Moscow-Pullman Daily News Blogs

In the first print edition of Stretching a Buck, Verna Bergmann shared some grocery shopping and cooking ideas to make a dollar go a little further. As part of her job as University of Idaho dietitian, Bergmann teaches monthly cooking classes that each revolve around a single recipe or staple.

Tuesday’s class, which I decided to take in during my lunch break, featured a delicious chicken dinner with loads of leftover ideas. Of course, the first thing that was running through my head as I read the recipe handout was how I’d modify it. But first: the basic recipe.

You take bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs - to the tune of a buck-something a pound - and skin them yourself. The difference between buying skinless and skin-on chicken can be up to 20 cents a pound, Bergmann noted, and pulling the skin off yourself isn’t exactly rocket science.

You start the chicken browning in olive oil, margarine or both. While the chicken browns, you mix a half-cup apple juice and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, chop onions and garlic, and prep some root veggies (potatoes, carrots, etc. ) for steaming.

After the chicken is fairly browned, you add the onions and garlic and cook for a while longer, until the onions are nice and soft. You then add the liquid, turn down the heat and start the veggies steaming. Cook it all until it’s done. If you want the veggies to soak up some of that sweet, spicy juice, add them and cook for a few minutes longer.

Simple, right? And Verna pointed out that with a bag of potatoes costing less than five bucks and figuring two thighs per person, dinner will cost about a buck-fifty a person. Even better.

Now, my unavoidable modifications: I’d add a whole mess of different kinds of mustards. I have a spicy-hot German, a sweet whole grain, a great Dijon, some coarse stone-ground and your basic French’s in my fridge right now. I’d put in some of each, and up the mustard-to-apple juice ratio. I’d also grind a whole lot of black pepper over the chicken while it cooked, because I’m pretty sure fresh-ground pepper makes everything better. Otherwise, though … this is a pretty great recipe on its own. It would also be really, really easy to make for a crowd - just get a few pans going at once and you’ve got yourself a party.

The leftover ideas make up their very own post, so check back tomorrow for how to use up the chicken that (miraculously) didn’t get eaten.