This is a kind of follow on thread from discodowns thread regarding "cheap cuts of meat". Like many, I'm feeling the credit crunch and other factors have occurred that have left me with genuine and considerable financial problems.

Anyway - I'm not a fan of processed food (sausages aside) and stay clear of the BYGOF rubbish, but I have noticed that eating "cheap" and healthy and something that actually is NICE is actually quite difficult. I may be shopping in the wrong places, but I've just bought a slow cook (for my b'day!) and went down to buy a brisket of beef from Waitrose - £5!!! - then you chuck in your veg, garlic, herbs and maybe a bit of wine (nothing too cheap - "if it's not good enougth to drink, it's not good enougth to cook with" - tv chefs are starting to wind me up) and the meal costs around £8.

My point is that many traditional peasants dishes like, say, pot au feau (sp), and even our humble stews etc, are not peasant dishes any more. I'm a fan of offal: has anyone bought tripe recently, it's more expensive than foie gras!Our true peasant dishes are now Bernard Mathews produce (all hail the peasant king) and pasta n' sauce, stuff you see on offer week after week.

So what do you think? Can anyone give me a true peasant dish? And whare can you buy decent quality meat, that is actually cheap.

Thanks (excuse the long thread, I really shouldn't post before my 3rd coffee:rolleyes:)

I buy most of my meat from Doncaster Market and you can always taste the difference. Th best thing is that if you time it right, it's cheap as well. My best buy up to now was 3 joints of pork, a joint of beef, a joint of gammon, 5 chicken breasts, 12 chicken legs, 6 braising steaks and 2 large rump steak all for £20. My freezer is well stocked!

Try to buy foods that are in season. Friut and veg are much cheaper when in season.

As always go to castle market. Its much cheaper than tesco or any other supermarket

As always go to castle market. Its much cheaper than tesco or any other supermarket

I thought about Castle Market. Are there any particular butchers you'd recommend in there?

There is one or two.

As you go in at the bottom left hand corner go along the first aisle to the last stall on the end. We get sausages, burgers, belly pork, ribs and stuff from there. Then just along from there next to the newsagents in the corner unit is a place to get chicken breasts (9 fillets for a fiver) mince and so on. For fruit and veg I always go and see Lee in the top right hand corner, his stall is split between fruit and veg and provisions and stuff so is worth a visit and he sells fresh herbs and more unusual stuff that other stalls don't seem to have.

Best thing to do is go and have a walk round see which stalls take your eye.

Other cheap food (other than meat and fresh stuff etc) - have you tried home bargains? they have good stuff cheap - and job lot (on Barnsley Road - fantastic for real bargains) also the 99p stores in town - the one close to Primark) - good for things that normally cost a lot, like olive oil, hot chili peppers and the list goes on and on - for cheap food; really good.

Yup. Agrrrreeed to those places!
- Home Bargains, Pound shops, Netto - these places are okay for your essentials coffees, tea bags, etc.
Actually, Netto sometimes do very decent chocolates. The one on Queens Road are always full of people!

A lot of the stock that is about to go off can always be found in these kind of places, and if you are willing to use them before their sell by date runs out, then this will save you money. What you have to check is the quality sold. It is rare, but some stocks will be from Europe, and the recipes will differ as well. Depending on what it is that you buy, but you can see the difference in this formula. If you have been part of a global company in the FMCG market, you will notice this difference.

- Castle market for meats, rather than supermarkets.
Prep them and throw some into the freezer. I sometimes marinade my meat for a few hours in the fridge and throw this into the freezer by per meal per bag. All I need then is defrost and cook this bag with other veg and carbo that I need.

- Value brands - You can get a lot of pasta for cheap. It does not mean that you have to buy branded ones. As a lot of pasta are made from basic ingredients, which is not really processed as such. It is just pasta, but dried.

- Make things from scratch?
i.e. pasta, and then freeze it?
Make your own bread? Surely the cost of flour is cheaper than a loaf when the transportation cost is not added on top of it?
Make your own pies?

- Free food/fruits - a lot of people have started to look at their own gardens. Some people are making use of their crab apples, or berries that they find in their own back garden.

- Buy cheaper cuts ?
I use a lot of chicken wings.
Also, what about pork belly? You can roast a pork belly, and if done right, it'll beat a proper roast.

- Buy bulk ?
A M&S Suffork (?) chicken is only a fiver.
When I got this home, I cut it into sections, and was able to put this list of meat together as follow:
- 2 breasts = 2 meals
(e.g. cooked breast, and then a salad? great for lunch.
Or cooked breast, but with a noodle soup and some veg.)

- 2 legs = 2 meals ( cut drum sticks away from the thigh, and then the thigh can be divided into 2 pieces. So 6 pieces altogether. I could throw that into a curry. A stew, or debone it, and into a pie?? It will at least be 2 meals from that.)

- carcass = 1 meal (this can be used as stock. Through this into some water and then through in some carrots and celeries. This makes a classic stock, which then can be used as a soup base for noodle soups, gravy, sauces etc)

- M&S have this value bag for salmon. It's about kg in weight but only cost like 10 pound? Check this out and look to make sure that you pick the ones with the middle cut and not just the left over sides. ;)

A true peasant food? What about a M&S roast chicken? :hihi:
Just a few suggestions.