Thread 14 - TalkLair: “What The Hell Are We Supposed To Use, Man? Harsh Language?”

[Kucinghitam]

(Previous thread 13).

Summer should be well under way, but the chilly wind, grey clouds and pouring rain beg to differ. Looks like 2024 continues to be a washout - on the bright side, the Tories got washed out too! In the TalkLair, we remain hunkered down keeping cosy and warm. The hearth is glowing, the walls covered in dubious artwork, books by non-approved authors line the shelves, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

I was going to say I've seen Genie, but having double checked I have not seen - or indeed heard of - it. What I have seen is Three Thousand Years of Solitude.

But who hasn't mixed up Tilda Swinton and Melissa McCarthy from time to time?

Arf! Well, I haven't because your post was the first time I'd ever heard of Melissa McCarthy. I do often confuse Kim Kardashian with David Tennant, though.

I think even I can tell those 2 apart. Most of the time.

Just check for stupid slogan T-shirts and an irritating whining noise.

I have also never heard of Genie but a quick google suggests it’s a seriously awful film so I guess it disappeared without trace.

While on our holiday last month with friends, we were having dinner in a pub. There was a pub quiz going on in the main room and we could hear all the questions, so of course we couldn't resist "answering" them amongst ourselves. We could hear the scoring and ranking at each stage, and by the time we finished dinner, we realised we would have been in the lead

Bugger!

Chicken parfait with sweet white wine, spread on very thinly sliced brown bread and topped with cucumber went down nicely for lunch.

Chicken parfait with sweet white wine and a worm pill stuffing went down nicely as a mid afternoon snack.

So that's one of September's responsibilities out of the way. No blood injuries! Not one!

Chicken parfait with sweet white wine and a worm pill stuffing went down nicely as a mid afternoon snack.

I bet it did! You can drop in and worm me any time.

I've yet to make anything properly pureed, in fact at the quiz we had snack food and I ate olives, cheese which was so soft it hardly counted, tiny cheese biscuits and even a little bit of popcorn. I was decidely fukkit but no harm was done to my poor wee stomach that is now pretty much a tube instead of a sack. But I have had lobster bisque with M&S cheese twists broken into bits and put in the soup. A most excellent meal. I'm going to get some potatoes, butter, cheese and eggs. Oh and some gravy granuals so I can make mash and scrambled egg although I won't be eating them together. If there's swede I'll probably get that too along with some carrots because that's another favourite.

I’m glad you’ve managed to eat a good selection of food @MouseMinge.

I’ve never bought a swede. I did prepare one for someone else once (or maybe it was a turnip). It was the toughest thing I’ve ever cut into and I had serious concerns for my digits.

I’m trying to clean up my diet as I’ve put some weight on during the chemical menopause, and the whole thing has made my stomach really unhappy generally. I’m too exhausted to cook most days though so it’s tricky. I’m trying to focus on smaller, more manageable meals with veg/fruit/nut snacks in between. I’ll try to make a Greek salad tomorrow and graze on it for the next few days.

Just heard a big rumble of thunder!

Oooh, jealous! I love a good thunderstorm!

Swede is delicious mashed up with plenty of butter and black pepper. Swede and carrot mash is even better. I pretty much only make it at Christmas though.

For quick meals, I find jars of pulses really useful. They tend to be tastier than the tinned versions. Jars of lentils make excellent salads mixed with tomatoes, spring onions and feta cheese. And jars of chickpeas are great for hummus. Having confirmed my suspicions that pita bread could be made in the air fryer I’ve made room in my inadequate fridge for a bowl of pita dough which means pillowy freshly made pita can be mine in a matter of minutes.

Swede and potato mashed together make a great topping for a shepherd's (or cottage) pie. Also potato and parsnip mashed together.

Mashed neeps and carrots is clapshot, in Aberdeen.

Rubledethumps is wonderful, an excellent flavourful lower calorie mash.

The thing to remember when cutting swedes (we call them turnips in Ireland, but hey) is not to try to slice them in half. Peel about as much of it as you think you need and cut slices off the peeled bit until you have enough. The remainder will keep well for a week or two - they don't oxidise the way potatoes do.

Some of us rather enjoy nibbling on a raw slice - and when you cook them, remember not to overcook - like all brassicas they get bitter and rank if overcooked.

As an alternative to black pepper, mace very is good with mashed swede turnips - with or without a little white pepper if you like a touch of heat.

ChezKuc we attack swedes with a big Chinese cleaver. Swedes, not Swedes, just to clarify. Or actually I've made it less clear, haven't I?

How do you prevent them from rolling away?

I like swede and carrot mashed together. We use a fairly generous amount of butter and add salt, pepper and nutmeg. It's lovely.

Luck, mostly.

Remember swede Halloween lanterns? We'd be given one each and a blunt knife to carve the innards out. I can still smell the weird mix of candle wax and lightly charred swede.

Swedes are called rutabagas over here.

And so good with haggis. I steam swede and dry off as much of the water I can once it's mashed as it's better without too much wateriness. And a lot of butter.

I'm eating a pitta right now, and will certainly make them more often, and they're great with dry mung dal.

Some of us rather enjoy nibbling on a raw slice
As schoolkids, we used to nibble the raw sugar beets that fell off the lorries into the road, delivering them to the nearby sugar factory.

Pickled turnip (swede) is nice. Peel strips off with a potato peeler and put in half white wine, or cider vinegar, half white vinegar and and a few slices of ginger. It's ready in two days. Oh, a pinch of salt, too.