The **Now Eating** Thread

Merlin5 said:
I've not used it before. Some questions.
Would it work out the same if I used self raising flour instead of plain flour and baking powder?
I'm not keen on ginger in puddings, but love golden syrup. Maybe I could add extra syrup instead of the teaspoon of ginger?
Shall I get Atora original suet?
I've got golden caster sugar and I think I still have some dark muscovado. I guess either of those would be fine instead of brown sugar?
You mentioned egg yolk for the chocolate pudding, does that mean I need to separate from the white?
Click to expand...
yes : SR's fine, although would probably stlll add baking powder, yes - extra syrup.
yes - Atora, real animal, suet ... I normally reduce it to nearer 100g ... unless your butcher has the real deal - not sure if they can sell it post BSE
yes - substitute sugar .. muscovado could start overpowering chocolate flavour
it's a full egg in either.
 
Had some mates round tonight so did this


Lobster rendang with home pickled golden beetroot, kohlrabi , orange gel

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main of butternut squash puree with sous vide belly pork, scallops in vanilla butter, cinnamon apple crisps, deep fried mint and a pork and apple reduction

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dessert

raspberry panna cotta, raspberry coulis, mini doughnuts and gin macerated raspberries

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no pic of triple amuse bouche,

1. reduced cider French onion soup,2. haggis bonbon with a grain mustard and whisky sauce, 3. bloody Mary shrimp
 
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Trying out the vegetarian breakfast at Bill's. Poached free range eggs, roasted plum tomatoes, mushrooms, tomato hummus, smashed avocado, sweet chilli sauce, on toast. Really tasty! :)

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And after a couple of drinks at Starbucks I had brunch at Buck's Bar. I had the buffalo blue chicken and waffles, which has hot sauce and blue cheese mayo. With a side of skinny fries and a banana milkshake. Really nice, and way more enjoyable than the last chicken and waffles I had there. I was right about the heat and creaminess from the mayo serving to counteract the sweetness from the waffles. Couldn't finish it, but came close :)
 
Spent the afternoon at a Christmas craft and food fair. Plenty to see and the main reason I'm always happy to go along: lots of food stalls selling delicious local grub.

Minute steak roll with onions and home-made chutney.

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Hot dog with onions buried underneath somewhere.

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Churros with cinnamon sugar and chocolate sauce (not pictured) for pudding.

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All rounded off with a couple of ales. Marvellous.
 
Did a tester 'ham' for a friends get together coming up. Pressure cooked in toffee apple cider and finished in the oven with honey. Will be eating ham for the next few days...

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You know what, it certainly did make it sweeter but not massively so. Last time i did this recipe i just pressure cooked it in water and the ham came out much saltier, which was the main difference. The fat layer on the outside certainly took on much more of a sweet cider taste.

My uncle use to do it in pineapple juice and 5 spice for a more oriental flavour and that was delicious, so i think next time i will give that a go!
 
That does look good. Only thing is that Macaroni for me now is quite a heavy meal and doesn't go too well with Crohn's. Cheese is a nightmare now I've become lactose intolerant (thank Crohn's again) and the high fibre of the lettuce would just top me off at the end :D (Crohn's again :D).
To balance it out, I do appear to be better with Gluten free pasta simply because it's a bit softer and if I chug down a lactase enzyme I can get away with dairy as well. Lettuce on the other hand is still no good :D.
 
So I am in Lisbon at the moment and one of the reason is for the egg tarts, I must have had about 8 in the last 2 days.

Today I went to the 2 favourites, one being labeled by many as the best, Pasties de Belem (just 1 location) so I did a little side by side taste taste with another one in the city which has a couple of places in town.

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Ignore the burnt top on the Menteigaria, you can't taste the burnt and its not all of them. But appearance wise, at this on these 2, the Belem one looks nicer.

First thing I noticed was the Belem tart has a slightly flakier crust at the bottom, it has more layers. Both are ultra crispy, that is one thing about egg tarts here, all the ones I've tried in the UK and even the ones in Macau (the KFC one...there is a story there), I don't recall being like this. I got to say the Belem one has a better bottom crust. Both are crispy but Belem crust has more air in it. Menteigaria might be for you if you prefer a marginally thinner crust. VERY close call.

The egg tart content itself, they have the same consistency, sweet, just about staying together when you bite into it and gooey. I love it. Menteigaria is a fraction sweeter than the Belem. If I weren't eating them side by side then it would be hard to tell.

I have to say because of the crust, Belem wins it by a hair in this head to head, but the problem is that it is also 5 miles out of the city, a good hour away on the metro or a 90min walk (which I did) to get them. If I were living here, I wouldn't go there just for it because honestly, the next batch, Menteigaria tarts might have the same flaky crust at the bottom if it weren't as burnt in this one, who knows. They are both excellent, certainly can't get them this good in the UK.

To prove that it is not always burnt, I took this photo from TimeOut Market's Menteigaria stand.

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I also went to another store where they were making it right in front of me and it was too hot to eat.

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