Ho, Baz!

Marvellous stuff!   Have you ever tried adding a teaspoon of mustard to your roasted spuds?  You add it to the oil before beginning,  so that the spuds get a good coating.   You can use English, French, or wholegrain - all produce excellent results

Ah, lemon thyme! One of my favourite herbs. Fabulous smell and taste. That has just reminded me of something that I haven`t cooked for far too long now.

Slice a fat garlic clove thinly and gently fry until soft in olive oil.  Chuck in some thickly sliced button mushrooms (you don`t need a strong flavoured mushroom here. The mushroom needs to absorb the herb and garlic flavours). When the mushrooms have picked up some colour, strip off the leaves from a few sprigs of lemon thyme and add them to the pan. Stir around for a bit until the mushrooms have softened. They should still have a firmish texture. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, according to taste.

Lightly toast some ciabatta, rub each piece with a cut garlic clove.  Pile on the mushroom mixture and devour.

Aren't the stones a bit crunchy?

We have searched through this entire thread for the word "curry" but in vain! "Moong dal" sounds close but it - of which we have never before heard - seems to be a newly-invented kind of vegetable.

And then we were greatly shocked by this:


But . . . such prolonged use of an oven greatly worries us in that it contravenes does it not the first principles of the Green Movement!

CD, I'd... erm, quit that soup round about...   NOW. 

Syd, do you have any good 'curry' ideas, then? Seems to me Andy in particular has posted various veggie curry ideas, but doesn't always call them 'curries' on the grounds, presumably, that they have their own particular name. 

I thought about researching how curry's done properly, though with that and all cooking I fear I lack the enthusiasm for it. So as with curry, everything else: I go for shortcuts. Though the 'proper' way involves I think time consuming sauce preparation + careful veg cooking to get just the right degree of softness but that's not mush.

Got lots of shortcuts, though like jazz they're improvised and can't always be repeated 

I favour various combinations of my trusty Madras powder, added after a veg saute and then further flavour enhancing heat, combined with tinned tomatoes, puree, root ginger, and random curry sauces/pastes some of which are quite good and can be constantly varied. I especially like fresh tomatoes thrown into that, and another discovery is Quorn chicken chunks. I don't drool over the prospect of dead-animal flavour, miss it or want it after these many years, though said chunks are just a good 'solid' taste that contrasts with the more subtle vegetable interest. Adding some cream at the last moment is also a great, blend-together extra making a nice rich taste. And lemon juice, I've noticed, is an important part of some traditional recipes where they add slices while it cooks. Gives it a very nice tang.

One place where I get a regular curry fix they add fresh coriander, and that's worthwhile too though I haven't done it yet. My rice never quite equals the yummy softness from the sit-down or take out emporiums, that never strays into mushness, though I've found the best stuff to use to approximate that is brown Asda basmati - and I favour brown if possible, for better nutrition and taste. Tried adding some oil to the boiling water, which I think the Indians do, though I'm not sure exactly how they do it because it doesn't make a great difference in the greenfox kitchen, so I usually don't bother now.

...spot on, Mort! To which I'd add that it's even better if after cooking you turn off the heat and leave it for 5 minutes in the saucepan, lid on.

I've never had any problems with doing rice, not sure why it's sometimes seen as being difficult. I never rinse the rice first, though it might be a good idea, just simmer it in quite a bit of water for:
Basmati 10 minutes
white rice 12 minutes
brown rice 25-30 minutes
and rinse the latter 2 in boiling water after draining - Basmati doesn't seem to need it but it wouldn't do any harm. Allowing the rice to cool a bit then giving a quick burst in the microwave helps to dry it out if it's a bit too wet - I often have to do this anyway because I'm not ready to eat when the rice is done!

An exception to this is rice for chinese food which is to be eaten with chopsticks - in that case you want the rice to be as sticky as possible so you can pick it up. Funnily enough I'd more or less follow Mort's method, with no rinsing (to ensure the surface flour remains), and I seem to end up with sticky rice!