Archive for the ‘INGREDIENTS’ Category
Homemade Stove Top Stuffing
The name is familiar to any American. If you are paying for the boxed kind in Thailand, you are paying too much, this is so easy to make. This is a good side dish with not only turkey, but chicken, meatloaf, etc. I made this on 13 Oct 2017 and this is now going to be a regular item on our table.
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Oven
Ingredients
- 12 slices sandwich bread, slice into ¾ inch cubes
- 4 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
- 4 teaspoons dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt, or ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 tablespoons butter, (1/4 block or 1/2 stick)
- 1⅓ cups chicken stock, or broth, fresh or from powder
- 1-3 stalks celery, diced
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, add the bread cubes spread them out in a layer. If you have a small baking sheet like me, work in batches.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, and gently toss them part way through and bake for another 5 minutes. You are looking for even toasting on most of the cubes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Toss the bread cubes with the sage, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. (If making this to use another recipe calling for a box of stuffing, use at this point.)
- Melt butter in a large non stick pan and add the celery and cook for a few minutes until soft. Then pour in the chicken stock and heat until simmering, add the bread cubes and stir, the bread will soak up the stock in just seconds, add additional stock as needed to your liking. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Minimal cost.
Shortcut: Quick Chicken Broth.
Variant: 1. Use beef stock in place of chicken stock.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Broccoli, Chicken & Rice Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Sinfully Delicious Chicken Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Chicken & Stuffing Casserole.
- Bruschetta Chicken Bake.
- Stuffing Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Chicken & Dressing II (Slow Cooker).
- Chicken & Dressing I.
Flour Tortillas
Sounds pretty straight forward, I must give this a try as store bought are expensive! I cannot judge the quantity of tortillas that this makes until I try this, supposedly it is 12.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup oil, or real lard
- ⅔ cup warm water
Instructions
- Combine ingredients to form a dough. Cover dough with plastic wrap or foil and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide into 12 portions and roll each into a ball. Press into a thin flat circle using a tortilla press or roll out with a rolling pin until approximately 1/8 inch thick. (This step does not sound right and will verify when I make these.)
- Lightly brush a heated heavy cast iron pan with oil and wipe off any excess oil, then cook tortillas until crisp on both sides, turning once. Stack between paper napkins or towels and keep warm until all are done.
- Stuff with your favorite fillings and serve right away or wrap tightly with wax or parchment paper between layers and freeze for up to 6 months.
All Purpose Chicken Meatballs
This recipe can also be used for ground turkey as well and was originally posted as that in the title, but I am going to list this using chicken. This sounds really easy and the meatballs are baked which will aide them keeping their shape. Make a batch and freeze them, then use as needed as an appetizer with a dipping sauce, pasta sauces, etc. Consider this a base recipe to be used in a variety of recipes.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo ground chicken, OR ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 2/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C. Line a baking sheet with foil.
- Place all ingredients in a large bowl. I ground 1 kilo (2 lbs) of chicken tenders.
- Use your hands and mix to just combine, do not over mix as that will result in a tough meatball.
- Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls and place on the baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes until just cooked through, do not overcook or once again, tough meatballs. One inch meatballs should make about 50 meatballs. I use an ice cream scoop to measure, then place that in your hand and roll that, mine came out to about 1 1/2 inches and I made 26. I baked them for 35 minutes and they were perfect.
- Now, if you have a specific need for 1 kilo of meatballs at one time, go ahead and use, but more than likely, you are going to freeze these. Let the meatballs cool to room temperature, then place on another baking sheet and put in the freezer, once frozen then place all in a freezer bag or container, then you can take out the meatballs you need for a specific recipe.
Notes
The Tesco website lists Grade A Mince Chicken as 79 Baht/kilo, which very good considering 50 meatballs or so and can be used in several dishes. Easily under $1 per serving.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
United States.
- Turkey Meatballs with Summer Squash, made it, GO-TO recipe.
United States.
