Brined pork chops with crushed sage and apple potatoes

One of the biggest challenges of cooking on a budget is making cheap meat taste good. It can of course be done by long slow cooking but you don't always have the time. One solution, which works particularly well with pork chops is brining - leaving the meat in a lightly spiced salt and sugar solution* for several hours (although I suppose that takes a fair amount of time too. Or forethought at least). I'm sure the health police will get me for this but I have to say it makes a world of difference turning bland, tasteless, sometimes slightly tough cuts into tender, tasty but not overly salty ones. Give it a try.

Both recipes - the crushed potatoes make a really good accompaniment - serve 4

For the chops

75g coarse sea salt
40g unrefined granulated or caster sugar
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp juniper berries
a few allspice berries or a pinch of ground allspice
2 bay leaves
4 pork chops
2 tbsp light olive oil or sunflower oil
25g butter
Freshly ground black pepper

Measure out 1.5 litres of water into a saucepan. Add the salt and sugar and heat gently until both are dissolved. Add the peppercorns, juniper, allspice and bayleaves stir and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes then remove from the heat and cool.

Lay the chops in a single layer in a roasting tin or baking dish, pour over the brine and leave for 12 hours in the fridge. Preheat the grill to high. Rinse the chops and pat them dry with kitchen towel. Heat the oil gently and add the butter. Put the chops in a grill pan, brush generously with the oil and butter mix, season with pepper and grill for 6-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chops. Turn over, brush the other side with the oil and butter mixture, season and grill for another 6-8 minutes. Rest in a warm place for 5 minutes. Serve with the sage and onion spuds below
You can obviously also fry the chops which is what I did tonight.

For the crushed sage and apple potatoes

600g washed new potatoes
3 tbsp light olive oil or sunflower oil
1 bunch of spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1 medium eating apple (e.g. Blenheim or Cox)
A small handful of sage leaves, woody stalks removed
Salt and pepper (white for preference)

Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 8-10 minutes or until just tender. Drain and cool slightly. Heat a large frying pan and add the oil and heat for about 2 minutes. Add the onions, apple and sage and stir fry for a minute then slice the potatoes into the pan. Crush the potatoes with a wooden spoon or fork and fry for about 7-8 minutes, turning the mixture every couple of minutes until it's lightly browned Season well with salt and pepper

* This recipe originally came from my book Meat and Two Veg. Looking at it through more frugal eyes I can see that the spices in the brine might be a bit of an outlay if you don't already have them although you can get allspice quite cheaply from afro-caribbean grocers and juniper berries from health food stores and both last a good while. If you haven't got them don't fret just add a few more peppercorns.

The new Frugal

Those of you who have been following this blog for a while may like to know that a new edition of The Frugal Cook has just been published. And for others who are coming across it for the first time I’d just like to say a bit about the approach I took in the book.

I got a bit of flak when the first edition was released for not concentrating enough on traditional recipes. One reviewer asked why I didn’t focus more on cuts like hearts, tripe and pilchards (because I don't much like them, is the honest answer). Another said “If the author thinks this is frugal she should have a word with my mother who cooked her way through the Second World War both domestically and running a night canteen for firefighters”. But that was nearly 70 years ago, I need hardly point out. Tastes have changed.

What I tried to do was create a budget cookbook that took account of the fact that people had less time, most probably less cooking experience and and access to a much wider range of ingredients. So there are Asian dishes like this Chicken broth with Coriander and Noodles (above) rather than an old fashioned chicken soup and a frittata rather than an omelette (below). There are meals to cook in bulk and make ahead (Basic Bolognese) as well as ones to rustle up from the storecupboard (Linguine with Stilton and Onions is a treat if you've got a piece of Stilton in the fridge)


There are tips for salvaging often discarded ingredients like spinach or broccoli stalks (Stalky Spinach, Pea and Mint Soup) or the leftovers from a barbeque (Chargrilled Chicken, Pepper and Herb Couscous Salad). And ones for cutting down the cost of family favourites like my Frugal Fish Pie. In fact there are tips for substituting ingredients and saving money throughout.

There are also treats - would I deprive you of treats? - like Empress of Puddings (a poshed up version of Queen of Puddings based on humble eggs, breadcrumbs and frozen berries as well as jam) and good old profiteroles. Who doesn’t love them?

In short there’s something for everyone whether you’re living on your own, feeding kids or entertaining friends and some lovely pictures (by Mike Cooper and Genevieve Taylor) to inspire you. At £9.99 - less than the original edition - it's cheap enough to treat yourself and a good gift for a friend. End of sell!

PS if you want to buy the new illustrated edition make sure it’s the one with the red cover not the green one!

How does Sainsbury’s Feed Your Family for £50 campaign stack up?

Can you feed your family healthily for £50 a week? That’s the question Sainsbury’s is posing in an expensive new advertising campaign which is plastered all over the papers today.

