Author Archive
Curry Fish Balls
This sounds very good, and uses a packaged curry from Japan that is exceptional in flavor, Japanese curry tastes neither like Thai or Indian curries. Fish balls (think of small meatballs but made from fish) are very common and for folks in the US, these are readily available at most Asian markets. Curried fish balls are very common in China (and I did receive this recipe from a friend in China). This can be a snack or side dish. If I was a betting man, you could increase the number of balls and make a main dish over rice for two people. On my to prepare list.
Ingredients
- 25 fish balls, thawed if frozen, rinsed
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 cup red onion, finely diced
- 100 grams Golden Curry, 1 small box or 1/2 a large box
- 1 cup coconut milk, or plain milk if in a pinch
- 1 cup vegetable stock, fresh or from powder, or water
Instructions
- In a large non stick pan, heat the oil and when hot, saute the onion until soft.
- If you have never used Japanese curry before, it very much looks like a chocolate bar. This melts into hot liquid quickly.
- Pour in the stock and add the curry (yes, it does look like a candy bar). Move the curry around until dissolved and mixed in with the onion and stock.
- Add the coconut milk and stir in, then add the fish balls. Simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and the curry will thicken.
- Serve as is for a side dish or snack, or over rice with the curry as a main dish. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost.
Variants: 1. Use mushroom or chicken stock in place of the vegetable broth. 2. Use beef, pork, chicken, or seafood balls in place of the fish balls.
This recipe for Curry Fish Balls is from China Sichuan Food.
Crock Pot Chicken & Rice
This sounds absolutely delicious! Common ingredients, very little prep time, perfect. On my to cook list. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500-750 grams chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, (1 - 1 1/2 lbs)
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 2 cups chicken broth, fresh or from powder
- 350-500 grams frozen peas and carrots, (12 - 16 oz)
- 1-2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 cups dry white rice, (not instant rice)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs, OR make from a shortcut
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Grease your slow cooker insert with butter, this makes the clean up a bit easier for you.
- Dice the chicken breasts into about 3/4 inch cubes.
- Add the rice, chicken, frozen vegetables into slow cooker.
- Mix together the soup, broth, half of the Cheddar cheese, and season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Pour mixture into the slow cooker. Push down the rice so it is covered with liquid.
- Mix together the breadcrumbs and melted butter then mix in the remaining cheese. Spread mixture over the contents of the slow cooker.
- Cover the cooker and set to Low setting and cook for 5-6 hours, or High setting and cook for 3 to 4 hours. If using High setting, check the rice, it may require a bit longer to make it fully cooked.
- Serve and enjoy with a vegetable side of your choice for a nice meal.
Notes
Chicken breasts are low cost, just using the low end of the ingredients, the chicken is only 30 Baht, without doing any math, this is Low cost per serving for sure.
Shortcuts: Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, Seasoned Breadcrumbs.
Variant: 1. Use fresh cooked corn and fresh diced carrot.
Provided by Slow Cooker Kitchen and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Salmon Loaf I
To me, this sounds good. This is a a steamed dish and there is also a sauce listed for this as well. On my to cook list. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Notes section.
Equipment
- Steamer
Ingredients
For the Salmon Loaf
- 2 cups cooked salmon, fresh or canned, Shortcut
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup butter, melted but not hot
- ½ cup breadcrumbs, Shortcut
- salt and pepper, to taste
- fresh parsley, chopped
For the Sauce
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon butter, softened
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Prepare the Salmon Loaf
- If using canned salmon, drain the liquid into a small bowl and set the bowl aside. If using fresh cooked, after you remove the salmon from the steamer, just set the steamer aside, some liquid in the pot may be used in the sauce.
- Heat your steamer, either a pot with water and a trivet or as I am going to use, a rice cooker with a steamer tray. Butter the heat proof dish you are going to use. (Make sure your dish fits the steamer method you are going to use.)
- Chop fine either the fresh cooked or canned salmon. Mix the butter into the fish.
- Mix together eggs, breadcrumbs, parsley, and salt and pepper as desired.
