Good and bad buys from Aldi and Lidl

System

The Aldi which is only 10-15 mins from me - never drive to it as the car park is small and the customers have no clue how to park.

Yesterday, as part of their specials, they had fish parcels which are very nice.

My parents, who also live 10-15 mins walk away went in and see there were no fish parcels at all. They checked the specials freezer which is opposite the cooked meat chiller and the fish freezers.

It has happened a few times with both food and non-food items with this store. Can recall one time there were bird feeders and other accessories - none in.

But the 3 other stores within 5 miles from here all have the specials. Does anyone know why? Aldi stores are supposed to be all the same size, give/take 1000sq ft.

redbooties

UnderPressure wrote: »

Got them last week along with a packet of the chocolate ones, they are very very nice, with the savoury taste of the toasted rice and the sweet topping, mmmmmmmmmmmm children love them as well.



It is great you have found this product and pleased with it, everyone is obviously different but please, how much of a "faff" can it be to throw a couple of potatoes in some water or a steamer? Hardly labour intensive is it?

I buy frozen mask because I really struggle to make proper mash which is smooth and creamy, mine always has lumps or is watery

UnderPressure

redbooties wrote: »

I buy frozen mask because I really struggle to make proper mash which is smooth and creamy, mine always has lumps or is watery

There is a knack to make good mash, that is true, here is how I do it:

First things first, not all potatoes are suitable for mashed potato some work much much better than others, having tried them all over the year we settled on Albert Bartlett Rooster Potatoes from any supermarket, they are a red desiree I believe and are suitable for everything, mash, roast, jacket, steam, boil any way you can use a potato these will not let you down, quite pricey though at around £2.49 for 2.5kg, the good news is the red potatoes Aldi sell currently £1.19 for 2kg are just as good

I never boil any potato or vegetable always steam them, personal choice and also I always think that the water extracts some of the goodness, I am sure steaming does as well but in my head it is less, also I have also found the taste far superior to boiling or simmering. Whilst steaming you can add salt if you wish.

The key thing here is to make sure they are all cut to the same size so they cook in the same time and they are thoroughly cooked through, if you stick a knife in the middle of the biggest potato you should feel no resistance at all almost like a knife through room temperature butter, at this stage I take them off the heat, tip the water away from the steamer pan and put it back on the heat for 20 seconds, this gets rid of any remaining water in the pan and also gets it nice and hot ready for the potatoes. You want it all to be as hot as possible to do the first mash.

Now masher, there are a few on the market if you want you could use a potato ricer:



For me life is too short and just as good results can be had if you choose the right potato and cook them properly.

For me you need a masher that looks similar this



Not this



Although the second one looks pretty and everyfink it does not have enough surface area to ensure the potato is mashed properly.

At this stage just salt and pepper the potato do not add any butter or milk yet, then give it a good mashing, I find the easiest way is to work around the edge of the pan in a circular direction then when all the way around move to the middle of the pan, the bigger the pan the easier this will be, then do it again to make sure. If done correctly there will be no lumps at all.

From here it is always a personal thing, for me mash is a rare treat so when we do have it I make it as luxurious as possible, at this stage I would add a good chunk of butter and then mash that in, the to finish a slurp of double cream and with a wooden spoon beat this into it, not for long you will be able to see when it is all incorporated.

You may not want to add any butter, cream or milk at all, completely up to you.

You could also add some cheese to it if it for the top of a cottage pie or something, you can add all sort to it.

Left over mash can have some flour mixed into it and then rolled and cut out to make and bake home made potato cakes, or add some left over veg for bubble and squeak, literally loads of things you can do with it.

The most important things is do not add any butter or milk until you have mashed the potatoes, adding cold butter and cold milk and then starting to mash will almost certainly give you lumps, most lumps are however from potatoes that have not been cooked properly.

I have made that sound like a right faff but it is actually very very simple to do and you will end up with mash that is worth eating rather than something dehydrated or frozen :eek:

HTH

PenguinOfDeath

UnderPressure wrote: »

Oh please, I smell the usual MSE bull%hit here, I bought a chicken and made 400 meals out of 1 breast, whatever!

