Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Potato & Breakfast Sausage Skillet
With cheese! Everything is better with cheese 🙂 This recipe/guide is wide open to variants you make. I based this using my homemade sausage, not store bought. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 250 grams bulk breakfast sausage, OR make from a shortcut, (1/2 lb)
- 2 cups potatoes, diced 1/2 inch, skin on
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder, if using Thai chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon
- 1/2 cup cheese, shredded, Cheddar or Monterey Jack
- fresh spring onion, sliced for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Heat a large non stick pan on medium heat then crumble in the sausage and brown, brown and cook through. Remove the sausage to a bowl with paper towels to drain. Set aside.
- Add the potatoes and onion to the same pan on medium heat, stir to coat with the sausage fat, season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder as desired. Stir again, reduce heat to low, cover the pan. Stir the potatoes every 5-10 minutes and brown them evenly.
- When the potatoes are browned and tender, return the sausage back to the pan and stir into the potatoes.
- Cover with the cheese, cover and let the cheese melt, about 2-3 minutes.
- Sprinkle with sliced spring onion if desired.
- Serve with buttered toast or sliced and fried tomatoes (I know, that part is very British but sounds like a good pairing with this.)
Notes
One kilo of pork is 100 Baht, 250 grams would be about 74 Baht, for 3 servings, certainly low cost.
Shortcut: Breakfast Sausage.
Variants: 1. After the cheese is just melted, mix that in, then make some indention's on the top and crack in an egg in each indention and place the cover on, cooking to set the whites and yolks still set. 2. Use diced ham or bacon in place of the sausage. 3. Use Italian sausage in place of breakfast sausage. 4. Add a diced red bell pepper.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Peanut Butter Pretzel Toffee Cookies
This recipe is my daughter Samantha's creation and is well liked by her and her friends and it comes highly recommended for cookie aficionados. Samantha has a unique way to make cookies, she scoops them out onto a large baking sheet, freezes them then places in containers. This way she can take out what she wants for the day in the morning, bakes them and goes to work with fresh baked cookies. How ingenious is that?
Equipment
- Electric Mixer
- Oven
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups butter, softened, (1½ blocks / 3 sticks)
- 2 cups brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1â…“ cup peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1â…“ cup pretzels, coarsely crushed
- 1â…“ cup milk chocolate toffee bits, (8 oz / 226 g bag of Hershey's Heath bits)
- pretzels, broken, as needed for the top
- coarse sea salt, as needed, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a baking sheet and leave ungreased, or line with parchment paper to make clean up easier.
- In a mixing bowl, add the first 4 ingredients and mix together, then set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar for 5 minutes.
- Then mix in the peanut butter, then mix in the eggs one at a time, and finally, mix in the vanilla.
- Add about â…“ of the dry flour mixture to the batter and gently mix in, then add another â…“ and gently mix to combine, and finally, add the remaining flour to the batter and mix in.
- Now mix in the pretzels and toffee bits.
Bowl to Oven
- Use a small ice cream scoop and scoop out onto a prepared baking sheet, placing cookies about 2 inches apart. Top each cookie with a few broken pretzel pieces and optionally, just a light sprinkle of coarse sea salt.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool.
- Serve and enjoy.
Bowl to Freezer (Samantha's preferred way)
- Use a small ice cream scoop and scoop out onto a large ungreased baking sheet, placing cookies close together. Top each cookie with a few broken pretzel pieces and optionally, just a light sprinkle of coarse sea salt. (Photo provided by Samantha.)
- Plate the sheet in the freezer, once the cookies are frozen, place them in containers, label, and return to the freezer.
- When you want fresh baked cookies, preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), remove cookies desired and place on a prepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool.
Notes
Variant: 1. Just use the entire 8 oz / 226 g bag of toffee bits, will be nearly 2 cups, works very well.
Stir Fried Pork Heart
An excellent method to cook pork hearts, great flavor contrast with Chinese sausage. I made this as written and it is a keeper.
Equipment
- Steamer
Ingredients
- 2 pork hearts
- 2 Chinese sausage, steamed, then sliced at an angle
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- dash Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Rinse the hearts, cut in half lengthwise, remove the stringy parts, the tubes, and any fat from the tops. Cube the hearts and set aside. Dice the vegetables. Here, everything is ready, but the sausage still needs to be steamed.
