Frugal Floozie Friday - Mary's Fabulous Chicken and Fish

As with so many restaurants around town, I'd driven past Mary's Fabulous Chicken and Fish dozens of times, always thinking, "I need to try that place!" Not only does it bear my name, but how many times do I use superlatives like "fabulous"? Just as there is undoubtedly a drinking game that encourages a swig every time Guy Fieri says "Winner, winner, chicken dinner" on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," when I get my own show on the Food Network there will be a drinking game - sips of coffee only, though; I can't condone anything stronger - associated with my effusive adjectives.

But I digress ....

Jeremy and I went out to lunch on our first really truly Spring-y day recently, with no coats, sunglasses on, windows open. And as we drove past Mary's, we decided the time had come to try it.

The menu is fairly extensive, with many family-friendly dinner packages available. There are also frugal options that meet our mandatory $5 per person budget.

Jeremy ordered the cheesesteak hoagie, asking for no peppers (which he loathes), for $4.99. A foot-long sandwich, it was generously filled with meat and was a hearty lunch.

I ordered the two-piece chicken luncheon special, also for $4.99, which offered chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, cole slaw, and a roll. It was a good-sized lunch, with all the traditional fixin's.

Other options that come in under the $5 budget are a two-piece fish plate with fries for $4.99, a ten-piece order of chicken nuggets for $2.89, and a variety of chicken snacks - mix 'n' match wings, thighs, or breasts - ranging in price from $2.59-$3.95. You can even choose a large order of gizzards (which was selected for take-out as we ate) for $3.99.

There's a table to sit at; but the bulk of the business is clearly take-out, as four different orders were placed and filled as Jeremy and I sat and enjoyed our meal.

Mary's does make good chicken, and it's worth stopping by to get some.

Mary's Fabulous Chicken and Fish
3220 Packard
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
734-971-5703
CASH ONLY



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Sausage-Apple-Yam Shepherd's Pie

It is incomprehensible to me, but my son - yes, Jeremy, who's usually such a cooperative eater - doesn't like Shepherd's Pie. It has all his favorite foods in it: meat, gravy and, particularly, mashed potatoes. I often top it with grated cheese. He hates it. What's a mother to do???

Make a variation on the theme, that's what. Use breakfast sausage, chopped apple, cider, and sweet potatoes ... et, voila! One of Jeremy's favorite dishes of all time!

Yeah, technically a "shepherd's" pie is made with lamb. But there's still ground meat for a base, there's gravy, and there's a kinda-sorta mashed potato on top. This dish is sweeter, though, more colorful, and a nice twist on tradition.

Now, this isn't technically a Hallowe'en recipe: there's no candy corn, and there are no spider webs made out of frosting. But the topping is orange, like a pumpkin! So, since "Trick or Treat"-ing comes on Wednesday and you might still be seeking ideas for your dinner or a party, I thought I'd offer this dish as well as some links to previous posts about the festivities:

Jack-o'-Lantern Pizza
Hallowe'en Dipped Marshmallows
Sweet 'n' Salty Caramel Corn Mix
Jack-o'-Lantern Cheeseburgers

Sausage-Apple-Yam Shepherd's Pie

• 2 very large sweet potatoes
• 1 pound breakfast sausage, hot or mild
• 2 large Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2" dice
• 3 large scallions, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• generous sprinkling freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups apple cider
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425F. Prick sweet potatoes, then bake for 90 minutes until very tender. Let cool until you can handle them.

Place sausage into a large saucepan; break up sausage and cook it over medium heat. When sausage is half done, add apples and scallions; saute for 5 minutes, then add salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, until apples are tender.

Meanwhile, melt together butter and cornstarch. Slowly add cider, stirring it into the butter mixture until incorporated before adding more liquid. Once all the cider has been added, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Place the sausage mixture into a casserole dish, then stir in the cider gravy.

Cut the sweet potatoes in half, then scoop out flesh into a mixing bowl. Mash sweet potatoes, then spread over the sausage. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Serves 6-8.

Neeps 'n' Tatties with Drambuie Sauce for Robbie Burns Day

Last year, my Robbie Burns Day post about Scottish Oatmeal Shortbread was selected as one of the "Best of the Blogs" for January 25, 2011 by the prestigious Food News Journal - a huge thrill!  That's a hard act to follow, I have to admit.  But I think I may have done it today with this traditional dish - Neeps 'n' Tatties.

