Share a cooking Skill

[Rookiescot]

9 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

Quickest way to a salmon dinner.  Add milk and butter to a salmon steak, place in bowl and microwave for 4 minutes. Take out salmon and add spices and a little corn flour to the mixture that is in the bowl, ( I add paprika and a little curry powder) micro wave until thickness arrives, poor over the salmon, done, dinner in less than 10 minutes.  Eat with rice if preferred.   

Always remember to give the bowl a bit of a tap before you lift the heated milk out. 

[Marble-eye]

8 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

Quickest way to a salmon dinner.  Add milk and butter to a salmon steak, place in bowl and microwave for 4 minutes. Take out salmon and add spices and a little corn flour to the mixture that is in the bowl, ( I add paprika and a little curry powder) micro wave until thickness arrives, poor over the salmon, done, dinner in less than 10 minutes.  Eat with rice if preferred.   

Thanks for the idea Pinetree, will give that a try next time we have salmon, might give the curry powder a miss though.

[Pinetree]

4 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Always remember to give the bowl a bit of a tap before you lift the heated milk out. 

Have this meal once a week and I always look forward to that day. Delicious. 

[Pinetree]

4 minutes ago, Marble-eye said:

Thanks for the idea Pinetree, will give that a try next time we have salmon, might give the curry powder a miss though.

you can also add grated mature  cheese to the mixture, which is also delicious. 

[Rookiescot]

2 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

Have this meal once a week and I always look forward to that day. Delicious. 

Not one for salmon myself but it does sound quick, easy and tasty. Could maybe try it with a gammon steak.

It will not be as healthy but I consider "healthy eating" to be tantamount to communist talk and resist it wherever possible.

[Pinetree]

5 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Not one for salmon myself but it does sound quick, easy and tasty. Could maybe try it with a gammon steak.

It will not be as healthy but I consider "healthy eating" to be tantamount to communist talk and resist it wherever possible.

Air fryer cuts down on cooking timer if you are cooking meat rather than fish.  I am a big air fryer fan, great piece of kit. 

[Marble-eye]

I can't get over the price of imported chocolate over here, so had a go at the many recipes on YouTube for Bounty Bars and they taste just the same as the expensive imported ones, although not quite as uniform. 

My motto is if you're going to get fat, do it cheaply.

 

[Rookiescot]

Just now, Pinetree said:

Air fryer cuts down on cooking timer if you are cooking meat rather than fish.  I am a big air fryer fan, great piece of kit. 

Pffft. If its not deep fried then its not edible. Thats why us Scots have a life expectancy beaten only by the residents of Shangri-la and its fountain of youth.

[Rookiescot]

1 minute ago, Marble-eye said:

I can't get over the price of imported chocolate over here, so had a go at the many recipes on YouTube for Bounty Bars and they taste just the same as the expensive imported ones, although not quite as uniform. 

My motto is if you're going to get fat, do it cheaply.

I find those in the litter tray most mornings. Never thought of eating one though. 

[Pinetree]

Just now, Marble-eye said:

I can't get over the price of imported chocolate over here, so had a go at the many recipes on YouTube for Bounty Bars and they taste just the same as the expensive imported ones, although not quite as uniform. 

My motto is if you're going to get fat, do it cheaply.

Big C sell packs of dark , milk and white cooking chocolate. in choc bits,  in the baking section.  Works very well for cakes etc and cheap.

 

 

[Marble-eye]

11 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Pffft. If its not deep fried then its not edible. Thats why us Scots have a life expectancy beaten only by the residents of Shangri-la and its fountain of youth.

Yes the Scots are the only people I know that count Tomato Sauce as part of their 1 of 5 health foods a day.

[Pinetree]

12 minutes ago, Marble-eye said:

Yes the Scots are the only people I know that count Tomato Sauce as part of their 1 of 5 health foods a day.

I lived in Scotland for 9 years and I'm sure that in that time,  fruit was illegal and considered a Class A drug'? 

[Rookiescot]

On 1/9/2023 at 11:33 AM, Pinetree said:

I lived in Scotland for 9 years and I'm sure that in that time,  fruit was illegal and considered a Class A drug'? 

Though not strictly illegal if you are caught in possession of any kind of fruit then expect a beating. 

[Pinetree]

2 hours ago, Rookiescot said:

Though not strictly illegal if you are caught in possession of any kind of fruit then expect a beating. 

Quite right too.  The only way to avoid a good thrashing is a pint of Heavy all around with a Macallen chaser.  Goodness, but I miss that place and those times and Tartan on draft. 

[Marble-eye]

Ok, it looks like everyone has mastered the art of breadmaking, no questions is always a good sign. 

So what is the best food to make a sandwich from our newly acquired skill, @Slacker77 not included in that remark as it looks like he was a master baker to start with (master baker I wrote, do not confuse with.......) yes bacon by a long shot, nothing comes near a bacon butty.

Today I bought a full piece of belly pork (moo sam chan, translates as 'pork three layer'). I believe @Faraday is a curer of pork and if I remember correctly going by past posts he may use back bacon? The total weight of the belly pork was about 5 or 6 kilos. So skinned it when I got back and cut it into 4 manageable strips, your friendly butcher may skin it for you but it is very easy to do when you get the knack. I cut them into about 6 inch strips which enables them to fit into the bacon slicer very nicely, cutting by hand is ok if you are not cutting in bulk, but a slicer you will have more control of the thickness of the slices. 

Tomorrow I will cure it for 5 - 7 days and that will keep us going for quite a while. Will add more details tomorrow.

 

 

[yselmike]

39 minutes ago, Marble-eye said:

Ok, it looks like everyone has mastered the art of breadmaking, no questions is always a good sign. 

