Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on September 30, 2011

“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.”
~ Voltaire

FOOD. GLORIOUS FOOD.

Ever so faintly, the promise of fall is finally in the air here in Arizona. My cooking endeavors will accelerate now that daytime summer temperatures are slowly dropping (they’re still in the triple-digit range, of course, but are getting much closer to double digits). I can’t wait to try many of these easy, low-cost recipes.

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

Smiley Face Wine | Photo credit: Jen Waller, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

White Gazpacho Soup | Photo credit: bgblogging, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Thai Curry Noodles & Pesto Biscuits | Photo credit: DeathByBokeh, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Per his Flickr write-up, photographer/cook DeathByBokeh’s recipes for this meal of Thai Curry Noodles with Pesto Biscuits should be posted at this site and his LiveJournal entry, but currently, neither are. He wrote this about his curry noodle dish, which he’d made for his mother on Mother’s Day back in 2007:

I cooked lunch for mom today. Thai curry noodles, with five spice marinated tofu, and pesto buttermilk biscuits. Thanks for everything, mom.

Undaunted, I found this replacement recipe for Thai curry noodles, which may or may not be similar to the recipe used for the photograph above (there isn’t any tofu in this recipe), but it sounds delicious nonetheless, as well as easy and cheap to make — this recipe and other thrift-minded curry recipes are posted by Om Paramapoonya at HubPage:

* 4 oz fresh Chinese wheat noodles
* 2 tbsps red curry paste
* 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
* 1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
* 2 T. fish sauce
* 2 tsp. ground turmeric
* 1 T. brown sugar
* 2 T. vegetable oil
* 2 T. lime juice
* 1/2 cup chopped shallots
* 1 c. water
* Handful of chopped cilantro and green onions

For crispy noodle (optional garnish)
* Handful of Chinese wheat noodles
* 2 cups vegetable oil

Heat 2 tbsps vegetable oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add curry paste and cook until the spices release their fragrance.

Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir frequently. Stir in coconut milk, water, sugar, turmeric, lime juice and fish sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil noodles in hot water for about 2 -3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Remove curry from heat. Add noodles. Sprinkle shallots, cilantro, green onions and crispy noodles on top.

To make crispy noodles for garnishing, deep fry a handful (or more) of noodles in 2 cups vegetable oil.

Found this recipe for pesto biscuits from CDKitchen — it seems like a close match:

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup shortening
* 1/4 cup basil pesto, homemade or purchased
* 3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. With 2 knives or a pastry blender, cut shortening and pesto into dry ingre­dients until crumbs form. Add buttermilk all at once. Stir with a fork just until dough leaves side of bowl and forms a ball.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough 10 to 12 times. Roll or pat dough 1/2 inch thick. Cut with a floured 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter.

Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes.

Apple Raisin Oatmeal | Photo credit: Drew Dies, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Paella with Peppers, Snails, and Rabbit | Photo credit: Sifu Renka, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Japanese Food | Photo credit: caspy2003, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Battenberg Cake | Photo credit: ndh, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

While I’ve seen Battenberg cakes before, I was rather ignorant about them, nor did I know anything about their history. After perusing Wikipedia, I’ve learned quite a bit:

Battenberg cake is a light sponge cake. When cut in cross section, displays a distinctive two-by-two check pattern alternately coloured pink and yellow. The cake is covered in marzipan and, when sliced, the characteristic checks are exposed to view. These coloured sections are made by dyeing half of the cake mixture pink, and half yellow, then cutting each resultant sponge into two long, uniform cuboids, and joining them together with apricot jam, to form one cake. Established variations are for coconut flavouring to the sponge cake and lemon curd or raspberry jam in place of apricot jam.

The cake was created in honour of the marriage in 1884 of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter to Prince Louis of Battenberg, with the four squares representing the four Battenberg princes: Louis, Alexander, Henry, and Francis Joseph.

Photographer/cook ndh wrote this and included recipe links for making the Battenberg cake:

Instead of the usual marzipan, I made a milder almond-flavored pudding topping.

Sponge cake recipe from Flora’s Recipe Hideout. Pudding recipe from VegWeb.

