Meals for a fiver

Being the age I am, I can just remember the tales of rationing which actually went on into the 1950s. I learnt the fun of cooking from my Mum whose kitchen always smelt of comfort fun and warmth.

If you think it would be a good idea for some of her recipes to reappear for yummy comfort food let me know and I'll dig them out, a lot of my ideas are only modifications of hers and the love of her kitchen.

Alf, who ran a market garden and stored bottle crates, also used to bring Mum a bunch of flowers grown in his garden every week and spare veg from his garden. Cauliflowers were sometimes in profusion, so here's a good cheap one!

Cauliflower cheese

A cauliflower using all the stalk and some of the leaves
2 oz Margarine
1 tab sp Flour
1 pud spoon Mustard
 Salt and pepper to taste
1 pt Milk
Bread crumbs
4oz grated cheese
Good new loaf

Put marg and flour into pan and cook for a minute do not let it start changing colour, pour in half the milk and stir continually, you are making a white sauce now, put in the mustard salt and pepper, and as the sauce thickens pour in more milk, when it is nearly bubbling all over and a runny custard thickness, and mind you keep stirring other wise it will burn on the bottom of the pan, put in the cheese turn off the heat.
Cut the cauliflower up and wash it well, a little salt in the water will get any lurking caterpillars out! Put a pan onto heat with enough water to cover and cook the cauli, only for about five minutes.

For economy I use 2/3 milk and 1/3 of the water I've boiled the veg in.

Put cauliflower into oven proof dish and cover with the sauce, sprinkle the bread crumbs on the top, and put into med oven until brown and bubbling. Serve with beautiful new bread. Yum!

This would easily serve 4 normal adults, of course depending on the size of the cauli.