To think £25 is too much for casserole

[justonemorethen]

Possibly it's just new year tightness but have just got Nigella's Kitchen for Christmas and went to make the beer braised casserole because I thought casserole used cheap cuts.
Recommended beer is dark Belgian which is £5 a pop in supermarket. I decided to cut the amount to thirds so asked butcher for 1/2 kilo of shin - £5.88! That would be £18 for the amount she suggests. Together with the beer and odd herb she requires it's £25. Granted she says it feeds 8 but that doesn't include any veg or stuff to go with it. I'm pretty sure I could get a couple of free range chickens or side of beef, veg and potatoes for the price of her casserole.
Perhaps I'm just being cross because her cheesecake to use up leftover bananas just cost £6 (bloody bananas only cost 69p in the first place).
So is it worth it? Anyone had ago?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Nigella isn't exactly known for her frugality though is she.

Perhaps you should go to the library and get another cookbook.

[BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree]

what JJJ said - plus its her "for Christmas" one - where she probably spends even more.

[LittleMissHissyFit]

Oh bless, I totally hear you, although could you not have used Guinness instead of the Belgian beer?

How did it all turn out though? did you try making it in the end?

[charliesmommy]

you just have to adapt the recipe to cheaper items... the cheapest cheap meat will taste good so long as it is cooked for ages..

[oldraver]

I think all TV cooks dont have a clue to being frugal or even within a budget. For me its when they say ooh throw some of fresh this, this, this, and this herb and I'm sat thinkingh that would cost £££'s. Yes I know you could grow your own but not always possible

[charliesmommy]

frozen herbs are as good as fresh.. I buy up the reduced priced fresh ones and bag it up in the freezer.

[Rocket100]

I think your problem lies in not being married to Charles Saatchi. £25 for a casserole wouldn't even register with you then.

[chillichill]

I'm surprised the beef was that much, I would have assumed it would be cheaper. I made the 40 garlic clove chicken tonight, was so so good and cost less than a fiver to serve 4

[coldtits]

Shin beef is a very cheap cut and your butcher overcharged you for it. £11.76 a kilo? Piss off!

[charliesmommy]

Buying at the butchers itself is almost double the cost of supermarket meat. I know ideally we should support local shops, but it takes the piss when they are so bloody expensive.

[Katisha]

I also think Nigella is pretty clueless about portion size, judging from the tv show, which is strange given her insistence that she is soooo greedy...

[coldtits]

about £8 a kilo here

£7 a klio here

you can tell it's shin by the rounded shape - £5.20 a kilo

So unless you beef cow spent it's entire life being massaged by tiny magical gnomes and drinking champagne, you've been GROSSLY overcharged.

[justonemorethen]

We only have one butcher though and I still haven't caught on to metric. I thought shin was cheaper so perhaps I'm moaning about the wrong person.

[ThisIsANiceCage]

An editor friend once worked on a cookbook or woman's mag recipe pages or summat. She complained about the ludicrous and unnecessarily extravagant ingredients - the most expensive type of cream, hard-to-get fresh stuff, quality wine that was then boiled to buggery, etc. Managing ed said "Ah, but that's the image we're selling to our readers. They like to imagine they're doing something luxurious and exclusive."

Nigella would sooo be in that market, I bet.

[ZacharyQuack]

Well, if she wrote a recipe calling for dark beer and casserole steak, it would just be yet another casserole recipe.

I always like Jamie's instructions for "Chicken, preferably free-range and organic".

Thanks for that, mate. Let's just stick to the recipe and leave the ethics debate out of it.

[charliesmommy]

The only thing of Nigella's that I have made is Grasshopper Pie.. which was lush, but very expensive... as Creme De Menthe does not come in miniatures... I didnt even bother buying a bottle of Creme de Cacao too, and it still tasted great. The Creme de Menthe is very nice in hot chocolate hic

[coldtits]

500g (half a kilo) is about a pound (lb).

[charliesmommy]

I often buy a slab of brisket and cube it for a casserole.. as that is the cheapest and least fatty meat normally. The stewing steak is cheaper, but full of gristle too in Sainsburys.

[Lilymaid]

Shin of beef used to be the cheapest cut - you doidn't go to Nigella's butchers (Lidgates) did you? I often make this as a cheap casserole and buy whatever beef is cheapest in the butchers/Waitrose and whatever beer is on offer - not lager. Any malty bitter or stout will produce a good gravy.

[BaroqinAroundTheChristmasTree]

I just found the recipe online - says you can juse Belgian or English dark ale.

Surely you can buy a bottle of dark English ale for less than £5???

[bellavita]

I bought two pieces of shin beef at the supermarket for a casserole, it cost about a fiver - it fed four of us and there was plenty.

[OooohShiny]

yep, I always downgrade Nigella's recipes where possible. I have a white choc chip brownie recipe which calls for green & Blacks dark choc and some hideously expensive white choc buttons ....I substituted value dark choc and value white choc broken into chunks and it tastes just the same at a fraction of the price

[narkypuffin]

It's £7.49 per kg for Aberdeen Angus sliced leg at Waitrose. I suspect you're paying over the odds.

Also, don't expect Nigella to do money saving.

[BuzzLightBeer]

454g to the pound (2.2lb to kilo)

You was robbed for shin.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Her recipes are pretty expensive though, especially the cakes I find. One chocolate cake I made cost me about £15 in ingredients - I could have ordered one all iced and decorated from Waitrose Entertaining for only a couple of quid more!