KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
edited July 2007
Made this one for dinner today out of stuff hanging around in my fridge; came out damn tasty.
Boil some broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces, in water with a heavy pinch of salt thrown in until tender. At the same time, fry up a few strips of bacon.
When the bacon is crisp, remove from the pan, drain on paper towels, and reserve the drippings from the pan. Grab some of the flour tortillas that Robert Rodriguez taught you how to make. Load up as many as you like with the pieces of broccoli. Grate some orange cheddar cheese on top of the broccoli, and crumble bacon on top of that.
Close up into a taco shape (you might need a toothpick in each one to keep its shape). Using the bacon pan, fry the bottoms of the tacos in a few tablespoons of the bacon drippings over medium low heat for a minute or so. Remove from the pan, let sit for a minute or so, eat. Yum.
Hey, so like.. next year I'm off the meal plan at school. I don't personally have my own kitchen, but there is a kitchen on each floor, with stove/oven + microwave, so hopefully I can use it when I want to...
What kinds of cookware should I get and tools and whatever?
Actually, if you're just feeding yourself, often the handiest item is one of those little weeny frypans, like 6" across or so. Perfect for scrambling eggs, or cooking that single piece of meat. And oh yeah, teflon is your best pal.
Chicken Salad- and I could be killed for giving you this recipie....
Chopped chicken (Just boil it in some chicken broth)
chopped celery (not too much)
Chopped bacon (becareful of how much you add, its salty!)
Cubed sharp cheaddar cheese
mayo
a little bit of mustard
garlic salt
onion salt
mix all together, make sure the chicken and bacon are cooled. Careful on the spices (including mustard), add a little, taste, then add more if needed.
Actually, if you're just feeding yourself, often the handiest item is one of those little weeny frypans, like 6" across or so. Perfect for scrambling eggs, or cooking that single piece of meat. And oh yeah, teflon is your best pal.
A cast iron pan is best
one of those + anything + a decent cooking oil = dinner
I'm not much of a cook. It's difficult to dedicate more than an hour just to prepare, eat, and then clean each time I want to eat in a day-- even if I really do have the time. Therefore I'm constantly stuck with something easier to make and that's not usually healthy. All that, and it's often easier on the budget to eat quickly.
I will say that Good Eats by Alton Brown is absolutely the best TV food show you can ever watch. It's the shit!
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
edited August 2007
I dunno if I'd get a cast iron pan for dorm life (although they are damn useful) - they're super heavy, and lugging one back and forth between your room and the kitchen will get old pretty damn fast.
Make sure you get a good nonstick fry pan - no using metal utensils on this! Wooden, silicone, heat-resistant plastic only. A good saucepan would be nice too - you can make pasta/rice in them. If you drink a lot of tea, make a lot of pasta, or need boiling water a lot, an electric kettle is very useful.
Bowls
One big frying pan, one small
Pots
Package of spatulas/spoons
collander
measuring cups/spoons
13x9 pan
cutting board
Knives
I just did this this summer, and I'm trying to remember what I had to buy...
I personally do pretty much everything in a frying pan, so I wouldn't go el-cheapo there. Mine's about $50, and I love it. Everything else can be pretty cheap, except maybe the knives. Don't buy expensive pots in college. You'll lose them or ruin them, most likely. Also they're heavy. I got a whole set for $20.
I'd skip the cast iron. They're harder to clean, and I only know like two recipes where they're really useful. Though I do love corn bread.
On that note, when making cornbread. IF you can, do it in a cast iron skillet. Melt a bunch of butter in the bottom, pour in the batter however you make it and cook it on the stove for ~30s, then put it in the pre-heated oven. This works because A) butter is delicious and it gets you this gloriously delicious crispy crust that your normal 13x9 or 9x9 pan won't do.
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited August 2007
Going to try to make Tandoori Chicken and tandoori potatoes tonight. Also another batch of Carne Adovada. And another pot of pinto beans.
So basically the last time I tried tandoori chicken it was terrible. I'm going to try to do simple this time:
puree some garlic, ginger and crushed indian red pepper. Add plain yogurt, turmeric, salt, pepper. Maybe some channa masala and msg. Marinate chicken legs/ thighs (and potatoes) overnight in a ziploc. Bake for some amount of time at I dunno 350?
Hey, so like.. next year I'm off the meal plan at school. I don't personally have my own kitchen, but there is a kitchen on each floor, with stove/oven + microwave, so hopefully I can use it when I want to...
What kinds of cookware should I get and tools and whatever?
Good article about outfitting a kitchen for under $200.. $300 if you want to go fancy.Linky
Fletchsm on
[GIR is disguised as a government agent]
Gir: I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me.
Oh man. Just threw this one together for fun. It's pretty damn good, though.
Ground pork
Rosemary - chopped
Brandy - like a good size splash
Apple - I used one apple/1lb pork
bread/breadcrumbs - I used one slice of bread then a bunch of breadcrumbs
salt+pepper - Like, some, I did it to taste, mostly.
currants - a handful?
