Author Archive
Bisquick
Bisquick is a go to for quick baking of biscuits, dumplings, etc. I have not seen this available here so I did some research and found this shortcut to make your own.
Ingredients
- 6 cups all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 cup vegetable shortening
Instructions
- Sift flour, baking powder, and salt several times into a large bowl.
- Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 months.
- Use whenever your recipe calls for Bisquick Mix.
Notes
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Zucchini Tart, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Creamy Chicken Casserole.
- Cream Cheese Sausage Balls.
- Corn, Beef, and Biscuit Casserole.
- Lasagna Pot Pie.
- Cheesy Italian Chicken Pot Pie.
- Easy Chicken Pot Pie.
- Mashed Potato Pancakes.
- Tuna Bake.
- Easy Homemade Biscuits.
- Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie.
- Macaroni And Cheese Ham Pie.
- Sausage Muffins.
- Strawberry Shortcake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Impossible Pumpkin Pie, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Easy Apricot Pie, made it, GO-TO recipe.
Bleu Cheese Salad Dressing I
Sounds like a very good dressing.
Ingredients
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup mayo
- 4 ounces Bleu cheese, crumbled
- â…› teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Mix all until smooth, electric mixer is best but not required. Tightly cover and refrigerate, use within 10 days.
Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf
I like meatloaf, easy to prepare and delicious with mashed potato or just boiled potatoes and a green veggy. I got this recipe from my Dad, so it gets 5 stars as being good! Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500-750 grams ground beef, OR ground pork
- 1 cup potato chips, crushed, BBQ flavored if available
- 1/2 cup butter cracker crumbs, think Magic brand, similar to Ritz but costs less
- 1 egg, large
- 1/8 cup mustard
- 1/4 cup ketchup, OR make from a shortcut on this site
- 1 spoonful relish, sweet or dill, no worries
- 1/4 cup onion, diced, just dice a small onion
- 2 tablespoons pickle juice
- 4-6 slices bacon
- Cheddar cheese, sliced, use real cheese!
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except bacon and cheese, easiest way to mix this is with your hands.
- Take half of the meat mixture and press into a baking dish.
- Cut the Cheddar Cheese into slices and place on top of meat mixture.
- Top the Cheddar Cheese with remaining meat mixture.
- Lay slices of bacon on top of the meat mixture (it will cook while the meatloaf does).
- Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until cooked through. Let rest 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Enjoy! Served with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.
Notes
Not a cheap meal, but less expensive if using pork and Magic brand crackers. Minced pork is 125 Baht per kilo, this would be less than that for the meat, a few slices of imported cheese, a few baht more but you can get a lot of meals out of cheese. For beef, not sure of the price as that is not available here. At 6 meals, probably a few more, I would say $1 or less per person.
Shortcut: Tomato Ketchup.
Provided courtesy of my Dad, Richard Thayer.
United States.
United States.
Pork, Cabbage, and Carrot Soup
My wife makes this about once a month, feeds the family for a 3 days or so. Very easy and economical. This is a base recipe, use items you have on hand or omit items you do not like. This is never made the same every time.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo minced pork
- 1 large carrot, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
- 1 white radish, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
- handful Chinese cabbage, tear into 2-3 inch pieces
- 1-2 tablespoons pork or chicken stock powder
- splash soy sauce
Instructions
- Fill a large pot about half full with water, add the pork or chicken stock powder and bring to a boil.
- While the water is heating, shape the pork into balls about 1 inch in diameter and set aside.
- Slice the carrot and radish, and tear up the cabbage.
- When the water is boiling, add the pork balls, takes just a few minutes for these to cook through, then add the carrot and radish and continue boiling for a few minutes until the carrot is cooked through and tender.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the cabbage and give it is a good stir and put in a splash of soy sauce. Simmer for a few minutes more then remove from heat and cover. Your soup is done. This photo is what my wife made on 2 June 2017, this one contains pork ribs, chicken feet, carrot, radish, and bok choi.
Notes
Minced pork run about 125 Baht per kilo, about $3.70 this plus the veggys which are very reasonable. This makes a large pot of soup, here at the house it feeds 4 people for 3 days, well below $1 per person.
Variants:Â Use pork ribs, pork belly, chicken feet, or any combination. Leafy veggys can be Chinese cabbage, regular cabbage, bok choi, or any combination.
My wife's recipe.
