Gourmet Food on a Budget
Here are recipes that use either pasta or rice. Lots of tips and tricks with timetables and best practices.
Buttermilk Bolognese sauce is a different and tasty take on the traditional sauce. The buttermilk makes the sauce richer and more flavorful.
Southern-style spicy macaroni and cheese – it has white cheddar, spicy from pepper jack cheese, and a little tang from the buttermilk. An egg forms a lovely custard suspending the pasta and cheese together. It’s very cheesy and rich, so it’s perfect for a holiday or other celebration.
You will really like this. It’s so easy to make, quick and even people who don’t like fish will like this. What makes this recipe really pop is having both fresh tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes. You can use whatever pasta you prefer.
This was one of those dishes that was supposed to be something else. Wednesday is officially Experiment Night. My mother and used to reserve Saturday for that, but for my schedule, Wednesday is better. When I reread the recipe for what it was supposed to be, I realized that it was missing something I wanted – meat. I had a made some quick adjustments and came up with something we really liked. It’s hot and spicy, and quick to get together, perfect for a weeknight.
That’s no misspelling when I made this dish the first time, I wanted to give it a catchy name, hence Seefood and Bows. It’s actually Seafood and Farfalle, an Italian bow-shaped pasta.
I use a light lemony dressing over this. What makes the dressing stand out is the
Sunny Paris seasoning blend from Penzey’s spices. You will find yourself using this wonderful spice in all kinds of foods. It stars shallots and chives, plus pepper and herbs.
You can use almost any shellfish, but I prefer shrimp and crab. No need to bust the bank, Krab works just fine in this, and you don’t need much. If you want to go fancy, you can add lobster or King crab.
Can you use freshly cooked rice on the same day to make fried rice? No, you can’t. But, if you use this same-day fried rice method, you can cure your craving any day. You will be surprised at how easy this is.
I am a semi-regular subscriber to Saveur magazine. I love the recipes and the photography is always spectacular. I am also always on the hunt for something fresh and relatively easy to make for those days I don’t really want to cook. They had a recipe that called for bacon and tomatoes and basil. My three favorite things. That is what inspired this dish.
Making this Basil, Bacon and Tomato Pasta Sauce was very simple. I used a can of stewed tomatoes because I really like them, but you could use regular chopped canned tomatoes, or even fresh if you wanted to take the time to peel them. I also used frozen bell pepper medley that I always have in my freezer just for days like this.
You could add a light red wine to this sauce, but it probably would not taste quite as fresh.
Linguine with Kalamata Clam Sauce is a little bit of surf and a little bit of turf. The Kalamata gives this classic dish a delicious punch.
Risotto with saffron and mushrooms is a real treat. The rice used is Arborio, from Italy, although most supermarkets carry it these days. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world – but fear not. You can usually find very small amounts of saffron in markets like Trader Joe’s. Luckily you don’t need much.