Whither the Poblanos?

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

 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 

 

Dolores Greshaw's Rhubarb Bread

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