What's for Dinner?

[Char]

I'm sick to death with cooking atm

I'm sick to death with cooking!

[basquesteve]

Just eaten Balmoral Chicken (Chicken Stuffed with Haggis and wrapped in bacon ) Sprouts and Whisky sauce

[Char]

Egg stir fried rice with veggies, and Samba - yey we all ate the same thing. Gdaughter had cheesey baquette, carrots, baby tomatoes and a pear. Dunno what I'm doing for tea though.

[Sparkle]

We're having as simple as it is - Herby egg mayo on toast from Mark Diacono's cookbook 'Herb: A Cook's Companion' and the reason I'm making it is because of the para. below which appears in the recipe and it made me smile It reminded me of Nigel Slater as it's the sort of thing he would say - anyone seen 'Toast' a lovely BBC drama - I know, it should be on a different thread

When I was very small, I used to talk to God. I’d ask only small things of him as he didn’t seem too keen to get on with significant matters like world peace and keeping Brotherhood of Man from Number 1. I asked that he make sure Clive Lloyd scored a century, that the cat wouldn’t get run over, and that I didn’t misbehave and thereby miss out on the huge lolly I’d been promised at the carnival. Eventually, I lost the belief – I’m not sure I ever had it – but if we still talked, I would ask (given that world peace still seems a long shot) that everyone ate one thing a day that gave them as much pleasure as this gives me. And yes, the cat did get run over. But I got the lolly. You win some…

[L Austin France]

My missus is giving her weekly Zumba lesson so I'm warming up a couple of 300gm pasties for when she returns. (that's one each by the way)
Oggie, Oggie, Oggie!

[Sparkle]

@L Austin France I love a pasty especially a Cornish pasty - I think I remember - such a long time ago Enjoy your 300g

[L Austin France]

@L Austin France I love a pasty especially a Cornish pasty - I think I remember - such a long time ago Enjoy your 300g

Mine are based on this recipe with quantities changed to make 8 pasties 'cos that's what fits on our oven rack. Even then I always chuck in a bit more of everything as the beef steak we buy comes in 650gm packets. The oggies come out around 300 gm with the additions.
https://cornishpastyassociation.co.uk/a ... ish-pasty/
The best pastry I've made is 50/50 Atora beef & vegetable suet plus I shake a teaspoonfull of flour over the filling, before closing the pastie, to soak up some of the juices & stop 'em being soggy oggies. Carrots are good substitutes if swede/turnip is not in season. 1 level teaspoon of white pepper plus umpteen grinds of black season things well.
They take yonks to make but boy, are they worth it.

[Liz]

Just eaten Balmoral Chicken (Chicken Stuffed with Haggis and wrapped in bacon ) Sprouts and Whisky sauce

Stop it! Our haggis is still in a freezer in Wimbledon. Grrr
If all goes well it will be on our plates here early April, but will there be any neeps around or should I buy and freeze some now?

[Sparkle]

@L Austin France just been going through the recipe - wow must have a go!

[L Austin France]

@L Austin France just been going through the recipe - wow must have a go!

Well worth the effort. I make, cook & freeze them despite the recipe saying " It’s best to freeze them after glazing but before baking" . Works fine with a gentle defrost & reheat at about 75deg before munching.
The other things I do to avoid soggy oggies is , salt the veggies & leave whilst I'm making pastry circles, to get rid of some of the moisture ( a salad spinner is good for this) & turn the pasties upside down for the last 10 mins cooking to let any excess cooking liquid drain out through the 'vent' hole. (be sure to place a tray beneath 'em avoid mucky oven)
Another thing I do to get consistent results is make sure each 8" pastry round weighs about 120/130 gm to give the right thickness plus I weigh the total filling & divide by the no. of oggies to be made to ensure equal filling.
The above plus the things already mentioned are producing the best oggies I've ever tasted.