New Year, More Posts?

I hate New Years Resolutions. I usually don't even think to make any until after the New Year and by then it seems as though there is no point. Same thing happened this year, and so I have no substantive or well-throughout plans to better myself throughout 2011.

I, surprisingly, have enjoyed my time at home. I've relaxed, slept late, tried to overhaul some of the horrible eating that occurs at my parents' home (fries and chicken wings for breakfast, chips for breakfast and waffles for lunch and dinner -- some of the more incriminating occurrences). Now I think it's time to get back on that blogging tip.

I am heading into this last semester with no meal plan and a goal to overhaul my grocery budget. And so there is lots to look forward to for this new year. I've got more recipes in development, shortcuts for cooking, tips for shopping and menu planning, and more.

On that note, let's hope for more willpower this year and happy new year,!

Quick and Comforting Meals: Eggplant Parmesan

As the temperature begins to dip, the days get a little shorter, and the nights a little darker, there is nothing more I want to do than retreat to a warm meal that will comfort my stomach like a cashmere sweater for my deepest gastronomic sensibilities. These meals tend to be fattening, expensive and time-consuming, but I knew there had to be a better way. And so I developed this cheaper, quicker, healthier version of a classic.

The eggplant is baked, instead of fried, and the only oil used is in oiling the aluminum foil on the baking sheet and the inside of the baking dish. Eggplant is very standard, but I can imagine the addition of more vegetables would make this even more filing, and that much healthier.

Eggplant Parmesan

4-6 Servings (Nutrition Information is for 6)

Ingredients:

1/2 eggplant, sliced (skin is option, but provides more vitamins if left on)

1 egg, beaten

1 cup breadcrumbs, spread onto a plate or in a bowl

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

2/3 jar (18 oz) tomato sauce

3/4 C Four Cheese Italian Blend (about 1/4 C per layer)

Method:

Cut the eggplant in half and slice width-wise (making circular slices). Salt each side of the eggplant and let it rest in a colander for 20-30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.

Heat the (toaster) oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small bowl, beat the one egg. In a separate bowl or plate, spread out the breadcrumbs, adding salt and pepper.

Dip the eggplant into the egg with one hand, drop it into the breadcrumbs and use the other hand to bread. Place the breaded eggplant onto an oiled baking sheet. Repeat for all slices. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Oil the inside of an oven-safe baking dish (I used a 4-Cup glass Pyrex bowl, as it lends hand to easy storage). Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish, just a sprinkle of cheese, then begin layering the eggplant. Alternate tomato sauce, cheese and eggplant, ending with a top layer of cheese.

Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. Eat immediately, or portion and freeze for later.

Quick and Easy Wonton soup

It was about an hour before I had to go to work when I realized that I didn't have anything to eat for lunch. With the weather being a little cooler in DC, I wanted something warm and comforting. Not only would it warm my body, but also help to erase the drabness of my current occupation, which had experienced a whirlwind of a 3 days (more on that story later). My fridge and freezer lacked the bounty of ingredients that normally defined them, however, it had just the right combination of ingredients for a soup.

Soup is one of the quintessential fridge-clearing recipes, and can range from the rustic to the refined. It can be a thick, stew-like soup or a consommé, in it's brothy-glory. I chose something in between, a broth-based soup, brimming with fresh, untampered ingredients, and a light flavor. The result was a 20 minute wonton soup. Perfect for beginning-of-Fall coolness, and deep Winter chills alike.

Wonton Soup

Approximately 3 Servings

Ingredients:

1 t ginger, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T peanut oil

1 t sesame oil

2 T soy sauce

1 T mirin or white rice vinegar

1 C scallions, sliced crosswise

1/2 C red onions, sliced

2 C vegetable stock (I made some from left over vegetable scraps a week or so ago)

1 1/2 C chicken stock

1/2 C water

2 Chinese Sausages (Lop Cheong in Cantonese; you can get these at an Asian Food Market, or probably on Amazon)

1/2 bag Trader Joe's  Wontons (I used Chicken Cilantro; you could easily use any kind of potstickers, dumplings, wontons on hand, because everyone has those in the freezer, right?)

Method:

Add the peanut oil to a pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot (not smoking), add the ginger and garlic and saute. When fragrant add the red onions. 

When the onions become translucent add the soy sauce, sesame oil and vinegar and let it sit for a minute. Then add the vegetable stock, chicken stock, water, and the  and bring to a boil.

When the water comes to a boil, add the sausage and the wontons and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately, garnished with scallions or sesame seeds.

Notes:

Really anything could go into this soup. You could replace the wontons with meat, and just sear the meat then add to the soup in small pieces and cook a little longer to ensure the meat is cooked thoroughly. Other vegetables to consider would be carrots, peas, snow peas, green beans, boy choy, chinese broccoli, etc.


