It’s rare that you see the words poor and gourmet together; however, blogger and author of Poor Girl Gourmet Amy McCoy manages to wrangle these two words into a practical cookbook for the girl with a tight budget and lavish taste buds.
As a lover of food and former student at Boston University where she earned a certificate in cheese studies, Amy McCoy decided to make gourmet food available to any home-cook regardless of budget. Her cookbook focuses on keeping the menu choices under $15. We were shocked to see that items other than pasta made this list such as her Roasted Chicken Legs with Olives, which combines readily available chicken legs with good-quality olives to complete this Italian dish.
This relatable and hilariously written cookbook is laid out by type of dish with each recipe complete with a cost breakdown including the price of each ingredient at full price; however, she urges readers to buy meat on sale to further cut cost and allow space in the budget for dessert like her Expresso Granita with comes in at just $1.57 using leftover coffee.
The back of her cookbook includes menu suggestions coming in at under $15—that’s an entrée and side dishes for under $15 for a meal for four! For special occasions, she includes menu suggestions for “splurge” evenings, yet these splurges still come in under $30, significantly less than you would spend at a restaurant. She even tries to curb your cravings for take-out by including recipes inspired by her favorite take-out items such as this Ginger-Soy Sirloin Tip Stir-Fry:
If you’re looking for delicious food on a poor girl’s budget, this cookbook is it.
You can find more of Amy at her blog Poor Girl Gourmet.
— By Alexandra Rose
