Inherited ingredients....

onedayiwill

In 2006 I "inherited" some foodstuff from some very dear friends who were moving abroad. I am now clearing out my cupboards (good chance we will be moving soon and don't want to have to move a load of food...) and came across a remaining box of this stuff ....

It's contents as follows:

• Huge bag (2kg!) of Potato Starch best before Jan 2006
• Packet of Atora Light shredded vegetable suet best before May 2007
• A coffee jar half full of sesame seeds
• Can of Sainsbury's crunchy whole water chestnuts in water best before Nov 2007
• One unopened bag and one half used bag of Five Spiced Powder best before Nov 2005

I don't usually worry too much about best before dates but most stuff in my cupboard never gets quite this far out of date. Is there anything here you wouldn't risk using? How can I tell if it is OK (bear in mind I don't usually use these ingredients so wouldn't know what they were like "normally")?

And about the potato starch. I have never in my life used this stuff - I know it can be used as a thickener for soups, sauces etc but most of my stuff doesn't need thickening. Can I use it for anything else at all??? Any one got any recipes? I tried doing some research on google but wasn't that fruitful because most of the recipes required other stuff too like gram flour, rice flour etc which I don't have and don't really want to buy (the aim being to empty the cupboards). I did however learn that potato starch and potato flour are two different things and to check recipes carefully.

Or should I just bin this stuff and be done with it?

BitterAndTwisted

I'd bin the vegetable suet if it doesn't smell fresh, all fats go rancid eventually. Everything else I'd use but not if I had to buy special stuff to make a decent meal out of it. Those water-chestnuts would be lovely in a stir-fry.

Can't help with the potato-starch, I've never used it myself. Would it be used for coating foods before frying or something? What about gnocci (sp)?

onedayiwill

Vegetable Suet gone into bin.

Sesame seeds lined up to go in these nice sounding biscuits to be taken to an event I'm going to on Saturday (so I won't be tempted to eat them all myself!) http://www.recipezaar.com/Sesame-Seed-Biscuits-20552

Will but the chestnuts at the front of the shelf and aim to use in a stir fry in the next week or so.

Which leaves me with huge amounts of five spice and potato starch.

Someone told me to make glue with the potato starch .. nice idea but I don't have many things that need sticking!! Bit like not having enough sauces to thicken...!

mumto1_2

the sesame seeds will taste old and 'dusty' - they have fat in them, too, like all nuts/seeds, so i'd bin them. And if you really aren't going to use the starch + spice, then just bin them, no point in spending money on using them up when they aren't at their best anyway.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

mumto1 wrote: »

the sesame seeds will taste old and 'dusty' - they have fat in them, too, like all nuts/seeds, so i'd bin them. And if you really aren't going to use the starch + spice, then just bin them, no point in spending money on using them up when they aren't at their best anyway.

I'd second that on the sesame seeds.
They taste foul when old,any nuts and seeds do.

frivolous_fay

Yeah, I'd check the seeds before earmarking them.... old seeds get nasty and rancid!

Rummer

I would bin the lot!

Beki

lol i'd use the lot but then, i've been known to use flour 4 years past it's best - still here to tell the tale though! hehe

Confuzzled

you could try sprouting the sesame seeds, sprouts are very healthy and tasty... as old as they are it might not work but at least you won't have lost anything in the attempt

as for the potato starch, here are a few links i found that might be helpful
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?foodido=4709,12251,17967&title=potato%20starch
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-potato-starch.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20070219/ai_n18623400/


sorry couldn't resist including this one... recycle it
http://www.packagingnews.co.uk/packsclosures/news/828677/Apple-use-potato-starch-packaging-iPhone-3G/


hope those are of some use to you

if you can't use the potato starch by all means add it to your compost heap at least!

[Deleted User]

The suet and sesame seeds will be a lovely treat for the birds.

I'm for composting the rest. Send it back into the food chain!