Not sure how alternative or austere this really is, but Lidl have frozen goose breast in stock, enough meat to feed four, and so rich that it really does fill you up. You'll not have much meat left over afterwards as it isn't a huge slab - is that a plus or a minus? I bought one for about £8, which is a fraction of what a turkey crown sets you back (am sure of that as I just bought a free-range one of those too from M&S as it was the best I have seen). Will cook both on the day, and with a bit of careful timing have the goose fat in which to make crispy roast spuds (saving £2.40 or so for a jar of that marvellous stuff). The goose breast must be lifted above the dish in which it roasts, to let the fat drip off and keep the meat out of it, otherwise you end up eating something like meaty lard (mmmmm, meaty lard - Homer).
Lidl is excellent for continental stuff like this - their chorizo is really good, and cheaper than other supermarkets, parmesan is actually the best packet version I've found and is cheap too, and they sometimes have pheasant at bargain prices. Pheasant always stewed or braised btw, I am yet to eat a roast pheasant that was worth the effort. I'm happy to shop in slightly less cheerful surroundings for such savings, though they could do with improving their veg, not often tempting enough.
As regards pheasant, I have childhood memories of my father occasionally being given a brace which he would hang in the garage. Once he went further than was sensible, the result (or one mouthful) being perhaps the vilest thing I ever ran to the toilet to spit out.
Sunday 18 December 2011
Tuesday 13 December 2011
Big Ham for Little Money
Christmas can be a time for foodie bargains. On Saturday I was feeding eight, and as it was a rare family get-together I wanted to do something better than sarnies for lunch. Our local supermarket Booth's had some 3kg hams for £12.99, so figuring we would have plenty and then some for weekday breakfast I bought one. Cooking time was 2 hours 45 minutes, firstly simmered gently in water (starting the watch when the water reached simmering point) with stock veg and other flavourings like bay and pepper, then for the last 45 minutes with skin off, fat scored into diamonds and glazed with a simple Golden Syrup, mustard and Worcestershire sauce mix in an oven at 200C. Served after the important rest for 20 minutes (meat and cook) in thick slices with onion sauce, glazed carrots and potato and parsnip mash it was a hit. So much so that we had just two half slices left afterwards.
The onion sauce is made with finely chopped onions sweated for 30 minutes, after which plain flour is stirred in and stock from the ham added until it feels right. Cook gently for at least 20 minutes so no floury flavour remains. I sometimes whizz it with the hand-blender, but at we had mash it wanted some texture, so didn't zap it this time. A filling family feast for about £2 per head. Not my primary consideration for once, but compare that with buying in the much advertised at this time of year 'party food' - £3 for a few nibbly bits, £5 for some tarty dessert.
The onion sauce is made with finely chopped onions sweated for 30 minutes, after which plain flour is stirred in and stock from the ham added until it feels right. Cook gently for at least 20 minutes so no floury flavour remains. I sometimes whizz it with the hand-blender, but at we had mash it wanted some texture, so didn't zap it this time. A filling family feast for about £2 per head. Not my primary consideration for once, but compare that with buying in the much advertised at this time of year 'party food' - £3 for a few nibbly bits, £5 for some tarty dessert.
Monday 5 December 2011
Upside to Austerity
In the 1970s Christmas kids' television was special not for the content, but the mere fact that for once we had daytime viewing. Terrible Randolph Scott westerns enjoyed because they were there. Maybe it will be the same with food during this period of austerity. If awareness of value reduces food wastage all the better.
Christmas for too many of us had over the last 20 or 30 years become a time of gross over-indulgence. Familiarity breeding contempt and all that, we valued the surfeit - big turkey or goose, huge ham, tins of chocolates and biscuits, massive Stiltons - less than one imagines a wartime cook valued a pound of sausages.
I have only had one brief flirtation with poverty I'm happy to say, a year as a grantless post-graduate student when I counted every previously earned penny, and parental subs, to get me through the course. That was when my lifelong love began for bacon offcuts and their endless possibilties, when potatoes were the core of many meals, and barely a crust was thrown away. What I learned then is still part of my culinary psyche.
