Weezl's phase 1- recipe testing and frugalisation- come one, come all!

lorietta

Am going to ask a bit of a thick question now- what's a roux? Think I can try and make a version of pasta Alfredo for tea at some point this weekend. Either that or the chicken pie because I like pie.

I am one of these people who can't cook very well, possibly like Shirley, although my Mum has taught me some very good and useful dishes, but I can probably cook about five things from scratch- Pasta Carbonara, Spaghetti Bologniese, Lasagne, "Student" pie, and some sort of curry. Oh and cookies and omletes but they don't really count.

I can make more following a recipe, but I get easily confused and more than once have phoned my more foodie friends or my mum "how do I do XYZ?". To be honest, I would say I am about average for a uni student/19 year old in this country- although I have friends who do stuff like make sushi, and friends who can't cook pasta. But I still struggle to boil an egg *blush*.

Allegra

lorietta wrote: »

Am going to ask a bit of a thick question now- what's a roux?

Roux is a mixture of cooked fat and flour and a basis for the white sauce, cheese sauce, and numerous other sauces with posh names So, to make a roux, you just melt the fat (butter or similar), then add the required amount of flour, then stir it until it's lumpy no more and the flour taste has been "cooked out" (the two tend to coincide, so you needn't worry about tasting it) before adding other ingredients. Simply put, roux is the thickening agent that turns a liquid into a sauce.

And no, it's not a thick question. How can you be expected to know if no one ever told you, eh ?

lorietta

Thank you.

I am going to atempt the chicken pie as apparently there is some chicken breast in the fridge, so I will have to cook it first but hopefully will follow the rest of th recipe as normal, although if there are no onions then testing will have to wait til tomorrow, or when I can get hold of some bacon for the pasta dishes.

EDIT: No there is no onion. I am going to do a pasta dish- one of the ones supposed to go with bacon, but with what might be "leftover" amounts of chicken. Don't know how much use it will be, but at least the sauce will get tested.

poohbear59

weezl74 wrote: »

well done you with your 4 strapping lads :T:T
the lentil shepherd's pie fits well with planner 2, please post it

don't worry everyone I will just keep it here til we are ready to look in more detail at planner 2. No rushing off in new directions.:D:o

My DH and DSs are quite happy about me testing new recipes on them and are willing to answer questions on what they like/don't like. We do eat quite cheaply anyway so thay are glad of a bit more variety.

DH did say one day 'I know we are on an economy drive, but can we please have some sausage sandwiches?' They do need extra bits sometimes as they are all so understanding.

This is one of their favourite meals. I measured the ingredients for the first time yesterday:o It made a large lasagne dishful, fed four of us and left extras for lunch for the two who were home for lunch today too.

Spicy shepherds pie recipe;

1.5kg potatoes , cooked and mashed
2 onions, finely chopped
clove of garlic (home grown)
3 tins tomatoes
250g red lentils
450g finely diced carrots
half tsp chilli powder
2tbsp vegetable oil
75g grated cheese
500ml veg stock


We will be available to test the meal plan for April too if you would like us to give it a try. Just let us know:D

Also have I photos of chicken pies I made but have no idea how to put them on here.

weezl74

Sian_the_Green wrote: »

Vegetarians? Pah

Is the lard something that will be used for other things too? Just that I was using trex the other week and that was good. So is the lard to replace the oil but with an aim to have less of it in there? From past experience my friends will eat anything I put in front of them and ask for seconds, though that could be my excellent skill in the kitchen (or fear!). Will definitely have a go. What about other snacky things or breakfast or lunch things? Am happy to try anything and know that the breakfasts and lunches are being organised now.

x

in the cake, the reduction was about a few people thinking the original was a bit oily, it was 350ml, so I reduced it to 250ml, and I'd like to try replacing with lard. This is because we have hit an issue of delivering enough calories, and lard is a cheaper way to deliver those calories, in a recipe where a fat is required, such as a cake.

