Can we start a thread about all our unanswered food Q's and recipes?

[fallenempires]

I'm hoping that the collective culinary wisdom of MN might solve some of those mysteries!
I'm still searching for a recipe that replicates Nandos spiced rice.
What food q's do you need answering?

[CrazyOldCatLady]

Foam is just one of the stages on the way to glossy and shiny, is it not?

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

It's hard to explain, it's not watery foam just looks like a sponge. And it just slides out the bowl itself and lands in a lump

[fallenempires]

It must be the bowl.As I've never seen anything except metal used for whisking in a professional kitchen

[fallenempires]

Are your eggs at room temp?

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

One batch was from fridge the following time I left them out over night. I'm useless at meringue

[Pootles2010]

I use plastic fairly successfully. Only time i've had what you describe was when either the bowl, or the whisk wasn't scrupulously clean. Is it possible your whisk attachment is the culprit? Delia suggests really good scrub, followed by rubbing cut lemon around bowl & whisk to make sure, might that help?

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

You arent whisking long enough.

Metal or glass bowl. Put egg whites in. Make sure no yolk. Whisk until the mix is white and when you lift the mix up it holds its shape but still flops a bit. Thats soft peak.

Then add your sugar a tablespoon at a time, dont dump it in. If you do the air will get pushed out. Whisk between each addition.

Once all the sugar is added you need to keep whisking until it wont fall out of the bowl, and the peaks dont flop at all.

You will need a hand beater or a kmix/kitchenaid. Argos sell hand beaters for a fiver.

[Pootles2010]

Did it look like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&sa=N&hl=en&biw=1246&bih=774&tbm=isch&tbnid=HeUEA_X7i1pmRM:&imgrefurl=theartofcookingrealfood.blogspot.com/2011/10/two-bean-and-walnut-veggie-burgers.html&docid=7Ou3M0UzxH3blM&imgurl=4.bp.blogspot.com/-jZh2iiczSFU/ToydqvTs13I/AAAAAAAAAQQ/1LiW8hGr0Mo/s1600/beaten-egg-white.gif&w=1600&h=1200&ei=UJuDUaKBAfSt4QSB4ICgBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=189&vpy=378&dur=94&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=195&ty=129&page=3&tbnh=138&tbnw=193&start=61&ndsp=32&ved=1t:429,r:75,s:0,i:313" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">this?

[Wheresmycaffeinedrip]

That kinda appearance only it was actually solid not liquid like that looks. I have a kitchen aid now so will try that. Will wash first too.

[notso]

Good thread!

I would like a foolproof pastry recipe, I am rubbish at pastry.

Also what is the stuff that people seem to use in buttercream instaed of butter. It's always a bit salty and doesn't go solid like butter?

[Xiaoxiong]

fallen there's not much youtube can't teach you about that sort of thing just watch the video and put the bread plaits where they show you. Even youtube hasn't saved my shitty quiche skills yet though. How high are the sides on your ceramic dish - maybe this is where I've been going wrong, mine is more like a dessert tart height (only a couple of cm). I will look into delia's recipe and try again, thank you!

TSC as per your yoghurt question. Can you buy plain greek yoghurt in a big tub and then mix in flavourings as necessary? eg. a teaspoon of vanilla extract to make vanilla yoghurt, swirl in some lemon curd, swirl in some raspberry jam etc (because the yoghurt is plain to start with, the sugar is a good addition). I'm pretty sure Yeo Valley is full fat and surely most supermarket own-brand is too. I got the big huge tub of natural greek yoghurt at Lidl the other day (the one with the handle) and it was lovely. Asian shops usually sell it too in larger sizes.

LowLevel I'm pretty sure the answer is to add shedloads of butter and bake it at a relatively low heat (eg. 120-130c) for longer than you would usually, and baste it, so you get that sticky rather than crispy skin. I think they put a spice mixture on the skin as well in some supermarkets - a quick google suggests a combo of salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, pepper, cayenne, and garlic powder. I found this link too which says you can do it in a slow cooker even.

[fallenempires]

Looks like there'll be a pavlova in the caffeine household this w/e then
Have just thought of another Q as well as my as yet unsolved Nandos rice recipe.
How on earth do you manage to stop the ooze with millionaires shortbread when cutting it?I have tried adding 1tbsp of oil to the choc but still have the goo!

[doradoo]

Pastry / quiche......

Shortcrust - easy as pie!! 2:1 flour:butter - rub the butter in so you have breadcrumbs - then add a little bit of cold water to bind it together - knead very lightly and pop in fridge to rest for a bit.

I use that recipe for quiche - never blindbake the case - add your filling to the case then mix a couple(3) eggs with some milk/cream/creme fraiche and pour over - you want the case to be pretty much filled with the mix - when it cooks it will balloon up - but once out of the oven (when it doesn't wobble when you shake the tray) it will relax and firm up a bit.

