Cheap Feasts Food & Drink

How we eat and drink today reflects how we live.

And, these days, saving money is a priority.

But the good news is that cheap eats can still be packed full of flavour.

We're here to show you that, whatever your budget,

fantastic tasty food and drink is never out of reach.

Michelin-starred pub landlord Tom Kerridge

knows what he's talking about

when it comes to creating delicious food on a shoestring.

This whole meal probably cost about £2 a head in total.

Our drinks expert, Kate Goodman,

shares her secrets for bagging a bargain when buying wine.

Spain is a great place to look for good value for money.

And restaurateur Tony Kitous champions an often overlooked

ingredient that could save you a fortune on your shopping bill.

Eating well does not have to come at a price.

And I make a foolproof but delicious inexpensive dessert.

Welcome to a budget-busting Food And Drink.

We've all noticed the cost of food is going up.

In fact, our shopping bills have risen by almost a third

in the last five years.

But it is possible to eat well

and spend less without cutting back on taste.

It's all about getting cleverer in the kitchen

to get the most for our money.

Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge knows how to do just that.

Whilst his mum was at work, Tom helped out cooking for himself

and his brother.

He may have mastered the art of fine dining, but his heart

is very much still in creating delicious dishes we can all afford.

-So, what are we cooking, Tom?

-OK, breast of lamb. Cheap cuts.

The breast of lamb is such a wonderful piece of meat,

full of flavour, loads of fat content through it gives it that

wonderful lamby kind of kick to it.

This is a deliciously simple dish.

Pairing our succulent lamb with some smooth buttery mash

and al dente broccoli stalks

all dressed with a zesty, tangy salsa verde.

What do you want me to do?

I'd like you to chop two banana shallots with skin on.

The skin gives it that bitter onion flavour.

Then get them sweating down and a nice little caramelisation

going on in the pan. Shallots have got that wonderful sweetness

and hopefully that will come all the way through in the lamb.

This is going to be the base to the sauce and the braising.

While the shallots fry in oil, season the scored lamb with salt

and pepper to add taste and texture.

Adding mushrooms to the sauce will give it body.

How much did you pay for that?

Depending on season, anywhere between £2.80

and £3.50 per kilo which, that's about a kilo piece there,

so you're going to get four portions out of that.

-It's going to work out as very cheap.

-My portions or your portions?

Four portions your portions, two of mine.

-A bit of red wine in there?

-That would be fantastic.

For the perfect accompaniment to lamb,

add some finely chopped rosemary.

A little bit goes a long way with rosemary.

It is one of those big, powerful flavours.

But, again, it is one of those beautiful hard herbs

that work really well with slow-cooking.

You could put a bit of garlic in there and make it French.

Yeah, you could, yeah. Give it a good rub. Straightaway, the oils

will start to come out the rosemary and start to impart into the lamb.

With the wine reduced, add some chicken stock and bring to the boil.

You want enough to almost cover the lamb.

Almost cover the lamb, but I'm not worried too much

because we're going to put a lid on it.

That steaming and braising process is a lovely way of cooking,

especially a piece of meat like this.

I'm just going to roll this lamb up as if you're making Swiss roll.

Just gently roll it up like that.

This whole meal probably costs about £2 a head in total

so it is dead cheap.

-Great job there, chef.

-Thank you.

I've been tying my shoelaces since I was about 26, so it is all right.

Once tied, sear the lamb in hot oil to add flavour.

Get a nice sizzle going in the pan.

That lovely sound when you know it is cooking.

I always say cooking, you know, it's not just about taste and visuals,

it is using all your senses, and that includes hearing, listening.

Absolutely.

If you put it in now without searing it up, it would still taste good.

But the difference between something that tastes good

and something that tastes great is that little bit of time,

care and effort that, as chefs, we know you have to put in.

I grew up in a single-parent family, so money was always tight.

A casserole or a slow-braised stew I always remember my mum doing

and it was absolutely wonderful.

My mum was a very, very good cook, and that understanding of trying

to get the most out of cheaper flavours.

I always remember my mum and my grandma cooking similar cuts

and a pot very often bubbling away in the kitchen

and it is those kind of food memories

that make me salivate immediately.

I think we've kind of lost touch with eating food like that

in this country these days.

So much of it is so mass-produced, and supermarkets can produce

food very, very cheaply,

so that brings that kind of understanding of food right down

so you get a pork chop very cheaply as opposed to getting

loads of beautiful bits of the offcuts of it

and making really good sausages or really fantastic faggots.

With the lamb browned off, transfer into the wine-enriched sauce

for its final stage of cooking.

Just going to stick them in there.

