Author Archive
Whitefish in Tomato Sauce
This is excellent, served over pasta it is basically fish pasta, excellent flavor. I made this on 27 Nov 2016 and even my Thai wife gave this two thumbs up. The original recipe called for baking this, this is easily done in a skillet on the stove top and is how this is written now. Pangasius or any whitefish can be used. Recipe modified by my findings. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 Pangasius fillets, cut into large pieces, about 750 grams of fillets
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce, OR make from a shortcut
- olive oil, as needed
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- paprika, to taste
- white pepper, to taste
- ground nutmeg, to taste
- all purpose flour, as needed
- fresh basil, chopped, for the sauce and for garnish
Instructions
- Add the fillet pieces to a large bowl, season to your liking with the salt, black pepper, white pepper, paprika, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In a small pot, heat a splash of olive oil and add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent, then add the chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce and some fresh basil. Cook until the sauce to soften the tomatoes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Take the fish pieces and roll them in some flour to coat them all, add these to a large skillet heated to medium low with a splash of olive oil and brown both sides until the fish is just cooked through. Fish was cooked in 3 batches.
- When the fish is done, reduce heat to a low simmer and pour in the tomato sauce and mix the fish pieces gently into the sauce, simmer to heat through. This is after all the fish had been returned to the pan and the sauce just pour over them.
- Garnish fresh chopped basil if desired and serve over pasta of your choice or with potatoes and butter on the side.
Notes
Pangasius fillets will cost about 112 Baht/kilo. For 4 servings, this is about 82 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Tomato Sauce.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Whitefish Fillets with Garlic
Pangasius or any whitefish fillets can be used. Sounds really good. This is a starter recipe and the fillets are seasoned to your taste. On my to cook list.
Ingredients
- Pangasius fillets, amount is up to you
- 4-6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced, if a lot of fillets, use more garlic
- cayenne pepper, to taste
- salt, to taste
- olive oil, as needed
- butter, as needed
- fresh parsley, chopped, as needed
Instructions
- Cut each fillet in half, then rub the fillets with salt, cayenne pepper, and the garlic, place in a bowl and coat well with olive oil, place in the fridge for an hour.
- Heat a large pan on medium low heat with the oil from the fillets, when hot, add the fillets and pour in the remaining oil from the bowl. Cook for 3-5 minutes then flip the fillets and continue cooking until the fish is no longer translucent and cooked through, checked by easily flaking with a fork.
- Serve with a pat of butter on each piece and sprinkled with fresh parsley. A salad would make this a good meal.
Notes
I bought 3 Pangasius fillets a week ago at Tesco for 65 Baht, 4 fillets may cost 100 Baht, max. Feel free to use Giant Sea Perch as well but you will have to fillet yourself unless bought from a market, and the price is higher as well. For 4 fillets, figuring 4 servings, the cost is about 74 cents per serving.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Fish Patties
This involves grinding fish, sounds odd I am sure, but this is a way to use fish with a lot of Y bones, fish that may otherwise be discarded. As long as the fish is filleted with skin off, there is no need to remove Y bones, just run through the medium grind plate on your grinder two times. I would NEVER recommend doing this Pangasius or Barramundi, but this does sound reasonable for Tilapia, Featherbacks (maybe), and some ocean fish.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo white fish fillets, ground with medium plate
For each kilo of fish, mix this in by hand
- 1 cup saltine crackers, crushed
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 small onion, finely diced
Instructions
- Grind the fish fillets using the medium plate on your hand or electric grinder, for every 1 kilo of ground fish, add the ingredients listed and mix in by hand. Form into patties and pan fry in a large skillet, cast iron would be a good choice, with a combination of olive oil and butter. Serve with sides of your choice.
- Or you can pack this into a loaf pan or two, spread some ketchup on the top and bake at 180 C until the cooked through then serve slices as you would the patties.
- You can also make a large batch of this, form into patties and freeze for later use.
Notes
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Fabulous Fish II
Now I cannot vouch for the 'fabulous' part of the recipe name until I make this but it does sound very good. This is a separate recipe due to the major change in spice used. Pangasius is listed here, which are boneless and skinless fillets but any white fish will work.
