Cooking Fresh Food - breaking the jar/can/bottle habit...

[TheBear]

This thread is a bit of a spin off from the "How often do you cook the same meal" thread.

If you regularly buy prepared/processed cans, jars or bottles of food at the supermarket then I'd like to see if we can suggest ways of achieving the same or similar result using fresh ingredients without any complex cooking skills.

My view is that most of these products are inferior and more expensive than the original recipes that are trying to replace, bizarrely some of them also seem to be more labour intensive - they also limit the range of your menu, a raw product can be used in thousands of different ways, but something prepared is going to give a much more limited range of results.

So, if you regularly buy sauces, salad dressings, packet mixes, etc and would like to give this a try then join the thread - Post the details of the product you buy, rough idea of cost and what you usually do with it (do you follow the instructions, or do you make something else with it?) and what you like about the result (why you chose this product/recipe)

Index:-

Open Requests:-
Little Miss Sunshine - Stagg Chilli
Briggsy's Girl - Tomato Sauce - anything to do with capsicum, chilli, tomato, corn, pumpkin, huge zucchini, cucumber, lettuce, peas, beans, leek, apples, peaches, cauliflower or broccoli
Laranna - Lamb or beef casserole
Netix - continental pasta mix, pasta sauces, simmer sauces
Tali - Devilled Sausages, Taco Mix, creamy country chicken, chicken cacciatore, chicken tonight, rogan josh, butter chicken, korma, hollandaise sauce
Sangie - Black Bean Sauce
Sasha28 - what do I do with wholemeal s/r flour and wheatgerm
Sloane - Pepper Sauce for Steak


Recipes posted so far:-

Salad Dressings
Mayonnaise - Lucy
Basic Salad dressings, honey and mustard dressing, creamy french dressing, citrus salad dressing, mayonnaise - Bear

White Sauces
Bechamel, Basic Cheese Sauce, 4 cheese sauce - Bear

Indian Curries
Cheap Chicken Curry - Tish


Mexican
Refried Beans - Mexican Mince - Christy

Quick Pasta Sauces
Spaghetti Carbonara - Bear
Pasta Bake - Christy
Pasta Bake - ll80

Sauces for Meat
Gravy...
by Dachlostar
by Bear
by Briggsy's Girl


Slow Cooking Sauces
Basic Tomato - Neopolitana - Christy
Basic Tomato Sauce - Hoobley
Bolognese Sauce - ll80

Stews
Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Stew

Side Dishes
Raita - Hoobley
Scalloped Potatoes

[christy]

Great fantastic idea Bear! I know you will be of great use to us here

I don't use packets, but I do get lazy with somethings like refried beans... I know how to make them & I have them frozen in the freezer, but every once in a while its easier to open a can.

[Janie]

I don't use packets either, but I love the idea of this thread to broaden my horizons I do see some jars and think 'I wish I could make that from scratch'. Looking forward to more of your of recipes Bear!

[christy]

How about salad dressings? I would like to have a honey mustard dressing to make from scratch. I always buy Paul Newmans because I can't be bothered making it.

I love a good vinagrette, but I get tired of the same ol same ol... balsamic vinegar and olive oil...

[Sair]

OOOOooooo great thread!!!

Stagg Chilli in cans I think they are somewhere btween $2.50-$3.50 for a 425g can

I like it as an alternative to spaghetti sauce and I use it because it only takes a few minutes to heat up...

[briggsy's girl]

i'm at the other end of the spectrum in that we are starting to grow our own vegies, and struggling to come up with reasonably simple recipes to make the ultimate use of them!

would love to get a good recipe for tomato sauce (as in pie and sauce) that isn't time and labour intensive (i love my slow cooker hint hint!!). also a tomato base for spag bol and stuff. we add a tonne of fresh veg to everything, so i just need a base sauce...

ummmm, what else? hehehe

at the moment we don't have any veg in, but given another couple of weeks we'll replant. last year we grew:

capsicum
chilli
tomato
corn
pumpkin
zucchini
cucumber
lettuce
peas
beans
leek


a lot of our cooking is done in moisture rich dishes (casseroles etc) as DH lives in a truck and has a small cooker that he can reheat food in a small tray only...