Approximate Cost:
Wontons - $1.65
Chinese Sausage - $0.50
Scallions - $0.15
Red Onions - $0.19
Chicken Stock - $0.62
Vegetable Stock - $0.00
Water - $0.00
Peanut Oil - $0.09
Sesame Oil - $ 0.10
Soy Sauce - $0.19
Mirin - $0.30
Total - $3.79; ~$1.26/serving

Salvaging Your Kitchen Disasters: Frugal Foodie via Mint Blog

Yesterday I came across an article on the Mint blog about saving kitchen disasters. Given that most young adults have a relatively inelastic grocery budget, over-salting a pot of soup or burning a chicken that was supposed to be lunch for a whole week is as disheartening for your wallet as it is for your inner chef. And so this post came at impeccable timing. Rather than showing off deals, this Friday you'll learn how to maximize what you already have in the fridge or pantry through cooking-resuscitation. 

Don't know if any of those tips will save these lemons.

Cooking 911: Salvaging Cooking Disasters
by Frugal Foodie at MintLife
http://www.mint.com/blog/saving/kitchen-911-salvaging-cooking-disasters/


Spend enough time in the kitchen and you’re bound to have an “Oh, #$&@!” moment.

You know: Burned food, over-salted sauces, a cake that comes out of the pan in six pieces — the kind of food emergency that leaves you in despair of wasted time and ingredients.

Don’t reach for the garbage can just yet. Many apparent disasters are fixable, while others turn out OK with a little recipe creativity, says Mark Alan Mollentine, the chef behind the Chef Mark’s Kitchen product line. “It depends on how much CPR — cooked product repair — it’s going to take,” he says.

We talked to Mollentine and other chefs about how to salvage common kitchen disasters. Here’s what they suggest:

Over-salted foods

* For vegetables and large pieces of meat, “strain it and drain it,” says Ivan Flowers, the chef and owner of Fournos in Sedona, Ariz. Salt lingers in nooks and crannies, but a quick rinse should get things back to a reasonable level.

* “The old potato fix works pretty good,” says Leanne Ely, author of the“Saving Dinner” cookbook series. Add a potato to the dish to absorb the salt. Keep it as part of the dish if you want, or remove once it’s cooked.

* Puree cooked, unsalted rice and add to the soup or sauce a tablespoon at a time, says Angela McKeller, the host of the “Kick Back and Kook!” podcast http://www.kickbackkook.com/. It both thickens and de-salts the liquid.

* “The balance for salt is sugar,” says Alan Segal, the president of kitchenware distributor Real Chef. Add sugar, a teaspoon at a time, to taste. ‘It will bring down the salt flavor.”

* Balance out the salt with an acid like lemon juice or vinegar, says Bibby Gignilliat, the founder ofParties That Cook.

Over-dressed salad

* Transfer the salad to a clean bowl. Dressing tends to run to the bottom, so you’ll leave much of it behind in the old bowl, Ely says.

* Add more salad.

* Put it in a salad spinner. “Some of the dressing will come off that way,” Gignilliat says.

Overcooked vegetables

* Puree into a soup base with a little milk, cream or chicken stock, advises Segal.

* Use in quiche, or as a complement to scrambled eggs, suggests Mike Ciardi, the chef at prepared-food shop Radish in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Stuck-together pasta

* Put it back in water with a splash of olive oil, and use your fingers to separate the pieces, Ely says.

Dried-out meat

* “Sauce it down,” Mollentine says. Even a simple gravy helps reintroduce moisture and improve the texture.

Burnt meat

* Frugal Foodie’s dad likes to refer to his kitchen mishaps as “blackened,” rather than “burned.” Turns out, he’s on to something. Adding a rub of Cajun spices can salvage meat that’s a little too well done on the outside, Ely says.

* Spice combinations like cinnamon and cumin, chipotle and adobo or even liquid smoke can reduce the burned notes and add a complementary smoky, spicy flavor, Gignilliat says.

Lumpy sauce

* Place in a blender with a pat of butter. “It makes the sauce come to a beautiful froth,” Flowers says.

* Strain gravy through a sieve, but resist the urge to push it through, Mollentine says. That leaves lumps (although smaller ones) in the sauce.

Broken (i.e. separated) sauces

* For butter sauce, bring a little cream near to boiling in a separate pot and then add in the sauce. “Bang! It’s back and beautiful,” says Flowers.

* For mayonnaise, break an egg yolk into a separate bowl. Slowly whisk in the broken mayonnaise in a slow stream to bring it back together.

* For whipped cream that’s a little over-whipped, add a little more heavy cream. “It’ll loosen back up,” Gignilliat says.

Cracked/crumbled cakes

* Reassemble and freeze the cake so that it will hold together, says Mollentine. Then ice it.

* Reinvent the cake as a trifle by cubing it and layering with fresh fruit and pudding, whipped cream or ice cream. ‘Even if it doesn’t look good, it can still taste good,” McKeller says.

