How To Eat On A Dime

So many of us and close friends and family are feeling the pinch; the money pinch specifically more than ever. I fondly remember my mother who grew up in the Depression of the 1930’s whose comment regarding today’s economic crisis was rather simple, ‘we (Us Americans) have gone through this once before you know…there’s nothing new about trying to save money when feeding your family. You simply have to be creative’.

Now my mother was one of those who taught me much in the kitchen, whose home cooked meals mostly from scratch since I think I can only recall two or three ‘pre-made’ products in our home, the occasional Campbell’s soup can, the box of Biscuit, and the Manischevitz Split Pea Soup Mix which we would make often when there was left over ham, yeah, I know, not very kosher, then again we were not Jewish or other religion that would make eating ham a naughty thing.

But here starting with a ham, I share my tips and ideas on how to eat healthy and affordably stretching your meals into more, just by getting a little more creative and learning how certain foods can go a long way to feeding your family. Dorothy Parker probably quoted Irma S. Rombauer (Joy Of Cooking in the 1930’s) who coined the phrase; Eternity is two people and a ham. And these women were both correct, regardless of who actually came up with the phrase that still holds true today as it did in 1930’s.

But I share this with you; ham is one of those affordable meats that once cooked, can turn into a variety of dishes with a little forethought. I chose to list a main dish which then can be turned into many other dishes along with links on how to make them.

The chosen foods for today are Baked Ham and Roast Chicken.

Baked Ham Dinner – can then be turned into these favorite meals…

• Navy Bean Soup
• Quiche with ham
• Western Omelets with ham, sliced bell peppers and onions
• Pasta Carbonara or Penne a la Vodka
• Sliced Ham Sandwiches
• Ham Hash
• Grilled Cheese Sandwich with ham
• Go all out with Eggs Benedict – from the food network website

Roast Chicken can then be turned into these fine meals:

• Chicken Quesadillas with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese
• Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
• Chicken Soup
• Chicken Tetrazzini
• Chicken Salad – a list of their favorites from Epicurean.com

Easy and Quick Roast Jerk Chicken for Two

This is one of those super easy phenomenal tasting spicy roasted chicken dinners that takes no time to prepare. simply set it up, throw it in the oven, and voila, it’s done an hour later or less -no fuss cooking with the feel of a fine French Restaurant-looking lovely fresh roasted chicken with a jerk twist.

Ingredients:

• 1 split down the middle small chicken.
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• red chili flakes (optional – but oh so good!)
• kosher or rock salt & fresh cracked pepper
• 2 teaspoons dry jerk seasonings
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• hot preheated oven 350 degrees
• cast iron or clad skillet – or shallow pan, anything that can go into the oven.

Directions:

1. Start your oven, and set chicken skin side up in skillet or shallow pan.
2. Pour and rub olive oil over skin. Add salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, dry jerk seasonings and fresh rosemary.
3. I also place one sprig of rosemary under wing as it laid across the chicken half.
4. That’s it! Throw it into the oven, cook till internal temperature in breast/thigh reaches 165 degrees – depending upon size of bird, mine took 55 minutes.
5. Let rest out of pan on a plate before splitting in half to serve on two plates.
6. My dish shown has roasted bell peppers and potatoes that I inadvertently left in a little too long – but still had a nice bite to them.

Though the photo is not very good, my pal and I were too eager to stop long enough to set up the photo, but I assure you that it was mighty tasty!

Leah’s Fancy Pesto Encrusted Stuffed Chicken Breasts

In these lean times, I make sure to use up any and all food – but do not wish to dummy-down my palette in anyway! This dish I made up the other day since I had all the ingredients handy. Looked great out of the oven, tasted amazing since the pesto became crunchy and the corn bread stuffing ensured a moist chicken breast. A wonderful dish for parties or for a special evening in.

I had made corn bread that didn’t get all eaten up, so I had cut it into large cubes, and let it air dry for a day, then threw it into the freezer for future use as corn bread stuffing. I happen to also have made pesto the other night and thought this would be a nice twist to simple oven roasted chicken breasts.

I am also saving money by buying chicken whole, and cutting it up myself – this amazing meal for two cost me a total of $5.00 if that when all ingredients tallied up – we got a huge kick out of that, since taste was not denied by us in any way!

