Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Andy's Devilish Ham Spread
This recipe comes from a good friend, and Chef. I made this on 29 Mar 2022, and this is an excellent ham salad! A food processor or good blender is needed for this, and since I do not have a food processor, I used my electric meat grinder with the coarse plate, worked perfectly.
Equipment
- Food Processor / Blender / Meat Grinder , S blade for a processor, coarse plate (¼ in / 6 mm)
Ingredients
- 750 grams ham, roughly chopped, (1½ lb)
- 4-5 green olives, pitted
Binding Ingredients
- ⅓ cup mayo
- 56 grams Parmesan cheese, finely grated, (2 oz)
- 56 grams crushed pineapple, drained, blotted dry with a paper towel, (2 oz)
- 1-2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish, drained, blotted dry with a paper towel
- 1 tablespoon brown mustard
- 2 teaspoons hot sauce, I used Tabasco
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon celery salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
Instructions
- I went with the Variants, and cup up some Canadian Bacon steaks and chopped some capers.
- Add the ham and olives to your food processor, or good blender, pulse in 1 second intervals until finely chopped. Or use a meat grinder which is my preference.
- In a mixing bowl, add all the Binding Ingredients.
- Mix together until well blended.
- Add the mixture to the chopped ham and mix together. If mixture seems to dry, just mix in another tablespoon at a time. Cover and place in the fridge to chill and blend the flavors for at least an hour or even overnight.
- Serve with crackers, as a sandwich filling, in a salad, or as an ingredient in other recipes that call for deviled ham.
Notes
For sandwiches, this is right about $1.50 per serving, so Fair cost.
Variants: 1. For those in Thailand, use Canadian Bacon Steaks from Makro in place of ham (this was by mistake but the taste is the same). 2. Use 1½ tablespoons of capers, drained and chopped, in place of olives.
Tuna Egg Salad Sandwiches
This comes from the Just A Pinch Recipe Club, and is delicious! This recipe assumes you have hard boiled eggs on hand but if not, a link is provided for my favorite way to make them. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 cans tuna in water or brine, drained, (about 170 g / 6 oz each)
- 4 hard boiled eggs, sliced, Shortcut
- 2 tablespoons mayo, and as desired
- 2 tablespoons sweet relish
- 1 tablespoon brown mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 8 slices sandwich bread, toasted
- butter, as needed
Instructions
- Here my eggs are peeled and the tuna is ready.
- Add the drained tuna to a mixing bowl and flake with a fork. I used my 1 quart casserole dish for this. Then add the relish, mustard, salt, paprika, and mayo. I used Japanese Kewpie mayo.
- Mix together then add the sliced eggs.
- Mix in the egg slices, adding more mayo as desired, some eggs will break apart but most remain in large pieces. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to chill.
- When ready to serve, toast the bread, butter slices as desired, top with tuna egg mixture, top with another slice of buttered toasted bread, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs.
Variant: 1. Chopped dill pickle is a good substitute for the sweet relish.
This recipe was awarded a Blue Ribbon on the Just A Pinch Recipe Club.
Chinese Broccoli (Gai Lan)
My wife made this for a side dish and it is excellent. This was my first experience with this vegetable, and it has a great flavor. The measurements are approximate as this is a make as much as you want, and to taste.
Ingredients
- 2-3 bunches Chinese broccoli
- 6-8 cloves garlic, minced, divided
- cooking oil
- salt
- fish sauce
- oyster sauce
Instructions
- Prep the Chinese broccoli bey using a vegetable peeler and peel the stem ends as the outer part can be hard.
- Heat a pot of water to boiling and add the broccoli, cook until tender, about 10 minutes or so. Drain.
- In a non stick pan heat about 1 tablespoon of oil, when hot, add half the garlic and cook until lightly browned. Remove from the pan to a bowl, leaving the oil in the pan.
- Add the remaining garlic to the pan, cook for 1 minute then add a pinch of salt, and about 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, about 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and stir together and heat. Taste and adjust the sauces as needed.
- Place the broccoli on a serving plate and pour sauce over, then sprinkle the garlic you cooked earlier. Serve as a side dish, enjoy.
