Amy D.

I've always been a try everything twice kind of person - I want to be really sure if I don't like something but I remember corriander had to be acquired & I'm still waiting to acquire the appreciation for all things bitter; campari, chicory, bitter melon all turn me in to a toddler like state, if I'm not shuddering whilst eating its because I've already spat it out. shame becuase I'd love to make a dent in those dandilions tking over the garden!

WOW !!! Any brand names to Google, suggested export mail order sources or other helpful suggestions? While I doubt I'd ever use it routinely, it'd be fun to have a little to play with, maybe once or twice, and AFAIK, domestic sale of the stuff is alien to the UK. Now, if I could just find a domestic-sized pack of cocoa butter - unlike herbs or chillies, growing a houseplant simply isn't a viable option! squires kitchen does cocoa butter (and mycro) in 100g bags for around £5.45/5.95 My link or you can get 600g of the same mycro(both are callebaut) from HB ingredients for £7.14 (though the delvery charge is a hefty £10)My link

I made some of the vanilla frozen yoghurt the other day using the greek-style yoghurt I had to hand, it was supper quick and super tasty (though I may try cutting the sugar quantity next time)

for some reason I've always thought it might kill the flavor but I'll have to give it a go

The elderflowers in my garden are almost ready for the picking so i'm just looking for some tried and tested recipes, cordial and champagne are a must but i'm also interested in any more unsual suspects that ideally involve eating the flower.

No need - you can do it easier and better yourself! One of my favourite finds on eGullet has been the no-knead bread recipe. Never quite managed to get a whole loaf that was how I wanted it but for pizzas, garlic breads or little dinner rolls it's perfect. You'll find the thread somewhere on here but in short all you need to do is mix the following ingredients using a big spoon then leave it for between two and five hours somewhere warm. You can use it straight away or get an even better flavour by keeping it in the fridge for a while (successfully upto about three weeks for me). It works with all sorts of different flours but this particular combination gives great results: 1000g Waitrose extra strong Canadian bread flour 750ml hot water from the tap 25g salt 12g dried active yeast Just mix till the flour is all incorporated into the water then cover partially with a plate and leave somewhere warm until it's risen to fill the bowl and gone shinier and smoother, to be honest I was amazed that it gets to this consistency without any kneading at all, but it really does. When you're ready to make a pizza just cover your hand in flour, grab a good handful and pop it in the middle of an oiled and floured sheet of foil, dump loads more flour on top then roll it out as thin as possible. Top how you like then cook on a well preheated pizza stone in a really hot oven -perfect pizza at home with little or no effort EDIT: just been back through this thread and have seem that this sort of recipe has already been suggested using different American flours, if you've got a waitrose near you then give it a go using the above quantities it really is foolproof. I've made the no knead bread several times & whilst it makes a good sour dough like loaf I personally prefer the texture of normal kneaded dough bread and I imagine it would be the same for pizza (though I am interested in what difference the canadian flour would make compared to say doves organic & I though the no-knead required plain not strong flour??) perhaps I just need more practice. I still just use the pre-brought flat breads for a really speedy crispy pizza - no stone needed.

thanks to you both, I had considered altering a bath chap recipe but I had gotten a little confused about what a bath chap actually was as there seemed to be conflicting descriptions on different sites - some saying the bath chap was smoked, and at least one mentioned that the tongue is rolled up with the cheek. Anyway I guess it's a starting point for some experimentation - thanks Duncan for the salt warning!

yep my thoughts too

I bought some Cured Pork Chaps from waitrose the other day & (finding little inspiration from the google search) I was hoping someone here might have some ideas on how to get the best out of these fatty nuggets. thanks Amy

I also agree they freeze really well whole - I always just cook straight from frozen - and cook as well as fresh leaves, whereas dried can loose pungancy & the texture in a cooked dish is different/ less desireable to me.

I'd suggest chilli oil or perhaps just roasted sesame oil. I recently made my own chilli oil by heating dried chillis, Szechuan peppercorns and star anise in sunflower oil not having made it before I was unsure how long to cook for so just gently heated until the chillis went a dark brown (not burnt mind)this oil has a lovely subtle smokey taste

thanks for pointing us to the Lakhoum recipe andiesenji, I'll definately have to give this a go for my vegetarian OH - actually it's really similar to the gelatin recipe I already use I just didn't realise I could substitue agar agar so easily.

thanks for the quick replies, I will be really interested in seeing how your future attempts work out Stuckey. good luck

I have the professional book and wonder how does the recipe in the at home book differ? i've not tried the turkish delight mainly because i'm not sure what thin boiling starch is or where to get it from but also because I've failed in all my previous attempt using non gelatin recipes.

not that i'm any expert on the subject but i've never had any scrambling problems when making curds, actually the last time I made lime curd I added too much juice so let it reduce down with it bubbling away quite fiercely it was only after I'd finished that I remembered that this was a curd not jam - still it was fine no scrambling or seperation instead a great thick textureded (although I would say that I always strain the beaten eggs before adding them to the pan).

