Aside from the budget angle and the shaky grasp of the concept of "meatless," another aspect of Loyta Wooding's Smart Shopper's Cookbook I liked was the surprise twists on classics. When I saw Texas-Style Chili in the cookbook, my immediate thought was that I'd use a different chili style for a budget cookbook. Texas chili has no beans, and beans are way cheaper than meat, so beany versions just seem more practical. Then I looked at the ingredients and saw that this version lists pinto beans, so a bunch of angry imaginary Texans started protesting in my mind. But then I saw the directions.
The pinto beans are served on the side to make the chili stretch without actually turning it into a non-Texas chili. Would actual Texans approve of the workaround? I'm not sure, but I like the ingenuity.
I was only slightly surprised to see a variation of a "Meat-zza"-- a version of pizza made with ground beef as the "crust." I've certainly seen it before, but it's often marketed to dieters as being low-carb. The carbs are cheap, so why ditch them here? This isn't a diet book-- It's a budget book. Well...
The carbs are still here. They're just spaghetti. And the spaghetti is a side this time. (Also of interest: This version gives the ground meat "crust" an Italian sausage topping. The meat crusts are rarely topped with more meat, so this is double twist!)
I've also seen my share of mock drumsticks: ground beef shaped on a skewer to resemble a chicken leg. I was a little shocked to discover that this budget version uses an edible "bone" instead of the skewer.
The hot dogs might cost a bit more than skewers, but they are also 100% more edible, so I guess that's an instance of making sure your food dollars actually go toward food!
Not sure whether all these variations of old standbys will outrage Texans, tempt dieters who wish desperately for spaghetti, or make anyone wish they could swap out real bones for hot dogs, but I'm glad to know that somebody dreamed these things up.
I thought that pretzel rods would be used in the surprise drumsticks because they would at least have a firm structure before they were cooked. The hot dogs would work better, but it seems like these would be harder to handle.
ReplyDeleteYes-- they would be the bendiest bones ever.
DeleteYeah, I have to agree that boiling meat for that long in plain water does not sound like a recipe for deliciousness.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the recipes should have counted as budget back then either, as sooooo many of my '70s cookbooks complain about the price of meat. It wasn't too cheap back then either, so I don't see how doubling down on it would have saved money.
I hope I find one of those in the wild someday! Meanwhile, I'm downloading them for my Kindle.
ReplyDelete