The Recession Proof Gourmet

Hi Everybody;

Well, today is my day off sort of. I like to sleep in since this is the only day I get to do that all week. I'm sure that was very informative but anyway, there you have it!!!!!



I was awakened by the phone...........a wrong number. Oh well may as well stay up now. Just puttering around in a coma though as I'm still really sleepy.



Time to rustle up some lunch....Oh nuts, fridge almost empty. Let's have a closer look, rummage around deeper. There must be something, I don't want to go downstairs to the freezer.



Let's see here.........aha, we have here about eight ounces of sirloin steak, three peppers...yellow,orange and red but they are only half each as I have used the other halves since for something else earlier this week. OK.....I have onions and garlic but what to do?



I could grill the steak and the veggies and serve them on top of the steak with a baked potato and another veggie.......Oh that's too ordinary besides it still requires a trip to the basement for veggies. Grill everything anyway and while they're cooking, maybe I'll get inspired. Boy I'm feeling really lazy today!!!!!!



Everything is finished cooking, I guess it's going to have to be what I said earlier except that I will cut the steak in half, I don't eat all that meat. My cat won't touch steak but there are some trimmings for her........what's that? the doorbell?



One of my friends drops in (why is it most people visit you at mealtimes?) I ask her if she had lunch, she said no and she didn't come to eat.......well, I know that but I'm hungry and it's not polite to eat in front of people without offering them. She is skinny as a toothpick anyway so I don't feel bad pressing her. I tell her she could use the weight and I keep offering her my extra!!!! Oh yes back to the food nuts and double chocolate covered nuts!!!!!!!



Well this is what I came up with, I hope you like it.

GRILLED STEAK AND ROASTED PEPPERS

eight ounces of grilling steak

three sweet peppers

one large onion

garlic

olive oil

salad dressing

1 cup brown rice

Wash and dry the peppers (colours of your choice) cut them in half and take out the seeds and cut off all the stem, peel the onion and slice in four thick slices and peel the garlic as many as you like or none if you don't like it.

You should drizzle the peppers, onion and garlic with a tiny bit of olive oil when you place them on the grill.

Put the peppers on the grill to roast until they are a bit charred, remove from the grill and wrap in a clean teatowel and grill the steak for about seven to eight minutes, then add the onion slices and the whole garlic and grill until the steak is cooked to your liking and the garlic and onion are a bit soft. Peel the skin off the peppers (should be easy now) and slice in thin slices, slice the steak across the grain and toss the steak, peppers, onion, garlic and salad dressing together in a bowl.

Serve over hot brown rice. You can also serve with noodles, I love soba noodles or you can toss with salad greens.

This way I found that my eight ounces of steak made three servings or two servings if larger appetites.

Well, that's all for today. I hope you enjoy the recipe and I am going to continue the visit with my friend as I don't get to see her too often. Bye for now.

The Recessionproof Gourmet

I have been bombarded lately with the word recession. Everybody I know is running around whining and griping and about recession and looming poverty and starvation. Mass starvation, I'm told since you do not have a job and you lost your home.



WOW!!!!! Then on the other hand I see the waste of food and the ideas some people have about what they eat. They can be very finicky. This reminds me of my cat, she has been raised (I am sorry to say) on commercial cat food. After that scare over the pets that died from that poisonous addition to pet foods, I cooked for her myself.



My home cooked cat food consisted of roasted breast of chicken, a few peas and carrots processed to her usual consistency with home made chicken broth. I also made her a beef version with sirloin steak, peas and carrots and home made beef broth. In both recipes I included some fat since cats need fat. When I presented these offerings to my beloved pet, I got the shock of my life.



She went over to her dish, looked at it, sniffed it then she looked at me in a most disgusted manner and said to me: "do YOU actually expect ME to eat this stuff?!!" She had the same reaction to both meal versions and I had to return to feeding her her regular diet from the vet.



EXCUSE ME already, I'm only trying to be nice to you and make sure I know what is in your food but cats can be ingrates!!!!



My dog, however thought she died and went to heaven and had no trouble almost licking the bottom off the dish since, of course she got to eat the cat food as well. I was cooking for the dog the same food but cheaper steak and all the chicken after I made soup. Since she got to eat the cat food as well she got extra, she had no problem with that. My dog was very appreciative but then dogs tend to be.



Anyway, this really is not about pet food but rather about some people's attitude to food and cooking. Are we not, now a days accustomed to sending out for pizza or pasta or any number of fast food meals at the expense of home cooked. I understand that most of us are really busy and tired after a long day at work but eating a diet of fast food is hard on our health and harder on our pocketbooks.



Does not being able to afford as many fast food meals constitute poverty? I tend to think not so for all of you who are of the same opinion as myself and are willing to try something really easy, something quite popular, in fact. Something that you are probably buying right now. How about some really awesome, homemade hamburgers? So Here goes...........

Truly Awesome Surprise Burgers

This recipe make four hamburgers

What you need:

1 pound extra lean hamburger

8 ounces of blue cheese

sliced green onions

2 tablespoons light cream

To make:

With wet hands and on a clean, wet board, flatten out the hamburger meat to an oblong shape of 12 X 6 inches. With a wet knife, cut the oblong into eight equal squares.

To make the filling:

Cream the blue cheese with the light cream, add the sliced green onions, mix lightly.

To assemble the hamburgers:

Spread equal amounts of filling on four of the squares of meat to about a quarter inch from the edges. Place a square of plain meat on top of each cheese spread meat square (you will need a wet wide spatula to lift the meat) and crimp the edges to seal. With the wet spatula lift each assembled hamburger off the board. Broil to the required doneness. YUMM!!!!

Serve on a bun as usual with whatever you usually serve your hamburgers with. These are incredible on a whole grain ciabatta bun.

I know these are not to evrybody's taste (I happen to love blue cheese) so here are a few more suggestions that I have tried.

Most popular with my family was a slice of salami (cut a little thicker) with a slice of Velveeta cheese (cut to the size of the salami with a cookie cutter)

And yet more suggestions: cripy fried bacon and a slice of avocado, sliced cheddar cheese and a slice of onion, cream cheese mixed with baby shrimp, cream cheese mixed with smoked oysters.

You see what I mean......the sky is the limit, try something of your own don't be shy.

It doesn't take that long and it's way better than any fast food you can buy and less expensive.

Above all, the people who constantly grumble about impending poverty are the ones who have the same attitude towards food as my cat. I have seen them waste food by putting a huge heap of food on their plate (like they are not likely to find food ever again) then eat a few fork fulls and throw the rest out. Please don't waste food.....there are people starving and if we don't waste food we can help others by having a few extra dollars to spare for the foodbank maybe and if we can't manage that at least we will not be as poor as we think we are. Even if we do not help anyone else, at least we will have a few bucks to spend on other things....like bills!!!!!

Till next time I hope you enjoy my two cents worth.