6 good wines to buy at Tesco

Unless, like the residents of Stokes Croft in Bristol, you wouldn't be seen dead stepping through the doors of a Tesco supermarket it's the place to be buying wine this weekend. They've got their autumn festival on plus a 25% off offer if you buy any six bottles from them online.That doesn't mean you should snap up everything you can lay your hands on. A lot of the bottles are priced at an artificially inflated level so the 50% reductions aren't nearly as good as they look. Still, there are deals - here are six that would tempt me. (Offers end on October 4th)Tesco Finest Picpoul de Pinet 2010...

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Half a duck = 2 meals for two

One of the things I like best - and I guess why I ended up writing the book and this blog - is finding cheap ingredients and conjuring up something tasty from them. So I literally fell on this half duck at the Co-op which was reduced from £5.37 to £2.75. What to do with it? Well I was thinking of duck burritos (mmmm) but then settled for a slow roast duck with braised peas and chorizo (below). Extra expenditure: a bag of frozen peas, a chorizo ring and a soft round lettuce all of which could be used for the following night's meal.We didn't stint ourselves either. I had half the breast, my husband...

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Wine of the Week: Tagus Creek Trincadeira Shiraz 2010

Yet another great value Portuguese wine. This one struck gold at at the Decanter World Wine Awards where it picked up the trophy for the best red blend under £10.I tried it yesterday and could see why. It has that deliciously lush brambley fruit that tends to characterise Portuguese reds - almost like a lighter version of port. You could drink it with spicy meat dishes like chilli con carne, barbecues and even meat curries such as Rogan Josh. It would also be a great red to serve with a cheeseboard.The best deal on it comes from Tesco Wine where you appear to be able buy it for £27.30 though...

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Why it's worth buying organic bananas

It might seem strange on this blog to advocate spending more on an ingredient but frugal eating is not about buying the cheapest food you can find but eating as well as you can on a limited budget.I spend over the odds for organic milk and eggs, real bread from a local bakery, Italian-manufactured pasta (as opposed to own brand) and some organic vegetables like carrots because there is such a marked difference in taste - and in the case of ingredients like bread they stretch further. To that list I'm now going to add organic bananas.I bought them by accident the other day thinking they were Fairtrade...

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Sampford Courtenay elderflower cider

No wine of the week this week because there's a great cider deal to highlight - 25% off all ciders at Waitrose.That brings the delicious Sampford Courtenay Elderflower cider I tasted earlier this year down to a very affordable £3.74 a full sized bottle instead of £4.99. I'm not normally mad about flavoured ciders but this is a natural product made from apples picked on the Sampford Courtenay estate in Devon and free from artificial flavours, colours and sweeteners and elderflowers picked and steeped in their own spring water. Or so the blurb says and I've no reason to disbelieve it. Although...

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How to entertain on a budget

Before my holiday fades into the mists of time I want to tell you about a meal we had on the way home at the Auberge de Chassignolles in the Auvergne, my new favourite place in France.Their evening meal is a no choice, 5 course prix fixe dinner which basically makes use of local ingredients they've bought from local suppliers or grown themselves. At 24 euros (£20.62) they're not making that much of a margin on it, particularly when you bear in mind that includes service*.The meal that evening included:A ham, fig and rocket salad (above). Slivers of country ham - probably not much more than 30g...

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Wine of the Week: Vina Decana Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

A fantastic deal this week from Aldi whose wine department you should definitely check out if you haven't already done so.It's the Vina Decana Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon Crianza 2008, a rioja-like red from Utiel Requena in Valencia in southern Spain. With its old-fashioned presentation it's obviously designed to look like rioja, right down to the gold netting that covers the bottle but it's the taste that's so impressive - a really smooth red, with soft, ripe plummy fruit.You could easily serve it for sniffy guests who would think it cost at least twice as much as it does. Which is just £3.99....

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A taste of The Frugal Cook

If you want a taster of The Frugal Cook you can find excerpts in this month's Vegetarian Living and Fabulous Food both of which carry recipe features on the book. Fabulous Food has my caramelised cauliflower soup, seared salmon with creamed leeks and chives and peach and blueberry cobbler while Vegetarian Living went for the pizza giardiniera, spicy cashew and mushroom rice and carrot, oat and cinnamon muffins. And while I'm in bragging mode if you know anyone who's off to uni this autumn my Ultimate Student Cookbook has just been listed in the Independent's top 10 student cookery books.Actually...

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Wine of the Week: Bons Ventos Tinto

At £6 a bottle, this Portuguese red from the Lisbon region isn't bargain basement, I know, but it's here for a reason. Which is that it marks a change of direction for the 37 remaining branches of Oddbins which went belly up earlier this year.It used to sell for £6.75 which, since duty and VAT as well as other costs have gone up in the meantime, reflects a significant reduction. No longer are Oddbins going to base their pricing on the fact that you get 20% off if you buy six bottles, I was told by the temporary manager of our local store in Bristol. And there are to be no weaselly 99p's hence...

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In what way is a tub of cheese sauce 'essential'?

Coming back on the ferry from France yesterday I spotted two full page ads promoting Waitrose's budget 'essential' range and how easily you could run up a ham and leek pasta bake with it. Most of the ingredients were fair enough. A pack of penne, a pack of sliced ham and a couple of leeks (though £2.70 a kilo isn't particularly cheap) but then I spied not one but two 350g tubs of ready-made cheese sauce at £1.59 each which would bring the cost of the dish to well over a fiver. OK, I get where Waitrose is coming from - we're all short of time these days but how long does it take to make a cheese...

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