Recipe Collection Thread (recipe board)

a cookbook would be great, full of moneysaving recipes, bound to be popular

I don't know where to post this but i was just bursting to tell you all.. i made the most delicious chicken and spinach pie...

I baked blind some pastry in a pie dish. While this was cooking i heating some left over cooked chicken in a frying pan (i used water not oil) for approx 10 mins then added some chopped up spinach that someone gave me at the allotment today for a further 5 mins. I got rid of the excess water and mixed in some white sauce and then put the chicken, spinach & white sauce in the pie and covered with pastry and cooked gas mark 5 until pastry cooked.

I served it with potatoes, cabbage and peas (all from my allotment) and some 'value' carrots and gravy....it was yummy, even my fussy DD2 ate it.

Anyway, this is probably not new to most of you but i thought i'd share it as it was such a simple but tasty meal.


:T :T :T

I have been looking through these threads for an hour now and I am not getting anywhere. Does anyone have a really nice veggie curry or chilli suitable for grownups? I'm looking for something special rather than my usual 'throw it all in and add some paste' method, and would rather not go down the tofu or quorn route. Help please???

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

how about this one. Butter Bean and Vegetable Curry from Rose Elliot's Better Than Beans (I think that's what it's called)

175g butter beans
3 tblsp oil
1 chopped onion
1 crushed clove garlic
1 tsp groumd cumin
1 tsp turmeric
a little chilli, depending on how hot you like it
2 tomatoes
450g potatoes, chopped - I don't peel them, but feel free
1 1/2 tsps sea salt
2 bayleaves
125g peas or frozen green soya beans

Cook the butter bans until soft, you can soak them first if you like, but I don't generally bother. Or use canned ones. Drain and save the water.

heat oil, add onion and garlic until soft, stir in spices and sizzle for a bit. Add the tomatoes and potatoes and mix well. Stir in 275ml of reserved bean cooking liquor, salt and bay leaves. Put the lid on and simmer until te potatoes are nearly soft, add peas or soya beans and simmer a further few minutes

You can use any beans in place of the butter beans, mung beans worked well

re-reading the recipe, I noticed some notes I had made.

I reduced the amount of potato to 150g, used the 150g frozen soya beans instead of peas and added some extra spices - 1tsp paprika and 1 tsp garam masala

It was really yummy

3 white fish fillets (Iceland frozen variety)
1/2 pint milk
knob butter
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons plain flour
handful jumbo prawns
leftover mashed potato (I had colcannon in the freezer so used that as a topping)
ground black pepper
1 tspn mustard


I have made these in individual ramekins but you can make a full size pie if you prefer

Place 1/2 pint milk in saucepan and add fish and bay leaves
Bring to a simmer and cook until fish is done
Strain milk away from fish and set aside to make white sauce
divide fish and prawns into ramekins

to make white sauce (See videojug here if you are really stuck on making this sauce)
melt butter in a pan
add flour and stir well until it all is bound together (it will look like crumbs)
slowly add milk stirring all the time (I use a whisk as it's easier to make a smooth sauce)
when milk is all added keep stirring until you have a lovely smooth sauce, you might need to add a bit more milk if your sauce is really thick, keep it quite thick to help keep your pie together, custard consistency is about right )
whisk in mustard
season with black pepper ( I don't add salt as I use salted butter)

divide sauce between ramekins and top with mashed potato
press potato to the sides of the ramekin to seal the sauce into the pie to prevent leaks

place in oven at 180oc until piping hot and top is crispy and brown

serve with seasonal vegetables on the side