Budget Epicurean

Budget Epicurean: July 2013

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Easiest steak stir-fry

Anyone who doesn't have a personal chef is a fan of meals that are fast and easy to make. Bonus if it happens to NOT be grease-laden, deep-fried, double-wrapped hatred of yourself. Aka some semblance of nutritional value. At least to me that's a priority. This is one of my standby all-time favorite recipes, used from the lowly days of undergrad's first apartment until the present, it has never failed me yet. Once the individual ingredients are made, they are very versatile, and remain so even after mixing. 

Ingredients:
1 cup rice (I used easy brown)
1-2 cups frozen veggie, any you like
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed
*You can stop here for a filling vegan/vegetarian snack or meal, or continue to carnivorize it
2 tbsp sriracha, if you like it hot
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 cube frozen veggie stock or ice cube
1 small steak (or pork or chicken...)

Step 1: Mix 1 cup water and 1 cup rice, microwave on high 10 minutes. Let sit for 5, then fluff with a fork.
 Step 2: Put frozen veggies and beans in a bowl, microwave 5-10 minutes while waiting for rice to absorb the water.
 Step 3: Mix rice, beans and veggies. Sprinkle on some garlic salt and enjoy from here, or....
 Step 4: Pour on the sriracha and soy sauce
 Step 5: Put the steak in a frying pan on medium heat, add extra soy sauce if you like, and the cube of liquid. Cover and cook on medium for about 5 minutes, until nice and brown. Flip and cook on the other side 5 minutes.
 Step 6: Remove steak and cut into bite-size pieces. Return to the pan along with the rice, veggies and beans and mix well. Heat through, and enjoy! This is quite customizable based on what type of vegetables and meat you like, you can use white or brown rice, and mix up the type of beans too. Try Italian seasoning, or garlic salt, or Worchestershire. The sky's the limit!


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Elk burgers -- new food for July

As July's food item I've never tried, Elk nominated itself by being present at a farmer's market I attended during 4th of July weekend. It sounded delicious and was only $10 a package from a local rancher, so I couldn't resist. It was ground elk, so I'm sure I could have tried elk meatloaf or elk chili, but I had a hankerin for a good, juicy burger, so there you go. If you can't or don't want anything so fancy as elk, ground anything works for this plain ol classic burger recipe.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground elk (any meat)
4 tbsp seasoning of choice: I used Weber's burger seasonings that include onion, black pepper, garlic, etc.
Buns
Burger toppings

Step 1: Divide ground elk into 4 even patties of about 1/4 pound each. Mix 1 tbsp seasoning into each and mix well. Shape into patties with your hands, or a press if you're fancy enough to have one.
Step 2: If you're lucky enough to have a grill, light that bad boy and cook em that way. If you do not, a regular frying pan works as well. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, then flip. They'll be nicely browned and sizzling. Cook the other side another 5-7 minutes. We like some pink inside so it took about 15 min total.
Step 3: Add your toppings. I love avocado but none was available. But we had the classics, so my elk burger included: sliced American cheese, lettuce, tomato, & ketchup.
My boyfriend the carnivore ("meat man") had a double, and declared it one of the best burgers he's ever had. Since I'd say that number is probably in the hundreds, I consider it a great compliment. Elk is salty and tender and delicious. It's like beef, but different. Just try it sometime, and if you like beef I bet you'll like this even better.


 What's your favorite burger?

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Make your own pizza, male and female style

You may think I'm weird for saying this, but I don't like pizza that much. I know, how un-American of me. I will eat it if it's around, and I get an occasional craving for a weird one like chicken bacon ranch, but in general if asked what I want for dinner, the answer will not be Little Caesars. My current boyfriend could literally live off pizza and burritos. So we found a compromise, making our own pizza. That way I can have the things I want on it (veggies) and control the sauce, and he can have what he wants (as much meat as possible) at the same time. This is our version of men are from Mars, women are from Venus, in the kitchen.

