Tuesday, August 18th

Last night was a Guest Chef Night (and a benefit night for DiversityWorks, www.diversityworks.org), and I have to say that I was a bit skeptical about the menu before we started cooking. Normally when I don't think that a menu is going to go together so well, I let the guest chef know and try to push the menu in a particular way. But last night's guest chef was Jennie Chuang who was serving in this role for her fifth time. She was actually the first-ever guest chef at Frugal Foodies and is consistently loved by her guests, so I said nothing about how well I thought empanadas would go with three salads and some chocolate chip cookies.

Good thing that I kept my mouth shut. The menu was all about "going on a picnic" and it worked together just fine. Not sure if that was simply because all the dishes were good, and good food goes well with good food, or if everything really complimented everything else. But there were almost no left-overs--and we made plenty--so everyone ate a lot and was eager to take food home. That bodes well for any night at Frugal Foodies. So here's what we had:

Corn, Cucumber and Tomato Salad--this wasn't bad but was my least favorite dish of the night. I attribute this to the fact that we've had lots of corn dishes of late, and some nice fresh salads. With this said, it was an excellent complimentary dish and the fresh raw corn was really tasty. I give it a score of 4.5 bucks.

Classic Potato Salad--talk about a dish for which I had low expectations! I'm not a fan of potato salads, and especially ones with mayonnaise. In fact, I almost never keep mayonnaise in my house, and might have this jar for the next year. But this salad was really really really good. Besides the flavoring, I think that what was key was that everything was cooked perfectly. The potatoes were absolutely just right, and the quantities of celery, pickles, and red onion really hit the mark. Whenever I make potato salads these days, I always try to shake it up with pesto, sundried tomatoes, etc, but after this dish, I may go back to the classics. I give it a score of 6 bucks.

Cold Sesame Noodles--I've also had this dish quite a few times since both Jennie and Oded Hilu make it a lot. It's a solid dish with the noodles, vegetables, and garnishes, but what really makes this salad for me is the great dressing. I really love it. I'm not a big fan of jicama but it adds crunch to the recipe and the other veggies--matchstick red peppers and snow peas--are super. I give it a score of 5 bucks.

Picadillo Empanadas with Cornmeal Crust--Jennie described this as 'a vegetarian dish that even meat-eaters love as much as its meaty equivalent'. And I think she was right. I'm not a meat eater, so I can't say for sure, but the TVP was incredibly meat-like, and wonderfully flavored. So you've got all this wonderful flavor made into a faux meat pie, and the pastry component--a flaky cornmeal--would also make a lovely pizza dough. Jennie broke all Frugal Foodies rules by making the dough ahead of time--and it was a good thing that she did since we had a couple of no-shows and were short on time--and the result was a beautiful pocket treat (I should add a photo of these once I get one). The only thing that I would change about this recipe would be to add more raisins, or more olives, or something to give it just a bit more of a kick. Still, I highly recommend this dish, and give it a score of 6.5 bucks.

Chocolate Chip Cookies--this is basically the Mrs. Fields recipe, or at least has the foundation of it--oats blended into a flour--and they were tasty but something was not perfect about them. Perhaps they were a bit overcooked or a little too runny, and it cost it a buck. With this said, I wish I had more to eat right now and give it a score of 5.5 bucks.

Overall--so as you can see, a very solid meal that had all above-average dishes. If I were going on a picnic and had lots of time, maybe I'd make many of these dishes, along with a fruit salad, and impress not only my date but myself. You really can't go wrong with this menu, and the total score of 27.5 bucks certainly bears that out.

Now for the recipes...

Corn, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad

From the Guest Chef night of Jennie Chuang, August, 2009

Ingredients
4 T olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar or lemon juice
3 small clove garlic, minced or smashed
1 large sweet red onion
6 ears corn, really fresh
4 smaller cucumbers
6 tomatoes
1 t salt
2 T fresh basil, mint, cilantro, or parsley (optional)

Instructions
1. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar or lemon juice, garlic, and salt.
2. Cut the onion about thumbnail size.
3. Shuck corn and cut off kernels into a large bowl. Peel, seed, and dice the cucumbers, and add to the bowl. Core and dice the tomatoes, add to bowl.
4. Dress with dressing and garnish with herbs.


Serves 12



Classic Potato Salad

From the Guest Chef night of Jennie Chuang, August, 2009

Ingredients
30 small Yukon potatoes
5 eggs
1/3 c total red wine vinegar AND sweet pickle juice
3-4 stalks celery, chopped into 1/3 inch pieces
1/3 c sweet pickles, chopped
1 ½ T sweet red onions, finely chopped
3 T parsley, chopped
1 T Dijon mustard
¼-½ c mayonnaise
Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Place potatoes in a pot of water over high heat. Once the water has been boiling for 10 minutes, add the five eggs to the pot. Continue boiling until the potatoes are just done and not mushy. Pour hot water out and dunk into cold water until cool.
2. Drain and peel eggs and potatoes.
3. Cut potatoes into ½-¾ inch cubes and splash vinegar and sweet pickle juice on them. Set aside.
4. Chop the eggs, celery, pickles, onions, and parsley and combine in a large bowl. Add the potatoes.
5. Mix together the mustard and mayonnaise and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.


