OneGuyFromBarlick

The post made perfect sense to me Maz.....
Slow cooked brisket.... The only way to go Moh and isn't it lovely when treated properly. I always thing the point end is the best....
I had the last of the pressed beef on three tiny butties for dinner. I know that three sounds excessive but Kath gave me a small wholemeal loaf on Friday and cut thin, the butties really are tiny! For tea I had a meat pie with tomato and onion sauce and peas. After tea I had the munchies and cut two thin slices from the loaf before I remembered I had finished the Apricot Conserve. So I put a bit of black treacle on instead. God knows how many years it is since I last had a black treacle butty!

Chicken pad thai for us today.

I had steak pudding and chips X two yesterday for dinner and tea but during the day I built a minced lamb and carrot stew....



Here it is last night after cooking very slowly for twelve hours on a low stove in the front room. I love slow cooking like this. Something quite magical happens when to put olive oil, vinegar and tomatoes together with good meat and give them time to get acquainted. No problems about what to eat today!

The lamb stew X two for dinner and tea. The stew was warming on the stove all the time the leccy was off.....

The last of the lamb with chips for dinner and for tea an old fashioned straight sausage butty. I know I'm hopelessly old fashioned with my cooking but there is a lot to be said for good sausage and HP sauce on a butty! I have some pork chops in my sights today!

I have some diced Lamb which will shortly go in the slow cooker to make a curry for tea tonight, rice and mini garlic naan will accompany.

Pantry well stocked but lacking some vital ingredients for some dinner ideas, including being totally bereft of Spuds and Eggs.
Shopping Day tomorrow, but I do have a packet of fresh noodles. Also found one remaining Chicken Breast at the bottom of the freezer (the contents of which I have been allowing to dwindle as I want to defrost the thing before the weather warms up)...and I have a fresh Red Capsicum, Carrots, Onion, Zucchini, and small amount of fresh Cauliflower.
Add some Chilli and...Spicy Chicken Noodles it is! We shall not starve!

I started watching that series "Back in Time for Dinner" last night (it was the 1950's episode when rationing still continued after the war and the poor modern day Mother trying to put a "retro" meal together with limited ingredients.)
I enjoy watching things like that. I wanted to get in there and give her some ideas!
Her family didn't like the National Loaf spread with dripping (and I thought it would have been much nicer if she popped it in the frypan and put a bit of colour on it). They had some fresh Veg from an allotment, so I would have chucked a bit of Spinach on as well. But that's just me. Some folk have no imagination when it comes to food.
The other week when our kids were here, we were discussing food and how we used to shop (years ago) and that we went to the Butcher, the Fruit and Veg Shop, and the supermarket for various items...but there was little pre-packaged food compared to today. We didn't just throw frozen Chips and goodness knows what else on an oven slide, and out came dinner. Nor was there entire meals, complete with sauce (!) that one could just shove in a microwave.
And everyone sat there with a mobile phone too...we used to take our coin and run down the corner phone box of course. Goodness me! Now you can use your mobile phone to have entire meals delivered! (which I am sure they DO with monotonous regularity).

Absolutely right Maz! I saw that programme as well and like you kept wanting to get in there and show her what she should be doing. The thing that struck me particularly was when she was trying to make chips. She was so frightened of fat she just put a bit of lard in the bottom of the pan and tried to fry as opposed to chucking the lot in and deep frying. When she finished she threw the fat away! I agree about the 'Don't cook, just eat!' syndrome. There are of course some good fast foods, we have an award winning Indian take-away on Albert Road, but it is so expensive!Yesterday I had 4 very small pork chops in the freezer and three cooked sausages left over from the day before. I put the chops in an enamelled tin dish, drizzled some black treacle on them, added a dash of Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, salt and pepper and a drop of water. Covered the lot with foil and popped the dish on the stove in the front room where it sat and cooked slowly all morning. I had 3 spuds left and so at dinnertime I had them chipped, three of the chops de-boned and de-fatted and poured the gravy over the top. It was lovely and such good gravy! For tea I made a butty with the remaining chop and the three sausage....
I have had a yen for a big cast iron stock pot for a while and had to stop myself this morning when I found myself looking at them on the web. I have a big, very heavy aluminium pot and use a large enamelled plate for a lid. It has a very heavy base and is almost as good as cast iron so I decided to leave the cast iron one alone. But I was tempted....

I can vouch for cast iron pots, Stanley. Mine is fantastic but terribly heavy even when empty, so I have to keep it on a bottom shelf, or it may cause something to give way on a higher shelf. I used it recently to straighten some art work that had warped...heavy lid on one corner and heavy base on diagonal corner! Did the trick anyway. I always have to think about its weight before I pick it up, especially when getting it out of the cupboard or I may topple in on top of it. But it is brilliant to use...

We have an Indian takeaway not too far away also. We have never tried their food (which I expect is lovely), but they often seem to be closed with a note on the door "Closed due to ill health". When they are open, I always wonder if they really are well enough to sell food again, so I give them a wide berth!