Slow Cooker Duck Legs
I found this great recipe for cooking duck legs (leg and thigh) for tender and juicy duck legs on the internet. A number of months ago I picked up a package of 2 duck legs at the store in town, cost was actually comparable to chicken. Got home and put them in the freezer. Found this recipe so I decided to try it out. The meat nearly falls off the bone and is tender and juicy. My wife loved this, she even stated, most tender duck she ever had cooked in a house. This recipe is a keeper.
Ingredients
- 2 duck legs with thighs, skin on
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup red vermouth, OR use an additional cup of chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 onion, chopped
Instructions
- I added 2 cups of hot water to my slow cooker pot and used powdered stock to make the 2 cups of chicken stock. Turn on slow cooker to Low setting.
- In a low heat, dry, no oil added, non-stick pan, add the duck legs/thighs, skin side down until the fat runs out and the skin is golden brown. Remove the legs/thighs and add to the slow cooker skin side up.
- Add the chopped onion to the duck fat in the pan and cook until clear and softened, add the onions to the slow cooker.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on Low for 5-6 hours.
- Serve with some buttered pasta and a green vegetable.
Notes
Two duck legs cost me 90 baht in Tesco. That is 45 Baht per person, or about $1.35 per person, add pasta, still reasonable. I served this with pasta and fresh, local grown, corn on the cob, puts the cost to about $1.50 per person. This is a great treat for family members or visiting friends.
Tomato Salad I
I learned this from a good friend of mine, who is Italian. A tomato salad in an Italian restaurant in Thailand can run 60 to 150 Baht per person, this is so easy, and certainly much less!
Ingredients
- 2-3 plum tomatoes, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- olive oil, to taste
- pinch fresh basil
- ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine the tomatoes, garlic, and basil in a bowl, splash with olive oil and a pinch of black pepper. Done.
- This makes 1 serving, great for a light lunch or appetizer before dinner.
Notes
Well less than $1 per serving.
Variant: 1. Add a few pieces of homemade sardines into it with a spoon of the olive oil. Great lunch and nutritious.
Adapted from a friend's recipe.
Sardines in Olive Oil (Slow Cooker)
Sardines are any type of small oily fish like sardines, mackerel, herring, or even milkfish, that have been preserved in oil or packed in sauce. I like sardines, I love sardines in olive oil, but I could only find one store that carried them in olive oil (Thai made as well) and was pricey to say the least. So I set out on an internet search and found this recipe, I have made it twice with excellent results.
Ingredients
- brine, ¼ cup salt in each 2 cups of water
- 3-4 mackeral, cleaned with heads and tail removed
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ¾ cup water
- ¾ cup pickle juice
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
Instructions
- Clean your fish, for both times I made these I used 4 mackerel, remove the head, tail, insides, and clean well on the inside along the backbone. Leave skin on and bones in.
- I took each fish and cut into 3 pieces, place all in a bowl with a lid.
- Prepare your brine with ¼ cup salt for 2 cups of water. I do this separate so I don't make more brine than what is needed. Make a batch and pour over the fish pieces, make more as needed to cover the fish.
- Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, I normally refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the fish from the brine and rinse, place fish pieces in a slow cooker, add the olive oil, water, pickle juice, bay leaves, and peppercorns.
- Put the slow cooker on Low setting for 3-6 hours, depending on size of fish, 3 hours for small fish, like milkfish, and 6 hours for mackerel. Check the fish about an hour before the time, you are looking for soft fish and soft bones, if the bones are not soft, go another hour and check again, repeat until the bones are soft.
- When done and the fish and bones are soft, allow to cool and store in the fridge in olive oil.
- Serve as is with or on a lettuce salad with tomatoes and garlic, or as a sandwich with bread spread with mustard.
Notes
Mackerel will run about 25 baht per fish, if using as a light meal, well under $1 per person. If I use in a sandwich, I use 3 fish pieces, split each in half, lunch for under $1. If I use in a tomato salad, I use 3 pieces and just kind of chop them up, salad for under $1.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Sardine & Tomato Sandwich.
- Sardine & Sliced Egg Sandwich, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Pasta with Sardines II.
- Sardine & Cheese Wontons.
- Tempura Sardines.
- Ginger Steamed Sardines.
- Sardine Salad Sandwich, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Sardine Dip, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Crispy Sardines & Garlic Mayo, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Fisherman's Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Pasta with Sardines.
