[Squeek]

I was replying to the Steak-Fi thread when I thought about how much I love to cook and eat. I am always willing to try a new recipe, and I love to get recommendations. I can't be alone in my love of gastronomy! Perhaps everyone could post a recipe, or a few recipes that they love? Hell, we could collect a Head-Fi Cookbook!

I'll start with a simple, but tasty recipe for potatoes. They are excellent with many dishes, and have a great citrus/Oregano taste.

Greek Potatoes

7 or 8 medium Potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 c. Chicken Stock
1/2 c. Veg. Oil (or EVOO)
1 tbsp. Oregano
1/2 - 1 tbsp. Coarse Salt (can be adjusted to taste, is quite salty at 1 tbsp)
5 tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Black Pepper
3 cloves Garlic (Pressed)

Blend together all ingredients except potatoes. Put potato chunks into glass (Pyrex) casserole dish and cover with all the liquid above. Move the potatoes around to ensure they are fully covered in the liquid.

Bake anywhere from 350 to 400 deg. for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until tender with a fork. Can be placed in oven next to a roast to cook at the same time and temperature. Increase time if lower temperature used. Almost impossible to overcook.

 

[jonnywolfet]

i love to cook too, but cant stick to recipes.

meatballs in tomato sauce:

meatballs;
mincemeat
breadcrumbs
1 egg
very thinly sliced onions (you can sweat them off with a little garlic and olive oil first, optional but i do it)
seasoning to taste

mash it all up until the mixture is firm enough to roll into balls, if its too wet, add more breadcrumbs. fry them off on a medium-high heat in olive oil until golden brown all over but not cooked through.

sauce for meatballs
wine (red or white, whatever you have thats cookable, cheaper is better, drink the nicer ones)
half a cup of water (you can allways add more later)
tomato paste (optional but tasty)
roughly chopped tomatoes
onions and garlic ( i like to fry off a load of it and divide it among the meatballs and sauce)
seasoning
herbs (whatever you want, i like parsley, oregano...)
additional stuff (i like olives, chilli peppers...)

bring the wine and water with the chopped tomatoes to simmering point and cover. let it cook down, stirring occasionally and let the tomatoes break down, maybe give it a mushing around for good measure.
add the rest of the ingredients and let it cook down further. do it by eye, and taste.

when both are ready, add the meatballs to the sauce, making sure the sauce is covering the balls evenly. let it cook for another 15-20 mins. this means the juices from the sauce go into the meatballs and vice versa.

cook some pasta, spoon the meatballs and sauce on top, and enjoy!


ill do another one later.

 

[Squeek]

Here is a recipe for Cajun Spice. I love cajun spice, but the bought stuff is just too full of salt. It is overpowering and throws off the balance of the spices. This recipe fixes that problem. This recipe can (and should) be tripled, or quadrupled as it will keep very well in an airtight container.

Cajun Spice

3 1/2 tbsp Regular Paprika (not hot)
2 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Black Pepper
1 tbsp Dried Chili's (crushed fine)
1 tbsp Dry Thyme
1 tbsp Dry Oregano
1 tbsp Onion Powder
1 tbsp White Pepper
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Fennel Seeds (roasted and crushed)
1 tsp Mustard Powder

Mix all ingredients together (in any order) in an airtight container and shake.
It is fairly spicy. The amount of chili can be adjusted to taste, but this is perfect to me. Rub on steaks, chicken, fish, pork ribs or whatever suits your fancy.

 

[J-Pak]

My very simple addition, since I made some tonight.

Russet salt and pepper potato chips
-any number of medium size Russet potatoes (I used two to have some leftovers)
-canola oil
-salt
-pepper

Cut the potatoes in thin slices about 1-1.5 mm. Start to warm up the oil. Deep fry the chips until they're golden brown- the older the oil the darker they turn out. Toss and stir them. Take them out when the color satisfies you.

Toss them a few times on some paper towels to remove some of the oil. Add some salt and pepper.

