$1 per person dinner party

[Shalmanese]

The parameters are I'll be cooking in Seattle, for around 10 people in about 2 weeks.

[Fat Guy]

I would suggest you start aggressively monitoring as many store circulars as possible starting now, then. The non-perishables are easy to accumulate ahead of time, and you probably have 3 circular cycles to watch for a great deal on a meat-and-bones item -- which you can freeze.

Are any of the ideas here resonating with you? What sort of ideas do you have? Let's start working on some math now that we know everything is to be divided by 10-12. I think the dollar goal is achievable, although I guess it depends on how many courses you're doing. But I bet you could do soup, an egg dish, a meat-and-starch dish and a humble dessert for a dollar a person.

[snowangel]

Don't forget your local Asian market. I know that at mine, dried black beans are 1/2 the price of on-sale at the supermarket, and they'll often just give me bony parts of meat because they break down entire animals.

[Lisa Shock]

BTW, my post assumes that you have access to a pantry of dry spices, salt, oil & vinegar. Can you assume that you've been pocketing packets of salt, pepper and sugar from fast food places???

If spices and such mush be purchased, then I agree that breakfast is a good solution.

You can get a cheap loaf of bread and a couple dozen eggs and some dollar store jam and sugar (use a blender to make it powdered) and make french toast (served with the jam -since jam is cheaper and better than imitation syrup) and scrambled eggs.

2 dozen eggs = $4

loaf of white bread = $1

pan spray/butter/margarine for cooking = $1 (yes, my dollar store has 8oz cubes of butter)

jam = $1

sugar = $1

box of teabags = $1

Spend the last dollar on something to spruce up either dish, like an onion, a bell pepper or some fruit.

One other note from the cheap food frontier is that cabbage is cheap, especially if purchased whole -like 30 cents a pound. You can make coleslaw for everyone out of one head. You could also steam the leaves and make cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and beans and a simple tomato sauce.

2# pinto Beans = $1

2# rice = $1

2 cabbages (one for slaw one for rolls) = $2

tomato juice for sauce = $1

mayo for slaw dressing = $1

cider vinegar for slaw dressing = $1

tea bags (for iced tea) = $1

$8 total, leaving you $2 for dessert which could be dollar store pudding with vanilla wafers, rice pudding from scratch, dollar store fresh fruit, dollar store canned fruit, dollar store cake mix cooked in a bundt pan with a powdered sugar icing, etc.

Earlier this year I had contemplated attempting to feed myself and my hubby for 30 days on $1 per person per day. I would theoretically shop with the whole budget available in advance, not be limited to a daily dole. I set out plans for what to buy and where, and think I have it down pretty well. But, the husband didn't want to do it. Also, having an entire month to play with gave me money for luxuries like baking powder and raisins. That said, it did involved eating a lot of oatmeal for breakfast...

[rooftop1000]

You could call it the Chicken or the Egg...and do a Frittata, braised chicken legs or thighs with a white bean puree and veg, and a flan for dessert.

tracey

[Corinna]

Winter squashes are super cheap around here right now. They are tasty, filling and very versatile.

[Fat Guy]

Winter squashes are cheap, and pumpkins are often free in early November. I know one place near us that's simply giving them away. They're not particularly good for eating, but the seeds toast up nicely.

[cdh]

Think lasagna.

[sheetz]

Also keep an eye out for sales on halloween candy, which can be easily made into a dessert. Many Target stores are discounting them 75%, and they even have printable coupons you can use to bring the price down to a few cents a bag.

[Shalmanese]

Are any of the ideas here resonating with you? What sort of ideas do you have? Let's start working on some math now that we know everything is to be divided by 10-12. I think the dollar goal is achievable, although I guess it depends on how many courses you're doing. But I bet you could do soup, an egg dish, a meat-and-starch dish and a humble dessert for a dollar a person.

