Food Related / The FD board's cooking corner., Got some fave recipes? Share 'em here!

I remember a long while back on the old board there was an (unfortunately deleted in the ezBoard attack) old thread where we talked about our favourite strange/interesting foods and shared recipes that we concocted. I'd like to revive that old thread here.

So, to kick things off, I'm going to start with one of my simple recipes (which I had mentioned before in the old thread). You don't need an oven for this; just a microwave and some leftovers. Oh, and a toaster if you like your bread nice and golden-brown (which works with the recipe quite well! ).

This will especially be good if you're a college student with a low income and no stove, or if you're a working stiff who doesn't have the time to make a big meal. This recipe generally takes less than 5 minutes.



Pizza Bread

You need:
* two slices of bread
* your preferred tomato gravy
* your favourite types of shreddable/tearable cheese
* a microwave safe plate

Take two slices of bread and place them on a microwave-safe plate as if you're about to make an open-faced sandwich.

Take your favourite tomato gravy (or the jar stuff, if you prefer that sort of thing) and, with a spoon, spread it on each slice, leaving just enough space between it and the crust of the bread to grab the slice with your fingers.

Grab any kind of cheese of your choice (that can be cut or hand-shredded into small pieces) and tear them into tiny pieces, sprinkling them on top of the gravy.

Microwave the slices together for about 20-30 seconds, or however long it takes for your microwave to melt the cheese. Remove from the microwave and let sit just long enough so you won't burn yourself while eating it.

Serves 1 person as finger food. Feel free to experiment with bread types, cheeses, gravys and toppings till you find your perfect blend!

I tend to use yellow American cheese, mozzarella and machine-shredded Asiago when we've got 'em. And then I cap that off with some grated Parmesan cheese dusted over the top. I'm a major cheese lover, what can I say?

And I just re-started my diet/exercise regimen today
I was sick for a few weeks and couldn't stick to the regular routine, but I started again today, with 25 minutes on my bicycle around the neighborhood and 25 minutes on my elliptical machine (I'm working back up to 40 minutes non-stop on the elliptical machine, five days a week)

The pizza bread reminded me (thanks for that receipe, btw)...

if you love fettucine alfredo, you can buy pre-made alfredo sauce in a jar (I felt like I about died and went to heaven when I was grocery shopping and saw it on the shelves, I didn't know there was such a thing as pre-made alfredo topping), I think they sell it next to the pre-made tomato sauce stuff.

I sometimes take Ramen noodles and cook them (leaving out the seasoning packet that comes with it), drain off the excess water (of course), and pour the pre-made alfredo sauce on it... when I'm not trying to lose weight, that is. Eating alfredo will NOT make you skinny!

I don't know if I'll ever become a vegetarian or not, but the older I get, I tend to feel more guilty about eating meat.

Regardless - and boy am I going to sound like a huge hypocrite here - does anyone have a good recipe for chicken salad, like to put on sandwich bread?

A few months ago, I "googled" for it, but I kept getting odd recipes, like 'spicy chicken salad.' Dang it, I don't want spicy, I just want a good, old fashioned chicken salad concoction.

As for weird foods I eat...

My sister thinks it's totally weird that I sometimes put peanuts in my scrambled eggs. I've only been doing this for the past year or so.

I like peanut butter on celery. Some people do this but add raisins on top, too, to which I respond with this emoticon:
and this one: - actually, I react that way to raisins by themselves, or raisins with anything. Sometimes I can eat raisins, so I wouldn't say I totally hate them, but I have to have a craving for them, otherwise, I don't like raisins.

The worst, IMHO, is when you reach for a chocolate chip cookie (I love cc cookies, especially home made), but it turns out to be a damn raisin cookie!!

Eeek! Sorry!

Losing weight is a problem in my house because we tend to live by a typical Italian proverb: "food is love". In other words, if you love somebody, you give 'em some good homemade stuff to eat when they're depressed and such. Good for the morale, but not so good for the waistline.

I'm glad you feel better now.

I love alfredo, but my mom and I usually prefer to cook it rather than buy it. (Which doesn't mean we still don't buy microwaveable dinners, but we try to avoid it whenever possible.)

I know. Eating should be one of the few vices we humans are allowed to have without any repercussions.

I'm trying to be good about it myself, but I enjoy food too much to eat like a bird.

