Non-motoring > More cooking and beer talk.... Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Zero Replies: 130

 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=9292

and the Steak and Ale pie in tortilla parcels is to die for, a recipe idea I shamelessly intend to steal for home.

And so I did.

I cooked a Mexican on Saturday night, so had some tortillas left over planned for this meal Last night

Gently sautéed some finely chopped onion, crushed and chopped garlic, finely chopped mild green chile, chopped chestnut mushrooms, till soft and golden

Floured some chopped stewing steak, then browned off in olive oil in the Creuset pot, added the sautéed stuff, and poured 500 ml of Hobgoblin* ale over it, some tomato purée and a little cheap port. Into the oven at 150c for two hours.

This was made in the morning, In the evening I drained the now very thick sauce into a jug, put the dryer mixture into the large tortillas folded them square, and then baked them at 200c for 15 mins.


The thick gravy was watered down with some hot water to make it pourable, and then served with Boiled potatoes, and wilted spinach.


Absolute dogs danglies triumph!


* The Ale. 400 ml went in the pie mix 100 ml for a taster.
Now I am a child of the red revolution. My formative drinking years and pub going formed by the likes of Watneys Red Barrel, (tho i was lucky to be in at the end of "mild") and the new fangled Carling Black Label Lager.
Its little wonder that for years I have seen real ale drinkers (indeed any dark beer that wasn't from Belgium with a picture of a Trappist monastery on it) as sockless, sandle wearing, bearded nerds.

But my tastes they are a changing. Ok its still bucket load of fine lager for those warm sultry summer evenings, at the barbie or down the ruby house, but I am now finding room for some of the more mellow, darker, hoppier flatter brews in the cold winter months, when you don't want freezing fizzy lager in your teeth.

Long way of saying - I like the Hobgoblin, it will find a place in my buying habits.


 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
"But my tastes they are a changing."


I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Old Navy
Sounds delicious.

It amazes me how many people you see leaving supermarkets with trolleys full of pre prepared microwave meals, huge bottles of fizzy pop and a lack of anything fresh. They probably don't know what real food tastes like.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 31 Jan 12 at 13:22
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Dog
And ... then they wonder why they succumb to diabetes, cardiovascular dis-eases etc., etc., etc..

:(
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Clk Sec
And they wonder why they've got a poor complexion...
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Roger.
I KNOW why I am fat, though - lots of good freshly prepared, food!
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Ian (Cape Town)
>> And ... then they wonder why they succumb to diabetes, cardiovascular dis-eases etc., etc., etc..
>>
... and have to buy an extra large box of alka seltzer for the accompanying heartburn, from all the additives and E-numbers added to the processed muck 'to give it taste'.

Our local supermarket had a special on topside roasts last week - 3 hrs with a pint and a half of stout, some carrots onions and garlic. left in the pop for a few hours to cool, drain and slice. NomNomNom!
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Dog
20 years ago, before I came over 'all healthy' I wouldn't dream of travelling anywhere without my Rennies,

Now I never suffer from heartburn (a/reflux) etc., etc..
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Clk Sec
BURP....

Was that you, Dog?
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Ian (Cape Town)
>> 20 years ago, before I came over 'all healthy' I wouldn't dream of travelling anywhere
>> without my Rennies,
>>
>> Now I never suffer from heartburn (a/reflux) etc., etc..
>>

+1
The daily pat-down - "cigarettes, lighter, phone, wallet, carkeys, house keys, rennies..."


Our local choices for snacks include a McD, a Wimpy, KFC, and a family owned hallal take out.
The latter is the cheapest, the tastiest the spiciest (brilliant samoosas and toasted stealk masala) BUT have never suffered a Rennies moment after eating there, as opposed to the other three, which we use as a last resort.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Dog
>>The latter is the cheapest, the tastiest the spiciest (brilliant samoosas and toasted stealk masala) BUT have never suffered a Rennies moment after eating there, as opposed to the other three, which we use as a last resort<<

What makes the other 3 fast (non) food outlets a no-no (for me) is that they still use hydrogen-hated trans fats :(
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Lygonos
Had a nice bottle of Hobgoblin last night with some olives while lazing in the bath. Excellent.

If you look around the UK there are some world-class products and ingredients to be found in every corner.

The fact people eat processed crap just shows you the effectiveness of advertising.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - WillDeBeest
Sounds excellent, Z, and it's an idea I may well pinch myself. (Once it's been stolen from the original thief does that make it legitimate again?)

