Anaitis, keep your eyes open for uncut beef in IGA or your local supermarket. I picked up a log of Rib Fillet the other day and cut it into 12 steaks and it worked out to be $2 per steak (Much cheaper than the $7 per steak that they try to flog you for in Coles/Woolworths). If you want to send me a private message with your food budget I would be happy to spare some time for you and develop a quick and easy menu for you.
Try to remember what our grand parents and great grand parents ate, shanks, shin, ribs, pea and ham soup, pumpkin soups, all of the peasant foods (I absolutely love these foods) as well as chicken drumsticks and wings. When shopping, try to do a little math in your head and work out how much it would cost per person, set yourself a budget and try to spend less than what you allowed for yourself. In January this year I halved my food allowance by strictly limiting my meat to Chicken drumsticks, Chuck Steak (diced and used in stir fry), and the classic BBQ sausages.
I'll see what kind of recipes I can dig up. If your Hubby isn't working, then it's the perfect time for him to learn how to cook (that's how I learned), buy flour and make your own pasta, all you need for a good pasta dish is butter, egg, flour, water and some olive oil.
Check out Aussiecooking for cheap recipes for the Aussie taste buds.
Zhakim's Pork Spare Ribs
- 1kg of Pork Spare Ribs
- 2 cloves of fresh local garlic
- 2 teaspoons of crushed ginger
- 1 teaspoon of hot sauce (I use Morning Afterburner sauce from the chilli factory for the mango flavour)
- 2 teaspoons of fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons of Palm sugar syrup (can get from IGA; just use brown sugar if you can't find it)
- 2 tablespoons of lime juice (approx 1 lime per teaspoon)
- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
- 1/2 a spanish onion finely chopped
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1. Combine Fish Sauce, hot sauce, Palm sugar, Lime juice, vinegar, oyster sauce, honey and tomato sauce and mix thoroughly
2. Heat oil in a saucepan; cook garlic, ginger and onion until onion is soft
3. Stir in combined liquids and bring to the boil; Simmer uncovered for 2 minutes or until thickened slightly
4. Place spare ribs on a wire rack over a baking dish, brush with sauce
5. Bake uncovered in hot oven for 10 minutes; reduce heat to moderate and bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until pork is crisp and cooked through (Turn and baste the ribs several times during the cooking process)
Service with Jasmine Rice and Snow peas and if you want to look fancy slice some green onions (or shallots depending on what they are called where you live)
For the snow peas, place them in a strainer, boil the jug and pour the boiling water over them. It will cook them through but maintain the crisp freshness.
Malay Piquant Chicken
- 2 Tablespoons of Butter
- 1.5kg of chicken thigh fillets
- 1/4 cup of melted butter
- 1/2 Cup of lemon
- 1 Teaspoon of ginger
- 1/2 cup of honey
- 1/2 cup of water
1. Brown chicken fillets in 2 tablespoons of butter
2. Mix ingredients together and pour over the chicken fillets
3. Bake over low heat for 35-40 minutes.
Oven baked Drumsticks
One of the cheapest and simplest meals to make is oven baked drumsticks. You can pick up a 2kg bag of drumsticks for about $6 at Woolies. If you are only having 4 per meal (2 each for 2 people) you can usually get about three or four days worth of meals out of one bag.
- Chicken Drumsticks
- Season-all (masterfoods brand)
- Olive oil
1. Cover drumsticks in olive oil
2. Sprinkle season all over them
3. Bake in a hot oven for 45 minutes
Serve with rice or salad
Malaysian Chicken satay
Makes 14-16 skewers
- 500g chicken thighs deboned
- 3 shallots, peeled chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 cm ginger grated
- 2 lemongrass stalks
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp palm suger
- black pepper
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1/2 chilli chopped
- 4 tbsp. peanut oil
- Peanut sauce
- 2 tbsp. oil
- 1 shallot peeled and diced
- 1 red chilli
- 1 tbsp. crushed garlic
- 1 tbsp. crushed ginger
- 5 tbsp. roasted shelled peanuts
- 1 tsp tamarind paste
- 1 tsp sweet dark soya sauce
- 100 ml coconut cream + water to mix
1. For the marinade, grind shallots, garlic , lemongrass, all spices in a processor, adjust seasoning (salt, sugar an fish sauce) to taste . Mix paste with peanut oil, add to chicken, cover and marinate overnight.
2. Soak bamboo skewers in warm water, thread with chicken until 3/4 full. BBQ or grill chicken and brush with oil.
3. For the sauce – fry shallots, chilli, garlic and ginger until soft. Grind peanuts until oily and add to mix with tamarind , sweet soya sauce and coconut cream. Serve with the chicken.
» Edited on: 2014-05-06 19:35:33