It may be that with changes in global economic balance Britain and Europe never return to the carefree prosperity of the 90s. In which case perhaps we will learn to enjoy what we have all the more, sententious though it is to say so. I'm sure my parents enjoyed the fleeting pleasure of their seasonal indulgences - a bottle of sherry in the house and wine with Christmas dinner - far more than someone shifting more than that every day for a week or so of festivities. Is it too much to hope that governments learn to cope in similar fashion? That wastage on unfeasibly complex IT projects that inevitably fail will end? That they won't order aircraftless aircraft carriers? If they can learn - a huge if - we won't all be as badly off as we had feared.
Christmas for too many of us had over the last 20 or 30 years become a time of gross over-indulgence. Familiarity breeding contempt and all that, we valued the surfeit - big turkey or goose, huge ham, tins of chocolates and biscuits, massive Stiltons - less than one imagines a wartime cook valued a pound of sausages.
I have only had one brief flirtation with poverty I'm happy to say, a year as a grantless post-graduate student when I counted every previously earned penny, and parental subs, to get me through the course. That was when my lifelong love began for bacon offcuts and their endless possibilties, when potatoes were the core of many meals, and barely a crust was thrown away. What I learned then is still part of my culinary psyche.
It may be that with changes in global economic balance Britain and Europe never return to the carefree prosperity of the 90s. In which case perhaps we will learn to enjoy what we have all the more, sententious though it is to say so. I'm sure my parents enjoyed the fleeting pleasure of their seasonal indulgences - a bottle of sherry in the house and wine with Christmas dinner - far more than someone shifting more than that every day for a week or so of festivities. Is it too much to hope that governments learn to cope in similar fashion? That wastage on unfeasibly complex IT projects that inevitably fail will end? That they won't order aircraftless aircraft carriers? If they can learn - a huge if - we won't all be as badly off as we had feared.
Friday 2 December 2011
Love, Money and the Packed Lunch
Several years ago Alvin Hall on one of his life-and-money-coaching programmes highlighted the cost of lunches at work. I used to spend £3 or more a day on a sandwich and other bits (ok, a pie) from a shop near my office, and my wife did likewise, though her choice was more salady. Work that out over the year and we were spending about £1.5k annually on not great quality food - lovely though S+K pies are, I guess most use mechanically recovered meat - not pleasant; and shop salads tend to focus on the bulk of boring iceberg lettuce.
Since I changed career and don't have to rush off at 7:15 every day I have made a point of preparing a salad for my wife's lunch. It's a gesture of love as well as economy. Like too many women she is convinced she needs to lose just another pound, just another, while loving good food.
It really is economic. Today she will be tucking into what was facetiously - it is December - dubbed a sunshine salad. Costs are a rough guestimate, but won't be far out - I really don't spend all day weighing produce and calculating costs to the nearest tenth of a penny. Matchsticks of carrot (5p), ginger (2p), half a yellow basic-range pepper (13p), plus the skinned segments of two satsumas (25p - extravagant fool that I am), dressed with the squeezed juice from the satsuma remains, a dash of olive oil (wonderful stuff from Aranda, only used for dressings), a sprinkle of salt (it is a salad), a few cumin seeds for interest, and a dusting of cinnamon. Say 50p for the whole thing. Her university canteen would charge £2.30, M&S probably £3 or more for the same thing if they had anything like that. With a banana and a yogurt it is near as makes no odds £1 for her lunch. Economy needn't be unhealthy or life-sappingly boring.
With my eco-hat on the salad is carried in a click-sealed container washed and re-used, rather than several layers of disposable plastic packaging, another reason of course for it being cheaper. and this salad could even make us money if it wins the lovethegarden.com Christmas Carrot recipe comp!
Since I changed career and don't have to rush off at 7:15 every day I have made a point of preparing a salad for my wife's lunch. It's a gesture of love as well as economy. Like too many women she is convinced she needs to lose just another pound, just another, while loving good food.
