If you’re a dairy slut like me, the more things you can make with cheese, the better. However my least favorite cheeses are of the blue moldy variety but Johnathan always eats those first on a cheese plate. I do appreciate blue cheeses incorporated into dishes, and here are 3 of my favorites. All of these could come from about one container - pre crumbled (which I like) serving 2 people.

My Dad’s homemade Blue Cheese Dressing (AMAZING on wings!)

- 2/3 cup Mayo (using regular, not lite is best)

- 1/2 cup Sour Cream

- 1/3 cup blue cheese

- 1 tbs lemon juice

- couple dashes of worcestershire

- salt & pepper

* Combine all ingredients and adjust to your taste

Jamie Oliver’s Cheese and Onion Salad w/ Creamy Herb Dressing (great winter salad)

- Mixed salad greens (for as many servings as you need)

- Blue Cheese crumbles

- handful of walnuts - toasted if you want

- 4-5 small shallots peeled and finely sliced.

For Dressing:

- Extra Virgin Olive Oil

- 2 tbs creme fraiche

- 1 tbs red wine vinegar

1. Place shallots in a small bowl with a generous pinch of salt and pour over just enough white wine vinegar (I used red) to cover. Let the onions pickle for about 10 minutes and squeeze out excess vinegar when you’re ready to dress the salad.

2. For the dressing: combine 4 tablespoons of olive oil with the creme fraiche and vinegar. Whisk together and season to taste

3. Combine your salad, blue cheese, shallots, walnuts and dressing.

Oozy Blue Cheese (or Gorgonzola) sauce - great with gnocchi or homemade pasta, very simple and rich.

Proportions: 1 part whipping cream to 3 parts cheese.

1. Bring whipping cream to a simmer. Turn heat down and add cheese and whisk until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tip: adding walnuts to this adds a great bite and sweetness to pasta!

While Johnathan and I are mildly broke instead of really really broke I still like to figure out how to get the best food for the best price. Like most clothing, there’s no reason to pay a ridiculous price when there’s great quality at a lesser price. Ok, here’s a few tips/recommendations I have for grocery shopping these days:

1. Target grocery is great! They consistently have the same brands as big grocery stores, but often for less. They also have they’re own brand - Market Pantry which is also great and even cheaper. I’ve saved a lot buying my dry/pantry stock stuff here - flour, coffee, soy sauce, salt, etc. I don’t prefer their meat, or produce, but they have a great price on OJ!

2. Bargain produce. I’m not sure if Whole Foods does this but our other go to grocery store, Berkeley Bowl has a section near the produce of discounted fruit and veg that is too ripe, or about to be. I bought a perfectly ripe cantaloupe for $.79 - cut it up when we got home and it still lasted a couple more days! This week I got 1lb of mushrooms for $.89 and a big container of strawberries for $1.99. This works well if  you can use these things right away but they are usually still ok for a couple more days!

3. Multiple trips. I know pretty much every other budget conscious commentator tells you to shop once a week and plan your meals for the entire week. I’m going to say the opposite! I’ve found from talking to friends and just how our daily lives go - you CAN’T always plan a whole week! You may stay late at work, a friend invites you out on Wednesday, you’re exhausted and your partner/roommate suggests you go out… Most weeks our menu changes and meals get pushed back or canceled. Life happens. So I’ve adjusted to plan for about 3 maybe 4 meals during the week. I also hear people throw out veggies, etc. all the time even with planning. If you go to the store another time during the week and purchase what you need for the next couple days, you could save money by NOT throwing out produce/fruit/dairy from your trip last weekend. I also like to make up new things to do with what I have left - a little spontaneity doesn’t hurt!

After abandoning ‘Cooking Broke’ almost 2 years ago I’d say it was more giving up than a break. Some comments have trickled in and at times I forgot I’m still paying to keep this site up! My husband and I spent a year in India, and REALLY learned what it means to cook broke and learned some interesting food and life lessons. At this point we’re not as broke as when I started the site but I still struggle with making a weekly food trip last, trying not to let anything rot in the veg bin, and use what I have on hand in the pantry. We’ve moved to the East Bay in San Francisco and couldn’t ask for a better place for veg and fruit in the country. Most things are local and the freshness factor is amazing.

