I just finished making potato soup and thought I'd share:

2 T butter
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
onion to taste (finely chopped)
salt and pepper to taste (it takes a fair bit of salt)
1 carton chicken or vegetable stock
1/2- 1 c milk, half and half or cream (I used cream)

Possible toppings: parsley, cheese, bacon

Melt butter in a large pot. Add potatoes and onion, cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Add salt and pepper. Add stock and cook until potatoes are very soft, about 20 minutes. Using a blender or an immersion blender, puree about half the soup. Add milk, stir, and bring back to temperature.

If you don't want your soup thick, puree less of it. If you want delicious wallpaper paste, puree it all.

I am assuming that like most soup it will be better tomorrow, but right now, it is very yummy- better than what you get in a restaurant. I didn't put anything on top of mine. Simple, but not bland.

I bought some beef the other day and am trying to decide what to make with it. It's labeled "beef stir fry," is fairly lean, and is cut in small strips against the grain. The obvious answer is, of course, stir fry, but I'm not very excited by that. Any other ideas?

Last time I bought this cut, I made beef and broccoli stir fry, with the beef marinated in soy or teriaki sauce (don't remember which) for a few hours. It was good, but the beef was chewy. Thoughts on how to tenderize? Thanks!

Just curious...what's your favorite THIN crust pizza recipe? :)

Thanks!

I wasn't 100% certain what I thought when I saw the recipe, as grapefruit is something I like but is sometimes iffy to deal with in cooking. I made this today and it is YUMMY (especially with unbuttered brown rice). The glaze is so full of flavor the rice didn't need butter (and I LOVE butter)! :) I can't remember where I found the recipe but it was somewhere online.

( Grapefruit-glazed Grilled Chicken )

Hi guys,
I have a request to make. I’m wondering if anyone has a good recipe for a Tie desert called Mango and Sticky rice. It’s basically mango with rice and sweet coconut milk, for anyone who knows of it by a different name. A while ago, I tried a recipe I found online, and it came out ok, but not nearly as good as the stuff you get at Tie Restaurants. A couple nights ago we went out to eat to a Tie restaurant and we got mango and Stick rice for dessert and it was delicious! I know fresh ripe mangos are in our grocery stores now, and between this and the yummy dessert I had a couple nights ago, I’m motivated to try again! I don’t really want to use the same recipe I used last time since it was just ok, and I figured that rather than just picking another random recipe from online, I’d see if any of you have any favorites.
Thanks so much!
Sarah

I finally used the chorizo sausage! I’ve been trying to find chorizo sausage for a while and I finally found it at the west end. So now that I had the sausage, I had to find the recipes that I wanted to try and there were sooo many! I decided to go with a chorizo and fish stew. This is the 1^st of a few chorizo recipes that I’ve planned to make.  

 

Cross-posted to my site 101 Things Every Cook Should Cook



This is one of the best soups I have ever made. Truly, it is tastiness in soup form. I made it using a recipe written in my notebook by a waitress in a café in Montmartre which had no amounts, cooking times or instructions. Just ingredients, and my memory of what it tasted like. So I made up how to make it, and it has worked an absolute treat.

The secret is a good stock. If at all possible, make your own stock. Chicken, vegetable or beef, whatever your preference. Mine was made with veal bones (happy, farmer’s market veal), which I roasted and then simmered with carrots, celery, a leek, an onion, some peppercorns and thyme and parsley for 6 hours. You can follow this basic method, but using roasted chicken, beef or veal bones. Ham stock wouldn’t really work here. Yes, I know making stock seems like a real faff, but I swear on my life that it’s worth it. Honestly. Trust me. You know it makes sense.

If you really don’t have the time to make your own stock, get a couple of cans of beef consommé from the supermarket. Baxter’s do a nice one. If you can’t find that, use a tub of fresh stock from the chiller shelf. And if you can’t find that and only have access to stock cubes then you’re not trying hard enough and you should go and sit in the corner.

( Instructional Gubbins )

Particularly those with protein. We do bentos at my house and the weather is getting so that heating up a rice and meat main entre is getting a bit much -- it's just too hot to eat it. So I thought some cold style appetizers would make a good substitute, particularly if they have some form of protein in them. I'll be perusing the archives of the comm as well, but would love to see some new, eaten cold appetizer recipes!

