Food you love to make but isn't cheap...

[Snog]

Every so often I love to make Nigella's coq au reisling which requires a whole bottle of wine...what do you love to make that is pricey on ingredients?

my favourite pizza topping set is sweetcorn, pineapple, pepperoni and eyewateringly hot sweet chilis. I'm sure various deceased Italians are spinning in their grave, but I love it! Horses for courses

There is of course an argument that it was the Turks who invented pizza ...

(Mmmm, lahmacun...)

Will I now fall into a QI trap by saying that I thought pizzas were American?

I also involve Nandos sauces, just to add to the horror and expense.

Turkish pizzas are very tasty! Worst pizzas I've had were in Italy. Rome wasn't too bad, Naples pizza were dough heavy with dull toppings.

Fondue, just buying less than a kilo of really good steak is a killer! Yummy though.

"Chicken tikka is just bread and curry - not too far away from naan bread and curry, the flavours work, I've never had it but I can't see why it's so objectionable."

Because it wouldn't taste half as good as a chicken tikka from the local Indian restaurant.

Maybe the chicken tikka would taste like shit maybe it wouldn't, Depends on the chef! Dh eats in the best Indian restaurants in London but he still likes my curries. Nothing is set in stone, unless you wish it so. Taste first and then judge.

Lamb shank casserole

Slackgardener - That's the Heston recipe.

The pork is gorgeous and just melts. It's even nicer the next day.

Anything with lamb

Rib of beef, racks of lamb and a whole beef fillet for Gordon Ramsay's beef Wellington.. All

But all oh so worth it..

I made steak diane (do not mock ) at the weekend and I had to buy a whole bottle of brandy because the supermarket didn't have any small ones so that was expensive.

It was strangely pleasurable, though after all the brandy

I do btw cook food other than 70s classics.

Beef bourguignon. My favourite.
I also like Hugh FW's fish pie but do a cheap version with frozen fish pie mix and add Lidl frozen Pollock to pad it out. I don't use prawns. It's not too bad.

Beef wellingtons made with fillet steak. I have developed my own recipe, and it is delicious, but so expensive! Beef stews/casseroles tend to end up expensive because we buy cheaper cuts of meat when they are reduced, but then spoil the frugality by adding a bottle of wine. Also pecan pie is stupidly expensive to make at home, due to cost of pecan nuts.

I make Kate Shirazi's a triple choc cookies - one batch contains nearly 600g of choc...they are delicious but oh so pricy!

Yes to beef Wellington, and also salmon coulibiac which has salmon fillets, smoked salmon and fresh dill.

On the subject of Italian recipes that must not tampered with...years ago I made Antonio Carluccio's bolognaise ragu having seen him on tv being very annoyed at the amount of tampering that bolognaise sauce had undergone over the years what with people adding things they ought not be adding according to him.

He was most emphatic that his was the one and only recipe and that it was the best.

Well I made his proper version and it was actually quite expensive having two types of meat in it as well as pancetta, but imho it wasn't too wonderful and rather bland. Sorry AC but mine's better by miles.

On a completely separate note, I hate the way that some cultures have such rigid rules about food, particularly Italians!

I agree CandyKate. I just like my pizzas to taste, well, Italian, that's all. I do a lot of "fusion" cooking at home, but prefer my pizzas unadulterated.

There are some things that can't be meddled with and one of them is shortbread. If it isn't made with butter it ain't shortbread.

Slackgardener - For chocolate recipes the tesco's own brand value dark choc is pretty good - 30p/100g.

I'v started adding a generous dash of port to all gravy/sauces recently (just makes it taste so good!)

But shortbread is lovely with lemon, orange or chocolate chip or a bit of ginger and dark chocolate, dcs like it used as a sandwich for jam topped with a puddle of icing or millionaires shortbread - I love plain shortbread but a bit of fiddling is good...... I don't use plastic fats in any of my cooking.

I once got into terrible trouble for adding an egg to falafel to bind it - and daring to call it falafel - apparently I'd made chickpea patties not falafel! You just can't escape the pedants.

Thanks squishy we don't live too close to a Tesco but I'll try to remember next time we pass. Bought a load in Aldi today, the dcs like posh hot chocolate - I grind 85% choc and they use it and milk to make up a creamy milky topping using a nespresso frother - ds likes that horrid squirty cream too, but I rarely let him get it.

"But shortbread is lovely with lemon, orange or chocolate chip or a bit of ginger and dark chocolate, dcs like it used as a sandwich for jam topped with a puddle of icing or millionaires shortbread - I love plain shortbread but a bit of fiddling is good...... I don't use plastic fats in any of my cooking."

What I meant was shortbread made with any fat other than butter. I like all those flavourings, except ginger so would be happy to use them, but I love the buttery taste of shortbread so much that I usually have it plain.

Slaver!