Bangers & Mash with Red Onion Gravy

Bangers and mash. Not unlike many other quintessentially British food, 'bangers & mash' sounds somewhat playful and simplistic. This hearty dish is somewhat simple, but that shouldn't be taken as a negative. It's a beautifully simple marriage of a few textures and tastes, which, once they receive a little facelift, transform it from the pub grub leagues, to gourmet classic. Fresh parsley, a little bit of strong cheese, and leaving the skins on the spuds will set your mash apart, and provide more in terms of texture, colour, flavour, and taste. And to really make this one purr, it's all in the gravy. A carful mix of red and white onions, and a generous helping of port will proverbially and literally sugar-coat the whole meal into something more sophisticated, sexy, and mature. Think: turning Sam Fox into Sophia Lauren.

So what's in a name? The 'mash' obviously refers to the humble mashed potato, but referring to your sausages as bangers? For the answer to that, we're back to World War 2, and rations. The lesser quality sausages available at the time were made with a larger percentage of water, which means that if you weren't carful, you ran the risk of exploding your sausages as you cooked them. Bang! Thankfully today there's just a pleasant sizzle.

(for 2 people)

Ingredients: 4 sausages of your choice, 2 white onions, 1 red onion, 400g King Edwards spuds, 200ml milk, 100g butter, parsley, 200ml port/sherry, 175ml vegetable stock, salt, and pepper.

Method: Peel and wash the potatoes, and place them in a pot just so they are submerged in cold, lightly salted water. Bring to the boil. Meanwhile, fry up the sausages in a light sprinkle of oil over a low heat. Both the sausages and spuds will take approximately 30mins. In the meantime, finely chop the onions, and fry them in 60g butter in a small pot. Once they are starting to brown, add the port or sherry, and vegetable stock. Fry until sticky. After 25mins, remove the potatoes and drain well. Add 55g butter and 150ml milk, and a generous handful of fresh parsley, salt, and pepper, and mash well. Serve the mash, with sausages shaped on top, and drizzled with the onion gravy.

Tips: Leave the skins on the potatoes for some extra fibre and texture.

Music: 'Bangers and Mash' by Peter Sellers & Sophia Lauren -  "Give us a bash at the bangers and mash me mother used to make". Pure gold.

All-in-the-Fridge Omelette

Another king of thrift without skipping anything in terms of taste, texture, nutritional value, or ability to fill, the classic fridge leftover omelette! It's deemed a classic for good reason, it really does tick all of the boxes. Even the most basic of omelettes will leave you satisfied, and it's a simple task to spruce up the basic model into something with a little more flair. This will, of course, depend upon exactly what you have in your cupboards or fridge to use up. However, there are a couple of staple options that go a long way to providing that flair. Our golden rules: fresh rocket leaves sprinkled on top, a good quality strong cheese sprinkled 5mins before serving, just about long enough to have started melting by the time you eat, and colour - we're looking for a contrast of textures and colours to make this simple snack.

(for 2 people)

Ingredients: 3 eggs, mushrooms, spinach, 2 small tomatoes, pieces of ham, rocket leaves, generous chunks of Oud Amsterdam cheese.

Method: Fry up the harder vegetables in a pan with a somewhat stringent amount of olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of chilli flakes. Add the softer vegetables (for us it was a generous handful of spinach leaves and tomatoes), and fry for a further 3/4mins. Add the whisked eggs, sprinkle some more leaves, and rocket, and cover. Cook for 7/8mins. Open the lid and check on progress regularly. Just before serving, throw on some fresh rocket leaves, and the cheese. Serve warm with a simple salad.

Tips: Don't add too much, or too little. A small frying pan loosely full is perfect.

Music: Green River - Creedence Clearwater Revival Like the omelette, it's something which gently screams about the beauty of simplicity.

DIY Sushi

Thoughts of sushi can often take us to an expensive restaurant, overly fussy and lengthy presentation times, and to thoughts of expensive fresh fish inside the rolls of delight. However, as long as your prepared to substitute the fresh fish for a vegetable or egg alternative, the homemade or DIY sushi can be surprisingly thrifty, and fun to make. We serve ours ready for you to make yourselves, with the rice spread on the nori, and the ingredients cut into strips. You're free to pick and choose your ingredients from basic omelette strips, avocado, cucumber, pepper, courgette, and of course we're on hand should you find it too tricky. As long as it's relatively fresh, and can be cut into long thin strips, whatever you have left in the fridge will work fine.

Ingredients: Sushi rice (cooked some hours before), carrots, courgettes, cucumber, avocado, eggs (basic omelette), peppers, soy sauce, and of course, nori.