"Neeps" are turnips and "tatties" are potatoes.  Boil 'em, mash 'em ... good, simple, hearty fare for a bitter winter's day.  To translate, so to speak, what Robert Burns - the national poet of Scotland, born on January 25, 1759 - wrote in Up in the Early Morning, "Cold blows the wind from east to west."  Warmth and comfort are what we seek these days.

But why not dress up this basic dish with a bit of glam from Drambuie, "A secret elixir of herbs, spices and heather honey, crafted with aged Scotch whiskies"?  Why make a boring gravy with broth if I could celebrate my heritage - one-quarter Scottish, and my maternal grandmother was proud to be descended from the Rob Roy MacGregors - with a more flavorful addition?  The Drambuie's sweetness is a nice balance to the sharpness of the turnips; and potatoes, of course, are perfect with virtually any gravy.

Robbie Burns is usually honored on his birthday with Burns Suppers featuring the dreaded haggis - sheep innards (heart, liver, lungs) mixed with oats, onions, and spices and then cooked in a sheep's stomach.  Even if I could find all of the ingredients, I can assure you I have no interest in serving anything this authentic for the celebration!

But neeps 'n' tatties is not only fun to say, it's a delicious dish to eat since "I'm sure it's winter fairly."


Up in the Early Morning (1788)


Cauld blaws the wind frae east to west,
The drift is driving sairly;
Sae loud and shill's I hear the blast-
I'm sure it's winter fairly.

Up in the morning's no for me,
Up in the morning early;
When a' the hills are covered wi' snaw,
I'm sure it's winter fairly.

The birds sit chittering in the thorn,
A' day they fare but sparely;
And lang's the night frae e'en to morn-
I'm sure it's winter fairly.


Neeps 'n' Tatties with Drambuie Sauce

Potatoes:
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1" pieces
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
pinches of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fill a medium saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil.  Add the potatoes; boil for 10-15 minutes, until tender.  Drain the potatoes and mash with the butter, milk, salt and pepper.  Place onto a serving dish.


Turnips:
1 pound turnips, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons milk
pinches of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper


Fill a medium saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil.  Add the turnips; boil for 5 minutes, until tender.  Drain the turnips and mash with the butter, milk, salt and pepper; place onto a serving dish.

Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
pinch of kosher salt
1/3 cup Drambuie
3/4 cup milk


In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat; whisk in the flour and salt, then cook for 1 minute.  Slowly add the Drambuie and the milk, whisking until smooth.  Cook for 5 minutes over low heat.


Serve the Drambuie sauce over the neeps 'n' tatties.


Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Hamburger Gravy with Mashed Redskin Potatoes

Please note that this was written ahead of time, as I wouldn't be able to function if I didn't prepare at least one week ahead rather than trying to find time to post every single day! But sadly, the man I'm writing about - who was doing so beautifully just 2 weeks ago - has died quite unexpectedly; his funeral was held yesterday morning. And I'm sorry to say that our patient never got to try his requested dish ... just after I prepared this meal, freezing it to bring for the next visit, he went back into the hospital and subsequently passed away ....

The same patient whom I wrote about yesterday - who'd been in the hospital for 6 weeks, followed by weeks of rehab before finally coming home to continued therapies and a goal of regaining strength and weight - specifically requested today's featured dish: Hamburger Gravy. I'd asked him what would encourage him to eat, and this is what immediately came to mind.

But I'd never heard of it. "You mean, a hamburger patty with a gravy over it?"

An emphatic "No."

"It's hamburger - ground beef - cooked in a gravy. And it's served over mashed potatoes."

And so, I set about figuring out how to make this with just that brief description.

I'd considered adding peas and carrots, in an effort to boost the nutritional value; that was pooh-poohed immedately. This dish is not about vegetables, but about comfort. (Those colorful, healthy things can go on the side, but not in the main dish!)

Mushrooms seemed a natural addition, though, to help boost the flavor of the gravy; because of medicine interactions, I wasn't using red wine (which I would normally have used instinctively).

Pour everything over mashed redskin potatoes, with the skins adding color and texture. And, of course, they have to be lumpy - real potatoes for real food.

And I have to say that this is inspired - I loved it! It's perfect hearty, soul-soothing food, and will be even more appreciated on a cold wintery Michigan evening just a few months from now ....

Hamburger Gravy with Mashed Redskin Potatoes

Hamburger Gravy:
1-1/2 pounds ground chuck
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
1 small red onion, chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups beef stock (or red wine or a combination thereof)
3 generous splashes cayenne pepper sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup chopped parsley

In a Dutch oven, cook the ground chuck over medium heat until mostly browned; drain. Add the mushrooms and onion and saute until the vegetables are softened, Add the salt, seasoned salt and pepper; cook for 5 more minutes. Add the stock and pepper sauce, and bring to a boil. Combine the cornstarch and water; add to the gravy and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the parsley.

