BMS Paper Company - Jamaica Plain - Part 2

Update (Nov. 1, 2011): I just went to BMS and they have 72 oz bags of Toll House chocolate chips for $12.99. This is a pretty amazing deal, in case you're planning on doing some serious holiday baking. Frozen pie shells are 5 for $7.99 and they have frozen cherries and blueberries too. Check it out!

This is the second post on BMS Paper Company, located in Jamaica Plain near Green St. station (orange line). If you were wondering what about the kinds of things that are available there, here are a few pictures of some items I've purchased in the past year there.

1. A gallon of Frank's hot sauce for only $13.99. While a gallon might seem a little excessive, this gallon of sauce actually meets my needs because I go through a 12 oz bottle in only 2 to 3 weeks. I've kept the 12 oz bottle to use as a dispenser and just fill it up whenever it's empty. If you have a funnel, that makes the refilling process much easier. At CVS, a 12 oz bottle is usually $2.37. A gallon is about 10 of those bottles. Since $13.99/$2.37 = 5.9 (approximately), I'm getting 4 free 12 oz bottles of sauce by getting the gallon.

In case you don't know what to do with all that sauce, here are some suggestions:

• Marinate any kind of meat or fish with it
• Buffalo wing sauce is basically Frank's hot sauce and butter
• Use it as a dipping sauce for vegetables or meat
• Use it to create your own "special sauce" for burgers and other dishes (mine is Frank's hot sauce + soy sauce + cumin --- I guess it's not much of a secret any more...)

Make chili in a frying pan (see my post on that)

2. A gallon of Kosher dill pickle chips for $5.99

Again, this might seem a little excessive. However, if you look at the price of a smaller jar of pickles, this might not seem like a bad idea. With all the liquid in this gallon jar, you could probably reuse it to make some fresh pickles with some dill and spices. I like to store a small portion in the fridge in a glass jar because I like cold pickles on my sandwiches.

There are other uses for pickles (besides putting them in sandwiches):

• Make homemade Big Mac special sauce with minced dill pickles.
• Use the pickles and some juice to make a tasty meatloaf
• Make fried pickles

3. Silicon mat (larger than the ones you get at department stores) for $7.99

Smaller Silpat silicon mat
(11.75 by 8.25 inches)

They actually have two sizes and they are both larger than my baking trays/pans. I have the smaller one and the width of it is the length of my lasagna pan. If you need a smaller size, Macy's has the Silpat mats but you'll be paying about $13 to $20 for those because they're Martha Stewart's brand. Amazon.com also has them for a bit less but you need to add shipping costs. BMS carries the Winware brand in large sizes. I've used it for sponge toffee and French macaron. It works very well for both.

Large silicon mat from BMS Paper Company (less than $10!)

In addition to these items, I have also bought several frozen items that have been great deals and pretty good quality too. The Italian meatballs are very tasty and save a lot of time because all you have to do is pop them in your toaster oven or throw them into a tomato sauce (to serve with pasta) for a quick snack or meal. At $8.99 for 3 lbs, that's enough for several spaghetti and meatball meals. The frozen veggies are good to keep around in case you can't make it to haymarket one week. They have a good selection of corn, mixed veggies, and other varieties for less than $4 a bag.

The only flour that seems to work for me when making bread is from here too. The Hecker's brand is an unbleached flour and makes my bread rise better than other brands do. Five-pound bags are $3.89, which doesn't seem like a great value but it's the only flour that works with my bread machine. Other flours seem to create bread bricks. They also have 2 lb bags of yeast, in case you want to make a lot of bread. The yeast freezes quite well too. I've had the same package for several years and it still works. Store it in a airtight container in the freezer and then take a little out at a time to store in the fridge.

The humble toaster oven - broiling tuna steaks

If you go to a restaurant, having fresh tuna is often expensive and looks like it takes some skill to prepare. At home, if you have a toaster oven, it's possible to make a delicious tuna steak without much effort. The tuna steaks at the supermarket are quite expensive so if possible, check out the store below the cheese/deli store at Haymarket on Friday or Saturday to see if they have any tuna available. They usually sell it for about $4/lb, which is significantly less than the supermarket price.

Here is a video of the whole process:

Even though my "secret sauce" is Frank's hot sauce, soy sauce, cumin, and black pepper, you can always use whatever type of sauce you like to marinate the tuna. The advantage of using the toaster oven instead of a frying pan is that you can set the timer and go away while it's cooking. You can also control the type of "crust" you want by varying the temperature of the toaster oven. I set it at 350 F and that resulted in a very soft crust. If you would like a firmer outside part, you need to turn the temperature up and reduce the cooking time.

I also put basil leaves under the steak to add some extra flavor. The leaves needed to be under the tuna because they would have burned on top of the steak. Another way to use herbs is to add them after you finish cooking.

