Spicy pickled eggs recipe

To fill a 2lb jar (we used an old pickled peppers jar from Lidl, kindly donated by Strowger)

Ingredients
8 large eggs (not super-fresh ones – use ones that are at least a week old so they’re easier to peel)
450ml of pickling vinegar (white vinegar, at least 6% acidity)
2tsp black pepper corns
2tsp yellow mustard seeds
1tsp dried chilli flakes

Method

0. Sterilise your jar – wash it in hot soapy water, rinse well in hot clean water, then place in the oven at 160C/gas mark 2 ish, for about 15 minutes. The lid of the jar should be washed and rinse – it needs to be a vinegar proof lid (plastic lined).

1. Hard boil the eggs using your preferred method – if you don’t have one, obey Delia. Cool them as Delia says then remove the shells.

2. Add the vinegar and spices into a small saucepan. Stir together and bring to the boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes – with a door/window open because man, it stinks.

3. While the vinegar is simmering, place the eggs in the still-warm jar then when it’s done, pour the vinegar on top of it, making sure the spices pour along with it and don’t all stick to the side of the pan. Fill the jar to the very top then seal it.

4. Leave somewhere cool and dark for at least three weeks.

Once they’re ready to eat, have them as a part of a salad, with bread & cheese like we did, or make them into a really interesting tasting egg mayonnaise!

Quick spicy tomato & lentil soup

Yield: 6-8 decent size servings – a whole lot of soup!

Total cost: Using stuff from the store cupboard, but less than £2 overall

Ingredients:

1 onion – half finely diced, the other have a bit bigger
oil for frying
2 cloves of garlic (or equivalent puree)
3tsp cumin seeds
1 red pepper – finely diced (this is the only non-store cupboard item and is completely optional)
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
4tsp of tomato puree
2litres of hot vegetable stock
150g-200g of red lentils (depending on quite how thick you want it), rinsed

Spices:
2tsp ground coriander
2tsp mixed herbs
half tsp dried chilli flakes (or 1tsp of chilli powder)
salt + pepper to taste
2 bay leaves

Spicy Butternut Squash soup recipe

Makes: 5-6 decent size servings
Total cost: the butternut squash was £1 so probably about £1.50 in total

Ingredients

1 large onion
25g of butter
2 cloves of garlic (or 2tsp of garlic puree)
2tbsp of cumin seeds
1 large butternut squash (it weighed about 3lb before any prep)
1.5ltr of hot veg stock (ish)
2 large pinches of dried chilli flakes (add more or less depending on your spice tolerance)
2tsp of ground ginger
Black pepper
Salt (to taste)

Easy spicy kedgeree recipe

• Makes 3 large portions – and extra egg and a little more rice would easily make four medium size ones.
• Takes about 15 minutes
• Cost – about 80p per portion (although with our reduced-to-clear fish and homegrown eggs, ours was about 30p the other day – win!)

Ingredients

• Two large knobs of butter (25g)
• An onion
• Garlic – a clove or equivalent puree
• 200g (basmati) rice
• 500ml of veg stock
• 200g (ish) smoked mackerel
• 2 (or 3) eggs – hard-boiled
• Fresh coriander leaves to taste

Spices:

• 1 decent fresh red chilli or 1/2 tsp of dried chilli flakes
• 2tsp of curry powder
• 1tsp of cumin seeds
• 1tsp of whole coriander seeds
• 1tsp of yellow or brown mustard seeds

Spicy plum and chilli chutney recipe

Ingredients

Super easy blackberry jam recipe

1kg of fruit – blackberries and peeled/cored apples (see note #1 below)
1kg of jam sugar (see note #2 below)
1 lemon (see note #3 below)
100ml of water