The Cheeseparer

We visit Aldi

2012-02-04T17:40:00.000-08:00

In December, during a visit to Hudson, NY, we visited an Aldi supermarket. You may not know, but it is a German company, and when the owner died, he was the richest man in Germany. Aldi has been on our shores for a number of years and actually owns Trader Joe's.

We have a relative in Chicago who shops at Aldi, and when we found a store in Hudson we decided to check it out. Excellent Dresdener Stoellen, a famous German Christmas bread that usually has a famously high price, but Aldi's and Trader Joe's were excellent. We also found coffee (a pound plus) for $4.45 and it was excellent.

We discovered there is an Aldi 22 miles from us, not exactly a hop, skip and a jump, but within driving distance. Today, being out of coffee, we investigated the store, in Raynham.

Aldi is not like other stores. You pay a quarter for the shopping cart, and when you return it, your money is also returned. This takes away the need for the cart jockey roaming thru the parking lot. You also bring your own bags and boxes to Aldi to pack up your groceries, which you must do yourself. Payment is by debit card, cash or food stamps.

Are you getting the idea?

We grabbed the good coffee and also a dozen eggs ($1.49) and some butter cheese with dill. Admired the beef filets wrapped in bacon. A good deal with a fancy dan dinner at home. Canned goods were cheap. Also, stuff like rice in bulk packages. I didn't recognize any of the brands. They must have their own. Spotted an "All Natural" ice cream that looked good. We also bought 2 lbs of carrots and a chocolate bar. I picked up 3 scrubbing sponges for 99 cents and that was it. The produce looked pretty good. Someone probably from the local firehouse was buying in quantity.

Life every other store in the country, Aldi's had lots of chips and salsa. We think it would be a good place to shop once a month to stock up on staples.   It's not Trader Joe's (very limited selection of cheese), but the products were definitely cheaper than a regular supermarket. Hard to compare with Walmart, because Aldi's has their own brands. If they are as good as the coffee and the stoellen, you will want to try them.

Speaking of chips and salsa, I happen to like bean dip. It's an endangered species. Just plain old Fritos Bean Dip. Our local grocery doesn't carry it, and I have to trek to one of the big Shaw's or Stop 'n Shops. Just moving through the store is the equivalent of a workout. It cost $2.99. Salsa seems to have become the dip du jour, but I do confess to liking bean dip.

On Super Bowl Sunday, I could actually just go without, but Significant Other likes his chips and dip before the game. The Super Bowl party we were going to was cancelled, so we're staying in with our favorite Super Bowl Sunday Menu: Meatloaf with Marjoram, twice baked potatoes with sour cream and chives, buttered carrots and salad. I went all out and made a cranberry cake with a lemon glaze and a cranberry-orange compote. It rocks.   Made it for the holidays. Twice. That good.

Living in the Boston area we are naturally Patriot fans, and it will definitely be a white-knuckle stress-filled evening. One needs comfort food, yanno?

I'll report back on my next trip to Aldi. We'll sample a few more products. The cheese is good, by the way. The world would be greatly diminished without cheese.

On to more profound thoughts,

The Cheeseparer

What Is It With Meatballs?

2012-02-02T06:42:00.000-08:00

What is it about Meatballs? ©

Let's start with the basics. What is a meatball?

A meatball is made from an amount of ground meat rolled into a small ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as breadcrumbs, minced onion, spices, and possibly eggs. Meatballs are usually prepared and rolled by hand, and are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce.

Meatballs are an old food. The ancient Roman cookbook Apicius included many meatball-type recipes. Every cuisine contains meatballs, from the Afghans to the Vietnamese. Most everyone likes meatballs.

The word "meatball" has even entered the language as slang. In slang, unlike cuisine, meatballs get no respect. Meatball" is an insult for a stupid, clumsy or dull person. Meatball is also a slur for a woman who is short and stout. The Urban Dictionary has page after page of references to "Meatball," most of which I could not read aloud in public.

Meatballs have invaded the movies, too. "Meatballs" was a 1979 film; the first time Bill Murray had a starring roll. A recent kids movie I saw with my granddaughter is "Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs."

The folksinger Josh White wrote a famous song called, "One Meat Ball." It's about being poor, hungry, and ashamed.    Another song kids sing is: On top of spaghetti, which is really about a meatball.

What is it about meatballs?

My first memory of meatballs was as a ten-year-old living in Lakewood, Colorado. One day, out of the blue my mom, who hadn't an Italian bone in her body, made spaghetti and meatballs. I thought this was the tastiest food I had ever eaten. For years I begged her to make this dish again, but she seldom did. It was probably too much work. No canned sauce in those days. Certainly no frozen or prepared meatballs. Everything from scratch. My mom preferred to make fancy desserts.

On my first trip to Italy, I learned spaghetti and meatballs weren't on the menu, at least not together. I also learned pasta was eaten before the main course. The combination of spaghetti and meatballs is actually Italian-American, served in so-called red sauce restaurants.

Craving meatballs, I always sought out restaurants that served red sauce food. Once my husband and I and our two little boys were in Denver. I had always heard of a good Italian restaurant there, Smaldones, reputed to be owned by the Denver mob. We looked up the address in the phone book and drove over. Looked like a bar. Walked in anyway. Everyone in the place turned and looked at us. We were obviously "foreigners." That didn't stop the help from being exceptionally nice to our kids and us, too. We sat in a booth. They brought a high chair for the youngest kid. The pasta was excellent. Good Chianti. Tasty succulent meatballs. Cheap, too. We congratulated ourselves for being adventurous. The Smaldones are long gone, but the restaurant is still in business.

Another memorable meatball experience took place in Kendall Square. When I began working there, the Red Line T stop was a gaping hole in the ground, and the Marriott was under construction. A lot of cheap restaurants served MIT students and us working stiffs--the F & T Diner where the steelworkers drank Boilermakers on Friday, Alexander' s Cafeteria where the keypunch operators ate. Remember Key Punch? I thought not. Where I liked to go was Vinnie's sub shop. Meatball subs! Nirvana. A nice Italian roll with three golf-ball sized meatballs smothered in marinara sauce with a generous topping of cheese. Vinnie's was a typical place takeout with gruff men at the counter. Once someone asked for mustard on his meatball sandwich. Vinnie himself refused the request, "I'm not puttin no mustard on meatballs." Bravo, Vinnie.

My kids loved spaghetti and meatballs, too, and I made this more often than my mom, but not regularly.   Then I discovered the world's best meatball recipe, Sicilian meatballs. The ingredients are simple, and everything is fresh: parsley, garlic, grated cheese.

Swedish meatballs are also renowned. If you visit the IKEA cafeteria, you can eat tasty inexpensive Swedish meatballs. Don't miss the ligonberry sauce.   I have a handout for Swedish meatball recipes, too.

Sometimes I prepare a Mexican soup called "Abondigas."   Guess what? It has meatballs Pick up a recipe for that, too. If you have it, use fresh mint instead of cilantro. Albóndigas are thought to have originated as a Berber or Arab dish imported to Spain during the period of Muslim rule. Spanish albóndigas can be served as an appetizer or main course, often in a tomato sauce, while Mexican albóndigas are usually served in soup with a light broth and vegetables.

Did you know there are even vegetarian meatballs? A misnomer, to be sure. Maybe we should call then food balls. I made some and brought them along today.

So, what is it about meatballs?

What's not to like? They're tasty, cheap, not too hard to make. When you eat meatballs, you're eating culture and history, too, not just food.
Grab a recipe or two and whip up a batch. Your kids will love you. Let them help. You can even make tiny meatballs and put them on pizza. Now there's a thought. Food for thought.

Fellow Toastmasters, I hope I've given you some insight into meatballs.

Happy Chinese New Year

2012-01-27T18:41:00.000-08:00

Ah, the year of the dragon! We celebrated in style. Most years we celebrate the Chinese New Year chez Cheeseparer, a long family tradition dating back to when Nixon went to China and was served chicken and walnuts. The Chicago Tribune printed a recipe. So delicious we make it to this day. Simple, too.

This year we went with Szechuan cuisine, with Gong Bao Chicken and Spicy Szechan-style eggplant. Yummers. To cool the palate I made a salad out of iceberg lettuce and clementines, both on sale as was the chicken. And we had rice, of course. For dessert, something I hadn't made in years: pineapple fritters. Whole Foods had pineapples for $2.50 each, a great deal. We had it in fruit salad yesterday and the fritters today and there's enough fritter batter and pineapple for some breakfast fritters.

Here is the recipe for the main course: Gong Bao chicken

The peanuts add lovely crunch, and the red pepper and the Sichuan peppercorns add heat, but it's not so hot you have to move the tissue box to the table. There's enough left for a light dinner tomorrow. My eggplant recipe was for 2 eggplants, so I cut it in half. Both recipes called for ginger and garlic (both healthy seasonings) and I cut the garlic cloves and ginger root on the mandolin to get really thin slices.

I always keep soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and scallions on hand. Dried red chiles and Sichuan peppercorns, too.     Rice, a given. This means that with the inexpensive staples, we can have stir fry at the drop of a hat.   Shrimp, beef, and pork are good, too. Whatever is on sale, with whatever veggies are cheap at the market.

You know the drill.

Celebrate the year of the dragon with your own Asian feast. I use cast iron skillets instead of woks.

Saturday we're having goulash soup, one of our all time faves. A little beef or pork go a long way in soup, and it contains onions, celery, carrots and potato. Bell pepper, too. Sometimes tomatoes. It's easy to eat our veggies when we cook in other cuisines.

What cuisine have you cooked in lately?

The Cheeseparer

Paring Cheese

2012-01-25T11:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't been posting, alas, but I've been trying cheap new recipes, learning even better how to produce delicious meals from what's in the pantry, and cleaning out old emails, my desk, my file and trying to come into 2012 leaner if not meaner.

Tonight we're having a Mexican flavored chicken sausage (on sale and a coupon) with refried beans (in the pantry) and corn tortillas (in the freezer). I have some lettuce, and grated cheese to put on the bean tortillas. Only thing we bought was grape tomatoes which we needed anyhow. An orange salad (orange are cheap this time of year) will round out the meal. Tasty and cheap.

Repeat after me. Tasty and cheap.

Living Large In Lean Times

2011-12-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

The New York Times today has a review of Clark Howard's book, Living Large in Lean Times.     Lots of advice to hanging on to your money, and according to the review, some good, some weird.   It's been on the best seller list for a while, so you should have no trouble finding it, and maybe you can even get it used on Amazon, a practice I resort to occasionally, because I see MY book out there for sale, especially in MA where we live.   Sauce for the goose. If you have intimations of "saving money" as a New Year's resolution, you might want to dip into this book.

We returned from the grocery store with the Christmas roast, an expensive business to be sure, but no more than the organic turkey breast. We've having broccoli, salad, potatoes and apple cake for the rest of the dinner, so only the roast is pricey.

I'm making rice pudding from the old Betty Crocker cookbook. No eggs, and it cooks to a creamy, dreaminess that is so comforting without breaking the caloric bank. Not always easy to do.  Old Time Rice Pudding

Every week you should be saving 15-30% at the grocery store using coupons and specials. Try to do that. And try not to do what I did today, and buy a roll of heavy duty foil when I had just bought a new one.   Well, it was on sale and we'll use it next summer. Cold comfort.   Do you turn the thermostat down at right?   And also if you leave the house for the day? I hope so.    Paring cheese is in the details. No bargains on cheese at all in the grocery store. Trader Joe's is the place for cheap cheese. You may not even need to pare it.

Happy Holidays to all. Here is a photo of my mother-in-law with the Christmas goose, years ago, back in Germany.

Free Food!

2011-12-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

I once had a colleague who stated that the most beautiful words in our language were "free food." And all the time I had been thinking those words were "cellar door."

Whatever. We had an almost free meal tonight, and it's called turkey soup. It only takes a few minutes to remove the last scraps of meat from a turkey carcass. I froze it for later and later arrived. I also saved the turkey fat and have been using it in my chili and various other dishes. Almost like schmaltz, it was delicious.
I used old scallions, an odd shallot, and some chopped onion. Carrots leftover from last weekend. A celery stalk purchased today. Some baby bella mushrooms from Whole Foods. They left you buy however many you need, not a whole box. I cut up a small tomato and added that with some old cilantro and plenty of herbs and spices: thyme, oregano and paprika. Some dried chives. Added to cans of chicken broth, which were part of a BOGO (buy one, get one). I speak retail. Salt and pepper, of course. I cooked some small macaroni and added it when the soup was done. This was good stuff. Dinner for two (with seconds) and lunch for two. Guilt free. Lots of veggies. I tossed in a couple of the "on the stem" Brussels sprouts from Trader Joes. You dare not use too many or it will taste like Brussels Sprouts soup. '
We ate it with a salad of red leaf lettuce topped with yellow cherry tomatoes and some "campari" tomatoes. Both were on sale. Good whole grain baguette.
I am baking Christmas cookies and make some shortbread topped with mixed cocktail nuts. You can't believe how easy this is and how fast. I'll try to find the recipe. Of course the nuts were on sale, too. Mixed Nut Shortbread- fast, easy and good

I saved $36. at the supermarket today. How much did you save?

Meatless Monday

2011-12-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

If you're like me, you view vegetarian recipes askance. I was pleased to find one for our vegetarian guest at Thanksgiving, and lo, the good 'ol Boston Globe published another one recently. This was a real winner. Curried cauliflower and chick peas

It's your starch, your protein and your veggie all in one spicy package. I have a very hot Madras curry powder from Penzey's, so I only use 2 teapoons and it's plenty hot. I had used my fresh ginger up earlier, so I substituted ground ginger and this was also fine. Nothing tastes better with curry than (get ready) fried bananas. And nothing is faster. Allow one banana per person. Slice in half longitudinally, and in half again if the banana wants to break. Saute in a skillet in a little butter. Turn once. They cook REALLY quickly, and brown up nicely, too. I also had a small salad, but you may not need to, depending on family preferences.

We've had a hot appetizer recently that we've enjoyed several times. Our supermarket sometimes has a BOGO on pork tenderloins. This uses just one out of the package. It could also be a main course. Good for low-carb diets, too. Not real spicy, but the spice combo is good. Spanish Pork Skewers Good for a company meal. I have a tiny cast iron skillet that I brown the spices in. I also have (purchased cheaply) a coffee grinder than I reserve for grinding spices. A mortar and pestle is good for creating the garlic paste.

Try something new today, either meatless or meaty. Wake up your taste buds. Don't forget to enjoy!

Shop 'til You Drop - - - Not!

2011-11-27T08:37:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one who find's "Black Friday" a somewhat disgusting display of consumerism? And what is with all the incidents at Walmart? We are indeed Walmart shoppers for the cats, some grocery products, vitamins, cleaning products, and the like. But pepper spray? How ugly is that?

One Boston woman (who said she has little money) ran out and bought three TV sets. I have to tell you we only have one that works, with a second in the bedroom that is not cable ready and probably should be junked. Obviously we are weird. But in a good way. Weird in that we would not dream of sitting in line on a cold New England Night to buy an $18 waffle iron when we could be snug in a warm bed. Waffle irons are on sale all year. Unfortunately, the waffle iron that flips over into a griddle isn't made any more. It strikes me that the people who buy $18 waffle irons are the ones who buy frozen waffles anyhow. Personally, I like waffles made in my no-idea-how-much-it-cost-at-Kohls appliance with low-fat Bisquick. I dump a lot of berries in them and sometimes use part juice instead of milk and they're delicious.

Did you get yesterday's Turkey Croquette recipe? It's a winner. We are having them tomorrow, too. I love to cook for two meals. You get a day off with just a vegetable and salad.

There are NO ACORNS in New England this fall, and we've been feeding the squirrels the old Halloween pumpkins, the squash seeds from the Thanksgiving meal, and some corn. Dry bread. A relative brought a bushel basket of acorns from Long Island, and the little half-gray half-red squirrel busied himself with carrying a lot of them off. I hope he thrives. So small and cute. I have a photo but not yet on the computer. Will you settle for a cat wearing glasses? This cat is smarter than those people who are up all night buying cheap stuff they don't need.

Turkey Croquettes

2011-11-26T18:29:00.000-08:00

You probably already have the ingredients in the house this week. These are really good and hearty. If you don't have any turkey gravy left, buy some. Cranberry sauce (your own or canned) is a nice accompaniment as is a green vegetable or salad. This is an ancient recipe from The Chicago Tribune. I've been making it for years. Start mid-afternoon to allow plenty of time.

Turkey Croquettes:

3 slices whole-wheat bread, crusts off

1/4 cup milk

2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped turkey, white and dark meat

1 cup coarsely chopped onions

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 t. dried thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 cups seasoned bread crumbs (I use seasoned Panko)

3 T. chopped Italian parsley

2 T. paprika

3 T. unsalted butter, melted

Corn or other vegetable oil

2 T. unsalted butter

Turkey Gravy

1. Soak bread in milk for 10 minutes. Remove bread, squeeze dry and shred. Reserve.

2. In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups turkey, reserved bread, onions, eggs. thyme, salt and pepper. Toss well. Place mixture in a food processor (steel blade). Using pulse action, process until mixture is well-blended but not completely pureed. Fold in remaining 1 cup chopped turkey. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

3. Combine bread crumbs, parsley, paprika and melted butter in a 9-inch pie plate. Stir together with a fork.

4. Shape chilled turkey mixture into 6 patties. Coat in bread-crumb mixture and return, covered, to refrigerator for 1 more hour.

5. Place 1/3 cup oil and 1 T. butter in a large skillet. Over medium heat, cook croquettes 3 at a time 7 minutes on one side, 5 minutes on other side. They should be golden. (Keep warm in 300-degree oven.) Proceed with remaining croquettes, adding more oil and butter as necessary.

6. Serve hot croquettes immediately with heated gravy on top.

World's Second Best Stuffing Recipe

2011-11-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

Now remember: if it's not inside the bird, it's dressing. It's not stuffing unless you, well, stuff it! My mother made this. Save the recipe for next year. If you want to make it today, you are in trouble. All common ingredients, cheap to make, tasty, no weird stuff like mushrooms or oysters, so the kids will eat it and ask for seconds. I buy the el cheapo stuffing bread and slice it.

