jackal10

Leave out the tofu, white chocolate, and egg whites. Make sweet green tea and set it with gelatin (follow instructions on the packet). Foam it using a foamer or whisk with a stick blender or electric whisk when half set. Fold in the whipped cream and allow to set fully. I can't tell the difference between the two forms of gelatines, but sheet is easier to control and portion. Gelatine comes in different grades and strengths, so follow what is says on your packet.

Nobody has mentioned stuffing: sage and onion or sausage meat. Essential for inclusion in the perfect sandwich of the sliced roast chicken variety

Bake hotter - 250C or so, - your crust looks a bit pale. I only use bulk fermentation and one proof, rather than two. Handle very gently, - just stretch, don't knock out the air. Don't punch down. Try retarding the bread - put it in a refrigerator overnight instead of the second (or only) proof. The outside will dry slightly and give a better crust. Also the cold dough is stiffer, easier to handle and won't spread as much. Maybe not quite so wet, unless you are suporting and preventing spreading in a pan. I find it easier to handle the soft dough in baguette pans, or on a baking sheet Try and hold the lame at 45 degrees. You are cutting a sort of flap, not straight down.

Shotgun or trap. They are a major menace. Much better in the pot. "See the cute bunnies" argh. They are high grade protein, with no closed season Chicken wire is the only other solution. Make sure the mesh size is small enough, and bury it 1ft. We've had to put up a polytunnel frame lined with chicken wire just to keep them off the veg. Lettuce can only be grown in the greenhouse, and then in growbags on raised staging... I blame the foxes. They have go so lazy, and discovered its much easier to raid dustbins, which don't run away rather than chase rabbits.

Not Eden, but just outside Cambridge UK. It is, I must admit, pretty nice even if hard work. The Sundial was a present, but I think it might be from Courtyard Sundials The photo is from their website, but I don't think they will mind the advertising. I plan to get a better camera in the next couple of weeks, then look out...If I can manage to get the hang of uploads, there will be snaps of the vegetable garden, the orchard, the bread oven (with a camomile roof), the wildflowers etc etc etc...I like boasting...

I do deeply sympathise with the 1000lbs of zuchinni problem. The only way to overcome it that I've found is to pick them as zuchinni blossoms with baby fruit. However, miss one and turn your back and its a 10lb monster. I now just throw those directly onto the compost heap, rather than have them stare at me from the refrigerator before going moldy.

I hate to comment, when there are much better bakers, like Dan Lepard on egullet. French bread flour is very soft, so you may have more success with cake flour, or 50% cake flour. Baguette dough is very wet and soft, almost like a cibata, and needs support for the whole process. This is why they are traditionally proved in linen couches, and then baked in baguette pans supporting the sides for the early part of the bake. Don't overprove, and handle very gently. Most of the aeration comes from the oven spring, and you want big holes inside, so don't knock the air out. Make sure the oven is hot enough. Thin breads, like baguette, need a hotter oven than boules

Thanks to FG for uploading! This is a view from my study window over part of the herb garden to south. a) I need a better camera b) The blob on the left is an armillary sundial c) The foreground is a Perle d'Bourbon rose - good for buttonholes Behind that are mints, then salad burnet, sweet cicely, box balls, thyme, parsley and some self-sown aqualegia. Behind those are alewort, oregano, lavender, scened geraniums, bay and more ancient roses: Gloria Mundi an Lancaster. This is about half the herb garden, which is inside the U-shape of the house. It is symmetrical, but diferent herbs in the other half, then a trellis with more roses and loganberies and the jacuzzi. The trees beyond are greengages and apples. The main garden surrounds the house and is about 5 acres in all, including ponds, orchard and woods

Try http://profiles.yahoo.com/placeholderpix J

Nope, how do I do that? Meantime here is a pic click here Yes, I must get a better camera...

Good as Taramasalata is, have you tried just the smoked cod's roe on hot buttered toast, with a little black pepper? mmmm...

Taramasalata is delicious, but it isn't preserved cod's roe in mayo, though I guess you can make an approximation that way... The basic is fresh cold smoked cod's roe (Tara) creamed into a thick emulsion with onion, garlic and lots of olive oil. You can add fillers, such as soaked bread or boiled potato Eat with pitta bread.

Having converted the damn place from a small private house, I can speak. The house was originally a two-up, two down room house, built in Victorian times as a speculative development on common land, with the intent of the developer squatting on the land and eventually building terraces of houses, as on the other side of the river. The street names on the other side (Pretoria Road, Kimberly Ave etc) speak of the Boer war. The developer was stopped by the local council, and the house confiscated. For many years it was a council house, and eventually occupied and purchased by the landlord of the neighboring pub (the Fort St George). I bought it from him. Originally it had two smallish rooms on each of three floors, with a kitchen/scullery out the back. The two downstairs rooms we knocked together, and with a new double conservatory became the main dining room. The two rooms on the middle floor were also knocked into one (with a folding divider) for more dining or private dining. The lean-to kitchen was demolished and replaced with a full kitchen and walk-in cold room, cheese room/cellar, staff toilets etc. Above this is a rather nice river room, with a balcony and views of the river and common that we used as a bar, but could also be used for dining. Its disadvantage is that it is up stairs, so not suitable for differently abled folk. The top floor is a staff flat. This was over 15 years and two owners ago, so things may have changed. We also had to underpin the property, and don't ask about the drains...but that is already more than you wanted to know. Two stars would be richly deserved

New World. I prefer it to Chuen Cheng Ku. I even prefer it to eCapital That didn't last long Take it away Jon.

Close (literally), but this restaurant has trolley service

Braised jelly fish with peanut sauce Beef tripe with chili and black beans Almond jelly London, lunchtime

Depends if they are cordon (indeterminate) or bush (determinate) varieties. The former go on growing, and you pinch out the side shoots, leaving a single main stem so a stake (or wire from the greenhouse frame) is better. The latter stop and fruit, and you don't pinch them out, so they form a messier sprawl, better suited to a cage

I've tried Imagestation and Yahoo. They are rejected by egullet as the URL's are not in the right format. Any others that work?? I *really* don't want to have to put up a personal site. Imagesation nop longer allows third party access Why can't the administrators release an upload tool? Disk storage is cheap, and I don't believe it will eat that much extra bandwith, since the inline images are copied anyway...

I can't make image upload work! Here is a somewhat blurry imag: view from the study over the herb garden, The thing on the stone pillar on the left is an armillary sundial Garden

I have put my Pickled Shallots recipe in the archive. A quick dill pickle is good for carrots. (vinegar, 50/50 with water, sugar, salt, dill, garlic. Steep for 24 hours) I've yet to find a really good dill cucumber recipe. Lots of issues: a) Do you add vinegar, or just rely on natural lactic fermentation? b) how do you keep them crisp? c) Once pickled how do you store them? If I pastaurise mine go soft. If I just leave them in the fridge they get too sour. Green Tomatos also make a nice pickle. I guess chutney is a seperate thread.

Pickled Shallots 4 lb Shallots, preferably home-grown 6 oz salt 3 pt water 2 tsp Black peppercorns 10 cloves 4 bay leaves 2-1/2 pt Malt vinegar 4 oz caster sugar 16 Fresh Ginger slices (optional) dried Birds Eye Chilis Peel the shllots and trim the root end (and stalk if any) This is the biggest hassle. Doing it in a bowl or water keeps the smell down Soak the shallots in a brine made from the salt and the water for 24 hours. Meantime put the spices and sugar in the vinegar and bring just to the boil, then remove from the heat. Let cool to room temperature, and strain out the spices.You can use white or brown vinegar depending how you want them to look. Pour off the brine and rinse well. Dry on a tea towel. Pack the shallots into glass jars, Add ginger and chilis if liked, and a decorative Bay leaf. Seal with a vinegar proof lid (I use french clip-on preserving jars). Store for at least a month before eating. The will keep, if allowed to do so, for at year in a cool dark place Keywords: Side ( RG522 )

Most stews eat better next day Xmas pudding eats better next year!

IMHO the Scotch is better in the chef, preferably after service, than in the food.

I thought that was because the hot chemicals were fat-soluble. If you need to reduce the burn eat or drink something with fat. Water will just spread them further round the mouth. Things containing fat (raita, lassi, ghee) will dilute them. The bread or rice is just a carrier for the fat, such as ghee.

Scotch is made from barley malt, smoked over peat, and then matured in oak casks, usually previously containing sherry, in Scotland. Irish whiskey (with an extra "e") is similar but usually a grain whisky. Grain whisky is a bulk product, usually made in a continuous still, and may have other grains in the mash. Malt whisky is moe of an artisanal product, made from malt in a copper pot still in comparatively small batches. Single-malt comes from one distillation. Blended whisky may come from several sitilleries, including grain whisky, but can be a more consistent product. When it comes from the still it is cask-strength, typically around 60% alcohol by volume. This is almost too strong to drink, and should be diluted with good water. Most whisky is sold around 40%. However when it is diluted, it clouds, so normal whisky is then filtered. Some experts claim that flavour is lost in this process, and prefer to dilute their own in the glass. Thus there is a recent trend for cask-strenght single cask whisky. A few distilleries, Gen Morangie in particular are experimenting with finishing the whisky by periods of maturation is casks other then sherry: maderia and port for example. The port gives a faint pink tinge and a touch of sweetness.