Cooking and culinary tips/recipes

[DJR]

.....

 

With your ageing - beef and red meat, I presume?

For red meat, yes. I'm not so sure what and how to deal with pork.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I know that surgeon: Seen him "operate" on an impala in my mom's kitchen. That buck never looked better. Unreal.

 

RM: For 5kg mincing, a Kenwood Chef with a mincer attachment works great. Mine is a 25yr old unit my mom discarded. I refuse to buy minced meat. Normally get a good hunk of beef and mince that. 2 to 3 kgs at a time.

 

A dedicated boning knife also helps a lot (says the guy that sommer uses a pairing knife to debone stuff).

Thanks Patensie,

 

I have a Kenwood Prospero. The baby brother of the Chef, and it's not that great. Thinking of getting a CHEF with the SARS money when it arrives, purely for the added versatility that it has. 

 

Looking at grinders and mincers online, you can get a Bosch for about a grand off takealot. I think I'll go the way of a dedicated grinder for now... 

 

EDIT: Just bought the mincer., Was on special at Takealot - R 799 from R 1,349

Edited August 11, 2015 by Renaissance Man

[DJR]

.........EDIT: Just bought the mincer., Was on special at Takealot - R 799 from R 1,349

Next you are going to start talking sausage recipes.....cannot really help with that......other than that I believe one should be putting relatively good meat into your mince and sausage, not just the total left over scraps (hartslag, lewer en long, gal peophol en tong...we used to rhyme and joke)   

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Next you are going to start talking sausage recipes.....cannot really help with that......other than that I believe one should be putting relatively good meat into your mince and sausage, not just the total left over scraps (hartslag, lewer en long, gal peophol en tong...we used to rhyme and joke)   

Oh, it's all good... 

 

Total weight for the mince was 3.3kg. And what lovely stuff it is! Just made a simple bolognaise with mushrooms, baby marrow & some of the Boar stock I had made, and a few cherry tomatoes for sweetness.

 

BRILLIANT. 

 

Leg is now in the fridge, covered in curing salt & Freddy Hirsch's pastrami spice mix. Just prepping it for the hang. 

 

My mouth is watering already... 

[DJR]

Just a heads up for all who are cooking with gas.......the shortage of LPG in Cape Town is currently a real pain in the arse. Make sure you have a spare bottle handy, even a smaller camping type bottle will do with the right adaptor. Had to try 3 places before I could find a full 9kg bottle.

[jimmycool]

Just a heads up for all who are cooking with gas.......the shortage of LPG in Cape Town is currently a real pain in the arse. Make sure you have a spare bottle handy, even a smaller camping type bottle will do with the right adaptor. Had to try 3 places before I could find a full 9kg bottle.

Same problem in KZN

[MTBeer]

ok all you clever cookies - what is the best way to peel a boiled egg so that you don't waste half the egg. Tried the dunking in ice water, which is what the great interweb says, but that doesn't work.

 

Yesterday - boiled eggs and allowed them to cool at room temperature.

 

Today boiled eggs and dunked them in ice water.

 

Same result - half the egg in the bin.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

ok all you clever cookies - what is the best way to peel a boiled egg so that you don't waste half the egg. Tried the dunking in ice water, which is what the great interweb says, but that doesn't work.

 

Yesterday - boiled eggs and allowed them to cool at room temperature.

 

Today boiled eggs and dunked them in ice water.

 

Same result - half the egg in the bin.

pinch of bicarb in the water, or some vinegar. Bicarb works better though. 

Edited October 1, 2015 by Myles Mayhew

[MTBeer]

pinch of bicarb in the water, or some vinegar. Bicarb works better though. 

and then cool at room temperature or in ice/cold water?

[Pants Boy]

Put the raw eggs in cold water and bring up to temp. Once boiling, turn off heat and let it stand for 7 minutes (soft) to 10 minutes (hard) before taking out of the pot. Also, as Mayhem says, some vinegar in the water. It also keeps cracked eggs from seeping out.

[MTBeer]

Put the raw eggs in cold water and bring up to temp. Once boiling, turn off heat and let it stand for 7 minutes (soft) to 10 minutes (hard) before taking out of the pot. Also, as Mayhem says, some vinegar in the water. It also keeps cracked eggs from seeping out.

will try the vinegar thing tomorrow morning.

[Eddy Gordo]

hmm interesting. What do you mean by waste half the egg? do most of the white peel off with the eggshell?

I havent had this problem. We boil the eggs. Then put in cold water to cool then crack and peel. Have never ever done it any other way

[MTBeer]

hmm interesting. What do you mean by waste half the egg? do most of the white peel off with the eggshell?

I havent had this problem. We boil the eggs. Then put in cold water to cool then crack and peel. Have never ever done it any other way

That is exactly what I mean. I boil the egg, put in cold water. I usually take it to work and have it there for breakfast. Maybe it is because I don't peel it straight away, but 2 hours later.

[Eddy Gordo]

That is exactly what I mean. I boil the egg, put in cold water. I usually take it to work and have it there for breakfast. Maybe it is because I don't peel it straight away, but 2 hours later.

Naa, I also somtimes take eggs to work and still dont have this issue. Rather interesting though.

How do you crack the egg? I always try to get a decent longish crack so that I can get the shell off with the membrane. That said I do this first step carefully and peel carefully as well.

[MTBeer]

I crack it on my knuckle.

[Fruity]

My little convection oven. When I first got it, a few years ago, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread - and it still is. All I do is put whatever I want to cook inside it, set the time and the temperature, and voila.

 

I somehow lost the instruction manual for it over the years, so I am a bit limited to what I cook. I mainly do fish and chicken pieces because that's what I mainly ate when I first got it. Veggies and mash, I do in the microwave, otherwise baby potatoes under the grill of the convection oven to cook with the fish or chicken.

 

With the chicken pieces, I usually spread a bit of Canola or Olive oil over the chicken (to make it crispy on top), and then I add the chicken spice.

 

Of course, I do order takeaways in between for supper, but because of my diet, I try to avoid anything that involves bread and carbs (although I make an exception when it comes to mash), or the Fiancee and myself treat ourselves to supper once in a while at one of the local restaurants. The braai also comes in handy some nights.