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RECIPES
Start the new year tight
Enough of this wild and crazy spending! Now when the holiday bills are rolling in is a good time to tighten the moneybags and maybe even eat a little less, or less richly for a bit. Some ideas to ease the pain of fancy food withdrawal are in order here.
We recently visited one of my dearest of dear friends, Carol Jean Christian. C.J. is a retired single person, living in New Hampshire. She had a wonderful career with the United Nations, doing the entire world a lot of good. Unfortunately, like many retirees on a single income, there is a constant struggle to make ends meet.
C.J. has always been an absolutely wonderful cook, who can make a nickel's worth of food out of penny spent and turn a quarter spent in the kitchen into a dollar served at the table. She works this magic in her kitchen--one of the few places where household saving can be done.
Here are some of her delicious recipes, which I have collected over our years of recipe sharing. As in all other things, C.J. is most generous with the treasures in her recipe file.
Make-your-own curry powder with pizzaz:
Home blended curry powder is much better than store bought and much less expensive, though you do need a well-stocked seasonings collection to begin with. C.J. says, "This can be made in a blender but it is worth the effort to use mortar and pestle." This is absolutely wonderful with chicken, lamb, or shrimp, also great in egg salad, scrambled eggs, soups, vegetables and curries (of course).
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon Fenugreek seeds
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
8 whole black peppercorns
8 tiny dried hot peppers
Grind combined ingredients with blender or mortar and pestle until you have a fine powder. Store in tightly covered container. Makes about 2/3 cup.
Mashed potato salad
Not only is this a great way to use leftover mashed potatoes but it is worth making mashed potatoes especially for this delicious dish. Enjoy on a lettuce leaf. Serve it for breakfast, for lunch perhaps sprinkled with crumbles of bacon or any bits of ham, pork, beef or fish that you find loafing around. Try this; you'll like it!
2 cups mashed potatoes, made with butter or cream
3 hard-cooked eggs, coarsely chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced in rounds, stems and all
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Dash of vinegar, to taste
Pinch of dry mustard
Salt and pepper
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Make-Your-Own chili powder (recipe above), optional
Paprika
Whip all together and chill. Serve portions on salad greens; sprinkle each with hot paprika and/or chopped parsley or chives. Makes 3 to 4 servings.
Slightly Asian hamburgers
Very good served with spinach, creamed or freshly cooked and sprinkled with lemon or vinegar. Rice is nice, too. Throw together a green salad dressed with seasoned rice wine vinegar. Good meal.
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 cup minced water chestnuts
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
Dash of soy sauce
Toasted sesame seeds, optional
Combine ingredients with hands and shape into 4 patties. Broil, grill or sauté.
Nutty oven-fried chicken
This chicken is good hot or cold which makes it a great bird to take on a picnic, a train, or an airplane. You get six to eight gourmet servings from one bird. That is something worth crowing about.
1 frying chicken, cut for frying, or use thighs or drum sticks or breasts
1/4 cup water
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs*
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400 F. Moisten the chicken pieces with water and shake off the excess. Combine remaining ingredients in a plastic bag and shake to combine. Toss a few pieces of chicken at a time with the breadcrumb mixture and arrange skin-side up on an ungreased, shallow baking pan. Cook until chicken is cooked through and coating is crisp. Makes 6 servings.
*You can save money by making your own Italian bread crumbs by crushing dried bread and combining the crumbs with Italian seasoning or with oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.
Chick peas and pasta
Believe it or not, this low-cost, delicious dish is a complete protein food. If you don't have time to soak the garbanzos, buy them canned and ready to use.
1 cup garbanzos (also known as chick peas)
1 cup pasta (spaghetti broken into 1-inch lengths)
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
If not using canned garbanzos (chick-peas), cover the dried beans with water and soak overnight. Drain and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil; skim, add l/2 teaspoon salt, cover and cook over medium heat about l hour, until chick-peas are tender. Drain. Cook pasta in boiling, salted water about 8 minutes, until just tender to the bite but with no taste of raw starch; drain and add to the cooked garbanzos. Heat olive oil, sauté garlic for a few seconds and remove from heat. Stir in parsley and pour into peas and pasta. Add cheese and toss well. Serve hot. Makes 4 servings.
Good taste and good nutrition don't have to cost a lot of money.
PAST RECIPES
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