Food For Thought

Here is a translation by Leslie Wilson from’ La Hotte du Chiffonnier,’ written by Louis Paulian in 1885. He records how bread was ‘recycled ‘in C19 Paris.
‘Louis Paulian, talking to Parisian chiffonniers (rag-pickers) in the early 1880s, recorded the ways they dealt with bread scraps: "If they’re clean," the chiffonniers told him, "we eat them, and if they’re too dirty, we make the bourgeois eat

Melted Easter Eggs

A scorching Easter, chocolate eggs melting all over the place. What to do?
Rice Krispie Cakes
Dark and Squidgy Chocolate Torte
Chocolate Fondant
Chilli con Chocolate
There are several different ways to melt chocolate but if you want perfect results every time there are a few basic rules which need to be observed:1.    Water and chocolate don’t mix well – make sure any equipment you’re using (

Humble / Umble Pie

Aside from the 60’s British band ‘Humble Pie’ who featured a line up from the Small Faces, The Herd, Spooky Tooth and Apostolic Intervention, the dish has an interesting tale dating back to Norman times."humble pie. Here we have a play upon words which dates back to the time of William the Conqueror. First, the pie referred to in 'eating humble pie' was really umble pie, made from the umbles -

Stone Soup

Stone Soup is a dish with a story behind it that highlights how tasty leftovers can be. It starts with a Monk who makes camp at the side of the road and is so poor that all he can find to make soup with is a stone which he starts to boil. The Monk invites passers by to share his soup but warns them that this being the third time he has used the same stone, it must be getting a little worn out.

Preserved in Aspic

In our modern day society dishes such as faggots and haggis would struggle to become popular if newly introduced. We have become very picky as to what we consider fit to eat. Back in the ‘good old days’ when food was expensive people were less fussy. In Victorian times Aspic jelly was popular, both as a preservative, forming a barrier around certain foods and as a nourishing dish for invalids.

200 Food Decisions

Food is a joy but we are becoming increasingly aware that it is also a privilege. Just because produce is apparently abundant and cheap does not mean that it will always be so, or that our misuse of resources is not having an adverse effect elsewhere in the World. 
As we understand more about the stresses that the human race is putting on the planet, and each other, so ethical eating becomes

The Mussel Myth

If you read any reference to cooking mussels post 1990 it will almost invariably tell you to not to eat mussels that have remained closed after cooking.Prior to the 1970s revered cookery books such as ‘Larousse Gastronomique’ in 1965 and ‘Italian Food’ by Elizabeth David in 1966 made absolutely no mention of discarding unopened mussels. The myth seems to have been started by the English food

Thrifty Wartime Ways to Feed Your Family Today

When war broke out in 1939, the government created the Ministry of Food to help families make the most of wartime rations. Today, in the face of rising food prices, a real obesity problem and ever increasing food miles, The Ministry of Food shows how we can all survive the credit crunch with a bit of wartime wisdom and ingenuity.

Written by bestselling author Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall to

Recycle – the opportunities are endless

Going off the food route but sticking with the need to reduce our impact on the planet there are a number of ways that you can help avoid perfectly good resources ending up as landfill, requiring virgin materials being used to replace them.Freecycle . org  Freecycle groups match people who have things they want to get rid of with people who can use them. Their goal is to keep usable items out

Sharp as Coleman’s Mustard

Jeremiah Colman was once asked to sum up the secret of his success and how he made a fortune out of such a humble thing as mustard. His reply was that he made his money from the mustard that people left on the sides of their plate. Now as a young child I was confused by this and had visions of Mr Coleman going round and scraping the remains off peoples’ plates and reselling it. Ah, bless.Instead

Can I or Can’t I?

In the spirit of ‘eating it all up’ here is a post that focuses on useful items that might otherwise end up in the waste bin. There are parts of plants that are quite edible that we often overlook such as potato skins and broccoli stalks. There are also parts of edible plants that are poisonous.
So, first the bad news, here are some of the poisonous ones:
The leaves of Rhubarb contain oxalic

BBQ Leftovers Recipes

What a weekend for BBQs. So how many of us now have a fridge full of lightly cremated leftovers? I find that this often happens when you invite friends round. Everyone turns up with twice as much as they could possibly manage and you have over catered in the first place.So, what to do with what is left? Sausages – These can be sliced up and used in a sausage casserole or as the basis for a

