Weezl and friends Phase 3 - sitting pretty with Kitty

Allegra

The crisps look good, Lesley ! :T
We went foraging today - came back with a lb of yellow plums, 2.5 lb of plum cherries, a lb of crabapples and nearly 5 lb of proper big apples ! Not bad for an hour's work....

No idea what to do with your tubs, I'm afraid ! Have they got lids ?

Allegra

MadDogWoman wrote: »

Just cooking the nut roast and spotted an omission in the method, it doesn't say when to add the beans, I'm assuming that they go in with the rest of the ingredients.

You need to mash them up with a fork a bit, MDW. No worries if you haven't, though, I'm sure they'll work just as fine.

I know this has been spotted before, but Weezlie isn't able to do website edits atm I think - Shankletons, are you still running an edits list ? If this isn't on yet, worth popping it on now

shanks77

- Shankletons, are you still running an edits list ? If this isn't on yet, worth popping it on now [/QUOTE]

Tis on list for the boss

System

MadDogWoman wrote: »

Just cooking the nut roast and spotted an omission in the method, it doesn't say when to add the beans, I'm assuming that they go in with the rest of the ingredients.

I'm making the nut roast, too! I'll be back later with a verdict. For the moment, though... The oven temperature is given only as "gas mark 5", with no ºC equivalent (I'm cooking it at 180ºC, as I type). Thought I'd mention it because other recipes seem to have a range of equivalent settings and I wondered whether this one had been overlooked.

I didn't know to mash my beans :-( I did notice that the picture on the CFR website didn't seem to have any visible beans, but since the serving suggestion in the photograph (green beans, baked potato and gravy) doesn't match that in the recipe (carrot and potato "bubble and squeak), I just assumed that the beans were added to the recipe after the picture was taken. Never mind. I'm sure it'll be grand with whole beans in, and the purply skins will introduce an interesting colour variation!

Back soon...

Lesley_Gaye

Allegra wrote: »

The crisps look good, Lesley ! :T
We went foraging today - came back with a lb of yellow plums, 2.5 lb of plum cherries, a lb of crabapples and nearly 5 lb of proper big apples ! Not bad for an hour's work....

No idea what to do with your tubs, I'm afraid ! Have they got lids ?

cor, what a lovely haul

what will you do with your crab apples? Our local Tesco has a crab apple tree in the car park and I made quite a bit of ca jelly last year, and still have lots left, so don't want to make any more

sadly the tubs don't have lids, no. They are the ones that deli counters have pate in

Allegra

Hmmmm. I was thinking storage, but as it is.... Starter trays for your seeds next spring ? (Bet you have lots of those already though ! )

I only picked up a few crab apples this time as I just want to use them for added pectin for blackberry jam. I am hoping for more later on to do crabapple jelly, but I don't really know what else to use them for either, am planning to scour my cookbooks for ideas some time soon.

Oh, I know though - last year I used a few in all the apple pies/apple braids I made using ordinary sweet apples; they added a bit of tartness so it almost tasted like it was made with Bramleys. I think this might work in the apple curd, too....

System

Right, back with a verdict on the nut roast... I had intended to cook this recipe a week and a half ago, and in the intervening period someone seems to have eaten my walnuts! So I substituted brazil nuts. Since I checked at breakfast time, someone also seems to have snaffled some of the bread I had intended using for the breadcrumbs, so I had to make up the final 25g or so with slightly soggy cream crackers. My peanuts were unsalted. And I didn't serve the carrot-and-potato fry-up accompaniment, but a sort of mirepoix of carrot, celery and petits pois with mint from the garden and some cream. Other than those deviations, I followed the recipe exactly, choosing the options of water instead of stock, and vinegar instead of juice from a jar of peppers (which I don't have).

The recipe makes a very generous quantity (which would easily serve six of us) and the nut roast turned out of the tin perfectly (sometimes a problem with my usual range of nut roasts), making it easy to serve. As I mentioned in my previous post, I didn't mash my beans, but to be honest I think I would prefer them left whole because they gave another textural dimension which I rather liked. Cooking off the flour in the onions and adding water makes a very stodgy base, with a consistency rather like a soggy stuffing, which some of us loved but which isn't really my favourite texture in the world. However, the flavour is very good (and would be even better with walnuts), the vinegar being a very good touch, and we all enjoyed it. Some people had seconds, and one is looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow -- in fact, I suspect he will sneak into the kitchen later on and demolish the last slice or two then with a hefty dose of tomato ketchup. I do think it needs a bit of sauce or gravy (or maybe a tomato salsa) with it -- we had a dribble of minted cream from the vegetables, and the website photograph has gravy, but the recipe itself doesn't suggest such an adornment. I think that eating large quantities of potato with it would be very difficult.

