The Official Food Porn Thread

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The Official Food Porn Thread

Some of you may well say 'the What thread?'

Well, you read right, Food Porn. Remember? Some time ago I started a thread about our non-sexual hobbies and amongst my hobbies I listed that I love cooking and food in general. Allthough the thread pretty much died down over time, there were quite a few people saying that they would love to learn how to cook.

Allthough I do realise this may be yet another thread that'll go the way of every other non-sexually oriented topic, why not, after all, maybe something will come of this one. We shall see.

That's the reason why I decided to start this with basically all kinds of recipes, from easy peasy to hellishly difficult and maybe even give some advice on some of the more basic understanding this requires, as well as some much needed background information on the foods we eat.

One of life's motto's with me, you might as well sum up as:
Eat healthy, eat organic.

That is, whenever you can afford to but at least do try and stay away from food from supermarkets. Go and find a greengrocer, a bakery and a butcher. Chances are, not only will you be buying better produce, but the same produce may cost you less then what you'd expect to pay in a large store.

Better still, find the producer and buy directly from the farm. I know, for some of you this may not be an option but for those that have the facilities, do it, you'll notice the difference immediately. Also, it gives you a better understanding about where you food comes from (this implies you stay well clear of any farmer that is in cahoots with Monsanto and their cronies).

We still have to go to the supermarket ourselves but that is for items that simply don't grow on a farm. Toilet paper comes to mind, not seen that growing in the wild for some time now.

Organic has a very simple background, a) I used to own and run an organic greengrocers, b) the difference is in the flavour and c) no GM, no pesticides, no rubbish in your food. For years I had been suffering from bad indigestion whenever I had a capsicum (bell pepper), never again with organic ones. Besides, it does a lot for the environment, something we should all be a little more concerned about then we currently appear to be.

Anyway, enough preaching for one day and back to the threads general idea.

I will devote one post to each and every recipe, as well as set up an index with links to the actual recipe posts. If you wish to share anything, feel free to do it here, which would make sense rather then clutter up the whole forum and I will add your recipe to the index.

Every recipe will be available to view in the post as well as a downloadable PDF file, at least mine will be anyway.

Feel free to comment, ask me anything and everything. Not that I know it all, but I am always willing to find out.

Slow food is the only way to go.

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The Official Food Porn Recipe Index

• Chelsea Buns
• Clotted Cream, How to make
• Cornish Pasty
• Cottage Pie (see 'Shepherd's Pie)
• Filet mignon with red wine-tarragon sauce (by PaintItPretty)
• Hidden Apples Cake
• Lamb shoulder, Rolled and stuffed
• Mutton, Roast leg of
• Samosas (Indian lamb filled dough pouches)
• Shepherd's Pie (with Cottage Pie variation)
• Shrimp Pad Thai (by PaintItPretty)
• Sweet Potato Wedges, Spicy
• Tandoori Butter chicken (by PaintItPretty)
• Yorkshire Pudding. Traditional and individual (by Deliah Smith, BBC)

Index of General Topics and Instructions

• Cream used in the UK, Types of
• Notes on freezing and more hints on making the most of your 'food waste' (by JoBleau)
• Some useful hints on reducing Food Waste

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Hidden Apples Cake



Ingredients:
180 gr. warm butter
180 gr. Demerara sugar
6 medium eggs
150 gr. wheat flour
50 gr. wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest
4-6 apples (cox orange, russets, bramley or similar or a mixture thereof)
50 gr. butter
50 gr. Demerara sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the spring loaded baking from:
30 gr. butter and 3 tablespoons bread crumbs

Preparation and cooking times:
Preparation: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 50-60 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Portions: 12-16 pieces
Home freezing : no

Notes:
A very tasty and fragrant cake that is traditionally eaten cold with either whipped, double or clotted cream. Feel free to experiment having it hot with custard.

