The other recipe thread.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Well, weirddave doesn’t want us others sullying his recipe of the week, and essvee mentioned that we should start a thread for other recipes. Sooo… Have any great recipes you want to share? Special tips that you must let the world know?
To start off, I’ll give you a recipe that I devised during one of my “Iron Chef” tests in Baking II class, that turned out pretty tasty. It’s got several steps involved, but worth the effort.

** Apple-Ginger Tart Bruleé **
Makes one 9" tart

Pâte Sucreé (the crust):
1/2 lb. butter (2 sticks)
4 oz sugar
1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
1 1/2 to 2 cups Cake flour (amount will vary on weather)

Cream butter and sugar with mixer until smooth and fluffy, then add eggs, and beat until eggs are fully incorporated. Start to add flour until dough starts to form a ball in the bowl. Take out, and knead lightly on a floured board until dough has lost most of its stickiness. Press dough into a 3/4" thick disk and wrap with saran wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. After chilling, roll to 1/4" thick, and place into lightly sprayed 9" tart pan, making sure dough reaches into into the far corners and the fluted edges. Chill dough in tart pan for another 30 minutes, then cover with a layer of parchment paper and fill with pie weights (uncooked beans work just as well) and bake in 350° oven for about 30 to 40 minutes, until shell is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

Ginger Pâtisserie Cream:
2 cups milk
2" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped roughly
4 T Cornstarch
3 1/2 oz sugar
4 egg yolks
1 T Butter

Scald milk with ginger and let steep for about 20 minutes. Take 1/2 cup of the milk and let cool seperately. Pour sugar into saucepan with milk & ginger, and return to a simmer. Whisk the 1/2 cup of milk with the cornstarch and yolks in a seperate bowl. Add some more of the hot milk to the egg yolks, whisk, then pour egg yolk mixture into milk. Simmer until thick, stirring constantly. Add butter, stir until melted, then pour through a strainer to remove ginger pieces and any lumps. Pour warm cream into the cooled tart shell, cover with saran wrap, and chill for at least 2 to 3 hours, until cream is set. Once cream is set, prepare apples:

Apple Topping:
3 Granny Smith apples, sliced 1/8" thick
3 T butter
3 T sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Squeeze of lemon juice

In large sauté pan, melt butter, add sugar, then add sliced apples, lemon juice, and seasonings. Toss apple slices and cook until just tender (don’t let them get soggy). Drain off excess liquid, and let slices cool. Place apple slices in a fan design on top of the ginger cream. Chill until ready to serve.

When ready to serve: Sprinkle top of apples liberally with sugar, and either place under a broiler or blowtorch the top until the sugar melts, turns brown and bubbles.

2

Java,

I’m sorry, I fear I have offended you. That was not my intention. I am truely sorry if I did so. This is a great thread, and the tarts sound wonderful! I’m no good at deserts anyway.

3

No offence, weirddave, the “sully” comment was typed with tongue firmly in cheek.

I’m glad you like the recipe.

4

** Queso Fondido **

Take some good Mexican chorizo. Fry it up in a pan. Fry for five minutes or so. Add a thinly sliced onion. Continue to cook until onions are translucent. Add 2 or 3 Poblano peppers that have been roasted (see below), peeled, and cut into strips. Add 1 to 1.5 pounds of Chihuahua cheese cut into cubes. Bake in a shallow cassarole at 400 for ten minutes of until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with warm corn tortillas.

Preparing the poblano peppers:
If you have a gas stove, just turn up the burner and put the pepper directly onto it. It’ll turn black, just keep rotating it every few minutes. Put in a ziplock bag to steam for 10-15 minutes. After this time, the blackened skin will be easy to remove, and don’t forget to remove the seed pod. Rinse with cool water to get rid of the seeds.

5

Did anyone immediately salivate reading this recipe?

I feel so… Pavlovian. It’s the peppers, I tell you.

6

Must be the peppers. I would think the chorizo would be hot enough. I know it’s not very fashionable of me but I can’t eat really, really hot food. That leaves out a lot of Tex/Mex stuff and Thai. I think all that heat covers up the flavors of everything else in the dish. I can take a little heat but many pepper dishes are a little much for me. Funny too but I love horseradish. It’s a different kind of heat I guess.

Needs2know

7

Here’s one I made up myself one day so there aren’t many quantities specified. Its cheap and pretty easy, plus you get to vent your frustrations with a meat-mallet.