I like Hobgoblin too, and some but not all of the confusing profusion of 'Golden Something' beers from the Badger brewery. But even better are the ones that are too small to achieve national prominence. We've had a lovely summer ale in Wales called something like Cwrw Haf, and round here we have Rebellion in Marlow and Lovibonds in Henley. Worth a try if you're in the neighbourhood but if not there's something different but just as good where you are. That's the beauty of local.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Dog
A golden throat charmer from Cornwall is St Austell Ales Tribute (if you can get it in England)

Contents are: natural Cornish spring water, maris otter malt, Cornish gold malt, fuggle, willamette, and styrian hops, and their own brewers yeast (4.2%)

Don't tell the Devon builder though, b'cos he's tea total these days, poor chap!
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
Have to post this.

Just serviced the barbie (including wire brushing - with a electric drill which then attacked my leg and ripped my trousers - and "plasticoating the rusty burner deflector)

So Did two nice premium waitrose burgers on the barbie with some toasted brioche buns, but the point of this thread is the tomatoes.

I cut some cherry toms in half, put them in a small enamel pie dish with some olive oil, salt, paper, and a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar. Then put that on the barbie for 5 mins before the burgers, left it there while i cooked the burgers, then decanted the mushy toms and juice into a dish to spread on the burgers.

OMG! delicious instant home made Katchup or what!!!!!!
 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
Barbecue a good quality burger with a ring of pineapple on top.

Don't knock it 'till you've tried it.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Kevin
>Barbecue a good quality burger with a ring of pineapple on top.

I like pineapple salsa on a burger.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
Well I like pineapple and the occasional burger is OK but together? Pineapple with gammon used to be common but I always thought it a bit odd and Hawaiian Pizza is a definite no no.

Did you use fresh pineapple? In the interest of science I might give it a go.

 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
Pineapple on a pizza is just nasty.

Yes, fresh pineapple, a ring / slice placed on top of the burger and barbecued along with the burger.

I like the taste very much though apparently the old idea of pineapple with gammon was because the juice softened up tough meat.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Armel Coussine
>> OMG! delicious instant home made Katchup or what!!!!!!

So there is a use for those awful little tomatoes, no use at all for normal purposes.

What do you do if you haven't got a barbie though? Oven? Grill? Grill I suppose, closely watched.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
Frying pan. My Father has been doing exactly that for years, but in a frying pan.

Then poured over fried potatoes.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Armel Coussine
Must try it FMR, that's the easy way of course.

I've come across the pineapple thing somewhere, California or Malaysia, somewhere like that. It was OK but basically what you need on a hamburger is ketchup and relish. And that American mustard stuff. The more the merrier, slurp slurp. Raw onion though. Not too much lettuce, but a decent bit not a wilted thing covered with insects and brown areas. Cheese optional. I'd rather have more meat. Got to be cooked right too, not too rare and pink, a tiny bit charred on the outside. Don't forget the salt.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - legacylad
Currently going for the beer big time after several weeks of margeritas, wine, XL G & Ts and U.S. beer, both bottled & draught but is too strong for a gallon (imperial)session. Why can't the Yanks brew a decent hoppy session beer around 4% allowing me to spend all night in the 'pub' without getting hammered ?
I really missed cheap curries... Just had pickle tray & poppadums, sizzler starter with 4 types of kebab & onion bhaji, then a hot chicken curry with peshwari naan and change from £12. Best of all, being unlicensed, we just carry pints in from our local and walk back for more between courses.
Much as I like Mexican, and I have brought home yellow corn tortillas, pepper flakes and assorted tins of various stuff, you can't beat a good cheapish curry. Tomorrow night it's fish fingers & oven chips after early doors catching up with various pals. And decent beer @ £2.50 pint and no it's not Wetherspoons.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Clk Sec
>> the point of this thread is the tomatoes.

And for anyone requiring consistently flavoursome tomatoes all year round, do try Waitrose Red Choice variety. Not cheap at £2.70 per 300gm, but delicious.


>>And a decent beer @ £2.50 pint and no it's not Wetherspoons.

Several pints of Old Speckled Hen last night at £3.35. Wish I'd gone to Wetherspoons!
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Lygonos
Barbequed red meats are pretty high in carcinogens (the more charred, the nastier), and are reckoned to be a big risk factor for bowel cancer.

The good news is that beer (the darker, the better) used as a marinade prior to cooking neutralises a large portion of the nasties.

Just to be careful, I'd also advocate a glass to be consumed with the meat products.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
Probably best to ditch the burnt offering and keep to the beer.


Why do so many men who never cook anything indoors from one year to the next think that they can cook on a charcoal fire hot enough to smelt iron ore?

Come to that what is it about barbeque cooking anyway. Why forsake a perfectly good hob,grill and oven for an open fire.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
www.funny2.com/barbecue.htm

I love doing/having a barbecue.

Its true that my wife prepares loads of salad & other stuff in the kitchen, but I do everything with the meat on the barbecue outside.

In South America its a lot more than burgers. A typical family barbecue here would be;

Burgers & sausages eaten largely by the children (& me)
Some form of steak(s), usually in some marinade or other.
Chicken wings in barbecue sauce
Salmon in foil with butter & herbs.
4 or 5 different salad dishes
Coleslaw, pebre and some others.
Bread and various sauces.

