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

Ewwww...dead hen juice...ack...sounds so yuk...

I'll just use semi-alive plants and sh!t eating fungi instead



No really, thanks for the recipe, Ed and I am only teasing..

Dead hen juice is fab Did the pasta I got today from de new shop over de road, was fantastic Stuffed the chicken breast with just the cheese and ham in the end, and seasoned it well very nice and tasty and full of hen juice

Ah...you're thinking of Soda Bread. For that you need Bicarbonate of Soda, rather than Baking Powder - plus you mix in a souring agent such as buttermilk or yoghurt which reacts with the bicarb to release CO2. Quantities? I'm a bit vague there. Try googling.

What you really want to get into, though, is yeast. It sounds scary - but it's really quite simple. Basic bread is made by taking gluten-rich flour, adding yeast, kneading it to polymerise and tangle the gluten, and letting the yeast ferment and work on the flour to produce CO2 to let the bread rise. You also need a little salt to kill off the yeast before it takes over your kitchen, and a little oil (olive, butter, Crisco) to keep it moist.

As for yeast - the entry level yeast is the Easy Bake kind, dried and sold in sachets. You just add it to the flour. Basically, just follow the directions on the packet! After that, you can worry about fresh yeast, wild fermentation, etc.

Happy kneading. I'll maybe look out some sites for further advice. My favourite book on bread is Elizabeth David's classic 'English Bread and Yeast Cookery'. Man, that chick could write!

That Cabbage 'n Tofu dish was a doozy, btw. Simple but effective. I didn't use any 'taste powder' in the end because it was hiding in the cupboard and didn't want to come out (maybe it had a headache?) - plus instead of the cruhed chilli, I found some big red chillis that needed using up (sliced thinly). The key to success was lots and lots of garlic and ginger. I think next time I'll throw a couple of star anises into the wok itself.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood had a song called 'Crisco Kisses'. Can't imagine what that means, I'm sure.

Actually, the Guide entry on bread A1325260 is pretty good for starters - with a couple of caveats:

- They've left out the oil. You really do nead a little. 1/4 cup or so.

- Mix with a slotted spoon?! What's wrong with hands?

- If you use wholemeal, this recipe will give you something dense and chewy. Very nice, but maybe not what you're after first time round. Try with some white bread flour (preferably unbleached). Maybe add in a little wholemeal or rye.

- Knocking back - OK, you don't really need to do it. All it means is that you do a first rising in a bowl. Once the dough has doubled or trebled in volume, give it a good, hefty bitch-slap and it will detumesce instantly. Take it from the bowl and knead some more, before forming the loaves and letting them rise again.

- The reason for double-proving is flavour and character. Generally, the more/slower rising (= less yeast) gives tastier bread. But hey, it'll still be better than sliced white supermarket pap with only one rising!

- Elizabeth David turns her nose up at the idea of using sea salt: 'That's for special. Common or garden table salt is quite adequate'. Her book has a whole chapter on salt - and one on water!

I'll expect full reports on your bread on Monday morning!

Not sure what to do tonight I've some rahter nice bacon I got yesterday, but can't make my mind up wht to do with it any suggestions?

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heheheeee!

I have never made bread...

Fry it and put it between two slices of buttered bread?

You're asking the wrond person, obviously, but given your easy access to good pasta, you might want to google 'recipe spaghetti carbonara'

Mmmm bacon...

Fry it and put it in some rice, with some pineapple and egg...perhaps some sausage too if you have some..I call it:

Rice n' things

I must admit the putting it betwen a couple of slices of bread was my inital thought on teh matter too: It is the ultimate test of bacon as to how it stands up in forming the quinteressental masterpiece of food, teh bacon butty Hmm, perhaps I could do a combination, and make homemade bread, and then use that to make the afore mentioned bacon butties the pasta idea was somthign I was thinking about too; possibly frying up the bacon, after slicing it up with onion mushroom and celery, kinda forming its own sauce, then haveing it mixed into some spegetti or fusilli or somethign It'l probably end up as a bacon butty if I do my useual trick and waiting till I'm starvin hungry before thinking about cooking

Ohhh....as a quick easy meal, I used to love those cheesy pasta and broccoli bakes that come in a packet with cooked bacon added and lotsa pepper...mmmmMMMMM

Hungry now..

Those the bachalors 'pasta and sauce' ? I used to get through a few of those in my uniersity days The supermarkets did their own versions too some of which were very good the Broccholli and cheese one was very nice, as was the parmizan and soemthign and I used to cook up bacon and add that too it and tons of pepper as you say

Oh, my, I'm supposed to make bread before the weekend? I'll see what I can manage...

Can't help with the bacon suggestions, though, sorry. I've also got to try to think of something to make for dinner tonight. Problem is, I haven't much in the house to cook with at the moment.

I am moving more and more towrds teh pasta solution to the 'bacon question' I've some mushrooms to use up too and they'l work nice with that I think unles, or course I don't have the bacon tonight and have chicken again

Well...I'm copping out 2nite with tofu sausages, mashed potato and swedes and veg gravy.

Mashed potato and swede (rutabaga) is another dish that gives me madeleine resonances from my Grandma. She used to serve it with liver and gravy.

'course, I don't eat liver these days...but there's no connection with the fact that I've recently read a Philip Roth novel. (This comment will go right over the head of anyone who hasn't read Portnoy's Complaint. But anyone who has will be tittering knowingly).

As for swede, we love the stuff and after searching for ages here, finally found it described as rutabaga. I love my swede cooked with carrots and roughly mashed with butter and black pepper.

Yes! That's another great thing to do with swede. And it makes great bubble 'n squeak that way too.

In the olden days, we used to use swedes to make Halloween 'pumpkins'. They're a b*gger to hollow out and smell foul.

Still got that bacon left, must eat it tonight had chicken yesterday night got a couple fresh grannary rolls from bakery today, could put the bacon in them

Pasta with Zucchini and Peas

Take a small onion and chop finely.
Sweat it in some olive oil (pus salt)in a lidded, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Now take a few courgettes/ zucchini. Chop roughly.
Add to the oil and stir around a bit.
Cover the pan. Cook on a very low heat for one hour (stir occasionally). The Zucchini will disintegrate and wou will be left with a sort of green mush.
Throw in some peas (frozen are fine) and heat through.
Use as a sauce for spaghetti/ linguini, topped with parmesan.

The sauce is lovely and sweet.

I love zucchini with pasta!

I actually have a small zucchini and an eggplant to use up very soon. Maybe I will make the zucchini and pea pasta for dinner tonight. It sounds awesome!

Now I'm getting hungry.

I've not yet had a chance to bake any homemade bread. But I will be trying it very soon!

One night this week, possibly tomorrow or Wednesday, I plan to make a spinach quiche. I've never made a quiche before. I've made pie crusts from scratch, but am not feeling that ambitious for a work night. Just to get public opinion, would you lot choose, given the choice, a crustless quiche, or one using a ready-made crust?

I did buy myself a fabulous Indian cookbook on Sunday. I only own three cookbooks, the new one included, as I rarely follow a "recipe" per se. But I have been known to grab a cookbook and use the recipes inside to clue me in to the ingredients used in dishes I haven't prepared before. So now I have an Indian cookbook, a vegetarian one, and a generic one entitled "The Joy of Cooking" which I got as a gift several years ago. I'd like a Meditteranean one as well, so I can find more good ideas.

Is there a Cooking Club somewhere on h2g2? I've searched, but haven't found one. Although I have found lots of yummy ideas.