HOW TO CREATE AFFORDABLE ALTERNATIVE RECIPES

My apologies that we have been slow, even lapsing in our postings over the past few months, but we have been undergoing major changes. We have a new, updated web design making the site more interactive and much easier to use. We have a functional contact page and finally, a fully displayed bookshelf. Please take advantage of both and let us hear from you.

In making these changes, I had to review past postings and realized several needed updates to fit the present economy and the address the fact that current market prices have risen considerably since I wrote the piece. Even the most conservative expert forecast which was for 5% increase per year then, would equal 20% in just 4 years! That alone is a lot, but the truth is that the prices have risen far more than anticipated and though we’ve grown hardened to the reality it still pinches. To keep the site’s archives current for your information, I’m going to revise postings on a regular basis.

In January 2013, I wrote a post in which I defined my objectives in writing this blog. In rereading that post, I realize I omitted a definition of the difference between a private personal chef and operating a personal chef service. Although both types of personal chefs plan and prepare meals according to the preferences and requirements of the intended consumer and both buy retail, the private chef operates on a daily or weekly schedule, operating within the brackets of a fixed salary from an employer and an expense account. The personal chef service owner is self-employed, works for separate clients, preparing a series of meals for a price determined by market prices, time required and expenses.

 

Perhaps the biggest difference is that the private chef is a bit of a luxury, while the chef service owner is, for many clients, a necessity. A private personal chef is usually associated with a celebrity whereas a personal chef service counts busy working people, many of them parents and those with special dietary needs among its most frequent clients. Too often there is confusion in the perception of a personal chef service as being superfluous and pretentious when I’ve had clients tell me how vital I am to maintaining a traditional family lifestyle, and even that I’ve saved them money because had they shopped for the supplies, they would have spent more than the cost of my service.

 

That, of course, is a major clue to answering the question of how to reduce food expenses. When I shop for a client, I’m following a detailed plan with a precise list, compiled from a sturdy of the market flyer, which includes exact amounts and preferred brands, if any. There are no deviations. This is easy when shopping for others, but takes concentration when doing it for yourself. Yet it’s a fundamental and valuable skill to master, for anyone wanting to cut food costs for obvious reasons.

 

In that blog of January 2013 I wrote:

 

“This seems a good time for me to re-define my purpose in writing this blog and explain what I’m trying to do. Unfortunately, I’ve learned that I don’t fit into the Google descriptive vocabulary. I am not a source of budget recipes, nor are food budgets my main concern and I don’t probe into finances. I am about helping people learn to create restaurant quality meals, while saving money by developing good sense about all phases of the food preparation process.

 

I learned through training to become a personal chef, and then setting up and operating a personal chef service that the key to it all is information. The well informed shopper knows market prices, the best sources to find the things they want and how to choose an item or select an alternative if necessary. The informed cook knows how to plan menus that are healthy and affordable, to write concise shopping lists to use their supplies efficiently and creatively to make the most of the products they are working with. Behind it all is the informed person who has developed the good sense to take the time to recognize the wisest choices and make them. In other words the person who has learned enough about the whole culinary process to have acquired sound kitchen sense and the key to it all is information

.

This is the information that I hope to relay through this blog, which I hope will enable you to save money, without compromising your culinary standards, by making smart choices. It really isn’t all that hard and can be very rewarding, both to your wallet and your ego. Nor is it that confining, because you aren’t trying to meet objective standards. You set the limits according to your own requirements. Above all, you can learn to devise ways to make meals less expensive other than adding another potato to the pot, or using larger beds of carbs, like rice or pasta, while keeping them tasty and nutritious.”

 

One main concern for the personal chef service owner is that the quality of the meals delivered never be compromised. However, as food prices rise, so must the chef’s fee, since provisions are included in the service. Clients, who depended on the service, began to ask if there wasn’t a way to compromise. Alternative menu options introducing casseroles and more “homey” meals were frequent suggestions. So I began to explore options to create less expensive, but quality dinners that would stretch to fit perhaps a second meal without resorting to just adding “another potato”

to the pot.

