DEAL OF THE WEEK: LEG OF LAMB

This weeks Deal of The Week is from Tesco and it is their leg of lamb at better than half price offer.

£5.00 a KG I got two, one to cook and one to stash away in the freezer. At around £10-£12 a whole leg, it is some of the cheapest lamb I have seen in a long time. If I had a chest freezer I would have taken at least four of these little babies and stuffed them in it for special occasion roasts.

It's often a good way of economically buying meat as one leg will do several meals. We often follow the following pattern to maximise the value, Roast dinner, Curry, Stuffed Pitta Breads with Tzaki dip. That way you get three good small family meals off of it. To be able to create three family meals with £10 worth of meat is an increasing challenge and shows what good value this is.
This time, I decided to deviate from my usual method of slow-roasting it and I braised it in a bottle of cheap French Beaujolais in the following method. (Roast on high for 20 mins until golden skin - pour over whole bottle of wine and turn down oven to around 150 cook for 1hr 30mins. Remove, baste repeatedly and then put back in oven for a further 1hr 30mins.)

Serve with Creamed Onions.

Peel and cut onions into halves. Lay in a heavy based oven dish.
Salt and pepper.
Chop a whole tin of anchovies finely and scatter over onions
Pour a whole carton of double cream over the top.
Place in oven with the lamb at 150 for around 1hr 30.

Rich Red Wine Sauce

Remove Lamb and set aside to rest. Skim off the fat from the wine in the roasting tin. Place into cooker top and add 2 tbsp of redcurrent jelly. Reduce down until thick and unctuous.

Finds of The Week

Proof that taste doesn't always mean splashing out lots of cash. This week my Find of The Week isn't directly culinary but it's close enough in theme to share with you.
Near to my Mum is a hyper-store called What! It's a large industrial hanger type retail outlet that specialises in cheap emporium items and household wears. Think of a slightly posher version of PoundLand. Pretty much anything you need or didn't know you needed is sold here; from wallpaper to foil food containers, from party table wear to bird feeders - well you get the impression.
This week I went with the strict self-instruction of going in to get one item - a pair of angel wings. (Which have been surprisingly hard to source this year, clearly there is a national shortage of angels) I managed to get a fantastic pair of wings and was doing so well on the whole one-item-disciplin thing when I spotted their festive candle aisle. There was no hope, it was like being a child in a sweet-shop.
I managed to pick up these gorgeous bark wrapped candles for just 99p and £1.49. They were exactly what I had been coveting in the trendy home design stores but balking at paying £7.99+ (The above is for 2 and including your postage and packaging comes out at £14.50 - a whopping 1400% higher price difference!)

Remind me next time to buy a whole truck load and set myself up on Etsy lol!

As well as these, I managed to get a great pair of over-sized lime washed candle sticks for £4.99 each and I've topped them with their 'wedding range' candles which are cream with grey hearts and nordic style patterning. Similar candlesticks retail at around £15.99 a piece.

So now the house is almost decked and full of candlelight, it really feels like the Christmas holidays can begin.

Game

We all know the mantra that if you want to eat well and cheap, then eat seasonally. This is never truer than when we are talking about Game.

This is one of the reasons that late autumn is my favourite time of year - it's game season. Often seen as the food of 'posh folks' and foodies, game is misunderstood and underly used. Game actually has humble origins - it is the food of the hunter and the poacher.

Whenever I eat game, I feel an attachment to the food I eat and its part in the greater cycle of nature and life. Eating game feels right - it feels natural and at this time of year you can buy it really cheaply.
We tend to go a bit glutton on it and buy a whole load for the freezer to see us into the spring.
We are very fortunate that there are a lot of game retailers on our doorstep. A trip to the fishmongers this week saw me bringing home (literally) a carrier bag of it. Goose breast, wild duck breasts, Guinea fowl breasts, Venison, partridge, pheasant supremes and Wood pigeon breasts. Carrying home that weighty carrier bag made me feel all cave-woman and came in at around £30.00. For that we have several months of 'Friday night suppers.' When you compare this to what you might pay in a restaurant, £30.00 for a carrier bag full of meat is a relative bargain.

