Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on August 26, 2011

FOOD. GLORIOUS FOOD.

End of a long work week… but, happily, it’s finally Friday.

Time to unwind and kick back for a few minutes, time to savor and enjoy these fabulous food photos.

When they are available, recipes and recipe links will accompany select “Fab Food Friday Fotos,” with a guarantee that at least one easy, frugal-minded recipe will always be included.

 

For photographer Charles Haynes’ review of this odd pear, chocolate, celery sorbet dessert and other dishes he sampled at the trendy restaurant Oscillate Wildly, visit his blog Edgeplay.

 

This easy-to-make, healthy vegan Enchilada Casserole should be a tasty hit with kids of all ages — photographer/cook geeky girl dawn also has the recipe posted on What Dawn Eats — Vegan Food That Isn’t Weird. She wrote:

All the great enchilada flavor, but without the work required to roll everything into little enchiladas. This recipe calls for 2 cups baked or grilled vegetables, so I usually plan to have this the day after one of those other meals as a creative way to use the leftovers without feeling like I’m eating leftovers!

Makes 6 servings.

Casserole Ingredients

* 1 14-ounce can rinsed and drained hominy
* 1 14-ounce can rinsed and drained pinto beans
* 1 14-ounce can enchilada sauce
* 2 cups chopped Baked Vegetables or Grilled Vegetables
* 1 chopped yellow bell pepper
* 1/2 cup minced onions
* 3 cloves minced garlic
* 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (divided)
* 1 recipe Mexican Marinated Tofu

Topping Ingredients

* tortilla chips
* avocado slices
* vegan sour cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the tofu into 1-inch squares.

Lightly oil a large casserole dish. Spread a couple of spoonfuls of enchilada sauce across the bottom of the dish. Add remaining casserole ingredients, except for half of the cilantro, and stir to combine. Bake uncovered in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cilantro over the top.

Serve in a bowl with tortilla chips, avocado slices, and vegan sour cream.

Variations

Add a couple layers of corn tortillas, which makes it kind of like an enchilada lasagna.

Serve with corn tortillas and use the enchilada casserole as filling to wrap like burritos.

Top with vegan cheese before baking.

Add fresh or sun-dried tomatoes.

Experiment with other kinds of beans or vegetables.

 

 

Photographer/cook flit wrote this about the jarred pickled peppers:

Pickled Peppers

We got some ripe shisito peppers at the farmers market and decided to try pickling them; we used the last recipe on this page, substituting a Tbsp of whole coriander seed for the rosemary and adding a Tbsp of black peppercorns.

They came out wonderfully and I’ve been hoarding the remaining half-jar.

 

 

Photographer/cook cookipediachef has provided the link to the recipe site for Beef Wellington, which includes step-by-step instructional photographs, including those showing how to make duxelles (a finely chopped mixture of mushrooms, onions or shallots and herbs, sautéed in butter, and reduced to a paste), and also wrote this info:

Beef Wellington is a great Christmas alternative to turkey. It was Winston Churchill’s favourite dish (he knew what he liked!)

Use a good beef fillet (preferably Aberdeen Angus), tell your butcher what you are going to use it for and get them to remove the chain muscle and the silverskin sinews and gristle from the outside of the fillet.

 

 

Photographer/chef stikyii provided the recipe and link for Bacon & Jerusalem Artichoke Salad:

Bacon and Jerusalem Artichoke Salad

Ingredients:
* Jerusalem artichokes
* Bacon
* Butter
* Olive oil
* Salt & pepper
* Arugula
* Balsamic type make-it-yourself dressing

Originally from: The Naked Chef Takes Off.

 

Photographer Geoff Peters describes the main ingredients of the noodle bowl:

Yangtze River Noodle Bowl — chicken, bok choy, Shiitake mushroom, bell peppers, fresh red chili, and bean sprouts in a mildly spicy oyster sauce broth.

 

 

Photographer/cook ilovemypit described the vegan cookie cups (but sadly, didn’t include the recipe):

These are actually from an awesome vegan lace cookie recipe my mom and I created. Not quite the same as the cream and butter filled Scandinavian version, but still good.

