Several years ago (pre-pandemic) I’d been to the UK for business, and gotten hooked on the Tesco (major grocery chain over there) lunch combo (sandwich, chips, and drink) with a specific sandwich: the Ploughman’s lunch. Basically, that’s a cheese sandwich with tomato, lettuce, and a very specific pickle-type spread. That spread is commonly available in the UK but not so much in the US, and a few weeks after getting home, I had a major craving for that sandwich. I found a recipe that’s quite close in a cookbook of British origin that turns out to have been part of the Bosh! series. Anyways, at some point last year, I found out there was a new book coming out in said series, so I ordered it. US publication was then delayed and I forgot about it.
Then suddenly, Bosh! On Budget appeared in my mailbox. Even though the title says “budget”, that’s not really so much the focus, more like international recipes somewhat seasonally based. On the one hand, I can appreciate that cooking seasonally has it’s benefits, some to do with cost, but plant-based yogurt or butter, a surprising amount of frozen puff pastry, fresh herbs, and a lot of spices, including make-your-own curry pastes, that’s not necessarily budget friendly unless you’re really committed to using up all of the berbere spice blend or pepitas. I also question the amount of plant-based sausage included, since that’s not cheap, and I’ve seen recipes (not here) for making your own that would be at least a little more cost effective. If you think I can handle making crepes, why not a vegan sausage? Similarly, there’s a good bit of making your own bread; I like bread baking but I also know that’s not cheaper than buying bread.
I do like some of the theme and variation, like one smoothie or soup per season. I’m thinking I might have to go a bit out of order and try the Fall smoothie first since almond butter, banana, pear sounds really good for a breakfast smoothie (also the only one with a visible protein component), as does the spring soup (peas, zucchini, asparagus). I’m also interested in the crumpet recipe although the frying of them looks a tiny bit tricky (and I’ve also seen the Great British Bake Off episode where that was a technical challenge), and the “Super Carrot Cake” overnight oats.
Quite few of the other recipes look tasty but not necessarily all that interesting; I’ve seen ramen, curries, teriyaki, chana masala, samosas, stroganoff, and chili before. There are a few standouts though, like there’s a do-able looking recipe for injera (an Ethiopian flatbread) but not a lot of recipes for accompaniments, an intriguing mushroom bulgogi bai filling (bao recipe included) and a chicken sandwich recipe that looks good, but I do wish they explained the process a bit more. I know that when you freeze tofu, it does change the texture to something more meat-like, but why do I need to do that twice? Why not toast the buns on the stovetop as opposed to wasting the energy getting the broiler up to temp? On the other hand, there is a potato bread bun recipe, so there’s that.
I suppose the one recipe I might have to actually start with is the Biscoff brownie; it’s got a potato base which is interesting, and in addition to the chocolate and cookie-butter (both very good things) there’s a candied hazelnut topper. Assuming potato-brownie actually works, this could be pretty amazing. We’ll have to see. I’m not totally sure I’ll be making my own cookie butter though, since it specifies coconut oil and “barista-style oat milk, and I’m pretty sure it’d be both easier and cheaper to buy the store brand.