New figures show that spending on food has fallen for the first time since records began in 1986. The amount of food and drink bought in shops and supermarkets fell by 0.1% in the three months to September 2008.

Usually food sales go up every year, typically by about 2-3%. So, we're tightening our belts - buying fewer, and cheaper items. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy tasty and healthy meals, as I've been telling you throughout my time on the Moneymagpie food blog!

This week I've been using up a glut of onions dug from the ground by my own fair hands, at a Pick-Your-Own farm. Usually I just peel, chop and freeze them. Then, whenever I need chopped onion in a recipe, I just grab a handful of frozen chunks, and throw them in. They don't come to any harm at all. 

But even I can't use the amount of onions I have at the moment - so it's onion marmalade! A lovely relish to go with sausages, cold meats, bacon, cheeses etc.

Recipe: Onion Marmalade

Ingredients: Makes 4 x 500ml jars

2kg red onions or regular onions

4 garlic cloves

140g butter

4 tbsp olive oil

140g golden caster sugar

1 tbsp fresh thyme 

pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

75cl bottle red wine

350ml sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

200ml port

Method:  

Peel and slice onions + garlic. Melt the butter + oil in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic, sugar, thyme, chilli, salt and pepper. Stir again and simmer uncovered for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions are ready when all their juices have evaporated. Don't rush this stage! Pour in the wine, vinegar and port and simmer again, still uncovered, 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the liquid has reduced by two-thirds. It's done when drawing a spoon across the bottom of the pan clears a path that fills rapidly with syrupy juice. Decant the hot onions into sterilised jars and seal. Can be eaten straight away, but keeps in the fridge for up to 3 months.

New figures show that spending on food has fallen for the first time since records began in 1986. The amount of food and drink bought in shops and supermarkets fell by 0.1% in the three months to September 2008. Usually food sales go up every year, typically by about 2-3%. So, we're tightening our belts - buying fewer, and cheaper items. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy tasty and healthy meals, as I've been telling you throughout my time on the Moneymagpie food blog!

This week I've been using up a glut of onions dug from the ground by my own fair hands, at a Pick-Your-Own farm. Usually I just peel, chop and freeze them. Then, whenever I need chopped onion in a recipe, I just grab a handful of frozen chunks, and throw them in. They don't come to any harm at all. But even I can't use the amount of onions I have at the moment - so it's onion marmalade! A lovely relish to go with sausages, cold meats, bacon, cheeses etc.

Recipe: Onion Marmalade

Makes 4 x 500ml jars

Ingredients:

2kg red onions or regular onions

4 garlic cloves

140g butter

4 tbsp olive oil

140g golden caster sugar

1 tbsp fresh thyme 

pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

75cl bottle red wine

350ml sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

200ml port

Method:  

Peel and slice onions + garlic. Melt the butter + oil in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic, sugar, thyme, chilli, salt and pepper. Stir again and simmer uncovered for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions are ready when all their juices have evaporated. Don't rush this stage! Pour in the wine, vinegar and port and simmer again, still uncovered, 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the liquid has reduced by two-thirds. It's done when drawing a spoon across the bottom of the pan clears a path that fills rapidly with syrupy juice. Decant the hot onions into sterilised jars and seal. Can be eaten straight away, but keeps in the fridge for up to 3 months.

The Pick-Your-Own (PYO) season is pretty much over. I went to my local farm (in Enfield, Middlesex) yesterday, and that was the last day it was open till next May. Many of the fields had already been ploughed up, ready for reseeding. We could see little cherry tomatoes glistening in the soil, in what used to be, evidently, a cherry tomato field. Anyway - I am a bit late with my advice but you can remember it for next year. It is that PYO farms are really cheap and good value! I got a marrow for 56p! And it is vast. We will be feeding the five thousand later.

My family also picked blackberries (I have now made 2 huge crumbles that will feed 10 each, but we are eating crumble for breakfast as well as lunch and dinner (it is, after all, fruit and carbohydrate, which is what you would have for breakfast anyway). We also got onions. I didn’t need them, but I just wanted to show the kids that they grow in the ground, and you pull them up and take off the dirt and the outer papery skins and that is an onion! A bit of a Jamie Oliver moment. The same with the marrow – we saw one and I said, “Ok, who wants to pick it?” just to show them the connection between growing plants and the food we eat.

It was a really great day out and we bonded as a family, even the stressed banker-husband suffering from the credit crunch. And it taught us to get back in touch with the land. For example, I know when blackberries are ripe (they’re back, not green or red) but what about sweetcorn? Apparently it’s when the hairy threads at the top are brown, not green or yellow. So now we know. Oh, and did I mention PYO is CHEAPER than the shops?!

Baked Stuffed Marrow recipe

(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

1 medium marrow
2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

200g minced beef
100g pork sausage meat (or 100g more minced beef)
I slice bread, crumbed

1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
1 egg
250ml cheese sauce

Method

1. Halve the marrow lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Cut off the stalk.
2. Lay each half side by side, top to tail, in an oiled, deepish baking tray.
3. Put onion in a bowl with the meats, breadcrumbs, parsley, chives, Worcestershire sauce, egg and seasoning. Mix well with hands!
4. Divide the stuffing between each marrow half. Cover with foil and bake 180°C for 1 hour.
5. Strain off most of the liquid.
6. Pour over the cheese sauce and bake another 20 minutes, uncovered, or brown under the grill.

7. Don’t eat the skin as it is tough (although technically edible). Serve with a carbohydrate (why not bake some potatoes as you have the oven on, or pasta/rice).

People don’t eat enough soup, as a friend of mine once said. He meant in good restaurants where they make a really good stock. And vegetable soups have got it all – cheap, healthy, filling and warming now the weather’s turned cold. You can also freeze soup in portions, and eat it during the week ahead, or month ahead. Defrost in the microwave as you get in from work. Or, for a dinner party, dress it up with finely chopped parsley and a swirl of cream - I’ve had very good reactions from guests. Parsnips can be woody, so just cut the cores out if they are. If you cut a lot out, re-weigh them, to check the weight hasn’t gone down too much. I often use an eating apple in this recipe too, which works fine – perhaps a Cox or a Braeburn. It goes without saying that you shouldn’t be getting the French Golden Delicious-type variety - they just taste of nothing.

Parsnips, apple and curry work well together. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But you can also experiment with other veg. I would say the only thing you really need for soup is onion (or leek). And stock (a cube is fine).  

Parsnip and Apple Soup

Serves 6                       Per serving: 90cals, fat: 5g

Ingredients;

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp curry powder

500g parsnips, peeled & chopped

850ml water

3 veg (or chicken) stock cubes

salt & pepper

1 cooking apple

100ml single cream (or soya)

Finely chopped parsley (optional)

Method:

Sauté the onion in oil for 5 minutes. Add garlic and curry powder. Cook a few minutes more, then add parsnips, crumbled stock cubes and water. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Peel, core and chop the apple. Add and simmer 5-7 minutes more. Using a slotted spoon, fish out the solids from the hot stock and puree in a food processor, adding a little of the liquid to loosen. Pour it all back into the saucepan and stir together. Then either reheat to serve, with a swirl of cream and a scattering of parsley, or freeze in portions.