Author Archive
Sesame Mint Spread
An inexpensive appetizer with loads of possibilities! This makes just under 1 cup but goes a long ways.
Ingredients
- 100 grams white sesame seeds
- 1 bag fresh mint, about 2 palms worth of leaves
- olive oil
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Dry blend the sesame seeds in the small jar attachment that comes with most blenders. You'll likely have to tap it a few times during the process. The blending time is a judgement call.
- Tear up a bunch of mint leaves and include a few stems and add some olive oil to the blender jar. Blend again. Keep adding olive oil until you get the consistency that you desire.
- Add a bit of sea salt and stir. Done.
- Spread some of this on a thick slice of tomato and garnish with a cube or sliver of bell pepper. Yellow Bell peppers work nicely with this. Green olives on the side.
Notes
17 Baht for 100 grams of white sesame seeds, 10 Baht for a respectable size bag of mint, this is more than reasonable.
This would go nicely on a cracker with a slice of tomato and a slice of cheese. This would also go nicely on pasta too... especially cold pasta.
This would go nicely on a cracker with a slice of tomato and a slice of cheese. This would also go nicely on pasta too... especially cold pasta.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Dave Williams.
Thailand.
Chicken Wings & Basil
This is a quick and easy meal and you can make it as spicy as you wish. This is written exactly how I just seen my seen my wife make this. Most Thais do not use a recipe and even more rare is measuring anything. Serve over rice and you have a easy lunch or dinner.
Ingredients
- 250 grams chicken wing drumets
- 4-5 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 20-30 Bird's Eye Chilis
- pinch salt, to taste
- pinch powdered chicken stock
- handful Thai Basil, also know as hot basil, stems removed
Instructions
- Take the chicken wing drumets and cut each in half with a cleaver.
- Pinch off the stem end if you wish and place chilis in a mortar, light smash the chilis just a few times, you are NOT making chili paste, just light smashed chilis.
- Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat and add the chicken pieces, chilis, garlic, pinch of salt to taste, pinch of chicken stock powder. Add a bit of water, maybe 2 tablespoons, and stir everything together and let it simmer until chicken is cooked through, maybe 10 minutes, most of the water should be cook off at this point.
- Add the basil and stir together, cook for about 2-3 minutes until the basil is good and wilted. Serve over rice.
Notes
Chicken wing drumets (also called chicken wing sticks) runs about 80 Baht/kilo, this dish would cost about 40 Baht, well under $1 per person per meal, easily 4 meals.
The basil and chilis come fresh from our yard.
Provided courtesy of my wife, Rrayada Thayer.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers
I could not get my jalapeno plants going in Thailand so I made this in the US on 31 May 2020, and used Cheddar with the cream cheese. I only used 5 peppers as a trial run and I will say these are excellent peppers! I will certainly try to grow these peppers again.
Ingredients
- 1 can whole pickled jalapeno peppers, about 12 peppers
- 250 grams Cream cheese, softened, (8 oz)
- 1 cup Jarlsburg cheese, shredded, OR Swiss or Cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup spring onion, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Using a small sharp knife, cut a slit down one side of each pepper. Leaving the stem intact, remove the seeds and veins. I used a teaspoon to remove the seeds. For my trial run, I used 5 peppers from the can.
- In a bowl, mix together everything except the peppers to make the cheese filling.
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F) and line a baking sheet with foil.
- Stuff each pepper with the cheese filling. I used two teaspoons and found this rather easy, scoop a little filling with one spoon, and push it off a little at a time to fill each pepper. Place peppers on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Well under $1 per serving in the US. In Thailand, I still have not found jalapeno peppers in a store, and I have been unsuccessful trying to grow them but I will be trying again real soon.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Craig Hohnstein.
United States.
United States.
Quick Fridge Dill Pickles
This is a brine-based pickle. The reason why they are called quick is because they are ready in about 2 days. They get a bit better if you wait, but they are very pickle-ish then.
Ingredients
- 1 empty pint jar with lid, mason or reused olive or mayo jar is perfect
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- 1 handful fresh dill, chopped
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon fresh peppercorns
- cucumbers, small and short
Instructions
- Fill the jar about halfway with very hot water and dissolve the salt in the water. Add part of the peppercorns, dill, and vinegar to the hot saltwater and stir.
