WTF Cookbook

wtg

MACHACA BEEF

~ 5 lb beef roast

3 TBS veggie shortening or lard
1-3 onions, chopped
1 7-oz can chopped green chile or about 3/4 c fresh, seeded and diced

green chile salsa, to taste (I start with about 1 cup of canned/jarred green medium hot salsa if I don't have any fresh around)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
4 TBS flour (I use 2TB)
4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin

juices from roast

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place roast in Dutch oven or other contraption that can be covered tightly. Roast about 12 hours, until well done. (I often do mine overnight.)

When done, remove from oven and let cool a bit so you can handle it. Take the meat out, and reserve the juice.

Shred the beef.

Melt shortening (lard) in large skillet. Add onions and green chiles. Saute a few minutes until onions are soft. Add green chile salsa, garlic powder, flour, salt and cumin. Cook 1 minute over low heat. Stir in reserved juices and let thicken. (This is the part where I've only used 2 TBS flour--since I don't like gravy-esque consistency, just thicker than water.)

Add meat, reheat everything or let cool again and stick in fridge if you're going to eat it later.

I've multiplied this recipe on occasion--I think the most has been about 20 lbs of beef for a large group. I just upped everything accordingly and added to taste to adjust.

The only heat comes from the chiles and salsa--so it's easy to adjust. If you're worried about the spice element, look for mild salsa. If you really want it hot, use hot salsa. You can always add serrano chiles (minced) if you really want a kick.

wtg

@lilylady

Summer Pasta Salad

With this early heat wave, and the humidity that we have on the coast this week, I whipped out a summer pasta salad for dinner (and for a few days).

The base pasta salad below is for more than one meal and has many variations!

I begin with:

Package of white chicken or you could use thighs. This is used for more than one purpose.

Boil several in a big pot quickly. Here 20 minutes with frozen herbs from my garden - parsley and garlic chives. Whatever you would like.

Take out chicken and when cold cut up into bite size pieces.

Use the stock - freeze it if you don't use it.

Now cook your pasta in half this stock. Use the other half for chicken soup.

Do not over cook the pasta. Add whatever herbs you wish in your dishes - soup or salad.

In both the pasta salad beginnings and in the stock, I use hot peppers from the garden that were dried and sea salt.

Drain pasta (mine was squigglies)

From the fridge I add what might be leftovers for both dishes, but will now concentrate on the summer cold salad. The soup got made and put into the freezer.

Add:

Grapes
Raisons
Left over baby carrots
Left over broccoli
Half cooked, not cooked, or cooked red/green/yellow peppers
Olives if you have them
Goat cheese if you have it

Anything of your choice

Mayo to your taste.

Make ahead so that it gets cold.

Serve for several days if there is any left over

Just had mine - YUM! Cold summer pasta salad!

BTW, I hardly eat any pasta all winter.

Sub shrimp for chicken and add what you wish for variety.

wtg

wtg

Baked Seafood, Orzo, and Feta Cheese Casserole

1 T vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, choppped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large can (28 ozs) tomatoes, chopped, juice from can included
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup orzo
1 pound halibut, cut into bite-sized pieces
3/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 T chopped parsley
4 ozs feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a Dutch oven, warm oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, wine, seasonings and orzo. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.

Fold in halibut and shrimp and bake, covered, until halibut is white and shrimp is pink, about 15 minutes. Stir in parsley and cheese and bake, uncovered, until bubbly, about 10 minutes longer.

from Maryana Vollstedt's The Big Book of Casseroles. (great book if you like casseroles!)

later comment from @AdagioM

I used bay scallops instead of halibut; it's not halibut season and there was no frozen halibut at Trader Joe's. The casserole was good, but it was a bit soupy when it was done. I cooked another 1/2 cup of orzo and mixed it in. I also think it would be a little more interesting with 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes mixed into the sauce, some artichoke hearts, and maybe even some capers. Just for fun.

Enjoy!

wtg

From apple and this website.

