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heisskaffeeHere is a post for recipes, which I just make up! Surprisingly, most turn out ok. Recipes are in the comments...so that I don't go over my character limit in the post.
Keep in mind, I am from the school of "Cooking by the Seat of Your Pants," so a lot of these have arbitrary measurements like "a pinch," "add a few," "half as much milk as water," and so forth. This is trial and error, and frankly, part of the fun. You have been warned.
Keep in mind, I am from the school of "Cooking by the Seat of Your Pants," so a lot of these have arbitrary measurements like "a pinch," "add a few," "half as much milk as water," and so forth. This is trial and error, and frankly, part of the fun. You have been warned.
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Ham Soup
Date: 2011-02-23 08:08 am (UTC)You need:
A pot
About 3 cups of pork stock
2-3 medium sized potatoes
1 carrot or 6-8 baby carrots
About 2 sticks of celery
About 3/4 of a medium sized onion, more or less
A slice of cooked ham, about 3/4 inch in width, roughly the circumference of a CD
3-4 cloves garlic
About a handful of mushrooms, cleaned
A little pepper and salt
1. Put the ham stock in your pot, over medium heat, letting it melt. If there's coagulated blood in it, you want to leave that out, cause it never dissolves. Add about a cup and a half of water to help the broth out.
2. Either finely chop the garlic, or simply crush it, if you don't like eating chunks of garlic. I do, so I leave it in. This is for flavour.
3. Roughly chop the celery, onion and carrots. Congrats, you just made a mirepoix! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirepoix_%28cuisine%29) Set it aside.
4. Peel and chop the potatoes (or alternately, wash and chop, if you like skins) into cubes. Add them to the mirepoix and put it all in the broth when it starts to steam. Boil this for a bit, until they just start to soften.
5. Chop your ham into cubes. Throw them into the broth with the vegetables. Let this cook until the potatoes are soft.
6. Dice mushrooms and throw them in the pot. They'll shrink a bit. Let that cook a couple minutes. If you like thicker, stew-like soup, add a thickener at this stage. This is also when you'd fish out the garlic, if you're, you know. Like that.
Serve with heavy bread, salt & pepper, and a light, fruity beer, like a lambic.
Garlic Spaghetti
Date: 2011-02-23 08:53 am (UTC)You need:
a pot
a strainer
small skillet
butter
spaghetti, about enough for 2-3 people (I suggest plain, but tomato could be good too)
3-4 large cloves of garlic
olive oil
oregano to taste
grated Parmesan cheese to taste
1. Boil spaghetti in a pot with enough salt in the water to make it taste like you pulled the water from an ocean. Trust me on this.
2. At the same time, get a shallow skillet and throw in the butter. Let it start to melt over low heat while you chop the garlic finely. I have never used anything by fresh garlic in this, so I have no idea how processed, chopped garlic would work, but it makes me unsureface. Throw this into the pan with the butter and turn up the heat slightly. You want to brown the garlic--I like to go until it's crispy and, in fact, just slightly burnt.
3. When the spaghetti hits the al-dente stage (don't throw it at a wall, dammit, just bite it), take it off the stove and drain it. Throw it in a large bowl with just enough olive oil to coat the pasta slightly. It shouldn't be swimming in oil.
4. Toss the pasta with the oregano and sauteed garlic. The olive oil provides lubrication for the pasta as well as a surface for the seasonings to adhere to.
Top with the Parmesan cheese, serve hot. Suggested sides are toasted Italian bread and a dry white wine, or sauteed mushrooms and a sweet pink wine.
Pork/Beef Pot Roast
Date: 2011-02-24 05:23 am (UTC)You need:
slow cooker with a lid (about 6-8 C size)
about 2 lbs of pork or beef (we use tenderloin and brisket, respectively)
1 beef bullion cube
about a cup of water
(alternately, you can use a cup of beef stock, if you're concerned about salt)
3 T of table salt (you can scale this)
Start this early in the morning. It's going to take quite a while to finish cooking, so you want to have time. We tend to let it cook for about eight hours or so. Start it around 9 and it should be ready for dinner by 5.
1. Place meat in cold slow cooker (we use a crock pot) and heat your water, just warm enough to melt the bullion cube. You want to use a cooker that's just big enough to hold the meat without seeing a lot of empty space around it.
2. Dissolve the bullion in the water, pour around the sides of the meat. Try to get the thing stuffed down in there fully, so that the meat is sitting on the bottom of the dish.