Mix it up and fry it.
Then the sauce is honey+dijon mustard+a little brandy+some hot sauce
Pour the sauce over it and eat. I'd serve it with like... couscous would be good. I think.
I'm not sure how much of most of the ingredients because I usally just throw things in and taste it. The flavors work really well together though.
I'm really happy with this one.
edit: Cooking the alcohol out of the brandy beforehand would be a good idea. It doesn't get out of the meatballs, and leaves an off taste.
For the second time, I am making these amazing fish tacos with peach salsa:
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
Salsa:
2 cups finely chopped peeled peach (about 2 medium)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
Remaining ingredients:
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 pound tilapia, cut into 2-inch strips
Cooking spray
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Preparation
To prepare salsa, combine first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add fish to bowl, tossing to coat. Place fish in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until desired degree of doneness, turning once.
Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish and salsa evenly among tortillas.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 2 tacos and about 1/2 cup salsa)
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 250(15% from fat); FAT 4.1g (sat 1g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 25.8g; CHOLESTEROL 75mg; CALCIUM 30mg; SODIUM 533mg; FIBER 3.5g; IRON 0.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 30.6g
Only thing is I added more red pepper than they called for in both the salsa and the breadcrum stuff, and 2 jalepenos instead of one for extra spicy.
And it's mad easy to make, pretty healthy too. Sitting in the oven right now.
The lighting was bad in the finished product pictures, but whatever.
Next time there are a few things that I'll do differently:
1. Cut the potatoes bigger. I cut most of the pieces pretty small this time because I like my potatoes crispy, but the big ones were crispy enough.
2. Use a little more seasoning, a little less black pepper.
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I have a camping recipe, so I'm not fully sure this goes here.
First, you need to have a Dutch Oven.
Get a good fire going, and get lots of good embers.
Oil the inside of the oven, and then add a thing of yellow cake mix, 2-3 30oz cans of fruit(depends on how much fruit you want in it), and a can of sprite or 7-up.
Mix all of this together.
Put it on top of the embers, also make sure you put embers on top of the oven, and rotate the embers every so often.
Do this for between 50 minutes to an hour.
This makes a nice easy camp cobbler, my uncle tought me how to do this on a camping trip to Arizona.
Sorry if this is the wrong place, but hey, who doesn't love cobbler?
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Irond WillWARNING: NO HURTFUL COMMENTS, PLEASE!!!!!Cambridge. MAModeratormod
edited August 2007
So I have another (big) batch of carne adovada marinating in the fridge. Must be ten pounds of the stuff - it's heaping over a lasagne pan. I'll cook it tomorrow.
I also have a big batch of tandoori chicken marinating (probably 10 drums and 8 thighs), a batch of tandoori shrimp marinating (big bag, probably 3 lbs), and a cauldron of pintos soaking.
I've been a busy boy tonight. I should have enough food for a month.
One of my favorite meals when I was flat broke was this:
Go to your local Foods Library and get some stew meat, its cheap because its kind of tough but should be cut up into little cubes. Now grab 2 of your favorite veggies (I prefer Mushrooms and Carrots) and your choice of beef seasoning (I prefer Montreal). Now cook the meat up, and when its about half way done sautee the veggies in a bit of butter and add them in so your meat absorbs some of that flavor. Season as desired and serve over rice or noodles.
Depending on how much meat you get that can be up to 5 meals worth of food.
Also try this, I'm sure most of you know it but I just recently heard of it, and its great.
Make some rice, any kind, even instant. And while its hot put a big old cup of either Regular or Brown sugar on it and let it melt a bit. Then spoon that into your mouth. Yummy.
Related to stews. My recipe does not call for potatoes. I want potatoes in my stew. When should I add said potatoes? Right now while it simmers for a couple hours? Or like halfway through?
Venison stew = quite good. I'm rather pleased with it. THe meat had an odd taste to it, which I would imagine was just the venison being venison, but that cooked out after a while. Turned out quite well, I thought.
Basically
Venison - cut into cubes
red wine
garlic
onion
nutmeg
cinnamon
celery
carrot
sage
cloves
potato
bacon
salt
pepper
bay leaf
MArinate the beef in the spices+wine, then carmelize the onion and crisp the bacon, brown the meat. Add the vegetables and the marinade, then water and wine to cover everything. Most of the spices were just a pinch or two, one clove of garlic, one onion. NEeded a lot of salt though. And pepper. Also, I was supposed to drain everything then puree the veggies+broth to make a sauce, but I didn't.
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Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
edited August 2007
This is my Stir Fry. This was orriginally stolen from my sister who did it with just whole pieces of chicken. I turned it into a stir fry and also made a Beef Varient.
