Natho

I doubt i would have access at the event to heating beyond maybe a microwave but i only live a 3 minute drive away anyhow. Problem is i may need to prepare in advance as i may not have the time on the day to cook it. Great suggestions so far thanks everyone! Keep em coming

I have been invited to a christmas dinner in a weeks time. I have been asked to bring something that isn't a main or a salad (I live in australia.. it's summer here) but kind of a "filler" type dish. It was suggested that potato bake would do or something like it. Any suggestions? One of the mains is roast lamb and roast veges plus salads. About 15-20 people are expected. Maybe prawns as well.

We are cold lunch/dinner people. Salads and cold meats but we do bake some things that get served cold. We always have a cold chicken pie that is pretty much the best thing ever and the usual sweets i.e rum balls, apricot balls, shortbread, fruit cake, mince pies. It's way too hot in queensland at christmas to bake or roast a hot meal although plenty of people still do it.

Bundy GB represent I also love the horehound but only one other of my friends does as well, i get crap from the rest for drinking old man drinks.. I love crystalised ginger, the hotter the better straight out of the pack. When i was on a week long road trip I ate it all the time to avoid motion sickness and it worked a treat! Bundy GB is still the best. I always try others but none of them stack up. Well, not the non-alcoholic ones anyway..

What are the other 3? ← Hmm.. Fish pie Zuchini Pie um.. I'd have to get back to you on the last, maybe after reading Revelations again..

I still haven't put it through the machine yet but it tastes just like the eating licorice i used with a bit of an egg taste in the background (it had 4 egg yolks in it) When I made it yes I just put the milk, cream and licorice on the stove and put it over a low heat and stirred it. I got sick of waiting after about 35 minutes or so and started mashing the lumps of licorice against the side of the pan and then smearing them around to dissolve it. Most of it eventually dissolved but there was a rather gooey mess left behind in the strainer. If i ever decide to do this again i think i will use star anise or something instead. But the mixture does taste just like the licorice i used, rather than just a generic aniside flavour.

Hmm dunno how many of these I'm "supposed" to like but anyway.. Cooked carrot - I can take it raw no problems but i hate HATE it cooked Pumpkin - The sweetness and texture makes me gag Fish - Pretty much any breed except tuna Asparagus Brocoli Beans Heineken Whisky Bourban Pine Nuts - Except in pesto Pate Kidney - Steak and kidney pie is one of the 4 pies of the appocolypse Cabbage Shiraz Canned champignons Most chilli chocolate mixtures because the chilli mostly used is lame so that people who can't handle the heat can eat it. It therefore ends up tasting like chilli capsicum (or peppers for those of you in the US of A). The lindt version is however fabulous..

150 ml espresso out of a stovetop 1 cup caster sugar 4 in piece cinnamon stick 2 cloves 4 cardamom pods I put it all on the stove on a low heat till the sugar dissolved and then turned it up a bit. As soon as it came to the boil i turned it off, put the lid on and let it infuse till it was cool then i strained it and chilled it. Some recipes and methods I had read reccomended putting cold syrup onto hot baklava so i did that. I made the syrup when i got out of bed and had it in the fridge before breakfast then by the time i had assembled and baked the baklava it was cool enough. It was really good, the coffee wasn't bitter at all and was a quite subtle flavour. It went really well with the hazelnuts. But I think next time i will increase the syrup because the baklava was a bit dry around the edges. maybe put in more cinnamon and cardamom as well.

I am half way through making licorice icecream right now I have made the mix but haven't run it through my machine yet. When I made it it was the most horrid shade of browny green so i had to add some black food coloring to make it look appetising. I used a pile of soft licorice and tried to melt it down in the cream on the stove but it took forever. eventually i had to strain it to get out the stubborn lumps but at least it tastes like proper eating licorice.

A thought.. After making the baklava, instead of making a syrup, how about pouring a whole bottle of creme de cacao or kahlua or something over it and letting it soak in.. Obviously the baklava would need to cool down a bit first so the alcohol didn't evaporate..