3. Now plug the thing in and turn it on to high heat to start. Sprinkle a bit of the salt in around the meat, and cover it with the lid. Walk away.
4. In a couple of hours, come back and check on it. Don't be too concerned if the liquid is trying to bubble out from under the lid. That's not unusual. You may need to turn the meat at this point. Turn the heat down to low if it's cooking too fast. Essentially, you want to slow-simmer it in its own juice.
5. As it gets closer to dinner time, keep checking your roast. It should shrink a bit, and exhibit a nice colour by about 5-6 hours.
6. Around hour 7, take a couple of forks and open the lid. Be careful of the steam. Take your forks and try pulling apart the fibres of the meat. They should separate easily, and you should see juice run from between them. It's ok to just leave it in there at this point, just sitting there keeping warm. This is also when you probably want to start your sides. If your slow-cooker has a warming setting, you can use that too, I guess. Ours doesn't have one, so idk what that would do.
When the meat is done, lift it out of the liquid and place it on a rack to be carved or separated as you see fit. The liquid is now stock, and if you let it set in the refrigerator after it cools, you'll get a layer of white, solid fat at the top. This can be scooped off easily, as it's consistency is different from the broth, or you can leave it on, if you like your stock with a little extra....slippery. Ta-da, pot roast!!
Serve with potatoes, biscuits and any frozen vegetables you have in the fridge. Rib stickin' meals should be served with good beer.
Jamón con Calabaza (Ham & Squash)
Date: 2011-11-19 03:51 am (UTC)You Need:
1 large stew pot (heavy)
about 3C water
roughly 2C zucchini, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
corn kernels from 2 ears corn, cut from the stalk
1 green pepper, chopped
about 1-1 1/2 lbs ham
1 tsp chili powder (NOT cayenne pepper!)
1. Dice up your ham and throw it in the pot with a little oil and let it brown a bit while you set about chopping all those veggies.
2. Start with your onion and your pepper, because those go in the ham first. Chop them roughly and set aside for when your ham has finished browning. Try not to cry too much.
3. Throw those veggies in when the ham looks delicious. Cut the corn off the cob, dice your garlic, set aside.
5. Next, dice up your tomatoes and zucchini. They follow the corn and garlic immediately, so when you get it all cut, put all four of them in the pot with your ham, onion and pepper.
6. Add 3C of water to the mix, to make a nice soup. Throw on your chili powder.
7. Simmer until it starts to look like delicious soup, about 10-15 minutes or so, IIRC. Just keep an eye on it and you should be fine. The concoction should look like it's a fancy tomato soup with lots of veggies. And ham. Yes.
We served this hot with tostones and wheat tortilla. I suggest you do the same. Traditionally, this dish is made with chicken, not ham, but ham was what we had, so ham was what was fixed.
English Muffin Bread
Date: 2012-03-25 10:19 am (UTC)2 1/2-3 C all-purpose Flour
1 package Active dry yeast
1 Tbs sugar
Cornmeal
1. Combine 1 C flour and yeast in a large mixer bowl.
2. In a saucepan heat 1 1/4 C water, sugar and 3/4 tsp of salt until warm (115-120 F), stirring to dissolve sugar.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry mixture with electric mixer for 1/2 minute, scraping bowl. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. By hand, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Shape into ball.
4. Place the doughball in a large, lightly greased bowl; turn once to grease surface. Cover and let rise until double (approx. an hour). Punch dough down, re-cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
5.Grease a casserole dish and sprinkle cornmeal inside, turning to coat the surface. Place doughball in casserole and sprinkle cornmeal over the top. Preheat oven to 400 F. Cover again, and let rise till double (30 to 45 minutes).
6. Bake @400 F for 40-45 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if the top starts to brown too quickly.
7. Remove from dish and coat the outside with butter or margarine or olive oil, as the crust will get very hard.
Makes 1 loaf.
Goulash, Kinda
Date: 2012-03-25 10:20 am (UTC)2 1/2 C Noodles (egg noodles or macaroni or other small pasta)
1/2 C spaghetti sauce
1 small can tomato paste
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs paprika
3 cloves garlic, minced roughly
1/3 of a small onion
1/2 lb of hamburger
salt & pepper to taste
1. Boil noodles with a bit of salt.
2. Put some olive oil in a frying pan and heat up the hamburger, breaking it into small pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Chop onion and garlic, throw them into the hamburger and fry them together until the onions are clear. Drain.
