During the week, I try to cook meals which are quick and easy and not too hard on the budget. Living on a pension means we have a very basic fixed income, and so there is not a lot of room for playing around overly much, and with way food costs are rising, it gets harder and harder each week to make ends meet and still keep our meals interesting.
This means that I now do most of my shopping at one of the bargain supermarkets. They are actually pretty good places to do your shopping as the prices are great and the quality is pretty good on most things. There are no frills, and your choice is somewhat limited in comparison to the major shops, but overall it's a great place to shop. I do my major shop there and then if there is something I really need that they don't have, I will whip into one of the other shops to get it.
Last week they had a super deal going on dry cured un smoked gammon steaks. For those of you who live in North America, gammon is uncooked ham. I like dry cured gammon and bacon. It isn't pumped full of water. It cooks nicer in my opinion. You don't get a lot of yukky sediment in the pan.
At only £2.99 per pack they made for a lovely supper, simply browned off in a hot skillet and glazed with a mix of a good quality chutney and water. I trim off the rind and clip the fat prior to cooking so that they don't curl. I also cut them in half crosswise. I like to use the Geetas Chutney because it is nice and snappy and filled with lots of lovely little bits like cloves and pepper corns, pieces of star anise and black onion seeds. In short . . . it's good. I served them with some potatoes and a mix of corn and peas.
*Sticky Gammon Steaks*Serves 2Printable Recipe
Incredibly easy, quick and delicious. You can easily multiply this to feed however many you want. It's a real doddle. (That means it's really easy!)
2 smoked or unsmoked gammon steaks, each weighing about 7 ounces (ham steaks)4 heaped tablespoons of mango chutney2 TBS water
Trim the rind off of the gammon steaks and then snip the fat at 1/4 inch intervals all the way around. This helps to keep them from curling up. Cut them in half crosswise into two half moons.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the steaks and brown them well, about two minutes per side. Add the chutney and the water. Bring to the boil. Cook for several minutes longer,
turning the steaks frequently until they are well glazed and the sauce has thickened nicely. Serve hot with some of the sauce spooned over top.
Note - Use a well flavoured chutney. I favor Geetas because it is nicely spiced and has all sorts of interesting bits in it.
Have a great Wednesday! Bon Appetit!
