What's cooking / VT cookbook merge

[Ryan.]

Any ideas for duck breast? I fancied a change from steak and when I got home I realsied I haven't got a clue what to do with them. I've looked online and alot fo places are saying it goes best with sweet things like oranges and plums but it just doesn't seem right..

[Vojskovoda]

Believe me, duck tastes delightful with a sweet fusion because the saltiness of the duck cobines very well with sweet sauces. Ever tried duck with plum sauce?

I'd have a go at doing a duck stir-fry.

Serves 1

1. Making your sauce. Pour 75ml of soy sauce in a bowl, 50ml red wine, 30ml of rice wine (if you don't have rice wine use sherry), chop up two spring onions, finely chop 1/4 of garlic, thinly slice one piece of ginger then chop it very very finely, 3 tea-spoons of brown sugar, the juice of one lime and a small amount of finely chopped corriander.

2. Chop the duck breasts into strips, put oil in wok or pan then fry off for a few minutes but let it be slightly pink in the middle.

3. Put noodles, bean sprouts and chopped up cabbage in with the duck and add your sauce. The noodles, bean sprouts and cabbage will only take 3 minutes to cook. Once cooked, then serve.

[peterms]

Any ideas for duck breast? I fancied a change from steak and when I got home I realsied I haven't got a clue what to do with them. I've looked online and alot fo places are saying it goes best with sweet things like oranges and plums but it just doesn't seem right..

Duck breast is best served rare, but if you just cook it for a short time, the large amount of fat under the skin will still be there, thick and rubbery. Not really what you want. So...

Set the oven to high, say 220c. Score the skin, criss-cross, cutting through the skin but not into the meat. Sharp knife needed for that. Season.

Gently fry the breast, skin side down. The aim is to make it release as much fat as possible. When it has released most of the fat, check to see if the skin is browning. If not, turn up to medium heat and brown the skin, then turn and brown the other side. You're trying to release the fat and brown the outside, not cook the meat through.

Put the breast in an oven-proof dish and whack in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove and leave to rest while you make this simple sauce:

Pour the fat out of the frying pan you used (save the duck fat for roast potatoes), add to the pan a tablespoon or so of pomegranate molasses (Sainsbury's and others sell it), a little ground cinammon, a bit of water. Deglaze the pan over a gentle heat.

Slice the breast on a chopping board - diagonal cuts like restaurants do - place on warm plates, and fan out the slices. Pour the sauce over. Done.

You can do the pre-frying of the breast as a separate stage ahead of time - I did this as christmas dinner for 12 in someone else's house, where I brought it along prepared to that stage and just had to finish in the oven.

[dicky_plums]

Sounds good that Peter. I wonder how many VTers have pomegranate molasses in their cupboards?

I'll be investigating that one. Is it similar to tamarind syrup?

[BOF]

This is becoming the "Ask Peter anything" thread Certainly no complaints here though

[BOF]

I wonder how many VTers have pomegranate molasses in their cupboards? I'll be investigating that one.

Well you're not coming into MY house

[peterms]

Sounds good that Peter. I wonder how many VTers have pomegranate molasses in their cupboards?

I'll be investigating that one. Is it similar to tamarind syrup?

Looks similar, dark and thick and sticky, but sweet/sour rather than sour.

Used a bit in the Moro cookbooks, where that recipe comes from, and in Middle Eastern food more widely. About £2.50 a bottle, lasts ages.

[peterms]

Any suggestions on what to do with a buttnut squash? Preferably something low fat?

As a veg accompaniment for something (eg the duck recipe above), try:

Peel, deseed, cut into rough cubes maybe about 1-2 cm, place in ovenproof pan big enough to take them in a single layer, place in preheated oven at about 170c. You'll need some oil with this, but you could keep it to a minimum if you turn and coat the cubes more often, to counteract having not much oil on them.

After maybe 20 mins, add cougettes, quartered lengthways and then sliced so the pieces are roughly cubes as well (probably smaller than the squash) Stir and turn so everything has a bit of oil and doesn't stick.

After maybe 15 mins, add some deseeded and finely chopped fresh red chilli, eg birdseye. Add salt and pepper. Stir to mix it all up. Continue to roast for another 5 or 10 mins, until the veg feels soft enough when stuck with the point of a knife. Simple, tasty, and the colours work well together.

