Lamb is one of my favourite meats, and although it can be expensive, it is normally good quality, so you are getting what you pay for. Some of the tougher parts of the lamb are the most delicious when braised or cooked slowly. Choose meat with a bright red colour – it should never be grey – with fat that is creamy white and firm, and skin that is dry. Lamb has always been cooked on special occasions in my house and these particular cuts are really delicious and my absolute favourites:
Lamb neck
This cut comes from the top of the neck and is most commonly used in soups and stews. Like many cuts from the fore end of the animal, this cut requires slow cooking. It is inexpensive and ideal cut into rough chunks for Irish stew.
Lamb shanks
Lamb shanks have come back into fashion in recent years and as a result their price has increased. So while this is possibly not the cheapest cut, it is still one of my favourites; shanks make a comforting dinner when slowly braised in a rich sauce.
Lamb shoulder
This can be cooked on the bone, or boned, stuffed and rolled. It requires low and slow cooking in the oven. Cooking it on the bone gives it a lovely, rich flavour.
Lamb breast
Lamb breast is a cut that requires a little love and care. It is quite fatty, so needs long, slow roasting to make the meat wonderfully tender.
Lamb kidneys
Unlike pork kidneys, lamb kidneys have a milder flavour and don’t require as much work. They can be fried for a tasty little dinner.
Lamb liver
Cooking with offal is a good frugal practice and lamb livers are cheap to buy. Use them gently pan-fried or sliced in rich, creamy sauces.
CHEAPER FISH
Haddock/ Mackerel/ Ling/ Whiting/ Gurnard/ Whelks/ Mussels
The skills offered by fishmongers are invaluable to the home cook; unless you have been trained in filleting fish, doing it yourself at home can be daunting. Your fishmonger will happily gut whole fish and remove any skin or bones if you ask.
Buying the whole fish can often be more economical than just buying fillets. Different varieties of fish are in season at different times and quite often the fish you were planning to buy may not be available, in which case tell your fishmonger which dish you wanted to cook and he may be able to suggest an alternative. Fish is incredibly versatile and can often be swapped for other species. Choose the right fish for your dish, though: oily species can take stronger flavours like garlic and chilli and are suited to barbecuing or grilling, while white fish is more suited to lighter, simpler flavours. In most cases, fish is often best cooked very simply and seasoned with nothing more than sea salt, ground black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
When selecting fish, look for bright, shiny eyes, red gills, firm flesh and, most of all, a fresh sea smell. If you do buy fillets, make sure to choose ones with no signs of discoloration on the flesh. Fish is always best enjoyed fresh, and unless you are going to freeze it, which can be done quite successfully, you should always aim to cook fish on the day you buy it. However, it can keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.
In recent years, the sustainability of fish has become an incredibly important issue, and with world fish stocks depleting, it’s imperative to know which species are sustainable and to try to eat more of them and less of the endangered ones. The good news is that many of the sustainable species are actually some of the most inexpensive ones.
While it is fantastic that we’re able to buy all sorts of different ingredients from around the world, it has become necessary to re-emphasise seasonality. Learning to buy fruit and vegetables that are in season is not only an economical practice but an environmental one, too. In a society where supermarkets have the same produce in stock all year round, it’s important to bear in mind what is actually growing at any particular time. Use the seasonality chart overleaf to choose ingredients at their very best.
I’ve been growing my own vegetables for the past few years and at last feel confident enough to write a little advice for those considering embarking on the process. You don’t need much room or equipment to grow your own: just some space and a few bags of soil, but this small investment will save you buying expensive bags of salads and pots of herbs in the supermarket. Since I started, I’ve moved my veggie patch from a small apartment balcony to a temporary plot in my aunt’s back garden, and finally to a back garden of my own.
Even though I have a bit more space these days, if I had known back then what I do now, I could have grown enough on my balcony over the summer to have saved a packet on buying salad leaves and other quick-cropping vegetables. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt is to only plant things you definitely plan to eat and don’t go crazy (one year I had 25 cabbages: we ate a lot of coleslaw…!). If, like me, you have no patience, you will also want to choose vegetables that grow quickly. This will keep you interested and you can continue sowing throughout the summer to ensure you have plenty to eat. Although I love the idea that you can be completely self-sufficient, I do have a realistic take on this and my aim is just to grow things that will complement the type of cooking and eating I do in my kitchen. I always try to grow a few new veggies each year but the big winners, in terms of reliability and everyday usage in my kitchen, are those I’ve listed overleaf …
Salad leaves
If you choose to grow nothing else, it must be salad leaves. They grow in just a few weeks and if you plant enough you won’t be able to keep up with them throughout the summer. Rocket and spinach are ideal as you can cut as many leaves as you need and they will continue to grow back until you want them again. Bigger heads of lettuce can take a little longer to grow (and always get obliterated by slugs in my garden!), so rocket and spinach are the safest bet for the first-time grower.
Peas
Garden peas are possibly the most rewarding thing you can grow in the garden; they grow quickly and the taste of peas sampled fresh from the pod is one of the greatest benefits of growing your own. Sow a few peas directly in the ground each week, from late spring and early summer onwards, and you will have a great supply throughout the season – just make sure you give them something to grow up. You can also use the baby shoots as an elegant garnish for salads and other dishes.
Herbs
Herbs were the first things that I started growing and are most definitely the easiest. A must for any home cook, they take very little work and save you buying those supermarket pots or, even worse, those pre-packed bags of soggy herbs. Some of the more hardy herbs are completely failsafe, such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, bay and mint, which can all be popped outside to grow throughout the summer. After dying down in the winter, these herbs will come back with a vengeance in the spring. More delicate herbs, such as basil, coriander and flat-leaf parsley, need a little more love and care, and in my experience grow quite happily on an indoor windowsill. You can buy packets of seeds for herbs