I'm eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge

Jelly_Biactol

Kirri wrote: »

I'm just having a break from cooking the polenta, not keen so far... Does anyone else cook with it here??

joedenise wrote: »

Polenta makes a good "crumb" on all sorts of things like fish, chicken, in fact anywhere you would use use breadcrumbs to coat.

Nice recipe here for veggie scotch eggs, using polenta as the coating
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/scouse_eggs_95239

Welsh_Poppy wrote: »

JB, Thanks for recipe will be trying it this week.

I'm planning to try out the recipe tomorrow, but using my HM pizza sauce rather than the soured cream on the pizza.

Welsh_Poppy wrote: »

I have about 2kilos semolina and need to find uses for it apart from biscuits!!

You know this already, but my 'A Country Cook's Kitchen' book in the section on biscuit-making says: "Rice flour produces a lighter, more crumbly texture; semolina gives crunch".

Lip_Stick

Evening all.

Well, thought I was doing quite well with my freezer until I went into Fultons Foods today. Bought some goats cheese and red onion tarts at 4 for £1.50. My brother says they are really nice and I love goats cheese. Also bought some potato waffles, about 6 bags of microwave egg fried rice and a couple of McCain's baked potatoes. Spent about £4.50.

Tea ended up being a bit of a concoction. Had a chicken leg with Nando's rub, egg fried rice, 4 mini veg samosas and a bit of sweet chilli and ginger sauce. It was actually really nice lol.

Need to buy custard soon as have rhubarb in the fridge and want to make a a crumble. Yummm.

Lynsey - how was the holiday? Weather any better than last time?

joedenise wrote: »

Polenta makes a good "crumb" on all sorts of things like fish, chicken, in fact anywhere you would use use breadcrumbs to coat. I do a KFC style chicken and use polenta to coat the chicken pieces, gives a much crunchier texture.

I've got quite a bit of polenta to use up which I bought some time ago as it was suspected that my DGS was coeliac but it turns out he's just a bit wheat intolerant and Dr has now advised that he has wheat gradually reintroduced into his diet and hopefully now he's a bit older he will begin to tolerate it.

Seems daft to me - he's either wheat intolerant or he isn't:question:

Denise

I was watching Breakfast News (I think it was) a good while ago and they were talking about peanut allergies. They were testing a new technique where they give a minute amount of peanut to the sufferer and slowly build it up. From what I remember, early results were positive.

Thanks for the tip about using polenta as a crumb too. Will give that a go.

Florenceem

In to freezer - nothing.
Out of freezer - 2 HM muffins + HM wedges + honey roast gammon + quiche.
Another evening meal using the MW.
We had jacket potato + pizza + chilli baked beans.
How I long to have an oven again.

[Deleted User]

Evening all!
Good luck to all those decorating or having home improvements done!

Have been lurking but not posting much - food spends seem enormous at the minute, along with spends for everything else!! Have ended up with a few out of date bits and things only fit for the bin - so need to get back into meal planning!!!

In preparation for this I have managed to make :
8 portions of veg soup
5 portions of casserole
and also finish off some chocolate cake which has been in the freezer in order to fit some of the healthy stuff I cooked in!

Freezer is full to bursting at the minute with
2 loaves bread (all reduced so under 25 p each)
8 crumpets (reduced to 15p)
Above portions of soup (8) and casserole (4 - one for dinner tomorrow!)
1 bag frozen veg
4 burgers
3 breaded chicken breasts
2 1/2 bags quorn "chicken" pieces (will do with noodles/veg/rice for stir frys and we have quite a few sauces left)
2 bags quorn mince (lots of tinned tomatoes, pasta, lasagne sheets, kidney beans for chilli etc..)
1/2 a bag of roast potatoes (will prob have with the chicken)
1 box potato waffles
1pt skimmed milk

Also have in the house:
pasta/rice/noodles/cous cous (enough to feed an army!)
Tinned carrots/sweetcorn
Cheese
Eggs
yogurts
Hummus
Coleslaw
Cereal
Biscuits
Crisps
5ish chocolate bars
Assorted baking ingredients
Milk
Stork
Apples
Grapes
Bananas

So enough to do a good few meals Id imagine!!

Back to the £100 p/m challenge, would be happy if I managed £120p/m to be honest! Either Im becoming WAY too lazy with this challenge or food prices are skyrocketing!! probably a bit of both!

[Deleted User]

Seriously depleted over here!

