Month: January 2018

Lunch

A gray, rainy day definitely calls for meat pies. Foodie Philip chose the Steak and Ale while Greg chose the Chicken Balti pie. Both hit the spot for an average of $3.13 per serve.

Dinner

With the continuing cold weather, soup for dinner was always on the cards, so we returned to a favorite: Dutch Mustard Soup, made with actual Dutch Mustard.

Like a creamy, mustard version of French onion soup, this recipe is outstanding. The lardons of bacon on top give it a meaty flavor and texture, without dominating the dish. The onion and leek add sweetness, offset by the sharpness of the mustard, with the sour cream (in our version) moderating the flavors.

• Bacon ends and pieces cost $3.99 or 50c per serve
• Yellow onions were $2.79 for 2 lb, or 23c per serve
• The leek was $1.38 or 35c per serve
• Add 10c for butter
• Garlic adds 5c per serve
• Sour cream adds 50c per serve
• Mustard adds 25c per serve
• Add 20c for the remaining seasoning.

Dinner tonight was easy to prepare, delicious and only $2.18 per serve.

Lunch

The end of a hiking trip took us past our favorite Vietnamese restaurant (Pho Saigon) so we ordered ahead and collected two Bahn Mi, which were excellent, as they have been every other time.

Great food for $8.50 per serve.

Dinner

With a pork shoulder in our Prather Ranch meat delivery, we chose a cider braised technique, although we decided on apple cider vinegar instead of apple cider because it is less sweet. We didn’t feel the need to balance with any added sweetness.

The pork will make five serves, although only two with the rainbow carrots. Fun fact: carrots were always a variety of colors until the 1500’s when an orange version was bred for the Dutch Royal Family.

We served with a baked apple, which neither of us completely finished, and the last 1/3 of the BBQ Ranch salad, split two ways.

• 2.8 lbs of pork butt was $24.42 or $4.88 per serve
• Carrots were $1.69 for the pack, of which we used half, or 28c per serve
• Onion and celery adds 15c per serve
• Apple Cider vinegar adds 15c per serve
• The rainbow carrots were$3.99 a lb or $1.00 per serve
• The Granny Smith apples were $1.89 or 95c per serve
• The salad kit was $1.79 and we use 1/3 or 30c per serve.

Dinner tonight had a good balance of flavor between the tender pork, the crunchy carrots and a little sweet tartness from the apple. Not bad for $7.71 per serve.

Lunch

We reheated the remaining Popeye’s Fried Chicken and served with a Dole BBQ Ranch Salad. The chicken reheated well and the salad has a little sharp edge to it that we enjoyed.

• Chicken is $2.98 for two pieces
• The salad kit was $1.79 and we use 2/3 or 60c per serve.

Lunch today was filling, tasty and cost $3.58 per serve.

Dinner

While we’re not fanatics we’ve been advised to shy away from too much carb at an evening meal, so why not a deconstructed pizza: all the flavor with none of the bready crust.

We used ground beef and flavored it with Trader Joe’s 21 Spice mix, plus a little more mushroom than the recipe called for, and used fresh tomatoes. All up we made four serves.

• The dry aged ground beef cost $9.17 or $2.30 per serve
• Five kumato were $3.49 and we used four, or 70c per serve
• Mushrooms were $4.38 or $1.10 per serve
• The mozzarella was $5.99 or $1.25 per serve
• The sliced pepperoni was $2.99 and we used about half, or 38c per serve
• Add 45c for oregano, oil, spices.

The best part of a pizza is the topping and this is all topping! It carries the flavor of a meaty pizza, although the fresh tomatoes dropped a little too much liquid and lacked the flavor punch expected from a pizza. We’ll definitely repeat with some tweaking for $6.18 per serve.

Lunch

A trip “into town” lead to a stop at Popeye’s on the way back.

• Chicken is $2.98 for two pieces
• The red beans and rice is $2.19 per serve.

Lunch today was one of the best examples of Popeye’s we’ve had for $5.17 per serve.

Dinner

Thursday night steak night meant a NY Strip Steak grilled on the outdoor grill and served with purple crash hot potatoes, and asparagus.

The asparagus was ‘grilled’ in the panini press, which worked really well. The purple potatoes make the perfect crash hot potato. Their small size ensures they crisp up on the outside, but the texture inside remains buttery smooth.

• The NY Strip from our Prather Ranch meat delivery was $22.13 or $11.07 per serve
• Potato adds 25c per serve
• The pack of asparagus was $3.99 but we only used half for tonight’s meal or $1.00 per serve.

