Another quick lunch idea I thought I’d share. This is a cold salad on top of warm toast (well naan bread in my case, but use what you have on hand). With the cold weather, I’ve been pretty uninterested in eating anything cold lately, but this had a warm enough overall vibe to be appealing even on a dreary, rainy winter day. Avocados and grapefruit have both been on mega sale lately so I have quite a few hanging around. The avocados are perfectly ripe and I am feeling pressure to eat them before they go off. So today I thought I’d make an extra fancy avocado toast by combining tangy grapefruit and creamy, savory white beans with the avocado.
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The cost of shrimp really varies, so save this one until you can find a deal—under about $8 per pound. I ended up having to remove this from the 2nd edition of Good and Cheap because the price variation was so extreme and I didn’t want to steer anyone wrong. But it’s a classic from a time when shrimp was the food of the poorer masses and the rich people had no idea what they were missing.
I didn’t grow up with grits myself, but somehow fell in love with them anyway. I have had many disappointing versions of this dish in NYC restaurants and after a particularly frustrating experience (like 2 tiny shrimp on a bed of undercooked and under-seasoned, practically gummy grits—a travesty) I decided to make it myself. Luckily, like so many of the great dishes, it is remarkably easy to make at home!
This is far from an authentic Southern version of this dish, but it is absolutely delicious. Southerners will demand you use white stone-ground corn for this to be true grits, and I won’t quibble, but feel free to use yellow if it doesn’t offend you.
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This wonderful Ginger and Mushroom Tofu Hot Pot is inspired by my brilliant friend Iva. I was so excited when she asked me to create something that featured the Chinese flavors she grew up with. After all, Chinese cooking depends on the same general principles as Good and Cheap: build bright flavors from a few key ingredients; use lots of veggies and just a little meat or fish. The ginger-garlic broth in this hot pot is spectacular! You can use whatever vegetables you have around, but mushrooms help create an earthy broth. The effect of such a small amount of toasted sesame oil is remarkable, too—an investment, but a transformative flavor.
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When I was a kid my Mum used to take us almost weekly to our favorite bakery, Bee Bell Bakery, in Edmonton, AB, Canada where I grew up. It was always jam-packed and smelled incredible. I loved looking in the glass cases at all the treats while my Mum took a number and waited to make her order. We rarely got the cakes or tarts that looked so exciting to me then, but very often my Mum would bless us with an order of the cheese buns. Cheese buns don’t really do justice to these incredible morsels. They were not round and domed like a traditional bun, but more the shape of a popover, and shot through with a ton of bright orange cheddar. The best were the ones that had cheese spilling out the side that had gotten baked and crispy. Or the ones where cheese had burst through the bottom and it was shiny with orange cheese grease, oh man.
Sadly Bee Bell closed its doors a few years ago so no one can get these beautiful buns anymore. With my strong memories as guide I set out this week to make a copy-cat version at home and I am incredibly happy with the result. So today I’m sharing with you a lightly sweet brioche dough, stuffed with cheddar cheese and cooked in a muffin tin for the same crazy shape I remember as a kid. These are a special, uber-cheesy treat. They take a bit of time, but were fairly easy to shape and work with so don’t be afraid if you are a beginner baker.
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