Archive for the ‘* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving’ Category
German Cucumber Salad
February 19, 2017 Lee
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German Cucumber Salad

This sounds really good, and is very low cost. The vegetables, as well as the parsley and dill are all grown locally here. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Side
Cuisine German
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 large cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

For the Dressing

  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions
 

  • Place the cucumbers, onion, and tomatoes in a large bowl and set aside.
  • In another bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients, pour over the vegetables and toss to coat evenly. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Notes

Low cost.
Shortcut: Sour Cream.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,Sides - Salads
Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup
February 18, 2017 Lee
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Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup

This is a easy Thai soup that even I make, and it is so good. To make good Thai food, think like a Thai, boil meat, add vegetables, add flavorings, I know that does not sound right or even good, but that is the basic premise for Thai soup and curry cooking. This is an adjust as you go recipe, many ingredients are general in amount.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Thai
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 4-8 chicken legs, or legs and thighs, skin on
  • 1-2 cups coconut milk
  • mushrooms, Straw would be best, button is ok
  • 5-6 slices ginger, OR galangal
  • 4-5 Bird's Eye Chilis, sliced
  • 4-5 kaffir lime leaves
  • 2 stems lemon grass, see Step 1
  • fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 2-3 tablespoons fish sauce, OR soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • salt, to taste

Instructions
 

  • For the lemon grass, take each stalk and on a heavy cutting board and using a pestle, the flat side of a meat tenderizer, rolling pin, etc, smash the stem until it is pliable then tie into an overhand knot. This does 2 things for you, releases the oil, and keeps everything in one bundle so it can be removed (last thing people want to do when eating is to remove items that cannot be eaten from their dish).
  • In a large pot, add the chicken and cover by about 2-3 inches of water, and add the ginger, lemon grass bundles, lime leaves, and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes, then reduce to a medium heat. You just made a chicken broth, basis for your soup. At this point you can remove the skin if you like.
  • Now add the coconut milk, chilies, simmer until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Adjust taste to your liking with lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. As more water as needed.
  • Add the mushrooms and some cilantro, cover and cook for 5 minutes then remove from heat. This will cook the mushrooms.
  • Remove the lemon grass bundles, lime leaves, and ginger, Serve with rice.

Notes

Chicken legs cost about 65 Baht/kilo, for this, maybe 40 baht. For 4 servings, about 30 cents per serving.
Recipe I have made many times.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,: THAI,CHICKEN & TURKEY,SOUPS, STEWS, CHILI
Soft Bread (Bread Machine)
February 18, 2017 Lee
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Soft Bread (Bread Machine)

Recipe from my bread machine's recipe book.
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.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes
Course Bread
Servings 1 500 g (1 lb) loaf

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!)
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,Bread & Pastry - Bread Machine
Massaman Curry
February 18, 2017 Lee
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Massaman Curry

From a recipe on a spice packet.
This is the recipe from the store bought packet. The packets are a bonus here as they are so inexpensive, and the Lobo brand, no preservatives, no MSG, and no colorings. You may have seen these in the store and may not understand what these are, instructions on how to prepare are in English on the back. Only a few people I have ever met make curry pastes from scratch.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Thai
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 packet Massaman Curry paste, Lobo brand preferred
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 250 grams chicken, OR beef, cut into 1 inch cubes or slices, (8 oz)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1-2 potatoes, diced
  • peanuts, as desired
  • fish sauce, as desired
  • steamed rice, for serving

Instructions
 

  • Heat a non stick skillet and add the coconut milk and one packet of the curry paste, whisk together and when hot, add the beef or chicken and the water. Bring to a boil.
  • Add some diced potato, amount is up to you, and some peanuts, amount is also up to you. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender. Add fish sauce to taste, serve with steamed rice.

