Sticking my neck in (to the casserole)
While I was working full time, I developed a few staple dinner recipes which could be knocked up easily by someone who has had a 12 hour day in London and come home so hungry they were eyeing up the smaller commuters on the train and wondering if anyone would miss one... I made sure I had a combination of a few of the following on hand at all times: chicken breast, beef mince, sausages, lean beef strips, diced pork, chops. With these and either fresh veg, tinned tomatoes, coconut milk or stock and a few herbs, spices and seasonings I could knock up pasta sauces, curries, stir fry or meat and two veg very easily.
The thing is, those also tend to be the more expensive ways to buy meat - off the bone, trimmed, tender cuts of prime meat that cook quickly and easily.
I still have an emergency pack of mince in the freezer (along with a few ready-made pies) for the evenings when little'un won't stop feeding and husbeast is working late and can't be expected to come home ready to prepare a meal from ingredients that need slow cooking, but I've abandoned the easy cuts of meat this week for something a little different.
Tomorrow night, we have lamb casserole to look forward to - 1kg of lamb neck on the bone (£1.40) along with 500g of lambs liver (£1.30). With a little careful portioning (and dumplings) that should do a couple of nights. It'll also warm the kitchen up nicely and get the oven pre-heated for the bread.
Then there's a nice fat young rabbit (£4 - not the best price, but they only had them already dressed - it's cheaper if you can find them whole and skin them yourself), with which I am going to try out Jamie Oliver's rabbit bolognese recipe. That should produce enough to do an evening meal, a packed lunch for the husbeast, and some for the freezer.
All these require along with the meat is flour, seasoning, herbs, tinned tomatoes, a little pasta or rice, and basic stock\stew veg that I have in the kitchen already. Onions, garlic, leeks, carrots, celery, spuds - nothing fancy/pricey. Unless of course the French market comes back any time soon with their beautiful smoked garlic sold on the string, in which case I shall have to be removed from the town centre foaming at the purse...
As a fallback if anything doesn't work out, doesn't go as far as I hoped or something quicker is needed, there's also Sri Lankan egg curry as a fallback - hard boiled eggs from the hens, along with onion, coconut milk and spices which again, already live in the kitchen.
I may make a variation on Eve's pudding as well, to use up the pears that are going soft in the fruit bowl. Sneaky little blighters...
The thing is, those also tend to be the more expensive ways to buy meat - off the bone, trimmed, tender cuts of prime meat that cook quickly and easily.
I still have an emergency pack of mince in the freezer (along with a few ready-made pies) for the evenings when little'un won't stop feeding and husbeast is working late and can't be expected to come home ready to prepare a meal from ingredients that need slow cooking, but I've abandoned the easy cuts of meat this week for something a little different.
Tomorrow night, we have lamb casserole to look forward to - 1kg of lamb neck on the bone (£1.40) along with 500g of lambs liver (£1.30). With a little careful portioning (and dumplings) that should do a couple of nights. It'll also warm the kitchen up nicely and get the oven pre-heated for the bread.
Then there's a nice fat young rabbit (£4 - not the best price, but they only had them already dressed - it's cheaper if you can find them whole and skin them yourself), with which I am going to try out Jamie Oliver's rabbit bolognese recipe. That should produce enough to do an evening meal, a packed lunch for the husbeast, and some for the freezer.
All these require along with the meat is flour, seasoning, herbs, tinned tomatoes, a little pasta or rice, and basic stock\stew veg that I have in the kitchen already. Onions, garlic, leeks, carrots, celery, spuds - nothing fancy/pricey. Unless of course the French market comes back any time soon with their beautiful smoked garlic sold on the string, in which case I shall have to be removed from the town centre foaming at the purse...
As a fallback if anything doesn't work out, doesn't go as far as I hoped or something quicker is needed, there's also Sri Lankan egg curry as a fallback - hard boiled eggs from the hens, along with onion, coconut milk and spices which again, already live in the kitchen.
I may make a variation on Eve's pudding as well, to use up the pears that are going soft in the fruit bowl. Sneaky little blighters...
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