This isn’t exactly dinner, but we quite enjoyed it last night. I wanted to buy as little new groceries this week and make my leftovers from last week stretch, like cheese, and basics I have in the pantry. I bought some asparagus for $4.00 and used half of it for this dish. Last week I took another class at The Astor Center and learned how to make my own mayo so I wanted to practice that as well. And who doesn’t love a toasted baguette with a poached egg and cheese? I also roasted some garlic for another layer of flavor and made an aioli, which just means mayo with roasted garlic - fancy I know… Here’s how I made it:

Serves 2

1/2 lb apsaragus

1 head of garlic, top cut off

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 cup veg or canola oil

1/2 cup melty cheese ( I used fontina, you could cheddar, gruyére, whatever you have on hand)

2 slices leftover baguette

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Drizzle garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap in tin foil and place in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until cloves are soft.

2. In a large bowl that won’t slip (I put my stainless mixing bowl on top of a pot so it won’t move while whisking) put in your egg yolks, dijon, lemon juice, and 2 cloves of the roasted garlic. Whisk until emulsified (everything is mixed together). In a dripping stream, while constantly whisking, dribble in your oil. This is the tricky part, this is where you know whether your mayo will come together or not. Keep whisking and adding oil until you get your desired consistency. I used about 1/2 cup of the oil because I wanted mine a bit looser and less like a spread. Add salt to taste. You’ve just made mayo without all the junk from store bought!

3. Bring a pot of water to boil and drop in asparagus for 2-3 minutes. Remove and immediately place in an ice bath (this is called blanching). Remove from cold water and dry on a paper towel. Bring a second pot of water to boil and add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar for poaching your eggs. Drop your eggs one or two at time into the vinegar water. I break mine into a ladle and put the ladle in the water, it helps keep the egg white from floating everywhere. Remove eggs after about 3 minutes or when the white is cooked.

4. Spread one roasted garlic clove over each piece of bread. Top with cheese and broil in the oven for about 3 minutes or until the cheese is melty. Top bread with poached egg, asparagus, and drizzle with aioli.

I don’t generally care for cauliflower. The aversion isn’t as intense as Brussel sprouts which cannot be redeemed no matter how much bacon they’re baked with. I thought dressing cauliflower up in risotto added another veg element while still eating gooey risotto. By now, I’ve made several different risottos, all based on Jamie Oliver’s Risotto Bianco which is a basic white risotto which can then be changed all sorts of ways. This is a great vegetarian option, just sub the chicken stock for veg stock and you’re golden. The other thing I also like best about risotto is the commitment to it - you’re basically massaging you’re meal until it’s done, it’s very intimate and soothing. Anyway, here’s Jamie’s recipe. Sneak in some veggies this week!

Price Breakdown:

Cauliflower - $1.49

Celery 2 stalks - $1.99

I already had Arborio rice, Vermouth (I only use it for risotto, so it lasts a while), butter, onions, and the last of Parm from last week. I also used up the rest of a carton of chicken stock I had in the fridge. For the bread crumbs, I used anchovy paste I already had and chili pepper. Also you can use the baguette from the onion soup for these bread crumbs!

This is great for a fast lunch if you make the broth ahead of time. This recipe makes 8 servings, so I made all the broth and put the rest in the fridge. Make sure you heat up the broth before you pop it in the oven to let the cheesy goodness melt. I used a super easy classic recipe from The Joy of Cooking. I’ll write it below. This is the perfect cozy fall meal, and this tastes just as good as the $13 soup from Pastis!

Makes about 8 cups

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 medium onions, thinly sliced

Pinch of dried thyme

2 tablespoons dry sherry or cognac

3 1/2 cups (almost one carton) unsalted or low-salt beef broth, or veg broth for a veggie dish - but the beef is classic, and tastes better.

1-3 slices per person of toasted bread - I used a baguette

Gruyére for the top - however much you want!

1. Heat in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the olive oil and butter and cook until the butter is melted. Add the onions and thyme and stir to coat. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally and making sure the onions don’t scorch. As soon as they start to brown, about 15 minutes, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, covered, stirring, until they are a rich brown, about 30-40 minutes.

