Galley Slaves' Tips

[Moley]

I think this new section could do with an ongoing topic for things cooking-related, to try to avoid taking recipes off topic. So if I may start:

 

Peeling onions / shallots etc. - any tips for reducing the tears?

 

Kitchen knives - what's the best way to sharpen?

 

Celeriac - WTH do you do with that?

[Christine]

Celeriac - WTH do you do with that?

 

Go to France and buy a pot of Celeriac Remoulard ready made. Otherwise....dunno.

[bottle]

Peeling onions / shallots etc. - any tips for reducing the tears?

 

wear a gas mask....................or

 

peel them under water...............

 

[tomsk]

I think this new section could do with an ongoing topic for things cooking-related, to try to avoid taking recipes off topic. So if I may start:

 

Peeling onions / shallots etc. - any tips for reducing the tears?

 

Kitchen knives - what's the best way to sharpen?

 

Celeriac - WTH do you do with that?

 

 

Don't cut into the root, chew a piece of coal whilst cutting, get the little wifey to do the cutting for you , where a wet suit and snorkle..... There are so many old wifes tales re this that you could go on for ever but I think the more often you do it the less it affects you.

 

Only one way to sharpen a decent quality knife and thats with an oilstone

 

Celeriac remoulard is made with mayonaisse and a few other odds and sods (mustard?), also nice used in casseroles ect.

 

Next culinary inquiry please!

[Bones]

celeriac is really lovely if you slice it into 'sticks' and then stir fry it. yum! great with that purple root vegetable whose name evades me.

 

I very rarely have trouble with onions. I cut them at arms length and if my eyes start going funny I put my hands under running water and thats it.

[Serendipity]

celeriac is really lovely if you slice it into 'sticks' and then stir fry it. yum! great with that purple root vegetable whose name evades me.

 

 

Also delicious if boiled and mashed half and half with 'tatties - I find it just a little to 'celeryish' on it's own.

[tomsk]

Also delicious if boiled and mashed half and half with 'tatties - I find it just a little to 'celeryish' on it's own.

 

Allow me to say a couple of words in support of my favorite slow cooked dish.

 

LAMB SHANKS

 

Discuss

Edited December 2, 2006 by tomsk

[Serendipity]

Allow me to say a couple of words in support of my favorite slow cooked dish.

 

LAMB SHANKS

 

Discuss

 

Now would that involve an earthy red wine, maybe a 'country' rhone, some garlic, and a pinch of herbs provence including lavender seeds and a touch of caraway for a sort of licourice flavour?

Edited December 2, 2006 by Serendipity

[tomsk]

Now would that involve an earthy red wine, maybe a 'country' rhone, some garlic, and a pinch of herbs provence including lavender seeds and a touch of caraway for a sort of licourice flavour?

 

Sounds great and faintly exotic with the lavender and carraway....I may give it a go for luncheon, all i need to do is break open one of those lavender pot-pori cupboard fresheners granny got me for Chrismas 1977......

[Serendipity]

break open one of those lavender pot-pori cupboard fresheners granny got me for Chrismas 1977......

 

DON'T DO IT!! - My herbes de provence has lavender already in it - also delicious sparingly sprinkled on your roast potatoes at the point where you've drained them after par-boiling and then shake them about in the pan before putting them into the roasting tin.

[Yoda]

Just a thought about reliance, always make sure you have pasta shapes and rice in the store cupboard. With these you have the basics of any meal. Tinned tomatoes and baked beans are good standbys.

[Moley]

celeriac is really lovely if you slice it into 'sticks' and then stir fry it. yum! great with that purple root vegetable whose name evades me.

What, beetroot?

 

Allow me to say a couple of words in support of my favorite slow cooked dish.

LAMB SHANKS

Discuss

A bit too 'Lamby'

Someone commented elsewhere that these poor little baa lambs are getting a rough deal today, well they are safe from me, too fiddly and the meat's all in little bits here and there. Moo cows are a different matter, yum yum.

 

Must dash, got to start prepping stuff to go with the a**e end of a piggy wiggy.

[Bones]

What, beetroot?

 

nope its kohm rabi. YUM!

[DHutch]

Peeling onions, do it quickly, and dont breath in though your nose.

 

Knife-wise, depends how bad it is, idealy you would keep it tip-top all its life, and a quick run up and down the steel would be all it needs.

- However, we usally resort to geting out the sharpening stone and giving it a good go once its really bad...

 

Also, its sooo worth geting a few decent knifes, some of ikea/tescos/wilkos stuff my housemates have are totatly shocking!

 

As are all of there pans, £11.99 for a 6peice set, you must be having a giraffe!!

