Eating Out At Home, On A Budget

Food Network's Anne Burrell Shows How To Make Restaurant-Quality Meals In Your Kitchen, On A Shoestring

(CBS) 

Excellent Meatballs

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, 1/4-inch dice
Salt
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
Pinch crushed red pepper
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
2 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmigiano
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup water
Marinara sauce, recipe follows

Coat a large sauté pan with olive oil, add the onions and bring to a medium high heat. Season the onions generously with salt and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes. The onions should be very soft and aromatic but have no color.

Add the garlic and the crushed red pepper and sauté for another 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl combine the meats, eggs, Parmigiano, parsley and breadcrumbs. It works well to squish with your hands.

Add the onions and season generously with salt and squish some more. Add the water and do one final really good squish. The mixture should be quite wet.

Test the seasoning of the mix by making a mini hamburger size patty and cooking it and eating it. It should taste really good! If it doesn't it is probably missing salt. Add more. Add more anyway.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Shape the meat into desired size; some people like 'em big, some people like 'em small. I prefer meatballs slightly larger than a golf ball.

Coat a large sauté pan with olive oil and bring to a medium high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides.

Place them on a cookie sheet and bake them in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through. If using right away, add them to your big pot of marinara sauce. If not using right away, they can be frozen for later use.

Serve with pasta and sauce or just eat them straight out of the pot! YUM!

Marinara Sauce

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 pound diced pancetta
2 large Spanish onions, cut into 1/4-inch dice
Kosher salt
4 large garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
Pinch crushed red flakes
4 (28 ounce) cans Italian plum tomatoes

Coat a large saucepot with olive oil and add the pancetta. Bring the pot to a medium high heat and cook the pancetta for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the onions, season generously with salt and stir to coat with olive oil. Cook the onions for 6 to 7 minutes stirring frequently. The onions should become very soft and aromatic but have no color.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes stirring frequently.

Pass the tomatoes through the food mill. Be sure to pass all of the pulp through the holes leaving only the stems and the seeds, and be sure to scrape the pulp off of the bottom of the food mill. That's all of the big money stuff!

Add the tomatoes to the pot and rinse out one of the empty tomato cans with water and add that water to the pot (about 2 to 3 cups). Season generously with salt and TASTE IT!!!! Tomatoes take a lot of salt. Season in baby steps and taste every step of the way.

Cook the sauce for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and tasting frequently.

Use the sauce right away on pasta or for any other tomato sauce need. This sauce can also be cooled and stored in the fridge for a few days or freezes really well.

Bananas Flambé

1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
Pinch ground cinnamon
2 bananas, sliced in rounds and tossed with the juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup dark rum (recommended: Meyers)
Vanilla ice cream

Melt the butter gently in a large saute pan. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Add the cinnamon and cook until the mixture is thick and bubbly. Toss in the bananas.

Turn the heat up to high, pull the pan off the burner and add the rum and tip into the flame to allow the flame to "JUMP" into the pan and set on fire! Do this carefully and respectfully but have fun, it's all about the show.

Spoon over ice cream and try not to eat it all yourself.


So, how did Burrell do with our $40 budget?

1ST COURSE
Parmigiano $2.24
Cilantro .69
Mixed Greens $3.79
Grape tomatoes $2.50
Red onion .52
Cucumber .79
Sunflower seeds .99

2ND COURSE
Onion .52
Garlic .39
Ground beef $1.19
Veal $1.19
Pork $1.35
Parmigiano $2.24
Breadcrumbs .99
Pancetta $4.49
Spanish onion $2.48
Canned tomatoes $7.56
Pasta $1.35

3RD COURSE
Bananas .99
Dark rum $1.50
Vanilla ice cream $1.99

FINAL COST = $39.75

[ademeyer]

jaxsterling6

That''s right, blame it on the poor people. Yeah, they''re to blame for buying those $300,000 McMansions with the granite kitchen counters and bidets in the bathrooms, they just had to keep up with the Joneses.

[tiredofitnow]

ONLY $40 for one meal??!! I don''t know about others, but I don''t spend $280 in groceries for all 3 meals, snacks, etc. in two weeks. much I can''t imagine spending that amount on only one meal for one week. I have 6 people in my family. I''d go broke on this budget!

[jaxsterling6]

Thank you democrats, for expanding Loans to poor people who could not pay for there mortgage. We applaud you Barney Frank. We applaud you Ranes and Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac. Because of you guys I now have 1/2 of my retirement money. Anybody up for nice box of Macoroni and cheese tonight, its my birthday.

[ademeyer]

A meager budget of $40.00 for one meal! Hey, my food budget is $50.00 for the entire week. I suppose if you are used to going to a fancy restaurant and spending $100.00 this is a good way to save money...as if many people live that life style.

[thisandthat1]

OR ...call the best Italian Restaurant in your area and order two "Spaghetti and Meatball" specials to go and save about $10 or $15 and about four hours work!