the takeaway secret

elisebutt65

meritaten wrote: »

may I say that there is a lot of rubbish about deep fat frying being unhealthy! if you get the temperature right then the food is sealed with the heat of the oil, and it DOESNT contain a lot of fat!
Stir frying - which is supposed to be healthy - means you get that tablespoon of oil incorporated in your food - deep fat frying means that your food should be sealed the second it hits the oil! and excess oil shaken off or drained onto kitchen roll.

What about if you don't have a deep fat fryer though?

shelley_crow

Thanks both, i don't have a deep fat fryer. I've always found home deep fried food to be very greasy, no matter how much blotting to get it off x

flea72

shelley_crow wrote: »

has anyone found a good alternative to the deep fat frying of the southern fried chicken? really want to try it but not keen on frying it x

i shallow fried, just to get the coating to stick and go crisp, then oven baked til cooked - i didnt think oven baking alone would work, as the chicken would start to drip juice, before the coating crisped up, and i think this would make the bottom side, a bit soggy

obviously totally deep frying would give a really crisp coating, but the oven baking, wasnt too bad, and made it very similar to the SFC products that you buy in the freezer aisles, so the flavours on a par, but the texture is slightly less crispy iyswim

F

debsy42

I took the plunge and bought the book, looking forward to trying out some recipes on my unsuspecting OH

flea72

shelley_crow wrote: »

Thanks both, i don't have a deep fat fryer. I've always found home deep fried food to be very greasy, no matter how much blotting to get it off x

if the oil is hot enough, the food shouldnt absorb grease, and it should just run off. i also find the type of oil makes a difference, you cant beat crisp and dry

i have never had to blot anything that was fried at the right temp, but yes at home it can be hard to let the oil get to the right temp, before you start frying, and then maintain that heat once the food is in - its also quite scary to use hot oil and it stinks the house out

F

sb44

LondonDreamer wrote: »

I haven't made the egg muffins but when DH wanted a BK style cheese and bacon burger, I used the value singles from Mr T. They were apparently spot on and only about 50p per pack! :money:

I will second that, plastic cheese as I call it def makes it authentic.

sb44

LilacLillie wrote: »

Last night I cooked 3 dishes, salt & pepper chilli chicken wings - honey soy chicken wings (used thighs) and buffalo wings.
I have never cooked chicken wings before, they don't have enough meat on them imo.
Again, after last weeks lamb donner, I didn't know what they 'should' taste of, so can't compare with shop bought, didn't really enjoy any of these either.
Its fair to say that I don't eat takeaway food other than a curry or Indian sometimes, that's at a push.
DH grandmother was Chinese & his mother born in Burma brought up in India, so he cooks proper foods from these places. If we are feeling lazy we'll get a take out.
I got swept along with the good tales of this book and will try as many of the recipes as I can, its just because its food I don't know & eat its difficult to compare taste.
I'll start on the Chinese or Indian next week, then I'll really be able to judge & DH will certainly compare...................LOL!
I've begun to tick next to the recipes I've tried and marking them out of 10, so I'll know which ones to go back to in the future.
Its a great little money saving book for those that do eat take outs, also you know what you are putting into the food.
Happy cooking and keep letting us all into your favs.
LL

Try the banana muffins, I am sure you will be impressed by those.

LittleLauz

Just ordered my copy off amazon after Reading all these good things.
I'm wondering though if it actually does work out that much cheaper for me to do it at home rather than walk down the street to the chippy?

sb44

LittleLauz wrote: »

Just ordered my copy off amazon after Reading all these good things.
I'm wondering though if it actually does work out that much cheaper for me to do it at home rather than walk down the street to the chippy?

It costs £1.59 for the lamb from Tesco, 55p ish for the pittas and a bit for some cabbage/toms/cucumber which aren't needed but do add to the kebab and bulk it out. Where can you buy about 6 kebabs for about £4, if that.

Sentora

Can I recommend to buying the spices from an asian shop? much cheaper ....