Ladies,or gentlemen.need some recipe tips,please

[Tawnyowl]

Due to tawnys unemployment situation,about 5 weeks,i have been quite busy doing different things.However i have decided to try cooking.I didnt know before today where the oven was and was amazed to find it has a gas hob but electric oven.Didnt know such things existed.I have found a chefs hat(car boot and apron and chefs trousers)i feel i now am ready to try to cook something.Trouble is i have never cooked before only at a nightclub in the 70s,nobody seemed to mind at 1 in the morning what it tasted like.Scampi and chips beefburger and chips that kind of thing.From packets.The fire brigade was called out many times,3,due to me overheating the oil and setting of very delicate heat sensors.I was promoted to this position after one night working there as a glass collector.Everyone kept dancing(Grease,saturday night fever,the 70s)a long time ago.Have lately been thinking about things and wondering about healthy eating.I just wonder if its possible to eat healthly,fresh kind of taste on a low budget.I am not that keen on frozen pound stuff as it doesnt seem to have any taste.I want to surprise the wife and my daughter by producing some home made fresh food.Is it possible,has anyone got a recipe that can be produced using fresh food at reasonable prices.Whether salads anything .Just want to know if its possible to buy fresh and where to look.Obviously ar reasonable prices.Tawnyowl.

[maroondevo52]

Stick a tattie in the oven for two hours slit it with, a knife and shove some butter in.

 

Magic

[Tawnyowl]

Thankyou,what a good idea.

[mazbck]

Make Macaroni Cheese, very easy.

 

Make a cheese sauce, add it to some cooked pasta, and to spice it up a bit, chop a smoked sausage through it, sprinkle with cheese, and shove in the oven until the cheese is all melted. Very filling and cheap to make.

 

Sauce Recipes

[Tawnyowl]

Thankyou,this is proving very interesting.

[maroondevo52]

Thankyou,this is proving very interesting.

 

Yeh, your lucky two sane people replied

[Tawnyowl]

I am planning also a vegetable garden.But i suppose i maybe am getting a bit late for that.Its just that some of the food,re the pound frozen stuff doesnt seem to have any taste.Whether its fish anything.Its just tasteless.So seeing if it can be done.I hope so,and it seems it may be possible.:)I was wondering what kind of replys i may have;-) ,but just trying to come up with something.

[PriorityOne]

You can do loads with beef steak mince...

 

As there should be hardly any fat on there.... cook whatever quantity you like very slowly (in water on the hob) with some chopped onion for around 1 and a half hours. At the same time, add a bit of salt, black pepper, tomato ketchup or Campbell's Tomato Soup (you can make loads of things with that at half the price of bottled sauces like Ragu, etc.), add Oxo cubes, Lea & Perrins Sauce and/or HP sauce, frozen peas, grated carrot.... I don't have precise measurements; just enough of everything until it tastes nice. Add herbs if you like... and stir at regular intervals...

 

You can either serve it with mash or.... mash the potatoes first and make Shepherd's Pie by adding them on the top... or, serve with pasta and crusty bread instead.

 

A little bit of mince can go a long, long way....and I normally end up making 3 Shepherd's Pies.... eating 1 and freezing the other 2.

 

YUM!

[Tawnyowl]

That sounds very tasty indeed.Thankyou.

[mazbck]

Our local Asda's are doing 200grams of lean steak mince for £1.00 just now, so I used 2 packets tonight, browned the mince in a wee bit of olive oil, added a tin of beans(asda own brand, but not the cheap ones) and a coleman's chili con carne sauce packet. I reckon it cost me about £3.50 all together to feed 3 of us and that was including the rice.

 

My hubby and son said it was one of the best chili's I had made in a while, and it was all made within 30 minutes.

[Tawnyowl]

Will try that one sounds very tasty, and the price is right

[SteveH2508]

Sausage Casserole

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pack of sausages (cheap ones will do)

4 rashers streaky bacon (smoked is better)

I beef stock cube

1 tin whole tomatoes

Dried mixed herbs

Potatoes

Method

Chop sausages into 3 parts. Cut streaky rashers into squares. Throw into a covered casserole. Crumble in beef stock cube. Add the tinned tomatoes (cut the whole tomatoes in half) and the dried herbs and a twist of pepper. Add about a cup of water. Do not add salt – there is enough in the stock cube and the bacon. Slice the potatoes and cover the top.

Cook for 1 hour covered at 160o C. Uncover and brown the potatoes for about ½ hour at 190o C. Add a little more water if necessary.

