Al's roasted vegetable pot pie

Use whatever veggies you fancy.  As long as they roast, they can be used.  It would be lovely with some chunks of chicken or other leftover meat.  You don't need anything else on the side; it is filling and absolutely delicious.

This was made for a friend with food allergies/intolerances, hence the lack of things like mushrooms and garlic, but it is very adaptable.

You could use roasted veg leftovers for a Meatless Monday Meal!  Just cut out the first stage.  Leftover gravy doesn't happen very often but, if you had some, use that!

Ingredients to serve 2
one small sweet potato
one carrot
half a smallish leek
one parsnip
one medium onion
some veg oil for baking

for the sauce
Marigold vegetable bouillon*
some thickening granules
a dollop of soft cheese (Morrisons value)
a pinch of mixed herbs

for the pastry
140g plain flour (I used savers as I always do nowadays)
pinch of salt
35g Trex (it needed to be vegetarian - I gather lard makes the best pastry!)
35g butter
a little milk for glazing

Method
Put the oil in a roasting dish and pop into the oven.  Heat the oven to around 180C

While the oven is heating, peel and chunk the carrot and pop into the roasting dish, stir in the oil and roast the carrot for about 30 mins because carrot takes longer to roast that the other veg.
The chunks are to your own liking.  Mine weren't too big.

Peel and chunk the other veg.  Keep the parsnip and sweet potato in water until ready to roast.
Pop the veg in the roasting dish with the carrot.  Stir well until they are all covered with oil and put back in the oven for another 20 to 30 mins until they are all soft.

Then make the pastry.  Rub the fat into the flour and salt until it resembles breadcrumbs.  Add three tbsp very cold water and mix gently until it comes together.  Shape into a ball, wrap and pop it into the fridge for half an hour.

Make the sauce by adding water to a good tbsp Marigold powder in a sauce pan, bring to a simmer, add some thickening granules until it is the thickness you want, then add some soft cheese.  The idea is to get something you can pour over the vegetables, cover with pastry and bake!  Too thin and it will make the pastry wet, too thick and it will be dry and unappetising.  The vegetables do absorb some of the sauce.  I didn't add salt as the stock is well seasoned.

When the vegetables are cooked, spoon them into a couple of oven proof individual dishes (or you can make one larger pie)  Mine were oval, as you can see in the photo, but use whatever you have really!
Pour over the gravy.
Roll out the chilled pastry and cut to the size you need.  I used a third dish as a template so the top fitted exactly.
Top the veg/sauce with the pastry.  Cut a criss cross in the middle and brush over some milk.  I used not to bother but it does make the pastry look tastier.  However, I resent using a whole egg when just a bit is needed so milk it has to be!

Put the dishes on a baking sheet (in case of spills) and bake in the oven at between 180 and 200 C until the sauce is bubbling and the pastry is cooked and a 'golden' brown.  Mine took 40 mins.

I served them in the dishes they were baked in, on a plate.  Nothing else needed.  They were delicious and filling and dead easy!



* Marigold bouillon powder is not cheap, there's no denying that.  However, it is tasty and you can use just what you want rather than having to chop up a stock cube or a stock pot.  I reckon it is better value in the longer term.  Not using it would be penny wise, pound foolish for me!
However, any stock can be used in this recipe.  It's the taste for the sauce that is important.

No knead crusty bread.

The actual recipe is here.
http://mortgagefreeinthree.com/2014/04/no-knead-crusty-loaf-sometimes-it-is-about-the-basics/

Just scroll down until you get to the recipe.
I changed nothing so won't reproduce ingredients, etc, just share some photos.

I didn't take a photo of the original mix but it was not a pretty sight, not confidence inspiring in the least little bit.  Imagine the four ingredients, roughly stirred together.

 Half way through the long rise.  Still not looking wonderful

Shaped into a boule.

Proving.









And after baking . . .

. . . there you go - a rather attractively rustic looking loaf.

 And inside?

Delicious!

And it is pretty frugal too.

I'm going to try a half wholemeal, half granary loaf next.