Any chance for an appetizer tag in the future? And maybe a eaten cold tag or tags?

Thanks!

I know... boring, been there recipe. But I had some leftover veggies that needed used, and was surprised at what a difference they made. I'll be making this weekly from now on.

6-7 oz tuna, drained
1/2- 3/4 c mayo (to taste)
1-2 T lemon juice
salt and pepper
fresh dill to taste (I used about 2 tsp)
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped

Flake the tuna into a bowl. Add mayo, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and dill. Combine well. Add cucumber and tomato, stir to combine.

It's better if you can let it sit in the fridge for an hour or two (or even overnight), but was delicious immediately too.

I love LOVE Scottish imported pork pies. I found a recipe years ago on Geocities and decided to try it again the other day. I... I'm having trouble with the pastry part of it.

( recipe )

Original recipe here: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/stingingnettlepesto.htm

I remain surprised and pleased that I was able to make something entirely edible out of the large bunch of *stinging nettles* that our CSA sent us. This used up a full bunch. I must say, my definition of "edible" has already expanded quite a bit. Surprisingly, my main problem with this recipe is that it's a bit bland. Next time I make it I will add chives or ramps or lemon or fresh basil or something to give it a bit more kick. It's not bad as-is, just generally inoffensive.

Stinging Nettle Pesto

6-10 c. fresh nettles
5 garlic cloves
1/3 c. pine nuts (next time I will try walnuts, as I was shocked by how expensive pine nuts are)
1/2 c. grated parmesan (cheap Kraft grated Parmesan works fine, no need to use the good stuff)
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil (roughly)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (which really means, lots!)

Get a pot of water boiling. Add nettles and let boil for 2 minutes. Drain.
Put blanched nettles, nuts, Parmesan, and some salt and pepper in food processor. Process until smooth, adding olive oil bit by bit until the texture's right.

Yogurt-Chive Biscuits, made using fresh chives from our CSA.

Recipe based on this one: Cooking Light's Buttermilk-Chive Biscuits.

3 c. flour
1 bundle (about 1 c.) minced fresh chives
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. chilled butter, chopped into pieces
1 c. yogurt
1/2 c. milk

Preheat oven to 425 deg.

Combine flour through salt ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yogurt and milk; stir until just moist.

Turn dough onto floured surface, knead until it all holds together--about 4 times. Pat dough out to a 3/4 inch thickness. Cut into roughly 2" circles (using a cookie cutter or glass). Place on buttered baking sheet. Melt extra butter and brush over tops of biscuits.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until golden on top.

Anyone have a good wheat beer bread recipe?
I bought some from Tastefully Simple and my husband LOVED it and I don't want to have to constantly order it from them.

Help!  I just scored like 5 lbs of cut up stew meat for like 2.50.  so I need ideas for what to do with it other than stew.  I was thinking some kind of BBQ since it's summer.

TIA! 

x-posted to what_a_crock

I like Real Simple magazine only (lately) for the recipes; I cut this out of the April '08 issue.

Ham and Cheese Turnovers
1 1-pound package refrigerated pizza dough
8 ounces deli ham, thinly sliced
4 ounces Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow onion, cut into thin rings

Heat oven to 400F.
Roll pizza dough into 14 inch circle and cut into 8 triangles.
Stack a piece of ham, cheese, and onion on the bottom of each triangle and roll the dough up around the filling. Some of the filling will stick out the ends.
Transfer rolls to a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake until golden & crisp, about 20 minutes.

Very tasty and VERY quick!

...good old chocolate chip cookies?

I'm just curious...today I substituted orange extract for the vanilla, and added chopped up cashews...so I ended up with orange-cashew-chocolate chip cookies. Not everyone would like them, but my boyfriend and I love 'em! I'm contemplating cherry extract with chopped almonds...

So...what's your favorite modification for a "standard" chocolate chip cookie recipe?

This is my family's "standard," aka the basic recipe off most every chocolate chip package!

1 C butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 C brown sugar
3/4 C sugar
1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs
2-1/4 C flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt (optional)
1 "standard" (12 oz?) package chocolate chips

What an earth is shortening?

