A random thread for food things that don't really warrant a thread of their own

[Cudzoziemiec]

Today we started the Christmas pudding we didn't eat at Christmas. Turns out I'm the only one who likes it! It could take me till December to finish it.

[Paul]

Okay: egg praise over (for now).

Sadly, my supply of lovely, fresh, free-range eggs is much diminished. A fox (or foxes) got in to my friend's garden and took half the hens. The remaining half have, understandably, gone off laying for the moment.

[Dibdib]

Direct.gov.uk petition: Make wrongly describing a casserole with a pastry lid as a pie a criminal offence.

[Basil]

 
Tee hee.  One of my pet rants.

[Quint]

Direct.gov.uk petition: Make wrongly describing a casserole with a pastry lid as a pie a criminal offence.
[/quote

                 A pie (evidently) can be a filling with only a pastry lid, a fully pastry lined dish/plate with filling then a lid and so on, many different types, Barbara (my wife who, for our sins) is a chef and anyone who says a pie is anything less than a pastry lined dish/plate with a proper lid is due for a roasting.
                 I love a good pie and it was with sadness that when in Skipton recently I came upon a pie and mash place when I had just eaten, I shall return   

[mcshroom]

As much as I agree with the petition, the existence of such pies as the shepherd's pie does damage the argument somewhat.

[Quint]

As much as I agree with the petition, the existence of such pies as the shepherd's pie does damage the argument somewhat.

     Agreed as does Cottage Pie, however, to the pedant (me) or the Pro cook (Barbara) a pie is not a proper pie without having the filling encased in pastry, no, no that does not include pasties which are a sub species, some books about pies even include flans    the authors have been reported for action by the courts and will be sentenced to a good custard pieing 

[Ham]

Mrs Ham is astonishingly talented. I have a steel frying pan that has been in continuous use for about 36 years, and the first time she has cleaned it she has managed to close to ruin it, I didn't think that was possible, tbh. She's seen me put wash it vigourously, wipe with a smear of oil and heat to dry. So she did. Unfortunately then left it on a light for two hours. Base has cleaned (as you might expect) but unfortunately it has warped, so I suspect it will be useless for pancakes. It's only a pan, so no real angst, but I'm looking to replace

http://www.debuyer.com/product.php?id=14&cat=14&background=bleu1 seems to be the same sort of thing (it's 30cm) - wondered if anyone was aware of alternatives?

[Ruth]

Funnily enough, my Morrisons £2.50 cheapo non stick frying pan is exactly the same shape as that.  I suspect it won't last as long, but it'd do as a stopgap till you could find the real thing.  I've had it since Pancake Day and it's still working well.

[Gattopardo]

Ikea pancake pan, but it is non stick.

[citoyen]

the first time she has cleaned it she has managed to close to ruin it, 

Arrrrgh! Pet hate.

Frying pans aren't exactly the most technologically advanced item in the world yet so many people seem basically incapable of using them properly.

Really does my head in when I take a pan out of the cupboard to find it coated in bits of baked-on egg. (Crime 1: getting egg stuck to it during cooking, compounded by Crime 2: putting it in the dishwasher without scrubbing the bits of egg off first, followed by Crime 3: putting it away in that state for someone else, ie me, to deal with later.)

I love my Le Creuset omelette pans. I wish others loved them as much as I do, then they might get treated with a bit more respect.

[Ham]

Considering how far me and that pan go back, I find myself astonishingly sanguine about it all,

For reference, no non-stick pan performs anything like the non stickyness of a seasoned steel pan. Not that they aren't more non-sticky to start with, because they are, but they deteriorate. And anyone who put a steel pan in the diswasher would incur a quantum of wrath. Obv I now have an unseasoned pan taken back to bare metal.

As far as the pan is concerned, the shape is similar to the one linked above, but the steel is only 2mm compared to the one above (3mm), their 2mm one has a different shape handle. Mora have similar to the heavy weight one http://www.mora.fr/fr/produit_details.asp?Produit=031170&MenuActif=1&SsMenuActif=8

[jsabine]

Really does my head in when I take a pan out of the cupboard to find it coated in bits of baked-on egg.

The thing that astonishes me is the reaction that makes it plain *you* are the unreasonable one, for believing you have a right to expect that a plate or a pan that has been washed, dried, and put away should be clean when you take it out to use it again.

[Julian]

I can forgive not checking the pan is scrupulously clean as it travels the tiny distance from the dishwasher to the cupboard.  Because I do that too.

The only pan related issue I've had was a former housemate who thought detergent was poisonous and so washed dishes with a metal scouring pad and very hot but not soapy water.  I don't think detergent is poisonous but I'm fairly certain that the large flakes of non-stick off my non-stick frying pan she was consuming, as they succumbed to this treatment and flaked off into her food, weren't very good for her.

[citoyen]

I know what you mean, Julian, and that's fair enough. It's more the fact of the baked-on egg that bothers me, the not understanding how dishwashers work and their limitations. But I guess that's largely the fault of advertising overselling the capabilities of the infernal contraptions.

[hellymedic]

I had to peel the inside of an onion today; one of the inner layers had gone hard, dry and brown, surrounded by soft, white layers both outside and inside.

[Basil]

I've had that happen quite often.  I probably buy cheap old veg.

[phantasmagoriana]

Onions scare me - never know what's lurking inside. The worst is when there are two onions in one skin!

[hellymedic]

I don't care much for onions but get them to keep The Man happy.

[barakta]

The only pan related issue I've had was a former housemate who thought detergent was poisonous and so washed dishes with a metal scouring pad and very hot but not soapy water.

My friend had a lodging cousin who did that to all their expensive non-stick pans and used metal implements on them despite repeatedly being asked not to do this.  My suggestion was giving him a bill for replacements and a ban on him using them.  There was no excuse for this destructiveness, he couldn't claim ignorance as he HAD been told.

So glad I only share a house with Kim and we mostly agree on This Sort Of Thing TM. 

[pcolbeck]

Mrs Pcolbeck made chocolate and beetroot brownies yesterday. I am home alone today and must resit the temptation to eat more than a couple.

[mrcharly-YHT]

For lunch I descended to the depths of have packet risotto, reasoning that the leftover would do for lunch tomorrow. After all, it is supposed to feed 3-4 people.

I've eaten the lot. <burp>

[Cudzoziemiec]

Mrs Pcolbeck made chocolate and beetroot brownies yesterday. I am home alone today and must resit the temptation to eat more than a couple.

What's the difference between temptation and an exam?
You can resit temptation after passing it the first time!

[hellymedic]

The cheapy Natco/Rajah spices are *much* fresher and stronger than their pricy Schwartz equivalents.

[Ruth]

Once again, I have not won a free camper van by eating yoghurt.