El Justo's Cookbook Thread

[Israelite9191]

Poulet a la Modène

This is an extraordinarily simple recipe with very deep and complex flavor. I came up with the recipe just utilizing what few ingredients I had on hand in my freezer and pantry. I named this dish after the city of Modena in N. Italy as the basic flavors, in particular the balsamic vinegar, are characteristic of N. Italy. Meanwhile, other aspects of the dish are very much French, or to be more specific S. French (the shiraz and herbs).

Ingredients

-2 chicken breast halves or 1 whole chicken breasts
-1 medium onion (red, white, or yellow)
-dried oregano, basil, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste
*Note- An interesting change might be to replace with oregano and basil with herbs du Provençe
-red pepper flakes or ground cayenne pepper (optional)
-dark sesame oil to coat pan
-shiraz or similar red wine
-balsamic vinegar of Modena
-red wine vinega to taste

Procedure

1. If chicken is in the form of one whole breast seperate the left and right breasts. Cube the breasts into bite size pieces. This may not be done if a more formal look is desired, but the resulting dish will differ somewhat in flavor and take much longer to cook.

2. Halve onion and cut off the end opposite the root, peel. Slice onion halves lengthwise leaving the root end in tact, thus keeping the two halves held together. Thinly slice the onion against the grain.

3. Sweat the onion with app. 1/8 of a cup of shiraz, 1/8 of a cup of balsamic, and kosher salt over medium to medium low flame until onion has softened and turned translucent. If keeping the breasts whole, cook only until the liquid has mostly evaporated or been absorbed allowing for the onions to be pushed off to the side and a clear area created in the center.

4. Add cubed chickeng breast along with another (app.) 1/8 cup each of shiraz and balsamic vinegar and the oregano, basil, black pepper, and hot pepper. Stir to combine with onion. Alternatively, push onions to the side revealing a clear spot in the middle of the pan, add a little more oil and add chicken breasts. Turn heat up to high, brown both sides then add 1/8 cup each of shiraz and balsamic and the oregano, basil, black pepper, and hot pepper. Turn heat down to medium to medium low.

5. Cook until done, adjust seasoning. Plate and finish with red wine vinegar, serve.

I actually served this by itself for lunch, but as a supper dish I would say it would probably best served with long strand pasta (linguini would be my preference) or cous cous, Israeli cous cous would also be nice. Rice could also work, though I would stay away from the American blanched and enriched long grain rice and tend towards a medium length grain, whole wheat rice or pasts would also be good. Now that I think about it, it might be nice to try the dish with a roux to thicken the sauce. I would say by itself it would serve 2-3 people, with pasta/cous cous/Israeli cous cous/rice it would serve more like 3-5 people.

 

[mrtn]

That sounds good.

Is point 2 just a very complicated way of saying "Chop the onion"?

How many servings is that, and what do you serve it with? Rice?

 

[Turner]

Saw this on Tyler's Ultimate, and we've done the recipe a few times. Pretty good chicken.

Recipe.
1 (3 to 4 pound) chicken, cut up into 10 pieces
Kosher salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne
Freshly ground black pepper
1 quart buttermilk
2 tablespoons hot chili sauce (recommended: Srirachi)
Peanut oil, for frying
1/4 bunch fresh thyme
3 big sprigs fresh rosemary
1/4 bunch fresh sage
1/2 head garlic, smashed, husk still attached
Lemon wedges, for serving

Put the chicken pieces into a large bowl. Cover the chicken with water by 1 inch; add 1 tablespoon of salt for each quart of water used. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
In a large shallow platter, mix the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and cayenne until well blended; season generously with salt and pepper. In another platter combine the buttermilk and hot sauce with a fork and season with salt and pepper.

Drain the chicken and pat it dry. Dredge the pieces, a few at a time, in the flour mixture,
then dip them into the buttermilk; dredge them again in the seasoned flour. Set aside and let the chicken rest while you prepare the oil.

Put about 3 inches of oil into a large deep pot; it should not come up more than half way. Add the thyme, rosemary, sage, and garlic to the cool oil and heat over medium-high heat until the oil registers 350 to 365 degrees F on one of those clip-on deep-fry thermometers. The herbs and garlic will perfume the oil with their flavor as the oil comes up to temperature.

Once the oil has reached 350 to 365 degrees F, working in batches, carefully add the chicken pieces 3 or 4 at a time. Fry, turning the pieces once, until golden brown and cooked through, about 12 minutes. Total cooking time should be about 30 minutes. When the chicken is done, take a big skimmer and remove the chicken pieces and herbs from the pot, shaking off as much oil as you can, and lay it on a tea towel or brown paper bag to soak up the oil. Sprinkle all over with more salt and a dusting of cracked black pepper. Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Once all the chicken is fried, scatter the fried herbs and garlic over the top. Serve hot, with big lemon wedges.