It really is economic. Today she will be tucking into what was facetiously - it is December - dubbed a sunshine salad. Costs are a rough guestimate, but won't be far out - I really don't spend all day weighing produce and calculating costs to the nearest tenth of a penny. Matchsticks of carrot (5p), ginger (2p), half a yellow basic-range pepper (13p), plus the skinned segments of two satsumas (25p - extravagant fool that I am), dressed with the squeezed juice from the satsuma remains, a dash of olive oil (wonderful stuff from Aranda, only used for dressings), a sprinkle of salt (it is a salad), a few cumin seeds for interest, and a dusting of cinnamon. Say 50p for the whole thing. Her university canteen would charge £2.30, M&S probably £3 or more for the same thing if they had anything like that. With a banana and a yogurt it is near as makes no odds £1 for her lunch. Economy needn't be unhealthy or life-sappingly boring.
With my eco-hat on the salad is carried in a click-sealed container washed and re-used, rather than several layers of disposable plastic packaging, another reason of course for it being cheaper. and this salad could even make us money if it wins the lovethegarden.com Christmas Carrot recipe comp!
Thursday 1 December 2011
Risotto for Pennies
Risotto in some form features on the menus of many high-end restaurants, with a twist or two to make it different. The basic dish, however, is good old-fashioned peasant cooking. Which means it can also be cheap (another thing that appeals to restaurateurs but that's another area altogether). Last night I fed the three of us for I'd reckon under £2, though how you cost the leftover chicken from the weekend roast is tricky.
In the morning I made the stock from the chicken carcase, stripped of flesh, very necessary to decent risotto and it's sensible to squeeze the most in money and flavour terms from your bird. An onion (5p), bayleaf from the garden, and two Sainsbury's basic carrots (a knobbly carrot is a carrot is a carrot), (10p) simmered very gently for an hour to make wonderful liquor and to fill the whole house with its scent.
The evening meal was done in 25 minutes. Another onion (5p) chopped fine and fried in oil, with a similarly treated red pepper (again knobbly basic, 25p), then a third of a pack (say 45p) of basic cooking bacon (top bargain, you tend to get big thick slices that make chunky dice as used here), half a pack of risotto rice (so less than 50p) fried until coated, then usual risotto method - add hot stock until it is soaked in, cook at medium heat giving a stir every now and then, more stock, until the rice has only the memory of chalkiness at its heart. Add diced leftover chicken to just warm through (cook it too long and it goes stringy and unpleasant), a knob of butter to melt and give it a lovely unctuous texture, season and serve. As we are not on our uppers I went wild and grated some parmesan, probably adding another 70p to the overall reckoning, though even then discounting the chicken it comes to well under £2. A veggie version using mushrooms in place of the meats (and mushroom stock) - Sainsbury's today selling a (special offer) carton of brown mushrooms for 50p - is equally good.
The world, by the way, is becoming full of special offers as we become more discriminating (meaner) about our food purchases. Local fresh foods particularly so.
In the morning I made the stock from the chicken carcase, stripped of flesh, very necessary to decent risotto and it's sensible to squeeze the most in money and flavour terms from your bird. An onion (5p), bayleaf from the garden, and two Sainsbury's basic carrots (a knobbly carrot is a carrot is a carrot), (10p) simmered very gently for an hour to make wonderful liquor and to fill the whole house with its scent.
The evening meal was done in 25 minutes. Another onion (5p) chopped fine and fried in oil, with a similarly treated red pepper (again knobbly basic, 25p), then a third of a pack (say 45p) of basic cooking bacon (top bargain, you tend to get big thick slices that make chunky dice as used here), half a pack of risotto rice (so less than 50p) fried until coated, then usual risotto method - add hot stock until it is soaked in, cook at medium heat giving a stir every now and then, more stock, until the rice has only the memory of chalkiness at its heart. Add diced leftover chicken to just warm through (cook it too long and it goes stringy and unpleasant), a knob of butter to melt and give it a lovely unctuous texture, season and serve. As we are not on our uppers I went wild and grated some parmesan, probably adding another 70p to the overall reckoning, though even then discounting the chicken it comes to well under £2. A veggie version using mushrooms in place of the meats (and mushroom stock) - Sainsbury's today selling a (special offer) carton of brown mushrooms for 50p - is equally good.
