Cheap Tuesday Gourmet: Gleaning (aka free fruit)

It’s been a while since we’ve gushed about Not Far From The Tree.

If you are unfamiliar with this awesome Toronto non-profit, here’s the Coles Notes version of what they do:

They find home owners who have fruit trees on private properties (who are often a little frustrated with their tree – too much food for one person and a lawn full of apples has to be cleared before one can cut the grass).
The find volunteers to harvest the tree.
One-third of the fruit goes to charity (food banks and shelters who are often short of food and almost always short of fresh fruit), one-third to the owner and the remaining to the volunteers.
Most of the fruit is now distributed by bicycle power.

They picked more than 8,000 pounds last year. That’s an abundance of free fruit and while it’s Toronto-based those of you who are in other places could find a similar arrangement by talking with your neighbors. I don’t know a single person who uses all of their fruit from a single tree (it can actually be overwhelming).

Speaking of Not Far From the Tree is organizing an annual fundraiser to get the year off to a running start. While they are always looking for volunteers, they are also looking for funding to help secure the time and materials for these harvests as well as their educational campaigns, public events and workshops.

The fundraiser takes shape in the form of a film screening and party. Tickets are a very reasonable $15 and those who purchase them in advance will benefit from a free drink ticket. Knowing that Chef Sharon Bergey (Jamie Kennedy Kitchens) has come up with a theme-inspired cocktail means that these tickets will be well worth having!

I should also mention that each encounter we’ve had with NFFTT has been full of friendly people who have been a whole lot of fun. There will likely be some lively discussion after the film and a lot of friendly people to share the experience with.

Here’s the details:

THE GLEANING SCREENING
Thursday, May 20th
At The Toronto Underground Cinema
186 Spadina Ave, entrance off Cameron Street, just north of Queen St W
Doors open at 6:30
Screening at 7:30
Reception following the film.
Advance tickets are $15 and include a cocktail

Tickets available for online purchase (http://guestlistapp.com/events/20325) or by calling (416) 908-3022.

Hope you enjoy – we’re going to try to make it out – send us a message here or on Twitter if you are going and we’d love to say hi.

We started this series of posts in response to many things – an undeniable motivator (as previously shared) was the focus on poverty and eating well and a particular scene in Food, Inc which spoke to the cost of good food vs. `filler`. The entire series of affordable approaches to good food is here.

Cheap Tuesday Gourmet – Organic Bulgur Pasta with Dandelion greens

The title of the post pretty much says it all!

We bought homemade bulgur pasta from Mennonite family at a local farmers market. They made the pasta from their own wheat and were selling it fresh at Whychwood barns farmers market.

The pasta didn`t look like a cheap Tuesday gourmet meal item – it was $5 for a small ball. The producer (and a loyal customer) explained to Dana that it was really heavy and that a small ball could feed two with plenty of leftovers – almost 4. I found that tough to believe – I can eat plate after plate of pasta. The truth is that they were right – we didn`t come close to eating the amount we had.

Since we were picking dandelions, we also grabbed some leaves. The leaves are easy to get; look for concentrated clumps of dandelions and you`ll see a pile of the leaves. They are bitter – especially as they age so this is best done in spring.

Cheap Tuesday Gourmet – Traveller’s Picnic

We just got back from New York City – 8 amazing days where we walked, ate and sampled beverages.

Our typical day consisted of 12-18 hours of walking with two meals and a lot of great conversation thrown in. We spent just over half our trip in Brooklyn, shopped at about 8 stores in total and visited 2 galleries. It is odd to admit that we spent more time in public parks (Central and Prospect) than we did in all galleries and shops combined.

Our best lunch was admittedly over the budget of Cheap Tuesday Gourmet ($5 per person though most days are well under $2). However the concept of what we did for one of my favorite lunch memories endures (we were not setting out to create a post or do this for Cheap Tuesday Gourmet – although it was easily our most affordable meal with the best view). It can easily be scaled up or down and was the best view, lunch and memory I have of all of our lunches and was at a fraction of the price (and certainly cheaper than typical fast food would have cost for the two of us):

Our picnic consisted of a locally made ciabatta (it was stunning and I don’t normally get excited about such things; hard and crusty on the outside and soft and forgiving in the middle), a cheese with a unique story and ham that came from a 4-generation farm that cures their own meats.

The store we bought these from a minimum 1/4 pound serving size when ordering from the counter. Buying it prepackaged or finding a store without a minimum order (this was the first time I have ever run in to such a policy)or substituting one of the products with something more healthy than simply meat and cheese (an apple would have been a lovely pairing with the cheese and a pear with the meat) would be other ways to influence the budget on this meal.