Burnt pie crust

* Remove the burned edges and add a light coating of powdered sugar. “It’s pretty, and no one will be the wiser,” Ely says.

Burnt cake

* Use a serrated knife to slice off the burned portion, Gignilliat says. Flip the cake so the shorn side is on the bottom, and then ice to cover the damage.

Deflated muffins

* Chop them up and use them to make bread pudding, McKeller says.


You can follow her on twitter at @MintFoodie and see more of her articles here.

No, Not Better Than the Risotto

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjzmuhb4kDA (Link to Seinfeld clip, since Linda Edelstein doesn't believe in embedding videos)
Given the ubiquity of this line from Seinfeld, you'd think that I'd have enjoyed risotto more often in my life. Hell, Seinfeld was enough to prompt arguably the world's most famous soupmaker back into business, with his draconian business practices and "no soup for you!" declarations. And yet risotto is not a territory that I had traversed often. Perhaps it was me thinking back to me at the tender age of 13, serving a rather toothsome risotto to my family. I guess the over-stimulation from having to stand over the pot for the entire cooking length of time stirring and stirring and stirring made me serve it early and exasperated.

But last night I decide to give it a second try, as the arborio rice in the bulk bin at Whole Foods and my freshly made vegetable stock were crying out to me to be made into something delectable. It really isn't a difficult dish to make. It requires a decent amount of attention, but in about 30 minutes you have a dish that warms the heart as much as the palate. Not to mention it would have cost a lot more and taken much more time if you had decided just to go out for dinner. Besides, we aren't little kids, we can focus for 30 minutes straight, right? Right?

 The result was a risotto that 13-year-old me would be proud of.

Luscious, creamy, supple, sexy, as Angelo (Top Chef) would describe.

Basic Risotto Recipe

Yields 4, 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients

1 T butter

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup arborio rice
1 T olive oil
1 cup wine (I used white; Nobilo Cabernet Sauvignon - fruity, citrusy, peppery, zesty)
3 cups stock (I used vegetable; you could use chicken, fish, beef depending on other ingredients)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 cup of any vegetable and/or meat you'd like to add (peas, asparagus, mushroom, scallop are tried and true flavors)


Method
Melt the butter over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic. Cook over medium-low heat, allowing the onions to sweat but not to brown. When the onions are translucent add the rice and olive oil, coating every grain of rice.

Add the wine, allowing the alcohol to cook off for about 10 minutes. Then add the stock. Bring the heat up to medium.

Stand over the pot and stir for 20-25, allowing for the starch in the rice to be released, resulting in a creamy texture (or what Italians would call "wavy"). At this point add the 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, give it another stir then serve.

I'm not really sure at what point I would add the vegetables, it depends. Mushroom and asparagus I would add toward the beginning so that they can cook and brown only slightly with the onions. I added frozen peas to mine at the very end, really only because I forgot, but I thought it was fine as they kept their sweetness and were defrosted thoroughly with the residual heat of the dish.

Scallops would most likely become rubbery if you add them to the dish, particularly too early. What I would suggest is searing them (heat up a pan with olive oil until it is quite hot then brown the scallops for about 3 mins on each side), then line them on the side of the plate. Mmm scallops.

My next experiments will be 1) making risotto with short grain brown rice (need to check how starching it is/if it will release a sufficient amount of starch and absorb the liquid) and 2) making it with a red wine, beef stock some high quality mushrooms and serving it with a steak that's so good it'll make PETA slap their mama.

Anyways, enjoy.

Oh and for cost:
1 cup arborio rice = ~1/2 lb arborio rice = $0.65 (Whole Foods)
3 cups vegetable stock = $0 (Homemade, using the scraps from vegetables and left over vegetables, but if I had to put a price ~$1.75, of which I used half, so $0.88)
1 T butter = $0.08 (Trader Joe's)
1 T olive oil = $0.09 (Trader Joe's)
1 cup white wine = $2.84 (Safeway)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese = $0.59 (splurged on a bit of the expensive kind, but it has lasted a while and I enjoy it more, hence, buy smaller quantities of higher quality) (Trader Joe's)

Extras:
1/2 cup petite peas = $0.19 (Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms (Trader Joe's) = $0.50

Total = $5.82 --> ~$1.46/serving (of course that means eating the proper portion size of 1/2 cup, which is not only good for your waistline, but apparently good for your wallet as well).

Homemade Yogurt: More Ways to Save for Less Effort

My plan for this summer was to hone my cooking skills and develop some techniques, as well as compile a formidable cookbook that would be a guide throughout a long semester of LSATs and thesis writing and interning. The summer is naturally the best time for students to develop these skills as we don't have the convenience of a dining hall to dissolve our motivation toward homecooking. There are the few who wholly believe that it is cheaper to eat out for every single meal. Now I love to go out to eat, but we, grounded people with perspective, know that our wallets and stomachs are much fuller from $50 of groceries than from $50 of subpar takeout.

