How to cook like a pro (even in a recession)

When cleaning out your refrigerator, local chef Jata Brown says to equate what you’re tossing with what you paid for it.

“You’re throwing money out,” said Brown, who gives occasional cooking classes at Magnolia Foods.

Brown’s most recent class, Recession Gourmet, focused on how to cook with things you already have in your fridge and pantry and how, she says, “to play with leftovers.”

With people pinching pennies everywhere, “nobody’s buying fancy seafood, nobody’s buying racks of lamb,” she said. “I said, ‘Why can’t we do something where nobody’s ignoring the elephant in the room?

“Everybody would appreciate new twists on how to make things work right now.”

She and Magnolia founder Lucy Cook planned out the class’ menu together and came up with several dishes that could easily be made utilizing leftover bread, meat, cheese and the like: ravioli, manicotti, jambalaya, savory bread pudding and banana cake with a caramel sauce.

Lynchburg resident Shonna McIver, who attended the class, said she was impressed that the recipes included ingredients on hand in most kitchens.

“You don’t need any special ingredients,” she said. “You don’t have to go to the store.”

David Bice, also of Lynchburg, said he and his wife use Brown’s tips all the time.

“We’ll roast a chicken, and then we’re able to make different meals off of it all week,” he said.

“It makes so much sense because cooking, really, is easy, and all the prepackaged foods have made people believe there’s a secret to cooking.

“In reality, it’s not that difficult.”

(Brown’s next class, Holiday Update, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12; in it, she’ll prepare common holiday dishes, with a twist, and offer ideas on what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers. Contact Magnolia Foods at 434-528-5442 for more information.) 

Ravioli/Manicotti

Brown says both dishes (see right) are easy to whip up. All you need is wonton wrappers and ricotta, goat or cream cheese.

“I truly mean it when I say that you can use cream cheese instead of goat cheese,” she said.

She made spinach ravioli for the class, but said it will work with anything in the freezer.

“If you don’t have raw, frozen spinach, use grilled eggplant. Eggplant and goat cheese would be phenomenal,” she said, listing off other possibilities like feta cheese, tomatoes and caramelized onions.

“Anything you have left over or on hand. We don’t want you to spend money.”

Her manicotti used the same wonton wrappers and cheese, as well as meat — “I would use lamb or ground meat, pork or turkey,” she said.

“Go into your refrigerators and find your leftover meat.”

Or, if it’s not already in your home, buy whatever is on special at the grocery store.

Other ingredients include onions, garlic, celery, tomato paste, parmesan cheese, an egg and red or white wine (“It doesn’t matter which kind of wine,” she said, “because you’re looking for the liquid content.”).

As for the spices she included — nutmeg, rosemary, basil and oregano — Brown said she just wrote down what she thought people would already have in their cabinet or garden.

“Everybody should have a little something growing somewhere.”

Nutmeg, in particular, is an “amazing secret ingredient,” she said. “(It) adds an aromatic dimension to the meat. Your guest eat it, and they have no idea what it is.”

Ravioli
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 chopped green onions
2 cups cooked spinach
¾ cup cream cheese or goat cheese
½ cup grated parmesan
¼ cup chopped parsley
Wonton wrappers
Pesto sauce
Instructions: Warm oil in skillet; add green onions and stir for a minute. Add spinach and mix well. Cool mixture. In another bowl, mix cheeses with parsley. Add cooled spinach mixture.
Lay out half the wrappers on wax or parchment paper. Spoon 2 teaspoons of mixture into center of the wrapper. Dip your fingertip in water and wet edges of the wrapper. Lay another wrapper over mound of filling, and press gently to seal edges. Repeat.
(At this point, you can cover ravioli with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to one day.)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a simmer. Drop ravioli into water and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Removed with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to blot. Arrange in plate and top with warmed pesto.

Manicotti
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup leftover chopped meat
½ cup chopped onions
2 teaspoons garlic
¼ cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ cup red or white wine
¼ cup cream cheese or ricotta cheese
1-2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1 egg
Spices: nutmeg, rosemary, basil, oregano
Wonton wrappers
Homemade or store-bought tomato sauce
Instructions: Heat oil and cook meat (or heat leftovers). Add vegetables, tomato paste and wine. Sauté until vegetables are moist. Cool mixture. Add cheeses and egg. Add spices (a dash of nutmeg and ½ teaspoon each of dry rosemary, basil and/or oregano; make it a tablespoon of each if ingredients are fresh). Lay out wonton wrappers on wax or plastic wrap. Arrange 3 to 4 teaspoons of mixture on each wrap and roll. Dip your fingertip in water, and wet final edge of the wrapper to seal. Repeat.
Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce on bottom of baking dish. Spread manicotti in a single layer on top of sauce. Cover with remaining sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
Makes 8 to 12 manicotti, which will serve 4 to 6 people.

