Nice People Thread Number 11 - A Treasury of Nice People

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

I was looking over an easy pastry recipe the other day - one of those that says "do this, it never fails, use it for everything". Puff's nice, but makes a right mess when you eat, so I'd wonder if it were worth the effort/time.

That's what I wonder. The only way to find out is to make it. I'd make proper puff pastry (not rough puff) twice a year if it's better enough

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've not any use for stock ... Oxo do good enough cubes for me

Oxo is stock as is water strictly speaking.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Just thought of something else ... many people these days have a food processor, so lob stuff in there and make pastry by pressing a button.

I've no contraptions. For me, making pastry is the full manual effort (requiring space and a messy worktop to clear up).

Sifting flour by hand, cutting butter by hand, rubbing in, mixing it until done .... all a lot of effort. I have considered getting a food processor once I have a house, but never had one yet. Never used one.

A lot of cooking shown on the telly these days is "take X, Y, Z, put into processor, press button, pour out... cook. Done". Manually, cutting everything by hand, mixing everything by hand, all a lot of faff (and a big bowl).

Short pastry is a doddle with a mixer. It's a bit of a faff by hand but not a massive one. When you have a freezer you could make a job lot.

PasturesNew

Telly chef right now is making a warm water pastry.

He tipped water and milk into a saucepan, then added a big block of lard and is heating the milk until the lard melts

He's making a pie - sounds interesting - filling is potato, apple, cider, so I'll post a link to the recipe in a bit.

He's now tipped the melted lard into the middle of a bowl of flour and is mixing it in.

Ah - it's Fidget Pie. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/sunday-brunch/articles/all/fidget-pie-recipe

Yorkie1

lostinrates wrote: »

We're ok with bread, but no success with sourdough, The time we got it closest the cats went and slept in the bowl with the dough:mad:

I'm just trying to visualise washing that dough out of a cat's fur :eek:

I've got a pastry blender which would take a lot of the faff out of the rubbing process in pastry (which I can never be bothered to make). It's also good for making crumble topping easily and cleanly. I make the Delia crumble topping recipe, and freeze half for use in a future crumble; the remaining half gets used there and then, and if desired you can freeze the cooked dish in portions if you want (or just eat it over several days ... if that long ... ).

PasturesNew

Yorkie1 wrote: »

I've got a pastry blender which would take a lot of the faff out of the rubbing process in pastry (which I can never be bothered to make). It's also good for making crumble topping easily and cleanly. I make the Delia crumble topping recipe, and freeze half for use in a future crumble; the remaining half gets used there and then, and if desired you can freeze the cooked dish in portions if you want (or just eat it over several days ... if that long ... ).

I picked up one of those last year, in a charity shop - JO's Pampered Chef for £2. Not tried it though... not made pastry for years, but I got it "in case". I don't like touching pastry - never liked the idea of making it since I discovered it makes your nails super clean (grossed me out). Then I discovered these blenders exist, then I spotted one at £2, so bought it.

While I will, theoretically, make crumble topping and freeze it - the reality is that it then seems a faff. Whereas others talk of "half" recipes turn out to "serve 4-6" so they're really 4-5 portions .... and I don't eat/want that much crumble topping in a year that it then seems worthwhile. With the blender might as well just make it on demand.... or buy the 15p packets and use 1/3 - 1/2.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

Telly chef right now is making a warm water pastry.

He tipped water and milk into a saucepan, then added a big block of lard and is heating the milk until the lard melts

He's making a pie - sounds interesting - filling is potato, apple, cider, so I'll post a link to the recipe in a bit.

He's now tipped the melted lard into the middle of a bowl of flour and is mixing it in.

Ah - it's Fidget Pie. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/sunday-brunch/articles/all/fidget-pie-recipe

Sounds like hot water pastry, what pork pies are made from.

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

Sounds like hot water pastry, what pork pies are made from.