I like the routine of things. I do the barbecue while drinking beer, No 1 has control of the garden music (normally plugs her phone into the system and subjects me to such things as 5 Seconds of Summer)

No. 2 likes being in the kitchen doing salads and cakes with her Mother.

Happy days.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Sun 2 Aug 15 at 18:51
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero

>> I like the routine of things. I do the barbecue while drinking beer, No 1
>> has control of the garden music (normally plugs her phone into the system and subjects
>> me to such things as 5 Seconds of Summer)
>>
>> No. 2 likes being in the kitchen doing salads and cakes with her Mother.
>>
>> Happy days.

You forgot the Kebabs. When we are having a family BBQ, sometimes with friends there can be about 15 of us. I also do the rice (served cold normally boiled rice with some spices and then fried onions, chopped mushrooms, diced peppers, peas and any other stuff i feel like throwing in it) and bake a few french loaves. The only prerequisite for coming to my BBQs is that you bring some outlandish puddings. And of course its an excuse to make up several litre jugs of pimms.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - sooty123
>> Come to that what is it about barbeque cooking anyway. Why forsake a perfectly good
>> hob,grill and oven for an open fire.
>>

It's all about being sociable in the good weather.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich

You can still eat outdoors - just leave the back door open. You can then be sociable and eat properly cooked food :-)
 More cooking and beer talk.... - sooty123
It's not the same, and I don't find it difficult to cook the food properly. ;-)
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sun 2 Aug 15 at 19:03
 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
>>Why forsake a perfectly good hob,grill and oven for an open fire.

I guess different people enjoy different things at different times. Just so you're doing what you want.

I like the change in style.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
It's a man thing though isn't it? You seldom see a woman cooking on a barbeque. Too much sense. Seems to appeal to the Stone Age man within us
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
>> It's a man thing though isn't it? You seldom see a woman cooking on a
>> barbeque. Too much sense. Seems to appeal to the Stone Age man within us

Off course its a man thing, there is heat and fire and flames involved. To be fair tho, done well BBq'd food has shed loads more taste than stuff done in your kitchen oven.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
What makes it taste better then. Most of the stuff I have been served is either burnt or raw.

why should a steak cooked on a charcoal grill be any better than one cooked under an electric grill.?





 More cooking and beer talk.... - Armel Coussine
>> why should a steak cooked on a charcoal grill be any better than one cooked under an electric grill.?

It's impossible to tell why, but when it's done properly it is so. Probably all the carcinogens.

Put a gutted whole deer on a grille once over embers. Unfortunately the embers were so hot that a lot of fat came out of the carcase and fell into the fire, causing a blaze which burnt and spoilt the venison. Got a bit annoyed with the desert man whose fault it really was, I thought he knew what he was doing but he didn't... that's life really.

 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
>> What makes it taste better then. Most of the stuff I have been served is
>> either burnt or raw.

Its clear from your comments, you have been served crap BBQd food in the past

>> why should a steak cooked on a charcoal grill be any better than one cooked
>> under an electric grill.?

Flames, smoke and fumes.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich

>>
>> Flames, smoke and fumes.

A charcoal grill fro cooking has non of those. It's hot and cleqn - a bit like an elecric grill really.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
>>
>> >>
>> >> Flames, smoke and fumes.
>>
>> A charcoal grill fro cooking has non of those. It's hot and cleqn - a
>> bit like an elecric grill really.

Really? no smoke or fumes from a charcoal grill? Clearly you lot in Norfolk are smoking something really strange. You may even have solved the worlds fossil fuel problem.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - sooty123
>> What makes it taste better then. Most of the stuff I have been served is
>> either burnt or raw.
>>
>> why should a steak cooked on a charcoal grill be any better than one cooked
>> under an electric grill.?
>>

Why not try it yourself? Life's all about trying new things and learning new skills. You may well find you like it.

Oh and stop going to crap BBQs. ;-)
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
Actually I have two barbeques. One is a Weber Kettle and the other a small cast iron type both charcoal fuelled. I sometimes cook a few chops or a steak on the latter. I mainly use the Weber to roast a whole chicken.

A god charcoal fire ready for cooking has no flames and the coals should be white in colour I.e covered in ash. It should not be producing flames, smoke or any discernible smell when it is reqdy for cooking. Chickens do cook well in the Weber as it gives an all round heat produced by the coals being placed on both sides of the kettle.

The main reason I sometimes cook meat outside is to avoid the smell inside the house. In my view there is no discernible difference in taste between steak cooked outside and that done under the grill on the cooker. I guess it's in the mind.


