We struggle endlessly with the eternal question “what shall we eat this week”. What are your favourites? Moving out of default salad is stressing me out.
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Musings on the byways of popular culture
Chrisf says
Being in Singapore we quite often (I.e at least a couple of nights a week) rely on packing back hawker food on the way home – usually some noodles, some roast meat with rice or something. Most popular eating option here and all for $4-5 (about £3) a portion.
If we cook it will be something simple – usually pasta or a quick chicken dish. This pasta from Mary Berry is a favourite….
https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/15_minute_pasta_33407
Another quick pasta would be to just go fry a couple of shallots, pour in a rub of mascarpone, add some smoked salmon and baby spinach and then mix with cooked pasta (again usually Penne).
Recent other popular dish with the house that I came across (can’t remember where) is take chicken breasts, slice in half so a thin slice, flatten a bit more (rolling pin and Ziplock bag), spread with pesto, add a couple slices tomato, some grated mozzarella and then roll up tight. Use a toothpick to hold together. Fry in olive oil for a few minutes each side to brown in an ovenproof skillet and then bung in oven at 220degC for 15mins.
Chrisf says
a tub of mascarpone not a rub……. and I forgot to put that also can add a sliced red chilli and / or some lemon peel
dai says
A lot of soup. But today I made pork schnitzel with veg and potato gratin. Turned out quite well.
johnw says
What’s wrong with salad…then more salad? That’s my tea most days of the year. Nice and fresh tasting and as a bonus, quick and easy and (generally) healthy too, and. With the variety of options, why consider anything else?
minibreakfast says
Steak and rocket salad, loads of homemade Italian dressing, parmesan and some little slivers of pizza dough. Mmmpf.
Lodestone of Wrongness says
Roast a chicken in the oven on top of a pile of potatoes, onion and garlic or whatever veggies are lying around. First day roast chicken, next day chicken curry or salad or whatever, third day soup using leftovers including carcass. (for two people of course, kids long gone). Buy a happy chicken which round here costs around 17 euros = 3 meals
Gatz says
We had dinner in the Wetherspoons in Bolton last night. It’s a glamour for us you know. Veggie burger and chips with a pint of Flat Cap, seeing as you ask.
retropath2 says
One pot wonder king me, onion, garlic, leak and celery in a big pan, brown some meat, any meat, then adding, depending on availability in the fridge or cupboard, broccoli, shrooms, chilli, courgettes, pepper, spinach. Tin o’toms and some tom paste. Variations then spin in with either a big slug of wine, usually red, or pesto, or balsamic. Spinach maybe. Capers sometimes. I used also to do one with chorizo as the meat and a late addition of prawns. Did I mention spinach? Even olives if it is veering more toward the med than the casbah. O yes, chick peas for the casbah one. Served with rice. Or pasta. Or some ciabatta.
MC Escher says
One veggie option I discovered recently on holiday. Chunks of cooked/pickled betroot, tin of chickpeas, bit of mayo dressing. Doesn’t sound like it should work but it does. A lovely side dish and really easy.
fortuneight says
I knew nothing about cooking. But after a weekend “taster” course last year followed by a full week this year I’m starting to get the idea. Still pretty basic but so far all quite edible. Thai green curry on Sunday night, homemade beef burgers yesterday. Still have cherry and choc muffins left if anyone wants one and some minestrone soup in the fridge that needs eating.
Anyone know where I can get a decent non slip chopping board? Sharp knives and rotating boards don’t make a good combo.
mikethep says
I find a big heavy wooden chopping board does the job, doesn’t move at all.
Vulpes Vulpes says
Buy a left over slab of beech block from a kitchen fitter. Bung some little sticky plastic feet on one side. Instant ace chopping block, last for years. Mine are 10 years old and still fine.
minibreakfast says
Mr B swears by a folded tea towel under the chopping board.
Blue Boy says
I kinda think Moose is required at this point.
Moose the Mooche says
I have been silenced in the interests of hygiene.
davebigpicture says
Like Retro, I do a lot of one pot stuff. Last night was lamb stew from the freezer. We have a leg of lamb as a roast then stew the rest and freeze it in portions. A lot of meals from what seems like an expensive joint were you to discard it after the initial roast. Anything like that, I do double quantities and freeze any leftovers.
