Singapore Vermicelli

This recipe is adpated from http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3753/singapore-noodles to make use of things I already had to hand, I already had some rice noodles that I got quiet a while back. This is absolutely lovely, and far far better than I have ever had from the local takeaway.

Singapore Vermicelli

Serves 2 as a main meal
Approx cost - £2.20p

Ingredients:

• 150g Rice Vermicelli Noodles
• Vegetable oil
• 2 Chicken Breasts cut into thin strips
• 3 Garlic cloves crushed
• 1 onion, cut into thin half moons
• 2cm piece of ginger, grated
• 3 TSP of curry powder
• 1 TSP of turmeric
• 4 TBLSP of soy sauce
• 2 Chillies finely chopped

Method:

• Trim the chicken breasts and cut into thin strips, place in a bowl, add a little oil and rub over the chicken (this just stops the chicken sticking to each other), and set aside
• Prepare the Garlic, Onion and Ginger and Chillies
• Soak the noodles following the packet instructions and drain and set aside
• Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken until it is browned and just cooked through, and set aside
• Add a little oil to the frying pan and fry the garlic and ginger until light brown. Add the onion and cook until just beginning to soften
• Add the chillies and cook for one minute
• Return the chicken to the pan and add the curry powder and turmeric and cook for a minute.
• Add the noodles and about 2 tbsp water and toss everything together.
• Add the soy sauce and cook for a further 2 minutes

Serve and Enjoy !!!

Deep Fried Crispy Chicken Bites and Mushroom Fried Rice

The Finished Meal

Ingredients:

• 450g of Chicken
• 5 TBLSP of cornflour
• 1 TBLSP of oil
• Oil for deep frying
• 3 TBLSP of oil for frying the rice
• 1 TSP of ground white pepper
• 500g of chilled cooked long grain rice
• 2 TSP of Chinese Five Spice
• 1 Chile deseeded and finely chopped
• 3 TBLSP of soy sauce
• 100g of closed cup mushrooms finely chopped
• Sweet Chillies sauce to dip

Method:

• Heat the oil in the pan used for deep frying, also pre-heat the oven to 160 Degree's C to keep the chicken warm whilst cooking in batches
• Trim the chicken of any fat and cut into bite sized pieces
• Add the 1 TBLSP of oil to the chopped chicken and mix well
• Add the pepper to the chopped chicken and mix well
• Add 3 TBLSP of the cornflour to the chicken and mix well to cover the chicken
• Just before frying the chicken add the rest of the cornflour and mix well
• Add the chicken in batches and deep fry until golden brown and the chicken cooked through
• Remove and keep warm in the oven on the grill rack
• Heat 1 TBLSP of oil in frying pan
• Add the chopped mushroom and the Chinese Five Spice powder and fry on a high heat for 2 minutes
• Add the chillies and fry for another minute
• Add the rest of the oil
• Add the rice and stir well
• Add the soy sauce and stir well to coat the grains of rice, moving the rice all the time, until the rice is cooked through and hot
• Serve with a sweet Chile sauce dip and enjoy !

Chicken with Pasta, Peppers and Cheese Sauce

Today has been a busy day, decorating the kids room, so after nipping out to get some well deserved beers. It is time to open the fridge and work out what we can have for a quick tea.

Inside the fridge, a couple of chicken breasts that have been defrosting have caught my eye. This meal can be so easily adapted to whatever you have lurking in the fridge.

The finished Meal

Ingredients:

2 Chicken breasts cut into bit sized pieces
3 TBLSP of oil for frying
2 peppers diced
2 tsp of dried parsley
1 tsp of black pepper
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
12.5g of butter
12.5g of flour
1/2 pint of milk
80g of cheese
150g of dried pasta

Method

• Add oil to frying pan, add the diced peppers and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes
• Add the chicken, garlic, peppers, pepper and dried parsley and fry, turning occasionally
• In a pan add pasta and cook as per instructions on the packet
• In a separate pan, whilst the pasta and chicken are cooking, add the butter and melt
• Add the flour to the butter and stir in and cook gently for 30 seconds
• Slowly add the milk, a bit at a time, stirring in after every addition to ensure no lumps form
• After adding all the milk, turn up the heat to medium and continue to stir, after the milk comes to the boil and the sauce has thickened slightly add the cheese and stir in until it has melted
• Drain the pasta and return the same pan
• Add the cooked chicken mix
• Add the cheese sauce and serve

Enjoy...

