Budget Cook

Tomato Pie

2009-08-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

This is a relatively recent discovery for me, but I've quickly fallen in love with it, as I hope you will too.

Earlier this year NPR ran a "How Low Can You Go" family supper challenge in which listeners were encouraged to enter their best $10 or less dinner recipe. The winner was, what I thought was a decidedly dumpy, tomato pie. I couldn't believe that with all the amazing things you can do with squash, lentils, Bulgar wheat, pasta, couscous, slow cooked meats, that the winner was a pile of tomatoes and onions topped with cheese and mayonnaise. Mayo? Are you kidding me?

Still, my partner Christian insisted on giving it a try. I was fortunately out of town when he did. He and our son, Jerrod, claimed to love this tomato pie and were determined to get me to try it too.

So I gave in, but of course I had to spiff it up a little with some gourmet changes. I have to admit, this was not only a fantastic dish, but I've already made it twice in the last week and am sure to keep it around as a family favorite!

What is really so fascinating about this recipe is that it's fairly easy and quite versatile. You could add sliced fennel, any number of herbs, use any kind of onions you have on hand. We've also used goat cheese inside with a 2-year aged Cheddar on the top. Heirloom tomatoes work great too, but they can be expensive. A combo of heirloom and conventional tomatoes works well.

If you look at the NPR winning recipe, it uses a Bisquick dough. We strictly veer away from boxed items (I don't think it's that hard to mix four or five dry ingredients and I don't like the extra chemicals thrown in). When Christian made it, he used a homemade all-butter pie crust. Both times I made it I used a buttermilk biscuit crust.

There are a few keys to this recipe. I think, and Christian agrees, that a biscuit crust on the bottom is best. It does end up getting a little mushy from the tomato runoff, but that's one of the best parts. The other key is to pile it very high with sweet onions and sliced tomatoes because it will bake down quite a bit, so you need lots of volume to make up for it.

But what about the mayo? In this sort of context I always have to remind myself that mayo is just oil, egg yolk, lemon juice and salt. I've taken to making my own mayo at home rather than buying it, and so I often make it with a combo of canola and olive oils.

When it's baked with the mayo on top, it doesn't turn out oily, but it sort of melds with the cheese to get a nice crisp around the edges, and it adds a real creaminess to the dish. I know it sounds odd, or even a little crazy, but it really does work.

To clarify something in the NPR recipe, you want to use some kind of a biscuit recipe, preferably from scratch made with butter. Line the bottom of your pie plate or casserole with it, blind bake it (bake it alone without the other pie ingredients on it) according to the biscuit recipe, then let it cool slightly while preparing the tomatoes and other ingredients. I don't have any problem with biscuit dough it rising out of control, so I wouldn't bother with pie weights. You don't want too much dough in the dish though, so be careful to only add enough to make about an inch-thick crust.

I didn't think there was a lot of point to mushing the shredded cheese and mayo with my hands, so just mixed it well in a bowl. As I've said before, when used properly, salt just makes ingredients taste more like themselves, so I believe in using a goodly amount of salt (and pepper) in all my cooking. In this case, I did season each layer in the pie and I seasoned the cheese mixture in the bowl before topping the pie.

What's interesting is that James Beard apparently had a tomato cheese pie recipe in one of his cookbooks which G ourmet Magazine recently adapted along with a recipe from Laurie

Colwin. Elise over at Simply Recipes also recently posted a tomato pie recipe using mayonnaise (she too had the WTF response to the phrase "Tomato Pie". I like that Elise's recipe squeezes moisture out of the tomatoes. I did consider doing this on my second attempt, or salting them for around 15 minutes in a colander to drain the moisture off. Admittedly, this is nearly impossible to cut and serve like a typical pie given its very loose nature.

Here is my adapted recipe:

Buttermilk Biscuit Crust

1 cup AP flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

1½ tsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. baking soda

2 tbsp.

cold unsalted butter cut into ¼-inch cubes

¾ cup cold buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, baking soda to combine. Scatter butter cubes evenly over dry ingredients; pulse until mixture is coarse and pebbly, about eight to 10 1-second pulses. Alternatively this can be done using a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Add buttermilk to dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula until just incorporated. Dough should be very wet and slightly lumpy.

