I love Rice Crispy Treats. I love that it only take less than ten minutes for me to put a batch of them together. From nothing on the counter in the kitchen to a cooling pan of treats sitting in front of me. I love that they’re sweet, crunchy, and chewy and contain only the fat of the butter. And finally, I love the fact that it only takes three ingreadents to make them
five-ish cups of Rice Crispies (the box tells you six, but that reduces the chew, man. THE CHEW!!!)
four tbl of butter
one package of marshmellows
What’s a fav of your’s? It is not considered ‘cheating’ to use a spice blend or pre-made alfredo sause or what have you. As long as it is singular in the store, then we’re cool.
Bring a can of soup up to boil then add a soup can of Minute Rice into the pan. Take it off the heat and cover it for about five minutes. When you are done the rice has absorbed all the soup. It’s easy and tasty. To make it a little more tasty add either a lot of pepper right before adding the rice or a bit of mustard seed.
Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup
Pork chops
mushrooms
garlic
Fry chops, preferably in an iron skillet. Fry fast, to brown. Add chopped garlic towards the end. remove chops, add soup, water and mushrooms. Stir thoroughly to get all the good fried pork bits, add chops back and put in the oven at about 300 degrees for as long as it takes for the chops to become fall-apart tender and the soup-sauce to cook down to a dark, thick gravy. (You will probably need to add water halfway through to get the chops to the correct stage of tenderness.)
Chicken Piccata:
chicken
butter
lemon juice
capers
Salt and pepper breasts (best to slice the breasts into cutlets, or pound the hell out of em), fry in a little butter or oil til nicely browned. Remove from pan. Add more butter and lemon juice until you like the way it tastes. You might have to cheat and add a fifth ingredient: chicken broth. When it’s nice and lemony and buttery, dump in a couple of tablespoons of capers. Cook a little bit longer, spoon sauce over breasts.
Stoid, you’re repeating yourself! I made your pork dish several times, and even broke down and finally bought a cast-iron skillet just so I could make it.
So, if you can, I can.
Coke & Ketchup Chicken:
coke
ketchup
chicken pieces, preferably bone-in
(optional: onions, mushrooms, peppers, or any veggie you fancy)
Brown the chicken pieces. Pour over 1/2 cup ketchup+1/2 cup coke (not diet), mixed up in the measuring cup with a fork. Cook uncovered around 1/2 hour, or until sauce reduces to a sweet BBQ-type sauce. If too thin, turn up heat. If too thick, thin out with more coke from the can.
serve over noodles, rice or potatoes.
Low Fat!
Wow. Coke and ketchup chicken. I never thought I’d see the day. Anyhow, maybe I’ll give it a shot, just for curiosity’s sake. Don’t diss it before you try it as they say.
My contribution:
Fennel Roast Pork
1 pork rib roast (boned)
ground fennel
salt and pepper
Coat the roast in freshly ground fennel seeds. Add S&P to taste. Roast until it’s done. (Something like 45 minutes in a medium oven.) Let rest for 10-15 minutes, slice thin and serve with potatoes. However, if you don’t count salt and pepper as ingredients (which I don’t), then you need two more things to finish this dish: basalmic vinegar and flour or cornstarch. Sprinkle the bottom of the roasting pan with flour or cornstarch and add a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Scrape all the crunchy bits off the bottom of the pan and you have some of the most exquisite pan gravy ever. Spoon over the thinly sliced pork.
It’s a relatively cheap, simple dish and very elegant to boot. I was skeptical the first time I saw the recipe, but since I’ve discovered it, it’s been my favorite pork dish. If you’re fairly comfortable with roasting meat, then you are sure to score big points on a date if you make this dish.
red pepper and goat cheese appetizer
Room temp goat cheese
red peppers roasted in olive oil (counts as 1 since can be bought bottled!)
Carr’s cracked pepper table water crackers.
