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Magic Cracker Appetizers I
Nothing 'magical' about these, Magic is the brand name of the popular Ritz type of butter crackers in Thailand (we have Ritz crackers here as well but why pay twice as much for a cracker that tastes exactly the same). For Thailand, use Magic or Rosi brand, for folks in the US/Canada, use Ritz. Here is 5 outstanding sounding snacks/appetizers, the base is butter crackers and cream cheese.
Ingredients
For the Base
- butter crackers, Magic, Rosi, or Ritz brand
- 250 grams Cream cheese, softened, 1 block, (8 oz)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
add Radish
- fresh radishes, thinly sliced, mandolin recommended
- fresh dill, chopped
add Cucumber
- fresh cucumber, thinly sliced, mandolin recommended
- fresh dill, chopped
add Hard Boiled Egg
- hard boiled eggs, sliced
- capers
- fresh dill, chopped
add Chicken
- cooked shredded chicken
- seedless grapes, halved
add Strawberry
- fresh strawberries, topped and halved
Instructions
For the Base
- Mix the softened cream cheese with the lemon juice to a nice spreadable consistency.
- Break out the Magic crackers (or Rosi for those in Thailand, or Ritz for those in the US/Canada). Spread an ample amount of cream cheese on some Magic crackers.
add Radish
- Top the cream cheese with 2 thin sliced pieces of radish and a piece or two of chopped dill.
add Cucumber
- Top the cream cheese with 2 thin sliced pieces of cucumber and a piece or two of chopped dill.
add Hard Boiled Egg
- The use of an egg slicer is recommended but not required. Slice the egg(s), use the slices with the yolk (the end pieces, just snack on them when no one is looking).
- Top the cream cheese with a slice of egg, 1-2 capers (push them into the yolk just to hold them in place). Top the egg with a piece or two of chopped dill.
add Chicken
- Top the cream cheese with a bit of shredded chicken then top with half a grape.
add Strawberry
- Remove the green tops of the strawberries and cut in half. Top the cream cheese with half a strawberry.
Notes
Low cost.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Teriyaki Chicken Wings
You need two ingredients plus oil for cooking, and you can use any amount of wings you want. We used the drumettes, or in Thailand, called wing sticks. Homemade teriyaki sauce is highly recommended. These are delicious! This is one of two ways to use teriyaki sauce. One ways is the simply fry the wings, then add the sauce, and this way is to marinate in the sauce, and add sauce after as well. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo chicken wings, drumettes, (2 lbs)
- Teriyaki sauce, as needed, (Shortcut)
- cooking oil, as needed
Instructions
- Rinse the chicken wings and place in a mixing bowl, pour in some teriyaki sauce, mix the wings around to coat, adding more sauce as needed. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes or overnight. Overnight is preferred and is how we prepared this.
- Heat a large non stick pan with a splash of cooking oil, when hot, add wings in a single layer, we did this in two batches.
- Cook the wings, turning occasionally to brown them and cook them through, keeping in mind, there is sugar in teriyaki sauce so that will caramelize.
- Remove the first batch of wings when they are cooked through to a plate. Now cook the second batch.
- When the last of wings are cooked, leave them in the pan, and return the wings from the plate back to the pan. Pour in more teriyaki sauce, and stir stir stir, until the all the liquid is cooked off or coated on the chicken wings.
- Remove wings to a plate and serve.
Notes
Chicken wing sticks are 72 Baht/kilo (2 lbs), for 4 servings, this is about 55 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Teriyaki Sauce (照り焼きのたれ).
Common marinating method with teriyaki sauce, no secrets here.
Mushroom Ragout
This is from a good friend in the US and this sounds very tasty! Anything with mushrooms, I like it. The mushrooms in the first part is written as it was provided, the second part is using local Japanese mushrooms here in Thailand. I will make this and give me report soon.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 125 grams pancetta, chopped, or bacon (1/4 lb)
- 3/4 cup shallots, cut in half
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 225 grams portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed, caps chopped, (8 oz)
- 500 grams cremini mushrooms, sliced, (1 lb)
- 225 grams white button mushrooms, sliced, (8 oz)
- 225 grams fresh Shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced, (8 oz)
- 1 cup chicken stock, or vegetable stock, fresh or from powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped, more for serving
- 1/4 cup Romano cheese, grated, or Parmesan, more for serving
- 500 grams dry Fettuccine pasta
Using Japanese Mushrooms
- 225 grams fresh Shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps sliced, (8 oz)
- 300 grams Buna Shimeji mushrooms, roots removed, separated, (10 oz)
- 150 grams White Shimeji mushrooms, roots removed, separated, (5 oz)
- 300 grams Enoki mushrooms, roots removed, separated, 10 oz)
Instructions
- In very large skillet, heat oil over medium heat, when hot, and add the Pancetta. Cook for 10 minutes or until crisp. Add shallots and cook for 3 more minutes, then add garlic and rosemary, and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add butter and all the mushrooms and stir. Increase heat to medium high. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove lid and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the broth, season with salt and pepper as desired and cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone and mushrooms are nice and tender.