4. In the frying pan, combine tomato paste, spaghetti sauce, paprika and cinnamon. Heat to bubbling, then add hamburger mixture.
5. Drain pasta and add to the sauce. Serve hot.
Veggie Pasta!?!?! LOLIDK ¯\(°_o)/¯
Date: 2012-06-20 02:12 am (UTC)Enough spaghetti to satisfy you
1-1 1/2 heads of fresh broccoli
1 Hungarian Hot Wax pepper julienned (remove seeds)
3-4 Tabasco peppers julienned (remove seeds)
1 link bun-length sausage, any kind (I used a cheddarwurst)
1 small-medium tomato
1-3 cloves garlic, diced coarse
1) Boil water for spaghetti with a lot of salt. Chop your broccoli into bite-size chunks, stems and all. Leaves are your call. When water boils, add pasta.
2) Slice peppers, sausage and throw in a hot pan with some oil. Add garlic and fry a bit until peppers are tender.
3) When pasta is a little more than half done, add your broccoli to the water. Dice your tomato. Set aside.
4) When pasta is done to your liking (just bite it, foo'), drain and set aside in a bowl with some butter. Add meat/peppers/garlic. Top with a bit of black pepper. Now eat it! Yummy.
Serve with something sweet to drink (to cut the heat!) and some nice dark roast coffee.
So. Good.
No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Drop Cookies
Date: 2012-08-18 06:50 am (UTC)1/2 C butter
2 C brown sugar, packed
1/2 C milk (or milk substitute)
4 Tbs unsweetened cocoa
--Add these ingredients to a sauce pot and cook, stirring until dissolved. Turn up the heat and watch until it boils, then let it boil for one minute.
Then add:
1/2 C peanut butter (or any kind of nut butter)
3-3 1/2 C steel-cut oats (NOT "quick oats")
Let this melt into the chocolate mixture, then drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Set the sheet in the over for about 15-20 minutes or until set.
Enjoy cookies. Stay sane.
Baguettes
Date: 2012-11-10 07:56 pm (UTC)1 tsp active dry yeast
2 C warm water
4 to 5 C unbleached all-purpose white flour
2 tsp kosher salt
1 egg, beaten and mixed with 1 T cold water
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 C warm water. Stir with a fork. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. Combine the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture, and stir in the remaining 1 1/2 C water. Mix the dough until it is sticky enough to knead. On a lightly floured board, knead for 6 to 10 minutes; the dough should be sticky and smooth. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with a damp tea towel, and let it rise at room temperature until doubled in volume (about one hour).
3. Punch down the dough and divide into 4 pieces. Roll each into a ball and shape into a baguette. Transfer the loaves to a lightly greased baking sheet or baguette pan and let rise until nearly doubled.
4. Preheat your oven to 450F. Brush the baguettes with the egg/water mixture. Score the loaves diagonally across the top with a sharp knife.
5. Pour 2 C of hot water into a pan and place in the preheated oven next to the baguettes to provide moisture. Bake the baguettes for 15 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 400F and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack before slicing.
Mimosa Soup
Date: 2012-11-16 02:36 pm (UTC)A couple of months ago, I picked up French Women Don't Get Fat, which, despite the apparent arrogance of the title, is a very good book and has nothing to do with dieting as Americans understand it. Instead, it gives a simple restructuring of the way that you think about food.
This is another recipe courtesy of the book, which is wonderful and full of delicious recipes that are filling and actually good for you. Mimosa soup is related to Magic Leek Soup, which is a simple soup of leeks boiled in water. I serve the leek with a bit of olive oil and fresh ground pepper & salt. Très bien.
This one comes from one of Ms. Guiliano's cousins, who didn't much care for the taste of leeks, but needed to drop a few pounds. Eaten as the sole nourishment for a single weekend (save for Sunday dinner, when it is advisable to have a small portion of fish or meat, 2 vegetables and a fruit), it can help you re-balance your eating habits. Served as part of a meal, however, it's just a damn tasty soup. Manger ta soupe!
1 head lettuce
1/2 lb carrots
1/2 lb celeriac (aka "celery root")
1/2 lb turnips
1 lb leeks
1/2 lb cauliflower
1/2 C chopped parsley
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1. Chop all vegetables inn rough pieces and put them in a pot, EXCEPT for the cauliflower & parsley. Cover with water, bring to a boil and and simmer, uncovered for 40 minutes. Add the cauliflower and cook another 15 minutes.
