Build your fast frugal food recipe collection

I'm an old fashioned cook. My food is tasty, I can stretch a pound of minced steak as far as the best of them and to tell you the truth, when I see towers of food, foam, micro herbs, "super" foods, or anything newly fashionable I roll my eyes and move on.  I'm not a complete philistine though. I do enjoy eating and cooking with grains (turn your heads all paleos), and I like experimenting with salads and dairy foods.

But I am what I am - a product of my times, and although some new food is seen on our table, mostly I go for the old standards and I have a group of delicious slow foods that we all enjoy. The one thing I found that helped a lot early on in my married life (and now) was to have a decent collection of fast food recipes that even though it is cooked from scratch, I can prepare quickly. If you have a few standby recipes for cheap nourishing meals and snacks that you can make in a hurry then you'll save yourself time and time again when life gets busy.

I've had a few requests for some recipes I've featured in the past week. I'm happy to oblige and share how I cook. All the older experienced cooks and a few of the younger savvy ones will know most of my recipes but I'm aiming for the newer cooks and those who are still unsure of their capabilities in the kitchen.  Introducing fast quiche and banana and walnut cake.

Remember that a quiche is an egg pie with a range of additions, which will change depending on what you have in the fridge. In this one I used bacon, parsley, garlic and cheese. Often the thing that puts cooks off cooking quiche is the pastry. I can make quite good pastry but I use filo pastry when I need a fast meal. It's easier and much quicker. Instead of brushing the sheets of pastry with melted butter, I spray the sheets with olive oil, which cuts down on the prep time. Normally it would take you about an hour to make a traditional quiche. This fast recipe will have you putting the quiche in the oven to bake in about 15 minutes.  Add 30 minutes for the cooking time and you've got a healthy meal that will feed at least four people. To feed more, just increase the amounts.

 FAST QUICHE 

4 or 5 sheets filo pastry

can of olive oil spray

6 large eggs 

½ cup cream

2 rashers bacon, chopped into small pieces

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed or grated on a microphone

½ red capsicum, finely diced

1 cup hard cheese, grated

hand full of parsley, finely chopped

Prepare the pastry by spraying the sheets and folding them in two. Line the pie dish with the filo, and spray the surface again. Make sure every surface is covered. If you're using a large dish, use more pastry. Fold the edges of the pastry down to prevent them from burning.

Mix the eggs and cream together in a bowl and leave while you cook the other ingredients. Fry the bacon, onion, garlic and capsicum/peppers for about three minutes - just enough to soften all of the vegetables.

Add that to the egg mix, add the cheese and parsley, mix well and pour it into the pie dish lined with filo.  Bake is a moderate oven 175C/350F for about 35 - 40 minutes or until the egg mix is golden brown on top and the egg is set. Be careful not to overcook the egg, take it out when the centre is still slightly wobbly because it will continue to cook for a couple of minutes after you remove it from the oven.

The quiche is delicious hot or cold and served with a salad.

.......

This banana and walnut cake is ideal for those who don't have a mixer but still want a good light cake to add to lunch boxes or for morning or afternoon tea.

 BANANA AND WALNUT CAKE 

125 grams butter
¾ cup sugar - I use ½ white and ½ dark Muscavado sugar You can use a mix of white and brown sugar or just white or raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup walnuts
3 small-medium eggs
½ teaspoon bicarb soda/baking soda *
1½ cups self raising flour or plain/all purpose flour with 1½ teaspoons baking powder *

* Please note: baking soda and baking powder listed above are two different ingredients.

Into a small saucepan, add butter, sugar and vanilla. Over a low heat, melt the butter while stirring to dissolve the sugar. When the butter melts, leave it to the side.

In a bowl, mash the bananas, add the eggs and bicarb and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula. Then add the melted butter and mix it together, add the flour and combine thoroughly. Finally, add the walnuts and mix through.

Add the cake mix to a prepared cake tin. I use a 33 x 23cm rectangular cake tin but you could also use a 22 x 13cm loaf tin. Bake in a moderate oven 175C/350F for about 35 - 40 minutes or until the cake is golden on top, it smells cooked or a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Store the cake in an air-tight container and it will last about 5 days. It's ideal for school and work lunches because it will travel quite well packed in lunch box.

These are just two examples of simple foods that won't take too much time, effort or money to make. Collect recipes like this that you and your family like so that when you need to produce food and you don't have much time, you can have good food on the table and you don't buy take away.  Hopefully other experienced cooks will share their fast and frugal recipes here too. It's okay to link to your own blog today to share your recipe.