Some of the best easy/cheap food comes from the poor folks of the world. Lately I've been taking my cues from the American South. (With the exception of the first recipe, which is just too easy not to include.)
We'll start with some sides, then move into a couple easy mains.
Roasted Potatoes:
- Cube some red potatoes, skin on (roughly even pieces are key, about 1/2" cubed is ideal.)
- toss with olive oil, generous salt and pepper; fresh rosemary or thyme (chopped fine) optional
- roast at 400-500 (anywhere in there is fine) until golden and cooked through
Greens:
- Wash thoroughly and cut into 1"-2" strips a lot of leafy greens: kale, chard, mustard greens, turnip greens - any combination is great. Plan on about 1 bunch of greens per person, they cook way down.
- Throw 'em into a pot big enough to hold them all. Add a little salt, generous pepper, maybe some red pepper.
- (Before that last step, you could sweat a little onion in the pot, if you're feeling fancy.)
- Cook, covered, over med low heat for a while, stirring frequently so all the greens wilt, and start to tenderize a bit.
- Once the greens are close to being tender enough to eat, uncover the pot to let some liquid cook off.
- Serve with a splash of cider vinegar
Polenta Or Grits, Depending On How Fancy You Want To Sound:
- Use a 4:1 water to corn meal ratio. Up to half of the water can be substituted by chicken stock, milk, cream or buttermilk, or any combination thereof.
- In a dry pot, over medium heat, toast the cornmeal, stirring or tossing frequently, until aromatic
- Add liquid (carefully, it'll pop and spit), stir vigorously to thoroughly combine, bring to a boil, reduce heat to barely a simmer. Cover and cook until about the consistency of a loose oatmeal, maybe 10-20 minutes.
- Safety/cleanup note: when the polenta/grits mixture boils it will do so in the fashion of a swamp in a fantasy movie: big bubbles that are slow to rise, then burst dramatically sending hot grits all over everything around the pot, like the stove, other pots, the counter, your arms, or tender feets if you cook barefoot. Best to keep it at a very low boil, or covered if it's boiling too rapidly. Not a big deal, but worth noting. (Also worth noting: Al Green's pissed off wife/girlfriend, when she found out he was cheating on her, threw a pot of hot grits on him while he was in the shower. So, it's especially dangerous to cook grits if you're a cheating soul crooner.)
- When the polenta/grits reaches the desired consistency (which is a personal call; some like it soupy, some like it a little thicker), correct the consistency with more milk/cream/buttermilk, add a knob (abt 2 Tbsp) of butter, and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. You could also toss in a handful of fresh (or frozen) corn, and some parmigiano reggiano is always nice.
Foolproof Rice:
- Don't laugh. Consistently screwing up rice is the secret shame of many pro chefs.
- Use a 2:1 water to rice ratio.
- In an oven safe pot, toast rice in a touch of butter until it becomes fragrant. Add water (carefully - it will sizzle and spit), stir, bring to rolling boil.
- Stick on a tight fitting lid (a loose fitting lid can be made tight by putting a sheet of aluminum foil over the pot first, then firmly pressing the lid in place), chuck it into a 350-ish degree oven. Check it at about 15-20 min.
Braised Meat Is Really Easy:
- Get a good sized hunk o' red meat (beef, pork, lamb, goat, etc; bone, no bone, doesn't matter) anywhere from 2 - 6 lbs. Season meat generously with salt and pepper on all sides. Additional spices like ground red pepper, cumin, paprika, etc are optional here.
- In the heaviest pot available, heat vegetable oil until almost smoking. That's real hot. That's important. Brown the meat on all sides. Really brown. Don't be scared, you're not burning it.
- Once the neat is thoroughly brown, remove to a plate and set aside. Reduce heat slightly.
- Sweat some aromatics in the same pan, scraping the fond (lovely brown bits) off the bottom of the pot. This could be carrots/onion/celery, could be a combination of mild chili peppers and bell peppers, could be any combination thereof. If you'd like some root veg (potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnip, turnip, rutabaga, etc) for a proper stew, now's the time to add them. Throw in the garlic (everybody likes garlic) at the very end of cooking the veg, so it doesn't burn and turn bitter.
- Return the meat to the pan.
- Add enough liquid to cover the meat about halfway up the sides. This could be water, stock/broth, beer, or wine, or any combination thereof, depending on your meat/veg combination. This would be the time to add whole stalks of herbs. Thyme is pretty safe, rosemary is a little more pronounced. Bring to a light boil.
- Whack it into the oven. The temperature depends on how long you have to cook it. This is something you could do over night, or start in the morning to eat at dinner. If it's going to cook for more than, say 4 hours, set the oven to about 250. If you'd like to "rush" it, set the oven to about 450, and the meat should be tender in 2-4 hours, depending on the size and the cut. I like the overnight method.
- When the meat is tender, and you're preparing to serve, remove the meat from the pan and set aside. If you used root veg, pull those out, too. Set the pot over med high heat, and reduce the pan sauce by about half. Correct with salt and pepper if necessary. For bonus points, if appropriate for the recipe, blend the pan sauce to a smooth consistency. Finish with a knob of butter (abt 2 Tbsp) off the heat. Return meat and root veg to the pan to warm, or slice/shred meat to serve with sauce on the side.
Hocks 'n' Beans:
- Use the basic braising method laid out above (brown, sweat, boil liquid, cook til tender)
- Brown about 6 smoked ham hocks in a little oil in a very hot pot, set aside
- Sweat half and onion, 2 bell peppers in the pot, add a bunch of garlic near the end.
- Add 1# of beans (unsoaked!)
- Return hocks to pan, add liquid (water and/or chix stock) to cover hocks, bring to a boil
- Cook it in a low oven for a real long time
- When you can't stand it any more, pull out the hocks and separate the meat from the bones, chunk up the meat into manageable hunks, and discard any unseemly fat/skin
- Return meat to pot. Serve.
That oughta keep you busy for a while.