Food

Low-n-slow pizza oven lamb worked out pretty well. The shoulder was ridiculously juicy, went in dry over some veg and came out like stew. The smoked squash dip went with it very well.

I toasted the flatbreads on the embers for a nice smokey/charred taste.

The birch I took a gamble on at £4 a bag from Home Bargains yesterday was incredible; it burned hot, slow and left barely any ash.

Looks immense. I'm assuming the lamb was cooked with a lid on?

Try and get a tangia pot. It’s a particular earthenware pot like a vase. Used for a Moroccan workers dish. Cheep cuts of lamb, with lemon, spices and chopped onion and garlic. The top is covered with paper and tied up. Traditionally left at a bakers at the beginning of the day it is cooked in the residual heat of the bakers oven and collected after work.

Properly amazing. All the juice from the lamb is retained and turns into a deeply rich sauce.

https://marocmama.com/making-marrakechi-tangia-home/

The circulon pans I got 10 years ago are still perfectly fine. I've killed a few Tefal non stick ones though

Frying pans? Mine are definitely knackered and I do make a moderate effort to look after them.

Cast iron frying pan for steak cooking. Stainless chefs pan for general cooking duties, and a nonstick pan for omelettes and pancakes.

Yes, in this big tagine thing that I acquired after someone I know changed ovens and couldn’t get it to fit in the new one

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I saw those cooking in Marrakesh years ago and looked for one for sale back here but didn’t manage to find one. The one I use is pretty good as its lid doesn’t have a hole and is heavy so little juice is lost. Your recipe does remind me that I should buy some decent preserved lemons though

They seep a little bit, but only water gets through. I think there is something about the tall thin neck which means the fat/oil forms a sort of lid that controls the liquid loss. I have made it in casserole dishes but never quite the same.

Annoyingly I had two Tangia pots. One got knocked and split. The other was used as a vase, but forgotten about and ended up with mould inside and out. It’s a very porous delicate clay. Cheap as chips in Marrakesh but no one seems to import them to the UK.

I guess they’re probably a bit tall for British ovens. The main chamber of my oven could probably accommodate it but the mouth is much lower so I’d worry about tilting a hot pot full of deliciousness with clumsy mits on

Has anyone dispensed with non stick pans altogether?
The circulon non sticks

Once the anodized surface has gone, they actually do pretty well with being treated like cast iron

I have taken a metal scourer to my other half's Circulon frying pan and with proper care (don't wash with detergent too often & regular seasoning) it's as non-stick as anything else I have with a Teflon surface.

Yep. Mixture of stainless, carbon steel and seasoned or enamelled cast iron .

Do have a non-stick sauté pan but I don't use it much. Mainly for really tomatoey stuff where I don't want the acid to eat away pan seasoning. Would trade it for a nice stainless one if I could.

Pick the right pan for the job and you can do anything. Stainless makes perfect omelettes and fried eggs if you get it hot first and use enough fat.

I tend to use Tefal non-stick or similar for things like omlettes and scrambled eggs (although that's mainly because of the size of the pan) but I do things like meat, fish, pilaf, cornbread, etc in the frying pan with no problem.

My other half is mates with a fisherman's wife (not a euph), we now have access to fresh off the boat tiger prawns and squid... Chucked some on the griddle pan this evening, bloody wonderful...

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Goldmine!

oh yes make sure that friendship stays strong! Garlic chili prawns 👏👏👏

So my diet's up in the air ATM, I'm on low acid foods this week so have to avoid things like onion, garlic, chilli, tomato, i.e. the foods I eat every fucking day of my life... I went out for some chicken tenderloins earlier but found a whole free range chicken for not much more... Took it home, deboned, portioned and thrown into a hot oven with salt and olive oil and what a revelation in flavour!?! Absolutely delicious... This might not be so bad after all...

The bone broth is bubbling away as we speak...

gtfo with your "bone broth" paleo nonsense.

It's stock. Chicken stock.

I prefer caldo de gallina... I eat it as it is, don't you?

BTW u ok, hun?

gtfo with your "BTW u ok, hun?" Internet nonsense.

It's "Are you alright?"

"Are you alright, my good sir?"

tips fedora

URGENT NEED FOR HOT POCKETS INTENSIFIES

hot pockets

m'hunnymussytendies, ackchewerly.

Thing is, you can make anything simple into something exceptional with just a little thought and love... I've gone big on chicken broth, always made it but totally changed my method after getting some tips on here... The results went from excellent to exceptional...

My butcher always looks at me funny, 80% of the time I go in to see him I buy bones... They're not very sophisticated around these parts...