quote:

I could get into how to make hand-made-from-scratch red-cabbage but never mind.

This makes me think "I grew it myself and dug it out of the ground".

it must be some sort of prepared cabbage dish, but I see "hand" and "scratch" and then "red-cabbage" and think... you're not supposed to grate it that much.

quote:

Pimp some broth

that has to be the best instruction i've seen on this thread.

*waves to Masque*

You've mentioned making watermelon rind preserves on the board recently. How do you do it, and when they are done, what do you eat them with? Are they sweet or savoury? And what turns the rind edible?

Hey Mark-

You can substitute any cheese or veg with this

Frittata

3 large red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 cup diced onion

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 to 5 tablespoons olive oil, or to taste

6 large eggs

2 to 3 tablespoons freshly grated Locatelli-Romano

Minced fresh parsley leavesPat dry the potatoes and onions.

In a large, nonstick skillet set over moderate heat, heat 2
tablespoons of the oil until hot. Add the potatoes and salt and pepper
and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the onion and cook, stirring
occasionally, until golden brown and just tender. Transfer to a plate.

In a bowl, combine the eggs, Locatelli-Romano, and salt and pepper. Add the vegetable mixture and gently stir to combine.

Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet and heat it over
moderate heat until hot. Add the vegetable and egg mixture and cook it
over moderately low heat until golden brown and set on the underside.
Invert a plate over the skillet and flip the frittata onto the plate.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet and slide the frittata back in, uncooked side down. Cook until completely set.

Transfer to a plate and cut into wedges. Sprinkle with parsley

Sounds great Beez! I may attempt that tonight

For Mark: easy and cheap: finsey's mince-stuffed peppers.
With mince: whatever you create with it, it's extremely important you cook it untill it's nice and brown. Not grey. A lot of people undercook mince, and it's frankly revolting.

Peppers halved in oven at about 200 celcius, until they're just a *little* roasted but still firm.

Stuffing:
for 200 g mince
one large onion
one or two toe(s) of garlic
one teaspoon tomatoe-paste
1/2 cbe beef broth
salt, pepper, paprika
rice.

Caramelise the onion and brown the mince.
Add garlic finely chopped add tomato-paste.
Cook the rice.
Now when the mince is nice and dry and brown, dissolve your broth-cube in about one cup of hot water. Reduce. (Are you still with me? that means chuck in liquid and cook untill reduced to a mince-sauce like consistency.)
Taste. It should taste a little over-seasoned. If it doesn't add some more of the tomato paste.
Important: add what you *like*. THis could be worcester-sauce, tabasco, harissa... Make you own special mince. If you have no idea what to add at all: add one table spoon of ketchup.
Add the rice and mix. (About the same amount of rice as you have mince.)
Season to taste.
Stuff the peppers with the mince mixture.

Now you have the option to grate cheese on top an put it in the oven if you like: otherwise just serve as is

I'm drooling at the prospect!

I have breakfast and dinner recipes now

Another one for DM: easy, yummie and *cheap*
Blinis with smoked salmon/mackerel cuttings.

All you need is wholewheat flour, plain flour, milk eggs and a little butter. This will make you a batter that makes 6 portions, so 5 to freeze.

for the blini batch
225 g wholewheat flour
225 g plain flour
12 grams of dried yeast*,or 45 fresh yeast**,or even baking powder.
4 (free range) eggs
knob of butter
Caster-sugar
salt to taste

toppings
Traditionally blinis are eaten with beluga caviar and a good glass of vodka.
But they're equally excellent with smoked salmon cuttings (the small pieces left over after slicing. Inexpensive) Smoked mackerel, or even some anchovy tapenade.
You can choose your topping of choice: thaw a portion of your deep-frozen blinis and you'll have a great lunch dish, light supper dish or even a snack.

method
Sieve the flower. If you're using baking powder or instant yeast follow the packet instructions. when using fresh or dried see footnotes.
Make a well in the centre of the flower in your bowl.
In the well add two eggs. Split one egg, and add only the white.***
Now work in the eggs from the centre outwards untill you get a pasty mixture. Add milk with 2 tsp of caster sugar dissolved in it, gradually. (When using fresh or dried yeast, you add the yeast-mixture instead: see footnote)
When you have a nice pancake-like batter, add one tbsp of melted butter, cover bowl with clingfilm and leave for one hour.

When you're ready to cook the blinis, split the fourth egg and wisk the white untill nice and light. Carefully fold white into batter.
Now make small pancakes in a non stick pan. They should be about as large as the diametre of a wineglass, or whatever size you like. Don't make them too big though.

*Dissolve dry yeast in a bowl of lukewarjm milk, with 2 tsb of caster sugar and leave for a bit.
**Ibidem
*** the remaining egg-yolks can be used to make mayonnaise. Or quiche. See the ever useful BBC website for recepies. You'll also find these blinis there.

