Author Archive
Basic Pickled Eggs
You either like them or hate them. I love them, been years since I had one. I was chatting with a friend on facebook the other day and pickled eggs came up, so here is a basic recipe, several more will follow. I made these 5 July 2017 and tested them on 12 July, outstanding! This is a great basic pickled egg recipe.
Ingredients
- 12 hard boiled eggs, peeled
- 1½ cups white vinegar
- ½ cups water
- 1 tablespoons pickling spice, whole cloves removed
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Place the eggs in a large heatproof container, a 1 quart wide mouth jar would work well.
- In a saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and carefully pour over the eggs. I fit 9 eggs in this 1 quart mason jar.
- Let cool to room temperature, cover and refrigerate the eggs for 7 days. Enjoy.
Notes
Variants: 1. Add sugar, maybe several tablespoons for a sweeter pickled egg, also try adding ground horse radish for a more intense flavor.
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs.
Pasta with Salami and Peas
This sounds really good, a definite must try for me. I you like pasta with garlic and olive oil, this should be similar.
Ingredients
- 500 grams dry spiral pasta
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 250 grams salami, thinly sliced
- 1 bunch spring onions, chopped, white and green
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- olive oil, as needed
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. The place pasta in the pot, and cook for 6 minutes. Mix in the peas. Continue cooking 4 to 6 minutes, until pasta is just tender. Drain, and return to pot.
- Heat a nonstick skillet and add the salami, it will release some fat then add the spring onion and garlic and cook until the spring onion is tender. Add the contents of the skillet to the pot with the pasta and peas.
- Mix to coat the pasta with the oil, adding just a tablespoon of olive oil at time to get the right consistency. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss to mix in, serve with garlic bread and a salad.
Notes
I will say Fair Value right now until I can price the salami.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Bacon Mashed Potato Cheese Bombs
Sounds interesting and may be worth a shot. This is a dish to prepare using leftover mashed potatoes. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 cups mashed potatoes, chilled
- bacon, as needed, 1 slice per bomb
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs, OR make from a shortcut
- Cheddar cheese, see Step 1
- salt and pepper, to taste
- wooden skewers, or toothpicks
- cooking oil, as needed for drying
- dipping sauces, as you desire
Instructions
- The original recipe stated 'chunks' of Cheddar cheese, I think a safe bet would be to use a block of Cheddar and cut it into 3/4 inch cubes.
- In a large bowl, mix together the mashed potatoes, egg, and salt and pepper. In a shallow bowl, add the bread crumbs.
- Grab a small scoop of mashed potatoes and gently form that around a cube of Cheddar.
- Roll the mashed potato ball in the bread crumbs to evenly coat it, then wrap a slice of bacon around the ball and fasten with a toothpick or wooden skewer.
- Heat a deep heavy skillet with 2 inches of oil to near 180 C but not smoking. Fry the bombs in the hot oil until golden brown brown, drain on paper towels and allow to cool for several minutes.
- Serve with sour cream or dipping sauces of your choice.
Notes
Low cost. Once I make these I will figure an accurate amount.
Shortcuts: Bread Crumbs, Sour Cream.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Ham & Cheese Pasta Salad
I was making another dish and wanted to make a pasta salad as a side and to make room in the fridge as well, glad I made this, it is excellent! Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 250 grams dry small pasta, small shells, spirals, or macaroni, (8 oz)
- 250 grams ham, cubed, (8 oz)
- 200 grams bacon, chopped, fried crispy, cooled, (7 oz)
- 125 grams Swiss cheese, cubed, (4 oz)
- 125 grams Cheddar cheese, cubed, (4 oz)
- 5 small dill pickles, sliced, Shortcut
- mayo, as needed
- black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water, to just tender, this way when it cools, it will be a perfect tender pasta for a cold salad. Drain well and place in a large bowl.
- While the pasta is cooking, go ahead and cube the cheese, ham, and cook the bacon. Here I used only Gouda cheese.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl, except the mayo and black pepper, and gently mix together.
- Start adding mayo, couple of large spoonfuls and mix, add more mayo as needed to just coat everything, not dripping with mayo. Season to taste with black pepper. Refrigerate for several hours before serving. Serve as a side or as a main dish.
Notes
The ham will cost 135 Baht, the bacon 130 Baht, Swiss cheese is half a 250 gram block so that is 90 Baht, and the Cheddar cheese is half a 250 gram block to that is 90 Baht. For 10 servings, this is about $1.30 per serving, over all, not bad.
Shortcut: Fridge Dill Pickles.
Variant: 1. In place of Swiss use Gouda or use all Gouda.
