Food, Cookery and Recipes

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Peter Why
Posts: 5834
Joined: November 24th, 2005, 3:54 am
Location: Chigwell (North-East London, U.K.)

Post by Peter Why »

Worcestershire sauce. The original idea was from "The Penguin Book of Jams, Pickles and Chutneys", published in 1977, but I've made it quite a few times over the years, and the recipe is quite a lot different from the original.

(I'm not sure whether "shallot" means the same in the USA as it does in England. These are like smalll onlons (perhaps an inch across), usually with reddish membranes, and tend to grow in clumps. )

3oz shallots (or, possibly, one large onion)
4 medium-sized cloves of garlic
2? tsp grated horseradish ( Don't use commercial horseradish sauce to replace this, though grated horseradish in vinegar would be acceptable - in this case increase the quantity - by half?. I can't get fresh, so I use ?Hot Horseradish, freshly grated? bottled by the ?English Provender Company?)
2 rounded tsp cayenne pepper (or one tsp chilli, one of paprika)
8 cloves
1oz root ginger, sliced
the seeds from 6 cardamom pods (use only dark-brown seeds, discard light brown ones)
20 black peppercorns
? pint soy sauce - 5 fl oz (ideally Japanese soy sauce, e.g. Kikkoman, because its flavour is so much richer)
1 pint malt vinegar
about ? oz ?molasses sugar? or Demerara (two heaped tsp), or perhaps, a dessertspoon of molasses


Chop the shallots and garlic roughly, and bring to the boil in the vinegar. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add all the other ingredients, cover and simmer for another half hour. Transfer to a wide-mouthed jar with a lid and leave for a month. Shake the bottle regularly (every few days? At least once a week.). After a month or so, strain the sauce through a fine sieve, then through muslin, and bottle it. It?s now ready for use, and keeps indefinitely


I make three or four pints at a time. I use it a lot, and give it to my friends ... because it would take even me a while to use three pints of the stuff.

Peter
Last edited by Peter Why on August 6th, 2006, 6:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
"I think, therefore I am, I think." Solomon Cohen, in Terry Pratchett's Dodger
Starlite
Posts: 16548
Joined: April 30th, 2006, 2:17 pm
Location: Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada

Post by Starlite »

Wow Peter my mouth is watering! I never knew what went into that sauce and now I know. :)

One question - when you store it for the month, does it need to be refridgerated?

(where's the drooling icon when you need it?) :shock:
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable
people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress,
therefore, depends on unreasonable people." George Bernard Shaw
Peter Why
Posts: 5834
Joined: November 24th, 2005, 3:54 am
Location: Chigwell (North-East London, U.K.)

Post by Peter Why »

You mature at (one matures at?) room temperature. The vinegar is enough to prevent contamination. I suppose you're after leaching out the last bits of goodness from the bits and pieces floating around in the stew, but there may be more to it than that ... perhaps there is actually a blending or maturation going on.

Peter
"I think, therefore I am, I think." Solomon Cohen, in Terry Pratchett's Dodger
KATWAL
Posts: 129
Joined: May 17th, 2006, 2:22 pm
Location: Calhoun, Kentucky

Post by KATWAL »

Anyone have any wonderful receipes for venison? I have a freezer full of loins and roasts.

Kat
Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. M. Mead
thistlechick
Posts: 6170
Joined: November 30th, 2005, 12:14 pm
Location: Michigan

Post by thistlechick »

KATWAL wrote:Anyone have any wonderful receipes for venison? I have a freezer full of loins and roasts.

Kat
*swoons* ... My mom makes the best venison roast in the pressure cooker... i think the secret is a can of stewed tomatoes =)
~ Betsie
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!
Gesine
Posts: 14137
Joined: December 13th, 2005, 4:16 am

Post by Gesine »

Big surprise yesterday when, stacked under the counter of a local small greengrocer's, I spotted a thick bunch of basil. Will go out to buy more pinenuts and olive oil in a moment, and make Spaghetti Pesto - my favourite summer pasta.

Today we had the first rain for several months. I must have had a premonition yesterday as I felt like comfort food and made a French onion soup with red wine and cheese croutons.

Our new kitchen has finally been installed so we can cook again - for almost a year we haven't had a decent kitchen. Not ideal when you're a foodie! To celebrate, we bought a new Maltese cookbook, which has some interesting recipes and gives the names of fish and veg in Maltese and English, very helpful for shopping!

The cookbook has a recipe for seafood risotto, which I've always wanted to try. I make risotti often; my favourite is probably pumpkin risotto with sage.

Peter, your sauce sounds lovely. I've only ever had the Lea & Perrins bottled sauce, which is nice but yours must be gorgeous. What do you use it for, other than cheese on toast? ;)
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination circles the world." Albert Einstein
KATWAL
Posts: 129
Joined: May 17th, 2006, 2:22 pm
Location: Calhoun, Kentucky

Post by KATWAL »

Gesine, if I'm ever in the neighborhood, can I come eat at your house?

