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The 2019 Heavenly Cookbook: Recipe Discussion

TrudyTrudy Heaven Host
Cooking up a fresh new thread for your dining pleasure this year. Continue the recipe discussion here.
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  • TrudyTrudy Heaven Host
    For those who want to re-heat the leftovers, last year's recipe thread can still be found in Limbo.
  • MooMoo Kerygmania Host
    I grated a lot of cabbage to make coleslaw for a potluck. Now the potluck has been called off, and I would like to make soup with some of the cabbage. Does anyone have a good recipe? I am allergic to anything that comes from a pig.
  • Graven ImageGraven Image Shipmate
    edited January 2019
    My mother made a soup with chicken stock base, a large amount of grated cabbage, sliced carrots, onions, and caraway seeds. She served it topped with sour cream. Sorry I do not have a recipe but I think it was pretty straight forward. I remember liking it, but had forgotten about it until I saw your post. No doubt you could add meat to the mix as well.
  • Corned beef and cabbage soup! I do this in a crockpot with carrots and either water or chicken stock. The cabbage turns to glop um nevermind anyway, so the grated / tiny nature of it shouldn't matter so much. (And if it DOES matter to you, put it in 30 seconds before the end of cooking)
  • Put it through a blender and call it cream of cabbage soup?
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Cabbage is nice sautéed with garlic and juniper berries.

    Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan, add a small, finely-chopped onion and cook over a medium heat until the onion begins to become translucent.

    Add about a quarter of a white cabbage, shredded, a chopped clove of garlic, half a dozen crushed juniper berries and a knob of butter and stir to get everything mixed and coated with oil and butter.

    Turn the heat down to low, season with salt and pepper, cover and allow to cook gently for about 10 minutes or until the cabbage is just cooked but still with a bit of bite.

    If you want to intensify the juniper flavour, add a splash of GIN along with the seasoning.

    It goes very nicely with baked ham.
  • My thought was sauerkraut - lots of recipes online
  • Grated cabbage can work nicely is stir fry too. Toss it in toward the end.
  • I like to make beef and vegetable soup with cabbage. Any recipe for the soup will do. I just use the vegetables I have and add in leftover roast beef or cook the beef at the beginning. I like to add a tin of crushed tomatoes to it too.

    At the end, I turn the heat off, add a package of coleslaw mix - shredded green and red cabbage and a few carrots - on top of the soup, and then I put the lid on the soup pot and let it sit for ten minutes. After that, I stir the cabbage into the soup and let it finish cooling. I really don't like cooked cabbage at all but it is delicious in the soup. I think the key has been not to let it cook into mush.
  • I'm currently experimenting with gluten-free bread. The first loaf tasted so much nicer than the bought stuff, risen properly or not, that we're currently eating the second loaf. This one rose better, but still not as well as I'd like, but apparently the texture is still better than the usual bought loaves. Another incentive is that a bag of gluten-free flour that will make four half pound loaves costs £1.70, while the not very nice small loaves start at £2.10. Better loaves cost £3.50 or more.

    Has anyone any experience? I started with the recipe on the back of the Doves Gluten-free Bread Flour packet - which uses the flour, oil, yeast, water and sugar, which I would use, but also vinegar and egg white. I guess the egg white is there to replace the gluten protein but am not sure about the vinegar. Could I omit this?

    The instructions are to beat half the oil, water, sugar and egg white thoroughly then add the flour and yeast, make a batter, then add the rest of the oil before leaving in a loaf tin to rise. It didn't rise.

    The second attempt I started the yeast in warm water with the sugar ending up with a rising mix when I added the flour and oil. Beat up the egg white and vinegar, fold into the batter, then the oil, leave to rise. The egg white didn't beat up with the vinegar (didn't really expect that, but the recipe said to). That version did rise better, but it still had soggy middle.

    For my next attempt I plan to use the same method to produce the batter, whisk up the egg white until it's stiff, fold in, add the oil and leave to rise, without the vinegar. Can anyone see any flaws in this?
  • I can't help feeling that the vinegar is important, though I have no clear idea why. To be honest, I've up making my own gluten free bread since I accepted that my lactose intolerance had become pretty much total, because the only successful version I've ever done used buttermilk prominently - this provided both protein and the souring agent, which is why I'm thinking that the vinegar might turn out to be crucial, possibly to both the structure and the flavour. However, there's only one way to find out, and if you're willing to go ahead, I'd be fascinated to know the results. You're inspiring me to make my own again.
  • We've just had beef cheeks slow cooked in stout, and they were delicious.

