jackal10

About 45 mins. 2 tsp sugar and a glug of balsamic in a hot oven to roast. Can do them on a stovetop..

Made Red Onion Tarte Tatin for lunch. Red onions, butter, seasoning, balsamic; rough puff pastry (I was in a hurry); parmesan and thyme sprigs

The positively worst hangover I've had (this was student days) was a mixture of scrumpy (rough hard cider) and sweet sherry.. Most revolting drink is lager and tomato juice. Looks like vomit and tastes much the same Guiness and blackcurrant cordial is curious. Doesn't do anything for the Guiness, but tints the foam pink

I've built one - non-edible - as a theatrical prop (don't ask). Base was inch marine ply, with castors underneath. On top was a cylinder made from a sheet of hardboard (fibreboard) and some wood. On top of that was a pair of hinged D shaped flaps for the top. The actress got in from the top, and crouched down. The whole, including the top, was finished in theatrical plaster resembling icing, but on a large scale. This was meant to be seen on stage from a distance, not close-up. For the edible bit I'd cheat and build drawers or cupboards in and around the lower half, into which you can put cake portions. Cake for 2000 is going to be heavy - 500lbs maybe, so you need to figure that into the construction of the base and the castors. The whole thing will weigh about 1000lbs, so not very manoeverable. Might be better to just have a token amount of cake in a hidden drawer, or maybe the girl can take out and present a beautiful real cake, and feed the other 1990 people with cake portions from the kitchen. That way the whole thing weighs only say 250lbs and can be pushed around by a couple of waiters.

The only proper toast is that made on the hot plate of an Aga, using the curious tennis-bat-like toasting device http://www.cookcraft.com/epages/Cookcraft....duct/View/A1843 They even do one that leaves star patterns on the toast. The toast is contact grilled between the hot plate and its cover. Doesn't matter how thick it is. Because of the very high temperature the toast comes out crispy on the outside, while soft within. For toasted sandwiches use the simmering plate, so the inside heats (and the cheese or whatever melts) before the outside chars.

I think the product in the recipe you saw was the cherries, rather than the flavoured brandy. In that case you would want to try and preserve the fruit, rather than maximise the extraction. In my case I want the maximum flavour in the liquid, and don't mind if the fruit gets bruised a bit. Lots of work, for example by the people making Glace fruit, show that for best results you need to agitate, otherwise the liquid next to the fruit gets dilute from the osmosis. Whether you need to keep it in the fridge depends on the dilution. Bugs won't grow if the alcohol/sugar level is high enough, If you are making brandied cherries for consumption its normal have quite dilute brandy; to cut the brandy by at least an equal amount of water (plus the water in the fruit etc), otherwise they blow your head off. In that case you probably need to sterilize and either can or keep refrigerated. In my case I was using export strength gin (40%), and as the recipe says "keeps for a year in the bottle if allowed to do so"

but certainly a crime when they diluted it from 40% to 37.5%

I remember (this must have been 30 years ago) when Albert, the famed barman at the ADC Theatre was asked by a loud American for "The best whisky in the house". With due reverence he lovingly poured a double of an ancient malt. The American then asked for ginger ale as a mixer. Albert, restraining himself, said "Oh Sir, I don't think I've given you the best whisky for that", took back the malt and gave him instead a shot of cooking whisky (Vat 69 it was then, but it might have benn Johnny Walker Red Label or supermarket generic), and charged him for both. He later enjoyed the malt himself...

Stewed Pie Fool Jam Jelly Sauce Bottled or canned Wine

I guess the nearest English/US equivalent to "poelee" woud be pot roast. Butter-poached might be a more modern translation. Escoffier remarks "Poelings are, practically speaking, roasts, for the cooking periods are the same , except that the former are cooked entirel or almost entirely with butter.... It is of paramount importance that these are not moistened during the process of cooking, for in that case they would be the same as braised meats" Kettner claims the derivation is from patella the latin for saucepan, via Padell (the Forme of Cury, the oldest English cookery book, about 1387 mentions "Hare in Papdele" and thence paele. The Oxford English Dictionary claims it means "a broth" which is clearly plain wrong. Differs from poaching in that the cooking medium is butter, not water or stock based. Differs from shallow or pan frying in that the temperature is lower and the food not intentionally browned Differs from braising as above.

I don't find it too much of a challenge to have dough and wood burning oven at the right stage. The oven, once you have removed the fire and let it stabilise, stays at working temperature for at least couple of hours, or at least mine does. The easy way with dough is retardation. I tend to bake from cold anyway, as I find it gives me a better spring, and with retarded dough time is not critical. Thus make the dough the day before, and retard in the fridge overnight. Next day light the oven, and four hours later take the dough out and bake. If I'm doing it all on the same day, then for my sourdough - the oven takes 4 hours to heat and stabilise - I use 4 hours for the bulk fermentation, and about 3 hours or the second, plus about an hour of amylisation and make-up time. Thus I start the dough eight hours before I want to bake, and light the oven 4 hours before, or just about the time I shape the loaves Let me add my congratulations on the translation, and on the videos.

Damson Gin in the making (from egCI Autumn Preserves) Damsons, Gin, Sugar Freeze the fruit first for better extraction. Shake every day for a few weeks.

I think you mean filo pastry (like for strudel) rather than puff pastry (like for mille-feuille)

What do you people do with all this jam? Large families, or a small tea-house? Sell it? This year, like most years, we are inundated with a glut of fruit - gooseberries now, red currant, strawberries, raspberries, greengages, plums coming soon to say nothing of others like elderflower/berry, rose petal, mint, damson etc etc. Ah-ha, I think, I'll make jam. Then I look in the preserves cupboard, and there is still most of last years, and even some of the year before that. I guess we eat the usual amount of jam, but you can't make less than about 10lbs. That is something like 120lbs a year, not counting marmelade, quince cheese, hot pepper jelly etc etc... We can't eat 120lbs of jam. We maybe eat 12lbs a year, a jar month, if that. We can't even give it away, since most of our friends and family have the same problem. Help!