Method: Cook the sushi rice at least a few hours before making your rolls, or the night before is fine. Then chop all the ingredients into long and thin strips. Set aside and prepare the rolling mats and nori. Once cooled, the rice should be spread thinly on the nori, leaving a couple of cm's at the bottom, and a little more at the top. Have a bowl of water ready for the rolling, and un-sticking of your hands!

Tips: Don't add too much before rolling your sushi - a small well-resented one is better than an over-flowing messy one!

Music: Turning Japanese - The Vapers because god loves a lazy lyrical connection!

Sexy Beans On Toast

Whereas the tendency might be to 'strip down' for cheap week, if you'll excuse the pun, this Beans On Toast dish gets the opposite treatment. Regular, run-of-the-mill beans on toast gets all 'sexified' and 'poshed-up' with whatever you have in the fridge. And there's the reason this works well for a cheap treat. Whatever you might have in the fridge that needs using up, it's more than likely to add something to this beautifully basic British dish. Providing you have a tin of beans in the cupboard, bread to hand, and some extras in the fridge, this becomes a valuable cyclists lunch or dinner. Furthermore, on a cool day the post digestive flatchulence will warm your lycra and propel you that little bit quicker.

Ingredients: Some good quality brown bread, beans, and whatever is in need of being used in your fridge. May we suggest celery, mushrooms, cheese, bacon bits, and red onions.

Method: Fry what you need to fry, then heat together with the beans. Serve on toast.

Tips: Don't add the cheese too early, it shouldn't be completely melted once served.

Music: Come Together - The Beatles

Vietnamese Chicken and Broccoli Curry

This is a good one for the more serious cyclists, packed full of protein and the good sorts of energy, and warming enough to be a big reward as winter slowly turns to spring. Based on a Nigel Slater recipe, it's more soupy in texture, so make sure you get your carbs in the way of some good bread for mopping and dipping. What can you say, 'you can take the man out of England, but you can't take England out the man'.

Ingredients: Duck/chicken legs, red curry paste, salt, pepper, 200g broccoli, 200ml chicken broth, 400ml coconut milk, courgette, curry powder, brown sugar, 1 lime, and chilli flakes.

Method: In a large pan or Dutch oven fry the duck or chicken in a generous splash of olive oil. Once a tender-looking golden brown on all sides, add the red curry paste, broth and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, and cook for a few mins before reducing to a simmer. Cook for 20mins. Finally, add the courgette and broccoli and simmer for a further 5-10mins. Serve piping hot, and season with salt, pepper, and a splash of lime juice.

Tips: Remove as many broccoli stems as you can.

Music: Van Morrison - Into The Mystic

Green Thai Fish Curry

This is one is one of Glenn's specialities. A simplistic yet flavourful dish full of taste, proteins and energy. 

Ingredients: White fish filets, coconut milk, green curry paste, mixed veg of your choice, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and whole grain rice.

Method: Gently fry the fish in a large pan until slightly done. Add the veg mix, and fry together over a lower heat, stirring as necessary. After 5/6mins, add the coconut milk and stir again. Adjust the heat to slightly lower than a simmer, and cook for 20mins. Use whole-grain rice, which requires a little longer to cook. Serve the curry on a bed of rice.

Tips: Brown sugar - a generous sprinkle brings everything together. Always.

Music: Van Morrison - Into The Mystic

Quindão

Is it a tart? Is it a pudding? Is it a baked decadent Brazilian custard? Well, yes, I guess it's all three. This version should be baked in a large tin/mould and served in slices, unlike it's close relative, the quindim. The baking process sets this sweet treat apart, as it demands the mould to be placed in a baking tray half-filled with warm water. Once you've carefully placed it into a cold oven (no pre-heating), the water slowly heats up and separates the two layers. The firmer heavier 'custard' layer sinks to the bottom (eventually to become the top), while the fluffier coconut texture rises to the top, and forms a golden brown outer crisp - which will become the bottom.

Ingredients: 155g coconut, 285ml milk, 18 egg yolks, 450g caster sugar, 50g butter, 1tsp of vanilla essence

Method: If you're using desiccated coconut, pour into a bowl, and allow to stand with the milk for 15mins before you do anything. Line a tin or cupcake mould with some of the melted butter, and pour the remaining in with the coconut and milk mix. Sprinkle a generous dash of caster sugar in the bottom of the tin, on top of the butter. Put the rest into the bowl, and stir well. Add a dash of vanilla essence, and then add each of the 18 egg yolks, stirring each one into the mix. Leave to stand for an hour. Put the tin or mould into an empty baking tray, stir the mix once more, and pour gently into the tin/mould. Then, before putting the tray into a cold oven, fill the tray half full with warm water - this helps separate the two layers whilst baking. Bake at 200c for approx. 60mins, or until the custard has set and the top is golden brown. Serve in slices after cooling.

Tips: Line the tin/mould well, and allow to cool whilst still in the tin and tray.

Music: Sergio Mendes - Mas Que Nada