Marcus Radford / Tom Kerridge

[Ihatesandwiches]

I like both these guys. Today I followed the links for their inspiring recipes for FSM families. As a confident cook (and with money to spend on food) I was appalled at the recipes. So disappointed.
Yes - the recipes are too complicated
No - the recipes are accessible for most people

@zukiecat

That Whole Chicken Satay recipe is not straightforward! Not to mention that it would cost a fortune to buy all the ingredients.

I fancy trying the Beef and Stout Stew, just without the Stout and Mushrooms.

I don't understand why you think this would cost a fortune? I have just done a quick look up on Tesco to see how much the Satay meal would be. Assuming you don't alrwady have any of the ingredients it would total out at £8.66. However, most people have oil, and the odd stock cube, the soy sauce and curry powder laying about, so if you remove the cost of those items it comes to £5.41 for 4 people. That's only £1.32 a portion. Yes I appreciate some people can't afford that but I would hardly call it a fortune!

I also struggle to see how you could make it any clearer?

@Oblomov21

I really like Tom K. But I find all his recipes far too complicated. And bless him, he is cloud cuckoo land, re his views - he has no idea what basic cooks most of the uk population is. They can't cope with his level of complexity. Easy for me and most MN'ers who are only basically competent, but not for the kind of audience he is appealing to.

I think that's unfair. Tom Kerridge grew up on a council estate with a single parent. He started cooking meals for himself and his brother while his mum was working two jobs to keep them afloat. He wasn't born a Michelin star chef. My husband is a chef. A good one, three rosettes. He learnt to cook because his parents didn't feed him. The money went on alcohol. Just because he's excellent now doesn't mean he has no grasp on what it's like to be poor. Or a beginner.

Zukiecat must have thought it was this recipe, which looks extremely complicated, must take ages, and would involve buying dozens of ingredients. tomkerridge.com/recipes/whole-satay-chicken/

The recipes I have seen seem great, doable on a budget and with limited cooking facilities but not assuming that limited budget equates limited skill or limited desire to eat a range of foods.

They seem simple enough.

Thanks everyone, I am obviously looking at the wrong recipe! I can't see another one.

I would still need to buy things like Soy Sauce, Curry Powder, Noodles and the Chicken itself.

Off to find the recipe though

How simple would you like them to be OP?

The chicken pie is chucking some frozen veg and chicken into a tray with a tin of soup and some mash on top.
My children get fsm. Which bit of that do you think is too hard for my impoverished little brain to understand?
Or maybe I'm not confident enough to chop some mushrooms in half what with me being so poor and everything.

Being on benefits and receiving fsm doesn't mean we are all thick.
Typical patronising MN snobbery.

endchildfoodpoverty.org/recipe/chicken-satay-stir-fry Pretty simple!

I would still need to buy things like Soy Sauce, Curry Powder, Noodles and the Chicken itself.

Soy sauce is about £1.50 for a bottle that will last ages.
Curry powder is £1 for pot that lasts ages, or cheaper in the world food aisle.
Obviously there’s the initial outlay big the cost per meal is tiny.

The recipes are nice but think they are a pair of do-gooders

@VeganVeal

The recipes are nice but think they are a pair of do-gooders

Yes. They are trying to do good for underprivileged children. What arseholes.

Thankyou @PurpleDaisies

Might give it a go, DD would love it I think, me, not so much.

I'm on disability benefits so have a tight and careful budget, but those things are not expensive

@VeganVeal

The recipes are nice but think they are a pair of do-gooders

The Fuckers!

Weve got a Tom Kerridhe recipe book.
You have to reserve about an hour to read the ingredient list and that's before you start weighing/measuring or preparing any food!
We havent cooked many recipes from it!

It's the recipes on the instagram you're supposed to follow isn't it, not the ones on his website? It's the Instagram that confuses me - I just want a list of the recipes, I don't want teaser videos of cheese toasties... I'm probably a bit old for their target audience though.

He’s done some simpler ones specifically for this project @Pinuporc

@Pinuporc

Weve got a Tom Kerridhe recipe book. You have to reserve about an hour to read the ingredient list and that's before you start weighing/measuring or preparing any food! We havent cooked many recipes from it!

I think this is fair - his normal recipes are hugely complicated and time consuming! I’m a good cook and love his food but rarely choose his recipes because they involve a lot of work and expense. But they’re a far cry from the recipes being discussed here, which are straightforward and involve reasonable ingredients.

They all seem easy, cheap to make and don’t require ‘fancy’ kitchen equipment.

I was an FSM child, that doesn’t mean I lack basic intelligence and the ability to follow simple step by step instructions.

endchildfoodpoverty.org/full-time-meals All the recipes released so far

endchildfoodpoverty.org/full-time-meals

OP either you are looking at the wrong website (and considering you think it is Marcus Radford and not Marcus Rashford running the initiative I wouldn't be surprised) or your idea if "complicated" has a very low bar.

The idea is cheap, healthy meals that even kids can make for themselves, including options for those who have very limited kitchen facilities. The idea is to give families inspiration for new recipes they may not have considered. They may not have the time/money/facilities to waste on stuff they may not like but there are different ways to use the same ingredients that they may not have considered.

They have a FB page and an Instagram as well as the website and all are freely accessible without needing to follow/log in - doing either of those things just makes them immediately accessible without searching - so it's hardly lime they are hidden behind a pay wall.

I showed my preteen DD the recipes and I'm pretty confident that she could manage to make a few of them herself and I've actually been inspired to try a couple that I would never have considered (I tend to fall into a rut of making the same meals out of habit) but that I have the ingredients for already in the house.

@Sirzy

endchildfoodpoverty.org/full-time-meals All the recipes released so far

I have made the kettle omlettes in hotels before and while camping, they work really well.

@zukiecat

Thanks everyone, I am obviously looking at the wrong recipe! I can't see another one.

I would still need to buy things like Soy Sauce, Curry Powder, Noodles and the Chicken itself.

Off to find the recipe though

The above cost that I quoted included the noodles and the chicken. The soy sauce is a topping which you could go without if you couldn't afford it and curry powder costs about £1 but you would only need to buy it once and can use it for countless other recipes.

@Sirzy

endchildfoodpoverty.org/full-time-meals All the recipes released so far

Thank you! I might do that chicken satay one right now actually, it looks nice.

PurpleDaisies

He’s done some simpler ones specifically for this project@Pinuporc

Ah ok. That makes sense.

I wouldnt criticise anyone for trying to help, or highlight the issues. I actually think some of MN seem more out of touch with how some people live , than a professional footballer
i just have too short an attention span for TK normal length recipes

I actually think some of MN seem more out of touch with how some people live, than a professional footballer.

He grew up in a household with no money so he knows how tough people have it. I don’t think anyone can reasonably accuse Marcus Rashford of not understanding the real issues they have to struggle with.