 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero

>> A god charcoal fire ready for cooking has no flames and the coals should be
>> white in colour I.e covered in ash. It should not be producing flames, smoke or
>> any discernible smell when it is reqdy for cooking.

Utterly impossible for burning charcoal to not produce fumes or smell. Fat dripping onto hot charcoals also produces some visible smoke.



>> In my view there is no discernible difference in taste between steak cooked outside
>> and that done under the grill on the cooker. I guess it's in the mind.

How very true.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich


"Utterly impossible for burning charcoal to not produce fumes or smell. Fat dripping onto hot charcoals also produces some visible smoke. "

Charcoal is virtually pure carbon. That's why it was used to produce steel. IIt has virtually no impurities. When it burns it I is virtually fume and smell free. If it doesn't burn like that you are using poor quality coal. The fqt dripping on the coals will of course impart the smell of burnt fat.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero

>> Charcoal is virtually pure carbon. That's why it was used to produce steel. IIt has
>> virtually no impurities. When it burns it I is virtually fume and smell free. If
>> it doesn't burn like that you are using poor quality coal. The fqt dripping on
>> the coals will of course impart the smell of burnt fat.

You will not see bags of BBQ charcoal thrown into the molten hot ore at the steelworks, because BBQ charcoal is not pure carbon. Even your superior BBQ "carbon" is stuffed to the gunnels with ash, and is very impure carbon indeed.


When hot BBQ charcoal produces fumes and smell. Even in Norfolk.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
I suggest you change your charcoal supplier . Mine burns pure and clean.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
Yeah, right.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
I've heard "my car is better than yours" arguments. I've even heard "my girlfriend is prettier than yours" discussions.

But my charcoal is better than yours? That's a new one.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
You seem to cook a lot on charcoal fires FM2R. When the coals are reay to cook on does it emit flames and smoke? A charcoal fire ready o cook on is surely a bed of hot glowing coals covered in a light layer of white ash. It's is a source of heat much like any other source of heat used for cooking. It no more emits the smell of wood burning thqtn does a gas cooker emit the smell of gas.

 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
I often have actual wood in the fire so its difficult to be sure. And also fat drips.

But i agree one wants white coals which are the hottest, most stable and don't kick out the level of smoke that it does earlier in the process.

However, how actually fume free it is I don't know.

 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
>> I often have actual wood in the fire

You can't do that, thats so unclean.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
If you want to impart a wood smell to your food that's exactly what you should do. In fact you can buy oak and hickory chips for that very purpose.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
>> If you want to impart a wood smell to your food that's exactly what you
>> should do. In fact you can buy oak and hickory chips for that very purpose.

No can't do that - its the same as an electric grill remember.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
>>You can't do that, thats so unclean.

It may well be, although I'm not sure why. But when we're camping then wood lying around is the obvious fuel source. And its just fine so long as whatever is being heated or cooked in a pan.

If one is using a wire grill, then it needs to be charcoal really.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
Round here we call that a camp fire
 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
Its a load of stones that we collect up when we pitch the tent; big smooth things [like hugely oversize pebbles, football ish size). In the middle of a 3/4 circle of these stones we put wood and/or charcoal, on top of the stones and over the fuel is laid a large wire grill and on top of that grill goes either pans or meat and/or other food.

Call it what you will.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero

>> Call it what you will.

Its still a camp fire and not a BBQ.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - No FM2R
Ok.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Lygonos
Both right.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Manatee
Well there's charcoal, that still has the shape of the wood it was made from, and cheap charcoal briquettes which are a different animal - full of inert filler, not as hot and long lasting. The real stuff is the best and I'd say is pretty close to pure heat.

I really like the Weber kettle too. Very controllable (as barebcues go).
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
The real stuff is the best and I'd say is
>> pretty close to pure heat"

Exactly
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
>> The real stuff is the best and I'd say is
>> >> pretty close to pure heat"
>>
>> Exactly

But it still emits fumes and smell.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - sooty123

>> The main reason I sometimes cook meat outside is to avoid the smell inside the
>> house.

What meat do you cook in the house that has a smell to be avoided?

In my view there is no discernible difference in taste between steak cooked outside
>> and that done under the grill on the cooker. I guess it's in the mind.
>>

Perhaps some people have a different palate.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Bobby
About 3 or 4 years ago I got rid of my gas BBQ as I felt it was just taking a cooker outside! No amount of lava bricks or whatever you call them made it into a "real" BBQ.

Got a brick built one instead and real charcoal.

As been mentioned elsewhere, an invite to "come to ours for a BBQ" does not mean come and have a lovely meal. It means fire, smoke, beer, guys hanging about together giving each other opinions and advice , women preparing salads and drinking prosecco.

It means burgers, marinated chickens etc. If you served me a Sunday lunch of a burger, hot dog, rolls, chicken fillet marinaded, baked potato and some sliced peppers I would look at you strangely. Serve that up on a Sunday at a BBQ and its perfectly normal and an excellent balanced diet!