Serves 12



Cold Sesame Noodles

From the Guest Chef night of Jennie Chuang, August, 2009

Dressing Ingredients
¾ c sesame seeds
Peanut oil
2 shallots
1 clove garlic
1 T toasted sesame oil
2 T soy sauce
¼ c rice vinegar
¼ c sugar
1 t chili paste
¾ c water

Noodle Ingredients
12 oz fresh thin Chinese egg noodles
1 c snow peas, blanched and thinly sliced
1 red pepper, julienned
1 c jicama, julienned
1 c scallions, chopped
(you can substitute whatever veggies you like for taste and/or color)

Garnish Ingredients
1 c cilantro leaves
½ c chopped peanuts

Instructions
1. Toast the sesame seeds. Let cool and grind in a food processor. Sweat shallots and garlic with a little oil and add to food processor. Add remaining dressing ingredients and puree.
2. Cook noodles in boiling water, not allowing them to overcook. Remove and cool with cold water.
3. Place noodles in a large bowl. Combine with remaining noodle ingredients. Top with dressing and garnish with peanuts and cilantro leaves


Serves 8-10



Picadillo Empanadas with Cornmeal Crust

From the Guest Chef night of Jennie Chuang, August, 2009

Cornmeal Crust Ingredients
¼ ounce package (2 ½ t) active dry yeast
1 ½ T sugar
½ c milk, heated to lukewarm
1 large whole egg, beaten lightly
1 large egg yolk, beaten lightly
1/3 c sour cream
5 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 ½ c all-purpose flour
1 ¼ c yellow cornmeal
¾ t salt

Picadillo Ingredients
1 ¼ cups onion, finely chopped
2 t garlic, minced
2 large pickled jalapeño chilies, seeded and minced, about 1 ½ T
2 t ground cumin
1 T chili powder
1 t crumbled dried oregano
1/2 t cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
2 T vegetable oil
1 ½ c TVP, soaked in hot water and then drained
¼ c tomato paste
28-ounce can plum tomatoes, chopped, including half the juice
1/3 c raisins
½ c plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped pimiento-stuffed green olives (about 4 ½ ounces)
Dried hot red pepper flakes to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Proof the yeast with the sugar in ¼ cup of milk for 5 minutes, or until the mixture is foamy. Beat in the remaining ¼ cup milk, the whole egg, the egg yolk, the sour cream, and the butter. Add 2 cups of the flour, the cornmeal, and the salt, and beat the mixture until it forms a dough.
2. Knead the dough, adding as much of the remaining ½ cup flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking, until it is smooth and elastic.
3. Form the dough into a ball, transfer it to an oiled bowl, and turn it to coat it with the oil. Let the dough rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place for 1 ½ hours and punch it down. (The dough may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Let the dough return to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.)
4. Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet, heat the oil to medium-low, and cook the onion, garlic, jalapeños, cumin, chili powder, oregano, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper, until the onion is softened. Add the TVP and cook the mixture over moderately high heat, stirring to make sure there are no lumps. Add the tomato paste, the tomatoes with the juice, the raisins, the olives, the red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer the picadillo, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is thickened and most of the liquid is evaporated, and let it cool. (The picadillo may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Let the picadillo return to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.)
5. Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time and keeping the remaining pieces covered with plastic wrap, on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick and with a 6-inch round cutter cut each piece into a round. Put about 1/3 cup of the picadillo onto the bottom two thirds of each round and fold the rounds in half, enclosing the filling. Seal the edges of the dough and crimp them decoratively.
6. Transfer the empanadas with a spatula to a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake them in the middle of a preheated 450°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they are golden.
7. Transfer the empanadas to a rack and let them cool.


Make 12 large empanadas



Chocolate Chip Cookies

From the Guest Chef night of Jennie Chuang, August, 2009

Ingredients
1 2/3 c rolled oats
1 ½ c all purpose or unbleached white flour
1 t baking soda
¾ t baking powder
¼ t salt
¾ c (1 ½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 c granulated sugar
2/3 c light packed brown sugar
1 large egg
2 t vanilla extract
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions
1. Set oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a blender or food processor, grind the rolled oats until they become a fine powder. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
4. In another bowl, mix butter until light, add sugars and beat until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture. Blend well before adding ground oats and chocolate chips.
5. Grease a cookie sheet. Roll dough into 1 ½ inch balls, flatten slightly and bake 2 inches apart.
6. Bake 8-10 minutes until brown on top.


Makes 30 3 ½ inch cookies

Just Figured Out...