Earla's Old Time Potato Dressing (may also be eaten as we did in my childhood, as a stuffing). Ready in one hour. Serves six or more. From allrecipes.com by Lauren Buckner with a few changes by moi.

Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped fine
3/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup (or more) butter
1/4 turkey or chicken broth. I'm using vegetable broth.
8 slices day old white bread, cubed with crusts removed
3 cups mashed potatoes (you can cheat and use prepared dry potato flakes to make 3 cups)
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 t. poultry seasoning (I'll used fresh thyme, summer savory, and the herbs that constitute poultry stuffing).
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t. ground nutmeg (I always do fresh)

Directions:

1. In a skillet, saute onion and celery in butter until tender. Remove from the heat; stir in broth. In a large bowl, combine bread cubes, prepared potatoes, egg and all seasonings. Sir in onion mixture. If mixture seems dry, add more melted butter or broth. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 325 degrees F. for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the top is browned and a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. You can also put a little extra butter, salt and pepper on top and place under a broiler until browned and bubbly.

Hint: put in a shallow dish and you will have room for the stuffing AND the turkey in the same oven. A little extra onion or some shallots or green onion would not be amiss.

Farmhouse Curry

2011-11-06T20:10:00.000-08:00

Due to the power failure and having to cook all the defrosted chicken breasts, we missed a whole grocery shopping circuit. This week the aim was to a) do a moderate diet week, calorie-wise and b) not break the bank. So far so good. Whole chickens were on sale for 99 cents a pound and I bought one and roasted it with cumin and citrus last night. Most delicious with acorn squash and broccoli, all on sale.
Today I took the rest of the chicken off the bone, after putting aside a leg and a wing for lunch. My curry is made with onions, an apple, fresh tomatoes, chicken broth and chicken (would you believe all on sale?) along with lots of spices including, natch, curry powder. Our curry powder is hot! therefore I only use a fraction of what the recipe calls for. In this case, 2 teaspoons instead of 2 tablespoons. It still had a bit of heat. Served with white basmati rice, sauteed bananas, and some leftover broccoli from last night. Lots of lean meat and veggies, and great flavor with very little fat, not always the case.

This recipe is from The Artist's & Writer's Cookbook, a volume I acquired in the early days of marriage, and the particular recipe is by Anthony Powell, whom I later knew as the author of A Dance to the Music of Time. The book is long out of print, but it turns up here and there in various used book places. Artists & Writers Cookbook at Amazon

We have enough curry left for tomorrow, so I have got 6 entrees and 1 lunch out of a $4.00 chicken. Not bad. And both meals were delicious. Later on in the week we have some lean porkchops and 2 baskets of Brussels Sprouts, then some steak tips with carrots. Iceberg lettuce was also on sale, along with the pork chops and Brussels sprouts. I'm trying a new recipe with toasted pecans and dried cranberries. Sounds yummy.

In the morning when I come downstairs the house will still smell of curry. Indian food rocks!

The Cheeseparer

Chicken Time

2011-11-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

Chicken Breasts With citrus Pan Sauce

We experienced another power failure (3 days this time) due to the storm that came roaring through last Saturday night. As usual, the food in the freezer began to thaw after a couple days. I had a fresh flank steak to cook, and also some unfrozen shrimp. The following night we had the chicken breasts with citrus sauce. Very tasty. We ate some frozen broccoli and some frozen butternut squash with it. Formerly frozen. Formerly frozen ice cream is a mess, but still rather tasty. This is the 3rd food disaster, and you can only do what you can do. This time we just shoveled the snow into the cooler, but the house was 50 degrees and we burned a huge amount of wood in the fireplace. Cats parked themselves in front of it right away. Not so dumb.

I made chicken soup yesterday with the other thawed breasts. Added onion, noodles, carrots, celery, the formerly frozen peas and seasonings.   We ate it with Bisquik biscuits and a nice salad. Enough for tonight. One breast I merely cooked and re-froze. You can do that, you know.

This is very aggravating. The beautiful beech trees in our neighborhood took a huge hit. Oak limbs all over our yard. It's not so easy to use the grill when there's six inches of snow on the ground. At least we have the gas stove top. Those without gas are SOL. We had hot water, too. Well, it's a mess and everyone is getting fed up with National Off-the Grid, out hapless utility who seem to have forgotten the old adage: plan ahead.

Do try the citrus chicken. I think it rocks. I did this w/o using the oven, but the oven does it better.   As my Significant Other always says, in an emergency, the devil eat flies.    Whatever.

We'll have good cornbread with the 2nd meal of soup tonight, and then except for one ham steak and a re-frozen pizza, we're out of entrees.    Climate change is at hand. I think we better get used to it.

The Cheeseparer

Green Eggs and Ham

2011-10-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

We're having ordinary eggs and ham tonight. An 8 oz. ham steak is a wonderful thing to have in the fridge or freezer. They are frequently on sale. For the two of us, I just fry up the steak and scramble some eggs. If you have more than two, chop up the ham (not too finely) and toss it in with the eggs.

To make the meal a little special, yesterday I made some bacon and cheddar muffins. Took half to a housebound friend, and popped the rest into the freezer for tonight and the future. We also have a "special" salad of tomatoes, avocado and artichoke hearts, all purchased on sale as was the ham, the cheddar and the bacon.

Ocean State Job Lot, in the New England area, has a wonderful food section with lots of cheap stuff like imported pasta, artichoke hearts, capers, ethnic foods and all sorts of delicacies. We shop there often. They even have white asparagus and great imported saurkraut at bargain prices.

We got our flu shots today. Did you get yours yet? Many of the drugstores and even Walmart are offering them to walk-ins. Getting the flu and spending time away from work is not what you want to do. I know of several people who have been laid off because they got sick. Give yourself every advantage and stay well. That also means eating plenty of fruits and veggies. I buy bags of frozen berries and thaw a few out every morning for my cereal or on top of cottage cheese. That and a glass of o.j., and you're on your way to 5 produce helpings. You can always have a few cherry tomatoes and carrot sticks for lunch--maybe some items from the olive bar.

Didn't mean to preach. Don't you get weary from being preached at concerning your diet? Some of the foods recommended for weight loss make be gag at the thought. I am not really a tofu fan, although it is o.k. is soups and stir fry (if there is a bit of meat, too). Soup is a great way to get some extra veggies. So warming on a winter day. We woke up to snow on the ground this morning, but my nasturtiums seemed unfazed. Had already picked some coleus to root indoors and the four o-clock seeds (from the old plants) to use next summer.

The scrounger as well as the cheeseparer

Whither the Poblanos?

2011-10-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

I bopped into Shaw's Supermarket to pick up the on sale butternut squash, and decided to strafe by the International Foods. There I found the Verde Sauce, and plucked a can from the shelf. As expected, no poblanos. Whither the poblanos, New England?

The curried butternut squash soup was totally 100% delicious, a vegetarian delight for meatless Monday dinner. Yesterday I assembled my chicken enchilada ingredients. Opened the Verde sauce and tipped the spoon into it. Disappointment! Sort of a metallic taste but not much true flavor. Awfully thin, too.

Cheeseparer to the rescue. I broiled my peppers: Anaheim, jalapeno and mystery, and peeled and seeded them. Tasted the "mystery" pepper which the supermarket guy didn't recognize (New England, again) and didn't not know how hot it was. It was hot, hot, hot, so I only used half.

Into my trusty Cuisinart went the so-so verde sauce, a big handful of fresh cilanro, the peppers, some fresh from the garden dried oregano, and a pinch of cummin. A judicious amount of salt and pepper. Whirl away.

Tasted my concoction. Spicy but flavorful, with some resonance, which the canned sauce alone lacked. The enchiladas had the standard preparation. Sauce in the bottom of the baking pan. Stuffed with chicken, Mexican cheeses and a tablspoon of sauce. Rolled and placed in pan, and topped with remaining cheese and sauce. Ran a little short of cheese and used a bit of Parmesan. Cooking is an inexact art, except for baking.

Baked the enchiladas covered in foil for 35 minutes. They were delish. Served with refried beans from the can, just heated in a skillet, and a salad of tomatoes, lettuce and avocado. A nice Mexican meal.

The $4.50 chicken provided 6 main course servings plus a snack(leg) and a lunch (thigh). I already had everything in the pantry except the green sauce. Next time, I'll hope Whole Foods has tomatillos, or try MexGrocer.com for canned tomatillos. Still don't know what that spicy yellow pepper was. Ideas?
Tonight is the rest of the meal, a duplicate of last night's. Looking forward to it.

Keep a well-stocked pantry of provisions purchased when they are on sale. Like the 99 cent refried beans and the grated Mexican cheese. It can be used on other casseroles, too. You can eat well and frugally. Avocados and tomatoes were also on sale, as well the lettuce. Hot peppers are cheap.

Cheeseparing to the max, even without poblanos.

The Yin and the Yang of Home Cooking

2011-10-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

We all know (or should know) that eating at home is cheaper and also nutritionally sounder than eating out all the time. Yet, why is it so hard to plan menus, shop and prepare the food?

If we had unlimited time, budget and calories, then no problemo. But who does? Anyone who has time and budget constraints and a desire not to increase in girth has some real juggling to do.

At Chez Cheeseparer, we have all these limits, plus we love food. If you “ate to live” there would be one less ball to juggle. Here’s how we go about it the process of shopping and cooking.

First, I pore over the weekly specials in the flyer of the stores where I shop most. This helps with menu planning and money saving, because you can center your menu around the produce and meat sale items. This week, for example, whole chickens and chicken breasts were on sale, as well as cranberries, all varieties of squash, pears and apples. Oh yes, and avocados.

Southern Cornbread

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans - yum!

I decided to roast a chicken on Sunday, and save the leftover for chicken enchiladas on Tuesday. On Monday, we’ll have curried butternut squash soup. Maybe on Wednesday, too. An omelet on Thursday and I can scrounge in the pantry (always well stocked) on Friday. Keep your eye on the calendar for nights where time is short (for us that’s Monday) or you’ll be eating out. None of the my selections are complicated, and they are all tasty. A cinch, right?

Wrong! The store has no poblano peppers for the verde sauce for the enchiladas. I make some substitutions but when I arrive in the Mexican aisle there are neither canned tomatillos and nor verde sauce. I will have to go to another store. On Tuesday, I’ll be in Wellesley and can stop by Whole Foods which will likely have poblanos, maybe even tomatillos and/or some canned tomatillos or sauce. By now, I am mentally committed to enchiladas verde, one of my faves in the world of Mexican food.

Tomorrow we will trek to Walmart before my soup coupons expires. They sell for $1.50 per can what everyone else sells for $2.38. Plus I can save 25 cents off per can with the coupon. We had an expiring coupon for cat food at Petco today, too. Thisbe is diabetic and has to eat “Atkins for kitties” food, low on carbs, high on protein. I jump through hoops to get it.

So what we have this week is a shopping time suck, a decent budget and moderate calories. I have done pretty well, and we have replenished the pantry after a) Hurricane Irene and b) a two-week vacation. The larder was pretty bare when we got home.

Tonight we are eating the pictured meal, Puerto Rican rice and beans and homemade Southerns corn bread with stone ground corn meal, no white flour, no sugar. So good, so healthy. No problems with that meal except I almost burnt the beans. Did not set the timer, always a mistake. A portable kitchen time can save you endless headaches and burnt food.

Eat hearty and well,

The Cheeseparer

The Ultimate Tuna Noodle Casserole

2011-10-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Tuna noodle casserole is a homey thing. When I was in college, a group of friends would all pitch in 50 cents and someone would buy a package of noodles, a couple cans of tuna and a can of peas. It probably wasn't very good, definitely NOT gourmet, but we liked it anyhow.

Chez Cheeseparer, we still like it, and the basic ingredients still apply, but we've added a few touches to make the whole business super tasty. The following recipe is for 3/4 pound of noodles. I usually use thick or medium.

Brown 1/3 cup diced onions and 1/3 cup red or green pepper in one T. butter or oil. If you don't have fresh pepper, I have successfully substituted dried pepper flakes, maybe a tablespoon. When the veggies are soft, add one T. flour and stir well. Let cook for a minute or two. Add 3/4 cup milk (2% is fine) and cook and stir until the mixture begins to thicken. Add 1/4 cup cream (heavy or half-and-half or whatever). Cook until thick and then add 2 cans packed-in-olive-oil drained tuna, broken up. Cook and stir some more, then add 3/4 cup frozen peas, thawed. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and a small pinch of cayenne. Each ingredient adds a bit of resonance. Check seasoning and if the sauce is too thick, thin with a bit of milk or cream.

Cook noodles according to package directions (make sure to add salt) until done, but they will cook some more, so they should not be overdone. Drain.

Put drained noodles into a greased 2 qt. casserole, and stir in the tuna sauce, mixing well. Sprinkle crushed potato chips on top the casserole, covering thoroughly. This really adds to the whole. If you are (horrors!) out of chips, use 3/4 cup buttered panko crumbs. You can also mix chips and crumbs if you don't have quite enough of each.

Put this into a 350 degree oven for about half an hour. Serve with a green salad and a green veg. We like both broccoli and green beans with this. Serves 4-6 depending on appetites. Two people can enjoy a second dinner and maybe even lunch. It just gets better every day.

I always buy the Italian tuna packed in in olive oil, but the cheap kind probably works as well. The cans have shrunk and now only have 5 ounces instead of 6. Boo! If you are feeling extrvagant, you could use 3 cans. We make do with two.

This recipe calls for a basic white sauce which is butter and flour in equal quantities and milk. You should know how to make this and any cookbook can offer more details. Do not use canned soup--it won't be anywhere near as good. Avoid processed foods whenever possible. This is not to suggest you catch your own tuna and make your own noodles, although the result would certainly be very toothsome.

Tonight I am making a peasant fave, Puerto Rican rice and beans. Yum!

Must Have Been Bedbugs

2011-10-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

An Welcome Guest Just About Everywhere

Yesterday as I was dropping off the must-be-dry-cleaned vacation clothes, about a dozen HUGE plastic garbage bags sat on the floor of the dry cleaners. The clerk told me these bags all had to be sorted and another employee was coming in to help. I noticed there were gym shorts and t-shirts and similar clothing items on the counter--stuff one would not ordinarily send to the cleaners and this is definitely a cleaners--the only thing they launder is shirts.

The pile was so huge that I wondered if we dumped out all the chests, closets, etc. if we would have that much stuff. The clerk also said they had towels in there. My writer's mind tried to devise all sorts of scenarios for leaving every piece of fabric that you own at the dry cleaners and after some really bizarre speculation, it came to me.

These folks must have bedbugs! I mean, what else could it be? The clerk was somewhat mum about the reason for this large dumping of everything into the bags and bringing them in. Maybe he knew and didn't want to say.

Of course now I'm not too keen on having our stuff in the same room at the bed buggy stuff.    I mean, what if they decide to, well, to migrate?

It was really weird. When I go in to pick up our clothes, maybe I will ask. Don't expect to get an answer.

We had our own disaster, no, not the washing machine but the basement fridge. It must have crapped out while we were gone. The cat sitter didn't notice, nor did S.O. when he put the meat in the freezer compartment. When I went to grab the orange juice yesterday, there was a totally disgusting smell and all the meat ($25) we bought on sale last week was rotten. An event to break a cheeseparer's heart. I told Significant Other that we would have to eat five vegetarian meals to make up for it. He agreed, and the first meal will be a Spanish soup of cabbage and white beans. Sounds good.

This is so aggravating. I think we were so sick that no one noticed. A head cold can make you really dense and stupid.   Hoping no more appliance incidents mar the fall. The fridge was at least 25 years old, but not to notice! I mean really. The lemons were all rotten! Big Clue!

I harvested the seed from the Four O'Clocks to plant next year. It's always great getting free plants. They did great this year, and provided lots of late season color. The garden is still pretty with the cleomes, morning glories, and regular flowers blooming. We're eating the last cucumber from 2 plants that were amazing in the fecundity.

The good stuff and the bad stuff all evens out, somehow. But I am still exercised about the ruined meat.

Yours in Frugality.

The Cheeseparer

Frozen Leftovers Save Your Life

2011-10-11T16:21:00.000-07:00

Due to Hurricane Irene, we had a bare freezer, but not for long. I stocked up on a bit of meat, a couple frozen pizzas, and some frozen fruit. Oh yeah, ice cream. I also stuck a few homemade items, dinner for two into the freezer that we didn't eat. Then we went off to Spain and Portugal for two weeks.

Ham What Am

Came home with bad colds, really bad colds, and did not feel like a) shopping b) cooking or c) much of anything. Imagine my delight when I found some frozen Swedish meatballs, pork chops, and even some yummy chicken breasts with a sauce of Apple Jack and apples. Died and gone to heaven. We had a goodly stock of canned peas and I did make it to the store for salad fixins'. This has been a life saver. We don't really even feel like going out and hacking, coughing and blowing our collective noses.

Getting a big better now. Spain and Portugal were . . . how do I say . . . worth catching a bad cold for. We had not expected such thoroughly modern countries, with good roads, good plumbing, good infrastructure. And the food! Those Spanish hams can't be beat. Wonderful inexpensive white wines. A dish of olives at almost every meal. The food was relatively cheap, at least where we ate. Museums were also cheap. At the Prado in Madrid, they wouldn't accept our senior ID's because we didn't belong to the European Union. Alas!

I will have more later on cheeseparing while traveling, that discusses more than taking the soap and the shampoo.    The paradores in Spain all had weird grape-scented toiletries that smelled like grape gum, the kind that drove my husband batshit when the kids were little. I didn't take any of that.    We also noticed the breakfast buffets had cereal like cocoa puffs. Hmmm. I saw adults eating it. The world is a strange and wonderful place.

More Anon.     And I'll tell you about the most BIZARRE sight today at the dry cleaners.     A mystery inside an enigma. I 'm still trying to puzzle it out.

The Cheeseparer, back at last with traveler's tales.

Post-Irene Food

2011-09-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

We were whomped by Hurricane Irene. Had made the usual prep of cooking up a couple ahead-of-time meals, and checking all the flashlights and lanterns for working batteries. Got out the old hurricane lantern (aptly named) and filled it with lamp oil, checked the wick (new). Put out bird food and forgot to bring in the Hummingbird feeder.

