antdad

Murchison gets another kicking...good.

+1. Total prick, even his so called depressive episode was a molecular disappointment.

I do find these early rounds rather forgettable, please tell me Murchison didn't make the cut.

Blimey, must look harder.

Try your local Hoo Hing supermarket.

Give them a call anyway, it's likely they don't list everything they stock.

Thanks, really enjoyed that but its streaky bacon for me and I'm now going to call my new dog Mr Kim (no resemblance)

A reluctant presenter that clearly has a fan base from his writing, I just found myself nodding off or switching over.

As well as changing texture freezing parmesian or pecorino just makes it insipid, it loses much of its pungency and flavour. I've wasted a pound or two doing that. In response to the pre blanching basil, try using a m&p when making a small quantity even if you don't have access to the finest young Genovese basil, if the leaves are tough strip them of their stalks. Now I'm playing devils advocate a little so don't get offended because I'm never going to blanch my basil (it's different) however it's clear the oxidation process is augmented and accelerated by the mere act of using a food processor. To counter that it's been recommended that one blanch and ice to preserve (cooked) then food process(cooked again) then cook the poor herb again when you finally add it to pasta. So a usually delicate fragrant herb is effectively cooked three times?

I'd give Garcia & Sons a call or visit. http://www.garciacafe.co.uk/view_products.php?headline=Morcilla De Burgos

Exactly right, the cheese is for seasoning and good pesto is all about freshness (and please no butter) If you have to use a processor use it minimally as it generates alot of heat and pre cooks the basil, pestle and mortar is really best as it's relatively gentle and you get better extraction of flavour from leaves by abrasion rather than chopping, you can use a little course salt to help you along. Authentic Genovese pesto is just that...fresh basil, garlic, good evoo, pine nuts (untoasted) and parmesian for seasoning. I have no idea why you want to blanch basil, seems counter intuitive.

When flour, egg and crumbing just repeat the process.

In a tomato based sauce I generally prefer dry white wine (with a bit of oak) rather than red, a splash of fish sauce doesn't go a miss either.

I'm a bit skeptical to say the least, are there any credible methods for improving the flavor/texture of steak if it's going to be refrigerated for a few days or more?

Good cooking is partly down to knowledge and experience acquired through repetition, showbiz aside what you might be interested in is the actual scientific knowledge and techniques required to understand precisely how the food behaves and why, then you can choose to implement what is appropriate to your own recipes and style of cookery. One of the pioneers of the term "Molecular Gastronomy" Herve This is a pure unadulterated hardcore chemist, to him it's just a form of materials science.

I'm the offspring of Southern Italian peasants and this recipe in its basic form is a peasant dish, there are a few nuances to the cooking method that are a little counter intuitive but can really make all the difference to the appeal and eating of the final dish. Serves 4 (increase quantities to taste) 1 x large head of broccoli 4 x garlic cloves 4 x anchovy fillets 2 x teaspoons of dried chilly flakes 4tbs of olive oil Grated hard cheese x Pecorino or Parmegiano. 400g x pasta (main dish)...penne, linguine, orichietti (classic) whatever you fancy. Clean and cut the broccoli into similar sized florets, cook in hot boiling salted water for five minutes or so until just tender, do not drain the broccoli water. While the broccoli is cooking... very gently heat the oil in a large saute pan and add the anchovy fillets, mash them with a fork until they have dissolved and then add chopped or crushed garlic and chilli to warm through taking great care not to burn them. Take the pan off the heat if you need to. With the broccoli just cooked remove straight from cooking water in to sautee pan, bring water back up to the boil check for seasoning and add pasta to the very same cooking water. (If you'd prefer to keep a few whole broccoli florets back at this stage to add to the final dish do so) The trick is to now form a sauce with the remaining broccoli/oil emulsion by over cooking the broccoli and adding cooking water if needed. You can even assist this process by mashing the florets with a fork or even a potato masher, after 5 minutes or so of further cooking you should have a pesto like textured broccoli sauce with a few remnants of broccoli stem, your sauce is nearly ready. Add a reasonable grating of parmeggiano or pecorino and check for seasoning. Under cook the dried pasta by a few minutes and directly transfer to the broccoli sauce, again keep some of the cooking water back. Continue cooking the pasta in the broccoli sauce adding the cooking water until ready , add the florets that were kept back to heat up and you should have a silky wet sauce with the pasta nicely coated. You can add a little more cheese or chilli at the table. That's it simple, pungent and tasty. Enjoy and buon appetito.

I've done the usual by removing, chopping and adding parsley, crumb and shallot and then refilling and baking in the oven or spreading on toast. Any other recommended recipes? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the tip about TELSC. http://eastlondonsteak.co.uk/index.php/the-cuts.html/ Porterhouse yesterday from Highland, not the best marbling I've ever seen but still very tasty. I'll definitely order again when they are butchering a different breed. Bone in Rib later in the week unless the cholesterol police get me.

Pasta e broccoli except when my friend makes it an insists on adding butter, I'm a Southerner and it's a Southern dish.

I'm afraid not, a point that hasn't been made about constantly stirring risotto besides breaking down the starch is that it also concentrates the stock by allowing it to evaporate more quickly, that just doesn't happen if you make a rice soup. If you do find preparing risotto a chore prepare it in two stages. Partially cook it (10 - 15 mins) and allow to cool by spreading thinly on a flat tray. When ready get everything up to temp and finish the cooking at your leisure, Arborio rice is probably the most robust for this sort of treatment.

Bring back Loyd and amateur's just cooking for the sake of it without having to pretend to want to "change their lives forever" Gag...

I was wondering as general rule as with bread flour whether the better quality product has the highest protein content? I did a quick shelf survey and the dreadful quick cook stuff has a sub 10% (sometimes 6%) protein content whereas the seemingly highest quality and pricier dried pasta is 13% plus and has much longer cooking times. That's not to say they weren't some lowish protein content pasta's masquerading as high end products and priced accordingly. Is it a credible theory?

It's true you can't beat cooking pulses from scratch for economy nonetheless canned pulses still represent really good quality and value. I've found a really good tinned pui lentil and I have no shame in using precooked cannelini beans and other pulses, a little stock, more vegetable, pasta or rice and you have the basis of some cheap but very nutritious meals. As a general rule I opt for good tinned whole plum tomato's (off season) rather than ready chopped but I feel you get what you pay for so avoid really low end tinned chopped tomato's, personally I haven't found they noticeably deteriorate over time, the tinning process and preservatives should really see to that.

The tenderizing meat mallet has been a kitchen staple for as long as I can remember but as with some cuts of beef (rump) I like the taste but not necessarily the texture/tenderness without having to turn it into a pancake if I choose to cook to cook it quickly. Do any members have any experience of the following and do they actually work? http://www.amazon.com/Deni-MT45-Meat-Tenderizer-Blade/dp/B002R0FRHC

I'm jealous, not a home grown near to ripening in sight. Oven drying is my preferred method of preserving if I have a glut and they get anywhere near a preserving jar.