Slow-cooking this dish will not only give these wonderful flavours

plenty of time to mingle, but it will also break down the lamb

until it is lovely and tender.

Pop the lid on.

Stick it into the oven on a slow braising temperature,

about 140 degrees, for about three hours.

A good bottle of wine can transform an OK meal into something amazing.

But, along with our food, the price of drink is steadily rising.

So, how do we make sure we get the best value for money

when we're shopping for wine?

Our drinks expert, Kate, is here to tell us more.

The price on a bottle helps most of us decide

whether it stays on the shelf or goes in the basket.

Here are my three tips on getting the best value for your money.

If you want a wine that represents great value for money,

it is worth thinking about how the cost of that bottle is made up.

That's because UK duty is currently fixed at two pounds a bottle,

no matter what the cost of the wine.

VAT is on top of that so, in a £5 bottle,

almost 60% of the money you pay is duty and tax.

Add margins and transport

and that is about another 30% of the bottle cost.

That leaves the actual value of the wine at just over 10%.

If you compare that to a £10 bottle,

you'll see the value of the wine itself jumps considerably

so, the more you spend on a bottle,

the more you spend on the wine itself.

Cheap doesn't always represent value for money.

Try not to get sucked in by huge discounts or special offers.

Some wines in supermarkets can spend several months of the year

at cut prices, making it difficult for us to know

the true value of the wine.

But it is not always the case of you get what you pay for.

There ARE bargains out there.

Wines from lesser-known countries and regions offer brilliant

alternatives to the more pricey and predictable choices.

For example, Pinot Noir is a tricky grape to grow and can be expensive,

but you can find juicy Romanian Pinot for around the £5-£7 mark.

Kate, when you've got an economy bottle of wine,

is there a way of jazzing it up, getting the best out of it?

I think it is great to decant the wine.

I really think it helps open up the flavours.

It gets the air to it, brings them to life, softens them out a bit

and they are just a completely different beast.

And you don't need a decanter, you can just use a jug.

-That lamb is lovely and tender.

-That smells divine!

A salsa verde will cut through the richness of the lamb.

Simply chop celery leaves, parsley, tarragon,

some mint, capers and, for a bit of zing, some red chilli.

I know the French taste isn't always about it being too spicy

so if you want a mild one, it's fine.

That's where I'm British, you see, I like chilli.

Good man. I love that, I love that.

And then a little bit of salted anchovies.

The salted anchovies, for me, are kind of the key to this dressing.

It's that wonderful, pungent, salty flavour that goes really,

-really well with the lamb.

-Tom, that smells and looks awesome, so...

It's going to be lovely.

Just going to put a little layer of tinfoil over the top.

Just leave it to rest for a few minutes whilst we're finishing

everything else.

Veg offcuts like these broccoli stalks are often overlooked,

but they are a perfect, cheap,

surprisingly tasty accompaniment to our cost-cutting dish.

The heads of broccoli, you cook them all for Sunday lunch,

-you're left with the stalks, don't put them in the bin.

-No!

We're going to cook them, that's what we're going to do.

Trim them all out and get rid of the woody element of it.

They contain so much flavour.

It tastes of broccoli, but it's got much more of a kind of crunchy texture to it

rather than it being nice and soft.

Make sure you keep as much of that lovely green

and the little bits of leaves on it as possible.

Melt some butter in the pan with a splash of water

and a pinch of salt.

Then cook the stocks for ten minutes until tender.

All that chopping you did at the beginning and all that flavour now.

-Smell it. It smells fantastic, doesn't it?

-It does.

-Look at that. How lovely is that?

-Strain this lovely gravy.

Some mashed potato here, chef. A little bit of your gravy.

-That is awesome. The colours are wonderful.

-Lovely.

And that chilli really does bring it out.

Tom's slow-cooked breast of lamb pairs perfectly with

the crisp, flavoursome broccoli stalks,

smooth mash and rich gravy,

all topped off with the tangy, sharp salsa verde.

As good a meat and two veg as you will ever see

without breaking the bank.

-Come on, then, guys, you want to get in and taste this.

-Look at that.

-It doesn't look like a budget meal, Tom. It looks brilliant.

-Thank you.

-And not very expensive to put together at all.

-Yeah, exactly.

And it should be that complete beautiful balance,

and the saltiness of the anchovies, that's going to be the key.

Tom, you don't need to sell it. It looks and smells mega.

Rosemary, can you taste the rosemary coming through?

Little bit of crunch on the broccoli stalk. Beautiful.

It's that acidity, I just love it.

And it works so well with the richness of the lamb.

