h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Breadmaking machine?!!!

Bread and pasta are almost as easy by hand.

*has own who is handy at pasta and bread*

wholewheat pasta is the same as regular pasta just with wholewheat flour. It still has eggs in it.

If you don't want it too stodgy, roll it thinner

Aw, it does have a different texture, it has to (wholewheat pasta I mean). I did wonder about the eggs thing. If it was egg-dependent, it would be called egg-free pasta, surely? And still not use whole grains.

Nnno, other way round in Germany. If they contain egg they are labeled "Eiernudeln" - but I don´t know if there is a law, you need to ask a

>>Breadmaking machine?!!!Bread and pasta are almost as easy by hand.

Or to put it another way, are 'not' as easy by hand. I've noticed there's a lot of (possibly inverted?) snobbery exhibited towards breadmakers from some "by-handers", which is very puzzling. Do you also shun hand blenders, or washing machines?

I make bread with or without the machine, and it's certainly just as good at kneading, and very much easier and quicker, too. It's also excellent at maintaining the right temperature for the rise. For the inexperienced, it offers an easy, fool-proof way to great fresh bread.

A breadmaker is just another tool which you can choose to use when appropriate.

quotes,

"A breadmaker is just another tool which you can choose to use when appropriate."

Yes. No less and no more.

"I wouldn't have given the recipe if it wasn't nice" [Edwardthe Bonobo]

I appreciate that. I hope I haven't caused you any worry by my habit of going over the ingredients with a fine tooth comb. My cooking skills are modest, and I compensate by getting all the ingredients as right as I can. I use cheap spices whenever possible (I'm not rich), but if there are 10 spices in a recipe, they all blend in together pretty well.

My fingers are crossed. I want to try it tonight.

I did say that one is free to monkey around with recipes. You may well come up with something even tastier than mine. Enjoy!

Me? I'm having a Punjabi dish which is rice cooked together with channa dhal, mushrooms, potatoes and dill. (Plus various spices, but that hardly needs saying).

Buy your spices where pennyless imigrants buy, not in the glitzy boutique shops.

Absolutely! Big bags from Asian shops cost pennies.

Plus you come across stuff you've never heard of, which is also fun.

I usually buy cinnamon and cilantro in large containers. Badia and McCormick have good quality at good value that way. Spice Supreme has economical bottles of coriander, caraway seed,cloves, rosemary, marjoram, and thyme. My local supermarket has good quality parsley, oregano, and basil in economical large bottles. Alas, I have no alternative but to pay full price for Cardamom, which I get from Spice Islands. Badia has good-sized bottles of cumin, which I use a lot, plussmaller bottles of nutmeg and ginger. Things I don't use very often include fennel seed, anise seed, summer savory, onion powder, orange peel, and lemon peel. If I buy expensive versions of those, at least I won't need to buy them again for a long, long time.

I'm not a big fan of pepper, so my powdered cayenne and dried red pepper flakes don't get used up very fast.

One tip that will change your life:

Ground spices lose their flavour. Buy seeds and a mortar and pestle. (or use a coffee grinder dedicated to the purpose).

And if you want to be really advanced - dry roast the spices before grinding.

I have a to take care of all that stuff for me

I know that ground spices lose their flavor. That's not a big concern with the ones that I use a lot of. They get used up fast, and don't have much time in which to lose flavor.

The thing is, I don't *notice* a fading of flavor, not even with the cayenne pepper that lasts at least five years. If I did notice a problem, I guess I would increase the amounts.

I'm sure a would do a better job than me - but I'd miss cooking.

I can't afford to hire a or eat in restaurants very often. I'm stuck with whatever I can figure out by myself. It's a comforting thought that across the planet there are millions of people cooking great meals with simple equipment and no access to the Cordon Bleu or other great cooking schools.

I accidentally ate a Michelin starred meal last year. Long story. It was delicious. I wan't paying - but my expensed claim caused me considerable anxiety. €100!!!

A friend said to me:

'But don't you usually prefer something more basic?'

And this is true. A Desi-stle curry served at formica tables is usually more my style - provided it's cooked with love.

The night before the fancy-schmancy meal I had felafel and chips - €8 inc Fanta and coffee - and discussed with the Palestinian cooks the best way to make their nation's great gift to the world. Lots of parsley and a little dried lemon is the secret, apparently.

Here:

http://www.restaurant-figuier-saint-esprit.com/carte-restaurant-antibes.html

Read the menu and weep.

*Waits to see if falafel and chips strikes people down in horror, too*

Chili, minestroni, curries and tagines form my diet fairly often. They can all be cooked in multi-meal batches and then heated up for later meals.