The Chicken and peppers cooking

The finished Meal

Chicken Mushroom and Leek Pie

Whilst it is supposed to be summer in Britain, the weather is not very summery, and today it is like winter. Thinking about what to do for tea tonight on this very wet and wintry day, what nicer than a chicken mushroom and leek pie.

Cost - approx £1.60 per person
Serves 2

Ingredients for the pie filling:

2 Chicken breasts
200g Leeks - washed and finely sliced
160g of Mushrooms - cleaned and quartered
1 TBLSP of butter
1TBSPS of plain flour
1 Pint of chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry :

200g plain flour
Pinch of salt
100g butter - diced
Cold water
3 TBLSP of milk to glaze

Method for the pie filling:

• Trim the chicken breasts and cut into bite size chunks
• Take the leeks, cut them down the middle and wash, then slice
• In a large pan, add the the butter and melt on a low heat, add the leeks and mushrooms stir well and cover and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes to sweat down the leeks and mushrooms, stirring once in a while to stop the from burning.
• Add the flour to the pan and stir in well
• In a frying pan, add a little oil and add the chicken, and on a low to medium heat cook for 5 minutes, you are not looking to brown the meat
• Add the chicken to the pan and mix well
• Add the chicken stock to the pan and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer on a low heat with the lid on for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Taste the gravy in the pan, and add salt and pepper if required
• Get a bowl and a strainer and put the contents of the pan in the strainer and let the gravy strain into the bowl
• Place the chicken, leek and mushroom mix into a pie dish
• Take some of the gravy and add to the pie dish, until it comes about 3 quarters up the mix and set aside
• Put the rest of the gravy in a pan and set aside

The cubed chicken breast

The washed and sliced leeks

The sweated leeks and mushrooms

The cooked chicken - note you are not looking to brown the meat

The filled pie dishes ready for the shortcrust pastry

Method for the shortcrust pastry:

• Place flour and salt in a bowl
• add the butter
• Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs

The flour and butter rubbed in

• Take a tablespoon and start adding the water, one tablespoon at a time, mixing the water into the flour and butter. Repeat adding the water until the dough comes together

The resulting dough after adding the water

• Put the dough in a plastic food bag/cling film and put it in the fridge for at least half an hour

Method of assembling the pie:

• Take the dough out of the fridge and roll out
• Cut a thin strip and brush milk round the edge of the pie dish
• Put the all-round the edge of the pie dish and then brush with the milk
• Place the rolled out lid onto the pie
• Then with a tines of a fork, press gently down to seal
• with the remaining milk brush the top of the pie to glaze
• With a knife, make a few holes in the top of the pie
• Cook for 50 minutes at 220 degrees C and serve

The pie dish prepared ready for sealing with the lid

The pies ready for glazing and baking

The cooked pie

Serve with mashed potato and vegetables, using the reserved gravy.

Grilled Chicken Breast with pecorino cheese with spicy pasta

This is the simplest of all meals , that is made from store cupboard ingredients
Cost: Approx - £1.40p
Serves two

Ingredients:

2 Chicken breasts - flattened
25g of pecorino or parmesan cheese finely grated
390g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of dried basil
2 cloves of Garlic finely chopped
150g of dried pasta

Method:

• Flatten the chicken between 2 sheets of cling film with a rolling pin and season with salt and pepper

The flattened Chicken Breasts

• In a pan combine the tomatoes, pepper, basil and garlic and put on a high heat to bring to the boil with the lid of, once boiling reduce heat and cook until reduced - you are looking to get rid of most of the water - so you are left with a rich like paste
• Put the tomatoes into a blender and blend until smooth - you could miss this step, you jest end up with a chunkier sauce

The Finished Sauce

• Pre-heat the grill, and put the seasoned chicken onto the grill rack, turn occasionally until cooked
• Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the packet instructions
• When the chicken is cooked, put the cheese on top and return to the oven, until melted and bubbling
• Just before serving add the sauce to the pasta and stir in

Serve and enjoy...


