What's cookin', good lookin'?

[johncsuk]

Hot Buttered Crumpets

 

[IrisAlthea]

Using yogurt is a great idea, thanks! I'll give it a go, the slight tanginess of it is probably really good with vendace roe. Vendace and whitefish are my favorite types of roe, but the price is a bit steep.

I've done something similar, only using smetana, lemon and chives (and gelatine) and making them into sort of little balls in those tiny forms you use for making chocolate candies. I let the whole thing set first, then used a melon baller to scoop balls (-ish) into the forms and froze them again for a while, then rolled them in roe to coat. That definitely wasn't easy to do, but the end result was pretty and I only had to make a handful so it was fine. Your method sounds a lot better.

Tell me if you want a recipe. I think most panna cotta recipes will work though.

We had finnish maltbröd with the christmas food. It's becoming a tradition and a yummy one too.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Gingerbread with orange buttercream icing, holy shit, cake success. It looked like a kindgergartener frosted it, though.

Used this and like the first reviewer double plussed on the spice and did a loaf cake, added a little throw of nutmeg and used blackstrap which made a deep black spicy not too sweet not too weird, PERFECT base for an icing. Assuming you like molasses and spice and sweet orange zest.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/favorite-old-fashioned-gingerbread/

This is my first not dried out perfect cake ever. Is it the hot water? If so, why is that not in everything?

Buttercream was butter, sugar, orange zest, OJ, and a bit of powdered clove.

Could be the water, yes.
I have a shortbread recipe that I got from my mother in law, that never fails even though it serves ridiculous amounts of people and it uses hot water too.

 

[Kalamain]

Gingerbread with orange buttercream icing, holy shit, cake success. It looked like a kindgergartener frosted it, though.

Used this and like the first reviewer double plussed on the spice and did a loaf cake, added a little throw of nutmeg and used blackstrap which made a deep black spicy not too sweet not too weird, PERFECT base for an icing. Assuming you like molasses and spice and sweet orange zest.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/favorite-old-fashioned-gingerbread/

This is my first not dried out perfect cake ever. Is it the hot water? If so, why is that not in everything?

Buttercream was butter, sugar, orange zest, OJ, and a bit of powdered clove.

I'm going to say that I don't think it's the hot so much as the ratio of wet to dry ingredients.
With that cup of water there is a lot of liquid in that recipe.

It does look good though!

BTW... Where would I get the different types of molasses? All I ever see in the shops is marked as simply 'molasses'

I may also think about doing what someone in the comments suggested and replace the molasses with honey and dark brown sugar.

 

[Netzach]

I'm going to say that I don't think it's the hot so much as the ratio of wet to dry ingredients.
With that cup of water there is a lot of liquid in that recipe.

It does look good though!

BTW... Where would I get the different types of molasses? All I ever see in the shops is marked as simply 'molasses'

I may also think about doing what someone in the comments suggested and replace the molasses with honey and dark brown sugar.

I'm not sure where you would source it in the UK, I've yet to see a recipe in grams that calls for it! But blackstrap is the final refinement product and the darkest most iron heavy least sugary byproduct of sugar processing - it has a black color and an oily consistency. I got hooked on it when I co op lived with people buying in bulk - it's cheap and it's a good way to get extra iron into vegans. It's got that molasses-y "thing" that makes it more than sweet, a kind of coffee grounds quality - in blackstrap that's turned up to 11.

You may be able to source it through natural foods places. Getting the most molasses into your goodies would probably be achieved with dark brown sugar and standard shelf molasses, which is probably the dark variety.

In a lot of food import stores here one is sometimes able to find things like an Aero bar or a Wine gums or a dusty Lucozade, catering to frustrated expats or something - might there be a reverse of this in the UK? Probably not, but it prompted me to wonder.

Speaking of converting grams - What exactly is treacle and do you make it or buy it?

 

[johncsuk]

the heaviest of sugars l know of is Muscovado. It has a strong molasses content

 

[Kalamain]

I'm not sure where you would source it in the UK, I've yet to see a recipe in grams that calls for it! But blackstrap is the final refinement product and the darkest most iron heavy least sugary byproduct of sugar processing - it has a black color and an oily consistency. I got hooked on it when I co op lived with people buying in bulk - it's cheap and it's a good way to get extra iron into vegans. It's got that molasses-y "thing" that makes it more than sweet, a kind of coffee grounds quality - in blackstrap that's turned up to 11.

