What's Cooking?

[sambouchah]

Hello all, I need something new to cook. I cook lots of burgers and patty melts(pretty close to the same thing I suppose). Those are my best dishes. I also cook on a regular basis; Lasagna(mostly from scratch), eggs(I can cook an egg in a LOT of different ways with minimal training), bacon, waffles(and other pancake-like foods), breakfast sausage and kielbasa(I've heard Bratwurst is easy as well), potato soup, and lots of salad.
Other dishes I have cooked and enjoyed are Baked Salmon(I can't remember what the recipe called it), eggplant Parmesan, multiple pies, pasta salad, tortelini, hashbrowns, fried chicken, fried potatoes(home fries), fried onions, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, barbecue chicken, tacos, sauteed mushrooms, taco soup, pot roast, and I've watched people make lots of steaks and understand how to cook one.

Now I'm out of ideas on what to cook. I wanted to cook something new tonight and was wondering what a relatively simple dish you guys/gals enjoy. Something I would like to try to cook is stuffed Peppers. A friends dad made some phenomenal stuffed peppers once and I couldn't stop eating them.

Thanks in advance, Sam:smallbiggrin:

[Deepbluediver]

Stuffed peppers

Porkchops/BBQ-Pork

Stir-fried veggies as a side dish (with sauce and spices, there is a nearly limitless variety to this one)

Linguine w/Alfredo sauce

Stew or Soup (again, tons of variety; you can do chicken noodle, split pea, beef & barley, seafood bisque, etc.)

Baked chicken (either a whole one or parts)

[sambouchah]

Stuffed peppers
Porkchops/BBQ-Pork
Stir-fried veggies (with sauce and spices, there is a nearly limitless variety to this one)
Linguine w/Alfredo sauce
Stew or Soup (again, tons of variety; you can do chicken noodle, split pea, beef & barley, seafood biaque, etc.)

I've done Alfredo before. I always forget a few things when listing things. Blast haha

[Karoht]

World's Easiest Broccoli Soup (with or without cheese)

Need
Some Broccoli.
Some Goat Cheese or mozzarella. Cheese curds work in a pinch.

Maybe
Some Parmasean cheese (for the top)
Some Nuts (if you like that sort of thing)


Directions.
Boil broccoli in well salted water. Add in a few drops of olive oil, this is mostly for color purposes.
DO NOT STRAIN broccoli.
Scoop it out into a blender. Leave it in the blender with the lid on for 5 minutes. This allows all the buds to open up, and brings out the color some more.
After 5 minutes, blend with some of the water from the pot. Season with salt and pepper as you go. Add 1 laddel of water at a time until you hit that magic consistancy.

Plating
Take your bowls out, warm them in the warmer or microwave.
Slice some of the goat cheese, place a layer of cheese on the bottom of the bowls. Add a small pinch of pepper at this stage.
Pour the soup VERY slowly over the cheese. Uber slow. Just enough to cover for now. Let it sit for about 2 minutes, then top up the bowls.
Add nuts and parmasean at this stage to garnish. Fresh pinch or two of pepper as well, possibly a fresh pinch of salt.

Total Time? 10 minutes or less.

[Bhu]

Stir fry is good and easy to pick up.

Have you tried soups or chili?

Also marinading meat for taco filling or grilling?

[Darth Credence]

Looking at what you already cook, you may enjoy tater dogs and tater balls (that's my name for them, others may have come up with the same recipe and call them something else).

Tater dogs:
2 pounds Russett potatoes
3 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
Bacon bits - optional
Shredded cheese - optional
1 package hot dogs
Bread crumbs
Deep fryer, or enough oil and a deep pot to fry on the stove

Peel the potatoes. Boil until a knife will slide smoothly through the potato. drain and cool enough to handle. Press the potatoes through a ricer (you could use a masher, but if you don't have a potato ricer, you really want to get one).

Add one egg and the flour to the potatoes. Mix well with a wooden spoon, until it is a dough like consistency. If you like, mix in however much cheese and bacon bits as will make you happy.

Heat oil to 350 F. Cut the hot dogs into pieces and dry thoroughly. Use remaining eggs and a tablespoon or so of water to make an egg wash.

