A random thread for food things that don't really warrant a thread of their own

[Paul]

Tesco online food pickers continue to surprise me with the degree of lateral thinking applied (or not) when the item I want isn’t in front of them.

The low point remains the litre of orange juice I was offered in lieu of tomato juice.

Last week in place of the half bottle of rioja that I ordered I got nothing! They said they had no suitable alternative, although they definitely sell Rioja by the quarter bottle…

This week I ordered two half bottles of Rioja and got… two full bottles. I’m trying to manage my drinking better, but when I saw that they had charged me the price of two half bottles, I relented.

[Mrs Pingu]

At least with Tesco you get a free text area where you can tell them the sort of thing you'd accept, Sainsbo's don't have that.

[Paul]

I’ve never noticed that. I wonder if it’s the technological equivalent of sacrificing a goat or throwing a coin into a well.

[rafletcher]

I got “Lentil & Vegetable” vegetarian soup, in place of “Cock a’ Leekie”

[hellymedic]

I just very seldom accept subs.
I'm usually better off without something.
Substituting 12 pouches of cat food for the 40 ordered left me so short I shouldn't have bothered!

[MikeFromLFE]

Has any hotelier ever tried making tea with those stupid micro-pots of (questionable) milk they provide?

[hellymedic]

Has any hotelier ever tried making tea with those stupid micro-pots of (questionable) milk they provide?

Chain hotels aren't really run by humans..

The place we frequent in Wales, which has real humans, serves proper tea in proper pots, accompanied by the white stuff in jugs.

They feed us well enough for infrequent recourse to bedroom supplies.

Breakfast milk is full-cream.

Which is rather nice.

I drink coffee at breakfast.

[Paul]

Has any hotelier ever tried making tea with those stupid micro-pots of (questionable) milk they provide?

https://youtu.be/pBwwcU2c3u4

[Regulator]

Good news:  Mr R has bought a dehydrator (I've been dropping hints for a while)
Bad news: We now have three types of beef jerky in the kitchen, emitting siren calls to me...

[neilrj]

Good news:  Mr R has bought a dehydrator (I've been dropping hints for a while)
Bad news: We now have three types of beef jerky in the kitchen, emitting siren calls to me...

We have one to (mostly) create dog treats, the number of times I nibble on the dried (raw) chicken I'm bagging up for the hound still hasn't killed me to deth, or even made me lose weight!

[T42]

Good news:  Mr R has bought a dehydrator (I've been dropping hints for a while)
Bad news: We now have three types of beef jerky in the kitchen, emitting siren calls to me...

Wait until you get to the dried apple rings.  Back news for diabetics but our parrot loves them, so...  just one? Just another one?

[T42]

One of the things I love about Alsace is that we get a combination of French and German cookery, so that the bread and cakes are great and we get local specialities too.  The cycling is superb, with lots of quiet roads and cycle tracks, and the brunt of any bad weather falls on the western side of the Vosges or the Plateau Lorrain.

I stopped at a bakery yesterday for a streussel, a brioche bun with a crumble topping, and put one in the saddlebag for MrsT.  Mine was a plain with a cinnamon topping, but they had a few filled ones as well.  Nom (de dieu).  I'll be doing that route again.

[citoyen]

One of the things I love about Alsace is that we get a combination of French and German cookery, so that the bread and cakes are great and we get local specialities too.

I expect you eat a lot of quiche lorraine, non?

Talking of Alsace specialities, I once took a young lady companion to a restaurant in London that specialised in flammekuchen. The evening ended with her in A&E...


(She was wearing open-toed shoes and caught her foot on the edge of a metal step, causing a nasty gash. On the plus side, they wrote off the bill by way of compensation.)

[T42]

None too fond of quiche. In any case, it's not from here. (Most of the jokes you ever heard about the Irish may be heard here, directed at the lorrains.  And in Lorraine, directed at the alsaciens.)  I eat too many tartes flambées, though, since they're handy to have in the freezer.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Corn on the cob. I've heard it said that most of the corn or maize grown in Britain is a non-sweetcorn variety for cattle fodder and not really edible by humans. On Wednesday I was walking through a field of maize that had recently been harvested. Various cobs that had escaped the harvester were lying on the ground, being eaten by squirrels and birds. There were a few isolated plants still standing, so I found a cob that was still intact and took it home. Well, the advice was correct. No amount of cooking could make it anything other than rock hard kernels.

