Morning AB'ers Full cooked English Breakfast this morning if you like

[merciasounds]

Or variations/sandwiches there of: Olde English Recipe Gloucester Old Spot Pork sausages, grilled back bacon, baked beans, grilled tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, eggs either fried, poached or scrambled, toast, potato cakes, white pudding black pudding and some lambs kidney's.

I've cooked a ham and glazed it with grainy mustard and heather honey, so there are sandwiches for lunch for those who want them, I've got a lovely real Devon farmhouse cheddar too, medium mature. Bread is fresh straight out of the oven - white, granary and wholemeal, also a spelt/rye flour one (that one is particularly nice with the cheese) Vine toms/my own caramelised onion chutney to go with.
there's a pot of homemade vegetable soup too

fillet steaks tonight, with homemade beer-battered onion rings, hand cut chips, garden salad, sautee mushrooms, garden peas - red wine sauce if required

OR Thai green chicken and prawn curry with rice

pear's poached in red wine,
banana splits with homemade ice cream, whipped cream toffee sauce
fresh fruit kebabs with chocolate dip with raspberry liqueur
coffee, petit fours, port and cognac

[pericat]

The funny thing is though that you're expending more energy than me here - I pop in and out - I like food - I like hearing about food - if it's doing anything negative to anyone - it's you. Just saying - not in any way fighting with you btw :-)

[merciasounds]

Miss who? Culinary miss understandings? What's THAT supposed to mean? It's basic stuff here on the menu's i've posted, pies, lasagne, curry, not bl**dy quails in aspic and larks tongues on a whisper of caviar for goodness sake!

[Henkle2]

That's not a clever answer is it?

Prove who you are.

I'm certain there was a TV program about catering for rugby players digging up a tree stump.

[pericat]

You're right there Mercia - there is nothing airy fairy here just good food - god I'm hungry now !

[Connemmara]

merciasounds - dont heed anybody who is rude. What I would love is some of your recipes ie how do you make successful beer batter - or do you know how to do that light tempura batter.

[merciasounds]

Well you've got me there, I very rarely watch TV - I don't have the time, I'm too busy cooking....

[joggerjayne]

On a day like this, it is a delight to sit outside a cafe or a pub, on the pavement, with a cooked brekkie ... and a bloody mary. Or, at this time of day, sharing a bottle of wine.

So I'll go with the full English, Mercia ... and a bottle of Sauv Blanc.

[zzxxee]

thai curry
with fruit kebabs to follow yum yum

[joggerjayne]

ps. I don't want the recipes.

Recipes never seem to work for me. I have the cooking talent of Bridgette Jones.

I'm happy to be fed.

[merciasounds]

Sure connemmara Batters are a cinch!! For beer batter I simply mix flour (plain with a pinch of salt and I use either bitter or lager - depending on what's in the fridge at the time, mix till it's the consistance of double cream (it should leave a trail in the batter that you can see when allowed to run off the whisk) You can also add an egg if you wish. For tempura batter the secret is to use half ordinary plain flour to half cornflour, again using the liquid of your choice Beer or water - not egg for tempura though, well not the yolk, you could at a push use the white) - another tip is to not mix the flour all in, it doesn't matter if there are a few powder lumps to it and don't fry at such a high temp that it browns straight away, start heating the oil, and drip the batter in to test, it should sizzle and float but not go brown for a minute or so, that way it gives the veg time to cook through - good luck!!

[Androcles]

Here at the Lions Den, we had a breakfast of the ovae of Gallus gallus domesticus, with a choice of green, blue, white, cream or brown, collected first thing this morning. Having weighed them individually, we were able to mark each with precise cooking time between 3 minutes 15 seconds and 4 minutes 3 seconds.

Collected the water from our fresh stream, and added a 50.00g of seasalt, specially brought up from Cornwall, hand-harvested just eight metres from the clearest Grade A classified waters - the highest to denote water purity, and pounded to a powder by hand in a stone pestle. After bringing the water to the boil, the ovae were then gently lowered in and cooked for their appropriate time, and then removed and placed in their container for eating.

To go with it, slices of home-made multigrain bread to our own recipe, carefully toasted on a fork over a wood fire, cut into fingers and accompanied by butter, hand churned yesterday afternoon.

A sprinkle of sea-salt and finest hand ground Malabar peppercorns, complete the banquet.

To drink, a choice of finest chinese white tea, Darjeeling or for the purist, Tregothnan grown Cornish tea, or Monsoon Malabar Coffee. Milk from our herd of jersey cows complements the drink.

For afters, a choice of finest home made marmalades, seville, four fruit or lime.

Then on to shopping and lunch - a house-husbands work is never done......

[merciasounds]

I forgot to say, dip the food into flour first, then the batter - if making onion rings, dip the rings into milk, then cornflour, then the batter, makes yummy rings!

[joggerjayne]

Cripes, Androcles ... you're a stickler for detail !

[boxtops]

Androcles - can I come to yours...?

[Connemmara]

thanks merciasounds for all your wee answers - can I ask though what quantities of plain flour, cornflour etc as I dont have a notion even.

[merciasounds]

This is where you've got me!! I dislike giving recipes out for the simple reason is, I've been cooking for over thirty years now, and don't measure things out except for baking where i use a measure - but i will try and help - I invariably make too much batter but then I think, well, it's only a little flour so I don' t mind throwing it away, but then I hate waste - but such is life - here goes

depending on how much food you've got to cover, this should cover a couple of nice pieces of fish

I cup of plain flour, half teas salt, 1 and a half cups of beer of choice, 1 egg.
cook at about 360-375 degrees for 7-10 mins depending on how thick the food is
Dip what ever you're going to cook i flour first, then into the batter - you can more or less beer - it's just a matter of trial and error really, sometimes there is more gluten in the flour, and it'll take more liquid, or sometimes less if the flour is older.

[mccfluff]

awww MS don;t give up, i love these threads!

[askyourgran]

Merciasounds please ignore Henkle2 I am absolutely drooling, you have included blackpudding and kidneys for breakfast with fresh bread, I would be your slave for life if you lived near me. (and probably two stones heavier).