Goats' Cheese & Veggies Tostada | Photo credit: Adele Turner, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Matzoh Ball Soup, California Street Deli, San Francisco, California | Photo credit: In Praise of Sardines, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Salad of Poached Chicken with Avocado, Rocket, Peach, & Radish | Photo credit: avlxyz, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Brief description and background from photographer/cook avlxyz on this delightful salad of poached chicken with avocado, rocket (aka arugula), peaches, and radish:

A quick and healthy Saturday lunch at home.

We poached some chicken thigh fillets tossed the rocket in some dressing and decorated the plate with avocado, peaches, and radish.

The results were colourful and tasty, as you can see!

We used Japanese Aojiso Dressing, which gave it a tangy flavour with a hint of Shisho leaves.

Beautiful Breads, Hester Street Fair, Lower East Side NYC, New York | Photo credit: pocketmonsterd, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Zucchini & Mushroom Soup with Ramen | Photo credit: annethelibrarian, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Tofu Mid-Scramblage, Made on a Camping Stove | Photo credit: pride and vegudice, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Creamy Vanilla Porridge with Brown Sugar Apples | Photo credit: jamieanne, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

This Creamy Vanilla Porridge with Brown Sugar Apples was inspired by the classic children’s story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” and is part of a charming food/fairy tale recipe series — photographer/cook/blogger jamieanne explains her endeavors on her food blog The Sweetest Kitchen, and has additional fairy-tale-inspired recipes posted. Adorable!

She wrote:

This is another recipe from delicious. magazine – in the July 2011 issue, there is an article dedicated to fairy tale-inspired recipes. So far, I’ve made Jack and the Beanstalk’s Magic Bean Stew and Mr. McGregor’s Winter-Garden Vegetable Pies inspired by Peter Rabbit. They have all been very tasty, and this porridge pictured here, inspired of course by Goldilocks and the Three Bears, is no different. It’s a creamy vanilla porridge topped with honeyed brown sugar (Pink Lady) apples and drizzled with honeyed brown sugar syrup. So delicious and great for a cold winter morning!

Salmon Roe | Photo credit: kohei314, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Caramel-Bottomed Guinness Chocolate Pie | Photo credit: djwtwo, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Here’s the recipe link for this crazy-different, richly decadent Caramel-Bottomed Guinness Chocolate Pie. Looking isn’t fattening…

Photographer/cook djwtwo provided this overview:

I made one of these in my big batch o’ pies for Pi Day this year, and had fully intended to post a recipe. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of this particular pie, since I was concentrating on a few other pies I was baking for the Serious Eats/Instructables Pi Day Pie contest.

So, I just had to bake another one.

I like the pairing of chocolate and stout, and I think the orange-spiked caramel layer really fills out the flavor of the pie. The pudding itself is based on a recipe from the folks at Cooks Illustrated, tweaked quite a bit, the pie crust is basically a 1:2:3 ratio pie dough, but with extra liquid in the form of vodka (which helps make the dough workable, but keeps it from getting tough by providing alcohol to interfere with gluten production), and the caramel and whipped cream are pretty stock recipes (I use variants of both all the time).

Chinese Braised Eel | Photo credit: Harlan Harris, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Urban Vegetable Gardens Near Chua Lang, Hanoi, Vietnam | Photo credit: Hanoi Mark, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Shrimp Gumbo | Photo credit: Amy Selleck, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

The recipe for this hearty, easy shrimp gumbo is a favorite family recipe of photographer/cook Amy Selleck — it is also posted at her food site Meat N Veggies.

Pop over to the site for more amazing recipes… I’m seriously eying her Mushroom and Roasted Onion Frittata, Roasted Salmon with Tangerine & Ginger Relish, and Chicken Breast Stuffed with Mushrooms, Gorgonzola, & Walnuts. Yum!

Shrimp Gumbo Recipe

* 1/4 cup butter
* 2 medium or 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 medium green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
* 2 cloves of garlic, minced
* 3 cups beef broth
* 1/2 teaspoon red pepper sauce
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1 bay leaf
* 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
* 1-6 ounce can of tomato paste
* 1-1/2 pounds uncooked shrimp

In a 4-quart Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Cook the onions, green peppers, and garlic for 5 minutes, or until the onions are transparent.

Stir in all the remaining ingredients, except the shrimp. Heat to boiling then reduce to low. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes.