Frugal: Tomato soup

I've just made this for lunch.  I would estimate that it costs around about 40p to make, so it's pretty frugal.
It makes enough for two and it's nice so, although I have posted something similar in the past, here's what I did.

Ingredients:
a dab of butter
half a smallish onion, peeled and chopped
half a small carrot, peeled and chopped
a 3" piece of celery rib, chopped
(these three were just what was left over from another recipe, hence the vague amounts)
a squidge of garlic puree
1 tsp marigold stock powder
a can of chopped tomatoes
a pinch smoked paprika
a pinch mixed, dried herbs
some pepper
two halves of sun dried tomatoes in oil (the secret ingredient)
a pinch of sugar

Method:
Conventional way
Saute the vegetables in a bit of butter until softening.  Add the garlic puree and mix well.  Cook for another minute.
Add the stock, the chopped tomatoes, swill the can out with some water (about a third of the can) and add that too.  Add the paprika, dried herbs, pepper, sun dried tomatoes and a pinch of sugar.
stir well, cover and simmer until everything is soft.
Blend the soup well, check seasonings and adjust.  I didn't add salt because the stock already has salt in it.

Thermomix way:
Saute the veg and the butter for six minutes on 100, speed 2
Add the garlic puree and give it another minute on the same setting.
Add the stock, the chopped tomatoes, swill the can out with some water (about a third of the can) and add that too.  Add the paprika, dried herbs, pepper, sundried tomatoes and a pinch of sugar.
Cook on 100, speed 2 for 20 mins.
Allow to cool just a bit.
Blend at speed 10 for 1 minute.  Check seasonings and adjust.

I then pushed it through a sieve to get rid of the last little bits of tomato pips but you don't have to.

I will have some for lunch with maybe a little dollop of yogurt or some soft cheese stirred in.

Photo to follow if I remember to take one.

Frugal leftovers: tattie scones

So super frugal it's incredible.  Left over mash, some plain flour, a bit of butter and maybe some seasonings if your mash wasn't already seasoned.

I had mash leftover from making the fish pie (see precious entry).  It was rather nice mash so I didn't want to just chuck it.

From Google Images

I first had tattie scones when we lived in Belfast for four years in the 60s.  Then I enjoyed them when visiting my in-laws who were Scottish.  Home made and wonderful.  So when I wanted to use up this mash, that's what I turned to.

You need some cold mashed potato.  Then add flour in the ration 1 part flour to five parts mash and add very soft butter in the ration 1 part butter to ten parts mash.  Sounds more complicated than it really is.  Weigh your flour and divide it by 5 for the flour and divide it by 10 for the butter.

Bung it all in a bowl and mush it together to a sort of very soft 'dough'.  Add any seasonings you want.  I just added a grating of pepper because the mash had already been seasoned and the butter adds some more salt, of course.  What you're going to do is roll out lumps of it to circles about 3 to 5 mms thick, and cut into quarters.  I had 160g mash and the mixture made two circles cut into eight tattie scones.

Melt a bit of butter in the pan and carefully lay in the scones (they are soft and need careful handling).  Fry on one side until brown, then turn and ditto on the other side.

Not my photo but just how mine looked.

Eat while hot and crispy.  Gorgeous.  I had a poached egg on top of the three pieces I had for breakfast and I don't know when I enjoyed a breakfast more!

I'm unsure if they freeze or not so I am trying it out with the remaining five.  Wrap individually in easy-leave or similar, lay them in some sort of rigid container and freeze.  I suspect I will reheat in a pan but without adding any more butter.  I'll let you know!

The best breakfast porridge ever

Yes, it was, it was gorgeous.  And quite frugal.  And used up leftovers.

What's not to love?

I had some coconut milk left over from yesterday's curry . . . and this is what I did.

Ingredients (no amounts given, sorry) to serve one hungry person
enough porridge oats for one
leftover coconut milk
water to make up the liquid if necessary
pinch of salt
some pineapple bits*
a drizzle of maple syrup

Method
In a saucepan mix the oats, salt, milk and water.  Add the pineapple bits and a bit of the pineapple juice, if you have it.
Slowly heat to simmering, stirring now and again.