It was the hubby's birthday last week and we went to the 'famous' restaurant Rules up in big town. (A very special, indulgent treat - and definitely champagne budget. But such a blowout is few and far between since having the children) The roast partridge dish there was £26.00 a head (your sides were extra at £4.50 a pop). On Saturday we got our partridge for £2.99 each (or we could have had four birds for £10.00.) Suddenly the wallet seems a little more pained.

Amongst our friends we've found that they are definitely two camps. Those that haven't and don't want to try game and those that tried it once or twice and are no addicted to the stuff. There seems no middle ground when it comes to this. One of our friends has taken his love of game and the thrill of eating wild things to the furthest extreme - his most recent game experience being the eating of Puffin when he and his girlfriend visited Iceland last month. I asked him if it tasted of Chicken or Steak - he laughed and said "imagine a chicken that's eaten too much fish!'

Such is our love of Game (sea and land) that when we had an October wedding way back when, the wedding meal consisted of Crab terrine followed by Venison Pie. I'm not sure that all of our guests thanked us for that - but hey, it was our day.

So with all that game in the freezer, expect to see a lot of game recipes in the next few months on The Frugal Snob. If you haven't tried it before, start with Guinea Fowl - it tastes just how you think chicken aught to taste (how you're sure it tasted in the good old days). Treat it just like chicken and you'll thank me.

Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday season.

TO VEG BOX OR NOT TO VEG BOX WEEK THREE

This week's veg box. 

There's been a little bit of a break in this research project as I have spent November participating in NaNoWriMo (An international writers' challenge in which you attempt to write a 50,000 word novel within the month) As you can imagine, this has left very little time for blogging - or cooking. However, novel is written and the family are relieved that their month of experiencing many packaged meals is over.

So back to the research: To Veg Box or not To Veg Box WEEK THREE.

This week's box was crammed full - it's always the best season for the veg box. Stuffed full of fabulous root vegetables which stretch meals in the most tasty and economical way. However disappointed to see that they are still putting lettuce and tomatoes in  (I could always option these out but that would mean cheating and checking the box.) The inclusion of lettuce does make a box filler and I suppose salad is good for you.

There were a good amount of leeks but the same old same old with the size of the aubergine. The green kale will not have much of a shelf life, there are traces of yellow on the edge already, so unless eaten within next couple of days, it will most likely go off.

ITEM	WEIGHT	ASDA	TESCO	SAINSBURYS	WAITROSE OCADO
Mushrooms chestnut	250g	1.00	1.25	1.30	1.49
Green Kale	400g	n/a subs cabbage 1.59	n/a sub cabbage 1.30	organic n/a sub finest range 1.50	n/a sub cabbage 1.19
Carrots	500g	0.67	1.24	0.76	0.89
Celeriac	500g	1.40	1.40 (not organic)	1.48 (not organic)	2.79
Potatoes	1kg	1.47	1.16	1.73	3.38
Green Cabbage	each	0.76 (not organic)	1.30 (pointed)	0.80	1.39 (Pointed cabbage)
lettuce	Each	1.00	1.20	1.50	1.40
Red Pepper	Each	0.93	0.88	0.93	1.90
small aubergine	210g	0.75 (not organic)	0.90 (not organic)	1.35	1.00 (not organic)
Tomatoes	600g	1.80	1.75	2.00	1.37
Parsnips	500g	1.50	1.50	1.35	1.99
Leeks	400g	1.50	2.00	2.00	1.99 (not organic)
TOTAL 18.50 Number of N/O items		14.37 (-4.13) 2	15.88 (-2.62) 2	16.70 (1.80) 2	20.78 (+2.28) 2

VERDICT.
Looking a little bit like an expensive option this week. It's quite a price differential between Asda prices and the Abel & Cole veg box (22% less expensive). This could be due to the fact that the supermarkets are getting very competitive with their seasonal veg in the run up to Christmas.

Potato, Stilton and Celery Gratin

This dish epitomises both the words luxury and frugality - ultimate comfort food and just what is needed to warm the cockles on an icy-cold day like today.
If you're like us and don't eat that many potatoes, there comes a time when you're drowning in them (if you're part of a veg box scheme) and this is a great dish to use up a whole kg bag in one go.
It's basically a potato bake but it's elevated by the humble ingredient of celery and the indulgent but affordable ingredient of Stilton cheese (Tesco do an 'Every Day Value Stilton that has just won a Taste 2012 award - and it's good, as good as any expensive stilton we've bought) I have to admit that this isn't entirely my own invention and is an adaptation of a recipe card that came with our Abel & Cole box last winter.

