Five Good Things To Do With...

The Sweeper

I have a thread idea, I dunno if it'll work. It being January, I'm trying to clear out my larder. I'm coming across a lot of random ingredients that I may have bought and used once and I keep avoiding, and they need to be used up.

There are also some larder staples that it would be good to have new suggestions for.

So I've decided to start a 'Five Good Thing To Do With..." thread, where you either:

1. Nominate an ingredient, and list five things you can do with it.
2. Nominate an ingredient, and ask people for five things you can do with it.

You don't have to list detailed recipes unless someone specifically selects one of your five options and asks you for a detailed recipe. This is an ideas and suggestions thread, to help clear out the cupboards.

The Sweeper

And I'll start with this.

I know lots of people who have a bottle of Worcestershire Sauce in their cupboard and it's getting distinctly sticky and awful around the top and needs to be used up.

1. Add a good wallop of it to spaghetti bolognese sauce.
2. Add a good wallop of it to the meat sauce for a shepherds pie.
3. Splash it across cheese on toast - do it half way through, while the cheese is half melted, so you don't get great soggy concentrations of it in the bread.
4. Add it liberally to a bloody mary.
5. Use it with eggs - especially soft fried eggs, or soft boiled eggs. It goes great with runny egg yoke. I'll soft boil an egg, shell it whole, mash it into a cup, add worcestershire and ketchup, then spread that over toast. It rocks.

Who can give me:

Five good things to do with RED LENTILS?

babaduck

Here's TEN things to do with red lentils!!!

Now give me something for Smoked Paprika!!

The Hill Billy

babaduck wrote:

Here's TEN things to do with red lentils!!!

That's kind of cheating.

babaduck wrote:

Now give me something for Smoked Paprika!!

Seeing as you asked so nicely...:rolleyes:

1. Mix with olive oil and rub between the skin and breast of a roast chicken.
2. Make smoked paprika butter. Add crushed garlic; a pinch of sugar and paprika to the butter.
3. Quickly fry 2 chopped cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika and a bay leaf in a little extra virgin olive oil. Add a splash of wine vinegar and some chopped red onion and toss it with steamed broccoli, cauliflower or sautéed zucchini.
4. Slowly fry waxy potatoes, sliced onions and chopped garlic in olive oil and a little sweet smoked paprika, season well and serve with roast lamb.
5. Rub skinned boned firm white fish fillets with a mixture of 2 tablespoons of sweet smoked paprika, ½ teaspoon salt and the juice of a lemon, dust with flour and fry in hot olive oil until golden.

Sorry MAJD - No idea about the lentils. Never use them.

babaduck

Goody gumdrops! I've already done No. 3 & 4 but that's the limit of my inspiration. My current tin is almost out of date & I wanted to get a new one when I'm up in Sainsburys in a few weeks time

bonkey

Smoked paprika is also totally wicked to mix into home-made burgers.

<edit>
As, coincidentally, is a splash of Worcestershire sauce
</edit>

bonkey

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

Five good things to do with RED LENTILS?

1) Use them for blind-baking.
2) Don't buy them
3) Bin them
4) pea-shooter ammo
5) Curry lentil soup.

OK...maybe 1-4 aren't entirely serious.
---

How about 5 things to do with left-over mashed potato.

1) Potato Bread.
2) Pommes Duchess
3) ???

NextSteps

bonkey wrote:

How about 5 things to do with left-over mashed potato.

1) Potato Bread.
2) Pommes Duchess
3) ???

4) fried potato cakes
5)sculpture

Now what about mixed beans?

The Sweeper

1. Mixed bean salad - toss them with lettuce and a creamy dressing.
2. Add them to a dry beef chili (e.g. beef, onions, red pepper, chili powder, chilis, cumin, garlic, but only about two fresh tomatoes, cubed), cook through, then roll in a wrap with grated cheese and scoff.
3. Make refried beans - loads of butter, finely, finely chopped onion, garlic, chopped chili, a little stock (chicken or beef) - simmer until turning to mush, then mash and keep simmering. Serve spoonfuls as a mini cholesterol bomb side dish to chili or fajitas with rice.
4. Make refried beans and serve with a mashed avocado guacamole as dips for nachos
5. Stir through boiled rice with some toasted cumin seed for a self-contained meal.

What the hell do I do with about three cupfuls of dried porcini mushrooms?

Blub2k4

I'd do a mushroom risotto, five times......

bonkey

soak them, then lay some prosciutto down as a base, a layer of the mushrooms, and a seared fillet steak on top. Wrap the lot up into a nice parcel and roast.