Making chili in a frying pan

I am not a vegetarian and love to have a nice toaster oven-broiled ribeye steak whenever possible. However, once in a while, I like to pretend that I'm a vegetarian and eat a lot of beans. Usually this happens when my pants are feeling a little tight and the universe is telling me, "Hey! Lose some weight, fatty!" As you can see, the universe and I have a very frank and honest relationship. After about ten days of eating at least 2 meals that include beans each day, my pants start to feel a little looser. That's good because it's difficult to find pants for short people here. Eating beans is actually not as bad as it sounds. After all, beans are usually not the first thing one thinks about when someone mentions delicious food. As for the farting, that goes away after a few days. Just go outside to take a "break" once in a while. :)

The trick to making beans taste good is to use a lot of spices. A little olive oil can be nice too but if you're trying to lose weight, too much oil is not a good thing. Spices usually have 0 calories, so use as much of those as you like. The other seasonings that make beans taste almost gourmet are Frank's hot sauce and soy sauce, each of which has very few calories. I like to use soy sauce instead of salt because it's in liquid form, which means that it spreads out a lot easier. It should enhance the hot sauce but not do much more than that.

Good bean spices:
cumin
cayenne pepper (use sparingly) or chili powder
black pepper
paprika
curry spice (can be mixed according to taste): can include cardamom, turmeric, coriander, etc. (Click the link for Alton Brown's curry blend)
salt

Here's my recipe for "Addictive Bean Chili" (catchy name, eh?). It's great for using up leftover beans and vegetables. Think of it as a quick bowl of chili that you make in a frying pan. The Secret Sauce makes it addictive. I guess it's not a secret any more...

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

Part of the "secret sauce"

Secret sauce: Frank's hot sauce and soy sauce (start with equal parts, a few shakes of each, and adjust to taste)

Cumin or Curry spice (a little or a lot, depending on what you like - start with 1 Tbsp and add to taste)

Sliced or diced vegetables (however much you want - start with 1 cup and add more if you like) - if you'd like some suggestions: tomatoes, okra, mushrooms, eggplant, squash, zucchini, and corn
1 chopped/minced clove of garlic
1 diced potato
1 portion of cooked beans (any kind, whatever you can eat in one sitting) If you have a rice cooker, use that to cook dried beans.

Instructions:

1. On low-medium heat, in a frying pan, add the oil, the "Secret sauce" (Frank's hot sauce, and soy sauce), and cumin.
2. When you see the cumin sizzling a little, add the vegetables, garlic (and potatoes if using), and beans.
3. Cover the pan with a lid (or another frying pan that has been flipped over). Don't open the lid too many times because you're trying to steam the vegetables in the pan. If possible, don't touch this for 5 minutes!
4. After 5 minutes, the vegetables should have released some of their water and mixed with the Secret Sauce. There should still be at least a little liquid in the pan (unless you left the pan uncovered too long in the previous step). If all the liquid has been evaporated, add 1/4 cup water  and stir to deglaze the pan. The beans will absorb some of that liquid.
5. If there is too much sauce, let it simmer without the lid.
6. Serve and eat

 A 1-pound bag of dried beans will make 5 cups of cooked beans in a rice cooker. That's enough for about 5 large servings. The bag says that there are 12 servings but if the beans are the main part of your meal, there are 5 servings.

Time for a wash!

For this meal, I used a yellow tomato (they're less acidic than the red ones), a purple potato, 3 white mushrooms, some basil, corn, and garlic (last two were not the picture above because they were shy). I also grated some Irish cheddar on the plate.

The "Secret Sauce": Franks' hot sauce, cumin, soy sauce, and olive oil

Everything into the pan!

Two scoops of black beans and the basil join the party!

Add some corn, cover the pan, and don't touch it for 5 minutes!

Cook on low-medium heat!

Making a fancy plate with some grated Irish cheddar from haymarket.

This is what it should look like when it's done. Just make sure the potatoes are cooked.

This was about half the pan of food. There was enough for two plates like this.

This should be a delicious meal that fills you up. It's healthy and very cheap to make. If you have a small amount of jarred tomato sauce that you need to use up, throw it in! That can be used to deglaze the pan or added at the beginning to help steam the vegetables. Tomato sauce can also be a substitute for the hot sauce if you don't like that much heat. I've also used fresh basil leaves to add some extra flavor and freshness to the dish. Just use whatever you have in the fridge.

If you really want some meat in this dish, add it in the first part of the recipe with the vegetables. One strip of chopped bacon can add a good amount of smokey flavor to the dish However, I think the sauce and garlic makes it savory enough without the meat.

Cheese is another ingredient that can be added either to enhance the creaminess of the sauce or as a garnish when serving it (see picture above). Either way, grate the cheese or crumble it up into small pieces so that you can incorporate it evenly into the dish. Smoked gouda is good for adding the smokey flavor if you don't have bacon. Cheddar adds a nice bit of tang without being overpowering.

Enjoy!