Given our fondness for our regular nut roasts, I'm not sure whether I would make this again. But if I did, I would probably try reducing the amount of flour added -- I can see why it's there (to help bind the other ingredients, in the absence of egg), but it does make the roast ever so slightly gloopy. Maybe that's just me, though, because some of us liked it just the way it was. Even my husband, who peered into the pan at the flour-water-onion stage, and asked if I was cooking porridge! :-)

It's definitely a worthwhile recipe, despite this slight reservation, and the nut roast is very filling and satisfying to eat (as well as tasting very good).

Lesley_Gaye

Allegra wrote: »

Hmmmm. I was thinking storage, but as it is.... Starter trays for your seeds next spring ? (Bet you have lots of those already though ! )

I only picked up a few crab apples this time as I just want to use them for added pectin for blackberry jam. I am hoping for more later on to do crabapple jelly, but I don't really know what else to use them for either, am planning to scour my cookbooks for ideas some time soon.

Oh, I know though - last year I used a few in all the apple pies/apple braids I made using ordinary sweet apples; they added a bit of tartness so it almost tasted like it was made with Bramleys. I think this might work in the apple curd, too....

hmm, yes, apple curd is a good idea, it would be lovely and tart.

I had a cranberry and baby apple version this morning whizzed with half a frozen banana and some soya milk, and very scrummy it was too

MadDogWoman_2

I made the nut roast today as well, it's something completely new to our house.

I used salted peanuts and walnuts, pinto beans instead of kidney. I used stock instead of water and the liquid of a pepper jar as I had it in the fridge.

I also didn't mash the beans I also left some fairly large chunks of nut for texture too.

As Allegra said it was quite gloopy, mine did stick but that's because I overestimated the non stickness of my loaf tin.

I served it with the Bubble and Squeak, but rather than frying it I piled it into my Remoska and let it cook whilst the Roast was in the oven. I also thought it needed a sauce of some sort so rustled up a quick gravy.

I also used chicken stock as I had some homemade sat in the fridge.

DD - impressed me greatly by trying it as nuts are a new taste for her and she not currently that keen.

DH and I cleared our plates, we have enough left for lunch tomorrow too.

Ready for the Oven.


Bubble and Squeak with a Twist


Out of the Oven


Out of the Tin


On the Plate


DH has said that it's something he will eat again.

nopot2pin

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

tested a quiche for cfr last night. On the cfr spreadsheet it comes out to 38p per person including 250g wedges, and is about 720 calories. I used the next size up flan dish, but you could use the usual 20cm sized one and have a deeper filling


pastry - a little more than you would need for the 20cm tin
150g sr flour
70ml oil
70ml water

filling
4 eggs
100g grated cheddar
80g finely chopped onion
80g grated carrot
80g peas

this is the mixture





this is the filled quiche, ready for the oven



this is last nights dinner, with 250g wedges and some flash fried cherry toms from the garden



and this is the other half left for tonight. I know it doesn't look like half, but it is, it must have been the angle of the camera or something.





and here are some of my ugly brandywine tomatoes, huge and lumpy, but with a fantastic flavour

Smashing quiche recipe
Just in the nick of time too.... ....
My friend texted me yesterday, if I had the need for any eggs, as she had been given 2 trays (30 in each tray), free !!! All free range !!
So, of course I said I could definately use some of those
I was going to make a quiche or two, for my self and the biddies... but this recipe makes it even more frugal for me :T

Allegra wrote: »

Just a quick heads up to all Asda shoppers - their strong white flour (the one that Shirl and Kitty both use in their planners) is now down to 50p, so this is a good time to stock up

:T:T
Thanks Allegra

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

we had a WI function a little while ago and went to the Tesco deli counter for some olives, pate etc.

the woman there took a liking to us and rummaged in her fridge for some olives that had to be used that day and sold them to us for half price, plus the same for a huge chunk of salami and a whole Ardennes pate (worth an ask then!)

the pate came in those black packages, that look like a small loaf tin, but are made of thick plastic

she asked if we wanted any of the tubs, and not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, we said yes please, and she gave us 17 of them!

so we now have 17 good quality plastic tubs 7.25"/18.5cm x 4"/ 10cm and 3"/8cm deep, and not much idea of what to do with them!

Anyone got any inspiration?

Could you not make pate in them, and when set, slice into portions and freeze ?
Or maybe smaller jelly/trifle moulds ?
Not sure what else they could be used for, because of the plastic