The Recipe Thread

My favorite recipe is oddly enough vegitarian even though I love meat. I do this recipe so often that It is hard to really write it down because I am so used to doing it however I want to that getting into specifics is difficult. So feel free when trying this recipe to add more or less garlic more parsley or less parsley and so on...

Baked tomatoes and linguini

take around 12 roma tomatoes (more if they are kind of small)

3 to 6 cloves of garlic minced (or just mash them through a garlic press to save time)

1/2 to 1 cup of finely chopped parsley depending on how much you want to counter act the garlic

one 12 ounce or a pound bag of dry linguini (I only use a twelve ounce bag of linguini because I always eat some of the freshly baked tomatoes and never end up having enough tomatoes for a full pound of the pasta) though feel free to use any pasta you want.

1/2 cup of basil

olive oil (light, regular, or extra virgin depending on your taste)

one or two balls of fresh mozerella(sp?) cheese. (this is purely optional)

The first thing to do is to wash and cut the tomatoes lengthwise from stem to that little point they have at the other end. I always cut out that little spot where stem used to be because I don't like eating it but other people prefer to leave it on, do what you want to. Then place the tomatoes with the cut side up on a baking dish that has a rim because the juices that come out in the oven will create a big mess without a rim to catch it. A large lasagna pan also works well too. After you have all the tomatoes cut and on the pan sprinkle them with some salt which can really bring out the sweetness in them. Let the tomatoes sit a room temperature while preparing the other stuff. Now would be a good time to preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

Take the parsley, preferably italian parsley of you can find it fresh, and cut the leaves into very small peices. This is one part of the prosess that I'd reccomend to do by hand, in my experineces making this dish I always have gotten better flavor cutting the parsley by hand rather than using a food prossesser to do the work. (stupid I know and it frustrates me because it take a lot longer to cut by hand into very small peices). After you finish set a tablespoon or two of the parsley aside. Take the rest and mix with the mashed or minced garlic. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to get the mixture to stick together better.

Now take that mixture and distribute evenly on the tomatoes, the colors will make them look very Christmasy. Now sprinkel the olive oil on each tomato half so that they all are thinly coated in oil (I tend to add more than just a thin coat, again this is another area where you should do what you feel like doing). Now take the tomatoes and put them in the oven to bake at 425 for 60 to 70 minutes or untill they are shrivled up and have a slight brown crust on top.

This would be a good time to cut the fresh basil into thin strips and cut the mozzerella cheese into small cubes. There is nothing more to do now, go read a book, call a friend or simpley relax.

Come back twenty minutes before the tomatoes are done and start making the pasta so that by the time the pasta is done the tomatoes will be done too. I assume that everyone on the boards knows how to cook dry pasta and therefor I will not go into detail.

When the tomatoes are done take about 1/4 to 1/3 of them, the chpped basil, and some of the juices from the pan and quickly blend them in a blender, just enough to create a sauce that still has some chunks of tomato in it. In a big bowl or the pot you boiled the pasta in combine the sauce and pasta and mix untill the noodles are evenly coated, toss in the mozzerella cubes.

Serve with the remaining baked tomatoes on top of the pasta, sprinkle with the parsley you set aside. Enjoy. Can feed three people well or in my case one person who loves to leave leftovers for the next day.

<<edit>>

One thing I would like to add is to save the juices and oils from the pan because if you mix it with a little bit of balsamic vinegar it makes possibly one of the best salad dressings known to man.

Title: Margarita Marinade - Chi-Chi's
Categories: Marinade, Chi chi's
Yield: 1 batch

10 oz Can Chi Chi diced tomatoes
And green chilies, drained
1/4 c Orange juice
1/4 c Tequila
1/4 c Vegetable oil
2 tb Fresh lime juice
1 tb Honey
1 ts Minced fresh garlic
1 ts Grated lime peel

MMMMM----------------TO BE USED WITH YOUR CHOICE---------------------
2 lb Pork tenderloin, or
Chicken breasts, or
Beef tenderloin, or
Flank steak

In large recloseable plastic food bag, combine all ingredients except
meat. Mix well.

Add meat, seal the bag and turn over several times to coat meat
thoroughly. Place bag in refrigerator, turning bag occasionally 8
hours or overnight.

Preheat broiler.

Remove meat from marinade; reserve marinade. Place meat on broiler
pan. Broil 7 to 8 inches from heat source until desired doneness. In
small saucepan, bring marinade to a boil, boil one minute. Serve
marinade with the meat.

