Sauerkraut, Ham and Kasha (slow cooker)

This isn't a complicated recipe, but it was delicious. Buckwheat groats, a.k.a. Kasha, are one of the healthiest and filling things you can eat, loaded with protein. Only this is, while I have had wonderful Kasha at Russian restaurants in the Far Northeast, mine always tastes like socks. However, toss it with sauerkraut and the flavor is much better (assuming you like sauerkraut).

Ingredients:

• 1 Bag Fresh Sauerkraut, rinsed
• 1.5 lbs. smoked meat (I used the remannts of a ham and three smoked turkey drumsticks)
• 1 tsp. caraway seeds and
• tsp. thyme
• 1.5 cups buckwheat groats
• 2 cups stock
• 2 tbs. butter
  
  

Directions:

1. Toss the first four ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low until meat is falling off bone. Remove bones.
2. Put the groats, stock and butter in a saucepan, cover, bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes
3. Add cooked groats to kraut and meat slowly (until it's about 1/3 kasha and 2/3 kraut.
4. Season to taste.
5. Eat.

Frugal Factor: Ridiculously cheap. $1 for the groats, $1.50 for the kraut, $2.75 for the turkey legs. That's $5.20 for four portions, or $1.31/portion.

Risotto w/ Scallops, Saffron and Fava Beans

Fresh green fava beans have been showing up on American menus a lot lately. I use frozen ones, sold as Broad Beans by Goya. One benefit to the frozen beans is that if you just run them under hot water for a minute, the inedible shells thaw while the beans stay frozen, so it’s easier to remove the shells without crushing the bean.


Ingredients:

2 cups chopped scallops (chopped if big, whole if small)

2 cups shelled fava beans (you could use peas too)

1 chopped white onion (leeks would be great here)

2 chopped garlic cloves

2 tbs. olive oil

2 cups Arborio or Sushi Rice

4-5 cups Stock (I used Better than Bouillon lobster stock, which works well here but is generally disgusting. If you don’t have time/constitution/ventilation to make your own fish stock, chicken or vegetable stock will do.)

Pinch each of saffron, white pepper, marjoram, and cayenne pepper

1⁄4 cup heavy cream (optional)


Lightly sauté onions in 1 tbs.olive oil. Add rice and brown the rice a little. Add garlic. Add half the stock and stir. Set to simmer, and add fava beans when rice is half-cooked. Slowly add rest of stock. When rice is a just a bit harder than al dente, add the spices and scallops. Keep stirring until a creamy, loose consistency had been achieved. Finish with cream and 1 tbs. olive oil and serve immediately.



For the portions you freeze, add a little stock to help with reheating in the microwave.



Frugal Factor: I bought the main ingredients so long ago I am a little lost. I think it would be $4 for the scallops left over from a big bag I got on sale, $1.50 for the fava beans, $4 for the Arborio rice at the overcharging supermarket price, $1 for everything else. I got 6 servings out of this recipe, so that’s $1.75/serving. A restaurant would sell this for $15!

Swedish Meatballs over Kluski Noodles

	The Jan/Feb issue Cook's Illustrated had a recipe for Swedish Meatballs. I always like getting them at Ikea, so I gave it a try. The recipe called for heavy cream in both the meatballs and the sauce. I used evaporated milk - it's cheaper, lower in fat and won't separate when reheating like cream often does. The recipe called for half a pound each of ground pork and ground beef. I doubled the recipe so I could use the whole package of each. I meant to add some fresh dill or thyme - that would have made it better. And I needed lingonberry sauce. Doh!
	In my mixer bowl, I made a panade of 4 crustless slices white bread soaked in ½ cup evaporated milk, two eggs plus a half tsp. each of allspice and nutmeg, 2 tsp.each of baking powder, salt and brown sugar plus two grated onions. I gave it a quick mix to form a paste, added the meat, and mixed on medium for 45 seconds until everything was incorporated. Forming 55 little meatballs took forever. I wonder if Swedish Salisbury Steak would be just as good.
	The recipe called for pan-frying, but I split the batch between the frying pan and the broiler. Frying takes a lot more attention, stinks up the kitchen and adds extra fat. The fried meatballs were a bit more crispy and fluffy but they also tended to fall apart. With the sauce it was hard to tell the difference. Broil. Just remember to put some water in the bottom of the broiler pan so the drippings don't smoke and stick to the bottom.
	The sauce is pretty basic - two cups of broth thickened with flour and enriched with 1/4 cup evaporated milk. The recipe called for chicken broth but I used Better Than Bouillon beef base. It tasted like that was a mistake at first, but once I added the tbsp. of brown sugar 2 tbsp. of lemon juice, the sauce had a bright sweet and sour flavor. I added a little allspice and white pepper too. I tossed the meatballs right in the finished sauce to keep warm while I boiled some Kluski noodles and finished cooking some squash for the side dish.
	Frugal Factor: I used the last of my ground pork from the 1/4 pig I bought which worked out to about $4/lb. The ground beef from Shop Rite was $2.19/lb. 12 oz bag of kluski noodles, $1.79; evaporated milk, 12 ox can, $0.89. That's $8.87. Let's round that up to $10 to cover the pantry items (bread, onion, spices, sugar, etc.) Yielded 55 meatballs - 8 portions plus the ones I sneaked while finishing the sauce and such. That's $1.50/portion. (the side dish was a butternut squash I bought for $2.50 - so add $0.42 for that for the meal)

