A fairly frugal feast with friends

This morning we met our frugal friends Janet and Ken at Caputo's Cheese Market in Melrose Park, just north of the intersection of North Avenue and 15th Avenue, in an industrial building bearing a huge "Wisconsin Cheese" sign. It's a great place not only for cheese (much of it made locally) but also for wine, pasta, deli meats, Italian canned goods, pastries ... all at very reasonable and sometimes unbelievably low prices.

Our plan was to buy whatever inspired us at the cheese market, then go to Caputo's Fresh Market in Elmwood Park for equally inspirational produce. If you click on the link, you'll understand how this could turn into an ecstatic experience. Baby Brussels sprouts at 79 cents a pound! Avocados at 79 cents each! A good-sized handful of fresh asparagus for 60 cents! Plum tomatoes at 49 cents a pound! Seven limes for a dollar!

Eventually we tore ourselves away and drove to Janet and Ken's condo in Chicago. There we sliced and diced and chopped and stirred and baked and boiled and poured and sipped, and this is what we came up with:

• Baguette rounds topped with caponata di melanzane (ready-made in a tin)
• Salad of baby spring lettuces, sliced pear, feta cheese, walnuts, and green onion
• Orrechiete with fava beans, ricotta, and shredded mint (we used canned beans, not fresh; you can see our actual concoction above)
• Assorted cheeses (Siciliano with walnuts, Eiffel Tower triple-cream, Fontinella, Cheddar, Gruyère)
• Individual ricotta cheesecakes, made spontaneously and with ingredients at hand. This time we added a little diced candied orange peel, a few chopped walnuts, and lemon zest (see picture below; you will notice that we couldn't wait to take that first bite)

It was a feast, but a fairly frugal one. All ingredients were wonderfully priced, and plenty of food was left over for future meals. We had wine with dinner, and that pushed us beyond our daily budget. Still, when you can buy a Chianti classico that usually costs between $15 and $20 for only $5.99, it seems sinful to pass it by. So we didn't.




Yesterday's fare
Fish tacos without the tortillas. Trader Joe's gave out samples of fish sticks a few days ago, and they were really quite nice. Such a classic choice for a Friday in Lent! Serve them on a bed of sautéed onion, red and green bell peppers, and garlic, surrounded by baby spinach leaves lightly sautéed in olive oil, top them with crumbled queso fresco and diced tomato, and there's no need to feel penitential.

Individual ricotta cheesecakes

Yesterday I realized I had an odd assortment of nearly postdated leftovers that, put together, would rock. What is more, though the top part of the dishwasher was full, the bottom was empty--a perfect time to use the food processor. So I got out Patricia Wells' Trattoria and adapted her recipe for ricotta cheesecake with pine nuts and raisins.

To produce four little custard cups of ricotta cheesecake, I threw this into the food processor: slightly more than a cup of leftover part-skim ricotta, 2 eggs, several shakes of cinnamon, several shakes of nutmeg, a teaspoon or more of vanilla extract, lemon zest, orange zest (I then had the orange for lunch), a Tablespoon or two of flour, 1/4 cup sugar, a couple of spoonfuls of sliced almonds (I had no pine nuts), a couple of spoonfuls of golden raisins.

I didn't use the sharp blade, by the way. I didn't want to pulverize the nuts and raisins, but I was too lazy to add them last by hand, so I used the bread dough blade (which I never use for bread dough) and it worked just fine.

The actual recipe, which is about four times bigger than my concoction, requires baking the batter in a 9-inch springform pan at 300 degrees for about 90 minutes until golden brown. Since I was using little ramekins, I baked mine for about 45 minutes until they were just beginning to brown. Any more than that and they would have turned into leather.

We had the cheesecakes with blackberries last night and will have the other two tonight.

I am not saying "Go thou and do likewise." The whole point of adapting leftovers is to use what's in your refrigerator. I am convinced that lots of recipes, like theologies, begin as tasty leftovers and then, favoring uniformity over adaptability and surprise, become codified.

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Yesterday's fare
Last night's frugal main course: Tostadas, sort of. I make my own corn tortillas--cheap, easy, quick, and incredibly delicious. I then heated up some olive oil and added a small onion, sliced; half a green bell pepper and half a red bell pepper, in chunks; chopped garlic, and, eventually, a can of black beans from Trader Joe's (89 cents), drained and rinsed.

Once everything was more or less stir-fried, I divided the mixture between two tortillas and then topped each with 1/4 package of Mexican farmers' cheese, crumbled. I diced a tomato and put that on top of the stack. Very tasty, and they went nicely with the bottle of pale ale we split.

Matt Rodman's cream of mushroom soup

Last night Mr Neff and I did not eat at home. Instead, we plunged deeper into Lent by attending a soup supper (yes, it's redundant) at St Barnabas Episcopal Church. Like winos at a city mission, we shared soup, bread, and scripture study. Unlike winos, we got to eat first.