Rolling Menus

One of the easiest ways to use up leftovers is to plan them in advance. Using a bit of joined up thinking to link your menu for the week. The simplest way to illustrate this is with a roast chicken. Eat fresh out of the oven on day one, use the remaining meat in a pie on day two and boil up the carcase up for soup on day three. You can even go a step farther and crack and roast the bones before

Waste - Tristram Stuart

The world has a 'food problem' - rapidly rising prices, shortages, 100 million people starving, environmental depredation - or it thinks it does. This book shows that farmers, manufacturers, supermarkets and consumers in North America and Europe discard between 30 and 50 per cent of their fresh produce - enough to feed the starving in the world six times over. Additionally, while affluent

Spring Watch 2011

Here is a quick update on the spring onion roots I planted a couple of weeks ago.
After using the onions in salads and sprinkled over stir-fries the root ends were planted in a flowerpot on the kitchen window.
Making sure that they were kept moist, within a few days green shoots started to appear.
Hopefully they will be ready to harvest again in a couple of weeks. Free food!Watch out for the next

BBQ Tips - Leftover Alcohol

In the unlikely event of leftover alcohol (that doesn’t have cigarette butts floating in it) it pays to have a contingency plan up your sleeve.If wine is still fresh then you have a number of options:MarinadesWine can be used to both flavour and tenderise meat. Simply add crushed garlic, olive oil, ground pepper and herbs to red wine for a delicious marinade for red meat. Do not add salt before

Haggis - Not Scottish Shock

Haggis, the Scottish ‘Great chieftain o' the puddin'-race,’ is a classic example of the need to utilize ingredients that has become a legend in its own right. It is made from a sheep’s pluck (the heart, liver and lungs) minced with onion, oatmeal, fat and spices, then boiled using the stomach as a container. This came about from the necessity of cooking the innards quickly after slaughter as

Kitchen Tips - Dry, lumpy or stuck?

Another in an occasional series. Dry marshmallows, lumpy sauces, greasy gravy? Fear not and read on.1.    If a loaf of un-sliced bread or baguette has gone a little stale and dry, moisten the crust with a little water and place in a hot oven for 2-3 minutes. Bread going stale is a chemical reaction (retrogradation) that occurs slowly at room temperature. Gentle heating reverses the process.

Are you 'avin a bubble?

Somebody is 'avin a laugh, surely?
Instead of making the delicious traditional dish of Bubble and Squeek from 'fresh' leftovers we are now able to pay over the odds for a ready meal alternative.
Cooked, chilled, packaged, sent to a distribution centre, picked, palleted, sent to a Supermarket, stored, sent out to the shop floor, carefully rotated to the back of the shelf, eventually bought by you

Easter is coming, time to empty the freezer.

Easter can be a nightmare for the cook in the family. There is the pressure to produce a feast, unexpected guests and then a mountain of leftovers.  After the Easter Weekend tons of food worth millions of pounds are thrown away.Preparation - In the weeks leading up to the big weekend start to run first the freezer and then the fridge down to a bare minimum. When it comes to festive food the one

Hash and Stovies

Teaming up meat scraps with potatoes is a classic combination, so it is not surprising to find them as a basis for favourite dishes wherever the two are found together. Hash is a traditional, cheap and quick to make meal dating back centuries. The term probably originates from Norman times, being a derivative of the French ‘hachis’ meaning chopped. Today Hash is made with diced meat, browned

Cold meat and how to disguise it - Hunter Davies

A light hearted look at scrimping and saving. Lots of hints and tips for hard times from history.


Credit has been crunched, banks hammered, the economy battered, prices up, hopes down. All classes are being urged to economise, make do and mend, spin things out, avoid waste. It has been ever thus. In times of War, General Strikes as well as Economic Disasters, Governments as well as agony aunts,

Sir Peter Percy's Pie

During my training as a pub manager I was taught how to run a profitable food business and part of that tutoring took place in Canterbury in Kent. The pub where I was placed played host to a large number of foreign tourists as well as the locals.
On Sunday lunchtimes there was always a traditional roast dinner on the menu with a choice of beef, turkey, pork or ham, with all the trimmings. On

The Unpalatable Food Facts

We are throwing money away. In Britain the average family bins upwards of £400 worth of food each year. Annually we dispose of the equivalent of £8 Billion of food, a third of all we consume, and this only applies to domestic use. We then have to pay our councils to get rid of it, adding to our tax bills.

