I'm eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge

Welsh_Poppy

Morning

Mother just gave me a 12lb marrow!!! I think chutney is the way forward.

Nothing in

Nothing out
I will be using left overs today calcannon,polpette and sausage
We had Breakfast at farmshop after church so dont need much until dinnertime.

Jelly_Biactol

Kirri wrote: »

That focaccia looks good! After seeing how wet the dough has to be on the Great British Bake Off, I thought it looked rather difficult to make..

It's the first one I've made (well, two, made one on Friday evening as well) so was quite pleased with the results.
The first one, I made the dough in the breadmaker, which was OK.
The second one, I combined the dough ingredients in the food processor (I often start off making dough in the food processor, a lot less messy in the early stages) - flour & salt first, then slowly poured in the warm water, yeast and olive oil, on the slowest speed with the dough hook, and left it running for approx 10mins so it was all combined, then kneaded & folded a bit more to try and get lots of air in. Left it to prove, guidelines were till it doubled in size, but I got sidetracked and lost track of time so it was about three times in size (trying to climb out of the bowl!), knocked it back, shaped it and left it for another 20mins-ish as per instructions, then baked. Maybe the yeast had already done its work when it was proving and so wouldn't rise in the oven as much as it should? Another thing was, all the recipes I had or looked at, whatever the weight of flour (varied from 250g to 500g), every one specified 7g of yeast - I thought the ratio of flour to yeast would stay the same? Also, specified oven temperature was 180C/Gas 4 which to me doesn't seem hot enough.
But as I said it looked nice and tasted good, so maybe I was expecting too much for a first attempt. I'm having the rest for lunch in a minute, anyway.
Here's the recipe I tried yesterday
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/12336/focaccia-with-pesto-and-mozzarella
and mine looked pretty similar to that, to be honest!

Kirri wrote: »

Yes please re the apricot couscous recipe when you get a mo

(adapted from Slow Cooking for Vegetarians by Annette Yates)
SERVES 4
2tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
600ml veg stock
1-2 tsp harisa paste or similar (I use berber paste)
black pepper
100g dried apricots, quartered (the ordinary kind not the ready-to-eat as these often have added sugar); if using fresh apricots, maybe reduce the amount of stock a little to take account of the liquid in the fruit
225g couscous
225 feta cheese, cubed (I use the value range generic Greek cheese)
2tsbp chopped fresh parsley, if you have a free supply; or 2tsp dried parsley
25g pine nuts
1. Preheat slow cooker to Low
2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the onions and garlic, cook slowly until softened and golden brown.
3. Stir in the stock, spices, seasoning and apricots. Bring just to the boil and transfer to the slow cooker.
4. Cover and cook on Low for 4-6 hours until everything is tender. (If cooking on the hob, cover and cook on a low heat for maybe 45mins, until tender; in the oven on a low heat for maybe an hour.)
5. Stir in the couscous, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes until the couscous is tender and all the liquid is absorbed.
6. Stir in the feta cheese and parsley, cover and leave to stand for 5 mins.
5. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and the pine nuts.
(Should be lots left over for the fridge/freezer, and I think it tastes better the next day.)

Kirri wrote: »

Has anyone tried padron peppers? seem to be used in tapas from what I've read and they vary in heat. No idea if they are sold in supermarkets, I saw them on Riverford to buy but may add them to the Tomatillos I plan to try growing next year.

Oh yes, I love them. 'Pimientos de Padron' in Spain. One of the few dishes as a veggie you can be certain to find. Absolutely yummy, too.:drool:Mild, but every fourth or fifth one is a fiery one:eek: - you can't tell which ones, though, it's something to do with how much sunlight they get when growing. Perfect on a summer's day with a cold drink (preferably while sitting outside a bar in a Spanish village square). Lots of background info here
http://www.padronpeppers.com/index.html
I'm sure you'd like them, but if you want to try them out first (just thinking you might find them too salty?), you can get the peppers
http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Spanish-Padron-Peppers-Waitrose/37037011?sku=37037011&dnr=y
and prepare yourself - lightly fry in olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt.
This is a pretty standard recipe, such as it is (coincidentally, I know the bar mentioned on that website, though I don't recall having the pimientos de padron there)
http://www.otherspain.com/pages/recipes/pimientos.asp
- or any tapas bar worth its salt (excuse the pun!) should have them.
You'd made me want to get some myself now.:) There's a Waitrose near me so I might have a wander over there this afternoon and see if they have any in stock.

Kirri

Brilliant, thanks, the couscous recipe sounds nice - I only have haloumi in though, wonder if that would be ok for the feta.. and have no harissa but was planning to buy that anyway (may sub aleppo though that is quite sweet, never heard of berber paste?). Would use up my last tablespoon of rancid pine nuts too :T Will pick some parsley ready.

Didn't realise Ocado stocked the padron peppers - just read this review from that link, made me laugh!

