Here we can all be heard for a little while

Waves_and_Smiles

Hahahahaha! You do make me laugh, Pyxis! Go you, reclaim the terminology!

Ouchie! It sounds like you are slowly getting better though! Lunch sounds wonderful as does kiwi and lime cider! I have never tried that, I need to hunt it down.

Indie_Kid

Waves_and_Smiles wrote: »

That is brave if you, Indie. Can we help at all with cooking? I can no longer cook for myself but I know a lot about how to cook food properly, it is all in my brain, it just doesn't work in practice! Please know that you can always ask if we can.

Thanks Having managed to scare the crap out of myself by thinking I'd given myself food poisoning (I didn't; but there was some pink juice running from the meat on Saturday) and not quite being able to tell if I've cooked my bacon properly, (dad's commented before that it doesn't quite taste right) I've had to give in and ask them for help. I knew it was going to happen.

The only things I can actually cook are chips, pizza and pasta. There's only so much of that I can actually eat!

Pyxis

Waves_and_Smiles wrote: »

Hahahahaha! You do make me laugh, Pyxis! Go you, reclaim the terminology!

Ouchie! It sounds like you are slowly getting better though! Lunch sounds wonderful as does kiwi and lime cider! I have never tried that, I need to hunt it down.

It's called Old Mout cider,

They also do Passionfruit and Apple, and Summer Berrries, and Pomegranate and Strawberry.

Sainsbury's sell it, and possibly Waitrose? And possibly other places too, but I can't remember. Asda might, actually!

Waves_and_Smiles

If you are going to try meat and it's a worry Indie, a simple way of dealing with it is to buy a meat thermometer. They are quite cheap and you just stick them into the meat and they will tell you if the temperature is high enough to stop any nasties. With some meat such as beef it is ok to have pink juices if you like it that way. Bacon is very much to taste, some people like it lightly cooked so it is still soft and others liked it cooked until it is really crispy.

I shall have to have a look, Pyxis! The last cider I tried was toffee apple which was incredible! I have a can of plain old cider in the fridge but I prefer weird flavoured ones, and of course banana bread ale!

Wellyboots6

Ooh let me know what you discover about your bacon Indie, mine never tastes right either. Do you grill it or fry it? I usually grill it but tried frying it yesterday and it tasted slightly better but still not right.
Have you got a temperature probe for meat? That could help put your mind at rest. You want to make sure the temperature is 75c minimum in the middle of your meat, ideally higher.

Waves_and_Smiles

Great minds, Katy! Bacon is so much to personal taste. WaSp likes his quite soft but I like mine crunchy! It also depends on how you cook it and whether you use oil, lard, etc. I tend to dry fry mine, no oil, just fried in a cast iron frying pan and it cooks in its own fat. Bacon cooked in an oven tastes different again. It all depends on what tastes right to the individual.

Now I want bacon sandwich...

Indie_Kid

I use a George Foreman. No oil or lard. dad fries his using a frying pan; so it tastes a bit different to mine.

Thanks for the advice re: thermometer.

Waves_and_Smiles

One of the hardest things about cooking meat is that a lot depends on what each person likes. Once you have it up to the right temperature and have cooked it for long enough (it should say how long on packaging or ask your butcher) it is down to how you like it. Other than bacon WaSp likes all of his meat almost burnt to a crisp, unless it is done like that it tastes wrong to him. I tend to lean towards cooked for minimum timings, I like rare and medium rare steak more than well done (medium rare is when it is still pink in the middle and there are pink juices). There is even a dish that involves thin slices of totally uncooked beef.

So it is quite possible Indie, that meat could taste fine to you but not fine to your dad. Just cook it for as long as you are supposed to, check it is hot enough in the centre then experiment with timings and different ways of cooking it until you find the one that you like the most.

For most meats you can grill them, fry them, roast them, casserole them, bbq them, boil them or braise them. They all taste quite different depending on what method you use. Perhaps make a list of different ways of cooking meat with a corresponding recipe that you have found online and try each one?

codemonkey

I cook bacon under the grill - on high for the first side then low on the other until it's crisp. I prefer streaky bacon as you can get it nice and crispy.

Just gone to tesco because I had time before my train and I was thirsty. I bought 2 family sized bags of crisps(one is for DH) and then found the American candy bit and ended up buying a massive bag of huge marshmallows and Lucky Charms. Oops! Then cause I got distracted by the candy I missed my train so waiting for the next one with my cold bottle of coke!

codemonkey

Indie have you thought about a slow cooker? You can't undercook your meat because you cook on low for hours so the meat goes all tender. You can use it for casseroles, chilli, bolognese, goulash and even roast dinners. I even make ham in coke in mine (it's delicious).