It's the perfect accompaniment to Steak as the stilton makes a classic marriage but it also makes a perfect supper dish if served with a nice fresh green salad.

For this you will need:
1kg of potatoes (preferably the waxy kind)
2 leeks
3 sticks of celery
Stilton to taste (I usually use around 1/2 a block)
Handful of other fridge remenant cheese - grated.
Milk
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to season

Wine choice. A white bourgone although if having with steak will stand up to a lighter red such as a Chateau Neuf de Pape or a Chianti.

Chef's album choice: Cooked on an ice-cold day, it's got to be Kate Bush, 50 Words for Snow.
Setting & Props: Light a candle and stick the fire on. You may even choose to go all nordic-cool and put on a proper jumper. Good to eat with just a fork.

Total cost: approx £4.00 serves 4 as a side dish or 2 as a supper dish


MAKING IT:

Peel and thinly slice 1/2 the potatoes as thinly as possible. Ideally you should be able to see the knife blade through them. Layer up in the base of a heavy oven-proof dish which you have greased with butter or olive oil. Season.

Cut one of the leeks in half length ways and then thinly slice. Sprinkle over your potato layer. Do the same with one of the sticks of celery.
Peel and thinly slice 1/3 of the potatoes and layer up. Continue alternating potato, celery, leek and stilton until you reach the top of your dish with a top layer of potato.

Season liberally, and then pour over a mug full of milk.

Place in a low oven (approx 100c) for approx 1 -11/2 hours - or until cooked. You'll know it's cooked because of the colour and by inserting a knife into the middle of the bake - there should be no resistance. If you find your top potatoes are cooking too quickly, cover in foil for 20 mins and then take off to finish. Scatter a handful of grated cheese over the top and return to the oven for ten minutes.

Serve as a side to steak, chicken or as a supper dish with a side salad.

To Veg Box or Not to Veg Box: WEEK TWO.

So, it's Thursday, which means it's --- vegbox day! So what delectable treats were in this week's box.

UPSIDES

Well on first impression the box looks good and there is a nice range, including a rather exciting large 'orange' cauliflower - yep, that's right. I know you thought cauliflowers were white but ...  This exciting edition is part of their 'old breeds' range which is most infamous in our household for the occassional appearance of purple carrorts. As an unexpected treat, there is also a nice 600g bag of broad beans.

DOWNSIDES

Compared to a standard table knife = tiny

HOWEVER - still the same-old irritating bug bear. The aubergine at 210g (which counts a one full option) would not even fully contribute to a moussaka for a family of four, not alone not make a side-dish bake - so in effect is useless and will probably end up going to waste in most house-holds (In our frugal household, it will probably end up looking tired in the fridge and then stuffed in a last reprieve ratatouille mix.)

Compared to a standard table knife

The Butternut squash is the same size as one of the TWO we got as a full option two weeks ago -- and again is too small to feed four as a side dish. The shape of it tells me that this is also seed heavy, meaning that if I get 9 reasonable cubes of it, it will be as many. Again, it will probably end up stuffed in the ratouille dish as it's far too small to serve stuffed (which would only serve 2 anyways). It might make a nice pasta ravioli - but it makes it an expensive one at that.

And, the broad beans, although truly scrumptious will have to be put aside for 'adult' only meal as there are not enough to feed four as a full veg dish.

REMEMBER THIS IS THE FAMILY SIZE VEG-BOX which is intended to feed a family of 4.



PRICE COMPARISON
*where exact comparisons can not be made due to availability the closest product available is substituted for either an equivalent organic product or their standard range (as indicated).

