Gastronomy without the Economy!

thriftlady_2

rachbc wrote: »

oh what a shame, what recipe did you use? keema matar (with peas) is a massive fav in our house

In mine too. We luurvve keema. I tend to use a dollop of whatever Patak's spice paste I happen to have and I add a splodge of mango chutney for a touch of sweetness. Lots of peas and potatoes diced really small go in too. Yummeee

Addiscomber

jackieglasgow wrote: »

You can't make me drool like that and not post recipes or links to them, especially the cookies! TIA!

Sorry, these particular recipes aren't on the internet as far as I know, and it isn't fair to put copyright recipes from books on here.

The cookie recipe is in this one. Your library may have a copy, ours has some of her books.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/500-Low-carb-Recipes-Dana-Carpender/dp/1840924314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272225240&sr=1-1

I've just remembered a choc chip muffin recipe that was on the internet, in a blog that has disappeared, so I don't see any harm in posting that.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

• 150 grams ground almonds, or coconut flour
• 6 eggs, separated
• 50 grams dark 85% chocolate, grated
• minimal sweetener (eg splenda)
• vanilla (optional)
• cinnamon (optional)

Method:
Mix the almonds or coconut flour, egg yolks, chocolate, sweetener and optional vanilla and cinnamon together in a bowl. If the mix is too stiff add warm water a spoonful at a time and mix well to loosen it up. Whisk the egg whites in a very clean glass bowl until they are stiff. Fold the whisked egg whites into the almond and egg yolk mixture. Brush 12 silicon muffin cases with melted butter. Divide the mixture evenly between them and bake at 175ºC until risen and firm.

I don't know if these would work in paper muffin cases. I used silicone bun cases, but didn't bother greasing them. Enjoy!

jackieglasgow

Off to the library tomorrow, thank you!

Hippeechiq

Swan wrote: »

awww, that's a shame it's put you off

a good Keema Curry is delicious, Madhur Jaffrey has a lovely recipe that includes peas, was it something like that?

Yes, that's it Swan. I got it off some recipe website on the net - it had peas, 1/2" chunks of new potato, ginger, garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric, garlic, onion & tinned tomatoes off the top of my head (I've already thrown away the piece of paper I had it written on) and it was, without doubt, one of the most awful dishes I've ever cooked :rotfl:

Never mind. Onwards and upwards.

I've tried several new recipes in the past 2 months and that's only my 2nd disaster. My favourite so far being Moroccan Chicken, which was as divine as this one was dire

Wickedkitten

thriftlady wrote: »

Predictably perhaps, I'm going to recommend a book Rose Prince's The New English Kitchen.

To give an idea of what the book is about let me quote from the introduction.

When you eat a langoustine, it gives you a present of its shell. Take that shell, toast it in a pan with some others, then boil in water - and you have a broth. That broth becomes one to pour over noodles with spices... You bought something good for a meal and it gave you two things good.

This simple idea not only enables you to eat well -twice- but is also a solution to the contemporary kitchen dilemma: how to make better-quality food something you can eat every day. This is possible not only through clever recycling -making, say roast chicken leftovers into stock and so bringing to the table a second dish of risotto plus a third of smooth vegetable soup - but also by finding economical ways of buying the best, such as buying direct from farms using home delivery, or scouting vegetable stalls for good deals on seasonally abundant vegetables.

Rose Prince -The New English Kitchen

I got that book a few years back for about £2 from the works, definitely second the recommendation.

Swan_2

Hippeechiq wrote: »

Yes, that's it Swan. I got it off some recipe website on the net - it had peas, 1/2" chunks of new potato, ginger, garam masala, chilli powder, turmeric, garlic, onion & tinned tomatoes off the top of my head (I've already thrown away the piece of paper I had it written on) and it was, without doubt, one of the most awful dishes I've ever cooked :rotfl:

Never mind. Onwards and upwards.

I've tried several new recipes in the past 2 months and that's only my 2nd disaster. My favourite so far being Moroccan Chicken, which was as divine as this one was dire

glad the chicken was a success

the Madhur Jaffrey recipe I use, from her Indian Cookery book, doesn't have potatoes in it & a web search brings up recipes similar to the potato one, so I'd guess that's the one you used?

if you're brave enough to try again & want a look at the one I like, I'll PM it to you, I can't post it here for copyright reasons

also make sure you use good quality mince, I recommend this in my capacity as a self-styled mince expert ... our real Scots national dish is mince & tatties I'd lay money that most Scots haven't even seen, never mind tasted Haggis

Primrose

Now that English asparagus is on the menu again as a treat, I use this way of stretching it.
1. Cut off the woody stalk ends and very thinly slice them.
2. Save the small amount of water in which the aspargus is cooked.
3. Saute the sliced stalk ends in butter until soft.
4. Add to the cooking water, add a chicken stock cube and simmer for a few minutes.
When cooled a little, blitz with a stick blender to turn into an acceptable Asparagus Soup.

Hippeechiq

Swan wrote: »

glad the chicken was a success

the Madhur Jaffrey recipe I use, from her Indian Cookery book, doesn't have potatoes in it & a web search brings up recipes similar to the potato one, so I'd guess that's the one you used?

if you're brave enough to try again & want a look at the one I like, I'll PM it to you, I can't post it here for copyright reasons

also make sure you use good quality mince, I recommend this in my capacity as a self-styled mince expert ... our real Scots national dish is mince & tatties I'd lay money that most Scots haven't even seen, never mind tasted Haggis

I never buy anything other than lean mince - usually Aberdeen Angus incidentally if it's beef - it simply isn't worth it imo. I did however use lean pork mince - the recipe stated any mince could be used - as I didn't have any beef mince (I don't eat lamb and have never tried turkey) so I don't know if the affected the end result?

I appreciate the offer of the recipe you use but it's going to be some considerable time before I can face any mince dish again, and I think in future, I'll stick to making Curry dishes with other cuts of meat

Swan_2

Hippeechiq wrote: »

I never buy anything other than lean mince - usually Aberdeen Angus incidentally if it's beef - it simply isn't worth it imo. I did however use lean pork mince - the recipe stated any mince could be used - as I didn't have any beef mince (I don't eat lamb and have never tried turkey) so I don't know if the affected the end result?

I appreciate the offer of the recipe you use but it's going to be some considerable time before I can face any mince dish again, and I think in future, I'll stick to making Curry dishes with other cuts of meat

ah, you know your beef mince then

I'd have thought pork mince would have been ok, I tried the Keema recipe years ago with turkey & it was horrible, but I'm not fond of turkey mince anyway so I might have been biased

anyway, I hope you get over your aversion to mince soon, as you say good quality mince is excellent
& it's such a versatile ingredient not to mention indispensable to us Scots

rachbc

Hippeechiq wrote: »

I never buy anything other than lean mince - usually Aberdeen Angus incidentally if it's beef - it simply isn't worth it imo. I did however use lean pork mince - the recipe stated any mince could be used - as I didn't have any beef mince (I don't eat lamb and have never tried turkey) so I don't know if the affected the end result?

I appreciate the offer of the recipe you use but it's going to be some considerable time before I can face any mince dish again, and I think in future, I'll stick to making Curry dishes with other cuts of meat

ahh now you see I've only ever used lamb mince for keema never beef or pork - perhaps it does make a difference