Food

Had the last of the Asian BBQ pulled pork last night, stir-fried with black fungus and rice noodles... Absolutely amazing... Will deffo be doing this again...

Sounds and looks lish. What specific Asian stuff was in the marinade?

Cross post.
Weekend plans involve the dual recipes:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/23/pumpkin-cheesecake-recipe-dan-lepard
and
http://www.lfgss.com/post3799740-123.html

If I manage to not eat the labneh first.

On second thought, I may just go get some za'atar and eat the labneh with the bread.

Currently in Margate sat in here: http://greatbritishpizzacompany.wordpress.com/

I am excite.

Sounds and looks lish. What specific Asian stuff was in the marinade?

Off the top of my head...
• coupla chillis
• big finger of ginger
• 5-6 cloves of garlic
• zest and juice of an orange
• red onion
• coupla spring onions
• tablespoon of szechuan peppercorns
• glug of rapeseed oil
• good glug of soy sauce
• good glug of ABC sauce (Kecap manis)
• salt and pepper

Whizzed it all up with the Bamix and marinaded the pork in a bag overnight... Cooked for eight hours, 30mins on top heat then down to gas mark 1 for the rest... Took it out every hour to baste then reduced the marinade/meat juices down to a thick sauce...

I studded the meat with lots of garlic and ginger and rested it on a trivet of onions which melted down and made the gravy even more delicious...

I'm hungry again... :)

Currently in Margate sat in here: http://greatkazakhpizzacompany.wordpress.com/

I am excite.

Blimey, they get in everywhere, don't they?

Haha! It was awesome!

Fuck yea TS, that one's going on the to cook list. In other news, wife and I have a 3lb Cote de Beouf in the larder. Seen some wild horseradish plants on a ride, growing in a verge half a mile away, hmm can I be arsed to get the spade out and go?

Not sure whether it is the right thread, but really wanted to share my mum's winter preps!

I have three ridiculously huge pork chops from The Butchery in F'Hill left over a barbecue on Saturday. They've been marinating in home made jerk seasoning since then. Just ran home and have a powerful appetite. I think we all know how this ends.

Oh my god. Eating my mums Khichra for lunch. My absolute favourite thing ever. So good.

Horro - if your mum makes picallilli and decides to sell some, let me know

indeed jam exchange... https://www.lfgss.com/thread99266.html

Potted beef is immense!

I decided to try a veggie burger on Saturday. Mixed feelings about the results.

For starters, I couldn't get hold of brioche buns, which I was kind of banking on. Tesco used to do Finest burger buns which were brioche but my local Tesco said they don't sell them any more.

I kind of mixed a few ideas/recipes I found, the main idea was from Umami, I boiled edamame beans, mixed them with chopped mushrooms, garlic, ginger, coriander, salt, pepper, mirin and Sriracha sauce. This is where the difficult part came, the mixture was wet, and me adding an egg to bind it didn't help at all. I stupidly added a second egg which made it worse. I was going to fry in panko breadcrumbs so I added a bunch to the mix which helped a little bit. I managed to make 2 patties, that mostly stuck together, so I coated the outside in the panko breadcrumbs and I fried them.

To go in the bun with the burger I crushed avocado with garlic and wasabi, and spread it over the burger, then topped with spring onions and pickled ginger.

I was pleasantly surprised given how I'd just kind of made it up myself, it was under-seasoned, not enough garlic or ginger, and there was no heat despite the Sriracha and Wasabi.

So round two I added more garlic and ginger, more Sriracha, and I added flour to soak up the liquid. I was sure it would work better this time but I think I went too big and they both fell apart in the pan, and my suspicions were confirmed when the half that had stayed together almost filled the bun. Far too big, so they maybe would have worked that time but I hadn't sized it right. They tasted much better though so I know how to improve the taste.

I added the leftover breadcrumbs I had taken out of the packet into the leftover burger mix, tried to drain it a bit and left it in my girlfriend's fridge overnight. I wasn't there to test on Sunday but my girlfriend said she made a couple that turned out really well, they stayed in one piece and crisped up nicely on the outside. Maybe it was because the mix had sat in the fridge overnight, or maybe the extra breadcrumbs in the mix, or maybe both, but the smaller size definitely helped I think.

Anyway, a pic of the first go:

The problem with making a veggie burger is that there are so many options and no go-to 'classic' recipe. Felicity Cloake tried this recently:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/aug/22/how-to-make-perfect-bean-burgers

I haven't done it, so no idea if it's as good as she says.

Well I wish I'd read that first because it confirms everything I tried that made it work on the Sunday. Namely the extra breadcrumbs, and chilling overnight.

Had a Dirty Burger on Saturday night... I definitely think Shake Shack is better.

WTF? Get out. I don't even need to try Shake Shack.

Had a Dirty Burger on Saturday night... I definitely think Shake Shack is better.

wrong

Had a Five Guys on Sat, not been right since, think they poisoned me

WTF? Get out. I don't even need to try Shake Shack.

wrong

1. Burger meat was obviously a great aged blend, but not fatty and juicy enough. It was maybe a little underseasoned and there was no crust on the patty. Flavour good though. Shake Shack has a discernable Crust from the flat top and its messy and delicious - also lovely and salty.

2. Bun - I think it was a kind of Brioche? I'm not sure. Either way it was dry and there was too much of it. The Martin's potato roll they use at the 'shack, for me, is the perfect burger bun - it's soft and gooey and soaks up all the juice from the burger without falling apart.

3. Cheese - some kind of Cheddar at DB. For me the only cheese on a burger should be American. It just works better. It flows into the patty and melts like a sauce. The cheddar or whatever it is was tasty but doesnt have a place on a classic burger, for me.

4. Vegetables - I liked the shredded lettuce and the way it mixed with the sauce. The fact they use iceburg is great, the pickle, however, sucked. it was flaccid, didn't have much flavour and tasted more like a cucumber slice. Needed to be fresher and sharper (believe, me I love pickles, this isn't down to a dislike of pickles). Tomato was nothingy - admittedly Shake Shack isn't much better. But they don't have shitty pickles on their burger.

5. Sauce - actually DB is quite similar to SS and I like both equally... HOWEVER, frying the patty in American yellow mustard put me off. I wouldn't put mustard on my burger, though... Save that shit for a Hebrew National. I get that it's a homage to In-N-Out, but whatever, its not for me!

6/10

Anyway, it's a personal opinion, but I've eaten many a burger in my time... And I just thought it was ok.

I'm just joshing you anyway, everyone has their preferences, db just ticks my boxes!

Had a Five Guys on Sat, not been right since, think they poisoned me

foffa thread >>>>>>

Went to Ottolenghi in Islington last night for a birthday treat. Dee-lish-us.

We ordered grilled peaches with bitter leaves, prawns with a chickpea and spinach thing, pork belly with plums, and tofu with an almost seafood-esq salad. Everything was very good especially the prawns, but as we were tucking in we saw someone else being served something in a basket type thing so we asked the waitress what it was. Corn bread in corn leaves, and very tasty it was indeed served with whipped feta and a beetroot and ginger salad.

Didn't really need pudding but we shared a chocolate and rum cake bomb which was basically a chocolate tart without the pastry. So rich. So creamy. So good.

£80 for two with wine. More than I'd normally spend but totally worth it.