Author Topic: Mustachian Recipe Swap  (Read 9517 times)

serpentstooth

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Mustachian Recipe Swap
« on: July 28, 2015, 03:09:22 PM »
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« Last Edit: May 18, 2016, 12:09:15 AM by serpentstooth »

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2015, 04:31:53 PM »
Replying to subscribe, so I can post some recipes when I get home...  Gotta pull out my mom's french bread, cinnamon roll, and ice box rolls recipes.

Seppia

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Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2015, 05:33:52 PM »
Ok so let's start, I am Italian so I feel obliged to begin with a pasta sauce, but let me please bore you with a preamble first:
Italian cuisine is 99% a matter of ingredients, once you get quality ones you just have to avoid messing them up.
Nobody can extract a good meal from bad ingredients.
My philosophy is that you cut your cost by changing what type of ingredients you buy and where you buy them, not their quality.
That's why, for example, in our household we eat red meat very rarely (I would say twice a month), but the only oil we use is extra virgin.

Now with the recipe: The Bolognese

First of all, like for most of Italian dishes, there is not an "exact" recipe.
If you go to Emilia (the region where Bologna is located) everybody will have a slightly different recipe, even if the common themes stay the same.
I'll just give you my personal one, but you should definitely try explore a bit once you are comfortable.

Careful: perfect preparation time is two days.
Ingredients:

Ground meat: 1/2 beef (85% lean is my preferred choice, it need a bit of fat), 1/4 veal, 1/4 sweet sausage.

Tomatoes*: canned, whole peeled. Tomatoes and meat have to be roughly in a 3/2 ratio so if you are buying 2 lbs of meat use 3 lbs of tomatoes.

Carrot
Celery
Onion
1 clove
A few gineper berries
A few bay leaves
Some fresh rosemary
Some red wine

First take the meat and put it in a large pot with a bit of EVO and let go for a while.
The meat has to lose its juices and be almost fully cooked.
Take the meat our and place it somewhere
Now dump the chopped carrot celery and onion in the meat juices and let cook covered at very low fire for as long as it almost becomes a paste, adding a bit of water to keep moist if you see it's drying down.
This will take somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes, but it's a crucial part of the recipe.
Once it's done, add all the herbs, put the meat back in, raise the heat and add a bit of red wine.
Let the wine evaporate (it will take 5 minutes at most) then add the tomatoes, cover, and let cook at low heat for as long as you like (ideally I start in the morning and let it go just till before after dinner).
Just keep adding water every time you see that the sauce thickens.
It has to stay at the same liquidity as when you first put in the canned tomatoes (so, pretty liquid).
Then turn it off and let it rest the whole night.
The next day, turn it back on just a couple hours before you want to eat and let it reduce a bit.

What the night of rest does is that it lets the flavors blend together harmoniously.
Seems like BS but since you'll be preparing a huge pot, try eating it the first day you do it (it will be good provided you got good ingredients), and then again the next day (it will be better).

Let me know when you tried!

*Note on the tomatoes: do yourself a favor and find a case of Alta Cucina from the brand Stanislaus.
I am Italian, I work for an Italian premium brand in the food business and have been in the industry in one way or another since 1994 when I was 14 years old: aside from some ultra premium, ridiculously expensive product, I have never found better canned tomatoes in my life.
The irony: they are from California (it hurt).
This brand only sells to Foodservice operators, so your best bet is you either ask a friend who owns a restaurant to get you one or to go at a Restaurant Depot (most of their locations carry this item). You need a card to shop at restaurant depot but if you just walk in, say you work for a random brand and ask for a temporary card they'll give you one 99 times out of 100
A case of 6 huge 3kg cans costs less than 30 bucks.
We are only two at home, we just make sauce in bulk and freeze it.
I obviously have zero financial interest in the brand in question.
« Last Edit: July 28, 2015, 05:36:45 PM by Seppia »

mrsggrowsveg

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2015, 07:14:11 AM »
This is one of our favorite leftover and frugal recipes.

Enfrijoladas
Black or Pinto beans-homemade or canned
Corn tortillas-fresh or store bought
Cheese-We usually use Queso Fresco or Cheddar

Optional:
Lefotver meat-Smoked pulled pork is amazing
Salsa/hot sauce
Cabbage for topping
Fire Roasted Peppers

Heat a small saucepan to a medium heat and add oil.  We prefer lard for refrying beans, but coconut oil and others oils work also.  Quickly puree beans until they are not quite smooth.  A potato masher also works, but is more time consuming.  Add the pureed beans to the hot oil and cook until thick.  Meanwhile brush the corn tortillas with a bit of oil and bake until slightly firm, but still flexible.  Spread a thin layer of beans in a baking pan.  Dip the tortilla in beans and add cheese/meat and fold in half.  Add the folded tortilla to the baking pan.  Repeat with all tortillas.  Add the rest of the beans on top and then top with a bit more cheese.  Bake until top cheese is melted.  Add toppings and enjoy.

