Happy Birthday, Julia Child

[filkertom]

On this day in 1912.

In honor of the French Chef, what's either your favorite easy-yet-looks-like-you're-showing-off recipe or your favorite cooking trick?

Mine would be Spiking The Tacos -- when I brown the meat for tacos, I add liberal amounts of minced onion, garlic, and Worcestshire, and after I've added the taco seasoning I throw in a half-jar of your favorite chunky salsa (per pound of meat), which gives a heck of a flavor boost and also extends the filling nicely. (I highly recommend Ortega seasoning if you don't make your own, as it's the only commercial taco seasoning I've found that doesn't have salt as the first ingredient. Actual flavor components and everything!)

Comments

CoffeeCup Cobblers

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

When I got engaged to Morris, the grocery where my mother shopped had JUST started a programme of ironstone table crockery: plates, coffeecups, serving dishes etc. Coming-up-on 39 years later we're still using most of it.

There are, however, many more small coffeecups than we ever needed.
And they are oven-safe.

Divide a can of pie filling among 3 or 4 ironstone coffee cups.
Or use fresh fruit and a home-brewed sugar/cornstarch sauce.

Mix 1 cup Bisquick, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup margarine, and enough milk to make a soft dough: thinner than biscuit dough, but nowhere near as runny as pancake batter. Use a small spoon to drop 3 globs of dough on top of each cup of fruit filling.

Set cups on a cooky sheet or in a baking pan to guard against spills.
Bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes, until the crust begins to brown on top.
The time may vary with exactly how deep the fruit filling is below the crust.

Chicken Chardonnay

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Marinate chicken in chardonnay for a day - preferably one of the fruit ones.
Put in pan and coat liberally with dillweed.
Slice a peeled tartish apple, like a Macintosh or Jonathan over chicken.
Scatter pine nuts over all.

Bake until chicken is done, serve with jasmine or basmati rice and snow peas.

[delayra.livejournal.com]

chop a 12-ounce package of bacon into pieces about 2-3 inches long, then start it sizzling. In the pot where you're going to eventually have soup, put one of the fat cans of tomato sauce (somewhere between 27- and 32-ounce can, depending on brand). When it starts to simmer, add an 8-ounce package of cream cheese (helps if you cut it up so it'll melt-in quicker) -- since cream cheese doesn't like to become homogenous with anything else, you may have to beat it a bit when it gets melt-y. Rinse a 4-ounce package of pre-cooked frozen salad shrimp thoroughly to make sure there's no sand grit and add it to your mixture. The bacon should be done (tender, not crisp) by now, drain it and add it to the mixture. Stir until the two types of meat are mixed in, cover and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. Serve with bread rolls as a soup. As an alternative, serve as a fondue and eat by dipping pieces of rolls into it

[joshuwain.livejournal.com]

It looks so fancy, but is so easy...

Mango Chicken Alfredo.

In a skillet, soften some finely diced shallot (about three medium shallots) and garlic (about three cloves -minced-) in olive oil and butter. Add chopped, de-boned chicken (about a pound of thighs) and sauté, seasoning with salt and white pepper. Add small bits of mango (one 15oz can is just fine), reserving the juice for later. Add heavy whipping cream to cover (about a cup) and simmer (reduce) for about fifteen minutes. Add a handful of freshly grated parmesan in stages, stirring to incorporate, and add about a cup of the mango juice (slowly) and continue to simmer/reduce. When you're done, serve over pasta.

NOTE: Adding a handful of baby green peas at the end is a wonderful color and flavor contrast!

[indyellen.livejournal.com]

In the "totally fancy but I'm cheating" category:

I take boneless pork chops (loin chops) and bake them in Shake-n-Bake. The cheating part is that I add an amount of grated parmesan cheese which is almost equal to the amount of shake-n-bake mix in the bag, blending well before I put it on the chops.

The chops come out TOTALLY juicy, and it doesn't taste like shake-n-bake at all. Dinner in 20 minutes. :)

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

Raspberry-Key Lime pie. I was going to make a regular key lime pie (key lime juice, condensed milk and an egg yolk--how much easier could it be?) for a picnic hosted by my former roommate and his husband and on a whim tossed a handful of raspberries into the mixer with the base mix. Result: they were ready to divorce and then fight over which one got to keep me.

For elegance without the effort, take thin slices (1/4") of a fresh, crisp pear and put a little Stilton cheese on it. Woot!

Probably my "ugly" cake

[capplor.livejournal.com]

Regular chocolate cake, no milk, baked in the microwave. The top is hideous, but the cake is very light and moist and STRONGLY chocolate flavored. I used to be assured of having leftovers at every pot luck, but folk caught on.

[rook543.livejournal.com]

Simple? why, NONE! All of my culinary creations are intricate and meticulously created works the require all of my mad skillz!

