ER Forum Cookbook -- Recipe Posting Thread

[simple girl]

T-Al, this should be a pic to go with the chicken pot pie recipe. Hopefully I've figured out how to reduce the file size!

[TromboneAl]

Wow, great picture -- I'll put it in.

[Sheryl]

The Ultimate Macaroni & Cheese

This is the grown-up version of my childhood favorite. It's definitely not for anyone concerned about cholesterol, but it's the ultimate comfort food. It comes from my friend Joyce, who trained to bcome a chef at a famous school that I can't remember the name of.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 ¾ cups small elbow macaroni- Cook in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, but still firm to the bite (look on package for time), drain.
Place in greased 13X9X2 inch baking dish.
Stir in:
10 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese

In large bowl, whisk together:
2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons all purpose flour 1 ½ teaspoons salt
1½ teaspoons dry mustard powder
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Add to dry ingredients and whisk until no lumps remain:
1 1/3 cups half and half
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sour cream
2 large eggs
¾ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Pour over macaroni and cheese mixture. Bake in oven until just set at edges and still liquid in the center, about 25 minutes. Allow to rest for 10 minutes to set up. Sauce will be creamy.

[Sheryl]

Green beans and Almonds

Another one from my friends who can cook, but understand that I can't. Really easy. Really good.

Clean and snip ends off of beans.

Bring pot of water to boil and blanche beans in it (cook until slightly cooked...not mushy).

Drain beans.

Heat pan with olive oil and a crushed garlic clove or two.

When garlic gets kind of translucent, throw the beans in there and stir them around every once in a while until they are cooked to your liking.

Just before removing from heat, toss some pre-packaged Almond Toppers in there, stir up, and serve.
If the store is out of Almond Toppers, you can use sliced almonds that you toast in a non stick pan by shuffling them around a lot in a hot pan until they smell "nutty." Or try with crushed walnuts or pecans.

[BUM]

Pop's Lima Bean Soup


This is not little green lima bean soup. Its Lima Grande or Butterbean soup. We grew up on this stuff and I still love it. Grandpa used to make it in a large pot and serve it to us in bowls using a big earthenware coffee mug.


2 cans (or 3) Lima Grandes or Jumbo Limas or Large Butterbeans
1 can (or 2) chicken broth
1 clove garlic
1 small onion


Very lightly brown chopped onion in butter or olive oil in the bottom of the soup pot add thinly sliced garlic. Add broth. Add entire contents of 1 can of beans. Drain and rinse 2nd can of beans and add to pot.

Season with a dash of basil or thyme and parsley.

Like it thicker? Add more beans. Thinner? Add more broth or water. Bring contents to a near boil stirring ocassionally. Ladle into bowls.

Top with coarsly grated romano-pecorino... parmesan if you must. Serve a sweet white wine alongside and enjoy.

[donheff]

DW, a couple of freinds, and I attended "Date Night" at L'Academie de Cuisine last night where we cooked and ate "Flavors of Spain." There were several good appetizers which I think T-Al said he needed more of. Here are three that I like a lot:

Fried Goat Cheese with Shallot Dressing

Ingredients
l/2 lb. Goat cheese or Spanish mild cheese such as Mahon or Tetilla
Flour for dusting
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
2 t. Water
Breadcrumbs
Oil for frying
2 T. Olive oil
2 t. Vinegar
4 t. Shallots, minced
2 t. Parsley, minced
1/2 t. Capers, small

Technique
1. Cut the cheese into 1/2" thick slices. If the cheese is too soft to cut, place in the freezer for 15 minutes before slicing.
2. Dust the cheese slices with flour. Dip each slice in egg and then in the breadcrumbs. In saute pan or deep fryer with oil heated to about 380°F, fry the cheese quickly until golden brown on both sides. Drain.
3. Combine the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Drizzle over fried cheese and serve immediately.


Shrimp in Garlic Sauce

Ingredients
1/2 lb. Small shrimp, shelled and deveined
Coarse salt
8 T. Olive oil
3 Garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 Dried chili pepper, stem and seeds removed, cut into 2 pieces
1/2 t. Paprika
1 T. Fresh parsley, minced

Technique
1. Pat the shrimp dry and sprinkle with coarse salt on both sides. Let the shrimp sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and chili to the oil and cook until the garlic begins to brown.
3. Add shrimp to the oil and stir-fry until the shrimp are just done, about 2 minutes.
4. Garnish with paprika, parsley and salt. Serve with bread.