So what is the best food to make a sandwich from our newly acquired skill, @Slacker77 not included in that remark as it looks like he was a master baker to start with (master baker I wrote, do not confuse with.......) yes bacon by a long shot, nothing comes near a bacon butty.

Today I bought a full piece of belly pork (moo sam chan, translates as 'pork three layer'). I believe @Faraday is a curer of pork and if I remember correctly going by past posts he may use back bacon? The total weight of the belly pork was about 5 or 6 kilos. So skinned it when I got back and cut it into 4 manageable strips, your friendly butcher may skin it for you but it is very easy to do when you get the knack. I cut them into about 6 inch strips which enables them to fit into the bacon slicer very nicely, cutting by hand is ok if you are not cutting in bulk, but a slicer you will have more control of the thickness of the slices. 

Tomorrow I will cure it for 5 - 7 days and that will keep us going for quite a while. Will add more details tomorrow.

I used to have belly pork on as a daily special,poach it with spices,soy sauce,apple juice.wrap it in cling film then press  it overnight in the fridge with something heavy on it.Slice it the next day and pan fry it or grill it but that can become smokey in a domestic kitchen.Serve with Pak Choi rice and black bean sauce.

 

[Marble-eye]

1 hour ago, yselmike said:

I used to have belly pork on as a daily special,poach it with spices,soy sauce,apple juice.wrap it in cling film then press  it overnight in the fridge with something heavy on it.Slice it the next day and pan fry it or grill it but that can become smokey in a domestic kitchen.Serve with Pak Choi rice and black bean sauce.

Yes belly pork has to be the most juiciest part of the pig and the way you cook it seems very delicious. 

 

[Marc26]

2 hours ago, Marble-eye said:

Ok, it looks like everyone has mastered the art of breadmaking, no questions is always a good sign. 

So what is the best food to make a sandwich from our newly acquired skill, @Slacker77 not included in that remark as it looks like he was a master baker to start with (master baker I wrote, do not confuse with.......) yes bacon by a long shot, nothing comes near a bacon butty.

Today I bought a full piece of belly pork (moo sam chan, translates as 'pork three layer'). I believe @Faraday is a curer of pork and if I remember correctly going by past posts he may use back bacon? The total weight of the belly pork was about 5 or 6 kilos. So skinned it when I got back and cut it into 4 manageable strips, your friendly butcher may skin it for you but it is very easy to do when you get the knack. I cut them into about 6 inch strips which enables them to fit into the bacon slicer very nicely, cutting by hand is ok if you are not cutting in bulk, but a slicer you will have more control of the thickness of the slices. 

Tomorrow I will cure it for 5 - 7 days and that will keep us going for quite a while. Will add more details tomorrow.

I have never been a fan of pork belly, my wife eats it by the ton load though

 

For me, and this  may a regional country thing...............

 

But you can't beat a good ole steak sandwich

 

If I can't think of what I want to eat, I usually will have a steak sandwich once/wk or so

 

 

 

[KaptainRob]

15 hours ago, yselmike said:

I used to have belly pork on as a daily special,poach it with spices,soy sauce,apple juice.wrap it in cling film then press  it overnight in the fridge with something heavy on it.Slice it the next day and pan fry it or grill it but that can become smokey in a domestic kitchen.Serve with Pak Choi rice and black bean sauce.

I'm a big fan of pork belly and cook with it often.  My one regret is not having a quality plum sauce available here.  Australia's SPC formerly sold a superb spicy plum sauce (low sugar content) which was perfect for many dishes as a pour over (schnitzels) or for cooking in.  Alas it is only sold in commercial tubs now.

Asian plum sauces just aren't the same.

A Manly (NSW) takeaway used to do a melt-in-mouth version similar to this which is what inspired me

[Marble-eye]

Stage 2 of our bacon curing process. 

You will need a container, I started with something like a Tupperware container, but have found a food friendly bucket easier when doing larger quantities.

The first photo shows the bucket with the pork already inside, to the left of bucket is a piece of belly pork with more fat than required to make into bacon so save it for sausage making where a ratio of about 20% fat to 80% meat is a nice mix, anything less and the sausages will be dry. To the right of the bucket is a container used for illustration purposes only as it is not food friendly. 

My mix I use for the cure is one and a half litres of water, 3/4 cup of table sugar and 3/4 cup of salt, added to that you will need 2 tsps (not tablespoons!) of Prague salts, this stuff needs a little respect so don't add 'one for his knob'. The Prague salt is usually coloured pink to distinguish it from normal salt and can be quite expensive, but the plain coloured Sodium Nitrate (Prague Powder) is cheap as chips from Lazada (2nd photo). 

Tomorrow may be part 3 of our quest to become a bacon curer.

ps I know the Prague Powder is past its sell by date and I don't care.

There are many recipes for curing bacon on t'internet, heres another example. 

 

• 6 cups of cold water
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 1 cup of table salt 
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons of Prague powder
• 1 tablespoon of black peppercorn 
• 2 bay leaves

https://carnivorestyle.com/homemade-bacon-brine-recipe/

 

 

[Marble-eye]

 

And the final episode in our bacon trilogy titled 'Ham gunna get me a Pun'. 

Got yesterdays pork in the fridge, but forgot to mention if the meat floats put a ceramic plate or a ziplock bag filled with water to weigh it down, no air in the bag or that will float as well. 

Ran out of bacon this morning but always have spare cured bacon in the freezer, so decided to show how easy the electric slicer is and importantly very quick. 

Whether you are slicing by hand or using a machine try and get the meat very chilled to frozen and it will be easier to slice.