Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large heavy pan, when hot, brown the roast on both sides while seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove the roast to a plate and set aside.
Same pan add the remaining oil and add the onions and cook until they just start to soften and wilt then add the garlic and cook a few more minutes until the onions are translucent.
In a measuring cup, add the hot water and the bullion cubes and mix to dissolve, then pour that into the pan, also to the pan, add the beer, brown sugar, vinegar, and stir to mix well.
Pour the mixture, carefully, into your slow cooker insert, place the roast on top of that mixture. Switch the slow cooker to Low setting for 7-8 hours. Check for tenderness at 7 hours. If needed, continue to cook until the roast is tender to your liking.
When the roast is tender, remove from the slow cooker and place on a platter. Pour the liquid from the slow cooker into a saucepan on the stove and bring to a boil.
While the liquid is heating, mix together a slurry of 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 2-3 tablespoons of cold water, stir into the liquid until the gravy is thickened to your liking.
Serve with mashed potatoes or pasta, spoon gravy over slices of roast and potatoes.
Notes
Figure about 300 Baht/1 kilo of beef. For 4 servings, this is about $2.20 per serving.Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
1/3cupParmesan cheese, grated. plus more for serving
salt and pepper, to taste
paprika, to taste
fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
Cook the pasta in a pot of salted water until just tender, drain, and set aside.
In a large bowl, add the shrimp and season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon of paprika or according to your taste. Toss the shrimp to make sure they are all seasoned.
Heat a large non stick pan on medium heat and add the oil, when hot, add the shrimp and stir often to cook until pink on all sides, takes just a few minutes then quickly remove them from the pan to a plate.
Same pan, add the butter and onion and cook, stirring often until golden brown, then add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. Now stir in the white wine and cook this to reduce to 25% of the liquid remaining in the pan.
When the wine is reduced, stir in the cream and bring to a low boil then reduce heat to a simmer for 2 minutes. Now sprinkle on the Parmesan and stir only until smooth and creamy, simmer for a minute or two then turn off the heat, do not let it get to a boil. Season to taste with additional salt, pepper, and paprika as desired.
Stir in the shrimp.
Then add the pasta and toss to coat.
Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan and parsley.
Notes
Figure about 150 Baht/500 grams of large shrimp. For 4 servings, this is about $1.10 per serving.This recipe for Creamy Shrimp Pasta is from Natasha's Kitchen.
This is a Southern US dish and any kind of gravy on biscuits is good. You can use refrigerated biscuits or homemade, I am going the route with homemade. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
You can use a can of refrigerated biscuits and just prepare those according to the package instructions, make homemade biscuits with your favorite recipe, or you can use the shortcut for biscuits here on this site, link to that is in the Recipe Notes section.
Prepare and bake the biscuits. Remove from oven when they are done, don't forget about the biscuits.
Cook the bacon in a deep heavy pan until crispy. Remove the bacon when done, leaving the fat in the pan.
While the pan is still on low heat, stir in the flour into the bacon fat so no lumps form, then whisk in the milk, continue cooking and whisking until thickened.
Crumble the bacon and stir into the gravy, season gravy with salt and pepper to taste.
Split the biscuits in half and spoon over the gravy, couple of sunny side up eggs would be great as well. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost.Shortcut:Biscuits.Adapted from an internet recipe.
This is a from scratch pie, no canned pumpkin, for where I live, plenty of winter squash, which is a pumpkin, but depending on your location, feel free to use orange pumpkin, acorn squash, butternut, or Hubbard squash. I am really surprised I have not made this before as winter squash, called pumpkins here, is grown here locally and available everywhere. I made this on 16 Oct 2017 and it came out beyond all expectations, this was just perfect, very liked by the family, so much so, I was asked to make this again on 17 Oct. Most of the steps and photos is just to prepare the pumpkin, keep in mind, you are going to go from a whole pumpkin to making the mix, crust, and baking, this actually moves along quickly however.
750-800gramsfresh pumpkin, I used a large section from a large pumpkin, 26-28 oz)
For the Filling, after pumpkin is cooked
2cupspumpkin, cooked, peeled, and mashed
1canevaporated milk, (368 ml Thailand, 12 fl oz US)
2eggs, beaten
¾cupbrown sugar, packed
¾teaspoonground cinnamon
¾teaspoonground ginger
¾teaspoonground nutmeg
½teaspoonsalt
For the Pie Crust
1â…“cupsall purpose flour
½teaspoonsalt
½cupshortening, lard, or frozen butter that is shredded
3½tablespoonscold water
Instructions
To Cook the Pumpkin
First things first, you need to prepare then cook some pumpkin. If you have a preferred way, use that. Here are my steps I used. I bought a 3½ kilo (7 lb) pumpkin, yes, this is what is called a pumpkin here, not very attractive looking. I cut a section out, removed the seeds and weighed (I use a digital scale) and the piece was 770 g (27 oz).