Anchovy Toasts

Ingredients
4 T. Olive oil
2 T. Fresh lemon juice
2 T. Italian parsley, minced
2 T. Onion, minced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
Fresh ground pepper
Oil for frying
16 Crusty bread slices, about 1/4" thick (or packaged pre-made toasts)
Anchovies

Technique
1. To make the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, onion, garlic and pepper.
2. Heat the oil and fry the bread until golden brown all over. Drain on a rack or paper towels. (Optionally, and easier - use good store packaged toasts)
3. Spread about 1 teaspoon of dressing on each toast round. Garnish with 1 or 2 anchovy fillets.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Originally Posted by TromboneAl

Please post this in the recipe thread.

By all means.

Attach a slice of bacon, preferably thin sliced, to a fork, piercing near the end of the slice with the rest of the bacon dangling. Have a plate ready.

Using a bic lighter, apply a flame to the dangly end of the bacon until a flame is established and it becomes self sustaining. Keep moving the bacon with the fork to fan the flame a little and keep it going, while concurrently preventing it from growing too large. Watch out for flying globs of hot bacon fat. As the bacon "cooks", the flame will travel up the slice in search of more combustible fat. When the flame from the bacon has reached the fork and the bacon is largely cooked, blow it out and drop the slice on a plate.

Repeat process, eating the cooked slice while cooking the second.

When you get good at this, you can go with two forks and light the raw strip from the cooked one, "chain bacon burning" is a much revered talent.

After a bit of consideration, you may identify many other food products that due to a fat/oil content or sufficiently dry and combustible elements...can also be lit on fire and cooked or crisped independent of any cooking apparatus.

I once jump started a fairly boring bat mitzvah party for my girlfriends younger sister with this trick, and a surprising number of self immolating foods were discovered...largely by the parents of the guest of honr...which eventually exasperated the young lady. "I cant believe my parents are running around my back yard looking for things to light on fire at my bat mitzvah!".

Many a time we enjoyed a campfire breakfast by having someone cook the eggs while we cooked and ate our own bacon.

*** Disclaimer: bacon lit on fire is dangerous, and probably contains a significant amount of excess carcinogenic materials and may not be suitable for consumption by man or beast. But then again, its frickin' bacon, so it probably falls into the same category as people trying to find the best detergent to remove blood from their clothes...perhaps laundry isnt your biggest problem?

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Another "tips and tricks", for those who make recipes containing chili peppers, as I did last night (recipe for that follows).

Those who slice or chop chili peppers know well the thrill of touching your eye or nose with the hand you used to hold the chili, even after several washings. The capsaicin in the pepper is very hard to remove from your hands. Orange juice and dairy cream are two items noted as being decent capsaicin removers although the first time I handled chilis as a young man - chopping up about 20 scotch bonnets with my bare hands - neither helped me much. I walked around for 2 days looking - and feeling - like I'd plunged both hands into boiling water.

You can wear gloves, but I dont like wearing them when i'm cooking. So simple trick: spray a little "pam" on the fingers you'll be holding the pepper with (or rub a little olive oil on them. Stem, core and chop your peppers, using just that slightly oiled hand. Wash with dish soap to remove the oil from your hand and voila...the capsaicin is gone entirely. Makes it a LITTLE tougher to hold the chili but if you're using a sharp knife you shouldnt need to grasp it too firmly.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Southwestern corn chowder

This is more of a soup and less of a chowder as I dont thicken it. Add a bit of roux to it (equal amounts of butter/oil and flour, cooked over medium heat and stirred regularly until golden brown) to thicken if thats your thing. I've even added a few heaping tablespoons of corn meal to thicken it on occasion.