Me too. I was a vegatarian at one point, but I never took care to make veggie substitutes for my protein. 3 months of work and self-control went down the drain the moment I obeyed a craving for a BK Whopper.

My mom has a good non-spicy one that's low salt and pretty healthy to boot (she has hypertension, so she has to watch her sodium intake and take pills for it). I'll ask her sometime.

That sounds pretty interesting, actually. Maybe I'll try it one day.

I get the feeling you and my mom would get along swimmingly. That's one of her faves, too!

I'm not a big fan of raisins, either. Though I was when I was a kid.

I know! I hate that! "Ooh, chocolate chip cookie! *munch* Er, wait a minute. What's this? *long pause* Eee, it's a raisin cookie! Ack! Ptooey!"

Not a problem. I just thought the timing was hysterical.

My sister's first husband was Italian, and her mother in law was rather traditional, and she was always trying to get my sister to eat.

My family comes from the south, which means we usually focus on fried okra, mashed potatoes (or boiled), fried potatoes, corn bread, etc. I love Tex Mex, food, though, as well as Italian and Chinese.

I'll eat about any kind of food - although I generally will not go to Vietnamese restaurants after having gone to one with some co-workers. It was yucky.

Thanks

I still have a tiny, tiny little bit of a cold left, which is part of the reason I'm not jumping in full force with the exercising otherwise I may go in for a relapse.

Is it hard to make? I should look up a receipe some time. I'm not much of a cook, so if something looks hard to make, I may stick with the pre made kind.

Thank you; that would be very nice of you

I was just amazed that when searching for a plain Jane chicken salad receipe with google.com, I kept getting all these weird or exotic varities!

Does she prefer creamy/smooth peanut butter or chunky? I prefer Chunky. I'm the only one in my family who does. Every one else thinks it's gross for some reason.

IMHO - and as someone who looooves peanut butter - "Jif" makes the best, followed by "Peter Pan."

I think that "Skippy" is the WORST. Ugh, it's like spreadable cardboard.

Years ago, I was at a friend's house, and he showed me the 'diet' Skippy PB his mom had bought, and I had a taste of it. It was hideous. He said what's equally bad is that you can't hardly spread it on bread, the consistency of the diet kind rips the bread apart.

Speaking of nasty diet foods - AVOID diet "Hidden Valley Ranch" flavor dressing, it's horrible. Their regular Ranch is okay but the diet stuff? Ewww

So it didn't sound like a totally odd ball combination to you?

I told my sister I didn't see what the problem was, since all the Chinese places I've been to use peanuts (or almonds) in lots of stuff, and they put scrambled egg pieces in fried rice, so why not put the two together?

People put cheese, green peppers etc. into omlets. I think you can put pretty much anything in a scrambled egg and it would taste okay. Except for tomatoes... I tried some once, and the tomatoes were too squishy, it made the eggs seem watery. I don't know why I tried that, because I don't like tomatoes. Ketchup I'm fine with, but not tomatoes.

Raisin cookies should be out lawed, Does anyone like them?

I will say that there is one type of raisin cookie I can stand - it's either "Mother's" brand of cookies or "Pepperidge Farm," but there's some company which makes iced raisin-oatmeal type cookies. Because the raisins are NOT chewy and you can hardly taste them if at all, those cookies are okay.

Funny isn't it, the only kind of raisin cookie I find acceptable is one where I cannot taste the raisins or notice they're in the cookie.

That totally sounds like my mom.

Everytime I bring someone over to my house, mom not only insists on cooking, she always insists on making sure the other person is full and has a little "parting gift" (some of her food wrapped up for another meal) to take back home with them.

She tends to cook enough to feed an army too, even when it's just the two of us.

I'm a second generation Italian to be born in the US. My mother's parents and their siblings were all born overseas and emigrated to America as children. And they brought a lot of the Old World culture and cuisine here with them, but they were also charged by my great-grandfather to "act American and speak American".

So, sadly, some of my family's ties to the Old World were severed. But fortunately some of it has still survived into the second generation on in my family, despite most of the Treglia/Treglio family having been "Americanized". (Sidenote: My grandfather was the only one to take the name "Treglia". All of his brothers and his sister took "Treglio" instead.)

