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Marie-Ora

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Everything posted by Marie-Ora

  1. My absolute favorite chicken salad is Coronation Chicken - the traditional Rosemary Hume version, preferable served with Pimms. Works great with turkey too http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/apr/28/cook-perfect-coronation-chicken-royal-wedding
  2. Cultured butter works very well in scones too - I always use more butter than the recipe indicates. Then (obviously!) slather the cooked scones in the same butter and jam. One of my best memories growing up is oatmeal porridge doused in 'proper' butter and sugar. And wonderful freshly melted over vegetables and fish. If you like smoked salmon, eating it very simply with brown bread and this butter is its own heaven. Oh, and mashed with blue cheese and spread on bread. Wish I had more proper 'recipe' ideas - if I think of any will add them.
  3. EVERYBODY knows they are really inbred mutant, headless creatures with no feet that double in size every other day. Or something like that....... Whatever they are, I'm too scared to eat them. Won't eat MacDonalds either after I heard the 'pure beef' included 'pure beef hide and hair', 'pure beef hooves', and other parts of 'the beef' that the cow was the least proud of
  4. My brother used to work as a chef. Once, while he was still in training, he was apprenticed (and therefore obliged to shut up) at a very upmarket restaurant that specialized in fish. More often than not, the fish they actually served was not the species they had on the menu (and charged plenty for). Most guests couldn't tell the difference, but they occasionally got someone who knew better. Another thing they did was to fill up empty bottles of really expensive wine with cheaper plonk (and I'm talking box wine and a funnel). They would usually pull this after the table was onto their second or third bottle - in the 6 months he worked there, not one person picked this up. To this day he insists on watching every bottle of wine being opened in front of him.
  5. Gorgonzola with caramelized onions - in a sandwich, on a salad, I've even melted the Gorgonzola and served it as a pasta sauce with the onions scattered on top. It's a fabulous combination.
  6. It's a rare occasion that I put up and shut up with shoddy produce. I don't hesitate to phone and complain, but I'm always reasonable and polite about it. A lot of store-managers will thank you for letting them know there is a problem. Never had a problem getting a refund. Once I bought a de-boned rolled piece of beef which I was planning to stuff and roast over the Christmas holidays. When I got to it, and unrolled it, it was nothing but fat. I was hopping mad - I kept the 'evidence', and when the store opened again, I returned it. That was probably the one time I was really tetchy. The first assistant claimed there was nothing he could do, because I had disposed of the wrapping. I confess I threw a Calabrian temper tantrum, which worked, because the manager came running. They mollified me with a prime rib roast, and some fine steaks.
  7. Any stock, glace de viande... I don't have the patience or tolerance for the smell. Although I do occasionally cadge some off chefs who make it fresh for their restaurants. And in a pinch, I have used a stock cube . Don't judge me.....
  8. Andie - that's the best idea I've seen here! What a stunning way of serving an old favorite. And you just know it won't taste the same as a regular sandwich with the same ingredients. Godchild's birthday is coming up - may give this a try!
  9. I remember my dad telling me that his mother always applied copious amounts of butter to PB sandwiches. Why? Because peanut butter is sticky and the butter helps it slide down . Otherwise, it might get stuck in your throat and you would choke to death :biggrin: Sounds like the lectures I used to get from my Grandmother. Dangerous stuff that peanut butter without the fixings!!
  10. I agree - I learned from my Grandmother, who learned from her mother, and I know exactly what to listen for. But I think you 'get it' or you don't. My brother, who is a chef (not wild keen on baking) is convinced there is some voodoo in there with the bread tapping, because he never got it right like that
  11. Peanut butter and pickles is a combination that makes me break out in a cold sweat just thinking about - along with the knife licking I may need a cup of tea and lie down to recover (it's me, not you - I'm excessively finicky). Peanut butter needs lots of butter (if you don't see toothmarks in the butter, you have too little), and creamed honey or strawberry jam. And keep my nutella and my peanut butter far apart...
  12. Then you'll want to know that the origin of 'bruschetta' is, in fact 'bruscare'/'bruscato' which is a dialectical form of 'abbrustolire'/'abbrustolito', meaning 'to brown (without burning)', and that 'to burn' is 'bruciare' (no 's'). Thank-you SO much!! This has been driving me nuts. The dialects get me every time. And bruciare with the 's' is an error in my smaller Collins dictionary - just tore through the Oxford-Paravia where it's fine (not that I haven't found errors in this one). Do you by any chance know what dialect it is?
  13. Unsweetened chocolate is unheard of in South Africa. Grape jam is a rare, rare beast - there is a delicacy called 'Moskonfyt' made with a particular type of grape, but plain grape jam? Nope. The most usual is apricot jam. Another thing we don't have is canned pumpkin. If you want pumpkin pie, you have to make it from scratch.
  14. This goes back to the original article. I've had a chat with some Italian friends, and they agree with me 'nocca' meaning 'knuckle' is not the origin word, or even related to 'gnocchi' - you can tell by gender: 'nocca' is a feminine noun - the plural is 'nocche'. 'Gnocchi' is a masculine plural - the singular is 'gnocco'. In some parts of Italy, gnocchi are called 'trofie' (TROHF/yeh). And back to bruscare/ bruschetta - I can find no evidence of 'bruscare' anywhere. There is a verb 'brusciare' which means 'to burn' which is a more likely candidate, but by no means certain. If anyone has an other information, please let me know. I am a little (!) obsessive, but it drives me nuts when I see errors perpetuated by 'cut and paste' - which you see a lot of if you do research on the net.
  15. For a truly old school, haute cuisine experience with the most stunning views, I recommend La Tour d'Argent - the oldest restaurant in Paris. You aren't going to find anything wildly cutting edge, but it's an unforgettable experience. My trips to Paris are always planned around Ladurée, but I have a ridiculously sweet tooth
  16. Dan - you are correct - porridge oats are rolled oats. My understanding is that fine oats are the same thing, just milled to make smaller flakes. In the absence of fine oats on the shelf, I'm sure you could just put them in a blender/food processor, and get the same result.
  17. I think you'll find the balloon whisk makes a huge difference, Phillip - I see LT also uses one. LT - I see your recipe can slice into three layers - the most I've ever been able to get from a génoise is two, so I must try it sometime. Also interesting that you use the butter hot. I think we learn more from each other than from a dozen recipe books. I can't stop thinking about pastrygirl's ingenious substitution of olive oil for the butter. *I see a lot of génoise in my immediate future*
  18. Phillip, génoise is tricky to make. Take a look at this link from Real Baking with Rose for more trouble-shooting. I'm pretty sure those hard lumps are from the flour not incorporating properly into the mix. Have you tried pastrygirl or TinCook's recipes and techniques?. When you say 'dinky little whisk' what are we talking? I don't know what the others think, but I would say the biggest balloon whisk is the way to go. I don't think a sugar syrup would help - if you beat the sugar and eggs together long enough, the sugar should dissolve. Also I prefer vanilla by itself. And remember the grocery store is probably making their sponge from a packaged génoise/sponge mix with loads of chemicals and stabilizers. A traditional Victoria Sandwich sponge is a lot easier - let me know if you want a recipe. But keep going with the génoise - don't let it beat you. I made them perfectly for years, then suddenly they went horribly wrong. You have to get back in the saddle. Keep us updated!
  19. Marie-Ora

