Source: TheSkintFoodie.com
A simple dish that is packed full of flavour - proper comfort food!
In 2008, Claire and I decided to set up a business selling children's books - Happy Cow Books. We started off selling books at Holmfirth market, then progressed on to Dewsbury market and then took a lease on a small shop tucked away in Norridge Bottom, Holmfirth.
Despite starting our business just before the credit crunch, things started off ok and the shop was ticking along - but we hadn't set up the business to just tick along. Whilst we weren't expecting to become millionaire's, we did want to earn a reasonable living from all our hard work and sacrifice.
We needed to increase our turnover and to do so, we needed to move to bigger premises in a more prominent location.
Moving to bigger premises in Holmfirth wasn't an option for us as the rents were far too expensive for our budget. However, we found a property in another location that seemed ideal and the rent was less than half that of a similar property in Holmfirth.
Accordingly, we relocated the business to Uppermill in Saddleworth and started building links with local schools etc.
Business in Uppermill started off well, we hosted some fantastic author events, gathered some regular customers and met some fantastic people along the way.
Then, despite putting a lot of hard work, blood and sweat into the business - things began to falter and try as we might, we couldn't turn things around.
Unfortunately, after months of heart ache we decided that we couldn't justify putting any more money into the business (nor could we afford to).
In January 2010 we called time on Happy Cow Books and closed the business.
In the months running up to the collapse of our business and for many months afterwards - things were a bit of a struggle (to say the least). When it came to food, our budget was extremely tight and I was always looking for new ideas to provide us with tasty food on a budget.
It was at this time, whilst browsing the internet that I happened to come across a blog called The Skint Foodie.
From a personal point of view, the loss of our business made me feel somewhat of a failure. The story behind The Skint Foodie really struck a chord with me and proved to be a massive help to me personally and to us as a family.
Reading The Skint Foodie blog and cooking the simple recipes played an important part in proving to me that money wasn't everything and we could still eat good food - even on a tight budget.
“. . . most of the advice regarding cooking on a budget seems to fall into two camps. Firstly, there’s the patronising and slapdash, knocked out by celebrity chefs for the Sunday colour supplements whenever there’s a financial crisis. Secondly, there is the '100 Things To Do With Leftover Rice And A Tin Of Sweetcorn’ school of cookery writing.”
The Skint Foodie
“I was looking for some other way - one that was more about economising in other areas of my life in order to keep on enjoying, as much as was feasible, delicious meals. I began to see that eating well on a budget wasn't so much about individual recipes but more to do with developing a new approach to how I planned and sourced my meals.”
The Skint Foodie
I've found myself visiting The Skint Foodie website many times and I'm extremely grateful for the recipes and tips it has provided me with over the years.
One of the recipes that called out for me to cook, was this one for poached egg with chorizo and peas. When we tried it, we found it to be a simple dish that is packed full of flavour - proper comfort food!
“A simple dish that is packed full of flavour - proper comfort food!”
Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
100g of cooking chorizo, sliced
200g of frozen petit pois
up to 250ml of chicken stock
black pepper
2 eggs, poached
2 tbsps chopped flat-leaf parsley
Serving: 2
Method:
1. Dry fry the chorizo slowly to release it's oils. Remove with a slotted spoon and fry the onion and garlic until soft.
2. Return the chorizo to the pan together with the peiit pois and just enough stock to cover. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Season with pepper (it may not need any salt). Spoon into bowls, nestle a poached egg into the centre of each and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.
Serve in pasta bowls with crusty bread.
Top tip: great accompanied with some cubed potatoes which have been part boiled and simply roasted in the oven.
Source: TheSkintFoodie.com
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