Summer Recipes on the Dime

When it comes to the holidays, any holiday, we like to relax and enjoy our time with family and friends. The Fourth of July is no exception and with our busy schedules and low budgets simple but exciting recipes are just the key to a great meal.

Starting with Cold Chili:

I know what you're thinking "Cold Chili, really?" However, cold chili is most assuredly one of the best foods for the holidays. It can be served over just cooked hot dogs for chili dogs, or eaten straight with chips. Now I always use fresh ingredients but I'll give substitutions if you want it fast. This chili takes about half an hour total to cook, and another half hour or so to chill. It will last longer on road trips and in the cooler and if you really want to you can heat it up again.

Here is what you need:

5-8 fresh tomatoes (two cans of stewed tomatoes works)
Fresh Garlic
Jalapeños (Garlic roasted chili sauce available in any Asian market can be used here)
Green veggies (carrots, spinach, and/or bell peppers) your choice
Beans (I prefer to buy dried beans here and wash them myself this takes about a half hour, if you buy chili beans that are prepared and canned it can go a lot faster.)
Meat (this is optional if you want a great vegetarian chili you don't need to add the meat. Usually I chose goat, its lean low in fat, and has great flavor. But beef, chicken, or turkey can be substituted).
Salt, pepper, and cayenne are also suggested but not needed. Add these to taste.

In a large crock-pot or a stove top pot chop the fresh garlic and place in the bottom and turn on to a medium heat (no oil we want to cook the garlic without sauté or blanching it, be sure to stir the garlic so it doesn't stick or burn.)
While the garlic is cook chop the jalapenos into a small dice (be careful not to touch your eyes or nose while or after cutting the jalapenos.) Chop your other veggies. If you purchased dried beans you can be washing these while chopping the other veggies. Pinto beans are best they wash quickly and soften quickly. If you purchased precooked canned chili beans then save these for later.

Once the veggies are chopped place them and the jalapenos in with the garlic. Then chop the fresh tomatoes and once these are diced (they don't need to be perfect) add them as well. (If you used canned beans and canned tomatoes add them together after the other veggies have cooked for about 3 minutes. Further if you are using Garlic roasted chili sauce add it at this time as well, keep in mind different versions of the sauce have different spicy levels. You should test it and then add it to taste.)

While this is simmering on medium (having enough liquid from the tomatoes and other veggies to keep it from burning) you can add your prepared beans if you didn't use the canned beans. Make sure to add about ¼ cup of the soak water from the beans to the mixture. As the beans cook they'll absorb more water. Then let this simmer until it is well blended at medium heat. Stir off and on for 30 minutes.

*Meat preparation: Precook any and all meat before adding it to the chili. In a frying pan, if using goat, put a little water on the bottom and take the goat and let it cook it until its tender. The amount of water should barely cover the base of the pan. Depending on the goat meat you get you may have it on a bone or have bones in it. When the goat is fully cooked the boned are easier to remove. When the meat is cooked add it to the chili.

*Spices: Add spices to taste. Personally I like my chili to be spicy, with cayenne pepper, a little salt and so on.

Lastly once the chili is fully cooked, which you can tell based on how well it's mixed or consistency. If you stir through it and its even and it's the same thickness all the way through then its cooked fully. Chill the chili in the fridge for about half an hour before serving. Serve it on top of hotdogs hot off the grill, or as a dip.
(Total cost: less than 24 dollars, will serve about 6 people)

Smoked Salmon: Now I love smoked salmon and its one of the easiest things to do. It's a great snack or can be put in salads, on sandwiches or eaten as a main meal. So here is what you'll need.

Salmon: Farm bred salmon has no lead issues and usually has better flavor. You can purchase this type of salmon anywhere.

A cooker: Ok this one is a little odd, not everyone has a grill that can be used as a smoker. Further depending on how much salmon you want to smoke size of a cooker is difficult and hard to come by. No worries, as MacGyver said "Make do with what you have". Most people have turkey roasters those large metal roasters that have a lid, if you don't you can buy them for fewer than 5 dollars usually. You'll also need long skewers or cabob rods (at least 10 inches in length), also usually pretty cheap to buy. I suggest metal skewers, if you need to do a makeshift skewer a stretched out close hanger works great.