Best thing I have ever had from a BBQ was an Arbroath Smokie! Lip slapping tasty!
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
Any grilled meat smell lingers about the house. Lamb fat is particularly bad in this respect. Can always smell it the next morning.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - sooty123
Most be a pain to go outside everytime you want grilled meat. What about winter, or do you just eat grilled meat when the weather is nice?
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
I only grill meat on average around once a month. Only eat red meat once or twice a week I suppose. I'm not fanatical about avoiding cooking smells in the house but if you can why not?
 More cooking and beer talk.... - sooty123
>> I only grill meat on average around once a month. Only eat red meat once
>> or twice a week I suppose. I'm not fanatical about avoiding cooking smells in the
>> house but if you can why not?
>>

Bit of a faff in January if you fancy a couple of lamb chops though.
If the cooking smell of what I'm just about to eat got so unpleasant that I had to cook it outside, I'd just not eat it. But each to their own.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
Clearly my kitchen extractor is better than his.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
Who eats lamb in January? Not in season.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - sooty123
>> Who eats lamb in January? Not in season.
>>

Change lamb chops to any grilled red meat you fancy. My point was that if it was so unpleasant smell wise I wouldn't cook it. But like I said each to their own.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Sun 2 Aug 15 at 22:52
 More cooking and beer talk.... - CGNorwich
I don't mind the smell of meat cooking in fact it is quite pleasant if you are hungry. What I don't like is the smell of lamb fat or indeed any other cooking smell lingering in the house. Lamb because of its particularly high fat content is one of the worst offenders in this respect.the fat content helps the smell to persist.

Now I like grilled lamb and I don't mid cooking it outside so the problem is sorted.

 More cooking and beer talk.... - sooty123
I don't mind cooking it outside so the problem
>> is sorted.
>>

Remember to wrap up warm ;-)
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Zero
>> Who eats lamb in January?

Aussies.
 More cooking and beer talk.... - Dog
>>. To be fair tho, done well BBq'd food has shed loads more taste than stuff done in your kitchen oven.

So why not cook it in the oven, and then pour some Heinz barbeque sauce over it.

:}
 More cooking and beer talk.... - legacylad
Personally I've never really preferred BBQ food to grub cooked in a 'normal' way. Exceptions are fish, smoked in a BBQ then used in tacos. Home made guacamole, diced onion, grated sharp Cheddar, sour cream, lettuce, quartered tiny toms straightforward the plant. Washed down with a cold beer. Although BBQd decent salmon is very nice, when smoked properly. With sweet potato fries.
Then ( to please AC) a gentle smoke to ensure a proper nights sleep. The older I get the less I seem to like red meat.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Bobby
I use the slow cooker for various dishes - usually pulled pork, casseroles, curries that sort of thing.

Decided to do a ham joint in it - a smoked ham joint.

So brushed honey and mustard over it, put it in slow cooker at midnight and turned it off about 2pm. Now I like my food salty and this was just so delicious, the meat had fallen apart like pulled pork and although the idea was to eat it with something else, over the day I have found myself picking at it with my fingers!

Only enough left for a wee sandwich before bed but I must have exceeded a months salt quota! Next time I will remember to boil it off first to get rid of the excess salt!
 Slow cooker ham joint - Armel Coussine
The nephew has a charcoal oven for pizzas 50 yards from here. It's sort of buried in the ground, with a chimney. When it's got really hot inside with chunks of charcoal, there's a sort of tray thing with a handle to scoop the pizza things back out when they are all puffed up and ready.

To tell the truth though pizzas are a bit on the thin side for my taste. Lots of chorizo improves them. And some of that low-melting-point cheese... bit of olive oil, yup yup...

Works brilliantly, but all a bit gritty and no doubt carcinogenic. Can't have everything though can you? Anyway I'm too old for it to matter. The young can look after themselves if that doesn't seem too heartless.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Mapmaker
I really cannot see the point in a barbecue.

1. Sausages cook best in the oven.
2. Steaks cook best on the griddle on the stove for 45 seconds a side, and then left to rest for 10-15 minutes in an oven at about 60-70 degrees.
 Slow cooker ham joint - No FM2R
Why does there need to be a "point" beyond just enjoying it: as I do, very much.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Mapmaker
>> Why does there need to be a "point" beyond just enjoying it: as I do,
>> very much.


There doesn't!

Watch me cooking on an open fire. Watch me set up a campsite (not much call for it these days, sadly), or do myriad other things. Watch me cook in a kitchen. But cooking on a barbecue... it's never done it for me.