It's said the world is getting smaller!! Maybe we could meet at Peter's?

I could bring the green fried tomatoes! (for a southern cooking contribution).

Kat
Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. M. Mead
thistlechick
Posts: 6170
Joined: November 30th, 2005, 12:14 pm
Location: Michigan

Post by thistlechick »

Ah... it's the time of year when we have to lock our car doors so that we don't find extra zucchini on our front seats....

*goes to make zucchini bread*
~ Betsie
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!
Peter Why
Posts: 5834
Joined: November 24th, 2005, 3:54 am
Location: Chigwell (North-East London, U.K.)

Post by Peter Why »

Gesine,

I use the Worcestershire sauce for cheese on toast (on top of the layer of tomato ketchup!), with stuffed mushrooms, and almost anything which is served fried or oily, to cut through the oil. It can go into clear soups, too, but this needs a little experimentation, because you don't want the sauce to predominate.

Peter
"I think, therefore I am, I think." Solomon Cohen, in Terry Pratchett's Dodger
fae
Posts: 658
Joined: July 15th, 2006, 4:29 pm
Location: Sunny & Bug-ridden Florida, USA

Post by fae »

thistlechick wrote:Ah... it's the time of year when we have to lock our car doors so that we don't find extra zucchini on our front seats....
Pardon :shock:
thistlechick
Posts: 6170
Joined: November 30th, 2005, 12:14 pm
Location: Michigan

Post by thistlechick »

fae wrote:
thistlechick wrote:Ah... it's the time of year when we have to lock our car doors so that we don't find extra zucchini on our front seats....
Pardon :shock:
hehe... this is a multi-layered statement... I live in a place where we rarely bother to lock our car (or house) doors... and many people have vegetable gardens in the summer... zucchini is so prolific that we all end up with way too much of it and people are always trying to give it away... and when they get desperate, folks have been known to leave "gifts" of zucchini where ever they can (we found a pile of zucchini and other squash on our back porch last week)... :D

... and the zucchini bread turned out pretty well... we are also constantly looking for new recipes for using zucchini... i'll probably make some zucchini brownies soon too... this is how i like my vegetables... mixed with chocolate *grins*
~ Betsie
Multiple projects lead to multiple successes!
kristin
Posts: 4559
Joined: June 1st, 2006, 10:47 am
Location: Des Moines

Post by kristin »

My mom sent zucchini bars a couple weeks ago. She used a bread recipe but frosted them with a cream cheese frosting. Really good. She usually does it with pumpkin but we both ended up with huge zucchini this year so we've been trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm planning on making a lot of bread and freeze most of it. (They are over a foot long and bigger around than a softball. I've never seen zucchini this large.)
Starlite
Posts: 16548
Joined: April 30th, 2006, 2:17 pm
Location: Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada

Post by Starlite »

kristin wrote:(They are over a foot long and bigger around than a softball. I've never seen zucchini this large.)
Hee hee just for an experiment, I let one zucchini grow and grow. I think it got to over 2 feet long and probably a good 6 inches think. It wouldn't be edible but who cares when theres more zucchini around then you can eat anyways?

I also add chocolate (cocoa power) to my muffins. Just reduce the flour by 1/2 the amount of cocoa you want to put in and increase the sugar a little. SOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!! :D
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable
people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress,
therefore, depends on unreasonable people." George Bernard Shaw
fae
Posts: 658
Joined: July 15th, 2006, 4:29 pm
Location: Sunny & Bug-ridden Florida, USA

Post by fae »

Here's a recipe for all of you to help get rid of some them pesky courgettes...

It's kind of like a Welsh Rabbit with zucchini, and you can use the Peter's Worchestershire sauce in it and on it.

-- Zucchini and Cheese on Toast --

Ingredients-

2 zucchini, grated
1 1/2 cups finely grated mature Cheddar cheese
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 medium egg, beaten (use a larger egg for larger zucchini)
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce (I use more, about a tablespoon)
4 - 6 slices bread, toasted (needs to be substantional enough to hold the mixture, like homestyle loafs)
salt and pepper to taste

Method-

Put the grated zucchini in a clean, dry dishtowel and twist tightly, squeezing out all the liquid.
Mix all the ingredients (except the bread) together in a bowl. Blend them by hand till they're well mixed. It should be moist with the egg acting like the glue to hold it together when it's cook, but not an omolette.
Spread the mix on the toast and broil until they are golden brown.

If you're generous with the mixture like I am, you might want to bake them a little first to make sure the egg is well cooked, then broil them to make'um nice and golden brown.

Enjoy :)
Starlite
Posts: 16548
Joined: April 30th, 2006, 2:17 pm
Location: Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada

Post by Starlite »

Wow that sounds yummy! :D
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable
people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress,
therefore, depends on unreasonable people." George Bernard Shaw
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