Cooking for one (Mark Two)

poppystar

I think when you're on your own the energy situation is rather chicken and egg (well I had to get food into this reply somehow:D).

I know I could reduce my heating bills with new external doors, windows, even quality curtains etc but the extra cost to the energy bill is more manageable on limited finance than the much larger outlays on such work. Finding an extra £50 or even £100 a year in fuel costs, albeit a short term solution, is a very small percentage of the cost of new doors.

I would, however love a warmer kitchen and bathroom but as both have 2.5 external walls and no cavity to insulate I'm not sure any money would be enough to throw at them to really make them cosy.


The guy who serviced my boiler last year was saying that there are many people like your sister caron who use the oven as a heater even when not cooking.


I had fish pie tonight and now have a kitchen at 17 degrees!!!:)

caronc

AndyCF wrote: »

ly.

I did notice the local shop had some of those Peri-Peri frozen fries in but gave them a miss as I was not sure how much I would like them / dislike them or how they would turn out in the micro either. I could do with some kind of small 'trial bag' of them to find out. Mind you I do have some McCain vouchers they kindly sent me a couple of weeks ago but the local shop won't take them as they don't take anything other than cash/cards etc has to be main supermarket for manufacturer vouchers.

I like spicy fries but find the commercial ones also are very sweet/salty. McCain is the best IMHO of the supermarket ones generally so I would probably try them if I had vouchers. Re the SMART meter - I like mine, I don't let it rule my life but certainly it has helped me be a bit more :money:

poppystar wrote: »

I think when you're on your own the energy situation is rather chicken and egg (well I had to get food into this reply somehow:D).

I know I could reduce my heating bills with new external doors, windows, even quality curtains etc but the extra cost to the energy bill is more manageable on limited finance than the much larger outlays on such work. Finding an extra £50 or even £100 a year in fuel costs, albeit a short term solution, is a very small percentage of the cost of new doors.

I would, however love a warmer kitchen and bathroom but as both have 2.5 external walls and no cavity to insulate I'm not sure any money would be enough to throw at them to really make them cosy.


The guy who serviced my boiler last year was saying that there are many people like your sister caron who use the oven as a heater even when not cooking.


I had fish pie tonight and now have a kitchen at 17 degrees!!!:)

17 degrees - when I were a lad....... (You probably have to be of a certain age for this to be a point of reference :rotfl::rotfl:)

karcher

caronc wrote: »

17 degrees - when I were a lad....... (You probably have to be of a certain age for this to be a point of reference :rotfl::rotfl:)

I must be of that 'certain age' then :cool:

caronc

karcher wrote: »

I must be of that 'certain age' then :cool:

I did only see it on the re-runs honest http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/jokes/brooke-taylor-cleese-chapman-feldman-four-yorkshiremen.html

Glad

karcher wrote: »

Evening all

Well my Chicken curry wasn't of my 'normal' making.

I 'normally' cook curry from scratch using all the spices and making my own sauce, but last night I used a bought famous brand name Vindaloo jar of sauce.

As I always find with ready made sauce it was neither very hot nor spicy and too sweet, hence why I always make my own from scratch.

But I have to say it wasn't too bad and did have a very slight 'kick' to it so I wouldn't be averse to using one again and maybe adding an extra fresh chilli (I did add an extra large clove of chopped garlic but it could have done with some fresh chilli too).

I had that with brown rice...and that is where I went wrong. For some reason I just can not eat rice without having a bloated, uncomfortable stomach the next day

I am nearly out of rice now and I don't think I will ever buy any ever again. I do like it, it just doesn't like me! I'm the same with pasta but to a lesser extent.

As a result, I haven't been hungry all day so haven't eaten as yet. I'll no doubt have something later but right now I feel like I have a football sat in my stomach!

I hope you're feeling a bit better now

I've stopped eating rice, pasta and bread and feel much better for it, I tried cauliflower rice and I have to say I'm loving it, I usually fry it in a little rapeseed oil or butter if I'm having it as a side dish, last night I used it stirfried with lots of veg

Glad

I've just found a small amount of single cream in the fridge left over from a meal my son cooked when he stayed over this week, rather than waste it I've mixed it with some water and used it in my overnight oats

LadyR_in_Canada

I am a contributing columnist at an industry newspaper. I live in Canada, the spouse of a wonderful
Englishman. I have compiled 800 hundred original recipes, having taught gourmet cooking in the 70's, long before it became popular, and planning a cookbook. I am 75 years old.

Cooking for one can be a challenge, and I sometimes receive questions about how to divide a recipe. And I always recommend serving any leftovers for lunch the next day at home, perhaps revamped as a different recipe, or packed up in a lunchbox.

