How are things where YOU are? (in relation to the Corona Virus)

[lyndarra]

7 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Have you been on the P&O UK ships ? We have been half a dozen cruises with them, Arcadia, Aurora, Oriana. Many of their staff are Indian, the cooks on P&O UK do some great curries and as you say the Indian servers take great delight in telling you in the buffet or MDR that their curries in the 'crew mess' are much better and would be too spicy and hot for me.😁 I believe them.

I would want the curries from the mess. Why do cruise cooks/chefs dumb down spicy menu items? e.g. gumbo.

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by lyndarra
punctuation

[NSWP]

7 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

I would want the curries from the mess. Why do cruise cooks/chefs dumb down spicy menu items? e.g. gumbo.

 

Many North Americans are not partial to spicy foods, and USA is where most of the receipes  come from, Cruise Ship HQ.

Love a bit of this in my curry dishes, cheating, but easier than mixing one's own curry base.   MKR would throw me out.

[lyndarra]

1 minute ago, NSWP said:

Many North Americans are not partial to spicy foods, and USA is where most of the receipes  come from, Cruise Ship HQ.

Love a bit of this in my curry dishes, cheating, but easier than mixing one's own curry base.   MKR would throw me out.

That's what I use for my curried egg sandwiches.

[NSWP]

1 minute ago, lyndarra said:

That's what I use for my curried egg sandwiches.

Now you are talking, curried egg sambos, lubbly jubbly.

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by NSWP

[lyndarra]

Which reminds me - I need to boil some more eggs.

[MMDown Under]

1 minute ago, NSWP said:

Have you been on the P&O UK ships, many of their staff are Indian, the cooks do some great curries and as you say the Indian servers take great delight in telling you in the buffet or MDR that their curries in the 'crew mess' are much better and would be too spicy and hot for me.😁 I believe them.

Yes Only P&O Chusan. It was the last ship to exchange crew by ship in India, so you can imagine the pomp and ceremony, which Indians do as well as the British.  The Suez was closed, so it cruised around Africa to India and Ceylon (people were leaving because of unrest).  We had a special Indian night one night where the food was spicy, but not too spicy.  I do think Australians as a whole eat spicier food than other Western nations. 

We also had a special Indian buffet night on Fred.Olsens Black Watch. I loved their Indian food.  They did tell me we wouldn't be able to eat what they serve in their "crew mess".

[valantine80]

6 hours ago, possum52 said:

The real key is having a very large stockpot and an electric hotplate - you can't get the right slow simmer with gas. It needs a really, really slow simmer

 I can remember my mother using a "diffuser" when using gas to reduce the heat for cooking. They just give a buffer between the flame and saucepan. Not sure if you can still get them but I have one that I use when cooking with gas in the caravan. It would be less than ten years old.

 

Pam

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

That's what I use for my curried egg sandwiches.

 

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Many North Americans are not partial to spicy foods, and USA is where most of the receipes  come from, Cruise Ship HQ.

Love a bit of this in my curry dishes, cheating, but easier than mixing one's own curry base.   MKR would throw me out.

Now you are talking.  That was a staple in our house.  It was only when I was an adult I learnt what real curry was. I did an Indian cooking class once but it was all too much work.  When I was stocking up on essentials for favourite recipes before I self isolated, I couldn't find lots of things (surprise, surprise).  We have a wonderful Indian shop full of everything imaginable including big bags of rice.  You should have seen the shopkeeper's face when I asked did he have any Singapore Noodles.  Then I asked did he have any Japanese Miso soup?  His face lit up when he said yes.  However, when I found it, there were only two sachets in each box.  Imagine buying a box of two tea bags!  He asked, didn't I find it?  I felt so sorry for him I bought crushed ginger from the refrigerator for the first time (I usually buy fresh).  

