1. Lalochezia

    Lalochezia New Member

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    Recipe Suggestions

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Lalochezia, Apr 12, 2016.

    Trying to do better at eating at home, thought trying some new recipes may help.

    So, I have about an hour between finishing my work and my wife coming home in which to cook. And while trying to do so, a two-year-old terrorist will be doing anything in her power to stop me.

    Any recipes that are relatively quick and maybe even simple enough for the demon child to help?
     
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  2. NigeTheHat

    NigeTheHat Contributor Contributor

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    Peel and chop half a butternut squash, splash with oil and season with salt and pepper. Throw a couple of peeled garlic cloves into the tin as well. Roast. It'll take about half an hour.

    While this is happening, shred a head of spring greens and finely chop up a leek. Saute the leek in stupid amounts of butter for a few minutes, then add the shredded greens. Cook until they've wilted down a bit. It'll only take a few minutes, try to time it so it and the squash are done at the same time. Season with salt, pepper and caraway seeds. Caraway is the magic ingredient that makes cabbagey things taste of delicious.

    Add the roasted squash to the pan, along with the garlic if you like roasted garlic. Add a couple of dollops of creme fraiche and mix it around to make a bit of a sauce.

    Mix the lot through some pasta. Add some toasted nuts if you're feeling cheffy. Eat.

    That'll take around 40 minutes from fridge to plate. Unsure of suitability for two-year-old terrorists.
     
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  3. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Pick up phone. Call Pizzaria. Wait 30 min. Pay delivery guy. Place box on table. Enjoy pizza. That was easy. :superlaugh:

    A steak, or steak stew meat chopped into 1cm (or smaller cubes). 1 clove garlic (1 Tbls of minced). Fresh ginger root finely grated (approx 1 Tbls). Peel and slice 1-2 carrots into thin 1-2in strips. Slice 1-2 stalks celery. Place all these ingredients into pan, add Teriyaki sauce should fill about 1cm deep in a 12in pan. Here comes the fun part :D. You need to get Japanese Rice Noodles (straight ones, or you can alternate with using Jasmin Rice). Cook noodles/rice as per directions (for rice try to make it like Sticky rice if you can). Then when everything is done, plate (use bowls) on a bed of noodles/rice, and use sauce from pan for flavoring the noodles/rice. Enjoy with either chopsticks or a fork. But your a pro if you can do chopsticks. :D

    The whole ordeal takes 35-40 minutes and is a lovely stir-fry. :)

    For a more domestic dish. Get thin sliced pork chops, cooked in bacon grease (fun fact this will keep them moist) and season to your liking. Peal and cube 4-6 potatoes (wash them after peeling), and boil them for about 40 minutes until tender (start here since everything else takes around 10-15 minutes to cook). Add milk and margarine, and mash potatoes till they are creamy, after you have drained them of course. Place lid on potatoes pot to keep warm. Pan your pork chops, and you can cook your vegetable however you like in the microwave/or on the stove (peas, broccoli, corn, etc.). And in the final 5-6 min. in a sauce pan, make gravy from a mix (I like mushroom, but you can use what you like). Plate and enjoy a hearty meal.

    Takes roughly 50-60 minutes depending on your ability to multitask while cooking. :p
     
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  4. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    Baked Salmon and rice

    Season salmon with rosemary, sugar, drizzle with lemon juice.
    Wrap in tin foil and shove into the oven.
    Bake for 10-15min. Make sure not to leave it in there for too long!
    Meanwhile, put rice on in the rice cooker.

    By the time the rice is done, so will the salmon. It does literally take about 5min to prepare. If you don't have a rice cooker, it's worth investing in one because all you do is put equal parts rice and water in, press a button, and when it's done it will automatically switch off.

    Time: 10-15min
    Toddler involvement: she can season the salmon because it doesn't honestly matter how much you put on!

    Pancakes

    Follow this recipe: Perfect pancakes
    Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the recipe if you wish for sweet pancakes.
    Fry up and top with your favourite fillings. Suggestions include: peanut butter and sugar, chocolate and banana, ice-cream, yoghurt and peaches or your choice of fruits.

    Time: 10-15min
    Toddler involvement: adding ingredients to the mixing bowl (you will have to measure it for her I think)

    Fried garlic chicken and sauteed potatoes

    Boil chicken and potatoes until soft. Requires no supervision really.
    Fry chicken and potatoes together with soy sauce, garlic powder, and a tablespoon of honey. Amounts depend on your own taste.
    Put rice on in a rice cooker if you wish to have it with rice.

