What's Cooking?

Penelope · Tue Mar 01, 2011 1:07 pm

OK - I've consulted with one or two other BT members and we all think a Cookery thread is a good idea.

I am intending to try to make it Cooking with Literary Links....

For instance, today is St.David's Day - March, 1st. He is the patron saint for Wales, and the Welsh have the Leek as their national emblem.

So I hope you will all be having leeks in some form for dinner this week.

We are have chicken - baked in tomato and chorizo sauce with leeks, accompanied by mushroom bulgar wheat.

St. David's Day Chicken!

Very simple to prepare:

Put four boned chicken thighs, table spoonful of olive oil, pinch of marjoram and a very little salt and pepper, into a smallish ovenproof dish and cook at 180degrees celsius for about 25 mins. Then, (after 25 mins)add a small tin of tomatoes into which you have chopped a bit of chorizo sausage. The chorizo will give you enough flavour, so you don't need to add anything more unless you prefer more seasoning or a bit of chilli. Chop a small leek up into - diced - and add this to the chicken just before you pour the tomato mix over the top. Leave it in the oven for the last 15-20 minutes.

In the meantime, bring bulgar wheat to the boil with some chopped garlic, and then soak with finely diced mushrooms. Use the instructions on your packet of bulgar wheat. When the bulgar wheat is cooked, add a bit of butter if you like, and a teaspoon of fresh parsley is nice.

Add seasoning to taste - and serve.

I haven't got photos yet....but I will try to put a photograph or two in future.

Any constructive criticism will be very welcome.

http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&xh ... 66&bih=575

DWill · Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:38 pm

I think it's a good idea, Penelope. I do a little in the cooking department, and saffron is a great hand at it. Certainly a lot of literary links, as well as excellent writing about food. I finished reading a memoir by M. F. K. Fisher called Long Ago in France. She's an extremely skilled writer about life as well as food.

President Camacho · Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:11 pm

The pictures should come with the instructions in the future to give a person unfamiliar with something like bulgar wheat a good idea of what the dish should look like. If it looks appetizing it's even more incentive to cook the dish. You should also include a shopping list so that a person like myself can, instead of printing out the entire instructions, just jot down what they need so that they can go to the store and buy it. I guess most moms have this stuff already in the kitchen but I mostly have beer and ketchup in my fridge.

Thanks so much Pen. I'll be trying to cook this tomorrow or the following night for sure.

johnson1010 · Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:51 pm

Dawn · Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:49 pm

Yum! I wish I'd had dinner at your house tonight! Thanks for getting this rolling Penelope! I have never cooked with bulgar wheat. Would that be sort of a substitute for rice? Will have to try it!

Saffron · Wed Mar 02, 2011 7:37 am


	Penelope wrote: OK - I've consulted with one or two other BT members and we all think a Cookery thread is a good idea.

It is a great idea! Pitch it to Chris and see if he will set up a forum for you! I love the idea of tying in literary links and holidays to foods. I have Welsh oatcakes that I made a few weeks ago -- will that do for St. David's Day?

Thanks for the shout out, DWill. I do love to cook. I made a chocolate cinnamon bread last night. I will be brining it into work today, my last day at this job.

Penelope · Wed Mar 02, 2011 10:04 am


	Quote: Dawn wrote: I have never cooked with bulgar wheat. Would that be sort of a substitute for rice? Will have to try it!

Yes, it is a carbohydrate, instead of rice, pasta or potatoes. It is a little bit like rice, although more flavoursome, a bit chewier and very easy to cook, it only needs soaking really. I sometimes do couscous, in the same way. I dissolve a good quality stock cube in the right amount of water, and then soak the couscous, or bulgar wheat. If you cover the bowl with tinfoil it cooks to perfection and just needs fluffing with a fork. Sometimes bulgar wheat needs to be boiled for ten minutes or so and then left to soak up the liquid....it depends what it says on the packet.


	Quote: Saffron wrote: Pitch it to Chris and see if he will set up a forum for you!

