Savory Chicken Pie

Well, since it's the weekend, I thought I'd share a slightly more complex recipe (although complex here really just means more interesting). Over the past year, my friends and I have gotten quite a bit of experience making savory pies. The recipe I'm about to share is slightly edited from the one I actually made and took pictures of (it came out a bit on the dry side), but that's the nature of experimental cooking. Sometimes, a recipe just needs a bit of tweaking. In any case, this is a recipe that really doesn't take overly long to prepare. Building the pie itself takes about 30-40 minutes, plus another 40 minutes-1 hour to bake. This recipe is good for about 3 meals.

-=Savory Chicken Pie=-

=Pie Crust=
2-1/2 cups flour
1 cup cold butter
1 Tbsp salt

First, preheat the oven to 350F. Start by cutting the butter up into small chunks. Put both the butter, salt and flour into a food processor. Pulse the blender, adding cold water in 1 Tbsp increments until the dough clumps together when pinched. The dough should be in pea sized lumps. Take half of the dough and press it directly into the bottom and sides of a pie dish. Don't knead the dough too much or it will get too dense. Take the other half of the dough and roll it out into a disk for the top of the pie. Again, knead the dough as little as possible. Set these aside and prepare the pie ingredients.

=Filling=
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 Russet Potato
1/2 head Broccoli
1 Onion
2 Chicken breasts
2 oz Shredded Cheese

In a small pot, melt the butter. When fully melted, blend in the flour and slowly mix in the milk, stirring until smooth to make a simple white sauce. Slice the potato as thin as you can, and chop up the chicken, broccoli and onion. Place one layer of potato in the bottom of your pie, then add the chicken, onions, and broccoli. Pour in the white sauce, then add another layer of potato. Finally, top with the shredded cheese, and cover the pie with the dough disk from before. Cut a small x in the center to allow venting. If you like, you can brush some milk over the top of the pie crust. Place the pie in the oven and bake, about 40-60 minutes.

Total Time: 1 hour- 1:45

Cost:
Flour: $1.79/5 lb bag --> 2-1/2 cups + 2 Tbsp => ~$0.26
Butter: $1.99/lb --> 1 cup + 2 Tbsp => ~$1.06
Potato: $0.99/lb --> 1/2 potato => $0.37
Milk: $1.98/gallon --> 1/2 cup => $0.06
Broccoli: $1.49/lb --> 1/2 head => $0.16
Onion: $2.29/2 lb bag --> 1 onion => $0.38
Chicken: $1.99/lb --> 2 breasts => $2.00
Cheese: $2.19/bag --> 2 oz => $0.54

Total Cost: $4.83 ($1.61 per meal)

Shrimp Alfredo

I don't know about all y'alls, but I love a good alfredo. Fun fact about the sauce: the original pasta alfredo is really Pasta al Fredo, or literally, pasta of Fredo. The story goes that he invented the sauce when his wife got sick and couldn't eat anything. He came up with the creamy cheese sauce and history was made. Today's recipe is simply a variation on the classic, using one of the most common pairings -- shrimp.

-=Shrimp Alfredo=-

8-10 Shrimp
half a head of Broccoli
half a Zucchini
4 oz Linguine
5 oz Alfredo Sauce

Put a pot of water on to boil. At the same time, heat a large skillet on medium with some olive oil. When the skillet is heated, put in the shrimp to start cooking. Try to avoid crowding by placing them in a single layer. While the shrimp is cooking, chop the zucchini and break up the broccoli. When the shrimp is about halfway done, flip the shrimp and add in the broccoli and zucchini. By now, the water should probably be close to boiling. Toss the linguine into the pot. Once the shrimp is fully cooked (there should be no traces of brown/gray on the shell), turn the heat down to low and stir periodically to prevent burning. When the pasta is finished cooking, drain the water and dump the pasta directly into the skillet. Pour the desired amount of sauce over the pasta and stir until the sauce coats the pasta evenly. Serve.

Some of you more adventurous folk may want to try your hand at making your own alfredo sauce from scratch. It can be a bit difficult, and while I did make it once, I don't remember the approximate ratios for the ingredients. The main things are milk (or preferably cream), Parmesan cheese, and butter. However, for the rest of us lazy/busy/tired/whatever folk, store bought sauce is plenty good enough.