Pour dough into a buttered deep-dish pie plate or 2-qt casserole dish, spreading evenly over the bottom. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until baked through and golden brown.

Tomato Pie

2-3 pounds fresh tomatoes, sliced about ¼-inch thick

1 large, preferably sweet-variety onion, halved then sliced 1/8-inch thick

½ cup fresh basil torn by hand

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup mayonnaise

Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Any optional ingredients like goat cheese, mozzarella, sliced fennel, etc

Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees. On top of the baked biscuit crust, layer tomato, onion, basil, optional ingredients, seasoning each layer well with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl, combine shredded cheese, mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread cheese mixture over the pie ingredients. Place pie plate or casserole dish on a baking sheet to catch any spills while baking.

Bake approximately 45 minutes, testing doneness with a knife, tomatoes should be softened but with slight firmness remaining. Cool slightly before serving.

Eggs, Part I: Omelettes

2009-06-12T13:34:00.000-07:00

Eggs are tasty, inexpensive, easy, and are a good source of protein. When treated properly, they can make an excellent breakfast, lunch, appetizer, or dinner. Want to make eggs as well prepared as any restaurant kitchen? Follow these steps and with just a little bit of practice, you can do it. Give it a try for brunch this weekend!

Omelette

Start off with room temperature eggs as they scramble far better this way. I can’t usually think that far ahead, so I put my eggs in very warm (but not scalding water) for around five minutes to bring them up to temp. A standard omelet is three eggs. Crack warmed eggs into a small bowl and scramble well using a fork, not a whisk, again they scramble much better this way.

Heat a non-stick, 8” skillet to a medium heat. Add a few teaspoons of butter to the pan, heat until melted and foamy, covering pan with butter. Pour scrambled eggs into the pan. Using a rubber spatula stir eggs around in the pan, keeping them moving and scraping down the sides as needed. Once you get the hang of this, you can move the pan around with your other hand too to get more movement of the eggs.

Just as the eggs are starting to curd, give it one last scrape, then settle the eggs into an even layer and let them continue to cook without touching for about a minute. Carefully run the rubber spatula around the outside of the omelette to loosen it from the pan. If not quite set, give it another moment or two.

By now you have a nicely set egg on the bottom, and probably some runny egg on top. Using your spatula, try to get any runny egg either to the edge of the omelette or under the omelette so that it cooks. A proper omelette should be just a tiny bit custardy inside and almost a little bit crispy (but not browned) on the outside. Season with salt and pepper.

Here is the fun part: filling the omelette. You can pretty much use whatever you’ve got around the kitchen, cheese of course, leftover meats, mushrooms fresh or sautéed, chopped spinach, ham, onions, on and on.

Once you’ve filled the omelette, you can either fold it in half, or if you don’t have too much in it and feel frisky, you can first fold it in a single third like a letter, then as you’re sliding it onto the plate give it a little flip to finish of the three-fold omelette. Et voila!

Community Gardening

2009-05-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

Community gardening is a wonderful thing. You can grow yourself some veg, help out the environment, and hopefully make a few new friends all at the same time.

My good friend Emily recently called me up, and said, “Nathan, I want a plot at the local garden this year, but I need a partner to keep me motivated and help split the work. Are you interested?” Well, anything to do with food, of course I’m interested, so here we are, sharing a double-plot at the Curtis Park Community Garden in our neighborhood.

When I say you'll make a few friends, I mean that it’s inevitable that you’ll run into a other people at the garden during the season only to swap some friendly advice or just share in the camaraderie. Just on my first weekend alone I met Jeff, Aaron, and Meredith. Jeff was kind enough to tell me that Pacific Mercantile, a local Asian food store, had a number of seedlings on sale for $.89 each. Naturally I had to rush over to pick up a few jalapeño and Anaheim plants.

I should tell you that I don’t have a lot of gardening experience, so the opportunity to share the load with someone who does have experience is a great way to work through my first real gardening season. There are a load of online resources, but sharing the work with a friend is preferable, even if neither of you have a clue as to what’s going on.