I don't think anybody else could handle them...

yeah....thats it...

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

*sniffs air*

Do I smell ramen? ;-)

*runs away*

Boiled Stuffed Peppers

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

Got this from my Grandmother. It's really the only real dish I can cook without screwing up in some way. :-/

1 lb ground beef/chicken/turkey
1 medium onion
6 green/red/yellow/orange bell peppers
1 egg
1 cup uncooked rice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cans of condensed tomato soup (approximate - more if you want it thicker - or you can make your own soup)

Core all the peppers removing all the seeds.

In a large pot or slow cooker pour in the tomato soup and two more cans worth of water. Wisk to blend then heat covered on medium heat stirring occasionally.

Dice the onion finely and in a medium glass bowl combine everything but the peppers. Mix thoroughly.

Stuff the mixture in the peppers and place them open-end-up into the pot with the soup. Make sure to remove as many of the air bubbles as you can so that the open end of the peppers remain towards the top of the pot.

Add enough extra water to the pot to cover the tops of the peppers. (Alternatively add more tomato soup.)

Cook for 2 hours minimum on medium-low heat until the rice has expanded and the peppers are soft. A slow-cooker will cook these overnight on low and they will come out perfect.

This dish by nature is a very bland dish but very filling. You can add more spices to the soup as your preference or tastes dictate.

These also freeze and re-heat well however don't leave them as-is in the fridge for more than a few days or the soup and water will separate.

The leftover soup is also quite good and goes well with a large chunk of hearty Italian/French/Vienna bread. Because the rice falls out of the peppers it often becomes more of a tomato and rice soup with a pepper taste.

Also turkey and chicken require more seasoning than beef so keep that in mind and adjust the pepper and salt accordingly.

Incidentally these are also one of the few meals I can eat every day without getting bored of it.

I'd like to try this recipe using mild New Mexican chilis ( http://www.hatch-chile.com/ ) but a box of the fresh ones is expensive!

Re: Boiled Stuffed Peppers

[nimitzbrood.livejournal.com]

Oh and a variation of this dish can be done with cabbage instead of peppers.

You wrap a ball of the mixture in a large cabbage leaf and hold it together using toothpicks.

The cabbage creates a different set of tastes and it becomes a different dish altogether. :-)

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Take the bones out of a package of chicken thighs, and brown the thighs in a pan. Set the chicken aside. start preheating the oven to 350.

In the same pan, cook up a mess of finely chopped or pureed onion, garlic and celery in the chicken drippings. Add sliced small mushrooms if you want, and season with either Chef Paul Prudhomme poultry magic seasoning or just sage, thyme and tabasco to taste. When it's all cooked (20 minutes or so), add sufficient breadcrumbs, chopped pecans, dry sherry and chicken broth so that it makes a cohesive stuffing.

Now put the stuffing in the pockets of the chicken thighs where the bones had been. Grease one or more bread baking pans with butter and pack the chicken in them(the pans should be just deep and wide enough to hold the chicken thighs packed together, upright, stuffing-end-up). Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Don't clean the stovetop pan. The stuffing should have formed a lovely brown crust by the time they're done.

Arrange the cooked chicken thighs on a platter, or on the individual plates, and scrape the drippings from the baking pan into the stovetop pan. Reheat the stovetop pan and add about three parts heavy cream to one part good cognac. Cook that up at high heat, stirring constantly, for about five minutes. You can whisk in some flour to thicken it if you like. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve with little new potatoes and fresh green peas.

[gpeefalt.livejournal.com]

1. Remove entree from packaging
2. Cut slit in film cover
3. Microwave on HIGH (100% power) for 4 1/2 - 5 mintues
4. Let stand for 2 minutes
5. Remove entree from microwave. CAUTION: Entree will be hot!
6. Remove film cover and enjoy

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

Me and a former roommate found a recipe for General Tso's Chicken online years ago and spent a year modifying and perfecting it. My wife and I make it sometimes, and it's still the best friggin' General Tso's I've ever had.

If anyone wants me to post it, remind me and I shall do so tonight.

-=ShoEboX=-

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

If you have to ask... the answer is always YES PLEASE.

Don't be a Spoon tease! [grin]

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

So when you serve it, do you have one of your SCAdian friends dress up as General Tso and burst into the dining room, brandishing a huge sword and yelling, "Who took my chicken?"

Buck buck buck buckAWWWW

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

And, if you can't, explain he wouldn't dare show his face, because... General Tso's chicken.

Mmmm, tastes like General

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Eep? I read that at first as a more sinister reason for Tso not showing up.

"General Tso's chicken"...the general made himself scarce...but Chen Kenichi made him rare.

Re: Mmmm, tastes like General

[jss]

Nay: Endangered!