Pour into a bowl and drizzle over some maple syrup.

Easy peasy and mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . .



*  I use Savers tinned pineapple from Morrisons which I share into five portions and keep in the fridge.  I add it to yogurt, porridge, into casseroles when appropriate, and so on.  One of my 'wouldn't want to be withouts'.

Easy flatbread

I was very creative today.  I used up loads of veg in a delicious veg curry and I made flatbreads to go with the curry instead of rice.
And then I made a 'picture' of it all.

So here you go - easy peasy flatbread, easy to halve, quarter or whatever, easy to freeze, very nice indeed and courtesy of Jamie Oliver, thank you very much.

Oh - and frugal!  Of course.

Frugal: one large cauliflower

Over a week ago I found a yellow sticker cauli - a HUGE beast, it was - for 60p.
I did mean to use it earlier but real life took over!

Anyway, today I cut off all the florets and blended them into tiny grains and now have six portions of cauliflower rice/couscous to go into the freezer (I googled and it said you can) and I had the stalks and some inner leaves left.

I used them to make rather a delicious soup.

I won't go into what I did - if you look back in this blog, you will see that all my soups are made in more or less the same way - but these are the ingredients.

cauliflower stalks and a few of the inside leaves
an onion
a carrot
an outer rib of celery
some butter (oil would be fine)
a tsp Pataks rogan josh curry paste
a vegetable stock pot
a squidge of garlic
some nutmeg
boiling water
black pepper
three tbsp fat free fromage frais (because it needed using as it's well past its date but is still OK), added at the end
(and I added a little salt at the end after zizzing, adding the fromage frais and tasting)

It's made at least four portions, might be more when I portion it out for the freezer.

Now that's what I call frugal!  :-)

Frugal: The Fabulous Baker Brothers' burger baps

The dough felt very solid but the rolls came out wonderfully soft, fluffy and delicious.
They're very frugal - I use Aldi strong flour and didn't do the egg wash/sesame seed thing (I rarely do!) and they came out as just over 5p each.  I thoroughly recommend them.

Here's the link.
http://www.mytaste.co.uk/click/index/589553/thiscotswoldgirl.com

Now I have to plan in some burgers/bacon butties, etc . . . oh, the hardship!

Frugal: lemonade and lime

This isn't a recipe, it's way too simple, but it is very nice so I'm posting it.

All you need is some chilled lemonade (I use Aldi's basics diet lemonade, curretly at 17p a bottle) and some lime juice (I have Morrison's lime juice, 79p a bottle).  Some ice is also nice but not essential, ditto for slices of lime.  You could use lemon juice instead.

Just pour out the lemonade, shake the bottle of lime juice well and add about 10 mls to the lemonade, mix well, add any garnishes and Bob's your uncle!

It's very refreshing.

Recipe: Plum Jam

I reckon plum jam, basic plum jam, is just about the easiest jam to make.  It's quick, doesn't require any clever fiddle-faddles and tastes scrumptious.  I love it on still warm, freshly baked bread or on toast.

It can be a very frugal recipe when there's a glut of plums in the shops and the punnets are reduced.  Not as cheap as value jam but there's just no comparison in flavour and in texture.  Give me home made any day.  if you have a kindly neighbour or friend who shares with you the produce of their fruit tree, then it's the most frugal thing in the world, even after handing some little pots of jam back as a thank you!

Ingredients:
Some good plums (by that I mean not too many bad bits as they have to be cut off)
Sugar.  I use jam sugar if I have it but ordinary is fine because plums are high in pectin and the jam will set.
A bit of water
A squirt of lemon juice.  This helps the set and it's not really necessary with plum jam but belt and braces!!
A knob of butter

You also need some clean,. hot jam jars with lids or some of those cellophane tops.


