UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion

Scottish tablet (or Swiss Milk Toffee as we called it in Aberdeen)

2lb sugar
4 oz unsalted butter
1 cup milk
1 large tin of condensed milk (think it's 400g)

You'll need a BIG, deep pan (not non-stick) a pressure cooker pan is a good size and nice and solid. Also be very careful - boiling sugar can give a very nasty burn. That covers H&S I think. A large wooden spoon for stirring and a swiss roll tin, buttered.

Put all the ingredients in the pan and heat very gently until the sugar is dissolved. This may take a while - I should point out that this is not a 'rustle it up quickly' recipe! Once the grittiness has gone you can turn the heat up very slightly and bring it slowly to the boil. Once there turn it back down to a simmer. It will need stirring very often, otherwise it will catch and you'll get burnt bits. The mixture starts off a pale yellow golden colour but as it simmers it will slowly go darker - you're aiming for a nice toffee colour. I would say this takes at least 20 minutes but depends on the pan, the heat, the day of the week etc etc. You can test a little bit of mix on the end of a teaspoon by dipping it into cold water - if it forms a coherent ball it is ready. Now the work! Remove pan from heat and beat and beat and beat (knocking the crystally bits from the sides back down every so often). When you feel the consistency change to heavier and thicker and it starts to catch on the base it is time to transfer to the tin. (You may find an extra pair of hands is useful here, with it being a heavy panful...) Allow to cool slightly before marking into squares. Cook gets to scrape the pan! Just don't burn your mouth...

Ah - now -see..... I thought when we were talking about tablets, that we were talking milk tablets...... the ones we had during the strike of 1957ish!!! lol :-) trust me!!

T4bsF (Call me Flo) wrote: "Ah - now -see..... I thought when we were talking about tablets, that we were talking milk tablets...... the ones we had during the strike of 1957ish!!! lol :-) trust me!!"

:) I don't know what milk tablets are?

Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "Scottish tablet (or Swiss Milk Toffee as we called it in Aberdeen)

2lb sugar
4 oz unsalted butter
1 cup milk
1 large tin of condensed milk (think it's 400g)

You'll need a BIG, deep pan (not non-s..."

Sounds like making it wears off all the calories !

Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "T4bsF (Call me Flo) wrote: "Ah - now -see..... I thought when we were talking about tablets, that we were talking milk tablets...... the ones we had during the strike of 1957ish!!! lol :-) trust me..."

I was about 2 years out with the strike - it was 1955ish and I had not long started school.

Every school child had a third of a pint bottle of milk every day - it was a government driven policy to ensure good strong bones and teeth for all children. When there was a dairymen's strike - these supplies dried up - so they substituted with the tablets to ensure the benefits weren't lost.

Think I prefer my tablet ;)

Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "Scottish tablet (or Swiss Milk Toffee as we called it in Aberdeen)

2lb sugar
4 oz unsalted butter
1 cup milk
1 large tin of condensed milk (think it's 400g)

You'll need a BIG, deep pan (not non-s..."

Thank you for the recipe, Rosemary! Would you mind if I use your recipe for my newsletter?

Feel free Dawn. Might point out it's a treat, not a staple! Though that's probably obvious from the ingredients...

Rosemary (grooving with the Picts) wrote: "Feel free Dawn. Might point out it's a treat, not a staple! Though that's probably obvious from the ingredients..."
Thank you! Yes, looking at the ingredients, tablet is a treat I can't have too often:-)

Elizabeth wrote: "Jane wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "I've got a hankering for some boiled cabbage but I hate how it makes the flat smell.
Not that I boil it. I steam it but it still makes the flat smell.

No ide..."Can't beat fresh kippers, straight off the smoker. Smell is lovely! My favourite, apart from smoked haddock straight off the smoker!

The history to this is that, once upon a time, the most wonderful version of Spicy Tomato and Caramelised Onion Chutney was made by a company called Pattesons. Before I realised they'd stopped making it, I had destroyed the label in the recycling of my last jar before I'd replaced it, so I couldn't try and replicate it with any accuracy. However, the addictive flavouring was definitely cumin, so I trawled the net for any ST & CO chutney recipe with that as an ingredient.

Now for the disclaimer: what follows isn't that recipe (!) - I used it as a basis, adjusted some of the ingredients, frowned at some of the methods and replaced them with my own. It's heavy on tomatoes because I use mostly the flesh, and discard the rest, so I only get one jar per lb.

