Eggplant and Feta Cheese Gratin

Ah winter is finally here... I have to tell you I had the best day off yesterday. I just cooked, I ate, and I slept, all day hahaha. I made a yummy vegetarian dish, Eggplant and Feta Cheese Gratin, recipe I got from my friend's vegetarian cook book. I simplified the recipe of course, I had to make sure that it was still yummy and affordable :)

In my shopping list;
2 eggplants
2 canned chopped tomato (with basil and garlic)
100 gram feta cheese

And from the pantry;
1 onion, chopped finely
olive oil
parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, and a little bit of sugar to taste.

And here is how I cooked it;

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Cut eggplants into thin slices, sprinkle with salt, and leave them for about half an hour until all the bitter liquid comes out. Pat dry, and cook on chargrill pan until cooked and softened.
3. On a separate pan, cook onion with a dash of olive oil until softened. Add in chopped tomato, and a little bit of salt, pepper, and about a teaspoon of sugar to get rid of the acidity. Cook for about 20 minutes on low heat, until thickened.
4. Grease the baking dish, and arrange a third of the eggplant slices, then top it with the tomato mixture and a third of the feta cheese and some parmesan cheese. Repeat this step with the second and third layer.
5. Into the oven for 30 minutes, and that's it; Eggplant and Feta Cheese Gratin.

I love the mature flavour of the eggplant, and I love tomato and cheese too, that's why I can't think of anything I don't like about this dish. I actually added extra feta cheese when I cooked it. But some people might think it's a little too overpowering, but again, it's entirely up to you.

The actual recipe actually didn't salt the eggplant before cooking, but I think it tastes better after you get rid of the bitter liquid. I didn't use fresh basil either, it's just cheaper using canned tomato with basil and garlic, and it still tastes good. Having said that, I would recommend you to use fresh basil if you can afford it :)

I spent $11.14 for the ingredients, and that makes 4 serves. That's less than $3 a serve.

Javanese Banana and Bread Pudding

This one here is my Mom's favourite, and to be honest with you I hated it when I was little. The thing is when you live so far away from home you start missing those things that reminds you of home. I started craving for it a few weeks ago when I was talking on the phone with my Mom for our regular weekly catch up. So I thought I really just have to make it even when banana is so expensive.

Unlike traditional bread and butter pudding, this Javanese pudding actually uses coconut milk, so at the end it makes a different consistency. And if you find it looking a little bit like curdled coconut milk, don't worry, that's how it's supposed to be. I also use this 'soft butter bread' from Asian bakery, Bread Top, it's only $3.20, and it has a slight sweetness to it that works so well with the banana and coconut milk.

On my shopping list;

2 ripe bananas, cut into dice size.
1 pack 'soft butter bread'

From the pantry;

2 eggs, beaten.
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar

And, let's start cooking;
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Boil coconut milk on medium heat, and add in sugar, keep stirring.
3. Add in banana and cinnamon, cook for about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
4. Tear bread and layer in a baking dish.
5. Add the eggs into coconut milk mixture. Pour the whole liquid into baking dish, let the bread soak up all the liquid for a few minutes.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until set.

Yummm my apartment smells like home now :) It's sweet and very... Javanese, like very rich and sweet. Hope you like it.

It cost me $6.40 for the bananas (super expensive) and $3.20 for the bread. That make 4 serves, or $2.40 a serve, that's good enough to make me feel home.

Eggplant Stuffed with Mushroom - Julia Child Recipe, Simplified

I might've told you so many times before that I love eggplant.  And I might've told you as well that I love French food. And I loved it so much that my best friends bought me French cook books for my birthday. I got 3 books, and one of them is Julia Child's legendary 'Mastering The Art of French Cooking'.

I love the book and I love the recipes. I mean, they're definitely not easy cooking, but I love how each time I cook it, it surprises me how good the food turns out! You know, like, it's almost unbelievable how good the food is, I keep thinking 'oh my god, I made this?'

Now, this recipe is called Aubergines Farcies Duxelles or eggplant stuffed with mushroom. The recipe is actually quite intricate and time consuming, but it's very cheap to make and it's definitely worth spending some time in the kitchen.