Sunday, the wind began rising at 6:30 a.m. I got up and made a batch of pesto Geneovese (using blender) using basil picked from garden the day before. Ran the dishwasher. Laundry all done on Saturday. Hunkering down. We were watching CNN at 10:30 when the lights went out. They came back on Wednesday evening. In the meantime, everything in the freezers (2 fridges) had defrosted. We ate the prepared meal by candle light on Sunday, and Monday we grilled the thawed steak as shish kebabs. Delicous. Ate them twice.   I cooked A LOT of defrosted chicken breasts and we had chicken pesto and also chicken parm without sauce.   The only foods ruined were a pizza that melting ice had leaked into (el disgusto) and some leftovers that I was just as happy to pitch. Fed the once-frozen bananas, saved for banana bread, to the cows.

We have a gas stove that can be lit with a match with the electric ignition doesn't work and a gas water heater, so we were among the lucky ones. Those with their own wells or an all-electric (or oil) house took cold showers and went for takeout. In 1985, during Gloria, we were among those, and cooked on a one-burner camp stove and the Weber Kettle.   One can actually do with less, dontchaknow?

A huge oak fell across the wild flower garden (boo hoo) and I won't know how bad the damage is until it is removed. Hoping the removal doesn't do more damage than the tree falling.

During the storm, the hummingbirds swooped and flew and appeared to be having a high old time. They drained their feeder which had no damage.   The other birds found their old feeders about four feet nearer the ground and of course some enterprising creature dragged the suet feeder off. We have another one, which the raccoons raid often, but we have large families of flickers, downy and hairy woodpeckers, all with babies, so we try to keep the suet coming.

It is nice to have a clean fridge, and the Highland Scottish cattle received some of the contents of the freezer such as old bread and a huge package of flour tortillas (ick!) that someone left here.

I made some peach ice cream a few days ago. Lots and lots of peaches. We ate the remainder of the ice cream for lunch as soon as the lights went out.   So our losses were minimal.

Now we are eating up last fall's winter stores: Spam, tuna fish and corned beef hash. I'll replace them in a couple of months. The Low Salt Spam was totally delicious. We ate it with baked beans gussied up with onion, tomato, and bacon last night.

So yours truly is feeling pretty frugal and with the power out went to the discount Tuesday movie, The Help, and the first run non-discounted movie, The Debt, both pretty good. Only missed one Red Sox game.   We had a battery powered radio. You are ready for a big storm, aren't you? Having light, batteries, radio, food and emergency supplies can make all the difference.

Oddly enough, the cats were kind of freaked out by the experience, and did not spend any time in the dark basement home office but came upstairs to bask in the lamplight. I washed the dishes as we used them, and drained them on a towel on the counter. Worked fine. First thing I did when the power came back on was run the dishwasher. Yay!

We are eating a lot of cucumber salad, as the garden has an abundance of cukes. Cukes and basil are the current harvest. Ate all the lettuce. Also have a huge supply of oregano, which I will dry and sage, which hangs around until the coldest part of the winter.

Onward, onward. After the lights came back on, we had a day of respite and then the Internet crapped out for 4 days. 8 of 9 days with poor or no Internet. We did get wi-fi at the neighboring library and Starbucks when the power was out in our town.   So: the tree didn't hit the house, we coped pretty well and consider ourselves lucky.

The Cheeseparer

The cosmetics counter and traveller's tales.

2011-08-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

It is possible to spend ungodly amount of money on cosmetics and toiletries. One thing I like is the web sites that rate these items. They make it possible to avoid an expensive mistake. Beauty Survival is one example. I shop off and on at a discount mall which does have a cosmetics store selling Clinique, Estee Lauder and a few other brands. Items are about 15-25% off. There are a lot of "testers" open which helps. I have also become a Walmart shopper and usually buy shampoo and other sundries there.   Sales at the local drugstore and an occasional purchase on the web round things out.

If you find a lipstick, etc. that you absolutely love, buy in quantity because you never know when these items will be discontinued. At the discount store, I will always take the empty lipstick tube and try to find a close match. This works pretty well.

We were in San Francisco last fall and I ran out of moisturizer.   There was a busy, cramped Walgreens across from the hotel, and I perused the shelves for a smallish size of moisturizer that did not cost and arm and a leg. Found Aveeno, and you know what? It's really good and I recently bought another bottle. It's a fraction of the cost of some "name" brands. I also like the Jergens product that promises you give you a slight tan. Don't think it does, but I like it anyhow.   Both of these items come in small sizes that I like to use for travel.

My parents, bless them, who always traveled by car, carried a humongous cosmetics case with giant industrial sizes of hair spray, deodorant, etc. Huge bottles of shampoo. Of course, now every motel has the sample sizes. When I travel, I carry ziplop plastic baggies to tote these items home in. They are nice to give to homeless shelters and even food banks. Or use on your own if you're staying in frugal places like Microtel. I do like Microtel, because they operate on the theory that a travel needs a place for everything, and I find their rooms very convenient and the prices, too. We are more likely to carry our breakfast or find a local cafe to pick up some local color.

The Inn where we stayed in Nantucket actually had delicious blueberry muffins, obviously homemade, and good orange juice and decent coffee. How often does that happen?   The Brant Point Inn. Friendly people and we got a last minute suite for 4 that didn't quite break the bank.

I have rambled a bit. It is possible to save on cosmetics and breakfast but not Nantucket inns in August. We go to the Cape for one weekend in the winter and stay cheaply which evens things out. With the economy tanking again, the staycation will resurface. So much to do in Boston in the summer that it's not really onerous, and with restaurant week you can even eat cheap(er).

There is a sales tax holiday this weekend. I may buy some catfood. It has gone up and now even Walmart wants 54 cents a can. My diabetic cat needs certain flavors in one brand and dry food I can only get from the vet. I love my kitties but they are a definite luxury. The ginger cat has taken to sleeping on a leather ginger pillow. He's relentless in seeking out luxurious spots for napping.   The down duvet, mostly. Cats aren't dumb.

Onward,

The Cheeseparer

David Eyre's Pancake

2011-08-10T08:56:00.000-07:00


David Eyre's "Hawaiian" Pancake

A while back, the New York Times Food section asked readers for their all time favorite recipes. The response was overwhelming, and this was one of the best. We lived in Illinois at the time, but got the Sunday Times. I made it immediately, as apparently did many others. The next week, there came a retraction. 4 Tablespoons, not 8 of butter. The following week, more comments, mostly to the effect that 8 T. of butter was just fine, thank you. This is cheap to make but today for 4 people, I made three. Two regular size, and a small half-size (2 T. of butter). Please use real butter--stock up when it's on sale and freeze. Freshly grated nutmeg is best, and for heaven's sake use an honest-to-god lemon, not store-bought lemon juice. Yuck! I just use generous squeeze of lemon, and also, maybe somewhat less powdered sugar. Experiment until you find the exact right proportion for your family. Cast iron works best. Flour, milk, and eggs. What could be simpler?

Here is the link to the recipe and some of the history, etc. Life is good. David Eyre's Pancake

Easy Italian

2011-08-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

I found a super-easy recipe for focaccia that is ready from start to finish in 2 hours. My kind of bread. Here is the link. Tasty and Quick Focaccia It's very forgiving. The supermarket had "very quick" but not "instant" yeast, so I used that. Also baked it at the wrong temperature. I didn't have the cheese whatever or the pizza spice so I used about 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan and some "Florentine" seasoning from Penzeys. Came out just fine. Makes a lot but you will eat a lot. Our entree was a pasta dish.

Cook 8 oz of your favorite pasta. While it is cooking. slice 4 garlic cloves thinly and put to simmer in a skillet with 2 T. olive oil. When the garlic is golden, add 8 oz. cherry tomatoes and saute until just bursting. When the pasta is done, drain and add to the skillet along with 1 T. chopped fresh basil. Serve with parmesan cheese. So good and fresh and if your garden is producing, you have a cheap meal. Cheap does not have to mean processed food or flavorless. Nope. Not at all.

The Cheeseparer

Potatoes to Die For

2011-07-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for a while due to 1) preparing to go to camp, 2) being at camp 3) a trip to the big Apple and 4) laid up with sciatica. If you like you can add falling behind in everything and a young houseguest to the mix. The houseguest is a vegetarian and us carnivores work around that in various ways. The simplest way is to prepare a vegetarian meal, and here is a good one:
Southwest Potatoes

With cilantro from the garden, grated cheddar on sale, and so forth, this really rocked. Today I'm making sweet corn and basmati rice salad. This is a winner that I make every summer. Here is the link: Sweet Corn and Basmati Rice Salad

Corn is ridiculously cheap these days, and I have pecans from Georgia relatives. Went to Whole Foods for the cress, as they always have some. Other supermarkets iffy.

Last night we had panzella, a tomato bread salad with mozzarella balls that also satisfies. I'm going to eat the soggy remains for lunch.

On the bad news front, the chipmunks and even the birds are eating the tomatoes. When I left for camp, there were lots of cherry tomatoes on the vines. None when I returned. Significant Other professed not to have eaten any. Somebody sure did, and it wasn't the neighbors. I have oregano for the masses, and good basil. Parsley has been tempermental this year, and mint is out of control. Lots of cleomes reseeded themselves from last year, and the Four O'Clock seed I gathered in Boston's North End is doing great.    Garlic harvest sparse. Cukes growing like crazy. Every year is different and one learns to roll with the blows. Some of the tomatoes got the blight, and now we may not get any unless I can find a hiding place from the critters. Grrrrr. So it goes and whatever.   And did I mention I gained all the weight I lost back?

The Cheeseparer

A Mllion Dollar Berry Dessert

2011-06-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

Whether you pick your own, grow your own, and shop the supermarket specials, this dessert is soooo good. It is from this month's (July, the Grilling Issue) Bon Appetit.

Macerated Berries with Vanilla Cream - serves 6 (I cut the ingredients by 1/3 to serve only 4).
Berries:
6 cups fresh mixed berries (scant 2 lbs., divided)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh (used o.j. from the dairy case) orange juice

Vanilla Cream
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chilled heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar

Berries: Using a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon, (I used the tool to cut butter into pastry) mash 1 cup berries with sugar and orange juice in a large bowl until sugar begins to dissolve. Gently stir in remaining 5 cups berries, let sit a room temperature, tossing occasionally until berries are juicy, 1 -2 hours.

Vanilla cream: Scrape seeds from vanilla bean in to a medium bowl. Add chilled c ream, sour cream and sugar. Using a whisk or an electric mixer, beat until soft beaks form.

Do ahead: cream can be made 30 minutes ahead. Cover and chill.

This dessert has huge bang for the buck. The vanilla cream is to die for, and the berries look luscious in the red juiciness. Perfect end to a nice dinner party or a family dinner.

I used an ancient vanilla bean and will have to order more. I always go to Penzey's for spices. They're the best. www.penzeys.com.

Retro Recipes with Chicken

2011-06-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

These recipes never heard of the food pyramid, or the nutritional enlightment. They remain ignorant of the food police. Both are cheap (when chicken is on sale, as it usually is) and tasty and make delicious leftovers.

I got the recipe for "Chicken Little" at my first job in Northbrook, Illinois in the early 80's. I loved to make it for my family, because the little kids scarfed it down and asked for more. Rich? Yeah. Simple ingredients that you do not have to shop all day for.

Chicken Little:

1 stick butter;1 cup uncooked rice; 1 medium onion, chopped; 2 cans chicken broth; 2 lbs. (approx) small chicken pieces.
Process: Melt butter. Pour into a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish. Add rice, onion and broth. Lay chicken pieces on rice mixture. Bake uncovered one hour @ 350 degrees. Serves 4.
If you want to gussy it up, sprinkle with parsley or rosemary or thyme.
Easy as pie, no, easier.

Chicken-Cashew Casserole. My mom made this and it always tasted so good to me as a kid. I think it dates to the early sixties, maybe earlier--that age of Campbell's soup creation. The only change I make is to use fresh mushrooms. I always thought I hated mushrooms until I tried fresh ones and discovered they weren't the slimy things out of a jar/can that I found so disgusting.

Stew 1 whole chicken.   Do not stew the little bag(s) of giblets that come inside the chicken. No indeed. If you don't know how to stew a chicken, look it up.
Mix one small diced onion, a cup diced celery, 1/4 cup diced green pepper, 3/4 cup uncooked rice, 1 can mushroom soup, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 2 cups chicken broth (from the stewing will work) and 1 can whole mushrooms (substitute fresh, please!)
Mix in the stewed now skinless chicken which you have in the meantime removed from the bone and cut into small chunks. This whole business (chicken, veggies and soups) goes into a 2 quart casserole with a lid. Make sure to stir until everything is nicely mixed.
Bake covered for 1 hour 10 minutes at 350 degrees F. Remove from oven and sprinkle 1 cup cashews on top. Bake 20 minutes more, uncovered. Serves about six. It is hard to stop eating this. Just tastes so good.
If you are a nervous cook, buy a rotisserie chicken and remove the skin (I recommend eating it) and take the meat off the bones and cut up. Proceed with the recipe.

In the midwest, these recipes would be called chicken hot dish. And remember, canned mushrooms are the devil's spawn.

Tacos Tonight

2011-06-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

This is likely a repeat of the post, "The Best Tacos You Will Ever Eat." Houseguests this week, one of them a vegetarian, and we try to accommodate everyone, so last night I made two skillets of fried rice, one with leftover roast pork, one without. The vegetarian ate a whole serving bowl of the stuff, so I guess it tasted good. Tonight is tacos, with the filling in two skillets--one with peppers, onion and black beans, the other with grilled steak, peppers, onions and black beans. Seasonings, too, of course.

I found some $1.25 dishes at Ocean State Job Lot that have three dividers. Bought two of them. I always serve grated cheddar, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, avocado, sour cream, scallions, and cilantro to sprinkle on the tacos. Also hot sauce. These are primo. And so not break the bank. The only thing we have to get at the store is the avocado and the jalapeno. Of course, I always use good corn tortillas, with the taste of Mexico, not gringo flour tortillas, the devil's spawn IMHO.

I find much to weep about at places like the Chipotle, and Quedoba, (think I have mispelled) who only seem to have flour torillas or the pre-made crispy corn tortillas from a box. This is the worse Californication of Mexican food, a downright abomination. With fat and sugar and no fibre, whereas corn tortillas have no fat, no sugar and plenty of fiber. Nutritionally superior and the have, gasp, flavor!!!! End of rant.

My aunt always said, "it takes all kinds of people to make a world." She was from Iowa, and worked on Boeing bombers during the war, a real Rosie the Riveter.

I cook everything in iron skillets. Good for the biceps, too.

Hasta la vista, baby!

A Cheap Dinner with an even Cheaper Lunch

2011-06-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last night I chopped up a grilled pork chop. Set some onion to saute in the pan, added the pork chop with a handful of diced grape tomatoes. Seasoned with cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper. I added about 1/3 can of refried beans and kept the heat medium low.

Meanwhile, I cooked 4 corn tortillas in oil, and cut up the following: scallions, cilantro, radish, tomato, mild cheddar, and lettuce. When the pork chop glop was hot, we sat down at the table and concocted our own tacos. I also put the sour cream and the salsa out. Boy was it tasty!

Today for lunch, I cooked 3 tortillas (two for Significant Other, one for me). Heated another 1/3 of the beans in the microwave: served lettuce, tomato, chopped fresh mozzarella, radish and cilantro. Also sour cream and salsa. It was the last bits of lettuce, cheese, radish and cilantro. Drank a glass of white wine with the feast on the deck, admiring garden and the tuberous begonias which are blooming like crazy. Delightful meals.

And so cheap!

In the oven right now is orange yogurt bread. We'll eat 2 slices tonight and freeze the rest for company. This has become one of my go to quick breads. Find the recipe on this link. This food blogger has other good recipes, too. Orange Yogurt Bread I use whatever Greek yogurt is on sale. 0 % fat is fine, 2% is even better. This bread keeps well and is popular with guests and family.

The other food item on the agenda is: Lemon-Lime Ice Milk from Epicurious. the Plum Streusel-pie is good too, but we really go for the ice-milk. Here is the Epicurious link. Many of their recipes are a) easy and b) don't break the bank. Almost always tasty. Try it! Luscious Lemon-Lime Ice Milk

An American Take on an old German Fave: Rote Grütze

2011-06-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

Red Groats in a cut glass bowl on the dining room table

One of the best things about being a tourist in Germany in the summer is eating the dessert Rote Grütze, literally translated as "Red Groats." The best is found at Leysieffer in Osnabrück, Sylt and Berlin. You can even buy a container to take home.
Now this delicacy is made with red currants, and maybe some currant juice as well as raspberries and strawberries. I don't know if you have a currant bush, but we do not and the little red buggers are $4.99 for a piddling small box if you can find them at all. Sooooo. What to do?
I have solved the problem by devising my own Americanische Rote Grütze.   This is not authentic but it's very good.
Take a cup or more of frozen cranberries, 2 cups of rhubarb cut in 1 inch pieces and cook together in a tiny bit of water and a squeeze of lemon juice and maybe 1/3 cup sugar. Cook until the berries have popped and the rhubarb is soft but still in recognizable shapes. Add a cup of so of fresh red cherries and a 1 1/2 cups of fresh strawberries. Add more sugar to taste and cook until the berries are soft. Cool, chill and serve with whipped cream.
This is a dessert called compote, which is high in all those good-for-us red fruits, hell, it's all red fruit except for the necessary sugar. Don't over-sweeten. A bit of tartness is good.
This time of year with cherries and strawberries on sale is a good time to make Rote Grütze. I keep cranberries frozen from year to year. Raspberries, if reasonable, are a tasty addition. Antioxidants up the yingyang. Soooo healthy.

Soup From A Nail Revisited

2011-06-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

We did the chicken soup from nothing again this week. Found one lone chicken breast and a neck and a backbone in the freezer. Made stock from the bony parts (I add carrot, onion, bay leaf and some cilantro along with salt and pepper.) While the stock simmered, I sauteed the breast in a skillet in olive oil with only salt and pepper.