ITEM	WEIGHT	ASDA	TESCO	SAINSBURYS	WAITROSE OCADO
Broccoli	600g	2.40	2.80	1.99	2.38
Calva Nero cabbage		n/a subs cabbage 1.59	n/a sub cabbage 1.30	organic n/a sub finest range 1.50	n/a sub cabbage 1.19
Carrots	500g	0.67	1.24	0.76	0.89
An orange cauliflower		1.32	1.65	0.85	1.69
New Potatoes	1kg	1.47	1.16	1.73	3.38
small Butternut squash		0.97 (not organic)	1.80	1.80	1.99
Red lettuce	Each	1.00	1.20	1.50	1.40
Red Pepper	Each	0.93	0.88	0.93	1.90
small aubergine	210g	0.75 (not organic)	0.90 (not organic)	1.35	1.00 (not organic)
Tomatoes	600g	1.80	1.75	2.00	1.37
Broad Beans	600g	n/a sub French beans 1.27	1.50 (not organic)	n/a sub French beans 1.50	1.99 (not organic)
Onions	400g	0.97	0.50	1.00	0.60
TOTAL 18.50 Number of N/O items		15.14p -3.36 2	16.68 -1.82 2	16.91 -1.59 1	19.78 +1.28 2

CONCLUSIONS: This week's box held its own although veered towards being a slightly more epensive option, especially when considering the extra £0.99 delivery charge and the fact that two of the items were much smaller than their supermarket counterparts. However, the supermarkets failed to deliver the excitement of orange cauliflower or in most cases, the lovely lesser known Calvo Nero. So on choice the Abel and Cole box wins handsdown this week but on cost effectiveness I'm afraid it was a little disappointing. You could have eaten just as well this week for cheaper but it wouldn't have been as much fun.

How to get 75% cheaper Lattes and indulge your visitors.

I'm a complete coffee addict. Not in that I drink a lot of coffee - I probably drink 2-3 cups of it a day - but in that I have to have my daily latte fix and that I get quite jittery if I don't have access to coffee house. Living in London you're never further away than 6ft away from a rat or a multi-national coffee chain so it would seem. I live in a 'London Village' which has a high-street of about 200 shops and has a Nero, a Costa and a Starbucks as well as around 10 independent cafes. This is my 'nearest' high-street because it is five minutes closer than the high-streets of another 3 'villages' that surround us; all boasting a similar selection of coffee house options.

So as you can imagine, family holidays always prompted one key question - "Will I be able to get a latte?" Much to my mother's 'patient' amusement, this coffee-house anxiety is quite a thing. When in the depths of beautiful, rural countryside, I have been known to become quite unreasonable in my demands to find the homogenised familiarity of a COSTA. I can go about four days before the 'homesickness' hits.

Much to my relief, and lots of other people's protests, the rise of the multi-national coffee chain has spread it's evil wings across the country, aggressively pitching up in 'quaint' Cotswold towns and seaside harbour villages.

However, there is more than an ethical, political cost to this coffee-house culture, and that's a hit on the wallet. My obsession started five years ago when I was on maternity leave. A trip to the coffee shop was a convenient six minute walk away - just long enough to send the baby to sleep - it was warm and most importantly it was tidy. I also started writing seriously at this time and for some reason there is an affinity with a coffee shop and writing - mainly because the wash basket and the hoover are in an entirely different geographical location. It seemed to be a cheap entertainment until I suddenly added up all those £7.00 coffee house trips over the course of the week. Before I knew it I was placing nearly £50.00 a week into the till of those coffee giants. (£200 a month - on coffee!!! Well not just coffee, but the requisite toasted pannini and cheesecake too!)

Then my husband got given a Dolce Gusto Coffee maker from his then work. We'd had a coffee maker  way back in the naughties when the first pod-capsules came out. It was crap. The water was never hot enough and the faff and the mess was unbearable. In the end it became a very trendy kitchen ornament.


However, never one to dismiss a freebie we gave it a whirl and geronimo - proper coffee in less than a minute! No walk down to town, no £200 price tag a month, no extra naughty cheesecake temptations and the upside of coffee on tap!!

Of course it means drinking coffee in your own home (mine's now much tidier as I can't bear to sit in mess) and you also end up drinking more lattes then you'd buy which negates some of the savings. But at 75% per coffee cheaper, you'd have to get through a lot of coffee to make it quits.

