Big Spender??

It has been claimed that I am a big spender, when it comes to my food.. But... I disagree!!
I might use more ingredients than is most necessary. I might use something slightly above the cheapest discount. Hell, I even use organic!
But to disprove this heinous claim, I will now deliver an example.. Behold! A Salad.

Details (Now with prices):
From top down:
Pine nuts, toasted, about 1/6 of a bag, bought for half price...
Asparagus... Leftover from salmon, bought for half price. Fried in butter.
Bacon. The rest of the package from the chili casserole.
Shaves of cheese, and even a good one!
1000 days gouda. Like a parmesan with a more filling taste.
Expensive? Yes.
To me? Nope!
It was from a counter of heavily discounted cheeses in the local supermarket. And for some reason, no one wanted a cheese that old. And it expired soon! (Gasp!) Within the next month!
So got it for 20% original price...
THEN it's the tomatoes, these are wild, organic, beautiful tomatoes. Limited stock, same price as all the other tomatoes.
Under that it is a heap of braised red deer meat...
From a brawn my mother gave me, which I "melted" on the pan.
Salad underneath is organic, special offer, same price as regular.
Sourdough rye bread was free. Got a loaf from the cantina at work so they didn't have to throw it out.

And all of it topped with my... 4 leaf balsamico... Bought for... About... $18 (100kr.)...


Result:
Sure might be prettier at a café, and maybe even cheaper, but it was good... The cheese, bacon, asparagus, and meat really united well, and the tomatoes, salad, and balsamico countered it perfectly with sour nodes. Didn't taste much of the pine nuts, but they did give a slightly sweet hint that worked well against the rest.

When the sum is too much

No.. I did not eat half a kilo og deer when I made the chili.
The other half was for today.
On my way home I decided to change the rather simple and bland dish.
It seamed kind of.. Unfulfilling.
Also, i DID have one last tortilla, and some tomatoes I had to use up.
Plus the tomatillo topping, and an excess of kvark and that good mature cheddar.

So what better solution, than a burrito!
Unfortunately it didn't turn out that well.. You see, a burrito has to be folded...

Details:
A wheat tortilla with 2 slices of cheddar was put in the panini iron on low to melt the cheese.
An excessive amount of the chili is smothered on top, and topped with a grilled sweet pepper, and a salsa made of; chopped tomatoes, a chopped green chili, chopped spring onion, tomatillo topping, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. To counter all the spice and add some freshness, the whole thing was topped with iceberg and a bit of kvark.


Result:
DAMN I'm stuffed! It was kind of over the top, and as you can see, it never did become a burrito. Which was kind of a shame, as all the flavors work so well together. Even had to throw out some of the chili :(


Fun fact: Now we are at minced meat again: Norwegian brown cheese is actually not a cheese, as it is based on whey. On the other hand, kvark is actually a cheese! As cheese is defined as a product made of milk solids, and is even made with rennet. On the other hand, creme fraiche is not a cheese,as it has not been strained for whey, so it is a soured milk product, like yoghurt. So there you have it ;)

Chili Con... Ciervo??

Got half a kilo of minced red deer meat from my dear mother, and felt like making a chili.
A chili of Smoke.... And PEPPER!

Details:
I'm just going to list it all here...
Onion, garlic, deer meat, bacon, red green and yellow pepper, tomatoes, red and green chili's, chipotle in adobo, red wine, red wine vinegar, beef stock, rum, instant coffee, extra dark chocolate, syrup, salt and pepper..
Oh, and the gooey green stuff is the tomatillo stuff..
Some of the peppers were fried hard to char them, rest was added in usual fashion.
Cooked for about 1½ hours.

Result:
Filling! And kind of peppery! Really worth the trouble, despite the problem with having that much stuff on such a small tabletop.