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

I Don't think I've ever* followed a recipie to the letter*, I've used a few before off the BBC recipie doobry, but have always changed or missed out ingrediants depending on what I have in same goes for the recipies I've done off H"2G2 I've normally adopted adapted even those too, : stuck in more onion cause I like it etc or missed stuff out cause I've not got it Finally used up that bacon BTW a few days bak before I went shooting off.... olive oil in oven dish I've got with bacon, under grill, then I added onion and garlic and mushroom (Oh yeh, I'd chopped up the bacon with sissors into inch ish or two inch ish slices), did that for a while slowely in oven, cooked up some pasta, then threw that in and mixed about a bit, put in more frshly groudn black pepper and a bit of toamto paste, (only making it for one person I didn't want to stick a whole tin of toamtos in it really ) , then grated cheese on top and melted cheese under grill waaas fab tonight I got back from my Dads popped along to farm shop, got more chicken breast fillets, sausages mushrooms cheese and cooked ham/sausage meat and a couple bags of stir fry veg (which I hasn're realised they did till today), did a stir fry tonight, with chicken breast sliced up, mushroom, stir fry beg, a half tin of waterchestnuts, and some soya sauce and 5 spice had with basmatic rice <droo.. actually I feel a bit drunk now, but I think that was the guiness and red wine and not tht food

Hiya 2legs. Glad you finally cooked your bacon.

It seems a bit more difficult to me, at times, coming up with new things I've never had that I can cook without meat. Even dining out is easier, with all the vegan restaurants, and even the delis have veggie-friendly fare. Last night I had spaghetti and wheat-balls (lovely "meatballs' made of seasoned tempeh in a savory marinara sauce) at a local place, it was fabulous. I use imitation meat sometimes to make chili and the like for dinner parties where carnivores may be in attendance. I just don't see a point in cooking what I can't eat.

yeh sorry for my recipies always seeming to be meat based; but like what I had tonight, skip out the meat and put in more mushrooms (if you like mushrooms lie I do thatis is not problem whatsoever!) or put in celery (I didn't have any Or I'd have put some in), and baby corn would have gone in relaly well and you could bulster up the rice with a few peas or handfulls of frozen sweetcorn I do* eat entirely vegy non meat meals, even though I am a carnivore/omnivore by doctorate or something juste tend to be able to do it easier in summer when more frehs veg about pasta and a nice tomato sauce or cheese sauce come to that will do me quite nicely and meat free too or vegetable stirefry with tons of msuhroom and noodles I do hope this red wine wasnt' 'clarified' with fish scales; do they still do that nowdays or not?

Dunno if they clarify wine with fish scales or not. I've seen plenty of wines at the veggie restaurants and none of them labeled as "vegan", so I don't know if it's even an issue any more.

And yep, lots of the things you've prepared sound yummy, and I can think of loads of things to add that would be meatless and still tasty. Always happy to take cues from anyone who eats well, no matter what it is. Besides, the carnivores here need some new ideas, too.

I fink the fish scale method was probably long ago superseeded by other ways of doing it I hope so; I don't know if I* fancy the idea of fish scales still being used to clarify wine I'd appreciate more vegetable ideas: It'l probably sound funny to you, but I don't think I've ever even seen a 'Swquash' and have even less idea wht to do with it meat tends to form less and less of my diet as time moves one; but still an important bit of it noneltheless,

Hello all.
I've had a few recipe disasters recently. They seem to coincide with when my energy levels are low. Has anyone else experienced this. If my spirits are high I'm a great cook.
Yesterday, feeling below par I decided to cook chicken soup but messed up the quantity of rice required to thicken it, and it solidified. It tasted ok but the children didn't like the look of it and my beloved said he could use it to fill a hole in the wall!
Went shopping today and bought readymeals to last until I'm in a good cooking mood again .

Awww, so glad to see someone else refers to them as " my beloved", gawd, when said in a French accent, knees weaken immediately.