[Tawnyowl]

Thankyou sounds like i could manage that one with my limited experiance in the kitchen.Sounds a very nice dish.I was wondering,i am remembering when i was i kid (a good few years back):rolleyes:my mum used to make a home made meat and potato pie.I can allways remember it.It was one of my favourates.It used to have a thick tasty pastry on the top of it.It was very nice.Does anyone know how to make this.Autumn is not far off and i am sure my family would be surprised if i produced such a masterpiece.Thankyou SteveH2508 for your recipe.Much appreciated.Tawnyowl

[gyzmo]

Omlette: I know this ounds daft but my dad makes the best oes I've ever tasted.

 

Grate a little bit of cheese

Chopped mushroom

slice or two of onion chopped

couple of slices of ham (chopped) or bacon (grilled and chopped)

Any combination of the above or anything else you fancy

 

break two eggs in a mixing jug, whisk until it's all yellow and add a little milk until the yellow starts getting more pale.

 

In a frying pan, heat a small bit of oil for a couple of minutes on medium heat and pour in the egg/milk mix (all in one go).

 

Then sprinkle the other ingredients in all over. Add a little pepper is desired.

 

After 30 seconds, use a spatula and go round the whole rim of the omlette to separate it from the pan.

 

After 3 or 4 minutes, slightly lift some of the omlette to see if it is a golden colour. The top of the omlette should not be liquidy, but a bit rubbery and firm enough for it to be flipped over.

 

 

Flip over and cook the other side for 3 - 4 minutes or until the bottom side is light brown. About a minute before finishing, turn on your grill to a medium to low heat.

 

Remove omlette from frying pan onto a tray and place under grill for no longer than 2 minutes.

 

Serve folded in half with salad.

 

Another easy recipe is to get some skinless chicken breast and thinly slice. Flash heat in a frying pan, squirting some lemon over it. Once cooked (should take 3 - 4 minutes) serve over a salad - try adding lemon, mango or apple along with Greek Yoghurt.

[locutus]

Something I do that is cheep and cheerful is spaghetti and meatballs (and it's about as easy as a spaghetti bolognaise... just a little more impressive!). 1 rarer ingredient is Oregano (just buy a plant from your local supermarket, it'll last for ages if you keep it in your window and water it!) I'll list all the ingredients here

 

Serves 4

1 large onion

1 clove garlic

1 tin chopped tomatoes (or plumb tomatoes and chop them down yourself if you want the sauce chunky)

about 1 teaspoon of oregano finely chopped

450 - 500 grams minced pork (get whatever size your supermarket does LOL)

Either equal amount of sausage meat or 1 pack of sausages

1/2 packet dried spaghetti or 1 pack of fresh

 

 

1st thing to do is get the meatballs made! So, use a large mixing bowl, put the mince in and skin the sausages and/or put the sausage meat in. Mix thoroughly. Roll into bite sized balls. Place on a baking tray, and place in an over at 190 C for 25 minutes.

 

Now, into a saucepan chop the onions, squish the clove of garlic (I put it in a freezer bag and hit it with a hammer! LOL) then chop the squished mess to make sure there are no huge chunks of the garlic and finely chop the oregano (as fine as you can!) and put in the tomatoes (hint if you got plumb tomatoes to chop yourself, open the tin and get the scissors in to chop them!) Put on a moderate heat until it starts simmering, then lower the heat and simmer and stir for 20 minutes.

 

Next cook the spaghetti (just follow the instructions on the pack) I do like to put a knob of butter in the boiling water. It helps stop the spaghetti sticking together. Stir this occasionally to stop it sticking together aswell as the sauce.

 

 

The main thing I like with this is it times its self well. From making the meatballs, it takes 5 minutes to get the ingredients for the sauce prepped and on the hob, then the spaghetti only takes a few minutes.

 

 

 

Now a cheep desert that I really, really like is greek yoghurt and honey. That is also the ingredients and meathod of prepairing and it's yummy LOL!

[hilaryfrances]

I buy loads of veg, loads of mince, chilli mix and beans, chicken fillets, mushrooms, bollognaise sauce and corned beef. Then I start cooking meals to store in the freezer, veg goes in mince for shepherds pie and corned beef hash, mushrooms in everything, apart from chille, chicken curry with mushrooms and onions. Works out very cheap if you get loads of pans going and make large quantities for the freezer, meals full off vitamins and tasty. My husband calls it my Bosnian cooking day, with lots of large pans bubbling away. Corned beef hash this evening with large yorkshire puds Oh yes and 2 tins of choped tomatoes, for shepherds pie, curry and corned beef hash Edited August 14, 2009 by hilaryfrances

[locutus]

I buy and fillet whole chicken (free range do taste nicer, but cost more than the supermarket mass produced stuff... however it does still work out cheaper than buying the fillets, drumsticks, wings and thighs!)

