Random Food Thread

[catsma_97504]

Lately, I've been cutting up vegys into chunks, such as potato, sweet potato, carrot, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. Spraying olive oil lightly. And, adding spices, such as garlic (LOVE fresh garlic!), thyme, marjoram. Season as you'd like.

Put the vegys onto a baking sheet, in a single layer. Can also add meat of choice. I've used frozen meat as it thaws and cooks about the same time as the vegys.

Cook in the over for ~30 minutes. Stir vegys once or twice during cooking time until browned and cooked through.

Enjoy! This is a great thing to do when you get home from work too tired to be in the kitchen for too long. Once vegys are cut and seasoned, relax while cooking.

[catsma_97504]

Well, my family couldn't decide between brownies or cheesecake, so I combined them into a single dessert.

Used the brownie for a crust. Greatly underbaked it in my springform pan. Bake just enough the brownies do not collapse when pouring the cheesecake on top.

Kids wanted to help, so they made brownies from a box.

Then, I cream 3 8-oz packages of Cream Cheese, 3/4 cup sugar. Added 3 eggs, one at a time. Since there was a chocolate crust, I added 1 tsp peppermint and a couple drops of green food coloring. Because I wasn't sure that a top layer of sour cream would fit into the pan, I mixed 1/2 cup sour cream into the cheesecake batter.

Poured mix over brownie crust and baked in 325F oven for about 40 minutes, until slightly browned on the edges.

I would add more peppermint as there is only a hint of mint in the cake. But very yummy for those who cannot decide.

Here's a picture............

[sirdarksol]

Pie Crust:
This is something that a lot of people have problems with. "How do you make a good, flaky pie crust?" My dad makes a wonderful pie crust, but properly making it involves stirring it just enough, without stirring too much. I could never get it right. Then I found the answer; use butter instead of oil. Cutting butter into the flour gives you more leeway in the stirring part of the recipe.
Take 1-3/4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup cold butter (cut into 1/2" bits), put them in a bowl, and use a pastry knife to cut the butter in.
Add 1/2 cup water and mix. After that, add water 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time just until the dough is no longer crumbly. Roll it out and use as pie crust.

Note: I prefer my pie crust to be a bit sweet when making sweet pies (as opposed to quiche, for example), and will add a few tablespoons sugar to the recipe for this purpose).

[catsma_97504]

Thank you SDS! I cannot make pie crust. And, will have to try your recipe.

My mother makes the most flaky crust ever, but she does not measure. She uses crisco, flour and very little water. Mixes the flour and crisco until resembling crumbs. Then, just enough water to form dough.

[LyndaB]

Many great recipes here. I love when you reach the point in your cooking ability that you automatically know which spice, and how much of it, would enhance a particular dish.

The great thing about this very simple sauce recipe is that it's so versatile. Everyone should have a basic white sauce recipe in your arsenal. It can be made at a moment's notice. You can add dill for a fish sauce, or allspice or nutmeg for meats. You can add italian spices or crumbled meat to it for a pasta sauce. Make it on the thicker side and use to top a pizza, then add broccoli, shrimp and cheese. The possibilities are endless. Go wild!

Basic White Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk (we use 2%)

Directions

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.

Add flour and stir until the butter and flour are well combined.

Pour in milk, stirring constantly as it thickens. Add more milk depending on desired consistency. When it bubbles, you're done. Remove from heat.


Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Ingredients

Glaze

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

Meatloaf Mix

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

panko breadcrumbs

Parchment Paper

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line large sided pan with parchment paper. (I no longer use loaf pans for meatloaf).

Combine glaze ingredients. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix all remaining ingredients (minus panko breadcrumbs) thoroughly and shape into a mounded oval loaf. Place on parchment paper. You don't want the meatloaf touching the sides of the pan.

Drizzle glaze on top and over sides (I use a brush to apply). Sprinkle with panko breadcrumbs.

Bake in 350 degree preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices are clear.

[sirdarksol]

Easy panko-breaded fish
I came up with this "recipe" because my wife is the only one in the house who eats fish, and I hate using a whole egg or making a whole thing of tempura batter just for one piece of fish. I tried oil and butter as methods of sticking the panko to the fish, but they didn't work very well.

Piece of white-fleshed fish
Small handful of panko
Dash of salt
Herbs (I used a pinch each of basil, oregano, and parsley)
1T mayonnaise

Mix the panko with the salt and herbs.
Spread half the mayo over one side of the filet.
Sprinkle half of the panko mixture over that side, lightly press it into the fish.
Turn the filet and repeat the process with the rest of the mayo and panko.
Fry in a small amount of oil until the panko is well-browned.

I have been told that it was super-tasty. She didn't put any tartar sauce or ketchup on it, so it must really be good.

[gremlin]

Been a while since I added any recipes. Lately we've been trying to clean out the freezer - use up old partial bags of veggies and left over meats and stuff. We had some per-seasoned teriyaki chicken that I cooked. I don't care for teriyaki, and Mom said it was way too salty and overcooked. Oh well, it was an experiment... So, what to do with 5 chicken breasts of too salty, overcooked, nobody wants it, chicken? Well, I decided to try to fix it up and make it edible. So. to dilute the saltiness, I figured some type of soup. We had the tail end of the carrots out of the garden that were starting to go soft, and some celery that was starting to wilt. We also have green onions in our garden. Then I pulled some turkey gravy out of the freezer (left over from 2007). Stirred it all up and Mom says it makes a pretty darn good stew (too thick for soup). So this is pretty much the recipe - remember I don't really measure, so everything is pretty much "to taste".

