ER Forum Cookbook -- Recipe Posting Thread

[TromboneAl]

Please use this thread for recipes only. For comments or questions, please use this other thread.

Please have a separate post for each recipe (i.e. on recipe per post), though you may post as many recipes as you wish.

Any format is acceptable, but you will make my job a little easier if you use the following format.

Name of Recipe
from YourERForumUserName

One or two sentences about the recipe, such as "My Aunt Susie gave me this recipe on her deathbed. It tastes awful, but I promised her I'd eat it every day"

List of ingredients

Directions

Number of servings (optional)

Photograph (this is, of course, optional, but will greatly enhance the cookbook. It would be fun if you could include yourself in the picture).

The next post is an example.

[TromboneAl]

Very Regular Breakfast Smoothie
from TromboneAl

It's taken me years to perfect this shake, and the exact ingredients are critical. The Metamucil is used just to increase the body and texture of the shake -- really.

8 oz milk (1% milk preferred)
1 tsp Metamucil (Original texture, regular flavor)
.5 to 1 tsp Carnation Malted Milk powder (chocolate)
1 banana
1 small apple
1.5 tsp Skippy Superchunk peanut butter
1 tsp strawberry preserves (optional)
5 ice cubes

Add all ingredients to blender. Blend on high for 40 seconds.

1 serving

[Khan]

Onioned chicken:

Cast iron skillet
fill with sliced onion (can add carrots celery garlic)
place chicken on veggies
cook at 400F for 1.5 to 2 hours

serve chicken in whatever manner you choose

deglaze skillet with wine and use as start of soup

[HFWR]

Secret Recipe Queso

2lb box Velveeta or other processed cheese
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1lb jar salsa
1lb ground sausage, hot if you prefer

Brown sausage, then drain. Add all ingredients to slow cooker; heat until cheese is melted, stirring occasionaly.

[greg]

Stream of Consciousness Mexican Soup . . . from Greg

I sort of make this one up differently every time, depending on what's in the fridge. I keep some pre-cooked black beans in the freezer. It takes about ten-fifteen minutes to make for two or three folks:

Two qt pot filled w/ 24-32 oz water, 1/2 teaspoon of chicken bullion added, start it boiling.

Add 4-6 oz chorizio sausage.

Dice a potato and add.

Add 1/2 cup-one cup cooked black beans.

Add one small diced onion.

One diced stalk celery or one diced green pepper or cauliflower or whatever is semi-fresh but left over in the fridge (or all of them), 1-2 cups total.

Fresh or frozen corn 1-2 cups.

Add some salsa (2-3 tablespoons) and/or a diced tomato or two. I like extra cumin. Boil one more minute.

Add fresh cilantro at the end. Also good with sour cream. Sometimes I take corn masa (tamale mixture) and make a few small corn dumplings w/cheese in the middle. But they tend to break down in the soup if left too long . . . but that's not always a bad thing.

[Moemg]

Chicken Piccata

1 pound of boneles chicken breasts
1/2 stick of butter
1 cup of chicken broth
2 lemons
flour
mushrooms
white wine

Flatten chicken breasts and dip in flour .Brown chicken in the butter then add broth,juice of lemons ,wine ( make sure to have a glass of wine at the same time .don't want to add bad wine ha ha ).add musroms and simmer until sauce thickens .

[simple girl]

White Chili
from simple girl

This is really easy to make and is one of our favorites. It's a nice change from regular chili and a good way to use up left-over chicken.


½ lb (~ 2 cups) cooked, cubed chicken
½ of an onion chopped up
2 cups chicken broth
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 can (15.5 oz) white kidney beans (cannelloni), undrained
16 black olives, sliced
½ cup corn
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp oregano
¼ tsp ground red pepper

1. Using non-stick spray, slightly brown the cooked, cubed chicken. Remove chicken.
2. Cook the onion, then add the broth, green chilies and spices. Simmer 30 minutes, covered.
3. Stir in cooked chicken, beans, olives, and corn. Serve after warmed.