Ingredients:
1 tube pizza dough (about $2 at grocery store)
1 jar pizza sauce (~$2)

Toppings of choice: Female half
Spinach & mixed greens
Onions & peppers julienned
Zucchini
Mozzarella cheese
Pineapple

Toppings of choice: Male half
Deli ham
Ground beef (pre-cooked, left over from burritos actually)
Bacon
Mozzarella cheese
Pineapple 

Step 1: Cook the meat if needed, spray a 9x13 oven safe pan. Roll the pizza dough out flat and press to the sides of the pan.
Step 2: Spread on as much sauce as you like. I don't like most pizzas because I end up scraping a cup of sauce off my slices, so I put it on thin.
Step 3: Layer the toppings.
 

 Step 4: Cover in as much cheese as you can handle. Because cheese is sent from heaven to make all foods taste better. Some calories are just worth it.
Step 5: Bake at 425 for ~20 minutes or until crust is brown and crispy and cheese is bubbling.


This recipe is as varied as your imagination, nearly any meat or vegetable can be a pizza topping, so if you like it then go crazy! You can use veggies left over from other meals. It's easy to make a vegetarian (or even vegan without the cheese) pizza. You can fold the dough in half to make a smaller deep-dish pizza. Try a bunch of variations and find what you like best.  No matter what you put on yours, its likely to still be much cheaper and healthier than a purchased one.

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Sunday, July 7, 2013

100th post: Pheasant is pleasant

I know I started this blog as a poor college kid. And trust me, I still enjoy occasional easy mac, ramen, and hot dogs. There will still be simple recipes with 3 ingredients or less. But as I've progressed through my Masters and am now in PhD school, my tastes have evolved and I like to expand my horizons. Thus I decided at least once a month I will try making something I've never had, slightly exotic dishes.

For June, as my 100th post, I give you, roasted whole pheasant! The ~3lb bird itself was $25, but the brine and the accompanying roasted veggies were less than $10, so it's still not bad for a super cool and fancy meal for two plus leftovers. Also you then have forever bragging rights.


Brine:
8-10 cups water (enough to cover the bird)
3/4 cup salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp whole cloves
3 cloves crushed garlic
2-3 bay leaves
Juice of 1 whole lemon
Juice of 1 whole lime

Step 1: Add salt and maple syrup to water, bring to a boil so all salt and syrup dissolves.
Step 2: Let cool to room temp, add spices and juices. Place the whole pheasant in the brine. Mine was frozen so I thawed it in the fridge overnight, but you can put it in there frozen whole too. Let the bird soak a minimum of 4 hours up to overnight. The longer it soaks, the saltier and more flavorful it will get. Mine soaked overnight, about 20 hours total.


Step 3: Take the bird out of the brine and drip dry it. Rub it all over with butter, including loosening the skin and rubbing butter underneath, directly onto the flesh if you can. Optional: place spices from brine over the bird or add fresh.
Step 4: Place a quartered onion and/or halved apple inside the cavity of the bird. Place it in a buttered or sprayed oven-safe pan and tent tin foil over it.



 Step 4: Roast the pheasant at 400 degrees for ~1 hour. Then lower the oven to 350, remove foil and roast an additional 30-50 minutes, until no longer pink and juices are clear. I'm sure there's a temperature recommendation too but as I have no meat thermometer, I just looked and said, yup that looks done and delicious.

For vegetables:
1 yellow potato
1 normal russet
(I wanted one purple too but the grocery didn't have them)
1 onion, sliced
1-2 cups baby carrots
Garlic salt

Add the cut veggies in a sprayed pan to the oven for the final 30-50 minutes of baking. Add some bringing liquid if you like for extra flavor. Sprinkle with garlic salt when done.

And so you see, you can make a magazine-looking-worthy meal with very little work. If a busy, poor PhD student can do it, you can too! And trust me, brining overnight is definitely worth it! The meat was salty and tender, not at all tough or dry or gamey. I would highly recommend trying this.

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