THE SPEEDIEST TRIFLES IN THE WORLD: glorious frugal indulgence

Surfing the trend for 3-ingredient easy-peasy desserts...

Instant Trifle from leftover Carrot Cake, fresh pineapple & end-of-date cream 
'That's the sort of thing I want to take home for Christmas!' Tester

The trend for impressive 3-ingredient home-made desserts, which recently erupted on You tube and other cooking blogs, has really caught on.  Even the Daily Telegraph started a column on 3-ingredient desserts. (Mar 2016)

And why not?  They take only minutes to prepare, taste great and there's little washing up afterwards.

Even better if you can use up leftovers and/or nearly-out-of-date items, all the better.  Who doesn't love saving money, especially in the middle of a pandemic?  

67 transformed a carrot cake which hadn't hit the mark, underripe pineapple and cut-price cream into the glamorous exciting speediest trifle in the world. 

Obviously not everyone will have a spare carrot cake etc on hand but the recipe works with quite a few combinations, including cookies instead of cake.  Several  alternatives are offered in Tips (below).  


Cost: depending on what's in your cupboard, from £1.50-3
Serves: from 3-5

Ingred:
    stale carrot cake in 1/2 inch/1 cm slices
    2-3 gms sherry or fruit juice (opt)
    350 gm yoghurt cream or double cream (whip into soft peaks' add 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1-2 tbsp sugar)  
      baked pineapple wedges plus juice (see Hot Pineapple Pudding)
    1-2 tbsp sherry (opt)
    fresh grated ginger or finely diced sugared ginger (opt)

Method:

1. Line a small loaf tin with double layer of cling film
2. Put a layer of cake in the bottom
3. Moisten cake with sherry & fruit juice
4. Add a layer of pineapple wedges & sprinkle over ginger if using
5. Cover lightly with yoghurt cream or double cream
6. Repeat
7. Press down lightly; if there's time, refrigerate; otherwise, turn it out onto a plate
8. Cover the top of the trifle with the rest of the cream; if you have enough you can do the sides as well 
9. Slice and serve or give everyone a spoon and dig in

Comments:

'This is the sort of thing I'd want to take home for Christmas. The carrot cake was an unusual base but it really stimulated the palate.  It was not bland.' Political agent

'It was really good and looked like there'd be little washing up!' Tube train driver  

Tips:

• Biscuits can replace cake, any other fruit can be used, fruit liqueur can replace sherry and, if cholesterol isn't a problem, double cream can replace yoghurt-cream
• try bread cake with raspberry compote  (buy half-priced sell-by-date-today punnets of fruit); crushed ginger biscuits with peach compote; crushed digestives, strawberry compote and whipped marscapone 

                           more easy-peasy recipes on NavBar/Recipes I

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.  

ITALIAN SEAFOOD SALAD WITH GRAPEFRUIT & AVOCADO, Make-Ahead, Portable, Easy

BUDGET CONSCIOUS SEAFOOD, MEDITERRANEAN STYLE

Italian Seafood Salad with Avocado & Grapefruit 

This is a gorgeous seafood salad: garlicky, lemony, wine-scented and with a flash of heat, embellished with avocado and seafood.

It's absolutely wonderful.  Seafood salads have always been the best of Italian deli food (with prices to match) but the creaminess of avocado and tang of grapefruit which 67 added bring a new and blissful dimension.

If there's the budget - and the time- one could start from scratch with fresh seafood.  

This recipe is more wallet-friendly, using Premium Selection Seafood*, 700 grams for just £5. It's a good mix of squid rings, mussels and King Prawns; and the shrinkage is limited.  Add defrosted frozen scallops and/or cubes of cooked white firm-fleshed fish for more variety.  

Don't be put off by celebrity chefs who look down on frozen seafood.  When it comes to texture and flavour, 67 has had better luck with frozen than some farmed fish.  

The Seafood Salad needs to be started the day before you plan to serve it;  The shellfish must be marinaded overnight.  The avocado and grapefruit is added at the last minute. 

The dish lasts three days; it's a perfect dish for a portable lunch.

