A Bit Of What You Fancy.... Share Recipes :D

What the hell is Marmite?

Is it like Vegemite?

Yes I do.

coco

A bit of work, but OH so worth it!

Ingredients
225g/8oz lamb's kidneys
700g/1lb 9oz chuck steak
1 tbsp vegetable oil
knob of butter
2 onions, chopped roughly
2 tbsp plain flour
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
570ml/1 pint beef stock
4 field mushrooms, sliced thickly
1 tsp tomato purée
1 tsp mushroom seasoning or mushroom ketchup (if not available, use Worcestershire sauce)
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and feshly ground black pepper

For the pastry:
175g/6oz butter
225g/8oz plain flour
8-9 tbsp water
1 beaten egg, to glaze



Method
1. Halve the kidneys and cut out the tubes. Rinse in cold water and peel off the skins. Cut in small pieces. Trim and cut the steak in cubes.
2. Heat oil and butter in a large pan, then fry the onions for 3-4 minutes, stirring. Fry the meat for 2-3 minutes until it loses its pink colour. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the herbs and stock. Stir until thickened and coming to the boil.
3. Add mushrooms and purée, lower the heat and simmer, covered, for about 1½ hours until, the meat is tender.
4.Make the pastry: wrap the butter in foil and freeze for 45 minutes. Mix the flour with ¼ tsp of salt.
5. Holding the frozen butter in foil, dip it in the flour and grate coarsely back into the bowl, peel the foil back so it does not get grated. Keep dipping it in the flour as you grate.
6. Mix in the butter with a knife until evenly coated with flour. Stir in the water to form a dough. Gently form into a ball. Wrap in plastic film and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
7. When the meat is cooked, remove bay leaves, season with salt, pepper and mushroom seasoning (or Worcestershire sauce), then cool slightly.
8. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to 5mm/¼in thick and 2.5cm/1in wider than a 1.2 Litre/2 pint pie dish. Cut out the lid so it is slightly bigger than the dish. Cut a strip of pastry the width of the rim. Stir the parsley in to the meat and transfer to the dish.
9. Brush the rim with egg, lay pastry strip on top and seal. Brush with egg and put lid on top. Seal the edges, knock them up with the back of a knife. Flute the edge. Cut a slit in the lid, brush with the egg (but not the edges or they won't rise).
10. Bake for 20 minutes, then brush with egg again. Bake for 10 minutes until the pastry is golden.

It most certainly IS!

It just tastes better

I'll work on pics too...

mmmm egg in the hole.

2 slices wheat bread.
2 eggs
soy sauce
butter or margarine
salt to taste

take a small juice glass and press a hole in the center of both pieces of bread.
butter the holes and the remaining pieces on both sides and throw into frying pan
break an egg into the center of each of the pieces of bread
lightly season all the bread with soy sauce, flip when bottom is cooked.

dip the hole chunks in the yolk, then eat the bread pieces. DELICIOUS!

Heat about 15g of butter and a T. of oil and fry up one quarter of an onion, finely chopped until soft but not browned. Scrape this all around to one side of the pan and throw in a nice sirloin steak on higher heat. Cook it up and when done remove the steak to a plate. Add a measure of whiskey to the pan and set it alight. When the flames have died down, add 6 T. of double cream and mix this all up well. Bring to a boil, salt and pepper it and pour over your steak. : ) Drink the rest of the bottle of whiskey with it and toast up some soda bread. Sometimes I broil half a tomato. Sometimes I toss a handful of mushrooms into the pan. Mmmm.

Then, of course, there is smoked salmon with scrambled eggs on toast...with a big, steaming hot cup of tea.

But then how will the poor little lambs process their urine? And will they wake up iced down in a bathtub?



P2

O I want these ...

Those look yummtastic, what are they?

Oh they ARE yummyriffic

These are gnocchi and I blame cartcart for introducing me to it!

They are made out of potato dumplings and sauce and cheese at the bottom. Absolutely delish!

