Thursday 24 May 2012

Quick, Cheap and Tasty Stir Fry


This is another way to use cheap roast pork or chicken.  I'm not going to dictate a recipe, because the whole point is to use whatever ingredients you happen to have available.  I just want to share an easy cooking method for an inexpensive, healthy Chinese stir-fry meal you can make in minutes without using a wok.  The measurements given are for one serving.  Multiply as required.

See previous posts for how to prepare pork shoulder or leg or chicken legs and thighs.  In either case, you'll end up with chunks of meat and gelatinized stock.

Check your refrigerator for any vegetables that are nearing their use-by date that would work in a stir-fry.  Slice them into pieces around 1 centimetre thick.

Check your freezer for things like sliced mixed peppers, mixed stir-fry vegetables, julienned carrots or sliced mushrooms.  If you have frozen veggies like broccoli that come in big chunks, you'll need to defrost and slice them before using. 
You should have crushed garlic and ginger, soy sauce and five spice powder on hand.  It helps if you've also got a bottle of some sort of Chinese flavouring such as hoi sin sauce, oyster sauce, plum sauce, sweet chilli sauce or black bean sauce.  For a bit of a kick, you'll need some dried or crushed chillis.  Check your pantry for value-priced peanuts or cashews.
  
Put about a tablespoon of the stock, including the fat that's congealed on top,  into a frying pan over medium heat.  When it's melted and bubbling,  add a half teaspoon each of crushed garlic and ginger.  If desired, add chilli.  Stir for about a minute. 



Add any sliced, uncooked vegetables and stir until tender.  Throw in frozen, pre-sliced vegetables and stir till defrosted.  Add enough chunks of cooked meat for one portion and, if desired, a handful of nuts. 



Pour over about a tablespoon of soy sauce and sprinkle on about a teaspoon of five spice powder.  Add about a tablespoon of any thick Chinese sauce.  Stir everything for a couple of minutes until the meat has absorbed the flavourings  You're done!

You can serve this over rice or noodles, but, if you're trying to watch your weight, why not skip the empty calories from refined carbohydrates?  The vegetables and nuts will provide a variety of textures and flavours.

Monday 21 May 2012

Who Benefits from the 5 A Day Campaign?



Information about the origins of the 5 A Day Program can be found on the  U.S. National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute website. The 5 A Day Program was started 1991 as a  partnership between the vegetable and fruit industry and the U.S. Government.  A group called the Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) was set up to oversee industry participation in the program with $415,000 worth of contributions from about 60 companies and commodity groups.

It's clear that from the very beginning, the 5 A Day message was going to be about marketing products containing fruits and vegetables as much as preventing cancer.  As I discussed in a previous post, there is scant evidence that simply eating more fruits and vegetables lowers cancer risk.

The choice of five servings, rather than some other number, was fairly arbitrary.  The program report admits that 'epidemiologic studies rarely specified how many servings were optimal'.  Five servings was double the estimated US average of 2.5 servings per day.  It was thought to benefit consumers by 'improving the overall diet for problem nutrients' and 'seemed likely to include choices associated with reduced cancer risk'.  Other reasons given for the choice were that '5 servings was not so high as to be seen as impossible' and 'the number 5 was memorable'.


The NHS choices website explains that


5 A DAY is based on advice from the World Health Organization, which recommends eating a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables a day to lower the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and obesity.

However, even the NHS are cautious about this advice. In a brochure entitled 'Just Eat More' they state that
Eating more fruit and vegetables may help reduce the risk of the two main killer diseases in this country – heart disease and some cancers.

Note the phrase 'may help' which seems to imply that the jury's still out.

Interestingly, this same brochure goes on to mention the NHS partnership with the food industry.


The Government and the NHS have been working with nutritionists, farmers, the food industry, including manufacturers and retailers, to develop the 5 A DAY logo. Use of the the logo and portion indicator will have to comply with strict nutrition criteria which takes into account portion size, as well as fat, sugar and salt levels. You might see the 5 A DAY logo on promotional materials such as leaflets, website information, point of sale materials and carrier bags. You might also see it on food packets. When you see the logo on the packet you can be confident that it gives you at least one portion of fruit and vegetables.

What are some of these healthy fruits and vegetables being sold to us with government approval?  How about Heinz spaghetti hoops?  They're ' 1 of your 5 a day when eaten as part of a balanced diet'.  (I wonder why they don't count as a vegetable if your diet is imbalanced?)  Heinz Baked Beanz also count toward your 5 a Day, although it's unclear whether this is down to the tomatoes in the sauce.  Perhaps beans are now officially considered a fruit (as in the old rhyme...the more you eat the more you toot).