Earlier in the Summer, I managed to score a huge amount of strawberries on the cheap so I could do rice pudding with strawberry jam for $1 or so for the group so I think that's dessert.

Here are some other things I think could work within my budget:

Lentil Salad

Coleslaw

Collard Greens & Ham Hock

Kale & White Bean Soup

Pumpkin Ravioli

Pasta Carbonara

Polenta with Chicken Thigh

[gfweb]

I suppose dumpster-diving is not acceptable.

Edited November 5, 2009 by gfweb (log)

[gfweb]

I'd consider a fritata. Eggs are about $2.50 for 12. Add an onion, a tomato and some bacon and a bit of cream...you could probably make 2 10 inch fritatas for a total of $3.50; which would serve 10 generously.

[Fat Guy]

Sha, how many courses are you trying to do?

[Darienne]

If it were my problem, I would go for an ethnic cuisine, North African, Asian, Indian, something with a substantial allotment of spices that people were not too familiar with. What non-American/European cooking does with a handful of carbohydrate and some vegetables is amazing and fully satisfying...to me. As my DH would say...to me, to me... Why use meat at all?

[scott123]

Collard Greens & Ham Hock

Collard greens, much like beef shank, used to be poor people's food, but those days are long gone. The last time I checked, collard greens were about the same price as swiss chard (cha ching!). Unless you have a source for really cheap greens, you might want to rethink this.

Also, this may sound a little farfetched, but the fact that it's a 'hobo' party and that it's only $1 may very well produce a mindset in your guests that they think they're going to be deprived in some way. This mindset, in turn, might make them eat more. It's basic psychology. If people believe food is scarce, they'll get hungry.

On the flip side, they may make the decision that $1 could never give them enough food and decide to eat beforehand. This is probably what I'd do.

So, you could have people that are hungrier than usual or people that aren't hungry at all. I would probably plan on the former.

[PopsicleToze]

Here are some other things I think could work within my budget:

Lentil Salad

Coleslaw

Collard Greens & Ham Hock

Kale & White Bean Soup

Pumpkin Ravioli

Pasta Carbonara

Polenta with Chicken Thigh

Without the luxury of having more than one meat protein, think something that can multi-task. Around here we can get a 5# box of bacon ends and pieces for about $3.50. The good thing about this is that it's not all sliced. There are pretty good sized chunks of just bacon meat in there, which I substitute for pancetta in pasta carbonara all of the time. You can also use that meat instead of the ham hock in your greens and you can also render some bacon fat to saute the vegetable seasonings in your soup. I'm not sure if you're planning a vegetarian lentil salad, but if you do one with meat there are plenty of lentil salads that have bacon in them.

Another option would be to plan the menu around chicken leg-quarters which we can find on special around here for $0.39 to $0.49/lb for a 10# special. Then you can trim the parts and render the chicken fat. Use the trimmings to make chicken stock for yoru soup. Use the chicken schmaltz you rendered to saute the onions, etc. for your soup. If kale is too expensive, change to soup to Pasta e Fagioli; beans and pasta are cheap. The pumpkin ravioli goes well with the bean and pasta soup, too. Then you have lots of luxurious chicken thighs to work with.

Rhonda

E/T/A: There's usually about 12 thighs in the 10# packages, which would be enough for your group. I usually just include the legs in with the stock, but I have seen nice recipes when you bone the leg and then stuff it with a chicken mousseline where it's appropriate to serve at dinner parties.

Edited November 5, 2009 by PopsicleToze (log)

[scott123]

Around here we can get a 5# box of bacon ends and pieces for about $3.50.

Irregularly shaped bacon pieces for 70 cents a pound?!?! Does such a place exist? Is this this the mythical paradise Shangri-La?

It looks like it's time to call the movers. I'm packing my bags as we speak.

Edit: If you see a strange figure lurking in the shadows, don't be alarmed. I'm not stalking you, I'm stalking the bacon

Edited November 5, 2009 by scott123 (log)

[PopsicleToze]

Come on down! The more the merrier and you could help with prep work!

