Kate's Cuisine

1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees Fahrenheit) Free!
2 tablespoons dry active yeast $0.66
1/2 cup butter, melted $0.45
1/2 cup sugar $0.10
3 eggs $0.60
1 teaspoon salt $0.01
4 – 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour $0.80

Total Cost    $2.62

Cost per Roll    $0.11

1.) Combine water and yeast in bowl, stir to combine, and let sit for 5 minutes.

2.) Using a wooden spoon, stir in butter, sugar, eggs, and salt.

3.) Add flour, one cup of a time, beating it in as you go. When dough has formed, wrap and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to three days.

4.) Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.

5.) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.

6.) Divide into 24 equal pieces and roll each into a smooth, round ball.

7.) Place dough balls into prepared pan in equally-spaced rows.

8.) Cover and let rise until doubled, about one hour.

9.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

10.) Place rolls in oven and allow to cook for about 17 minutes, until golden brown.

11.) Remove from oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes.

12.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the Dinner Rolls recipe review here

I love any bread recipe, but I especially love bread recipes that don’t require bread flour (because I run out of it so quickly whenever I buy it!) I have made this one using bread flour, thinking that would make them even flakier and lighter, but I was wrong – they actually came out worse when I used bread flour instead.

This recipe’s super easy, and the fact that the dough can be made ahead of time and stored for three days is just a bonus to boot! I’ve stored them for as long as 8 hours and as little as 2 hours. I think the dough definitely needs more than a couple of hours in the fridge. I now try to make the dough first thing in the morning the day I’m making them, and then pull them out to form the rolls just before I start cooking supper.

I got this recipe from food.com and they’re right when they say that they’re truly homemade rolls – absolutely scrumptious, everyone around the table loved them!

1 pie crust from Flaky Pie Crust recipe $0.22
4 whole eggs $0.80
1 egg white, lightly beaten $0.10
1/2 onion, diced $0.24
2 cloves garlic, minced $0.02
3/4 cup heavy cream $0.66
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg $0.08
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano $0.10
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour $0.01
5 slices bacon, diced $1.50
1 cup spinach, chopped $1.11
3 – 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced thinly into rounds $0.76
1 tablespoon canola oil $0.07
1 teaspoon salt $0.01
Ground black pepper $0.01

Total Cost    $5.69

Cost per Serving    $0.95

1.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease and flour a pie or quiche plate.

2.) Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add bacon pieces and cook until nicely crisp. Remove from pan, place on paper towels to drain, and set aside.

3.) Add diced onion to the skillet and cook for 3 – 4 minutes, just until the onions start to soften. Add garlic, stir, and cook for another minute. With a slotted spoon remove onions and garlic from pan and place in bowl to cool slightly.

4.) While the onion mixture is cooling, roll out the pie crust and place in pie plate, pressing down slightly around the edges at the bottom and trimming at the top of the pie plate. Brush the lightly beaten egg white along the bottom of the crust as well as up the sides to seal it.

5.) In a large bowl, mix together: 4 whole eggs, onion and garlic mixture, cream, nutmeg, oregano, flour, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine and then add chopped spinach and bacon. Stir again just to mix ingredients through.

6.) Pour egg mixture into the pie crust and shake slightly to level. Top with tomato rounds, submerging them slightly in the eggs.

7.) Place in preheated oven and bake for 60 – 70 minutes. Check on it regularly during cooking time and cover with foil if crust starts to brown too much. When you can shake the pan gently and the centre no longer jiggles, the quiche is ready.

8.) Remove quiche from oven when done and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

9.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the Spinach and Tomato Quiche review here

When I made this quiche recipe I had a bunch of spinach that I wanted to use up, and I thought that a quiche would be a good way to do it. Maddie really likes scrambled eggs, which a quiche sort of resembles; and we’re all big fans of spinach (minus hubby, who wasn’t home this night.) My biggest question was: can you make quiche without cheese? It was the one ingredient I was missing, and the one ingredient that shows up in most quiche recipes.

I went ahead and threw all my goodies in there and when it went into the oven, I hoped for the best. Turns out, you don’t need cheese in order to make quiche! I imagine adding some Parmigiano-Reggiano would quick it up a notch (as Emeril would say,) but if you don’t have it, don’t sweat it.

I can’t promise how this one will go over with the kids – quiche isn’t what I generally think of when I think ‘kid-friendly meals.’ Maddie, the scrambled egg lover, liked everything about it but the eggs and picked all the bits out of it. Paige on the other hand, who only likes her eggs over-easy, loved every bit of this quiche. Even if it won’t go over with kids, at less than $1 per slice, you can’t beat the price on this one no matter who you’re cooking it for!

