Goose on a Budget

An easy way to save money and eat well is to shop at Goose the Market.

What, has she lost her mind? That  foodier-than-thou place with all the weird French stuff? Isn’t it expensive?

Goose caters to upscale tastes and clientele, but its owners, Christopher Eley and his wife Mollie, are humble. They created a neighborhood store modeled on those found in European countries.

Chef Christopher explained the philosophy. Buy what you need when you need it and use it all up. The cost of an item might seem higher than the grocery store, but the quality is greater.

In the end, the cost is comparable and sometimes less.

It makes sense. We are blessed with a powerful, efficient food system that produces two times more than we need. We buy cheap, throw out a lot and eat more than we should, resulting in waste, sloth and crummy food.

A shopping trip confirmed their strategy works. Here are a few tips for budget-minded eaters.

Soup and Sandwiches

Although a meat market and food store, The Goose serves ready-to-eat food. Food writers annointed their signature sandwich, the Batali, the best in Indianapolis.

The sandwich costs $6.95 (comparable to sandwiches at Au Bon Pain or Panera, but far more substantial).

Order the Batali, eat half of it with a cup of soup ($4.00) and save the other half for later.

Herbs

Goose’s herbs range in price from $2-$3 an ounce, while Marsh/O’Malias charge $2.99 for 3/4 ounce ($2.49 on sale). At the grocery store, you have to buy the entire package, use what you need and throw out the rest.

Buying only what I needed, rosemary cost 80 cents, saving me $2.19.

Panchetta

Time Magazine ran a fun article, “Recession Gourmet.”

Celebrity chefs, using the wisdom of centuries of thifty women, shopped and crafted gourmet meals for under $10. They used cheaper cuts of meat, bought fresh produce on sale and in season, and served pasta or grains flavored with small amounts of meat as main dishes.

Two of the six meals featured pasta and panchetta as the entree. Panchetta, an Italian flavor powerhouse, infuses the pasta with meat flavor. Although the per pound price seems expensive ($14.99), four ounces flavors enough pasta to feed four.

Panchetta, once hard to find, is sold at most grocery stores and Trader Joe’s. Panchetta at Goose is comparable in price to competitors, but quality is incomparable. Panchetta sold in grocery stores is pre-sliced and packaged in plastic. Goose slices when you buy it, so its flavor remains intact.

Spaghetti with Panchetta and Chili Flakes

local

When I moved to Indy, I had a hard time finding flavorful onions. Last week, Goose had red onions grown by local producer, Good Life Farms. More expensive than grocery store onions, they’re packed with flavor.

Carmelized onions are easy to make and tailor-made for freezing. I sliced the onions, chopped up some rosemary and carmelized them in a sliver of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil. Cooking them at low heat in the crockpot yielded 12 servings for a per cost of 29.5 cents. They were gone within a few days. I used them on zucchini omelets, lentil soup and pasta.

Goose is not bargain shopping in the good ole American sense of double coupons or buy- three-get-one-free, but they sell plenty of good-value products.

By not wasting food, you can save your pennies for one of Goose’s fabulous steaks.