Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Baked Eggplant Parmesan
This is a wonderful dish! Step by step photos taken that show my now cluttered counter. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- olive oil, as needed
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped well, retain juice
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- salt, as needed
- 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped plus for garnish
- 1 large purple eggplant, slice into 1/2 slices
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs, OR make from a shortcut
- 500 grams Mozzarella Cheese, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- cooked pasta, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 220 C (425 F).
- Add a splash of olive oil and the garlic in a large skillet and place over medium heat. When the garlic sizzles and its edges start to brown, add the tomatoes, red pepper flakes and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped basil.
- Heat a large sheet pan in the oven for at least 10 minutes while you bread the eggplant. Line up 3 shallow dishes; fill one with the flour, one with the beaten eggs, and one with the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle both sides of the eggplant slices with salt. Dredge an eggplant slice in the flour (tapping off excess), then dip in the egg, and finally dredge it in the breadcrumbs. Repeat with the remaining eggplant. Set each slice aside on a foil sheet. This photo shows the three bowls after I coated all the slices.
- When all the eggplant slices are breaded, carefully remove the heated sheet pan from the oven and brush it with a splash of olive oil. Place the eggplant on the sheet pan in a single layer. Bake until the undersides are crisp and browned, 8-10 minutes, then flip the slices and continue baking until they are golden on the second side, 8-10 minutes more.
- Both sides baked, not very brown really but almost fork tender.
- Top the baked eggplant with the tomato sauce, Mozzarella slices, and Parmesan.
- Return the pan to the oven and bake, rotating halfway through, until the cheese melts and browns and the sauce is bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes. Top with torn basil before serving.
- Serve with pasta on the side.
Notes
Low cost.
Variant: Use pasta sauce or make from a shortcut using tomato paste as the base.
Shortcuts: Italian Breadcrumbs, Pasta Sauce.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Garland Davis, US Navy Cook (Ret).
United States.
United States.
Unstuffed Bell Peppers
I love Stuffed Bell Peppers, and not only does this recipe sounds like a very good alternative, it is delicious as well. I made this on 1 July 2018, very well liked by the family. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- olive oil, as needed
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bell peppers, any color, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 500 grams ground beef, or ground pork, (1 lb)
- 1 can diced tomatoes, or whole, chopped, with juice, 565 g can
- 1¾ cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 1 cup tomato sauce, Shortcut
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 1 cup cheese, Cheddar, Edam, or Jack, shredded
- salt and pepper, to taste
- spring onions, chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Garlic, peppers, and onion prepped. Reserve some of the diced bell peppers to sprinkle on top for garnish if desired.
- Saute peppers, onions, and garlic in a splash of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.
- Once the peppers and onions have started to soften, increase heat to medium high and add the ground beef to the pan, season with salt and pepper.
- Once the ground beef is cooked through, drain off excess fat.
- Then add the chicken broth, can of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and soy sauce. Stir together.
- Bring the tomato mixture up to a simmer, then stir in one cup of uncooked rice. Cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Let mixture cook 20-30 minutes, or until rice is tender.
- At the 20 minute mark, start stirring the pan occasionally so the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan. One rice is tender, sprinkle the cheese on top.
- Cover the pan with the lid to let the cheese melt.
- Spoon onto plates, garnish with fresh diced bell peppers and green onions if desired, serve.
Notes
The beef would cost about 100 Baht/500 grams. For 4 servings, this is about 75 cents per serving.
Shortcut: Tomato Sauce.
BLT Pasta Salad
This is really good! I made this for a party the family had on 13 Aug 2018, only one small portion left over for me the next day. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams dry elbow macaroni, or any small pasta
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, or cider vinegar
- 8 slices bacon, chopped and fried crispy
- 1 cup lettuce, chopped, or spinach
- 2-4 spring onions, sliced, white and green parts
- 3/4 cup mayo
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup sour cream, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 cup tomatoes, diced
Instructions
- Cook the pasta until tender, drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain some more. Add the cooked bacon and mix in.
- Gently mix in the rest of the ingredients to combine. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Ready to serve.