The world, by the way, is becoming full of special offers as we become more discriminating (meaner) about our food purchases. Local fresh foods particularly so.
Monday 28 November 2011
Bargain Brekky
It's so true that breakfast is the most important meal of the day: it has to keep us going for the whole morning and sets the mood of the day. Muesli would depress me for hours. A favourite that costs very little and everyone loves is the American raised pancake, base for a hundred toppings. I use a mixture of white and wholemeal self-raising flours to sneak a bit of extra fibre in.
For enough to make eight or nice pancakes put about 100g of self-raising flour in a mixing bowl. Add an egg, a heaped tsp of baking powder, 1/2 a tsp of salt, 6 tsps of granulated sugar, a 3/4" cube of butter melted quickly in the microwave, and if you have it several tbsps to half a large carton of plain yoghourt - I use cheapo Sainsbury's Basic, it is tasty and only 55p a carton so why buy something that looks posher for twice the price when seemingly only the packaging is different? Add a little milk then use a hand mixer to blend it all nicely, adding more milk until you have a very thick double cream texture to the batter. It needs no rest. Cook on a flat griddle or thickly based frying pan. They need turning when big bubbles appear on the surface. Keep finished ones warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Maple syrup and butter are neither austerity products nor that healthy, but they are the most luxurious topping. Alternatives are fruit yoghourt, one little carton will do three or more, slices of banana, a freshly squeezed orange and sprinkle of sugar, or apple slices fried in butter. Shop-bought chocolate sauce is another possibility, or just melt a few squares of good chocolate in the microwave - don't overdo it or you end up with a crystalised mess.
If you have too much batter it keeps overnight in the fridge, but the pancakes tend to be a little flatter though still good. Without toppings I reckon its about 60p at most to make enough for three or four people, a nice warming, cheering filler-upper.
For enough to make eight or nice pancakes put about 100g of self-raising flour in a mixing bowl. Add an egg, a heaped tsp of baking powder, 1/2 a tsp of salt, 6 tsps of granulated sugar, a 3/4" cube of butter melted quickly in the microwave, and if you have it several tbsps to half a large carton of plain yoghourt - I use cheapo Sainsbury's Basic, it is tasty and only 55p a carton so why buy something that looks posher for twice the price when seemingly only the packaging is different? Add a little milk then use a hand mixer to blend it all nicely, adding more milk until you have a very thick double cream texture to the batter. It needs no rest. Cook on a flat griddle or thickly based frying pan. They need turning when big bubbles appear on the surface. Keep finished ones warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Maple syrup and butter are neither austerity products nor that healthy, but they are the most luxurious topping. Alternatives are fruit yoghourt, one little carton will do three or more, slices of banana, a freshly squeezed orange and sprinkle of sugar, or apple slices fried in butter. Shop-bought chocolate sauce is another possibility, or just melt a few squares of good chocolate in the microwave - don't overdo it or you end up with a crystalised mess.
If you have too much batter it keeps overnight in the fridge, but the pancakes tend to be a little flatter though still good. Without toppings I reckon its about 60p at most to make enough for three or four people, a nice warming, cheering filler-upper.
Saturday 26 November 2011
Homemade Pizza
Homemade pizza is not supermarket bought then heated in the oven, nor even your own toppings on a readymade base. It is made from scratch, which with a breadmaker is simple. My recipe for enough dough for three thin pizzas is a cup of water, 2.75 cups of strong white flour, 2.5 tbsps of olive oil, a tsp of sugar, 3tbsps of milk powder, 4tbsps of sugar, 1 tsp dried yeast. Dough setting, wait for 90 minutes and then knock back, knead, roll into circles (that is the bit I struggle with, mine look like the outlines of Rohrschach blots), leave to rise for at least 15 minutes then add toppings and cook at or near your oven's max temperature till done - about 15 minutes.
We love a fishy version, made with a tin of sardines (backbones removed) and half a tin of anchovies, plus lightly fried onions and peppers (back to the Basics range) and a cheap Basics mozarella, so about £1.50 for that one.