Top with cilantro. Add lo-fat sour cream and shredded cheese if desired to each bowl.

Makes 4 Servings
239 calories per serving, without toppings

[simple girl]

“Feed the Masses” Chili
from simple girl

This is a HUGE amount of chili. Great for a party, i.e. think Superbowl! Otherwise, freeze it into smaller portions. It reheats really nicely.

3# lean ground beef
3 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp seasoned salt
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
3 tsp crushed red pepper
2 tsp ground red pepper
4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
~ 1 ½ tsp salt (more or less to taste)

~ 3 tablespoons oil
5 green peppers, chopped
6 cups chopped onion
4 stalks celery, chopped
24 oz sliced fresh mushrooms

2 – 29 oz cans tomato sauce
2 – 40 ½ oz cans light red kidney beans
1 – 39 oz can hot chili beans
1 – 16 oz jar of hot salsa
2 – 5 ¾ oz cans olives (drained and sliced)

~ 5/8 cup of brown sugar (more or less to taste)

Sauté the vegetables in oil in a large soup pot. (Add the mushrooms last to avoid overcooking).
Meanwhile, in another pan, brown the ground beef. Then add all of the spices to the ground beef and cook through.
Add the ground beef mixture to the vegetables. Now add the remainder of the ingredients except the brown sugar.
Stir completely. Last, add brown sugar, (to taste) in small increments.

Enjoy!

[TromboneAl]

--- Above Recipes Added ---

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

The wife just turned out a batch of really great scones using my frozen butter trick, which also makes great biscuits, dumplings and pie dough.

Freeze a stick of butter until hard frozen. Make up your regular recipe but hold the butter where the recipe calls for 'cutting' it in. Break out a box or rotary grater and grate the frozen butter in at the last minute, turn it in with as little handling as possible just before baking and then roll or form your goods. The butter holds its grated form until it hits the oven and melts, making your baked items flakey and light. Hold the butter with an oven mitt or something like that to keep a grip on it and keep it from melting.

The scone recipe:

1.75 cups all purpose flour sifted
2.5 teaspoons double acting baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
.5 teaspoon salt

Mix

Beat 2 eggs, reserve a couple of tablespoons, add 1/2 cup cream or half and half.

Make a well in your dry ingredients, pour in the liquid and combine with limited strokes. Grate in 1/4 cup of butter. Stir just a few times.

Place on lightly floured board, pat 3/4 inch thick, cut into desired shapes, brush with the reserved egg and optionally sprinkle with a little bit of sugar.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.

A far cry from the scones you buy that you can dent a car with.

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

Actual quick meal. Really.

2-4 steaks of any type, preferably of the tender variety. Filet mignon is usually specified, but feel free to substitute. Salt well on both sides. Let stand 20-30 minutes at room temp.

Turn the knob on your pepper grinder until it almost comes off, or do whatever you need to do to adjust the grind to as coarse as possible.

Grind a buttload of pepper onto a plate, press both sides of the steak into it. Be generous. Dont bread the frickin thing, but there oughta be a lot of pepper on it.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of butter in a saute pan until the butter starts to brown and you begin to get some shimmer/smoke.

Add steaks, cook about 4-5 minutes per side on medium high heat until you get a fairly dark brown crust and plenty of brown stuff on the bottom of the pan. Remove the steaks to a plate and cover with foil.

Remove pan from heat and turn off any burners. Hold the pan at arms length without anything flamable nearby or for 2-3' overhead. Add 1/3 cup of cognac. Light it on fire. Oh yeah, disable your smoke detector or do this outside. In about 20 seconds the fire will go out. Add a cup of room temperature heavy cream. Stir gently over medium to medium high heat and simmer for about 7-8 minutes, until the mixture is fairly thick, like a thin gravy. Add a few pinches of salt, a couple of fresh tablespoons of cognac, and add the steaks back in. Simmer for about 30 seconds, spooning the sauce over the steak. Plate and serve your steak au poivre.