Total time: ~20 minutes

Cost:
Shrimp: $11.98 for a 2 lb bag --> 10 Shrimp => $1.20
Zucchini: $1.29/lb --> 1/2 Zucchini => $0.32
Broccoli: $1.49/lb --> 1/2 head => $0.16
Linguine: $0.99/box --> 4 0z => $0.25
Alfredo Sauce: $2.19/jar --> 5 oz => $0.73

Total Cost: $2.66

Easy No-Flip Omelettata

Here's another breakfast recipe for y'alls. Anyone who's ever tried to make an omelet has come across this problem (and if not, you're a genius): flipping and/or folding the thing over without tearing it to pieces, not to mention how it tends to cook unevenly.  And so, after messing about with a stove for all these years, I bring you the omelettata, a cross between an omelet and a frittata. This, my friends, is what got me through finals week last year.

-=Easy No-Flip Omelettata=-

3 Eggs
Milk
Shredded Cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, whatever you like)
1/2 Onion
3-4 mushrooms
Garlic Salt
Pepper

Start by greasing a pan and putting it on MEDIUM. Chop up the onion and cut the mushrooms into slices, then dump all that into the pan to start cooking. Try to mix it up somewhat evenly. While that's going, crack 3 eggs into a bowl and beat, adding a bit of milk to it which helps make the omelet fluffier. Pour that over the vegetables, which should be about cooked by now. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top of the egg. Here comes the trick - let it sear for a bit so the egg is fully solid on the bottom, then turn the heat down to LOW and cover the pan. This allows the egg to basically bake within the pan like a frittata, which cooks it more evenly. Give it about 5 minutes and check the egg. It'll be done whenever the top is no longer running. Season with the salt and serve. A cast iron skillet is great for this, because it's deeper and also does a better job of heating evenly.

As always, feel free to experiment. Throw some diced tomatoes in there. Add some bacon. Don't like onions? Skip it. Like any omelet, you can put whatever you want in it.

Total time: ~10 minutes

Cost:
Eggs: $0.99 a dozen --> 3 eggs => $0.25
Onion: $2.29 for a 2 lb bag --> 1/2 onion => ~$0.19
Mushrooms: $2.50 per box --> 3 mushrooms => $0.83
Cheese: $2.19 per bag --> ~1 oz => $0.27

Total Cost: $1.54

Italian Egg Sandwich

This recipe is a traditional Italian breakfast, and very quick to make. However, the original recipe calls for a rustic white bread, something like Ciabatta which I'm sure all you folks just happen to have lying around. So instead, I make it with just a slice of regular bread, along with some other modifications. The result is something a little like that egg sandwich from V for Vendetta.

-=Italian Egg Sandwich=-

1 Egg
1 Slice of Bread
Pasta Sauce

Start by heating your pan up on MEDIUM. When the pan is hot, crack in the egg. Immediately take the bread and smush it over the egg to make sure it sticks, hopefully without bursting the yolk (if it does, doesn't matter though). Once the egg is mostly cooked, flip the whole thing over with a spatula to toast the bread as well. Spread some of the pasta sauce over the egg. Serve. Great for when you're in a hurry and need a quick bite to eat. A few variations on this basic recipe include adding cheese over the top of the egg (parmesan works well, as does mozzarella or cheddar), or topping with some ham, sausage, or bacon.

Optional: You can spread some butter or other substitute on the back of the bread before flipping which will help make the bread extra crispy and delicious

Total time: <10 minutes

Total Cost: Not even gonna bother going through the numbers on this one. It probably costs somewhere around a quarter, maybe less.

Simple Stew

Today's recipe is basically an exercise in using up leftovers and turning them into something new. Over the weekend, I got one of those $5 Rotisserie Chickens. I'd already eaten both legs and peeled off the breast meat to save for sandwiches later. Instead of throwing away the remaining carcass, however, I tossed it into a pot for stew. There was still plenty of meat on there as I didn't bother stripping the bones cleanly before, and bones make for great soup stock. You can do this with all sorts of things. One of my favorite things to do this with is Pork Shoulder, which comes at just $1.29/lb. It's cheap because the meat is tougher and unsuitable for grilling like pork chops, but drop one of those in a pot for stew and after simmering for a few hours, will be so tender that it falls apart the moment you touch it.

