Pattypans Kitchen - Back to basics
I have become very interested in stocking my pantry in a more efficient way and without wasting pennies and food. Often I come across bargains and sometimes I take advantage of them but in the future I want to make more of them than I actually am or have been doing. I want to expand my repertoire and yet have a good and wholesome stock of items in house and I intend to do this little by little. So I am going back to basics. It is needed and I need to take control of my Pantry and my Freezers. This past year it has got out of control somewhat when in fact it should have been getting better.
I know I may have covered some of these items before but sometimes a recap never hurt anyone and of course there are newer readers who may not be aware that they can do oh so much more. I also thought that by covering the basics with recipes that are either made in bulk or you make a little at a time will not stretch the budget much if it is already tight and indeed give ideas as to what items to pick up to add a little more interest to the Pantry shelf.
It is also about coming up with solutions to using up items or storing them so that you can go back to them another day and so get your moneys worth! Food is getting more and more expensive and what little money we have has been stretched even further. Even I confess that sometimes items have not been used up because I could not come up with an idea of how to use them.
I know I may have covered some of these items before but sometimes a recap never hurt anyone and of course there are newer readers who may not be aware that they can do oh so much more. I also thought that by covering the basics with recipes that are either made in bulk or you make a little at a time will not stretch the budget much if it is already tight and indeed give ideas as to what items to pick up to add a little more interest to the Pantry shelf.
It is also about coming up with solutions to using up items or storing them so that you can go back to them another day and so get your moneys worth! Food is getting more and more expensive and what little money we have has been stretched even further. Even I confess that sometimes items have not been used up because I could not come up with an idea of how to use them.
However recently, I have been coming up with ways to do that so that you can enjoy things later in the winter months and I am trying to waste as little as possible. This includes many different techniques and skills and also in part planning an outline of things to put up or make for your family with an outline of what you are going to use them for.
It does not matter if you do not have a pantry. You may have an area under the stairs or a fireside cupboard or a colder bedroom where you can store things out of the way like Christmas cakes and Christmas puddings. However ideally they should not be too far away from where you work whether that be in a kitchen or a utility room. Even a tall cupboard or dresser can be used for storage. Even the fridge/fridges, freezers a cold outhouse they all count too and originally most people had a cold shed or store where vegetables could be stored after harvesting in an effort to keep them as long as possible.
I have bought this week, dried peas, buckwheat flour, sushi rice, couscous, arrowroot, Jasmine rice, noodles fine and medium. I try and buy a few bags of different staples a month. They will join the other different foods I have on the pantry shelf including lentils I have both red and green and yellow. I also have red dried kidney beans for chilli and stews. I do not have excessive amounts of these in house but enough to vary the changes in what we eat at home and to make the most of what vegetables I already have in house like home made stir fry.
I am not a fan of sushi however OH is. I have bought a sushi maker gadget to have a go at making him some at home it rolls the rice around different ingredients and I have had it for a little while. So we shall see what I can come up with for him on this front. This will be a deep learning curve as at present I do not have any recipes and so will need to do some research on this in the first place.
I also intend to have a go at making jerky/biltong for the same reason and have a jerky gun for this purpose. This gun also provides for using minced meat as well as slices.
I have bought this week, dried peas, buckwheat flour, sushi rice, couscous, arrowroot, Jasmine rice, noodles fine and medium. I try and buy a few bags of different staples a month. They will join the other different foods I have on the pantry shelf including lentils I have both red and green and yellow. I also have red dried kidney beans for chilli and stews. I do not have excessive amounts of these in house but enough to vary the changes in what we eat at home and to make the most of what vegetables I already have in house like home made stir fry.
I am not a fan of sushi however OH is. I have bought a sushi maker gadget to have a go at making him some at home it rolls the rice around different ingredients and I have had it for a little while. So we shall see what I can come up with for him on this front. This will be a deep learning curve as at present I do not have any recipes and so will need to do some research on this in the first place.
I also intend to have a go at making jerky/biltong for the same reason and have a jerky gun for this purpose. This gun also provides for using minced meat as well as slices.
My Nan was a great one for making things go as far as possible. This included making her own breadcrumbs out of bread that otherwise would not be used and quite possibly these days slung out. Total sacrilege and what a waste.
However in my Nan's day if she had enough breadcrumbs it was more than likely to go to the chickens or the pigs as there was no room for wasting anything. There was always a use for something and today there is as well sometimes it is just the finding of it.
I am therefore starting off with making my own Breadcrumbs. As separate post will follow on this.
You can use breadcrumbs for stuffing, gratins, in the form of croutons in soups. They can also be used to coating meat and fish i.e. Scotch Eggs (home made are best and I used to do this regularly too. You can also make a mini version with Quail eggs and also with sausage meat and black pudding). I have also come across a recipe for making my own sausage meat which is on the to do list to test out. They make a good coating for prawns. Yesterday I watched the latest episode of Rick Stein's Mexico and he cooked some Tiger prawns in a breaded coating with coconut and a fruit sauce. My mouth was watering as I watched it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/crispy_coconut_prawns_83642
I am fortunate in that I do have a meat mincer and sausage stuffer (electric). When the children were at home and needed feeding up I did all sorts of things as it was the only way we could afford things. I need to get back to doing that and planning what I am going to do and making stuff in bulk. I also have in mind to make a couple of batches of home made Cornish style pasties.
Also on the list is to stock up with liver (Pigs liver for casseroles and stews here. I use lambs liver for a proper old fashioned mixed grill). I am also going to get back into the habit of making my own pate again and need to source chicken livers for this purpose and then source some suitable pots to pop in the freezer. Savoury Ducks are also on the list as well. All good old fashioned food that is good for you. The sort I was raised on. Haslet as well. So there is lots to explore and experiment with.
I have mixed frozen vegetables to dehydrate, leeks, kale, breadcrumbs, spring onions, courgettes and herbs. So a lot to do but at least with the dehydrator I can get on with other things inbetween.
Catch you all soon.
Pattypan
x
You can use breadcrumbs for stuffing, gratins, in the form of croutons in soups. They can also be used to coating meat and fish i.e. Scotch Eggs (home made are best and I used to do this regularly too. You can also make a mini version with Quail eggs and also with sausage meat and black pudding). I have also come across a recipe for making my own sausage meat which is on the to do list to test out. They make a good coating for prawns. Yesterday I watched the latest episode of Rick Stein's Mexico and he cooked some Tiger prawns in a breaded coating with coconut and a fruit sauce. My mouth was watering as I watched it.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/crispy_coconut_prawns_83642
I am fortunate in that I do have a meat mincer and sausage stuffer (electric). When the children were at home and needed feeding up I did all sorts of things as it was the only way we could afford things. I need to get back to doing that and planning what I am going to do and making stuff in bulk. I also have in mind to make a couple of batches of home made Cornish style pasties.
Also on the list is to stock up with liver (Pigs liver for casseroles and stews here. I use lambs liver for a proper old fashioned mixed grill). I am also going to get back into the habit of making my own pate again and need to source chicken livers for this purpose and then source some suitable pots to pop in the freezer. Savoury Ducks are also on the list as well. All good old fashioned food that is good for you. The sort I was raised on. Haslet as well. So there is lots to explore and experiment with.
I have mixed frozen vegetables to dehydrate, leeks, kale, breadcrumbs, spring onions, courgettes and herbs. So a lot to do but at least with the dehydrator I can get on with other things inbetween.
Catch you all soon.
Pattypan
x
nice
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