So, this is the new food thread? There was an article recently in Cooks Illustrated suggesting that the way to avoid graininess in homemade ice cream was corn syrup.
Really? I made grainy chocolate ice cream the other week and I blamed myself for not stirring the custard obsessively.
I wonder if anybody makes homemade corn syrup?
Heh. I was thinking about doing a corn-syrup post, like the water one, where I assert that there is nothing about high fructose corn syrup that makes uniquely worse than comparable amounts of sugar.
I emphatically assert that 4 is true, based on my vast amounts of medico-scientific knowledge. But sugar is real bad (bomvaom-sk)!
It was actually three things -- start with really really cold custard, use corn syrup, and freeze in a flat pan. The recipe actually suggested that you freeze a part of the custard into an iceblock, and let it melt into the rest of it in the refrigerator so that it's absolutely at the point of freezing when you pour it into the ice-cream maker, that you substitute a little corn syrup for some of the sugar, and that when the soft ice cream comes out of the machine, you spread it into a baking pan so it will freeze hard faster rather than into a more compact bowl.
4: I'm pretty sure that Karo Corn Syrup that you buy in the grocery store and use for candy and such isn't HFCS. Not that I have any strong opinion about whether HFCS is any worse than regular sugar for you.
you spread it into a baking pan so it will freeze hard faster
Maybe using dry ice for a quick freeze?
I wonder if anybody makes homemade corn syrup?
Probably nearly as many people as refine their own white sugar in their kitchens.
9: We grow our own sugar beets out back.
Thx Ben. I am in fact off out right now so vamp till ready...
Not that I have any strong opinion about whether HFCS is any worse than regular sugar for you.
I have a definite opinion about that, and I'm not generally opinionated.
Food thread, huh? A good thing to do if you want to stretch some lamb shanks or other piece of meat that has a strong flavor and can stand to long cooking is to sear the things then braise them with a boatload of tomatoes, some aromatics, and whatever herbs you think would be nice. (You think: duh.) But then when the meat is done—this is the key—you remove and reserve it for another day. You can now discard the spent aromatics and violently reduce the tomatoes to a sauce-like consistency and use them as a meaty, but meatless (after a fashion), pasta sauce. Or put it on polenta or any number of other things, I guess.
The link in 12 is great and somewhat surprising to me.
I'm echoing Nick, not being pwned. I actually only clicked through after reading 15.
14: That's pretty much how my grandma made pasta sauce except that if you think oregano is a nice herb, you are wrong for these purposes.
I wonder if anybody makes homemade corn syrup?
We (actually, my parents) used to make our own barley syrup, which is basically like corn syrup, so I don't think the manufacture of homemade corn syrup would be all that difficult. Homemade barley syrup really does taste better than the bottled kind.
Does the bottled kind taste better than Karo (from corn if there is another type of Karo)?
Karo retains a corn flavor
Can I Make My Own Corn Syrup From Corn Starch?
"You can if you have a degree in Food Science and the proper equipment."
Google "homemade corn syrup" and you get white sugar recipes.
High fructose corn syrup doesn't taste as good as sugar in soda. That's why I buy Mexican coke in the glass bottles. And it's not the glass bottle, because there's a cafe next to me which sells the normal American kind in a glass bottle, but it's not as good.
That's why I buy Mexican coke
And we appreciate your business.
4: Don't drink liquids, but be sure it has HFCS in it when you don't.
I apologise for my people, people. This is how we got an empire, and also how we lost it.
Actually, the 30th isn't that great for me - will be Edinburgh most of that day. So, given that beer will still refresh no matter how long the summer remains wet and work remains a pain in the arse, what about Thursday 7 July?
Oh, now we're doing Ben's bidding?
Can't do 7th. Wednesdays? I could do 23rd if pushed, but was being lazy as this week is busy.
23rd no good for me now, I need to see some people about a thing and that's the only eve they can manage. 30th still fine.
