* The La Cuisine 'General Discussion' Thread *

jpaul · 17 Dec 2018 at 14:30

Avenged7Fold said:
Cooking rice with the saucepan only really requires you to turn it off when the water has been absorbed but people still manage to get it wrong. I am half oriental and it sickens me the way i see rice being made sometimes: like pasta, draining it with a sieve when 'done'...

yuck!

The beauty of a rice cooker/pressure cooker/microwave bowl is that it frees up a hob space really and will keep the rice warm. Handy if you are cooking for a group and need the space or have a ludicrously sized cauldron/wok that encroaches on the other hobs.

since you have rice knowledge - what do you think of parboiled/quick-cook rice ?
this seems to now be in the majority in UK supermarkets, often cheaper, usually parboiled in the country of origin. Is there a loss of taste/texture ?

... for a more healthy, brown rissotto, I had seen a recommendation to use it, so, breaking the habit of a lifetime, bought some yesterday.

Avenged7Fold · 17 Dec 2018 at 14:50

I don't really know when it comes to quick cook rice, i never saw the point really, rice doesn't take too long to cook.

If you wanted a brown risotto, i would choose a brown rice with a similar grain length than normal arborio or other rice used for risotto, as it may drastically change the texture of the finished product.

jpaul · 5 Feb 2019 at 20:34

the one episode of food unwrapped, per year, I actually paused ffwd and learned something
https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/hnf2zg/food-unwrapped--food-unwrapped-takeaway-special/

Making papa john pizzas - the sugar in the dough, but - the pepperoni manufacture looked ok
KFC updating their chips to stay hot longer ... will be thicker with skins on... but they are doiuble fried.
making genuine corn tortillas Mexican masa harina (ground nixtamalized corn flour) ... could I do this at home

jpaul · 25 Mar 2019 at 22:41

current rants -

Aldi meat certification - Surprised by their tv advertising, now trying to sell Red Tractor certification, as a badge of honour, it's not to me -
if you look up chicken welfare, compared to the RSPCA standard, it's poor/minimalist
Equally their rubbising the French advert, bad taste ...................... they should have stayed with the Brownlies.

Aldi(&others) selling vegetables outside of season.
Selling products like sprouts and celery outside of the growing period where, if you buy them, you end up with a poor tasting product versus peak season, wasting your money,
can't they just fill the shelves (economy of scale too) with products eg cauli's. that are in season ?

Martynt74 · 12 Apr 2019 at 11:29

Anyone have any thoughts on the cheaper versions of the Thermopen?

I tried a few digital thermometers prior to buying the thermopen and found them pretty rubbish along the lines of the heston blumenthaal stick ones.

Mine has broken and i don't fancy spending another £35 on one but i will if others aren't as good. Been looking at this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B074SFR...&pd_rd_r=5bf2fd8f-5d0d-11e9-a40c-a5d2740d4f57

Seems to get reasonable reviews

the-evaluator · 12 Apr 2019 at 11:49

I've got a couple of these which report very similar readings to my meater.

Martynt74 · 12 Apr 2019 at 11:52

Perfect. Just what i was after. Cheers

Looked at the Meteor, love it, then saw the price and decided against it

SPG · 13 Apr 2019 at 09:14

jpaul said:
current rants

Aldi(&others) selling vegetables outside of season.
Selling products like sprouts and celery outside of the growing period where, if you buy them, you end up with a poor tasting product versus peak season, wasting your money,
can't they just fill the shelves (economy of scale too) with products eg cauli's. that are in season ?

I have moved onto using frozen veg tbh, strangly cheaper and better better tasting, i steam it all.

jpaul · 13 Apr 2019 at 20:34

SPG said:
moved onto using frozen veg tbh

ok I'll check it out ... frozen peas/broad-beans/corn definitely a win

Marvt74 said:
Anyone have any thoughts on the cheaper versions of the Thermopen?

need a new one for upcoming xmas turkey, amongst other uses -
https://eggheadforum.com/discussion...e-to-thermapen-does-not-have-to-be-digital/p2
javelin/thermopop are their takes I'll get amazon fulfilled though in case it does not live up to response time or reliability

the-evaluator · 15 Apr 2019 at 08:54

We steam nearly all veg, it definitely tastes better that way.

jpaul · 16 Apr 2019 at 12:00

re: steaming.
I have never bought a standalone steamer, (counter space / faff) rather, a collapsible trivet in a saucepan, on the hob,
these are not very stable in the saucepan, but I have never found a basket or something better ? if you don't take care lifting it out they can turn inside-out
amazon has a few baskets, but just for specific electric pressure cooker size

the-evaluator · 16 Apr 2019 at 12:32

We use one of these and it's excellent. Each of the 3 zones is individually timed so we put carrots, broccoli and peas into the baskets, set the time for each zone and when we want the first thing to start steaming (carrots in this case) we push go and off it goes.

