26 F - Southwestern Beef Stew (LC 81), Corn Muffins
27 S - Appetizer/Game Party with a few friends - we're making hot wings
28 U - L.O. Beef Stew
29 M - Stuffed Chicken Breasts (LC 142), Creamy Orzo
30 T - Spanish Pork Chops, Green Beans
31 W - Church Dinner
1 R - Parmesan Chicken, Twice Baked Potatoes
2 F - Frozen Pizza, Salad
3 S - Drunken Tuscan Pasta (RR 202), Salad
4 U - Chicken Curry Bombay (LC 130), Jasmine Rice, Carrots
5 M - L.O. Chicken Curry
6 T - Chicken Ole (LC 120), Mexican Rice, Salda
7 W - Church Dinner
8 R - Frozen Pizza, Salad
Now that Caleb's eating more, I'm finding it even more challening to fit all our food into $100! I have to confess, I've already over spent a couple of times this year (and it's only January!!). Well, we have to eat. If I change the limit, I'll update the site to reflect that. It will still be budget cooking, just budget cooking for 2 adults and one toddler with a big appetite! I read that they go through a finicky period where you worry that they're starving themselves, but we haven't hit that yet.
I think two of these recipes have red wine in them. I bought a bottle for a recipe last week. They say that you should never cook with wine you wouldn't drink. I've always assumed that means you should buy expensive stuff. Well since I don't generally drink it, I just bought what was cheapest.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Friday, January 19, 2007
Chewing the Fat about Frying
Now I know most of you avoid deep fried foods because they’re unhealthy, greasy and just plain bad for you, but not me! No, I skip fried foods because I’m scared stiff of boiling oil. Or at least…I was. And then one day I bought a deep fat thermometer, AKA candy thermometer – different from a meat thermometer because it goes up to 400 degrees, I don’t want to eat a chicken that’s seen that kind of heat!
It turns out that although liquid fat is, well, a liquid, frying with liquid fat is a dry cooking method. When foods are cooked in boiling oil the heat of the oil begins heating up the water in the food, turning it into steam and forcing it out of the food. That’s why there are so many bubbles when you fry food in oil.
The trouble with fat is if it’s not hot enough, your food will just sit in the not-quite-hot-enough fat for a while waiting for all that bubbling to begin. So you shouldn’t put the food into the fat until it reaches a high enough temperature to begin cooking the food as soon as it hits the fat. That’s where the thermometer comes into play. After some experience, you should be able to tell if it’s hot enough by watching it, but a deep fat thermometer is essential for deep-frying novices.
Once the food is in the sputtering, popping fat it will bubble like crazy until almost all the water is gone. It works like two people pressing their hands together and leaning into each other. So long as both people push, neither will fall. If one lets go, the other one ends up with a bloody nose. Once the water stops pushing back on the fat, the fat starts seeping into the food – making it really greasy, really fatty, and really bad for you. If you pull the food as the bubbling begins to subside, you should get crispy fried food, not soggy, greasy fried food.
Like all cooking methods, it takes some practice – and I’m still practicing myself – but knowing a little more about oil (other than it’s greasy!) has given me the cautious confidence to use it as a cooking method from time to time.
It turns out that although liquid fat is, well, a liquid, frying with liquid fat is a dry cooking method. When foods are cooked in boiling oil the heat of the oil begins heating up the water in the food, turning it into steam and forcing it out of the food. That’s why there are so many bubbles when you fry food in oil.
The trouble with fat is if it’s not hot enough, your food will just sit in the not-quite-hot-enough fat for a while waiting for all that bubbling to begin. So you shouldn’t put the food into the fat until it reaches a high enough temperature to begin cooking the food as soon as it hits the fat. That’s where the thermometer comes into play. After some experience, you should be able to tell if it’s hot enough by watching it, but a deep fat thermometer is essential for deep-frying novices.
