Economy Gastronomy - new budget cookery programme; BBC

zippychick

I really enjoyed last nights programme. Really nice blokes and was pleased they took the ideas on so well. Was glad they didnt go for the rotten take out kebabs - the home made ones looked so much better. It was a bit painstaking to watch them chopping so slowly - but I think they may be converted now.

I got a bit confused about the savings made at the end - or how much they had further reduced their budget?

Couldn't actually believe Adam eat 75 biscuits in one night.:eek: never mind the cost, what about what it's doing health wise? I do wonder how there isn't a lot of comment on nutritional issues - I commented on that before. But then again, it is saving money, not you are what you eat. Plus there is a good dietary balance in the meals anyway

The more i watch this show, the more Allegra grows on me, she is so cheeky or something. I was in stitches when she gave the student her finger to lick. She also did that in the first episode with the husband. I'm going to try that out with one of my friends and see what they do - if they lick my finger! :rotfl:

I liked the Doc (cant rem his name) showing how to joint a chicken. I am a bit squeamish of handling raw meat and poultry but that looked quite "easy" compared to what I thought. Also liked the little tit bits of info about the magic piece of meat on the chicken - can't think what it was called.

loved the way the guys got more into it as the week went on - cooking a chicken ahead, and making a batch of pasta sauce. Great stuff and just shows what a little foresight can do.

The meatballs seemed nice and simple. I liked the look of the gastro recipe, but didnt pay a lot of attention to the method. Did he bin a load of veg from the sauce or was it just onion? It just seemed like he strained the sauce and binned the sollid stuff then added more veg - but I wasn't totally paying attention........

2 more to go. I see next week is mother and child. Can only assume sinlge parent so it will be interesting to see that as well. They seem to be catering for a wide range of wage brackets so far.

Still genuinely shocked they students spent £250 on food each a month, that's insane. For being students, you would think they would have a bit more sense and clout (but then, only if you're taught it at home eh?) .

edit - on the magazine chat, I used to get mandy & Judy? Or is that jackie? i seem to have forgotten. And Just seventeen- they were my aunties she saved for me every week!

anniemf2508

zippychick wrote: »

I liked the Doc (cant rem his name) showing how to joint a chicken. I am a bit squeamish of handling raw meat and poultry but that looked quite "easy" compared to what I thought. Also liked the little tit bits of info about the magic piece of meat on the chicken - can't think what it was called.

I invested in a box of disposable latex gloves for raw chicken jobs, it saves me having to rope hubby in to do it. He taught me how to joint a chicken too and it is a good skill to have, its amazing how much meat you can get off one bird

aless02

GISI - isn't it always suspicious when people have a random £6-7 joint of meat just lying around?! I mean, when I spend that much on 1 thing, I usually cook it the next day and have planned several meals around it. Why would they have bought since they all said they've never cooked pork roast before?

The episode was better than previous ones, as in more realistic with cooking expectations and lower budget than before. However, it was still pretty brainless with the tomato sauce and rubber chicken...guess that just means that OSers have already come up with the ALL the brilliant MSE ideas and there's none really left!

russetred

His name is Paul and the hidden bit of chicken is an oyster so called due to its shape.

zippychick

aless02 wrote: »

GISI - isn't it always suspicious when people have a random £6-7 joint of meat just lying around?! I mean, when I spend that much on 1 thing, I usually cook it the next day and have planned several meals around it. Why would they have bought since they all said they've never cooked pork roast before?

The episode was better than previous ones, as in more realistic with cooking expectations and lower budget than before. However, it was still pretty brainless with the tomato sauce and rubber chicken...guess that just means that OSers have already come up with the ALL the brilliant MSE ideas and there's none really left!

I wouldn't say brainless...... They are students living on ready meals and they needed to give them cheap, tasty, easy prepared, quick and convenient food - they said at the start to keep it simple and that's exactly what they did. At least they used the tomato sauce as a bedrock and not necessarily meat - so good variation IMO.