I used to be a vegetarian (in college of course) and then realized I didn’t want to live the rest of my life with out bacon and brisket and basically a lower quality of life (hahaha). However I do believe and have read about the astounding amount of meat the US consumes and how it’s devastating our environment and our bodies. When we moved back from India Johnathan and I decided to do the veg thing during the week, Monday-Thursday. This is in an effort to help us eat better, have a little less impact on the meat supply, and also save money during the week. Now I won’t say we’ve followed this 100% for the last couple months, but as I was ogling over the Whole Foods meat counter getting ready to buy my first pork chops in almost 2 years - I realized - “I haven’t bought a whole cut of meat in a REALLY long time!” The pork chop recipe made by Johnathan from the Jamie at Home cookbook was truly amazing and I was so proud of him for making such a great meal. A great resource if you’re also thinking about cutting back on your meat intake, Meatless Monday. This is a great site and is also Slow Foods approved.

So here we are, not so broke, but making an effort to save money for the important things (mostly balls for our dog and maybe a roast for Christmas). Stay tuned for some fun, possibly retro holiday recipes.

Cheers from San Francisco!

A great way to keep up with the food world without working in the biz is to read the glossies. Although they rarely reveal any juicy gossip, reasons for chefs leaving restaurants, or any personal information they are quite entertaining for foodies everywhere. As I’ve mentioned before my favorite food porn comes from Bon Appétit and Food & Wine, although this months Food & Wine January’s is a bit light. Other great reads are Saveur and Cooks Illustrated for the more serious readers. And now there’s another one, perhaps my favorite of all. I stumbled onto this while on a recent trip to the UK. Jamie Oliver has launched his own magazine. And there was rejoicing. His launch issue is on newsstands in the UK and it’s quite stunning.

You can tell from the cover it’s an expensive endevour. Glossy and matte paper beautifully printed. Also with this launch issue comes a Jme catalog. Jme is Oliver’s new housewares/kitchenware/food collection available online. The issue is chock full of articles rather than ads for pages and pages which tends to happen with Bon Appétit. However one could argue that the entire magazine is an ad as most of the articles are about purveyors and people involved in supplying the new Jme collection. And after each article there’s a reminder to go online and order the whisky or the platters displayed in the previous pages.

The photography is nothing less than the cookbook standard you see in all of his cookbooks. Rustic, romantic, and simple.  Speaking of, he interviews “bud” Brad Pitt and asks all the prerequisite food questions I assume we’re all dying to know. Although he did give some good restaurant recommendations in New Orleans. There are lots of Jamie- type recipes – simple and rustic. Unlike the other big Brit cooking publication, Delicious. he doesn’t concentrate so much on just British dishes but a wider range of fare.

A couple of highlights for me were:
1. Baby’s First Dozen: Here the writer suggests giving a friends or family’s new baby a case of carefully selected wine. Obviously not meant for the parents post birth but for the child when they grow old enough to appreciate it. They also make a list of wines that will age well as well as two different price lists. I think even just one nice bottle of wine for a newborn to be opened decades later would be a nice keepsake.
2. From India to the East End and Back Again: About an Indian chef who travels all over the world with major stops in London’s East End for more enlightenment and practice of his native cuisine. There are great recipes and traditional dishes to try while traveling as well as a great spice guide complete with pictures.
3. Long Weekend in Stockholm: No food publication seems to be complete without a token travel article with various recommendations. The pictures certainly make you want to hop on the next flight but it does recommend some local spots and shops which is always more useful than the Lonely Planet guide.
4. Monthly Menu: A cool pull out poster of 30 meals that are quick and tasty. Things like this are easy to save in your recipe folder and a good go-to when you need a quick dinner.

So what’s the subscription price? Probably the most expensive magazine you can get stateside – converted from pounds as of 12/12/08 = $67.24, and it’s bi-monthly. Worth it? Only if you’re hard core and are craving a truly different sort of food magazine.

When I was thinking about this subject, I realized I should have been taking notes. In a year, it’s easy to forget the truly great meals you’ve had, and more specifically what those dishes were. I can barely remember what I ate last weekend, although nothing about it was particularly memorable. Most of our life-changing, eye-opening meals are spent with certain special people, or in a special place for a special reason. I had very few great meals that weren’t wrapped up with some other event or special someone. As I write this, I also realize that not all the best meals of this year had the best food. I’ll share a few of these, and hopefully jog your memory of some great time you’ve had spent over food. Don’t forget to write them down, 2009 will be full of some more great times and new food to taste.

