and shaved fennel. Marries well with the sweetness of the scallops - IMO.
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@dogmeat said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
All the puree suggestions are great, so here's another one
Celeriac with crispy pancetta, lemon zest and shaved fennel. Marries well with the sweetness of the scallops - IMO.
Now I'm just confused (again). Indecisiveness may lead to all of the above suggestions in a blender, that would not end well, so I may be having scallops for at least 4 nights now (which doesn't bother me). I might just follow @MajorRage lead...
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@dogmeat said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
Celeriac
Good call with shellfish.
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@tim said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
As is lemon and a hint of fennel. The pancetta goes without saying of course, it's a form of bacon so goes with everything.
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@tim said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@dogmeat said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
Celeriac
Good call with shellfish.
Except for the crazy crazy price of what is an ugly turnip. I can't believe how expensive they are here. Usually sold by price per kg and a decent size one is about $10.
I am trying growing them this year. Quite odd things to grow as they look really healthy but don't bulk out the tuber until really late and do so quite quickly apparently. I have no idea at the moment if I'm getting radish size or swede size.
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@dogmeat said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
All the puree suggestions are great, so here's another one
Celeriac with crispy pancetta, lemon zest and shaved fennel. Marries well with the sweetness of the scallops - IMO.
also not everyones favourite, but a couple of slices of black pudding, IMO tastes bloody nice with it too... excuse the pun, will get my coat
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@crucial said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
I am trying growing them this year. Quite odd things to grow as they look really healthy but don't bulk out the tuber until really late and do so quite quickly apparently. I have no idea at the moment if I'm getting radish size or swede size.
I have grown them successfully. Swede size is fine until they start sprouting roots. Yes harvest at the right moment - how you judge that I have no idea (really helpful for you there). They can get a bit stringey / woody if you miss it too late. The flavour is so much better than store bought though. I wonder how long they sit around for on shelves because they keep for quite a while without really going off.
@bayimports said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
also not everyones favourite, but a couple of slices of black pudding, IMO tastes bloody nice with it too... excuse the pun, will get my coat
Yes to the black pudding, no to the pun Dad.
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@snowy @Crucial I've grown them too and agree much nicer than store bought - but then what isn't. I missed harvesting one. It ended up the size of a basketball.
@bayimports I din't touch on black pudding as it had already been suggested which is why I suggested pancetta, but I do agree BP goes really well with scallops although id do a very crunchy (but still soft inside) very small cube over slices. Almost but not quite [piston wristed gibbon alert] a soil.
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Boom. Stunning day. Sorry for shit photo quality
@majorrage said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
Raw oysters with home made shallot vinaigrette
Absolutely nailed the flavour of the vinaigrette. Perhaps needed a smaller cut on the shallot, but the wife was happy.
Scallops with horseradish and a root veg puree (not decided which one yet - an tips?)
Ended up doing a bog standard pea. Added in some horseradish, coriander and a bit creme fresh to the puree. However, needed some acid / lemon. Was quality to eat, but not quite there. And utter dogshit presentation.
Crab Linguine
Absolutely nailed this one in all facets. IF I made it again, I'd add more chili, but that is a personal thing. Probably the dish of the day.
Chili & Garlic Tiger Prawns with Sautéed Bok Choi
Got some big boy prawns which were so sweet. The bok choi I perfectly grilled and had lovely lines on it ... then I once I'd put the prawn on it, I spooned over some of teh chili / garlic butter and it went all shit brown. So ruined the presentation, but it was pretty damn good. More the ingredients than the cook though
Sticky Toffee with Vanilla Ice Cream
Cheated. Bought it. Hence no photo.
Making everything from scratch ingredients except the ice cream. I know that's a bit of an odd dessert to have with this meal, but it's the wife's favourite.
Have some Moet, Cloudy Bay & a Poully Fumy to go with the seafood and a nice red to go with the dessert.
Didn't end up opening the Pouilly Fumy but the cloudy bay was brilliant (as always). Opened up a 2014 Saint Estephe which was absolutely superb. Currently availalbe at Majestic for only 22 GBP, but easily as good as 50-100 GBP competitors.
Wish me luck! Will post some photos if doesn't turn out extremely shit.
No luck needed. Just preperation and no stress over the mistakes. Fantastic day.
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@majorrage All looks great mate and may I say on behalf of all the UK Ferners, we can't wait for the invite.
Interested in how you did the crab linguine. I do a Gordon Ramsay quick one with garlic, chilli, white wine and lime juice. Very easy and bloody tasty. Also interested in the £22 St Estephe. Any more details?
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@catogrande said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@majorrage All looks great mate and may I say on behalf of all the UK Ferners, we can't wait for the invite.
Interested in how you did the crab linguine. I do a Gordon Ramsay quick one with garlic, chilli, white wine and lime juice. Very easy and bloody tasty. Also interested in the £22 St Estephe. Any more details?
Sorry to interject (not really), I use the basic method of this guy who I saw on Anthony Bourdain's no reservations
Starts at 15 minutes. Works with most seafood, depending on my mood I will add a little chilli, a little lemon and parsley, some cherry tomatoes or a combination of all. What you do get from his method is a really clear taste of the seafood
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@catogrande said in Recipes, home grown goodness, BBQing and food stuff:
@majorrage All looks great mate and may I say on behalf of all the UK Ferners, we can't wait for the invite.
Interested in how you did the crab linguine. I do a Gordon Ramsay quick one with garlic, chilli, white wine and lime juice. Very easy and bloody tasty. Also interested in the £22 St Estephe. Any more details?
Basically used this one.
https://www.passionateaboutfish.co.uk/crab-linguine/
And the wine is this
https://www.majestic.co.uk/wines/chateau-meyney-la-chapelle-de-meyney-2014-saint-estephe-61215
