El Justo's Cookbook Thread

finally, after an awefully long absence, here's another one by me:



chicken 'n thyme

1 pullet (ready to cook)
4 small thyme branches
6 small tomatoes
1 1/2 cups bacon cubes
(olive) oil
salt
pepper (perferably black)
water (and, if desired, wine (red, rose))



Prepare the chicken: cut into serving size parts (e.g. quarter it). Rub outsinde and inside with pepper and salt (sparingly, if the bacon is salty).
Skin tomatoes (pour boiling water over them, or boil them for 30 secs, then peel off hide), cut into small cubes.


Fry bacon in roasting pot in some oil at high heat. When it turns crispy, take it out. Fry chicken pieces from both sides in the fat. Turn down heat, add the tomatoes and thyme. Add some water if needed. Cover and let simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes at low heat. Check occasionally whether it is necessary to add fluids. Depending on your taste, use wine and/or water as needed.


When the chicken is done, remove thyme, add the bacon.

Serve with French bread.


ENJOY!

Simon: just found time to read your. Seems to me mine is yours on speed

will give yours a try for sure!

I will have to try it too. I love roast meat.

And now, a two-for-one:

Cheesy Pasta Bake
(suitable for young children)

Ingredients
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
3 Zucchinis cut in 5 cm batons
2 red capsicums, deseeded and sliced
800g canned chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons fresh torn basil leaves
100g button mushrooms, sliced finely
350g dried fusilli pasta
350g mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
4 sprigs fresh basil, to garnish

You will need: a cook’s knife, a chopping board, a large saucepan, a large frying pan, a wooden spatula, a 1.7 litre baking dish and a baking sheet.

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Heat the oil in the frying pan and fry the onion in the frying pan and fry the onion and garlic over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Add the zucchini’s and capsicums and continue to cook for a further 3-4 minutes.
2. Lower the heat, add the tomatoes and basil, and simmer for 5 minutes until the vegetables are starting to soften. Season well. Stir in the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.
3. In the meantime, cook the pasta in the saucepan in boiling salted water, for 8-10 minutes, or according to the instructions on the packet. When it is “al dente”, remove from the heat and drain well.
4. Pour the drained pasta into the baking dish and pour over the tomato mixture. Stir well.
5. Top with the Mozzarella cheese and sprinkle over the grated parmesan.
6. Bake in the centre of the preheated oven on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes until bubbling and golden brown. Serve at once garnished with the basil.


Apple and Blackberry Crumble

Ingredients
450g Granny Smith apples
450g Blackberries
115g caster sugar
4 Tablespoons Water
Yoghurt

Crumble
175g wholemeal flour
85g unsalted butter
85g soft brown sugar
1 Teaspoon mixed spice

You will need: a potato peeler, a small sharp knife, a chopping board, a mixing bowl, a fork, a baking sheet and a 1.7 litre ovenproof dish.

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Prepare the apples by cutting them into quarters, then peeling and coring them. Thinly slice them into an ovenproof dish.
2. Add the blackberries and then stir in the sugar. Pour over the water.
3. Make the crumble by placing the flour in a mixing bowl and rubbing in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and mixed spice.
4. Spread the crumble evenly over the fruit and use a fork to press down lightly.
5. Put the dish on a baking sheet and bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until the crumble is golden brown.
6. Serve warm with yoghurt.


I ahd to come up with these recipes for a Food Tech Assignment. They are good, I made the cheesy pasta bake for a prac test, even.

La Justa's Chicken Pot Pie



yes! i'm back w/ a new recipe!

this is actually my wife's recipe...well...one that she snagged off of the side of a Bisquik box. it's quite delicious though...and is a great way to 'get rid of' that left-over roasted chicken. you know, we always have left-overs. it's fast and easy, too. check it!

Ingredients
1 cup of Bisquik mix (instant pancake mix sold in the US)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 to 1 1/2 cups of 'pulled chicken' (ie from a roasted chicken)
1 can of mixed vegatables (peas and carrots is the standard but any mixture would suffice)
1 can cream of chicken broth/soup
garlic powder
salt
pepper
dash of sugar

utensils
9" baking dish
medium sized mixing bowl (2)

instructions
- pre-heat your oven too 400 degrees F (soory...i can't do the conversion to celsius. although i have a converter chart on the 1st post of this thread )

- in one of the two mixing bowls, 'pull' the chicken (dark and lt meat is okay) off of the bird until you have in the neighborhood of a cup or so. add more if you want to (i generally add up to 1.5 cups). make sure all of the fatty stuffs are removed, too.