Ingredients
- 4 Pangasius fillets
- butter, as needed
- soy sauce, as needed
- garlic powder, to taste
- dried rosemary, to taste
- 3-4 plum tomatoes, chopped
Instructions
- In a large pan, cast iron would be ideal, heat a generous amount of butter on low heat. Season the fillets on both sides with garlic powder and rosemary to your taste, then add to the pan, cook for a few minutes, then flip and add the soy sauce (about 3-4 tablespoons) and the tomatoes, cover and simmer for a few minutes until the fish flakes easily. Serve with a mixed vegetable on the side or even some easy mac & cheese.
Notes
I bought 3 Pangasius fillets a week ago at Tesco for 65 Baht, 4 fillets may cost 100 Baht, max. Feel free to use Giant Sea Perch as well but you will have to fillet yourself unless bought from a market, and the price is higher as well. For 4 fillets, figuring 4 servings, the cost is about 74 cents per serving.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Fabulous Fish I
Now I cannot vouch for the 'fabulous' part of the recipe name until I make this but it does sound very good. Pangasius is listed here, which are boneless and skinless fillets but any white fish will work.
Ingredients
- 4 Pangasius fillets
- olive oil, as needed
- butter, as needed
- soy sauce, as needed
- black pepper, to taste
- cayenne pepper, to taste
- 3-4 plum tomatoes, chopped
Instructions
- In a large pan, cast iron would be ideal, heat a generous amount of butter and olive oil on low heat. Season the fillets on both sides with pepper and cayenne pepper to your taste, then add to the pan, cook for a few minutes, then flip and add the soy sauce (about 3-4 tablespoons) and the tomatoes, cover and simmer for a few minutes until the fish flakes easily. Serve with a mixed vegetable on the side or even some easy mac & cheese.
Notes
I bought 3 Pangasius fillets a week ago at Tesco for 65 Baht, 4 fillets may cost 100 Baht, max. Feel free to use Giant Sea Perch as well but you will have to fillet yourself unless bought from a market, and the price is higher as well. For 4 fillets, figuring 4 servings, the cost is about 74 cents per serving.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Slow Cooker Creamy Ranch Chicken
Sounds really good, there is also two shortcuts you can make as well for additional savings. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo chicken thighs, boneless and skinless OR use breasts
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 packet dry Italian salad dressing mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 125 grams Cream cheese, this is 1/2 of a standard block, cubed
- 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Add the soup and dressing mix to your slow cooker and mix, slowly whisk in the water and mix until little to no lumps are present then stir in the bell pepper. Add the chicken, cover and cook on Low setting for 6-8 hours or on High setting for 3-5 hours. Check the tenderness of the chicken at the first time shown.
- When the chicken is tender, add the Cream cheese and the Parmesan cheese and cook for another 30 minutes, covered. Stir the sauce to ensure the Cream cheese is fully blended in. Serve over rice or pasta.
Notes
Chicken thighs (you would have to debone them and remove the skin) runs about 73 Baht/kilo, breasts would run about 61 Baht/kilo. The Cream cheese would be about 60 Baht for a 1/2 block, and the Parmesan would be about 50 Baht. For 4 servings this is about $1.35 per serving, less for 6 servings. Make the shortcuts for greater savings.
Shortcuts: Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, Dry Italian Dressing Mix.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Creamy Garlic Parmesan Mac & Cheese
Sounds really good! Since 3 types of cheese is used, this is not a low cost dish.
Ingredients
- 500 grams dry pasta, macaroni, spirals, any bite size pasta will work
For the Topping
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
For the Sauce
- 1/4 cup butter, this is 1/4 block of 227 gram butter
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 4 1/2 cups milk
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon chicken stock powder
- 3/4 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, divided
- 3/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water until just tender, drain and rinse with cold water, set aside.
- Preheat your oven to 190 C.
- In a large oven proof pan melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat, then add in the panko bread crumbs and stir to coat and cook until golden brown, transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together the corn starch and 1/2 cup of the milk, whisk until lump free, set aside.
- Using the same pan you made the bread crumbs in, melt the 1/4 cup of butter on medium and add the garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes, whisk in the flour and whisk continuously, and cook for about 2 minutes then reduce heat to low and whisk in 4 cups of the milk, about 1/2 cup at a time. Bring this to a boil until beginning to thicken. Add the corn starch mixture and stir into the sauce to thicken it completely, season with salt and pepper to your taste and then stir in the chicken stock powder.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the Cheddar cheese, 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, and the Mozzarella cheese. Stir until all the cheese is melted into the sauce, then add the pasta and mix until completely coated with the sauce. At this point if you are using an oven safe pan, top with the panko bread crumbs and the remaining Parmesan cheese and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes until bubbly. If you do not have a oven safe pan, spread the mac and cheese into a baking dish, then top with the panko bread crumbs and the remaining Parmesan cheese and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes until bubbly.
