Stitches and SNPs

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Real Value Meal

Today, Slow Foods USA is sponsoring a $5 challenge to prove that real, wholesome food can be as inexpensive as fast food. As you might have guessed by the volume of food-related posts, we eat at home a lot. I'm by no means saying that we don't eat out, or even at fast food restaurants, but cooking my own food is better, healthier, AND cheaper than the vast majority of fast food. It really bugs me when I spend a lot of money for food that I could make better. So here are a few of the things we ate for dinner this week with the per serving cost and calories.

Pinto Beans and Cornbread
I actually made these a few weeks ago when I had about 20 leftover roasted hatch chiles which I added into the crock pot. A pound of dried pinto beans costs 89 cents and makes 6 very large bowls of yummy beans which can be frozen for later.

Calories: 490
Cost per serving: $2.00

Falafel w/ Tzatziki and Greek Salad
We're big fans of falafel around here. I usually use canned chickpeas, which requires a bit more flour to get the consistency right.

Calories: 600
Cost per serving: $3.50

Zucchini Carbonara
I love carbonara, but it isn't exactly a healthy dish. The roasted zucchini is a delicious, nutritious, and inexpensive addition. I've been making it all summer with double the zucchini.

Calories: 500
Cost per serving: $2.75

Veggie Chili w/ Baked Chips, Light Sour Cream, Cheddar Cheese
We make this frequently in the winter, but since football season has started, I figure chili pies are seasonally appropriate. This recipe makes a LOT of chili, but it freezes well.

Calories: 600
Cost per serving: $3.75

Italian-Style Jucy Lucy, Caesar Salad
You guys, these are so good! The onion and Worcestershire keep the turkey burger plenty moist and having the cheese on the inside means it is still nice and gooey (it does that fun string from your food to your mouth thing like in a pizza ad). I can imagine all sorts of variations on this. The classic beef burger with cheddar, bison and blue cheese, lamb with feta...mix and match to your heart's content.

Calories: 500
Cost per serving: $3.50

Seves 4

1/3 cup grated onion

1 lb. ground turkey
1 tsbp. of Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. dried basil

2 tsp. dried oregano
pinch of red pepper flakes, optional

6 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced into 4 pieces

1 red bell pepper

4 rolls
pesto

1. Roast the bell pepper over an open flame or under the broiler. Place in a closed container until cool, then peel.
2. Combine onion, turkey, Worcestershire sauce, dried herbs, and red pepper flakes. Divide into 8 balls.
3. Press each patty so it is slightly larger than mozzarella round on a piece of plastic wrap.
4. Layer 1/4 of the roasted pepper and a slice of mozzarella on four of the patties.
5. Cover with a second patty and press to seal.
6. Grill over medium heat for about 5 minutes per side. Allow to cool a few minutes so the cheese inside isn't still molten!
7. Toast buns and smear on a light layer of pesto. Add the burgers and devour.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Foto Friday {23}

Saturday September 10: Dinner (w/ whisky)

Sunday September 11: Homemade Bagels

Monday September 12: Peach Butter

Tuesday September 13: My office

Wednesday September 14: Project Statuses

Thursday September 15: Knit Mustache

Friday September 16: Fall's Coming!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Feeding Friendship: Pizza Bianca with Balsamic Caramelized Onions

This is the second recipe that I made with balsamic vinegar. The first was a fig frozen yogurt with a balsamic vinegar syrup based on a method and a combo of frozen yogurt and fig ice cream recipes from David Lebovitz. It was deemed a little too unusual for a Labor Day dinner, but it did lead to some interesting commentary:

"It's like a bad joke, not because it doesn't taste good, but because no one get's it."

"I feel like it should have a monocle and a top hat."

"It's like the ice cream is looking down on me...it doesn't care if I like it or not."

...and my favorite...

"It tastes.......picaresque."

So not wanting to present you with a condescending dish, I bring you my take on Il Vicino's Pizza Bianca. The reviews on this one? "Holy crap, this is good." It's no Mr. Peanut, but I'll take it.