Chicken Roll-ups (name suggestions appreciated)

6-8 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 Boxes Stove Top cornbread stuffing
2 Cans chicken broth
Instant rice

  1. Make stuffing (both boxes) according to directions, substitute broth for water. Set aside to cool.
  2. In a 9x13 cake pan fill to about 3/4 inch with uncooked rice. Take half of the cool stuffing and mix it into the rice.Set aside.
  3. Whip out your mallet and pound the crap out of the chicken breasts. Make them as thin as you can without destroying them.
  4. Place chicken breast on work surface skin side down. Mush about a handful of stuffing on breast, then roll it up securing it with toothpicks. Repeat until all the chicken is stuffed, rolled and 'picked.
  5. Heat just a little oil in a frying pan. When oil is hot, fry ‘rolls’ until just browned on the sides. Place browned ‘rolls’ on top of rice/stuffing mixture. Leave the toothpicks in.
  6. Pour chicken broth onto rice/stuffing mixture until just saturated.
  7. Bake in 400* oven about 20 minutes, checking often. You may need to add more broth to the rice, so keep an eye on it.

Remove toothpicks before serving!

8

Actually, poblano peppers aren’t very hot. Remember that you took the seed pod out, and that’s where most of the heat lies. All of the spiciness in the above dish is from the chorizo, so if you find some nice mild sausage (you may need to find a Mexican market, supermarket chorizo is pretty spicy), the dish will be mild as well. I would classify the heat as medium for a typical chorizo (I just made this last night, that’s why I posted that recipe).

9

I think culinary school would be just soooo much more fun if our recipes were written like this. :slight_smile:

10

An old Fav,

Stuffed Pigs Ears
serves 4
4 pigs ears, thoroughly cleaned oil for frying 300ml /  1/2 pint chicken stock 30g / 1oz butter 30g / 1oz flour ( all purpose ) salt & pepper
For the stuffing :
125g / 4oz fresh breadcrumbs 60g / 2oz shredded ( beef ) suet 1 egg, beaten rind and juice of 1 lemon few sprigs fresh parsley few sprigs fresh thyme salt & pepper
Boil the pigs ears for about 2 hours in lightly salted water. Allow to cool.
Meanwhile, make the stuffing.  Mix all the ingredients together and stuff into the cooked pigs ears.  Roll the ears up and secure with string. Gently fry the stuffed ears on all sides in a little oil over a medium heat.
Transfer to a saucepan and add enough chicken stock to cover.  simmer for about 11/2 hours, remove the stuffed ears and keep warm. reserve the cooking liquor.
In a seperate saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour and slowly add the stock in which you poached the pigs ears.  Bring to the boil, stirring, and simmer until the sauce beomes smooth. Check the seasoning.
Serve the stuffed ears with the sauce poured over them.
Don’t believe what they say about British cooking being uninteresting :wink:

11

Ok then I can take the heat…which ones are the poblanos? They’re green right? What shape? Couldn’t you use any pepper? I eat the chorizo so the heat in that isn’t so bad. I use it in gumbo instead of andoullie. Here’s something pretty good with chorizo and chicken…easy weekday meal.

4 boneless chicken breasts cut into strips
pound of chorizo sliced
1 large green pepper, thinly sliced
1 large red pepper, thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 large can chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons chilli powder or to taste
teaspoon cumin or to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
Cooked rice
salt/pepper

Brown the sausage and chicken. Toss in the peppers and onions, saute a few minutes. Add in the tomatoes and seasonings. Cover and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until chicken is done through. Serve over rice. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and or grated cheese. You can also add fresh or frozen corn or beans or both. My daughter loves this one even though she isn’t crazy about any kind of sausage. I do make it occasionally without the sausage. But then she and I would eat garlic, onions and peppers in cake if it made sense. LOL

Needs2know

12

This is one of my favorite things to make and my family loves it! I’m sure it’s not an original recipe but I’ve been making it for years and don’t know where I got the recipe from.

Hamburger Pie

2 lbs. hamburger
1 can tomato paste
2 cans diced stewed tomatoes
1 pkg. frozen mixed vegetables
1 tsp. garlic salt (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
8-10 medium size potatoes - for mashed potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Peel and slice potatoes and boil in a pan of water until they’re soft and ready to mash.

After starting the potatoes brown the hamburger in a large skillet. Drain the excess grease. Add tomato paste, stewed tomatoes, and mixed vegetables. Add the garlic salt and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and simmer on low heat until potatoes are boiled and mashed.

Pour hamburger mixture into large cake pan and then spread the mashed potatoes over the mixture. Sprinkle on the cheddar cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
I’ll try to think of a more exotic recipe next time! Until then, this is one that’s really easy to make and is really good!

13

Today we had a pot-luck dinner for the last day of class, and since I’m a poor student, I decided to see what I could find in the garden and make a salad with it. All the vegetables except the red onion came from the garden.

