Food!

[Yulia]

@The_Blindside

 

[RedruthRFC]

Certainly not going to give up meat, but certainly thinking of moderation and more fibrous diet as I get older. The downsides of diabetes is not to be sniffed at.

Having had the pleasure of spending a week on a hospital ward primarily populated by diabetic patients, I couldn't agree more, although I suspect that the two people who really would have scared you straight were there as a result of failing to manage their condition, not the condition itself. Another diabetic I know is now a double amputee, but it doesn't seem to stop him knocking back pints into the double figures most days!

I'm pretty much pescatarian now.

Plant based options are improving by the day.

Anyone else largely / wholly given up meat?

Not an option for me, I can't stand fish, so it's vegetarian or nothing. I often think about reducing / cutting out meat, partly for health reasons, partly environmental but am yet to do anything about it as a result of malaise and ignorance.

Thanks in part to watching the recent BBC documentary demonising "ultra processed foods", I'm wary of a lot of the meat substitute stuff, it doesn't seem right to increase my intake of processed food to eat a diet that's healthier.

That being the case, I think that I need to cook vegetarian food as opposed to cooking omnivorous food containing a meat substitute. I'm sceptical as to how successful this approach would be anyway. My usual approach to creating a dish is to decide on the meat, then worry about what flavourings go with it, what sauce goes with it and what accompaniments work. Take the meat away from that and my whole approach to food falls down and I need to learn how to think about food all over again. I would welcome any advice from anyone who has been through this process, particularly any "how to" type books. To make life tougher, I'm not a big fan of beans and lentils! This is why I say that my own malaise is part of the problem - I need to put more time and effort into figuring out what I can get on with and what I can't.

On a tangent, has anyone tried keto, paleo or anything else new fangled? I half fancy the the challenge of learning something totally new and sticking to it and can see the sense in them, but keto strikes me as being unsustainable and paleo seems like a bit of a fad.

 

[Which Tyler]

I've significantly reduced the amount of meat I eat now, and have more-or-less cut out cows (flesh at least, can't give up cheese) from my diet.

I don't feel the need to go vegetarian, but a good 50% reduction (in my case) is a very good start, and probably about as good as I'll get. Better to have a million people making a 10% difference than a thousand people making a 100% difference; but it's often presented as all or nothing.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

It's amazing watching how he's becoming a little celebrity so quickly.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

He's great. Needs to venture South and start being his table and chair down here.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Another one on fish and chips. But Notice the face he pulls though when he eats other seafood. Straw poll here who likes seafood other than fish?

 

[General Melchett]

Another one on fish and chips. But Notice the face he pulls though when he eats other seafood. Straw poll here who likes seafood other than fish?

I think they charged him £19 for all that. Incredible value. I do love calamari that has been cooked well (non rubbery) and with freshly squeezed lemon juice on top. Not sure I'd buy bao buns from a chippy.

Never tried curry sauce with fish and chips but am very confident I would love it especially with vinegar.

 

[Gavin]

Another one on fish and chips. But Notice the face he pulls though when he eats other seafood. Straw poll here who likes seafood other than fish?

Funnily enough I had lobster tails for dinner.

Would actually prefer shellfish than fish, expect maybe tuna steak

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Another one on fish and chips. But Notice the face he pulls though when he eats other seafood. Straw poll here who likes seafood other than fish?

I love crab. Prawns and octopus were both ok too.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Love shellfish too. Hard to beat moules-frites.

Octopus as the main focus of a dish is just about the only seafood I don't like. Far too rubbery.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Hard to beat moules-frites.

Oh, 1000% this.

And I can get through prawns by the ton, especially since giving up meat.

Strange but true.....I once had Phil Tufnell's Christmas seafood platter. He'd ordered it from M&S, but didn't collect it. The daughter was working there at the time and nabbed it rather than seeing it go to waste. Lobster a la Tuffers went down very nicely with some decent bubbles.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

At Dublin's oldest fish and chip shop. Surprised only 1913.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Burdocks is class yeah, not going for the scraps was a mistake though.

Reckon McDonaghs in Galway Beats it to best in the country though.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Prob had older but they are not around anymore.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Anyone got an air fryer?
I'm being tempted by the hype

 

[RedruthRFC]

Anyone got an air fryer?
I'm being tempted by the hype

Ours is a fairly cheap and cheerful one that we got for Christmas. I look at it as a more economic way of cooking things that it seems silly to put in the oven. It's certainly not a substitute for a deep far fryer, maybe better ones (or ones where the user puts more effort in) do a better job of emulating frying.

Keep an eye on bargain groups / apps - they're the kind of thing that comes up heavily discounted quite often. There was one on Amazon for £3.99 this week! Most orders got cancelled, but a lucky few now own a £3.99 air fryer!

I'm crossing my fingers for the Instant Pot Crisp being heavily discounted on Black Friday. Hopefully it would be an air fryer upgrade and would also be my steamer, rice cooker, slow cooker and pressure cooker.

 

[RedruthRFC]

Anyone got an air fryer?
I'm being tempted by the hype

Not absolutely bargain basement, but there's a few quid off the standard best price on this at the moment:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tower-Circ...=tower+air+fryer+T17023&qid=1630145102&sr=8-3

There's a lot of models that look very similar to this one, so I suspect there's a lot of white label products out there. Depends whether you want to pay for a "real" or understand that it's white label and look for the best price.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Not absolutely bargain basement, but there's a few quid off the standard best price on this at the moment:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tower-Circ...=tower+air+fryer+T17023&qid=1630145102&sr=8-3

There's a lot of models that look very similar to this one, so I suspect there's a lot of white label products out there. Depends whether you want to pay for a "real" or understand that it's white label and look for the best price.

I love a bargain - just ordered!

I'm not expecting it to be like a frier, tbf - think the name throws people off
I just want something to quickly/easily cook in when I get home from work and am knackered

 

[Yulia]

This frier looks quite interesting tbh, @TRF_Olyy can you share your opinion once you start to use it? Advantages/disadvantages