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Sausage & Peppers Pasta
Peppers and Sausage, great meal, add macaroni and cheese, even better. This recipe screams of a shortcut to make the sausage and tomato sauce, both are so easy. I made this on 17 Dec 2018 and have updated it with my findings. This is an excellent dish and was well liked by the Thai family as well. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams bulk Italian sausage, (1 lb), (Shortcut)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 red bell peppers, diced, 2 if small, 1 if large
- 280 grams pasta shells, or any bite site pasta, (10 oz)
- 2 cups pasta sauce, (Shortcut)
- 4 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder, (Shortcut)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, shredded, 200 grams is perfect
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
- salt and pepper, as desired
Instructions
- My homemade pasta sauce, stock made from powder, pasta (used maccheroni No. 32), diced onion, bell peppers, and garlic prepped and ready.
- In a large pot (I use my pressure cooker pot), add the sausage (I used homemade link sausage with casings removed), and cook until mostly no longer pink.
- Add in the onion, garlic, and bell pepper and cook until the onion is soft.
- Add in the pasta and mix until coated with the sausage fat.
- Add in the pasta sauce and chicken stock, season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Simmer until the pasta is just tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Stir in the cream and Mozzarella and mix until the cheese is melted in.
- Garnish with the fresh chopped parsley if desired, serve and enjoy.
Notes
If making the sausage from the shortcut, this is about 55 Baht/500 grams. The cheese will cost about 80 Baht. For 6 servings, this is about 69 cents per serving.
Shortcuts: Italian Sausage, Pasta Sauce, Chicken Stock (Pressure Cooker).
Variants: 1. Use pork stock in place of chicken stock. 2. For the sausage, use Spicy Italian, Cumberland, or even Jimmy Dean.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Skillet Cheeseburger Mac & Cheese
Sounds perfect, on my to cook list!
Ingredients
- 500 grams dry elbow macaroni
- 500 grams ground beef
- 1 clove garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes, from a can of whole tomatoes
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups Cheddar cheese, divided
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the macaroni to just tender, and drain.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium high heat and the garlic and beef, brown the beef, breaking up the meat as you cook. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then drain excess fat. Add tomatoes and milk, then bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes.
- Mix in the pasta and add a handful of Cheddar and stir to combine then add more cheese, one handful at a time and stir to mix while adding. Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top and cover with lid. Simmer until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 1 minute.
- Sprinkle the top with the parsley and serve.
Notes
Figure about 100 Baht for the beef, and 180 Baht for the cheese. For 4 servings, this is about $2.10 per serving.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Boiled Potatoes with Butter
Basic recipe but sounds very good. On my to cook list, sounds like a perfect side dish, and I like boiled potatoes, this would be pretty flavorful. New potatoes would be the small round ones, I will just use good clean potatoes they stock at Tesco once in a while.
Ingredients
- 500 grams new potatoes, washed well, no need to peel
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise, no need to peel!
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- kosher salt, generous amount
- 2-4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place the potatoes, garlic (no kidding, just cut the head in half and toss in), bay leaf, and peppercorns in a pot add water to cover by about an inch and season generously with salt,. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer and cook the potatoes until fork tender, about 5 to 8 minutes depending on their size, may be 10-15 minutes for local potatoes.
- Drain the potatoes and discard the bay leaf, garlic, and peppercorns. For large potatoes, cut in half. Toss with the butter and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve as a side dish.
Notes
Low cost.
Variant: Cut the potatoes in half and soak in water with the garlic, peppercorns, bay leaf, and salt for a few hours, then cook.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Slow Cooker Whole Duck
Sounds good, and easy. Key thing is to elevate the duck above the bottom of the slow cooker and the Low temp setting on the cooker. On my to cook list.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
- Cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 1 whole duck
- oranges, as needed, quartered
- fresh carrots, as needed
- onions, as needed
Instructions
- Prep the duck by removing the giblets from the inside (if a local bought duck from an open market, remove the head, neck, and feet if they are still attached). Trim off any fat around the cavity open but do not discard, just set that aside, you will need that in a few minutes.
- Rinse the duck inside and out. pat dry with paper towels. Place quartered oranges inside the duck, plus the fat you trimmed off. Close the cavity opening best you can with toothpicks.
- Place several carrots cut in half lengthwise and/or onions that are peeled and cut in half on the bottom of your slow cooker, this is to keep the duck elevated above the bottom where the fat will collect.
- Heat a large non stick pan and place the duck, breast side down in the pan, cook until the breast is lightly browned. Remove the duck from the pan and place breast side up on 2 layers of cheesecloth that is large enough to wrap around the duck, pick the duck up with the cheesecloth and set on top of the vegetable in the slow cooker, loosely push down the cheesecloth around the duck. Prick the skin, not the meat on the breast in several places, this helps allow the fat to render out but results in juicy meat. Reason for the cheesecloth is so you can lift the duck out without it falling apart when it is done cooking. This is a fall off the bone duck.
