Frugal Foodies, thread 3! Favourite leftover dishes, avoiding waste, menu ideas. Plus pets, and other chat.

[Ninkanink]

Hey everyone! 🌺🌼🌸

1st thread is here

2nd thread is here

Looking forward to another lovely thread! ☺️ Eat, drink and be merry!

Indicated!

Glad you liked it ruby. It’s a staple here for using up cabbage mountains. I’ve switched to using finely chopped capers instead of the anchovies because we’re veggie now.

There are no leftovers for lunch so I’m either making soup or grilled cheese sandwiches inspired by graphista. My favourite is a version of a reuben from my favourite local cafe with smoky tofurkey slices, sauerkraut and mustard.

I seem ok so far I'm thinking it would have kicked in by now?

@PurpleDaisies hope you like the sandwich think that's the first time I've given an idea that's been taken up rather than just stealing em

You'll be fine Graphista, I had half a banana and raisin loaf go mouldy recently but I just ploughed on dodging the mouldy bits.

Salt and pepper chicken and chips for us tonight. We've been doing south/south East Asian food this week, although I didn't buy nearly enough spring onions 😂

It just tasted SO BAD! Never had that experience before (possibly because cake doesn't usually last that long in my house )

What did I do wrong? Not use it quick enough? Should I have stored in fridge?

Where is everyone ?

It's been a quiet day here @Graphista! MIL kindly brought me some fresh rolls from the bakers earlier so I had sandwiches and home made chips. Hoping to make a curry with flatbreads over the weekend when I have time to prep more veg without the DC squabbling in the background!

I've not tried flatbreads yet, but I've yogurt in so I may do at the weekend, thinking I may try scones too

I've had a busy day and now I'm shattered (physically) but my stupid brain won't allow sleep till probably 3am earliest.

I have been a quarantine cliché and made some banana bread! I had to, had bananas that were about to go but it was lovely, the nicest I’ve made in ages.

For iftar tonight I had leftover honey baked chicken from the other night so I cooked some noodles and fried up some ginger and garlic prawns and added to the reheated chicken and veg, picture isn’t much as per but it tasted lovely. Roasted lemon chicken legs tomorrow.

Getting excited planning my Eid lunch - slow cooked lamb, curried rice, tandoori chicken skewers and curry spiced roasted new potatoes. Just over a week to go!

Why have I never thought of curried roast potatoes? Two of my favourite thing in one dish. What do you use? Happy Eid in advance.

I’ve got black bananas. I was saving them for a banana and cardamom bun recipe I fancy trying but I can’t find fresh yeast anywhere. It might be banana bread for me too.

It’s a zoom family party tonight so easy dinner. Probably a freezer feast.

@PurpleDaisies I haven’t specifically done the curried ones before but I am going to just whack on some madras powder and some other seasonings and spices probably, I’m cooking them with the lamb a bit first so they will get some flavour from that as well. It’s only the last couple of years it occurred to me I could gasp put seasoning on my roasties! I know I must make my mum sounds so boring on these threads, she does eat more interesting things as well but there are certain things that she likes a certain way, including roasties. Now I just tend to cook two meals lol and I can do what I want with mine.

We're having burgers tonight as we also have a zoom cocktail party. Easy to make one handed, and not dangerous if I have one too many!

Last night a bit of a fail - on the basis of lots of internet raves, and quite a lot of stale sourdough needing using up, I roasted a chicken coated in butter mashed with garlic and oregano on a bed of sliced stale sourdough. The chicken was delicious, the bread was AMAZING where it was right under the chicken, but the other bits in the pan were hard as rocks! I think it is because in the USA when I have roasted any chicken, liquid absolutely pours out of it so the bread would have soaked this liquid up and then toasted - whereas I used a really good quality bird from the farm shop which did not pour with liquid so the bread got hard before a lot of juice was in the pan. So in future I will pre-soak the bread in chicken stock first!

Meatloaf for the family tonight, last time I made it I doubled up and made a second one and froze it for an easy tea.

I'm having mushroom orzo, it's a bit like a risotto and oh so creamy and tasty while not actually using any cream. It's from the Miguel Barclay £1 vegan meals book.

Takeaway pizza tomorrow for Eurovision night 😳

I love the 2 ingredient flatbreads @Graphista they always get demolished in one go by my lot! They are especially nice if you have any garlic and coriander in. Fresh or dried for either!

Aloo Gobi tonight, with salad and some sort of f kat bread. Or maybe rice, I haven't decided yet!
I also have pineapples, randomly given to OH by the Chinese accountants in his office block, so will do something with them at the weekend.

Flat bread, that should say!

We just had a winner of a lunch: a skillet of coins of chorizo, sliced asparagus, a small tin of white beans, some whole almonds toasted in the oven for 10 mins, and some torn sourdough croutons. I learned my lesson this time and soaked the bread in a bit of chicken stock first (I have a pot on the go from last night's carcass). Lovely contrasting textures and I've now used up all my stale bread! Luckily I'm baking 2 more loaves tomorrow morning

Do any of the queens of sourdough have a beginners recipe for Sultana’s debut?

He’s ready but I can’t decide how to get going with a first loaf.

I have one! This makes 2 loaves which you might as well do if you are doing all this work.

Night before: Make levain by mixing 100g flour, 100g water and 1 tablespoon Sultana. Mix well, cover with clingfilm and leave in warm place overnight.

Next morning:
Squish together 700g plain white flour, 300g spelt or granary or just more white flour, and 700mls warm water. Leave to develop gluten 2-4 hours.

Squish levain through, wait 1 hour.

Add 20g salt. Now - every 30 mins, for anywhere between the next 2-6 hours, do a stretch and fold in the bowl and cover back up again.

When the dough is poofy and ready to go, divide into two balls, shape, dust really well, put into two bowls lined with tea towels (or bannetons) and leave in the fridge uncovered overnight/12 hours or so. Here's a video to show that stage: bit.ly/3dRsLJM

Next morning:
Preheat oven to 240c with a cast iron pot inside with a lid. When the oven is to temp and the pot has been sitting in there for at least 15 minutes and blazing hot, drop dough straight into pot from the bowls and slash the top with a razor or snip in a line with scissors. Clap the lid back on and bake 45 mins. Take the lid off for the last 5 mins if you want it a bit darker.

The other tip is to always squish and fold with a wet hand - dough doesn't stick to wet skin. Not rivers of water, but just wet your hand under the tap and shake off. If you are worried about the dough being too sticky start off with just 600mls of water to start and then you can add a bit more with your wet hands as you do your stretch and folds.

Fantastic! Thanks, I’ll get started tonight. Yay!

The only issue with the internet is sometimes the amount of possible recipes is overwhelming.

Just one question-is that plain white bread flour or bread flour?

White bread flour PurpleDasies
I made sourdough scones earlier, treacle and sultana and date and walnut.

Wow, they look amazing.

I have to admit, I tend to do the following for my bread
Feed sourdough, tip half into a bowl and put rest back in fridge (once it passes float test).
3 large scoops flour, 2 scoops water, good pinch of salt, slug of olive oil. Seeds or whatever if I want them.
Mix roughly together, leave an hour, set of folds, leave an hour, more folds, leave an hour and so on for 5 or 6 folds depending how I feel, shape, fridge overnight and take out for about an hour then bake.
I only tend to follow a recipe if I'm making something particular, like croissants.