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I still can't understand why some posters are so concerned that someone might make a few pounds recycling used items that they no longer need and can't be bothered with the hassle of selling them themselves. What is the problem?

I bought half a kilo of topside steak yesterday - I'm going to try your 60 C slow bake and butter saut? technique. But I plan to experiment with one piece after it comes out of the oven by searing it for a minute or so in a frying pan with a 50:50 Olive/Mustard oil mixture heated just shy of smoking. I've got a feeling that may ameliorate the blandness.

I'm not sure I understand the question - anyway, grilling or frying bacon is likely to spatter hot fat far and wide and infuse one's abode with its characteristic aroma. There's no pleasure without pain - they say. I use a frying pan with a glass lid to catch the sizzle - not much one can do about the smell, though - short of converting to Judaism or Islam or becoming a vegetarian.

I can't believe no one knows where to obtain French Andouille sausages locally.

That dream may not be completely without hope: O'Brian's stepson, Nikolai Tolstoy, apparently inherited manuscripts for at least one lost book and several unpublished short stories.

Eerie silence from Marmora Road - did those rare, butter-browned steaks fight back, I wonder?

Ladymuck Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Whilst the cooking takes > place...you can go off and do whatever you > like...even have a sleep for a couple of hours Precious advice from Lady I've-already-blown-up-three-pressure-cookers-and-now-I'm-not-allowed-to-have-one Muck!

Apologies for hijacking the thread ? does anyone know a local source for French Andouille sausages?

louisiana: I agree with you - for home cooking fresh is always preferable where practical and available. I was merely trying to explain why ingredients like citric acid powder and garlic paste are used in commercial recipes, and, therefore, how they came to be options in the recipe I posted. In the specific case of hummus,I do use tinned chickpeas for the sheer convenience and predictability. Price wise, I don't think one can beat 33 pence per 14 oz can! It must cost a lot more than that just to boil the dried peas for the requisite number of hours, but I don't have the time to do that even if I wanted to.

I had every intention of attending right up till 7PM when I was waylaid by an obsessive compulsive urge to do something far less interesting :( Oh well, c'est la vie - at least I managed to catch up on some long needed sleep.

Well, it seems that one can take the hummus out of the kitchen but one cannot take the the kitchen out of the whingers. I'm merely trying to broaden your horizons, ladies. And yes, each brand of tinned chickpeas represents a known quantity in terms of chickpea variety, size, taste, etc. Consistency is the key to professional quality cooking - whether at home, in the restaurant or the factory. ETA: I don't see anyone in the 'fresh ingredients' brigade grinding their own sesame seed paste, by the way.

katie1997 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There's no excuse for citric acid either (tsk > tsk) lemons are a necessary kitchen ingredient. There is a very practical reason for the use of citric acid powder (and garlic paste) - actually. In restaurants that serve hummus, it is usually treated as a signature dish. In order to achieve a consistent taste and texture, the chefs use standardised ingredients that can be measured in precise and repeatable quantities. Consistency is also the principal aim of commercial producers. The succulence and acidity of fresh lemons depends on variety, country of origin, season, weather patterns, storage conditions and many other factors. Fresh lemons (and garlic) introduce too much variability into a fixed recipe. Anyone who has made hummus will know that a few millilitres of liquid can make the difference between a firm paste and a loose slurry.

If hubby would like to get acclimatised to northern latitudes before the New Year, I have it on good authority that Joulupukki's toy factory in the mountains of Korvatunturi, Lapland Province, Finland, is now hiring for the busy Christmas season. HTH

I'm merely trying to bring a little depth to this discussion - on a hypothetical basis, of course. It cannot have escaped the attention of business-minded observers that media moguls have often acquired popular networking sites with a well-defined geographic and demographic profile for astronomical sums. The EDF and its sister sites could be worth millions to the right buyer - the owner(s) must surely be aware of that? Therefore, I make the point that the rigorous pursuit of 'focus' could be seen as self-interested protection and/or enhancement of potentially valuable assets rather than merely a compulsive desire to keep the place tidy?