Peel the shrimp and devein, if necessary.

Stir the shrimp into the gumbo. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and firm. Remove the bay leaf and serve.

My mom was the one who gave me this recipe, and it has evolved over the past few years. A gumbo is supposed to be served over rice, but the extra filler isn’t needed if you use lots of shrimp. It’s been at least six months since I have had rice as part of a meal (the occasional sushi has had a bit in it), and I haven’t felt like I have a concrete block of food stuck in my stomach since. Yay!

If you like your gumbo spicy, add some cayenne pepper or more hot pepper sauce. POW!

Goats' Cheese & Veggies Tostada | Photo credit: Adele Turner, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Blueberry Cheesecake | Photo credit: kitsunebabe, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Tuna Potato Chip Casserole | Photo credit: pirate johnny, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Photographer/cook pirate johnny explains his tuna potato chip casserole, although he didn’t provide a recipe:

Instead of having any noodles at all, it has layers of crushed potato chips.

Here’s an easy, noodle-free, potato chip tuna casserole recipe from Cooks.com — personally, I’d also add some diced broccoli, bell pepper, carrots, mushrooms, maybe some sliced water chestnuts, or a few other vegetables to bump up the nutrition. The photo appears to have a melted cheese topping, whereas the recipe below does not. No worries — do what you want to embellish and change up this recipe. Cheap to make, kids will adore.

POTATO CHIP TUNA CASSEROLE

* 1 (10 1/2 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
* 3/4 c. milk
* 2 tsp. minced onion
* Salt and pepper to taste
* 1 (6 oz.) can tuna
* 3 c. coarsely crushed potato chips

Blend soup and milk, add onion and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Season to taste.

Arrange half of crushed chips in bottom of greased casserole dish. Top with half of flaked or grated tuna. Repeat layers. Pour mushroom soup mix over top and garnish with whole chips. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Makes 5-6 servings.

Fresh Mint Tea | Photo credit: burnto, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Spicy Korean Kimchi Soup, Lunch at Chikoja Lamen, Paris | Photo credit: fmpgoh, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Mattar Paneer | Photo credit: Mullai's Kitchen, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Here’s the recipe link for Mattar Paneer… photographer/cook Mullai's Kitchen provided this quick description:

Paneer and green peas cooked in a rich onion-tomato gravy. This mild north Indian dish is served with naan or paratha.

More summary info on mattar paneer pulled from Wikipedia:

Mattar paneer is an Indian dish consisting of paneer (cheese) and peas in a slightly sweet and spicy sauce. Some people also add “aloo” (potato) to it. It is similar to Palak Paneer (paneer with spinach). It is usually served with an Indian type of bread (Naan, paratha, poori, or roti depending on region). Some people prefer it to take with rice preparations. It is usually served as North Indian(Punjab) food. The dish may be garnished with a splash of cream or coriander leaves. The dish is usually vegetarian.

Mattar Paneer Masala is probably the most popular curry found in all over India. First, the cottage cheese is prepared in the traditional method. The base is prepared with cumin seeds, garam masala, vine-ripened tomatoes, and the green peas and Paneer cheese cubes are added for stir frying on high heat.

Hot Pepper | Photo credit: jennifer c, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes | Photo credit: tawest64, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Photographer/cook tawest64 wrote:

Peanut Butter cupcakes, some filled with strawberry jam and some filled with grape jelly. Peanut Butter Frosting and a dollop of jam or jelly. SWOON.

Bacon Egg Burger, Standard Deli, Shibuya, Tokyo | Photo credit: Yuichi Sakuraba, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Idaho Mega-Spud, Idaho Potato Museum, Blackfoot, Idaho | Photo credit: Ron Sipherd, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Battered Deep-Fried Catfish Lunch, Fish Boat Restaurant, Plano, Texas | Photo credit: pointnshoot, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

M&Ms Birthday Cake | Photo credit: Sandy Austin, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes & Garlic-Roasted Potatoes | Photo credit: Emily Carlin, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reservedi

Photographer/cook Emily Carlin has the recipe for this satisfying, down-to-earth balsamic chicken with roasted tomatoes and garlic-roasted potatoes dish posted at her food blog, Back to the Cutting Board.

