This post is part of my Feed a Family of Four for £3 challenge.

I was inspired to make this meal by a comment to my last post by Choclette of The Chocolate Log Blog. She reminded me that dal, served with brown rice makes for a nutritious and healthy meal.

For some reason I haven’t made dal for years. In my student days I practically lived off it. I would make a massive pot of it at the weekend and it would last me until Thursday.

I made this for us last week and then Chip Butties and Noodle Soup left a comment on my last post linking to her dal recipe, so it seems that dal is definitely the way to go.

I had bought a cauliflower with the intention of making cauliflower cheese. However, I thought that combining them with the rest of the tomatoes and some chilli would make a good accompaniment to the creamy dal.

The dal does contain turmeric and coriander, which might be costly to buy at first but  if you plan to make this a regular feature at the table then the cost per serving is small. Large Tesco stores ( and perhaps other supermarkets) sell spices at a more reasonable rate if you seek out the aisle  specialising in Asian foods. For example 300g of coriander seeds or 400g of ground coriander both come in at 99p.  400g of turmeric costs £1.99 or 99p for 100g. Independent Asian convenience stores also sell spices at low prices.  I have coriander growing in a pot so I used some of that to flavour mine, but ground coriander would have done the job equally well.

Chana dal costs £1.29 for 500g or £2.99 for 2kg. The tin of tomatoes costs 31p for 400g and I used half for the dal and half for the cauliflower. The cauliflower was from the value range at 69p. The chilli was from a pack of 4 for 60p. The breadcrumbs were from my freezer. If I have any stale bread left over, I whizz it up and put it in a food bag in the freezer. It was roughly the equivalent of a thick  slice from a bloomer so no more than 10p. The onion costs 14p as part of a pack of value onions. I did serve it with parmesan and fresh coriander, both of which I had in the house but are not integral to the flavour of the dish. All together this meal comes in at about £2.40 and served four people. We had some bread to mop up the juices which adds a bit more to the meal but keeps it under the £3.00 budget. It was a meal that we all enjoyed and will be repeated.

You can soak the lentils ahead of time to reduce the cooking time and therefore reduce the fuel needed to cook the dal.

For the dal
250g of split lentils or chana dal
1 litre of water
1 tsp turmeric
200g chopped tomatoes (tinned)
salt and pepper
1 tsp ground coriander or 4-5 sprigs of fresh coriander
1 onion, finely chopped
25g butter or ghee

Method

Rinse the lentils or chana dal really well and check over for any stray stones. Place in a medium-sized pan with the water and the turmeric. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until tender and most of the water has been absorbed. Mash the lentils with a potato masher or fork. Add the tomatoes and coriander and the salt and pepper to taste and cook for another 15 minutes.

Melt the butter or ghee and cook the onion until lightly brown. Serve over the dal.

For the crumbed cauliflower:
1 cauliflower, cut into florets
200g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
small pat of butter or glug of oil
1-2 slices of stale bread grated into crumbs

Method

Boil or steam the cauliflower until just tender to the point of a knife. Drain well. In a separate pan add the butter or oil and fry the chilli for a minute, add the tomatoes and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the cauliflower and stir gently to coat it with the tomato sauce. Put the cauliflower in an oven proof dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Place under a hot grill for a minute or two until the crumbs are browned. Serve with the dal.

We are lucky in this house. Every saturday we pile into the car, pick up mother-in-law and go to the supermarket to buy the week’s supplies.

I do shop carefully, checking prices, buying the bigger pack if it’s cheaper or the smaller pack if that works out cheaper (which, weirdly it often does). I try to buy seasonally for fruit and veg and buy British if it’s available.  However, when we have finished we normally have a trolley with enough food to feed us well throughout the week.

Our cupboards are full and our freezer more so. Our food shopping is supplemented in the summer and autumn by our veg patch. I can make biscuits or cake whenever I like as I always have the ingredients ready in the cupboard.  We can afford to buy chocolate and a bottle of wine or two.