Method:
Put the clean jam jars on an oven tray and pop into a warm oven.  Not too hot or the jars might crack.
Put two saucers in the fridge to cool (if you use that method to test for set)

Prepare the plums by cutting round the stone one way and then the other so that when you twist the plum open it is in quarters.  Discard the stone and any bad bits.  Weigh the prepared fruit - that's how much sugar you will need.
Place in a large pan, add a splash or two of water and simmer until the fruit is soft.

Take the pan off the heat, add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved.  Stir in the lemon juice if using
Place the pan back on the heat, bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes, skimming off any scum.  I find plum jam sets quickly so I do my first test after five minutes and it is almost always ready.

When it has reached setting point, remove the pan from the heat, skim off any large amounts of scum and stir in a knob of butter to disperse the rest.

Pour the (very hot so be careful) jam into the hot jam jars.  Screw the lids on firmly.  Leave to cool and label when cold.

I used golden yellow plums this time (love that colour) but greengages make a wonderful jam and those dark purple plums work well too.  Use what you have.  Just before Christmas I add a star anise to the simmering mixture which imparts a wonderful spiciness which goes well with pork, ham or turkey in a sarnie or on the plate.

If you want a smoother jam, just push the soft fruit through a sieve or a mouli before adding the sugar.  You will need to reweigh to determine how much sugar you need.

Recipe: best ever soda bread

I have a friend who cannot eat yeast based products so when she comes to stay I either buy or make soda bread for us.
She was with me this weekend, supporting me through an emotional time.  She has responsibility for Student Support in the OU Students' Association, and she does a great job.  Words cannot say how grateful I am to her for this weekend . . .

This weekend I adapted my soda bread recipe a bit.  I cut down on the liquid (because last time the dough was very soft and flattened) and used strong flour instead of ordinary.
Her comment was 'This bread is very good' or words to that effect (and it was) so I have annotated my recipe accordingly.  Sorry, no photo . . .

Here it is.

Ingredients:
400g strong flour (I use 200 white and 200 wholemeal)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250 mls buttermilk (because that's how Morrisons sells it) - although I now use yogurt
50 mls milk

Method.
Ten minutes or so before, turn the oven on to 230C so that it is hot when you mix the ingredients because it is literally a couple of minutes, if that.

Bung the ingredients into a bowl and mix well.  Knead briefly but not too much
(I used Thermione and used the knead function for about 15 seconds after mixing it together for about 10 seconds).
Shape into an oval loaf shape.
Place on a baking sheet (I put a teflon sheet on first).
Make several deep diagonal slashes across with a sharp knife.
Bake in the hot oven for 15 mins, then reduce the heat to 180C and bake for another 25 mins or so.

Cool on a wire rack.

It is absolutely gorgeous still warm with butter and a good flavoured cheese and home made pickle or a home made jam or curd.

It dried out quickly and then it toasts well and is great with scrambled egg.

If you want to freeze it, you can - wrap it well as soon as it is cool or, even better, individually slice and wrap.

Even when using strong flour (from Aldi, 75p for 1500g), it is a frugal and delicious bread.  Go on - have a go!

Recipe: fruit bread

I take absolutely no credit for this one whatsoever in that it came to me from Thrifty Lesley, via Pat Parker, in the 'Feed yourself for a pound a day' page on Facebook.  If you want to be more frugal with your cooking, eating and shopping, that is the page for you.  It's brilliant.
And Lesley has a great web site which I have mentioned before in this blog.  http://www.thriftylesley.com/  Ditto as far as brilliant frugal ideas is concerned.

I whole-heartedly recommend both places to you.

I made this.  It is a proper bread, not a cakey or puddingy version, substantial and wholesome.  It is truly delicious and, when it dries a bit, as bread is wont to do, it will toast like a dream.  The list of ingredients looks long but it isn't really, it is all stuff you will have in, if you bake.  If you don't - go on, try it!  It can be addictive.

Here is the recipe.  I've given half amounts that work perfectly with a 1 lb loaf tin.  Choose your ingredients wisely and it is a frugal treat.