* Ladies Poker Night. I had some lovely ladies over from the store I was working at. It was one of those amazing nights where gossip and bickering was put aside for some serious booze and card playing. The different personalities laughed and chatted and we shared classic Trader Joe’s frozen appetizers and a Domino’s Pizza, which I was charged twice for; I never did get my money back. The hangover was also memorable.

* The Rock Pool. One of Sydney’s greatest restaurants, with super fresh seafood and a special Pacific flavor. A friend and I were visiting one of our closest friends who was attending school there. She hadn’t eaten a really good meal the whole time she had been in Sydney, it’s surprisingly expensive. We did the works – Prosecco, appetizers, mains, dessert. I remember boisterous laughter and closing the place down and having the waiters giving us the eye to leave. There was also incredible squid ink pasta and homemade caramels. I also realized how much I missed the three of us getting together and had to travel half way around the world to recreate it.

* Dottie’s True Blue Café, San Francisco. My husband started working for a company in San Francisco and we traveled out there together a couple times. Nothing makes a city feel more like home than when you find “your” place. We rarely go anywhere twice but Dottie’s is special. It’s an amazing breakfast eatery in a shady part of San Fran, which ends up being right behind the hotel we always stay at. They open at 7:30am (late for breakfast in NYC) and we like to be there by 7:10am to get in line and be at one of the first tables. The owner is always behind the grill and he hasn’t advertised for 13 years, no website, no color ads, and there’s a line every morning. One breakfast stands out – black bean cakes with fried eggs, salsa and sour cream. Everything is homemade, and you should always order from the specials board at the back.

* Moto, Brooklyn. It was harder to remember a great meal close to home. My senses are always heightened on a trip or vacation, and eating here in NYC is usually rushed, or I have some much on my mind I don’t pay attention as closely. This place has been mentioned as being “the last bohemian place left in Williamsburg”. It’s off the beaten track, and is really on the border between South Willamsburg and Bushwick, which is close to where we live. It’s walkable from our apartment and we didn’t even see it for over a year. It’s in an old check-cashing store, and there’s not even a sign outside telling you what it is. You have to know. When you step inside, it’s dark, and feels like a Tim Burton movie, but in a great way. You can hear the J train go by overhead but you forget where you are and what decade you’re apart of. The menu is simple, but delicious. The mac&cheese is ordered at almost every table. We’re planning a brunch trip there soon. A great way to end the year.

Early November was a landmark week for America and with the largest American holiday fast approaching, I felt unusually patriotic and nostalgic for some classic American meals. I didn’t feel adventurous to explore anything exotic, I wanted comfort and guaranteed results. These are dishes I’ll be serving my friends and family while creating great memories around the table.

My husband and I hosted some friends on election night to watch the elections results. We celebrated with a tri-color pasta, cheese and tomato bake, which feeds 6 easily and donkey cookies supplied by my favorite person and baker, Adrienne [Pip]. There was much chatting and commentary, and champagne drinking. At 11pm it became a remarkable night shared with great friends and great food. Something that is so important to our family, and my family growing up was the dinner table and especially now, I appreciate that time so much. When my husband and I visit my parents in Atlanta, the best time is still around the table with wine and lots of lively conversation. We don’t have a large family, so I think dinner at the table feels even more important. I was reading an article on the New York Times website which said, “The importance of the family meal has been shown mainly in studies from the University of Minnesota, Harvard and Rutgers that have looked at family eating habits of nearly 40,000 middle-school students and teenagers. The research has shown that those who regularly have meals with their parents eat more fruits, vegetables and calcium-rich foods, ingest more vitamins and nutrients, and consume less junk food. Some of the research has shown that kids who regularly sit down to a family meal are at lower risk for behaviors like smoking and drug and alcohol use.” Neither my husband nor I had trouble with substance abuse, though we did have two very different ideas about how to eat when we got married. He had to choose most of his meals growing up because of parents working late, and how well do you think a 16-year old growing boy is going to choose the right food? Needless to say, there were lots of TV dinners, and fast food stops. While my family was certainly not above quick easy dinner stops we did have as many sit down-TV-off, dinners as possible. I think this drastically changed and shaped my view of why we eat together. It still influences how I cook today – I always prefer to serve as many people as possible around a table. My husband and I still eat dinner while watching Dancing With the Stars, uh, I mean while watching the History Channel…. But nothing satisfies me more than connecting with our favorite people around a great meal. I found this quote on Grist.org and it really sums up our philosophy, “cooking is a vital, spiritual act that should be performed with a certain reverence. After all, we are providing sustenance to the ones we love — can anything be more important?”