Obviously they wouldn’t be spending this kind of money if they didn’t think it would be profitable for them but could you stick to the Sainsbury’s meal plan which you can find on their website here?

I was one of three food writers The Guardian asked to contribute to the debate - in the ‘yes you can’ camp. As the comments below the posts from readers show it is doable though I have reservations as to how many families who are not already living on that kind of budget could manage. As I said in my post it’s not only a question of what you buy but whether you can persuade your family to eat it - and to eat round the table at the same time. And how used you are to cooking meals from scratch.

Now that I’ve seen the meal suggestions in detail I have to say it looks more appealing than I thought - a good deal better than the details one reader posted by mistake from a similar Sainsbury’s offer that was made several years ago which included bought meat pies and canned beef and vegetable soup.

Whoever has devised the plan has managed to cram a surprising amount of fruit and veg into the weekly budget though I haven’t scanned it in enough detail to see how they’ve worked out the costings. If they’ve costed carrots for example pro rata they must be assuming that people would by them loose which I’m not sure the majority would do. It’s managing to use up the food you buy that really saves you money.

There are also some imaginative suggestions. Whizzing up bananas with your breakfast milk to make a banana flavoured milk to pour over your cereal is a great idea as is sprinkling cheese on bread crusts and grilling them to make cheesy croutons for a tomato soup.

There are some surprisingly unfrugal suggestions though like putting on the oven just to roast some tomatoes for breakfast, using ready-made tomato and stir fry sauces rather than making your own with a can of tomatoes or using soy sauce and failing to use the carcass from Sunday’s chicken in some way to make a meal for Monday or Tuesday.

I’m not sure it stands up from a health point of view either. Recommending toast and jam as a suitable breakfast for hungry teenagers three days a week doesn’t seem particularly good advice. In fact I’m not sure how a strapping teenage boy would survive on these relatively meagre rations. And surely it would be better to serve more veggie options than dish up cheap frozen sausages twice a week?

There are also many ingredients that you could buy cheaper than the price Sainsbury’s is charging for them. Most market stalls and a fair few shops would charge less than 80p for a cucumber, for example.

Obviously the week’s plan will come in on budget if you stick to it - but that’s a big if. My guess is that Sainsbury’s is hoping that you won’t.

What do you think of Sainsbury’s menu plan? Do you reckon it’s possible to feed a family of four for £50 a week and what would be your best tips for economising?

Remember lettuce?

I've been in the south of France for the last few days where we're lucky to have a fantastic fruit and veg shop down the road. The most impressive bit is the salad section which generally has 5 or 6 different kinds of lettuces - all local and really fresh.

This particular one cost 70 cents - 62p at the current rate of exchange - and is easily enough for a green salad for six. At home it would cost twice that to buy a bag of mixed leaves for two.

It's really easy to get into the bagged leaves habit but how long does it take to wash and dry a lettuce? Three minutes, if that? If the French can spare the time why can't we?

Roast cauliflower with coriander and lemon

I'm beginning to realise I have a bit of an obsession with cauliflower. It wasn't that long ago I was blogging about cauliflower cheese and here I am at it again.

The reason was a bargain from Bath Farmers' market - two small, but very fresh cauliflowers for £1.20. I originally thought I'd be really showy and cook them three ways - one roasted, one puréed, Heston-style and a stir-fry from the leaves but in the end I ran out of time and just did roasted cauli and leaves.


Although we had it as a side it was a fairly substantial one and would make a main course dish in its own right. I fancy it with felafel if you wanted to keep it veggie but it could also take a bit of finely chopped anchovy and capers like this version here. I served it hot but you could serve it lukewarm or cold. My husband who, as I've remarked before, is not big on vegetables, actually asked if we could have it again . . .

Roast cauliflower with coriander and lemon
Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a side
1 medium or 2 smaller cauliflowers
A good glug of olive oil (probably about 4-5 tbsp)
1-2 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped
1 heaped tbsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed with 1 tsp Maldon sea salt (or 1/2 tsp fine salt)
a pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
a good squeeze of lemon
2 heaped tbsp finely chopped parsley or coriander (maybe coriander if you use chilli otherwise I prefer parsley)
20g butter
Black and white pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Divide the cauliflower into largeish florets, saving the leaves. Put in a roasting tin with the oil and cook for 15 minutes, turning the florets over half way through. Just before you think it will be ready add the chopped garlic and crushed coriander seeds and chilli flakes if using, mix in and return to the oven for 5-7 minutes or so. Remove from the oven, stir in the parsley or coriander and season with black pepper and a good squeeze of lemon.

While the cauliflower is cooking pick over the leaves, removing the coarser ones and the tough central rib from the larger remaining ones. Simmer with a little water until the water has evaporated. Add the butter and season with salt and white pepper (or black if you don't have any white)

Arrange the leaves on a warm serving dish and spoon over the cauliflower.