Mound cheese. Top with peppers and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
Chocolate Fondue
Ghiradelli double chocolate chips
cream
liquor or liquer of your choice (I use Bacardi O)
melt in double broiler (I just use a saucepan nested inside a spaghetti pot full of boiling water)-add ingredients to taste
Serve with various fruit pieces.
You’re not counting things like salt and pepper and water and oil, are you? Okay, here’s a great dinner with THREE ingredients: chicken, tomatoes, and eggplant. Greek Chicken Simmered with Roasted Eggplant.
Take two or three eggplants (about 3 lbs) and slip 'em under a hot broiler. Give them about five minutes on each side, 20 minutes in all, until the flesh is soft and the skins are blackened. Remove and allow to cool.
Take a 3-pound chicken, cut into serving pieces, and season with salt and pepper. Brown on med-hi heat in a Dutch Oven or deep skillet, in a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil, until golden all over.
Add three chopped ripe tomatoes to the pan, reduce heat to medium, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes or so. Add enough water (or chicken stock, if you want to go for a 4th ingredient) to come halfway up the sides of the chicken. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes more.
Peel the cooled eggplant, and chop the flesh into cubes. Add to the pan, stir, re-cover and let simmer for an additional 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick and unctuous. Taste for seasoning, and serve with rice or noodles and the green veggie (or salad) of your choice.
(I’ve made this several times and I’m always tempted to add onion, or garlic, or some sort of herb. But it’s SO damn good just this way.)
Everyone makes to much of the recipe for alfredo sauce.
Simple is usually the best.
Butter
Cream
Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg
That’s it, it should take 5 minutes total in the pan.
Melt the butter, add cream, reduce, add 1/2 the cheese and the spices to taste. Toss in the pasta, and add the rest of the cheese. Toss again, correct the spices (remember that parmesan cheese is quite salty), and serve.
How much of each? That’s up to you, whether you like the sauce more thin and creamy, or thick and cheesy. I start with 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup cream and a good 1/4 lb. of parmesan, freshly grated. Enough sauce for 2 portions of pasta.
Brown chicken (I usually go with boneless breast)
Cover in enchilada sauce and simmer ~20 minutes (until Rice-a-Roni spanish rice is ready)
Stir in several big spoons of peanut butter -make sure it melts but NOT seperates
1 lb shelled/de-veined shrimp
cup of Feta
10 or so fresh Roma tomatoes
Fresh basil/parsley
This recipe is large enough for two people to eat for a couple days or one pig like me to hoard for a week.
Wash, shell, and de-vein a pound of shrimp (medium is good). Set aside.
Coarsely chop tomatoes (or boil the skins off, de-seed, then chop if you have the time).
Heat pan to medium (with olive oil or not), add tomatoes and juice. If they are realy juicy let let the tomatoes reduce, if not add shrimp. Cook shrimp until opaque, take off heat, add crumbled feta and basil or parsley; salt and pepper to taste. Serve with linguine or over a green salad with crusty bread.
This recipe should take under 15 minutes, and has lots of variations:
Add sweet red bell peppers, garlic, and onions, take out feta.
Add cream, reduce tomatoes, take out feta.
Subsitute scallops for shrimp.
Etc.
Or garlic. Or flour. Or chocolate. Or, if you’re Greek, lemons.
If you agree, here’s a ONE ingredient recipe… Roman-style Shrimp
Peel and devein a pound of jumbo shrimp, leaving the tails on. Marinate in 1/4 cup of good olive oil, the juice of two lemons, a tsp of salt, and a tsp of coarsely-ground black pepper for about an hour.
Thread the shrimp onto skewers and grill over hot coals for about two minutes on a side, and serve.
14 oz Can of Salmon
Cup of breadcrumbs OR crumbled Saltines
2 eggs scrambled
1/4 cup grated onions
Salt & Pepper
(Seasonings can include any of the following: Worcesteshire Sauce, hot sauce, dill)
Stir all the ingredients and form into 1/4" patties - chill them in the fridge for 30-60 minutes (so the cakes don’t fall apart when you cook them.) Sautee in butter until brown.
