Geez, Ferret. That all looks so incredible. Hungry all over again :cool:

Making some beef jerky today.
Actually the first time since I've got my newer, larger dehydrator that I'll be using it for meat at all...been since January, you'd think I'd have tried it by now...but it's been all about the fruit.

Anyways, bought a pretty large rump, had it pre-sliced into steaks, with most of the fat removed - in hindsight I could have kept that for rendering..ah well..

Of course, I sliced it into smaller pieces myself, more like strips.
Fastidiously removed even the tiniest bits of fat and got rid of some sinew...ended up with some animal food and some stewing/curry meat leaft over for later use.

So I'm doing a few different types.

My "original" which is just worcestershire, some salt, cracked black pepper and a little corriander powder mixed through.

My "other" one I make is also a touch of worcestershire, some bbq sauce, minced pineapple, chilli flakes, salt, pepper, tiny bit of sugar and some habanero paste. Quite hot. Sweet.

I'm trying out...

Honey and black pepper.
Kaffir lime leaf and red chilli
Chili/ginger "jam".
Some ginger/coconut curry
and some simple 5-spice.

So yeah, that's me for today.

Well...aint this some shit...

I put my nice shiny clean trays back in my dehydrator, turned it on to dry them off a little more, and the fucking thing has stopped working again.
I really need a better one.

I was like...

What exactly IS a dehydrator? I've heard some people use it for vegetables, I assume to drain them? I've never really understood what exactly it's used for or why :)

It's basically a "dryer".
You can dehydrate in an oven on very low temps, though I have not tried myself.

Mine is a machine that's made solely for this purpose.
You can put sliced fruit, meat, vegetables in there - and through using a low but steady heats in combination with air circulation, the moisture/water content is gradually drawn out of the food, rather than say "cooking" it.

So I can put apple slices in, and end up with crunchy apple chips. Pineapple is great too.
You can also make the aforementioned jerky which is more or less a preserved/seasoned meat. Very high in protein, low in fat.

Without the water content, the rest of the flavours concentrate so you get really nice, pure and intense flavours.

I've never used a "real" dehydrator but I have had some delicious jerky from a home made one. You're in for a treat once you get a working model!

Ah, thanks for explaining, it makes more sense now :)

HERBY BUNS

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s271/...mall&width=638

No picture

I made some hoummos (...God, so many spellings...) from scratch with dried/soaked chickpeas.
Very simple recipe, and when you make it at home well, it shits on the great majority of the watered down garbage version they serve at all but the best of the eateries.
Not to mention, the amount you make, vs the amount of the cost of the chickpeas is incredible.

Also made tabbouleh to accompany, replacing bergal with some large couscous.
Tasty.

Christmas Dinner
 

My sister and I were in charge of Christmas dinner this year so we really had to make it impress. 5 Courses.

Wow, impressive! I'm coming to your house next year!

Nice presentation and glaze on the ham there.
Risotto looks good. Butternut hm...might throw one of those together at some point myself.


I may take some pictures of this later on.

But NYE - Myself, the chick, and a friend are each preparing a dish.
I got entree.
Will be making some vietnamese style ricepaper rolls. Lots of crunchy vegetables, some vermicelli perhaps some caremalised pork...I was thinking about putting in some mint, lime, seeded chilli, fresh ginger, and pomegranite in for crunch.
Likely do the hoisin/peanut sauce, and a sweet kaffir lime/chilli dipping sauce.

I've been thinking about actually making a dessert version of these...with fruits, and a passionfruit/lemon sauce. I will let you know if it works out.

Spal is making turkey drumsticks. Slow cooked. Uh, I know there's cranberries and cream involved?

My other friend is bringing a dessert, that I know nothing at all about. Which ought to be cool, the boy does his research.

Made a fairy nice Goulash in my slow cooker this week (you should think about it, Hammer). Went with Ham over Beef because it was cheaper so it's a LITTLE too salty, but the Sour Cream helps that.

I need to find some good diabetic recipes. I know the nurse is going to tell me to cut back on carbs, but I'm not sure what else is going to be taboo for me now.

(Put a picture up now)

Sucks about the dietary requirements :(

I made some great Diabetic-friendly brownies for my friend once. Whilst Beetroot based it really doesn't taste like it. Very satisfying and good texture.

Think THIS is it.

Hmmm, interesting. Not quite sure I'm brave enough to try it. LOL

Ferret - Can I come join you for Christmas, too? Margie - I'll meet you at the airport.

My go-to recipe is a variation of Chicken and Tomato sauce... I used this recipe for a base last night...

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2...es-and-garlic/

With a few tweaks:

• Doubled the garlic
• Fresh tomatoes instead of canned
• Threw in a jar of fresh kalamata olives
• Used chicken breasts instead of legs
• Threw in an onion with the chicken

Ate with whole wheat pasta and garlic bread. Superb!

OK, the diabetes nurse wants me to start eating more fish. Anybody have any good recipes? I've never cooked fresh fish before. Well, I have once, from a recipe that cheebs gave me, but I lost the recipe. Keep in mind I don't have a grill, nor do I have access to one.

Thanks!

just bake some salmon steaks in the oven..

Temperature? How long?

oh geeze I cant remember -

goggle will help ..

temp for everything seems to be 425 ..

how long - till it turns the right colour :)

seriously - google it or I might cause you food poisoning :)

LOL, well, that kills what I was going to write: come cook it for me! LOL

Chef John is always my first port of call for recipes (not least because of his awesome voice). There are over 100 Seafood dishes here, bound to be one you like!

http://foodwishes.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Seafood

As for not owning a grill, don't worry too much. Use some Low-cal spray and fry them. If you're not sure it's done, there's no shame in cutting the thickest part open to check. When it doubt, overcook. If it dries a little put on more sauce :)

Thank you, ferret!

Those of you who have me on Facebook will likely have already seen this, but I've taken my passion for all things culinary to the next step with my new blog. The general aim is sharing recipes that are vague enough to encourage adaptation and experimentation. Really, I'm just offering a framework and suggestions - cooking should be personal and suited to your own tastes.

Besides that I'll be doing restaurant reviews and general food related posts.

SO, it'd be absolutely grand if you could check it out and tell me what you think and like it on Facebook.::wink::

www.theguesscipebook.com

www.facebook.com/theguesscipebook