Yo Willow! Guess what, my gf's brother went to new zealand, he brought me MARMITE... and it RAWKS! I love it. He also brought me some vegemite but I haven't tried it yet.
I took your advice though - toast, butter, spread the marmite thin.
I was so scared of the damn thing I put too little of it at first, so it didnt taste like anything... but then i added some more and well, its actually pretty good, tastes kinda like meat or something
I'm told british marmite is different though - no sugar added.

i could go for a slice of french bread with butter & nutella. mmmmmm...nutella. /drools

Pan de Jamon

10 servings

1 1/2 cups water
5 teaspoons granulated yeast
1 teaspoon sugar

250 g butter
1 liter warm milk
2 kg flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar


1 1/2 - 2 kg sliced ham
1/2 - 3/4 kg smoked bacon
250 g butter
1/2 - 1 kg olives
1/2 kg raisins
1 egg (to "varnish"

In a bowl, mix the water and the sugar; add the yeast and let stand for 15 minutes until it has a "head".
Add the butter to the warm milk, the sugar and the salt.
Pour the milk onto the flour, mix and add the yeast.
Make a dough and knead for 15 minutes.
Beat down on a table and put in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth.
Set aside for an hour.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin.
Coat with butter.
Arange the ham, bacon, olives and the raisins (except for a small part at the end, so you can seal the bread up).
Roll it up like a swiss roll and brush the"tongue" with some egg to seal it.
Bake at 260° F for an hour.
Serve cool.
Can be kept in fridge for up to 4 days.
Sprinkle with water and heat up on a low heat before serving.

Its a traditional holiday dish in Venezuela, my wife tricked me into making it last year at X-mas and I fell in love, despite the work involved.

I made about 5-6 loaves over Thanksgiving for various parties and its always been a hit.

My personal tips are to roll the dough thin and place the "filling" so as to make a nice presentation when the bread is sliced. Also feel free to change up the recipe and use alternative ingredients, personally I like proscuitto in place of the bacon and use rosemary ham in place of plain ham.

Enjoy!

My Fav cookie recipe

Usually I follow that recipe, sometimes throwing in shredded cocoanut or walnuts... I try to stick to deserts because I screw them up much less-frequently, and can usually correct any mistakes by pouring a bunch of sugar in...

Last time I tried to make breaded porkchops I ended up with porkchops with a side of fried-egg/breadcrumbs.

I am kinder than that!
Once they go to sleep the first time, they don't wake up.
Can you imagine the emotional distress of finding yourself in a tub full of ice, sans kidneys?

Nay... I make sure those little guys don't suffer that kind of horror...

Frenched crown roast of lamb
Lamb shanks
Lamb butt
Loin of lamb for old fashioned shepherd's pie.
Lamb haggis too! Oh so tender and we don't want to waste anything.

Also, don't forget the lambskin gloves
and I think I can squeeze a pair of earmuffs out of one, too

And the bones are good, roasted dry and ground up, to go into the compost heap.
My tomatoes LOVE 'em.

I have a really good recipe for Gnocchi...

4 good sized baked potatoes, still hot and skins removed, run through a potato ricer.
2/3 cup of all purpose white flour
Pinch of salt.

Gently mix these together until they form a ball of dough.
Do not manhandle your dough or the Gluten will develop too much and the Gnocchi will be heavy and doughy.
Wrap in plastic and allow to rest for a minimum of 30 mins (My mother always left hers for at least an hour.)

Cut the dough ball into quarters and gently roll each one out into a long rope about 3/4" (1.8 cm) in diameter.
Cut each rope into 1/2" to 3/4" (1.2 - 1.8 cm) sections.
Cover with a towel and allow to rest for another 15 mins

Bring to a gentle boil a large pot of either water or broth.
Roll each Gnoccho off the back of a fork or Gnocci board (This forms the traditional grooves on teh Gnocchi. If you don't want grooves, just pinch them a little in the center to make sure they aren't too thick in the middle) into the gently boiling water (or broth). They will immediately sink to the bottom of the pot. This is normal; do not panic.
Add more until the bottom of the pot is covered, and then gently swirl the cooking liquid to make sure none are stuck to the bottom.