TOP MONEY SAVING TIP. 
Currently a box of Dulce Gusto Lattes are around £3.75 for a box of 8 lattes (you get 16 capsules in a box 8 coffee/8 milks) This works out at around £0.47p a latte. However these do have the powdered milk which for a complete purist does make the latte taste a little off kilter. The solution to this is to buy the box of Espresso capsules. £3.75 a box for  16 capsules (all of which are coffee based) and then heat skimmed milk in the microwave. Transfer heated milk to latte glass and then place under the machine. Add your shot of espresso to it.
Not only does it taste much better (i.e. like the coffee shop) but you are getting a latte for around £0.37 (including your milk costs)


DULCE GUSTO LATTE £0.47p a latte
DULCE GUSTO ESPRESSO + own milk £0.37p a latte
COSTA 12oz regular LATTE £2.05
NERO 6oz regular LATTE £1.55 (3.10 equivalent 12oz)
STARBUCKS 120z regular LATTE £2.05

SAVING PER LATTE = £1.68 (75%)

TO VEG BOX OR NOT TO VEG BOX...

About five years ago, at the very beginning of the trend, we ordered our first organic home delivered veg-box. We have always been massive advocates of the idea, knowing that we eat better and more healthily when we have the box.

THIS WEEK"S VEG BOX

However it's not always been an easy ride. We've dropped out of the scheme on several occasions due to a feeling that it's not always the best value for money. Especially in times of tightening budgets, the veg-box sometimes didn't feel that it was packing its punch, especially when we have a fabulous Farmers' Market in Twickenham.
Several weeks ago, Abel and Cole rang me up, tempting me to get back on board. With the promise of a free bottle of wine and a cook-book how could I refuse. So we have been getting the box for the last four weeks now and I have to say it's reminded me about all the wonderful things about the scheme.

PROS:

• Excitement about having a 'surprise' parcel on a Thursday full of lovely food
• Forces creativity in the kitchen
• Makes you more aware of waste and how to avoid it
• Eat far more veg
• Ease - I don't drive and it saves lugging heavy veg from town
• Home Delivery - Can avoid the supermarket and all the impulse purchases that go with it. 
• Ethical approach - organic and low travel miles means we're doing a little bit for the environment. 
• Fair Deal for the farmers. 
• You can spoil your surprise and check your box contents - listing your preferences so you don't end up with veg you hate. (We don't bother b/c there isn't anything we don't like)

CONS:

• Expensive - well this is my perception. I'm going to conduct some more thorough research into this.
• Messy - A lot of the veg is muddier *gasp/horror* 
• Storing the empty boxes. Despite collapsing down, I seem to have a box issue (this is probably just me)
• Seasonality - You're dependent on the whim of the harvest / weather and this seems to impact greatly on the contents of the box meaning for several weeks at a time the box doesn't really contain 'enough' to feed as many as it should - it's difficult to provide meals from the veg provided and yet it's the same cost. This is especially the case in early summer. 

We order the family (4+) box at £18.50. Since returning to the scheme we have been happy, although there are still some bug bears. One week we only got 2 courgettes, another 2 sweetcorn and this week we have only been given 2 flat mushrooms. If the box is meant to be for a family of 4, some very nasty squabbles could erupt when there are only 2 of an item! I mean if I want to stuff those mushrooms - what are the other two members of our family meant to do as we are tucking into them?

It's also a little strange that one week we got 2x red peppers to count as one of our veg and this week we have got only 1. So as you can see the boxes can be a little erratic.

PRICE COMPARISON

ITEM	WEIGHT	ASDA	TESCO	SAINSBURYS	WAITROSE OCADO
Broccoli	600g	2.40	2.80	1.99	2.38
Cucumber	each	1.25	1.25	1.25	1.30
Carrots	500g	0.67	1.24	0.76	0.89
Leeks	700g	2.34	3.29	3.50	3.49
New Potatoes	1kg	1.47	1.16	1.73	3.38
Flat mushrooms	175g	n/a 0.70	1.00	1.11	0.85
Red lettuce	Each	1.00	1.20	1.50	1.40
Red Pepper	Each	0.93	0.88	0.93	1.90
Savoy Cabbage	Each	1.27	1.30	1.40	1.19
Tomatoes	600g	1.80	1.75	2.00	1.37
Turnips	600g	n/a 0.74	n/a 1.50	n/a 1.20	1.15
Onions	400g	0.97	0.50	1.00	0.60
TOTAL 18.50		15.54 -2.96	18.47 -0.03	18.37 -0.13	19.90 +1.40

Expect to see this table once a week for the next three months and then we can come to some evidenced conclusions about the value of the box scheme.

If you are a box scheme member and have any comments about your own experiences then please post a comment.