Master chefs in the making
A realistic Guide to life at UCLan - written by students!
Handy hints and tips with cooking and eating healthy!
Hello, I am a member of the TAG team and I wish I had thought of this in uni – by not eating healthy I pilled on the pounds! To eat healthy, save time and to stretch my food budget I cook meals in large batches – often about 10 portions - and freeze portions in individual freezer bags. I usually try to do 5 different meals a month and then each morning I take one out for my dinner and I just have to zap it in the microwave or heat it in a pan while I boil some pasta / veg / rice.
It’s great not to have to cook a full meal from scratch every night! I usually have a few different types of frozen veg to accompany the dish. The frozen veg lasts much longer than fresh so I can usually make a few bags last all month! It good to have some basics like pasta and rice it as they can add stodge to most meals and they last for ages in the cupboard!
All measure are guesstimates as I always add as much as I think it needs!
Beef Stroganoff
Beef in hoi sin sauce on pancakes
Burgers
Chips
Chicken dippers
Steak and stilton sauce
Filo chicken, bacon and mushroom parcels
Beef 600g
Mushrooms tub (medium sized)
I medium sized onion (about a tennis ball)
Garlic one or two cloves or more if you like garlic (cloves not the whole bulb)
2 large leaks (about a foot long and the same diameter as a 50 p
Heat a pan and oil the bottom, chuck in some chicken and cook till it browns, add some onions, garlic and mushrooms, stir it all up add chopped leak and sour cream. Season with salt, pepper and which every dried herbs you have swiped from your parents cupboard. Boil some rice and ta-da you have beef stroganoff!
This is a large sized batch so you can freeze the rest in single portions and you can save yourself a fortune!
Beef in hoi sin sauce on pancakes
500g beef
150g ish flour
water
tea spoon sugar
hoisin sauce large jar about 500g
Before you head to you lectures cut some beef into strips and cover in hoi sin sauce, cover and leave in the fridge while you learn! When you get home mix flour, warm water and a teaspoon of sugar till you make dough that you can knead. Knead it on a flour covered surface and then wrap in cling film and pop on the fridge for 30 mins while you watch Neighbours or Hollyoaks. Then fry up the beef, stir in the hoi sin sauce. While you do this make a load of pitta bread sized pancakes out of the dough, fry them individually in a lightly oiled pan.
Serve with the beef on top.
You should have plenty of beef to freeze and use again!
Burgers
600g of healthy lean mince
Ketchup
pepper
salt
random herbs
onion
Potatoes
Slice up some potatoes in to large chips, boil them in water until they are staring to get soft and fluffy, drain the off and fry them in an oiled pan seasoned with salt and pepper until they start to brown then pop them in a hot oven until crispy.
Whilst that is happening...
Finley chop an onion and mix it into the mince, add about 5 table spoons of ketchup a pinch of salt a dash of pepper and some herbs. Split the mixture into burger sized blobs and select how many you and to eat and wrap the other individually in cling film and pop them in the freezer! Pop the ones you want to eat under the grill and cook slowly until you stick a knife in the middle and it burns your finger or tongue a little when you touch it!
Pop your burger bun in the toaster and crisp it up a bit. Stack lettuce and slices tomatoes place your burger on top add sauce and enjoy!
Chips
Chop up some spuds into chip shapes; blanch (boil) them for about 5 mins; drain; toss in oil some herds, salt and pepper; lay them on a tin foil lined oven tray and cook in the oven at about 200 until they are golden brown and crispy!
Chicken dippers
get some chicken tenderloins
eggs
mix of breadcrumbs and crushed cornflakes
salt
pepper
flour
Separate the egg white and throw the yolk away http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-OwbEy-Vxk
Put flour in a bowl, the egg white in another bowl and the bread crumbs in a third. Add salt and pepper to the bread crumbs.
Now this gets messy!
Coat the chicken tenderloin in flour then in the egg white then the bread crumbs and lay on a n foiled covered tray for the grill repeat until each tenderloin is covered and pop under the grill until cooked.
Lay out some sauces of your choice, ketchup, bbq, mayo etc for dipping and enjoy!
Steak and stilton sauce
For the day after loan payment day (don’t splurge too much!)
One steak of your choice
Stilton cheese 100g
cream regular sized pot
onion
mushrooms
Prepare chips as above, when they go in the oven;
Chop the onions and mushrooms and fry them in a pan, stir in the cream and add crumble in Stilton cheese to taste.
cook your stake to your liking in the grill
Minute Steak - 1 minute cooking each side
Rare Steak - 3-4 minutes each side, depending on thickness.
Medium Steak - Cook as Rare, then 3-4 minutes each side on medium heat
Well Done Steak - Cook as rare, then 4-5 minutes each side on medium heat
Serve the steak covered in the Stilton sauce and enjoy!
Filo chicken, bacon and mushroom parcels
600g chicken
packet of bacon (8 slices)
medium size tub of mushrooms
one tennis ball sized onion
herbs
salt
pepper
sour cream 250g
Chop the chicken in to little chunks, chop the bacon in to postage sized stamps pieces (I like to use scissors for this far quicker!) Cook the chicken in an oiled pan until it starts to brown, chop the mushrooms and onions and add them to the chicken along with the bacon, let this cook in for a couple of mins until the bacon is just cooked, add the sour cream, salt pepper and herbs and let it cook for about 15 mins. Make sure the chicken is cooked.
Stack four sheets of filo pastry about the size of an A4 sheet, lightly brushing water over each sheet as you stack, place a few tablespoons of the chicken in the middle and fold up into a parcel. Brush lightly with water to seal your parcels. Make as many as you can and freeze the ones you don’t want for another night!
Pop the ones you do want to eat in the oven for about 25 mins until you see the filo crisp or the sauce come out bubbling hot.
These recipes are based on the Australian Women’s' Weekly Low Fat cook book and a few ideas from Gordon Ramsey’s cook shows, but they are not the same as I don't really follow recipes!