Confession time

… how much food do you waste?

Whether you do your shopping by trolley in a supermarket or on line and delivered how many times have you succumbed and been sucked into deals that on the face of it sound great without actually thinking through whether you're going to eat the food?

We all fall for it, even if you plan your meals ahead in an attempt to limit waste and not throw money into your recycling bin.

How often have you found, lurking in the depths of your crisper drawer, wizened carrots?

Shamefully, in my case, I recently bought a 300g punnet of mini portabella mushrooms, they were a great deal. They are a particular favourite of mine so I was a pushover. A few busy days later I happened to check the date on said mushrooms and by now they were at least two, if not three days over their “best before date”.

Drat and double drat.

Here's my rescue recipe for the 300g punnet :

melt a glug of rapeseed oil together with

a generous knob of unsalted butter in a large

saucepan (or frying pan if you prefer)

add a tsp of garlic paste or even two if you're

a fan

ensure the mushrooms are clean and slice

them thickly

add the mushrooms to the oil and butter, season

with salt and black pepper

add a generous pinch of oregano (or

garlic Italian seasoning)

add a glug of either dry sherry or red wine

add a vegetable stock pot and let it melt into

your mushrooms

add a drop of water – 100ml

and cook the mushrooms on a medium heat for

2/3 minutes

Let the mushrooms cool and then transfer

to a pour and store bag for the freezer or an ordinary

container with lid if you prefer

freeze until required

Rescue mission complete, here's a few ideas for your frozen mushrooms when you're ready.

Use as :

a base for a soup

part of a pie filling (with chicken for example)

a Crostini topping – really handy if you have unexpected

visitors

a filling for a savoury pancake, adding a glug

or two of double cream

I've mentioned in a previous post that older mushrooms have more flavour and adding a drop of dry sherry or red wine enhances the flavour.

Phew – waste crisis averted!

P.s. Oh and by the way the rescue recipe is not meant to be swamped in liquid, it's meant to be an intense stock with mushrooms in it. When you're ready to use in whichever way you choose you'll add stock or cream to suit your recipe.