Weekly Cooking Thread - January 29, 2011

FreeRepublicCooks | January 29, 2011 | libertarian27

[libertarian27]

Welcome to the 8th installment of the FR Weekly Cooking Thread.

Looking for something new to make or made something new that came out great?

Would you like to share a 'tried-and-true' recipe for fellow FReepers to add to their 'go-to' recipe stack of Family favorites?

Here's the place to share and explore your next favorite recipe.

[Red_Devil 232]

Thanks! We like the Marie Callender’s chicken pot pies. I get them at Sam’s. They come 8 per box but are small and Sam’s only sells the Chicken Pot Pies. I like a beef pot pie and plan to make my own.

[The Great RJ]

Greek Style Chicken

Place a cut up frying chicken in a baking pan. Add peeled and cut up potatoes around the chicken and salt and pepper both. Place 6-8 peeled cloves of garlic around the chicken and potatoes. Combine the juice of 2 lemons, about 1/3c olive oil, 1/2c of water and 2T oregano. Pour over the chicken and potatoes and bake at 350 for about an hour until the chicken and potatoes brown slightly. You can baste the chicken and potatoes with the juices during baking if you want.

[libertarian27]

That sounds yummy

Chilly Willies! cute! - reminds me of “Bridget Jones Diary” :>)

[illiac]

MIKE’S RIVER BEND CHICKEN

4 Boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1 Bag frozen artichoke hearts
1 cup sundried tomatoes (Not the kind packed in oil)
1 container button mushrooms sliced
2 jars good alfredo sauce
1 cup italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 diced fresh tomatoes
1 package fettucine
2 rosemary sprigs ( or two pinches of dried)

Heat olive oil in a pan. Coat chicken breasts with breadcrumbs. Place in the pan with oil and rosemary and cook until golden to medium dark brown on both sides.

While the chicken is cooking, pour the alfredo sauce into a sauce pan. Add artichokes, sliced mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes. Heat over warm heat.

While all the rest is cooking, add water and salt to a sauce pan and cook the fettucine until al dente.

Chop the fresh tomato.

When all are cooked, place some fettucine on a plate. Place a chicken breast on top of the fettucine. Ladle alfredo sauce over the top and sprinkle a few of the chopped tomatoes on top of it all.

If desired you can sprinkle a little parmesan on top as well.

Never had anyone walk away from this meal....and it is VERY filling. Have cooked this for up to 90 people at once - no food left over.

Hope you like!

[freedumb2003]

I’ll have to scale it down for one, but it sounds FANTASTIC!

[PalmettoMason]

When I need to fix something quick and easy with minimum cleanup for my wife and I, I brown a pound of Italian sausage and then add a can of pizza sauce and some caraway seeds. Let it cook until the sauce cooks down and use it to fill sliced hoagie rolls. Top with lots of shredded mozzarella, some sliced black olives, and pepperoni slices. Slide under the broiler until the cheese melts and starts to brown.

Have a glass of Lambrusco with it, and enjoy.

Now, does anyone have a good, authentic Goulash recipe?

(Oh, and PLEASE add me to the ping list... THANKS!)

[libertarian27]

Like Turnips?!
Check out this recipe

Cheesy Turnip & Carrots
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2647463/posts?page=65#65

(It does have flour in it so I don’t know how that would settle with low-carb - maybe thicken with cornstarch instead?)

[Free Vulcan]

Here’s a recipe for my aunt’s Brown Bag Apple Pie:

3 to 4 small apples, sliced
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teas cinnamon
2 tbls lemon juice

Mix all, put in pie crust.

Mix:

1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar

Sprinkle on top, bake 1 hr @ 400 degrees. Can bake in a grocery paper bag, or put foil down to catch the drippings.

Pie crust:

1 egg
3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup lard
5 teas water
1 teas vinegar

[libertarian27]

You’re added to the ping list :)

[illiac]

Here is one we like....

Hungarian Goulash
Here’s the recipe, this is AUTHENTIC so there’s no green peppers or tomatoes in it (Americans transformed it to add tomatoes, bell peppers and the easy tomato soup versions)

2 lb. beef chuck
1 tsp. salt
2 onions, white or yellow
2 Tbsp. lard or shortening
2 Tbsp. imported sweet paprika (most important to use real hungarian paprika for ultimate flavor)
2 bay leaves
1 Qt. water
4 peeled and diced potatoes
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Cut beef into 1 inch squares, add 1/2 tsp. salt. Chop onions and brown in shortening, add beef and paprika. Let beef simmer in its own juice along with salt and paprika for 1 hr. on low heat. Add water, diced potatoes and remaining salt. Cover and simmer until potatoes are done and meat is tender. Prepare egg dumpling batter:

1 egg
6 Tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. salt
Add flour to unbeaten egg and salt. Mix well. Let stand for 1/2 hour for flour to mellow. Drop by teaspoonful into Goulash. Cover and simmer 5 minutes after dumplings rise to surface.