Take each hot dog piece and wrap in a thin layer of the potato mixture. It should be enough to completely cover the dog, but not so much they become unwieldy. Roll the tater dogs in the egg wash, then in the bread crumbs. Fry in the oil for about 2 minutes, until the bread crumbs are a golden brown. Enjoy with you favorite condiments.

Tater balls are the same thing, without the hot dogs. Just little (maybe the size of a quarter) balls of potato dough wrapped in breadcrumbs. :smallbiggrin:

Other than that, how would you feel about smoking meat? It takes some equipment, but slow smoked baby back ribs are to die for.

[Karoht]

In regards to marinading...

Garlic Beer Porkchops

Need
Pork, preferably in chops. Purchasing a whole tenderloin and chopping that is cheaper than buying it chopped. Bone in is also usually a good idea.
Roasted garlic. Buy it in the store at the deli area, or make your own in the oven.
Beer. As cheap as you want to go with it.
Onions and more garlic.

Possibly
Mustard
Scarborough Faire (Parsley Sage Rosemary Thyme)
Granulated Garlic

Sides?
I recommend a baked potato. The chops don't need long on the heat so start your sides in advance.

Marinade
Take roasted garlic and mash it with a fork or grind it into paste with a morter and pestle. A pinch or two of salt (and even granulated garlic) helps by giving it something to abraid with. Use LOTS of garlic.
Add beer. It will foam up when you combine the two so be careful. Whisk vigorously (without making a mess) releasing the carbonation helps break down the garlic.
Marinade pork overnight (make sure it is completely covered in marinade). I recommend ziploc bags, but keep a plate under the bag just in case.

Fry onions and fresh garlic (along with some of the roasted stuff) in the pan first. Remove from pan, keep warm.

Fry your pork. Season to match sides where possible. You can grill if you want, I prefer to fry, as you can make gravy by using the marinade to deglaze the pan. More important if you have mashed potatoes as a side.

To make gravy:
Take pork chops out of pan. While pan is still hot, pour marinade back into hot pan. Not all of it at once, you sort of have to eyeball this one. What you want is just enough of it to lift off the junk on the bottom of the pan, which will be lovely and carmellized. It should begin to thicken pretty quickly. If you want thick gravy, add water and cornstarch or a gravy packet. If you want more of a jus style sauce, add more beer but do so slowly and carefully. Don't cool the pan down too much. If it looks too thin, simmer it a while longer. If it's too thick, add more liquid.

[Morbis Meh]

A very easy and tasty food: beef wellington (don't be fooled it may be fancy but it is really easy to make and can be made for 1 person (just use a sirloin steak)

This is my version of it since I do not like liver lol
1 sirloin steak
1/4 medium onion
1/2 cup of mushrooms
1 pkg of garlic a herb cream cheese (you don't have to use all of it)
puff pastry
flour so you can roll out pastry
salt/pepper (to taste)
thyme 1/2 tsp
1 egg white
1/2 of beef stock (oxo beef +water for simplicity)
1/2 tbs of red win

Sear your steak for 2 min on both sides then set aside (reserve drippings), chop onions and mushrooms finely then saute until they're soft then allow to cool. Preheat oven to 425 F. Roll out the pastry, cover area with onion/mushrooms (leave about 1/2 to an inch of room around the edge of the pastry) then cover steak with cream cheese and place it in the center and wrap up. Wash the outside of the pastry with egg whites, make a few slits on the top with a knife then put wellington on a baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes.

Now if you want the traditional sauce add the beef stone and wine to the steak drippings, though in thyme and salt/pepper and boil for 10 to 15 minutes and you're done.

[Cuthalion]

You could learn how to make cheese. There are several good books, or you can heat a gallon of whole milk that is not Ultra Pasteurized to 180-190 degrees and dump in a third cup of vinegar. Wait around 10 minutes, and strain it through two layer of cheesecloth until it stops dripping. Salt. Queso Blanco.

[Deepbluediver]

You could learn how to make cheese. There are several good books, or you can heat a gallon of whole milk that is not Ultra Pasteurized to 180-190 degrees and dump in a third cup of vinegar. Wait around 10 minutes, and strain it through two layer of cheesecloth until it stops dripping. Salt. Queso Blanco.