My mother's tomato gravy recipe, especially, is actually a family recipe handed down to her from her paternal aunt that she altered slightly to suit her own tastes. She has since handed it down to myself and my brother. It's a good thing too, because it's soooo yummy! I use it with both pizza and pasta dishes.

I've never had Vietnamese food. But I won't eat Indian or Mexican cuisine because many of the dishes are far too hot for my taste (even though I like some good spicy BBQ wings on occasion). But I do love me some Chinese, German and French food.

My mom likes Irish dishes like corn beef and cabbage. I, personally, think CB&C is absolutely icky. IMHO, the Irish can't cook.

Good for you. Just make sure to have some Jewish pennicillin (chicken soup) to warm your insides right up and knock out the remainder of that cold, too.

Not at all, because there's really not much to it. It's typically made up of milk/cream, butter, and Parmesan cheese. Mix 'em, heat 'em up, and voila! You have an alfredo sauce!

I've seen some people use oil instead of butter, as well. And some people like to use cream cheese in addition to the regular ingredients, and other stuff based on their own personal quirks. But it's still very easy to make.

As for me, I like a pinch of basil, garlic and oregano tossed in my alfredo for flavouring. Just a pinch. It ticks me off when people think that cooking Italian means you have to drown everything in garlic and oregano, and it doesn't taste all that great with an overload of spices either.

She prefers smooth PB. And I don't think chunky is gross at all. It's perfect for digging in with a spoon!

I know. I've had theirs. Their PB is pretty horrid, and the plain Skippy PB can rip up the bread a bit too.

I don't eat Hidden Valley. I usually eat my salad with homemade Thousand Island dressing (which is basically mayo, ketchup and a bit of relish), or I use olive oil and balsamic vinegar. In the rare case I actually buy a salad dressing, it's usually the WishBone brand.

No, not at all. I like experimenting with food and coming up with quirky ideas for good eating. Sometimes the strangest combinations can be the best.

I'd be one of those people. I also love a broccoli and cheese omelette.

I tend to chop my tomatoes (fresh whole ones from the grocer) into fine little cubes, so they're not watery in the final mix. I've never liked crunching down on big slices either in salads or anything else.

Dipping a ham and cheese omelette into ketchup is good eating too. And I can also use ketchup for almost anything.

I don't know. At public functions, I always see them being the last things to be eaten. I've never made them myself. Then again, I've never been good with baking cookies or cakes. So those I'll buy at the store!

Mrs. Field's brand chocolate chip cookies are so delish, they're absolutely sinful! I treat myself to a box only once every few months, because they're so pricey.

This is a good idea for a thread/thread ressurrection. I probably won't have anything to contribute, but maybe I can learn something from you's.

Diet peanut butter? Only in America... I swear it won't be long before someone comes up with "diet" water.

*mental note: get driving directions to Knight Muzic's house. For visit: Wear pants with elastic, expandable waist *

It's good, though, that they assimilated. It's what keeps America alive, and I think people stand a better chance at success in our nation if they learn the language and all that. These days, I see the total opposite, people from other cultures who refuse to assimilate at all.

At the Vietnamese restaurant, I ordered something that the menu said was going to be some kind of chicken soup - chicken with noodles.

What showed up at my table had some of that in it, but it also had crab's claws and other stuff floating about in it, and it just tasted awful. I vowed that's the last time I would ever eat at a Vietnamese place.

Hmm, we've had stuff like that in my family as I was growing up - not the corn beef too much, but definitely cabbage. I never cared for either.

My dad's side of the family apparently has some Irish ancestry going on (among some other groups), but I don't know if that's why we ate that stuff.

I almost had some the other day but opted for salad
I've been taking Vitamin C supplements, though.

My sister first told me that parmesan was a main ingredient, which surprised me. I didn't really stop and think what the ingredients might be. All I knew is that I loved the stuff.

The first time I had fettucine alfredo was at an Olive Garden a few years ago when my fiance (now ex) took me out to dinner, and I got their "tour of Italy" dish. It was love at first taste.

Noooo! She must cross over to the chunky PB side!

Skippy peanut butter is so danged dry.

My sister likes to laugh even now about how when I was a kid, she'd walk into the kitchen, where I'd be sitting with a jar of peanut butter, scooping out spoonfuls into a bowl and eating it straight. She says she's never seen anyone who loves peanut butter as much as I do. Sometimes I do get burnt out by it, though.

