Store cupboard creations

Thanks to my habit of over-buying ingredients, I sometimes find myself having to throw out food which has passed its sell-by date. This offends my sense of thriftiness, so now and again I get creative with whatever needs to be used up, usually just in time.

Here are some of my latest ideas.

Kasha paprika lentils

I love the rich taste of smoked paprika and how warming it feels, especially now the weather is so cold in the evenings.

Toasted buckwheat grits – boiled separately
Brown continental lentils – boiled separately
5 sticks of Celery
1 clove of Garlic
One red chilli
Vegetable oil
Two teaspoons fennel seeds
Hearty pinch cumin seeds
Stock cube
Teaspoon smoked paprika

Soften the celery, garlic and chilli in the oil; add the fennel and cumin seeds and finally the paprika.

When the lentils and buckwheat grits are cooked mix them together in a ratio of 60:40, buckwheat: lentils

Stir in everything else and bake in the oven for a while to make sure it has all mingled in flavour.


Brown lentil rissoles

I never know the difference between a rissole and a croquette, and have plumped for calling these rissoles.

I’d cooked far too many lentils for the above dish, so with the leftover lentils, I added enough fresh brown breadcrumbs to stiffen the mixture then stirred in a tablespoonful of tahinni. The flavouring came from a crumbled stock cube and a small clove of garlic.

I shaped the lentil mix into little sausage shapes and rolled these in sunflower seeds before roasting them in the oven in a mix of sesame and sunflower oils until they browned.


Datey malty loaf

Following my rule about only putting the oven on if cooking more than one item, I decided to try a variation of malt loaf.

As ever, the quantities are guestimates!

8oz plain flour
1 Tsp bicarb
1 Tsp baking powder
6oz chopped dates
2oz sultanas
Two generous tbs malt
One dessertspoon black treacle
1oz brown sugar
Milk for mixing

Warm the milk, malt and treacle to melt it all together. Mix the dry ingredients, then combine both mixtures. Bake in a moderate oven. This cake does best if left until the next day, however, my daughter was hovering and had a couple of slices before making of with most of it to take home with her. She agreed with me that this cake is gooey enough that wearers of dentures might find them stuck in it!