Papa Pomodoro

This evening I was really hungry and not without good reason. At 9 AM This morning Serge (from Les Alpes restaurant) and I, set off to Arrowtown to walk the Big Hill trail via Sawpit Gully, Hayes Creek and Arrow River.
The track lay strangely deserted on a Sunday as most people were pulled away to the last day of the golf at The Hills.
While Phil Tataurangi was putting forward his best putt, New Zealand's one shot at winning the New Zealand Open this year, we were putting forward our best foot in the sweltering heat on the steep hills over Arrowtown.
We walked 25 km, 5.5 hours in total.

This recipe is quick, cheap and doubles as a stuffing recipe, stuffing meaning not your face but the rear end of a chicken, and a fantastic summer dish to boot!

1 can Budget chopped tomatoes $.99
Half a sour dough (ciabatta) stick $1.70
1 cup chicken stock* $0
Fresh sage $3
salt & pepper

Cost approx $6 tops for two-three people.

Method

Heat a glug of oil and chicken stock in a pan. Pull bread into small bits and add to the pan until all the bread has soaked up the liquid and is starting to fry. Add chopped tomatoes and more chicken stock to make it a gooey consistency. Chop up sage leaves and mix under the stew.


There is absolutely nothing wrong with buying fresh food items incl. meat reduced to clear as long as you either use them or freeze them instantly so you can use them whenever you need them in a meal. Examples of items I have bought in the past are chicken livers, steak, sponge (for lamingtons), sour dough bread/ sticks, soda water, chocolates. You save a lot of money this way and come up with some interesting ideas to cook for example Papa Pomodoro, the recipe for which I remembered from reading the recipe book of the highly regarded River Cafe, London.
The sour dough stick cost $1.80 reduced from $5.29 at Fresh Choice last week and froze it straight away. It also pays to research and observe what day they fill the reduced to clear basket.

Expect the sage to cost a bit though. Fresh herbs are always dear but definitely worth it, and worth growing I should add. The costs are off set by the savings you achieved through other less expensive items required for a recipe.
Add fresh herbs eg basil, sage, coriander, rosemary, always last as you will get much more flavour out of them.

*The chicken stock should be homemade from the last roast and sitting in the freezer,too.

To make it more picante add anchovies, to make it tart add some white wine which makes digesting easier in a hot climate.

The only drawback of this dish is that it has to be eaten straight away and does not keep.

For the next meal I will be making roast chicken I got for $11 on special at New World. I will use the above recipe as a roast stuffing. So see you back here tomorrow if you fancy some poultry for dinner.

Please let me know if you have any questions.