Frugal Cooking

One of the things I really love about having a frugal living mentality is that when I get in the mood for something I don’t just run out and buy it, or even run to the store to buy the ingredients. Today was one of those days.

Adobada means marinated in Spanish so could probably refer to a wide variety of meat treatments. When I think of adobada I think of sliced pork marinated in a thick paste of red chile, garlic, oregano and vinegar and then grilled. Apparently, so do a lot of people…

As usual this recipe is based on the ingredients I happened to have on hand. The exact proportions of ingredients aren’t that important. The most important aspects are good quality ingredients and proper cooking technique. This explains why a good chef can turn nearly any combination of ingredients into something absolutely delicious.

You can apply these techniques to anything that benefits from caramelization. Now that you know those secrets, I’m going to leave you with two tips and one recipe.

There is a cut of beef that’s every bit as tender and flavorful as those expensive cuts but often half the price. I’m referring to the flatiron steak.

I actually set out to make a bean and bacon soup. When I checked the pantry I didn’t have any white beans but did have some aduki beans. Why would I have aduki beans, you might ask?