Bulk Buying
Nearly 8.00am and only just tottered in here to start my blog. Did wake at 5.ooam and dedided to do a bit of dusting and polishing of my bedroom while I was awake, fully intending to then come in here, but silly me thought I would have a little lie down for ten minutes (cleaning is exhausting) - and off to the Land of Nod I went. Wish I could fall asleep so easily at bed-time.
Thank you Kathryn for sending the details of the website re payments for pregnant ladies. Also the way you write up a menu for the week. Re the meal giving to OH before he sets off for his pub quiz - was the amount to soak up any overload of booze? Too many carbohyrates make the brain sleepy, so he needs to keep alert to answer the questions correctly. Apparently Marmite is very good for the brain, helps to keep it running smoothly in old age (not that your OH is old, just read it in an article about old age yesterday).
Lovely idea to pot up bulbs to give them as presents.
Thanks also to Julie, Marjorie and SweeterRita, for their comments. Glad the popcorn recipe was a success to those who tried it, and will be enjoyed by those who will be trying it.
Eileen is next on my list. Have looked up recipes for 'tomato jam' Eileen, and have picked out three: one on 13th June '08 (that is for Green Tomato Jam), and there are two using red tomatoes, one on 3rd March '08, the second on 16th June '07. 'Love Apple' is the old name for tomatoes, and one recipe certainly has this name.
Now to Lesley whose mention of buying meat in bulk (half of a pig, half a lamb) led me to finding out the prices that Tesco charge for their fresh meat on sale. With lamb they have at least eleven different cuts of lamb, and that does not include the 'organics'. You said you were paying £1.99p per pound - and am presuming this will be the price per pound paid for the total weight of the lamb bought. Am never good at converting to the metric, but do know one pound weight is just something like 2.2kg. Whatever size of packs o sold, the price per kg is also given which helps in this instance. So - working on your lamb being around £4.25 per kg, (this may sound steep but have worked on double and a bit of the price per pound) - you will be interested to see that the cheapest lamb at Tesco is £3.80p kg for breast, and the highest price is given as £12.97p kg for cutlets. Mince is £6.48 per kg. Having just added up the amount paid for the eleven different cuts/packs of lamb at kg price, this comes to £73.89p and this averages out to £6.71 per kg. So by buying in bulk you will be getting the best for very little more than you would be charged for the cheapest.
The pork - your price given as £1.30p lb, have approximated this to £3.00 per kg. Twelve different packs were on sale and the cheapest was hock at £2.99p kg, through to £8.35p for loin. Totalling £62.84p, or £5.23 per kg. So again, worth buying.
It was interesting comparing the prices between the two cuts. Lamb chops are sold at £10.18p kg (packs of 'value' chops at £7.45p kg), whereas pork chops would be £5.79p kg ('value' chops at £4.77p). Leg of lamb £7.99p per kg, leg of pork £5.56p per kg. Anyone fancy buying half a cow? Reckon - when butchered - that would fill a large chest freezer all by itself.
Have read, more than once, that meat frozen domestically, and kept longer than 4 months, deteriorates slightly in quality and flavour, and if kept for a year a quality joint/or cut ends up as not worth the money paid for it. That is debatable, but worthy of consideration. The meat itself would still be good, but not quite as good as if you bought it fresh. Suggest that the best cuts frozen at home, should be the first used. Frozen meat, once cooked and made into a dish, or sliced cold or in gravy, can then be frozen once more, so a way of keeping the good flavour for longer. The older the (frozen) meat, best used in a casserole or stew.
Coincidentally, my visiting daughter told me they are buying half a pig (not yet slaughtered) from a local farmer. This animal terrorises anyone who comes near, and cannot bring myself to tell you what it did to its own offspring. Suffice to say that from a big litter, not many survived. Daughter is planning to make her own sausages, has bought a mincer with sausage attachment so am sorting out recipes for her. The local butcher (who is having the other half) will be jointing the meat for her and packing it up, ready to be frozen.