Ingredients:
200g strong white flour
1 tsp sugar
1.5 tbsp oil (veg or sunflower - or you can use 37g butter)
half teaspoon salt
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 medium egg
50 ml milk
50 ml water
half tsp dried yeast (the kind for for bread makers)
70g mixed dried fruit.  I used some cranberries that were drying up and some value mixed fruit.  Any dried fruit would do and you can also vary the spices you use.  I am wondering about garam masala . . .

The Thermomix method

Put all the ingredients apart from the dried fruit into the bowl.  I added flour first, then the rest.

Knead for 10 mins.  Add the dried fruit and reverse mix on 3 for a short time until the fruit is evenly dispersed.

OR:

Place all ingredients into a bowl, mix well and knead on a floured surface for ten minutes or so.

Shape by hand into a loaf shape and place in a 1 lb loaf tin.  Cover with cling film.   It may seem quite heavy and I found it needs longer than the usual time to rise.  Give it all the time it needs.  If you are short of time or make it overnight, pop it in the fridge.  Just go with the flow . . . talk nicely to it!

Preheat the oven to 230C.  As soon as the loaf goes in, reduce the heat to 180C.  It takes about 30 to 35 minutes to bake.

So, so delish!

Frugal and simple: Egg topping

Borrowed from Google, with thanks.

There's absolutely nothing special about this one - everyone knows it but it is worth remembering the old and simple ideas from time to time.

Makes enough for two.

Hard boil two eggs.
Peel them.
Mash them with some mayo (or I rather like it with good, old fashioned salad cream too).
Add seasoning (remember the mayo has salt).
Add herbs: fresh, chopped chives work well.
It's nice with grated cheese but becomes less frugal

Either cover and chill till needed or eat straight away.
Good for sandwiches, to top crispbread, in a delicious fresh roll or on soda bread, on a pile of shredded lettuce with a side salad, mixed with prawns on lettuce as a starter, etc.

As I say, nothing unique but jolly tasty, especially on these hot days!

Frugal: soft cheese

I got this recipe from Faith Archer's blog 'Much More with Less' and she got it from Ceri Jones' blog 'Natural Kitchen Adventures' (scroll down to find it).  It is a very easy way of making a soft cheese using natural yogurt.

I won't reproduce the ingredients or the method as it is only one click away.  Well worth a look.

I made this yesterday and it was dead easy.  The cheese that results is soft and fresh tasting and very delicious.  I wouldn't call it cream cheese because I used skimmed long life to make the yogurt but next time I will use full fat long life and see if it makes a difference.

Suffice it to say, as I said on my diary blog, I won't be buying much soft cheese from now on, I will be making it as it is so very easy and way more frugal than even the supermarket value soft cheese when I use my own home made yogurt.  Using supermarkey 'value' yogurt, it is still better value.

Now all I have to do is find out what to do with the whey!  I wondered about bunging it is my next bread dough.
Any ideas?

Frugal flatbread

I wanted to make some flatbread to go with
a)  some hummus for my lunch and
b) a chickpea korma for dinner
so I googled around and made this.

Ingredients to make four not terribly large flatbreads (or two bigger ones, if that's preferred)
100g SR flour (Morrisons savers, 3p)
10g veg oil (Aldi veg oil 1p)
25g yogurt  (used home made, 1l for 49p so well under 1p)
cold water
seasoning, if wanted - salt, pepper, garlic, bit of chilli, whatever!

Method:
tip the flour, oil, yogurt and seasonings into a bowl and mix.  Add water bit by bit until a dough forms.  If it's too sloppy, add a bit more flour.  If it's too stiff, add a bit more water.
Lift the dough onto a floured surfqce and knead for a couple of minutes.  I did 100 stretch and folds which seemed about right.
While you are kneading the dough, heat a pan to upper medium heat.  No oil needed.
Divide the dough into four equal bits.
Shape and roll each bit out.  I rolled mine quite thin and they puffed up nicely when dry frying.  Shape doesn't matter but a sort of circle will fit in your pan better.
Cook one at a time, around a minute on each side, until each side has just started to brown.

Either eat immediately or this is what I did.
I cut two into strips and bagged to take with me to work.  They will be nice with the hummus.
The other two I placed in a poly bag, sucked the air out and tied the top in a knot so it's a sort of gentle vacu-pack, which should keep them fresh.  I will have them tonight instead of rice with my chickpea korma.