- Cook on Low setting for 6 to 7 hours. Check the fat level at the 3 hour mark, remove excess fat if the duck is resting in the fat. Reserve the fat, great for cooking fried potatoes.
- At 6 to 7 hours, check the duck for tenderness, should be fall off the bone tender, when ready, lift the duck out with the cheesecloth to a platter, serve.
Notes
I have to buy another duck, last time I bought one, I think it was 250 Baht, but I will verify this when I buy a duck. I will say fair value for now until I confirm the cost.
Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup
I like chicken noodle soup, and it is apparent that every culture has their own version. There is the Thai version, the US version, and now I have found the Chinese version, and this version is based on simplicity. I think we could learn a lot from the Chinese way of cooking. This is a modified version of the original recipe as I am going to state making the broth, and using dried Chinese egg noodles.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs, skin on, bone in
- 2 1/2 cups Chinese egg noodles, cooked, see Step 4
- 2 bunches bok choy, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 1 tablespoon spring onion, finely sliced
Instructions
- First thing you need to make is the broth, which will give you broth and the chicken meat needed for the recipe. In a pot, add the chicken legs, and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the legs are cooked through. During the cooking, skim off any scum on the surface. Now you just made broth and cooked the chicken legs.
- Remove the legs to a plate and strain the broth, retain 4 cups for use in this recipe. And retain the rest of the broth to use for cooking the noodles.
- Using two forks, shred the chicken meat and discard the skin, bones and cartridge (good treat for your dog).
- After retaining 4 cups of broth, add the rest to a pot, add the dry noodles, add water as needed to about 2 inches above the noodles and bring to a boil and cook until the noodles are tender.
- In another pot heat the 4 cups of broth to a simmer, season with salt and white pepper powder (white pepper powder is important, it is strong and imparts a great flavor, mix that in well).
- When at a simmer, add the noodles and the Bok Choi, when the Bok Choi is wilted, spoon about a cup of noodles into two bowls, top with the shredded chicken, pour in extra broth to cover the noodles.
- Serve.
Notes
Low cost.
This recipe for Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup is from China Sichuan Food.
Chinese Tomato Fish
This sounds really good. This tailored version of a popular Sichuan water boiled fish soup dish and this is the non spicy version. Now unless you can get your hands on a 1 kilo Grass Carp (you have to clean yourself), go with any 750 grams of boneless and skinless whitefish fillets, which is my plan. On my to cook list.
Ingredients
For the Fish & Marinade
- 750 grams whitefish fillets, slice at an angle, about 1/4 inch thick
- 2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
- 2 spring onions, whites, sliced
- pinch salt and pepper
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
For the Soup
- 2 large tomatoes, or go with 5 plum tomatoes
- 100 grams fresh Shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 cup celery, cut into 1 inch sections
- 1/4 red onion, cut into pieces
- handful fresh coriander, chopped
- 2 spring onions, chopped
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
- 8 cups hot water
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In large bowl, whisk together the corn starch, cooking wine, spring onion, ginger, salt and pepper, and egg white. Add the fish slices and marinate for 1 hour.
- When the fish is ready, peel the tomatoes and dice. In a large pot on medium heat 2 tablespoons of oil and add the spring onion and garlic until aromatic, add the diced tomatoes and reduce the heat to low and cook for about 7 to 10 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and lots of juice is released. Add 8 cups of hot water and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the celery, red onion, and mushrooms and cook for another 10 minutes, season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Turn up the heat to medium and add the fish slices and marinade and stir, cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the fish slices turn white, remove from heat and carefully pour into a large serving bowl.
- Optional, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan or wok until slightly smoking and pour into the soup.
- Sprinkle coriander and and spring onion on the top and serve.
Notes
Low cost.
Variant: For a spicy version, add 2-4 chopped red Thai Bird's Eye Chilies, stems removed, to the oil in Step 5, then mix into the soup after pouring on top.
This recipe for Chinese Tomato Fish is from China Sichuan Food.
Bottle Gourd Soup
This is a standard Thai soup, very inexpensive. This is a side dish to a Thai meal. Measurements are estimates based on the size of the gourd you are using, my wife made this today and used about a 5 inch diameter gourd.
Ingredients
- 1 bottle gourd, sliced into this pieces
- 1 small onion, chopped
- salt, to taste
- chicken stock powder, to taste
Instructions
- As you slice up the gourd, place in a large bowl of water. Add the chopped onion to a medium size pot.
- Drain the gourd slices and add to the pot. Add water to the pot and cover the gourd by about an inch, bring to a boil. Add chicken stock powder and salt to taste.