...why those tofu nuggets tasted so floury. The group that worked on them cut them much much thinner than the recipe suggested (the recipe said 1 inch cubes and these were about 1 inch x 1.5 inch by .5 inch--or even less in some cases). I'll spare you the math, but the result is a higher surface area to tofu ratio--we'll call that SATR--which means more floury. Again, not sure how much of a difference that would have made, but maybe I need to continue encouraging careful reading of recipes that people have never made before. After all, reading is fundamental!

Tuesday, August 11th

Today's our first of the monthly vegan nights at Frugal Foodies, which will be the second Tuesday of the month from this night forward. We've done vegan nights before and they've been quite popular so I thought it might be nice to do them once a month. In any case, I opened the night by confidently saying 'vegan nights aren't so hard to plan as long as there aren't other dietary restrictions', and then, as if on cue, one celiac and a few non-onion/garlic people popped out of the woodwork. I say this because we tried to tweak some of the recipes on the fly (though not all), so the resulting dishes that I'm reviewing may not line up exactly with the recipes below. And that's a perfect segue to the disclaimer that this is NOT America's Test Kitchen, and very few of the recipes that come out of this more chaotic kitchen with mostly untrained cooks are exactly what you read below. But for those of you who attend Frugal Foodies (or plan to in the future), please be sure to tell me any of your dietary restrictions well in advance so that menu planning can take all of those into consideration. On to the food...

I should open by saying that I simultaneously would love to be a vegan and I'm afraid of veganism. I think that veganism is the just thing to do vis-a-vis the treatment of animals, efficient land usage, personal health, the like, and it just seems too hard for someone as lazy as I. It would take a lot of work to drop my addiction to dairy products, and I just don't think that I'm motivated enough and certainly not strong enough right now. Perhaps in the future.

So with all that said, tonight's meal was pretty good...for being vegan. A few of the dishes I liked, a few I liked less, but I feel pretty healthy at the end of the night. All in all, not bad. Now for the reviews:

Fruit and Tender Greens Salad--this was one of the better dishes for me, but I love fresh, juicy fruit, especially this time of year. This salad was chock full of ripe melons, kiwi, apples, and stone fruit, all mixed in with spinach and red leaf lettuce. Perhaps most interesting was the dressing, which looked like a smoothie with its melon and orange base (and one man actually poured himself a glass of it to drink, then tasted the vinegar) and it was quite refreshing. I want to have more of it right now, so I give it a score of 6 bucks.

Triple Grain Spinach and Mushroom Pilaf--I like a good pilaf, full of lots of stuff in it, and this one was pretty good. The three grains were quinoa, millet, and barley, which worked really nicely together, and the spinach and mushrooms were cooked to perfection. I think that the only thing that didn't work for me was the seasoning, and as I review the recipe now, I see that the group did things a bit out of order, and that may well have impacted the flavors. In any case, it was good, but not great, and I give it a score of 5 bucks.

Thai Style Shredded Pumpkin--this dish wasn't bad but I've forgotten about it already--not a sign that I'll ever be making it again. I know that some people really liked it so I'm having a bite of the left-overs right now. Texture is nice, well cooked, but either a bit too much ginger or not enough of something else. Potential is there as a side dish accompaniment to something else. I give it a score of 3 bucks.

Tofu Nuggets--while some people liked it, this dish was the big loser of the night. One vegan said, 'I really think that tofu gives vegetarians a bad name', and while I don't necessarily agree, this dish was no ringing endorsement...on several levels. First, it was a rather involved recipe that made a big mess. When they came out of the oven, the smelled nice and had a nice crunch to them, but they tasted too floury. It's possible that this can be blamed on the fact that they changed the recipe to make it gluten and garlic/onion-free, but I'm not sure that the result would have been great either way. So while this dish has the high-end potential of five bucks, the most that I can give it is a score of 2.5 bucks.

Cherry, Chocolate Chip, and Almond Cookies--desserts rarely disappoint, but I have to say that when I think of baked and vegan, I'm skeptical. But I need to start rethinking my stance since these cookies were really good in taste, texture, and ease of preparation. I would absolutely recommend them to any vegan and maybe, possibly to everyone else. Is it that they were moist and chewy and had both dried cherries and chocolate chips (and don't be scared off by the idea of vegan chocolate chips--nearly all semi-sweet chocolate chips are vegan, including the ones from Trader Joe's)? Maybe so, but I think that I much prefer these to a heavier dessert like a bowl of ice cream or a rich chocolate cake. I feel much lighter and I want to keep eating more and more. I give it a score of 6.5 bucks.

