A dinner for two . . .

Today is the day I have a friend around for an early dinner.  The challenge is to make a three course meal for £2.50 a head (excluding drinks).
The menu has changed and wobbled around a bit and virtually come round full circle but I have now decided . . .

Starter:  Turkey pate with melba toast and a tomato salsa.  The turkey is what's left from last week's slow roasted leg and will cost around 40p.  The bread is home made and the salsa will be made with home grown tomatoes, home grown chilli and an assortment of other veg - red pepper, onion, etc.  It will cost about 30p

Main:  Lasagne.  it was going to be vegetarian but Morrisons had some lean beef mince at half price.  The pasta will be home made and the veg (I always add a stack of veg to a lasagne: unauthentic it most certainly is but I don't care!) will be from the garden or what I have in the fridge.  The cheese is a rather nice Morrison's mature cheddar and, guess what, was on special and is 5p per 10g.  I haven't costed out the lasagne but I will be surprised if it comes to more than £2.00 in total.  I might have runner beans with that - shocking, I know, but it's MY meal!  :-)  And they're free!!!  And delicious.

Dessert:  Autumnal spiced plums from the freezer.  Around £1.00 for both.  I shall make custard too, home made so very good value.

I reckon it will come to around a fiver in total but have to do the maths more precisely as I make the various bits.

Store cupboard Friday - probably

B:  Toast with blackberry toffee jam
L:  soup, mini-tomatoes, fruit
D:  Something tasty from the freezer.  Can't be bothered to go and look yet!

Not store cupboard Thursday

. . . because I am having a school lunch today.

B:  Toast and blackberry jam
L:  Chicken pie, sweet corn and green beans.  Fruit
D:  er - not sure.  < goes to freezer >   Ah, yes.  I shall fry some chopped bacon and add to is some of my tomato and red better sauce and some cooked pasta - not home made pasta this time as I don't have the time to make it.  Grated cheese would be nice over the top!  And I have fruit in for dessert.

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Store cupboard Wednesday

B:  toast and jam.  Not only do I have bread to use up, I also need to start eating the many jams I so lovingly make!!  So toast and jam is  my breakfast this week and beyond.
L: turkey and chutney pate sandwich, tomatoes, banana loaf, plums
D:  I didn't finish off the pie yesterday to today is the last bit.  Turkey pie, fried beef tomatoes (from dad's plant), fresh pear for dessert

Store cupboard Tuesday

B:  Toast with home made jam (spiced apple cheese and blackberry and apple jam)
L:  Turkey and chutney sarnie, mini tomatoes, banana loaf
D:  The last of the turkey pie (it's been so delicious, another on the 'do again' list, maybe after Christmas), fried tomatoes.

All this turkey talk reminds me, I must keep an eye on Kelly's of Danbury - they should have their Christmas turkeys on order soon!

Slow roasted turkey leg: cheaper than chips

Borrowed from Google Images

You need a turkey leg - a whole one, not just the drumstick bit although I suppose you could do this with the drumstick, it's just that you get a whole load more meat from the complete leg!  The one I got was just over £3.00 and when I consider how much meat it gave me, it's the best value ever.  It's fed the equivalent of six people in a pie and there's still lots left for other things.

Anyway . . .

I chopped a couple of small onions and a couple of rather floppy carrots I found at the bottom of the fridge and put them in a roasting dish.  I then added some water with some chicken stock powder (you could use a cube), some mixed dried herbs, some black pepper and a good sloosh of dry white wine.  I then popped the turkey on top and covered that with some streaky bacon.  Last of all I covered the lot in foil so that it was completely sealed, leaving a bit of a 'tent' at the top for the air to circulate.
Then it went into the oven at about 150C-ish for four or five hours!

When it came out, the meat was just dropping off, it was so easy to strip the bones.  All the leftovers after straining the stock went into the slow cooker with the bones, skin, etc, and some water, for another slow cook to make a bit more stock.

Brilliant value and it was so flavoursome.  I only needed to add some thickening granules to the first stock to make the best gravy ever.  Yet another I shall do again!