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The Forum > General Discussion > Cooking tips

Cooking tips

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How to tell the difference between apples and pears:

Really? Do you guys honestly need a chef to teach you this stuff? Figure it out for yourselves.

Tony's Cooking Tip Number One:

The best bolognese is made with the leanest mince available, stewed for hours over a low heat.

Tony's Tip: Use kangaroo mince, because it is naturally low in fat. It also adds a nice meaty flavour to your bolognese, a sauce that can often be overpowered by the flavour of tomato.
Posted by Toni Lavis, Sunday, 17 May 2015 9:46:11 PM
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Bolognese with minced Victorian Sambar venison, pancetta, mushrooms and red wine is not too shabby either. Glasses of red for the cook and helpers.

Goat leg recipes next, or rabbit? Oregano, chorizo, white wine, yum.
Posted by onthebeach, Sunday, 17 May 2015 10:51:55 PM
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I saw Heston demonstrate a good bolognese trick on TV the other night, brown the meat and cook it in the tomato base then simmer the vegetable ragout and fry it in olive oil before combining the two pots, I'm yet to try it but he reckons it concentrates all the flavours.
Posted by Jay Of Melbourne, Monday, 18 May 2015 6:20:01 PM
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My favorite mix is 50/50 lean beef and fattier pork mince.

Fry it until it's almost burnt, then add tomatoes, herbs, galic, onion etc.

The real bolognaise sauce it actually quite tasteless because I've had it in the town in Italy where it originated from, I was so looking forward to trying real lasagna, but was so disappointed in the end.

I guess it's a bit like Chinese food, where the real thing in China is said to be rather bland.
Posted by rehctub, Monday, 18 May 2015 8:39:57 PM
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"Really? Do you guys honestly need a chef to teach you this stuff? Figure it out for yourselves."

That is too difficult for some people... don't you care about believers in Breatharianism? And I’m referring to true followers of Inedia, not the fancy new-age ones who think a scented candle is a condiment!

Some may scoff at the concept but at least there is no washing up.

Come to think about it, if a Breatharian dies of a hunger-strike did they starve or suffocate?
Posted by WmTrevor, Monday, 18 May 2015 9:14:11 PM
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Wm Trevor, "Come to think about it, if a Breatharian dies of a hunger-strike did they starve or suffocate?"

I don't know.

However the cobwebs at the lower end of his alimentary canal should indicate something to the pathologist conducting the post-mortem.
Posted by onthebeach, Monday, 18 May 2015 9:38:11 PM
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"I guess it's a bit like Chinese food, where the real thing in China is said to be rather bland."

I think you might me on to something there - certainly a lot of so called Italian food is a a combination (definitely not a fusion: I hate that word when it is applied outside of nuclear physics) of Italian ideas and French techniques.

"don't you care about believers in Breatharianism?"

Frankly, no. But they are easier to cater for than vegans, so I should think Inedia should be encouraged within the gullible classes. I like to think of it as 'practical Darwinism'.

"if a Breatharian dies of a hunger-strike did they starve or suffocate?"

Is this a Zen koan?
Posted by Toni Lavis, Tuesday, 19 May 2015 1:00:17 AM
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"Is this a Zen koan?"

Rumbled...

As Master Po told Kwai Chang Caine, "The present is rooted in the past. It is through these roots we draw nourishment and strength."

But I am malnourished and rely upon fading memory as I have not been rooted for years...
Posted by WmTrevor, Tuesday, 19 May 2015 10:11:13 AM
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My uncle had always had someone to cook for him and took no interest in how it was prepared. In his later years his wife was very ill in bed and she wondered what on earth he could cook for her. In the end she decided there was no way he could stuff up a boiled egg. He disappeared into the kitchen and about half an hour later came back and said to his wife "I'm sorry but I have boiled and boiled this egg but it is still not soft".

On the same theme is the well know recipe for cockatoo, boil in pan with rock until rock is tender then throw away cockatoo and eat rock.
Posted by warmair, Friday, 22 May 2015 10:36:13 AM
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Talking about well-known recipes - here's
one gleaned from the web for those of you who
like eating native Australian animals (like
kangaroo):

EMU:

Emu actually has a few times the iron content of beef.
It's virtually fat-free and is low in cholesterol.

The Australian native animal works well smoked and
served cold or as a pizza topping.

For a modern gourmet twist have it in a pie made up of
emu meat, smoked emu, feta cheese, red-wine, sun-dried
tomato, onion and Tasmanian black pepper - all in a
filo-pastry crust.

Get it: The Australian Heritage Hotel
The Rocks.
Posted by Foxy, Friday, 22 May 2015 10:29:31 PM
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You're not allowed to throw things at apprentices any more, but you can still have some fun.

Tony's Cooking Tip Number Two: How to (not) Make a Steam Sauce

Step 1: Find a gullible apprentice. Tell him to whip you up a basic sabayon.

Step 2: Have your apprentice stand next to bain marie, with sabayon and whisk in hand. Tell him that a good steam sauce takes a lot of work to whisk the steam in and you'll be keeping an eye on it to make sure it's done.

Step 3: Check in periodically and say 'Nope, needs more steam'.

Step 4: On your final check say 'Whoah, too much steam... take some out'. Then fall about laughing.

Step 5: Use the sabayon for something useful like bearnaise sauce. Mmmm, bearnaise sauce.... so artery-cloggingly delicious.
Posted by Toni Lavis, Wednesday, 27 May 2015 10:45:16 PM
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French sauces, yum.

