Friday 6 January 2012
State Of The Blog
This blog will no longer be updated as future posts will be uploaded to the Posh Nosh Morsels Blog, labelled "SupperSavings".
Tuesday 29 November 2011
The Gentleman's Gentleman's Relish
Gentleman's Relish - or Patum Peperium as one of my posh foodie friends on Facebook insists (correctly) it be called - is one of those Marmite things: love it or hate it.
Needless to say, I love it! I also love the shallow stoneware jars that the real McCoy comes in, but that's another matter. It is also rather expensive! I've experimented a number of times but this one has the most authentic taste, I think.
30g (drained) anchovies pounded with a pestle and mortar; and then mashed with 2 x 75g jars of salmon paste - about 30-odd pence each in most supermarkets - half a teaspoon of cracked black pepper, 1 heaped teaspoon of breadcrumbs, a dash of gravy browning and 1 pat butter at room temp. Store overnight in the fridge to infuse.
One of my favourite snacks is my Gentleman's Gentleman's Relish with scrambled egg.
Sunday 16 October 2011
Spicy whitebait, cheese omelette on toast
It's been one of those days of "I used to be indecisive but now I'm not sure!". What to have for brunch? I had a bit of a craving for garlicky fish - a few weeks ago I bought a huge bag of filleted whitebait from 'The Amazing Freezer Shop' for only 75p - but I'd also just bought some extra mature Cheddar on a BOGOF deal from the Co-ey (800g for £4.49!); a Facebook-friend posted this morning at Silly-O'clock that she was craving an omelette..........
For the marinade: 50ml olive oil, 1 heaped tsp of chopped garlic, 1 tsp lemon juice, 4 shakes of Tabasco, 1 scant tsp sweet chilli, 1 scant tsp Worcester sauce, hald a tsp of rock salt and a good grind or two of black pepper. Add a good handful of filletted whitebait or sardines/pilchards and leave for an hour.
Make a one-egg omelette and set aside. Everyone has their own way of making omelettes - I heat vegetable oil in a pan reserved for eggs, discard the oil when the pan is warm and evenly coated.
Then I cheat by letting the base set on top of the stove, lifting up at the side with a palette knife to let the egg run underneath, and then putting the pan under a hot grill to cook the top.
Grill 2 slices of toast on one side only; rub the bread side of one with the marinade and put under the grill for a minute or two to dry out.
Layer with the fish and put back under the grill. Fold the omelette to fit on top of the other untoasted side, cover with (extra-mature) Cheddar and cook with the fish for about 5 minutes.
Lots of different flavours - but yummy!
So, spicy whitebait on toast - with a cheese omelette on toast for good measure!
For the marinade: 50ml olive oil, 1 heaped tsp of chopped garlic, 1 tsp lemon juice, 4 shakes of Tabasco, 1 scant tsp sweet chilli, 1 scant tsp Worcester sauce, hald a tsp of rock salt and a good grind or two of black pepper. Add a good handful of filletted whitebait or sardines/pilchards and leave for an hour.
Make a one-egg omelette and set aside. Everyone has their own way of making omelettes - I heat vegetable oil in a pan reserved for eggs, discard the oil when the pan is warm and evenly coated.
Then I cheat by letting the base set on top of the stove, lifting up at the side with a palette knife to let the egg run underneath, and then putting the pan under a hot grill to cook the top.
This was quite fragile, made with only one egg
Grill 2 slices of toast on one side only; rub the bread side of one with the marinade and put under the grill for a minute or two to dry out.
Layer with the fish and put back under the grill. Fold the omelette to fit on top of the other untoasted side, cover with (extra-mature) Cheddar and cook with the fish for about 5 minutes.
Thursday 1 September 2011
Beautiful Butties
On Monday (August Bank Holiday), the girl-who-came-to-dinner and I visited the Wirral Food and Drink Festival at Claremont Farm in Bebington. She bought four different types of fudge and some jars of relish - one of which (the lemon and mint grain mustard) found its way into my fridge. I'd made some butties to take with - home-cooked ham & English mustard, mature cheddar & homemade sweet pickle, and ham, cheddar and tomato salsa - and Hannah brought some reduced-price fruit packs.
Once upon a time you could rely on blagging enough tasters to fill you up but, sadly, no more.