Most of the heat leaves the pepper during cooking, but there is a really distinct pepper flavor. If you dont like pepper, you wont like this.

If the flaming act doesnt sound exciting to you, take the hot pan outside, add the cognac and wait a minute while it sizzles. Most of the alcohol will evaporate and waft away.

If you light yourself or your house on fire, its your own damn fault. No liability claims will apply.

Once you do this, you can set it up in about 2 minutes, and the rest is done in under 20 minutes, only a small portion of which needs to be attended cooking time.

Oh yeah, and dont get a cholesterol test for 2-3 days after eating this...

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by vagabond

I just bought on sale 16 cans of Starkist solid white tuna for 64 cents each.
They are great for quick nourishing meals.
1 can in water tuna
finely chopped small onion
finely chopped stalk of celery
choice of a tablespoon of, mayo, whipped cottage cheese or olive oil
large sliced tomato
large thinly sliced cuke
optional 1/2 teaspoon of "real" delicatessen mustard.

Should only take between 10 to 15 minutes to prepare and a delicious frugal meal.

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by flipstress

OK, here's one maybe not so quick, but easy and tasty.

First, get started with cooking steamed rice. Then, do the adobo and you can have them going at the same time.

Filipino Adobo--my version

1 to 1 ½ lbs chicken (no skin) and/or pork pieces
3 to 6 cloves garlic, pounded and skins removed
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup vinegar
1 dried bay leaf, tear in half
½ to 1 tsp whole peppercorns

Dump everything into pot/skillet and put lid on. Bring to boil, then simmer until cooked, occasionally mixing/turning pieces while cooking.

Eat with steamed rice . Options: Slice a tomato to go with meal, have fish sauce on the side.

Edited to put Caution: Try not to bite into peppercorns when eating. If you want, use ground pepper instead but a lot less--just a few shakes. Oh yeah, some folks put a bit of sugar into the pot, too, maybe 1/4 teaspoon or so.

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny

Heres a trick for you...wash and then freeze a whole chunk of ginger. Peel if you must, but its not necessary. Use a grater, ideally a microplane, to get as much ginger as you need into a dish. Frozen, the ginger shreds beautifully into long strands, which of course it wont do when fresh...pulp and juice are all you get then.

Fast cut for pastry, in the same vein, is to freeze a stick of butter. When making biscuits or dumplings that call for whapping the crap out of some dough until the butter in the recipe gets pea sized or less? This gives you the small butter bits in 5 seconds. Biscuits or fine dumplings in a few minutes with almost no work...flour, baking powder, grated frozen butter, salt, whatever else you need, voila...into the oven or soup in a minute.

On that popcorn and four beers for two...which one of you gets the four beers and which one is stuck with the popcorn?

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by ladelfina

Yeah, Eagle43.. it's developed into a whole cult. OAMC (Once-A-Month-Cooking). There are several cookbooks out there.. check amazon reviews, though, to see if the recipes fit in with your style of eating.

There are even cooperatives that get together and cook en masse, sharing the meals for more variety. You need a lot of freezer space! Good for those who like Costco shopping. Another suggestion: the tried & true Crock-Pot.

At least a couple times a week you can try and make things in quantities sufficient to last 2-3 meals. Another trick I have tried is to measure things out in advance and/or keep 'prepared' stuff in the freezer.. chop 2-3 onions or peppers instead of one and put the rest in the freezer for another dish, so you cut down on prep time and cleaning up.

Another trick for boneless chicken breasts: slice them horizontally in three 1/4"-1/8" slices. They will cook in 1/3 the time and won't be unevenly cooked. Use the flat of your hand to bear down and keep the chicken from sliding around while using a big sharp knife. Do a bunch of these and freeze them when they are on sale.

