Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Asian Goulash
The inspiration for this dish, as well as the name comes from a person who posted a similar photo of this dish, I took that as a challenge to make that dish, here is my results. Basically this is a minced pork and rice noodle dish, and it is delicious! Read the Variants in the Recipe Notes section, many ways to tailor this to your liking.
Ingredients
- 220 grams dry rice noodles, (7.7 oz)
- 500 grams ground pork, (1 lb)
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 spring onions, sliced, white and green parts, reserve some green for garnish
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil, plus extra for the noodles
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- salt and white pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Everything prepped and ready to start. Reserve some of the spring onion greens for garnish if desired.
- Heat a pot of water to a boil, then add the rice noodles, stir often and cook until tender, drain. Add a teaspoon or so of sesame oil to the drained noodles to keep them from sticking together.
- While the water is heating for the noodles, heat a non stick pan or a wok, on medium heat, add the ground pork and garlic. Break up the pork with your spatula as it cooks. Stir fry to cook the pork through, drain the fat. Add the spring onion and cilantro and stir fry to wilt the cilantro.
- When the noodles are cooked and drained, add the noodles to the pan and toss with the pork. Now add the fish sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar, and toss to mix.
- Divide into bowls, garnish with some spring onion greens, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variants: 1. Add sliced and sauteed Shiitake mushrooms. 2. Add some diced carrots or mixed vegetables. 3. Add sugar peas.
Inspired by wynnskitchen.
Classic Tuna Salad Sandwiches
I have been making these for well over 30 years, about time I got around to actually writing this down, but I am going to post a friend's recipe here as a great guide. This recipe is wide open to changes to suit your taste. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 3 cans tuna in oil, drained well
- 1 stalk celery, finely diced, Thai celery 2-3 stalk
- 2 dill pickles, diced, Shortcut
- 1 spring onion, sliced, white and green parts
- ½ cup mayo, of your choice, and as needed
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice
- salt and pepper, as desired
- lettuce leaves, as desired, 2-3 per sandwich
- 8 slices bread, of your choice, rye would be perfect
Instructions
- To drain the tuna, you can simply crack open the lid and drain the oil, but I prefer to use a strainer, and in this photo, a rice strainer, this ensures the best drained tuna. Once it is good and drained, add the tuna to a mixing bowl.
- Slice and dice the celery, slice the spring onion, and dice the pickles. Add these to a mixing bowl. (I did not have my homemade pickles made so I added a tablespoon of chopped capers.)
- To the mixing bowl add the mayo, mustard, and juice. Mix well, and season with salt and pepper as desired to taste. Start with the stated ½ cup mayo and mix, add mayo as needed to get the consistency you desire. I added about a tablespoon more.
- Once you have the salad to your desired consistency, cover and place in the fridge for 1-2 hours to chill. This will store safely in the fridge about 2 days.
- When you are ready for a sandwich, or two, lay out the bread of your choice, add some mayo to each slice (I used Japanese Kewpie Mayo, it is in a squeeze bottle), add 2-3 lettuce leaves to a slice of bread.
- Top with ¼ of the tuna salad, top with another slice of bread, repeat for remaining sandwiches.
- Cut each sandwich in half, enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Fridge Pickles.
Variants: 1. Serve as a salad on a bed of lettuce, serve in half an avocado, serve on a croissant. 2. Add a slice of Swiss cheese. 3. Add a chopped hard boiled egg. 4. Add a slice of tomato. 5. No pickles on hand? Use a tablespoon or so chopped capers. 6. If you prefer to used canned tuna in water, you may need to increase the mayo to ¾ cup.
Whitefish Mornay
The mornay term with this recipe is the cheese sauce used, the fish and the sauce are not cooked together, however, this meal goes together quickly. The fish is quite delicious, I was pleasantly surprised.
Ingredients
For the Fish
- 2 fillets whitefish, pangasius or barramundi would be perfect
- 1 cup milk
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 black peppercorns
- chives, chopped, for garnish if desired
For the Mornay Sauce
- 3½ tablespoons butter, (50 grams)
- 50 grams all purpose flour, or 6½ tablespoons if no scale
- 120 grams Cheddar cheese, or Gouda, shredded, (4 oz)
- milk, as needed
- black pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Add the fish fillets to a nonstick pan, pour in the milk, add the bay leaf and the peppercorns. Heat on low heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes to poach the fish, the fish will flake easily when cooked through.