Mashed Potatoes:
1 3-pound bag redskin potatoes
1/2 cup butter
1-1/2 cups skim milk
3 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Bring a stockpot of salted water to a boil. Cut the potatoes into halves, and cook for 15 minutes or until fork-tender; drain. Partially mash the potatoes, then add the butter, milk, salt and pepper. Continue to mash the potatoes until they become somewhat creamy but retain chunks of potato rather than being smooth.

Place a generous scoop of potatoes in a deep bowl, then pour hamburger gravy over the top.

Serves 4-6.

National Biscuits 'n' Gravy Day

Who needs Presidents' Day, especially since I don't even get the day off??? (Don't get it officially anyway; but the 10" of snow we got, after a prediction of 2-3", is at least now giving me the morning to myself.)

But even better, today is also National Biscuits 'n' Gravy Day ... now, that's a holiday that just makes a girl want to smile ... :)

Except that this girl is now living (quite peacefully and contentedly, too, I might add) in a kosher home with a vegetarian kitchen. Hmmm .... This poses a bit of a dilemma, doesn't it???

I could invite myself to a friend's house -- an offer to make sausage gravy and homemade biscuits should naturally endear me to anyone! But there's not a lot of adventure in that, is there? Nah!

So, let's do it ... let's try a new project: make biscuits 'n' gravy with no pork, no mixing of meat and dairy, no lard, none of the usual ingredients. Today's challenge, then, was to make a vegetarian version of this traditional Southern favorite.

Are ya with me??? C'mon!

Now, the first order of business was to find a bulk vegetarian sausage. Did that, opened it up with a bit of trepidation, found that it smelled kinda sorta like sausage ... okay, off to a good start.

Then I tried to brown the "sausage." Pork sausage breaks up readily when pushed with a spoon; soy protein wasn't quite so cooperative. A little pushing, a little shoving, a bit of force, a few threats, and finally the stuff broke down into crumbles instead of huge chunks ... oy. A little flour, some skim milk, a sprinkle of seasonings, and I actually had something that looked remarkably like the original! I let it sit in the refrigerator overnight for the flavors to blend.

The next day, I placed the gravy back into a saucepan and had to thin it out after it had thickened considerably. As I reheated that part of dinner, I set about making some good ol'-fashioned wholesome biscuits.

Half whole wheat flour, half white flour ... a bit of baking powder and some salt. I cut in the butter and found that it wasn't turning into the mealy mixture it's supposed to. (Remember, I didn't have my usual recipe to work with since most of my possessions are still in boxes at Jeremy's place.) The mixture was much too dry. So, rather than adding more butter, I added a bit of yogurt and then finished it off by adding milk. I kneaded it just a couple of times to bring the dough together, then cut it and baked it.

And boy, were those some gorgeous biscuits! Huge, thick, rustic-looking, warm, fragrant ... just perfection ... :) This recipe will definitely have encores with lots of applause.

So then everything was ready to serve. I split open a biscuit, poured some gravy over it, and ... it was okay. Can't say it was good, can't say it was bad. Tom said, when he first tried the gravy as it was warming up: "It's passable!" Hmmmm ... not much of an endorsement, especially from a former vegetarian and vegan.

But lo and behold, as I picked at the biscuit and simply didn't finish dinner, Tom ate two helpings. And he took the leftover gravy home, happy to get another couple of meals out of it. So there!

If I had been served this version of biscuits 'n' gravy at someone else's home, I'm sure I would have eaten it readily. I just couldn't really bring myself to eat it here, where I knew what was in it and the difference between this and the classic original was fairly apparent.

If you're a vegetarian you'll probably love this dish. If you're being put on a low-fat or low-cholesterol diet, you could eat this and not miss the beloved traditional version too much. But I can't give it a 100% wholehearted endorsement, although it certainly was a fun and entertaining experiment.

Whichever version of this classic dish you choose to make, just be sure you celebrate today, okay???

Sausage Gravy 'n' Biscuits

Gravy:

1 pound soy protein "sausage" or pork sausage
1 small onion, chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/3 cup water
3 generous tablespoons flour
3-1/3 cups skim milk, divided
dash of Worcestershire sauce
dash of Tabasco sauce
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

In a large frying pan, brown the sausage, breaking it up into crumbles. Add the onion and red pepper flakes; cook for 2 minutes. Add the water, continuing to break up the sausage. Stir in the flour, then slowly add 2 cups milk; stir until it turns into gravy. Add the Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt and mustard; refrigerate overnight.