2. Stir in Cognac or sherry (I have a bottle of sherry on hand for cooking). Increase the heat to high and cook, stirring constantly, until the sherry has evaporated. Stir in beef stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Place your ovenproof soup bowls or crocks ona baking sheet. Ladle the hot soup into the bowls and top each with your toasted bread. Sprinkle each bowl with Gruyére or Swiss. Broil in the oven until the cheese is melted and brown. Call Pasits and cancel your reservation because you just made the best French Soup at home.

Price Breakdown:

Bag of Onions - $.99

Organic Beef Broth - $2.29

Fresh Baguette - $1.49

Gruyére ( I used about 1/4 of it so far) - $4.99

This week I’m going to have to do my grocery shopping in batches, so I’m going to break down the prices by meal, referring to various receipts. You’ll see the totals below each meal. This is one of my favorite easy sauces - carbonara. Not so healthy, but oh so delicious. Bacon is the only meat I’m buying this week. My sister-in-law had carbonara at a restaurant last night, so I thought I’d try to be remotely healthy by adding some broccoli. I used frozen chopped broccoli - it was on sale for $.99 and didn’t have anything added to it, so I did it. I’m not familiar with using frozen veggies but this worked great. We also made our own pasta since we had all the ingredients and didn’t want to buy any. This is quick classic that feeds a lot - warning - it doesn’t reheat that well, so try to eat it in one day or one sitting. Here’s how it goes:

Serves 4

Pasta Recipe

8 Slices of Bacon, coursely chopped

1 package of frozen chopped broccoli - or fresh, or any other veggie that suits you, maybe zucchini?

4 egg yolks - you can save the egg whites for an omlette!

1/2 cup of heavy cream

Couple handfuls of Parm

Fresh Thyme - I didn’t have any, so I just used my dried stuff.

Fresh ground pepper, salt

1. Bring a salted pot of water to a boil (or put it on the stove and just wait, ours takes forever). In a small bowl combine egg yolks, cream, and one handful of Parm. Don’t mix too much, just enough to combine everything. Set mixture aside.

2. In the largest fry pan you have - 14 inches is great - heat over medium heat and add a couple turns of olive oil. Add chopped bacon and fry until crispy and brown. Defrost broccoli, and add to the bacon and oil. Let is soak up the bacon oil and fry just a little bit. Season generously with pepper - you want it to have a bit of a kick. Add thyme to taste - about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon.

3. Cook pasta and reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and transfer to the fry pan. NOW, TURN THE HEAT OFF. Add about half of your cooking water and the egg and cream mixture. You can even let the pan cool for a few minutes, you just want to make sure you don’t scramble your eggs - they will cook through, but you want them silky not scrambled. Mix everything together and add more water so the sauce is silky and loose. Add the other handful of Parm and serve immediately with fresh ground pepper. You probably won’t need more salt because of the bacon, Parm, and salted pasta water. Bon Appétit!

Grocery Totals:

Eggs, Semolina Flour, Thyme, Salt, Pepper, Oil, Parm - Already had, some carried over from last week.

Frozen Chopped Broccoli - $.99

Heavy Cream - $2.29 (used only 1/2 cup)

Bacon - $4.99 (used half of package)

Ok - I haven’t been keeping up with the apples. I still have A LOT of local apples in my fridge. It seems each recipe only calls for one or two and I need to make a dent. I didn’t make the apple crepes - after the apple excitement wore off, I realized it was just too sweet for dinner that day, and we ordered Thai - which wasn’t good anyway. So yesterday I made the sausages with apples and onions. If you like sauerkraut, you’ll like this. I hate sauerkraut and wasn’t a big fan of this recipe. Johnathan however ate his half, plus 3/4 of mine. This is easy, and another one pan dish that is perfect for a rainy miserable day. Today, I’m supposed to make cider-braised pheasant, although I’m using cornish hens. It’s a long recipe and needs to be started the night before. We have leftovers for lunch, and are going to Korea town with some friends for dinner tonight, therefore hens are getting pushed to tomorrow, possibly Sunday. Stay tuned.

This recipe has a lot of steps - but don’t be intimidated. You only use a couple pans, it’s just a lot of switching ingredients around. There’s lot of good stuff in this - apples, potatoes, peas, and parsnips. There’s not even cheese in this! Just a little cream and butter for the potatoes and sauce. The apple cider with the savory broth is great, as well as using the brandy - which I used apple brandy which made it slightly spicy like a pie spice, but really good. We only used 6 boneless skinless thighs, and have tons of leftovers. This is a great way to eat lots of veggies and feel very cozy at the same time. Bon Appétit!

