Stock while-u-don’t-wait
Published on 21 Apr 2008 at 3:46 pm.
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Windows video
mp4 videoMaking stock is easy enough - bones, vegetables, herbs, seasoning, then simmer simmer simmer. For a long, long time. And therein lies the problem - can you afford to be housebound for eight hours or so while you wait for all that boney, marrowy, veggie goodness to leach out?
We’ve heard some people talk about making stock in a pressure cooker. You can cut the cooking time down to an hour and a half, maybe less, which should fit in nicely with your TV watching. But do you have a pressure cooker? No, neither do we. But we do have a slow cooker, or crock pot, as featured in our last episode. In this latest instalment of our Adventures in Slow Cooking we find another way to put it to good use. (more…)
Automatic for the porridge
Published on 25 Mar 2008 at 9:03 am.
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I’m pretty anal (can I say that in the international blogosphere?) about my breakfast routine. Rarely do I break it. I have two staples that I alternate daily. The first: two slices of toast, one with grilled cheddar, the other with quality marmalade (or, occasionally, Vegemite, and, it almost goes without saying, butter). The second: porridge cooked with chopped apple, topped with banana, milk and honey (and, occasionally, summer fruits). No sugar. No salt. Always with a pot of weak black tea (Loose. Leaf. Only.), in a proper teacup, with a saucer and a tea strainer.
So when Waz decided to experiment with a slow cooker (crock pot to many of us, though that is really a brand name) that our mates Shaun and Jeanette gave us when they left London for Australia, I was very sceptical when he told me he wanted one of the experiments to feature my tried-and-tested porridge. (more…)
Pudding it simply
Published on 20 Feb 2008 at 8:31 pm.
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We’ve been cooking up a few videos for the Word of Mouth food blog, as we’ve mentioned before. Here’s another one, where we make a gorgeous and failsafe baked treacle pudding by Fergus Henderson of St John restaurant, London.
OK, straight away you North Americans are asking “What’s treacle?” Basically it’s a sugar syrup, lighter than molasses but heavier than golden syrup. These days you’re likely to find golden syrup used in its place, as with this recipe. I guess pancake syrup (not maple) as found in the US/Canada is fairly similar. (more…)
Brocolli soup with left-handedness
Published on 28 Jan 2008 at 8:05 pm.
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A few weeks ago, on a (typically) miserable London winter’s day, I was at home by myself and at a loss for what to have for lunch. The pantry (or store cupboard as the English call it) was pretty much bare and all I had in the fridge was a limp bit of broccoli, the dag end of some parmesan and a few dregs of cream which weren’t quite off.
I boiled up the broc in a bit of water to which I’d added some liquid stock, blitzed it in the blender and added salt, pepper, parmesan and cream for what was a surprisingly delicious repast. I couldn’t believe my luck – I’d stumbled upon the recipe for a yummy, warming lunch from a few ingredients that you might just have in your fridge. (more…)
Going, going, tarragon chicken
Published on 17 Jan 2008 at 10:01 am.
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Here’s an episode we prepared earlier. We’ve been doing a few shows for Word of Mouth (WOM), the blog of Observer Food Monthly magazine here in the UK. A lot of you probably didn’t know about these CTK specials, as they were posted only at WOM and didn’t go out in our feed.
It seemed a shame that some of you might miss out, especially the great number who subscribe to CTK via iTunes, so we’ve decided to repost them here for your enjoyment. Even if you’ve seen the episode before, you can now download it to your iPods, Apple TVs and what-not. (more…)
Rice to the occasion
Published on 9 Jan 2008 at 11:12 am.
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Lenny is a whiz with fried rice. Last time she made it I was well impressed, to the point that I would eat it over stuff from a Chinese restaurant any day.
And that’s saying something. I reckon it’s really hard to replicate the flavours of your better-than-average Chinese takeaway. Maybe it’s down to MSG, which in some Asian cultures is literally known as “taste” (oh, if only you could buy good taste in powdered form). We’ve got nothing against MSG, really - it’s either in the food we buy or it isn’t - but we don’t have it in our kitchen, and don’t have any idea how, or how much of it, to use. (more…)
We larb turkey
Published on 3 Jan 2008 at 6:49 pm.
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The leftover Christmas turkey was on its last legs, and sandwiches had long since lost their appeal … time for what Lenny calls a “flavour changer”.
Larb is a simple Laotian dish of spicy mince (usually pork or chicken) that is eaten with sticky rice, also known as glutinous rice. In Laos the rice comes in a little hopper-style basket made of bamboo and woven grass. The lime and chili flavours are heaven together, and ground rice powder adds a bit of crunch. (more…)
Tickety-Boo Tipsy Trifle (part 2)
Published on 29 Oct 2007 at 12:09 pm.
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Preparing and gathering together the component parts of a trifle is only half the job – it is also necessary to give some thought to assembly.
Because even though trifle is ostensibly a slapdash co-mingling of separate (and according to Waz, perfectly edible separately) bits and bobs of sweetness, sharpness and creaminess, the presentation is all-important.
In fact, the appearance of trifle is probably the only thing I have liked about this traditional English pud in the past. (more…)
Trifle Part 1: The Spongeblob Redemption
Published on 23 Oct 2007 at 11:12 am.
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Remember Sponge Blob Square Pan? The absolute debacle where we tried to cook a sponge cake?
It was back in the very early days of Crash Test Kitchen. We’ve learnt a few things since then, but the idea of cooking a simple sponge still gives us the collywobbles.
But then Lenny went and decided she wanted to make a classic English trifle - and of course that involves a sponge cake sliced into fingers. This time we armed ourselves with Allegra McEvedy’s “Never Fail Victoria Sponge” recipe, as handed down by her mum and published at the Word of Mouth food blog of the Observer Food Monthly, where we do some cameo appearances. (more…)
Whole lotta rosemary chicken
Published on 30 Aug 2007 at 3:23 pm.
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Here’s how it works. Lenny does the shopping, I do the cooking. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work - it depends on our work schedules, and I have to admit that Lenny probably does more than her fair share.
A couple of weeks ago she left me vague instructions for some sort of chicken dish. Well, she probably gave me quite good instructions, but I’m in the habit of fobbing her off with a “Yeah yeah yeah I’ll take care of it” and then instantly purging my memory.
So there I was with some chicken pieces and a vague recollection of rosemary, garlic and olive oil being mentioned. (more…)