Jave been recently readomg about smoking food, either hot-smoking, or cold-smoking. There are many ways to make your own smoker, and was particularly taken by the use of an old filing cabinet (to be used outdoors)as we already have one of those. It is standing behind me as I sit. Even simpler smokers can be made by containing a fire (sometimes just a covered hole in the ground) that has a long pipe to carry away the smoke through into another box that holds the food that needs to be smoked. Hugh F.W. made one from a filing cabinet, but there are plenty of websites that tell you how to make a smoker. If you feel that way inclined.
It is possible to smoke chicken and fish in the kitchen. Think it is Phil Vickery that shows how to on either his or the BBC website. Need a wok, some tea leaves (proper leaves not the empties from a bag), some rice and sugar, foil and the food chosen to smoke. Plenty of ventilation to get rid of the smoke.
Discovered two boxes of wood chips (think one is hickory) meant to be thrown on a barbeque to give a pleasant smoky flavour to the food. Suppose that could be used instead of tea-leaves. Have to have a think about whether to smoke or not to smoke.
Back to buying in bulk. In the past, having a large chest freezer, have bought a sack of carrots via the greengrocer who got an extra bag from the wholesaler for me (charged me only a little over the w.sale price. Possibly, if buying by the sack, anyone can go to a wholesaler and buy vegetables at the w.sale price. Carrots keep quite well in the fridge (no room for a sackful of course) and can be cut into various shapes (rings, batons etc) blanched and frozen. In the old days, root vegetables were pulled up, rubbed free of soil and kept in 'clamps' - deep holes cut into the ground and filled with bran, sawdust or sand, the vegetables placed in without touching each other, covered to keep frost free, and used as needed. Even a large box placed in an outhouse or garage filled with the above would work just as well. The idea is to give the veggies 'growing conditions' without the need of further watering, above all keep away from the frost.
As you seem to be enjoying the recipes that are being given this week, am including one for a lovely dessert that has a pleasant 'rustic' look about it (in other words does not need to be appear neat and tidy). Very seasonal as it is made with blackberries, and either apples or pears. But again the type of recipe that can be adapted to use other fruits (say rhubarb and ginger).
In some ways the dish is basically an almond sponge (posh name for this is frangipane) but if you do not wish to use ground almonds (know that some of you don't care for them) just make the cake with all wheat flour in the normal way, almond essence can be added if you wish for the flavour but not the expense.
Blackberry and Orchard Fruit Frangipane: serves 6
11 oz (300g) shortcrust pastry
2 apples or pears, peeled, cored, cut into chunks
5 oz (150g) blackberries
2 tblsp caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
3 tblsp demerara sugar
almond filling:
2 oz (50g) butter, pref unsalted
2 oz (50g) caster sugar
1 egg plus one egg yolk, beaten together
2 tblsp plain flour. sifted
2 oz (50g) ground almonds
First make the almond filling by creaming together the butter and the sugar until very pale and fluffy. The longer you beat the lighter the end result. Beat in the egg, then fold in the flour and ground almonds. Put this to one side.
Roll the pastry out to an approx 12" (30cm) circle (no need to be too fussy about the shape as long as it is 'sort of' round). Place this on a baking sheet. Spoon the almond filling over the centre of the pastry, spreading it roughly but not quite to the edges. Put the blackberries and chosen orchard fruit into a bowl with the caster sugar and toss to coat. Pile this over the almond filling. Gather up the sides of the pastry and lift up towards the centre, but keeping the centre open. Crimp the pastry together so that it forms a rough case. Brush the beaten egg over the pastry and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill (this helps to keep the pastry in shape) and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for 35 - 40 minutes or until golden.
Tip: The pastry can also be laid in a shallow pie dish or large sandwich tin, assembled as above but the sides of the tin help to keep the pastry in place.
Normally, would keep going for another half hour, but the viewing is mid-afternoon, and the kitchen needs a good tidy up. Apparently it is best if the unit tops are kept clear to give more impression of work space. My work space tends to be the table, and so will just have to shove stuff into cupboards and hope for the best. Might bake a loaf so that the place smells 'homely' (that word does not mean the same over here as it does over the pond), and perhaps have a huge basket (well it has to be for I have so many) apples on the table that Beloved picked over the weekend. They are beginning to fall, but not yet ripe and annoyingly are very small this year, sometimes they can be as big as Bramley apples, but we had a huge crop and not many fell at the 'June drop'. there are some normal sized ones, but at the moment they are not much bigger than good sized tomatoes. Because of our expected move, we did not thin them out further as we should have done.
