What do you make from scratch?

Nelliegrace

@bouicca21
We have been making milk kefir for years, the grains multiply. I use three glass mugs, and cover them loosely with plastic nutella or coffee tin lids. There is always one fermenting, one sieved and chilling for the next day, and one ready to drink. I have some grains in reserve in the freezer. We use full fat milk.
The taste varies from batch to batch, if it tastes a bit sharp one day it can be milder again the next batch. The chickens like the surplus grains. 

https://www.dorsetcountrylife.co.uk/post/how-to-make-kefir

Katiehound

I also make kefir.

Bought the grains online some years ago for £5.
saw starter in Grape Tree this week for £15.99- for 3.
Most successful was with gold top milk- it's not available in local Aldi anymore. Kefir likes the fat!! so sometimes I put in cream
I cover my glass coffee jar with kitchen roll & elastic band
Don't use metal implements

Mnoee

There's lots of things I can and have made but don't regularly anymore due to time and effort - wraps and fresh pasta are for special occasions only. I've made paneer and filo, but only when the shop didn't have any. 

I regularly make pizzas, breads, spice blends and pies, but I don't make the puff pastry. I make most sauces myself, pastas, curries, chillies, bechamel etc. I'll make compound butters, (garlic and rosemary, chilli, cinnamon etc), but not churn my own butter. I have had making mustard on my to do list for a while, as my partner loves it, but still haven't got round to it. 

I know that to create an apple pie from scratch you must first create the universe and all that - the closest I get is growing bay to chuck in sauces, but even that started as a small plant from a garden centre and not seed!

I do harvest valerian root which I grew from seed, so could make valerian tea, but that's for my mogs. 

CapricornLass

I do a lot of cooking from scratch, I always have, but in recent years,  it is because there are so many food allergies in the family and cooking things myself means a lot more variety.  So I make soups, burgers, pies, chips, jams marmalades mincemeat and curds, cakes and puddings,  biscuits occasionally, curries and pizzas and virtually everything for Christmas, etc.  I also make sweets that DS1 and I can eat, ice-cream (because so much commercial ice-cream has coconut oil and nut warnings on it). I've also ventured into other cuisines - I make pakoras and bhajiis, and the latest thing I'm trying to perfect is omigiri, Japanese rice balls.

And yes, I do have homemade coleslaw, although its OH that does it, as his knife skills are much better than mine.  He's also much more confident about deep frying.

purpleivy

CapricornLass said:

I do a lot of cooking from scratch, I always have, but in recent years,  it is because there are so many food allergies in the family and cooking things myself means a lot more variety.  So I make soups, burgers, pies, chips, jams marmalades mincemeat and curds, cakes and puddings,  biscuits occasionally, curries and pizzas and virtually everything for Christmas, etc.  I also make sweets that DS1 and I can eat, ice-cream (because so much commercial ice-cream has coconut oil and nut warnings on it). I've also ventured into other cuisines - I make pakoras and bhajiis, and the latest thing I'm trying to perfect is omigiri, Japanese rice balls.

And yes, I do have homemade coleslaw, although its OH that does it, as his knife skills are much better than mine.  He's also much more confident about deep frying.

Our son is an adventurous cook.  Before they had our grandson every now and then he would pick a cuisine and then get ingredients to do the dishes. Ingredients tended to be repeated, so he was able to make best use of them. 

BrilliantButScary

RandomOne said:

I wouldnt say i make loads from scratch, but i do make

Bread
Bagels
Baguettes
Pitta bread
English muffins
Stir fry suces
Dips (hummus, tzatziki, guacamole, pesto etc)
Gnocchi
Pasta sauces
Pizzas
Granola
Energy Balls
Baked Beans

I have a chronic illness, so that's about my limit. 

@ RandomOne

What recipe do you use for English Muffins, as my efforts have been hit and miss? Any tips would be welcome.

Do you also make crumpets?

purpleivy

I just made some celery salt. I realised a year or two back that the celery seeds weren't that expensive, unlike the Schwartz Celery salt!   How hard could it be?  So I had a go and now I do it when necessary.  I have some of the Costco dried onion in the drawer for emergency use, I grind this down to use as onion powder.  I have dried mushrooms ( the cheap ones!) and ground those for use in things where folk don't liek the texture of mushrooms, or for a boost in mushroom soup.  

I also ground some granulated sugar down for caster just now. Need to top up my vanilla extract bottle in the baking drawer. That's something else that is very easy to make.  

I wondered a little while ago why we seemed to have so much food in the house. I came to the conclusion that we are an 'ingredients' household, cooking from scratch. Ingredients take space. Probably shouldn't be as much space mine do, but I'm working on that!  

Still need to write up the list from here of things to try.  

bouicca21

@Nelliegrace. @Katiehound. I’ve bought kefir grains, and they’re going great guns.  What I want to end up with is a yogurt like kefir rather than a drinkable one.  How do I do this? Is it just leaving the stuff to ferment longer or should I use gold top rather than ordinary whole milk?

ive assumed that I shouldn’t use my usual semi skimmed.

Katiehound

Mine is always on the thin side unless I add some cream- to the grains. I ferment mine over several days in the fridge! (I really make it for the dog rather than me, 'though do have some myself.)
I don't think it gets thicker over time.

No not semi skimmed or alternative milks. Gold top will give you thicker kefir

Do use a nylon or plastic sieve as metal corrodes with the acid, maybe gives it a metallic taste?

When I bought my grains it suggested that you do not wash out the container between batches, so I don't , until it gets really yucky! I think one of the reasons might be that washing water likely contains chlorine which won't help the grains.

If you are keeping the container out do keep it completely covered. I gave my friend some grains and the flies got in & laid eggs.

Rosa_Damascena

@purpleivy - how do you make brown sugar. Do you source sugarcane?

@Katiehound - Aldi is a bit hit and miss when it comes to Jersey milk. They pulled it to make way for brandy cream etc at Christmas, it returned in the New Year and now its gone again!

@Mnoee - are you drugging your cats with the valerian? Are they highly strung?

I'm no cook but I am trying to avoid UPFs. I made some a lovely spicy tomato soup in the machine yesterday - confession, the veggie stockpot I added is UPF - and then slung some tinned pigeon peas in for a bit of protein. I know that making flatbreads like Jamie Oliver is simple but I really don't like the smell of cooked food so made up a bit of couscous to go with it.