During the time everything was cooling, I peeled and chopped the two carrots and diced up the rest of the onion. Found a few peas in the freezer. Things were coming together. Chopped up a dried tomato, and some more cilantro. Think color. Sauteed the veggies for a few minutes.

Strained the broth and added chicken and vegetables. Cooked until carrots were tender. Added more salt and pepper. And a can of chicken broth.
Cooked some very fine (as in narrow) noodles in water to which a bouillon packet had been added. When they were done, put the noodles in the soup. It also tasted very fine, not hearty, but substantial enough for dinner. Being on a diet, we ate it with salad and breadsticks. I favor the skinny ones, grissini, because you can eat quite a few without blowing the carb or the calorie count.

The old folk tail, soup from a stone, or soup from a nail, or soup from whatever charmed me as a kid. Here is the Wikipedia link.

Soup From a Nail

Salade Niçsoise, a dieter's dream

2011-05-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

Tastes and colors both terrific!

Tonight, on a 90 degree day in New England, we ate a cold supper of Salade Niçoise. I had ambition to grill some tuna, but the store didn't have any, which made me think it was probably twenty dollars a pound and this would be neither a cheap nor a frugal meal. So I bought some nice Italian tuna in oil--it has a great flavor and I drain as much of the oil off as I can.
Procedure: line a big platter with lettuce leaves. In the middle, put two cans of Italian-style tuna in oil, well drained. Surround the tuna with vegetables dress is an oil and vinegar dressing. We had: green beans, tomatoes, red pepper, olives, artichoke hearts and garbanzo beans. And two hard-cooked eggs. Potatoes are traditional, but I must have put them in the wrong grocery cart.
I served this with bread sticks, and we had guilt-free seconds and there is enough left for lunch. All in all, a satisfying find.
From it's name, I assume the salad comes from Nice. We ate it many years ago on the Rivera, and it was a crazy lunch with a whole bottle of wine (yikes) and many female topless diners. Well, you know. France is France.

I lost another pound and must behave this week because we're having a dinner party on Saturday with a high carb salad/veg and homemade chocolate ice cream.
We've been eating fruit salad with oranges, cherries, raspberries, and peaches and I can't tell you how good it is. Everything on sale, of course.
The lettuces in the garden will soon be eating size and we are already munching on the fresh herbs. Tomatoes and cukes coming along. Flowers pretty. Mosquitoes hungry and plentiful. Our little Eden does have its varmints.

Aloha!

The Cheeseparer

Rethinking Diets

2011-05-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

The weight loss has been minimal. Probably too much wine and then there's the dark chocolate after dinner. Significant Other has lost 5 pounds, but I'm only down 2. We had steak (leftover) and eggs for breakfast with slices oranges and blueberries. Truly delicious, but diet? Who knows? Ate the first lettuces from the garden that reseeded themselves this spring. Do not decline what nature offers. Free lettuce? Yes!

I'm still not ready for the spray on "I can't believe it's not butter." I sure as hell can believe it's not. There is a time in life when one becomes too old to believe all the lies we hear daily.

The sun rose bright and shiny this morning, for the first time in literally weeks. Even bad news on the scale cannot impinge on my good mood. We'll definitely go for a walk. I have the season's first mosquito bite and am hoping it's not one of those toxic mosquitoes bearing awful diseases. Sprayed myself thoroughly to work in the yard, but he found a spot under the watchband. Go figure.

We have yummy (for them) stuff to feed the Highland cattle. No calves this spring. Boo hoo! I do believe the old cows "cowed" the young bulls.

Here is a spring tonic: find a friend with some rhubarb and bum a few sticks. Chop up, cook with a little sugar, a very small amount of water, and any other red fruits you can find. Strawberries and blueberries and even raspberries are on sale here this week. A few frozen cranberries add pop. Some grated orange rind does likewise. Cook until all the fruits are soft and if you added too much water, thicken with a bit of cornstarch stirred into cold water and added to the fruit. Let cool, chill and serve for dessert. Good over cottage cheese. A spoonful or two even works on shredded wheat. Or on ice cream, but we're into low-fat frozen yogurt these days.

Onward,

The CheeseParer

Good Diet Meals

2011-05-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

What is a good diet meal?   For starters, it's a meal that doesn't leave you hungry when you get up from the table. It doesn't break the bank, e.g. caviar on a baked potato. It doesn't take all day to shop for and cook. The ingredients will all come from your local suburban supermarket. It will be pleasing to the eye, because we eat first with our eyes. This means some color pops out: maybe the green of chopped parsley or cilantro or some sweet red pepper. And, of course, it has to taste like something. The problem with low fat diets is that low fat food has no mouth feel, and the "gum" the manufacturer puts in to replace it just doesn't do the trick. The flavors become a bit "off." The taste is somewhere beyond bland. You can't put your finger on it, but it just doesn't taste very good. No wonder you don't want seconds, but wait! At 10:00 p.m., you'll be raiding the fridge or the pantry for something that DOES taste good.

This week, my significant other and I have both lost a few pounds. Here's what we ate:
Sautëed Scallops with Cherry Tomatoes, Green Onions and Parsley. Yum! Great color, great taste! You could eat this without being on a diet.
Oven-Crisped chicken with honey-mustard sauce. Another winner.   The crust was made from panko and shredded Parmesan, and the honey mustard sauce from low-fat Greek yogurt, mustard and honey. We ate this two nights, and it was so filling we didn't eat the whole breast half. Another winner!
Great Salad that I took to a buffet: Cucumber ribbons with tomatoes and ricotta salata! Great taste, color and truly delicious. Very little left over. Yowza!
Tuna and Bean Salad. I believe this is a South Beach Diet recipe. Many of the recipes in this diet are really extraordinary. I substituted cilantro for the watercress, which the store didn't have. I also used oil-packed tuna instead of water-packed and drained it extra well. The chopped roasted red pepper was home grilled under the broiler with two of its brethern.    We ate this two nights as well.
I've been making salads of baby romaine, white asparagus, grilled yellow and orange peppers, marinated mushrooms, olives, and a bit of ricotta salata (leftover from the cucumber salad) on top. A drizzle of Italian dressing. We're having blueberries for dessert tonight. Last night we had low fat fruit-flavored yogurt. I have a fab recipe for a pudding with low-fat ricotta, orange and lemon rind, orange juice and two eggs. Low sugar. It was delicious, in fact almost company worthy.       Tomorrow we're having classic shrimp scampi. And salad of course.   These meals have been filling (plenty of meat or fish) with lots of other great flavors. I am trying to reach for a piece of fruit when hunger strikes. It's a real balancing game,
Even food magazines like Gourmet (the late) and Bon Appetit have diet meals. For example, this month Bon Appetit has a wonder sounding onion fritatta.   The egg is your good friend, and eat the yolk, too.

Onward,

The Cheeseparer, who is trying to pare some poundage, too.

The Best Tacos You Will Ever Eat

2011-05-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Chop up half an onion, a little less if huge. Cook it over med. heat in a big cast iron skillet. When the onion begins to soften, add a pound of good quality 85% lean ground beef. I always buy mine at the butcher counter. When the meat is almost cooked, add a chopped (seeded if you don't want it too hot) jalapeno pepper. Continue to cook and stir. Add a sprinkling of hot pepper flakes, some chili powder. I also add another sprinkle of Penzey's Southwest Seasoning. Oh, an don't forget a teaspoon or so of cumin. Very important. Salt and pepper well, and continue to simmer to blend the flavors. Add a can of rinsed and drained black beans or your favorite kind of beans. Pinto. Kidney. Whatever.

Chop up the following and put in small bowls: scallion, tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro and avocado.   Into other bowls put grated cheddar or Mexican cheese (a mixture), sour cream, wedges of lime.   Nine "condiments" in all.

For each person, cook a couple or more corn tortillas in a vegetable oil until slightly browned but still pliable. Keep warm in oven while cooking the rest.

Put the condiments on the table along with the fried tortillas in a basket. You may also put hot sauce on the table or salsa. Bring the hot skillet to the table and serve. Everyone creates his/her own tacos. They are utterly delicious. I fold mine in half and eat it messily. My significant other dumps everything onto his plate and has at it. This is good stuff.

I also serve orange wedges with the meal.   Refreshing.

I usually keep corn tortillas and all the spices around, along with scallions, lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream, so we just have to buy the meat, the cilantro and the avocado. Serves 4, and doesn't break the bank. Dieters can go easy on the cheese and sour cream. Corn tortillas are low in carbs and high in fiber. Of course, grilled steak added instead of ground beef will also be tasty, as would chicken or a grilled pork chop or two. Taste for seasoning as you go along. A couple of these babies and you won't be hungry for hours.

I have never tasted any tacos this good at a Mexican restaurant, although the fish tacos at the Border Cafe in Cambridge, MA are close. Ole!

Eating Cheap while Dieting: A Dieter's Dilemna

2011-05-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

So . . . the long New England winter and some company and a couple trips to the Big Apple to say nothing of Mother's Day have all added an unacceptable weight gain to the residents of this house, which includes a hugely plump (fat as mud) diabetic cat. Only the "new" cat is slim, but he refuses to tell us his secret.

I am not a low-fat diet person. I never met a fat gram I didn't like. Just about gagged yesterday when some diet site recommended spraying your breakfast English muffin with "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray. I sure as hell could believe it's not butter. So, except for extreme exercise and starvation and lots of rice cakes, the only diet I've ever lost weight on is low carb, i.e. Dr. Atkins. Now, there's this to say about me and diets: the moment I see no caffeine and no wine, I am out of there. When the South Beat diet recommended "Fat Free Half and Half" I just about urped. See, the other thing is that I am into real food, the unprocessed kind where the the label says, "all natural."

Now all this quibbling would be fine if there were unlimited food resources, like $600 a month or more. Hell, we could do Jennie Craig for $700.00 plus extras. The challenge will be to eat meat, fruits and vegetables (I do like my fruit) and not break the bank. Yesterday's grocery bill at $150.00, was not a good start, but I got meat for two weeks and lots of very fine veggies and some (on special) scallops to start off with. We have been eating all the rest of the "bad" food in the fridge: the sour cream strawberry cake, the spaghetti and meat balls, the bread, the muffins, etc. God, was the spaghetti and meat balls tasty. I do miss pasta when dieting.

My idea is to buy all the weekly produce and meat specials and to shop at two stores and plan my meals around these. The bigger challenge will be to accommodate the summer guests while we continue our diet. I do not intend to deprive myself of modest amounts of dark chocolate, either.    Due to all these accommodations to dieting I don't expect to lose particularly quickly, but I will be happy with a pound a week after the initial week. The South Beach Diet has some dynamite recipes, and I have a couple of diet desserts that are low enough cal to have once in a while. Not big on artificial sweeteners, and only low-fat ricotta. We use 2% milk for the coffee. So it should be doable and I will share the results. What works, what doesn't, and how hard it will be.

This noon I'm having lunch at Boston's infamous 99 Restaurant (the 9's) with a friend. The 99 has some great luncheon steak tips and you can get double veg instead of veg and a starch. A goodly enough portion that you won't start snacking at 4:00 pm. We bought apples to eat with our evening cheese hors d'oeuvres and some colorful peppers to grill and eat with a bit of ricotta salata. Peppers on sale, apples on sale.

Let's see how it goes.

The Cheeseparer and hoping to be the pound parer

Egg and Sausage Strata - Cheap, Nutricious, Filling

2011-05-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

The Internet has a gazillion recipes for these sausage and egg stratas, but I couldn't find this one, which was delicious. These assemble ahead and bake later dishes are a godsend for a busy hostess, which was me, this weekend. This serves 8.

Egg and Sausage Strata

1 lb. bulk sausage, pork or turkey. I used Jimmy Dean. Beware! Some sausage now comes in 12 oz. rolls.
6 slices bread with crusts removed. A white bread with some "body" works best.
2 cups milk. Used whole milk but believe 2% would be fine, too.
6 large eggs
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 T. Dijon (or other) mustard
1 t. salt
1/2 lb grated cheddar cheese (I bought pre-grated on sale)
8 oz. mushrooms sliced and sauteed
1 medium white onion chopped

Spray or great a 9" x 12" rectangular baking dish. Cut trimmed bread into cubes and line the dish.

Cook sausage in a skillet, breaking it up. Drain, if necessary and spread around on top of the bread cubes.
Saute onion and set aside. In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms. Add to the onions and mix. Spread the onion/mushroom mixture over the sausage.
Sprinkle the grated cheese on top of the mushroom/onion mixture.
Beat eggs, milk, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and salt together. Pour over the casserole.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

I served this for Mother's Day brunch with sauteed cherry tomatoes and small, individual pan fried ham steaks.
You can freeze this after assembling and thaw before cooking. You may also freeze after cooking and thaw and add a little milk before heating.
I kept the assembled casserole covered tightly in the fridge for two days and it was fine.
Omit the sausage or substitute a meatless product and you have a fine vegetarian entree.

Can Rotisserie Chicken Ever Be A Bargain?

2011-05-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

You bet it can! I bought one $6.99 for the breast meat to make sandwiches to eat on the ferry from New London to Orient Point. Of course, two people would have never been able to buy a (decent) lunch for $6 .99. I ate one lunch from the chicken (wings) before we left. Two yummy sandwiches on whole grain bread with butter, lettuce and tomato. Chips from the bag at home, a clementine and two slices of orange yogurt bread. Water to drink The best lunch! 3 meals so far. . . .

I had removed the remainder of the chicken from the bones and froze it. After we returned, I thawed the chicken for. . . ta da!! Enchiladas verdes. The supermarket had tomatillos! They almost never, here in this part of New England, have tomatillos. Made them from scratch, a labor of love, but all I had to buy was the tomatillos and a couple small (all they had) jalapenos. Everything else was on hand, even the corn tortillas. The recipe made two casseroles. 4 servings. I ate another lunch from the thawed legs. There were two enchiladas left and we ate them for lunch yesterday. Add 'em up. 10 servings of good quality protein for $6.99. How frugal is that? And every meal yummy. You can make some of the enchiladas just with the cheese for a vegetarian child or guest.

Both the Globe and the Times have been emphasizing vegetarian selections in their food sections, but nothing sounds that great. Maybe because I am not a huge fan of unrelieved starch. Potato curry? Not so intriguing. Give me chicken, shrimp or even fish curry. Curried chick peas are good. I would eat curried potatoes as a side dish.

Some days the supermarket has rotisserie chickens on sale for 5 bucks. That would be 50 cents per serving. Yowza!

Here is a recipe similar to the one I used: Food and Wine Mag Enchiladas Verdes

We served them with avocado salad and refried beans (on sale for $1.00,) and extra cheese, sour cream, chopped tomatoes, scallions and cilantro on the side. I had some Farmer's cheese in the freezer which I crumbled over the casserole. Cheddar always works. Did I mention the tomatoes and avocados were on sale? Shop smart, shop well. Experiment!

Bon Appetit!

Dolores Greshaw's Rhubarb Bread

2011-05-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

We were in New York on Long Island last week, and the rhubarb was up and thriving in my friend's garden. It is expensive in the stores, but maybe you, too, have a friend or some plants or can find it at a farmer's market.

I like to use it in a compote of red fruits. Yesterday I mixed it with cranberries and blueberries from the freezer. Add sugar to taste, a bit of liquid (I used water and orange juice) a grating of orange rind, and simmer until the fruits are cooked. We like it with a dollop of whipped cream. This works well with any red berry, and especially currants. Use your imagination.

With the rest of the rhubarb, I made Dolores Greshaw's Rhubarb bread which is an old recipe I got from the Boston Globe, maybe even the Chicago Tribune. My guess is the Globe. I couldn't find the Greshaw recipe on the web, but here is one with the exact ingredients. I think it makes a slightly larger loaf.

Rhubarb Bread

Enjoy! Tonight I'm making Enchiladas Verdes. The grocery had tomatillos on sale yesterday. I had part of a roasted chicken in the freezer and some cheese and tortillas, so this is a cheap dinner for two nights. I'll let you know the outcome. Enchiladas Verdes are one of my favorite Mexican foods. Refried beans were also on sale, a dollar per can, such a deal. Eating cheap doesn't mean eating poorly. Avocados were also on sale for a buck. Ole!

The Cheeseparer

Easter Dinner for Two

2011-04-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

Nobody around for Easter Dinner this year, so I'm pulling out an old recipe I've been making for years and years. Found a Smoked Pork Butt in the freezer. This is a meal where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We'll have fingerling potatoes and a few slices of fresh pineapple for dessert. So ripe and delicious and on sale this week.   If moved by the spirit, I may make pineapple fritters.

Smoked Pork Butt and spinach Gratin
a 1 1/2 lb. smoked pork butt, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes and the netting removed

For the Spinach mixture:
1 onion, minced
2 T. unsalted butter
2     10 oz. pkgs. chopped spinach, cooked, drained and squeezed dry
1/2 t. dried tarragon
1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup dry white wine combined with 2 T. Dijon mustard and 2 T. minced parsley leaves
1/4 cup fine fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
melted unsalted butter to taste.

In a large saucepan cover the pork butt with cold water and bring the water to a boil Simmer the pork for 1 1/2 hours.
Drain the pork, and let stand for 1 4 minutes. Cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Make the spinach mixture: in a skillet, cook the onion in the butter over moderate hear, stirring until it is softened.
Add the spinach, tarragon salt and pepper and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until it is dry.
Add the cream, reduce it over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick,
Add salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into a buttered 2-quart gratin dish.
Arrange the pock slices over the spinach mixture, brush them with the mustard mixture and sprinkle them with the bread
crumbs and the Parmesan. Drizzle the butter over the dish and bake the gratin in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 to
40 minutes or until the top is golden. Serves 4 -6.

This is tasty and we can eat in on Monday, too, and maybe eke a lunch out of it. It is company-worthy if they eat pork.

We did our first grilling tonight, to the song of a male cardinal who is happy to have found a mate, happy that spring is here, happy that there is plenty of bird seed handy. Lordy, can he sing!

Penzey's Butter Chicken Recipe

2011-04-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

Fab recipe that tastes good and doesn't break the bank. I am always looking for tasty chicken casserole recipes and this one is excellent. Serve with basmati rice and a salad of your choice.