Cheaper and still great is a version of Napoletana (I think) with half a tin of toms (JS Basics again, or Lidl's are excellent for all of 33p) cooked down to a paste with a teaspoon of sugar added, spread on the base followed by more of the onions and pepper, the rest of the anchovies, and some halved pitted black olives from a jar in the fridge that lasts a week or more of salads and suchlike.
The third uses slices of salami - I buy the JS £1 Try Me packs as they are enough for a whole pizza, or for a starter with crudites etc - the onions and pepper, sliced garlic and another cheapo mozarella, plus a few Parmesan shavings made with a potato peeler.
It's important to cook them on metal pizza plates or at a pinch a metal griddle sheet so they don't end up soggy (as they would with pot or glass carriers). So three pizzas for about £3.50 worth of ingredients, the cost of one from the shop or half a (decent) takeaway pizza. For us a Thursday night treat eaten in front of the TV - it's Big Bang Theory Night - instead of the usual family gathering round the dining table. It's a particular treat for me as I love making them and my careful side likes thinking about how much Pizza Express versions (which are admittedly good) would have cost.
We love a fishy version, made with a tin of sardines (backbones removed) and half a tin of anchovies, plus lightly fried onions and peppers (back to the Basics range) and a cheap Basics mozarella, so about £1.50 for that one.
Cheaper and still great is a version of Napoletana (I think) with half a tin of toms (JS Basics again, or Lidl's are excellent for all of 33p) cooked down to a paste with a teaspoon of sugar added, spread on the base followed by more of the onions and pepper, the rest of the anchovies, and some halved pitted black olives from a jar in the fridge that lasts a week or more of salads and suchlike.
The third uses slices of salami - I buy the JS £1 Try Me packs as they are enough for a whole pizza, or for a starter with crudites etc - the onions and pepper, sliced garlic and another cheapo mozarella, plus a few Parmesan shavings made with a potato peeler.
It's important to cook them on metal pizza plates or at a pinch a metal griddle sheet so they don't end up soggy (as they would with pot or glass carriers). So three pizzas for about £3.50 worth of ingredients, the cost of one from the shop or half a (decent) takeaway pizza. For us a Thursday night treat eaten in front of the TV - it's Big Bang Theory Night - instead of the usual family gathering round the dining table. It's a particular treat for me as I love making them and my careful side likes thinking about how much Pizza Express versions (which are admittedly good) would have cost.
Tuesday 22 November 2011
Pate Maison Austere-Style
With more than half a pack of Sainsbury's £1.34 'cooking bacon' (so what's the other stuff for?) spare after what was needed for a paella taken out I decided to make pate (if there's a way to do the accent here I can't find it). The bacon pack had been chosen to make big cubes of meat, as it contained just three thick slices that had I asked for them at the counter would have cost a fortune.
No pig's liver at Booth's, so I bought 200g of pork mince (£1.09) to bulk and balance it out, and asked for some back-fat, expecting to pay a few coppers. They gave me free-of-charge a piece of rind about 30cm by 30cm with deep fat and the bonus of a layer of meat. Back home it took just seconds to slice off what I needed and discard the actual skin.
The other ingredients were crumbs from a day-old roll, two fat cloves of garlic, seasoning, an egg and a glass of spiced rum (have several bottles from reviewing job, but a glass of wine, cider, brandy or even gin would do as alternatives). My 27-year-old food processor whizzed the meats and crumbs in turn, everything was then mixed in a bowl and transferred to a solid non-stick loaf tin. Cover with foil, put that container in a roasting tin with boiling water half-way up, and cook at 140C for 80 minutes before uncovering to colour a bit for another 20 at 170C. More than 500g of country pate (the accent thing is annoying - if you know the trick please say) for less than £2.
Sometimes I do something similar with chicken livers, or pig's liver, and play tunes with herbs from the garden - bay on top, thyme and sage chopped and mixed in. It's cheap party food too, but this one will be several lunches and a first course or two, and I may freeze half for a few weeks hence.
