The kitchen

I've heard of them alright - and deep-fried Bounty bars, which at least might deserve to be called a type of fritter, since they contain a sort of fruity thing. Thoughts of a deep-fried Mars bar make my pulse race - it's like intravenous heart-attack material. I think they're a particularly Scottish perversion.

But it would be great if you'd post the chicken and broccoli gratin recipe. Avoca food is good - had sublime creme brulée in Rathcoole the other day. Mm mm.

I had a go at that chicken curry on videojug. I immediately encountered several problems.

The first was I couldn't buy tumeric, coriander or curry paste separately like in the video. So I used a Sharwoods mild powder which has these spices and some others in it.

Second problem was I put too much double cream in. It went from a nice brown colour to an uggy pale korma colour. Still tasted good, but much less cream next time.

Third, the chicken was overcooked. Diced chicken really needs very little time. I was trying to simmer out the gritiness of the sharwoods powder.

Overall it was only OK. 4/10. I'll try it again in a few weeks.

You should be able to buy the spices (dried) separately and then cook them into a paste with a little oil on the pan before you add anything else. I lived with people who were Indian food fanatics and they did this all the time, swearing it was the 'authentic' way.

I was at the sister's for Sunday lunch and we had gorgeous homemade profiteroles. The choux pastry cases were lovely, light and luscious. We substituted the cream for vanilla ice cream and drizzled a heavenly dark chocolate sauce over them. Yum, yum, yum!

I could eat a whole sackful of profiteroles. My favourite are the premade ones before they have finished defrosting.

I'm still looking for the ultimate recipe to make hot chocolate to drink.

Simple milk doesn't taste creamy enough, and I don't find satisfying alternatives. Or do I neglect something?

arnaudherve wrote:

I'm still looking for the ultimate recipe to make hot chocolate to drink.

Simple milk doesn't taste creamy enough, and I don't find satisfying alternatives. Or do I neglect something?

Don't thay have Cadbury's drinking chocolate in France. Have you tried it ?

There are a few brands of chocolate bottles, but I don't remember Cadbury. Cadbury is only known for KitKat bars I think.

I have Van Houten in powder. Anyway it's not fun buying already made. I have to "master" the ingredients.

arnaudherve wrote:

I'm still looking for the ultimate recipe to make hot chocolate to drink.

Simple milk doesn't taste creamy enough, and I don't find satisfying alternatives. Or do I neglect something?

Montezuma hot chocolate is gorgeous. Mine has added nutmeg and when you melt it in with hot milk it is truly luscious ambrosia.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

arnaudherve wrote:

I'm still looking for the ultimate recipe to make hot chocolate to drink.

Simple milk doesn't taste creamy enough, and I don't find satisfying alternatives. Or do I neglect something?

Don't thay have Cadbury's drinking chocolate in France. Have you tried it ?

I don't like Cadbury's drinking chocolate, it tastes way too much like Dairy Milk. I like my Dairy Milk fresh out of a fridge, not melted into a cup, that is why I can't stand the stuff.

arnaudherve wrote:

I'm still looking for the ultimate recipe to make hot chocolate to drink.

Simple milk doesn't taste creamy enough, and I don't find satisfying alternatives. Or do I neglect something?

Your compatriot Collette was the daughter of a chocolate - maker - I think she gives her recipe for hot chocolate in "My Mother's House".

I make it with a pinch of chilli powder and whipped cream on top.

cactus flower wrote:

I make it with a pinch of chilli powder and whipped cream on top.

Chilli powder? I'll have to try making hot chocolate with that!

95% chocolate and 5% chilli powder.

cactus flower wrote:

95% chocolate and 5% chilli powder.

Thanks, I like chocolate and chilli. A perfect match it seems.

On an aside to the kitchen - full shop in Lidl for a family of 4 came to €107, it was €178 in Dunnes last week. Though obviously not precisely the same things were bought, this is indicative of the cost savings made by those of us who shop in Lidl regularly enough.

Johnfas, is that me in your avatar?Freaky! 

Nope, that'd be me... perhaps there is a Machine Nation gene pool of some description...

I'm scared now. 

johnfás wrote:

On an aside to the kitchen - full shop in Lidl for a family of 4 came to €107, it was €178 in Dunnes last week. Though obviously not precisely the same things were bought, this is indicative of the cost savings made by those of us who shop in Lidl regularly enough.

Lidl? And you from Terenure? I thought that sort of thing was banned there, on grounds of crimes against upward mobility.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

johnfás wrote:

On an aside to the kitchen - full shop in Lidl for a family of 4 came to €107, it was €178 in Dunnes last week. Though obviously not precisely the same things were bought, this is indicative of the cost savings made by those of us who shop in Lidl regularly enough.