Edited April 1, 2020 by MMDown Under

[OzKiwiJJ]

29 minutes ago, valantine80 said:

 I can remember my mother using a "diffuser" when using gas to reduce the heat for cooking. They just give a buffer between the flame and saucepan. Not sure if you can still get them but I have one that I use when cooking with gas in the caravan. It would be less than ten years old.

 

Pam

Yes, you can still get them. Also known as simmer mats, however they still don't lower or diffuse the heat enough for a really slow stock simmer.

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

 

  Then I asked did he have any Japanese Miso soup?  His face lit up when he said yes.  However, when I found it, there was only two sachets in each box.  Imagine buying a box of two tea bags!  He asked, didn't I find it?  

You have to be careful with MSG in miso soup sachets. I used to love them as a quick snack but had to stop having them after I started to get migraines - which turn out to be caused bt MSG (along with a couple of other things).

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

  I find spicy cruise food is not spicier enough.  

In fourteen cruises so far I've only found one spicy dish that had the right amount of heat. It was a pork dish on Carnival Legend. Very yummy!

 

I was very disappointed with Celebrity. We went to their Asian speciality restaurant (Silk?). One of the dishes we ordered was Hunan beef. Hunan cuisine is one of the spiciest of the Chinese cuisines. There was absolutely no spice in that dish at all. It was just a boring beef stirfry. In fact none of the dishes we tried that night bore any resemblance to the Asian cuisine it was supposed to represent.😡

[dizzy1948]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

Now you are talking, curried egg sambos, lubbly jubbly.

 

….and curried potato salad with egg & mayo. Also good to sprinkle on oven chips, either to cook in the oven or the air fryer. They already have a coating of oil. Put my chips in a bag, add the curry powder and rattle them round a bit before tipping them into my airfryer. Yum

Edited April 1, 2020 by dizzy1948

[dizzy1948]

26 minutes ago, dizzy1948 said:

….and curried potato salad with egg & mayo. Also good to sprinkle on oven chips, either to cook in the oven or the air fryer. They already have a coating of oil. Put my chips in a bag, add the curry powder and rattle them round a bit before tipping them into my airfryer. Yum

Forgot to add, we have them as a snack with sour cream, mixed with mint jelly (might be too sweet for some - so use bottled mint sauce instead) add a teaspoon(or to your taste) of garam masala, and dip away 🥣 Not Egon Ronay, but good to eat whilst watching a good who dunnit.

Edited April 1, 2020 by dizzy1948

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

You have to be careful with MSG in miso soup sachets. I used to love them as a quick snack but had to stop having them after I started to get migraines - which turn out to be caused bt MSG (along with a couple of other things).

You'll be pleased to know that I don't have any in the house.  I like the salty flavour. 

[dizzy1948]

8 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Agree most slow cookers aren't suitable for making stock, as they are too small.  However, once you make the stock and then reduce the stock, the remainder would fit in a slow cooker for the soup.

Pressure cooker is great for making stock - quick, easy, takes about 20 mins - so you could make it in batches. 

as an example: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/04/pressure-cooker-chicken-stock-recipe.html

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018861-pressure-cooker-bone-broth-or-chicken-stock there's loads out there, then there's always the best, your own.  I use my very expensive (lol) KMART pressure cooker.😜

Edited April 1, 2020 by dizzy1948

[MMDown Under]

44 minutes ago, dizzy1948 said:

Pressure cooker is great for making stock - quick, easy, takes about 20 mins - so you could make it in batches. 

as an example: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2017/04/pressure-cooker-chicken-stock-recipe.html

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018861-pressure-cooker-bone-broth-or-chicken-stock there's loads out there, then there's always the best, your own.  I use my very expensive (lol) KMART pressure cooker.😜

I have a pressure cooker in my house never to be used.  You see I was brought up on stories of pressure cooker contents hitting the roof.  I quickly figured out that if I never used it that wasn't going to happen to me..  Why take a relaxing past time, like cooking, and turn it into a nerve wracking experience. One did come in handy once in London when we bought a side of lamb on special only to discover our terrace house only had a tiny bar fridge.  Eating lamb every day didn't turn me off lamb, but I still didn't take to the pressure cooker which saved our lives.  

