Weezl and friends Phase 3 - sitting pretty with Kitty

System

Allegra, I am now salivating over the idea of the walnut spread recipe. It makes me think of those lovely hot pralines you can buy on the continent -- does it taste anything like that? Guess what is on the cards for me next week? :-)

And now for the Shepherdless Pie... In telegraphic notes, because I'm in a bit of a hurry:

~ I've never soaked lentils before (unless I wanted to sprout them), and only noticed this morning that the recipe wanted me to do so. So I gave them a few hours in cold water before cooking them, but I still don't know why this stage is needed. Green lentils cook in 30 to 40 minutes, without any soaking.

~ Possibly as a result of the partial soaking, my lentils were cooked long before the 40 minutes indicated in the recipe, but I still had to carry on boiling them to get rid of some of the liquid. Result was a slightly mushy base (but still delish).

~ It's no big deal, but the recipe doesn't say what to do with the oregano. Anyone with any sense could work it out, but it would still be nice if the method mentioned it.

~ I assumed that the Marmite should be dissolved in the 700 ml water, but the method is ambiguous, implying that the Marmite stock is separate to the water. As I certainly wouldn't want any more liquid in the dish, maybe these two ingredients could be combined?

~ The roasted parsnips are a bit of a faff because they need to be cooked separately, but their contribution to the finished dish is so good that I forgave them. I wonder whether they could be simmered with the other vegetables instead, saving the extra oven time?

~ I only ate a couple of slices of potato, but the others tell me that they need to be seasoned. (Actually, butter and/or olive oil were mentioned as well, but I recognise that this is out of the project scope.)

~ I thought the lentilly bit tasted lovely but I possibly didn't season it enough, because my son said he thought it needed Worcestershire sauce. (With which, he said, it was tasted very good indeed.)

And our verdict? Actually, I make this sort of thing a lot, and we really like it. We would have no problem eating it regularly, regardless of our financial circumstances, so it is a definite weekday winner for us. However, the key with plain food like this is to take care with the seasonings, so that it doesn't taste plain (next time, I would season the potatoes as well as the base). I quite like the relative separateness of the potato slices, because I can detach them easily and give them to the potato-lovers amongst us. Altogether, a good basic dish.

weezl74

Avocet wrote: »

~ I've never soaked lentils before (unless I wanted to sprout them), and only noticed this morning that the recipe wanted me to do so. So I gave them a few hours in cold water before cooking them, but I still don't know why this stage is needed. Green lentils cook in 30 to 40 minutes, without any soaking.

done (removed)

Avocet wrote: »

~ Possibly as a result of the partial soaking, my lentils were cooked long before the 40 minutes indicated in the recipe, but I still had to carry on boiling them to get rid of some of the liquid. Result was a slightly mushy base (but still delish).

~ It's no big deal, but the recipe doesn't say what to do with the oregano. Anyone with any sense could work it out, but it would still be nice if the method mentioned it.

done

Avocet wrote: »

~ I assumed that the Marmite should be dissolved in the 700 ml water, but the method is ambiguous, implying that the Marmite stock is separate to the water. As I certainly wouldn't want any more liquid in the dish, maybe these two ingredients could be combined?

done

Avocet wrote: »

~ The roasted parsnips are a bit of a faff because they need to be cooked separately, but their contribution to the finished dish is so good that I forgave them. I wonder whether they could be simmered with the other vegetables instead, saving the extra oven time?

would anyone be willing to try this to save kitty time?

Avocet wrote: »

~ I only ate a couple of slices of potato, but the others tell me that they need to be seasoned. (Actually, butter and/or olive oil were mentioned as well, but I recognise that this is out of the project scope.)

done

Avocet wrote: »

~ I thought the lentilly bit tasted lovely but I possibly didn't season it enough, because my son said he thought it needed Worcestershire sauce. (With which, he said, it was tasted very good indeed.) And our verdict? Actually, I make this sort of thing a lot, and we really like it. We would have no problem eating it regularly, regardless of our financial circumstances, so it is a definite weekday winner for us. However, the key with plain food like this is to take care with the seasonings, so that it doesn't taste plain (next time, I would season the potatoes as well as the base). I quite like the relative separateness of the potato slices, because I can detach them easily and give them to the potato-lovers amongst us. Altogether, a good basic dish.

