GF away for a few days - suggestions for naughty dinners?

[FasterFreddy]

OK, I'm cooking for myself for the next few days, which gives me the chance to indulge myself in certain 'bad' foods the GF would not usually permit!

What would you cook, given no restrictions from the other half?

Top of my list to cook this week: Proper chips (Heston's triple-cooked) - but what to have with them? Some home made battered fish maybe, as I'm going to stink the kitchen out with frying?

Any other unhealthy suggestions?

[FasterFreddy]

Desserts are a given, but I really want to avoid the easy option of pre-prepared meals. They are inevitably disappointing and cost a load of money.

Apart from crispy duck I suppose. Too much trouble to prepare from fresh. No.... Must... resist... crispy duck.

Steak might be nice. I could try the slow butter-basted method discussed on here a while back.

Got a yearning for fried fish of some sort though.

[FasterFreddy]

Cheese Mechanic said:

Pound of mice, an egg and some chopped onion. Make 2 stonking great burgers.(2 servings) Top with cheese, (loads no it) 2 fried eggs (trimmed whites) along with chips and lashings of mayo.

Hmmm, well the cat is likely to bring in a few mice as presents while she's away but I never thought of doing that with them.

[FasterFreddy]

Guys, guys... You're getting the wrong impression about her.

She's (probably quite rightly) concerned about my health and slightly expanding waistline, that's all.

If I were to cook every night, our joint cholesterol value would start to look like the national debt figure within a few weeks.

I don't think I'm the only one to feel a sense of freedom when the OH is away for a few days. Once she's gone I then feel the need to do things like:

Cook food she wouldn't like
Leave the washing-up in a big pile in the sink
Have music on very loud at 2am
Other things involving DVDs and the big TV I won't go into here...

I can also practise dishes I know she'll enjoy but I don't usually get a chance to make - home-made fish and chips, for instance. It wouldn't be worth the hassle I'd get if she were here and I was spending 3 evenings on the trot practising chip-frying and making the place smell like a caff.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Last night, I tried the Heston method for chips and I'm not confident of a good result. I've got some fish ready for a proper fish and chip supper tonight but I'm concerned the chips won't live up to expectations.

Anyone here use the triple-cook method and can give some advice?

[FasterFreddy]

AndyAudi said:

(Best done cut a little chunky)

I think this is the mistake I made yesterday. Thin chips. I was also looking at version of Heston's recipe which recommended the final fry should be at 190 deg C. Too hot I reckon. Other versions of the same recipe are at 180.

So tonight I cut some new chips much chunkier. I still par boiled them, put them in the freezer for 30 mins, then fried at 130 deg for 5 mins, then in the fridge for about 1 hour before the final fry at 220 deg until they were the right colour.

They were much, still not perfect, but very good chips. Next time I think I'd cut them a bit bigger still (around 2cm thick) and get them even colder before the final fry.

Tonight, the chips were accompanied by a couple of jumbo "fish fingers" I cut from a nice fillet of Hake, fried in Heston's batter recipe which uses Vodka instead of water. That worked really well.

All in all, a successful fish and chip supper, even if I do have a lot of clearing up to do in the kitchen later.

As for tomorrow, we have curry quite often so I'm not going to bother with that this week. Instead, I'm going to try the Ducasse steak as detailed here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Might even have some more chips with it

[FasterFreddy]

Yes, looks very authentic. Will try that recipe another day.

Tonight, I tried the Ducasse 'butter steak' method with a nice piece of Hereford Beef Fillet. I did overcook it a bit, which was a shame, but the flavour was great. Had it with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Tomorrow, as the weather looks nice and the GF doesn't go for oily fish, I'm going to grill a couple of Mackerel on the Barbecue.

Then it's healthy eating for a couple of weeks before we're off to France for a short break and more nice food.

[FasterFreddy]

"Mmmmmmmmmmmm... bacon-stuffed, bacon-wrapped Italian sausage enhanced with classic Kansas City style barbecue sauce and rub, then smoked low and slow in a special blend of oak and hickory wood"

[FasterFreddy]

Silent1 said:

horton said:

or grow a pair and eat what you want every day of the week.

Either I cook (my choice)
She cooks (my choice)
We eat out (my choice)
or
I ask her to cook and allow her to choose.

I'm sure she is lovely, but I would go insane if I had someone dictating what I could and could not eat.

Wow aren't you the role model, does she ask how you want your socks ironed as well?

He's completely under the thumb, if truth be told. But when he's logged on to PH, he becomes "Horton from Stepford".