Archive for the ‘5 Ingredients or Less’ Category
Northern Thai Sausage (Sai Oua) I
This recipe is from a Thai brand (Lobo) seasoning pack to make this sausage, the recipe is on the back of the package, and the package even contains the collagen casing. I made this on 16 June 2017 and it is delicious! Lot of lemon grass flavor and not overly spicy, the Thai family really enjoyed this. The packet contains the collagen casings, there is 5 casings, already knotted on one end and are easy to use.
Ingredients
- 1 packet Northern Thai Sausage seasoning (Sai Uoa), Lobo brand
- 100 milliliters warm water
- 500 grams pork belly, skin removed, coarsely ground, (1 lb)
Instructions
- In a medium size bowl, dissolve the contents of the seasoning pack in the warm water. This is the seasoning pack used.
- Add the pork belly to the seasoning mix and blend well until sticky, use your hands for this, takes just a few minutes for this. Shape into 5 equal size balls.
- Now for the collagen casing, first, it is used dry, never soak them. I used a funnel when I made these as I have never used casings before. If you are experienced using casings, use the method of your choice. Grease up the funnel tube with vegetable for the first sausage, and fit the casing onto the tube all the way to the knotted end.
- Fill the casing with the pork mixture by pressing it into the funnel tube, pierce any air pockets with a pin or toothpick.
- Repeat for all 5 casings. Use kitchen string to tie off the ends. Five sausages ready for the grill.
- Cook on a charcoal grill over low heat until cooked through, or bake at 140 C (280 F) for 20 minutes. Slice diagonally and serve with sticky rice and vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, or cucumber. These were grilled, Sai Krok on the top, Sai Oua on the bottom.
Notes
The seasoning packet for this is 37 Baht, and it includes the casing. The pork belly will cost about 70 Baht/500 grams. For 5 servings, this is about 63 cents per serving.
Variants: Beef, chicken, and shrimp can be used instead of pork. For shrimp, increase to 600 grams and do not use any water, just mix the seasoning packet into coarsely chopped shrimp.
From a recipe on a spice packet.
Homemade Labneh (think Sour Cream)
This is a Middle Eastern item made from strained yogurt. That's it! With strained plain full fat yogurt, you can make several items, and the item I am going to concentrate on is soft labneh which is basically sour cream. I have it from a good friend that has made this and it is a very close to sour cream. As my friend states "Can't have Mexican night without sour cream." I made this on 6 June 2017, and soft labneh is very close to sour cream, it is excellent and will be my Go-To recipe for sour cream. This makes about 800 g (28 oz) of sour cream.
Equipment
- Cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 8 containers plain yogurt, 135 gram (4¾ oz) each
- pinch salt, optional
Instructions
- For the yogurt, use plain, unflavored, full fat yogurt, NOT Greek yogurt. I used 2 packages of 4 containers each of Dutchie Original Yogurt, each container is 135 grams, so in total I used 1,072 grams of yogurt.
- Line a sieve with 2-3 layers of cheesecloth. Place the sieve on a large bowl. Add the salt, if using, to the yogurt and stir until smooth. Pour into the prepared sieve.
- Gather the edges of the cheesecloth together, twist and tie securely with string or a plastic clip and hang it above a bowl or let it just in the sieve. Cover the top of the bowl & sieve with plastic wrap.
- Place this into the fridge to allow the whey to drain out. How long you let it drain will determine what particular style of labneh you are making.
For Soft Labneh (think Sour Cream)
- Strain for 8-14 hours. This would provide a soft type of labneh with a consistency to that of Sour Cream. Check the consistency and taste during the time stated and make note of the time for future times you make this. When the consistency is good, remove from the fridge and place all the labneh in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week. Use in place of sour cream in recipes.
For Firmer Labneh
- Strain for 24-48 hours will result in a Cream Cheese like consistency. Remove from the fridge and place all the labneh in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to a week. This sounds like it would be good on a sandwich.
For Yogurt Cheese
- Strain for 48-72 hours will result in Yogurt Cheese, which is normally rolled into small balls, coated with herbs or spices and stored in olive oil. Store in the fridge for several weeks. These sound like they would make great appetizers.
For Greek-style Yogurt
- Strain for 3-4 hours will result in a Greek-style of yogurt. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, use in recipes calling for Greek yogurt.
Notes
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Chicken Liver Stroganoff.
- Creamy French Dressing.
