Cheap Thrills. Dinner for three for around Eight Bucks.

Posted by Michael on Apr 14, 2011 in Recipes | 7 comments

This is one of those meals where it becomes apparent how cheap it can be to eat when you make everything yourself.

I recently came across a fabulous deal on some pork shoulder, the perfect kind of cut for making sausages or any other kind of ground pork dish.   A good 1.5 lb hunk of shoulder was only $2.52.  I bought two more for under $3 and put them in the freezer.  I make all kinds of stuff with pork shoulder so this was a great buy.

Today, I thawed one of them out, chopped, spiced and passed it through the meat grinder, then formed into kofta to be barbecued over charcoal.  They would later be sliced and served in fresh pitas with cucumber, tomato, sliced onion and a fresh-made tzatziki sauce.  Alexandra likes the sauce the best but whatever.

Since I made the pitas myself, they cost only pennies for a batch of 10 (okay fine, let’s say 40 cents?).  The cucumber was the next most expensive item at $1.99 but half of it was served chopped for the pitas while the other half was used for the tzatziki sauce.  Two tomatoes were about $1.25 and the yogurt and other ingredients brought the total meal cost up to about eight dollars, I figured.  About what you’d pay for a single super donair.  Not bad eh?   And although this was dinner for three, there was even leftovers, namely six pitas, two kofta, lots of tzatziki and a half cup or so each of the tomato and cucumber.  Lunch tomorrow!

It can pay to learn a new dish or two, so give this one a try the next time you come across a good deal on a hunk of pork shoulder, ground chicken or ground lamb.  This is becoming one of my favourite foods!

Spiced pork kofta

1.5 pounds of moderately fatty pork shoulder that you found for ridiculously cheap, cut into cubes.

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon each whole allspice, black peppercorns and cumin seeds

1/2 small stick of cinnamon

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Heat a small fry pan over medium heat for a couple of minutes and add the allspice, black peppercorns and cumin seeds.  Toast for two minutes being careful not to burn (remove from heat immediately if there’s any whiff of smoke), stirring often.  Move to a mortar (or an electric spice grinder) and grind to a powder.  Add the salt and turmeric and mix well.  Sprinkle the spices and garlic over the cubed pork, then pass the pork through a meat grinder (or process until coarsely ground in a food processor).   With wet hands, form into kofta shapes or patties.  Fry in a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy fry pan or grill over coals until cooked through.  Let cool for a few minutes then slice and serve warm with pitas, tzatziki, cucumber, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, hummus or anything else you feel like ramming into your gob.

Spices of Middle-Eastern inspiration.

Spiced and ground, ready to shape into kofta.

Ready to hit some charcoal (or a good fry pan).

If you serve them with awesome stuff, they’ll be awesome.

Sliced and ready for the pita.

Just magic when it all comes together.

Pitas

2 cups warm water (115 F is ideal)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 to 3.5 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons quick-rise yeast

2 teaspoons salt

Heat the water until it’s at 115 F.   In my microwave, that’s accomplished in 1 minute, 50 seconds.  Your results may vary.  Oh man, I’ve always wanted to say that.  Add a teaspoon of sugar to the water and stir to dissolve.  Add the whole wheat flour and one cup of all purpose flour to your stand mixer.  Add the salt and the yeast.  Pour in the warm water and with the flat beater attachment, start the machine at low speed.  Mix until well blended, about a minute.  Add a little flour at a time until there’s a total of about three cups of flour in there.  Switch to the dough hook, add another half cup of flour and continue to mix at low speed.  Add a little flour at a time until the dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl.  Continue kneading for three minutes or so, adding more flour if the mixture begins sticking to the bowl.  Remove the dough to a floured board and knead briefly by hand, adding flour if it gets sticky.  Divide the dough into eight to 12 pieces, depending on how large you want your pieces.  I typically do six small ones and four bigger ones.  Briefly knead and roll each ball into a solid ball.  Give each ball plenty of space as they’ll get quite a bit larger as they rise.  Cover with a damp towel (just sprinkle some water on it after you put it on the doughs – this is important as the dough surface will dry out easily).  Let them rise for at least 30 minutes.  Heat your oven with a pizza stone in it to 475 F.  Once the oven is at the right temperature, roll each ball into a pita shape, carefully slide it onto a pizza peel, then slide it onto the pizza stone.  The pita should puff to a ball shape in about two minutes.  Cook for two minutes more then remove and repeat with the rest of the dough.  I normally cook two at a time.  As they come out of the oven, stack them on a plate and cover with a towel.  Seal in a freezer bag while still slightly warm to keep them moist.

Pita mountain.  Well worth the climb.