Notes

Beef would cost about 50 Baht for 250 grams, chicken breasts would cost about 15 Baht, low cost anyway you look at this. For 4 servings using beef, this is about 37 cents per serving.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,: THAI,CHICKEN & TURKEY
Crispy Baked Chicken Wings Tandoori Style
February 18, 2017 Lee
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Crispy Baked Chicken Wings Tandoori Style

I love a good Tandoori chicken, and this sounds really good. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Indian
Servings 2 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 500-750 grams chicken drumettes, or wings
  • salt and pepper, as needed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala, heaping
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • pinch cayenne pepper, pinch or two
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
  • dash Sriracha Chili Garlic sauce, easily use a tablespoon
  • fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish
  • Cool Minted Yogurt Dipping Sauce, OR make from a shortcut

Instructions
 

  • Wash and pat dry the chicken drumettes and or wings and pat them dry with a paper towel and place in a large bowl. Add to them 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, the paprika, garam masala, turmeric, coriander, cumin, and cayenne, and using your hands, mix/rub the spices into the chicken; set aside for a moment.
  • In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, and Sriracha, and mix to blend, then pour this mixture over the chicken, rubbing it into the chicken, cover and refrigerate and allow it to marinate for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
  • When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 230 C, line a baking sheet with foil, and place a wire rack over the baking sheet. Remove the chicken from the yogurt marinade, and allow the excess to drip off; place the wings onto the wire rack, and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, until slightly charred and crisp.
  • Serve garnished with a some cilantro leaves, and the Cool Minted Yogurt Dipping Sauce on the side.

Notes

Drumettes are called Chicken Wing Sticks at Tesco (I get pricing from Tesco), and are about 80 Baht/kilo. Full wings are 90 Baht/kilo. Going with 750 grams of drumettes, this is about 88 cents per serving for 2 servings.
Shortcut: Cool Minted Yogurt Dipping Sauce.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,CHICKEN & TURKEY
Best Ever Beef Stew
February 16, 2017 Lee
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Best Ever Beef Stew

Love a good beef stew, and this sounds pretty good. I cannot vouch for this being 'best ever' but it does sound good.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 20 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kilo beef, any cut, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • olive oil, as needed
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/4 cup Worcherstershire sauce
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons beef stock powder
  • 4 potatoes, diced large
  • 2 carrots, sliced
  • 1 stalk celery, import, diced
  • black pepper, as needed

Instructions
 

  • Shake the beef in a resealable plastic bag with the flour, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder until evenly coated. Heat a splash of olive oil in a skillet then add the floured beef to the pan and brown on all sides. Remove using a slotted spoon or tongs and place into the bottom of your slow cooker. Season with pepper as desired.
  • Saute the diced onion in the same hot skillet for 2 minutes. Don't worry about cleaning it out in between, that's added flavor! Transfer the onions into the slow cooker as well.
  • Pour the Worcestershire sauce, water, beef stock powder into the same skillet and whisk until mixed. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • Add the diced potatoes, carrots, celery, bay leaves to the slow cooker. Now, pour the mixture from the skillet into the slow cooker. Cover, cook on Low setting for 8 hours. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Notes

The beef would cost about 200 Baht/kilo. For 6 servings, this is about 98 cents per serving.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,Soups, Stews, Chili - Slow Cooker
Garlic & Lemon Chicken with Potatoes & Green Beans
February 16, 2017 Lee
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Garlic & Lemon Chicken with Potatoes & Green Beans

Sounds good, on my to make list. Readily available ingredients as well.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 4 chicken breasts, cut in half
  • 2 lemons, 1 sliced, 1 juiced
  • 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 250 grams fresh long beans, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
  • 8 small potatoes, quartered
  • olive oil, as needed

Instructions
 

  • Preheat your oven to 200 C. Coat a large baking dish with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Arrange the lemon slices in a single layer in the bottom of the dish.
  • In a In a large bowl, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper; add the chicken, long beans, and potatoes and toss to coat. Pour this mix into the pan and spread around evenly.
  • Bake for 50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Serve.

