Aubergine & Eggplant

New Year Pantry Project

I have three cans of chickpeas in my cupboard. I don't even like them that much. What happens is I plan to make falafels from scratch but then baulk at the last minute... I've done this three times, forgetting each time that I already have a can (or two) of chickpeas in the cupboard. I mean, why would I? I don't even like chickpeas.

Multiply this by many, many recipes I've not gotten around to making, or random impulse purchases (Christopher likes water chestnuts doesn't he? I'm sure I'll think of something...), and my cupboards are full to bursting with unrelated things I have no idea what to do with.

I'm not one for resolutions, so I'm couching this in the language of a new project instead - I'm going to try and use one of those dusty cans or jars at least twice a week. Crucially, also, I'm not going to buy anymore jars or tins. (I think I'll exempt canned tomatoes and lentils from this or I would go crazy).

There are jars of artichokes, the aforementioned chickpeas, butter beans, capers, pitted olives, half a bag of ground almonds... it goes on and on. It's not that I don't know what to do with these things - I do. It's just having the discipline to do those recipes instead of whatever interesting thing I've just read about on someone's blog today. 

Ocado iPhone app

I've long been dependent on Ocado for harder to find, and heavier, ingredients delivered to my door by friendly drivers who talk to my dog nicely and hardly ever have substitutions. Until recently, no flat of mine has been near a grocery store larger than a train station Sainsbury's. Makes it challenging to find anything out of the ordinary, like, say brown sugar or more than one kind of lettuce.

So when I was browsing through the iPhone App Store this morning and discovered the Ocado app, new yesterday it seems, and not officially released until 13 July, I was maybe a bit too excited. 

Brilliantly, you can do your shopping from your iPhone, check and amend an order you've already placed, or just keep a running list on it and book a delivery slot when you're ready. When you open the app, it shows you the earliest delivery appointment available right away. I was able to check an order I had already placed when I was out in one of those 'did I order lemons or not?' moments. The interface is clean and easy to use too.

The only downside I can see initially is if you've never used Ocado before and aren't sure they deliver to

your area - there's no way to find out without downloading the app and creating an account etc. 

If you've used them before, however, it's well worth a try.

The joys of frozen lemongrass

 

I love making a good thai curry, but I find having the necessary ingredients around for a truly good one a bit of pain. I can never just rustle one up without a trip to fairly large local shop. I mean, why bother if you're not going to dump in some lime leaves and lemongrass right?

I've inherited my mother's healthy fear/irritation/unwillingness to pay for pre-packaged and cut up ingredients. However, I am now officially in love with these frozen chopped up lime leaves and lemongrass. There's also chopped up garlic and shallots in the same line, and I've got them all in my freezer. For £1.20 or so it's really worth it, considering I never get through fresh lemongrass before it goes soggy in my fridge and I've paid at least that.

Fresh

Historically speaking, I have always hated peas. In company I will swallow whatever ends up on my fork, but in private I have no trouble dedicating whatever time it takes to pry little green pellets out of a frozen dinner before I put it in the microwave.

So snow peas [mange-tout] were an abject lesson in "never say never"  for me, and the first sugar snap pea was an even more embarrassing crow-eating event.They are both divine. Who knew?

When snow peas were suddenly available only in little plastic envelopes shipped all the way from China, I stopped buying them. Sad. And incomprehensible. Snow peas are so easy to grow, why don't we have local ones?

In protest I planted my own this summer, both snow peas and sugar snaps. And on the why-stop-there principle, I also planted spinach (yum, green teeth), scarlet runner beans, carrots, tomatoes and zucchini. My luck ran out after the beans, but never mind.

With very little effort of my own, I had vegetables. Sweet, tender, spinach – enough to share with friends. Beans big enough to hold up a tent. And oh my gawd the peas. On my knees, religious experience, this is what we're supposed to be eating, peas. Humbling, move me to say thank you to the pea vines, peas.There is only one word I can think of to describe how they actually tasted– fresh.

I'd take a picture, but I've eaten them all.