So for only three jars, you need:

4 medium onions, chopped.
2 tablespoons oil (this just covers the bottom of the pan when heated through)
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
4 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
12 cardomom pods
3 lbs prepared (this means blanch, skin, halve, scrape core seeds and juice into a sieve - retain juice)) chopped tomatoes - plum or cherry if you can be bothered using tomatoes that size!
5 fl. ozs distilled malt vinegar
1 lb granulated sugar
4 tablespoons tomato puree
4 bay leaves
large pinch cayenne pepper - or the heat bringer of choice!

Heat oil in large heavy based saucepan then throw in the onions and soften over a low heat. When they start to brown, (this will take a while) stir in the brown sugar and keep stirring until it has dissolved.

Scrape the onion to one side, add the garlic, mustard seed, cumin seed, fennel seed and cardamom pods to the pan and stir-fry for a couple of minutes to release their fragrance.

Add the tomatoes, vinegar and granulated sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. This is where I may add back some of the reserved tomato juice if the mixture already looks too thick - you could use it all but then it takes 1 hour plus to cook when it can be done in 45 mins.

Stir in the tomato puree, bay leaves and cayenne and bring mixture up slowly to a steady simmer.

Cook for 45 mins, stirring occasionally, or until a spoon drawn through the chutney leaves it divided for a few seconds before the mixture oozes back together.

Then fish out the bay leaves and cardamom pods, spoon chutney into warm, sterilised jars (straight from the dishwasher is extremely hassle-free!) and use lids with plastic coating inside to seal tightly.

You can eat this after a week, but I keep mine for at least a month in the statutory cool, dark place.

Experienced chutney makers will recognise this as a labour of love - but I hate finding tomato skins in my chutney as well as waiting for a couple of hours for all the excess liquid to boil - sorry, simmer, off.

I love putting mustard seeds into a hot pan. :)

That looks delicious, Elizabeth!

Hi Elizabeth,

I'm not sure what these are: cardomom pods

But, I'll look for them at Wegmans. Yes, with all these ingredients and time I think I'll make a lot of this all at once. Might as well make a big mess. (The kitchen is always a disaster when I cook.)

It looks wonderful! Thank you for sharing:-)

Cardamom is lovely, Dawn. Pods have a very different flavour to powdered cardamom.

I sometimes like to drop a couple pods and a piece of cinnamon stick into a cafetière of coffee. Yum!

Cardamom flavoured rice pudding...

Elizabeth wrote: "Cardamom flavoured rice pudding..."

I've done cinnamon flavoured rice pudding but never thought of cardamom

Mum's next door neighbours regularly bring her food around, usually a savoury rice dish but sometimes it has been Cardamom flavoured rice pudding.

I always put cardamom in my biryani. Have to be careful to spit them out.

I love cardamom in the biryani but chew them. Lovely.

I used to know a chef who flavoured his basmati rice with cardamon pods and cinnamon sticks to go with middle eastern dishes.

And a wee bit of tumeric for colour.

Rice pudding *shudders* it's like someone has already chewed it

Better than big balls of tapioca

This is very true

Beef and beer pie

1/2 lb of beef, diced
Couple cups diced carrots
Large onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Brown the beef, add veg, sweat it down a bit.

Bung the lot into your slow cooker. Dump in a bottle of dark beer and a couple of beef stock cubes. Add enough water to cover.

Cook for a few hours on high then spoon into a shortcrust pie shell. Cover with pastry. Leave air holes or it'll explode all over your oven.

Bake at 350 until golden.

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Beef and beer pie

1/2 lb of beef, diced
Couple cups diced carrots
Large onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Brown the beef, add veg, sweat it down a bit.

Bung the lot into your slow cooker. D..."

Thanks, Patti! This looks yummy, and I'd rather have a meat pie than a sweet pie. I'm a savory kind of gal.

I'll be trying that for a pie filling Patti - you've reminded me that I really must read the slow-cooker thread, as it's something we've been considering buying for years.

I couldn't do without my slow cooker, Elizabeth. I use it three or four days a week.

It's great for making chicken stock. Every time I have chicken I bang in the bones and some water and leave it on high overnight.
I rarely need to use chicken stock cubes, which I find to be too salty.
I just strain the stock and bang it in the freezer.

Fried Rice

Large onion
Half a bulb of garlic
Inch or so of ginger
1/2 tsp or so of dried chilli flakes
Tsp or so of Chinese five spice
Cup or so of frozen peas
Cup or so of diced carrots
A few eggs, scrambled and cooked separately.
Cup or so of cooked chicken
Four or five cups cooked rice
Soy sauce to taste
Sesame oil to taste

Sweat down the onions, add the other veg and spices, cook a few minutes. Dump in the rice and some soy sauce, stir well. Let it heat for a couple minutes then add the egg and chicken. Heat through. Serve with more lashings of soy sauce and sesame oil.