Notes

Chicken breasts cost about 60 Baht/kilo, 4 breasts are probably 1 kilo or just a bit less. For 4 servings, this is about 45 cents per serving.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,CHICKEN & TURKEY
Creamy Green Chili Chicken Soup
February 15, 2017 Lee
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Creamy Green Chili Chicken Soup

This is a long shot for Thailand as I am not sure of the chilies being here, but for the viewers in US, this should be real easy. Chilies used can be New Mexico green chilies or Poblano peppers. Not sure about using the large green chilies in Thailand, but they should work as well.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Side
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 500 grams chicken breast, boneless, skinless
  • 2 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
  • 4 New Mexico chilies, roated, OR Poblano peppers roasted
  • 2/3 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced

Instructions
 

  • Place chicken and broth in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook, until no longer pink in the middle, 10 to 15 minutes, depending on size. Remove from the heat. Transfer the chicken to a clean cutting board, leaving the broth in the pan. When cool enough to handle, shred or chop the chicken into bite-size pieces.
  • While the chicken is cooking, finely chop 2 chiles; puree the other 2 in a food processor or blender with 1/4 cup of the hot broth.
  • Whisk 1/2 cup of the broth in a bowl with wine and flour until smooth. Return the pan with the broth to medium heat and whisk in the flour mixture until well combined. Stir in the chopped and pureed chiles and the chicken. Add milk, garlic, lime juice, salt, white pepper, oregano, and cumin and heat, stirring frequently, until steaming and hot, but not boiling, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro. Serve.

Notes

This is low cost as the chicken breasts are just 30 Baht/500 grams.
Variants: Add cooked white beans, add roasted corn.
Inspired by good friend, Jerry Juliana.
United States.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,SOUPS, STEWS, CHILI
Sausage Mushroom Pasta
February 15, 2017 Lee
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Sausage Mushroom Pasta

I came up with this after defrosting the freezer in my fridge and sort through what I had frozen and fresh. The King Oyster mushrooms are perfect for this dish as when they cook they maintain their size.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 190 grams sausage, see Step 1, sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 200 grams King Oyster mushrooms, about 4, sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
  • 3/4 cup dry pasta, macaroni, maccheroni, etc
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • olive oil, as needed

Instructions
 

  • You can use any sausage you have on hand, I used 8 small links, 95 grams each pack, of smoked pepper sausage that turned out very nice. But large smoked sausage or sausage scraps from Makro would work well, as would bratwurst or beerwurst.
  • Heat a large non stick skillet with a splash of olive oil, then add the sausage and cook to get some browning going, then add the peppers and mushrooms and reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the peppers are tender yet still crunchy and a bit of browning on the mushrooms.
  • While the peppers are cooking, heat a small pot of water to boiling then add the pasta and cook until tender, drain, then add to the skillet and mix together. Then stir in the heavy cream, season with salt and pepper to your liking. Remove from heat, cover for 5 minutes to let everything warm through.
  • Serve with a vegetable of your choice for a nice meal.

Notes

I used 2 packages of sausage, 4 links each pack, each pack was 59 Baht. For 4 servings, this is about 87 cents per serving.
My own recipe.
#1 Go-To Recipes,* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,MUSHROOMS,PASTA
Slow Cooker Gumbo
February 14, 2017 Lee
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Slow Cooker Gumbo

Stephen Connell, United States.
Sounds delicious! On my to cook list.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 7 hours
Total Time 7 hours 15 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings

Equipment

  • Slow Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 250 grams smoked sausage, cut into ½ inch slices, (8 oz)
  • 2 okra, sliced, fresh or frozen
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped, with juice
  • 340 grams fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail removed, cooked, (12 oz)
  • cooked rice, for serving

Instructions
 

  • In small saucepan, combine flour and oil; mix well. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or until mixture turns reddish brown, then pour into your slow cooker.
  • Stir in all remaining ingredients into your slow cooker except the shrimp and rice. Cover and cook on Low setting for 7-9 hours. About 20-30 before serving, add cooked shrimp to gumbo mixture in your slow cooker and mix well. Cover and cook on Low setting for an additional 20 minutes.
  • Serve over rice, enjoy.

Notes

Figure about 50 Baht for good smoked sausage, for the shrimp, through Tesco, Whites will cost about 100 Baht for 340 grams. For 6 servings, this is about 74 cents per serving.
* Best Value $1 or Less per Serving,Pork - Slow Cooker,Seafood - Slow Cooker