Having read recent reports about the food crisis developing, I thought I’d share some thoughts about preparing inexpensive foods. I lived for a few years in a very poor monastery in South Texas, and as the primary cook tried to find recipies that were simple, inexpensive, and tasty. Although what I offer today is not from that period, I continue to practice the same cooking habits, and this is from a method I developed recently.
I buy a whole chicken and then steam it. Clean the chicken, pop it in a large pan suitable to an oven, add a little water or liquid and whatever seasonings you think might be tasty, and cook at medium heat (350 f) for about an hour and a half, depending on size. I then make up some veggies to go with the chicken by cutting up some potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, and whatever else is handy, put them in a pot with two tablespoons of oil and about a quarter-cup of soy sauce (not required), and add it to the oven. The veggies should be stirred after about 45 minutes, and an hour of cooking usually does a good job. Test for doneness (is that a word?), you get the idea.
I eat the chicken and veggies for a few days, until I’m down to a thigh portion, then I heat the chicken enough to allow me to get the meat off the carcass. The meat I use for a chicken soup, and the carcass goes into the crock pot overnight on low, covered with water, for either chicken broth or dog food, or both. For the chicken soup, I use the cooked vegetables that are left, and add whatever seasonings I think might be nice.
To make a nice pasta type dish to include in the soup or to eat separately as a pasta, I found a nifty recipe in a cookbook to make a meaty “european” style dumpling. Cook up about two pounds of potatoes, I use about 3 medium baking potatoes, usually in the microwave. Let them cool a bit and separate from the skins, then mash, add one and one-third cups flour, and a bit of nutmeg if you wish. I use a large glass mixing bowl I place in the sink to knead the mixture so I can knead without too much effort using my knuckles and weight. If it is too sticky, add some flour, although it will be somewhat sticky due to the potatoes. The dough should be rather stiff. The dough can be rolled out and cut into noodles, but I prefer just to tear off bits of the dough, roll them up a bit, and pop them in the soup. They float when done, usually after about 10 minutes. You can test one, and if it has too little firmness, you should add more flour.
I’d like to thank the proprietor of this site for the effort. I enjoy food and cooking and will contribute what I can.
Tags: , cooking, inexpensive foods
9 Comments
I am so, so glad you’ve written this. Diaries about frugality — esp. frugal eating — are so nevessary these days. And it is possible to eat cheaply and well.
I’ve been planning on a frugal eating adventure this weekend. I’m going to try my hand at menudo, one of my favorite foods ever. Even better, I have a wonderful selection of recipes to choose from, including one from drchelo.
And best of all, tripe is very cheap – at least around here.
I’ll keep you all posted.
Thanks for your reply, biscuit. Frugality matters to me, I’ve been a street person before and I do know how to live cheap. As sorry as I am to say it, it may have been good training. I’ve never eaten menudo, but may give it a try. Thanks for the link.
ooo, it’s good. It’s a Mexican soup, although often closer to a stew. It’s very, very tasty!
Excellent diary on a very important subject, allep10. It’s a bit shocking how fast food costs have skyrocketed, but the silver lining is that prices are encouraging me to expand my repertoire of simple foods as well as vegetarian dishes, and as a consequence, I’m eating far more healthfully now than at any time in my more extravagant past.
I follow a similar process with a whole chicken–there’s one in the pot right now, in fact! Whole fryers are an excellent value, and I’ve learned a lot about making good stock from The Elements of Cooking by Michael Ruhlman and The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. Excellent stock makes fabulous soup, and it’s no more costly than doing it wrong.
I want to make those dumplings! We’ve recently discussed gnocchi on this blog, so this is my second nudge toward trying them.
More conversations on frugal cooking will be very welcome!
Thanks for your comment, Anne. I tend more toward vegan – vegetarian meals, but a chicken now and then doesn’t seem too harmful. I hope to soon start raising some chickens of my own. Do try the gnocchi, it is meaty and chewey, like a good pasta, and quite healthy for you. Also, thanks for the tips on the cookbooks. I read a good cookbook like others do novels. Always something new and exciting on the next page.
If you really do want to get in to vegan – vegetarian cooking, I’ve got three favorite cookbooks I use. We had many at the monastery, but these were the ones I found most helpful. The “bible” of the three is “Simply Heavenly, the Monastery Vegetarian Cookbook.” The last time I checked, when I bought my copy, it was out of print and used versions were going for over a hundred dollars. But it is that good. It was written by abbot George Burke, and published by McMillan in 1997. The second is vegetarian and is entitled “Horn of the Moon Cookbook,” written by Ginny Callan. The third, and a very good vegetarian cookbook is entitled “The New Moosewood Cookbook” by Mollie Katzen. The old Moosewood Cookbook is also very good, the new one seems mostly to have reduced fat variarations on the first. Thanks again, Anne.
Thanks allep10, excellent post. I have this potato diary you might like to read, since I think potato will save our skin, once more. Keep writing those frugal recipes, we’ll need them!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/.....752/488419
Hi Allep10, Here’s a perfect dessert for your chicken & dumplings, easy and quick to make: old-fashioned crumble. I found some early rhubarb in my garden, peeled and diced it – and added some cubed wrinkly apples that the gourmets in my house wouldn’t otherwise eat..Put the fruit (pears & plums go well in the fall) in a 12 x 8 inch oven dish, and make the crumble… about a 2 cups oatmeal, 1 cup flour, sugar to taste and some butter (I’d say about 2oz) rub all that together, cover the fruit and put it in a hot oven & bake until golden (about 30mins depending on the oven). Delicious on a chilly evening. Hope the ingredients work for you as I always improvise when cooking and baking (unlike Himself..) with sometimes disastrous effects which see us having sandwiches for dinner..This one was really good, though.
I can attest for this crumble, not much left.
The ragout sounds delightful, willowspirit. I’ll give it a try. I found a recipe for a fruit cobbler that’s about as easy, although less healthy sounding than the ragout. iirc it was 1/2 cup butter, melted, one cup of flour and one cup of sugar, or to taste. Mix the butter, sugar, and flour, add the fruit on top, then bake until the top browns a bit.
Another good recipe that my Mom used to use, iirc, used pie crust, mixed with the fruit and some sugar, with strips of the crust on top to decorate. Both are delicious, Mom’s recipe is a bit more chewey. Again, thanks for your comment, willowspirit (and I really do like your username. Wish I could figure out how to do neat things like that.)
You must be logged in to post a comment.