Quote:
Try it with Balsamic Vinegar mixed with the oil. It is waaaay better.
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Originally Posted by Dark One
That reminds me of something else I do...
French Bread + Olive Oil. I found these little shallow bowl/saucer type things. They're only about a half inch deep. Take some extra virgin olive oil and put some in there (will work with any small dish). Mix in some garlic powder, parmesan cheese, oregano or basil (or really any herb mix that suits you), red pepper flakes, etc., in the oil and then dip the bread into the oil. It's tasty and good for you. |
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Normally when I make this I use crumbled hamburger, which takes a bit longer, but is delicious. The meatball idea came from when it was way too hot a bit ago, and I needed to be at an ingame event at a certain time, but I was also designated dinner prep person that day. The trip through the store was "what can I make that's not expensive, easy to make, and will easily, but soundly feed 4". |
Originally Posted by Impish Kat
My Gra'ma used to do something similar, but with just plain ground hamburger (salt & peppered)....
Instead of the gravy mix, she'd use onion soup mix, just mixed in with the browned hamburger, then a little cornstarch & water for thickening. Instead of mixing in the sour cream, she'd just put a dollop on the individual servings. Served over rice or noodles, whatever took her fancy. I really like the idea of doing it with meatballs! . |
I love using rice instead of noodles for most things involving sauce. It just tastes better to me for some reason.
Huron: "...with Coffee primary / Attitude secondary"
Charnage: "Please. Think of the poor defenseless desks."
"The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. It failed... In the year of the Praetorian War, it became something greater... our last, best hope for victory."
HALP!
I have 5 lbs of ripe prune plums (small, egg-shaped) in my 'fridge.... What can I do with them besides jam (which I'm not very good at)?
I have a very clever friend who made a little "Pico de Plum" salsa, which was quite yummy, but she did it when her fruit was still a little underripe and therefore more firm (also, she didn't make 5lbs of it). My fruit has ripened and needs a treatment NAO. 
.
Quote:
|
Don�t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. - R.W. Emerson |
YUMMY Low-Hanging Fruit for BASE LUV
Put 'em in a dehydrator and make prunes out of 'em? You could always see if a local retirement home has need of fresh fruit for its residents and donate them.
Quote:
I made this for dinner tonight. It's quite tasty.|
Originally Posted by Dark One
Just made a really simple and quite tasty soup.
Chicken stock - either prepared or made from bouillion. 3 leaves of bok choy 6 green onions (scallions) 1/2 of a block of firm tofu Do this bit a little ahead of time. Take your tofu out of the package, wrap in paper towels or tea towels and place an empty pan on top of it. This will help drain some of the excess liquid from the tofu. Mix up your stock if using bouillion. Might want to make it a tad more dilute than the mixing instructions to reduce salt concentration. Heat the stock on medium to low. Clean the bok choy leaves. Cut the green part of the leaves off of the main white stem - a simple triangle cut around the stem is sufficient, no need to remove the white veins. Place all leaves on top of each other and then roll into a tube. Slice down the center lengthwise. Cut perpendicular to that center cut so that you have ribbons of cabbage. Put cut leaves into the warming stock to soften. Clean the green onions and remove the root end. Slice the white part up to just about where the leaves diverge. Put into the stock. Cube the tofu once it's been drained. Wait until the stock is just about done to put in the tofu. Voila. A quick and easy soup. I just made this and it didn't take more than about 15 minutes at most. If you want to "spice" it up a little, I found that just a bit of garlic powder and, surprisingly, just a touch of balsamic vinegar makes it really good. I liked it with the cabbage just a little bit undercooked so that there was a bit of a crunch to it. |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dark One
Think I saw that method of folding the sauce in after the rice is already cooked, on Good Eats.
I like it because it gives the rice a nice tang during the eatings. I tried using a bit of chicken stock powder during the cooking (so that it would absorb, sorta like doing couscous), but found it didn't really add anything worth mentioning to the flavor. This mirin/vinegar folding makes the rice slightly sweeter. I use a sticky-type rice that has been washed two or three times. It's quite good. |
Quote:
Make plum cakes?
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Originally Posted by Impish Kat
HALP!
