Recipes thread (continued)

[FiveRinger]

I like to make a roasted vegetable and bulghur wheat salad. I roast a mixture of shallots, red and yellow peppers, courgettes (zucchini) and whatever else I have around or looks good in the shop (carrots, aubergine (eggplant, which is one where I actually like the American name better!), sometimes sweet potato are the most common additions). The bulghur wheat I usually make up just plain but sometimes with vegetable stock, and sometimes mix in chopped basil at the end if I have it. I eat some of the bulghur wheat and vegetables warm for my dinner that day, and pile the rest all together into a bowl to go in the fridge. That then makes another two or three days of lunches, or I've also had it as my dinner again with smoked mackerel .

If I eat junk it's generally because it's a day when I'm not up to making something sensible, so I like to find ways like this of making the good stuff available as easily as possible!

Oh, and in summer it's a great dish to take to a barbecue, too

I might have to try this one---I am trying to lose weight between now and Xmas (I am going to L.A. and want to trim down some). I'll let you know how it turns out!!!

[Jenny]

We roast veggies all the time - started with potatoes in oil and lipton onion soup mix years ago, and now we do it in the oven or barbecue with Milwaukee Iron Seasoning (http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/...iron-seasoning) - tastes like BBQ chips, yummy with a dollop of sour cream.

I've done Ina Garten's roast veggies as a precursor to her roasted veggie soup, and our other favourite is from the Balthazar (NY restaurant) cookbook: parsnips, celery root, carrots, celery with tops, fresh thyme. It's a standard at our Christmas roast beef dinner, and usually several other times during the fall/winter.

This week's challenge for me is a giant zucchini (courgette for you Euros!) that a kind gardener has given me. I want to make zucchini bread (apparently it freezes well), but all the recipes I have call for enormous amounts of sugar - 1 to 1 1/2 cups for a standard loaf!!! I'm just going to half the sugar and hope it works.

I'm also doing a zucchini carbonara from Jamie at Home that we've had many times, yum yum, and may try some fritters as well.

Tonight though, it's another gem from Jamie at Home: his squash soup with parmesan toasts and some salad. Good therapy after two Thanksgiving dinners and much drinking this past long weekend!

Oh and thanks Buzz for the info on Trinidadian cooking!!

[emason]

This week's challenge for me is a giant zucchini (courgette for you Euros!) that a kind gardener has given me. I want to make zucchini bread (apparently it freezes well), but all the recipes I have call for enormous amounts of sugar - 1 to 1 1/2 cups for a standard loaf!!! I'm just going to half the sugar and hope it works.

Be careful cutting back too much on the sugar; it is there to provide structure to the loaf as well as taste. Also, if you cut back too much you will taste the flour, which you don't want.

[Jenny]

Be careful cutting back too much on the sugar; it is there to provide structure to the loaf as well as taste. Also, if you cut back too much you will taste the flour, which you don't want.

Yes, this is the challenge. Not only do I avoid sugar for weight control reasons, we simply don't like things that sweet. When sugar is required in a recipe, we usually cut it waaayyyy back, but of course it's risky in baking. This is a quick bread though, so maybe it will work.

Just seems like a good way to use the giant zucchini - I think I will look into freezing it somehow, to use later.

[emason]

Yes, this is the challenge. Not only do I avoid sugar for weight control reasons, we simply don't like things that sweet. When sugar is required in a recipe, we usually cut it waaayyyy back, but of course it's risky in baking. This is a quick bread though, so maybe it will work.

Tastes have changed with the times; my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe (a refrigerator dough that you cut out into shapes of your choice - none of this dropping from a teaspoon nonsense) comes from an old cookbook published just after the end of WWII when rationing was ending. By today's standards of taste and nutrition there is way too much sugar called for, but it took me many batches of trial and error before I could figure out how much I could cut out without ruining the cookies. I also have to take into account what peanut butter I use; I try to get one that has as little sugar added as possible.

[Twilight1]

Jenny- do you have Splenda for baking available to you? I use that in place of baking with sugar and it seems to work very well for me.

[Jenny]

Jenny- do you have Splenda for baking available to you? I use that in place of baking with sugar and it seems to work very well for me.

Yes I do have it and use it occasionally in place of sugar to reduce carbs, but I still don't want it that sweet. Also try to avoid anything artificial these days

I will tackle it later today and let y'all know how it turns out

[BigB08822]

This weekend is supposed to be cool so I want to make a chili. I usually buy the 2alarm pack that has all the seasonings premeasured but I want to try making it in the crockpot and maybe using fresh ingredients instead of the dried out onions and stuff. I know the basic recipe for chili but does anyone have a recipe for their favorite chili that has something special in it?