You may be able to source it through natural foods places. Getting the most molasses into your goodies would probably be achieved with dark brown sugar and standard shelf molasses, which is probably the dark variety.

In a lot of food import stores here one is sometimes able to find things like an Aero bar or a Wine gums or a dusty Lucozade, catering to frustrated expats or something - might there be a reverse of this in the UK? Probably not, but it prompted me to wonder.

Speaking of converting grams - What exactly is treacle and do you make it or buy it?

Dark sugar is a powdery sugar rather than a liquid.

This is Treacle
Its a molasses based syrup from British sugars.
Its mined in the south of England.

I don't know of any US food shops. Except sweet shops that stock a few US lines. But thats it.

I can find Blackstrap Molasses from a health food shop... But it seems AWFULLY expensive!

 

[desertslave]

Our Chistmas meal:

Baked ham with cider sauce
Potato filling
Whipped sweet potatoes
Broccoli with cheese sauce
Baked apple & cranberry compote

There are so many sweets in the house (and so little room in the fridge) that I haven't made anything else. Once we knock down the leftovers, I'll be making a cheesecake (flavor to be determined).

 

[IrisAlthea]

Dark sugar is a powdery sugar rather than a liquid.

This is Treacle
Its a molasses based syrup from British sugars.
Its mined in the south of England.

I don't know of any US food shops. Except sweet shops that stock a few US lines. But thats it.

I can find Blackstrap Molasses from a health food shop... But it seems AWFULLY expensive!

Found this link that says black treacle is similar.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Syrups.html

Here most recipes for gingerbread would use something much like muscavado and then add filmjölk(sour milk/yoghurt) for liquid.

 

[Kalamain]

Found this link that says black treacle is similar.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Syrups.html

Here most recipes for gingerbread would use something much like muscavado and then add filmjölk(sour milk/yoghurt) for liquid.

Ah... Ok then... Treacle is very easy to get over here. Not expensive either. Not really.

I've seen gingerbread made with yoghurt... But I thought it was a mistake!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u103/nsidemymind/c15f0a61-d2fe-453c-a2dc-1b74a972587d_zpsb763d267.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u103/nsidemymind/e719fa53-c578-414d-8b1b-480f6cebfcc9_zps8e62e8be.jpg

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u103/nsidemymind/676b9204-6cf2-477f-bea9-0127eb0e8253_zps65cbf176.jpg

Looks yummy, Respe!!
I love the way you grilled the bread...

 

[Endless_Night]

The goose wrestling was successful! The meat was very tender, and on the border between white and dark turkey meat, taste wise. I now have ~6 cups of goose fat, apparently the gold standard for rendered fat, sitting in the refrigerator. Until a couple of days ago I had no idea there was a gold standard for rendered fat. *yuck*

I also have no idea what to do with said fat.

I see some food prep reading in my future.

 

[midwestyankee]

The goose wrestling was successful! The meat was very tender, and on the border between white and dark turkey meat, taste wise. I now have ~6 cups of goose fat, apparently the gold standard for rendered fat, sitting in the refrigerator. Until a couple of days ago I had no idea there was a gold standard for rendered fat. *yuck*

I also have no idea what to do with said fat.

I see some food prep reading in my future.

In Chicago there used to be a wildly popular hot dog stand that would put duck-fat-fried french fries on its menu every Friday and Saturday. They were insanely rich.

Maybe it's time to make some french fries. Let me know if you need any volunteers to eat them.

 

[Netzach]

Dark sugar is a powdery sugar rather than a liquid.

This is Treacle
Its a molasses based syrup from British sugars.
Its mined in the south of England.

I don't know of any US food shops. Except sweet shops that stock a few US lines. But thats it.

I can find Blackstrap Molasses from a health food shop... But it seems AWFULLY expensive!

I think Treacle's your man here. If it turns baked goods kind of black in large amounts that's the stuff.

 

[Kalamain]

The goose wrestling was successful! The meat was very tender, and on the border between white and dark turkey meat, taste wise. I now have ~6 cups of goose fat, apparently the gold standard for rendered fat, sitting in the refrigerator. Until a couple of days ago I had no idea there was a gold standard for rendered fat. *yuck*

I also have no idea what to do with said fat.