To make up for all those previous reviewers who didnt get a spicy one, we got four, including one that set my mouth on fire for the next 15 minutes and rendered me unable to eat my dinner. And I love spicy food. Not sure if Ill be brave enough to buy them again....

:rotfl:

I think I will buy some first before growing, rofl at the salt too, I may take it easy first time... I would prefer to taste them in Spain in the sun with a cold beer! How have I never seen/heard of these before..


WP - I would probably give it back! Not picked my courgettes in a few days, hope I don't have any of my own that big!

Jelly_Biactol

Kirri wrote: »

Brilliant, thanks, the couscous recipe sounds nice - I only have haloumi in though, wonder if that would be ok for the feta.. and have no harissa but was planning to buy that anyway (may sub aleppo though that is quite sweet, never heard of berber paste?).

Haloumi should be fine, you just want a nice soft cheese so it melts slightly into the mixture.
Berber Paste is the Ethiopian equivalent of Harissa Paste (Moroccan). I just happened to have a jar of it, so used that. You can make Berber Paste quite easily though it calls for a lot of different spices
http://www.food.com/recipe/berbere-ethiopian-red-pepper-and-spice-paste-117588
Harissa Paste is relatively easy to make too (I'm running low on the Berber Paste so might make some Harissa Paste from scratch next time). John Torode's recipe is a pretty standard one
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1977657/harissa
though you might want to reduce the ingredient quantities as it makes 1 lb:)
Not heard of sub aleppo.

joedenise

Most of dinner today is out of the freezer, LOs or HG.

Half chicken from Freezer, sweetcorn (LO from fridge), HG carrots & potatoes - both will be roasted, brussels from freezer.

Have also made some bread this morning which is cooling on the rack at the moment.

Denise

Maisie_M

Lunch - me roast chicken breast sandwich (chicken use by tomorrow), DH - cheese sandwich (last of extra mature block used up), DS1 - Ham toastie (last of pack of ham used up), DS2 - smoked sausage and tomatoes (last bit of smoked sausage used up). Good fridge use up lunch.

dinner - roast lamb (had already been roasted and leftovers frozen in slices), cubed potatoes, broccoli, carrots, baby corn and yorkie puds (freezer).

Freezer inventory for outside freezer done. Just kitchen cupboards left to do. Don't know how I managed to accumulate so much food again.

AlwaysHappy

Today I have had some success - out of the freezer some fishcakes for lunch and finished off a box of fish fingers (ds doesn't like fish cakes!). I made some of the buttery gingernut biscuits (thanks florenceem - they were delicious!) which finished off a packet of golden granulated sugar (I usually buy caster) and also finished off my ginger powder - but I already had a replacement for that one in the stores. In the freezer went some crumble mix as there was some left over from a crumble I made today from the fruit I defrosted yesterday, but also a tray of brambles has gone in which I picked from my garden this morning (our neighbours bush is hanging over into ours this year). It felt lovely first thing with the sun on my back picking fruit from my garden - this is indeed the good life!

Kirri

AH - I know the feeling, I can hang around for hours just on the veg patch if the sun is out

Good to see everyone else using up so much food :T

JB - it's not a paste unfortunately, but might do till I go shopping and it might give me a similar flavour but not too hot, it's either that or cayenne. I saw it used on a Rick Stein Middle Eastern programme. It's often from Turkey iirc despite the name.

http://www.thespicery.com/pages/spices_menu/chillies/aleppo_chilli_pepper_flakes.html

I will probably get some harissa though for the small quantity I'd use, both recipes looks quite straightforward though but would wipe out my spice stock not to mention the 22 cloves of garlic :eek:

I've just picked the parsley I needed plus tarragon, basil, oregano, mint, thyme and one other I've forgotten the name of as they will keep in the fridge all week. Also another 5 courgettes and a bag full of beetroot. Didn't bother picking much else as don't think I will be doing too much cooking this week.

Welsh_Poppy

Great harvests I also love harvesting with the sun on my back nothing pleases me more:-)
I picked more runner beans and tomatoes so they have been sorted and froze in 1/2lb bags.
I make my own bread not every day an by hand I have owned 3 breadmakers and they all fail after a while so gave up on them.Aldi had one £34.99p so OH treated me to one i was a bit nervous due to previous ones anyway ingredients in just awaiting the bread 3 hours later-)

Kirri

^ I don't use my breadmaker for cooking it any more, always finish by hand but the other week I accidentally knocked it onto a different programme so it cooked it as well but texture wasn't as good as the oven finished one. I would probably replace my breadmaker with a stand mixer with a dough hook if my breadmaker broke, same space on the worktop but more options for use.

Was going to the gym but I feel a bit iffy so think I will stay in and make some sort of cake instead, I feel I'm lacking in sugar! Half thinking of mince pies and jam tarts to use up some fridge odds and ends.