Cioppino Recipe

Ingredients

Seafood

3 pounds halibut, sea bass, or other firm white fish, cut into inch-long cubes
1 large (2 lb or more) cooked Dungeness crab (hard shell) or a cooked lobster
1 pound (or more) of large shrimp
2 pounds little neck clams, mussels, or oysters or all three

Sauce

1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion (1 large onion)
1 cup chopped green bell pepper (1 large green bell pepper)
3 coves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 28 ounce can tomatoes
Broth from the mollusks
2 cups red wine
2 cups tomato juice
2 cups fish or shellfish stock
An herb bouquet of bay leaf, parsley, and basil wrapped in a layer of cheesecloth and secured with kitchen string
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup minced parsley for garnish

Optional seasonings: a dash of Tabasco sauce and or Worcestershire sauce

Method

1 Steam mollusks (clams, mussels, oysters) in a small amount of water (about a cup) until they just open. Set aside. Strain and reserve the cooking broth.

2 If using crab, removed the crab legs from the body and use a nut cracker to crack the shells so that the meat can be easily removed once it is served (leave the meat in the shell). Break the body in half, and then cut each half again into either halves or thirds. Keep the top shell of the crab for making stock.

If you are using lobster, cut the tail in pieces and reserve the body and legs for making stock.

Note you can use prepared fish or shellfish stock, or you can make your own. If you are not making your own stock, you can discard the crab top shell or lobster body. If prepared shellfish stock is not available, I would combine some prepared fish stock (available at many markets, including Trader Joe's) with clam juice.

3 Split the shrimp shells down the back and remove the black vein. (See how to peel and devein shrimp.) I found the easiest way to do this, without removing the shell, is to lay the shrimp on its side and insert a small knife into the large end of the shrimp, with the blade pointing outward from the back (away from the shrimp and your hands). Once you have split the shrimp shells, you can turn the knife toward the shrimp, and cut in a little to find the black vein. Pull out the vein as much as you can. You can probably also use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the backs of the shrimp.

Alternatively, you can shell the shrimps and devein them. Shell-on imparts more flavor; shell-off is easier to eat.

4 In a deep 8-quart covered pot, sauté onions and green pepper on medium heat in olive oil until soft. Add the garlic, sauté 1 minute more. Add tomatoes, broth from the mollusks, red wine, tomato juice, fish or shellfish stock, the herb bouquet, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Remove herb bouquet. Taste and correct seasoning.

5 Add the fish and cook, covered, until the fish is just cooked through, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the steamed mollusks, crabmeat, and shrimp. Heat just until shrimp are cooked (just 2-3 minutes, until they are bright pink). Do not overcook.

6 Serve in large bowls, shells included. Sprinkle with minced parsley. Serve with crusty French or Italian bread and a robust red wine. Have plenty of napkins available, a few extra bowls for the shells, and nut crackers and tiny forks for the crab.

Serves 8.

wtg

wtg - Thanks, Nina! I forgot about this thread.

wtg

@Nina

If this thread ever gets 86'd, my family will starve.

wtg

Susan Dorris' green chile

Originally posted by susan dorris:

Here's my recipe for green chili:

1 4-pound boneless pork roast, trimmed of some of the fat and diced into 1" pieces.
2 large yellow onions
2 large cans of stewed or diced tomatoes - I use home-canned.
Green chilies: use fresh-roasted Hatch's if you live somewhere you can get them. (They can be frozen)or else use 2 large cans - the size of the large cans of tomatoes. Check out a Mexican market, your grocery store will probably have the large size only if you live in the southwest.
1 or more fresh jalapenos, diced very small. Use plastic gloves for this and throw the gloves away afterward.
Salt to taste
Pressed garlic to taste
Epazote and Mexican Oregano to taste.

Brown pork pieces in a heavy skillet, don't do too many at a time or they won't brown. Saute chopped onions in same skillet. Place pork and onions in a large soup pot and add tomatoes and chilies. Simmer, covered, for an hour, then add salt, garlic, and herbs. Simmer until pork begins to shred, perhaps another hour. Serve.