2. Pass all the vegetables through a food mill.
3. Serve in a bowl and add parsley & pieces of chopped hard boiled eggs.
All credit goes to Mirelle Guiliano and her lovely book.
Bacon-Cheese Lettuce Wraps
Date: 2013-05-26 03:56 am (UTC)-------
6 large lettuce leaves, Romaine or redleaf suggested (can substitute grape leaves if desired)
≈ 2 C cooked brown rice
2 jalapenos, chopped fine
≈ 1/4 of a white onion, chopped fine
3-4 strips of bacon, finely crumbled
≈ 1/8 C each shredded Mozzarella & grated Parmesan cheeses.
1 large egg
a couple dashes of lemon-pepper seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
1. Cook your rice. This is the part that takes the longest. I use a rice cooker--they're a blessing. Perfect rice every time. Go play a video game or watch a TV show while this cooks.
2. In a pan, sautée your onions and jalapenos until they're soft. Cook your bacon--I broiled mine in the oven. Turned out well.
3. When your rice is nearly done (or done-done, if you forgot about it), heat a pot of unseasoned water to boiling, and add your lettuce leaves, boiling them for about 3-5 minutes. They need to be flexible but not fragile. Remove promptly and douse with cold water to stop the cooking, patting them dry with paper towels afterwards. DO NOT get rid of this water!
4. Combine in a bowl your bacon bits, cheese, onions, jalapenos and hot rice, folding vigorously until the cheese is incorporated and melting.
5. In a SEPARATE bowl, whisk your egg well, adding salt & pepper to taste. Take a bit of your hot water from the lettuce you boiled and incorporate it SLOWLY into the egg, whisking vigorously as you do. This tempers it, keeping it from frying instantly when you----
6. Add the egg to the bowl of rice. Now, mix it all together well. The egg acts as a binding agent for your filling.
7. Carefully lay out your leaves, stem side down, on a paper towel, and add about a half cup of filling in the centre. Fold over the sides of your leaf like an envelope, creating a little pocket of smokey, cheesy tastiness. Do this for all six leaves. If you're using grape leaves, you're going to want to use more leaves and less filling.
8. Om the noms.
Spicy Dark Chocolate Mug Cake
Date: 2013-09-27 08:31 am (UTC)Big surprise.
So I got into mug cakes. This is an easy way to treat yourself with very little effort and materials. Plus, you won't be tempted to eat the entire pan of brownies in one sitting!
N-not that I've ever done that, or anything....
****
1 T all-purpose flour
2 T cocoa powder
2 T packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
Dash cinnamon
pinch cayenne pepper
1 T butter, softened
1 large egg
1. In a large mug, mix your dry ingredients together. You can sift the cocoa if you like, to clear out the lumps. Stir it all a bit to incorporate.
2. Add the butter and egg, then whisk briskly until all the ingredients are well incorporated and you can't see either streaks of egg white not lumps of cocoa. If your whisk won't fit into your mug, you can use a fork. Whatever works for you.
3. Microwave on High for at least 60 seconds, depending on your wattage--mine takes 90-105 seconds.
Enjoy your own personal moist, fluffy cake. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is a nice touch.
Butternut Squash Soup
Date: 2013-10-10 08:52 pm (UTC)≈2 C cubed butternut squash
2 C water or delicately flavored broth (chicken or veggie--not beef)
1/4 C onion, chopped fine
chopped parsley
≈1 T butter or margarine
1 T corn starch added to 1 T of water (thickener)
1/3 C sour cream
1. Chop your onions, squash, & parsley, then throw it all in a pan with the water. Bring to a rolling boil. Boil until the squash comes apart easily under pressure-- about 10 minutes or so. Add corn starch near the end, with the butter.
2. When squash is squishy, take off the heat and blend the soup. You can use a hand mixer or a blender--the blender will lend a more creamy texture to the finished soup.
3. Add the sour cream at the very end. It improves flavour and appearance.
Serve with a toasted bread, fresh and warm as you can. A bit of Parmesan can be thrown on top. Keeps you warm!
Spicy Vegetable Noodles
Date: 2014-02-26 07:02 am (UTC)The basic recipe is easy and cheap enough, but since I'm in the middle of nowhere, I have to make certain...substitutions. Unfortunately. It changes the texture of the noodles, mostly, but I'm okay with that.
