Gordon Ramsay prog tonight

[jon]

What is real cooking Glue stick.

Mr Ramsay is not my favourite..but he can cook....maybe you are not too keen on modern French cooking.Who do you like?

[Patf]

It amuses me to see the kitchens in some of these house makeover programmes, often having more than one cooker. Last week there was an example with three cookers. Why? because it's symetrical. And I doubt if even one will be used appropriately. Imagine if some grease got splashed! Shock/horror [+o(] When did you last clean an oven?

[jon]

Last cleaned my oven today!Clean almost every day.

Gluestick I have just realised that you were  fond of Robert Carrier...

Oh dea.

Fanny Craddock was around at the same time?

[flunch]

Each of us have different likes, what is one man's meat is another's poison etc etc.   I was taught to cook by my Mother from a very early age, good old-fashioned cooking.......stews, soups, pastries, puddings (mostly done in a boiled white cloth), cakes, bread, meat and 3 veg, but I was also taught how to cook a crab and dress it, clean a rabbit and cook it, and was even taught how to make brawn (using a pigs head).        My Mother was an extremely busy lady, she held down a full-time job after my Father died at an early age, but she still saw to our needs and still managed to cook....no microwaves in those days.      To me its the grounding that counts, if children see their parents pop the top of  a ready-meal and stick it in the microwave, they will think it normal and carry on with that trend.   Likewise if they see their parents send out for takeaways 3 times a week, they will also think thats the norm too.     Is'nt it the same with all things in life?    If a child hears their parents swearing every other word, they will copy it.      Its the grounding that counts.      I have dozens of cookery books and my favourite?    The old battered handwritten one passed to me from my Mother.

[mint]

Enjoyed reading your post memb.  Wish I could do some of those things you have described.  Alas, most of my cooking skills (such as they are) are learned from Delia.  I used to follow her recipes to the letter and, of course, they did mostly turn out OK.

Recently, I got her Complete Course out and thought I'd knock up some flapjacks to take to some new French friends' house.  Guess what, on the one occasion when it really mattered, the damn things came out the oven looking just the way I put them in, that is, a tray of oat flakes with dried apricots in the middle instead of a nice tray of flapjacks that only needed cutting up!

I think she left out the golden syrup or some such.  Probably, it was the proof-reader's fault or whoever's.

Upshot was, I took a box of chocolates instead.  Oh, the shame of it;  couldn't fly the flag that day.[:$] 

[Gluestick]

[quote user="jon"]

What is real cooking Glue stick.

Mr Ramsay is not my favourite..but he can cook....maybe you are not too keen on modern French cooking.Who do you like?

Last cleaned my oven today!Clean almost every day.

Gluestick I have just realised that you were  fond of Robert Carrier...

Oh dea.

Fanny Craddock was around at the same time?

[/quote]

What did I say, earlier, Jon?

"Our constant guru was and remains the late Robert Carrier, since his books are a ready reference source for methodology and style; particularly so in French Haute Cuisine. Interestingly, this is so for most serious professional chefs, too; not surprising since Carrier progressed from the school of Escoffier."

So I suppose you mock Escoffier too?

The only people I "Like", are those with real ability and developed expertise.

Personally, I don't like 90% of my food cooked in a frying pan: which seems to be the modern trend; done, of course, in order to keep up a fairly complex menu when offering an a la carte service.

As I also said before, I've been fortunate enough to have eaten in some of the better places, over the years.

Rather than enjoy cooking as a sort of frenetic spectator sport, I enjoy it for the results: on my palate and in my gut!

And one small tip when typing up your menus: put spaces after each punctuation: as well as using a spell check facility.[Www]

 

 

 

[flunch]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Enjoyed reading your post memb.  Wish I could do some of those things you have described.  Alas, most of my cooking skills (such as they are) are learned from Delia.  I used to follow her recipes to the letter and, of course, they did mostly turn out OK.

Recently, I got her Complete Course out and thought I'd knock up some flapjacks to take to some new French friends' house.  Guess what, on the one occasion when it really mattered, the damn things came out the oven looking just the way I put them in, that is, a tray of oat flakes with dried apricots in the middle instead of a nice tray of flapjacks that only needed cutting up!

I think she left out the golden syrup or some such.  Probably, it was the proof-reader's fault or whoever's.