- Cut cucumbers lengthwise if you're making pickle spears, obviously if you want make chipped pickles just cut normally. Squeeze as many cucumbers as you can into the jar. Allow for a bit more liquid to be added if the cucumbers are not completely submerged.
- Add the rest of the dill and peppercorns.
- Let it cool down to room temperature. Put the lid on a shake it. Make sure the cucumbers are not poking up above the water. If they are, open the jar and push them back down. I made a jar of chips and a jar of spears.
- Put in the fridge... done... it's just that easy.
Notes
Low cost. I normally make two pints at a time, one spears, one chips.
Variants: 1. Add a few chili peppers to spice it up. 2. Add a teaspoon of mustard seed. 3. Add a teaspoon of pickling spice mix you can find in the spice row of most grocery stores.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Chicken Olivye (Chicken Potato Salad), made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Dill Pickle Dip, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Pickle Deviled Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Sardine Salad Sandwich, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Ham & Cheese Pasta Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Classic Tuna Salad Sandwiches, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Dill Pickle Bacon Grilled Cheese, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Deviled Egg Pasta Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Dill Pickle Cream Cheese Sandwich, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Dill Pickle Bread.
- Russian Beet Salad.
Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole I
This is another recipe where everything was processed, I changed it up here to reflect fresh ingredients. I made this on 29 Sep 2016 using diced ham in place of the bacon, and this is very good and highly recommended! Now since all slow cookers are different, this one you need to keep an eye on regarding the time then you can make adjustments based on your particular slow cooker. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 4-6 potatoes, washed, skin on
- 250 grams Cheddar cheese, shredded, (8 oz)
- 500 grams cooked bacon, see Step 1, (1 lb)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 12 eggs
- 1 cup, milk
Instructions
- For any meat used, it needs to be cooked first. Good choices would be cubed chicken, minced Italian sausage, minced or sliced breakfast sausage, or diced ham, or any combination.
- For your hash browns, wash, peel if you desire, then grate. Take the shredded potatoes and rinse them in cold water, and really squeeze them to get the water out, do this 3-4 times until the water is clear, this removes the starch, then your potatoes are ready. This photo shows the potatoes, bell peppers, onion, and ham ready. Only about ¾ of the potatoes were used.
- Now with your slow cooker, add this in layers, in this order: half the hash browns, half the bacon or meat of your choice or omit, half the onions, half the bell pepper, and half the cheese.
- Now add the remaining hash browns, remaining bacon or meat of choice, remaining onion, remaining bell pepper, and the cheese. If you like cheese, you know what to do. When you get done adding everything, it will look like this.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, pour this over the contents of the slow cooker, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook on low for 8 hours. IF YOU HAVE NOT MADE THIS BEFORE IN YOUR SLOW COOKER, THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO WATCH THE TIME NEEDED. SO PLAN ON THIS FOR A DINNER FIRST BEFORE YOU COOK OVER NIGHT FOR A BREAKFAST. AT THE 4 HOUR MARK, INSERT A BUTTER KNIFE IN THE MIDDLE AND PULL OUT, IF CLEAN, THE EGGS ARE SET AND IT IS DONE, IF RUNNY EGGS, YOU NEED TO COOK MORE, ADJUST YOUR TIME AS NEEDED. I was hungry so I took two scoops out of the pot before I thought of taking the photo when the dish is done.
- Variations, you can figure this out as well, whatever you like in an omelet can go in here, think mushrooms, tomatoes, Swiss cheese, chilis, asparagus, etc. Serve with some toast and you have a meal.
- Two scoops in my bowl, ready for dinner. The peppers and onion are crunchy, excellent flavor overall.
Notes
Nothing expensive here, this is easily under $1.00 per person.
Shortcuts: Sausage, Breakfast Sausage.
Creamy Italian Chicken
This is an excellent recipe, the sauce is very nice and creamy, the chicken is tender and juicy. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4-6 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut in half
- 1 packet dry Italian salad dressing mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/2 cup water
- 250 grams Cream cheese, softened
- 1-2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup, OR make from a shortcut
- handful fresh mushrooms, think Tesco variety pack, chopped
- cooked rice or pasta, to serve
Instructions
- Place the chicken breast halves in the slow cooker. Combine the Italian dressing mix and water until smooth, pour over top of chicken. Cover and cook on Low setting for 3 hours. NOTE: since there is very little liquid during this step, it is important to not remove the lid for the 3 hours of cooking, the lid holds in the steam and heat.
