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Yes, the POS Amana range has finally kicked the bucket. The oven control panel has been detached for a while, now the "off" button is no longer functioning (I've been using the buttons with wooden spoons... long story, the heat generated has melted the glue on the control panel connections.....
So, I'm ovenless for a bit, and shopping for a new slide-in range. I have the integrated microwave/vent, am not interested in springing for a new vent, so am looking at mid-line ranges, gas, about 2500 max. Reviews seem to be few far between.... if you read this, any advice?? Looking at KitchenAid, Frigidaire, Kenmore? I wish I could afford one of the euro models without any electronic controls so I wouldn't have that problem!
I'm 2 days late for the official Cheap Ass Monday. So sue me, I was too busy enjoying quiz night at the pub with some friends on Monday. We didn't have baseball practice for a change this week, so we took full advantage.
I never understand people that say they don't have time to cook, can't cook, blah blah blah. There is really nothing simpler, or cheaper, than this meal.
I took a 1/2 bag of Trader Joe's white creamer potatoes, cut them in half & boiled for a few minutes. Then drained, tossed with olive oil, and popped in a 450 oven along with a chicken that I picked up at Fresh&Easy on my way home. The chicken already comes neatly trussed with a nifty elastic string, so I just dried it and salt & peppered it. That's it, nothing fancy. That all cooked for more or less an hour until the chicken was done. I put the chicken on a cutting board, and then wilted some garlic and mixed up greens in the same skillet I roasted the chicken in until tender, about 10 mins or so, yes in the chicken fat and juices.
Carved up the chicken and put it all on the platter together. Tres gourmet, yes? And it took a bit over an hour. Cost: $1.15 for the potatoes ($2.29 for a bag, I used half the bag), chicken $4.85 ($1.19 a lb), greens about $2.29 or so a bag (I forget). At any rate, this cost less than $8, and fed 3 with leftovers so would have fed 4. You would spend more if you went to In-n-Out Burger.... mmmm... grilled onions.... but I digress. Cook this at home, it is delicious and easy, and light on the wallet.
A quick & easy soup night hit -- cream of asparagus soup. Which goes to show how much I loooooovvvvveeeee my immersion blender. Simply some home made chicken stock, leftover asparagus chopped up, blended with a touch of cream, and the tips added to heat through. Yum! Although, next time I will strain......
...otherwise I would barely get any cooking done! Sunday we had a rainout, and once the weather cleared I had my heart set on leg of lamb. Unfortunately, the usual suspects did not have any, so I bought some beef and made a carbonnade with Chimay Belgian beer. I used Saveur's version, clipped from a magazine ages ago. It was very very good. It went well with the beer as well! Unfortunately my picture came out very blurry....
This week was a bit hectic, I realized I missed calling my nephew on his 16th birthday. I did manage to get 2 meals on the table -- Monday soup night was the Jamie Oliver pasta e ceci that I made before, and Tuesday I finally got around to trying these balsamic glazed pork chops, from any number of food mags I have gotten, so who knows where it came from. You brown the chops and shallots in the pan, then add balsamic & brown sugar, reduce to a glaze, and return the chops to the pan. Perfect with some asparagus and roasted potatoes.
Thanks to Costco, I get my lamb fix today. I cut a huge 5 pounder into 4 pieces so I can pop one out of the freezer whenever the mood strikes. Of course just as we were getting ready to start the charcoal for the grill, it started to sprinkle... so oven roasted lamb & asparagus, with aioli and home made bread tonight. Then, back to the craziness tomorrow! Ooh, and I get to work in the snack bar on Tuesday night (ugh).
It's baseball season here again.
Well, it's always baseball season but in the spring not only is there club baseball, there is also Little League. So, we find ourselves sitting down to one or two meals a week max that aren't Subway, sloppy joes, grilled cheese, etc... There is a lot of this, which is the Nigella Lawson chicken and sausage bake without the sausage.
I found this in my camera too, I made a curry-garam masala paste and roasted whole chicken legs, served with basmati rice, baba ganoush and tzaziki. 
Oh, yeah, and 5 minute bread makes a fun pizza. This one with pesto, fresh mozzarella and sundried tomatoes, a bit of procuitto on top too. Yum! 
We had a rainout today, and I tried to buy leg of lamb but no one seemed to have any, so I will make carbonnade (beef stew with beer) and post on that later this week.
I did, however, finally get around to making this mushroom bourguignon a few weeks ago, it's from Smitten Kitchen. I didn't have any beef or veg stock, so I used veal stock. That made it good :). This was pretty easy to put together and tasted really really good. The smell while cooking the mushrooms and then the mirepoix was pretty dang amazing. 
And tasty too, with some cold leftover lamb on the side.
Sigh.... is it August yet?
My cooking and planning time has been severely hampered... but for a good reason. After being out of the market since the end of August, I finally got a job!! So, I will be returning this week to some classics like this and this, and then we are off to the coast with a friend over the weekend (with an oyster knife in hand!). I do have some new things to try, and am looking forward to "Hobo Monday" (though to be honest it will be Sunday or Tuesday since first Monday is pub quiz night). The nice thing is, my job is a quick drive rather than a train commute away. But springtime also means baseball practices and games 5 or 6 (or 7!) days a week with 2 different teams, so interesting meals may be few and far between. Any suggestions for pre-prepped ultra fast things would be great!
I was able to put together this awesome onion and cheese pie from The Yummy Mummy. With Trader Joe's pie crust... even though I have made mildly successful crust, I'm still scared to death of it. Next time I'll try the crust, once I have the new range.