[doradoo]

Oh and I bake it in a ceramic tart/quiche dish - about 3cm deep.

[fallenempires]

Xiaoxiong I might just give it a whirl then,but I can't even plait dd's hair properly!
My quiche dish is 4cm high and 26cm wide so I always make roughly 1 1/2 times the amount of pastry.
notso what type of pastry?
For buttercream I use unsalted butter at room temp,icing sugar and a dash of vanilla extract.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

I add a knob of butter to choc for millionaires shortbread.

25g to 350g choc if we are being exact :o

[Bakingnovice]

Quiche - do the all in one version. Throw flour, butter, eggs, cheese, mustard, salt in a bowl. Mix and decant into quiche dish and bung in Oven. It's more flan than quiche but just delicious and takes minutes.

Pastry - as doradoo says. Soo easy. Just make sure you add just enough water to bind. Then stick in sandwich bag and pop
In fridge.

I am going to try the cheese sauce recipe as I just cannot do it!

My question is how to make cheeses scones really tasty instead of bland lumps of dough. I've tried using string cheese and adding salt. I just want them to be cheesy and lovely like the m&s ones. Oh and the recipe needs to be quick and easy.

Also, what can I prepare the night before and stick in the fridge to oven bake for the kids breakfast? Must be something which cooks quick in the morning. Thanks.

[Xiaoxiong]

baking I can answer the cheese scone one - cut cubes of mature cheddar into 1cm cubes and add to the dough. It looks really lumpy but all smoothes out as the cheese melts in the oven. Adding some fresh dill as well just makes it even better. The Barefoot Contessa has a brilliant cheddar dill scone recipe that is foolproof.

So it sounds like where I'm going wrong is following an actual recipe for quiche - clearly I should just go by instinct and chuck in this and that and it will be fine

[fallenempires]

Thanks wannabe will give it a try.Out of interest do you use the already caramelised filling in yours and do you cook it out first or use straight from the tin?
baking I haven't a cheese scone recipe but have you added some mustard powder and really strong cheddar to yours?
Would suggest pancakes for dcs breakfast but as you want an oven bake will go away and have another think!

[Xiaoxiong]

baking found the recipe for you for cheddar dill scones. You don't sound like a baking novice really but if you are I can convert into metric for you

For breakfast, could you make morning glory muffins the night before, spoon into cases in muffin tin and leave in fridge overnight, then bake in the morning?

[notso]

fallenempires
One of thoses savoury rice packets tastes very much like a less spicy version of nando's. I used to have a recipe for dirty rice that was also very similar.
Millionaires, score the shortbread, put butter in the chocolate and the put the finished product in the freezer until the caramel is very set then cut it with a hot knife.

Shortcrust pastry recipe please.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

I havent found a caramel I am happy with yet, but I like the squares a little firmer than the bought caramel is.

Last time I used this recipe. The caramel was nice but the base was odd, too crispy and salty.

I made the base again for banoffee with 50g of the flour replaced with 50g of ground rice and it was lovely. A lot lighter.

If you can make any sense from this rambling post you're a goodun :o

[UptoapointLordCopper]

TSC what sort of sticky rice?

If you mean the rice you are served with the dishes which is "normal" rice but just stickier than your basmati, then just use jasmine rice (as an earlier poster said) or buy broken jasmine rice, which is what I do - they are jasmine rice but just, well, broken. Cook as normal and they are sticky. Another thing you could try is to stir it once or twice during cooking. That's how we do compressed rice. Breaks the grains and makes it all sticky.

However, if you mean the sticky stuff they serve as pudding, cooked in coconut milk, then you need glutinous rice. That's a different type of rice and cooks up sticky.

[Bakingnovice]

Wow. Xiao and fallen thank you. The idea of cubes of cheese is brilliant. I grate mine and it doesn't taste as strong. And mustard, I'll add a bit more thankyou.

Xiao - I'm not a novice anymore! Can I really spoon these muffins into cases the night before? Omg. This is genius. Thank you. Brilliant thread.

[fallenempires]

wannabe thank you I have bookmarked it!
notso will try scoring next time,already use the knife in boiling water method to cut it.
Shortcrust(sadly needs to be done by hand as a machine overworks it making it less crumbly when cooked)
250g plain flour
125g chilled unsalted cut into cubes
2 medium egg yolks
50ml cold water
pinch of salt
Mix flour and salt then rub in the butter until it resembles bread crumbs.Add egg yolks and mix in, then slowly add water until you have a formed mass which leaves the sides of the bowl clean.
Shape into a ball on a lightly floured surface then flatten into a disc shape.Wrap in cling film and chill for minimum of 3 hours before using.
There's enough pastry here to fill a 25cm tin.
Any idea of the brand of packet savoury rice?Have tried Batchelors,Sainsbos and Co-op.