(I think its either a recipe from Jamie Oliver, or a variant thereof)

noby

bonkey wrote:

How about 5 things to do with left-over mashed potato.

1) Potato Bread.
2) Pommes Duchess
3) ???

UB wrote:

4) fried potato cakes
5)sculpture

You left out no.3

3) Use in tomorrow's soup. Along with your left-over veg.

The Sweeper

Mashed potato gets left over in your house?

1. Warm the mash a little in the microwave so it becomes pliable. Form into rounds, flatten and fry in a non stick pan with a tiny bit of oil until golden brown on both sides. Serve with a fried egg on top.
2. Make a 'potato hash' - fry some chopped bacon, mushrooms, a few chopped scallions, in a little butter. Add mash to the pan. Warm through on a medium high heat, forming into one large potato cake. Increase the heat and cook till golden brown on both sides.
3. Heat in a pan with leftover chicken and a tin of anchovies (to taste), season liberally with black pepper, add some chopped parsley.
4. Reheat the mash in the microwave, distribute between serving dishes, top with grated cheese, place under the grill till cheese melts, eat.
5. Use to top a shepherds pie.

This thread needs to be stricter - five ideas, people, FIVE IDEAS. (This can include: "eat them plain" and "throw them out")

Gimme five ideas for medium rice noodles?

NextSteps

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

What the hell do I do with about three cupfuls of dried porcini mushrooms?

1) Soak in 1L boiling water, drain. fry 'em up with butter and olive oil. Add soaking water (you know what I mean). Reduce for 10 minutes or so. Add peeled, halved waxy potatoes. Boil 15 mins or so. Tip into a tray and roast with lots of fresh thyme for 30 mins or so. Found this in the River Café Green cookbook and it's amazing. Bit extravagant mushroom-wise, but so worth it. Perhaps with really good roasted sausages?
2) risotto
3) with fresh mushrooms, boiled in milk on toast?
4) risotto
5) with tagliatelle, in some sort of creamy sauce

Now what about a big piece of very ripe stilton?

Great thread, by the way, it's like word association with food!

Blue Duck

a big piece of very ripe stilton

1) get a fantastic steak, cook to preferance on a griddle pan and top with a generous slice of said cheese.

2) Use in a pasta bake

3) stilton and cauliflour soup

4) a nice bottle of wine, crackers and some grapes

I can't think of a fifth idea sorry!

What about shrimp paste??

DeBarra, Kate

Save to porcini mushrooms - they will last forever - fantastic cooked with lamp shanks in a slow cooker

Asiaprod

Blue Duck wrote:

What about shrimp paste??

Thats awkward, Shrimp paste is usually used as a condiment in Philippines, Indonesian or Thai cooking. You will need a recipe book for this one I am afraid. Also depends on which type, the hard paste or the moist paste which smells like hell.

What about Campbell's Mushroom Soup??
I got a present of a case of these for Xmass

The Sweeper

You can't get campbells mushroom soup here any more... I miss it.
[/wipes tear.]

1. Read the tins, they usually have recipes printed on them.
2. Brown some chopped chicken in a pan, add some chopped mushrooms. Add undiluted contents of one tin. Don't allow to boil, but cook for about 10 mins until chicken is done (depending how big you cut it). Pour over cooked pasta.
3. Use undiluted in a tuna-pasta-mushroom bake.
4. Eat plain.
5. Cook up some egg noodles, boiling until soft. Drain. Make up soup to eat plain, add egg noodles.

The Sweeper

Ripe blue stilton:

1. Avacado and stilton on brown soda bread with lemon juice - toast bread on one side under grill. Flip. Top with avacado, sprinke lemon juice, then top the lot with crumbled stilton. Put back under grill until stilton melts.
2. Pear and stilton toasties. Halve pears, core and boil until soft in water with a little sugar and a splash of white wine. Drain. Place warm pears on grill and put a large dollop of stilton into the coring hollow. Allow cheese to melt, and serve sprinkled with toasted hazlenuts on a bed of rocket and balsamic salad.
3. Have fried mushrooms, stilton and dijonnaise mustard on home-made burgers, instead of tomato, onion and ketchup.
4. Make a blue cheese sauce for cauliflower as an alternative to plain cheese sauce.
5. As already suggested, eat plain with crackers and a good port.

The Sweeper

Shrimp paste

This is useful at the first stage of cooking in thai food - add to hot oil to help round out flavours in:

1. Fried rice with prawns.
2. Nasi Goreng (which is fried rice with prawns and egg and veggies)
3. Tom yum soup
4. Pad thai
5. Red seafood curry

Right, what do I do with a kilo of sunflower seeds?

