origamicrane

you moving out there permenantly? sounds interesting but also sounds like hard work will you have access to internet ? as would be interesting to see what you cook while you are out there

meat cleaver or machete and a medium hacksaw better try B&Q. think that little lot will allow you to go through a cow. where you going? and what are you going to be cooking? also if you going overseas will they allow you to take it in your check in luggage?

Hi there does anyone own a shuttle chef? have you ever tried making stock using it? for those that don't know a shuttle chef is a very large thermos flask used for cooking. Its excellent for making soups as it gives perfect results everytime, doesn't use electricity or gas and you can leave it unattended safe in the knowledge it won't burn and it keeps things hot for a good 6 hours. Have a look http://www.galtak.com/thermos.html Well i made a big pot of chicken stock brought it up to a simmer and skimmed it until every 10 minutes until i couldn't be bothered no more but not sure i like the idea of keeping it on a low flame overnight unattended ( just call me paranoid or careful ) Now i think the shuttle chef will be excellent for making stock as it keeps the stock at a constant hot temp for a long period but with no movement of the liquid thus allowing any particles to fall to the bottom. The only thing i wonder about is what will happen to any fat still in the stock? will it result in a murky stock? Just wondered if anyone has tried this before and whether it is a good or bad idea and if anyone has any tips?

I'm curious - what will you be using it for? ← It for a cooking competition. I got a dishes of peeled pomelo wedges with lemon mint and candy floss. Touaregsand named that dish "Fresh pomelo with a Candied Cloud" so i thought it be quite fun to have a few dry ice pellets in a bowl in the middle spewing out white vapour. Also planning to make fizzy strawberries/ fruit

"Gimme two vichyssoise, a couple a homard americains , a pavé bernaise, three pommes Anna , three haricots verts an isles flotant and two chocolate mousses to go. " "You want Burgundy or Bordeaux with that?" "Two white Bordeax, and you got any Cotes du Rhone?" "We got a Cote Rotie" "That'll do." "That will $86.57, monsieur. Your plus fours are in the bag." 30 minutes later. "Merde, I forgot to get the brie!" ← Do you want that supersized? ← you want fries with that?

hmm.. there a new business opportunity fast french food.

just answered my own question Yara do 10kg bag of dry ice pellets for £13.95 +vat hmmm i only need a few pellets any one want some dry ice? in the middle of next month?

another aspect that i think enforces the snobbery thing is this there are chinese takeaways, there are indian takeaways, there are thai takeaways, there are italian takeaways, there are fish and chips takeaway , (british) there are kebab takeaways, (med- middle east) there are hamburger takeaways, (american) but has anyone seen a french takeaway outside of france??

also for me i think that French cuisine has a certain air about it. some may call it snobbery hehe!! ok before i get flamed i like to put that last comment into context. French cuisine rightly or wrongly is seen as the top cuisine in the world. The world top cooking schools or at least the most expensive are cordon bleu? The French are very protective of there culture be it language, wine or food. The French can be fanatical/purists about their food and do usually look down on attempts to modernise/modify it. On average outside of France, French food is probably the most expensive. With all that in mind I think that beginner cooks would not attempt French cuisine as their first endeavour into cooking.

Did you get a call back? I got my call back for Hell's Kitchen. I'm in the final 40. Had the last audition yesterday... Fingers crossed. ← cool!!! good luck!! nah haven't had a callback guess i'm not through ho hum can't really complain will be on tv twice although both times i lost Hell's kitchen will be a lot better you got two well known chefs are presenters also rhodes and novelli are both meant to be quite nice chaps. keep us updated!! and remeber to have fun!!

That's not completely true, IMHO, because you're not distinguishing between French haute cuisine and everyday French cooking. A case in point: tonight, I cooked Steak with Sauce Chateau. The reduction sauce (cooked in the same pan the steaks were browned in) consisted of 5 ingredients (minced shallots, white wine, beef stock, a dab of tomato paste, and butter) plus salt & pepper, and took less than 5 minutes to put together. It can't get much simpler than that. The other night I made French crepes for 2 adults and 2 kids -- they took about the same length of time to cook and assemble as a batch of American pancakes and were so much more elegant! How about omelettes? Salade Nicoise? Boeuf Bourguignon (= beef stew), Boeuf en Daube (= pot roast), Coq au Vin (= chicken casserole). All these dishes take little more skill or cooking time than their American counterparts. I'd list more easy dishes but it's 1:00 am here and my brain is not functioning... but you get the idea. ← hmm.... i see the point of seperating home and haute french cooking but maybe for the simple dishes no one needs to ask questions? also the simple dishes get assimilated into other cusines and are no longer considered real French. And the hard stuff no one at home is going to be bothered with? heck! this time last year i didn't even cook french food but even now I still consider french cooking to be at least the most time consuming if not the most complicated.

