"cheap" news and stories

Eating cheap in Manhattan by buying food exclusively from 99-cent stores. Doable? Yes. Advisable? Perhaps not.

The New York Times then brings chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin in on the skinflint action, challenging him to cook a meal entirely of products from Jack's 99-Cent Store. See what he does with a 99-cent frozen salmon fillet .

Wine critic Eric Asimov asks whether it's possible to teach teenagers the pleasures of moderate drinking with a little wine at the table. It works for the Europeans, right? Or does it?

A kreplach face-off in Brooklyn. Oy gevalt!

The Minimalist suggests we try a stir-fry with fermented black beans.

Then, he takes us on a photo tour of the Campo de' Fiori market in Rome. Serious vegetable porn.

In Tokyo, Japanese takes on Western food continue to grow in popularity. They seem to involve a lot of ketchup.

Starbucks buys $11,000 coffee machines in ongoing efforts to revitalize their image.

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With the U.S. economy on the rocks, it seems like a good time to take another look at cutting costs in the kitchen. Here's a (decidedly non-comprehensive, not necessarily "foodie-ish") list of some useful budget cooking and eating sites. Please suggest your own favorite cheap food sites as well.

Cheap Cooking: a spare, photo-free recipe site that seems mostly dedicated to people cooking for families. But hey, recipes for rump roast and apricot chicken will work just as well for one - just divide the remains into Tupperware and take them in for lunch. Food storage tips and a cost calculator are super-useful.

Cheap Eats: a blog with recipes, tips, and techniques for cheaper cooking and eating out. Includes an archive of cheap restaurants (lots of fast food), a Hall of Shame (Wagyu beef burgers with foie gras), and a list or recipes for $3 or less.

Better Budgeting: This frugal recipe list tends towards the retro. Think ground bologna sandwiches, cubed steak, and Tater Tot casserole. But come on, who doesn't like Tater Tot casserole?

USDA Thrifty Food Plan: Check out the 78-page PDF on budget food planning, with sample weekly food planners and some admittedly less-than-inspiring recipes (the ingredients for Baked Cod with Cheese are 'cod' and 'Cheddar cheese').

Rebecca's Pocket: One woman's quest to eat organic on a food stamp budget. Includes recipes and musings on food history.

Frugal Recipes: The "heirloom" recipes from the early- to mid-20th century, such as Ladies' Cabbage and Frozen Cranberry Fruit Salad make this site just as useful as a food history archive as a recipe source.

The Culinary Review: Slashfood has mentioned this user-friendly new site in the past, with its recipe cost calculators, shopping tips, and price breakdowns for various Food Network chef recipes (Giada De Laurentiis champagne risotto: $8.83 per serving).

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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The holidays can get pretty expensive, with gifts, food and entertaining expenses piling on until after the New Year (especially if you want to hit one or two after-Christmas sales), so it is always great to find a way to save some money without loosing out on quality. Food is one area where it is difficult to cut back, since price and quality are often closely linked. Paying more will usually get you better meats, cheeses and chocolates, for example. When it comes to wine, however, price are quality are not necessarily as closely inked - not unless you're talking about $100+ bottles of wine, anyway. Since AOL Food has a much larger staff than we do, they went through many bottles of wine to find five great ones that are $5.99 a bottle or less, perfect for serving with holiday dinners or bringing along as a hostess gift to a party because they are guaranteed to taste good without breaking the bank.

1. Trader Joe's Coastal Cabernet ($4.99)
2. Amaicha Torrontes ($4.99)
3. Banrock Station Shiraz ($5.99)
4. Barefoot California Merlot ($5.99)
5. Barefoot California Chardonnay ($5.99)

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One of the best things about leftover chicken is that it is perfect for making sandwiches with. Actually, just about any leftover meat (or vegetable) can be incorporated, somehow, into a sandwich because bread and condiments go a long way in making old food seem as good as new. A good illustration of this is this Chicken Salad Sandwich from Cheap Eats. The sandwich is dead-easy to make, mixing shredded chicken, diced celery and green onions with mayonnaise, salt, pepper and a dash of paprika. Once you have the basics, you can augment the filling with hard boiled eggs, dried cranberries or raisins, lettuce, tomatoes or bell peppers. Ever budget-conscious, Cheap Eats also served the sandwich up with a side of leftover smashed roasted garlic potatoes, but as for all sandwiches, a bag of chips makes a perfect acceptable side dish.

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