OT as hell: ready meals

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Yup. Waitrose pay their suppliers properly and promptly, too. How did the
Co-op compare, as a matter of interest?

Ali

 

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Agree totally that we have to import some stuff. My quarrel is when this
gets silly: I'd cite Tesco selling asparagus from bloody PERU in June. Gah!
I don't buy imported soft fruit in December because it has no taste and it
really is a bit daft.

Ali

 

Disorganised shite, with every regional co-op having its own little
cockerel crowing on top of the dungheap.

Sorry if that's not the answer you were hoping for.

 

message You don't need to understand _why_,
but don't you ever actually use

Wot, no scrambled eggs?

Ali

 

Um, actually, this makes cheap sense because:

1. Peru grows asparagus (and other crops) almost year-round, by planting
them at different altitudes.

2. Peruvian asparagus is very, very cheap[1] because:

3. The US effectively subsidises Peruvian asparagus by paying the
farmers to grow it, and not coca. This has had the unwanted (but not
unexpected, if the Yank government had had the wit to think about it) of
almost wiping out the US asparagus industry, because it can't compete.

The last US asparagus canneries have folded and set up plants in Peru.

(This is the sort of thing I write about, in the course of "work", if
you're wondering)

[1] Chinese is slightly cheaper, mind.

 

Christ, no.

The difference between something edible and rubbery shite is about 2
seconds in a microwave.

 

No. Must try that.

 

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Oh, no, I've no axe to sharpen on that particular bunch. It was more that
they trumpet their ethics and I wondered if that matched up to reality.

Ali

 

No. Must try that.[/QUOTE]

Don't. It's _really_ not worth it. Much more tricky to get right that
way than doing it properly in a pan. And how difficult is that, FFS?

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Blimey. Awright, I can see that, I suppose, it just seems weird. Given the
choice, I'd still go for Evesham 'grass, as I think it tastes better. Thank
you for that, it's fascinating.

Ali

 

No, no. You cook them till they are still very runny, take them out, and let
them keep cooking. You have to stir them though. It needs care and timing,
but they are very nice indeed. Much fluffier.

Ali

 

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Takes time and practice - it's not a thing that is quicker in a microwave,
but I think they are nicer than in a pan. You cook them in bursts of thirty
seconds, beat them every time you stop the microwave, and take them out when
still runny. I did them with double cream last weekend. Evil.

Ali

 

FFS making them is quicker.

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Typo corrected. C'mon man, we have standards round here. Bacon sarnies
are hairy, clams are bearded.

 

If you can cook a steak to perfection, you can cook scrambled eggs in a
microwave.

 

Nope, piece of piss.

Saucepan.

Pour some wine into a glass and have a swig.

Chop up an onion, pop it in the saucepan with some oil or butter. Put the
lid on and put it on the smallest ring on the lowest setting. Leave to
soften while you cut up other stuff.

Now, you can do practically anything at this point, but we're making soup.
And drinking wine, of course.

Chop up a bit of garlic - maybe one clove the first time, or more if you
like lots of garlic, or none if you don't like garlic. Chuck it in the
saucepan with the onions, and have another sip of wine.

You can peel and chop up a carrot and chuck it in at this stage, if you have
one, and maybe a stick of celery. Also a slice or two of bacon (chopped
up), or pancetta, which is pre-chopped-up bacon bits, or chop up a bit of
chorizo sausage. You've probably got the hang of the wine thing by now.

I might also have slung in a chopped-up chilli by this point, too.

You can think about spices at this point. I usually get a little bowl,
assemble the whole lot in the bowl and chuck them in together. A pinch of
paprika, maybe some ground cumin, a bay leaf, a few cloves, a sprig of
thyme, salt, pepper, that sort of thing. Chuck it all in and give it a
stir, put the lid back on and leave it to get on with it for another five
minutes or so.

The wine glass probably needs topping up.

Open a tin of chopped tomatoes, chuck 'em in, fill up the tin with water and
chuck that in too. Stir, lid back on and turn up the gas for a couple of
minutes to bring it up to temperature.

Turn the gas back down and spend twenty minutes or so checking up on ukrm.

After twenty minutes or so, you could chuck in a handful of frozen petit
pois, or a few sliced-up basil leaves, or some lemon juice, or a splash of
Lea & Perrins. Lid on, another five minutes. Fish out the bay
leaf/thyme/cloves if you can be arsed, and ladle some out into a bowl.
Sorted.

Some people like to whizz it up in a blender. I can't be arsed, it's fine
lumpy.

If you don't slurp it all up in one sitting, let it cool, pour into a
container of some description and put it in the fridge to reheat tomorrow or
the next day, when it will taste even better.


Okay, I admit it, I've got some simmering on the hob now.

 

And an approach to town planning and store development to rival even the
dodgiest of rivals (eg. Marlow.)

 

Something I understand they're trying to rectify, with a view to merging
smaller co-ops into a greater whole.

 

So if I'm stewing some meat etc in the slow cooker while I'm at work, am
I meant to knock up a few yorkies while I'm on a conference call,
writing up a design doc, or while I'm on the train home? The choice is
yours.

 

Agreed - I used to have one but rarely used it and chucked it when the
seal went (it was really old anyway).

Essential!

I do that soup too, but I add chicken stock and/or a veggie stock cube
instead of plain water, some peas, a small glass of white wine (adds
something good, but doesn't end up tasting of wine), maybe a bit of
chopped leek or some chives, a block of frozen spinach and, if I want
it to be more filling, some broken up spaghetti. Chopped up left over
chicken can also go in, or ham, but then I often leave out the bacon.
Good it is, and it freezes well too. And what's all this bollocks
someone has said about boiling for 20 minutes? None of that lot needs
that long; once it's at a simmer, 10 minutes is enough (but make sure
your carrot is chopped really fine if so).

Eh, Platy, why not post Sarah's recipe for the Thai chicken and
coriander soup that blows your socks off? I can't find it and want it
again myself.

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