On BBC2’s hit series Economy Gastronomy, chefs Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett offered fabulous money-saving tips on making great food. They’ve written a book too. Here they share some tips with us.
Recession-busting home cooking tips are always welcome, and when they produce such delicious results it’s no surprise that top chefs Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrett have found their BBC2 series becoming major successes.
Their recipe book, ‘Economy Gastronomy: Eat Better and Spend Less’, is out now on Penguin Books £20.
Try their economic, gastronomic recipes
Sample their delights without busting your budget.
The Economy Gastronomy team have kindly let SuperSavvyMe share two of their recipes with you.
Macaroni cheese with artichoke hearts
Pumpkin risotto with roasted walnuts, red chicory and gorgonzola
Insider tips from Economy Gastronomy
Here are a few of the chefs’ top tips for saving money whilst also making great food:
• Always have a roll of cling film handy to wrap up leftovers. Cheese prefers tin foil, by the way; and if using fresh herbs or lettuces, then wrapping them in a clean, damp cloth will prolong their quality.
• Peas, beans of all types, sweetcorn and cauliflower all freeze perfectly, but it does require a little work. Cut the vegetables into small pieces and blanch them in boiling water for about 30 seconds, drain well and then spread them out on a tray and put them in the freezer. When fully frozen, bag them up, label the bag and wedge them into the freezer.
• Do your weekly shop later on in the day, as the reject shelf is much fuller – you should always check the reject shelf. Tomorrow’s use-by date can be today’s dinner!
• Seasonal cooking saves money – its a fact. New potatoes are in the supermarkets all year round, but come May-time the prices drop.
For more about how eating seasonally can save you money, don’t miss our SuperSavvyMe article all about it.
• Work smart, not hard… For example: if you’re cooking you might as well use the time and energy (both yours and the cooker’s) to best advantage. Whenever I roast meat, I always put some veg around. It just makes sense to knock out one of your accompanying veg at the same time, then you’ve only got to think about a few greens at the end. If you’re making something like cookies or muffins, do a double batch and freeze half.
Take 5 mins to knock up a compound butter: whizz a pat in the food processor with lemon zest, garlic, parsley, chilli flakes and seasoning, then wrap it in clingfilm like a sausage and freeze. Now all you have to do is slice a fat disc off to finish anything from steaks to prawns to bruschetta.
• The most wasted foods and what to do with them…
Bread – no one should waste any bread at all. Old bread makes excellent toast. When past toast-bearing age, bread should be put in a bag in the freezer and then used as breadcrumbs to cover a chicken breast.
Apples – everyone buys apples because they are good for you. Tired, wrinkly apples make a very good crumble filling.
Lettuce – people do insist on buying that pre washed, nutritionally lite, prepared stuff. It then goes brown and they chuck it out. Buy your lettuce whole, trim off what you need, wrap the rest in a damp cloth and store it in clingfilm; then it will stay fresh to the last leaf.
Cabbages – crispy crunchy cabbage is lovely, the limp stuff goes in the bin. Not any more it doesn’t. When you next have a tired-looking half-cabbage in your fridge, take it out and shred it up very finely. Fry some sliced onion and garlic with some thyme, add some shredded bacon and fry till brown. Then chuck in the cabbage, pour in half a glass of white wine and a tablespoon or two of cream. Simmer and serve.