Heading South

When it comes to food, I'm a Southern girl at heart.  There is just something about Southern food that warms you up inside and makes you feel happy.  Sadly I don't come across many recipes for Southern food that are healthy enough for me to eat them every week.  There are recipes where someone thought it was a good idea make a dish like fried chicken and then they go an bake it.  Did you REALLY enjoy that baked "fried" chicken?  Did it make you drool and crave more?  I doubt it!  As they say, everything in moderation!  Don't try to make a dish that is amazing and totally bad for you into something healthy, it won't work.  You won't be satisfied.  Just suck it up and cook the unhealthy way every once in awhile.  It's worth it!

So I was browsing one of my favorite food sites Serious Eats and came across a recipe for Sauteed Andouille,and Green with Grits.  Just looking at the picture my stomach started to growl.  I couldn't wait to go out and get the ingredients for this dish and cook it up!  This recipe required three pots/pans on my stove at once (that always freaks me out!) and only some minor prep work.

In the big pot I boiled the collard greens for about 8-10 minutes.  Yum, I love greens!

While they were cooking I started the grits.  Bring some salted milk and water to a simmer then turn the heat down so you get a low simmer and whisk in the grits.  These will cook for 20 minutes or so.  Meanwhile you should drain your greens and move on to cooking the rest of the vegetables and sausage.  Brown your sliced sausage for a few minutes on each side.  Remove the sausage from the pan and sautee the shallots (I love these things and I love that fact that I have been using them a lot lately!) and red bell pepper in the sausage fat.  My sausage didn't have a lot of fat, so I had to throw in some olive oil.

Once the peppers are cooked, add the greens and sausage to the shallot and pepper mix.  Mix them together and cook until warm. 

When the grits are cooked stir in some butter and cheddar cheese. That's it! Finished!  So while there were a lot of pots, there wasn't really a lot of work involved (there was a lot of clean up though). 

Final Product:

 
My thoughts:  Yum, yum, yum.  Comfort, comfort, comfort.  This was good!  I added some sriracha (hot sauce) to mine since I love everything as spicy as possible. The one ingredient that doesn't need to be included is the red bell pepper.  I didn't feel like it really brought anything to the dish, but it did up the vegetable quotient which is always good.  Cheesy grits are so delicious.  They just melt in your mouth.  This dish can work with shrimp or as a vegetarian dish too without losing it's comfort factor.  You can make it even more comforting by adding some cornbread to the mix.  I just made a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix and added some cheese and chopped jalapenos to it.  If you are going to go the unhealthy route take it all the way to the top!

I was also curious how budget friendly this dish was:

Sausage/$4.79
Grits/$1.89
Collard Greens/$1.99
Shallots/$0.70
Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix/$0.55
Red Bell Pepper/$2.99
Block of Cheddar Cheese/$2.29

Total/$15.20

Nowhere near as economical as I have been lately! Although when you really think about it this was a dinner for two, plus enough left over for two lunches.  $15 really is cheap when thought about it in those terms!

Next up:  Mark Bittman's Lentils and Potatoes; Salsa Soup with Cheese Quesadilla's 

One Dish Haddock Dinner

 I only have 12 more days of employment and then I can start working on the Next Great American Novel…or start begging people for a job. Both sound like viable options. Needless to say you will be seeing some creative dinner ideas from me in the near future since money will be a little tight. The great news is I will finally have time to be creative and come up with some recipes of my own. (My husband is probably reading that sentence right now and cringing.) In lieu of this upcoming event (my unemployment) I decided to spend some money and make a fish dish. The fish was not part of the Salmon Club Pack at Wegmans that I typically gravitate too because it’s inexpensive. No this was actually fresh fish from the seafood counter. I had my husband look through a seafood cookbook and pick out something he would like me to try. His pick was a one dish Haddock Bake (I can’t post a link to the recipe because it was from a cookbook (Seafood Secrets) that is not online anywhere and apparently out of stock on Amazon! But email me and I will send you the recipe!)


The ingredients you will need for this recipe: haddock, onions, mushrooms, new potatoes, dry white wine, water, bay leaf, bread crumbs, melted butter, salt, pepper, and parsley. You are going to put all of the ingredients in one buttered casserole dish. The recipe calls for 4 onions sliced. I thought four onions would be way too many, so I only sliced two onions and that was more than enough. Place the fish on top of the sliced onions and surround the fish with quartered mushrooms and sliced new potatoes. Pour one cup of white wine and one cup of water over the fish, than add a bay leaf. Next sprinkle the fish with bread crumbs and pour melted butter over everything; season with salt and pepper.

