Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Soy Sauce Eggs
This is a Chinese recipe and these eggs are served with noodle and rice dishes. These are generally soft boiled eggs but I will make with hard boiled as personal preference. These are delicious, and on my Go-To List now. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 6-8 hard boiled eggs, or soft boiled, peeled, chicken or duck
For the Marinade
- 1 tablespoon Chinese 5 Spice powder
- 4 cups water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 cup soy sauce, low sodium if you prefer
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Instructions
- Add all the marinade ingredients to a medium sized pot, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Once the marinade is cooled, add the peeled eggs and place in the fridge overnight. The next day, remove the eggs from the marinade and store, covered, in the fridge until use. Discard the marinade. This photo is from the second day and I sampled an egg.
- To serve with noodles or rice, just cut an egg in half and place on the plate beside the rice or noodles, and for noodles in a soup, just add on top, yolk side up for presentation.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs, Perfect Hard Boiled Duck Eggs, Perfect Hard Boiled Quail Eggs.
Variant: 1. Make with hard boiled quail eggs.
This recipe for Soy Sauce Eggs is from China Sichuan Food.
Mushroom Soup II
This makes a lot of soup and uses fresh mushrooms, 1 kilo (2 pounds) of mushrooms. This can be made with just the clear broth or with cream. I made this on 9 Sep 2017 and served it both ways, clear broth and creamy, family actually prefers the clear broth version.
Ingredients
- 10 cups water
- 1-2 cubes mushroom stock
- 3-4 medium potatoes, skin on, diced
- 1 kilo fresh Straw mushrooms, sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 4 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 carrot, shredded
- olive oil, as needed
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot, add the water, the mushroom stock cube or cubes. and the potatoes. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are near cooked through.
- While the potatoes are cooking, prep the onion, carrot, and mushrooms. When the mushrooms are sliced add them to the soup pot.
- The mushrooms are just rinsed and cut in half lengthwise. This is just the start, 1 kilo of Straw mushrooms is a lot!
- Mushrooms added to the soup pot.
- Heat a non stick pan on medium heat and add a splash of olive oil. Saute the onion and carrot until soft and starting to brown, then add those to the soup pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste, stir in the parsley. Continue to simmer.
- At this point you can serve for those who do not want any dairy in the soup.
- In a small bowl or large measuring cup, add the milk, cream and flour and whisk until smooth, stir that into the soup.
- Serve.
Notes
Low cost.
This recipe for Mushroom Soup is from Natasha's Kitchen.
Yang Chun Noodles (阳春面)
This is a common breakfast noodle in China. Normally thin noodles are used for this, here in Thailand, I will use standard Japanese egg noodles (ramen) which look very much like flat spaghetti. The packs I have seen in Tesco are 200 grams with 4 bundles of noodles, so about 50 grams of noodles per serving. I made this on 24 Oct 2017, absolutely wonderful for such a simple dish. The sesame oil is key with this.
Ingredients
- 50 grams dry Chinese egg noodles, 50 grams per serving
- 3 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 spring onion, finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat the stock to boiling then add the noodles and cook until tender.
- Place the cooked noodles in a serving bowl, ladle on about 2 cups of the broth, drizzle in the sesame oil, sprinkle the spring onion on the noodles. Serve. I added a tea egg.
Notes
Low cost.
Variant: 1. Cut a plain hard boiled egg, tea egg, or soy sauce egg in half and place on the noodles.
This recipe for Yang Chun Noodles is from China Sichuan Food.
Sausage & Peppers Pasta
Peppers and Sausage, great meal, add macaroni and cheese, even better. This recipe screams of a shortcut to make the sausage and tomato sauce, both are so easy. I made this on 17 Dec 2018 and have updated it with my findings. This is an excellent dish and was well liked by the Thai family as well. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams bulk Italian sausage, (1 lb), (Shortcut)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 red bell peppers, diced, 2 if small, 1 if large
- 280 grams pasta shells, or any bite site pasta, (10 oz)
- 2 cups pasta sauce, (Shortcut)
- 4 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder, (Shortcut)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese, shredded, 200 grams is perfect
- fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
- salt and pepper, as desired
Instructions
- My homemade pasta sauce, stock made from powder, pasta (used maccheroni No. 32), diced onion, bell peppers, and garlic prepped and ready.
- In a large pot (I use my pressure cooker pot), add the sausage (I used homemade link sausage with casings removed), and cook until mostly no longer pink.
- Add in the onion, garlic, and bell pepper and cook until the onion is soft.
- Add in the pasta and mix until coated with the sausage fat.
- Add in the pasta sauce and chicken stock, season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Simmer until the pasta is just tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Stir in the cream and Mozzarella and mix until the cheese is melted in.
- Garnish with the fresh chopped parsley if desired, serve and enjoy.
Notes
If making the sausage from the shortcut, this is about 55 Baht/500 grams. The cheese will cost about 80 Baht. For 6 servings, this is about 69 cents per serving.
Shortcuts: Italian Sausage, Pasta Sauce, Chicken Stock (Pressure Cooker).
Variants: 1. Use pork stock in place of chicken stock. 2. For the sausage, use Spicy Italian, Cumberland, or even Jimmy Dean.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Crockpot Sausage & Pepper Dinner
This is really good. This is truly a dump and go meal. I made this on 2 Dec 2017, easy, and most important, tasty!
Ingredients
- 3 medium potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 yellow summer squash, sliced
- 2-3 bell peppers, chopped large
- 500 grams smoked sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 10-15 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
- 1 cup chicken stock, fresh or from powder
Instructions
- Layer the potatoes on the bottom first.
- Then add the sausage. I used Cumberland sausage for this.
