I am planning what the Beautiful Wife and I eat much more these days. I have become almost manic about not wasting food. I am no theologian but if there is such a thing a "sin" then it is a sin to waste good food. The "Love food, hate waste" guys have been raving about this for ages and celebrity chefs have recently got on board with the adaptation of the Great British Menu where all the ingredients were sourced from food which had been discarded.
I think a change is slowly happening. Years and years ago there used to be an American TV show called "The Frugal Gourmet" - a middle aged chef with a calm voice and a gentle manner would show the audience how banquets could be produced for pennies and high cost ingredients could be substituted for much cheaper alternatives. At the end of every programme he would lay out everything he had cooked and finish with the line, " I bid you peace" ; there was more than a little of the aging hippy about this fellow.
The word "frugal" has come to mean something negative almost miserly in recent times and this is a shame. If people do not view you as a tightfisted individual then they look at you with pity as if you are suffering for some religious cause or can't afford good food. This is idiotic. To be frugal or thrifty with food is to the advantage of us all, just as we should be eating all of the animals we kill for food, we should also not throw out carrots because they're cheap and look a little beyond their best.
This weekend just gone was one where I cooked more than normal. After shopping on Saturday our evening meal was a carved piece of lamb chump over creamed spinach with roasted onion squash, served with a redcurrant jus and a "kinda" salsa verde. This was inspired by what was in my veggie box and "Saturday Kitchen" a week before.
On Sunday I braised a belly of pork in soy sauce and stock with various Asian spices (inspired by a recipe in Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Secrets). This I served with broccoli and carrots on a bed of creamy mash. I removed the skin before I rolled and tied the pork and roasted it to produce the most wonderful crackling.
During Sunday I did all the chopping (giving myself a blister on my finger!!) for another batch of green tomato chutney (see recipe from a few days ago). This time I added some chili, root ginger and garlic. I finished this all last night with the boiling and potting.
The leftovers from my weekend's cooking made the most amazing bubble and squeak which I served wit a little bacon and a poached egg - sometimes being frugal is no hardship at all Saturday and Sunday's meals fed us well on Monday. Now my veg box has arrived, I can plan another week....