Well it's definitely up there with some of the best baklava i've had, if I do say so myself. The hazelnuts worked great and the coffee syrup was just right, not too strong or bitter but just a nice flavour. I think maybe i needed a bit more syrup but it still works fine. The nuts were mixed with castor sugar and it is a bit grainy from the sugar, i think next time i would really grind up the nuts and use less sugar to hold it together. One thing though, the top layers of pastry are loose, especially around the edges. Has anyone else had this problem? I used the afore mentioned assembly technique of just ladleing in the butter and then pouring more on top.

So i always get vindaloo at restaurants and it's my favourite curry. I love the sourness of it. But I have tried about 8 different recipes all very different from eachother and i can never replicate it like i get it from a restaurant. Does anyone know the secret or great recipes? I have tried different amounts of vinegar or tamarind but nothing ever comes out like the pro jobs.

licorice Icecream

I used about 400 gms of hazelnuts. I roasted them and tried to skin them (about 30% success) and then chucked them in the food processor. It got them about 70% finely ground and the other 30% large chunks so i think it will have a good texture contrast. I love the hazelnut/coffee mix. I put in some cinnamon as well.

I have meant to try this for a while. I love rosewater. It would be a bit like chocolate and turkish delight.

well it's been baked and is sitting on the bench absorbing the syrup. It smells really good.. I am a bit apprehensive that maybe i didn't use enough butter but i guess i will find out in a few hours

Ok well it's been cooked up and is in the fermenter for round 1 of fermentation. In about a week we will be racking it off for a secondary fermentation then we will bottle it when the SG has stabilised. We used 1.5 kg of raw ginger (might i add that peeling 1.5 kg of ginger is a bastard of a job..) plus brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, clove, some extra malt and some other grains (not sure what they where) and juice of two lemons. I'll let yous know how it goes. It smelled awesome on the stove. Strong caramel overtones floating amongst the ginger. Oh yeah we also added 250gm lactose for sweetness.

Tomorrow I'm making a hazelnut baklava with a coffee syrup. Anyone ever made it with hazelnuts before and was it any good? I'm only really using them because i have a large pile that i need to use up.

No i think seeing as how it's our first, we are just going to go for straight out ginger. So if those recipes don't pitch yeast for alcohol does it get it from natural yeasts? Or are they recipes for non-alcoholic beer?

My brewing partner and i are going to attempt this in a couple of days time. He has some extensive experience brewing beer and has all the gear. We do not however yet have a recipe. Does anyone have any good ones and/or tips?

Does anyone know a place in brisbane that sells specific varieties of chilli that go beyond "red" and "green"? I have a great chilli cookbook that asks for specific chillis and i want to try them out, plus i want to broaden my chilli horizons. Alternatively, does anyone know a net store in australia that sells anything?

I make my own icecream but i have absolute disregard for terminology. In my experience, people love to use/eat/talk about gelato because it's way more fashionable or whatever then chugging down some icecream. When i talk to people about icecream they say they prefer gelato and when i ask why and what is the difference they can never give me a reason. I don't care what its called. Its a frozen dessert made from varying amounts of dairy products that tastes awesome and thats all that matters. Proffesional manufacturers aside, if you only want to make one or the other then you are limiting your cooking based on rules that have no meaning. I've had people tell me without ever tasteing my stuff that i should make gelato instead because it's better. I therefore disregard whatever else they have to say because they are obviously an idiot. Just my two cents worth..

To combine some nutella and almond paste, would it just be as simple as chucking it all together in a mixer and beating it up or would you need a more sophisticated method? I would love to work with some gianduja but where i live in australia it's hard to come by and i don't fancy ordering chocolate products over the net when they will most likely spend the majority of their time sitting in 25 - 30 degree (celcius) heat prior to delivery. Looking at that international ingredients comparison it would seem australia and italy have more or less the same ingredients but i wonder if the ratios are different. I love nuttella. Especially combined with salty peanut butter.

Tooheys Old. Saturday night I'll be cracking my first bottle of the last brew I brewed. porter with chocolate malt.

I did this once with tinned raspberries (hey I'm a poverty student..) and it worked out kind of ok. I cooked them for ages until they were really thick and then strained it and added it to the cream but there was a bit too much liquid and the ganache never really set up very firm. It would have been great as a filling in molded chocolates but it wasn't really rollable as a truffle. It did taste good though. Strong raspberry flavour, I used white chocolate and it was very sweet, probably cause I also used some of the syrup from the tin.