What you eatin' there then?

[Ingram85]

Ive just finished the last remnants of a box of Japanese snacks, sweets and drinks I ordered last week. Cheese flavoured white chocolate. Melon milk. Amazake rice drink. Matcha flavoured oreo type biscuits. All of it amazing and now I've got to order more. 

Some of the stuff was just the same as what we get here which was annoying but yeah, the cheese tart chocolate was the highlight followed by the melon milk (lol boobies).

Edited June 25, 2019 by Ingram85

[Stevo985]

I'm very intrigued by cheese flavoured white chocolate...

[Ingram85]

33 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I'm very intrigued by cheese flavoured white chocolate...

https://www.japancentre.com/en/products/14951-lotte-crunky-baked-cheese-tarte-crunch-chocolate

This is where I got my stuff from. It's seriously weird but weirdly good.

[cyrusr]

2 hours ago, Ingram85 said:

https://www.japancentre.com/en/products/14951-lotte-crunky-baked-cheese-tarte-crunch-chocolate

This is where I got my stuff from. It's seriously weird but weirdly good.

Just ordered some. Some really weird stuff there!

[Xann]

21 hours ago, Ingram85 said:

... Cheese flavoured white chocolate...

Heh, is this a fluffy translation?

Are they not driving at white chocolate cheesecake, rather than a sort of white chocolate quiche?

[StefanAVFC]

Made a Chicken Saag last night.

[CosmicVillan]

Tried Cactus water yesterday..interesting

[Ingram85]

2 hours ago, Xann said:

Heh, is this a fluffy translation?

Are they not driving at white chocolate cheesecake, rather than a sort of white chocolate quiche?

Its cheese tart flavour. 

[maqroll]

Flattened chicken breast seared in a pan with avocado oil. Covered in sauteed mushrooms and spinach with garlic,  soy sauce chili flakes. Macon-Chardonnay to wash it down.

[AVFCDAN]

I had 6 pints of Carling in the pub and then came home and cooked a steak last night. Fine dining right?

[peterms]

Slight variation on a Nigel Slater recipe, using the first potatoes and mange-touts off the allotment, and broad beans from someone with a more advanced garden.

It's a spring time recipe (spring is later in Scotland), so the veg are very tender, so the broad beans don't need the inner skin removing.  The changes from his recipe are that I added a courgette because the veg we had seemed not enough for 3 of us, added some chili because I like it, and added some smoked cod to make it more substantial and because I found some at a knockdown price on the reduced counter.

Boil some new potatoes for 15 mins, drain and set aside.  Shell the broad beans,  boil for 3 mins and set aside.  (if you do this with older and tougher veg you will need to cook for longer and possibly slip off the greyish skin after cooking, but small new beans are fine like this).  Slice the mange touts and some spring onions, add to the broad beans and set aside.

Slice a courgette into rounds or half rounds about 3mm thick, about the thickness of a £ coin.  Slice the potatoes the same or slightly thicker.

If using fish, bake it in the oven for maybe 15-20 mins at about 140 with a bit of salt and lemon juice on it, maybe slightly longer or hotter if using unsmoked fish.  If it's ready before the rest, keep it in a warm place or cover with foil for a few minutes.

While the fish is doing, gently saute the potato and courgette in virgin olive oil, adding salt, pepper, chili to taste.  See pic.

When the courgette is cooked and the potato slightly brown, add the broad beans, mange touts and spring onions, stir a little - you're warming them through rather than cooking them. 

Do a sauce.  Melt 150gm butter and set aside, zest a lemon and also juice it.  Get a double boiler, whisk the egg yolks in the upper pan over simmering water with salt, add the melted butter a little at a time while whisking, add the lemon juice, add the lemon zest.  If the sauce splits, add a little bit of boiling water and whisk - this should bring it back.  And serve - veg on the bottom, fish on top, sauce on top of that.

Sounds long, but it's not too much work, and the sauce is the hardest thing.

 

[Ingram85]

Continuing on my recent Japanese binge, I've pretty much finished off my multipack of Sakura Sake flavour KitKats. They are amazing. 

Also bought a gift pack of different flavour kitkats including wasabi, matcha, strawberry tiramisu, rum & raisin, purple sweet potato plus a few others. The best? Wasabi strangely enough, was really good. Rum & Raisin a close second.

