Living below the line: three meals and a soup!

Thought I would share before I forget.
It's all rather bits and bobsy  because of being LBTL so please have patience with the muddles.

Meal 1!
Sort of egg fried rice without the egg.
This was inspired by this recipe.  (scroll down to get to Ginger Egg Fried Rice)  However the different ingredients and method mean that I can lay claim to a bit of it myself.

Ingredients:
coconut oil (just a bit and it does make a difference)
a bit of root ginger, finely chopped
a garlic clove
salt
an assortment of vegetables - could be frozen mixed veg  or garden veg or whatever.  I had leeks, parsnips, broccoli (garden), carrot (fresh), peas (1/3 value can).
Chicken stock and bits of chicken.  The latter is optional, I guess, but I had boiled up some free carcasses and this is the stock and the scraped off chicken.  You certainly need stock of some kind.
Salt
100g rice (mine was value because of LBTL)
(I think that was all the ingredients).

Method.
Put the ginger, garlic and a bit of salt in a mortar and grind to a paste with a psetle (OK, so showing off here, you can just flatten it all with the side of a knife, of course).  Set aside.
Wash the rice in a sieve to get rid of some of the starch (if you're using value rice)
Chop the carrot (I used half) and parsnip (mine was from the freezer so was already peeled and cored)) into small dice.
Slice the leek into half rings or smaller
Cut the 'heads' off the broccoli (reserve the stalks for something else, see below)

Heat the oil and gently fry the leek and carrot until starting to soften.  Add the parsnip.  Add the garlic/ginger paste and fry, stirring, until it becomes wonderfully aromatic.
Increase the heat a little and add the rice.  Stir well until rice starts to change colour.  Add the stock and some salt.  Bring to a gentle simmer, no lid, and allow the excess liquid to evaporate away as the rice cooks, adding more water if needed.
When it is nearly cooked, add the broccoli, peas and chicken bits, stir well and continue to simmer until it is how you want it.  Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

The original recipe involved stirring in some beaten egg to become egg fried rice but I didn't as there's already protein in the stock and the chicken bits.

This made enough for two meals for me, a dinner one night and lunch the following day(reheating the rice until piping hot, of course).  It would have been even nicer with some soy sauce and I shall make it again but with different veg!

Cheap tarts! Live Below The Line

After deciding to substitute home made oatcakes for digestives, I am now going to spoil myself with a value jar of lemon curd.  It'll be nice in yoghurt, on porridge, it might even make a nice drink, you never know.

So I thought of lemon curd tarts.  But what to do for pastry as I'm not using butter, etc.  Oil!  (hmmmm?)

So I tried.

Ingredients:
40g SR flour (value)
10g oil (cheap veg oil)
a tiny pinch of salt
a titchy bit of water
a little plain flour for rolling

Put the SR in a bowl and add the salt.
Then add the oil and mix it in with a fork.
Then add enough water to make a dough - very little needed.

Form into a ball and roll out on a lightly floured surface.

Make the tarts the usual way and bake in an oven at 180C until done (about 15 mins).  Cool on a wire rack.

Result:
Well, it's not jam tarts as I remember them as a child but then it wouldn't be, would it? But it's not bad at all, it really isn't and with a dollop of yoghurt on top it's rather scrummy.  My pastry is usually dire and this wasn't which really surprised me.  The mix made five little jam tarts (so it would be three or maybe four normal sized ones) and suffice it to say, they've all gone.
The jam/lemon curd is already costed in.  The flour (value SR) is 1.5p and the oil is 0.5p (a little less for both but I rounded it up.  3p for four rather nice jam tarts.  Definitely a winner!

So that's another thing to make if I can and maybe a treat for the last evening?

Oat Biscuits: Living Below The Line

When I do LBTL I have budgeted for some digestives (value, of course) at a cost of 31p.  They're mostly for having with a smear of soft cheese and a dab of jam for afters and/or snacks.

Then I remembered that I created a recipe for oat biscuits a while ago so looked it up, then found one by googling and compared the two.  In essence they are very simple, although I will be making some frugal changes for LBTL, and I will have them instead of digestives.  At least with mine I will know what's in them, won't I?  That will be a saving of about 23p, huge when you only have a pound a day!  You see, the oats are already accounted for.

Here's the recipe I will use.