 

 

Cost-slashing dinner that combines fish with pineapple, black beans, and rice, Costa Rican-style — I can’t wait to make this for the family.

Photographer/cook sweet mustache provided the recipe:

Baked Costa Rican-Style Fish with Pineapple, Black Beans, & Rice

Original recipe from the Food Network, courtesy of Ingrid Hoffmann.

* 2 lbs of fish fillets (pollack, tilapia, etc.)
* 1 cup long grain white rice
* 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 1 lime, juiced
* 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 tsp sugar
* Salt and pepper to taste
* 2 cups salsa
* 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
* 1 cup diced pineapple
* Sliced limes

Cook the rice with the chicken broth in the method like.

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.

Meanwhile, mix together the orange juice, lime juice, cilantro, garlic and sugar in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Rinse the fish and pat dry. Add the fish to the marinade. Let the fish marinate at least twenty minutes.

When the rice is done, place in a 3-quart baking dish and mix in the salsa, black beans, and pineapple.

Place the fish on top and slice some limes to place on top of the fish. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Add some more cilantro for garnish.

This was very, very good. I used Pace Chunky Salsa of medium spiciness.

Used white rice this time around, but would be just as good with brown rice.

 

 

 

 

Photos and easy how-to instructions on making this cheap, delectable beef, barley, and onion soup are provided by photographer/cook jeffreyww at Whats 4 Dinner Solutions.

 

 

 

I’ve never added cooking sherry to a tomato soup — sounds divine. Here’s photographer/cook Suzy Duke’s recipe:

Sherried Tomato Soup Recipe

My first attempt at making soup from scratch! It was surprisingly easy, and turned out yummy. We served it with crispy fried quesadillas. Mmmm, delish!

Sherried Tomato Soup

* 6 tablespoons melted butter
* 1 medium onion, diced
* 1 46-ounce bottle or can tomato juice
* 2 14-ounce cans diced tomatoes
* 2 tablespoons chicken base
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* Salt and black pepper to taste
* 1 cup cooking sherry
* 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
* Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
* Chopped fresh basil (optional)

Sauté diced onions in butter until translucent. Add canned tomatoes. Add tomato juice, sugar, salt, and black pepper and stir. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat.

Add sherry and cream, and stir. Add parsley and basil to taste, adjust other seasonings, and serve with crusty warm bread.

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks!

 

 

 

 

Photographer/cook lakenvelder provided the recipe for this flavorful Asian chicken dish:

Five-Spice Chicken (Wu Hsiang Chi)

“Wu hsiang” means five spices. You can buy a version at Asian groceries and large supermarkets in the US. You can also use the spices in the recipe below.

* 2-1/2 pound chicken, cut up
* 1/3 cup soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 small onion chopped
* 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Spice mixture or about 1-1/2 teaspoon Five Spice seasoning:

* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed anise seed
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Place chicken in shallow glass or plastic dish. Mix remaining ingredients; pour over chicken. Cover and refrigerate, spooning marinade over chicken occasionally, at least 1 hour.

Remove chicken from marinate reserve marinade. Place chicken in ungreased oblong baking dish. Brush marinade on chicken. Cook uncovered in 350 deg F oven, brushing once or twice with marinade, until thickest pieces of chicken are done, about 1 hour.

Serves 4-6.

 

 

 

If you’re looking for authentic, inexpensive, and easy Burmese or Chinese recipes to make, BestOodles.com is a great food blog to start your search.

The Salty Five Spices Fried Chicken Strips, Chicken Noodle Soup (Burmese Style), and Stir Fry Vermicelli and Dried Clams recipes are calling my name…

Here’s BestOodles’ super-easy recipe for fresh Orange Ginger Turmeric Juice:

…This is also the time to use any oranges in your yard and on your neighbor’s trees. You could also use the leftover pulp to make compose. Easy to make, just put into the juicer and voila! Fresh orange ginger turmeric juice. Good for your sore throat, good for the earth and compost in your yard; not a lot energy and hey, it’s even cheap since the oranges came from your yard. How do you like that!

Fresh Orange Ginger Turmeric Juice Recipe

* 4 ginger stick, peeled skin
* 20 oranges, peeled skin
* 4 turmeric sticks, peeled skin

Juice them in juice machine and enjoy!