I sampled the "Friendly Food & Drink" mustard the following day - with some garlic sausage from Heron Foods in Liscard: the salmon pink colour may not be that inviting but I do get 36 decent slices for £1.10, and it does actually taste pretty good.
To accompany my butty I had an absolutely delicious cheese scone - a trade freebie from Mary's Homemade Cakes (www.maryshomemadecakes.co.uk) - slathered with real butter and piled with mixed leaf, radish and spring onions.
The Hovis bread is on special offer at the moment at the Co-ey, down to £1.13.
Bon appetit!
Once upon a time you could rely on blagging enough tasters to fill you up but, sadly, no more.
I sampled the "Friendly Food & Drink" mustard the following day - with some garlic sausage from Heron Foods in Liscard: the salmon pink colour may not be that inviting but I do get 36 decent slices for £1.10, and it does actually taste pretty good.
To accompany my butty I had an absolutely delicious cheese scone - a trade freebie from Mary's Homemade Cakes (www.maryshomemadecakes.co.uk) - slathered with real butter and piled with mixed leaf, radish and spring onions.
The Hovis bread is on special offer at the moment at the Co-ey, down to £1.13.
Bon appetit!
Tagliatelle, Med Veg, Mushrooms & Smoked Haddock
I know I'm going on an awful lot about Frozen Bargains in Old Swan - but some of the ingredients for Tuesday night's supper didn't come from there!
The instructions on the noodles & veg were most confusing: for best results shallow-fry in a little water!
I ignored that and microwaved a couple of handfuls instead, while frying a chopped-up field mushroom (down to 75p for 4 in the Co-ey) in a little butter and oil with a teaspoonful of chopped garlic (Frozen Bargains) and a diced smoked haddock fillet (reduced at either Asda or the Co-ey and frozen a couple of weeks ago).
I added flour to make a roux and stirred in some milk, added a tsp of tomato purée and some S+P, before folding in the warm tagliatelle and Mediterranean vegetables.
To finish, I grated over the top some mature cheddar (£4.39 for 350g in a bogof offer at the Co-op).
Buon appetito!
(Oh, and the pasta bowl was in the TJ Hughes closing-down sale!)
The instructions on the noodles & veg were most confusing: for best results shallow-fry in a little water!
I ignored that and microwaved a couple of handfuls instead, while frying a chopped-up field mushroom (down to 75p for 4 in the Co-ey) in a little butter and oil with a teaspoonful of chopped garlic (Frozen Bargains) and a diced smoked haddock fillet (reduced at either Asda or the Co-ey and frozen a couple of weeks ago).
I added flour to make a roux and stirred in some milk, added a tsp of tomato purée and some S+P, before folding in the warm tagliatelle and Mediterranean vegetables.
To finish, I grated over the top some mature cheddar (£4.39 for 350g in a bogof offer at the Co-op).
Buon appetito!
(Oh, and the pasta bowl was in the TJ Hughes closing-down sale!)
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Bank Holiday Roast Dinner
This meal is as good as it gets.
Last week I bought 2 lamb steaks in Asda, reduced to £1.50 - but at 300g in weight seemed too small to feed two of us (I allow at least 200g per person) and, frankly, very greedy for me alone. However, the allowance of meat for a roast is different - don't ask my why but it SEEMS to be more..... The solution was to slice the part-frozen steaks and then roast in a closed casserole dish. Delicious! The-girl-who-came-to-dinner agreed.
Her contribution was most of the veg: she turned up about a week ago with a bag of potatoes reduced to 38p, and then on Monday with a selection of veg, also marked down to 38p.
As she pointed out to me: we are lucky that we are able to shop at the times when the bargains go on display - not everyone is that fortunate. The broccoli came from the Co-op - down to 45p from £1.06 for 400g - and I used less than half.
To wash it all down we drank (non-alcoholic) Lime Beer - 29p from Home Bargains.
As I said, it doesn't get much better!
Monday 29 August 2011
Welcome
Hannah recently introduced me to a wonderful shop in Old Swan called Frozen Bargains - 11 scampi/breaded prawns for 50p! What's not to like - unless, like Hannah, you're allergic to shellfish!
The recipe of what I did with them, posted to Posh Nosh Morsels, is here:
Basket Case (geddit?)
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