Basic cooking

CAT££

This makes a lovely salad dressing: you can substitute the wholegrain mustard with dijon :-)

2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoons of red/white wine vinegar
1 level teaspoon wholegrain mustard
1 heaped teaspoon of runny honey

This will make a dressing for approx 4-6 salads. Mix well and drizzle over salad.

Ruby789

Thanks Cat, sounds great. Can I store that in the fridge for any length of time?

Lizling

An even quicker way to do poached eggs is in the microwave. Crack an egg into a teacup or small bowl with a tiny drop of water, cling film over the top, then into the microwave on max power for about 50 seconds.

savetosave

Hi
Good luck with your practices, you have plenty to start with.

I hate scrambled eggs done in the microwave, they always turn out like rubber for me. I'm really fussy about eggs and can't eat them runny, so I like the control of doing them in a pan.

My tip for massed potato is one someone told me - don't add any milk or butter until you've mashed the potatoes until they are completely smooth. Then and them and mash again and you won't get any lumps.

I have a great recipe for brownies that works every time if you would like it.

My daughter makes a fab starter with portebello mushrooms and a balsamic glaze, it look fab But is really easy, I will ask her to write down.

you should definately learn a basic tomato sauce too, and you can use that to make tomato soup, spaghetti bog, chilli or just sauce for pasta or to top a pizza.

meritaten

ok OP - One basic curry sauce recipe coming up!

you need
couple tablespoons of sunflower or vegetable oil
One onion Chopped quite small
couple cloves of garlic (optional)
a good curry powder in either mild medium hot or 'takes your socks off'
heaped tablespoon of flour
2 - 3 chicken or beef stock cubes
Tablespoon Mango chutney
teaspoon sugar, dash of vinegar or soy sauce

sweat the onions in oil over a low heat until softened and add chopped or crushed garlic cloves if using them.
add the curry powder - about 4 heaped teaspoons if you are using the large saucepan of the set.
now cook the curry powder gently for 4 - 5 mins making sure it doesn't burn - if it does throw it away and start again - you cant rescue it!
add the heaped tablespoon of flour and if mix is very dry add a little more oil. this needs to cook for about a minute.
now add enough water (either cold or just boiled from the kettle - doesn't matter which) to take the level about threequarters up the pan.
(you will see why in a bit)
bring to the boil and stir constantly - it should thicken nicely - and add a couple of chicken stock cubes if making chicken curry and beef cubes if making beef.
add the mango chutney if using it.
add a teaspoon of sugar and same of vinegar or soy sauce.
turn down heat and let simmer for ten to twenty minutes and taste - you may need to add more stock cube.

Now for the variations on a theme.
if you want a tomato based sauce put in the tin of toms before adding the water.
if you want a creamy pasanda type curry you add the coconut milk before adding the water.
If you want to make the curry from 'scratch' with fresh meat then cook the meat in the oil for about 5 mins and remove before doing the onions etc - then add the meat back in later either before or after the liquid (this is why you bring the liquid only three quarters up the pan. this will then take more time for the meat to cook properly give it at least an hour for chicken and hour and half for beef - but neither will come to any harm if left two or more hours - providing its on a very low heat and you stir occasionally.
if using cooked meat - then add it after the ten/twenty min simmer and give it another ten twenty minutes.
Prawns - cooked ones can be defrosted and put in two minutes before serving - they only have to warm through. other wise give them 8 to 10 minutes.

you can add frozen peas to the sauce 5 or 10 mins before serving - I don't like putting them in too early as they lose colour and taste.

I have made the basic sauce without garlic, mango chutney or soy sauce and it still tasted nice.

CT19720

nmlc wrote: »

Evening everyone

Hope you don't mind me joining your thread! I definitely agree about the baking cakes/pastry theory - I can make a reasonable sponge/cake, but my pastry is very hit and miss - miss mostly! Thought I'd at last got it mastered after making it in my Kenwood Chef, made some last week, that was truly horrendous and not edible, so for the moment have admitted defeat and will be buying shortcrust pastry until I feel confident enough to try again. I really enjoy cooking/baking though so will keep going and will eventually perfect the technique.

Kind regards
nmlc x

I learnt to make pastry by seeing what my mum used to do when I was a kid. Thatwas to blitz in a food process the flour and butter/marg, (I always use stork),and once it looks like breadcrumbs dump it in a bowl, and mix with milk orwater with a fork until it all comes together as a dough. Rest in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour, andthen roll it out on a floured surface. Making pastry like this works every timefor me.

Ruby, another easy pudding is a crumble I use a deliarecipe for the toppinh, and again blitz all of the ingredients in the foodprocessor, until they look like breadcrumbs:

6oz plain flour
2 ½ - 3oz butter (i use stork)
3-4oz soft brown sugar

I also usually add a ‘shake’of mixed spice to the ingredients above, justbecause we like the taste.

I often do an apple and berry crumble – I use eating apples, rather thancooking apples though, as they are a bit sweeter, but also they don’t go reallymushy like cooking apples.

Core and peel apples, cut into slices.

Put the sliced apple into a saucepan with a bit of water (not loads, justenough to almost cover the apple slices, a ‘shake; of sugar (I just usegranulated)add a squeeze of lemon juice, and bring the saucepan to the boilwith the lid on. When the pan has boiledturn the heat off, and the apples will continue to cook.

After about 10 minutes drain the apples, add berries (usually for usraspberries/blackberries) and place in a oven proof dish and top with thecrumble mix. Cook for 35-40 mins, middleshelf gas mark 4-5, until golden. Ialways keep the water that I’ve drained from the apples, and use it as a base forthe juice for a fresh fruit salad, the day after we have a crumble.

My base of the juice for a fresh fruit salad is the drained apple juice;half of freshly squeeze lemon, and a good glug of white wine, added to a loadof chopped fruit, and chilled in the fridge - devine.

CAT££

The salad dressing will store for a few days in the fridge. I keep in a rinsed out jam jar.:j

Sally_A

Ruby, this is the best, easy, yet impressive, spud recipe ever.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1794/garlicky-fondant-potatoes

Popperwell

Love the thread, enjoying reading it...

maman

Sally_A wrote: »

Ruby, this is the best, easy, yet impressive, spud recipe ever.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1794/garlicky-fondant-potatoes

And this one is similar but dead easy and looks really fancy for guests

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2017635/hasselback-potatoes

Don't need to have rosemary if you don't want, seasoning alone is fine (or a bit of garlic;)).