O woe is me - I've just eaten the best meatballs ever...

[Steve Maskery]

And to pile woe on woe, I decided to cook the remainder of the sauce for another couple of hours (over a candle for a week, as it were), this morning, got distracted, forgot to turn the heat down and an hour later... Ruined. So I've got another batch on the go right now, I want to recreate that as best I can.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Regarding chest freezers: we use the Lidl shopping bags (the strong ones you have to pay lots for) to keep things separate. We tried crates, but they take up too much room even when almost empty, whereas the bags keep things nicely organised, so you don't have to label every pork chop individually - just stick a piece of paper with the details in the bag - staple it on if you are feeling thorough. It works for us, anyway. There is always the bag of random unidentifiable lost items...also known as dog food.

The bags also make it easy to swap between freezers when you are having a clearout, or making room for another pig, or whatever.

 

[Andrewf]

I didn't realise that there were specific recipes for meatballs. My meatballs are made from all the odd bits that get left in the freezer or fridge. One chicken breast, couple of sausages etc.
Last ones had a pork chop, breast of pheasent some partridge legs and couple of rashers of bacon left over from making bacon sandwiches. Chopped up with some garlic, onions and herbs. Can never repeat but a good tomato sauce makes them taste excellent.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

When my daughter was young she loved Samsung stew - a clear out of the fridge and freezer, a Samsung. It took her until she could read to realise.

 

[Geoff_S]

We had a freezer pack up on us not so long ago. We discovered this when on opening it everything had defrosted. Including a whole fillet of beef! Being a bit worried about quickly cooking it rare as we would have done, we made a stew out of it, we couldn’t just throw it away.

Best stew I have ever tasted

Oh, and then there was also the sea bass ,salmon, monkfish and prawn bouillabaisse.

We ate well for a few days

 

[Suffolkboy]

Catfish??

You can't write that you have a freezer full of catfish without elaboration.

When I was on holiday in Maine last year, I had fish & chips in a diner. It was the best fried fish ever. The chips were ordinary, but that fish - mmmmm. It was catfish, so I tried to get some when I got home. My local fishmonger is Morrison's, and whilst it is the best around, it's not sensational. No catfish. I have seen it there, but not for a very long time.

The last time I was the big Asian supermarket in Nottingham, what did I find but Catfish, grown in Vietnam, sustainably. But it comes in a big pack of 5 and one fish provides 2 portions. It fills a drawer. So my mate Charlie says, "I have a spare freezer you can borrow". So it is now full, with catfish, home-made sausages and the like. Now he says, "Have you finished with my freezer?", as if it is only needed for a week or two.

So I'm trying to eat my way through it all, but it is slow going.

Really interesting.

Do you know whether the catfish you bought off the market is the same species as you had in the states?

Does it taste the same?

 

[Steve Maskery]

Well I don't know how many kinds of catfish there are, but the American catfish was superb and so is the Hyson Green catfish. I think catfish will be on the menu tomorrow night.
Come to think of it, it might have to wait until Saturday, as a have a piece of fresh tuna (for which read "expensive") that needs treating with respect tomorrow.