Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => The Dressing Room => Topic started by: Muso on August 18, 2006, 01:10:12 PM
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Hey I realise this is totally off topic off topic but what t he hell why not? I have recently started trying to do proper cooking with raw ingrediants and so far its not going good. I'm trying to stick with the pasta stuff as its cheap and can taste real nice if you get it right.
Are there any tallented chefs here or is the most complicated thing u can cook beans on toast 8)
Include recipies if you have any, basic ones would be good. Heres a recipie I made myself (not original at all but it can taste good)
cook 2 handfulls of pasta
Whilst this is going pan fry 200g of mince beef till nearly cooked, then add half a chopped onion, 3 chopped up garlic cloves and then wait till it all seems cooked.
Turn the heat down on the pan and add half a tin of chopped tomatoes with the cooked pasta. Mix it all up.
Finally Add Salt, Pepper and mixed Italian herbs, u gotta keep stiring and tasting all the time. Don't let it mash up too much!
This is dead cheap, easy to cook and tastes decent imo, I been eating too many readymeals lately and that stuff is no good!
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Well I just "discovered" something that tastes really great. Beat 2 eggs, add some salt and pepper, and chop up some cooked sausages and put them in the mixture.. Then cook it like an omelette but move it around like scrambled eggs, then kinda push it into a rectangular shape so its like a regtangular scrambled omelette (hard to describe any other way :lol:) Cut that in half so you have 2 squares of egg then toast some english muffins... whilst they are toasting put a slice of that processed cheap cheese on top of each egg square to melt a bit, then when muffins are done put the egg, cheese and sausage slices in side and enjoy :D
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Edit to add: if you're frying minced beef, it's best to leave it in a block until you've browned the outside a bit. Then break up the mince into chunks instead of breaking it down completely, so you're left with mouthfuls of meat instead of a homogenous sauce. That's my preference anyway.
A couple of easyish recipes:
Pasta Sauce
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In a large frying pan, brown an onion, some mushrooms (1 punnet) and some bacon (6 rashers, chopped up). I like to do these ingredients one at a time so there's room for them to brown nicely. Add some white wine and reduce a bit (one glass should do, leave the rest to guzzle). Add a pot of single cream, season to taste. I like to add a sprinkle of cayenne as well. You can prepare this in advance and just reheat it gently while your pasta's cooking. If the sauce gets a bit thick then just add a spoon or two of the water from the pasta as it's cooking.
Trout
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Get a piece of foil, around 10cm longer than the trout each end, lay it shiny side down lengthways on the kitchen top. Sprinkle some oil on the foil, put the trout on lengthways, shove 3 rashers of rolled-up bacon in the trout's cavity, sprinkle the trout with fennel seed, salt, pepper and add half a chopped onion. Sprinkle the top of the trout with a little oil. Now make a pasty-like parcel out of the foil by bringing the long edges togther and folding over slightly. When you get to the end just scrunch that together, make it look like a cross between a pasty and a christmas cracker. Put it in an oven pre-heated to 200C (or 180C if it's a fan oven). Cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Accompany with some boiled spuds.
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get a pack of bacon
fry it twice
put it all between 2 pieces of bread
eat (with ketchup if desired)
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Sounds terrible but it works, when you are browning the mince add a little cinnamon to it. Oh and don't forget to use a bayleaf and a little garlic.
Cinnamon also works wonders in an omlette (very small amount of cinnamon though it can be a bit overpowering)
When fruing rice, a bay leaf and some tumeric to the oil first.
BTW: When you are cooking pasta put a little olive oil on the water, firstly stops the starch bubbling over the top of the saucepan, secondly it coats the pasta and makes it taste better.
rob...
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I'm a good cook, but I'm a total health nut with food, so most of the things I cook for myself aren't that exciting. I stay simple and unprocessed as far as food goes. However, when I cook for others I usually do a Mediterranean thing or something I adapt from one of my Naked Chef recipe books. They're quite good; I recommend them to anyone.
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Hey Muso,
--Long post. Sorry.--
From the sound of it, it sounds like you were going for a Bolognese type
of a sauce. The following is my girlfriend's recipe.