- Mix the egg mixture into the fish, then add the mixture to your dish and when the steamer is hot, place the dish in the steamer for 1 hour. During this time, make sure you keep sufficient water in the steamer.
Prepare the Sauce
- Prepare the sauce about 10 minutes before the loaf is done steaming.
- In a small sauce pan, heat the milk to a boil. While the milk is heating, mix together the butter and corn starch in a small bowl. When the milk is at a boil, whisk in the butter mixture. Then whisk in a 1-2 tablespoons of the liquid from the salmon can or 1-2 tablespoons of liquid the fresh salmon was steamed on.
- Whisk in the beaten egg, sprinkle in a pinch of black pepper. Remove from heat.
- When the loaf is done, remove the dish from the steamer, pour off any water from a corner of the dish, then cover the dish with a plate and carefully invert the plate and dish together and lift off the dish leaving the loaf on the plate.
- Slice the loaf and pour the sauce over the slices, serve and enjoy.
Notes
I will price this when I get salmon and determine how many fillets I need to make 2 cups cooked salmon. I will say High cost per serving for now.
Shortcuts: Steamed Salmon, Breadcrumbs.
Oven Fried Fish
This makes sense, there is oven fried chicken, so why not oven fried fish. I made this on 20 Dec 2022, easy to put together, and excellent fish. I used 4 pangasius fillets and cut each in half.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (9x13 inch)
Ingredients
- 500 grams fish fillets, boneless, skinless, (1 lb)
- ¼ cup milk
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup breadcrumbs, Shortcut
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- For the fish I will use Pangasius or Barramundi, both are very good, but any whitefish, boneless and skinless will work fine. If the fillets are large, just cut in half, it makes them easier to remove from the baking dish after cooking.
- Preheat your oven to 200° C (400° F) and grease with butter a 9x13 baking dish.
- Add the milk to a shallow dish, stir in the salt. Place the breadcrumbs in another shallow dish.
- Dip a fillet into the milk coating both sides, then coat with the breadcrumbs, then place into the baking dish. Repeat for remaining fillets. Goal is a single layer of fillets in the baking dish.
- Pour the melted butter over the fillets.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown and fish flakes easily with a fork.
- Serve with sides of your choice, enjoy.
Notes
Pangasius will cost about 45 Baht/500 grams. For 4 servings, this is about 35 cents per serving.
Oyster Mushroom Stir Fry
Oyster mushrooms are excellent cooking mushrooms in Asia, and many restaurants prefer them over the even better Straw mushrooms because they last much longer. Keep in mind, cooking this type of mushroom, the goal is to remove the moisture and just soften the mushrooms. I made this on 13 May 2018, and this is excellent, very well liked by the family.
Ingredients
- 400 grams fresh oyster mushrooms, (14 oz)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 6 spring onions, cut to 1 inch pieces, white and green separated
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- fresh coriander, chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Cut off the root ends of the mushrooms, wash, shake dry and even gently squeeze out any water. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a non stick pan on medium heat, when hot, saute the white parts of the spring onion and when softened, sprinkle in the ginger powder.
- Add the mushrooms, oyster sauce, and dark soy sauce. Mix together then let the mushrooms cook with less stirring, think sauteing. This only takes 1-2 minutes. Reduce the liquid in the pan to almost gone.
- Season with black pepper as desired and mix in the green parts of the spring onions, give it a few stirs, then remove to a serving dish. Top with fresh chopped coriander.
- Serve as a side dish or over rice for a light meal. (For this photo, the liquid you see is chicken gravy, not liquid from the mushrooms, however, I will say the mushrooms with the gravy is very good as well.)
Notes
Low cost.
Variant: 1. For a more authentic flavor, use ground Szechuan pepper. 2. Add shrimp and cook until they turn pink, then serve as a main dish over rice.
This recipe for Oyster Mushroom Stir Fry is from China Sichuan Food.
Apple Cake
This sounds really good and was provided by a good friend also living in Thailand, his words: "This cake is so moist and rich and perfect for any time of the year." Sounds like a great cake to me, on my to cook list!