Penzey's Butter Chicken

We Eat First With Our Eyes

2011-04-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

Last night's Tuna Salad with Fresh, not canned, tuna. Such a difference. Notice what pow! the tomatoes and bits of orange pepper provide. The dark olives and the greener bits of lettuce add even more pizzaz. The "midcentury modern" tablecloth is used regularly.
Yowza!

We Eat First With Our Eyes

Tuna Salad Supreme

2011-04-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

I love seafood, when fresh and properly prepared. Even in Boston, excellent seafood is sometimes hard to come by. We usually head to Legal Seafood. I've been eating a lot of scallops, and suddenly I feel like tuna. Apparently tuna (sorry, Charlie) has become so pricey you can't even find it on a menu. My new copy of Saveur arrives with hundreds of sandwich recipes, including one for homemade tuna salad. Yum!

I buy 12 oz. of tuna at $20 per pound, thinking that if I saw it on a menu it would set me back at least $26 a pop times 2 with wine and salads and maybe another side, and well, yanno, suddenly we are looking a more than a hundred bucks and the $17.00 worth of tuna seems like a huge bargain. The recipes call for steaming, which I do, and then add chopped red onion, parsley, mayo, capers, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Let chill. Folks, I just took a bite and it's delicious.

We got some good multigrain bread in case we decide to eat it in sandwiches. I also have olives, little tomatoes, white asparagus, cucumber and orange pepper to serve on the plates, so we're going to eat our veggies, along, of course, with the lettuce. This looks like a winner.

Here is the recipe. See for yourself. Homemade Tuna Salad from Scratch

Tomorrow we're having something in the curry family called "Butter Chicken." With a name like that, it just has to be good.

If I can remember to, I'll photograph the plated dinner tonight to show you how colorful and delicious the tuna looks.

So Colorful and Tempting- Just add good bread

Good and Simple Chocolate Cookies

2011-03-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Made these last week. Gave some to the neighbors and froze the rest. I am sorry to say that we kept defrosting a few at a time and eating them. I had some chocolate leftover from Christmas baking. This is a recipe that would lend itself well to half-butter, half-shortening. I would use those bars of Crisco that are shaped like quarter pounds of butter. Half and half will yield a nice crisp cookie. If you're not into crisp, use all butter.

You can leave the dough in the fridge for a few days and bake the cookies as needed. These are really good. I don't know why they're called chocolate "macaroons," but that's their name. Do not expect a standard macaroon. I think the recipe is an old one from The New York Times. I daresay that I'm an old fogey, because the older recipes are the best.

Chocolate Macaroons

1/2 cup shortening
4 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Confectioners' sugar.

1. Melt shortening and chocolate in top of double boiler.
2. Stir in the sugar. Transfer to a bowl and beat until the sugar is no longer grainy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Note: This is a good workout for your arm.
3. Fold in the flour sifted with the baking powder and salt. Chill the dough at least three hours.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

5. Shape teaspoons of dough into balls. Roll balls in the confectioners' sugar. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. The cookies will be soft when taken from the oven. Cool on a rack

About 5 dozen
I used parchment paper on the cookie sheet and that worked, too. I'm sure this recipe predates parchment paper for home cooks.

Bon Appetit!

More Chicken Soup for the Pocketbook

2011-03-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

Chocolate Pecan Pie *

We have a low-cal cheap quiche that it going into it's second night. I've also made some of my chicken soup with found everything and a big pot of homemade broth with chicken leftover from a Dr. Atkins low-carb menu. We'll finish the quiche for breakfast and the chicken soup for lunch.

Leverage your cooking. One of the ways to do that is to read the grocery ads and cook for the week by buying the specials. For example, this week our supermarket had steak, chicken breasts and kielbasa on sale. Roast beef in the deli. Baby carrots and slice mushrooms. Hey, those would be good with steak. Some spaghetti sauce over the chicken and you have the makings of chicken parm. The Kielbasa lends itself to grilling or cooking in a big heap of saurkraut and veggies. Cheap veggies, like carrots, potatoes and onion. Yukon Golds were on special. Good with steak and with kielbasa. Fruit salad with strawberries, bananas, apple and oranges. All on sale. Make a dinner salad with oranges, too. Maybe a rice pudding using on sale milk. Go for it!

Every week I save between $10 and $25 by using coupons and buying specials. And we eat well, thank you, with very few processed foods. You can, too. It takes a bit of menu planning, and this you can do during commercials or whenever. Doesn't take a lot of time. $25 a week is $1300 a year. That's a new computer, a nice little vacation or money socked away in the savings account. Or just eking along to get by. Healthy eating, too. You can do this. Give it a whirl.

* Pecans were a gift, chocolate left over from holiday baking, homemade crust. Every now and then we all deserve a treat. Remember that nuts, while not low-cal, are nutritious.

The Cheeseparer

Bon Appetit Scores a hit with Pappardelle, Pancetta, Brocccoli Rabe and Pine Nuts

2011-03-11T11:51:00.000-08:00

We tried this dish last night and agreed that it was even "company worthy." So tasty. In a weird twist, the pasta (imported Italian pappardella ($3.99) cost most than the meat ($ 2.00 worth of pancetta). There's something about this combination of flavors that really hit a home run. On the web site, some cooks advised cooking a fennel bulb (or half) with the onion, and I think that would make it even yummier. Always look for ways to incorporate more veggies into your food.
Serve with a salad. The price of lettuce has gone down a bit. You can also make carrot salads and cabbage salads. Or serve a half grapefruit instead. Cucumbers with a bit of yogurt or sour cream and some dill make a wonderful salad. Grapefruit and avocado? Yowza! My grandma made a salad (Waldorf) with apples, celery, walnuts and some mayo. Think outside the "leaf."

Dynamite Recipe

To save gas, we're working extra hard to combine trips. Just think and plan ahead, sometimes difficult until it becomes habit.

Kielbasa BOGO

2011-03-04T07:26:00.000-08:00

Kielbasa BOGO! Does that sound like the name of a rock band or what? For readers who never worked in the retail industry, a BOGO is a "Buy One Get One," also known as a "two-fer." Roche Brothers, the supermarket where I shop, sometimes has a BOGO on Kielbasa. We like the lighter turkey Kielbasa because it is less greasy and lower in calories. Now, don't get me wrong. I love ribs, fried chicken, heavy cream, etc., but when you have a chance to cut some calories and not lose any flavor, go for it!

I make a middle Europe dish, (so homey, so comforting) with the Kielbasa. I take 1-2 pounds of sauerkraut and rinse it (get rid of some of the salt). Saute an onion, diced, a carrot, also diced in oil/fat of your choice until tender. At a small portion of chopped tomato, 1/2 of an apple, diced, the sauerkraut, the kielbasa, (one pound, cut in half), some dry white wine, a little chicken broth, some caraway seeds, paprika (regular or smoked). Cook as long as you can, adding more liquid if necessary. If you are feeling carefree, saute a couple slices of chopped bacon to get your fat and cook the bacon with the kraut.

Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes and a green salad. This would make an excellent slow cooker dish. I don't have a slow cooker, but maybe you do. The sauerkraut becomes mild and savory and the concoction is actually rather mellow. Add a clove or two of garlic if you like. Improvisation is good.

This will serve 4 if you aren't piggy. Make the salad big. There should be enough sauce in the kraut to nap the potatoes. This is tasty and cheap. My shabby little secret. I use Hungry Jack mashed potatoes. I know. I know. The more cream you put into them, the better they taste, but I try to stifle this impulse.

The Cheeseparer

Chicken Soup for the Pocketbook

2011-03-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

Chickens were .99 cents a pound, so I grabbed one for the freezer. It's turn arrived last night. I cut out the backbone, rubbed it with some spices (onion powder, granulated garlic, cumin and paprika with generous salt and pepper,) and I browned the skin side in oil in a cast iron   skillet. Tossed in a quartered onion and put the skillet to bake at 350 degrees along with a casserole with carrots and parsnips and more onion with butter, oil and a little chicken broth. Salt and pepper, natch. The chicken cost $3.54 and half of it was left due to ingesting a large salad with lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado and ranch dressing topped with dill.

So. . . chicken soup! I took the meat off the bones this morning and cooked the bones with carrot, onion, celery tops and a bay leaf. When it came time to make the soup, I sauteed onion, carrot and celery, and then added the broth and some extra broth from the fridge. Cooked the veggies, then added peas and the already cooked leftover veg from last night, chopped chicken, some dry mushrooms soaked in hot water and their liquid, the "jus" from the skillet last night with all those tasty spices in it, and some leftover rice that I'd defrosted. More salt and pepper. A little more water. Taste until just right.

Made that kick-ass salad again and served up the soup with toasted English muffins.   Very toothsome. And there's leftovers!    Six servings of high-quality protein for .59 cents per person. Can't beat that. And all those wonderful vegetables. Last night I had saved some leftover rum glaze for a cake and we heated it up and poured it over ice cream. Died and gone to heaven.
The Boston Globe now always offers two meals, one using leftovers from the first. This is just smart and of course, frugal and tasty and time-saving and even delicious. That's a lot to like. I could have made chicken fritters or something Mexican. Leftovers are versatile.
Yours ever in frugality and downright cheapness.

The Cheeseparer

Don't Cry Over Sour Milk---Make Waffles

2011-03-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

This morning the milk was sour, and I quickly changed dinner plans to use the rest for waffles. A combo of milk and orange juice and some orange rind will go into the waffles. I make the waffles with low-fat Bisquick. Can't tell the difference and I am such a picky person.

I serve the waffles with orange sauce. When I'm in a hurry, the sauce is made with mandarin oranges, but tonight I'll make it from scratch. I have a blood orange with the peel partly gone and some clementines. Use what you have and save.

Here is the sauce recipe. It's also good on pancakes and French toast.

Orange Sauce:

1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar (or a little less)
1/4 t. salt
1 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons of grated orange rind
2 tablespoons butter
1 orange, sectioned

Sour Cream or cottage cheese.

Combine cornstarch, sugar and salt in saucepan. Blend in orange juice gradually; add orange rind.
Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter and orange secions; heat.
Serve over hot crisp waffles spread with sour cream or cottage cheese.

A slice or two of crisp bacon would not be amiss. Great for Sunday Supper.

This recipe is from (I think) the Chicago Tribune in days of yore. I made it right away, and the kids liked it too, always a plus. When I served it to my parents, my mother announced in a big huff, "I am not putting cottage cheese on waffles!" Hey ma, don't knock it t'il you've tried it! Talk about a generation gap.

Last week's chocolate pecan pie. No, the crust isn't burnt, it's chocolate.

You can basically clone the recipe and use strawberries, blueberries or (Yum!!) a combo. Sometimes you cook with the food you have. Or make pancakes. It usually works out well.

Call me The Cheeseparer

Supermarket Sticker Shock

2011-02-26T05:26:00.000-08:00

This morning's Boston Globe heralded the bad news that anyone who has shopped for produce already knew. Prices are up! Lettuce and tomatoes are outtasight!

Rising Food Prices

You may want to consider making slaw or carrot salad for a while. Vitamin C is in cabbage and potatoes and orange juice is still a good buy. I always loved the carrot salad with raisins and canned pineapple. Root vegetables are still reasonable, i.e. carrots, rutabagas, turnips (yech!) potatoes and parsnips (yum!). Carrot soup is delicious, so think outside the box. Lettuce is a quick crop and should be back in the stores at a reasonable price in a few weeks.

Oh! Did I say "cool weather crop"? Now is the time to think GARDEN! You can do lettuce, peas, and spinach while the temperatures are still cool. Of course February is waaayy to early in New England. We had more snow last night. But consider.

Soup and stews are an excellent way to cook cheaper. Chicken and dumplings anyone? Our supermarket had whole chickens for 99 cents a pound. Consider eggs and the main dishes of frittata, omelet and strata. Some wonderful soups use cabbage as an ingredient. Look up the Yakisoba recipe on prior posts. Onions, Carrots and Cabbage, all cheap. And use one pork chop instead of two.

There are always ways to economize, and with oil and food prices rising and the instability (understatement) in the Middle East, it may be time to hunker down. Again.

Read your supermarket flyer and plan a week's menus around the sales. But you already do this, don't you? Make your own muffins. So easy. Spend the weekend cooking and baking and week nights won't be such a madhouse. Get the kids involved. Make Mexican or Indian. Try some vegetarian dishes, like curried chick peas. So good, so cheap. Instead of a salad serve slice carrots and cucumbers. Be creative. Be cheap.

Make your own pizza and save!

Leveraging Leftovers

2011-02-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

Last night we ate at a new Chinese place in the neighborhood, and ordered too much, which is to say we brought most of one vegetarian fried rice and a chicken/shrimp/pork fried rice home.
But it wasn't enough for the (this week) four of us. I dug out my recipe file and found the recently made yakisoba with pork and cabbage. I needed to buy the good Chinese noodles, a pork chop and cabbage. Not too pricey for four. We reheated the (copious) fried rice and I divided the yakisoba into vegetarian (no pork) and meat. We had a delicious dinner for just a few dollars.

Yakisoba with Pork and Cabbage

Tomorrow I'm cooking the world's best macaroni and cheese, so I bought mild cheddar and condensed milk. There's going to be a kickass dessert. Chocolate Pecan Pie. How do you like them apples? I have a gigantic bag of pecans in the freezer, and so tomorrow's dinner will be good, good, good. By the way, we're having broccoli and salad, too, so it won't just be a cheese/chocolate frenzy, although there is nothing the matter with that.

Here is Emeril's recipe. Not the one I am using (an old New York Times Sunday Magazine one), but Emeril's recipe's rock. Chocolate Pecan Pie from Emeril

Yours in frugality,

The Cheeseparer

Blood Oranges and pork chops and rum cake

2011-02-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

Last year I ate blood oranges for the first time and loved their sweetness. Our supermarket had them on sale (a rare occurrence), and I bought four. Found a recipe for pork chops and oranges and did a riff on it, because the recipe called for Mandarin oranges, and I'm substituting blood oranges with some blood orange juice. I cooked them with the boldly seasoned rice and I browned the chops with more seasoning (this is a Penzey's recipe, so naturally spices are called for). The recipe also did not call for browning the chops, but it seemed to me that this would improve the flavor.

Penzeys Pork Chops with Oranges

I'm also making a few organic carrots (so delicious) and a salad. We can eat it for two nights, always a plus.

My Significant Other's birthday is Tuesday, and I promised I would make him his favorite meal, beef Stroganoff. Who remembers beef Stroganoff? Raise your hand. Years ago it was on every "continental" menu, and now the only place I know where one can eat it is at a pricey Back Bay Russian restaurant.

I found a sale (can you believe?) on beef tenderloin, so we have a pound of filet, some dried mushrooms, onion, cognac, and real sour cream. I'll serve it with buttered noodles, peas and carrots and salad. Iceberg lettuce was requested. Except for the Stroganoff, the menu sounds rather pedestrian, but ordinary can be good, and it won't compete with the main course.

We have a busy week and I promised (fingers crossed) to make the favored marble cake (Marmorkuchen) at a later date. It's totally from scratch to the point of beating the yolks and whites separately. A true labor of love. What could I make instead?

Recently, going through all my mom's old recipes, I came across her rum cake recipe. She always made this for Significant Other and I do recall that it was very tasty and he relished it. I had never realized that the cake was from a mix, with oil and pudding and eggs dumped in with some dark rum. The glaze was delicious, too.

I am not a cake-mix person, but I remembered the cake and my mother so fondly, that I thought what the hell? It must be fate, because the grocery store had cake mix on sale for $1.00 and the pudding was cheap, too. This is the first time instant pudding has crossed our threshold.

I'm going to freeze half for company coming at the end of the week. Two people and one big cake is asking for weight gain, although I'm sure the neighbors would be thrilled with a couple slices.

I just bopped out to the web, and sure enough the recipe was there. Do try it. Read the reviews. Cooks always have good ideas.

Bacardi Rum Cake

Yours in frugality, good taste and sometimes even shortcuts

Tips from Martha Stewart

2011-02-11T18:11:00.000-08:00

Martha Stewart didn't always have houses in East Hampton, Connecticut and Maine. As a young woman she learned frugality, and although today she has no need to pinch pennies, she still understands that saving and frugality are Good Things.

Food Saving Tips From Martha

Fresh herbs are expensive and oh so tasty, so do pay attention to Martha's tips on how to save them. Herbs also contain micro-nutrients that we all need. I hope you have an herb garden every summer. I use the basil, sage and oregano that I dry all year round. The oregano is particularly tasty. Alas, I cannot keep a rosemary plant alive in the house after bring it in in the fall. This year's died early. Once I kept it going until March and then it died. What is my problem?

We are eating white chicken chili that rocks. Made totally from scratch without cheese or sour cream from fresh peppers, chicken and herbs. Google White Chicken Chili and Cook's Illustrated. It's not often low cal food tastes so good.

Yours in frugality,

The Cheeseparer

Hobo Slang

2011-02-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

Off topic, or OT as we say in the writing listserves. I am always intrigued by colorful speech. My dad came from Texas and my Mom from central Kansas, and they both spoke with lots of idioms that came from the farm, speech that would now be somewhat, well, inscrutable. My mom always said, "I went to bed with the chickens," meaning early. Something that would never happen was "she will wait until the cows come home." Bad cows!   My dad, when something was too difficult said, "It's too wet to plow." He called a big knife a "toad stabber" and big shoes "gun boats." I love it

For some interesting expressions and phrases, try The Hobos Dictionary

Good stuff. Language is a living thing.

We had our "traditional" Super Bowl meal of meatloaf, roasted potatoes and broccoli yesterday. I always make meatloaf, because it is easy to eat while watching TV. The Pack is Back!

I made guacamole from an old Mexican cookbook (Elena's) and it was wonderful. Full of onion, tomato, cilantro, jalapeno and fork mashed (still chunky) avocado. I made my own chips from corn tortillas. Better than packaged.

Happy Monday. Do you think they're getting any work done this morning in the offices of Green Bay? Water cooler time!