    Time: 30-45min (majority spent on boiling, which requires no effort or supervision) Actual cooking time - maybe 5-10min.
    Toddler involvement: None, unfortunately. Unless she wants to throw things into the pot for boiling?

    Scrambled eggs on toast

    Scramble some eggs. Before it's cooked through, add pieces of ham, cheese, sausages, mushrooms - basically whatever the heck you like :) season with salt and pepper.
    Toast some bread.

    Time: 10min
    Toddler involvement:
    she could throw in the ingredients as the egg is cooking?

    That's all I have so far - this is what we currently do with a baby in the house! :coffee:
     
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  5. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    @Mckk That last recipe sounds like sophisticated S.O.S. :p Bet you have a killer French Toast recipe, in your cooking knowledge. :)
     
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  6. Greenwood

    Greenwood Active Member

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    You're probably finished eating dinner by now, but here I go. This is a pretty basic recipe from Italy, but worthy nonetheless if done right, and can be superb when done with those little extra ingredients, and ready within 20 minutes.

    Add pasta into a cooking pan. Boil at a low fire. Sprinkle in some salt and add some olive oil (not too much, but this will give the pasta some bite)

    Take a cutting board. Cut 1 onion, and 2/3 (as you like) toes of garlic into very, very thin pieces.

    Take a cutting board and minced meat and, using a spatula, press it until it is a thin and evenly spread slab. Season with salt, pepper, and, if available, some Basilicum. Put some olive oil into a baking pan and spread out evenly. Add the snippers of onion and garlic into the oil. Mix well. Fry on a low fire.

    Cut half a toe of garlic, 1 onion, and some fresh Basilicum leaves into a size of your liking. These will go besides the minced meat. However, be sure to, when you have seasoned the minced meat, to use the spatula again to add some snippers of this onion, garlic, and basilicum onto the minced meat. Fold the minced meat over and mash again. When done correctly, the onion and garlic should be pressed into the meat slab. Add meat slab into baking pan. Add some more salt and pepper and let it fry.

    Cut some tomatoes into pieces. Add any vegetables to your liking, but the classic only has tomatoes. Let fry for about 10 minutes. When done correctly, the pasta should be good to go and so should the meat.

    Add some tomato sauce and some Italian herbs (Provencal herbs work very well too, giving a somewhat more fresh and summery flavor to the sauce)

    When the sauce is almost finished, add some green Pesto (Pesto Genovese) into the sauce.

    Serve with snippets of Parmezan cheese, or regular.

    Enjoy.

    Toddler involvement: None, sorry. Be sure to keep this terrorist at bay, as timing is everything and can mean the difference between a bland meal or an extraordinary one.

    Extra note: Use olive oil. When using butter or any other chemical crap out there, this will fail. Use olive oil, extra virgin if possible. Greetings from my grandmother.
     
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  7. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    Spicy crab cakes (or fish cakes, or chicken burgers)

    Chop onion, chilli, and your choice of meat. Grate the zest of 1 whole lime. Toast some bread and put it it through the blender to make fine crumbs. This can be done the night before in prep.

    Put onion, chilli and zest into the blender. Add a generous amount of lime juice.

    Once it is a coarse paste, add the meat and blend again.

    Shape into small patties. Use egg to help hold the mixture.

    Cover in breadcrumbs.

    Fry. Takes 10min or until golden.

    Serve with your choice of bread, rice or boiled potatoes, whichever is the least effort :)

    Prep time: 15-20min, but can be done the night before when your wife is around to look after the toddler.

    Actual cooking time: 10-15min.

    Toddler involvement: shaping things I to patties and dropping them into breadcrumbs, covering the patties in breadcrumbs.

    Fish Fingers and rice

    Put rice on in cooker.
    Fry fish fingers once the rice is done.
    Serve with cream cheese and/or ketchup! :D

    It's not really cooking but it's tasty and filling!

    Time: 10min

    Italian Style - Crusty bread with grapes, cheeses, and extra Virgin olive oil. Maybe also balsamic vinegar.

    Get all of the ingredients in the title - make sure the bread is of high quality because honestly that is where most of the flavour is!

    Put on table presented in fancy bowls and eat. Pop out the red wine. (If you wanna be real fancy then cut up the bread into generous chunks)

    Fancy, no cooking involved, and seriously delicious.
     
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  8. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    That's a delicious-sounding recipe, which I am going to try—I love caraway seed with cabbage. I have all the ingredients on hand at the moment.