So regretfully will love you and leave you until tomorrow. My youngest daughter and SIL return tomorrow (or possibly Wednesday) after visiting their son, and will be staying until the end of the week. The following week our eldest daughter will be staying with us. Sometimes it seems as though they have never left. Would just love to have the whole family round the table again. My friend who lives in Leicester will probably be visiting us in October or November. After that we tuck ourselves in for the winter and myself hope to see our region covered in snow and watch those huge floating snowflakes. Snow we do occasionally have, but the flakes are teeny, often as though the angels are sifting them down to us through a sieve. Just love it when it has snowed at night, we wake to such a quiet world we know there has been a fall of snow even before we look. A car might drive down the road and we can hear the wheels crunching through the frost. Bliss.
Somehow feel that Marjorie would not be sharing my love of Arctic conditions. Too much of a good thing. How soon do you expect the snow Marjorie? Is it very predictable - like arriving mid October come what may? We are lucky (lucky?) if we have snow for one day, now it seems we are lucky if we have sun for two consecutive days. Rain in this country is at least predicatable, but even too much of that this year. Dread the winds that we might be getting this winter. At one time we used to have a howling gale around mid-October, just the one, strong enough to uproot a tree. Ever after it was just high winds. Now high winds, gales not to mention hurricanes and the occasional tornado seem to have migrated and settled. Perhaps we should move to New Zealand instead of Morcambe. Morcambe gets more rain than us - gawd help Morcambe if this year is anything to go by.
There you go - have wittered on for another half hour, so reached the usual time. Heck now the burglar alarm at the house at the back has gone off, and that makes a terrible noise. Not sure I am happy about today, but it can only improve. Ah, the alarm has been switched off.
Must dash. No time to edit so take it as written. Back tomorrow.
Thank you Kathryn for sending the details of the website re payments for pregnant ladies. Also the way you write up a menu for the week. Re the meal giving to OH before he sets off for his pub quiz - was the amount to soak up any overload of booze? Too many carbohyrates make the brain sleepy, so he needs to keep alert to answer the questions correctly. Apparently Marmite is very good for the brain, helps to keep it running smoothly in old age (not that your OH is old, just read it in an article about old age yesterday).
Lovely idea to pot up bulbs to give them as presents.
Thanks also to Julie, Marjorie and SweeterRita, for their comments. Glad the popcorn recipe was a success to those who tried it, and will be enjoyed by those who will be trying it.
Eileen is next on my list. Have looked up recipes for 'tomato jam' Eileen, and have picked out three: one on 13th June '08 (that is for Green Tomato Jam), and there are two using red tomatoes, one on 3rd March '08, the second on 16th June '07. 'Love Apple' is the old name for tomatoes, and one recipe certainly has this name.
Now to Lesley whose mention of buying meat in bulk (half of a pig, half a lamb) led me to finding out the prices that Tesco charge for their fresh meat on sale. With lamb they have at least eleven different cuts of lamb, and that does not include the 'organics'. You said you were paying £1.99p per pound - and am presuming this will be the price per pound paid for the total weight of the lamb bought. Am never good at converting to the metric, but do know one pound weight is just something like 2.2kg. Whatever size of packs o sold, the price per kg is also given which helps in this instance. So - working on your lamb being around £4.25 per kg, (this may sound steep but have worked on double and a bit of the price per pound) - you will be interested to see that the cheapest lamb at Tesco is £3.80p kg for breast, and the highest price is given as £12.97p kg for cutlets. Mince is £6.48 per kg. Having just added up the amount paid for the eleven different cuts/packs of lamb at kg price, this comes to £73.89p and this averages out to £6.71 per kg. So by buying in bulk you will be getting the best for very little more than you would be charged for the cheapest.
The pork - your price given as £1.30p lb, have approximated this to £3.00 per kg. Twelve different packs were on sale and the cheapest was hock at £2.99p kg, through to £8.35p for loin. Totalling £62.84p, or £5.23 per kg. So again, worth buying.