The secret of dealing with cooked leftovers

I was reminded this week just how easy it is to make something delicious out of leftovers - and also how easy it is to forget the fundamental principle which is to do something with them while they’re still hot - or at least warm.

I decided to pot roast a joint of beef I bought a month or so ago from a very good farm shop nearby. Admittedly with the temperature in the 20s the timing could have been better but I was trying to clear the freezer for summer. (Too late. It seems already to have come.)

I cooked it with onions and diced bacon and a fair amount of wine (I also write about wine so am inundated in the stuff: you could equally well use a mixture of stock and beer or cider) and added roasted carrots at the end to keep their colour. Then I served it with buttered cabbage and mash.

I guess there was just about enough meat for two portions at the end of the meal but as it had been slow cooked it would have ended up dry if I’d simply wrapped it in foil. So I chopped it, and the carrots, as small as I could, mixed them with the remaining gravy of which there wasn’t a lot but enough to moisten the meat and put it in a pie dish. Then I covered it with a layer of cabbage and the remaining mash. One cottage pie with five minutes effort and nothing to do the next day.

It turned out pretty well - more than enough for two although we managed to make short work of it. I liked the texture of the chopped meat as a change from mince - I think the only change I’d have made would have been to mix the greens with the mash for a bubble and squeak topping.

It’s not so much that I couldn’t have made this the following night (though I don’t think it would have been as good) it’s just that it would have been less appealing - leftovers to be dealt with rather than a meal that simply needed reheating. That's the way leftovers tend to lurk in the fridge until you give up on them and throw them away.

The same applies to other kinds of leftover food. If you want to make something of it it’s generally better to do it straightaway. Like dressing pasta, rice, beans or potatoes for a salad, making fish cakes or turning pasta into a bake, with, say, some leftover roast peppers or courgettes if you have some. Or stripping the remaining meat from a chicken and adding it (and maybe some ham and/or mushrooms) to a creamy sauce which can then be used as a pie filling. You can of course freeze it too if you do it quickly.

What are your favourite ways of dealing with cooked leftovers?

Smoked salmon tartare

Too busy to blog this week so here's a nice little recipe I rustled up for the Guardian student cookbook I put together last year. It was made with Sainsbuy's Basics smoked salmon offcuts which are ridiculously cheap and with cottage cheese a product I confess I loathe with a passion but which adds a lovely moussey lightness to this Scandi-style spread.

Serves 6

125g smoked salmon pieces
1 lemon, preferably unwaxed
150g cottage or curd cheese
1-2 tbsp crème fraiche
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill or chives or chopped capers
Freshly ground black pepper

Chop the smoked salmon up small if necessary (with some packs you won’t have to), removing any tougher pieces and put in a bowl. Grate the rind from the lemon and set aside. Squeeze the lemon juice and spoon about a tablespoon over the salmon. Drain and sieve the cottage cheese or whizz it in a food processor to break up the curds. Mix it with the salmon along with the crème fraiche, a little of the lemon rind, chopped dill, chives or capers and plenty of black pepper. Chill for at least an hour and stir again before you serve it. Really good with thinly sliced rye bread or crispbread or as a baked potato topping.

So how do you feel about cottage cheese? Love it? Hate it? If it's the former what do you do with it?

Pressure cooker 0 Remoska 1

This pressure cooker thing has been bugging me so I thought I'd remake the recipe in a Remoska, a Czech tabletop cooker that also claims to be energy-saving.

I tweaked it slightly, leaving out the mustard and adding a bit of chorizo but the whole thing was much, much tastier than Saturday night's effort. OK it took longer - about 40 minutes - but I didn't have to do anything while it was cooking.

I also rescued the leftovers from the abortive pressure cooked chicken by taking the chicken off the bone, putting it back with the onions and stock, heating it up and stirring in a good dollop of wild garlic pesto I bought at the Love Food Spring Festival at the weekend. This transformed it into a really quite passable chicken and wild garlic soup. I can imagine poaching (note, poaching not pressure cooking!) a whole chicken and serving it with new potatoes and spring veg, the chicken broth and a dollop of wild garlic pesto - like a cross between an aioli and a salsa verde.

Anyway this is my adaptation of Richard's original recipe. For the Remoska or oven, not for the pressure cooker, if you please . . .

Spanish-style chicken
Serves 2
1 tbsp olive oil
75g chorizo, cut into cubes
4 chicken thighs
3 small onions, peeled and quartered
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
75ml dry sherry or white wine)
125ml chicken or vegetable stock
8/9 green olives
Handful of chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil and fry the chorizo until the fat starts to run. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, brown on both sides and place in the remoska or a casserole. Quickly fry the onions in the chorizo-y oil then stir in the garlic. Tip in the sherry and bring up to the boil then add the stock and pour over the chicken. Stir in reserved chorizo and the olives. Cook for about 40 minutes in the Remoska or cover with a lid and place in a low oven until the chicken is nicely browned. Stir in the chopped parsley and serve with rice.