    One thing I would suggest, though, which is certainly a work-saver. Don't bother peeling the squash. Just cut it in half lengthwise, slather on the oil, salt and pepper and garlic, and put it in the oven. It'll cook just as fast. Then scoop out the cooked squash and add it to the 'sauce.'

    Peeling a squash is something I never do if I don't have to!
     
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  9. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    Your description of your kid is hilarious. And I totally understand where that comes from. Little kids can be menaces. Funnily enough, apparently I was quite quiet and not particularly naughty. Mostly just talkative, like I am now. :D Some things never change.:rolleyes:
     
  10. Oscar Leigh

    Oscar Leigh Contributor Contributor

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    I'd do a spaghetti bolognaisse with IKEA meatballs. No kidding those meatballs are really good. And it's very easy and standard. Tomato, onions, meatballs, pasta, maybe some spices or pepper or whatever. If you've done pasta a few times you should be able to do it. And there are instructions on the meatballs on how to do them in the oven. It's really nice to have quick yet delicious meal that doesn't feel junky or cheap-arse.
     
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  11. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Here's a delicious 'romantic' meal for two that you can eat AFTER the children have gone to bed—for a special Friday night treat! It's gorgeous and special, and so easy to do it's criminal. Takes about 25 minutes to prepare.

    1 bottle of hearty, good red wine (a burgundy or shiraz is great for this)

    1 Camembert cheese in its wooden box (or that will fit tightly into a small casserole dish.)

    1 loaf of crusty French style bread (can be either white or whole wheat)

    A couple hands-full of shelled walnuts (or unshelled, if you want to work during the meal)

    1 peeled clove of garlic, cut in half, for each diner

    A few salad-y bits on the side - fresh tomato, cucumber, grapes, whatever you fancy that is simple to eat without dressing

    ................

    1) set the table so both diners can easily reach the middle of the table
    2) open the wine to give it time to 'breathe'
    3) take the cheese out of its wrapper and put it back into the box (or casserole dish)
    4) put the cheese into the oven at a medium temperature and bake it till the top gives when you press your finger on it and the inside is VERY runny—as hot and liquid-y as possible
    5) slice the bread into large, bite-sized chunks - put it into a bread basket in the middle of the table
    6) put the walnuts and salad into separate side dishes for each diner
    7) seat the other person and pour the wine
    8) at the very last minute, pull the cheese out of the oven, slice off the top so the hot cheese can be accessed (keep the hot cheese in the box or casserole dish
    9) put the cheese (on a hot pad) in the middle of the table beside the bread
    10) eat, by taking a chunk of bread, rubbing the cut garlic onto the bread, then dipping the bread in the hot cheese - nibble the walnuts and salad as desired, and sip the wine between each bite

    This is astonishingly good. Apparently it's a standard dish in France in small cafes and bistros.
    11) enjoy
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2016
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  12. Mckk

    Mckk Member Supporter Contributor

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    @jannert - the Camembert thing is such a Czech thing too! You:

    Bake Camembert until it's soft and gooey inside
    Season with paprika powder or your choice of herbs
    Take it out of the over. Cut a cross into the skin of the Camembert and lift the skin open, revealing the gooey goodness inside.
    Get some nice bread and dip!

    That's like a really common, traditional Czech dish :D
     
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  13. Greenwood

    Greenwood Active Member

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    For a fresh and delicious salade.

    Chop blocks of goat cheese into chunks of about 1x1cm. Chop salami (sausage or plaques doesn' matter. Preferably the salami with pepper on the sides) into little thin plaques. Add lots of Rucola. Normal lettuce works too, but rucola is better. Mix in bowl. Sprinkle generously with pine nuts. Add some honey to the mixture, and a little salt. Serve with bread and garlic butter.

    Bon Appetit!
     
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  14. NigeTheHat

    NigeTheHat Contributor Contributor

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    Really? I'd always assumed it'd cook faster if you chopped it up beforehand, which is the main reason I do it. I'll have to try just halving it instead.
     
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  15. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    If you think about it, the thickness inside the squash is about the same as if you chopped it up. And peeling and chopping takes ages, so it really isn't significantly more time saved. (Meanwhile, while the squash is baking, you can be preparing the rest of the ingredients ...which you can't do while chopping!) It's eeksy peeksy in terms of time, really. But baking squash in the skin saves you lots of work. I suppose you could also quarter the squash lengthwise before putting it onto the baking tray, which would also speed up the cooking time.
     

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