That's incredible, never seen it anywhere close to that.
Went by my No Frills on the way home after I read your post, $7.50 on sale.
I think each franchisee does there own thing.
We sound like old women.
Cheap, delicious meals, with cost to make them
- Thread starter stinkynuts
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Went by my No Frills on the way home after I read your post, $7.50 on sale.
I think each franchisee does there own thing.
We sound like old women.
Out of all the meats pork is the most reasonably priced. I love grabbing a pork tenderloin and cutting into medallions. I usually get 4 or 5 out of it. Put a little spice rub on them (salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and smoked paprika) and then pan roast in oil and butter mixture. Remove and then make a simple gravy with chicken/vegetable stock, onions or shallots, garlic, soy sauce and a corn starch slurry. You get two dinners out of it with a side of rice and broccoli quite inexpensive.Tonight, I'm having a very simple meal.
Just a fried great value sausage, scrambled eggs, and roasted potatoes in the air fryer.
Easy 20-Minute Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes - Little Sunny Kitchen
These Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes are fluffy from the inside, and crispy and golden on the outside. They're so quick and easy to make.littlesunnykitchen.com
Yeah, I got it at the No Frills in Whitby, it was probably an in-store special.
If you boil the potatoes before air frying them, they will be super crispy and delicious.Tonight, I'm having a very simple meal.
Just a fried great value sausage, scrambled eggs, and roasted potatoes in the air fryer.
Easy 20-Minute Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes - Little Sunny Kitchen
These Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes are fluffy from the inside, and crispy and golden on the outside. They're so quick and easy to make.
Assuming you have to let them cool to close to room temperature before putting them into the air fryer?
Best is to leave in the refrigerator, without covering for an hour, for it to cool, after draining the water and shaking the container to bash the potatoes up a bit.
The dried starch, will turn the potatoes white and it will make it super crispy when cooked.
But if in a hurry, which I usually am, then you don't have to.
I usually just leave it open for the steam to evaporate as the air fryer pre-heats for 5 mins.
When the air fryer is done pre-heating, I will mix in olive oil and spices (and add more oil for more crispiness), and then throw them in the air fryer.
Make sure to scoop up the mix of oil and potato starch left over in the sauce pan where you mixed the spices and spread it out on top before you air fry @ 400C, for 20 mins, shaking the container at 10 mins.
It will turn out super crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
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I follow Jacques Pepin on YT. Great ideas for meals at a reasonable cost. Here is pasta e fagiioli. A nice hearty inexpensive meal. A couple slices of nice buttered crusty bread on the side.
Looks delicious and simple. Will try very soon. Pasta and beans cost next to nothing, as well as bread. At an restaurant, this dish, with bread and drinks for a family of five would be 5 X 30 = $150. The actual cost to make this for a family of five at home would be about $15.
Plus, I genuinely enjoy shopping for groceries, cooking, and even washing dishes. After 30 years of cooking, I can cook any dish now almost. Learning every day.
Some items on my to do list:
1)Dim sum.
https://www.thefoodranger.com/what-is-dim-sum-the-ultimate-guide/ There are many dimsum dishes. My favorites include the shrimp rice roll, shu mai, steamed tofu rolls, sticky rice in lotus leaf, pork buns, and sponge cake. It's entirely possible to make these dishes at home. Looking to get those bamboo steamers.
2)Sushi
I made it a few times, but it didn't turn out well. The problem is that you need to use sushi grade fish, which is not available at supermarkets. Even without fish, the rice turned out very hard, and didn't keep in the fridge. To make really good sushi takes a lot of skill and practice.
3)Biryani. A good biryani is very flavorful. Requires lots of exotic spices.
4)Tiramisu. A delicous Italian desert of Italian cream cheese filling, lady fingers, coffee, whipped cream, and liquor, topped with cocoa and grated chocolate.
5)Cheesecake. I had the best cheesecake ever. Trying to replicate the creaminess, with strawberry sauce and berries.
6)Chicken Madeira. I had this at a restaurant once, and it was unbelievably good! Maybe one of the best things I've eaten.
https://natashaskitchen.com/chicken-madeira-recipe/
Similar: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/chicken-marsala.html
I have made hundreds of dishes from all countries.
My favorite? Beef empanadas. Fry ground beef and onions, season with salt, pepper, cumin, tomato paste. Add chopped boiled egg. Deep fry in flaky pastry. The pastry is very crispy, and the filling is juicy and flavorful. Serve with a dipping sauce of your choice.
Other favorites include Lasagna, Ziti, Korean Short ribs,Bulgogi, Japanese cold noodles (hiyashi chuuka), barbecue ribs, steak, home made hamburgers, fries, fresh subs, tacos, burritos, butter chicken with basmati rice and naan, samosas, cream puffs, lemon cake chocolate cake, lemon cake, banana bread, corn bread, steak, pad thai, fried chicken, oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake, brownies.... The list is infinite!
