*
Now when you rush in from work like a crazy lady, never mind its also Saturday, you want something fast, filling and hot for tea. Chowder does that for me. Today's was also cheap and incredibly cheering and whilst home made in reality half of it was out of a tin from the cupboard (sweet corn). At well under £1 for a tea to feed a few folks, its a good staple filling fodder. Soup for tea is a good way to keep those pennies working hard for you.
Leftover tatties cubed - around a cup
(free as home grown)
A can of sweetcorn (325g)
(cheapest and cheerfulest range) (c35p)
A ham stock cube (or chicken) (c2-10p)
(the price range is value to posh - your choice)
Around a third to half a tub of cream cheese
(cheap and cheerfulest range) (c20p)
or cream or milk
A splosh of garlic is optional - be moderate though
So you lob in a stock cube into around a pint of water and start to boil. Its one of the few things I like a ham/bacon stock cube in as its cheaper than actual bacon. You can easily keep the whole dish veggie by using a veg cube. I like the hammy flavour, its a personal thing. If you're feeling decadent add some ham or bacon. As you do this the can of corn meets its maker and gets lobbed enthusiastically into the pan. Please recycle the can, even if its just for me.
Next the potatoes go in and bring the mix up to the boil. If the tatties are cooked it doesn't really need cooking per se but it wants to be just at that bubbling stage. If you're using uncooked tatties - cook them out until they're soft.
Add the cream cheese now - you can use milk/cream but I think that whatever's to hand works. I like this as a creamy soup - but equally it would work with tomatoes.
To get a quick soup fix and scoffing as soon as possible I would blend this now with a hand blender - not to mush - but sort of half blended. Thickens the soup nicely and gives a good texture too. Again this is a person thing - you don't need to do it.
Have a slurp and season. A bit of pepper or paprika is lovely.
Lob into a bowl.
Happy cheap and cheerful in a hurry scoffing - until next time.
*the cheap and cheerful range is for most store cupboard things is a good spend. If you're into organic or certain brands - crack on - its your cupboards. Personally mine are stocked with cheap and cheerful where I can't tell the difference. That way I get to spend a few extra pennies on things I do like. And I do like a well stocked store cupboard - makes eating quickly a real essential.
PS excuse the lack of photos of the soup. Firstly it was scoffed in milliseconds. Secondly I really need to fathom how to take photos of grub in my dark kitchen especially at night.
I'm a great fan of the 'bung it all in' kind of cooking. I'll certainly try your soup.
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum
xx
Thanks lovely - how nice of you to pop by! Bung it in works well in this house. Funny how a one pot dish normally makes for the whole kitchen to be splattered, or is that just me?
DeleteYum - we like a nice chowder here too - it's a favourite camping meal as it's an all-in-one-pan less washing up kinda thing. It also goes superbly well with a crab picked and thrown in - which as our camping is often a stone's throw from Cromer is an excellent thing. Good crabs in Cromer.
ReplyDeleteAs for cheap & cheerful - always, as you say when you can't tell the difference. Sweetcorn is sometimes fresh, cooked and frozen as it's often cheaper that way at this time of year down here.
Good call there Robyn. Anything goes in chowder!
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