Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
Pizza and salad
What's for tea tonight? (#8)
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- Start date
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
Epona here's basically what I do. It does change a bit every time I make it and I eyeball most of the ingredients. I serve it with rice or make a chow mein out of it.
Ingredients
Pork or Turkey mince
Szechuan peppercorns
Black pepper
Garlic
Ginger
Chillis or Chilli flakes (or both)
5 Spice (I don't like most supermarket stuff it's got to much star anise, so leave this out if you don't like that)
Stir Fry Veg (Pepper, onions, mushrooms etc)
Oyster Sauce
Hoisin Sauce
Dark & Light Soy
Fish Sauce (optional, it's kind of marmite and I can't imagine any dish cooked in Szechuan having this)
Chilli bean paste if you have it (definitely a Chinese supermarket ingredient)
Siracha or similar
MSG
Method
It's worth doing most of the prep before hand as it cooks so quickly. I normally stick my rice on when is I start preparing the veg.
I cook the veg and meat separately because even the big hob I've got doesn't kick out enough heat.
Stir fry the veg, even less then you might normally do.
Put them in a bowl out the way and wipe the wok
Add the ginger, garlic, whole Szechuan pepper corns and chilli's and cook briefly.
Add meat to pan. Put a pinch of 5 spice on and stir in as it cooks. If you've got an electric spice grinder or can be bothered to grind by hand, then I like to add freshly ground szechan peppers and black pepper for extra oomph. MSG if that's your thing.
When the meat is nicely browned add the veg back, I undercooked it in the first step as it will cook a bit more now.
Add the sauces. I tend to go quite heavy with the oyster and dark soy sauce. Hoisin gives a slight sweetness, but I don't use to much as my partner doesn't like sweet food, I like it as a contrast to the heat.
Serve and hopefully enjoy.
Copy Me That, the browser/mobile app that I mentioned earlier handled this perfectly btw - I highlighted the ingredient "Szechuan peppercorns" (as that was likely to be a unique term on the currently open page of this thread) and clicked the Copy Me That extension icon on my browser - it just selected everything around it in that post that looked like it was in recipe format and it is now stored for me - I hadn't tried that before and am quite impressed!
I need to upload a suitable image to go with the recipe as it just picked the U75 logo but otherwise it copied and saved the recipe perfectly 
BoatieBird
Well-Known Member
Southern fried chicken strips, wedges, coleslaw and watercress.
I'm the opposite, rice is probably my least favourite carb or at least one of them. Could happily eat tatties every day though, and while I am spoiled being able to grow my own or buy really good locally grown ones (they stick a big sandwich board sign outside the village shop to announce when they have fresh Orkney tatties in, here) I'd still choose meh supermarket ones over rice unless it was really fucking good rice.For sure, rice by a long way, then pasta for me.
I find myself less enamoured with potatoes these days and I feel sure it is because most places you can only buy them in bags, and I'm not keen on some of these "all rounder" varieties that have nice looking smooth skins for shelf appeal and long shelf life but are a bit too waxy for what I tend to use potatoes for (roasties and chips mostly or occasionally mash) and are just a bit "meh" all round (marfona, lanorma etc.) Try buying the right quantity of good roasting potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edwards) for one meal!
It's probably alright for people who have a larder or somewhere cool and dark to store potatoes, but for me a 2.5kg bag needs a few days of use planned before they start sprouting or going green, and I struggle to maintain interest in potatoes for long enough.
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
Epona here's basically what I do. It does change a bit every time I make it and I eyeball most of the ingredients. I serve it with rice or make a chow mein out of it.
Ingredients
Pork or Turkey mince
Szechuan peppercorns
Black pepper
Garlic
Ginger
Chillis or Chilli flakes (or both)
5 Spice (I don't like most supermarket stuff it's got to much star anise, so leave this out if you don't like that)
Stir Fry Veg (Pepper, onions, mushrooms etc)
Oyster Sauce
Hoisin Sauce
Dark & Light Soy
Fish Sauce (optional, it's kind of marmite and I can't imagine any dish cooked in Szechuan having this)
Chilli bean paste if you have it (definitely a Chinese supermarket ingredient)
Siracha or similar
MSG
Method
It's worth doing most of the prep before hand as it cooks so quickly. I normally stick my rice on when is I start preparing the veg.
I cook the veg and meat separately because even the big hob I've got doesn't kick out enough heat.
Stir fry the veg, even less then you might normally do.
Put them in a bowl out the way and wipe the wok
Add the ginger, garlic, whole Szechuan pepper corns and chilli's and cook briefly.
Add meat to pan. Put a pinch of 5 spice on and stir in as it cooks. If you've got an electric spice grinder or can be bothered to grind by hand, then I like to add freshly ground szechan peppers and black pepper for extra oomph. MSG if that's your thing.
When the meat is nicely browned add the veg back, I undercooked it in the first step as it will cook a bit more now.
Add the sauces. I tend to go quite heavy with the oyster and dark soy sauce. Hoisin gives a slight sweetness, but I don't use to much as my partner doesn't like sweet food, I like it as a contrast to the heat.
Serve and hopefully enjoy.
Aaaaand - it was fucking lush!
I agreed with your instinct about the fish sauce and didn't add any - Now I LOVE fish sauce but there are plenty of Thai dishes involving minced meat where fish sauce would be perfect (with some Thai basil or holy basil etc.) but I didn't feel like this dish needed it, especially with the hoisin already providing that slight sweetness. I used some veg that I had to hand - green pepper, white onion, celery and spring onion.
