Not going out for dinner

Beef bourguignon - king of burgundy

I'm not going out for dinner. I'm staying in.

Yes it's weekend but by the time I've finished ordering a couple of beers and a bottle of wine with the meal we will be looking at very little change from £70 and that's if we behave ourself. This was my conversation with my wife last weekend.

I adore eating out. Not just because I don't have to do 'the pots' afterwards but because I get to try different foods and new wines.

I had for a number of years got stuck on a favourite restaurant and rarely went any where else. That was Ramsons in Ramsbottom. Back in the early 2000's I became obsessed with their fresh Italian imported vegetables, cheese and wines. 

Nowadays I remain completely unloyal to all of them as I enjoy finding hidden gems in the local area, of which I am happy to say, there are a few.

So feeling financially squeezed I opted for dinning in (we also had to feed four other mouths, children and mother) with a few agreements. One of them being that I could push the boat out on my wine purchase.

I reasoned that an average bottle of wine in a restaurant would be north of £15 and more likely closer to £20. Based on this premis I payed £16 for an excellent bottle of red wine. Gigondas is from Vacquerays in the Southern Rhone region of France just next door to Chateau Neuf du Pape.

Vacquerays has to work hard to sell next door to its well known brother. Gigondas is just one tiny region within Vacquerays. These are the same grapes as Chateau Neuf. Grenache, Syrah and Mouvedre. So here's my top tip, if you are spending under £16 go for the Gigondas you'll get a better wine at this price.

Of course no meal is complete without some food. Keeping with the French tradition I opted for beef bourguignon. King of burgundy, a whole bottle of it is poured into the mix. Made with inexpensive skirt beef. I purchased a whole kilogram for under £10 (enough to feed six). Add some shallots, button mushroom, beef stock and flour and three hours later you have a most excellent dinner. Serve with crusty bread. Approximate cost £18 but that was for six people so that's just £3 a head.

We finished the meal off with a delicious cheeseboard of Roquefort and Wookey Hole Cheddar.

I wasn't planning on sharing the wine with anyone but my other half so my total cost per head for the wine drinkers was £12 a head for a two course meal with wine. You would expect to pay nearly £40 for the wine alone in a restaurant.

I have to say the food was delicious as the slow cooked beef just melted in your mouth.

All in all our meal night in was a success for both taste and finance.

Would I want to do this instead of eating out, probably not, but it does show how hard restaurants need to work to beat our home made efforts.

Food & Wine by Paul Sheerin
Pshearse@gmail.com