Soldier’s Feast

My soldier-son is home on weekends. He spends the week in the field (which means either MREs or military chow – my son says he prefers the MREs) so I try to make sure he's well-fed when he's here.

I also try to send some food with him when he leaves. As a result, I'm preparing a lot of food.  

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know you that I have a thing for figuring how to eat like a king while spending like a pauper.

On the left we have Chicken Drumsticks in Raspberry Demi-Glace.  Right now my Safeway has drumsticks on sale for $1.29/lb. Today I paid $4.55 for a dozen. Here's the recipe.

Including the cost of the raspberry vinegar and demi-glace, I figure it's about $2.25 per serving. For one of the most orgasmically good dishes you've ever had.

On the right we have Boeuf Bourguignon.  Stew meat, some wine, and beef stock.  Safeway sells a brand of boxed wine named Vella for about $11 for a five-liter box.  Don't laugh.  It's actually reasonably drinkable.  But used for cooking it's a real bargain.

A bottle of red wine and three hours in the oven will transform almost any tough old piece of meat into fork-tender, so there's no need to use the best cuts of beef.  I used 'stew meat' from Safeway – pricey at $5/lb – but that's what I could find on short notice. A pound and a half will feed two people nicely.  That's about $4 per serving – and if you've never had boeuf Bourguignon take it from me: it is heavenly.

I repare it using the recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.