Stilton & Walnut Pate

[mike tilley]

4 oz. butter
1 small onion (finely chopped)
1 small green pepper (finely chopped)
2 oz. mushrooms (finely chopped)
2 oz. walnuts (toasted and ground)
2 tablespoons of Port or Brandy
1 oz. breadcrumbs
3 oz. Stilton
2 oz. cottage cheese
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Bay leaves


Melt 2 oz of butter in a pan, add the onion and pepper and cook till soft.
Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook till soft. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add walnuts and cook until very hot.
Add Port/Brandy and cook until reduced by half.
Stir in the breadcrumbs.
Crumble the stilton into a bowl with the cottage cheese and beat together then fold into the rest of the mixture.
Place the mixture into some some ramekin dishes, melt the other 2 oz. of butter and pour on top. Decorate with bay leaf and put in fridge until butter has gone hard and the mixture cooled.

Eat with hot toast or Pitta bread.....Yum :D

[Alice]

A stunning display from you Sir .... & not a chicken liver in sight... with you producing the menu's there's hope for all man kind.

[Marc Lurie]

I'm off to buy the stilton later this morning... The recipe looks great.

You wouldn't perhaps have a recipe for pickled eggs? I tried some in Wales and took a liking to them. I've been trying to reproduce the flavours here, but all I get is very "eggy" eggs with an overpowering vinegar taste. I believe that the correct vinegar to use is malt vinegar, and the only malt vinegar I've been able to find is an imported Crosse and Blackwell "Sarson's" vinegar. Is this the correct stuff?

Marc

[Geobloke]

I'm off to buy the stilton later this morning... The recipe looks great.
You wouldn't perhaps have a recipe for pickled eggs? I tried some in Wales and took a liking to them. I've been trying to reproduce the flavours here, but all I get is very "eggy" eggs with an overpowering vinegar taste. I believe that the correct vinegar to use is malt vinegar, and the only malt vinegar I've been able to find is an imported Crosse and Blackwell "Sarson's" vinegar. Is this the correct stuff?
Marc

Oooo Eggy phuffs! :fart:

Am pretty sure that it doesn't matter what vinegar you use! I know someone who uses white wine vinegar and adds herbs and spices to it and the eggs! Apprently very nice!

[Alice]

Mike... it looks like you have moved into the consultancy market place.
I found an alternative use for Landy today whilst out driving in the countryside... of the upwardly mobile variety (thinking lateraly as I do following a sleep in the temporary camp in the back)
I'll get there in the end...
Substitute ladder for sloe harvesting.
Now that we have sloes & they are mightily bitter to eat raw, what can you sugest we do with them other than sloe gin (which sounds vile to me)
Do you think they could make a conserve or meat accompaniment?
Rose hips worked well but rowen berries tasted like chewed twigs & I had to add half a bottle of cherry brandy to improve its flavour.

[Geobloke]

Mike... it looks like you have moved into the consultancy market place.
I found an alternative use for Landy today whilst out driving in the countryside... of the upwardly mobile variety (thinking lateraly as I do following a sleep in the temporary camp in the back)
I'll get there in the end...
Substitute ladder for sloe harvesting.
Now that we have sloes & they are mightily bitter to eat raw, what can you sugest we do with them other than sloe gin (which sounds vile to me)
Do you think they could make a conserve or meat accompaniment?
Rose hips worked well but rowen berries tasted like chewed twigs & I had to add half a bottle of cherry brandy to improve its flavour.

Sloe gin is gorgeous, as is sloe wine!

[BigJim]

Oooo Eggy phuffs! :fart:

Am pretty sure that it doesn't matter what vinegar you use! I know someone who uses white wine vinegar and adds herbs and spices to it and the eggs! Apprently very nice!

You can buy a ready spiced vinegar, called Spiced Vinegar, whcih will have much more flavour than plain vinegar.

You can make your own, I will give you recipe if you want, but you either do it cold (vinegar and spices in sealed jar for ages,) or hot, which is quicker, but you boill away some of the vinegar and flavor.

Its good for pickled onions, too. the trick with them is to cover them in salt which draws out the moisture, pour away the salty water, and put them in spiced vinegar, whch then replaces the water drawn out. If you like em sweet, add a bit of brown sugar to the vinegar!

When using vinegar of any sort, always use glass or stainless steel containers, it will dissolve away aluminium, whch was once (may still be) associated ith Alzheimers (sp??)

[Alice]

His Nibbs says capers are usually put in to spice the pickled eggs but nasturtium seeds are good too.

[BigJim]

His Nibbs says capers are usually put in to spice the pickled eggs but nasturtium seeds are good too.

Nasturtium is a much under rated plant.