- Creamy Cucumber Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Cottage Cheese Chicken Enchiladas, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas.
- Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas.
- Shchavel Borscht (Sorrel Soup).
- Mushrooms in Sour Cream Sauce, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Buffet Layered Salad.
- Herbed Zucchini Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Creamy Beef Gravy, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Hamburger Helper Shortcuts, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Best Chicken Enchiladas, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Cream Cheese Frosting, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Chicken & Stuffing Casserole.
- Tater Tot Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Quick Quesadillas, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Meatballs & Gravy III, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Creamed Corn Cornbread, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Pear Pie, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Swiss, Ham & Noodle Casserole.
- Noodles Romanoff, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Cucumber Radish Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Russian Mushroom Julienne.
- Creamy Ham & Egg Casserole.
- Sausage Stroganoff.
- Russian Red Radish Salad.
- Chicken Ritz Casserole.
- Aush (Afghani Chili) (Slow Cooker).
- Ground Beef Stroganoff, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Brian's Ranch Dressing.
- Indian Butter Chicken.
- Sinfully Delicious Chicken Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Chicken Paprikash.
- Olive Cheese Bread.
- Dill Pickle Bread.
- Mexican Deviled Eggs.
- Hungarian Gulyás.
- Ultra Creamy Mac & Cheese (Slow Cooker), made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Fruited Salad Mold.
- Chicken Casserole (Slow Cooker).
- Fancy Chicken Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Macaroni Frank Salad Bowl.
Coconut Rice (Rice Cooker)
Great tasting rice! I use a basic Cook / Warm 1 liter (1 quart) rice cooker.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup jasmine rice, rinsed
- 1 cup coconut milk
- ½ cup water
- ½ teaspoon coconut oil
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to your rice cooker and stir together.
- Cover and set to Cook setting. Let cooker complete the cook cycle, takes about 25-30 minutes,
- When the cooker switches to Warm setting, leave on Warm setting for 5 minutes, then unplug and leave cover on and let sit for 15 minutes to complete the cooking process.
- When ready to serve, remove the lid and fluff with a rice paddle, serve, and enjoy
Job's Tears & Red Bean Soup
I have never had Job's Tears or red beans, so one way to solve that is to try a recipe. This is very straight forward.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dry Job's Tears
- 1/2 cup dry red beans
- seasoning, as you desire
Instructions
- Rinse the beans and put in a pot with water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium and cook for about an hour or to your desired softness. When serving, add honey or sugar to taste if preferred.
Notes
Low cost.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Perfect Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs
Yep, as easy as this sounds, I thought I would add this. This is the only method I use and it works every time. This applies to chicken eggs only, not duck or quail, links for those are listed in the Notes section.
Ingredients
- chicken eggs, older eggs are better, room temp
Instructions
- The amount of eggs is up to you but I normally make batches of 6, 9, 10, and 12 hard boiled eggs at a time, the main thing is a single layer in the pot.
- Place room temperature eggs in a pot and cover with cold water to about 1 inch above the eggs. Place on high heat and when the water starts to boil, jiggling the eggs around, also called a rolling boil, turn off the heat, leave on the same burner, and cover for 13 minutes without lifting the lid.
- At the 13 minute mark, drain the water then put the pot under the tap (on the edge of the sink so it can drain, or in the sink) and turn on the tap and let it run for about 5 minutes to cool the eggs.
- Now turn off the water and let the eggs sit in the water for about 15-20 minutes, drain, peel under running water. Showing 6 eggs ready for a chicken salad.
- Showing no green inside around the yolks. This is right after they were cooled and peeled under running water. If you refrigerate the eggs in the shell, you may have green when you peel them.
Notes
Eggs are low cost, 5 Baht per egg.
Shortcuts: Perfect Hard Boiled Quail Eggs, Perfect Hard Boiled Duck Eggs.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Avocado Deviled Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Elegant Eggs.
- Luncheon Crab Bake.
- Bologna, Ham, or Chicken Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Smoky Hard Boiled Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Tuna Egg Salad Sandwiches, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Layered Vegetable Salad.
- Club Mushroom Casserole.
- Sardine & Sliced Egg Sandwich, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Russian Style Crab Salad (Крабовый Салат), made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Hard Boiled Eggs in Thai Curry.
- Mediterranean Egg Salad II, made it.
- Mediterranean Egg Salad I.
- Japanese Egg Sandwich.