WARNING if squeamish do not read!

1st the legs, slit the skin between the breast and the leg, Pull the leg away from the breast to increase the gap that you just creates with the slit. Bend the joint that connects the leg with the carcass backward until the bone pops out of the joint. Use a cleever (or big knife) to remove the leg at the point of the joint. If you want to separate drumstick from thigh, Straighten the leg, cut straight through at the knee with the cleever or big knife.

2nd the wings, bend the joint that connects the wing to the carcass backward until it pops out. Use a cleever or big knife to remove the wing.

If you want skinless, at this point pull all the skin off the breasts. Lay the chicken down on its back and feel between the breasts for the breast bone. Cut vertically straight down at the side of the breast bone. If you have cut deep enough you can just tear the breast off slowly, using the knife next to the ribs to get as much chicken off as you can.

 

I always put a couple of drops of chili sauce on the wings and cook them for 30 mins at 190 C as a treat for myself This works out really good value for a BBQ 6 chicken portions

[nowayjose]

Salmon fish cakes

 

 

Ingredients

 

Potatoes

Onion

Tinned Salmon

butter

milk

Beaten egg

Flour

 

Peel potatoes and onion

Boil together in salted water until soft then drain

Add a large knob of butter and some milk and mash together

Open tin of salmon (or tuna if you prefer)

Remove bones and add to potatoes and onion

Stir in salmon

Make fishcakes ( whatever size you like) shape with your hands

Dip in beaten egg and flour

Then fry fish cakes on a moderate heat until browned on both sides (they are already cooked)

 

Serve with salad and tartare sauce. Yummy

[nowayjose]

Corned beef stew

 

Ingredients

 

Tin of Corned beef

Vegetable stock cubes

Veg - onions carrots parsnip swede potatoes (whatever you fancy)

black or white pepper

 

Take a large pan of boiling water

Peel and chop onions and add to water

Add stock cubes and simmer for 5 mins

Peel and cube other veg and add to pan (except potatoes)simmer until veg softens

Add potatoes and simmer until soft

Add cubed corned beef and taste

Simmer for a few minutes

Season if needed (corned beef is salty)

Simples.....

Serve with crusty bread ,,,,,,,

[woody1066]

1 Elephant (medium)

Brown Gravy (Watkins Beef Soup & Gravy Base)

Watkins Sea Salt & Watkins Pepper

Two Rabbits (optional)

Cut elephant into small bite sized pieces. This should take only about two months. Add enough gravy to cover. Cook over kerosene fire for about four weeks at 465 degrees. Makes about 3,800 servings. To extend it add rabbits, but do this only if necessary as most people do not like to find hare in their stew.

[jowalshy]

Toad in the Hole

 

8oz plain flour

8 eggs

1 pint milk

8 sausages

 

Get a bowl and add flour eggs and milk, then whisk together. (it doesn't matter if the mixture is a wee bit lumpy). Place mixture in the fridge.

 

Part cook sausages (usually do mine in the oven on about 180 degrees for about 20 minutes).

 

Get a tray and put a blob of lard into it. Preheat oven to apporx 220 degrees and then add tray.

 

When the lard is realy, really hot, add the batter mixture (it should sizzle when poured on the lard). Then place the sausages in the mix and put the whole lot in the oven. Keep an eye on it until it is cooked (should take about 15-20 minutes and look nice and brown)

 

Here is a pic of my first attempt

[locutus]

Just had a fried egg sandwich with brown sauce... nice and easy to make and YUUMMMMY!!!

[jowalshy]

My kids have just had eggy bread

[gyzmo]

I'm soooooo hungry right now!

 

There is a website where you can type in what food you have in, and it comes up with recipe suggestions based on what you have typed in.

 

2 problems though:

1. The recipies usually require things that you don't have (usually spices)

2. I can't remember the web address

 

So a pretty pointless post really!

[locutus]

Ohh... eggy bread! Shame my kids are out or I could've had that Another nice easy one to make, Beat an egg on a plate, place bread on top of beaten egg, turn bread over so both sides are coated, fry for 2 mins each side. Again I have brown sauce on mine.