To the forumites that make them, what is your favorite recipe for cucumber sandwiches?
Paper thin slices (with seeds) with lemon, mayo, paprika and salt, left in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, white bread with no edge, cut into 2 rectangles.
Made a bacon and chicken liver pate for Christmas. It was seasoned with juniper berries, cinnamon, and salt, with garlic and onions sauteed in walnut oil. The livers cooked in a mix of walnut oil and rendered bacon fat.
This shit was magical. I used half a cup of port to deglaze the skillet before I finished cooking the livers.
So, so very agreed, To Peter, Wonderful work, it looked really tasty. Ramsay would be proud.
And I apologize earlier for saying my dish above is a "soup." It's more of a yakiudon which is absolutely amazing. I may brine and roast more turkeys/chickens just so I can have meat for it.
Cooked an untraditional Bœuf Bourguignon. Instead of cooking potatoes within the stew, I served the stew on top of fried potato cakes. It was excellent. New Knife New Dutchoven New Spatula
I'm thinking about trying something crazy, since I'm really in a creative mood. I want to make a Barbeque Sauce that's thick and has many levels of flavor, however I don't want to use ketchup as a base. Me and my brother hate ketchup. I saw a great recipe for making pork ribs in the oven, and I can make a great dry-rub for it, but you need a wet-sauce for it too. And I want to make a tomato-based sauce, but I just don't want to use ketchup.
I'm going to make fresh raviolis too. Will post that.
I'm thinking about trying something crazy, since I'm really in a creative mood. I want to make a Barbeque Sauce that's thick and has many levels of flavor, however I don't want to use ketchup as a base. Me and my brother hate ketchup. I saw a great recipe for making pork ribs in the oven, and I can make a great dry-rub for it, but you need a wet-sauce for it too. And I want to make a tomato-based sauce, but I just don't want to use ketchup.
I'm going to make fresh raviolis too. Will post that.
Well, ketchup is basically tomato paste and sugar, so it shouldn't be too hard to get a similar tomato base. ^_^
And vinegar. At any rate, I would suggest taking the best quality canned tomatoes you can find and mixing them with a dry red sherry and sugar. Puree that business, and then reduce it to a paste. Once it's at it's desired thickness, add spices and use it.
Need help: I'm planning a dinner party and I need suggestions for side dishes. For the main course I'm making a pistachio crusted rack of lamb. I'm already planning to make some pop overs for rolls but I'm drawing a blank for anything else. I only have one oven so that's a no go due to it's use for the lamb.
LMake roasted greek potoatoes in the same pan as the lamb. Salt, pepper, lots of lemon juice, lots of olive oil, lots of oregano and some garlic. Peel and quarter the potatoes.
So, I just want to take a second to sing the praises of sardines. They're one of my ultimate comfort foods; my mom used to make toast squares and sardines with a teaspoon of mayo for an before-dinner snack pretty regularly when I was little. People hate on them a lot, and I don't think there's any reason to. Why? Easy:
1) Insanely low-cal. 50% of the calories are from protein. 20% are saturated fat, and the other 30% is monounsaturated fat; an entire tin is only 150 calories of fish. 2) They're loaded with omega-3s, vitamin D, calcium, B12, and protein. It's pretty insane how good they are for you. 3) They're not overfished like tuna (they got protection after the stocks were almost fished out in the 50s) and, being very low on the food chain, they have very low levels of toxins, levels too low to bear mention. 4) They're cheap as hell and they keep. A $1.25 tin will provide you with a sandwich or two and, if sealed, will keep for 2 years minimum. 5) They're absolutely delicious.
Most people have issues with sardines because of the fishiness and texture. Here's a good way to get around that, based on the recipe that helped Alton Brown lose over 50 pounds.
1) Get a really good peasant bread, a tin of high-quality sardines (Brunswick or King Oscar, I recommend) in either spring water or olive oil, some balsamic vinegar and Hellman's (Best's) mayo.
2) Throw two slices of the whole grain bread in your toaster. The coarseness of the bread will offset the texture of the fish and give you plenty of complex carbs, which also adding body to the sandwich.
3) While it's toasting, open your 'dines, drain off the water or oil, and dump them in a bowl. Add one heaped teaspoon of mayo. The creaminess and fat of the mayo will help change the texture of the fish, lighten the body of the mixture, and add some extra calories (about 25) and richness to the mix.
4) Add two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Any tinned fish can be salty, especially sardines; the sweetness of balsamic will blunt that a bit. Balsamic is also a flavor modifier. Here, it modifies the flavor of the fish from a very characteristically "canned fish" one to that of a fresh fish, while adding a noticeable but very faint taste of balsamic vinegar. From what I can tell, this happens because the vinegar flavor mutes the less desireable "canned fish" flavors and lets you taste what the fish flesh and fat really taste like.
5) Now that your ingredients are together, take a fork and mash it up until more or less uniform. Ignore the bones; they are edible and have a lot of calcium in them.
6) By the time you finish, your bread should be nice and toasted, and your sardine mix ready to go. Evenly distribute the entire mixture over a slice of bread with a fork, close the sandwich, and enjoy!
That mixture is about 175 calories total, plus about 300 from bread, making a 475 calorie sandwich that is incredibly filling and tastes great. I recommend having a couple of clementines and a cup of tea with it; I had just that for a late dinner tonight and it was delicious and perfectly filling.
