WHAT DID WE HAVE FOR TEA?

[Marilyn]

Fancied some cabbage when I saw it at the supermarket today so I bought a quarter cabbage (80p).
Have crumbed some Chicken Breast and thrown some Potatoes in to roast. Will steam the cabbage with some butter/pepper and Carrots laid on top. Gravy to accompany.

[Stanley]

They know how to charge for vegetables don't they Maz. The cauli yesterday was particularly fresh, can't have been long out of the field. There was a news item yesterday that it has been a bad year for Bramley apples and they are expected to be scarce and expensive from now on. Bad news for the apple sauce at Xmas!



Before I went in the shed I started another mutton stew off. Six mutton chops on a bed of onions and spuds. The usual suspects for seasoning and instead of a bottle of vintage cider I opened a tin of apricot halves in grape juice and tipped that in. I took notice of what Liz said! Maz will be pleased to know that there is no garlic in it so she can feel free to pop round and have a bowl for tea probably.....

[Moh]

Our Bramleys have done really well. I got a full cabbage for £1. Maz.
Chicken Kiev for tea tonight with chips & salad.

[Stanley]

I had three small ham butties for dinner. During the day I added a bag of broth bits to the stew. I was convinced that it would be ready for tea so I chucked the left over cauli and carrots in and the stewed plums as well! What I hadn't reckoned with was the surplus fat. I had to do a couple of de-fatting runs on the gravy and so tea was very abstemious, one small left over crust dipped in gravy and some fruit. By 21:00 the stew had come to so I had half a bowl.... Good stuff but it will be better today!

[Moh]

Roast topside of beef, yorkies, roast potatoes & parsnip, cabbage & gravy.

[Stanley]

Quite boring but very tasty... Mutton stew X 2 for dinner and tea. Two bowls frozen, one in the fridge for later today. Stewpot empty and clean, waiting for the next load!

[Moh]

Repeat of yesterday with cold meat - Maz when I got the cabbage out I found I had only paid 50p for it not £1!

[Stanley]

Had three small oven bottoms for dinner with bacon, tomato and egg for a filling. Bowl of mutton stew for tea followed by a 1970 favourite, prawn cocktail in a halved avocado, a blast from the past! (The Co-op had the avocados reduced as they were nearing their sell by date, of course this means that they are just coming ripe!)

[Moh]

White hake, chips & garden peas tonight with tartare sauce.

[Stanley]

Bowl of mutton stew with avocado and prawns for pudding at dinnertime. 3 small oven bottoms with Stilton and tomato filling for tea.

[Marilyn]

"Oven bottoms"...-are they bread/toast/muffins?

I've now got a recipe for bread ( contains yeast) which I want to try. You mix the ingredients, chuck it in the fridge overnight and allow it to come to room temperature next day. No more mixing or kneading. Throw it in a cold oven and cook for 40 mins.
Will try it and post pics...sounds a bit too wonderful to be true.
I imagine it is more of an Italian/continental loaf than white sandwich bread, but I am already pegging it as excellent for toasted cheese...

[Moh]

Oven bottoms are a form of teacakes/barms/baps - different areas call them different names.
Chilli - jacket potato for hubby - garlic bread for me.

[Stanley]

Let us know how that bread goes on Maz. Sounds interesting.
The oven bottoms I get are like a small plain teacake but with a tougher crust. The reason I get them is that they are small, six to a pack, made with the right ingredients and help with portion control. I'm a bugger for slicing my own bread thick!
Yesterday I had the last of the mutton stew extended with half a tin of beans which was hanging about in the fridge. For tea I had three oven bottoms with a filling made with mashed sardines and two boiled eggs.
During the day I boiled a ham hock in cider with nothing but pepper added. I inadvertently made a discovery. The stove was running cool and the cider never came to a boil until I wakened the stove up at teatime. This meant that the ham was sat, cooking very slowly, in hot cider all day and because it wasn't boiling I suspect the cider kept a lot of its aromatics safe and this meant that when I eventually finished the ham off and de-fatted and boned it it was a rich colour from the cider and definitely had more taste. I put the gravy in the fridge and when I lift the fat off the top it will make a nice stock for something! Could be a good start for slow cooking some mutton. Waste not want not!

