Beard. James Beard. On economical cooking.

Day 14 (Saturday) - 
"Within the limitations of your budget you can set a table that has variety and distinction.  You can serve gourmet food . . . it is not the basic cost of the food but the care with which it is selected and prepared that makes it gourmet rather than pedestrian."  James Beard, "How to Eat Better for Less Money"

I have been reading like crazy lately, and decided it was time to pick up a few books at the used book store.  I particularly went searching to see if I could find a great book on cooking cheap.  My first stop is Tacoma Book Center, which, if you haven't found it is just one of the best second hand book stores outside of Powells in Portland (when I retire, I want to live in Portland and spend my spare time at Powells).  There I picked up a copy of Dicken's "Hard Times" before moving on to the cook books where I discovered two gems:  James Beard's "How to Eat Better for Less Money" and "Buffy's Cookbook".  

No, not Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Buffy such as in Buffy and Jody, the twins on the 1960's show "Family Affair."  There on the cover is little Buffy with a rolling pin.  I can hardly wait to read it!

The James Beard is equally exciting--I love reading his cookbooks.  He is an icon, and I am surprised to find he did an economy cooking cook book.  I have not yet had time to read it, but I am already a bit suspicious.  For one, this is the republished version (circa 1970).  Apparently you got a copy free with a purchase of Parliament Cigarettes.  Secondly, there is a supplement on wines and spirits in this cookbook.  Which makes it seem a bit more than cooking on a budget.  But time will tell.

Then it was off to Half Price Books, where I was disappointed to find nothing on cooking on a budget.  I did pick up "Grub" which is about the eat local/organic movement. 
And I wandered over to literature and picked up cheap paperbacks of the works of William Blake and Canterbury Tales.  

I am craving Mexican food.  The chips and salsa they bring you at the restaurant before the meal; the margarita; the rice and black beans (I like refried, but the fat content).  I want a chili relleno so bad.  

Once home, I warm up some soup and sit down with Jame Beard.  The book is a small paperback, a 1970 re-issue of his 1954 cookbook.Thumbing through it immediately lands me with a recipe for (I am not kidding) Frankfurters in Sour Cream.

Okay, this could be . . . interesting.  

You start out with one pound of frankfurters.  Which you shred.  Yes, you read that right, you are to shred the frankfurters with a knife.  Long shreds, the length of the frankfurter. They are then sauted in butter with a finely chopped onion.  until the onions are lightly browned and the frankfurter is heated through.  Then you add a cup--a cup--of chili sauce and let it come to a boil.  Stir in one cup of sour cream or heavy cream.  Stir until thickened and serve over noodles or rice.

Huh?

Does anyone else think this sounds, well, like a gourmet preparation of budget food?

I don't think I will be trying this one any time soon.

I will also be skipping the Feijoada, which is a Brazilian favorite.
FEIJOADA
(6 to 8 servings)
3 cups black beans
2 pounds beef brisket, cut into large squares
2 pounds smoked beef tongue, peeled (PEELED?  YOU THINK I AM GOING TO PEEL A BEEF TONGUE!!!!  YUCK!) and cut into squares
1/2 pound dried Italian, Spanish or Portuguese sausage, sliced 1 inch thick
1 pound salt pork
(5 1/2 pounds meat?  And this is economical how?)
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoo butter
2 oranges, sliced

Wash the beans and soak overnight.  Drain in the morning, and cover with water to cover and bring to boil.  Add 1 tablespoon salt (James, you're killing me here), the meats, the salt pork, the sausage and the bay leaf.  Cover and simmer for 2 hours until the beans and meat are tender.  Brown the garlic in the butter.  Take one cup of the beans from the pot, and mash with the garlic, then return to the pot.

To serve, place beans in the center of the platter, and surround with hunks of meat.  Serve with orange slices and mustard greens or collards.  This dish is traditionally served with a braised loin of pork (because otherwise, what would you do for meat?) but that can be omitted.

Is it just me, or is this NOT economical cooking on a budget?  And WHAT is UP with the ton of protein and lack of vegetables in this meal?  

I will have to keep reading but I suspect that the whole "budget" cooking is really not James Beard style.  But it is amusing.  

Of course, when Beard wrote his book (1954) he was not trying to help the poor--he was thinking of the emerging middle class housewife, who might be trying to cook on a budget to impress the husband's boss (and the bosses wife), or her bridge club. There were no food stamps in that world. The world is very different today. 

All the same, I am going to find one "economical" recipe in that book to try.  It won't be the frankfurters in sour cream (sorry, it just sounds unappealing), but I am sure that somewhere in that book is something that will meet my budget and James Beards standards.

Meantime, off to another bowl of vegetable soup.