Aldi... what do you recommend?

Tried the pad thai meal kit last night and while it was nice enough the sauce misses the mark on that authentic pad thai flavour.

Looking at the sauce ingredients and comparing it to the recipe Id normally use it has sugar and tamarind paste but it uses soya bean oil instead of soy sauce and it doesnt have any fish sauce in it at all which is a key ingredient to get umani flavour.

It was still nice (I did it with king prawns, egg, spring onion and birds eye chillies) but to me the flavour wasnt proper pad thai. Its a bit annoying as I was hoping it would be authentic and solve the problem of always needing a new jar of tamarind paste every time I want to make pad thai, it only seems to last a few weeks once opened even when stored in the fridge.

Just seeing this now, thanks, must look out for that

+1, these are very tasty.

Wow wow wow.

Yesterday I had the seasoned lamb burger with citrus and chilli, I made it into a kebab by cutting it in half (it's very thick) when it was fully cooked (well done), in a pitta bread with melted grated mozzarella, roasted garlic mayo (from Lidl), a bit of fine ketchup, thinly sliced carrots and cherry tomatoes, everything stuffed into the pitta.

This was by far the best "kebab" I've had in Ireland, on par with some pork kebabs I had in Cyprus.

It's 3.99 for two burgers but I'll have it again and again, I'm just afraid it may be a seasonal product.

Sounds great, is this in the fresh or the frozen sections?

Also top tip for red kebab sauce from the kebab thread in the Cooking Club forum- mix 3 tablespoons tomato ketchup with 3 tablespoons of water then one teaspoon of chilli powder and one teaspoon of mint sauce and a pinch of salt. You can adjust it to your taste with more chilli powder and water to make the sauce thinner if you want. That makes a red kebab sauce which is identical to the one kebab shops use and it gives a kebab a nice chill kick without being too hot.

Aldi had pouches of cooked chestnuts in the run up to Christmas in the last few years. Has anyone seen them yet? They are delicious and such a simple way to take autumn and winter dishes up a notch!

They are brilliant with Brussel sprouts! I sweat a shallot and some bacon lardons then add the chestnuts and toss the lightly cooked sprouts in the mix. They are also great in casseroles. We had a venison sausage casserole recently that included chestnuts and chestnut mushrooms. They are also great in nut roasts. Another option is to fry them briefly with some lardons and serve them on top of lamb's lettuce. There are loads of possibilities!

I presume they are the ones we also know as conkers? I think thats them that are near my house. Im also figuring its why there have been deer hanging around the place at night time for the last few weeks, every time I walk the dog around midnight theres a couple of deer out there near the horse chesntut trees and the dog goes wild trying to break the lead to get to them

Deer eat conkers. That's why they are there.

There's no mistaking sweet chestnuts from horse chestnuts.

Horse chestnuts are what we know as conkers and have a very spiky outer burr.

Sweet chestnuts come in a prickly/hairy burr.

Love this stuff, sauce can be a bit 'glooby' but taste very good.

30 mins in the oven and 2/3 mins under the grill to crisp the top.

Always grab a few during my shop for a tasty snack. Really like it.

Found close to the premade sausage rolls etc, in my aldi.

Wouldnt be a fan of the beef brisket ones.