I realise how lucky we are and I have been thinking about those who aren’t as fortunate and who are living in food poverty.

According to research funded by Kellogs and carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research in March 2013 4.7 million people in the UK are living in food poverty. The definition is based on having no choice but to spend more than 10% of the household income on food. The UK’s poorest households spend almost a quarter of their income on food. The richest households spend an average of 4% of their income on food. Single parent households and those in vulnerable groups such as the elderly are those most likely to be in food poverty. With the rising costs of food, spending has increased by about 20% but the volume of food that you can buy for that money has dropped by 7%.

Most weeks whilst shopping I notice that at least one of our weekly items has increased in price. Last week, for example, I noticed that the supermarket brand strong bread flour had gone from £1.00 to £1.21 – in the space of a week. I am not sure whether this is due to an increase in the cost of wheat or the Paul Hollywood effect. I really hope it’s not the latter.

A food bank opened recently in our town to help people who really struggle to feed themselves and their families on their budget. I intend to volunteer regularly with the food bank and to donate food too.

This week The Guardian reported that in the UK more then 350,000 people used food banks last year – 100,000 more than anticipated and this number is expected to continue rising. The research was carried out by The Trussel Trust. The trust currently manages 345 food banks but state that between 400 and 650 more are needed to feed those in need.

But food banks, whilst much needed to help those in crisis can’t be the only answer to the problem. There needs to be structural changes made at a more fundamental level so that people aren’t forced into living on the handouts of a food bank.

Nancy from Good Food Matters has been involved with food activism and food banks for a long time and she has done much to raise awareness of food poverty. She talked about the action that American food bloggers are taking  and recently posted a recipe that you could make if you had a budget of only $4 a day, which is a situation faced by 1 in 6 Americans on a daily basis. Nancy regularly inspires me with her writing and her food but never more so than when she discusses the need for action to stop food poverty.

This morning an email dropped into my inbox from Health Poverty Action asking if I would take part in the 2013 Live Below the Line Campaign which asks people to live on a £1 food budget for five days to raise awareness of food poverty all over the world. This is extreme food poverty that is experienced by many all over the world every day. The official five days are between 29th April-3rd May 2013. I can’t commit to these five days as I already have plans which would spoil the £1 a day for five days commitment but next week I intend to cook a few meals that can be cooked on a minimal budget and blog about them here. If you would like to take part in the challenge then click on the link above and sign up today.

Food poverty is an issue which affects many people every day and I realise how lucky I am to be able to buy the food that my family chooses to eat.

I welcome your thoughts on how food poverty could be tackled.

Now for the challenge. If you have a recipe for a meal that will feed a family of four for £3 (or under) then I would like you to share it with me. You can post it on your own blog and then contact me (kath at theordinarycook dot co dot uk) and I will do a round up on this blog at the end of May. If you don’t have a blog but have a recipe that you would like to share then get in touch and I will include your recipe in the round up. Please submit your links or recipes to me by Friday 24th May 2013. 

I hope that you will be able to join me in raising awareness of food poverty.

The sickness bug is visiting. My youngest came down with it yesterday. She was still eating  yesterday and wanted some biscuits. We normally make Poorly biscuits but I had caught a bit of James Wong doing his thing on Grow Your Own Drugs the other day where he said that ginger helps stop nausea. My youngest is rather partial to a ginger biscuit too.  So making these made sense.

They are very moreish and as they are best eaten the same day as they are cooked that’s all good. I have to say though no amount of ginger was going to help my little one overcome this bout of nausea, but the biscuits taste good. They aren’t shy about being ginger, and this is because I added the syrup from a jar of stem ginger instead of golden syrup. I like them all the more because of this. However, if you would prefer a more coy biscuit then use golden syrup for a more gentle ginger hit.

It’s only a matter of time before the eldest requires some biscuits too.

110g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
scant ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 rounded tsp ground ginger
40g granulated sugar
50g butter
2tbsp syrup from a jar of stem ginger or golden syrup
1 tsp runny honey

Preheat the oven to 180°c, gas mark 4 or use the Aga baking oven with the rack positioned above the centre.

