Seasonal shopping

I decided last week to buy a supermarket produced magazine, Sainsbury's Magazine, to see whether I could find any new recipes to liven up our meal times. It was an interesting experience! There were some wonderful recipes but for the most part, they used vegetables that are not in season in the UK. They were encouraging me to use courgettes (zucchinis), green beans, asparagus (which is almost in season but not quite), peppers, cucumbers, broccoli (I could use frozen), cherry tomatoes and the list goes on. Not a root vegetable in sight on the whole, though potatoes did play a role. I know that our eating habits have changed dramatically since I was raising my children but considering the environmental consequences and the economic conditions, you would think that supermarkets would begin to reflect that in their magazine recipes at least.

On the same topic of vegetables, carrots were in the news on Farming Today this morning. Apparently, we are about to run out of carrots and some supermarkets have already started to import from as far away as Australia. Why is there a shortage? We did have a poor growing season last year but it seems that supermarkets are pushing farmers more and more to reduce their prices so that a number of farmers are moving out of carrots and into more profitable crops. Carrots can be a bit tricky to grow at home and so I have never bothered before but since they are also a root vegetable that can winter through quite well, it might be an idea to consider them this year.

This situation with the carrots makes me wonder if, perhaps, the supermarkets are being as irresponsible as the banks have been. They have our food supply in their hands and in the UK seem to be responsible for farmers in this country going out of business or changing to more profitable crops. I don't think that government policy helps either. Farming Today reported (I can't remember when it was) that it was policy to move to importing all milk with none being produced here. All this makes me want to find a plot of land and start a large vegetable garden.

I did find one recipe that I thought sounded good and here it is. It is a simple beef stew or soup and you could add other root vegetables to it, such as sweet potatoes, though I wouldn't add them till near the end. I do like the idea of the paprika.

Chunky beef, carrot and smoked paprika soup (serves 4 to 6)

1 KG diced braising steak (I imagine you could use stewing beef or is it the same thing?)
1 onion peeled and diced
a little light olive oil
1 lt beef stock (water and oxo cubes?)
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1.5 cm cubes (I don't think you need to peel potatoes if they are washed. You keep more of the goodness of them that way)
3 carrots, peeled (again a good washing should be alright), and cut into 1 cm pieces
3T sherry, port or Madeira (optional)
2 t of sweet or hot smoked paprika
2 X 400 g tins chopped tomatoes
2 shakes of Tabasco sauce, or more, to taste
a handful of parsley, chopped (if you have some growing in a pot in the house!)

In a large pan, over a medium heat, soften the onion by itself in a little olive oil and then add the meat in batches. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the stock, potatoes, carrots, sherry and paprika. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low heat and simmer covered for around 2 hours. You may need to add some liquid during the cooking process.

Add tomatoes and Tabasco sauce and continue to cook for another half hour.

Top with parsley.

Butternut Squash Soup

I bought a butternut squash at the supermarket last week because it looked interesting and it's also in season here at the moment. I wasn't sure what to do with it. Then I had the most wonderful butternut squash soup at a friend's house and this prompted me to investigate recipes. This isn't her recipe but it looks easy and tasty, two qualities which are highly valued in my house at the minute!

I large butternut squash

500g potatoes

1 onion

coriander leaves (optional)

1 stock cube

butter and olive oil

cream

pepper.

Peel the squash with a potato peeler, cut in half, scoop out the seeds and cut into 1 inch cubes. Melt the butter in the olive oil and fry the onions until soft but not browned. Chop the potatoes (peeled or not) into 1 inch cubes and add to the onions. Add the squash, cover and cook for ten minutes, turning everything to make sure it get coated in the olive oil. Add the stock and 1litre of water or enough to just cover the veggies. Cook until everything is soft. Season and top with a little cream! I'm not sure when you're supposed to add the coriander but I suppose you could garnish it with some at the end.

I don't know why I'm so into soups at the minute! It could be a combination of the weather and thinking about recipes I can make for Noah in a few months time!

