Foodie Ventures!

[Renée Profile]

These are a few of mine over the years!

I can remember curing pork to make bacon.

Gravlax was another one.

Sourdough bread, when I made the amazing Potato & Old English Ale loaves.

Sausage-making was another of my ventures, when I had a Kenwood and bought the sausage filling attachment.

Wine and beer-making in the distant past.

I'd love to hear about yours .....

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Renée,

Very impressive from scratch, food adventures ..

Mine are:

1) My ravioli both savory and sweet from scratch .. ( Pastas: Cannellone, Lasagne, Fettuccini & numerous others ) ..
2) Goat Cheese Ricotta ..
3) Wine !!
4) Carpaccio, Ceviche, Smoked Salmon and Gravlax, Nigriri and Sashimi.

Off top of head, this is all I can think of at momento ..

Have a lovely evening ..

[Renée Profile]

I had forgotten the sushi rolls and sashimi! My cousin Mike's wife is Japanese, but very western in her ways. Her parents are very traditional Japanese! I went to their wedding in Vancouver many years ago and half the guests were Japanese and it was my first introduction to the sushi rolls. We were invited to a sushi-making evening which was very much hands-on! I drank too much sake! Expo was on at the time, which is a world exhibition, so had an amazing time.

I have also made tagliatelle and lasagne sheets.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Hi Renee, Alexandria.

A lot of my interest was piqued on the old BBC board.
Memorably tasty food I've made:

- malsouka (fine pastry brushed over a pan)



- sourdough crispbreads (took me a while to make them brittle = the secret is the amount of perforation holes)



vegan cooking, seitan sausages take ages to make and cook, for a purse stuffing





Wasabi pea sourdough was the only recipe I devised myself



And I learnt to outdoor bbq

[Renée Profile]

Most impressive, Gill. I rather like the look of the Wasabi Pea Sourdough bread. Do you still have the ingredients and the method?

We've had fun over the years, haven't we?

[Alexandria Profile]

The Gilt Painter,


Wow .. Amazingly extraordinary !!

Have a wonderful day ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Renée,


Wow, what a fascinating adventure ..


Off to the shops as today is not a bank holiday here like the 6th and 7th .. So still have some stocking stuffers to buy for my grandparents and my grandsons ..




Have a lovely day .. Fabulous post !!

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I made an overnight ferment.
Substitute 50g of leaven for a 3/4 teaspoon of yeast.

But you do not have to. Just use a packet of yeast in the morning.
And mix it with all the other ingredients.
Any flours you don't have, use a different one, Renee.
By now, you know that the mix will be very very wet.

wasabi pea sourdough

over night ferment of 50g leaven, 70g water, 35g/35g of white/rye flour both

340g water with infused 5g powdered wasabi
200g blitzed warm peas
250g white strong flour
100g soya flour
100g chickpea flour (or peasemeal if you can get it)
7g salt

Overnight ferment with the blitzed peas



Add all the remaining ingredients



Bulk fermentation aka first prove (slowly slowly, probably about 2hrs)



Second prove (maybe 1hr30)



Shape into 4 rounds and rest again, for 30mins



Bake, you should get good oven spring



Voila

[Renée Profile]

Wonderful Gill and thank you so much for the information! I can see that the bread has a high protein content, also looks very healthy! I will make this in the New Year after I return home.

Enjoy your shopping day Alexandria!

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Gil the Painter,

Fascinating !!


@ Renée,

Off to do more browsing about the shops .. this time the gourmet shops that are open as it is a National Holiday ..

Michelin Chef Dani Garcia, from Málaga opened up an amazing Shellfish Bar in the La Latina Neighborhood recently, just south of Plaza Mayor, so we shall be heading over to have a shellfish "tapeo" ..

When we go back to the Hotel later, I shall continue our Mini Gourmet Escape ..


Ladies, have a wonderful day .. and weekend ..

[Joanbunting Profile]

Over the years I have tried many things again. Some I have mastered and still make regulary. Others once and never again.

These include:

Danish pastries
Marseilles fish soup
Boned quails - still cook them but get the butcher to do the hard work
Snails from live
Boar's head

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Alexandria, you too. Have a blast of a weekend.

Joan, Boar's head. Yip, I can see why you'd do that just the once.
But it must have tasted great.
I once ordered pigs head on the menu in London. And chef came out and shook my hand, as I was the only person to order it for the entire day.

God it was good.

Renee, the bread is quite zingy (that's the wasabi forya, and goes very well with sliced meats.

[Renée Profile]

Alexandria, you must have had a wonderful time browsing around the gourmet food places. I would have loved that!

That must have taken a lot of effort to bone the quails, Joan, but a good idea to let the butcher do the hard work now!

I'm not surprised that you were the only person to order pig's head, Gill! Was the whole head on a platter?
I don't mind the bread being zingy, Gill. I often use wasabi, either the paste or the powder.

[Alexandria Profile]

@ Gilt The Painter,

Thank you .. We are enjoying Madrid temendously ..


Boar: We had a boar stew which was delectable as the animal is wild and oddly enough, not a fatty meat and it was superbly splendid ..

Suckling Piglet: Cochinillo is quite a common holiday roast here in Spain and it is quite simply prepared and the meat is tender and white .. However, even though roasted whole, never had the head ..

