Eat, Drink and Be Merry, For Tomorrow We Diet!

[Ironduke]

I enjoy a little bit of "gourmet" cooking, and I'd like to share one of the recipes I've developed. This recipe can also be made kosher, halal, or vegetarian based upon dietary preferences. It is also very inexpensive.

I'll add more soon. Feel free to share your own.

Pasta Sauce:
Ingredients:
Half-clove (large) of garlic, minced
Half large yellow onion, finely diced
1 pound ground turkey or lean ground beef
1 can of tomato puree (26 oz)
1 can of tomato paste (for thickening, 6 oz)
1 diced Roma tomato
Red table wine, seasoned salt, oregano, and cayenne pepper hot sauce to taste, and ground or minced carrot to taste (sweetens a bit without giving the sauce a cloyingly sweet or carroty flavor)

Sautee the minced garlic and finely diced onion in a frying pan briefly in vegetable oil, tip the pan, and spoon out the oil. Add the thawed beef or or ground turkey and oregano. Cook the mixture until the meat is well-browned.

Add the can of tomato puree, tomato paste, hot sauce, red table wine, and minced/ground carrot (to taste). Mix thoroughly to ensure proper consistency, and let simmer until desirable thickness is achieved. Add seasoned salt to taste to enhance the flavor of the sauce.

Finally, let cool for a bit and pour over 1.5 to 2 lbs (dry weight) of cooked and strained spaghetti noodles or other pasta (any brand). Enjoy.

Random fact: The Chinese traditionally do not approve of drinking cold beverages with heated food, as its believed to cause gastrointestinal distress. This is why they drink hot tea.

[THL]

Any recipe that starts with a clove of garlic and ends with red wine is my kind of recipe!

I add red wine to salsa (to which I also add minced garlic and artichoke hearts - yum), regular jarred spaghetti sauce, and almost anytime I cook steak.

To white sauced noodles (white cheese sauce) I add white wine.

[Rakkasan]

My personal recipie for last night's b-day dinner?

Car+Drive=Menu.
http://www.bugattisrestaurants.com/i...9846&pageid=46


Exceptional atmosphere, terrific service, delightful cuisine.
Kinda spendy all told, since the kids are over, and I treated them too. That, and adding the glass of Kopke 10 yr Tawny Port on at the end.

[Debbie]

Any recipe that starts with a clove of garlic and ends with red wine is my kind of recipe!

I add red wine to salsa (to which I also add minced garlic and artichoke hearts - yum), regular jarred spaghetti sauce, and almost anytime I cook steak.

To white sauced noodles (white cheese sauce) I add white wine.

I would just prefer the wine as the appetizer, main course and dessert.

[Asim Aquil]

mmmm lemme try that out right now, will be without any wine though... Got everything except for pasta.

Hmmm lemme show you my own minced meat recipe. I'll be using minced chicken.

ok in the course of writing this message, went and came back from the supermarket. Now to cook some food.

Will be using tomatoes, red onions and no wine.

[highsea]

I will repost my fish tacos for the newcomers here- these are my favs.

This will make about a dozen large tacos:

I start by making a pitcher of margarita. You will use some of this in your marinade, so be sure to make a big pitcher!

With a margarita in hand, start preparing the fish- this is best with Mahi, but any white fish like cod, halibut, or even yellowfin tuna is excellent. I use about 3 pounds of fillets for 6 hungry people.

Marinade the fillets for a couple hours in:

1-1/2 cup margarita (you can use margarita mix if you want non-alcohol)
1/3 cup olive oil
juice from 1 large lime
6 cloves chopped fresh garlic
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Turn the fish over every half hour or so, and keep mixing up the marinade. This marinade is pretty citric, so whisk the ingredients together before you put the fish in- don't pour the lime juice directly on the fish, or it will "cook" it. Add some of the margarita from the pitcher if the fish isn't covered. (Sometimes I have to make 2 pitchers of margarita. )

Next prepare the slaw sauce:

2 cups sour cream
1 cup fresh salsa (you can use salsa from a jar if you absolutely have to)
juice from 1 large lime
1/2 cup mayo (optional, but will help thicken the sauce)
1 Tbsp tabasco
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Pulse this all in a blender until it is smooth, then put it in the freezer for about 1/2 hour to thicken up. Taste it, you want it hot and smoky- add more cayenne/tabasco in if needed. It will get milder when you mix it with the cabbage. Move it to the fridge after 1/2 hour so it doesn't freeze.

Take a head of white cabbage, cut it in quarters, and shred it as fine as you can with a knife- don't chop it, shred it- you want it to hold the sauce! And don't use one of those cheese graters either, dammit, use a french knife for perfect cole slaw! Okay, now cover it with saran and set it aside in the fridge.

Remove the fish from the marinade, and broil in the oven or on the BBQ. Don't overcook it! It should be very moist and flaky. People who overcook fish should be, well I won't go there. Just don't overcook the damn fish!