In my opinion they're fantastic, better than anything that I've bought in the stores. You can actually taste the potato. Not very healthy so consume sparingly

If I can remember I'll add some of my favorite Indian recipes my mom wrote down for me.

 

[Squeek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Pak /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I can remember I'll add some of my favorite Indian recipes my mom wrote down for me.

PLEASE DO! I love Indian food. I eat the "lunch special" at my favourite Indian joint at least once a week. Either Chicken Vindaloo or Butter Chicken (choices are limited for the special).

 

[Seaside]

J-Pak please post it.
I always wanted to try exotic food like Thai and Indian food.
But for some reason I was not able to try it so far. I think If I know what's in it, I may able to try it someday.

 

[J-Pak]

No worries guys I'll definitely do it. I don't have one for the vindaloo or butter (which are both delicious), but I do have an excellent one for lamb curry (goes well with beef too), I believe most Indian restaurants would call it "Lamb Madras Curry". I'm experimenting with a spinach curry for lamb right now, I haven't quite perfected it. Lamb biryani is another one of my favorite dishes, but preparing the rice is a bit tricky, I'll post that one as well. I would love to try and make is a coconut jalfrezi- very mild, milky curry absolutely amazing with lamb, chicken or vegetables.

I don't really like Tandoori, but I can post a recipe for that as well as it's pretty popular.

 

[Redo]

Please post Indian recipe's! I've grilled some Lamb with some curry seasonings (Rachael Ray recipe). My best buddy growing up was Indian, and I'd love to get back to some traditional Indian recipe's. Brings back good memories

 

[fraseyboy]

I like to make desserts. Once I find it, I'll post the recipe for this really nice chocolate pudding thats very easy.

 

[iPatcH]

I will share with you guys a very special family recipe for the best damn tasting green beans on the planet.

What you will need:

Two cans of cut green beans
Bacon
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Onions

Total cooking time: About 1 hour (trust me, the wait is worth it!)

So the first step of this is to put 3 or four strips of bacon into a frying pan and cook them until they are nice and crispy. The more grease you can squeeze out of them, the better. After they are cooked, remove the bacon. You will be using those later, so don't toss them just yet.

The next step requires a sauce pan. Pour the bacon grease into the pot and then add the cans of green beans. BE SURE YOU STRAIN ~1~ OF THE 2 CANS! Start the boiling process and add sliced onions about the size of macaronis into the pot, season with pepper and garlic salt as needed. A good two or three shakes of each will suffice.

Stir moderately. The more you do, the less firm the green beans will be. Pretty subjective on how you'd like 'em.

By this time, you should be somewhere around 30 minutes in the cooking!

Bring the green beans to a boil and add the bacon (each strip cut up into inch-size pieces), and boil it on high for a good five minutes, and then bring it to a low heat setting (around 2-3) for the remainder of the time and allow those beans to soak up all the tasty spice and juices.

Serve hot; the hotter the better they are! Oh, and don't eat the bacon, it's just there for flavoring!

Enjoy.

 

[arnoldsoccer4]

Once I find it I will finally release my great grandmother's family recipe for spaghetti sauce that none I have tasted even come close to. She is straight out of Sicily too so you know it's authentic.

 

[jonnywolfet]

peanutty chicken skewers (a variation of teriyaki chicken);

ingredients:
peanut butter (i like the crunchy variety)
soy sauce
garlic
ginger
hot sauce (optional)
honey
Worcestershire sauce (optional)
pepper (no salt needed due to soy sauce)
chicken

to make the marinade/sauce: (3-4 hours before cooking time)
pour a generous amount of soy sauce into a bowl (50ml or so)
add 2-3 spoonfuls of peanut butter and honey to taste (i like it sweet so about the same) give it a mix (if your honey is in the fridge its a good idea to get it out a couple of hours in advance). finely chop up 3-4 cloves of garlic and an equal amount of ginger and mix it in, add the rest of the ingredients to taste (save the chicken) and mix it up. the sauce should be fairly gloopy and not very wet.

