Done this one a couple times for Carnival. Good if you like hot, which I do.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2...-rice-and-peas

Didn't like the rice & peas, though. Did potato salad instead this year:

http://www.sweetjamaica.co.uk/jamaic...-salad-recipe/

I think I suck at cooking rice in general. Pro tip: be very careful about eating rice from a street vendor.

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/can-rehe...?CategoryID=51

Tried doing Coq au Vin the other week. Messed it up, though. Not my fault, there's just too many recipes for it. Very confusing.

This guy's good. Kind of hypnotic.

Italian or Greek salad dressing works extremely well as a marinade.

My wife is the actual chef and I have only vague notions of what is going on, but yesterday we marinaded some chicken pieces in a mix of apple juice, orange juice, hot sauce, garlic, and probably a bunch of other stuff (season to taste? :P), baked them until they were about done, and then grilled them nice and crispy on a charcoal grill

Alongside we had some fried eggplant and a buttermilk ranch dipping sauce.

It was fantastic

my wife is a recovering vegetarian, if it isn't boneless skinless then I have to do all the work and that is completely unacceptable imo

Quick and good:

Center cut pork chops, get them thick if you can. Slice open chop and insert garlic, two to three pieces in each chop. Cover all surfaces in industrial grade olive oil and add fresh rosemary to both sides. Slow grill or boiler, or cook in pan with cover (if using pan add chopped garlic to pan also). Turn often, use medium to low heat. If using pan add wine when about half done. Cook to Golden brown on edge. Eat hot. Having fresh steamed veggies (like broccoli) goes with this well. Thicker cuts will take longer but stay moist on inside.

Two really great cooking shows that I enjoy and think other SMP'ers would also:

Lidia’s Kitchen on Create TV. Great Italian cooking; homey, real, and excellent. Love it when she has her Grandmother on to help and taste the results.

http://www.createtv.com/CreateProgra....RNuSIubv.dpbs

Mike Colameco's Real Food on PBS is also wonderful. The most recent show I watched was of foods/cooking in Poland and it was a great show. All his shows are well done, exciting, and he goes anywhere and everywhere for great food and also meets the people that make the ingredients, from organic pig farmers to cheese makers. Off beat in the right way, interesting and informative and lively. Five stars.

http://www.pbs.org/food/shows/mike-colamecos-real-food/

I need to lower my cholesterol. What is the best way to eat oats (assuming you're not weird and/or Scottish)?

A feeding tube.

Or Cheerios. Some people like them.

Pretty much any other oat-full food product requires significant amounts of cream or butter to be considered fit for human consumption.

Thanks, Brian, but perhaps you've become decadent.

Here is some useful information:

http://www.horsefeedblog.com/2014/01...ats-to-horses/


And pic of best way to eat oats



You may not be a horse but that is no excuse, strap on that feed bag!

Look (other that real food/dessert creative recipes), try to buy cereal (or create it yourself with some basic brand that has lots of oats) that has in it dried fruits and nuts eg pecans, almonds, walnuts, raisins. Add to that fresh strawberries or other fresh fruit of choice (cut in pieces after washing very well though). Now in such a mix having plenty of oats together with the standard cereal passes just fine without tasting issues.

Notice how small in dietary cholesterol this food is if you mega size it with added fruits and raisins/nuts. I have one big bowl of this every day so that i can abuse other foods later lol.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...terol_in_foods

(but the trick here is that its in mg per 100 grams and how you combine foods may affect how much of the high density ones you end up consuming without having to eliminate them eg one egg is like 40gr )

Seriously cholesterol is overrated as a problem. Eggs are unfairly victimized. Reduce red meat for favor of other meats and fish (although thats not mostly for cholesterol reasons) and avoid excessive creams and butter (if you select instead of butter olive oil say or replace a fraction of used butter with live oil eg when boiling rice, cooking mushed potatoes etc that require butter ) and you help a lot. But i hate those bs ideas that eliminate butter from everything and eggs and other little things like ice cream etc.

You wont do a lot by torturing yourself with diets. Just get drugs to lower it if the side effects are worth it.