Sautéed Mushrooms & Onions
This is an excellent mushroom dish, I made this on 22 Dec 2021. Excellent flavor from the white wine and I used the cream option, which is perfect. Highly recommended. And there is two ways to prepare this.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 large sweet onion, sliced ¼ inch thick slices
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 340 grams fresh mushrooms, sliced in half or ½ inch slices for large, (12 oz)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, (leave out if using the heavy cream)
- ½ tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Optional Ingredient
- heavy cream, as desired
Instructions
- For the mushrooms, use any you like that are fresh; Button, Straw, and Shiitake would be excellent in this. Oyster, King Oyster, Shimeji, White Crab or a mixed pack would be good choices as well.
- Melt the butter in a large non stick pan on medium heat, when hot, add the onion. Sauté until just softened.
- Add the garlic and mix in, cook until fragrant.
- Add the wine and increase heat to medium high, cook for about 3 minutes or until the wine is nearly evaporated.
- Add the mushrooms and soy sauce, sauté until the mushrooms are tender and cooked through, about 5 minutes or as needed.
- Remove from heat, stir in the parsley.
- Serve as a side dish with any main dish, enjoy.
Optional Method
- If you want to add heavy cream, just omit the soy sauce when adding the mushrooms, and when the mushrooms are tender and cooked through, stir in the cream as desired.
- Then remove from heat, stir in the parsley, serve and enjoy.
Multigrain Bread (Bread Machine)
This is the name of the bread in my bread machine recipe book. For this recipe, measurements are in ml and grams, a digital scale is used for weights. (I made the 750 g (1½ lb) loaf on 6 Jan 2022, and this is excellent bread!)
Equipment
- Bread Machine
Ingredients
Ingredients for 500 g (1 lb) Loaf
- 120 ml water
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 50 grams whole wheat flour
- 50 grams oatmeal
- 150 grams all purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk powder
- 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
Ingredients for 750 g (1½ lb) Loaf
- 170 ml water, (1½ cups + 1½ tablespoons)
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 75 grams whole wheat flour, (2.65 oz)
- 75 grams oatmeal, (2.65 oz)
- 230 grams all purpose flour, (8.11 oz)
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk powder
- 1¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast
Ingredients for 1000 g (2 lb) Loaf
- 210 ml water
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 100 grams whole wheat flour
- 100 grams oatmeal
- 300 grams all purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons milk powder
- 1½ teaspoons instant dry yeast
Instructions
- Use the Ingredients listed for the size of loaf you are going to make, making sure your bread machine has a selection for the loaf size. Also make sure you have a selection on your machine for Multigrain Bread.
- Add the ingredients to your bread machine in the order listed or as stated by the manufacturer of your machine.
- On the controls, select Multigrain Bread, the correct size/weight, and crust as desired. Press start.
- At the end of the baking cycle, using kitchen mitts, remove the loaf pan and turn out the loaf to a wire rack to cool before slicing. (This is a 750 g (1½ lb) loaf.)
- Slice, butter, enjoy. (This is the best 6 slices, there were 3 more slices on the ends.)
Quail Egg Salad
Just something I threw together with local ingredients easily found near me.
Ingredients
- 40 hard boiled quail eggs, peeled
- 1 half dill pickle spear, diced
- 10 green olives with pimento, sliced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 Cha Hue, Vietnamese sausage with black pepper, (100 g / 3½ oz each)
- ranch dressing, as needed
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- black pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Have everything chilled before starting.
- Slice the eggs in half and place in a mixing bowl along with the pickle, olives, onion, and bell pepper.
- For the Cha Hue, it comes in a plastic tube, it is fully cooked. Slice off the ends of each tube and cut the piece into quarters. and feel off the plastic end. Peel off the rest of the plastic. Cut into quarters lengthwise then slice each piece, result is quarter round pieces. Add to the mixing bowl.
- Toss everything together.
- Add some ranch dressing and mix in. Goal is everything coated but not dripping wet either.
- Sprinkle with the mustard powder and black pepper as desired, and mix that in.
- Serve as a lunch or light dinner, and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variants: 1. Serve over lettuce or baby spinach leaves. 2. Added diced tomato. 3. Serve in tomatoes.