I don't think I need a forum. I've put it into 'Fun Stuff' forum. But I suppose the thing will be to see how the thread rubs along.

lady of shallot · Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:43 pm

Only have a minute but want to welcome this thread. (or forum) I have cut and pasted your recipe, Pen. Here is a pic from my last party which was a farewell/welcome for a sale of a house and old owner/new owner in neighborhood. The one hint from this is the cutting of the cake with dental floss. We got 16 perfect slices. Other dishes were lemon bars and an English trifle.

Oh, I also have never used bulgar wheat.

Dwill, I am a great fan of MFK Fisher. Will submit a meal she says you can eat on a desperation budget!

GreggMattson · Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:50 pm

Rats. You guys just killed my diet. However, this thread does look like a great idea. If you want to keep it "Booky", we could recommend and review some cook books and submit the choice recipes for our salivation.

GreggMattson · Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:55 pm


	lady of shallot wrote: cutting of the cake with dental floss.

Waxed? Unwaxed?

Penelope · Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:15 pm

I have heard it said that life is too short to stuff a mushroom.

BUT - I say...life is too short to eat crap food.

Thank you for the encouragement....


	Quote: Gregg said: If you want to keep it "Booky", we could recommend and review some cook books and submit the choice recipes for our salivation.

Please, please do.....

Now, tonight we are having, lamb chops (keeping it on a Welsh theme) - The sheep in Wales, graze on the cliffsides, and taste of herbs. Welsh Lamb is wonderful. New potatoes with herb butter and fresh spinach steamed with nutmeg and chopped with butter.

I am cooking the lamb marinated in cranberries and mint....then after they are cooked...I will make a sauce from the bottom of the dish.....

I will give you a list of ingredients and some pictures, next post. But it is easy...just a case of tossing the chops with the marinade into the oven really.

Penelope · Wed Mar 02, 2011 2:18 pm

marinade your lamb chops in cranberry sauce and mint:- cook in pre-heated oven 180degrees celsius for half and hour or so.

coat your potatoes in butter and any herbs you might fancy - I used mint -
microwave for five minutes - loosely covered

Set the Table

Grow your own herbs on your windowsill

Serve with steamed spinach and grated nutmeg- steam for 6-7 minutes

Give the bones to the cat, she'll appreciate it

Strawberries (from Morocco) and strawberry yoghurt for desert

Ingredients

One or two lambchops per person - depending on how thick they are cut

Jar of Cranberry sauce, and chopped fresh mint mixed.

1 lb or so of new potatoes, sprinkled with mint or other herb and butter

1lb of spinach, washed and then sprinkled with freshly grated nutmeg - if you buy ready grated nutmeg it doesn't taste of nuffink.

lady of shallot · Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:09 pm

O.K. Penelope I really,really want that cooker (and will take the cow painting also!)

Gregg, it doesn't matter about the dental floss. I think I usually use unwaxed.

lady of shallot · Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:21 pm

This is a recipe from cooking show host Paula Deen. Paula has written a memoir which is interesting as she was agoraphobic and stayed home a lot. However it also tells a little more than maybe some of us want to know about Paula and actually made me not like her so much. But this is a great recipe. Before adding all the seasonings I would suggest mixing them together and adding slowly, this may be too highly seasoned for some palates. This is my favorite recipe for goulash right now. It makes a large amount. I would say for 8 or 10 diners.

Bobby's goulash (Bobby is one of Paula's two sons)

Ingredients
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 pound ground turkey
2 large onions, chopped
3 cups water
1 (29-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
2 cups dried elbow macaroni
Directions
In a Dutch oven, saute the ground beef and ground turkey over medium-high heat, until no pink remains. Break up meat while sauteing; spoon off any grease. Add the onions to the pot and saute until they are tender about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups water, along with the tomato sauce, tomatoes, garlic, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, House Seasoning, and seasoned salt. Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 20 to 25 minutes.

Add the elbow macaroni, stir well, return the lid to the pot, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves and allow the mixture to sit about 30 minutes more before serving.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

President Camacho · Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:35 pm

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW PEN!!! Awesome!!!

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