I’ve recently discovered I can do a decent Paella. Not that quick to do but really tasty and worth the not that great effort.
mikethep says
Going through a big dal phase at the mo, as mentioned on another thread. The Gurkha barracks are in Folkestone, so lots of exotic pulses to be had. Cheap, nutritious, infinitely variable – and invariably delicious, accompanied by rice, naan or what have you. I’ve just bought a whole book of dal recipes, so it’s a good job Mrs thep is in Oz at the moment, though the neighbours may pass out.
Last night’s was a bit of a disappointment tbh – too watery, possibly because I used frozen spinach instead of fresh. But there’s plenty left for tonight, so I can fix that. Pfffffft…..
Otherwise, I’m a dab hand at risottos – mushroom or roast pumpkin are favourites – and there’s my signature black bean stew, with or without chicken, with smoked paprika or chipotle flakes according to mood. I’m terrific fun to live with.
retropath2 says
Are you a barlotto man? Pearl barley instead of arborio. Makes a change for that chunkier sago pudding texture.
Kid Dynamite says
If you like dals I can recommend the hell out of misir wot. It’s an Ethiopan dish that is simple to make and gert lush, as they say in Addis Ababa and Bristol. Chop and fry up an onion with a generous helping of berbere spice mix. Add red lentils and water or stock depending on taste, chuck in a bit of smoked paprika and cook until you get to the consistency you like. Serve with bread (should be injera for authenticity, but you’ll get away with a roti or naan) and go back for seconds. Also good cold in a wrap for lunch the next day.
mikethep says
Barlotto and misir wot are both new to me, but I’ll give ’em a burl, as they say in Oz. Ta.
Junior Wells says
Perfectly executed Australianism Thep. We will let you vack in.
If I had a heavy dahl phase I wouldn’t need that plane I am booked on this Sat I could travel to Spain on my own wind.
bigstevie says
I assume you mean the chopping board moves about on the worktop?
I have a very thin silicone circle mat thing that I put underneath the chopping board. This isn’t it, but it’s similar.
This is a reply to fortuneight. Somehow it moved.
fentonsteve says
I’m on a medical diet. Weekday lunches are based around microwaveable rice packets, so dinner is pasta in some form.
At weekends I have omelettes for lunch, so dinner can be an exhilarating choice of either rice or pasta.
With all those white carbs, I will probably now develop type 2 diabetes before the Crohn’s gets me.
davebigpicture says
Can you manage Frittata? A bit more varied than omelettes and leftovers are nice cold too.
https://www.bbc.com/food/frittata
fentonsteve says
The only spuds I can do are over-baked (although I can’t eat the skins) otherwise I could partake in Mrs F’s occasional Spanish Tortilla (I can’t do the onion in that, either).
I suppose I could bake some spuds then make a Frittata. Sounds good to me.
davebigpicture says
Oh, I wouldn’t have thought spuds would be a problem 🙁
fentonsteve says
You know that powdery starch you get when you boil spuds? That’s like Kryptonite to me.
dai says
Have you tried Humira @fentonsteve , it has really helped me out (together with a weekly dose of 10mg of methotrexate). Injecting myself isn’t fun but I got used to it.
fentonsteve says
It’s taken several years to find the right meds. I’ve been on 50mg of 6-Mercaptopurine, calcium, iron & vitamin supplements and VSL#3 probiotics for a over two years and they’re really helping. My FCP has gone down from off the scale (above 600) to 78. “Normal” is less than 50, so I’m “Almost normal”, to quote my GP.
What does all this mean in practice? Well, I can eat a wider variety of things. I introduced strawberries this summer, and coming to the end of a water melon binge.
Bread and spuds still do me in, though.
retropath2 says
First mention of Faecal Calprotectin (FCP) on the Afterword? What’s for tea indeed!! (Sorry, guys, such delights are my bread and butter. As it were.)
fentonsteve says
I did try to cloak it in acronym. I can hear the sound of breakfasts/lunches being pushed aside…
dai says
Whatever helps is good (as long as the side affects are not too bad). I have been on humira for about 3 years and have almost completely been in remission since. Can eat whatever I like, being at e.g. a music festival is no longer a scary thing and I am even feeling so confident that I am contemplating going camping.