 

[Israelite9191]

@mrtn- #2 is a very precise way to say "tinly slice the onion." I wouldn't chop or dice the onion as the texture would be very different. I actually served it by itself for lunch, but as a supper dish I would say it would probably best served with long strand pasta (linguini would be my preference) or cous cous, Israeli cous cous would also be nice. Rice could also work, though I would stay away from the American blanched and enriched long grain rice and tend towards a medium length grain, whole wheat rice or pasts would also be good. Now that I think about it, it might be nice to try the dish with a roux to thicken the sauce. I would say by itself it would serve 2-3 people, with pasta/cous cous/Israeli cous cous/rice it would serve more like 3-5 people.

Above will shortly be pasted to the original post.

 

[Fifty]

What does that stuff taste like Israel? The combonation of two different vinegars, red wine, sesame oil, and cayenne pepper sounds really horrid at first glance.

 

[Israelite9191]

Well, balsamic vinegar is famed for its deep, somewhat sweet and lightly tangy flavor. When cooked, balsamic vinegar reduces to an extraordinarily sweet syrup that is perfect for deserts (I have a recipe for that somewhere I will try and find to post). Combined with the onions you get a very sweet dish. The dry shiraz cuts through this very nicely. However, wine when cooked down it develops a very deep, somewhat sweet flavor similar to balsamic but with a different level of flavor. Similarly, the sesame oil's nutty flavor adds to this complexity and depth. Finally, the spice of the hot pepper and the pure acidic tang of the red wine vinegar (as well as the shiraz, as mentioned before) cut through all of this depth. By combining and juxtaposing these different flavors and cooking them down to enhance and meld them, you get an amazing flavor. If you have ever had coq au vin or another poultry dish cooked with whine (chicken marsala etc.) it is similar but with a deeper, more complex and layered flavor.

 

[carlosMM]

One more from me, again a very simple and quick 'thai-style' thing. For reasons totally foreign to me, this one had my wife salivating - she even ate more than I did. Although she nearly always likes my cooking, this one became her immediate all time fav. :shrug:


carlos' green curry stew

Ingredients:

2 steaks
cut into small chunks or thin strips, whichever floats your ship
1 large or 2 small carrot(s)
cut into finger-long segments, then into thin strips
3 mid-sized onions
cut into eighth
1 red bellpepper
cut into long strips
garlic
4 tbsp green curry paste
2 red chilli peppers
cut transversely into very thin strips
bamboo shoots
best fresh and plenty, otherwise roughly a glass full. I tend to avoid canned bamboo shoots.
a can coconut milk, 450ml
roughly 15 flo for Americans
soy sauce
1 lime

preparation

Marinade the meat in the curry paste and soy sauce for at least 30 mins.
Then stir-fry at high heat until the meat is well-browned on the outside, but still quite red on the inside. If you fry it too long now, it will not be nice and tender in the end. Turn down heat somewhat and add all the veggies. Add some water if necessary. Once the veggies are al dente, add the coconut milk. Cook for a minute, add spices and more soy sauce if you want. Turn down the heat (do NOT cook anymore) and the the juice of one lime.

Serve with rice.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Here's a real simple recipe my sister made today.


Cheezy the Wiz's Holiday Peppermint Bark


Ingredients:

2 bags of semi-sweet White Chocolate morsels
2 bags of peppermint hard candies

Tools you will need:

mircowave
dough roller
sifter, the kind you use to with fine powdered sugar
waxpaper, enough to cover a large baking sheet. might as well do that one right now.

Take a dough roller to the peppermints, crush them into small pieces.

Put the white chocolate morsels into a bowl large enough to hold all of them, but still small enough to fit in your microwave.

Microwave the white chocolate morsels, stirring them several times to ensure that they all melt, but do not burn.

Take all of the peppermint pieces and their dust and put them in the sifter. sift it over top of the white chocolate, so that the dust and tiny tiny pieces fall into the liquid white chocolate, and mix it together.

Pour the white chocolate onto the baking sheet with the wax paper on it. The shape does not matter, you'll see why in a second.

Now, take the peppermint pieces that did not fall through the sifter, and sprinkle them so that they evenly cover the top of the white chocolate, and press them in a bit, but not so much that they go all the way through.

Now, you need to let it cool. You can let it sit and harden, but if you have less time or patience, you can put it outside (provided that it's cold) for like five minutes, or your refrigerator.