wow thanks :T:T:T:T

weezl74

nopot2pin wrote: »

Anyway... I will now HAVE to try the walnut spread

yes you do! I order it potty

Allegra wrote: »

I'll just leave you all with a happy thought instead - that walnut spread has to be one of the nicest things I've ever eaten. I am having serious trouble stopping myself from finishing the jar in one sitting

I'm really glad you said that- I really like it too - more from me on that in a minute, I realised something last night on that front that I think the team need to know.

nopot2pin wrote: »

I was supposed to be cooking the calzone... but have spent most of the day at the biddies, doing odd jobs for them.
I haven't eaten yet
So I think it will be something quick from the freezer... maybe even bean curry again ... will have a delve and see.

I went out for a walk early with a friend, to see how the brambles are coming on, in my area. A couple are ready... but I reckon it will be another week or two before they are ready.
On the plus side, I found some wild raspberrys :j, not alot, as the season is almost done... but at least I know they are there for next year:cool:. I probably have 2 or 3 portions

Anyway, off to raid the freezer.
TTFN

how are your eyes ATM m'dear? xx

System

weezl74 wrote: »

would anyone be willing to try this to save kitty time?

Actually, in the cold light of day, I'm wondering whether I was wrong to have suggested cooking the parsnips along with the other ingredients rather than roasting them in the oven.

The reason that the parsnips worked in the dish was because they were sort of separate, somehow, like occasional little parsnip islands in a sea of lentil stew. That effect would be lost if they were stewed with everything else, because all the flavours would merge together (although that might also be nice). On the other hand, it does seem to be a shocking waste of electricity having to run the oven for half an hour for what amounts to a single parsnip. Hmmmm.

aless02

does the walnut spread actually taste like...walnuts?

(I don't like walnuts...)

P.S. interesting potato recipe...I might be tempted to try it! :eek: - except it doesn't say what to do with the butter?? Any theories?

aless02

I'm fairly convinced that the lentil pate is to blame for our very, er...interesting...nappies as of late. _pale_

weezl74

aless02 wrote: »

I'm fairly convinced that the lentil pate is to blame for our very, er...interesting...nappies as of late. _pale_

:rotfl:

are they really rough aless?

see ferg's always been a bunged up boy so lentils for weaning were an advantage

I'll be cursing it with kessie I'm sure :rotfl:

Allegra

Sadly, MSE does not seem to allow me to load photos at the moment, which is rather annoying, especially seeing the trouble I had getting them online in the first place :mad:



Anyway, shepherdess pie - nice, although I really should have served it with peas again, as they go really well with the flavour of the pie, rather than the runner beans which were our stand-in for the peas simply as there's so many of them about at the moment.

I thought parsnips worked really, really well - and I agree with Avocet, it does seem terribly wasteful to have the oven on for so long for something so small - the trouble is, though, that parsnips that are not roasted, in my humble whatsit, taste rank. Gotta be better organised next time and make sure I have something else in the oven at the time; and it might be worth it to slide in a line to that effect into the recipe, too, for Kitty's benefit.

BTW, I too struggle with the 2kg of flour batch of bread - it is a tough one, though, with batch size against the frequency of baking. I'm afraid I have no answer to that one

Aless, I'm afraid that if you dislike walnuts, then you are probably unlikely to like the spread, even though it does taste less walnuty than you might expect. Shall I bring a bit to the meet for you so you can taste it without splashing out on the ingredients that might not get eaten ?

Incidentally, a very interesting thread on Old Style - taking that argument further, should you not be allowed to buy BOGOFs and other offers if your income allows you to buy items at full price ? And more pertinently to us here, should we be allowed to take advantage of the CFR recipes if we can afford to spend more than £25 per person on food each month ? Discuss

Allegra

Fixed images now:

artybear

Nice photos Allegra. I like your white plates.

I have read that thread on O/S and personally think its completely ridiculous not to buy something reduced 'in case' someone else needs it and it has never ever ever crossed my mind.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx