food, reviews and of course coffee
One of the last times Lidl had a French week they didn’t have Pommes Rissolées in their offer.
This time they did, so I picked up a couple of bags for the freezer. Makes it quicker and easier to cook pommes rissolées without having to peel and dice potatoes.
Though I have bought the Lidl Fritto Misto from their Italy week quite a few times, the reality is that it’s okay, but not good. It’s mainly squid, in a crispy batter.
It can be quite challenging to cook, as some of the pieces are stuck together, making them quite large chunks and these are difficult to cook as they are large. If you try and break them apart then the batter breaks which means the pieces also don’t cook properly.
Having said that, I quite like the taste and texture.
Wanting to have something nice to go with some fish I was cooking I decided to cook some risotto.
One of the key ingredients for this is the rice. I like Gallo as the rice cooks well and the resulting dish is creamy and soft, but with defined grains of rice.
For this recipe I used:
Dice the onion and peppers.
Cut the chestnut mushrooms and the woodland mushrooms into chunks. I used the mushrooms from Morrisons, but you can get similar mushrooms from Sainsburys and Asda.
Rehydrate the porcini mushrooms by placing in container and covering in boiling water, and set aside to hydrate. I used some from Lidl.
In a large hot frying pan add the olive oil and the butter. When the butter has melted and is sizzling, add the garlic, diced onion and peppers.
When these are softened add the chestnut and woodland mushrooms.
The add the Gallo Traditional Risotto Rice and stir into the mushroom, onion and pepper mixture, until the rice is coated and well stirred in the pan.
Add the Knorr Chicken Stock Pot and water to cover the rice. Stir well.
As the water and stock is absorbed, add more water and continue to stir.
Cook the rice for 16-18 minutes until the rice is soft tender and creamy, but the grains are still firm.
Stir in the chopped rehydrated porcini mushrooms as well as the parmesan cheese and finely chopped parsley.
Season if required.
Serve.
I do quite enjoy the way that Lidl does themed flavour weeks, and I often visit just to see what they have and get a few things.
This week is French week.
I enjoyed the Rosette Air-Dried Salami, so much so, that I went back a day later to get some more, but my local branch had sold out. It was tasty salami.
The Laiterie de la Montagne Tomme de Montagne was a delicious cheese. Soft and mild flavoured, I really liked it.
I also got some Pommes Noisettes from the freezer, these are tastier than the potato pots we get from Tesco. The last time Lidl did a French week, they did some Pommes Rissolées, however this time these were absent from the promotion.
I got a few other things as well and we have had some nice meals with the different things I bought.
Having thought for many years that risotto was a complex dish to cook I now find it one of my go to recipes when we want something tastier than plain rice to go with a meal. Sometimes we just have the risotto.
One of the key ingredients for this is the rice.
For this recipe I used:
Dice the onion, pepper and butternut squash.
Cut the chestnut mushrooms into chunks.
Rehydrate the porcini mushrooms by placing in container and covering in boiling water, and set aside to hydrate. I used some from Lidl.
In a large hot frying pan add the olive oil and the butter. When the butter has melted and is sizzling, add the garlic, diced onion, pepper and butternut squash.
When these are softened add the chestnut mushrooms.
The add the Gallo Traditional Risotto Rice and stir into the mushroom, onion and pepper mixture, until the rice is coated and well stirred in the pan.
Add the Knorr Chicken Stock Pot and water to cover the rice. Stir well.
As the water and stock is absorbed, add more water and continue to stir.
Cook the rice for 16-18 minutes until the rice is soft tender and creamy, but the grains are still firm.
Stir in the chopped rehydrated porcini mushrooms as well as the parmesan cheese and finely chopped parsley.
Season if required.
Serve.
As part of their Flavours of Italy week Lidl were selling a small 99p tub of Coffee Ice Cream. In previous Italy weeks we have bought these tubs, so kind of knew what to expect.
They are not huge tubs, but what you get is a tasty creamy coffee ice cream, with a little chocolate in there as well.
We also like the amaretto tub and the lemon sorbet one is nice too.
I do quite like the country special weeks that Lidl have. I find it gives you a chance to try new things and be inspired to cook a different kind of meal.
At the recent Spanish week, I picked up some frozen Sol Mar Cod Croquettes.
These are cod and potato croquettes (or fishcakes).
You cook them by deep frying them, though I have shallow fried them with excellent results.
You get a lovely crisp outer layer and then soft tasty fluffy inside.
I really quite enjoyed them.