I have 5 lbs of ripe prune plums (small, egg-shaped) in my 'fridge.... What can I do with them besides jam (which I'm not very good at)? I have a very clever friend who made a little "Pico de Plum" salsa, which was quite yummy, but she did it when her fruit was still a little underripe and therefore more firm (also, she didn't make 5lbs of it). My fruit has ripened and needs a treatment NAO. . |
Goodbye, I guess.
@Lord_Nightblade in Champions/Star Trek Online
nightblade7295@gmail.com if you want to stay in touch
Quote:
or tarts
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Originally Posted by Lord_Nightblade
Make plum cakes?
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------->"Sic Semper Tyrannis"<-------
Quote:
Mmmm...tarts....|
Originally Posted by ebon3
or tarts
|
Oh wait...you're talking about the food. Nvm...
Tried something new tonight. A parmesan-crusted hamburger.
It was yummy.
Make your standard hamburger patty. Sprinkle on seasoned salt, garlic powder, a little bit of onion powder, and then roll/coat with grated parmesan cheese. By the time the burger is cooked, the cheese will have made a nice, crunchy crust on the outside of the burger. Just don't make the burger too thick or otherwise the timing will be off. I did it with a fried burger, so I don't know how it would work grilled.
I also put parmesan cheese on the outside of grilled cheese sammiches. Again, makes a nice crunchy crust on the outside.
Quote:
I do something similar sometimes when I make grilled cheese sandwiches. I like to butter the bread and then sprinkle Parmesan and garlic powder onto the buttered bread. Forms a nice crust of cheese on the outside of the sammich.
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Originally Posted by Dark One
Tried something new tonight. A parmesan-crusted hamburger.
It was yummy. Make your standard hamburger patty. Sprinkle on seasoned salt, garlic powder, a little bit of onion powder, and then roll/coat with grated parmesan cheese. By the time the burger is cooked, the cheese will have made a nice, crunchy crust on the outside of the burger. Just don't make the burger too thick or otherwise the timing will be off. I did it with a fried burger, so I don't know how it would work grilled. I also put parmesan cheese on the outside of grilled cheese sammiches. Again, makes a nice crunchy crust on the outside. |
Goodbye, I guess.
@Lord_Nightblade in Champions/Star Trek Online
nightblade7295@gmail.com if you want to stay in touch
Quote:
Yup. Same thing.|
Originally Posted by Lord_Nightblade
I do something similar sometimes when I make grilled cheese sandwiches. I like to butter the bread and then sprinkle Parmesan and garlic powder onto the buttered bread. Forms a nice crust of cheese on the outside of the sammich.
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For the cheese inside, I also sprinkle in Italian Seasoning and some dried, grated lemon peel. Gives a real nice flavor other than just cheese.
Quote:
Whereas I like to put turkey on the cheese inside |
Originally Posted by Dark One
Yup. Same thing.
For the cheese inside, I also sprinkle in Italian Seasoning and some dried, grated lemon peel. Gives a real nice flavor other than just cheese. |
Goodbye, I guess.
@Lord_Nightblade in Champions/Star Trek Online
nightblade7295@gmail.com if you want to stay in touch
Beer in the morning, I find, is best. Screw tea, drink beer.
Quote:
That's not a grilled cheese sammich then, it's a turkey melt. |
Originally Posted by Lord_Nightblade
Whereas I like to put turkey on the cheese inside
|
Quote:
Oh yeah, didn't see that coming at all Mr. Pinnacle |
Originally Posted by beyeajus
Beer in the morning, I find, is best. Screw tea, drink beer.
|
------->"Sic Semper Tyrannis"<-------
cooked this up last night to great acclaim from my dinner guests. It's a homemade version of those 'taco mix' flavor packets. I like it because it invokes my childhood nostalgia (mom made a lot of tacos from those packets) while actually tasting great (since I used fresh ingredients).
1lb ground beef
(if you're hardcore like me just buy some steak and run it through the Kitchenaid, otherwise have the butcher grind it for you- it really makes a huge difference)
2tsp vegetable or olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (I like red, but any onion will do)
1 cup tomato sauce
3-6 cloves garlic (to taste), minced or pressed
1-2tbs chili powder (to taste)
1tsp cumin
2tsp coriander
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4tsp cayenne pepper (if you like a little kick, otherwise omit)
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat & gently saute the onions until translucent, about 10 minutes.
Add garlic, saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add spices & stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add ground beef & cook until just done, about 10 minutes.
