jackal10

They would need food that can be kept without refrigeration. Beans and Bacon (and even onions) make perfect sense. Coffee and sugar also. Eggs I'm more doubtful about.

Jellies? Jams/ Pate de fruits Here is a creme brulle tart with rhubarb jelly garnished with raspberries. Onl cell phone pix I'm afraid. You could do the same with a pannacotta

creme brulee tart?

Not as bad as noisy children, or children who run round the restaurant. Fortunately there are special restaurants (McD) for such customers. Then there are the couples who don't just discuss sex, they indulge in it under the table. Or the ones (sometimes the same) discussing their imminent divorce as an angry shouting match

OOh Crumpets! With Marmite, or Gentleman's Relish. Excellent, hot with butter, but only from October to May. If you have hot crumpets, then no sandwiches. Hot toasted spiced buns, maybe. Mince pies at Christmas. NOT chicken apple walnut salad - entirely alien. You'll be serving hot dogs or even bridge rolls next. If clotted cream is difficult, just use whipped cream or chantilly. Not cream cheese - you don't want the sour note.

Dr Julia King, head of the Institute of Physics, said the secret was to keep the water temperature at 98ºC. Putting the milk in first was a cultural quirk that "has nothing to do with taste", she said. "It is a habit we have retained from the times when only the rich could afford porcelain which, because it isn't as porous as china, could withstand the hot tea being poured in directly. "Those of us with cheap china had to put the milk in first to cool the tea slightly to prevent our cups cracking."

POP! Its Shrove Tuesday again... Traditional thin crepes for me, with lemon and brown sugar. Maybe chocolate Maybe homemade jam..or Grand Marnier or all in turn Might just do potato pancakes as well...

I've had good results uning intesive mixing for wholewheat and spelt breads, to give a very extensible dough. Its a variation on intensively mixed "no time" doughs Spin the dough in a food processor or mixer on high until it picks up and then releases, and starts sticking. For me its about 2 minutes in a robo with the steel blade. Watch the temperature, and you may want to use ice water in the mix. You get a very sticky extensible dough, almost like cream or warm toffee. A turn with some flour or oil makes it behave.

Rosebank 1980 60/1% 92% is undrinkable withut dilution.

You don't want to believe everything you read in books, or here for that matter. It also a question of style. In the old days, a fine even crumb structure, a little like Pullman bread was considered desirable, so the dough was punched down to redistribute the gas cells. Now we prefer an uneven crumb structure, so a single rise works better. There is also a long tradition of a having only a single rise for wholemeal breads. Its fine to prolong if you are using sourdough, However commercial yeast is designed for a fast fermentation. Because of the sponge step you are adding lots of active hungry yeast. If you want to prolong (although I can't think why, except for oven scheduling) keep it cool - like 4C/10F to inhibit the yeast activity. Another technique is to mix the flour and the water components of the dough (but not the yeast or pre-ferment and leave for some hours. Some claim this gives more grain flavour, but I can't tell the difference. Autolyse was to allow time for the enzymes in the yeast and the acid the sourdough starter (some say the flour but that cannot be) to degrade the starch into simple sugars for the yeast to feed on. That process is somewhat inhibited by salt. However you add a lot of saltless well developed dough as a starter, so there is no point in having a autolyse step. Ultimately try it and see. Its what works for you wih your flour, yeast, water and oven, and experimentation with a small batch is fun and not expensive.

wow! Well done Lori! In defence, I think my version had risen, but was hidden bu the bowl shape...for spectacle the bowls need to be filled to he brim with souffle mixture before baking

Must have Honey (and not in little packs, either) In the words of Robert Browning's "The Old Vicarage at Grantchester" (1912) "Say, is there Beauty yet to find ? And Certainty ? and Quiet kind ? Deep meadows yet, for to forget The lies, and truths, and pain ? . . . oh ! yet Stands the Church clock at ten to three ? And is there honey still for tea ?" It should be added that the church clock was broken and stuck at ten to three, and that Jeffery Archer now lives in the house. Scones, (which must be round, about an inch across). I agree witht he plain school, possibly a few currants. Reserve the pumpkin, or leek and bacon ones for canape bases. Small, triangular sandwiches, with the crusts cut off. Cucumber certainly, possibly smoked salmon (lox) or tinned salmon mashed with some vinegar. Shippams spreads. Egg and cress. Cakes: Iced fancies or butterfly cakes. Fruit cake. Mini-eclairs. High tea is quite different, and is a working man's supper. Breakfast dishes are appropriate: kederee, devilled kidneys, and the like.

I found the opposite effect. My sense of taste and smell were keener when I smoked. Anno domini I suppose. Hallgarten, founder of the famous wine traders, claimed he could taste wine better after a good cigar.

I think it is still overproved. Most of the rise in in the oven spring, not the fermentation. I doubt if its just a skin problem - you wouldn't want the skin separating with a big bubble under it. One of the issues with coarsely milled wholewheat is that the bran punctures the gas cells. I get good results with a) decrease the water a little to 75% hydration (300g instead of 340g) b) No need to autolyse. The long preferment period will have more than enough enzyme activity c) Omit the bulk fermentation step; that is mix the dough and then immediately divide and shape, prove for 1 1/4 hours, slash and bake

As I understand it, although I'm sure others will correct me, Slivovitz is made by ferementing the fruit, distilling, and if you are lucky aging the spirit in small wooden barrels. Always tastes to me like someone has been sick in it, or is that me the next day after drinking to much. I suppose it can have nostalgic connotations. Plum brandy and fruit eau-de-vie and the like are made by steeping the fruit in brandy or clear alcohol, filtering or re-distilling. They are not normally aged, and so taste much fresher and more of the fruit.

I'd hope she was in bed with aforementioned husband for Part II of making it a memorable evening...maybe including the rest of the champagne and some of the chocolates...before a well earned sleep and hopefully husband bringing breakfast in bed...

Can you detail your formula and method a bit more? Assuming your yeast is OK, looks to me like the loaf is severely overproved. How long was the bulk fermentation? At what temperature? For wholemeal, with commercial yeast, you only need something like an hour of total fermentation at 30C, from mixer to baking.

Handmade Loaf is later, and I think better. Very accessible, written to be easy to follow. Lots of good pix, and breads that work. Baking with Passsion is more about the breads and other goods at Baker and Spice, rather than Dan's current work. I'd strongly reccomend "Handmade Loaf".

Bare naked. You can salt, oil, pepper, chili, sun tan lotion or what you will the outside, but I don't think it makes any difference, and certainly doesn't penetrate the meat. If you like to season, do it after the meat is cooked. Personally I sprinkle a little salt on each slice when I plate my plate, but I have a salty taste. May need more thn 5 hours, or a slightly higher temperatur. Be guided by a themometer in the meat - aim for 130F/55C for very rare, or 5F higher for normally rare.

Be happy to do what I can to help Shola in the UK, as am I sure that other UK eG folk would be as well. Maybe we could even persuade Shola to do a dinner or two while he is here...

Amazing How many in the kitchen in the studio? Is it just Shola? Does he do the prep and washing up as well?

Two eggs per ramekin, and you may have a bit over, depending on the size of the eggs I use 4oz ramekins (3 inch diameter), one large egg per ramekin

We are all with you Lori... Carrot souffle is great. Maybe with some cheese in it The problem with a souffle is that it starts to deflate as soon as you take it out of the oven, unless you put lots more egg yolks in it. It really is best eaten straight away, as a light meal. You could have a double-cooked souffle as a side dish - make extra souffle, let them go cold and deflate, then turn them out and reheat them in a sauce - reheated in jus or meat demi-glace to go with a meat dish would be yummy.

You need not bother with a collar! Souffles are real easy...and no more work than making those scrambled eggs seperate the yolks and the whites. Flavour the yolks - booze, chocolate, cheese, veg or fruit puree or what you will. Beat the whites as hard as you can. Use ramekins or a straight sided bowl that the egg mixture will fill Preheat the oven (preferably with a pixxa stone or heavy baking sheet) Butter the dish Mix the beaten whites and the yolk mixture, pour into the bowl. Out into oven. Wait 20 mins. Serve at once Nobody has yet made a tortilla de patata...

Most bacon is cold smoked. You'll end up with cooked bacon.