And in my shopping list;

2 medium size eggplants
1 1/2 tablespoon Philadelphia cream cheese
1 medium size brown onion, chop finely.
1 small shallot, chop finely
250gr button mushroom

And from the pantry;

2 tablespoon butter
1 table spoon of thyme (leftover from my Tuna Salad)
salt

Let's get cooking;
1. Cut the eggplant in half, lengthwise. Sprinkle with salt to draw out the bitterness. Leave it for about half an hour, and dry the liquid out with paper towel.
2. At the meantime, mince mushroom finely, use your electric chopper if you want to save some time. Then using a towel or muslin cloth, squeeze all the liquid out, this way the mushroom can perfectly sauté.
3. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan until it starts to bubble and sauté mushroom and chopped shallot for about 5 minutes until brown. Set aside in a mixing bowl.
4. Melt the remaining butter and add in chopped onion until brown, but nor caramelized. Mix in with sautéed mushroom. Add in thyme and cream cheese as well. (You can add chopped parsley too)
5. When the eggplant is ready, carve the flesh carefully so it's easier to remove. Place in roasting pan, flesh-side up. Pour around 1 cm hot water into the pan, and place under hot broiler for 15 minutes, or until lightly brown on top and a little softer.
6. Carefully remove the flesh and mix it with the mushroom mix. I used my scissors to cut the eggplant into finer pieces.
7. Place the stuffing back into the eggplant shells, and place in roasting pan. Again pour some hot water into the pan, then bake in pre heated 180 degrees oven for 30 minutes.

You can also put some bread crumbs and gruyere cheese on top and baste with melted butter before baking. But to me it's already rich in flavour, I don't think it's necessary.

That's it! One really decadent dish, I love it! I not only recommend you, I urge you to give it a go!

To make this dish, I only spent; $4 for the eggplant, 40 cents for the onion, 10 cents for the shallots, and $3.20 for the cream cheese (and I only use a little bit of it). That's $7.70 for 2 serve of beautiful French dish.

Cannellini Beans and Tuna Salad

Have you ever been to Journal Cafe on Flinders Lane? Go there and I recommend you to try the Cannellini  Beans and Tuna salad. I used to love going there because it's next to the City Library, so I would borrow some books and read it while enjoying the coffee and the salad for lunch. Hmmm... too bad, now I have to save some money for New York. But not too bad because I've been able to make my own version of this salad.

As always; on my grocery list;

400gr cannellini beans.
130gr good quality canned tuna in spring water.
2 celery sticks, chopped into bite sizes.
a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved.
just a tiny bit of red onion, chopped finely.

And from the pantry;

1 tablespoon of olive oil
about a tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves (leftover from my Irish Stew)
1 clove of garlic, crushed.

This is how you make it;
1. Rinse and drain cannellini beans.
2. In a big salad bowl, mix crushed garlic with olive oil, and thyme.
3. Add in the vegetables, beans, and drained tuna. Mix well.
4. Serve by itself, or on top of sourdough toast.

I always love tuna, and I love all the ingredient here, especially thyme (they didn't use it as the Journal cafe). It's just very fresh and light. If you like you can add some avocado in, and drizzle a little bit of lemon juice on top.

I can't believe how cheap this recipe is; $1.25 for the canned beans, $2.98 for the tuna, $2.98 for the whole pack of cherry tomatoes (we only use less than a quarter of it), 54 cents for the celery sticks, 56 cents for the red onion. That's $8.31 all together, and that serves 3, so it's $2.77 per serve. Yummy and super affordable...

Cinnamon Apple Cake

This is a slightly modified recipe from a book called "At My French Table" by Jane Webster. My best friends actually gave me this book for my 25th birthday :) Anyway it's a fine recipe called 'Normandy Apple Cake'. But instead of using freshly grated nutmeg, I used the traditional spice; cinnamon.

This cake is very moist, and I also love how it's not too sweet. It's perfect having this cake after a long day at work, and I love having it with tea. My housemate loves having it with ice cream. Yummm... beautiful cake always makes my day, especially when I don't have to spend a lot of money to make it.

In my shopping list;

2 or 3 granny smith or jonathan apples. Cored, peeled and roughly chopped

250gr unsalted butter

And from the pantry;

4 eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

1 cup caster sugar

2 cups self-raising flour

1 cup milk

around a teaspoon ground cinnamon

And this is how I make it;

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees

2. Cook apples in some water and brown sugar for 10 minutes, then drain and sprinkle with cinnamon.

3. In a big bowl, mix butter and caster sugar with electric mixer until combined.

4. Add eggs, one by one. Then sift in the flour and add milk. Beat again until combined and soft mixture is formed.

5. Add in half of the apple, and then pour mixture into cake pan, and top with remaining of the chopped apples.

6. Bake for 50 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with fresh cream or...  ice cream. Or if you can't afford it, just dust it with icing sugar :p

Unfortunately my housemate threw out my shopping receipt, so I can't tell you exactly how much I spent to make this cake... I think it's about $10 and that makes 8 slices, so it's $1.25 per slice. A lot cheaper, and (I think) it's better than most cake you get from cafes. I'm gonna have the last slice now, yummm....