Start the timer when the first one makes its way up to the surface (As they cook, they will begin to float). Allow to cook an additional 2 minutes from the time the first one starts to float, or until they are all floating, whichever comes last. (If you wanna get picky about it, each one should cook two minutes from the time it starts to float, but who's that anal?)
Do not allow the cooking liquid to reach a full rolling boil or your gnocchi will fall apart.

Gently remove them from the cooking liquid with a spider or slotted spoon, and you can now do with them as your adjunct recipe suggests.

Gnocchi are great lightly fried (As in the picture above), baked with sausages or other meats, or just served with Browned Sage-butter and some fresh parmesan cheese.
I have also tried them as a substitute for pasta in such dishes as Gnocchi Alfredo (Very nice with Grilled Chicken), Gnocchi Carbonara (Great all by itself) or Gnochi in Vodka Sauce served alongside fish. (No booze involved... Vodka sauce is a pink sauce with both cream and tomatoes.)

YAAAAAAAAAY FOR EGGY!!!!!

Marmite rulez <3

Really, Alain, are you italian? Son of italians? That was perfect. I like a lot the browned sage-butter version.

Did you try gnocchi with "pesto genovese"? Olive oil, basil, a few garlic, pine nuts, grated romano cheese and/or parmiggiano reggiano. You can put all in a blender, or better use this



Add 1 or 2 spoons of the water you used to cook pasta or gnocchi while flavoring.

And you didn't taste "melanzane alla parmigiana" yet...

I got such a craving for gnocchi, I decided to try to make some myself

(Not too bad at first try - At least its edible

4 Bone-in pork chops- the thicker the better
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons garlic powder

In a shallow dish, combine the soy sauce, vinegar, honey and garlic powder. Place chops in dish, and turn to coat. Cover, and marinate for 2 to 4 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat grill to high heat, and lightly oil grate OR preheat broiler

Grill chops 5 to 8 minutes per side, or to desired doneness.

You'll never want breaded ones again

My Mother's Mother was "off the boat" and I learned how to make Gnocchi from her and from my Mother.

I make Pesto Genovese as often as I can manage... During the warm months, I usually have 4 or 5 different kinds of basil growing in my garden, and I have managed to find a good balance of types to make good pesto. I am also picky about the pignoli I use. There is an Italian Market in Buffalo called Guercio's where I get all my hard to find dago foods, like Olio D'Tartufo Bianco (Absolutely essential for making Tartufolino, unless you can get the real thing for shaving over fresh pasta and butter...), and Pignoli Dulci from the sweet white pine.

To make the pesto, I use a Mexican molcajete I acquired while I was in So Cal. My Grandmother probably rolls over in her grave every time I use it, but the texture comes out much better, in my opinion.

Christmas time means I get to make my old family Scottish shortbread recipe. I kid you not, when made properly this is the best shortbread *ever*. It's become a "must have" around this time of year among my friends and family.

6.5 cups Cake & Pastry flour
1 cup fruit sugar (extra fine)
1 lb. butter (room temperature)

Mix it all together a bit at a time. Once all the ingredients have been added, knead it for at least an hour (by hand -- this is definitely a man's baking project ). The longer you knead, the smoother the shortbread will be. In a pinch, I suppose you could get away with 30 minutes, but why do it half-assed? This makes an incredible base that can be used for almost anything.

For traditional Scottish rounds, divide the mixture into three round pie plates and bake at 325F for around 40 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of the ruit sugar over the top of the round before it cools.

Also makes fantastic shaped cookies (as I discovered this year) -- in that case, roll out the mixture, make shapes with a cookie cutter, and bake on a cookie sheet at 325F for about 15 minutes.

Heck, why not turn them into chocolate chip cookies? Knead in some chocolate chips, shape the dough into balls, place them on a cookie sheet and flatten them somewhat (the cookies do *not* spread when baking, so what you put into the oven will look much like what you take out). These guys take closer to 40 minutes to cook through. Watch the bottoms to make sure they don't burn!