Seppia

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2015, 07:48:38 AM »
I visit that one, because it's close to the HQs and I meet with them two or three times per year.
If you want I can PM you next time I go there, should be around September-October, I can drop the case somewhere if you're not too far.

Seppia

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2015, 08:16:54 AM »
Lol that's where I'm starting to look to buy :)
That and sunnyside seem two of the few areas in NY that aren't ridiculously hi in cost of living.

Gone Fishing

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2015, 08:32:27 AM »
Curry

Whatever meat you have on hand (lamb and vinison are our usuals)
Any vegetable that will go in a stew (potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, squash, bamboo shoots, tomatoes,  mushrooms, ect)
A can of coconut milk
Some curry paste or powder

Boil meat and curry powder/paste until tender, add vegatables, cook until done.  Add coconut milk.  Makes for an awesome multi-day meal, with a lot more flair than a typical stew.

Tacos

Whatever meat you have on hand (we like leftover grilled meats, usually chicken or pork)
Chili powder
Peppers, Onions
Taco fixings.

Cook meat, peppers, and onions together with a generous helping of chili powder.  Place in taco, add fixings.

Fodder

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2015, 03:03:57 PM »
The zucchini in my garden has gone completely out-of-control crazy.

I've done the following:
- zucchini bake with panko-parmesan crust - http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-baked-summer-squash-recipes-from-the-kitchn-60018
- panko-crusted zucchini coins with dip (SUPER GOOD!):
- zucchini in spears on a veggie tray
- zucchini in my morning smoothies (blends up really well and neutral flavour works well in most smoothies)

Other things I've done lately that have been tasty:
- last night did a homemade pizza with ricardo's simple crust (http://www.ricardocuisine.com/recipes/2049-homemade-pizza-dough) , topped with pesto and chopped tomatoes, and then made the 'vegan parmesan' from Minimalist Baker to top (http://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-vegan-parmesan-cheese/)  (I was out of cheese).  It was spectacular and I enjoyed the leftovers today.  Saved me a trip to the store, and I am pretty sure this vegan parm works out cheaper than normal cheese.  I'm not at all a vegan, but would highly recommend this stuff to anyone willing to think outside the normal cheese box.
- greek pasta salad - chop red, green, yellow and orange pepper [or any combination thereof], red onion, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and then add black olives, tub of crumbled feta, 1 pound of pasta [cooked] and your favourite greek dressing.  It makes a HUGE amount, and stays good for several days.  My whole family loves it and it's great for lunches.
- southwest quinoa salad - http://chasingsomebluesky.blogspot.ca/2012/01/quinoa-365-and-southwestern-quinoa.html --> this is good on its own or in wraps [both tortillas and kale/collard wraps]

I'm also a bigcurry fan (chana masala and baingan bharta are faves, as well as slow cooker curries - I make an awesome one with beef and chickpeas - http://definitelynotmartha.blogspot.ca/2009/01/easiest-best-thing-you-will-ever-make.html, and this chicken thigh/sweet potato one is amazing too - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/253609022743667790/).

And for summer, we also love make-your-own salad rolls --> just put together a bunch of your favourite salad roll fillings (i.e., vermicelli, fresh herbs, julienned carrots/cucumber, mango, shrimp, chicken, pork, etc.) and a nice spicy peanut sauce with rice paper rolls and everybody puts in their favourite ingredients.)

Pooplips

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2015, 06:03:02 AM »
Commenting to follow.

Seppia

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Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2015, 07:37:57 AM »
Chickpea soup.
One of the easiest and cheapest recipes ever. Can be used either as a soup or as a pasta sauce.

Buy dry chickpeas (Goya or similar. I am not aware of the exact cost but I think it's somewhere around $0/lb).
In the morning, place them in a large bowl and cover with water to have them rehydrated. Keep in mind they will suck a ton of water so cover them well leaving ample margin for "raise".
When back from work, eliminate excess water, rinse them well.
Place in a large pot with a few garlic cloves and a few bay leaves.
Add water and salt.
Boil till chickpeas have reached your desired consistency (takes anywhere between 30 mins and 1.5 hours depending on the chickpeas and your taste)
If you want to go all fancy, when the chickpeas have cooked, take half of them out, remove the bay leaves, and mix the other half, then put the whole ones back.
It will make for a creamier sauce.
If it gets too thick just add water and adjust the salt.
It's wonderful as a soup, very healthy source of protein, and if you have only a little left you can use it as a pasta sauce.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2015, 07:39:40 AM by Seppia »

bloomability

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2015, 01:29:23 PM »
My favorite cold weather crock-pot recipe:

- 1 package sauerkraut, drained
- 1 red apple, diced
- 1 yellow or white onion, diced
- a few pounds of pork ribs
- 8 oz of beer

combine first three ingredients in a crock pot then top with ribs and pour over the beer. Cook on lo for 8 hours or hi for 4 hours.