Once the food is in the sputtering, popping fat it will bubble like crazy until almost all the water is gone. It works like two people pressing their hands together and leaning into each other. So long as both people push, neither will fall. If one lets go, the other one ends up with a bloody nose. Once the water stops pushing back on the fat, the fat starts seeping into the food – making it really greasy, really fatty, and really bad for you. If you pull the food as the bubbling begins to subside, you should get crispy fried food, not soggy, greasy fried food.
Like all cooking methods, it takes some practice – and I’m still practicing myself – but knowing a little more about oil (other than it’s greasy!) has given me the cautious confidence to use it as a cooking method from time to time.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Silicone Bakeware gets an A+
Rob got me a square silicone baking pan for my birthday. I tried it out today with much success:
I'm impressed - I didn't grease it or spray it or line it with anything. It also cooked very evenly; the cake didn't have one side higher than the other. Very nice.
I'm impressed - I didn't grease it or spray it or line it with anything. It also cooked very evenly; the cake didn't have one side higher than the other. Very nice.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
January 11-24, 2007
My new Rachel Ray cookbook Express Lane Meals is reflected in this meal plan. I searched for the recipes online and hyperlinked the ones listed on the Food Network site. Otherwise I listed RR and the page number.
Pasta Delight is from a cookbook I inherited when I married Rob. He made a lot of bachelor meals from it and this is one of his favorites. It’s just penne pasta with sautéed plum tomatoes, zucchini and garlic, plus some Parmesan cheese on top. It’s easy and quick. I’m adding the sausage this week because I’ll already have it on hand for the subs.
11 F – Frozen Pizza
12 S – Cowboy Spaghetti/Garlic Bread/Salad
13 U – L.O. Spaghetti, etc.
14 M – Chicken with Scallion-Lime Sauce and Sweet Carrot Rice (RR 68)
15 T – Linguine with Clam Sauce (RR 32)/Garlic Bread/Salad
16 W – Church Dinner
17 R – Pork Milanese/Creamy Orzo/Carrot Sticks
18 F – Chicken Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Subs/Scalloped Potatoes/Carrot Sticks
19 S – Curry Chicken Pot Pie
20 U – L.O. Curry Chicken Pot Pie
21 M – Pasta Delight with Chicken Sausage
22 T – Chicken and Yellow Rice/Green Beans
23 W – Church Dinner
24 R – Fabulous Fish and Asparagus (RR 132)
Pasta Delight is from a cookbook I inherited when I married Rob. He made a lot of bachelor meals from it and this is one of his favorites. It’s just penne pasta with sautéed plum tomatoes, zucchini and garlic, plus some Parmesan cheese on top. It’s easy and quick. I’m adding the sausage this week because I’ll already have it on hand for the subs.
11 F – Frozen Pizza
12 S – Cowboy Spaghetti/Garlic Bread/Salad
13 U – L.O. Spaghetti, etc.
14 M – Chicken with Scallion-Lime Sauce and Sweet Carrot Rice (RR 68)
15 T – Linguine with Clam Sauce (RR 32)/Garlic Bread/Salad
16 W – Church Dinner
17 R – Pork Milanese/Creamy Orzo/Carrot Sticks
18 F – Chicken Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Subs/Scalloped Potatoes/Carrot Sticks
19 S – Curry Chicken Pot Pie
20 U – L.O. Curry Chicken Pot Pie
21 M – Pasta Delight with Chicken Sausage
22 T – Chicken and Yellow Rice/Green Beans
23 W – Church Dinner
24 R – Fabulous Fish and Asparagus (RR 132)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Make Your Own Take Out vol. 1
Hope no one is going hungry for lack of meal plans! I'll be posting a new one soon.
For Christmas, Rob's parents gave me Rachel Ray's new cookbook Express Lane Meals. I've already made 4 recipes from it. We ate this one last night:
1 lb long cut pasta - spaghetti, vermicelli, whatever
1/4 cup tamari, plus 1 tbsp
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup chicken stock, plus 1/4 cup
The Juice of one Lime
4 large garlic cloves - 1 crushed, 3 chopped
3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated or chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus some for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped
5 or 6 carrots, peeled and shredded
black pepper
3 big chicken breast or 6 cutlets
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup each fresh chopped cilantro, basil, and parsley
While cooking the pasta, preheat a grill (I used George Forman), and make the soy glaze by combining 1/4 c. of the tamari, the brown sugar, 1/4 cup of chicken stock, the lime juice, crushed garlic, 1/4 of the ginger, and the red pepper flakes. Simmer in a small pan over medium-high heat and cook for about 4 minutes. Set aside.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp of oil, then carrots, onion, chopped garlic, remaining ginger, and a little salt and pepper; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Meanwhile, season the chicken with pepper, drizzle it with oil and slap it on the grill. Cook it for a couple of minutes to get "grill marks" then brush it with the soy glaze several times throughout the cooking. When it's done move it to a plate, tent it with foil and let it rest.
Back with the carrots - add the rest of the chicken stock and tamari and bring it to a boil for 1 minute. Add the drained pasta, stir and let cook about 30 more seconds. Kill the heat, sprinkle with sesame seed and herbs. Stir it up well, slice the chicken on the bias, top the noodles with the chicken and voila!
Caleb says, "It's finger lickin' good!"
By the way, Tamari is a special kind of soy sauce. Regular soy sauce is cheaper, but tamari tastes better to me! It's not that expensive, so I'd rather use it.
For Christmas, Rob's parents gave me Rachel Ray's new cookbook Express Lane Meals. I've already made 4 recipes from it. We ate this one last night:
Sweet Soy-Glazed Chicken with Carrot-Sesame Noodles
Whew, well all of her recipes have "Titles"! It is really good! Actually I've tried several Asian themed recipes in the last year that I plan to post, this is the first of the series.
Don't be too overwhelmed by the ingredient list - there are a lot!
1 lb long cut pasta - spaghetti, vermicelli, whatever
1/4 cup tamari, plus 1 tbsp
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup chicken stock, plus 1/4 cup
The Juice of one Lime
4 large garlic cloves - 1 crushed, 3 chopped
3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated or chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus some for drizzling
1 large onion, chopped
5 or 6 carrots, peeled and shredded
black pepper
3 big chicken breast or 6 cutlets
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup each fresh chopped cilantro, basil, and parsley
While cooking the pasta, preheat a grill (I used George Forman), and make the soy glaze by combining 1/4 c. of the tamari, the brown sugar, 1/4 cup of chicken stock, the lime juice, crushed garlic, 1/4 of the ginger, and the red pepper flakes. Simmer in a small pan over medium-high heat and cook for about 4 minutes. Set aside.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp of oil, then carrots, onion, chopped garlic, remaining ginger, and a little salt and pepper; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Meanwhile, season the chicken with pepper, drizzle it with oil and slap it on the grill. Cook it for a couple of minutes to get "grill marks" then brush it with the soy glaze several times throughout the cooking. When it's done move it to a plate, tent it with foil and let it rest.
Back with the carrots - add the rest of the chicken stock and tamari and bring it to a boil for 1 minute. Add the drained pasta, stir and let cook about 30 more seconds. Kill the heat, sprinkle with sesame seed and herbs. Stir it up well, slice the chicken on the bias, top the noodles with the chicken and voila!
Caleb says, "It's finger lickin' good!"
By the way, Tamari is a special kind of soy sauce. Regular soy sauce is cheaper, but tamari tastes better to me! It's not that expensive, so I'd rather use it.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
On the Side : Creamy Orzo
This little side dish has become a quick favorite of mine. It's kind of like mac and cheese goes out on the town. Orzo is a tiny, rice shaped pasta. You can find it right near the ABC shaped noodles. It tastes great zapped in the microwave the next day (unlike mac and cheese) and Caleb likes it a lot!
You can substitute the shallot with a small onion, but I wouldn't recommend it. The shallot add a specific flavor that I think make the dish.
Creamy Orzo*
1/2 pound orzo
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
half of a 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes (juiced drained)
3/4 c. whipping cream
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
salt
pepper
Cook orzo to al dente, stirring often (about 8 minutes). Drain, reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute shallot and garlic, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, cooke 8 minutes. Stir in cream and peas. Add drained orzo and toss to coat. Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan. Stir, if it's too thick add some pasta liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
*Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network (I halved the recipe, this version makes about 5 or 6 side servings.)