I guess it's because it's rather artificial. Why do you need to set up a pseudo-kitchen in your garden. Different, I guess, if you're camping. But if you are... the smoke from a barbecue isn't pleasant in the way that wood smoke is!
 Slow cooker ham joint - Alanovich
It's an hour away from the wife and kids, in a fug of smoke, with a beer in your hand. Case dismissed.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Manatee
>> I really cannot see the point in a barbecue.
>>
>> 1. Sausages cook best in the oven.
>> 2. Steaks cook best on the griddle on the stove for 45 seconds a side,
>> and then left to rest for 10-15 minutes in an oven at about 60-70 degrees.

True as far as it goes...but then you won't have had a barbecue, will you?

We must all know somebody who has a meal out and says "I could have made that myself for less than £5". Similar principle?
Last edited by: Manatee on Tue 4 Aug 15 at 12:30
 Slow cooker ham joint - CGNorwich
Yes barbecues have a certain ambience. You can't beat standing in someone's garden with a paper plate and a glass of £3.99 Romanian red from Aldi in your hand waiting for your charred chicken thigh to be retrieved from the inferno whilst surrounded by screaming children and people you don't like telling you where they are going for their next holiday.

Ah! the joys of summer
 Slow cooker ham joint - sooty123
>> Yes barbecues have a certain ambience. You can't beat standing in someone's garden with a
>> paper plate and a glass of £3.99 Romanian red from Aldi in your hand waiting
>> for your charred chicken thigh to be retrieved from the inferno whilst surrounded by screaming
>> children and people you don't like telling you where they are going for their next
>> holiday.
>>
>> Ah! the joys of summer
>>

You don't like BBQs? You should have said.

Best stick to using the BBQ to cook a couple of chops in the middle of winter.

;)
 Slow cooker ham joint - CGNorwich
Indeed.
 Slow cooker ham joint - No FM2R
I live in South America. glorious sunshine, imported London Pride, great meat, huge barbecue, loads of salad, decent music (generally) and a relaxed laid back atmosphere fully of happy people (usually talking VERY loudly).

Happy children, relaxed family.

I love barbecues.
 Slow cooker ham joint - CGNorwich
Sounds good apart from the London Pride.
 Slow cooker ham joint - No FM2R
>> Sounds good apart from the London Pride.
>

Actually I quite like London Pride, but its not as if I have much of a variety to choose from.

Beggars /choosers.
 Slow cooker ham joint - CGNorwich
I have to admit that I would drink it in preference to lager.
 Slow cooker ham joint - sooty123
It's a little bland for me but it's ok. What local brewers do you have ? Any of them any good?
 Beer - Manatee
Tring Brewery has been doing good stuff for some years now. Side Pocket, Jack o'Legs, Sunshine, and Squadron Scramble are all good.
www.tringbrewery.co.uk/PermanentandSeasonal.html

Coniston Bluebird, Skinners Betty Stogs, Oakham JHB, Caledonian Deuchars, are all beers I have supped and enjoyed recently.

Of more widely distributed beers I love Taylor's Landlord, although it's a bit strong for me if having more than a couple, at 4.3%. Locally (around Keighley) I would choose the Boltmaker bitter or the Golden Best. The Golden Best is a lovely hopped pale mild such as used to be made by Websters, Tetleys and others but now rarely encountered.

In the Bleeding Heart opposite Farringdon station recently, and travelling by train of course, I had several of Adnam's Lighthouse - lovely drinking at only 3.4% ABV so minimal debilitation!

My nearest local is Fullers. Can't get on with it, Pride is not at all moreish which is lucky as it gives me headache, ESB is nice in small quantities (and gives me headache). The new 'Oliver's Island' is more palatable but bland - aimed at the edge of the huge lager market I suspect, along with the new Frontier 'craft lager'. I used to drink the Chiswick bitter in there but they haven't kept it for years.

Not that I drink much at all, honestly.
 Beer - Zero
>> Tring Brewery has been doing good stuff for some years now. Side Pocket, Jack o'Legs,
>> Sunshine, and Squadron Scramble are all good.
>> www.tringbrewery.co.uk/PermanentandSeasonal.html

I am lucky that I live within east distribution of the Hogs Back Brewery, and a large proportion of the non chain pubs around here stock one or two of their ales.

Their Tea, Hogs Back Bitter and Hogstar lager and very good and not over strong.

They however, sometimes resort to the stupid name club that most of the camera loved brewers belong to.

When I become dictator of the UK, I will ban the use of stupid "comic" names for beer. Only

brewery name after area_variation_type

So we would have Dorking_premium_lager or Horsham_cooking_IPA for example
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 4 Aug 15 at 15:48
 Beer - Haywain
"When I become dictator of the UK, I will ban the use of stupid "comic" names for beer"

I guess Peter Yetman's beer names will be more to your liking then, Zeddo - possibly even too simplistic.

www.yetmans.co.uk/export5.htm

Yetman's really is a micro, micro brewery - a one-man band that I stumbled across whilst surveying power-lines in the wilds of Norfolk. The beer is excellent; it is available on tap in a few places on the N Norfolk coast.
 Beer - No FM2R
I enjoy Fullers' beers. All I can get here is ESB or London Pride. I marginally prefer the ESB but either will do quite nicely.