Ingredients
- 2 eggs, chicken or duck
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, heaping, be generous here
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil, coconut oil is perfect
- 6 medium apples, Gala or Fuji is perfect
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and oil.
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F).
- Peel, core, and slice the apples. I use an apple corer/slicer, so peel an apple, use the corer/slicer, then slice each piece, add the pieces to the large mixing bowl and stir them in to prevent browning. Repeat for remaining apples.
- In another bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda. Slowly mix in the flour mixture into the large mixing bowl until the flour is well combined, highly recommended to use a large sturdy fork to do this.
- Pour the batter equally into two 9 inch round cake pans and bake for 55 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack.
- To serve, place each cake on top of one another and serve with ice cream or whipped topping.
Notes
Low cost for a great sounding dessert.
Provided by friend, Kurt Hammerschmidt.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Honey Butter Baked Salmon
This sounds incredibly good and comes from a good friend here in Thailand. Common ingredients easily available. This is written for using a half of a salmon fillet, about 1.2 kilos or about 2 1/2 pounds. You can certainly use the smaller fillets (individual portions from Tesco), just use the Serving box under the Ingredients list to change to the desired servings you would like and the ingredients will be recalculated for you.
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Oven
Ingredients
- 1 salmon fillet, about 1.2 kilos, (2½ lbs)
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- ⅓ cup honey
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
- lemon or lime, slices
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190° C (375° F), position the rack in the middle of the oven. Line a large baking sheet or baking pan (9x13) with foil large enough to fold over the fillet and seal.
- Melt the butter in a small sauce pan, then add the honey, garlic, and lemon/lime juice and whisk to combine.
- Place the fillet (or the smaller individual portion fillets) on the foil in the baking dish or on the sheet, brush the fillet or fillets with the honey butter mixture.
- Sprinkle with a good amount of sea salt and black pepper.
- Fold the foil over the fillet and seal completely, raise up the edges so it does not leak.
- Place in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or until cooked through. Carefully open the foil, use mitts as the steam will be very hot, and fold the foil back to expose the the fillet or fillets. Broil for a few minutes until the fillet is nicely caramelized on the top.
- Remove from oven, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with lemon/lime slices as desired.
Notes
I will price this when I get 4 individual serving fillets from Tesco, for now I will say High cost per serving.
Pork Chops & Cabbage (Pressure Cooker)
As a bonus, the chops and cabbage are cooked at the same time. This is absolutely delicious! The time on full pressure is 100% spot on. I used my large 9 liter (9½ quart) stove top pressure cooker with 80 kPa (12 psi) pressure for this. Follow the safety precautions for your model of pressure cooker.
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 4 thick cut pork chops, ¾ inch thick, bone in
- salt and pepper, as desired
- fennel seeds, as desired
- 1 head small cabbage, about 500 grams, (1 lb)
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- ¾ cup chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Season the chops on one side with the salt, pepper, and fennel. Set aside. (I used one Australian pork chop, that is the one that is mostly fat on the right side of the left plate, and 5 Thai pork chops.)
- Slice the cabbage in half from the top down through the core, make two cuts to form a V and remove the core.
- Lay each piece cut side down and cut into ¾ inch slices and separating some of the leaves. Set these aside.
- Heat the cooking oil in your pressure cooker, without the lid and when hot, brown the chops, two at a time, seasoned side down, until nicely browned. You are only browning the seasoned side.
- Remove chops from the cooker to a plate. Repeat until all the chops are browned.
- Place the cabbage into the cooker
- Then place the chops on top, browned side up, overlapping as needed to get them all into the cooker. Any juices on the plate the chops were on, pour that into the cooker along with the chicken stock.
- Place the lid on the cooker and lock, add the weight (the jiggler), and turn the heat to high.
- When the jiggler starts moving and venting pressure, indicating full pressure, reduce heat to low or medium low to maintain pressure release, and start timing for 6 minutes.
- When 6 minutes have passed, remove from heat and allow a natural release of pressure. Once the cooker is no longer pressurized and safe to open, remove the weight first, then the lid.
- Remove the chops to a serving dish with a large slotted spoon, leaving the liquid in the pot and cover chops with foil.