A lot of people say breast of lamb has quite a high fat content

but, you've got to remember,

in these slow-cooked dishes, a lot of that fat actually cooks away,

but it does add to the richness of the dish.

-Come on, Tom, have a little taste.

-Thought you'd never ask, chef.

Try the mash.

I know you should never say how good your own cooking is, but...

-But you're good.

-That ain't bad, that.

OK, so it is onto the wine, guys.

We're talking inexpensive, good value wines today

and I think Spain is a great place to look for good value for money.

A lot of us associate Rioja with Spain

but, actually, there's lots more to Spain,

so I've picked wines from different regions, perhaps a bit lesser-known.

So, wine number one is Minarete from the Ribera del Duero.

It's from northern Spain, just a bit further down from Rioja.

This is under £6, so it is £5.50.

This is made with 100% tempranillo, that's the grape.

It is known locally here as Tinta del Pais.

-It smells great, doesn't it? That's got a fantastic, big, pungent...

-A good, big nose, good.

But the key with this, because there's quite a lot of acidity in

the dish, Tom, I needed something as well that still had some freshness.

-It's quite plummy. Mulberry.

-The nose is really powerful, really big

but, actually, the flavour is a lot more subtle than the smell.

It tastes fantastic and huge value for money, that is.

Really velvety smooth, isn't it?

I think it's been vastly improved from pouring it into a jug.

-Yeah, definitely helps.

-It smoothes out the edges. It's lovely.

OK, so this is your next one.

So this is from further south, right down in Jumilla, in southern Spain.

The wine is called Pasico.

It is a blend of two grapes, Monastrell and Shiraz.

This has a lovely freshness still, again,

that's what's really important with these wines.

The first wine is very big and strong

-and this one has got a beautiful elegance to it.

-More refined, yeah.

-Yeah. How much more for a bottle is it?

-So this is, not much, it's 5.99.

So, only 50p more. So, we're not talking a huge amount.

Still under six quid. The next one is a bit further north.

It is Vina Zorzal, and this is Graciano.

You may have had Graciano before. It's often in blends in Rioja.

Graciano has really great acidity so, again,

fantastic with this tanginess in your dressing, Tom.

-This is a little bit more expensive. It's £6.75-ish.

-It's very floral.

It is. Exactly. That is the big difference between this and the others.

It's much more perfume, much more floral.

It is very, very good, I must say.

For me, as soon as you put the nose in, it is more Rioja.

Great food wine.

Maybe not drinking sat out on the patio or whatever

-but a very good food wine.

-And dry.

-Dry, yeah.

The tannin levels are a bit higher in this.

That's clearly my favourite. I know it's about £1, £1.50 more.

-That goes with the lamb so well for me.

-I think you're right.

I think it works really well.

It's got that freshness, but still enough power. It's got spice.

Just quite a lot going on, really,

so I think it is the best one for the dish.

Is very, very good, I must say.

-What a bargain dinner this is!

-Yeah.

I think this dish proves it's possible to eat like a king,

on a budget, if you plan ahead.

But writer Arabella Weir reckons good,

healthy food is simply out of reach when money is tight.

Now, I'm NOT poor and although I am a little bit fat,

I can afford to choose not to be.

I can afford a healthy, balanced diet in whatever form I desire.

But it's another story for those strapped for cash.

Not the, "Oh, dear, I can't afford fresh samphire this month,"

type of strapped, but the half a million people forced to

rely on handouts from food banks.

The really broke don't have options.

We all know that fruit and veg are healthier, but if you're hungry

and your last 30p will buy you a whole packet of biscuits,

or one single apple,

which would you choose?

And don't even get me started on the "it's got to be organic"

farmers' market brigade,

who bang on about how much cheaper it is

to cook your own food than buy ready-made.

'You can get a family-sized frozen lasagne for £3!'

Nutritionally iffy, loaded with...

HORSE WHINNIES

..salt but, hey presto, that's dinner sorted,

a bit of first-class protein thrown in and nobody goes to bed hungry.

So, come on, you pretentious foodies, stop lecturing

people with less cash than you about what THEY should be eating.

I believe it is IMPOSSIBLE to eat well if you're poor.

There is a big issue here. A cost issue.

And that is the cost of fresh produce versus processed food.

If you're a time-poor and low-income person and you're offered

a large lasagne to feed a family of four, that's it, that's supper.

But you're actually eating crap.

If you are buying cheap, you have to question where it's from,

how it's reared, why it's so cheap.

All of us, whatever your budget, are guilty of not eating healthily.

If you're a single parent, I guarantee as one,

that the first thing you'll be thinking is,

"I can't have people hungry."

