Nice People Thread No. 14, all Nice and Proper

Generali

GDB2222 wrote: »

Do they really taste that different to ordinary onions? I didn't have enough of them left over after peeling to notice.

Not really. They're milder and they slow cook really well. The French use them to finish a stew. Once you've cooked a good stew you add whole browned shallots and cook them for 30-60 mins.

Cooking well is a faff, that's why rich people get someone else to do it for them and us plebs eat crap.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

Good question, or is all this stuff just Emperor's New Clothes...? People being herded into saying stuff's so much better JUST so they can "belong" to what they perceive as some higher-being club

Shallots were used in French cooking because you can grow them in poor soil IIRC. In France at least they are about the same price or even cheaper than regular onions.

Shallots aren't Emperor's New Clothes, they are a different sort of onion with different uses. My favourite use of them in in steak aux echalote. You very finely chop a shalot or two and cook very slowly in butter. Then you cook a sirloin steak for 2.5 minutes on one side and 2 minutes on the other in a hot skillet. While it's resting put in the shallots, a glass of red wine, a measure of concentrated stock, seasoning and a shot of brandy. Stir in a little cold butter right at the end to thicken. It's awesome with salad and vinaigrette and some chips/fried spuds.

vivatifosi

I come from a working class family and shallots were routinely part of the diet growing up. In fact we had a wide selection of fruit and veg, mostly seasonal and sometimes less in favour now, e.g. rhubarb. I'm guessing the shallots were easy to grow. My grandad grew them I think.

Dad being part Romany has always been an expert forager, so we also always had lovely berries and tree fruit from common land.

What we didn't have is exotic imports, e.g. avocado, asparagus, sweet potatoes. Garlic was also notably absent and none of us are great fans now. I don't mind the tiniest hint of it, but don't like lots.

ivyleaf

GDB2222 wrote: »

I tried cooking shallots once. Almost impossibly fiddly to peel, and when you're done with that there's practically no onion left. Why bother?

I used Shallots in a recipe which suggested "baby onions", which I'm sure I've never seen on sale ever! So I estimated how many shallots might be equivalent to 12 baby onions, but you're right, they are an absolute pain to peel!

That reminds me that Branston Pickle used to contain "pearl onions", but doesn't any more and therefore isn't as nice these days

Forgot to say Thank you for the nut roast recipe PN! I've bookmarked it, though I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to try it as my tummy doesn't seem too keen on nuts these days. But you never know. It does sound tasty, and I remember you enthusing about it a while back (possibly around last Christmas!)

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

Right.... French. OK.
I've never had a steak, but I don't like fat on/near any meat and when I asked people if I'd like steak they said "No, it's fatty". So, sitting in a pub with a menu that has a pie on it I won't be choosing a steak over a pie

I never have/buy/drink red wine, so wouldn't ever have that kicking around to lob into cooking. Same with brandy. Never had it, cannot envisage a time when it'd be in the house and available for cooking.

Butter... I have Lidl marg. Probably not quite the same.

Vinaigrette... never had it. I use salad cream on salads. Stick with what I know

So it'll just be the chips for me then!

Shallots grow in England too. TBH, if you want to live off instant mash then you have no use for them. Better off with tinned carrots or whatever.

It's hard to think of people with a poorer background than my parents. Both had single mothers in the immediate post-WW2 period. Mum's mum was born in the workhouse and spent considerable time in the sanitarium as a result of TB.

I love the good things in life and my family never had them. I object strongly, very strongly, to being described as some sort of posh bloke because I know how to cook a decent meal.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've probably actually never had what anybody would describe as "a decent meal". I've only ever had "regular food". Without being exposed to stuff, it just doesn't get onto your radar.

To me, eating out at a Wetherspoon would be a big event.

Cooking for one, only ever one, with limited experience of "other foods", you just stick with what you know, what you've got and what you know you like. I'd hate to spend a fortune buying ingredients to make some mega-meal, only to taste it and hate it. Much better to spend less on something I know I can eat.

I bet you've had what I would describe as a decent meal many times. A grilled chop or piece of fish with fresh steamed or boiled veggies for example: good and healthy, tastes great, little waste.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

I meant to say "sorry if it read like that - that's not what I meant". I just simply don't ever have those ingredients in the house. It's not that you're posh, you just know what you like and how to sling together a good nosh up!

Actually, no, I've never had "a good chop". We used to have chops as a kid - a thin thing, with a piece of meat the size of a 50p and lots of fat, thrown into a casserole dish with bisto, water and carrots.

And, steamed fish, no, never had that. Had the boil in a bag fish in sauce. We never had/ate fish when I was growing up. Mum had some (gross) tinned sardines she'd scrape into a sandwich for her tea ....awful looking things and I hated the way she picked out the backbone with her knife.

I do know how to sling together a good nosh up and on a budget too.

In 2008 I could feed a family of four plus occasional guests a really good, tasty, healthy menu including a decent drink for about £50. I used to walk out of the local butcher with a bag full of meat for a tenner. Even the butcher didn't understand how I did it. (I love offal and shin of beef is the TL;DR version).

Have you lived xx years in England and never had meat 'n' 2 veg? Lots of 'posh' French/whatever food is just an extension of that.

kabayiri

PasturesNew wrote: »

Don't you just HATE Xmas Cookery/Food programmes? All posh chefs, cooking in huge kitchens, with every gadget imaginable ... using expensive ingredients and enough of them to require their own fleet of lorries to deliver ..... before the camera softens and they take vast plates of hot food into a HUGE decorated room full of people in party wear having a good time.

I bet most people are like me .... they watch that then make a cheese sandwich alone.

This time of year is a great time for veggies.

Farmers markets just before Xmas. Buy unprepared sprouts; dirty carrots; onions; parsnips; sweet potato.

Cheap as anything.

Seasoned winter veggies in a roasting tin. Just yum. Easy to do alongside a joint of meet.

I love parsnips, sweet potato, onions of different varieties.

kabayiri

Generali wrote: »

...
Have you lived xx years in England and never had meat 'n' 2 veg? Lots of 'posh' French/whatever food is just an extension of that.

My French friends and colleagues could not believe what we consider the remnants of an animal. Things like heart; kidney; liver are all considered quality items over there.

Chicken liver is a fave of mine as a starter, on thin toast with a sweet chutney and salad.

Damn, Ive just eaten and Im hungry now!

vivatifosi

Perhaps Gen can help with this one. I was trying to remember what fruit and veggies my parents grew in Aus. In our garden we had fruit trees (plum, lemon, pear) and I think we grew root veggies as well. I'm trying to think of other exotic things that wouldn't easily grow here, but only the lemons can I remember being unusual. We used to have a lot of watermelon too, but not sure where that came from, I'm guessing locally grown.

I also have very fond memories of sitting on the steps to the verandah shelling peas. Simple times but lovely.