The Cooking Thread

[sime42]

6 hours ago, sime42 said:

No bread made this morning so had to knock up some cheeky flat breads / crumpets for lunch. Kefir for moistness, Dill and Onion seeds for flavour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And an inadvertent flat bread. Too much Rye.

 

 

 

 

 

[sime42]

Kedgeree dinner. Plus garden greens and beans.

 

[PeteB]

I'm not a fish fan but Kedgeree triggered a memory so I made some but the brand/type/strength of turmeric made my lips tingle and the taste went metallic! Been quite suspicious of curries since!

[openspaceman]

On 18/08/2024 at 19:55, sime42 said:

 

 

And an inadvertent flat bread. Too much Rye.

 

 

 

 

 

Any amount of rye seems to stop the bread from rising. I still have a few kilos to grind from a bucketful a farmer gave me but the wife doesn't like to use it.

[sime42]

11 minutes ago, openspaceman said:

Any amount of rye seems to stop the bread from rising. I still have a few kilos to grind from a bucketful a farmer gave me but the wife doesn't like to use it.

 

Yes, I was surprised about the effect of adding the rye. It was only a quarter of the total flour and yet turned it into a brick, almost completely surpressed the rise. Tastes good, just very dense. I'll try adding more yeast next time, don't know if that'll help.

 

Edit. More yeast probably won't help much. I just looked it up and it's far more complicated than that. Rye flour has less glutenin, more pentosan carbs, and more amylase enzymes. I'm not pretending to understand the ramifications of any of that!

 

 

[peds]

Would baking soda and acid work, instead of going the yeasted route?

[openspaceman]

4 minutes ago, sime42 said:

 

Yes, I was surprised about the effect of adding the rye. It was only a quarter of the total flour and yet turned it into a brick, almost completely surpressed the rise. Tastes good, just very dense. I'll try adding more yeast next time, don't know if that'll help.

 

Edit. More yeast probably won't help much. I just looked it up and it's far more complicated than that. Rye flour has less glutenin, more pentosan carbs, and more amylase enzymes. I'm not pretending to understand the ramifications of any of that!

 

 

Gluten hold the CO2 bubbles in.

[PeteB]

Home made ham, egg, chips and cauliflower cheese with a speckled hen! He swapped cauliflower for mushy peas avec chilly flakes!

[AHPP]

On 29/03/2024 at 15:55, peds said:

Ah shite, sorry skip. I have no idea about the authenticity of this, but authenticity often stands in the way of a good meal anyway. 

 

For putanesca I put a pan on to boil for the pasta first and a frying pan or another saucepan second. While waiting for the water, the oil from the anchovies goes into the frying pan at medium-high heat, followed shortly after by a minced clove of garlic per person, plus one more for the pan. A minute later, a pinch of red pepper flakes and black pepper, and the anchovies themselves, which are crushed apart with the wooden spoon in the pan. This is all fried together with occasional agitation until the anchovies have essentially disappeared, and in the meantime, I have been pressing the stones from the olives, if necessary, and if not, I will start slicing up a couple of tomatoes, or a handful of cherry tomatoes. Once the anchovies are gone-ish, I add the olives, wait a minute, add some capers, wait another minute, add some chopped parsley and wait yet another minute, then finally add the tomatoes, which are crushed down and simmered for 60 seconds. I use fresh tomatoes instead of a tin because I don't think this is a pasta-in-sauce dish, it should instead be things-stuck-to-pasta. You could get the same effect by using just a third of a tin or so.

 

By now the pasta is about three-quarters on the way to being done, so it gets drained and a mug full of the cooking water is retained (anyone with the counterspace available in their kitchen might like to use a ladle of the hot water to preheat the bowls they'll be eating from, which may or may not be necessary depending on the time of year and how warm your house is). The pasta is tossed into the sauce along with some of the reserved cooking water, stirred and simmered with more water as needed until the pasta is cooked, then a squirt of the good olive oil is tossed through at the last possible second, emulsifying the sauce and giving it a glossy sheen. A knob of butter does the same thing. 

 

Slop into your (hot?) bowls, add any finishes you want (parmesan or pecorino, chopped herbs or rocket, fresh chopped chilli or dry chilli flakes, garlic-toasted pangrattato, etc.).

 

Sometimes I grate a bit of lemon zest into it somewhere along the line if there's one lying around on the counter.

 
peds, you beauty. This still delivers. 
 

[peds]

Maaate, that looks sublime. 

 

Ever made your own pasta?

 

Toss that through a pile of rustic orechiette and you've got perfection.