Bake this at 350 degrees. It took me an hour to get the potatoes cooked. The recipe suggests that this only takes 30-40 minutes to cook.

Final Product:

I also made Vermicelli rice pilaf from Mark Bittman's book.  I didn't realise how easy it was to make rice pilaf!  Yay! No more of the boxed stuff for me!  All you need is butter, onion, stock, parsley, salt, pepper, and vermicelli or angel hair if you want to make it the way I did.  It only takes about 30 minutes to make.  The only problem I ran into was forgetting that I wanted to add the pasta and I didn't have it broken up.  So I ended up breaking it up right when it needed to go in and the pasta was in all different sizes since I just broke it by hand.  It still tasted really good!  I encourage all of you to try it!

Final Product:

Final Plate:

My thoughts on the haddock: This was a very good recipe! Even though it took longer to cook then I was hoping it would, it turned out very well. The fish was moist, the veggies were good. I’m sure everything having a little butter on it helped with the enjoyment factor. I’m not sure why so many onions are needed, but having two in this recipe was bearable. I can’t imagine what it would have been like using four. You should try this recipe because it was tasty and everything is cooked in one dish. You can’t get much better than that!

Next Up: Andouille Sausage, Collard Greens, and Grits, sounds delicious!

And Then There Was This...

You can't always walk into the kitchen and come out with something that you are proud of.  I have to admit that when picking out this recipe,  Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons & Parsley Brown Butter, I assumed it was going to be good and that I wouldn't have any issues making it.  Doesn't the title make it sound like a worry free night?  Boil some pasta, cut some zucchini and cover it all in a butter sauce.   

The first thing I had to learn how to do was use a mandoline.  It's never a good idea to let me be around sharp objects.  I'd already been cut once by this mandoline when washing dishes while it was in the sink.  Anthony demonstrated how to use it and I was able to make a few zucchini ribbons with it, but it still made me nervous so I let him make the majority of the ribbons.

The other prep was easy enough chopping shallots and halving cherry tomatoes. 

First you need to boil water for your gnocchi.  I used the packaged kind you find in the pasta aisle.  You could also use frozen.  Then melt the butter in a pan and cook until it's just starting to brown.  Next add the shallots and zucchini.  After adding the zucchini ribbons they just seemed too big for the pan so I sliced them all in half.  The recipe doesn't say to do this, but I couldn't see myself eating pieces of zucchini that big in pasta. 

Once that is soft add the tomatoes, salt, nutmeg and pepper, cook for another 2 minutes.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese (I used the shake kind from Wegman's) and parsley.  Put the gnocchi in and mix until coated. 

Final Product:

(Doesn't this look like a squishy mess?!)

My thoughts:  While this was an easy recipe to make.  The zucchini came out mushy.  I like a more crisp zucchini.  So everything was the same texture...soft. It really needed something in there that would make a little crunch.  This is not something I plan on trying again.  I just don't feel like it's that good of a recipe to start with.

This was supposed to be another budget meal.  Let's see how much it cost:

Items I already had:  butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper

Gnocchi/$2.79
2 Shallots/$0.41
2 Zucchini/$1.94
Cherry Tomatoes/$3.69
Parsley/$0.75 (split in half with another meal)
Parmesan Cheese/$2.89

Total/$12.47 

I feel like this wasn't really a good deal.  The cherry tomatoes where just too expensive.  Although when you really think about $12.47 for a dinner for two (with enough leftovers for one person's lunch) is pretty damn cheap.  To compare:  when we go out to dinner we typically spend between $40-50 on a dinner for two.  Even buying a pizza would have been more expensive.  You can see the benefit of cooking at home when you think about it that way. 

Next Up:  One Dish Haddock and Rice Pilaf



 

Meatless Monday!

For all those participating in Meatless Mondays, this post is for you.  As I've mentioned a gazillion times I love Mexican flavors and foods.  This recipe has those flavors without all the pressure of needing to know how to cook.  While I wouldn't call this dish " Real Mexican", it's American Mexican and it's delicious and easy!  I found the recipe for Black Bean and Tortilla Bake on Food.com (this site has a ton of recipes on it, check it out!).  Just looking at this recipe I knew that I would like it since I love all the ingredients in it.  The real test was whether or not Anthony would enjoy it.  He isn't a huge fans of casseroles and this kind of reminds me of a casserole, just a little smaller in size.

The BBTB is super for a weeknight meal and it's meatless which makes it perfect for Meatless Monday's. (I prefer to be meatless more than one day a week, but this is a good start for those just trying out this meatless thing).  I altered the recipe a bit after looking at the reviews, people had some good ideas of how to make this tastier and heartier.  So in addition to the recipe get another can of black beans (2 total), 1 can of chopped green chilies, a can of diced tomatoes, and salsa.  You don't need to buy a tomato if you used the diced canned tomatoes instead.  The other thing you will need to do is double up on the onion, garlic, and spices since you are adding more beans to this dish. 

