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Hello Autumn.........!

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Sun Sep 02, 2018 6:22 pm

There's been a slight change of plan re pudding tonight. The trifle is made and we'll start that tomorrow. However, about an hour after my post above, I realised I had got a small amount of shortcrust pastry out of the freezer, so I've made still very autumnal damson and plum crumble tartlets.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Lusciouslush » Sun Sep 02, 2018 6:38 pm

Strictly - sounds like you came back with a good haul :thumbsup
Autumn is definitely here now & I bet that pork hits the spot!
But it's turned a bit hot here today & I'm doing a prawn curry for tonight (Thai) - we still have the fire on later tho'!

Harvest Awaits.........!

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Amyw » Sun Sep 02, 2018 8:15 pm

That sounds amazing Strictlysalsaclaire. I adore trifle and pork so the perfect meal combination for me !

I probably prefer cold weather food to hot , as it’s more comforting though after a long winter , I do enjoy the first Berries and salad.

I’m making a crumble tonight (apple and blackberry) and am planning a big mug of hot chocolate later in front of the telly . Squirty cream of course !

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Sep 02, 2018 11:51 pm

We had boeuf bourginon and pommes puréed last night. Very autumnal

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby jeral » Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:35 am

Stokey Sue wrote:We had boeuf bourginon and pommes puréed last night. Very autumnal


Ooh, that's an idea. I bought some mushrooms today - power of suggestion from t'other thread? - so could make a (V) mush one, probably already vegan too. Yes autumnal. I tend to think strog in summer.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:47 am

Well, last night's pork followed by plum and damson crumble tarts went down a treat. Thanks to the slow cooker, the apples in the cooking liquor made the thickened gravy taste almost cidery. Luckily there is enough of both the pork and gravy to make a lovely chunky soup for tonight's tea. The potato and rosemary bread is lovely too.

I am currently eating some of the remaining trifle sponge with some summer berry jam for my breakfast :oops: so the trifle is looking promising too. I'll keep you all posted!

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed Sep 05, 2018 4:44 pm

I did today something I mean to do every autumn but seldom get round to

I stripped my basil and made and froze pesto

I looked at a number of recipes, but ended up really looking at two, BBC Good Food in metric and s US one in cups

Good food said 80g picked basil. Other said 4 cups, conveniently this was what I had, same quantity however measured
Added 40g pine nuts (conveniently 1 Lidl packet) which I lightly toasted (some recipes say toast, some don’t but I dislike raw pine nuts)
50g parmigiano

Both recipes much the same so far but US recipe said 1/3 cup olive oil (80 ml) and UK recipe said 150 ml which sounded way too much to me

Blitzed cheese and pine nuts briefly in the processor, added leaves and chopped a little. Put in 80ml of oil and processed, then added a bit more, perhaps 20 ml until it looked right

A dozen chunky cubes of frozen pesto :D

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby jeral » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:04 pm

Is the extra oil so that some excess is at the top to stop the surface layer going mouldy? I store jars upside down in the fridge though.

Good idea freezing the whole lot though as my indoor pot is already saying it doesn't like the downturn in temperature.

Rosemary pesto tastes good too, so perhaps another candidate.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Gillthepainter » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:09 pm

That's a nice job done, Sue.
I've just taken some homemade pasta out of the freezer, leaving me a big gap to fill up again.
There's something pleasing about taking one thing out and making a lot more room for things.

As opposed to punching things in like a madman, and ramming the drawer back in.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:17 pm

jeral wrote:Is the extra oil so that some excess is at the top to stop the surface layer going mouldy? I store jars upside down in the fridge though.

Good idea freezing the whole lot though as my indoor pot is already saying it doesn't like the downturn in temperature.


I think the extra oil in the BBC Good Food recipe is an error, if I'd added the extra 50 ml of oil the pesto woul dhave looked like a herby vinaigrette, not a nice thick pesto After all, I can always add a little more oil whne used but I can't take it pot

I store the jars with a litte extra oil and / or upside down

I have lots of fridge and freezer space at the moment, as I had a fall 2 weeks ago and I've not been going out shopping, I decluttered the fridge (on top of the freezer, so easy to get at) and there is now some space in it, which I will try to maintain as it's a big fridge, and it's good to have a place where you can put a whole casserole or something like that

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Gillthepainter » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:24 pm

Sorry to hear that, Sue.
I hope you're OK.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby jeral » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:14 pm

Ouch Stokey Sue *hug*
Best wishes to get well soon.