First off, the better the raw ingredients the better the final product. So try
to use good olive oil (first cold pressed extra virgin). The same with
pastas, canned goods and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
1 large onion
1 red bell pepper
1 carrot (for sweetness, but not necessary)
1 ˝ or 2 lbs ground beef (can include some pork and/or veal)
1 cup, or cup and a half of Half-n-half, or milk and/or cream (I prefer
half-n-half)
28oz can good quality peeled whole Italian tomatoes
5 or 6 tablespoons tomato paste
Can of beef broth (stock)
Can of chicken broth (stock)
Extra Virgin Olive oil
Seasonings; salt, freshly ground black pepper, dried leaf oregano
(sparingly, 1 teaspoon)
Small dice the onion, bell pepper and carrot and sauté in a large heavy
pot (like stainless steel or cast iron enamel is great, but NOT aluminum)
over medium heat, in olive oil, till wilted and the onions turn golden. I
usually salt the onions a bit to draw out moisture which helps in the
carmelization. Add the meat and brown while breaking it up into fine bits.
I usually salt the meat a little also for the same reason as the onion. Once
browned, add a cup of half-n-half and turn and fold so the meat soaks it
up. If it sucks it up in a second you can add a little more but not so much
that it’s sitting in it. Add tomatoes and their juice. I like to pinch out the
stem part of the tomatoes but it’s not necessary. Break them up with your
hands; just put it in the palm of your hand and squeeze, than in it goes.
Don't forget to add the juice also. Add both broths and tomato paste and
stir to mix. Season with freshly ground black pepper, a pinch or so of
oregano. Be careful with the salt because it will reduce a lot. The hardest
thing about this sauce is not to panic at this time because it will look awful,
sort of a gray nothing. Not much sense in tasting it either. Once it comes
up to a bubble lower the heat to a slow, low simmer. Just barely some
percolation on the top and you let it cook, uncovered, for about 5 or 6
hours. Stir often, every half an hour or so otherwise it will burn on the
bottom. It will come together, you just have to nurse it a bit. About an
hour or so before it is done you want to taste and reseason. You know
when it is about done when some fat pools to the top. Keep stirring it
together. For even better results let it cool after the 5 or 6 hours, stir well
and fridge it overnight. Next day bring it back up to a good simmer and
serve over pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese maybe even a
drizzle of good olive oil.
Best with some chunky type of pasta like rigatoni, fusilli, shells etc.,
something that can pick up the sauce. Doesn't do well with thin slick
pastas like linguini.
A few words on pasta. Use a large pot, an 8 quart is a good size because
you want a lot of water circulating around the pasta and you don't want it
to lower the temperature when you add it to the water. Salt after the
water has come to a boil otherwise you'll get pock marks on the bottom of
your pot. How salty? You should be able to taste it as salty. Italians would
say "…as salty as the Mediterranean." Cook it, uncovered, till there is still
a slight resistance, a bit of a snap, when you bite into it as it will continue
to cook once out of the water. "Al dente" or "to the tooth" in Italian. Once
done lift it out of the pot if it's the type with a colander insert or take the
pot to the sink and drain the pasta into a large colander. Either way shake
the colander to drain as much water out of it as possible. Do NOT rinse.
Return pasta to the pot with a small splash of olive oil or a pat of butter
and mix. Also add a few spoons of whatever sauce you are serving to
keep the pasta moist and from sticking together. It also looks better when
you serve it with the sauce spooned on top as opposed to just the naked
pasta with the sauce on top. Serve immediately. Your sauce should be
done before you cook your pasta. The pasta shouldn't be made to wait for
anything or anyone.
I think that's it. Hope this helps and it's what you had in mind. It's not a
quick dish but it's simple with few ingredients. What other kind of dishes
are you looking to prepare?
Good luck.
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A nice simple one from me too:
If you have some leftover boiled and chopped potatoes, you can use them in a kind of Bombay Potato type thingy by slicing an onion, a finely chopped close of garlic, some ground cumin, ground coriander, a dash of chilli and a touch of freshly ground pepper.