Its because French cusine is seen as difficult or complicated too cook. I think that questions about recipes and cooking techniques will come from the amateur or home cook in the whole. I think the lack of question is due to the fact that most would not bother cooking a French meal. In my experience French cooking just seems a lot more effort then most other cusines. The percieved amount of work/skill required of create a successful dish is high and the probability of screwing it up also seems high. This impression has also been cultivated by the fact that French cuisine is seen as the pinnacle of cooking. Also pretty sure that if you randomly selected about 50 recipes from across several different cusines, I bet the average number of ingredient would be highest in the french recipes and probably the longest prep and cooking time.

My 95 year old mother insists on this soup especially in the winter. . . and she ain't lactating! ← ROFL!!!!! About the soup's milk inducing qualities, I kid you not. Been there, done that. So, Origami, what did you end up doing with that papaya? Did you pickle it? Great pickle with chillies, vinegar and sugar. ← I didn't Silly me put the papaya at the back of the fridge by the time i got round to making something out of it half of it was frozen solid! managed to recover half of it and made a salad strange how some threads develop this one will be a must read for lactating mothers:blink:

I think this this would be a useful thread. A where do i buy X thread. could merge a lot of threads into this one well a lot of my threads anyway. like where do i buy a 1kg white truffle ?? bIt seriously anyone know where i can buy small quatities of dry ice? i know I can get it from http://ind.yara.co.uk/en/contact/index.html but I only need a few pellets for a dinner party. any help would be most appreciated.

who's teh moderator on the chinese forum?? we should start pinning a threads about where to eat in HK macau Shanghai etc and pin one for recipes. blah! blah!

dandelion probably the only one viable but in the uk still very cold doubt i be able to find any in bloom but will go an have a look

wow that stuff is cool just what i been looking for but two questions 1. how much does this stuff cost to buy? 2. and is it hazardous?? i mean in concentration? inhalation etc?

will have to buy some shiso leaf to experiment on but they are soooo!!!! expensive in the UK!! i kid you not!! 5 leaves for about £2.50!!! if anyone want to send me some shiso plant seeds will probably practise frying cilantro leaves first Will have shiitake in the chicken so will probably not use it for the sauce. but will make some demi glaze and experiment with wasabi, black pepper and soya sauce. or i might make wasabi mashed potato?

this looks fun and messy!! my father used to know a master chinese chef that made these and loads of other chinese dishes i wonder if he still in contact with hmm... might be worth me calling him and getting a lesson as this is really showy food theatre i want to learn too:)

ok cool sounds like i have a project for next weekend. A very simple question I never tried it so how do you crispy fry a shiso leaf? i mean how do you keep it straight? and stop it from curling up?

actually i never used plum vinegar not sure i ever seen it available in the uk anyone got a pic of a bottle? Bitter greens like asparagus will be fine but anything more bitter will not go down well. Am thinking about using white asparagus right now. I doubt a UK audience will miss the rice as they mostly encounter rice in chinese egg fried rice or pilau in indian cooking. Think i will stay with the chicken unless i find anything better. By the way as kurobuta pork come from the UK I could use that as part of the stuffing. Heck! i could just lie the idea is to make the menu read more fluidly. Chicken Ballotine stuffed with shiitake, enoki, kurobuta pancetta and shiso? I wonder what the shiso will do to the taste? hmm.... For the sauce what do you think about spiking the sauce with some wasabi?

OK, in that case, I guess I better keep my mouth shut. My only suggestions at this point would be to add some seasonal Japanese ingredients. ← hiro thats a valid comment and in fact several of the others have drawn the same conclusion. Well had a dig through loads of cookbooks and websites but still don't have dish that fits 100%. so got two ideas at the mo, one is to do a full seafood menu and go for a tuna tataki dish with some japanese veggies probably choose some of the following: shiitake, enoki, oyster mushrooms, asparagus, broccoli, mange tout, sugar snaps, edamame, carrot ,lotus root. or i stuff the ballotine with japanese mushrooms, rice and errrr.....?? help!

*raise his hand like he was still at school* hi jackal can i ask a few questions please 1. how long do you need to knead the dough? 2. why use cooked prawns? why not raw ? 3. after the dough is made couldn't you cut it into pieces and use a rolling pin to make small flat disks? then you could steam the disks it would probably take less time and dry them off in a slow oven? ( yes i am the impatient kind )

I have to ask who the "audience" is. My husband and I have done fusion for Asians and ya know the others, they like different things, that's what we've found. ← they haven't confirmed me for the competition yet but i think i got a good chance of getting on. It a tv cooking competition basically 5 contestants take it in turn to cook a dinner party on consecutive nights. At the end of each meal the other contestants score the meal and the person at the end of the week with most point wins. As the judges are the other contestants there are no real rules. in fact you can buy your food pre-made, you can hire a caterer, you can order take out!!! The only thing is can you convince the other contestants to give you high scores. ← Okay, cut to the chase. Is it for White people or Asians? ← haha!! no beating about the bush here?? White and it be British white (before anyone bites our heads off there are no racial connotations ) just that its a well known fact that British people are very resistant to trying unfamiliar dishes. Hell i lost a competition a few weeks back because the judges didn't know how to eat crab still in its shell!!!

this is good stuff :) jackal have you made the thai prawn crackers? that are spicy?