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Saturday night and I'm tired so this will be short but we had a dinner party for 6 tonight and did it for ~$20. An easy way to have a fun party for a few peeps is a pizza party!
Get a few things together; a few familiar things and some not so much and make a big batch of dough. I doubled my normal batch and it turned out great. 6 each 10" pies and everyone could choose what they wanted and make their own. I rolled out the discs of dough and turned it over to the eater on the peel and tossed it in the oven for each.
Some of the ingredients tonight were sopressata, proscuitto, hot coppa, hot Italian sausage, chorizo, mozzarella, Point Reyes blue cheese, feta, walnuts, scallions, red bell peppers, prawns, bosc pears, fresh fennel, marinara, olive oil and so on and so forth.
Top this off with a 2006 Scherrer Old & Mature Vines Zinfandel and a 2005 Witness Tree Chainsaw Pinot Noir and Crater Lake orange cream soda and Hansen's natural root beer for the kids and it made for a pretty memorable evening.
BUT WAIT! That's not all...
Henry made what I truly believe is the best chocolate cake I've ever eaten. He worked on this thing for almost 5 hours and made it completely from scratch, filling and all. The cake was toothsome but still tender and was filled and iced with homemade from scratch chocolate pudding. This was a recipe from the good folks at America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country and is called the Chocolate Blackout Cake. 3 layers of cake and pudding all with a topping of crumbled cake. MMMMMMMMMM!
To finish the evening we tried our hand at recording a podcast of everyone's reactions to the food and the company and we'll get that posted soon on friend Scott's blog so look here for a link in the next few days.
Anyway, it was a tremendous evening of great friends, great food, great wine and now I'm spent...
Hasta
Earlier in the week I opened a lovely little bottle of full rich juice with the flavors of blackberry jam, dried cherries and even a little bit of strawberry with a bit more than a hint of vanilla.
While this may sound kind of light, this bottle packs a great fruit bomb with enough tannins to keep things interesting, a great balance of acid (don't be afraid of acid in vino, everything needs balance and without the acid there is no fruit). This was a great quaffer, it holds up well with food and is even delicious the 2nd day. This is where a lot of bargain wines really fall flat, the day after but this was absolutely lovely the next day. If you remember my post about cold wet evening gnocchi, this was what I was drinking during the cooking and along with the meal.
An absolute bargain at the $7.99 I paid, this is worthy of a price perhaps even 3 times as much. Get out and get yourself some of this good stuff
Hasta
When I started this project last January, I wrote about how I had often said I could feed Henry and I on $200 a month and some of my firends challenged me to do just that. The blogging part came about because I wanted to document not only the challenge but the actual exercize of feeding us both regardless of success of failure.
If any of you have been following since the beginning, first let me say thank you for sticking with me even through this past summer's hiatus. On top of that you have seen that I was able to meet the goal, was invited to share some of my learnings through a program showing people receiving the state food assistance that they can feed themselves naturally with fresh foods and not just packaged crap and you've also seen something something else - the fruits of the budget thinking. Even when I wasn't keeping track of every penny, I still kept an eye towards fresh and healthy but with a budget mindedness.
As I speak about the fruits of the budget thinking, I'm referring to our ability to buy a house this year. Anyone in the Puget Sound area knows that buying a house here is tough if for no other reason the homes here are just darned expensive. I was lucky; I wanted a small house, wanted to downsize our living space, our possesions and our lifestyle. What we got were smaller bedrooms, a single living space (no multiple living / family rooms), a single bath and a small kitchen. All of this is what I wanted even the smaller kitchen which surprises some people but it's true. We just don't need a lot of room and a lot of gadgets and along with the idea I was attempting to get across in an earlier post about not needing a microwave or a dishwasher, the idea of downsizing fits in well simplifying our life overall.
