Is there anything we can't cook or bake?

[Freeranger]

OH has a filthy little secret - the instant noodly snack. Try as I might, I just can't get the fresh ingredients to taste of that dried savoury powder they use! He's a bit disappointed if I offer to make it, and I always buy a hideous packet as a treat if I go away. I even bought us one each as a valentine's present one year, as he must know I love him if I'm prepared to share that!

[Homemade]

Sara - suet- we used to "make" our own, it is just beef fat , needs to be a good bit of crumbly white fat from the butcher and chop it fine!


We have been moving away from processed foods for a while now and to be honest I don't really miss any of it. We don't tend to try and make replicas of brought products cos there are so many new and exciting foods to try.
When you do go back and taste processed food it is all too sweet or salty or monosodiumy so it is a bit dissapointing really.

Hubby brought a kilo bag of reduced tomatoes today for 60p and has made 7 portions of lovely soup with it.

I guess I couldn't make marmite. And I couldn't grow tea or coffee (but if I could I would definitely have a go at roasting it)

[manda]

............Would be interesting to know what you really can't make yourself.

I wonder about suet?

You can make your own...we do
HOME MADE SUET
You need to speak to your local butcher and ask him if he has any suet (it will need to be someone who deals with the whole cow as the suet is the fat from round the kidneys). Our butcher just gave me a bag full.

1) Put the whole lump of suet in the microwave on medium heat until the fat melted - I don't know how long....around 20 minutes but it dould depend on what the wattage of the microwave was. I did try melting it on the ceramic hob (I have a gas one waiting to be fitted) and I don't think you can get the temp low enough not to have fat spitting everywhere

2) Once it was melted I put it through a seive into a clean bowl and got all the fat out the membrane.

3) Let it cool in the fridge - now you are meant to strain it through Muslin but I didn't have any so once it was cooled I turned the bowl upside down onto a plate and sliced the very top off so all the sediment that had dropped to the bottom was removed.

4) Back in the microwave and melted it down again (apparently this gives you the harder suet) and then back into the fridge and cooled (did the same thing again chopping the very edge off to make sure any sediment had gone).

After this chopped some off the suet and put it onto a tray with some flour (I used normal flour - it says rice flour on the side of the tub I had but it worked ok with the normal flour so will probably stick with this so no extra costs) and then chopped it so it was fine. I did try grating it but started to stick together so stuck with chopping instead.

I think suet's expensive ....paid nearly $5 for a 275g tub -I think will have produced at least 5x+ that for, like I said , a bit of flour 20 minutes or so microwave time and some patience.

(I copied and pasted this from another thread about pies)

[Mrs B]

I guess I couldn't make marmite.

Why would you want to make that primeval pond slime? Evil evil evil stuff

[manda]

I guess I couldn't make marmite.

Oh yes you could

Recipe for Marmite:
A litre of Brewer's yeast (top fermentation from a brewery)
A little sea salt
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 turnip, diced
1/2 celery stick, diced


1) Put a litre of brewer's yeast with a little salt, in a bain-marie. Simmer at blood heat, 30 to 40 ºc for ten hours or overnight.
2) Then simmer this mixture at 50 to 60 º c for 2 to 3 hours.
3) Boil at low temperature 90ºc for half an hour. (In the factory they have a special machine for this, or you could ascend a mountain of 10,000ft, to achieve low altitude boiling)
4)Filter though coffee papers or a sieve and cheesecloth
5) Let it cool for a day or so. It separates further.
6) Filter again.
7) You then want to convert it to a paste. This is best achieved by putting it in a large flat pan and simmering. On an Aga, you can simply leave the pan on the lid for a few hours. Keep an eye on the mixture. "We have a man in the Marmite factory whose job it is to watch Marmite evaporate. Literally like watching paint dry" explained St.John cheerfully.
8) Meanwhile boil up all the vegetables until they are cooked. Strain off the liquid and incorporate into the Marmite paste.
9) Let the mixture reduce into a Marmite like texture. Do not allow it to burn: "We do not want to develop caramel notes" warned St.John.
The entire process takes about ten days.

The main problem was the bitterness of the brewing yeast. The solution is to wash the yeast. You achieve this by putting the top fermentation in a jar full of water. Eventually the yeast will settle on the bottom of the jar. Pour off the water and fill the jar again with fresh water. Do this several times to wash the yeast. Then follow the recipe above.

Taken from: http://marmitelover.blogspot.co.nz/2011 ... rmite.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I guess I couldn't make marmite.

Why would you want to make that primeval pond slime? Evil evil evil stuff

Now funnily enough I would have said the same 10 years ago...then we moved to NZ and I'm sure it changed my taste buds ..I hated the stuff before..now it costs a fortune for the genuine Marmite (called Our Mate out here) I love it

[Mrs B]

Just buy my house Manda and you will be a 15 minute walk from the evilmite factory so you can inhale its toxic scent every day if you wish.

I can't stand the smell of beer when I walk past the breweries either, marmite was originally invented to use up the waste from the breweries.

[manda]

I like it but not enough to live near it!!!

[lancashire lass]

marmite was originally invented to use up the waste from the breweries.

that's true - a few years ago my colleagues organised a night out to one of the breweries in Burton on Trent which included a tour of the brewery (the trip out was meant to be a sarcastic slur on "oh but yes, we CAN organise a p*** up in a brewery" LOL). In the back were huge carts of evil looking yeast (standing in the open so some of it looked a little infested ) and we were told that it was to go to make marmite.

With regards to making a product that tastes like the commercial stuff, I am nearly always disappointed with the results so just make something that I like the taste of.

PS is there a recipe that tastes like KFC? The southern fried flavourings never seem to taste right

[Mrs B]

That would be the Marstons tour LL the best pint of Pedigree you ever get is served there, I live in Burton but t'other side of the river.

Beerless and I held our wedding at the Bass Museum, now called the National Brewery Centre.

[Homemade]

Manda -

Lifes too short to make marmite I think, And I get vertigo, so treking up a mountain to do it is not on!

Mrs B, -I used to quite enjoy the smell of the hops from the brewery when I lived in Reading, Very few breweries left in towns now sadly. Mind you I can imagine the Marmite factory is overpowering my hubby went to school near the HP sauce factory and that was eyewatering.

[Knikitta]

We have 'Fake-away' nights on a Friday or Saturday evening where everyone can choose whatever they want and I make it to the best of my ability, be it Chinese, Pizza or KFC.

I find that the American's have recipes for almost anything as well... including well known confectionary bars like the one we used to call Marathon.

[manda]

.....PS is there a recipe that tastes like KFC? The southern fried flavourings never seem to taste right

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/KFC-Ori ... ecipe.html
He has other recipes there as well but I wouldn't know if it tastes any good because I don't eat KFC.

[Homemade]

Just sat down to breakfast and thought -well I dont know how to make wheatabix or shreddies(store brand) but I expect Helen could knit me some!

(I do know how to make granola and muesli)

[lancashire lass]

.....PS is there a recipe that tastes like KFC? The southern fried flavourings never seem to taste right

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/KFC-Ori ... ecipe.html
He has other recipes there as well but I wouldn't know if it tastes any good because I don't eat KFC.

thanks for that Manda - one day I'll give it a go (I might forego the fish sauce though, and not sure what tellicherry pepper is)

[manda]

...........I might forego the fish sauce though, and not sure what tellicherry pepper is)

Well every day is a learning day and I've learnt something new today already and it's only 10am !!!! ....Tellicherry is a pepper made from fruits from the grafted Malabar plants in India I think it said.....they are left on the plant for longer but basically they are black peppercorns.