Increase heat to high and add tomato sauce, cooking until slightly reduced and thickened, about 10 minutes.
Serve with your choice of taco fixin's.
I also made a batch of really easy rice that turned out great- it's barely even a recipe, but it was delicious so I'll share.
Chorizo Rice
long grain white rice
1/4-1/2lb chorizo sausage
1/4 cup cilantro
1 lime
Rinse rice until the water runs clear and cook via your preferred method (I use a rice cooker).
While it's cooking remove the casing from 1/4 lb or so of Chorizo sausage, crumble into small chunks & saute in a dash of olive oil until done, about 10 minutes. Chop up a handful of cilantro and juice 1 lime.
When the rice is done fluff and let rest for 5 minutes, then add the chorizo with its oil, the cilantro and the lime juice and stir to combine.
It looks and tastes fantastic and doesn't take much more time or effort than just making a pot of rice.
/edit
also a bit of product pimpage-
these are by far the best store-bought tortillas I've ever eaten, and I've eaten a LOT of store bought tortillas. They're second only to handmade, and not that far behind.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
Going back to the original topic a little, I'm English, and have a problem with tea.
I seem to be a heathen. :<
I've bought a pack of Twinings Tea Selection, it's got Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Ceylon, Assam and English Breakfast, but honestly?
... I'm just much preferring my Yorkshire Tea with 2 sugars and a splash of milk.
Maybe it's living in a hard water area, or just being a tea heathen, but I just can't seem to beat a Builder's Tea.
Builder's tea? Literally a reference to tea made on a jobsite with components at hand (untreated water, a steel hardhat and an acetylene torch to heat it with)?
------->"Sic Semper Tyrannis"<-------
Quote:
Don't forget the fine taste of oil and grease!
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Originally Posted by ebon3
Builder's tea? Literally a reference to tea made on a jobsite with components at hand (untreated water, a steel hardhat and an acetylene torch to heat it with)?
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Quote:
Covered under untreated water |
Originally Posted by Dark One
Don't forget the fine taste of oil and grease!
|
------->"Sic Semper Tyrannis"<-------
For anyone looking for recipes, I would recommend the magazine, "Taste of Home". It's got a lot of good stuff in it. Granted, sometimes they focus on stuff you might not like, like for me one of the recent issues focused on pumpkin, which gives me the heebee jeebees.
Quote:
Classic plum tart: (aka tarte aux pruneaux):|
Originally Posted by ebon3
or tarts
|
Pastry:
250g plain white flour
50g caster sugar (or fine-grind demerara)
pinch of salt
50g COLD butter, cut into small cubes
150ml COLD water
Filling:
1kg plums
150g ground almonds
50g sugar
200ml single cream
1 egg
(optional) vanilla extract/orange flower water
(optional) kirsch
Kick off by making the sweet short pastry. Sift together flour & sugar, then add butter a bit at a time rubbing in with your fingers till it's all gone in and you get a consistency like fine sand. (Helps if you chill the bowl too.) Gradually stir in the water in a thin stream and work quickly into a pastry dough. Cover with clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Or just skip the hassle and buy a brick of sweet short pastry. Up to you.
Stone and quarter your plums and soak in the kirsch if you're using it,draining it along with any other excess juice before use. Preheat oven to 200 C (Gas 6). Roll out the pastry to line a 22cm/11" pie/flan dish and gently stab the pastry all over with a fork. Scatter the almonds evenly over the base then pack your plums evenly into the pie.
Beat the "liason" ingredients - sugar, cream and vanilla extract/orange flower water if using - together then pour into the tart to a few mm below the top of the crust. Transfer to the oven and finish pouring to 1mm below the top of the crust.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until liason has set. Serve cool with whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar.
Oh, and if you offer any self-respecting English person Earl Grey who isn't from London, involved in media/fashion or otherwise hideously pretentious, you are openly questioning their sexuality,efficacy and personal/sexual prowess and should prepare to be mocked.
Yorkshire Gold is the business, sweeties, but Twinings English Breakfast seems to be the only half-decent one recognised worldwide.
Is it time for the dance of joy yet?
Thought I'd toss out something a bit different for a recipe this time. This is something that my friends have all dubbed "Revenge Sauce".
1tbs of tabasco sauce
1tbs of worcestershire sauce
3/4tsp of Morton season all seasoned salt
1/2tsp of garlic salt
Mix it all together, it will smell foul but tastes very good if a little spicy.