I bought some plastic baskets with airflow stripes and a handle to pull them out, imagine a litre jug that's twice as long, for low shelves that I can't reach the back of. They were from a local shop c.£2.50 each. I can't find them on the Net and certainly nothing at £2.50, but you might come across them, or improvise something similar perhaps.

Re oil measure in recipe, ah yes, I'd forgotten about errors.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Luca » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:53 pm

Sorry to hear about your fall Sue and I hope you will be fully operational soon.

Great idea re the frozen pesto and one I shall adopt soon. Bye bye basil and hello new ice cube trays.

Some great food ideas here. My appetite has been on the wane but tonight I'm having rich French onion soup with lots of cheese and some croutons rubbed with garlic. It's definitely chillier here in London.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:09 pm

Oh I have plastic baskets! :D :thumbsup it's so much easier to divide and conquer than to pick one little jar out of a mob - especially with poor eyesight

I think I've seen the basket/jug hybrid in Stokey Discounts

The baskets in the fridge are at least 20 years old - I put the casserole back in for demonstration purposes :lol:

Image

The crates in the top cupboards are from Muji - they are actually bathroom boxes but perfect for a kitchen top cupboard.. note all labelled with my beloved Dymo label maker
Image

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby jeral » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:30 pm

Stokey Sue, good ho. Lots of baskets here too, without handles, and an (absorbent cardboard) shoe box in its lid that's strong enough for tall oil and vinegar bottles. Dynamo tape's a great recommendation given its washability :thumbsup

On decluttering and autumnal, I've remembered bubble and squeak so that's the frozen cabbage sorted.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:02 pm

Sorry for the delay in updating you all on the trifle. We finished it this evening and it was wonderful. I'll be making an autumn fruit cheesecake with the remainder of the plums etc. the base is already done, I'll just make the filling and topping over the next couple of nights.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Gillthepainter » Thu Sep 06, 2018 7:52 am

Very organised, Sue.
I must do something about my spice and seasoning cupboard. It's a nightmare. Whereas our shed is easy rummaging with big plastic boxes and lids.

We shall get more blackberries this weekend, and cheesecake it shall be too.

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Sep 07, 2018 11:51 am

Sue:
About 6 or 7 years ago, I had a client who was a pesto addict. She asked me to make a jar of pesto, and I obliged. The next time, she asked for 2 kgs (yes! 2 kgs!) of pesto . She froze the stuff and, 3 months later, wanted more.
The first time I made it, it was, well - ok, as far as I was concerned. But I wasn´t completely happy with it - so I also became a pesto addict. The first problem was pine nuts - they were inexistent. So I found a recipe for Pesto con le Mandorle - with almonds. Then I wanted to get the proportions right. More agonizing, but eventually resolved.
This is the recipe, for what it´s worth - and I have just made it with pine-nuts ( Thanks, son!) - it works just as well.
Here we go:
160 gms Basil leaves ( that´s approx.300 gms of basil with stalks)
80 gms blanched almonds ( or pine nuts)
8 large cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
250 ml olive oil
2 tsps salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby Stokey Sue » Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:31 pm

Thanks karadekoolaid
I decided against pepper as I can add when using

Interesting that you settle on about the same amount of oil

I happened to have just the right amount of pine nuts as Lidl sensibly sell them in small packets just enough for a single recipe (and I keep them in the freezer)

Good commercial pesto sold here tends to replace some or all of the pine nuts with cashews, works very well. Think I’d toast them very lightly, less than I would for salted nuts. Don’t know if that could be a good option for you aas a more local product?

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Re: Hello Autumn.........!

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:53 pm

Well we don´t grow pine nuts OR almonds over here, but cashew nuts do exist - in the South East of Venezuela. Hadn´t thought of that option. Thanks Sue!

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