Below, you’ll find the recipes we made this week to celebrate our country, our friends, and the awesome changes taking place.

Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Sloppy Joe’s and Butternut Squash Chips

Crispy Hot Wings with Butternut Squash Slaw

Four-Cheese Baked Bow Ties

GRANDMA BOLDI’S sugar cookies:

2 sticks butter
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla *see note from Adrienne
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 375F

2. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg. In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs.

3. Combine flour mixture with butter mixture in three stages with electric mixer

4. Roll out and cut into donkeys (or other preferred shape). Bake at 375 for 5-8 minutes

Note from Adrienne:

I use vanilla sugar instead of vanilla, almost exclusively in baking.  One packet works for, I think, 1-3 teaspoons of vanilla.  It is said to give richer flavor than extract because there is no alcohol to burn off during baking….. could be true… who knows.  Either way, its good to feel like you have a secret ingredient when you bake.

Like so many people in America now, I have a love and deep interest in Africa. I had the privilege of going to Uganda last year and had my first taste of African cooking. The hotel we stayed at in Kampala didn’t offer true African cuisine, but when we traveled up North to Kitgum I was introduced to how a lot of rural Africa eats, well at least in Central Africa. After I returned I went to a South African restaurant in Brooklyn and found it not similar at all and eventually went looking for some cookbooks and inspiration to start my own African cooking. What surprised me in this search was a complete lack of resources and well-written African cookbooks. One I found that I really like is The Africa Cookbook by Jessica B. Harris. The only other African cookbook I found in large bookstores was Marcus Samuelsson’s Discovery of a Continent, which was sold at Starbucks for a while. I found it very hard to follow, and more of a travel log and personal journal than a serious cookbook. I also enlisted the help of my friend who also loves to cook and is South African. She had a few recipes and a book about Nelson Mandela with some recipes, but most of her serious cooking was in Afrikaans. As I continue to search for African cuisine outside of Africa, I became curious why there was such a lack of resources and interest in African food. Bookstores are lined with shelves of Italian, French, American, Organic, Spanish, cooking - I could go on and on. When I went looking for African cookbooks I usually found Moroccan and Marcus Samuelsson’s book, which I already owned.  I do recognize that African cooking is not extravagant for the most part nor particularly complex on the palate. It is however earthy, natural, simple, and usually full of protein and nutrients. When I was in Uganda I had no meat – it was not an option outside of the walls of the hotel, and usually wasn’t safe. I deeply enjoyed and savored the vegetarian dishes that were made for me at every meal by Josephine who was studying catering and hospitality. So far, I’ve made a Senegalese Peanut Butter Stew (Mafé), and South African Chicken Sosaties, which I added a great curry couscous for a side. What this quest has left me asking whether there will be a revolution and/or interest in African cooking like there is in French. Who will be the Julia Child to bring African cuisine to the Western palate?

Here’s the link to the South African Chicken Sosaties I made earlier.

So I’ve missed posting about the most important foodie holiday - Thanksgiving. It was a long week. I started prepping on Monday and spent hours cooking every day leading up to it. Was it worth it? The turkey was phenomenal, stuffing I prefer to eat my mom’s recipe, and I have to say this was the BEST gravy I have ever had. I did give myself due credit when I tasted the gravy from the roasting pan - absolute heavenly richness. I also ventured to make my own turkey stock. We ended up having fewer people than I bought a turkey for so I carved that 20 pound sucker up and used the carcass and gizzards to make a lovely stock which I still have extra in the freezer, along with another half of turkey when the mood strikes.

I did splurge on the holiday. I bought a local turkey and special ordered Applewood bacon for the Bacon Dijon butter and stuffing. Having these key quality ingredients made all the difference - worth the couple weeks of pumpkin and veggie meals for this night. We had friend contribute some amazing potatoes and the token green bean casserole. The 6 of us feasted and then tried our hands at Wii tennis and indulged in a pumpkin cheesecake - another hit.

Gordon Ramsay's Theatre - He's making duck breast!