This is the 3rd house purchase I've been involved with and I knew that based on previous experience I truly dislike everything about the process; from the looking at potential homes to signing the final loan papers, I find the whole thing unpleasant at best. I was lucky however to engage the help of a friend for many years, Scott Cowan of Classic Homes Northwest. He listened to what I wanted, actually heard (this is very important) what I was saying and then was able to help discern what to start looking for in earnest after we had seen a few homes. Now it was still not an easy process, we probably looked at well over 50 houses and after a couple weeks I needed to take a break from looking, Scott listened and didn't push. When I was ready to resume shopping he was able to provide me with a number of possibilities and then in short order came up with the home we ended up purchasing. Scott helped make what had in the past been a bad experience into dare I say, a good time.
In the end, I think we both ended up learning a lot about each other's worlds; Scott loves to help people find and buy the homes of their dreams and I love cooking natural fresh foods for my family on a budget. Scott seems to be truly surprised each time I'm able to come up with some terrific food for not a lot of money and after both spending time with Scott as well as recommending him to friends and hearing how he works with these people, that he can find just about anything anyone wants for a house within their own budget in this area.
What I think I've taken a lot of words to say is it's not just about the budget food for us but the frugal lifestyle and being able to afford the things we need and want. Frugal being a far different thing than cheap though allows us to live well at the same time.
Overall, I believe living a simpler lifestyle and watching how we spend the dollars we do have will eventually allow us to live a full and incredibly full life including travel, the arts and entertainment and fun.
Anyone have any other ideas for living the good life on a working man's salary? I'd sure like to hear them so comment here or join up on Facebook and we'll continue to share the wealth. You can also follow along here with Scott as he continues to help people find the homes of their dreams.
Hasta
Tonight we discuss Junk Food and before I get too far into this I must say I truly believe one person's Junk Food is another's nirvana or maybe Junk Food is your nirvana? Perhaps nirvana is your Junk Food...? Uh oh there it goes again, my head is starting to fold in on itself.
Anyway...
My most junkie food indulgence is Coca Cola. There, I said it and I'm out of the closet about it. I love ice cream, especially good ice cream (Molly Moon's comes to mind and if you live in the Seattle area and you haven't visited yet, it is a must stop; balsamic strawberry anyone? Salted caramel?), doughnuts are another big one (again, in the Seattle area we are blessed with some fine doughnut-eries; Top Pot is a fave, and Mighty O for a vegan organic choice plus newcomer Frost with their now famous bacon maple bars but my favorites are the Aztec chocolate). Perhaps you consider fried chicken as junk food and a crispy hot juicy chin drip at a local soul food joint comes to mind with mashed potatoes and mac & cheese. Burgers and dogs tend to be up ther in the pantheon of what many consider to fit in the Junk Food category too. Dare I forget pizza? Noooooo...
The point is, many peeps consider different things to be Junk Food. Now I KNOW Coca Cola is Junk Food; filled with engineered extra sweet corn syrup and although I'm sure the original recipe was based on herbs and spices along with real cane sugar, we still all know that if you drop a steel nail in a bottle of the stuff it'll be gone by morning.
The other night the Younger Hunger and I were running late and we were both a bit on the non-commital side of choosing what to have for dinner; perhaps something to grab on the way home? Order a pizza? Mexican, Italian, sandwiches...? Well we opted for a bucket of the Colonel's finest and in retrospect it was not our finest hour but it was a relative bargain; 12 piece bucket w/ 6 biscuits, 2 large mashed potatoes (these must be instant eh? I haven/t eaten these for so long I just can't tell), gravy, 1 large cole slaw (this I do like even if you do tell me the dressing is filled with chemicals) and a chocolate chocolate chip bundt cake for $19.99. A bargain!
Let's break this down a bit though...
- The cake was indeed something that was baked more than halfway across the country from us and certainly shipped to us here on the left coast frozen.
- The gravy is more than likely some sort of powdered form earlier in the day mixed with water.
- I do suspect the taters are instant.
- And the grease...what a mess to eat!
So we went for the extra crispy because for some reason I remembered it being less greasy but although the flavor was that of my youth, it just didn't get me too excited and even drenched in the recent household favorite Frank's RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce I was still disappointed I spent my dollars and my Junk Food conscience on this. But hey! I suppose it is something to which most of us succumb from time to time yes? Please tell me you do too!?!? Pretty please?!?!