Method

These biscuits are very easy to make if you have a food processor. Just place the flour, baking powder, bicarb and ginger in the bowl of the processor and whizz for a second to combine. Add the sugar and whizz again. Add the butter in cubes and whizz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the syrup and honey and whizz until the mixture starts to come together. Remove the blade from the machine and work the mixture into a ball.

If you don’t have a processor, place the flour, baking powder, bicarb and ginger in a bowl, add the sugar and then rub in the cubed butter using the tips of your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the syrup and honey and use a butter or palette knife to mix the dough, then use your hands to work it into a ball.

Divide the dough into twelve balls and then flatten each ball out. Place onto a greased baking sheet or one lined with silicone sheet.  Press with the tines of a fork into each biscuit. Place into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

I made this cake for a friend. A few weeks ago she was taking her dog for an early morning walk, slipped and managed to break her ankle in three places and dislocate it. She now has a bionic ankle made good with more pins than a pin cushion on the British Sewing Bee. She is on the mend but still has a good few weeks of recovery to go.

This cake was made to make her feel loved. I have known her since we were 11, (so that is quite a few years), and I consider her as one of my closest friends, and yet I had managed to never notice that she doesn’t like coffee. How did that happen? However, (and I’m not sure if she was just being polite at this point) she did eat a rather hearty slice and asked me to leave her a couple of slices for the next day. Mr OC, who adores coffee, loved this cake. It is drenched with a coffee syrup as soon as it comes out of the oven which makes it deliciously moist. The topping is not your normal sweet buttercream but offers an excellent contrast of creaminess with just an edge of sourness from the quark. You could add more sugar if you were after something a bit sweeter but I liked the contrast very much.

Michele from Cooking at Home recently posted about her coffee cake which never lets her down and everyone loves. I will be making her version next time as I like the idea of the crunchy topping very much.

For the sponge:

1 tbsp instant coffee
scant tbsp hot water
175g (60z) self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
175g (6oz) softened butter (room temperature)
175g (6oz) caster sugar (I used golden)
3 eggs
50g (2oz) hazelnuts, finely chopped (I whizzed whole hazelnuts them in the food processor for a few seconds)

For the syrup:
1 tbsp instant espresso powder
50g (2oz) demerara sugar
50ml (2floz) boiling water

For the filling and topping:
250g (9oz) mascarpone
200g (7oz) Quark or fromage frais
1 tbsp reserved coffee syrup
1 tbsp of dark soft brown sugar (or more according to your taste)

You will need two sandwich tins (mine are 7½ inch or 19 cms) greased and the bases lined with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 170°c, gas mark 3 or use the centre of the baking oven of the four oven Aga.

Method

First mix the coffee powder with the hot water for the cake and allow to cool a little.

Then place all the ingredients, including the coffee mixture into a bowl and mix well until everything is well combined and the batter is a soft dropping consistency. Add a tablespoon of milk if you think it needs to be a little softer. Divide the mixture between the sandwich tins. Place the tins in the centre of the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes until the sponges are beginning to shrink from the sides of the tin and are springy to the touch.

Whilst the cakes are cooking make the syrup. Place the coffee powder and the sugar in a heatproof jug and pour the boiling water over. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. This will take a minute or two.

As soon as the cakes come out of the oven pierce them all over with a skewer or cocktail stick and then spoon the syrup over as evenly as possible. Reserve a tablespoon of this syrup to add to the filling/topping.

To make the filling, place the mascarpone and quark into a bowl and mix until combined. Add the reserved coffee syrup and the sugar and mix until well combined. Add more sugar if you feel you need it  but bear in mind that a little sourness is a good contrast to the sweetness of the cake.

When the cakes are completely cold turn them out of the tins and place one onto the serving plate. Pile half the filling on top and then top with the second cake. Swirl the remaining filling over the top of the cake.

Take to a coffee-loving friend, or a friend that doesn’t like coffee – the choice is yours. (Sorry, H).