Asiaprod

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

You can't get campbells mushroom soup here any more... I miss it.
[/wipes tear.]

Then get ready to bawl, the new one is Cream of Mushroom.....with roasted Garlic:p

1. Read the tins, they usually have recipes printed on them.

Ah, but I got 24 tins with the SAME recipe for Chicken Bake. I'm not going to make 24 Chicken bakes.

The Sweeper

Yeah but at least it's ONE recipe, so it still counts in the five... I have no idea why they've stopped doing Campbells here.

catho_monster

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

Right, what do I do with a kilo of sunflower seeds?

1) add to brown bread when baking
2) with a tin of chickpeas, and other assorted nuts/seeds: boil in water (just enough to cover) and juice of a few lemons until evaporates. then roast in the oven. good for for with a couple of pints.
3) roast them, put them in a jam jar and sprinkle over salads.
4) make up some savoury seed biscuits to go with cheese - yummy.
5) ... all out of ideas

brianthebard

Asiaprod wrote:

Ah, but I got 24 tins with the SAME recipe for Chicken Bake. I'm not going to make 24 Chicken bakes.

Next time you are shopping check the shelves...apart from that a tuna pasta bake is very nice....

how about tinned fish? Its not going off or anything, I just want a couple of recipes so I don't get bored. Tuna, salmon or sardines are what I have in the press, but any other suggestions would be cool I shall try to be adventurous.

noby

Ok, how about egg whites? I regularly have them left over after using yokes, but am limited as to what I can do with them.

catho_monster

noby wrote:

Ok, how about egg whites? I regularly have them left over after using yokes, but am limited as to what I can do with them.

1) egg fried rice
2) baked alaska

bonkey

3) Pavlova
4) Meringue
5) chocolate mousse

Minder

babaduck wrote:

Here's TEN things to do with red lentils!!!

Now give me something for Smoked Paprika!!

Mix equal quants of smoked paprika, cumin powder and course seasalt.

You now have mechoui, a moroccan spice blend.

Sprinkle liberally over lamb chops before grilling.

Also can be used as a condiment with roast lamb.

Hmmmmmm!!!!

Minder

noby wrote:

Ok, how about egg whites? I regularly have them left over after using yokes, but am limited as to what I can do with them.

A bit retro - Chicken & Sweetcorn soup.

Some good Chicken Stock
Sweetcorn
Shredded Chicken
Some cornflour mixed with cold water
A little light soy sauce

When the soup is made pour in the egg white in a thin stream whilst stirring.

Garnish with chopped spring onions (scallions).

Minder

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

Five good things to do with RED LENTILS?

1. Make Tarka Daal

Tarka daal is like ordinary daal, only 'otter.:D

noby

Thank you Minder. I was wondering was there anything besides desserts.

The Sweeper

Actually come to think of it you can use them in chinese lemon chicken - mix your egg whites with a tsp of cornflour (1 tsp per eggwhite). Coat chopped chicken pieces in the eggwhite and flour - best if you immerse them and leave them in the fridge for an hour - then fry in a very hot wok to seal and brown. (Cut the chicken fine so it cooks quickly.)

I'd then remove them from the pan, and make up a sauce with chicken stock, soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar, chili and lemon juice to taste. Deglaze the pan with the sauce and allow to simmer. Stir in a tsp of cornflour and water paste to thicken. Then add the chicken to finish cooking.

Serve with rice noodles and cucumber batons and a wedge of lemon.

brianthebard

Five things to do with tinned tuna?

quazzy

brianthebard wrote:

Five things to do with tinned tuna?

1. Eat from tin with fork

2. Tuna Melt with loadsa cheese.

3. Pasta Bake

4. Flake into a Salad and drop a poached egg on top

5. Make chowder

As an alternative to number one you could try to make Fish Cakes.

Regards,

Q

Tazz T

Tuna Chowder???? Ugh!

Skip that - make a 3 bean salad with assorted herbs, olive oil, lemon and garlic and whack it in there.

brianthebard

Dried Figs?

The Sweeper

hmmmm...

Use them to stuff meat. Try butterflying a half shoulder of lamb, and making up a stuffing of brown rice, dried figs and moroccan spices (I'd add dried apricots, cumin, tumeric, some ground nutmeg) - you could also add almonds and sultanas. When I do things like this I try and get the meat as flat as possibe, so I can season it, lay the stuffing on it and then roll it and tie it with string before putting it in the oven to roast.

Can't think of much else - 'cept have them with yer porridge.

brianthebard

Might put them in the porridge all right. They just caught me eye in the shop (doesn't usually happen) so now I'd like something worthwhile to do with them.