2lbs frozen corn, defrosted
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 quart of 1/2+1/2 or 2 cans evaporated milk - evaporated milk is a great replacement for cream or 1/2+1/2 in recipes...rich flavor yet cuts the fat
1 can chicken stock
1-2 serrano chilis, seeded and diced
1/4 tsp Thyme
Salt and pepper

Put half the corn on a greased cookie sheet with the diced red pepper and the serrano. Roast in a 350 degree oven 10-12 minutes or until the corn and pepper are starting to brown.

While thats going on, saute the onion in a large dutch oven or other pan...looking for something wide rather than tall here.

If you have a really large, wide pan you can get away with roasting the corn and peppers in it along with the onion, but not many people have a pan that big...you'd need to get the mix down to under a half inch thick in the bottom of the pan...otherwise it'll just steam. I have a few pans the size of manhole covers.

Once the onions are browned lightly, add the garlic. Toss in the other half of your corn. Stir and cook several minutes over medium-high heat. Add the roasted corn and peppers from the oven (if you went that route).

Add everything else, bring to a simmer, lower heat and allow to continue simmering for about 15-20 minutes.

Half the corn in the stew will be lightly browned/roasted and partly carmelized, the other half will be fresher/crisper. You may also reserve a handful or two to add at the very end, producing three different "corn" flavors. I learned this trick from one of the major commercial chefs on tv about 20 years ago..adding a vegetable item to a saute/soup in three different times to bring out its fresh flavors, medium cooked flavors, and roasted/browned/carmelized flavors.

Cornbread or some crusty white bread and you're good to go. Can be pretty spicy if you use two peppers and they're hot ones. Spiciness tends to increase in the leftover soup while stored overnight as the hotness sneaks out of the chili pepper bits into the broth.

[TromboneAl]

-----------recipes added to this point -- we're now at 106 pages ----

[Khan]

Skillet meal:

2 or three raw bratwurst

Equal volume of potatoes

Sweet green pepper


Chop up bratwurst and potatoes and pepper to about one inch cubes

Preheat well seasoned cast iron skillet to medium

Throw in all ingredients*

Put lid on pan

Three minutes later, stir/scrape/turn

Put lid on pan

Lower heat to just above simmer for ten minutes

Serve with touch of garlic powder


*Chopped pepper can be added and stirred in in last minute or so

[savedapile]

Sweet and Sour Pork or Chicken

2 lbs lean boneless pork or chicken
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups pineapple juice
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup vinegar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks
1 green pepper, seeded and sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
3/4 cup carrots sliced



1. Cut meat into bite sized pieces.
2. Heat oil and brown meat
3. drain meat, add juice, stock, vinegar, sugar, and sauces and simmer covered for about an hour.
4. Add cornstarch (mixing well to break up the lumps) then pineapple chunks, carrot, green pepper and onion and cook another 10-15 minutes until veggies are how you like them.

5. Serve over cooked rice (I use brown for the nutritional value)

[savedapile]

Best Baked Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup parmesian cheese
1 minced garlic or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup italian style bread crumbs.

mix together mayo, cheese and garlic and dip in chicken breasts, then roll in bread crumbs. bake at 3:50 about 25 minutes.


Italian Sausage Soup (everyone loves this one) from Allrecipes.com with a few comments. I serve with fresh high quality Parmesian in a grater.
INGREDIENTS

* 1 pound Italian sausage
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth ( I use two bouillon cubes and 2 cups h2o
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes (I sometimes use normal tomatoes and a tsp of italian seasoning if it is all I have)
* 1 cup sliced carrots
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can great Northern beans, undrained
* 2 small zucchini, cubed
* 2 cups spinach - packed, rinsed and torn (I don't always add this)
* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon salt (I omit the salt)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a stockpot or Dutch oven, brown sausage with garlic. Stir in broth, tomatoes and carrots, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
2. Stir in beans with liquid and zucchini. Cover, and simmer another 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.
3. Remove from heat, and add spinach. Replace lid allowing the heat from the soup to cook the spinach leaves. Soup is ready to serve after 5 minutes.