I make mine in a deep lidded saucepan and put it on low with the lid on to heat through.

Does anyone have a nice recipe for sugar free chocolate cake or brownies that would be suitable for a diabetic?

You can use any recipe really Claire. Just swop the sugar with stevia.

I used to make a nice sugar free cake when I was cooking in the nursing home.
Maybe I posted the recipe in here at some point.
I shall search.

Here's a good link Katy posted some time back.

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-...

Dundee Cake
6 oz butter or marge
6oz caster sugar
3 eggs
8 oz plain flour
pinch salt
1 level tsp baking powder
half tsp ground cinnamon
half tsp ground nutmeg
1lb assorted dried vine fruits and a few cherries
Milk if necessary to make a heavy dropping consistency
A few blanched almonds to decorate.

Line a 7 " cake tin
Cream fat and sugar, add well beaten eggs one at a time. If it starts to curdle, add a bit of the flour
Mix the fruits with a little of the flour (stops them sinking)
Mix in flour and fruits and a little milk if needed.
Put into tin and decorate with the almonds
Bake at 150C for 2 - 2.25 hours

Yum, Kath!

Not so much a recipe - more a favourite steak meal:

Prepare a side salad - sherry vinegar makes a superb dressing for this.

Press crushed garlic into both sides of steak of choice. (Fillet for me, sirloin for himself) and leave for at least 30 mins.
Sprinkle with salt just prior to searing. Use a thin layer of olive oil and thick-based frying pan! Turn down slightly to cook.
Into warm oven at medium rare state so you can deglaze the pan with red wine.
Add a knob of butter and seasoning to taste.
Pour over steak and serve immediately.

Serve with chunks of crusty baguette (generously buttered, if you're like me) and use to alternately eat with the steak and mop up the jus.

Now I could just eat it all again...

Did I mention pork pies made with bbqd chicken stock jelly?

I obviously really need to get to grips with hot water pastry!

Our favourite new taste experience in Israel was shakshuka.

I'm going to try making it tomorrow when we have a couple of friends round for brunch.

It's reminiscent of huevos rancheros but with no dairy, so it's perfect for Dave.

Here's a good blog post about shakshuka.

http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/201...

Elizabeth wrote: "I obviously really need to get to grips with hot water pastry!" I use hot milk for the pork pie pastry. Tricky to work with especially when still too warm! The chicken stock is to simmer with a lovely piggies trotter to make the jelly.

I'm trying my hand at dairy free beef stroganoff tonight.

I was eggcited to find proper noodles in Tel Aviv.

Of course, I can't waste the bottle of wine I had to open...

And I'd love to try to make pork pies. I wish we could get pork.

How do you survive without the bacon?!! I like to add smoked streaky to the belly pork and tenderloin. Along with fresh thyme, wine, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Couldn't live without pork!!

We find bacon sometimes. I even managed to find bacon in Israel. ;)

Keep on trackin'

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Our favourite new taste experience in Israel was shakshuka.

I'm going to try making it tomorrow when we have a couple of friends round for brunch.

It's reminiscent of huevos rancheros but with no..."

Alas, himself doesn't have a huge tolerance for tomatoes and I dislike fried egg white - but thanks for the post, Patti, because it's one dish we'll know not to order if we ever go to Israel!

Lol, Elizabeth!

The eggs are poached in the sauce, actually.

Gawd, I'm sick of tomato and cucumber salad.

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Lol, Elizabeth!

The eggs are poached in the sauce, actually.

Gawd, I'm sick of tomato and cucumber salad."

Poached or fried, you still have the thought of egg white to be eaten in front of you...

By Mary at MEAL5 - Healthy Dinner Recipes! This could be the poster-child for clean eating. Light seafood and peas with plenty of protein and fiber make a refreshing yet nutritious combo. When cooking the shrimp, you’ll see them turn opaque and pink, but watch closely so they don’t overcook. It can happen real fast! To stave off possible hunger later, make a pot of rice (extra points for brown rice!) and serve your shrimp and veggies over it. Garnish with sliced avocado, and you’re all set to enjoy this beautiful shrimp and pea rice bowl.

8 oz. shrimp, uncooked, peeled and deveined
(if frozen, run under cool running water about 5 minutes)
3 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup frozen peas (run under water to thaw and drain thoroughly)
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 sliced avocado
Salt and pepper

jasmine rice

I sorted out a great time saving trick.

I boiled all the water I need for rice, pasta and potatoes today and have put it in the freezer for later this week.

Hahahahahahahahahahah!!