By the way, we had our holiday. A lovely, relaxing 10 day break on Madeira. We saw the sun again and let it warm our bones. What a pleasure. We came back refreshed and ready for action. Now let’s just hope the English sun peaks its head out from behind the clouds. Come on sun, don’t be shy.

Sorry about that.

What I need is a holiday.

Then perhaps my words will return.

I will keep you posted (I hope).

Kath x

Puro Coffee contacted me to ask if I would review their coffee.  The ethical stance of Puro interested me and I do love a good cup of coffee. The package arrived beautifully presented in a rustic style.

Puro Coffee is Fairtrade, which means that the coffee farmers get a better price for their produce. Puro also contribute 2% of turnover (rather than profits) to The World Land Trust. Their contribution has so far resulted in the purchase of 5,600 acres of exceptionally diverse rainforest. They also invest in social initiatives such as Trees4Schools in Africa which has planted trees and vegetable gardens helping to feed some of those most in need in Africa.

This is all great and a business that works so closely with charity to make the world a better place should be commended and supported.

If you are going to buy a coffee though you need to know that it tastes good. My review sample contained the three blends Noble, Organic and Fuerte. You can also get Noble as a decaffeinated coffee.

I make my coffee with a stove top espresso maker and like it made with half very strong coffee and half hot milk. What would you call this if you ordered it at a well known coffee house? A latte? A cafe au lait? A Flat White? I never know and I am too scared of the efficient barista to ask.

What I look for in a coffee is a dark roast with a kick of fieriness, a touch of bitterness and plenty of body. So my favourite of the Puro range is the Fuerte, made with half Arabica and half Robusta. The Organic blend is 100% Arabica  and the Noble is 80% Arabica and 20% Robusta. Having said that the Fuerte is my favourite, the other two are fine coffees. If you prefer a lighter roast then Organic is the blend for you.

Puro coffees are available in the UK at National Trust cafes, Leon and the Royal Parks among others. The range will also be available to buy online direct from the Puro At Home website soon.

If you would like to learn more about the social initiatives that Puro are involved with you can watch a video here.

My eldest daughter is rather taken with the chicken satay sticks that you can buy from the supermarket deli. Now, I don’t mean to a food snob, but they are processed chicken with I don’t know what in the marinade. I do buy them for her if she happens to be with me and is mithering me for them. I mean, I feel bad enough that they were 6 and 4 years old when they asked me what the place with the big M outside was because their friends talked about it a lot. Oh, the guilt of parenthood.

So, I got some chicken breasts from the butcher and made these for her yesterday. She liked them, but although she didn’t say it, probably not as much as the ones from the supermarket. Well, her best friend likes the ones from the supermarket too, so I can’t really compete with that, can I?

Anyway, if you aren’t 8 years old and you would like some tasty chicken satay I can thoroughly recommend these. I like the consistency of the peanut sauce – it sticks to the roof of your mouth and is sweet, sour and hot – all good.

To serve 4 greedy people
4 chicken breasts
(NB. The photo above shows 2 chicken breasts)

For the marinade:
1 tsp finely chopped or grated root ginger
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey

For the peanut sauce:

4 spring onions, sliced or 1 small onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped (I remove the seeds to reduce the heat)
1 tsp root ginger, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark brown sugar
4 tbsp water (you can add more if you want a thinner sauce)

If you have some coriander leaves they would be very good sprinkled over the top of the chicken and the peanut sauce.

Method

If you are using wooden skewers, then soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before cooking with them to prevent them catching fire.

Prepare the chicken by removing the skin and cutting into cubes which will fit onto skewers easily.

Place all of the marinade ingredients in a glass or ceramic bowl and mix together well. Add the chicken cubes and cover with the marinade.  Cover with cling film. They need at least 30 minutes in the marinade, otherwise place in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours.