Sorry? Paraphrasing just a little over the top there! Just because we don't eat a 'kilo' meat per meal, there are other ingredients in the meal too *rolleyessmiley*

redbooties

UnderPressure wrote: »

There is a knack to make good mash, that is true, here is how I do it:

First things first, not all potatoes are suitable for mashed potato some work much much better than others, having tried them all over the year we settled on Albert Bartlett Rooster Potatoes from any supermarket, they are a red desiree I believe and are suitable for everything, mash, roast, jacket, steam, boil any way you can use a potato these will not let you down, quite pricey though at around £2.49 for 2.5kg, the good news is the red potatoes Aldi sell currently £1.19 for 2kg are just as good

I never boil any potato or vegetable always steam them, personal choice and also I always think that the water extracts some of the goodness, I am sure steaming does as well but in my head it is less, also I have also found the taste far superior to boiling or simmering. Whilst steaming you can add salt if you wish.

The key thing here is to make sure they are all cut to the same size so they cook in the same time and they are thoroughly cooked through, if you stick a knife in the middle of the biggest potato you should feel no resistance at all almost like a knife through room temperature butter, at this stage I take them off the heat, tip the water away from the steamer pan and put it back on the heat for 20 seconds, this gets rid of any remaining water in the pan and also gets it nice and hot ready for the potatoes. You want it all to be as hot as possible to do the first mash.

Now masher, there are a few on the market if you want you could use a potato ricer:



For me life is too short and just as good results can be had if you choose the right potato and cook them properly.

For me you need a masher that looks similar this



Not this



Although the second one looks pretty and everyfink it does not have enough surface area to ensure the potato is mashed properly.

At this stage just salt and pepper the potato do not add any butter or milk yet, then give it a good mashing, I find the easiest way is to work around the edge of the pan in a circular direction then when all the way around move to the middle of the pan, the bigger the pan the easier this will be, then do it again to make sure. If done correctly there will be no lumps at all.

From here it is always a personal thing, for me mash is a rare treat so when we do have it I make it as luxurious as possible, at this stage I would add a good chunk of butter and then mash that in, the to finish a slurp of double cream and with a wooden spoon beat this into it, not for long you will be able to see when it is all incorporated.

You may not want to add any butter, cream or milk at all, completely up to you.

You could also add some cheese to it if it for the top of a cottage pie or something, you can add all sort to it.

Left over mash can have some flour mixed into it and then rolled and cut out to make and bake home made potato cakes, or add some left over veg for bubble and squeak, literally loads of things you can do with it.

The most important things is do not add any butter or milk until you have mashed the potatoes, adding cold butter and cold milk and then starting to mash will almost certainly give you lumps, most lumps are however from potatoes that have not been cooked properly.

I have made that sound like a right faff but it is actually very very simple to do and you will end up with mash that is worth eating rather than something dehydrated or frozen :eek:

HTH

Thanks I will give this way a try, I always used to add cold milk or cream before I mashed the potatoes so maybe thats where I was going wrong

Stompa

ScarletMarble wrote: »

Yesterday, as part of their specials, they had fish parcels which are very nice.

My parents, who also live 10-15 mins walk away went in and see there were no fish parcels at all. They checked the specials freezer which is opposite the cooked meat chiller and the fish freezers.

In ours today they were in the fish freezer, though there was no SEL which made them a bit harder to find. I was surprised to find that they were £1.99 though, a big increase on the £1.49 they were last year.

pamsdish

Thanks I will give this way a try, I always used to add cold milk or cream before I mashed the potatoes so maybe thats where I was going wrong

After draining pop back on the low heat add the butter and milk/cream mash, then stir as if beating with either the masher or wooden spoon as underpressure suggested, I find I get a lovely creamy mash that way.

bylromarha

Jam doughnuts from Lidls in store bakery...lighter than air, runny jam inside. 29p a pop.

More expensive than Tesco, granted, but we've gone off Tesco doughnuts since they changed the packaging.

Cap_Hero

I always find Tesco doughnuts to be more of a pancake tbh, someone appears to have sat on them to settle down a bit for some reason!

Tesco meat is rough too imo - I have had one too many cobbled together joints from them, Aldi beats them hands down on fresh meat and, strangely ham too!

Overall, I think Aldi is cheaper and far better. Tesco have dropped the ball imo, Aldi have picked it up and are now running with it.

Since Leahy left Tesco to go to B&M there has been a change in the fortunes of both groups - strange huh.

stmidwife

I am slowly becoming a convert. Love the potato wedges from Aldi and at 59p are a lot nicer than the McCain or supermarket ones. Love the honey roast peanuts. The curry sauces with the spices attached are nice too. X