Cooking during 2016 & 2015
7th June 2016
In June, we made Green Thai Chicken Curry. So quick to make, you can beat the take away driver to the table. We did a nan to go with it, but that didn't work this time at all, despite having made it at a previous meeting. Oh well, can't win them all!
We also made a quick lunch dish of mushrooms on toast
10th May 2016
The budget cookery group met again In May. We cooked up a storm. Starting off with fish cakes made with a tin of sardines in tomato sauce, and another batch made with a tin of tuna. Both were delicious, and super easy.
Then we moved on to make some apple pie granola. Oats, baked and flavoured with grated apple and cinnamon. Something different, low sugar, and with hundreds of different possible flavour combinations.
Then we finished up with a stir fry of various vegetables and chicken pieces. The sauce was made with peanut butter, ginger, garlic, soy and lime juice. One of my favourites! We usually have it with noodles.
The brief of the group has changed over the months, so the name will be changing from Cooking on a Budget, to Cooking Up A Storm. This reflects more what we do. Each month we explore 3 or 4 recipes, it's all very hands on with group members making dishes to taste and take home, and talking about the flavour variations. There is space in the group for more participants, so it would be great if a few people considered coming along next month and enjoying some great food and lots of laughs.
5th April 2016
Our meetings are all very hands on, with lots of tastings. Some lovely ideas for variations come out of our session, lots of inspiration
When the budget cookery group met this month, we had our usual laugh, then made some Carrot and Tahini Hummus, a Mixed Nut and Seed Butter, then a glorious Goan Fish Curry. It was gorgeous! The recipe is adapted from an Indian recipe book I took down from my shelves recently.
We used some value frozen fish and large prawns, but that came out at over £1 a portion. So I costed it using chicken and it came out fine, much less than £1, so that’s what’s used below.
Goan Chicken Curry
All ingredients from Aldi
500g frozen Chicken breast fillets, £3.33/kg, 500g/£1.12
Tin coconut milk 79p
1.5 tsp Turmeric, 49p/40g, 4p
Tsp Cumin, 49p/45g, 3p
Tsp Coriander, 49p/45g, 3p
Tsp Black pepper, coarse ground, £1.19/100g, 3p
Clove Garlic, 85p for 4, 3p
5cm fresh Ginger, chopped very fine. 55p/pack, 3p
Vegetable oil, 89p/litre, 3p
2 Onions, chopped, 55p/kilo, 11p
Total cost £2.24, 56p a serving
Defrost the chicken and chop into bite sized pieces.
In a large pan or wok, gently fry the onions in the oil until transparent. Add all the spices and sizzle gently for a minute, mind they don’t catch. Add a splash of water if they look like they might.
Now add the coconut milk and the chicken. Cook gently until the chicken is cooked through.
Check the seasoning and serve with your choice of carb. Value rice, a chapatti or two, or even over pasta or a jacket potato.
Variations
If you have the funds, replace the chicken with 500g frozen value fish, chopped into large lumps, and 150g large prawns to reproduce the version we cooked today. Cook the defrosted fish gently in the sauce for a minute or two, until the fish is just cooked. Then stir through the prawns to warm.
We used a mixture of value pollock and basa fillets today from Sainsburys. The basa fillets had much the nicer texture. The cheapest fish in Aldi is also basa, at £1.49 for 400g, so perfect for this.
The original recipe had a tbslp lemon juice and 25g tamarind paste, both of which I completely forgot to add! The tamarind seems rather a lot, it’s strong stuff! But I really, really liked it just as it was.
To make the dish vegetarian (and vegan) replace the chicken with well softened chick peas; a tin of well rinsed kidney beans; a tin of baked beans, rinsed well to remove the sauce, or any combination of beans and pulses.
Add more veg if you want to. Bean sprouts would work well, shredded cabbage or mushrooms.
I am so pleased to have found this recipe. It was very quick to make and I shall be making it often
In September 2015, we made some pastry dishes. We used a base recipe to make corned beef and mushroom pie, using just half a tin of beef. That was followed up with a variation - bacon and sweetcorn. Both pies costing about 30p a portion. We used the trimming for a sultana and muscovado treat. While the pies were cooking, we used the remaining half of the corned beef to make a rosti/hash. Then finished up with apple spice muffins for the cake box.
In October, I am thinking of doing Spinach Dumplings with a Spicy Tomato Sauce 28p, Gnocchi at just 15p, and showing just how delicious an ox cheek is when cooked long and slow
August - The next meeting will feature some vegetarian recipes. Definitely a quiche, using pastry made from oil. I haven't decided what else yet, difficult to choose
The third meeting was all about pasta. We made a classic beef lasagna, using an authentic Italian recipe. This consisted of a bolognese sauce, a white sauce and we even made the pasta. While that was cooking we did a quick tomato and basil sauce for an everyday pasta supper, and finished off with a Carbonara using pecorino cheese for the proper flavour, but costing less than 50p a portion.
In the second meeting we talked about spicing and did a Tomato Dahl, a Mango, Coconut, Chickpea and Spinach curry, a Chicken Sambar, and a Nan bread
In the first meeting, we did Raisin Breakfast Pancakes 8p a serving, Breakfast Bhaji's 31p a serving with a Yogurt and Brinjal Dip, and Beef and Sun Dried Tomato Paste that can be used on toast or sandwiches, 13p per sandwich. So a few ideas for breakfast.