The Frugal Gourmom

I’m a Chicagoan. I love Chicago style hot dogs, brats and Italian beef sammies. This recipe is KILLER. It will save you money because the roast cost about $4/lb versus $10/lb at the deli or any beef shop. It’s better than most places (aside from Johnnie’s Beef) and you can take full credit for it.

The recipe will make a TON of sandwiches so it’s great for a crowd. Figure about 1/4 lb per person/sandwich – I have 2/3 of the beef leftover for sammies all week.

Stir together half the chile flakes, and the vinegar, olive oil,  jalapeños, celery, 1 tsp salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Cover giardiniera with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 425°. Combine remaining chile flakes, plus the basil, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Place roast in a roasting pan, rub with half the spice mixture, and roast for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350° and roast for another 20 minutes.

Combine remaining spice mixture with 6 cups water + bullion cubes and add to roasting pan; continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 135-140 degrees…about an hour.

This is what comes out:

Remove from oven, cover with foil and let it rest for at least an hour. This lets the meat reabsorb it’s juices and get firmer so it’s easier to slice thinly.

Take the au jus and transfer to a saucepan and simmer covered until ready to eat.

When you are ready to eat, use a very sharp knife and thinly slice the beef.

Slice your bread, get some tongs and dip your serving of meat quickly in the au jus. Take it out while still dripping and slap it on the bread. Spoon a bit of the juice on the sandwich, top with some cheese (if you like) spoon some giardiniera over the top and add some sauteed bell peppers and/or onions on it (also optional).

Voila!

This one takes about 18 hours…but it’s in the crock pot & 12 of those hours are overnight! 

Ingredients for the overnight hours are:
1 lb (or so) of stew meat
1 bell pepper
1 sweet onion
1 can of beer
a tbsp of each: garlic powder, onion powder, cumin & smoked paprika

Ingredients for the next day are:
1-1.5 lbs of ground beef or ground turkey
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 can of chili beans
1 can of drained kidney beans
1 tbsp of burger/steak seasoning
1 tbsp of chili powder

Alrighty…you are all in for a hilarious treat. Welcome to Frugal Gourmom TV!!!

http://www.vimeo.com/9895808

I can barely even eat sauce from a jar anymore. It’s too sweet and “fake” tasting to me. I’ve developed this over the past 10 years. It’s easy, healthy and soooo delicious.   Please note that I never measure ANYTHING, so these are my best estimates of my measurements.

Ingredients
1 can plain tomato sauce – if you like a more “chunky” sauce, you can use crushed tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste  (I buy the sauce & paste in bulk at Sam’s Club b/c I use them so often)

1 lb of lean ground meat – I often use turkey b/c it’s only $1.97/lb at Sam’s Club, but I have ground beef in the freezer, so that’s what I’m using tonight.  If you’re a vegetarian, just eliminate the meat or use veggie ground.

A small handful of hard Italian cheese (Parmesan or Grana Padano)
2 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
5 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
1/2 sweet bell pepper – I always use red, but you can use any other sweet pepper.
1 tbsp fennel seed – crushed. I use my mortar and pestal to really pulverize the seeds to a powder.
1/4 cup of red wine (if you have it…I often eliminate it b/c I am not a huge wine drinker, but if you have it on hand, use it. It really adds a great depth of flavor)
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt to taste

Jake likes to peel the garlic.

Start a large pot on medium heat. Add the protein/meat and start to cook slowly.  Get out your handy dandy food processor and mince the onion, garlic, carrot, celery & bell pepper to a near pulp.  My husband is not a fan of “chunky” sauce, so I hide all my veggies. If you like more chunks, just process to a mince…not a soup.

Add the veggies to the meat and continue to cook on medium heat. Toss in a little salt/pepper. Add the oregano, fennel & red pepper flakes. When the meat is cooked & the veggies have softened & released their moisture, add the tomato paste to the hot pan. Really work it into the meat/veggie mixture and let it cook for a couple minutes. Keep stirring it. The tomato paste gets a bit caramelized and it really changes the flavor from raw tomato taste to “Old Italian Grandma’s Sauce” taste.

Once that has cooked a minute, add in the red wine if you have it. If not, jump to adding the can of tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes and incorporate it well. Add in the basil and honey. Taste it. Need more salt? Need more spice? Add it. Now just crank it down to low & let it simmer for 15 minutes.   At the end mix in the cheese & you are DONE!!!

I often to this process and then throw the sauce in the crock pot on low. It can simmer all day in there. You may need to add a little stock/water/wine so it isn’t so thick if it’s going to sit in there all day.

It freezes really well, so you may want to make a double batch & freeze it in portions so you always have homemade sauce on hand.

 This was a little experiment so I’d love any feedback. Are the pictures better? Did you like the video?

Everything tastes better when it’s MINI!  These are a major hit at my house. They have that authentic flavor, but with added deliciousness of good quality beef, buns & cheese.

Ingredients
1 package of dinner rolls (12 per pack) – I pay $1.69 for them at Aldi. They are AWESOME too.
1 lb of ground beef (tonight’s was free from our friends who got a side of beef)
Burger or Steak Seasoning (or salt/pepper)
American Cheese – I buy the Kraft singles at Sam’s Club
Ketchup
Mustard
Dill Hamburger Slice Pickles
Sweet or Red Onion

Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap. Scoop out 12 even balls of meat (it will use the whole pound & make 12 burgers) onto the plastic. Cover with another piece of plastic & use a baking sheet to press them down evenly.

Remove the plastic & sprinkle on some seasoning (burger, steak or s&p)…place the plastic wrap back on the burgers and press the seasoning into the meat.

Heat up a skillet on medium heat. Place your little burgers in there & let ‘em start to cook up.

In the mean time, slice the dinner rolls and take the tops off. Give each top a dab of ketchup (I’m not a huge fan of ketchup, but it works on these well) & mustard. Put 2 pickles on each top. Slice some thin slices of onion & place on the pickles. (the onion is necessary as are the pickles…they really give them that “authentic” flavor)

Flip the burgers and let them cook a minute more. Top each burger with 2 small squares of cheese. Cover the skillet for a minute so the cheese can melt. Then just pop them onto the bottom halves of the rolls and flip them up onto the top halves and turn right side up. DONE!!!! 

You can put lettuce or tomato on it, but we don’t. They are perfect just like this.

My grandmother was a great lady and she truly made the BEST meatballs. She passed the recipe down to my mom. I have such fond memories of making these meatballs as a kid with my own mother & grandmother. Now Jake, my son, gets to do the same thing with me!

I’ve added a couple small additions to the original recipe just because that’s how I roll.

Ingredients for Meatballs (1 lb of meat will yield about 25 medium meatballs)
1-1.5 lbs of lean ground beef (I don’t suggest using a different type of meat – I’m kind of a “meatball nazi” – they MUST be beef for traditional Italian meatballs)
1/2 onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs – I never measure for these. I go by consistency and smell and the “look” of them.
1 egg
a small handful of grated parmesan cheese or other hard Italian cheese (I’m using Grana Padano) – this is essential. Don’t omit it. It makes the delicious brown crust on the meatballs & adds a great nutty flavor.
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
a hearty pinch of kosher salt
a few shakes of red pepper flakes

Put the meat in a large bowl. In the food processor, mince the onion & garlic very finely (not to a soup) or if you feel like chopping, chop away!  I like to chop the old fashioned way. Especially when I’m doing a
traditional family recipe like this one.  Grammy didn’t measure….neither do I.

 Add the onions & garlic to the meat first, then cheese and spices. Then the egg.

 Cook a tester meatball. I often need to add more salt. It’s better to undersalt & add more than it is to add too much in the beginning and be up doodoo creek without a paddle. Make sure it gets that nice, rich, brown color on all sides. That’s the flava!

Time to fry ‘em up! Get a large shallow skillet on medium-medium/high heat. Once it’s hot, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and start to roll your meatballs. I use a medium sized scooper so they are all consistent and cook at the same rate. I don’t recommend making ginormous meatballs this way. They need to cook too long and will burn on the outside and stay raw in the middle.

Get your pan full of balls.   :)  Once you get it full, the first ones you added will probably need to be flipped. Keep doing this process until all sides are a deep brown color. That color means FLAVOR! Shake the pan around and let them roll about making sure that all sides are browned and cooked evenly.

Lay them on a few paper towels to drain any excess oil. Finito!

You can do whatever you like with these, but tonight we are having meatball sammies!