- Quick Fridge Pickled Beets & Eggs.
- Yellow Pickled Eggs.
- Basic Pickled Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Son-in-Law Eggs (Khai Luk Khoei), made it.
- Scotch Eggs.
- Creamed Eggs on Toast, made it.
- Egg Salad III, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Egg Salad II.
- Egg Salad I, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Green Mango Salad.
- Chicken Salad II.
- Chicken Salad I, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Pea & Pasta Salad II.
- Pea Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Tuna Casserole II.
- Chinese Five Spice Chicken, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Macaroni Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Egg Salad with Capers & Dill, made it.
- Pickle Deviled Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Deviled Eggs with Pickled Shrimp.
- Horseradish Deviled Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Deviled Eggs, made it, several varieties listed.
- Egg Salad on Saltines, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Chinese Tea Eggs (Marbled Eggs), made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Soy Sauce Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich.
- Mushroom & Egg Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Curried Egg Salad Sandwich.
- Bacon, Egg & Swiss Salad.
- Chicken Olivye (Chicken Potato Salad), made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Club Salad.
- Sardine Salad Sandwich, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Cheater Deviled Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Egg & Mustard Crackers, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Easiest Deviled Eggs, Ever! made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Mayak Gyeran (Korean Marinated Eggs).
- Tuna Salad Deviled Eggs.
- Asian Rice Noodle Soup, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Egg & Onion Open Faced Sandwiches.
- Crab Stuffed Deviled Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Italian Deviled Eggs.
- Egg Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich (ELT), made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Herbal Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Soba Noodle Soup.
- Creamy Ham & Egg Casserole.
- Egg Butter (Munavoi), made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Hard Cooked Eggs with Mustard.
- Eggs Goldenrod.
- Deviled Egg Pasta Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Chicken Macaroni Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Mexican Deviled Eggs.
- Burmese Egg Curry.
- Chef's Salad Deluxe.
- Chipped Beef & Egg Patties.
Seared Spring Onions with Poached Eggs
Sounds good and easy. On my to try list.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2 bunches spring onions
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Mince 1 whole spring onion, green and white parts, transfer to a bowl and whisk in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, set sauce aside.
- Put the remaining spring onions on a plate. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat a large cast iron grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Cook scallions, turning occasionally, until tender and slightly charred, about 5 minutes. Divide scallions between plates.
- Pour 1/2 cup water into each of two 1 cup microwave safe coffee cups, or small Pyrex dishes. Crack 1 egg into each cup, making sure it's completely submerged. Cover each with a saucer. Microwave only one coffee cup or Pyrex bowl (1 egg) at a time on high until white is set but yolk is runny, about 1 minute (cooking time will vary depending on microwave).
- Uncover and use a slotted spoon to transfer the egg to the top of 1 serving of scallions. Spoon on half of the sauce. Repeat with remaining egg and sauce, serve with toast on the side.
Notes
Low cost.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Steamed Chinese Sausage & Rice (Rice Cooker)
Three ingredients, and your rice cooker does the work. This is a good lunch or a even a light dinner. This is about as simple as a recipe gets. I made this on 4 July 2017 and is perfect for a light dinner.
Equipment
- Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- 2-4 Chinese sausages
- dry rice, type and amount is up to you
- water, as needed
Instructions
- Just prep the rice by rinsing as you would normally do and add to your rice cooker pot. Add water as you would do normally. I use a small 1 liter rice cooker for testing recipes, rice used was 2 cups of a rice blend my wife hand on hand, white rice with just a hint of dried diced vegetable in it. Add water as dictated by the rice you are using.
- Rinse off the sausages and place onto the rice in water. This will flavor the rice slightly. Turn the rice cooker to Cook.
- When the rice cooker switches to Warm, the rice will be cooked and the sausage perfectly steamed.
- Scoop some rice onto a place, and cut the sausages about 1/4 inch thick and place on the side of the rice. As easy as that.
Notes
The sausages will cost about 100 Baht for 4, this is a very approximate cost. For 4 servings, this is about 75 cents per serving.
Tender Oven Fried Chicken
Oven fried chicken, sounds great to me! I made this on 11 Oct 2017, and tender and juicy chicken it is.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 1/2 cup butter, this is 1/2 standard block
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt, OR make from a shortcut
- buttermilk, Or just milk
Instructions
- Soak the chicken in buttermilk for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 205 C (400 F). Put the butter in a baking dish and place in the oven to melt, you can do this while the oven is heating. I used a 9x13 Pyrex dish.