It made by Wright's brand bacon: http://www.wrightbrand.com/Default.aspx

I looked at their site but they don't have it listed. I found it on some grocer sites, but it looks like it's been downsized to 48oz or 3lbs. I thought it was 5# -- I dunno -- could have been 5lbs previously, but now it's 3lbs. Still, you can find it depending on the sale or grocer anywhere from $3 to $5 and I usually pick it up for around $3.50. There's a lot of prep work first.

First, separate the big chunky pieces to use for carbonera or other dishes. Then, there will be may be some whole slices in there. If so, I separate and use for breakfast or such. Then render the bacon fat and store in the fridge. The fried bacon bits and pieces are stored in the freezer for baked potatoes and other dishes.

And the 10# back of chicken leg quarters is another big prep night. $0.39 to $0.49 is what they are on special sale here usually, but when they're not on sale they go up to maybe $0.89. However, if they're not on sale one week, they will be somewhere else the next week. Just keep a lookout in the weekly circulars. When you get home, there is work. You have to trim well because they include a lot of fat (easily removed) and about 1/2 back section is still attached to the thigh. Remove thighs for use in dishes. Render chicken fat (I usually add onion for flavor) for use in other dishes. Then, I make a chicken stock with all of the drums and trimmings.

Rhonda

Edited November 5, 2009 by PopsicleToze (log)

[Peter the eater]

Feeding a hundred people for a hundred bucks is easier than ten for ten.

[Darcie B]

Pork seems to be really cheap, perhaps in part due to the H1N1 scare (here in MN, it's verboten to call it "swine flu."). Last week I bought a pork shoulder for $.99/lb. Pork shoulder is quite versatile, you could braise it, make carnitas, pulled pork BBQ, etc. I made a meal for 4 for under $10 without trying, and we had lots of leftovers.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Pork seems to be really cheap, perhaps in part due to the H1N1 scare (here in MN, it's verboten to call it "swine flu."). Last week I bought a pork shoulder for $.99/lb.

$.79/lb here at my local supermarket in New York. A few months ago amid the height of the swine flu paranoia (paranoia about the possibility of getting the flu from eating pork particularly), it was $.69/lb.

[Jonathan Kaplan]

I like this challenge! While I very much enjoy cooking expensive proteins, I often cook vegetarian / semi-veg for dinner parties, and have fun doing it (my wife is mostly vegetarian, so...). I'm uncomfortable buying "cheap" meat, because so much of it is produced under appalling conditions. But that would pretty much exclude meat from this meal...

A few soup ideas:

Carrot Soup -- should be able to get very nice carrots this time of year. cooked, pureed, strained, and served in small portions, this is a nice start to a meal.

Sweet-potato and leek soup -- again, not too pricey (you don't need lots of leeks), and can be served chilled w/ sour cream / creme fraiche.

Kale & White Bean Soup: I like this idea a lot, but I'd be tempted to use too much too expensive olive oil.

Pastas:

sweet potato ravioli or butternut squash ravioli (I tend to find pumpkin rav a bit bland) Saucing them will be a little bit of a challenge, but a bit of cream and a tiny bit of cheese could go a long way..

***

I really like the Lentil Salad idea -- it should be able to come in very inexpensively, even using nice petit puy (well, local versions) lentils. Maybe toss w/ a few nuts? or perhaps serve with some sauteed shredded Brussels sprouts?

[Shalmanese]

I overshot my budget by a little bit, it should be somewhere between $1.50 to $2.00 per serving but here is the menu for tonight:

Kale & White Bean Soup

Butternut Squash & Barley Risotto

Roast Chicken Thigh, Warm Lentil Salad

Rice Pudding, Strawberry Jam

[KarenDW]

sounds tasty! Have a great time.

[Chris Amirault]

Shalmanese, I'm eager to hear back to learn how it went, and especially if people felt that they had "a great meal."