HTH x

Lesley_Gaye

Acetate monkey's answer:
The formula needs to include a way of making the ingredient quantity cells (e.g. dn35) say 1 (as shirley is only making one mega batch which contains 48 portions) yet be able to say 12 family breakfast (DN4). So the ingredient cell needs to divide by twelve. I've just added /12 at the end of the formula but I don't understand Excel beyond v.easy formulae so am worried it may corrupt somehow. Is there a better way to do it or is that OK?
AM


yes, that's fine. I had done a similar thing but using column DM, have changed the planner in the Workspace to reflect your way

poohbear59

weezl74 wrote: »

Lesley and I weren't sure if it imparts a strong savoury flavour to things... can you use it in sweet stuff? I've heard of lardy cakes, and I think welsh cakes were traditionally made with Lard... so I'm guessing it's ok, but then dripping (which is the same?) has quite a beefy flavour.

So it might be a bit of a risk, but either the carrot cake original version, reduced fat of the original but subbed with lard, would be a fab test. But please have a hunt on google first just to check it doesn't taste really beefy first or you might land up hating me, and all your pals too! (oh and are they vegetarian, cos they won't want a cake with lard :rotfl:)

Weezl x (hope my pm was ok earlier? )

When I first learnt to cook at college we were always told to use half lard and half hard margarine. It makes a lovely short pastry.

To be honest I haven't used it in years, used to use 'white flora' which I can't find anywhere now so I have recently used Trex. Lard doesn't flavour the foods but is high in saturated fats, hence us using vegetable suet or Trex instead. I also use oil in place of lard or butter in many recipes as it is healthier. Lard can be used in cakes and in pastries including sweet pastry but Trex might be preferable. I hope that answers your question.

weezl74

lorietta thank you loads for being willing to test things! sorry there's no onions, the pie is really terrific

I definitely agree with Allegra that there's no such thing as a stupid question.

PoohBear that's fantastic you'd like to go with the month planner. Shall we see when artybear gets back after easter and start then all together or will that mess up Allegra, Frankie, and Poohbear's planning and budgetting? I think ariarnia said she was ready to begin whenever

thanks lesley for the excel advice, DH is very pleased he got it right we are not nearly so good as you Can you do that for the tangy bean pate, pumpkin seed butter and bob's lunchtime pate too, or shall I get DH to do the thing he did?

xxx

Sian_the_Green

poohbear59 wrote: »

When I first learnt to cook at college we were always told to use half lard and half hard margarine. It makes a lovely short pastry.

To be honest I haven't used it in years, used to use 'white flora' which I can't find anywhere now so I have recently used Trex. Lard doesn't flavour the foods but is high in saturated fats, hence us using vegetable suet or Trex instead. I also use oil in place of lard or butter in many recipes as it is healthier. Lard can be used in cakes and in pastries including sweet pastry but Trex might be preferable. I hope that answers your question.

If we could use trex I would have thought it would be cheaper? I think there is something in people that doesn't like the idea of melted animal fat so much as vegetable fat, seems strange though, how do you get fat out of vegetables
I will go with whichever you think Weezl, up to you

weezl74

Sian_the_Green wrote: »

If we could use trex I would have thought it would be cheaper? I think there is something in people that doesn't like the idea of melted animal fat so much as vegetable fat, seems strange though, how do you get fat out of vegetables
I will go with whichever you think Weezl, up to you

trex is 7p per 100g more expensive than the lard. And having checked we have a good balance of the different fats, well below the upper allowable limit, I think (fingers crossed) we can run with it in the recipes.

As it's not going to make the cake taste beefy, are you willing to give it a bash?

Also what about some of QOS's breadsticks, with a runnier version of the tangy bean pate served as a dipping sauce to go along with them? Might be quite nice before the pizza? And as you're making a dough anyway....?

you're an: :A:A:A:A:A