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Sous videing 2lbs of cheap sirloin roast right now. The beef is not the main attraction for me anymore, it is the gravy that I make from the liquid that is the main attraction for me now. If you do not dilute it and make a gravy out of it; the beef flavor is overpowering, like giving CIM to a Bull.
I can't stress the importance of having good quality cookware. Pans that are thick so that you can make a proper sauce out of the juices. If your pan is too thin the juices burn over medium-high heat.
Last night I made fish and chips in the air fryer. Side of spinach and green beans. Unfortunately I had to use previously frozen cod which obviously isn't as good as fresh fish but then again do we really even get fresh fish here in Toronto? Unless it comes from a lake in the province.
Last night I made fish and chips in the air fryer. Side of spinach and green beans. Unfortunately I had to use previously frozen cod which obviously isn't as good as fresh fish but then again do we really even get fresh fish here in Toronto? Unless it comes from a lake in the province.
I don't know if its sirloin tip, which is usually cheap on sale. But I found it to be terrible, dry and stringy.
I've tried doing Dim Sum, and I realized dough manipulation is not my core strength. lmao.
I have tried making Biryani and after a couple of failures I was surprised at how easy it was and how delicious it turned out.
But you do need to shop around for some ingredients, but it is easy to find at the Asian or Indian grocery stores (or online).
The most important requirement was a thick bottomed non-stick dutch oven to ensure the slow cooking process proceeds without burning (which was my issue the 1st two times).
I basically mixed all spices, meat and yoghurt, and layered basmati rice with the raw meat mixture (raw if it is Chicken, and instant pot cooked if it is beef), and put some heavy pots and pans on top of the lid on low heat for 45 mins.
It was so perfectly cooked and fall off the bone tender.
It is sirloin tip, normally it is tough and dry as leather, but sous vide @135F for 16 hours and it transforms to a medium rare, juicy, tender piece of meat.
If you eat meat, stick with bone in chicken. A whole chicken can be had usually for less than the price of 2 boneless breasts. Cook it whole for easy and amazing roast chicken that will feed at least 4 (as long as you aren’t feeding teenage guys!) and you will have the carcass which you can turn into a couple litres of stock for another meal of soup, or to make sauces/ gravy. Learn to break it down into individual pieces (breast, thigh, drumsticks, wings) for baking, frying or grilling and learn to bone it for your boneless recipes. It’s an easy skill, and super useful. Always make the bones into stock.
Pork is often super cheap, and has a variety of uses. It is easy to dry out (esp loin chops and tenderloin), so forget your mom’s advice about needing to cook pork well done for safety. There is no trichinella in domestic pork now, so medium rare- medium is totally fine and still will be juicy and moist.
For meat eaters, beef has just become ridiculously expensive. Even the sketchiest cuts of beef are usually > $20/ lb. I’m not scraping for cash, but even for me, beef is a once every couple weeks treat. Fortunately ive got to the age where I don’t need a 20oz ribeye to satisfy me, less than half that is more than enough. Buying large cuts like a whole tenderloin can seem like a bargain, but remember that once you trim it properly, 1/4-1/3 is waste fat, sinew and silverskin.
Pork is often super cheap, and has a variety of uses. It is easy to dry out (esp loin chops and tenderloin), so forget your mom’s advice about needing to cook pork well done for safety. There is no trichinella in domestic pork now, so medium rare- medium is totally fine and still will be juicy and moist.
For meat eaters, beef has just become ridiculously expensive. Even the sketchiest cuts of beef are usually > $20/ lb. I’m not scraping for cash, but even for me, beef is a once every couple weeks treat. Fortunately ive got to the age where I don’t need a 20oz ribeye to satisfy me, less than half that is more than enough. Buying large cuts like a whole tenderloin can seem like a bargain, but remember that once you trim it properly, 1/4-1/3 is waste fat, sinew and silverskin.
You don't need the ribeye, striploin, tenderloin or T-bone cuts to enjoy beef. There are cheaper cuts out there that are absolutely delicious if prepared properly. I'm thinking of the tri-tip (which is a bottom sirloin cut) and the flat iron steak (which is from the shoulder blade). They may be challenging to find in grocery chain stores so you may need to go to a butcher shop. I do know that the tri-tip is occasionally available in Longo's. I consume beef 2-3 times per week. If I have a steak I'm generally good with 6-8 oz.
Don’t forget about chuck beef, or blade roast as it’s called in Canada. Simmered for hours until deliciously tender. First cut into chunks,fry with onions and garlic until browned, add beef stock or maggie cubes (2) and tomato, salt, pepper, and a bay leaf, simmer for one to two hours and reduce until you have a nice gravy. Serve over rice.
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