The Student Kitchen - Not Just Pot Noodle...

I’m baaackkkkk…

Hey all,

Things have been busy and I kinda lost my way with the whole blogging recipes. So back with popular demand (OK, maybe just a slight demand), I’m going to start posting up some of my best food for students!

Easter has been sweet, done so much cooking and eating, whilst dieting. I’ve now lost 9lbs in 2 and a half weeks, but the test is being able to keep it going throughout next semester… We’ll see. I also did my first ‘cheffing’ job for some friends of a friend. They were having a dinner party and wanted me to do all the catering. Challenge, literally, accepted. So after 2 days of shopping, prepping and cooking (not to mention lots of money spent), I had produced several different canapes, starter of Pan Fried Scallops with Samphire and Crayfish beurre blanc, and for main, Whole Roasted Sirloin with Dauphinoise Potatoes, Fine Beans, Vichy Chantennay Carrots, Celeriac puree and Red Wine Reduction. OK, this isn’t student food I’ll admit, but cooking for 8 hungry people was a good test.

I’ve also been doing a lot of charcuterie too. I’ve made salt beef, pastrami, smoked cheeses, a whole side of smoked salmon, and even homemade duck prosciutto! Yeah I know, I’m pretty food obsessed.

So, today I’ll be posting 2 recipes in my massively hungover state; a really easy and healthy chilli, and homemade Scotch eggs - say bye to those rubbish, dry things you buy in the supermarket!

That’s all for now 

one for the veggies and mushroom lovers

                              

This recipe is so quick and easy, and packed full of flavour too. It’s a traditional French recipe, in which you can use any type of mushroom you can find in the supermarket. I’ve used Forestiere mushrooms, but you can use button mushrooms.

Mushrooms on Toast

Time: 10 minutes

Effort: Minimal

Cost: Less than £1 per portion

To serve: 1 portion

Ingredients:

2 good handfuls of chopped mushrooms

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 sprigs of Thyme

Crusty bread - I’ve used ciabatta but you can just use normal bread

                                     

1. Melt a knob of butter in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat. Once up to temperature, add the chopped mushrooms to the pan. Season with a good pinch of salt.

2. Now place your crusty bread under a medium grill to toast (or place bread in the toaster).

3. Stir the mushrooms and add the chopped garlic and tear the leaves off of a few sprigs of thyme. Allow the mushrooms to cook for 5 minutes further until softened.

4. Once the bread is crusty, put on a plate and arrange the cooked mushrooms on top. Enjoy.

homemade nandos

               

Mmm, Nando’s is probably one of my favourite types of fast food. I like it spicy, really really spicy. I’m talking the black bottle of Piri Piri sauce. But apart from Student discount and loyalty cards, it’s pretty expensive for students. Especially when you have an appetite like mine. This recipe came from nowhere, I just looked on a bottle of Piri Piri marinade, and just used some common sense. This sauce can be used for a dip or as a marinade for any piece of chicken.

Piri Piri Chicken

Effort: Very easy

Time: Chicken should marinade for up to 24 hours but 1 hour will be OK. 

Cost: For about 500ml of sauce, around £2

To serve: You’ll be able to make a lot of Piri Piri chicken with this amount of sauce

Ingredients:

2 red chillis

Half a white onion

A bunch of coriander

1 lemon, zest and juice

1 clove of garlic

1 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons tomato puree

2 teaspoons sugar

pinch of salt and pepper

2 teaspoons of flour, mixed with a little water

1. Place all of the ingredients into a blender (apart from the flour/water mix) and blend into a very fine liquid.

2. Pour into a saucepan and heat for about 10minutes on a low heat. If the sauce is still quite thin, pour in the flour/water mix and heat further to thicken.

3. Allow the sauce to cool before using as a marinade.

4. Use on any part of chicken. I use leg quarters as they’re very cheap but you can use breast. Marinade for as long as you can allow and oven roast. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t use leftover marinade as a dip!

Enjoy. 

a beautiful brunch

                   

Egg’s Benedict is one of those dishes that seriously gets me salivating. Crispy, toasted English muffin with ham, an oozing soft poached egg, topped with creamy and sharp Hollandaise sauce. It’s perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner and actually very simple to put together. I’m writing the recipe to make Hollandaise, but you could actually use a packet mix or the premade stuff from the shop. Get this recipe right and you’ll be on to a winner. 

