Food that’s not worth the effort

[BarrelOfOtters]

Crab…picked yourself
Unfilleted fish
globe artichoke all that finiking for some little bites

@Mirabai

Lidl own brand custard (long life) cold out the carton, gorgeous

Prep? Just boil/steam them until the stem is tender enough to easily insert a knife, drain for a few mins then serve with a small bowl of melted butter. Dip petals in butter and enjoy. Then afterwards you can scrape off the choke with a teaspoon and eat the heart.

There's easier tasty things to eat as an excuse for melted butter though.

@MissBridgetJones
@HunkaMunkasslipper

I don't really have a recipe as such for the pasta-less 'lasagne' but along these lines:

Cook your usual beef/lamb sauce using 500g meat
2 medium aubergines, 2 courgettes, sliced lengthways, roasted in a glug of olive oil until browned. Long gone are the days of frying aubergines - far too faffy.

Layer half the veg, then sauce, rest of veg and top with yoghurt mixture:

500g tub full fat yoghurt
2 eggs
big handful grated cheddar and Parmesan
Seasoning

Bake for around 40 minutes.

For more accuracy Google 'keto lasagne/keto moussaka' - there are lots of proper recipes!

I think it was the cooling overnight before adding the mash that put me off. I usually let it cook for twenty mins or so.

Cool!!

Mango

Mango is worth the effort, actually, in all its deliciousness.

Fresh tree ripened mango - absolutely worth it. Parrot mangos are my favourite

Chilled, transported, under ripe mango - not worth it

What effort is mango?

That's the JO 'Fantastic (sic) Fish pie', isn't it?
It is the ONLY fish pie I make and is truly fantastic, so easy and head and shoulders better than ANY other fish pie recipe I've ever seen or tried. Perfection.

IKR

You don’t need to peel a butternut (though if you want to a veg peeler works fine). Just cut in half lengthwise, crisscross the flesh with a knife drizzle with tiny bit oil and bake.

An artichoke takes 20 seconds to prepare. Then just steam. It’s nice to sit round the table picking the leaves off.

A low carb ‘lasagna’ is a vegetable bake.
btw, I suggest ditching the eggs - mix grated mozzarella with ricotta, add little bit of nutmeg and that’s your’bechemel’. I sometimes make a kinda lasagna tasting pasta (Italians look away). Stir some ricotta into the cooked mince, break lasagna sheets and push into the mix. Mozzarella on top, bake.

I never make my own pastry, deep fry, or cook steaks.

Fish pie is so worth it. Mixed fish, raw prawns, potato on top. Make the bechemel and cook potatoes while your fish has a quick bake in oven in milk with peppercorns, bay leaves.. Add strained cooking milk to the bechemel. Break fish up, stir in raw prawns add potato and bake. I advise adding an egg to the mashed potato when it’s cooled. That way any pie leftovers can be made into soft croquettes, just flip once.

I haven’t cooked rice on the hob for years since getting my pressure cooker. So much easier.

No one mentioned swede! We needed to take an axe to the thing one Christmas.

😂

It’s all in the cutting method so no nasty white bits. Cut it in half around the middle, not where it grew on the tree. Then cut each half into 3 slices. Let you mouth do the work as you get orange and can avoid the stringy white bit. My daily fix.

Butternut squash. I’ve contemplated getting the electric carving knife out to slice it up but am more likely to cut my fingers off then get into it. Fish pie it sounds easy but never worth the effort and the bombsite mess in the kitchen.

I peel and slice mine .I used to see mum run at hers with mahoosve knife. That's how I thought you cut it but I figured out peeling and slicing was the way to go.

I love squash but hate cutting an uncooked one. So (a) I use the frozen butternut squares or (b) put the whole thing in the oven. Cut it about 30 mins in when it is soft. Scoop out the seeds and peel off skin when it is cooked.

You can buy ready peeled fresh butternut squash. That’s the simplest way.

All this peeling and chopping onions, celery etc- use Waitrose soFrito

Absolutely. Homemade is so much better. And much more of it!

any faffy fruit like pomegranate or pineapple is easier to buy ready done same with melon balls etc

@Beargrumps22 Quarter your pomegranate and soak in cold water for a few minutes before trying to get seeds out and they'll come away a lot more easily

Pineapple isn't really hard. You just need a knife.