Cut the piece into large chunks. I used my little rice cooker to steam this, place the chunks in the steamer basket, add water to the pot, set to Cook setting. Use your preferred way to steam the pumpkin.
About 10-15 minutes to bring the water in the rice cooker to a boil, and about 15 minutes steaming the pumpkin, done. It is cooked when it easily pierces with a fork. Turn off the rice cooker, remove the steamer basket and let the pumpkin cool, about another 20-30 minutes.
Once the pumpkin has cooled, use a pairing knife and cut off all the green skin, it comes off very easily, takes 2 minutes if that. Place the trimmed pieces in a small pot. With a potato masher, fully mash the pumpkin well, takes just a minute or two, no need for a food processor or any other kitchen devices.
To Make the Filling
Add the cooked and well mashed pumpkin to a large mixing bowl, add the rest of the Filling ingredients and mix well. I used a spoon at first then switched to a whisk, takes just a minute or two.
Now is the time to preheat your oven to 200° C (390° F).
For the Crust
Mix together the flour and salt from the Pie Crust ingredients, cut shortening, lard or butter, into the flour with a fork, add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, mix until dough is moist enough to hold together. Shape into a ball and place on a floured work counter, roll to about 1/8 inch thick and larger than your pie dish. roll the dough on the rolling pin and transfer to the dish and unroll. Press the dough in, trim away excess, flute the edges.
Assemble the Pie
Give the pumpkin another good stir, then pour into the prepared pie dish. As you can tell, I absolutely horrible at fluting a pie crust.
When the oven is heated, bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Remove from oven, place on a rack, and allow to cool.
Cut and top slices with whipped cream, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Variants: 1. Reduce sugar to ½ cup. 2. Use 1 can (15 oz / 425 g) of canned pumpkin in place of fresh pumpkin.
This is from a good friend and I trust her recipes, and this is delicious, I made this on 14 Oct 2017. The red wine imparts a nice flavor in the chops and the sauce. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
1cancondensed cream of mushroom soup, OR make from a shortcut
1-2handfulsfresh mushrooms, chopped or sliced
1/4cupred wine
3clovesgarlic, smashed and minced
Instructions
You can use standard bone in or boneless pork chops for this. I used 4 thick cut (1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, 350 to 430 grams each) boneless loin chops, read Variant 1 listed below in the Recipe Notes if you want to use these.
Place the pork chops in your slow cooker, top the chops with the mushrooms and garlic.
Mix together the wine and soup, pour over the chops. (This photo is from about an hour into cooking.)
Cover and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours. Check for tenderness at 6 hours, if tender they are ready to be served, if not tender to your liking, continue cooking and keep checking every hour. Serve with mashed potatoes and a vegetable for a complete meal.
Notes
For the pork chops I used the thick cut loin chops, 4 of them were 200 Baht. For 4 servings, this is about $1.47 per serving.Shortcut:Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.Variant: 1. Use thick cut boneless loin chops or any chops thicker than 1 inch, if you want to use these, first, pound each chop with a needle tenderizer, two, you may need to extend the cooking time for tender chops but you do risk drying them out as well, so keep checking tenderness from 6 hours on. 2. Use mushrooms you like or have available. I used Buna (brown) Shimeji, but other good choices would be White Shimeji, Shiitake, white or brown button, or even King Oyster. Regular oyster and wood ear mushrooms probably not a good idea.Provided by Slow Cooker Kitchen and the link to this recipe is here. You have to scroll down to find this recipe. United States.
Sounds really good, would be perfect when having house guests stay over. This is basically a make with what you have on hand recipe or if you do not like a particular ingredient, swap it out for something you like. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
500gramshash brown potatoes, OR make from a shortcut
150gramsfrozen spinach, thawed, water squeezed out
1onion, diced
1green bell pepper, diced
1/2cupfresh mushrooms, diced
1roma tomato, diced
1avocado, sliced
1jalapeno pepper, diced
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 190 C. Lightly butter a 9x13 baking dish.
Spread out the has browns in an even layer in the baking dish, then spread out the spinach over the potatoes. Next spread out the onion, mushrooms, and bell pepper evenly in the dish.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, stir in the garlic, salt and pepper as desired, then mix in the cheese. Pour mixture into the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.
Remove the dish from the oven, sprinkle on the diced tomato and jalapeno, place the avocado slices on the top.
Serve.