Great stand-alone or served over enchiladas or eggs.

wtg

Susan Dorris' Gallo Pinto

GALLO PINTO (means spotted rooster)

Costa Rican, not Mexican, but I fix it a lot more often than anything else.

Cook up a pound of black beans, or use three cans. (Try the Scotch Bonnet pepper in the cooking water, if you like HOT)

In a separate pan or a rice cooker:
Cook 1 cup dry rice (I use brown, but white is traditional.) in 2 1/4 cups water.

In a heavy skillet, saute a diced onion and a diced green pepper in olive or cooking oil. (Or any color or heat of pepper you like) Add about a cup or more of chopped fresh cilantro when onions and peppers are tender.

Add the hot rice and the hot beans in roughly equal amounts to your skillet and stir. If you are using canned beans, drain them and add them to the skillet first, stir until evenly hot.

Serve with your favorite salsa. The Gallo Pinto can be eaten as is, or wrapped in a tortilla, or sandwiched between two tortillas (with cheese) in a quesadilla. Any leftover rice and beans can be added to the skillet after you have eaten enough to make room. This keeps well in the fridge, sometimes I eat it for lunch for days in a row.

Incidentally, Muenster is the cheese most like traditional Mexican cheese, for those who don't live in the southwest. And even for those who do.

wtg

@AdagioM

This evening's experiment! I like it better than last night's attempt.

alt text

Ginger Chocolate Scones

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2 cups flour (not whole wheat; I used unbleached white)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder (not soda)
1/2 tsp salt

5 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup preserved ginger candy, chopped (it’s sweet; I bought it at the Asian market in the snack aisle)

1/2 cup half and half (just barely, or it will be too wet)
1 egg, scrambled

1 Tablespoon chunky turbinado sugar (optional, but pretty)

Combine dry ingredients and stir. Cut the butter into pieces and then blend them into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter. Stir in chocolate chips and ginger. Scramble the egg into the half and half, and then pour it into the flour mixture. Stir until blended, then knead on floured surface about 10 times. Form two balls with the dough. Pat out balls into circles about 7 inches in diameter, slightly mounded in center. Cut each circle into eight pieces. Brush tops with half and half (I just used what was left in the measuring cup); sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and let rise for 10 minutes. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just golden. Cool on rack. EAT! To reheat, warm in toaster oven on lowest setting.

Makes 16 dainty scones.

wtg

Cindy's Bourbon Cranberry Sauce

Bourbon Cranberry Sauce

1 pound fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar [I prefer 1.5]
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup bourbon

Mix cranberries, sugar and cinnamon in bowl. Transfer to 9x13 baking dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Stir, bake another 30 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer to bowl and stir in bourbon immediately. Refrigerate.

wtg

wtg

White Gull Inn's Hot Fudge Sauce. It's a B&B located in Fish Creek, Wisconsin.

1 ounce powdered baker's cocoa
1/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (melted)

In small bowl, stir water and cocoa together until smooth. In food processor, or high speed of traditional mixer, combine remaining ingredients. Add dissolved cocoa and blend for at least one full minute until very smooth texture is achieved. Yield: 3 cups.

wtg

MacDowell Lamb Stew (from pique)

Serves Six

Active Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, ten minutes

4 lbs. butterflied boneless leg of lamb, fat trimmed and discarded, cut into 1-inch cubes (OR 3 lbs lamb stew meat)

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 TB olive oil, divided

2 medium onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 c. water (i used 5 c. plus 1 c. lamb broth left from searing the meat, but i think 5 c. liquid total might be a better amount)

1 c. pitted prunes

4 carrots, peeled and sliced (i used 6 carrots and didn't peel them)

2 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks (i used 1.5 lbs baby new potatoes and didn't peel them)

1 bunch of swiss chard or rainbow chard, stalks removed, chopped into small pieces (i used some of the stalks)

my additions (i never stick to recipes):

1/4 c. red wine

1 small box white mushrooms sliced (the cook at macdowell did this, too--it is her sister's recipe)

3 whole tomatoes (these were from our garden, frozen. you could use canned whole tomatoes and their juice.)

