Cooks' Corner

[Paddy Tobin]

Oh, Lesley,

It must indicate that one has reached a certain age - we are going to our son's for Christmas this year, the first time we will be away from our own home for Christmas. Mary, on instruction, has to bring the ham, Christmas pudding, brandy butter and the mince pies. David just had to have his Mammy's cooking for some of the Christmas food at least.

Anthony, I have been talking to Mary about coffee/tea and she has reminded me that I drank tea on the 14th of October last, photograph attached. We were on holidays in Madeira and Mary just had to have afternoon tea at Reid's Palace Hotel. No wonder I call her a snob! I don't recall the previous time I drank tea. Lovely gardens there, by the way.

Paddy

[Arykana]

Interesting, to know about your Christmas food. Here, in Hungary people usually make fisherman's soup and poppy seed Kala's or staffed cabbage or goose. Christmas Eve we would be only 4 of us /my husband, 2 sons and me/, I plan to bake a nice size of duck, interspersed with garlic, cheesy potato http://Aryan.la punk.HI/?module=old&tantalum=385314
a pear making a film in caramel,  cooked in red wine, the juice thickening with a little balm vinegar, the pear baked longer in an oven stuffed with chili creamcheese
I will make a chestnut cake, gingerbread and of course the poppy seed kalács
I do not decided the entree yet - maybe it will be a duck liver in Cognac, not sure

Christmas day we will visit my sister, she will make juniper game roast suckling pig, cooked in wine with a sour cherry, she will make a banana-wippedcream-nut-chocolate layered desert

the next day of Christmas I will make the dinner again, the boys girlfriends will come too and my sister's family /my sister-in-law never wanted to have Christmas with us/ I will make a whole mushroom staffed pork ribs and maybe some BRUSELS SPROUTS :-)

[Arykana]

today - tray baked chicken with baby tomatoes, lemon, rosemary and garlic, baby squashed boiled then fried with olive oil and rosemary and fried leeks.

I try tomorrow

[Anthony Darby]

Guess I'll have to grow my own Brussels sprouts, but then I suppose they are out of season at Christmas time in New Zealand? I love 'em. It's genetic!

[maggiepie]

I love baby brussell sprouts.
Can't imagine why anyone would not like them, yummmmyyyyyy!!!

[Lesley Cox]

Guess I'll have to grow my own Brussels sprouts, but then I suppose they are out of season at Christmas time in New Zealand? I love 'em. It's genetic!

I really love BSprouts. Yes! But they are a winter crop!!! So by all means grow your own Anthony if you want to, though they are easily available, but not fresh at christmas. Frozen maybe?

All our vegs tonight for dinner are from the garden. Potatoes, carrots, broad beans and parsley, sweet marjoram and mint. Courgettes ready very soon.

[Anthony Darby]

Anthony, I have been talking to Mary about coffee/tea and she has reminded me that I drank tea on the 14th of October last, photograph attached. We were on holidays in Madeira and Mary just had to have afternoon tea at Reid's Palace Hotel. No wonder I call her a snob! I don't recall the previous time I drank tea. Lovely gardens there, by the way.

Paddy

Cool. My mum's been to Reid's in Madeira for afternoon tea. I wonder if it is connected with Reid's in London and Brighton? My mum, sister her boy friend and I were in Brighton many years ago - jings, it must be nearly 30 years ago. She suggested we go to a restaurant for lunch. McDonald's?(It was suggested!) No, Reid's was nearer, so we all had lobster thermidor. The bill was over 70 quid. I do remember an American couple complaining that their roast chicken was broiled!

[Paddy Tobin]

Anthony,

I don't know if there is any connection between the two "Reid's" mentioned above. We did enjoy the experience, very pleasant and a nice treat.

Paddy

[maggiepie]

Paddy, I remember overdoing it with too many brandy alexanders years and years ago.
I haven't been able to look at once since, they were lethal.
Think I might have a few Irish Coffees this year though.

Lesley, I have just started to really appreciate sweet marjoram, I grow it each summer and have started cutting it down before the frost and hanging it in the sunroom.
It's so good fresh but even the home dried is so much better than the dried chaff sold.
I like it much better than oregano, I have tried growing 3 different types of oregano here and none of them have any flavour.

