In need of a little advice from you food gurus. I'm making my Christmas puds this afternoon, using a pretty much sacrosanct recipe handed down from my mum. As there are now several vegetarian family members, last year I substituted veggie suet for beef suet. Everyone was perfectly happy with them, but I felt they looked a little drier than usual. This of course may be nothing to do with the suet, but if it was, can anyone suggest anything I could tweak to up the moisture level a bit?
Two things you should know: 1. I don't actually eat Christmas pud, so don't know exactly what each one tasted like, which doesn't help! 2. There's no booze in the recipe (Methodist family!), so I'd rather not increase the moisture with that. It's more a tradition than a moral standpoint - Mum didn't make them with booze so I don't either. We do pour some over and light it at the table, and no one would object to booze. I just don't want to fundamentally change the flavour everyone loves. Any ideas?
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
Vegetarian suet is usually palm oil so not for me. I'd use butter instead. If you freeze it for a short while it can be grated in or you can just melt it and stir. I would try soaking the fruits in a mug of tea - normal, China or fruity herbal but not mint - or maybe a glass of orange juice for an hour or so before mixing and add any leftover juice. It works for a farmhouse fruit cake so is probably OK for a pud.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Oh I like that idea! I have time to soak them for a bit as Trill is out and wants me to wait until she's home again so she can have her lucky stir . I'm wondering if Earl Grey would suit... am wary of changing the flavour, but it's worth a try I think.
I already have the veggie suet (picked it up when they were selling them off after Christmas last year) but yes, I'll check that and definitely steer clear next year if it's palm oil, thanks for alerting me.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
By the time you've got all the dried fruits, candied citrus zest and spices in you won't taste the tea unless it has a very strong aromatic flavour and your taste buds are super sensitive. Soaking overnight in apple or orange juice would guarantee a better soaking but hot tea doesn't need that long to plump up the fruits.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
This dish (originally written using sweet potatoes) has become a holiday tradition at our house. It's my Chipotle-Lime "Sweet Potatoes" recipe. Because I am a low-carber for some 10 years now, I bake this with fresh, cooked pumpkin instead of sweet potatoes. But for the holidays and very special occasions, I will splurge and substitute back in some real sweet potatoes (usually two, reducing the pumpkin listed by that weighed volume) so it is more like the original dish. Thought I'd share a family favorite with you. It's a flavor you won't soon forget, I promise. The smoky, roasted chiles and lime together are sublime. It's ever so different from the myriad of baked sweet potato recipes using cinnamon and orange zest:
Just invented a soup recipe which my family approved of. Sliced and fried two onions and two red peppers, peeled and diced four small sweet potatoes, simmered it all in vegetable stock and whizzed it with the blender.
Great idea @purplerallim. I just happen to have a wee lemon plant covered in fat juicy Meyer lemons and another covered in small limquats. Curd and marmalade coming up this weekend then.
Going to try @PeggyTX chili pumpkin this weekend too.
Meanwhile, OH couldn't get wholemeal baguettes when he popped out just now so I'm having a go at making spelt bread with fresh yeast. Found a recipe online that syas make a "pooling" with 500g of the flour, 500ml of water and 10g or fresh yeast and leave overnight then add the same amounts again and mx to a dough for the final loaves.
The yeast wrapper says 42g - enough for 1kg of flour. Which is right? Any ideas @Dovefromabove, any other bread makers out there? Hand, not breadmaker machine.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
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Two things you should know:
1. I don't actually eat Christmas pud, so don't know exactly what each one tasted like, which doesn't help!
2. There's no booze in the recipe (Methodist family!), so I'd rather not increase the moisture with that. It's more a tradition than a moral standpoint - Mum didn't make them with booze so I don't either. We do pour some over and light it at the table, and no one would object to booze. I just don't want to fundamentally change the flavour everyone loves.
Any ideas?
I already have the veggie suet (picked it up when they were selling them off after Christmas last year) but yes, I'll check that and definitely steer clear next year if it's palm oil, thanks for alerting me.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Going to try @PeggyTX chili pumpkin this weekend too.
Meanwhile, OH couldn't get wholemeal baguettes when he popped out just now so I'm having a go at making spelt bread with fresh yeast. Found a recipe online that syas make a "pooling" with 500g of the flour, 500ml of water and 10g or fresh yeast and leave overnight then add the same amounts again and mx to a dough for the final loaves.
The yeast wrapper says 42g - enough for 1kg of flour. Which is right? Any ideas @Dovefromabove, any other bread makers out there? Hand, not breadmaker machine.