Posted on 09/20/2008 6:16:23 PM PDT by TheMom
I have grown tired of cooking (and eating) the same meals over & over again. Mostly we eat steak, beef ribs, fried chicken, fried pork chops, tacos, and enchiladas. With the occasional corned beef, spaghetti and (packaged) Chinese food thrown in.
I have several cookbooks upstairs that I was considering perusing, then I thought about the fine folks on FR.
Please add your favorite recipe(s) to this thread so I can start experimenting. The only thing that I will not cook is liver & onions (YUK). I would love to have a tried & true recipe of pot roast and (not-packaged) Chinese food ~ these two things, along with homemade biscuits, have forever rejected me.
I don’t have an aversion to baked stuff ~ it just has not been in my repertoire.
Also keep in mind, we do not have immediate access to fresh seafood.
Chicken stuffing casserole
One whole chicken, boiled and meat torn off into bite sized pieces
2 cans cream of chicken soup
One soup can of milk
One jar of chicken or turkey gravy
½ to ¾ cup sour cream
One box stove top cornbread dressing mix
In large pan heat soups, milk, gravy and sour cream until blended. Add chicken and continue to heat. Add dry stuffing mix – stir well and put into sprayed pyrex pan
Heat to bubbly at 375 for about 20-30 minutes.
Take one chuck roast, any kind will do but it needs to have the bone left in it.
Rub with a spice rub. I like plain cumin with a bit of sea salt. Brown in a large pan with a bit of oil in it. About a minute a side. Take off of heat and place on a large piece of foil large enough to wrap the roast in. Dump in the pan some chopped onion, crushed garlic and chopped celery and cook until the onion is a bit translucent. Add a can of crushed tomatoes, a dash of worcestershire, some fresh sliced mushrooms, dried cranberries and or what ever strikes your fancy.
Let the mixture cook until it has reduced by one half and then pour over roast.
Wrap the roast and sauce in two layers of foil and place in a 250 degree oven for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
Cut the foil to get the roast out of the bag.
It will be yummy and tender and best of all it will not be dry.
And her enchiladas are AWESOME...as are her stuffed jalapenos.
The Mom, I have a couple of favorite recipes, (and I'll have to guess on the measurements because my cookbooks are at home) but they're not exactly errr...healthy. Want 'em?
Check out Allrecipes.com on the internet. There are thousands of recipes with reviews and ratings by many who have tried them out. I use Allrecipes.com all the time. It’s a wonderful resource.
www.cheflive.com
For a great desert try: Baked Pineapple
Take 1 fresh pineapple,
cut off top & bottom,
core & cut in half length-wise.
sprinkle interior of each half with brown sugar,
put the halves together and wrap in tin foil,
pre-heat oven at 400, place on center rack and bake for 1 hour,
OR at beginning of campfire bury in coals and after songs, stories, marshmellows, and smores, remove,
slice and serve
Now, I’d like some ideas on preparing fresh or frozen broccoli. I know it’s supposed to be healthy for one, but the only way I’ve been able to stand it is steamed and served with melted cheese on top. (BTW, what’s the best way to melt cheese without ruining a good pot?)
Potato and dumpling soup (a family favorite):
http://shirleysgingerbread.blogspot.com/
(Scroll down just a bit.)
I would think that someone that’s been cooking the same thing over and over, should at least be abble and willing to experiment a little, instead of having some stranger tell them what to eat.
Why? because I find it silly that someone has to ask strangers how to prepare something to eat?
What if people tell her something that she doesn’t like? How is that different from just opening up a cookbook, and saying...’gee, that looks good, I think I’ll try it.’?
Sorry, it just doesn’t make any sense. I don’t see much difference between what a stranger says, and a cookbook.
Our ultimate “comfort food” is my mom’s Knoepfle Soup (easy version)
1 family-sized can cream of mushroom soup, mixed with TWO cans of water (additional water or milk may be necessary)
12-oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 8-oz can of sliced mushrooms (optional)
1/2 can of beer of your choosing
Knoepfle (these are chewy dumplings)
4 cups all-purpose flour
5 jumbo or 6 large eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix soup and water over medium-high heat in large pot just to simmering, not boiling. Mix together flour, spices, and eggs to make a heavy dough (add more flour if too sticky). Allow dough to rest a a few moments before cutting. Cut dough into soup in small teaspoon-sized pieces, stirring occasionally to keep them from sticking to bottom of pot. (More liquid may be added if soup is too thick.) Dumplings will float when they’re done. When all the dough has been cut into the soup, add the mushrooms (if using), then then turn heat to low and add the cheese, stir until melted. Add the beer and cook on low for another 10 minutes before serving, stirring occasionally. For variety, you can add cooked potatoes, and some people add cooked, sliced sausages. Serves 4-6, and leftovers (if any) refrigerate well (when you don’t add meat). I garnish the soup with Bacos (fake bacon bits) before serving.
