our five dollar feast

meatless monday
from maggie's farm

On Saturday, Slow Food USA issued a challenge.  Create home-cooked meals for $5/per person.  They derived the cost based upon the average price of a fast-food 'value meal' (Hmm. who's getting a value, I wonder?).  Looking back on the meals we've cooked for this blog, it was easy to see that this was going to be a breeze.  Because we rely heavily on vegetables and grains, with protein sources being eggs and cheese produced from our own goats milk, and meat and seafood primarily as a complement, most meals here are under the five dollar mark.  The rare lobster bisque is a once-a-year indulgence.  Love all that fancy stuff, but we can afford it only if we watch our day-to-day food budget.  And we do. In fact, if you factor in the low cost of our own farm-sourced products, you'll find it quite a bit less than $5 a meal, per person.  However for our purposes today, we have valued those products as if a consumer has purchased them from a grocery store or farmers market. 

$5 Challenge Dinner

Entree

Pozole

Sides

 Roasted Corn,  3 ways

Refried Black Beans

Condiments

Fire Roasted Salsa

Pico De Gallo

Roasted Corn and Hatch Chile Relish

 with Queso Fresco

cilantro, jalapeno, cabbage, onion, avocado

served with crispy tostada, or corn tortillas

We started on Friday with Roasted Tomato Salsa.  Today, it's all about corn--Roasted Corn, 3 Ways, and Roasted Corn and Hatch Chile Relish with Queso Fresco.  Nothing captures the best of late summer like the taste of sweet, juicy corn on the cob.

Chile-Lime Rubbed Roasted Corn

fresh ears of corn
butter
from maggie's farm roasted chili rub
lime zest
salt

preheat oven to 350 degrees
Peel husks back from ears, keeping attached at base. Remove silks.  Rub cobs with softened butter.  Season with salt, lime zest, and chili rub (which we made here, or you can buy, here). Smooth husks back over cobs, tying with a length of husk to secure.
Place directly on oven rack and roast for 30 minutes, or until tender.  Serve with husks pulled back, to use as a nifty handle.  (There is nothing wrong with the word nifty.  Even if my classmates giggle when I use it.  But if it sounds old-fashioned to you,  please feel free to replace it with awesome.)

Cilantro Chimichurri Roasted Corn

fresh or frozen ears of corn
from maggie's farm cilantro chimichurri

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove husks and silks from corn.  Slather with chimichurri.  Wrap in aluminum foil.  Place directly on oven rack.  Roast for 30 minutes, or until tender.



Cumin Cilantro Roasted Corn

fresh ears of corn

olive oil

four sprigs cilantro per ear

whole cumin seed

kosher salt

preheat oven to 350 degrees

Pull husks back from ears, keeping attached at base.  Remove silk.  Drizzle top side with oil.  Season with 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed and kosher salt to taste.  Lay 2 sprigs of cilantro atop.  Smooth top husks over, turn.  Repeat oil and seasoning on second side.  Smooth husks to cover.  Secure at top of ear.  Roast for 30 minutes, or until tender.

Roasted Corn and Hatch Chile Relish with Queso Fresco

4 ears roasted corn

4 roasted mild Hatch chiles, stems and seeds removed (or mild Anaheim chiles, if not available)

zest and juice of one lime

1 T olive oil

2T chopped cilantro

1/4 crumbled queso fresco (we used from maggie's farm goat milk queso fresco)

kosher salt, to taste

preheat broiler

Roast chiles as we roasted peppers, here.  Remove flesh by scraping from skin of pepper with the back of a knife.  Roasting peppers intensifies the flavor and the heat, so you'll want to remove the seeds, unless you have an iron clad mouth and stomach.  I thought I did.  But then I made this without removing the seeds.  Suffice it to say, I really think you'll want to remove the seeds. Mince flesh. (The pepper's flesh.  Not yours.)

While chiles steam and cool in plastic bag, remove corn from cobs with a sharp knife, by laying cob horizontally on a cutting board and cutting down each side  (or whatever your favorite way to 'de-cob'). Toss with lime juice and zest, oil, cilantro, and queso fresco.  Add chile a little at a time, mixing well, tasting as you go to achieve your desired heat level.  Salt to taste.  Chill before serving.

We like to serve this with cool, creamy avocado slices, a great accompaniment to all things spicy.

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We look forward to seeing you tomorrow, and continuing our five dollar feast throughout the week. 

We just love this challenge.

Have a great day!