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Collected here. Biographical information severely needs updating, but the recipes are still good:

http://home.earthlink.net/~selene/kitchen/id7.html

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

In our house, it's these cinnamon palmiers (http://www.kitchenchick.com/2004/11/imbb_cookie_swa.html). People either assume you bought them, or that it's really hard to do. It's trivially easy, just make sure you watch them so the sugar doesn't burn.

Oh and a cheap shameless book plug

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

The official cookbook of LACon IV:
THE OFFICIAL MANUAL FOR SPICE CADETS
which is available from Lulu.com:
http://www.lulu.com/content/351861

The minor datum that I have the second-most recipes included in this collection is not important, move along... hehehe

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

I get all my recipes from my mom -- she gave me one for Nutella chocolate-chip cookies this year. My favorite, though, is probably dilled green beans. Dill weed, dijon mustard, vinegar, green beans chopped into 1-inch pieces and cooked. Mix. Can be served hot or cold, and make a nice change from the "a little olive oil makes everything better" school of my normal cooking (hey, I'm in college).

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

*big eyes*

Recipe for nutella chocolate chip cookies? Pretty please?

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Mine would be the secret behind Uber-steak. The big trick is to take Margerine and melt a liberal amount of it in a microwave. Then you pour it over a room-temperature steak and let it soak into the meat for over an hour. As the meat cooks, the margerine breaks the ligiments in the meat, making it extremely tender, easy to cut, and very tasty.

I also add lots of onion, garlic and soy sauce.

Darn it! Now I'm hungry.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

More than a few people have told me I eat better on $20 a week than they do on $20 a meal. And this is one of the reasons why:

Fried Ramen:

Take one package of ramen noodles (throw away the "flavor" packet in a theatrical manner), break up noodles to the length desired and put in small non-stick saute pan.
Take 3/4 cup liquid and add spices/herbs/flavors until it tastes good.
Add 1 tablespoon oil.
Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally to allow ramen to absorb liquid. Once it starts sizzling, flip over. While bottom side is frying, gently stir up the top. Flip, stir up top while bottom is browning. Do this a few times until you get a nice fried texture. Either serve it now or add a spoon of sour cream or coconut milk to the top then give it one last flip, turn off the heat and let sit for a minute or two. The top will remain a bit crispy while the bottom will get creamy.

Pork Roast ala crockpot

[purplemoonwoman.livejournal.com]

Do in morning before going to work:

1. Take pork roast to size of crockpot. the bigger, the better.
add cracked black pepper liberally, garlic and salt to taste.
spritz bottom of crockpot with cooking spray
stuff pork roast in crockpot, cover, cook about 8 - 10 hrs on low, do not peek.

2. Quickly hack up some red potatoes in quarters or bite sized chunks. Place in aluminum foil lined 13x9" pan. add chopped onion to taste and toss.

3. Pick out some frozen broccolli vegetable mix that you like. Put it in a bowl, chop up a quarter stick of butter and place on top, dash with salt to taste. Cover and stick in fridge.

When you get home from work:

1. Enjoy wonderful smell of cooked pork roast in house

2. Set roast out of juice onto platter. do not eat immediately. Pour juice over potatoes and pop in oven for 45 - 60 min or until done.

3. Pop veggies in microwave for 5 min. stir. add another 5 min or until hot all the way through.

4. Serve COMPLETE ROAST DINNER THAT LOOKS LIKE YOU'VE SLAVED ALL DAY.

Katrina

[moose]

Two.


- I am notorious for stir-frying everything. Really, my sister will tell you about the time I made mashed potatoes, from scratch, in an electric wok.

I will gather lots of vegetables and meats (or sometimes just the vegables], a cutting board, some baggies or bowls (depending, you'll see), and a sharp sharp knife, preferably the vegable cleaver.

Then, here's the secret :-P -- Put on a movie you know well and/or can sing along with. Usually for me this is "The Blues Brothers" or "Blazing Saddles." Then sing along while chopping your butt off. DO NOT chop fingers off. Fingers are not tasty, unless they are Ladyfingers.

This passes the time of chopping and chopping and chopping. You can cut up lots of stuff in the 90 minutes it takes to sing along with your favorite movie.

Now, if you're cooking for many, you can cook it all up. If you're cooking for few or just you, put the ingredients in baggies & put the baggies in the fridge. Over the next week you can stirfry up a meal in moments because -- you've already chopped! the hard work is done! you are so smart!

Once I had a party where I served stir fry. Some people were vegetarians. First I put on a big-ass pot of rice and a big-ass pot of water for noodles. Then I cooked up the vegetables and put them in one mongo (no pun intended) bowl. Then I cooked up the meat and put them in a separate bowl. Then I put out the rice & noodles. People got to have the stir fry their way. If I'd been smart I'd also have pre-made some sauces. As it was I used my "typical sauce" -- shoyu [soy sauce], red-wine vinegar, garlic & ginger -- and put out some Sriracha for those who liked it hot.