Rearranged the outside chest freezer this morning - only things left in there of mine are a portion of lasagna and a portion of stirfry, everything else is largely meat based (chops, sausagemeat, sausages, beef, chicken, etc) or in the form of a mini yorkie pudding. :rotfl:

Inside freezer I've stocked up for DM in prep for next week - more chops in there, sausagemeat, 1/2 bag of frozen sausages, liver/kidney pieces, chicken, plus frozen peas, waffles, etc.
Draw of mine in freezer has some portioned stuff plus a piece of fish, bread/bagels and some other l/o's I'll eat up as main meals this week.

Cleared out my cupboard too (I have a little separate cupboard) and just have a few things in there to be used.

Looking forward to coming back to a fresh stash of stuff!

Lynsey

Lip_Stick wrote: »

Lynsey - how was the holiday? Weather any better than last time?

Lol.
Yes, almost perfect with no rain whatsoever and just an odd cloudy day. The rest was well above average for the time of year (27c'ish).

You're off soon, enjoy.

Lynsey

Jelly_Biactol

Got a bottle of the Gusto Fruttato Olive Oil from Mr M, on offer at £1.99 then £1 off voucher so £0.99 - thanks for the great tip, Lynsey:T

Polenta, cornmeal, semolina:
Have asked Mrs Simkins about recipe ideas, as I know she likes a culinary challenge! And she's replied: "I love talking about food and recipes and if I can ever help it’s a pleasure. Will see what I can come up with."
So I'll report back with any of her suggestions:)

Jelly_Biactol

Semolina Recipe Ideas
courtesy Mrs Simkins http://www.mrssimkins.co.uk/‎

In Britain we are more used to making semolina into a soothing nursery or invalid pudding with milk and sugar but in other parts of the world it’s made into a kind of savoury porridge with water, much like a finer, paler couscous. In America it’s known as ‘grit meal’, ‘grits or ‘hominy’ and served for breakfast with butter, salt and pepper or grated cheese, sausage or bacon. Made into a very thick porridge and allowed to set, it can be sliced and fried: you can even dip it in flour, beaten egg and bread crumbs (or dry semolina) first.

Semolina Pudding

Semolina is surprisingly nutritious and can be useful if someone is recovering from an illness, providing they can digest wheat and milk: use whole milk if they need building up. You don’t have to use vanilla but it is a nice addition.

50g (2oz) semolina
1 slightly rounded tablespoon caster sugar (don’t make it too sweet)
570ml (1 pint) semi-skimmed milk
¼ teaspoon good quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

Put the semolina into a heavy bottomed milk pan and stir in the milk gradually. Bring it to boil on the hob, stirring constantly, turn down the heat and let it bubble gently for a moment or two stirring all the time. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla.

You can bake this in the oven if you like (pour into a baking dish, dot it with a little butter and bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 30 minutes or until golden on top) but it is equally nice served straight from the saucepan. You might like to try it with some stewed fruit: summer berries go especially well.

You can also use semolina to coat food before frying.

Slug Attack
Moving wildly away from the edible, it’s also quite effective as a barrier against slugs!

Jelly_Biactol

Cornmeal Recipe Ideas
courtesy Mrs Simkins http://www.mrssimkins.co.uk/‎

Cornmeal in Bread
Use finely ground cornmeal in ordinary white bread dough: it makes an interesting change from a plain white loaf.
You can use polenta but the texture will be quite different and discernibly ‘bitty’. Polenta is cornmeal but more coarsely ground - giving more of a characteristic grittiness than the finer cornmeal.
You can either make the bread by hand in the usual way or use a bread machine.
Use your normal basic recipe but with 75% strong white bread flour and 25% cornmeal.
If using a bread machine, with most models you can select the Basic White programme with Medium loaf size and Light crust setting.
You could also use the dough setting and finish making the loaf by hand. Alternatively, make a batch of corn bread muffins. See below.


Corn Bread Muffins.

These are easy to prepare and look very appealing. They are handy for picnics and lunch boxes.

You will need a greased 12 cup muffin tin

Prepare the dough with 25% of cornmeal as before.

Once the dough is ready, turn it out onto a lightly floured board, knead it briefly and cut the dough into 12 equal pieces: roll each piece between your cupped hands until you have a smooth ball.

Put a piece into each cup of the prepared muffin tin. Leave to prove until almost doubled in size.

Bake in a preheated oven and bake at 180C-220C (fan oven) or equivalent, for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Leave in the tin for a few moments to cool and contract and then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack. A clean tea towel over the top will keep them fresh and moist as they cool.