Maz, I've fended off my latest yen for a CI pot but I have an idea it will surface again. A good big one is expensive but they are definitely the best thing for long slow cooking, especially pot roasts and stews..... (No pockets in a shroud!)
I cracked! I had seen a 5litre one on Amazon, red enamelled Cast Iron, 26cm diameter. I checked the capacity of my favourite close lid heavy teflon coated pan and it's 3 litres and 20cm so this one is much bigger. The clincher is that it is reduced from £100 to £30 so I thought bugger it.... and ordered it. I massage my conscience by telling myself that many people spend this in the pub every night......

You won't regret it...
I can see you building your first Stew...

Marilyn wrote:I can vouch for cast iron pots, Stanley. Mine is fantastic but terribly heavy even when empty, so I have to keep it on a bottom shelf, or it may cause something to give way on a higher shelf.

I was very excited when I got my cast iron pot, also red. I started off a stew on the top of the stove and then went to put it in the oven. I was shocked at the weight when it was full. Enjoy it Stanley but take care when you're moving it, especially when it's full of hot food.

Yes...darn heavy!
And make sure you have really well insulated pot holders if you move it when hot, or you will be dropping the lot into your slippers.

I love my cast iron pans. No other pans have the flat base you need for cooking on a stove hotplate. Even expensive steel pans with heavy bases don't seem to stay flat. Last time we went shopping for a frying pan we took a straight edge to test the bottoms and not one passed!
Stanley I have 2 very small cast iron saucepans at the back of the cupboard which I never use....you can have them if they would be any use to you.

All these women fussing over you, Stanley.....

Perhaps it's something to do with the fact I comment on things that interest them as well.... Maz sent me a pic of her pan....



Mine is the same but bigger. Don't worry, I am used to hot pan handles and the weight is no problem. I can remember the very old pot bellied black CI pans that were used on the old kitchen ranges.
Wendy, when I first moved in here 15 years ago Margaret steered me towards some stainless steel pans with very heavy bonded aluminium bases, no makers name but they have been excellent, never warped at all. I'd love the cast iron pans, yes please!
Liz, you're right, a freezer full of good mutton and a hot stove.... way to go!
Yesterday I cooked a ham hock in cider until it was tender enough to be de-fatted and de-boned, the boiled ham is sat in the fridge. Instead of throwing the cider away (Not too salty from the hock) I tipped some dried peas in ....



They simmered on the stove for eight hours and I have a pan of lovely pease pudding this morning. I've just put a pan of carrots on the stove with the steamer on top with a big cauli in (47p still!) and it will cook slowly until I need it and than I'll finish it off with a blast on the electric cooker.
Yesterday I had pressed beef butty for dinner and pressed beef and haslet for tea.

I'll pop down with the pans one morning next week, probably Monday if that is OK with you Stanley.

Stanley, I still use some of the old black CI frying pans to which you refer. They too are in the caravan.

Thanks Wendy, always in before 10AM. If you bring a copy of that new book down with you I'll make you a happy woman!
Liz, I used to have one but gave it away. An old properly seasoned CI frying pan with a good smooth base was the first non-stick pan. The pores were full of grease. If you want to upset a chef, scour out his favourite omelette pan!
Meat pie with cauliflower, pease pudding , cauliflower and carrots for dinner and the same for tea but with a steak pudding. So good I ate too much! I will have to be hard on myself today.....

Made an Egg and Bacon Pie this afternoon ( made the pastry too). Threw the excess Bacon Fat into the pan with a little oil and cooked the potatoes. OMG! Evening meal was delicious...

Nice one Maz.... I love cooking stuff in what some would see as 'a dirty pan'. All the flavour of the bacon goes into the spuds or whatever else you are cooking. I love putting a bit of wine or vinegar in the pan to de-glaze it as well, same principle, don't waste the flavour!
I had cauli and carrots left over and had these together with pease pudding for dinner and tea. Fat free and no meat.... There were a few carrots spare so I chucked them in the pease pudding and brought it to the boil to make sure it isn't festering!

The Pan Fairy called this morning bringing goodies.... It's like a still life isn't it! All the veggies fresh out of Wendy's garden....



Wendy, I just happened to have a knob about my person. I have the two beetroot on the stove in the front room. Couldn't resist eating a couple of those small tomatoes.... Superb flavour! The pans are top quality and just the thing for encouraging small helpings! Thanks Wendy.... you are generous as well as beautiful..... (all right! But I know which side my bread's buttered on!)

sounds of a very happy man...
( lovely of you, Wendy)

You deserve it Wendy...... And, as an encore, the Yodel man has been while I was having my afternoon sleep.....



The stewpot et arrivee! Just the size I wanted . bigger then my other good pan so it will take mutton joints. Was it Maz who mentioned the dimples in the lid? The flash has blown them out but this has them as well. I am now cast iron pan centre of Barlick......