The soups, provided by church members and served from crockpots, were excellent: cream of mushroom, lentil and ham, cabbage, and a couple of others.

Here's St Barnabas member and acolyte Matt Rodman's recipe for cream of mushroom soup:

This soup usually makes four servings but, to tell you the truth, at this apartment when I make it I never have leftovers.

• 8 green onions, sliced (reserving 4 teaspoons of the green for garnish)
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock, heated
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 2 egg yolks

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the green onions and sauté until wilted--about 5-7 minutes.

Increase heat to medium, add flour and curry powder, and stir for about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat--and whisk in the hot stock and milk. Add mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Cover partially and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Whisk the cream and egg yolks in a small bowl. Lighten the mixture with a couple Tablespoons of the mushroom soup, then whisk it all into the soup. Cook on low heat, stirring from time to time, until thick--about 4-5 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with the reserved green onion slices. Serve immediately.

Feeling good about leftovers

The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.

--Calvin Trillin

I'm feeling a lot like Calvin Trillin's mother.

Yesterday's fare involved lunch with two friends. I served leftover lentil soup to which I had added sweet potato and turkey sausage and whatever else took my fancy back when I made it a couple of weeks ago. It keeps very well in the freezer.

We also had fresh-baked bread, though I varied the recipe by putting 1/2 c corn meal and 1/2 cup oatmeal flour in the scale before filling it up to the 1-lb level with white whole wheat flour. Cindy brought a lovely salad of spring greens, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and pecans. Vinita brought delightful date bars, and if I can get her to divulge the recipe, I'll post it here.

Last night Mr Neff and I had the final remains of the soup, more bread, and a salad made of leftover arugula, clementines, and almonds. It may sound creative, but really it was what I found in my refrigerator.

So here I am apologizing, and that makes Jacques Pépin unhappy--

It makes me feel uncomfortable when people are apologetic about serving leftovers, because if the cook is good there should be no reason to apologize. . . . Born to a family of restaurateurs and having worked all my life in the world of food, I find it’s second nature to be thrifty and avoid spoilage. I actually hurt when I see food rotting in the refrigerator or people throwing out things like bones which could be used for a flavorful base for dishes....

In the normal working of a professional kitchen, the chefs save food instinctively. The meat is trimmed, the trimmings are turned into ground meat and the bones go into a stock which may be turned into a sauce, and so on. Things move naturally in a logical progression, everything is used in an endless cycle, and practically nothing is discarded. By the same token, at home a good cook should be able to transform a dish and extend its use by making it into a fresh and different creation, rather than a second-rate version of the original.

The most common mistake made with leftovers is to try to preserve the food in its original form. Roast beef will never be a hot roast beef again because it doesn’t reheat well. However, cold roast beef served with condiments and a salad is excellent, while sliced and sautéed with onions, garlic, and beef broth, it makes a wonderful Beef Mironton. . . . Similarly, a perfectly roasted chicken will never taste as good reheated, but turned into a cold salad it tastes fresh again. On the other hand, stews, as well as most soups, often taste better after reheating.

--Jacques Pépin, Everyday Cooking

Sacrificing to be frugal

My friend Jennifer Trafton may be the only person in the world who has two friends named LaVonne, and it is thanks to Jennifer that LaVonne Stratton Carlson and I are now Facebook friends.

Yesterday LaVonne C. sent me a note about how she and her husband and two young boys are bravely facing Lent. She's realistic about what this experiment is going to cost her in time and effort. Frugal eating, like a new puppy, affects Mom more than anyone else.

So, I guess we're a little late getting on board, but my husband and I have decided to try the Lenten Experiment. So far it appears that our sacrifices will come in three major areas:

1. My husband will have to give up restaurants. He tends to eat several lunches and a couple of breakfasts out each week... that will have to stop. However, we will probably not sacrifice our family Sunday dinner habit -- you don't have to sacrifice on Sunday during Lent, right?

2. My kids will have to give up cold cereal and pre-packaged snacks. Fortunately, Jay likes eggs and Colin likes toast. Maybe they'll learn to like oatmeal sometime in the next 40 days.

3. I will have to give up time. My husband eats out because I don't fix his lunch, my kids eat cold cereal because it's easy... I will have to spend more time thinking, planning, and preparing meals besides dinner. Fortunately, my husband has agreed to fix breakfast for the boys on the mornings I run. I don't think I could get up much earlier on those mornings!

According to at least one of the pages you referenced (I admit, I didn't search too exhaustively), we should have $121.40/week for our family of four. My first shopping trip today totaled $50.58. Woohoo! However, I'll be using a lot of food that was on hand from before, and I didn't have to buy any staples this week, so I doubt I'll be able to keep that up. I'll keep you posted...

