Meatless Monday

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!

A Mllion Dollar Berry Dessert

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.

Penzey's Butter Chicken Recipe

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

Blood Oranges and pork chops and rum cake

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  

Father's Day At the Grill

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,  

A summer salad: Tasty, Healthy, Cheap

This recipe makes a huge bowl, so tasty and good and even good for you. Fresh veggies add mouth and eye appeal, and a home roasted chicken adds even more taste and flavor.

I give it three stars!

Southwestern Chicken and Pasta Salad

Dressing:
2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 limes, juiced
2 TB. Southwest Seasoning 2 tsp salt (I used a little less)
1 ½ t. minced garlic

Salad:
16 oz. rotini pasta (any tubular pasta will do)
1 ½ cups whole kernel corn (I used 2 ears fresh and cut it off the cob)
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup red bell peppers, diced (1 medium)
¾ cup green onions, chopped
1 cup tomatoes – any kind of fresh will do

Recipe calls for 4 boneless, skinless breast halves sautéed in olive oil and sprinkled with the Southwest seasoning, but I used a roasted chicken (the breast, thighs and a little bit of other meat from the bones). Tear or chop chicken into bite sized pieces.

Mix dressing and set aside.
Cook pasta in lightly salted water. Drain and set aside. If you are using fresh chicken breasts, sauté them in oil with Southwest seasoning while the pasta is cooking. Otherwise, remove meat from bones of purchased roasted chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. In a large bowl, combine pasta, corn, beans, bell pepper, green onions and tomatoes with the cooked chicken. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Prep time 15 minutes.
Cooking time: 20 minutes (for the pasta)

Serves 6-8 as main dish.

Southwestern Seasoning is from Penzeys. Mix your own Tex-Mex spice mixture if you like or order the original from www.penzeys.com

Yours in frugality and flavor,

The Cheeseparer

Road Warriors

No doubt about it, travel isn't cheap, but there are always economies, large and small that will pare some dollars off your trip.

We're driving from Boston to NYC on Tuesday. For two, with the price of gas down and an economical car, driving is still the cheapest. We park on the street and observe the NYC rules.
We also stay with a friend, which will shave at least $600 off the trip for hotels. If we had to pay for a hotel, we probably wouldn't go. Our friend also serves breakfast and one dinner. We take her to dinner one night and split the meal on the third night. She has a museum membership, so we get into MOMA for $5.00 each intead of the regular rate.

We'll also save $20+ dollars taking our lunch. I'll broil/bake a chicken breast on Monday. We make sandwiches, take potato chips, cookies, fruit and something to drink. A commuter cup brimming with coffee. The chicken, chips, cookies and fruit were all on sale. We have soft drinks in the fridge left from a house guest.

You get the idea. A trip that would cost over $1000.00 is accomplished for a couple hundred. I take busses or the subway whenever possible in Manhattan. More savings. If the distances aren't too great, walk.

When you're looking at the weekly specials, consider what you may already have in the freezer/pantry and plan your meals. This cuts way down on the weekly groceries. You do shop the specials?

I found a cheap pizza stone at the Williams Sonoma outlet which will make doing our own pizzas even easier. Homemade pizza rocks. It's not dirt cheap, but if you shop for sales in the grated cheese section, you'll do all right. Italian sausage is on sale frequently. Pepperoni can be purchased in SMALL quantities at the deli. No need to buy huge amounts. Tomatoes and broccoli were on sale today. Hey, that's a good topping. You keep pepper flakes on hand, don't you? Spices, while costly, add so much interest and flavor to food.

I buy ALL my spices on line at http://www.penzeys.com/. Once you're a good customer, they send freebies with each order. You can also order very small or very large amounts, depending on your level of use. I grow sage, chives, oregano,mint,dill, cilantro,parsley, and basil. Nothing beats tomatoes with thin slices of fresh mozzarella and chopped basil with a little EVOO. Once tomato season is here, all you buy is the EVOO (from Ocean State Job lot) and the fresh mozzarella. Yum!

Can hardly wait for summer. It's 72 degrees south of Boston today, and I'm going to plant spinach and beets today. Get that garden going. Create your own compost. Coffee grounds encourage earthworms, something my mother taught me.

Pare that cheese!

Cook At Home versus Eat Out

Before the economy tanked, we ate out about once a week, everywhere from The 99 to upscale downtown Boston haunts. Now we eat out half as often, and we're very choosy about where we drop our dimes. Would they were only dimes!

Of course for the cook, fewer meals out means more work: shopping, food prep and (Yuck!) clean up. However, the right attitude and compiling the savings can work wonders. Instead of our weekly meal out, we have a nice, FAST dinner at home.

Last night we had scallops, and I have to tell you that instead of paying $120.00 (food, 2 glasses of wine, tax and tip), we spent about $20.00 for everything. The most expensive item was 3/4 pound of scallops for $12.07. I could have eeked by with 2-3 ounces less. We had scallops provencal (from the Food Network recipe of the Barefoot Contessa), fresh buttered broccoli, herbed rice, and mesclun salad with cucumer and tomato. We each had a glass of red wine. I calculate the whole meal cost less than $20.00.

The whole dinner went together in a half hour, and I had two pots, a skillet and the salad bowl to clean up. Not too bad.

Steak is another option, especially when it's on sale. Asparagus is on sale this week. I buy Basmatic rice in five pound bags, and it lasts for ages.

We would have had leftover valentine's day port wine ice cream, but the scallops were really filling. All that lean protein. Great herbs in the rice. Yum!

A roast chicken is also a good option, as is shrimp. All can be low cost healthy fare.

I believe in red meat twice a week winter and summer for keeping your immunity high. This is my RX for getting through winter, especially. That and a flu shot and washing one's hands regularly. Sleep a lot. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and veggies.

When oranges are on sale, we stock up. An orange sliced on a bed off lettuce with a drizzle of dressing makes a great salad. Add a few slices of avocado and yowza! I don't buy avocados when they are 2 bucks a pop.

Avocados were 4/$5 at the supermarket yesterday. We get two meals out of one, which puts it into the cheap range. Healthy oils, too. Do not neglect healthy oils.

If you have an ice cream maker, you can enjoy premium ice cream, sherbet, ice milk and frozen yogurt for half of what you pay in the store, and so much better. It makes a very special dessert.

Tonight I am taking a lemon poppyseed cake to a potluck. It will cost less than $2 to make, and serves 12. Pick your recipes.

By the way, I am very big on Penzey's Spices. http://www.penzeys.com/ Penzey's has a great web operation, catalog and some stores. The best thing is that you can buy spices in all sizes from minute amounts to big jars depending on your individual use. Or without jars. They have some great rubs and mixed blends for marinades and grilling.

Once you're a customer, you get a free sample in each order. The vanilla and peppercorns are soooo reasonable, and the prices make up for the postage. Be really smart and split an order with a friend or two or some folks in the office.

Living cheap is living creatively. It can even be fun. And definitely tasty.

I'm making cauliflower soup with a curry flavor. We eat it an lunch with some breadsticks. Cauliflower was on sale. Buy chicken broth on sale and some good curry powder from Penzeys. You can also make your own curry powder if you have a fully-stocked spice cabinent. Remember, creative is the operative word. Pare that cheese

Bon Appetit!

The Cheeseparer