Beyond cost, consider the phenomenal view of Manhattan that we had:

This will definitely change our plans for the summer – many more picnics are in the plans for the year. The trip was a great reminder that our best memories often come from the conversation and moments shared with the one we’re with and not by the cost of entry.

Cheap Tuesday Gourmet – Chipotle Chile Paste

Since it`s heat week and it`s Cheap Tuesday Gourmet, let`s talk about making your own amazing hot sauce at a fraction of the price.

Start by buying the dehydrated peppers of your choice (we used Chipotle which are expensive at $24 per pound; you could easily substitute for others that are 3-4 less though you only need 2 ounces – or less). We used $3 of chipotle, $0.50 cents of canola oil (grape seed oil will also do) and a pinch of salt. You can also combine different hot peppers if you would like. This recipe is extremely scalable.

Heat the peppers in a dry frying pan for a minute a side. Use care – too much heat can create a dry smoke which can get into your eyes and lungs making your kitchen not so fu to be in. We just warmed them up on a moderate heat, mixing them around to get the oils going.

Cover the peppers in a bowl with boiling water for 15-30 minutes. I covered the bowl to retain the heat and stirred every 5 minutes to move the peppers around (the pictures below were taken in 5-minute intervals):

The finished peppers will be pliable – much closer to feeling like roasted peppers than dried.

If you want to lower the heat, remove the seeds now (kitchen gloves are a great practice here). Toss them in a blender or food processer with a pinch of salt.

Add 2 tablespoons to a pot and warm your pepper purée in the oil for a few minutes until the oil becomes rich in color – use more oil if you want; the oil can be used with the paste or separated later (with a spoon) to add to anything you want.

The flavor is superior to commercial hot sauce – in addition to heat and smoke, there`s a woodsy, earthy awesomeness that comes through in this dish that just takes your dishes to a higher level than mass production can muster (at a portion of the price).

But we`re not done yet!

Remember, these were chipotle peppers. If you haven`t tasted Chipotle`s yet or don`t know what they are you will need to know that they are Jalapenos that are smoked and often dehydrated (you can buy them in adobo sauce as an alternative to the dried product). They are moderately hot and feature a giant smoke flavor.

The smoke flavor is dominant in our paste – and our leftover water that we rehydrated the peppers in (you didn`t think we were going to throw that out, did you?) The leftover water that the peppers bathed in is essentially Chipotle Tea – my own version of liquid smoke. I add it to the pot I cooked the peppers in (there is some residual oil and pepper flavor) and reduce it in half. Liquid smoke is an amazing addition to bbq sauce or any meats (and even veg) you cook on a grill. If you`re apartment bound and don`t have a grill you can add smoky flavor to indoor cooking like this too.

A jar of chipotle hot sauce is typically $6 or more. Liquid smoke is about the same. For under $4 we have made a condiment that will go with eggs, salad dressings, any sauces, soups, cooked foods and more that will elevate our cooking to the next level. Most descriptions of these pastes say they will last for several weeks in your fridge – our experience is they will often last for even more.

There’s not much to look at with this one – you can see the idea by looking at the photos of the Chipotle’s in water – this “tea” is the basis of many smoky-spicy barbeques to come this summer!

This series of hot pepper posts will beget new content daily for the next week. If you`re looking for all of the articles published so far, click this link. The entire series covers different types of peppers, different uses and some of the myths around spicy food. Hope you enjoy!

Cheap Tuesday Gourmet – Morroccan Chickpea Stew

We`ve had a lot of meaty Cheap Tuesday`s lately. This weeks recipe is easily vegetarian (though we used a touch of chicken broth because we had leftover chicken bones from last nights dinner and made a 2-cup stock by simmering them in water and reducing; replace with vegetable stock to make this vegetarian).

I`ve been thinking about cooking something like this for a week and after eating two bowls of it I actually wish I`d cooked more.

Cheap Tuesday Gourmet – Pork Chops in Brine (and in Bulk) and tricks to measuring ratios

Taking a break from Spring Preserving to delve into Cheap Tuesday Gourmet – a weekly series on eating affordable, sharing tips and, often, how preserving can lower your dinner bill. The last few weeks have been a little obscure for some – baked eggs, turkey necks and the mighty rutabaga are a little too edgy for some (tongue firmly in cheek). We`ll head back to a vegetarian option next week (I am so excited for the plans I can barely wait) and this week we`re heading back to the Lord of the Flies – yes, the mighty pig.

If you`re vegetarian you may still be interested in the first section (in fact the majority of this article has very little to do with cooking meat and is useful to those who bake or brine anything).