I see some food prep reading in my future.

Roast potatoes! (Any root veg really)

It also works VERY well in pastry for savoury pies and whatnot.

 

[Kalamain]

I think Treacle's your man here. If it turns baked goods kind of black in large amounts that's the stuff.

Treacle is mainly used for thick, heavy cakes. So yes.

BTW... I found out why many recipes use hot water when using molasses. Its so the water will mix with it... Cold water doesn't blend well and so you get a poor blend.

Using hot water will soften the molasses and make a MUCH better cake.

 

[Endless_Night]

In Chicago there used to be a wildly popular hot dog stand that would put duck-fat-fried french fries on its menu every Friday and Saturday. They were insanely rich.

Maybe it's time to make some french fries. Let me know if you need any volunteers to eat them.

Roast potatoes! (Any root veg really)

It also works VERY well in pastry for savoury pies and whatnot.

That all sounds quite nom!

The root veggies are the only choice that seems practical, though. I read on article today where they suggested using it like a butter spread on bread!

Ummm, don't think so. Nope. And might I just add...yuuuuuuuck!

 

[seela]

That all sounds quite nom!

The root veggies are the only choice that seems practical, though. I read on article today where they suggested using it like a butter spread on bread!

Ummm, don't think so. Nope. And might I just add...yuuuuuuuck!

Ah, that reminds me of when my sister-in-law and I were in Poland and it was her first foray into the country. The first evening we went to a Polish restaurant and she thought smalec (rendered pork fat with onion, garlic and possibly apple and nibblets of crackling served often with bread with country-style cooking) was hummus. Classic.

That said, I actually like smalec in small quantities, but it isn't something I'd like to eat with bread every day.

 

[eroticspank]

Christmas Dinner

Salmon marinated in a Red Wine Vinegar, Soy, garlic sauce then done on the grill.

Risotto with all kinds of veggies and garlic

Caesar Salad with homemade dressing.

Sweet potato Pie for Dessert (bought by my Mom)

ES

 

[Kalamain]

That all sounds quite nom!

The root veggies are the only choice that seems practical, though. I read on article today where they suggested using it like a butter spread on bread!

Ummm, don't think so. Nope. And might I just add...yuuuuuuuck!

Over here we fry off bread in the fat that is left over from a fry up.
God only knows how bad that is for you ... But. It. Tastes. SOOOO. Good. *Drools*

 

[seela]

Tell me if you want a recipe. I think most panna cotta recipes will work though.

We had finnish maltbröd with the christmas food. It's becoming a tradition and a yummy one too.

I had totally missed this. Do you know if maltbröd is the same thing that we call "archipelago bread"? It's also made using malts and is really yummy. Archipelago bread is what I made for Christmas, and it's shown on the picture with the fish roe et al. that I uploaded here.

Edit: Apparently it isn't the same thing. Was your maltbröd light or dark? Did you knead the dough? Answer in PM also welcome, since I don't know if anybody else cares about this maltbröd vs. saaristolaisleipä issue.

 

[IrisAlthea]

I had totally missed this. Do you know if maltbröd is the same thing that we call "archipelago bread"? It's also made using malts and is really yummy. Archipelago bread is what I made for Christmas, and it's shown on the picture with the fish roe et al. that I uploaded here.

Edit: Apparently it isn't the same thing. Was your maltbröd light or dark? Did you knead the dough? Answer in PM also welcome, since I don't know if anybody else cares about this maltbröd vs. saaristolaisleipä issue.

I didn't make it myself, but it's very dark and very sweet rye bread.

 

[seela]

I didn't make it myself, but it's very dark and very sweet rye bread.

Ok, then it sounds like what we call archipelago bread.

It is really good, and super easy to make too. No kneading!

 

[Kalamain]

OK... So tea tonight is a simple pasta bake.... Nothing special at all.

But with it is fresh homemade multi-seed rolls. The kitchen smells soo good and the dough is still only just rising!

 

[Wild_Honey_66]

Over here we fry off bread in the fat that is left over from a fry up.
God only knows how bad that is for you ... But. It. Tastes. SOOOO. Good. *Drools*

OMG tell me mooorrre.....

What sort of bread? Do you coat it in anything first?

Details, man--I need details!!