Following on from Maragret Pilgrim's thread here is one to discuss Andouillette, the fabulous french offal sauasages. Hot or Cold and sliced? Frites or Puree? Where? Where not? What does AAAA mean, and are there any Andoulette that are not? My most recent experience, in early May was not good, at the Brasserie Lipp on Blvd St Germain in the 6th. It was late,and we had just got in. The Andouilette were fragrant, deeply meaty. However they poisoned me, and I spent the next three days, although surrounded by delicious things, feeling quesy, and not able to eat...

Why is Indian savoury food always shades of brown? Is there any not based on onion, brown spices etc? Mybe this is a seperate thread...

Depends what you want them for. For Jam and Pies, anytime now.. For eating on their own, wait until they soften a little from rockhard, and go sweet. The colour depends on variety - some go deep pink, some a little yellow, some stay green.

Thay are OK in town, except that they provide the sewer rats with a nutritious diet; in the country they are death to septic tanks. However in the country one can, and should, compost. Main issue I found witth mine was a distressing tendency to eat teaspoons

Listing on the Cisco sitehttp://www.cisco.com/warp/public/745/ebc/t...t_nbay.shtml#pa Your not that far from Sunnyvale: Lion and Compass, and I'm peversely fond of Charlie Browns. Unchallenging, straightforward but good fresh food and beer.

Nope. The same mix in baking tin works resonably well - crisp pufed edges, flattish middle. In muffin tins ( I now tend to use Flexipans - easy release): popovers. I'll try will less eggs, and hence less lifting power

No, No! Popovers are domed. You have to break into them. Gravy runs off them whole. Yorkshire puddings are convex, dish like, to hold the lake of thick gravy (and onions) etc. Yorkshire pudding mix cooked areound suasages is, of course, toad in the hole...

I have a problem. When I make Yorkshire Puddings, the rise amazingly. Too well, since they rise all over, rther than just around the edges. Not that I am complaining too much, but you don't get the centres to fill with stuff. Too many eggs? Can you wise eG's help? I use 2 eggs 4oz flour (maybe 1/2 cup AP flour) 1 pt milk Smoking hot fat etc, preferably with shards of roast onion in it.. Is this the essential differnece? Popovers, I believe, are puffed all over, while in Yorkshire puddings the centre is sunk, and only the edge puffed. I olden times, Yorkshires were served with gravy as a seperate course before the meat to lessen peoples appetities, and make the meat go further. They are also good as sweet with golden syrup, treacle or jam... Yorkshire puds freeze well.

The New World does an excellent tripe dimsum: precooked tripe, thinly sliced into strips, then steamed with black beans and chili. Tripe a la mode de Caen is very long cooked with cider (and pigs trotter) in a sealed clay pot. In the UK tripe with Onions is pre-cooked tripe, either fried with onions, or cooked in a whte sauce (bechamel) with boiled onions.

Great blog! What is your target weight? There may be some confusion between the french andouilettes, which are sausages made of intestine, that have a particualr texture an taste, and New Orelans/Cajun Andoilettes, which I believe are highly spiced conventional sausage. In the French version, the whole sausage is guts, rolled and folded, with (optionally) herbs and spices (pepper, garlic, parsley) , not just mincemeat stuffed into a casing. You can eat them hot, or sliced cold. I prefer hot, with mustard and mashed potato. They are delicious, but like tripe, may be something of an acquired taste.

Sunday Lunch rather than dinner. My collegue Nigel had a double magnum of Ducru 1967 that he feared would not last. Naturally we had to help him drink it. I provided the food, fairly plain, so as not to distract from the wine, the star of the show. Since it was a glorious summer day we cooked mostly in the outside wood oven, and ate al fresco... 14 of us sat down. Nigel decanting. Note the candle and the silver funnel. Thge other bottles were standbys in case the Ducru was undrinkable. We had: Amuse: Radishes wih shallot butter chantilly and Fleur de Sel Fresh baked Foccacio Marbled tea eggs, stuffed Shot glass of Lettuce and Lovage veloute 2003 Mas de Bressades Cuvee Tradtition Rose Costieres de Nimes Planked salmon Roast Asparagus Hollandaise 2001 Rolly Gassman Terroirs des Chateaux Fort Edelzwicker, Alsace Samphire Long time (7 hours) Low temperature cooked rare Roast Beef Roast purple potatoes, Butternut squash, Parsnips, Onions New potatoes (Arran Pilot) Carrots, purple mange-tout, broad beans, broccoli Jus 1967 Ducru Double Magnum Cheese: Stilton, Aged Farmhouse Cheddar, Munster, Morbier, Brebis, Cotherstone Onion and Rasin bread, biscuits Strawberries (variety Eros) Green Goosberry Pie Rhubarb Pie 1976er Erbacher Honiberg Riesling Spatlase Schloss Reinharthausen 1976er Erbacher Siegelsberg Riesling Spatlese Schloss Reinharthausen Coffee Financiers 1943 Ch Caillou Montbazillac The Ducru was amazing. Far from fading, as feard, it actually came out int he glass, perfectly balanced. The pair of Spatlese were interesting. Identical year and shipper, but differnt vinyards. The Siegelsberg was full, and lemony. Perfect with strawberries. The Honiberg was more complex and almost smoky, at least to my taste. Outrageous. We had drunk the equivalent of a bottle each, over about 4 hours, but while everone was lively, nobody had drunk too much. Fabulous.