Balsamic Vinegar Substitute
Sounds reasonable to me.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Mix well, use in place of 1 tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar.
Notes
This is easily scaled to any amount you need, for instance, you need 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar, use 8 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 4 teaspoons of brown sugar.
Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs or Stuffing
This is a straight forward shortcut recipe if you need just plain breadcrumbs OR seasoned breadcrumbs or stuffing. I have made this dozens of times for both seasoned breadcrumbs and for plain croutons to make make homemade stuffing. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 8 slices white bread
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, Shortcut
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Mix together the salt, Italian seasoning, onion and garlic powders in a small bowl if needing seasoned croutons or crumbs.
- Cube the bread and spread out on the baking sheet, sprinkle on the seasoning mixture. Place in the preheated oven. You need to pay attention to the bread now.
- When the bread cubes are about half toasted, remove and use your hands to toss the bread cubes around on the sheet, place back in the oven.
- When the bread is nicely toasted, remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.
- Now you just made toasted croutons for use in stuffing, OR you can crush them in your hands to make breadcrumbs (no seasoning) or seasoned breadcrumbs for use in other recipes.
Notes
Shortcut: Italian Seasoning.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Best-ever Meat Loaf.
- Crispy Sardines & Garlic Mayo, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Pasta with Sardines II.
- Mackerel Loaf, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Salmon Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Baked Ranch Chicken.
- Salisbury Steak with Mushrooms.
- Kielbasa Pasta Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Giant Meatball II.
- Giant Meatball I.
- Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata Meatballs, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Broken Meatball Spaghetti, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Garlic Baked Fish.
- Creamy Ham & Egg Casserole.
- Fish in Coconut Milk, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Scottish Lorne Sausage.
- Irish Sausage.
- English Bangers, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Daikon Cakes.
- Broccoli & Ham Cheese Casserole.
- Fried Oysters, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Tuna Loaf, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Cherry Tomato Pasta, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Crock Pot Chicken & Rice.
- Salmon Loaf I.
- Oven Fried Fish.
- Oyster Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Minced Chicken Oven Dish.
- Real Swiss Steak.
- Braised Lamb Shanks with Jarlserg.
- Baked Corned Beef Burgers.
Basic Beer Batter
I have made and used this, basic beer batter for white fish fillets. Taste is very good.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups beer
Instructions
- Mix together the flour, egg, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then add in your beer.
- To use, coat fish fillets in all purpose flour first, THEN dip in the batter, then deep fry or fry to your liking.
Notes
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
This is a shortcut to make the popular Jiffy Corn Muffins, some recipes use this as a base or you can just make muffins. This makes 1 box of mix, which makes 6 muffins. I made the muffins on 30 Mar 2017 and they are very good.
Ingredients
Corn Muffin Mix
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup yellow corn meal
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted, OR vegetable oil
To make just muffins, add this
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk
Optional Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 tablespoon fresh chilis, minced
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
Instructions
- Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl, mix well. Whisk in melted butter and mix until dry mixture is smooth and lumps are gone.
- If another recipe is calling for a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, add the above mixed ingredients to that recipe.
- To make Corn Muffins, preheat your oven to 200 C (390 F), lightly butter a muffin pan. OPTIONAL: add any combination of optional ingredients you prefer. Combine mix with egg and milk, mixing well. Let mixture rest for 5 minutes, then give it a quick stir, fill muffin pan cells half full, bake for 15-20 minutes.
Notes
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Chili Cornbread Pie.
- Tamale Pie.
- Creamed Corn Cornbread, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Beef & Beans Casserole.
Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt is just a more strained version of regular yogurt, no kidding. You pay top dollar for it but you can do yourself and save the money.
Ingredients
- regular yogurt, amount is up to you
Instructions
- Place a wire mesh strainer or rice strainer over a bowl, place a double layer of cheese cloth, or a basket style coffee filter in the strainer.
- Add yogurt. Cover with plastic wrap or foil, and put in the fridge.