Scallops Lo Mein in Black Bean Sauce

	I had some Chinese yam noodles, leftover cilantro, and some scallops in the freezer from the 5 lbs bag I bought on sale for $20 at Shop Rite a while back.
	I made a double-portion of fermented black bean sauce from an earlier post and threw half a bag of frozen spinach in the sauce once it was done cooking. drained the liquid from the thawed scallops (added it to the sauce) and tossed them in some soy sauce.
	After searing the scallops, I added the sauce w/ the spinach, deglazed the pan, tossed in the cooked noodles and some chopped cilantro and dinner was served
	Frugal Factor: $5 for the scallops, $1 for the sauce ingredients, $1.50 for the frozen spinach, $3 for the noodles, $1 for the cilantro. Let's round that up to $11 for four portions - $2.75/portion. Not ultra frugal but cheaper than takeout and way tastier.

Fish in Packets

	Fish in packets is an easy dish as long as you can fold the packets of parchment paper. If you can't, well-oiled foil works too. I used 11 lbs Mahi Mahi but any white-fleshed fish works
	Julienne one leek and one carrot and toss veggies in bowl with a dash of salt, pepper, thyme, olive oil and vermouth
	Preheat oven to 350. Divide fish into four portions. Wrap each of the fillets in parchment with the vegetables. Bake 10 minutes, unwrap and serve.
	Frugal Factor: $1 for the leek and carrot, $0.50 vermouth, $6.50 for the fish. Serves 4, $2/portion, not including those mashed potatoes

Fish Cake Sandwich w/ Slaw

This was an easy little recipe to use stuff I had in the fridge. I had some leftover broiled mahi mahi which I supplemented with a can of mackerel. I like to use masa harina, the processed corn flour used to make corn tortillas and tamales, as a coating for fried fish.

Ingredients: 1 can mackerel, a few slices of stale bread pulsed in a in the food processor, 1 egg, 1 tbsp. smoked paprika, 1 tbsp. dried chives, 1 grated shallot, 1 cup masa harina

Mix all the ingredients except the masa harina together. Form into patties. If it falls apart, add a little of the masa. Once formed, dredge in the masa and fry in a pan with 1/2 inch of oil (I like peanut oil for pan frying - it's light, a litttle nutty, and you can get it very hot.

I shredded some cabbage and a carrot and tossed it with some tartar sauce to make a fish slaw, put it on a crusty roll with the fish cake, and had a tasty sandwich.

Frugal Factor: Mackerel, $2; egg, $0.25; cabbage, $0.50. Let's say $3 for four portions, or $0.75/portion plus whatever the cost of the roll you choose.

Fisherman's Pie

Thanks to Crash Kitchen for this idea, although I made no effort to actually follow their recipe. I was skeptical of an English fish pie but this creamy concoction of smoked and fresh fish was a huge hit. It's basically a shepherd's pie but with fish and a bechamel. For the topping, I tried the latest "perfect mashed potatoes" method from the OCD folks at Cook's Illustrated. You steam the peeled, cubed potatoes for 10-15 minutes, rinse them in cold water, and then steam them anotgher 20 minutes until mashable, then rice them. The result really is some insanely light, fluffy mash that's perfect for a dish like this. This method is also fasterand easier - the riced potatoes incorporate with no effrt and you don't have to wait for a pot of water to boil (just a feew cups in the steamer). Any fish will work as long as some is smoked. In fact, using pimenton (smoked paprika) in the sauce might even make up for having no smoked fish.

Ingredients: 8 med. potatoes (about 2 lbs), 1/2 stick butter, 1 15 oz can of mackerel (large bones removed and "dark meat" fed to Marcel), 1 lbs smoked fish (I smoked some whiting fillets out back and used a can of Trader Joe's smoked trout I had opened earlier for a snack), 1 leek, 4 shallots, 3/4 lbs of peas or green beans, 2 cups milk, 3 tbsp. flour (Wondra is best), Worcestershire sauce, paprika and pepper to taste

• Make mashed potatoes with 1/4 stick of butter; set aside
• Melt 1/4 stick butter butter on low heat in saucepan
• Whisk in flour and add leeks and shallots; saute a while
• Add milk and seasoning. Some people say to use warm milk, but I just crank up the heat and whisk it to death
• Add a 10 oz block of frozen vegetables such as peas or green beans (I used blanched fresh green beans because they were already in the fridge) and the fish (if your fish is raw, dice it and throw it in. If cooked, simply break apart.
• Pour sauce in greased casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes
• Bake at 375 for 30 minutes
• Eat right away or somebody else will
  

Serves 6-9 (depending on whether Dave and Heather are over and have seconds and thirds)

Frugal Factor: As prepared, this is a really frugal dish. You could go all out with cream instead of bechamel and something other than the two cheapest fish at the grocery store, but I'm not sure if it could get much tastier. 15 0z can mackeral, $1.10; 1 lbs whiting, $3.00 (plus the cost of some wood for smoking); frozen peas, $1.25; $0.35 for 2 cups milk; $0.35 for 1/2 stick butter ($2.79/lbs at TJ's - wow); $1.60 for 2 lbs potatoes; $1.50 for the leek, shallots and spices. At $9.15 for 6 servings, thats $1.53/serving.