- add the can of cream of chicken and the can of mixed vegatables into the chicken mix. season lightly w/ salt, pepper, and garlic powder. stir well.

- arrange the 'pulled' chix in the bottom of the ungreased 9" baking dish.

- pour the 1 cup of Bisquik mix into the medium sized mixing bowl. crack one (1) egg into it and pour the 1/2 cup of milk as well. grab a 'pinch' of sugar and toss it into the batter mixture. mix it well and be sure to smooth out any lumps that may appear in the mix.
*chef's secret: to get a fluffier crusting, add another 1/4 cup of Bisquik mix to the equation. the mixture will appear thicker. for a thinner crusting, add in 2/3 a cup of milk instead of a 1/2 cup. the mixture will appear much lighter.

- spread batter mixture over the top of the chicken and place into oven. bake for 30 mins or until golden brown

enjoy!

Here is a recipe for mussels that I serve at the restaurant I am the chef of. It is very easy to make and only takes a few minutes. People seem to like it, especialy in the summer.

Mussels

1 1/2 Roma Tomato, diced
1 tsp Fresh Ginger, grated
1/2 tsp Sambal Oleak (Thai chili paste)
1/4 cup Scallions, chopped
3/4 cup White Cooking Wine *
1 oz Butter
1 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
15 live Mussels **
salt to taste

1. Dice the roma tomatoes, chop the scallions and cilantro, grate the fresh ginger with a cheese grater (this removes the fibers)

2. Heat some oil in a saute pan, when almost smoking hot remove the pan from the heat and add the ginger, scallions, Sambal and diced tomato, place the pan back on the heat, do not let the oil flame up (this creates a butane/propane flavor and is called "gassing" the pan); cook for about 45 - 60 seconds.

3. Remove the pan from the fire, add the cooking wine (the addition of wine can cause the oil in the pan to flame up in the "gassed pan" sort of way if done on the fire), place back on the flame; add the mussels, butter and cilantro; cover with a lid.

4. Cook until all the mussels have opened up (this should only take a few minutes). Add salt to taste.

5. Serve in a large bowl with three slices of baugette (preferably grilled).

*I am not sure what the situation is in other countries but in the US you should never cook with wine sold in grocery stores as cooking wine, they add a ton of salt to it so that it isn't considered a beverage. For cooking wine generally you should use any inexpensive real wine that you like. For a basic white I use Citra Trebbiano d'Abruzzo from southern Italy. For this dish any crisp, dry, neutral white will work; Muscadet would be really nice, avoid Reisling, Gewurtztraminer, Vouvray or any strongly flavored, aromatic or floral whites - they make the mussels taste weird.

**If the mussels are still closed they are still alive, this is what you want. If they are open but close when tapped or exposed to cold water they are still alive but will die soon, these will work but cook them the day you buy them. If the mussels are open and won't close or are frozen they are dead, let somebody else buy them.

excellent recipe Drewcifer!

also useful is your recommendations on which wines to cook with.

thanks for sharing!

Drewcifer said:

*I am not sure what the situation is in other countries but in the US you should never cook with wine sold in grocery stores as cooking wine, they add a ton of salt to it so that it isn't considered a beverage.

Click to expand...

WHAT?????!!!!!!!!!


[makes mental note not to see Americans as part of 'cultured world' anymore unless individual proves otherwise]

carlosMM said:

WHAT?????!!!!!!!!!


[makes mental note not to see Americans as part of 'cultured world' anymore unless individual proves otherwise]

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Without adding salt it would be considered an alcoholic beverage and be taxed as such, plus it would be regulated by laws restricting when and to whom it can be sold. Add a little salt and presto, in the eyes of the law it is food (though not very good food). It's crappy wine either way, the whites are all bad Central Valley Chardonnay, you take out the salt I still wouldn't cook with it. Do tax dodges not exist in Europe?

It could be worse, they could add ethylene glycol like they did in Austria. Is Austria part of the 'cultured world'? (I understand the nuance in what I ask.)

I think you're just jealous the recipe isn't in metric.

Drewcifer said:

Without adding salt it would be considered an alcoholic beverage and be taxed as such, plus it would be regulated by laws restricting when and to whom it can be sold. Add a little salt and presto, in the eyes of the law it is food (though not very good food). It's crappy wine either way, the whites are all bad Central Valley Chardonnay, you take out the salt I still wouldn't cook with it. Do tax dodges not exist in Europe?

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Well, I understood then logic in general temrs the first time round, but thank you for elaborating. Tax dodging does exist here, but the food and health administration would have a field day! I can already see the TV coverage, the bodies in the cellars and factories etc. I guess feelings would be much stronger here due to the long tradition of wine drinking with all the rituals etc.

It could be worse, they could add ethylene glycol like they did in Austria. Is Austria part of the 'cultured world'? (I understand the nuance in what I ask.)

Click to expand...

There's a lot of stuff some people are willing to do illegally - but I take it the salt bit is legal???

Besides, since when was Austria cultured? Vienna is, but aside from that....... [j/k]

I think you're just jealous the recipe isn't in metric.

Click to expand...

Well, I would be, if I hadn't had two very unpleasant experiences with mussels. Since then I tend to avoid them, as does my wife.


btw: could you PM me where your restaurant is? If my job travels take me nearby I'd like to give it a try Can't be too bad if you cook there

Rambuchan’s Masala Chai (tea)

Preamble:

Many shops in ‘the west’ are now peddling poor imitations of this spiced Indian tea. It comes in teabags under the names like “Chai”, “Spiced Chai” or “Masala Tea”. Many of these are aimed at your pseudo-hippy types who’ve been to India and think they’re sooo in touch with the place. Well, these imitations are, in a word, crap.

Here’s how you make real Indian Masala Chai, well, my way at least. (See applications below and there are tips if you don’t like things too spicy.)

Ingredients:
(for a pan, not pot, of tea that will get you about 4+ cups)

- 1 pint of full cream milk. If you can get buffalo milk then use that, but places like Tesco and Walmart tend not to stock this.
- 3-4 tea bags, ideally Darjeeling or Assam
- Sugar, lots!
- A big root of Ginger
- 10-12 Cardamom pods, or about 20-25 seeds
- Black pepper

The Method:

1 – Pour all your milk in the pan and start heating it, slowly and gently. Make sure you stir it often or the milk will burn on the bottom and sides of the pan. Yuck!

2 – Meanwhile, chop up your ginger into broad, flat slivers. This shape is used so more ginger is exposed to infuse into the milk.

3 – Open up your cardamom pods and place them into a pestle and mortar. Bruise, don’t smash, them. Do the same with about 4 pepper pods. Again, to ease the release of flavour.

4 – Now put your tea bags, ginger, pepper and cardamom in the pan and stir gently, turning up the heat a bit. Keep stirring and stirring, thinking loving thoughts as you do. The milk will start to go brown as the tea is released and you will start getting that wonderful cardamom smell.

5 – Add lots of sugar. If you don’t like your tea with sugar, then don’t bother with this recipe. This must be drunk sweet for the sake of the spices.

6 – When the milk has reached a nice ‘brewed tea’ brown colour, take out your tea bags and taste. If you are not getting enough of the spices coming through, then keep stirring / add more!

7 – Once the mix has attained a pungent aroma and appropriate taste, pour the whole pan through a sieve to get rid of the ginger, pepper and cardamom bits.

Then pour into cups and enjoy!

Applications:

This tea is a great hangover cure. It is also surprisingly refreshing and cooling on a hot day. I’ve sat in some sweltering heat in India and drunk this stuff and it cools you like nothing else can. This also seems to go well with spicy snacks.

For the Spice averse:

Lose the ginger and pepper, but keep the cardamom.

Now watch the Indian posters slay my recipe

This thread makes me hungry! Maybe I'll post a recipe later.

MINT TEA

Easy, refreshing, light and yummy. Why not go get some mint leaves now?

The Ingredients

- Tea bag, Assam or Darjeeling
- A big bunch of FRESH mint
- Sugar / Honey as you prefer

The Method

This may seem easy but it's a precise art to get it right. Your tea should not be too strong.

1 - Boil your water and put it into an empty cup.

2 - Pick off the leaves of mint and add a bunch to the cup (about 10 big leaves)

3 - Stir the mint vigourously in the water. It will take on a green colour.

4 - This is the crucial bit: Dunk your tea bag into the minty water. Do it just a few times to lightly brown the water. Then put the bag right in and stir it once or twice MAX. Then take out the tea bag immediately after. Do not make the tea too strong or it will overpower the mint.

5 - You've still got the mint leaves in right? So stir it vigourously again (thinking loving thoughts) to release yet more mint.

6 - Add sugar / clear honey to taste. Should be sweet if you're not being a dick about it.

7 - Remove the excess mint leaves and place one young little sprig to float on the top for decoration.

Enjoy!

From Katie Stewart's Times Cookery Book (iirc)

A rich and heart-warming pudding, best served hot with cream and ice cream (plain vanilla is best). Very chocolatey, a wonderful fudgy chocolate sauce and sponge - very popular with children or those in need of a treat.

1. Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 5 [190°C, 375°F].
2. Sift 3 oz [85g] self-raising flour with 2 level tablespoons [30cc] of cocoa powder.
3. Cream 4 oz [115g] butter (or margerine) with 4 oz [115g] castor sugar.
4. Beat in two eggs and the flour.
5. Spoon into a two-pint [1-litre] pudding dish. (Pyrex is good.)
6. Mix together 2 level tablespoons [30cc] cocoa powder and 4 oz [115g] soft dark brown sugar - treacle is an adequate substitute, but refined white sugar is not.
7. Add 1/2 a pint [1.2 cups, or 10 fluid ounces] of boiling water to the sugar-cocoa mix, and stir it up until it's smooth. Then pour over the pudding.
8. Cook at Gas Mark 5 [190°C, 375°F] for 3/4 hour [45minutes], or until the pudding has risen through the bubbling sauce and has shrunk away from the edges.

This is in imperial, UK ounces and so on: conversions courtesy of here - you can also use the converter to get your favourite units.
I'll add a photo next time I make it.

Abaddons Caveman Feast!

1 x Large Turkey leg
1 x Apple
sunflower margerine
mixed herbs


This very easy dish costs £2, will feed two growing men, and only takes 5 mins to prepare! and it is lush!!!

1, Grab ginormous turkey leg (only £0.97p at Tesco!)
2, Peel back skin and rub in the marge
3, Slice apple and place on turkey flesh
4, sprinkle on herbs
5, pull skin back over
6, Place in oven for 80 mins


An woweee, a ginormous animal leg a caveman would be proud of! If your feeling civilized, carve it and have some mash and vegetables with it.

Moroccan food is totally in style

MOROCCAN BRAISED BEEF:

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 1/2 pounds boneless chuck roast, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
2 cups chopped onions
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup dry Sherry
2 cups beef broth
1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
1 1/2 cups golden raisins

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Add meat to pot; sauté until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Transfer meat to bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same pot. Add onions; sauté until brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and next 5 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Add wine and Sherry; boil until reduced to glaze, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes with juice, and raisins; stir to blend. Add beef and accumulated juices; bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered until sauce is thick and beef is tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Season stew with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool slightly, chill until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Rewarm before serving.)

Drewcifer said:

Here is a recipe for mussels that I serve at the restaurant I am the chef of. It is very easy to make and only takes a few minutes. People seem to like it, especialy in the summer.

Mussels

1 1/2 Roma Tomato, diced
1 tsp Fresh Ginger, grated
1/2 tsp Sambal Oleak (Thai chili paste)
1/4 cup Scallions, chopped
3/4 cup White Cooking Wine *
1 oz Butter
1 tbsp Cilantro, chopped
15 live Mussels **
salt to taste

1. Dice the roma tomatoes, chop the scallions and cilantro, grate the fresh ginger with a cheese grater (this removes the fibers)

2. Heat some oil in a saute pan, when almost smoking hot remove the pan from the heat and add the ginger, scallions, Sambal and diced tomato, place the pan back on the heat, do not let the oil flame up (this creates a butane/propane flavor and is called "gassing" the pan); cook for about 45 - 60 seconds.

3. Remove the pan from the fire, add the cooking wine (the addition of wine can cause the oil in the pan to flame up in the "gassed pan" sort of way if done on the fire), place back on the flame; add the mussels, butter and cilantro; cover with a lid.

4. Cook until all the mussels have opened up (this should only take a few minutes). Add salt to taste.

5. Serve in a large bowl with three slices of baugette (preferably grilled).

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If you like that, I know you would love my favorite clam dish, Wok-stirred clams with firmented black bean sauce:

First, the sauce:

1 cup grapeseed oil or canola oil

1/3 cup fermented black beans, roughly chopped

1/2 cup minced garlic

1/2 cup peeled and minced fresh ginger

2 bunches of scallions, white and green parts, sliced 1/8 inch thick

1 tablespoon sambal oelek or hot red pepper sauce

1/2 cup Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat a wok or large sauté pan over high heat. Add 1/4 cup of the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the beans, garlic, ginger, and scallions, and stir-fry until the mixture has softened, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the sambal oelek and wine, decrease the heat to medium, and cook until the mixture is reduced by three quarters, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the salt and pepper.

Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to cool. Transfer half of the mixture to a blender and purée it at high speed while adding the remaining 3/4 cup of oil. Stir the purée back into the remaining mixture and cool completely. Use or store.


Now, the clams:

2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil

2 pounds Manila or littleneck clams, scrubbed

1/2 cup Black Bean-Garlic Sauce (page 32)

1 cup Master Chicken Broth (page 192) or homemade or store-bought vegetable stock

1 cup tomatoes cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves cut into 1/16-inch ribbons

1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, as needed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat a wok or large sauté pan over high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the clams and stir-fry until they have opened slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the Black Bean–Garlic Sauce and chicken broth and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, and butter. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

I would tell you the recipe for making THE VERY BEST PANFISH BREADING IN THE UNIVERSE, EVER!!!!!!!! But then the friend who taught it to me would either never talk to me again or kill me.

But this is a miraculous breading (partially homemade and the other part store bought). I hate fish, I always have, but with this breading I can eat, quite literally, 8-10 pounds of fish (almost any kind of fish too).

But here are a few little tips to make your fish taste not so fishy. Taking into consideration that all fish are not alike, and that the type of fish meat can vary (firm meat or soft meat), these are a few tips that I have found to be common amongst most breeds:

1. Keep them alive for as long as possible, if you can't keep them alive, keep them very, very cold. When they die, they start to rot. When they start to rot, they start to taste fishy. When you filet them, you want there to be a bit of blood coming from the meat, and you also want the gills to be bright crimson red. That means that either the fish was alive or died very recently. And if you couldn't stand the thought of fileting a fish alive, then hit them with something hard right behind the head, severing the spinal cord.

2. With certain breeds of fish, no matter how long they live after capture or how cold you keep them, they still taste fishy. This is because of their mudlines. To solve this, simply remove them. They are more prominent on some fish (Largemouth Bass in particular). The mudlines on a fish are where slime, mud (obviously), and other undesired lake material can build up, causing that unwanted fishy taste.



The mudline extends along the middle of the fish, from the center of the gills (vertically) to the base of the tail fin (shown here as the dark section of scales on the side of the fish). It is generally alongside the fishes lateral line. And you probably already came to this conclusion, but mudlines are on both sides of the fish. While almost all fish have mudlines, the mudlines don't affect the taste of the meat on all fish.

3. When you store them in the freezer, add some water to the ziplock bag (so most of the fish is covered). This will reduce freezer burn. And obviously don't add so much water that when it freezes the bag rips or tears. But you should try to eat the fish as soon as possible. The longer its frozen, the less taste you'll get.

In review:

1. Keep the fish alive for as long as possible. Or if the fish recently died, keep him on a lot of ice.

2. Remove the mudlines.

3. Add water to the bag you are storing your fish in, this reduces freezer burn. Though, you should try to eat the fish asap.

wow! Ram resurrects the thread and voila! lots and lots of great recipes! well done people!

Yeah but Sophie is so evil to post that recipe. We're all gonna get soooo fat!!!

I mean

Fifty's cupcakes that almost got him expelled from school and arrested:

INGREDIENTS:
one box chocolate cake mix, and whatever ingredients it requires for cake
one bottle hot sauce
8 Tablespoons onion powder
One tube of Wasabi
Several cubes of Fish Boullion (enough to make ~2 Gallons of fish broth)
One Can of Frosting
Red Food Coloring
Sprinkles

PREPERATION:

Preheat oven to 350F

As per package directions, make the cake batter. Mix in all the onion powder, all the wasabi, and all the fish boullion cubes. Disperse batter evenly among cupcake tins lined with cupcake paper. Bake however long the package tells you to.

Meanwhile, mix the entire bottle of hot sauce in with the frosting. If the frosting becomes too thin, add a bit of corn starch. Add red food coloring to disguise the grainy particulants present in most hot sauces.

When cakes are done, set aside to cool. Once cool, frost them and top with sprinkles.

Bring cupcakes to welcome banquet for German exchange students. Just make sure that no little whiny idiot is ALLERGIC TO FISH and ends up missing a week of school, because this can cause problems with your school's administration and law enforcement people.