The cookery thread

[Keith Houchen]

Get a Le Creuset is my stock answer. Obviously they cost loads but TK Maxx always have some that are affordable to dole scum like me. 
 

Edit - Add me to the scotch bonnet brigade, such a great mix of flavour and heat. 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Keith Houchen

[Chest Rockwell]

There's one on ProCook that's on sale that I was eyeing up, but my question is on whether I really need it rather than what brand to buy. 

[Keith Houchen]

11 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

There's one on ProCook that's on sale that I was eyeing up, but my question is on whether I really need it rather than what brand to buy. 

Ha! I got my pro cook email today about the sale! My brother has a LC Dutch oven and it’s all he uses pretty much. 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

37 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Hey gang. Looking for someone to sell me on buying a proper heavyweight casserole dish, rather than just using a normal cooking pot with a lid for everything like I currently do. 

I know theoretically why they are better, but to what extent do they make a noticeable difference to food? What are the scenarios in which they make the most difference? 

I am a Le Creuset wanker Chest, but I also have a non branded casserole dish in the same style and honestly there is nothing between them. I find the difference is in how the dish retains the heat as opposed to just a pot with a lid. It will retain the heat longer, allowing for the contents to be cooked more gently. That may be in my mind, but that's what I see as the difference. I'm sure a better cook might be able to tell you the technical difference, but that's all I've got. 

[Carbomb]

Sainsbury's do their own Le Creuset knock-off brand - I know quite a few people who have one from them, and they've said it's a perfectly cromulent substitute for the real thing.

[deathrey]

I have the Aldi knock off of Le Creuset. I find it makes lovely casseroles and pies, I'm not sure of the science but as Lion said I think it's to do with the heat and the rate at which it cooks, they generally taste much better than pies/casseroles cooked in anything else unless I've done the filling in the slow cooker. So do you need one? Not really but I think they are good to have, I think you getter a better tasting product and as I don't have pans that can go in the oven, I like that I can use it on the stove and then stick it in the oven.

Edited November 8, 2023 by deathrey

[Thunderplex]

3 hours ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Hey gang. Looking for someone to sell me on buying a proper heavyweight casserole dish, rather than just using a normal cooking pot with a lid for everything like I currently do. 

I know theoretically why they are better, but to what extent do they make a noticeable difference to food? What are the scenarios in which they make the most difference? 

I’ve always had an iron heavyweight casserole dish since getting married and haven’t really used anything else.  The heat distribution is very even and heat retention is top notch.  It just feels right as well using a heavy pot for these things.  Drop them, they don’t break, but can fuck your toes up grand style.

[tiger_rick]

Saw someone post that they are "Burning music to CD years old" and someone reply that they are "Recording songs off the radio onto cassette tape years old", which I'm sure most of us qualify for both. Well, I'm now "Bought a chest freezer for the garage" years old. My auntie used to have a spare fridge/freezer in the shed. Always thought it was such an old person thing to do, though it was mainly full of beer which made it cooler (geddit?)

We've been juggling with our freezer for ages. I'm constantly throwing away leftovers because the latest leftovers need fridge space, or defrosting stuff in the vain hope that someone will turn up and be hungry! Finally, done something about it. An exciting prospect is that I bought an ice cream machine during lockdown and it's never been used because I've never had enough freezer space for the bucket thing. Looking to make some ice cream this weekend!

[mim731]

5 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Saw someone post that they are "Burning music to CD years old" and someone reply that they are "Recording songs off the radio onto cassette tape years old", which I'm sure most of us qualify for both. Well, I'm now "Bought a chest freezer for the garage" years old. My auntie used to have a spare fridge/freezer in the shed. Always thought it was such an old person thing to do, though it was mainly full of beer which made it cooler (geddit?)

We've been juggling with our freezer for ages. I'm constantly throwing away leftovers because the latest leftovers need fridge space, or defrosting stuff in the vain hope that someone will turn up and be hungry! Finally, done something about it. An exciting prospect is that I bought an ice cream machine during lockdown and it's never been used because I've never had enough freezer space for the bucket thing. Looking to make some ice cream this weekend!

I did likewise a few years ago when we were expecting our eldest and its been a game changer. Just batch cooking loads of really nice meals, often in the slow cooker, has been a huge help both financially with food costs, and in terms of time. Having easily defrostable meals ready to go for two under-5s was also superb. 

[SuperBacon]

Its not much to look at, but I was really pleased with how this chickpea, spinach and potato curry came out tonight.

I used baby potatoes and they worked pretty well, but any recommendations welcome. Also, how can I get it a bit thicker whilst it's cooking? I'm not very confident with changing things around when it's cooking I'm afraid.

My 10yo said to me "Dude, there is a LOT of onion in this" 😂 

[Onyx2]

On 11/8/2023 at 4:05 PM, Carbomb said:

Sainsbury's do their own Le Creuset knock-off brand - I know quite a few people who have one from them, and they've said it's a perfectly cromulent substitute for the real thing.

Agreed with everything Carbomb says here about Sainsbury's Le Creuset knock off being great, apart from use of the word cromulent which is frankly uncromulent. But a ceramic of this size becomes a universal cookpot because of their heat transfer and consistency. I used mine just tonight to make a risotto (Carbomb it was to the MPW recipe, just like he uses) but it works great for any casserole type recipe.

@SuperBacon you have different options here: boil it hard to reduce the water out, though as you added spinach raw you'll be fighting a lot of water. What's the base, is it tinned tomatoes?

You can also add a cornflour slurry (about a teaspoon of cornflour to same of water, stirred through), and powdered coconut milk works well for a curry. In your dish you can also smush the chickpeas to add thickeness to the sauce, or cook the potatoes longer and they'll release starch.

I wouldn't do this in a curry but you can also add a mix of butter and flour to other more European dishes. This is called beurre manie.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Onyx2

[SuperBacon]

1 minute ago, Onyx2 said:

What's the base, is it tinned tomatoes?

It was indeed. The spinach was added maybe 2 minutes before the end. Is there something else I should be doing with it?

Thanks for the tips, will try them all next time. 

[deathrey]

Mashing a bit of the potato down is also a cheats way to thicken it up, but traditionally you would just cook it out for longer for it to thicken. Low heat, lid on if it has a lid.

[deathrey]

1 minute ago, SuperBacon said:

It was indeed. The spinach was added maybe 2 minutes before the end. Is there something else I should be doing with it?

Thanks for the tips, will try them all next time. 

You can blanche it before adding it, then it should already have released its water and it won't release it in your dish.

[tiger_rick]

As no one asked, here's the first attempt at making Ice Cream. Recipe from this book that I've had as long as the ice Cream machine, about 2.5 years or so:

Went for this one as I had everything to make it except cream:

Here's it going in to the machine, making a mess and giving a clue as to an all-mighty cock-up:

And here it is after 15-20 mins or so of whipping:

It was pretty delicious. I've not had much but the kids had a big bowl and said it was "banging". Like yer Mum on Saturday night. Hey, oh.

Anyway, said cock-up. I misread it and instead of adding the milk to the melted chocolate, I put the milk in the cream mix and then added the chocolate on it's own. It kind of worked but all those little specs are bits of chocolate where it didn't amalgamate with the cream properly. Didn't really change the flavour but doesn't look like Chocolate Ice Cream should.