Upshot was, I took a box of chocolates instead.  Oh, the shame of it;  couldn't fly the flag that day.[:$] 

[/quote]

Hi there, glad you enjoyed my post, I love to cook.    What a shame about your flapjacks!    Did you write to Delia to tell her?  I would have!  We have French neighbours either side, they LOVE anything with sultana's/currants in.      A Bero recipe passed to me from Mam always goes down well when we have a cuppa with them.

[Geordie girl]

Hi memb, put some on the recipe thread please, i need a good sultana scone recipe that works every time  [:D]

My recipe only works when it feels like it. Sometimes they`re lovely but then other times ..........ugh [:'(][:'(][:'(]

 

 

[flunch]

[quote user="Geordie girl"]

Hi memb, put some on the recipe thread please, i need a good sultana scone recipe that works every time  [:D]

My recipe only works when it feels like it. Sometimes they`re lovely but then other times ..........ugh [:'(][:'(][:'(]

[/quote]

The thread is for Starters / Mains / Desserts though, and scones are none of those.....you should start your own Recipe Request thread!

 

[Geordie girl]

Actually memb.... scones ARE a main course when you have them as a cream tea with jam & cream sitting in the garden on a lovely summers day...............................Go on, you know you want to  .............put it on please  [kiss][kiss]

 

 

[Clair]

If it helps, I posted this recipe a few months ago: http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1048408/ShowPost.aspx

[Geordie girl]

Thanks claire [:D] now i`ve just got to translate it into english  [:$]

 

[Scooby]

[quote user="Gluestick"]

I've always worked long hours: so has Mrs GS: and we've always eaten good home cooked food.

All our parents did too: and lived through the grim years of the war (In London) up and down to the bomb shelter many nights and later on, wondering if a VI or a VII was going to land on your head!

Yes, the kids do have many extra-curricular activities these days. But so did I!

Personally, I think that all too often wisdom has been surplanted by  apparently frenetic activity: time gained from all sorts of time savings (dishwashers, washing machines; central heating and so on) has been simply frittered away on trying to cram in as many other things as possible.

Meanwhile, kids are badly fed on junk; enjoy little or no table manners and have no appreciation of the finer things of life.

And then, of course, take up binge drinking!

Sad.

[/quote]

I work full time+ in a demanding job (as does my partner) but we always have a 'proper' home cooked family meal at night around the kitchen table.  It's an opportunity to talk about what's happened during the day, share problems, successes and just 'be a family'. All my children can cook and often help me in the kitchen.  I hope that my kitchen is the heart of our home and that those times around the kitchen table will be remembered fondly as my children grow up. 

I always assumed (naively) that most of my friends / work colleagues had a similar ethos - until a friend turned up one evening when I was preparing dinner.  On walking into the kitchen she said with suprise 'You're peeling carrots on a Wednesday!!' Thinking there was some significance about Wednesday and carrots I asked what she meant.  She told me she thought most people she knew only cooked 'proper food' (and hence peeled vegetables) for Sunday lunch!

[Clair]

[quote user="Geordie girl"]Thanks claire [:D] now i`ve just got to translate it into english  [:$][/quote]

You could pass it on to your french neighbours!![:D]

quick (unchecked and quite amusing) google translation

[quote]

For 10 scones - Preparation time: 20 minutes - Cooking time: 14 min +

280 g flour T55

60 g cold butter

40 g sugar

50 g raisins

1 egg

160 g fresh cream (+ a bit for glossing)

12 g baking powder

1 large pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 220 º C. Cover a baking tray parchment paper. Prepare a

dish with a little flour and another with a little fresh cream.

   

1. In a large container, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the

butter into cubes and place on the ingredients. Sabler (mix fingertips.

This gesture can coat each grain flour with butter and you get little

by little preparation ivory color, in which particles of butter remain.

Order not to heat the butter, it is necessary that this mixture is a

little above the rest of flour to butter you lifting and leaving the

mixture back, it's on the air and cools).

    2. Add the chopped raisins and mix. Form a well in the middle.

    3. Whisk eggs and sugar in a container for a creamy texture. Add cream and mix again.

    4. Pour this mixture into the well. Combine maryse to form a paste.

   

5. Flour the work plan and reverse the pate. Work the dough quickly

so that it is homogeneous and flatten into a thick cake of 3 to 4 cm.