Another point to bring up about what many of us consider to be Junk Food is that a lot of it is not necessarily Junk Food. Take pizza or burgers; considering the addage "all things in moderation", if you have a burger with whole grain roll, a bit of cheese, load it with tomatoes, lettuce and onions and use relatively lean beef cooked on the 'que so the grease drains - you end up with what our Mums all told us for so many years is a balanced meal. Don't add the milkshake, fries, beer or soda and it stays pretty good for you. Pizza is the same thing; whole grain crust, not too much cheese and a bit of charcuterie and loaded with shrooms, onions and peppers - POOF! another balanced meal but again forget the addition of soda, garlic bread (on white flour bread!), beer, etc.
Although I mentioned not adding the beer, I have to take a moment and state that beer and wine are food and have quite a lot of nutritional value but again that is in the "all things in moderation" camp. It's good for you "to a point" so a beer or two, that glass & a half of vino with dinner - all good so that way it doesn't fit the Junk Food discussion but I ask you...who among you ALWAYS stops and the one or two? I myself try but many time I am weak and I fail, especially if the occasion is social and I don't have to drive.
Now I'm not sure we can use the same rationalization on doughnuts cuz I just don't think there is a lot we can do with fried sugary dough to healthify them but hey, we gotta have some food sins right?
Anyone for a doughnut ala mode with a Coke?
Hasta
Well, tonight it made me ravenous and I fell back on one of my tried and true convenience foods tonight; gnocchi. I keep a couple pounds in the pantry all the time; inexpensive and quicker cooking than pasta, I like it better and even the lad has come to think it is a must keep around item of late.
While I know some people feel they have no need to keep convenience food around the house (my Mum is one of these peeps, I think she feels this way cuz she's retired and has time on her hands) and others live almost exclusively on convenience food (anyone out there have a friend that lives on Lean Cuisine?). At Casa Hunger things have changed since we gave up the microwave. No longer able to heat leftovers in 2 or 3 minutes without dirtying any pans, I now try and keep my leftovers to about 1 or 2 portions that I can package up for lunch. So even leftovers are not really convenience foods for us anymore unless I can reheat in a boil-in-bag scenario or a quick heat in the saute pan.
Anyway, along with the cold weather and wanting to make a quick healthy dinner with a leftover portion for lunch later in the week I've been told I'm not providing enough amusing fodder for some readers. I was actually told by a friend (Jason Hansen) who will not be named that for some reason I'm "writing about food and stuff" and not writing enough "funny stories" along with. Huh?
No sure what to tell you (Jason Hansen), but tonight is about gnocchi and I'm just not sure what to find amusing about it other than I had to keep myself from eating the entire pan of hearty, cheesy, vegetable-y, potato dumpling-y goodness. Oh, I wasn't going to name you (Jason Hansen) was I?
This was actually so convenient I was able to carry on a phone conversation while prepping and was very nearly done when I got off the phone with friend Scott. He called just after I set the pot on to boil and had begun to chop the broccoli.
So here it is, convenience food for a cold rainy Puget Sound evening. On the table in about 20 minutes start to finish...
Cold, Wet Evening Veggie Gnocchi
- 1 Lb Potato gnocchi; I buy this at Trader Joe's for $1.99, most grocers sell the same for about $4
- 8 oz Fresh broccoli crowns, cut into bite sized pieces
- 8 oz Fresh mushrooms sliced; any will do but tonight I used button
- 4 oz Fresh red bell pepper, 1/4" dice
- 2 Tbl Butter
- 1 Tbl Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Clove Fresh Garlic, minced
- 1/4 Cup Dry white wine
- 2 oz Fresh grated hard cheese; I used Asiago because I had it but Parmesan, dry jack, etc will all work for this so use what you like or what you have
- Pinch Crushed red pepper
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
- Bring water for gnocchi to a boil
- Steam broccoli over the water for about 2 minutes
- Melt butter with olive oil, crushed red pepper and garlic in a large saute pan over medium high heat and when sizzling, add the mushrooms and saute
- Add the gnocchi to the boiling water and stir
- Add the wine to the mushrooms and reduce by half
- Add the broccoli and red bell pepper to the saute pan and heat through
- Remove the gnocchi from the cooking water and reserve about 1/2 cup of cooking liquid
- Add the gnocchi to the saute pan with the veg and stir to coat; if necessary add some of the cooking liquid to make this a little saucy (I like SAUCY!)
- Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the grated cheese and stir all together until the cheese melts into the liquid
- Finish with fresh ground pepper to taste and serve
I had this with a 2007 Tertius Tempranillo from Spain and it was a lovely pairing but that's another post. Stay tuned for that (Jason Hansen)...
Hasta
One of the problems with inexpensive wine is a lack of extraction. Most bargains in fermented grape juice tend to be from fruit that does not show the concentration that many of us have come to know from the specific varietal and end up well, kinda thin.
Not so with the 2008 syrah from Abbey Page in McMinnville, OR. The fruit is from the Columbia Valley appellation of Washington state and this wine has many of the fine characteristics anyone who has come to love the Washington syrahs knows. Big and juicy with enough tannin to keep things interesting without leaving a feeling like you need to comb your teeth. Deep red, nearly a brutal purple color in the glass and the nose is full with scents of blackberry and grape jelly without the sweet.
Although a fine quaffer, this one is tremendous with food as well; from spicy sausage pizza to last evening's lighter fare of Midnight Moon from Cypress Grove Chevre with apples and baguette, this wine will keep you happy and won't break the bank.
Not sure? Well, you can check out some more as this one has also been getting some other press and for $8.99 get out and get yourself some! I got mine at Esquin Wine Merchants.
Hasta
With our local MLS football club in the semifinals, we began the day with preparations for buffalo wings and a few hours in front of the tube in my comfy chair. While this is the inaugural season for our Sounders FC and we are avid fans in Casa Hunger, the main event was of course, the wings.
While there are many recipes for chicken wings I prefer to follow (at least loosely) the original made famous by the Anchor Bar in Buffalo NY. Some wings are breaded, some battered, some with a Mexican flavor profile in the heat and some just for the heat. I myself prefer the flavor to be based on the combination of Frank's RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce and butter although with this sauce as the standard we do believe some experimentation may be in order depending on the mood but the basic cooking method will be limited to one of two acceptable; deep frying or steaming then convection roasting (this 2nd method is new and what I'll be writing about today with a nod to Alton Brown).
IMHO, there is no room for breading or battering of buffalo wings. The wing must be unadulterated and the key is crispy skin. THE WINGS MUST BE CRISP ON THE OUTSIDE AND MOIST ON THE INSIDE! Not that I have much of an opinion in the matter :)
Oven Roasted Buffalo Chicken Wings
- 3 Lb Chicken wings (about 1 1/2 Lb per person) trimmed of tips and cut into drummette and wing sections
- 2 oz Butter
- 4 oz Frank's RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce
- 1 Clove Garlic, fresh smashed
- Steam the wings for 10 minutes
- Remove to an oiled rack over a foil covered sheet pan and let dry while the oven preheats
- Heat oven to 450F
- Roast the wings for 20 minutes (we have a convection oven so this helps crisp the wings, adjust the time accordingly)
- Flip the wings and return to the oven for another 20 minutes until crisp all over and golden brown
- While the wings roast, melt the butter in a small saucepan with the Frank's and the smashed garlic clove and bring to a simmer
- Once the sauce reaches the simmer point, remove from heat and remove the garlic (this is a treat for the cook so don't share)
- Remove the roasted wings from the rack to a metal bowl and toss with the sauce
- Serve traditionally with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing
Not with this meal but Henry has recently updated his statement "bacon and BBQ sauce make everything better" to "bacon, BBQ sauce and Frank's make everything better". I couldn't be prouder...
Hasta
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