Whatever you decide to do, when the chocolate is hard, you ought to be able, simply by grabbing the end of the wax paper, to pick up the entire sheet of chocolate. What you want to do is to turn it and brush off all the loose pieces of peppermint candy.

Now, break the chocolate into randomly shaped and sized pieces, preferrably bite-sized.

Put it on a plate, and serve your Peppermint Bark to your guests!

 

[Rambuchan]

Here's a very easy and delicious drink to prepare over winter...

Rambuchan's Winter Warmer.

Ingredients:

- Sugar
- Milk
- Whisky

Process:

Step 1 ~ Cover the bottom of a dry saucepan in white sugar. The amount depends on how sweet you want the drink. Heat the sugar on about 3/4 heat until it all melts into caramel and begins to bubble away in that brown liquid form.

Step 2 ~ Pour in your milk. The caramel will harden into a kind of glass form on contact with the cold milk. Don't worry, keep stirring and it will dissolve, but set it to a slightly reduced 1/2 heat. Keep going till your milk is nice and hot (not boiling) and has turned brown, telling you that all the caramel has been dissolved. But check that it's all gone before serving.

Step 3 ~ Pour into a big cup and add a generous dash of the most delicious whisky you can lay your hands on.

Drink and enjoy!

Note: This drink is good if you have a cold, are feeling cold or to aid a cosy night's sleep.

 

[Dragonlord]

Rambuchan, that sounds great! I'll be sure to try it over the holidays!

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Rambuchan, that sounds great! I'll be sure to try it over the holidays!

As will I, sounds great.

 

[skadistic]

Chicken a la Skad

Main ingredients
Boneless skinless chicken breast
blue cheese
marinade


I don't measure anything so............

Marinade
oil
juice of 2 limes
apple juice
hot sauce
cumin powder
chili powder
red pepper ( cayenne) powder
minced garlic
diced onion

Allow chicken breasts to soak for a few hours
before cooking insert blade through side of breast and make as big a void. Fill void with blue cheese.

In a large frying pan on med-high heat sear out side of chicken. After a nice browning reduce heat and pour in marinade. Allow sauce to reduce until onions are carmel coloured. By that time chicken should be fully cooked. Remove from heat, plate and add onions on top.

I just made this up today and it was really good. The sweet/hotness of the marinade and the pungent blue cheese went together pretty well. I absolutely loved it.

 

[skadistic]

Steamed citrus chicken
---------------------------------

Pre-heat oven to 350

Take a sheet of tin foil (about 12" x 12") and place in layers in the center: a teaspoon or two of butter a diced garlic segment, some chopped onion, lime slices. boneless skinless chicken breast, spices ( oregano, thyme, red pepper, celery seed, rose marry, basil, think slice of grape fruit ( ruby red) then fold up sides to form a nice tight envelope to seal in the steam.

cook at 350 for 30 min. Check at 30 may need a few extra min.

Not only is it good and moist but its good for you ( even more so if you leave out the butter ) and your house will smell really good.

 

[Plotinus]

A bump to share a particularly successful combination of ingredients that I just discovered.

Bacon and Squash Risotto

Serves two. This is pretty approximate. Risottos are good because you can vary the ingredients to suit what you've got or how many people you're cooking for. I tend to cook by ear, as it were, so it's not very exact and you can vary it as you like.

Ingredients

A glass of risotto rice (I measure rice by the whisky glass, don't ask why - basically rice for two people, however you measure that)
Olive oil
A large glass of white wine (or even more, if you've got plenty)
A vegetable stock cube (shocking)
Worcester sauce
Two onions
A packet of smoked bacon (about eight rashers) - the more intensely flavoured the better
A tin of haricot beans
A small squash - I used something called a gem squash, but something like butternut squash would also work well (you might not want all of it)
Two sticks of celery

Method

It's a risotto, you know how to make these. If you don't, this is how.

First, cut everything up. Cut the bacon into small bits, trimming away the fat (it doesn't matter if a bit is left because it adds flavour, but I hate fat so I cut away as much as possible). Chop up the onions. Cut the squash into quite small bits. Depending on the kind of squash, this is the most time-consuming part. Also, cut up the celery.

If you don't have enough wine for the whole risotto, fill the kettle and turn it on.

Pour the wine into a small saucepan and heat it up. Put a generous dash of Worcester sauce into the wine. Crumble a stock cube into it too. You don't have to use a stock cube, especially if you're a real foodie, but it worked well in this case. Stir it all together.