Overall--so, on the whole, not a bad meal, though not a great one either. The total score is 23 bucks, which is a big drop-off from last week, but not every week can be outstanding. At least everyone got their money worth, and we're likely a bit healthier for our efforts tonight. Now for the recipes:

Fruit and Tender Greens Salad

Adapted from www.veganchef.com

Salad Ingredients
1 T lemon juice
1 T water
1 ½ cups Fuji apples or other apple of choice, cored, and diced
2 cups cantaloupe or other melon, cut into balls with a melon baller
2 cups peaches or nectarines, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 ½ cups kiwi, peeled, cut into quarters lengthwise, and sliced
8 oz. spinach, triple washed, patted dry, de-stemmed, and torn into bite-sized pieces
6 cups Boston or Bibb lettuce, washed well, patted dry, and torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup sliced almonds
1 recipe Melon-Orange Vinaigrette (below)

Salad Instructions
1. In a large bowl, stir together the lemon juice and water. Add the diced apple and toss well to thoroughly coat the apples with the mixture to prevent browning. Add the cantaloupe, peaches, and kiwi, and toss gently to combine.
2. In another large bowl, place the spinach and lettuce, and toss them together. Add the fruit mixture and almonds and toss gently to combine.
3. Drizzle a little of the Melon-Orange Vinaigrette over individual servings.

Dressing Ingredients
1 cup cantaloupe, cut into cubes
2/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/3 cup unbleached cane sugar
½ t salt
¼ t ground ginger

Dressing Instructions
1. Combine all of above the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Using a stick blender, process for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.


Serves 6-8

Triple Grain Spinach and Mushroom Pilaf

Adapted from www.veganchef.com

Ingredients
6 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
¾ cup millet, rinsed and drained
¾ cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1 t salt
1 ½ cups green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup onion, diced
2 T olive oil
12 oz baby bella mushrooms, washed well, halved, and sliced
1 ½ T garlic, minced
2 T sesame seeds
2 T toasted sesame oil
6 cups spinach, triple washed, de-stemmed, and roughly chopped
1/3 cup freshly chopped parsley
2 T freshly chopped thyme
2 T tamari
½ t freshly ground black pepper
1/8 t cayenne pepper

Instructions
1. In a saucepan, place 3 cups vegetable stock and pearl barley, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45-50 minutes or until barley is tender. Remove from heat, drain off any excess water, and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, place the remaining vegetable stock, millet, quinoa, and salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the grains are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Drain off any excess water, leave the grains in the saucepan covered, and let sit for 5 minutes to allow the grains to steam.
3. In a large non-stick skillet, sauté the green onions and onion in olive oil for 5 minutes to soften. Add the mushrooms and sauté an additional 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sesame seeds, and sauté an additional 2-3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the toasted sesame oil and all three cooked grains to the skillet, and sauté for 3 minutes to heat through. Add the remaining ingredients and continue to sauté until the spinach wilts. Taste and adjust the seasonings, as needed.
4. Transfer the pilaf to a large bowl to serve.


Serves 8-10

Thai Style Shredded Pumpkin

Adapted from www.veganchef.com

Ingredients
¾ cup vegetable broth
1 T Sucanat
1 T tamari or soy sauce
2 t toasted sesame oil
2 T peanut oil
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced diagonally
1 ½ T ginger, minced
4 cups pumpkin, peeled, and coarsely shredded
3 T freshly chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
1. In a small bowl, place the vegetable broth, Sucanat, tamari, and toasted sesame oil. Whisk well to dissolve the Sucanat, and set aside.
2. In a wok or non-stick skillet, heat the peanut oil. When hot, add the green onions and ginger, and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes to soften the green onions. Add the pumpkin and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the reserved broth mixture, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender.
3. Stir in the chopped cilantro and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Transfer to a bowl or platter for service.


Serves 6

Tofu Nuggets

Adapted from www.veganchef.com

Ingredients
1 lb firm tofu
2/3 cup soy milk, rice milk, or other non-dairy milk of choice
1 T lemon juice
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup cornmeal
¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 T dried parsley
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t dried basil
1 t dried oregano
½ t paprika
½ t salt
1/8 t freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Wrap the block of tofu in a clean, lint-free towel, place it in a colander, and place the colander in the sink. Place a plate over the towel-covered tofu, them a heavy can or other weight on top, and leave to press for 30 minutes. Remove the tofu from the towel, cut into 1-inch cubes, and set aside.
2. Lightly oil (or spray with a light mist of oil) a non-stick cookie sheet and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the soy milk and lemon juice, and set aside for 10 minutes to thicken.
4. Place the flour on a large plate and toss the tofu cubes in the flour to thoroughly coat them. Remove the cubes of tofu from the flour and set aside.
5. Add the remaining ingredients to the flour, stir well to combine, and set aside.
6. Dip the floured tofu cubes into the soymilk mixture and then toss them with the seasoned flour mixture.
7. Place the tofu cubes on the prepared cookie sheet and spacing them so that they aren't touching. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned, flip over the tofu cubes, and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned all over.
8. Serve with a mixture of maple syrup and mustard, ketchup, or other dipping sauce of choice.


