The ultimate in refined eating

[Thropplenoggin]

The thing to do for fresh food is avoid supermarkets if possible (but find out what time of day they start discounting and follow the lady with the stickers!) Use market stalls for fruit and veg (i.e. you can get a large cauliflower for 50p, ditto punnets of blueberries or strawberries) and use your local butcher. I like to see what I can get cheaply, take it home, and then pretend I'm on Masterchef doing the invention test! Unfortunately, if you are a committed carnivore then eating cheaply now is not an option. It's also amazing, in my last job, if I mentioned cooking with beans they all thought I meant Heinz! As for lentils, no-one had tried them - why don't people use these little beauties more? Stir fries and Thai curries are great for cheapness and flavour as well as being cheap as chips. In fact, cheaper than chips!

I used to eat out on a dollar a day in Vietnam (15,000 Vietnam dong at the time), sharing a table with local monks in the vegetarian restaurants*. They offered up huge platefuls of rice, noodles, and all kinds of interesting variations on tofu (covered in shredded lemongrass; shaped like fish and cocktail sausages; stuffed inside bitter gourd) for 7,000 dong. At the time, the exchange rate favoured the pound (30,000 dong) meaning even more luxurious dining options were well within one's grasp. Needless to say, Le Noggin filled his boots, mostly eating local fare and frequenting the local markets, where some of the best hidden eateries were to be found. All that was needed was the ability to sit on a 3"-high plastic stool (a veritable clown chair - see below) and an inability to be phased by the oft-noxious smells emanating from the market.

Returning to Europe was a shock to the wallet, of course, but at least I returned with a much-expanded palate.

*I remain a committed carnivore (difficult not to, in France ), but was a wary Vietnamese meat-eater, at least in the early days, arriving just after the first outbreak of avian flu...

[mercia]

I'm afraid I haven't ventured into dried beans. Apart from the overnight soaking (OK that's easy) they seem to take a lot of cooking - "simmer for an hour" I've just read for pinto beans.

[Nick Armstrong]

I make my own pesto, but I use parmesan.

(plus option on some pecorino if available)

lentils

Just remembered how much I love lentils, cooked slow in veg stock with chopped carrot, maybe a little onion and tomato paste...

[Anna]

Just remembered how much I love lentils, cooked slow in veg stock with chopped carrot, maybe a little onion and tomato paste...

Or, perhaps a plate of petit salé aux lentilles perhaps is even better? Puy lentils have such a deep earthy flavour, why do people think the only lentils are red? Black lentils (called beluga as they look like caviar) add a glistening touch of the exotic.

[Thropplenoggin]

Or, perhaps a plate of petit salé aux lentilles perhaps is even better? Puy lentils have such a deep earthy flavour, why do people think the only lentils are red? Black lentils (called beluga as they look like caviar) add a glistening touch of the exotic.

In Nigel Slater's Appetite, there is an excellent rustic lentil soup-cum-stew recipe, generally more suited to autumn than spring, though this year might prove the exception to the rule.

[Padraig]

Every day I repair for lunch to the same table in the same eatery, usually to the sound of the Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert. Today I had Prepared Piano.I have lentil soup with added carrot, a fat-free diced slice of smoked bacon, with a generous seasoning of pepper, flaked chillis and a little salt, accompanied by thick white bread toasted, with butter if it's my birthday. It's my favourite lunch, and I am joined in our kitchen by my good wife whose recipe it is. Today happens to be my birthday, so I had butter AND a slice of cake AND The Pilgrims Chorus from Tannhauser - no, I mean Happy Birthday To You.

PS Whether it's my birthday or not, I have butter and I have it most abundantly.

[Sir Velo]

(plus option on some pecorino if available)

To which anyone partial to la cucina italiana would ask "Yes; but which one?"

Presumably, Pecorino Sardo; which forms the basis of Ligurian pesto alla genovese.

[Thropplenoggin]

PS Whether it's my birthday or not, I have butter and I have it most abundantly.

Joyeux anniversaire, Padraig.

I concur that butter is a must. Even the humble digestive benefits from its presence. Yes, butter, applied generously, and preferably cold and salted, ideally aux cristaux de sel de Guérande.

[Thropplenoggin]

Or, perhaps a plate of petit salé aux lentilles perhaps is even better? Puy lentils have such a deep earthy flavour, why do people think the only lentils are red? Black lentils (called beluga as they look like caviar) add a glistening touch of the exotic.

Then there's Nigel's take on ribolita - Italian peasant soup: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...ssic-ribollita A great way to use up old bread. I add spices (chilli, paprika), any greens I have to hand (cabbage, spinach) and add a very generous squeeze of lemon juice prior to serving.

[Anna]

Joyeux anniversaire, Padraig.
I concur that butter is a must. Even the humble digestive benefits from its presence. Yes, butter, applied generously, and preferably cold and salted, ideally aux cristaux de sel de Guérande.

A very happy birthday Padraig - my sister is still enjoying the Mass you sent her when you were Patrick! Lentil soup is a gladsome thing, pref with fresh soda bread.
Butter on digestives - plus a slice of cheese? Oh, yes! Please!

[Nick Armstrong]

Pecorino Sardo

[Anna]

But, this an eat for cheap thread. Pecorino Sardo is way over £20 kg, Romano is a bit cheaper, but budget cooks cannot have the luxury, for them it's Cathedral Cheddar, buy one get one free at the Co-Op if they buy cheese at all.

[french frank]

I'm afraid I haven't ventured into dried beans. Apart from the overnight soaking (OK that's easy) they seem to take a lot of cooking - "simmer for an hour" I've just read for pinto beans.

Nah, not that long - I like a little bit of 'bite' left in them. I put some haricot beans in to soak this morning, started cooking them this evening (I reckon half an hour is plenty) and then chucked them into my lamb stew to simmer with all the other things. It'll cool overnight, I'll remove the fat from the surface and it'll be reheated for lunch tomorrow. I tested them before I put them in the stew and they were fine. Beans are very versatile.

Yes, having a store cupboard is important but when I think back to my mother's generation, we didn't know about olive oil (it was that foreign stuff that was smothered over everything when you went abroad - ugh ). Nor did we have herbs and spices - we had pepper (dust) and salt (garlic was that awful foreign stuff &c &c ...).

By all means strain the liquid off the ribollita and make a pasta bake if you want to - but don't throw the liquid away - it'll be the basis for more soup.

[Beef Oven]

(plus option on some pecorino if available)




Just remembered how much I love lentils, cooked slow in veg stock with chopped carrot, maybe a little onion and tomato paste...

MAYBE a little onion!? It's de rigeuer (pardon the German)

P.S. They use ewe's cheese more in Liguria, where pesto originates, but I prefer Parmesan, more nutty and a bit stronger. My mater was born and brought up in north east Italy and is a dab hand at la cucina povera povera, so I've had it without cheese too

[Padraig]

Re #23 and #25:
Thank you Thropplenoggin and Anna for your birthday wishes. I cast a good fly and caught two delightful specimens.

For you Th'n - a poem and a toast:

'Juice of the grape, juice of the apple,
'I'll throw anything down my thrapple.'

And for you Anna, delicacy prevents me from quoting Dylan Thomas on one of your favourite books - At Swim - Two Birds - especially since 'your sister' is mentioned. I'm glad about the Mass though!