Economical Meals with Mahi Mahi

As you're aware, I'm a budget grocery shopper.

In these economic times, I'm always on the look out for ways to reduce my grocery bill while not compromising my preference for healthy, whole unprocessed foods.

This means I always shop the edge of the grocery store for the best deals on fresh produce, fish, dairy, meat and bulk dry goods.

I venture into the middle aisles for bottled, packaged, tinned and frozen items irregularly and then I do because usually I'm enticed as a result of a coupon for a pantry or condiment item.

I've been clipping coupons more frequently lately because Whole Foods Whole Deal newsletter has some truly great deals, as does their What's on Sale flier which is available online as a pdf.

Yesterday I mentioned that Continental Veal Brats are on sale this week, which I discovered perusing the What's on Sale flier. WFs Whole Catch Mahi Mahi is also on sale for $3 off a frozen packet of two, 6 oz fillets --which means the fillets are about $3.50 each.

Since 3 ounces of animal or fish protein at a main meal is sufficient (truly, google how much protein we need and you'll find that consuming more is not beneficial to one's health at all, rather it can be detrimental), then one pack of two, 6 oz mahi mahi fillets will feed a family of four -- so long as you supplement it with plenty of vegetables and perhaps a grain or starch.

The pics I've posted today are just a few of the delicious meals I've made with mahi mahi.

In the pic above, you'll note I lined my skillet with spinach and squash, laid a fillet of fish over the veggies and topped it with slices of lemon and then a lemon and green-olive tapenade which I purchased in bulk (I take in my own containers) from WFs olive bar.

I poured about half a cup of white wine over the lot and turned the heat to low, placed the lid on the skillet and let the meal steam cook for about 15 mins.

Similarly, I made a skillet meal with organic broccoli, red and green bell peppers, spring onion and corn kernels (I froze uncooked kernels from about 10 cobs late this summer when corn was incredibly inexpensive).

Pouring a little water over the lot, I dotted the fish with a couple teaspoons of butter, a teaspoon of dill seed, and the juice from one lemon, and with the lid on the skillet, I slow-cooked the meal, again for about 15 mins.

The meal to the left is one mahi mahi fillet cut in half, so it's about a 3 ounce portion. I marinated the fish in Braggs, lime juice and a little honey (some crushed garlic and grated ginger root, which are optional) and then I barbecued the fillet, and a baby bok choy.

Making the most of the leftover marinade, I added it to a pot with 3 cups of water and 3/4 of a cup of polenta, cooking the mixture over low heat for about 30 mins.

As you can see the fish is sitting atop the set polenta with a side of green salsa that I made with cilantro, cucumber and spring onion.

Mahi Mahi can be dry and lacking in flavor if overcooked and served plain. So consider slow cooking it with liquid (water, stock, wine) and fresh vegetables, as in the two skillet dishes above. Or marinate it and then grill the fish for maybe 10 mins, since this will ensure that it's flavorful and moist.

Fall Veggies with Herbs & Sausage

I've been working on the "Fall" section of a book proposal I'm writing, a book proposal based on this blog.

It's been easy to write because we're in the midst of autumn, and in Colorado it's turning out to be a rather cold one.

The bears have been particularly active around my cottage in Chautauqua Park foraging for the last of the apples and the now shriveling berries, and unfortunately trash, which though it's sealed in bins, the bears still manage to pillage.

Their frenzied activity, according to local bear watchers, portends a cold winter. But before we think about winter, here's what I had to say about fall in my proposal:

"As the weather transitions, our inclination to eat cooling, water-dense salads naturally shifts to a preference for warming autumnal foods such as fall's harvested vegetables: acorn squash, dense and fleshy pumpkin, egg plant, texture-rich cabbage and brussel sprouts, beets, carrots and turnips.

Softer in color compared to summer's rainbow-hued cornucopia, fall's produce is nevertheless imbued with strong, earthy flavors. We're drawn back into the kitchen to cook hot meals with those earthy root veggies which are great flavor pals to gamey-flavored turkey, pork and lamb.

Adding garlic, leeks, and rosemary to braised pumpkin or acorn squash and tossing in chunks of grilled pork and cranberry or lamb and garlic sausage makes for a deliciously warming and aromatic meal."

I love to use various kinds of sausages as an addition to hearty vegetable meals; they add great flavor and texture and make economical meals for one or more.

You may recall that earlier this year, I posted several meal ideas with golden beets (pic left).

Red beets, featured in the colander of fall veggies in the pic above, are abundant right now and would be a fabulous color addition to the simple meal to the left, which also includes chicken sausage, shelled peas, and corn.

Braising any fall veggies with onions and garlic and tossing in fresh sage, rosemary, and dried fruits like cranberries or raisins, and your choice of grilled sausage makes for a nutritious, colorful and tasty lunch or dinner.

I made the meal to left at the end of summer. It features fried green tomato, fresh cucumber and basil polenta topped with chopped chives and to the side, sliced grilled turkey sausage.

This week at Whole Foods, made-in-Colorado Continental Veal Brats are on sale for a savings of $2 per pack. I have a pack in my freezer which I intend cooking up this evening with that colander of chopped veggies above.

I'll lightly grill the brats (since they're pre-cooked), slice them, and serve them atop the veggies which I'll braise in my skillet and season with dill seed that I foraged here in Chautauqua from the drying plant.

On the side, I'll have some Seeded German Mustard; it will add piquancy to what I imagine will be a very colorful and warming autumnal meal.

Tomato and Baguette Casserole

Remember that .99c French baguette I bought from Whole Foods a couple of days ago?