No pig's liver at Booth's, so I bought 200g of pork mince (£1.09) to bulk and balance it out, and asked for some back-fat, expecting to pay a few coppers. They gave me free-of-charge a piece of rind about 30cm by 30cm with deep fat and the bonus of a layer of meat. Back home it took just seconds to slice off what I needed and discard the actual skin.
The other ingredients were crumbs from a day-old roll, two fat cloves of garlic, seasoning, an egg and a glass of spiced rum (have several bottles from reviewing job, but a glass of wine, cider, brandy or even gin would do as alternatives). My 27-year-old food processor whizzed the meats and crumbs in turn, everything was then mixed in a bowl and transferred to a solid non-stick loaf tin. Cover with foil, put that container in a roasting tin with boiling water half-way up, and cook at 140C for 80 minutes before uncovering to colour a bit for another 20 at 170C. More than 500g of country pate (the accent thing is annoying - if you know the trick please say) for less than £2.
Sometimes I do something similar with chicken livers, or pig's liver, and play tunes with herbs from the garden - bay on top, thyme and sage chopped and mixed in. It's cheap party food too, but this one will be several lunches and a first course or two, and I may freeze half for a few weeks hence.
Sunday 20 November 2011
Whatever Happened to the Gratin?
The world of the celebrity chef, where everything seemingly has to be either fried before your eyes or include some odd/exotic ingredients, has to my mind seen the relegation of the gratin to the outer regions. Shame. A good potato gratin is a) tasty; b) cheap; c) easy to make. This is a good potato gratin.
Take four or five fist-sized spuds and slice about 3mm thick, then boil for no longer than three minutes and remove from the water. Fry two large onions sliced thinly until transparent. Grate 100g strong hard cheese - cheddar is ideal (and not mild for goodness' sake).
In an oven-proof dish put a layer of spuds, then of onion, and season well. Put on a small sprinkle of cheese, but save most for the top. Repeat until used up, finishing with a layer of spuds. Measure enough milk to cover all bar the very surface of the gratin, beat in an egg, then pour over. Finish with lots of grated cheese on top, and dot with a few dabs of butter. Cook in a hot oven (200C) until the top is browning.
Served with a salad (and it doesn't have to be something green from a bag - make a salade de racines with matchsticks of carrot, turnip and beetroot dressed with a vinaigrette) and some bread to mop up the juices it makes a filling and enjoyable supper. And the gratin costs less than £2 with enough to fill four. Splash out by adding some strips of smoked bacon (use that thrifty standby 'recipe bacon' or offcuts from the butcher or butchery counter) to satisfy the carnivores. Instead of the milk and egg mixture use stock - chicken, ham or vegetable - from a cube or your own labours and it is even cheaper, though I prefer the milky version.
Take four or five fist-sized spuds and slice about 3mm thick, then boil for no longer than three minutes and remove from the water. Fry two large onions sliced thinly until transparent. Grate 100g strong hard cheese - cheddar is ideal (and not mild for goodness' sake).
In an oven-proof dish put a layer of spuds, then of onion, and season well. Put on a small sprinkle of cheese, but save most for the top. Repeat until used up, finishing with a layer of spuds. Measure enough milk to cover all bar the very surface of the gratin, beat in an egg, then pour over. Finish with lots of grated cheese on top, and dot with a few dabs of butter. Cook in a hot oven (200C) until the top is browning.
Served with a salad (and it doesn't have to be something green from a bag - make a salade de racines with matchsticks of carrot, turnip and beetroot dressed with a vinaigrette) and some bread to mop up the juices it makes a filling and enjoyable supper. And the gratin costs less than £2 with enough to fill four. Splash out by adding some strips of smoked bacon (use that thrifty standby 'recipe bacon' or offcuts from the butcher or butchery counter) to satisfy the carnivores. Instead of the milk and egg mixture use stock - chicken, ham or vegetable - from a cube or your own labours and it is even cheaper, though I prefer the milky version.
Savoury Rice
It sounds like the old racist denial: I am not a vegetarian but.. Vegetarian food tends to be more economical than something served with a slab of expensive meat, and I try to cook something vegetarian at least once possibly twice a week. Don't we all? How virtuous. Cheap, simple and somehow beautiful to look at this is a take on Chinese fried rice - on my business travels in South East Asia in a previous life I was jokingly chided for requesting this at a meal, but it's something I really enjoy if made well. And for three of us I reckon the cost is less than £2. The biggest cost is the two peppers so it could be even cheaper substituting another carrot and/or a red onion to keep the colour thing going.