Poor Student Summer Salad

3 medium ripe red tomatoes
1 medium cucumber
1/2 red onion
dozen large fresh basil leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 T Balsamic Vinegar
3 T Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & pepper as needed

Slice tomatoes, cucumber and onion into bite-size pieces and place in salad bowl. Cut basil leaves in a chiffonade* and sprinkle onto vegetables; pluck thyme leaves off sprig and add to salad. Drizzle vinegar and olive oil, sprinkle salt & pepper as desired. Toss vegetables gently, and let salad marinate for a few hours. Toss again before serving.

For an added touch, sprinkle some crumbled feta cheese onto the salad right before serving.

*Chiffonade: stack leaves on top of each other, and roll like a cigar, then cut leaves lengthwise. This will “shred” the leaves evenly. This is also known as a ribbon cut, and is good for chopping spinach or any other kinds of greens like chard.

14

What type of cheese is this? Small with a large round head?

Seriously though, is it like a Cheddar? Mozzarella? anything ?

15

IIRC, its texture is like a fresh mozzarella, but melts creamier.

16

Best described as Mexican melting cheese, very mild in flavor. Named after the provence, not the dog. Here in Chicagoland, it can be found in any decent-sized grocery. If you can’t find it, try a jack or mixture of cheddar and jack.

17

You wouldn’t want a pepper that’s too hot, but you could use a bell pepper if that’s all you could get.

Poblanos (sometimes called anchos when they’re dried) are green, 4-6 inches long, usually. They’re shaped like an inverted teardrop. Click the link for a good picture.

18

I tend to favor dead easy recipes that give max gratification for the least effort.

KILLER LEMON/ROSEMARY ROASTED CHICKEN (easy!!)

Wash and pat dry the fowl. (Do the Lysol thing to decontaminate the kitchen.) Cut 2 lemons in half, and slice another in *very[/] thin slices.

Plop the bird on some foil or in a baking bag. Salt and pepper the inside then stuff in the halved lemons and a few sprigs of rosemary. (Actually you can do it w/ straight lemon and it’s great!)

Cut away the fat and gross stuff, then gently squoosh your fingers under the skin to loosen it all around. Try not to puncture the skin but don’t get anal about it.

Snuggle the lemon slices (and rosemary sprigs) between the skin and meat. Over the thighs and tight parts, just squoosh it along.

Rub the outside w/ olive oil; salt and pepper. Cover the bird, put it in a roaster or some baking dish and roast at 325-350 for about an hour.

Carefully open the top of your covering and roast another half hour or so to let it get all brown and crispy.

It’s taken longer to type this than it takes to prepare it. 15 minutes prep time, and you won’t believe how fabulous it smells. The meat is tender and moist and redolent of lemon and herbs. It’s nice served w/ rice for the great juice stuff, and the leftovers are wonderful shredded on a salad, gnawed off the bone at midnight by the light of open fridge door, etc.

Veb

19

Simple and tasty, and great in the cold weather. Eat your vitamins at another meal.
Kraut casserole

Rinse and drain enough sauerkraut for everybody (press out all the juice you can). Slice an equal amount of onions. Put half the onions in a deep casserole, then half the sauerkraut. Sprinkle with caraway seeds if you like.

Cut smokies in half (or use another cooked sausage, or pieces of cooked ham or corned beef, cut in pieces about the same size as the smokie halves), and arrange on the kraut. Layer on the rest of the onions and kraut, and more caraway if you’re using it.

Peel and cut up enough potatoes to cover the top. (Make big chunks.)

Bake in the oven (anything between 300 and 350 degrees is fine) until the potatoes are nearly done. Cut tart apples (Granny Smiths are nice) into wedges and tuck them between the potato chunks. Bake until the apples are tender.

Serve with rye bread and lots of beer.

20

I’m not big on casseroles, don’t know why, perhaps it’s all the luncheons I’ve attended over the years. But we do eat bratwurst, saurkraut, and the like. My grandmother was German and proud of it. She loved sausages of any kind, German bologna, and hard salami type stuff.

I do Bratwurst and kraut with warm German style potato salad a lot in the winter. I brown the brat then add in the saurkraut with about a half can of beer and a couple teaspoons of brown sugar, salt and pepper. Then I cover a simmer a little while to let the flavors blend. German potato salad is pretty easy too. Boil the potatoes then toss with oil, vinegar (German is best but apple cider or balsamic will do.) chopped onion, celery seed, salt, pepper and a little sugar to taste. Serve it warm. The whole meal is nice with small toasted sub rolls, you can put your brat on a sub or use it to scoop up the juices.

Needs2know