The $21 challenge

We took the $21 challenge and actually spent $14.60 for the week.   We bought mushrooms, oranges, mandarins, beetroot, lettuce and a capsicum at the market and later in the week we bought milk.  For the rest, we used what we had at hand in the freezer, the pantry and the garden and we ate a lot better than you might expect. 
If you are going to try this - and you should - start with a meal plan and focus on using the things you've had tucked away for a while and haven't got around to using.  You might find some interesting things!  For Sunday lunch we ate some corn muffins from the freezer while for dinner we had mushrooms and chard with pearl barley.  This was another great find from the New York Times in the 'recipes for health' section, so it has to be good.  We bought the mushrooms from our allowance and everything else we had in the cupboard or garden.     
We certainly had most things on hand for lunches, including a lamb backstrap in the freezer. We have some lamb's lettuce in the garden & a few remnants of rocket plus sorrel & herbs so we were able to rustle up a salad every day.  When the lamb ran out we had falafels from the freezer. 
Day two was the last of the pea & ham soup from the freezer.  This was the soup we made with the end of the Christmas ham. Accompanied of course, by a slice of trusty sourdough, lightly toasted. Mmmm.
Day three was spicy bean stew from the freezer.  We had planned to make this fresh because it mostly uses beans & vegetables we already had in the fridge or pantry, but then I discovered we had some in the freezer from a previous week so used that instead.  This is a meal that always has left overs when we we make it for two and it freezes well.  This used to be a family standby and it's quick to make, so I often did it when we had to go to an event at school in the evening.  Phoebe said that this was the meal we always had when she was going to perform in a musical recital and so she associated it with butterflies in her stomach.  I hope she likes it better now.  You can make it go further by adding a chopped chorizo.  We always keep some in the freezer. The stew calls for a dollop of pesto  but we didn't have any so I used some zhoug left over from another meal at the weekend.  Note I make my zhoug from parsley because of that coriander thing. 
Day four we used one of the pumpkins from my autumn display and made a pumpkin risotto.  I roasted the  peeled, diced pumpkin at 180 for 1/2 an hour.  Just toss it in a little olive oil, salt & pepper & grate on some nutmeg.  I made a basic risotto using a leek from the garden.  At the end I folded through the roasted pumpkin, some Serrano ham (that I had bought for another meal the week before and not used) & some Parmesan.  There were a few roasted almond slivers in a small container so I sprinkled them on top.
Day five, we had a khoresht from the freezer.  I added some frozen peas and served on rice.  There was a small container of chopped pistachios & rose petals in the pantry so I sprinkled them on the top.
On Friday we usually have an omelette and we had saved the eggs left from the previous week for this.  We were really low on cheese but had just enough for the omelette & used up the last of the Serrano ham.  We also still had enough fresh veg and some buche zickli (that was for the same meal as the ham...) for a salad.
Saturday lunch we had some toast with the last few slices of cheese - sliced very thinly, and some lemon chutney. 
But I felt day seven's dinner was the master stroke.  We had had a shoulder of lamb earlier in the year when we had guests & the left overs weren't going to get used at the time, so I just shredded the meat & froze it.  Perfect for a delicious pie, perhaps?  I sauteed a leek & carrot from the garden with half an onion from the fridge & some garlic.  I added some rosemary & bay leaves & the last of the lentils I'd cooked for the lunches.  There was a jar of artichoke hearts in the pantry (naturally) so I added a couple of those, a dash of quince splash, some grated lemon rind & juice, the end of a bottle of white wine from the fridge & the lamb.  I put the mix into individual ramekins and covered with the last lonely sheet of puff pastry languishing in the freezer & brushed with milk.  I would normally have used an egg but that seemed like an extravagance.  I baked the pies at 180 for 1/2 an hour and they were truly delicious.
A friend had given is some windfall Granny Smith's for juicing and we used a couple of those to make an apple crumble which we served with the last of the feijoa ice cream from the freezer.
So, we ate really well on our budget and even had $6 left at the end of the week.  I definitely plan to do this again - possibly once a month.  It was a great idea to get things used up and we did have to think a bit more carefully about what we were eating - no coffees at work, except what's provided, for example.  The toughest thing was fruit.  Peter went without bananas because they are expensive and we didn't buy feijoas & passionfruit.  Using up freezer stock was great.  We just used what had been there the longest.  The other thing I will do next time is look more carefully in the pantry and use the things that I don't usually think of. Harriet did well too and like us found it easier than she expected.  Next time I am hoping more people will join us.

