whats on the menu

I don't think that's really BAD - really BAD would be using dog food!!

There was one sort of dog food about 30 years ago that looked & smelt wonderful, the dog loved it & I will admit at one time to being very tempted, but I resisted.

I'm really skint at the moment so just trying to cook using whatever is lurking in the cupboards/fridge/freezer with the odd fresh extra thrown in.

Today I found some slightly out of date lasagne sheets in the cupboard so I've used those to make a big dish of lasagne along with frozen veggie mince (freezer), onion(home grown) garlic (already had), tin of tomatoes (cupboard) mushrooms (reduced in Tesco this morning) and a white sauce (cupboard basics of dried milk, butter, flour) with some grated Parmesan cheese (keep a block in the freezer)

That will do me for today, tomorrow and probably Monday as well

All washed down with a bottle of home made wine :drunken:

Well done JB I am sure it will be very tasty.

Roast chicken, roast potatoes veg, homemande stuffing & bread sauce. Really yummy, ate too much chicken so have to find an alternative for tomorrow now.

For today we have Toad in the Hole with roast pots & veg.

Tomorrow we are having Irish Stew as we have nurses appointments just before lunch.

Makung some pate as well.

Going to have quail for lunch, one each. With a small butternut squash risotto topped with crisp fried sage leaves on the side and fresh salad from the polytunnel.

I am going to cheat here: just been out for a celebration lunch (most unusual!), and this was the menu: 25 euros, including aperitif (a homemade verbena wine), local red and white for the meal, AND a glass of muscat with dessert!

http://aubergedesgorgesdemadale2.blogspot.com/2009/11/menu-du-11-au-22-novembre-2009-menu-24.html

The restaurant is a building in the middle of almost nowhere, self-built by a local young couple - they are running it singlehandedly - there is no choice, the menu changes every fortnight, and the chef is as creative as they come, and uses local and organic ingredients as much as he can.

with the verbena wine aperitif, some bites of cornmeal bread with beetroot mousse, chick pea mousse, salted herring mousse.

- asparagus panacotta served with a soft-boiled egg and red pepper sorbet
- tarragon squid fritters served with lettuce
- stuffed quail "confit" served with mash potato and twirls of balsamic cream
- fantastic, extra light caramel (always made with salted butter) millefeuille and peanut ice-cream (the glass of muscat)
with the coffee, a little chocolaty cone thingy, and a hazelnut marshmallow.

Such great value, and lovely people. Always inspiring to eat other people's creations, I feel truly blessed! :cheers:

The Irish stew has been sat since yesterday & is now in the oven & begining to smell wonderful.

Bean/pea soup is in the slow cooker with the chicken stock & will remain bubbling slowly away till some time this evening ready for tomorrows lunch.

Also looking for a fish recipe for tomorrow. We are not fish eaters as such, but need to eat it more often so books to the forfront today. Whatever I find will definately go in the other thread as it will be new.

That is what I usually do, either with cheese sauce or condensed mushroom soup, thought I would try something different.

Back to leek and potato soup today - with a slice of (not homemade walnut bread)
then for the spagetti, a Bolognese sauce, got a new tip for the tomato sauce from a Sicilian guy on TV: several cloves of garlic, tinned tomatoes, salt, pinch of sugar and THEN, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, supposed to take the acidity away (new tip for me). Nothing more. Add to the previously cooked mince (with onions, chili, garlic, etc.)
And I made apple puree, to eat with yogourt or creme fraiche.

Had a 5-spice marinated beef stirfry for supper. Bea and I made the marinade during home school this morning, mixing the spices in the pestle and mortar and discussing what they where and where they came from, and then did some experiments with cornflour when we added that, which was quite good fun and interesting but messy.
10 minutes spent making a marinade in the morning pays off bigtime in throwing a meal together in ten minutes in the evening. G von R ate three portions and even commented on how nice the beef was (praise is hard won in this house).
Washed down with a newly discovered cider from the bac of the shed which is medium-sweet and very innocuous tasting - could be apple juice... until you've had a couple and everything goes fuzzy. The best cider I have made yet, actually. Totally unchallenging yet lethal.

polgara wrote:That is what I usually do, either with cheese sauce or condensed mushroom soup, thought I would try something different.

most white fish can just be wrapped in a loose foil parcel with a splash of olive oil, a few herbs (bay leaves in the cavity are a must) - fennel is a goody, either seeds or fronds and baked en papillote.

a light salad and perhaps some new potatoes on the side... mmm. Perfect light supper for this time of year.

Weird, does that look oddly formatted to anyone else or is it just me?

Yes it is still wierd on some threads. Ubfortunately your avatar is over the top of your fishy thing at the moment.

? I don't have a fishy thing. That is a shotgun. Madam!

I really do not like this "new" format, with the new post indented,,,

Sorry, Badger.... but I don't...

Sorry Billy I just asumed that as the conversation above your posting was fishy, yours was.. I can`t reas id it through the avatar

Well the fish was very nice. I made a white sauce, added onion, mushrooms, parsley & a good dash of white wine & seasoning. Had it with boiled potatoes & fresh frozen runner beans from last summer.

Well managed to buy 2 ham bones yesterday, so ham & chips for lunch today & the promise of lentil soup at some time in the future.

Roast beef with the trimmings roastie potatos & veg, smells delish at the moment.

ham rolls for tea, the remains of the ham will go in the freezer for pate or something

All the fishy posts above got me to defrost the cheapo wild pacific whole salmon (it is so cheap that I fear the worst about how it is caught and how exploited the people catching it) - anyhow, just put it in foil and baked it, and with it we had white Thai rice, with a delicious hollandaise sauce in a pack (then I noticed it has palm oil in it ) - with a carrot puree (touch of cream, touch of mango powder and coriander) and steamed broccoli.
For pudding, one of those amazing Jamie Oliver little chocolate pots, with a piece of homemade pound cake.
Well it is Sunday, and between volcanic ash, rain, UK election, oil slick and tax returns, one has to keep happy.

Got a huge piece of beef roasting V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W-L-Y in the oven, in a parcel with 1kg of caramelised shallots, garlic, celery, carrots, game stock, thyme, rosemary and bay and a bottle of Fitou.
Going to have some buttery mashed potatoes, kale, fresh horseradish and at least another bottl of Fitou with that.
And fresh-from the garden rhubarb in a crumble with local double cream.

Having pork loin chops for tea, cooked in what my elderly mother alleges is the 'French way' (Zoe and Snoopka may disagree....) - dipped in beaten egg and breadcumbs several times to build up a good layer, quickly fried on both sides, then baked in an open dish in a medium oven for an hour but no more. Will probably do oven baked carrots with a bit of butter , black pepper and celery salt, and there may be some apple sauce lurking in the freezer....

Cottage Pie with peas & very nice it was, improves after a week in the freezer.

Also had homemade fish cakes for brekkie, again first time my homemade efforts stayed in one piece, so improving.