CHEAP MEALS: THE THREAD

[Pat]

 once the peanut butter is incorporated, crack an egg into the boiling soup. DON'T STIR FOR AT LEAST A MINUTE. 

I'll share some cheap meals but for anyone reading this and doesn't know what's going on here - you're essentially poaching an egg and put in your ramen. It's a super easy way to really up the quality of your cheap meal.
I'm not a huge peanut sauce or peanuts in my ramen guy, but this does sound damn tasty.

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Doy Fieri's Cheap Braised Beef and Potatoes

Before getting into this recipe, it's not going to seem like it's on the same level of cheapness as Wasrabi's Peanut Butter Ramen, but for the little extra you pay in ingredients you'll have yourself like a week's worth of food. Only caveat is you need time to cook it, so it's perfect on a weekend when you're just around and have time.

Ingredients
Beef Roast - I prefer shoulder but if price is a big deal you can get a chuck roast. Honestly, cut doesn't matter TOO much.
Potatoes - buy the cheapest ones you can find, most likely Russet but if you want to splurge I'm a huge fan of Idaho Gold
De-glazing liquid - traditionally you would use wine, but really a cheap beer works totally fine, you just have to make sure it has some acid content
Onion - any variety but probably a white or yellow
Cooking oil - just anything to coat the bottom of your pan
Seasonings - all you absolutely need is salt and pepper, but you can add some more savory options too. I like to season the beef with some garlic, parsley, rosemary, and thyme. Very classic.

Optional
Beef bullion 
Carrots
Celery
Garlic

Equipment
A working stove
Typically you'd want a Dutch Oven but honestly any larger pan with a lid will work fine
Tongs
A knife



Steps

Dice your vegetables
Heat up your pan to medium-high and pour in some oil to coat the bottom
Sear the meat on all sides. SEAR only. Do not let it cook long on any side. You just want some texture.
Take the meat out and set aside. Turn the heat on the pan down to medium, and add your vegetables (onion as least, but if you can add carrot and celery it'll up the aroma and flavor)
Cook your vegetables for a couple of minutes until they sweat. You'll be able to tell when they've cooked long enough by the smell. Your kitchen is gonna be SO aromatic.
De-glaze your pan with your liquid. Just do enough to scrape the bits of meat off the bottom.
Add your meat back in, and then fill the pot with liquid up to the, "shoulder" of the meat. Put enough liquid to cover about 80-85% of the meat.
Turn heat to low and cover.
Let cook for as many hours as you can allow.

After it's cooked for a number of hours (longer you let it cook more tended it will be) take the meat out. It should be really tender and fall apart. That's okay.


At some point during this, cook your potatoes. 

Cut your potatoes into mostly uniform sizes
Add to a pot and fill with water and salt
Bring water to a boil and let boil for probably 20 minutes or so - you can check the doneness of your potatoes by piercing with a fork. If the fork goes in and out easily, your potatoes are done.
Drain the water and smash the potatoes
Add butter and cream and whatever seasonings you wish - I personally love just salt, pepper, and a shit load of garlic

Plate your meat and potatoes, and use some of your braising liquid (the liquid you cooked your meat in) as a gravy. You can make a thicker gravy by boiling down the liquid without the meat in the pot.


So, now you have probably 3-5 pounds of beef. Well, what else can you do with it? Whatever your heart desires.
Make sandwiches
Cook it with some scrambled eggs
Make soup
Toss it in your cheap ramen

As long as you keep it refrigerated in an airtight container (tupperware works fine) you should be able to reheat and eat it for 4-5 days.