I mean, I was brought up by Scots and you only have to have had

porridge once in your life to know that that's, you know...

eating's not about pleasure, it's about staying alive.

Porridge'll keep you going until lunchtime or further.

-SCOTS ACCENT:

-Cos you don't need any nice food,

you just need something to fill your belly.

My mum cooked everything from scratch.

Didn't have loads of money, but she really instilled that in me.

But there wasn't all of these aisles full of all of these

bright-coloured things that are easy to buy and quick to cook,

so it's different.

Eating well can be one thing for one person

and completely different for another.

It might just be that feeling of feeling full.

You can feel full with a packet of biscuits that cost 30p,

whereas if you eat that apple, like you quite poignantly showed,

that apple cost 30p, it's not going to fill me up.

But the use of ingredients is massive.

The idea of making your own pies, or the idea of just anything like that.

-Sausages and...

-You say, "Making your own pie."

I'm thinking, "Oh, God. No, the time. I can't. Please!

"Rolling out the pastry..."

When you're exhausted and you get home thinking,

"What on earth am I going to eat?" That's the challenge.

The broccoli stalks - I would never think about using them.

I just don't know that.

I think if you have those resources available, it's much easier.

Cheap cuts of meat,

they take time and THAT'S the problem in people's lives.

-It's not income. You can buy pulses, rice, lentils.

-OK.

Indian cuisine, which is,

come on, known as one of the poorest countries around. Fantastic food.

-True. A red lentil.

-Slow-cooked and red lentils, beautiful.

You know, very filling, a fantastic pulse to use.

-Have you ever fed children lentils?

-Er, no...

-Good luck.

You can deep-fry a lentil and you might be halfway there.

I mean, I think you've got no chance.

60p for a bag of lentils, four of us, no problem. Eurgh! Eurgh!

Not a chance. But having the mental capacity and the space to go,

"This week I will do six meals.

"Two of them will come out of that new potato bag."

Just having to think about three days in advance

makes me want to go to bed.

THEY CHUCKLE

What do you think?

Join in the discussion online at...

..at the end of the show.

Where you'll also find all this episode's recipes

and drinks details.

Cheap ingredients often just need a bit of good PR to sound attractive.

Cheap doesn't particularly sound tasty, does it?

Restaurateur Tony Kitous

is a devotee of one ingredient that's tasty,

versatile and fantastic value for money.

If you want good food, you've got to pay for it.

Or at least that's what we are all led to believe.

But, actually, eating well does not have to come at a price.

But as anybody from North Africa,

the Middle East and India will tell you,

flavoursome, healthy and cheap meals are ten a penny.

And the ingredient that's at the heart of many of those

cost-cutting dishes is the humble chickpea.

If you are on a budget,

I would definitely recommend dried chickpeas.

They are cheap to buy

and once you soak them overnight, it gives you double the amount.

Cheap they might be, but beige, bland and boring, believe me,

they are not!

And they are good for you too.

They are high in fibre, a great sauce of protein,

they even reduce cholesterol.

It's not just the health benefit or their value for money that's made

them the staple of choice of so many nationalities around the world.

Despite being cheap, chickpeas taste great

and you can make all kinds of meals with them.

Falafel is one of the most popular chickpea dishes out there.

Even for breakfast.

People get surprised that we have chickpeas for breakfast.

I LOVE chickpeas for breakfast.

1.5kg of chickpeas, you can make about 150 pieces of falafel.

This is HUGE value for money.

You can feed a whole family for three days.

Even on their own with a few key flavourings,

chickpeas are delicious.

This particular dish is a very simple dish.

Boiled chickpeas, a little bit of lemon juice,

a little bit of garlic, a little bit of cumin, salt.

And this smells just amazing.

I just can't wait to eat it.

And we'll top it up with a dip made of tahini and yoghurt.

Not only chickpea can make so many dishes with.

You can even use chickpeas for puddings.

Chickpea milk pudding is probably the equivalent to the

panna cotta the Italians have.

Ground-down chickpeas or gram flour

forms the basis of this delicious dessert.

It's a very cheap dish to make and, depending on the personal

flavours and tastes, you can have it with either cinnamon,

or either orange-blossom water or rosewater.

You can see the mixture is thickening up and the flavours of

the nuttiness of the chickpeas and the cinnamon is coming out.

So, don't underestimate the not-so-humble chickpea.

Not only are they incredibly cheap,

they are also surprisingly versatile.

Packed full of nutrition and fabulously flavoursome,

for me this ingredient is an integral part

of some of the tastiest food you can eat.

Underrated by some, I think it is time

we all wake up to just how good chickpeas actually are.

I'll let you into a little secret.

One of the most impressive desserts you can serve to your friends

and family is actually a really cheap treat.

