on Oct 9th, 2008Cutting costs with the pros
Food & Wine magazine has been ahead of its competition in recognizing food budgets are tightening or already tight and after offering a few budget-friendly recipes, has now compiled a labyrinth of tips and recipes that begins at Cost Cutting Secrets From Star Chefs.
There are five tips, common sense really, with chefs’ examples of putting them into practice. Some examples are clever, some are a bit over the top for the average household. The tips are:
- Master basic techniques
- Keep your scraps (There is no waste in a well-run professional kitchen. None.)
- Use the whole animal
- Manage a weekly budget
- Eat seasonally and locally
.
Let’s look at some examples. In #2, Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar and Grill shares a favorite way to use all of a popular winter fruit by “covering the core of an ultra-ripe pineapple with sparkling water overnight, adding a squeeze of lemon or lime in the morning.” But in #3, Michael White’s reminder that a whole fish “yields cheeks or fins that can flavor a risotto” not only assumes people are able to find whole fish and dress them, the suggestion of using fish cheeks in risotto veers close to the eeew end of the scale for many. [Close, ella? That one jumped off the cliff. ~ Mr. Knife Skills]
The list of Related Articles on the side is where the real fun begins. The first is A Thrifty Cook’s Guide to (Almost) Free Ingredients. There you’ll find a few more “waste not, want not” ideas, but the bonanza is the three links on the bottom leading to affordable dishes. Each goes to a collection of a dozen or more recipes in: Cheap and Delicious, Better Than Takeout and Homemade Versions of Storebought Desserts.
What’s best about the first collection is these are not typical boring budget dishes such as casseroles — this is Food & Wine, after all, not some “downhome” magazine using canned soups — and there’s something for everyone. Farfalle with Yogurt and Zucchini is ideal for vegetarians and all thrifty people and is one I’ll be trying soon, along with Chickpea and Spinach Stew. In the third collection, you’ll learn how to reproduce Hostess cupcakes and find some “inspired by” desserts, such as an easy pie inspired by peanut butter cups. What could be bad about that?
The middle collection, Better Than Takeout, is my favorite. There’s a great-looking recipe for chicken burritos using black beans and pepper jack cheese and is followed by one that will help me use up the cheese, Spinach and Pepper Jack Pizza. This section is replete with recipes using poultry and affordable proteins.
Chicken is in the freezer and I need to make a shopping list. I’ll post any of the recipes I try and like; please share your experience if you try one or more.
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Royal icing & decorating
This is fun! Thanks. I liked the “better than take-out” section, also.
The pizza looks good–though neither of us use Boboli, I notice that Whole Foods and the Wild Harvest section of Shaw’s carry the “all natural” and organic pre-made, whole grain crusts. They are frequently on sale, and they can be frozen for people who like this idea and want a healthy, quick alternative.
Rather than make a real “pizza,” I find it easier and less expensive to use an organic whole wheat tortilla that has been quickly oven browned, or a WW organic pita bread. You can customize each one if you have a friend or two ovver, and they really are tasty, satisfy the carb cravings, save quite a bit of time and money, and are much lower in calories than the real deal.
But if I want the real deal, I won’t use Boboli!
Great entry. Look forward to your continued TLC of our weary pocketbooks.
Word Bandit’s last blog post..Happy Birthday, John
Hi, there! I try never to forget my veggie friends. Sometimes I fall short, but I try.
You couldn’t pay me to bring that thick shoe leather called Boboli into the house. I’ve had it at a friend’s. It’s ghastly. When I make pizza at home I make the dough from scratch, from my post here. It takes almost no time.
And you’re also right about wraps, tortillas and pita rounds for pizza. Good reminder! I’ll have to try the organics.
Sometimes when I want just a little something I use a split English muffin with toppings and run it under the broiler for a few minutes.
Glad to (try to) help!
[…] is a dish I will make again and again. I found it in the Food & Wine collections I wrote about earlier and it’s from Al Forno, a Providence, Rhode Island restaurant I always associate with […]
[…] is another quick and budget-friendly meal from the collections Food & Wine assembled recently. It’s quite good and certainly nutritious. I halved the recipe with no problems and […]