The Cheeseparer

Beef Vegetable Barley Soup for cold winter dinners

2011-02-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

My Homemade (no knead) Focaccia rocks with soup or stew or pasta

I've been making soup every week, and we never get bored with it. Soup has many virtues: cheap, easy, tasty, nutritious. I found a good deal on "petite sirloin" at the supermarket, and used two of them, about a pound as the basis of a beef-vegetable-barley soup.
Cut the meat into small bite-sized pieces, and brown well in canola oil. I added a bit of onion and 3 cloves of smashed garlic and browned that, too. Add water and/or broth and cook until meat is tender. Doesn't take long with sirloin. Before cooking the meat add a soup bone, thyme, marjoram and a large bay leaf to the cooking liquid.

When the meat is tender, add more onion, carrots, celery, and a 14 oz. can of diced tomatoes. I think some mushrooms would also go well. Cook the veggies until almost tender and then add 3/4 cup barley. My barley took longer to cook than the package indicated, so make sure to cook it long enough. Add more water or broth (vegetable broth will do) if you are getting stew rather than soup. Salt and pepper if you've used low-salt broth. (I do). Maybe a bit of paprika. More spices? Is the meat tender? Correct seasonings, as they say. I sprinkled some fresh parsley on it before serving, because we eat with our eyes first.

We ate this with a salad and multi-grain rolls. Southern corn bread would work, as would garlic bread. This is a cheap meal that offers a lot of nutrition. We had chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Being snowed in, I find I'm watching a lot of TV. The Good Wife, Big Love, and PBS are my current faves. And the food show. Guy Fieri really rocks. I loved his tailgaiting football eats show this week.

Tonight we're eating the remainder of the beef-barley soup. With garlic bread. And more salad. And maybe a banana caflouti.

We have a movie and the rest of The # 1 Ladies Detective Agency to watch.

I'm saving $30 as we speak by washing some sweaters instead of sending them out at $5 bucks a pop.

Tomorrow we're having a gourmet diet recipe. I know that sounds like an oxymoron. It's a chicken pie that calls for a mashed potato topping instead of crust. The potatoes are mashed with low-fat sour cream and chives. I've made it before and you have no clue that this is a reduced calorie meal. I think perhaps some cranberries would work as a side. And the rest of the caflouti for dessert. The pie calls for chicken breast, shallots, mushrooms, carrots, celery and peas and parsley. Low fat broth and white wine make the sauce. Some herbs like thyme and tarragon, a spoonful of sherry and a sprinkle of nutmeg are added before baking. This is Gourmet, remember.

Stay warm and dry and get creative if you are stuck in the house with weird or incomplete ingredients. You may astonish yourself with the yummy eats you can concoct.

Oatmeal Pancakes with Ham and Two Syrups

2011-01-23T16:51:00.000-08:00


Pancakes in various stages of grilling

Tonight between the football games, we tried the healthy oatmeal pancakes from the New York Times. They were easy to make (tended to fall apart a bit) and I cut up a ham steak and served it along with the pancakes and apricot and maple syrups instead of honey. Quite tasty and filling and there's enough left for tomorrow morning, always a bonus. Here is how they looked on the table, and they kinda sorta matched the tablecloth. Who knew?

Ready, Set, Eat!

Oatmeal Pancakes Deluxe

For delicious apricot syrup and dried apricots and other goodies, order at

The Apricot King

Nita's Banana Bread, The World's Best Banana Bread

2011-01-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

Here, as promised, is the banana bread recipe. I've had it since my neighbor Nita gave it to me when I was still a bride.

Nita’s Banana Bread

1 cup sugar

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

pinch salt

2 eggs, beaten

3 ripe mashed bananas

3 Tablespoons sour milk, buttermilk or sour cream

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups white flour

Cream butter, add sugar, mix well and add bananas. Mix salt, flour and baking soda and add to banana mixture alternating with sour milk. Mix together lightly. Pour into a 9 x 5 inch greased loaf pan. (Non stick is great!)

Bake in slowish (325 degrees Farenheit) for 45-60 minutes, until tested inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool on rack and remove bread from pan. Eat and enjoy.

A handful of blueberries or raisins may be added after dry ingredients.

Oatmeal Pancakes, the epitome of cheap eats

2011-01-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

I like oatmeal, not the instant flavored variety, but Old Fashioned Quaker Oats. I also like Silver Palate Oatmeal, which can sometimes be found on sale or at Ocean State Job Lot here in the Boston/Providence area. Ocean State Job Lot

Silver Palate Oatmeal takes even longer to cook than Quaker Oats. Of course the Irish steel cut oats are totally delicious, but pricey, and this blog is about pinching pennies.

So imagine how pleased I was to find this recipe in the New York Times Wednesday food section.
Oatmeal Pancakes

I like it for several reasons: 1) it's nutritious 2) I have all the ingredients 3) not high-cal 4) looks pretty tasty 5) can be served for dinner with some grilled ham and a fruit salad. Oh, and did I mention EASY? And Different?
I'll let you know how edible the oatmeal pancakes are.
I also have an Austrian recipe for noodles with bacon and cheese that looks pretty good. At the end of the month when the money might be tight, you need cheap, filling food. This is the time to go to those bought-on-sale frozen vegetables. Or to pick up a 99 cent head of iceberg lettuce.
We keep dried fruit on hand: cranberries, raisins (golden and dark) currants (sometimes) apricots (always) and sometimes dried cherries or whatever I found on sale. With an apple, orange, banana or grapes and a handful of dried fruit, you have a delicious dessert. These days, if not on sale, an apple or an orange costs over a dollar. Bananas are still relatively cheap.
Banana bread is a killer dessert/breakfast/snack dish.
Find a recipe that calls for 3 bananas. That's the whole secret. Two won't do. As you acquire overripe bananas, you can pop them into the freezer with skins on, and when you have the magic number, zowie, it's banana bread. You can toss a handful of fresh or frozen blueberries in for extra taste and nutrition. Or raisins. A tad of grated orange rind. Yummy! Good for kid's school lunches.
I'll report back on the pancakes. With photos if I remember. And dig up my banana bread recipe. So easy, so delicious. And in keeping with our commitment to frugality.
In the meantime, long live oatmeal.

The Cheeseparer

Comfort Food and Cheap Eats

2011-01-19T09:44:00.000-08:00

It's been good lately, with the snow piled thigh high or in some cases over one's head. We feasted on homemade Chinese (yakisoba) and some Korean shrimp and scallion pancakes. Think MEAT AS FLAVORING. The Yakisoba called for one pork chop and I used 1/4 pound of med. shrimp for the pancakes.

Then we moved into Swedish Meatballs. Meat as Meat. One night I served them with mashed potatoes and last night with noodles. Tonight we're having a Minestrone with Italian Sausage, something always on sale in the Boston area. Soup is good food.
Minestrone soup with sausage

We did a chili earlier, using reduced for quick sale steak. Zowie! And a diet rice pudding that was so flavorful, thanks to currants, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Cherries on sale brought forth a Caflouti. Nonetheless, it seems like grocery prices are higher and one has to shop ever cannier. Are you a canny shopper? It pains me to pay over a dollar for an apple or an orange. Still, it is better to spring for produce and to cut back on processed food and meat.

Here are some photos of the good meals we've been indulging in. We haven't eaten out for weeks. Maybe that's why the grocery bill is higher. Unless you buy filet mignon and caviar, eating out costs a lot more than from scratch cooking. But you knew that.

Today the New York Times had recipes for some pancakes that would work great for dinner, with whole grains and I would serve a few ounces of sauteed ham with each meal. Amd a fruit salad. Remember: meat as flavoring.


Cherry Caflouti


Yakisoba with Pork and Cabbage - yum!


Korean Pancake just beginning to cook

Finished Korean Pancakes with scallions and shrimp - good as a snack, too!

Julia Child's French Onion Soup and a recipe for food processor French bread

2011-01-08T11:38:00.000-08:00

The onion soup recipe is super cheap to make. A few big onions (I didn't go for the high-priced ones) and some broth and you're good to go. I used 1/2 chicken broth and 1/2 beef broth, both purchased on sale. The wine is from an open bottle in the fridge. (Pinot Grigio). Keep some chilled white vermouth on hand for recipes. This recipe takes some time, so plan on reading a newspaper or book in the kitchen. As always, set a timer.

French Onion Soup

The French bread recipe I've been making for years. I bought a pan at Amazon that holds two loaves and it has been a stalwart. You need a quick read thermometer to get the water temperature right, and there are ten minutes of intense activity during which you can't leave the kitchen, and after that, it's incredibly easy. I used two timer's for the bread and three would have been even better. With supermarket bread prices in the stratosphere, this is a good recipe to master.
What comes out of the oven is unbelievable, especially for the small amount of effort. I have another recipe (focaccia) I will share after I've tried it. Over the holidays I stocked up on flour on sale. Broth, too.

Food processor French Bread

Kitchen tools such as quality pots and pans, timers, thermometers are necessities rather than luxuries, and will save you ruining expensive ingredients. They easily pay for themselves over time. We will eat the soup and bread for two days. I'll serve a green salad and make a fruit salad for dessert.

I have Swiss cheese to melt on toasts for the final assembly of the soup, but Parmesan will do as well. Of course, the toasts will be made from my newly baked bread. It would make wonderful French toast, too.

By the way, if you have a couple of overripe bananas, they can be mashed and put into pancakes or waffles. You can also freeze over-ripe bananas in their skins. When you have three, make banana bread. Always use three bananas for banana bread. Two is not enough. A handful of raisins or blueberries are also a good addition to banana bread. Pack a lot of nutrition into all your meals for taste and health.

Aloha,

The Cheeseparer

Cheap Meals for Winter Evenings

2011-01-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

We had one pork chop, and it wasn't huge, but I sauteed it with a little Sezchuan pepper. Cooked a cup of rice. Scrambled an egg without stirring, so it was nice and flat. Found two slices boiled ham in the fridge. Here we go!

Stir fry is the next best thing to "soup from a nail." I had some scallions, fresh ginger (I keep it around) and a little bit of baby spinach. We always have a bag of frozen peas in the freezer. I keep soy sauce and sesame oil around, too. I bought a box of mushrooms and divided them in two for separate meals. Sauteed everything including the rice. Topped it off with a handful of almonds for crunch.

You shred the egg with 2 forks into little pieces. The dish is colorful.

The interesting thing is that every bite had some meat which I had cut into small squares. If I hadn't had spinach, I would have used a crown of broccoli. There were plenty of leftovers for lunch.

Tonight we had Swiss steak, which I used to make all the time when the kids were little. I had some round steak, an onion, the rest of the mushrooms, an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce and some herbs. Cheap ingredients! I used oregano, marjoram and a little smoked paprika for the spices. Oh, and 2 garlic cloves. Pounded the meat and dipped it into flour.

In Paris at the Pompidou Museum

We ate it with lots of Brussels sprouts and some noodles which sopped up the sauce. I used to braise it, but I put tonight's Swiss steak in the oven to bake.

Tomorrow we're having French onion soup and I'm baking a baguette and have some Swiss cheese to make the soup in the traditional way. Many years ago, in Paris, we wanted a late night snack and we each ordered a bowl of soup and a Croque Monsieur. Enough, easily, for four people, maybe six.

I'll publish my onion soup recipe tomorrow.
This is the month to buy bed sheets and linens. Also, pick up any needed cards, wrapping paper, and ornaments. We've done this for years, and I always had a tradition of hitting the sales on the 26th. This year, we were racing from New York back to New England before the blizzard. You can still get very nice Christmas tablecloths at rock bottom prices. How nice to have a fresh one for the 2011 holidays.

Pare yourself some cheese!

The World's Best Macaroni and Cheese

2011-01-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

This dish is complimented by a green salad, and doesn't cost much to make. The taste and the lovely crumb topping can't be beat. If your January feels cold and bleak, make this recipe.

World's Best Macaroni and Cheese

For dessert, use a pie crust from the dairy case and make a free form tart with blueberries (on sale, of course), mixed with sugar, instant tapioca, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg and dotted with butter. Brush the crust with an egg beaten with a little milk. This gives you a lot of bang for the buck.

January is a hard month, with all the Christmas bills coming due. Clip coupons and watch your grocery bill. Turn down the heat a bit. Find some cheap but decent restaurants. A quiche makes a tasty dinner. We like spinach and broccoli. The classic "Lorainne" is hard to beat. Find some turkey kielbasa on sale and make up a big dish of sauerkraut and kielbasa. Add some boiled or mashed potatoes and you're golden. Do eat some fresh fruit everyday. This morning we had glasses of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice. So tasty and refreshing.

The Cheeseparer

2 Frosting recipes for Holiday or Other Baking

2010-12-11T06:48:00.000-08:00

Neither of these will break the bank. Easy enough for a beginning cook, both recipes are ancient.

2-3-4 Frosting:
2 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons cream
4 Tablespoons sugar

Place ingredients in a double boiler and heat over hot water until near boiling and sugar is melted. Remove from heat and add vanilla and powdered sugar to desired consistency.

Lucille's cinnamon Butter Icing

4 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups powdered sugar
hot water
chopped nuts (if desired)

Heat butter in top of double boiler over hot water. Add cinnamon and sugar; add small about of hot water slowly until icing is the right consistency for spreading. After spreading on cake, bars or bread, sprinkle with chopped nuts. This would be yummy on banana, cranberry or blueberry breads.

Holiday baking can be expensive, so start looking for sales in mid-November. Butter can be frozen. Keep nut meats in the fridge or even the freezer. Wal-Mart had Gold Medal Flour for an unbelievable price this week. Chocolate chips are frequently on sale. Save up coupons for dairy products, baking products and even waxed paper and baking parchment. You should be able to cut your baking costs by these simple but frugal acts.

My most important kitchen tip is to prepare the right amounts of food so as not to waste. If you need to freeze leftovers, make sure to label them well with contents and date and to use in a timely manner.

We have discovered Dr. Oetker's frozen pizzas which are absolutely delicious but rather costly. We have also collected coupons for them and waited for store specials. With a store sale and a coupon, you are golden.

Remember that normally, your home-baked goods will be tastier, cheaper and more nutritious than store-bought.
That being said, we bought a wonderful open-faced apple-cranberry tart and Trader Joe's this week for $6 and change. We did this rather than stop for dessert. It made six servings and was really good. Everything is relative. I could have cooked it for a little less, but when time is of the essence, learn to make good choices.

My Grandma, she of the 2-3- 4 frosting, and me in Kansas eons ago

The Cheeseparer

Barley, a cheap nutricious food

2010-12-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

This week I made herb-basted chicken and barley with root vegetable pilaf. This was hearty fare that we got three meals out of with three (big) chicken breast halves. Never expected to have it stretch so far for two people.
I used onion, carrot, parsnips and butternut squash for the veggies and used about 2 cups instead of 1 1/2. Used fresh thyme from the garden but substituted my own dried rosemary for fresh. Stuck in a garlic clove for the hell of it. The bacon really perked the barley up! Root vegetables are cheap and the chicken breasts were on sale for a good price.
A one pound bag of barley (did not by the fancy organic) has a lot of mileage in it, and my next barley meal will be a vegetable beef soup with barley, also cheap with a lean cut of beef, more root vegetables and the barley, of course.

In case you're salivating already, here is the recipe: Herb Basted Chicken with Pearl Barley, Bacon and Root Vegetable Pilaf

Winter demands hearty fare. Soup is wonderful. Eat more soup.

Yummy Hors d'oeuvres - Rum Sausages

2010-12-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

For those of you who eat pork, this recipe is a keeper. The Brown and Serve Sausages can often be found on sale, but don't buy the cheapest brand. Any old rum will do. Yar!

Rum Sausages

1 pound package brown and serve sausages
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce ( I use the reduced salt variety)
1/2 cup golden rum ( or any rum)

Mix sugar, soy sauce and rum. Brown sausages on one side, turn and cut into thirds. Cover with rum mixture and summer, turning sausages occasionally so they absorb the sauce. May be made ahead and reheated. Serve with toothpicks.

This recipe is from my mom and is nice around the holidays.

Christmas Cookies revisited

2010-12-01T07:46:00.001-08:00

The Basic Butter Cookie recipe from my mother, a master baker who loved anything with a sugar molecule in it.

Butter Cookies

2 sticks butter (I always use unsalted)

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vinegar

½ teaspoon soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups flour

Cream together the sugar abd butter. Add the other ingredients and mix. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a cookie sheet and bake for twenty minutes at 300 degrees F.

Chopped nuts (pecans would be good) can be added if you like.

Frittata Italian

2010-11-27T09:34:00.000-08:00

I hope you have been enjoying the Thanksgiving Holiday while watching your budget. Turkey is cheap, as are potatoes, onions, root vegetables, pumpkin and many of our holiday faves. Stuffing or dressing can be made out of stale bread, onion, celery and seasonings. No crown roast of pork or prime rib roast is necessary. If you do your own cooking, that helps immeasurably.

This morning for guests I made an Italian Frittata which was a recipe in the old New York Times cookbook. When they issued a revised version, the frittata was gone! I saved it, of course. A big frittata is a good way to serve breakfast to a whole table without the tedious business of pancakes or waffles, and more festive than bacon or sausage and eggs. Of course, a strata is good to, but I am very fond of this frittata. Many are made with veggies and some with leftover pasta. It is versatile, cheap and tasty. Can go up and down the calorie scale depending on ingredients.

Italian Fritata in a cast iron skillet

The ingredients are mushrooms, ham, eggs of course, Parmesan cheese, butter, mozzarella cheese, parsley, heavy cream and salt and pepper. First it's cooked over low heat on the stovetop, then baked and put under the broiler at the last minute. This served 5 generously out of a 10 inch skillet. For a bigger crowd, use a 12 inch skillet and more of everything.

For dessert last night, after a 2nd Thanksgiving dinner, we had a tart made of mascarpone cheese and oranges garnished with pistachios and honey. It was very special, serves 9, and looks beautiful. Oranges are Christmasy as are pistachios.


Mascarpone and Orange Tart with Honey and Pistachios				The recipe is from Bon Appetit and even calls for a dairy case pie crust. How easy is that?