Though we’re starting a little late in the season (planting three weeks ago might have been ideal), we’ll still yield hundred of dollars of produce, even with a few hundred invested in our elaborate set up (willow wigwams, bamboo fencing, etc). Dismiss our frivolities and Keep in mind that this can be simply done with just minimal start up costs.

Most if not all community gardens will charge a fee for your plot, usually based on the size. If you’re just starting out, you should ask for a starter plot just to get a feel for how this all works out. Most vegetables can be grown from seeds or seedlings, without much more investment. Things like peas, squash, tomatoes and such might need some specialty items like trellises to grow. Even given all that, you’re still spending far less for the late-summer early fall harvest than what you would probably spend at the grocery store.

Because we have a double-plot and can share the work, we’re growing a lot:

· Two different eggplant varieties
· Two peppers
· Two chilies
· Two different thyme varieties
· Three mint varieties
· Two basil varieties
· Marjoram
· Fennel
· Four lettuce varieties, with two more in a second planting (red leaf, green leaf, mixed Asian greens, bok choy, chard, kale, etc)
· Snap peas and English shelling peas
· Lemon and English cucumbers
· A variety of squash
· Carrots

Many of these plants will mature in about 60 days. If you happen to get a plot with healthy soil, your upfront costs really are relatively low. Even if you need to buy a few bags of compost, you’re still saving money in the long run.

For the most part you can follow the directions on the seed packets or on the sticks in the seedlings. It’s not too late. If you’re local garden or backyard still has space, consider grown a few items, easing yourself into the process. It’s easier than you think. Really!

I’ll continue to update you throughout our growing season, and in the meantime, good luck with your own crops!

Cheap Meats, Part I: Flank Steak

2009-05-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Alright, flank steak is one of my favorite beef cuts. This isn’t a steak that’s served the same as something like a rib eye or a New York strip. This steak is almost always served thinly sliced. It works well for sandwiches, burritos, served over polenta or rice, etc. It is, however, easy to prepare, and a single steak will serve 4-6 people. The last sale I saw on flank steak was about $1.99 per pound, with an average steak around 1 ½ to 2 pounds.

I always start by seasoning a flank steak with salt and pepper. Dry and wet rubs work well too. One favorite is several minced cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and a few squirts of lemon juice or a bit of lemon zest. Mix into a paste, rub over the steak. Marinate for up to one day in the refrigerator.

Another favorite is a dry rub of a few tablespoons of smoked paprika, a half teaspoon of cayenne, 2 teaspoons each salt and pepper.

Flank steak is also great with Asian flavors, try several minced cloves of garlic, a knob of minced or shredded ginger, a quarter cup of orange juice, and a few dashes of soy sauce. A tablespoon or so of lime juice works well in place of the orange juice.

Now that you’ve got a flank steak prepared, you can do this easily in a large skillet, a grill pan, or an outdoor grill. Heat any of these implements to a medium high temp. In any case, add a little vegetable oil to the skillet, or brush onto the grill pan or grill.

Add steak and wait. Don’t touch it. Give it about 6-8 minutes. The only exception here is if you want that pretty diamond pattern from the grill. About halfway through, you can pick up the steak, turn it 45 degrees, then leave it alone again.

After this 6-8 minutes, flip the steak, give it another 6-8 minutes on this side. I’m not going to go into too much detail here about checking doneness, but I will say that flank steak really is best served at medium rare (anything more is almost pointless). Remove steak from cooking surface to a cutting board. Tent with foil and don’t touch it for another five minutes. Seriously people, this step is critical to any meat cooking, from Thanksgiving turkey, to the humble flank steak. By letting the meat rest, the juices redistribute, offering up a more tender, juicy meal.

If you happen to be cooking this in a skillet, you can use whatever drippings or fond you might have in the pan to make small bit of sauce. I like to add a bit of butter or bacon fat to the pan, then deglaze with a little white wine or dry vermouth. Reduce until a slightly thickened, then drizzle over your meal.

After resting, thinly slice across the grain at a slight diagonal. A good sharp chef’s knife or carving knife works best.