St Patrick's Day Special - Irish Stew!

It was my first attempt and I didn't expect it to be this good! I mean, my Irish friend, Brendan, told me about Irish stew and he told me how he hated it! So I thought of trying it, and then it was St. Patrick's day a few days ago, so it was perfect timing. So here it is, St. Patrick's Day special - Irish Stew!

I find it interesting how the meat doesn't need browning, instead all the ingredients are just put together in an ovenproof dish and cooked slowly for 2.5 hours.

Here is what I needed to buy from supermarket;

around 600gr Lamb forequarter chop

375ml beef stock / chicken stock

4 sprigs thyme

1 large parsnip

2 carrots

2 large potatoes

1 brown onion

a handful of parsley.

And from the pantry I only need;

2 tablespoon of tomato paste

a dash of worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper

And all you have to do;

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees

2. Chop parsnip, carrots, potatoes and onion coarsely.

3. Place all the ingredients in an ovenproof dish, and cook for 2 hours, covered.

4. Uncover, cook for another half an hour, add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with chopped parsley.

That's all. I was quite surprised with how simple it is, and yet all the ingredients made beautiful flavour combination. I used chicken stock because I think beef stock can be a little overpowering, but may be I should try it next time.

All the ingredients cost me $14, and that's $7 a portion. Not bad, I would cook this again next year in St. Patrick's day, and drink lots of beer. And I'll make Brendan eat my stew :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Beef Stroganoff

Hmmm... Why do I love this dish...? I just love it. I mean, I love mushrooms and sour cream and I also love love love dill, it's funny how this simple combination makes flavourful, delicious dish. I really like the sauce, so I add more sour cream and mushrooms, I think they're the best part of the dish. I'm not too sure but I think the actual Stroganoff recipe uses dried sweet paprika powder, but I couldn't find it in supermarket, so I used fresh red capsicum, and add a bit of sugar... I hope that makes sense.

Let's get cooking. I bought from supermarket;

about 500gr beef Stroganoff cut
300ml sour cream
200gr sliced button mushroom
fresh dill, chopped coarsely.
1 small lemon (just need a little bit of the juice, so if you have that bottled lemon juice, just use it. I personally like fresh lemon juice.)
1 red capsicum, sliced thinly.
1 small brown onion, sliced thinly.

And from the pantry I already have;

1 clove of garlic, crushed
just a dash of red wine
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

And I cooked it, like this;
1. Melt half of the butter and brown the meat, set aside.
2. Using the remaining butter, brown the onion and crushed garlic until soften, then add mushroom and sliced capsicum.
3. Add in the beef back to the pan, and add a dash of lemon juice and red wine, and just a little bit of water until boils. Simmer and cover for 10 minutes until the water reduced.
4. Add sour cream, tomato paste and dill, cook and stir until heated through. Add sugar, salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve it with rice or pasta.

I love this better with rice, cause it soaks up all the sauce and it's really yummy. I think this recipe would be the most expensive recipe I have cooked since I started the blog, but it's actually not that bad. It cost me about $17 in total, but that serves 3. So that's just a little over $5 per serve, and I mean, yes I'm on budget but every now and then I feel like I still have to treat myself without going over my budget...

Lime and Ricotta Pudding

Yeah, I've been really busy doing other things... and It's sad to say that I haven't had any exciting and successful attempts on cheap good food, so I had nothing much to write lately. But I made this beautiful dessert about 2 weeks ago, and I really loved it. It's called Lime and Ricotta Pudding.

I got the recipe from this book I borrowed from the city library, it's called 'Cooking Desserts' from Murdoch Books publication. It's quite a beautiful book, great dessert recipes, and beautiful photos too. Have a look next time you go to city library.

As always, I loved grocery shopping, and this time I only had to buy;

1 large lime (you need the zest and 1/4 cup of the juice)
1 1/2 cup of good quality ricotta cheese

And everything else I got it from the pantry;

60 gram unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup of caster sugar
3 eggs, room temperature and separated
1/4 cup of self-raising flour
icing sugar

And here is the instruction;
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease a large ovenproof dish, about 1.5 litre capacity.
2. Then in a large bowl use electric mixer to beat the butter, caster sugar and half of the lemon zest for 30 seconds until combined. Add egg yolk one at a time. Mix until combined.
3. Gradually add ricotta and flour alternately, a spoon at a time, and mix until mixture is thick and smooth.
4. Stir in the remaining lime juice.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then carefully fold into the ricotta mixture in 2 batches.
6. Pour the mixture into the dish, place in a roasting tin, and pour enough hot water into roasting tin until halfway up the sides of the dish.
7. Bake for 1 hour, then sift the icing sugar and sprinkle with lime zest...