It was interesting comparing the prices between the two cuts. Lamb chops are sold at £10.18p kg (packs of 'value' chops at £7.45p kg), whereas pork chops would be £5.79p kg ('value' chops at £4.77p). Leg of lamb £7.99p per kg, leg of pork £5.56p per kg. Anyone fancy buying half a cow? Reckon - when butchered - that would fill a large chest freezer all by itself.
Have read, more than once, that meat frozen domestically, and kept longer than 4 months, deteriorates slightly in quality and flavour, and if kept for a year a quality joint/or cut ends up as not worth the money paid for it. That is debatable, but worthy of consideration. The meat itself would still be good, but not quite as good as if you bought it fresh. Suggest that the best cuts frozen at home, should be the first used. Frozen meat, once cooked and made into a dish, or sliced cold or in gravy, can then be frozen once more, so a way of keeping the good flavour for longer. The older the (frozen) meat, best used in a casserole or stew.
Coincidentally, my visiting daughter told me they are buying half a pig (not yet slaughtered) from a local farmer. This animal terrorises anyone who comes near, and cannot bring myself to tell you what it did to its own offspring. Suffice to say that from a big litter, not many survived. Daughter is planning to make her own sausages, has bought a mincer with sausage attachment so am sorting out recipes for her. The local butcher (who is having the other half) will be jointing the meat for her and packing it up, ready to be frozen.
Jave been recently readomg about smoking food, either hot-smoking, or cold-smoking. There are many ways to make your own smoker, and was particularly taken by the use of an old filing cabinet (to be used outdoors)as we already have one of those. It is standing behind me as I sit. Even simpler smokers can be made by containing a fire (sometimes just a covered hole in the ground) that has a long pipe to carry away the smoke through into another box that holds the food that needs to be smoked. Hugh F.W. made one from a filing cabinet, but there are plenty of websites that tell you how to make a smoker. If you feel that way inclined.
It is possible to smoke chicken and fish in the kitchen. Think it is Phil Vickery that shows how to on either his or the BBC website. Need a wok, some tea leaves (proper leaves not the empties from a bag), some rice and sugar, foil and the food chosen to smoke. Plenty of ventilation to get rid of the smoke.
Discovered two boxes of wood chips (think one is hickory) meant to be thrown on a barbeque to give a pleasant smoky flavour to the food. Suppose that could be used instead of tea-leaves. Have to have a think about whether to smoke or not to smoke.
Back to buying in bulk. In the past, having a large chest freezer, have bought a sack of carrots via the greengrocer who got an extra bag from the wholesaler for me (charged me only a little over the w.sale price. Possibly, if buying by the sack, anyone can go to a wholesaler and buy vegetables at the w.sale price. Carrots keep quite well in the fridge (no room for a sackful of course) and can be cut into various shapes (rings, batons etc) blanched and frozen. In the old days, root vegetables were pulled up, rubbed free of soil and kept in 'clamps' - deep holes cut into the ground and filled with bran, sawdust or sand, the vegetables placed in without touching each other, covered to keep frost free, and used as needed. Even a large box placed in an outhouse or garage filled with the above would work just as well. The idea is to give the veggies 'growing conditions' without the need of further watering, above all keep away from the frost.
As you seem to be enjoying the recipes that are being given this week, am including one for a lovely dessert that has a pleasant 'rustic' look about it (in other words does not need to be appear neat and tidy). Very seasonal as it is made with blackberries, and either apples or pears. But again the type of recipe that can be adapted to use other fruits (say rhubarb and ginger).
In some ways the dish is basically an almond sponge (posh name for this is frangipane) but if you do not wish to use ground almonds (know that some of you don't care for them) just make the cake with all wheat flour in the normal way, almond essence can be added if you wish for the flavour but not the expense.
Blackberry and Orchard Fruit Frangipane: serves 6
11 oz (300g) shortcrust pastry
2 apples or pears, peeled, cored, cut into chunks
5 oz (150g) blackberries
2 tblsp caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
3 tblsp demerara sugar
almond filling:
2 oz (50g) butter, pref unsalted
2 oz (50g) caster sugar
1 egg plus one egg yolk, beaten together
2 tblsp plain flour. sifted
2 oz (50g) ground almonds
First make the almond filling by creaming together the butter and the sugar until very pale and fluffy. The longer you beat the lighter the end result. Beat in the egg, then fold in the flour and ground almonds. Put this to one side.