    One cheek is about a pound of meat so I took off the tough membrane and halved the cheek, browned in a pan, deglazed with a glug of Well Known Irish Stout, and whanged the lot in the slow cooker with carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and a beef stock cube. For one cheek add about half a bottle of said WKIS, and cook. Split the rest of the WKIS between you as a livener at lunchtime, and let the slow cooker work its magic until suppertime.

    AG
  • @ThunderBunk I used to make soda bread using baking soda and buttermilk to rise the mix - but that's off the menu for the same reasons as for you. There you need the acid to react with the soda creating carbon dioxide for the rise. And I have and adapt recipes for tea breads - one with banana and another with peanut butter, but they are almost cakes.

    I know that vinegar can be used to stabilise meringues, and there are theories as to why it works with bread, balanced against vinegar not being good for yeast. So it's not clear. I'm planning to try again today (as the last loaf was finished at breakfast).
  • My grandmother would always put yeast dough in a covered bowl near a sunny window or on top of a warm radiator for the dough to rise. Heat is important, I guess. But I'm sure you thought of that.

    Egg whites need to be spotlessly pure -- no bits of yolk or other ingredients -- for them to whip up. But I'm sure you knew that also.

    As for vinegar -- there used to be a ready-made cake mix called "Betty Crocker Snacking Cake" -- I don't believe it's made anymore -- where you had to add a teaspoon of white vinegar to the mix before baking. A later version of the product eliminated the vinegar and the commercials proclaimed that "Betty Crocker Snacking Cake is easier now!" Amazing what taxes people.
  • Snacking cake? Aren't all cakes for snacking?
  • Unless you eat enough to make a meal of.....
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    This evening I used my sometime model for Botanical Drawing - a pot of basil - to make pesto, which I stirred through pasta and topped with crispy fried pancetta.

    I felt terrifically Nigella-ish and middle class. Back to fish’n’chips tomorrow.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Firenze wrote: »
    ... I felt terrifically Nigella-ish and middle class ...
    I bet it tasted lovely though! :smiley:

    For today's lunch I made a Proper Curry™ with coriander, cardomum and dried chilli flakes (which I ground in a mortar and pestle); ginger, cumin and turmeric* (which were ready-ground); onion, garlic and celery; and a tomato that needed using up.

    I added chopped cooked chicken, a couple of chopped mushrooms, a handful of frozen peas, some chicken stock and a little cream.

    It's a long time since I've made a curry sans curry powder, but it was really a rather refreshing change, and I think I'll be doing it again.

    * Has anyone ever seen a whole turmeric?
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    edited February 2019
    Piglet wrote: »

    * Has anyone ever seen a whole turmeric?

    Yes. It’s a root rather like ginger, but boy does it stain your fingers yellow.
  • Local shop sells turmeric root - so I've seen it too
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Adobe is my new thing. Not just a mud building material but a far-eastern sauce of the sweet-sour variety.

    Fry cubed belly pork until browned. Tip into pot with lid. Drain off some of the fat if need be, the fry chopped onion, garlic and a bay leaf until translucent. Add to pot. Deglaze the pan with equal amounts cider or wine vinegar and palm sugar or honey plus an amount of soy sauce about one third greater, and an amount of water about equal to the other liquids. Add to pot, cover and simmer or oven cook for about 50 minutes. Cube pineapple and fry until caramelised and chuck that in. Give everything another 20 minutes, adding a littlewater if it’s too dry, or reducing if it’s too runny.
  • That sounds interesting.
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I know Adobe chicken as pinoy, made by a Filipino friend who uses brown sugar, three or four bay leaves and a lot of garlic. Very moreish.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    edited February 2019
    It was described as Filipino Adobe. And I forgot to mention pepper - lots of pepper.
  • LeafLeaf Shipmate
    I apologize in advance for scratching this pedantic itch:

    Adobe is a building technique.
    Adobo is a delicious Filipino chicken recipe.
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Um, thank you, Leaf.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    The eye sees what it wants to see and disregards the rest....
  • NenyaNenya All Saints Host, Ecclesiantics & MW Host
    Does anyone use quorn for mince recipes? I made a bolognese sauce with it recently and it tasted fine but I was completely put off because in the chewing I came across something that was exactly like a piece of gristle and I can't imagine what it was as there should have been no meat involved.

