287877 Tue Nov 13 08:34:24 -0800 2001 12 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1551162 Just lost a bet, ignominiously. The challenge was to cook a delicious three course meal for six hungry hounds for 18 pounds--I guess that's 26 US dollars. The only rule was that all ingredients had to be bought. The winner spent £17.67--rigorously audited, of course--and made smoked haddock soup with aioli, vegetable curry with naan and aubergine and beetroot pickles, and apple pie. My efforts weren't even on the same field! What do you guys reckon you could do within these sorts of constraints? Tue Nov 13 08:34:24 -0800 2001 0 Clare McKenna 1 1551169 Head over to the closest Chinatown to you and buy your ingridents there. Goceries, produce, meat and fish are always cheaper at Chinese grocers. Menu wise, if you can try making vegetarian meal, they cost less as well. Tue Nov 13 11:37:46 -0800 2001 1551162 0 Wendy Lai 1 1551176 Four to five times a year I prepare a 12 to 14-course Morrocan feast for 20 people. I have gotten it down to $6.85 a person. Here's my previous post of groceries and menu: Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/48475#241802 Tue Nov 13 13:01:28 -0800 2001 1551162 0 Carolyn Tillie 1 1551180 I know that food is more expensive in England, by 20-30%, so it really isn't fair, but I entertain on the cheap pretty often. One menu that fits the bill is: dolmades (stuffed with mostly rice, garlic, onion, parsley, a little ground lamb,etc.) hummus, tzatziki, and toasted pita Grilled whiting or other little cheapie fish Grilled eggplant and zucchini, dressed with olive oil and lemon Tomato cucumber salad You can probably even afford a retsina of the paint-stripper variety, unless you want to do grilled lamb or spanikopita instead. For dessert, grapes and apples or broiled caramel bananas with whipped cream, depending on the proclivities of the assembled hounds. Tue Nov 13 13:20:59 -0800 2001 1551162 0 lucia 1 1551181 Indulge me? A Bistro menu: App: Salade crudite (haricots verts; seeded and julienned plum tomatoes, red bell peppers, celery, cucumber; shredded carrots; thinly sliced radishes; boiled sliced new potatoes, arranged in small piles of complementary color on a large plate, all with a very thick garlicky vinaigrette. Main: 3 dozen fresh littleneck or manila clams steamed in olive oil, garlic, and canned tomatoes, served with parsley over linguini. Baguettes Afters: Rhubarb compote with whipped cream or crème fraiche. The clams might set you back about $12, but everything else is cheap. Tue Nov 13 13:40:14 -0800 2001 1551162 0 lucia 2 1551183 Great menu, but you would never ever make that for under $18. Haricots verts around these pasts are expensive. The clam price is in the ballpark on a good day, but pasta is $1/lb so $2, you have to buy the whole bunch of parsley @ .99 cents, canned tomatoes @ $1,49, I'm not sure about the rhubard but the creme fraiche has got to put your over the limit. Aah, screw it, I'll chip in the rest, lets eat! Tue Nov 13 14:01:54 -0800 2001 1551181 0 Shoeman 1 1551190 Italian peasant fare is inexpensive... Rissotto or polenta don't cost much, and they can be dressed up nicely. Gnocci and pasta as well. Wendy is so correct about asian markets, they are some of the most competitive places to buy your produce. A couple hands full of mushrooms won't break your budget and will add a lot to the above ideas. I don't know how the meat situattion in the U.K. is right now. Hoof and mouth you know. The news media has a new darling though, so we tend to forget about such issues. I love cooking frugal cuts of meat like beef chuck, pork shoulder, and lamb shoulder. Creme brulee makes for an elegant dessert, and can be done for 6 for about $6. Chow!!! Tue Nov 13 15:43:46 -0800 2001 1551162 0 Brandon Nelson 1 1551198 I agree with Brandon about looking at peasant dishes, but he forgot his other mantra: buy in season. And I'm curious, how did you price things like spices, where you just use a tiny amount, not a whole package? For the main, I'd do a pork goulash, which you can make with pork shoulder -- usually very cheap. The recipe I've been making for the last 30 years is simply pork, onions, and small amounts of bell pepper and tomato paste, seasoned with caraway seeds -- simple, cheap and yummy. Serve with wide egg noodles and a green veg., or maybe some roasted root vegetables (parsnips, beetroot, etc.). For starters some kind of vegetable soup -- cream of carrot is nice, for example, and you can't get much cheaper than carrots! You really can't beat apples for a cheap, delicious dessert (as your competitor realized), but you could try using pears, which are in season, maybe in a crisp, or poached, maybe sauteed in a little butter and brown sugar and served over warm gingerbread (another cheap, delicious dessert). Bread pudding is another idea for something where the basic ingredients are inexpensive (you can even buy day-old bread!). Hmmm ... maybe I'll have to try this challenge myself! Tue Nov 13 16:57:19 -0800 2001 1551162 0 Ruth Lafler 2 1551236 Hey Ruth! You caught me sleeping! Poached pears over warm gingerbread? Autumnal heaven! Chow!!! Tue Nov 13 23:54:52 -0800 2001 1551198 0 Brandon Nelson 3 1551237 Gingerbread makes a terrific upside-down cake with pears, peaches, or pineapple (the latter a specialty of a family friend). Wed Nov 14 00:04:59 -0800 2001 1551236 0 Caitlin McGrath 4 1551288 I was experimenting with gingerbread upside-down cake using pears last year -- I'd never seen a recipe, so I was just extrapolating. I never got it quite to my satisfaction, but the attempts were still darn good! Wed Nov 14 18:18:23 -0800 2001 1551237 0 Ruth Lafler 1 1551221 Being a vegetarian automatically eliminates one costly item from my menu! I've never actually made an attempt to keep the costs of a meal down to a particular limit, but when I think back on some of my Thanksgiving feasts for 12 or 13, I was probably close. It's those exotic mushrooms that break my bank every time. Tue Nov 13 19:38:13 -0800 2001 1551162 0 LisaPizza 1 1551241 Appetizer: Stuffed eggs, cucumber sticks and cherry tomatoes. Most folks LOVE stuffed eggs, they're very cheap, and they show up so seldom. Main deal: Chile Colorado -- cut up a big cheap piece of beef for stew. Put in pot -- you don't even have to brown it. Add a 28oz can red chile sauce or red enchilada sauce (same thing), 8oz can tomato sauce, and a chopped onion. Cook gently, covered, for about 2-1/2 hours. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with rice, tortillas, and cole slaw with a chopped apple or pear in it. Put a little bottle of hot sauce out. [second thought -- the Mex bit may not work in the UK -- in which case I'd do a goulash thing with the beef and serve with potato gnocci, which are first cousins to Central European potato dumplings.] Dessert: bananas and/or pineapple flambe. This involves butter, brown sugar and rum or other likely hooch. A little ice cream would go well with it. Wed Nov 14 07:24:39 -0800 2001 1551162 0 Sharuf