BrokeAss Gourmet

BrokeAss Gourmet

Convenience Store Coffee Cake

  • Prep Time 0:10
  • Cook Time 0:22
  • Estimated Cost $14.00
  • 3 Comments

I’m in on vacation in Boston this week, visiting Ryan, one of my best friends from college. After a fabulous and very late evening last night at a fundraiser, I should have done what one typically does on vacation: sleep in and nurse a hangover with coffee and a greasy breakfast. Instead I woke up at 6 AM, compelled to bake coffee cake.

Ryan rarely cooks and therefore didn’t have much in the way of coffee cake ingredients, so early this morning I wandered down to the nearby convenience store and found everything I needed for this easy, satisfying recipe. Normally I’m not much of a fan of baking mix, but it includes flour, baking soda and baking powder in one box so it’s actually a pretty good deal.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups baking mix $4
  • 1 cup milk $1.50 for 1 pint
  • 1/8 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan $1.50 for a stick
  • 1/4 cup white sugar Pantry
  • 1 apple, coarsely chopped $1
  • 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped $3 for a 2-oz can
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar Pantry
  • 2 tsp cinnamon $1.50 for 1 oz.
  • 2 tsp ground ginger $1.50 for 1 oz.

Recipe Serves 4-6

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 square pan or an 8" pie plate.
  2. Whisk together baking mix, milk, white sugar, and melted butter. Stir in apple, walnuts, cinnamon and ginger.
  3. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a fork inserted into the center comes out clean.

Category: Meals

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Ginger-Molasses Bread Pudding with Blueberries

  • Prep Time 0:10
  • Cook Time 0:22
  • Estimated Cost $13.50
  • 5 Comments

True confession: last Friday I bought a fresh whole-wheat baguette to have with dinner. True confession: today I remembered that half of it remained, still in its brown paper bag. Unsurprisingly, it was rock-hard. Rather than throw it away, I did what any true BrokeAss would do: I made bread pudding. Waste not, want not.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 baguette (ideally stale), cut into cubes $2
  • 1 1/2 cups milk $1.50 for 1 pint
  • 2 eggs $1.50 for 6
  • 1 small piece ginger, peeled and minced $1
  • 1/3 cup sugar Pantry
  • 1/8 cup blackstrap molasses $3 for 10 oz.
  • 1/2 cup fresh blueberries $2
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more to grease the pan. $1 for a stick
  • powdered sugar for garnish $1.50

Recipe Serves 6

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8" pie plate with butter.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and molasses. Gently stir in sugar and ginger until well-incorporated. Add bread and allow to soak for 5-10 minutes, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
  3. Use a spatula to scrape the bread mixture into the greased pie plate. Sprinkle with the blueberries and dot with butter. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.
  4. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before dusting with powdered sugar and serving.

Category: Meals

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Creamy Lemon-Parsley Sauce over Spinach Ravioli

The versatile sauce in this dish is great on any pasta or even over grilled chicken or fish. It’s so simple and made from such common ingredients, so save it for a night when you really don’t feel like grocery shopping.

Ingredients

  • 1 16-oz. package spinach ravioli $4
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced $0.50
  • 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped $1
  • 2 tbsp olive oil Pantry
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced Pantry
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus a little extra for garnish $3
  • 1/4 cup half-and-half $1.50
  • salt and pepper to taste Pantry

Recipe Serves 2

Directions

  1. Cook ravioli according to package directions in salted water.
  2. While ravioli cooks, heat olive oil over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes or until translucent. Add parsley, half-and-half, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
  3. Once cooked, drain ravioli and arrange on a platter. Drizzle with sauce and top with lemon zest, more parsley, and Parmesan cheese.

Category: Meals

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Summer Crab Risotto

  • Prep Time 0:15
  • Cook Time 0:20
  • Estimated Cost $16.50
  • 3 Comments

Normally I’m hesitant to buy crab in cans, but for some reason, the Trader Joe’s brand is surprisingly good—and an excellent way to enjoy crab inexpensively. This brightly-flavored risotto is hearty enough to be a main course, but would also work nicely as a side dish alongside other seafood items—like grilled salmon or swordfish.

Ingredients

  • 2 cans lump crab meat, drained (ideally from Trader Joe's) $4
  • 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice $2
  • 1 cup frozen corn kernals $2
  • 3 oz. fresh goat cheese $4
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced Pantry
  • 1/2 white onion, diced $0.50
  • 2 15-oz. cans chicken or vegetable stock $1
  • 6 scallions, sliced $1
  • 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped $1
  • 1/2 cup half-and-half $1
  • salt and pepper to taste Pantry
  • 2 tbsp olive oil Pantry

Recipe Serves 3-4

Directions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
  2. Add the Arborio rice and cook, stirring constantly until lightly toasted. Slowly stir in stock little by little until fully absorbed (this will take several minutes). If needed, add a little water to create a creamy consistency.
  3. Stir in corn, crab, scallions and most of the parsley (reserve a little for garnish). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Just before serving, stir in the half-and-half and the goat cheese.
  5. To serve, spoon into bowls and top with a little parsley.

Category: Meals

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Hipster Dogs

  • Prep Time 0:05
  • Cook Time 0:07
  • Estimated Cost $13.50
  • 3 Comments

When I think of hipsters, I think of skinny black jeans, pretentiousness, bad haircuts and sausages. Yes, sausages. Think about it—sausages are just unclassy enough to seem ironic (hipsters like doing anything ironically), yet overpriced gourmet sausages abound (hipsters also like spending money unnecessarily). Plus any hipster bar worth its salt is within walking distance of a good late-night sausage cart. And not that I’m suggesting anything, but this dish is easy enough that it could probably be thrown together fairly successfully after a night of binge-drinking PBR.

Ingredients

  • 2 gourmet sausages, any kind $4
  • 2 sprouted-grain hot dog buns $3 for 6
  • 1/4 cup shredded Muenster, jack or other semi-soft cheese $3
  • fancy mustard (I like sweet-hot) $3
  • 1/4 onion, diced $0.50
  • 1 tsp olive oil Pantry

Recipe Serves 2

Directions

  1. Split the sausages in half lengthwise. Heat the olive oil in a grill pan over high heat. Cook the sausages for 2-3 minutes on each side until plump, with grill-marks on both sides.
  2. While the sausages cook, split the buns and toast them in the toaster oven or regular oven (at about 400 degrees F). Once toasted, spread with mustard.
  3. Assemble the sausages in the hot dog buns and top with the cheese and onions. Place the assembled dogs under a broiler set to high (this can also be done in a small toaster oven) for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Category: Meals

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