Hmm, *mulls that one over* I might give that a try sometime.

Speaking of putting ketchup on stuff...

I heard recently that former president Richard Nixon liked to eat ketchup on cottage cheese. I don't like cottage cheese to begin with, but it sounds even less appealing w/ ketchup on it.

If you like small, crunchy choc chip cookies, "Famous Amos" ones are pretty good.

I also like "Keebler" brand.

Nothing but nothing beats home made ccc's, though. (One of the few things I can cook are ccc's)

First, here's a SUPER easy alfredo sauce that's awesome on just about everything...

1 stick UNSALTED butter

1 pint heavy (or whipping) cream

1 c. of grated parmesan (no, the green can kind won't work, you need to buy the block and grate or shred it yourself) The best kind of cheese is parmesano reggiano... it's expensive but SO worth it!

Place cream in medium saucepan under medium heat, as cream is warming, put stick of butter in and let it melt. When butter is melted, add in cheese by handfuls, stirring until each addition is completely incorporated into the sauce. You can add more or less cheese to your taste. Turn down the heat to medium low, and let sauce simmer until it can coat the back of a spoon. The taste is awesome.... but forget trying to reuse it. The sauce will break, mostly due to the butter. If you like the Barilla pasta in the yellow box (the whole grain) try it with that. My son loves my homemade sauce, especially with the green/white fettucini noodles!


I'm a big Alton Brown fan, his Good Eats show is very informative and entertaining. My husband even watches it now, he used to make fun of me about watching it, but now he's beginning to learn things....


My husband is type 2 diabetic, so we're careful about how much sugar/salt/carbs he eats.... so when I get to have pasta, I'm a happy girl! You guys just reminded me I"ve got to make up a list for my Christmas cookie ingredients. I make many different kinds of cookies. Hey, that's an idea, how about posting your favorite cookie recipies so we can share them? If anyone wants recipies for any of the cookies I put on my list, post a request and I'll put it in here for ya!


Christmas cookies I make are...

chocolate chip

peanut butter

oatmeal raisin

chocolate crinkle (chocolate cookie with powdered sugar outside)

linzer bars (made with bag sugar cookie dough layered with preserves/jelly)

7 layer bars (chocolate, pb, and butterscotch chips, coconut, sweetened milk, graham cracker crust)

cut out sugar cookies

bourbon balls


Diana

Here's another good recipe straight from my mom's kitchen. This main course dish actually originates from Germany, and mom's version is very good! It's one of the few beef dishes I'll actually eat.



Beef Paprika

Ingredients:
1/4 cup shortening or unsalted butter
2 lbs. cubed chuck or ground beef
1 cup sliced onion or 2 sliced medium onions
1 small clove minced garlic
3/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire or soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry or 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
dash cayenne red pepper (optional)
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons flour in 1/4 cup cold water

Directions:
Melt shortening/butter in large skillet.
Add meat, onion and garlic.
Cook and stir until meat is brown and onion is tender.
Stir in ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, paprika, mustard, cayenne and 1 1/2 cups water.
Cover and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Blend flour and 1/4 cup water and stir gradually into meat mixture.
Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.
Boil and stir for 1 minute.
Serve over 1 lb. noodles.

This is a recipe I found on my Easy Chef's One Million Recipes CD-Rom. I'm a cheesecake fiend, so this sounds particularly yummy.

Mini Cheesecakes

Ingredients:
3 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese
5 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Beat cheese. Add sugar gradually. Add eggs, one at a time. Add flavoring. Use small muffin pans, line with paper cups. Fill almost to top. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes. Must rise and form dent. Cool 5 minutes.

Icing: Mix 1 pt. sour cream, 1/2 c. sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla well together. Cover entire top with icing. Put a bit of strawberry preserves in center. Place in oven for 5 more minutes. These freeze very well.

Mmmmmmmm, cheesecake.... I miss cheesecake!!!! I haven't made it for months, and I can't eat any now until this stupid freakin gallbladder is out of me. I've got to keep my meals ultra-low on fats , which means no fettucini alfredo.... no mint chocolate chip ice cream.... no pork chops or beef that isn't lean, lean, lean.