Serve hot with dollops of sour cream.

[PalmettoMason]

Sounds good, I'll try it.

I had some goulash in a Hungarian establishment in Wurzburg, Germany years ago... never got over it. Fantastic!

[PalmettoMason]

Thanks.

[Raebie]

Ralston’s Casserole

2 lbs. hamburger, browned & drained
1 pkg penne pasta (8oz)
1 large jar of spaghetti sauce (or 2 small)
1 pkg cream cheese, softened (8oz)
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 medium onion, chopped
2 pkg chopped frozen spinach, thawed & drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Brown hamburger & drain. Cook pasta for about 8 minutes. Combine pasta, spaghetti sauce & hamburger in large pot.

Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, chopped onion, salt & pepper to taste.

Pour half of pasta/hamburger combination into a greased 9x13 pan. Spread sour cream/cream cheese mixture on top. Sprinkle spinach over next. Top with remaining pasta/hamburger.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for an hour or until casserole starts to bubble. Remove from oven & top with shredded cheddar cheese. Return to oven and cook for 10 more minutes, until cheese melts.

[Engedi]

Please add me to the list, thank you.

[libertarian27]

Another recipe for those Pot Pie Bowls

Ham and Potato Casserole
(I’m winging this recipe-I don’t have it written down - it’s in my head:)

Boil chunked potatoes until soft but firm - set aside
(I usually throw in a chopped Onion w/ the potatoes to soften)
Cut ham into chunks similar size of your potatoes

(I’ll eye or put the raw chunked potatoes into the dishes I’m planning to use to get the desired amount for the meal)

White sauce:
3 T melted - then add 3 T flour - stir to incorporate(don’t want to brown)
Slowly add Milk (I’m guessing 2-3 cups - you want enough to coat the potato/ham and have a creamy sauce)

Start adding cheese: I’ll always throw in a few slices of American cheese, then start adding what you have on hand until you have your desired cheesiness....ie: 1/2 cup to a cup of sharp cheddar, some swiss, some monterey jack, etc.)

Salt, pepper, dash nutmeg to taste

Combine all - to casserole dish

Melt butter in pan - add breadcrumbs to coat- top casserole

Bake 350’ 30-45 minutes
Until hot and bubbly

[Netizen]

(It does have flour in it so I don’t know how that would settle with low-carb - maybe thicken with cornstarch instead?)

Arrowroot?

[libertarian27]

You’re Added!

Happy Cooking

[Netizen]

Another substitute for mashed potatoes is mashed cauliflower. You could even try a half an half of potatoes and cauliflower to keep the garb count down.

[prisoner6]

Thanks! We're pretty much sold, especially for uses other than turkey. We'd use it probably several times a month. It's just Mrs.p6 and sometimes our youngest son now we don't make as much food at a time as we used to.

Of course I still need my BIG pots when I make massive quantities of Burgoo, Jambalaya and such, but that will be pretty much at family gatherings.

[Flamenco Lady]

Your recipe is very similar to how I make my easy Augratin style potatoes. I use a 9X13 casserole dish, but it can easily be adapted to any size dish.

Ingredients are as follows
potatoes, thinly sliced (however many are needed to fill my casserole dish).
salt and pepper to taste
1 or two onions, sliced thinly then cut the slices in 4, and break apart so you have thin strips.(You can easily increase or decrease the amount of onion based on your own tastes.)
grated cheese to taste (I use whatever I have in the house that day and often use more than one kind of cheese. When I use cheddar I like to us only half cheddar and half cream cheese and some kind of white cheese so it is really creamy.)
heavy cream.

I start with a layer of potatoes on the bottom of the casserole dish overlapping the potatoes about 1/2 inch. I sprinkle each layer of potatoes with salt and pepper. Not too much on each layer since you are doing this to every layer of potatoes. I then sprinkle a layer of onions on top of the potatoes, and then a layer of cheese. I repeat this process until the casserole dish is almost full, waiting to put the last layer of cheese on the casserole.

I slowly pour heavy whipping cream over the entire casserole letting it seep in to the cracks. How much cream you use will depend on the depth of your casserole dish and how densely the potatoes are packed. You want enough to keep the potatoes moist and a creamy cheesy sauce on the potatoes, but you don’t want a soggy mess either. Then sprinkle the last layer of cheese on top, cover with foil and bake. This is one of those casseroles that you can bake at just about any temperature, depending on what else you have in the oven. I start checking the potatoes for doneness after about 30-40 minutes. When they are fork tender, I remove the foil and let the top layer of cheese brown. This usually takes about 10-15 minutes.

This dish is really rich and probably not something you want to fix all the time, but my family insists I make it once a month instead of just doing it for the holidays.