5 ingredients

cutemum

Hi all,
This is my 1st time posting on OS. I was just thinking back to a food program where all meals were made using 5 ingredients or less. As i, and many others, are trying to cut down food bills I would like to know if anyone has any suggestions. I am terrible at following complicated recipes & so seldom cook anything exciting from scratch. I also hate recipes which have loads of ingredients that you do not have in the cupboard. When I do occasionally buy certain one off ingredients they are wasted and end up in the bin.

Ingredients- bacon, onion,eggs & left over potato:j

1. Fry up onion, bacon & potato
2. Poach an egg
3. Plate up fried food & put poached egg on top

This is a family favourite. Much tastier than it sounds & it is cheap & quick to prepare.

Pink.

Hi cutemum.

Welcome to Old Style. :hello: There's very little I would cook only using a few ingredients because I don't really see the point of limiting yourself like that unless you have to and I enjoy adding odds and ends I have hanging around and using storecupboard items for extra flavour but here are a couple of things I can think of at the moment.

Spaghetti carbonara

spaghetti
4 egg yolks
tub of cream
packet of value streaky bacon

Put the pasta on to cook. Chop then grill or dry fry the bacon until it's crispy. Beat the egg yolks and cream together and season with salt and lots of black pepper. When the spaghetti is ready, drain and add it to the bacon. Pour on the egg/cream mix and stir over a low heat for a few minutes until the egg is cooked. Serve immediately. I prefer this with mushrooms added and topped with parmesan cheese but it's still a tasty filling meal without them. Then use the egg whites to make meringues:

Meringues

4 egg whites
8 oz caster sugar
1tsp white wine vinegar
1tsp cornflour

Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gradually add 4oz sugar (a spoonful at a time) whisking well after each addition.

In a bowl mix the rest of the sugar with the cornflour
Put the sugar all in one go into the egg whites and whisk again until firm and glossy. Spoon onto a baking tray covered in greaseproof paper and cook at 130 - 140 degrees for an hour. Leave until the oven goes cold.

One pot quick and easy 'stew'

mince
onion
carrots
potatoes

Dry fry mince until brown. Add in carrots, onion and peeled quartered potatoes. Season well with salt and pepper. Again I would normally add worcester sauce or a stock cube to this but it's tasty without.

Quick tomato soup

Tin (s) chopped tomatoes or fresh if you have a glut.
stock cube (s)
Basil
garlic

Fry garlic until softened, add tomatoes and cook gently stirring occasionally. Add basil and top up with stock. Season well with salt and pepper and blitz with hand blender before serving. Again I would usually add more storecuboard ingredients (bayleaf, thyme) and cream if I had some in.

Steak baguettes

Frying steak
onions
lettuce
french stick

Flash fry the steak and onions. Season with salt and lots of black pepper. Fill baguettes with lettuce. Add the steak and onions on top of the opened baguette and serve immediately.

Mushrooms on toast

Mushrooms,
butter
cream
bread

Fry the mushrooms in butter until almost cooked. Season with pepper stir in a little cream and cook until the sauce reduces. Serve on hot buttered toast.

Meatballs in tomato sauce

Pork mince
breadcrumbs
onion
tomatoes

Mix the mince with the breadcrumbs and cook in the oven. Fry the onion, add a tin of tomatoes. season well with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the cooked meatballs


Cheats pizza

A couple of slices of bread
tomato puree
grated cheese
sliced peppers

Grill the toast on one side. Spread tomato puree over the uncooked side of the bread. Add sliced peppers, top with grated cheese and pop back under the grill until the cheese is melted.


Others I'm thinking of are poached eggs on toast with grilled tomatoes. Smoked salmon with scrambled egg. Grilled sausages, bacon, egg and tomatoes. Mince and onion with baked potatoes and a veg. Omelettes etc. There must be more, but my mind's blank now.


There's an earlier thread with lots of recipes and ideas that should help you to find more meals with five or less ingredients:

Four MSE Ingredients (Recipes)

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the ideas together.

Pink

soappie

Actually, I have a well used cook book in my kitchen which is called

Best Ever Three & Four Ingredient Cookbook
by Jenny White and Joanna Farrow.

It's well worth buying if you get the opportunity.

BitterAndTwisted

I think limiting yourself to only five ingredients might be interesting for an experiment but not really the way I'd want to feed myself on a permanent basis: life's too short! I have a fairly extensive store-cupboard so I NEVER throw any food away, ever. I can always find something or other to make even the most unpromising-sounding ingredient into something worth eating. I have to, there's no money spare to afford to chuck edible food away.

cutemum

Thanks pink winged you have given some great ideas. I appreciate these for cooking in a hurry or for lunch etc. Sometimes when I get home from work I need to cook something quick for the children. I will definately look at the other thread for other ideas. Sorry there was one similar. I posted this without reading many others threads as i was in a hurry.

Thanks again for ideas.:T

cutemum

I have just read through the other thread which i wish i had read 1st. These will be really useful. Thanks Pink-winged for pointing me in the right direction.