Storecupboard cookery

[ThisIsntMeHonestGuv]

In order to get a good balance of storecupboard ingredients, I'm planning to base my stores on what I would want to make. So what are your best storecupboard recipes?

Some ideas I've had are :

Veggie chilli using tinned tomatoes, mixed spicy taco beans, sweetcorn and spices, served with rice. Tinned mince could be added (or fresh obvs)

Pasta in a tomato sauce using garlic and onion granules, cannellini or butter beans and capers or olives. Or a version of aglio y olio.

A version of Jack Munro's kidney bean burgers missing out the carrot if its not available, served with homemade bread.

[bellinisurge]

Definitely pasta sauce and soups.
I bought a dehydrator recently- not pricey - and plan to use these ingredients as well as store cupboard staples. Even tried dehydrating turkey mince (family fave ingredient) - really happy with result. Store using a vacuum sealer - also not pricey. Takes up less space.

[ThisIsntMeHonestGuv]

I do need to dog my dehydrator out, never thought of using it for meat! I've just come across some recipes for things like tomato sauce leather that can be rehydrated into tomato sauce. Like the sound of that!

[bellinisurge]

500g of turkey mince with oxygen and moisture absorber all vacuum sealed.

[bellinisurge]

Ideas at 1960HikerDude and KevinOutdoors. Backpacking meals. Not cordon bleu but space savers.

[ThisIsntMeHonestGuv]

I'll take a look, thanks! Currently don't have a vacuum sealer, but it's something I have been considering.

[PandaPolarBear]

Vege shepherds pie. Made with lentils and beans rather than mince, or frozen mince if you've got any. Potatoes from tins, or instant mash for the top. Served with peas and carrots (frozen or tinned).

It's better made from fresh but we made this during the snow earlier in the year once fed up of soup and it's pretty good.

[bellinisurge]

Sounds yum.

[Snugglepumpkin]

Try this long out of print cook book available dirt cheap (probably cost you about £3 including postage) on Amazon:

Farmhouse Fare Hardcover – 10 Aug 1973

A collection of farmers weekly recipes ranging from breads, to chutneys, to grandmothers embrocation or just plain old cheese soup.

This particular edition is a standard recommended recipe book for self sufficiency enthusiasts & preppers alike.

Its the sort of book your mother had & you went searching for after you left home because she wouldn't part with it & it's that damn good.
Some (not most) might be a bit too prepper for you unless you grew up on a farm.

The later editions are just nowhere near as good.

[RedneckStumpy]

We have a pressure canner, I cook extra from our regular meals and can it.

[bellinisurge]

Great tip @Snugglepumpkin .

Pressure canning is fab.

[Jozxyqk]

Please could I have recommendations for a dehydrator? I've always fancied one ever since I saw a programme about wild food & making homemade camping / hiking nibbles etc. I really fancy making fruit leather, dried fruit slices etc. Maybe jerky etc.

[bellinisurge]

I have one that was , I think, second cheapest on Amazon. It's a Callow and kind of drum shaped. Currently doing a load of supermarket onions that we bought before our home grown ones came in.
No idea if it's a fabulous make but it's reliable and suits me. Also have the book Dehydrating for Idiots. Because I am one!

[ThisIsntMeHonestGuv]

How long do you find dehydrated fruit/veg lasts, @bellinisurge?

[PositivelyPERF]

I do need to dog my dehydrator out, never thought of using it for meat!

Poor dog. 😢 I don’t think things are going to get that bad, ThisIsntMeHonestGuv 😉 Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

This is a great thread. I was wondering about store cupboard recipes. I wonder if there are any books on the subject, that don’t contain silly recipes?

[CesiraAndEnrico]

Snugglepumpkin

Dammit. I wasn't supposed to be putting more things in my amazon basket today, 😁

[SheGotBetteDavisEyes]

Not recipes but I find that keeping these things in means I can always knock up a meal:

Jar of anchovies
Tins of decent plum tomatoes
Passata
A variety of beans - black-eyed, chick peas, butter beans etc.
Jars of curry paste (not sauce)
Solid coconut block
Tamarind
Capers
Tin of decent sardines in oil

[SheGotBetteDavisEyes]

RedNeck can I ask what pressure canner you use? Did you buy in the UK?

[bellinisurge]

@ThisIsntMeHonestGuv - my fruit leathers tend to last as long as my daughter knows where to find them - that is, not long. She is Miss Fussy with food but she loves them. I'm doing some melon tomorrow- we bought one and it hasn't been eaten. So we'll see if that lasts.
Veg?Well this is my first year but I have vacuum sealed everything I've dehydrated and it is holding up well. I'm guessing a year maximum. The vacuum sealing failed (or the bag did) a couple of times - no biggie; I have plenty. I'm trying to wrap everything in baking parchment before vacuum sealing to stop it being too spiky. I also stick a moisture absorber and an oxygen absorber in with it.
I've dehydrated spinach from the garden as and when and crumbled it up to put in soup, (also as and when). I've stored this in a big jar which I open and add to when I can be arsed/get chance.

[bellinisurge]

I imported a pressure canner- an All American- via eBay from the manufacturer. Yes it was a big outlay but I saved for it. Was a bit scared at first but follow USDA guidelines to the letter while I am learning. It's great.

[ThisIsntMeHonestGuv]

Poor dog. 😢 I don’t think things are going to get that bad, ThisIsntMeHonestGuv

Hahahaha, hadn't spotted that one!

Some great tips, I've found the book quite cheaply on Amazon I think.

Looking into pressure canning and vacuum sealing... might have to wait till the end of next month though as this month has been fairly tight financially. Holidays play merry hell with my income!

[SheGotBetteDavisEyes]

I've dehydrated spinach from the garden as and when and crumbled it up to put in soup, (also as and when). I've stored this in a big jar which I open and add to when I can be arsed/get chance

What a brilliant idea. I do this with edible flowers/herbs in the sun but hadn't thought of spinach. Thanks for the pressure cooker info as well.

[bellinisurge]

Pressure canners are expensive so maybe look at other options to store eg. meat. I dehydrated some poached chicken and poached turkey.

[bellinisurge]

@SheGotBetteDavisEyes I made this rookie error and was sent down a few rabbit holes in my initial research- pressure canners are not the same as pressure cookers. We can get pressure cookers in the UK quite easily but pressure canners are a different animal and, at least as far as I can tell, need to be imported.

[SheGotBetteDavisEyes]

Sorry yes - I said pressure cooker (not canner) through force of habit - that's why I was keen to find out when people get the canners as I never see them in the UK!

[nicslackey]

Corned beef hash with tinned potatoes and beetroot (onion if available)
Tuna pasta bake with tinned sweetcorn/ tomatoes and crushed crisps if no cheese for toppin
Chickpea and pepper (from jars) curry