- Cool for 5 minutes and serve.
Notes
Cheddar cheese would cost about 70 Baht for just under half a 250 gram block, Parmesan would run about 150 Baht, and Mozzarella about 70 Baht for half a block of 200 grams. For 6 servings, this is about $1.42 per serving.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
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Bacon Wrapped Pulled Pork Pineapple
Just as the name states, this is a pineapple, filled with pulled pork and BBQ sauce, wrapped in bacon, and grilled. No quantities are given except you do need one whole pineapple to start with. You can make this with shredded chicken and BBQ sauce as well. I list this in the Leftover section as well since there is no need to make pulled pork just for this, a pineapple is not that big, but also consider friends and family, you may want to start with 2 pineapples. Photo courtesy of Ed Crean. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 pineapple
- BBQ pulled pork, OR BBQ pulled chicken, cooked, so plan ahead
- BBQ sauce, OR make from a shortcut
- bacon, as needed to wrap the pineapple
Instructions
- Light your grill, think charcoal and get an even bed of coals going. Move the coals or lift the grate to prevent burning the bacon, no need to cook the bacon like in a frying pan.
- Cut the top off the pineapple, peel then slice in half lengthwise. Remove the core. With the pineapple sides lying on their sides, fill one piece, heaping with either pulled pork and BBQ sauce or pulled chicken and BBQ sauce, place the other pineapple piece on top and secure the two together with skewers or kitchen twine, then wrap with bacon, amount is up to you.
- Place this on your heated grill and cover, turn the pineapple occasionally to cook all the bacon but do not burn it. When the bacon is done, set the pineapple on a platter and slice and let people dig in. Serve with your favorite BBQ sides such as corn on the cob, potato salad, etc.
Notes
No pricing for this but I will list this is low cost since you would likely use leftovers to make this.
Shortcuts: BBQ Sauce, Pulled Pork, Pulled Chicken.
Recipe inspired courtesy of good friend, Walt Chesman.
United States. Photo courtesy of Ed Crean.
United States.
United States. Photo courtesy of Ed Crean.
United States.
Rye Sourdough Starter
Provide from a good friend in Phuket. This makes a pure rye sourdough starter, no yeast involved, this will start with the yeast in the flour and natural airborne yeast. You can make this in any quantity but the ratio is 1:1 for flour and water, even when feeding.
Ingredients
- ½ cup rye flour, to start with, you will need more
- ½ cup water, to start with, you will need more
Instructions
- Day 1, using a sterile glass or ceramic bowl, mix the flour and water and put a loose lid on top, like a plate. Leave this sit on the counter in the kitchen. Remember, do not use a metal bowl or lid, and only stir with a wooden spoon.
- Day 2, mix in another ½ cup of rye flour and ½ cup of water, put the loose lid back on and leave on the counter.
- Day 3, mix in another ½ cup of rye flour and ½ cup of water, put the loose lid back on and leave on the counter. Photo shows the bubbles already forming. Photo provided courtesy of good friend, Daniela Dalaa Payerl.
- Day 4, the starter should have bubbles forming and have a pleasant sour smell to it, at this point it is ready to use in a recipe, then feed and store in the fridge or you can feed it again with a lower amount but same 1:1 ratio (¼ cup of each water and flour) and then store the dough pet in the fridge. (Name 'dough pet' is from the author of this recipe.)
Notes
Dough Pet, I love the name, and that is essentially what a sourdough starter is.
Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan
Sounds really good and is a dump and forget recipe with easy available ingredients. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo chicken breast fillets
- 200 grams Mozzarella Cheese, sliced
For the Sauce
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped, with juice
- 1 can tomato paste, this is the really small can
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray (shortcut listed below) or grease lightly with butter. Mix all of the Sauce ingredients in the slow cooker, then add the chicken and toss that a little to get the chicken coated. Cover and cook on Low setting for 4-6 hours or High setting for 3-5 hours.
- When the chicken is cooked through and tender, place the cheese slices on the top and cook for another 15 minutes, covered. Serve on top of pasta.
Notes
Chicken breast fillets run about 77 Baht/kilo. The cheese will run 142 Baht for a 200 gram block. For 6 servings this is about $1.08 per serving.
Shortcut: Cooking Spray.
Adapted from an internet recipe.