I wouldn't classify this one as "SUPER SPICY" like she does, but...I literally eat jalapenos for breakfast. You were warned.
You need:
≈ 2 C sliced green or purple cabbage
1 carrot, halved and cut into strips
1/2 a medium white onion, cut into strips
2-4 cloves garlic, minced fine
1-2 stalks celery, sliced diagonally into strips
≈ 1 tsp butter
1 egg, whipped well;
add to this about 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
≈ 1 tsp butter
1 serving pasta--rice noodles are fine; if not, substitute fettuccine or any long noodle
several quarts of pasta-boiling-water
Sauce:
2 T packed brown sugar
2 T sriracha
2 T soy sauce (any kind)
Optional:
1 portion of tofu, pressed and drained
sliced bell peppers
1: Heat your water on the stove and throw a couple tablespoons salt in the pan while it cooks. While that's going, put on a pan to heat and start frying your vegetables. This will take a little while; you're looking for translucency of onions. If your veggies get a little browned, all the better. Mix up your sauce while you wait, let it sit and mingle. Transfer them to a bowl. Don't be afraid of letting them sit. It won't hurt them, they'll just have a fun little flavor orgy in there.
2: When your water is at a rolling boil, throw your noodles in there. Let the water come to a boil again and cook until just al dente. While that's cooking, fry your eggs and/or tofu nice and slow, so that you don't have to let it sit too long on the heat. Cook an egg too long and it gets all rubbery and gross. :c Don't forget to flip halfway through cooking! You want this cooked through.
3: Drain your noodles and throw them directly into the pan with your eggs/tofu, and put the veggies in on top of them. If you don't have room in your frying pan, you can do this in your pasta pot. Add your sauce, stirring well, and let it thicken.
You can top this with diced green onions or sesame seeds--or both! It's all good.
Savory Cornmeal Pancakes
Date: 2014-05-10 12:05 am (UTC)2/3 C stone ground cornmeal
1 1/3 C all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder *
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 T Parmesan cheese
2-3 spring onions, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 C milk
1/4 C canola oil
* Note for international audiences: American "chili powder" is a blend of spices, commonly available commercially. It doesn't refer to ground hot chiles, although that's part of the combination. You can make your own, if you can't find it locally, and it keeps pretty well in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.
1. Heat a skillet on your stove (preferably cast iron), or warm up an electric skillet to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (except for the onions) and sift them well.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs just until combined. Add the rest of the wet ingredients to the eggs and beat a bit.
3. Make a crater in the dry ingredients and add the combined wet ingredients to the dry , mixing well. The batter will be thick and a bit lumpy. Add your spring onions, and stir.
4. When the skillet is hot, scoop the batter onto it in about 1/4 C batches and cook until they are golden brown, flipping once.
Spread with a bit of butter or margarine, and serve with sides. This would also be good with hot pepper preserves, sour cream or sauteed mushrooms.
"Curry" Lentils & Tomatoes
Date: 2014-06-29 02:03 am (UTC)1 lb (≈450g) bag dried brown lentils
1 14.5 oz (≈411g) can diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced fine
handful of celery greens, pulled off the tops of the celery *
5-6 C (1200-1400ml) water
olive oil
2 cubes bullion, any flavor (mine was chicken)
1 tsp (≈5g) curry powder (homemade or canned) (POWDER, not paste)
1/2 tsp ≈2.5g) cumin
1/4 tsp (≈1.25g) paprika
dash salt
1. In a small-holed colander, sort & rinse the lentils. (This is to wash them, and also to prevent you from biting into, say, small rocks. It happens. /shrug/) Put them aside.
2. In a large pot, heat olive oil and add onions, sauteing until slightly transparent. Add the garlic & sauté about a minute, then throw in your celery greens. (* Nobody seems to use these in my house but me! I can't understand why, that's basically flavor & nutrition you're throwing in the garbage. Stupid humans.) Sauté for another minute or two.
3. Add your lentils and water, stirring to loosen and combine. Open the can of tomatoes & dump it in, liquid and all. That's tastiness, right there.
4. Add the spices and bullion; stir.
5. Cook on medium heat until the water is boiling, then cover the pot with a lid and turn down to a simmer; cook for 25-30 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
Bam. Done. Lentils Supreme.
...Did anybody else get the Ernie's song about lentil soup stuck in your heads while you did this, or was it just me? Am I dating myself? (Yes.)