I'm having a tea party and I want to make cupcakes which I found here but I dunno what that is. And what's 2% milk? And plain flour right? How much is a stick of butter?

Can anyone direct me to more cupcake and frosting recipes?

Someone on my friends list posted about Butter Braids last week. Just the name sounded delicious. I searched around trying to find a recipe for it, and was beginning to think this bread is a secret! I found 2 recipes that were close to what I thought it should be, and mashed them together.

I had wanted to do a creamy filling, but alas I was out of heavy cream and did not want to make a trip to the store on this rainy day. So I pulled out my husband's favourite raspberry jam to use instead.

I had intended to freeze the second loaf for when he comes home on leave next month, but I think I am going to have to bake more fresh for him. My daughter (15 months) and I already ate a third of one when it came out of the oven. She kept asking me for more. lol I think when I do this again for my husband, I'll experiment with a peanut butter & jam (no glaze) version for him and myself, and bake another jam one for my daughter.

The bread is very soft. The inside of the loaf just melts in your mouth. The outside has a crust from the egg wash. It's lightly sweet on its own, and sweeter with the jam and glaze. I should have used a knife to cut it neatly, but I was impatient and just tore it apart as it was cooling. Delicious!





( 3 more pictures )

The Recipe!

I found a recipe recently on Yahoo that I want to try, but I'm having a terrible time finding canned pumpkin this time of year.

1 box devil's food cake mix (18oz?)
1 can (15 oz.) pure pumpkin

Preheat oven to 400F; grease muffin tin/line muffin tin with paper muffin cups.
Mix cake mix together with pumpkin; batter will be thick; do not add any other liquid.
Pour into muffin tins; bake for 20 minutes.

I was wondering...does anyone think I could substitute applesauce for the pumpkin, in case I can't find it at the store?

edit 04/04/04 I actually finally found (well, my boyfriend was the one doing the shopping, so I suppose I should say he found the canned pumpkin. Now all that remains is to try the recipe, which I hope to do this weekend!

Every once in a while, I actually get around to trying the recipes that come on packages of things, and sometimes the recipes are even A) easy and B) tasty. (Trying to make truffles according to the recipe on the Ghirardelli double chocolate chips didn't work.)

This recipe was on the wrapper for Mission flour tortillas (8 pack).

( BLT rolls )

Cross-posted from my site 101 Things Every Cook Should Cook



I made butter! How brilliant is that? You can get some cream... and turn it into butter. In your house. It's like magic!

Why would you bother making your own butter? Well, firstly because you know what goes into it. There's no question of it including preservatives or vegetable fats or anything else. And secondly, because it's fun to make stuff. Making butter gives me cooking joy! Butter!

( Instructional Gubbins )

This is what I made for dinner tonight:
( Eggplant Parmesan )

Just thought I'd share this recipe with all of you!
It is very easy to make and pretty darn tasty!

preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease casserole dish


2 cups cooked white rice
2 cups shredded cheese (I use cheddar)
1 1/2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
2 eggs beaten
2 tbs melted butter
1/2 cup. chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (add more or less to taste)

cook rice according to directions on package. brown chicken in oil over stove until browned on both sides and no longer pink in middle

combine all ingredients and bake for 45 minutes

**please note-this recipe came from meals.com 
enjoy!!

This scone recipe is so simple. You can change it up and add whatever berries or chips (chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter, toffee, etc) you like. Today I made a Saskatoon berry version, and my 1 year old loved it.



The Recipe

Poll #1149851 How do you stuff YOUR green peppers?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

When making stuffed green peppers, how do you prepare the peppers?

My mom always cuts the peppers and cleans them and then proceeds to boil them for about 45 minutes. She then removes them (and they are SO difficult to handle at this point), allows them to cool, arranges them in the casserole dish and then stuffs them. I've read a lot of recipes on the green pepper stuffage. But I've never deviated from the tried and true. I want this to be simple, though, since I am making 80 kajillion meals for my friend that just had a baby. The interwebs are always smart and lead me in the right direction, so please, kind people, advise me. How do YOU stuff your peppers? (if you blanch - how long do you do so?)