    In other news, since starting Slimming World I'm trying lots of new recipes and have discovered quark, which is a new thing to me but is useful for all sorts of sauces and cake toppings.
  • I wanted to make rice pudding and I did not have enough milk, so I used canned coconut milk instead. For vanilla I used some rum vanilla someone made me for Christmas. Outstanding, I am not going back.
  • I have made a half coconut/half cows milk rice pudding, adding half a can of full fat coconut milk left over from some other dish to the semi I had in the fridge. It was delicious - even without rum vanilla ;)
  • I usually make rice pudding with coconut milk - and sweeten it with dried fruit rather than sugar. A version I like is with cardamon pods and apricots. My daughter can't eat dairy, but this is worth doing anyway.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I've finally managed to find some lamb shanks! <yipee>

    Well, two to be exact (which was all they had), but they're huge, so I reckon each one should feed us both with the help of a few veggies.

    I can't tell you how happy this makes me. :smiley:
  • Piglet, brown it really well all over. Then garlic, onions and whatever else you like. Into casserole dish or slow cooker. Pepper and salt and some stock and crushed tomatoes or chopped in tin. Cook slowly till meat falls off the bone. Serve with mashed potato and a green salad. Loads of variations, but this is easy.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I like lamb cooked in white wine. Last night was steaks braised in wine* and stock, with onion, garlic and fresh rosemary.

    *anyone within striking distance of a Waitrose, they do these little plastic bottles of cooking wine for under a £1.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I usually do it pretty much as Loth suggested but without the tomatoes. Start by sautéing veggies (onion, carrots, celery and small halved potatoes) in olive oil over a medium-high heat, and while that's happening make slits in the meat and put in garlic crushed with salt and possibly a little crushed coriander. Transfer the veggies to the slow cooker then brown the shanks all over in the same pan and put them in on top of the veggies.

    Deglaze the frying pan with a little wine and put that into the slow cooker with a couple of sprigs of rosemary, a sprinkle of thyme and a bay leaf or two. Add some stock, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook until the meat's almost falling off the bone - High for 5-6 hours or Low overnight - by which time the house will smell like Heaven.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Possibly because it was the first thing I’ve made all week that actually corresponded to my appetite, I thought tonight’s dinner was v successful. Also cheap. And easy.

    Put some pasta on to cook.

    In the 10 minutes or so it takes, fry up some diced courgette, add a tin of salmon, a dash of lemon, a touch of chilli flakes, a glug of dry vermouth (optional), several tbsps of creme fraiche (or cream). Amalgamate with the pasta, and serve with a bowl of grated parmesan for sprinkling.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    In an absentminded moment I grabbed some lamb pieces with the bone in at the supermarket. There is more bone than meat so I was thinking of using the slow cooker to make stock, then soup. I am used to doing this with beef bones, but what would be the best flavourings to use with lamb?
  • Rosemary, but perhaps not in soup. Fresh herbs added at end. Leeks would take my fancy.,
  • Huia wrote: »
    In an absentminded moment I grabbed some lamb pieces with the bone in at the supermarket. There is more bone than meat so I was thinking of using the slow cooker to make stock, then soup. I am used to doing this with beef bones, but what would be the best flavourings to use with lamb?

    Garlic and rosemary. A tiny smidge of thyme. A dash of sweet paprika.

    I love lamb!

    AFF

  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Waitrose and Morrison’s are the only UK supermarkets IME offering bavette steak. If you see it, buy it.

    The secret to cooking it is a brief sear and a long rest. I gave it barely 2 minutes a side and put it with the warming plates for 10 minutes. Meanwhile I deglazed the pan with brandy, flambéed it, added a good dollop of grain mustard and some cream.

    The result - for tenderness and flavour - would see off many a rump or sirloin.
  • I’ve been gifted a slow cooker for my birthday. Hit me with your recipes folks!
  • Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, topped with any sauce. The ideas are endless. Honey and Soy, Bar-be-que, white sauce with mushrooms, A-1, or pasta sauce. Cook on high 3 hours or low for 6. When chicken is done take sauce from cooker and thicken to serve over rice or noodles. Add fresh parsley, or cilantro for a bit of color, and or a bit of grated cheese when serving. Have a salad and some bread dinner is done.
  • Whole cuts of meat, bread, all sorts of things go well. I find adding seasoning at the end rather than beginning of cooking time works well flavour tends to be lost. Soups go well in it.
  • HedgehogHedgehog Shipmate
    edited April 2019
    I have a slow-cook turkey soup recipe that is reasonably tasty:

    2 lbs Ground Turkey
    28 oz. Tomatoes, whole
    29 oz. Beef Broth
    1 cup Water
    16-18 oz. Soup Vegetables, frozen*
    ½ cup Barley
    1 tsp Salt
    1 tsp Thyme
    ½ tsp Coriander, ground
    Black Pepper, to taste

    Brown the ground turkey in a skillet. Then put everything into the slow cooker, cover and set on High for 4 hours.