Notes
Cracker Barrel Meatloaf
I love a good meatloaf, and this is by far the best I have made! Excellent flavor from the use of butter crackers and cheese. Highly recommended.
Equipment
- Loaf Pans (two, 4x8 inch)
- Oven
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- â…” cup milk
- 32 butter crackers, crushed, like Magic or Ritz
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 120 grams Cheddar cheese, shredded, (4 oz)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, or a mix of black and white pepper
- 1 kilo ground beef, (2 lb)
- ½ cup ketchup, or chili sauce
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon mustard
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F). Get out two loaf pans. I used my Pyrex pans.
- In a mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and crackers and stir together. Add the onion and cheese and stir together. Stir in the salt and pepper.
- Add ground beef. Mix well.
- Divide mixture between the 2 loafs, pack lightly and smooth off the top.
- Bake for 30 minutes. While the meatloaf is baking, mix together the ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard to make the topping. I used chili sauce in place of the ketchup.
- After 30 minutes of baking, spoon ¼ of the topping onto each meatloaf, return the pans to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Then spoon on the rest of the topping, dividing between the loaves, and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let the loaf rest for 5 minutes.
- Slice and serve right from the pan with your favorite side dishes, and enjoy.
Notes
For 8 servings this is actually low cost per serving and also depends on where you source the beef from. I purchase in bulk from a local butcher and grind myself.
Updated on 2 July 2022.
Sausage, Egg, Cheese Sandwiches
Everyone has heard of the well know biscuits and muffins that contain these ingredients from McDonald's. I liked those those as well. I decided to step these up a bit from a small biscuit or muffin and went with homemade dinner rolls, homemade breakfast sausage, and real cheese. And they are very good! Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- patties breakfast sausage, OR make from a shortcut
- dinner rolls, OR make from a shortcut
- eggs
- Cheddar cheese, sliced, or cheese of choice
- olive oil, as needed
- mayo, as needed
- white pepper powder, as desired
Instructions
- Cook the patties in a non stick pan with splash of olive oil, 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside.
- I used a ring to cook the eggs, lightly scrambled and seasoned with white pepper. (I had two rings, one seems to have walked away.)
- Cut the rolls in half, spread mayo on each piece, add cheese to the bottom, then a sausage patty, then the egg, add the top part of the roll.
- Enjoy.
- This was for my wife, when I asked her if she wanted 1 or 2 slices of cheese, she asked what kind, I said Provolone, so she took a bite of the cheese, and said oh that cheese, two slices!
Notes
Low cost if using homemade sausage and rolls.
Shortcuts: Breakfast Sausage, Dinner Rolls.
Variants: 1. Use cheese of choice, Provolone goes real well with this. 2. Use butter in place of mayo on the rolls.
My version of the popular restaurant item.
Condensed Tomato Soup
This is used is some recipes here on this site, this is the condensed version, and you can make this from paste to make tomato sauce. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 cup tomato sauce, Shortcut
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Whisk everything together in a mixing bowl. Done, now wasn't that easy?
- If needed to use as an ingredient that states condensed tomato soup, you can use it as needed in the recipe.
- If you want to make soup from this, heat this in a sauce pan with 1 cup of milk and add seasonings of your choice.
Notes
Shortcut: Tomato Sauce.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
Balsamic Rosemary Chicken Breasts
This is very good! Excellent flavor, juicy, can cut with a fork. Highly recommended and on my Go-To list.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Make the marinade by whisking together garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, thyme, rosemary, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Pour into a large ziplock bag.
- Rinse the chicken breast and pat dry, add to the ziplock bag, squish the bag around to coat all the chicken, squeeze out the air, seal, and refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F). Line a baking sheet with foil and place a rack on the sheet. OR, and highly recommended, fire up your grill.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake off excess, discard marinade. Place chicken on the rack and bake for 10 minutes then turn over and bake for another 10 or until juices run clear. OR grill on the BBQ.
- Let chicken rest for 5 minutes, serve with a side of your choice.
