DIY
 

Why don't we get a recipe thread started? I'm sure there are plenty of budding chefs among you, come on, show us your best ideas! I'll start off with a modified sweet& sour pork, there's plenty of recipies for it out there but damn, this one works.

1 medium pork chop diced up in 1/2 to 3/4 inch bits
2 dessert spns of sherry or rice wine
4 dessert spns of soy sauce
1 small onion cut into 1/8ths
1 smallish carrot sliced diagonally and thinly
1 stick of celery sliced diagonally
1/2 red or green pepper (or ideally 1/4 each of both)
1 small tin of pineapple rings or pieces
1 clove of garlic chopped finely
Approx. 3/4 inch of root ginger peeled and grated
1 dessert spn of tomato puree
Cornflour for coating the pork pieces before frying
1 tablespn of vinegar
1 dessert spn of sugar
3 tablespns of oil
Approx 2 cups of chicken stock
Black pepper
Slotted spoon

Method:

1. Mix soy sauce, sherry and grated ginger in a bowl and add pork so that
the meat is thoroughly mixed in. Leave for 20 mins.
2. Prepare cup of basmati rice by rinsing off starch three times using
saucepan of cold water and a sieve. Leave to drain in sieve.
3. Prepare all the vegetables and garlic and put on a separate plate.
4. Cover the middle of a dinner plate with a layer of cornflour.
5. Mix tomato puree with sugar to a paste in a small bowl or cup
6. Make up chicken stock with boiling water and stock cube.
7. Put largish saucepan of water on to boil, then add teaspn of salt and
drained rice. Bring back to the boil very briefly, stir once and simmer
for 8-10 mins. Taste for doneness, drain carefully in sieve, return to
empty saucepan or serving dish and keep in warm oven with chinese bowls
until you've cooked the rest.
8. Heat oil in wok to high but not smoking.
9. Meanwhile remove pork from marinade with slotted spoon and keep marinade
10.Coat pork with cornflour and add to the hot oil in wok. Stir fry until
golden and crispy all over (about 2 mins)
11. Remove pork with slotted spoon and let drain if possible in a colander
or sieve with a plate underneath to catch the oil.
12. Remove wok from heat and drain all the oil into a cup, wipe out wok
with paper towl and return one tablespoon of the oil to the wok.
13. Reheat wok till smoking then add all the veges at once and stir fry.
14. After a couple of minutes add the tomato puree and sugar mixture and
mix in with the veges in the wok for about 20 seconds. Add the remains of
the pork marinade and the chicken stock and bring to the boil then turn
down to simmer.
15. Mix tablespn of vinegar with about a dessert spn of the remaining
cornflour on the plate and stir this mixture into the veges until liquid
is bubbling and has thickened. Add black pepper and simmer for a minute.
16. Add the pork pieces to the wok, stir and bring back to bubbling. Taste
(you can add just a smidgen of sugar or vinegar if necessary)
17 Serve with rice.

Another fun thing: Mulled Brandy.

700ml sherry/brandy (50/50)
2 cimmamon sticks
3 tablespoons brown sugar (the proper think and sticky stuff)
5-7 whole cloves

All in a good glass bottle and leave for at least 3 months, absolutely wonderful in winter.

Can I assume a "dessert spoon" is the same as a "teaspoon" to Americans?

Actually, there was one already :)

http://www.cellar.org/showthread.php?t=3302

But it's nice to start a good thing all over again *G*

Dags

Hot wings ,
1 bottle Louisana hot sauce
1 small bottle Tobasco
1 stick of REAL butter
5 lbs of wings

Melt butter , add louisana hot sauce , add tobasco to taste ( experament for YOUR levele of hot ) , clean and section wings , put all this in a zip lock bag big enough to hold it all , maranate the wings for as long as you can stand it( 3-4 hours ) turning ocationaly .
Fire up the grill , grill the wings turning and basting with the maranade untill done .
Serve with blue cheese dressing or ranch dressing and a cold beer .
You can play with the ammount of tobasco to adjust the hot to your likeing .

:) ;) :)

"Big Bowl of Meat"

Take several deboned chicken breasts and cube them into 1"

Put the cubes in a bowl of milk for a while

Take them out and coat them in bread crumbs

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes

Melt half stick butter, cup of hot sauce, optionally tobasco; boil for 3 mins to get it melted and hot. (Optionally thicken a little with cornstarch/water mix. This makes the sauce stick to the pieces better.)

Remove chicken pieces from oven and put into a big-ass bowl

Pour hot sauce mix over pieces; mix liberally until coated

Serve with blue cheese dressing

*hangs head in shame*

Blue cheese sure is popular. Trying the bowl'o'meat tomrrow.
Fun BBQ thing - put mushrooms on the grill upside down, place a slice of feta cheese on top, grill until cheese is slightly melted.

Home Made Pesto Served With Spaghetti al dente

Whizz up:

Pine Nuts
Olive Oil
Fresh Basil
2 Cloves of Garlic
Black Pepper
Grated Parmesan

(You must do it to taste I'm not putting amounts down. I'll get it wrong and I do it differently every time anyway.)