- A trick to perfectly cooked Chinese sausage is to steam it first. Chinese sausage is air dried and is generally quite hard, and uncooked. Prepare a steamer and steam the Chinese sausage for 5-10 minutes. Remove from the steamer and cut into thin slices at an angle, then it is ready to be stir fried as it is softened and already partially cooked from the steamer.
- Now heat a large non stick pan with the olive oil on low heat, when hot, add the onion, carrot, and sausage. Stir fry until the carrot is tender.
- Add the tomatoes and garlic and stir fry for another minute or two. Remove everything from the pan to a bowl.
- Add the butter to the same pan and bring the heat to medium. When the butter is melted, add the pork heart, season with salt and pepper as desired, and add the Worcestershire sauce. Stir fry for 3 minutes until no longer pink.
- Return the veggies back to the pan and stir fry with the heart for 1 minute.
- Serve with rice and enjoy.
Notes
Pork hearts cost about 98 Baht/kilo. I have no idea if this is 1 heart or 2 or 3, so when I see these in Tesco again I will pick up a few to see what the weight is. I will say low cost for now.
Shortcut: Pork Hearts 101.
Braised Pork Hearts
This is a base recipe, you can serve as is (which is delicious), or add to a stew, soup, etc., lot of possibilities with this.
Ingredients
- 2 pork hearts
- 1 carrot, chopped or Rangiri (see Recipe Notes)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and black pepper, as desired
- dried parsley, to taste
- dried thyme, to taste
- dried rosemary, to taste
Instructions
- Prep the hearts, rinse the hearts, then cut in half lengthwise, remove the stringy portions, fat, and trim the top off with the tubes.
- Slice each prepped heart into 1 inch cubes. This is two hearts cubed, 3 cups and just about 600 grams (just over 1 lb).
- Add the cubes to a ziplock bag, add the salt and pepper as desired, olive oil, and seasonings of choice, parsley, thyme, and rosemary work very well with this. Zip the bag closed and mix the pieces well with the marinade. Place in the fridge overnight. (I used a plastic dish to hold the cubes as I cut the hearts, then mixed the olive oil and seasonings in this, then poured them into a zip lock bag.)
- When you are ready to cook, heat a non stick pan on medium high heat.
- Place a strainer over a bowl and empty the contents of the zip lock bag into the strainer, reserve the marinade and set that aside for now.
- Empty the strainer now into the hot pan, brown the pieces on all sides. (The heart cubes are covered in oil to start with and they release some water as well, no additional liquid is added to the pan.)
- Add the leftover marinade, if any, to the pan and stir the heart pieces into the liquid. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover pan, and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 25 minutes.
- Add the carrot and onion to the pan and stir them in. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the carrots are tender.
- Carrots are tender, ready to serve.
- Served as is but keep in mind, you can add this to a stew, soup, mix in some chicken gravy, etc.
Notes
Pork hearts cost about 98 Baht/kilo. I have no idea if this is 1 heart or 2 or 3, so when I see these in Tesco again I will pick up a few to see what the weight is. I will say low cost for now. For more savings, get them fresh at a local market.
Shortcut: Pork Hearts 101.
Variant: 1. Straw mushrooms added to this would be a great addition.
For the carrots: I used a Japanese style of chopping carrots, called Rangiri, which is basically, cut a piece of the carrot off at an angle, then rotate the carrot ¼ turn, cut another piece off at an angle, repeat the turning and cutting. This makes for bite size pieces, and a larger surface = faster cooking.
Crock Pot Chicken & Noodles II
This comes from a good friend and is a another recipe for this classic comfort chow. On my to cook list. This is for a 6 quart or larger slow cooker. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4-5 cups cooked chicken, chopped big, or 4 raw breasts
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup, OR make from a shortcut
- 6 cups chicken broth, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 680 grams frozen egg noodles, (24 oz)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- For the COOKED chicken, chop it large, 1 inch or larger, this lessens the chance of the chicken falling apart in the slow cooker. For RAW chicken, use 4 whole chicken breasts.