400 grams of Chicken or Beef
Fish sauce (Chicken only it doesn't work two well with beef)
1 or 2 cloves of garlic (I prefer two)
1 or 2 chillies (to taste really)
1 red onion
400 grams of frozen stir fry veggies (I like the thai, but different strokes)
soy sauce
Brown sugar
Hoeiken Noodles (otherwise known as the best noodles ever)
Some kind of oil (I'm lazy and use Olive but there is probably a better oil out there for this dish)
Dice the onion and chillie finely and slice (don't mash) the garlic. Chuck all this into a wok/pan on a high heat and saute til onion is cooked through.
Throw in the beef/chicken (sliced obviously) and lightly cook.
At this stage put the noodles in a bowl and pour hot water over them.
Now add a good dash of soy sauce and the vegtables, I never measure but keep in mind this will be your sauce at the end so use that as a guide.
Lid on with a low heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add a few tablespoons of sugar the fish sauce (for chicken) and the noodles.
Bring up to a high heat and simmer for another three (stirring throughout)
My previous culinary failure will not spell the end of this thread!
CHICKEN THING #546853
1 chicken thigh fillet, diced and with the manky fatty bits trimmed off
1/2 an onion, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped roughly
1 tsp garlic
a blob of oil
a shakin' of garam masala. more is more >.>
a serving of couscous. like 50-100g, depending on how hungry you are. I t doesn't look like much before its cooked, so don't overdo it or you'll be up to your eyeballs in wheat
a small lump of butter
some chopped fresh coriander
some natural set yoghurt. not the sugary stuff!
heat oil in pan, and onions, soften. add garlic and garam masala, stir a bit. iunno, half a minute? Hurl in tomatoes, stir a bit. Hurl in chicken. Cook on med-high, stir once in a while so it doesn't stick.
boil kettle, pour some water over the couscous, which is presumably in a bowl, until it is just covered. Stir the butter through to make it less boring. Let it sit a couple of minutes until the couscous soaks up the water.
Put chicken stuff on couscous, mix together with the coriander and yoghurt. Devour. Genuflect in my direction.
Man, this thread reminded me of a recipe I was looking for the other day, and now I've found it! Heston Blumenthal's recipe for the perfect spag bol. If you don't know who this guy is look it up. The man is a genious.
Its a long assed recipe, so I'm not going to try it for a couple of weeks, but here it is if anyone is interested:
Recipe: Spaghetti Bolognese
As you might expect from a classic of the Italian kitchen, this involves no special equipment, just a long, slow simmer to allow the flavours to combine. However, I’ve added in a few things to boost those flavours. Caramelising onions with star anise produces vibrant flavour compounds that really enhance the meaty notes of the sauce, and the oaky quality of the chardonnay complements the sherry vinegar in the tomato compote. Finishing the compote on a high heat captures something of the fried character I enjoyed at Trattoria della Gigina. The use of milk might seem strange but it’s a standard part of many Italian ragù recipes: as it cooks, the proteins and sugars in milk react to give extra flavour and body.
Timing: Once the meat is browned and the caramelised onions are ready (an hour’s work at most) the sauce is virtually left to simmer unattended for 8 hours. Do the prep first thing in the morning and then the day’s your own until it’s time to serve up dinner (especially if you prepare the tomato compote in advance, though even this involves a fairly simple preparation, followed by a slow, carefree simmer). You can even do all the cooking of the Bolognese in advance, then simply warm it through and add the tarragon bouquet garni on the day.
For the sauce base:
125ml extra virgin olive oil
250g oxtail, boned and minced
250g pork shoulder, cut into 1cm cubes
375ml oaked chardonnay
1 star anise
2 large onions (about 450g), finely sliced*
2 large cloves of garlic
2 large onions (about 450g), finely diced
3 large carrots (about 400g), finely diced
3 celery stalks (about 125g), finely diced
250ml whole milk
For the tomato compote:
975g ripe tomatoes
1 tsp salt
200ml extra virgin olive oil
3 large cloves of garlic
1 large onion (about 225g), finely diced
1 heaped tsp coriander seeds
1 star anise
3 cloves
4-5 drops Tabasco
4-5 drops Thai fish sauce
2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
1 heaped tbsp tomato ketchup
30ml sherry vinegar
1 bouquet garni (consisting of 7 sprigs of
fresh thyme and 1 fresh bay leaf)
F or the finished spaghetti Bolognese:
1 batch of tomato compote
100g good quality spaghetti per person
sherry vinegar, to taste
Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)
1 bouquet garni (in a sheet of leek, wrap 6
tarragon leaves, 4 sprigs of parsley and
the leaves from the top of a bunch of
celery)
unsalted butter
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparing the Sauce Base
Place a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Crush the star anise and bag it up in a square of muslin. Add this to the pan, along with 25ml oil and the sliced onions. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the onions are soft and caramelised, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, preheat another large, heavybottomed frying pan over a low heat for 5 minutes. Mince the garlic. Pour 50ml oil into the pan, then tip in the garlic, onions, carrots and celery and cook this soffritto over a medium- low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the raw onion smell has gone. Transfer the soffritto to a bowl and wipe clean the pan.