I like pairing this with sweet potatoes or any green vegetable.

If beer isn't your thing, a lot of liquor stores sell singles and you can put 12 oz into the crock pot.

The AC in this building right now is blasting, and I want soup and warm things, but it's summer.

Gone Fishing

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #11 on: August 04, 2015, 09:13:45 AM »

If beer isn't your thing, a lot of liquor stores sell singles and you can put 12 oz into the crock pot.

A friend's chili recipie called for 13oz of beer, so you always had 11oz leftover that you had to find something to do with...

bloomability

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #12 on: August 04, 2015, 03:51:12 PM »

If beer isn't your thing, a lot of liquor stores sell singles and you can put 12 oz into the crock pot.

A friend's chili recipie called for 13oz of beer, so you always had 11oz leftover that you had to find something to do with...

Well you could use a tall boy [16 oz] or a bomber [22 oz] OR you could get a growler [64 oz] and make ~ 5 full batches of that chili.

but the best option is to share the recipe. :)

Rural

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #13 on: August 04, 2015, 08:55:22 PM »

If beer isn't your thing, a lot of liquor stores sell singles and you can put 12 oz into the crock pot.

A friend's chili recipie called for 13oz of beer, so you always had 11oz leftover that you had to find something to do with...

Well you could use a tall boy [16 oz] or a bomber [22 oz] OR you could get a growler [64 oz] and make ~ 5 full batches of that chili.

but the best option is to share the recipe. :)


Or you could realize one ounce of beer is not going to make any difference in a whole batch of chili and ignore it. What a stupid recipe.


Seppia

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #14 on: August 04, 2015, 09:07:09 PM »
Maybe it was just an excuse to drink a beer.
I would call that a very smart recipe.

Cressida

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #15 on: August 04, 2015, 09:10:13 PM »

If beer isn't your thing, a lot of liquor stores sell singles and you can put 12 oz into the crock pot.

A friend's chili recipie called for 13oz of beer, so you always had 11oz leftover that you had to find something to do with...

hahaha  :)

Gerard

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #16 on: August 12, 2015, 06:18:51 PM »
Chickpea soup.

And if you're afraid of getting sick of chickpea soup, google "tadka" or "tarka" or "popu" to learn an Indian cooking technique for completely changing the flavour each time you reheat it. Basically you heat oil in a small pot, add a bunch of spices and/or aromatics (things like mustard seeds, dried chillies, garlic cloves), sizzle it quickly, and toss it on top of that day's reheated batch of chickpea soup or other dal. Takes two minutes and makes way more of a difference than you'd expect. Improves mouth feel, too.

Example: http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/restaurant-style-dal-tadka/

Seppia

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Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #17 on: August 19, 2015, 10:29:11 AM »
Uber cheap vegetable curry tortillas.

This is a great recipe that takes very little time, helps clear the fridge from leftovers and has a very low cost.
It's also very healthy which helps :)

Boil in salt water till edible but still relatively firm:
1-  russet potatoes: takes around 30 mins for large potatoes
2- peeled carrots (around 10 mins)
3- zucchini squash (around 5 mins)
Take everything out, cut all the vegetable in dices and sautée in a pan, adding whatever leftover you have (could be bits of chicken, or rice/barley/peas/whatever), a generous amount of curry and a bit of water.
Let cook for 5-10 minutes to have the tastes amalgamate.
When almost cooked to your liking (I like when the potatoes start to "melt" and give a smooth texture to the dish), add a bit of milk and adjust salt.

I love to use this as a filling for flour tortillas (in this case I let cook for a little more so that it dries out and it's not too liquid) or as a side dish with some white rice (in this case a little liquid is good).

This vegetable curry has exactly zero added fat (well maybe a tiny bit from the milk), lots of fiber, vitamins and it costs nothing to make.
Enjoy!

fitfrugalfab

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #18 on: August 20, 2015, 12:42:13 PM »
I make about 2-3 dinners ahead of time and here is one you can freeze until you're ready to use.


