Book Review: Destitute Gourmet Cookbooks

Recipes for Home Cooks Looking for Good Food on a Budget

Aug 10, 2008

When her household income dropped, Sophie Gray found that it was a challenge to provide interesting, healthy and enjoyable meals for a family of four on a limited budget.

With a background in restaurant cooking and a desire to continue eating the tasty, stylish meals she enjoyed despite her budget restrictions, Sophie rose to the challenge and created tasty, healthy meals using inexpensive ingredients.

Once Sophie began preparing meals for her own family, she discovered that others were interested in learning her cooking and food budgeting tips. The destitute gourmet was born aiming to provide commonsense recipes and a “comprehensive cooking resource for ordinary people with regular incomes, fussy kids and busy lives, who love good food”.

Sophie held cooking workshops and discovered that many home cooks had become too dependant on expensive, pre-prepared sauces and ingredients. A revival of basic home cooking skills was needed to get home grocery budgets back on track.

destitute gourmet – Stunning Food from Small Change

Sophie’s first cookbook, destitute gourmet – Stunning food from Small Change (Random House, 2000), assists cooks looking to save money on meals with a return to kitchen basics.

The first section of the book discusses basic grocery shopping tips for stocking a pantry with inexpensive useful ingredients. Sophie offers a sample grocery list, sample weekly meal plan and offers advice on which ingredients and food items should be considered luxury items.

The cookbook offers a diverse collection of recipes covering meat and vegetarian meals, side-dishes, desserts and snacks. Chapters include:

Baking Basics includes basic cupcakes, biscuits and all-purpose batter for pancakes, muffins, waffles and scones. There are basic pastry recipes for flaky and shortcrust pastry and a delicious easy-mix rich chocolate cake.

Just Kidding offers meal ideas for fussy young eaters such as home-made chicken nuggets, fish fingers and pizza.

The Desperation Dining page offers meal suggestions for “conjuring up something delicious from nothing”. Recipes are suggested for combinations of basic ingredients such as flour and eggs, eggs and milk, rice, eggs and fresh vegetables, and chicken breast.

destitute gourmet – More Stunning Food from Small Change

Sophie’s second cookbook, destitute gourmet – More Stunning Food from Small Change (David Bateman, 2002) builds on the basics and offers a larger selection of snack and finger food recipes.

Covering everything from everyday meals to festive dishes, Sophie Gray has once again put together a collection of recipes that can be prepared at home with common ingredients. Chapters include:

Breads includes recipes for bread rolls, pita bread, naan bread, ciabatta, croissants, bagels, focaccia and garlic bread.

Homemade offers tips for making commonly used ingredients including condensed milk, butter milk, crème fraiche, drinking chocolate, mascarpone, yogurt and oven-dried tomatoes.

Fun Stuff for Kids has recipes for play dough, finger paint and other craft materials as well as fun recipes for kids to make.

Home Cooking on a Budget

Both destitute gourmet cookbooks include budgeting and grocery tips through the book and particularly economical recipes are highlighted. Recipes are tasty and appealing with easy to follow step-by-step instructions. The cookbooks are available from booksellers or the destitute gourmet website , which also has a variety of budgeting and grocery tips.

For families looking to reduce their grocery bill but maintain a diet of healthy, appetising meals, Sophie Gray’s cookbooks offer a range of suggestions to suit every taste. Sophie is based in New Zealand, and as a result the books are particularly suited to Australian and New Zealand palates and ingredients.

The copyright of the article Book Review: Destitute Gourmet Cookbooks in Home Decor/Cookbooks is owned by Susan Whelan. Permission to republish Book Review: Destitute Gourmet Cookbooks in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.