 

 

 

Daniel

[cheshire~rose]

 

Peeling onions / shallots etc. - any tips for reducing the tears?

 

Kitchen knives - what's the best way to sharpen?

 

 

These two are linked. If you chop an onion using a very sharp knife there is far less chance of any tears.

If you do start to feel any irritation them immediatly wash your hands

[Moley]

Quote imported from someplace else:

A brace of pheasant works well as Christmas dinner for two - make sure you cover the birds with smoked streaky bacon then it's just over half an hour in a hot oven.

I think I've only ever tried pheasant once, and found it far too ‘gamey’.

What's this business of hanging them for six months before you can eat 'em?

 

If members can avoid the obvious invitation for knob gags, why do pheasant need to be well hung? Can they be eaten fresh?

 

Can they be plucked, cleaned and frozen for later?

(And I'm thinking roadkill, any problems there?)

[Serendipity]

Quote imported from someplace else:

 

I think I've only ever tried pheasant once, and found it far too ‘gamey’.

What's this business of hanging them for six months before you can eat 'em?

 

If members can avoid the obvious invitation for knob gags, why do pheasant need to be well hung? Can they be eaten fresh?

 

Can they be plucked, cleaned and frozen for later?

(And I'm thinking roadkill, any problems there?)

 

Well all meat needs to be hung to tenderise it, but how well hung is a matter of preference. We regularly get given pheasant and I prefer it not to taste gamey. Around 3-4 days in the garage, and it's more like chicken. We've given up with the hassle of drawing and plucking, and instead just cut the skin down the breastbone and remove the breasts and legs without skin.

 

My favourite recipe is Prue Leith's Whiskied Pheasant which uses about a third of a pint of whisky to flambe. Beware - both my brother and a good friend have set their extractor unit on fire with this recipe

 

Oh, and as for freezing, absolutely - up to a year. I personally wouldn't eat road kill due to the bruising and blood clots in the flesh/muscle tissue.

Edited December 5, 2006 by Serendipity

[Alistair]

Well all meat needs to be hung to tenderise it, but how well hung is a matter of preference. Around 3-4 days in the garage, and it's more like chicken. We've given up with the hassle of drawing and plucking...

 

Indeed. My butcher does a brace of pheasant all ready to go for a fiver. And they do smell a little gamey when you get them home but taste lovely when you've cooked 'em.

 

The crispy bacon on the top is a nice addition, and my cat's favourite bit of the meal...

[Serendipity]

they do smell a little gamey when you get them home but taste lovely when you've cooked 'em.

 

 

For me that's just right - a little whiff when raw which does not come through when cooked, yet it's imroved the flavour.

[Christine]

 

Can they be plucked, cleaned and frozen for later?

(And I'm thinking roadkill, any problems there?)

 

I get a goodly supply of roadkill. I look for birds that are on the road early in the morning, before they are too squished or the flies get to them. I don't bother with plucking and drawing them, just hang em up in the outhouse for a while then just skin and chop off their legs, cut open the breasts and cut these away. Anything too bloody goes to the cat. Theres not a lot else left on a pheasant.

 

Nice chopped up into cubes, rolled in flour and made into a casserole - onions, carrots, + any other veg. etc.

 

Anyone want the recipe for my A272 (arguably the prettiest road in England) road kill pate?

 

P.S. I have just bought some JML teflon pockets for making toasted sarnies in a toaster. - 2 for £3.45 or so in Homebase. Really good and no mess.

[Bones]

I like roadkill. Eat it, rot the rest and put the bones on the mantle piece -lovely. Well, that is always the intention but I haven't got very many... I like skulls best. Perhaps I should provide my postal address so you can all send me your unwanted spares!

[Moley]

I like roadkill. Eat it, rot the rest and put the bones on the mantle piece - lovely.

Well they do say it takes all sorts

[PeterV]

Celeriac - WTH do you do with that?

 

 

Try cooking it like (and with) potato and mashing.

 

or sliced thin mixed with sliced potato and cooked in any recipe that would use sliced potato

[Nathan_Portlock]

Hello,

 

As far as onions go I find that peeling them under water is good. Also if you wet your wrists with water before you start it can really cut down the tears.

 

Bon apetit!

 

Nathan

[Moley]

I've just been bollocked severely reprimanded for opening some cheese ("oh Moley, that was for Christmas" )

 

But it's only a piece of Stilton, and it's only a Sainsbury's mature, and it was only a quarter of a ring, and it's okay but nothing special, and tastes like every other supermarket's mass produced offerings.

 

So where can you get a decent Stilton?

Any recommendations please?