- While the mushrooms are cooking, heat a pot of salted water to boiling, then cook the fettuccine to just tender. Scoop out 1 cup of pasta water and reserve, drain the rest of the water and set the pasta aside.
- Add the parsley and Romano cheese to the mushrooms. Add a little of the pasta water to make a creamy and thick sauce. Add only a little water at a time until you achieve the creamy consistency as desired.
- Serve over the hot pasta and garnish with parsley and Romano cheese as desired. Enjoy.
Using the Japanese Mushrooms
- The steps stay the same. Note about the Enoki and Shimeji mushrooms, these two types have root bundles, so adjust the weights of the mushrooms as needed, I know I will but extra just to make sure.
Notes
I will price this on the Japanese mushrooms once I have them on hand, for now, this is fair cost. And for pancetta, never seen it it here so I will use bacon.
Recipe provided by good friend, Patti Stone.
United States.
United States.
Crustless Quiche
This is a base recipe with many options to make it your own or use what you have on hand. Sounds good, and no crust to worry about preparing is a bonus. Made this in 3 Sep 2018, and this is a winner! Recipe now reflects my findings. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
For the Base
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups cheese, shredded, your choice
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 cups Optional Ingredients, 1 item 2 cups, 2 items 1 cup each, etc.
Optional Ingredients
- ham, cubed
- bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
- breakfast sausage, (Shortcut)
- Italian sausage, (Shortcut)
- broccoli, chopped
- tomatoes, chopped
- fresh mushrooms, sliced and sauteed
- onion, thinly sliced, sauteed
- spring onions, chopped, white and green parts
- chives, chopped
- spinach, chopped
- asparagus, chopped
- potatoes, cubed and fried
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F). Grease a pie dish or 8x8 baking dish with butter.
- If using any ingredients that require sauteing, go ahead and do that now.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the evaporated milk, flour, eggs, cheese, and season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Here the cheese is shredded (I used 225 grams / 8 oz of Moneterey Jack), and the fillings which are just over a cup of diced ham, then 2 spring onions chopped, and 2 plum tomatoes chopped, right at or just above 2 cups for the filling.
- Mix in the Optional Ingredients of your choice.
- Pour into the prepared baking dish of your choice and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the center is set and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Fresh out of the oven, let this rest for about 5 minutes.
- Slice and serve.
- Enjoy.
Notes
The cheese is the high cost item here, figure about 180 Baht for that. The package of ham was about 80 Baht. But on the plus side this makes a lot of servings. For 8 servings, this is about 98 cents per serving.
Shortcuts: Breakfast Sausage, Jimmy Dean Sausage, Italian Sausage.
Adapted from several internet recipes.
Homemade Evaporated Milk
Not sure how often I would make this, as evaporated milk is readily available everywhere in Thailand, but this sounds like a good backup plan to have. I will make this, at least once, so I can determine the time involved in this. Evaporated milk is nothing more than milk that has had 60% of its water removed.
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups whole milk, (1 liter)
Instructions
- Add 2 cups of milk to a heavy bottomed sauce pan or pot. Place a wooden skewer in the pot and make a mark on it where the top of the milk is on the skewer. Set the skewer aside, you will need it later.
- Add the remaining milk to the sauce pan and place on medium heat. Stir continuously with a silicon or wood spatula until the milk comes to a boil. Lower the heat to the lowest setting you have.
- Allow the milk to simmer, stirring every few minutes, and remove and discard the skin that forms on the top.
- As the milk cooks down, check with the skewer you marked, and when the top of milk is at the mark on skewer, it is done.
- Pour the evaporated milk through a strainer and into a jar. Allow to cool, then cover and place in the fridge. Use within 1 week.
Notes
Dutch Mill brand milk, 2 liter container is 90 Baht, you need half of this so we'll say 45 Baht. A can of evaporated milk (which is made from milk powder) is 20 Baht. So you can see, there is no cost savings as homemade is a little more than double what a can is. Homemade is 2 cups, canned is 1 1/2 cups.
Most recipes are going to state 1 can of evaporated milk, rarely will it say 2 cups.
The advantage is homemade is just milk, as opposed to canned (at least here in Thailand) that also contains oil and sugar.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Mexican Green Rice (Arroz Verde) (Rice Cooker)
As a fan of seasoned rice, this is really good, I made this on 8 Sep 2018 and was well liked by the family as well. This uses a simple cook and warm rice cooker.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ small onion, finely diced
- 1 cup dry Jasmine rice, or any long grain white rice
- 1½ cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, minced, stems are no problem as well
Instructions
- Add the butter to your rice cooker and place on Cook. When the butter is melted, add the onion and cook until the onion is softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the rice, stock, salt, and cilantro, and stir together. Place the lid on the cooker and allow to cook until it switches to Warm setting. Leave on Warm for 10-15 minutes.
