Author Archive
Spaghetti Salad
This comes from a good friend and sounds very nice, I love a good pasta salad and this seems to be on par with that. This is a make with what you want, think left overs or cleaning out the fridge, no measurements are given for the ingredients. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- spaghetti, cooked, drained, cooled
- black olives, pitted and sliced
- cucumber, cut into bite size pieces
- tomatoes, diced large
- spring onions, sliced
- Italian dressing, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 packet dry ranch dressing mix, OR make from a shortcut
- Italian cheese mix, or go with Mozzarella and Parmesan
- pinch garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Mix everything together in a mixing bowl, use amounts of items based on how much spaghetti you are using, and dress with the Italian dressing and Ranch mix to taste, add cheese, and seasonings to taste.
- Cover and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours before serving as a side with any dish.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcuts: Italian Dressing, Ranch Dressing Mix.
Recipe and photo provided by a friend, Joeann Lafferty, and her recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
American Goulash II
This is another variant to American Goulash, there is hundreds of ways to make goulash, and many countries have their own variants, all are good and ingredients are based on locality. You will need to use your stove top and a slow cooker for this. On my to cook list.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- ¾ cup onion, diced
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped. plus juice
- 3 cups tomato soup, Shortcut
- 4 cups dry macaroni, or spirals or corkscrew pasta
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- â…“ cup butter
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
- ¾ cup Cheddar cheese, shredded, or your favorite cheese
Instructions
- In a non stick pan, add the ground beef, onion, red pepper flakes, paprika, and salt and pepper as desired, brown the beef until just no longer pink, no need to over do this, just lightly brown the beef.
- Add the beef to your slow cooker, then pour in the soup and tomatoes, stir. Cook on Low setting for 2 hours.
- Add the dry pasta, stir into the mixture, top with the cheese and cook for another 1-2 hours.
- Serve.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Tomato Soup.
Variants: 1. Add some mixed vegetables. 2. Add some sliced or minced mushrooms.
Apple Cinnamon Bread
Sounds very good. On my to cook list.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, NOT packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, this is 1/2 of a standard block
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 apple, peeled, cored. and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F). Grease a loaf pan with butter and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
- In another bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder, set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the white sugar and butter. Use an electric mixer or the reliable hand and elbow grease 😉
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, add the vanilla and mix that in as well. Add the flour mixture and mix in then mix in the milk to make a smooth batter.
- Pour half of the batter into your prepared loaf pan than add 1/2 of the chopped apples and 1/2 of the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture, lightly tap the apples into the batter.
- Pour on the remaining batter, then the remaining apples, and the remaining brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Lightly tap the apples into the batter.
- Using a butter knife, make a couple of swirls through the batter.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick (wood skewer would be a better choice) comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then roll out to cool on a rack. When cooled, slice and enjoy 🙂
Notes
Low cost.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Creamy French Onion Mac & Cheese
This sounds really good and no canned soup needed, which is always a bonus. On my to cook list. If you cannot find Gruyere cheese, just go with a mild Gouda or additional Swiss cheese.
Ingredients
- 250 grams dry macaroni, or any bite size pasta, (8 oz)
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- salt and black pepper, as desired
- 250 grams cavatappi pasta, or spiral or corkscrew pasta, (8 oz)
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 can evaporated milk, (12 oz)
- 1 cup milk
- 115 grams Gruyere cheese, grated, or Gouda or Swiss, (4 oz)
- 170 grams Swiss cheese, grated, (6 oz)
- 60 grams Parmesan cheese, grated, (2 oz)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190 C (375 F). Lightly butter a 8x8 baking dish.
- In a large non stick pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter on medium low heat. When melted and hot, add the onion and a pinch of salt as desired. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally until golden brown and reduced in volume, about 30 to 40 minutes. When cooked, remove from heat and set aside.
- While the onion is cooking, heat a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, drain then set aside.
- Same pot used for the pasta, add the 4 tablespoons of butter and heat over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the flour and whisk constantly for 1-2 minutes until golden brown and smooth, then slowly pour in the milk, also whisking constantly until smooth, about 5 minutes. Now slowly pour in the evaporated milk, and you guessed it, whisking constantly until thickened.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the cheeses to the pot, reserve 2 tablespoons of Parmesan for later use, whisk until the cheese is melted into the sauce. Whisk in the nutmeg, mustard, and season to taste with salt and pepper as desired.
- To the pot, stir in the pasta and the onion and mix to coat well. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle the reserved Parmesan on the top.
- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Cool for 3 to 5 minutes, serve and enjoy.
Notes
I will price this when I get some Swiss and Gouda cheese, Gruyere would be a long shot where I live. I will say Low cost for now.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Real Swiss Steak
This recipe is from none other than, a Swiss person, so I think it is pretty safe to assume, this is about authentic as this gets. And it is so simple!
Ingredients
- 1 thin beef steak
- 1 egg, beaten
- all purpose flour, as needed
- bread crumbs, as needed
Instructions
- Heat a skillet on medium heat. Beat the egg in a shallow bowl or plate, place some flour on another plate, and some bread crumbs on another plate.
- When the skillet is hot, coat the steak in beaten egg, then coat with flour, back into the egg to coat it again, then into the bread crumbs, and finally into the hot skillet.
- Cook until golden brown on the bottom, flip the steak and cook the other side.
- Serve with a lemon wedge on top and sides of your choice.
Notes
Fair cost if using local beef.
Shortcut: Bread Crumbs.
Sausage Salad I
I had this at a wedding party yesterday, 27 Feb 2018. This was the only dish that contained packaged items, like Vietnamese sausage, hot dogs, crab sticks, and squid rolls. Squid rolls are essentially a crab stick but are tubular shaped, but squid flavored. The dish in the photo also has chilies in it, when I prepare this, I will use much less chili. No servings or quantities are given until I make this, I am just winging this for now.
Ingredients
- Vietnamese sausage, a mix of peppered and plain would be good
- quality hot dogs
- imitation crab, aka crab sticks
- imitation squid, aka squid rolls
- fresh mushrooms, white ear, oyster, your choice
- carrot
- red onion
- tomatoes
- pinch Bird's Eye Chili, seeded and finely chopped, or to taste
For the Dressing
- soy sauce
- lime juice
Instructions
- Cut the Vietnamese sausage (Cha Lua plain, and Cha Hue for peppered) in half lengthwise, then thinly slice each half. A mix of regular and pepper varieties would work well.
- Slice the hot dogs thinly at an angle. (Just a note, the shorter hot dogs tend to have the casings removed.)
- Slice the imitation crab into 1/2 inch pieces and the squid into 1/4 inch pieces.
- Cut the onion in half from top to bottom, then thinly slice each half.
- Finely slice then chop the carrot. Safe bet would be to cut the carrot into 2 inch pieces, julienne, then cut the stack in half.
- For the mushrooms, if using white ear variety, blanch that for a few minutes, drain and let cool down. Your choice of fresh mushrooms, buttons sliced, Shimeji chopped, Shiitake sliced with the stem removed would also be nice.
- For the tomatoes, cut in half and remove the seedy pulp then slice.
- Seed and finely chop one Bird's Eye chili.
- Place the prepared meats and veggies in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine. Splash with some soy sauce and a couple of tablespoons of lime juice. Toss together until all is coated well. (Keep in mind, my photo shows a very large pot, this is at a wedding so a lot of chow was made, but this was delicious! I will make this on a much smaller scale than what this photo shows.)
- Serve as a side dish with any Thai dish.
Notes
I will price then when I gather up all the supplies for this.
Inspired by seeing this dish at a party.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Crab Cakes II
Sounds good, recipe calls for 2 pounds of flaked crab meat, I am going to try this with imitation crab as well and will post my findings using this.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo crab meat, I will verify when I use imitation, (2 lb)
- 2½ cups fine breadcrumbs
- â…” cup mayo
- 5 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- â…› teaspoon Creole seasoning
- â…› teaspoon chili powder, just a pinch really
- all purpose flour, as needed for frying
- cooking oil, your preference, for frying
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add everything, and time to get your hands dirty, reach in there and mix everything together well.
- Form into 4 oz (115 gram) patties. (shape into balls then flatten).
- Heat a non stick pan with about ½ to 1 inch of cooking oil in it. When hot, flip each patty in flour to coat, and place in the hot pan, cook, flipping once, until golden brown on each side, enjoy.
Notes
I will have to price imitation and fresh crab for this recipe, for now I will say Fair value.
Crab & Shrimp Soup
I made this on 26 Feb 2018 on a whim. I used fresh chicken stock I made in my pressure cooker (perfect), added some veggies, imitation crab and some shrimp, easy and delicious!