From frozen vegetables to frozen fish

Last weekend, I went off to the frozen food section of my supermarket in search of broccoli and instead ended up looking at fish. Fresh fish is wonderful but very expensive. Over a year ago I bought frozen fish to make a fish pie. Obviously for pies and chowders you don't need fresh fish so since frozen is less expensive, it is the way to go. To my delight (and that of my wallet) I found 500 gram packages of individually vacuum packed pieces of haddock from Iceland for £1. I was expecting a lot more and still have no idea why it should be so inexpensive. Could it be the devaluation of the Icelandic currency? I don't know but we have been feasting on fish. The first night we had it oven cooked in foil. I put pesto sauce on mine and also included tomatoes, red pepper and snap peas. Tomorrow night we're having breaded fish and later in the week, either fish pie or a chowder. YUM. It pays to have a look in the freezers at the supermarket.

Frozen Vegetables

I had a eureka moment on the weekend. I always buy frozen peas, even in the summer, since fresh peas are so expensive. I went shopping on Sunday and intended buying fresh broccoli. Suddenly I realized that we were in the middle of the winter. What was I doing buying fresh broccoli? It will have come from overseas, it certainly is expensive and I don't need unfrozen broccoli since I don't eat it raw. I bought a huge package of it frozen and it will go much further and for far less money. This is what I used to do years ago. How did I fall out of the habit? I won't make this mistake again.

Here is a link to an article from the BBC website suggesting that out of season, frozen vegetables are the healthier options. Interesting!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2902223.stm

Charity Shops in trouble too!

Mary Jane posted this as a comment. I hope she doesn't mind if I've posted it here. In the UK, exactly the same thing is happening. It's interesting that the same thing is happening in both countries.

"[I] was talking to a woman who does marketing for second hand shops that benenfit adults with developmental challenges.

The adults' vocational programs benefit from the money raised in the three shops they have in this area and some of the adults work in the shops.

The marketing woman surprised me when she said the shops' revenues have decreased since the economic crisis began. She reports that they have a stocking problem. Their donations of saleable have reduced greatly and she gave two reasons for that.

People have less stuff to donate because they aren't buying as much new stuff to replace their old stuff.

The second reason for the decline in their revenues is competition. A large number of second hand shops have recently opened in this area, most of them raising money for their own good causes. This reduces the number of donateed items as well as the number of shoppers.

So maybe we will soon see "going out of business" signs plastered across second hand shops? They will have something in common with the high end shops in these parts."

Pea and Sausage Soup!

Here's a recipe for another really yummy soup I used to make (and will be making again now that I've remembered it!)

The measurements aren't exact. I just make it up depending on what I have in the house.

Sausages - cut into pieces

Flour

Stock (of any sort)

At least two tins of mushy peas (or you could use frozen peas I guess!)

Seasoning.

Fry the sausages until cooked. Add the flour and stir around until it has been absorbed by the sausage fat (making a roux). Add the stock gradually allowing it to thicken before adding more. Add the mushy peas and simmer. Add the seasoning and serve with bread or biscuits. Simples.

I like experimenting with different types of sausage; Tescos do some sweet chilli sausages which are really good in the soup.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

400g Chicken (or pork)

12g Sugar

50 ml Soy Sauce

50g Cornflour

1 Clove of garlic - crushed

25g Fresh ginger

1 Onion chopped

1 Pepper, green or red

1 Chilli - chopped

2 Pineapple rings - cut into chunks

100 ml White vinegar

150g Brown Sugar

125 ml Tomato ketchup

1 Tbls Worcester sauce

Cut the meat into chunks and marinade in soy sauce and sugar for 30mins. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetable. Then, boil the vinegar and brown sugar in a sauce pan.

Add the ketchup and Worcester sauce. Leave to simmer.

Take a wok and add enough oil to coat the bottom and heat. Add the chopper garlic and ginger and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the onion, pepper and chilli and stir fry for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the sweet and sour sauce and allow to simmer. Add the pineapple chunks and cook on a low heat. Pass the chicken through the cornflour and deep fry until cooked. Drain and add to the sauce and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Serve with rice.

I don't deep fry the chicken I just add it to the sauce to cook. It's a good idea to coat it in some corn flour though as this thickens the sauce. I don't add chillis either but sometimes put in thinly sliced carrot. You can also play with the amout of sugar and vinegar you put in to get in sweeter or more sour depending on your taste. It tastes so close to the Sweet and Sour Chicken from the Take Away and is probably better for you! Granted, this is not one for the diabetics amongst us!