    Dinner! 2012

    @Kim - that blue cheese with honey and fruit - my kind of supper @mm84231 that bass dressed in green is exquisite!!! @ScottyBoy - I don't think anyone is tired of any of your photos, or dinners, or likely to be - ever - just spectacular! @ everyone else - I'm humbled. There are some amazing food ideas and photos here. A real education. My dinner last night was from a River Café cookbook I've had quite a while, and it's one I repeat often - pasta with a sauce of lemon juice, grated pamesan, and an award winning olive oil which I just bought, and wanted to get the full impact of. You can't really get it wrong with good ingredients
  20. A pleasure - it really was so interesting reading everyone's comments! Lots of things I'd never heard of...
  21. Marie-Ora

    Dinner! 2012

    "Stomaco! Cosa vuoi da mangiare?" Hmm, i'm not getting it No I think it's almost there, My Italian is not great. I'd add in 'che' - che cosa vuoi mangiare...with the right accent, 'Stomach' will understand you
  22. This is such a fascinating thread. The only things I forage these days are what we call Chinese guavas (they look like little pomegranates which you eat skin and all) and have a delicious sweet/sour flavour. As a child, we foraged for far more interesting things. I grew up in a remote area of Namibia, and bush started where the garden ended. We would go an find 'bush plums' which were so sour my face still grimaces thinking about it. On my grandmother's family farm we foraged for Baobab pods. You crack them open, and out come the seeds along with their powdery white coating - it tastes a little like yogurt powder. You can eat them as is, or mix them with milk, which curdles into a kind of yogurt. And the only berries we ever really foraged in this part of the world are called Msobo berries - they make a wonderful deep purple jam. I believe they are a variant of Nightshade, which for some reason is not poisonous when grown in the Southern Hemisphere. I haven't seen anything like these berries anywhere else in the world. I'm suddenly so nostalgic...
  23. Marie-Ora

    Dinner! 2012

    I have to say, that chicken soup is a triumph - the meat looks so moist and tender! Kudos ScottyBoy. When it comes to mealtimes, I follow my great uncle Carmelo who was famous (at least in our family) for checking in with his stomach every day and asking it 'Stomach! What you wanna eat??'. (You have to read it with an Italian accent or it doesn't sound right). Last night I asked the same question, and it came back 'Lindt 70% and glacé ginger'. So that was dinner. The day before it was Bobotie, which is a traditional Cape Malay dish (Cape Malay food mixes sweet, sour and curry flavors) with chutney, and the day before that I defrosted some ragù which I make large quantities of in a marathon chopping and cooking session, to the precise instructions of ancestors who may be watching, and would certainly have a conniption if I did it wrong, and then freeze (this may provoke said ancestors a little). Had it with pasta, along with a glass of decent chianti.
  24. Demons are released from hell every time someone takes a bite out of a Pop Tart. For this reason, and many others, Pop Tarts should be banned.
  25. I must say I've never heard of 'bruscare' for 'to roast' in Italian, and that word isn't in my Italian dictionaries. I raise this because when I was researching this some time ago, I could find no direct translation for 'to roast' in Italian. You either say fare, or cucinare arrosto (make or cook a roast). If anyone knows more I'd be very interested. Nocca is also interesting - I hadn't associated gnocchi with nocca. What I can say for sure is that a gnoccho (which is the singular of gnocchi) is a block-head or dimwit. My Italian family and friends have this association. Etymology of food words is a particular interest of mine, so I'm always looking to find out more. I would add tournedos and meunière to this list, but there are tons more.
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