I loved it and my housemate loved it, my friends loved it. It's just so moist and smooth, and I loved the subtle lime flavour mixed with ricotta cheese... Yummy...

This serves 4 big portions, or 6 diet serves hahaha. It only cost me $6 for 500gr of good ricotta cheese, and I didn't need to use all of that, and I can't even remember how much was the lime... Let's say $1, so that's $7 for 4 serves, it's not even $2 a serve... I totally loved it and would make it again in the future.

Eggplant Balado

I often get asked by people if I know how to cook Indonesian. I said, I probably don't. The thing is, it takes hours to prepare Indonesian food, and some of the ingredients are not even available here. On top of that, I really am a lazy cook and most of the time I rely so much on the pre-packed spices that I can easily get from the Asian groceries...

This one though, Eggplant Balado, is possibly the easiest Indonesian food to cook from scratch, and it really is one of my favourite. And even better,  this sauce is only made from shallots, garlic, red chillies, a bit of ginger, lime leaves, and tomatoes. It's so simple yet, it's so full of flavour, it's sweet, it's a little bit spicy and sour at the same time. Not to forget, the lime leaves make it really fragrant too. And of course there's a million other variations to this sauce, but for now, I'd like to keep it simple and affordable, trust me these simple ingredients are more than enough to make a beautiful dish...

I used char-grilled eggplant here because I love the texture and the distinct flavour. There's something about the slight bitterness of the eggplants that work really well with the spices. But if you're not a fan of eggplant, you can always cook it with deep-fried fish, chicken, prawns, hard-boiled eggs, and many other things you can think of.

This is all I need to get from the supermarket;

4 red chillies (big long ones. Don't worry it's not that spicy)
2 shallots
2 medium size tomatoes.
tiny bit of ginger, around the size of a teaspoon.
A large eggplant, cut into long strips, about 1.5 cm thick.

And I've got in my pantry;
4 cloves of garlic
2 lime leaves.
some oil
salt and sugar to taste.

Now, here is how you cook it;
1. Using a blender or food processor, blitz the chillies, shallots, garlic, and ginger into paste. Stir fry it on a frying pan with a little bit of oil, on medium heat, for a few 2 to 3 minutes until it becomes more fragrant.
2. Blitz the tomatoes and add into the pan. Cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Add in the lime leaves, and a glass of water, turn the heat to low. Cook for 30 minutes, and let it reduce until it turns into pure'e. You might need to add some water if it becomes too dry. And add some salt and about 2 teaspoon of sugar to taste.
4. Meanwhile, place the eggplant strips on a plate and sprinkle with some salt. This would draw the bitter liquid out of it. Use paper towel to dry it.
5. Brush eggplant with oil or you can use oil spray if you have it.
6. Cook on char-grill pan for around 3 minutes on each side, or until it's half cook.
7. Once your Balado sauce is ready, add in the eggplant and cook until it softens. And that's all, serve it with rice.

I calculated how much I spent on this; 80 cents for the chillies, $2.50 for the eggplant, 40 cents for the shallots, 30 cents for the ginger, and $1.80 for the tomatoes. That all adds up to $5.80, and makes 2 meal... I've still got some sauce leftover, I'm gonna keep it a jar and store it in the fridge. I'm gonna use it to cook with hard-boiled eggs sometimes this week... Yummm...

Vegetarian Dish - Shauna's Special Rice

I've been feeling like I've eaten too much meat lately. I mean, did you ever feel like you crave for that yummy and guilt-free food? I personally enjoy a lot of guilty pleasure food, you know, like fatty and fried food. But every now and then I want something healthy too. And this one here is a recipe from my friend, Shauna. Trust me, it is super simple, super cheap, and it tastes super too! I tried cooking it today and I had 2 bowls within a few hours.

These are the ingredients for 2 serve;

- 1 cup of brown rice

- about 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic

- half brown onion, finely chopped

- about a cup of pumpkin, cut finely

- 2 carrots, grated.

- half a handful of parsley, finely chopped.

