Poor Girl Gourmet: Eat in Style on a Bare Bones Budget [Paperback]

Amy McCoy (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 1, 2010

From the popular blog, Poor Girl Gourmet, this cookbook is a contemporary take of gourmet cooking on a budget.

Love eating well but hate paying a lot? Amy McCoy's cookbook, Poor Girl Gourmet (based on her popular blog of the same name), features decadent and delectable recipes for foodies with limited budgets, but sophisticated tastes.

In Poor Girl Gourmet, McCoy breaks down the costs for each dish while also offering money-saving strategies, including tips for growing and preserving your own food, as well as ideas for quick and delicious family meals. Each recipe serves at least four people, so it's perfect for families on a budget--because eating well while saving money is something that appeals to all of us. McCoy, knowing that a gourmet meal is enhanced by the proper wine, also reviews more than 25 affordable wine varietals and blends, with pairing suggestions for many of the dishes. And there is a chapter of splurges ($15 to $30 per entree for a family of four) for when you're feeling fancy.

Because gourmets, regardless of their budget, appreciate a gorgeous cookbook, Poor Girl Gourmet bucks the pared-down trend in cost-conscious cookbooks, and is illustrated throughout with McCoy's own mouthwatering full-color photography.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

As a successful freelance producer for network and cable television, Amy McCoy once enjoyed gourmet food with little concern for price. Then the recession hit and the freelance work all but disappeared. But in the economic downturn, McCoy found her mission: to eat the best food she and her husband could while spending as little as possible.

To that end, McCoy created her blog, poorgirlgourmet.blogspot.com, where she offers up her insights alongside delicious gourmet recipes that are inexpensive to prepare. McCoy lives on a gentleman's farm in southeastern Massachusetts.

Online:

poorgirlgourmet.blogspot.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Original edition (June 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740789902
• ISBN-13: 978-0740789908
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 0.7 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #442,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As a successful freelance producer for network and cable television, Amy McCoy once enjoyed gourmet food with little concern for price. Then the recession hit and the freelance work all but disappeared. But in the economic downturn, McCoy found her mission: to eat the best food she and her husband could while spending as little as possible.

To that end, McCoy created her blog, poorgirlgourmet.blogspot.com, where she offers up her insights alongside delicious gourmet recipes that are inexpensive to prepare. McCoy lives on a gentleman's farm in southeastern Massachusetts.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST FOR LESS June 11, 2010

By Gail Cooke HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

With a subtitle reading "Eat in style on a bare-bones budget" most will find this cookbook irresistible. After all, who doesn't love to eat and who isn't stretching dollars as far as they can nowadays?

Amy McCoy's description reveals that she once enjoyed gourmet food with no morning after regrets about the price paid. But with the recession things changed for her as it did for the rest of us. Solution? She could not stop loving to eat, but she could find ways to eat well on as little as possible. Thus was born McCoy's blog and POOR GIRL GOURMET, which is chock full of tasty money saving recipes. Each of the recipes serves 4 people, and a chapter on appropriate reasonably priced wines is included.

Don't believe a gourmet meal is possible on a mac `n cheese casserole budget? Here's a for instance: McCoy well remembered an elegant meal she once had in Italy - roasted duck with olives. The inventive lady recreated the dish using chicken legs at an estimated cost of $6.67 to serve four people. She accompanies it with Polenta and Roasted Garlic Collard Greens.

How about Honey Mustard and Cider-Marinated Pork Spareribs at a cost of $5 - $10 (actual price depending upon your local grocer) or Braised Pork Shoulder (the secret is slow cooking), and then with leftovers you can enjoy pulled pork sandwiches with barbecue sauce?

Veggies included are so delectable that even the most finicky youngster will ask for seconds, and yummy Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies (13 cents per cookie) are the best.

With McCoy's help you may be amazed not only at how far your food budget will stretch but also by the praises your meals receive. There is one caveat - several of the vendors mentioned in the "Resources" section were less than responsive - one due to the fact that he cannot ship out of state. Perhaps best to do your own shopping and then you'll surely enjoy POOR GIRL GOURMET.

- Gail Cooke

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars MUST HAVE Cookbook!! May 28, 2010

By David T. Johnson

Format:Paperback

This is a MUST have cookbook that is LOADED with delicious, economical, smart recipes. I personally prefer pictures of the finished dishes in a cookbook and there are PLENTY in this one! It is full of easy to follow directions sprinkled with plenty of good humor and fun. You will LOVE THIS COOKBOOK!! It is a MUST have for every kitchen!"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth the investment! October 22, 2011

By Nikki N.

Format:Paperback

I was browsing in a local bookstore one day and Poor girl Gourmet caught my eye. Now the last thing I need is a new cookbook, since I have too many already and also suffer from a clinical inability to actually follow recipes: I like to improvise and do it my own way. But after skimming the introduction and the tips and leafing through some of the recipes I decided to add the book to my cookbook library. My husband scoffed at me when I showed him my purchase, he agreed I did not need another cookbook, but as I have made many of the recipes over the past month or two (I estimate I've tried about 30 recipes so far) my husband keeps telling me the book has definitely been a winner, and I agree!

The Roasted Cauliflower is to die for. I previously had a very favorite roasted cauliflower recipe but this one blows it away. My husband laughed at me when I told him how much better it was than the recipe we have been using for years (involving balsamic and parmesan) but when he tried it he was amazed at how delicious it really was. The Braised Pork Shoulder is the best pork recipe I have ever made, hands down. Of course I had to substitute apple juice for cider but I think the author would approve with her frugal approach: why buy a new ingredient when something on hand will work just fine? The Meatballs and Sauce were equally amazing, this coming from someone who already has The World's Best Sauce recipe in her repertoire. When I made Panzenella with the last tomatoes of the season from our CSA farm box I thought my husband would protest a dinner of bread and tomatoes but he loved it! Last night I made Ribollita (using canned beans and chicken broth instead of dry beans and water) and we both thought it was excellent!

Some tips are very helpful, like making Vegetable Scrap Stock. I already save my chicken bones to make stock but had not thought of saving my veggie scraps for veggie stock. The author has a great sense of humor and while some of her recipes are overly wordy, filled with stories and tangents, that doesn't bother me since I don't follow recipes, anyway and really just use a list of ingredients to prepare a meal. I do think she uses too much oil and butter in her recipes but I just use less when I make them and they still come out fantastic. There is a nice variety of recipes in this book and one reason I liked it is because a lot of them were unique things I hadn't tried cooking before.

This book is probably best for someone who already loves making meals from scratch. It's not a "quick and easy" book but if you like to make real homemade food it's worth the investment of time and it is relatively easy. And some recipes really are quick and easy, a bonus having both quick recipes and long, slow cooking recipes in the same book. I also think it's great to see how much these meals are costing. I've been tracking mine and her numbers and pretty much right on with my calculations. It seems food costs keep going up and it seems I spend a small fortune on feeding my husband and myself but at least I can rest assured that my choices are frugal and we are still eating incredibly delicious food.