[bobalina77]

Hmm.. I really don't have a recipe.. I just wing it and hope it turns out okay I made Chili once with my ex who insisted on having a recipe, and I was like.. dude.. it's chili.. just throw everything in a pot! I should have known then and there that the relationship wasn't gonna work out

[Jenny]

Here's a whole bunch:

http://www.saveur.com/solrSearchResults.jsp?q=chili

Chili is one of the first things I learned to make, and I've evolved it over the years based on our current tastes, plus whatever's in the fridge. I generally do it without meat, but with extra beans, softened bell peppers and frozen corn, then top it with shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream. Kind of a meatless tex-mex version I guess!

[Habs]

Here's a whole bunch:

http://www.saveur.com/solrSearchResults.jsp?q=chili

Chili is one of the first things I learned to make, and I've evolved it over the years based on our current tastes, plus whatever's in the fridge. I generally do it without meat, but with extra beans, softened bell peppers and frozen corn, then top it with shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream. Kind of a meatless tex-mex version I guess!

I make a vegetarian chili very similar to this.

My favourite is still my grandma's original recipe - ground beef, tomatoes, tomato sauce, kidney beans, chili powder, pepper flakes, onions, red pepper (NOT green!) and salt. No measurements... the recipe even says "add ingredients and stir until it looks right."
I like to let this simmer for hours... the longer it cooks, the better it tastes!

[Twilight1]

I make a great vegetarian chili too. Learned it from a Vegan years ago and haven't made it for years. Mine uses both red & green peppers, onions, kidney beans, 1 large can of beans and tomato sauce, texturized protein, tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. I also add fresh mushrooms and a touch of garlic with the chili seasoning.

[Jenny]

I like to let this simmer for hours... the longer it cooks, the better it tastes!

So true - and it's even better reheated the next day!

[Japanfan]

This week's challenge for me is a giant zucchini (courgette for you Euros!) that a kind gardener has given me. I want to make zucchini bread (apparently it freezes well), but all the recipes I have call for enormous amounts of sugar - 1 to 1 1/2 cups for a standard loaf!!! I'm just going to half the sugar and hope it works.

Chocolate zucchini bread is divine, incredibly moist. The two go together like lamb and mint or peanut butter and jam.

And you get to tell yourself that you are having zucchini with your chocolate.

Here's one recipe: http://stretchmarkmama.blogspot.com/...ini-bread.html

[BigB08822]

I think this weekend I am doing chili AND stew and will eat on it all week! It is supposed to be in the upper 60's all weekend which is the coolest since summer began. I can't wait!!

[Habs]

I can hardly wait to get home from work and start baking!

I have monstrous box of apples from my parents' apple tree. As a treat for my new hubby, I'm going to surprise him with a fresh homemade apple pie (his favourite) when he walks in the door from work. Yum... I'm going to stop and buy some ice cream because I love love love warm pie and ice cream. We might even skip supper tonight and just eat apple pie.

[Rex]

I think this weekend I am doing chili AND stew and will eat on it all week! It is supposed to be in the upper 60's all weekend which is the coolest since summer began. I can't wait!!

I do that all the time; I cook at least two dishes on Sunday and I can alternate 'tween the two for lunch and dinner all week.

[numbers123]

tonight I made a fruited pork chop main dish

Mix: sugar, salt, pepper, cimmimon, cloves, papricka, orange bits and rub into pork chops. brown pork chops in olive oil. Add orange juice, water and lemon juice. Simmer for 40 minutes. Add pinnapple and/or orange slices. Simmer for 10 minutes

Served with garlic/herb mashed potatoes, green beans (butter and garlic seasoned) and lettuce salad (mix of romaine and iceberg, with red onion garnish).

YUMMMMMM

And the wine topped off the meal

[BrokenAnkle]

Meatloaf tonight, for some reason the best I ever made - ground buffalo, extra lean pork and veal, mixed with eggs, breadcrumbs, onion soup mix, ketchup, diced green chiles and southwest seasoning. Plenty left over for tomorrow. I love left over meatloaf.

[emason]

Meatloaf tonight, for some reason the best I ever made - ground buffalo, extra lean pork and veal, mixed with eggs, breadcrumbs, onion soup mix, ketchup, diced green chiles and southwest seasoning. Plenty left over for tomorrow. I love left over meatloaf.

Meatloaf here also: ground chuck, egg, fresh breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, sauteed diced onion, celery and green pepper - free form shape in my cast iron skillet with bacon strips draped over the top; Definitely more traditional than yours, but very tasty none the less.