- Sardine Sandwich I, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Sardine Sandwich II, made it.
- Sardine Club Sandwich.
Macaroni Salad I
Easy recipe that I learned from my parents, I have been making this now for years. I often make this to provide several days of lunches and even an evening meal or two. This can be a side dish or a light main dish. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams elbow macaroni, (8 oz)
- 1 onion, diced
- 2-3 cans tuna, packed in oil or brine, drained, Shortcut
- 3-4 hard boiled eggs, peeled, chopped, Shortcut
- mayo, as needed
- ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat a pot of salted water to boiling, add the macaroni, cook until tender, drain well. Return the macaroni to the same pot, we are going to use the cooking pot as the mixing bowl now.
- To the macaroni, add the onion, tuna, and eggs. If using the Shortcut to prepare the tuna, use ½ cup cooked tuna for each can.
- Gently mix together to minimize tearing apart the eggs.
- Add the mayo, several spoons first and gently mix together. Keep adding mayo a spoon at a time until you get your desired consistency. Add some black pepper and give the salad another mix or two.
- Transfer salad to a serving bowl, cover, and place in the fridge to chill until serving. s a great side dish, lunch, or even as a light main meal.
Notes
Low cost per serving as this makes a lot of salad.
Shortcut: Tuna.
Mom's Potato Salad
This is a very easy recipe, one my Mom has been making for years, and I remember this since I was a child and asked her for the recipe probably 15 years ago. I made one addition to the recipe (bell peppers) thanks to a good friend in the US. This is what I say is a user friendly recipe, amounts are guessed, and you can add or remove items to your liking or what you have on hand.
Ingredients
- 6 potatoes, medium or large is ok
- 6 hard boiled eggs, chicken or duck, peeled
- 3-4 stalks imported celery, diced, or several bunches of Thai celery, chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 jar green olives with pimento, drained and sliced, (354 g / 13 oz)
- 3-4 red radish, optional, sliced thin
- mayo
- prepared yellow mustard
- cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Peel and cube the potatoes, add to a large saucepan and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, cook until the potatoes are just fork tender. Drain and allow to cool.
- While the potatoes are cooking, dice the veggies and place in a large mixing bowl.
- Peel the eggs and chop into large pieces. Add to the bowl and mix everything.
- Potatoes should be done now, remove them from the water and allow to cool. Once the potatoes are cooled, add to the bowl and mix again.
- Now add about 3 good sized spoons of mayo and start to mix, add mayo to completely coat everything but not dripping with mayo either, once that is done, add a few tablespoons of mustard and mix that in, color should be a pale yellow, taste, and add more mustard if needed. Once the taste is good, sprinkle in cracked black pepper and mix again, check the taste. If the taste is good, put the salad in 1-2 containers, put on lids, and refrigerate for several hours before serving. This photo shows perfect consistency, after this, it is packed in a large plastic bowl to be refrigerated.
- I normally serve this as a side with Italian sausage or hamburgers.
Notes
Variant: 1. Inspired by my good friend, Stephen Connell, United States. An old Southern US trick is you fry up some bacon crisp, take out the bacon, then the bacon fat, while it is still hot, is drizzled over the boiled cubed potato's then add everything else including the bacon that you have crushed into bits. You do not want the potatoes swimming in the bacon fat, but enough to coat them and soak in.
Chicken Korma Curry
This recipe was given to me by an Indian acquaintance, who makes this as a staple for her family.
Ingredients
- 750 grams chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cut into bite size pieces
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 2 onions, finely diced
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground tumeric
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 2-3 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup cream
- 4 tablespoons ground almonds
Instructions
- Place chicken in a bowl together with the yogurt, garlic, bay leaf, and ginger. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for up to 2 hours – the longer you are able to leave it for, the more flavourful your dish will be.
- When the chicken is ready, heat butter and oil in a pan and gently fry the onion with the garam masala, turmeric, coriander, cumin, and red pepper flakes until the onion is tender.
- Add the marinated chicken and fry for 10 minutes to seal.
- Add the water and chicken stock, reduce the heat to a simmer. and allow to cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the cream and almonds and simmer for a further 10 minutes, serve topped with fresh coriander with a side of rice or naan bread.
Notes
Easily under $1 per meal per person.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
South Africa.
