Bargain Basement

[Sakkarin]

Somewhere to let us know of any bargains you've spotted whilst shopping!

[halfateabag]

Well I think they were a bargain....... I paid 77 cents (Euro) for 4 generous portions of padron peppers in Salamanca. I fried them in olive oil and French salt crystals for starter last night Mmmm.....

[scullion]

lidl had big bags of padron peppers for sale the day before yesterday - can't remember how much they were - but cheap - i thought about buying them but didn't.

[Sakkarin]

Huge bags in Lidl for 99p last week.

[Renee]

Yes, I saw them in Lidl, but didn't bother! Do they have a lot of heat or are they mild?

[Stokey Sue]

I’ve got a bag from Lidl, wouldn’t describe it as huge, 150g, but enough for 2 or 3 people as tapas or a side. Haven’t tried any yet.

[gillthepainter]

Yes, I saw them in Lidl, but didn't bother! Do they have a lot of heat or are they mild?

Mild, Renee.
They have a gentle bitterness to them, and are the nicest peppers I make. I think I'll pop to Lidl tomorrow after my morning class.
I've never eaten a hot one, although there is a small chance of getting one hot one out of the blue.

[KeenCook]

I'm trying to remember our conversation about tinned tomatoes ... I was in Lidl this afternoon and managed to pick up 3 cans of the full-fat coconut milk (DS was carrying everything home!) and remembered that Lidl tinned tomatoes got a good report, but wasn't sure if they were the bog standard ones or if there are others.

The Hammersmith Lidl is not very comprehensively stocked, so if there are options it might not even have the full range.

Also a for their Somerset Crunchy Extra Mature Cheddar (rated a 5) which we like a lot for pre-pack cheddar.

[Sakkarin]

You've reminded me that I've yet to post the results of my mini tomato taste test...

I've taken to stocking up a couple of weeks' supply of stuff that keeps disappearing from the shelves at Lidl/Aldi, it tends to be the same items regularly, like coffee beans, which only seem to be stocked one week in three...

[KeenCook]

Interesting Lidl specials coming up on Thursday https://www.lidl.co.uk/c/flavour-of-the ... rica/c2394

I don't remember seeing a S American theme before, there are some interesting products.

[Stokey Sue]

No I think they have had Mexican in the past, but not South American

[Lusciouslush]

I see they have Venezuelan rum that Clive always recommended.

[Stokey Sue]

Yes, his and my preferred brand was Santa Teresa, which used to be available at Waitrose sometimes but I’ll give Pelicano a try.

Although I know Ron is just Spanish for rum, I do think Ron Pelicano is a character in a Tarantino movie

[Lusciouslush]

I'll give it a try too - that's if it's actually on the shelves, Lidl advertises a lot of stuff which aren't actually in stock - in my Lidl's anyway.

[Stokey Sue]

Coming down to earth with a bump - I'd like to mention Iceland £1 bags of basic frozen veg, I bought a 700g pack of sweetcorn an 800g pack of garden peas today, had them before, they are good

https://www.iceland.co.uk/frozen/frozen ... rt=0&sz=25

My attention was drawn to them as I was in a few weeks ago when they reorganised them so there were whole freezers full to display the range, it was great to watch, two large young men and one small one, apparently choreographed by Ashley Banjo, moving fast so nothing thawed

[Sakkarin]

Just on the off-chance, I see Lidl has Brazilian and Peruvian coffee beans at £3.49 for a 500g pack, which is the equivalent of £1.40 for a 200g pack or £1.49 for a 213g pack. Has anyone tried them? I don't want to buy nearly a month's worth of coffee if they're not up to much!

Coincidentally their normal beans seem to have completely vanished off the shelf here, they had the shelf sticker up for weeks, despite no stock, but now it's disappeared. Fortunately Aldi have had beans in stock, their normal blend is pretty good, although their expresso beans are too "burnt" for me.

I may try the Peruvian ones anyway, they sound more exotic than Brazilian.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/p/flavour-of-the ... ans/p53408


From a South American coffee company which does both,

"At Di Stefano, we take pride in delivering premium, high-quality Peru and Brazil coffee. Our Brazilian Signature Blend is a dark roast coffee with notes of chocolate, cinnamon, and fig that make a delicious flat white or cappuccino.

Our Fair Trade & Organic Medium Roast Coffee Beans from Peru consist of a tasty medium roast with floral and citrus undertones that makes for a perfect espresso."

Floral and citrus, that's elderflower cordial innit?

[KeenCook]

We get Asda's Brazilian, and like it a lot. We don't like it very burnt, either.

We really like Waitrose's Machu Picchu, and always get it when it's on offer. Hasn't been for a while now, unfortunately!

[Renee]

Mild, Renee.
They have a gentle bitterness to them, and are the nicest peppers I make. I think I'll pop to Lidl tomorrow after my morning class.
I've never eaten a hot one, although there is a small chance of getting one hot one out of the blue.

Thanks Gill! I will get some if they still have them.

[Renee]

I remember Clive's rum, which Waitrose stocked, but I decided that £45 was a bit too much to pay.

I got rid of my coffee grinder some time ago, finding it easier and quicker to use Nescafé Alta Rica which is really good. After the mention of all these coffee beans, I'm wishing that I hadn't got rid of it now.

[Sakkarin]

As long as the beans are the same price as ground I'll stick with beans, however if Aldi follow Lidl in not stocking beans, I'd go back to ground as it's far cheaper there than other supermarkets' beans.

My grinder is still going strong, after taking it to bits to do the "finer grind" tweak I mentioned years ago, as the finest grind had got quite coarse and grainy even at the lowest setting. Worked a treat. Only takes 10 seconds to grind enough for 1 cup.

Also I'm using the metal filter these days as Gill persuaded me a while back. I had to file down the Aeropress to get the metal filter to fit (it was too thick, so you couldn't close the Aeropress), but I've also got a method worked out now that minimises the mess of not using a paper filter. I swapped because I had a batch of "proper" Aeropress filters (as opposed to the slightly cheaper counterfeit ones) of which several burst on me.