Food

too much moisture in oven will definitely interfere with maillard on
top

That’s the weird thing about steam. I randomly add it when roasting veg or whatever and despite plumes when I open the oven, everything always browns and crisps well. Witchcraft.

Moisture transfers heat better than dry air.

Yeah I thought like all pro kitchen use steam ovens…

I’ve made this banana cake recipe a few times now and it’s an absolute winner. I used to just freeze bananas when they went brown and now just rustle up one of these. I only use 80g of sugar as I think that’s sweet enough.

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Anyone got a good glazed ham recipe?

This is a hock one, but can be done for hams too.

https://web.archive.org/web/20211019144849/https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/toms-hot-smoked-cider-glazed-ham-hock

Consider me corrected!

Going to try that. Like unsweetened almond milk over milk as I like the flavour of almonds.

Awkward situation in the Italian deli yesterday. Went in hoping to get some fennel pollen after the butcher recommended it for the porchetta and a quick Google confirmed it. Owner of deli looked at me quizzically, then said that I'd got the wrong word and I was looking for fennel seeds and I had to stand there and listen to him tell me how to make a porchetta while holding in the intense desire to say, akchually ....

hi foodies, i have no oven for christmas but 2 hobs and a microwave. I want to cook something banging, i guess it’ll be some kind of stew or a stew and a something else, in addition to yummy veggies and salad. I’m in s spain. there’s amazing produce. i don’t want to hold back. my policy is to not buy meat or fish but I might be persuaded if someone comes with something, persuasive. I was thinking something cooked in booze, or insane quantities of garlic, or something saffrony. was going to get some killer goats cheese (peyoyo) and delicious wine

What is the local Christmas traditions in that area?

Donkeys. Off church towers.

Bought some short rib and some chuck today (hello ragu thing) for Christmas Day from my butcher.
The use by date is today. wtf? Do I freeze it or ignore the date?

Cook it today. And then keep chilled until Xmas day or even freeze until Christmas Eve. See later edit as I wouldn’t want your family to risk getting unwell.

Internet has so much variation in how long a meat ragu will last in a fridge.

If you have a vacuum chamber then I’d risk vacuum packing and keeping in the fridge.

If not then let it cool and freeze so it can be defrosted Xmas Eve.

I tend to think ragu works best if cooked the day prior to eating. We made a huge batch in the pressure cooker two weeks ago. Softend the soffrito, then seared off a few kg of beef shin (with a light seasoned flour dredge) deglazed with red wine and boiled off the alcohol, added a couple of bay leaves and 5 or 6 strips of lemon zest, tinned tomatoes a mug of water and returned the soffrito and beef to the pot. 50 mins in pressure cooker. Drained off the liquid and reduced by 2/3 and while that was happening shredded the meat and removed any gristly bits of connective tissue.

We have vacuum bags of it in the freezer now.

At my local butcher every thing you buy comes with today's date as the use by. Arse covering I guess, and avoids them having to think about it - reckon you can keep it until it looks or smells less fresh

So wait until it smells bad? And then ditch it? How do you know if it will smell bad tomorrow?

Ha yeah on reflection this is maybe not a foolproof Christmas strategy. I would call the butcher up and ask. My point was really just that the use by date is probably not real

I’ll freeze it till Monday. NO TIME TO COOK.

Just annoyed after the conversation with the dudes and it was clear what I was doing and when.

I cooked mine yesterday - ate two ribs, then cut the rest up for chilli, and froze it.

Things to keep you warm. Smoked chicken white bean chili. The seasoned skin makes a fantastic crunchy topping.

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Cooking Goose at my in laws this Christmas and I'm looking for a little advice on how to cook it.

Recipes online seem split between taking off the legs and cooking them separately to the crown or roasting as a whole bird. I'm leaning to doing the legs separately.

As I'm at my in laws I'm without sous vide wand, temperature probe and have an unusual oven to contend with so will be reliant on timings, oven temperatures and touch.

Has anyone got a fool proof method they're up for sharing?

that looks glorious!

I've cooked it as a whole bird the last few years (if it fits..). I always have to google the timings, but I would say a temperature probe will make it a lot easier -- I've found that the online timings tend to be way too long.

Make sure that you have a proper trivet underneath it as there will be a lot of fat coming out of it, and you need a deep pan as you really don't want to get it on the bottom of the oven. Prick the skin before putting it in, then baste it from time to time and remove any excess fat from the pan if it looks like it's getting too full.

Give it a good resting period before serving. Leftovers make great 'peking goose' pancakes the next day too.....you can crisp is back up under the grill.

Honestly is my favourite meat though, so enjoy it!

Butcher it down to the crown which can be simply roasted. Confit the rest - this can be done the day before.