The Cooking Thread..

[Necrosis]

Garlic is not an onion. Second, scallions are spring onions, noone calls them green onions (although its still a valid name. Its just noone uses it).

Whenever I make champ, I have unaccompanied. Maybe a little bit of butter if you're feeling extravagant.


Garlic, urg, such heresy. Only restaurants do that sort of silliness. Step away from the garlic man, people who LIVE in Eire and Northern Ireland don't use garlic.

[Guenhwyvar]

At the risk of restarting the Garlic Wars I was just wondering in CFM's version would the garlic be baked or raw?

[Necrosis]

Well, from the usual Garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe, I would image your garlic is finely chopped/minced and you would cook it in with the scallions and milk.

Don't get me wrong, garlic mashed potatoes are nice... BUT ITS JUST NOT GOOD PROPER CHAMP!! ARRRRG!!! DEATH DEATH DEATH!!!

 XD

[lolfighter]

mmm, garlic bread...

[Niteowl]

Take it from someone who spent a tiny amount of time as a line cook:

-scallions refers to, IIRC, the method that the green onions are cut to give it the best appearance.
-over easy is made by COVERING the egg with a lid, not necessarily turning it over.
for real egg fanatics there is
over easy
over medium
over hard

Over easy is just the tiniest layer on the top is cooked through.

Niteowls Improvised Dessert of DOOOM!
-crepes (gah, look up a recipe, they are easy as heck to make)
-frozen berries with the over sugared sauce!
-whipped cream
-solid milk chocolate, melted with a double boiler (easy double boiler, boil water in a small pot, but a large bowl (so the bottom is in the boiling water), put the chocolate in the dry large bowl)
-and for the SEKRAT INGREDIENT!!............





















-ricotta cheese!

I'm not that good at desserts, actually, I'm not very good at cooking, period, but desserts is my particular weakness, so make at your own risk. When I made it for a very small dinner party, it went off swimmingly.

Make crepe
Combine about 1 part melted chocolate with 2 parts ricotta (or more choco if you like)
Put choco/ricotta goodness in crepe
Fold over
Garnish with berries and sauce, and whip cream

Hoot with MAADNESS!! muahHAHAHAHHAAHHAHHhhahH.. ahem.

[CryForMe]

if you think the recipe is flawed, you can take it up with my grandmother who, i repeat, lives in Ballincollig, County Cork, Ireland. Also, Niteowl is correct, from someone who spent 5 years working in restaurants and had a minor in culinary studies, and is looking at an old textbook: "scallions are used as garnish and generally chopped or minced from the upper stalk of green (vertical) onions. If being used in preparation, scallions are best blanched or flash sauteed to keep color. for more full flavor, use the bulb (lower portion) of the green onion, as it is more potent than the stalk."

so heresy, it is not. authentic, it is.

[Necrosis]

Well I live here too, and I've not seen a home made champ yet that involves garlic. Only in restaurants. As I previously stated.

Now, I've got my home family recipe, I have the recipe I was taught in school, I have various other friends/relatives recipes, I've eaten it in a few restaurants (both here and in Scotland), and I've purchased it ready made from several supermarket establishments. The only places that add garlic have been restaurants - and even then not enough to be numerous.

In the local lingo, scallions are the stalky bits of your onion. You don't use the bulb, and truth be told I usually take the top of the stalk off too. That leaves you a nice, fairly uniform length to work with. I am not concerned with the "true" use of the word, but certainly over here everyone refers to the stalk as the scallion.

I don't believe its added for flavour (otherwise you'd be using the bulb), but its likely more for colour and texture. Knowing irish cooking, I imagine the bulb is used for something else. Likely a form of onion sauce for any beef dish (works well with Guinness too, oddly) or a more basic alternative is to use it in potato and onion soup.


So, from all the celtic peoples, it's HERESY MAN!! WRONG WRONG WRONG!! HEREEESSSYYYYY!!!!! BURN HIM BURN HIM BURN HIM!!!

   :lol:


Seriously tho, if you want to eat it with garlic, like those Sassenachs do, then go right ahead. I really think thought that such a recipe really misses out on the point of simple Irish food. Bear in mind that adding cabbage effectively turns champ into colcannon, so adding garlic would almost certainly mean a name change from champ to something....... else.

Anyhow, lets not argue the logistics of champ any further in public, PM me if you wish to elucidate further, right now lets keep the thread on track and agree to disagree. Even if you are a heretic.  XD

[Niteowl]

Sorry for confusing this issue, but what, in laymans term, is champ?

[Necrosis]

Champ is a very, VERY basic country dish from Ireland. Largely favoured by the settlers and farmers, it consists of mashed potato with milk and scallions. You usually eat it hot with some butter to taste.

Champ was generally made AS a main meal - you would have it for breakfast and it would keep you ticking through to dinnertime when you came back from the field.

Interestingly both the spring onion and the HERETIC GARLIC are believed to be imported species from Spain, much like the potato is a foreigner to the shores!

