Food thread

[pinkeye]

well.. I'm a bit of an MKR junkie myself.

I've learned quite a lot over the last few yrs, techniques and such... but I also enjoy watching the people. Always a fave of mine... watching people.

I know it is not spontaneous.. that's obvious... but... few people can deceive effectively, and … I doubt these people are actors.,


whatever.. having spent many years in catering, I find it highly amusing.

[HBS Guy]

I prefer MasterChef. I don’t copy the recipes, just like to see people cooking with some passion!

(Body Odor as Mod of the Food MBR on OzPol has made it such a sad, irrelevant MBR, what a waste!)

I watch a lot of cooking shows yet never bother getting exact recipes. There is the enjoyment of the passion for food, there are some lovely general ideas to be gotten etc. Sufficient. If I want recipes I will consult a cookbook, I have like 4 metres/15' shelf space of cookbooks (and like 4' of brewbooks!)

[Tally]

Sorry guys but the best cooking show on TV, bar none is Maeve O'meara Food Safari on SBS.

She's a lovely lady and develops a wonderful rapport with every day people from every corner of the globe who've chosen to live in Australia.
She goes into their home, gets their back story then mucks in to help them cook a family feast or one of their favourite 'come home to mamma' comfort foods.
And of course she visits restaurants to see professionals at work so you get a bit of the flash chef routines, and every day home stuff as well.

[Lols]

I had to go and get suckered in to watching MKR !!
Villains and all!
But I read, Josh and his brother, are not real cooks, they were spotted by the MKR people, on some media, and asked Josh to join MKR, and Josh asked his brother, who has never cooked anything in his life.
Well, the crap they put on everyone, now, Sunday, they are the cooks, and looks like they quit or something.

Should be interesting....stay tuned for Sunday MKR!!!

[pinkeye]

yes I'm afraid I'll watch it.

still the Peruvians were pretty cool...

[mantra]

I enjoy both shows - but MKR is my favourite. That's disappointing news about Josh and Austin. I was just beginning to like their honesty and was hoping they would stay around for a while. Iggy and Romel are annoying. I think that Josh was right when he said he bet they both did a Masterchef class before they had to cook. I can't imagine MKR actually allowing them to progress too far. The viewers would be annoyed at the unfairness of having professionals pitted against amateurs.

[johnsmith]

I was just beginning to like their honesty and was hoping they would stay around for a while.

there is a difference between being honest, and being deliberately rude. They were after the shock value, not honesty.

[HBS Guy]

Should be some nice food here this weekend;

A chicken stock is slowly coming into being on the stove: Sunday will be a nice 3 course meal of chicken soup, ravioli with spinach and ricotta then veal, either as a schnitzel or saltimbocca followed by pannacotta and a puree of raspberries.

Tomorrow, chicken schnitzel and beurre bosc pears poached whole in a sugar syrup with spices including saffron and dry white wine.

[HBS Guy]

Everything was pretty nice.

I followed my own thoughts re the pears. White wine, water, sugar. Few cloves, couple bits star anise, lemon zest. Plenty saffron.

Tasted. . .weird but nice. Too much saffron, I think, and all water no wine might be better.

[greggerypeccary]

Jamie's restaurants have gone bust.

"Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's British restaurant chain has gone into administration, partly due to increased competition and escalating rents in local commercial districts."

I like Jamie, and I liked his restaurant here in Perth when it first opened.

It went downhill fast, though.

Pretentious staff, and a stupid EFTPOS payment system where you enter a tip before your PIN, made the dining experience less pleasurable.

I actually contacted his office to let him know that although tipping is the norm in Europe, it's not the done thing in Australia (certainly not in Perth).

It was turning away a lot of customers.

[HBS Guy]

Rent can be a real killer.

[greggerypeccary]

Rent can be a real killer.

Absolutely!

Especially here in Perth.

The landlords/real estate agents here are greedy (stubborn) bastards.

There are entire office blocks here in Perth that have been empty for years (I'm talking 4 to 5 years) because the rents are just way too high.

Almost every week in the city, a retail outlet closes down because of the exorbitant rents.

Jamie's restaurant here in Perth is in a very good location, so I'm sure the rent would have been astronomical.

[HBS Guy]

Yup.

[johnsmith]

Rent can be a real killer.

Absolutely!

Especially here in Perth.

The landlords/real estate agents here are greedy (stubborn) bastards.

There are entire office blocks here in Perth that have been empty for years (I'm talking 4 to 5 years) because the rents are just way too high.

Almost every week in the city, a retail outlet closes down because of the exorbitant rents.

Jamie's restaurant here in Perth is in a very good location, so I'm sure the rent would have been astronomical.

commercial rents are the biggest killer of local business. Not wages.

My local shopping centre asked a friend of mine for $2000 a week for a little coffee kart sized space in the centre ... he was going to sell coffee and a few flavours of ice cream .... no seating area. It was ridiculous.

[Lols]

Jamie's restaurants have gone bust.

"Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's British restaurant chain has gone into administration, partly due to increased competition and escalating rents in local commercial districts."

I like Jamie, and I liked his restaurant here in Perth when it first opened.

It went downhill fast, though.

Pretentious staff, and a stupid EFTPOS payment system where you enter a tip before your PIN, made the dining experience less pleasurable.

