All new food thread - recipes, pics and more!

[kernow]

I had an age / id check the other day, by an under 18 yr old in sainsburys, I just said sternly 'I'm 29?' and all charges were dropped \\o

[Dirty Sanchez]

I am now proud to say I have somewhere to keep spices, I'm so chuffed

Unfortunately when I was up Tesco earlier I had no idea what I was doing so didn't buy any. Is there a simple guide anywhere which says what spices are good for what food? Honestly, I'm such a newbie when it comes to cooking but I don't want to fall into the trap of takeaways and frozen pizzas every night!

On another note I bought some Jack Daniels hot BBQ sauce at Tesco, which is mega awesome, but going through their funky self-service till it chimed up saying I had to have an age check. I chuckled.

You can't go far wrong by going to one of those cheap bookstores (Bookshelf is one I think) tht sell 3 for ?10 cook books. Pick up one on Indian, one Italian and one Spanish/Mexican, those three will have a good range of spices and most of the dishes will be easy.

Spices and dried herbs from Swartz etc are ok but better if you get the larger bags from indpendant shops (or the international isle at your Asda if it's a big one), these are usually the whole spices instead of being pre-ground. A pestle and mortar for a ?5 and you've got a spice making kit to be proud of.

Herbs are a bit of a bugger, fresh tastes way better than dried but can be expensive.

Keep your stuff in the dark, not on the worktop as it will go off quicker than you can blink.

[Nijo]

Or you can get little ice-cube trays of fresh herbs and stick them in your freezer. Better yet, grind the herbs yourself and make home-made iced herb-cubes!

But on the whole it's probably more important to learn how to cook before faffing around with stuff like that.

Single most important ingredient: tinned tomatoes.

[Ajay1986]

Im having Mutton Keema tonight, cant wait its one of my favs.

[Big Seany]

Not sure tonight, wife is out on her works do as of this afty and should be well fed there. There is a pan of stew in the fridge from the other night, as well as some seriously nice celeriac, parsnip, swede and maris piper mash that I made. If I do actually eat then it will be some stew or one of them Dr Octopus german pizzas. If I don't then I will be having lots of lager and stuff.

Tomorrow the wife is cooking Old El Paso fajitas and nachos - score!

[Eps]

Eeh, proper mashed potato. Miss that.

Tonight I had a big feck-off pizza, with tiramisu afterwards.

[Anpanman]

Crap, that reminds me.

Last night I had mash and a scrambled egg.

[teddymeow]

Got Fish 'n' Chips tonight. Not bought mind, the missus has said shes going to make from scratch.

Got to nip out in a bit to buy some nice fish and ingredients for a decent beer batter listed by the genius that is Heston Blumenthal. Him off BBC2.

[kernow]

The missus made some glazed ham from a nigella recipe, they had it with gravy and carrots/new potatoes , while I had a fat ploughmans with salad and loads of ham, was bloody ansom'

[MonkeyJuggleDX]

Just had a large portion of chips, a chicken & mushroom Pukka pie and fish from the local chippy.

All washed down with a couple of cans of lager

And Kerny.... I know I should be morbidly obese with the amount of junk I eat and drink, but I'll just have to make do with being 'minimally rotund'

[Kieran76]

I had a strange tea tonight. Roasted lamb rump steaks with a sort of oven cooked aubergine ratatouille and some Parmesan polenta topped with mushrooms. I also had an excellent bottle of Spanish red wine. I have now run out of real booze and am finishing off the sherry.

[Anpanman]

Cottage pie and even managed some bread - with crusts cut off.

[Eps]

Frozen beef pie. Pretty good actually! Tomorrow: probably dust. I've not got any money til Friday.

[Pilotwings]

You could always have your beefy farts for tea and use the dust for salt!

[Big Seany]

Covent Garden soup tonight with crusty bread rolls. I have tomato and basil one and missus has asparagus. Can't wait, to be honest.

Just had a breakfast sandwich from the canteen. You can self-serve and put whatever breakfast items you want into a sandwich. I went for two bacon, sausage, fried egg and hash brown. Little drizzle of HP sauce on the top, washed it down with a nice cold glass of milk.