 

This doesn’t mean using cheaper ingredients, or searching the bargain aisles to find them. Some cuts of meat, for example, because of their location, will always be less expensive than others, just as frozen vegetables will always be cheaper than fresh. These items are top quality for what they are. Finding ways to substitute them for their more expensive counterparts is the trick.

 

In my book How to Control Food Bills, I explain what I call The Diet for the Food Dollar Plan which includes over 100 pages of charts and graphs, more than half of which are devoted to showing substitutions for meat cuts, most ingredients and describing other foods like cheeses and oils. The reader can make guided choices, even experiment with the taste of a recipe.

 

Since customizing recipes to comply with the dietary needs of special clients is part of a personal chef service’s job description, changing some to be more economical but taste the same was well within the ballpark. In fact I had already ventured into the field of imitating dishes with alternate ingredients for different reasons. I missed many Italian dishes I enjoyed while living there and had had to improvise upon several occasions, as does any person in charge feeding a family

 

The following are a few examples of recipe changes I came up with that may point you on the way to customizing some of your own favorites.

 

TRADITIONAL BEEF STEW: Serves 4-5

This was a childhood favorite of mine and I report it as it was taught to me. In the “from scratch” version, one starts by boiling beef bones to make the stock, but usually even my Mother simply used canned stock.

2- 21/2 lb. beef –well trimmed and cut in 1 ½ inch cubes-round roast suggested

(2-3) 14 oz. cans beef broth –about 1 qt.

! large rutabaga –peeled and cut in 1 inch cubes

3 carrots peeled and sliced in 1 inch pieces

3 medium or 2 large potatoes cut in 1 inch pieces

2 stalks of celery in 1 inch slices

1 ¼ cup peas-frozen or fresh not canned

1 tsp. each of dried thyme, rosemary, oregano and marjoram

4 Tbs. flour

Kitchen Bouquet –if and as needed for color

Salt and pepper

4 Tbs. butter – optional method only*

Cover meat in broth, reserving ½ cup, and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until tender-1 to 2 hours depending on cut. Add rutabaga, onion and celery and cook 10 min. add potatoes and cook 10 min. add peas and cook 5-8 min. Meanwhile, dissolve flour in the reserved broth. Strain the vegetables and meat from the broth and return broth to the pot. Stir the flour mix and herbs into the broth and stir constantly over medium heat until gravy thickens about 3 min. Color broth with Kitchen Bouquet if needed. Return vegetables and meat to broth, adjust seasonings, heat through and serve.

*Optionally brown beef cubes in butter first. It gives a depth of flavor and helps to brown the gravy, but does increase the fat content and calories.

 

ALTERNATE – – BEEF DAUBE SAUCE– Serves 4

This is a recipe from my cookbook Dinner With Joy. I’m including my introduction from the book to explain how I stumbled upon it.

Daube is the French word for stew. This recipe evolved one cold evening while discussing what to have for dinner, and someone said the a beef stew would really hit the spot, but it was late, we were hungry, and stew, even shortcut ones take more time than we were willing to wait, so we experimented, and this was the result.

 

1 lbs. lean hamburger

1 large onion in medium dice

2 ribs celery in medium dice

12 baby carrots in thin slices

½ cup diced green bell pepper

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2 tsp. dried thyme

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. dried marjoram

2 cloves garlic sliced

2 envelopes beef bouillon powder

(½) 14 oz. can diced tomatoes – 2 Tbs. juice reserved

1 ½ cups Red wine

1 Tbs. cornstarch

1 Tbs. oil

2 Tbs. Red wine vinegar

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes – or to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a stockpot over medium heat. Brown beef slightly, add onions, celery and carrots as pink begins to fade, cook until beef is brown @ 3 min. Add pepper, garlic and mushrooms, cook 1 min. Add tomatoes, spices, and bouillon, stir to incorporate, add wine. Cover and cook 30 min. Dissolve the cornstarch in the 2 Tbs. reserved tomato juice, and stir into the sauce. Continuing stirring until sauce thickens. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice, a sturdy shaped pasta or, for a more authentic stew experience, boil one large rutabaga (yellow turnip) with one large baking potato, both peeled and cubed, and mash them together, with a tablespoon of butter, salt and pepper to taste. Serve as bedding for the sauce.

