Author Archive
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.
Chicken, Tomato, and Olive Bake
I have done this so many times. It is also something that I was experimenting with. I saw something similar at a restaurant and tried my own version. I have done it with so many different variations, and it’s a winner every time - guaranteed! The olives combined with the basil give it a very distinct taste.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1 cube chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 500 grams cherry tomatoes
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
- 8 slices bacon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves
- 50 grams black olives, pitted
- 800 grams potatoes, peeled and quatered
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 C.
- Place potatoes into a roasting pan and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Toss well then roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until lightly golden and crispy.
- Meanwhile, wrap two pieces of bacon around each chicken breast.
- When potatoes are ready, place the wrapped chicken breasts on top of the potatoes and scatter with cherry tomatoes and olives.
- In a bowl, combine the remaining olive oil, stock cube, lemon juice, and hot water and mix well, pour this over the chicken and roast for 20mins or until the chicken is cooked through and golden. Serve sprinkled with basil leaves.
Notes
Easily under $1 per meal per person. You can use potatoes, sweet potatoes, even butternut squash, or a combination of these.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
South Africa.
Chicken & Spaghetti Bake
I would use 200 grams Mature Cheddar instead of the Parmesan. Served with a green salad this would be a delicious meal.
Ingredients
- 500 grams spaghetti
- 1 onion, sliced
- olive oil
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cubed
- salt and pepper, to your liking
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
- 1 CUP button mushrooms, heaping, sliced
- 3/4 cup chicken stock, a bit over is good! Or use white wine
- 2 cups cream
- 100 grams Parmesan cheese, grated
- 100 grams Cheddar cheese, grated
- sprig fresh basil leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Fry the onion in a splash of olive oil, season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown them gently in the oil, add the garlic and fresh mushrooms, add the wine (stock) and turn the heat down, simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through and the wine (stock) has reduced a little.
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling, salted water and then drain well.
- Add the cream to the pan of chicken then bring to the boil and turn the heat off, season well with salt and pepper.
- Add the drained spaghetti to the creamy chicken sauce and toss well, add the Parmesan cheese (or cheddar) and all of the basil and stir well.
- Transfer to an ovenproof dish, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake in the oven until golden brown, bubbling and crisp.
- Divide between your plates, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the rest of the cheese over before serving. Serve with a salad.
Notes
4 chicken breasts, in 4-6 portions, well within $1 per meal per person. Make the chicken stock yourself and you save even more.
This is a good dish to add broccoli and sliced carrot to and will not hurt the price that much but makes is healthier, or just serve as a side dish.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
South Africa.
Cajun Chicken Pasta
Sounds great, on my to cook list for sure! Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Penne pasta, uncooked
- 4 cups boiling water
- 4 teaspoons Cajun spice mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
- 1 2/3 cups tomato pasta sauce, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in the water for 8 – 10 minutes, reserve 1/2 cup of the water and drain off the rest. Toss the pasta with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Working on a plate, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of Cajun spice over each chicken breast, drizzle and turn the spiced breasts in a little olive oil.
- Heat a heavy-based frying pan and brown the oiled breasts on both sides without cooking them right through – about 3 minutes on each side, remove from the pan and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Slice the chicken breasts on the diagonal into strips.
- Pour the reserved pasta water into the pan to deglaze it. Add the tomato and basil pasta sauce and cream. Return the sliced chicken to the sauce and cook gently for 5 minutes, toss the chicken and sauce with the cooked pasta, Add half of the grated cheese and stir through. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese and chopped herbs over the top when serving.
- Serve with a green salad.
Notes
Low cost meal, 4 chicken breasts, and even the pasta sauce, if serving 2 people 2 times, less than $1 per meal per person.
Shortcuts: Cajun Spice Mix, Pasta Sauce.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
South Africa.
Chicken & Green Bean Stew
This recipe is from a good friend and sparked my interest not only for the inexpensive chicken, but for the green beans! We have yard beans (also called long beans) and they are very inexpensive to buy. It is a basic meal to which you can add any vegetable other than beans if you wish. Yard beans are relatively cheap, and therefore makes for a very economical dish.
Ingredients
- 6 chicken breasts, cut into strips
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 300 grams yard beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons onion soup powder mix, OR make from a shortcut
Instructions
- In a large pan, heat oil and fry chicken strips until lightly browned. Remove and set aside.
- Same pan, fry onions and peppers with curry powder until soft, add yard beans, chicken, and water, allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
- Mix the soup powder with a little water to form a smooth paste and stir into the stew then allow to simmer until thickened.
- Serve with boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, pasta, or rice.
Notes
Chicken breast run about 87 Baht per kilo, 6 breast is probably 150 baht or less. Yard beans are something like 15 Baht a bunch, bell peppers can be found for cheap as well. Easily $1 or less per serving for 6 meals.
Shortcut: Onion Soup Mix.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Denise Georgiades.
South Africa.
South Africa.
Onion Soup Mix
Shortcut to make Onion Soup Mix.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup dried minced onion
- 3 teaspoons dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons tumeric, optional
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, OR 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a jar and give it a good shake. Shake the jar before each use.
- Use 2 to 4 tablespoons of mix in place of 1 packet of onion soup mix.
Notes
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Beer Braised Pork Knuckles
To start off, this is not a $1 meal by any means. Simple recipe however. The crackling (skin) was perfect, the internal temperature was spot on for pork, bone pulled right out (great treat for our dog), and the meat was fork tender with a delicious flavor.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
Ingredients
- 2 pork knuckles, these were 800 grams each
- salt and pepper, to taste
- garlic powder, to taste
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 cans beer, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220° C (425° F). Get out a 7x11 inch baking dish.
- Score the skin of the knuckles.
- Slice an onion and place that on the bottom of the baking dish, place knuckles on top, extra onion, just put that around the knuckles.
- Pour a can of beer over the knuckles then generously add garlic powder and ground black pepper to the knuckles, add salt to your liking.
- Put in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, remove and pour another can of beer over the knuckles. Reduce heat on the oven to 180° C (350° F) and put the baking dish back in the oven for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, increase heat back to 220° C (425° F), remove the pan and baste the knuckles with the liquid in the pan, put back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
- You can either carve these or leave whole, in Germany, I guess it is tradition that one knuckle is one serving to a person and plated like that.
- Sides would be mashed potatoes, potato salad, buttered egg noodles, or sauerkraut, and as green vegetable.
Notes
I found these in Makro, frozen. Each is 800 grams and cost is 200 baht each. If serving one knuckle for 2 people (easily done), the cost would be about $2.95 per person. A bit more expensive than other meals listed here but is a great treat for yourself.
