JohnT

@DianaB I am showing a bit of ignorance here by asking: is a satay not pretty much the same as small kebab? In South Africa we make what is known as a "sosatie" which can be made with seafood, chicken, lamb or beef. Basically marinated meat on a small skewer and normally cooked over coals but often done in an oven. A satay, to me, would be the same sort of dish but normally served with so sort of peanut sauce - but peanut sauces are not that popular in the country. The "sosatie" I occasionally make is either chicken or lamb with a mild sweet curry sauce with the meat separated with dried apricot. Do a Google search for "sosatie recipe" and see what pops up!

Thanks Anna, I am going down to the marina on Monday or Tuesday and will take a tape measure with to see the exact width of the oven. I looked on the Internet at the producers web site, but they do not list the internal measurements of their ovens, only volume, which does not help me. I may have to get hold of my metalwork fella who makes all my baking tins and pans and get him to manufacture one for me.

Thanks Norm - the 16" is just a bit too wide for a boat oven - I will continue looking!

@Norm Matthews a couple quick questions – is your "new-ish gas oven" a fan assisted one or just a standard non-fan gas unit? Also, what are the dimensions of your 2-up baguette tray (length x width). I am trying to find a 2-up baguette tray for a smallish boat oven and cannot find one in South Africa so trying to source one. Those breads really look good!

Thanks @Anna N that is the exact same recipe I have except mine has a teaspoon rose water added. And in place of currants, mine has the option of finely chopped glasé fruit. I wonder why my ones crumbled too easily. I will experiment again over the weekend and see where I messed up.

@Anna N are your biscuits the ones with egg or without? If you can, please point me to your recipe as the one I have has no egg in it and they tend to crumble very easily. I have never tried to experiment with trying to add eggs - I think that points to a bit of lazyness on my side

Green Madagascar Pepper sauce - quick and easy - after pan dry frying steak remove steak - add a cup cream to pan with a couple teaspoons cracked green pepper corns (the ones that come in brine) - bring to simmer for a minute or so then pour over steak once it has just started to thicken.

For what it's worth: And an interesting read: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/03/08/nutella-unmasked.aspx

@Katie Meadow out of interest, where is your Nutella manufactured? The bottle in my cupboard says Poland. I am soaking the label off the bottle so I can scan it tomorrow and will post it here.

They had a special after Chrismas on the large jars in out local supermarket. I splashed out (even with the discounted price) and bought a jar. It is not what I remember - way too greasy and even more like glue than what I remember a number of years back and not as nutty flavoured as I remember. I see no reason to waste my money further on their product - it has changed! There are a few "Nutella" copies available here which I have tasted and think them way more like the older Nutella than the present presentation of the "new and improved" genuine one. I always laugh at the "New & Improved" logo used on certain products - they are either new or the old recipe has been improved! It cannot be both.

Anna, those really look good! It appears a bit of the British heritage is showing through - shortly we will be seeing you produce some steak and kidney pies or even my favourite chicken mushroom pies! For those that are unaware, in most ex British colonial countries, what Anna calls a "pattie" is normally called a "pie" or "pasty" - well, to my knowledge anyway! They are very common in southern Africa with shops just dedicated to the different types.

You are in Cape Town. Sorry we could not bring you better weather today! I live 15 km NE from where the photograph was taken.

I would place the "topping" on the raw dough, then bake. I have never tried to make brioche tarts as you describe so really cannot give a definite answer. However, I would presume it was done in a similar way to a Danish. Maybe @jmacnaughtan would have an answer for you.

Swine! Old African saying: "Do not put off for tomorrow what can be revealed today"

Something to do with cheesemaking?

Thanks all for your pointers and @chromedome for going back to your reference books. Fortunately, we are in a Mediterranean climate and beetroot is available on the markets basically all year round - the markets are full of it at the moment. I do not have a juicer but will come up with a way of shredding and pressing to get a cup of the juice and see how the cake turns out. I do not enjoy baking cakes, but will give this a test in the next few days to see if it turns out as the recipe claims. If I remember, I will click off a few photographs of the results and post them here. John.

A young journalist was interviewing a grizzled old war vet. After a few basic questions, the journo gingerly asked, “Did you ever kill anyone?”. The old man smiled and in a soft voice replied, “Probably, . . . . I was the cook.”

I have heard over the years of bakers using beetroot in chocolate cakes to "enrich" them. I have never done this and I am not too fond of beetroot in its various forms (a childhood "thing"). However, I have been requested to bake a chocolate cake using "beetroot juice" in the recipe - the person requesting the cake even supplied me with the recipe! Right, this is a first time for me doing this and I need to make a sample cake to make sure it results in an edible cake. The recipe calls for 250ml (a metric cup) beetroot juice. So my question is, how would I produce a cup of this beetroot juice? Just wiz a few raw beets in a blender and strain out the juice? Do I boil the beets first or use them raw? Ignorance is sometimes bliss - but sometimes not. Help with this dilemma would be appreciated for this beet ignorant sod in "Darkest Africa". John.

I asked about a bitter flavour as you normally get that with an aubergine that is not fresh. They really need to be cooked as soon after harvesting as possible. However, yours, you say, was not. As has been said by @Captain, it really looks like the burnt wood imparted that flavour into yours. I cannot pass comment on your fire wood as you folk use totally different woods than what I would use where I am. However, I do know that certain woods used here in indoor fireplaces for heating, cannot be used for any type of cooking. And never use any type of treated wood for cooking - it will impart a terrible taste to your cooked food and most likely make you very ill.

Was the aubergine overly bitter after roasting?

@Miss Mick Would you eat a seed bar with no syrup or added sugar other than some mashed banana? The banana is mixed with egg white to act as a binder and then baked, bars cut and cooled.

Okay @pjm333, I am not really a cookie fella, nor a lover of peanut butter, but those really look good! Any recipe or a link to one? And it they are really "five star" I am sure @Anna N would like the recipe as well for her "Meeting Friendly Snacks" (sorry Anna for using your name without permission).

I am not sure how to post a link to the HungryChris mushroom recipe/method, but it was posted on this thread on February 20 this year. John.

Yep, a non-apology . . . . . otherwise known as good BS PR - all is not what the normal citizen in the street thinks! But, those "Beaver Tails" AKA Canadian Semiaquatic Rodent Posterior Donuts, are pretty much equivalent to our "Vetkoek" in South Africa, except they are made flat whereas our ones are similar to a burger bun. Ours are served with cinnamon and sugar or cut open and served with a curry mince filling. Good street food!

Just a quick question. If you do not bake pizza every day (as in professionally), why would you want to buy a pizza cutting wheel-cutter? For a one or two pizza a week baker, surly a standard sharp kitchen knife will suffice! And you save a few $$$. Or is my reasoning all screwed-up!