- Once boiling, reduce to a simmer for 10-15 minutes. Spoon into a large bowl, serve, just that easy.
Notes
Low cost.
Variant: Boil some chicken when cooking to make the stock and to add a bit of meat to the soup.
Watched my wife, Rrayada Thayer make this.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Shrimp Egg Foo Young (鲜虾芙蓉蛋)
This is an adaption of the classic Cantonese dish, Egg Foo Young. On my to cook list.
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 2 fresh Shiitake mushrooms, stem removed, cut into shreds
- 100 grams bean sprouts, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup fresh shrimp, pealed, deviened, tail removed
- 2 spring onions, green and white, cut into 1 inch pieces
- pinch salt and pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon Chinese 5 Spice powder
- cooking oil, for frying
For the Gravy
- 1/2 cup chicken broth, fresh or from powder
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Cut the cleaned shrimp into 3/4 inch pieces and place in a small bowl, sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over the shrimp and mix in, set aside.
- In a large bowl or large measuring cup, add the eggs, a pinch of salt, and the Chinese 5 Spice powder and whisk the eggs. Add the mushrooms, bean sprouts, spring onion, and shrimp. Mix well.
- In a small pot add the gravy mixture and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes until bubbly and thickened.
- In a small pan, 8-9 inches, heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil on medium heat. When the oil is hot, pour in 1/3 of the egg mixture. Cook for about 4-5 minutes or until the bottom is gold brown, flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes more or until golden brown. Remove to a plate. Repeat two more times.
- Spoon over the gravy and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost.
Variant: Replace the Chinese 5 Spice powder with White Pepper powder.
This recipe for Shrimp Egg Foo Young is from China Sichuan Food.
Egg Foo Young with Steamed Rice (芙蓉煎蛋é¥)
This is a classic Cantonese dish not to be confused with Foo Young Egg (蒸芙蓉蛋) which is the basic Chinese Steamed Egg. This is a leftover recipe as the meat ingredient is Roast Red Pork to make it a more Thai style dish. If you have the desire, you can make Chinese Char Sui (which is basically Roast Red Pork). You can top this with either light soy sauce or the gravy as listed here.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 fresh Shiitake mushroom, stem removed, cut into shreds
- 1 piece Roast Red Pork, leftover piece, shredded, about a tablespoon or so
- 20 grams bean sprouts, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 spring onions, green and white, cut into 1 inch pieces
- pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil, for frying
- steamed rice, for serving
- 1 spring onion, sliced for garnish
For the Gravy
- 1/2 cup chicken broth, fresh or from powder
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the eggs and a pinch of salt and whisk, then add the pork, mushrooms, bean sprouts, and spring onion and mix well.
- In another small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the Gravy ingredients. set aside.
- Add some steamed rice to a plate.
- Heat the oil in a small non stick pan over medium low heat, when hot, slowly pour in the egg mixture and use the spatula to to keep the mixture into a round patty. Cook for about 3 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown, the egg over and cook until golden brown on the bottom. Flip the egg over again, fold in half, remove from the pan and place on top of the rice on the plate.
- In a small pot add the gravy mixture and heat over medium high heat bubbly and well thickened, about 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously. Transfer to a small bowl.
- Sprinkle the Egg Foo Young with sliced spring onion and spoon on some gravy, enjoy.
Notes
Low cost as the Roast Red Pork is a leftover from another meal.
Variant: Omit the Gravy and simply top with light soy sauce.
This recipe for Egg Foo Young is from China Sichuan Food.
Roast Red Pork (Char Siu)
This is Chinese in origin, but adapted to Thai cooking. This recipe is from a seasoning packet, as many westerners seem to be cautious with using these. This is straight forward and easy. And keep in mind, the Lobo brand packet has two packets inside for making this dish twice, cost savings right there. This packet is available in the US at most Asian markets. This is a very nice, mild flavor, the red is not from chili powder.
Ingredients
- 600 grams pork loin, (about 1â…“ lb)
- 1 packet package has 2 packets, Lobo brand package
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Cut the loins into 1 inch thick strips about 6 to 8 inches long.
- Mix 1 packet of seasoning in the ½ cup water in a shallow bowl, then add the pork loin in a single layer, turn the loins every 15 minutes or so. Marinate for 2-3 hours.
- This is the package I use, excellent quality, Lobo brand.
- Heat a large non stick pan on low heat, add the loin strips in a single layer, cover and cook for 5 minutes, turn over, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook turning occasionally until tender, about 5-10 minutes more.
- Transfer to a plate.
- Slice and serve with rice, vegetables, and Roast Pork Gravy if desired (also available in Lobo brand).
Notes
Pork loin would cost about 75 Baht/600 grams. For 4 servings, this is about 56 cents per serving.