I've played a bit with the ratios and added balsamic to enhance the sweetness of the caramelized onions. The sweetness is balanced out by the spicy cappacola, the earthy mushrooms, fragrant rosemary, and the funk of the gorgonzola. This would be fantastic with the slight fruitiness of fig balsamic vinegar. The temperature has been dropping here in south Texas, but it is still in the 90s and I didn't want to heat up my kitchen. So I cooked these pizzas on the grill. The intense heat makes great crust.

I generally prefer to make my own pizza dough because I think that the flavor is better. It is extremely simple to make, particularly if you have a mixer with a dough hook, but you do have to plan ahead about 2 hours. Alternately, you can make it the night before, put it in the fridge and then pull out the dough 1-2 hours before you are ready to cook. A final note on balsamic vinegar - I frequently toss it with vegetables that I am roasting. You use less oil and the flavor is great.

Pizza Bianca
Makes: 4 8" pizzas

Dough:

2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. instant yeast
3 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 c. warm water
1 tbs. honey

Toppings:
10 crimini mushrooms, sliced thinly
6 slices spicy capicola, cut into strips
2 yellow onions
1 tbsp. oil
3 tbsp. basalmic vinegar, fig if available
2 tsp. finely minced rosemary
1 tsp. crushed fennel seeds, optional
1 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
6 oz. gorgonzola
8 oz fresh mozzarella, shredded

1. To make the dough: Stir honey into the warm water and sprinkle yeast over water. Wait about 5 minutes until the yeast foams.
2. Combine flour and salt in the bowl of the mixer and stir to combine. With the dough hook on low speed, stir in the oil. Slowly stream in the water. Once fully combined, up the speed slightly and knead 6 minutes.
3. The dough should form a ball. If it doesn't, add another 1-2 tbsp. of flour. If the dough is dry and extra flour remains at the bottom of the bowl, sprinkle in a few drops of water.
4. Remove dough hook and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit 2-3 hours at room temperature or until approximately doubled in size.
5. Thinly slice the yellow onion and cook over medium heat in 1 tbsp. oil with the rosemary, fennel, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. When the onions are light brown, add the balsamic vinegar (be careful, it will let off a puff of acrid steam). Continue cooking until the onions are dark brown and all the vinegar has reduced completely.
6. Heat grill on high for about 10 minutes, then turn down to medium-high.
7. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll out to approximately 1/4 inch thick rounds. Lightly oil one side of the crust.
8. Prepare all of the toppings before starting to grill. These go fast once you start. I like to render some of the fat out of the capicola in a hot skillet before using.
9. Place two crusts, oiled side down, on the grill and close. Check the dough after 1 minutes to make sure it isn't starting to burn, cook 1 minute more.
10. Remove the crust and brush the top with olive oil, flip.
11. Spread 1/4 of the caramelized onions on each pizza and top with 1/4 of each of the remaining ingredients.
12. Turn the grill down as far as it will go and return the pizzas to the grill for 3-5 more minutes.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Bronx-Style Bagels

I can't attest to the Bronx-ness of the bagels myself, but I certainly think that these have a delicous chewy outside and soft inside that makes for a great bagel. I didn't have high-gluten bread flour (just regular bread flour) and this made them slightly less chewy than they could have been. I also totally forgot about trying to find the malt syrup called for in the Smitten Kitchen Recipe.

The bagels are pretty easy to make and shaping them was simpler than I was expecting. The dough is quite stiff, much more so than a bread loaf so I ended up kneading by hand for the last several minutes because my mixer was really straining. The biggest challenge with this recipe is that you have to plan ahead. One to two days before you want bagels, the sponge takes about 2 hours to rise, then the dough is made, allowed to rise, transformed to bagel shapes, and proofed before being refrigerated overnight. So don't start these at 10pm is what I am saying (I was up until 2am). The next day, however, they are quick and easy to finish, just what I like in a breakfast recipe.

I haven't found a good bagel place in San Antonio, yet, so I think I will try these again with the malt syrup to see if I can get a crispier crust. Does it seem like bagel shops are less popular than they used to be? I still love bagels - so much so that I had one for breakfast. And another for lunch. Having these for breakfast all week almost makes me want to go to work!