terryturbojr

I made my first pork pie about a fortnight ago. I stuck it on my blog, although not the step by step instructions linked too above. http://cookingthebooks.typepad.com/cooking...y-pork-pie.html It worked well (outside of a bit soft pastry dough prior to cooking) and everyone that had it said it was a fine example.

I made a wild rabbit stew recently, with bacon and cider. After browning it got about 1 1/4 hours at 120. It was tender but wasn't falling off the bone as I'd have liked - I had time constraints though so ate it anyway. If I do it again I'll go for nearer 1 1/2 hours before testing for doneness. Here's the recipe: http://cookingthebooks.typepad.com/cooking...abbit-stew.html

On Rick Stein's Med Escapes (UK show) he ate a dish called pulenda at one place. Can't say he was too enamoured with it although he said it went quite well with the local figatellu sausage. It was just chestnut flour boiled up with water (like polenta) then cut with a wire, not that the wire will affect the taste much. There's a recipe here, and a few other chestnut flour recipes too: http://www.corseboutique.fr/les%20recettes...11e14b8415b37f6

Can't add anything to the ingredient debate but a chef on TV (Rick Stein's Food Heroes maybe, not Rick though) spoke of hotpots being cooked in conical earthenware dishes - like upside down tagine lids without the hole - that maximised the amount of surface area to volume so maximising the amount of browned potato.

I agree. Sounds like you're overcooking and so the eggs are browning and toughening. I do the same method as above. Pushing the cooked edges into the middle so raw egg fills the void. This way you decrease the cooking time (in and out the pan in a minute) which means the egg won't brown and toughen. You'll also get the nice delicate folds of egg that an omelette traditionally has. I've seen chefs employ a stirring method to get their folds, where a fork is used to stir held so the tines are parallel to the bottom of the pan but not touching. I've not been able to pull this method off though so reverted back to the pushing of the edges towards the middle that I've always done. There's quite an in depth omelette discussion here: http://www.hertzmann.com/articles/2005/omelettes/

Could it be Shui Zhu Niu Rou - Boiled Beef Slices in a Fiery Sauce http://cookingthebooks.typepad.com/cooking...d-water-be.html