3. Place the pan over a high heat for 10 minutes. Pour in 50ml olive oil and wait until it starts smoking: it must be hot enough so the meat browns rather than stews. Add the cubed pork and the minced oxtail. Stir until browned all over. (To brown properly, all the meat has to touch the surface of the pan. If it doesn’t, do it in batches.) Tip the browned meat into a sieve over a bowl (to allow the fat to drain off), then transfer the meat to a large pot or casserole. Deglaze the pan by adding a splash of wine, bringing it to the boil, and then scraping the base of the pan to collect all the tasty bits stuck to the bottom. Once the liquid has reduced by half, pour it into the large pot containing the meat.
4. Remove the bag of star anise from the caramelised onions and then tip the onions into the large pot containing the meat. Add the remaining wine and deglaze the frying pan (as in step 3). When the wine has reduced by half, pour it into the large pot. Add the soffritto to the pot as well.
5. Place the pot of Bolognese over a very low heat. Pour in the milk and enough water to cover entirely, and simmer very gently without a lid for 6 hours, stirring occasionally. At all times the ingredients should be covered by the liquid, so be prepared to add more water. (Don’t worry if the milk becomes slightly granular: it won’t affect the end result.)
Preparing The Tomato Compote
1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Fill a large bowl with ice-cold water. Remove the cores from the tomatoes with a paring knife. Blanch the tomatoes by dropping them into the boiling water for 10 seconds and then carefully removing them to the bowl of ice-cold water. Take them out of the water immediately and peel off the split skins. (If the tomatoes are not ripe enough, make a cross with a sharp knife in the underside of each, to encourage the skins to come away. They can be left in the hot water for an extra 10 seconds or so, but it’s important that they don’t overheat and begin to cook.)
2. Cut the tomatoes in half vertically. Scoop out the seeds and the membrane with a teaspoon, over a chopping board. Roughly chop the seeds and membrane, then tip them into a sieve over a bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and leave for 20 minutes to extract their juice, after which you can discard the seeds and membrane, reserving only the juice. 3. Roughly chop the tomato flesh and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, place a large, heavy-bottomed pan over a low heat. Add 100ml of the olive oil. Mince the garlic, then put it into the pan along with the onion. Cook for 10–15 minutes, until soft but not coloured.
5. Crush the coriander and put it in a muslin bag, along with the star anise and the cloves. Add it to the softened onions and garlic.
6.Take the juice drawn from the tomato seeds and membrane and add it to the onions and garlic along with the tomato flesh.
7. Add the Tabasco, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato ketchup and sherry vinegar. Drop in the bouquet garni and cook over a low heat for 2 hours.
8. To add a roasted note to the compote, add the remaining oil and turn up the heat to high. Fry the compote for 15–20 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure it doesn’t catch, then pour off any olive oil not absorbed by the compote. Set aside a little to coat the cooked pasta. ( The rest can be stored in a jar and makes a great base for a salad dressing. The compote itself will keep in the fridge for a week.)
Cooking The Spaghetti Bolognese
1. Stir the tomato compote (including the bag of spices) into the Bolognese sauce and cook over a very low heat for a final 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil for the pasta. For every 100g of pasta, you’ll need 1 litre of water and 10g salt. (If you don’t have a large enough pan it’s essential to use two pans rather than overcrowd one.)
3. Put the spaghetti into the pan, give it a stir, then bring back to the boil and cook until the pasta is just tender but with a bite. Check the cooking time on the packet and use that as a guideline, but taste it every few minutes as this is the only way to judge when the pasta is ready.
4. Before taking the Bolognese sauce off the heat, check the seasoning and then add some sherry vinegar (tasting as you go) to balance the richness of the sauce. Add a generous grating of Parmesan (but not too much, as it can make the sauce overly salty) and remove the sauce from the heat. Take out the original thyme and bay bouquet garni and the bag of spices. Replace these with the parsley and tarragon bouquet garni, stir in 100g of unsalted butter and let the sauce stand for 5 minutes.
5. Once the pasta is cooked, drain, and rinse it thoroughly. Return to the pot to warm through. (Since the ragù is not going to be mixed with the pasta, it needs to be rinsed to prevent it becoming starchy and sticking together.) Add a generous knob of butter (about 50g per 400g of pasta) and coat with olive oil and the reserved oil from the final frying of the compote. To serve, wind portions of pasta around a carving fork and lay them horizontally in wide, shallow bowls. Top with the Bolognese sauce and finish with a grating of Parmesan.
Roast beef, extra sharp Vermont cheddar (white, because I can't taste yellow dye anyway so why even ingest it?), broiled on sourdough bread for like a minute and a half, with some ranch and lettuce. Simple, quick, better for me than Hot Pockets and damned delicious. Also, no dishes. :P
Yes but people neglect the broiler setting on their ovens. They favor dubious impliments such as the microwave, and meats of questionable meatitude and cheeses that just aren't. Making a sandwich that's actually good just puts a whole lot of the grocery store and the kitchen into perspective. Also; hot meal, no dishes.:whistle:
lately i've been making pizza quicks which are mini pizzas on english muffins. they're so easy to make and their actually good for you. just break the english muffin into two pieces, top with sauce and cheese & whatever topping you want. then you just heat them in the toaster oven.
