Cooks' Corner

[Rodger Whitlock]

Re Abe Books.... you haven't got the last one, have you? I was just on my way there! EEK! Thought for a moment you had nabbed the last one...... I see that Lily is a Lilly ..... I find there are several.... bit of a shock to see such  price difference between UK, Europe and USA!

Sorry about the misspelling, Maggi.

One thing amusing about the book is the infinite array of different size and shape baking pans the author owns. Just for amusement, I indexed all the different ones she referred to and the list is longer than you can imagine. If you decide to acquire the many variations she calls for, soon you will need to build an annex to your house to hold them all.

It is an American cookbook, though the recipes are originally Austrian, so you may find some of the ingredients or instructions unfamiliar or confusing. If so, just write and I'll do my best to clarify.

As for ABEBooks, I've found it's quite important to compare total prices that include shipping and handling. On ABE, the booksellers set their own prices, unlike Alibris which dictates the shipping/handling fees so they are all equal.

Another useful site when looking for secondhand books is bookfinder.com; it is a meta search engine and compares listings from a number of individual sites, including Alibris & ABEBooks.

[Maggi Young]

Just caught this horrible news report: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090714/twl-blumenthal-style-chef-blows-off-his-3fd0ae9.html


A young chef has blown his hands off when using liquid nitrogen , in the manner of the (often daft) experiments of the chef Heston Blumenthal .... what an absolute disaster.

I read a recipe the other day from HB, for  fish cooked in a sealed bag in a dishwasher machine..... flipping idiot.... why would anyone DO that ? And this young guy follows his lead and looks what happens.... Ghastly thing to happen.

[David Nicholson]

Maureen's recipe for Steak and Kidney Pudding. The recipe she got it from states "sufficient for six" but in our house four manage to see it off nicely. Mind you we don't need a sweet afterwards Ideal meal for a cold winter day.


For the Suet pastry

    100g (3½ oz) prepared beef suet
    225g (8oz) self-raising flour
    Salt
    Iced water

For the Pudding

    900g (2lb) chuck, stewing or braising steak, cut into 3cm (1in) cubes
    225g (8oz) beef kidneys, trimmed and cut into 3cm (1in) cubes
    3 tbsp plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
    50g (2oz) button mushrooms, cleaned
    1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
    A dash of Tabasco    
    A little beef stock or water
    Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Suet pastry: Mix the suet, flour and salt in a bowl and, using a tablespoon at a time, slowly add enough iced water to bind. This can be done in a food processor, but don't over-process the mixture. Cover the pastry with clingfilm and chill for 20 minutes. Keep about a quarter of the pastry back to make the lid, then roll out the other three-quarters to a thickness of about 3mm (1/8 in).

Butter the pudding basin. Line it with the rolled-out pastry, leaving about 3cm (1in) of pastry hanging over the top. Set aside.

Now make the filling by rolling the beef and kidneys in the seasoned flour. Mix the meat and pile it all into the pastry-lined basin. Sprinkle with the Worcestershire, Tabasco sauces. Pour in enough beef stock or water to fill two-thirds (or slightly more) of the dish. Season the pudding with plenty of pepper.

Roll out the remaining pastry to make a lid. Cover the pudding and fold the edges together to form a seal, pressing the edges together lightly.

Cut a piece of foil large enough to cover the top of the pudding loosely: the pudding must have room to expand. Hold the foil in place by tying some string around it, just under the rim of the pudding basin. Make a handle by passing the string across the top loosely two or three times and threading it under the rim-string. Fasten it tightly at one side. Set the sealed pudding aside.

Fill a large pan with a tightly fitting lid with enough water to come two-thirds of the way up the pudding basin. Bring the water to the boil and lower the pudding into the pan. Cover the large pan with a lid. Add more boiling water as it evaporates and boils away and don't worry if the pudding leaks a bit. Continue topping up the boiling water as necessary for 4-5 hours.

Lift the pudding out of the pan and remove the foil. Wrap the basin in a white cloth or napkin with the top crust showing, browned and slightly fluffy, over the top of its white linen collar. If the crust has come in contact with the water, it will be pale and glistening but still excellent to eat. Serve the pudding with a biggest spoon you have-small portions are not allowed.


edit by maggi.... adding the recipe in a pdf for easy downloading for your files....
right click on the title below and "save as".....

