Last Monday was the first Monday of April - time for Hobo Monday! The challenge is to make a meal costing no more than $5US (which translates to $6.94AUD, and let me tell you watching the converted amount slide from $7.50 to $6.94 over the past month was a tiny bit stressful*) - and the additional rule for April was 'no pasta'.
I present The LambShank Redemption:
Braised lamb shanks with rosemary, roasted sweetcorn tossed with parmesan and pine nuts, small green salad and tinned beans (only for David; I loathe beans) It was awsome - the meat was melting off the bone, the corn was crunchy and cheesey - two thumbs up!
The total cost was $6.60AUD ($4.74US) - $4.10 for the shanks, 0.98 for the sweetcorn, 0.53 for the pine nuts, 0.36 for the parmesan, 0.40 for the salads and 0.20 for the beans. My pantry staples were olive oil, wine, homemade stock, rosemary and garlic.
I enjoyed doing this! It was fun to think up and price a dish, and try new [to me] suppliers to try and keep the price down. There were highs (I have found a new favourite butcher in the Golden Horn) and lows (the price of sweetcorn went from 0.40 to 0.98 overnight which nearly made me weep) and it's made me even more conscious of cost-cutting - or at least cost-watching.
So now y'all should participate in next month's Hobo Monday challenge.
* I am told that the Australian dollar is actually overvalued against the American dollar, but I have no idea if this is a good thing or a bad thing. All I know is that lamb shanks are delicious things.
Corn and parmesan?! How cutting edge! :)
Looks fantastic! And I can't believe you were able to have lamb shanks and keep the cost under $5 (US).
Posted by: Chris | April 15, 2009 at 02:32 AM