Preparation:

• Whisk the warm butter and the Demerara sugar until creamy white in texture and colour (at least 15 minutes).
• Separate egg white and yolk, beating the white until stiff (if cut with a knife, the cut should remain visible).
• Sift and mix white and wholemeal flour together with the baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl.
• Rub the spring loaded baking form with the butter and sprinkle the bread crumbs over (this will prevent the cake mix from sticking to the tray).
• Peel, core and quarter the apples and cut a cross into the outside of the quarters.
• Mix 50 gr. butter, 50 gr. Demerara sugar and the cinnamon into a smooth mixture, put aside to use later.
• Preheat oven to 175C. If using a fan oven, please consult the manufacturers manual. Non fan ovens preferred.

Instructions:

• Whisk the egg yolk and lemon zest into the butter-sugar mixture.
• Slowly stir in the flour mix little by little while whisking vigorously. Should the mixture become too stiff, add some stiff egg white at this stage, otherwise leave until the next stage.
• Using a clean dry spoon (this is very important as any traces of fat will collapse the egg white), gently fold in the egg white (this will ensure the cake turn wonderfully light and fluffy).
• Pour the mixture into the prepared spring loaded baking form.
• Lightly press in the apple quarters. Do the outside circle first, then the centre. The top of the apples should not be immersed in the dough.
• Place the cake into the middle of the pre-heated oven on a baking tray. Baking for the prescribed time.
• 10 minutes before the end of baking, place small scoops of the butter, sugar and cinnamon mixture onto the visible piece of apples, returning the cake to the oven to complete baking.
• Check if the cake is done baking by inserting a skewer. The skewer should come out nice and dry.
• Once the cake is done, turn off the oven, slightly open the oven door and allow the cake to start cooling for 10-15 minutes before removing from the oven.

Download:
PDF file attached, see below.

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Samosas (Indian lamb filled dough pouches)



Ingredients:
For the dough:
400 gr. chickpea flour (Besan) or wheat flour (preferably the chickpea flour though)
1/2 teaspoon ground sea salt
2-3 desert spoon oil or ghee (clarified butter fat)
150 ml warm water

For the filling:
1 desert spoon oil or ghee (clarified butter fat)
1 clove of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1 desert spoon fresh ginger, finely grated (best results are obtained if the fresh ginger is pre-frozen)
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 teaspoon curry powder (see notes)
1/2 teaspoon ground sea salt
1 desert spoon fresh lemon juice
250 gr. minced lamb or beef (preferably lamb though)
125 ml hot water
2 teaspoon garam massala
2 desert spoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves

Preparation:
Prep time: 50 minutes
Cooking time: 6-8 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Portions: approx. 15
Home freezing: suitable for up to 6 month

Notes:

• Depending on your preferences use korma for a very mild, moglai or jalfrezi for a medium and madras for a very hot dish.
• Garam massala is a fragrant mixture of spices consisting of cinnamon, curcuma, cloves and coriander.

Preparation:

• Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add oil or ghee and the warm water and mix into an elastic dough. Kneed for at least 10 minutes (the longer the better).
• Cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.
• Finely chop the onions if not already prepared.
• Grate the ginger on the fine side of the grater.
• Crush or finely chop the garlic.
• Finely chop the mint (if no fresh mint is available substitute with the content of 2 mint teabags rubbed between your hands).
• Measure and put aside all other spices.

Cooking:

• Fry off garlic, ginger and half of the onions until the onions are translucent in the oil or ghee.
• Add curry powder, salt and lemon juice and fry over medium heat for three minutes.
• Turn hob to full and add the minced meat, stir vigorously until the meat has turned colour.
• Reduce heat down to one third and add the water.
• Cover saucepan with lid and allow to simmer until all the liquid has been reduced.
• Remove from hob adding garam massala, mint and the remaining onions. Leave to cool.
• In the meantime
• Divide the dough into two equal halves, sprinkle table with flour and using a rolling pin roll out very thinly, no more the 1 mm thick, thinner would be desirable. The rolled out dough should be at least 30-40 cm long.
• Cut the dough into strips approx. 10 cm wide and 30-40 cm long.
• Place a large table spoon full of the filling onto the bottom of the strip of dough.
• Fold into a triangular parcel making sure none of the filling spills. For best results fold diagonally.
• Cook the samosas in a deep fat fryer at 170 C until they are golden brown in colour.
• Serve the hot samosas with mango chutney or lime pickle.