Edited April 1, 2020 by MMDown Under

[dizzy1948]

2 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

I have a pressure cooker in my house never to be used.  You see I was brought up on stories of pressure cooker contents hitting the roof.  I quickly figured out that if I never used it that wasn't going to happen to me..  Why take a relaxing past time, like cooking, and turn it into a nerve wracking experience. One did come in handy once in London when we bought a side of lamb on special only to discover our terrace house only had a tiny bar fridge.  Eating lamb every day didn't turn me off lamb, but I still didn't take to the pressure cooker which saved our lives.  

I know how you feel about the pressure cooker taking the roof off!!!!! It's always been a dread. When my stuff cooks, I just turn it off at the wall, wait 10-20mins and the pressure goes away by itself.  Lots  of thing lend themselves to pressure cooking theses days. I decided to wear my brave hat and get one - (finished up with 2 - the old one went to the caravan) I don't trust these Thermo something contraptions, they ARE dangerous, if everything you read is to believed of course. Lots of accidents with them. I am a pressure cooker convert though. 

[MMDown Under]

3 minutes ago, dizzy1948 said:

I know how you feel about the pressure cooker taking the roof off!!!!! It's always been a dread. When my stuff cooks, I just turn it off at the wall, wait 10-20mins and the pressure goes away by itself.  Lots  of thing lend themselves to pressure cooking theses days. I decided to wear my brave hat and get one - (finished up with 2 - the old one went to the caravan) I don't trust these Thermo something contraptions, they ARE dangerous, if everything you read is to believed of course. Lots of accidents with them. I am a pressure cooker convert though. 

You must be, if you put one in a caravan!  Now I call that living dangerously.

[dizzy1948]

4 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

You must be, if you put one in a caravan!  Now I call that living dangerously.

Ha ha...………………...living on the edge. Never used it for the van yet...........but it would be outside if I do.  At the moment it is a JIC. 

Edited April 1, 2020 by dizzy1948

[MMDown Under]

4 hours ago, dizzy1948 said:

Ha ha...………………...living on the edge. Never used it for the van yet...........but it would be outside if I do.  At the moment it is a JIC. 

Let's hope JIC never comes. You wouldn't happen to have one of those old heaters, as well, the ones you kept a bucket of sand beside, in case of fire?

[MMDown Under]

Day 13 - Happy day - music and laughter.  I woke up to "NBC Breakfast News" showing a little girl dancing for her grandfather each on a different side of a wide street.  This was followed by a tour of a tour guide's backyard, which looked a lot like an Aussie backyard, complete with a genuine Hills Hoist.  It was so funny.  Bit like "The Castle" humour.  Next they showed clips of various orchestra musicians playing at home, as part of visual orchestras - moving music to bring one to tears.  As a finale, they showed  the great Andrew Lloyd Webber taking requests, which he played on his piano - food for the soul.  For those clever technical people on this thread, I'd love to know how I could rewatch these videos forever.  Beautiful sunny morning for a walk along the beach and water's edge for the dogs.  They were doing a happy dance darting here there and everywhere - wouldn't want to miss anything!  Now they will sleep for the rest of the day.

This was light relief for what is happening in our real world.

 

[Aus Traveller]

12 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I have a pressure cooker in my house never to be used.  You see I was brought up on stories of pressure cooker contents hitting the roof.  I quickly figured out that if I never used it that wasn't going to happen to me..  Why take a relaxing past time, like cooking, and turn it into a nerve wracking experience. One did come in handy once in London when we bought a side of lamb on special only to discover our terrace house only had a tiny bar fridge.  Eating lamb every day didn't turn me off lamb, but I still didn't take to the pressure cooker which saved our lives.  

Love my pressure cooker🙂 but I was brought up with my Mother using one. I have always been comfortable using mine.

