Reverse Meal Planning

Suffolk_lass

My thing for getting round tasteless chicken is to roast it in a cast iron casserole dish with a lid on and add a bit of stock (often just one of those jelly pots with enough water to cover it). After a slow oven for about two hours I baste the chicken with the liquid and take the lid off for another hour so the skin goes a bit brown. Very moist tasty chicken an it makes stock at the same time that goes into soup. 

We are going to cut some baby pac choi leaves (in the style of cut and come again) to stir-fry with a pack of prawns I found in the freezer. I might add the half-dozen new asparagus spears if they have grown a bit but I have garlic, chilli, onion, carrot, cabbage and egg noodles to pad it out. All getting a bit sparse in the fridge but I think we can manage until Thursday comfortably. I do have a whole chicken I could liberate but I know the bowl fruit and berries, and need for fresh veg will mean DH wants to go Thursday - and our favourite butcher is open on Thursday.

suki1964

Hmmm, I thought I had a packet of burgers in the freezer, part of the extra shop I don't before lockdown in case we couldn't get to the shops, and it appears we have eaten them

So coming in from work, nowt out of the freezer, We are having the last rashers of bacon from a pack opened last week, the last few spuds par boiled, sliced and fried in the pan, some tomatoes, beans, and a couple of sausages I found lurking at the back of the fridge, No idea how long they have been there, but they aren't wearing a fur coat and smell ok so hopefully I will live to tell the tale

rtandon27

Found a pack of tortellini in the back of the fridge - made a simple butter & herb sauce and tossed with some grated dry cheese.  First solid meal for OH in almost two weeks! Seems to have gone down well

candygirl

Was it on here where lettuce soup was mentioned? Has anyone got an easy recipe? I have 2 icebergs in the fridge that need using up asap .😁

Pyxis

candygirl said:

Was it on here where lettuce soup was mentioned? Has anyone got an easy recipe? I have 2 icebergs in the fridge that need using up asap .😁

I made lettuce soup for the first time a few weeks ago and mentioned it on one of these threads.

It doesn’t come more simple than this....
(my lettuce wasn’t small, I used an onion instead of the leek, and creme fraiche instead of the cream).


INGREDIENTS

1 small lettuce (150g/5 ½ oz)

1.2 litres/2 pints vegetable stock

1 leek

150ml/5fl oz single cream

INSTRUCTIONS

Trim the lettuce and leek, and chop them into bite-sized pieces. Put them into a large saucepan with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little, then transfer to the bowl of a food processor or liquidiser and process until very smooth.

Pour the soup back into the saucepan and stir in the cream. Reheat gently to serve.

Baileys_Babe

Thanks for sharing your recipe @Pyxis

Pyxis

Baileys_Babe said:

Thanks for sharing your recipe @Pyxis

No probs! 
The lettuce I used was a big floppy, circular one with smallish leaves, don’t know what sort it was. The flavour wasn’t overwhelming, so I think using an Iceberg or Cos lettuce is a much better idea.
It is a good way to use up a redundant lettuce, and of course the soup can always be used as a base for a more mixed soup!


edit....talking of not much flavour, I got a pack of “woodland mushrooms” in a delivery yesterday, and decided to have them sautéed with a sad bunch of coriander leaves for my tea.
There were some large slices of an unknown mushroom in the pack, which squeaked when I poked them in the pan! 😁
I was quite excited about this dish, as I love mushrooms, and I knew that some of the woodland ones are lovely. 

What a disappointment! There was no flavour whatsoever! In fact, if I’d been eating them blindfold, I might not have known I was eating mushrooms. ☹️☹️

Yet another example of mass production at the expense of flavour, I suppose. ☹️☹️☹️

Years ago, I was doing a mushroom foray with an experienced mushroom expert, and he found some ‘beefsteak mushrooms’, and allowed us to take one each home to eat. I can honestly say that I have never eaten a more delicious mushroom, and it really did taste just like beef!

I’ve often wondered why these couldn’t be grown for sale, given the wonderful flavour, but I suppose a lot of the flavour comes from them being wild.

suki1964

Now and then, very rare, I come across giant puffball mushrooms and once or twice Ive been lucky to get to them whilst they are edible. Now they are nice

Suffolk_lass

An alternative lettuce recipe:

Lettuce and pea soup

Ingredients

1 tsp vegetable oil 

small bunch spring onions , roughly chopped

1 cucumber, roughly chopped

1 large round lettuce, roughly chopped

225g frozen peas 

1 tablespoon (20ml) vegetable bouillon

4 tbsp greek-style yogurt (optional)

4 slices rye bread

Method

Boil 1.4 litres water in a kettle. 

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and cook the spring onions for 5 mins, stirring frequently, or until softened. 

Add the cucumber, lettuce and peas, then pour in the boiled water. 

Stir in the bouillon, cover and simmer for 10 mins or until the vegetables are soft but still bright green.

Blitz the mixture with a hand blender until smooth. 

Serve hot or cold, topped with yogurt (if you like), with rye bread alongside.

Suffolk_lass

Now someone has mentioned sausage I have to get sausagemeat out of the freezer - probably just cut into patties and cooked like burgers with some slightly bendy veg and mash but I might make a mini toad as we have plenty of eggs and milk. Our preferred butcher is reopening (hooray) - I bet the queues are too long for us DH tomorrow