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 :)