[Marilyn]

I was just sitting here thinking about that bread recipe, Stanley!
And actually, I was wondering what container is best to put it in when I fridge it, because apparently I leave it in there for the oven. So I am sat here dithering between a tin container or Pyrex.
None of this thinking has got my backside up off the armchair as yet....
( but then...Corrie is on...and I must watch it!)

[Marilyn]

So I made the bread...put it in the fridge...and couldn't resist a quick look before I went to bed.
I would say it has raised an inch in the bowl.
( witchcraft!)

[PanBiker]

Interesting Maz, contrary to the science for a yeast based mix, what's the recipe? I enjoy my hand bread making so this is interesting, are you using fresh or dried yeast? Its perfectly acceptable to mix dough and keep it in the fridge but it would not generally rise until warmed to room temperature. I need to know more, just like you need to watch Corrie!

[Moh]

Pork with shallots & garlic in cream with potatoes & leeks.

[Marilyn]

Panbiker, you will find the recipe if you look up -
The Lazy Ladies Loaf/Devondale Recipes

State of affairs this morning is that it has risen considerably. Sent some pics to Stanley and will do more.
I now realise. Cook it on a tray, but at this point my wobbly pot of swollen dough needs to come to room temp before I proceed.
More of a Ciabata bread with holes).

I'd love it if someone else tried it and we can compare....

[Whyperion]

I think I must have left over apple, and cranberry, sauces from previous years (also jars of mincemeat -20p each last January untouched. Tree full of cooking type apples, not neccessarily Bramleys, but big, green and definately need time in the cooker or hob to get to their best taste, organic so includes assortment of crawing insects/ bird pecks, etc. I think I must have 6kg already off and processed or stored in the garage. If anyones passing Burnley there might be a carrier bagful going spare .... .

[PanBiker]

We'll give it a go Maz. From the recipe and method, the chemistry looks like mixing with warm water will start the rise but it will be held back in the fridge overnight. Allowing to come up to room temperature will effectively start a second rise which will continue when you stick it in a cold oven coming up to temperature which is quite hot for the longer baking time given. The bread will rely on the gaseous action of the yeast rather than air worked in during a normal kneading action. plain flour will develop less gluten than strong, I can well imagine it will produce a ciabatta style bread. I would keep a close eye on the time as it does seem a tad long for the temperature used. Other ciabatta recipes suggest 20-25 minutes but that will be from a preheated oven.

[Marilyn]

It wanted to find its own organic shape on the oven tray, and whilst I turned it over as written in the instructions, I knew I shouldn't knock it about too much or I will lose my air holes.
Normally I would have sprinkled water on before baking, but it didn't say that in the recipe (and I shall fiddle about next time when I know I've been faithful to written instructions at the outset). So it won't have a glossy top...
I expect you are correct regarding the science behind everything, and whilst it could never be a hi-top loaf, it certainly has risen again in the oven.
20 mins to go before I tap it's bottom!
Smells yummy!

[PanBiker]

I'll mix a batch up before I go to bed tonight and shove it in the fridge after Question Time. We can compare tomorrow night Maz.

[Stanley]

Bacon, tomato and beans for dinner. 3 oven bottoms with the boiled hock ham for tea. I'd wrapped the warm ham i9n cling film before I put it in the fridge and sliced it without unwrapping it. Much tidier and easier. Also less handling so it will be cleaner.

[PanBiker]

Maz, when you find this I have started a new thread over in the Baking forum to hold the recipe and our results. The problem here is that this is a very fast moving thread and any results and discussion will be lost in a couple of days if we just put it in here. As a stand alone recipe it deserves it's own space.

Can you post the views of your creation in here please:

The Lazy Ladies Loaf

[Moh]

Sausage & onion casserole with mash & veg tonight.