Lidl? And you from Terenure? I thought that sort of thing was banned there, on grounds of crimes against upward mobility.

The newspapers were giving Tescos free front page advertising last week - big news was that they are slashing their prices in an attempt to take on 'the German supermarkets'. One article said that Supervalue, Dunnes, Tesco et al have lost a third of their customers to Lidl and Aldi this year. Hardly surprising. My nearest Lidl is in Skibbereen where they stock lots of organic produce. The meat used to be pretty poor but there is no difference between them and the other supermarkets now. The great thing about Lidl is that as well as being affordable, the quality is quite good. Whenver the other supermarkets do cheap stuff, it's usually rotten quality.

Kate - here's that chicken and brocoli gratin recipe - I thought Id posted it yesterday but Imust have pressed preview in stead of send:

Ingredients:
6 chicken breasts or 1 whole chicken
1 spanish onion peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
a few sprigs of parsley
1 bay leaf
a few black peppercorns
300ml/1/2 pt cream
4oz roux
1 large head of broccoli divided into florets
1/2 oz butter
2oz strong cheese
4 oz breadcrumbs

Place chicken in a large saucepan with onion, carrots and celery, parsley, bay leaf, peppercorns and enough water to cover. Bring slowly to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked - about an hour for the whole chicken and 20mins for chicken breasts. Remove the chicken from the pan and leave to cool. Strip the meant off th bones and set aside.
Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan and boil until reduced to 600ml/1pt. Add the cream, return to the boil and then whisk in the roux a little at a time to form a thick sauce.
Blanch the broccoli in boiling salted water until just tender, then drain and refresh under cold water. Stir the diced chicken and broccoli into the sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into an ovenproof dish. Melt the butter and mix with the cheese and breadcrumbs. Spread over the chicken misture and bake in an over preheated to 180/350/gas mark 4 for 20 mins or until brown and bubbling.

Yum

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

johnfás wrote:

On an aside to the kitchen - full shop in Lidl for a family of 4 came to €107, it was €178 in Dunnes last week. Though obviously not precisely the same things were bought, this is indicative of the cost savings made by those of us who shop in Lidl regularly enough.

Lidl? And you from Terenure? I thought that sort of thing was banned there, on grounds of crimes against upward mobility.

Lidl is the place to be seen right now. That is precisely why they are looking at taking over a building at the bottom of Grafton Street, they have a greatly improved brand image. It is no longer seen as the place that poor people go because they are in food poverty - it is just good value. We buy our basics in Lidl because we don't need to buy Finish Dishwasher Tablets or a particular brand of instant soup or biscuit to feel fulfilled. Then we buy our fruit and vegetables locally, supporting local business and Irish farmers. The whole thing works out cheaper than doing your shopping in Tesco.

johnfás wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

johnfás wrote:

On an aside to the kitchen - full shop in Lidl for a family of 4 came to €107, it was €178 in Dunnes last week. Though obviously not precisely the same things were bought, this is indicative of the cost savings made by those of us who shop in Lidl regularly enough.

Lidl? And you from Terenure? I thought that sort of thing was banned there, on grounds of crimes against upward mobility.

Lidl is the place to be seen right now. That is precisely why they are looking at taking over a building at the bottom of Grafton Street, they have a greatly improved brand image. It is no longer seen as the place that poor people go because they are in food poverty - it is just good value. We buy our basics in Lidl because we don't need to buy Finish Dishwasher Tablets or a particular brand of instant soup or biscuit to feel fulfilled. Then we buy our fruit and vegetables locally, supporting local business and Irish farmers. The whole thing works out cheaper than doing your shopping in Tesco.

I'm aware of that, johnfás and I was being bold by suggesting that Lidl for the poor people.

johnfás wrote:

Lidl is the place to be seen right now.

Lidl has some good products. Especially some canned products for German tastes, like mackerel with sauce. I also bought good panna cotta there.

johnfás wrote:

Then we buy our fruit and vegetables locally, supporting local business and Irish farmers.

Ideally, there could be a ticket system, according to which you can find a job more easily from the locals if you bought from the locals.

arnaudherve wrote:

johnfás wrote:

Lidl is the place to be seen right now.

Lidl has some good products. Especially some canned products for German tastes, like mackerel with sauce. I also bought good panna cotta there.

johnfás wrote:

Then we buy our fruit and vegetables locally, supporting local business and Irish farmers.

Ideally, there could be a ticket system, according to which you can find a job more easily from the locals if you bought from the locals.

We say "what goes around, comes around" and it usually does.