Serves 4

Cherry, Chocolate Chip, and Almond Cookies

Adapted from www.veganchef.com

Ingredients
½ cup soy milk, water, or apple juice
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup safflower oil
1 t vanilla
¼ t almond extract
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
¼ t salt
¾ cup vegan chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup sliced almonds

Instructions
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy milk, maple syrup, oil, vanilla, and almond extract, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, place both types of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and stir well to combine.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well to combine. Fold the remaining ingredients into the cookie dough.
4. Lightly oil (or spray with a light mist of oil) two non-stick cookie sheets.
5. Drop the dough by teaspoonfuls, spacing them 2 inches apart, onto the prepared sheets.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until cookies are set and lightly browned on the bottom and around the edges.
7. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
8. Repeat the baking procedure for the remaining cookie dough.


Makes 24-30 cookies

Tuesday, August 4th

The theme for tonight was Fresh from the Garden, and the idea was to take advantage of all the people who'd told me that they'd have an overflow of fruit and vegetables this time of year. Only problem was that people's gardens were not quite as far along as they had expected, so the bounty was a bit less impressive. No worries, Berkeley Bowl came to the rescue to round out the offerings, and we cooked up 6 dishes, plus a bonus fruit salad from lots of amazingly ripe fruit.

Tonight was also a benefit night for the Zion Project, a group with which I did some photography in Uganda. What the Zion Project does is work with 'sexually vulnerable women', which could mean anything from girls and women who have been abused (or are in situations where they easily could be) to sex workers to young woman-led households. They're working in the poorest part of the country, doing some really critical work, and I encourage you to learn about their work and support them in a way that fits your ability. And please don't be scared off by their religious bent. Religion motivates their work, but is not central to the services that they're providing.

Now on to the food. Of the dishes we made tonight, some were brand new, some brought back from the past, and one that we even had one week earlier, since we needed a dish with kaffir lime leaves. In any case, I'll talk about the five that I've not reviewed yet on this site:

Cornmeal Herb Muffins--we made a dairy and dairy-free version of these, and I thought that both were good in a rather sublime way. I think that the cooks loaded these up with oregano, tarragon, and rosemary, and the herb taste was perfect in terms of being enough and not too much. I think that I would have made the muffins much larger, and would have really enjoyed eating them hot with melted butter. Yum. I give it a score of 5 bucks.

Tomato, Onion, Cucumber Salad--this was a great summer treat with really juicy tomatoes and some lemon cucumbers fresh from a local farm. It also has mint in it, but I really couldn't taste the mint, and that was just fine. We didn't take out the tomato seeds, as the recipe suggested, so the salad was rather soupy (sort of like a gazpacho salad, without the spice). I give it a score of 5 bucks.

Honey Dijon Fingerling Potatoes--I think that this might have been my favorite dish of the evening. The fingerling potatoes, some of which I had pulled out of the ground just a day earlier, were perfectly roasted, the honey-mustard sauce was super tasty, and the fingerling potatoes also look really cool. I think it's a great side to many a meal, and would recommend this for anyone who can find fingerlings in their local market--or can grow some in your backyard. I give it a score of 7 bucks.

Thai Green Beans with Tofu--this was a recipe that I pulled out from three or four years ago, and I remember really loving it back then. I think that the tofu and the beans, along with the sauce and peanuts are a great combination. Only problem this time around was that the beans were not consistently tender (and some were downright tough and stringy) and the group working on these did not trim the beans before steaming them. The tofu also ended up pretty small and I'm not sure if that was because of the way that the group chose to cut it or because the tofu was not firm enough In any case, it wasn't perfect. So I didn't love it tonight (though I did love the flavoring), but I think that with proper beans, proper tofu, and proper preparation, it's a real winner. So while it's got the potential of a 7 buck dish, in terms of its performance tonight, I give it 4 bucks.

Mint Chocolate Cookies--I love mint and chocolate but these cookies were not what they could have been. They weren't bad, but they could have been so much more. They were on the dry side, perhaps because of overcooking, and I really think that they would have been vastly better with whole chocolate chips in them (all the chocolate is melted into the batter). Pretty cool that we used fresh mint instead of mint extract, and I liked the leafy element in the cookies. With a bit more moistness and chunks of chocolate, they could have really gone places, but that notwithstanding, I've got to give it 3 bucks.

Bonus Dishes--we once again made the Corn Ginger Kaffir Lime Soup from one week earlier. And it was again outstanding, though the flavor was a bit different this week. That's one solid soup that should not be missed (7 bucks). And we also made a fruit salad, with the juiciest of fruit, exploding with flavor. Apples, bananas, nectarines, cantaloupe, raspberries, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, all bathed in a lemon-lime juice. If you could enjoy fruit this fresh in such a salad regularly, it would score 8 bucks regularly, but I think that we really caught all of these fruits at their peak of ripeness, and the group tonight cut the fruit to the perfect size, the importance of which is not to be underestimated in the fruit salad business. So that's a total bonus dish score of 15 bucks.

Overall--So that's a total meal score of 39 bucks! Wow! I think just about everyone had a great time tonight and the food was well-received. And why not if you're paying $8 for a meal worth nearly five times that much.