Freezer-to-Crock-Pot Wine Chicken

 4 boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
 1/2 small white onion, chopped
 2 celery stalks, chopped
 _____________________________________

 1 (10.75 oz) can on condensed cream of mushroom soup, low sodium.
 1/2 C chicken broth
 1/4 C white wine (I use chardonnay)
 2 cloves of garlic, minced
 salt and pepper to taste

 Place chicken, onion and celery in freezer bag and freeze, until ready to use.

 To make wine chicken, add all ingredients to crock-pot and cook on low, for 6-8 hours. Serve with veggies, potatoes, or pasta.

forestj

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Great Vegetarian Food
« Reply #19 on: August 23, 2015, 06:52:17 PM »
I think that eating vegetarian is one of the easiest ways to save money and improve your health. I am not strictly vegetarian, but most of my meals do not include meat.

#1. Vegan/Vegetarian norms.

Meat as a main dish or main attractive component of a main dish is normative in America.  Many vegetarian dishes fail to please because they are designed and cooked within a meat-normative framework. (or because they are served to someone who dearly holds on to a meat-normative culture.) Vegan norms are "common sense" dishes, cooking memes and strategies that are sometimes not-so-common, and limited to cooking from vegetables, tubers, legumes, seeds, fruits, nuts, grains, and fungi. Someone who has vegan norms can cook a meal that will appeal to a wide range of people, even though it doesn't contain any high-calorie, high-cost crowd pleasers like meat or cheese. 

#2. Fried Tofu

Tofu is a strange beast, especially for those unfamiliar with it. It is a wet soy bean curd with lots of good nutrients, and there are lots of different kinds of tofu and lots of different uses for it. My favorite is Extra Firm Tofu for frying.

Price. $1 / wet lb. Your local big box store may sell tofu as a specialty product for 2 or 3x it's actual price. Visit the local Asian grocery for an honest deal.

Usage:  Tofu is porous, and it is water-logged when you buy it. Do not treat tofu like meat. You cannot marinate it. You cannot just cook it and expect it to taste ok on its own. For "correct" fried tofu, you have to dry it first. Lay a clean kitchen towel on your countertop. A paper towel will not work, unless you want to repeat this process three times and waste a ton of paper. If you don't have a clean kitchen towel, and you are a bad enough lady or dude, you may use a clean T-shirt instead. Slice your tofu 1cm or thinner, and lay the slices onto the towel, leaving space between slices. Roll the towel and tofu up and press down firmly with your hands. You want to get out as much water as you can. Unfurl the roll and lay the towel out to dry. The tofu should be much less wet.  Heat a skillet to high heat (I use cast iron for all my frying, and highly recommend it for cooking tofu. If you have a teflon non-stick pan, do not attempt the following unless you like injecting Flourine gas into your food.) Heat the pan until it is exceedingly hot. Add a considerable amount of high-temperature oil. I use canola oil. I usually heat the pan until it reaches the smoke point of canola oil (400°F for those of you with infrared thermometers). Applying the tofu should cool down the pan. Don't splash hot oil on yourself. You are not deep frying, you just need a bit of oil to compensate for the thirsty dried tofu. At this temperature, you should not have any problems with sticking as long as you give it a minute or two untouched on each side before flipping.

After your tofu is golden brown / brown / black, you are finally ready to flavor it with a sauce. I usually dump out the tofu, slice it this way and that with a 8" chef's knife to get nice trianglular, trapezoidal, and paralellogram-styled pieces, then toss it in a bowl with the sauce of choice before adding to the dish. Buffalo wing sauce works great, peanut sauces work great, adobo sauce works great, really anything you can think of is a valid choice. You can also dump the cooked tofu into your favorite soup / stew.

The fried tofu is still porous, and quite dry, so leaving it in the sauce and letting it sit will allow the sauce to permeate and absorb. You might be surprised how much it can soak up, and that's good for the flavor and texture of the tofu.

#2.5 Dry TVP.

Related to tofu: TVP stands for Textured Vegetable Protein and it is a close relative to Tofu, as it is usually made from soy beans. Usually it comes dry in a bag. It has a tan color.

Price: I was able to find it at my local Mexican grocery store being sold as "Soya" for $3.50 / dry lb. This is a good price, considering that when it is hydrated it will be less than 1$ a pound.

Cooking with TVP is the opposite of tofu, you have to add water to it before cooking, which is nice, because you can add the sauce right away. It will absorb the water and take on a consistency similar to chunks of sausage. I think TVP cooked in saturated fat with the right flavorings could "pass" as pork sausage for most people.

