Low-cost recipe blog

[Deeps]

This! ^^
When I compare the recipe book of my mum's with those of today, it's no surprise folk give up or don't even try cooking which is a terrible tragedy. What she would call stew is now ragout and has an additional 20 ingredients and 15 steps in the method. I'm exaggerating slightly, but if people aren't taught the basics of cooking it's a daunting and scary experience picking some recipe books these days and hardly a wonder that ready meals are so popular.

When I had to start fending for myself cooking was a scary thought but you soon learn that its not the black art that some would have you believe. I learned stuff from flatmates and girl friends and then started playing around myself. Like a lot of things, I think it comes down to confidence.

[diamond lil]

Maybe you get air into the salt if you drop it from a great height
Or maybe these chefs get together and try to see how far they can push credulous people
I do cook old fashioned British type food, but I have just got a couple of books on French cooking, which I love. I'm starting to try them and it's been working ok. At least the French books don't harp on about distressed bloody lettuce or crushed mash.

[diamond lil]

Actually, to stay on topic here - Brambles and my old fashioned way of cooking is going to be of far more use if TS does HTF. Can you just imagine all those yuppies cracking up because they can't find the 30 ingredients that you absolutely must have for a pot of rabbit stew??

[jansman]

Actually, to stay on topic here - Brambles and my old fashioned way of cooking is going to be of far more use if TS does HTF. Can you just imagine all those yuppies cracking up because they can't find the 30 ingredients that you absolutely must have for a pot of rabbit stew??

Bang on! We had sausage,mash and Spring cabbage from the garden for tea.Simple,tasty and filling.What more do you need from a meal?

[Brambles]

Actually, to stay on topic here - Brambles and my old fashioned way of cooking is going to be of far more use if TS does HTF. Can you just imagine all those yuppies cracking up because they can't find the 30 ingredients that you absolutely must have for a pot of rabbit stew??

Exactly. Having the basic skills and some common sense trumps J Oliver and his aerated salt every time

[itsybitsy]

I actually like a lot of Jamie's stuff and I'd much rather eat rosemary focacchia than offal pie *shudder* which is not only as old as the hills but dull as ditchwater (and also I hate offal anyway, but you get my drift). I also like a lot of what Nigella does, and Rick Stein as well as a good few other 'celebrity chefs'. I get a lot of inspiration from them for my own cooking.

At the other end of the scale, Mary Berry and Delia Smith are two of the most boring, unexciting cooks I've ever seen.

Not all new ideas or foods need to be derided. I like to experiment and not automatically assume it's shit or poncy, just because it has more than six ingredients or doesn't come from a third-generation hand-me-down recipe book in which the most complex recipe is a jam tart.

I'm not saying that good, basic grub isn't great, of course it is and I do keep things simple a lot of the time too, particularly during the week when I'm at work, but I don't automatically knock a recipe or an idea just because it involves fennel and some pink Himalayan salt, as opposed a tablespoon of self-raising flour and an Oxo cube.

I'm not a yuppie, and I certainly don't throw salt around the kitchen with gay abandon, Himalayan or otherwise, I'm just an enthusiastic cook with an open mind.

[Brambles]

Wow itsy. In a single post you've managed to deride some folks cooking skills, a much beloved piece of family history and take the mickey out of a way of life and cooking you obviously think deserves your contempt.
Being a MOD doesn't exclude you from the play nice rule.

[diamond lil]

What's foccacia? serious question lol I do like Delia Smith though.

[itsybitsy]

Wow itsy. In a single post you've managed to deride some folks cooking skills, a much beloved piece of family history and take the mickey out of a way of life and cooking you obviously think deserves your contempt.
Being a MOD doesn't exclude you from the play nice rule.

Not at all. I'm also allowed a point of view, just because it doesn't adhere to the party line doesn't make it wrong. The derision and piss taking began *much* further up this thread and was not initiated by me.

[jansman]

Its bread lil.http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/2784/focaccia.aspx its rather nice.