Erm's Photo Diary

[jaylou]

Amazes me that polenta is synned now. I have one of the SW cookbooks with a polenta and sweet corn bread in it. Was lovely. Wonder if the book is still in print????

 

[ermintrude]

I dont like being told what to do So I just had some more for me lunch :giggle:

 

[Keldelacoe]

Polenta is something I have never tried...is it nice?

 

[systema]

Amazes me that polenta is synned now. I have one of the SW cookbooks with a polenta and sweet corn bread in it. Was lovely. Wonder if the book is still in print????

One of the books I have Polenta is free and it wasn't until I started posting on here that someone told me it was not free - I think Ermintrude and I have spoken about before now.

 

[ermintrude]

Polenta is something I have never tried...is it nice?

It is lovely but it depends what you put in it, the one I did on Saturday was gawjus! :drool: Its basically just ground cornmeal/maize, it used to be free but from what I gather people started using it to make cakes and stuff with instead of using it for the 'proper' reason. I think it used to be free because it was a bit like having pasta (which is basically just flour). Anyway, I dont give a sod, its not like I eat it on its own with no veggies or whatever The ones I made this week have chilli and cheese and salt in them but you can put whatever you like in really, all sorts of spices woud go, or sun dried tomatoes maybe, olives?

This is the one I had Saturday:

Parmesan & chilli polenta wedges:

Ingredients:
- 600ml veg stock
- 125g coarse ground polenta (ground cornmeal/maize)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 or 3 dried bird's eye chillies, whizzed/ground (or you could just use a pinch of chilli powder)
- 30g grated Parmesan
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley

Method:
- Mix the polenta, salt and spices in a bowl
- Bring the stock to the boil and pour the polenta in slowly, whisking continuously as you do so, keep whisking until it comes back to the boil
- Turn the heat off and leave it for 20 min, stirring occasionally
- Stir in the Parmesan & herbs and spread out on a lined tray to about 1cm thick (it probably wont need a whole tray)
- Leave to stand for at least 20 min, or overnight if you want.

Then when you want to eat it just cut it into wedges and grill/oven/dry fry on a skillet until both sides are crispy & brown. How crispy you want it is up to you, I like mine kinda hash-brown crispy Or you can just eat it as it is, like a thick porridge/spread/dip.

Last night I made them a bit thicker and they were crispy on the outside and like soft cheese on the inside

 

[ermintrude]

One of the books I have Polenta is free and it wasn't until I started posting on here that someone told me it was not free - I think Ermintrude and I have spoken about before now.

I think HoneyOC used to make, it I've not had it in years til this week. Nom nom :drool:

 

[Keldelacoe]

sounds like plan Id class it has free as I have a brain lol. I don't do the whole cake abuse thing as I dont really have a sweet tooth. Mmmm must try it

 

[justineive]

Hi, i'm new to this site and have been trawling through your pages - have you posted the recipes for the potato frittata with pesto, and the cheese & marmite twists or are they pretty obvious to do? many thanks

 

[ermintrude]

Ah sorry I dont even remember potato frittata with pesto, you'd have to post me a link, but its not something Id have a recipe for now I dont think as I dont even remember doing it! Musta been a long time ago.

The cheese & marmite twists Im pretty sure the recipe is on here, its basically the Smash cheese scones recipe but made strip-shape and with a bit of Marmite added. The cheese scone recipe is definitely on my diary somewhere (and its all over this site anyway now), sorry I dont have time to trawl through to find it, but its there if you have

 

[ermintrude]

Testing...

 

[ermintrude]

Tuesday 03rd July Green

Breakfast: Coffee & mushrooms 1 HEXA, 0.5 syns for mustard
Lunch: Leftover green curry & a polenta wedge 0.25 HEXA for milk & Parmesan, 2.5 syns for polenta
Tea: BNS soup with coconut & lime relish 0.5 HEXB for cashew nuts, 2.5 syns for coconut & sugar, oh and a, er, Ben & Jerry's strawberry ice cream mini-pot 15.5 syns It had been hangin around in the freezer since last week cos I didn't eat it Saturday like I intended, then basically there was no room to put tonight's leftover soup in the freezer, so I had to snaffle it
Snacks: Quorn slices, tomatoes, peach

 

[Shirleen]

Tuesday 03rd July Green

Breakfast: Coffee & mushrooms 1 HEXA, 0.5 syns for mustard
Lunch: Leftover green curry & a polenta wedge 0.25 HEXA for milk & Parmesan, 2.5 syns for polenta
Tea: BNS soup with coconut & lime relish 0.5 HEXB for cashew nuts, 2.5 syns for coconut & sugar, oh and a, er, Ben & Jerry's strawberry ice cream mini-pot 15.5 syns It had been hangin around in the freezer since last week cos I didn't eat it Saturday like I intended, then basically there was no room to put tonight's leftover soup in the freezer, so I had to snaffle it
Snacks: Quorn slices, tomatoes, peach

I'm intrigued by the 'coffee and mushrooms' with mustard?????