Mixed Vegetables with Quail Eggs
I was doing a search for recipes that use quail eggs and came across this recipe. I made this on 5 Nov 2021 and it is good! Well liked by my family as well. This will be a regular. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 20 hard boiled quail eggs, peeled, Shortcut
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large non stick pan, when hot, add the garlic and sauté until lightly browned.
- Stir in the thawed mixed vegetables and cover. Cook for 5-7 minutes to steam them.
- Stir in the cream and eggs, cook for a few more minutes to heat the eggs through.
- Serve as a side dish with your favorite main dish, enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Quail Eggs.
Stuffed Acorn Squash with Sausage Stuffing
This recipe is from an extensive cookbook titled Favorite Recipes, compiled by the active and retired employees of Michigan Bell in 1981. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (9x13 inch)
- Steamer
Ingredients
- 2 medium acorn squash
- 500 grams bulk pork sausage, Shortcut
- 1 cup soft breadcrumbs, or ¾ cup dry bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons onion, finely diced
- salt and pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds.
- Add water to your steamer and bring to a low boil. Add the squash, cut side down, to the steamer tray, and steam for 15 minutes or until tender, drain squash well. Work in batches to get all the halves steamed. (15 minutes for small to medium squash, 20 minutes for large.)
- Place squash halves cut side up in a 9x13 inch baking pan.
- While the squash is steaming, cook the sausage in a pan, breaking up the sausage with a spatula. Cook until no more pink is visible and it is cooked through. Drain off excess fat. (I went overboard and cooked up 2 lb of sausage thought I was using 2 large squash but turned out to be 1 large and 1 small, the excess was saved for another use.)
- Preheat your oven to 200° C (400° F).
- Add the onion and breadcrumbs, and stir together. Add a little milk or water if the sausage seems too dry.
- Spoon sausage mixture into the squash, pressing down lightly.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned and squash is heated through.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving if growing the squash yourself, as I have not seen acorn squash in any market. I am going to try and grow them in my garden.
Shortcut: Bulk Pork/Italian Sausage.
Variant: 1. Use Italian sausage in place of pork sausage.
Updated on 27 September 2021.
Magic Cookie Bars
I got this recipe from my Mom, Joann, and she clipped it from a magazine 10-20 years ago, and it does sound good. I made these on 26 Sep 2021, and they are good! And easy to make!
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (9x13 inch)
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, (1 stick / ½ block)
- 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk, (14 oz / 396 g)
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, (just a 12 oz bag is good)
- 1⅓ cups flaked coconut
- 1 cup nuts, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F) or 160° (325° F) when using a glass baking pan. Get out a 9x13 inch baking pan, add the butter to the pan and melt in the pan while the oven is preheating.
- Spread melted butter in pan, sprinkle crumbs over the butter.
- Evenly pour the condensed milk over the crumbs.
- In a bowl, toss together the coconut, chips, and nuts.
- Sprinkle the coconut mixture over the condensed milk. Firmly press down with a fork.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Feel free to chill in the fridge until set firm.
- Cut into bars or squares, serve and enjoy. Can store covered at room temperature.
Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili
This recipe is from a friend on social media and it is excellent chili! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 1 package cream cheese, cut into quarters, (8 oz / 226 g)
- 1 packet ranch dressing mix, Shortcut
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ teaspoons chili powder, or as desired
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 can whole kernel corn, undrained, (15 oz / 425 g)
- 1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies, undrained, (10 oz / 283 g)
- 1 can black beans, undrained, (15 oz / 425 g)
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker.
- add the rest of the ingredients.
- Stir together. Cover and set to Low setting for 6 hours, quickly stir after about 3 hours to mix in the cream cheese.
- Remove chicken breast to a cutting board, shred or dice, return to the pot and stir in.
- Cover and cook for another 15 minutes. Stir to mix everything together.
- Serve and enjoy. Feel free to use chili toppings as you desire.
Notes
Fair cost per serving based on the Rotel, but I am looking at making a shortcut for that and I will update the recipe with that shortcut.
Shortcut: Ranch Dressing Mix.
