Very soon we're making a series with Lesley Waters on odd ingredients in your store cupboard. Products that have sat there for such a long time because you only needed them for that special recipe!

We'd like to here from you, the Good Food Live viewers, so get digging in that cupboard and let us know what obscure things you find ... and Lesley will come up with some alternatives to put that ingredient to good use!

I have quiet a colleection,

saffron, red wine vinegar, noodles, american pancake mixture, coconut milk, green thai curry paste, cinnamon bark and some other wierd and wonderful spices, thai jasmine rice and canadian maple syrup.
what a collection of odds and ends!! I alsways have stuff left over from recipes and dont what else to do with it.

I have quite a collection,

saffron, red wine vinegar, noodles, american pancake mixture, coconut milk, green thai curry paste, cinnamon bark and some other wierd and wonderful spices, thai jasmine rice and canadian maple syrup.
what a collection of odds and ends!! I always have stuff left over from recipes and dont what else to do with it.

"New Orleans Raspberry Flavour Fench wine Vinegar!" Bought it for one recipe & not used it since!!??

Also got, whole nutmeg but don't make that many puddings!

I have a whole jar of Mojo Suave Picon (Canarian Sauce) which seemed like a good purchase whilst in Tenerife. Since my return I haven't got a clue what to do with it or even how to use it! I also have a jar of spice to add to bloody mary which I again bought whilst on holiday but have not used since my return. I have a large amount of safron also which seemed very cheap when abroad - but when I got home I was suspicious as to why it was so cheap so have not used it. P.S. Love the web-site and the programmes.

Craig - good to hear about the proposed new series with Lesley W. (I do like her.) My store cupboard is fairly well stuffed with things I only use once or twice, mostly spices/vinegars..problem is most don't keep very long & I never seem to have all the other ingredients that might be used with these items. Have cardamom pods, celery salt, sherry vinegar, balsalmic vinegar, Angostura bitters, Rice flour, almonds, hazelnuts, pine nuts. Also got loads of lemon balm, mint, sage, marjoram in the garden & a tree laden with pears (but they are not very edible).

p.s.
I've also got some paprika from Spain in cute little tins, dulce & picante (which I assume means sweet, smokey) ?

I think picante means 'spicy/hot'on these tins of paprika. I know the tins you mean, I brought some back too and have used it once!!!

Well after a productive trip to an Asian/Chinese superstore, I have a couple ingredients that I don't know what to do with. One is a speciality of pantang guangzhou, pure water chestnut flour and the other is thick sweet soy.

I use alcahol in cooking alot so I thought I'd add a liqueur that I picked up on my travels. Chartreuse. Its the green one and is 55 percent vol. I use many unusual liqueurs in mousses and creme brulees. But this one really doesn't work. It's very strong and made by the French Monks from where it gets its name.

A real challenge!

You will find it works in a souffle MammaChef and on the savoury side a tomatoe and cream sauce will work with steak recipes.

Er, Rosemary Oil. Which doesn't sound that odd; but it's not an Olive oil or a veg oil - it's just a clear oil. Anyway, it gets slapped on Lamb or potatoes ever so often.

Oh, and Red Hot Chilli Sauche from Grenada in the West Indies. So hot, I don't know what to do with it.

Bit like Dave's Insanity Sauce that my other half bought 'cos it matched his name... one drop can ruin a big pan of chilli!

Hi blondie,

Thank you for your kind advice but which of my 3 ingredients do you mean. I can imagine the sweet thick soy would be nice in a savoury soufle and with tomatoes, but possibly you mean the Chartreuse. Or do you mean make a soufle with the water chestnut flour instead of ordinary flour?

Hello MammaChef,how are you?.we have not spoken in a while. Rushing the posts as usual and didnot see soy or flour.I was talking about the chatreuse.

Fine thanks Blondie,

I have mixed my Chartreuse with cream to make a chantilly after seeing it done on a very old masterchef episode. But it was just as awful as the liqueur itself. There are two types of Chartreuse though, as I said, mines the green one. I have no idea if the other one is nicer.

Hope you are well too.

I'm not surprized MammaChef. ugh. As it's herbal,That's if it is the same one I am thinkiing about,A chocolate souffle. You put it in after the egg yolks and before the whipped egg whites.This is the green Chartreuse one. The other is sweeter and more syrupy.

I have a tin of Halva in my cupboard that I bought a while back and can't seem to get around to doing anything with it, so would love some ideas.

Thanks blondie,

It sounds like we are talking about the same one. I hate chocolate but my family like it. So I might just give it a go.

In the meantime, what does the lovely Lesley Walters suggest.

I have an almost full bottle of campari that I bought on my back from italy without having tried it before but have discovered i really don't like the flavour - I have looked for recipies before but most seem to involve oranges but unfortunately I am allergic to them so is there any other way of making Campari taste nice.

Also any recipes for cornmeal as i have a couple of bags hanging about.

I have seen a recipe for adult jellies, replacing some water with the campari, presumably orange and campari complement each other! Are you allergic to orange in jelly too? Maybe lemon jelly might work or is citrus a problem for you?

I have some anchovy essence I bought for a potted beef recipe - what other things can I do with it?

Hi Jaybee, if you type anchovy essence and search in recipes there are 8 recipes there that might spark other ideas.

MammaChef, have you seen the Chartreuse website? it has lots of cocktails and recipes on it including suffle, chocolate mousse and a savoury one with tomatoes.

[link]

No I had no idea there was a website for Chartreuse Rustie, my goodness, there seems to be one for just about everything. I will most definately look there, thank you very much indeed. The bottle has been gathering dust for quite long enough!!

Sounds like some of the stuff on the website is the same a blondie suggested too, so I will have all the recipes there for me. I quite fancy the savoury one with tomatoes.

I will go take a look.