Chuk, I may have written a lot about making pastry, but it only takes a short while to actually make it.

Your great aunt in law and your mum are both right.

I have to make my own pastry as I'm allergic to margarine ...

I have this theory, that there are some things that otherwise good cooks JUST CAN'T DO. I'm not very good with cakes ... but, again, I have to make my own. In the "good old days" when my son was younger, I used to make three for his birthday parties ... one was a spare, LOL.

Here we are ... nothing for dinner, yes?  NO.  

 

I've got a Woolies delivery coming tomorrow so I didn't want to buy a lot.  I sent the kid to the shop to get tomatoes and a cucumber and a baguette.  

 

I made faux hommous ... a can of chick peas, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and some black pepper ... we didn't have tahini, and quite honestly, I don't really like it.  So, it was simple ... shove it all in the blender, stir, blend, stir blend.  

 

Have you ever tasted Boursin?  A French cream cheese with garlic and chives.  It's delicious.  And, it's expensive.  

 

So, buy some el cheapo cream cheese, and put THAT in the blender with ... guess what? ... garlic and chives.  

 

Now, we've got a baguette, cheddar, faux Boursin, faux hommous, tomatoes and cucumber.  The kid also has deli meat (yuck).  

 

Can't wait for mine ... 

 

 

thanks katy,i love boursin,but can't afford it! 

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@katydidthat wrote:
Chuk, I may have written a lot about making pastry, but it only takes a short while to actually make it.

Your great aunt in law and your mum are both right.

I have to make my own pastry as I'm allergic to margarine ...

I have this theory, that there are some things that otherwise good cooks JUST CAN'T DO. I'm not very good with cakes ... but, again, I have to make my own. In the "good old days" when my son was younger, I used to make three for his birthday parties ... one was a spare, LOL.

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Apparently margarine was invented to fatten up pigs (as part of their food) when it KILLED the pigs a new market had to be found.

As it didn't fatten the pigs before they died, they figured it was not fattening.

THe new market turned out to be for humans as a diet replacement for butter,  a perfectly natural and healthy oil.

Buckets of butter for pig food is expensive but healthy, buckets of margarine are cheap but deadly.

Pigs are the animal most like humans, and margarin killed the pigs..

GO FIGURE!

If someone could help please, can't find it.

 

I am looking for the thread that had the easy bread recipe. TIA.

Here ya go kopes,  I think it's this one  -  post #38

 

http://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Community-Spirit/Champion-Breakfasts/m-p/1414807#M364921

 

this one?    http://keephomesimple.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/quick-french-bread.html

It was the second link I was looking for.  mmmwaahh.  Thankyou  thankyou  thankyou. 

              

 

Must try it myself sometime

I bookmarked it but I still haven't got around to trying it yet.

Kopenhagen, please let me know how you enjoy it 🙂

Someone ... going back a bit ... asked for an easy pate recipe ...

Chicken livers
Olive oil
Butter

That's it for the basic recipe.

Give the livers a good rinse. Heat oil and butter gently in a frying pan and add livers and saute slowly ... very slowly. Wait until they are brown inside (the magic happens later). Add a bit of water or stock if it gets dry.

For a coarse pate, use a fork to mash. If you like a fine one, push chicken livers through a sieve (not much difference, really, except in effort).

Put in plastic container with lid and keep overnight in the fridge. In the morning, it should be brown on top and yummily pink when you cut into it.

Like any pate, it should be eaten quickly.

Jazz it up how you like ... throw in some orange liqueur, cook the livers with onion and/or garlic, add freshly ground black pepper at the end of the cooking time (or whole black peppercorns after the mashing), melt butter and cover the pate with this when it's in the container.

Enjoy on lovely fresh bread with a bit of REAL butter.

Another thing you can do with pate (home made or store bought) is to make a boring old chicken wing a work of culinary richness 😉

Make thin slits in a chicken wing and fill with the pate ... it's not a nice job, but the results are worth it.

Place in oven at 180 on a lightly greased baking tray until chicken is cooked.

It's a very VERY rich dish ... best served with a light salad and as an entree.