- Drain for 1 hour to remove 20% of the whey. Drain for 3-4 hours to remove 1/2 the whey. Drain overnight (about 8 hours) to remove all the liquid, this gives you a consistency of sour cream.
Notes
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Tuna (actually Yellowtail not Tuna)
Tuna is about as popular as chicken. I am not talking the tuna steaks or fillets, think canned tuna. This recipe is about making "homemade tuna" but without the cans and without tuna. In Tesco and fresh markets, yellowtail is very common, inexpensive, and tastes very much like tuna, but normally sold as whole fish. What this recipe is talking about is the smaller, 14-16 inch whole yellowtail fish one can buy in Tesco. This is a base recipe to get the "tuna" into a recipe usable state. There is no set quantities for this, if you have not done this before, this is very easy, just start with one fish and see how that goes. I have made this many times and when I do this again, I will take step by step photos, and revise the recipe to a more friendlier format.
Ingredients
- 1 whole yellowtail fish, average size is about 14-16 inches
Instructions
- Clean the fish by gutting and rinse the cavity, no need to scrub every part as that will not be used or even touched. There is no need to remove the head, fins, or skin, these will not be used.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil, once boiling add the fish. Cook for about 20 minutes, the meat will start separate from the backbone and will flake easily with a fork.
- When the fish is cooked through, remove the pot from the heat, cover, and let sit for about 20-30 minutes.
- Once cooled, remove the fish from the water using a large wire scoop and place on a plate.
- Using forks, pull back the skin and away from the meat. Then hold the tail and insert a fork near the tail area pointing towards the head and simply separate that side of meat from the backbone, flip over the tuna and do the same thing on the other side, discard the bones, head, and skin. Now you will have 2 nice big pieces of meat.
- Now you have to remove the ribs, just use a fork and and lift the ribs out of the meat. There are no pin bones in this fish.
- Now use the forks and chunk up the meat a little or a lot depending on what a recipe calls for. Place in a bowl and cover and refrigerate until used, This should last refrigerated for up 3 days. This makes several cans of tuna.
- See, that was easy! You have fresh cooked "tuna", material for your compost pile, and no cans involved, all it takes is some time and effort on your part.
Notes
One average size can of tuna is approximately 1/2 cup. Some cans are smaller, some cans are larger, go with 1/2 cup per can, but with tuna, go a little extra as well, no one is going to complain. I have adjusted the tuna recipes on the site to reflect using this recipe as an alternative to canned. Remember the rule, 1/2 cup fresh "tuna" is about 1 can of tuna.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Creamed Tuna on Toast, made it, GO-TO recipe,
- One-Pot Tuna Rice.
- Cheesy Tuna-Vegetable Chowder.
- Tuna Bake.
- Macaroni and Cheese with Cauliflower, Tuna, and Egyptian Roumy Cheese.
- Tuna Patties.
- Tuna Casserole I.
- Tuna Casserole II.
- Mac & Cheese, Slow Cooker Style I.
- Macaroni Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- White Bean & Tuna Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Tuna Casserole IV, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Tuna Loaf, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Tuna Salad, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Tuna & Rice (Rice Cooker).
KFC Gravy
KFC does have some tasty gravy, but more than likely the ingredient list is as long as my arm, so here is a shortcut. I have not tried this yet but on my list of things to do.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cube beef boullion, OR use the powder
- 1 cube chicken buollion, OR use the powder
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil and add the bouillon or powder and stir until dissolved, set aside.
- In another small pot, melt the butter on low heat, stir as needed. Mix the sage, black pepper, and garlic powder with the flour.
- Slowly add the flour mixture to the melted butter and whisk continuously, until the mixture takes on a golden brown color.
- At this point, slowly stir in the bouillon mixture, continuing to whisk. One the mixture is whisked in, turn up the heat to medium until some of the water evaporates and leaves a creamy and pourable gravy.
- Serve while hot over mashed potatoes.
Notes
Adapted from an internet recipe.