Fuel: Smoking a fish does two things; it brings out the flavor of the fish and adds to the flavor with the smoke. The type of fuel you use determines the flavor. I prefer hickory chips, because you can buy them at any local store and they smoke well, though birch, oak, and maple also give their own unique flavors.

Marinade: depending on the flavor you're looking for you can use any number of rubs or marinades for the fish. I prefer a marinade of scotch and garlic.

Here is the setup: Take the roaster outside, in the base spread about a half inch worth of hickory (or the wood of your choice.) Keep in mind you can also use a block of wood versus chips if you have a natural wood store on your property. Use cooking oil, or scotch to light the fire (not a propellant like lighter fluid). While the chips burn down to a coal state, take your fish (salmon in this case) and marinate it. My favorite marinade for salmon is the simplest. Take crushed garlic (two cloves, or roasted garlic that is minced) and mix it into about a ¼ cup of scotch. Soak the salmon in it for about two minutes and then skewer the salmon with the skewers.
By this time the chips should be smoldering and smoking pretty well. So lay out the salmon over the top of the roaster and then place the roaster lid on top. Make sure to leave space on the ends (where the handles are) for air to enter and leave. About three hours later you'll have smoked salmon.

(Total cost: varies- cost of salmon, hickory chips, and if you do not have the roaster pan and skewers changes the price of smoking. On average you can pull this off for less than 30 dollars and that's including purchasing the roaster and skewers. Salmon in my area usually runs around 5 dollars for 8 fillets frozen. Eight fillets smoked can serve 8 people evenly or if broken up into a salad an entire party.)

Roasted Pork Chops: Speaking of roasting, roasted pork chops on a grill or over an open fire are awesome and I have a great simple recipe for it.

What you need: Pork chops, cut doesn't matter, but remember prices vary, look for deals on pork chops at your local store.

A fire pit or a grill able to hold a roaster, roaster, and again I prefer natural fuels like hickory chips.

Marinade: Pork chops, on their own, are great, but when being roasted can become dry. So we want to have is a ready marinade that can be basted on while cooking the pork chops.

Setup: In you grill or fire pit use the hickory chips and place them in a ring about the size of your roaster pan. (Easy tip lay the roaster down and then drop the chips around it giving it a great outline). Use an accelerant this time (lighter fluid) and get the hickory chips burning. If you want you can use normal charcoal as well, but we're going for good heat here. *If you're using a grill the chips can be spread evenly on the bottom of the grill with normal charcoal if you wish and you can place the roaster on the grill directly instead of on the coals. Cooking in a fire pit will take longer*

While the fire becomes more even, take your pork chops and wash them and then prepare the marinade.

Marinades are awesome for pork chops and the following is one of my favorites.
Green Tomato Jelly Marinade
You're probably thinking "green tomato jelly?" well its sort of a hard thing to come by unless you know your farmer's market or make it yourself. If you have it use it, if you can't get it or don't have it you can use applesauce, apple-butter, or mashed peaches to get the same acidic level and flavor.

Take the green tomato jelly and place it in a bowl, add balsamic vinegar (one tablespoon of vinegar for every three dollops of jelly.) and then add allspice (about 1/3 teaspoon total or to taste). Mix this up well, making it into an almost liquid goop. Dip the pork chops into this mixture and then, take them out in the roaster and set it in the ring of fire. Put the lid of the roaster on so that there is a bit of space for air to come through it. Every 15 minutes come out and spread the marinade on the pork chops. Flipping the pork chops once, half way through. On an open fire pit this will take about half an hour to 45 minutes; on a grill, roughly half an hour in total cook time.

(Total cost: varies again, but more than likely easily under 10 dollars to serve 5-8 people)

Any of these recipes can be finished with a salad or roasted veggies on the grill.