As you can see, I don’t have a pic of the amazing pork roast I made for our friends last night. The recipe calls for tenderloin, but the butcher suggested using a center cut pork roast since it was for six people. He butterflyed it which made it easy to stuff. I did end up tying it with kitchen twine to keep it all together. Along with the roast I made garlic red bliss mashed potatoes. Pork and potatoes are perfect together. We also had a couple pieces of the pork left for a great cold pork sandwich for lunch today.

I needed that pork sandwich after meeting JAMIE OLIVER! He was signing his new book, Jamie at Home, at a Border’s in Manhattan. Myself and couple of my fellow friends stood in line and were so excited to meet him in person. He’s really down to Earth, friendly, exactly how he appears on television. It was such a treat - I can’t wait to cook from his new book. Jamie - when are you opening a place stateside?

I’ve never made wings before - but I’ve been thinking about them since our last visit to my parents house in Atlanta. This meal is pretty cheap - wings are the cheapest cut of meat you can buy, butternut squash is in season right now (read, cheap) and you don’t need a ton of goat cheese - just 4oz, about $2.39. I know it’s often written that wings are a great party food - yeah, only price-wise. Hot wings are just about the most ungraceful embarrassing food you could serve. This meal is something only to be eaten among close close friends and family where you can freely lick your fingers and suck meat off of bones. The butternut squash coleslaw was a great fall alternative to traditional coleslaw with cabbage. The dressing is zingy and creamy. I didn’t have walnuts, so I just used pecans. Dried cranberries can get expensive, but golden raisins or regular raisins would work well too. You can also eat those dried cranberries with cheeses on a cheese board, and they keep for a while. The squash recipe is from Tyler Florence. The wings are easy:

Serves 2-4

2 - 2.5 lb Chicken Wings

4 Tablespoons butter

Hot Sauce to taste ( My parents use Texas Pete which I think is hotter - we used Frank’s Red Hot)

1. Preheat oven to 450F. Place wings on a baking sheet and cook for about 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

2. Melt butter and add hot sauce to taste. Drizzle over wings. Serve warm and with blue cheese dressing if desired.

That was my reaction to this dish - tastes like America. You can really taste the settle ketchup, mustard, and the Cayenne hits the back of your throat like BBQ. The sloppy joe’s by themselves are really easy, and a great crowd pleaser. I saw Tyler Florence make these this weekend, and my taste buds were craving them since. He uses turkey which makes it a bit less fatty than using traditional beef. He also made bread and butter pickles to go with them, but that was a bit complicated for me, and I’d have to buy a bunch of extra stuff. I made the butternut squash chips instead. Double yum! I went out and bought a mandoline, for this, plus I really needed one - they’re super handy, and my unsteady hands can’t cut things evenly. If you do the chips, make sure you leave them in the oil long enough - some of our were a bit soggy, but they get so sweet and crunch if they’re done right. Make sure to sprinkle with salt and parm and the herbs before serving. This was a great twist on an American classic. Enjoy the new America!

We had a full house last night for dinner and results watching. My favorite person, Adrienne made some awesome donkey cookies to celebrate. There was much champagne and cheesy pasta - plenty for 6 people. This is an easy dish for a night like this - comfy celebratory food you can eat while watching the tube for electoral results. My mom has made this recipe for years and everytime it tastes better and better. The blue cheese is great - even if you’re not a fan, don’t leave it out - it’s not super strong but balances the saltiness nicely. Here’s how to make it:

Serves 6

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk (try to use whole, but skim works also)

28 oz can of whole Italian tomatoes, drained, reserving 1 1/4 cup juice, chopped fine

1 lb bow-tie pasta

1 1/2 cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese (about 6oz)

1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (about 2 oz)

1/2 cup diced Italian Fontina cheese (about 2 oz)
1 1/3 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (about 4 oz)

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter a 3-4 quart gratin dish or a 13×9 baking dish

2. In a heavy saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add milk and reserved tomato juice in a stream, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking. Stir in tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes.

3. In a large pot bring salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions, until just al dente.

4. In a bowl stir together pasta, sauce, mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Fontina, 1 cup Romano, and parsley and transfer to prepared dish. Sprinkle pasta with remaining 1/3 cup Romano. Bake bow ties in middle of oven 30-35 minutes, or until golden and bubbling, let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Winning Donkey Cookies