Continuing with the Italian theme, a couple of nights ago I made Chicken Francaise. It is a dish my mother loves. I thought about it the other day and realized that I had all the ingredients that I needed to make it: Chicken, chicken broth, butter, lemons, white wine, flour, egg and oil. Even though the dish sounds really fancy, it is actually quite cheap and simple. I used the recipe from Epicurious. The flavor was pitch perfect, but I did struggle a bit cooking the chicken. I used one big ‘ol chicken breast for the two of us, slicing it in half width-wise. I then pounded the fillets as directed between two layers of plastic wrap with my cast iron skillet. Even the fillets being so thin, I still found it difficult to get them cooked though without burning the outside. Alas, if you read “In the Kitchen…” then you know how I struggle with meat. The dish still turned out great, I think. Not too much prep time and cost-effective. Just a dollar for the chicken breast . I served the chicken on a bed of spaghetti (50 cents) with a side of broccoli ($1). Other than that, just used a few pantry staples… $2.50 for an Italian dinner for two! Four Stars!
My first cheapo delish dish is Cheese Tortellini with homemade pesto. Delicious? Yes! Cheap? Really? Yes! Granted… I did get my basil for free (score!) from Shenandoah Farms at a recent Cook’s Warehouse cooking class. Another way to get loads of FREE basil is to grow it yourself! Erm, maybe not in January… during the Snow-In of 2011! I never buy herbs at the grocery store though, too pricy! However, DeKalb Farmers Market is an excellent source for fresh herbs. You can get a bunch of basil for about a buck. These are all ingredients I had on hand: garlic (jarred, minced, cheap at Trader Joe’s) olive oil (pantry mainstay) and parmesean cheese (who knows how long that had been in there….) So what did I have to buy for this tasty Italian delight? Well, I bought I package of cheese tortellini. Package says 3 servings, will be eaten as two… $1.99 at Trader Joe’s. Like half the price of the stuff at Publix. Also – little known fact – pesto contains nuts! Pine nuts to be exact. This recipe used $1.57 worth of pine nuts bought at the DFM. So… really minus a splash of oil, a spoon of garlic, and a grate of aging cheese… this meal cost $3.56. Holy cheap eats, Batman! So you want to know how to make some for yourself? I loosely followed the recipe on Simply Recipes. I pretty much halved it because I only had enough basil for that much. Would definitely like to make a larger batch in the future. Simply Recipes had a GREAT tip - Freeze pesto made without the cheese in ice cube trays then extract and store individual potions in the frezzer in a ziplock. Love it! This little dish is such a great and light supper! And wow, if you made a bunch of pesto and did the freezer thing… we are talking MINIMAL prep time. Four Stars!
I think that having a well stocked kitchen is imperative to making delicious meals that are easy and cheap. Having common ingredients on hand makes it much simpler to whip something amazing up on the fly. Keeping your shelves stocked means less purchasing on meal day, plus buying in bulk means savings! Do yourself a favor and your shelves with ingredients that you like to cook with and find yourself using often. Here is what I must have in my kitchen:
Olive Oil
Canola Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
White Cooking Wine
Soy Sauce
Peppercorns
Kosher Salt
Assorted Spices
Vanilla Extract
Butter
Eggs
Flour
Sugar
Lemons
Garlic
Capers
Onions
Red Potatoes
Brown Rice
Dry Pasta
Assorted Beans
Assorted Nuts
Assorted Frozen Vegetables
Keeping your shelves stocked with a solid foundation of ingredients makes for a great starting point! With only a couple of other ingredients, a delicious meal is yours!
New blog for the New Year. It’s all about cooking on a budget. We are talking budget with a capital B. $10 tops for dinner for two. The cheaper the better! I will definitely be watching the Publix sales ads and using my ever-expanding collection of cooksbooks for inspiration. I think that this is going to be a really fun experience! Creating delicious dinners on a dime!