A chicken marsala takes about 5 minutes cooking time (heat butter in pan on high, salt & pepper chicken, dredge in flour, saute, when a bit golden brown on both sides throw in a few tablespoons of marsala and voila'!). The entire dinner 10' including boiling up some frozen string beans.. maybe 15' with prep/cleanup.

Another quickie is to take the c. breast slices, put in a greased oven pan, throw a slice of cheese and/or ham/prosciutto on top, pop in the oven for 15 minutes. I like these with spinach. It doesn't take any longer than going out for Chinese and costs a lot less.

I have other more 'gourmet' recipes but these are the quickest. Since the nearest Chinese restaurant is about an hour and a half away, we have little choice, anyway!! P.S. they don't deliver.

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by ladelfina

hmm. The OP said "kind of like 30-minute meals but maybe quicker".

Nords, under ten minutes and with a microwave, isn't "cooking". It's surviving. Makes me think of either the office or the dorm, two places I'd rather forget.
Even Ramen noodles take around 5 minutes, for gosh sakes..

If that's your criteria, I second the nacho chef (justin). But taking the nacho recipe to new heights, I suggest:
-Take a boneless chicken breast.
-Boil in as much water to barely cover in a small covered pot for ten minutes.
-Turn off heat and let sit covered for 15 minutes.
-Shred up chicken with your hands.
-Apply to nachos along with cheese in toaster oven. Sliced black olives and/or jalapenos if you wish.
-Serve with jarred salsa & sour cream.

For under 10 minutes, I would be exploring the universe of bread and cold cuts.
Or maybe pita-bread "pizzas".
Or a bagged salad with stuff thrown on top.
Or omelets.

My idea of "quick" is whatever I can make in how long it takes the pasta water to boil and the pasta to cook, i.e., 20 minutes roughly.

Along the line of CFB's quick tips to speed prep for "regular" cooking, I'll add this: a lot of the things I make end up calling for a few tbsp of chopped onion, chopped carrot, chopped celery as a base. A drag when you are using small amounts and maybe you forgot to keep the fresh carrot or celery around.. Chop a cup or two's worth in the food processor and save in 1 or 2 tbsp portions. I do it by putting a long strip of plastic wrap on the counter, then making little piles at short intervals, folding over the wrap and twisting each pile around so that I get a length of chopped carrot "sausages" 'that I can put in the freezer and tear off later as needed.

Wait, here's something I made recently. You could accompany with a grilled steak or pork chop:
-------
Bean salad

-Take a small can or two of black beans. Drain and rinse well.
-Chop some peppers. I like a mix of red, green, yellow for the visual. If you use all three, you may only need 1/2 of each.
-Chop some red onion.
-If you have access to fresh sweet corn, slice off the niblets of 1 or 2 ears with a knife. Otherwise use the best canned type you can find, or omit.
-Dump it all in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, olive oil, and a small amount of lemon juice or vinegar. All to taste, of course. A 'gourmet' touch is some chopped fresh cilantro.

Voila'! Guaranteed doable in 10 minutes.
This is great to take to a cookout or picnic 'cause it can sit out a bit without ill effects.

More with beans:
---------------
Fagioli all'uccelletto

-Canned cannelloni (white) beans. Decide how many cans you want to make ('cause it affects the proportions of the rest), drain, rinse well, and put aside.
-Put a couple tbsp. oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and start heating while you peel your garlic (1 clove/can of beans).
-Gently fry up 1 garlic-pressed clove per can.
-Just after putting in garlic in the hot oil, add one or two fresh sage leaves per can of beans. If you have rinsed the sage leaves dry them off, because they hold a lot of water on the surface that will cause them to spatter in the oil.
-When garlic is not even barely getting colored (like 1 minute), put in just 1 or 2 tbsp. tomato product per can of beans (this could be canned chopped tomatoes, puree, or sauce -not tom.paste, though). A relatively small amount; you are looking for a very light tomato sauce, and a final product that is 'pink' rather than 'red'.
-Cook the sauce for about 3-4 minutes.
-Add beans to sauce and cook gently, just enough to heat the beans through.