 

We buy cheap cuts of meat - lately blade at $12 a kg. Dice the meat, brown thoroughly - I use a large electric frypan for that because it is fairly fast. Then into the pressure cooker with sufficient water to cover the meat/onions or whatever. If you are nervous add another couple of cups of water. Secure the lid of the cooker and heat to boiling. I set my electric cooktop on the 8 setting for the cooker to build up pressure. Stay very close while this is happening. After five minutes or so, test the pressure release valve very briefly to see if steam spurts out. When that happens, immediately reduce the heat under the cooker. I take mine back to the 4 setting for 20 minutes - that is regardless of how much is in the cooker. During this time, the cooker might emit tiny (very tiny) bits of steam. If there is a lot of steam coming out, it is not keeping the pressure in - maybe the lid is not on properly. At the end of 20 minutes, remove the cooker from the hot plate and place it aside so it can cool down. This might take ten minutes. You can tell when the pressure has dropped sufficiently to take the lid off by testing the pressure release valve. When no steam comes out when you depress it, you can take the lid off.

 

The meat is beautifully tender. I make very tasty pies, goulash, beef stroganoff etc.

[MMDown Under]

1 minute ago, Aus Traveller said:

Love my pressure cooker🙂 but I was brought up with my Mother using one. I have always been comfortable using mine.

 

We buy cheap cuts of meat - lately blade at $12 a kg. Dice the meat, brown thoroughly - I use a large electric frypan for that because it is fairly fast. Then into the pressure cooker with sufficient water to cover the meat/onions or whatever. If you are nervous add another couple of cups of water. Secure the lid of the cooker and heat to boiling. I set my electric cooktop on the 8 setting for the cooker to build up pressure. Stay very close while this is happening. After five minutes or so, test the pressure release valve very briefly to see if steam spurts out. When that happens, immediately reduce the heat under the cooker. I take mine back to the 4 setting for 20 minutes - that is regardless of how much is in the cooker. During this time, the cooker might emit tiny (very tiny) bits of steam. If there is a lot of steam coming out, it is not keeping the pressure in - maybe the lid is not on properly. At the end of 20 minutes, remove the cooker from the hot plate and place it aside so it can cool down. This might take ten minutes. You can tell when the pressure has dropped sufficiently to take the lid off by testing the pressure release valve. When no steam comes out when you depress it, you can take the lid off.

 

The meat is beautifully tender. I make very tasty pies, goulash, beef stroganoff etc.

Sounds absolutely delicious.  One thing about being retired, I'm never in a hurry with my cooking, so there is no need for me to be stressed waiting for the contents to hit the ceiling.  I couldn't even give it away to my children

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, MMDown Under said:

Sounds absolutely delicious.  One thing about being retired, I'm never in a hurry with my cooking, so there is no need for me to be stressed waiting for the contents to hit the ceiling.  I couldn't even give it away to my children

Why don't you try the pressure cooker. Once you get used to it, I can guarantee you will love it. The only things that can cause it to go wrong would be

1. If there is not enough water (add extra as a precaution till you get used to it),

2. Lid not on properly allowing a lot of steam to escape resulting in not enough water inside (easy to watch for this)

3. Leave the cooker on very high heat after it builds up pressure. When you turn the heat down, you have to keep it high enough to maintain pressure.

[MMDown Under]

3 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Why don't you try the pressure cooker. Once you get used to it, I can guarantee you will love it. The only things that can cause it to go wrong would be

1. If there is not enough water (add extra as a precaution till you get used to it),

2. Lid not on properly allowing a lot of steam to escape resulting in not enough water inside (easy to watch for this)

3. Leave the cooker on very high heat after it builds up pressure. When you turn the heat down, you have to keep it high enough to maintain pressure.

Thanks so much for your kindness.  You can probably tell I'm not a risk taker.  Guess that is why a self isolated ahead of the crowd.  Was it really only 13 days ago!

3 things which can go wrong, is that all??

Edited April 2, 2020 by MMDown Under