#3 Vegetable soups/stews

A well-executed soup or stew will bring the boys to the yard. It will make your house smell amazing. I am an indian/asian food fanboy, so my favorites tend to be "curry" style stews, hot and sour soups, ramen soups, etc.

I also appreciate simplicity. One of the simplest and most rewarding things you can cook might be thai curry style stew. The key ingredients are:

Unsweetened coconut milk. (Not coconut water, not cerial milk, but actual coconut milk from a can. Look for the imported brands like Chaokoh, Aroy-D, etc. Check the ingredients. You want coconut and water, no other stuff. The more coconut the better. High fat content is a must-have.) About $1.30 / LB.

GOOD curry paste. Skip the American brands like Thai Kitchen. Again, imported is usually better. My favorite is Mae Ploy. Their stuff tastes great, has the right ingredients, and best of all, it's dirt cheap. You can get an entire KILO of the stuff for about 5 to 7 dollars at your local Asian grocery. Now that should last you a while :)

You should start with a large stock pot that can handle acidity (not aluminum or cast iron), then boil water with some tubers or squash cut to 1 inch cubes (potato, sweet potato, yam, butternut etc). You don't want too much water. Just enough to barely cover the tubers. Next, add a deluge of vegetables to the pot. Add those with the highest cook time first. Use whatever you have. In order: Carrots, Cabbage, Onions, Kale, other brassicas like Brocolli / Bok Choi, Eggplant, Bell Pepper, Jalapeño, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, are all fine. Your pot should not have enough water to cover everything. That's fine. Add your can of coconut milk, curry paste to taste, and you should end up with a chunky, stewy mixture.  Depending on your curry paste and your taste, you may wish to add additional spices or flavorings. Fish Sauce and Lime Juice are a couple of my favorites.

Add vegetables that are easy to overcook last. Cilantro, Sweet Onion, Spinach, Greens, Tomatoes, etc.

Serve alone, with rice, bread, noodles, whatever.

Ramen and Tom Yum style soups are one of my favorite quick meals. Boil some water, add vegetables, again, longest cook time first, maybe toss in an egg to poach, then add your instant ramen noodles and salt packet or Tom Yum Soup Paste. This is very flexible and you can add just about anything to it.

The most "fancy" ramen I ever made had a spicy Miso paste broth, wheat noodles cooked in basic (sodium carbonate, aka washing soda) water and strained, and topped with blended baked eggplant, fried kale and mushrooms w/ garlic, baked brown sugar sweet potato and salmon with sesame seeds and sweet soy sauce.  Storing everything in separate containers + microwaving allowed it to be fresh leftovers for a week.  It was fun to make and eat, and everyone at my workplace was jealous :P

#4  Pressure Cooker for Legumes

This may be one of the most "mustacian" kitchen gadgets that one can possess.  Why? Because it is a fixed cost investment which generates returns for as long as you use it. A pressure cooker saves you valuable time by cooking tough foods faster.  It can beat cheap, tough, and gamey meats into submission and make them melt in your mouth. Best of all, it allows you to buy dried beans and cook them.

Many every-day foods like refried beans, hummus, falafel, red beans and rice, etc, are quite expensive to buy, compared to their raw ingredients. Why? Because processing the raw ingredients (Dry Legumes) into edible food takes a lot of energy and not everyone has the equipment to do it, so they sell the processed stuff in cans and plastic for a high markup. A pressure cooker will open this door and make it easy to turn cheap and nutritious raw dried legumes into delicious food.

Making fresh falafels from dried beans is quite the experience. You will need to cook the chickpeas / garbonzo beans until very soft, then mush them up, add minced onion, garlic, celery, and spices, and fry them in a pan with a considerable amount of oil on high heat. I usually make them flat like pancakes. Serve with a sauce obtained by chucking cucumbers, yogurt, garlic, lemon, olive oil, and salt into a blender.

#5 Fermentation

Fermentation is great for lots of reasons; it gets you drunk, it can provide interesting flavors, consuming active cultures can help your digestive health, and sometimes the cultured yeast/bacteria can even provide additional nutrients that might not have been available in the food in the first place. Also, it makes bread possible. Bread is pretty cool, right?

Saurkraut and Kimchi are a couple of the easiest fermented foods to make. Contrary to what you may expect, making your own sauerkraut and Kimchi is not dangerous, and in fact, it's kind of hard to mess it up if you can do a google search and follow instructions.

First, you will need a watertight pot to ferment your cabbage in. First, the pot must be extremely non-chemically-reactive. Stainless steel might work, but you are better off with ceramic, glass, or HDPE (High Density Poly-Ethylene, or #2 recyclable. This is what food-safe 5 gallon buckets are made out of, which is what I use.) You will also need a "lid" that fits snugly inside the pot, and again, it must not be chemically reactive. Usually a dinner plate works perfectly.

