"cheap eats" news and stories

If there's one upside for foodies in this depressing economy, it's the sudden appearance of websites specializing in culinary discounts. Sites like Groupon.com, Livingsocial.com and Restaurant.com offer diners deep savings designed to bring in customers -- and users benefit.

BlackboardEats.com, launched in late 2009, has grown rapidly by following this model, offering customers a free email newsletter and website with deals at top restaurants in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. The downside? Diners living outside of those areas were out of luck. Now, though, all you need is a mailbox: A new "Everywhere" edition of BlackboardEats recently launched, specializing in online gourmet food deals discounted 30 percent or more, and everything's delivered to your door.

The system is pretty straightforward: Customers sign up (just an email, name and zip code) and get a newsletter every Wednesday. Users have 24 hours to grab a passcode, then another 48 to use it. Offerings range from artisanal foods to cookware to culinary travel destinations. But are the deals worth the hassle of mail order? So far. Two of the first discounts were for Maine lobster rolls and tails (40 percent off) and Intelligentsia Coffee (30 percent off). A deal for 40 percent off Spiegelau glassware is lined up for next week.

Each week, I link up eight food-related stories and blog posts from the previous week that somehow caught my eye or tickled my fancy (this week, it's mostly sweets, soups and eating on the cheap). Here's the list for this week:

1. One way to save money in the kitchen is to do the processing yourself. Culinate breaks down the difference between cutting up a chicken yourself and buying it pre-skinned and quartered.
2. On Minimally Invasive, Amy uses inexpensive pork necks to make a deeply flavored and warming ragu.
3. For those of you who like lots of mashed potatoes (or applesauce), but don't like the work of peeling, invest in a Peel-A-Meal electric peeler.
4. Need a good, professional way to get your knives sharpened? Try doing it by mail!
5. Orangette serves up a Tomato Soup with Red Onion and Cilantro Stems. Sounds delicious and economical.
6. Deb at Smitten Kitchen makes a batch of Salted Butter Caramel Sauce. There are no words for how good that sounds to me right at the moment.
7. Want to eat less meat and but still eat well? Here are some quick and simple vegetarian dishes to check out.
8. CityMama's Best Split Pea Soup ever has me adding ham hocks and dried peas to my shopping list.

Looking for more economical recipes that don't involve canned chili or hot dogs? Kevin Weeks, a food writer at Gather.com, does a twice-monthly column called Paisano, which offers luscious-yet-affordable rustic recipes from culinary traditions worldwide. Think rich, slow-cooked, peasant-y foods - sumac-spiced chicken kebabs, steak and mushroom pie, lamb with caramelized onions. Stuff from cultures that, out of necessity, invented really really tasty ways to use up that cheap cut of beef.

I might try the Middle Eastern-inflected chicken kebabs, marinated with yogurt, garlic, lemon juice and spices, over green salad for a quick warm-weather dinner. Do you have any favorite peasant recipes in your repertoire?

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Lots of cities have a stretch of road in a particular neighborhood that has amazingly good, inexpensive food. It's almost like the restaurateurs got together and planned to all gather in the same vicinity in order to pull in the the clientele. Here in Philly, Washington Avenue around the Italian Market is home to some of the best and cheapest food in town.

Good Magazine is on to this trend and has traveled around the country, looking for the very best examples of these cheap and tasty strips. Sadly, my beloved Washington Ave. didn't make the list. However, if you live in Queens (Roosevelt Ave.), Houston (Travis Street), Seattle (Fremont Avenue North), Chicago (Broadway), Miami (SW 8th Street), Nashville (Nolanville Road) or Los Angeles (West Sunset Blvd.) you've been blessed with some good chow.

What's the strip in your town or city that you know you can head for without a reservation or much cash and still get a good meal?

[via la.foodblogging]

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Hungry, but down to the last quarters in your laundry money jar? Head to The Culinary Review, a consumer guide to food costs, to figure out just how much grub that last $.75 will get you.

The Culinary Review has broken down the costs of various common meals, some of which make a McDonald's Egg McMuffin look like caviar on toast. Make yourself a fruit yogurt smoothie, hard-boiled egg and toast for a mere $1.11 or a cup of black bean soup for $.80.

They also give the prices of a number of Food Network chef-prepared meals. Some are surprisingly expensive - Tyler Florence's mozzarella grilled cheese is $5.59 a serving, certainly pricier than at many diners, while others are grad student-cheap - Alton Brown's baked mac and cheese is a mere $0.96 a serving. Serve that with some sauteed greens or cabbage slaw and you've got lunch for less than the price of a cup of coffee. Also check out the handy tips for saving money in the kitchen (don't buy pre-cut meat) and a list of where to splurge (olive oil, canned tuna) and where to save (canned veggies, cured meats).

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