*This sauce freezes well, so if possible, make extra

 

BRUNSWICK STEW: Serves 6

According to James Beard, this is a purely American dish with too many versions to count. Having researched it, I have to agree. Some have okra, some even use canned baked beans in place of lima beans, and others have up to 25 ingredients. All, though, are based on a combination of chicken and cooked pork, ham or bacon – except for James Beard’s that calls for squirrel, ‘nuff said! The one below I’ve used and found to be about the easiest to make with the least number of ingredients.

2 ½ -3 lb. chicken cut into 8pieces

2 cups cubed cooked pork or ham- I prefer ham for the taste contrast

2 cups chicken broth—more if needed

(1)10oz. box frozen Ford hook limas

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels

1 cup frozen okra – sliced (optional)

(1)14oz. can diced tomatoes – juice reserved

6oz. cans tomato paste

2 Tbs. red wine vinegar

2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

In a large stockpot, combine chicken, 2 cups broth, tomato paste, vinegar and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 min. add the remaining ingredients with reserved tomato juice and more broth if needed. Simmer 20-25 min. until beans are tender. Serve hot in soup bowls.

 

ALTERNATE VERSION: 4 – 1 cup servings

1 cup cooked cubed chicken + ½ cup cubed ham (1 thick Deli slice will do this) OR use all chicken

1 Tbs. oil

1 cup sliced onion

2 cups frozen soup vegetables-corn, peas, okra, lima beans, carrots included

14 oz. can stewed tomatoes- undrained

1 cup chicken broth

4 ½ Tbs.flour

Salt and pepper

In a large saucepan and sauté ham and onion in oil until ham onion is soft and ham browned about 5 min. Stir in flour and stir until a paste forms. Quickly add the broth and stir to combine, then add the other ingredients; reduce heat, cover and simmer until vegetables are tender about 8 min. Uncover and simmer 5-8min. more. Correct seasonings and serve.

 

There are other cost-cutting options available every day. Boned chicken thighs, especially if you learn to bone them yourself, which is a big saving, separate into 2 lobes. The smaller ones resemble chicken tenders and the larger, if lightly pounded, chicken breasts. They can be used interchangeably with the more expensive cuts, including all those up-scale, popular sautéed dishes with a swiftly made pan sauce.

 

Another excellent alternative entrée meat is tilapia. Farm raised, it is readily available in every market, even dollar stores, at a far more reasonable price than most seafood. Yet its firm, but flakey texture and mild flavor make it an excellent substitute in dishes calling for more expensive varieties of fish, flounder or sole for example.

 

As for finding alternatives to other ingredients, always remember the most expensive brands are placed at eye level on the shelves. (Except for candy, cookies and cereal—those are at a child’s level) So look above or below for generic or off-beat brands and when choosing something new to try, compare the ingredients list with a brand you like. Contents are listed in order of quantity, so the list that most closely matches your favorite one, will be the best option. On the other hand, there are certain ingredients that can never be replaced. For me to change brands on mustard or Worcestershire sauce makes achieving the flavor I want in certain dishes impossible, regardless of ingredients. Remember to pick your alternatives wisely.

 

I realize this has taken longer than most postings, but I’m excited about the new site and eager to begin revising the archive articles that need it so everything is current when you visit them I hope you find this information useful and that you join us for our weekly discussions.

 

See you there—

Joy