If you like broad beans, you should try edamame. They grow into around 30 inch high bushes . They all mature and get picked at the same time but they freeze very well.
You freeze them in the pods for the best results.
They are fantastic as a veggie, snack, in salads.
We can buy boxes of 12 here, each box is enough for 2, you just slit the top, nuke for 3 minutes then pop them out of the pod and sprinkle some ( preferably) maldon flakes.
I don't buy baby lima beans anymore, just the edamame.

[Lesley Cox]

I don't find so-called "sweet" marjoram really sweet at all but more savoury and it is certainly my favourite marjoram/oregano in the kitchen. Superb with sliced tomato and with or without cottage cheese in a whole grain sandwich.

As to edamame beans, I think we've talked about them before, earlier on this thread and we just can't get them in NZ and importing beans is a no-no. One of the vegetable mixes that is bought in the supermarket frozen, contains something with a very similar name and I've wondered if it was the edamame in which case a special licence to import would have been obtained by the manufacturer (Heinz/Watties) specifically for beans to freeze and eat and therefore not suitable for growing. We're not allowed to import edible peas either. Pathetic. And yes, I do love broad beans.

[ranunculus]

Probably the only time I could, for shame, contribute to a topic entitled 'Cooks' Corner' ... two images captured in Mallorca of peppers for sale in a local market.

[maggiepie]

Fantastic, Cliff.
How many kilos did you bring home?

[Lori S.]

Beautiful pepper photos!  It looks like they are strung up for hanging... ?

Well, cooks, here's the challenge...  What should I make with a package of hot Italian sausage (raw)?  I usually cook it and add it to a tomato sauce with red peppers, onion, olives, sometimes with pickled artichoke hearts, etc., and serve with pasta, but it seems I have overdone that lately, and I am told that we have tired of it.     Any ideas?

[johnw]

What should I make with a package of hot Italian sausage (raw)? Any ideas?

Lori  - Here goes:

#1 - Large pot of boiling water. Add 1/5C of salt and add 4C of orecchiette (no sub). Stir initially as they have a tendency to stick together. Orecchiette is maddeningly slow to cook despite the label.  Avoid Dececco brand which stick themselves together orgiastically, Barilla or Divella best.   You must sample frequently once it loses its opaqueness. 30 minutes as a rule but make sure just al dente.

#2  - One bunch of rapini (aka brocolii de raab). Break off tough ends and peel the stems, pulling the tough peels right up into the florets. Save the best of the smaller leaves, discard the big tough and yellow leaves. Chop stems into 3" lengths and florets into manageable pieces. Wash but do not dry.

#3 Meanwhile add 3-4Tbs olive oil to a deep coverable pan.   Slit sausage casings and scoop out meat, fry breaking into very small bits. When 2/3 done, drain the oil and add 4-5T fresh olive add 5+Tbs of chopped garlic.  Do not burn the garlic but after 1 minute add 2-3tsp fennel seeds  (usually this dish calls for fennel sausages and 1 tsp of chili flakes are added later but you don't need the flakes but I always add extra fennel seed.)  Add the rapini plus 2-3 healthy pinches of salt and coat with oil.  Cover for 1 minute to steam then remove lid and add 1.5C chicken stock, reduce to barely 1/3+C while the orecchiette (and rapini) cook.  Add 2T butter, the orechiette and toss until the orichette has absorbed some of the stock, there should be a bit of stock left at the bottom.  Remove from heat and toos in 1/2C+++ grated parmiagiano regiano.  Presto.  Refrain from high cholesterol foods for 2 days.

johnw - +1C at 9pm

[johnw]

Probably the only time I could, for shame, contribute to a topic entitled 'Cooks' Corner' ... two images captured in Mallorca of peppers for sale in a local market.

Fantastic peppers Cliff, hope you sampled some.

Did you see a salt for sale in Majorca that is mixed with dried olive fragments? It looks like brown sea salt.  We had crusty bread in Weimar served with olive oil, balsamic and that salt.  When we enquired about the salt the cook came flying out of the kitchen and excitedly explained that he had just returned from Majorca with it and considered it a great find. We were delighted he sold us some though 5Tbs were NOT cheap.

johnw