An even better way to maximize those $50 of groceries is to learn to make from scratch those items that you spend the most on. One such item for me is yogurt. After seeing how successful people were in making their own yogurt at home, I decided to retry that experiment myself. And the results have been thick, and tangy, and delicious. And effort is minimal, just enough to provide a light study break without an intense time commitment.

Homemade Yogurt

Ingredients
4 Cups Milk
1 1/2 Cup Powdered Milk (optional, lends to a thicker texture)
4 T Yogurt with live active cultures
1 T Sugar (optional, might help the cultures develop)

Method

Heat the 4 cups milk (I like whole, I've used 2%) to 185 degrees, then cool to 110 degrees. Mix in 4 T yogurt with live active cultures and 1 1/2 cups powdered milk and 1 T sugar, then sit in the oven on warm overnight (or anywhere that will maintain a 105-115 degree temperature).

Strain it for 20 minutes or so thicker yogurt, or for 12 hours for yogurt cheese.

4 cups of yogurt, made for about $1.75. Beats $5 for 2 cups if fage total, or even $2.50-$3.00 for 2 cups of Trader Joe's Greek-style yogurt.

Springtime Favorites: Pea and Asparagus Soup

While we are hardly in spring anymore, particularly in DC, this soup shines most brightly at Springtime, when crops are delivering the season's high of sweet peas and tender asparagus. I had some asparagus in my freezer that I'd been planning on roasting. But given that I've been in a soup making kick, I yielded myself to inspiration upon seeing a package of petite peas from Trader Joe's next to the asparagus. And the ad hoc addition of a rind of Parmesan cheese that was bound for the trash added a creamy, yet subtle flavor that invoked a bit of Fall (my favorite season), in my opinion. I made enough soup to yield about 1 serving (maybe 1 1/2 or 2 if you're really trying to cut back, but it's vegetable soup so it's good for you). Feel free to double or triple these ingredients to yield enough for a dinner for two, or a couple of mid week lunches.

Asparagus and Pea Soup
Serves 1-2

Ingredients:
1 T unsalted butter
1/2 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely sliced or diced
2 t rice vinegar
1 T olive oil
1 C chicken stock
6 oz (petite) peas
6 oz asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
rind of Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/4 C heavy cream (optional)

Method:
Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook until the onion is translucent.

Turn up the heat to high to brown the onion and garlic. When browned, add the vinegar, lower the heat to medium then add the olive oil and chicken stock.

Add the peas, asparagus and Parmesan cheese rind and cook over medium heat for 20-30 minutes.

Remove the rind. Add the soup to a blender or use an immersion blender and puree. If you are planning on freezing the soup for later, do not add the heavy cream until before eating. Otherwise, add the cream and blend for another 30 seconds.

For a thinner, silkier soup, pour the mixture through a sieve or strainer. (You don't have to reserve the mash that is left behind, but I figured the 1/2 cup that was left over plus the 1/2 cup of artichoke-mushroom soup that I still had and some homemade bread would make for a good lunch today.)

Serve, garnish with a dollop of creme fraiche (literally fresh cream) or greek yogurt or your homemade yogurt (more on that later), topped with grated Parmesan cheese or maybe some basil chiffonade (thin slices of basil). Anything to make it pretty, because as we know, appetizing food and satisfaction are about presentation as much they are about flavor.

Shrimp, Chicken and (Soy) Chorizo Paella

I tear up in the kitchen, leaving a ton of dishes in my wake. So tonight, I figured the solution would be a one pot meal. I just purchased some soy chorizo from Trader Joe's, not necessarily for the nutritional benefits, but because a package of D'Artagnan chorizo would run me $11, as opposed to the $2 I spent on the healthier, meatless version. From there, paella was on my mind. Despite the lack of saffron, I figured I could (somewhat) make up for this with some cayenne pepper and paprika. I can not understate the amazingness that is saffron threads, though, and s, if you have the means and accessibility to saffron, then use it.

My paella still came out well. I can provide an approximation of the recipe (one that really just exists in my mind). But the pictures are the best part.

Shrimp, Chicken and (Soy) Chorizo Paella

Ingredients:

3 chicken thighs

handful of frozen shrimp, tail removed

1/2 package of soy chorizo
2 cups cooked rice, or 1 cup uncooked rice (preferably arborio or another short grain rice, but I used long grain white rice this time)
1/2 cup chicken broth, or 2 cups if using uncooked rice
2 cloves garlic, sliced paper thin
1 anchovy fillet, diced
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes (or a can of diced tomatoes)
1/2 spanish onion, brunoised (small dice)
1 T olive oil/bacon grease/animal fat
2 bay leaves
Saffron
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
Salt
Pepper
Parsley

Method:

Add the olive oil/bacon grease/animal fat to a large pot/dutch oven/cast iron pan and sear the chicken thighs, then remove. Add the garlic to the pot. When fragrant, add the diced anchovy and onion and cook until the onions are translucent. Crush the grape tomatoes and add them to the pot. Lower the heat and allow to stew and caramelize.