Notes
The cheese is the only costly item used here, figure 170 Baht for the cheese. For 8 servings, this is about 63 cents per serving.Shortcut:Hash Brown Potatoes.Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
This comes from a good friend, and it sounds delicious. On my to cook list for sure. Several shortcuts to use for cost savings as well as preparing dried beans. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
1packettaco seasoning mix, OR make from a shortcut
1packetdry ranch dressing mix, OR make from a shortcut
1cantoasted corn, OR 2 cups of fried corn from shortcut
1canblack beans, or 1 1/2 cups cooked from dry beans
1canred Kidney beans, or 1 1/2 cups cooked from dry beans
1cupfresh tomatoes, diced
2-4green Bird's Eye chilies, chopped
tomato juice, as needed
Instructions
Brown the ground beef in a medium sized pot, drain the fat, then add the water and the taco seasoning and mix together.
Drain and rinse the canned beans and if using those, add beans to the pot, plus the corn, tomatoes, chilies, ranch dressing and stir everything together.
Adjust the soup to your desired consistency with tomato juice. Simmer until hot and everything is heated through.
Serve.
Notes
Figure about 150 Baht for the beef. For 4 servings, this is about $1.10 per serving.Shortcuts:Taco Seasoning, Ranch Dressing Mix, Fried Corn.Recipe and photo provided courtesy of good friend, Jerry Collins.
United States.
This sounds really good. For where I live, Caesar dressing is not stocked in town, only in the city, but Italian dressing is stocked and can be made into Caesar dressing, win win. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
1cupcreamy Caesar salad dressing, OR make from a shortcut
1-1 1/2cupsParmesan cheese, grated
black pepper, as desired
Optional, for a thicker crust
1/2cupsour cream, OR make from a shortcut
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 190 C, lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter.
Sprinkle the meat on both sides with black pepper and some of the Parmesan cheese, do not use any salt. Place the chicken in the baking dish.
Pour 1/4 cup of salad dressing over each piece, then sprinkle remaining Parmesan on each one. Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until juices run clear.
Change the oven to broil and continue to cook the chicken for 2-4 minutes or until the chicken is nice and golden colored. Remove from the oven and cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.
Serve with mashed potatoes, pasta, or rice, and a vegetable.
Optional, for a thicker crust
Mix the sour cream into the dressing, and just follow the steps above as stated.
Notes
Figure about 70 Baht for the chicken, and 150 Baht for the Parmesan. For 4 servings, this is about $1.62 per serving.Shortcuts:Caesar Salad Dressing, Sour Cream.Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
This sounds very good, and will give me a chance to test out a new bottle of curry powder I recently bought. This is Indian curry powder (yellow), not Thai curry. On my to cook list.
500gramschicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into strips, (1 lb)
salt and pepper
2½teaspoonscurry powder, divided
3tablespoonscooking oil, divided
1onion, finely diced
4clovesgarlic, minced
1tablespoonfresh ginger, grated, or ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon powder
2cupschicken broth
1tablespooncornstarch
2teaspoonssugar
1cupfrozen peas, no need to thaw
¼cupplain Greek yogurt
¼cupfresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
After the chicken is sliced into strips, about ¼ inch thick or so, spread them out and sprinkle with about ¾ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of curry powder, mix together.
Using a large non stick pan, heat 1½ tablespoons of oil on medium high heat, when hot but not smoking, add the chicken in a single layer and cook, stirring often to just lightly brown them, no need to cook all the way through, about 3 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Reduce the heat on the pan to medium and add the rest of the oil, and the onion and cook until softened and translucent, then stir in the garlic, ginger, and remaining curry powder and cook until fragrant, maybe a minute or so, stir often.
Whisk the cornstarch, sugar, and a pinch of salt into the broth then add the broth to the pan, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. Return the chicken to the pan along with the peas and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, takes just a few minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the yogurt and cilantro, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.
Serve with steamed rice.
Notes
Figure about 70 Baht for the chicken. For 4 servings, this is about 52 cents per serving.Variant: 1. Replace the chicken with beef or large prawn.
250gramsCream cheese, softened, this is 1 standard block
100gramsSharp Cheddar cheese, grated
3/4cuponion, minced or shredded
2clovesgarlic, smashed and finely minced
1/4teaspoonchili powder
8slicesbacon
16toothpicks
Instructions
In a medium sized bowl, mix together the cream cheese, cheddar, onion, chili powder, and garlic. Set aside. Preheat your oven to 200 C.
When peeling the chilies take care not to damage them. Make a slit down the length of each chili and remove the seeds. Stuff each chili with the cheese mixture.
Use a toothpick to secure one end of a slice of bacon at the stem end, wrap the bacon around the chili, try not to overlap, and wrap towards the pointy end, secure with another toothpick.
Place the chilies on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, then switch the oven to broil (top coil for counter top ovens) and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the bacon is golden brown.
Serve.
Notes
The cream cheese will cost 120 Baht, the bacon about 100 Baht. For 8 servings as appetizers, this is about 80 cents per serving.Provided courtesy of good friend, Jerry Juliana.
United States.