The finished meal

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.

Quick and Easy Tea - Sweet and Spicy Chicken Breast Strips with Fried Mushroom Rice

Last night's meal was a great success, not a single morsel left on any of the plates, with fantastic comments for the steak and ale pie.
I needed a quick tea tonight, as we didn't get home until late, and I did not want to arrive home and say "lets order a take-away", most of which ends up in the recycling food bin - as it is not really good food from our local take-away, plus it defeats the purpose of trying to save money and waste on food. So a quick browse on the internet, I came upon what appears to be a rather nice recipe - http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/9811/sweet-and-spicy-chicken.aspx - so credit must go to the cook who posted this, as it is absolutely fantastic.

So I have gone through the bag of chicken breasts I got on my last Tesco's order, and I have taken out the ones with the least weight to use for tea tonight, to use the larger on for something else.

This dish is only quick if you prepare things in advance, i.e. rice cooked, chicken cut, sauce made, chillies, garlic and ginger chopped - all ready just for assembly.

Note - while the recipe below is for two people, the original recipe is for four people.

Cost - approx £1.50p
Serves - 2 people

Ingredients:

For the fried rice:

• 100g of long grain rice
• 1 TBLSP of olive oil
• 150g of closed cup mushrooms - wiped clean and finely chopped
• 3 TBLSP soy sauce
• 2 TSP of Chinese five spice
• 1 medium chilli - deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

For the sauce:

• 1 TBLSP dark brown soft sugar
• 2 TBLSP honey
• 4 TBLSP soy sauce
• 2 TSP fresh root ginger finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 TBSLP hot sweet chilli sauce

For the chicken:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets, cut into 1cm strips
• 1 TBLSP vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Method the fried rice:

Tip - Make the rice ahead of time, as it needs to be cold.

• Cover rice with water
• Bring it to the boil
• Once the water is boiling reduce the heat to as low as possible and simmer until the rice is cooked
• Rinse and drain the rice under cold water
• Store the boiled rice in a food container and put in the fridge

Method for the sauce:

• Mix together dark brown soft sugar, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and hot sauce in a small bowl and set aside

Method for the chicken:

• Trim the chicken if required
• Cut the chicken into strips, place chicken in a bowl, add the oil and mix - the oil just stops the strips sticking together
• Lightly salt and pepper the chicken strips

Cooking the meal:

• Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add chicken strips and brown on both sides
• Pour the sauce over the chicken. Simmer uncovered until the sauce reduces and thickens, 8 to 10 minutes
• Whilst the chicken is simmering, in a separate frying pan, add some olive oil, and add cook the mushrooms for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic, chilies and five spice and cook for one minute
• Add the rice and the soy sauce, and cook on a high heat, stirring all the time until the rice is cooked through and piping hot
• Serve the chicken and the rice, enjoy..

The finished meal

Breaded Pecorino Cheese Chicken Breasts and our Tesco Order for the Week

Our Tesco's order for the week got delivered today - so the blog can really begin.

Tesco charge a delivery fee for bringing your groceries to the door, the off peak delivery charge for today's order is £3.

The aim of the listings below is to try to decrease the build up of food over the weeks and thereby reduce the weekly shopping bill further, by only buying what we need for the week, using up what we have and also reducing the amount of food we throw out.