[ian]

Yes, most corn isn't 'sweet,' that's only particular varieties. The UK generally isn't warm enough for maize to be a significant crop (that might change, of course).

[Cudzoziemiec]

It wasn't the lack of sweetness that made it inedible, it was the hardness of the kernels. Which I might have expected if I'd picked up one from the ground (if I managed to find one that the squirrels hadn't had) but this was plucked from the still standing plant.

[ian]

It's grown to be dried and processed – like the field beans mentioned elsewhere, it's often left to dry in the field, so you'll see mostly dead fields of the stuff all the way into November. That's on purpose, it's not a lazy farmer.

Sweetcorn for human consumption has a far higher water (and non-starch sugar content) and is harvested earlier before it starts to dry out. There are other types that are only intended to milled, like the brightly coloured jewel corn. Don't bother eating it like sweetcorn, but it'll make a nice tortilla.

[Cudzoziemiec]

On Tuesday I went into a local shop that sells, among other things, what might be described as "homemade ready meals" or perhaps "handmade" might be a better description. Food that's clearly been made by a real person (presumably by Chilean couple who run the place, as they do have a cafe above the shop) and packaged in aluminium boxes for you to take home. They have three, maybe four, dishes changing day by day. On this day they had a meaty stew thing and a lentil and parmesan dish. Well, I like lentils and parmesan but I didn't think I'd like lentils and parmesan (are you playing along at home?  ) so I went for the third option, something described as "vegan lentil dish". Presumably that would be lentils and rice and stuff. I've just got around to eating it. It was indeed lentils, rice, herbs and spices, some vegetables, a fair amount of cashews – and bloody vegan parmesan! 

It was actually quite nice though.

[neilrj]

Corn on the cob. I've heard it said that most of the corn or maize grown in Britain is a non-sweetcorn variety for cattle fodder and not really edible by humans. On Wednesday I was walking through a field of maize that had recently been harvested. Various cobs that had escaped the harvester were lying on the ground, being eaten by squirrels and birds. There were a few isolated plants still standing, so I found a cob that was still intact and took it home. Well, the advice was correct. No amount of cooking could make it anything other than rock hard kernels.

I've tried maize several times with the same result of inedibility (new word?) BUT the baby cobs are certainly as edible as any shop bought! I have my eye on several fields near me with awkward corners that should leave many stems, most of which should have baby cobs to forage.

[jsabine]

It was actually quite nice though.

I'm not sure I can think of a dish involving lentils that parmesan would actually detract from. I'm not convinced it would enhance Strada's salmon and green lentils, but I wouldn't object to finding it.

[T42]

My favourite meal with lentils involves a little conical ham and lots of mustard.  You could plonk a fried egg in with it too.

Haven't had it for years - little conical hams don't seem to be available in Alsace.  Here it's more the traditional jambonneau - pork knuckle? - that's used.  It's good but you have the faff of bone & gristle to deal with.

[hellymedic]

I see Tesco have introduced their 'Whoosh' express delivery service and looked for participating Tesco Express stores in That London.
First on the London list is the Goose Pub Tesco Express Kingswinford.

I REALLY don't think that's London!

[L CC]

It's grown to be dried and processed – like the field beans mentioned elsewhere, it's often left to dry in the field, so you'll see mostly dead fields of the stuff all the way into November. That's on purpose, it's not a lazy farmer.

Sweetcorn for human consumption has a far higher water (and non-starch sugar content) and is harvested earlier before it starts to dry out. There are other types that are only intended to milled, like the brightly coloured jewel corn. Don't bother eating it like sweetcorn, but it'll make a nice tortilla.

Left standing in the field is usually because its been grown as a cover crop for pheasants rather than for any harvest. Maize in the UK is largely for whole crop silage for cattle feed. The whole plant, not just the cobs are chopped and pickled for winter feed.

[Mrs Pingu]

Today I'm attempting to make the first batch of cinnamon rolls in the shit oven. Am guessing I'm going to need to whack the temperature up a bit being as it's not a fan oven. There may be wailing and gnashing of teeth.