Upside-down Caramelised Banana Cake | Photo credit: shadowfoot, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Here’s the recipe for this upside-down caramelized banana cake, provided by photographer/cook shadowfoot — the recipe blog has quite a few intriguing recipes to check out, including Vegetable Ricotta Filo Pie and
Lemonade Scones:

Upside-down Caramelised Banana Cake Recipe

Topping

* 100g butter, melted
* 1 cup soft brown sugar, firmly packed
* 4-5 medium bananas, peeled and halved lengthways

Cake

* 200g butter, softened
* 1-1/2 cups caster sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 2 cups plain flour
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 cup milk

Method
Heat oven to 180°C. Grease a 24cm spring-form cake tin. Mix melted butter with brown sugar and spread into base of cake tin. Cover with banana halves and set aside.

Make cake mixture by beating butter and sugar in a bowl until thick and pale. Beat in eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. Sift flour and baking powder together and stir into creamed mixture, alternating with milk.

Spread cake mixture over bananas. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven, loosen cake, and invert on to a serving plate while still hot or the caramelised sugar will stick to the tin making it impossible to remove.

Serves 12.

Homemade Potato Pancakes with Beef Goulash | Photo credit: tomek.pl, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Sardines | Photo credit: JaulaDeArdilla, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Green Jello Orange Wedges | Photo credit: ricketyus, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Easy and a real cheap kid pleaser (although my own kids, when they were little, would never touch green jello, so I would have made this with cherry or strawberry) — photographer/cook ricketyus wrote this:

Use empty orange halves secured on paper cups as molds for green jello and slice into wedges when set.

Pork Belly Pot Roast | Photo credit: Alice Harold, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Tomatillos from the Garden | Photo credit: kimll, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Favorite Breakfast, Cottage Cheese & Peaches | Photo credit: Debra Brown, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Lemon, Bean Sprouts, & Basil Leaves | Photo credit: roslyn, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Asado Negro (Venezuelan Pot Roast) | Photo credit: JW Hamner, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Recipe for photographer/cook JW Hamner’s tender, savory Asado Negro/Venezuelan Pot Roast is from a recipe posted in 2010 at The New York Times, which was adapted from Mohedano Restaurant, Caracas, Venezuela. A detailed critique of this dish is posted at the Chimpanzee Tea Party food blog.

Green Salad with Red Onions | Photo credit: gizzypooh, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Shiitake Mushrooms | Photo credit: tamaki, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Chocolate-Pumpkin Marble Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze | Photo credit: Emily Carlin, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Utterly gorgeous — the recipe for photographer/cook Emily Carlin’s Chocolate-Pumpkin Marble Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze is posted at her excellent food blog, Back to the Cutting Board.

Sautéd;ed Fresh Lima Beans | Photo credit: mollyjade, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Mmm... Cherry Pie | Photo credit: jeffreyw, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Photographer/cook jeffreyw’s tantalizing cherry pie recipe is posted with other terrific recipes at Whats4DinnerSolutions.

Perfect Strip Loin Steak with a Bit of Chimichurri | Photo credti: JP Daigle, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

FYI: Chimmichurri, which has its roots in Argentina, is a flavorful green or red sauce that is used as a marinade for grilled meat. It’s primarily made from chopped parsley, minced garlic, vegetable oil or sunflower oil, white or red vinegar, and red pepper flakes — cumin, thyme, oregano, paprika, and/or lemon are often included. It is said that the name originated from “Jimmy McCurry,” an Irishman who is credited with first preparing the sauce. McCurry was marching with the troops of General Belgrano in the 19th century to aid Argentina in gaining independence. Over time, the sauce invented by “Jimmy McCurry” is believed to have been corrupted by the native people to “chimichurri.” Or so the story goes…

Vintage Spam Ad, May 1975, Family Circle magazine... 'Look what you can do with one can of Spam' | Photo credit: jbcurio, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

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:

Lime-Cilantro Chicken Quesadilla, Pulao, Autumn Vegetable Soup, Rocky Road Brownies, Spicy Indian Black-eyed Pea Salad, Ham & Cheese Quiche, Jade Pie, Butternut Squash Pita Pizza, & Thrifty Recipes

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

Categories: Business & Economy, Food, Drink, Frugal Kitchen Tricks, Social and Political Climate
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