Home Cooking Ideas, Tips and Recipes

[Ladymuck]

Fabulous - cate. The dishes look mouthwateringly divine.

I used to live close to there: it's an odd place to have a food festival; but I might just go and check it out this weekend (and catch up with some of my old neighbours at the same time). Thanks.

I didn't see the hummus (peel every pea) recipe:-S. Where is it?

[cate]

Go into her search box and put in hummus. It will come up with The Warwick Wingding first and then just scroll down to find it.

[PeckhamRose]

I hot bath with your favourite bath oil / salts / bubbles.

1 large cocktail glass with the rim soaked in lime and dipped all around in cracked sea salt.

40ml Triple Sec

60ml Best quality tequila (worm optional - it may jump in the bath then you're in trouble)

2 to 3 tablespoons of lime juice depending on taste and size of cocktail glass.

Ice shavings or - to prevent dilution of above ingredients - put glass and ingredients in fridge for an hour before mixing.

Mix the three ingredients above with or without ice.

Pour contents into cold cocktail glass with the rim dipped in lime juice and seasalt.

Add stuff if you have to - cherries or - anything you want to if there's room.

Carefully take cocktail to bath room.

Have bath drink cocktail doze for an hour or so till you realise it's only 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon.

Back to bread making today....!

[Ladymuck]

Got it, thanks!

Wow, I am in awe of that woman.

HAL, just for you :)):

Really good hummus though, is actually a labour of love.

It is essential to cook your own chickpeas. Tinned ones pong, their flesh weak and pallid. Soak the dried ones overnight in cold water with bicarbonate of soda then cook the next day; a 10-minute rapid boil and skimming plus an hours simmer should do it. If you think that?s a lot of effort then brace yourself for the next step. The creamiest texture comes from individually popping each chickpea from its papery skin; it is these tough coatings which make the hummus coarse.

[cate]

You should subscribe to her blog and then you get email updates. Did you read the Khans post?

[Ladymuck]

cate Wrote:

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> Did you read the Khans post?

Khans post? No - LOL - need to get some work done. Perhaps much later tonight (the post, not the work:))).

[cate]

Lady Muck,

Here is a delish brownie recipe just for you - and it doesn't have FRUIT!

http://lizzieeatslondon.blogspot.com/2010/07/squidgiest-brownies-you-ever-did-taste.html

[annaj]

Ok, I like hummous, a lot, but individually peeling chickpeas? Seriously?

Who has the time or inclination to individually peel chickpeas?

[Ted Max]

Is this Hal the cookery expert the same Hal the cookery expert who extolled Wanchai Ferry recipe kits and the little-known fusion bistro Wagamama?

I think we should be told...

[Ladymuck]

OKAY, OKAY...I get it now...proppa brownies do not contain fruit! ;-)

Thanks Cate. I shall definitely try that one and ensure that I buy a bar of Green and Blacks WITHOUT the cherries - LOL! Think I might have to throw a couple of statin tablets into the mix though - have you SEEN those ingredients!?

Oooooh, but I LOVE cooking (and stuffing my face). That and sharing it with dear ones has to be one of life's greatest pleasures IMMHO.

Now I really must go and do some work!

*adds large bar of G & B (minus cherries) to shopping list*

*begrudgingly logs off*

[Ted Max]

Adds some kind of emoticon to above post. Makes it clear he knows Hal did no such thing.

Goes back to peeling chick peas.

[Jeremy]

Readh the Wanchai Ferry post, Ted!

As for taste, the list of ingredients contains far too many preservatives, stabilisers and anonymous flavourings for me to actually eat this stuff - I'd be interested to hear what others think of these kits, though.

Buying convenience is one thing, being ripped-off like a mug is something else.

Although to be fair, if you buy this crap in the first place, what do you expect?

[Ted Max]

Readh the Wanchai Ferry post, Ted!

Readh my post about the Wanchai Ferry post, Jeremy! Up there ^

[Jeremy]

I don't get it, Ted. Which post? The one where you said "Is this ... the same Hal the cookery expert who extolled Wanchai Ferry recipe kits"

Hal did not extoll Wanchai Ferry recipe kits. Quite the opposite.

Is my understanding of the word "extoll" correct?

[FoodStories]

Well I DID say I was crazy to individually skin those chickpeas! It was more of an experiment really, to find out what would happen if I did try skinnning them and yeah, it worked - lovely smooth hummus but as you say, not practical.

I wondered recently if cooking the chickpeas in a pressure cooker would make the skins sort of burst off. I'll try it. Lot less hassle!

[cate]

Maybe the pressure cooking would partially remove the skins and then you could rinse them off!

[annaj]

Jeremy, the one right above yours that says.....

Makes it clear he knows Hal did no such thing

I get the idea of cooking as a pleasure, especially when cooking for friends and family, and I completely agree.

But, still, I can't quite get my head around the idea of individually peeling chickpeas.

I guess I'll leave it to the really committed foodies, like Helen, and TedMax. Apparently.

[FoodStories]

Exactly! They'd probably only take 15 minutes to cook in the PC too.

[Jeremy]

annaj Wrote:

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> Jeremy, the one right above yours that says.....

Fair cop.

[Ladymuck]

CALLING NARNIA

What sized tin for your soda bread please? And must it be circular? Couldn't a square do? And how deep must it be?

Gratefully yours.

Mrs Bridges' Assistant.

[cate]

You can free form a soda bread loaf, round with slashes through it.

[Narnia]

Ladymuck Wrote:

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> CALLING NARNIA

>

> What sized tin for your soda bread please? And

> must it be circular? Couldn't a square do? And

> how deep must it be?

>

> Gratefully yours.

>

> Mrs Bridges' Assistant.

I use one of those circular tins with a removable bottom. I don't know the size and I suppose it would work just as well in a square tin. How deep..........I don't know that either..........maybe distance between thumb and forefinger deep. You need to experiment.

[HAL9000]

FoodStories Wrote:

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> Well I DID say I was crazy to individually skin

> those chickpeas!

I've peeled them - it's a hell of a job (although when gently squeezed the kernels do pop out in a satisfying sort of way - the resulting hummus was slightly smoother but my test subjects were unable to taste any difference.

I suspect the Israeli brand mentioned above is made from either machine peeled chickpeas OR chickpea flour, also known as gram flour (most commonly encountered in onion bhajis).

I think gram-flour hummus will be the focus of my next culinary experiment - watch this space.

[cate]

Lady M,

You don't need a tin....

http://www.europeancuisines.com/Peters-Mums-Soda-Bread-Recipe

[louisiana]

Chick peas in the pressure cooker are a doddle, so there's no reason not to buy dried. And yes, the skins do tend to flake off.

I have one of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/WMF-Perfect-Pressure-diameter-stainless/dp/B00008XWYR

Ultra-reliable (unlike some others I've tried) and good spare parts provision.