Home » Discussion Forums » Playing With Your Food » Recipes and comments, October - December 2008, archived
| Re: Bird's Nest Cookies [message #8509 is a reply to message #8298 ] |
Sat, 20 December 2008 23:43  |
 Marian
Messages: 3
Registered: December 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC |
Junior Member |
|
|
|
Yes, they definitely coax out the little old lady, which I must have in some pretty impressive quantity. I'd be curious to know how they turn out, if you make them, because I don't think I've ever attempted to write down a recipe for anyone before (which mostly has me fearing that they'll fail somehow, although that might be useful to know too).
|
|
|
| Re: Recipe Thread [message #8769 is a reply to message #9226 ] |
Wed, 24 December 2008 12:42  |
 |
AJLR
Messages: 2566
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
|
|
This is a lovely warming meal for a cold winter evening, just brought to mind by Black Bear's mentioning that she liked the sausages over here. 
Sausage, Onion and Potato Casserole
(for 3 - 4 portions)
1 1b of good sausages (pork and herb or pork and leek are good), ie those from a butcher or brand you trust and with at least 80% meat in the filling.
2 lbs potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced (either on a mandolin or with a sharp knife and a keen eye to your fingertips)
1 lb onions, peeled and also sliced very thinly
1 rounded T tomato puree
1 tsp mustard (Dijon is good)
1 pint (US) or 3 / 4 pint (UK) of either milk or good chicken stock, brought to simmering point
2 T butter
Seasoning to taste
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6. Use some of the butter to well-grease a good sized casserole dish. Layer the sliced potatoes and onions thickly in the casserole dish (overall to a depth of around 2 inches), seasoning to taste as you go. Add the tomato puree and mustard to the hot milk/stock and stir to mix well. Pour this mixture over the vegetables in the dish, dot the top with the remaining butter, and put the dish, covered, into the middle of the oven for an hour and a quarter (standing the dish on an oven tray). After the first hour and a quarter, place the sausages, individually, directly on top of the onion/potato and return to oven, uncovered. Cook for about another 30 - 40 minutes, until the sausages are brown and done and the onion/potato layers are nicely soft underneath and crispy on top.
The potato and onion part of this dish is nice with all sorts of other things as well, just remember to give it at least an hour and a half cooking time overall. If making it without the sausages I often add half a tsp of dried sage in with the liquid.
[Updated on: Wed, 24 December 2008 12:44]
"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."
|
|
|
| Re: Recipe Thread [message #8794 is a reply to message #9226 ] |
Wed, 24 December 2008 19:04 |
 |
sun_star_n_moon22
Messages: 1
Registered: December 2008
Location: Yreka California |
Junior Member |
|
|
This recipe I got from my hairdresser, who swore to the high heavens that it was the best apple pie recipe that ever existed. The thing that makes it different than other apple pie recipes is that you cook it in a brown paper bag. (One from the grocery store works just fine). You would think the brown paper bag would catch on fire in the oven, but my hairdresser swore that it didn't. And God knows, you dont argue with your hairdresser. It turns out she was right. So now Im sharing the recipe with you!
I hope you enjoy it!
~Roxanne
Paper Bag Apple Pie
1 unbaked pie shell
4-5 large apples (2 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
For the topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 butter
Peal and core apples , then slice them thinly. Place apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemmon juice in the pie shell. Combine topping ingredients in a bowl and spread evenly over the apple mixture. Slide pie into a heavy brown bag, fold bag and fasten with either staples or paper clips. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 425° F for one hour. Split bag open and remove pie and let cool.
[Updated on: Thu, 25 December 2008 14:36]
|
|
| |
| Re: Recipe Thread [message #8809 is a reply to message #9226 ] |
Wed, 24 December 2008 21:53 |
 |
Susan from Athens
Messages: 817
Registered: October 2008
Location: Athens, Greece |
Senior Member |
|
|
AJLR is hosting family and wanted a spanakotyropitta recipe, so I figured the easiest thing would be to post it here with best wishes for all.