Again, you can serve this many ways. Most seasoning blends work well on sandwiches with some caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, and wilted spinach. You can even do this same thing over a nice soft polenta.

If you go with Asian seasonings on the meat, try serving it over brown rice with some steamed bok choy and carrots, with a bit of soy sauce.

The more southwestern or Mexican sort of seasonings work inside a burrito with hot sauce or salsa, beans, rice, some lettuce, maybe some bell peppers if these happen to be on sale in the produce section.

Cheers!

Stocking Your Pantry

2009-04-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

Becoming a good cook relies on three important components: the knowledge, the equipment, and the ingredients.

Having several basic ingredients on hand is critical to help create impromptu meals, or to be prepared for planned meals. Many people find it expensive to cook a great meal because they must buy many ingredients, like vinegars and oils, which might otherwise be found in a well-stocked pantry.

There are some great ways to save money on pantry items such as buying from specialty stores in your area. I have a local spice shop where I can buy hundreds of dried herbs and spices in bulk ranging from an eighth of an ounce up to several pounds. This way I can buy a very small amount of something I don’t use often, like cardamom, or larger amounts of my favorites like cumin or thyme. I save a bundle this way instead of buying the herb and spice bottles from the grocery store.

Nearly everything has a limited shelf life so it’s important to think about how much of an ingredient you might use before time runs out. Most herbs, spices, and oils for example are best used within one year. I try to visit my entire pantry about every six months to replace old ingredients or to make note of items that I need to use quickly.

It goes without saying that your food is only as good as your ingredients. I always try to buy the best quality items that I can afford. A cheap olive oil doesn’t taste as good as a quality extra virgin does, but this doesn’t mean that you have to mortgage the ol’ homestead just to buy a bottle either. Do what feels most comfortable to you.

Another great way to save a little money on some ingredients is to buy whole spices and grind them yourself. You can pick up a mortar and pestle at many kitchen stores or spice shops. It really adds just a little time to grind things like pepper, cloves, or cardamom just before cooking with them. For most spices this not only greatly adds to their shelf life, but also yields a richer flavor from them. Whole nutmeg has an amazing flavor when it’s grated on a micro grater – give it a try next time!

I’m not suggesting that anyone run out to buy all these ingredients immediately to have on hand, but I find that it helps to refer to a list like this when thinking about the things that I like to keep in my pantry. Knowing the kind of food that you like to cook helps with building a pantry. A person who cooks primarily Italian dishes would have a very different pantry from someone who cooks Vietnamese dishes. I’ve included some basic ingredients, but then you’ll also find some pantry ideas for specific cuisines too. Try building your own list to help build your pantry and keep it organized!

Herbs and Spices

Kosher salt

Coarse sea salt

Fine sea salt

Specialty salts (grey, red algae, smoked, Murray River, etc.)

Black peppercorns

Green pepper corns

Pink peppercorns

Basil

Bay leaves

Cardamom

Cayenne

Ceylon Cinnamon

Chipotle, ground or whole

Coriander

Cumin

Curry powders (yellow, green, etc.)

Dill weed

Fennel seeds

Garam masala

Ginger, ground

Herbes de Provence blend

Marjoram

Mustard seed, yellow and brown

Nutmeg, whole

Oregano

Paprika (sweet, hot, smoked, etc.)

Red pepper flakes

Rosemary

Star anise

Tarragon

Thyme

Oils and Vinegars

Extra virgin olive oil

Canola oil

Cooking spray

White vinegar

Apple cider vinegar

White wine vinegar

Red wine vinegar

Rice vinegar

Other ingredients

Baking powder

Baking soda

Cane sugar

Brown sugar

Confectioner’s sugar

Cornstarch

Vanilla extract

(NOT imitation!)

Various fruit/nut extracts

Honey

Soy sauce

Worcestershire sauce

Hot sauce(s)

Dijon mustard

Yellow mustard

Pasta

Rice (white, brown,

arborio, etc.)

Oats (rolled, quick,

steel cut)

Canned beans

Canned tomatoes

Fruit preserves

Stocks (chicken,

beef, veg)

Onions (white, yellow,

red, shallot)

Garlic

Potatoes (russet,

Yukon Gold, red, purple)