Corn Bread Muffins in Frills

These are the same as above but baked in muffin cases: the cases look appealing and hold the dough in so that it forms a higher domed shape.

Dip each ball of dough about half way up in the oil, shake off any excess and put into the paper cases in the muffin tin. This will prevent the muffins sticking to the paper cases once baked.

Leave to prove until almost doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 180C-220C (fan oven) or equivalent

Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden.


Cornmeal Muffins

These cheerful yellow coloured light cornmeal muffins are delicious with soup or chilli. Alternatively, serve them for breakfast with a drizzle of honey. Eat them fresh from the oven just as they are or cold with a little soft butter.

Makes 12
110g (4oz) softened butter
175g (6oz) plain flour
50g fine cornmeal
2 level teaspoons cream of tartar
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Small pinch salt
10g (½oz) caster sugar
2 medium eggs
4 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 160C (fan oven) or equivalent

You will need a greased 12 cup muffin tin and 12 muffin-size paper cake cases

Whiz the butter and sugar together in a food processor. Add the raising agents to the weighed flour and add sieve half over the butter mixture covering it completely. Sieve the rest of the flour, cornmeal and raising agents over the top and whiz briefly. Add the milk and whiz again.

Spoon into the prepared tin: dividing the mixture as equally as possible. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the buns are springy to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Leave in the tin to settle for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack. Cover with a clean tea towel to keep them moist and prevent them drying out as they cool.


Red Hot Chilli Muffins
You can make chilli versions of all of the above savoury muffins. Make the muffins as before and add between a quarter and a half a teaspoon or so of chilli powder to the dry ingredients at the beginning and proceed as for the main recipe. Alternatively, fry fresh red chilli (amount to taste) in a small amount of oil drain briefly on kitchen paper and add at the end of either recipe. One advantage of using fresh chillies is that they show up attractively in the finished muffins. Again, proceed as for the main recipe.

Jelly_Biactol

Cornflour Recipe Ideas
courtesy Mrs Simkins http://www.mrssimkins.co.uk/‎

Cornflour is very useful for white sauces and cheese sauces. Cornflour sauces are quick and easy, lower in fat than a sauce made with a roux, super-smooth - and gluten free. The macaroni cheese sauce recipe below is also suitable for cauliflower cheese.


Macaroni Cheese

Serves 4
225g (8oz) macaroni or other tube-style pasta
2 rounded tablespoons cornflour
½ teaspoon dry mustard
570ml (1 pint) whole or semi-skimmed milk
175g (6oz) mature cheddar, grated
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 180C (fan ovens) or equivalent

Cook the pasta in the usual way until just tender, drain and set aside.

Mix the cornflour and dry mustard together in a heavy bottomed milk saucepan, add a little of the milk and mix to a smooth paste. Gradually add the rest of the milk, stirring as you go.

Turn on the heat and bring to boiling point, stirring all the time. Turn down and simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in most of the grated cheese. Season with pepper and pour over the pasta.

Sprinkle the top with the rest of the cheese and bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden and bubbling on top.


Red Hot Chilli and Mustard Macaroni Cheese

Snip one red chilli pepper (or to taste) with kitchen scissors into a tablespoon of oil and fry gently until soft. Make the cheese sauce as above, doubling the mustard quantity. Stir the cooked chilli, together with the oil, into the prepared cheese sauce and continue as above.


Quick and Easy Microwave White Sauce

If you have a microwave you can make this ultra-smooth white sauce to serve with boiled or steamed cauliflower or carrots, steamed leeks or lightly boiled baby onions.

It’s a simple matter to blend the cornflour with milk rather than making a butter and wheat flour roux. It’s gluten-free too.

50g (2 heaped tablespoons) cornflour
570ml (1 pint) milk, semi-skimmed or whole
Freshly ground black pepper

Mix the cornflour to a smooth paste in a large heat-proof jug, with a little milk from the measured amount. Slowly stir in the remaining milk and whisk briefly: a coiled bed-spring type whisk is ideal.

Cook on HIGH for 3 minutes, remove from the microwave and whisk thoroughly. Return to the microwave for a further 3 minutes, remove and whisk again.

Tip
Add a tablespoon of freshly chopped herbs for a vibrant flavour.

Microwaves can vary: you may need to adjust cooking times.


Cheese Sauce
Make as above, adding a generous pinch of dry mustard to the cornflour. Once the sauce has thickened, stir in 75-100g grated mature Cheddar cheese: it will melt in the heat from the sauce.
Serve with boiled or steamed cauliflower, steamed leeks or broccoli, or lightly boiled baby onions.