Thanks for that. I have seen this facility on other forums and it usually appears after the name is typed. I did see it flash after the first 3 letters but then it disappeared! So I will try and remember next time.
What did you cook/eat today (March 2017)?
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Rocklobster
Legendary Member
My youngest daughter is home for a couple of days and her favorite is rib eye steak..sooooo..rib eyes it will be....gotta fatten up those Uni students..
Ken Natton
Über Member
Well, I had something truly extraordinary for tea tonight. So what was it? Well it was Chilli con Carne, actually. That’s not extraordinary. What did it have some amazing secret ingredient? Well no – supermarket beef, chopped onion, tinned chopped tomatoes, tinned kidney beans, tinned mixed beans, packet chilli con carne mix. It’s sounding less and less exciting by the minute. But that is not what was extraordinary about it. I didn’t cook it. And as I write this, my wife is still not in from work. It was cooked by the younger of the two teenagers! Told you it was extraordinary. I mean, I had to cook the rice, and I had to lay the table and serve it and I still had to ask him to make drinks for the younger ones, but hey, Rome wasn’t built… a journey of a thousand miles, well you know how it goes. And of course, he’s one hundred percent certain that he’s off dishes washing detail, hell he cooked it! Hey ho, better get on with it before my wife gets here.
Well that doesn't sound like a chili I would make but if my kid cooked it, I would eat it.
You should encourage him to do it from scratch next time. I mean, gosh what was in the packet mix? I mean - encourage him by praising it up and then suggesting looking at what is in that mix.
Very healthy indeed.
Tonight's dinner is special as its hubby's birthday. I've made his favourite chicken chasseur with some crispy duck fat roasted potatoes.
We are eating at 9 to allow time for a champagne cocktail or two beforehand. 
We are eating at 9 to allow time for a champagne cocktail or two beforehand. Chili blends actually work better unless you keep pretty much all the herbs and spices.
Ken Natton
Über Member
Tonight's dinner is special as its hubby's birthday. I've made his favourite chicken chasseur with some crispy duck fat roasted potatoes.
Sounds like a wonderful evening to me.
Ken Natton
Über Member
I did him a disservice actually, there was at least one more ingredient I didn't mention. When I did the dishes I found the garlic crusher. I mean, it was so clogged with chewed up garlic that I suspect that there was more garlic in the crusher than was actually in the chilli, but still. And I should probably explain, I think he was taught to cook the chilli in pretty much that way, packet mix and all, at school. And he was taught it some time ago. He did his 'O' levels (GCSEs whatever the hell you're supposed to call then now) last summer. It is probably at least three years ago since he was taught that. I was going to say that I think it is the only dish he was taught, but now I seem to remember he was also taught to make a pizza. Anyway, I suspect that there must have been conversations between him and his mother last night. I doubt he decided to make the chilli on his own initiative. He was already on it when I came in from work.
As for that packet mix, best I can tell, the primary thing that is in it is a thickening agent. There was some background spiciness in the result and I suppose that must have come from the mix. But it would be stretching things a bit to describe it as chilli heat. Certainly I can try to push the idea that it would be better with fresh ingredients but remember, these are the boys that insist they prefer the ready made Asda bolognese sauce in a tub to my freshly made efforts.
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You don't need very many herbs or spices to make a chilli - and I suspect there were very few in the powdered chilli mix used by @Ken Natton's boy.
Ken Natton
Über Member
Here you go, I found the packet.
Ingredients: Wheat flour, potato starch, chilli powder (14%)(Chilli pepper, cumin, salt, oregano, garlic), salt, onion powder, paprika, maltodextrin, ground cumin (3%) cocoa powder (2%) cayenne pepper, garlic powder, white pepper. Total content of herbs and spices approx 35%
Ingredients: Wheat flour, potato starch, chilli powder (14%)(Chilli pepper, cumin, salt, oregano, garlic), salt, onion powder, paprika, maltodextrin, ground cumin (3%) cocoa powder (2%) cayenne pepper, garlic powder, white pepper. Total content of herbs and spices approx 35%
Elawin
Guru
I bought some Sainsbury's seeded bread flour a while back. As usual I looked at all the ingredients in case there was something in there I was allergic to or intolerant of, and this time I also looked at the comments. Nearly every one said the dough was too wet or too sticky and if they put more flour in (or less liquid) the resultant loaf was like a brick. This sounded like a challenge to me, so I got some anyway. Yes, it did state more liquid than I usually use when making bread. The dough was like gloop; getting it out of the bread-maker pan was a job and a half as it was so sticky, and yes it did spread a bit on the baking sheet (I tend not to use bread tins), but the bread was lovely. I still get their seeded bread flour - it's much easier than fiddling around with several different types of seeds, and much cheaper than buying smallish quantities of all the ingredients separately.
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