- Remove the cabbage with the slotted spoon, again, leaving the liquid in the pot.
- Mix together the corn starch and water to make a slurry. With the lid off, bring the cooker to medium high heat and bring the liquid to a boil, whisk the bottom of the pot to loosen and tasty bits then whisk in the slurry, reduce heat and continue whisking until the gravy is thickened to your liking.
- Pour the gravy over the chops and cabbage, serve and enjoy.
Notes
I will price this next time I go to the city and pick up fresh pork chops at Tesco. For now I will say Fair cost per serving.
Mashed Potatoes (Pressure Cooker)
This will use either the steamer tray or basket that came with your pressure cooker or any steamer basket or trivet that will keep the potatoes above the water. This process cooks the potatoes with pressure and heat, they cannot get waterlogged or soggy like boiled potatoes. Only takes 6 minutes on high pressure and a natural release. Follow the safety precautions for your model of pressure cooker. I made this on 17 May 2018, and this is what mashed potatoes are supposed to taste like! These are outstanding!
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 2-6 potatoes
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 cups water
- butter
- milk, as needed
Instructions
- Wash and scrub your potatoes for unpeeled, or wash and peel, totally your preference. Quarter the potatoes.
- Add the water to your pressure cooker, insert the steamer tray or basket, add the potatoes and garlic to the tray or basket.
- Place the lid on and lock, add the weight (the jiggler), turn on the heat to high. when the jiggler starts to move and vent pressure, indication full pressure, start your timer for 6 minutes and reduce the heat to low or medium low to maintain full pressure.
- When 6 minutes have passed, turn off the heat and move the pressure cooker to an unused burner to cool and release the pressure naturally, about 10-15 minutes.
- When the pressure is fully released, open the lid.
- Transfer the potatoes to a medium sized pot (you can use a sturdy mixing bowl but I feel that a pot is much easier to work with) and using a potato masher, mash up the potatoes. Add a splash of milk and 2-4 tablespoons of butter and mash that in.
- Serve as side dish.
Notes
Low cost, and an energy and time saver as a bonus.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Ranch Mashed Potatoes.
- Giant Meatball I.
- Colcannon, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Ellen's Beef Manhattans.
Pork Loin (Slow Cooker)
This is a spin off from the 3-Ingredient Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops, which uses a packet, or homemade, Ranch Dressing. Ranch dressing has dried dill, dried parsley, dried diced onion, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper (those are the basic ingredients), so in this, I stepped it up to fresh dill, fresh garlic, fresh onion, and used pork loin instead of chops.
Ingredients
- 6 slices pork loin, thick cut
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 palmful fresh dill, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups chicken gravy
Instructions
- I am going to use use fresh onion, garlic, and dill, and no added salt.
- Tesco has excellent pork loin, can get 3-4 thick slices from each piece. Here is the 6 pieces I am going to use for this recipe.
- Place the diced onion in the bottom of your slow cooker. Place a layer of pork loin, then sprinkle with half the pepper, parsley, garlic, and dill. Place another layer of pork loin and sprinkle the remaining pepper, parsley, garlic, and dill.
- Prepare your chicken gravy, I use Lobo brand (Thai product which is very good), let the gravy cool for a few minutes, then pour over the pork loin, do worry if the dill sort of floats away in places, it is all cooked together.
- Set the cooker to Low setting for 6 to 8 hours, cover and cook for 6 hours without removing the cover, then check the tenderness. Time is variable with thickness of the slices. for thin, less than 1 inch check at 6 hours, for 1 inch check at 7 hours, for 1 1/2 inch check at 7 and you may need to cook another hour. If not tender, cook for another hour and check again. Once tender, if not serving right away, just switch the cooker to Warm setting.
- Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta, and spoon the gravy over everything, add a vegetable for a side and you have a complete meal. Enjoy.
Notes
Pork loin in Tesco will cost about 170 Baht/1 1/2 kilos, for 6 servings, this is about 90 cents per serving.
My own creation based on another recipe to use fresh ingredients and pork loin instead of costlier pork chops. Lee Thayer.
Thailand.
Thailand.