-=Simple Stew=-

Leftover Chicken (I used ~1/5 of the whole chicken)
6 oz Creamer Potatoes
2 stalks Celery
2 Nappa leaves
1/2 Zucchini
1 small Onion
Salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder

First, start boiling a pot of water. You can put the potatoes in right away as they take a while to cook through. I used probably ~3 cups of water for this. As the water is heating, start chopping the onion and celery, and cutting the Zucchini into chunks. As you finish chopping each vegetable, go ahead and toss it right in. Let it boil for a bit, then drop in the chicken* and turn the heat down to LOW. Add salt, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste. Lastly, chop up the Nappa and toss it in. Be sure to stir the whole thing periodically so the stuff on the bottom doesn't get burnt. Once everything is cooked and heated, you're done! In my case, this took 15 minutes start to finish. Note that the picture only shows the one bowl I ate for dinner. There's still enough in the pot for at least one more bowl. Stick that in the fridge and you've got another night's dinner.

*An optional thing you can add is the drippings from the cooked chicken. If you've ever bought one, you might have noticed all the juices sitting in the bottom of the container. That stuff contains pretty much all the flavor of the chicken in it, and is basically what chicken stock is made from. If you're trying to cut back on fat though, don't put it in and just go with a few bouillon cubes instead.

Cost:
Chicken: $5 per chicken --> ~ 1/5 of the chicken => $1.00
Potatoes: 1.99/lb --> ~6 oz => $0.75
Celery: $1.49 each --> 2 stalks off the whole thing => ~0.15
Nappa: $1.69/lb --> 2 leaves => I have no clue, it's probably like $0.05
Zucchini: 1.29/lb --> 1/2 Zucchini is maybe 1/4 lb? => $0.32
Onion: $2.29 for a 2 lb bag --> 1 onion => ~$0.38

Total Cost: $2.65 ($1.33 per meal)


Well, there you have it. A quick stew that'll last you two nights. There's all sorts of variations you can make on this basic idea. Switch up the vegetables by using carrots, bell peppers, various mushrooms, pearl onions, scallions, cabbage, bok choy, or yellow squash. Don't feel like using chicken? Try that Pork Shoulder I mentioned before (that'll make enough to last a solid week) or perhaps a Beef Top Round Roast. The possibilities are endless. This is Jet, signing off. Happy cooking!

Honey Dijon Pork Chops

Hello again everyone, it's time for our very first dinner together. Now isn't that exciting =]

This is a recipe I've only recently started making, but it has turned out quite well several times already. It's quick, and only uses a few utensils, so there's hardly any cleanup. From start to finish, this meal took me less than 30 minutes, including washing the pans. Anyways, on to the main event (or course, as the case may be).

-=Honey Dijon Pork Chops=-

1 Pork Chop (4-5 oz)
Honey
Dijon Mustard
Black Pepper

Start by heating up a skillet on the stove on HIGH. If you want the cooked chop to look nicer, you can pat it dry with a paper towel first before putting it in the skillet. Cook for about 5 minutes while you make the honey Dijon glaze. Mix the honey and mustard in a small bowl, at about a 3:2 ratio of honey to mustard (no need to be precise with this). Feel free to adjust the amount to your personal taste, making enough to coat both sides of the pork chop. The consistency of the glaze should be somewhat viscous, like syrup. Flip the pork chop, reduce heat to MEDIUM, then coat the top of the chop with half of the honey glaze. Add some ground pepper. Cook for another few minutes, then flip again and coat the second side with the rest of the glaze. Grind some pepper on this side as well. Don't worry if the glaze drips off the meat into the skillet - it's actually a good thing. Give it another few minutes on LOW heat, and you're done! You can tell whether the meat is fully cooked based on the color and texture - the meat will have turned a sort of off white color, and it should be relatively stiff but still slightly springy. This is something you learn to tell by experience; not once have I actually timed myself while cooking meat.

To go with the pork chop, I chose to make some spaghetti with sauce. A very basic staple for any student or household

-=Spaghetti=-
3 oz Spaghetti
2 oz Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce

Note that the above portion sizes are just estimates. To make the spaghetti, heat a pot of water on HIGH. When the water is boiling, toss in the desired amount of pasta. To check if the pasta is ready, take any utensil and lift out a strand of pasta. If it is completely limp, or almost so, it's done. All in all, this takes about 10-15 minutes. Using the lid of the pot to block the pasta, carefully drain the water out into the sink. Leaving the pasta in the pot, pour the desired amount of sauce over the pasta. Return the pot to the stove, dropping the heat down to LOW and mixing, until the sauce has been heated. Serve.