- Fluff with rice paddle, serve as a side dish and enjoy.
Notes
Variant: 1. Add a diced poblano chili which will add to the green color of the rice, and the chili and cilantro can be optionally puréed, provided by H. Stave, United States.
Homemade Hot Dogs
This was an experiment, and it turned out very well! I only used collagen casings and that was spot on, I am not a fan of hot dogs with a skin. These can be all beef, all pork, or a combination. For this first experiment, I made them as listed here, which is a combo of beef and pork. No food processor will be used, just ample use of my electric grinder and a mortar and pestle. Keeping the grinder and meats cold is essential. I used collagen casings which are removed after simmering in water. Feel free to use casings of your choice.
Ingredients
- 500 grams lean pork, cubed, (1 lb)
- 350 grams lean beef, cubed, (¾ lb)
- 120 grams pork fat, cubed, (¼ lb)
- ¼ cup onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, peeled, sliced
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground marjoram
- ¼ teaspoon ground mace, or nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon mustard seed
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1 egg white
- 1½ teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- sausage casings, your preference, as needed
Instructions
- Place the onion, garlic, and mustard seed into a mortar. Feel free to use a food processor for this. The mortar we have is the granite type, weighs in at about 20 pounds. Need something mashed quick, use the granite mortars.
- Pound to a sort of smooth paste.
- Place the contents of the mortar into a mixing bowl then add the egg white, sugar, salt, coriander, marjoram, mace, paprika, white pepper, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Add the milk and mix that in well. Place seasoning mixture in the fridge while you continue.
- Thoroughly wash, rinse, and dry the grinder parts that will have contact with the meat, the plate you are going to use is the fine plate, then place the parts (not the motor assembly) in the fridge to chill.
- Cut the beef, pork, and fat, one at a time, into cubes that will fit into your grinder. As each item is cubed, place in the fridge to chill.
- Assemble your grinder using the fine plate. Remove and grind the meats and fat separately, place all in a large mixing bowl. For this photo, I ground the beef first, visible a little on the left, then the fat, then the pork on top.
- Using your clean hands or wearing gloves, mix the meats together, then mix in the seasoning mix, then mix in the liquid smoke.
- Run the mixture through the grinder again. Place mixture in the fridge to chill. Now wash, rinse, and dry the grinder parts that had contact with the meat. When dried, place in the fridge as well.
- When 30 minutes have passed, assemble the grinder again, and then, you guessed it, run the meat mixture through the grinder again, also using the fine plate. The mixture is pretty much a near paste now, which is desired.
- Stuff the casings in your preferred way, using the grinder, a funnel, or sausage stuffer.
- I measure out the collagen casings in 14 inch sections.
- Lightly oil the stuffer tube for first use and thread the casing onto the tube, tie the end off with string, then puncture a hole right near the knot to let air escape when you start. Fill the casing to the end, after all casings are stuffed, tie a string at the 6 inch mark, no need to twist, just tie, then tie another at the 12 inch mark, cut off the tails of the strings and squeeze out the remaining sausage mix after where you tied it, put that back in the bowl with the sausage mixture. Repeat this using all the meat mixture. Leave the sausages in 12 inch lengths, do not cut them apart.
- Heat a pot of water to simmering, when hot, place the links in the water for 20 minutes.
- Remove the links and place in a large bowl or pot of ice water and allow the links to shock and chill, this stops the cooking.
- Remove the links from the ice water
- Cut off the opposite ends of the links, no need to cut the center, and squeeze out the hot dogs, place on a rack to cool further. There is only 15 here, I am the cook, I am allowed to try things. 🙂
- Now the hot dogs are ready for use. You can store in the fridge (they are cooked) for up to 3-4 days, or freeze them for later use. To prepare them, just pan fry or grill, enjoy in a bun with your favorite sauces and toppings.
- Fried.
- Ready to be devoured, simple dish with spicy mustard and ketchup on one, regular mustard and ketchup on another one. Tasty!
Notes
I will price this when I prepare these. I will say Fair cost for now.
