Efests Recipe Book

[The Nal]

Its gumbo season! Both purchased and delivered. 

Usually not mad on the fake seasoning stuff but I've had this before. 

 

 

[eFestivals]

16 hours ago, The Nal said:

Its gumbo season! Both purchased and delivered. 

Usually not mad on the fake seasoning stuff but I've had this before. 

My local general store is run by a Jamaican, and most of its clientele is little old Jamaican ladies (who I can never understand if they talk to me, I can't get my ear round patois). It's the sort of shop that sells 14 different types of yam - none of which i've heard of - but doesn't sell mushrooms.

Anyway, it sells 5 litre buckets of jerk seasoning - the 'fake' stuff as you might call it - but as far as these little old ladies are concerned it's the real deal. 

[The Nal]

1 hour ago, eFestivals said:

Anyway, it sells 5 litre buckets of jerk seasoning - the 'fake' stuff as you might call it - but as far as these little old ladies are concerned it's the real deal. 

Thats great stuff though for big BBQs. Go out and buy 20 quids worth of chicken and lob a bucket of that in the bowl with it! Sorted. 

[eFestivals]

Just now, The Nal said:

Thats great stuff though for big BBQs. Go out and buy 20 quids worth of chicken and lob a bucket of that in the bowl with it! Sorted. 

I don't think these little old ladies are cooking up jerk for the neighbourhood, just for themselves.... it's rather given away by the other small items they buy (like a chunk off a yam, not the whole yam).

Mind you, there's two shops (takeaways) just down the road who cook it daily on the street, the smell when I walk down the road sometimes is divine.

If you want a full-on jerk experience you need to get yourself to Brizzle for Carnival, if it ever happens again. There's rumours of it back this year, tho there have also been the last few years.

 

[CHRLY]

On 11/01/2017 at 3:14 PM, The Nal said:

Its gumbo season! Both purchased and delivered. 

Usually not mad on the fake seasoning stuff but I've had this before. 

 

 

You got a recommended recipe?

[The Nal]

16 hours ago, CHRLY said:

You got a recommended recipe?

Yeah. Worked off a basic recipe but after 5 or 6 efforts have adapted it to this. I think its really nice. This is just for 2-3 people so increase accordingly. Measurements are only a guideline really so feel free to put more/less of everything in. 

Ingredients

 

(serves 2)

 

1/4 cup flour

40 ml oil (I use canola/rapeseed)

1/4 cup celery (1/2 a stalk)

1/4 of an onion

1/4 of a red pepper

1 clove garlic

120g sausage

800ml water

Beef/Chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon white sugar

Salt to taste

1/2 tablespoon hot sauce (More to tatse)

1/2 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 can tomatoes

1 teaspoon file powder

Handful chopped prawns

Handful crayfish

1/2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon file powder

 

1. Make a roux by whisking the flour and oil together in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat to form a smooth mixture. Cook the roux, whisking constantly, until it turns a rich mahogany brown color. This can take 20 to 30 minutes; watch heat carefully and whisk constantly or roux will burn. Remove from heat; continue whisking until mixture stops cooking.

 

2. Place the celery, onion, bell pepper and garlic into a food processor, and pulse until the vegetables are very finely chopped. Stir the vegetables into the roux, and mix in the sausage. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat, and cook until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.

 

3. Bring the water and beef stock to a boil in a large pot. Whisk the roux mixture into the stock. Reduce heat to a simmer, and mix in the sugar, salt, hot pepper sauce, Cajun seasoning, bay leaf, thyme and tomatoes. Simmer the soup over low heat for 1 hour; mix in the file powder at the 45-minute mark.

 

4. Mix in crayfish, shrimp, chicken and Worcestershire sauce and simmer until flavors have blended, 45 more minutes. Just before serving, stir in another 1/2 teaspoon of file powder. Serve over rice/mashed potatoes

 

Optional rub for prawns/crayfish

1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Also I use Italian sausage as I cant find the traditional andouille one. 

 

[The Nal]

5 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

Sounds good. I do similar but I like to add crab's claws in too. If you can't find andouile (I can't either), Kielbasa is a very very good substitute. Found in all good Polish shops (and some rubbish ones too). 

Ooh lovely, on both counts.

I like crab but some find it a bit fishy.

I use these sausos, taken out of the casing and broken up into pieces as opposed to chopped. And a lot more hot sauce than posted above!

Getting hungry now........

[The Nal]

40 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

Can't remember who's recipe it was I first followed, but it was online and recommended Kielbasa so I reckon it must be common that Andoouille aren't available. There's a great Polish deli at the end of my street so works perfectly and 'm now addicted to all their different varieties of Kielbasa, cooked and cold, in stews, salads all sorts!

those do look ace though. Will give them a go next time. 

Good stuff. Lots of Polish shops my way so I'll have to investigate. I actually haven't stepped food in one before. Cheers for the heads up.

42 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

(A bit fishy????? - It's a f*cking seafood gumbo! It's not gonna taste of eggs).

Haha yeah. Made one with fish/chicken stock mix before and crab (not claws granted) and it didn't go down as well. Prawns and crayfish are on the lighter side of the "fishy" taste.

