Prices are rising and we're tightening our belts - but food doesn't have to be dull. Caroline Stacey dishes up a supper for fat cats and its money-saving alternative

It used to be infra dig to discuss money at the dinner table. With rising food prices making credit crunch cooks of the least penny-pinching shoppers, recipes for free meals made of left-overs have become conversational trump cards.

According to the latest Consumer Price Index, the cost of food has gone up 9.5 per cent in the past year. And when even the most cost-conscious cook doesn't want animal welfare and underpaid producers on his or her conscience, how can we save money on food without scouring the supermarket with calculator in hand and resorting to the cheapest of everything?

The food writer Fiona Beckett shows students how with her series of Beyond Baked Beans books and accompanying website beyond bakedbeans.com. Before her next book The Frugal Cook (Absolute Press) comes out in September she has been keeping a blog, thefrugal cook.blogspot.com, sharing her discoveries with cash-strapped gourmets. We should give more thought to how we shop, and what we cook and eat, according to Beckett and other ethical and economy-aware chefs and writers. "That load-up-the-trolley way of shopping is obsolete," Beckett insists. "You reach the middle of the week and have masses of food left."

With the cost of beef up 17 per cent, poultry 16 per cent, and lamb and pork not far behind with 14.6 per cent and 13.6 per cent price rises in the past year, meat has gone up more than most foods. But that's still no excuse for buying dirt- cheap chicken. Save by eating it less often and switching to unfashionable cuts; meat on the bone is cheapest. Barney Desmazery, the associate food editor of Good Food magazine, recommends chicken wings, which are considered a delicacy in Asia, pork belly for roasting, bavette or skirt steak, and for wonderfully tender stews, shin of beef and neck. Ham hock is a steal, too.

Butter has suffered a 31 per cent rise in the past year, but with even organic British butter cheaper than Anchor Spreadable, there's still every reason to buy the best and just eat less of it. The credit-crunch cook won't waste as much, either, which should bring a smile to Gordon Brown's face.

RICH DISH...

* PAN-FRIED DUCK BREAST WITH MANGO SALSA AND PAK CHOI.

Feeds 4.

Cooking time: 20 min.

Preparation time: 15 min.

2 mangoes Pounds 3.30.

Explore Food & Drink

• Gordon Ramsay

• Heston Blumenthal

• Recipes

• Wine

• Real Food

• Drinks

• Anjum Anand

• Eating Out

• Video Recipes

Times Recommends

• Top Ten most searched for recipes
• Chalet Chef 2010: the winning menus
• Gin and pomegranate jellies