- Then the garlic. If using yellow squash (I did not), then layer that on top of the garlic.
- Then add the chopped bell peppers, I used 1 red, 1 green, and 1 yellow. Pour the stock over the top.
- Cover and cook on Low setting for 5 to 7 hours, do not open the cover until the 5 hour mark, if the potatoes are fork tender, it is ready to be served or just set to Warm setting until ready. Salt and pepper to taste just before serving. This was perfect at the 5 hour mark using 1/4 inch thick potatoes.
Notes
I used 500 grams of Cumberland sausage that cost 178 Baht. For 6 servings, this is about 88 cents per serving.
Variants: 1. Use chopped chicken, turkey, Cumberland sausage, or shrimp, or a combination. 2. Use pork stock in place of chicken stock.
Provided by Slow Cooker Kitchen and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
3-Ingredient Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops II
This is a quick to put together meal. I will use pork loin when I make this, thick cut as well, that should work equally as well as chops. Several shortcuts to use as well. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops, thick cut, or loin chops
- 2-3 tablespoons dry ranch dressing mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, OR make from a shortcut
Instructions
- Lightly butter the slow cooker insert. Place chops in the slow cooker, sprinkle chops with the ranch dressing mix,
- Pour the condensed soup over the top. You can use either cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup.
- Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Do not remove the lid before 6 hours, check for tenderness, if tender, serve, if not continue cooking until 7 or 8 hours.
- Serve with mashed potatoes or pasta and gravy from the slow cooker and a vegetable for a complete meal.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcuts: Ranch Dressing Mix, Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup.
Provided by Slow Cooker Kitchen and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
3-Ingredient Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops I
This is a quick to put together meal with only 3 ingredients and two you can make from shortcuts for cost savings. I made this yesterday 14 Sep 2017 and used bone in pork chops I found in Tesco, thick cut as well, and wow is this good! I think thick cut pork loin would equally as well. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops, bone in, thick cut
- 1-2 tablespoons dry ranch dressing mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 2 cups chicken gravy, OR make from a shortcut
Instructions
- Lightly butter the slow cooker insert. Place chops in the slow cooker.
- Sprinkle chops with the ranch dressing mix.
- Pour the gravy over the top. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Do not remove the lid before 6 hours, check for tenderness, if tender, serve, if not continue cooking until 7 or 8 hours.
- Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy from the slow cooker and a vegetable for a complete meal.
Notes
The pork chops I found at Tesco, thick cut, bone in, 250 grams each, were 160 Baht each making this about $4.70 per serving but these are so good I will make this once every 3 months, when I go to the city for my address report, I will look in Makro for these and the cost should be less. I will also test this recipe with just thick cut pork loin, which would make this a low cost meal.
Shortcuts: Ranch Dressing Mix, Chicken Gravy.
Provided by Slow Cooker Kitchen and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Kielbasa & Onions
This is an old classic. I remember this well, perfect with a side of mashed or boiled potatoes, egg noodles, or even better, fried yellow summer squash. In Makro there is what is called Spicy Smoked Sausage, very similar in taste to Kielbasa and is very good, there is also packages of what is called Sausage Scraps, those also contain this sausage.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo Kielbasa sausage, or Spicy Smoked Sausage from Makro
- 2 onions, sliced, separated into rings
- 1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cut the sausage into ½ inch slices at an angle. Onions and sausage prepped, as well as some zucchini for another dish.
- In a large non stick pan on medium heat, add the olive oil and butter, when hot, add sausage and onion.
- Cook, stirring often, until the sausage is browned, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper as desired.
- Ready to serve.
- I served this with fried zucchini and egg noodles, perfect meal.
Notes
Fair cost per serving.
Oven Pork Chops
This sounds really good. I am going to have to search for pork chops now due to my location, or I will try this recipe using just sliced pork loin. I made these on 26 Mar 2018, excellent flavor.
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops, thin cut would be good
- 1/2 small onion, sliced
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
- salt, pepper, garlic powder, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F). Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Tenderize each chop with a hammer or needle tenderizer. Tenderize each side. Place chops on the baking sheet.
- Mix together the mayo and onion. Season chops with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste, spread the mayo mixture evenly over the chops, top with the shredded cheese.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and chops are cooked through.
- Serve with buttered mashed potatoes and a vegetable for a complete meal.
Notes
I will say low cost for now, pork is cheap, pork chops however, I need to price those.
Variant: 1. Gouda cheese works well.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Russian Mushroom & Potato Soup
This is delicious either as the creamy or non-creamy version depending on your preference. I made this on 7 Sep 2017, both versions tested and family approved.
Ingredients
- 4-5 medium potatoes, skin on or off your preference, diced
- 500 grams fresh mushrooms, sliced, button, Shiitake, or Straw
- 2 carrots, sliced
- ½ cup spring onion, chopped, green and white
- 6 cups chicken broth, fresh or from powder
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped, plus more for garnish
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
To make the Creamy Version, you need this
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup whipping cream
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
Instructions
- In a large pot on medium heat, melt the butter then add the spring onion and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Then add the broth, salt, pepper, dill, and bay leaf. Add the potatoes and cover the pot and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Potatoes should be tender but still firm.
- In a large non stick skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the mushrooms. (I used Shiitake Mushrooms.)
- Cook for 5 to 7 minutes to brown them up, then add the mushrooms to the soup pot.
- At this point you can serve for the non-creamy version, or continue on for the creamy version.
For the Creamy Version
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, whipping cream, and flour until good and smooth.
- Slowly stir mixture into the soup and increase heat to a gentle boil and the soup will thicken. Serve.
Notes
Low cost.