Baking - Tips, Questions, Discussions, Recipes.

A cornish pasty is a dreadful thing - I have no idea why anyone would want to eat one. I can see if you were down a tin mine all day in the dark and getting terribly hungry you might be tempted but otherwise in my view it is only good for a doorstop.

The best one I ever tried that I liked was in Exmoor in a little cafe and was made with mince and lots of onion (like a cottage pie) instead of the greasy lamb, spuds and swede with far too much salt and pepper that they usually make it out of.

Amazingly, people seem to love them.

A bemused

flamingo

Heya,

Have to say, I do love a good Cornish Pasty, but the problem is - as you say - finding a good one! I was on holiday in Cornwall YEARS ago, and the ones they sell down there are outstanding. However I find the ones in the supermarkets far too dry, and with very little taste. Even the Ginsters, which have won prizes, aren't my favourite but will do in a pinch.

There is the company in the train stations, with the yellow banner - The Cornish Pasty Company is it? Those are ok, but expensive because they are generally train station food. So you've got the whole, captive audience who will pay for something handy.

Though I do have to disagree with you on turnip. LOVE it, especially with a big helping of haggis and mashed potato. Mmmmmmmmmmmm!

But yeh, unless you're in Cornwall, I'm not sure I'd recommend any Cornish pasty I've tried so far I'm afraid.

But if you're after a pie..... Those slices you get in Asda and Tesco (Probably elsewhere too, but I've not looked) are good. I love the cheese and onion slices, or the ham and cheese ones. Mum puts them in the microwave to heat them up, but that makes them soft and smooshy - which is nice sometimes - but I like them in the oven so the pastry crisps up.

Also, Greggs to some good cheese and onion ones,and I like the chicken bakes from them too. Iceland do them frozen, so you can whack them in the oven for whenever you want them nice and hot and fresh.

Sorry I couldn't help with the Cornish Pasties, but hope you might take a fancy to something else mentioned.

Lass

xx

Hi lass

i will take your lovely response on board. Cornish pasties are iportant!! Btw , I love turnip not swede though and swede is the vital ingredien if we are to call the pasties Cornish!

i get terrible pastry cravings but go have both Greggs and Iceland fairly nearby. 

Im glad you take this thing seriously!!

pepys xx

Hey Pepys,

Food is serious business!

And I think the turnip thing is a regional misunderstanding. Being Scottish, we have haggis, neeps, and tatties as a dish. Neeps being the orange turnip that we used to carve at Halloween..... That gave you muscles I tell you! However, I find that down here in Leeds, people call the little white things turnips and the big orange ones swedes. lol. So it can get very confusing.

As for Greggs, they do a sausage, bean, and cheese pie that is terrible, but amazing at the same time. lol

Found this company, and the one I was thinking of is called "The Pasty Company", but they don't seem to have a website.

Lass

xx

Hi Lass,

Yes, it is indeed serious...and thank you for clearing up the turnip /swede puzzle. I have fearsome memories of swede from school dinners though I’m sure butter, cream and black pepper would improve matterS. Childhood memories, eh? I cannot eat semolina either. My parents considered tripe a great treat and my father told me that once, when my mum was pregnant, they went to the cinema and instead of maltesers she opted to gonto a nearby tripe shop...and ate her ‘treat’ In the cinema with lashings of vinegar. God knows, it was probably better for her (and my unborn brother) than chocolate...

pepys xx

Heya,

Yes! All of that mixed in, then mixed into the mashed potato - which has the same mixed into it - and then all mixed with some good spicy haggis..... Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I never had school dinners, because they were of such poor quality. So always went to school with a packed lunch, or when we lived in Glasgow - came home for lunch. So luckily for me, there's none of that association for me.

My only bad memory, really, of food is when Mum wouldn't tell us what we were having one night. Now, that was totally unusual, because she always told us what something was, and we always tried it. We were never ever fussy kids about food. I mean, we have likes and dislikes, but we'd always give anything a go. So she serves us up a plate of veg, and little breaded things, still not telling us what they were. So, I did what I think anyone would do - I scraped off the breading to see what sort of meat it was, AND THERE WAS AN EYE LOOKING AT ME! Lol. Turns out it was whitebait. But after seeing the eye - I was eating none of it!