I served the peanut sauce at room temperature but you could serve it hot. To make the sauce, fry the onion, ginger, garlic and chilli in a tablespoon of vegetable oil over a high heat, stirring all the time until softened. Take off the heat and add the peanut butter, lemon juice, soy sauce and sugar. Stir well and place over a gentle heat and stir until everything has combined and the sugar has dissolved. Add enough water to get to the consistency that you like.

Thread the chicken cubes onto skewers and grill until cooked through. I cooked them in a griddle pan to sear them and then placed in the roasting oven of the Aga (about 200°c, gas mark 6) to finish off and cook through completely.

Serve with rice, noodles or salad and the peanut sauce.

I haven’t been here very much recently. I am going to try to be here more often. It’s one of my goals for this year.

I have looked back on the goals I set myself for last year and was pleased to find that most of them were met. The losing a few inches off the waistline went a bit awry -they went and then crept back on. However, the plus side of this is all the lovely food I have enjoyed adding those inches.

This year’s goals are being formulated… I am going to finish a tapestry that I started when I was 17 (that’s  nearly twenty-one years ago – I know a sorry state of affairs if ever there was one).  I am going to make another dress. I am going to try to shift a couple of those inches again. The rest of the list is to be decided, but I am going to try to blog more.

So Happy New Year.

Kath x

I hope that you have a few goals of your own

I really hope the old adage “a picture tells a thousand words” is not true in this case, as this photo really does no justice to how good these leeks are. But if you know a better way of presenting these babies on a cold dark night in England then suggestions are very welcome.

The recipe is from Sophie Grigson’s Eat Your Greens and can be found here so I won’t rewrite it for you. I do, however, urge you to try it. Even if you, or someone you are feeding does not like leeks then minds will be changed after trying these.

Leeks lend themselves to sliminess I find. This is rarely a good thing when it comes to something you want to put into your mouth. But by cooking them in this orange flavoured béchamel any potential slipperiness is coated in smooth unctuousness. This is always a good thing. The orange adds a sweetness which makes these the perfect partner for any roast meat and the silky sauce provides an excellent contrast to a crunchy roast potato. Make this as a side on Christmas Day and I promise you it will be perfect (even if the photo isn’t).

Mincemeat, like dogs, shouldn’t be just for Christmas. My mum makes mincemeat every year and some years I do too. Whenever mum passes me a jar I hurry to make mince pies and three batches have been made so far this year. Well, one morning this week I was practising my usual habit of perusing a recipe book whilst eating my early morning breakfast (everyone, pets included, knows better than to request my attention at this point in the morning) and came across Delia Smith’s Wholefood Mincemeat Slices in her Christmas book. These seemed to me a very good idea indeed. I have used butter instead of margarine, wholegrain spelt flour instead of wholemeal and added a sprinkling of flaked almonds and very delicious and moreish they are too. Delia, as always, has come up trumps.

150g butter, cubed
75g dark brown sugar
225g wholemeal spelt flour (or you could use wholemeal ordinary flour, but spelt is especially delicious)
100g rolled oats
250g mincemeat
flaked almonds

Method

You will need a 28 x18 cm shallow pan, either buttered well or lined with silicone. I use my half Aga roasting tin and line it with Aga silicone liner.

Place the butter and sugar in a large pan and heat over a medium heat until the butter is melted. Pour the flour and oats into the pan and mix well.

Spread half the mixture over the bottom of the prepared tin and press down well. Spoon over the mincemeat and spread as evenly as possible. Cover with the remaining oat mixture and press down well with the back of a spoon or your knuckles. Sprinkle over flaked almonds.

Place in a preheated over at 180°c, or the baking oven of the Aga for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. As soon as it comes out of the oven cut into twelve slices but leave it to cool completely in the tin. When completely cool remove from the tin and enjoy.

Talking about dogs not being just for Christmas, here is the new addition in our house.

We are currently fostering her from the RSPCA whilst she settles into family life, but we plan to adopt her and keep her for many, many Christmases. And, in spite of me saying everyone knows not to disturb me during early morning breakfast and recipe perusing, Maggie gets special dispensation.