Great Gatsby night

 Here at KitchenFairies HQ we can sometimes be a bit daft.  Current daftness includes pairing dinner to a movie … then watching the movie.  Tonight was The Great Gatsby - so in honour of the excesses of the time .. we had champagne - spiced roast ham, salmon, roasted red onions in red wine, baby potatoes and tender stem broccoli.  Probably not what was served in the mansion, but we wanted a meal, not canapes … and there were enough bubbles to make the point!

Roast ham - about 20 minutes per 450g, at 180, plus another 20.  After an hour glaze with spiced apple jelly.  Leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Red onions - peel and chop into eight wedges - put in an oven dish with a splash of olive oil and about half a glass of red wine - bake for about an hour.

Place salmon fillets on sliced lemon, drizzle with a little olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Boil potatoes, steam broccoli on top.

Serve, scoff … enjoy the film … well, most of it, really quite depressing at the end!

Cauliflower cheese, gammon steak, mini roasties and a few peas

Feasts for a fiver - take 2!

There are a couple of provisos on this - if you get good quality gammon, you might not get that much - but enough for 4 people to have a decent piece.  The frozen peas don't come economically, in small bags - so I have assumed a smallish supermarket bag split into 4 meals (40p x 4), and the soya milk - half a litre.

Potatoes - 80p
Cauliflower - £1
Gammon £1.50
Cheddar £1.50
Soya milk - 33p
Frozen peas - 40p

Total £5.53

This is a tough challenge.  If you can afford to buy in bulk you can shave some pennies off here and there.  We are a veggie - meat eater household - so need protein on both sides - if it was veggie (ie. no gammon ...easy peasy ... if it was gammon - cauliflower without cheese - also easy peasy) ... so, I have exceeded the budget by 53p - and some bits from the larder (olive oil and cornflour).

1.  Chop potatoes into 2cm (ish) cubes, and toss in olive oil.  Roast for 1 hour.
2.  Separate cauliflower into florets and steam for 20 mins.
3.  Heat soya (or dairy) milk.  Grate cheese.
4.  Slake cornflour in a couple of tablespoons of water.  Stir into milk, with the grated cheese to make the sauce.
5.  When the cauliflower is cooked, put in an oven dish, cover with sauce and stick it in the oven with the potatoes.
5.  When the potatoes have been in for 40 mins, stir them around and stick the gammon steaks in the oven.
6.  At about the same time boil the peas.
7.  Serve, scoff ...

Roast vegetables, feta and salad

Feasts for a fiver?  Well, I'll see what I can do.

new potatoes (£1)
cauliflower (£1)
red pepper (55p)
spring onions (55p)
feta (£1.20)
mixed salad leaves (69p)

I had a couple of tomatoes in the fridge, so I chucked them in as well, but they're not necessary.

olive oil - drizzle

Total:  £4.99 + store cupboard

1.  Wash potatoes and toss in olive oil.  Roast at 180.
2.  Chop the cauliflower into florets, and the red pepper and spring onions into bite sized pieces.  Add to the potatoes after 20 minutes, mixing into the oil.  Roast for 40 minutes.
3.  Our salad is from the garden, but mixed leaves, or other salad ingredients would be fine.  Wash and dress with a little olive oil.
4.  Crumble feta onto vegetables, and return to the oven for 5 minutes.
5.  Serve, scoff.

Tuna pasta bake

It may not be an elegant dish - but it's quick, easy and tasty ... what more could you want?

Ingredients from Todmorden market - pasta (gluten free and regular), tuna and garlic from The Mediterranean Pantry, veg from Kevin outside and cheese from The Crumbly Cheese.

Pasta
Olive oil
Red onion
Garlic
Red pepper
Mushrooms
Courgette
Cherry tomatoes
Frozen peas
Tuna
Cheddar

1.  Boil the pasta according to packet instructions, until al dente.
2.  Sautee veg, chopped into smallish pieces, in olive oil, for about 10 minutes.
3.  Drain the pasta and the tuna, mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Add a handful of frozen peas.  Splosh in a little olive oil if it looks too dry.
4.  Chop cheese into chunks and stir into the pasta mixture.
5.  Heap into an oven dish and bake for about 20 minutes.
6.  Serve, scoff