Then pour a good quantity of olive oil into a big saucepan and turn up the heat. Fry the onions and celery for a bit. After a minute or two, pour in the rice and stir it around. The oil will all disappear almost immediately. Pour in more oil and continue to stir for a bit. When it feels very dry and sticky, and liable to burst into flames, pour in some of the wine from the saucepan. Keep stirring all the while. When the liquid has disappeared, pour in some more. Basically, to make a risotto you have to keep on doing this, stirring all the time. You add the liquid bit by bit, not all at once. The rice will absorb it as you add it, until eventually it has absorbed as much as it can, and it's all cooked. You need to keep stirring, partly to ensure that the rice absorbs it evenly, partly to stop it burning, and partly to break up the starch so that you get a creamy texture.

If you don't have enough wine to achieve all this, you will probably need to use water as well, from the kettle. You can add a bit of wine, and then next time add a bit of water, and alternate like that.

Meanwhile, add the other ingredients. Add the bacon first, after the first dose or two of liquid. Add the squash a little later. The beans can come fairly near the end, because if they're out of a tin they're already cooked. When the rice looks like it's getting cooked, taste it frequently to check. Make sure you don't accidentally add too much liquid or you'll get a sort of jambalaya.

I forgot to get any fresh herbs to go in this, but it turned out not to matter. If you have some, I suggest putting in half near the start of the cooking, and the rest near the end.

I threw this together more or less on a whim and found that it was one of the most delicious things I've ever made. It has a real autumnal sort of feel to it. Hope it works for you!

[EDIT] You can replace the bacon with hot smoked trout fillets, and it's even better, not to mention better for you, too. You need two small fillets for two people - a little smoked trout goes a long way.

 

[soul_warrior]

plotinus!
this is going on the next dinner i cook th egirlfriend.
sound fabulous.

Chunky Pasta
very simple.

1- boil up some rough pasta.
pieces that are NOT LESS than knuckle length, and NOT spaghetti.
the pieces should be "bite sized"
prepare that till its 3/4 ready.
it should be still rough, and certainly not too soft.
it will be cooked more later.

2- saute in a pan, over a low-medium flame an assortment of vegetables.
ALL VEGGIES should be in big pieces, say 2cm across.
they will shrink, and its supposed to end up "rough"

dab some oil into the pan, and slowly add the veggies.
at first you put in the onions-garlic.
then the harder veggies, as they take the longest to soften up.
prime choices are:
hard veggies celery, carrots, onions, yams, pumpkin.
middling veggies Peppers, cabbage, fresh spring beans
soft veggies: eggplants, aubergines

next add the seasonings:
i usually add - to taste, naturally - salt, pepper, ground dried chilli peppers, and any fresh herbs i have at home (basil, coriander, parsley, mint, etc)
if you dont have fresh herbs, add the dried stuff.
the more, the merrier.
(the herbs should be finely chopped, but rough leaves work aswell)

3- let these come together, stir a bit to avoid burning, but as little as possible.

4- optional -
when veggies are still solid (say, half way to mush status), add tomatoes.
i add a tin of tomato paste, and several quartered tomatoes.
this will make the sauce more liquidy, depending on how many tomatoes you have added.

5- when sauce is almost ready, add into the pan the pasta you made earlier, and stir into the sauce.
COVER IT UP and let it cook itself over a low flame.
the stuff is basically ready, but needs some alone time...

***you can add bacon, sausages and what not in rough pieces with the onion-garlic stage.
works wonders.

serve with a nice Budweiser Budvar or a chilled white wine...

 

[Dubai Vol]

Pizza crust:

2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon/packet yeast

That's it! The best pizza crust ever! Oh, a few tips...

mix the salt and sugar into the warm water in a large bowl, add the yeast, let it sit in a warm place about 10 minutes until the yeast "proofs" or gets foamy on top of the water. Takes a little practice to know the right temp for the water, but not hard.

Stir in the flour, then cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let sit in a warm place until the yeast does its thing and the blob doubles in size, about an hour. Drink beer and play CIV while you wait.

Grease the pizza pan and your hands, take the dough out and mash it flat on the pan. If you're fancy you can knead it with some more flour for a while first, us a rolling pin, throw it into the air like the pizza chefs and impress your friends, whatever. The key is pateince, because once it's on the pan, let it sit and rise for another hour. More beer and CIV for the chef.

Now the secret bit: once the crust has risen again, put it in the oven (450 degrees) by itself with no toppings for 10 minutes.

Now put your sauce cheese and whatever on and bake 10 mins. Another secret: let it cool for 3-4 minutes before you cut it.

Not hard, just need to plan ahead and have plenty of beer on hand! Best crust ever! Turns out after 20 years of using this recipe it's the same as for French bread in Betty Crocker!

