A thread of food where there's just NO point trying to MAKE it yourself

[Worthingite]

Did it not dry out the pork or did you keep topping it up with some liquid.

I used a barbecue sauce with an upped ante - I used a small amount of fajita seasoning and a can of coke over the 4 days, just to make it sweet and spicy.

 

[BensGrandad]

I used a barbecue sauce with an upped ante - I used a small amount of fajita seasoning and a can of coke over the 4 days, just to make it sweet and spicy.

Sounds good might get missus to give it a try.

 

[clapham_gull]

Any suggestions or links to making burgers for a BBQ for about 15 people. Most shop bought ones are either rank or shrink to nothing unless anyone knows of a decent shop to buy them.

Burgers are easy just some good quality mince and NEVER add breadcrumbs or eggs.

It's just the seasoning. I love onion and garlic powder (not the salts). Onion powder is a suberb thing.

The other tip with burgers is to construct them without masing the beef up. Basically take a pack of mince , seperate it horizontally three times , season as you go and roll it up into a sausage. It's hard to explain but you want the threads vertical on the burger as it was minced.

Sounds complicated but it's easy as leads to a very tender burger,

Serious NO breadcrumbs or egg. There is more than moisture in the meat.

 

[dazzer6666]

I used a barbecue sauce with an upped ante - I used a small amount of fajita seasoning and a can of coke over the 4 days, just to make it sweet and spicy.

That sounds awesome......going to try it

 

[dazzer6666]

Burgers are easy just some good quality mince and NEVER add breadcrumbs or eggs.

It's just the seasoning. I love onion and garlic powder (not the salts). Onion powder is a suberb thing.

The other tip with burgers is to construct them without masing the beef up. Basically take a pack of mince , seperate it horizontally three times , season as you go and roll it up into a sausage. It's hard to explain but you want the threads vertical on the burger as it was minced.

Sounds complicated but it's easy as leads to a very tender burger,

Serious NO breadcrumbs or egg. There is more than moisture in the meat.

This, agree ......try lamb mince with garlic and fresh coriander

 

[clapham_gull]

I make my pasta but would only bother with the filled ones because you can make a better filling.

Making lasagne sheets, spaghetti etc is a huge waste of time.

Fresh pasta is a different product than dried and NOT superior.

I make:

Bread - often using it to use up things like yoghurt which mixes in quite happily. The point I bother is have a good food mixer with a dough hook. Ciabatta is much better than you could buy.

Houmous - that's the easiest thing in the world and Tahini lasts for ages in the fridge.

Halloumi - well not made it yet but its a piece of p*** apparently. I eat it all the time but it's stupidly over priced. Google it.

 

[Worthingite]

That sounds awesome......going to try it

Be wary to add the coke sparingly - if you put too much in too much at once it's a ******* to clean the slow cooker afterwards

 

[clapham_gull]

Be wary to add the coke sparingly - if you put too much in too much at once it's a ******* to clean the slow cooker afterwards

Yes coke is quite interesting as an ingrediant. There is this Mexican thing I used to do in the slow cooker. Slab of Pork, Coke, Chillies, Cumin, Orange juice (or whatever fruit juice you have), Oregana, Garlic - really whatever you have lying around.

All cooks down and is amazing.

 

[dazzer6666]

Be wary to add the coke sparingly - if you put too much in too much at once it's a ******* to clean the slow cooker afterwards

Thanks. do you use the cooking juice as a sauce ?

 

[cloud]

I can make a decent curry in several forms including Thai, but i just can't get anywhere near Indian restaurant standard Dhansak...which is my favourite. Tried a little experiment the other day using chana dhal and it was ok but not a patch on any Dhansak i've tasted in a restaurant.(

Are you using tinned tomatoes? When I have watched curry being made in Bangladesh they grate a fresh ripe tomato instead.

 

[BigGully]

Tried and made decent curry and followed the British Indian Restaurant recipes, making the gravy etc.

It just seems a lot of work and buying in new spices and ingredients that later went to waste and the end result was, well just a good effort.

Some things I guess needs to be enjoyed in the form you want which is 'takeaway stuff'.

I can make fresh tasting Chinese, but still quite like the gloopy stuff served up by my local takeaway.

 

[Hillian1]

Anyone wants to make a Curry to taste like one form a Takeaway needs to read this first.

http://www.morpeth17.freeserve.co.uk/The_Curry_Secret.pdf

Pages 9 and 10 are how to make the base sauce that almost every single "British" Curry is started from, further in you get the recipe for all the variants of Curry Dish.

One warning for you though if you're going to attempt it, when making the base sauce have every window and door open and extractor fans everywhere running at full out. My house smelt of onions for weeks later as did every item of clothing I own, the wife was not exactly best pleased by this.

The Curries I made out of the base sauce though were superb.

 

[Nibble]

Bread. I've made a few loaves, I like the smell throughout the house and hot, fresh bread is nice but if I get to the bakers down the road by 7, bread is hot and fresh and much more choice of type of loaf. I don't eat much bread but with a bowl of soup or lump of cheese it can't be beat.

 

[Nibble]

I make my own billtong in a cobbled together smoke house I constructed in the garden. Not everyone taste but I love it. It's for men.
And green tomatoes off the allotment I use quite a lot. I make green tomato curry and various chutneys. I'd never but shop bought preserves anymore, it all grows eithe in my garden or the allotment, for a bit of effort it's all there.

Seeing as it's a benchmark on here, shop bought pizzas are never good. Even the expensive ones. I like Pizza Express, out, or nothing.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Seeing as it's a benchmark on here, shop bought pizzas are never good. Even the expensive ones. I like Pizza Express, out, or nothing.

supermarket pizzas are pretty rank aren't they? every time I have one I'm filled with a sense of disappointment. I wonder what Italians think of them other than "what the **** are they doing?"

 

[MattBackHome]

supermarket pizzas are pretty rank aren't they? every time I have one I'm filled with a sense of disappointment. I wonder what Italians think of them other than "what the **** are they doing?"

They eat LOADS of frozen supermarket pizzas in Italy.

 

[Nibble]

supermarket pizzas are pretty rank aren't they? every time I have one I'm filled with a sense of disappointment. I wonder what Italians think of them other than "what the **** are they doing?"

Yep. Okay if you're a bit drunk or you add loads of your own stuff to thm but generally a bit disappointing. Supermarket pizza is one of the few things that are improved immeasurably when eaten cold.

 

[Norman Potting]

For those with a sweet tooth. Profiteroles or their long thin equivalent Eclairs - relatively straightforward to make but just as easy to buy. Macaroons - proper faff to make and ended up with something nowhere near as good as a shop bought one.

 

[Nibble]

As a youth I tried to make a tray of walnut whips out of ice magic and squirty cream. It took me hours and they were shit. Resembled a tray of spunked on dogshit.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Anybody tried making cheese.?

I lived in the cloudforest of Ecuador for three months. A mere 3 hours walk to the nearest village, but they didn't sell cheese. So we used to make lemon cheese drained in nylon stockings. Probably not great, but tasted brilliant after an afternoon of smoking pot.