 I like to whip up a quick 5 minute marinara with a clove of garlic, some onion, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, a teeny squirt of honey, salt/pepper and a can of tomato sauce in a little saucepan. Slather a little garlic oil on some fresh bread & pop it in the toaster oven for a few minutes with some mozzarella cheese…top with meatballs and marinara. Oh man. It’s guuuuuud. Also fantastic with a slather of pesto on the bread or some cooked sweet peppers.

So, I’m figuring that I paid $2.19 for the pound of 90% lean ground beef (reduced for quick sale at Sam’s Club), 10 cents for the onion, 10 cents for the garlic, 20 cents for the breadcrumbs, 8 cents for the egg, maybe 75 cents for the cheese & we’ll just say 25 cents for the spices.  That comes to $3.67 for the meatballs. Add a couple bucks for a loaf of bread & cheese….and chaaaching! A really authentic & delicious meal that will feed an entire brood for around $7? Not too shabby.

I got 2 thumbs up from both of the boys. Jim even had TWO sandwiches. Jake was begging for more meatballs after I let him try the test meatball. They are THAT good. No other meatball will compare. I have a hard time eating anyone elses meatballs. Really.

My husband is thrilled. It’s sloppy joe night. I PROMISE that these are the best sloppy joes you’ve ever tasted.

You will need a crock pot and a food processor. I wish I had a large food processor, but I just do the chopping in batches. You’ll also have to excuse my appearance. This meal needs to cook ALL DAY on HIGH. Soooo, I was still unshowered and in my comfies while I was making this early this morning.

 The best thing about this recipe is that I always have the ingredients. A well stocked pantry, freezer and spice rack is the key. You will always have a fantastic meal on hand if you keep veggies in the drawer, meat & frozen veggies in the freezer & tomato sauce/paste and canned veggies in the pantry. This recipe came out of a need to use things that I had on hand when money was tight.

Start your crockpot & get it warmed up.

Ingredients
1.5-2 lbs of very lean ground meat (I used turkey today b/c I stocked up at Sam’s Club at $1.97/pound! Cheaper than ground beef!!!!!)
2 bell peppers (I prefer red, but green work also)
1 sweet onion
1 stalk celery
1 carrot (or a handful of baby carrots)
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp Worschester Sauce
2 tbsp of burger or steak seasoning
salt/pepper
a palmful of cumin
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
a few shakes of liquid smoke – about a tbsp or so
1 can of tomato sauce or pureed tomatoes
Annnnnd….the super secret ingredient (that isn’t a secret anymore) – 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

It will look kind of light in color. It’s ok. It NEEDS to cook all day to get the real sloppy color. Something magical happens in 6-8 hours. Trust me. The smell is intoxicating. Jim always wants to sneak a taste at lunchtime, but it’s never ready that quickly.

After cooking all day, it looks like this:

Taste it and add salt/pepper if needed. Sometimes it’s on the sweet side…so just add a bit of salt to even it out.

I decided to whip up some quick mac & cheese for Jake on the side. Jake loves cheese.

I was in a dancing mood this evening.

Mission Complete.

Last night was taco night. I had a ton of leftover taco meat, so I decided tonight would be taquito night.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees…we need it HOT.

 I mix about 1 cup of the meat with 1/2 can of fat free refried beans (about $.60/can at Aldi) and about 1/2 cup of grated cheese (I usually buy the 2 pound bricks at Sam’s Club for around $5 each). 

Cook your corn tortillas (which are around $.35/pack at Aldi & Joseph’s) and roll a small strip of the meat & cheese mixture in each one like you’re rolling a cigar.

Place them on a sprayed baking sheet about 1/2″ apart.

Put them in the oven for 15 minutes. Take them out & turn them over.

Bake another 10 minutes or so. They will be sooo crispy & delicious. Dunk ‘em in sour cream (that big tub is only $.79 at Aldi!), hot sauce, guacamole…heck. I even know some sinners who would dip them in ranch dressing (blech!) but to each his own.

Remember that if you have leftover meat, just label it & put it in the freezer for a “Lazy Day”

Aldi has corn tortillas for $.35/pack and their avocados this week were $.49/each! That means it’s a taco kind of week.  If you’re a vegetarian, just use some refried beans or some sauteed peppers & onions. If you like it, use a meat substitute (like Boca ground)

Just a little reminder: if you scroll up to the top of your page, you can click Share to share the recipe on Facebook with your friends so we can ALL save money & eat well.