Cornmeal Herb Muffins

Adapted from www.epicurious.com

Ingredients
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2-3 tablespoons fresh herbs, minced, or 1 tablespoon dried herbs, ground
¼ cup chopped fresh chives
1 ½ cups plain yogurt
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons butter, melted, or cooking oil

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray 10 standard muffin cups (each about 1/3-cup capacity) with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and herbs in medium bowl. Stir in chives. In another medium bowl whisk yogurt, eggs, and butter or oil. Add yogurt mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until blended.
3. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, using about 1/3 cup batter for each muffin cup.
4. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer pans to rack and let muffins cool in pans.
5. Remove from pans and serve.


Makes 10

Tomato, Cucumber and Red Onion Salad with Mint

Adapted from www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients
2 large cucumbers - halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 large tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
2/3 cup coarsely chopped red onion
½ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. In a large bowl, toss together the cucumbers, vinegar, sugar and salt. Let stand at room temperature for an hour, stirring occasionally.
2. Add tomatoes, onion, mint and oil to cucumbers and toss to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Serve at room temperature or chilled.


Serves 6

Honey Dijon Fingerling Potatoes

Ingredients
2 lbs fingerling potatoes
2 T olive oil
1 T kosher salt
1 T ground black pepper
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T honey
1 T chives, fresh, chopped

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425°. Wash fingerling potatoes in cool water, pat dry, and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl toss together olive oil, salt, pepper, mustard and honey. Add fingerlings to mixture and coat each potato well. Transfer fingerlings to a 13 x 9 baking dish.
3. Place in oven and bake fingerling potatoes uncovered 25 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork.
4. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately.


Serves 6-8

Thai Green Beans with Tofu

Ingredients
4 T Sesame Oil
3 T Garlic
3 T Ginger
¼ C Natural Peanut Butter
¼ C Soy Sauce
¼ C Honey
3 T rice wine vinegar
Cayenne Pepper
1.5 lbs Green Beans
1 lb Tofu
Cooking oil
Peanuts—chopped and toasted

Instructions
1. Sauté sesame oil with 2T garlic and ginger. Add peanut butter, soy sauce, and honey, and rice wine vinegar. Mix well and add cayenne pepper to taste. Once smooth and combined, remove from heat.
2. Clean and steam green beans until al dente.
3. Meanwhile drain tofu and sauté in oil and remaining garlic. Once tofu is browned, add green beans and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes.
4. Pour sauce over tofu-bean mixture and garnish with toasted peanuts.


Serves 6-8

Mint Chocolate Cookies

Adapted from www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 C packed mint leaves, minced to a pulp
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup butter, softened, margarine, or oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 C packed brown sugar
3 eggs

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Place the chocolate chips and the mint in the top part of a double boiler over medium heat. Stir occasionally until melted and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter (or margarine or oil) until soft. Add vanilla and sugar and mix well. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the melted chocolate. Sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Add to mixture and stir until well blended.
4. Drop by tablespoon at least 2 inches apart on oiled cookie sheets.
5. Bake 15 to 18 minutes until lightly colored. Let cool on wire racks.


Makes 36 cookies

Tuesday, July 28th

I know that I'm a few days late on posting this Frugal Foodies review, but as I was blessed with a fair amount of left-overs from Tuesday night, the recipes are still fresh in my mind. Please note that I'll be using the rating system described in the previous post, and all the recipes will be included at the bottom of the entry.

This Tuesday was our Special Guest Ingredient Night and we featured corn in all of the dishes. And while the corn was really fresh and wonderfully yummy, I must say that it's a tough night for recipes to shine because all of them are up against the same fresh and yummy corn, and it's rarely as diverse of a menu as on other nights. I do think that we had some really tasty dishes, but I wonder if I would have appreciated them even more had they be sprinkled in on other nights. With that caveat, here are my thoughts:

Corn, Ginger, and Kaffir Lime Soup--this was one of my favorite dishes, which surprised me a bit since we had cooked this soup a few years earlier. I loved the texture and the flavors, especially from the kaffir lime leaves and the lemongrass. I think that the base of this soup would be fabulous alone or with tofu as a main course, but the addition of the corn was simply delectable. I think that this soup would bring a smile to most faces and I give it a score of 7 bucks.

Roasted Corn Salad--this is a relatively easy, fresh-tasting salad that I think would make a good side for summer parties. This might have been one of the dishes that suffered a bit from there being too much corn in one place (we went through 34 ears of corn for a group of 11 people), and I'll be excited to see the comments from anyone who cooks this or any of the people in attendance. In any case, I thought that it was fine, but lacking in some way, and I give it a score of 4 bucks.