I am in Dubai. It is like breathing through God's jockstrap. I would welcome any and all suggestions for social life that was not like this next week or later.
Hullo hullo!
So is this Thus a better bet people? Who is in? Asilon, ttaM, GY, tdl -- can we entice Alex and dsquared? chris y lives in Manchester I seem to recall. And ajay only exists on the net, like something out of Neuromancer.
chris y lives in Manchester I seem to recall.
It's all the same to you southerners, but no, actually. Sheffield.
oops haha, sorry about that -- the Northron in me is scornfully angry with the Southron there. The Southron, it's true, can't see the issue, Sheffield is some kind of suburb of Watford, no?
Just reading a facile and unhelpful article by Rawnsley in the Groan about the north/south divide and the case for northern secession (or at least regionalism - the case for the south west seems equally strong to me). The problem is that the traditional boundary of the kingdom of Northumbria now runs smack through the southern suburbs of Sheffield, and I'd feel badly about leaving folk on the Gleadless and Low Edges estates to fend for themselves. So, sorry, we're going to have to have Notts and Derbyshire as well.
I'm only northern by adoption- moved here 30 years ago.
The Wreocensæte will Wrise Agæin!
31: I remembered that you live in Sheffield, and I'm a whole ocean away.
This Thursday is fine for me. So I'm in.
re: 33
The 'north' should just go ahead and join Scotland in some sort of northern socialist republic.
Yay Wreocensæte!
36.2. It may come to that.
re: 36.2
Yeah. Ken MacLeod-stylee.
Any suggestions where? I will be coming from Hackney...
I'll be getting off at Paddington [will be working in Oxford that day], but am happy enough with most places as long as it's not an epic journey back to Ealing later in the evening.
Well anywhere near Euston or the Central Line is excellent for me -- will put thinking cap on re possible pubs, if no one jumps in beforehand with a suggestion.
Yes, near the Central Line is excellent for me. I guess Asilon will be coming in from Reading? Which'd be into Paddington, too.
Bumping thread for attention of newly waked Londoners, esp.ones with good ideas for pubs...
Not sure if my post on the other thread made it, so my suggestions are: the Angel, the Princess Louise or the Lamb, all near Holborn.
First two are Sam Smith's pubs, the Lamb is a Young's, in case you're not familiar with them.
Sam Smith's pubs have the advantage of being cheap. The Lamb looks nice, looking on the web.
The Lamb is very nice. Might be quite crowded on a Thursday though.
Preference for places where we can sit down, definitely.
Some years ago the Lamb sold me the most disgustingly stale pint I have ever been offered. To be fair, they replaced it uncomplainingly when I waved it under their noses, but I did wonder what was going on in their cellar.
The Louise is roomy IIRC -- my pals always refer to it as the "lousy"; I am checking if this is oh noes IRONY or straight reportage, as I haven't stepped inside for c.10 years. I am fond of the Angel, which is scruffy and secretly bigger than it seems. The Lamb can indeed get quite crowded, though it has a peculiar gothic bar-screen which should be checked out.
" I am fond of the Angel, which is scruffy and secretly bigger than it seems."
Yeah, a lot of people don't seem to notice the stable area so you can often find a seat even when the bar is rammed.
If it's size we're looking for, The Penderel's Oak is massive. But it's very much a Wetherspoon's.
The Princess Louise is pretty cool if you're after Sam Smith prices. Mind you XOYO's draught beer pricing is competitive:-) but I can't see myself dragging Nwerdna down there.
I was brought up in the wilds of Shropshire long ago, so the concept of a bar in an actual barn is familiar. The Angel is much more civilised, since they bought stools and threw out the hay-bales. Also I like how you have to actual leave the building to move from room to room, like a doll's house.
re: 53
It's a bloody long way for me, too. I was out there for a gig in April, and while it's a decent enough venue, it's a bit remote for regular drinking.
Allow me to be the first to suggest Fresh Ye Olde Salt.