Roll the pastry out to an approx 12" (30cm) circle (no need to be too fussy about the shape as long as it is 'sort of' round). Place this on a baking sheet. Spoon the almond filling over the centre of the pastry, spreading it roughly but not quite to the edges. Put the blackberries and chosen orchard fruit into a bowl with the caster sugar and toss to coat. Pile this over the almond filling. Gather up the sides of the pastry and lift up towards the centre, but keeping the centre open. Crimp the pastry together so that it forms a rough case. Brush the beaten egg over the pastry and sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill (this helps to keep the pastry in shape) and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for 35 - 40 minutes or until golden.
Tip: The pastry can also be laid in a shallow pie dish or large sandwich tin, assembled as above but the sides of the tin help to keep the pastry in place.
Normally, would keep going for another half hour, but the viewing is mid-afternoon, and the kitchen needs a good tidy up. Apparently it is best if the unit tops are kept clear to give more impression of work space. My work space tends to be the table, and so will just have to shove stuff into cupboards and hope for the best. Might bake a loaf so that the place smells 'homely' (that word does not mean the same over here as it does over the pond), and perhaps have a huge basket (well it has to be for I have so many) apples on the table that Beloved picked over the weekend. They are beginning to fall, but not yet ripe and annoyingly are very small this year, sometimes they can be as big as Bramley apples, but we had a huge crop and not many fell at the 'June drop'. there are some normal sized ones, but at the moment they are not much bigger than good sized tomatoes. Because of our expected move, we did not thin them out further as we should have done.
So regretfully will love you and leave you until tomorrow. My youngest daughter and SIL return tomorrow (or possibly Wednesday) after visiting their son, and will be staying until the end of the week. The following week our eldest daughter will be staying with us. Sometimes it seems as though they have never left. Would just love to have the whole family round the table again. My friend who lives in Leicester will probably be visiting us in October or November. After that we tuck ourselves in for the winter and myself hope to see our region covered in snow and watch those huge floating snowflakes. Snow we do occasionally have, but the flakes are teeny, often as though the angels are sifting them down to us through a sieve. Just love it when it has snowed at night, we wake to such a quiet world we know there has been a fall of snow even before we look. A car might drive down the road and we can hear the wheels crunching through the frost. Bliss.
Somehow feel that Marjorie would not be sharing my love of Arctic conditions. Too much of a good thing. How soon do you expect the snow Marjorie? Is it very predictable - like arriving mid October come what may? We are lucky (lucky?) if we have snow for one day, now it seems we are lucky if we have sun for two consecutive days. Rain in this country is at least predicatable, but even too much of that this year. Dread the winds that we might be getting this winter. At one time we used to have a howling gale around mid-October, just the one, strong enough to uproot a tree. Ever after it was just high winds. Now high winds, gales not to mention hurricanes and the occasional tornado seem to have migrated and settled. Perhaps we should move to New Zealand instead of Morcambe. Morcambe gets more rain than us - gawd help Morcambe if this year is anything to go by.
There you go - have wittered on for another half hour, so reached the usual time. Heck now the burglar alarm at the house at the back has gone off, and that makes a terrible noise. Not sure I am happy about today, but it can only improve. Ah, the alarm has been switched off.
Must dash. No time to edit so take it as written. Back tomorrow.
posted by Shirley at 6:50 AM
7 Comments:
James Martin tea smoking trout in his deli.
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/511655/displayVideo/Hi
Hth
The snow may come this month but it doesn't stay until the snowfall in late October. I love winter. I just hate driving around in it but no choice with the school commute. YDS is in Grade 9 so four more years of it. The snow and ice doesn't leave here until early May. We only get about one week of spring here which has always been my second favourite season after autumn. On the west coast they get lovely springs.
No cooking here today. I have a play premiering tonight so will be worrying on that instead.
Many Thanks for the research on meat prices Shirley.It always makes me feel better to know that I'm spending my money wisely
I can definitely feel winter coming as there is a nip in the air and washing isnt drying as fast on the line.Must start laying in some pulses in the freezer in readiness for hearty stews and soups when the weather cools down properly.