Really, really easy and most satisfying to make.  Good for kids to make (supervise the cooking part) and you could use cookie cutters to make different shapes, re-using the cut off bits to roll again.

Cost:  between 1p and 2p each, if you make four.

Frugal: a sort-of-vaguely-like-tempura batter

It's been a long time since I had anything in tempura batter but I do remember it a little and this, though nice, was different.  However it was still nice - crunchy and very light.  Unfortunately, it was/is rather oil laden so not one to do all that often.

It only took storecupboard ingredients and was very frugal.  Most important, it tasted good (I thought), so here it is.

Mock-tempura batter.

Wait until everything is ready because once made it has to be cooked and once cooked it has to be eaten.

Ingredients
quarter cup of SR flour (I used Savers so it cost pence - slightly over one, in fact)
quarter cup of icy water.  I put some water in the fridge before hand with an ice cube..
some salt
a dash of oil.  I used veg but garlic or chilli oil would be good.

oil for frying - I didn't put loads in the pan but more than I would usually use.

Method
Have the food you are coating ready (I used fish - a basa fillet that I cut into 'fingers') and have the oil heating in the pan.  If it will take more than one batch, have a plate warming in the oven.  I also had a piece of kitchen towel on the place.
Put the flour and salt in a bowl, add the water and whisk together.  You want a thick-ish but still pourable batter that will adhere to the fish (or whatever).  Add a dash of oil and mix in.

That's the batter done.  Then . . .
Pop in the fish, veg or whatever and mix well.
Test the oil by adding a bit of batter.  It should sizzle immediately and cook quickly.
Using kitchen tongues or similar, add each piece to the pan (don't over fill or the oil will cool).  Watch them sizzle and fry.  After a short time, turn them over (if you are deep frying, that isn't necessary).
When cooked and if necessary, remoe from the pan onto kitchen towel on a warm plate and keep warm in the oven.

Serve and eat straight away.  I had it with a salad and some mayo.
I wonder how it would be if it was baked in a hot oven.  Must try it - but not this week!

Frugal: Jack Monroe's peanut butter bread

. . . which she calls 'cakey-goodness bread' and which can be found here .

I think you can usually tell from the dough and this recipe made the most gorgeous dough.  Of course, I changed it a bit to fit with what I had.

I used strong wholemeal flour as what I have is cheaper than the ordinary wholemeal I have (good old Aldi!) and I used peanut butter from a jar because I have some and I don't have peanuts and have no wish to buy any (because I will only scoff those I don't use in the recipe).
Also I had to use a bit of sugar to activate the yeast.

I made half quantities as it was the first time of making.

So the costing is:
50g peanut butter  7.5p (I got the peanut butter via approved foods and it was smooth)
100g savers plain flour  3p
100g strong wholemeal flour 5p
oil 1p
half a tsp yeast   around 2p
salt, sugar a tiny amount and rounding up some of the above more than covers that`

So the whole thing is under 20p for an extremely tasty loaf.  I've had a rounded bit and MUST get it into the freezer sliced before I scoff the lot.  And I must remember I cannot take it to school for lunches!

If you like bread you will love this.

Frugal: bubble and squeak patties

I will confess straight away that I have no idea whatsoever how much these cost and quantities are pretty (very) vague.  They are nice and worth making again.

They came about because I had some frozen sprouts that I really didnt like and was about to throw away but couldn't bring myself so to do.

I chopped up a small onion and sauted it in veg oil.  I sliced the sprouts when they had thawed a but, discarding the base and added them to the oil.  Then they simmered gently away for about ten to fifteen minutes.
I tipped them into a bowl and added the last of some instant mash.  I'm not sure how much but it wasn't an awful lot.  I stirred it round and then added boiling water, just a bit, until the potato reconstituded but was quite stiff.
When it had cooled I added some grated cheese (from the freezer and I had bought it reduced) and I did weigh that.  40g.  I added a little bit of salt after tasting.
I made some fresh breadcrumbs, formed the mixture into patties and gently pressed them into the breadcrumbs to cover them.