Good quaklityn organic unsalted butter in a saucepan and heat, place the onions in first, give it a minute or two, place the spices in then the garlic and saute for a couple of minutes, place the potatoes in the pan and mix so that they take up the buttery spicy stuff and heat through. A coupole of minutes ought to do it and then, just as you serve it, pour plain fresh yoghurt on it and dish it up. If you want you can use a decent curry paste in lieu of the spices.
Hey , we could produce a BKP cook book to accompany the album :roll:
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Hey , we could produce a BKP cook book to accompany the album :roll:
hahaha it could go in the cover inlay book thing! With little things on the side saying "Tim's Top Tip!" etc :lol:
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wouldn't Tim's top tip (and mine actually) be, "before you start, always tie back your hair!"
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wouldn't Tim's top tip (and mine actually) be, "before you start, always tie back your hair!"
Probably..
I have a great idea for a sandwich now! Essentially a bacon sandwich, but somehow you have to make it really good, just so it can be called the Warpig :) :?
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best way to make a bacon sandwich is to cook the bacon a little bit at first, so that all that watery cr@p comes out
then take out the bacon and put it all on a piece of kitchen roll, then lose all the watery cr@p and put fresh oil in the pan
then cook it again
perfect :D
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Better still, buy real old fashioned cured bacon-it shouldn't have the water in it-not that I eat bacon. My old man was a butcher.
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yeh but that stuff is REALLY expensive
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i rarely buy my meat in supermarkets, its all pumped full of water and various chemicals. local butcher every time. yes, it's a little more expensive but well worth it. being a bit more expensive also encourages you to waste less. how many times do you open a packet of bacon, use a couple of slices, then a week or two later have to throw the rest out?
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Youre so right about supermarket meat, not only is it full of water but its full of other shite like growth hormones they pump the animals with. Of course you can alwasy get the organic option in supermarkets which I do even though I really can't afford it.
DON'T BUY MCDONALDS!!!
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i rarely buy my meat in supermarkets, its all pumped full of water and various chemicals. local butcher every time. yes, it's a little more expensive but well worth it. being a bit more expensive also encourages you to waste less. how many times do you open a packet of bacon, use a couple of slices, then a week or two later have to throw the rest out?
never
i put the entire pack in one sandwich :D
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i've survived for 3 weeks now by getting tins of Campbell's soup and cooking their "recipe suggestion" things on the back. Real fun and real easy 8) not to mention tasty
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:D
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i rarely buy my meat in supermarkets, its all pumped full of water and various chemicals. local butcher every time. yes, it's a little more expensive but well worth it. being a bit more expensive also encourages you to waste less. how many times do you open a packet of bacon, use a couple of slices, then a week or two later have to throw the rest out?
What? I always get through the pack, no matter what :P
Also, CaffeineJunkie, that sandwich looks perfect! I hope you put loads of brown sauce in it as well.
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winter is coming soon so you'll be good to go with stews - get yourself a cheap all round recipe book and try some out, stews are a no brainer.
a very easy chicken dish is to stuff a chicken breast with some bree, wrap with streaky bacon (put some butter under the bacon to keep the chicken moist), wrap in tinfol and cook in the oven for 30 mins (open foil for last ten to crisp up the bacon. serve with boiled potatoes and your choice of veg (I always steam coz its the healthy way to go)
:twisted:
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Also, CaffeineJunkie, that sandwich looks perfect! I hope you put loads of brown sauce in it as well.
nah, i only put brown sauce on if there is an egg involved
with just bacon, its some salt and a slight smattering of ketchup
perfect :D:D
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man that sandwich looks DELISH! its nice to see youre using proper bread and not some cr@ppy Happy shopper shitee 8)
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winter is coming soon so you'll be good to go with stews - get yourself a cheap all round recipe book and try some out, stews are a no brainer.
a very easy chicken dish is to stuff a chicken breast with some bree, wrap with streaky bacon (put some butter under the bacon to keep the chicken moist), wrap in tinfol and cook in the oven for 30 mins (open foil for last ten to crisp up the bacon. serve with boiled potatoes and your choice of veg (I always steam coz its the healthy way to go)
:twisted:
The man talks sense!