If using uncooked rice, add 2 cups of the rice and 4 cups of chicken broth to the pot. If using cooked rice, add 1/2 cup chicken broth and 2 bay leaves and saffron to the pot and let simmer for 5 minutes. Cut the chicken meat off the bone, dice up and add to the pot, along with the soy chorizo (removed from the casing). After 10 minutes of simmering, add the cooked rice and mix well. Add cayenne pepper, paprika, salt and pepper to taste.

Top with shrimp and parsley, cover and let the heat from the paella warm the shrimp.

Whole Wheat Pesto Bread

In keeping with my baking theme, I woke up this morning hoping to make a plan to clear our my fridge this week. I came across a jar of spinach-walnut pesto that I had made last week as well as a ball of whole wheat dough that had been resting in the fridge. The first thought that came to mind was Pesto Bread, a recipe I came across last night.

I had a loaf that was approximately 5 oz flour to 3 oz water, so it wasn't very big, but rather just enough to experiment with. So I hand rolled it out to about a 10x5 "rectangle"and blanketed  the inside with my homemade pesto. I then rolled it up jelly-roll-style, sliced it down the middle, and twisted it back up, which should have been easier considering I twist/braid my own hair relatively often. I then slid it onto a baking sheet, preheated the oven to 500, placed a water-filled saucepan at the bottom of the oven and baked the loaf for 12 minutes (it cooked quickly because it was such a small amount of dough). Here are the pictures, maybe if you have this week off from work like I do (!!!) you'll be able to experiment with some dough and flavors of your own.

Getting My Menu Planning on Point

A goal of mine was to be able to perfect menu planning in order to minimize my grocery spending and maximize the time that I have to do prep work and cook food. This first draft is a little rough, and I haven't accounted for the possibility of Mike and I eating out once this week. But, hopefully it will help those of you not under mom and dad's wing this summer to use the power of menu planning in the name of saving money.

Sunday Dinner: Rotisserie Chicken with Apple Sauce, Peas and Cucumber and Cherry Tomato Salad
Monday Dinner: Mini Flour Tortillas with Pork Shoulder
Tuesday Dinner: Chinese Stir Fry with Chicken and Shrimp
Wednesday Dinner: Ravioli with Apples and Walnuts
Thursday Dinner: Chickpea and Beef Burritos/Tacos
Friday Dinner: Arroz con Pollo
Saturday Dinner: Grilled Asparagus Pazanella and Calzones

Sunday's dinner is done and now I have lots of bones left to make my first chicken stock with. I'm psyched and I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

End of the Semester Dinner

In celebration of the re-opening of Safeway the end of the semester, I purchased some filet mignon that was on super sale. This, served broiled with onions and mushrooms and a red wine-balsamic vinaigrette reduction on the side, served as the central theme of tonight's dinner. From there I mixed together peas, onions, garlic and mushroom for Mike, roasted some asparagus and mushrooms topped with breadcrumbs and swiss-gruyere cheese for myself, made baked mac' n cheese from boxed easy mac (this will be a separate post because I'm still super impressed with myself for managing that), and then Mike picked up some Georgetown Cupcakes for dessert.

In lieu of writing, I'm just going to post pictures. But I'll have you know, the estimated cost of tonight's dinner is $13.54. Not bad for a steak dinner for two.

Enjoy.

I stumbled across an article on the CNN website last night about the movement to push Americans back into the kitchen and the lack of knowledge that 20-30 year olds have in regards to cooking. I thought it was something that paralleled the kind of things that I have been proposing on this blog, namely taking responsibility for one's eating and cooking, and having the capacity to create quality meals, while at the same time saving money and saving.


Here is a brief passage from the article:

Food 101: Seeking clues in the kitchen

By Stephanie Chen, CNN

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- The curious faces scrutinize the classroom kitchen, where pots and pans dangle from the ceiling and sharp knives glisten on the counter next to heaps of spinach and ripe green peppers. The one-night, hands-on course, called Food 101, is meant for them. They are the cooking inept, who can't properly to chop an onion, let alone sauté a medley of vegetables.


First-time student Jessica Clark, 33, of Atlanta, is attending the course offered by Cook's Warehouse because she is dubious of her kitchen abilities. She only knows how to prepare grilled chicken and steamed broccoli (and on some nights canned black beans and rice). Her boyfriend is sick of eating the same thing at home. She is sick of eating out.


"I usually make whatever is easy, and I guess that's not much," says Clark, dressed in an apron with her fingers still wet from fumbling through the tomato dicing activity. "I've avoided the kitchen for 33 years."


