Favourite dishes would be more precise...
My Mum's
1. Mum's Lasagna (made with pulled beef, pork and homemade pasta) baked to a crispy top
2. Mum's Gnocchi
3. Mum's Zuppa Inglese - an Italian Trifle.
I'm working on 3 soon.
4. JA's Seafood Marinara.
Best
JA
JA's & Andrew's Zuppa Inglese....
Not quite. More like Torta Zuppa Inglese the way it turned out.
I was going for an traditional Zuppa Inglese, like Mum used to make, God Bless her, with Vanilla and Cacao layered Crema Pasticciera interlaced with Savoiardi Biscuits or sponge cake dipped in the traditionally used Alchemes (Red) Liquer. I didn't have enough cacao so went for milk chocolate which created a much lighter coloured crema and we couldn't get Alchermes from Dan's so went for a mix of Marsala 50%, Amaretto 25% and Whiskey 25% so there's no "bright red biscuit look", unfortunately.
How did it taste? It was incredible - a cross between Mum's Zuppa Inglese and a Traditional Italian Layered Birthday Cake. MMMMmmmmmmmmm
It was a team effort by JA and Andrew (AA)
Wow some mouth watering ideas.
When I was a kid I was very young and our family was very poor and it seemed that everyone was but I guess if you are poor you won't know there are rich folk because rich and poor mix like oil and water.
So breakfast...bread cut into cubes covered in hot milk with a little golden syrup.
Or
Bread cubes mushed up with a running egg with pepper and salt...
I remembered the days where I would do a "Chinese Banquet" with six to eight dishes which sounds extreme but the trick is to use one thing thru different dishes cooked in various ways such that each dish was different to the others.
I would make many small meat balls the size of your thumb, and don't ask how I knew how big your thumb is,...some I would fry such that they were Just tiny crispy meat balls and serve them with say three choices of sauce...which back then I could make sauce and again you started with a basic mix divided it up and say added chilli to one batch, plumb sause to another and sesame seeds to another and another with whatever as many as you needed.
Dish two you could make a sweet and sour sauce with some vegetables and add in the meat balls usually pre fried,
Third dish you make some wung tung pastry..just flour and egg yoke and make little packets with the meat ball inside with some sauce and maybe an almond and some you deep fry and some you boil or steam. You could also make a vegetable dish with these things additionally boiled where they became bread like...And you can get some mileage by making some square packets and others like a mini spring roll and add some vegetables from the sweet and sour dish...and you can do this with say some pork belly where you get various dishes from the pile of chopped up meat.
AND of course you could make some noodle pastry and add flavoring different sizes whatever..but you could end up with just so many dishes with just simple ingredients and mountains of food with little variation in ingredients.
I remember a friend threw a dinner party for twelve guests and I did the cooking but he liked my Chinese dishes and my fondue dishes and insisted on both ..each would have fed twelve ...it only took me all afternoon as the fondue followed the build on approach ..however the weather turned real nasty where is was dangerous to go out and at about 5.30 the phone started ringing "we cant make it" over and over until finally just the four of us sat down to the magnificent feast...talk about left overs.
But the good thing with this stuff it usually tastes better the next day.
tenderiser/dry rub the day before leave over night:
mix up a lot of salt and brown sugar in equal amounts, add garlic/onion powder. Go to town on rubbing it in and layering it on, it gets washed off later. Grab 1-2 kiwi fruits* and slice thinly, cover the meat side of the ribs with the kiwi fruit slices and some underneath.
Kiwi fruit is a great tenderiser but very very strong! If covered with foil for the rest over night the foil will be eaten! Cover with a plastic lid or wrap for the rest, rest in a non-metallic tray.
On the day, remove the kiwi fruit and wash the ribs clean in cold water.
Make up a dry rub, equal parts salt and brown sugar as the base, add fresh garlic, chillies, paprika, Italian herbs etc, season as preferred and rub in thoroughly. Leave for a few hours, add fresh whole plums, a 90cent 1.25ltr orange or lemon fizzy drink, a splash of red wine, molasses, tabasco sauce etc to your preferences. Let is soak for another couple of hours.
moderate oven (150-160) for 2-3 hours sealed with a good layer of greaseproof paper. Remove the cover and leave open for another 45minutes or more, then drain off most of the sauce, get the pits and skins out etc and return to the oven.
Reduce the (pitless/skinless) sauce down, and move the ribs up to a gentle over head heat. Baste regularly as the sauce reduces, you'll build up colour an layers of the sauce. When your happy with the colour, return a little sauce and cover for the rest period.
Do up the mash and corn on the cob etc as required...
Tender ribs every time, remember you do still want the meat to cling to the bone a little.
Thought I'd post this as it's sometimes hard to get chips right is the home fryers, and its fish and chips for tonight.
Par cook whole potatoes in the microwave at around 70% of power and aim for a little firmer than potato salad. Turn the potatoes over 1/2 way through cooking...
Slice into chips while still hot and stack so they get plenty of air around them and allow to cool.
After they've cooled, do the 1st fry, put the chips into COLD OIL, set the oil to about 100/110 degrees and cook to you get a good cover of small blisters showing but no colour. About 15 minutes cook time.
Remove and set the oil up high, 170/180 degree or so and do the final cook for the desired colour and crispiness.
Depending on your choice of potatoes you should get good chips.
Yeah! That's the go! But I'm too lazy at 2am for cooking snacks - then it's my old reliable Coco Pops with "2 weeks opened" long-life custard. (Fresh made custard just doesn't cut it)
Yeah! That's the go! But I'm too lazy at 2am for cooking snacks - then it's my old reliable Coco Pops with "2 weeks opened" long-life custard. (Fresh made custard just doesn't cut it)
I never buy ham however the other day bought a leg..of ham..I thought ham sandwiches for lunch...however I found a jar of plum jam in the cupboard and it seems that all I do is cut off another slice and spread it with plumb jam...it is a recipe..yes a recipe for disaster I expect.
Of course I wash it down with a coke..again I never drank coke until about a month ago and now I am addicted ... mmm coke ham and plumb jam.... can it ever get any better?
In an effort to stop vegetables going off I bought some jars and now cut up tomato, onion, mushroom, capsicum, cucumber, celery, cabbage garlic add chilli sauce, olive oil and vinegar...now it is so easy to get myself fed...couple of slices of ham, and jam of course plus an assortment of fresh veggies in oil and vinegar...plus rather than make coleslaw and potatoes salad I just buy it made up..not as good but no work and you can't beat that...
Hmmm time for another slice of ham....