- a little bit of oil

- a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder

I only had to spend around $5 for the ingredients. I just had to buy pumpkin, which cost me $3 and I actually only need half of it, and 2 carrots that cost me 40 cents, brown rice $2 a pack. I already have everything else at home. So, that's about not even $4 per serve.

And this is all you have to do,

1. Brown the chopped onion and crushed garlic with a little bit of oil until softened. Then add in the pumpkin and grated carrots cook it for a few minutes until they start to soften.

2. Add the stock powder, and chopped parsley, cook for another minute.

3. Place the brown rice and 2 cups (or a little bit more if you're cooking with extra vegetables) of water in a saucer pan, cook with medium heat until the water starts to boil.

4. Add in the vegetables, and cook on low heat and covered for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. Turn off the heat, and let it sit for 20 minutes. (Shauna said this will make the rice fluffy, and she's right. I never knew this trick before). And that's it.

You would love this recipe, I promise. I love the flavour of the pumpkin and the carrots together with the  fluffy texture of the rice, it's brilliant. Shauna actually suggested to serve this with parmesan cheese or steamed green beans, but to me it's perfect just by itself. Hmmm... for once I get to pig out on something yummy and I don't have to feel guilty about it...

Just a Little Thought

I thought of this the other day. The simplest way to make a meal cheaper;

- add more vegetables.
- add more stock.
- serve with rice or pasta.

yes? no?

Relapse

Right, bad news... I only ended up saving $300 in the past 2 weeks... I guess it's not bad, and it's better than nothing.

Sometimes it's hard not to eat out when you live in Melbourne, isn't it? I mean, there are sooo many good places to eat out! And I'm not saying they're expensive either, but they're certainly not helping me and my super tight budget. You know, I can't help it sometimes, I love good food, so it's almost like a relapse...

Anyway, I'm not giving up my New York dream, so I guess I just need to try harder. And yeah, wish me luck :)

Sardines On Toast

For some reason I don't think many Australians like sardines... but I might be wrong. I mean, I hope I'm wrong because I think it's yummy! I remember when I was little my Mom used to make me and my sister this sardines cooked with chopped tomatoes and chillies whenever she's busy and our helpers were away. So each time I go to supermarket and walk pass the canned fish section I can't help thinking about getting some sardines.

Now, I had some leftover sourdough bread at home, and I bought a canned portuguese sardines, I can't remember exactly how much I got it for, but I think it was less than $2.

I normally mix seeded sliced chillies, and finely chopped shallot with the sardines but I got this sardines with spicy oil, so I didn't use any chillies. I only add some chopped shallot in the sardines and mashed them, and spread them on my bread.

Then in to the pre-heated oven, 160 degrees for at least 5 minutes. Some days I like the bread crunchier, so I toast it for longer but this time 5 minutes is just perfect. Drizzle with a bit of lemon juice. I love it, so simple. I can have this for lunch or snacks anytime...

It's Just Tuna Sandwich

It's not a recipe, it's just a little note.

I've been smoking less lately, 4 cigarette a day, and that's not bad, right? I guess that somehow counts. And tonight I was craving for a tuna sandwich. I don't think anyone needs a recipe for this. It's just bread and tuna and cheese and anything else you want in it?

I like good bread though, and good cheese. Oh, and I had it lightly toasted. Yum...

My Favourite Guilty Pleasure, Spaghettini Carbonara

I actually cooked this 2 days ago, but I wasn't feeling well, so I didn't post it. But anyway this dish is by faaaaar my favourite guilty pleasure food ever (part of it because I really shouldn't have bacon and pork, for a religious reason! But don't tell anyone).

I love the creamy-ness of the sauce from the grated parmesan and eggs, and I'm sure if you like bacon and eggs you would love this dish because it's basically like bacon, cheese and eggs on spaghettini. If you prefer another type of pasta, I would recommend small pasta just because it is easier to mix it.

Ok you would need;
- 2 slices of middle bacon, cut into small pieces
- 1 free range egg, beat it.
- around 1/4 cup (or more if you like them extra cheesy) of finely grated parmesan cheese. I would recommend good quality cheese, trust me, it's worth buying. I'm on budget so I bought some from Victoria Market deli, it's good and cheap, it's about $3 to $4.
- 3 serves of spaghettini.
- chopped parsley to garnish (optional)
You can easily get all the ingredients for under $8.