Cooking dinner? There's an app for that


From British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to First Lady Michelle Obama, a food revolution is brewing in America, a push to return to the bygone days when healthy home-cooked meals were much more frequent. Despite the efforts to get Americans back into the kitchen, there still exists a group of adults in their 20s and 30s -- like Clark -- who are clueless in the kitchen.


Ironically, these 20- and 30-somethings may have stretched their palates while traveling the world and even spend hours watching the cooking shows and "Top Chef," but they are defeated when they enter the kitchen. They don't own cooking utensils in their Tupperware-filled cabinets. They rely on microwaves, restaurants and takeout menus to feed their empty stomachs. Simply put, they cannot cook.


"Lots of people think, read and talk about food, but they don't know how to do anything," said Jennifer Berg, head of the Food Studies program at New York University. "There is an incredible disconnect to actually knowing how to do something."


you can read the rest here...

Quick and Cheap (Oven) Fried Chicken

I decided that after purchasing that french bread I needed to put it to good use, so I took a quarter of the loaf and diced into the small pieces, toasted them with olive oil and oregano in the toaster over for two minutes, then ground them up my handy-dandy blender to make homemade bread crumbs. I'm planning on using the bread crumbs to spice up some extra boxes of mac and cheese that have been sitting in the pantry for months. But for now, those bread crumbs were part of the base for some quick and cheap fried chicken.

I've been dying to make Fried Chicken for Mike and when I saw those 6 drumsticks for $2 at Safeway, I could hardly resist. The recipe that I use when I am at home, i.e. getting free ingredients from my parents, is slightly different, but this is a good baseline, and it was so good that Mike ate 4 of the drumsticks. Thus, thanks to my urges, I was able to knock a couple of things off of my list.

Quick and Cheap (Oven) Fried Chicken

Ingredients

1/2 C plain yogurt

1 T whole grain dijon mustard

1 T brown sugar

1 t cayenne pepper

1 t black pepper

1/2 t salt

6 chicken drumsticks (~ 1.5 lbs)

1/2 C white or yellow fine ground cornmeal

1/2 C breadcrumbs

Method

1. Mix the yogurt, mustard, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt in a bowl or bag. When blended, add the drumsticks. cover the chicken evenly with the mixture and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

2. When the chicken is done marinating, either preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or heat canola (or any other vegetable with a high smoke point) in a pot or pan. 

3. Mix the cornmeal and breadcrumbs in a separate bowl. Transfer the drumsticks one by one from the marinade, into the dry mix, cover completely, and then lay either on a baking sheet or in the pot/pan of hot oil.

4. If baking, bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, taking time halfway through to flip over the drumsticks. If frying, cook the chicken on each side for about 4 minutes, until crisp and browned on the outside.

I baked half of my chicken and fried the other half. I enjoyed the taste of the fried chicken more, but the baked was cooked more thoroughly (the fried chicken had to go in the over for another 5 minutes). Both methods, however, produced very juicy, very flavorful chicken. Above is a picture of the baked chicken. I sliced half an apple and sprinkled with cinnamon and olive oil. I'm sure it would have been delightful baked for a few minutes, but we enjoyed them raw and on the side of the chicken.

Another side dish was some roasted broccoli with garlic and olive oil. This way I got rid of about 1/2 of the remaining frozen broccoli. 

For myself, I decided to fry up a couple of slices of polenta,  top with some  swiss-gruyere cheese, mesclun greens (spring mix) that I cooked down with olive oil, garlic, cranberries and walnut pieces. The taste was delightful and I'm really excited to try my next polenta experiment (I still have half of the tube left). For now, here is some more eye candy.

Can you make perfect food in a less-than perfect kitchen?

Mark Bittman, the prolific food writer for the New York Times, posted on his blog a picture of himself cooking turket breasts in his kitchen. The first thing that popped out was the tiny, Manhattan kitchen he was standing in and the lack of many expensive kitchen tools.

The interview itself was very revealing of the excuses that keep those with small spaces and less money out of the kitchen. As a college student, those are the concerns that most resonate with my situation. These are parts of the interview that I found to be most applicable:

"Q: So why do so many people think a nice kitchen will solve their cooking woes?


A: Maybe it’s like what you said. You use your crummy kitchen as an excuse not to cook. Maybe it’s like saying, “I can’t exercise in the winter because I don’t have an elliptical trainer.” I once cooked for six months in what amounted to a basement with a hot plate, microwave and a refrigerator and sink. Not only did I cook for six months, but I wrote the column for six months. It was funny. People like to cook when they’re camping and in other places where the situation is less than adequate. For some reason they think they have to have a great kitchen to cook at home, but it’s not true."

Q: So what are your must-haves in a kitchen, and what can you live without?