Leaves and flowers make a useful slightly spicy and interesting addition to salads, and seeds can be used as a spice.

[Marc Lurie]

I have always been under the impression that capers were pickled nasturtium seeds?

Big Jim, a spice recipe for the vinegar will be much appreciated. I often pickle gerkhins and herring in a recipe my grandmum used, but the eggs taste lousy in that mixture.

What about apple cider vinegar for eggs?

Marc

[BigJim]

I have always been under the impression that capers were pickled nasturtium seeds?

Big Jim, a spice recipe for the vinegar will be much appreciated. I often pickle gerkhins and herring in a recipe my grandmum used, but the eggs taste lousy in that mixture.

What about apple cider vinegar for eggs?

Marc

Marc, how do you pickle the herring? Does it work for any other fish?

Your questions answered:

I think you can use any good vinegar, but usually the result with malt vinegar is good, but if you want whiter eggs or onions use a cider (or wine) vinegar.


Capers:

Buds of Capparis spinosa, a Mediterranean shrub, grown in France, Spain and Italy, best quality are picked daily, taste develops when pickled.
Seeds are not used, though fruits containing seeds are eaten (Italy, I think)
A different species of Capparis is grown in N. India.
Nasturtium seeds are a substitute form


SPICED VINEGAR
Use good quality vinegar - should be at least 5% acetic acid content.
Put 1 qt vinegar in a glass (or plastic if that’s what the vinegar comes in ) container, add the following whole spices:
½ oz each of cloves, allspice, ginger (dry root ginger, don’t put in as a lump, hit with a hammer to break up a bit), cinnamon, white pepper.
This will give a strong spice, quantities can be reduced (I don’t), even halved.
Seal/close container and leave for 1 to 2 months. Shake occasionally.
Strain and use.
For immediate use:
Put all ingredients in a glass bowl in/over a pan of cold water. Cover with a plate, bring water to the boil, turn off heat, let stand for about 2 hr. For a stronger spice, leave heat on a bit longer so vineagr gets hotter, but don't let acid boill off( turn heat off before strong vinegar smell). If acid boils off, pickles won't keep. Strain.
These sp vinegar are from Mrs B, I thought they were old family recipes!

Happy cooking
Have fun!

BJ

[Marc Lurie]

Hi Big Jim,

I buy salt-herring that is imported from Europe. I prefer firm fleshed fish that hasn't been in brine for long.

Aparently this style of pickling is common in my grandparents native Lithuania. I wash the fish to get rid of a bit of the salt, then place it in a glass dish and layer it along with raw onion rings (the onion must be fresh
sweet). Then I make a mixture of water, grape vinegar, apple cider vinegar, salt, peppercorns, mustard seed, garlic, and cloves which I warm up (just too hot for fingers) and then pour over the fish. It's ready to eat after about three days.

There Cape Malay people who live in the Cape Town area are famous for their picled fish, which is done very differently:
Cape pickled fish

Wed, 19 Dec 2001
make a generous batch of pickled fish you will need:
3kg of firm fish (geelbek, kabeljou, yellowtail, etc), cut into portions
300ml milk
3 cups cake flour
cooking oil for frying
For the sauce you will need:
6 large onions, thickly sliced
30ml cooking oil
2-4 tablespoons curry powder, depending on how much of a bite you like
1 teaspoon turmeric
2-4 finely chopped fresh chillies, again depending on the bite voltage you prefer
1 teaspoon ground cloves
4 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
A pinch of nutmeg
A tablespoon cornflour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
6 bay leaves
40-6 crushed cardamom pods
8 black pepper corns
Optional: 6-10 curry leaves
Grated peel of ½ lemon
2 tablespoons smooth apricot jam
400ml vinegar
100ml water
Make the sauce first by heating the oil and frying the onion until they just start to go transparent
Add the curry powder and all the other spices and fry for 1 to 2 minutes
Add the cornflour, vinegar, lemon juice, water and jam
Bring to the boil and immediately turn down and simmer for 20 minutes or so, covered. Remove from heat and let it cool
In a large frying pan heat the cooking oil
Dip fish portions in milk, then in the flour and fry quickly on both sides
Remove fish and place on kitchen towel to drain
In a large non-metal container, or containers, layer the fish
When the sauce is at room temperature pour the sauce over the fish
Cover and refrigerate for at least two days before eating
Serve with salads (especially potato salad!) and wholewheat brown bread

[BigJim]

Hi Big Jim,

I buy salt-herring that is imported from Europe. I prefer firm fleshed fish that hasn't been in brine for long.

Your salt herring looks good, I must try that. Not so sure about the Cape one tho, looks a lot of work, and many fish curries must be just as good and not so much work.. OK in the Cape if you have a cook!