To ferment cabbage into saurkraut, you need to cut it up into very very small pieces or strips first. Like 0.1 to 0.3 cm thick. Salt the cabbage with kosher salt (not iodized as it will kill the bacteria) and firmly pack it into the pot. Add any desired flavorings like garlic, dill, or hot peppers. After packing your cabbage and mixing it, packing and mixing, and packing and mixing, you should notice that the salt has drawn enough water from the cabbage to cover it if you press down. If you don't get enough water, you can add some until the cabbage is covered.. If you live in an area with a very high chlorine concentration in your tap water, then you will need to get distilled water or other water that does not contain tons of chlorine. For me, in Wisconsin, the tap water worked fine.

At this point, you can place your "lid" on top, and then place a heavy weight on top. (I used a cinder block wrapped in a couple garbage bags). Let the cabbage sit like this for a month or two at room temperature. Make sure that the water level is always above the "lid". When it is done fermenting, carefully remove the "lid". There may be some small amount of mold on the surface of the water or on the lid. This is fine, and normal. Just pour it off with the water, and scrape off any kraut where a piece of mold landed on it. After that, you can scoop your kraut into smaller containers and store it in the fridge. You can also can it at high temperature in a Mason Jar and store it on the shelf for years, although doing so will kill the active culture.

For Kimchi, start with Napa Cabbage. You can make your cabbage pieces much larger (1-2 inch), but you must add much more salt and bruise the cabbage a bit, let it sit for about 30 minutes, then rinse much of the salt off before starting the fermentation process. Also, since it is Kimchi, you will add lots of hot peppers, some fish product (fish sauce, shrimp powder or paste, etc), and a bit of ginger and garlic as well. You can also add other kinds of vegetables like Bok Choy, Cucumber, Daikon Radish, Carrot, etc. I usually make my kimchi in a 1-gallon mason jar with the lid loosely-closed instead of the pot and lid method, and it works fine.  Kimchi does not need to sit for as long as saurkraut, at least in my opinion. I usually put it in the fridge after a week.


« Last Edit: August 23, 2015, 08:47:09 PM by forestj »

Seppia

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #20 on: August 23, 2015, 08:01:50 PM »
Amazing post forestj!
Thanks a lot for sharing, very interested in treating the tofu like you do, I'm a newcomer to this ingredient and can benefit from your experience.

One only thing: it's not mandatory to have a high pressure cooker to cook dried beans, it is sufficient that you let them soak overnight in lots of water so that they rehydrate.
Then you rinse them throughly and let them cook in a regular pot (yes it takes time).
See my chickpea soup recipe above for example.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #21 on: August 23, 2015, 08:12:52 PM »
Venison taco bowls- (you can use any ground meat, really, we just tend to have lots of venison and elk- this is a good recipe to stand up to the gamey tones you can get). Note: Per 1 cup dry rice, we usually do 1lb meat, but we're meat eatin' folks. You could reduce to 1/2lb and still have it be hearty. This is mustachian in that it's easy to stretch and feed lots of people, and easy enough to make that you don't go out to eat. Doesn't require anything most people don't tend to have on hand.

1 cup dry basmati (cook with 1 and 3/4c water and a pat of butter)
1lb ground meat
2-3Tbsp taco seasoning (my recipe will be below)
A few shakes of tapatio
Sour cream
Red salsa
Guacamole or salsa verde

Basically, cook and slop together. Tastes amazing and fills you up. You can also saute any veggies you have on hand and throw in- onions, peppers, bean sprouts, etc etc

Taco seasoning (I quadruple this recipe and store it):
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4tsp granulated garlic
1/4tsp onion powder
1/4tsp red pepper flakes
1/4tsp dried oregano
1/2tsp paprika
1 and 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

forestj

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #22 on: August 23, 2015, 08:24:25 PM »
Then you rinse them throughly and let them cook in a regular pot (yes it takes time).

