Cooking tips required

[Tam & Di]

Now that some foods are in short supply, has anyone got any cooking advice for the hoarders - how about toilet rolls al dente?

 

Tam

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Sheets of bog roll can substitute for lasagne sheets. Adjust cooking times to suit.

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Sheets of bog roll can substitute for lasagne sheets. Adjust cooking times to suit.

Sheets of lasagne can substitute for bog roll. Adjust wiping times to suit.

Edited March 19, 2020 by IanD

[Ray T]

No shortage of pet food. Pedigree Chum on toast. Mmmmmmmm. 

[Hudds Lad]

Our breadmaker has certainly earnt its keep this last week or so. We're a while off having to adulterate the flour though  

Edited March 19, 2020 by Hudds Lad
too many weeks

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

Our breadmaker has certainly earnt its keep this last week or so. We're a while off having to adulterate the flour though  

You're lucky to be able to buy any flour. There's not a bag to be had in supermarkets we are trying to buy basic supplies in. 

[Loddon]

2 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Our breadmaker has certainly earnt its keep this last week or so. We're a while off having to adulterate the flour though  

 

Ours has been dug out of retirement, its been 7 years alone in the cupboard. Needed a new belt,  the old one shredded after 1st loaf.

 

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

You're lucky to be able to buy any flour. There's not a bag to be had in supermarkets we are trying to buy basic supplies in. 

There is breadmix in my local Waitrose works just as well for us.

[The Dreamer]

4 hours ago, Ray T said:

No shortage of pet food. Pedigree Chum on toast. Mmmmmmmm. 

Not sure you are right there.  Our trusty pooch, for dietary reasons, has to have a brand of food that we can only get in limited places.  Thus, we have to go to Waitrose for her (whilst we shop at Aldi).  It appears that the good people of Cheshire, where we currently are, share our mutts taste (or at least there dogs do).  Mind you it. Is not much less than pure chicken, so if push comes to shove....

[Dav and Pen]

Many years ago a very nice Russian man who had escaped from the Soviet army worked for British Timpen in Northampton. He used to buy what he thought was fish from the local shop until he offered a sandwich to one of the men at work when it was found to be kitty cat . He said it tasted better than the Russian army stuff!

[IanD]

2 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

Many years ago a very nice Russian man who had escaped from the Soviet army worked for British Timpen in Northampton. He used to buy what he thought was fish from the local shop until he offered a sandwich to one of the men at work when it was found to be kitty cat . He said it tasted better than the Russian army stuff!

Kit-e-kat or kitty cat? There's a difference... ?

[Dav and Pen]

Yes Kit e Kat couldn’t quite remember its name.

[David Mack]

 

1 hour ago, Dav and Pen said:

He used to buy what he thought was fish from the local shop until he offered a sandwich to one of the men at work when it was found to be kitty cat .

Kitekat sandwich

[tree monkey]

4 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

You're lucky to be able to buy any flour. There's not a bag to be had in supermarkets we are trying to buy basic supplies in. 

I can't find flour for love nor money at the moment, bread,.self raising, plain or the weirder types including spelt, good job I have a small stock

 

Oh and no yeast either

[zenataomm]

I know an excellent recipe for deliciously cooking the cheapest/toughest joint of beef to perfection.

It requires a coal stove, casserole dish and a bottle of Mann's Brown.

Unfortunately the timing depends on availability of The Atherstone Flight.

[TheBiscuits]

18 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

I can't find flour for love nor money at the moment, bread,.self raising, plain or the weirder types including spelt, good job I have a small stock

 

Oh and no yeast either

Do a sourdough starter tonight then.

 

Ignore all the crap about wild yeasts in your environment, and use your freshest wholemeal flour as that will have plenty of wild yeast in it.

[tree monkey]

2 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Do a sourdough starter tonight then.

 

Ignore all the crap about wild yeasts in your environment, and use your freshest wholemeal flour as that will have plenty of wild yeast in it.

I've got sufficient yeast and a healthy sourdough ticking away, I bake most weekends so am well stocked,  although I still haven't got the knack of 100% success with the sourdough

[Dav and Pen]

Soda bread is easy and quick to make. I have baked my own bread for years, or at least when at home but not when we were in France. I buy the flour in 15kg sacks from Heygates mill in Bugbrooke and I’m always amazed that such a busy place will still sell a single bag and use dried yeast. Got a sack last week so will be ok for bread whilst stuck in the house.

[TheBiscuits]

12 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

I've got sufficient yeast and a healthy sourdough ticking away, I bake most weekends so am well stocked,  although I still haven't got the knack of 100% success with the sourdough

Oh, Ok.  I knew you had been experimenting with sourdough, but didn't know you were keeping it alive.

 

You know you can cheat and mix a commercial yeast with your sourdough starter to make a more risen but tastier loaf ... 

 

A loaf at a time obviously, don't add the commercial yeast into your starter jar!

[tree monkey]

1 minute ago, TheBiscuits said:

Oh, Ok.  I knew you had been experimenting with sourdough, but didn't know you were keeping it alive.

 

You know you can cheat and mix a commercial yeast with your sourdough starter to make a more risen but tastier loaf ... 

 

A loaf at a time obviously, don't add the commercial yeast into your starter jar!

Yeah, I have been tempted once or twice, not given in yet

8 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

Soda bread is easy and quick to make. I have baked my own bread for years, or at least when at home but not when we were in France. I buy the flour in 15kg sacks from Heygates mill in Bugbrooke and I’m always amazed that such a busy place will still sell a single bag and use dried yeast. Got a sack last week so will be ok for bread whilst stuck in the house.

Tried soda bread a few weeks ago, worked well and tasty 

[Naughty Cal]

We are very shortly going to run out of tinned tomatoes. You dont realise how many you use until you cant get any to replenish the cupboard!

 

 

[TheBiscuits]

20 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

We are very shortly going to run out of tinned tomatoes. You dont realise how many you use until you cant get any to replenish the cupboard!

 

 

We do, because our usual shopping habit is trays at a time not tins at a time.

We are not allowed to do that anymore despite it being more convenient for everybody.

 

Replacing 2 dozen tins 3 at a time is tedious and takes 8 shopping trips, exposing us and others to more potential infection vectors.

[Naughty Cal]

Managed to get tinned tomatoes from a Poundland type shop in Worksop town centre today. They had loads of them at 35p a can.

 

We got enough for this week and will go back next week for more.

[Movin' on]

On 19/03/2020 at 13:32, Ray T said:

No shortage of pet food. Pedigree Chum on toast. Mmmmmmmm. 

 

Except the prices have gone up substantially, just ordered for my pooches the same order as the last 5 years gone up 15% ---------------why??

[LadyG]

Strange, I find tinned tomatoes give a strange [Metallic?] taste, much prefer tubes of tomato paste, I just made a delicious squash based soup, I used some smoked cured ham to flavour the oil, the fatty rind is great for this.

Gently fry chunks of butternut in oil,  part olive oil, turning them often for ten minutes, add turmeric and a few caraway seeds, add water, cover with water, add tomato paste and a few dried mediterranean herbs, and 1/3 of a chicken or veg stock cube. Simmer12-20 mins. Two bowls of soup. A fork will squash the squash to a thicker soup. Or you can serve veg just as a veg and use the stock as a cuppa soup.

Edited March 22, 2020 by LadyG

[Naughty Cal]

We usually get the chopped tomatoes in cardboard cartons but any chopped tomatoes will do right now!