Egg’s Benedict

Effort: For competent cooks, you need to be confident with your timings and temperature

Time: 20-30mins

Cost: About 80p per portion

To serve: 1 portion

Ingredients:

1 English muffin

100g butter (less than half a pack)

3 eggs

2 slices of ham or bacon

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons water

salt and pepper

1. Firstly, fill a saucepan with water and add a splash of vinegar. Place it on a medium heat.

2. Break one egg over a bowl and catch the yolk with one hand. Put that egg yolk into a small pan and whisk quickly with a pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Mix 2 tablespoons of water and 2 tablespoons of vinegar in a saucepan and heat quickly, allowing the mixture to boil and reduce by half. Place the butter in a bowl and microwave until fully melted.

4. Very slowly dribble in the water/vinegar mix into the egg yolk, continually whisking. Once incorporated, begin to slowly pour in the melted butter, whisking well. Keep the pan off of the heat. The natural heat of the water/vinegar and melted butter will thicken the Hollandaise. 

5. Cut your muffin in half and toast.

6. Now create a whirlpool in your saucepan of boiling water and break in your 2 eggs. These will take around 5 minutes on a medium heat.

7. Butter your toasted muffin halves and place a piece of ham on each side. Once the poached eggs are cooked, place on the muffin halves. Now pour over you hollandaise. Enjoy.

bacon, pea and cheddar risotto

               

Risotto is a brilliant dish. Creamy and warming with nutty rice, it’s perfect for a winter meal. It’s also very cheap to make. I did used to be scared of making risotto, it’s a very temperamental dish to prepare but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be fine. The trick is to add the water gradually, constantly stirring, until you get the desired consistency. So yes you do have to take care with it, but that shouldn’t stop you from making this.

Bacon, Pea and Cheddar Risotto

Effort: Medium, you need to stand stirring a pan for 20 minutes

Time: 25-30minutes

Cost: £1 per portion

To serve: 1 big portion for a fatty or enough for 2 meals

Ingredients:

Half a mug of arborio rice (or any other risotto rice)

3 mugs of hot veg stock or hot water

Half an onion

1 clove of garlic

Handful of frozen peas

65g of lardons, or some smoky bacon or even ham

Handful of grated cheddar (or Parmesan)

Bunch of parsely (optional)

1. Place a saucepan on a medium heat and drizzle in a little oil. Begin by frying off the lardons/bacon/ham allowing it to get some colour. Whilst the meat is frying, finely dice half an onion and very finely chop one clove of garlic. Add to the saucepan and continue to fry.

2. Boil your kettle with 3-4 mugs of water.

3. Once the onions have sweated down and softened, add half a mug of risotto rice to the pan and fry for 2 minutes, constantly stirring. This is about 75g, the recommendation on the packet for 1 person. It doesn’t look a lot but you really don’t need much rice. Now remove from the heat.

4. Mix 1 stock cube with your boiled kettle and add half of the stock to the saucepan. Stir very well. Keep the saucepan on a nice high heat. Once the first pour of stock has been absorbed, stir in a little more. And so on, until you have no more stock left. Keep stirring the risotto for about 15 minutes. Take a few grains of rice on a spoon and eat, if they’re still too hard, keep cooking. 

5. As Jamie Oliver says, “if it ain’t creamy, it ain’t risotto”, so keep stirring until the mixture is nice and creamy. Add a little more water if need be. The rice shouldn’t be stodgey but have some ‘bite’ to it.

6. Now add a handful of frozen peas and keep heating and stirring for 5 minutes. Stir in a handful of grated cheddar or Parmesan (Parmesan is a lot more expensive and tastes stronger), and then a handful of finely chopped parsely. Season well to taste.

Well done, you’ve just made risotto! It’s not easy and may take you a few tries to perfect, but you’ll get there!

very easy tomato and bacon bruschetta

             

This recipe is so easy, it’ll blow you away. You can serve it hot, or let it cool down and chill in the fridge for when you want it. The tomato and bacon topping can also be used as a pasta sauce when heated back up. A healthy brunch, refreshing hangover cure, or have a whole ciabatta to yourself for an easy dinner. As always with these recipes, make them your own.

Bacon and Tomato Bruschetta

Effort: Minimal

Time: Less than 20 minutes

Cost: £1.10, which will make 2-3 portions, so chill the rest for another day

To serve: 2-3 portions

Ingredients:

1 tin of chopped tomatoes, about 16p for supermarket value ones 

half a white onion

1 clove of garlic

bunch of fresh basil

65g of pancetta/bacon lardons - they come in twin packs of 65g each for £1.25, so split it and use the other pack for pasta or salads. For this recipe you can actually use smokey bacon rashers if you’ve got some in the fridge. (Note: obviously for a veggie version, just don’t use bacon!)