Boil spaghetti until al dente. Drain and serve with a generous helping of fresh pesto.

Serve with Italian mixed leaf salad tossed in balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and a nice bottle of Merlot. Spanish brandy and dark chocolate biscuit to follow.

Buon appetito!

Batch o' healthy sausage stew for chilly day.

In a large stovetop skillet with cover over med heat:

No oil needed, Toss in 1 lb of spicy italian sausage, (pork or turkey if you wanna) casing removed, break up with spoon, 1 chopped onion, 3 cloves garlic minced, 1 peeled and diced rutabega, 2 chopped carrots, 2 celery chopped. Add some sage, thyme, fennel, red pepper flakes, salt pepper to taste. Cook till sausage browned (5-8 min) Add 4 small red potatos cut into chunks, 4 cups chicken stock, and 1 bunch of chopped kale leaves, stalks removed. cover and simmer for 30 min until potatos are tender. if you want it more savory or to play around, add or substitute acorn squash soup or peeled, cubed sweet potatos, or turnips, or parsnips, anything rooty. Add more stock or water to be more soupy, maybe toss on some fresh parsley at the end, maybe a spash of cider vinegar. Crusty bread. Hot smokin' bowl.

I've made this a million times and people always seem to love it. And it's super easy...

My FAMOUS Spinach Artichoke Dip!

2 pkgs frozen creamed spinach – thawed
1 can artichoke hearts in water – drained & chopped
1 can sliced water chestnuts – drained & chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 or 3 (or 4) garlic cloves – pressed or minced
1 big handful (about 3/4 cup) graded jack cheese
1 big handful (about 3/4 cup) graded mozzarella cheese
1 big handful (about 3/4 cup) graded parmesan cheese
1 shallot or ½ a small onion – minced (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste

1 large sourdough round
tortilla chips or Wheat Thin crackers

Hollow out the bread to form a bowl. Take out as much of the inside as possible, but be sure to leave enough to keep the bowl sturdy. Tear/cut the inside bread into large bite size pieces.

Combine all ingredients (accept the bread & chips, of course) in a large, nuke safe, mixing bowl. Microwave about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Once warm, fill bread bowl with the yummy mixture. Place the bread bowl on a cookie sheet and scatter the bread pieces around. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until bread pieces are lightly toasted and the dip is bubbly.

When all the ooie-gooie goodness is devoured, cut up the bread bowl and eat it, too! It’s my favoritest part!

Enjoy! :yum:

That sounds yummy chainsaw! I'll have to try it sometime when I'm in a snacking mood

1 marshmallow Peep (Preferably bunny shaped)
1 fork

Spear Peep with fork. Turn on gas range. Roast until poofy and lightly browned. Enjoy!

The sugary coating on the outside of the Peep will start to melt and caramelize. It's wonderfully crunchy on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside. :joylove:

Ok, so this isn't really a recipe, but you MUST try it!

'google fried chicken'. Nicked it off their blog a while back, damn fine.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Elvis Loved
*Google-sized portions; read all the way through to get the total amounts needed*

1/2 c thyme
1/4 c oregano
1/4 c basil
1/2 c onion powder
1/2 c garlic powder
1/2 c dry mustard
1/2 c paprika
1/4 c chili powder
1/2 c celery seed
2 Tbsp salt
1/2 c coriander
1/2 c cumin
1/3 c kosher salt
1/4 c cayenne pepper
1/2 c ground black pepper
1/4 c ground white pepper

3 gals. buttermilk
3 cases organic free range chicken (roughly 30 chickens, divided into 1.5- to 2-lb. sections)

Mix these amounts of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then whisk in the buttermilk until it's thoroughly mixed.

Pour the batter over the chickens and marinate for up to five days - keep refrigerated, of course.

For frying
Now mix another 4x the above dry ingredients, and add:
2 lbs. cornstarch
8 qts. all-purpose organic whole wheat flour

Dredge the marinated chicken pieces in the dry herbs/flour/cornstarch mixture mix.
Fry the dredged chicken in a large skillet with hot peanut oil @ 375 degrees. Once chicken has reached a golden brown color, finish cooking it in the oven.

Buster's spinach quiche

9" prebaked shell
1 package (10 oz.) fresh spinach, rinsed, trimmed and drained, or 1 package
(10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, cooked according to package
dir-ctions, drained well
2 tablespoons buffer or margarine
1/3 cup chopped shallots or white part of green onion, chopped
1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
Pastry for a 9-inch pie shell
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese
If using fresh spinach, place in medium saucepan with only
the water that clings to the leaves," cover and cook, until wilted,
about 5 minutes. Drain well and finely chop.
In same saucepan melt butter or margarine. Add cooked spinach
and shallots,' saute' until tender and very dry, 3 to 5 minutes,'
set aside and cool. Add cream and the next four ingredients to
spinach mixture,' stir until well mixed. Sprinkle most of cheese
on crust, rest on top. Heat oven to 425D.F. Cook 30 min.
or till done in center.
I add some bell pepper & a good dash of Tony's cajun seasoning. Have added a little crumbled bacon. I use a deep pie shell. Also have used hashbrowns for crust.