Nothing goes to waste in my kitchen. Here is an alternate to potato French fries recipe that might be of interest to some on the forum. I don't usually engage in forum talk, but found this forum trying to locate an impossible task for dealing with HSBC bereavement team. I'm trying to figure out this forum...
===

A Different Kind of Fry (in my recipe column by Lady R.)
Zucchini (courgette or marrow in UK)

For other of my private original recipes you can connect with me at [Removed] if that is doable or if it would help. Whether dealing with bereavement or other issues, you must continue to eat, even when cooking for one.

* * *
Zucchini is wonderful cut like potato french fries. You’ll need flour (whatever kind of flour you prefer), egg yolk wash and your favourite homemade-only breadcrumbs (not pulsed too fine). Add spices or just salt and pepper if you like, to the coarse crumbs (freeze any extra crumbs) or just use plain.

Deep fry in your favourite (fresh always) oil. Don’t ever use olive oil for deep frying. The high heat breaks down the chemistry of the oil and some say it becomes a carcinogen. No sense taking chances.

Salt as soon as you remove the fries from the oil, (use a long-handled spider) while they are still piping hot, and place them on a paper towel to mop up any extra oil. These fries are just amazing and cook very fast.

Never walk away from a pot of hot oil on the stove. Never! It doesn’t need to be a dangerous procedure. Just be careful. Do not answer the phone or the doorbell when you are deep-frying. If you turn off the heat to do so, whatever is in the pot will get soggy. But more important, if you leave the pot on the heat you could end up with a fire.

Don’t put more than necessary oil in the pot. Use a heavy pot (never a light-weight aluminum pot). Use a pot with high sides, about half full of oil. Test for the right heat by gently dropping in a cube of bread. It should immediately rise to the surface and turn golden brown if the temperature is perfect. Failing that, use an oil thermometer to test.

You often will have to adjust heat as food cooks, because the food is redistributing the heat. That’s how it is supposed to be, so if you are not familiar with deep-frying, it’s okay. Don’t add too much food. Fry in small quantities. Keep food warm with a tinfoil tent, but be careful, because the food will continue to cook it its own heat and you don’t want to create steam. The food needs to breathe.

When the breadcrumbs are a nice golden colour, the zucchini is done. Sometimes I put a sprinkle of dry granules of Parmesan and Romano mixed grated cheese in the breadcrumbs and add some favourite spices, like a pinch of dried thyme and garlic salt. Enjoy!

If you enjoy spicy things, sprinkle cooked fries with cayenne pepper while the fries are still hot. Good, and good for you, but beware… the cayenne is hot, so if you have never used it, be very careful… use just a bit. Never feed cayenne to children. Cayenne pepper is great, by the way, on egg salad or stuffed eggs. Actually, it’s fabulous!

I just love these, and it's a great way to introduce a new vegetable to children (or even adults - lol) who otherwise might turn up their noses. These fries are a great gourmet treat served to guests in cardboard 'funnel' boxes that you can buy at the dollar store (insert an open party napkin and voila: eye candy), or serve in the boxes that some Chinese food is served in for takeout foods.

===

I will post a wonderful recipe for the person asking about the large mushroom. Here we call it a Portobello Mushroom. And I have an amazing soup recipe I created using just three button mushrooms. All my soup bases can be frozen, but only before cream is added.

Lady R

caronc

Good morning everyone
It's another manky day here though a couple of degrees warmer than it's been. Still lots of thundery hail/sleet showers. At the moment it is both sunny and tipping it down. My Dad popped by to pick up some of my frozen brambles for a crumble. He was well wrapped up in wet weather gear but all credit to him for refusing to be stuck inside. He's very much of there's no such thing as the wrong weather just the wrong clothes and is out most days on his mobility scooter. He brought me a wee bunch of flowers which was lovely.:D

Chicken dinner today but very much a put together from the freezer from previous roasts dinners so not much cooking apart from some veg and I'll have some of the mash I made yesterday. Brunch will be my usual Sunday treat of lorne, tattie scone and plum tomatoes.

Think I'll crack on with writing my Christmas cards this afternoon as I've one that needs to go to Europe and I'm seeing some of the "girls" next weekend so that will save posting these ones. I've no excuse to be lastminute.com now I'm retired.

Glad

Morning all

the veg and fruit box I get is great but sometimes I get a family sized amount of one veg and suddenly realise it all needs using up, today it's 3 large beetroot, I've found instructions online for cooking them in foil in the SC
I'll let you know how it goes

breakfast was overnight oats soaked in leftover cream and water, with a banana ,not as nice as when they're soaked in soya milk but filled me up before I hit the gym

poppystar

Glad wrote: »

the veg and fruit box I get is great but sometimes I get a family sized amount of one veg and suddenly realise it all needs using up, today it's 3 large beetroot, I've found instructions online for cooking them in foil in the SC
I'll let you know how it goes

Definitely let us know. I love beetroot but was put off cooking it as the one time I tried the kitchen ended up looking like the site of a massacre and I was finding pink spots in unlikely places for weeks after:(