In the old days my favourites were Brakespears Best, Flowers IPA and Courage Directors. But ownership and recipes have been screwed with so much who knows what is what these days.

Its the same as liking an MGA or TC, which I do, and thinking that an MG6 or TF will hit the same spot. It won't, trust me.
 Slow cooker ham joint - No FM2R
>>What local brewers do you have ? Any of them any good?

Well "good" is difficult to say. Certainly there are a few which are well regarded. Its closer to Belgian beer than English, insofar as its close to anything other than cack. To me they all taste like homebrew, and I've never liked that either.

So its really a choice between lager, bottled s***e, or whatever import I can get.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Clk Sec
We bought a load of barbeque stuff about 25 years ago, and used it no more than a few times before getting rid.

Just too much faff for us.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Dog
Sounds awful, apart from the London Pride and, was ist sunshine??
 Slow cooker ham joint - Armel Coussine
>> Sounds awful, apart from the London Pride and, was ist sunshine??

What's a vegetarian doing here Perro?

Someone start a bean soup thread for these herbivores...
 Slow cooker ham joint - Dog
I gave up being a veggie Sire, although bee leave it or not I've just had a soy-bacon sandwich.

I eat chicken 3 times a week, turkey breasts a couple of times too - in place of the sausages I used to eat.

 Slow cooker ham joint - Armel Coussine
>> I gave up being a veggie

Sorry Perro... inadvertent slander.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Zero
>> >> I really cannot see the point in a barbecue.
>> >>
>> >> 1. Sausages cook best in the oven.


Are Mad or blind? It must be that you have no teeth and your food is mashed up and spoon fed to you by your carer.

Sausages cooked in the oven are pale anaemic tubes of tasteless slime.
 Slow cooker ham joint - CGNorwich
What about toad in the hole?
 Slow cooker ham joint - Zero
>> What about toad in the hole?

Pre flash grill your sausages before you put them in the batter
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 4 Aug 15 at 13:40
 Slow cooker ham joint - CGNorwich
And cooking them in the oven.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Zero
>> And cooking them in the oven.

Only if you miss out the "pre flash grilling them" bit.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Dog
>>Sausages cooked in the oven are pale anaemic tubes of tasteless slime.

Before I decided to ditch the bangers just a couple of weeks ago, I used to cook my ASDA finest Lincolnshire bangers in the oven (fan) @ 180 for 30 mins turning once and, they were to die for.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Zero
>> >>Sausages cooked in the oven are pale anaemic tubes of tasteless slime.
>>
>> Before I decided to ditch the bangers just a couple of weeks ago, I used
>> to cook my ASDA finest Lincolnshire bangers in the oven (fan) @ 180 for 30
>> mins turning once and, they were to die for.

I stick advice about cooking meat from a vegan where it belongs.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Dog
Toad up the hole?

:o}
 Slow cooker ham joint - Mapmaker
>Sausages cooked in the oven are pale anaemic tubes of tasteless slime.

Sounds like you need a more powerful oven. I get a wonderful moist sausage, with a gooey crispy bit on the bottom. Sausages in a frying pan just don't work as well; they inevitably end up losing bits of their skin.
 Slow cooker ham joint - CGNorwich
"Sounds like you need a more powerful oven"

Yes sausages cook wellin an oven. We sometimes cook them with a roast vegetables. potatoes, parsnips, peppers etc. and drizzled with a little oil.

Perhaps Zero is using too low a temperature.

Here is a basic guide which might help

www.jamieshomecookingskills.com/recipe.php?title=how-to-cook-sausages-in-the-oven
 Slow cooker ham joint - Zero
>> "Sounds like you need a more powerful oven"
>>
>> Yes sausages cook wellin an oven. We sometimes cook them with a roast vegetables. potatoes,
>> parsnips, peppers etc. and drizzled with a little oil.
>>
>> Perhaps Zero is using too low a temperature.

Hes not

>> Here is a basic guide which might help
>>
>> www.jamieshomecookingskills.com/recipe.php?title=how-to-cook-sausages-in-the-oven

Trust jamie to do stuff thats not very good.
 Slow cooker ham joint - CGNorwich
Hmm. I'll go with Jamie. Food looks always looks good and he seems an easy bloke to get on with.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Mapmaker
Why is Jamie doing them on a grill? They need a proper roasting tray, and they need to sit on the bottom of it. Add a few onions too. And then some par-boiled potatoes, and a few vegetables and you have a one-dish bachelor roast.
 Slow cooker ham joint - No FM2R
I love fried stuff.