- For the egg noodles, folks in the US can easily use Reames brand FROZEN egg noodles (24 oz bag). If you do not have access to frozen egg noodles, you can use DRY wide egg noodles, about 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
Using COOKED chicken
- To your slow cooker, add the chopped chicken and onion. Pour in the broth and soup, then add the black pepper and thyme. Cover and set your slow cooker to High setting and cook for 3 hours or until the onion is tender.
Using RAW chicken
- To your slow cooker, add the RAW whole chicken breasts, and onion. Pour in the broth and soup, then add the black pepper and thyme. Cover and set your slow cooker to High setting and cook for 4-5 hours or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon
- Chop or shred the chicken and return to the slow cooker.
Continuing on...
- While the chicken is cooking, take the frozen vegetables and noodles out of the freezer and allow to thaw for 30 minutes or so. If using DRY egg noodles, cook those in a pot of boiling salted water, but drain them when they are a few minutes from being tender, as they will finish cooking in the slow cooker.
- When either the onion is tender if using cooked chicken, or when the raw chicken is chopped and returned to the cooker, stir in the vegetables and noodles.
- Cover and continuing cooking on High setting for 60-90 minutes. Give the pot a stir every 30 minutes. Cook until the noodles are cooked and tender, do not over cook.
- Stir in the parsley.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcuts: Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup. Chicken Broth.
Variants: 1. For a thinner consistency, stir in 1-2 cups more chicken broth. 2. Use fresh vegetables if you desire or add additional items, such as celery, mushrooms, or bell peppers. 3. Use homemade egg noodles. 4. Use homemade spatzle in place of the egg noodles.
Inspired by Spend With Pennies and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Bleu Cheese & Olive Pasta Salad
Easy and common ingredients. Delicious!
Ingredients
- 250 grams dry spiral pasta, (8 oz)
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/4 cup lemon or lime juice
- salt and pepper, as desired
- 1 cup spring onion, chopped, white and green, about 1/4 inch slices
- 1/2 cup Bleu cheese, cold, crumbled
- 1/2 can black olives, drained, sliced
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a pot of salted boiling water, until just past done. Drain, and run under running water to cool and stop the cooking process, drain well. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a small bowl, add the mayo, lemon or lime juice, and whisk together, season with salt and pepper to taste, as desired. Whisk until smooth. Prep the olives, cheese, and spring onion.
- Add the prepped items and dressing to the pasta and toss to mix well. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
- Serve as a side dish with any meal. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost.
Variants: 1. Add hard boiled quail eggs. 2. Add cherry tomatoes sliced in half lengthwise.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Pepper Chicken Stir Fry
Can never go wrong with a stir fry, and this one is excellent. I made this on 21 July 2018, absolutely perfect.
Ingredients
For the Marinade
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon garilc, smashed and finely minced
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For the Stir Fry
- 1/4 cup oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons vhite vinegar
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
- 1 large onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1/2 inch fresh ginger, grated, or 1/4 teaspoon powdered
- white sesame seeds, for garnish if desired
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the Marinade ingredients.
- Mix together with your hands, let the chicken marinate for 15-30 minutes.
- While the chicken is marinating, prepare the onion and peppers. I only had one bell pepper so I sliced up some Shiitake mushrooms.
- In another bowl, whisk together the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, water, black pepper, and 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch. Set this aside.
- After the chicken has marinated, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Use a spoon and mix together to coat the chicken all over.
- Heat a large non stick pan with 2 tablespoons of oil, on medium high heat. Add the chicken.
- Stir fry for about 5 minutes, then remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Add the last tablespoon oil and when hot, add the onions and peppers, stir fry for a few minutes and the colors will brighten. Add the ginger and garlic and stir fry for another minute.
- Return the chicken to the pan, give the sauce another quick whisk then stir that into the pan. Stir fry to coat the chicken well and the sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
- Serve with rice or vegetables of your choice on the side.
Notes
Chicken breasts cost 66 Baht/kilo, 4 breasts should be about a kilo. For 4 servings, this is about 50 cents per serving.
Variants: 1. Use one color of bell pepper, or use a yellow bell pepper in place of a red or green pepper. 2. Add broccoli. 3. Add mushrooms, Straw, Oyster, or Shiitake would work well in this.
