3 Course Meal for 6 With a £20 Budget?

oneeyedandgreen

I really want to this, think it would be so fun! My planned menu would be:

Starter: Smoked salmon pate. Use basic salmon trimmings(88p for 120g from Mr. S- I'd say you need 2 for 6 people). I can't remember my recipe but I blend it up with butter, double cream, lemon juice and black pepper

Main: I think a beef in ale pie would work well. It looks really exciting and impressive, you can buy cheap cuts of beef as it's cooked for so long and it's simple to serve with cheap mash and veg. Basically just coat the beef in flour and fry gently with some onions. Add herbs, extra veg(carrots/parsnips.mushrooms). Then add 400ml ale plus 500ml beef stock and simmer for 1 and a half hours. Pour into pastry dish and cover with layer of puff pastry(ready rolled is still good value). Then it just needs baking for 20-30minutes in the oven whilst you eat your starter!

Dessert: Maybe a crumble or cheesecake. I never get as far as planning my desert!

PasturesNew

If you're students:
- veg soup made by buying cheapest veggies and boil/simmering them for 1-2 hours then liquidising it.
- beans on toast
- Smarties ice cream

Total spend: £5 :P

zcrat41

favourite pud of mine,is lemon posset, there's a tamasin day lewis one on the web, where the ingredients are double cream, lemon juice and sugar,
the recipe is to boil the sugar and cream, add in the lemon juice (says to strain but i don't bother), then to set in six wine glasses (this makes six very big portions that are too rich for some), so when i do it, i set it in shot glasses, then if people want a bit they have one, and if they fancy more there are lots still on the table untouched...
could make some shortbread bics to go with it...

Poppy Glos I love this, its one of my favourite "impress my mates" pud. I do it with a summer fruit coulis. Sainsbury's value mixed summer berries (frozen, £1,00) bit of sugar, heat up for a bit and then chill in the fridge till your ready. I love it cos' I can do it in the morning.

I did a similar come dine with me thing with my friends, brilliant fun. The more wine the better. Have fun!

oneeyedandgreen

PasturesNew wrote: »

If you're students:
- veg soup made by buying cheapest veggies and boil/simmering them for 1-2 hours then liquidising it.
- beans on toast
- Smarties ice cream

Total spend: £5 :P

Hehe. Although I think you might be overestimating the cooking power of most students with the veggie soup! (and I am a student myself!)

RobsterRulz

Wow thanks so much for the advice guys! I certainly wasn't expecting that and have no idea where to start?

A wee note I forgot to mention we have made a list of kinda general ingredients that are not included in the £20 budget, just basic things like salt, pepper, butter, eggs, milk etc.

Were not the most adventurous of eaters but thanks anyway for the suggestion on Chicken liver pate.

Thanks in particular for the links to the bbc good food website and the actual Come Dine With me site, they should come in handy!

I love the idea of Banoeffe Pie for dessert, so do we think that will be relatively cheap (and easy) to make?

I'm gonna go for Mushroom Soup for starter because my mum makes an awesome one lol.

Still lookin for a good idea for main course tho.

Keep up the suggestions guys, i'm so thankful!

Cheers

andygb

I would do a Boeuf Bourgignon for the main course:

1.5 kilo blade/feather/braising steak or shin of beef (£5 at the most)
1 bottle Cotes du Rhone £3.50
1 dozen shallots or 6 banana shallots
3 roughly chopped carrots
1 dozen mushrooms quartered
1 onion roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 rashers streaky bacon

Chop the beef into two inch chunks and marinate in red wine, shallots and garlic at least overninght in the fridge, preferably for a couple of days.
The meat will turn almost black having absorbed the wine.
Get a large stockpot (big saucepan), and gently fry the onions and chopped streaky bacon in a little butter. Then add the beef (having dried it) in small batches to seal it - let it go brown and slightly caramelised it adds more flavour. When all the beef has been sealed, add the shallots, carrots and mushrooms and stir around, gently frying them.
Then turn down the heat and add the red wine marinade, which the beef was in. I would cook this lot in the stockpot for around three hours at a rolling boil, checking the seasoning, and looking at the consistency.
The meal is ready when the meat is really tender, and can be taken apart with a fork. The sauce should not be too thick or too thin, a bit like good gravy.
The smell will be amazing, and the best thing is, that you can prepare this meal in advance, and heat it up on the hob, or in a casserole dish in the oven. I reckon you could make it for a tenner. I would serve it with roast potatoes, because they add a bit of crunch and texture.
If you make this correctly, then there will be no leftovers!

Andy

[Deleted User]

Hext2 excellent pudding idea. I would go for Lasagne for main course with a small salad and some garlic bread, and maybe HM veggie soup for a starter ,really cheap to make and probably have some left over to freeze.Veggies from Aldi or lidls

cheeswright

hi i like this one - can i join in ?
wild mushroom flan / quiche
dried wild mushrooms 3x eggs 2 slices stale bread into breadcrumbs dsh of milk- tiny ammount of hard cheese + pastry -
followed by pheasant casserole - £ 6.oo a brace cut into small portions and add cocktail sausages to bulk out casserole small bottle red wine 2x onions 2x tins tomatoes - served+ with roast potatoes
pot o chocolate ( 3 eggs 4 bars value dark chocolate large pot doble cream) served set in tiny glasses
i costed the ingredients on supermarket comparison and it will come in a couple of pound under - providing your local butcher has pheasant at a decent price could use that to dress it - sliced strawberry each with dessert ?
rocket leaves with slice of mushroom flan ? or chives ?

have fun - used to love challenges like that myself

gingin_2

I think perhaps the boeuf borgignon suggested is a really good idea if you are all safe eaters. It's comforting, good value, perhaps a bit different to the usual student grub ingredients wise and can be made well in advance. You can't really overcook it. I use the cheapest bottles of red wine I can find from tesco when I make it and it comes out well. Beef and red wine you can't really go wrong with especially with some roasties or mash and it will compliment your mushroom soup well.

Banoffee pie sounds yum. You can buy carnation caramel in a can now ( not OS I know) if making the caramel sauce sounds daunting.

nikinackyloo

RobsterRulz wrote: »

I love the idea of Banoeffe Pie for dessert, so do we think that will be relatively cheap (and easy) to make?


Cheers

the banoffe pie I do is just digestives crushed and mixed with butter - then pressed into dish and left to set. I boil a can of condensed milk in a pan of boiling water for 3 hours - be careful when you open it as it kind of explodes and all seeps out so get ready to spoon over the base quickly;) I then chop 2 bananas on top and some whipped cream to finish and then I dust with grated chocolate - LUSH;)

the most expensive thing to buy is the condensed milk at about £1.28, cream about 88p, 2 bananas about 30 - 40 p, digestives 30p - I would say less than £3 in total and easy feeds 6