[cheltenham_villa]

Any suggestions on what to do with a buttnut squash? Preferably something low fat?

BUTT-NUTT squash :shock: , is this gay slang?

[rjw63]

Take two large baking spuds, prick with a fork. Microwave on full for 5 minutes.

Turn over and microwave for another 5 mins.

Stick spuds in the oven for half an hour. They should be cooked by now.

Remove from oven. Cut spuds in half and scoop potato out of skin into a bowl.

Add half a can of bully beef, a few slices of cheddar cubed amd a squeeze of garlic puree. Mix thoroughly.

Spoon mixture back into potato skins, return to oven for 15 mins.

Eat.

Had this tonight, fooking ace :-)

[peterms]

So, someone donated me four pheasants this weekend. Or two brace, as I gather the huntin' folk call it.

I have them hanging in a north-facing window in a cool draught at the moment. Plan to pluck them and gut them maybe Thursday/Friday. And yes, I have used the opportunity to teach my son the pheasant plucker rhyme. Little git caught on to it immediately. Youth of today! Little ****.

I was thinking of doing one pair as a Caribbean/Mexican spicy casserole with some ripe plantains I picked up, and the other pair maybe as a French/Italian garlicky slow cooked dish of some kind. Roasting them just accentuates the dryness.

Any better suggestions, before I get to it?

[snowychap]

Poached?

[peterms]

Poached?

Oh dear. I was all the way down this track about, he means gently simmered in its own juices with root vegetables and herbs, like the French Poule-au-Pot, and then I thought, hang on, you're talking about the provenance of the birds.

Well I don't know, they just arrived and were left with me. I didn't ask for them, nor did money change hands. It was just a gesture of friendship from someone who thought I would appreciate it, which I do.

If they were poached, and I hope they were, then I hope it's from rich **** who employ gamekeepers.

In fact, I think I'll poach a couple in stock just on principle.

[ClaretMahoney]

Hahahahahaha I love the way Peter writes. Awesome.

[snowychap]

Poached?

Oh dear. I was all the way down this track about, he means gently simmered in its own juices with root vegetables and herbs, like the French Poule-au-Pot, and then I thought, hang on, you're talking about the provenance of the birds.

Well I don't know, they just arrived and were left with me. I didn't ask for them, nor did money change hands. It was just a gesture of friendship from someone who thought I would appreciate it, which I do.

If they were poached, and I hope they were, then I hope it's from rich **** who employ gamekeepers.

In fact, I think I'll poach a couple in stock just on principle.

A 'clean' double entendre (very much meant!).

I do like the idea of the Poule-au-Pot, though. (Maybe not with the hyphens :winkold:).

[kidlewis]

anyone an expert in chinese cooking I really need help fine tuning crispy chilli beef/chicken.

Especially the sauce, it's bloody complex.

Original recipe yield:

4 servings

PREP TIME 20 Min

COOK TIME 20 Min

READY IN 45 Min

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup corn flour

1/4 tablespoon salt

black pepper

12 ounces flank steak, thinly sliced

Oil for deep frying

4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 tablespoon rice wine

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

7 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 tablespoon chile paste

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup sliced onion

1/4 cup diced red pepper

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cornflour, salt and pepper together. Mix thoroughly. Toss the steak slices in the cornstarch mixture and coat well.

Deep fry the coated steak slices until golden brown. Check to make sure they are cooked through. Remove from oil, and set aside.

In another mixing bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, rice wine and honey. Add sugar, chili paste, water, and ginger. Mix well and set aside.

Heat a wok or deep frying pan over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, and quickly saute the onion, garlic and red pepper for 30 seconds. Add the sauce mixture, and cook another 30 seconds. Finally, add the strips of fried steak and toss to heat through and coat with sauce

I used the suggestion above from some Answers website, it was pretty close to the recipe I enjoy, but getting the beef crispy without drying it out is really tricky.

[peterms]

anyone an expert in chinese cooking I really need help fine tuning crispy chilli beef/chicken.

Especially the sauce, it's bloody complex.