Dinner tonight was a good example of a simple “meat and two veg” meal, but with dry aged beef with a good “beefy” flavor, perfectly grilled asparagus and crash hot potatoes that were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside without a hint of mealiness. Not bad for $12.32 per serve.

 

Lunch

Both sandwiches are repeated because they were good!

• Two slices of bread are 32c per serve
• 12 slices of yoghurt cheese are $4.79 and we shared two or 40c per serve
• Add 33c for Wildbrine Madras Curry and Cauliflower Sauerkraut salad
• The beef is $7.95 per 11 oz serve, or 40c per serve
• Tabouli is $2.69 per tub and we shared 1/3 or 45c per serve
• Add 10c for mustard.

Today’s sandwiches were repeated because they were good, and cost $2.00 per serve.

Dinner

Because we’re The semiSerious Foodies, a “cheat” meal is on the cards when appropriate. Taking semi-prepared food and combining it can put a tasty meal on the table quickly. Tonight’s example of frozen Shrimp Gyoza and a Ginger Miso Broth (both from Trader Joe’s) with some chopped bok choy was a perfect example.

The gyoza and broth are tasty and work well together. The stem of the full size bok choy is a nice wet crunchy contribution that isn’t a hard as cabbage, while the leaf makes a good garnish.

• Bok Choy was $1.29 or 65c per serve
• The Miso Ginger broth was $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
• The gyoza were $4.99 and, or $2.50 per serve
• Add 20c for seasonings.

Tonight’s meal was on the table quickly and easily and had a lot of flavor. The broth has definite miso flavors with a hint of ginger, while the shrimp gyoza were very tasty. All in all a good meal, quickly prepared for $4.35 per serve.

Lunch

Having discovered that a 10″ tortilla fits in our sandwich press, we decided to experiment a little with wraps. We wrapped some of the prime rib and heated it (toasted) and then toasted a wrap alone. When done we filled with some of the green pork chili remaining.

The beef wrap – with tabouli and mustard added after heating – was pretty good. Unfortunately the green pork chili with cheddar and avocado was kind of messy, if tasty.

• The tortilla’s are $2.49 a pack, or 25c each/per serve
• The beef is $7.95 per 11 oz serve, or 40c per serve
• The green pork chili is 76c per serve, but we used only 1/4 serve, or 10c per serve
• The avocado  was 4 for $3.49 or 44c per serve
• Tabouli is $2.69 per tub and we shared 1/3 or 45c per serve
• Add 30c for a light sprinkling of grated cheddar.

While the green chili wrap was messy, the meal was tasty for $1.94 per serve.

Dinner

We’re always on the lookout for interesting ways to use ground pork as we get one every month. Today we tried a new recipe: Turmeric Coconut Curry with Pork.

We double the recipe because of the amount of beef and coconut curry we had, to four serves. We substituted bok choy for the cabbage because we have it (and it tastes better).

• The pork came from our Prather Ranch meat delivery – 1 lb of ground pork cost $8.31 or $$2.08 per serve
• Add 45c for onion, ginger and turmeric’
• Coconut milk was $1.89 or 48c per serve
• Bok Choy was $1.29 and we used half, or 65c per serve
• Almond flakes were $2.49 but we used only 1/5 or 25c per serve
• Brown rice is 33c per serve.

Dinner tonight could have had a little more heat but the coconut flavor was good. The bok choy provided a nice textural alternative to the pork and rice. A decent meal for $4.24 per serve

Lunch

For lunch the Foodies enjoyed the burrata, smoked salmon and watercress outdoors, such is a California Winter! It was our first 2018 meal.

The salty smoked salmon was a perfect balance to the young burrata cheese with the watercress adding – in theory – a spicy edge. In practice our watercress was a little bland, but it was a wet counterpoint.

• The burrata is $4.99 for two, or $2.50 per serve
• The smoked salmon was $6.49 or $3.25 each
• Add 40c for watercress
• Add 38c for a crisp bread.

Lunch today was spectacularly good for $6.53 per serve.

Dinner

Tonight was our regular monthly meeting with other developers, so we were once again at Gordon Biersch, despite our misgivings after last months’ burger.

After much deliberation the Foodies decided on Smoked Chicken Tostitos and Fish and Chips. We both agreed that the Tostitos were much more flavorsome than the fish and chips, despite being “on the lighter side.”

Dinner tonight cost $19.90 per serve (on average) with tax and tip.