I suppose I should have said, allows you to buy dry beans and then cook them immediately in minutes, not hours. Maybe this is a personal thing, but for me, the difference between minutes and hours is can vs can't: I work 40 hours a week and live with 6 other people, so I don't have much time and I usually can't  leave stuff out in shared spaces for a long time.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2015, 08:26:22 PM by forestj »

Seppia

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #23 on: August 23, 2015, 09:21:56 PM »
Yeah I imagine it makes a huge difference.
I live with my wife only, so leaving a big bowl on the kitchen table overnight is not a big deal, could not do it if I lived with other people.
I usually prepare a large quantity during the weekends then freeze most of it in mono portions, who can either be used for 1 person (as a soup) or for a 2 person meal (adding water and cooking pasta in it)

Seppia

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #24 on: September 08, 2015, 12:59:09 PM »
Ok so did two things yesterday.
First one is what we call a farinata, basically a focaccia done with chickpea flour
I only have the end result:




Difficulty level: easy.
You basically mix around 50-50 some chickpea flour an water, add salt, pepper and olive oil, and create a paste that has the thickness of a thick vinaigrette.
Then you heat a non stick pan, add oil, and add the mix.
Let cook at low heat, timing depending on how thick it is.
For a half inch thick farinata it's at least 30 minutes per side.

The original recipe calls for a full night of resting of the mix, and has to be cooked in the oven, but this is 90% as good with 10% the effort.

Second thing is the eggplant spread.
Difficulty level: monkey.

Peel eggplants



Chop and put in a pot


Add one inch water, close the top and let simmer at low heat stirring often.
In ten-twenty minutes it will look like this


Let cool down, add a lot of salt and extra Virgin olive oil.



This can be used as a spread on bread/crackers/etc, as a complement to a tomato sauce on pasta (ie: cook pasta, mix with tomato sauce, add a couple spoons of eggplant spread and salted ricotta), as a filling for tortillas (just sautée it in a pan with some fresh eggs and some Parmesan first) or inside an omelette.

Seppia

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #25 on: October 04, 2015, 09:05:25 AM »
Ok so various things this weekend.
Let's start with yesterday night, my free lesson "how to cook pasta" for culinarily challenged non-Italians

1- use lots of water, minimum 1 gallon per pound

This is a 3.3 quarts pot for a half pound


2- bring to boil and put a lot of salt in the water. My way of explaining this to non Italians is: put as much salt as you think is sane, then double it.
You want to put salt in the pasta, not in the sauce, it makes for a more homogenous taste.
This is the amount I put in the 3.3 quarts pot



3- cook the pasta al debate, and drain it a but before your linking.
Also, when you do the sauce, leave it a tad more liquid then you'd like.
Mix the pasta with the sauce and sautée for a minute.
Pasta will be cooked a bit more



4- before all excess liquid disappears, toss a bit Parmesan



5- put in plate and add a bit of extra virgin olive oil at the very end


Seppia

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Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #26 on: October 04, 2015, 09:06:37 AM »
Yesterday for lunch, one of the many examples why every time I hear that poor people can only afford McDonald's because "everything else is too expensive" I want to punch the world in the face.
My wife and I ate two of these beauties each.



Ingredients were all purchased at whole foods.

Bread: $1.25 for a half Sperlonga
Eggs: $1.16 for a 6 egg frittata
Cheese: $1.20 for a quarter pound mild cheddar
Tomato: one tomato for $0.50
Avocado: one avocado for $1.50
Slice of baked ham: $2.00
Mustard: (we already had this but took a minuscule bit of a Maille pot going for $3, so let's say $0.05)

$7.66 for two people, with ingredients purchased in the most ripoff of all supermarkets, in one of the most expensive cities on planet earth.

It was uber delicious BTW

Seppia

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Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #27 on: October 04, 2015, 09:08:56 AM »
Last but not least, low temperature cooked pork loin.
Take the pork loin, rub it with salt, oregano, sage and bay leaves.
Wrap in tin foil.
Heat oven at 175 F
Cook until the core reaches 150 F

Took approx 3 hours for an approx 3lbs loon

The main advantage of the low temp cooking is that the meat stays moist and theres the added benefit that there's absolutely no smell in the house (because nothing "burns" since temp is always below boiling point).
Kinda cool if you live in a 500sqf apartment





Here with curry vegetables


HAPPYINAZ

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #28 on: October 04, 2015, 10:02:56 AM »
We have changed our diet to focus on high nutrient, low calorie foods as much as we can.  Luckily, this generally means saving money too! 

One of our favorites to eat at home and take camping with us is a black bean salad.  You can make your own beans or use canned (which we got half price when one of our grocery stores recently closed....we stocked up on tons of dry and canned beans). 

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 onion chopped
1 bunch of cilantro chopped (skip this if you don't like cilantro!)
1 red pepper chopped
1 bag of frozen peas (optional)
some shredded red cabbage (optional)
1 can or bag of frozen corn
a lot of cumin to taste....I use half a 2 oz bottle in this...we love cumin!
juice of one lime


Mix it all up in the morning or afternoon and put in fridge and everything will thaw easily by dinner time. 