1/4 c. Bragg's Liquid Aminos

Step 1.
dry lamb with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper. in a large, heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat 1 TB olive oil over medium-high heat. brown the lamb on all sides, in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding. remove from pan and set aside.

Step 2.
Pour off any fat (i didn't have any fat--it was all broth. i poured it out to save for adding with the water), and add remaining 1 TB of oil to the pan. saute onions until translucent. add garlic and cook another 30 seconds (???) (Then I added mushrooms, to saute with onions and garlic.)
Add water/broth, prunes, and lamb and bring to a boil. skim away any foam.
Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes. Add carrots and potatoes and continue to simmer another 45 minutes, until lamb is fork tender--a total of 90 minutes. Prunes will melt into sauce and thicken it. (You can pre-cook the carrots and potatoes if you are short on time, but you do need a long simmer to melt the prunes.)

Step 3.
About ten minutes before serving, mix in the swiss chard, cover, and simmer on medium-high for ten minutes. Adjust seasonings with additional salt and pepper as needed.
(Here is where I added the red wine, tomatoes, and liquid aminos.)

this is stunningly good! you can also make it with 2 TB curry powder but the cook at the colony left that out and so did i. you add it when you add the garlic.

wtg

Middle Eastern Lamb Slow Cooker Soup from AdagioM

soups | Looking for something more exotic? Add a pinch of saffron threads, available in gourmet food stores and some supermarkets, to tint this stew gold.

Ingredients
• 1 pound lean leg of lamb, stew meat, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup canned beef broth
• 1 large onion(s), chopped
• 1 large garlic clove(s), minced
• 14 1/2 oz canned diced tomatoes, undrained
• 15 oz canned garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tsp ginger root, freshly grated
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions
• Place lamb in a 5-quart slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients, except lemon juice; stir well. Cover and cook on LOW setting for 7 to 8 hours.
• Stir in lemon juice and let stand for 5 minutes for flavors to blend. Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving. (Note: Serve this stew in bowls.)

wtg

wtg

We had our first 90 degree day a couple of days ago, and I made one of my favorite Lithuanian dishes.

It's a cold soup called Šaltibarščiai (cold beet soup). It's very refreshing on a hot summer day.

Cold Beet Soup

(chilling the ingredients means you can eat the soup right away or after a short chill in the frig)

1 jar Manischewitz Borscht, chilled
2 cups buttermilk
2 cans small whole beets, chilled
4 Persian cucumbers (miniature version of those English hothouse cucumbers that come wrapped in plastic and that you don't have to peel. Use the greenhouse cukes if you can't find the Persians)
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

In a large bowl, whisk together the borscht, buttermilk, the liquid drained from the canned beets and the sour cream.

Coarsely shred the beets and stir them into the soup.

Quarter the cukes lengthwise (don't peel) and cut into slices (medium thickness). Add to soup.

Season with salt to taste (I never add any). Add dill.

Chill (especially if individual ingredients weren't chilled).

The soup is usually served with boiled potatoes on the side, and some people like to chop or quarter a hard boiled egg into the soup when it's served. I like the spuds as a side, but don't usually go for the egg.

Of course you can prepare your own beets at home, but during the summer when it is hot, I usually don't feel like heating up the kitchen, and beets can take a while to cook, so I cheat and use canned.

Not surprisingly, it's very pink.

wtg

QuirtEvans' Cheesy Potatoes

1 lb. shredded potatoes
1 can cream of potato soup (or cream of chicken soup)
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheese ... the recipe calls for cheddar, I use a blend of cheddar and monterey jack
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients; spread into 2 quart glass baking dish. (It says to use nonstick cooking spray, but I never do.) Bake 45 minutes or until tender.

