Cheapest recipies.

Stephen_Leak

EGG FLOWER SOUP

Also called Egg Drop Soup, but Egg Flower Soup sounds nicer. I also love the simplicity of this dish. Just two cheap, simple ingredients and some water and you’ve got a classic Chinese dish! I shudder to think what they’d charge you for this in a posh restaurant.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1 egg
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
500ml of water

METHOD

Break the egg into a bowl and pick out any bits of shell. Mix up the egg.

Put the stock cube and water to a saucepan on a medium heat. Mix thoroughly. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering).

Remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour the egg into the soup, stirring gently all the time and in one direction to form ‘strings' of cooked egg.

Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Egg Flower Soup is meant to be bland, as you don’t want to overpower the flavour of the egg. However, some simple additions are possible. Make any additions before pouring in the egg.

Add a slice of fresh ginger, finely grated. Add some frozen peas. Add a few drops of sesame oil or light soy sauce. Add ¼ of a teaspoon of sugar.

Thicken by adding 1 tablespoon of cornflour, mixed with 60ml of water.

Garnish with some finely chopped spring onion.

TIPS

Use fresh eggs at room temperature. There is no need to keep eggs in the fridge.Keep them in a cardboard egg box in a cool cupboard.

faerie~spangles

TBH I've never costed any of the meals I cook.

Yesterday was 4oz minced beef, three largish potatoes cubed, three skinny carrots cubed, one beef oxo, one beef Knorr cube, some dried rosemary, one sliced clove of garlic.

Served with half of a small savoy cabbage sauteed in butter, bacon and garlic.

Stephen_Leak

GARLIC & OIL PASTA SAUCE (AGLIO E OLIO)

Sometimes, less is more.

Enough for pasta for 2

INGREDIENTS

2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of olive oil

METHOD

Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces.

Put the oil into a frying pan on a moderate heat. Add the garlic. Fry the garlic for about 5 minutes until it is golden brown. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Serve with pasta.

Cut the garlic into thin slices and remove it after cooking.

Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.

Add 25g per person of fresh parsley. Wash, shake dry and finely chop the parsley. Add the parsley just before serving.

For Aglio e Olio Pepperoncino, add ½ a teaspoon per person of chilli flakes.

PS. I have seen Aglio e Olio Pepperoncino on a restaurant menu for £8.50!

faerie~spangles

^^^ I could eat that for breakfast, lunch and tea^^^

except for the amount of oil:o

Oh and I'd need to add chilli.

Stephen_Leak

PEA SOUP

Makes 2 x 250ml servings

INGREDIENTS

250g of peas
1 vegetable stock cube
500ml of water

METHOD

If you are using dried peas, soak them in water according to the instructions on the box. If you are using tinned peas, open the tin and drain off the water.

Put the peas, stock cube and water into a saucepan on a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering).

Put the lid on the saucepan and continue cooking until the peas are soft. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy. If you used a food processor, rinse out the saucepan and put the soup back into the saucepan.

Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

You can use dried, fresh, frozen or tinned peas, either on their own or in any combination. Dried peas need to be soaked in advance. Tinned garden and marrowfat peas come in water and the drained weight of a 300g tin of peas is 185g, so use two tins and 750ml of water and make 3 servings.

You can also make this as pea & ham soup, using the cooking water from a boiled ham or bacon oint.

TIPS

Pea soup can be any consistency from a thin liquid with soft peas floating in it to a thick paste you can stand the spoon up in.

HISTORICAL NOTES

Pea soup was very popular in the poorer parts of Victorian London and was known as “London Particular”. It was easy to make, cheap, filling and also difficult to adulterate. And, of course, it gave its name to the “pea-soupers”, the thick yellow-green fogs (or, more correctly, smogs) caused by the burning of sulphurous coal.

katieowl_2

When there is next to nothing left... Potato and onion soup, I make it very thick and creamy with some milk, and stock cubes, and put some dried thyme in it, and a bit of parsley or chives if I have some or the chives are up in the garden. It's cheap as anything and very filling, and also tasty - you don't feel hard done by.

Kate

stokelady

Onion Soup- for me ! Just chop and sautee a large onion, add some boiling water and a couple of stock cubes - simmer until onions are soft and serve with some bread- Mmmmmmm

FairyPrincessk

It depends on what you keep in your store cupboard. This is my current favourite--but if you didn't have the seasonings in it could get expensive. If we're approaching 0 on the grocery budget that week then we forgo the yoghurt and coriander if we don't already have it in. still tastes great!

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/333614/red-lentil-chickpea-and-chilli-soup

Raksha

Cheese and onion bread and butter pudding was always a fav - make as for a sweet B & B pudding, but leave out the sweet things and substitute grated cheese (strong cheddar - you use less) and some sweated off onion. If you can stretch to it - a bit of bacon goes nice too.

My other fav is a pearly barley, onion, carrot and leek dish done in the slow cooker, can be topped with cheese if you like.

Memory_Girl

Dal and rice with HM yogurt and HM chapatti.

Works out at 17p per porton - loads of ethnic dishes are pretty cheap to make.

MG