OK, the ultimate wonder food, "SPLODGE", no living being has been known to resist this.

Potatoes, as many as poss, peel or not, as the fancy takes you
Carrots, as above
celery
Swede (rutabaga)
turnip (neeps)
Onion
parsnip

*optional* any other veg lying around.

Grated cheese, they call it rape cheese here in frogland, which sounds worrying, but it's not, honestly.

Marg/butter
salt/pepper (ground black is best)
veggie stock cube

Bung the lot, cut up small, into water with stock cube, boil till soft, drain (Save the water, it's full of viatmins and makes great soup), dry it out a bit back on the stove, add cheese and marg, and.....SPLODGE it into squelchy stuff, slop great steaming blobs of it onto the plates of good friends...and wait for them to declare undying devotion.

Works every time. The way to a mans heart is through his splodge.



zdt

Sounds lovely I could eat some right now if it were here. It's 4:30am and my night shift has only 1 1/2 hours left.
My tummy gets confused as to whether it's breakfast or suppertime when I get home so I usually have both. Porridge and a sandwich usually.

re. the fish scales and red wine. This kind of argument is brought up so frequently by non-vegetarians. See also 'You can't eat Kit Kats! They contain animal fat!'

It's odd, though. There's no big rule book of vegetarianism. You don't get your licence taken away for drinking wine. Oddly enough, that old reactionary Auberon Waugh made a good comment on the topic along the lines of 'How dare non-vetarians be critical of vegetarians for their imperfect adherence. It's entirely a personal matter for the individual vegetarian.'

Anyway - tempeh: Cook it in coconut milk, with onions, garlic, ginger, lots and lots of green chilli and soy sauce. Serve with rice, and maybe some oriental pickles.

Tonight? Since you ask....Stir-fried broccoli (the tender, thin kind) with shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots and sesame seeds. (and garlic and ginger, natch)

Off on an early flight to the south coast 2morrow, reteurning home late in the evening. So tomorrow night it's likely to be something microwaveable.

(I've just remembered: I once knew a speech therapist who told me about a patient of hers who was aphasic following a stroke. He would sometimes make up new words for things. A microwave was 'ting-ting-bloody-quick')

Tonight, the second of the two chicken breasts, deskinned again and cut into cubes or strips stir fried with mushrooms, a bit of onion, the stir fry veggies I got, waterchestnuts, garlic soya sauce, probably with noodles this time done as a kind of soup, with whatever spices I dig out of the cupboard Which reminds me, I relaly must chuck out some of my herbs and spices as they've been in the cupboard years some of them, and ain't as strong flavoured as they should be anymore

Tonight I'm seriously considering takeout; I've had a tiresome day and would just like to chill out when we get home.

Tomorrow night, it's going to be a spinach quiche. Thursday evening I'll be on my own- K has a job interview at 6:00 PM- so it's likely to be some leftover bean salad, or some pasta and beans with red and yellow pepper.

Last night:

Made some fresh tagliatelli with my Pasta Mangle (£5 from Oxfam). For the sauce:

Fried some sliced garlic in olive oil until golden. Threw in some crushed chilli and chopped, fresh tomatoes. Simmered vigorously until the juice evaporated a little. Then tossed the tagliatelli with it and some chopped flat-leaf parsley. Top with freshly-grated pecorino (or parmesan - but pecorino seemed more suitable).

Unfortunately a migraine set in during the night (explains why I was tired and vacant during the day). We had no ibuprofen in the house. Well, I'll not give too much information, but if you suffer migraines, you'll guess what happened to the pasta

Migraines are awful, when I get one I'm just knocked out and have to lie down, if* I've some painkillers in and take them, then it'l useually clear after a couple of hours laying/sleeping in the dark curled up in bed I've a part bottle of red wine left, but its been open a couple of days, well, since Saturday night, well it was opened about 2 AM Sun morning in reality Would it be alright to use for cooking with? I don't know if I'd want to drink it particularly after having sat about for that lon on the kitchen worktop I have to have chicken tonight relaly, I've a chicken breast left that I was goign to have last night but didn't as I wasn't hungry and just ate toast instead

Colcannon (traditional Irish dish).