Sausages, beans, fried bread, fried egg and baked beans for breakfast today.

Yum yum.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Armel Coussine
>> Sausages, beans, fried bread, fried egg and baked beans for breakfast today.

>> Yum yum.

Brown sauce, ketchup or Worcester? The last is a good standby.

With you all the way in principle FMR, although I need to be feeling very fit to eat that size of breakfast these days... coffee and a cake is more my speed now.

I guess if you do a big morning fry-up every day for a couple of decades you might get a bit fat unless you're a disciplined exerciser. Metabolisms vary quite a lot however.
 Slow cooker ham joint - No FM2R
Brown sauce AC. I am British, not American, so ketchup and a fried breakfast could never be on the same plate.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Armel Coussine
>> I am British, not American, so ketchup and a fried breakfast could never be on the same plate.

Funny, I had the impression you had roots in South America at least.

Perhaps I became soft on ketchup when eating in US diners on the road. They didn't have proper vinegary brown sauce there in my day.

Pancakes and maple syrup along with yr bacon, fried eggs and funny little American beef sausage things, bit of tabasco maybe, butter of course, yum yum actually. No wonder Gringos are obese. Anyone would be with nosh like that. Thank goodness our wives don't approve of that nonsense.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Zero
>> Brown sauce AC. I am British, not American, so ketchup and a fried breakfast could
>> never be on the same plate.

Cobblers. The beans are not in a brown coloured sauce.
 Slow cooker ham joint - No FM2R
>>Cobblers. The beans are not in a brown coloured sauce.

I do not put ketchup on my fried food. I do not like ketchup on my fried food. I like brown sauce on my fried breakfast. Very much. When I lived in the States this was an issue for me because they put ketchup on their fried food. They do not have, and generally don;t like, brown sauce.

I do like Baked Beans. You are correct that the beans come in a tomato based source of some kind, although I wouldn't call that ketchup. (But if you would, please feel free not to bother telling me).

AC - I am British. I live in South America. Hope that helps your understanding.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Armel Coussine
>> I am British. I live in South America.

Yeah, knew that really. No offence...

You've lived there a long time though. Sort of taken root. Why not after all? Seems entirely reasonable to me.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Zero

>> lived in the States this was an issue for me because they put ketchup on
>> their fried food. They do not have, and generally don;t like, brown sauce.
>>
>> I do like Baked Beans. You are correct that the beans come in a tomato
>> based source of some kind, although I wouldn't call that ketchup. (But if you would,
>> please feel free not to bother telling me).

I am sure I really don't need to tell you you have issues.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Alanovich
One of the biggest ingredients of brown sauce is..................tomato. It's a variant of ketchup. Bald men fighting over a comb again.

I put brown sauce on my baked beans. With a layer of grated cheddar in between.

Ketchup with the fried/scrambled eggs, brown sauce for the rest of it. I swing both ways.
 Slow cooker ham joint - neiltoo
We may have been here before but...

I love baked beans.
I love ketchup.
But I can't bear either with egg yolk.
The combination puts me off.

Strangely I can eat tomatoes with egg, either fres, fried, baked, or tinned.

8o)
 Slow cooker ham joint - Pat
Where's the Black Pudding?.......Lightweight!

Pat
 Slow cooker ham joint - Zero
>> Hmm. I'll go with Jamie. Food looks always looks good and he seems an easy
>> bloke to get on with.

Met him have you?
 Slow cooker ham joint - No FM2R
>>Sausages in a frying pan just don't work as well;

While Zero is out buying a new oven, perhaps he could get you a new frying pan at the same time.
 Slow cooker ham joint - Zero
>> >Sausages cooked in the oven are pale anaemic tubes of tasteless slime.
>>
>> Sounds like you need a more powerful oven.

NO, i don't think so.

>>I get a wonderful moist sausage, with
>> a gooey crispy bit on the bottom.

For moist and gooey read slime, for crisp mean burnt. So we now know you like slime with a white top and black bottom

 Slow cooker ham joint - Pat
>>Sausages in a frying pan just don't work as well; they inevitably end up losing bits of their skin<<

Only if you cook them too quickly at too high a temperature, even I know that.

Pat
Last edited by: Pat on Wed 5 Aug 15 at 11:14
 Slow cooker ham joint - Roger.
I now make our own sausages - yummy - and good fried.
 Back to beer - Armel Coussine
Having run out of vodka this evening and there being no thievable spirits around, resorted to the bin and found a half-litre of something called Sharp's DOOM BAR. Only 4.3% it said. A dark, flat, potentially headachey brew looks like. It could have been out there far too long for its own good.
 Back to beer - MD
Doombar is fine if well kept. If not it's very mediocre. Bottled Doombar is not brewed in Cornwall. Apparently Sharps brewery has just been rumbled.
Latest Forum Posts