Recent content by Cronker

Hi everyone I have been looking for a cooking forum for ages and have now come across this! I was in hospitality for over twenty years, mostly in five star hotels etc. Now forced into retirement due to health reasons, I still love my food and cooking. I’m looking forward to being part of a...

The reason there are drying racks for pasta. Yes, I always hang ribbon style pasta on the drying rack for about half hour before cooking. Otherwise I find it disintergrates far easier in the boiling water.

Why not a mandolin? A Boerner V slicer will do the thickness you are looking for, the. You just roast. Easy to clean too...

Haloumi, if not treated well, has a rubbery texture and "squeaks" when you bite into it. Definitely grill it gently. It won't melt, as such, but will become soft and bubble slightly. Serve with Melba toasts or grissini as an appetizer. Lovely.

Jenneyema: Yes, my experience is that chicken thigh is a better meat for this dish. As I mentioned in an added post, a tbsp of potato starch will thicken the sauce sooner although this is to personal taste. Thanks for the reply Enjoy!

Addis, do you like gingerbread or sushi? There is pickled ginger in heaps of Japanese food. Ginger is one of those ingredients you need to be careful with. A small amount is lovely, more is less. It's like five spice or blue cheese - too much will overpower your palate. As an aside, if anyone...

Thank you for saying, Cheryl! I do believe you have already welcomed me, but warmth in friendship is always nice - especially on Internet forums, where anger is normal. I hope you try this recipe - it's lovely! Love Cronks

Andy, no malice intended, people have preferences.

A decent sized food mill is better.

Hello. After some research, I have developed a great recipe that recreates one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes. Ga Kho Xa Gung Ingredients: 1kg chicken thigh, or breast, roughly chopped/diced 3 stalks lemongrass - woody stuff stripped, finely diced 5cm length of ginger, peeled, finely diced...

It's not ideal, but I have worked in restaurants where this is the system. I prefer assigning two staff (food & beverage) to a section of tables. I used to have a waiter who would fly off the handle if any of the other staff "touched" his tables.

+1 This. You are far more likely to get flavour transfer from the enchilada.

Pretty much what everyone has said above. I sometimes freeze a ball of dough, about the size of a tennis ball is right for me, feeding two/four people. I have a Mercato drying rack that sits on the counter for hanging noodles. Dry for about half hour after going through the machine, then into...

As MadCook points out above rice is one of the best sources of food poisoning if not treated correctly. Another is orange juice. A lot of people always blame tainted chicken or meats, whereas there are other more dangerous foods that people don't know about.

I usually take bits and pieces of recipes from books, internet, chef friends and experience and just wing it. But I would never claim my roast chicken and tarragon dish as my own creation, even though it is my own variant on the classic dish. Even less so with baking cakes, pastries and so on...