Food left over from the previous tesco's orders:

• 3 Chicken breasts
• 4 pork shoulder steaks
• 500g of pork sausage meat
• 2 smoked kippers
• Chillies - which I have chopped up and frozen, they are easy to pull apart and use
• 3 eggs
• 1 very very large piece of ginger (I got the order wrong on the weight), so I am going to store it in the freezer cut into usable chunks for when I need it - http://www.wikihow.com/Store-Ginger
• 250g of cheddar cheese
• 150g of pecorino cheese
• 6 Onions
• 250g butter
• 5 bulbs of garlic
• 900g of Trex
• 250g of Halloumi

Things like jam, tomato sauce and store cupboard items I have not included, otherwise the list would go on forever.

Total cost of this weeks food order: £44.32p

Items on this weeks food order:

1 X Savoy Cabbage - £0.76p
2 X Chicken breast quarters - £2.38p
4 X 250g of butter - £4.00
2 X 300g Unsmoked thick cut back bacon - £4.00
2 X 410g Diced beef - £7.00
1 X 400g closed cup mushroom - £0.95p
1 X 943g bagged chicken breast fillets - £9.99p
2 X 350g mature cheddar - £4.00p
1 X 1.065KG pork belly - £5.33p
1 X 2.5KG white potatoes - £1.35p
1 X 1KG long grain rice - £1.39p
2 X Strong white bread flour - £1.75p
4 X loose brown onions - £0.37p
2 X baking potatoes - £0.58p
5 X loose carrots £0.47p

During the week, I will show recipes with what I have done with the food, and see how much I have left over by next Tuesday, and see how much we can reduce the next order by.

Recipe

Tonight we are having breaded pecorino cheese chicken breast with pasta and cheese sauce, as I have a couple of chicken breasts left over from my last order, plus some pecorino cheese lurking in the fridge. This is a very cheap meal, and it can be stretched further if you have young children by halving the chicken breasts after they have been flattened.

Ingredients

Servings for 2 people

For the breaded chicken:

• 2 Chicken breasts skinless and boneless
• 8 TBLSP of breadcrumbs
• 3 TBLSP of finely grated pecorino cheese
• 1 Egg - whisked
• 2 TBLSP of plain flour
• 2 TBLSP of butter for frying

For the cheese sauce:

• 12g of plain flour
• 12g of butter
• 150 ML of milk
• 90 g of cheddar cheese grated

For the pasta:

• 150 g of dried pasta

Method

Method for the breaded chicken:

• Trim any excess fat of the chicken breasts

Chicken breasts about to be trimmed

• Lay a strip of cling film on the work surface, place chicken breasts on the cling film and put another strip of cling film over the top

The chicken breasts covered with cling film

• Take a rolling pin and gently hit the chicken breasts to flatten them out

The flattened chicken breasts

• In a separate dish, mix the grated pecorino cheese and the bread crumbs together

The mixed breadcrumbs and pecorino cheese

• In separate dishes lay out the flour, whisked egg, bread crumbs and cheese mix in front of you for ease

The ingredients ready for coating the chicken

• Take your flattened chicken breasts and dip them in the flour
• Then dip them in the whisked egg
• then dip them into the bread crumbs and pecorino cheese mix
• Melt the butter in a frying pan, and place the chicken into the pan. Note. Set the heat to low-medium, if you have the heat too high the outside will cook before chicken
• Cook the chicken, turning occasionally for approx 20-25 mins or until the chicken is cooked through and the outside nicely browned

The chicken cooking

Method for the cheesy pasta:

The sauce ingredients ready to go

• Put your pasta on to cook as per the instructions on the packet
• whilst the pasta is cooking, in a small pan melt the butter
• Add the flour and mix, over a medium heat and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring all the time

The flour and butter combined and cooked through

• Take the pan of the heat, and add the milk gradually and stir. Note - if you add the milk to fast you will get lumps, so add it bit by bit and stir into the paste
• Once all the milk has been added, return the pan to a medium heat and keep stirring all the time
• Eventually the sauce will thicken
• At this point add the cheese and melt it into the sauce
• Drain the pasta and return it to the pan, and pour the cheese sauce into the pasta and stir to coat the pasta
• Plate up, pouring any remaining butter in the frying pan over the chicken
• Serve and enjoy

The finished meal