Cheap recipe ideas: Meat winter warmers

Rich, meaty dishes are what many of us crave when the nights get darker and the weather gets chilly. But they don’t have to be expensive. We’ve come up with four recipes using cheaper cuts of meat that will still warm you up - whatever the weather.

Turkey and Sweet Potato Hash
Minced turkey is cheap and full of protein, as well as other important nutrients like iron, vitamin B6 and selenium. We’ve teamed it with bacon, sweet potatoes and other veggies to make a warming dish that can also be cooked when you’re in a hurry. Serves 4.

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced into small cubes
4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
500g turkey thigh mince
1 garlic clove, chopped
handful frozen peas
200ml chicken stock
3 sage leaves, chopped
salt and black pepper, to serve

Method
Fry the sweet potato and bacon in the olive oil until lightly browned - just 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Next, brown the turkey mince in the pan for around 5 minutes, until almost cooked. Add the garlic clove, the chicken stock, peas, sage and the sweet potato and bacon. Simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the sweet potato and turkey are cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Perfect served with sliced avocado.

Oxtail and Port Stew
When oxtail is simmered slowly, it has a velvety texture and the meat just falls off the bone. We picked up 500g of grass-fed oxtail for £4.50, so it’s cheap, too. This stew is slow-cooked for just over three hours, with port, bacon and onions. Great served with mashed potato. Serves 4.

Ingredients
olive oil, for frying
2 tbsp plain flour
500g oxtail, cut into chunks (your butcher will do this)
4 rashers smoked, streaky bacon
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
150ml port (or red wine)
650ml good beef stock
salt and pepper

Method

Dust the oxtail pieces in 1 tablespoon of the flour and fry in the olive oil for a few minutes, until golden. Remove from the pan and place in the bottom of an ovenproof casserole dish with a lid. Add the bacon, onion and garlic cloves to the frying pan and cook until softened, stirring in the remaining tablespoon of flour. Pour in the port, increasing the heat to allow it to bubble for a few minutes, stirring all the time. Reduce the heat and stir in the stock. Season with a little salt and black pepper and pour this over the oxtail in the casserole dish. Give it a good stir and cook in a 160ºC oven, with the lid on, for three and a half hours. After each hour, give the stew a little stir and return to the oven. Serve when the meat is tender and the sauce is thick.

Calves’ Liver with Crispy Prosciutto, Mashed Peas and Marsala Glaze
It’s often said that you either love liver or hate it. But if you find liver just too strong, try calves’ liver, which has a softer flavour. The liver for this recipe cost us just £2.62. We’ve dressed it up with Prosciutto, mashed peas and Marsala wine. Serves 2.

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
1 thin slice calves’ liver (about 125g)
2 slices Prosciutto
glug of Marsala wine
100g frozen petits pois
1 tsp soft cheese
pinch salt

Method
Lay the Prosciutto in a dry, non-stick frying pan and heat for 1-2 minutes on each side - it will turn crisp. Carefully remove to a plate. Next, cook the peas in slightly salted boiling water and drain. Purèe in a processor with the soft cheese.

Drizzle the olive oil into the pan and fry the liver for 1-2 minutes per side, until cooked, but very slightly pink in the centre. Spoon the pea mixture onto a plate and top with a Prosciutto crisp. Slice the liver and arrange on top. Finally, pour off any fat from the pan and add a slosh of Marsala, scraping any meaty bits from the bottom of the pan as you go. Trickle this over the meat and serve straight away.

Chinese-Style Lamb Ribs
We often think of pork when we want to cook ribs, but lamb ribs are cheap too. They make a nice change, especially with this rich, Chinese-style marinade. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients
1 tsp Chinese 5-Spice Powder
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
quarter tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp runny honey
1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
1 kg (about 14) lamb ribs

Method
Combine the Chinese five spice, hoisin, cumin, soy, honey and ginger in a bowl and mix well. Add the ribs, making sure they’re well coated, and marinate for at least 30 minutes, or for longer if possible. When you’re ready to cook, take the ribs out of their marinade and lay them in a single layer on a baking tray (line with foil if you want to make washing up easier). Roast at 170ºC for 45 minutes, or until the ribs are cooked through and the meat is falling off the bone.

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