2 racks of pork baby back ribs $32.99

Dry Rub:
8 tablespoons brown sugar, tightly packed $0.08
3 tablespoons Kosher salt $0.03
1 tablespoon chili powder $0.21
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper $0.01
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper $0.12
1 jalapeno pepper $0.30
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme $0.40
1/2 teaspoon onion powder $0.07

Braising Liquid:
1 cup white wine $4.57
2 tablespoons white vinegar $0.08
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce $0.16
1 tablespoon honey $0.10
2 cloves garlic, chopped $0.02

Total Cost    $39.14
Cost per Serving $9.79

1.) In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Place each slab of baby back ribs on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil, shiny side down. Sprinkle each side generously with the dry rub. Pat the dry rub into the meat. Refrigerate the ribs for a minimum of 1 hour.

2.) When ready to begin cooking, heat the ingredients for the braising liquid in a small saucepan over medium heat until just about simmering, but not boiling.

3.) Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

4.) Place the ribs on a baking sheet. Open one end of the foil on each slab and pour half the braising liquid into each foil packet. Tilt the baking sheet in order to equally distribute the braising liquid. Place the ribs in the oven and braise for 2 1/2 hours.

5.) Remove the ribs from the oven and preheat broiler.

6.) Transfer the braising liquid into a medium saucepan. Bring the liquid to a simmer and reduce by half or until it’s a thick syrup consistency. Brush the glaze onto the ribs. Place under the broiler just until the glaze carmalizes slightly. Slice each slab into 2 rib portions each. Place the remaining hot glaze into a bowl and toss the rib portions in the glaze.

7.) Serve and enjoy!

Read my review on Alton’s Baby Back Ribs here

I really like Alton Brown. I think he’s got an incredible knowledge of food and he has a way of teaching you about it in a way that’s usually a little off the wall, and pretty fun. I was excited when I found this recipe of his for Baby Back Ribs, partly because I do like him so much; but also because I’ve never seen (or heard of) ribs being prepared this way before. Once I read the recipe, I knew this was the one I had to try.

While preparing it (with two huge lengths of aluminum foil spread across my counter – you need a lot of space!) I wondered how such little braising liquid was going to cook the ribs until they were falling off the bone. I was pretty sure that in order to braise, you had to at least 1/2 cover the meat, if not 3/4 of the way. But this, isn’t it really just steaming the ribs for over two hours at a really low heat?

It seems that would be the case. These ribs, sadly, were very dry – and falling off the bone was a long way off, I’m afraid. I did also try the glaze the Alton suggests, because that was also part of the recipe that intrigued me. I have to say, if you can manage to get that little bit of liquid out of those humongous foil packs and get it right into the saucepan, more power to you. I couldn’t, and I ended up with some in the saucepan, and a whole lot on and around my oven. Disappointing. I then did boil what was in the saucepan, but it never became thicker – definitely never like a syrup consistency. I ended up just pulling out some barbecue sauce I had in my fridge and using that under the broiler.

And that mess that you saw in the middle of the ribs? Refried beans. I think I lost the recipe for that one and, I don’t think I’ll be hunting another down any time too soon. Very disappointing dinner.

1 bunch asparagus, spears cut off and left intact, stalks chopped $4.99
1 tablespoon Kosher salt $0.01
6 tablespoons butter $0.36
1 medium onion, chopped $0.47
1 stalk celery, chopped $0.13
1 carrot, chopped $0.17
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour $0.06
1/2 cup parsley, coarsely chopped $0.50
3 sprigs fresh thyme $0.75
1 bay leaf $0.16
1/2 cup heavy cream $0.44
1/2 cup white wine $2.29
8 cups vegetable stock $3.99
Fresh black pepper $0.01

Total Cost     $14.33
Cost per Serving $2.39

1.) Add butter to a large pot over medium heat. Add butter and allow to melt. When hot add the onion, celery, carrot, and chopped asparagus (not the tips.) Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until asparagus and carrot is soft, about 12 minutes.

2.) Meanwhile, bring a large heavily salted pot of water to a boil. When boiling, add asparagus tips and blanch for 2 – 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.

3.) Add the flour to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon to fully incorporate. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the thyme, parsley, and bay leaf to the pan and stir again. Cook for about 1 minute.

4.) Pour in the white wine, stir, and bring to a boil. Allow wine to boil for about 2 minutes to allow the alcohol to burn off.

5.) Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

6.) Using an immersion blender (or transferring to a stand blender in batches,) puree the soup until smooth.

7.) Place a fine-mesh colander over a large pot or bowl. Pour the soup through the strainer and push through with a wooden spoon to get soup entirely smooth.

8.) Return the soup to the pot and reheat over medium heat. Whisk in the heavy cream, salt and pepper into the soup.

9.) Pour or ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with asparagus spears.

10.) Serve and enjoy!

Read the Cream of Asparagus Soup review here