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Boil some broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces, in water with a heavy pinch of salt thrown in until tender. At the same time, fry up a few strips of bacon.
When the bacon is crisp, remove from the pan, drain on paper towels, and reserve the drippings from the pan. Grab some of the flour tortillas that Robert Rodriguez taught you how to make. Load up as many as you like with the pieces of broccoli. Grate some orange cheddar cheese on top of the broccoli, and crumble bacon on top of that.
Close up into a taco shape (you might need a toothpick in each one to keep its shape). Using the bacon pan, fry the bottoms of the tacos in a few tablespoons of the bacon drippings over medium low heat for a minute or so. Remove from the pan, let sit for a minute or so, eat. Yum.
Kraft Singles
Country Crock Butter
A Toaster
Miracle Whip or Teriakia Sauce (lol spelling m i rite)
Some Deli sliced meat
BAM. Greatness.
Anywho. I have created some sort of monstrosity.
Fish --> I used tilapia, because it was in the fridge
Jerk seasoning --> I had this kind of paste stuff
ORange juice
Peas
Season the fish with the jerk, then fry a little. Add OJ and peas. Bring to boil. Serve with rice.
Worked pretty well, though mine's a little spicier than I'd like.
1-2 large roasted red peppers diced
1 medium onion diced small and sauted
3 cloves crushed garlic
14oz green olives chopped
Saute the onion
Add garlic for 30 sec
Add ground beef. brown.
Add diced red pepper
Add green olives
Now you add tomatoes. A plain old can of crushed works fine if you're in a hurry, but a real pizza sauce would taste better.
Add tomato paste until it's thick enough to hold together on a bun.
Salt and pepper o taste.
Spoon mixture onto a bun, top with cheese (I like to combine a good melting cheese with a hard cheese for flavor) and broil until cheese is melted.
It'll look like sloppy joes, but taste like delicious.
edit: If you're using a strongly flavored sauce you ay want to reduce or remove the garlic from the recipe.
--LeVar Burton
What kinds of cookware should I get and tools and whatever?
3 knives for cooking:
1 large chefs knife
1 offset serated knife
1 paring knife
You can also get a flexible boning knife if you want, but you may not need it.
All pans you get should have nice heavy bottoms, and you can probably get by with just three:
A large stock pot for boiling water or making soups
A large saute pan or cast iron skillet
A nice non-stick pan
A 9x13 Caserole can e used for almost anything that you want to put in an oven. Very utilitarian
A set of good nested steel mixing bowls, from large to small.
A couple of flexible plastic cutting boards
A pair of silicone oven mitts (these can be washed in a dishwasher, very nice)
A wire whisk or two
A silicone spatula for flipping in a pan, and couple of silicone or rubber scraper style spatulas
Measuring cups and spoons....
I'll edit later with aditions, I have to go right now.
--LeVar Burton
Chopped chicken (Just boil it in some chicken broth)
chopped celery (not too much)
Chopped bacon (becareful of how much you add, its salty!)
Cubed sharp cheaddar cheese
mayo
a little bit of mustard
garlic salt
onion salt
mix all together, make sure the chicken and bacon are cooled. Careful on the spices (including mustard), add a little, taste, then add more if needed.
Best chicken salad EVER.
A cast iron pan is best
one of those + anything + a decent cooking oil = dinner
I will say that Good Eats by Alton Brown is absolutely the best TV food show you can ever watch. It's the shit!
Make sure you get a good nonstick fry pan - no using metal utensils on this! Wooden, silicone, heat-resistant plastic only. A good saucepan would be nice too - you can make pasta/rice in them. If you drink a lot of tea, make a lot of pasta, or need boiling water a lot, an electric kettle is very useful.
One big frying pan, one small
Pots
Package of spatulas/spoons
collander
measuring cups/spoons
13x9 pan
cutting board
Knives
I just did this this summer, and I'm trying to remember what I had to buy...
I personally do pretty much everything in a frying pan, so I wouldn't go el-cheapo there. Mine's about $50, and I love it. Everything else can be pretty cheap, except maybe the knives. Don't buy expensive pots in college. You'll lose them or ruin them, most likely. Also they're heavy. I got a whole set for $20.
I'd skip the cast iron. They're harder to clean, and I only know like two recipes where they're really useful. Though I do love corn bread.