Corn and Zucchini Timbale with Roasted Tomato Basil Sauce--when we last cooked from the Green's Cookbook, I must say that I loved every single dish that we made, which is a real rarity for me. For people who've not cooked from this cookbook, none of the recipes are easy, and in fact most have at least two significant steps to them. These recipes are thus not for the lazy, but if you've got some time, I don't think you'll be disappointed. So we pulled out this timbale recipe for an encore as a main dish, and it didn't disappoint. The timbale is kind of like a quiche or frittata (what's really the difference, anyways?), but not at all eggy. Even after being well-baked, the corn tasted super sweet and had a nice crunch to it. It was a solid dish, but what really made it was the tomato basil sauce which was delicious, and which I'd recommend as a sauce for just about anything. Broken into pieces, I give the timbale 5 bucks and the tomato basil sauce 7 bucks, thus the overall dish scores 6 bucks.

Rich Mexican Corn--this was the last dish added to the menu and was my least favorite dish. It wasn't bad, but there was nothing to set it apart, besides the large quantities of cheese, of the cream cheese variety. I think that it's very likely that this dish could be resuscitated with some Romano or Fontina cheeses, or maybe as a four cheese format. But then you're looking at a queso fundido/fondue featuring corn, which would be an altogether different dish. As constructed, this dish reminded me of the type of dish that a uninspired caterer would make for a big party, and that people would like a little bit, but not so much that they'd eat it all up. And for that, I give it a score of 3 bucks.

Flan de Elote--this is also an encore performance of a dish from earlier this summer, and it is outstanding. I need to start by saying that I really dislike flan. I generally don't like the flavor, I don't like the texture, I don't like what it's probably doing to my body. So when Patty, my sister-in-law proposed this before her guest chef night, I was very skeptical. But the way that this flan is made, and the addition of the fresh corn simply transforms this flan into something absolutely delicious. And maybe that's it...that the corn changes all three of the things that I never liked about flan. And don't worry--I don't think that you have to dislike most flan to love this one. Nope, this is a dessert that just about anyone could love...and should. I give it a score of 7 bucks.

Overall--so when it's all said and done, this meal added up to a total score of 27 bucks, and all for $8. Not bad, not bad at all.

Corn, Ginger, and Kaffir Lime Soup

Adapted from The Millennium Cookbook by Eric Tucker, John Westerdahl, and Sascha Weiss

Ingredients
2 white or yellow onions, sliced
1 carrot, finely diced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
8 C vegetable stock
4 C corn kernels
2 stalks fresh lemongrass, chopped and tied in cheesecloth
3 T minced fresh ginger
1/3 C light miso
4 kaffir lime leaves, julienned
¼ C lime juice
1/3 t ground pepper
Sea salt to taste
1 lime, cut into very thin slices
Stemmed cilantro
Coconut milk (optional)

Instructions
1. In a soup pot, combine the onions, carrot, celery, and ½ C stock. Cook over high heat until the liquid evaporates. Add the remaining stock, corn, and lemongrass. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Remove the lemongrass, add the ginger, and whisk in the miso. Puree half the soup and combine with remaining soup.
3. Add the kaffir lime leaves and the lime juice. Add the salt and pepper.
4. Serve with lime slices and cilantro, as well as with optional coconut milk swirled in bowls.


Serves 6

Roasted Corn Salad

Ingredients
2-3 ears corn (use different colors if possible!), shucked
½ red pepper, chopped
½ orange pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
2 scallions, chopped
2 limes, juiced
Small bunch of cilantro, chopped
6 sage leaves, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
Black pepper

Instructions
1. Carefully cut the corn off the cob.
2. Place corn and peppers in a roasting pan alone. Add salt and olive oil and mix well. Roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until it starts to caramelize. Stir once in the middle of roasting.
3. Remove from oven and add juice, scallions, cilantro to the roasted corn and mix well.
4. Season with black pepper and if needed, salt.


Serves 4

Corn and Zucchini Timbale with Roasted Tomato Basil Sauce

Adapted from The Greens Cook Book

Timbale Ingredients
4 to 5 medium zucchini (1 lb)
Salt
2 T butter
4 T yellow onion, diced into 1/4 inch squares
2 C fresh yellow corn kernels (about 4 ears)
4 T parsley, freshly chopped
3 T cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 C white wine
5 eggs
2/3 C heavy cream, warmed
1 C (3 oz) sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 t cayenne pepper
Tabasco sauce to taste (optional)
¾ C bread crumbs
Roasted Tomato Sauce (see below)

Timbale Instructions
1. Grate zucchini, toss it with salt, and let it sit for half an hour. Squeeze out with hands and drain.
2. Melt the butter, add the onion, followed a minute later with the corn, parsley, and cilantro. Stir and cook over medium heat for a minute, then add the zucchini and wine, lower the heat, and cook covered for about three minutes.
3. Remove the lid and cook off any of the remaining liquid. Taste and season with salt if needed.
4. Beat the eggs, whisk in the cream, then add the vegetables and cheese. Season with cayenne and Tabasco to taste.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter either 1 C ramekins or a large mold, and coat them with bread crumbs. Mix any extra crumbs into the custard and distribute evenly into either the ramekins or the large mold.
6. If using ramekins, set in a deep pan and add enough hot water to come half way up their sides. Bake until the tops puff up and are browned, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes before unmolding them.
7. Prepare the Roasted Tomato Sauce while the custard is baking.
8. Serve the timbale top-side up with the sauce on top or on the side.

