Best before labels out of date?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/19/best-before-label-food

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1377752/Best-labels-face-axe-cut-food-waste.html

Salmon fillets with coriander and lemon rice and stir fried pak choi and bean sprouts

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets (reduced from £4 to 99p)

2 pak choi (reduced from £1 to 30p)

Bag bean sprouts (reduced from 50p to 20p)

Lemon (in fridge)

Coriander (herb in pot)

Basmati rice

Mango chutney (dreg left in jar)

Balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Butter

Garlic (cheat's garlic in jar)

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Prepare salmon fillets, by seasoning with salt and pepper, drizzling with lemon juice and a small amount of balsamic vinegar, and smearing a little mango chutney on top. 

Wrap in foil and roast in oven for about 15 mins at about 190.

Cook the rice (boil, drain and rest) and season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with lemon juice and stir through chopped coriander.

Wash and chop the pak choi.  Briskly stir fry in butter, with a little garlic and salt and pepper. 

Then add the bean shoots.

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Snack smoked salmon with shallot

Not a recipe, and not really an inspiration, this plate was made from desperate ingredients, but was delicious.

Asda 'Extra Special' smoked salmon, reduced to £1.67 and 6 weeks out of date (pack still sealed, and kept refridgerated)

Ciabatta loaf, left over in bread bin

Half a leftover banana shallot

Olive oil

Black pepper

Chop the shallot very small.  Slice the ciabatta.  If the bread is stale, toast it.  Arrange the salmon on the plate.  Drizzle with olive oil and ground black pepper.   Let the food achieve room temperature.  Eat the salmon on the bread, with a little shallot to pep.

Roast chicken with leek and mustard mash

Ingredients

Chicken (reduced from £4 to £1.55)

2 large carrots (25p)

6 or 7 small red potatoes (from bag reduced from £1.25 to 35p) -10p

Leek (from bag of 3, reduced from £1 to 49p) - 15p

Butter

Olive oil

Lemon thyme from garden

Half lemon (left over)

Salt & pepper

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Rub a little olive oil into the skin of the chicken.  Season generously with freshly ground pepper and sea salt and thyme.  Squeeze the half lemon into the cavity, then thrust the lemon into the cavity.  Cover the chicken with tin foil and put into a preheated oven (180') for around 1.45mins.

Peel the potatoes and boil til cooked. 

Finely chop leeks and fry in butter til soft.

Mash potatoes with salt, pepper, heaped teaspoon of whole grain mustard, generous splash of milk, and butter.  Mix in the leeks and mash together.

Chop carrots into batons and put into the tray or dish that the chicken is being cooked in.  The juices from the chicken will coat the carrots.  Stir them often, and if they seem too dry add a little butter.  The lemon and fat from the chicken will almost caramelise the carrots, and the lemon thyme will help too.

Let the chicken rest when it's cooked, covered in foil to retain its heat.

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For a general timetable:

Chicken 1.45 hr

Carrots .40

Mash  .30

Leeks     .5-10

I kept the carrots and mash warm in the oven while the chicken was resting, and then served.

Total cost: £2.05 (served 2)

Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers/ BBC Dig In

BBC1, 8.30 pm Weds 24 November
Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers

4/8 Series 2.
The chef reveals how to make feasts out of ingredients that have seen better days.  Stale bread, brown bananas and hard cheese are all transformed to make meals that are truly delicious, including cheese pudding, banana and chocolate cake, and bacon and squash pan fry.

The series is part of the BBC's Dig In campaign encouraging people to grow and cook their own food.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/digin/

Here, you can watch exclusive clips from the new series of Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers.
The series features five dishes created by Nigel using the Dig In veg.


You can also print off the Dig In recipe booklet, browse more recipes and get top tips on growing and using herbs and vegetables.  Visit the blogs and message boards too.

Chilli and sweet spring onion feta on ciabatta toast

Ingredients:

Block of feta cheese - 1.17

3 or 4 spring onions (reduced from 85p to 20p) - 5p

1 fresh red chilli (reduced from 65p to 25p) - 5p

Piece of ciabatta (reduced from 95p to 65p) - 45p

Olive oil

Lemon juice

A little brown sugar (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper

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Slice the cheese into four pieces- half and half again.

Roughly slice the spring onion, and finely slice the chilli.

Put the cheese into a grill-proof dish, scatter over the spring onion and chilli, and sprinkle generously with olive oil, squirt with lemon juice and sprinkle with a little brown sugar and fresh ground pepper.

Grill until soft and charred.  The sugar will 'caramalise' the onion if you use it, and contrast with the sharpness of the lemon juice and salty feta.

Serve on toasted ciabatta, drizzling the juice onto the toast before topping with the cheese, onion and chilli.

Omit the brown sugar for a more piquant and less sweet taste.

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Total cost: £1.72 (made four toasts - serves 2 as a snack)

Feta cheese on toast

A simple, quick and delicious way of using up the rest of the greek cheese, and a reduced ciabatta that had seen fresher days.

Ingredients:

A third of a ciabatta (Reduced from 95p to 65p) - 23p

Half greek style cheese (£1.17) -65p

Olive oil

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Split and toast the ciabatta.

Grill the feta on a tray of foil, sprinkled generously with olive oil and turning once.

Gently 'spread' the feta over the toasted ciabatta and eat whilst hot!

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Total cost: 88p (supper for one)