DELIA SMITH new show tonight bbc2 8.30

[jenk1]

here

Perhaps if they taught proper basic cooking skills at school instead of having them design packaging, that might avert the problem in the future? Just a thought.

As for the current working generation, there's no excuse - just pure laziness. I'm out of the house from before 7 in the morning until 6 in the evening. I have a 19 month old toddler to play with and get to bed. And I still cook from scratch nearly every night. Sometimes I make more than I need and freeze the rest. I cook and freeze most of DS's meals as well.

It's just a case of prioritising - plain and simple.

bu it showed no common sense.
why make strange bread out of potato rostis when you can buy a loaf.no-one would blame you for just buying a loaf.FGS

adding processed food and calling it easier is ridiculous. it is everything opposite to just making good decent food from local ingredients. i would sooner eat 3 boiled potatoes grown down the road than fanny about with quails eggs.
how can you say this programme makes any sense?

Things i hated about the programme:

1. All that fake lifestyle stuff cribbed from Nigella, Gordon etc. Why can't we have a cooking programme nowadays that is just about food?

1. That dish with the potato wedges, hard-boiled eggs and sauce made from cottage cheese and chillis must be the most disgusting thing ever to have been put on TV.

1. The shepherds pie -- made with "meat". What kind of meat fgs?

1. All that fake camaraderie with the cameraman and soundman.

Rubber Duck

It is really simple but really obvious, when you know.

Heat the milk and the butter before you add it to the potatoes.If you throw cold butter and milk in it takes the temperature down too fast. Also you need two potato mashers, one fairly coarse and then one with smaller holes. This way most lumps/bits are eliminated.

Thanks Bree

I use a potato ricer, but will try heating the butter and milk Going to try the baked potato in the microwave tip too...

(I love mash!)

totally agree with sophy.

Personally I don't mind Delia telling people how to cook with a mixture of pre-prepared stuff and fresh, but I hated the programme (fake chummy eugh with the crew and the football club and dear hubby).

Mostly I think she has got the balance all wrong. If your idea of cooking is microwaving a chicken tikka masala, you're hardly likely to be in the market for baking your own bread, are you? But forzen potato, ready chopped veg - where's the problem? If an ingredient she suggests seems crap to you, use the 'real' one instead. Doesn't mean everything she suggested is worthless. (Though that thing with the wedges and eggs and olives made me feel sick to contemplate.)

It's funny how so many people hated the look of that wedges dish - thought it was just me as I'm heavily pregnant and heave easily!

We have those wedges now and then, but don't put oil on (if she's aiming for the 'easy cooking' market, why put them in a bowl and make more washing up?!) We also use stir in sauces and the like but I definately draw the line at tinned mince (and frozen). Have recently bought ready made mash as this was always DH's domain and he's taken a liking to the lack of effort involved and the taste is quite nice, but again I think I'd draw the line at frozen. Not sure why as frozen veg is supposedly ok, vitamin wise etc.

I suppose we just all have our 'lines' and Delia has crossed a lot of them. Fine if you want to do it but I think it's a bit much to make a cookery series out of it - it already feels a bit 'padded out'. I agree all the lifestlyeee stuff was cringeworthy.

I've never heard of frozen mashed potato before !!

I've seen it in the frozen section (near the wedges ) and wondered whether it was a big lump of it and if you have to snap bits off Makes sense to come in discs I suppose and quite handy to top a pie with, I must admit!

Wonder if I should try it one day and see if anyone notices the difference!

DH said he couldn't believe we were watching a programme on how to heat up potato wedges. Delia kept saying it was all so quick and cheap - not cheap as far as I could see. Not your average ingredients either, so I can't see the 'can't be bothered' brigade having the inclination to do this. Sales of Aunt Bessie's frozen potato up 400% apparently.

Loads of shots of the cat. Did you know that her last cat was killed when a portaloo fell over on it during filming, poor thing.

me and ds watched this last night and when she was doing the potato wedges dish he said "turn it off mum its making me feel sick"

at first i wasnt impressed when i heard that she was bringing a book out using ready made stuff but my mum has the book and it looks ok.

where we live a lot of people i know and also in the town i live which is an deprived and poor town. we have the worst dental health in the uk and people spend most of their time either queing at the chippy or ordering a kebab, if this programme makes them be interested in making a meal from "scratch" using ready prepared ingredients then that hopefully can also get them interested in starting to make meals preparing from scratch.

i personally wont be making the shepherds pie or the wedges or sauce cos i make most of my meals from scratch but the chocolate cake intrigues me so i may give that a go!!

Awful programme. Won't be watching again. If you're going to add oil to frozen wedges, how much harder is it to chop a potato into 8 and sprinkle with seasoning. (And why would you want to make that disgusting sauce, would rather have a pot of sour cream) Nigella did the whole express thing much better.

PMSL at the portaloo/cat thing (am very bad person)

Jenk, I don't understand why it would make poor and deprived people want to cook. It's much more expensive to buy all that pre-prepared stuff than to make your own from scratch or even buy a prepared complete ready meal.
Do let us know how the potato choccy cake turns out though.

i was thinking it would make those who are more inclined towards take aways to see how easy it is and maybe want to start making food instead of buying chippy,kebabs etc.

take this family i know for example, more often than not their meal consists of a big kebab between 2 and a portion of chips, that must cost upwards of £6 a time and theres six of them, half the time they cant be bothered to cook, they say its too time consuming, but i also think they dont know how to cook, if someone like delia shows them how to do it cheaper and quicker rather than spending their money on fast food it maybe just maybe might prompt them to make a meal that is more healthier than what they usually eat and that can only be a good thing.

I just couldn't believe just how unconvincing she was! She looked as if she really couldn't believe what was coming out from her own mouth and almost looked as if she was choking trying to tell everyone to open the packet of grated cheese and that the tin of mince really was good quality.

Yes it means that people who aren't great at cooking can have a go at something a bit more adventurous than ready meals but it was so removed from what she truely thinks about food that it made me cringe a bit.

At least Nigella looks as if she really cooks her quick food all the time.

TINNED MINCE

thunk

sod the couch potato lot, they are doomed anyway

I still think its a disgusting disservice to encourage people who cant cook and therefore may be on low incomes to buy instant frozen mash and tinned mince

people that spend most of their time queuing at the chippy or ordering a kebab are hardly likely to sit down and watch delia on bbc2

ready grated cheddar
tinned mince
frozen mash

you may as well buy a ready meal - what on earth is the difference? apart from the washing up and the hassle?

perfect mash

maris pipers in potato ricer
stir in hot melted salted butter and a TINSY scrap of hot milk
fork madly

voila

Agree with Enid and I fundamentally object to her promoting industrially produced slop foods. Industrial food producers are responsible for many food related health issues(additives, trans fats ect) and all of the morally bankrupt intensive farming that goes on. I am disgusted with her.

I find the whole business utterly depressing

It is plain to see that she needs the cash wants to redefine herself and needs to set herself apart from Jamie Whittingstall

What a morally bankrupt way to do it [rant] [strident]

I've already posted my theory on the other thread but will put it here too.

This is not Delia. It is her evil twin. The real Delia is locked up in a larder somewhere shouting 'Help! Let me out!'