And not a fan of tripe. Only had it in France as a type of sausage, but it was minging - both in smell and taste!

Lass

xx

Hi Lass

              I used to buy ready spiced sausage meat it was a really nice one from a pork butchers but I can see the merit in buying plain and doing it yourself my mother used to make hers from scratch mincing the meat there again she grew up on a farm knew how to rear a pig then salt cure it and make black pudding and sausages not sure I could do that! Oh yes i agree about the stuffing although I used to buy a packet of one in Ireland called Country Store and add more onion bread and herbs and it was really tasty, I like using potatoes instead of bread in homemade stuffing as it is nice and light, come Christmas I used to make a few and yes sausage in stuffing is good I suppose it is all a matter of taste! I also like to make a good apple stuffing for pork especially pork steak as the flavor really gets into the meat

Lol, I'm getting a bit lost on the pies! Think I will just stick to eating them!

Lass I would have that leg checked out if I were you it shouldn't be so uncomfortable are you due to have a dressing change soon?

No still have not made the scones! My ex has been cooking my dinner each day arrives over with my dinner plus dessert! I have to say I am very touched and I didn't even ask him but boy it's lovely being spoiled like this! Always piping hot he has the table set presents it stands back to watch me take the first mouthful then with a big grin disappears off home! LOL He always was a lovely cook and for some reason, his food sits with me, I always manage to give myself indigestion!

I am glad you are able to move a bit better my back is still very painful but I find getting up the stairs is getting easier 

I have started watching movies again! I forgot how much I enjoyed them and they sure help to pass the time.

Hi All 

         I thought I would join in on the great Cornish pasty debate! I have to say the only one I ever found edible was from a local butcher in Chester and it had the right amount of moisture and not too salty other than that I didn't like them. I do love turnip that is the yellow fleshed one but they are at their best when the frost has hit them in the ground as it sweetens them cooked and mashed with plenty of butter and I like them served with pork meat especially bacon they seem to go well together, I eat all veg except parsnip for some reason even honey roasted I cannot stand them!

Oh, Pepys my Mum was exactly the same over tripe! Not sure what it was she enjoyed about it but every week she loved her tripe just cooked plain then covered in vinegar! It is supposed to be excellent for the stomach considering it is the lining of the stomach of an animal I am not sure about that.

Poor Flamingo! Your stomach must be churning at some of these foods we mention! I can understand that because if you eat a very pure veg based diet the thought of additives and animal fats must have you a bit green around the gills x How are you? feeling a lot better I hope

Hey Bluebell,

Yeh, spicing it yourself isn't too much work, and you end up with something that's exactly to your taste. Your Mum sounds impressive in the kitchen! For me, you get your bird, and you make up the spiced sausagemeat with an egg - NO BREAD lol - then shove it all inside of the bird. Then the bird goes in the oven until it's all cooked through. Then munch on it all, and the stuffing absorbs all the juices from the bird for added flavour!

And yes, eating pies is def the way forward! lol

I think the leg is ok. You can see it here, but don't click if you don't want - it's a close up of the scar and how it looks today. And for size, the incision is roughly three inches long - just so you know how zoomed it is. I took the dressing off on Thursday, and then leave it open to the air most of the day, and put a big old plaster on it overnight in case the cats try to pull out the stitches or lick it clean as they seem prone to do! Plenty of aches and pains in it and under it, but then there are disolvable stitches inside that will be tugging on stuff, and of course I've no idea how deep she went, so no idea exactly what was cut through. But it doesn't feel any worse than the other ops I've had.

That's lovely that your ex is bringing you food, and clearly enjoying doing so too. And the fact it's good food that's not making you feel uncomfortable at all is a massive bonus! Such a lovely thing to have done for you!

What films have you been watching? I do enjoy a film, and have an app I can watch new releases on. However, tonight is the Eurovision final! So that's what I'm off to watch just now!

Lass

xx