The BrokeAss Gourmet Cookbook: $20 Meals Feed Four

By Erin Browner Fri., May 4 2012 at 9:00 AM

Categories: Books, Cheap Eats, Events

Italian tuna salad featured in the BrokeAss Gourmet Cookbook

How do San Franciscans afford to eat out every other night? It's time for the sensible (and broke ass) to kick the $40 fried mac 'n cheese habit and eat at home for a change. Thank the food gods for Gabi Moskowitz, author of The BrokeAss Gourmet Cookbook. She gathered 116 recipes that cost no more than $20 to feed four-- that's $5 a serving!

Moskowitz isn't serving ramen boiled with shredded Costco chicken for dinner (although she admits to prepping sad dishes similar to such). She's strategized her pocketbook to prepare fancy meals like Oven-Fried Sriracha Chicken and Black Bean Corn Cakes for $20 or less.

"With a little extra work, you can cook gourmet meals," she says of making the plunge from ramen noodles to Watermelon-Lime Gazpacho. Wait-- corn cakes? gazpacho?-- aren't these tough recipes? Apparently not. The BrokeAss chef says it's easy enough for beginners.

The gourmet-it-yourself cookbook is full of dishes hailing from diverse cultures, including some from the neighborhood. We're guessing the Hipster Dogs recipe hails from Moskowitz's BBQs at Dolores Park, only a few blocks from her Mission district abode.

Moskowitz's love for Asian cuisine is reflected in her Vietnamese and Thai recipes. Ginger-Shrimp Potstickers are only the beginning.

"I would bathe in peanut sauce if I could-- I think my peanut sauce [recipe] is one of the three best things about me," she says-- and we think she's serious.

Although Moskowitz doesn't live the flossy life of routinely bathing in cooking sauces (yet), she's not as broke as some may infer after seeing her face next to the word "BrokeAss" on the cover of her cookbook.

"Some people may think $15 for a meal for two is a lot. But this is not HowToAvoidStarvation.com, it's BrokeAss Gourmet," she says.

Of course, you don't want to buy the book until you've tasted from one of her recipes, so let the BrokeAss Gourmet chef feed you first. Meet her at at her book signing (complete with food tasting) at Green Apple Books on Thursday, Mat 10 at 7:00 p.m. See more BrokeAss recipes on her website, BrokeAss Gourmet.

And check back at SFWeekly's SFoodie blog Monday for her broke-ass grocery shopping tips!

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