First step is sauteing the onion, garlic, chilies, green onion, cumin, and chili powder, until the veggies are tender.

Then add the can of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce; cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Stir in your beans, cilantro (parsley in this house), salt and pepper.

You are going to want to cook this in a square baking dish make sure to coat it with some cooking spray.  I also coated the bottom of the dish with salsa.

Now you build the "bake" by layering 4 corn tortillas on the bottom of the baking dish, then some cheese, and some of the bean mixture.  Repeat 2 more times.

Top this with 2 tablespoons of cheese.  I only bought one package of corn tortillas and there were only 10 in a pack, so I improvised and it still worked out fine.  Don't for obligated to buy a bigger pack, but you will need at least 10 to make this work.  The recipe says to bake covered for 20 minutes at 350 degrees and uncovered for 10 minutes.  Not sure if this is necessary or not, but I followed the instructions.

Final Product:

My thoughts:  It's not much to look at, but it was really good.  I could eat this quite often although it's right up my ally.  Of course I added some sriracha when I was eating it, because I can't get enough of that stuff.   Also decided to make some rice and served it with sour cream.  I wanted this meatless meal to seem filling and satisfying.  Anthony told me he really liked it! Yay!  Finally a casserole type dinner that isn't so horrible! We had leftovers for 2 days of lunches too!  Very economical.

Okay this was supposed to be another budget meal so let's see how much it costs:

Items I already had:  Garlic (minced from a jar, chili powder, cumin, 1 can black beans, salsa
Onion/$0.24
1 can Diced Tomato/$0.79
Green Onions/$0.85
1 can Tomato Sauce/$0.39
1 can Black Beans/$0.79
Parsley/$0.75
Corn Tortillas/$1.19
Cheddar Cheese (shredded)/$2.29
1 can Chilies/$1.49

Total/$8.78

Under $10 and was good for three meals for the two of us (2 lunches (4 servings) and 1 dinner (2 servings).  I'd have to say that's worth it!  Yes, I know if you didn't have all of the things that I had it would be more expensive, but I think that spices like chili powder and cumin should be a staple in your cabinet.  Along with a jar of salsa, it has so many different uses when it comes to cooking.

Next Up:  Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons and Brown Butter Parsley (this one didn't work out so well, but I don't feel defeated because of it!)

Thighs on Parade

Let’s talk chicken thighs.  While they might not be the healthiest cut of chicken (not too bad actually:  119 calories w/out skin, 211 with skin) they are one of the cheapest.  If you cook them bone in and with the skin on, you can usually get a very flavorful piece of meat.   I’ve noticed that a lot of Asian recipes call for chicken thighs.  Why?  I have no idea.  I searched around the internet and couldn’t find a reason for it.  Since this was a budget menu week the only way chicken was making the cut was if we used the thighs.  The recipe I used was Korean Chicken Thighs from a blog I recently found called Dianasaur Dishes.  

We were already stocked with most of the ingredients, so I only needed to buy the thighs.  You can’t get much cheaper than that!  Granted this might cost more for those of you who do not regularly cook with Asian ingredients.   I’m going to have to make this recipe more often.  It was super fast and easy.  You just need to plan ahead a little.  I decided to get the most out of the marinade (soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, ginger, garlic, and black pepper) and made it the night before and left the chicken to soak in it for about 24 hours.   The recipe calls for 2 thighs, so I doubled the marinade ingredients for 4 thighs.  Cooking this was so simple and almost relaxing since there wasn't a ton that needed to be done.  Put the chicken in a skillet and sear it for a few minutes on each side, then pop it in the oven and roast it for 30 minutes or until done.  That’s it folks.  Dinner is served!

Final Product:

 My thoughts:  I already mentioned I will be making this again.  The chicken tasted really good and it was nice and moist.   Obviously you need to make at least one side dish to serve with this.  Wanting this night to be a super easy kitchen night, I elected to make a box of Wild Mushroom and Herb Near East Couscous and just added some scallions to it when it was finished cooking.  I love Near East Couscous!  Yes, I took the easy way out, but why mess around with something that is already good!  Quick, easy, and delicious, this was definitely a keeper. 

Cost:

Chicken Thighs/$3.12 (for chicken thighs, I don’t remember how many pounds this was)

Couscous/$2.39

Total/$5.51

I’ll take that price for dinner any day.  This even made enough for lunch the next day for one of us. 