Still some blackberrying left to do but the best of it is now over.Hubby bought me the tefal jam maker from Lakeland for my wedding anniversary and I have a well loved jam pan but the Tefal one is great for when you have small amount of fruits or want to try a recipe out.Best of all it makes jellies without all the hassle of the dripping jelly bag and bowl and also prevents my kids knocking over the bowl which they do without fail everytime I make jelly
As for the question of bulk buying beef my butcher advised me against it as he said a forequarter would weigh 150lbs and cost £2.30/lb.That is quite a sizeable investment and my lovely butcher said that if I wanted beef in bulk if I told him how much I wanted to pay he'd charge me the wholesale price of £2.30 per lb for the cuts that I want.So will probably wait till just before Christmas and spend £100 that should last us the festive period and way beyond
Lesleyxx
Hi Shirley, hope your viewing has gone well for you.
Want to say again how much I enjoyed the Butterscotch Popcorn, I have to make some more now as it has all GONE! I love my popping corn but kept thinking I wish I could put make it like the butterkiss we used to get, then along came your recipe, I was so thrilled and I had a gone straight away!
Great blog again and recipes and I love the look of the Blackberry and Orchard Fruit Frangipane, will have to have a go at that one too!
Well it seems we are being conned again with the wine merchants. Here is an article that appears in today's Sun.
Do you REALLY know what's in your wine?
HAVE you ever wondered why a couple of glasses of certain wines give you a blinding headache while others leave you unaffected?
Well, it just might be down to what’s in it.
The wine industry bombards us with images of lush, juicy grapes and picturesque hillside vineyards, so it’s clear they’d like us to believe it’s a wholly natural product.
But after investigating it for tonight’s Dispatches: What’s In Your Wine? I was shocked to discover the unpalatable truth that certain producers:
· Use artificial flavourings and additives to mimic the taste of the grape
· Add oak chippings to a wine that has never seen a barrel
· And put more than just bubbles in our champagne
Where there’s brass there’s often muck and, in a bid to boost profits, it seems that some wine is now so industrially processed that one critic has dubbed it no better than an “alcoholic cola.”
And those tempting supermarket wine reductions?
Invariably that supposed £8 bottle of wine was deliberately put up before being discounted to the £5 the producer always expected it to sell at.
So what’s in your wine other than grapes?
Revelation ... Jane found some no better than alcoholic cola.
Well, of the astonishing 1.5billion bottles of wine we Brits now buy each year — 70 per cent of it bought in supermarkets — the dominant brands are Hardys, Gallo, Blossom Hill, Jacob’s Creek and Stowells that collectively sold more than £1billion worth of wine here last year.
None of them list ingredients other than “sulphites”, which they are legally obliged to do because of a possible causal link to asthma.
But when asked, Hardys told us they add yeast to their merlot red wine and use egg, milk and gelatine to fine their product and make it less cloudy.
Jacob’s Creek admitted they added tartaric and ascorbic acid to their chardonnay and also used clay, enzymes and milk powder as a fining agent.
Blossom Hill said they may add tartaric acids, enzymes and tannins to the grape juice and use yeast nutrients and malolactic bacteria during fermentation of standard red wine.
Stowells and Gallo simply said their wine was made in accordance with EU regulations.
Is there no end to the length these manufacturers will go!!
There is a programme about it tonight on Despatch so will be checking that out.
Well will finish for now, so do take care and have a good evening.
SweeterRita
Love the blackberry recipe, particularly as I have windfall apples on every available surface around the house at the moment and leap on any recipe that includes apple.
I would like to make some apple puree for freezing but what would I use it for?
Valerie
Hi Shirley and Valerie----
Moira here. I make apple puree and freeze it. It is lovely with good plain yogurt,well chilled, or with vanilla yogurt.Also you can spread it on the bottom of an apple tart and cover with sliced apples--it gives a lovely richness and a different texture.Stick it in a cake mix too for a moist cake. Or make an apple meringue tart,maybe adding some lemon zest/flavouring to it. Or dollop it on muesli. I am sure Shirley could supply you with even more uses for it too. M
Ohh! I know how annoying it can be when the burglar alarm goes off. I live in Canada and have one of those home security system that lets an operator come online and asks you to identify yourself.
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