Cheap Tuesday Gourmet: Turkey Stew and scones

To eat economically, I let the market choose my meal. This week started as a struggle – I was at a very expensive (though fabulous) grocery store in suburbia and needed to find the ingredients for Cheap Tuesday. To give you an idea of how expensive they can be; an organic chicken is over $30. I thought my chances of finding anything were slim.

The moment I saw these, I knew I was set:

Cheap Tuesday Gourmet – Vegetarian Baked Eggs

I woke up on Sunday morning and, after a long play date in the dog park, it was time for something to eat. I`m not a giant breakfast person – I far prefer something `lunchy`to start the day. All time favourites are hamburgers or spaghetti but one could not live like that for a long time (I tried for several years ).

I was flipping through Twitter when I saw a post from Julia (she is a fellow can jammer and blogger and she has chickens) – she had made ricotta pancakes and used her chickens eggs. I was getting hungrier by the minute.

I should also mention that cooking breakfast is another skill that is largely underdeveloped. Ask Dana about the omelette incident – a collapsed flop of a thing that included cheese, apples, jalapenos and about 8 other flavors. Try as we might, we couldn`t make it through.

It was time for baked eggs – I had never tried it out before and am thrilled with the results. We took two small ramekins ( you could use any oven-safe dish including a large one to make a tray of this) and lightly buttered them (you could barely see the butter, if at all). I lined the bottom with polenta, a layer of onions, garlic and celery root.Topped with salsa, pepper flakes, two cracked eggs and dried herbs (I used oregano). We even topped with a few tiny pieces of strained ricotta.

See if you can figure out the trick to cooking them based on the picture below:

You place your dish within a water bath. We used pie plates and poured boiling water into them before adding the entire thing (covered) into the oven at 350 degrees. The water stays hot and maintains a steady cooking temperature through your dish. Cook until you are happy with the doneness – I would have prefered things a little runnier but it was great nonetheless (great as in stunning good, I can`t beleive I cooked this breakfast oh my goodness I like it a lot kind of great). We cooked them for about 30 minutes – 20 would have done the job (you can safely check throughout):

The eggs are the most expensive piece (I suppose chicken owners might disagree ) The use of polenta lowers the cost and the entire plate is well under $2. You could easily replace the salsa with tomatoes, sauce or anything that would keep the moisture in the pan. There are thousands of variations and an exciting option for eggs for me.

Click on the CHEAP TUESDAY GOURMET tag for more affordable meal ideas – and check out Julias blog to get your appetie going.

Cheap Tuesday Gourmet – A second look at sprouting

We originally wrote about sprouting here. Back then (in January), we were young and innocent.

Since that time we`ve continued to research. I have 3 books on sprouting and 8 packages of seeds. All of them (including the seeds) suggest that sprouting in a jar is a fine alternative. Nonetheless, I read something recently that suggested there could be a possibility of E Coli when sprouting using jars. It`s a single mention but one that I took to heart and attempted a different approach, sprouts in dirt:

The first lesson we`ve learned is fairly evident – don`t pack the jars with too much dirt. In retrospect, it`s mind numbing obvious – as sprouts grow, they take more room and this will move dirt if necessary.

The process is easy – soak the seeds for 4-6 hours and place a single layer on top of soil. Place a small amount of soil on top, moisten.

There are considerable advantages to sprouting in dirt compared to the jar method which go beyond avoiding potential disease:

You can grow as much (or little) as you wish
Dirt will allow for a second or third crop if you cut them as opposed to eating the root
You only have to water once per day – the soil maintains the moisture
Watering is quicker and cleaner
It doesn`t take fridge space
Since they are living in dirt, they will stay in prime health longer
Although not exclusive to soil, we are growing 4 pots to rotate our `crops` so we will have a constant stream of greens (they grow in 2-4 days).

The cost is low. We bought the pots (they include a drainage hole and tray) for $2 – a cheaper alternative could include reused yogurt jars. Seeds are typically around $2 and many packages will yield up to 10 cups of sprouts. The pictures above are early in the growing process – the pots are easily 3 times more full now.

Cheap Tuesday Gourmet: The Mighty Rutabaga

I have never cooked one. I didn`t really know what to do with it. So I bought 4.

The rutabaga is (as I later learned) basically a sweet turnip. It has a highly waxed exterior that can be peeled with a good peeler or a knife and firm flesh that is solid throughout. You`ll need a good knife to cut it raw as it`s very solid.

When I got home I scoured a few books. I found a recipe for glazed turnips by Julia child which I used as my base but derived from there and transformed this into a sweet soup.

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