All you have to do;
1. Cook pasta in boiling water with some salt.
2. At the same time, cook the bacon pieces with a little bit of olive oil. The goal is to have the pasta ready  around the same time the bacon is cooked. I like the bacon pieces slightly crunchy. I like the contrasting texture of the pasta and the crunchy bacon.
3. When the pasta is al dente, drain it and then pour the bacon bits with all the grease to the pasta. Make sure you do it straight away, you need to do all this step when the pasta and the bacon are still hot.
4. Add in the beaten eggs and stir well for a few second, and sprinkle the parmesan cheese, and stir thoroughly.
5. Add chopped parsley to garnish.

You would see how you actually don't need any cream for this dish. The combination of the egg and cheese and the heat of the pasta makes the creamy sauce. It's so simple and of course, cheap. I normally have this dish on saturday night when I don't feel like going out. I'd just stay in, cook this (preferably home alone and not having to share with anyone),  have it with a glass of red, while watching tv. And don't even worry about the carbs :) Yes, that would be the best guilty pleasure food, trust me.

Sick Again, Soup Again.

I'm sick again! F*ck. So soup again. This time is a little bit too lazy, and less homey than what I would prefer. But still turned out alright for a sick food. It's just chicken soup with carrots and potatoes and leeks.

I went to Victoria Market for grocery shopping, and bought;
- 2 carrots
- 3 potatoes
- 3 chicken thigh fillets
- 1 leek

And I've got some at home:
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste (or crushed garlic, I'm sick I can't be bothered)
- salt, pepper, sugar to taste.
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste.

And (cough) this is how I cooked it (cough);
1. Cut all ingredients into chunky pieces, brown the chicken fillets, and add 1.5 liter of water, and wait until it boils.
2. Add all ingredients, and cook for as long as you like. I cooked it for 1 hour on low heat, covered.

That's all... I need to rest. I'm posting my favourite guilty pleasure Spaghettini Carbonara that I cooked yesterday, when I get better. So hopefully I'll get better soon.

So Far...

Just to let everyone know, I've saved $400 in the past 2 weeks from eating cheap hahaha. And I've still managed to pay my rent and bills and go out too! Honestly I'd like to save $500 every fortnight, so I gotta try a little harder next time. Wish me luck.

Spanish Chorizo and Olives Toasted Sandwich

Tonight was one of those night where I just can't be bothered to cook anything too complicated (most nights?). I was too tired to do things, and I remembered this yummy Spanish Chorizo toasted sandwich I had once before in one of my favourite cafes in Melbourne. I thought it was a good idea to cook it; simple, cheap, and yummmmmmmy...

I bought from the supermarket;

- Spanish Chorizo, I sliced them in half into 2 thinner cuts. I got it for only $2.40 (cheaper when you got it from the market)

- Just a tiny bit of sliced spanish black olives from the deli section (25 cents).

- One wholemeal bread roll, or sourdough bread (got 1 for 65 cents)

That's all I got from the market, and I've got some at home;

- light cheddar cheese (I should try mozzarella next time, i think it will taste better).

- tomato sauce

And it's so simple:

1. pre-heat oven on 160 degree.

2. cook chorizo on frying pan, it's best to cook them without oil on low heat (this way the chorizo won't loose too much of the beautiful fat). Cook for about 10 minutes or more depending on the thickness.

3. While chorizo is cooking, spread out the sliced olives on one part of the bread, layer it with grated cheese.

4. When chorizo is cooked, put them on the other part of bread, toast the sandwich open (both side exposed to the heat) in the oven for 5 minutes.

5. When it's done, add some squirt of tomato sauce, and close both parts of the sandwich, and that's it.

I like the simplicity of the recipe, and I love chorizo, it's got a lot flavour that you don't really need too much things to add. It's just perfect for a Monday night, you know, first day back to work is already too much, I'd rather have more time to chill out.

UCG Wholesale Grocer

If you live around Melbourne CBD area, check out UCG Wholesale Grocer on 58 A'Beckett street (between Swanston and Elizabeth). I only just found it last week, and I was so surprised of how cheap things are there. They have cheap olive oils, canned tomato and artichoke and antipasto, pasta, canned tuna, Italian coffee and a lot of other things. They're about half price compared to regular supermarket, just have a look if you live nearby.

I think they only open Monday to Friday though, 9am to 5pm. But the good thing is (apart from they're really cheap) you don't have to buy things in bulk to get the special price. I'm lucky to live 2 blocks away from there, so it's worth going there and save money.

Osso Bucco

I invited some friends to have dinner at my place last night. I know what you're thinking, dinner party isn't exactly cheap. But to me personally it was a cheaper alternative to spending my weekend and having a good time. See, I would normally go out for drinks with friends and may be watch a film, or just partying and believe me that costs more than throwing a dinner party.