I actually contacted his office to let him know that although tipping is the norm in Europe, it's not the done thing in Australia (certainly not in Perth).

It was turning away a lot of customers.

Tipping in Australia, would have been the tipping point of the closure! (pun intended).

So forcing one's business principles from overseas onto a country that has a different set of principles, isn't doing "As in Rome...etc" situation.

So that's why it's gone bust. I was wondering why.
I never did get a chance to go into his restaurant, but then again, I have a lot of his cook books. I did have a chance to go to his restaurant on board the cruise ship,
but but but......when fine dining in the evening is part of the cruise package, and breakfast and lunch also, why would I pay for a restaurant when I have all other dining available for no extra charge?

Anyway, re: food, I just bought, after 2 years of pondering about it, a Thermomix TM5.
Fantastic, best thing I ever bought as far as electrical gadgets go!

Got it for a great price too, since it will be superceded by a newer model the TM6 for a heftier price tag.

I got mine on special for $1580, usually its about $2080. So yes, after 2 years pondering because I couldn't fathom the price over $2K I bought it, and loving it.

I have this cookidoo key that goes online and access to over 40,000 recipes worldwide, with guided cooking on screen on the machine.

It is so darn easy. It makes a bread dough in 2 minutes (whereas usually 20 minutes kneading by hand).

But basically, it is the way of the futuristic kitchen, it replaces many electrical items, with no need for cook books.

That's my thrill for the week, my new cooking buddy.

[HBS Guy]

You can reduce a stock or bottle of wine to a few mls without them burning.

Don’t leave it unattended tho—vaguely remembering something about it catching on fire?

[johnsmith]

vaguely remembering something about it catching on fire?

I understand that they've fixed that problem

but like you, i can't bring myself to trust them either.

[HBS Guy]

If somebody gave me one I would use it, but would keep an eye on it.

[HBS Guy]

Hmmm was in the market earlier, bought the ingredients for this recipe by Adrian Richardson “Secret Meat Business” https://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/15423/canadian-beans-with-smokey-bacon when I saw something that changed my plans: pine mushrooms were on sale! Yum!

So a risotto this weekend. The beef and bacon are in the freezer.

Love pine mushrooms. A wet week and they are gone so I had no hesitation changing plans on the spot.

[HBS Guy]

I have been feeding a sourdough starter: start with half a cup flour (rye is best or wholemeal wheat, plain flour can take weeks to take off) and half a cup (actually, a little bit more, was too thick a mix.) Wait for bubbles then feed with half a cup flour and half a cup (or a bit more) of water. Use non-chlorinated water (NOT rainwater!) If your bowl gets a bit full throw half of the starter away.

Starter was bubbling very nicely. So measure out half a Kg flour and 660ml water, a couple soup ladles of starter, mix well, put the whole thing into a plastic shopping bag, let that ferment overnight. Then add another 500g flour and 22g salt. (in bakers terms: 100% flour, 66% water, 2.2% salt)

See how all that goes. Hopefully 2 nice loaves wholemeal sourdough bread.

[HBS Guy]

Two balls of dough rising in my car (in a bowl inside a bag in my car.)

Just made a nice garlicky tomato sauce.

Pizza tonight in “the monastery” as monks’ abodes are called.

Ham, kaessler chop and chorizo sausage—felt like a change. Chop and snag already sliced up, dog of course enjoyed the trimmings. The other pizza: salmon tail, prawns and oysters. Fennel bulb sliced very thin. Plenty herbs incl basil.

[HBS Guy]

Wanted to make a Breton flat cake (a butter cake.) Could not find the French cookbook for love or money. Aarghhh, what to do? Of course, fire up the laptop and googled this:

https://bonjourparis.com/archives/recipe-brittany-butter-cake-gateau-breton/

Apart from substituting orange blossom water for the vanilla extract I followed that. Well, almost, as I have a penchant for doing I creamed the butter with the flour instead of with the eggs!

Apart from liking that cake I thought I might bake it the day before I go and take half with me—in a dog-proof tin! Fucking dog is an inveterate food thief! Bitcb was weighed at 8.7Kg so she is NOT starving!

See how this recipe goes.

[HBS Guy]

There is another cake I like, Italian influenced, that uses twice sifted cornflour (works with plain flour OK) and eggs. A fine crumb and delicate eggy flavor. When it has the chance to get a little bit old it is nice with cream.

[HBS Guy]

There is another cake I like, Italian influenced, that uses twice sifted cornflour (works with plain flour OK) and eggs. A fine crumb and delicate eggy flavor. When it has the chance to get a little bit old it is nice with cream.

There is a very nice Dutch butter cake recipe in Mum’s old (1950-something) Dutch Cookbook but the Breton version is drier, might travel better. Make a big batch of Anzac biscuits too, I think.

[HBS Guy]

Cake out the oven, looks good enough to eat!

Hmmm reading my previous post, Mum has another, small cook book “Ik kan koken—nu” “I can cook—now” which I can’t find but will be around which is for wartime cooking: you don’t peel potatoes you scrub them is one instruction I remember reading in it. Will take that with me! I can read Dutch (a little bit of difficulty but we have Google translate now) and will see if there are some nice war-time dishes in it. Will keep it for sentimental reasons of course.