Chicken Soup for the Pocketbook

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

Saving at the Supermarket

The past month, using specials and coupons, I've been saving between 20 and 45 per cent at the supermarket. There's 3 pounds of butter in the freezer (yes, butter freezes, and no, I wouldn't even consider using margarine for holiday baking.) No how, no way.

We've been loading up on "winter stores," because here in the New England a blizzard may surprise us, and we want to have 4 days food in the house. I've got a plastic bin full of good stuff to eat, and in April, when all danger of storms are past, we eat it up.

We're been buying BOGOS (buy one get one) and specials like flour, sugar, and raisins for the holiday baking. I began it yesterday with some shortbread with cocktail nuts roasted, chopped and pressed into the dough. The sweet-salty combo is really good.

I splurged and got some phyllo dough on sale, to make some cheese twists to take to a party. Hoping the recipe will make many, as they can be frozen.

What I've been busy with mostly is upgrading my computer--transferring the data from a dying Dell to a sparkly new Mac Mini. And Christmas shopping on Craig's list. By the way, magazines, which can frequently be got quite reasonably. will be a yearlong gift.

Finding supermarket sales and using a coupon will save you big. And of course you recycle your grocery bags and take the reusable ones you buy for a dollar. And shop places like Building 19 and the Ocean State Job lot--these are Boston area stores that have Good Stuff Cheap.

If a few days, I'll scare up the shortbread and cheese twist recipes. It's always nice to take something homemade to a party if you're any kind of cook at all. If you aren't, pick up a bottle of wine. The newspapers always have articles about good buys in good wine. Clip the article.

Be frugal, but don't sacrifice good taste. If nobody eats it, then you haven't saved nuthin'.

Happy Holidays,

The Cheeseparer

Turkey Croquettes

Turkey tamales? Turkey Tettrazini? Turkey Chili? Does the word "yuck" pop into your head? Does your family rebel at your most creative after-holiday culinary efforts? Mine did, too, until I found Turkey Croquettes.

I've had this recipe for so long. It maybe came from the Sunday Chicago Tribune mag, or maybe the Boston Globe. Best guess is the Tribune from days of yore.

Important note: get going in mid-afternoon on this, as you need two hours of refrigeration between various steps.

Turkey Croquettes

3 slices whole-wheat bread, crusts remove (save for the birds)
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped turkey, white and dark meat
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
2 eggs
1 t. dried thyme (my garden still yields fresh thyme through Thanksgiving)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 cups seasoned bread crumbs (far cheaper to buy "stuffing bread" and make your own)
3 T. chopped Italian parsley (my garden may still have a few springs of parsley)
2 T. papripa (sweet not hot)
3 T. unsalted butter, melted (no margarine, please, but if you use salted butter, cut down the rest of the salt)
1 cup corn oil (you may get by with less)
2 T. unsalted butter

Giblet or Turkey gravy--leftover is best

1. Soak whole-wheat 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 mixure in a food processor fitted with a 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 large patties. Coat in bread-crumbe mixture and return, covered, to refrigerator for 1 more hour.

5. Place 1/2 cup corn oil (I actually use canola)  and 1 T. butter in a skillet. Over med. heat, cook croquettes 3 at a time, 7 minutes on one side, 5 minutes of the other side. They should be golden. (Keep warm in 300 degree over). Proceed with remaining croquettes, adding more oil and butter if necessary.

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

Serves 6

Note: Turkey gravy can be purchased. Be sure to check seasoning. Some dried or fresh herbs and pepper may be required.

The Cheese Parer