Cost: £;
Feeds: 3-4

Ingred:
   475 gm/16 oz cooked mixed shellfish (see * above) including optional cooked firm fleshed fish
   
   1/4 cup good olive oil
   1 tsp oregano
   1/4 tsp chilli flakes
   
   2 cloves garlic, grated
   1 1/2 tomatoes (no seeds or pulp), in small dice
   2 tbsp white wine vinegar   
   1/4 - 1/2 glass white wine
   zest half a lemon
   2 tbsp lemon juice
   2 stalks celery, cleaned, peeled and finely diced
   1/2 packet parsley leaves, rinsed and chopped coarsley

   1 small avocado
    juice half a lemon
   1/2 grapefruit, in segments

Method: 

1. Defrost shellfish in the fridge on the morning of the day of preparation; rinse; drain
2. Heat a large pan of water; when boiling add defrosted shellfish; quickly remove after a minute or so or until the prawns turn pink; rinse, drain; set aside
3. Heat a saucepan over med heat; add olive oil & heat through
4. Add oregano and chilli flakes (the oil will sizzle); cook 1 min
5. Add diced tomato and garlic; cook 2 mins
6. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, white wine vinegar and white wine; cook 1 min. Remove from heat
7. Finely dice celery; coarsely chop parsley; add to oil;  a stir to combine
8. Pour over shellfish; cover tightly with clingfilm; refrigerate
9. Rest preferably overnight or minimum 4 hours
10. Just before serving: peel and stone avocado; dice in sizes similar to the shellfish; sprinkle with lemon juice; add pepper and salt
11. Segment grapefruit (see Orange and Berry Plate); dry grapefruit on a paper towel -- you're looking for the bitter-sweetness of grapefruit without allowing the juice to dilute the marinade; chop into pieces similar to mussels
12. Mix the shellfish, avocado and grapefruit together with some of the marinade.
13. Serve with plenty of crusty bread.

*Iceland, Whole Foods

                  More fish on NavBar:Recipes I

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.  

'I'M ON HOLIDAY, TOO' BBQ CHICKEN WINGS. Frugal, Lower-fat, Easy-Peasy

For cooks wanting to enjoy the holiday, too...

BBQ Chicken Wings, with store cupboard ingredients, Lower-fat

These gorgeous wings are a godsend on holiday - simple, appealing, tasty and very child-friendly.  Moreover, they don't require anything exotic; all the ingredients should be available at any supermarket or village shop.  

An oven/roaster or BBQ is necessary; potato or sweet potato wedges can be cooked at the same time.  Then all that's needed is a couple of bowls with tomato wedges lightly oiled and salted and cucumber sticks. It's a quick, nutritious happy-making hot meal.

Or for picnics, make the wings in advance and pack them along with containers of tomatoes and cucumber sticks and Carnival Potato Salad.

Cost: £3.50
Serves: 4

Ingred:
   1 kilo chicken wings (the best you can afford)
   1 cup spicy ketchup, pref low-sugar
   2-3 tbsp soft brown sugar
   2 tbsp soy sauce
   2 cloves garlic, grated
   2 inch piece ginger grated or 2/3 tsp dried ginger
   zest of one lemon or orange
   chilli flakes (opt)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to moderate 180c, 350f, gas 5
2. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper; set wings on rack in tray
3. Bake for 25 minutes
4. In the meantime, mix ketchup, sugar, soy, garlic, ginger & zest and chilli flakes if using; set 1/2 of the total aside
5. After 25 minutes, brush the wings liberally with sauce
6. Repeat step 5 every 7 minutes until wings are crisp and beautifully coloured - probably another 20-25 mins.
7. Serve with extra sauce

Tip:

• If you can't find wings, get a whole chicken and spatchcock it: remove the backbone by holding the bird firmly on its rump and cutting down with a sharp knife close to the right of the backbone and to the left;  the bird can then be flattened and the cooking speeded up.  Cutting the chicken into portions will also save cooking time.  Save the backbone for stock
• A cooling dipping sauce is a 2-1 mix of strained yoghurt and mayonnaise with finely sliced spriing onions or chives
• If you like this, you will also like Double-Duty Sweet & Sour Chicken Wings and Chicken Stock

                             Scroll down for more Recipes and How to...

Like this? Hate it? Comments or questions, pls email b67goingon50@yahoo.co.uk and say if they can be included in the blog                                         

This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.  

HOW TO...GET WALLET FRIENDLY FISH .

Updated Octo 2020

FISH HAS BEEN A SOURCE OF HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN, PROBABLY SINCE THE DAWN OF MANKIND...

Brixham Fish Market, Devon
Courtesy of Geograph:  © Copyright Chris Talbot and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

...when it was no doubt caught by hand.  That's not very likely nowadays, unless you live near a river, lake or the sea.   

Fresh fish is expensive and worries about fish stocks abound; worries about sustainable fish stocks mean fish prices, including frozen, have been rising inexorably.  Getting your twice-a-week fish intake isn't easy but stores like M&S offer 3-fer-offers at under £10 and fresh fish market stalls can be budget-friendly. 

The big thing in restaurants as we struggle with the cost of living crisis is serving fish heads and other bits and pieces we might not ordinarily consider (which, by the way, the Asians have been doing for centuries!). 67 does not want to be confronted with a fish head for supper but using it for stock...it would certainly enhance your vitamin profile. 

Notwithstanding the cost, the benefits of eating fish - especially if you are older - make it worth your while to spend a little more on fish, less frequently. 

Fish is:

• heart-friendly
• can improve brain development
• linked to lower cholesterol in some studies 
• either low in fat (white fish) or a good source of essential fatty acids (oily fish)
• full of vitamins and minerals
• environmentally, 'a good thing' because fish (i) have less sophisticated nervous systems and (ii) swim freely (if not factory farmed) 

But in our increasingly complicated inter-dependent world, fish also:

• can contain toxic materials like mercury and plastic
• are diminishing due to over-fishing

That's why Governments recommend restricting intake to two portions a week.  Child-bearing women and young children are recommended to eat fish low in mercury: tinned tuna, salmon, pollock and catfish (coley).  Portion size per serving is 6 oz/170 gm; less for children.

  
In the UK, the fishing industry recommends buying fish in season, when it's abundant and cheaper.  For a guide to which fish is in season and when, go to: http://www.wingofstmawes.co.uk/wholesale/seasonal_fish

                                     ***

Given a choice - and budget - at least one of 67's weekly fish dishes is fresh: salmon, mackerel in season, bream or sea bass. Cod and chips is a very occasional treat, though a portion is nearly enough for two!  

Supermarkets are savvy when it comes to fish. Waitrose - which has twice won the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) for sustainable fish - frequently offers fresh fish at a good discount on some Fridays.

Otherwise, frozen fish is just as nutritious as fresh.  Waitrose offers the frugal ('ish) frozen coley (currently 6  portions £6) and pollock (both white fish)  as well as salmon, haddock and cod. Iceland does a Selection of frozen squid rings, mussels and King prawns  -- perfect in soups and in noodle soup bowls; prices vary according to packet size.  It also does more than acceptable frozen salmon fillets, farmed and wild. 

Smoked mackerel is still a relatively budget-conscious choice in some supermarkets and who can resist smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels?  There's usually a tin (or 2 or 3 of tuna in the cupboard from M&S but also Sainsbury's.    

Some of 67goingon50's recipes using fish :

FISH

Fresh Fish
Steamed Salmon, Bak Choy & Potatoes one-dish meal
Ginger & Soy Fish, ten-minute wonder
Mackerel in paper parcels, healthy in the extreme!
Salmon Nicoise Salad
Sea Bass, Chinese Style, an Indulgence:  delicately gutsy flavours   
Sweet Chilli & Ginger Salmon, Healthy, budget-friendly

Frozen Fish
Unfried Fish & Chips, crunchiness without fat
Fish Burgers, a change of theme for burgers
Phyllo Bites, Sensational: Triple Duty: Vegan, fish, meat
Seafood Corn Chowder 
Oriental Prawn Omelette, also known as Egg Foo Young
Seafood Salad, Portable, Super-healthy, 1/2 the price of delis
Sweet Chilli & Ginger Salmon, Healthy, budget-friendly
Smoked fish 
Portable Mackerel Rice Salad
Peppered Mackerel a la Nicoise)
Smoked Mackerel, Egg & Potato Salad 
Veloute of Smoked Haddock

Tuna
Tuna Fried Rice, particularly frugal
Fabulously Frugal Fishcakes, kids can make these 
Creamy Tuna Casserole with Crunchy Topping, great holiday recipe
Tuna Salad Italian Style, healthy, delicious, satisfying 






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