Poor Girl Gourmet - Cookbook Review

Eat in Style on a Bare-Bones Budget

by Amy McCoy

(Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2010)

Amy McCoy, like many other Americans caught in the economic downturn, had to cut her expenses after her television production work dried up. Her desire to eat as well as she could on the least amount of money resulted in a popular blog (poorgirlgourmet.blogspot.com) where she posted recipes, techniques and tips. She has recently compiled her work into a highly-useful cookbook for budget-conscious foodies: Poor Girl Gourmet: Eat in Style on a Bare-Bones Budget.

With soups, salads, entrées, sides and desserts, most of her recommended meals cost less than $15 to feed four people, which is great for families tightening their belts. Recipes include entrées such as cinnamon-roasted chicken with orange-cinnamon sauce; rigatoni with roasted butternut squash, sweet Italian sausage and fried sage; sides like Israeli couscous with chickpeas and almonds; and goat cheese risotto. She also offers more expensive options—including lamb shanks in an orangey fig sauce and beef short ribs in mushroom gravy—and wine pairing suggestions, with reviews of 25 varietals.

McCoy has designed her recipes so that nothing is wasted, and food winds up in leftovers instead of the trash. So she's not only saving money, but saving the environment as well.

Try the Recipe for Roasted Chicken Legs with Olives