Mines more of a sausage gumbo with seafood I suppose.

[The Nal]

5 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

Just to clarify if you do it try @The Nal, the ones that look like the below are best for Gumbo I find. The bigger ones and the white ones are better for meatier (polish style) stews or salads.

A polish cafe/takeaway has opened up near me and the whole lazy tea to be delivered has a new facet to it now. The pancakes and stews they do make a change from the usual Pizza/Curry/Chinese option. Dirt cheap too

Will defo give it a whirl. The Italian ones I use are a little more crumbly and fall apart a bit more. 

[CHRLY]

Thanks a lot @The Nal, I'll defo be giving that one a go!

[feral chile]

Any vegetarians here? I'm new to it and less than a week in, bored and hungry.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

On 2/2/2017 at 3:15 PM, feral chile said:

Any vegetarians here? I'm new to it and less than a week in, bored and hungry.

Hello feral. I'm not a vegetarian, but was just wondering how you were getting on without eating meat? Have you had to face the achilles heal of all vegetarians, which is the smell of a bacon sandwich?

 

For some reason the above reminds me of an incident which took place at lunchtime at a staff conference for the housing association that I used to work for. I was behind a female who was head of the admin team, and in front of her was a bloke who was one of the maintenance operatives, and a real jack the lad. I overheard the lady say out loud to herself something along the lines of 'No, I don't want a cold salad' to which the bloke in front of her immediately said ' No, you want to get something hot inside you you do'. Fortunately for him she didn't take umbrage with the comment, settling for telling him to piss off.

[feral chile]

10 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello feral. I'm not a vegetarian, but was just wondering how you were getting on without eating meat? Have you had to face the achilles heal of all vegetarians, which is the smell of a bacon sandwich?

 

For some reason the above reminds me of an incident which took place at lunchtime at a staff conference for the housing association that I used to work for. I was behind a female who was head of the admin team, and in front of her was a bloke who was one of the maintenance operatives, and a real jack the lad. I overheard the lady say out loud to herself something along the lines of 'No, I don't want a cold salad' to which the bloke in front of her immediately said ' No, you want to get something hot inside you you do'. Fortunately for him she didn't take umbrage with the comment, settling for telling him to piss off.

I tried fake bacon. And spent £37 on fake meat products. Last time I turned veggie I ended up with my nose pressed up against a butcher's window salivating over the raw beef.

As for getting something hot inside you, meat and 2 veg is always a tempting option

glad she took it well, so to speak.

Edited February 10, 2017 by feral chile

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

20 minutes ago, feral chile said:

I tried fake bacon. And spent £37 on fake meat products. Last time I turned veggie I ended up with my nose pressed up against a butcher's window salivating over the raw beef.

As for getting something hot inside you, meat and 2 veg is always a tempting option

glad she took it well, so to speak.

I used to buy Quorn sausages and thought they were OK. In fact, they are better than meat sausages (except for Lashford sausages, which are out of this world tasty) which tend to be far too fatty for my liking.

Yes, the lady took it in good stride. 

[feral chile]

22 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I used to buy Quorn sausages and thought they were OK. In fact, they are better than meat sausages (except for Lashford sausages, which are out of this world tasty) which tend to be far too fatty for my liking.

Yes, the lady took it in good stride. 

I think I might take some supplements. I'm often anaemic, and was really fancying liver and onions yesterday. maybe my body's trying to tell me something.

For some reason, I crave carrots when i'm anaemic, too.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

35 minutes ago, feral chile said:

I think I might take some supplements. I'm often anaemic, and was really fancying liver and onions yesterday. maybe my body's trying to tell me something.

For some reason, I crave carrots when i'm anaemic, too.

Spinach has a high iron content, so may be worth considering. 

[feral chile]

13 minutes ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Spinach has a high iron content, so may be worth considering. 

I do have some vegetarian recipes frozen, and spinach tends to feature highly in them. You're usually chucking in a big bag of spinach with everything! I haven't been following recipes this week, so perhaps I should start paying more attention to what I'm eating, rather than just removing meat from what I usually eat.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

2 minutes ago, feral chile said:

so perhaps I should start paying more attention to what I'm eating, rather than just removing meat from what I usually eat.

I'd say that you've hit the nail on the head there. I know that I've had loads of vegetarian meals in the course of my life, but they are out of the norm and tend to be eaten at places like festivals etc where I can just buy the meals rather than make the effort to cook them myself. Not that I do cook. You can count on one hand the number of times that I have properly cooked. Sad really, but I was never exposed to proper cooking as I grew up. My parents are Irish and the cooking motto was to boil vegetables to death and until they were tasteless.

[Uncle Liam]

On 02/02/2017 at 6:15 PM, feral chile said:

Any vegetarians here? I'm new to it and less than a week in, bored and hungry.

I'm basically vegan during the week. And for some reason I actually prefer it to being a carnivore. 

Tinned chickpeas are your friend. 

Try a slow cooker Dahl. Get some red lentils, and some yellow split peas, cover in water, and cook on low in a slow cooker from the morning until you get home from work.