A good dinner party doesn't have to be fancy and expensive. I like them simple and homey, and it's just basically having a quality time, just me and my close friends. And this recipe for Osso Bucco is super cheap, it only costs me $30 for 6 serve (that's only $5 per serve!). And if you want ask your guests to bring some drinks or desserts, it's even better :)

I went to Victoria Market to shop for the ingredients;
- 6 Osso Bucco cuts, it's around $6 a kilo in Victoria Market butcher, and you can get special too. Some of them do $10 for 2 kilos. It costs me $12 dollar in total.
- half of whole celery, $1! Cut them in chunky bite size.
- 3 big carrots, $1! Slice them just a little bit thick.
- 1 brown onion, chop it finely.
-  flat-leaves parsley.
- a can of chopped tomato (If you live around Melbourne CBD area, go to UCG Wholesale Grocer on A'Beckett street, I got it for only 90 cents!)
- 1 liter liquid beef stock, (I normally use Premium Beef Stock, and I really don't like the other brands because they normally have this strong artificial smell, but this time I compromised and used Campbell's Real Stock and I added some water to make it less strong and it actually works really well.)

Also some of these, that I've already got at home;
- 2 tablespoon of tomato paste.
- 2 bay leaves.
- some white multipurpose flour to coat the meat.
- butter
- 1 cup of red wine.
- olive oil.
- 1 tablespoon of garlic paste.
- salt pepper and sugar.

It took me about 2 hours to cook this dish, so make sure give yourself enough time before your guests come;
1. coat Osso Bucco cuts with flour, salt and pepper. Brown them quickly with olive oil on high heat on both side and put it aside.
2. Use the same pan with all the meat's fat and browning flour on it, melt 2 tablespoon of butter, and brown onion, then add in chopped carrots and celery. Cook for a minute only, and add a dash of red wine and make sure you scrape all the brown bits at the bottom of the pan.
3. Move them to a big pot and add in beef stock, and a cup of water. Boil on high heat.
4. Add in the garlic paste, chopped tomato, tomato paste, a handful of chopped parsley, bay leaves, and the remaining of red wine.
5. Turn heat to low when it boils, and add in all the meat, make sure they're all covered in the sauce because it's gonna make them really tender and full of flavour!
6. Cook for 1.5 hour, covered.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a teaspoon of sugar.
8. Garnish with chopped parsley.

That's it. I serve them with rice, but you can serve it with risotto or mash potato as well if you want... And when I served them, I did it the lazy Indonesian way, just the whole pot in the middle of the table, and everyone helped themselves with the food and the wine. Less dishes to wash :) Nothing fancy, we didn't even worry about table manner, I was just having a good time with my friends.

Indo Vegetable and Chicken Soup

I got really sick after pigging out at the Night Market... Haha I might've eaten too much, or may be I've got some sort of stomach bug or something.

When I'm sick, for some reason I always feel like cooking something that reminds me of home. I guess the thought of home-food gives me some kind of comfort and so I get to sleep and rest well. I normally cook this tangy Indonesian beef soup when I'm sick, but I feel like something simpler, and cheaper. So, I made this Indo vegetable and chicken soup. It might not be different to the normal vegetable and chicken soup, but I added some cloves in the chicken broth and that subtle spicy aroma always brings me back to my childhood memory.

A quick stop at Coles on the way home, and I was ready with all the ingredients;
- about 6 celery stalks (love them soooo much)
- 1 tomato (or more, I'm only using them for the soup base)
- 2 carrots
- 1 really small onion (again, for the base only)
- 1 shallot
- 2 brushed potatoes
- 500gr chicken thigh fillet (the Indonesians use chicken wings and drumsticks with the bone as well, but I didn't feel like it)

Also:
- 5 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- about 1 teaspoon of garlic paste (again, only because I'm really lazy.)
(I already have them at home, so I didn't need to buy more)
All of them cost me about $8 and that makes around 4 serves.

And this is how I cooked it;
1. cut the carrots, potatoes, celery stalks and chicken into bite size.
2. chop the shallot finely, and brown them with the garlic paste and vegetable oil until you can smell the aroma.
3. Add the chicken, and brown it.
4. Add about 1500 ml of water and wait until it boils.
5. Stick the cloves into the whole onion (just to make it easier to find them so you won't end up eating them). Add into the soup.
6. Add in the whole tomato and bay leaves, and cook for about 15 minutes.
7. Add the potatoes, and then carrots and cook for another 10 minutes.
8. And then in the celery, cook for another 5 minutes.
9. Salt, pepper and sugar to taste. (We add a bit of sugar to almost everything.)