It did look nice - the sort of thing I'd eat .... but he made a whole one, which took 1 hour to bake. Then there's the sheer size of it, so I'd need to cut the recipe and use just 1/3rd, then make smaller/individual ones or cut the result into 1/3rds.... then when you think about not really knowing how long to cook it for any more + the calories + turning the oven on for "one thing" .... it gets treated like everything else and kept as a nice idea

My hobby has to remain at "looking at nice photos of food", rarely making it.

Spirit_2

OH has made bread this morning. He made the dough in the bread maker but proved on top of the stove and baked in the oven.

I make quite a lot of shortcrust pastry and will do it by hand or in the mixer. Other pastry I do is suet pastry or choux. My HM pies are quite popular - chicken and something, steak and ale or steak and kidney. We are just coming up to rhubarb season so we will be into rhubarb pie. I have never made puff or flakey pastry. Once made a lovely post christmas hot water crust pie. It looked like something from a magazine and tasted really good....I have never tried again as I feel I set the bar too high, I also made up the filling recipe and did not write it down . No angels dancing but guests helping themselves to slices and making appreciative comments was enough.

I baked a cherry and almond cake for today as this morning we had an elderly couple round for coffee and to show them the internet, net book, laptop and tablet technology.

Yesterday morning I had taken them round some HM soup for their lunch. She is pretty housebound these days and another neighbour has suggested she get a computer and get online, but she had never had 'technology' in her hands so I suggested they came to us to try out what we have. Explored google, shopping at sainsburys, booking a doctors appointment, playing solitaire, facebook, skype.

The tablet (iPad) was her favourite as it is so light. This lady in in her 80s and was a secretary for 40 years, she has lived in these cottages her whole life and her grandfather built them. Her husband pushed her round in wheelchair that was about 40 years old and had a flat tyre. He explained it wasn't flat when the chair was empty. OH pumped it up.

silvercar

PasturesNew wrote: »

I guess people who aren't plagued with a lifetime of "being useless, with a family who are useless", those who cruise through life easily can never understand why people like me are loathe to try new things unaided and alone ..... it's because things don't work right.

After attempts at making the boy's birthday cakes they requested that I buy them - at least then there is a chance they will look like whatever was intended. I have in the past tried making biscuits myself - and failed. I tried honey cake once and it failed. There were one or two cakes that I could do, generally the chance of failure is so high that it is much easier to buy . I have never tried making bread, ice-cream or pies.

So we are not that far apart.

I have a list of passover cooking I should be doing today and really need a push to get going.

PasturesNew

Spirit wrote: »

O... an elderly couple ... Yesterday morning I had taken them round some HM soup for their lunch. She is pretty housebound these days ... in her 80s .

I'd never recommend this for most people but, on the basis "you can't take it with you" she might be an ideal user of an expensive poncy soupmaker.... depends how manageable they are though.

With the elderly come other troubles, so how she'd cope with filling it, pouring it, cleaning it.

michaels

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've some strange fears about kitchen cleanliness and what might be going into pastry when you're rolling it out (No amount of OCD cleaning could remove these fears/shivers down the spine) ... and even though I could roll it in cling film that's another level of faffing and things going wrong.

IT is strange, I worry much more about what chemicals cling film and plastic containers are leaching into the foods, occasionally we buy yellow stickered stick in the oven/microwave dishes of the pierce/peel back the film lid variety - that really freaks me out.

I may have to go to the doctors about the hay fever. I am competely prevented from doing anyhting outside and even still I have streaming nose, chesty cough and sneezes all the time.

I caved on the rental negotiation and accepted the low offer. My justification is that we own it for capital / planning gain purposes and the rental side is just to cover the capital cost whilst we are trying to get the planning so much better to have the any income rather than a void. The 'little voice' says why did you cave in to the guy who no doubt is not congratulating himself on his negotiating prowess and that the extra 1200 over the year I might hav ehad would buy a lot of activities for the kids.