Miguel’s five meals for a family of four for $100 Miguel is set a challenge to create 5 different and interesting dinners for a family of 4 for

$100. By making smart purchases and using the same ingredients for more than just one

meal, Miguel, with the help of the different family members, cooks up a storm in the kitchen

and creates easy and delicious meals for Monday to Friday nights.

MAKE YOUR FOOD DOLLAR GO FURTHER When shopping for Miguel’s recipes, shop around and see where you can get the best price. Sometimes your local greengrocer or butcher will have better deals than a supermarket. Also think about buying ingredients that can stretch across multiple recipes, like Miguel does with the chicken. Miguel used the broth from the chicken soup left over as chicken stock in another recipe. Being prepared when you go shopping, using seasonal ingredients, cooking things from scratch, cooking grains and pulses from raw and making sure that nothing gets wasted are all ways to get the most out of every food dollar spent. Buying a whole chicken is the most economical. Usually a whole chicken works out to around $6 a kilo where as breast is $12-$15. Kilo for kilo you get twice the value of a whole chicken versus breast. Cheaper cuts of beef like chuck steak, gravy beef and brisket are full of flavor and become incredibly tender with long slow cooking. Premium cuts tend to be less flavorsome and don’t hold up well to long cooking due to the low amount of fat. Remember, fat equals flavor.

Marinara mix is an inexpensive way to buy seafood and requires no skill or preparation to use. Even though it’s pre mixed, it usually includes premium seafood like salmon, blue eye, calamari and prawns so it’s a great way to maximise on your seafood dollars.

MIGUEL’S SHOPPING LIST 500g Marinara Mix (mussels, fish, calamari, prawns) 220g Arborio Rice 3 pork scotch fillets 50g Fresh or Frozen Peas 2 tblsp dried oregano 1 Lemon 8 mushrooms 1 bunch chives 150ml double cream 2 Large ripe tomatoes 1 packet of pappardelle 1 Capsicum 50g tasty cheese 4 Garlic cloves, peeled, crushed/minced 1 jar passata, 500 ml 1 Bunch parsley 2 sweet potatoes 1 ½ tbsps smoked paprika 2 large potatoes 200g tempura flour 1 chilli 300ml soda water 1 tbsp tomato paste 125g rice flour 1 tin chopped tomatoes 1 iceberg lettuce 300g beef fillet tail 200g rice vermicelli noodles 4 eggs 1 bunch mint leaves 500g macaroni pasta or similar 1 bunch coriander leaves 4 carrots chopped chunky 100g soybean sprouts 1 celery head 1 small purple cabbage 1 whole free range chicken Handful toasted cashews 4 bay leaves 1 Lebanese cucumber finely chopped 1 bunch thyme 1 lime 2 leeks 1 small ginger knob 4 brown onions This list doesn’t include basic kitchen staples such as oil, salt, pepper, butter, stock cubes and condiments.

MONDAY: PAELLA A LA MAESTRE Serves: 4 500g Marinara Mix (mussels, fish, calamari, prawns, scallops) $12/kg cheaper than prawn by itself Splash Extra Virgin Olive Oil 500ml Chicken Stock 220g Arborio Rice 50g Fresh/Frozen Peas 1 Lemon, cut into wedges, to serve ½ bunch chives, garnish Sofrito 2 Large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped 1 Capsicum 4 Garlic cloves, peeled, crushed ½ Bunch parsley 1 Bunch chives 25ml Extra Virgin olive oil 1 Tablespoon smoked paprika

Method To make the sofrito, place all ingredients in a food processor and process until chunky. If you don’t have a food processor then roughly chop the tomatoes and piquillo peppers and finely chop the garlic, parsley and chives and combine with other sofrito ingredients in a mixing bowl. Heat a 30cm fry-pan or paella pan on high heat, add marinara mix with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and cook for 1 minute. Add sofrito and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add chicken stock and bring to the boil. Stir in rice and bring to a simmer on medium to low heat for 15 minutes until stock has been absorbed. Add peas and cook for a further 2 minutes to achieve ‘soccarrada’ (crust on the bottom of the pan). Season to taste with salt and garnish with chives. Squeeze over lemon juice just before serving.