Total cooking time: 20 minutes (you might be thinking, wait, that pork chop took at least 10-15 mins, and so did the pasta. How does that come to just 20 minutes? Simple, start boiling the water when you begin cooking the pork. Multitasking when cooking isn't difficult, it takes out a lot of the boring waiting, and, it goes without saying, saves a lot of time)

Cost:
Pork Chop: 2.98/lb for a pack of 8 --> 5 oz => $0.93
Honey: $10.99 for 80 fl oz --> ~1 fl oz => $0.14
Dijon Mustard: $4.29 for 16 oz --> ~1/2 oz => $0.13
Spaghetti: $0.79 for a 16 oz box --> 3 oz => $0.15
Sauce: $1.49 for 24 oz jar --> 2 oz => $0.12

Total cost: ~$1.47


That's right. Just $1.47. What can you get with a buck forty-seven if you eat out? A small bag of fries. Or maybe a palm sized fast food burger. Instead, you've got yourself a delicious pork chop with pasta, in about as much time as it would take to drive out, order, and drive back. This is Jet, signing off. Happy cooking!

Getting Started

Before I get into any recipes, I'd like to go over some basic items I like to have handy for cooking. Many of these will be common spices or condiments, like salt and pepper, ketchup and mustard, etc. Others may be new to you, and I'll go over those in slightly more detail.

-=Spices=-
--Salt and pepper are pretty self explanatory.
--Garlic Powder or Garlic Salt: I love using garlic while cooking, but fresh garlic can be slightly pricey, and let's face it, all that peeling and mincing is a hassle. Therefore, I'll often just use some garlic powder for the taste. It's not quite the same, but it gets the job done
--Cayenne Pepper: I personally am a fan of spicy food, so I'll often toss some Cayenne pepper into a dish to add a bit of heat.
--Paprika: Same idea as the Cayenne.
--Dried herbs: there's a lot of herbs out there, but a few I like to have on hand are basil, parsley, oregano, and chives. Fresh is generally better, but what with stuff going bad, I'm not gonna go out and buy a bundle of fresh herbs only to watch it all rot in half a week.
--Bouillon cubes: Ok, not exactly a spice, but having some bouillon cubes does wonders for making soups

-=Condiments=-
--Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Cream Cheese, Butter. Fairly standard stuff.
--Soy Sauce: Soy sauce is quite versatile, and a wonderful sauce for just about any dish. Just be careful not too use too much, as it's heavy on the salt.
--Olive Oil: Great for use as cooking oil, and it adds a nice flavor to whatever you're cooking that regular vegetable oil just doesn't have.
--Sesame Oil: If you like Chinese food, then you've had Sesame Oil, whether you know it or not. An amazingly versatile oil, with a very unique flavor
--Maple Syrup: Great for simple glazes. And who doesn't like Maple Syrup?
--Honey: Same deal as Maple Syrup. A different flavor for different dishes.
--Chili Garlic Sauce: I swear by this stuff. A great sauce for making any dish spicy if you are so inclined. It's mild enough that you can just put a little and it won't burn at all, or add a lot for a stronger kick. It works great when combined with something sweet (remember the syrup?). If you've never heard of it before, this is what it looks like http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/product/lkk-chili-garlic-sauce-8-0. You can find it at any Asian market, as well as many large supermarkets.
--Vinegar: Useful in probably more things than you'd expect. I generally like to use either cider vinegar or red wine vinegar.

-=Other=-
--Onions, Rice (Brown and Basmati), Bread Crumbs, Mushrooms, Eggs, Milk, Nappa (or any other leafy vegetable suitable for sautee-ing/stir fry. Cabbage will do in a pinch)
--Some other things that I don't always have on hand, but will use often are carrots, broccoli, bok choy, bell peppers, and various fruits (peaches, apples, berries, etc)

Well, that's everything I can think of for the moment, I'm sure I'm forgetting something important. Will edit if I think of anything. Until next time, this is Jet signing off. Happy Cooking!

Welcome!

