The Village Gourmet - Gourmet Cooking, Food, and Ingredients

Economy Cooking

In a tight economy like we're currently experiencing, you need not just good recipes your family will eat, but you need it to be economical, too.

With that in mind, we present this section of our site, which includes average pricing of the ingredients of the recipes we're presenting.

Please send us feedback and let us know how you like it!

Stuffed Bell Peppers—Entree for 6 for $12.75

$3.00

6 bell peppers (any color)

$1.50

2 c. rice

$ .50

1 small onion diced

$1.25

1 can 16 0z crushed tomatoes

$1.00

4 strips bacon cooked

$2.00

1 c. cheddar cheese

$3.50

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. paprika

2 cloves garlic

Total

$12.75

Brown ground beef with garlic and onion, drain. Steam rice. Add crushed
tomatoes to beef, add cooked rice and stir in spices. Cut tops off peppers
and clean seeds out. Fill half way with mixture, add crumbled bacon and
cheddar cheese. Fill peppers to top, add more bacon. Cook at 350' for 40
minutes in a casserole dish. Then add cheddar cheese to the top and cook for
10 more minutes.

Serve with salad and rolls.

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Cheese Tips

Interesting Facts About Cheese.
No matter how far archaeological finds go, there is evidence that cheese came into being in prehistoric times. Cheese can not really be said to have been "invented". This delicious food must have resulted from the simple observation that milk left in a container ends up by coagulating, even more if it is hot. People living in areas where the climate changed seasonally would also have noticed the effect of temperature on this process: in warmer weather the milk would curdle faster than in the cold. This might be considered the first technological cheesemaking discovery.

There are hundreds of different types of cheese that can be differentiated both by the type of milk - raw, skimmed or pasteurised, and by the animal - cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, horse or camel.

Serving and Storage Tips.
Unpasteurised cheese with a range of flavours should not be sliced until purchase otherwise it will start to lose its subtlety and aroma. Keep the cheese in conditions in which it matures. Hard, semi-hard and semi-soft cheeses are stored in the temperatures from around 8 - 13 C. Keep the cheese wrapped in the waxed paper and place it in a loose-fitting food-bag not to lose humidity and maintain the circulation of air. Wrap blue cheeses all over as mould spores spread readily not only to other cheeses but also to everything near.

Chilled cheeses should be taken out of the refrigerator one and a half or two hours before serving. Cheeses contain living organisms that must not be cut off from air, yet it is important not to let a cheese dry out. Do not store cheese with other strong-smelling foods. As a cheese breathes it will absorb other aromas and may spoil. Wrap soft cheeses loosely. Use waxed or greaseproof paper rather than cling film. Let cold cheese warm up for about half an hour before eating to allow the flavour and aroma to develop.

Economy Cooking

Stuffed Bell Peppers—Entree for 6 for $12.75

Gourmet Cooking VInegars

Cuisine Perel’s D’Anjou Pear Vinegar

Cuisine Perel’s Late Harvest Riesling Vinegar

Cheese Tips