Forums | MacLife

justine wrote:

I don't know how to mix spices, but my favorite already mixed spices are Mrs Dash and Oh Garlic.

That Mrs. Dash... if she weren't married I'd be all over her.

Chocolate ice cream, orange sherbet, fresh raspberries

Boiled Dinner (It's a real easy recipe)

6-7 medium potatoes, peeled (reds are preferable)
2 (14.5 oz) cans of whole green beans
2 pounds polska keilbasa (AKA Polish Sausage)
1 (15 oz) jar whole holland-style onions (optional)

Boil potatoes half covered in water in large pot or dutch oven until almost tender
Add other vegetables and the liquid in the cans into the pot followed by the keilbasa
Simmer until potatoes are fully tender.

Serve (with slotted spoon) with salt, pepper, and/or butter to taste.

What if I don't have a dog named Bert? 












Sounds good.  Have to try that sometime.

More like a formula

Pork chops + garlic powder + season salt + grill or broiler =

dirty rice

2 very large onions
1lb chicken gizzards
2 stalks celery
2 bunch green onions
2 cups uncooked rice

boil gizzards for 1 hour ( salt n pepper included )

2 cups long grain rice + 3 cups water + 1 tbl spoon butter ( marg / olive oil / your pref substitute ok )
bring to boil, turn to low and cover for 30 minutes.

large frying pan that has a cover...
saute the onions ( chopped )
bout the time they are finished, chop the celery and add to pan.

save gizzard stock.
chop cooked gizzards and add to pan with saute in it.
add just enough stock to almost cover the mats.
bring to boil, turn down to simmer and cover.
stir occasionally more so when about done...
done is moist, not wet and not dried out.

chop da green onions..

large mix bowl... add sauteed stuff, cooked rice and chopped green onions.

fold with large spoon or spatula not turning the rice to mush.

add salt/pepper to taste.

I had some chops done in the oven which were covered with broth.   Cooked at 10 minutes at 375, then 2-3 hours at 275 F or a bit less.    The broth had to be deep enough so that the chops didn't dry out.   They were excellent in tenderness and still fully cooked.

Tater surprise Mex Style:

One bag of Ore-Ida tater tots
One bottle of tacobell mild SAUCE
one diced jalapeno
dash of cumin to taste.

smash the tots in a oiled pan or wok then sauté all the the ingredients until hot / browned


Tater surprise Mediterranean  Style:
One bag of Ore-Ida tater tots
one largely chopped bell pepper
half of large onion chopped
Oregano 
dash of cumin to taste.

smash the tots in a oiled pan or wok then sauté all the the ingredients until hot / browned


Both great with eggs in the morning.

justine wrote:

I thought dirty rice was made with bacon grease, or are there  a lot of variations?

many variations..

used to be when cooking a roux.. you used 2x cups flour and 2x cups lard/oil/something similar.

my roux is dry now with no oil.
instead of browning the flour in the pan of oil, I just used a well seasoned black iron skillet and roast the dry flour at 350 till it's the color I want ( almond color )
whisk it around every 15 minutes or so so it cooks evenly.
stuff is great for keeping in a jar to use for stews/soups/gravy.
drop a saltene cracker in the jar with it and it prevents moisture from lumping it while in storage.

it's unseasoned btw.. makes it more versatile.

or you can be lazy and just buy the dry roux, but it's got more than just flour in it.

so for a gumbo. you just start with the holy trinity in a tbs of oil sauteed then start adding water and then dry roux once the water comes up to a boil.

Pan Roasted Salmon and Anchovy-Rosemary Sauce

This recipe works well with other red flakey fish like Trout or Tuna fillets.

Ingredients:

4 7 oz. salmon fillets
olive oil
salt and pepper to season
1 head of broccoli
a few sprigs of rosemary
8 - 10 anchovy fillets
1 lemon

1) Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

2) Heat a table spoon of live oil in a cast-iron pan (or another oven proof pan).

3) Bring a small pot of water to boil. While that's going, coarsely chop broccoli.

4) Pat salmon fillet with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

5) Place fillet in pan skin side down and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. While fish is cooking, add broccoli to the water and boil for 3 minutes.

6) Flip over and place in oven for another 3 - 4 minutes. Drain broccoli and set salmon on the stove to cool.

For the sauce:

1) Pound rosemary in mortar and pestle until it forms a paste. Add anchovy fillets and continue to pound until it forms a dark paste. Add lemon juice, olive oil, pepper, and mix until consistency is thin enough to drizzle.

2) Add 1/2 of the sauce to a mixing bowl and toss the broccoli.

3) Place broccoli on a plate, salmon filet on top, and drizzle with some more sauce. Can be served with warm crusy bread and your favourite red.

This meal is not only light and delicious, it's incredibly healthy and quite inexpensive to prepare if you use seasonal catch like trout fillets in place of salmon. It's also incredibly fast to prepare; it usually takes me roughly 15 - 20 minutes from prep to serving.

Oh, and if you don't want to go through the trouble of making the sauce I've found you can make an agreeable substitute out of lemon juice, olive oil, thyme, oregano and a splash of white wine vinegar.

Last edited by unshavenyak (2008-10-16 1:41 pm)

Baked chicken drumsticks.   Marinate in soy sauce with a touch of rice vinegar and or onions.   Pile the stuff on.    Bake at 250 for about 3 hours.   The skin should crisp up completely.  Rotate the chicken once or twice to make sure all sides are just right.  That's the easy part.    The meat might dry up a bit if the marinade doesn't penetrate.     So, this is an imperfect recipe.

Not a recipe, but a hint, I love adding unsalted peanuts to stirfries.  They soften a little and add a wonderful texture.

I'm pretty lazy with stirfry.  I use a dry szechuan mix, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, brown sugar and water for the sauce.  I stirfry whatever meat i have in some seasame oil, this last time I deboned and cut into small peices some thighs, love that dark meat flavour!  Then I add a lots and lots of onions, red onions if i have em, love those, carrots (sliced), celery (slices), peanuts, red and green bell peppers (chopped), stir fry that, then i add bean sprouts, grated carrot and fetal corn, stir fry that for a moment, then add the sauce and stir it over the heat till the sauce boils then thickens.  Serve with rice.  It's lazy but delish, and I can make enough for several meals at a time.  I just checked the mix, it's SUN-BIRD brand.