I have some leftover and its turned rock hard, which baguettes do if not eaten the day they're baked.

Yesterday I spritzed a chunk with water, heated it in the oven, and then ate it smothered in butter with my rustic lunchtime soup.

The spritzing softens the hardened crust in fact, depending on the amount of water you use, once heated in the oven it will soften up and be almost doughy.

Today, I'm making the most of that last chunk of baguette. I'm using it in a dish I learned about from a friend's mum. If you have a surplus of harvested tomatoes at home, the following casserole is a tasty, economical way to use up tomatoes and stale bread.

Tomato and Baguette Casserole
1) Boil a large pot of water. Turn heat down so water is gently simmering.
2) Remove green stems from tomatoes and score the other end with a small "X".
3) Gently place tomatoes into pot of simmering water with a ladle. The skin will peel away where the tomato was scored. As this happens, remove tomatoes and put them into a colander, running colander under cold water to stop cooking process.
4) You don't want the tomatoes to fall apart in the hot water, so do remove them before they start to disintegrate into mush.
5) Once cool enough to handle, peel the skin away, placing tomatoes onto a chopping board. Quarter the tomatoes and remove seeds and membranes, chopping the remaining flesh into small chunks.
6) Put chopped tomato into a pot on the stove and simmer on low. The liquid in the tomato flesh will gradually evaporate leaving a thickened tomato concasse.
7) To enhance the flavor, add a little white or brown sugar, and a slurp of balsamic vinegar to taste.
8) You could add sauteed onions and garlic, and or your choice of fresh herbs if you wish.


9) Now slice stale baguette and toss it in a skillet (or casserole dish), drizzling it liberally with olive oil. Or you may prefer to saute several rashers of bacon and toss the bread in with the bacon and bacon fat.
10) Ladle tomato sauce over bread, covering it generously with sauce.
11) If you chose not to use bacon in step 9, and if you like bacon, lay several rashers over the top of the casserole.
12) Bake in 350-degree oven until bacon is cooked and the dish is hot all the way through -- about 30 mins.

To Serve: Scoop portions of casserole into a bowl or onto a plate, making sure you've scooped some bread from the bottom of the casserole. Toss a little crumbled feta over the top, or your choice of grated cheese.

Scrambled eggs on the side are an option or sausage if you prefer. Or you may enjoy a simple, green side salad as an accompaniment.

Baguette with Rustic Soup

I began making apple corn bread late yesterday to accompany the soup I'd made and to take to a friend's for dinner.

But time got away from me and I abandoned the bread -- though the ingredients are still sitting out.

On the way to my friends, without the intended corn bread, I stopped and picked up a French baguette from Whole Foods.

When I worked in Courchevel in the French Alps for a British ski company, I cooked for groups of 10-20 people who were staying at the chalet I managed. Evening meals were always 3 hearty courses, plus baguette with the starter or with the main dish.

Most evenings I'd do something fancy with the fresh baguette purchased that morning. From slathering the sliced baguette with garlic butter, wrapping it in foil and heating in the oven, to variations on that favorite such as parsley butter, mustard butter, butter beaten with grated cheese, and so on.

At some point during the winter, I had a chalet of 18 guests from Nice -- an extended family plus family friends. They were a rowdy bunch at the dinner table, talking animatedly about politics, skiing, skiing and politics.

Because I ate dinner with my guests, I was very away that their rowdiness had more to do with the copious wine they drank and they're home-brew grappa and brandy, which they drank after dessert with coffee, than the favored topical conversation.

I thought the first couple of evening meals went very well. At 23, I was a bit nervous cooking for a chalet full of sophisticated Nicoisians and so I'd put my best chef-foot forward. This included heating the dinner baguette with one, then another of the butters mentioned above, and serving it piping hot on a platter with the foil slightly opened to release the delicious aroma of the baked, buttery bread.

After the second night's dinner, one of the women approached me in the kitchen. She very graciously asked that the evening menu be altered slightly. For instance, the family and friends didn't eat the kind of fancy desserts I'd prepared, could they just have "fresh fruit and yogurt?"

Secondly, they preferred not to have their baguette heated with garlic or parsley butter or any other butter for that matter. Instead, could they have at least "4 plain baguettes, uncut, and placed in the center of the table."

Both were very easy requests since it made my work easier. Certainly I was a little surprised because I'd imagined that they'd prefer fancier fare, yet I was wrong. So plain baguette at dinner it was, followed by fruit and yogurt, and then coffee with that wicked home brew!

Since the baguettes were placed directly onto a long, wooden table with no cloth and since the guests could easily break chunks off while they ate, drank and talked animatedly, the amount of baguette crumbs scattered across that table and on the floor beneath the table was something akin to a sea of confetti post wedding nuptials.

As my guest's two-week stay came to a close, I came to appreciate that the messier the table and floor with baguette crumbs, the more successful the dinner both in terms of the food and conversation.

Last night I simply sliced the baguette I'd purchased, placing the pieces on a plate. We had it plastered with buttered as an accompaniment to our salad and salmon.

Today, I'm having the leftovers warmed in the oven (I'll spritz it with water first; this softens the day-old crust) and again, I'll slather it with butter, and then I'll dunk it in the soup I made yesterday (pic above).

Chances are there'll be bits of bread on the kitchen bench at which I'll sit to eat, and on the floor beneath my stool; I learned from my Nicoisian guests that in order to fully appreciate baguette one must break off chunks from the whole, sop up whatever is in front of you with those chunks, all the while inadvertently scattering crumbs about -- since the resulting mess is a direct correlate to a meal truly enjoyed.