Vulpes Vulpes says
Chilli. Can mail you some home grown ones if you like.
duco01 says
I cooked Meera Sodha’s Pistachio and Yoghurt Chicken Curry for the first time on Saturday night. Delicious. There was enough left for Sunday evening too. Yum yum.
https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/pistachio-and-yoghurt-chicken-curry
Vincent says
Roasted vegetables. almost any combination will do (not put cucumber in yet), with garlic, olive oil, bit of fresh chilli, salt and black pepper. Goes with any carb, and goes with any meat or fish. You can stir into the veg any sauce – recently a mix of tamarind sauce and mango chutney was excellent. Goacheng (korean pepper paste) and paprika is also a good one. The above with jacket potatoes and sausages – top meal.
Twang says
I love pulses – butter beans, lentils, all variety of bean. Fab.
Gary says
Where I live there are three main local dishes that aren’t really known in other areas of Italy. Riso, patate e cozze (rice, potatoes and mussels), orecchiette e rape (the vegetable “rape” is sometimes translated as turnip tops, sometimes as raab, sometimes other things – it’s a brilliant veg) and fave e cicorie (purée of fava beans and chicory). The latter is my favourite, although I prefer it with Swiss chard instead of chicory.
aging hippy says
badartdog says
Cauliflower and sweet potato curry.
count jim moriarty says
Cauliflower is the spawn of Satan. Revolting stuff.
thecheshirecat says
Tonight, the pork belly is currently roasting. I prepared the red cabbage last night.
Comfort food is risotto. I always have pots of home made chicken stock in the freezer; the rest of the ingredients are infinitely flexible.
Rigid Digit says
Tonights repast was Duck Breast, Cheesy Mash and Green Beans
Last night’s was the meal that probably ranks is my number 1 choice:
Sausages, Hash Browns and ‘oops
Blue Boy says
I have to say this may be the most middle class thread ever on the Afterword.
Oh, and Thai Green Curry, made the day before, since you ask.
hubert rawlinson says
Honey.
mikethep says
Still forty?
fitterstoke says
Now that we’re into autumn, it’ll be soup as far as the eye can see. Sweet potato and squash, chicken broth in various forms, Scotch broth, tatty soup, chunky leek & potato, minestrone…..you get the picture….it’s a Scottish thing, I think….I blame the parents……
bungliemutt says
I’ve lost more than a stone in the last few months trying to follow a more sensible fruit, veg and fish related diet. Had a bit of a decadent blow-out with a huge takeaway pizza tonight. (It’s what passes as sophisticated round our way). Now feeling fat and guilty.
Gatz says
After atrying car journey yesterday we had the 3 course special offer menu at Pizza Express, large glass of wine with, large gins in a pub before and after. That left us feeling very thoroughly fed and watered. Bed in the Inn where we are staying by ten.
Tiggerlion says
My favourite is lamb’s liver and onions. I use garlic and chilli, tin of tomatoes and gravy powder. Serve with mash.
Second is pig kidneys and mushrooms. Again there is onion, garlic and a bit of chilli but this time there is English mustard. Serve on dry toast.
Third chorizo, king prawns, onion, tomato, garlic, +/- chilli depending on mood, and rice all mixed together in a wok. The rice needs to be precooked. Add lemon juice at the end.
Fourth, smoked mackerel and baked beans in a microwave. It takes four and a half minutes.
Fifth is a variation on fourth, salmon and butter beans.
King prawns and salmon are the most expensive items.
mikethep says
Ooh, you are offal.
Tiggerlion says
Funnily enough, I’m not keen on meat itself. I find it bland tasting. I can’t resist smoked bacon, though. I love black pudding & sweetbread too. I really enjoy black pudding with fried egg, for example.
retropath2 says
The chorizo prawn one, if you add a bottle of wine and a cup of uncooked brown basmati, it will cook the rice delightfully as it dries and thickens. Prawns clearly late to the mix. I sometimes add the entire contents of a tin of pineapple chunks in own juice and call it jambalaya.