Here is the revenge part. If more than half of the amount made by the recipe above is consumed in one sitting by a single person that person has around 30 minutes to an hour before they empty their bowels. I first made it for my wife and me to flavor a dinner one night. We discovered the revenge part personally. We tried it again on another dish just to see if it was the sauce that did it. Then invited a few friends over that had pulled one hell of an april fools joke on me and made a very large batch of the stuff so that they could "enjoy" it as well. I put a little on my food and curiosity got the better of them so they tried it, liked it, and put a bunch on their stuff. None of them thought to ask why I used so little of it on mine. Sure enough about 30 minutes later all of them were looking very uncomfortable and my 1 bathroom wasn't going to take care of all of them. I've never seen any of them move so fast to get out the door and home. Later on after I explained it they dubbed it "Revenge Sauce". It has been used in many practical jokes since.
Just a small note: It doesn't work on everyone. I'd say maybe 3 out of 10 won't be bothered at all.
Work in progress no more. I have decided that I'm going to put my worst spelling errors here. Triage Bacon, Had this baster idea, TL
R"I'm going to beat the Jesus out of Satan!" My Wife while playing Dante's Inferno
change of pace post, here are my four most-used, most loved cookbooks.
How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
If I could only grab one cookbook on my way to the proverbial desert island, this would be it. I think of it as "Joy of Cooking for the modern age".
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
Great recipes, and also a storehouse of very useful techniques. It's a vegetarian cookbook minus the usual ideology.
Authentic Mexican by Rick Bayless
A nice balance between authenticity and user friendliness. Plus, every single thing I've made out of this one has turned out fantastic.
New Best Recipe by Cook's Illustrated
Probably my favorite cookbook to read. The evolution of each recipe in their test kitchen is exhaustively documented. And whaddaya know, all that testing turns out bulletproof recipes that always taste fantastic.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
Got a new one I just worked out recently. Remember McCormick's Salt'n Spice seasoning that was discontinued a few years back. Well they have a recipe to make a similar blend but something wasn't tasting right. I did some experimenting, adjusted it slightly, and think I've got it as close as I'm going to get it.
You need a pepper mill, some way to crush spices (mortar and pestle or something you can macguyver into functioning that way), a funnel, and some empty spice shakers (I recycle old ones that I've used all the spices out of).
1/4 cup 1 tsp kosher salt - the finer the better
1 1/2 Tbs Lawry's seasoned pepper blend
1 Tbs garlic salt
1 Tbs onion powder
1 1/4 tsp Celery seeds, crushed - this is what the macguyvered or regular mortar and pestle is for
Mix all together until they are well blended and then pour into the pepper mill. Set the pepper mill to a fine-very fine setting and use the pepper mill to grind the mixture into a funnel that is feeding into one of the empty spice shakers.
I usually use it on eggs, popcorn, and mixed into my hamburgers. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Work in progress no more. I have decided that I'm going to put my worst spelling errors here. Triage Bacon, Had this baster idea, TL
R"I'm going to beat the Jesus out of Satan!" My Wife while playing Dante's Inferno
Put rice in rice cooker following proper proportions of water/rice (this does change depending on the type of rice. I prefer jasmine rice as it holds up better with sauce and isn't as sticky as your traditional white rice). Let rice cook in rice cooker (about 20-25 mins. It'll tell you when its done cooking)
About 10 minutes after rice was started...
Take some precooked frozen meatballs, heat them in a covered nonstick pot/pan until heated. Season as necessary. Add a packet of brown gravy mix following the instructions on how much water to add with the packet into the pan with the meatballs. Let that thicken up a bit, then add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sour cream, stirring well. Let meat and sauce bubble and thicken up to desired consistency. Take off heat and wait for rice to finish cooking (if it hasn't finished by this point.)
Scoop meat and sauce over cooked rice and you're done. Om nom nom!
Instead of the gravy mix, she'd use onion soup mix, just mixed in with the browned hamburger, then a little cornstarch & water for thickening. Instead of mixing in the sour cream, she'd just put a dollop on the individual servings. Served over rice or noodles, whatever took her fancy.
I really like the idea of doing it with meatballs!
.
What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary. - R.W. Emerson
YUMMY Low-Hanging Fruit for BASE LUV