- The side effect of another party resulted in The Best Mac & Cheese Ever. Prepping for said party, a friend decided that each type of cheese I'd bought had to be cut into a different shape. Now, I didn't have anything wildly special -- a sharp cheddar, a hot-pepper-jack, a colby-jack mix, a swiss, and a monster. ER munster. Oh, you know.

The leftovers became a yummy pasta & cheese dish. I made a roux [and boy, you know? the first time you make a successful roux you just feel like dancing] and slowly tossed in chunks [and chunks (and chunks)] of cheese until i had this big pot of yummy cheese sauce. Then I tossed it with a crapload of pasta I'd cooked up -- like the cheeses, I'd used a variety: wagon wheels, radiators, shells, etc -- and then turned that into a 9x12 lightly greased baking pan, and then put it in a 350 oven and BAKED THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF IT or maybe just cooked it until it started browning, in about 45-50 minuets. Or waltzes.


- I babble too much.

[nodakwriter.livejournal.com]

A huge batch of crepes accompanied by a huge batch of duxelles kept in the freezer equals nearly instant gore-met meals. Duxelles are sort of preserved mushrooms that should keep months in the fridge, but mine never seem to get that old. They can be made out of any sort of edible shroom, but I usually use just good old white ones. For each 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of mushrooms melt one half stick of butter in a frying pan. Chop mushrooms and either a couple of shallots or a small onion and add it to the pan. I add a little salt and pepper at this point, but they aren't necessary. The shrooms and onion will give off a tremendous amount of liquid that must be boiled off. This usually takes me 45 or so minutes at high heat. When the mushrooms start to look sort of dry, add a quarter cup of sherry. I also hit the nutmeg grater because mushrooms love nutmeg. Cook until the sherry has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. The result tastes like mushroom porn.

Another "easier than it looks" recipe, especially if you have the duxelles ready and waiting in the pantry, is individual beef wellingtons. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_31799,00.html) Damn, now I made myself hungry.

[jss]

Mine are here. And in my LJ with "Food Pr0n" in the subject lines.

One of my favorites that I don't make often is the standing rib roast of beef: Marinade overnight in a mixture of 2 parts yellow mustard to 1 part worchestershire sauce with a sprinkling of garlic powder. Roast it (with the leftover marinade poured on top) for 22 minutes per pound (including bone weight) in a preheated 325˚F oven for medium rare. I tend to serve it with wild rice, though oven-roasted herbed potatoes would go well too. Mmmmmm.

My Thanksgiving turkey recipe is faboo and easy, too, mainly because of the stuffing that goes with (in) it.

[scott644.livejournal.com]

For breakfast, or whenever in the mood for something breakfasty...

Take the muffin mix in a bag. Doesn't matter which, so much as it's the kind that calls for you to add egg and milk and that's it. Just make certain it's the apples & cinnamon flavor.

Mix it with a splash of milk and no egg.

Add 2-4 drops of vanilla extract.

Fry on a pan like pancakes - slightly lower temperature, slightly longer cooking time.

After pulling it off the pan, apply a thin glaze of grape jam (not jelly).

Serve and enjoy!

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

This is what my mother sent me out of the house knowing how to make:

Put one whole chicken in roasting pan. Trim fat. Rub the skin all over with a split clove of garlic. Pour olive oil and lemon juice over the whole thing, in about a 2:1 ratio, until both chicken and bottom of pan are covered. Shake your favorite dried herbs over the chicken and stick in preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes per pound.

That's the simple version and it's very good. You can build up whatever you like on top of it. I usually mix mayonaise with pressed fresh garlic and herbs, and use it as a glaze. I also stick butter and garlic slivers under the skin. All this ensures that 1) I will never get a reputation as a health-conscious cook, and 2) the chicken will never dry out unless I leave it in the oven way too long. The other thing I do is to throw lots of garlic cloves in the bottom of the pan, because extra roasted garlic is never a bad thing.

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

dang! that was a bunch of good stuff.
Fortunately I've begun keeping a Recipes file on the computer, and I could excerpt the ones that looked most interesting QUITE easily.

Chocolate Covered Grapes

[shinymarigold.livejournal.com]

Got this one from one of my best friends:

Melt some chocolate chips with a little peanut butter (or not--it just makes the melted chocolate smoother). Pour over seedless green grapes in a bowl. Make sure grapes are well coated. Dump in some powdered sugar. Shake. Chill if desired. Serve.

Good for a low budget chocolatey snack right out of the bowl, or a swanky dessert reception on a fancy paper doily. Seriously.