Economy gastronomy

[Darvos]

I don't get paid til tomorrow and have nothing in so I just made these...

Easy Soft Flatbread Recipe (No Yeast)

This super easy YEAST FREE flatbread is soft and pliable, perfect for using as a wrap to stuff with whatever takes your fancy! Minimal kneading, only a handful of ingredients, and also great for make ahead - the dough keeps for around 3 days in the refrigerator.

www.recipetineats.com

I had a dying basil plant, so I chucked it in a blender with some pine nuts I found in the back of the cupboard, parmesan, garlic and olive oil and made home made pesto which was delicious.

Top tips for endless basil - every year I buy a supermarket plant, separate it out into 4-5 separate plants, replant them all spaced out in a bigger pot and stick in a sunny window. They grow so easily so you've got basil all year. They start to look a bit sad this time of year (and oddly the smell of the plant when you walk in a room gets less basil and more cat piss ), so I tend not to keep them over winter.

With potted basil, I’ve done the Where’s the Wee search more often than is excusable for an adult with a sort-of functioning brain.

Basil also roots from cuttings quickly and easily.

Spoiler: Taking simple cuttings from easy plants for those unsure.

Just pinch off a couple of inches of healthy plant below a part of the stem where leaves sprout, strip off all the leaves apart from the ones at the top, and stick it in a glass of water on a windowsill for a few days or so. It’ll start to sprout roots, when these get strong, pot on and feel like a god .

 

[ElChanguito]

If I don’t now what to have for lunch, or don’t fancy much, fluffy Welsh rarebit is my go to! Also made turkish inspired breads yesterday, using the same dough as for soft pretzels! Very few ingredients for both.

 

[ElChanguito]

Syrian onion bread

 

[MurielSnark]

Syrian onion bread

Yum! Do you have a recipe you can share?

It always makes me cross that Jack called them tw*tbreads and implied that there's no skill or art in making them. And it moves me hugely to see images of Gazans and Syrians cobbling together rudimentary ovens to make their breads in horrendous refugee situations. Jack is an idiot.

 

[ElChanguito]

Yum! Do you have a recipe you can share?

It always makes me cross that Jack called them tw*tbreads and implied that there's no skill or art in making them. And it moves me hugely to see images of Gazans and Syrians cobbling together rudimentary ovens to make their breads in horrendous refugee situations. Jack is an idiot.

Oh lord, I don’t follow that creature so had no idea! Well that’s just plain ignorant. This is the recipe I used, I made roughly one quarter of the recipe as I only cook for me. I don’t have olive oil so I melted butter for the top and I drizzled them with lemon juice before eating too

 

[MurielSnark]

Oh lord, I don’t follow that creature so had no idea! Well that’s just plain ignorant. This is the recipe I used, I made roughly one quarter of the recipe as I only cook for me. I don’t have olive oil so I melted butter for the top and I drizzled them with lemon juice before eating too

Oooh thanks!

What book is this? I love Middle Eastern cooking so always looking for new recipes.

 

[ElChanguito]

Oooh thanks!

What book is this? I love Middle Eastern cooking so always looking for new recipes.

It’s The Cook’s Guide to Bread by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter. It has a section for every part of the world with their most popular breads, it’s a really useful book!

 

[MurielSnark]

It’s The Cook’s Guide to Bread by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter. It has a section for every part of the world with their most popular breads, it’s a really useful book!

Oh, thank you. Will have a look for it. I love bread and fully intend to invest in a bread maker when I have a proper kitchen again (long story). I really believe in eating good bread, without all the fillers that the supermarkets use, and making one's own is the best way.

Enjoy your flatbreads. What did you have with them?

 

[markcorriganscrisps]

It’s The Cook’s Guide to Bread by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter. It has a section for every part of the world with their most popular breads, it’s a really useful book!

Ooh this is excellent, thank you! I've been looking for the last bit of my Old Harold's Christmas present and he is a total bread fiend, so this might be a good buy.

 

[MurielSnark]

Ooh this is excellent, thank you! I've been looking for the last bit of my Old Harold's Christmas present and he is a total bread fiend, so this might be a good buy.

A gift that benefits both of you. Highly recommended.

 

[ElChanguito]

Oh, thank you. Will have a look for it. I love bread and fully intend to invest in a bread maker when I have a proper kitchen again (long story). I really believe in eating good bread, without all the fillers that the supermarkets use, and making one's own is the best way.

Enjoy your flatbreads. What did you have with them?

I had this Turkish red lentil soup, a very dear friend taught me to make this it’s very cheap and easy!

Turkish Lentil Soup (Mercimek Çorbası)

Turkish Red Lentil Soup (Kırmızı Mercimek Çorbası) is velvety, comforting, and nutritious! Plus, it’s so easy to make with lentils, veggies, and spices!

www.themediterraneandish.com

 

[MurielSnark]

I had this Turkish red lentil soup, a very dear friend taught me to make this it’s very cheap and easy!