Food waste that goes into landfill decomposes anaerobically and creates tonnes of methane

Makeovers for Leftovers - Toppings

Toppings are another great way to decorate a dish and have the added advantage of acting as a stretcher to make the food feed a couple more mouths if required. Crumbles are often overlooked yet they are simple to make for either sweets or savories. Savory crumbles are ideal for vegetarians and can be flavoured with cheese, or nuts, or herbs.
Cobblers, or scone toppings are another variation,

Coping with unexpected guests

You are all set for a meal with friends and extra guests suddenly pitch up. Don't panic, here are a few tips to make the meal stretch a bit further.

·         Add a drained can of beans to a casserole.·         Throw a salad together to serve with the meal.·         Is there any garlic bread in the freezer? ·         Put together a bread basket or rolls.·         Add a starter or some nibbles? A

Waste Not, Want Not

Beautifully photographed book that uses leftovers as ingredients for fresh dishes.



The authors come up with a whole range of new incarnations for yesterday's food. Some are reasonably familiar, others more challenging and creative. Ideal as a source for inspiration.

I Love Fat Birds

Unwanted fat left over from cooking can be a bit of a problem. While a certain amount of fat is actually essential in your diet it is very calorific. I loved beef dripping on toast as an adolescent, when I stayed skinny as a rake while hoovering up any food that came my way. My metabolism is not quite up to the same speed these days.
For businesses that cook with fat it is even more of an issue

The Family Meal Planner

All you need to know about planning ahead for your meals. A well thought out book that includes batch cooking, storecupboard meals and seasonal (and thus cheap) recipes. Thoroughly recommended.


The Good Food Family Meal Planner will help you to save time and money and reduce waste - three of our biggest and most timely concerns.

Most cookbooks are arranged around type of dish or ingredient,

Saucy Secrets

How many half full jars of sauce are cluttering up your fridge or cupboards, going claggy and ‘orrible before being disposed of?Cut down the number that you need and enjoy fresher sauces by making your own using mayonnaise as a base. Once you taste the fresh versions you may never go back, especially the Tartar Sauce.Seafood/Thousand IslandMayonnaise, tomato ketchup, lemon juice and a dash of

So why do we waste food?

Who in their right mind would set out to waste food?  So why does so much of it end up in the dustbin?A physical survey of domestic food waste by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) in 2007 found that on average every household in Britain was throwing away a third of the food that they bought. Some of this was inedible, such as animal bones & egg shells, but not included were drinks and

The Use-It-All Cookbook - Bish Muir

A very handy book to help you with ideas for using up the contents of your fridge before it spoils. Make a note of what you have and use the A-Z guide to find a delicious recipe.


Do you have to throw away that single carrot? How can you make that cold chicken tasty? Can you use that half pot of yoghurt at the back of the fridge?
The Use-It-All Cookbook is packed with ideas for using your

Shopping Techniques - Damage Limitation

Most of us have constraints on the amount of time that we can spend on planning our shopping. Here are some simple techniques to help avoid waste.
Step One: Shop regularly.This way you are not pressured into over catering for ‘just in case’ situations. You will also have a better idea of what is lurking in your fridge if you left it there the day before.
Step Two: Buy small packsLoaves of bread

Leftover Makeovers - Victoria Shearer

Never again sit down to a warmed-over meal of the same old leftovers.
With more than 100 scrumptious recipes, this book offers a revolutionary approach to the world of meal preparation and leftovers.
Begin by choosing a core recipe, which makes enough to thoroughly satisfy and have leftovers. Each core recipe is followed by one or more original recipes that turn those leftovers into an entirely

Over Salting and Burnt Rice - Remedies

1.    Over salting is a simple mistake, especially if you are reducing a liquid, or adding salty ingredients like bacon. As a rule, always add the salt at the end of the cooking process, tasting as you do, but if you have added too much do not despair.  Add some extra water and a raw, peeled potato and cook for an extra 20 minutes. The potato will reduce the salt. Other ways to disguise saltiness

The Story of Lobby - Part 2

Liverpool is not the starting point of the Lobscouse story, merely a stopping off point. Here it can be traced back to Norwegian sailors who had a long tradition of trading with Northern English ports. The Norwegians have a dish called Lapskaus, virtually a national dish, that uses the weekend's remaining food, usually carrots, potatoes, pork sausages in slices or beef cut small and which is