Peeled and lightly blanched (just to sterilise) garlic cloves with a little olive oil zapped with a blender - that's all. I hope al Qaeda isn't reading this.

Talking of explosions - I gave up making my own garlic paste when a jar blew up in the fridge!

My Dearest Admin - I'm not having a go at you - just saying: since the ED and Nunhead Fora are both owned by the same party, it could be argued that the owner has a vested interest in re-directing users to the sparsely used Nunhead Forum in order to increase its advertising revenue - therefore is it not possible that a potential conflict of interests may be perceived when confronted with a case such as that of the OP?

computedshorty - if you'd like to attend the EDF drinks on Friday - I'd be happy to give you a lift from your home and back. I'm sure many forumites would love to buy you a drink and see you in person.

Organic fats and oils are biodegradable - it's the inorganic stuff like motor oil that constitutes a pollution hazard. It's fairly easy to transform used frying oil into a diesel-like bio fuel - although hardly worth the effort for three litres. Whatever you do - don't put it in to a petrol tank - it could destroy the engine.

FoodStories Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Well I DID say I was crazy to individually skin > those chickpeas! I've peeled them - it's a hell of a job (although when gently squeezed the kernels do pop out in a satisfying sort of way - the resulting hummus was slightly smoother but my test subjects were unable to taste any difference. I suspect the Israeli brand mentioned above is made from either machine peeled chickpeas OR chickpea flour, also known as gram flour (most commonly encountered in onion bhajis). I think gram-flour hummus will be the focus of my next culinary experiment - watch this space.

2001: A Space Odyssey. Robot saves Earth

We had this problem with my mother a few years ago - in the end we had to take away her car keys and cancel her insurance cover. She stills hasn't forgiven us. My brothers and I take it in turns to driver her around - it's the only reason I'm stuck in this insalubrious neighbourhood rather than lazing on a tropical beach somewhere exotic :(

I think SMG is right - it is very difficult to fry perfect chips at home - even steak is a challenge that requires a heavy-duty grill, split-second timing and a fair dollop of good luck. For what it's worth, my vote for best steak and chips is: 't Steakhouse, Amstelveenseweg 170, 1075 XP Amsterdam. And my favourite beef grill is: El Rancho Argentino, Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 101-103, 1017 PX Amsterdam. I don't know anywhere in London that can match them. I find continental beef more succulent and tender than British beef - probably because it is left to hang for up to thirty days.

Gosh - you girls don't take any prisoners, do you? I thought I might get some brownie points for including the fresh equivalents - obviously not? Of course one can use 'fresh' (i.e. dried) chickpeas - but it takes two or more hours of boiling (sometimes - depending on the variety - in a weak solution of washing soda i.e. Sodium carbonate) to soften them sufficiently to yield a smooth paste. And what's wrong with garlic paste? Lots of people make their own from fresh - commercial products are made in much the same way. I don't see the problem. Citric acid powder is a pure, completely natural ingredient - but use fresh lemons by all means. I have no commercial connection with Khan's - but it is one of my favourite stores as I tend to cook Mediterranean, Middle and Far Eastern recipes with ingredients difficult to find elsewhere around here. I really should sign up for a commission, though. Hummus made as above is superior to any of the store-bought products I've tried apart from an Israeli brand occasionally available from Sainsbury's which is the smoothest, most delicious I've ever tasted - it's expensive but well worth the extra cost.

sedgewick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > For the Sauce I use Coriander, Cumin, Nutmeg, > Basil, Green Chillis, Coconut Milk, Black Pepper > and a hint of Lemon. Ground Coriander is often used in combination with Turmeric - the two spices are said to complement each other. If you?d like to try it, add approx. one part Turmeric to every two parts Coriander (by volume).