- Remove chicken to a plate, mix soup and cream cheese in the slow cooker along with liquid in the pot, then mix in mushrooms, add chicken back to the pot and spoon mixture over chicken pieces to make sure they are covered. Cover and cook 2-3 more hours on Low setting or until chicken is cooked through. NOTE about the soup: If using only 4 chicken breast OR 4 thighs, use only 1 can of soup. If using 5-6 breasts or 5-6 thighs, use 2 cans of soup, all other ingredients remain the same.
- Serve over rice or pasta.
Notes
Chicken breasts run about 88 Baht/kilo, and if you make the Italian seasoning mix and soup from shortcuts listed on this site, this is easily under $1.00 per person. If you use thighs, which would be ideal, the cost is even lower with thighs at about 65 Baht/kilo.
Shortcuts: Italian Dressing, Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Boiled Chicken
I know, you folks are like, eeeewwwwww, boiled chicken! Boiled chicken is used in many recipes, and you are making chicken broth as well, bonus! I routinely boil chicken when making chicken salad, chicken burritos, stews, casseroles, etc. If you are making a chicken based soup or stew, use the broth in place of water in the recipe. Do you have to use a whole chicken? No but your chicken pieces should have skin on and bone in, the skin, the fat, and the bones, is where the flavor is for a broth.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, OR, quarters, or thighs, see note about the chicken
- 1 onion, unpeeled, just cut in half
- 2 carrots, unpeeled, cut into 3-4 pieces
- 2 stalks celery, if you have it, just cut in 2-3 pieces, leave end on as well
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
- water
Instructions
- Place chicken in a large pot with onion, carrots, celery and peppercorns; add water to cover. Cover pot and bring to a boil; reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook for about 90 minutes, or until chicken meat is falling off of the bone.
- Here is the trick, when the meat is falling off the bones, let the chicken sit in the water until the water is cooled, this will give you more juicier chicken meat.
- Once the water has cooled, remove the chicken using several slotted spoons, and put the pot back on to a simmer. Remove the meat from the bones and use per your recipe, return the bones to the pot and continue to simmer for another 2-3 hours.
- Turn the heat off, strain the pot, now you have chicken stock, and chicken meat for your recipes, how easy is that?
Notes
What can you use? A whole chicken is cheapest if the mixed white and dark meat has no impact on your recipe. If you prefer prefer dark meat for a recipe, go with quarters but cut them apart first.
Keep in mind, you are making not only the chicken for use in a recipe, you are making a good broth as well.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
Grilled Chicken Thighs Tandoori
Takes time to marinate the chicken but well worth it. This recipe is written as it was posted, so unless feeding a large group of folks, I think cutting back on the chicken thighs but keeping all the rest as written, would work fine. Inexpensive meal! I made this on 12 Nov 2016, well worth the time to marinate! I took some step by step photos and my report is in the comments section.
Ingredients
- 16 chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
- 2 containers plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 4 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin, see note on this
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, see note on this
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- olive oil
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together yogurt, and all spices listed. Set aside. All the spices added on top of the yogurt.
- Everything mixed.
- Rinse chicken under cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken, press air out of bag, and seal. Turn the bag over several times to distribute marinade. Place bag in a bowl, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight, turning bag occasionally.
- Get your outdoor grill fired up for direct medium heat.
- Remove chicken from bag, and discard marinade. Scrape off excess marinade with a spoon, using a brush, lightly coat each side of the chicken with olive oil.
- Place chicken on the grill over direct heat, and cook about 2 minutes. Turn, and cook 2 minutes more. Then arrange the chicken to receive indirect heat, and cook approximately 35 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally, to an internal temperature of 82 C. Serve with grilled corn on the cob and grilled potatoes for a meal.
- Removed from the grill.
- Dinner!