- Remove the pan from heat, remove the fish from the pan to a plate and cover to keep warm. Remove the bay leaf from the milk. Keep that pan with the milk handy, you will need it soon.
- In a saucepan on low heat, melt the butter then whisk in the flour, continuously whisk for 2 minutes.
- Using the milk in the pan you poached the fish in, add a small amount to the saucepan and whisk in, repeat until all the milk from the pan is used. Now whisk in small amounts of fresh milk until you get a nice creamy consistency.
- When the sauce is a nice creamy consistency, increase heat and bring to a boil, whisking continuously. Once at a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the cheese until smooth.
- Plate the fish, spoon sauce over the fish, garnish with chopped chives if desired (I just added a little ground black pepper), serve with sides of your choice. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Lebanese Style Chicken Livers
This is a really tasty dish if you like chicken livers. The mint is perfect in this.
Ingredients
- 400 grams chicken livers, (14 oz)
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh mint, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 2-3 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish, or mint
Instructions
- Prep the livers by cutting in half, then cutting the two pieces into 2-3 smaller pieces.
- In a large zip lock bag, add the liver, oil, salt, mint, and garlic. Squeeze out as much air as possible, and zip closed. Squish the livers around to get everything mixed and the livers coated. Place in the fridge to marinate for 30 minutes.
- When ready to cook, heat a large non stick pan on medium high heat and add the contents of the zip lock bag.
- Saute for 5-10 minutes are until no pink remains visible, almost ready, just another 1-2 minutes to go at this point. Remember, over cooked liver is tough liver, slightly pink inside is perfect.
- Stir in the lemon or lime juice and saute for another 30 seconds.
- Divide between two plates, garnish with chopped parsley or min, serve with sides of your choice. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
German Meat Salad I
This should be called Fleischsalat or Wurstsalat depending on where you are in Germany, but I am not using German Bologna, just regular bologna from Tesco here in Thailand. There is two dressings listed as well, a vinaigrette and mayo, use either one per your preference.
Ingredients
- 400 grams bologna, (14 oz), German bologna if you have it
- 200 grams Swiss cheese, (7 oz)
- 4 small dill pickles, German if you have them
For the Vinaigrette Dressing
- 1 tablespoon vinaigrette dressing
- 1 tablespoon pickle juice
For the Mayo Dressing
- 4 tablespoons mayo, or as needed or desired
Instructions
- Stack the bologna and slice into ¼ inch wide strips, add to a mixing bowl.
- Slice the cheese into long thin slices, then stack and slice those into ¼ inch wide strips, add to the mixing bowl.
- Slice the pickles, you guessed it, into ¼ inch wide pieces like the bologna and cheese, add to the mixing bowl.
- Mix together the vinaigrette dressing and pickle juice, add the dressing to the mixing bowl and toss to mix together.
- Or toss with the mayo.
- Cover and place in the fridge to chill for 2-3 hours.
- Serve as is or on a bed of lettuce. Enjoy.
Notes
Fair cost per serving.
Slow Cooker Tuna Mornay
What is a mornay you ask? It is a casserole, a mornay seems to be a cream sauce with cheese, possibly an Australian thing. First clue was Tasty Cheese (Cheddar cheese, Mainland Brand) and second clue was liquid measurements in metric. Either way, this not only sounds good, it is good! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, Shortcut
- 1¼ cups whipping cream, or evaporated milk
- 3 cans tuna in brine, about 165 g / 5 oz each, do not drain
- 2 cups dry Penne pasta
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup frozen corn, or canned
- 3 shallots, diced
- â…“ cup water
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
- salt and pepper, as desired
Instructions
- I used 3 cans, 185 grams each, of tuna chunks in brine.
- Open each can and dump brine and all into the slow cooker pot.
- Break up the tuna with a fork.
- Add the rest of the ingredients except the cheese, season with a pinch of black pepper as desired. I used frozen mixed veggies in place of the corn and peas. And I took the photo before I added the evaporated milk (I actually forgot to add it at this point).
- Give everything a good stir. Cover and cook on Low setting for 4 to 5 hours. Stir the pot (literally, not figuratively) once an hour. Check if the pasta is tender at the 4 hour mark, if tender, stir in the cheese. If not tender, check again at 4½ hours.
- Cook for another 15-30 minutes on Low setting, stir again, taste, season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Spoon into bowls, serve.
Notes
Three cans of tuna is on average 43 Baht per can, 3 cans would be 129 Baht, 1 cup of of shredded cheese from a block would be on average 90 Baht. For 4 servings, this is about $1.77 per serving.
Shortcut: Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Variants: 1. Use 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables in place of the corn and peas.
Pasta with Tuna & Capers
I like pasta, canned tuna in oil, and capers, sounds like a great dish. Note, this will not work with tuna packed in water, spring water, or brine; oil only, olive oil is preferred, but if only soybean oil packed is available use that and a splash of olive oil and the dish will be fine.
Ingredients
- 115 grams dry spiral pasta, or bite size or even spaghetti will work well with this, (4 oz)
- 1 can tuna in olive oil, (185 g / 6 oz)
- 1 small onion, diced
- pinch red chili flakes, or as desired
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained, can easily add more as desired
- ¼ cup dry white wine, or ¼ cup water + 1 tsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
- 1 handful cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- lemon pepper, as desired
- olive oil, as needed
Instructions
- Heat a pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook until tender. Drain.
- While the pasta is cooking, drain the oil from the tuna into a large non stick pan, heat the oil on medium heat, when hot, add the onion and chili flakes, saute until the onion is translucent and tender.
- Add the tuna, capers, and wine and stir together. Allow to come to a low boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes, add a touch more wine if the sauce is drying out. Season as desired with lemon pepper.
- Add the cherry tomatoes and parsley and mix together.
- When the pasta is ready, drain well, then add to the pan. Toss with the sauce.
- Divide between two plates, sprinkle with lemon black pepper as desired. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variant: 1. Add sliced black olives.
Mediterranean Tuna Pasta
This is a tasty, and easy to assemble, pasta salad.
Ingredients
- 340 grams dry spiral pasta, or any bite size pasta, (12 oz)
- 2 cans tuna in olive oil, (about 185 g / 5 oz each)
- 1 cup tomato, drained of juice, chopped
- ¼ cup pitted green olives, sliced, or black olives
- ¼ cup red onion, diced, or brown onion
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon capers, coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons if using tuna packed in water
- 1½ cups Mozzarella Cheese, shredded, or as desired
- salt and pepper, to taste, as desired
Instructions
- Heat a pot of salted water to boiling, then add the pasta and cook until tender, drain. (I used small shell pasta.)
- While the water is heating for the pasta, let's prepare the rest of the salad. If the canned tuna in olive oil is good quality, no need to drain the oil, just add the tuna and oil into a large mixing bowl and omit adding the olive oil listed in the ingredients. If the tuna you are using is not good quality olive oil, or packed in soybean oil or water, drain those add the tuna to a large mixing bowl. Break up the large pieces with a fork. (I used 3 cans, 165 g / 5¾ oz each, I like a lot of tuna in a salad.)
- To the same mixing bowl, add the tomato, olives, onion, parsley, and capers.
- Mix together, this makes it easier to mix in the pasta.
- Add the pasta, cheese, olive oil, and lemon or lime juice. Gently mix together. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. At this point you can serve this warm as a side dish, I however decided to cover and place in the fridge for a few hours to chill to serve as a main dish.
- Serve as a side dish or as a main dish. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving as a main dish as this makes a lot.
Chicken Pot Pie
This inspiration for this recipe comes from a friend and it is delicious. This takes some time to make the homemade version but it is well worth it, you will make a few homemade items, or you can opt for pre-made items, totally up to you. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Pie Dish
Ingredients
- 2 pie crusts, Shortcut
- 2 cups chicken breasts, cooked, diced
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, Shortcut
- 1½ cups frozen mixed vegetables, or 1 can of mixed veggies, drained
- salt and pepper, as desired, to taste
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- For the pie crusts, feel free to use frozen and thawed, or make your own. I made olive oil pie crusts for this dish. Just before you plan to bake the pie, preheat your oven to 190° C (375° F).
- For the chicken, feel free to cook the chicken your preferred way; such as boiling, baking, pressure cooking, or even use leftover chicken. Add the chopped chicken to a mixing bowl.
- For the vegetables, feel free to use frozen (thawed) or canned vegetables. You can even use fresh veggies, peeled and diced that total 1½ cups, then boil them until tender, and drained. Add to the mixing bowl with the chicken.
- Add the can of condensed soup, or homemade condensed soup to the mixing bowl with the chicken and vegetables. Mix together, season with salt and pepper as desired, and pour into your prepared pie dish. I was snap happy with the camera and took a photo before I spread the filling out evenly.
- Cover the pie with the second crust, flute if desired, and cut 4 slits in the crust.
- Mix together the egg and milk in a small bowl and brush the top of the pie with the egg wash. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown, then remove to a rack to cool for 5 minutes or so and the filling will firm up.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcuts: Olive Oil Pie Crust, Pie Crust, Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Variants: 1. Use cream of mushroom soup in place of the chicken soup. 2. Add sliced or chopped mushrooms to the filling. 3. Use 2 cans, drained, chicken breast (12.5 oz / 354 g each) in place of fresh cooked chicken.
Mushroom Pie
This is an excellent pie! I made this with a mix of Shiitake and Buna Shimeji mushrooms and diced smoked ham. There is several ways to prepare this as listed in the Variants in the Recipe Notes section. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Pie Dish (8 or 9 inch)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
- 500 grams button mushrooms, sliced, (1 lb)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 6 slices bacon, chopped
- ¾ cup whipping cream, more as needed
- 1½ cups Swiss cheese, shredded
- salt and pepper, to taste, as desired
- 1½ teaspoons fresh dill, chopped
- 2 pie crusts, frozen (thawed), fresh made, or puff pastry, Shortcut
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 8 or 9 inch pie dish. For the pie crusts, you can use two pie crusts (top and bottom), two sheets puff pastry (top and bottom), or a pie crust on the bottom, and a sheet of puff pastry on the top (very Australian/British). When the oven is hot, place one crust in a pie dish, trim the edge and bake for 5-10 minutes, this is so you do not get a soggy bottom crust. Remove from the oven and set the dish on a rack and set aside for now.
- For the mushrooms I used a mix of Shiitake and Buna Shimeji mushrooms. For the Shiitake, remove the stems and slice the caps. For the Shimeji, cut the root end off the bundle off then cut the bundle in half and separate the mushrooms.
- Add the oil to a large non stick pan and heat on medium high heat, when hot, add the onion, mushrooms, and bacon, saute for 5 minutes or until the onion is starting to get tender. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Turn the heat to medium, stir in the cream and dill, cook and bring to a boil, stirring, for about 10 minutes, you need to cook this down just a bit, if the mixture seems a bit dry, just add a few tablespoons of cream to get the right consistency.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the cheese until all is blended. Do not worry if the bacon seems underdone, it is going to get baked.
- Pour the mushroom filling into the prepared pie crust. Cover the pie with another sheet of pie crust or puff pastry, cut 4 slits in the top, flute the edge with your fingers or crimp the edge with a fork. Mix together the egg and milk, use a pastry brush and brush the top crust, this is make a nice and golden brown crust.
- Place the pie in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and place on a rack, allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes.
- Slice and serve with sides of your choice.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Pie Crust, and for a non butter or shortening version, Olive Oil Pie Crust.
Variants: 1. Use sour cream in place of whipping cream. 2. Use half sour cream and half whipping cream. 3. Add some minced garlic to the pan when you add the mushrooms, onion, and bacon. 4. Use a combination of mushrooms. 5. Add two cooked and cubed chicken breasts and reduce the amount of mushrooms slightly. 6. Add diced, sliced ham and reduce the amount of mushrooms slightly. 7. Add some cooked baby spinach and reduce the mushrooms slightly.