Marinade and 2 lbs of meat should serve 6 - 8 people.

***

Serve this with my homemade salsa, for which you can't have the recipe.

Hearty Corn and Sausage Chowder

3 slices bacon, diced
1 cup yellow onion, diced
1 cup carrot, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 large bay leaf
1 1/2 lbs. yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch dice
1 cup whole milk, (or half and half or cream, if you prefer)
1 cup chicken broth
2 cans creamed style corn
1 package brown and serve sausage patties, cooked and crumbled, (use any brand that you like, but avoid the type made specifically for the microwave)

In a dutch oven, over medium heat, saute bacon until fat begins to render, about 5 minutes. Add carrots, onion and celery and cook, stirring often until veggies are tender, about 10 minutes. Add thyme and bay leaf, cook one minute. Add potatoes, milk, broth and 1/4 of the crumbled sausage. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are just tender, about 15-20 minutes. Add corn and remaining sausage, simmer 10 minutes more. Remove bay leaf. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 6+ hearty servings and is even better the next day. I like to add a good couple of shakes of Tabasco to my bowl. Excellent with corn bread and a big green salad.

Aloo Palak

Ingredients:

• 300g palak (spinach)
• 4 garlic flakes
• 1" ginger piece
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 green chilies, chopped
• 150g aloo (potatoes)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 4 tbsp ghee or butter
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp coriander and cumin powder
• 1 tbsp fresh cream

Method:

• Boil spinach with garlic, ginger, onions, green chilies. Blend them to a fine puree and keep aside.
• Cut potatoes into cubes and boil with salt and turmeric. When boiled, keep aside.
• Heat ghee in a pan, fry cumin seeds along with spinach-onion paste and let it boil for few minutes.
• Now add the boiled potatoes, garam masala, coriander-cumin powder and water if needed. Boil for few minutes till the potatoes absorb the flavor.
• Season with fresh cream if desired.
• Serve hot with hot naans or rice.

Oooh, those baked tomatoes sound so good.

This is my favorite recipe ever because it requires one pan and little effort and makes the most tender and delicious chicken I've ever eaten.

40 Cloves and a Chicken
cribbed from Alton Brown, who cribbed from The Joy of Cooking

You will need:
*About 8 pieces of chicken on the bone--this recipe works so much better for dark meat! Don't even try it with white meat only.
*1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, extra virgin = extra yummy
*10 sprigs fresh thyme
*40 peeled cloves garlic
*A braiser or oven-safe frying pan with a lid, large enough to hold all that chicken.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Salt and pepper the chicken liberally. Toss with a 2 tablespoons olive oil and brown on both sides over high heat. Remove pan from heat, add oil and garlic cloves. Top with thyme. Cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours.

It isn't the most beautiful chicken you'll ever see, but if you like chicken and garlic, it's fantastic. The hardest thing about it is cleaning your pan afterwards.

Sweet Potato Souffle
(I usually make this for Thanksgiving, but it's allways good)

For the souffle:
fresh sweet potatoes or yams, baked and skinned (3 cups)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1tblsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted
cinamon

For the topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter, melted

Measure 3 cups of the baked sweetpotatoes, mash them in a bowl, add other ingredients and stir. Pour into a greased casserole dish.

Melt butter for topping, mix in brown sugar and pecans, then gradually stir in flour. Sprinkle crumps on top of the souffle.

Bake 30 minutes at 350.

HINTS: Billington's Brown Sugar, from Trader Joe's, makes a big difference. Baking the yams instead of boiling them gives more flavor. I prefer the bright orange yams over the pale yellow sweet potatoes. And of course, butter is allways better than margarine.

I made this last night:

Chicken and Rice

Remove skin from a whole, cut-up chicken (I leave the skin on the wings, just cuz it's a hassle).

Place in a large pot, add 1tsp pepper, 1tsp garlic powder, and maybe 3/4 tsp. salt. Cover completely with water.

Boil for an hour or two.

Remove chicken. Let it cool. Skim grease off surface. Add 1 can Campbell's Cream of Chicken. Shred the chicken meat and put it in there. Stir it up, bring it to a boil. Add 4 cups rice, cook for the directed time (I just use minute rice, so you just have to let it sit 5 minutes).

Cool and eat. Takes some time, but very little work.

Pickled Daikon

In case you've never had pickled daikon you're missing out...

