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…

And that's a GOOD thing to be thinking about! 😊

I adore most brassicas, including sprouts. Subject to being properly cooked as opposed to being boiled into a sulphurous mush.

A favourite meal ChezKuc is a green pasta sauce made with Cavolo Nero, garlic, leeks and olive oil. I think we originally got the recipe from a Jamie Oliver newspaper column 15 years ago.

Interesting the variety of tastes here - I am not a fan of bitter stuff (I've never found a beer that tastes anything other than disgustingly bitter to me) but I've never detected a hint of bitterness in peanuts. I am also not fond of a great deal of chilli heat. A little I don't mind but when it's strong it just masks all the other flavours for me.

The bitterness of peanuts is primarily in the skins, which I have to remove.

I like peanuts and have recently discovered I even like peanut butter when I make it myself. I leave the skins on and don’t find them unacceptably bitter.

I dislike sprouts but love spring greens. I like most cabbage as long as it’s properly cooked and I eat a lot of broccoli (with a particular preference for purple sprouting or Tenderstem broccoli both of which are good griddled). Kale is also a very good thing.

@Kucinghitam that green pasta sauce sounds delicious. I must try that.

Definitely give it a go! We haven't bothered with an actual recipe for years, but it is approximately like this:

Put a big pan of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, peel 6 cloves garlic and slice a leek or two. When water boils, put leeks and garlic in. Set timer for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, slice up a pack of Cavolo Nero (or kale). When timer beeps, add sliced Cavolo Nero. Set timer for another 3 minutes.
When timer beeps again, switch off heat and lift out all boiled greenery into a blender (or another container if using stick blender), saving the hot water for later. Season the greenery with plenty of black pepper and (if needed) extra sprinkle of salt. Add several generous glugs of naice olive oil. Blend into a glorious smooth green sauce.
Bring pan of water back to boil, cook pasta of choice to al dente. Meanwhile, grate generous amounts of cheese of a Parmesan-type (although sometimes we're so lazy we use pre-grated Cheddar!!) . Drain, put pasta and sauce back into warm pan and mix thoroughly with cheese.
Serve with more cheese.

That sounds yummy Kuc.

I don't like peanuts as they are but peanut butter is nice with an apple.

I'm not that taken with nuts in general but I recently discovered these https://forestfeast.com/products/salted-dark-chocolate-almonds which are a very delicious treat. They also do chocolate covered cherries.

Kucinghitam · Today 15:45

I am drooling at the thought of that, what a great idea!

Forest Feast also make absolutely delicious dried pears.

I've seen those! Just waiting to catch them on offer. Sainbury's Organic dried mango is delicious too. It's soft and caramel-y unlike its leathery non-organic counterpart, presumably because it doesn't have the preservatives.

Nuts are one of my favourite things - I love all of them and can eat them in large quantities. If only they weren't so calorific!

Re dried fruit - interesting the difference in flavour between standard dried apricots that are quite orange coloured and the non-sulphured kind, which taste a lot warmer to me (not sure warm is the right word to use but ykwim).

I love the organic no sulphite ones, they're like a completely different fruit.

This is reminding me to keep a lookout for when the big new season dried figs come in. They're expensive, but stuffed with a little brie and half a walnut are wonderful on a post-Christmas cold platter.

Also to see has anywhere got those little round, hard, dark Hunza apricots that taste so buttery sweet.

I think I like all nuts and I wish macadamia nuts were cheaper.

@Kucinghitam I'm definitely going to give your green pasta sauce a go.

Yesterday I was mostly eating lobster bisque with broken up ritz biscuits. Today it's been the same but with added grated extra mature cheese.

@Britinme I'm the same with chilli. A bit is lovely but I can't have most curry type meals. I can, however, have a Massaman curry which I'm so glad about because it's bloody lovely. I can eat "nose heat" though, so mustard, wasabi, horse radish and the like. I love them.

Oooh I forgot about macadamia nuts. I do like those.

I bloody love spicy food, the hotter the better.

Macadamia nuts are the food of the gods! If they constituted a balanced diet, and didn't cost an arm and a leg, what with those + Nairns oatcakes, supermarket own-brand cream cheese and ditto "Marmite" substitute, I'd never need to cook again.

Ooh thanks for the tip about Forest Feast chocolate covered sour cherries. I wonder if they are as good as the old Green & Black cherry chocolate of blessed memory? I've put some in our next Waitrose order, just as a test. I'll then work my way through the range as I love chocolate covered figs too.

I used to love Humza apricots - has anyone seen them recently?

I think the forest feast ones are nicer. They're extremely generous with the chocolate and I love that they're dusted in cocoa powder (like the almonds).

I googled Humza apricots as I'd never heard of them, they're for sale on Amazon.

I don't like any nuts, except macadamia, and pistachios. But are really nuts? I dunno. It reminded me of tiger nuts, which seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth now, but back in the 70s, we used to buy them and liquidise them in the blender to make tiger milk. Which tasted quite good, as I remember. Fed it to the kids.

I think it’s cashews that aren’t really nuts, I think they’re technically fruit? They used to be my favourite but my stomach can’t cope with them anymore.

I like most nuts but not walnuts, macadamia nuts or pecans. Isn’t it peanuts that aren’t nuts? (Of course, they may not be the only nuts that aren’t actually nuts.)

Thanks @Kucinghitam that sounds fantastic!

This thread has sent me off on a Forest Feast investigation. I predict some imminent purchases.

I love cashews in a veggie stir fry, and on their own. Not as a butter though, weirdly.

Like you, @MouseMinge , I don't have a problem with things like mustard or horseradish, though wasabi is a bit much for me. We went to a Sichuan restaurant the other day and they made a gong bao chicken dish for is with about half the normal amount of chillis in, and that was perfect.

Re tiger nuts, not sure I remember those but I do remember pig nuts (Conopodium majus). You can find pig nuts in woodland and hedgerows but the tuber is quite deep and isn't easy to dig up without the root snapping. I was taught about them by an elderly neighbour I used to dog walk with who showed me how to dig them up.

I read that at one time an attempt was made to farm them but it wasn't successful as they thrive in undisturbed soil rather than farmland.

https://www.wildfooduk.com/wild-plants/pignut/

Isn’t it peanuts that aren’t nuts?

Oh yes. Wasn't that a thing on Friends? 'They're not a nut, they're a legume'