Soon I will be posting my mom's special sugar cookie recipe. She devised it, and none are better, Happy Holidays from the Cheeseparer

Seasonal Meals with Pork and Cranberries

2010-11-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

Autumn in New England cries for pork. We made this recipe last night, and it was yummy. I had originally bought port wine (not the finest, but not the cheapest, either) for some Port Wine Ice Cream that was out of this world, a very sophisticated dessert. We tend not to sip port after dinner, dunno why.
Anyway, the port sat around and I ran across this recipe in my clippings. Tried it last night. Walmart had canned cranberries on sale, the sauce, not the jelly, and I served it with green beans and mushrooms and mashed potatoes. Very satisfying now that it's dark before five and the nights and long and cold.

Pork Chops with Cranberry, Port and Rosemary Sauce

I bring the rosemary in from the garden in the fall and snip it all winter until it goes out in the spring or dies indoors. It likes to be snipped. The garden chores are never ending. Yesterday it was pull up the frost-dead annuals and scrub out the pots. I have to replant my 2 thymes, plant garlic and daffodils. Oh, why did I get so ambitious and order stuff. Now it's cold and damp and only the orange cat likes to be outside, and he isn't gonna plant nothing.

Our supermarket has pork chops on sale, nice thick boneless ones, that cost about a dollar each. Personally, I like a bone in mine for added flavor, but bone-in chops are getting hard to find. How lazy is that?

Raisin Bread Strata

2010-10-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a recipe. Something a little different. Our store had a BOGO on the bread.

Raisin-Bread Strata with Sausage and Dried Plums

8 – 10 servings

1 pound bulk breakfast sausage

8 large eggs

4 cups whole milk

1 ½ t. salt

¾ t. ground black pepper

1 16 ounce loaf sliced raisin-cinnamon swirl bread, each slice halved on the diagonal. (Pepperidge Farm makes a good raisin cinnamon swirl).

18 dried pitted plums (prunes) each cut into 3 pieces

Pure Maple Syrup

Sauté sausage in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until brown and cooked through, breaking up with back of fork, about 6 minutes. Using slotted spoon, remove sausage to bowl; cool.

Butter a 13 x 9 x 2 inch glass baking dish.

Whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper in medium bowl. Arrange half of bread in bottom of prepared dish with bases of triangles facing in same direction. Scatter half of sausage, then half of plums over bread. Arrange remaining bread in dish with triangles facing in opposite direction. Scatter remaining sausage and plums over. Pour milk mixture over; press on bread to submerge. Cover and chill overnight.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Place strata on rimmed baking sheet. Bake uncovered until strata is pulled and golden and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut strata into squares and serve with maple syrup.

If you don't want is so sweet, forego the maple syrup. Serves more like 10. I have a photo someplace.

From Bon Appetit

I Squandered on Swordfish

2010-10-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to buy something wonderful that just ain't cheap. Last week, at our house, it was fresh swordfish cooked up with three pepper butter. The swordfish was lurking there in the Whole Foods Fish counter, looking to tasty, so meaty, all the while screaming "buy me! buy me!" and so I did. $25.00 worth! Eeek! An issue of my eyes being bigger than our combined stomachs.

So I cooked it up, and served it forth and it was truly delicious. We had baked tomatoes and a bit of rice from the bowels of the freezer. the sauce was toothsome, and there were two pieces of fish left, enough for a dinner of fish tacos the following night.

I made a salsa from fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic and cilantro, and a "crema" of sour cream, garlic and Mexican seasonings. Yum! Had no cabbage but some past-prime iceberg, sliced fine, worked just as well. We made two meals from the sword fish and I didn't feel nearly so guilty.

This morning when I started to make blueberry muffins to take to a writing event with brunch, there were no frozen blueberries and no buttermilk. I substituted mixed berry yogurt for the buttermilk, and frozen mixed berries for the blueberries and the result was moist and tasty and the extras came home to the freezer. I've no idea what a dozen muffins would cost if one bought them, but surely more than that half hour of baking prep, probably less. In the early a.m. (or even not-so-early a.m. I am not too swift.

Apropos the three pepper butter. You can buy black, green and red peppercorns in a grinder for $2.98, and it's not a bad deal. Sometimes it is good to survey the supermarket spice shelves. And now to put dinner on the table, a dinner I scrounged from today's brunch when no one wanted to carry her food offering home. Someone even provided sealable bags for the leftovers. Now that was a thoughtful gesture.

Onward,

The Cheese Parer

Chicken With Forty Cloves of Garlic revisted

2010-09-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

The sweet garlicy sauce was totally to die for. Yum! Although the chicken was small, we kept enough for a second meal. I served it with onions roasted in olive oil and fresh thyme from the garden, and cooked up the other half of cabbage I had used earlier for some slaw. I put some bacon fat in the cabbage along with more thyme! All the dishes had a hint (just a hint) of thyme, the unifying presence.
recipe

I can't tell you how much fresh herbs from the garden will spice up (!) your meals.
We also had two more small helpings from the pear tart. All I will have to cook tonight are some mashed potatoes out of the box (we like Hungry Jack, which I find sometimes at the Ocean State Job Lot), and some baby carrots to supplement the left over cabbage. We gobbled down the roasted onions. Another super-cheap side dish, along with the cabbage.
Eating well does not HAVE to depend on spending a lot. Be creative. Oh boy, was that garlic sauce good. I used the last bit of a bottle of white wine and made my own chicken stock out of the back and neck. To repeat: be creative.

Speaking of which, crepes stuffed with whatever can be a delicious, elegant meal at little cost. I will post my recipe soon. Remind me if I forget. You will, won't you?

I found a pasta recipe for Italian sausage and chicken thighs, both always on sale around these parts.
Do not neglect your fruits and veggies. Delicious squash (we're partial to acorn) will be on sale in the stores soon. It keeps if cold, so stock up.

The Cheeseparer

Chicken With Forty Cloves of Garlic

2010-09-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

Tonight we're feasting on a braised chicken, actually with only twenty cloves of garlic, because forty is for two chickens. Home grown garlic, home grown oregano and rosemary, a good quality chicken, now defrosting on the kitchen counter.

Last night we shared a steak that was on sale, and we shared a baked potato (a big one) and we shared a pear tart I made for dessert. All this sharing has nothing to do with frugality but more to do with keeping one's weight in check. Also shared a long walk through the woods. Walking is a great activity, and it's free.

When I got out my walking stick, the orange cat (a new cat to the household) took one look and raced upstairs. He has perhaps an interesting story about sticks which he can't tell us. Many years ago my father was visiting us, and he took it upon himself to sharpen all the dull kitchen knives. My god, the cat freaked and took off at fifty miles an hour. Another interesting story. Animals can talk in their own way.
The garden is just about gone except for the herbs and a couple grape tomatoes. I only have two bulbs of garlic left, having eaten ((or almost eaten) nine and gave one away. It was great garlic. There is a lot of bang for the buck with herbs, too.

The nasturtiums are still blooming, and for some reason, the aphids left them alone this year. We had a big hawk sitting NEXT TO the bird feeder yesterday. My husband wanted to take a picture, but I chased him before he could eat any of my birdies. Wish the hummingbirds would migrate. I'll worry about them until they show up again in May.

With the cooler weather, one begins to think pot roast, chili, beef stew, chicken pot pie and spaghetti and meatballs, the heartier fares. Shop the sales. Eat seasonally. Clip those coupons! Make out your menus for the week from the specials. You do make out menus and a food plan, don't you? Shopping willy-nilly is not paring any cheese.

Yours in thriftiness,

The Cheeseparer

Italian prune plum tart. Found all over Germany in late summer, made with either with a crusty dough somewhat like shortbread (muerberteig) or a yeast dough (hefeteig). I sprinkle a few sliced almonds on top. Tastes as good as it looks.

Betty Crocker and the Taco Pie

2010-09-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

My favorite Bisquick recipe is Poppyseed Onion Cheese Supper Bread, a real winner. We always buy the lo-cal Bisquick because, unlike 95% of reduced fat products, we can't tell any difference. For heaven's sake use real butter instead of margarine. Remember how you were fooled into thinking margarine was healthier and then we discovered all those icky transfats that were worse than butter.

Onion Cheese Supper Bread

Another Bisquick recipe, this one using canned chili . A recipe which Betty Crocker emailed me. Not the real Betty Crocker. The dough was hard to handle. I think some more kneading and then a rigorous rolling would have solved the problem.

I liked that it had fresh lettuce and tomatoes on top. I also added sauteed onion and jalapeno and got the "spicey" chili con carne because I feared it might be a little bland. A clove of garlic would not have been amiss. If you get the regular chili add a little extra seasoning. Chopped avocado on top takes it to a new level. But then avocado takes most things to a new level. And all those good healthy-for-you oils! Yum!

Paring away,

The Cheeseparer

here is the link.

California Taco Chili Bake

Rujak--What to Serve with Hot (Spicy) Entrees

2010-08-28T07:07:00.000-07:00

What kind of salad works best with Thai food, curries, Indonesian Reistafel and all those fiery-to-the-taste-buds, sinus clearing dishes? Years and years ago, when I made curry often (the kids loved it!) I came across a recipe that was absolutely perfect for my spicy concoctions. I've never seen it before or since. The page where I typed (yes, typed) it is even yellow and curry-spattered, with the holes fortified with reinforcements. The salad is a tart fruit salad. Here is the recipe.
You will note that the ingredients are common and therefore relatively cheap. I think a kiwi would work well. The recipe predates kiwi's availability in the stores. The recipe predates almost everything, except the Cheeseparer.

Note: the "sour salt" is citric acid which many grocery store will sell, but you can also find it at the drug store and if that doesn't work crush a vitamin C tablet if the ingredient is citric acid. It keeps the apple and banana from turning that yukky brown.

Rujak--Tart Fruit Salad

4 cups water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (light brown in a pinch)
1/2 t. crushed chili peppers (hot pepper flakes)
1/2 t. sour salt
1 T. lemon juice
1 lemon cut into eighths
sliced banana (not overly ripe)
orange sections (canned mandarin in a pinch)
peeled apple wedges
thinly sliced unpeeled cucumber

Boil sugar and water until it makes a clear syrup--about 4 minutes; remove from heat. Add hot pepper flakes and sour salt; stir until salt dissolves. Stir in lemon juice after syrup has cooled slightly.
About 2 hours before serving, mix syrup with the cut up fruit and cucumber. Chill in coldest part of refrigerator and serve ice-cold.
This is served as a side dish and eaten as a "refresher" between mouthfuls of hot food.
No idea where this recipe originated.

The Cheeseparer.

Dinner is served

2010-08-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

We finally had a dinner party, and it was kinda, sorta frugal and totally delicious. I found some fresh wild Atlantic salmon at Whole Foods for $10.99 a pound. Cheap for what it was. I made a lime butter sauce for the fish (limes were on special). We grilled corn along with the fish (over oak) and I cooked up some green beans, likewise on sale now as was the corn. I made a fab gazpacho with tomatoes from the garden, as was the garlic and the herbs. So delicious. For desert, we had homemade berry (raspberries and blackberries) ice cream. Berries were on special, too, as was the wine.

We had enough salmon left for lunch, beans for another meal, and the ice cream lasted for nine servings. Being in diet mode, we didn't exactly heap it into our bowls. Which was fine. What I liked about the ice cream was that it wasn't so sweet that you couldn't taste the tartness of the berries and the creaminess of the cream.

The meal was not a lot of work, especially with my better half doing the corn and the salmon, and making the ice cream the day before and the gazpacho in the morning so it would be well chilled. How much would this meal have cost at a restaurant? I don't even want to know!

Now, the rains have come. We had a chicken salad on spinach tonight, with heirloom tomatoes and feta. As good as it gets. Had to cook indoors due to the weather, but I have a grill pan, and it was no big deal. We decided to make another ice cream over Labor Day. Maybe a gelato or an ice milk. Something delicious. As always.

Take Five Ripe Tomatoes . . .

2010-08-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

In mid August, if you are growing your own or have access to a farm stand or farmer's market, the best recipes always begin with the phrase, "take five ripe tomatoes."

Here are some of the things we do with those tomatoes:
1) Tomato Bread Salad - I'm serving tonight with fresh basil, fresh spinach, and fresh mozzarella.
2) Homemade tortilla soup.
3) Insalata Caprese (tomatoes with basil, olive oil and fresh mozzarella)
4) Tomato/vegetable soup
5) A simple plate of sliced tomatoes with fresh herbs
6) Gazpacho

Tortilla Soup

3 T. corn oil

4 corn tortillas, cut in strips

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 medium onions, chopped

4 tomatoes, skinned and chopped

1 T. ground cumin

1 jalapeno pepper

8 cups chicken broth

½ cup fresh cilantro

Garnishes: fried strips of tortilla, grated Cheddar, cooked chicken breast (in thin strips)

Diced avocado, chopped cilantro

Heat oil in 4 quart stockpot and fry strips of tortilla until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Saute garlic and onions and cook until onions are soft. Add remaining ingredients, including tortilla strips, bring to boil and simmer 20-25 minutes. Add salt and paper. Serve in bowls with garnishes.

What are some of YOUR faves?

Here is a tomato bread salad recipe from Epicurious

Away for the Weekend

2010-08-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

Frog in the Lily Pond at our host's place in the Berkshires

Even a so-called cheap house party weekend can add up: gas, food for the group, wine for the group, entertainment, meals en route. I figure the outlay for around $230.00 in total for three days. Not bad, actually if divided by day. I took along some pecan pie bars, which are actually to die for, and an "antipasto salad," of pasta, sun-dried tomatoes, proscuitto and provlone and salami. This is an Emeril Lagasse recipe and it serves ten and is really good, probably less than $1 a serving. The pecan pie bars consist of a shortbread crust (with brown sugar), baked and a pecan mixture (more butter and brown sugar) poured over the hot crust. It makes about 28 bars if you don't cut them too big. Very rich, so nice little pieces are fine.

Our host made a wonderful pork loin, part broiled, part baked and part smoked, with plenty of garlic cloves. I took a head of my fresh organic garlic and some tomatoes, too. We just have to stop in Stockbridge, MA at the Red Lion Inn every so often for lunch in the courtyard. A beautiful warm day, and nice wine and food. We like the Saturday morning rehearsal at Tanglewood, for only $17.00 a head. We had a nice picnic with the antipasto salad, the bars and some leftover pork and tomato/cuke/onion salad from the night before. Oh yes, and wine.

We could easily have spent 3 times as much on lodging, Tanglewood tickets, and eating out. I did buy a CD of the Silk Road Ensemble which I've enjoyed at home already. This is our only vacation this summer, except for my two days in Georgia visiting relatives. I went to a wonderful party in the country where the host served is own (Angus) beef, his corn, his tomatoes, his okra, his figs and his peppers. It was a very special evening. Somewhere miles east of Athens. The evening before, I partook of homemade peach ice cream. Life is good in the summertime.
We had insalata Caprese for lunch. Home grown basil and home grown tomatoes. I suppose I could make my own mozzarella, but that sounds like work.
Last night we grill chicken dressed in fines herbes and seven different veggies. Enough for a second dinner. I have one (1) cantaloupe from a plant that was supposed to be a cucumber. Go figure.

I hope you have a garden. The frogs and bees and hummingbirds, the butterflies and even the cheeky chipmunks make it a living spot where flora and fauna and exist.
Yesterday, a brown creeper came in the kitchen window and existed the living room. I heard a commotion in the kitchen and one of the cats was most uncharacteristically on the counter. Bird had enough sense to leave when we opened the door.

Yours in sometime frugality

The Cheeseparer

Soup From a Nail

2010-07-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

I always loved the children's story about soup made from a nail. We aren't quite THAT frugal, but we do buy the Select Harvest soups, either at Ocean State Job Lot or at Walmart. They taste good, have minimal processing and are lower in sodium than many canned soups. We have
discovered that one can makes lunch for two.

This week we had the Mexican chicken soup. I added fresh spinach and cherry tomatoes and we ate it garnished with avocado and Mexican cheese, all ingredients from the pantry. It was so good. One day I made a chiffonade from a leftover corn tortilla and added that. I had so many extra ingredients that I added a little chicken broth. So tasty.

Fresh Atlantic Salmon was on sale at one of the local markets, and I splurged and bought a pound. We'll cook it on the grill, Thai style with green beans and corn, both fresh and on sale. There's a peach pie (from scratch, even the crust) in the oven. It looked to die for.

No matter how cheeseparing you are, do take advantage of summer's produce. Our green beans and cherry tomatoes are providing tasty bites from the garden, along with all the fresh herbs. I made some quick Fajitas using a small frozen petite sirloin, a few frozen shrimp, a past prime green pepper and some onion. I made a nice marinade with fresh garlic (from the garden) and heated up some corn tortillas from my economy package of fifty. We used "found" ingredients, i.e. no trip to the store required. I like to do this. The larder is bare, but not quite, and what can you cook that's nourishing and tasty?

You'd be surprised. Go ye forth and scrounge from the pantry. Remember: potatoes fried with bacon, onion, tomatoes and eggs make a delicious dinner. Scatter some fresh chives or a bit of grated cheese over the top. Scallions? Yup.

I am so excited about my garlic harvest, that I'm planning to make Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic. Yum! What are you harvesting this summer?

The Cheeseparer

Pizza! Pizza!

2010-07-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was in the Atlanta area visiting relatives. We went to a party on a country property way the heck east of Athens. Our host feted us with his own beef, tomatoes, corn, okra, peppers and figs! Yes figs! In our local supermarkets, if you can find them, they cost $3.00 for 8, not a frugal price. I was persuaded to bring home a small container.
Recently someone in our tribe had a fancy pizza with figs and prosciutto, so guess what I made? Yup. I had riccotta and mozzarella, and fresh baby spinach. I had figs! We bought the dough and a few oz. of prosciutto, and we made a pizza.
Because there were only two of us, we ate it for 2 dinner and one lunch in an outburst of frugality. It was good. Doesn't it look yummy? Those figs had quite a ride.

