Food

Will I become the hulk after finishing a bag?

pig cheek stew with half a bottle of red wine cooked slow for 3.5 hrs. porky goodness

Anywhere SE sell sumac?

Damas Gate in Shepherd's Bush and Green Valley on Edgware Road sell them for certain , not sure about anywhere else I'd imagine very turkish shop would

The Spice Shop on Drummond Street has sumac and pretty much anything else spice-wise.

^^http://foratasteofpersia.co.uk/

i got sumac in waitrose... hangs head in shame...

nowt wrong with waitrose. besides the fact that they treat their staff better than any other supermarket, have a transparent sourcing policy, take animal welfare seriously, they have arguably the finest tramp's buffet in all christendom, at least the one in Balham does.

/bumped into a gone but not forgotten Mr & Mrs forumengercouple there on xmas eve as it happens.
//and i know it was him who's been sending me filthy texts of late, you saucy minx.

^ Hahaha...

There are some lovely courgettes (the light green, stripey ones) at Nour Cash & Carry at the mo', get 'em while you can... Made the best courgette soup ever last night, just polished off the last of it for my lunch... Rich, creamy and very courgettey... £1 for two nice sized ones...

They have arguably the finest tramp's buffet in all christendom, at least the one in Balham does.

Their tramp's buffet is a lots cheaper than Tesco much to my surprised.

£1 for two nice sized ones...

yeah but how did they taste?

Hmmm light courgettes are made of pure win. They hard to come by in UK?

You can get them but they're always crazy expensive... My faves are the yellow ones..

You can get them but they're always crazy expensive... My faves are the yellow ones..

same here.

/are we still talking about courgettes?

gonna make a cheesecake for my soup night, made one on the weekend and it was good.
Thinking a vanilla and apple caramel one.
What I'd like to do is biscuit base, layer of apples, cover liberally in caramel, then cover in vanilla goodness, and bake.

I've got a couple of recipes that I can combine to create the whole, but anyone done anything similar or have any suggestions, let me know..

in case you were wondering, am gonna make tomato and bread soup - had some in florence and it was amazing, and a wonton noodle soup for the meat eaters.

Look to Persia for alternative spicing for the apples - cardamom & rosewater in particular make for a really different apple experience.

<- reigning Forum Apple Pie./Crumble Bake Off Champion

^^ Make sure the biscuit base layer is sturdy, for the apple juices might come through.

Caramelise the apples before baking. No juice issues to worry about.

Youre the champion!

aroogah, was looking at that, caramelising the apples before baking, but I've also seen that some coat the biscuit base with egg white and bake the base for 10mins or so, which makes it sturdier, so you might not need to caramelise, but think it would make it a better dessert to have them caramelised on the base.

Then I wouldn't add an extra layer of caramel. Could be overkill.

originally the idea was to not caramelise, but have caramel layer on top, now I think the idea is to caramalise spiced apples..

+calvados for a kicker

if my dad hadn't have sneakily drunk my bottle of calvados, there would be much adding of calvados..

Get a new bottle, period. Just imagine the soft taste, yet slightly firm structure of the vanilla substance in your mouth, accompanied by the sweet prosperity of the biscuit base getting bombed by caramelised sweet and soft apple with a sharp yet delicate touch of calvados tipping it off.

Yes. Please get a new bottle.