Thanks to the 5 A Day campaign, low income parents no longer have to feel guilty about opening tins and feeding their kids spaghetti hoops and beans on toast.  We should be eating more of them on a daily basis.  Not only are these foods officially sanctioned by the NHS, they may help prevent cancer and heart disease! 





Saturday 19 May 2012

Chicken Curry with Tarragon Rice




Preparation time 30 minutes
Makes four servings
80p per serving

This is what it cost me, based on purchasing ingredients at the lowest price I could find.  This includes supermarket offers on produce and branded items as well as supermarket value-priced brands.

Ingredients


Curry

  • 1 500g carton tomato passata or 1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 medium onions
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 heaped teaspoon chicken stock granules
  • 2 heaped teaspoons sugar or granulated sucrolose
  • 2 heaped teaspoons crushed garlic
  • 2 heaped teaspoons crushed ginger
  • 2 heaped tablespoons curry powder
  • 1 heaped tablespoon garam masala
  • About 4 ounces water
  • Hot chilli powder to taste
Rice
  • 200 grams (a mugful) uncooked long grain rice
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 1 heaped teaspoon turmeric
Puree one onion in a food processor and chop the other.  (Or chop both for a chunkier curry.)
On a back burner, boil a large saucepan of water for the rice. 

On a front burner, put 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder and garam masala.  Stir for 2-3 minutes to combine the spices into a paste.  Stir in the water and add the stock granules and sugar. 



Add the rice to the boiling water.  Reduce the heat and simmer for around ten minutes until you can break a grain with your fingernail. 
Add the pureed and chopped onions to your spices and simmer for about ten minutes until soft and translucent. 


Put the cooked rice into a sieve in the sink to drain.

Stir the tomato passata and chicken chunks into the curry.  Now taste!  If you want a hotter curry, add chilli powder by the teaspoon until you reach your preferred level of mouth-burn.  If you want a more fragrant curry with a richer blend of spices, add more garam masala.  Simmer on low heat until the tumeric rice is ready.

Pour oil into the empty rice pan, toss in the cooked rice and stir to coat.  Sprinkle on the turmeric and mix until the rice is evenly coloured.


Suggestions

  • For a creamier curry, stir in two heaped teaspoons of yoghurt before serving.
  • For more colour, flavour and texture, add sliced mixed peppers, cauliflower or any other veg you like in curry sauce.



Thursday 17 May 2012

Cheap Chicken


A few minutes work boning cooked chicken pieces can save you a lot of money.  I recently paid £1.93 per kilo for whole chicken legs and thighs.  A kilo of value priced boneless, skinless chicken breasts costs £7.40.  Even when you allow for the weight of the bones, that's a huge increase in cost.

I think the popularity of boneless breasts has something to do with the fact that many adults now hesitate to eat or cook with anything that reminds them of an animal.  Since the 1970s, a growing number of people have grown up on a diet of processed food and fast food that has no bones about it.

I would quite happily make a stew or curry with cheap whole chicken wings, legs or thighs and pick out the bones as I eat it.  Traditional cooks know that meat cooked on the bone has more flavour.  However, I'm well aware that some people find the idea of eating with their hands or chewing around bones barbaric. 

To make boneless chicken dishes a lot cheaper, simply process your own chicken legs and thighs before using the meat.  Here's how.

Preheat the oven to 170 C.   Put a pat of butter in a roasting pan and place it in the oven until softened.  Roll your cheap chicken parts in the butter and sprinkle with salt. 



Roast for approximately one hour and fifteen minutes or until the skin turns golden brown.  Allow them to cool for half an hour.  Peel off the crispy skin and have a tasty snack. 


Pour the pan juices into a lidded container to use as chicken stock.  It will gelatinize in the refrigerator.  The fat that rises to the surface is great for frying meat and vegetables.

Separate the meat from the bones.   It will fall away easily.  Feel the pieces with your fingers to ensure that you've removed all the cartilage around the joints.  Place the meat in recycled lidded take-away containers and store in the refrigerator for up to five days. 



Use in curry or any recipe that calls for chicken breast pieces.  Since the meat's pre-cooked, add it during the last few minutes of cooking time.   I don't think my squeamish partner noticed that the stir-fry below was made with chicken legs, not boneless breast.