Turkish Lentil Soup (Mercimek Çorbası)

Turkish Red Lentil Soup (Kırmızı Mercimek Çorbası) is velvety, comforting, and nutritious! Plus, it’s so easy to make with lentils, veggies, and spices!

www.themediterraneandish.com

Excellent choice, I approve.

Turkish lentil soup converted a young relative of mine into a soup aficionado so it always holds a special place in my heart. And I remember clearly the first time I had it in a modest cafe in north London on a day that was just about as cold and miserable as it is today.

ETA: this website looks great! Gonna bookmark for a proper deep dive.

 

[UnPickled]

I hope everyone in the UK has been availing the cheap Xmas veg! I just roasted mine, nowt fancy. Parboil, bit of sunflower oil, some rosemary (imagine! Rosemary on rosemary potatoes!) and whack them in the oven.

I still have loads of potatoes left. Obviously going to do mash tomorrow, but I was thinking of turning leftover mash into gnocchi - does anyone have a recipe link/experience/tips for that? I'm well versed in bread and pasta making but gnocchi has slipped past me and always come from a packet.

 

[MurielSnark]

I hope everyone in the UK has been availing the cheap Xmas veg! I just roasted mine, nowt fancy. Parboil, bit of sunflower oil, some rosemary (imagine! Rosemary on rosemary potatoes!) and whack them in the oven.

I still have loads of potatoes left. Obviously going to do mash tomorrow, but I was thinking of turning leftover mash into gnocchi - does anyone have a recipe link/experience/tips for that? I'm well versed in bread and pasta making but gnocchi has slipped past me and always come from a packet.

Jamie Oliver just did gnocchi on his Christmas show on channel 4 this week

 

[UnPickled]

Jamie Oliver just did gnocchi on his Christmas show on channel 4 this week

I looked up his recipe online and will be (kind of!) following it if I don't get any other ideas. As written it requires Maris pipers of the same size and 'using common sense' when adding flour, which is all well and good but I have a fridge full of different sized generic white potatoes and don't know what I'm looking for when it comes to common sense!

I don't have a TV licence and loathe to sit through the ads on online catch up, but that man does know his Italian food. Though I won't smother it in olive oil when I'm done, no matter what he recommends!

 

[MurielSnark]

I think the trick to gnocchi is the proportion of flour to potato which is why size is NB. You might be able to find a clip of him making it on his YT channel.
---
Or try this one?

Potato gnocchi recipe

Learn how to make homemade gnocchi with Poppy O’Toole’s easy method, achieving light and fluffy results every time.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[UnPickled]

I think the trick to gnocchi is the proportion of flour to potato which is why size is NB. You might be able to find a clip of him making it on his YT channel.
---
Or try this one?

Potato gnocchi recipe

Learn how to make homemade gnocchi with Poppy O’Toole’s easy method, achieving light and fluffy results every time.

www.bbc.co.uk

I think what I'm getting from various recipes is 'mash' with butter and milk added is useless, you need just pure potato and then add flour and treat it like fresh pasta dough, so I'll add flour til it's like pasta doughish, and hope for the best! Ta.

 

[ElChanguito]

My friend has bought seven bags of the 15p tatoes!! Why not eh. I think this recipe from Food Wishes looks tempting as a side dish if you don’t know what else to do with them! I think I would slice the ones for the top, put them in cold salted water, bring them to the boil and let them cook for a minute or two. Then drain and arrange on top of the mash. Otherwise I’d worry they might not cook through.

 

[ElChanguito]

This annoys me. It’s on the BBC website as a five ingredient meal - it’s meant to help people struggling financially. It’s spaghetti carbonara, and they tell you to use two eggs and FOUR egg yolks!! Six eggs just for one simple meal. It would be less wasteful to buy a ready made sauce or use fresh cream

Foolproof spaghetti carbonara recipe

This easy pasta carbonara uses just 5 ingredients, but it's the technique that helps to create that creamy Italian classic with no worries.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[CabalofBolorneaise]

This annoys me. It’s on the BBC website as a five ingredient meal - it’s meant to help people struggling financially. It’s spaghetti carbonara, and they tell you to use two eggs and FOUR egg yolks!! Six eggs just for one simple meal. It would be less wasteful to buy a ready made sauce or use fresh cream

Foolproof spaghetti carbonara recipe

This easy pasta carbonara uses just 5 ingredients, but it's the technique that helps to create that creamy Italian classic with no worries.

www.bbc.co.uk

It’s wasteful but reading it I don’t think they’re pitching this as a budget recipe to help people who are struggling financially tbf, all the ingredients are pretty pricy and the 5 ingredients is pitched as making it easy not cheap.