I know I'm supposed to be using up the freezer stock to make space for Mr Kate's mystery purchase arriving soon, but I was in a different part of town tonight on the way home from the parentals so broadened my horizons with a trip to Waitrose and ASDA - conveniently next door to each other in Kingsthorpe, Northampton. And we did need some fresh veg in so Mr Kate can't grumble too much! And grumble he certainly can't when this little lot should cost £25.19 and I got it all for £5.42! 80% savings!
The boys in ASDA were making the final reductions as I arrived (just before 8pm fact fans!) and I got packs of rhubarb down from £1.80 to 27p, mint 65p to 10p, Covent Garden soup down from £1.97 to 42p, two half swedes for 7p each and samphire down from £1.32 to 21p. I've never cooked samphire before so that will be a new experience!
Waitrose also came up trumps with corn on the cob down from £2.29 to 55p, a cute little round courgette down from 79p to 22p, Muller rice 60p to 19p, romaine lettuce £1.50 to 25p, blinis down from £2.19 to 79p, and packs of crackers down from £1.09 to 19p - they'll keep for another month or two yet!
All the fruit and veg I got was perfectly fresh and some will still be fine in a good week or so's time. Blinis and soup in the freezer for another time - sorry Mr Kate but they were good bargains!
Now to plan what to do with that samphire! Anyone got any suggestions?!
Here's a Hugh fearnley whittingstall recipe that's simple and delicious!
ReplyDeleteSamphire with lemon, butter and olive oil
One of the simplest ways to serve samphire, and one of the best. Its delicate saltiness makes it a perfect partner to fish - I particularly like it with some crisp-skinned, barbecued mackerel.
100-200g marsh samphire a head
Sea salt and ground black pepper
1 small knob butter
Extra-virgin olive oil
Lemon wedges
Start by carefully picking over your samphire, removing all the root and any tough stems. Now wash and rinse it thoroughly, to get rid of any grit and sand, and break up larger, multi-branched pieces into their smaller pieces. If you bought (or picked) whole, uprooted plants, you can expect to lose between a quarter and a third of it in the cleaning and trimming.
Bring to the boil a large pan of fresh, salted water, drop in the samphire and cook for three to four minutes. Drain, season with pepper, toss with the butter and a little olive oil, and serve at once, with lemon wedges, alongside a good piece of grilled fish.
Brilliant! Thanks Abby - I may well do that!
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