[Laranna]

I use the packet recipe mix to make lamb or beef casserole....would be great to actually know what herbs and spices to use from scratch to make it tasty

[christy]

Tomato bases for spag bol, basic neopolatana sauce:

6-8 tomatoes peeled
1 onion chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 cloves garlic
1 celery stick
2 carrots
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 handfuls of fresh herbs, italian parsley, basil, oregano.... I prefer a mix but I do take whatever is on hand in my garden
1/2 cup red wine (optional)

Chop onion and saute in olive oil until the onion goes clear turn heat down as low as you can go. Pop tomatoes in and pour 1/4 cup of water into pan. Cover and let sit. Meanwhile you can chop your carrots and celery or you could grate it finely if you like. Add to the pot with the garlic, red wine, salt and pepper. I squash the tomatoes as they soften and cover. Cook for 20-30 minutes or you could put the whole thing in the s/c and let it go for 4 hours or so on low. Add the tomato paste after a while. If its too dry a sauce, I add a tin of tomatoes in.... but generally I don't.

When you are nearing the end, add the fresh herbs for the last 10-15 minutes. If you like, you can blend the mix to make it less chunky, but it looses some colour sometimes.

[Netix]

Hi, my name is Netix, and I use packets and jars.

But I wish I didn't! I never cared much of what I ate before the lady bug came along (in fact we often had take away easily 5 or 6 nights a week, or would cook packet stuff, mainly the continental pasta mix things. We have oodles of jars of pasta sauce in our pantry, as well as quite a supply of other 'simmer sauce' type jars. But, since she has arrived, I would desperately like to get away from packets and jars and make my own things from scratch.

There is no reason why I couldn't. Storage isn't an issue, we have a big pantry, and three fridge/freezers to be utilized. (Why three, I'll never know!)

[Netix]

Bear, this thread is really going! In our pantry, the sauces are pasta sauces (you know, the dolmio/raguletto type ones, a couple of indian simmer sauces ("indian tonight"?), chicken tonight, pasta bake. Hopefully as we whittle away at the stocks, I can replace the pasta sauces with something like Hoobley's sauce.

There's packets of the continental pasta mixes (which we always add heaps of veg to and have with steak or something, but I still think they are too salty for anyone, so am trying to wean the family off them), and tins of the heinze chunky soup type things, which the Man likes if he is feeling lazy, but hopefully I can just give him some frozen (homemade) alternatives for the majority of the occasions he eats them. Oops, and 2 min noodle things. (but I have thought of making my own, as the bought ones have too much goodness knows what in them!)

I don't buy salad dressings, mainly because I'm the only one in the house that eats any salad, and when I do, I just throw in a bit of minced chilli (ha, there's something else I should make!), lemon juice, herbs, mustard?, maybe bit of salt and pepper. THe olive oil we have has a weird smell that I don;t really like, so I don't normally add much of that. Sometimes a bit of mayo. Yep, buy that, cause I don't use much of it. How well does homemade mayo keep (in the fridge)?

If we have suitable recipes (ie, with little or no processed ingredients) that match up to whats in the requests, or for anything else, would you like us to post them?

To those that make them, are the costs for making your own pizza / bread / icecreams / yoghurts / etc basically the same or cheaper than buying? And for those that make their own yoghurt, do you make it from a spoon of yoghurt, or use the 'easy-yo' type stuff?

Hoobley, can your pasta sauce be put into (sterilised)jars and stored in the cupboard? I would love to try and make this!

Briggsys, how big is your vege patch? I have a little room (if the dogs will let me have it), but not sure on the time aspect. I can't get anything done with this lady bug as it is. At this moment, she is sitting on my lap as I try to type being a right pain. I'm in the process of cooking a cauli curry type thing, so if it turns out, I will post the recipe. Gordon Ramsay has a good broccoli soup recipe (super simple, with like 3 ingredients - broccoli, water & ? salt?

Bear, I'm sorry, but how big is the pot you put 30kg of beef bones in?!?!?!?!!? And where do you cook it? Have you got one of those great Italian Nona stoves or hugemungus pots outside? By the way, I think I speak for everyone here when i say, WE LOVE YOU!

Dach, love those powder recipes, will be making those when I can! Ha, and the cauli curry I'm making has panch phoran!

Gosh this thread makes me so wish that I had the time (no bug underfoot- she's not just underfoot, she really is in the way in if I try to do ANYTHING, even go to the loo!), and the sustained motivation.

[briggsy's girl]

netix - we currently have three vegie patches that are 2.4x2.4m, with plans to add another two the same dimension, and one that is about 2m wide and runs the full length of those five. we essentially have a house block that we're turning into our "practical garden" (with a pretty garden border!). our intention is, over the next couple of years, to set up a rotation schedule that makes the best use of these gardens. it's important not to plant some vegies in the same place you had them the previous season...