A: One of the things I hate about my stove is you can’t put four pots on it at the same time, so you cook with two pots and use the oven more. A functioning oven, the best possible stove… I think a big refrigerator is not that helpful. Stuff that’s in the refrigerator shouldn’t be in there all that long anyway. You need a couple of sauce pans, a couple saute pans, you need some knives, and then you need to pick up what you need on an as-needed basis. If you’re going to roast a turkey you need something big to put it in. When you need it you’ll know you’ll need it. Some things you’re going to find yourselves repeatedly wishing you had. Those are the things you need."


Having less-than-adequate kitchen space, or only having the most basic of kitchen tools, should not be an excuse to take responsibility for cooking. If anything, it is a constraint that makes sure that you have only the essentials, and that is all you really need to make great food.



The Bitten Blog has since been combined into the New York Times' Diner's Diner's Journal, but it's definitely worth a peek, if not a very critical once over.

Grilled Cheese and Soup - An Easy Sunday Lunch

As you know yesterday I used my new blender to make soup. I decided to heat some of that up, along with a grilled cheese sandwich. And it wasn't just any grilled cheese sandwich. I up two servings from the ciabatta roll, one for Mike and on for myself. On Mike's I just layered a couple of strips of mild and sharp cheddar cheese. On Mine, I sliced up half of an apple and layered that on the bread, along with some shredded swiss-gruyere cheese. Be sure to apply lots of butter on the pan, as grilled cheese tends to be more fried than grilled anyways. You could also use the compound butter, such as honey-butter or a roasted garlic-basil-butter (the kind that I made the other day).

The expense for this meal is minimal as the entire ciabatta roll was $2.69 and there is still more than half left, the two blocks of cheddar were about $2.50 each and there is more than 3/4 left on each, after using some of the cheddar in other recipes, and I used 1/2 of an apple from a 5-for-$3 bag of apples, and about 2 oz of cheese from the 12 oz-$5.99 bag of shredded swiss-gruyere cheese. I'm too tired to figure out what the exact expense was, but I think I could say it was about $1 for Mike's and $2 for mine. I think it took about 10 minutes to cook the two sandwiches and heat up the soup as well, so the time requirement is minimal as well.

Very soon I'll share my adaptation of the butternut squash-sweet potato-carrot-apple-bacon soup. For now, enjoy the eye candy.

Pizza Night!

Calzones and Pizza are something I know that both I and my picky eater of a boyfriend will eat when I want something quick and easy to make, not from the dining hall and something we can both agree on. Not to mention it is very cheap.

Because my kitchen is still lacking a rolling pin, Mike hand-stretched the dough on the counter, giving it the rustic shape. I used my homemade tomato sauce (I'll provide the recipe) on the pizzas. The sauce is also fairly chunky and rustic-looking.

For Mike I made a simple pepperoni pizza, also topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms. For myself, I got a little more adventurous. I diced up some ham, used the rest of the onions and mushrooms, put this on top of a swiss-gruyere mix. And for the final touch, apple slices. The result was delightful. The mildness of the cheese, the tartness of the apples, the saltiness of the ham, and the woodiness of the onions and mushrooms was delightful.

My pizza, of course is a more expensive option, and a simple pepperoni will more than satisfy your dominoes cravings, as well as keeping your wallet out of their grasp.

Now for the recipes

Rustic Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
28 oz can of Chopped/Diced/Pureed Tomatoes (depending on how smooth you like your sauce)
6 cloves of garlic, 4 finely diced and 2 crushed (adjust according to taste, but the flavor is more mellow than you would think)
1/2 yellow or vidalia onion
3 tbsp of olive oil
5 large leaves of basil, chopped

Method
1. Pour the olive oil into a sauce pan. When heated, add the garlic, onion, basil.
2. When the onions become clear, added the tomatoes. After it comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer and keep on the burner for 1-2 hours.

Pizza
Ingredients
1/4 package of pizza dough
olive oil
tomato sauce
cheese
assorted toppings
flour (to cover the surface for rolling out the dough)


Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a baking sheet with olive oil.
2. Cover the counter, or other surface, with flour, then roll out the dough on the surface, either using a rolling pin, or stretching it with your hands.
3. Drizzle olive oil on the stretched dough and then pour on tomato sauce, leaving about 1/2 inch between the crush and the sauce.
4. Add cheese and then toppings according to taste.
5. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, remove, then allow to cool.