A well known tapa is " orejas " ( the ears of a piglet ) .. Not my cup of tea personally ..

Now, in Italy´s rurals, however, it is quite a delicacy to have a lamb´s head or calves´ head ..

Have a lovely weekend ..

[jeral Profile]

In the spirit of the thread, I "roasted" a few chestnuts yesterday, warily, in the microwave (about 5 mins) after cutting the usual cross on the round side. They turned out very well and not that difficult to peel either

I also boiled some for about 30 mins that were a nightmare to peel and finished up as a dish full of crumbs

My "achievements" that'd be worth speaking of are more of learning food prep than end product, i.e. attempting things I'd never have dreamed of in a "Well why would you?" way. Mostly successful, but that's because you have to really wreck something before it's only fit for the bin. By comparison (one extreme to the other), my jaw would drop at some of the dear departed Dena's successful forages into Heston territory. Now those were Foodie Ventures!

@ Alexandria, forgive my nosiness but do you ever get time or even the inclination to cook now your kids are grown and it's so easy for you to eat good food out, especially when you give such glowing reports of it all?

[strictlysalsaclare Profile]

Most of my foodie ventures took place when I was at catering college cough*splutter years ago. I hated making both pasta (without a machine) and puff pastry, as well as filleting a small round fish such as trout. Butchery, especially lamb and pork came into the 'tried it once, never again' category too.

My latest venture is that I have now been able to justify buying a decent quality free-standing food mixer. I've got a Kenwood Prospero which arrived today, also got an 11% discount courtesy of my workplace's perk scheme. I haven't used it yet but have read the instructions but the Robert Dyas delivery was great. I only ordered it at about 8.45pm on Thursday and chose the standard 3-5 day delivery. It was packed really well too. It has already been stroked and given a warm welcome, so I really hope I enjoy using it. I have lusted after such a machine for about 30 years or so, hence it's been quite a momentous day. When I saw Mr Strictly bring in the box I squealed with delight; I was practically jumping up and down for joy and felt like my 8 year self at Christmas time!

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Memories Grilly.........such great memories & pics ( btw - who is that black hairy creature having a good sniff?) Used to love following your exploits on your blog Nice to have the reminder!

Good on ya Strictly - & enjoy!

By comparison (one extreme to the other), my jaw would drop at some of the dear departed Dena's successful forages into Heston territory. Now those were Foodie Ventures!

Now we're talking............! Dena invented the word adventurous - she was one of the first to buy a domestic sous vide & produced some excellent results - and Heston, well - she was in her element - do you remember her foam kit? She's massively missed on this board - she was a cook who cooked - and didn't just do a 'restaurant review ' with over-the-top use of adjectives which become totally meaningless & boring with over use, - and judging by the massive amount of bloggers out there that do the same - any idiot can do it.

[jeral Profile]

strictlysalsaclare: I'll raise a glass to your new ventures now the baking world is yours

Coincidentally, Anna Olsen is on Food Network Ch.42 at 7.45am to 9.10am weekdays. How she stays thin with all the goodies she bakes can only mean she has very good self-discipline...

I've just made a mince & Bramley apple roll, with bought puff pastry though. The tart apple worked well to take off the sweetness of the mince. It was probably school when I last made puff pastry, but with little pats of marg not thick full sheets of butter as seen on TV.

What will be the first item on your new toy list?

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I kind of specialise in doing my own butchery, boning out chicken for ballotine, boning and rolling a shoulder of lamb etc. Also filleting fish. Arguably a bit of a cheat as I was trained in dissection!

I used to make all my own bread, and may well start again sometime soon, as I have recently worked out that the secret of my all time favourite wholemeal loaf is that it was made in a Pullman tin (the ones with the sliding lids)

I also used to make my own yogurt

I have made croissants and puff pastry, and might go back to making puff (or at least rough puff) as the good stuff (Dorset) is over £5 a packet here (though I have a packet of Jus Rol all butter in the freezer)

striclysalsaclare, I'm jealous I'd really love a stand mixer but nowhere to put it anyway

Never made pasta, on my list

Samosas and falafel, check

I have made all sorts of jams and chutneys and have 2.8 kg of quinces waiting for me to make quince jelly and quince cheese (membrillo) something I've been meaning ot do for years. Still haven't got around to picallili

Lots of sloe gin, damson gin, limomcello, plum liqueur etc.


One day I' have a go at strudel dough, Anna Olsen made it look quite easy, though she didn't show trimming the edges, but obviously did.....

[strictlysalsaclare Profile]

Hi jeral

I am planning on making a boozy Spanish inspired flourless chocolate cake, as I have some fino sherry in the house. I'll probably base it on one of Nigella's recipes, because it was the Amaretto one she made on her TV programme last Monday that gave me the idea. I also have a Spanish style almond macaroon recipe that I can make to add to some whipped cream as an accompaniment.


Like Stokey Sue, I have also made pickles, chutneys, marmalades, jams and citrus curds in the past. Plus I've also done some infused vodkas too, such as lemon, spiced orange and strawberry & rhubarb. The Christmas spiced sherry I made this year was fun as well, but all of that's gone into my mincemeat this year.