If the kitchen joins directly onto the dining room (ie not seperated by any corridors) I don't think it needs to be as drastic a change as you fear. I would personally make the dining room a more informal area (some comfortable chairs, a tv) that becomes the hub of the household that the kitchen adjourns, then as Toliver suggested you can always remodel things at a later date.

Hi Doodad, I'm reading very good reviews on the book, do you like it? Nice meal BTW, here is a picture of the filling Considering it was my fist attempt I'm happy about how the dough turned out and the look, need to give it another try soon. wow that's some very impressive pleating! I think the great thing about cooking at home is the experimentation and adjusting things to personal taste. Whilst I think the filling looks fine it might be worth testing out your theories next time you make them, you can always cook off a little of the stuffing to taste before filling. For myself I like the filling to be well seasoned - I think it needs it not to be lost in all that dough (but then I do generally like strong flavours). Browning the bottoms gives an extra sensory dimension that makes them tastier but is not essential.

I loved it, got to wonder at the stress they put themselves through but great to watch. It's still on iplayer for those that can access it. My link

having just used some of the compost from my bin for the first time i've noticed that even after two years of rotting a few things haven't really decomposed (and wont be added in future)including advocado skin, advocado stone, lychee stones, & mango stone, & from now on any egg shells will be crushed a little before adding to the pile.

I had the same trouble when i tried looking a few months ago. I did eventually find this site My link not that I've actually gotten around to ordering from them yet.

indeed the lamb is still a hot & spicy dish, just not as scalding from chilli peppers as the one I had at leeds red chilli. Though on the other hand the Sichuan peppers seemed to be more potent. The dish is addictively moreish, definately worth a try at least once.

visited the manchester branch on saturday, as usual with the vegetarian OH, we shared the forest mushrooms; cold crunchy woodear mushrooms in a fantastic savory chilli oily sauce, and the Sichuan Style Spicy Steamed Aubergine; a similar sauce but this time it was soaked up by the creamy soft and warm aubergine. When they did eventually arrive the Spring Onion Pancakes were great in that way that fried oily dough is (though whilst perhaps better than the ones at red chilli they could still do with more spring onion flavour). We also orderd the Fried Pumpkin Pancakes which arrived about the same time as the spring onion pancakes (before the mains), although to me it seemed like they should have been more of a sweet as they were served with a small dish of condensed milk, either way these pancakes just weren't to our tastes consisting of some flavourless glupe inside a greasy fried shell. The Sliced Lamb Sichuan Style was for me a better version than the similar dish served at red chili - it had all the flavour I desired but with just the right level of spicyness (for me at least). The OH also really enjoyed his Tou Fu with Mixed Mushrooms. Most of the food was fantastic however we were really disapointed by the service. We only seemed to be served one dish at a time with a wait of at least 20 mins between dishes, at one point i had lost hope that we'd ever get our mains. still as the food was so good i'm willing to hope that this was just a one off as they were really busy, & I'll definately be testing this theory soon.

I never questioned that the term demerara sugar would be used for different products in different countries, from what I can tell from the photos it looks as though the demerara sold in the UK our demerara is the same as that sold in Australia as shown in Steb's second (demerara) picture. If this is the case then I would suggest that the sugar should not have caused the problems Steb's has suffered as I've not noticed any problems using UK demerara sugar for Kerry's fudge recipe which in the 10+ times I've made it has always produced super smooth creamy fudge.

I had my first go at ordering a load (for me at least) of couverture a few weeks ago (had a few presents to make) & not really having much experience I thought i'd try products from several different companies (although my choice was limited as I was only ordering a kilo of each so no Valrhona for me this time): Firstly after having tried & liked chocolates from a shop that claimed to use Elray I thought I'd try their Apamate, Caoba and Icoa but was really disapointed with the flavours of all three which were over powering and basically not particularly nice (to me at least), I also found the Apamate tempermental to work with. Not something i'd return to. Callebaut W2-553 white callets tasty enough with creamy notes just what you expect from a white chocolate with no tempering problems. Cocao Barry 70% Santo Domingo extra bitter has a nice flavour but I haven't got around to using this one yet. 43% Venezuelan Belcolade milk: this was my big suprise as I wasn't expecting much from it as it's not a company i'd heard of before & it was the cheapest, however it has a great flavour and tempers & enrobes really well. my next order will definately explore more of Belcolade's products!

Lior that looks so good. how do you make a strawberry caramel?