POOR MAN'S LASAGNA
Brown the ground beef in a skillet, drain fat. Put beef back in skillet and slowly add in tomato sauce, stirring as you go, until you have just enough to form a thick mixture. Be careful when you add the tomato sauce; you don't want the mixture to be soupy.
Add a decent amount of the garlic powder to the beef/tomato sauce mixture; again put in a little at a time and keep stirring. I would say for 2 lbs of ground beef, depending on how much you like garlic, 3-4 tablespoons ought to do it.
After you are done with the garlic, set the skillet aside and in a medium to large bowl stir together the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and cottage cheese, adding a little at a time until you have a thick, spreadable mixture. More Parmesan cheese will make the casserole a little more tangy. You may have to nuke the cream cheese for a few seconds to make it spreadable if it's not at room temperature.
Boil the egg noodles for about 4-5 minutes and drain.
In a casserole dish, make a layer of the cooked egg noodles on the bottom, then a layer of the beef/tomato sauce mixture, then a layer of the cream cheese mixture. Repeat, starting with another layer of egg noodles, one more time, ending with another layer of egg noodles on top. Sprinkler a generous amount of Parmesan cheese on top of the egg noodles, cover dish with foil, and bake in a 325 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. Take the foil off of the casserole, put back in the oven, and leave it in until the top is brown, probably about five or so more minutes. The casserole will be done when the top is brown.
Again, I apologize for the lack of measurements but I never use measurements when I cook. I hope you enjoy this- everyone I've ever made it for has loved it!
Homemade egg rolls are easy.
To buy at the store:
2 pork chops
1 carrot
half of a small head cabbage
handful of beansprouts
5-spice powder
salt & pepper
egg roll wrappers
cornstarch
oil for frying
Sprinkle 5-spice on the pork chops and cook them, set aside to cool. While they are cooling, shred cabbage and carrot. Mix the shreds with the beansprouts and saute all that with a bit more of the 5-spice, maybe half a teaspoon. Add salt & pepper to taste. When the porkchops are cool shred them and mix with the veggies.
Mix a little bit of cornstarch with water in a small bowl. This is going to be the glue that holds the eggrolls together.
Lay out the wrappers diagonally, put about 2 tablespoons of the filling on just above the midline. Fold down the top corner, then fold in the side ones. Dip your fingers in the cornstarch glue, swipe them across where you’ve already rolled, then bring the bottom corner up over the rest.
Fry them in about an inch of oil (you can add more 5-spice powder to the oil) till they are brown on both sides. I serve them with Oriental Rice-A-Roni (the San Francisco TREAT! Rice-A-Roni, Flavor can’t be BEAT!)
I made a sham torte for my Grandmas funeral last week, and people told me it tasted exactly like Grandma used to make (biggest compliment I could have received).
6 egg whites
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
Beat egg whites, sugar (added gradually), vinegar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form.
Spread in lined, oiled (pam sprayed) 9x13 cookie sheet. Baked in 300 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn off oven and let sit for a couple more hours.
Serve with strawberries and whipped cream.
Here’s one Mrs. Slim and I like:
Green Chile Chicken Casserole
2-3 large boneless chicken breasts, cubed
1 package (12) corn tortillas
1 medium onion diced
8 ounces shredded montery jack cheese
diced roasted green chile to taste (lots!)
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
Mix the cheese, onion and green chile
Cut the tortillas into quarters
Layer covered ceramic dish with tortilla quarters, some chicken, and the cheese, onion, chile mix.
Repeat for 3-4 layers
Pour Cream of mushroom soup over casserole
Cover and cook at 375 for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Serves 2-3 depending on hunger.
Thank you all so much for the recipes and links. I will be busy the next few days copying and reviewing ~ then on to the experimenting.
My new site:
I don’t use the slowcooker very often, but only because I only have a few recipes for it.
You’re welcome...
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