Brexit dinner

[oldfarmgirl]

Been lurking in the preppers threads for a while gradually building up my stock of stuff but I just needed to share tonight's success.

I've been building up the usual staples but wanted to try some new things. So tonight I made my first ever totally store cupboard / freezer dinner to see how it went.

Frozen onion and a tin of carrots mixed in with a tin of lean steak in gravy. Tinned potatoes roasted in the oven and some frozen green veg. Was all rather surprising tasty! Even DH who thinks it's all a bit mad had to agree it was the sort of meal he'd happily eat regularly

So now I'm after inspiration - what other stock cupboard meals have worked well? Especially those with meat?

Caviar and champagne.

While I do love caviar and champagne, sadly one cannot live on it , dahling. Especially not with children and the wretched inconvenience of a tight budget.
Home made Lentil soup with whatever added to it - tinned veg usually at the end because it's quite soft already.
Fry tinned potatoes.

Home made pasta sauce.
Homemade curry sauce.

I've found a couple of blogs with stockpile friendly recipes
eatnotspend.com/brexit-box/
candocook.food.blog
Jack Monroe's Tin Can Cook, but that's not out until May

There is a Brexit cupboard recipe thread with ideas. I think it is on the Brexit board.

A storecupboard staple in our house is nasi goring.

Open a tin of tuna - if it's in oil, pour oil into the pan. If it's in brine, pour brine down the sink.

Fry a diced onion, and add some sliced garlic (or dried garlic granules).

Now the regular version includes whatever veg is left at the bottom of the fridge to stir fry into it - peppers, mushrooms, sliced carrots, broccoli or cauliflower florets, French beans, etc.

I often also add in some frozen peas.

I always add in a half a tin of sweetcorn.

The real storecupboard version would be adding whatever mix of veg is available from tins or the freezer or rehydrated (dried mushrooms are great for risottos and I think would be fine in something like this too).

Once the veg are cooked through enough, add some frozen prawns if you have them, and the tuna from the tin.
Throw in a couple of tablespoons of mild curry powder and mix well. You MAY need some salt to taste.

Then add some already cooked rice (already cold works best so leftovers from yesterday, properly chilled and stored in the fridge or frozen are good, and those individual sachets of readycooked rice work fine too).

Stir the whole lot together and serve.

Yum @BiddyPop . Thanks

Mushroom risotto, using dehydrated mushrooms, an onion, Arborio rice, and some veggie (or chicken) stock (include the mushroom rehydrating water in the stock) is another good one. If you have some parmesan to add, that gives nice depth.

I have done a large batch of onion and garlic "base" in the past when I have had a glut, and frozen it in 1 cup batches. That makes very easy starts to tomato sauces for pasta or curry sauces for rice and defrosts fine.

So a bag of pre-made onion and garlic, a tin of tomatoes, some peppers in oil and some bacon lardons (long life) are easy from the storecupboard.

Or a bag of onion/garlic with a spoon of ginger paste (very long life jar stored in the fridge), a couple of tablespoons of curry powder or curry paste, add a tin of coconut milk, a squirt (highly technical quantity!) of tomato puree from a tube, and whatever meat/veg you have from freezer/tins, along with some extra vegetable/chicken/fish stock if you need to dilute it a bit.

Another storecupboard essential for me is bags of ready-diced meditteranean veggies in the freezer. Either when I get a glut that needs to be used, or I know I have a busy time coming up, or I am doing a large batch for an event and leftovers is ok - I do this - and freeze the results before cooking to throw into the oven/on the BBQ in foil packets, or freeze cooked leftovers to toss into tomato sauces or just reheat as a side dish. Quantities are approximate, the mix is what you have and what your family likes. The most important thing is to try and get the SIZE of the dice about the same on all veggies in the batch so they cook in about the same time - sometimes they're large (maybe 3-4cm dice) for BBQ purposes, other times only small (maybe only 1cm) for roasting and sauces.
A couple of red onions (yellow are fine, red looks and tastes slightly nicer), maybe 3-6 whole cloves of garlic (the only thing not diced, unless they are massive), red and yellow peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, cherry tomatoes (regular tomatoes are fine), aubergine (if your family like it - mine don't), French beans work well, etc.
Toss them in a large Ziploc freezer bag. Pour in a glug of olive oil, a smaller glug of balsamic vinegar, season well with salt, pepper and some dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary are all good - and mixed is perfect). Shake to mix, and allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes - they can be made 1 day ahead of using, frozen before cooking, or only made up just 20-30 minutes before you cook.

Roast at 180 degrees until cooked - about 20-25 minutes for 1cm dice, longer for larger pieces.

If I am making a batch specifically for the freezer, I will try to open freeze them so they will pour out of the bag easier and I can take out just what I want from a large batch.

Tinned clams are good in pasta or Chinese style sauces, or to make a seafood risotto.

I probably should have added in the nasi goreng, that if you have tuna in brine - you need a slug of olive or sunflower oil or some ghee to do the frying. I just try to have some tuna in oil always as it saves on the oil and also adds extra flavor to the dish by using the oil from the tin.

We regularly have a side of rice cooked with a veg stock cube and tinned/frozen/leftover veg chopped and chucked in for the last few minutes. Tastes great!