We had company for dinner on Tuesday night, and I made a meal from the October issue of Martha Stewart. I don't usually get as elaborate as Martha Stewart, but I had my eye on this menu after I spotted it in the magazine. It looked seasonal and elegant, and it didn't involve many extra expensive ingredients.
The menu (I can't find links on Martha's website, so I guess you have to have the magazine):
Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Cheese Flautas with Cilantro Pesto
Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Baby Greens
Apple Cranberry Crumble
I ended up just making a regular salad from our garden instead of the black-eyed pea salad, but I made everything else exactly as in the recipes (sometimes a rarity for me!). Everything turned out well, and I think our guests enjoyed the meal. Below is one of the cheese flautas (basically a fried tortilla stuffed with cheese and the cilatro pesto):
The pumpkin soup recipe is definitely a keeper. It was so simple and frugal. You just roast a pumpkin, onion, garlic, and shitake mushrooms and then puree them together with some broth. Michael didn't think he would like it, but he actually did. It's savory, not sweet, which I prefer in a soup.
In other cooking for the week, I experimented with cooking a whole chicken in the slow cooker. It was really easy, but I'm still evaluating the cost-effectiveness of cooking a whole chicken. I'll let you know my results soon.
I don't cook whole chickens very often (read: never.. ;) but I couldn't resist Harris Teeter's deal of $.57 a pound last week! Now, just to cook it...
ReplyDeleteI get this email that's put out by Gwyneth Paltwrow called 'Goop.'
ReplyDeleteShe's about stretching the dollar.
She has a video about purchasing a whole chicken, cutting it up and cooking it.
good vid and something different to try. not expensive.
Worth a try.
We roast a whole chicken at least once a week! My girls love it! It takes less than 5 minutes of prep time to season and tie it up. Pop it in the rotisserie for 20 minutes per pound and sit back and relax. We usually use this time to get through homework or play a board game.
ReplyDelete