Another excuse for the lack of posting was a trip to the UK for a friends wedding. We did however indulge at Gordon Ramsay’s Taste of Christmas - a brilliant production where Ramsay was not bleeped as on Fox, which made it that much more authentic. We also were able to get a reservation at Fifteen London, Jamie Oliver’s brain child. A very memorable meal where the staff was attentive but not overbearing, and didn’t rush us, even though we were seated next to the busy kitchen.

My wonderful hustband at Fifteen London

Now I”m busy arranging catering type events and gearing up for another week with the family down south. There may not be a whole lot of interesting menus or recipes the next couple weeks but I promise to share my mother’s roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for Christmas as well as any new discoveries. I’m looking forward to the routine of the new year. I was very encouraged by some friends who said they missed my posting and they followed the site. Routine is looking better and better every day.

I’m also going to post some articles I have been keeping up with writing for Blackpower.com. These are a bit more wordy than just recipes but I’m quite proud and still learning the blogging ropes.

What food festival would you love to attend?

Sign me up for the Food&Wine Classic in Aspen! The next Top Chef will be there!

I’m debating as a food lover whether we’re in the best of times or the worst of times. As gas and food prices have risen, and Wall Street is sick, people have started talking seriously again about eating and cooking cheaply. This is not a new crisis for a lot of Americans, simply life as usual. For a lot of us, in large cities, and the middle class I think we’ve felt it in different ways. But this week I’ve read some interesting articles that contradict where we’re at as a food loving public long term and short term.

New York Magazine dropped its 40th anniversary issue - pick it up - even if you’re not a New Yorker. This is one of the few issues of the magazine that I’ve read cover to cover, actually really intrested in what the writers had to say. Well, you can’t put out an issue about how New York has changed over the past 40 years without an article involving chefs and the change in New York cuisine. The writers interviewed David Chang of Momofuku and André Soltner of Lutece. Both are institutions of the city and both chefs have changed how we eat here - well mostly how we eat out. They commented on the public’s taste, expectations, and buying habits. As a child of the 80’s, I’ve grown up expecting choices in produce, herbs, and meats. Soltner answers the question, Do people eat better now, saying: “Oh, sure. Forty years ago, they didn’t eat good. When I came to this country, everything had to be big! Just big. Potatoes, they had to be big. Didn’t matter that in the middle there was a hole, as long as the potato was big. And that was the only potato that you could buy. Now you go to a supermarket, you have five or six different potatoes. Not just in the specialty markets or farmers’ markets. Why? Because the people demand this. Why didn’t the farmers grow smaller potatoes? Because there was nobody to sell it to. but now, they know that with small potatoes, they can demand more money, because we chefs told them.” He also makes a similar comment about carrots, herbs, and Fairy Tale Eggplant. I have no generational perspective on this phenomenon, but feel privileged to live in such a “snobby” food culture where I expect 6 different potatoes and get them.

Today, I also received an email from The Kitchn, which was heavy on the cooking cheap/frugal vs. luxury posts. I clicked on an article that challenged people to eat for $25 a week/person, which is what a typical food stamp recipient in Illinois has to spend each week. I champion the awareness, but find it a bit condescending to just take the challenge on for a week (”to see how the other half lives”) and not make a significant change or effort to change how the system works. Before you get all upset, I would imagine, that a lot of people writing and trying this project will find themselves and their food habits changed and more aware. For a moment, I felt bad, like I was spending a crazy amount on food, which comparably I am. However, I thankfully do not have to live on $25 a week, nor do I want to eat peanut butter sandwiches and soup for 4 days. Cooking Broke, for me, is about living well - being healthy (sans most bacon recipes), and coming around a table with friends, serving them with great food and doing it on a realistic budget. Sarah from The Kitchn said, “this is a time to talk to our farmers and grocers. This is a time to plan our meals out ahead of time. This is a time to eat less meat and to use the meat we do in its entirety.”

It’s funny, we’ve never been more obsessed with food and food culture before. How many of us watch hours of Food Network, wait for the best restaurant reservations, and surf Epicurious? It’s so much fun, and has made Johnathan and I so fulfilled. But we also have the highest food prices of the last 40 years. A lot of families can’t afford meat or fresh veggies. This is an interesting time for foodies. We’ll have to see what the report is in another 40 years. Any predictions?