 

[skadistic]

Chicken Braciole?
----------------------------------

Not really sure what you call this but braciole seems to fit.

So you start with chicken boneless skinless breast and fillet then as thin as you can. If you like you can even cut them into long uniform shapes (3ish inches wide). Set those aside for now.

Next melt some butter under a very low heat ( just want to melt the butter) and add to that some onions ( I used the red ones because its what I had but they lent a very good flavour) and garlic to your taste. Let the onions and garlic infuse into the butter before adding in some seasoned bread crumbs. Remove that from the heat when its all mixed together.

And back to the chicken. On top of that crumble some nice fresh feta cheese. ( its cheese so the more the better right? ) On top of the cheese throw down that breadcrumb stuff and pack it down firmly. Now grab you one end of that strip and roll it up. Secure with some tooth picks and repeat for the rest.

Cooking time! In a nice large ( or small depending on how many you have) heat up some olive oil. Place rolls in hot oil and cook away.Here is where the uniform shape will help as you can turn the rolls on there side for more even cooking with out it tipping over. All nice and browned up remove and drain on paper towel.

Eat and enjoy!



Yeah I suck at recipes. But I'm killer at cooking.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Cheezy's Tamale Pie Caliente!

Ingredients:

1lb. ground beef
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove (powder can be used)
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 cup corn
1 envelope taco spice and seasoning mix
1 package (8.5 oz) corn bread mix
milk and egg (see label of corn bread mix)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cooking instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.

Cook beef, green pepper, onion, and garlic in a frying pan, stirring often, until beef is brown and crumbly.

Drain off excess fat.

Stir in tomato sauce, corn, and taco seasoning.

Spoon beef mixture into an 8-inch round pan.

In a small bowl stir corn bread mix according to package directions, and then spoon over beef mixture.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Sprinkle corn-bread crest with cheese and back another minute or teo until cheese is melted.

I personally use more than one garlic clove, because I love garlic. I find this is best enjoyed with a heaping spoonful of sour cream plopped on it, and eaten nice and hot. Also, if you sprinkle some Adobo seasoning on the beef mixture as you cook it, it only tastes that much better.

 

[Ultima Dragoon]

Bumpin' dis.

Deep fried ice cream with a butterscotch sauce
​

Ingredients:
1 large well formed scoop of ice cream
2 eggs
¼ cup milk
½ cup plain flour
2 cups dried breadcrumbs
Butterscotch Sauce
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup cream
75g butter

Utensils:
Whisk
Bowls
Deep Fryer
Metal spoon
Tongs
Saucepan
Wooden spoon
Measuring cup set

Method:
1. Scoop ice cream into balls, return to freezer
2. Coat ice cream lightly in flour, dip in beaten egg and milk mixture
3. Coat firmly in breadcrumbs & repeat until desired, freeze
4. Combine all butterscotch ingredients in pan, stir over heat until sugar dissolved and butter melted. Simmer uncovered 3 minutes.
5. Fry ice cream in hot oil (~200°C) until golden brown, serve topped with sauce.

Sorry about the formulaic instructions, it's a workflow. Don't eat too much of the sauce. It's like eating pure sugar

 

[skadistic]

Who needs arteries lasagna
-------------------------------------------

spices
butter
8oz - parmigiana
8oz - romano
8oz - fontinella
8oz - asiago
8oz - fresh mozzarella
8oz - provolone ( sliced )
15oz - ricotta
12oz - pasta sauce
3 yellow onions
5 cloves garlic
1 lb ground beef
lasagna noodles

Boil noodles 1/2 way since they will finish cooking in the oven. Lay them out to cool. Then in a frying pan melt 2tsp on med-low and add sliced onions and diced garlic and cook to a nice soft texture and add in spices. You can do easy and just use pre-made Italian seasoning. Set that aside and brown a pound of ground beef or Italian sausage. I guess you could skip the meat all together if you are "one of those people" but if you are you should skip all the steps and just off yourself. Mix the ricotta and sauce together. Now while you did all that you hopefully had some sucker grating all the hard cheeses for you. If not, well then you suck. So now you are ready to layer all that together in an oven safe deep dish like a 9x13. Start with some noodles then provolone then grated cheeses then meat then onions then ricotta mix then mozzarella and repeat until you reach the top and end with one last noodle layer and graded cheeses. Stick all that in a 400*F oven for about 40 min or until cheese on top is golden brown. Pull out and let stand for 10 - 15 min or until it stops boiling so it will be cooled down enough to not ooze out all over.

This is not health food. It will make your arteries clog. It probably has more calories then you will need all week. And you will end up constipated but its tasty and that's what food is about.