Boiled Chicken on Rice (Khao Mun Kai) (Rice Cooker)
Yep, sounds pretty boring, but this is actually quite good. This is one of the first meals I had in Thailand when I visited here my first time in 1986. This is a popular lunch dish served everywhere in Thailand, and it is inexpensive, commonly selling for 30-40 Baht a serving. There is more to this than the name implies.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs, large, skin on, bone in, or 4 breasts
- 3 cups jasmine rice, uncooked
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 6 slices ginger, peeled
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 sprigs fresh cilantro
- 1 cucumber
- 7 cups water
For the Sauce
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1½ tablespoons sugar
- 1½ tablespoons vhite vinegar
- 3 tablespoons ginger, finely minced
- 2 Bird's Eye Chilis, finely sliced
Instructions
- Rinse the rice as is normally done then add the rice to your rice cooker. Set the rice cooker aside.
- Trim excess skin from the chicken and cut the trimmings into small pieces. Place the skin trimmings in a nonstick pan on medium heat.
- Stir often until the oil releases from the skin, cook until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Remove the skin from the pan and discard or as a treat for your dog, leaving the oil created in the pan, and add the garlic.
- When the garlic is lightly browned, pour the garlic and the oil into the rice cooker. Sprinkle the salt over the rice and add the sliced ginger. We'll get back to the rice cooker in about 20 minutes.
- In a large pot add 5 cups of water and the chicken thighs, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and simmer, while it is simmering, any of the fat from the chicken, spoon that off and put into the rice cooker. Simmer for about 10-20 minutes, continuing to spoon the fat into the rice cooker. You are making broth and flavoring the rice.
- After about 20 minutes, measure out 3 cups of broth and pour that into the rice cooker, stir the rice well and now you can proceed to cook the rice as usual.
- Add 2 more cups of water to the pot with the chicken and continue to simmer for about 45 minutes.
- While the chicken is simmering, time to make the sauce. Place all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Set that aside.
- Peel the cucumber and cut into ¼ inch thick slices. Chop the cilantro.
- When the chicken and rice are both done, remove the chicken from the broth and pull out the bone from each thigh. For each serving, scoop some rice on a plate. Take a chicken thigh and slice into about ½ inch thick slices, use the edge of the knife and your hand and pick that up and place on rice. set some cucumber slices on the side of the rice and a small dish of the sauce. Spoon some broth into a bowl and sprinkle some cilantro onto the broth that is the side dish. Enjoy.
Notes
The chicken might cost 60 Baht. For 4 servings, this is about 45 cents per serving.
Crispy Sardines & Garlic Mayo
These are very good. Serve as an appetizer or with a nice pasta salad or vegetables for a light dinner. I made this on 30 Aug 2017 and is highly recommended if you like sardines in olive oil. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 tin sardines in olive oil, (120 g / 4¼ oz), Shortcut
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 cup breadcrumbs, Shortcut
- cooking oil, for frying
- chili powder, for garnish
For the Garlic Mayo
- ½ cup mayo
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1-2 tablespoons oil from the sardine can
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Drain the tin of sardines and reserve the olive oil, this is the 120 gram tin, then split each sardine in half lengthwise. Or use 3-4 pieces of homemade sardines in olive oil.
- For garlic mayo, mix all the garlic mayo ingredients. Season to taste with salt and leave it in the fridge to let flavors to build.
- Lightly coat sardines in flour, followed by egg, then breadcrumbs. Heat oil in pan and pan fry till golden brown and crispy. (I did not have breadcrumbs, totally forgot that so I used tempura flour after the egg wash, that works well too.)
- Serve hot with garlic mayonnaise and a sprinkle of chili powder.
Notes
One tin of sardines in olive oil, Ayam brand costs 59 Baht. For 2 servings, this is about 87 cents per serving.
Shortcuts: Sardines in Olive Oil, Breadcrumbs.
Chicken Galliano With Mushrooms
Oddly enough, I have half a bottle of Galliano that I have never touched. This sounds tasty and is on my to cook list.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 1 cup all purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided in half
- 250 grams fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 cup chicken broth, fresh or from powder
- 1/4 - 1/3 cup Galliano Liqueur
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Cut the chicken in half lengthwise making two thinner pieces from each breast. Roll each piece in the seasoned flour, coating each side well.
- In a heavy skillet, heat the oil and 1 1/2 tablespoon of the butter until sizzling over medium heat and cook the chicken in batches for about 12 to 13 minutes or until almost cooked through, turning halfway.
- Place the chicken on a heated platter, and cook the mushrooms until lightly browned, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic, and cook just until fragrant.
- Add the broth and liqueur and turn up heat to medium high. Return the chicken to the skillet, and cook until the sauce reduces and begins to thicken, about 6 to 8 minutes.
- Taste, and season with salt and pepper, and stir in the remaining butter until melted. Stir the parsley into the mixture and serve the chicken immediately on a platter, topped with the mushrooms and any remaining sauce.