Sauce Ingredients
6-8 medium tomatoes, about 1.5-2 lbs
2 T olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
Salt and sugar to taste
2 cloves garlic, pounded into a paste with 1/4 t sea salt
1 C loosely packed basil leaves
Pepper to taste
Balsamic vinegar to taste

Sauce Instructions
1. Wash the tomatoes and broil them whole in a baking dish until the skins are blistered and lightly charred.
2. Roughly puree the tomatoes, leaving a little texture.
3. Heat the oil, and sauté the onion until it is soft and translucent. Add the tomato puree and cook over medium heat until the excess water has evaporated. Taste and season.
4. Remove from heat and puree 1/2 C of the sauce with the basil and garlic until smooth.
5. Combine basil mixture with tomato sauce and season with balsamic and pepper.


Serves 4-6

Rich Mexican Corn

Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese
½ cup butter
½ cup milk
16 oz. frozen corn
1 red bell pepper, diced
8 fresh jalapeño peppers, diced

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the cream cheese and butter, and mix with the milk until smooth and bubbly.
3. In a medium casserole dish, mix the frozen corn, red bell pepper, and jalapeño peppers. Pour in the cream cheese mixture, and toss to coat.
4. Bake 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly brown.
5. Serve with tortillas or chips.


Serves 8

Flan de Elote

From the June, 2009 Guest Chef night of Patricia Santos

Ingredients
3 ears corn
1 can sweetened, condensed milk
1 C milk
4 eggs
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 t vanilla
½ lb butter, melted
2 t baking powder
½ C sugar

Instructions
1. Pre-heat oven to 375.
2. Husk corn and cut off kernels.
3. Blend the corn and milk together with a blender. Then place in a large mixing bowl and add all the remaining ingredients except the sugar. Mix well until everything is uniform in consistency.
4. Grease a baking dish with butter.
5. In a small saucepan, add sugar and place on low heat until sugar is caramelized. Immediately after it has caramelized, pour into lined baking pan. Add mixture to pan and bake for 45 minutes or until ready.


Serves 8-10

A Note About the Rating System

As some of you may know, Frugal Foodies costs $8 per participant, at least at the time of this writing. So instead of using stars or forks or some other proprietary thing like "froogs" as the rating metric, why not use a range of 0-8 bucks? I'd love it if no dish at any restaurant cost more than $8, so I'm going to refer to something really fabulous as an 8 buck dish. And since we serve 4-6 dishes at every Frugal Foodies, this will give us a sense of accountability, just to be sure that everyone's getting their money's worth. And my hope is that at every Frugal Foodies, attendees are getting at least $25 worth of food, and I think that's generally the case. So the new metric will be as follows:

0 bucks = a very bad dish, verging on vomitocious. Memorable for being so bad!
1 buck = boring, forgettable, and really shouldn't have been made in the first place
2 bucks = someone might like this, but I certainly don't
3 bucks = a dish that is somewhat disappointing--either poorly prepared or not quite what it could be. Something's missing
4 bucks = a truly average dish, and is only saved by better dishes being around it. Otherwise, totally forgettable
5 bucks = it's starting to get good. Still missing something (to be great) or a very nice complimentary dish
6 bucks = this is a very solid dish with good flavor. Garners some compliments wherever it goes!
7 bucks = you can't ask for much more than this. An excellent dish that truly excites the senses
8 bucks = the absolute best! Everyone loves it. Would be featured at fine restaurants. Truly unforgettable!

So that's that. Now for the review of some recipes...

A Long Time in Coming

I've been meaning to do a blog for Frugal Foodies for a long, long time. Fact is that blogging has scared me, and it wasn't until six months ago that I jumped into the blogging fray with the better-than-expected travel blog, www.djiboutiorbust.blogspot.com. And now it's time to start publishing something about the mostly tasty treats that are cooked in my home just about every Tuesday night.

For those of you who don't know about it, I run a quirky community cooking group on Tuesday nights called Frugal Foodies. Each week, 10-20 people come together to meet, eat, and be frugal, hence the url for this blog. While people come to Frugal Foodies for many reasons--and there are certainly lots of stories that could be told about the characters who walk through this door--this blog will be much more about the food itself, perhaps some notes about the making of said food, and then of course some of the recipes.

I started my travel blog not so much to share stories with readers but to help me remember the stories. Likewise, the motivation for starting this blog was to help me remember which dishes I really liked and those that I liked less. We've made close to 800 dishes at Frugal Foodies over the four plus years that this has been going on, and a lot of the recipes have started to blur for me. So this will be my tool for remembering which dishes I love and which I could do without, and at the same time a way for all of you who say "could you send me the recipes" from such and such a night to easily find them. Or at least that's my hope.