On that note, when making cornbread. IF you can, do it in a cast iron skillet. Melt a bunch of butter in the bottom, pour in the batter however you make it and cook it on the stove for ~30s, then put it in the pre-heated oven. This works because A) butter is delicious and
So basically the last time I tried tandoori chicken it was terrible. I'm going to try to do simple this time:
puree some garlic, ginger and crushed indian red pepper. Add plain yogurt, turmeric, salt, pepper. Maybe some channa masala and msg. Marinate chicken legs/ thighs (and potatoes) overnight in a ziploc. Bake for some amount of time at I dunno 350?
Good article about outfitting a kitchen for under $200.. $300 if you want to go fancy.Linky
Gir: I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me.
Ground pork
Rosemary - chopped
Brandy - like a good size splash
Apple - I used one apple/1lb pork
bread/breadcrumbs - I used one slice of bread then a bunch of breadcrumbs
salt+pepper - Like, some, I did it to taste, mostly.
currants - a handful?
Mix it up and fry it.
Then the sauce is honey+dijon mustard+a little brandy+some hot sauce
Pour the sauce over it and eat. I'd serve it with like... couscous would be good. I think.
I'm not sure how much of most of the ingredients because I usally just throw things in and taste it. The flavors work really well together though.
I'm really happy with this one.
edit: Cooking the alcohol out of the brandy beforehand would be a good idea. It doesn't get out of the meatballs, and leaves an off taste.
Here is the recipe:
Salsa:
2 cups finely chopped peeled peach (about 2 medium)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
Remaining ingredients:
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 pound tilapia, cut into 2-inch strips
Cooking spray
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Preparation
To prepare salsa, combine first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add fish to bowl, tossing to coat. Place fish in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes or until desired degree of doneness, turning once.
Heat tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish and salsa evenly among tortillas.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 2 tacos and about 1/2 cup salsa)
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 250(15% from fat); FAT 4.1g (sat 1g,mono 0.5g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 25.8g; CHOLESTEROL 75mg; CALCIUM 30mg; SODIUM 533mg; FIBER 3.5g; IRON 0.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 30.6g
Only thing is I added more red pepper than they called for in both the salsa and the breadcrum stuff, and 2 jalepenos instead of one for extra spicy.
And it's mad easy to make, pretty healthy too. Sitting in the oven right now.
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Doooo it!!
The lighting was bad in the finished product pictures, but whatever.
Next time there are a few things that I'll do differently:
1. Cut the potatoes bigger. I cut most of the pieces pretty small this time because I like my potatoes crispy, but the big ones were crispy enough.
2. Use a little more seasoning, a little less black pepper.
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First, you need to have a Dutch Oven.
Get a good fire going, and get lots of good embers.
Oil the inside of the oven, and then add a thing of yellow cake mix, 2-3 30oz cans of fruit(depends on how much fruit you want in it), and a can of sprite or 7-up.
Mix all of this together.
Put it on top of the embers, also make sure you put embers on top of the oven, and rotate the embers every so often.
Do this for between 50 minutes to an hour.
This makes a nice easy camp cobbler, my uncle tought me how to do this on a camping trip to Arizona.
Sorry if this is the wrong place, but hey, who doesn't love cobbler?
I also have a big batch of tandoori chicken marinating (probably 10 drums and 8 thighs), a batch of tandoori shrimp marinating (big bag, probably 3 lbs), and a cauldron of pintos soaking.
I've been a busy boy tonight. I should have enough food for a month.
Anyone got any recipes for breakfast? I wish I had my mom's cookbook on hand, she's got a banging recipe for gravy.
I didn't use dark-brown sugar.
How'd the tacos turn out for ya?
Also, because it looks delicious and you got bottom of paged, I'm just gonna quote this:
Mmmm, dessert.
Go to your local Foods Library and get some stew meat, its cheap because its kind of tough but should be cut up into little cubes. Now grab 2 of your favorite veggies (I prefer Mushrooms and Carrots) and your choice of beef seasoning (I prefer Montreal). Now cook the meat up, and when its about half way done sautee the veggies in a bit of butter and add them in so your meat absorbs some of that flavor. Season as desired and serve over rice or noodles.
Depending on how much meat you get that can be up to 5 meals worth of food.
Also try this, I'm sure most of you know it but I just recently heard of it, and its great.
Make some rice, any kind, even instant. And while its hot put a big old cup of either Regular or Brown sugar on it and let it melt a bit. Then spoon that into your mouth. Yummy.
Venison stew = quite good. I'm rather pleased with it. THe meat had an odd taste to it, which I would imagine was just the venison being venison, but that cooked out after a while. Turned out quite well, I thought.
Basically
Venison - cut into cubes
red wine
garlic
onion
nutmeg
cinnamon
celery
carrot
sage
cloves
potato
bacon
salt
pepper
bay leaf
MArinate the beef in the spices+wine, then carmelize the onion and crisp the bacon, brown the meat. Add the vegetables and the marinade, then water and wine to cover everything. Most of the spices were just a pinch or two, one clove of garlic, one onion. NEeded a lot of salt though. And pepper. Also, I was supposed to drain everything then puree the veggies+broth to make a sauce, but I didn't.
