Cooking with Saco

When in a serviced apartment it can be easy to just say lets go out for dinner, but you can make a beautiful meal using all the utensils on offer especially from Saco Serviced Apartments. 

Below is how to create a beautiful two course meal:

Items from a Saco kitchen used:

- Oven

- Hob

- Frying pan

- Kitchen knife

- Glass chopping board

- Dinner plate

- Oven pan 

Starter

Goats cheese and sticky onion tart

Ingredients

• Goats cheese - £1.19
• Puff Pastry Roll - £1.60
• Lemon thyme to garnish (optional)

For the Sticky Onions:

• 4 onions - £0.80p
• Tsb Sugar
• 50g of butter- £1.00

Cost PP: £2.28

How to make the sticky onions: 

- Chop the onions roughly on the glass chopping board.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan, when melted add the onions and coat. Leave on a low heat with a lid (if no lid use another pan as I did) for 10 minutes.
- Take off the lid and add the sugar, cook for a further 15 minutes whilst stiring, until golden brown and the liquid had been absorbed.
(If you have any left over, the sticky onions can keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.)

Goats Cheese and Sticky Onion Tarts:

- Unroll the pastry and you can make these as large as you want for your starter. I halved then halved again and use two slices.
- Place on foil or use some butter on the oven pan so they won't stick.
- Use the kitchen knife to score the pastry 1cm from the edges.
- Place the sticky onions inside the scoring.
- Slice the goats cheese and place it on top of the sticky onions.
Optional (use a few sprigs of lemon tyme and place on top)
- Place in the oven for 15 minutes
Then VOILA

You can garnish with a bit of greens if you wanted to make it more of a meal.

• Main Dish

Duck Breast with Blackberry Sauce

As we move into the colder months this a perfect seasonal dish for two.

Ingredients

- 2 duck breast - £6
- 150g blackberries - £2
- 1tbsp caster sugar
- 1/2 Shallot - 0.20p
- 100ml Red Cooking Wine - £1
- 100ml Vegtable Stock- 20p
- 2 Lemon Thyme Sprigs
- 5 New Potatoes - £0.80p
- Sprigs of Rosemary (Optional)

Total cost PP - £5.10




Oven should be set at 180c

-  Score the skin of the duck breast in a cross-cross pattern. Place them skin side into a cold frying pan. On a medium heat for around 20 minutes (remember to tip excess fat out of the pan as you cook).
- As the duck is cooking par boil the potatoes and place the blackberries in a saucepan with the sugar - simmer for 5 minutes, crushing the berries with the back of a fork.

- When the potatoes are tender place when in a oven tray with a splash of oil, salt, pepper and Rosemary and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
- When the duck fat has turned golden, turn over and cook on the flesh side for 2 minutes. Then transfer to a oven tray and cook in the oven for 8 minutes. Then remove from the oven and cover in foil for 5 minutes to rest.
- Spoon all of the excess fat except for 1 tbsp from the pan and cook the shallot, for 2-3 minutes until softened. Then add the red wine, lemon thyme, and stock. Simmer for 5 minutes on a high heat until reduced and syrupy.
- Stir in the blackberries and any resting juices from the duck and simmer until warmed through.
- Slice the duck and serve with the potatoes.