Spanakotyropitta (or Greek spinach pie with cheese)
Asking a Greek cook about their spinach pie is like asking for a saga of personal choices in a sea of other people’s failures, because each Greek cook is convinced that their spanakopitta or spanakotyropitta is the best - or their mother's or grandmother's version is. And there are as many versions as there are ways of putting together a herb garden. The main ingredients are obviously spinach and in most cases feta cheese, although on Crete that will be a mild cottage-cheese like mizithra or a salty graviera. And there are those who want big thick chunks of cheese and others who want their barely discernible (I belong to the latter category and like my feta very finely chopped indeed and will pulse it in the food processor to get it that way). And it doesn't end there: you add other greens as well. Plain spinach is OK but it is plain. Everybody adds spring onions (green onions for the Americans) chopped into rounds - some sauté them, others don't. Then we have myronia and kafkalithres (Caucalis), which are wild greens that add flavour and sweetness. Others add parsley by the handful and dill – which are easy to find. But you can also add maratho (fennel fronds) and even wild carrot greens which offer a variety of flavours. Fresh coriander and spearmint are also good. Lots of people add dried bread crumbs, rice or bulghur to absorb the juices, so the pastry doesn’t get soggy, but that does change the texture.
Adding to the variety you can make it with phyllo pastry (ready made or homemade) or homemade pastries of many varieties. You can put it on a baking dish like a baklava, or roll it up like a strudel or a long cigar-like shape that you roll up like a Danish pastry. You can sprinkle the top with sesame seeds or not (usually with phyllo pastry you don't). The varieties are endless. Going for simple and internationally available I give you the following recipe. It works for a 10 by 14 inch baking pan or any near enough in size not to stretch the filling too thin or make it bunch up too thick) You will need approximately:
1 1/2; kilo phyllo pastry (A total of 12 sheets and save the good ones that aren’t cracked for the top)
2 kilos spinach washed with roots cut off
salt and pepper
1 cup olive oil or slightly more
4-5 spring onions – chopped medium fine
300 grams feta cheese chopped finely or pulsed in the food processor
1 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chopped dill
When making the filling you want to wilt the spinach. You can do this in two ways: (a) by chopping finely, rubbing with salt and allowing to drain for about an hour (which will be high in sodium but very tasty) or (b) by placing it in a large pan with no water over a low heat, covering and leaving it for about six minutes, whereupon the large pile of spinach will have reduced by a lot, into a little mound (this is how I do it).
Either way: place the spinach you have wilted in a colander and press hard to squeeze as much water out of it as possible. Put some elbow grease into this process. Whatever water you do not remove here will end up giving you soggy pastry later on. It is worth the extra effort to squeeze it out well. If you have wilted according to method (b) you should now chop your spinach mound thoroughly and salt to taste (about half to a teaspoon of salt is sufficient).
In a large pan add about half a cup of olive oil, sauté the spring onions lightly – you don’t want them to brown and add the spinach and sauté for another 3 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly and add the fresh chopped herbs and the cheese.
Prepare your phyllo dough. If it is frozen or ready-made and paper-dry, lay it out and cover it with a damp dish cloth. After you remove each sheet of pastry replace the cloth, so that it doesn’t dry out entirely. Lay out a bowl with olive oil and one with water and have a pastry brush on hand.
Oil your baking dish and lay down one layer of phyllo pastry. Oil it lightly (i.e. you want a very fine layer of oil over it all but you don’t want oil dripping and pooling). Place your hand in the water bowl and flick very lightly so there are some beads of water on the pastry. In similar fashion layer down six sheets of phyllo pastry with oil and water between each layer (as the pie heats up this water will turn into steam and cause the layers to separate and crisp up). Go up the sides of your tin and don’t worry if the phyllo gets torn or shredded – it won’t show up on the final product. The final layer you brush more liberally with oil.
Next lay out your filling evenly over the whole of the pastry and cover with another six layers of pastry. Trim the corners well and tuck them in (if you don't cut off a lot of the corner pastry the corner pieces will be very thick with phyllo which some people prefer). Oil well and score through the top 4 layers of pastry with a sharp knife, cutting into 4-5 cm strips from one end of the pan to the other and crosswise into squares or diamond shapes. Brush more oil into the cuts and down the sides and sprinkle the top with water to prevent the pastry sheets from curling upwards. Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven (175 degrees Centigrade) for 40-45 minutes, until golden with the sheets of pastry separating.
Cool slightly and cut the pieces. Serve hot or cold.
