This week I wanted to do my column on a budget night in for two. This is a three course meal for 2 people for under £10.00. I know exactly what it is like to be on a low income. My partner lost his job a few years ago due to the recession. We found it really hard to go out for meals or even to buy meals for the week. It was a struggle so we had to come up with affordable meals for our family to eat. I know there are great bargain meals out there in the supermarkets that you can buy and they are good for what they are. But this is easy to make, affordable and all homemade, which will give you much more enjoyment than a take away meal. If you make this for a loved one this week I can guarantee smiles all-round. The carrot and coriander soup is lovely and hot, a great comfort food for this cold weather and really good for you. The chilli recipe I have used for years it’s a little different with the chorizo sausage. If you’re not keen you can always leave it out. However, the spicy sausage gives an edge to the dish. This recipe is not particularly hot it will not blow your socks off! But if you like a hot chilli you can always add some red hot chilli peppers, (so long as your partner is keen on hot food too!) There’s nothing better on a cold night than this dessert, apple crumble and Ice-cream. The hot and cold aspect of it goes so well together and this is one of my favourite desserts and trusts me I’ve tasted a lot.
Carrot and Coriander Soup
X1 Onion
X4 Carrots
Small bunch of fresh coriander
A little double cream
1. Peel and chop the onions and sweat (on a low heat in a lidded pan until soft) in a saucepan.
2. Peel and chop the carrots and add to the onions sweat down for 10 minutes.
3. Then add the stock and simmer until the carrots are cooked. Add the coriander and season.
4. Blitz in a food processers or hand blender and add a little cream to give the soup more richness.
5. Serve with fresh bread or croutons. (Check out my blog for recipes).
Chilli
75g chorizo
300g mince beef
Quarter tsp of ground cumin
Quarter tsp ground coriander
Quarter tsp ground cinnamon
X1 cardamom pod (Crushed)
X1 jar tomato pasta sauce
X1 tin of mixed spicy beans
30ml sweet chilli sauce (found at any supermarket\0
Fresh red chilli (As much as you can handle is optional)
1. Put the sliced chorizo in a hot heavy based pan. Cook until crisp then add your mince beef cook off for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the spices then add your pasta sauce, mixed beans and sweet chilli.
3. Bring to the boil then simmer for 20 minutes.
4. You can eat this with rice or jacket potatoes works really well. Also I like to have mine with some sour cream and scatter some fresh coriander on top.
Apple crumble and Ice cream
Shop bought vanilla ice-cream or you can make your own.
X4 cooking apples
125g caster sugar
For the crumble:
50g butter
150g flour
100g sugar
1. Peel, core and chop your apples into bite size pieces.
2. Put into a pan with a knob of butter and 125g of caster sugar.
3. Cook until soft but not pulp. Remove from heat and leave to cool.
4. In a bowl put the flour, butter and sugar and with your finger tips rub the fat into the flour.
5. Then put your apples in a bake-ware dish and scatter the crumble mix on top.
6. Put in a hot oven 180C for about 30 minutes.
7. Serve with ice-cream and enjoy.
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