The cookery thread

[SuperBacon]

2 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

passata, a shake of hot sauce and squirt of tomato puree.

Not a seafood fan myself, but sounds really nice, especially the potatoes.

[FLips]

Big seafood fan here so that sounds right up my street. Good stuff Daz.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Part 2 (spoiler; it was a little bit dryer than last night)

Chicken & Cavolo Nero Pasta

Fried some chopped chicken first, with some oregano, thyme and parsley. Left to one side, then fried some garlic, added the chopped cavolo nero and a tin of cannelloni beans (w/ the water). Put in 150ml water with 2 stock cubes and cooked till it had reduced. Boiled some pasta. Added the pasta and the chicken bag to the big pan, mixed and added lemon zest and the juice of a lemon.

Served with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

It was good stuff.

7/10

[d-d-d-dAz]

Part 3 (Sufficiently wet)

Bullshit Bolognese

A clear-the-fridge special. Onion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, aubergines, bay leaves, chicken stock, various herbs, Chili Flakes, passata, chopped tomatoes, squirt of hot sauce, squirt of Worcestershire sauce, a few bay leaves kicking about, some chicken mince. Get that lot bubbling away for an hour or so, then lob in some spinach and what's left of the fresh Parsley and you're away. Served with whole wheat pasta which my wife described as 'my favourite food... but shit'.

5/10 (I liked it, my wife didn't particularly and I probably wouldn't serve to anyone else)

[d-d-d-dAz]

A bumper update as we enter the end game of my 7 day cooking chronicle to prove I'm not a complete moron. Mixed results, admittedly, so far and boy we had a bad one yesterday.

Part 4 (Dry... and shit)

A cod disaster

On paper, this should have been easy. Short on time, everything in the oven and then shallow fry some cod. Easy.

You'd think.

Chopped aubergines, red onions, courgettes and cherry tomatoes in a tray, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with various herbs.  A second pan with chopped new potatoes drizzled with olive oil. Pan fried some cod.

The potatoes were nice. The vegetables were over done so a burnt mushy mess, and the cod completely fell apart in the pan.

Awful. Disaster. 1/10.

Part 5

Beef Ragu

Never done anything quite so adventurous, and you could argue that was a risk after the fishy nightmare the day before.

First, seasoned some beef braising steak with oregano, thyme and rosemary and browned in olive oil. Chopped finely and left to one side.

Using the same casserole dish, fried up some onion, courgette, carrot, celery and garlic. Added some tomato puree and 400ml Pinot Noir and cooked off some of the alcohol. Added 500ml stock, 200g Passata and 400g chopped tomatoes and brought to the boil. Reduced to a simmer, put the beef back in and added two star anise, a cinnamon stick and 2 bay leaves.

Lid on, stuck in the oven on a low heat for 2h30 before taking the lid off, removing the cinnamon stick and star anise, then stirring and cooking for another 30 mins.

Boiled some pasta. When the ragu was done, out the oven and back on the hob. Took the bay leaves out, added the pasta and a sprinkle more mixed herbs. Grated in some parmigiano and mixed together.

Served with a bit more Grated parmigiano on top.

10/10. Best thing I've ever made. Absolutely buzzing with that.

Game of two halves.

Edited October 19, 2024 by d-d-d-dAz

[SuperBacon]

@d-d-d-dAz please learn how to post pics. 

[wordsfromlee]

18 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Beef Ragu

Never done anything quite so adventurous, and you could argue that was a risk after the fishy nightmare the day before.

First, seasoned some beef braising steak with oregano, thyme and rosemary and browned in olive oil. Chopped finely and left to one side.

Using the same casserole dish, fried up some onion, courgette, carrot, celery and garlic. Added some tomato puree and 400ml Pinot Noir and cooked off some of the alcohol. Added 500ml stock, 200g Passata and 400g chopped tomatoes and brought to the boil. Reduced to a simmer, put the beef back in and added two star anise, a cinnamon stick and 2 bay leaves.

Lid on, stuck in the oven on a low heat for 2h30 before taking the lid off, removing the cinnamon stick and star anise, then stirring and cooking for another 30 mins.

Boiled some pasta. When the ragu was done, out the oven and back on the hob. Took the bay leaves out, added the pasta and a sprinkle more mixed herbs. Grated in some parmigiano and mixed together.

Served with a bit more Grated parmigiano on top.

10/10. Best thing I've ever made. Absolutely buzzing with that.

Game of two halves.

Top Tip: when cooking a ragu, use the entire bottle of win and reduce it down by like 80% before adding all the other liquid. It's mega.

[d-d-d-dAz]

1 minute ago, wordsfromlee said:

Top Tip: when cooking a ragu, use the entire bottle of win and reduce it down by like 80% before adding all the other liquid. It's mega.

Drinking the remaining half of the bottle is my major plan for the remainder of the evening, though ?

[wordsfromlee]

3 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Drinking the remaining half of the bottle is my major plan for the remainder of the evening, though ?

One bottle for the food, one bottle for the chef. Thats how it goes.

[mim731]

4 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Drinking the remaining half of the bottle is my major plan for the remainder of the evening, though ?

Just buy two bottles, it's the only sensible solution. 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

3 minutes ago, wordsfromlee said:

One bottle for the food, one bottle for the chef. Thats how it goes.

The Keith Floyd as its known in our house. 

[mim731]

First roast of the season, very enjoyable afternoon.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Part 6

If you stay in the business long enough, you become the gimmick... brother

When starting this project, i completely forgot I had a hospital appointment on Thursday which will see your food hero being put to sleep and a Doctor inserting cameras into anywhere they can find an entrance.

As such, my plain diet has had to start in earnest and tonight I had plain chicken breast with skinless mashed potato and parmesan.

3 days of this, then a day of not eating.

I've become the gimmick, brother.

0/10.

Edited October 20, 2024 by d-d-d-dAz

[Dead Mike]

Toad in the Hole. 10 sausages up in that bitch.

[Gus Mears]

Look at this delicious porcine monstrosity I've created.

Edited December 23, 2024 by Gus Mears