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Hey guys,
After watching all the episodes from the 7 seasons of the Bake-Off that were recently added to Netflix, I thought it'd be interesting to start a tasty thread to see if we could share some tips and tricks 
Being French, I've always been quite an avid cook, trying to find new meals to try and whip up as often as possible. The Bake-off made me want to spend even more time in the kitchen, and I found myself spending hours googling recipes and ingredients. The hunt for good websites and ideas has taken over a lot of my time now 
Do you guys have any apps or websites you turn to when it comes to recipes or kitchen inspiration? Any book that you find yourself going back to over and over again?
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@jonsie wrote:Today I managed beans on toast without burning either the beans or the toast......just ask if you want the recipe.....
👍👌
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@jonsie wrote:Today I managed beans on toast without burning either the beans or the toast......just ask if you want the recipe.....
An excellent meal, full of 2nd class protein. The humble baked bean...
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@Anonymous
That is quite a list, I respect each and every one of the people you referenced but their cooking is sometimes beyond my kitchen so not too much inspiration there! 
Do you make your own pasta then?
@Anonymous @Anonymous
“All the gear and no idea” is what I’m trying to fight with a lot of googling (and this thread). I try and bake once a week and cook at least every other night, but it takes a lot of research 
Beans on toast 
Did you go the classic route or added anything special (chilli or some spice like that maybe)?
@Anonymous
Never heard of this website but I’ll have a look, sounds interesting! I’d have to say my worst attempts so far have been around bread. I can do choux pastry, shortcrust pastry, pizza dough … but my bread always falls flat after the second rise and even though it tastes fine it’s not fluffy like you’d want your bread to be … I will not give up though 
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@jonsie wrote:Today I managed beans on toast without burning either the beans or the toast......just ask if you want the recipe.....
I'm a fan of Heinz baked beanz ... allus have been since a kid
What brand can you recommend @jonsie ?
A friend of mine likes Branston beanz, but they're awful, I couldn't eat them
Fried Spam & Heinz beanz is good especially with a poached egg or two on top
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We have to disagree about Branston Beans @Anonymous I think they are brilliant. I can't stand Heinz.
Having said all that, Tesco and Aldi own brands are pretty good.
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Classic recipe @EmilieT I'm old school
Beanz just ain't beanz unless they're Heinz....
Having said that, most supermarket brands aare probably Heinz under the store's various own branding, supplied to them at vastly reduced price in mass deals Same goes for a lot of products to be honest. Half the enjoyment of food is that you go for a top brand thinking it's much ssuperior because you paid top dollar when in actual fact you are eating the same stuff in another packaging.
I feel that half of shoppers are just shopping for show, wouldn't be seen dead putting supermarket own brand stuff in their trollies because they are all laid out at the checkout conveyor belt for their peers to see. Whereby, a peasant like me could care less if their is someone we know in the queue behind me 
@EmilieT wrote:@Anonymous
That is quite a list, I respect each and every one of the people you referenced but their cooking is sometimes beyond my kitchen so not too much inspiration there!
☺As I said Italian cuisine is complicated, you've got to factor in the Italian diaspora who have been emigrating and setting up food establishments all over the world. Without a shadow of a doubt Pizza was an Italian invention but Chicago Deep Dish Pizza wasn't. Shop bought bronze die precision engineered pasta shapes designed to hold the ideal amount of sauce by etching grooves in the shapes can't be reproduced at home and taste fantastic. Making pasta to stuff your own ravioli or tortellini on the other hand, can can be spectacularly good as well. Homemade gnocchi usually tastes better than the shop bought version.
Italians aren't so keen on homemade pasta but they're very keen on selling pasta machines for the rest of the world. Usually the best Italian food you will ever eat will be in an Italian household. Take the Aranchini: ragu stuffed risotto balls which are deep-fried in breadcrumbs. And are almost impossible to reproduce well in a restaurant. At best you will have pre-prepared frozen Arancini which are deep-fried to order, and taste nothing like the ones that you get when you go to an Italian friend's mum's house...
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@Anonymous wrote:
@jonsie wrote:Today I managed beans on toast without burning either the beans or the toast......just ask if you want the recipe.....
I'm a fan of Heinz baked beanz ... allus have been since a kid
What brand can you recommend @jonsie ?
A friend of mine likes Branston beanz, but they're awful, I couldn't eat them
Fried Spam & Heinz beanz is good especially with a poached egg or two on top
I grew up on Heinz baked beans as an American @Anonymous and ate them for years as an adult. Then out of curiosity I tried Branston and have never gone back. I find the sauce richer and more tomatoey then Heinz. I like beans with frankfuters, again very American. And I add sauerkraut, which I know is German but also again very American, ie frankfuter in a bun with mustard and sauerkraut: yummy.
