Delia says cheating is ok.

Agutka

Hubby would of course never watch a cookery programme, but he had a go at this one just to see how Delia had changed. We both sat through the whole lot, gaping openmouthed. The food aside, because we could never afford any of those luxuries, what was with all the football? What did that have anything to do with anything?
The ending make me all warm and fuzzy though, when she got the soundman to open a jar for her, or the crew to taste the food. So I will be watching the series, just for the sheer entertainment.
But yes, I agree, the food was really bizzare.

moneysavinmonkey

If any OSers still thought this Delia thing was a good idea the Guardian had an article today where they costed up and cooked a sample of the recipes from her new book. Ranged from £6.82 for an omelette to £16.61 for a moussaka!
the results, even when cooked by professional chef Aldo Zizzi did not impress in taste or presentation (the picture of the risotto is truly revolting!)

Churchmouse

Thanks for the link moneysavingmonkey:D

Interesting to read the various opinions, but I do feel the costings are very biased and in truth unfair. Nobody on this site who costs out their recipe costs the whole bottle, lump of cheese etc. Now I'm not saying they aren't going to be a pricey way of eating, but to charge the cost of the whole thing rather than the proportion used is wrong. If they were comparing to cooking from scratch, would they still want to cost the whole block of cheese, say, rather than the couple of ounces used. I think not, but you'd still have to buy the larger quantity. I still don't get what Delia expects from this, and the recipes don't appeal to me, but I think she deserves to be treated fairly:o

rosy

I completely agree with you Churchmouse, but I still think Delia has got it way wrong. At random from the recipes they costed, here is what the Guardian article said the costs were for the chicken and leek pie :My calculations where you wouldn't use the whole amount in red.

Chicken and leek pot pie
412g tin M&S chunky chicken in white sauce £3.98
1 medium leek £0.44
1 small carrot £0.08
2 tbsp dry vermouth £7.09 (bottle) This one is very unfair!!!Should be about 30p for amount used
1 tbsp half-fat creme fraiche £0.79 (tub) Assume 250ml tub, should be 6p
1 tsp chopped fresh tarragon £0.69 (packet) Say around 10p at a guess?
2 Jus-Rol frozen small individual puff pastry rounds £1.99 (packet) Says there's 6 in a pack = 66p
1 egg £0.21
Total ingredients: £15.27 £5.83

Assuming my calculations are right;) that's a hefty difference ( unless you were buying the ingredients just to make the pie and then never used them again). For a fiver you can definitely buy a couple of small chicken & leek pies ready made. However I know I could make a much bigger chicken and leek pie from "scratch" in more or less the same time for less than £5.83 and that would be with good quality chicken ( rubber variety )/ bechamel sauce ( batch of the homemade variety always in my freezer). Still doesn't make any sense to me.

betheebee

Delia may have brought out this cheats book but she has been doing it for years, on her programs does anyone belive she chopped, peeled and weighed all of the ingredients that are so conveniantly prepared in little dishes? Can't imagine my DH doing it for me so that all I have to do is tip them all into the pan !! :rolleyes:

moneysavinmonkey

I see the costing argument both ways.... it's unfair really not to quote the price based upon the proportion of the ingredients used but I do think it is interesting to show the true initial cost.... bearing in mind these recipes are aimed at people who don't cook that often and don't have the skills then they are unlikely to have many (if any) of the ingreditents to start with and won't be skilled in using things up in different ways to prevent waste. If i was new to cooking and thought - mm i'll give one of delia's things a go and then ended up spending £20 in M&S on one meal I wouldn't bother again!

Churchmouse

I do get what you're saying moneysavingmonkey, but for any *new* cook, even doing it from scratch you'd still have to buy a whole bottle of spice, or packet of flour etc. ( Probably virtually every ingredient) It will be a big initial outlay whatever. If you don't use the stuff again, it's cost a lot. Just don't think it would ever be presented that way for scratch cooking.

I think anyone assembling the ingredients for the pricier meals would quickly realise it was going to cost a fortune, and dump them in favour of a high-end ready meal........well I certainly would:rotfl:

Horasio

I go from one to the other - either bung a ready meal in oven or do from scratch - I don't do half measures.

I don't milk the cow tho

betheebee

CCStar wrote: »

I go from one to the other - either bung a ready meal in oven or do from scratch - I don't do half measures.

I don't milk the cow tho

If I did half measures I'd be half as big.

Sarahsaver

betheebee wrote: »

If I did half measures I'd be half as big.

:rotfl:
I suppose there is a section of society who have no longer had cookery lessons at school but would not want to present a ready meal at home, maybe this is aimed at them.
'Doing a Delia' used to mean something completely different!

As for pricing her meals and fairness PLEEEASE!!!:rolleyes:
i got a big fat free range chicken for £6, last time i had one it did meals for 3 days.
I would like to think that people using this site would miss out the vermouth or use something else if they hadn't got it! Delia is assuming lack of imagination, creativity and resourcefulness! i think us money saving experts are clever enough not to get carried along on Delia's latest bandwagon:rolleyes: