Post Furlough/Student Food: Cottage Pie

What does a "budget meal" consist of?  The answer of course depends on where you stand.  "Cheap" is in the eye of the beholder and it is something that causes OH and I to disagree- whilst he likes the bottom line of "cheap" (he is as he would put it "as tight as a duck's a**e in a power dive") as soon as you put something in front of him that does not have meat in it he looks like you have just served him something that smells like it has come out of a dogs bottom.  I went back to a resource which I used to use many years ago now The Money Saving Expert "Old Style" forum board.  Having had nearly two months on unpaid leave due to family problems, will (and spare cash) is running low.  Looking through the suggested recipes on the latest Grocery Challenge thread many of them are now way out of the price range of a lot of the readers.  Not surprising really when you consider that many of them are based on prices from years back when tins of tuna were only 29p (now 59p) and I came across a corned beef one that stated that corned beef was 69p a tin (now £2.30 a tin for 300 g) so I think it is time to rethink what is cheap.  This along side a free Kindle book entitled "Cheap recipes Cookbook" by Thomas Kelly Delicious Cheap Recipes That Can Feed The Family Without Breaking The Bank" where every single recipe was meat based and used 4 chicken breasts chopped up to feed 4 people.  Sometimes we need to be aware that everyone looks at the world through their own lens.

This means that I struggled to think of a recipe that wasn't sausages AGAIN for tea tonight.  The freezer yielded lots of bags unlabelled bags and whilst I don't really want the excitement of "Guess the mystery meal" I have some mince that is calling my name and not wanting pasta or rice again (OH has been doing some of the cooking if you complain it is curry again he always just serves pasta) I think cottage pie is the one for me.  Definitely on the cheap side of a meaty meal although you can do a veggy version and a comfort meal for these horrible dark wet days.  As usual basic version with variations and a reminder that all the variations will freeze well, and the base can be served without the potatoes on pasta or as a pasty filling as well so if it is more than enough to fill the ovenproof dish you are using don't waste the leftovers.

Cottage Pie - serves 4

1 medium onion, chopped

1 pack of beef mince (450-500g)

2 medium carrots, peeled and grated

dash of Worcestershire sauce 

450g potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed

Variations

On the mince front get the one with the lowest fat that your budget will allow (your heart and waistline will thank you for it eg the cheapest mince at Tesco is £1.49 but 20% fat - go for the 5% one instead and it is £2.59)

Use lamb mince instead - makes this shepherds pie rather than cottage pie.

More veg - you can go up to half and half with chopped/grated veg (whatever you have) and mince and it will still be delicious.  Either add to base mixture and reserve half for another meal (freezer!) or only use half the mince.  Easy way to feed 8 from the same pack of mince rather than 4.

Add crushed/chopped garlic at the same time as the mince

Add grated cheese to the top of the mash

Add horseradish sauce to the mash

Use a mixture of sweet potato and potato for the mash

Use soya mince instead - works brilliantly

Add a sprinkle of oats to eak out the mince

Add a sprinkle of red lentils to eak out the mince (Tell OH it is a tomato seed he he)

Sliced mushrooms make a good addition to the base mixture too

Use a spoonful of marmite if you don't have any stock cubes

Tinned tomatoes work instead of passata of course - IMHO they are more watery and about the same price - why not go for 1p more per person but a better flavour?

Substitute cooked lentils (tinned) for half the mince

Ring the changes with the flavour of the mince.  The classic is a splash of Worcestershire sauce (if you want a giggle try watching YouTube where an American tries to pronounce it...), but there are no rules that say the mince cannot be more Italian (add dried mixed herbs instead) , Jamaican (add cumin, chilli and thyme), Tex Mex (add chilli powder, cumin and ginger), Greek (think moussaka oregano and cinnamon), Indian (curry powder or your own blend of spices to make a keema style mince), or even South African (curry powder, mango chutney and dried fruit as in Babotie).

Cost

This one really does depend on where you shop and the standard of mince you want to buy so going for the £2.59 for 500 g from Tesco for the prices below in the sure and certain knowledge that you can do better if you have too!..

500 g mince (5% fat) - £2.59

1 onion - 10 p

2 carrots - 8 p

1 heaped tablespoon of flour - 2 p

1 carton value passata - 32p

1 beef stock cube (Tescos own 10 for 50p) -5p

Worcestershire sauce (£2.80)- 2p

 potatoes (99p for 2.5 kg)- 20p

 total cost is £3.38 or 85p a head before you add any sides that you may wish to have with it.  Still well under the £1 a portion that seems to be the most popular benchmark for "cheap" even before stretching it with the cheaper ingredients; but definitely not Jack Monroe standard!

Here is to hoping that whatever your own version of "cheap" is having to be you manage to keep your bellies full.#