200g porridge oats
1 tsp salt
a grinding of black pepper
50 mls oil (in the original recipes this was either butter or EVOO)
a little boiling water

Method:
Put about 3/4 of the oats in a blender (I used Thermione, of course) with the salt and pepper and zizz them until they are fine oatmeal.
Pour into a bowl.
Add the remaining oats and the oil and mix well.
Pour in a little boiling water, enough to turn the oats into a kneadable dough.  Knead briefly.
Turn on the oven to about 160C (fan)
Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and gently roll until about 5 mm thick (or less if you want thinner crackers, it doesn't matter)
Cut into rounds or squares, whatever you fancy.
Place the oatcakes onto a prepared baking sheet (I used a teflon liner) and bake for around 15 mins until they are crisp and a little browned.
Cool on a wire rack and keep in an airproof container.

Notes:
The dough rolls best when it is warm.  If it cools, just pop it in the microwave for ten seconds.
For a finer oatcake, you could zizz all the oats.
I'm just umming and ahing now about what they would taste like if I used some of the syrup from the tinned pineapple instead of water.  Thoughts?

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https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/jmc296

Lamb pate

Not really a pate, more a meat paste made with the slow cooked lamb, but lamb paste doesn't sound right.

Friday's leg of lamb was huge so there was/is a lot of leftovers.  This is what I did with some of it.

Into a blender or mini chopped (depending on how much) put the lamb bits, some butter, some mayo, some redcurrent jelly and some mint (just a bit and it was out of a jar) and then zizz it all together to make a smooth paste.  The amounts are to taste.  I kept zizzing, tasting and adding until it was what I wanted.  I didn't add any salt or pepper and it was fine.  Perhaps some chilli might be tasty or whatever herbs/spices you think go with lamb.  I wouldn't recommend rosemary as it is very hard and might spoil the texture.

It was tasty with fresh bread and butter and I am putting the remains out for our toast this morning..

Recipe: Jack's creamy salmon pasta with a chilli lemon kick

I've just made this and cannot believe how delicious it is for such simple ingredients.

The lemon and the chilli really lift it into something that tingles the tastebuds and makes one wish that the (substantial) single portion was just that little bit more, even though one is full and satisfied - totally stuffed, in fact.

You can find the recipe here, on Jack's site.  It; also in The Book (page 144), just slightly modified.  I used lemon zest as well as the juice, as in the book, the chilli was chilli puree as that's what I had, I added a wee bit of garlic puree and, instead of yoghurt, I used some cream that really did need using up before I have to discard it.  I'm sure Jack would approve.

I will be making this again, without a doubt.  And n ot too far in the future either.  I wonder how it would work with chicken paste.

Jack's Smoky Red Lentil Burgers

Well, I finally got these finished.  I reckon keeping the mixture in the fridge for a day makes them easier to handle and well as allowing the flavour to develop.

I couldn't find the recipe online, just a page that says what ingredients are used.  Better than nothing, I guess so here's the link.
http://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/1248793/smoky-red-lentil-burgers
I also used half a beaten egg to help bind the mixture.  The other half was used to glaze the cheesy scones!  I also used smoked paprika rather than the ordinary kind.
The mixture is very soft and needed flour to prevent it sticking to the working surface or my hands as you can see from the photo but it wasn't difficult.

Anyway, I am pleased to report that I think they are delicious, easy to make using store cupboard ingredients, filling and did I say delicious?

The only issue I have with Jack's recipes is that the portions are so large.  She said that it would make four burgers; I ended up with nine.  OK, so they weren't huge, but they were fine for me.  I had a couple for breakfast with three cherry tomatoes and some chutney and I feel full.  I have seven to deal with so I guess that's lunch with a salad and maybe Beth will take some for her dinner.

If you haven't got the book, go on, treat yourself!

Very cheesy scones

I fancied some cheese scones so I found a nice recipe and off I went.  They are, indeed, very cheesy and most delicious, so here's the recipe in case anyone else has that certain craving for something savoury!

Very cheesy scones

Ingredients

250g self raising flour
55g butter
pinch of salt
good pinch of cayenne pepper (or more to taste) - I actually used dried mustard
100g mature cheddar cheese, plus extra for on top
150ml full fat milk

Method
1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees
2. Sift the flour, salt and cayenne pepper into a bowl
3. Rub in the butter, either by hand, or in a food processor, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
4. Mix in the cheese, then add the milk slowly and mix until you have a soft dough
5. Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and kneed lightly
6. Roll out the dough to approx 2cm thick, cut out the scones and place onto a lightly greased baking tray. Sprinkle the tops with cheese.
7. Bake for 12-14 mins until the cheese is bubbling on top and the scones are browned. Place on a wire rack to cool

The original recipe can be found here