Dammit, i'm hungry now and all the local shops are shut. :x
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man that sandwich looks DELISH! its nice to see youre using proper bread and not some cr@ppy Happy shopper shitee 8)
damn right, the bread was still hot from the baker;s oven as well
mmm...........*drools*
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Happy Shopper- who are they kidding- just call it ChavShop.
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Also, CaffeineJunkie, that sandwich looks perfect! I hope you put loads of brown sauce in it as well.
nah, i only put brown sauce on if there is an egg involved
with just bacon, its some salt and a slight smattering of ketchup
perfect :D:D
I do nearly all the cooking at home. It's nice to come home from work, open a beer, have a smoke and wind down while I'm cooking something.
For the best bacon butty, do your method (of emptying the watery cr@p out and putting in fresh oil) but just before its finished cooking, put a little Balsamic Vingar in the pan. Keep the bacon moving and turn it over quickly. The bacon only needs about 20-30 seconds in there.
Absolutely lovely :wink:
EDIT - That confimration code for new members is bloody impossible to see on a laptop screen, thiord time lucky :roll:
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I always grill my bacon actually.. although if I do fry it I never put oil in and let it cook in its own "juices".. bloody gawwjuss!
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get a pack of bacon
fry it twice
put it all between 2 pieces of bread
eat (with ketchup if desired)
yup, and sausage and pudding.
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Simple but amazing pasta x 3:
1. Get some good quality spagetti, de cecco is nice. Put it in a large pan of hot water cook according to the instructions, say 10 minutes.
2. When the pasta is say two minutes from being cooked, heat some olive oil in a saucepan, when it is warm, gently cook some chopped garlic and a few chilli flakes. Don't burn the garlic, just warm it through.
3. Drain the pasta, put it in the saucepan with the garlic and chilli toss/mix and add some ripped basil leaves and serve.
Or,
Cook some pasta, say linguine, when it is cooked add a dollop of the nicest butter you can afford along with some chopped sage (fresh only). Superb.
Or (they call this puttanesca in Italy, something to do with whores !!)
Splash of olive oil in a frying pan, add a clove or two of garlic and some chilli flakes, cook for no more than 10 seconds, add a tin of chopped plum tommies (chop them in the can - use scissors or wiggle a knife about in the tin will do the job). Then add a couple of anchovie fillets and a small handful of capers (rinse the vinegar or salt off, slated capers are best). Add that sauce to some linguine.
Easy garlic bread? Toast some nice bread, rub a garlic clove on one side, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and salt. Done.
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Scrambled eggs can be turned into a luxury by adding a small amount of fromage frais. If you make an omlette with say a spoonful of fromage frais (add it as the mixture begins to firm and stir in) and add some crab (out of a tin will do) and drizzle with sweet chilli sauce you can have a lovely cheap feast.
My food has tasted so much better since I started making stocks. When you are done with a chicken simmer the bones for a couple of hours in a pile of water with any old veg you have lying about and that will give you a great start for a mulitude of soups and sauces.
Go to your local grocer. Mine is a lot cheaper than either tesco or asda and the quality is spectacular.
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Last one. I usually grill bacon. But if you buy the good stuff you can fry it then cook your egg in the bacon fat, wonderful taste. And you have to have brown sauce with a good bacon butty, nothing beats "Daddies".
And for you brown sauce fans.....beware...both Daddies and HP are going to be made in Holland soon. Doom, Holland is the home of shite hot house veg and cheap chicken.
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And for you brown sauce fans.....beware...both Daddies and HP are going to be made in Holland soon. Doom, Holland is the home of shitee hot house veg and cheap chicken.
NOOOOOOO!!!! They may take my life, but they'll NEVER take my HP! :x :x :x
I did create some really nice Sweet and Sour kinda gravy the other night.
Made from a combination of mostly chicken stock cubes and some standard bisto, you mix up about 500ml's worth. Lightly fry half a large onion and a small clove of garlic (very small clove), add the mixed up stock and allow to reduce slightly, add a couple of teaspoons of honey and about half a teaspoon of english mustard. Stirr it all up well and reduce until desired consistency. Is really nice on chicken! :)
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I cook steak and burgers, that's about it...