Ingredients:

One large breast of chicken with the bone still in.
2 cups cubed corn bread (preferably homemade)
2 tablespoons each fresh herbs: parsley, rosemary, mint
2 cloves garlic – minced
1-2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 onion – cut into chunks
2-4 potatoes with skins, washed and cut up into 2 inch size chunks
other vegetables that are good to roast: fennel, carrots, etc. cut up (optional)
olive oil
salt and pepper
3-4 toothpicks for each chicken breasts
Preheated oven 350 degrees
3-4 tablespoons or more of basil pesto (homemade preferred)
deep heavy skillet or roasting pan (I used my Le Cruset deep skilled)

Directions:

In small bowl, add orange juice to corn bread cubes, then melted butter and 1/3 of the minced fresh herbs and all of the minced garlic. Stir to combine and set aside for a moment.
Rinse well and pat dry large chicken breasts.
With knife, create pocket for stuffing with each chicken breast. If you have the chicken breast in front of you, start cutting from the higher end of the chicken breast down to the lower end – in other words, start pocket where the meat is deepest, you want to create the pocket as close to the bone as possible.
Drizzle a little olive oil into your roasting pan.
In another bowl, add vegetables and onions, add remaining minced herbs, salt and pepper and drizzle a little olive oil. Stir with hands to coat each cut veggie with the herbs, S&P and olive oil.
Place stuffing into pockets and with toothpicks close up pockets, using skin of chicken to help pinch close the openings.
Put chicken breasts skin side up into roasting pan.
Add vegetables around chicken breasts.
Spread a tablespoon of basil pesto on the tops of the chicken breasts.
Then place into oven and go about your business.
Roasting time should be anywhere from 45-70 minutes depending upon the size of your chicken breasts. To ensure they are done, you can fork them to make sure the juices run clear.
The pesto adds extra flavor and becomes crusty and crunchy once out of the oven. Let chicken breasts rest for 5-8 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!

One Pot Sensational Chicken Leah Recipe

Easy succulent dish creates a wonderful one pot wonder full of complex flavors which is surprising to your family and guests – they will think you have cooked for hours, when in fact – it took one hour just sitting there on the stove top! – You could do this in a crock pot as well after you brown your chicken. Serve over basmati rice, brown rice, with cous cous or pasta. Dish is full of lively colors and is a great party dish or pot luck dish since it easily impresses. The fruit and little amount of curry in this dish only adds to the delightfully full flavor this recipe provides.

Ingredients:

Whole chicken cut up into eight pieces.
Save giblets/neck to create own chicken stock to be used in dish.
1 cup green or red seedless grapes
3/4 cup raisins
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
1 onion chopped
1 cup mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
2 scallions minced
2 tablespoons parsley or cilantro minced – for garnish at end.
1 cup white wine
1+ cup of chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon good curry powder
2 tablespoons fresh minced rosemary
4-6 cloves pieces
1 tablespoon “better than bullion” paste – chicken flavor (optional)
several shakes of dried red chili flakes
salt and pepper
Deep heavy skillet with lid (I used my Le Crusette)
olive oil

Directions:

I tend to forget about this dish, but won’t anymore! I first made this twist of a recipe then I created my own version several years ago when I had grapes that were looking a little past their prime along with grape tomatoes. This dish can easily be doubled and served at parties. The amount of curry used in this dish is so small, that it even passes mustard for those who do not like curry – you can barely tell it is in there – but the resulting flavors are way complex – you will think you ordered this at a restaurant.
A nice addition is adding toasted slivered or blanched almonds at the end along with the garnishes of parsley and cilantro.
****OK Here We Go!*****
Allow skillet to heat up.
Take cleaned chicken pieces, pat dry and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
Add a little olive oil to skillet, then add one mashed clove of garlic.
Once garlic starts to brown – remove to prevent garlic from burning, but this infuses the olive oil with some of the garlic oils.
You could still minced up the browned garlic and add to dish when adding all the seasonings.
Place chicken pieces skin side down carefully into hot skillet.
You are only going to brown the skin, then flip to brown on the other side.
Once chicken has been browned slightly, remove from pan and set aside. You will finished cooking the chicken completely in a moment.
Add a little more olive oil if needed. Add onions to hot skillet saute for 3-5 minutes, then add mushrooms.
Add cumin, pepper, crushed red pepper, curry, cumin, cloves, rosemary, crushed garlic from before and minced remaining garlic, and lastly scallions. Stir and saute for 3 minutes.
Now add tomatoes, raisins, grapes and white wine to skillet. Stir bottom of pan to help remove any browned bits from the bottom of the pan to deglaze skillet and let cook for 2 minutes.
Now return chicken back to skillet and add chicken stock.
I added an additional tablespoon of “Better than Bullion” paste at this point.
Bring down heat to simmer and add lid.
Let simmer for one hour.
Enjoy smells in house while chicken dish is cooking!
Taste sauce, add salt if needed.
Chicken is incredibly tender and super moist and falls off the bone easily.
Sauce is amazing served over rice as pictured for my dinner the other night.
Add chopped parsley and/or cilantro right to skillet just before serving.
Add toasted optional almonds to plated food for extra flair.