Comfort food and warming dinners

[mellie]

As long as you come then they must be good

Aaarrrrgh you grub ....

[mantra]

Jamies tender and crisp chicken legs with sweet tomatoes

Looks nice Mel and a good recipe to feed a growing family. I've noticed on these cooking shows they use a lot of tomatoes as a substitute for a variety of other vegetables. You often see a rack of lamb or a nice fillet accompanied by a lone bunch of braised tomatoes. No green unless it's a dab of small leafed wilted spinach which is more a salad vegetable. Still tastes are changing and far better that the cooking shows thrive for the simple reason they are teaching people to cook again instead of buying fast food. There is no substitute for home cooking.

[T.G. of IK]

There is no substitute for home cooking.

Exactly Mantra. It's cheaper, filling and wholesome and ya know what's in ya food. The mass produced crap from those fast food outlets/cafes make me crook as a dog. Luckily our momma taught us all how to pre-prepare meals and cook, we had a vege/herb garden and traded with others in the area, (I didn't inherit her green fingers though, I can kill parsley) I married a like minded gal.......hey presto. Having said that, we have a favourite restaurant and once or twice a month you can find us all there catching up.

[Jovial Monk]

Eating slow–roasted beef cheeks with roast potato, swede, turnip and onion. Nice. Lots of connective tissue so long slow cooking.

Deliciously glutinous meat, still moist, fall off the fork tender. Thought it needed something a bit fresh to counterpoint the flavors. Hmmmm—ahhh, went and got my home canned plum and red onion confit made with my home grown plums. Just lovely sharp, piquant flavor.

500g of beef cheeks (no, not all for me, silly!) for just $8.00.

[Jovial Monk]

Hmmm a hint of star anise in the stock would have been a good thing, maybe a stick of cinnamon.

[Jovial Monk]

Now fruitcake with some of my homegrown–homemade plum and cardamom jam, yummy!

[AiA in Atlanta]

Anyone here cook with red palm oil? I have come to love the stuff.

[mantra]

I haven't seen it on the shelves here - so it's probably sold at specialty stores. It sounds healthy enough and not as gluggy as other oils. I don't like the taste of oil and use water for much of my cooking - braises, roasts and stir frys which works just as effectively. In fact it's better because it keeps the meat moist as long as you replenish the water as it evaporates.

[Jovial Monk]

Duck fat is the thing for roasts!

[Super Nova]

Anyone here cook with red palm oil? I have come to love the stuff.

I thought palm oil is bad for you. It is the stuff cheap fish and chip shops use here in England.

Like everything, a quick search has conflicting results.

BAD.

Palm oil comes from the fruit that grows on an oil palm tree. The fruit is pressed into an oil that is 50 percent saturated, and it is used as an alternative to trans fat. According to The New York Times, the use of palm oil is controversial because it is just as unhealthy as trans fat and the production of palm oil destroys rain forests in Malaysia and Indonesia

Read more: Palm Oil and the Health Risks http://www.ehow.com/list_6143393_palm-o ... z1xehoXwv6