And that's it.

I love the smell of cloves, really love it. When I was little my dad had a clove farm, and he used to bring home a lot of them, and then we used them for cooking. That's why I love the warm aroma and the feeling of being home, they made me feel better already.

Guilty...

Just a little confession, I didn't do a good job saving money on Australia day. See, I didn't really celebrate it but I had a day off work, and that made it so much harder to eat cheap especially cause I have my friends around...

I had breakfast and coffee at Rosamond, then head to the city for some beer and wasabi chips, and then after all that, Night Market at Victoria Market... Oh god, it was like international food heaven.

I did spend too much money on food that day but... It was a a lovely delicious day.

Cooking With Red Wine

Just a little savings tip when you cook with red wine.
I normally use this beautiful Cotes-Du-Rhone, M. Chapoutier for stew and bolognese sauce, and it's actually not expensive (it's about $20 from Dan Murphy) but still I need to save moneeeeeeeeey!

Trust me if you have a little extra money, get this wine because it's really nice to cook (try Boeuf Bourguignon with this wine it's really nice). But if you are in the same situation as me, just get Jacobs Creek's Cabernet Merlot, it's only $8 from Dan Murphy, and it's nice too for cooking.

Instant Spaghetti Napoletana

It's spaghetti napoletana made easy!

So last night my good friend Nik K from food blog Tabehodai came over and cooked for me. He made this yummy squid ink pasta with Roma tomatoes sauce, it's like Napoletana sauce but the tomatoes were cut in quarters, so they were a bit chunky. And he also brought some fresh basil leaves from his backyard!

I love fresh basil, I can't get enough of it! SO tonight I thought of making something similar but simpler, and cheaper but still so yummy. It is my instant spaghetti napoletana. It's so easy and cheap. But trust me it's still very yummy.

You only need:
- 1 canned chopped tomato with basil and garlic (I bought Ardmona, it's around $3 a can)
- some spaghetti
- olive oil
- dried oregano
- garlic paste

and if you want you can also add;
- fresh basil leaves.
- a quarter of chopped brown onion.
- a dash of red wine (I use some leftover red wine).

Now, time to cook it.
1. Start cooking the pasta according to the direction in the packaging.
2. Meanwhile, heat just a tablespoon of olive oil, and add the canned chopped tomato.
3. Wait until it bubbles a bit, turn the heat down, add a teaspoon of garlic paste (it saves me the time cutting or crushing the garlic, and less things to wash!)
4. Add in dried oregano and a little bit of salt and pepper.
5. I always add a teaspoon of sugar to any dish I cook with tomato base, my Italian friend told me it gets rid off the acidity. And I think it taste better.
6. If you want you can add the chopped onion now, or you can actually brown it a bit at the start before you add in the chopped tomato. I didn't put any onion, you know, I'm kind of lazy, and beside I need to keep it in budget haha. The thing is, it doesn't taste that much different (I think).
7. And lastly a dash of red wine (about a quarter cup).
8. Let it bubble on low heat, and once your pasta is cooked, drain it, and toss it in to the sauce. Mix it well.

That's it, it's done. I used fresh basil leaves to garnish, and lots of parmesan cheese because I love it (I love good quality cheese, but you can also buy reasonably good cheese from Victoria Market for about $3!).

Yummy, I love it love it.

Before Breakfast at Tiffany's...

Hi...

I'm just currently in a desperate need of a runaway. I'm sure you know what I mean, you know, I just want to escape my daily routine, and go somewhere I've never been before. I have decided to plan to go to New York this April, just for 10 days, and it won't be glamorous trip kind... It's just as I said, 10 days of going somewhere alone, to have a wonder and a bit of fun... Problem is... I need to save moneeeeeeeeeeeey!

Now, I thought about what I can do to save up and I've realized that I spent so much on food and cooking (love French cooking and good wine), so I'm trying to cook and eat humbly. And the idea of this blog is basically a documentation of all the cheap food that I cook or buy and may be even other things that I do to save money for New York. I'm aiming to find or invent yummy recipes that cost me around $10 for 2 meals or more (I save my leftover and eat it the next day and I think most people do that too). I thought it would be fun, so I made this blog :)

Ok that was it my first post, and I'm heading to my kitchen now. Dinner time, it will be a simple pasta dish that I love. And ummmm one day after all this cheap eats, I hope I'll get my turn to have breakfast at Tiffany's...


much of love,

badra.

P.S. let me know if you have any cheap and yummy ideas :)