Happy Chinese New Year

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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.