Reheat the gravy over medium heat, slowly stirring in the rest of the milk, until bubbly.

Meanwhile, make the biscuits.

Biscuits:

1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour
2 generous teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold butter, in small pieces
1/2 cup yogurt
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and salt. Using your fingers, blend the butter into the flour.


Stir in the yogurt, then mix in the milk to form a dough.


Turn out onto a floured countertop and press into a rectangle about 8" square. Cut into 9 biscuits -- don't twist the biscuit cutter or knife, but rather just make a forceful cut down and then quickly up; this helps the biscuits to rise better.

Place the dough onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until nicely browned.

Split a biscuit, pour some gravy over it, and serve hot.

Love My Leftovers!

There are people in this universe who don't like leftovers. They don't want to see the same food a second or, God forbid, a third time over. It doesn't matter if the food is transformed -- say, making hash out of roast beef and baked potatoes. They want a completely brand spankin' new meal each time.

I am not one of these people. I do not understand their little quirk.

Because I, for one, adore leftovers; I will even make extra quantities of food simply to insure that there are goodies awaiting me for breakfast, lunch or dinner the next day. Sometimes it's something that is merely reheated, and other times the primary ingredient is re-envisioned into something entirely different. But I think leftovers are a fabulous thing, and I put bunches of 'em to good use on Saturday.

For starters, I had leftover latkes 'cause I'd made a huge batch for the first night of Chanukkah. Tom and I each had a couple for dinner that evening, another couple for breakfast the next day, I brought two for my lunch at work on Friday ... and still, there were two just sitting patiently and hoping that someone would pay attention to them on Saturday morning. Well, who am I to make any poor little latke feel rejected??? Show those babies some love!

And let me tell ya -- a fried egg, just crispy at the edges but over easy so that the yolk is nice and runny, makes a mighty fine accompaniment to those curried latkes ... yes, indeedy. Served with Green Mountain coffee that was part of a most thoughtful and generous Chanukkah/holiday (or, rather, choliday -- with a good gutteral "ch" at the beginning???) gift package from a beloved friend, it was an exceptional start to my weekend.

Then I moved on to lunch, almost immediately afterwards. My brain is perpetually consumed with what I want to eat, what I'm going to make, what sounds good to try, what I've eaten and enjoyed. So it was only natural that, once breakfast was over, I started getting lunch ready! I had a busy morning planned; getting the meal prepared so that it only needed to be warmed up once I got home was simply careful planning on my part, rather than obsessive behavior.

I still had turkey and garlicky mashed potatoes left over from Thanksgiving; when there's only two adults in the household -- and no 19-year-old son devouring everything in sight anymore, since I moved in with Tom -- it takes awhile to use up the food! I also had a few peas in the freezer, 3 carrots, the last dribble of flour in a bag, half a lemon ... much of it found a home in my Shepherd's Pie.

Though, really, if it doesn't use lamb -- the animal that's actually shepherded -- then can it be called "Shepherd's" Pie ...? It's not Fisherman's Pie, 'cause there's no fish. Farmer's Pie, since turkeys and vegetables come from farms??? Let's just call it what it was: Individual Turkey 'n' Mashed Potato Casseroles. Make this and enjoy!

(Yes, I know that the photo above looks more like onion soup with cheese melted on top than it does a casserole! But trust me -- I can vouch for its true identity.)

Individual Turkey 'n' Mashed Potato Casseroles

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons unbleached flour
1-3/4 cups turkey stock
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dill
juice of 1/4 lemon
1/2 small onion, diced, sauteed
1 carrot, thinly sliced, cooked
3/4 cup cooked peas
1 cup chopped leftover turkey
1 egg
2 cups mashed potatoes
1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 2-cup ramekins.

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour in the stock very slowly, whisking constantly, until the flour mixture is smoothly incorporated and all the stock is in the saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the gravy is starting to thicken.

Add the salt, pepper, dill and lemon juice. Stir in the onion, carrot, peas and turkey. Divide the gravy among the ramekins.





Stir the egg into the mashed potatoes until the mixture is well combined. Spoon the potatoes over the turkey gravy, smoothing a bit; yes, some of the potatoes will start to sink -- that's okay.


Sprinkle the parmesan over the potatoes.

Place ramekins onto a baking sheet to catch any drips, and bake for 30-35 minutes until the potatoes are nicely golden brown and the gravy is bubbling.

Serves 2.