6 medium Daikon radish -- peeled
1/4 cup Pickling salt (no iodine)
1/4 cup Distilled white vinegar
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp. Yellow food coloring
1 Chopped dried chili pepper -- optional
1 cup Water


Prepare the Daikon by slicing and placing it in clean canning jars. Boil all the brine ingredients together to dissolve the sugar. Cool the liquid. Pour over the sliced Daikon and place in the refrigerator. Shake the jars occasionally. The pickle will be ready to eat in about two days.

Yum...just yum...

Here's a great website for those of you who find you'd like to make some of your favorite items from restaurants in the comfort of your home.

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/

Also, for those of you who like the Italian dessert Tiramisu, here's a great little recipe for that that is much easier than making the real thing.

I find original family recipes better.

Thanks for posting this. This stuff is like cocaine for me, only I wouldn't break into someone's home and steal their television for cocaine.

Homemade White Castles

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 can, Cream of Mushroom Soup (10.5 oz)
1 packet, Onion Soup mix
8 oz. Velveeta
Pickles
suitable size buns/dinner rolls (I use dinner rolls about the same size as White Castle buns)

Makes 24 sandwiches (approx)

Arrange bun bottoms on baking sheet.

Brown (Add a dash of Worcestershire) and drain the beef. Combine the mushroom soup, the onion soup mix and the velveeta and stir until blended. Remove from heat and immediately spoon unto bun bottoms. Add pickles.

Add pickles and bun tops. Preheat oven to 375. Place the Whiteys in for about 5-ten minutes- UNTIL tops of the rolls are lightly toasted.

Scarf'em down and make another batch.

You can make the sandwiches ahead of time, and refridgerate them for later. I use suitable size buns, butI've made giant whiteys on full size hamburger and hotdog buns before.

i can't believe i'm letting this one go, you owe me...

1 whole chicken
1 small bag sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 bag dried cranberries
1 jar blue cheese dressing (Marie's), or use real blue cheese
1 cup cream or milk
red or white potatoes, the small bite sized ones

Preheat the oven at 500deg.
Remove giblets from the chicken.
Stuff the chicken with the cranberries.
Stick as many sprigs of rosemary that you can possiby fit in.
Pour the cream/milk into the roasting pan.
Lay the chicken in.
Pour the blue cheese all around.
Cover COMPLETELY with tin foil.
For frozen chicken, leave at 500 for 1 hour, for thawed, 1/2 hour.

Cut potatoes in halves or quarters.
Bring oven down to 400deg.
Place potatoes in the pan skin-side up.
Cover completely again.
Cook at 400deg for 3 hours, basting every 10-15 minutes.

Uncover chicken.
Set oven to Broil.
Cook and baste untill crispy or to your liking.

for all the non carnivores, this is my favorite vegetarian sammich.

you will need:
asparagus spears
sliced onions
sliced tomatoes
chopped garlic
mayo
jack cheese
good, thick bread
olive oil
basil/oregano

toast garlic in a pan with a little oil until golden and crispy... set aside and let cool.

season tomato slices with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano. place on baking sheet and roast until tender.

meanwhile, pan fry lightly seasoned asparagus spears and onions until the veggies are how you like them (I prefer my veggies very tender.)

mix cooled garlic/oil in with the mayo for the sammich.

place some of the asparagus/onion mixture, a few roasted tomato slices, and a slice (or 2) of jack cheese on half of the bread, brush the other half with a little oil and place all of it on a baking sheet. cook until the cheese is melted. this will reheat the vegetables and toast the other slice of bread.
put a bit of the garlic mayo on the second slice of bread and top your sammich.

the important thing to remember is you're gonna need big bread... cuz while it doesn't seem like a lot of stuff the sammiches end up being pretty damn large.

BUMP.

Since it was mentioned in the No Topic Thread and I think it's a cool idea.

Scotch Eggs

1/2 dozen eggs
1 & 1/2 pounds of sausage (links or paddies)
bread crumbs

- Hard boil eggs, let cool in ice water (in fridge)
- Sausage (usually come in quantities of 5 for 1 & 1/2 lbs) links should stay in skin until ready to use.
- De-shell an egg
- Take 1 sausage link, de-skin it, flatten into a paddy, and wrap it around the egg like a ball (covering all the egg).
- Roll sausage ball (with hard-boiled egg inside) in bread-crumbs and place in/on oven-safe dish
- Repeat 6 times
- Cook them on a dish, pan, cookie sheet (400 degrees for atleast 30 minutes) in the oven until sausage is cooked all the way through.

Great with just salt and pepper (or naked if you have some spice in your sausage or breadcrumbs) or a dipping sauce of your choice. I love them.

This look odd enough for me to try.