Inspired by Spend With Pennies and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Cucumber Bites
Low cost, great sounding appetizers. This is a make what you need guide, no quantities provided.
Ingredients
- cucumber
- Cheddar cheese, real cheese, thinly sliced
- deli ham, or smoked ham
- toothpicks, as needed
Instructions
- Peel or not peel the cucumbers, or peel in strips, feel free to get creative to make ridges, etc. Slice about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick.
- Slice the cheese and cut into squares that will cover, and slightly overhang a slice of cucumber.
- To assemble, place a slice of cucumber on a tray, add a slice of cheese, fold up a slice of deli ham into quarters and place onto the cheese, top the ham with another slice of cheese, then place another slice of cucumber on top and poke a toothpick in the center to hold it together. Repeat for as many as you would like to make.
- Serve.
Notes
Low cost.
Variants: 1. Use deli sliced turkey, chicken, Genoa salami, or pepperoni. 2. Use Swiss, Gouda, or Edam cheeses.
From seeing a photo.
Cajun Pinto Beans
This idea comes from a good friend. I love pinto beans as a side dish, in chili and burritos, and as refried beans. I modified this to make this is a main dish, and it is delicious! I am going to pressure cook the beans but the canned amount will be stated as well. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Notes section.
Ingredients
- 3 cans Pinto beans, drained, (15 oz / 425 g each), Shortcut
- 500 grams bulk pork sausage, (1 lb), Shortcut
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1-2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning, depending on taste, Shortcut
- ½ cup large green chilies, roasted, peeled, chopped, (the bright green long chilies in Tesco, NOT Bird's Eye chilies)
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
Instructions
- Prepare the beans either by draining and rinsing 3 cans or by cooking from dry beans. From dry, drain after cooking them. When using dry beans, use a heaping half cup of dry beans for each can, I pressured cooked the beans. Â
- In a large saucepan on medium heat, when hot, add the sausage, garlic, and onion. Cook, breaking up the sausage with the spatula, until almost cooked through. Drain off most of the fat, not all, as that is flavor for the beans.
- Add the bell pepper, green chilies, tomatoes, and mix together.
- Add the beans and Cajun seasoning, mix together. Simmer until the bell pepper is tender.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Chickpeas (Pressure Cooker)
These came out 100% perfect. This is a quick way to cook chickpeas that have been soaked for at least 6 hours. Use in soups, salads, pasta salads, etc. I use my large 9 liter (9½ quart) 80 kPa (12 psi) stove top pressure cooker. Follow all safety precautions for your type of pressure cooker at all times. This will make about 2¾ cups cooked chickpeas and 1½ quarts of broth.
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry chickpeas
- water, as needed
- salt, as desired
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil, very important
Instructions
- Rinse the dry chickpeas then place in a container. Add water to cover by an inch or two. Cover and place on the counter for at least 6 hours. If soaking overnight, then place in the fridge.
- When ready to cook, drain and rinse the beans and place in your pressure cooker.
- Add 8 cups of water, salt as desired, and the 2 tablespoons of cooking oil, this keeps the beans from foaming so do not skip the oil.
- Place the lid on the pot, add the weight (the jiggler), and bring the heat up to high. When the jiggler starts moving and releasing pressure, start timing for 13 minutes, and turn the heat down to low or medium low to just maintain the jiggler moving and releasing pressure.
- At 13 minutes, turn off the heat and move the pressure cooker to an unused burner and allow a natural release of pressure. When the pressure is released, open the lid, drain and use the chickpeas as needed in other recipes.
Notes
Variant: 1. If cooking more than 1 cup of dry but soaked chickpeas, you need water to cover the beans by 1-2 inches, keeping in mind you do not go over half full on the cooker, and DO NOT forget the oil!
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Marinated Bean Relish.
- Best-Ever Beans & Sausage, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Dorito Taco Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Quick & Easy White Bean Salad.
- White Bean & Tuna Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- One Pot Chickpeas & Pasta (Pasta e Ceci).
- Tomato Chickpea Salad.
- Chickpea & Rice Soup.
- Sausage & Chickpea Stew.
- Chickpea Noodle Soup, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Aush (Afghani Chili) (Slow Cooker).
- Three Bean Salad.
- Chickpea Salad.
- Recovery Vegan Stew.