Adam Balic

FG - here is a link that indicates the calorific content of 200 popular (US) Beers. http://brewery.org/brewery/library/AlClbinger.html From what I have read the calories from the actual alcohol itself, don't seem to contribute to fat-bastardness. Plenty of recent medical publications on this. One thought is that requires more energy to break down the alcohol then the actual energy avalible to the body from the alcohol. Seems wrong some how I know. Yes I am denial. Maybe we should set up a poll: Egullet weigh in?

Here is an interesting link on the subject: http://www.foody.org/eggs/what.html

Matthew - If you have a recipe in mind do as per usual, but wrap the leg in parchement paper (or doubled foil) and tie it up. Cook slowly and you will get a self basted/steamed leg of very tender mutton. Cut off all the extra fat though, as it doesn't need it using this technique. In Fez they would use a vessel to get the same effect and they wouldn't brown the meat.

Adam = Australian = surrounded by many sheep. We killed a sheep once a week on my grandparents farm (for them and the extended family). It was always the least likely to live sheep. So it was nearly always old mutton. How I hated it. It was only upon moving to the city that I ate any type of sheep and enjoyed it (rack of lamb). But these sheep were all Merinos, which are bred for wool, not meat in Australia and I have subsequently found out that mutton in the UK is excellent. So far I have had mutton from those Viking introduced hefted Lake District sheep, Iron age type Shetland sheep, Soay sheep and regular Blackfaced mutton. Of them all I prefer The Lake District breed, nice strong flavour, but still sweet. Mutton hams were once an item of export (to England) from both Wales and Scotland (18th C.). I have been planing to make one in my new flat, but to b authentic to the Scottish recipe it has to be smoked and I am talking to my butcher about this. The basic recipe is a wet brine period, followed by drying (just like dry cured pork hams) then a light smoke. More detailed recipes can be found in Jane Grigson's "Good Things" (I think, will check). Confit de Mouton is great slowly cooked though in new flageolet beans. Saffy - welcome. The cost of living in the UK is indeed very very high compared to Australia or New Zealand. The most revolting frozen leg of New Zealand lamb is about seven quid. For a really top quality leg of lamb I pay 25 quid and for 2 kilos of (admittedly extremely good quality) wild salmon was 28 quid.

Bux - in the Home it's called "Recreation", not "Abuse" . Haven't read any of the big B's books, I just thought that chefs were all hip and bohemian?

Less substance abuse by Home Cooks?

Pesto/Pistou = made with a Pestle. Most people make Blendo/Blendou or Food Processoro. Jinmyo - all together? That would be some balancing act. How you do that?

That sounds very interesting.... Now I'll have to try to find it... It doesn't really taste of Sav. Blanc any more. Think of the most complex Morris's Liquor Tokay and then double it, then that about describes it.

Gav. - any Port in a storm eh? Th Australian Botrytised wines can be excellent, if patchy. Look out for De Bortoli Noble One (Semillion) and some of the Botrytised Rieslings (D'arenberg, Lindermans) or Miranda Golden Botrytis (Semillion and Riesling), which is rather nice.

I have two, one like the Mamsters (some sort of green volcanic rock) and Mable Italian one. The Italian one has wooden pestle which is great for making garlic sauces or mayonaise. The South-East Asian one is great for more heavy duty work. I also like the marble version because the originals were made out of the mable capitols of collapsed roman buildings, so I like to think that it was great that after the demise of the Empire, people sat around and made spicy sauces.

Tony, you sound dangerously like Plotnicki. Anyway, as Port is a British, it must be shite. And if Bob said that then he is a tosser. Port was wine not good enough to be Claret.

Earlier in the year when I ws in Liguria I asked a chef at a restaurant how they made their pesto (which was excellent). It was the basic recipe, except they added very little cheese. The basil flavour was really intense, so I wonder if their basil was the key or if the cheese dampens down the basil flavour?

Oh, I forgot. I found one garfish (needlefish) in the local fishmonger. They had no idea what it was, as it came in a box of sardines from Portugal. Lucky for me I did and as it is my wifes favourite fish, I made her a treat of garfish pan fried , took out the bones (which are really pretty as they are a blue/green metalic colour),added S&P, lemon and New Olive oil and made her some crostini to go with it.

Easy on the rosewater, you don't want to taste it, just alter the flavour of the damsons.

Niall since you are in OZ, try to get your hands on some "Hardy's Liquor Sav. Blanc", amazing stuff. Base material around 50 years old.

Ooh - I have some damsons at home. How did you make your clafoutis, Adam? Similar to Nina's recipe, but more eggs. Basic batter from Anne Willan's "French Regional Cooking" (one of the best French cookbooks), except I cut th sugar a little and added cream and lemon zest. Damsons poached in a light sugar syrup for five minutes (soften fruit and realeases colour). Buttered a Spanish earthware cazuela added fruit and then poured in batter. Cook slowly (important as to fast and you get grainy custard/ scrambled eggs) until done. Reduced poaching liquid slightly, added a few drops of rosewater (brings out damson flavours), served this with clafoutis. If I was being fancy-smancy I would have put it into individual Catalan creme pots. I like cooking clafoutis in earthenware as it flavours the custard nicely and it looks cool.

Wild Scottish Salmon baked with wine, butter, thyme and dried limes. Butter sauce with Barberries. Steamed pink-fir-apple potatoes, green beans Damson Clafoutis

Australian fortified Muscat & Muscadelle ("Tokay") Vin Santo - most are terrible, but a few good un's exist. Malaga - rare old style, not new style. Antinori Umbria Muffato della Sala Good Italian Bot. Sem. Various Passitos. Sicillian ones made from Orange Muscat grapes - very nice. Moscato di Asti - Yes I know, but it goes very well with poultry liver mousses. Sauternes - aged bottles can be bought cheaply.

OK I was nearly correct. The storage sugar in beans is Raffinose (also in sun-chokes), not starch. This isn't broken down by the human enzymes and does go on to the bowel to be broken down to by bacteria to make gas. Raffinose is water soluble, so soaking it may remove some of the sugar. But I would think that most of the Raffinose would remain in the bean, even after soaking.

Myth: putting a teaspoon in the neck of a bottle of sparkling wine will prevent it from going flat. Doesn't work, something about contradicting the third law of thermodynamics.

Well, wouldn't the fact that you dump out the water the beans were soaked in have more effect than anything else? It is the gut-flora which converts the sugars to gas. Sugars are absorbed by you gut or broken down in the gut by your own enzymes. Some sugars cannot be broken down by the human enzymes and/or absorbed so they pass down your gut, get gobbled up by bacteria in the bowel which break them down (which produces the gas). I'm not sure is the overnight soaking is enough time to activate the pulses enzymes and break down the complex sugars (starches) into simple-farty sugars. I would guess yes. Must depend on the type of pulse as well. Same thing happens with Sun-chokes (Jerusalem artichoke), God's fartiest veggie, weird sugars not fit for mammalian enzymes.

Tripe - when people talk of "Traditional British Food", are the really saying "Victorian English Food", or is there any attempt to revive recipes/cooking techniques from earlier periods? For example the cooking of Robert May in the Restoration period or food from the Georgian period?

Andy - duck or goose? Does it matter or is there a reason why you used duck fat? (loads of Fat Ducks in your region?).

Makes a nice change from usual the BS .

I assume 160 F? How long per pound timewise? Have done this myself (at 50 C), but it was suck-and-see cooking.