When you get in, chop two onions, few garlic gloves, as much ginger as you like, and if you like chillis and a bell pepper. Sweat them down, add a tin of chopped tomatoes, cooked down until basically dry and then stir in cumin, coriander, paprika, tumeric and a touch of garam masala. Blitz to a paste. Meanwhile, throw a few veg oxo cubes in the lentils and stir until dissolved. The yellow lentils will dissolve easily but the split peas will mostly hold their texture. After that, throw in the paste, stir. Throw in some sambar curry powder, salt, pepper and you're good to go. Coriander on the top. I prefer it with brown rice. 

Me and Bunique have hundreds of vegan recipes between us. 

[feral chile]

2 hours ago, Uncle Liam said:

I'm basically vegan during the week. And for some reason I actually prefer it to being a carnivore. 

Tinned chickpeas are your friend. 

Try a slow cooker Dahl. Get some red lentils, and some yellow split peas, cover in water, and cook on low in a slow cooker from the morning until you get home from work.

When you get in, chop two onions, few garlic gloves, as much ginger as you like, and if you like chillis and a bell pepper. Sweat them down, add a tin of chopped tomatoes, cooked down until basically dry and then stir in cumin, coriander, paprika, tumeric and a touch of garam masala. Blitz to a paste. Meanwhile, throw a few veg oxo cubes in the lentils and stir until dissolved. The yellow lentils will dissolve easily but the split peas will mostly hold their texture. After that, throw in the paste, stir. Throw in some sambar curry powder, salt, pepper and you're good to go. Coriander on the top. I prefer it with brown rice. 

Me and Bunique have hundreds of vegan recipes between us. 

Thanks Uncle Liam, sounds tasty, will give it a go.

[The Nal]

Dunno where the spice thread is gone so Ill post here. Couple of great sauces bought recently. 

Buffalo Salsa Clasica Standard enough Mexican stuff but only just got into it. 

And this Ancho & Morita sauce from Humble House. Bought it in New York so not sure if its available here but I don't have eggs without it these days. One of the nicest I've ever had. 

I've been making BBQ sauces for a while now and made a one of the best yesterday. Very easy. Sweet and spicy. Goes with everything really. 

125ml Ketchup

125ml Passata

125ml Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 cup Brown sugar (level the same as 125ml above)

60ml Worcestershire sauce

Shot or two of Bourbon

tsp Liquid Smoke

1-2 tsps hot sauce (I used very hot sauce)

tsp Smoked Paprika

tsp Coriander

tsp Onion powder

tsp Chili powder (the American variety)

1/2 tsp cumin 

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1/2 tsp chipotle powder

Think that was everything. Bring to the boil while stirring, simmer for 10 mins, cool. Done. 

I added a small bit of cornstarch (1/4 tsp mixed with water) to thicken it slightly. 

 

 

Edited October 2, 2017 by The Nal

[MrZigster]

Because of a drunken conversation this evening, I hereby claim the trademark/copyright for "The Burato".

Like "The Cronut" (TM) but for meat and spuds.

Did a Google search. Nothing relevant.

It's your traditional Burger in a Bun.

But.

Instead of The Bun.

It's a Baked Potato !

Add your own fillings.

Kerching right?

I'm going to Dragons Den to pitch a franchise.

Edited November 15, 2017 by MrZigster

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

17 hours ago, MrZigster said:

Because of a drunken conversation this evening, I hereby claim the trademark/copyright for "The Burato".

Like "The Cronut" (TM) but for meat and spuds.

Did a Google search. Nothing relevant.

It's your traditional Burger in a Bun.

But.

Instead of The Bun.

It's a Baked Potato !

Add your own fillings.

Kerching right?

I'm going to Dragons Den to pitch a franchise.

Hello MrZigster,

In order to get the Trademark (European, UK, or both) you need to put in an application to the Intellectual Property Office. However, here's the downside, a submission costs £200 and then it's another £50 per class of registration. That is just for the UK trademark. If you wanted the European trademark then there will be another cost element.

I have a few Trademarks, but haven't done anything with them. I was also under the influence when I purchased them. The two that I can think of to hand are actually quite good, in my opinion. In fact, one of them is a UK trademark which Warner Brothers or Disney (I forget which) hold the European trademark for. All I need is for them to invest in a film with the same name, promote it throughout Europe, and I'll jump on their shirt tails by having access to the whole of the UK market. I'm dreaming, of course, but stranger things have happened.

[MrZigster]

Well, That's me educated YOAS.

There was me (still getting drunker) thinking, "If I post this to somewhere, then it's date stamped, and, therefore, provable as my idea".

Much along the lines of the old: If you compose a song, record it on a cassette and then post it recorded delivery to yourself. Just in case Madonna comes to one of your gigs and then knicks it.

Edited November 15, 2017 by MrZigster

[eFestivals]

anyone got a coq-au-vin recipe they want to recommend/share?

Have decided to go off-piste for xmas dinner (cos we'll have to do a trad one a few days later anyway) so have decided on coq but don't have a recipe as good as one I did decades ago and don't have any more.

Thanks