Monday 14 May 2012

Why You Don't Need Five a Day



I eat certain vegetables and fruits for their nutritional qualities and because I like the taste and texture.  However, I never weigh or measure out servings unless I'm writing a recipe and I don't ever worry if I only eat a couple of servings in a given day.  In another blog post, I'll have a rant about the government and food advertisers teaming up to back the  '5 A DAY ' campaign.  In this one, I just want to demonstrate that there is no evidence to back up the claim that we should be eating  five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.

Human Diets in Cold Climates




If we look at history, it's obvious that human beings do not require five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.  Homo Sapiens has been around for 200,000 years.  Agriculture developed around 10,000 years ago and spread to the British Isles between 4000 and 2000 BC.  In  pre-agricultural Northern Europe, fruits and vegetables would have only been available at certain times of the year.  Even after the development of farming, lack of modern methods of preservation would mean that the supply of vegetables, and especially fruits, would be scarce during winter and spring.  Nevertheless, people managed to survive and thrive.

Up until the 20th century, the Inuit tribes living near the arctic circle had very limited access to fruits or vegetables.  On land, they hunted reindeer, moose, ptarmigan and waterfowl.  They also ate seal, whale and plenty of oily fish.  During the height of summer, they gathered berries, roots and greens.  For most of the year they were carnivores.  These tribes were incredibly healthy until many began to adopt a modern Western diet, at which point the incidence of heart disease and diabetes skyrocketed.

 Human beings can get all the vitamins and minerals they need from animal sources - as long as they aren't picky about which bits they eat.  Fish oil and eggs are both  good source of vitamins A and D.  Organ meats like liver and brains contain vitamin C. 

 

Scientific Studies




The largest studies ever conducted to look into the effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on disease prevention have not found any conclusive evidence to support the 5 A DAY recommendations.

The Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial (WHIDMT) followed 48,835 postmenopausal women over eight years from 1993 - 1998.  Approximately 20,000 of them were assigned to a dietary modification intervention group.  The intervention goal was to reduce total fat intake and to increase consumption of vegetables, fruits and grains.  Comparing the two groups, researchers found that the dietary intervention did not significantly reduce the incidence of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, heart disease or stroke.  The dietary intervention also had no effect on the women's weight.

An article published in the April 2010 Journal of the National Cancer Institute reviewed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer study,  This study looked into the diets of 142,605 men and 335,873 women from ten European countries between 1992 - 2000.  The authors concluded that 'the observed association of cancer risk overall with vegetable and fruit intake was very weak.'  And 'given the small magnitude of the observed associations, caution should be applied in interpretation of the results.'  They note that 'a higher intake of fruits and vegetables was also associated with other lifestyle variables, such as lower intake of alcohol, never-smoking, short duration of tobacco smoking, and higher level of physical activity, which may have contributed to a lower cancer risk.'

Fruit and vegetables can be a healthy substitute for junk food and processed foods, but the benefits depend on making informed choices.  Simply getting five portions every day without considering the rest of your diet is unlikely to lower your risk of disease or help you to lose weight.

Wednesday 9 May 2012

A Tomato a Day Keeps the Doctor Away


Though tomatoes may be a bit pricier than, say, root veg, they are cheap compared to most other fruits.  You can almost always find some kind of fresh tomatoes on sale and the tinned ones are perpetually on multi-buy offers.  They add intense flavour to all sorts of traditional dishes.

 A medium tomato (123g) has only 22 calories.  It contains 20% of the GDA of vitamin C,  26% of the GDA of vitamin A, 12% of the GDA of vitamin K and 8% of the GDA of potassium.

Tomatoes contain a higher concentration of lycopene than any other food.  Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant which helps to prevent cell damage.  Several studies have found that a diet high in lycopene lowers the risk of certain cancers including prostate, lung, breast and stomach.  Lycopene has also been found to protect the bones from oxidative stress, lowering the risk of osteoporosis. 


More of the lycopene in tomatoes is absorbed by the intestines when they are cooked than when they are eaten raw, and still more is absorbed when they are eaten with fat.  A tomato salad with an olive oil dressing is healthy.  Homemade tomato sauce with olive oil is even better.  Tinned tomatoes retain all their lycopene.

Basic Italian Tomato Sauce



I always make my own tomato sauce so I can add ingredients that I like in the proportions that I like.  Here's a recipe that you can tweak to come up with one that's perfect for you.  Price comparison is discussed below.

Preparation time 30 minutes
Makes one litre (four servings)
Cost £1.70 per kilo (without optional extras)

This is what it cost me, based on purchasing ingredients at the lowest price I could find.  This includes supermarket offers on produce and branded items as well as supermarket value-priced brands.


