Chevyman

Have you ever tasted a dish before it's ready and found it to be a little too salty?

It easily happens if you use stock cubes, which are high in salt, or if you've used bacon as an ingredient (casseroles, stews).

Just peel and slice a spud and bury it in whatever you're cooking and it will absorb a lot of the salt restoring a more neutral taste to your dish.

Remove before you serve ........... or if you're really wanting to avoid waste, remove the spud slices, brush them with a little oil and place them under the grill for a few minutes and serve as a side dish

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

Dame Starry

Good tip.
In some dishes, a little white sugar works well too.

If you boil gammon - which I often do - a couple of dessert spoonfuls of white sugar added to the water help neutralise any saltiness in the joint.

DS x.

David Brent

Many thanks Dame.

Which one is best for getting that lovely skin coating?

Dave.

Dame Starry

The one cooked in the conventional oven with the butter and nutmeg on top, Dave.

DS x.

Dame Starry

Look at that - so good, I signed it twice!

Chevyman

Serves four

Ingredients

1 ½ lb lamb neck fillet cut into large chunks
2 onions, finely chopped
2 ½ oz) butter
1 tsp fresh grated ginger or ½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Good pinch saffron strands
1 cinnamon stick or ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp Chilli powder (optional)
½ pt vegetable stock or water
Large wine glass of Tomato Juice
Salt to taste
2 tsp honey
2 tsp dried apricots

Method

NB If you’re not using a tagine cook the whole lot in a casserole and use cooking foil between the lid and the casserole to give an extra seal.

Place the lamb, onions, butter, ginger, pepper, saffron, cumin, chilli powder and cinnamon either in a heavy based pan and fry gently in the butter or about 10 minutes, until the spices give off their aroma.

Add the water, stock, tomato juice and apricots and bring to a simmer. Transfer to a tagine and place in the oven for about 1 ½ hours until the meat is tender, topping up with water if necessary.

Stir in the honey

Continue to simmer for 30 minutes.

Test the seasoning.

Serve on a bed of rice or couscous.

Tip
This might look complicated but once you have the ingredients sorted and portioned, it is strictly a "slope off and do something else while it's cooking" recipe.

Looks good on a dinner table with the rice or couscous in a separate serving dish.

Tipple

There are quite a lot of spices in this which might compete with a delicate wine. Try a Gamay eg Beaujolais or a cold beer

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

TimR

You're welcome.

That is interesting. I planned to go there when I was visiting Britain - quite a few years ago now - but didn't have the time.

The addition of custard to so many desserts was new for me during my travels. It was easy to get used to it. My mother used to make custard as a dessert when I was growing up, with nutmeg and cinnamon on top. We had it two or three times a week. It was only in Britain that I had it served with other things, as a topping.

TimR

Thank you.

Chevyman

She has a busy week Tim but she'll get on with it

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

Dame Starry

When your mother made your dessert custard with the nutmeg and cinnamon, was it solid? That could be what we call Baked Egg Custard - and we often put it in a pastry case.
Custard to pour onto desserts is thinner and we cheat and make it with custard powder - which is just basically vanilla-flavoured cornflour!
It can be made from scratch though, with milk, egg yolks and vanilla pods.

If you tell me that your grandmother's maiden name was Jones - then we could be cousins............

DS x.

Dame Starry

A TIP:

If you have been preparing onions, garlic - or both, wash everything you've used and your hands in COLD water and the smell shouldn't linger.

DS x.

Chevyman

They make wonderful custard in France using the scratch method and they're even honest enough to call it Creme Anglaise

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

Dame Starry

I keep meaning to try it from scratch - but vanilla pods aren't cheap and it seems such a waste just for me. I do like to try things just once though.

Jane Asher and I agree on most things. We both try making it first and see if we can perfect it then, if it's just as good ready-made, we buy it!

Both of us also use a half-inch paintbrush for egg-washing - much better than those pastry brushes you get where all the bristles fall out and stick to your baking!
(That's a BRAND NEW paintbrush, by the way.........not the one you did the window-frames with last year!)

DS x.

Chevyman

Thank you dear Dame

I once had a kind of metal pumice stone thingy but it never really worked as well as a good rinse under cold water.

I've just picked some sage from my herb garden and, tbh, I don't really want to get rid of the smell

I'm "test driving" a recipe tonight. If it works and it proves worthy of my fellow posters on here I'll post it up

"One appears to have dropped one's monocle in the soufflee"

Why not visit the Festive Fayre section?

TimR

Yes. That's right - it was solid. My mom called it custard, but my grandparents called it "egg custard". I always liked it - which helped because it was served all the time.

Yes, the custard in England was like a sauce. It was served on many things - my sister was living in Canterbury at the time, and I was visiting her. She told me: make sure you tell them if you don't want custard. Otherewise, they will put it on automatically. I decided that since I was a guest in England, I would eat everything the local population ate (including marmite...oh.....) It's the first and only time I had a dollop of custard on an ice cream cone.

No - it wasn't Jones.

My grandmother's name was Mary Hickson. Her father was Thomas Hickson. Her parents came to the US first, before WWI - the opposite of the usual pattern. She followed later: and apparently was ambivalent about leaving England, but wanted to join the rest of her family.