[maggiepie]

OMG, David, I am drooling all over my keyboard!!
I have not had steak and kidney pudding since 1980.
There isn't an icicle's hope in hell that I could get suet here.
Do you think you could send me a pudding  

[David Nicholson]

Helen, if I tried to send you a pudding it's a cert that the Customs officers would finish up with a very good lunch

Just had a Google for suet suppliers in Canada-have a look at this Link and scroll down for Canada, it might be useful
 http://pudding.denyer.net/suet_suppliers.html

Not sure how popular suet based puddings are/were in other parts of the UK but they were certainly popular in Yorkshire. I can remember when my brother and I were very young and Mum was having one of those weeks when the family budget ran out and meat was not affordable, she would make an apple dumpling. The suet pastry to the same kind of recipe shown in the Steak and Kidney Pudding, but the filling was stewed cooking apples plus a handful of sultanas. The cooking method was exactly the same as the S&KP. She served this with a sweet white sauce with added ground nutmeg. This was the whole meal, nothing else was on the table, and when you had eaten a couple of dishes full of apple dumpling you were FULL!

Then there was baked jam roll. Same suet pastry base but rolled out, liberally covered with jam, and then baked in the oven. I can taste it now

[maggiepie]

Oh David, I have seen suet in the freezer section of supermarkets here, people buy it to make bird feed for winter.
It never occurred to me that it was safe for human consumption.
Will have to check it out.
I remember when I was a kid my mother would buy suet fat from the butcher but I think she just rendered it, I have no idea what she even used it for.
Of course that was before all the hydrogenated stuff turned up in the shops.
I am going to print out your pudding recipe and will have a go at making it this coming winter!!

[Lesley Cox]

Oh dear, all thee stunning recipes just as I've made a commitment to do the politically correct thing and avoid chocolate, suet puddings and much more, in favour of a hopefully longer life. I hope everyone else will enjoy though.

[Ragged Robin]

Welcome back Lesley, I do hope you feel better soon.....The Forum just simply hasn't been the same without you!  Looking forward to plenty of food for thought even if there are words you shouldn't think about    - maybe some lateral thinking in Cook's Corner could help 

[Lesley Cox]

Simple but Scrumptious Ice-cream
I've just made a batch of ice-cream and will put the recipe here. It is SOOOO simple and quick, so delicious (very rich) and you can do absolutely anything with the base recipe. Add any fruits, chocolate, nuts, coffee, liqueur, pile it in glasses, or into a pie shell or over a cheesecake crust...whatever. The recipe comes from a little Dunedin-produced book called "Ice-cream for All" by one Fiona Hyland.

The base is:

2 eggs at room temperature
2 lots of 1/4 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp warm water
250-300 mls cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

Beat egg whites until peaks are formed, add 1/4 cup caster sugar and beat until stiff.
In another basin but the same beater, beat egg yolks and warm water until frothy, add 2nd 1/4 cup caster sugar and beat until thick and pale.
In a third basin (larger) beat the cream until very thick, add vanilla and beat to mix.
Fold yolks then whites into cream. Place mixture in a plastic ice-cream tub (makes about 1 1/2 litres) and place in freezer until frozen and needed.

This particular batch, I folded in the remains of the last lot of lemon curd. Scrumptious. Pureed rhubarb and a tsp of ground ginger is another favourite of mine.


edit by maggi.... adding the recipe in a pdf for easy downloading for your files....
right click on the title below and "save as".....

[Maggi Young]

Joy of joys, we have a new forumist,; who as well as loving flowers.... is a devotee of CAKES!!
 Erika (user name :  arykana) is from Hungary..... home of many wonderful  recipes...and you can see  gardens and recipes on her  website.... this page shows a couple of recipes translated into English for us! How cool is that? And just look at those cakes.... yummy! Follow the link.....
http://arykana.lapunk.hu/?modul=oldal&tartalom=883822

[Arykana]

Thank you!!
this page is a treasure mine fro me too !!! we like to try new food
will make more English site if you like or have question about any type of Hungarian speciality

[Ragged Robin]

Wow, wonderful, mouth watering, atheistic* aesthetic, a feast for the senses and so inventive  

So glad you've joined the Forum Erika  

Can we see more of your crafts like the lace inter woven in your postings?


*atheistic is a made up word meaning: the magic that sticks the whole confection together and makes it look delightful 

Thanks Maggi for bringing this to my attention 

[Arykana]

you can see my paints as well on my site and of course, if you like, I would make lace pics too

[Ragged Robin]

Have just had great fun looking through your paintings and photos and love the way you use light in them to create a atmosphere 

Yes please, I would really like to see some of your creations in lace.....when you have a moment 

[johnw]

the chef Heston Blumenthal .

Maggi

Wasn't his Fat Duck closed down recently due to patrons falling ill?

What next, soufflés on the lawn mower?

johnw