Ingredients

 
  • 1 400g  tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 142g tin tomato puree
  • 1 large carrot.
  • 1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
  • 1 stock cube
  • 4 cloves (2 heaping teaspoons) crushed garlic
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Slice the carrot and cook until soft.  Peel the onions and roughly chop them.  Put the (cooked) carrot and half of the (raw) onion into a food processor and puree. 

(If you don't have a food processor, you can grate or dice the carrot and chop the onions as large or small as you please.  You'll just end up with a chunkier sauce.)

Put the olive oil in a large saucepan and turn the burner to medium-low (3).   Add the vegetable puree, chopped onion and crushed garlic.  Stir for about 5 minutes until the onion begins to soften.  Pour over enough water to cover the vegetables and add the stock cube, vinegar and sugar.  Stir until the cube dissolves.

Stir in the tomato puree and add the herbs.  Simmer for  about five minutes.  Stir in the chopped tomatoes. 



At this point you can add any optional extras and continue stirring until they are heated through.

 Optional extras


  • Sautéed mushrooms
  • Sautéed sliced peppers
  • Chopped chilli peppers
  • Black olives
  • Spinach (fresh or frozen)
  • Cooked mince (beef, pork, turkey - whatever's cheap)
  • Sliced cooked sausage
  • Cooked brazing or stewing steak
  • Chopped bacon
  • Meatballs
  • Anchovies




Tweaks


There are many variations you can make on this sauce.  I add carrot because I think it mellows out the tartness of the tomato, but you can leave it out if you want.  Traditional Italian recipes include celery.  If you've got some hanging around, chop it or puree it and put it in along with the other veg.  For a smooth sauce, puree all the veg and add tomato passata instead of chopped tomatoes.  Taste as you cook and add more herbs if you want or use fresh rather than dried.

 About the cost


You can buy cheap brands of tomato sauce in a jar for around £1.50 a kilo.  They aren't made with olive oil and they're thickened with corn flour.  However, they are marginally cheaper than homemade.

The 'authentic Italian' brands with ingredients similar to the ones I use go for £3.50 or more per kilo.  If you want a full-bodied, full-flavoured sauce, you can make your own for less than half that price.

Wednesday 2 May 2012

I Like a Meaty Sausage (and Easy Meatballs)

I never buy the cheapest sausages, they're low in meat and often taste like breadcrumbs coated in rancid fat.  I only buy brands with at least 75% meat and prefer the premium brands that are 95% meat or more.  When I see them on sale for half price, I stock up the freezer.



Good sausages purchased at a good price are a delicious and versatile source of protein.  You can eat them with potatoes and gravy or with eggs at breakfast,  You can use them in traditional British cuisine like sausage rolls or toad in the hole.  You can slice them up and add them to au gratin potatoes, stews, omelettes or quiches.

You can even use sausages to make cheap and easy mini meatballs.  Preheat the oven to 200 C.   If the sausages are linked, cut them apart.  Unravel the twisted ends of the casing and peel it off.  Slice each sausage in half and cut each half into thirds.  



Roll the pieces around in your hands until they are vaguely spherical.  Arrange the meatballs on a baking tray that has been covered with foil or a reusable non-stick liner.



Bake for twenty minutes and you're done.  Reheat the meatballs in tomato sauce and serve over pasta or use as a pizza topping.




Tuesday 1 May 2012

Roast Paprika Chicken Wings


Value chicken wings are so cheap (£1.99 per kilo), I don't have to wait for them to go on special offer.  This recipe is really easy and the result is finger-licking good.  The skin is crispy and the meat is tender, juicy and flavourful.

10 minutes preparation time, 1 hour cooking time
Two average sized servings
95p per serving

This is what it cost me, based on purchasing ingredients at the lowest price I could find.  This includes supermarket offers on produce and branded items as well as supermarket value-priced brands.


Ingredients


  • 8 - 10 chicken wings (about 750g)
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • salt
  • smoked paprika
  • sugar


Preheat the oven to 190 C.  Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Check the wings and pull out any remaining feathers.  Add the wings to the pan and stir to coat them in butter.  Sprinkle them with salt, sugar and a good coating of paprika.  Flip them over and season the other side. 


Cover a baking tray in foil or a silicon/Teflon sheet.  Arrange the wings plump side up on the tray.  Pour the pan juices over them.  Roast for 30 minutes.  Turn the wings over and return to the oven for 15 minutes.  Turn the wings right side up again and roast for a final 15 minutes.



Options 


  •  If you like spicy wings, simply sprinkle them with cayenne pepper or chilli powder in addition to paprika.
  • If you're trying to cut down on sugar and salt, make them like I do with granulated sucralose and low sodium salt.