I had it with noodles in the end as I have some very thin wheat noodles that need to be used up. It was absolutely delicious and will do it again.
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
Dhalish soup from the freezer. Small ham sarnie, small cheese sarnie.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Rack of lamb
Roast spuds
Courgettes and tomatoes
Roast spuds
Courgettes and tomatoes
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
I'm trying to cook Pastitsio after reading about on this thread recently.
Sadly can't be that authentic as I've got to make it turkey mince, but I'm intrested in meat spiced with cinnamon and cloves and the very thick bechamel type sauce.
Frustratingly Aldi didn't have any small bottles of red wine so it will have to be without that as well
So this was really good, but it's the problem I have with lasagne, but worse as there was a thicker layer of bechamel in. That is all my white sauce ran into the bolognese when serving. I did let it rest a while, but I also like my food hot!
Got it out the fridge for lunch and the layers had formed perfectly.
Last edited:
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
I am going to have Cumberland sausages, potato/swede/carrot mash from one of the reduced to clear tubs of the stuff in my freezer, peas, Yorkshire pudding (home made and then frozen), and caremelised onion/red wine gravy.
I think the fact it was hot is part of the issue, Greek food tends to be served kind of room-temperature-ish.
Also make your bechamel a bit thicker than you might do for French/Italian dishes. Did you mix beaten egg whites into the bechamel as it was cooling before putting it on top? That is fairly typical of pastitsio and moussaka, where you want it to almost be like a mousse type consistency standing up a few mm on top of the dish, rather than sinking in.
I think the fact it was hot is part of the issue, Greek food tends to be served kind of room-temperature-ish.
Also make your bechamel a bit thicker than you might do for French/Italian dishes. Did you mix beaten egg whites into the bechamel as it was cooling before putting it on top? That is fairly typical of pastitsio and moussaka, where you want it to almost be like a mousse type consistency standing up a few mm on top of the dish, rather than sinking in.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
That's intresting (if rather fustrating). The recipe I followed was thicker then normal, but used the yolks (the whites went over the pasta with the feta). I think next time I try I'll aim for an even thicker bechamel and a thinner layer of it
Pastitsio (Greek beef pasta bake)
Greece's answer to Lasagna - Pastitsio! Layers of Greek bucatini tube pasta, cinnamon spiked meat sauce, and a thick layer of cheese sauce.
www.recipetineats.com
However what I'm really tempted to try is a mac and cheese lasagne, kind of inspired by this. A layer of mac and cheese, the bolognese, another layer of mac and cheese and then the mozzarella. But as always I need to run more to justify eating this.
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Pasta with veg (peppers, tomatoes, onions, courgettes)
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
That's intresting (if rather fustrating). The recipe I followed was thicker then normal, but used the yolks (the whites went over the pasta with the feta). I think next time I try I'll aim for an even thicker bechamel and a thinner layer of it
Pastitsio (Greek beef pasta bake)
Greece's answer to Lasagna - Pastitsio! Layers of Greek bucatini tube pasta, cinnamon spiked meat sauce, and a thick layer of cheese sauce.
However what I'm really tempted to try is a mac and cheese lasagne, kind of inspired by this. A layer of mac and cheese, the bolognese, another layer of mac and cheese and then the mozzarella. But as always I need to run more to justify eating this.
I have to say I do love pretty much every variety of pasta/meat/bechamel/potato/veg (delete as appropriate) bake that there is under the sun, but they definitely can be a bit calorific!
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Goodness yes. Especially with my love of big portions. I might as well fill the fryer again, its not that bad in small doses and it does filter the oil each time, so it doesn't stink like the ones I've owned the past.
The thing in my student house was an abomination, but all the veggies ignored the amount of meat fat in the thing when we came back from the pub. The oil would go solid when it cooled.
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
Goodness yes. Especially with my love of big portions. I might as well fill the fryer again, its not that bad in small doses and it does filter the oil each time, so it doesn't stink like the ones I've owned the past.
The thing in my student house was an abomination, but all the veggies ignored the amount of meat fat in the thing when we came back from the pub. The oil would go solid when it cooled.
An old flatmate of mine used to do an absolutely fantastic veggie lasagne which wasn't terribly fatty - layers of roasted peppers and courgette in a spicy tomato sauce at the top and bottom, and a spinach and ricotta layer between, all separated by lasagne sheets - bit of grated cheese on top and finished in the oven to melt the cheese - definitely a bit healthier than your typical minced beef/bechamel type affair and extremely tasty.
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
Spaghetti with wild garlic pesto and the first smug courgette of the year.
When in China:
Absolutely nothing I’ve tried to load on the web works except for Urban
Thank goodness.
Absolutely nothing I’ve tried to load on the web works except for Urban
Thank goodness.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
I've upped my game in the kitchen and cooked up some of the green lentils I bought for sprouting and gave up on - and somewhat over-did it ...
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Is that the Flying Spaghetti Monster?When in China:
View attachment 384431
Absolutely nothing I’ve tried to load on the web works except for Urban
shakespearegirl
just worked out taglines
Fried pork momo & chicken fried rice. Delicious
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
Indifferent meal of wholemeal tagliatelle (not buying them again, I don't like them), smug courgette, soft cheese and some of Lidl's cheapest smoked salmon. Bit of Jude's salted caramel ice cream. Cup of redbush.