    *Seriously, around here you can buy a bag of frozen "Soup Vegetables."
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Each winter I make a very intense and rich chicken stock/soup based on a recipe from smitten kitchen.

    It is really simple, just a couple of pounds of chicken wings, some chopped onion and a crushed clove of garlic, plus water to reach three-quarters of the way up the slow cooker. I leave it overnight, for about eight hours on low. Then I strain the stock and put in in the fridge for a few hours, skim off the fat.

    Brilliant for flu and sniffles, just a hot mugful with some toast triangles.
  • Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, topped with any sauce. The ideas are endless. Honey and Soy, Bar-be-que, white sauce with mushrooms, A-1, or pasta sauce. Cook on high 3 hours or low for 6. When chicken is done take sauce from cooker and thicken to serve over rice or noodles. Add fresh parsley, or cilantro for a bit of color, and or a bit of grated cheese when serving. Have a salad and some bread dinner is done.

    Chicken thighs and sauce sound good although I am trying to eat less meat.
    Lothlorien wrote: »
    Whole cuts of meat, bread, all sorts of things go well. I find adding seasoning at the end rather than beginning of cooking time works well flavour tends to be lost. Soups go well in it.

    Bread in a slow cooker? I’ll have to investigate.
    Hedgehog wrote: »
    I have a slow-cook turkey soup recipe that is reasonably tasty:

    2 lbs Ground Turkey
    28 oz. Tomatoes, whole
    29 oz. Beef Broth
    1 cup Water
    16-18 oz. Soup Vegetables, frozen*
    ½ cup Barley
    1 tsp Salt
    1 tsp Thyme
    ½ tsp Coriander, ground
    Black Pepper, to taste

    Brown the ground turkey in a skillet. Then put everything into the slow cooker, cover and set on High for 4 hours.

    *Seriously, around here you can buy a bag of frozen "Soup Vegetables."

    Soup vegetables are a new one on me but I’m sure I could improvise.

    MaryLouise wrote: »
    Each winter I make a very intense and rich chicken stock/soup based on a recipe from smitten kitchen.

    It is really simple, just a couple of pounds of chicken wings, some chopped onion and a crushed clove of garlic, plus water to reach three-quarters of the way up the slow cooker. I leave it overnight, for about eight hours on low. Then I strain the stock and put in in the fridge for a few hours, skim off the fat.

    Brilliant for flu and sniffles, just a hot mugful with some toast triangles.

    Chicken soup is definitely great for a cold. Plus it looks like it freezes too.

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I use mine for lamb shanks (see recipe about a dozen posts back), and for soups, casseroles or chilli if I'm doing a big batch. I have used it for stock, but I've got one of those pasta/stock pots with a strainer, and I find it easier to lift out the strainer with all the bones, veggies and whatnot and then divide up the stock once it's cooled a little.

    One bit of advice when using a slow-cooker: it's worth browning the meat in a frying-pan before putting it into the slow-cooker, then deglazing the pan with a little wine or stock, scraping up all the browned bits and adding that to the mix.

    @Huia, I'd echo what AFF said about garlic and rosemary to flavour your lamb stock - they'll go beautifully.
  • HedgehogHedgehog Shipmate
    @not entirely me I forgot to mention the recipe for turkey soup makes about 3 quarts...so you might have to adjust up or down, depending on the size of your slow cooker.
  • NenyaNenya All Saints Host, Ecclesiantics & MW Host
    Slow cookers are wonderful. Mine is on pretty much every day I'm at work. I sling in chopped chicken, vegetables (from a frozen bag of mixed casserole veg if I don't have much time) and a sauce - a can of something like white wine and cream is quick and easy. Leave on low all day.

    Last Sunday I did a meal for six and did a whole chicken in the slow cooker which freed up all the oven space for roasties, little sausages, stuffing etc. I did the same with the turkey crown on Christmas Day. On that day the other slow cooker was dealing with the Christmas pudding.

    I'm trying a new recipe for tea this evening - pizza-topped pasta bake. I'll let you know how that goes.
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