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum

i use my crockpot whenever i need to tenderize a tough piece of tofu. though, now that i'm reading all this and substituting non-meat ingredients i wonder if i did a vegie stew if it wouldn't retain more vitamins & flavor cooked in a crockpot.

tzimmes just might be making a comeback in my house. i used to make this for mom who only knew how to make reservations. she loved it so much. this dish is typically served on rosh hashanah, the sweetness celebrating the new year. happens mom died during sunset of rosh hashanah this year. so now my tzimmes will be sad and sweet.

this is recipe from faye levy's international jewish cookbook. serves 4 to 6 recipe is for a dutch oven but i think it would take well to a crockpot.

1 tablesp vegie oil (or, yikes, chicken fat)
2 lbs boneless chuck (tofu) or stew meat (tofu) cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
2 large onions chopped (i use small onions--1 per person--and leave them whole)
5 large carrots, peeled & cut into 1 inch chunks (i just cut in half length-wise)
1/2 teasp salt
3-4 cups water
2 large potatoes
2 yams or sweet potatoes
1/2 to 1/3 cup honey
1/2 teasp ground cinnamon (i increase this, love the stuff)
pinch pepper
1/2 lb pitted prunes (mom's favorite part)
1 tablesp flour (optional)
1 table chopped parsley (also optional)

heat oil in dutch oven over med heat. add meat (tofu) and brown well all sides, avoiding crowding. remove from pan, add onions and saute to brown. return meat (tofu) to pan & add carrots, salt & enough water to cover. bring to boil & skim occasionally. then cover & simmer over low heat for 1 hour.

peal & dice potatoes (i cut as one chunk per person). add potatoes, honey, cinnamon & pepper to pan & mix. bring to boil then simmer 30 minutes.

remove prunes from liquid, reserving liquid to later thicken stew. add to pan. uncover & simmer 30 minutes until meat (tofu) is tender. let stand 1 hour or more before serving. use flour or prune juices to thicken or thin as desired.

ok, well, that was the very lab*r intensive version. i'm pretty sure you could just brown the meat (tofu), brown the onions and then put everything into the crockpot. dish done. eat in good health. l'chei-im!

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

Chicken, any kind in any shape or form.
Large can of mandarin oranges.
Bottle of heinz 57 sauce.

Cook until chicken is done.

This works in the oven too. Put the chicken in a baking dish and cook until done. Mix the oranges with juice plus the heinz 57 in a pan and heat until just bubbling. Pour over chicken and bake another 15 minutes.

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

Calls for bakers, but I've used others and the end result was good.

Roasted Garlic Potato Soup:

6 medium baking potatoes (2 lbs.) peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon pepper
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 cup whole milk
Salt
4 ounces Colby, cheddar, or desired cheese, thinly slices (1 cup)

Preheat oven to 425. Place potatoes in shallow roasting pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle with pepper. Stir to coat. Bake, uncovered, 25 minutes. Turn potatoes with metal spatula. Toss in garlic cloves. Bake about 20 minutes or until potatoes are browned.

In a 3-quart saucepan heat remaining oil. Sauté onions for 5 minutes.

Set aside 1 cup of roasted potatoes. Add remaining potatoes and garlic and stir in broth and water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

Spoon half of broth mixture into a blender; blend until nearly smooth. Repeat with remaining mixture; return all to pot. Stir in milk and season with salt to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with reserved roasted potatoes.

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by donheff

I like the Joy of Cooking Potato Leek Soup recipe. I don't have it handy and don't actually refer to it to make the soup anymore. But it is essentially: sautee 3 diced leeks, add 5 C chicken broth and bring to boil, slice up and add three large bakers and simmer for 30 minutes. Run the results through a blender and add chucks of ham, kielbasa, choriso or something to serve. Appropriate salt & peper, a touch of nutmeg, some cream if you like it rich (I don't).

[TromboneAl]

McDonalds Secret Sauce

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

Its thousand island dressing, more or less. We used to make it in the mornings between breakfast and lunch when I worked there as a teenager. Now it comes in caulking tubes...

1 c. Miracle Whip
1/3 c. creamy style French dressing
1/4 c. sweet pickle relish
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. dried minced onion
1/4 tsp. pepper

Mix and let stand overnight.

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by IHateCNBC

Secret Sauce:

1/2 cup mayo
2 tablespoons French dressing
4 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 tablespoon finely mince white onion
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine all incredients in a bowl. Stir well.

Place in cover container and refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy.