Food and Recipes! 🍊🥩🥧

[#1]

I thought I would start a foodie / recipe thread - if there already is one, let me know, OK?

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo - is anyone cooking up anything special?  I'm planning on steak with chimmichurri sauce.  I have never made that, I don't believe I have even tasted it, and I'm seeing a lot of variation in ingredients on Pinterest.

Has anyone made it, and do you have a preference of what goes in it?

Bon appetit!

[SwissZahlerArt]

We aren't.  Blame on the virus in fashion. My husband didn't want to believe there were not fresh nor frozen vegetables available. I bought a few canned veggies.

Tip:  add 3 bay leaves to the corned beef. It helps to suppress the holiday meal aroma. 

[psych62]

Couldn't find any potatoes locally, was in Santa Monica today and bought some home from an ultra-ritzy grocery store (Bristol Farms) that has outstanding produce, but unfortunately at a higher cost than other places. And yes, they were out of toilet paper/paper towels/Kleenex too.

The corned beef is back on the boil (I added bay leaves like you recommended), cabbage and potatoes to be added shortly. Looking forward to this meal!

[SwissZahlerArt]

Bon apetit.

[SwissZahlerArt]

The 99% of the time, I sauté very well chopped onions, garlic, bell peppers and celery in oil and butter to start a soup or stew. It enhances  the flavor. The beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, pork  or seafood is always marinated over night for the same purpose.

[SwissZahlerArt]

Happy hot coco.  Miniature marshmallows, whipping cream and sprinkles on the whipping cream.

Sometimes, the sprinkles are season like tiny shamrocks, red, white and green for Christmas.

[vlmkpyae]

that's cute, ana. 

[ElizabethRosenArt]

So- do any of you foodies have any recipes to make something extra good out of the few staple pantry items we have like chicken or tuna in a can? I am not gifted in the kitchen at all. 

[vlmkpyae]

tuna, if you don't hate it, can become a casserole if you cook up your noodles first, and layer it like lasagna with cheese over the top and heat it under the broiler or in a microwave to melt the cheese. if you have garlic or onion you could add that  to it under the cheese. 

chicken from a can is really only good to toss into a soup or to make into chicken salad, either with a boiled egg or not. if you don't have mayonnaise you can use salad dressing. caesar works pretty good for that. that can go on matzoth if you have any.

you need to state what all you have beyond 2 canned meats to give you better ideas. 

[ElizabethRosenArt]

Except for any canned soups, whole chickens, frozen veggies, TP, antibacterial products of any variety, we can still get staples (at the moment). We did get a big box of chicken and tuna cans 'just in case' so was curious how that could be made better. I'm easy and could do a splotch of chili garlic sauce on top and be fine. @vlmkpyae 

And the no whole chickens thing is weird- it's the country! There were more chickens crossing the road than there were in the market!!

[SwissZahlerArt]

@ElizabethRosenArt  Just the idea.  Rice or potato open pie. Grease / oil a baking pan or pyrex. Put a layer of mashed potatoes or cooked rice mixed with beaten eggs. Then, do layers or vegetables, meat, white gravy aka Bechamel sauce or tomato / spaguetti sauce. Top it with shredded cheese and bake it until cheese melts.

Ideas: mix the mashed potato with Italian herbs or herbs de Provence. Vegetables layers could be, for example,  one layer of sliced carrots, one layer of spinach, one layer of cauliflower. You could mix the rice with shredded cheese instead of the beaten eggs in order the rice sticks together -then skip the shredded cheese on top of this open face "pie". Skip the meat if you use bolognese sauce. Observe the available ingredients and plan a nice color layer arrangement.  For example, Potato at the bottom, then tomato sauce, then broccoli, then cauliflower, then shredded chicken, then other layer of mashed potato, then a layer of green peas, a layer of slices of onion, shredded Gouda, Velveeta or Cheddar cheese on top of everything.

[ElizabethRosenArt]

Sounds good Ana, thank you!!

[SwissZahlerArt]

A can of kidney beans, navy or northern beans, chickpeas aka garbanzo beans, pinto beans, black beans and raw lentils... what to do with so many beans? Well, a six-bean-soup! The quantity of grains to use depends on how many portions you are going to cook.  Estimated in the different recipes I searched, 16 to 20 ounces of beans feeds 12 to 14 people. So, we have to calculate the quantity of beans to use for the total quantity of people / portions. We may use only one quarter of each can, so, freeze the third quarters of the can we are not going to use soon.

Since only the lentils are raw, then, soak them for at least 30 minutes.  The flavoring vegetables are garlic, onion, bell pepper, celery including the leaves. We may even use fresh herbs like rosemary, basil, estragon aka tarragon, so on. Chop all of the flavoring ingredients and saute them in butter. If you are using any meat, add it and fry it for about five minutes. Add the lentils. There are people who says discard the water in which you soaked the grains, others say use it to prepare the soup. It is up to you. Optional to use broth instead of water. There are people who likes to add for example potatoes, rice, carrots or leek at this point. Cook them in medium heat for about forty-five minutes, check the lentils are really tender, add the canned beans. Stir, verify the quantity of water -if it is necessary to add more just in case a lot evaporated, (optional to add chopped tomato or pasta now) cover and let it cook for fifteen minutes in medium to low heat.

[SwissZahlerArt]

Sorry, I cook without salt... the broth may have enough salt. Then, the flavoring ingredients, redundant, give flavors and salt is omitted. The canned beans may have salt too...

[SwissZahlerArt]

Chop Cheddar, Gouda or Swiss cheese, also raw bacon and mix them with ground beef and A1 steak sauce to do grilled flavorful hamburgers.

[psych62]

Today I made my husband's favorite chili. I got the recipe from an L.A, Times article; it was the top prize-winning recipe in a chili cookoff. It's very expensive to make though, calls for three different types of meat (sirloin steak, ground sirloin, crumbled chorizo sausage) and meat prices I notice have skyrocketed. A half pound of ground sirloin cost me $11.00. A bought a jar of bay leaves and that cost me $13.00. And then there's ingredients for cornbread....the cost of butter/eggs have gone up. But in the end, I get a big pot of stuff so I suppose it is worth it. Hubs will eat it daily til its gone. It sure beats the garbage that comes in the can. 

[SwissZahlerArt]

This old grandmother says, "The small things made with the heart make the great moments in life."  Enjoy the chili together, no matter the price of the ingredients.  Life is too short. You have the greatest treasure perhaps the  billionaires don't have:  a happy and successful marriage.

[weekendjewelry1]

Psych, wow on the ground sirloin prices! I'm not a purist - I would just go for ground beef, sauteed separately and remove (most of) the fat. But I'm paying maybe $2.99/pound for 80% ground beef, not $11 for a half pound! I hope your husband really appreciates it  

We did fancy stuff (I'm kidding) on the grill yesterday - hamburgers and cheddar brats, with cole slaw on the side.  Supposed to rain the rest of the week so we took advantage of a nice afternoon   And why is it that almost everything tastes better when it's cooked on the grill? 

[psych62]

Yum yum, I love food on the grill. Unfortunately the outdoor gas grills in my condo complex have been closed since Covid-19. People caught grilling on their patios/balconies face stiff fines (there are fire dept rules around here about grilling on patios/balconies that go beyond the HOA). We have a little George Foreman electric grill, but it's not quite the same. Still, it's better than nothing. 

[SwissZahlerArt]

IF there would not be quarantine, we would participate at the different Memorial Day activities today. It's other big family gathering. For this year, we planed each family would bring a specific meal and have the usual picnic at the park. I was going to bake extra apple pies and shop the ice cream just before to go to the park. Well, for the pie, believe it or not, I use four different kinds of apples. Not specific, for example, honey crisp, Fuji, Gala and Jonathan. Besides the traditional dash of cinnamon on top of the apples, I add also a dash of nutmeg and a dash of cloves. And for the crust, a secret, the lard from the bacon. OOOPPPSSS, I already told you about the family "secret" recipe...

[psych62]

I'm making beef stroganoff tonight. It's one of hubs favorite dishes. I haven't made it in years. I'm following a recipe I got from AllRecipes.Com. with adaptions. I used beef sirloin instead of chuck roast, marinating it in red wine beforehand instead of adding white wine to the sauce, used  half a white onion instead of green onion, used fresh mushrooms instead of canned. I doubled the amount of beef broth and still didn't have enough liquid, I needed to add more. And when I added the flour it turned the sauce lumpy, I had to but it in the blender! Saved it! Right now its simmering on the stove, in about 20 minutes I'll add the sour cream and cream cheese (the cream cheese is another adaption). I hope it turns out OK. I used less salt than was called for in the recipe but I can always add more. 

[psych62]

Well, I didn't care for it much but hubs loves it. The main fail is lack of sauce. I can't believe how much extra I added above and beyond and I had barely enough sauce to coat to noodles. The flavor is good, though. Not great, but good, at least to me. But I suppose the important thing is that hubs loves it, because I really made it for him. I never even ate beef stroganoff until I married him and he encouraged me to make it because his Mom used to cook it. Now he has many meals worth. I suggested a small splash of beef broth and a dab of sour cream when he reheats it, maybe that will remedy things. 

[weekendjewelry1]

Psych, for what it's worth when I'm making a sauce and want to thicken it with flour or cornstarch, I make what I think they call a "slurry". I mix a bit of the flour and cold liquid (maybe milk, for stroganoff) - mix till the flour is incorporated into that small amount of liquid, with no lumps. Then after it's all mixed together, so now you have a cold(ish) thick(er) liquid, I add a bit of hot liquid - from the pasta water, or the sauce that's already started, or whatever.  Stir the hot into the cold, in small amounts, mixing well, so the heat of this floured liquid increases - and it won't get lumpy.  Then keep adding more hot liquid to it, again in small amounts.  Only after it's got a bit of substance, still no lumps, and the mixture is quite warm, do I put all the floured liquid into the main pot. Then stir well. 

It's hard to explain, not so hard to do!  You don't want to just dump the flour in first off - it really will make lumps then. Give it a chance to mix into a warm liquid, first.  You might look up "what is a slurry" - or someone here might have a simpler explanation

PS A nice thing about this is you can really increase the amount of your sauce, even if you have to fake it.  Use milk, stock, whatever works for you - thicken it with flour - probably add some fat, like butter or cheese.  Fake the sauce and make more, it works!

[psych62]

I did mix the flour with some room temperature beef broth for a lump-less mixture....I suppose my mistake was adding that, all at once, to the (hot) pan....it instantly lumped up. Thank you for the tips, I really appreciate them.

[SwissZahlerArt]

A stromboli is pizza dough shaped in rectangle form, stuffed with pizza toppings and rolled like a Hot Pocket. So, my daughter-in-law (yes, the only one who lives with us) and I tried twists in the recipe.  For example, I mixed Italian herbs in the dough. Also tried whole wheat dough for my vegetarian son.  Different stuffing such as mushrooms and Motzzarella cheese. Other combination mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, onion and Italian sauce. So on. We tried the famous air fryer and traditional oven. Both worked out very well. Bon apetit!

[SwissZahlerArt]

A whole meal in one dish.  Rice, vegetables (meat of your preference) and broth according with  the meat you use in this recipe.  Every rice variety has it cooking time. Stir fry rice with flavoring vegetables (onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic). Don't let them to golden brown.

Add chopped / cube  meat of your preference, chopped / sliced/ cubed / julienne frozen or fresh vegetables such as carrot,  green peas, broccoli and the broth. Of course, there are exceptions.  For example, if you want to add shrimp, add it until the rice and vegetables are almost cook, to avoid the shrimp to get a hard and rubbery texture. The same with very tender vegetables such as zucchini or yellow squash. Stir. Let it cook.

When the rice has absorbed the broth, check the water level, meat and vegetables tenderness. Add water if necessary, stir, cover with a lid, lower the heat and let it finish cooking.