Boil enough rice for everyone and then some left over (the next day or even the day after rice kept in the fridge makes a great basis for a packed-lunch salad). Washing it well before cooking helps the grains separate which is pleasing to the eye and the fork, though it reduces the nutritional value a little.
In a wide and deep non-stick frying pan heat some vegetable oil over a medium flame and throw in a finely chopped onion or even two, a carrot in tiny dice, and a pepper likewise - ideally two of different colours. I buy a pack of the miss-shape 'basic' peppers every week from Sainsbury's, a bargain and no different in terms of taste or freshness. Cook until the onion is transparent, then add a chopped clove of garlic. Crumble in the rice and stir so it gets coated in oil and mixed with the veg. Defrost a handful of frozen peas and/or sweetcorn and add them, mixing into the rice near the end of cooking - they need to warm through not cook. Flavour the rice according to what you have and what you fancy, but soy sauce is all but a must: one or two of the following is adequate - not please more than that: 5-spice powder, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, cumin seeds, turmeric, even curry powder if push comes to shove. Be gentle with the spicing, don't overwhelm the rice.
If you need some protein a few thin strips of bacon is good, or some small prawns. As with so many dishes you can play tunes with this, one of the best being turning it into mushroom fried rice (which means you can do without one or even both peppers) by adding near the end of cooking half a dozen or so thinly sliced mushrooms sauteed gently in another pan. Tip in their juice of course.
Boil enough rice for everyone and then some left over (the next day or even the day after rice kept in the fridge makes a great basis for a packed-lunch salad). Washing it well before cooking helps the grains separate which is pleasing to the eye and the fork, though it reduces the nutritional value a little.
In a wide and deep non-stick frying pan heat some vegetable oil over a medium flame and throw in a finely chopped onion or even two, a carrot in tiny dice, and a pepper likewise - ideally two of different colours. I buy a pack of the miss-shape 'basic' peppers every week from Sainsbury's, a bargain and no different in terms of taste or freshness. Cook until the onion is transparent, then add a chopped clove of garlic. Crumble in the rice and stir so it gets coated in oil and mixed with the veg. Defrost a handful of frozen peas and/or sweetcorn and add them, mixing into the rice near the end of cooking - they need to warm through not cook. Flavour the rice according to what you have and what you fancy, but soy sauce is all but a must: one or two of the following is adequate - not please more than that: 5-spice powder, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, cumin seeds, turmeric, even curry powder if push comes to shove. Be gentle with the spicing, don't overwhelm the rice.
If you need some protein a few thin strips of bacon is good, or some small prawns. As with so many dishes you can play tunes with this, one of the best being turning it into mushroom fried rice (which means you can do without one or even both peppers) by adding near the end of cooking half a dozen or so thinly sliced mushrooms sauteed gently in another pan. Tip in their juice of course.
Saturday 19 November 2011
Austerity Cooking
I have written so many posts concerned with austerity cooking recently on my Northern Eco blog that I feel the need for a space dedicated to the topic. So this new blog will focus solely (or as solely as my magpie mind will allow) on cooking on a very very limited budget indeed, with each post including at least one recipe, and maybe topical tips.
First topical tip on this sunny November Saturday is make the occasional visit to your local market. Not the farmer's market where you'll see olives that it's reasonable to think were not grown nearby, jams you could make better yourself, and fancy charcuterie. No, go to your town centre market where you'll find loads of bargains - when I lived near Bury the market there sold chicken frames - the central bony bit left after a bird has been jointed. They cost 20p, made fabulous stock, and yielded enough meat for a curry or a risotto, or a good sarnie. Cheap veg too, much of it the stuff the supermarkets won't accept because it is slightly knobbly or with minor colour variations, and often from very local sources.
