Basil, it's what's for dinner!

[maytagbear]

Toggle, darling.....

"The Splendid Table" by Lynne Rosetto Kasper.

"Classic Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan.

"Mediterranean Food" by Elisabeth David.

....at finer bookstores or libraries.

Some people like Mario Batali's cookbooks. I am not a huge fan. More along the restaurant food line. However, I don't mind looking at Mario Batali. At all.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[toggleswitch]

Lawrence: TYVM- Thank You Very Much.

Bill: Difference strokes for different folks. As a kid I'd even eat the lamb fat, I found it so tasty.

Chad:
~Those porcupine balls are good.
What is the difference between a northern zoo and a southern zoo?
The southern zoo invcludes recipes by all the displays.

~Where everyone who has a fake social security number lives.
[A SS number is a national ID, of sorts.] I believe illegal immigrants are aware that North Carilina is one of the few states that does not require (or perhaps cross-check given) SS numbers when issuing a driver's license or registering a vehicle. This area became full of NC license plates / tags when NY state figured out so many SS numbers given were false or stolen. I guess they finally checked with Uncle Sam.

 

[washernut]

Toggle thanks so much for the link to the recipes. Speaking of southern zoos and recipes. A friend of mine used to have a cookbook titled "The White Trash Cookbook". It had some scarey recipes in it. Like under "How to Kill a Possum"...it said. "Now you might think that possum is dead..but he ain't! He's just playin possum! And he'll run off on ya the first chance he gets!! So you got to kill him good!"...LOL Just in case you got a possum in your future.

 

[sudsmaster]

Here's a simple soup recipe. I made it once after returning from Central America (Guatemala) and wanted to recreate a delicious soup I'd had down there:

1 (or more) ripe Hass avocado, peeled, pitted, and sectioned

2 cups rich home-made chicken broth* (not canned!!!)

1 (or more) fresh jalapeno pepper (or serrano or other hot pepper) (to taste), diced

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1 clove garlic, diced

Bring chicken broth to simmer. Add pepper, garlic. Simmer for five minutes.

Put hot broth mix into blender with avocado sections. Blend until smooth. Soup should have pleasant avocado green color, with consistency of thin pea soup.

Put hot broth mix back into pot, and simmer for a minute or two. Season to taste with salt and a little lemon or lime juice. Serve hot.

Suggestion: Other addtional herbal ingredients (basil, oregano, marjoram) would probably work great as well - experiment!

Chicken broth recipe - make night before:

1 chicken carcass (eat the meat, leave the bones)

Cover in stock pot with cold water. Add 1 tsp salt, 1 tbs distilled white vinegar. Bring to gentle boil, reduce heat, cover, simmer for 4 hours or more. Add more water if level drops too low. At end of simmering, add another tbs vinegar, stir well, simmer covered another 15 minutes. Uncover and bring to rapid boil for 15 minutes to drive off vinegar. Strain stock and let cool in suitable glass or plastic storage containers. Refrigerate or freeze. You'll know the stock is good if it turns to gelatin in the fridge.

To use, skim off fat at top (or use it for extra flavor) and use stock in your favorite soup, gravy, sauce, etc.

You may add a bay leaf, garlic, veggies etc as part of the brothing process, but these are not necessary to get a good hearty stock. The purpose of the salt and vinegar is to leach out the nutritious minerals, oils, and proteins from the bones and connective tissue. For a well prepared broth, the bones should be soft and crumbly at the end when you discard them (or put them in the compost pile - worms love 'em!). For those who insist on a clear broth, filter the hot stock through cheesecloth. Optionally add egg white and let it cook and collect any cloudiness as well. I happen to prefer the rich, cloudy minimally filtered broth, myself.

 

[gadgetgary]

Porcupine Meatballs

Yummmm

 

[exploder3211]

Thats NOT what i call porcupine meatballs

That just looks gross to me... Reminds me of...

Never mind, i know many find it delicous..

My idea of porcupine meat balls:
includes turkey, rice, tomato, garlic and a little egg and bread crumbs (me thinks, will have to find recipe).. Also cooked in diced tomatos and a light vodka sauce.