400 grams of Chicken or Beef
Fish sauce (Chicken only it doesn't work two well with beef)
1 or 2 cloves of garlic (I prefer two)
1 or 2 chillies (to taste really)
1 red onion
400 grams of frozen stir fry veggies (I like the thai, but different strokes)
soy sauce
Brown sugar
Hoeiken Noodles (otherwise known as the best noodles ever)
Some kind of oil (I'm lazy and use Olive but there is probably a better oil out there for this dish)
Dice the onion and chillie finely and slice (don't mash) the garlic. Chuck all this into a wok/pan on a high heat and saute til onion is cooked through.
Throw in the beef/chicken (sliced obviously) and lightly cook.
At this stage put the noodles in a bowl and pour hot water over them.
Now add a good dash of soy sauce and the vegtables, I never measure but keep in mind this will be your sauce at the end so use that as a guide.
Lid on with a low heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add a few tablespoons of sugar the fish sauce (for chicken) and the noodles.
Bring up to a high heat and simmer for another three (stirring throughout)
Serve and enjoy the awesomeness.
Satans..... hints.....
CHICKEN THING #546853
1 chicken thigh fillet, diced and with the manky fatty bits trimmed off
1/2 an onion, thinly sliced
2 tomatoes, chopped roughly
1 tsp garlic
a blob of oil
a shakin' of garam masala. more is more >.>
a serving of couscous. like 50-100g, depending on how hungry you are. I t doesn't look like much before its cooked, so don't overdo it or you'll be up to your eyeballs in wheat
a small lump of butter
some chopped fresh coriander
some natural set yoghurt. not the sugary stuff!
heat oil in pan, and onions, soften. add garlic and garam masala, stir a bit. iunno, half a minute? Hurl in tomatoes, stir a bit. Hurl in chicken. Cook on med-high, stir once in a while so it doesn't stick.
boil kettle, pour some water over the couscous, which is presumably in a bowl, until it is just covered. Stir the butter through to make it less boring. Let it sit a couple of minutes until the couscous soaks up the water.
Put chicken stuff on couscous, mix together with the coriander and yoghurt. Devour. Genuflect in my direction.
Its a long assed recipe, so I'm not going to try it for a couple of weeks, but here it is if anyone is interested:
Recipe: Spaghetti Bolognese
As you might expect from a classic of the Italian kitchen, this involves no special equipment, just a long, slow simmer to allow the flavours to combine. However, I’ve added in a few things to boost those flavours. Caramelising onions with star anise produces vibrant flavour compounds that really enhance the meaty notes of the sauce, and the oaky quality of the chardonnay complements the sherry vinegar in the tomato compote. Finishing the compote on a high heat captures something of the fried character I enjoyed at Trattoria della Gigina. The use of milk might seem strange but it’s a standard part of many Italian ragù recipes: as it cooks, the proteins and sugars in milk react to give extra flavour and body.
Timing: Once the meat is browned and the caramelised onions are ready (an hour’s work at most) the sauce is virtually left to simmer unattended for 8 hours. Do the prep first thing in the morning and then the day’s your own until it’s time to serve up dinner (especially if you prepare the tomato compote in advance, though even this involves a fairly simple preparation, followed by a slow, carefree simmer). You can even do all the cooking of the Bolognese in advance, then simply warm it through and add the tarragon bouquet garni on the day.
For the sauce base:
125ml extra virgin olive oil
250g oxtail, boned and minced
250g pork shoulder, cut into 1cm cubes
375ml oaked chardonnay
1 star anise
2 large onions (about 450g), finely sliced*
2 large cloves of garlic
2 large onions (about 450g), finely diced
3 large carrots (about 400g), finely diced
3 celery stalks (about 125g), finely diced
250ml whole milk
For the tomato compote:
975g ripe tomatoes
1 tsp salt
200ml extra virgin olive oil
3 large cloves of garlic
1 large onion (about 225g), finely diced
1 heaped tsp coriander seeds
1 star anise
3 cloves
4-5 drops Tabasco
4-5 drops Thai fish sauce
2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
1 heaped tbsp tomato ketchup
30ml sherry vinegar
1 bouquet garni (consisting of 7 sprigs of
fresh thyme and 1 fresh bay leaf)
F or the finished spaghetti Bolognese:
1 batch of tomato compote
100g good quality spaghetti per person
sherry vinegar, to taste
Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)
1 bouquet garni (in a sheet of leek, wrap 6
tarragon leaves, 4 sprigs of parsley and
the leaves from the top of a bunch of
celery)
unsalted butter
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparing the Sauce Base
Place a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Crush the star anise and bag it up in a square of muslin. Add this to the pan, along with 25ml oil and the sliced onions. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the onions are soft and caramelised, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, preheat another large, heavybottomed frying pan over a low heat for 5 minutes. Mince the garlic. Pour 50ml oil into the pan, then tip in the garlic, onions, carrots and celery and cook this soffritto over a medium- low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the raw onion smell has gone. Transfer the soffritto to a bowl and wipe clean the pan.