You can substitute the shallot with a small onion, but I wouldn't recommend it. The shallot add a specific flavor that I think make the dish.
Creamy Orzo*
1/2 pound orzo
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
half of a 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes (juiced drained)
3/4 c. whipping cream
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
salt
pepper
Cook orzo to al dente, stirring often (about 8 minutes). Drain, reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Saute shallot and garlic, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, cooke 8 minutes. Stir in cream and peas. Add drained orzo and toss to coat. Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan. Stir, if it's too thick add some pasta liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
*Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network (I halved the recipe, this version makes about 5 or 6 side servings.)
Sunday, January 07, 2007
In the Cookie Jar : Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies
I made these cookies twice during the holidays. They were so good; I think I’m going to celebrate Christmas in July, just to have an excuse to make them again! They’re kind of a cookie version of Peppermint Patties.
Making pinwheel cookies isn’t really hard, but it is a little trickier than drop cookies. The first batch I made weren’t very round (but they still looked nice). When I made the second batch, I slid the dough roll into a long glass container I have for storing pasta, then put the whole thing in the fridge. They were much more round and spiral-y.
Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies*
First make regular sugar cookie dough – recipe follows:
3 c. flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 c. unsalted butter (softened)
1 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp milk
Sift dry ingredients, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and milk, beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Beat until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
Now instead of rolling this out and cutting it into Christmas trees…
Split the dough into two roughly equal balls in two separate bowls. In Bowl A – add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 3 ounces of melted unsweetened chocolate – squish with (clean) hands until all the dough is chocolate colored. In Bowl B – add 1tsp peppermint extract, 4 or 5 crushed candy canes (about ½ cup), and the yolk of 1 egg – again squish with (clean) hands until fully mixed.
Cover both dough balls and refrigerate for 5 minutes. Then, roll both dough balls out to ¼ inch thickness (roll on powdered sugar instead of flour). Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate dough and press around the edges. Roll dough into a log, wrap in wax paper and chill for 2 hours.
Preheat over to 375, cut dough into ½ inch slices and place cookies 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet (*using parchment is a good idea, the melted candy cane bits really adhere to the baking sheet). Bake for 6 minutes, pull out the pan, turn it around and bake 7 more minutes. Let cool on sheet for 2 minutes, move to wire rack to cool completely.
Yields: not nearly enough
*Alton Brown, Food Network.
Making pinwheel cookies isn’t really hard, but it is a little trickier than drop cookies. The first batch I made weren’t very round (but they still looked nice). When I made the second batch, I slid the dough roll into a long glass container I have for storing pasta, then put the whole thing in the fridge. They were much more round and spiral-y.
Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies*
First make regular sugar cookie dough – recipe follows:
3 c. flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 c. unsalted butter (softened)
1 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp milk
Sift dry ingredients, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and milk, beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Beat until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
Now instead of rolling this out and cutting it into Christmas trees…
Split the dough into two roughly equal balls in two separate bowls. In Bowl A – add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 3 ounces of melted unsweetened chocolate – squish with (clean) hands until all the dough is chocolate colored. In Bowl B – add 1tsp peppermint extract, 4 or 5 crushed candy canes (about ½ cup), and the yolk of 1 egg – again squish with (clean) hands until fully mixed.
Cover both dough balls and refrigerate for 5 minutes. Then, roll both dough balls out to ¼ inch thickness (roll on powdered sugar instead of flour). Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate dough and press around the edges. Roll dough into a log, wrap in wax paper and chill for 2 hours.
Preheat over to 375, cut dough into ½ inch slices and place cookies 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet (*using parchment is a good idea, the melted candy cane bits really adhere to the baking sheet). Bake for 6 minutes, pull out the pan, turn it around and bake 7 more minutes. Let cool on sheet for 2 minutes, move to wire rack to cool completely.
Yields: not nearly enough
*Alton Brown, Food Network.
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