That's it!

The recipe also calls for a topping ... 1-1/2 cups of coarsely crushed corn flakes, and 2 tablespoons of butter ... but I've never done that.

wtg

markb's potato onion frittata

3 medium-large potatoes
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 eggs, beaten

Nuke or bake the taters in their skins until done but still firm. When cool enough to handle, peel and slice 1/4-inch thick.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat until lightly browned.

Combine beaten eggs with the potatoes and onions in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the same skillet. Pour in the potato mixture. Cover and cook over medium heat until the bottom is golden brown and the top is fairly set, about 5 minutes.

Slide the frittata out onto a plate. Invert the skillet over the plate and quickly flip over so that the frittata goes back into the skillet, uncooked side down. Remove the plate, return the skillet to the heat, and cook the second side, uncovered, until golden brown.

Slide the frittata back onto the plate and let cool for a few minutes. The recipe says it can be topped with salsa, but we haven't done that.

wtg

rustyfingers' strata

Strata's Fare

6 large eggs
1 C 2% Milk
1/16 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
1 oz horseradish
1/4 tsp ground thyme
4 oz grated parmesan
8 oz cheddar cheese, cubed
8 slices Velveeta, cubed
12 slices French bread, cubed
1/2 lb sausage

Beat liquids with flavorings and parmesan in large bowl. Toss bread, cheddar, and Velveeta with liquid. Line 8" square pan with sausage. Pour liquid mixture into pan. Bake in 350 oven 45 minutes until done.

Mom was ill at the time she put her recipe book together for me, so sometimes she left things out. I think if you use bulk sausage and precook it, crumbled, not in slices, that this works best.

wtg

Dan's Breakfast Burritos

Breakfast burritos

Peel however many potatoes you need, cube 'em
Place in Pyrex mixing bowl.
Dot liberally with butter.
Cover with plastic wrap and shove it in the fridge.
On the day, put potatoes, still covered into microwave and nuke 'em

Scramble however many eggs you need.
When the 'taters are done, mix in the eggs.

Serve with a bag of shredded cheese for people to help themselves, tortillas, and several varieties of salsa.

wtg

Steve Miller's Mother's Breakfast dish a la Spice Islands

This recipe comes from a Spice Islands cookbook dated 1961...

3 slices bacon
2T Instant Minced Onion (Mom noted "1/2 c fresh")
2T water
1t parsley
1/2 t salt
1/8 t Spice Parisienne (doubling it doesn't hurt)
4 eggs
1/8 t fine grind black pepper
1/2 c shredded swiss cheese

Cut bacon into pieces with kitchen scissors. Fry until brown, but not crisp. Pour off all but 1T of fat. Meanwhile, rehydrate onions in water. Add to bacon along with parsley and saute until onions are browned. Season with 1/4 t salt and Spice Parisienne. Spread out evenly in frying pan. Break eggs into pan. Season with remaining salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and cook slowly until eggs are set and cheese is melted. serve at once. Makes 2 servings.

Sandy and I go a bit simpler... and with more abundance! No recipe needed, really. Just fry bacon and onions, put eggs in , season, cover with cheese, cover and cook... or more specifically:

1/2 # of bacon
1/2 an onion chopped
fry together. Drain some fat off, if desired.
spread out and make wells...as many as you want eggs.
6- 8 eggs
put eggs in wells
sprinkle with Beau Monde ( yes, they still make it. I think Mom did not have the Spice Parisienne on hand)
1 c shredded american cheese ( Mom's thing)
Sprinkle with cheese.
Cover and cook untill eggs are set... 4 - 6 minutes for soft eggs.
Serve at once.

Remember, they are a spice company and use as many of their products as possible. Mom simplified it...
Enjoy!

Mom left the pepper out - she hated pepper. I'd probably double the amount called for.

Jodi

I still make Cindy’s bourbon cranberry sauce. Fun to see the old member names. I still see a lot of them on Facebook.

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