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For years, I saved every Gourmet and food magazine that came into the house, and there were many. When we moved, I threw out a large collection, but of course the subscriptions didn't end. For several years now, I clip the recipes I might want to try and ditch the rest of the magazine. Usually I save the Thanksgiving, Christmas and Barbecue issues.
A couple times a month I actually cook something from these (by now) old clipped recipes. And sometimes there is a real winner. We were in New York last week and indulged a bit too much in food and beverages, and so ye old bathroome scale showed a couple of extra pounds. We find that eating soup is as good as dieting, so I dug out an untried soup recipe. Decent tomatoes were on sale, and the rest of the ingredients were cheap.
Like everything in French cooking, there was some pain involved, peeling, slicing, chopping, sieving, but the basic prep. was simple as I did other stuff in the kitchen during the actual cooking. Yesterday, we tasted the results, and again this noon. Ye gods, the soup had improved overnight. I mean tomato soup. How could it improve? Well, it did.
I hope you are shopping supermarket specials. I save $44.00 on a bill of $103.00 last Friday. I found the exact recipe at Epicurious. Don't let the list of ingredients intimidate you I used dried (from the garden) basil and had some dry fresh thyme. A well-stocked spice shelf is a cook's best friend.
Here is the recipe. If not now, try it when tomatoes are in season and your garden or farmer's market is bursting with them. Yum!
Provencal Tomato Soup with Rice
We ate it with croutons and a salad of avocado, white asparagus, cucumber and romaine.
For the frugal lifestyle, serving 4 with 2 porkchops rates pretty high. The other good thing about this recipe is that is calls for both cabbage and carrots, so not only are the colors pretty, but we all get our veggies. And it tastes super, with just the right amount of spiciness.
Here is the recipe: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/dining/03mini.html?scp=1&sq=japanese%20+%20chinese%20noodles&st=cse
I bought fresh noodles, but the dried would likely be much cheaper. Pork chops were on sale. Learn ways to compound your savings.
We are it for two nights. I sauteed some fresh spinach in garlic and ginger for the second night. Pineapples were on special, and we bought one, which is providing food for several meals. Tonight we ate it with fresh orange. Oh yes!
Think I'll make some chili this week. We didn't have any all winter. I did make a lot of soups, thought, and lots of ethnic meals. I have part of a roast that too small to really be a roast but I'll bet if I cut it into small dice it would make some kickass chili. We have dried ancho peppers in the house and also guallilo (?). Kidney beans, tomatoes, onions. What's not to like? I always make Southern cornbread with chili. No flour, no sugar, just pure southern cooking. So good
Bon Appetit!
The Cheeseparer
