Cooking secrets you'd like revealed

[DarylDixonsHair]

How to make crispy vegetable fritters that you can grab one corner and pick up and eat. Mine are always a soggy, floppy mess that need to be eaten with a spoon.

Good luck @sittingonacornflake

My wedges recipe goes: scrub (sweet) potato, slice into thin wedges, pour some oil, salt and smoked paprika over them then rub it all over them with your hands so they’re coated. Pop them all skin side down on the tray, bang in a hot oven until they smell delicious and are brown at the edges. Serve with whatever you like but I love garlic mayo!

The secret to risotto is add a good knob of butter to it after it's been cooked, don't stir, put top on and leave sit for five minutes.... absolutely delicious.

@sittingonacornflake How to make sweet potato fries crispy when baked in the oven

A bit of sesame oil and some paprika, cook on 230 (not 200/220 or whatever the pack says if using shop bought ones) on the convection setting for about 20 minutes. If you are making your own then after you've sliced them soak them in water for 15 minutes. Don't use olive oil either.

@AngelGrinder Tender roast beef. What joint are you buying? You will really really struggle if you're not buying the right piece of meat in the first place. It needs good fat content. So much supermarket beef is topside/silverside and very hard to cook right.

Ideally, go to a butcher and get some rib of beef.

Thanks for the steak tips, I'll have another crack at it!

Yes to dusting meat in seasoned flour and browning.
I also add a bit of oats to some stews.
Lea & P or marmite is good to add depth

Homemade potato wedges that don't stick to the pan

Just use baking paper Quitthat

How are you making your stews Strawberrypancakes? What are you using to thicken them with?

Unfortunately, ‘more salt & more butter’ is so often the reason why restaurant food tastes so good

Sadly, I think you are right.

3luckystars your precooked riced needs to be fridge cold. I saw a Chinese chef cook it on Saturday Kitchen several years ago, and have used her recipe ever since. It always works. This is the recipe I use.

What brand of tea do you buy Seeleyboo?

Making tea is simple. You put a teabag into a mug (or 3 or 4 into a warmed teapot), pour freshly boiled water onto your teabag(s) and leave to brew for up to 5 minutes depending on how strong you like it. Add milk to taste.

Janaih Take the meat out of the fridge, and allow to come to room temperature. Heat a frying pan or griddle pan until really hot, oil and season your steak and fry for 2 minutes each side for medium rare, more if you like it well cooked. I find that my grill just doesn’t get hot enough to grill it. Do not oil the pan, just the steak.

It sounds like your oven is too hot HaddawayAndShite. Can you get hold of an oven thermometer to check?

Imboredinthehouse I will try your advice next time I make sweet potato fries.

I make something called maarh bhajis which are basically really crispy potato fritter type things. The trick is to dry the thinly sliced potatoes (I use a mandolin) between two sheets of kitchen paper and then toss them in as little ‘batter’ as possible. A dry batter that sticks to the liquid on the potato works best - gram flour (mixed with spicing) is excellent for this as it is as sticky as egg.

*Maaru

yes to

more butter
more salt

and my tip is MORE heat...if anything is sticking in the pan it's cos it's not done ...get pans smoking hot ALWAYS for meat then turn down and don't poke things about.

Hash browns that don’t just crumble!

Add beaten egg til the potato and onion just holds together and then cook them in a toasted sandwich maker.

Thanks @Ginfordinner

This thread is making me hungry!

Place marking and for restaurant steak

The meat needs to be room temperature
Heat pan as hot as possible - leave it on the highest heat for a couple of minutes
Put the oil on the meat not in the pan
Leave it to sear for a minute or two
When you turn it over put a fair bit of salt on the seared side - maldon is best but just salt is fine
Sear and salt the other side then cook for a minuet each side until done as you like.
Use the ball of thumb test to know if it's rare, medium etc.
Then THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT - rest somewhere very warm (inside oven)for at least 5 mins - you might want to undercook it a bit as it will continue to cook as it rests

It's ready when the juices are running out of the meat.

Cooked this way even (heaven forfend) well done steak will be juicy and meaty

Heat
Oil meat
Sear
Salt
Sear again
Rest

Excellent tip regarding the gram flour. I'll try it tomorrow.

@HaddawayAndShite - may need to cook at a lower temp and for longer. If the top is looking like it’s browning too much, cover with foil.

I use these and they work brilliantly www.surbitonart.co.uk/magi-cake-strips-large-100.html - but you do need to cook for quite a bit longer.

I want to know why all Chinese food not cooked in a takeaway or a restaurant tastes crap. I used to think it was MSG but loads of places don’t use that now. With the power of the internet, lots of the recipes must be authentic now but they still taste rubbish. I had a Chinese boyfriend when I was younger and even the food his parents made was just ‘ok’. This seems to be specific to Chinese food - homemade curries can taste incredible and the same for lots of cuisines from other countries.

How to make a crumble that doesn't taste like a sand dune on top of some overripe apples. TELL ME HOW!

@shirleyphallus the secret is pineapple juice! The BBC S&S recipe is the best I use!

I love crumble Mucklowe. I'm struggling to understand how you can ruin a crumble TBH. All you need is half butter to flour - it must be butter. Rub it in to breadcrumb consistency, then add the same weight of sugar as butter and stir it through.

The secret to a Thai curry at home without having to make a massive batch of your own paste is Mae Ploy paste. Available in big tubs from Chinese supermarkets and online and lasts at least six months in the fridge. Amazing stuff,can have a great Thai curry on the table in as long as it takes your rice to cook.

DH sourced MSG in an attempt to make a Chow Mein , It worked.

We researched MSG as it has had bad press. Turns out it is an extract from seaweed. Well the glutamate part of it, and the ultimate umami flavour.

It’s not as bad as previous reported and it really did make a home made chow mein taste like a takeaway.

@Broadwayb I have inside info 😬 Nearly all of the food in a Chinese takeaway is made from synthetic pastes. Someone up thread asked how to make sweet n sour sauce - you take a tub of the paste, add boiling water and then when youout it in the takeaway container throw over some stir fried veg and pineapple. Same is true for black bean, oyster, kung po sauces. You bu y the tubs in Chinese supermarkets. Even the fried rice is just booked rice with a MSG type powder to flavour it. All of this food does not exist in China.

Re banana fritters, the banana is dipped in cornflour before being dipped in a cornflour batter. This gives a really nice crispy batter which forms a 'pocket' between the banana and the batter. It is then dunked in golden syrup which penetrates into the pocket.

For any type of fritter to be crispy the oil needs to be extremely hot. Most household appliances can't reach an even high heat, you need industrial fryers. Using cornflour in the batter helps.

boiled rice, not booked

Thank you to all you lovely posters who gave Yorkshire pudding tips. Much appreciated and will give them a try

Easy Mac n Cheese. Making a roux is bloody hard work. Is there an easier way?