Ingredients
- 3 cups chicken stock, OR make from a shortcut
- 6-8 cups water
- 3 medium potatoes, diced large
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 stalks imported celery, diced, plus tops chopped and reserved
- 500 grams imitation crab, chopped, (1 lb)
- 500 grams shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed, (1 lb)
- pepper, to taste
- olive oil, as needed
- 1/2 cup dry spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces
Instructions
- Add the stock and water to a large pot and add the potatoes and bay leaf, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes or so until the potatoes are nearly fork tender.
- While the potatoes are cooking, heat a non stick pan with a splash of olive oil and when hot, add the onion and diced celery. Stir often, you are not trying to brown this, just softening up onion and celery.
- When the onion and celery is softened, add that to the pot with the potatoes.
- When the potatoes are just about fork tender, add the chopped up crab sticks to the pot and just let the soup simmer on low heat. Add the broken spaghetti. Season with pepper to taste.
- While the soup is simmering and the spaghetti cooking, clean the shrimp. When the spaghetti is cooked, add the shrimp and the chopped celery tops.
- Turn off the heat and cover and the hot soup will cook the shrimp in a few minutes.
- When the shrimp are pink, remove the bay leaf, ladle into bowls and enjoy.
Notes
I will price this next time I get the imitation crab, for now, with 6 to 8 servings, this is low cost.
Shortcut: Chicken Stock (Pressure Cooker).
Variants: 1. Add bite size pieces of whitefish. 2. Add diced carrots, daikon, or mushrooms.
Just a soup I threw together, worked out great, Lee Thayer.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Authentic Slow Cooker Louisiana Red Beans & Rice with Sausage
I have been looking for a good red beans and rice recipe, I made this on 2 Mar 2018 and it is delicious! I am very impressed with this dish. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 250 grams dry red beans, soaked overnight, (1/2 lb)
- 4-6 cups water
- 4 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 500 grams smoked sausage, sliced 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick slices, (1 lb)
- 2 cups ham, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 fresh Jalapeno pepper, chopped, optional
- 8 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning, OR make from a shortcut, divided
- black pepper, to taste
- cooked rice, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a non stick pan, when melted and hot, add the onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery, and jalapeno pepper (if using) and cook and stir for a few minutes, you are not trying to brown them, just heating them all through, remove from heat and pour it all, butter and all, into your slow cooker, there, you just made a mirepoix 🙂
- Drain and rinse the beans, add to the slow cooker, then add diced ham, sliced sausage, bay leaves, 1/2 teaspoon of Creole seasoning.
- Here I added the mirepoix after I added beans, ham, and sausage. The order in which you add it does not matter at all.
- Add the stock and 4 cups of water, add more water as needed to make sure everything is covered by the liquid, also take into account the beans will expand some during cooking so do not overfill the slow cooker. Stir to mix everything together.
- Cover and set to Low setting and cook for 8 to 10 hours for the consistency of beans you prefer.
- Remove the bay leaves, stir in the remaining Creole seasoning, serve over cooked rice.
Notes
I will say Low cost for now based on 8 servings and using homemade sausage (which I will be doing). I did buy some ham to dice up just for this but forgot the price. I will price this when I get accurate numbers.
Shortcut: Creole Seasoning Mix.
Variants: 1. Use a ham hock in place of the diced ham. 2. Sausage can be Andouille, smoked sausage, kielbasa, or any sausage you prefer. 3. For creamier beans, tilt the lid on the slow cooker for the last 1-2 hours. 3. Use Cajun seasoning instead of Creole, they are nearly the same.
Provided by Slow Cooker Kitchen and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Coleslaw
This is from a good American friend, Brian, who lives in northeastern Thailand. I made this on 21 Oct 2018, and it was very well liked by the family. Excellent flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 heads green cabbage, or purple cabbage
- 1 medium onion
- 1 large carrot
- 2 cups mayo
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Coleslaw 101 basic ingredients, cabbage, onion, and carrot.
- The way I prepare cabbage is to quarter it then cut the core out of each piece at an angle, then slice each piece, the slice again crosswise.
- Add the cabbage, onion, and carrot to a large mixing bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the the mayo, sugar, vinegar, and oil.
- Whisk and you will get a nice creamy dressing.
- Pour about half of the dressing into the veggies and mix, then add the remaining dressing and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least two hours before serving, or even overnight, as this will allow the flavors to blend.
- Serve as a side dish with any meal.
Notes
Low cost.
Recipe provide by good friend, Brian Colligan, Pleasures & Pastimes (which is a great resource for gardening seeds and other items).
Thailand.
Thailand.