A well made champ will fill you up like no other meal, and literally sit in the stomach for quite some time.


Potatoes and simple vegetables are easily grown here and form the basis for many simply dishes, such as potato and leek soup (very thick soup, tastes godlike), irish stew, and a variety of shepherds pie, cottage pie, etc.

The humble potato forms the basis for:

champ
colcannon (champ with kale, or cabbage, effectively)
boxty (which is a mix of grated and mashed potato boiled in water before being lightly fried)
a boxty varient that has some apple added for flavour
potato bread, aka potato farls or tatey farls (very flat mashed potato, butter, and flour cooked on a skillet with oil)
potato and leek soup (verrry thick and satisfying)
potato and onion soup (uses the spring onion bulb)

Not to mention the bog standard method of just boiling the little darlings. Mm, I love my spuds.

[Zero7]

Well, it's been a while since anyone has shared any recipes. So I'll share a new one of mine. Be warned people MAY fall in love with this food, so use it sparingly, or as much as you want, whatever.

Fall Off The Bone Ribs.

Synopsis: Ribs. Baby back ribs. Damn good ones too. You know how when people eat most ribs, you have to use your hands? These ribs have no such requirement. How does this work you ask? Simply. You use a fork to pick up the meat, and the bone doesn't come with it. Seriously.

Note: I don't include how much of each ingredient because it's up to the individual in this case, and depends on the size of your rack of ribs. And stuff.

Ingredients & Materials:
X# of Baby Back Rib Racks
Salt
Sugar
Oregano
Basil
Garlic Powder
BBQ Sauce
Apple Juice*
Orange Juice*
Tin Foil
Oven

* = These will be explained later.

Recipe:
The most important part in preparing baby back ribs is, of course, the rub. A good rub makes good ribs. Everything past the rub is just gravy.

A good rub can consist of something simple, just sugar and salt will work. Personally, I use a rub of salt, sugar, oregano, basil, and garlic powder. You can use whatever you prefer, though.

Rub your rub (keekles) generously over both sides of the racks of ribs.

Put 'em in the oven meat side up (this is very important) for 2 hours at 300F.
Note: It does not matter if the oven is preheated or not.

After 2 hours has elapsed, take the ribs out and put them meat side down on a sheet of tin foil. Pour appox 1/4 cup of BBQ Sauce in, along with 1/4 cup Apple Juice, and 1/4 cup Orange Juice (3/4 cup total). Wrap each rack shut individually with the tin foil (no rack should share a tin foil bagging with another rack, these fella's like to be alone).

Note: The above is the most crucial part in cooking these ribs, as this is where the meat gets tenderized enough to fall off the bones. Apple Juice and Orange Juice are not required, but are preferrable. IF you have no Apple Juice/Orange Juice, use some more BBQ Sauce and a bit of water.

Back in the oven for another 2 hours at 300F.

After the two hours have elapsed, take them back out, uncover them and place them back in meat side up. Cover generously with more bbq sauce.

They'll go back in the oven for 15 minutes at 350F.

After 15 minutes have elapsed, take them out, cut the rack up into serving size (2-4 ribs per piece) and serve.

Enjoy!

[LowCrawler]

Happiness

this here is a beverage by lowcrawler


you need:

Limes
Water
Sugar
Carbonated Water
Fresh Mint Herbs
Mint Syrup (if you dont have the herbs or you just need more mint)



Simple... mix the limes water and sugar and such to make limeade however you like it the best, then add the other stuff and serve it chilled in a glass. Goes well with my extragood Lucky Mint Cheesecake.

[GoobTheNoob]

Shrimp & Scallop Etouffee

A spicy Cajun sauce "smothering" shrimp and scallops on a bed of white rice.  /me drools

Ingredients

1/3 cup oil (extra virgin olive oil for my healthier version)
1/3 all purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock (shrimp stock would be ideal but takes too much work imo)
1 to 2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne - add more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
1 bay leaf
1/2 green pepper
1 or 2 stalks of celery
1/2 onion

12 medium to large shrimp
4 medium to large scallops
white rice... mmm mmm

To make the roux, heat the oil over medium heat then add flour.  Stir constantly until your roux reaches a milk chocolate color.  (be careful not to burn the roux or yourself!)  Remove from heat and keep stirring for a few minutes as it is still very hot and could burn.   Set roux aside and start the rice.  Stir the roux periodically as you continue preparations.  Dice the green pepper, celery and onion - you want about equal portions of each, a little excess onion doesn't suck.  Bring chicken stock to a boil then add roux (which will now be dark chocolate in appearance).  Return to a boil while stirring, this will thicken quite a bit - don't panic, the veggies bring a lot of water with them.  Add diced veggies and spices, reduce heat and cover.   Simmer and stir until onions are clear.  I like to pan fry the scallops in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes then set aside as this removes a lot of liquid from them.   Add shrimp to sauce, stir/cover/simmer a few minutes.   Add scallops, stir/cover/simmer a few more minutes until shrimp and scallops are cooked.  Serve over a bed white rice.