What are you making for dinner?

Islandmaid

KERRIE- hope your feeling a bit better today x

I 'dressed' a local crab, boiled up the shell with veg and herbs to make stock for Crab and prawn risotto tonight - baked a vanilla cheesecake yesterday to have with caramelised apples for pud

kerri_gt

Thanks Islandmaid still snorting and sniffing (such a lovely picture I paint) but so far managed to make it through the day without a dose of cold and flu tablets.

Tonight's fayre was a ham and mushroom tagliatelle for me, and (I'm almost embarrassed typing this) a pot noodle for OH. I ventured over to a new (to me) Aldi today to stock the cupboards, spent £75 :eek: but there's now food in, and these were 'treats' amongst the food.

I need some help from you lovely lot. Twice I've made HM chicken stock from carcasses. I used two as that's the most I can fit in my pan, with 2ltr of water as the recipe states, along with other usual veg etc. Bring to the boil and simmer for 3hrs. Apparelnty it should make 1ltr of stock but I've taken mine off the stove after 2-2 1/2 hrs, and ended up with less than half what it says I should which happened before.

It's a pan with a heavy lid and I am just simmering the stock. Do you think my heat is too high or am I simmering too long or something else? Help! It's a lot of gas use for not much result right now.

Islandmaid

I'm not sure I'll be much help Kerrie, I use my slow cooker and Chuck carcass in with onion, garlic, celery, herbs etc and leave on low overnight, so I would say, yes, your heats up too high

C_J

I dunno kerri - when I make stock, I chuck the carcass and all the bits of veg (including peelings saved up in the freezer) and add enough water to cover the whole lot. Not sure how much water that is, but fairly sure it is more than 2 litres. From one carcass I end up with more than a litre of lovely rich stock.

JIL

We had home made nandos, chicken, halloumi, spicy rice, corn on the cob, coleslaw and olives.

If I make stock I throw the bones and bits in a pan, with a bay leaf, and carrot, celery and a shallot, if I have parsley stalks they also go in. Cover with water, lid on and simmer for a couple of hours. I check it and bash the bones a bit but that's all. Once it's simmered I strain it.
How does it taste, could you add extra water?

kerri_gt

JIL the stock tastes lovely, just not a lot of it. I lifted the lid a couple of times to check the levels and poke things about a bit but guess the only think I guess it can be was the heat up too high, even though it was a simmer. I don't make it often as I'm not abit celery fan so buying celery to make stock specifically always seems a bit of a false economy to me.

Any alternative siggestions to celery appreciated.

I have a hairy bikers lamb hot pot I'm planning to make which I'll use the stock for (even if it's not lamb stock) and add more liquid or cubed stock if needed.

Islandmaid

KERRI - in winter to buy, slice and freeze celery for stock, you can often find it reduced

Today's offering will be Toad in the Hole, fat butchers sausages wrapped in bacon with sliced red onion, light fluffy batter and onion gravy, mashed swede and peas to accompany it - LO cheesecake for pud

Also making seeded Swedish crackers, squash and ginger soup and smoked mackerel pate with lots of horseradish - yum

[Deleted User]

We're out for a Sunday lunch in a local tea room today and supper this evening will be Aloo Tikki from a charity shop Indian Recipe Book and it's potato and bread cakes fried crisp and golden with a red kidney bean curry topping, sounds and looks delicious.

C_J

Roast chicken dinner for us tonight, but a busy day of cooking as I will also be making a sweet-potato-topped shepherdess pie and a saag paneer for later in the week, a tray of oat, fruit and protein breakfast bars, a pan of leek and potato soup for my work lunches, and a vanilla sponge traybake topped with stewed apples for puddings this week. I am just in the mood for a nice cooking day, I really enjoy it if I have the time.

kerri_gt

Islandmaid wrote: »

KERRI - in winter to buy, slice and freeze celery for stock, you can often find it reduced

Today's offering will be Toad in the Hole, fat butchers sausages wrapped in bacon with sliced red onion, light fluffy batter and onion gravy, mashed swede and peas to accompany it - LO cheesecake for pud

Also making seeded Swedish crackers, squash and ginger soup and smoked mackerel pate with lots of horseradish - yum

Good idea, I will keep an eye out. Was also thinking about substituting for celeriac, which oddly I quite like mashed....so could keep a bit back for the stock pot.