We won't go any further into the subject of illegals here.. see my email toggles

 

[gadgetgary]

That just looks gross to me... Reminds me of...

Please remember....

If you can't say anything nice, say NOTHING at all.

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones

 

[toggleswitch]

Basil may go in this very nicely

Oven stewed vegetables.

Ingredients

 

[toggleswitch]

Combined and made ready

 

[toggleswitch]

1/4 cup olive oil
1.0 cups tomato sauce
1.0 cups water
salt pepper
herbs
garlic

rest of vegetable ingredients are pictured. None mandatory

@ 450*F
20 minutes covered
20 minuted uncovered

Stir once or twice.
Feel free to be flexible with veggies.

 

[toggleswitch]

~People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

Or as Oscar Wilde had said:
......should learn how to urinate elegantly.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Toggle...

"Guys, recipes for Italian food, please!"

Tell me what's on hand in your fridge and pantry, and I'll give you a recipe. That's mostly how I cook, though there are always some staple dishes that most people build off of.

Leftover idea:
Got leftover meat, but not enough for a serving or a meal? A couple of hamburgers from a cookout (like, maybe, a New England wash-in??)? A pork chop? Sausage? Chicken? A piece of steak? Take the meat (sans bones, skin, fat) and put it in a Mason jar in the freezer, with a thin film of tomato sauce to protect it. Next time you make a pot of pasta sauce, plop the meat in while the sauce is simmering!

Change-up an old favorite! Do you make baked ziti? Next time, take a couple of boxes (per pound of pasta) of thawed chopped spinach and mix them in for Baked Ziti Florentine!

Chuck

 

[toggleswitch]

~Tell me what's on hand in your fridge and pantry, and I'll give you a recipe. That's mostly how I cook, though there are always some staple dishes that most people build off of.

Oh yes Mistah-Sistah, that is what I do. A bit of this, a slice of that and there ya go!

Ya can't go in with a recipe in mind; you go in think how do I use what I have (decaying) in the fridge. Unless there is company coming, then you buy! (ducks and runs)

Of course, if they come over unannounced, all is fair in love and war...er super emergencies. (Hello "Chicken Delight" I'll need two buckets of chicken, ASAP.

I may have to lean on your resourcefulness in the future!
Many thanks!

 

[perc-o-prince]

Ya can't go in with a recipe in mind; you go in think ho

That sounds like a pot of sou or stew waiting to happen!

Actually, I do have some fave recipes that I use for things I don't make that often, or want to make the SAME as my mother made them. I'll pull a couple out, maybe tomorrow. Italian or Polish (kielbasa) sausage maybe?

Here's the Country Club Eggs we did for Sunday breakfast (adapted from a recipe from my step-mother):

-Grease a 9x13 pan and preheat the oven to 350.

-Cook, drain, crumble 1.5# breakfast meat like bacon or sausage. Set aside.

-Tear 9-10 slices of bread (or leftover hamburger/hot dog rolls!!!) into the pan.

-Blend, mix, or otherwise combine well, 9 eggs and 3 cups milk. Add salt and pepper to taste (1/4t each to start).

-Pour egg mixture slowly and evenly over bread. Sprinkle with crumbled meat. Use a spatula to press the mixture down a bit to be sure everything's wet.

-Top with about 1.5 cups shredded cheese.

-Bake about 20 minutes in the middle of the oven, then move to the top and turn the oven down to 300 for another 40 minutes.

Let cool slightly and serve. Feeds about 6 for breakfast as a main dish, or 8 with another dish like mixed fruit.

Now, where can you go with this? Well, for one.....

Substitute 1.5c raisins for the meat and omit the cheese. Maybe throw in some chopped walnuts if you like too! Add some cinnamon and nutmeg to the egg mixture instead of pepper. Serve with whipped cream and you have bread pudding!

Chuck

 

[exploder3211]

Sorry did not mean to offend, Gadget Gary.. It just struck me as off...

I think it has to do with sweedish meat balls, those things have such a horrible taste and look like that