Notes
Note about the cinnamon and cloves, you can replace these two items with 1 tablespoon of Garam Masala and add 2 tablespoons of lime juice, if you choose.
Feel free to use just thighs, or legs and thighs, or quarters. Chicken thighs will run about 65 Baht/kilo, 16 thighs could cost, I am guessing about 200 Baht. This comes out to about 75 cents per person.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Sausage, Bean, and Pasta Stew
I was looking through recipes yesterday and this dish caught my eye, as it sounds really good. But what through me off was that nearly every ingredient was canned, even the beans! No need to slow cook canned beans, which are already cooked! So this is my version. I made this on 9 July 2016, report in the comments section, and recipe modified just slightly.
Ingredients
- 250 grams Pinto beans, dry, sorted, and rinsed, (1/2 lb)
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- 3 cups chicken stock, fresh or from a powder
- 1 carrot, diced, OR a diced green bell pepper would work well here
- 500 grams sausage links, spicy or Italian, see note about this
- 1 can tomatoes, with tomatoe juice, diced
- 1 cup ditalini pasta, dry, OR use macaroni, OR spiral pasta
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1-2 cups tomato juice, as needed near the end.
Instructions
- Spread the onions over the bottom of your slow cooker and top the garlic.
- Then with the carrots.
- Then with the beans and sausage. I used Spicy Smoked Pork Sausages from Makro, yes, those 4 sausages are 500 grams.
- Mix the diced tomatoes and juice with the stock and pour over the sausages. (I use a can of Brooks brand whole peeled tomatoes in tomato juice, pour the juice into the stock, roughly chop the tomatoes and add them as well. This is the 565 gram can.)
- Cover and cook on High for 4 to 5 hours or on Low for 7 to 8 hours; the beans will be tender and begin to fall apart.
- Uncover the slow cooker, remove and transfer the sausage links to a cutting board. Stir the pasta into the stew and continue to cook, covered, until the pasta is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add tomato juice as needed to keep a good stew like consistency.
- Cut the sausage into bite size pieces and return the stew along with the parsley.
- Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on the side to sprinkle on the top if desired.
Notes
Note about the sausage, this can be done several ways. Makro has thick pork sausages (bangers) as well as beef sausages. There is also a thick sausage variety that is very similar to Kielbasa, called Spicy Smoked Sausage and they also have what is called sausage scraps, these are thick sausage pieces that are left over from from cutting up and packaging the long sausages, these are also a variety pack, some is like Kielbasa, some is garlic sausage, some is chili sausage. The sausage scraps would be ideal for this stew.
An alternative to the sausage would be dark chicken meat, cubed, think thighs. Not only would chicken make this a healthier meal, you can make your stock when you boil the chicken. Substitute 500 grams of chicken thighs, skin on and bone in, boil them until done, there is your stock to use, while the stew is cooking, simply remove the skin and bone (save for the pet dog) and roughly cube the meat and refrigerate until the step to cut up the sausage and add back to the slow cooker.
Most expensive ingredient is the sausage, at the most it would cost 250 Baht, for 6 servings this is about $1.25 per meal, for 8 servings this is about 95 cents per meal.
If using chicken, thighs are about 65 Baht/kilo, no need to do the math here, well under $1.00 per serving!
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Slow Cooked Tex Mex Chicken and Beans
A fix and forget chicken stew, I am going to try this one for sure. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried Pinto beans, rinsed
- 1 1/2 cups salsa, OR make from a shortcut on this site
- 2 tablespoons canned chipolte chiles, OR what ever chilis you have on hand, seeds removed
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 8 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on, it's flavor
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a slow cooker, add beans, salsa, chiles, flour, and 1 cup water, and stir to mix. Season chicken with salt and pepper; arrange on top of bean mixture. Scatter onion and bell pepper on top of chicken.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours. Do NOT open lid or stir.
- Remove chicken from stew; remove skin and bones (save for your dog), shred meat into large pieces and return to stew. Serve topped with sour cream and cilantro if you desire.
Notes
Chicken thighs will run about 65 Baht/kilo, 8 thighs is probably about a kilo. Beans will run about 55 Baht/500 grams. 120 Baht, the rest is minimal, comes to about 89 cents per person per meal if serving 4 people.
Shortcut: Salsa.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
