Eating Well Cheaply |
| "Eating" and "Cheaply" are not necessarily two words which people who know me would figure I could use in the same sentence. Not my friends, and not those who read
my other blog, An Obsession With Food.
However, the technology sector layoff axe has swung my way, and so I find myself trying to stretch my savings as far as possible. But I firmly believe that one can eat well
on a tight budget. After all, many so-called gourmet foods had their roots in peasants trying to make their money stretch as far as possible. Of course, something like
coq au vin is only peasant food when you're actually in Burgundy, and can more easily find cheap wine for the stew.
It just takes more time and planning. But time has become much more available. And even when I get hired again, I'll keep
cooking this way since my girlfriend Melissa and I are thinking about buying a house once we both have income again. Plus, then I'll have more money to spend on the
extravagant meals I occasionally describe on my other blog.
A note on costs: in general, I don't keep track of how much things like flour, sugar, salt, and so forth cost. When I list costs, it's usually just the items I had to buy specifically for that meal. Not always, though. If I buy a bunch of some type of fruit, and use a couple pieces here, a couple pieces there, I'll try and fill in the per-fruit cost or an estimate. Also, I usually just list costs for the first time I buy something. After that point, it counts as leftovers, since I've paid the price for it for some other dish, and the fact that I get to re-use it is a bonus. |
No Sand Dabs Saturday, December 28, 2002
Thwarted in my quest to find sand dabs the other night, I made a vegetarian dinner which I concocted
in the store. I did a celery root and potato purée with roasted onions and fried oranges. The
latter come from the Zuni Café Cookbook. The concept of serving fried citrus was intriguing,
so I was curious about how they'd come out.
Pretty darn well, it turns out. I didn't like my purée, and Melissa and I both thought the onions could've used more time in the oven (they seemed done when I pulled them out, but I was wrong). But the orange slices were quite yummy. I'd make them again. All you do is slice across the orange into thin rounds (I used a mandoline), dredge in flour, then buttermilk, then flour again. Fry in hot oil, and you're there. We also drank the last of our Trader Joe's selections, the 2001 R.H. Phillips Sauvignon Blanc ($5.99). It was drinkable, but not something I'd choose again. Too much butter on the nose, perhaps from malolactic fermentation, as well as something else I couldn't quite pinpoint. I kept wanting to describe it as herby or vegetal, but I wonder how much of that descriptor was influenced by the fact that I knew the grape. S.B. often has grassy or vegetal notes to it, if I remember correctly. Melissa, on the other hand, liked it more than I did. She said if she had to choose between this and the Fetzer Gewürtzraminer we had the other night, she'd take the Sauvignon Blanc. I'd go the other way.
Costs: Mussels Friday, December 27, 2002
I'm a big fan of steamed mussels, and when I saw that Andronico's was having a sale ($2.99/lb.), I decided
to get some for dinner last night. Unfortunately, I figured I'd make soda bread but when I got home I a)
realized it would take too long and b) required some things I didn't have around. If I had realized this
at the store, I would have bought some bread, as it's perfect for sopping up the broth.
I deviated from my norm a little, however. I sliced up a lemon and minced some garlic and threw it into the water I used to steam the mussels. I was hoping this would subtly flavor the mussels, which it did not. But it produced a nice broth. Lacking bread, I drank mine. We tried another Trader Joe's wine, the Fetzer Echo Ridge Gewürztraminer. The receipt has disappeared, but it was probably $5-6. This one we sort of cheated on; I've had it before and knew that it was quite drinkable for its price. Melissa found it a bit too sweet for her taste, and I thought the alcohol was a little out of whack, but it's pretty decent. I just love these relatively simple wines which bundle all these aromas and flavors onto their labels, however. "peach, pineapple, jasmine and ginger". I only get lychee out of it, and it dominates pretty heavily
Costs: |
