jamies money saving meals

[mark111757 Profile]

was i the only one who was more than a little surprised that the chicken he used for his mothership sunday/lunch was 9 quid? that is around $14 US......we have something similar in the store i work at, organic and free range is $3.50 a pound, around a 4 pound weight average.....the regular/standard is 99 cents a pound.....I asked one of the meat guys and he said for a sunday roast/lunch, would you be better off getting the inexpensive one......tho he said that the meat on the free range is more tender but that you really need to give the chix alot of love and attention when you are cooking it.....with my budget, i will stay with the inexpensive one.....

[Happy Violas Profile]

I didn't see the programme but I would always buy free range or equivalent chicken which is invariably quite a bit more expensive than the 'value' ones. I'll buy a large bird and that'll stretch to several meals so well worth the extra cost as far as I'm concerned. I'm veggie so don't eat it but my carnivorous family says the meat is far superior re taste and texture

[jeral Profile]

Hmm. The short answer is that chefs whether TV or not will always promote the very best, even for budget meals.

The reality for a lot of people is that Jamie's budget dishes are not cheap, since only main dish (no starter, bread, drink or pud) and can be misleading, for example when a portion is shown and yet we see his crew piling their plate with like three times or more than his costed portion.

He relies heavily on "cheaper than", i.e. takeaway meals or some microwave ready meals and always said his programme was also to counter people who buy lots of food then throw it away - which of course truly budget people would never be able to do - only those with more money than sense as shown in his programmes. So by extension, "you can afford the best chicken if you stop wasting money/stuff".

As to chickens themselves, UK welfare standards for birds reared here are higher than EU minimums and people shouldn't feel bad if they buy those. With free range, what does it mean? Many arguments about what "really" constitutes free range versus what is allowed to be labelled that - by no means as clear cut as one might think. Organic (£ eye-watering) - pass or we'll be here all day.

In blind taste tests, cheap birds (cooked identically) have won, although there's an argument that that is what people are used to expecting so "normal" will/could subjectively taste better than "different".

I don't eat meat though I wonder how anyone can tell the difference once herb stuffings, spicy skin rubs, curry powder, etc have been added.

I'm a fan of Jamie's ideas and food recipes incidentally - have been for ages - nothing wrong with those IMO.