3. Place the pan over a high heat for 10 minutes. Pour in 50ml olive oil and wait until it starts smoking: it must be hot enough so the meat browns rather than stews. Add the cubed pork and the minced oxtail. Stir until browned all over. (To brown properly, all the meat has to touch the surface of the pan. If it doesn’t, do it in batches.) Tip the browned meat into a sieve over a bowl (to allow the fat to drain off), then transfer the meat to a large pot or casserole. Deglaze the pan by adding a splash of wine, bringing it to the boil, and then scraping the base of the pan to collect all the tasty bits stuck to the bottom. Once the liquid has reduced by half, pour it into the large pot containing the meat.
4. Remove the bag of star anise from the caramelised onions and then tip the onions into the large pot containing the meat. Add the remaining wine and deglaze the frying pan (as in step 3). When the wine has reduced by half, pour it into the large pot. Add the soffritto to the pot as well.
5. Place the pot of Bolognese over a very low heat. Pour in the milk and enough water to cover entirely, and simmer very gently without a lid for 6 hours, stirring occasionally. At all times the ingredients should be covered by the liquid, so be prepared to add more water. (Don’t worry if the milk becomes slightly granular: it won’t affect the end result.)
Preparing The Tomato Compote
1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Fill a large bowl with ice-cold water. Remove the cores from the tomatoes with a paring knife. Blanch the tomatoes by dropping them into the boiling water for 10 seconds and then carefully removing them to the bowl of ice-cold water. Take them out of the water immediately and peel off the split skins. (If the tomatoes are not ripe enough, make a cross with a sharp knife in the underside of each, to encourage the skins to come away. They can be left in the hot water for an extra 10 seconds or so, but it’s important that they don’t overheat and begin to cook.)
2. Cut the tomatoes in half vertically. Scoop out the seeds and the membrane with a teaspoon, over a chopping board. Roughly chop the seeds and membrane, then tip them into a sieve over a bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and leave for 20 minutes to extract their juice, after which you can discard the seeds and membrane, reserving only the juice. 3. Roughly chop the tomato flesh and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, place a large, heavy-bottomed pan over a low heat. Add 100ml of the olive oil. Mince the garlic, then put it into the pan along with the onion. Cook for 10–15 minutes, until soft but not coloured.
5. Crush the coriander and put it in a muslin bag, along with the star anise and the cloves. Add it to the softened onions and garlic.
6.Take the juice drawn from the tomato seeds and membrane and add it to the onions and garlic along with the tomato flesh.
7. Add the Tabasco, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato ketchup and sherry vinegar. Drop in the bouquet garni and cook over a low heat for 2 hours.
8. To add a roasted note to the compote, add the remaining oil and turn up the heat to high. Fry the compote for 15–20 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure it doesn’t catch, then pour off any olive oil not absorbed by the compote. Set aside a little to coat the cooked pasta. ( The rest can be stored in a jar and makes a great base for a salad dressing. The compote itself will keep in the fridge for a week.)
Cooking The Spaghetti Bolognese
1. Stir the tomato compote (including the bag of spices) into the Bolognese sauce and cook over a very low heat for a final 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil for the pasta. For every 100g of pasta, you’ll need 1 litre of water and 10g salt. (If you don’t have a large enough pan it’s essential to use two pans rather than overcrowd one.)
3. Put the spaghetti into the pan, give it a stir, then bring back to the boil and cook until the pasta is just tender but with a bite. Check the cooking time on the packet and use that as a guideline, but taste it every few minutes as this is the only way to judge when the pasta is ready.
4. Before taking the Bolognese sauce off the heat, check the seasoning and then add some sherry vinegar (tasting as you go) to balance the richness of the sauce. Add a generous grating of Parmesan (but not too much, as it can make the sauce overly salty) and remove the sauce from the heat. Take out the original thyme and bay bouquet garni and the bag of spices. Replace these with the parsley and tarragon bouquet garni, stir in 100g of unsalted butter and let the sauce stand for 5 minutes.
5. Once the pasta is cooked, drain, and rinse it thoroughly. Return to the pot to warm through. (Since the ragù is not going to be mixed with the pasta, it needs to be rinsed to prevent it becoming starchy and sticking together.) Add a generous knob of butter (about 50g per 400g of pasta) and coat with olive oil and the reserved oil from the final frying of the compote. To serve, wind portions of pasta around a carving fork and lay them horizontally in wide, shallow bowls. Top with the Bolognese sauce and finish with a grating of Parmesan.
It's also infinitely variable between deli-meats, breads and cheeses.
Sandwiches tend to work that way.
Yes but people neglect the broiler setting on their ovens. They favor dubious impliments such as the microwave, and meats of questionable meatitude and cheeses that just aren't. Making a sandwich that's actually good just puts a whole lot of the grocery store and the kitchen into perspective. Also; hot meal, no dishes.:whistle: