billshurv,
it's a shame that the traditional 'bubble and squeak' isn't more known here on the mainland.
But to make the best B&S you need the right kind of potatoes and the right kind of cabbage. Sadly most potatoes sold in France just aren't suitable and neither are the cabbages the best kind.
Potatoes need to be the fluffy kind - remember the good old King Edwards. Cabbage tends to be the Savoy type and Spring greens just aren't available here. The other thing that has to be used is either beef or lamb fat, made with any kind of oil the result is terrible.
Best eaten this with cold beef or lamb but Toulouse sausages are also nice with home made chutney ( the French love my home made chutney) and some spicy cold onion slices.
Cooked on a cast iron flat griddle. Both sides need to be toasted - scrumptious.
it's a shame that the traditional 'bubble and squeak' isn't more known here on the mainland.
But to make the best B&S you need the right kind of potatoes and the right kind of cabbage. Sadly most potatoes sold in France just aren't suitable and neither are the cabbages the best kind.
Potatoes need to be the fluffy kind - remember the good old King Edwards. Cabbage tends to be the Savoy type and Spring greens just aren't available here. The other thing that has to be used is either beef or lamb fat, made with any kind of oil the result is terrible.
Best eaten this with cold beef or lamb but Toulouse sausages are also nice with home made chutney ( the French love my home made chutney) and some spicy cold onion slices.
Cooked on a cast iron flat griddle. Both sides need to be toasted - scrumptious.
I am thinking of doing sausages wrapped in ground beef.
The sausage is a medium/coarse grind, light maple flavour, dinner sized, wrapped in pig casings. The beef is medium/coarse ground chuck with a small amount of water and fat added, that's it. If you were serving this for the head of state what would you do?
Binders in the beef, like egg and/or Panko? Something else maybe? I don't wish to use a shipload of beef on the outside, just enough to cover the big sausages so around 50/50 ratio.
Would you partly cook the sausages ahead or maybe poke them to death?
Would you coat the outside of the beef with Panko or Phyllo?
Remember, the Queen's coming to dinner.
The sausage is a medium/coarse grind, light maple flavour, dinner sized, wrapped in pig casings. The beef is medium/coarse ground chuck with a small amount of water and fat added, that's it. If you were serving this for the head of state what would you do?
Binders in the beef, like egg and/or Panko? Something else maybe? I don't wish to use a shipload of beef on the outside, just enough to cover the big sausages so around 50/50 ratio.
Would you partly cook the sausages ahead or maybe poke them to death?
Would you coat the outside of the beef with Panko or Phyllo?
Remember, the Queen's coming to dinner.
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Speaking of sausage -- I made my first lasagna today -- from the back of the Barilla box!
I roasted 1# of sweet sausage @350F for ~35 minutes, just barely done. When cooled cut into about 1/2 inch cubes.
For sauce two 28oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes, a liberal splash of dried basil and thyme (there being no onions or garlic -- how did that happen), a half stick of butter and a tablespoon of white sugar (aghast! I can hear the sighs!)
Cooked 1/2 box of Barilla lasagna noodles for 8 minutes and set aside.
A cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9"x13" glass pan, layer of noodles, then a cup of sauce cum sausage. a half cup ricotta in table spoon quantities spread evenly and a generous sprinkling of Kraft Parmesan cheese. Did this a few times until the sauce and sausage were depleted.
On top, a pound of grated mozzarella and a generous helping of Parmesan cheese, bake in oven, covered w aluminum foil for 25 minutes, uncover and cook for another 5 mins.
I have not a drop of Mediterranean, but the wife is Neopolitan 50% and she approved.
I roasted 1# of sweet sausage @350F for ~35 minutes, just barely done. When cooled cut into about 1/2 inch cubes.
For sauce two 28oz cans of San Marzano tomatoes, a liberal splash of dried basil and thyme (there being no onions or garlic -- how did that happen), a half stick of butter and a tablespoon of white sugar (aghast! I can hear the sighs!)
Cooked 1/2 box of Barilla lasagna noodles for 8 minutes and set aside.
A cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9"x13" glass pan, layer of noodles, then a cup of sauce cum sausage. a half cup ricotta in table spoon quantities spread evenly and a generous sprinkling of Kraft Parmesan cheese. Did this a few times until the sauce and sausage were depleted.
On top, a pound of grated mozzarella and a generous helping of Parmesan cheese, bake in oven, covered w aluminum foil for 25 minutes, uncover and cook for another 5 mins.
I have not a drop of Mediterranean, but the wife is Neopolitan 50% and she approved.
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Cal: poach the sausage until barely done, wrap in beef (somehow). I would add egg and something like chives or other fresh herbs to the beef to bind it, but maybe that's too wet?
If company is merely mortal, roll in crumbs and gently fry in oil or butter (by which I mean butter). If company is actually HRH or higher, instead of crumbs use puff pastry, brush with egg, bake in oven, then ask yourself why you are serving sausage to the queen.
Jack: you lost me at Kraft, but hey if it tastes good...
If company is merely mortal, roll in crumbs and gently fry in oil or butter (by which I mean butter). If company is actually HRH or higher, instead of crumbs use puff pastry, brush with egg, bake in oven, then ask yourself why you are serving sausage to the queen.
Jack: you lost me at Kraft, but hey if it tastes good...
My goto bread recipe, slightly adapted from a recipe on the King Arthur Flour web site. That brand of flour is not available here.
