Paid Members Gus Mears Posted March 21, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted March 21, 2017 Chest, if you do get the chance that would be grand. Intrigued to try it. Marinated some tofu in dark soy sauce, tamarind and garlic and then fried in like a steak. Very nice actually, so that's one for my regular weekday dinners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Having to eat on a very limited budget. Tonight was a simple pasta dish. Three tins of tomatoes for a quid so used one of them and blended it with garlic and basil. Quorn ham was on offer so chopped a few slices up and added it when the pasta was cooked with the sauce. Dinner for two at about 50p a portion. Was really nice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 21, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted March 21, 2017 Picked up a few basic methods over the years for tasty cooking. Â Soffrito - one of my favourites. It's the basis of quite a lot of Italian cooking: finely chopped carrots, onions and celery. I usually put it in first thing with some butter or coconut oil, and find it makes an excellent basis for more than just Italian, like stews and soups. Sometimes put it in omelettes too. Â Garlic & ginger paste - pretty much the basis of a lot of Mauritian cooking. My dad usually makes a big jar of the stuff every two or three weeks. Buy a load of garlic bulbs and garlic roots, peel and stick them in a RoboChef, about 50-50 proportions, and mulch them up. Stick in a big jar and refrigerate. It's strong stuff, so you only need a heaped teaspoon of it to give your food flavour (although I use a dinner spoon as I like it quite garlicky). Â The trick to cooking with spices is to make sure you actually cook them; give them enough time in the heat for them to properly release their flavours. In the case of turmeric/haldi, this is essential, or it'll just taste woody. If you're making vegetarian food, it's best to put the spices in first, as most veg doesn't take as long to cook (depending also on how small you cut it). Â I particularly like cooking with herbs - a base of butter, garlic & ginger, herbes de Provence, salt, pepper and soffrito makes for an amazing aroma and flavour. Try it with scrambled eggs, it's nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D@mm Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 I am on a bit of a budget now, so tend to eat a lot of meals with pasta but getting sick of pasta, anyone else got any ideas how to eat cheap and healthy and an alternative to pasta, I was thinking of small potatoes with a bit of cottage cheese or flavoured rice, I can't stand normal rice, I need some sauce on it, if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members stumobir Posted March 21, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted March 21, 2017 Sweet potato and chickpea curry, you can make a vat of that for a few quid and it keeps in the fridge for ages. It's fine to freeze too but I normally get through it an a week or so. The priciest thing in the recipe (my own made up one) is coconut milk but even that's only 70p in Aldi.  Might be stating the obvious but anyone who's on a budget, and everyone else really, should be going to Aldi. It's insane how much cheaper everything is and the quality is spot on. From my most recent shop some of the thing that stood out as being mentally cheap were lamb mince for £2.80 for 500g, £2 for a jar of coconut oil and 60p for a bottle of balsamic vinegar! It's close to half price for some stuff compared to your Tesco, Sainsbury's etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Will get myself to Aldi! I always make my own chips/wedges. Get a bag of small potatoes for a quid, chop them up and mix them with olive oil, salt and pepper and some paprika or other seasoning. Lovely chips for a quid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D@mm Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) Yeah I like Aldi but I always under shop when I go there as I am a bit of a fussy eater, I will look into the sweet potato and chickpea curry, thank you for the advice guys. Edited March 21, 2017 by D@mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 21, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted March 21, 2017 Will get myself to Aldi! I always make my own chips/wedges. Get a bag of small potatoes for a quid, chop them up and mix them with olive oil, salt and pepper and some paprika or other seasoning. Lovely chips for a quid! Â Dunn's River All-Purpose Seasoning is perfect for that. Not expensive either - lasts ages. And you can use it for all sorts of other dishes too, gives them that spicy, almost barbeque-y Caribbean flavour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Â Â Will get myself to Aldi! I always make my own chips/wedges. Get a bag of small potatoes for a quid, chop them up and mix them with olive oil, salt and pepper and some paprika or other seasoning. Lovely chips for a quid! Dunn's River All-Purpose Seasoning is perfect for that. Not expensive either - lasts ages. And you can use it for all sorts of other dishes too, gives them that spicy, almost barbeque-y Caribbean flavour. Ha, thought that rang a bell. Got their Jerk and their Caribbean Barbecue seasonings in the cupboard. Will have to use them a lot more, cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Add me as another on a very limited budget until I get paid from new job. Thank fuck for pesto. I've just been having tomato pesto with pasta, with peas and sweetcorn and a squeeze of this hot Ancona sauce I've got. Literally had it every night for about 2 weeks and although I'm fucking bored of it, it really fills me up and sorts me out. Apart from the lack of protein, that's a bit worrying but can't afford it at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted March 21, 2017 Moderators Share Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) Palaak Paneer recipe: Â Pop 2 big bags of spinach, 1 potato, 1 carrot, 1 onion, a few cloves of garlic and a can of tomatoes in the pressure cooker and cook it until it's soft. Then liquidize the lot of it. Â In a pan on the side get some oil nice and hot and then put a couple teaspoons of cumin in. When they start popping, add a big tablespoon of gram flour and roast it quickly. Then chuck it into the pot and mix it in. Â Then add 2-3 teaspoons of ground coriander and cumin powder (will be sold as dhana jeera), and half a teaspoon of turmeric. Add salt and chilli powder to taste (you can put fresh green chillies at the beginning instead/as well if you want). Â Simmer it for a while - watch out, it will bubble and splatter pretty bad. Whilst you're doing that you can grill or fry the paneer in cubes. At the end squeeze a wedge of lemon in and stir in the paneer cubes. It's nice to leave them until as late as possible so they keep a bit of a crispy texture. Â I think that's about it. It's pretty simple and quick (although obviously takes longer if you don't have a pressure cooker). Edited March 21, 2017 by Chest Rockwell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Do you make your own pesto? Fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts and garlic in the blender and that's mine. Stir it in with pasta and it's lovely. Pine nuts cost a bit but you get a lot of pesto! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted March 21, 2017 Paid Members Share Posted March 21, 2017 Thanks for that recipe, Chest! Think I might go buy some paneer at the weekend and give it a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Do you make your own pesto? Fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts and garlic in the blender and that's mine. Stir it in with pasta and it's lovely. Pine nuts cost a bit but you get a lot of pesto! I don't mate, it's just a jar of broadbean, pea and mint pesto that was reduced, but once I get myself sorted, I definitely will do, as my ex and I used to make our own and yeah, it's easy and nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted March 21, 2017 Moderators Share Posted March 21, 2017 Cool. Let us know how you get on! I've given myself a hunger for it as well, as I have just been doing my online shop for the week so I've decided to make it at the weekend as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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