Food

Is the tofu supposed to have the texture of Lego? I am disappoint

mums way of staying in touch with their children

Love this, enjoy!

Haha. I love it

Couple of minutes with the kitchen tweezers and that shit is out of here

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Oxtail and butter beans recipe , not the Guyanese 4 day method, lifted from the interwebz. You need a Dutch pot. Here goes;

Ingredients

• 1 can lima/butter beans
  
• 4lb oxtail trimmed
  
• 2 large onions chopped
  
• 3 spring onions chopped
  
• 4 garlic cloves smashed
  
• 3 carrots chopped
  
• 1 bunch fresh thyme
  
• 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes or 1 scotch bonnet pepper seeds included
  
• 4 teaspoons hot paprika
  
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 2 tablespoons ketchup*
  
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce*
  
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce*
  
• 4 cups low-sodium beef broth just enough to slightly cover the oxtail
  
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste
  
• 1 tablespoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon pimento seeds (optional)
  
  

Instructions
Prep cleanse oxtail using freshly squeezed lemon juice, this draws out any residue

1. In a large tub, add oxtail, onions, spring onions, garlic, thyme, red pepper, paprika, bay leaf, soy sauce, pimento seeds, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce
   
2. marinate at least 4 hours or overnight in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally.
   
3. Remove the oxtail from marinade. In a large dutch pot heat up enough oil to brown the oxtail. When the oil is hot not burning, place the oxtail in the dutch pot and brown on all sides. Remove the brown oxtail and place in slow cooker. Add enough broth to cover the oxtail. Also toss in the marinade from the chilled tub, tomatoes, and carrots. Set on high and cook for 7-8 hours. Until the meat becomes tender.
   
4. Every hour check on the oxtail and keep slightly covered with liquid.
   
5. At 6 hours, add the beans, tomato paste, and more of beef broth and/or water, if needed. Then simmer uncovered 1 hour, skimming fat off top and stirring occasionally. In the last 1/2 hour of cook time, season with 1- 2 tablespoons salt and fresh ground black pepper. Serve with rice and peas.
   
6. *Don't forget to remove bay leaves.
   
   

There are Guyanese spices which has Indian influence from her UK colonial past not listed here.

Like many immigrants, the Indians in Guyana prefer the flavors of their homeland: the heavy spices of South India including fenugreek, coriander, cumin, fennel, cinnamon, cloves and hot peppers, in this case the seven-pod pepper or Congo pepper, which is hotter than the habanero and more ribbed

But I reckon it is cassareep from the Amerindian indigenous people of Guyana that makes this dish unique.

*So my guess is substitute out Ketchup, Worcestershire and Soy Sauces from ingredients listed above

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassareep

mum’s home cooking is always going to taste better than anyone else’s right? I know families that travel across the globe just to taste food they grew up with as a child, whether it’s here in the UK, Caribbean or Africa. Mums rarely write this down, it’s a case of observe the method in the kitchen if you want that taste sensation

“we get the oxtail from butcher’s in Plaistow though, special order. The down side is that the more popular these cuts become, the price starts to rise due to demand thanks to a celebrity chef waxing lyrical about, let me think … oh yes ox cheeks..”

im a big fan of ox cheek, use it for ragu and curry, used to buy it for bobbins in my local supermarket when they had a meat counter pre-covid but then it disappeared from the shelves, but last week i bought some ‘lean casserole steak’ which was 3 large chicken breast sized pieces of course grained meat with thin flecks of fat running through it.
It looks like ox cheek, tastes like ox cheek but i guess they don’t call it that as it puts people off who don’t watch Nigella or own a Nigel Slater book.

was about the same price per Kg as the various diced shin/casserole steak packs on the shelf.

Ox cheeks and shin seasoned up, marinated with chopped onions, garlic I’m gonna buy cassareep chuck that in too, chilled for 12hrs stir regularly. Slow cooked in 12% Nigerian Guinness for 6hrs with carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery or until cheeks have totally broken down. Served with gnocchi, steamed greens and horseradish on the side.

Morrisons still do beef cheeks in their chilled meat range, but I haven’t seen pork cheeks for years in a supermarket after Waitrose stopped doing them :(

😂 Good work. I like that lego tofu though. Saw the blackbean one today on the list to get next time

Absolutely it's really something the passing down of culture through food. My kids got to visit their mums house in Jamaica this summer, picking guineps and mango from the tree same way their mother did growing up there. Great grandma makes a mean sweet potato pudding cooked on the fire.

Thanks!

Sweet potato pudding, now that is special. I used to make something close to that about 30 years ago, after visiting a Caribbean restaurant in Balham, it was tray baked in the oven. Recently I’ve taken that recipe and deep fried in batches to produce pakoras, served with a hot rum sauce and ice cream.

The pakora switch was inspired by Nadiya Hussain. Replace carrot with sweet potato here;
https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/carrot-cake-pakoras-with-cream-cheese-dip/

Your children’s experience in Jamaica will bring an appreciation of heritage that could last a lifetime for them, especially seeing dishes made through the generations. People often say it never tastes the same here. We could apply that logic to all cultures. I tasted good food in Colombia, it was never going to be the same here. The conditions are too different. I’m glad your children got to experience the Authentic version. When we visit BIM (GF’s folks on her dad’s side) next year, I’m looking forward to tasting just that.. home cooked dishes seeped in Bajan history, with love, celebration and pride all blended together.

I made a Basque cheesecake yesterday and the jiggly creamy texture is nice but I think it has too much of an egg flavour.
Can I just use egg whites instead of whole eggs to reduce the flavour and would it still work as a binder? Do I need to add more fat to compensate?

wtf why?!?

I like my tofu like I like my women

No the yolk would be essential for the mix. Something to do with water:fat miscibility I think.
(Lecithin- amphiphilic!)
Try offsetting with other flavours? citrus//cinammon?

Replaced with Tripel K?

turns out one night in the fridge and the eggy taste is gone but now its also firmer and denser.

Fermented?

Probably volatile sulphides.

In thermapen chat, I bought a One which came today. It's very, very well built (compared to my last - something for a tenner from Nisbets a few years ago). It's also got all sorts of clever things like being super fast/waterproof/auto switch on/off when you pull out the pen/auto sleep mode if you leave it open on the side (can tell if it's moving) etc. I would say 65 quid does seem a bit mad but hopefully it'll last 5+ years of heavy use.

Practicing my Xmas ham recipe - this year I’m going for a Char Siu x Christmas collab. Basically made it up but taking inspo from other recipes

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That looks amazing

Looks fab, it would be good to know how you did that. We thought about doing a slow & low ham but not done it before so sticking to Porchetta tried and tested.