Flour top and equalize with roller.

    6. Flour a cutter 5 cm and cut as many scones as possible (re-flour cutter between each).

   

7. Avoid pushing the scone for all on the plate, but off the

cutter giving wrist up and down. Brush the surface of scones

with a little liquid cream and putting for 14 minutes. Ridding on rack

and serve warm.[/quote]

[Geordie girl]

[:D][:D][:D] Thanks for that claire, very funny, but thats how i must sound to my french neighbours when i try & speak french. Wondered why they always had a big smile on their face when i talk to them. [:$]....................or maybe they`re just laughing at me hair as it does have a mind of its own[:D]

[flunch]

[quote user="Geordie girl"][:D][:D][:D] Thanks for that claire, very funny, but thats how i must sound to my french neighbours when i try & speak french. Wondered why they always had a big smile on their face when i talk to them. [:$]....................or maybe they`re just laughing at me hair as it does have a mind of its own[:D][/quote]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5afpUfn7x3U

Good luck with whatever recipe you choose!

[Geordie girl]

[quote user="memb"]

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5afpUfn7x3U

 

[/quote]

Eeh i never said it was that bad............

[mint]

What makes me really laugh is the way dishes are described in menus in some chichi restaurants and on those ridiculous M & S adverts.  You know, these are not just scotch eggs; these are free-range eggs handpicked from designer flocks that graze on rich Norfolk farmlands, perfectly boiled in stainless steel pans, wrapped around in sausage meat made from the best, juiciest and tenderest cuts of pork from pigs reared in a happy stress-free environment and coated in golden breadcrumbs made from wholemeal loaves.......talk about food pornography!

Then there is the "pan fried" halibut or whatever.  I mean what else would you fry anything in other than a pan?

It's really sad when people actually buy ready-to-bake oven potatoes. 

[Chancer]

Getting back to Gordon effing Ramsey I did actually attempt watching one other programme which was called the F word, he was being swooned over by various celebs and wanabees.

What finally did it for me was seeing him goading Cliff Richard to say "fuck off".

Not British TV's finest hour but definitely the final one for me, I only have French Tv now but what have they done since to upstage a program called the F word?

[Gluestick]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

What makes me really laugh is the way dishes are described in menus in some chichi restaurants and on those ridiculous M & S adverts.  You know, these are not just scotch eggs; these are free-range eggs handpicked from designer flocks that graze on rich Norfolk farmlands, perfectly boiled in stainless steel pans, wrapped around in sausage meat made from the best, juiciest and tenderest cuts of pork from pigs reared in a happy stress-free environment and coated in golden breadcrumbs made from wholemeal loaves.......talk about food pornography!

Then there is the "pan fried" halibut or whatever.  I mean what else would you fry anything in other than a pan?

It's really sad when people actually buy ready-to-bake oven potatoes. 

[/quote]

 

Couldn't agree more, Sweets!

Or, in current vernacular, "You are so right!" (What does that actually mean?)

We live, sadly, in the age of the superlative: whatever anyone does by way or earning a living, it's now obligatory to tack "Executive" onto the title!

The current genre of eateries seem to invent new things each and every day: having  a casual business lunch, a few years ago, I was totally amazed to learn that cod had legs! Archaically, loins meant genitalia (On a fish?): in terms of bipeds and quadrapeds it's the bit between the pelvis and the lower back or the rump and side.

But then again, until commercial TV, no one realised that fish had fingers!

Assembling a mess of inferior quality food and describing it in superlative terms of reference seems to be the current foody genre which has succeeded nouvelle cuisine. Doesn't matter what it actually tastes like, just ensure you have loads of obscure and arcane ingredients, badly cooked and all looking artisically wonderful on the plate!

And on that subject a few years ago a close Northern chum, noted for his love of pork pies and Harry Ramsden's fish and chips cooked in beef dripping, naturally, was one of a group of businessmen invited to Anton Mosiman's eatery in London. Mosiman, of course, the ex head chef at the Dorchester, was one of the leading proponents of this culinary nonsense.

Anyway, after the event I asked my chum what he thought: "We were so hungry after we left, all those picky little bits of raw carrot and so on, we went to a nearby pub and had sausage egg and chips!"

[:D]