Bear, given your penchant for making bulk amounts of food, and the suggestions about making sauces and stuff in advance, would you suggest it's better to get a sterile jar system happening, or to freeze sauces etc. obviously we'll be making bulk amounts of tomato sauce base, but i'm also someone that doens't like reheated meat in the micro (in the oven as a different food is ok - ie spag bol as pasta bake, i just don't like micro reheats for some reason), so i'd prefer to have sauces for everything on hand and then cook the meat fresh... defrosting sauces doesn't bother me so much, but sometimes i like the convenience of jars!

ooh, and to what's in the cupboard at the moment - chicken tonight pineapple sweet and sour stir fry sauce, and chicken tonight curried vegies stir fry sauce. they're not used often as they set off my IBS, but i like the curried sauce... also curried sausages in a tomato based sauce (there is a packet one that uses cooked sausages - can't deal with boiled snags at all even if they're cooked into a dish - they have to be cooked first so i can get rid of any fat ewwwwwww)

[Netix]

Briggsys, I have jsut posted a reply in LMS's gardening thread (its the first one) about my lack of space and a possible problem with setting up a vege patch.

I would rather jar things (where possible) than have everything frozen, as I couldn't bear it if the power went off for any length of time, especially in summer, and I had to throw out a heap of stuff!

[briggsy's girl]

i think jars are more convenient too - but i don't want to jar things and find out they're not going to keep so well!

any recommendations for what i need to get to be able to keep everything in jars? i want to be able to make the most of what we're growing, and i think jars would be ideal, so any suggestions are welcome (like, if there's x brand conserving "system" anyone uses or can recommend...)

[Kazbah]

My fave "jar" meal is ... enchiladas.

I can make a salsa, but what about the simmer sauce for the chicken ?

[Astrid]

Sterilise the jars and lids first, then put the jars in the oven and heat until over 100 degrees.

I have a plastic funnel with the bottom cut off that fits nicely into the mouth of most jars, so I take the tray of hot jars out of the oven and fill them immediately with scalding preserve, then seal them immediately.

Most things benefit from being stored in the fridge once they have been opened, but if you get a good sterile seal then many things are fine in the back of the cupboard.

You can use any jar, the real difference is the quality of the seal that you get - most jar lids will only seal 2-3 times before they need to be replaced - that's why I use preserving jars for things that will be frequently opened.

Have come across a supplier of jar lids that fit onto most jars (Dolmio, IXL, Continental etc). There are different sizes depending on the opening of the jar. So you can reuse the jars many times, just buy new lids. Seems to be about $10 for 25 lids, or $18 for 50 depending on the size.

[Netix]

Tch, tch, tch to me.

Yesterday I was naughty. I made potato salad with dressing from a jar. I didn't really like it all that much.

My excuse is that it was my birthday (well, on Saturday), and we were having a bbq with Dad and his wife, and I didn't have time to make it from scratch. I stayed at my Mum's on Saturday night, and went shopping for the bbq on my way home! Again, .

Does anyone have a nice potato salad recipe? I had never made it before at all, and probably didn't even use the right spuds (don't think they were waxy enough). I have a nice mayo recipe, but what else do you put with it?

I am trying really hard to get away from packaged things. I have even bought pickles (but I'm eating those already!) and capers to make tartare sauce when we next have home made fish and chips. Now I just need to make my own mayo, and get my own fresh herbs (which I will have to tell the Man I would like, he hasn't been able to get me anything for my birthday yet!).

[Sair]

I gave Noah a Heinz Graduate meal that I brought back from Canada and he loved it! It was pasta and peas with chicken in a creamy chicken sauce base. How can I re-create this chicken base. It tasted like cream of chicken and I often use cream of chicken soup cans undiluted to make chicken pot pies so a homemade version would be very nice.

[Rouge]

I make mine by caramalising some veg (celery, carrot, onion, garlic) then removing from the pan. Add your cubed chicken breast and cook off in the pan flavours add the veg back to the pan and add some white wine, cook off then add the white sauce (a typical roux), I have made this with cream for something extra decadent but its not so good for the waist line You can add fresh herbs like tarragon (If I don't have this I use dried mixed herbs) then towards the end add some fresh (or frozen) baby peas. Then you can make it into a pie or serve with rice and salad. You can experiment with flavours, I've added bacon, mushroom and truffle oil before.