Notes
The chicken will cost maybe 65 Baht for 4 breasts. For 4 servings this is about 48 cents per serving.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Cheeseburger Pretzel Bombs
I was sold on this with the word cheeseburger, these sound really good. I am going to write this with ingredients I have available here, including real cheese, not processed cheese as the original recipe stated. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams pizza dough, OR make from a shortcut
- Cheddar cheese, sliced very thin
- 14 beef mini meatballs, can be found at Tesco or Makro
- 1/4 cup baking soda
- 5 cups water
- 1 egg, beaten
- coarse sea salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220 C.
- Cut the dough into 14 evenly sized pieces.
- Working one at a time, stretch out a piece of dough into a long strip, about 8 inches long. Place a thin slice of cheese at the top, followed by a meatball, and roll up the cheese and meatball in the dough. Rotate halfway through rolling to ensure you are completely encasing the cheese and meat into the dough. Pull tight and use any remaining slack to cover any possible gaps/holes. Press the dough into itself to seal and place on a parchment lined or flour covered baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, cheese, and meatballs.
- In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring the 5 cups of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the baking soda and stir to dissolve. Return the pot to a boil, then, in batches of 3 to 5, add the rolled dough balls into the pot and allow to boil for 20-30 seconds, stirring gently. Remove and place back on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough balls.
- Brush each boiled ball with beaten egg and then sprinkle each with coarse sea salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the outsides have browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes, serve.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcut: Pizza Dough - follow the steps for the dough.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Green Chile & Cheese Wontons
Unique but looks good! On my to cook list for sure.
Ingredients
- 4 cups Gouda cheese, shredded
- 2/3 cup large green chilies, roasted, skinned, seeded, diced
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 500 grams wonton skins
- 1/2 avocado, mashed
- cooking oil, of your choice
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Combine cheese, chiles, onion, avocado; mix well. Working with one wonton skin at a time, spoon about 1 1/2 tsp. cheese mixture in center of each wonton. Moisten edges of wonton lightly with water. Fold wonton in half to form a triangle, pressing edges together to seal. Repeat procedure with remaining wonton skins and the remaining mixture of ingredients. Chill 20 minutes in the fridge.
- Fry wontons in a small amount of hot oil (375) until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Serve with guacamole if desired.
Notes
I cannot price this until I locate the wonton skins. This will fair priced just based on the amount of cheese used.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Jerry Juliana.
United States.
United States.
Fish Pot Pie
This recipe sounds very good and is easily modified to make it different each time it is prepared. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 750 grams fish fillets, see Step 1
- 1/2 cup celery, diced, see Step 2
- 2 cups potatoes, finely diced
- 1/4 cup onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup white wine, or chicken broth
- pinch red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 pie crust, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- For the fish, any boneless and skinless whitefish would work. Cut into bite size pieces. Pangasius would be ideal, but to change this up, go with 500 grams of pangasius and 250 grams of salmon OR even better yet, go with 400 grams of pangasius, 250 grams of salmon, and 100 grams of peeled, deveined and tail removed medium or large shrimp.
- If you live in a country where fresh fennel is sold, use 1 small bulb of fresh fennel in place of the celery.
- First, make the filling: In a large, deep-sided saute pan or Dutch oven, heat the butter over low-medium heat. Add the potatoes (can be dice with skin on or skin off), celery and onion, and stir to coat the vegetables with the butter. Cover the pan, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are just tender and the other vegetables are translucent.
- Pour in the wine, and scrape up any stuck bits from the pan. Season with red pepper flakes, thyme, salt and black pepper.
- Mix in the fish; it should begin to cook instantly from the heat in the pan. When the fish is half cooked, sprinkle on the flour, and stir to incorporate it. The fish and vegetables should get a bit clumpy as the flour cooks. This will take just a minute or two. When the flour is all incorporated (and no longer white), pour in the milk, and stir well. The sauce will begin to thicken as you bring it to a simmer.
- When the fish sauce is thickened (like a nice white sauce), remove the pan from the heat, set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 250 C. Get out a deep pie dish or 7x11 baking dish.
- Transfer the fish and vegetable filling to a deep pie dish or small casserole dish. If your filling has been refrigerated, bring it to room temperature before adding the crust. Unroll the pie crust, and stretch it over the edges of the dish. Press the crust against the sides of pie dish, so there is a nice overhang. Trim off any extra. Make a few slits in the crust and brush with the egg and water mixture.
- Set the pie on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned. Remove from the oven, and set aside for 10 minutes to let the set up. Cut and serve.
Notes
This pricing is based on using just pangasius, this fish would cost about 80 Baht for 750 grams. For 4 servings, this is about 59 cents per serving.
I think putting the fish and sauce into small serving dishes and topping each with the pie crust would work very well, this is what I intend to do when I make this.
Shortcut: Buttery Pie Crust.
Adapted from an internet recipe.