Make about 4 glasses.

 

 

Check out Viet World Kitchen for the recipe for these Chinese Peanut Cookies.

Are they any good? Yeppers. As photographer/cook/webmistress Andrea Nguyen noted, “You may be familiar with these Chinese peanut cookies as a Lunar New Year sweet. Hua sheng bing are often sold in tall plastic containers at the markets. I assure you that homemade ones taste far better.” After making them, Andrea also proclaimed, “Wow. They were full of peanut goodness.”

 

 

 

Slow-cookery comfort foods are among my faves… this hearty Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks and Navy Beans dish is also posted on the terrific food blog OmNomNominal. Pop on over to the blog for additional fab recipes, like Black Bean and Pork Chili, Seared Tuna with Greens and Ginger Dressing and Quick and Easy Cannellini Beans with Cheese. I’m also toying with making the Garlic Scape Pesto recipe.

Recipe for Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks and Navy Beans:

The slow cooker is my new favorite thing. We prepped and started this last night, went out, came back, slept and woke to this savory, meaty richness. We used this recipe as a jumping-off point. Our version (below) completely filled the cooker (thankfully, I decided to buy only two shanks at the last minute!) and produced at least four cups of spare liquid/fat. Now that we have a solid base recipe, next time, we may try a bit less liquid, more seasoning (it’s too rich and savory to be bland, but could perhaps use a bit of zing), some herbs and perhaps more vegetables.

* 1 lb. navy beans, rinsed and picked over
* 2 lamb shanks (about 4 lbs.), cut in thirds
* 1-2 tbsp. olive oil (will probably omit this next time – there’s more than enough fat in the finished product)
* 1 huge carrot (about 1 lb.), roughly chopped (will add more next time)
* 4 large portobello mushrooms, roughly chopped
* 1 medium onion (about 1 cup), chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, crushed
* 1 bay leaf
* 6 cups liquid (hot water or stock)
* Salt and pepper to taste

Soak the beans. We forgot to soak them overnight, so we followed the quick soak method on the bag:

Boil for two minutes – remove from heat.

Cover and let stand for an hour rinse.

Boil the beans (in new water) for a half-hour. We may skip this step next time and just adjust slow cooking time accordingly.

Drain the beans and place them in the slow cooker. Add all the other ingredients, then season (we started with about a tsp. of freshly ground black pepper and a tbsp. of salt). Cook on high for an hour (we had to leave, so it was more like half an hour), turn the slow cooker to low, and let cook for 8-10 hours (more like 12 in our case, because we slept in).

Adjust seasoning and enjoy!

 

 

Photographer/cook seelensturm provided the link to the recipe for these heavenly cappuccino cupcakes.

 

Photographer/cook jimmiehomeschoolmom provided the recipe link:

One of my recipes for dealing with a bushel of summer peaches.

 

 

 

 

 

There were no measurements or quantities included in photographer/cook foodjungle’s recipe, so you’ll have to eyeball it. I’d use caution with the amount of chili flakes you initially add, tasting it toward the end and adding more, if necessary:

Chili Shrimp Pasta

* Spaghetti
* Defrosted, MSC certified shrimps
* Chili flakes
* Flat leave parsley
* Olive oil, extra virgin
* Zest and juice of an organic lemon

Cook pasta according to package instructions in plenty of salted water.

Chop the parsley and mix with the zest and juice of the lemon in a pan. Heat the olive oil and fry the shrimps and chili flakes until the shrimps turn pink, then stir in the parsley/lemon mix. Add 2-4 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water.

Drain the pasta, add to the shrimps, and toss well together.

Drizzle with olive oil before serving.

 

Oh, my, these Blueberry Crumb Bars look fabulous! Photographer/cook peppergrasss’s recipe, with lots of instructional photographs, is available on the SmittenKitchen food blog.

 

 

For this recipe for Vegan Lemonade Ice Cream (soy milk is used), visit The Blooming Platter food blog.

The posted recipe will make 1 quart.

 

 

 

Gorgeous instructional photos and the recipe for these mouth-watering Shrimp & Fish Fajita Tacos are posted at Foodwhirl.