Because they're so filling, tasty, cheap, and healthy, sardines are a good basis for any number of sandwiches. Need less saturated fat? Trade avocado for mayo? Want different flavors? Use different spices or different sauces (my other choices: stone ground mustard, sriracha, ginger-scallion sauce) after adding your fat source, or add in chopped herbs or veggies (scallions, chives, pimientos). Add sardines to pasta after frying them in olive oil for a really fast protein option. Get some nori and rice and fix up a couple of sardine handrolls for your lunch. Keep a tin on you if you're like Alton or myself and eat them on a fresh bagel or baguette for lunch. Serve them on toast under piping-hot fried eggs over easy for an awesome breakfast.
Sardines kick ass. Try em out, you won't be sorry.
Sardines kick ass. Try em out, you won't be sorry.
Are they similar to herring? I love herring. I also love anchovies. How do they compare to those?
Sardines are much more mild than anchovies. They are a different flavor altogether, though. I think the biggest problem people have with 'em is the texture. They tend to be kind of mushy. I distinctly remember liking them as a child, but haven't eaten them recently.
I dunno, I'm just not big on fish. Now, baby squid, with their little heads crammed full of herb and spice stuffing, and slow-cooked over an open flame, now THAT is fucking excellent.
I had Glühwein in Germany and it's an awesome cold weather drink. I recommend trying it.
Oh man, I had some of that at the Leeds German Markets last christmas, it's fucking excellent. PROTIP - don't chase it down with eight litres of beer. NOTHING GOOD WILL COME OF IT.
Not for sardines! Sodium DV for a tin of anchovies? 37%. Sodium DV for a tin of sardines in spring water? 8%. They're hypertension-friendly, and Omega-3s are all kinds of good for your heart.
And Pete, to answer your question, they're way milder than anchovies and similar to herring while being a bit less salty and smoky than most kippers.
Comments
Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
EDIT: Also, make more videos.
This shit was magical. I used half a cup of port to deglaze the skillet before I finished cooking the livers.
And I apologize earlier for saying my dish above is a "soup." It's more of a yakiudon which is absolutely amazing. I may brine and roast more turkeys/chickens just so I can have meat for it.
New Knife
New Dutchoven
New Spatula
I'm going to make fresh raviolis too. Will post that.
1) Insanely low-cal. 50% of the calories are from protein. 20% are saturated fat, and the other 30% is monounsaturated fat; an entire tin is only 150 calories of fish.
2) They're loaded with omega-3s, vitamin D, calcium, B12, and protein. It's pretty insane how good they are for you.
3) They're not overfished like tuna (they got protection after the stocks were almost fished out in the 50s) and, being very low on the food chain, they have very low levels of toxins, levels too low to bear mention.
4) They're cheap as hell and they keep. A $1.25 tin will provide you with a sandwich or two and, if sealed, will keep for 2 years minimum.
5) They're absolutely delicious.
Most people have issues with sardines because of the fishiness and texture. Here's a good way to get around that, based on the recipe that helped Alton Brown lose over 50 pounds.
1) Get a really good peasant bread, a tin of high-quality sardines (Brunswick or King Oscar, I recommend) in either spring water or olive oil, some balsamic vinegar and Hellman's (Best's) mayo.
2) Throw two slices of the whole grain bread in your toaster. The coarseness of the bread will offset the texture of the fish and give you plenty of complex carbs, which also adding body to the sandwich.
3) While it's toasting, open your 'dines, drain off the water or oil, and dump them in a bowl. Add one heaped teaspoon of mayo. The creaminess and fat of the mayo will help change the texture of the fish, lighten the body of the mixture, and add some extra calories (about 25) and richness to the mix.
4) Add two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Any tinned fish can be salty, especially sardines; the sweetness of balsamic will blunt that a bit. Balsamic is also a flavor modifier. Here, it modifies the flavor of the fish from a very characteristically "canned fish" one to that of a fresh fish, while adding a noticeable but very faint taste of balsamic vinegar. From what I can tell, this happens because the vinegar flavor mutes the less desireable "canned fish" flavors and lets you taste what the fish flesh and fat really taste like.
5) Now that your ingredients are together, take a fork and mash it up until more or less uniform. Ignore the bones; they are edible and have a lot of calcium in them.
6) By the time you finish, your bread should be nice and toasted, and your sardine mix ready to go. Evenly distribute the entire mixture over a slice of bread with a fork, close the sandwich, and enjoy!
That mixture is about 175 calories total, plus about 300 from bread, making a 475 calorie sandwich that is incredibly filling and tastes great. I recommend having a couple of clementines and a cup of tea with it; I had just that for a late dinner tonight and it was delicious and perfectly filling.
Because they're so filling, tasty, cheap, and healthy, sardines are a good basis for any number of sandwiches. Need less saturated fat? Trade avocado for mayo? Want different flavors? Use different spices or different sauces (my other choices: stone ground mustard, sriracha, ginger-scallion sauce) after adding your fat source, or add in chopped herbs or veggies (scallions, chives, pimientos). Add sardines to pasta after frying them in olive oil for a really fast protein option. Get some nori and rice and fix up a couple of sardine handrolls for your lunch. Keep a tin on you if you're like Alton or myself and eat them on a fresh bagel or baguette for lunch. Serve them on toast under piping-hot fried eggs over easy for an awesome breakfast.
Sardines kick ass. Try em out, you won't be sorry.
EDIT: Anyone tried mulled wine? I only heard about it recently, but it sounds quite interesting.
And Pete, to answer your question, they're way milder than anchovies and similar to herring while being a bit less salty and smoky than most kippers.