I've not been to the Louise for quite a while. I trust it's not turned into a Wetherspoon or something.
Alternatively, the new Euston Tap has a lot of interesting beer.
A friend recommended the Euston Tap to me recently. Not been though, so no idea how big it is.
Euston Tap is tiny inside, and hard to find seats, if raining means the garden is unuseable. For a long time it only had one toilet, also, to serve all genders, with the result that the queue spread across the top floor and down the spiral staircase. Sometimes easier to pop across to the Doric and use theirs, if anyone present could remember the doorcode.
It does indeed have lots of interesting beer -- also the nice guy who just won Masterchef used to work behind the bar there.
Reporting back on P.Louise:
tdl: what's the princess louise like these days?
pal1: In bits. Not really been to it since its compartmentalisation. I doubt it is a lot different, you can rely on Sam Smith's to be consistent if nothing else!
pal2: It was nice about a year ago - the upstairs is a lot airier and comfier than it used to be (pretty spacious too)
pal3: Don't go there on Thursdays if you don't want to bump into some h!ppies. UK Friends of Bradley Manning have decided to have weekly meetings there!
I am currently leaning towards the Angel.
Angel sounds fine to my, but I'm a London ignoramus, so I wouldn't know if ever night at 10.45 bat-winged monkeys descended and carried off beer-drinkers.
This thread is long gone from the front page. Angel on Thursday?
Angel on Thursday, 7-ish.
Sounds good. I expect I'll be there at 7:30 (trains). I think you, GY and asilon already have my email address? I think I have yours.
Linked my email on this comment, just in case.
This thread is long gone from the front page.
Okay, sheesh, fine. I can take a hint.
I've been picking the wrong threads to comment in about my plans, but I will be in London the night of Tuesday July 12 and I haven't figured out what precisely I will be doing there. Consider yourselves informed.
re: 70
FWIW, I live near-ish to Heathrow. Couple of stops on the Heathrow Connect.
Sure. I live in Ealing, if you want to check transport to/from Heathrow. Lots of pubs near the train station, so handy enough depending where you are staying.
I haven't figured that out yet but I will soon. It will be nearby, in any case.
Death-blogging more like. Oof. But I was celebrating getting my research proposal in a whole day early.
We discussed EMPIRE and its AFTERMATH, and solved most of the world's problems. If only I could remember more of the conclusions we reached: the freemasons invented the internet; Dubai is rubbish; Germany has never lost a world war...
Also, the Hague is rubbish, and I to my conclusive satisfaction that I am officially a beer-drinking lightweight.
the Hague is rubbish
Are you sure you don't mean William Hague?
He's rubbish,* too, but I meant Den Haag.
* not sure if 'rubbish' captures the right level of shit/evil.
So, I'll be in the Ealing area on Tuesday 12 July. I plan to drink things somewhere, sometime that evening. My plane doesn't get in until 8:45 so it will be a little late-ish. I'll try not to cry if that's too inconvenient of a time/place for everyone to hang out with me, and if it isn't, I'll be very pleased.
Hate to say this, but the pubs will likely be shut by the time you get there.
The one in the hotel too? What are normal pub hours?
It's kind of an honor to be present at the beginning of somebody's bafflement at nonsensical British liquor laws/mores.
I did think, originally, that I got in earlier. I am not sure why I thought that or what I was looking at. Probably some other plane ticket entirely.
Ordinary pubs normally stop serving around 10:45/11pm, although they _can_ get late licenses most don't. Pubs often open later at weekends. It'd be unlikely you'd be able to get a drink much after 11 on a Tuesday. So yeah, by the time you clear immigration, get your bags, clear customs, get to the Heathrow Connect [or Express depending on your hotel location] and travel anywhere, it's likely you might miss pub hours.
These are, fwiw, English liquor laws. In Scotland it's different and pubs open much later as a matter of routine.
All right. Next time I'll try to plan my travel around this information.