First up is an oldie but goody, creamy Fettuccine Alfredo. While I first published this recipe in 2010, it has proved to be one of my most popular. So in 2015 I brought it back as a stop motion animated video. Enjoy.
I changed how I make omelets this year. 99 thank to local French born celebrity chef Ludo Lefebvre. You may now him from the NBC cooking show The Taste. My second Top 9 Recipe is for a Cheese Omelette made in the French manner.
American-style is to brown the outside and cook the eggs until solid all the way through, while Ludo's way is more slow and gentle, finishing with a moist interior. Basically a slow scramble until you gently roll the eggs into an omelet shape like this:
Here's my arty animated version of Chef Ludo's French-style Cheese Omelette.
I've never got why recipes call for pounding meat into a thin wafer that's fried, baked or sauteed into dry shoe leather. I guess it's tradition at work. Well, for my third Top 9 Recipe I turn the tables and toss out that tainted technique. Here's how I do Chicken Parmesan in Marinara Sauce.
Just put on some Dean Martin tunes, grab a bottle of Chiante, and give this Italian crunchy-coated classic a spin:
We are in the shivering days of winter and for my forth Top 9 Recipe you will want to rustle up a bowl of bubbling Green Split Pea Soup with Ham. My version is comfort food for the soul. So put on a slow-cooking pot of it to get your kitchen toasty and aromatic.
I don't know about you, but I'm starting some today.
For years end it's a party! My fifth Top 9 Recipe will get the ball rolling for any gathering: Bacon Wrapped Brussels Sprouts.
It really is my cutest video recipe for the year. To make this appealing appetizer a little more light, I show you a turkey bacon version, too. Roasted porcine wrapped mini-cabbages are a flavor-bomb powerful enough to wage war on the most embedded taste buds.
I seldom cook with beef because it's just too darn expensive. But I made an exception with my sixth Top 9 Recipe of Pasta alla Genovese. This cut of cow is the right price for about $2 per pound, called beef shank - not too bad. It's one tough cut of beef that I wrestle into tenderness by slow braising it for hours in white wine with a pot full of sliced onion.
While you need patience waiting for this Italian classic, your reward is a deeply beef flavored pasta sauce any Italian grandmother would approve of.
I make the seventh Top 9 Recipe more often than any other: Mexican Chicken Tinga.
This recipe is a 2fer. You can scoop it onto a plate of rice or just stuff it into a taco or burrito. Plus it's so cheap and easy to make, with very few ingredients to deal with, just a couple of canned items, onion, garlic and chicken. It's crock pot cuisine that freezes well -- I pack it into a container for office lunches. When you try it, I think it will be a favorite for you too.
Loco Moco, a Hawaiian bred entree, is my eighth Top 9 Recipe. If you are a calorie counter then scroll on, but if you break your fast from time to time then cheat with this decedent breakfast of sticky rice, a fat ground beef patty, gravy, and it's all topped with fried eggs - now that's a mouthful.
This recipe came about after a vacation trip last summer to the tropical island of Ohau, Hawaii. I spied locals, shirtless and in swimming trunks (possibly surfers on a late breakfast carb-loading break,) carrying piled plates to their tables. It looked like too much, but I eventually gave it a go and boy was it good. Substitute a low-fat ground chicken or turkey patty if it makes you feel better.
Finally my ninth Top 9 Recipe is my cheapest yet, a Black Pepper Stir Fry with chicken and celery. One of the least expensive veggies is a head of celery. I always end up throwing away a few stalks, so I decided to make a recipe before that happens next time, and this is the result of my fugalness.
Although I never eat at Panda Express, that doesn't mean I can't ripoff a recipe from there. I usually get mine from cheaper restaurant takeout stations in Chinatown for a lot less than what Panda Express charges. Just click here to see how fast and easy you can make it.
It has been a fruitfully abundant year of recipes here at the Cheap$kate Chateau. I did the heavy lifting for you, so now all you have to do is pick a recipe link and save yourself some hard earned cash by trying out any of the above.
And make sure to keep checking in here from time to time, while my tastes are cheap, my recipe flavors are top shelf!