Okay, take your slaw sauce out of the fridge and mix it in real good with the cabbage. Hopefully you checked on your sauce after a half hour and moved it to the fridge, or it's frozen by now! haha, that'll teach you to ignore the instructions! (Have another margarita while you wait for the sauce to thaw)

Okay, it's now time to put it all together.

Use fresh flour tortillas if you can get them, they are way better. Heat both sides in a skillet until they just start to puff up a little and get bubbles. Place a healthy portion of the fish on the tortilla, cover it with the cole slaw, and sprinkle some fresh grated parmesan cheese on top. Garnish with more fresh salsa, guacamole, tapatillo, etc. Serve with warm tortilla chips and salsa.

There you have it. Guaranteed to please. (Did I mention they go well with margaritas? )

[Neo]

Thanks Iron,

You're a man of many talents!

I'll try the recipe next weekend!

Italian and Thai are my favorite cuisines, got tons of recipes to share.

[THL]

Tonight I am making baked stuffed chicken (stuffed with mozzarella cheese and maybe ham, I am not sure yet). There is a seasoning called Adobo (found by the ethnic mexican food) that comes with different flavors. I like this line and I am going to use the naranja (orange) one - never used this one. Using some bread I have that I left out to get it hard to make some stuffing...something I dont make myself very often...its so much easier to open a box and add some water and butter.

[Asim Aquil]

ok this is my first hand with any pasta. Never bothered cooking any, except for making some maggi 2 mins noodles...

Looks ok so far, although not as rich with tomato as I think it should be. Just used like 6-7 diced tomatoes and used a mince recipe with a bigger mixture of spices and herbs

500g mince (I used chicken)
1 tsp ground garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 small onion diced/sliced
7 small tomatoes
1 carrot

100 grams chopped raw papaya (optional)

I plain fried the minced chicken, this is something I do nowadays first to kill off any possible threat of bird flue. Apparently it dies at 70C, I figured if I heat everything up first, I stand a better chance.

Then add onions, garlic and ginger. Keep stirring on very high heat again. This again kills off the smell from meat. So you can pretty much do this while cooking all kinds of meat.

I kept the spaghetti on boil on the side. Added about 1tsp of salt to the pasta. I used a lot less quantity of pasta, since I knew my mince won't be that liquidy. I also added chopped carrots in here instead of the mince.

Afterwards I added the spices and herbs, mixed well together and then added the tomatoes, let it simmer for a while.

After the tomatoes give off some water of theirs add some raw papaya.

Let it all simmer for a while till the meat, tomatoes and the papaya's all tender.

Strained the spaghetti. I didn't mix the mince with the spaghetti. I thought I could do that on the plate.

Tadaaa.

As expected a little dry, so I used some thai chilli sauce, just a tad bit.

Thanks Ironduke!

[highsea]

Here's a very simple recipe for Chicken Fettucini that's as good as it is easy. Makes 2-3 servings.

Take a couple boneless skinless breasts. Cut them up to stir-fry size. Season with salt and lemon pepper, and sautee in a medium-hot skillet with some garlic and olive oil. I like to sautee until the chicken has a little golden color. Remove the chicken and deglaze the pan with white wine and reduce by 1/2. Pour this over the chicken and toss it a little bit to coat the pieces.

At the same time you are sauteeing the chicken, take a small saucepan, heat one cup of heavy cream just to the boiling point, but do not let it boil or the cream will break. Stir in one cup of shredded fresh Parmesan and continue stirring until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. Bring it back up to the boiling point, but do not let it boil.

Mix the chicken and sauce together and pour it over your cooked fettucini. Toss it lightly to cover the noodles. Set it aside for a few minutes to thicken before serving. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can add lightly steamed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, or whatever suits you to dress it up. You can substitute smoked salmon or prawns for the chicken, or add a little white wine to the sauce if you feel like it.

Serve with garlic bread and a salad of spring greens.

[Neo]

Sounds quite oriental version of pasta Asim, I can almost smell it from here.

I don't use ginger in Italian food and stick to original italian herbs but I'm certainly going to try your 'pasta massala'.

[THL]

I think its very nice that all you men can cook. I have not ran across many in my life.

[Neo]

I think its very nice that all you men can cook. I have not ran across many in my life.

Come over to Amsterdam sometime THL.
I'll serve a home cooked 5 course meal in Casa di Neo.

[dave lukins]

Ironduke them bullets are getting close,especially if u put in 26oz of tom puree...26oz!!ps. for the Brits ground means minced a bit like the garlic. ENJOY i will!!

[THL]

Come over to Amsterdam sometime THL.
I'll serve a home cooked 5 course meal in Casa di Neo.

That topic has come up in my recent conversations (visiting Amsterdam, not storming your home ) and if I can manage to get over my dislike of flying, I fully intend to one day.