Friday, April 13

It's that Friday Feeling

The Dairy Book of Family Cookery is in plentiful supply on ebay – I had a look this morning.
I think it’s a wonderful credit to the writers of the book that it has inspired and delighted so many children who grew up with those ‘vibrant’ photos, and who have gone on to have a real love and interest in cooking.
The veggie box has just arrived.

This week’s challenge is fennel.

In anticipation of it not going down well with Nigel I have found 2 recipes and I will not mention what it is unless he asks.
Actually my main problem I’m having with my veggie box is eating everything before things spoil. The wonderful broccoli went off and I never seem to be able to get through my salad leaves before they pass the point of no return.
I am planning to cook and freeze some things, so on lazy days or when I’m feeling under par I can pop out a lovely homemade, organic ‘ready’ meal of my own.
Off to Waitrose in a minute – that store makes supermarket shopping a real pleasure. If any of you have one in your locality and don’t use it try it occasionally – it’s sort of like stepping back in time and entering a food arena for thinkers – they haven’t (as yet) enlisted celebrities to endorse what I refer to as lazy cooking – it’s just very simple - that’s simple in a good way;-)

11 comments:

  1. Hallo,
    Ich wünsche Ihnen viel spaß mit Ihre Garten.
    Grüße aus Stuttgart/Germany
    Sonja

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  2. Hallo Sonja
    Danke für stoppen vorbei und Besuchs Gigibird

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  3. Anonymous4:07 PM

    The neighbours share Nigel's feelings on Fennel....bbluurrrr!

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  4. hmmm...i like fennel...i've only tried it raw though...v good in coleslaw which i make with red cabbage, celery + carrots mixed with pizza express dressing + covered in toasted pine nuts, pumpkin, sesame + sunflower seeds...so easy + yummy : )

    what a shame you can't get through everything. that's why i stopped doing big food shops...i pretty much buy our food day to day from the local shop. waitrose is a treat in the nearest town + i'm due a visit soon for my free magazine if nothing else! i always come away with a load of delights. i like how they have a selection of local produce too.

    are you bidding on a dairy cook book on ebay? hope you get one. mine is the 1968 version which my mum had too...i was always fascinated by the brandy snaps on the front cover + hot drinks section inside...begging to be allowed to make a flip or a nog!! xxx

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  5. Interestingly I was in a Waitrose yesterday - they have only come lately to Scotland and we were in Edinburgh and in need of some shopping.
    The Waitrose there is in a very foodie area with specialist cheese shops and lots of different types of Deli. It is also an area where it is impossible to park . . . unless you are going to Waitrose which has a car park on the roof.
    I actually came away thinking that it was the worst kind of supermarket - lovely to shop in yes, but deliberately going head to head in competition with the specialist shops across the road. I hope that the shoppers will stock up on staples in Waitrose and then pop across to buy their cheese in the cheese shop, their salami in the French deli and their mussels in the fish shop and so on, but I suspect they won't.
    We didn't and I felt bad about it all the way home.
    Nigel Slater has a good fennel recipe and his endive and bacon and parmesan recipe works well with fennel and would disguise it well.
    Raw it is meant to be an appetite suppressent.
    J
    x

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  6. I love fennel - raw in salads - yummy. My rabbit loves it too!
    Waitrose is a real treat - i shop locally in our farm shops as much as i can, which is a lot here - we are very lucky, so a visit to Waitrose is rare but wonderful x
    Have a lovely weekend.
    Tracy x

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  7. in an ideal world I would like to shop everyday and locally, but of course that's subject to having local shops that sell nice things.
    The Waitrose in Chichester is an oasis for me as there are no specialist shops around here. I would love to be able to support small specialist shops but they seem to only be in affluent areas.

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  8. I did braise fennel & eat it with a lamb chop the other day, but it is a very strong taste & very like aniseed. You either like it or hate it. I must try it raw... sometimes I prefer things that way.

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  9. That book sounds like a must - we have quite a collection of books at home from both grandmothers, and I think the cookbook you've mentioned eluded us all. Thank you for the ebay tip. We've never done anything with fennel before. Perhaps I should try.

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  10. Anonymous4:59 PM

    Without wanting to sound too much like a school mistress, you are going to have to prioritise the contents of your veg box.

    This means that you can't always eat the meal you have planned on the day you want to, because as you say some things keep longer than others and other items just look like they are not as fresh as they could be.

    I am sure though that this will bring out even more inventiveness on your part and is an aspect of having an organic box which which prevents routine creeping into the kitchen, something which I am in constant battle with! The down side is that if can't or don't want to cook that vegetable you'll end up with waste - still nothing is wasted in the compost eh?

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  11. The only time I've ever used fennel is when cooking a ham. I use Nigellas recipe that was on her christmas tv series and hubby loves it. Which reminds me, I've got a gammon joint in the freezer that I was planning on cooking soon, must remember to buy a bulb of fennel this week!

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