An Easy Saturday - even cooks take it easy

The household kitchen has been working hard this week, and so have I, so no major recipes today as the meals are fairly self-explanatory, as you can see from the photographs below.

The rules and regulations of our household state that weekends begin with a lovely breakfast. In fact the first words out my wife's mouth when she wakes up on Saturday, is "what's for breakfast?". I had a pack of lovely thick un-smoked bacon from a previous Tesco order, so we started the day with buttered toast, topped with bacon and a poached egg, all washed down with a lovely mug of stewed tea.

Breakfast cost approx £1.26p per person
Tea cost approx £1.50p per person

Saturday delight, buttered toast, bacon and poached egg

So for tea (it is tea where I come from), it does not come more simple than a jacket potato with cheese and a seasoned chicken breast quarter. Apart from the few minutes preparation, I can just bung it in the oven and relax. My wife will want cheese on her spud, me I just like it with loads of butter.

It does not get simpler - Seasoned Chicken Breast Quarter and a Lovely Jacket Potato

There is one member of the household, that hasn't been introduced, but who is never too far away, and that is my beloved cat Mr Gonk, who always gets something when I cook. I was a bit disappointed when we took him to the vets recently and they described him as a "COMMON black and white domestic cat", COMMON, there is nothing common about him.

Pancake Breakfast

When I am home at weekend, my Wife always wakes up and the first thing she asks is "What is for breakfast?" As I had used the last of the bacon yesterday, I thought lets use some of the most basic ingredients every kitchen should have and have pancakes.

I was once walking round Tesco's and was staggered to see pre-packaged pancake mix. Staggered why?

• Pancakes are the easiest things in the world made from pure base ingredients
• Pre-packaged pancake mix comes in plastic bottles - not good for the environment
• They cost more than making your own

So I decided that today's blog would go right back to basics and demonstrate how to make great pancakes.

Cost: Approx   £1.11p for 8 large pancakes (or more depending on size of pan)

Ingredients:

• 2 Eggs Free Range
• 1 pint of milk
• 200g plain flour
• pinch of salt

Method:

• In a large bowl sieve the flour and salt
• Add the eggs and blend into the flour with a wooden spoon
• Gradually add the milk stirring so as not to get lumps (the trick is to add the milk a bit at a time)
• Whisk well when all the milk is added
• Lightly grease a frying pan on a high heat, when it is smoking pour in enough batter to just cover the base of the pan
• The pancake is ready to turn when it is easily released from the bottom of the pan
• Turn and cook the other side for a few seconds
• Serve with topping of your choice

The basic ingredients

The mixed batter

Cooking one side of the pancake

Cooking the other side

The finished delicious pancake

Enjoy !



Saturday Morning Breakfast - Simple is always best

Well it is Saturday morning, and what better way to start the day with a simple lovely breakfast to get us ready for the day ahead. We are not great breakfast eaters so Saturday is the only real day we have a hearty breakfast.

What you will find about the food on this blog is that it is not fancy or difficult, but good home cooking that anyone can do, with good, cheap ingredients.

Cost per person: approx 90p

Ingredients per person:

3 rashes of bacon
1 free range egg
Slice of bread - one slice of two day old homemade bread
Olive oil/butter for frying
Course ground black pepper

How?

Note - For simple recipes such as this I am not going to detail the in-depth instructions

Grill the bacon
Fry the bread in a frying pan with olive oil/butter
Fry the egg
assemble
sprinkle with black pepper