i like to score the chicken and then cut it into strips about 3cm thick and 10cm long. add it to the sauce, mix it up, cover it and let it marinade for as long as you can (up to 4 hours gets it REALLY tasty).

when it comes to skewering it, fold the strips into s shapes (or c shapes if they are too small) and add any veggies if you want to. the idea of folding the chicken is to hold as much sauce as possible. the best way (and to do it justice) to cook it is to give it 10 mins over hot charcoal, adding the remaining sauce while it cooks. make sure its cooked through, but take it off as soon as its done, to keep it tender.
serve with potatoes or rice, or let it cool an add to salad, or as an accompaniment to a bbq, or in sandwiches!!! the possibilities are endless!!!!!

Yummy!

 

[jonnywolfet]

French dressings for salad (from my family, yes im a frenchie!)

Balsamic vinegar dressing:
olive-oil
balsamic vinegar
Dijon mustard
salt and pepper
garlic


enough for a large salad

add 2 measures of olive oil to a bowl (big enough for the salad, or in a mug if you are making a batch), then a tablespoon of mustard and give it a good whisk (this is important if you want the dressing to amalgamate). slowly add 1 measure of balsamic vinegar, whisking the whole time, finely chop the garlic (add as much or little as you want, we like lots!) and add with the salt and pepper. mix and serve immediately with salad.

wine vinegar dressing:
2 parts olive oil
1 part wine vinegar
salt and pepper
garlic (optional)

mix it all up! add to salad and enjoy!

dressing for seafood or potato salad:

light mayonnaise
wine vinegar
mustard
salt and pepper
shallotte onion (small round salad onions)
and..... yep some garlic

add a generous helping of mayonnaise into a bowl with 2 teaspoons of dijon mustard and mix, slowly add up to 5 teaspoons of vinegar, whisk it so it doesn't separate.
chop the onion into fairly small pieces and add it with the remaining ingredients.

dip in some prawns, add to chilled new potatoes, yummy!

thats enough for now, more later.

 

[FallenAngel]

My favourite 15 minute super-simple white wine sauce.

Ingredients
3 green onions
half of garlic head (yes, LOTS!)
20g unsalted butter (a couple of slices, just to make it richer)
salt / pepper / oregano
slice of lemon
100ml dry white table wine
10-15ml olive oil (just enough to cover about 2mm of your saucepan)

This is the recipe for JUST THE SAUCE, it's nice to pour over shrimp or light fish, also nice with light pasta when mixed with shrimp (more on this at the end).

Steps:
1) Finely chop or press garlic
2) Chop green onions
3) In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil until hot, but not burning.
4) Add green onions and garlic and stir lightly with a wooden spoon/spatula until garlic is browned and onions are a little softer (2-3 minutes).
5) Pour in wine and mix well.
6) Squeeze in lemon, add a little salt, pepper and oregano (just a bit of each, but feel free to add enough pepper, you'll hardly taste it anyway, but go easy on the salt).
7) Allow the wine to condense to about 1/2 - 3/4 of original quantity, mixing lightly (about 10 minutes).
8) Once condensed, drain the sauce discarding the solids. Mix in butter into the hot mixture until melted and serve in a sauce bowl or small bowl to be poured over shrimp or light fish.

* You can make great shrimp pasta by performing steps 1-7, mixing in butter right away (without draining solids) and adding the entire mixture into a bowl of just-drained pasta with grilled / fried shrimp.

The sauce should be light in colour, with a delicate, slightly sour taste. A great match for shrimp or light fish because it doesn't overpower them.

Have fun, more to come later, I love to cook

 

[NacMacFeegle]

Squeek,
Tried out your Greek potato recipe tonight...Just wanted to let you know it was awesome. My two kids pretty much inhaled them and my wife and I loved them too. But (there is always a but..

) I think I'll cut the lemon juice down next time. Maybe not quite in half but less for sure. How is the dish cold as a salad type deal? I only ask as I wont have a chance to find out...they were all finished to the last drop of sauce.
Thanks again..it's a keeper