I have noticed the fruit and veg does seem to go off quickly which means you do end up throwing some away which is not good.

I'm off to Aldi when they open in 20mins to get the ingredients for Simon Hopkinson's coq au vin recipe from his Good Cook programme on Friday.
Made it loads of times before, but not his way.

Didn't it look good! Like you, I've never cooked it that way before but think I'll try next time.

Mine is next to a M&S food!

Until 3,5 years ago Aldi was located at a premium spot right in the centre of my hometown. Always puzzled me why they were at such an expensive spot. My guess is that they are willing to pay more to get a foot in the door and start building a customer base. Once that is done they start looking for less expensive spots.
They relocated to a new custom built building within walking distance of my home. I shop there once a week for all the essentials (Moser 80% chocolate!) and non-food. The rest I get a supermarket that is even closer to my home.

I went to an Aldi in Leeds that was just over the road from Waitrose.

Made it last night. Definitely the best coq au vin recipe I've ever tried.

Did you marinate the chicken overnight or just a few hours and did you do the fried bread dipped in parsley to finish it off?

You should have taken a photo of it and joined us on the photo thread.

Did the whole thing. Marinaded overnight. Burning off the alcohol definately gives a more mellow, rounded taste. The only bit I didn't like was discarding the veg that had been in the marinade as it seemed a waste, but it was all squidgy after soaking in the wine so long so not really usable again.

Would that be the one at Meanwood?

I went to the Meanwood one the other day for a nosey round. Yes I liked the range but I was led to believe the service was amazing in these places.
Staff hanging around gassing with each other and the checkout girl exhibited the same manners as you'd expect in your average crap hole. I wasn't impressed.

Anyway, not to drag the thread off topic - gherkins! I buy the massive jars of them from Lidl (Chapel Allerton branch for the locals on here). Dead cheap and frankly I don't know anyone else who sells them in such big jars.

And to repeat other posters - some frozen pizzas are good especially if you add to them; sliced meats and they sometimes have good offers on booze. Recently had Smirnoff vodka for a tenner.

Oh, I was hoping not to have to buy the brandy! Maybe I'll pick up a miniture. Normally I use a bit of white wine as well as red to make it a little less 'rich'.

Could the veg not have been used in a (indulgent) soup?