Where would you get milk like that though? Some of us live in big cities, where the only livestock is rats and pigeons, and the supermarkets tend to look down on potential food-poisoning incidents. :smallbiggrin:

Also, would it be easier to use heavy cream of half-and-half? (I don't know a lot about cheese making)

[Cuthalion]

Where would you get milk like that though? Some of us live in big cities, where the only livestock is rats and pigeons, and the supermarkets tend to look down on potential food-poisoning incidents. :smallbiggrin:

Also, would it be easier to use heavy cream of half-and-half? (I don't know a lot about cheese making)

As to half and half, perhaps. You see, most milk at grocery stores works, if it doesn't then check if it has been ultra-pasteurized. In this case it has most likely been heated too far, killing the bacteria that help it curdle. Homogenization is applied to all standard milk, which spreads the fat evenly through the milk so it doesn't separate and so you don't have to shake it before drinking. As it is, I live in a rather dense population base too, so we get milk from the local grocery store. Whole milk works best. The thing with heavy cream is that more often than not it gets ultra pasteurized or thickeners get added, at which point it is inacceptable and doesn't work. This I have to find at the local Whole Foods. Half and half works, but it's more expensive and less practical. Much easier to get a gallon of milk. If you get fancy, as I said, there are books, and plenty of lists online of places you can (http://www.thebeveragepeople.com/making-cheese.html) get equipment (http://www.cheesemaking.com/). Upon serious consideration, if you find yourself inspired and wealthy enough to buy some and start making cheese, start with soft cheeses and cream cheese, ricotta and sorts before moving on. Believe me, it helps. Don't try making mozzarella at the beginning, believe me, it's hard.

[Ravens_cry]

Cooking is the preparation of foodstuffs through various mechanical, chemical and thermal means to make them safe, appetizing or even both, but that's not important right now.:smallbiggrin:
Anywho, here's my contribution.
Dill Cabbage Slaw
1 small cabbage
1 carrots.
Half a bell pepper.
Garlic infused commercial coleslaw dressing.
(Put a couple chopped gloves of garlic into the dressing the night before/
Quarter cup of plain yoghurt
Dry Mustard
Dill.
Chop up or shred the cabbage into fine slices, having first removed the core. It's good eating if you like spicy, but it tends to be tough. Grate the carrot but not too fine, you don't want pulp, and chop up the bell pepper into bite sizes pieces.
Mix the garliced coleslaw dressing, about a cup, cup and a half, with the yoghurt and dill and dry mustard to taste. I like a lot, about two teaspoons to a tablespoon each, but use your own judgement. Then, pour over the chopped veggies and combine, making sure everything is coated. Cover and stick in the fridge, several hours is good.
If anything, it tastes even better the next day.
As well as a delicious side, it makes a wonderful addition to ham sandwiches. It's messy but super tasty

[Eldan]

I don't see any proper pasta on that list. Rectify that.

Start with a simple Napoli, if you haven't ever done that.

Chop an onion and some garlic. Fry lightly until the onion is translucent. Add water and chopped tomatoes. They have to be real tomatoes with some actual taste, not big lumps of reddish water. Add basil, thyme, salt, pepper, oregano and porcini. Let simmer for as long as possible. At least an hour.

That's the basic simple recipe. From there, you add whatever you want. Basic suggestion:

Bolognese: fry ground beef with the onions first. Sauce vegetables if you have any. Carrots are pretty much required.

I also like it with tuna.

You could also do vongole, either in Napoli sauce, or with garlic, oil and some seasonings. Quite easy.

Also, curries are your friend. Find a thai shop. Curry goes with everything.

Edit:

Oh, yeah.

Chicken filled with Gorgonzola. Either cut chicken breasts open, fill them and wrap them in some kind of leaf, or simple take a whole chicken, stuff it with Gorgonzola, cut open the skin and shove some gorgonzola under that as well.

Delicious.

Edit:

Ooh, ooh! Meat pie! Take a pre-made pie dough, though, otherwise it takes ages. You can basically fill it with bolognese.

Edit:
Spring onion, dill, fennel and oranges makes a delicous salad.

