Economy Gastronomy - new budget cookery programme; BBC

redmel1621

raphanius wrote: »

my brownie cookies have spread on the tray into one big mess...useless recipe ive been baking since i was a kid and this has never happened before anyone any ideas i have half the mixture stil in a bowl to be used.

Mine have all spread too

Also - why does it need coffee in it? I have put it in this time, but I can't stand the stuff!!!

Mel x

ETA - I have found that leaving the mixture to stand a while allows it to thicken up......the second batch I cooked were fine:)

chickadee

raphanius wrote: »

my brownie cookies have spread on the tray into one big mess...useless recipe ive been baking since i was a kid and this has never happened before anyone any ideas i have half the mixture stil in a bowl to be used.

I made the cookies on Sunday and didn't have a problem with them. The mixture was very batter-like and I thought it would spread out but when I came to put them on the tray they were fine. I did use baking paper though, as I didn't want to have to scrape them off the baking tray if the welded themselves on, but they were great!

How much coffee did you use? Maybe the mixture was just a bit too runny? Perhaps you could use a bit more flour next time to soak up some of the liquid.

raphanius

i added more flour when i first spooned it out onto the tray and it ran everywhere lol the second batch was thicker after resting but still spread when i cooked it.

i wasnt sure on the coffee so measured a desertspoon - recipe doesnt say whether the measure they use is dry or wet.

DS ate the flat brownie mess anyway :rolleyes:

on a more positive note i have made the bakewell pud and its perfect :T

thanks for your help, its just nice to know its not me sometimes (thought i'd lost my cooking skills) and my oven hasnt broke and stuff like that

thriftlady_2

redmel1621 wrote: »

Also - why does it need coffee in it? I have put it in this time, but I can't stand the stuff!!!

Why did you put it in then?

When recipes call for coffee they mean the drink not powder or ground coffee.

If I had a pot of coffee made I'd put some of that in, if not I'd leave it out altogether. Leaving out half a tbsp of a flavouring is not going to cause the recipe to fail -how could it? Sounds like the recipe is a dud anyway.

Half a tablespoon is one and half teaspoons not a dessert spoon.

redmel1621

thriftlady wrote: »

Why did you put it in then?

When recipes call for coffee they mean the drink not powder or ground coffee.

If I had a pot of coffee made I'd put some of that in, if not I'd leave it out altogether. Leaving out half a tbsp of a flavouring is not going to cause the recipe to fail -how could it? Sounds like the recipe is a dud anyway.

Half a tablespoon is one and half teaspoons not a dessert spoon.

Dh was reading through the recipe with me and insisted I put it in:mad: It's OK for him, he likes it! Anyway I can taste it but the kids can't so they love them, I have got enough ingredients to have another go, so I will leave out the coffee next time and see if dh notices;)

Mel x

Ishtar

MrsE wrote: »

I had to get a whole bottle of red wine too, I wonder how long the other half will keep?

Not long in our house - I often need 'fortifying' later in the evening!

Will be visiting the butcher at the weekend...he often does trays of braising steak at slightly reduced prices, so will give half quantity a try.

MrsE_2

Ishtar wrote: »

Not long in our house - I often need 'fortifying' later in the evening!

Will be visiting the butcher at the weekend...he often does trays of braising steak at slightly reduced prices, so will give half quantity a try.

I was going to go in the butchers & get some lamb when I was out, but I couldn't remember how much I needed. I did look at the lamb in Tesco & it was about £12.00 a kilo...

Anyway, checked now & its 1.2 kilos, do you think half weould be ok again? For 3 adults? 3 piggy adults?:o

mum2many

Can anyone tell me the some of the recipes included in this book as amazon doesnt say. Does it have a meal planner in? will the recipes feed 6 (4 large portions 2 smaller)
Also is it worth it and how does it compare to "how to feed your whole family etc" and "Fish pies and french fries,vegtables etc" by Gill Holcombe?

And will it save time and money doing the one meal for 3 recipes?

thriftlady_2

mum2many wrote: »

Can anyone tell me the some of the recipes included in this book as amazon doesnt say. Does it have a meal planner in? will the recipes feed 6 (4 large portions 2 smaller)
Also is it worth it and how does it compare to "how to feed your whole family etc" and "Fish pies and french fries,vegtables etc" by Gill Holcombe?

And will it save time and money doing the one meal for 3 recipes?

There is a two week planner which is there as a guide.

It is a much better book than either of Gill Holcombe's in my opinion, but if you like her books then you may not like this one.

Buttonmoons

I just made the Macaroni recipe, never used artichokes in it, and used smoked bacon as that's all I had, also didn't add nutmeg because I don't have any.....and I only had medium not strong cheese. It tastes.....Ok, I think the smokey bacon is what put me off, OH loved it though, that's great, he can have the leftovers for lunch the next 3days. I would make it again, as it's inexpensive, but doesn't quite taste like macaroni you'd get in a pub (which I'd prefer) and of course DD wouldn't touch it......no pudding for her!

The recipes in the book look quite interesting. Want to try the canneloni (sp!) one, though might tweak the ingrediants as from the top of my head, it hasn't got meat in it, much to OH's displeasure. Also want to try the big casserole type one with belly pork and ribs I think it was? Do morrisons sell belly pork or am I better going to a butcher?