Hello, my name is Jet, and I like to cook. In fact, this upcoming junior year of college will mark my third year of cooking meals for myself. What I've found over these past years of cooking, is that it really isn't all that difficult. Time consuming at first, maybe, and perhaps a little intimidating if you've never had to use a stove, but pretty soon you get the hang of it and you're knocking out Santa Fe Chicken or grilling yourself a nice Sirloin Steak, or perhaps baking a Stuffed Pork Chop or two.

Me, I've never really been one to follow a recipe. Never did like dealing with all those measurements, it was all too....rigid for my taste. And perhaps, that's what really gets you to the essence of cooking. It doesn't matter what the cookbook says. Honestly, what's a 'pinch' of salt anyways? A teaspoon? Half a teaspoon? Who cares? What matters is that in the end, whoever is eating the meal (in this case, probably you, the cook) thinks it tastes good, and that's that.

For those of you who choose to follow this blog, I will periodically update with recipes of my own creation. These recipes will generally be simple things, meals you can cook for yourself in no more than 30 minutes to an hour. Instructions will be straightforward as well. None of that "add a cup of diced tomatoes" junk. Pfft. Is it really that hard (or wrong) to just say, chop up half a large tomato and heat in a pan on medium? Does it really matter if it's half a cup of tomato or 3/4 cup? I think not. And the best part of it all? You'll eat well, eat healthy, and it won't hurt your wallet.

I'll throw this out there right now. I'm not rich. Far from it. Wanna know how much I had in my checking account at the start of the summer? A paltry $120. I'd try to find a job, except it's difficult to get hired when you're not going to be in one place for more than a month and a half at a time. Thanks to my birthday being in mid-June, though, my bank account has been nicely padded. Still, I like to watch my budget, and therefore, I need to be careful with my shopping. In general, I spend about $150 a month on groceries, and everything I put in this blog will have been made on that budget. And if you think I'm just boiling rice every night, you'd be wrong. Among the list of dinners I've made just this past week are Pork Chops with Sauteed Vegetables, Grilled Shrimp Kebabs, Tilapia & Seaweed Soup, and Sausage Fried Rice (okay, lame names, sure, but you get the idea). Some of the stuff I've got planned for next week? Shrimp Alfredo. Linguine with Tomato Basil Sauce and Sausage. Chicken Stew w/ Potatoes. And that's just scratching the surface of what I can do.

Besides, have you seen the prices on meal plans these days? For me, at my school, it's $1900-2700 per semester, depending on your plan, and from what I hear, that's not that bad as far as meal plans go. Think about it. At $2300 a semester (one of the common plans for students here), that comes out to about $130 a week, over 18 weeks of class. That's almost as much per week as I spend in a month. And you know what? With the stuff I'm making, I'm eating better food, and healthier food than they serve in dining halls (seriously, the amount of oil they put in that stuff? sheesh). I'm a young, Asian male with a fairly quick metabolism and even I'd be worried eating that stuff all the time. They don't call it the Freshman Fifteen for nothing (and for some people I know, it's been rather a bit more than fifteen).

For me, cooking is hardly ever a chore. At the end of a long day, when your brain's been fried to mush by classes, there's nothing quite like a delicious dinner to unwind. Add in the knowledge that you made it yourself, that this is your creation, and it'll taste twice as good. As this blog grows, I will post all sorts of recipes, from breakfasts to dinners, appetizers to desserts. Most will be simple, requiring little preparation. Often, recipes will use similar if not the same ingredients, yet they will use those ingredients in a variety of ways so as to create completely different dishes. Some of these recipes will be personal favorites that I've been making since the beginning; others will be entirely new ideas cooked up in the future.

Unfortunately, posts will likely not be regular. Sometimes, I might submit recipes several days in a row, or even have multiple recipes in one day. Other times, I might not put anything up for a week at a time. However, I will try to keep posting recipes on at least a moderately regular basis, even if not so organized as 'every MWF' or something like that.

Anyways, this first introductory post has run on long enough. Hell, I didn't really intend to write this much right off the bat. But if you're a college student living on your own for the first time, or anyone else that's looking for nice, simple meals to cook for yourself, friends, or family, check back every now and then, or subscribe via RSS feed or whatever. Who knows, you just might pick up a thing or two.

This is Jet, signing off. Happy cooking.