Weezl and friends Phase 2 -giving it a whirl for Shirl! Testing meal plan for a month

Hippeechiq

aless02 wrote: »

All done! And I still have some chickpeas to make a batch of "my way" hummus (with indulgent ingredients like tahini and cumin )

All use the website recipe as a base.

Hummus #1: Italian style hummus
Add 4 basil leaves, tomato paste, oregano and extra garlic.

Hummus #2: Spicy curried hummus
Add garam masala, ginger, extra lemon juice and extra chili.

Hummus #3: Savoury hummus with a bite
Add balsamic vinegar, tiny bit of ginger, 1/2 tsp Marmite & scant 1/2 tsp mustard.

I thought I would like #1 the best, but actually #3 is my favorite! It's got a sweetness but a then a tiny bite from the mustard, mmmmmm.

They all taste quite different to me and I even tested by having 3 bits of bread one after the other to check .

Oooh Aless - they all sound yum :T

Lesley_Gaye

Have just made some pastry for a quiche tonight. Thought I would take some pictures to see if they show what I do. As I was doing it, I realised that this is an ideal topic for a movie - on FB? YouTube? somewhere else? our site mayhap?

anyways up, this is the bowl with 200g flour, 100g oil, 100g water for a 28cm / 11" flan tin. Then after a very quick mix. Then after patting into a ball, and finally hanging off my arm after rolling it out

ooh, flippin heck, trouble with piccies - have to go out NOW, so will sort out when I get back

Hippeechiq

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

Have just made some pastry for a quiche tonight. Thought I would take some pictures to see if they show what I do.

I for one appreciate that Lesley

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

As I was doing it, I realised that this is an ideal topic for a movie - on FB? YouTube? somewhere else? our site mayhap?

That's a fab idea

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

anyways up, this is the bowl with 200g flour, 100g oil, 100g water for a 28cm / 11" flan tin. Then after a very quick mix.

That's an interesting pic because it shows how wet the mixture is, but mine appeared to be much wetter. I couldn't do anything with it. It was stuck all over my hands and between my fingers. Might my hands have been too hot? Should it be 'brought together' with a spoon or fork maybe?

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

Then after patting into a ball,

You see, now that looks great. But my mix after adding the water was like extremely thick wallpaper paste. I can't imagine it looking like your ball, but then I didn't leave it for a couple of minutes for the water to absorb. Do you think that's a key point?

artybear

Re: Pastry-one thing I actually had no problems with. :j

What I did was to get the consistency to look like Lesleys top picture, put flour all over the work surface then put the ball into the middle and roll around, patting etc until it became the consistency of Lesley's second picture. I found this easier to do on the surface than in a bowl. y hands were still covered in moist mixture but the ball became quite dry. I also didnt bother blind baking it (as I didnt read that part of the recipe) and it has always been fine.

Just thought I would put my two penny's worth in. Hope that helpsxxxxxxxxx

p.s loving the pictures lesley and your garden ones:)

ETA: I found I rolled it very thinly-probably to the thickness of a 20p as it did tend to rise quite alot as Weezl mentioned

weezl74

hi all

thanks for the further thoughts about the onion tart.

I hope we can make that one nice and user friendly for shirl.

sian, i've been pondering on your feedback and I really liked your wording, but I'm afraid I'm not much further on! I look at that and I like it But I also still like the FAQs page :rotfl:

In a nutshell, I just don't think I'm hearing the glib tone of voice, so I can't correct it.

I really like being and have always tried to be responsive to reader feedback, sometimes overly so. So I do want to change it if people want, I think I'd just need someone to say what it should say, or just remove any words that are glib.

I'm not sure, what do people think about that idea?

artybear

Hmmm.....I think its fine and wouldnt change anything but someone more articulate than me may well be able to come up with something.

I hope you are all safe and no one lives in the lake district!!! See you are my friends-I'm worried about you all now:o

weezl74

Hippeeechiq, An idea for you to have a ponder on.

Of all the recipe testers to date, my feeling is that you are one of the most rigorous and exact at the level of I sense you are not one to add in a little of this that and the other, or to do what arty and I do, like missing out the blind baking or somesuch.

(this is not to say a bad thing about the other testers BTW!)

I appreciate you had a frustrating time with the recipe, and I'm very sorry about that, but rather than go off in a huff thinking 'oh well all the recipes must be rubbish' you have bothered to come back and say, which I really value.:)

So I''m wondering if you'd be willing to apply your rigorous testing to any of our other recipes?

Would that appeal to you? we can then make them better.

I'm concerned that the editing of the site needs to be done in a logical order, else we'll be doubling up on some folk's workload, like the editors who are looking out for typos and the like, so we'll have to have a think about the right approach.

In short, thanks for being a rigorous tester, and let's see if we can use your skills to make shirley's tool better

weezl74

lunchtime risotto challenge

need to make a lunch time risotto with

200g rice,
25g dry weight chickpeas
50g green peas
50g onion
some stock and the usual spices.

Cramming in lots of marmite will be a huge bonus, for the vit B12

Lesley_Gaye

right, back now. Let's have another go with those piccies

first, in the bowl with all the liquid just poured on top




give it a quick stir with a metal spoon




then pat it all together to make a ball

I'm sorry. I have tried several times in Photobucket to get this one smaller, it is now set to 'Tiny' and is still coming out huge on here. I think you may be able to see that it is a soft dough tho

edit - oh good grief, now it has gone really tiny!!

Right got it now - at last






then, this shows it hanging off my arm having rolled it out

LizzieB

Hello everyone from a relative newbie! Weezl - I think what you have put in motion is fantastic. Healthy, sustaining and value for money - yet enjoyable - food is so important, and in this economic climate the need to fulfil this has never been more prevalent. Just as an indicator, I teach in an FE college, and it isn't unusual for some of my students to spend upwards of £5 a day on food and drink. A big part of our tutorial system encompasses the 'Every Student Matters' ethos, and it hurts me to have experienced tutorial sessions where learners don't even realise the financial - or potential nutritional benefits - of a good packed lunch. One student - bless him - has a cup-sized container of jelly every day with a blob of 'cream' on it for a pound. When we were helping to organise a Christmas party for some supported learning students and we needed to shop for supplies, he was amazed at the process of making a jelly and that a massive bowl of jelly could be made for less than 20p.... Sorry if I have gone on.

Weezl, if there are any low fat vegan recipes you need testing I would be happy to do it (I am not vegan, nor low fat-ish!!! but am trying to be better!!) all I ask is that they are nut free.

Cheers,
Lizzie B

PS I love trifle with green jelly and custard and cream and orange and lemon jelly slices...!