- Put the seasoning salt and flour into a gallon size zip lock bag and shake to mix. When the butter is melted in the baking dish, remove from the oven.
- Take out one piece of chicken at a time from buttermilk and shake off excess then put into bag and shake to coat well, place chicken into butter in baking dish. Repeat with other pieces.
- Bake for 25 minutes then turn the chicken over, bake for another 30 minutes or until juices run clear and chicken is nicely browned. I cut one in half to check the inside, perfect.
- Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy, pasta, or rice, and a steamed vegetable.
Notes
Chicken will run about 75 Baht or so for 4 breasts. For 4 servings, this is about 55 cents per serving.
Shortcuts: Lawry's Seasoning Salt, Buttermilk.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Perfect Hard Boiled Quail Eggs
Quail eggs are a lot smaller than chicken eggs and there is a slightly different method to cook them. Tesco sells quail eggs in cartons of 25 eggs, and can be pricey (Tesco 52 Baht/25 eggs, vice a local vendor for when I bought them, 20 Baht/23 eggs). Buy from the local markets and the egg vendors, and will be sold for x number of eggs per money amount. The common size order you would receive at a market for cooked eggs, either hard boiled or fried is 10, so for this, let's just go with a 'carton' or rather 20 Baht worth, which right now is 23 eggs. I did verify this recipe today, the steps and time are 100% correct. For perfect hard boiled chicken or duck eggs, those links are listed in the Recipe Notes section below.
Ingredients
- 25 qual eggs, local vendor, room temperature
Instructions
- Heat a medium size pot of water to boiling. While that is heating, get a smaller pot out and fill with water and place under the tap so when you run more water in, the overflow will simply go into the sink.
- Lower eggs into the water with a large spoon, 3-4 eggs at a time but do not over crowd the pot. At 4 minutes for a hard boiled egg, at 2 1/2 minutes for a soft boiled egg, remove the eggs with a large slotted spoon.
- Place eggs the smaller pot and turn on the tap to keep water going into the smaller pot. Cool the eggs like this running the water on them for about 5 minutes or so.
- Peel and enjoy. Yes, the inside of quail shells is a light blue.
- Uses can be; enjoy as is as snack; cut in half and added to a green or pasta salad; mini deviled eggs; mini Scotch eggs; added to pasta, etc. Photo shows a chicken egg for size comparison, and a hard boiled egg that is perfect.
Notes
Low cost, quail eggs on average are 20 Baht for 23 eggs from a local vendor, and can be as high as 52 Baht for 25 eggs from Tesco (another reason to buy from local markets).
Shortcuts: Perfect Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs, Perfect Hard Boiled Duck Eggs.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Chinese Tea Eggs (Marbled Eggs), made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Mixed Vegetables with Quail Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Corn Soup with Quail Eggs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Braised Shrimp & Quail Eggs.
- Indonesian Style Prawn & Quail Egg Curry.
- Cha Lua Soup, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Sipo Egg II, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Sipo Egg I.
- Bak Kuet Tah Soup, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Hard Boiled Eggs in Thai Curry.
- Ginkgo Barley.
- Braised Quail Eggs & Mushrooms, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Kow Piek Sen (ເຂົ້າ ປຽກ), made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Quail Egg Wontons, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Kwek Kwek.
- Za'atar Quail Eggs.
- Quail Egg Potato Carrot Soup, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- My Pasta Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Spicy Caramelized Quail Eggs (Khai Luk Khoei).
- Asadong Pork Giniling with Quail Eggs & Mushrooms, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Quail Eggs in Soy Sauce II.
- Quail Eggs in Soy Sauce I.
- Caramelized Pork & Quail Eggs.
- Burmese Egg Curry.
Pea & Pasta Salad I
I love a good cold pasta salad, this one is a basic one but very good.
Ingredients
- 350 grams maccheroni pasta, or shells, spirals, or macaroni
- 280 grams frozen peas, thawed
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1/2 cup mayo, or as desired
- 2-3 dashes tobasco sauce, optional
Instructions
- In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until tender, then cook for 1-2 minutes more, drain and rinse under cold water and drain well.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the pasta, peas, onions, mayonnaise, and dash of hot sauce. Mix well and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
- Serve as a side with any dish.
Notes
Low cost.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
