Some Questions on Bulking up Bolognese and Butcher Cuts - please help!

moneysavinglaura

Hi All,

I have been avidly reading my way through "Sneaky ways to save the pennies" - on page 26 now! - but I have a few questions as I wanted to put some of the ideas into practice this week. I hope I have done the right thing by posting this here, I'm quite new! I tried asking the questions on the original thread but I don't tihnk many people write on it regularly anymore


1. if I were to add grated carrots to a bolognese sauce, could we REALLY not be able to taste it? I feel more inclined to chop up carrots into chunks and add it like that as I don't want to overpower the flavour with carrotiness, however, I will bow to your superioir knowledges, oh wise ones! Would lentils be better? What about oatmeal?

2. What types of pulses are there? I am not too familiar with these types of food at all (I'm trying to test out new food and have even discovered an oriental foods shop down the road).

3. I am making a beef bourgignon this weekend. What would people suggest I add to that to bulk it up? I will add mushrooms to it anyway. When would I add the extra veg? I was hoping to bulk it up so that I would not need to eat it with potato to cut down on my calores. However, would replacing potato with beans or lentils or vegetables be a calorie-efficient way of doing it? Would it be just as healthy eating the mashed potato?

4. People have mentioned that the neck of lamb or brisket are the cheapest and tastiest cuts of meat to order at a butchers. Now, I've only ever ordered standard things from a butcher in the past, ie. sausages and I have no idea how to go about ordered brisket or neck of lamb! I don't know how much to order! Would the butcher be able to help me with this? I just don't want to look like a complete numpty (I fear that there is nothing to prevent this...) In general, are butchers cheaper than supermarkets? Do they have set prices? Would you suggest that I do my meat shopping there? How much would brisket cost for 2 people with some spare to freeze? Are there any other cheap meats that anyone thinks I should try?

5. And is anything else particularly good value at a butchers, so that I can order it while I am there?

Lots of questions, I know!! I'm trying to teach myself how to cook currently as I'm moving out of a shared house into a flat with my boyfriend and trying to domesticate myself. Any help to any of my questions would be most appreciated!!:j

Should I have posted them seperately?

Thanks

Laura :rolleyes:

mashup_2

My Nan, one of the original wartime os'ers always put pearl barley into her mince dishes. It absorbes the meaty flavour of the stock and gave the whole dish a creamy trexture that we as children liked. Her measures were always in handfuls so it is trial and error to get the balance exactly to your families taste but worth a try.

Pink.

Hi moneysavinglaura,

Welcome to Old Style. :hello:

1) You won't taste the carrot if it's grated but my mum used to add chopped carrot to bolognese so you could go either way with this. You could add lentils as well or instead of the carrots, they will just disappear into the sauce. I've never tried bulking it out with porridge oats as I don't fancy that, but others have tried it with mixed results. You need to be aware that the oats really do swell so you can end up with bolognese flavoured porridge so if you choose this method just try using very little to start with. There are more thoughts on this thread:

Bulking out Meals?


2) Pulses consist mainly of beans, peas, barley and lentils and they are relatively high in protein so they're good for you and I often use them as a meat substitute or to pad out meat based meals. These threads may help:

Pulses Novice needs HELP!!!!

Pulses quick questions thread.


3)You can add what ever veg you enjoy to bulk out the boeuf bourguignon. The beans or lentils would work well with it, but personally I love it with mashed potatoes.

4) Talk to your butcher. They're normally really helpful and will be glad to suggest amounts to suit your family's needs. The meat from my butcher is definitely better quality and a similar (if not cheaper) price than the supermarket. This thread should help with different cuts of meat:

cheaper cuts of meat

5) Do you like ofal? Liver and kidneys are great value, and in my opinion really tasty, but not everyone likes them.

The best advice is to go in and talk to your butcher...he won't think you're a numpty and will probably be more than happy to help and make suggestions. If he's a decent butcher he will also give you hints and tips on cooking the meat that you buy from him.

Good luck,

Pink

maman

Hi Laura

I know exactly what you mean about trawling through enormous threads. Personally I think they should be archived for anyone who wants to to refer to them and leave the boards for current things but that's another story and likely to get me into trouble,

I can't answer the potatoes/pulses question about calories but if I were you I'd have a very few new potatoes (easy to count out) with your bourgignon and serve a green veg (like green beans) alongside and maybe cauliflower as well if you're willing to pay for one!!

Personally I like to add carrots, mushrooms, courgettes, sometimes celery and, of course, onions to my bolognaise. I just chop up the veg and we like it that way. Some people on here 'hide' the veg because they're unlucky enough to have families who moan if they find veg so they have to be more devious. I have added a small amount of oats/red lentils to bolognaise but mainly I stick to veg in bolognaise and pulses in chilli (although I put veg in there too!).

What you think of different cuts of meat will depend on your tastes. Liver is a favourite round here. Provided you aren't absolutely desperate for money I think a good way forward is to meal plan a mixture of cheaper and more expensive meals across the week and bulk cook and use your freezer. HTH

Pink.

maman wrote: »

Hi Laura

I know exactly what you mean about trawling through enormous threads. Personally I think they should be archived for anyone who wants to to refer to them and leave the boards for current things but that's another story and likely to get me into trouble,

Hi maman,

I don't think Laura was complaining about the length of the thread, just stating that she didn't get the response she needed to her specific questions in that thread.

The thread you are referring to is long but it's still current and at the time of posting has had 154 new posts in the last month, so it's still popular amongst Old Stylers.

Board guides have recently been asked not to close threads until they reach 4000 posts. If you have a problem with the policy then perhaps you should contact the team rather than raising it in threads where they are unlikely to see your thoughts. You can reach the MSE team by sending an e-mail to [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

Pink

moneysavinglaura

Hi,
What does barley taste like? Not tried that before.
Thanks for all your suggestions and the links to the other pages.
I think that the thread I am currently reading is fantastic, and is actually fine being the length it is as it's so full of info. However, I do find some of the other threads a bit of a struggle simply because they are so chatty and don't know where to start! I tried joining the Flylady thread which I found quite difficult. I guess you should only read the first post and then the last ones. Anyway, I have decided to postpone that until September when I move into my own place with bf. I can't wait!!!