--LSC

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Yesterday's fare (as described in an e-mail to friends who wondered)

Tonight I used up almost all my leftovers by making a ratatouille of olive oil, onion slices, half an orange bell pepper, a diced zucchini, half a package of grape tomatoes, sliced in half ... I think that was about it. I cooked them lightly, removed them from the pan, then added to the pan maybe about 5 oz. of button mushrooms (stemmed & sliced in half), which I peppered and salted and browned lightly.

Meanwhile I’d been broiling two salmon filets, salted and peppered only. (These are $1 salmon filets I bought at Aldi’s—frozen, wild caught. Smallish but enough. Four filets, $3.99.)

When everything was done, I got out two pasta bowls and loosely filled them with leftover arugula (scoff not: it's $1.99 for a big bag at Trader Joe's, and the bag has provided eight generous servings). I topped this with the ratatouille, then tore the salmon filets into bite-sized pieces and added them to the stack along with the mushrooms. It was odd, but good.

Drank a little leftover Rex Goliath chardonnay. Dessert was a little plain yogurt with honey topped with blackberries ($2.99 for 4 servings at TJ).

Couscous salad and turkey legs

Last night we ate leftovers. They were good, but you don't want to read about them. Instead I'll tell you what Janet and Ken are up to. (I want them to move in with me and take over my kitchen.)

Report on our frugal meals
Saturday: couscous salad, one of our favorites. We used the cooked couscous left over from the chicken leg meal, and added chopped cuke, tomato, celery, onion, sweet pepper, lots of chopped Italian parsley, a little mint, and sautéed cubed chicken. (Jewel had a packet of 8 chicken tenderloins for less per lb. than any of the other chicken. I think they’re cheap because the tendon has to be removed).

For the salad dressing, Ken makes a socko blend of lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic. We really enjoy main dish salads with a lot of raw ingredients. Do you know Raw, Charlie Trotter’s cookbook featuring uncooked main dishes? Oh, and to finish this meal, since we're such copycats, Ken made chocolate panna cotta. We drank a Yellow Tail Riesling (shared 1/2 of a $10.99 1 ½ litre jug). It’s hard to figure out the cost of a meal like this, since it was composed of so many bits and pieces, but I know it was frugal.

Sunday night we indulged in our favorite red meat: turkey legs, oven roasted with aromatics. There are many bones, which I sometimes remove, serving the meat in the thickened pan juices, but last night we just used a bone plate. The two plump legs were plenty to eat and cost $4.00. We had boiled potatoes and sweet peas as accompaniment, Yellow Tail Shiraz Cabernet (same jug deal as the Riesling) to drink, more panna cotta for dessert.

Thanks for the inspiration, J & K! I'm now heading downstairs to see what further inspiration I can find in my refrigerator.

Panna cotta

Panna cotta makes a quick and inexpensive dessert for Sundays in Lent.

Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

--Nehemiah 8:10, totally out of context, but nice anyway

We had panna cotta last night, after dinner with friends. I adapted a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Patricia Wells' Trattoria. A nice thing about this dessert, besides its excellent flavor, is that you can make it the day ahead. These proportions serve four.



1. Butter four 4-oz (1/2 c) custard cups or ramekins.

2. Mix together and allow to dissolve (it takes two or three minutes):

• one package unflavored gelatin
• 2 Tbs half & half
• 1 tsp flavoring extract (you can use just vanilla extract, or you can combine vanilla with almond extract; I used 1/4 tsp almond with 3/4 tsp vanilla)

3. Bring to boil over moderate heat, stirring frequently

• 1 pint (2 c) less 2 Tbs (which you just used for the gelatin) half and half
• 1/2 c confectioner's (powdered) sugar

4. Remove cream and sugar mixture from heat. Whisk in cream and gelatin mixture until smooth. Pour through fine-meshed strainer.

5. Pour mixture into custard cups or ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for several hours or up to a day.

You can serve the panna cotta in the cups, but I like to upend each onto a dessert plate and serve with berries. To get them out of the cups, set them in a little hot water for a few seconds and, if necessary, run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen.

The picture above left is from Wikimedia Commons. It looks a lot like our panna cotta, but was made with Greek yogurt instead of half and half. Sounds like an idea worth trying.

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Yesterday's fare (for us and two guests)
Peanuts, cashews, carrot sticks
Lasagna made with 1 lb chopped mushrooms, lots of garlic, 1/2 lb smoked turkey sausage, 2 diced zucchini, a few sun-dried tomatoes, 1 jar Trader Joe marinara sauce, about 12 oz part-skim ricotta cheese, one egg, minced dried parsley and basil, fresh-ground black pepper, a bunch of parmesan, and of course lasagna noodles
Salad made with arugula (cheap at Trader Joe's!), avocado, grape tomatoes, 1/2 orange bell pepper, a few button mushrooms; dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
French bread made with 3 c white bread flour and 1/2 c corn meal (I use Bittman's recipe in How to Cook Everything)
Wine: Rex Goliath chardonnay, Gnarly Head zinfandel
Panna cotta with blackberries, decaf coffee