I don't like much American food. Its either too bland, too greasy, or drenched in cheese.

However, I really like American Chili. This hot and spicy blend of anything you want reminds me of the food I ate as a child.

This Cashew Chili recipe is a riff on something I found on the IntarWeb and have been tuning for awhile. Its Vegetarian, except for the optional dairy garnishes.

BLACK JACQUE VEGETARIAN CASHEW CHILI

INGREDIANTS:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion -- coarsely chopped
6 Jalapeño Peppers, seeded and Julianne cut
2 stalks celery -- chopped
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
1 16 oz. can cooked kidney beans -- drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn kernels -- thawed
1 16 oz can whole, peeled, plum tomatoes with juice
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon hot pepper sauce (Tabasco(tm))
1 Tablespoon cumin
6 cloves garlic -- coarsely minced
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 Tablespoon black pepper
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup whole *raw* cashews
1/2 cup Monterey jack or Cheddar cheese -- shredded
1/2 cup Sour Cream
2 cups cooked brown rice

PREPARATION:

1. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, sauté the onion, Jalapeño peppers, and celery in the olive oil until crisp-tender, about 10 minutes.

2. Add the corn, tomatoes, chili powder, pepper sauce, cumin, garlic, basil, oregano, bay leaf, black pepper, and red pepper stir to mix. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes to blend flavors.

3. Add a little water, red wine, or beer to loosen the mixture, if it's too dry or thickens too much during the simmer.

4. Stir in the beans, raisins and cashews; continue to simmer until the raisins are plump the cashews are tender, and the beans are heated through, about 20 minutes.

5. Serve, in bowls with brown rice on the side. Top each serving with grated cheese and dollop of sour cream. Serves 6.

NOTES:
The cashews must be raw! (These are expensive and hard to find.) Don't think to use roasted, salted, unsalted, etc. Don't even attempt to wash salted, roasted cashews to make this dish.

The faint of heart (and stomach) may substitute 1 medium green pepper -- chopped for the Jalopenos. Likewise, the wimpy can use 1 Teaspoon of spices and herbs where a Tablespoon is specified.

Break the tomatoes with a fork to your preferred size. I prefer them in large chunks, which means they go unmolested. Likewise be gentle with the beans, breaking them up can thicken the mixture substantially.

The cheese and sour cream may be omitted by strict vegans. Likewise, youghert may be substitued for the sour cream.

*bump*

Anybody got a good cheap pasta sauce?

quote:

But they're equally excellent with smoked salmon cuttings (the small pieces left over after slicing. Inexpensive)

to help out any UKnians - tesco do value smoked salmon trimmings, and also value smoked mackerel. cheap and tasty.

mark - various pasta sauce recipes coming up when i'm officially on lunch!

I usually just use a can of original Prego sauce, but I throw in onions, green pepper and seasoned hamburger. Nothing fancy, but certainly tasty.

right, i'm not sure what sort of thing you're after but here are a few things:

1) tinned tomatoes are your friend for things like this. very cheap (tesco value) and you can add loads of things.

2) I always add any dried herbs/spices and balsamic vinegar/red wine that I'm using to the onions as I am frying them - I think this flavours the sauce better in the long run.

3) I like to cook for a long time, to give the sauce time to reduce and turn, well, saucy rather than watery. Cooking sauces in a frying pan rather than a saucepan helps with this.

so, a basic bolognaise:

1 tin tomatoes
250g mince
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
red wine and balsamic vinegar (optional but good)
6 or so mushrooms
dried herbs (if you don't have fresh) - basil, oregano
tomato puree

chop the onion and fry it.
after a minute or so, add a slug of wine, some vinegar, the dried herbs, salt and pepper.
continue to fry onions until they go soft.
add chopped mushrooms and crushed garlic.

when it comes to adding the mince, there are two ways you can do it:
1) fry the mince seperately, drain the fat off and then add to the frying pan
2) add the mince to the onions and mushrooms and fry until it is browned

1) is healthier, but not always as tasty. but cheap mince contains a lot of fat and water.

so, add the mince however you like. then add the tin of tomatoes and a tablespoon or so of tomato puree. simmer until desired consistency has been reached.


a basic, basic tomato sauce that can be frozen/kept in the fridge and later added to roasted vegetables, mince, or anything you really fancy:
2 cloves garlic
fresh basil leaves
1 tin tomatoes
balsamic vinegar and/or red wine

crush and fry the garlic and the basil
after a minute or so, add the tomatoes, vinegar and red wine
season with salt and pepper
simmer for about an hour


cream based sauces are also pretty easy to do:

mushroom and white wine sauce
fry some garlic, add sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, add cream and white wine to taste and serve

add some bacon to this with the mushrooms to turn into a sort of botched carbonara.

hope this helps!