Also bought my own matcha bowl and whisk. First attempt was crap, I didn't put enough powder in and didn't whisk long enough but the second time was spot on. Heated the bowl and whisk up, put the powder in through a sieve and let it rest in the dry heat of the bowl, added a dash of water and whisked like a madman for a minute then filled it up. It was perfect. 

Edited July 3, 2019 by Ingram85

[peterms]

Just made this strawberry and rhubarb custard tart.

The missus literally licked the plate...

Quote

Prep 8 min
Chill 1 hr (only if you make the pastry)
Cook 1 hr 50 min
Serves 10

For the sweet pastry
200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
25g caster sugar
110g fridge-cold unsalted butter, cut into 2cm dice
⅓ tsp salt
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
⅓ tsp white-wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp ice-cold water

For the fruit
200g strawberries, hulled and halved
200g rhubarb, cut into 3cm-long pieces
90g caster sugar

For the custard
4 egg yolks
2 tsp cornflour
60g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
500ml double cream

Put the first five ingredients for the pastry in the bowl of a food processor and blitz for a minute, until it’s the consistency of fine crumbs. Add the vinegar and water (start with a tablespoon and add more if you need it) and blitz again for 10-20 seconds, until the dough starts to come together. Tip out on to a work surface, shape into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for about an hour.

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry into a 2cm-thick rectangle about 32cm x 20cm. Carefully lift into a fluted rectangular tart tin that’s 16cm x 28cm with 3cm-high sides. Press the pastry into the corners and sides, allowing any excess to hang over the edges, then line with baking paper. Fill with baking beans (or uncooked rice or pulses) and bake for 25 minutes, until the edges of the pastry are golden brown. Remove the beans and paper, and bake for about 12 minutes more, until the base is also golden brown. Remove from the oven, trim off any overhanging pastry and leave to cool.

Turn up the oven to 200C/390F/gas 6. Mix the strawberries and rhubarb with the sugar and put in a 16cm x 28cm ovenproof dish: you want the fruit to fit snugly. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until the sugar has melted and the fruit has softened but still keeps its shape. Set aside to cool down, then transfer two-thirds of the fruit (but not the cooking juices) to the pastry case, arranging it randomly. Set aside the remaining fruit and juices: you should have about 80ml juice. Turn down the oven to 170C/335F/gas 3½.

For the custard, put the egg yolks, cornflour, sugar and vanilla essence in a large bowl and whisk smooth. Gradually whisk in the cream until combined, then tip into a jug. Carefully pour the custard over the fruit, then bake for 30-45 minutes (timings will depend on your tart tin: a round tart will take longer to cook than a long one, for example), until the custard has set and turned golden brown in places on top.

Remove from the oven, leave to cool, then transfer to the fridge to chill. Just before serving, remove the tart from its tin, spoon the reserved roast fruit and a few tablespoons of the syrupy juices lengthways down the centre, and serve.

Haven't yet tried the other recipes in the link.

[Rugeley Villa]

Trying to cut down on my chocolate consumption. I’ve decided to start having one tin a day of cold Ambrosia Rice Pudding. Bloody hooked on the stuff now.

[Xann]

Pistacchio kulfi.

 

[peterms]

Just got a new cookbook, Turkish Cypriot.

Might give this recipe a miss, though.

ÇEMEN-BRAISED SHORT RIBS WITH BROWN BUTTER BREAD SAUCE

[PompeyVillan]

Lidl Deluxe granola is amazing. 

[cyrusr]

On 10/07/2019 at 19:17, Xann said:

Pistacchio kulfi.

 

Love this stuff. Always a favourite after a curry!

[Xann]

14 hours ago, cyrusr said:

Love this stuff. Always a favourite after a curry!

Cardamom goes well with dairy puddings.

There's a Sri Lankan cafe near to home that does chilled tapioca with cardamom as part of their thali.

Lovely Summer pud

[peterms]

Cheapskate corner: found some Cajun smoked chicken at half price as the farmer's market was winding down, had a 22p celeriac to make remoulade, and some homegrown potatoes, tomatoes, and salad leaves.