1 small ciabatta or panini bread - I’ve used a small ciabatta off of the fresh bakery section in Tesco for 35p

Oh and as always, olive oil, salt and pepper.

1. Peel your onion and finely dice one half. Keep it chunky if you like it rustic. Finely chop 1 garlic clove.

2. Heat a saucepan over a medium heat, add a little olive oil, and begin to fry the bacon lardons. Let them get a little colour. Then sweat your onion and garlic with the lardons. Sweat the mix for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Tip: add a good pinch of salt to stop the onions from frying, the salt will bring the moisture out of the onions.

3. Now add a tin of chopped tomatoes and season with pepper. Bring the heat up to maximum and rapidly boil. By doing this, the flavour will intensify and the moisture will evaporate. This part may take up to 10 minutes, but you’ll know when it’s done and the mixture will thicken. Now roughly chop a handful of basil and mix into the pan. Leave to cool.

4. Slice your ciabatta in half or make diagonal slices like I have. Rub the bread with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put a dry frying pan on a low heat and begin to toast the bread. Once golden, slightly brown, and very crunchy, flip over to the other side. Then arrange your plate with the bread and spread over your tomato and bacon mix.

There we go! You could even leave the tomato and bacon in a bowl and use the bread as a dip. In the true words of Burger King, have it your way!  

leek and potato soup

               

From the people who I’ve spoken to, it seems that students eat a lot of soup. So try this recipe for leek and potato soup, you don’t even need a blender! 

Leek and Potato Soup 

Effort: Medium, requires some prep and patience

Time: 45minutes

Cost: Less than £1 per bowl

To serve: 2 to 3 portions, it will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge

Ingredients:

2 leeks

2 medium sized potatoes

handful of parsely

2 garlic cloves

3 pints of vegetable stock made from 1 stock cube

1. Cut the top and tail off of the leeks and score once lengthways. Peel away the first 2 outer layers and quickly rinse the leeks under a cold tap to get rid of any dirt hiding under there. Half the leeks lengthways twice but keep 2 quarters together. Very finely slice the leeks. Then finely chop 2 garlic cloves.

                                        

2. Place a large saucepan on the hob on a medium heat. Drizzle in a little oil and add a knob of butter. Begin to sweat down the sliced leaks and garlic. A good pinch of salt and a splash of water will stop them from frying. They need to sweat so they almost melt. Continue to stir for around 10 minutes.

3. Now boil your kettle will 3 pints of water (use a pint glass to measure the water into the kettle). In a jug, mash 1 vegetable (or chicken) stock cube. Once the kettle has boiled, pour in to the jug and stir.

4. Peel 2 medium sized potatoes. Now, just like the leeks, cut the potatoes into quarters lengthways and very finely chop. You don’t need to be too delicate, you can even do a 1cm dice, but keep everything small so it cooks quicker. Once diced or sliced, add your potatoes to the leeks and continue to heat with another splash of water.

5. Now pour in all your stock, give it a stir and then turn up the heat to full.

6. It will take around half an hour to simmer down. The starch from the potatoes act as a natural thickener. Once reduced by about half, finely chop a handful of parsely and add to the soup. Use a potato masher to crush any potatoes in the soup that haven’t broken up. Season very well with pepper and then serve! 

Sausage Hash

                    

As a kid, my mum always used to make a classic dinner of corned beef hash. It’s one of those perfect winter meals that warms you up with salty corned beef and those fluffy lumps of potato. But thinking along the lines of a student, corned beef is actually now very expensive for a can. And realistically, who ever remembers to put it on their list when they go for a weekly shop? Sausages, however, can be cheap depending on which ones you buy and this recipe only requires 2, allowing you to save the others in the pack for whatever you want. Realistically, this recipe could use beef or pork mince, or even frankfurters, make it your own. I’ve used good quality, high meat content Cumberland sausages but you could also go for sweet chilli ones, onion ones, the list continues. 

Sausage Hash Using 3 Ingredients

Effort: Very minimal, I’d go as far to say that even a monkey could do it

Time: Up to 30mins

Cost: 90p to £1.10 per portion depending on quality of sausages

To serve: 1 person

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes

2 sausages (I used 3 ‘cause I’m fat)

1 white onion 

(Oh and some cooking oil and s+p as per normal)

1. Peel the potatoes and dice them into 2 cm cubes, don’t be too anal about the size but try to keep them nice and small as they will cook quicker.

2. Once the potato is diced, place in a saucepan with cold water and a little salt. Place on a high heat to get the water boiling quickly. From this point, the potatoes will need between 10-15 mins.

3. Peel an onion, half it and slice it into fine slices. Again, it doesn’t need to be pretty, which is the great thing about hash.