Chicken Veggie Stew

1/3 - 1/2 cup rice
enough water to cook twice the amount of rice
Put on the stove and bring to a boil so the rice can start cooking
Add your veggies. I used
carrots (about 4 small to medium ones out of our garden)
celery (roughly 3-4 individual stalks worth)
bell pepper (one small to medium one from our garden)
onion (about 12-15 small multiplying onions from our garden)
corn (about 1 cup frozen corn)
Add your gravy
I used about 2-3 cups of very thick turkey gravy
Add whatever seasonings you want. I used the following:
1-2 tsp garlic powder (not garlic salt)
1/2 - 1 tsp cumin

Let simmer until rice and veggies are tender.

Mom liked it so much the first time I made it, she actually requested it for lunch today. So - here is a picture of today's batch of stew.

[aquarist48]

Good morning,

More food! More food!

Please share your favorite recipes with us if you wish. Photos of the dish are always nice too if you have the means.

Gremlin, that looks delicious.

Photo of Chef below.

Ken

[aquarist48]

Good morning,

Chef and I had dinner at the neighbors past weekend and a dish (appetizer) was prepared called
"Southern Caviar" and it is delicious. My friend sent me the recipe and it appears she got it from www.food.com/recipe/southern-caviar:

15 Ounces Black Beans, rinsed and drained

16 ounces black - eyed peas, rinsed and drained

10 ounces Rotel diced tomatoes, not drained (original or hot)

11 ounces canned Shoepeg Corn, drained
(I used MexiCorn small can)

3 Roma Tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 Green Bell Pepper, seeded and finely chopped

3 - 4 Green Onions, thinly sliced

3/4 cup Kraft Zesty Italian dressing

10 ounces Tostitos scoops chips

Mix it all together and serve!

Delicious! A wonderful Appetizer.

I just made this for myself. MMMMM good. I added a pinch of

Red Pepper Seed

2 dashes of Franks Red Hot Original Hot Sauce (this isn't really hot but it is spicy) It doesn't burn going down.

1 Garlic Clove

Ken

[LyndaB]

Crab Stuffing & Cod (or other white fish)

This is a restaurant worthy recipe that makes you look like you just won "Iron Chef".

Ingredients:

Crabmeat – 8 oz fresh, drained
3 tbs seasoned Panko or bread crumbs
2 tbs shredded Monterey Jack cheese
3 tbs butter, melted
2 tbs mayo
2 tbs Old Bay seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb cod or other white fish filets


Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a bowl, combine Panko, Monterey Jack cheese, butter, mayo, Old Bay and salt and pepper. Stir to blend.

Add crabmeat to mixture and fold in to blend well.

Spray baking dish with Pam. Cut fish into serving sizes and place into baking dish. Spoon crab mixture onto filets (you can put a generous portion).

Bake uncovered at 425 for 20 -25 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with Jasmine rice.

Note: I try to use fresh, rather than canned food, whenever possible. I'm sure you can make this using canned crabmeat, however, I cannot vouch for the taste and texture of the stuffing if you do so. With fresh crabmeat, you're getting a bite of real crab along with a bite of fish, and that combo is what makes this recipe so outstanding!

[sirdarksol]

Pear Tarte Tatin
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, or one tsp vanilla paste, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
3-6 pears. I used 3 rather large red pears and they fit perfectly in my 10" skillet.
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
Ground nutmeg
Pastry crust

Peel, halve, and core the pears.

Melt the butter in a 10" cast iron skillet and let it heat until the foaming subsides. Add the sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon, and stir together.
Arrange the pears in the pan, cut side up, wide end on the outside of the pan.
Continue to heat until the sugar mix has rendered into a deep brown caramel. Remove from heat and let the pears cool in the skillet.
Roll the pastry dough into an 11" circle, then place on top of the cooled pears, tucking the crust around the edges.
Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and nutmeg.
Put in the oven at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or so, until the crust is golden brown.
Remove from oven and, using a pair of oven mitts, hold an inverted plate against the top of the pan and flip the entire thing over. The plate should have a decent rim on it, or you'll lose some of the caramel.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

[aquarist48]

Good morning,

Today's brunch is a quick and easy fix using Top Ramen (Oodles of Noodles).

I simply soak the noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain, then I add ice water too cool the noodles.

Once cooled, I drain the noodles and add chopped onion, bell peppers, tomatoes.

Topping...today I'm using Ken's Lite Northern Italian w/Basil & Ramano Dressing. You can use your favorite salad dressing.

Note: I do not add the spice pack that comes enclosed with the Top Ramen. I save the packet for another day.

Lunch is served. Chef is snoring so I had to fend for myself!

Ken

[catsma_97504]

I'm trying something new today, they're in the oven now.

Make a pie crust and cut into 2 inch rounds. Work rounds into each 1 3/4 inch tart or muffin cavities.

Make a pumpkin pie filling following directions on the can. Only need half of a small can to make 24 tarts. I didn't have pumpkin pie spice, so I used clove, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Fill tarts will pie filling.

Make topping with about 1/3 cup pecans, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 tablespoon brown sugar.

Add topping to each tart.

Bake in preheated over an 350 for 30-35 minutes.

[aquarist48]

Good morning,

Yeah! More food! That sounds delicious Catsma! How did it the tarts turn out? I bet they are tasty.

Hopefully with the Holidays quickly approaching, we'll get even more recipes before long.

Please feel free to add your favorite dish recipes. They are all greatly appreciated! When my Chef refuses to cook, I have to fend for myself! GASP!

Ken

[catsma_97504]

There was a little trial and error. The crust needed to be paper thin, I added extra spice. They were quite tasty. My daughter took her first bite and after much thought said the only way to improve them would be thinner crust. They were a definite hit.