Four are not in the fridge for Sunday dinner for me and Beth and the remaining three are in the freezer.  because I have no idea how much they cost, I am calling it 10p per patty.  I know it won't be more.
Tomorrow I will fry them in a little oil.

Update.  Absolutely gorgeous but ended up more like fried potato as the patties did not hold their shape, probably due to the cheese.
.
One to do again!

Frugal recipe: tortillas/tortilla chips

There are recipes all over the place for these so I won't post a link, just tell you what I did

I'll probably cut them a bit smaller next time!

To make the flour tortillas
Ingredients:
200g SR flour
1/4 tsp salt
150mls warm water
some veg oil for 'frying' (you don't need a lot, I used under 1 tbsp)

Method.
Put all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl, mic it together and then knead for about 3 mins.
Or do what I do and bung it in a mixer which will do all the hard work for you.  Thermione took 2 and a half minutes to come up with a lovely soft dough.
If it's just too sticky, add a bit of flour.

On a floured worktop, separate the dough into four equal(ish) balls.  Roll each ball out to a sort of circle (exact shape doesn't really matter) about the size of a dinner plate, as one recipe said.  More realistically, about the size that will fit into your biggest frying pan.  You can make more smaller ones, of course, and I think I will do that next time because they would be easier to handle before the frying.

Brush your pan with oil and heat to a medium heat.  Cook each tortilla for one minute each side until the raised bits are just starting to brown.
I cooked a little bit separately and they are lovely eaten straight away, still soft, maybe with a chilli or curry, as a flatbread.

However, this is what I then did.

I cut one tortilla into 8 wedges (as one would cut a cake or a pie), brushed each wedge over with a little more oil, popped them onto a baking sheet (I use a non stick liner on the baking sheet) and bake at around 160-ish for around ten minutes until the edges are browning.  They go lovely and crunchy and would be brilliant with a salsa, a dip, hummus or just as a crunchy snack or as a very thin cracker spread with soft cheese and chutney (just before eating or they would go soggy, I think).
You could brush them with a flavoured oil to create more flavour.  I just sprinkled on a bit of salt.

I think they would be nice if fried in oil but the calories would go through the roof and actually I prefer the 'cleaner' taste of baked anyway.

I think they would keep in a tin - I'm afraid I have just motored my way through the eight I made so have no evidence to offer!

The other three tortillas?  Well, once I knew the baking bit worked, I cut the others into wedges and froze them in eights.  When I want them I will take some out, thaw them, brush them with oil and bake as above.

Cost?  Not allowing for oven heat (and I will try my halogen oven next time or pop them under a medium grill and watch them like a hawk!) they are incredibly frugal.

The flour was 6p, the salt was negligible, the water was zero and the oil was about 3p, allowing 30 mls, of which I didn't use all.  So that's 9p for four large flour tortillas or 32 baked tortilla chips.  Can't be bad, can it?

Frugal: fish finger sarnie

OK, so not really a recipe, just a put together but, oh my, how I enjoyed my lunch yesterday.  It was delicious so I thought I would share.  Yes, it's a dive back to my children's childhood but so tasty I could have eated double (but didn't).

Ingredients:
3 fish fingers (mine were Bird's Eye not-cod fish fingers, £1.00 for 14 on special)
2 chunky slices of home made bread - small 1lb loaf so the slices were just the right size.
bit of butter
bit of oil
bit of salad cream.
A little sprinkling of sea salt

Method
I brushed oil over the fish fingers and fried them on a low, medium heat until the outside was a bit crunchy.
I scraped some butter over the bread - you don't need a lot and the bread was very fresh.  Then I spread a little salad cream over the butter.  Not Mayo, I wanted some of the vinegar flavour that you get in salad cream.  I use Morrison's Savers!
Then I laif the cooked fish fingers side by side on one slice, sprinkled them with a little sea salt, put the other slice on top, cut it in half and devoured it while still warm.

Gorgeous!