 

[ermintrude]

I'm intrigued by the 'coffee and mushrooms' with mustard?????

:8855: Not as exciting as it sounds Im afraid :giggle:

Yeah it was Tesco day, which is basically fridge-raiders day and you just eat whatever's left in there to make space for the new lot

Had me usual coffee(sszzzzzz) and found 4 giant portobello mushies that needed using up cos Id just, er, ordered another 4... so I grilled em and covered em in mustard & Worcestershire sauce Worry ye not, they did not go *in* the coffee and it was all perfectly legal

 

[ermintrude]

That soup was lush btw! :drool: I dont normally 'do' runny soup cos it doesnt fill me up (and it didnt, hence my snaffling of said Ben & Jerry's ) but the whizzer (pressie for my bday) is a bit over-zealous and magically mushed the lot in half a second :sigh: But it would go fab as a starter with something, really rich and smooth and nutty and spicy and everything-y! :drool:

 

[JackieN]

:8855: Not as exciting as it sounds Im afraid :giggle:

Yeah it was Tesco day, which is basically fridge-raiders day and you just eat whatever's left in there to make space for the new lot

Had me usual coffee(sszzzzzz) and found 4 giant portobello mushies that needed using up cos Id just, er, ordered another 4... so I grilled em and covered em in mustard & Worcestershire sauce Worry ye not, they did not go *in* the coffee and it was all perfectly legal

aww you spoilt my fun there Erm I had visions of a milky coffee with mushrooms floating in it and you stirring in mustard :8855: a new craze :giggle: xxxxxx

 

[MadameLaMinx]

You mean the spicy roast chunks jobbie? You could use any spices really, and no need to whizz up whole ones if you havent got any, ground will do fine. Here we go:

Spicy squash

Serves 2 as a side

Ingredients:
- 3 dried bird's eye chillies
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 BNS, about 1kg, cut into 1.5cm cubes

Method:
- Whizz or grind the spices. Mix in the salt
- Put the BNS in a bowl and sprinkle the spice mix over gradually, tossing the BNS before adding more, to coat evenly
- Roast in fry Light, covered, for about 40min+ or until tender, taking the foil off for the last 10min to crisp up

Just popped in to say I am eating this RIGHT NOW with some hot n spicy cous cous and its fab. Roasted a couple of cherry tomatoes alongside it and they are all super tasty and my nose is only running a tiny small amount


Thanks for this recipe! x

 

[Shirleen]

aww you spoilt my fun there Erm I had visions of a milky coffee with mushrooms floating in it and you stirring in mustard :8855: a new craze :giggle: xxxxxx

And we'd all follow suit to catch onto her coat tails!

 

[Keldelacoe]

Hi Nic you use giant couscous don't you? I come across it in tesco but just a small box for £2.99!!!!!! is it usually that expensive? that size would only do us one meal?

 

[ermintrude]

Hi Nic you use giant couscous don't you? I come across it in tesco but just a small box for £2.99!!!!!! is it usually that expensive? that size would only do us one meal?

I get mine in Tesco and in Waitrose, the Lovelife and Ingredients (??) versions, you get a 3-500g pack for between £1-£2. It does swell up hugely (although not as big as normal cous cous), so you dont need all that much, I use about 150g and mix it in with chopped veg like squash, so one packet will make about 3 meals. Dont get the ready-cooked stuff or the expensive branded stuff. You can probably get it in a health food shop if they havent got it in your supermarket, although they are generally more expensive obviously.

Here's the Waitrose version, 300g for 1.89, so about 2-3 meals worth: Waitrose couscous.

Cant find the Tesco one at the mo, seems to have been replaced by Merchant Gourmet at the minute

 

[Keldelacoe]

I get mine in Tesco and in Waitrose, the Lovelife and Ingredients (??) versions, you get a 3-500g pack for between £1-£2. It does swell up hugely (although not as big as normal cous cous), so you dont need all that much, I use about 150g and mix it in with chopped veg like squash, so one packet will make about 3 meals. Dont get the ready-cooked stuff or the expensive branded stuff. You can probably get it in a health food shop if they havent got it in your supermarket, although they are generally more expensive obviously.

Here's the Waitrose version, 300g for 1.89, so about 2-3 meals worth: Waitrose couscous.

Cant find the Tesco one at the mo, seems to have been replaced by Merchant Gourmet at the minute

Ah thank you yes sorry it was merchant gourment, suppose they are generally expensive though anyway