4. Get a frying pan/wok/saucepan and place over a medium heat. Drizzle in a little cooking oil and begin to fry the onions. Don’t let them burn, keep the heat nice and steady. Once sweated down, take the pan off the heat.

5. Take 2 sausages and slightly score them lengthways once, making sure you pierce the skin. Peel away the skins. Place the saucepan with the onions back on the heat and throw in your de-skinned sausages. Turn the heat up to full and begin to break the sausage meat up in the pan as it cooks.

6. By this time, the potatoes will be par-cooked so stab a cube with a knife; if it falls off the potatoes need to come off the heat. Drain the potatoes and then throw into the same pan as the sausage and onion mix.

7. Continue to fry the whole mix until the sausage meat is cook and the potatoes have started to go slightly fluffy. This will take around 10 minutes on a high heat. Season well with salt and pepper, then serve. 

Moroccan Tagine

                

For those that have never heard of a tagine, it’s a Moroccan dish cooked in a tagine (conical dish) with lots of spices and fruit. It’s a lot like a curry but easier as you put all the ingredients into a casserole dish, tagine, roasting tray or even on the hob, and just leave it to cook for an hour and a half. Yes I understand that this is a long time if you’re hungry, but you can cook a big pot of this for your housemates or put portions into tubs and freeze it for another day. Unlike curries that use several spices, for this you can use ‘ras el hanout’ which you can buy from Tesco for £1.54 and will be enough for about 4 big tagines. 

Easy Chicken Tagine

Effort: Takes a long time but minimal effort to prepare

Time: Up to 2 hours

Cost: £1.50 per portion

To serve: 2-3 people but divide the ingredients for an individual portion, which will also take a shorter time to cook through

Ingredients:

1 pack of chicken breasts - I go for a breast per person but you could use less to save money

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

a bunch of coriander

either dried sultanas or apricots (about a handful)

3 teaspoons of ras el hanout

1 red chilli if you want it spicy

1. Preheat your oven to 200degrees.

2. Roughly peel and chop the onion into a dice or slices, keep it nice and rustic. Crush or finely chop a garlic clove. 

3. Then dice your chicken breasts into big chunks. You can use other meats or veg if you wish. It’s like a curry, just make it your own.

4. Finely chop a medium red chilli and then finely chop a bunch of coriander. Then roughly chop the apricots or keep the sultanas/raisins whole. 

5. Put your diced chicken into a baking dish/tagine/casserole dish/saucepan (I’ve used a tagine but make sure whatever you use has a lid) and add the ras el hanout. Drizzle in a little oil and mix the whole lot together with your hands, rubbing the spice into the chicken. Once nicely mixed, add all your other ingredients and mix well. Then pour in the tinned chopped tomatoes and mix again. Season well with salt and pepper. And that’s it. Put the dish in the oven and leave it to cook for up to 1.5 hours. It may be quicker than that but just check that the chicken is cooked. 

6. Serve with cous cous, rice, pitta, humous, whatever you want!

Easy, cheap and tasty chilli

              

This chilli recipe is seriously good. The great thing about it is you use baked beans instead of kidney beans and tinned tomatoes, so it’s super lazy but tastes better than jars of chilli sauce. You don’t have to add in the onion or paprika if you can’t be arsed or you’re a hurry, but it really does add to the flavour and texture of the dish. Chilli loves rice, jacket potatoes and tortilla wraps, mix it up and do whatever you want with it. This recipe could serve 1 but even 2 people. It will keep for a few days in the fridge if you can’t eat it all. 

Chilli Con Student

Effort: Mediocre 

Time: less than 30 mins

Cost: Around £1.50 per portion

Ingredients:

250g beef mince

3 tablspoons tomato puree

1 can of baked beans

1 clove of garlic

1 onion

2 teaspoons of paprika

1 chilli

salt and pepper

1. Roughly chop your onion into a fine dice, it doesn’t need to be pretty but take time in making equal sized. Then very finely chop or crush your garlic clove.

2. Heat a medium saucepan and add a little cooking oil. Then begin to fry your onions and garlic.

3. When the onions and garlic have begun to sweat down and have a little colour (this will take 5-10mins), add the beef mince and turn up the heat. Continue to fry the whole lot for around 10 minutes until the beef is quite brown. Make sure you keep stirring so that beef doesn’t burn but it cooks thoroughly.

4. Pour in a can of baked beans and stir in the tomato puree, paprika and finely chopped chilli. Season very well with salt and pepper.

5. Heat the mixture through for another 10 minutes while stirring to heat it thoroughly.

And there we go. Serve in any way that you fancy!