Do you have high pressure/overweight/smoking ? (if not then dont stress over a bit of food, cholesterol is not that bad plus the body needs it and most of it is not due to foods but internal production because it serves useful functions.)

You see the secret game played here (if one were to go total scientific about it and i am not, just imagining the concept here) is to be getting all the nutrients with minimal loss of the experience of good eating and minimum damage to your body. That may on occasion include foods that are seen as dangerous (high density in eg cholesterol etc) but in particular combinations that secure you maintain the joy of the experience without having to consume a lot of it because the combination inhibits desire to over consume it without even realizing it . For instance you do not need to eat a lot of meat or things that are super tasty because they have eg butter or sugar etc every day if you are creative with nuts and vegetables and salads and fruits and other high energy density ideas. The combination may reduce your hunger faster or secure the absorption in your body of good things is increased or the riskier things neutralized by others etc.

I expect someone that decided to be very analytical about it could come up with combinations that are appealing and have other advantages without giving up entirely or even substantially on food groups you enjoy. That would require of course a very thorough understanding of what human body really needs and how all food is metabolized/processed , the full impact of each substance and the overall energy/nutrients game played. It ought to be a very complex optimization problem in principle targeting simultaneous conditions in multiple utilities. Another scientific society project to have.

I am 6.57. The problem is overrated by whom? Health food lobbyists and scaremongers at large? I should ignore NHS advice to reduce my cholesterol? (My intuition agrees with your advice not to be fanatical about it, FWIW.)

I mean one must care obviously and do what doctors advise in combination with overall health issues of importance but not overdo it and since there are drugs that can reduce it significantly fairly easy (my father takes such for example and he experienced big decline) (without substantial side effects if seen necessary to do so ) then if one can monitor in other ways how arteries are doing and there is no big blood pressure issue i would imagine its not that nasty thing to worry about as many people do and they start killing their quality of life by cutting all kinds of foods.

Now if one has definite cardiovascular problems i suppose its different and more urgent. But i have the impression that with drugs these days (which are the solution then) they can control it so easily that diet is secondary problem even then. I also think that if one has a high number (and it was like that most of adult life not a sudden accurately measured/verified rally) its mostly due to the body itself operating that way (natural synthesis not dietary origin) not because food habits are so terrible (assuming one is of course reasonable in eating behavior to not be entirely guilty for the effect, because some people are indeed terrible lol). I mean part is created by our body naturally and part is in the food. Maybe a larger natural value is consistent with the needs of the body

I thought overrated by all those that suddenly start cutting eggs, butter, cheese completely or so significantly as to be afraid of these things like vegetarians avoid meat lol. You know like guys not putting butter in popcorn anymore etc. (my solution to this is not have pop corn rather than have it and not be enjoyable lol or have it so infrequently that its no big deal to have fun when you do). I mean if recipe says 1 unit butter and you drop it to 2/3 and the rest olive oil (eg when cooking rice) you have avoided killing taste and reduced things a bit. If you can eat 1 egg a day its no big deal as its only 40 grams each. But we are not going to eat 1 per day systematically because we do other things some other days and eat no eggs then (or foods with them in it) so the idea i mean is live a little, dont kill good foods because of mass hysteria established in past decades about arteriosclerosis. However if there is an issue just take the proper pills eg statin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statin).

(See the side effects and add more things to worry about lol - but not really for most people vs the role they play so i mean one tries to be rational about what to take in drugs and what to cut in food, knowing that in the end if one was reasonable to begin with, the difference wont be all that big, i mean one can modify a bit diets and add a few pills of not significant dose and get the desired reduction without significant side effects or loss of quality of life.)

Also my point regarding eggs is that they did studies with 1 egg per day trying to see problems vs those that didnt and they didnt spot anything significant and so if the 1 per day is in real life 2 one day then 2 days nothing, then 1 day 1 , then 2 days nothing ,then 1 day 1 etc the avg is not even 1 egg! I buy 18 eggs and they last a month so you see what i mean, some guy that is afraid (like dad lol) will see me buy 18 eggs and think wow risky lol! I watched my grandma be afraid of her cholesterol all her life and when she died at 95 cholesterol had nothing to do with it and moreover her efforts to restrict diets for years her values were still kept high - she never took statin drugs when younger as they were not available then but my father started them a few years ago.