First recipe, unashamedly lifted (with a few changes) from my other blog because it is so good and so cheap: leek and bacon risotto. One large onion; one carrot, half a packet of Sainsbury's recipe bacon (£1.34/2 = 67p of bacon). I used small leeks from the garden but one medium leek would suffice. Half a box of own brand risotto rice, so about 60p for that.
Chop the onion and carrot finely and sweat in a tablespoon of oil in a deep and wide frying pan over a low-medium heat for five minutes, then add the bacon cut into roughly equal strips or squares until it starts to colour - don't let it crisp, the rest of the cooking finishes it off and lets the bacon flavour infuse the rice. Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil and start it cooking, just a minute at max. Make up some stock with a good cube or use home-made if you have it but it must be piping hot, and start to add and stir in until the rice sucks it up, then add more until it is nearly cooked through - just a tiny bit of chalky core left in a grain - which is when you add the leeks cooked separately. Reckon on about 20 minutes over a medium heat, and don't forget that a risotto needs to be on the wet side. The leek is cooked in another pan, very thinly sliced, for just a couple of minutes in a knob of butter. Check it is cooked right through, then season to taste and serve with a bit of parmesan if you have it, but it tastes great without. Enough for a main course for three or four at a stretch, and for considerably less than £2.
If you precede this with a first course of grated (then squeezed in your hands to dry them a bit) and dressed carrots, some strips of red or green pepper (the odd shaped cheapo ones) strips, and a couple of fresh raw mushrooms cleaned, sliced and drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with a few turns of pepper and some salt, and you have a dirt cheap Italian meal.
In the very unlikely event that you have leftover risotto it makes good fritters moulded into a ball, rolled in flour then beaten egg then breadcrumbs, and fried pretty slowly until brown. They are even better with a bit of cheese added to the rice mixture.
First topical tip on this sunny November Saturday is make the occasional visit to your local market. Not the farmer's market where you'll see olives that it's reasonable to think were not grown nearby, jams you could make better yourself, and fancy charcuterie. No, go to your town centre market where you'll find loads of bargains - when I lived near Bury the market there sold chicken frames - the central bony bit left after a bird has been jointed. They cost 20p, made fabulous stock, and yielded enough meat for a curry or a risotto, or a good sarnie. Cheap veg too, much of it the stuff the supermarkets won't accept because it is slightly knobbly or with minor colour variations, and often from very local sources.
First recipe, unashamedly lifted (with a few changes) from my other blog because it is so good and so cheap: leek and bacon risotto. One large onion; one carrot, half a packet of Sainsbury's recipe bacon (£1.34/2 = 67p of bacon). I used small leeks from the garden but one medium leek would suffice. Half a box of own brand risotto rice, so about 60p for that.
Chop the onion and carrot finely and sweat in a tablespoon of oil in a deep and wide frying pan over a low-medium heat for five minutes, then add the bacon cut into roughly equal strips or squares until it starts to colour - don't let it crisp, the rest of the cooking finishes it off and lets the bacon flavour infuse the rice. Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil and start it cooking, just a minute at max. Make up some stock with a good cube or use home-made if you have it but it must be piping hot, and start to add and stir in until the rice sucks it up, then add more until it is nearly cooked through - just a tiny bit of chalky core left in a grain - which is when you add the leeks cooked separately. Reckon on about 20 minutes over a medium heat, and don't forget that a risotto needs to be on the wet side. The leek is cooked in another pan, very thinly sliced, for just a couple of minutes in a knob of butter. Check it is cooked right through, then season to taste and serve with a bit of parmesan if you have it, but it tastes great without. Enough for a main course for three or four at a stretch, and for considerably less than £2.
If you precede this with a first course of grated (then squeezed in your hands to dry them a bit) and dressed carrots, some strips of red or green pepper (the odd shaped cheapo ones) strips, and a couple of fresh raw mushrooms cleaned, sliced and drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with a few turns of pepper and some salt, and you have a dirt cheap Italian meal.
In the very unlikely event that you have leftover risotto it makes good fritters moulded into a ball, rolled in flour then beaten egg then breadcrumbs, and fried pretty slowly until brown. They are even better with a bit of cheese added to the rice mixture.
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