To be honest, i know a whole heap of people who wouldn't know where to begin with making a basic tomato sauce - so it's targetting all skill levels there too. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's only obvious if you know how, and these guys obviously didn't have much of a clue at all. I remember making basic tom sauce for pasta - and my best mate going into work telling everyone about this magic pasta sauce I made. She made me write out the "recipe", and photocopied it for all her colleagues in work. She was astounded at how easy it was and tasty. I was scundered when i found out she had photocopied it and gave it round people :rotfl:

Also, most people buy chicken fillets. I always would have thought of buying a whole chicken as hassle. Then, i learned batch cooking and bought a whole one and stripped it and got as much as i could, including carcass soup. Now i know how to joint a chicken - and it genuinely wouldn't have crossed my mind to do it before. I would only have bought a whole chicken if i knew i had time to cook it all, and strip it and do the needful. Seems incredibly obvious now of course! :rotfl:

i did laugh at the "fish pie" - tuna pasta! I might have to watch this episode again actually, and pay more attention.:rolleyes:

debtmuncher

aless02 wrote: »

GISI - isn't it always suspicious when people have a random £6-7 joint of meat just lying around?! I mean, when I spend that much on 1 thing, I usually cook it the next day and have planned several meals around it. Why would they have bought since they all said they've never cooked pork roast before?

The episode was better than previous ones, as in more realistic with cooking expectations and lower budget than before. However, it was still pretty brainless with the tomato sauce and rubber chicken...guess that just means that OSers have already come up with the ALL the brilliant MSE ideas and there's none really left!

sorry but i am getting sick of seeing that kind of comment throughout this thread and probably the forum. its getting a tad annoying how some osers are presuming that mse is the "king" for coming up with all the food saving ideas etc etc etc. cooking on a budget/frugal cooking cookbooks etc have been around for years, its not something mse have started!! its getting very "high n mighty" these days!! kind of feels like if you are not doing it all correctly then someone is going to be looking down their nose at you and saying "you are doing it wrong blah blah blah"

thriftlady_2

debtmuncher wrote: »

sorry but i am getting sick of seeing that kind of comment throughout this thread and probably the forum. its getting a tad annoying how some osers are presuming that mse is the "king" for coming up with all the food saving ideas etc etc etc. cooking on a budget/frugal cooking cookbooks etc have been around for years, its not something mse have started!! its getting very "high n mighty" these days!! kind of feels like if you are not doing it all correctly then someone is going to be looking down their nose at you and saying "you are doing it wrong blah blah blah"

Hear hear;)

cw18

zippychick wrote: »

To be honest, i know a whole heap of people who wouldn't know where to begin with making a basic tomato sauce

One hand up here admitting to being guilty of that.....

but I know DS wouldn't entertain it unless I blended it anyway (doesn't like tomatoes or onions, but eats shop bought tomato based pasta sauces and doesn't notice very finely chopped onion in mince based dishes), so hardly seems worth the effort while I'm still cooking for him

Butterfly_Brain

purpleivy wrote: »

Ahhhh, Rosemary, this isn't a recent thing! I was at Uni 82-85! My dd treats this place like a hotel. She has had gap year and just about to go to Uni at the end of the month. Unfortunately for her the place doesn't function like a hotel really...I don't go and fix her bed and room up every day!

DS 16 much better and helps as and when requested.

Have you got my kids living with you?
My DD is exactly the same, my DS (15) is a much better help and loves to help in the kitchen - he made a Treacle Tart last night after I showed him the basics of pastry making - it was lovely.

zippychick

cw18 wrote: »

One hand up here admitting to being guilty of that.....

but I know DS wouldn't entertain it unless I blended it anyway (doesn't like tomatoes or onions, but eats shop bought tomato based pasta sauces and doesn't notice very finely chopped onion in mince based dishes), so hardly seems worth the effort while I'm still cooking for him

Doesn'rt make you a bad person I am more than happy to admit the things I don't know. Doesn't mean I am a terrible cook or not true OS, just means I have loads more to learn. Don't we all always?:rolleyes:

Wouldnt it still be worth its while? Just blend it up so no chunks. What I would do is make some up and put it in a old sauce jar - pretend its shop bought, then see what he says. I think sometimes people (not necessarily your hubby) put up barriers that arent real iykwim.