Going Dutch

This week we stuck with the old standbys with just a couple of new things to share.
We haven't had a fish soup for ages and this week we tried a variation on an old favourite.  For 2, steam a dozen mussels in 1/2 cup white wine until the mussels have opened.  Set the mussels aside and strain the cooking liquor through a fine sieve.  You'll want about 3/4 cup of liquid.  Set a couple of mussels aside to garnish & halve the rest.  Rinse out the pan and put it back on the heat with a little olive oil & butter, 1/2 leek finely sliced & 1/2 fennel bulb finely sliced.  Season, cover & cook over a low heat about 10 mins until tender.  Add a clove of crushed garlic, some fresh thyme & a pinch of saffron.  Cook about a minute.  Add the mussel liquor, 1 1/2 cups chicken stock & 1/4 cup cream.  Bring to the boil & simmer 10 minutes. Add about 300g firm white fish cut into bite-sized pieces.  We used  porae from Yellow Brick Road - responsibly caught via long-line on day boats, traceable, certified by Friends of the Sea.  I added that because, if you check the app I mentioned last week, porae is listed as a bad choice.  Simmer 3 mins or so until the fish is just cooked then take off the heat and add the mussels & some chopped parsley.  Add a reserved mussel to each bowl along with some fennel fronds & a grind of black pepper.  Serve with freshly baked sourdough.
A real find this week was the Dutch favourite Stamppot.  This is Dutch sausage & mash & is divine.  I found the recipe on a Dutch blog along with other interesting ideas so we may be trying some Dutch fare over winter. I pretty much followed this recipe to the letter and although I was sceptical about the vinegar it was perfect addition. The recipe recommends adding a stock cube to the potato cooking water but, in fact, I boiled the potatoes in our home made stock.  I bought the rookworst at Moore Wilson and again I didn't expect to like it but it was delicious.  I also think this would be nice with a good pork sausage and a blob of apple butter.  Did I mention that I had made it again this year, but this time with more sugar because last year it didn't keep well?  This year's batch is much firmer & could be spreadable but still delicious.
We also went back to that old favourite kedgeree. We got some beautiful smoked fish from YBR but I can't recall what it was.  I was reminded how much I love kedgeree and I'm sure it will reappear on our table before too long. 
Next week is going to be interesting.  Harriet has challenged us to spend no more than $21 on the entire week's food including coffees and other treats.  I feel confident we can do it.  I'll let you know how we go.  If you have any suggestions please share.  Alternately if you have any suplus in your gardens they would be welcome too.

Galicia beckons

As I said last week, we are eating our way through our cooking books and around the world, and this week we were in Galicia in Spain with Rick Stein.  It's the bit at the top left bordering on Portugal.  It's coastal, so we had seafood.  We started with mussels in tomato vinaigrette which was a wonderful way to eat mussels.  Eat more mussels - they are quick and easy to prepare, they are so cheap and they are quite filling.
We followed the mussels with a simple terakihi fillet with caramelised garlic. I have this nifty little app on my phone for choosing sustainable fish.  It's called Best Fish Guide & is produced by Forest & Bird.  You type in the fish the recipe suggests & the app tells you if it is a good choice and if not what to choose instead.  It also includes recipes!  The garlic is something you can do a good batch of and keep in the fridge for a few weeks.  Put 125g roughly chopped garlic cloves & 90ml olive oil into a small pan & cook over a very gentle heat for 20 minutes until it is soft & sweet.  Stir occasionally & bash it with a potato masher after about 15 mins to help it soften down.  Season with salt & refrigerate what you don't use.  We had this with what was described as a classic Spanish mixed salad and seemed like a version of a classic Salad Nicoise.  You can buy white asparagus in jars at Moore Wilson & they're not terribly expensive.  Nothing like the price of fresh in the season.
In the spirit of Spain, if not exactly Spanish, we had a salad of pumpkin, ricotta & Serrano ham served on a bed of baby spinach.  It was Hugh's side dish salad expanded into an entire meal. 
However we did not entirely leave last week's British theme behind.  I was looking at cooking books in the library - don't ask why  - I know we have too many on our shelves which is why we started this regional culinary journey.  However there we were at the library and there it was - The Great British Farmhouse Cookbook. I recommend a trip to your local library to borrow a copy for yourself.  If you are in Wellington wait a couple of weeks because we still have it. I would like to cook my way through the book.  For now we have tried Warm lamb salad with pea, mint & feta dressing.  This is a kind of deconstructed Sunday lunch without the potatoes.  You could serve it with a dish of sauteed or roasted potatoes if you wanted the carbohydrate. I plan to make this again.  The leftovers went well in our weekday lunches.
The book got another outing when Peter whipped up the Roasted squash, red onion, green leaf & cheese tart. We need to eat pumpkin every week to maintain my sideboard autumn display  - we eat & replace so they are not wasted.  We need to eat chard because it keeps growing.  So a recipe that uses both pumpkin and chard is very welcome.  You'll be hearing a lot more about this book.
If you have not yet visited Ombra on Cuba St, do so soon.  It describes itself as a Venetian Bacara.  The food is outstanding.  There is a bit of a wait for a table but you can have a drink and start eating at the bar.  The staff are really friendly and helpful.  You will have a great night out.  We took Phoebe on Friday and we were not disappointed. Phoebe's favourite was the potato & emmental crochetta, mine was the pork meatballs.  Next time I'm going to try the sardines.  Reminds me of a great trip I took to Portugal with a very good friend in 1982/83 where we ate sardines nearly every lunchtime.  It was my introduction to the joy of grilled sardines.