My mother's partner is the same. It's a pain in the ass cooking for him. (Plus side is as long as it's low in fat, sugar and salt he doesn't give a **** what it tastes like.)

Popcorn sucks, any which way. Those that think otherwise have been brainwashed by Madison Avenue.

I dont think i would agree with that. Its a little bit of pleasurable snack that because of its nature requires repetitive steps to consume it that would be stupid in any other setting except the purpose indeed it is used for, to accompany a viewing experience that lasts long when you dont mind your hands doing a repetitive ritual that keeps things interesting in the mouth while the brain is active elsewhere. I think a bit of salt and some butter makes its nice when warm. I probably have it less than once a year though but i never disliked the experience. I usually multitask in movies and documentaries these days so i rarely consume it anymore but if you sit down to watch a movie (that is of the fun not deep thought provoking kind) for real, you can eat something slowly with it that is not going to matter that much either way in calories or nutrients.

The important thing about it is that it lasts. Compared with eg chocolate or ice cream that is only a few minutes experience (and more energy) this can go on for 10 min even 20m or 1 h if stressed out. A little stupid snack that i rarely bothered for in a real movie theater visit but i dont particularly mind at home once a year or two.

Obviously if i had to choose between baby carrots, almonds, chips and pop corn i would go for the carrots and the almonds (first 2 not guilty feelings lol) , chips (guilty) and then popcorn instead (and ice cream or chocolate are totally not safe from consumption either) but if you have corn at home and the little machine go for it why not. I wouldnt mind even real fresh full corn in the oven with a bit of salt either although that keeps the teeth busy cleaning up later.


Naturally of course nothing beats having women of the home bringing you fruit dishes (eg pineapples, kiwi, apples, avocados ,oranges etc all in small pieces) and other desserts or even chestnuts from the fireplace etc while you do nothing happily lazy watching movies but this a very rare experience indeed these days the way things are going in the world lol (not politically correct anymore to spoil the young males of the family plus they are not that young anymore either lol). Instead its time for us to spoil others now. Thats the power of their gift.

That is sacrilege to make such a statement. I just had popcorn last night while watching a football game (real football, not the euro trash stuff) and reading a book about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Popcorn is a family tradition that I grew up with. Jolly Time Popcorn and all that. With lots of real butter and salt. You are missing out on a great treat with substantial nutritional value and that soothing crunchiness that makes popcorn the quintessential munching food.

And you have been brainwashed that Madison Avenue brainwashes people. People brainwash themselves, all they need is a little push, and; The Gods of Madison Avenue provide that push. How else is unstable consumerism to survive.

On a more conciliatory note, I empathize with your take on cholesterol but it is not a huge concern unless you are really, really overweight and never exercise. So, Eat and Enjoy life. Fretting about your cholesterol level is wasted energy. I highly recommend a Steak and Ale Pie at least twice a week washed down with cast quality Ale. You deserve it. An excessively long life is overrated. Best to die of a quick and massive coronary at 75 is what I'm aiming for, and you should too.

I believe Jaques Pepin has once said something like, "You can leave out the butter from the recipe if you want to die healthy."

Another reason to be thankful to Mexico.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn

Yeah, just cut out all processed **** that I eat. Funny how it can creep up on you. Christmas will, of course, still largely be a celebration of eggs, butter and double cream.

I started up my own (very small, but with plans) sandwich business a few months ago.

Here's one I came up with a few weeks ago and have been refining:

Mackerel, goats' cheese & capers

Mix in ~30g mackerel and ~30g goats' cheese with some pine nuts. Give it a good stir.

Fry up some garlic and chilli (I like peperoncini if you can get them); add a tablespoon of honey. Throw in a tablespoon full of capers, leave for no more than 30s (capers lose a lot of their flavour when you fry them) before you serve.

Lightly toast some pitta, open it up, throw in some salad leaves and the mackerel/goats' cheese mixture, then pour on the fried garlic/chilli/honey.

That's interesting. Do tell more. Is it not a highly competitive market?