Dame Starry

As a single person living alone, I only need to shop once a fortnight and I tend to buy a lot of BOGOFs and either freeze them as a whole, or prepare several dishes and freeze them.
But since the beginning of the hot weather, I have got completely p**s*d off with my potatoes sprouting and deteriorating and having to throw them out – and of running out of spuds before my next shop!

I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before – but you can, in fact, freeze potatoes as follows:

Peel and par-boil for about 6 minutes. Drain and plunge into cold water (to stop them cooking) – drain again and then dry CAREFULLY on kitchen towel.

Spread the cooled potatoes on a baking tray, keeping the potatoes separated and then put into the freezer until they are frozen.
Pack them in a bag and use them within a month – they can be used for anything that you would use peeled potatoes for.

I got that tip from this website which is well worth a look: Potato Council.

DS x.

Harleybloke

Are, I'm sure very nice but I trashed the receipe last night, overdid the breadcrumbs...........total 'Wipeout'.......................

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

Chevyman

Try his Cous Cous.... even Ramsay couldn't mess that up

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the Boulevard?"

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Chevyman

My dear Dame I've missed you

I shop for two, plus cats, weekly but I still go for the BOGOFs. Brilliant value

I've been storing my spuds in a paper bag with sand over the hot period we've had.

The Potato Council website is very informative btw

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the Boulevard?"

Why not visit the Quiz Section?

Dame Starry

You're too kind, Chevy! But thank you.

That never works for me - I don't use them fast enough unfortunately.

I have a feeling that, as the frozen ones are already par-boiled, they can be roasted straight from the freezer - which would save a saucepan and time when cooking a roast.
I will confirm or deny that when I've actually tried it though - but it does work with parsnips.

Anyway, I have a beef joint to roast and a piece of gammon to boil - and I'm still recovering from a day's spud-bashing yesterday!

Adieu, mes amis!

DS x.

Chevyman

Bonne Chance Madame.

Mrs Chevyman is home for lunch today; and I bet she'll be wanting ham and eggs, so it's au revoir from me too

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the Boulevard?"

Why not visit the Quiz Section?

Harleybloke

His Lamb Patties are esquisite! I like Ainsly and I find his receipes easy (Until the urge to improvise gets too strong!) and I think the stick he gets is unwarrented, he always seems such a decent bloke!

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

Chevyman

I think if you accept him for what he is, he's good.

I like the way he's championed fusion food and middle eastern recipes

You've got PM

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the Boulevard?"

Why not visit the Quiz Section?

Dame Starry

AH makes my flesh crawl. I can't stand him or his cooking in any shape or form - and I am unanimous in that!

DS x.

Chevyman

"I think if you accept him for what he is, he's good"....by that I meant he's a cook rather than a chef, although he did work as a commis chef before the lure of TV and adverts took over. I find his efforts a little light hearted and, I have to say, he's better with the sound off

The recipes on his website are quite good though

"Don't tread on Greta Garbo, as you walk down the Boulevard?"

Why not visit the Quiz Section?

Dame Starry

NO! NO! NO!

I wouldn't waste my digit energy logging onto anything to do with him; he is a creep!
He mawls any woman in close proximity and he sticks his unwashed hands into food that people are going to eat - he actually puts me off food!
Perhaps I should watch him a bit more............
On top of that, he turned Ready Steady Cook into the AH Big Ego Trip; I haven't watched it since he was given that extra 15 minutes.
(Did you know that he's John Shuttleworth's brother-in-law?)

Give me James Martin any day and I quite like the new afternoon programme with Anton du Beke on BBC1 - except I would have disqualified Asbo Lizzi (Aldo Zilli) on several occasions for not sticking to the recipe!

DS x.

John Llewellyn Moxey

How nice to see you back in the fold! Missed you.

John

Dame Starry

Thank you, John - but I'm just on one of my little 'flying visits' today. I had a few things to do which left me with some time to kill, so I popped in.

DS x.

Dame Starry

A handy oven temperature conversion chart:



DS x.

Dame Starry

This is my own version of a recipe that my mother used to make – and she has always hated cooking, so it’s very easy!
I wouldn’t serve it up for the Queen, but it’s lovely comfort food on a cold winter’s evening with a pile of mashed potato – you can serve it in a large bowl and eat it with a spoon.

Sausage & Bacon Casserole

6-8 Large Pork Sausages (I used a pack of Porky Whites Surrey)
I pk Unsmoked Streaky Bacon (about 12 rashers)
1 Large Onion, chopped
1pt Chicken Stock
Cornflour
Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to about 160-170C/325F/Gas Mark 3.
You will need a large, ovenproof casserole dish.

Cut up the bacon rashers into approximately 2” pieces.

Brown sausages in olive oil and put on kitchen towel to drain.

Fry onion in oil until soft.

Slice the sausages diagonally – about ½-¾in thick – and layer them in the casserole dish with the onion and bacon.

Pour over enough stock to cover the ingredients, put the lid on and cook for about 2 hours.

Approximately ½hr before the end of the cooking time, mix 2-4 teaspoons of cornflour with some cold water and stir into the casserole until it is blended. Return to the oven to finish cooking.

This goes well with mashed potatoes and your own choice of veg.

NB:
Don’t season before the casserole has finished cooking!
Porky Whites Surrey sausages, in particular, are well seasoned and, if you use stock cubes, they are also seasoned. When I made mine, I discovered that I didn’t need any extra seasoning at all.

**With the sausages and the streaky bacon, this dish can have a very high fat content, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you have a high cholesterol level.**