Store cupboard challenge

ceridwen

Hi

I'm doing the storecupboard challenge - and "shopping at home" to use up what I have. Would be glad of any ideas anyone has on using up various luxury bits I have in (well - food is one of the pleasures of life! - thats my excuse anyway). They are:

- passata
- edamame beans
- lumpfish caviar (I know, I know - a teensy part of the reason I am in debt is having "expensive tastes"). Mea culpa. I console myself with thought that most of my financial problems are because I had a paycut, when I expected a payrise - so not my fault)
- pickled lemons
- canned artichokes
- gungo peas (aka pigeon peas)
- black turtle peas.

Everything else in larder and freezer is more everyday stuff - so know what to do with that. Ideas welcome for abovementioned tho?

Thanks everyone in advance.

Boomdocker

I don't know what half of that is Ceridwen!! lol Im having having bangers and mash for me tea if that helps! :rotfl:

Zazen999

Hi

Don't do fish so can't help with that - but the other stuff i would use the passata with the beans and some onions and potatoes and make a soup; and the peas add some onions and celery and make a pea soup. Or a Curry, just add to the curry sauce mix someone has posted just above this. Or mexican as you have beans [onions, cook in oil with some cumin and chili powder, add the beans and cook down. Half mash them when they are cooked, and serve with potato wedges, or tortillas or rice].
Pickled lemon - never ever heard of these and what a strange thing to do with them. If i was on ready steady cook though, i think i would cook onions and courgettes in some oil, pop a squashed picked lemon in and possible some passata, and leave to cook down. Serve with Mild spiced basmati. A sprig of mint possibly chopped over the top???

redsquirrel80

One of my favourite occasional treats is M&S edamame bean and tuna salad, they seem to go very well together, so perhaps you could do a homemade version of that? (it's basically rocket and some other green leaves I think, tuna, the beans and dressing). I also found this recipe online for a sort of omelette thing using them which I thought sounded interesting (guess it depends what else you have though):

Ingredients: 1 large egg and 2 egg whites; 1 tablespoon of milk (preferably skimmed); 1 teaspoon olive oil; 11/2 cups fresh raw spinach leaves, loosely packed; 1/3 cup shelled edamame; 1/8 cup chopped red pepper; 1/8 cup finely chopped sweet or yellow onion; 1 teaspoon minced garlic; 1/3 cup shredded grated cheese of choice; 1 medium tomato or 1 1/2 Roma tomatoes, chopped; 2 teaspoons fresh herbs, such as basil or parsley.
Method: Whisk together egg, egg whites and milk until smooth; set aside. Add olive oil to non-stick frying pan and heat over medium-high heat. When hot, add spinach, edamame, pepper, onion and garlic and sauté. Pour in egg mixture and reduce heat to medium. Gently stir and cook until eggs are soft and cooked. Turn off heat. Sprinkle grated cheese over top. Top with tomatoes, cover frying pan with lid. Let sit for a couple of minutes to melt cheese.

Pickled lemons.. aren't they usually used in/ with Moroccan dishes? I sometimes use up lemons by chopping the flesh up into curry so that might work with them?

Gingernutmeg

I'd just steam the edamame beans and eat them lightly salted - that's what they do with them in Wagamama and they're lovely

Pickled lemons are used a lot in Moroccan cooking, so maybe you could make a 'tagine' style casserole with some lamb or chicken, the passata, some of the different beans and the pickled lemons. Cinnamon is used a lot in Moroccan cooking, and harissa, which is a delicious (but hot) paste made from chillies, various spices and rose petals. Mix all of these together with some onions and red peppers, simmer slowly for a while, serve with cous-cous and you've got a Moroccan style meal lol.

There's not a lot you can 'cook' with lumpfish caviar, it's usually eaten 'as is'. You could make some little pancakes or blinis, top them with creme fraiche and serve them as nibbles if you have a party, or I once made some tiny savoury eclairs from choux pastry and filled them with creme fraiche and the caviar.

Maybe you could just use the beans up in soup?

meanmarie

Hi Ceridwen,

Slice the artichokes and put them on a hm pizza...hmmm; not familiar with either type of pea but I would imagine that you can use them as other legumes in stew, soup or cooked and blitzed with some garlic, finely chopped onion, whatever is your favourite herb and a little good oil to make a pate/dip. Edamame beans are delicious if you fry some chopped bacon/ham and finely chopped onion ( you will notice that I use lots of onions so use as desired) in a little olive oil, add beans to cook through and serve on toast or as a side salad, hot or cold and seasoned to taste.

Serve that lumpfish roe in dollops on crackers or thinly sliced toasted brown bread, top with some finely chopped pickled lemon...which as mentioned by someone else is good in Moroccan dishes or anything using lamb.

Marie

ceridwen

Ummmm... I'm feeling hungry now. Shame I have just used up a few other bits and had dinner. I shall be trying these ideas - ta very much. I had precious little idea of how to cook when I started out and have been teaching myself by trial and error from cookbook recipes - just now feeling confident enough to think the other way round - not "what does the recipe say and make sure I have it" - but "what have I got in and what can I do with it". Could be I need to watch "Ready Steady Cook" a bit more. But I shall certainly have a go at these ideas. Thanks all.

saveaholic68

I've just had a quick browse through this thread, there's some excellent ideas on here. The other day I made a store cupboard vegetable stir fry -
Chopped one onion (that had been there ages and needed to be used) into big chunks, some sliced peppers that had been frozen from fresh, and a tin of sliced mushrooms. I then stir fried them in some oil added lots of dried herbs and crumbled over a chicken stock cube, and cooked some 8p chicken noodles to go with it. It was lovely

torianut

Not sure if posting this in right place but need a bit of help in using up items rather than binning them as I would have done before reading this thread!!

Have some red lentils - been in a sealed container for about 5 months - are they still ok to use?? and as I have binned the packaging - any idea how to use them??

Also have 2 tins of hot dogs left over from party

big bag of porridge oats

mixed fruit jam - we don't eat jam - unless in baking?

all the usuals - pasta, rice, eggs and all baking ingrediants too

Any ideas for using them up??

Thanks xx

littleredhen

torianut wrote: »

Not sure if posting this in right place but need a bit of help in using up items rather than binning them as I would have done before reading this thread!!

Have some red lentils - been in a sealed container for about 5 months - are they still ok to use?? and as I have binned the packaging - any idea how to use them??

Also have 2 tins of hot dogs left over from party

big bag of porridge oats

mixed fruit jam - we don't eat jam - unless in baking?

all the usuals - pasta, rice, eggs and all baking ingrediants too

Any ideas for using them up??

Thanks xx

Red lentils - make lentil soup - i put in one onion chopped and fried in bottom of pan first and add one potato chopped then add 2 pints of veg stock and simmer until lentils are ready -( boil lentils for 10m mins then simmer for 50 mins in a sep pan ) add lentils and serve

For porridge oats make flapjacks

Hot dogs and chips with tomato sauce for a tv dinner

Mixed fruit jam - make jam tarts - yummy with custard on them for pudding

hope this helps