Next Up:  Black Bean Tortilla Bake another budget friendly meal.   

Updates!

No post today.  I ate cheaply last night.  There is also some burn out happening after that not so great quiche.  Not to worry though cooking will continue tonight with a new post tomorrow.

I just wanted to let you all know I posted a new poll.  You can place your vote for which item you would be willing to give up for a year. 

Also just a reminder check out The Hesitant Cook's Facebook page.  I occasionally post some interesting recipes and articles on there, that I don't mention here. 

To Make Quiche or To Not Make Quiche

Spending $160 at Wegmans and another $21 at the meat market last week put me into a depression. Why is food shopping so expensive?! I don't want to cut back on anything since I'm not really buying anything that's terrible expensive or not necessary. Okay my new obsession with Ben & Jerry's isn't necessary, but have you tried Late Night Snack? It's amazing! Salty and sweet, it’s the perfect combination. I bought Clusterfluff another Ben & Jerry’s flavor this week, which is peanut butter ice cream, caramel clusters, and marshmallow swirls. It was good, but you mostly just taste the peanut butter. I was really hoping there would be a stronger marshmallow flavor to it. Sorry to have gone off on an ice cream tangent.


This week I made a conscious effort to pick out meals that were cheaper to make. Obviously we still need to get our staple weekly items (lunch meat and Chobani for Anthony and frozen waffles and granola bars for me), but I was able to lower the total this week to $86. I'm still not sure how we can spend this much money and still fit it all in their small double basket carts, but both weeks we did! Some of the meals we are eating this week will not be blog worthy, but I needed to cut costs. So we will be having pasta with my red sauce (that I made enough of to freeze awhile back) and frozen pierogies with sautéed onions. I did find four recipes to make this week that are budget friendly.

The first one that I attempted was Broccoli and Cheese Quiche. Eggs are cheap, which is why eggs have been on my menu for the last two weeks. When I walked into the kitchen Sunday night, I should have just turned around and walked out. I wasn’t in the mood to cook at all. Cooking fatigue had finally set in. Not wanting to disappoint my fans (fans…yeah right) I decided to continue on with the cooking of the quiche. My experience with quiche is nil. I’ve had it to eat at brunch a couple of times, but that is about it. My thought was it’s very similar to the frittata I made last week so what could go wrong.

The first thing that needed to happen was prebaking the pie crust for 10 minutes. I just bought the two pack of frozen crust you can get at the grocery store in the freezer section. As for the filling, you start by sautéing onion until browned, than remove onion from pan and set aside. I’m not sure what’s going on with my onion sautéing skills, but I keep burning the onion a bit. We have a gas stove and I’m having trouble judging how high is too high. Medium on our stove seems like it might be the high setting for what these recipes want. There seems to be a fine line between too high with our stove and too low. It will take me awhile to find just the right spot on the knob. Next steam the broccoli in the pan with ½ a cup of water.

(a picture of broccoli, not my best effort, but most of these pictures did not come out)

Once that is tender, take the pan off the heat and mix the onion in. Then beat together three eggs, one cup of milk, and some salt and pepper. Put the vegetables in the pie crust and then pour the egg mixture on top of the vegetables, top with cheese. Bake for about 45 minutes and there you have your quiche.

Well maybe it would have been that easy if I would have used a deep dish pie crust, although the recipe does not specify using one. I had way too much filling for the pie crust that I was using; I couldn’t even fit all of the egg mixture. Luckily I was smart enough to put the pie on a baking sheet, because there was some spillage. I also put foil along the edges of the pie crust so that it wouldn’t burn. When I took the quiche out of the oven, the edges were soggy. That might have been from filling the crust too much, but I’m really not sure why it happened.

Final Product:

My thoughts: No thanks. I’ll stick to frittata. This recipe just made me so unhappy from the start. And then the results of soggy crust and no real flavor continued my unhappiness. Anthony thought the onion was a little off putting. Maybe I just need a better quiche recipe, but I have no urge to try cooking another quiche. Unless someone can change my mind, I think this will be the first and last quiche I will ever make.

The real point of making quiche is the first place was the cost, so let’s see how I did there (this is an estimate):

Small Onion/$0.24
Broccoli Crown/$1.69
3 Eggs/$0.36
Milk-/$0.23
Cheese/$1.15
Pie Crust/$1.35

Total: $5.02 (this total is assuming you already have oil, salt, and pepper)

I also had roasted red potatoes as a side, but I didn’t have to buy them they were left over from another recipe. But this meal is easily well under $10 to make.

Next up: Korean Chicken Thighs

As always if you want any of the recipes I used please let me know and I will be happy to send them along to you!