Original recipe yield:

4 servings

PREP TIME 20 Min

COOK TIME 20 Min

READY IN 45 Min

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup corn flour

1/4 tablespoon salt

black pepper

12 ounces flank steak, thinly sliced

Oil for deep frying

4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 tablespoon rice wine

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

7 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 tablespoon chile paste

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup sliced onion

1/4 cup diced red pepper

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cornflour, salt and pepper together. Mix thoroughly. Toss the steak slices in the cornstarch mixture and coat well.

Deep fry the coated steak slices until golden brown. Check to make sure they are cooked through. Remove from oil, and set aside.

In another mixing bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, rice wine and honey. Add sugar, chili paste, water, and ginger. Mix well and set aside.

Heat a wok or deep frying pan over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, and quickly saute the onion, garlic and red pepper for 30 seconds. Add the sauce mixture, and cook another 30 seconds. Finally, add the strips of fried steak and toss to heat through and coat with sauce

I used the suggestion above from some Answers website, it was pretty close to the recipe I enjoy, but getting the beef crispy without drying it out is really tricky.

Well, far from an expert in Chinese cooking, though I do live 300 metres from the best Chinese reataurant in the uk and often sample their wares.

First, if you want to have it crispy, I suppose you need to have the sauce as something like a marinade and flash-fry it until the sauce almost disappears. Timing is everything with something like this - it needs your full attention.

Second, Chinese places aiming for crispy beef probably won't finish in a sauce, but will bring it from the deep fryer to the table.

Third, if you are trying to follow that exact recipe, be aware that you aren't meant to do things in that order. In particular, althought e recipe reads like you don't start preparing the sauce until the meat is fried, in fact you want the sauce and everything else good to go as soon as the meat hits the fat.

The longer the meat is out of the frier, and the longer it is in contact with the sauce, the less crispy it's getting. If you really want very crispy beef, have the sauce going well in a wok alongside, drain the meat and immedisately place it in the sauce for 30-45 secs on high heat, then serve.

But why anyone would want crispy beef is beyond me. You should flash fry the beef in a wok, set it aside, fry the other ingredients including sauce while the rice is cooking, and add the beef for just long enough to warm through while you serve up the rice.

[ClaretMahoney]

/hospital intercom/

"Paging Chef peterms, Paging Chef peterms"

Sometime in the next week I'll be cooking dinner for my new lady friend, and I don't know what to cook along with some asparagus that I bought. I was thinking a nice hollandaise sauce, but what to accompany this? (I plan on using a packet hollandaise sauce, unless you have a 'from scratch' recipe for it that would be easy)..

I was thinking maybe a lemon pepper chicken breast and some couscous?

Ideas?

[peterms]

/hospital intercom/

"Paging Chef peterms, Paging Chef peterms"

Sometime in the next week I'll be cooking dinner for my new lady friend, and I don't know what to cook along with some asparagus that I bought. I was thinking a nice hollandaise sauce, but what to accompany this? (I plan on using a packet hollandaise sauce, unless you have a 'from scratch' recipe for it that would be easy)..

I was thinking maybe a lemon pepper chicken breast and some couscous?

Ideas?

This recipe is for Hollandaise with a liquidiser, this one without.

If you do it without, the most common problem is overheating, so mix it in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, the bowl bigger than the pan so it doesn't touch the bottom.

But the asparagus must be flown in from somewhere in another hemisphere at this time of year, no?

Asparagus is also good as a starter on its own. Roll it in olive oil, place on a medium hot grill pan (preferably ridged, to get the dark stripes) and grill for 10 mins or so, tuning occasionally. Sprinkle with sea salt, black pepper, lemon juice, shavings of parmesan, serve with a bit of rocket or something.

[LondonLax]

/hospital intercom/

"Paging Chef peterms, Paging Chef peterms"

Sometime in the next week I'll be cooking dinner for my new lady friend, and I don't know what to cook along with some asparagus that I bought. I was thinking a nice hollandaise sauce, but what to accompany this? (I plan on using a packet hollandaise sauce, unless you have a 'from scratch' recipe for it that would be easy)..

I was thinking maybe a lemon pepper chicken breast and some couscous?

Ideas?

Poached egg on top of those asparagus with the hollandaise over the top. Perfect!

Might be a better one to serve for breakfast though :winkold: