Jenny's Week: It's been cheap week this week (From Bournemouth Echo)

Jenny's Week: It's been cheap week this week

1:30pm Tuesday 2nd March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

I really wasn’t sure that I’d have anything to write about this week, as the old finances had reached rock bottom and we were on an economy drive. Of course, that didn’t mean we’d stopped eating – with an 11 year old son, that’d be fairly impossible to achieve even if you wanted to.

It is a sad but true fact that, when there’s not much more than a few moths in your purse for the week, the shopping doesn’t contain much vegetable matter.

I only wish it were otherwise, but for an omnivorous family with a marked lean towards the carnivorous (two men to cater for, you see!) one has to trim where possible so as to achieve one’s set weekly budget of £70 in Asda, with a maximum of £20 on Friday with which to see one through the weekend. Oh, and that isn’t just for food – that’s for everything, toiletries, cleaning materials and pet food, including a pair of plimsolls because son has put his toe through his.

Hence, this last week’s menu list has been a bit devoid of interesting recipes. For sure, we had things like Thai Prawn Curry - which was nice but not earth-shattering – but I had 90% of the ingredients list already. Then there was the new recipe for “Bonfire Bangers and Beans” which I’d hoped would come out with a marked barbecue-like flavour, but in fact turned into “spicy tomato and beans with sausage” and let me down in a big way.

Hubby excelled himself and produced that rare thing – a Tuna Pasta Bake that was really delicious. He said he’d made it with extra love and I’m sure that’s what made the difference. However, it was just a Tuna Pasta Bake.

So there didn’t appear to be much ammunition to use for today’s Blog post.

Right up until I spotted, on the highest shelf of the egg section in Asda, those nuclear-coloured eggs that they use on Market Kitchen. The Burford Brown. You see, I had an Impossible Quiche planned for this week. True, they were considerably more expensive than our usual eggs, however, with a judicious swap from Back Bacon to Streaky Bacon, we made a little elbow room and splashed out on six of these gorgeous brown beauties.

OMG, as they say on Twitter. I’ve used Cotswold Legbar eggs (they’re the ones with the pale blue shell) before, and thought they were the bee’s knees where eggs were concerned. However, Burford Browns have just taken the crown.

I’ve always said “you’ll never go hungry with an egg in the house” and with Burford Browns, that’s never been more true. They have a gorgeous thick dark brown shell which protects a gloriously clear white and a truly awesome yolk. The yolk of these eggs has a colour that I’ve never seen in any egg before.

The six I bought ranged from a buttercup yellow, through to a deep russet orange. The yolk is amazingly thick, glutinous almost, and just shouts “hey! I’m good for you!”.

If you’re looking for a way to sex up an Impossible Quiche, you can look no further than these eggs. They make it so beautifully coloured, rich and tasty.

If you’re curious about Impossible Quiche, they’re dead easy to make and as they bake, create their own crust.

I think the recipe originates from Australia, hence the measurement being in cups. However you can obtain “cups” pretty much anywhere now, so I haven’t bothered to convert it.

You’ll need :

One and a quarter cups of milk

A half a cup of self-raising flour

Three eggs, whisked lightly

One cup of grated cheese (a good strong cheddar works well)

Cooked, chopped bacon or ham

A quarter cup of sweetcorn niblets

A small onion, chopped fine

Salt and Pepper

Basically, you mix together the flour, eggs and milk to form a batter.

Then, add the onion (raw), sweetcorn, bacon and cheese.

Season to taste and pour into a suitably sized pie dish.

Bake in a moderate oven (around 190deg) for three quarters of an hour, or until it no longer demonstrates a depression in the middle and is brown on top.

Serve with potato wedges and salad.

Extremely child-friendly – and what’s even better, is that it is truly delicious. Of course, it is transported into another level of loveliness by the Burford Browns.