Blether

I turned this beautiful fresh side of wild autumn salmon ... into these fishcakes:

Hahaha! YMMV Smithy, but I wouldn't do that to a premium meat like prime rib, unless you're talking about low as in SV-low temps, which I guess will not give you the browning. The lamb shoulder roast is a way to do high-connective-tissue "stewing" style meat so it's done right through (meltingly so), but with a roasted surface. (The timing I gave is for a boneless shoulder of the size that I had). Two iterations in previous posts are here and here - the crisp parchment that the fatcap leaves behind is absolutely phenomenal. If there's some shoulder left you get to make shepherd's pie like here. Autumn is coming!

As I've posted before, I roast lamb shoulder low & slow - like 6 hours at 130C, no temperature change. It's ideal for meat with more connective tissue, and browns beautifully. With meats that can be eaten rarer, you have other options, of course. The standard approach I grew up with was the high-then-lower one. There's the old saw about "sealing in the juices", which I think's a fairy story. I'm interested to hear the responses you get, too.

Hi, bdfseo1. It's great to have someone knowledgeable to share Indian recipes on eG. For those who cannot easily buy such a thing ready-made, can you explain a little about Pav Bhaji Masala? What are the central ingredients, and in what proportion? What are the optional ingredients? Also, in which part or parts of India is Pav Bhaji most common?

Yeah, the rolling-out is the most irksome part. I wish I could get decent ready-made crust. Was it good? Do you have a regular brand, and how much does a crust cost you?

I wish I had. It's a loooong time since I made any myself, and I don't have the recipe any more - I think BBC recipes are normally reliable, and out of the first few Google hits their classic recipe looks good. The best recipe I have in a book here is similar and leaves you to pick your own pickling spice mixture from the typical (long) list of candidates.

Thanks, Kim. Your quiche crust looks great!

It doesn't get round the processing problem, but would an apple chutney be enough of a change from apple relish to be worthwhile to you?

Yes, "Garam masala" means "hot mix", specifically spices that warm the body rather than spices that are hot in the mouth, though there's a crossover, with black pepper in particular being "hot" in both ways. I think cumin is the most characteristic spice of Indian cuisine of the kind you describe, but the flavour we think of as "curry" is about 1/3 cumin, 2/3 coriander, and some spice from pepper or chillis. Heat level to taste.

This curry-style baked chicken from Delia Smith is easy and good: Chicken with Whole Spices - one of my housemates when we were students made it a lot.

Thanks.

Got it - it was the browning in particular that threw me. 160F is like 77C, which is close to sous vide, but without the vide. Do you know what it was roasted in? What oven holds that temp?

(A second slice of) leek & parmesan quiche, with Italian marinated peppers. Quiche re-warmed from the fridge with two 30-second MW bursts, and a rest in between.

Great stuff, Patrick, in all of these posts. I think I want some of everything. You didn't really roast at 160F, though, did you?

That sounds like a standard sweet shortcrust, but with the butter cut back by about a quarter. Does that sound about right to you? It's great to have pie dough in the freezer, isn't it?