[Updated on: Wed, 24 December 2008 21:54]
“I have always imagined heaven to be a kind of library.” –Jorge Luis Borges
|
|
|
| Re: Recipe Thread [message #8810 is a reply to message #9226 ] |
Wed, 24 December 2008 21:56 |
|
Susan from Athens
Messages: 817
Registered: October 2008
Location: Athens, Greece |
Senior Member |
|
|
And because I was rash enough to boast about this on one of the threads, here is my recipe for creme brulee
Crème Brulée
Originally contributed by Sirio Maccioni to the New York Cook Book by Molly O’Neill. (Wonderful cookbook, great recipe – serves 8, the measures are American not Imperial. The Crème Brulée this makes is thick and creamy but not cloyingly sweet)
4 cups heavy (whipping) cream
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise,
pinch of salt
8 large egg yolks
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
8 tablespoons packed light brown or raw sugar
1. Preheat oven to 300F. Place eight 3/4 cup ramekins in a roasting pan. Heat a kettle full of water.
2. In a saucepan, over low heat, place the cream with the salt. Scrape the vanilla pod and add the seeds to the cream. Warm for 5 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks and the granulated sugar. Gently pour in the hot cream stirring gently to combine. Strain the custard into a pitcher and skim off any bubbles.
4. Pour the custard into the ramekins, filling them up to the rim. Place the roasting pan in the oven and carefully pour the warm water you have heated into the pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Loosely cover the pan with aluminium foil. Bake until set, 1 1/4 hours.
5. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and allow to cool. Cover individually and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.
6. When ready to serve decide how you will create the crust. The easiest way is using the broiler (grill) on your cooker, which you should now pre-heat. If you have a blowtorch, now is the time to use it, but you may also have those traditional French cast-iron circle-impressions that you heat up to burning on the gas hob and the press lightly onto the surface of the (sugared) custards. Going with the broiler method:
7. Uncover the ramekins and place on a baking sheet. Top each with 1 tablespoon of brown or raw sugar and using a metal spatula or knife, spread the sugar evenly over the custards. Broil until the sugar caramelizes, 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.
“I have always imagined heaven to be a kind of library.” –Jorge Luis Borges
|
|
| | | |
| My mother's cheese biscuits [message #8949 is a reply to message #9226 ] |
Sat, 27 December 2008 07:35 |
 |
Mrs Redboots
Messages: 943
Registered: October 2008
Location: London, UK |
Senior Member |
|
|
These were new to me - my mother may be 80, but she is still capable of surprising me, on occasion. I haven't yet made these, but she says they're dead easy, and is making them every week during the shooting season, as apparently the guns all demand them with their coffee. And since people are probably rather tired of sweet Christmas food:
Equal quantities by weight of bread (any type!), grated cheese (any, but the stronger-flavoured the better), butter and flour.
Possibly a drop of Tabasco sauce, or a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes, or 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder, and maybe a pinch of dried mixed herbs.
Whizz everything together in food processor until breadcrumby. Bring together with the hands into a dough; chill if necessary. Roll out to about 1/4"-1/2" inch thickness, then stamp out rounds (or Christmassy shapes, if you have Christmassy cookie cutters!).
Bake on greased baking tray at 180 in a fan oven (Mark 5, 375 F) for about 15 minutes.
Mrs Redboots
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
|
|
| |
| Re: Recipe Thread [message #9046 is a reply to message #9037 ] |
Sun, 28 December 2008 17:06 |
|
AJLR
Messages: 2566
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
|
|
Ah - let me guess, Black Bear - Spam, and Okra, in pitta bread?
By the way, Susan, your recipe was received very enthusiastically. What with that, pastitsio, carrot salad, a green salad, and tabbouleh, followed by two fairly decadent desserts, the various family members sat around in a postprandial stupor for most of the afternoon.
[Updated on: Sun, 28 December 2008 17:11]
"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."
|
|
| | | | | |
| Recipes and comments, October - December 2008, archived [message #9226] |
Wed, 31 December 2008 16:37 |
|
AJLR
Messages: 2566
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK |
Senior Member
[Moderator] |
|
|
|
Below are all the recipes and chat for the first three months of the forum. All the recipes themselves, and any 'how to' comments, have been copied to the 'Playing with Your Food' blog, and catalogued for easy searching.
[Updated on: Wed, 31 December 2008 16:40]
"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."
|
|
|
| Pages (5): [ 5] |
  |
Goto Forum:
Current Time: Thu May 23 12:21:02 EDT 2013
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.09122 seconds |
Members
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
) ) AAAAARRRRGHHHHH (this is definitely a non-Pollyanna kind of response, for which I feel sufficient aggravation has been given. I have utmost respect for you Black Bear as a person, but spamakopita is a perversion of a national dish. Like putting anchovies in apple pie only worse, because anchovies are edible.