*sigh*

I"ve got a crock pot beef roast going right now, I won't be eating much of that either, maybe a bit of it with a salad (screw it, I'm having my ranch dressing).


MH

PBS is supposed to have a recipe section for kids. Found it...

Buster's Receipes

This isn't exactly lo-cal but they are fab..
Buy some frozen mini-cheese raviolis. Thaw them a bit so they aren't frozen solid.
Dip them in some buttermilk, let the excess buttermilk drip off. Then coat them in Italian seasoned bread crumbs. You can buy this in a can in the aisle with Shake And Bake and other breading products.
Put them into a pan with medium-heat olive oil a few at a time so as not to bring down the temp of the oil too much.
They will brown a bit and puff up.
Drain on paper towels. Serve hot or warm at least. Even better with some warm Marinara sauce to dip them in. Addictive!!

Another tip. When making Pork and Beans, try this.
When you dump the can of P&B into a saucepan, add a touch of ketchup and some brown sugar. Makes it noticeaby better, especially since this is now cookout season.
French toast tips:
Use butter in skillet instead of oil or spray. (I'll take real dairy over solid oil anytime anyway.) Make the batter out of milk and eggs, but also use some vanilla extract and cinnamon powder. Use thick sliced bread. When you cook both sides and put on a plate, sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar over slices. If cutting sugar, use sugar-free syrup, you can't tell the difference.

I'll have to tell my mom about that. She regularly eats pork and beans (I myself don't care for it). She likes to put chipped onions on hers.

If anyone knows where I can get mocha / coffee flavored chocolate candy (or candy bars), I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know.

I did find some Ghirardelli coffee flavored chocolate ("Espresso Escape") and Dilettante's Espresso Beans (found both at Wal Mart).

However, the bitter chocolate in the Ghirardelli overwhelms the coffee flavor, and while the Espresso Beans are okay, they are a bit too crunchy in texture for me. They sometimes leave a bitter after-taste also, which I'm not too crazy about.

The best coffee flavored chocolate I've ever had was made in England.

It came in a blue, octogonal (sp??) shaped box, and I found it in the food section at a Marshall's. They had that one box left, and that was it!

I've not been able to find that same brand anywhere. When I knew the name of the company that made it (I've since forgotten it), I searched for it on the web and still couldn't find it.

That's funny! I bought the Espresso Escape bar for my father in law the other day! he LOVES dark chocolate, the higher the cocoa content the better, so I am sending him one for Father's Day along with Bob Newhart Season 1 on DVD. He liked that show. I watched them last week before I wrapped them, I like it too!
anyone else mix cabbage and mashed potatoes? It's a version of colcannon (sp?), in Irish dish.
I like to mix that sweet/sour red cabbage in with mashed potatoes.
Oh, here's one that sounds WEIRD but it is really great:
Get a crock pot. Put in one part Heinz chili sauce, and one part red currant jelly. Seriously. Then mix in a pack those small mini sausages, the snack hor'doerve size.an find them with the smoked sausage in the store. Heat. People wil ask what it is, it sounds gross but it's really good. Gives it a sweet/hot taste.

People already think I'm nuts because I put mashed potatoes and sauerkraut on top of my hot dogs, but hey, it tastes good, and less mess!





MH

My sister is disturbed that I sometimes put peanuts in my scrambled eggs and in salads.

the way I look at it, unless you are a bit weird, you'll never make it in this world!

My husband can't stand my peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwiches, yummy!


MH

I've read in other sources that there are also recipes for Twinkie burritos and Twinkie Lasagna in this book.

I think I'll pass on these.

Twinkie offers twist on sushi

NEW YORK, June 27 (UPI) -- Twinkie lovers are gobbling up a new cookbook featuring recipes for Twinkie Burritos and Twinkie Sushi.

In 2005, as part of Twinkies' 75th anniversary celebration, Hostess asked people to share their ideas for cooking with Twinkies. The publisher, Ten Speed Press, said hundreds of people responded with a collection of homegrown, creative, and sometimes wacky recipes.

The recipes include the aforementioned burrito filled with Twinkies, strawberries and chocolate and sushi -- featuring green fruit leather instead of seaweed. Pigs in a Twinkie includes the traditional sausage.

The book includes more than 50 recipes and 20 full-color photographs.