Donna Perroni's Mother's Tomato Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 28 oz. can of Contadina whole peeled Italian tomatoes with juice
1 6 oz. can of Contadina tomato paste
6 oz. water.
1 Medium onion coarsely chopped
1 Medium Italian green pepper cored and chopped
1 Celery stalk chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon McCormack Italian Herb Blend dried herbs
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch crushed red pepper

PROCEDURE:

1. Heat olive oil in pan until warm with medium heat. Add garlic. When garlic just starts to cook add onion and then black pepper. Sauté until transparent.

2. Add green pepper, celery, and Italian herbs. Continue cooking until they begin to soften.

3. While vegetables are cooking empty tomato paste into small bowl or measuring cup. Add 6 oz (the empty can's volume) of water to the paste and mix until smooth.

4. Add canned tomatoes with their juice, blended paste, and red pepper to cooking vegetables. Break whole tomatoes with fork. Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce heat to a slow simmer.

5. Leave pan partially covered and simmer for 30 minutes or until liquid reduces to desired thickness

NOTES:

Omit green pepper and celery when making plain marinara. In addition, chop onion more finely.

I substitute 6 oz. of dry red wine for the water to mix with the tomato paste for a richer sauce. This gives me something to drink while doing food prep and waiting for the sauce to simmer.

The simmer is important. This is just a slow, bubbling to thicken and heat through the sauce. Depending on how thick you want the sauce, extend the simmer. You can reduce the simmer substantially, by draining the canned tomatoes and not adding the juice to the pot. If you're not wasteful or don't like wine, use the juice to mix with the tomato paste.

Smaug demanded....er requested that I re-post this here. (sorry, I'm re-sizing photos)


I made up a coffee marinade that's really good with burgers or pork or turkey. If you add a little olive oil to it it makes a great dressing for pasta salad or over greens.

I prefer my onion and peppers pureed, or at the very least - finely minced. I also found just regular white vinegar to be the best tasting for this, but you may prefer another vinegar. If you don't have lime juice, lemon would do just as well - I happen to prefer lime. I also prefer regular white onions, but anything would work.

Coffee Marinade
Makes about 3/4 cup

1/4 cup brewed coffee
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp finely minced or pureed onion
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp bottled lime juice (if using fresh - the juice of 1/2 a lime)
1/4 tsp yellow curry powder
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/8 tsp ground mace
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
scant 1/8 tsp finely minced garlic

Mix together all the ingredients and refrigerate for about an hour to let the flavours meld.

Mix 1/4 cup with 1 pound of ground beef for burgers.

*nods*

i just make suggestions...they just tend to be very good suggestions that people agree to comply with.

*nods*

I always wanted to try replacing the coffee with tea, just to see what would happen.

Tea sauce! Ingenius!
When there's only enough milk left for a cup of tea, of a morning, I'm always tempted to just pour the mug into my cereal. Saves time and effort. (I.. uh.. haven't tried this, yet, so can't testify to its yumminess..)

Anyway..
Skint-arse Student Special: Super-Ramen.
Cheap as anything. Ye can use pretty much whatever's in the fridge. Takes ten minutes at most, including the washing up at the end. Great for hangovers. An ongoing experiment.

Ingredients:
-Fine noodles (the kind that cook in about 4 minutes)
-stock cube
-soy sauce
-teaspoon of sugar
-finely chopped spring onion
-finely sliced red onion
-finely chopped fresh coriander / parsely
-sliced peppers / mushrooms / mange tout / tofu / whatever other veggies are kicking about or you fancy trying
-a wee bit of minced stem ginger and garlic

Method:
slice your bell peppers, mushrooms, tofu or what have ye, and sauté them on a high heat in sunflower or sesame oil, with the ginger, garlic and a dash of soy sauce.

Meanwhile, stick your noodles on to boil, along with a stock cube, a teaspoon of sugar, I add some soy sauce here, as well, but that may be gratuitous.

While they're both cookin', chop up your spring onions, and herbs and red onion, if you like. Put them in the bottom of your bowl, with a dash of hot sauce and Wourcester (however you spell it) sauce. When the noodles are cooked (about 4 minutes, probably!), add them to your bowl, retaining the tasty, tasty broth. Stick the sautéed veggies on top. Viola! You have a small, wooden stringed instrument.

The beauty of this thing is that basically all the ingredients apart from the noodles are completely optional. My hangover cure of the moment is the noodles and broth, along with spring onions and herbs. Easy, fresh and nourishing(ish). And even the fancy one probably costs less than 50 pence a bowl.

Add cheese on top if you're strange, like me.

Edin: for a more curry-ish flavour, try adding half a teaspoon of cumin and a teaspoon of curry powder to the noodles as they're cooking. I.. haven't tried this yet.. but I thought it sounded like a good idea!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aisha,

I am so happy!
I did not know where else to post this.

I got the mother of all cookbooks from my local library.

Cooking With Trader Joe's

I have not made anything from it yet. I plan to this week. I may buy the book if I like and use it enough.