TUESDAY: MAMA’S CHICKEN SOUP 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 4 brown onions, diced 2 leeks, diced 1 garlic head cut in half 1/3 bunch thyme, leaves only 4 bay leaves 2L cold water 1 whole free range chicken ½ celery head, chopped chunky (save the leaves finely chopped for garnish) 4 carrots chopped chunky 500g macaroni pasta or similar 1 tsp salt and pepper 4 eggs for poaching

Method In a large saucepan on medium heat add the olive oil and saute onions, leeks, garlic, thyme and bay leaves until soft, no colour, approx. 6 minutes. Add water, whole chicken and bring to the boil, then simmer for 45 minutes. Add celery and carrots and cook for a further 5 minutes, then remove the chicken and place on a tray. Add pasta and cook for a further 8 minutes or until al dente. Add salt and pepper, poach the eggs in the stock for approx. 3 minutes. To serve, remove both legs and separate drumstick from the thigh. Place 1 piece of chicken, 1 egg from stock in each bowl, and with a ladle add stock, vegetables and garnish with celery leaves.

WEDNESDAY: TEMPURA CHICKEN SAN CHOY BAU Serves: 2-3 Tempura Batter 200g tempura flour 300ml cold soda water 250ml vegetable oil for crispy frying 500g shredded chicken meat (leftover from chicken soup) 250g rice flour 1 Iceberg lettuce to make lettuce cups 200g rice vermicelli noodles Salad 1/2 bunch mint leaves 1/2 bunch coriander leaves 100g soy bean sprouts 100g finely chopped purple cabbage 60g toasted cashews 1 Lebanese cucumber finely chopped

Sauce 3 tbsp hoisin sauce 2 tbsp light soy 2 tbsp sweet chilli 1 lime juice 1 tbsp grated ginger Method To make the tempura batter, mix flour and soda water together until smooth so it looks like thickened cream. Don't worry about the lumps. Heat the oil in wok or deep frying pan until smoking hot. Lightly dust the chicken in rice flour and shake off the excess using a sieve. Dip the dusted chicken pieces into the cold tempura batter and totally coat them, then deep-fry until they are a light golden colour. The pieces are small they will not take too long to cook. The pieces should come out with a lovely crunchy coating. Remove and drain, shaking off any excess oil. Place noodles in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand for 5 minutes or until tender. Rinse with cold water, drain and set aside. To make sauce. Mix all the ingredients until combined. In a large bowl mix all salad ingredients together and dress with sauce. Serve in lettuce cups with noodle salad and popcorn.

THURSDAY: PORK RAGU

3 pork scotch fillets, diced 1/3 bunch thyme, leaves only 2 tbsp dried oregano 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced Salt & pepper to season 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 large onions, diced 8 mushrooms, diced (keep 2 aside for oven back, thinly sliced) 1 jar passata 300ml chicken stock (from soup) 50ml double cream 1 packet of pappardelle cooked al dente 50g tasty cheese, grated

Method In a mixing bowl marinate pork fillets with thyme, oregano and garlic, season with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan add olive oil and sear pork fillets until golden brown (2 min approx.). Add onions and mushrooms and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add passata, chicken stock and cream. Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add cooked pasta, grated cheese and left over mushrooms. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes at 180 degrees, or until cheese has melted and the pasta is crispy.

FRIDAY: COTTAGE PIE 300g beef fillet tail, sliced into medallions salt & pepper to season 2 tbsp plain flour for dusting meat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 onions, diced 1 leek, diced 3 sticks celery, diced 2 carrots, diced 1 tin chopped tomatoes 250ml chicken stock (from soup) 1 tbsp tomato paste 2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce 1 chilli 1/3 bunch thyme, leaves only 2 large potatoes 2 sweet potatoes 50g butter 100ml double cream

Method Dust the meat with flour and season with salt and pepper. Sear the meat in a large saucepan with olive oil on a low heat until browned. (be careful not to burn the flour). Set aside. In the same pan cook the onions, leek, celery and carrots until soft. Add the tinned tomatoes, chicken stock, tomato paste, Worchester sauce, chilli and thyme. Mix well and bring to the boil. Add meat and set aside. Potato Topping: Peel boil and mash potatoes with butter and cream. Repeat the same process with the sweet potato. Using a piping bag with a star nozzle, top the pie with both potato mixtures creating your own design. Bake in oven on 180 degrees until topping is golden brown (approx. 20-30 min)