FFS - Delia........and her "easy" spag bol............

[FAQ]

by the time you've brought the water to boiling and coooked the pasta you could have cooked proper stuff!

youtube only seems to have vid of her at footie match screened in first prog.

I make two kinds of spag bol. The kind I throw together in the time it takes to cook the pasta like hula and faq. And the more authentic kind I cook for much longer. I actually think tomato sauces benefit from cooking for a long time especially if they have a bit of red wine thrown in there. But between the two and batch cooking for the freezer, I manage to make them from scratch every time.

UK www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Up-Storm-Survival-Cookbook/dp/1844287742/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qi d=1205838033&sr=8-2

I'm not a teenage boy, does that matter?

delia (ironically) did a very good book yonks ago called Frugal Food - i still use it, it was my mums and is falling apart

otherwise I like Rachel Allen for everyday cooking

lindsey bareham is also good

But in that very article mp linked to...

"Besides leaping to the top of the bestseller charts before it was even published, Delia's first book in five years has already resulted in nationwide shortages of frozen mashed potato, anchovy fillets, dried porcini mushrooms, pine nuts, tortellini pasta, Roquefort cheese, ready-made pancakes, tinned minced lamb, boiled and peeled eggs and pre-cooked fish at Sainsbury's, Tesco and Asda."

And that they had to have the McCain potato rostis couriered in from the factory as everywhere in the south-west has sold out

So someone (a lot of someones) is loving this stuff

I don't know what she's playing at - I've always had a lot of time for Delia (so long as I don't have to look at her - she has never looked at ease as a TV presenter) and I find the Complete Cookery Course a useful reference-type book when I want to make pastry, or a basic sponge, or check meat-cooking times. But the thought of chocolate cupcakes made with frozen mash makes me want to heave...and a lot of those photos from that article look utterly revolting. And, dear God, tinned onions - I always wondered who bought them. No-one is too busy to chop an onion, I just refuse to believe it.

Do you think Delia thought she was such a national institution and so well loved that she could get away with anything? Maybe it's all a big practical joke to raise money for her football club...she has a big bet on with someone "No, honestly, if I wanted I could make the country's supermarkets sell out of...say...frozen mash and tinned onions. Go on, dare me."

Oooh Oliveoil, can I please have your recipe for spag bol?

According to mp's article it is aimed at those of us in the provinces who can't just drop in at the deli on the way home from work. Well, that is true for me in that I don't know where the nearest deli is, but there are at least 3 farm shops within a 5 minute drive of my house (so on my route to and from other places) where I can buy fresh or frozen mince (I usually buy fresh and freeze it) that has been raised locally and so don't really need the tinned variety.

south -east I think i.e. London and surrounding, not south-west.

I am in south-west (Bristol) and looked when I went shopping on weekend. Plenty of frozen mash and tinned lamb there.

dragonbutter you can't go wrong with good food magazine books see here

they are lovely small books with easy recipes in

tinned meat.

revolting. what a retrograde step! (as my grandpa would say!)

DP is a chef and spent the entire programme drawing breath -everything she made just looked nasty

pre-cooked FISH? how? What? WHY?

tinned fish I think

tinned lobster to stick in your jar of bouilabaisse

oh yes tons of that round here

[actually there is, because although I bleat on about Dorset being culinary desert, I secretly have a members only French food shop half a mile away which sells frozen profiteroles and amazing frozen meals he he he]

lol at 'a nationwide shortage of pine nuts'

thats just NOT TRUE

I refuse to believe it

weeeeeell, i suppose i do eat tinned tuna. but tinned salmon is yuck so i can't imagine lobster would be any better.

tinned crab is alright actually in a flan

I like tinned salmon made into fish cakes with mashed potato and a dab of tomato ketchup

MMM it is NOT BAD

I think it is an Annabel Karmel recipe

we have tinned salmon but it is a posh brand and not a supermarket one

(although we buy it in the supermarket so may just be advertising to mugs)

we have it with mixed with boiled new pots, splodged with creme fraich, top with cheese, grill

and tinned tuna
and tinned sardines (sardines on toast mmmmmmm)

In Spain, they have tinned tuna like ours but the cans are 12 inches across

It's like being in Giant land

odd

nah, i don't like it. i keep those pre-packed salmon fillets in the freezer and if i was making fishcakes or whatever i cut the edge off the pack and stick it in a bowl in the microwave for a couple of mins to steam it. i reckon it's cheaper than tinned, as it happens.

reading this thread I think it was best for my mental health that I skipped this programme after all
This has to be Delia's version of wearing purple and not caring what she says to anyone, surely?
Tinned Alaskan salmon is brilliant for fish pies and fish cakes
I'd sooner eat my own vomit than tuck into tinned mince though
Agree with Aitch, I do think bolognese is best cooked gently and over a long period. So we do it day before for quick reheating and serving.
If you want fast and easyish real food Nigel Slater or Lindsey "dinner in a dash" Bareham does it for me every time

Mind you I do like the tinned "meat" chili they serve in Wetherspoon's "pubs"

I am slightly addicted to it

My palate might be suffering as a consequence

that nigel slater book is great (although inder 30mins, i don't think so) i must look at the lindsey bareham one too.

LOL at 'This has to be Delia's version of wearing purple and not caring what she says to anyone, surely?'

that is the general impression you get, yes

One of the only redeeming features of the Evening Standard is the 1.5" column space often given to her speedy recipes
I heart Lindsey, she is an unsung hero of real good cooking (she is the person who helps put Simon Hopkinson's great books together)