Then you can use it in whole grain tortillas with some siracha mayo (I make a substitute from silken tofu and garlic chili sauce that is really good).  The sauce really adds to the tacos.  Yummy!

Or you can just eat it as is for a meal or you can eat it as a side to something else. 


Another tasty one that is similar is curried lentils and corn on romaine lettuce with the same siracha mayo...this was amazingly good.


« Last Edit: October 04, 2015, 10:04:58 AM by HAPPYINAZ »

Seppia

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #29 on: October 04, 2015, 10:13:02 AM »
Wow that looks great
Thanks for sharing

FrugalWad

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #30 on: October 04, 2015, 12:01:36 PM »
My go-to oatmeal recipe:
-40-80 grams steel cut oats (1-2 servings)
-10 grams unsweetened cocoa powder (2 servings)
-8-16 oz water (1-2 cups)
*Toss in the microwave for 10 minutes in a bowl 4x the volume that the ingredients take up.
*Take out, drizzle .5-1 oz honey, stir all together and chow down.

Calories: ~190-350

My go-to veggie freezer burrito recipe:
-1/2 giant bag each of cauliflower and broccoli
-1 giant onion
-1 sweet potato
- 2 large carrots, chopped or shredded
-1 can diced tomatoes
-2 cups raw brown rice
-1 15-16 oz can re-fried beans
-4 pounds cooked beans (I usually mix black and kidney, or black and pinto)
-2 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
-16 large tortillas
-Salt/pepper/cumin/chili powder/garlic/cayenne pepper/taco seasoning/whatever to taste.

*Cook the rice (pot or rice cooker, doesn't matter. If it's in a pot, do a big enough pot to put everything in later. Like, a stupidly enormous pot)
*Cut up the potato, cut the onion into quarters, toss in a bowl with the other veggies (except the carrots if they're shredded). Toss until it's all coated in oil.
*Lay out the veggies in a single layer on a broiling pan or cookie sheet. Broil the veggies for 10 minutes, or cook at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Sometimes it takes two batches for me.
*After the veggies and potato are out and cooled, chop them up as fine or as course as you want. I find the smaller they're chopped, the better to stuff the burritos.
*When the rice is done, kill the heat and toss in the re-fried beans, regular beans, diced tomatoes, the whole spiel.
*Add spices to taste, stir the crap out of it until it's all a homogeneous mixture of gruel, and then evenly distribute in the tortillas. I find 1-1.5 cups fills them all quite full.

I just wrap them up in aluminum foil and toss in the freezer. 24 hours before I want one, I'll take it out and let it defrost in the fridge. They taste great cold to me. Bam, stupid cheap lunches for two weeks.

Calories: ~400-500

Chickpea & spinach spaghetti:
-6-8 oz whole wheat pasta
-2-3 servings tomato pasta sauce (homemade or canned)
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1-2 pounds cooked chickpeas
-butt-ton of spinach (I buy mine frozen)
-Oregano, garlic, basil, salt, parsley, whatever else you consider Italian spices, pepper to taste

*Cook the noodles as directed.
*While that's going, toss the sauce, chickpeas, spinach, diced tomatoes, seasonings, cook until the spinach is thawed.
*drain the pasta, toss it all together, chow down.

Calories: ~350

Funky peanut butter sandwich:
-1 slice bread, or 1/2 bagel
-1 slice cheese
-1/2 serving peanut butter
-sweet relish, sweet pickles, or bread and butter pickles
-Hot sriracha sauce

*Toast the bread, spread on the peanut butter, add pickles and sriracha to taste, toss on the slice of cheese. Sweet, salty, and spicy all in one go. So delicious. So messy when the peanut butter starts to melt on the hot toasted bread.

Calories: ~300-350

Fodder

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Re: Mustachian Recipe Swap
« Reply #31 on: October 05, 2015, 08:51:20 AM »
When large, bone-in hams go on sale, though they do cost quite a bit up-front (like $20), I find them to be a pretty frugal purchase.  One $20 ham will get me:

- dinner for four (served with pommes dauphinoises and asparagus)
- sandwiches for lunch (made 2 sandwiches)
- split pea and ham soup (made with the bone and a bit of the shredded meat) --> will make that later this week (6 servings)
- dinner for four again tonight
- gnocchi with ham and peas (8 servings) (also to make later this week)
- lunch for 2, plus 2 more sandwiches (DH and I will have ham and potatoes, and my ODD will have sandwiches)
- 1 batch ham and cheese breakfast burritos (8 servings)

All in all, 36 servings will come out of this $20 ham.  Well worth the time and money, I think!