greenhorn gourmande is on a budget- episode 2

This post is part of my week long series on how I manage to feed myself and my boyfriend for about $60 a week in New York city.  See the first post <<here>>.


In my last post I emphasised the importance of planning out what you are going to buy.  Pick your meals and stick to what's on your list.  I briefly mentioned that it's important to be wise about what you pick.

Now anyone with a soupçon of common sense could tell you that you are not going to be munching on organic grass fed porterhouse.  However it is a little bit harder than that (but not much).  When I look at recipes (which I'm pretty much constantly doing) I immediately look at the ingredients list and ask myself "does this list have things I know I can't afford?"  i.e. fancy cheese, expensive cuts of meat, or a super special ingredient.  When I see these little red flags I then ask myself can I make a substitution and still maintain the integrity of the dish.  For example, bacon instead of pancetta, or swiss/ cheddar instead of gruyere/comté.  If the answer is yes, then it is one I can put on my list.

Another way I help keep my budget under control is by eating mostly "vegetarian" meals.  Now I say "vegetarian" in quotes because many of my meals will not feature a main protein, but will have maybe a little bacon or chicken stock in them.  The point for me is to not maintain a completely vegetarian diet, but to reduce my meat consumption.  This is good for a multitude of reasons:  meat is generally very pricey, it is not very environmentally sustainable, and most of what I can afford is of inferior quality (read: factory farmed and loaded with antibiotics).

I now currently make meat (poultry, beef, pork, or seafood) about one to two times a week.  In the beginning reducing the amount of meat in my diet was strange, but now I find that I really don't have the desire to eat meat very often.

Of course to compensate for the lack of animal protein I make a lot of protein rich "vegetarian" meals.  In the past six months I've exposed myself to a veritable cornucopia of legumes, pulses, and grains.  I've found that lentils, beans, and quinoa can be equally satisfying to meat and incredibly delicious.  (Visit my recipe page to see a few of my favorites.)

Anyway, I'm beginning to feel like a bit of a self-righteous prig so to make it up to you, feast your eyes on this:

Roasted Chicken.  Perfection in a pan.

Bacon. Need I say more?

Hey kids, I've just heard about another awesome blog party.  Tasty Tuesday!  I knew I had to join, it shares the moniker of the wonderful day when restaurants would come and sell stuff in my college's student center.  ( I still miss those fucking empanadas.)  Anyway, as far as I can see this party is the celebration of tasty recipes, and boy have I got some for you today.

Weekend Cooking Bonanza!

Now that I'm employed (yeah!)  at a shitty temp job (boo!) I find that I am less inclined to cook during the week.  While I still manage to make meals Monday through Friday, extracurricular baking and such has been relegated to the weekend.


And this weekend I was quite the A+ student.


I made Pumpkin Banana Bread, Roast Chicken with Fennel and Red Potatoes, and Roasted Cauliflower and zucchini Cheddar Soup.  All three were AMAzING, but I have to say the soup was probably my favorite.  It's one I made last fall, and it was as good as I remembered!  Anyway that's enough of my idle ramblings, here are the recipes and some tantalizing food porn.

Pumpkin Banana Bread

Makes 2 9x5x3 loaves

Ingredients

•   1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 13/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cups granulated white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
• ½ cup water
• 1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup mashed banana
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour two 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs until lightly beaten and add sugar and mix until blended.

4. Add pumpkin puree, water, and vanilla extract and mix together with the egg/sugar mixture.

5. Add banana and melted butter.

6. Add the dry ingredients (in #2) and stir until the ingredients are combined - do not over mix.

8. Bake for 55-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean and dry.

9. When you remove the loaf pan from the oven, let the pumpkin bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.

I culled this recipe from several Pumpkin bread recipes.  I knew I wanted to make a Pumpkin-Banana bread, so I just substituted Banana for oil.  This loaf is delicately sweet and incredibly moist.  I usually pop a slice in the toaster oven for a few minutes and then give it a healthy smear of cream cheese.  Next time I make it I think I'll add some walnuts or mini chocolate chips.  

    Roast Chicken with Fennel and Red Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 (3 to 4 lbs) roasting chicken
• 2 fennel bulbs, top removed and sliced into ¼ inch thick slices
• 1 lemon halved
• 4 medium or 2 large red potatoes cut into 1in chunks
• 1 bulb garlic, peeled
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Remove giblets and excessive fat from chicken. Rinse chicken including the inside. Pat dry the outside. Liberally sprinkle salt and pepper on the inside and outside of the chicken.   
3. Place the bird in a medium sized baking dish.  Stuff the lemon in the cavity.
4. Place sliced fennel bulb, potatoes, and garlic in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.
5. Arrange the vegetables around the bird in the pan. 
6. Roast for approximately 1½ hours or until the juices run clear from an incision at the juncture of the leg to the body. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving.

This recipe was inspired by Ina Garten's roast chicken from her Barefoot Contessa cookbook.  The chicken came out moist and flavorful.  It's really amazing what a little salt and pepper can do.  

Roasted Cauliflower and Zucchini Cheddar Soup

Ingredients

•   1 head of Cauliflower (chopped up into medium sized pieces)
• 1 medium sized zucchini (cut into medallions)
• olive oil
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 28 ounces of  low sodium chicken Broth
• 1 shallot medium diced
•   1/2 a small onion medium diced
• 3 cloves of garlic small diced
•   3 strips of bacon
• 2 cups of white cheddar

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. On a cookie sheet, place the chopped up cauliflower and zucchini, drizzle with olive oil and top with the sea salt and course ground pepper. Place into the over for 30-40 minutes or until the cauliflower is easily pierced with a paring knife.
2. Fry the strips of bacon until crisp, reserving about a tbsp of the grease.
3. In a large dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pot reheat the reserved bacon grease.  Add the shallot and onion and saute until lightly browned and fragrant.  Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute.  To this add the chicken broth and crumbled bacon strips.  Bring to a boil.  Once the cauliflower and zucchini are done add them to the broth; cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.  Next turn off the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes.  Once cooled blend using an immersion blender until smooth and creamy.  
4. Return the soup to a low heat and gradually stir in the cheddar cheese.  Salt and pepper to taste.

This soup is so good!  The cauliflower takes on a slightly nutty taste from the roasting, and the cheddar cheese ( I used extra sharp) makes it incredibly creamy and savory.  Although the zucchini doesn't play a pivotal role in the flavor profile of the soup, it adds lovely viridescent specks  to what would otherwise be a rather bland looking pottage.  Seriously though, you need to make this soup.  Like right now.  For reals.