Delia's Frugal Food - Novice Needs Help!

Mrs_Jojo

I'm a veggie who cooks for a meat eater a lot of the time, so I cook for the freezer A LOT!

Bolognaise is a favourite and can be turned into Lasagne with the addition of some pasta and cheese sauce....:

Fry an onion & some garlic
Fry the beef
Add a couple of grated carrots (well, this is MSE!) and an oxo cube
Add some tinned tomatoes and cook until all melted in together and looking good
Taste and season.

It is by no means the most exciting meal in the world, but you can add to the seasoning and herbs, turn it into chilli with a little spice, add beans and pulses..... starting with something simple that you can then change and adapt is always a good way to go.... good luck!

Butterfly_Brain

A recipe is a set of instructions and if you read and re-read them before starting the meal you should't go far wrong.
Try getting a copy of Jamie Oliver's Ministry of food from your local library it has instructions with step by step photographs.

mlz1413

Sarah*a being able to look in the fridge and cupboards and know what to cook is a myth or a very set in their ways cook.

Most cooks/mum's/partners ask "what to do you want to eat?" and that's because they want the inspiration.

My mum can throw a load of things together and make a delicious meal, but she can't tell you what she used even if you ask straight away, so there can be no repeats! and she never started out thinking oh look I have XXXX I'll cook such-and-such.

I love cook books, I love being given a receipe looking at the ingredients and thinking oh I've got all of that, I'll cook it today. Or I'll use up those spring onions instead of onions, real oranges can be a slosh of orange juice and chicken can be changed to pork or prawns depending what you have and what receipe you have.

I always choose 'easy' cook books. The receipe and photo of dish all on one page. Prefer the time to prepare & time to cook to be shown. Like the difficultally ratings too but not essential.

I also tend to buy books by country - ie I have Indian cooking, chinese & thai, greek, italian and then a load of spicy/chilli books and some 101 things to do with chicken styles.

Instructions must be in short blocks 4-6 lines so its easy to see what is in each stage.

And I always write on my cook books, ie - 'lovely meal and easy to make' or 'a bit fiddley but worth it'. I've also written 'a bit bland try with extra xxxx if do again' This helps me remember what I thought to a meal and ensures I don't make a meal I don't like twice!

Hope you start to love your kitchen.

Oldernotwiser

I'm on my third copy of Frugal Food, having first bought it when it came out!

We had the Kidney Strogonoff (p114) earlier this week and I make the Cheese Souffle (p 41) about once a fortnight. Other regulars I can recommend are the Sausages in Chilli Sauce (p 130 - really easy and you can leave out the pepper to be money saving), Devilled Pork Slices (p 98) and Chilladas (p183).

I do use other cookery books, of course, but I use this at least once a week and find the recipes really, tasty, easy and cheap.

Happy cooking!

Alwaysthebusybee

I have found watching Jamies dinners really good because he's quick, the food looks edible and there isn't a lot of wasted time if it is wrong - I hate to slave in the kitchen for it to be not edible!! It also gives me loads of ideas of what other stuff i'd like to give a go ....

Please would you mind sharing the pet food recipe? My dog is pretty fussy and is costing us a fortune!! TIA

meritaten

I think the secret to looking in the fridge/freezer/cupboards and then putting together a meal is this...
what is going to be the 'star' of the dish? chicken? meat? fish? bacon? cheese? sausages? choose one
what goes well with it? rice? pasta? potatoes? couscous? and do I have any?
do i have fresh veg or salad to serve with it?
if I can answer all three - thats what is for dinner tonight!
for eg at the end of the week I may only have some cheese and bacon left in fridge. but If I have baking potatoes then its bacon and cheese filled baked potatoes, possibly with a green salad or I may have to raid the tinned cupboard to make a three bean salad!

or

I have a pack of chicken thighs - ok then its either sticky chicken if i have honey and soy or plain roast chicken or if there is some wine its chicken in red wine. or if I have nowt but some tomato ketchup brown sauce worcerster sauce its bbq chicken!
may be served with chips or potato wedges.
again prob a green salad but a tin of sweetcorn is nice with a pat of butter (or if I am really lucky i will have some frozen corn on the cob)!