The Cheeseparer

Spicy Fried Basmati Rice

2010-07-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

We grilled a cheap "petite sirloin" and chopped it up to eat over the rice. This was really good, really surprisingly good. I had 1/4 cup of leftover sun-dried tomatoes in oil so that made the recipe cheap to make, esp. with the fresh herbs all from the garden. The stir-frying went together in minutes. Slicing and chopping always a chore, but so what? I did cook the rice in the a.m. after breakfast while I read the paper. Sometimes, multi-tasking is the way to go.

Try this soon. Grilled chicken, pork, or shrimp would also be dynamite.

Spicy refried rice

Save! Save! Save!

2010-07-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, when the sun was hot, there was a bit of a breeze and no rain forecast, I washed a heavy wool blanket in cold water and put it on the deck to sun-dry, thereby saving at least $15.00 of dry cleaning fees. After the blanket was dry (quicker than you could imagine), I air-fluffed it in the dryer and stuck it into the cedar closet for the summer.

With house guests here for a month, we have been trying to keep grocery bills under control while catering to their needs: one vegetarian, one picky eater. My Significant Other and me are voracious and eat basically anything that's food. So we have been buying cage-free eggs, organic whole milk, and a host of other pricey groceries. You would think not buying much meat would be cheap, but you would be wrong. Today, we're having farfalle with mascarpone, hazelnuts, and asparagus. It's a delicious vegetarian dish, but the ingredients are expensive. I'm hoping to get two meals or one meal and a lunch out of it.

The day after, we're having re fried rice with some cheaper ingredients. For the carnivores, I will grill a small cheap sirloin and chop it up for us to put over the rice. Tasty and cheap. Last night we had bratwurst, sauerkraut and fried potatoes. I "doctor" my sauerkraut with onion, brown sugar, bacon, caraway seed, bay leaf and paprika. Lots of white wine. I buy a huge jar at Ocean State Job lot for $2.00. Of course potatoes are cheap and I got some baby ones on sale. The vegetarian ate Morningstar Farms Buffalo Nuggets ($4.99 for a box). We had a HUGE fruit salad with 7 different fruits for dessert. So tasty and nutritious. Spell check hates this post. WTF?

We are also finding that shopping every three days, with some visits to the supermarket, Whole Foods and Walmart is helping. We also do not bring the guests along to toss stuff into the shopping cart. Ya do what ya can. Just about anything is cheaper than taking four to dinner.

It is amazing how much terminology a 10 year old doesn't know. Greasy spoon? Not playing with a full deck? All sorts of expressions.

I have to go up and iron the stuff I used to send to the cleaners. Being cheap has become a way of life.

Cheers

Red, White and Blue Dessert

2010-07-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

When berries, with their good fiber and antioxidants are in season, we can find lots of uses for them. On cereal, in fruit salad, and in luscious desserts. This tart is made with "Farmer" cheese, a low fat cheese that doesn't break the bank. The berries were on sale. The crust is easy to make in a food processor, and everything goes together nicely. Your family and guests will approve.

Father's Day At the Grill

2010-06-21T06:47:00.000-07:00

The Dad is our household had to cook his own meal yesterday, but what a meal and so inexpensive, too. We grilled chicken breasts (with skin and bone for added flavor), zucchini and summer squash, red and yellow peppers (on sale), corn on the cob (on sale). Other sides were black beans (on sale) with onion and garlic and garnished with Mexican cheese (on sale) and cilantro and basil (from the garden). For dessert, we had a fruit salad of strawberries and blueberries (both on sale) and banana. I made orange yogurt bread which tasted good with the fruit. This was a cheap, healthy meal with plenty of fruits and vegetables. We loved it . Cost was minimal, and we have leftovers for tonight. Oh yes! We also had a salad of tomatoes and avocado with lettuce from the garden. Seven fruits and veggies with additional herbs and seasonings. Speaking of seasoning, I gave the chicken a good rub with Penzey's Southwestern Seasoning.

Penzey's have great spices that make even the cheapest eats something special. You can buy the spices in different sizes, which is handy for the ones you either use a lot of or a little of. I've been shopping there for years, and have never been disappointed.

We like Barbecue of the Americas for a rub, too. Penzey's Spices

We used our smoker to smoke pork chops, and then I made Kassler Ripppen, a German dish impossible to find in Boston. The smoked pork chops (on sale, natch), are then cooked with aromatic vegetables and saurkraut. Served with potatoes, it makes a tasty meal.

Do take advantage of your own garden produce and all the farmer's markets. There is no reason not to eat cheap and healthy in the summer.

The Cheeseparer,

Five Minute Desserts

2010-06-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

From late spring into the fall, we are tempted with fresh fruit. It's hard to beat a good fruit salad with a harmonious selection of fruits. Add a spot of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice. We like to macerate a spoonful or two of Apple Jack with the fruit.

Only slightly more ambitious is a compote. In Germany and Austria in the summer, you can eat a dessert call Rote Grutze (Red Groats) everywhere. Red berries and currants thickened with tapioca(?). Make your own American version with rhubarb, strawberries, cherries, anything red including leftover cranberries you may have in the freezer. Cook together with a very small amount of liquid (I like orange juice). Thicken with cornstarch or instant tapioca and of course sweeten according to taste. Served with a bit of cream, this is delicious.

Only slightly more complicated is a country fruit tart. Take one Pillsbury pie crust from the dairy case (they come two to a box in our area for $2.99 but can often be found on sale.) Put some parchment paper on a large cookie sheet with sides. Unroll the crust onto the paper. Pour a mixture of fruits (2-3 cups) sweetened with sugar and lemon juice with a bit of instant tapioca to thicken. Any kind of fruit will do. Crimp the sides around the fruit so that the fruit is still mostly visible in the center of the tart. Put into a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Cool on a trivet and eat. Serves 4 or 6 people on a diet.

The parchment paper keeps the cookie sheet clean.   Blueberries, strawberries, plums, cherries, peaches--singly or together. Be creative. Sprinkle with a tad of cinnamon or nutmeg is you like. Not too much. You want to savor the fruit.

You can make your own crust for about $1.00 less, but that is more than 5 minutes, but not much with a food processor. Any of these desserts are worthy of company. Sometimes I sprinkle a few nuts into the fruit salad or over the tart, but make sure no one is allergic.

I hope your garden is planted and thriving and that you have lots of fresh herbs and veggies.   Don't forget to put out plants attractive to bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. It is easy to enjoy life when the weather is good. Take time to do so.

Yours in frugality, taste and beauty,

The Cheeseparer

Chicken Tostadas

2010-05-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

This is bound to be better than going out for Mexican tomorrow, when the so-so Mexican restaurants in the Boston area will be SRO. My philosophy is make your own.

The recipe I'm using is from Gourmet a few years back. Don't panic! It's Gourmets "Gourmet Every Day" which is never too complicated. We're going to have some margaritas and a nice salad that echos ingredients from the main course.

Enjoy! You can feed the whole family.

Gourmet's chicken tostadas

The cheese to be pared here in ricotta salata.

Tuna and Noodles Revisited

2010-05-04T16:11:00.000-07:00

When I was in college and sometimes hung out with graduate student history majors, some weekends we would get together, chip in 60 cents each, and someone would make tuna and noodle casserole. I wasn't into cooking then, but I always enjoyed the cheap dinner. Guess what?

It's still cheap. I use good quality Italian tuna in olive oil ($1.99 each) and good quality egg noodles, from Ocean State Job lot, so they're really cheap. I make my own white sauce, and always saute a bit of onion and (green, red, yellow, whatever) pepper first. Put in a dab of cayenne powder. Use part of the oil drained from the tuna as "shortening." Use whatever dairy product (milk, cream, half and half) is available. I use 2 6.5 oz. cans of tuna. We like it with crushed potato chips on top. Breadcrumbs would be good, too, but not as good as potato chips.

A casserole from these ingredients made 3 weekdays dinners for two. Can't get much cheaper than that. It tasted great, too. I dumped in about 3/4 finely chopped broccoli that was leftover from something. Frozen peas will also work. Some color, don'tcha know.

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and we're celebrating in the kitchen, which is the best place. I'm splurging for some Chicken Tostadas. See the next post.

Ole!

The Cheeseparer has a Dinner Party

2010-04-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

An old writing friend came to town this week and I invited her and some others for a mid-week dinner. I tried to find something everyone would like which wouldn't totally blow out our diets. Settled on a mostly Mediterranean menu which contributed to delicious lunches. The full fat Greek yogurt rocks, as did the special feta from Whole Foods. Here are photographs of the meal. The orange-mascarpone tart with pistachios was to die for. Oranges will be cheaper than berries or chocolate desserts. Very healthy too. Whole Foods has a nut table where the shopper can pick out exactly the amount she needs. No waste or extra money. Ratatouille is also an economical choice and can be made a day ahead of time. The Mediterranean Diet is healthy, but not cheap to cook.

French Toast

2010-04-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

In French, the dish we know as French toast is called pain perdu or "lost bread." In German, French toast is arme Ritter, or
"poor knight."

Last Wednesday, at Whole Foods, we got totally carried away and bought French bread, Italian bread and German bread. Two people. Crazy. The dinner party guests ate about two slices of the Italian, and we finally finished the loaf. In the meantime, of course, the baguette got rather stale. Last night I used some under the steak to sop of the juices. Toasted it with butter and paprika first. Quite yummy. This morning I used the rest to make French Toast.

I don't really use a recipe. One egg per person, and milk and cream with a pinch of salt and a spoonful of sugar to make it brown nicely. Whisk together. I fry it in two skillets in a mixture of canola and butter. The yin and the yang. We eat it with either REAL maple syrup or with apricot syrup from The Apricot King. Grown in the flavor zone. They have the best apricot jam, just like my Grandma used to make. Their dried apricots (I love apricot bars) are also the best. It is always wonderful to find a small business with a great product line that one can enthusiastically support. And apricot syrup is hard to find. My granddaughter loves it. Hell, we all love it. French Toast, Waffles, Pancakes. Yum!

My Dad always made French Toast for us on Sunday morning. He used Wonder-style bread, which was the only thing my folks ever ate. He liked it nice and soft and ate a few slices of bread with every meal. He claimed he couldn't eat without bread. The only exception was Chinese food which he liked with soda crackers. Go figure. I've noticed that what one usually remembers about the departed loved ones is their endearing eccentricities that outlive them. Once my Dad got carried away and made his French toast out of non-dairy creamer which was a disgusting concoction. When I visited, my parents always bought a pound of butter, as they knew I didn't eat margarine. I always told everyone "that stuff will kill you," and with the trans fats it turned out I was right.

You will never see an "all natural" label on margarine. So this is one area where WE DO NOT ECONOMIZE. Nope. Butter is a pure, natural product. Just don't eat too much.

One can also make croutons out of stale bread. Or bread crumbs. Or feed it to the Scottish Highland cattle, in the unlikely event you have a small herd in your neighborhood like we do. Love those cows.

I hope you eat breakfast, a real breakfast, with loved ones every Sunday morning. We scarfed down two strips of good quality bacon each, and I am embarrassed to report we ate all of the French toast. I can't believe we ate the whole thing.

I put French toast in two of my novels. My books always have at least one party scene, one naked swim, and a lot of craziness. And lots of food and flowers. lMaybe someday a character should make French toast with non-dairy creamer. What do you think?

Live cheaply but well,

The CheeseParer

Cookies Galore

2010-04-24T06:52:00.000-07:00

I like to bake cookies occasionally. In order that we don't gobble them up immediately, I freeze them in batches, and then when we are in a cookie mood (when aren't we?) I take a package out of the freezer and voila!

When I'm feeling particularly cheap, like now, when property taxes are due next month, I look for a recipe for which I already have all the ingredients, and today, that recipe is Ina Garten's (the Barefoot Contessa) Oatmeal cookies. Actually, I didn't have enough pecans, so I am substituting walnuts.

We're driving to New York on Tuesday, and as usual, we're packing a lunch for en route. We like to stop in Old Saybrook (a bunch of good restaurants and a cool picnic area down by the water), and we'll have roast chicken sandwiches, a small amount of potato chips, grape tomatoes, Coke and water and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. We always feel terribly smug knowing our lunch is way better than fast food and every bit as good as an $8.00 sandwich with drinks and cookie extra. We also save time by not waiting for service.

I must confess that on the way home from a quick, unplanned trip to New York, we stopped in New Haven for lunch. The place we wanted to eat was closed at 4:00 p.m. in spite of what the guide book said, so we wandered across the street to an Argentine place. New Haven was celebrating "restaurant week" and we had a totally fabulous three course lunch (we needed no dinner) for a song. It would be hard to say what menu item was tastier, but we were so taken that we'll stop next time we go thru New Haven on I-95 in a state of hunger. The restaurant is Pacifico. Try it if you're in the area and into ethnic.
Pacifico

Now for that cookie recipe

If you are at home but having a busy day, this is my cookie procedure:
1) First pass:read the recipe and get out all the ingredients and put them together on the counter.
2) Second pass: measure and "prep" all ingredients
3) Third pass: make the dough and refrigerate if you need to
4) Fourth pass: bake the cookies

Cool and divide all but a couple day's eating and freeze.

Potato Pancakes

2010-04-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

The house guests are here, and as always have requested a dinner of latkes or potato pancakes. This is a last-minute high-labor dinner (4 people) that is economical and delicious and requires no preparation beforehand. Resolve not to leave the kitchen, hell, don't leave the stove during the intense time that you're frying the pancakes.

Any cookbook should have a recipe. I combine several recipes, using seasoning from one, onion from other, Bisquick from a third. We like our latkes well-seasoned and thin and crisp. I use the grater on the Cuisinart to grate the potatoes, and then wring out the excess moisture in a muslin towel. Chop or grate the onion fine. A clove of garlic is not necessary but ads resonance.

I like to serve thick-sliced bacon, sour cream and applesauce with the pancakes. Something for everyone. Fry up the bacon before you start on the latkes, and make sure your oven is on low with a heatproof platter therein. Two skillets or grills make the process go much faster, but you really have to concentrate.

I also serve buttered broccoli (something green) with the pancakes, but that's just me. A tossed salad would also work, but then you are setting yourself up to fry and toss at the same time, unless you have a kitchen helper who can take the salad chores off your hands. The broccoli can be steamed early and reheated without any harm done. For heaven's sake don't serve it half raw.

I use canola oil and butter with maybe a bit of bacon grease. Suit yourself for the frying oil, but olive is not recommended. Keep stacking the pancakes onto the heatproof platter in the oven until they're all done and everyone can eat together.

We are having fresh pineapple for dessert. I'll post a photo if we happen to think about it before the platter is empty. They're dynamite.

The Cheeseparer

Tomato Soup from Provence

2010-03-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

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.

Yakisoba from the New York Times

2010-03-07T16:06:00.000-08:00

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

Valentine's Day Blast the Frugal Way

2010-02-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

We spent $102.00 at the supermarket on Friday, including $17.00 for two beautiful bouquets of red and white tulips.

Eating out on Valentine's Day is usually a horor show--crowded, with bad service and nervous, overdressed couples. We find it's much more enjoyable to go out before or after the event, or like yesterday, sit at the bar in Chestnut Hill at Paparzzi, drinking good pino grigio and eating carpaccio and focaccia, and fine Italian soup.

You can see what we ate with our $ 102.00 which includes groceries for the rest of the week, too. If we had gone out for this meal at a nice restaurant, I calculated we would have spent $175.00 for two with tip, tax, wine and four courses. (A salad of lettuce, artichoke bottoms, cherry tomatoes and cucumber is not shone. I made everything from scratch, a labor of love, but hey, it's Valentine's day. The crepes were delicious.

If you have eggs, milk, flour and fruit you can do scrumptious crepes and cafloutis. I used an on sale package of frozen stawberries and made a sauce with cornstarch, a little sugar, orange juice, orange liquor and a dash of brandy. The crepes are filled with cream cheese (on sale) and powdered sugar. The recipe made 12 crepes, which means we have three luscious deserts for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

The stuffed chicken breasts are from Rachel Ray and there is enough for tonight and extra stuffing for some stuffed shells later in the week.

The shrimp bisque was made with on-sale shrimp and their shells, and I splurged and bought leeks and a fennel bulb. Again, enough bisque for three days and was it ever good. I use cheap white vermouth when a recipe calls for white wine.

Yes, I spent a good portion of yesterday in the kitchen, but having (delicious) food for 2-3 days is a good tradeoff. Living cheaply does not mean living poorly. Give your creativity free rein.

Happy Valentine's Day and President's Day from The Cheeseparer

Going Bananas

2010-02-10T12:37:00.000-08:00

We're in the path of the current snow storm, one of those freaky nor'easters that dump snow and lash us with cold winds.

We always keep some "winter stores" in the house from December - April. Just canned goods mostly and maybe a box of Biquick or Hungry Jack--stuff to eat if we get snowed in for more than a day or two. I usually have tuna, hash, and Spam, but since we are trying to reduce salt, hash and SPAM are iffy. We have a gas stove, so even if the power goes out, there's still an oven and burners.

This morning I ran to the store for milk and eggs which were in short supply. With milk and eggs you hve a wide variety of menus, frugal menus, even. Tonight we're having some prepared chicken, part of a BOGO I purchased in the fall. The first bag of chicken (a good brand name) wasn't very good, but I'm hoping with a different flavor and the new oven things will come together.

In case the chicken is still mediocre, there's still baked beans (I add bacon, cherry tomatoes and onion) and a wonderful never fail dessert. It says serves 2, but it really makes 4 servings unless you're VERY piggy.   A Clafouti can be made with almost any kind of fruit--cherries are classic. But good old bananas, cheap and always available are dynamite.

Here is the recipe:

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar (we like recipes that are not TOO sweet).
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
2/3 cup milke (I use 2%)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large banana, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into bits

In a blender, blend together 1/3 cup of the sugar, the flour, eggs, milk, vanilla and the salt until the mixture is smooth. Arrange the banana slices in one layer in a buttered 3-cup gratin dish or flameproof shallow baking dish, pour the pudding over them and bake the clafouti in the middle of a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until the top is puffed and springy to the touch. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, dot it with the butter and broil the clafouti under a preheated broiler about 3 inches from the heat for 1 to 2 minutes or until it is browned.

Serves 2-4.

Gourmet Magazine, 1992

What could be simpler than this? So yummy. And children will like it. Nothing artificial. Bon Appetit!