Black Bean Chili (Slow Cooker)
I created this using pressure cooked seasoned black beans. The beans were first used as a side dish and they are tasty, so I took the leftover beans, and there is a lot, and made some chili with what I had on hand. The seasoned beans add a lot of flavor to the chili as opposed to just plain cooked beans. The use of the slow cooker allows the chili to be simmered without burning, letting the flavors blend. I made this on 28 Aug 2018 and will be a regular now. For the beans, feel free to use your own recipe or use my shortcut for pressure cooker beans, or even used canned if you like. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 packet chili mix, your preferred brand
- 3-4 cups tomato juice, (Shortcut)
- 4 cups seasoned black beans, (Shortcut)
- olive oil, as needed
Instructions
- In a large non stick pan on medium heat, add a splash of olive oil. When hot add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add the beef, breaking it up with your spatula,
- Cook the beef until no longer pink.
- Add the chili seasoning packet and stir that in.
- Add the beef mixture and beans to your slow cooker. Add tomato juice to just cover the beans. Stir everything together. Cover and set the slow cooker to Low and let simmer away for 4-6 hours.
- Remove the cover and stir.
- Serve and enjoy with toppings of your choice for chili.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcuts: Seasoned Black Beans (Pressure Cooker), Seasoned Black Beans (Stove Top), Tomato Juice.
Variant: 1. In place of ground beef, use Andouille or Spanish Chorizo.
I just threw this together and it worked well, Lee Thayer. Thailand.
Variant 1 provided by viewer, Martin Duke. United States.
Pork Rib Soup I (ต้มจับฉ่าย)
The Thai writing is simply 'boiled bok choi'. For better terms, I call this Pork Rib Soup. This is a common Thai soup, other than the ribs and bok choi, everything is optional, how easy is that? This is a non spicy soup and it is delicious. The ingredient measurements are approximations, this is not set in stone.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo pork ribs, the short ones, (2 lbs)
- 2 daikon, peeled and sliced about 1/4 inch thick
- 2 large bunches bok choi, chopped into 1 1/2 to 2 inch pieces
- 90-180 grams fresh Shiitake mushrooms, (3-6 oz)
- 1-2 bunches Chinese celery, chopped, this is much thinner than US/import celery
- 2 teaspoons pork broth powder
- 5 coriander roots, rinsed clean
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 10 black peppercorns
- dash light soy sauce
- dash oyster sauce
- pinch salt
Instructions
- In a large pot, add the ribs and fill about 2/3 to 3/4 full with water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a high simmer. Cook until the ribs are just tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. Skim off and discard any foam that forms on the surface.
- While the ribs are cooking, prepare the daikon, bok choi, celery. To prepare the mushrooms, remove the stems but leave the caps whole and for a nice touch, cut an X, very gently onto the top of the caps, not very deep, when they cook, the X will show for a nice presentation.
- To prepare the coriander roots, garlic, and pepper corns, place them in a mortar and pound with a pestle for a minute or two. You are not look for a paste, just crushed up. This is optional but makes the soup more traditional. (Coriander root is a different taste than the green leafy part, there is no green leafy coriander in this soup,)
- When the ribs are tender, add the bok choi, daikon, Chinese celery, mushrooms, pork broth powder, and contents from the mortar if using those. Season with a dash of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and just a pinch of salt.
- Let this simmer for 30-40 minutes. Add more water as needed. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.
- Serve with rice on the side. This is a common lunch and dinner soup.
Notes
Pork ribs are about 115 Baht/kilo, even less from a local vendor in a market, for 8 servings, certainly low cost per serving.
Variants: 1. Use pork neck bones in place of ribs. 2. Add sliced carrot but they can turn to mush if simmered too long. 3. Add some chopped cabbage. 4. Can add some chicken feet when you start to cook the pork ribs to make the broth even better.
Recipe provided by my wife, Rrayada Thayer.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Stir Fried Straw Mushrooms
A local vendor in the village had some Straw mushrooms available so I bought the bag, about 500 grams (1 lb). The plan was for a stir fry, the simplest dish you can prepare on short notice. I made this on 27 Aug 2018, very well liked by the family.
Ingredients
- 500 grams fresh Straw mushrooms, (1 lb)
- 2-3 bunches fresh spring onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- oyster sauce, as needed
- mushroom sauce, as needed
- light soy sauce, as needed
Instructions
- Rinse the mushrooms and slice in half lengthwise. A note about Straw mushrooms, these are unopened mushrooms, meaning there is no veil or stem, they pretty much look like a oblong ball, try your best to slice lengthwise to keep them intact, if you cut crosswise, they fall apart. For these in the photo, they would not have lasted another day, this type of mushroom has a very short shelf life once harvested.
- Heat a non stick pan on medium heat and add the oil and butter, when the butter is melted and the oil is hot, add the mushrooms and stir fry. This after they have leased just a little water, and that is cooked off.
- Now add the spring onion, stir, then add a splash each of soy sauce, mushroom sauce, and oyster sauce. Keep stirring to mix in the sauces.
- When the spring onion is wilted, taste and adjust the sauces as desired.
- Served as a side dish.
Notes
Low cost.
Common stir fry procedure, nothing secret here.