Breakdown of Costs by Recipe:

Tomato Sauce
Can of Crushed Tomatoes (at Trader Joe's) - $2.29 for a 28oz can
Pack of Fresh Basil - $1.99 (expect to use 1/4-1/2 of the package)
Fresh Garlic - $1.99 for 4 heads (expect to use 1/2 a head, ~6 cloves)
Olive Oil - $5.99 for a 17oz bottle (expect to use 2 oz)

Total Cost - $4.25 for fresh, homemade tomato sauce

Pizzas
Pre-made Dough - $0.99 for about 4 servings
Pack of quattro formaggio - $4.99 for 12 oz (used about 3 oz)
Pack of Swiss-gruyere cheese - $5.99 for 12 oz (used about 3 oz)
Pack of Pepperonis - $2.99 (expect to use 1/6 of the pack at a time)
Onion - $0.79 each (used 1/2 the onion for the both of us)
Mushrooms - $1.99 for 1 pint (expect to use 1/4)
Pack of 5 apples - $3.99 (used 1/2 of one apple)

Mike's Pizza - $2.94
My Pizza - $2.59*

*I saved because the ham was leftovers given to me by my mom from a trip home, otherwise I would expect the expense to be ~$3.10 Take this as an example of how leftovers can be made into fresh creations

P.S. I had a salad on the side of my pizza. It's a mix of baby spinach, crumbled feta cheese, chopped walnuts, diced apple, craisins, and balsamic vinaigrette.

P.S.S. - Those glasses are filled with kool-aid. Yeah, we did.

Morning Brew - Coffee for One

Recently I've been waking up extremely early, meaning 5-6am. This means that in order not to pass out before I make it out the door around 8:30-9am I need to get my early morning coffee on. As a college student, your corner coffee brewery is an unavoidable evil. The temptation to walk in like the zombie-of-a-man from the McDonald's commercial who can not even fathom talking to another human being before his morning cup o' joe is unbearable. However, being completely broke is more unbearable, at least in my opinion. So I've made it my duty to replicate our beloved coffee houses' most loved creations. First off, a more elegant take on a simple cup of coffee.

I use a french press to make my coffee. It is cheaper than a coffee maker, whether it's a chefmate or a cuisinart or an espresso maker with a name I can't even pronounce. And often times, the flavor is bolder, deeper and significantly better than anything coming out of one of those overpriced machines. You can get a nice one for $25 and it will last you for your whole college career (validity of that statement pending me graduating next May).

I also purchase my beans from Trader Joe's. If I lived in New York I would buy all of my coffee beans from Fairway, this awesome grocery store, and probably one of the most famous in the world, on the upper West Side of Manhattan, right next to the Hudson River, but for now, Trader Joe's carries a great variety, ranging from your cheaper Seattle Blends to the decadent $40/pound Jamaica Blue Mountain variety. I've settled for the $6.99 Costa Rican Tarrazu, a medium dark roast bean. There is also a bean grinder in the store, so I grind them up right there (if you decide to go for a french press, get them a little coarser so you don't have to worry about the grinds finding their way through the filter).

Because my boyfriend is not a coffee drinker, I try to brew as little as possible at one time, which is hard as I tend to over estimate how much I'll be drinking. Recently, I've been keeping it to just two tablespoons. On the weekends I'll do a full six and fill it up with boiling water. Feel free to add more or less grinds, more or less water, depending on how strong you like your brew.

Now for the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 French Press
~1-1/2 C boiling water
2 T coarse coffee grinds
1/8 t almond extract
2 T whipped cream
1 T chocolate sauce

Method:
1. Add the coffee grinds to the french press while the water is boiling. Once it has come to a boil, pour  into the french press, stir, and let sit for about 5 minutes (more or less time depending on your preference of the strength of the coffee).
2. pour coffee into a cup, add the almond extract and stir. Top with whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

For Iced Coffee:

1. Stick a glass in the freezer before step 1 and fill it with ice.

2. After the grinds have been soaking in the boiling water in the french press for 5 minutes, stash the french press in the freeze for another 5-10 minutes.

3. Remove the press from the freezer, pour the coffee into another glass to add the extract, and any cream of sugar (I like to use raw agave as it blends better in both hot and especially in cold coffee).

4. Remove the glass from the freezer and pour the coffee blend into the glass, top with whipped cream and chocolate sauce

The extract  adds a nice flavor to the coffee. Any flavor extract can be used, and if you have syrup, even better. The whipped cream and chocolate sauce make it feel more like it's being made my a highly-trained barista, rather than in a tiny apartment kitchen.

Even better so, the combined cost of all of the ingredients, less the investment of the french press, bring the total cost to $0.74*. Moreover, for myself this total cost includes the recipe above, plus a regular, plain cup of coffee. The price of the equivalent at Starbucks would come to about $2.55**. That is a savings for $1.81 in just one day. If you do this 5 days a week for a year that is savings of $470.60.  You can do your own coffee calculations to see how much you could be saving.

Enjoy

*by my calculations:
2 T coffee = $0.54
1/8 t almond extract = $0.04
2 T whipped cream = $0.08
1 T chocolate sauce = $0.08

**
$1.75 for a tall (small) plain coffee
$1.75 + $0.30 (styrup, and I'm being generous by counting this toward the extract and the chocolate syrup on top) + $0.50 = $2.55