First make a yeast starter. I like to hydrate and "proof" my yeast before using, so mix one cup of warm water with 1/2 tsp sea salt and 1/2 tbsp sugar, whisk so everything is dissolved, then sprinkle in 1/2 tsp dry active yeast. Let it sit somewhere warm for at least 10 minutes, it should start to look a bit foamy. Add 1/4 c whole wheat flour, 1/4 c semolina, and 1 c white flour, mix well, it should be runny, and let it rise covered at least 2 hours or preferably over night.
Now again dissolve 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tbsp sugar in 1 c warm water, add 3/4 tsp yeast, let it proof ten minutes or so. Combine with the starter and 1/2 c semolina, mix well, add 3-1/4 c white flour and another teaspoon salt, when combined turn out onto a floured surface, knead lightly to combine and incorporate another 1/4 c flour. Cover it and let it rest for a bit, then knead for 10 minutes or so. Form into a ball, put in a greased bowl and turn it over, cover, let rise an hour or two depending on temperature, it should more than double in volume. Turn it out again, cut into 2 equal portions, form into loaves. Oblong loaves cut better, round loaves look nicer. I put them on parchment dusted with semolina. Cover and let rise an hour or so, preheat oven to "hot", cut a couple slashes in the tops of the loaves and put them in the oven. Make steam in the oven, you could have a pan of water in there, or spray in water, or just "spill" some water in the bottom of the oven. Bake in the hot oven about 10 minutes, turn down to "pretty hot", bake another 20 minutes. Remove loaves from oven and let them cool while trying not to tear off big hunks.
First make a yeast starter. I like to hydrate and "proof" my yeast before using, so mix one cup of warm water with 1/2 tsp sea salt and 1/2 tbsp sugar, whisk so everything is dissolved, then sprinkle in 1/2 tsp dry active yeast. Let it sit somewhere warm for at least 10 minutes, it should start to look a bit foamy. Add 1/4 c whole wheat flour, 1/4 c semolina, and 1 c white flour, mix well, it should be runny, and let it rise covered at least 2 hours or preferably over night.
Now again dissolve 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tbsp sugar in 1 c warm water, add 3/4 tsp yeast, let it proof ten minutes or so. Combine with the starter and 1/2 c semolina, mix well, add 3-1/4 c white flour and another teaspoon salt, when combined turn out onto a floured surface, knead lightly to combine and incorporate another 1/4 c flour. Cover it and let it rest for a bit, then knead for 10 minutes or so. Form into a ball, put in a greased bowl and turn it over, cover, let rise an hour or two depending on temperature, it should more than double in volume. Turn it out again, cut into 2 equal portions, form into loaves. Oblong loaves cut better, round loaves look nicer. I put them on parchment dusted with semolina. Cover and let rise an hour or so, preheat oven to "hot", cut a couple slashes in the tops of the loaves and put them in the oven. Make steam in the oven, you could have a pan of water in there, or spray in water, or just "spill" some water in the bottom of the oven. Bake in the hot oven about 10 minutes, turn down to "pretty hot", bake another 20 minutes. Remove loaves from oven and let them cool while trying not to tear off big hunks.
I made the starter after breakfast, made the dough at lunch time, made the loaves late afternoon, baked them after work. When they came out of the oven the tian went in.
Did I mention I don't get out much these days? I have a 1,000Km commute so my office is 10 meters from my kitchen...
I have not been in my "real" office in about a year, and haven't been in that city since May.
I used to share a flat with a guy who formerly worked as a cook on ships, the ferry between NS and NL. He was working full time ashore at the time I knew him. He would get up in the morning, mix some bread dough, take his laundry to the laundromat, come back and get the loaves rising, go back to put his wash in the dryer, come back to put the loaves in the oven, go back to pick up the laundry, cone back to the flat, take out the bread, eat some for breakfast, and get to work by 9AM!
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I've been playing with Japanese milk bread, throw it in the bread machine and come back later. We all have our weaknesses.
I experimented with sourdough for a while but have fallen back on the bread machine. I have a granary monstrosity that the kids enjoy.
Please help: Indian condiment Raita , recipe or ingredients lousy
Last night we made a vegetarian curry using an Indian recipe, and served it with garlic naan bread and raita (yogurt - cucumber condiment).
The raita was lifeless and unexciting, it was missing a "zing" compared to the raita served in local Indian restaurants. Restaurant raita seems to have a sort of a buttermilk-like sour flavor which ours, made with American supermarket ingredients, lacked. The recipe we used (from epicurious.com) is shown below.
What should we add or leave out, to get a closer approximation of the raita they serve in Indian restaurants?
Thanks very much!
_
Last night we made a vegetarian curry using an Indian recipe, and served it with garlic naan bread and raita (yogurt - cucumber condiment).
The raita was lifeless and unexciting, it was missing a "zing" compared to the raita served in local Indian restaurants. Restaurant raita seems to have a sort of a buttermilk-like sour flavor which ours, made with American supermarket ingredients, lacked. The recipe we used (from epicurious.com) is shown below.
What should we add or leave out, to get a closer approximation of the raita they serve in Indian restaurants?
Thanks very much!
_
Attachments
I use a goat/sheep Greek yogurt, but it is only available from a local maker. There is a goat yogurt from CA that is quite good if a little expensive (Redwood Hill Farm), caveat, they seem to be doing a big commercial outreach these days and I don't know what the current product is like. You could "Greek" it by draining off some of the excess water with a cheese cloth and replacing it with lemon juice if needed.
Americans have an aversion to plain (and sour) yogurt, when do you ever see it on a breakfast buffet? This is not true in the rest of the world.
Hitsware's recipe looks just like home made yogurt, maybe you could find a local farm making a better product.
EDIT- Found this and it kind of explains what I learned a while ago. https://www.instructables.com/Turn-... Indian yogurt,thicker and slightly more sour.
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