I can't remember the timings we use but if carrots steam for 23 minutes, broccoli for 16 minutes and peas for 7 minutes (they will have mostly thawed by the time they start cooking) then when we push start it'll fire up the carrots, 7 minutes later it'll start the broccoli and 9 minutes later it'll start the peas. They'll all finish at the same time and then it'll go onto a low power mode where it'll keep them warm but we generally switch it off at that point.

It's not the smallest device in the world but we're lucky enough to have a big kitchen with plenty of cupboard space.

rickjames · 26 Apr 2019 at 11:13

Guess this is the best thread to put it.

I'm trying to collate some recipes that can be used for meal prep, ideally lasting for 4/5 days. Right now I'm normally making teriyaki/stir fry type dishes with chicken/flank steak and serving with rice and broccoli, but just wondering if anyone had any suggestions/recommendations? Ideally looking for high protein based stuff that's easy to do in one night

Cheers!

bsoltan · 29 Apr 2019 at 00:28

rickjames said:
Guess this is the best thread to put it.

I'm trying to collate some recipes that can be used for meal prep, ideally lasting for 4/5 days. Right now I'm normally making teriyaki/stir fry type dishes with chicken/flank steak and serving with rice and broccoli, but just wondering if anyone had any suggestions/recommendations? Ideally looking for high protein based stuff that's easy to do in one night

Cheers!

Have a look on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mealprep/ if for nothing more than inspiration.

---

I have a question; anyone bought Silpat Baking sheets in UK and where from? They seem to be synonymous with silicone cooking sheets in the US but not so common here. They seem to have made in France printed but only available in US?

Spuj · 29 Apr 2019 at 07:34

bsoltan said:
Have a look on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mealprep/ if for nothing more than inspiration.

---

I have a question; anyone bought Silpat Baking sheets in UK and where from? They seem to be synonymous with silicone cooking sheets in the US but not so common here. They seem to have made in France printed but only available in US?

I've been looking for a while. Been to a few local cookware shops and none have had any, only place I've seen them is on Amazon.

I also looked when I was in France last year but had no luck, although only managed to find 2 shops that sold cookware in the area we were staying.

Think the Silpat branded one on Amazon is around £25 ish?

Jony27 · 29 Apr 2019 at 14:46

Need some quick/tasty recipes for dinner. For the last couple of years living with my GF, 95% of the time, she cooks the dinner due to me not getting home from work until about 6:30pm
I'd like to change this and would appreciate any recipes which can be done in around 30mins? Vegetarian would be a bonus!

So far, the meals I cook are tomato based(we get loads to take home every Friday from work). Tomato pasta and tomato/veg bake with sausages(vegetarian). Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

bsoltan · 29 Apr 2019 at 22:01

Spuj said:
I've been looking for a while. Been to a few local cookware shops and none have had any, only place I've seen them is on Amazon.

I also looked when I was in France last year but had no luck, although only managed to find 2 shops that sold cookware in the area we were staying.

Think the Silpat branded one on Amazon is around £25 ish?

Yeah saw them on Amazon but I think they're imported and it is a bit hard to swollow when you can get 3 Amazon Basics ones for £11 and others are more than half the price.

jpaul · 22 May 2019 at 22:09

Aldi+Morrisons chicken:

... that's a bit damming - saw a bite of watchdog BBC1,

they tested supermarket chicken and on several samples found 'volatile nitrogen(dioxide?)' levels on still in (3 days) date Aldi and Morrisons chicken , indicating it was not too fresh.
I would not normally purchase chicken with so few days left on the clock - but nonetheless, if it's texture/smell was questioable I would be taking it back.

Merlin5 · 23 May 2019 at 01:31

That's a bit worrying, I've been buying Aldi Chicken drumsticks and thighs recently. But smell, texture and taste have been fine.

jpaul · 10 Jul 2019 at 18:10

so is this marmite ? .. used to like the taste of twiglets - they should be an honorary crisp - how good could this be ?

Fans of the yeasty spread are in for a treat - the 'extra old' version is coming back for a limited time

*** The La Cuisine 'General Discussion' Thread ***

* The La Cuisine 'General Discussion' Thread *