Edit: try eating meatless a few times. Chickpeas, beans and lentils. Chickpeas go in curry, and they all go in stew.

Edit: eternal stew. Simple recipe. Whenever you have leftovers, add them to the stew. Whenever you cook something, add some of the stew to your sauce.

[Razanir]

Mashed cauliflower

[Adlan]

A Rural Brit's take on Curry
Keema Curry:

1 or 2 Pots of Whatever curry sauce you like, Sharwoods or Pataks are both decent enough.
Optional: Make your own spice mix, buy a good selection, and a mortar and pestle or grinder. I have used the same mortar and pestle since I first left home, and moved to walking distance of the "Curry mile".

My favourites:
Cumin Seed
Corriander Seed
Curry Leaves
Ginger
Paprika
Garam Masala (I get mine from a proper spice merchants if I can, this is a mix, and so different blends vary in quality and taste).
Black Pepper
Cardamon
Lemon Grass
Cinnamon
Nutmeg

Grind your own combination (go mad, make your own curry in your own style) to your taste and smell preference, and rub a good amount into your meat so it's all clouded with the spice, and save some to fry in the oil you cook with.

1 White/Red Onion
2 Potatoes
1 Pot of Chickpeas
3 Large Sweet Peppers
Chilli's to taste (If you don't like them, don't use them. I have a fondness for Birds Eye chilli's or scotch bonnets, or Chilli Tepins).
Garlic to taste
Root Vegtables (for bulk if more people are dining) Turnip, Swede, Carrot Parsnip, Squash, Pumpkin, Whatever you have in the cupboard.
500g of whatever "Keema" (mince) you fancy, beef, Lamb, Pork, or poultry.

Optional:
Coconut Milk
Yogurt
(Both counter act the heat of chilli's).


Dice your veg small, this will help it cook faster, if you have time, you can simmer it for hours and the flavour will only improve.

Fry the Spice in a little rapeseed oil (or whatever oil or ghee you like). Don't burn them though, before the pan gets too hot, add the onions and garlic (and chilli's if you are using them), I usually start next with the sweet pepper and get them a little caramelised with the onions and spice mix. Add your mince and when they that's browned off all over, add the other veg*, and your pot of sauces. If I'm not using a pot sauce and some tinned tomatoes, or fresh if I'm cooking it down for a while.

*If you are pressed for time, this can be par boiled or microwaved, then added to the curry, it's a cheat, but it works well enough).

Allow to cook down to a good consistency, and serve with Rota, Rice and Chapati's.


Rota:
1 Large Cucumber
1 Pint of Yoghurt.

Grate Cucumber into bowel. Squash to remove water and drain, it's refreshing enough as a drink, but we need the cucumber a little desiccated. You don't need to pulverise the cucumber though, once no more water comes out with a firm press, it's ready to add the yoghurt. simply stir in and mix the grated cucumber in well.

Chapatti
Simplest Flat Bread known to man, at least the way I make them.
Flour (Chapatti for preference, but Plain Bread, White, Whole Meal, Seeded, Spiced and Self Raising will do, but ideally not self raising, it doesn't need raising agent to rise).

Mix flour and Water in a bowel into a "play dough" consistency is reached. Roll out on a floured board with a floured pin (or bottle, or glass, or stretch by hand).

The trick is to then lightly flour it, fold it over it self, and roll it again. Don't do this too often, we're not making filo pastry, but the layers will puff up in cooking.

Toast on a Hot rock, or Frying pan, carefully watching and flipping will prevent them burning too badly to the pan, but open a window and watch out for fire alarms if you cook like this indoors. They will puff up and be both crispy and toasted and soft and pliable. The perfect tool to eat your curry with.


This Curry is what I loved to cook most of all when we had no cooker other than an open fire. A good Cast Iron pan and Cast Iron Pot are all you need.

[Palanan]

Allow me to suggest gnocchi.

It is bachelor food from heaven. You dump it in boiling water for three minutes, drain it, then mix vigorously with a hearty spoon of pesto. Add a bit of cheese and some spicy chicken sausage if you want to be adventurous.

And that's it. Dinner in ten.

I used to have this for dinner after my 30-mile evening bike rides. Blast-o-carbs is your friend.

:smallbiggrin: