Weezl and friends Phase 3 - sitting pretty with Kitty

domesticgoddess789

Marru wrote: »

Just an update on what I have been up to.

I did the panzanella but I did it hot and without the onions, I liked it DD not so keen. But I have to admit that second time around (when I warmed up the leftovers for luch) I would have rather had pasta than bread with that sauce.

I cooked sweetcorn fritters yesterday for lunch with DD and they were really nice (oh, skipped the onion again ). Raving ratings from DD. I served them with HM spelt soda bread (thanks Pooh Bear :T) and it was really yummy. We actually had only 6 left to put into the freezer (That is one adult and one almost 6 year old)

Today I did the potato wedges to go with the fish that had been lurking in my freezer and they were absolutely brilliant. Instead of chilli powder I used paprika.

I am planning on doing the tomato and olive pudding for lunch tomorrow.

Hi Marru,
It sounds like you have had a Cheap Family Recipes filled week!

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the sweetcorn fritters. Sounds like they went down a storm with your family

I am going to make some of the potato wedges tonight and am really looking forward to them following your rave review.

I'm sure Weezl is thrilled to know the recipes are turning out to be popular with the families testing them

ariarnia

Why can't I fry anything?

I've now tried bubble and squeek and the pancakes and sweetcorn fritters.

they break up, don't brown, or burn, or I use too much oil and they go greasy.

What am I doing wrong - I even bought a new pan in case it was 'cause mine was carp/

Allegra

I can't help on the breaking up - it still happens to me all the time with stuff and I've been cooking for 15 years I just grab it and pat it back into shape en route to the plate Pancakes need a non-stick pan and very little oil - what I do is pour the oil in, heat it up, then pour it off into a bowl, cook the pancake, get it out, then repeat. Works perfectly - but only since I had a decent pan. When I used my old one, they kept burning or sticking. If stuff burns, reduce the heat - I use the lowest setting on the smallest ring to do most of my frying. If things go greasy, drying them on a kitchen towel will sometimes help - it'll absorb excess oil.

And chin up ! I know it can be very annoying and dispiriting to keep trying yet not getting it right, but if you do carry on, you will get there eventually.

And if you don't want to keep trying, it's not the end of the world. Plenty of other frugal recipes you can use instead

System

ariarnia wrote: »

they break up, don't brown, or burn, or I use too much oil and they go greasy.

As well as Allegra's excellent advice, make sure that your pan and oil are hot enough before you add whatever it is you are frying. Suppose you're doing fritters, for example -- don't put them in the pan until the oil is hot enough for them to sizzle immediately. This seals the outside, so they will be crisper and will absorb less oil.

Pancakes are cooked at a lower heat than fried stuff, traditionally on a seasoned cast iron griddle, and they need very little oil. I do have a griddle, but it's not stored very handily in the kitchen so I tend to use a very large non-stick frying pan instead. You really only want to shine the surface, so I dip a piece of kitchen roll in the oil and wipe it over the griddle or pan, setting it aside on a plate between batches and re-using it throughout the pancake cooking session. Again, the pan must be hot. The first pancake of any batch is always rubbish, whoever is cooking it, because of the difficulty in gauging when the temperature is just right -- but it will still taste nice, so can be seen as the cook's perk! With pancakes, you can tell when they are ready to turn because of the little bubbles that form on the surface of the uncooked side. Once you have turned them, you can peek after half a minute or so, to see how the cooking is progressing.

It's trial and error in the beginning, I'm afraid, but it does get easier with practice! And frying isn't really an essential technique so, as Allegra suggests, you can always just decide not to do it. I very, very seldom fry anything because I can't seem to get rid of the smell in the house afterwards -- and I cook a lot. (We do make lots of pancakes, though, which I would class as a different technique.)

Good luck, and keep trying! :-)

Lesley_Gaye

had a thought today re the pies. I now regularly do a chicken, onion and sweetcorn pie, and a chicken, onion and mushroom pie.

I was stuffing the latest Asda order in the cupboard and spotted a tin of corned beef in there, and thought, I bet that would make a lovely beef, onion and mushroom pie.

I would try it, but I have no freezer space at present, and I have the pork joint to test the Chrimbo meal, and I'll have lots of pork left to use up.

so, as well as the pork in cider sauce, there will be at least one pork, onion and (something else tba) pie. As the pies only use a little meat, there will probably be at least one to put in the freezer (assuming I can create enough space)

can you tell I love pies?

stressed.mum

Allegra wrote: »

Your meal plan sounds delish, Stressed ! And I'm glad I'm not the only one to cook separately for DD

She is a vege - so have to cook something else for her - I occasionally have to cook different meals for the others kids too - they have a few dislikes, sausages for one of them etc.

Today we have had pasta carbonara - a hit with most! All would eat it again, a little heavy on the garlic for DS and not DH's favourite, but he doesn't really enjoy pasta meals or cheesy sauces!! Made DD1's with vege ham cos didn't get the tomatoes for her pasta dish, but she enjoyed it.

Shopped today and spent £100, but that includes loads of store cupboard bit, cleaning stuff and enough meals for 6 for about 10 days, very happy with that, should only need to buy milk for the next week or so.

Stressed xxx

RECIPE QUESTION The carbonara recipe has 50ml of oil in ingredients but no where to add it - I didn't use it, but sauce was a little dry?

Bigjenny

Hi stressed.mum

The 50ml oil is to fry the bacon in. 2nd line of method.

HTH

domesticgoddess789

The Nut Roast is AMAZING!!!!!!

Just made it for our dinner and it was very very tasty. My OH (a keen meat eater) gave it a 9/10 and I, a non meat eater who has eaten my fair share of nut roasts, whole heartedly agree

We had it with the potato wedges from the planners and frozen peas. The nut roast itself is very filling and cannot wait to finish it off tomorrow. Will definitely be making this one again. Thank you so much for the recipe Weezl :T

Allegra

I made the carrot loaf/calzone batch at last today Of course, as these things go, as soon as I had a kitchen full of though, my sink fell apart and there was a flood. And then I couldn't figure out how to put Humpty back together again (turns out I was on the right lines, just did not have the sheer brawn necessary to wedge the blighter in. I did break the shelf under the sink in the process though, so I was nearly there).

Tell you one thing, guys - never, ever take the humble kitchen sink for granted. Making a big batch of sticky, floury stuff with no usable sink at hand is no joke. Next time I go anywhere, it's official - I am taking the kitchen sink with me !

Anyway. Bread, carrot loaf and calzone dough:



Tomato sauce:



Bechamel:



Calzone.




As you can see above, I served with corn on the cob as I picked some up whoopsied and they had to be eaten - went with quite well. Verdict: I liked, !!!!!! would have been happier with less tomato and no olives, but still a 5/19, DD (who never wanted to try a calzone before), liked but would prefer "a normal pizza" next time.

I love calzone though, and this was a worthy version, I thought We all found it filling, but still managed to force a slice of carrot loaf down, in the interests of, er, culinary sciences or something, and we liked :T So all in all, another CFR Kitty success and a big thumbs up.

Bigjenny

Made Calzone tonight.

Just made one from batch to see if I liked it, had it with salad. Not to keen on it, prefer pizza, so made rest of dough and tomato sauce into pizzas to freeze.