This apple and blackberry souffle is fantastic value for money

and will set you back less than £2 a serving.

A delicate dish that's light on your stomach

and even lighter on your wallet, a souffle is guaranteed to impress.

What you need first of all is a creme patissiere.

It's a custard, a French custard, thickened with flour.

Heat up some milk, sugar and vanilla in a pan

while separately whisking up four

egg yolks with some caster sugar.

Then add the flour.

And mix that in.

So far, so good up until this point.

Souffles tend to scare people.

They think, "Oh, my word, I can't do this. It's too complicated."

But everybody enjoys eating a souffle.

Once the milk starts to boil, remove it from the heat

and slowly whisk it into the other ingredients.

At this stage, we can remove the vanilla pod.

This goes back into the pan.

And back on the heat to boil.

And you must carry on mixing, otherwise it will stick and burn.

I'm making a thick custard that's going to bind the souffle

and hold the souffle together.

I'll put the creme patissiere in a bowl and leave that to cool.

Using unsalted butter, coat your dishes thoroughly.

Then add a dusting of sugar to help the souffles rise evenly.

So, next step is really to assemble.

Bramley apples, for me, are the best -

lovely and sharp and great, great flavour of pure apple.

Stew them down, blitz them up to a fine puree.

Add the compote to the creme patissiere and whisk.

And that's important that it must be really, really smooth. No lumps.

We're ready there.

Now...

the egg whites.

First, whisk the egg whites to a thick foam.

Then add caster sugar and continue to whisk until you get soft peaks.

There we go. Lovely. But you need to move swiftly now.

Mix a third of the egg white into the creme patissiere mixture.

If you don't mix quickly then the egg whites will collapse -

that means your souffle won't rise.

You've got to mix well, especially at the very beginning.

Now, the next part, you have to be a little bit more delicate.

Gently fold in the remaining egg whites

until they've been evenly incorporated throughout the mixture.

When mixed, add one spoonful to the base of each souffle mould.

As a little surprise, I'm adding a ginger biscuit

soaked in alcohol to really get those taste buds going.

Any kind of booze. Just a little, little drop.

Then fill each mould and remember to knock out any air bubbles.

Straight into the oven.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade and serve

with a delicious sauce made of stewed, pureed blackberries.

Right, guys, souffle time.

-Wow!

-Woo-hoo!

-Oh, hello.

A little bit of icing sugar. Come on, Kate,

-come and grab one.

-All righty.

You can see already that they're really lovely and light and fluffy.

I'll just do the two.

TOM CHUCKLES

-Thank you.

-There you are.

-Cheers, mate.

No worries.

-Make a little hole in there.

-A little hole.

And a bit of blackberry coulis. Look at that.

Wow! Look at that!

Ooh...

I'm going to get straight in there, before they start to collapse.

Dive in.

-Ooh-hoo.

-Mmm. Wow.

-Mmm...

Ooh-hoo.

Good?

-Amazing.

-Very good, chef.

-And so light.

-That is good.

Now, if you dig deep...

-You find some treasure.

-Mm.

-Oh, yeah.

KATE CHUCKLES

Any ginger?

A little ginger nut biscuit.

That's a nice little present to get at the end, innit?

-Mmm...

-THEY CHUCKLE

So, come on, get some of your wine.

This is Il Cascinone, moscato passito.

So, it's from Piedmont in northwest Italy.

The grape is moscato and "passito" is referring to the fact that

it's made from dried grapes.

Sweet wines can be quite expensive,

but this is a Billy bargain.

It's in-between £7 and £8.

You only need a half bottle.

That would do at least six to eight, just a small glass to go with it.

It's not too heavy, it's nice and light and fresh,

so it's perfect for the flavours here.

There's a little bit of spice to it.

-It goes very well with that ginger biscuit.

-Nice.

It's just got enough sweetness to match this souffle. Beautiful.

It feels quite luxurious to me

and I can't believe you can make it inexpensively.

Absolutely. I mean, it is very, very economical.

It's cheaper than your wine, Kate.

You're joking. You see, I thought I'd really nailed it with that.

But no! You have to go one better, don't you?

Oh, yeah.

I'm passionate about great quality

and that doesn't mean luxurious or expensive ingredients.

I believe that whatever your budget, fantastic food

and drink is ALWAYS within reach.

Join us next time,

when I'll be teaming up with award-winning chef Richard Corrigan.

Who said, "Too many chefs"?

Oh, dear!

THEY CHUCKLE

We'll be debating the future of family dinner time.

If we don't sit around a dining table, society will crumble?!

And I'll be giving tapas a British twist.