Eye fillet rubbed with pepper, baked stuffed potatoes and Bearnaise sauce (sneak in a few drops of Tabasco). Fresh caught, roasted Barramundi as another choice.

Later, relax in front of the fire with steaming coffee and Hennessy VS Cognac.
Posted by onthebeach, Thursday, 28 May 2015 12:53:15 AM
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This is an exceedingly elegant way of serving lobster.
Serve with iced champagne.

It's a good beginning to a dinner party:

Puree in the blender -

The meat of 1 cooked 2 and a half lb. lobster

with -

3 tablespoons tomato puree
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 teaspoons cognac
half cup water

mix in -

1 minced clove garlic
1 finely chopped shallot

Cook the mixture over a low heat until reduced by one-third.
Cool, then add -

2 cups mayonnaise
1 and a half tablespoons heavy cream
half a teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
half a teaspoon MSG

Chill for 1 and a half hours. Arrange additional
4 oz. lobster meat per serving in 6 parfait glasses.

Cover the meat with the above sauce, letting it
trickle down in parfait style. Garnish with chilled
whipped cream and water cress.
Serve at once.
Posted by Foxy, Friday, 29 May 2015 10:09:25 PM
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I demand an invitation to your next dinner party Foxy.
Posted by Craig Minns, Monday, 1 June 2015 6:59:50 PM
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Dear Craig,

With the greatest of pleasure. I would, in your honour do a
"Russian" theme.

My Beef Stroganov is a favourite.

Though the cultivated gentleman of pre-Revolutionary Russia
was devoted to his homeland, he was at the same time
enamored of things French. This duality was deliciously
resolved in Beef Stroganov: the sour cream sauce was
Russian, the method of preparation French. It is named for
one of St. Petersburg's chief families of merchant
noblemen. My Gran was from St Petersburg - and her sauce
combined - tomato paste, beef broth heavy sweet cream, sour
cream Worcestershire sauce and prepared mustard - in
appropriate quantities. She also used the finest cuts of
beef (sirloin or tenderloin) as well as chopped onions,
flour, butter, and sliced mushrooms.

For Dessert - Strawberries Romanoff.

The thoughtful individual who first combined strawberries
and cream is sadly anonymous, but mention was made as early as
15560 by Henri II's physician that ladies enjoyed this
delicacy as an evening dessert. The Russian version bears the
name of the family which dominated that country's history for
some three centuries and includes fresh strawberries, sugar,
kirsch or rum, heavy cream and vanilla extract.

If desired, strawberries may be replaced by raspberries or
thinly sliced fresh or frozen peaches.
Posted by Foxy, Friday, 5 June 2015 11:34:25 AM
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cont'd ...

Ooops excuse my typo. The date should read -
1560.
Posted by Foxy, Friday, 5 June 2015 11:37:19 AM
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Yum! I'm a huge fan of the old beef strog and as for strawberries and cream, by any name at all...

I'll return the favour with a more parochial theme.

Roast lamb shoulder (much tastier and sweeter than leg), flavoured with rosemary and garlic and covered with lovely gravy made using the pan juices, some flour, parisian essence and a little red wine. Served with caramellised Qld Blue pumpkin (if you can find it, it's become a rarity thanks to the hard rind); roast potatoes; cauliflower au gratin (make sure the bechamel is made with plenty of butter) and freshly shucked peas with mint jelly.

Follow with bread and butter custard made in a deep dish to my Nan's recipe.
I made one the other day, for the first time in 20 years! It's still as good as it ever was.
Posted by Craig Minns, Friday, 5 June 2015 12:56:16 PM
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Dear Craig,

I love roast lamb with all the trimmings and I
will definitely try your recipe. It sounds delish.
I must confess that I also have a fondness for
home-made pies - steak and kidney is a firm favourite
as is chicken. We recently went for lunch to
Donovans in St Kilda. It was our anniversary.
We had duck for two, and bombe Alaska for dessert.
I can't think of any winter experience more indulgent
than being tucked behind the bay-embracing window at
Donovans.
Posted by Foxy, Friday, 5 June 2015 1:18:03 PM
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Oh, sorry, didn't give Nan's recipe.

6 eggs
1/2 cup of castor sugar
pint of cream
pint and a half of milk
bread at least 3 days old, crusts removed.
Vanilla extract
Butter (not margarine) for bread
Apricot jam
Brown sugar
Sultanas (or raisins, but Nan preferred sultanas)

Mix the eggs, cream, milk, vanilla and castor sugar to a creamy consistency. Pour into a deep dish (a shallow one doesn't make the custard thick enough) and cover with the buttered and jammed bread upside down. Cut the bread into convenient size to ensure full coverage. Overlaps are better than gaps. Sprinkle lightly with brown sugar and liberally with sultanas.

Bake for 30-40 minutes in a preheated moderate oven, turning to high for final 5 minutes to caramelise the sugar and puff the sultanas.

Stand guard with wooden spoon so Grandson doesn't get his filthy hands on it before dinner.
Posted by Craig Minns, Friday, 5 June 2015 1:27:15 PM
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Dear Craig,

Thank You for the recipe.
I shall try it this week-end when I have my family and
grand-children over for Sunday lunch.

I'll let you know how I got on.
Posted by Foxy, Friday, 5 June 2015 1:34:48 PM
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Do it, Foxy. Don't forget the last step...
Posted by Craig Minns, Friday, 5 June 2015 4:20:08 PM
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