My autumn recipe book revolves around a few basic ingredients and stock food items. It's extremely cheap living, in fact a lot
of guys find my diet too cheap to be true.
First of all let me say i'm not a diet freak, 'cos today i might be on 4 eggs, 1 lb cumberland sausage and a saucepan full of veg
stew and tomorrow it could be rice and goat's cheese. In other words I'll eat pretty well anything to replace the calories, keep
me warm, and give me energy. I buy stock food items from Lidl 'cos they are very cheap and when i've got more cash i'll buy
from Tescos etc or a nice bread shop for cakes and donuts.
A TYPICAL SHOPPING LIST....
STOCK FOOD (budget = £2.50 per week)
|
FARM PRODUCE (budget = £2.00 per week)
|
RECIPE ITEMS (budget = £2.50 per week)
|
OTHER (budget = £2.50 per week)
|
On the next couple of pages are a few chapati recipes (one of my favourites!) to demonstrate that given time, patience and the right approach you can seriously consider living off the land from August through December. But, first, if you are into this cooking style (and many are not), then, here are some tips for sourcing food.
- Only go for rabbits that are clearly healthy and full grown
- Only attempt to get rabbits from places such as sand dunes and only with an air rifle (so you've got to be a good shot!)
- Never go for rabbits until you know you can cleanly kill one at 15yds, so plenty of practice on targets!!
- Always pull over and pick up a pheasant if it has just been killed on the road - before any other car runs over it!
- DON'T ever go onto private land to pick up any dead animals - they belong to the landowner and you can be had for theft (believe me I was a river keeper for many years).
- Anything picked up off the public highway will not attract any penalty provided it is a wild animal (eg a lamb accidentally killed on the road on open grazing should by law be reported to the owner who has a legal right for compensation)
CHAPATI RECIPE BOOK
Recipe One - Basic Chapati
Ingredients
3 Table Spoons Plain Flour
Sprinklings Of Water
Table Spoon Of Milk
Method
1. Mix flour into dough, avoiding getting too sticky, but kneading into soft balls
2. Flatten out with fists, turning and folding until even consistency
3. Heat frying pan with thin covering of vegetable oil
4. Place pan sized chapati in pan
5. Heat at a medium to high heat and turn when stiff
To Serve
1. Remove when browned to liking
2. Add sunflower spread, syrup, jam, peanut butter or whatever take your fancy
NOTE. Basic chapati is a hot and filling substitute for bread
Recipe Two - Chapati Savoury
Ingredients, Preparation and Method the same as for basic chapati.
But add in pepper, salt and chopped herbs to taste.
Recipe Three - Chapati Savoury, Egg and Chestnut
Ingredients and Preparation the same as for basic chapati.
Method
1. Fry good sized chestnuts in a little oil
2. Cook chapati as standard but before turning break 1 or 2 eggs over top and
spread yolks
3. Add chestnuts and place lid on frying pan
4. Keep at low heat until the egg mix starts to gel
5. Then turn with spatula and turn heat back up
To Serve
Remove and eat as cooked
Or serve with beans, spaghetti hoops, onions, veg or whatever takes your fancy!
Recipe Four - Blackberry and Syrup Chapati
Ingredients and Preparation the same as for basic chapati, except use self raising flour
Method
1. Boil lightly a quantity of blackberries in shallow water for a few minutes
2. Add a little sugar to sweeten if you wish
3. Cook chapati as for basic allowing it to fluff up
To Serve
1. Remove chapati to plate
2. Drain blackberries, but keep some of the juice
3. Pour blackberries over chapati and add syrup
Recipe Five - Travellers Chapati Turnovers
If you want to do something really special with the right people who'd appreciate and
enjoy it, here is a FEAST!!!
Ingredients
Enough flour for 4 large chapatis folded over (3 tablespoons each)
2 rabbits
1lb of chestnuts
2 large leaks
Mix of vegatables (carrot, potato, cabbage, swede)
Preparation
1. Skin and drain rabbits with sharp knife
2. Slice of fillets of meat and cut into pieces
3. Boil remain rabbit carcass for at least 3/4hr to obtain at least 1.5 pints of
gravy stock
4. Pour 2" off into another saucepan and fill with chopped vegatables
5. Put the rest aside for gravy
6. Prepare chapatis (see basic chapati)
Method
1. Fry rabbit meat until tender
2. Place cooked rabbit meat on top of prepared chapati
3. Fold over and pinch sides of chapati like in pastry making
4. Fry chapatis as normal but on a slower heat to ensure flour cooks through to middle
5. Prepare chestnuts and fry with chopped leeks until lightly browned
6. Add pepper and lots of salt while cooking
7. Bring the vegetables and stock back to boil
8. Cover and simmer for as long as it takes liquid to reduce
9. Add chopped wild herbs (see herbs page) or prepared herbs to rabbit stock and boil
for gravy
To Serve
Serve rabbit chapati turnovers with leek or chestnuts and flavoured vegatable with rabbit/
herb gravy. Ideally eat with slabs of homemade bread
Pudding
Follow this with a variety of stewed fruits, apples, plum, blackberry and plain flour sweet
chapatis
NOTES
Believe it or not a meal like this (if you source your vegatables cheaply) will cost no more
than a quid! Substitute rabbit with pheasant or whatever takes your fancy.
All words and images courtesy Donny Wright, © Still Stoked 2001