Take some dark green cabbage (eg Savoy) or (preferably) kale. Wash and shred finely. Steam until tender. Take some potatoes. Steam or boil and mash. Combine with the kale/cabbage ad add some pepper, scallions/spring onions and butter. Lots of butter. One feck of a lot of butter.

Sperad the mixture into a wide baking dish (eg a lasagne dish). Dot with even more butter. Bake for half an hour until it starts to brown.

(Optional) I like to make a number of indentations in the surface before baking, one per person. 10 minutes before serving, I crack an egg into each hollow and bake until set.

In Ireland they sometimes serve this with a jug of melted....butter.

Pumpkin Laksa

First catch your pumpkin. (Actually, a tasty sauash of some sort would be easier - such as Butternut). Peel and cut into chunks, slices. Steam until tender.

Make a strong stock using vegetable cubes. Add a tin of coconut milk, some prepared red Thai curry paste to taste (see note) and fresh lime juice to taste.

Add some fine noodles to the broth (cooked and rinsed, if dried) and heat a little.

Fish the noodles out into bowls. Place some chunks of pumpkin/squash on top. Pour over the broth. To each bowl add a handful of coarsely chopped coriander/cilantro, basil and mint.


A note on red curry paste. Look out for a decent prepared version. Eschew additives. If you keep a vegetarian and/or kosher diet, check for shrimp paste. You can make your own: http://www.10thaidish.athailand.com/curry/CurryPaste_Red.htm (shrimp paste optional)

Take some large buns (in British English, 'baps'), cut open and toast the cut surfaces.

Now take some large mushrooms - the flat, open kind. You want them to be about 3" (7.5 cm) or more in diameter. Make some garlic butter (crish a garlic glove, mash it into some butter) and mix in a large quantity of finely chopped parsley (more than you'd usually use for garlic butter), some black pepper and a drop of lemon juice. Fill each mushroom with the mixture. If the stalks are in the way - cut them out, chop up an stick them back into the cap.

Take a baking dish. Drizzle a little olive oil into the bottom (it will stop the butter from burning) and arrange the mishrooms in it, butter side up. Bake in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes, until all the juices have started to flow.

Put a mushroom on the bottom of each bun. Smear with some dijon mustard. Top with some shaved parmesan, thinly sliced onions and rocket or shredded lettuce. (Optional) Before putting on the top of the bun, dip the toasted half into the mushroomy juices in the baking dish.

It was the inclusion of this recipe on my website that resulted in my getting lots of hits from people who were googling for 'greasy baps'.

That pumpkin laksa sounds awesome! I don't know how well I could handle the first recipe, rich foods don't agree with me very well, and super-buttery stuff can really upset my stomach. Although it sounds like it would be incredibly tasty!!

I'm going to try the pumkin laksa very soon. We're having a cold snap again, and it sounds like it would be nice and hearty.

Thanks!

I made black bean soup the other night:

1 lb. dry black beans, soaked overnight, rinsed and cooked for 1 hour
1/2 lb. frozen corn
1 large red bell pepper
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves minced garlic
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups chopped celery
1 cup dry sherry
2 tablespoons vegetable "bouillion"
2 cups water (I use 1 cup reserved from cooking the beans)
1 cup fresh cliantro, minced
2 cups chopped ripe tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
handful fresh oregano, minced
1 tablespoon cumin
dash cayenne pepper


Heat a stock pot over medium heat. Add sherry, heat. When hot, add garlic and onion and saute until clear but not browned. Add carrots and celery, saute until soft. Add water, tomato paste, veg bouillion, and dry herbs. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes more or until soup stock is hot and vegetables and beans are softened to desired consistency.

Serve with prepared rice, sour cream, and/or lime wedges.

yumm!

I still haven't made the hot and sour soup yet, I plan to this weekend