Another guaranteed under 10' dish. I don't even add salt to this.

If anyone tries any of these, let us know how they came out!

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by Starry Night

Just got this one via e-mail from a friend.....haven't tested it yet, but think I'll try.....The described instructions are for a group effort:


OMELET IN A ZIPLOCK BAG

(This works great !!! The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet !!!)

Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker, but only if their ingredients are different (eg.no onions)

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.

Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.

Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes.
You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water. Cover while cooking & you can decrease time.

Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed. Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and a great conversation piece.

Imagine having these ready the night before, and putting the bag in boiling water while you get ready. And in 13 minutes, you got a nice omlette for a quick breakfast!!!

I used tomatoes, ham, green onions, cheddar cheese and mushrooms in this one! MMMMMMMM . . .MMMMMMM good!!!

[TromboneAl]

Originally Posted by Mrs. O'Leary's Cow

I've eaten Kung Pao Chicken probably 20 time here in Chinatown and never got the same thing twice. I know cooks have to take a lot of short cuts in resturants so if you are a Chinese food lover, this recipe will make you happy.

It was given to me by someone who lived in Cheng Du, China and was a Szechuan cook. It looks complicated but after doing it once you will find it a lot easier.

4 Skinless chicken brests
10 Birdseye (Thai) Chili Peppers (slender 3 inch long, bright red)
10 Shallots (green onions) - cut into 1 inch long pieces
8 Cloves of fresh garlic - crush and dice finely
2 inch long piece of ginger root - peel and dice very finely
1/2 cup of sugar
Planters Dry roasted peanuts
Sichuan Peppercorns (called numb spice)
Bottle of Peanut Oil
Bottle of Sesame Oil
Box of Cornstarch
Bottle of Soy Sauce
Bottle of Rice Wine Vinegar

Cooking is a series of seperate steps;
1. Make a marinade for the chicken
Make a marinade of 2 TS each of water, soy sauce and constrach (should be caramel color and just thicker than water)
2. Prepare a sauce for final step of cooking
Mix 2 TS of Rice Wine Vinegar, Soy Sauce, 1/2 TS of Sesame Oil and 2 TS of Cornstarch
3. Prepare caramalized sugar syrup. By far the hardest part of the recipe.
In a teflon coated large skillet put a 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup water. Slowly, very slowly heat till this turns medium brown and is still runny. Quickly get it out of the hot pan in into a large bowl.

Start 3 cups of peanut oil heating in a heavy Teflon coated wok (prefer flat bottom)
Get to a temp just below its smoking point.

Pound the chicken breast with a spiked meat mallet till nearly mush (very important,don't skip)
Cut the mushy chicken bresast into bite size pieces.

In a large bowl thoroughly coat the chicken pieces with the marinade.

Now put the chicken into the hot oil and use a big basket type spoon to swirl it around for just a few seconds, just enough to stick the marinade. Remove and put back in same bowl. Make sure the chicken isn't sticking toghether.

Pour all the oil from the wok but leave the wok surface oily, now,remove the stem and seeds, cut into 1 inch pieces and add the 10 red chili peppers to the oily wok and stir over medium heat till the brown, add the Sichuan pepper corns and stir for a few seconds to release their flavor, then add garlic and ginger. Stir these ingredients for just enough time to infuse the garlic and ginger into the oil.

Turn up the heat, meanwhile put the marinated chicken into the bowl of caramalized sugar syrup and mix with your left hand only make sure all pieces are coated.

Put the chicken into the wok, and with you clean right hand start stiring/mixing the chicken to coat all pices with the spices, now add the shallots, cook for a few seconds, pour in the sauce mixture made earlier, stir, stir stir. Toss on the peanuts.