Notes
The chicken might cost 100 Baht, I just bought today, 3 large chicken breasts for 61 Baht. The vinegar will cost about 60 Baht (about half a bottle). For 4 servings, this is about $1.18 per serving.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Loco Moco
This is standard in Hawaiian fast food places, this is a simple recipe and it is good. (I thought this would have had SPAM in it being Hawaiian 😉
Ingredients
For the Gravy (or use a gravy packet)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Worcherstershire sauce
- 2 cups beef stock, fresh or from powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
For the Patties
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- ½ cup onion, finely diced
- salt and pepper, to taste
Other Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 4 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add flour; whisk until mixture becomes a dark brown color, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and whisk for about 1 minute. Add beef stock and salt, and pepper to taste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until sauce is thickened, about 20 minutes.
- While the gravy is thickening, mix the ground beef, onion, salt, and pepper together. Divide the mixture into 4 balls; flatten them into patties. Fry the patties to the desired doneness.
- Fry the eggs sunny side up.
- To plate this, divide the rice between 4 plates, place a burger patty on top of the rice, pour on some gravy, place an egg on top of the burger patty, drizzle a bit of gravy over the egg, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving, figure about 100 Baht/500 grams of beef. For 4 servings, this is about 74 cents per serving.
Soft Bread (Bread Machine)
This is the name of the bread in my bread machine recipe book, and it is good and spot on! This is my Go-To recipe now for soft white bread. I make this in 1 pound (500 gram loaves) as it is only my wife and me here at the house that eat bread. For this recipe, only in ml measuring cup and a digital scale for weights, very important.
Equipment
- Bread Machine
Ingredients
- 160 ml water
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk powder
- 300 grams all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
Instructions
- Add the ingredients to your bread machine in the order listed or by the manufacturer.
- On the controls, select Soft Bread, White Bread, or Plain Bread or what ever your model states for basic bread, weight 500 g (1 lb), and crust as desired. Press start.
- At the end of the cycle, using kitchen mitts, remove the loaf pan and turn out the loaf to a wire rack to cool. (I took this photo right after making my first loaf of bread in a bread machine, the house smelled wonderful while it was baking. Once I took it out of the pan, cut a few slices, slathered with butter, and my wife and I each devoured a slice!)
Hamburger Buns (Bread Machine)
Let your bread machine do the heavy work, but you will cook these in your oven. I have made these and the taste is perfect, and they are durable, meaning they are not going to fall apart if lots of sauce is used.
Equipment
- Bread Machine
- Oven
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- water, see Step 1
- 1 egg, see Step 1
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 384 grams all purpose flour, 3 cups if no scale
- 1½ teaspoons instant dry yeast
Instructions
- Crack an egg into a measuring cup and lightly scramble with a fork, then add water to make 1 cup of liquid.
- Pour the egg and water mixture into your bread machine, the add the remaining ingredients in the order listed or as specified by the manufacturer. Set to Dough (or Leavened Dough) and press start. The run time should be around 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on your machine.
- When the bread machine says it is done, using floured hands, turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
- Using a pastry cutter or large knife, cut the dough in half, and cut each half into 3 or 4 pieces, like cutting a pie. 3 for big buns, 4 for smaller buns (which are probably average size buns).
- Take a baking sheet or two and just spread some flour on them, nothing heavy, just rub it around a bit. Now with the dough pieces, use floured hands each in a karate chop position, roll each piece of dough between your hands to make a round ball, no need to pick the ball up to do this, as they are very soft, and are also rising while you do this. Quickly roll each into a round ball and place these on the baking sheet.
- Cover the sheets with a towel and let rise for about 30-40 minutes, or until doubled in size or nearly doubled.
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F).
- Mix up 1 egg and a tablespoon of water, just before putting into the oven, lightly brush (do not deflate the dough) with the egg wash, and lightly sprinkle with white sesame seeds if desired.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until rolls turn a golden brown indicating they are done, remove from the oven, cool for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- And another batch with sesame seeds added.
Notes
Additional flour guidance and information provided by good friend, Garland Davis, US Navy Cook (Ret), United States.