Note for vegetarians:

• Alternatively, you can use a chopped vegetable filling by chopping the vegetables into 5 mm pieces.

Download:
PDF file attached, see below.

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Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges



Ingredients (serves 1 if served on its own, serves 2-3 as a side):
500 grams of sweet potato, preferably a large one
3 tablespoons of high heat cooking oil or olive oil (I don't think olive oil is good if you spice it up)
Freshly ground sea or rock salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Spicier alternatives (choose one, not all):

• 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of Sambal Olek (red chilli paste) to the oil
• Sprinkle with a hot curry mixture such as Madras or Vindaloo, giving it a more Indian flavour

Preparation:

• Cut the sweet potato in half, then quarters and then wedges. They should be about 10-15 mm wide at the skin side.
• Season with freshly ground salt and pepper
• Toss in oil or oil and alternative spices

Method:

• Place in baking dish such as a pie dish or shallow baking tray. The sweet potatoes should come to lie singly on its base or they are more likely to steam rather then bake.
• Preheat oven to 230 C.
• Place on the highest oven shelf.
• Bake for about 10-12 minutes, turning them over once.
• Brown under the grill for a couple of minutes or until finally cooked.

Notes:

• There are few vegetables that are easier to overcook. Not that they will have to be disposed of but they will go mushy and lose their slight crispiness, which is a shame, so cooking is a bit of trial and error as all cookers vary hugely in their performance.
• Check how far the cooking has progressed by piercing with a fork or wooden skewer. They are ready for the grilling stage when they still offer slight resistance.
• Makes a great side dish to most curries or serve on its own.
• If intended for a nibble for one serving, reduce quantities by half or more.

Download:
PDF file attached, see below.

[PaintItPretty]

I enjoyed reading your introductory post. I live the same way. After watching movies like Food inc (which shocked me) I started shopping only organic. I do yoga, belly dancing and I run high intensity interval training 3 times a week. You may not get many replies in here, but if no one else, I'll be here to share some things with you

I have to make that hidden apple cake sometime this week; that looks DELICIOUS! I've never had samosas, but I've heard of them. It's indian food, so if I can find lamb, I'll make it (Indian is my favorite). I'll dig through my recipes now and post a few tomorrow. I have a lot of healthy recipes to share too.

[PaintItPretty]

I have all the ingredients to make that hidden apple cake tonight. I think I'll try it out and let you know how it turns out.

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PaintItPretty: You don't have to use ground or minced lamb, you can use beef but this being an indian fingerfood recipe, pork would offend the Muslim community and beef obviously the Hindus, so lamb does come naturally, apart from it being our all time favourite anyway.

I also have a fantastic recipe for rolled and stuffed lamb shoulder, slow roasted in the oven...

Talk about food porn. LOL

Hope you enjoy the cake, Mum's special, never failed to raise some eyebrows.

As for the organic food... It can be an expensive hobby but the rewards are great. Flavour, nutrients, texture. Once you've tried an organic carrot, you'll never buy one from a supermarket again.

[jobleau]

Ah! Those samosas. I need to retry that recipe now that I have a better handling of dough.

Good thread idea Hover. That will make for a change in the type of porn! LOL! I'll chip in some recipes too as soon as I can find some free time.

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I thought you might like the idea. Well, at the latest count that then makes three of us. Mind you, I am already on the retreat, two Canadians easily beat one mongrel.