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Ethical Scrambled Eggs (90p or under)

Jan14

Having seen and listened to some recent BBC reports on caged hen conditions, will only use ‘ethical’ eggs, meaning avoiding the supermarket ultra-cheap packs. Some ‘free range’ sources are little better. Also makes me conscious of buying anything with eggs in the ingredients, unless the source is specified. Have wavered over the years, but currently a veggie – nothing killed, eggs, cheese and milk okay.

Making scrambled egg is the microwave is simple. A splash of milk and small knob of marg or butter in the bottom a of large mug or small bowl. Whisk with a fork and microwave 15 seconds at a time, stirring again each time until it gets light and fluffy. Will cost a fraction of a penny in electricity and a similarly small amount for two slices of toast in a ordinary pop-up toaster.

Two eggs makes well enough for two slices of scrambled egg on toast – a meal for 90p or under.

Bean and Tomato Broth no. 2 – potato (34p)

Jan14

A simple variation on the 9th January posting, Back to Jack – Bean and Tomato Broth. (Actually found I’d mispriced that, it was 34p a serving, not the 80p+ I originally posted.) I’ve decided not to include the cost of the accompanying cup of tea or coffee in future postings, just the straight meal price as a single serving, but still including the cooking, washing-up and any other incidental costs.

This version uses the insides of large baked potato instead of the bread, and the stock dissolved in just half a mug of water. The potato can be baked in the microwave – jab it all over with a fork or make a deep cut all around to let the steam out as the potato is cooking – takes 10 minutes or so. I need to experiment with different methods to see what times and methods work best.

  • Tin of beans.
  • Tin of tomatoes.
  • Herb seasoning.
  • Juice of half a lemon.
  • Half a mug of vegetable stock.
  • The insides of one baked potato – could actually include the skin, I just prefer it without.

As before, just simmer everything together for a few minutes. I liked this version better, tastier, although I think that would depend on the quality of the bread used in the other.

The result is a straighforward broth – I like to leave mine very lumpy, but it could be whizzed up or the ingredients well-mashed to make it more soupy. Could also use packet mashed potato. 34p a serving.

Back to Jack – Bean and Tomato Broth (34p)

Jan9

Taking up the cheap cooking challenge again. My goal is nutritious food for £2.50 a day or less, including cooking and washing-up costs.

This one is a close copy of a Jack Monroe recipe, although I can’t find the actual web page I copied it from. Simple, tasty, 100% veggie and low salt – about 1g per serving.

Ingredients:

  • Tin of beans – kidney beans, any sort of beans really, even baked beans.
  • Tin of tomatoes – chopped or plum.
  • Herb seasoning.
  • Fresh lemon juice – I don’t use processed juices to avoid additives.
  • Mug of vegetable stock.
  • Two slices of bread, well broken-up.

Really simple to prepare – everything simmered for a good few minutes, then add the bread, mashing everything up a bit with the end of a rolling pin. Three servings. Along with cooking and cleaning up costs, 34p a portion. Freezable.

Another time I might try this with a microwave-baked potato instead of bread and no stock (to remove the added salt and sugar).

Lent Potato Salad (39p)

Apr14

greece-flag-17A hot (or cold) potato salad inspired by a recipe on Giota Nikolau’s ′Grandma’s Food′ blog, a site which has many wonderful recipes. It is all written in Greek, but with help from Google translate and the wonderful photos on the site, her recipes and ideas can be followed.

It is still Lent in the Greek Orthodox church calendar, their Easter day being Sunday 19 April, making this their Orthodox Holy Week and a time of fasting – no meat, fish, wine, oil, wine, dairy or eggs, so my version of the recipe almost meets the criteria, bar the splash of oil for frying and knob butter for flavour.

Ingredients (serves four):

  • Three baking-size potatoes.
  • One onion, red or white.
  • Dried oregano.
  • Tin of beans – I used a tin of Flageolet beans that I found at the back of the cupboard, but would normally use the cheapest kidney beans, or indeed anything suitable hanging around in the cupboard or fridge that needs using up – some fresh green or string beans, for example.
  • Salted butter.

lent-potato-salad-202004141800-1

Method:

  • Slice the onion up and fry until soft and translucent, then put it aside. Don’t over-fry the onion, keep it a little al dente.
  • Peel and chop the potatoes into inch-sized lumps, then simmer them in a saucepan for 15-20 minutes until soft. Keep a close eye on them so they don’t dissolve and you end up with a watery potato soup.
  • While they’re simmering, empty the can of beans, rinsing them under the cold tap, and add them to the simmering potatoes half way through.
  • When the potatoes are ready, pour off the water and transfer to a bowl, sprinkling in a pinch of dried oregano.

lent-potato-salad-202004141800-2

And that’s it. Makes about four portions. Serve hot in a bowl with a good knob of  butter on top, or can be eaten cold.

lent-potato-salad-202004141800-3

Estimating electricity use and washing up costs, and with a mug of Earl Grey tea, that’s a meal for about 39p.

 

Chicken Yassa (£1.50)

Oct4

Yassa is a spicy chicken dish from Senegal, made with onions, spices and seasoning. In spite of the large quantity of onion, it doesn’t taste oniony at all. More complex versions of this recipe exist, adding different spices, vinegar or other ingredients. I deliberately kept mine as simple a possible.

I went a bit over-the top quantity-wise with this, making enough to feed a family of six. For just one or two people, divide the quantities below by three.

greeds

Ingredients (serves six)

  • 6 breast fillets (or equivalent amount of meat).
  • Three onions, red or green, finely chopped or sliced.
  • Juice of three lemons.
  • 1 cup (½-a-mug) of ground-nut (peanut) or olive oil.
  • 1 well-heaped desert spoon of Dijon mustard.
  • 1 heaped teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
  • 1 Habanero chili, seeds removed, finely chopped (optional) – or some suitable alternative like powdered or bottled hot chili.
  • Soy sauce (optional).

WEAR DISPOSABLE GLOVES when de-seeding and fine-chopping the Habanero chili. It is very hot, and might make your fingers sting. Absolutely do not put your fingers anywhere near your eyes, in your ear, up your nose or anywhere else tender while chopping. You’ll soon regret it. Wondering just how hot these raw chilies were, I cut one in half and licked the end. It was like licking the end of a cattle-prod. The finished dish is not particularly hot, just has that extra tang. but if you’re really not a fan of chili, leave it out, and add soy sauce for some extra flavour instead.

chili

Method

Chop the chicken into small chunks or thin slices and put this in a large mixing bowl. To the bowl add the onion, lemon juice, oil, mustard, cayenne pepper and chili, and stir everything together. I also added a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, although this is not strictly necessary and depends on personal taste.

chopped

This needs to marinate for half-a-day, so best to do the preparation in the evening and leave it in the fridge overnight, ready to cook the next day.

The customary way to cook this is to fry it on a hot plate – a hot frying pan will do just as well – until the onion is well softened and caramelised and the chicken just starting to brown.

cooking

Serve immediately with mashed potato, some yam or sweet potato mash, rice, or anything really. I microwaved a can of red kidney beans (rinse the goo off them first and put in a ceramic dish to microwave) which went very well. It would also go well with the flatbreads from my previous post.

finished

Can be kept in the fridge or even frozen, I suppose, but this is a food best served freshly cooked. Everything considered, come out at about £1.50 a meal.