 

 

 

Food photos selected and posted are credited and have Creative Commons-licensed content with some rights reserved for noncommercial purposes, unless otherwise noted.

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Past three months of Fab Food Friday Fotos posts:

English Hanami Picnic, Creamy Hamburger Bulgur Casserole, Cantaloupe-Blueberry Mint Salad, Indian Egg Curry, Swiss Bettinas, Chicken Pot Pie Soup, Homemade Egg McMuffin, Recipes, & More

Iron Skillet Pizza, Spicy 15-Bean Soup, Disney-Inspired Bento, Burns Supper, Ginger Shrimp & Grits, Chocolate Cherry Dessert, Pasta, Veg Enchiladas, Curried Soy Chicken Salad, Thrifty Recipes, & More

Amish Soft Pretzels, Cheap Casseroles, Japanese Beef Stew, Tomato Jam, Sesame Pasta & Chicken, Hazelnut Cream Pie, Appelbeignets, Sweet Potato Stew, Thrifty Recipes

Roasted Garlic Soup, Chocolate Scotcheroos, Lutong Bahay, DIY Kettle Corn, Paleo Chili, Asian Lunches, Veggie Dishes, Red Potato Skewers, Turnip-Carrot Mash, More Cheap Recipes

Red Pesto Ravioli, Easy Chicken Stew, Black Bean Burgers, Cheese Fritters, Stamppot, Lemon Pork Cutlets, Halo-halo, Bacon & Leek Risotto, Buttered Leeks & Radishes, Tiramisu, Crusted Eggplant, & More Recipes

Hamburger Corn Pone Pie, Spaghetti Bolognaise, Spicy Collard Flowers, Sausage-Stuffed Apples, Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese, Chicken Satay, Soups, Fish with Onions & Mushrooms, Frugal Recipes, & More

BBQ Cabbage, Ham & Cheese Omelette, Banana Bento, Lentil-Nut Loaf, Pistachio Almond Cupcakes, Meatballs Toscana, Pasta, Chicken Fried Bacon, Potato-Herb Bread, Turkey Chili, African Kale & Yam Soup, Recipes, & More

The Explosive Fourth of July "Salads, Salads, & More Salads" Food & Recipe Extravaganza

Broccoli & Bleu Cheese Soup, Chilli Crab Spaghetti, Apricot Rugelach, Grilled Eggplant, Kale Salad & Peanut Dressing, Strawberry Trifle, Buttermilk Cornmeal Waffles, Pasta, Candied Horseradish, Recipes, & More

Banana Cream Pie Cupcakes, White Bean Salad, Smoky Kielbasa with Snap Peas & Basmati Rice, Watermelon Steak, Homemade Gravy, Simple Beet Soup, Lamb Shish Kebab, Recipes, & More

Mocha Marshmallows, Chicken & Rice, Spanish Lentil & Mushroom Stew, Chocolate Cake Waffle Batter, Eggplant Risotto, Rustic Chicken & Pancetta Stew, Baked Crab Cakes, & Easy Recipes

Brussels Red Potato Gratin, Milk Chocolate Souffle, Bacon & Pumpkin Pasta, Sausage & Tomato Risotto, Chicken Tinola, Onion Panade, Zucchini Tart, & Comfort Food Recipes

The Outdoorsy, Festive Memorial Day Food & Recipe Edition… Summer’s Here!

Kentucky Hot Brown, Mac & Cheese, Black Bean Tamale Pie, Marshmallow Cake, Jicama-Orange Salad, Bakwan Jagung, Chocolate Oatmeal Chippers, Potato, Leek & Andouille Soup, & Frugal Recipes

Chic & Cheap Casseroles, Cuban Meatloaf, Mahi Mahi with Tequila Salsa, Egg & Grits, Nakkisoppa, Smoothies, Chawanmushi, Russian Tea Cakes, Mango Salad, Turkey Steaks, & Recipes

Springtime Baked Chicken, Farfalle & Veggies, Stuffed Jalapeños, Sausage & Lentils, Brown Rice Stir-fry, Navy Beans, Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies, Tempeh Salad, & Cheap Recipes

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