Savory Bread Pudding and Jambalaya
Most people make sweet bread puddings, Brown said.

But a savory one can make a nice side dish, instead of pasta, rice or potatoes. Several people in the cooking class compared it to stuffing.

The recipe calls for leftover or stale bread, vegetables, bacon and cheese.

“It offers a little more substance,” Brown said, adding that it would be good served by itself with marinara over it, on top of a roast beef or turkey hash or next to a pork chop.

It’s also a dish that necessitates getting your hands dirty.

“I hope y’all like playing in the kitchen,” Brown told her students. “It’s impossible to feel the texture unless you do it with your hands. It has to be the consistency of oatmeal. Everything will get mushy and soak into the bread.”

As for the jambalaya, Brown says not to make it unless you have leftover meat.

The recipe, straight from her former home in New Orleans, includes chicken and sausage, rice, chicken broth and vegetables like tomatoes, bell peppers, celery and onions.

Jambalaya

1½ pounds chopped leftover meat
1 pound chopped smoked sausage (or Chicken Andouille)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped bell peppers
2 teaspoons garlic
1 cup chopped parsley
1 cup chopped celery
4 cups chopped tomatoes
* 2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chopped onions
Spices: thyme, bay leaves, oregano
1 ½ tablespoons salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne
2-3 cups of long grain rice
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in a skillet and sauté sausage. Remove sausage and sauté next four ingredients. Add tomatoes with liquid, broth and onions. Stir in salt, cayenne and spices — 1 or 2 bay leaves, depending on their size, and a tablespoon each of fresh thyme and/or oregano, or a teaspoon each dry thyme and/or oregano. Rinse rice and add. Add sausage and meat. Transfer ingredients into a 2-quart dish, cover and bake for 40 to 60 minutes. More liquid can be added.
Serves six people.
* Keep extra broth handy. Watch rice absorption — you want it to remain moist.

Savory Bread Pudding
4-5 cups stale bread (anything but rye)
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, softened in warm water
1 pound cooked bacon
½ cup shredded cheese (any kind)
½ cup melted butter
6-8 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
Herbs: rosemary, oregano, sage    
Milk to moisten (1-2 cups)
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl or casserole dish, break bread into small pieces. Chop tomatoes and bacon. Add to bread along with cheese and butter. Mix eggs, salt and herbs (if herbs are fresh, use ½ tablespoon of sage or rosemary and 1 tablespoon of oregano; if they’re dry, use ½ teaspoon sage and rosemary and 1 teaspoon oregano) in a separate bowl. Add to bread mixture. Carefully add milk, a little at a time, to achieve an oatmeal consistency. Bake for one hour. Needs to be firm but still a bit wiggly.
Serves 8 to 10 people. * Can substitute caramelized onions for the tomatoes, or goat cheese for the shredded cheese.

Banana cake with caramel sauce

If Brown wants you to know one thing, it’s that a prepackaged mix is not the only way to bake a cake.

“We’ve come to rely on cake-box cakes,” she says. “If you have flour, sugar and eggs, you can make a pound cake right there. If you’ve got baking powder, you’ve got a cake. If you have cinnamon, you’ve got an even better cake.”

The banana cake recipe uses really old bananas — we’re talking completely black on the outside, and the banana itself had an almost gelatin-like consistency.

The mix also requires one teaspoon of vanilla, something Brown says to never scrimp on.

“Buy the best vanilla you can afford,” she says, “then scrimp on your jambalaya.”

Banana Cake

2 cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, softened
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed (approximately 3)
* ½ cup buttermilk or sour milk
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8-inch cake pans. Mix first four dry ingredients, set aside. In a mixing bowl, mix butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Combine bananas and milk. Add flour mixture and banana mixture alternately, mix well. Pour into pans.
Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
* If you don’t have buttermilk, make sour milk: in a measuring cup, pour 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. Add enough milk to equal a cup. Let stand for fives minutes before using.

Caramel Sauce

2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
¼ cup apple juice
¼ cup butter
1 egg yolk
Instructions: Combine brown sugar, cornstarch, apple juice and butter. Cook until bubbly, and then cook two minutes more. Remove from heat. Beat the yolk in a small bowl and gradually add ½ cup of sugar mixture. Add egg mixture back to pan and return to heat. Cook until bubbly, reduce heat and cook for two minutes more. Cool.
* To make caramel-cream icing, beat 8 ounces of cream cheese and add ½ cup caramel sauce.