The Cookbook
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Dieticians have gotten angry with me because of my techniques for reducing salt. Strong Cheeses are a great way to build flavor without a lot of salt. You have to eat things that taste good or you won’t stick with it. Salads with fruit, blue cheese and nuts are great. Grilled stuff that is only seasoned at table will keep your sodium way down.
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@Mik The problem is some ingredients are loaded with sodium - cheese for example. Even low sodium soy sauces and chicken bullion is loaded with it.
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Amatriciana tonight. Yum. One of my favorite pasta sauces.
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bucatini-all-amatriciana-2
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Good recipe for salsa. I left out the japlapeno, hot enough from the Rotel. Also omitted the sugar. If you like it milder, use mild Rotel.
BEST HOMEMADE SALSA EVER
Ingredients
1 can (28 ounce) whole tomatoes with juice
2 cans (10 ounce) Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilies)
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeño, quartered and sliced thin
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp.salt
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 c. cilantro (more to taste!)
1/2 whole lime juice
Directions
Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.
Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos. -
Do you even Lobscouse, bro? You should. It's stupid simple, versatile, doesn't require too many ingredients, and cleanup is a cinch.
Here's how I do mine.
Dump a couple of cups worth of beef broth in a pan, along with 1-2 bay leaves. Get that up to a halfass simmer. Let it keep doing its thing while you move on to the rest:
- Get out whatever veggies you feel like using for a stew. I usually go with a yellow onion, green pepper, few carrots, some peas, a potato. Cube up what you can cube up, do so similarly with the carrots.
- Also cube up either some stew meat, or the fish of your choice. (Yes, the beef broth works great with most fish, too.) In terms of proportions, just make sure everything's roughly the same in terms of volume.
- Throw all that shit onto a baking sheet and spread it around. Then, add—depending on your spice sensibilities—about 1-3 tsp of black pepper, and 1-3 tsp of thyme. Mix everything around so that all meat and veggies are similarly coated.
- Get out some Worcester sauce and start slingin'. Get everything good and saturated on all sides, but not so much that there's a significant pool at the bottom of the pan. I find this is better to do after the spices, so that the pepper and thyme get dampened. They still cook, but burn far less in the oven that way.
- Bake the pan at 420 degrees until there's dark brown at the edges of the meat and/or veggies. Some people like to bake their veggies to death, others don't. Do you.
- Once everything's done, take out the baking sheet and throw all the cooked crap into the pan you were using to heat up the bay leaf and beef broth. Ta-daaaa.
Please love yourself.
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@Aqua-Letifer looks tasty
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Made this tonight at MFR’s request. Tasty and healthy.
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Got this in an email - looked great, so it's dinner tonight.
Grilled Pork Chops with Balsamic Strawberries featuring
Farm Promise Pork
Prep Time 6 Minutes Servings 4
Cook Time 12 Minutes
Ingredients4 bone-in center-cut pork chops
fine sea salt
Ground black pepper
1 cup thinly sliced strawberries
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
2 Tbsp. balsamic glaze (I'm using pomegranate molasses)Directions
- Prepare charcoal or gas grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Coat grate with non-stick cooking
spray. Trim fat from chops. - Season chops with salt and pepper. Grill covered for 10 minutes or until cooked to desired doneness
(145°F to 155°F), turning once. Transfer chops to a cutting board and cover loosely with foil; let stand
10 minutes. - To serve, top chops with strawberries, goat cheese, and basil. Drizzle with balsamic glaze.
- Prepare charcoal or gas grill for direct cooking over medium heat. Coat grate with non-stick cooking
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Trying this recipe tonight, with a Caprese salad.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/31064/italian-breaded-pork-chops/
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It’s corn season! Try this pasta. Delicious.
https://www.growingupcali.com/2016/09/corn-and-pancetta-pasta/print/2899/
This is a keeper.
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Chicken Schnitzel.
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups plain dried bread crumbs
4 (6- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups vegetable oil for frying
Lemon wedges1 Spread flour in shallow dish. Beat eggs and 1 tablespoon oil in second shallow dish. Place bread crumbs in third shallow dish. Set wire rack in rimmed baking sheet. Line second rimmed baking sheet with double layer of paper towels. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees.
2 Halve chicken breasts horizontally to form 8 cutlets of even thickness. Place 1 cutlet between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound to ¼-inch thickness. Repeat with remaining cutlets. Sprinkle each cutlet on both sides with ¾ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper.
3 Working with 1 cutlet at a time, dredge cutlets thoroughly in flour, shaking off excess, then coat with egg mixture, allowing excess to drip back into dish to ensure very thin coating. Coat evenly with bread crumbs, pressing on crumbs to adhere. Place cutlets on prepared wire rack, taking care not to overlap cutlets. Let coating dry for 5 minutes.
4 Add 2 cups oil to large Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. Lay 2 or 3 cutlets (depending on size) in oil, without overlapping them, and cook, shaking pot continuously and gently, until cutlets are wrinkled and light golden brown on both sides, 1 to 1½ minutes per side. Transfer cutlets to paper towel–lined sheet, flip to blot excess oil, and transfer sheet to oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining cutlets. Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
Link to video -
Made this salad with grilled garlic rosemary pork chops. Perfect fall dinner.
https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/apple-and-goat-cheese-salad-with-candied-pecans-recipe
Ingredients
CANDIED PECANS1 large egg white
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 pound pecan halves (about 2 cups)
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
VINAIGRETTE
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
SALAD
3 Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced
10 ounces winter greens (such as arugula or kale)
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 pound goat cheese, crumbled (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons good-quality aged balsamic vinegar
Directions
Prepare the Candied Pecans: Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together egg white and sugar in a bowl until light and frothy. Add pecans, paprika, and salt, and stir until pecans are completely coated. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until pecans are slightly toasted but still moist, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove pecans from baking sheet, and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.Prepare the Vinaigrette: Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, salt, orange zest, and allspice until combined.
Prepare the Salad: Toss together apples, greens, and onion in a large serving bowl; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle salad with Vinaigrette, and gently toss. Top with crumbled goat cheese and Candied Pecans. Drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar just before serving.
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Simply Perfect Pot Roast
I've always braised them before, but this recipe says you don't have to, and this guy's recipes are very good. Will serve over simple mashed potatoes.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/219173/simple-beef-pot-roast/
Edit: Turned out very good. Defatted the juices, then blended the veggies into a gravy. You could do a lot of variations on this with seasonings, etc.
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Made these last night. Came out pretty good.
Air Fryer French Fries
- 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Cut each potato lengthwise into 3/8-inch-thick slices, then slice sections into 3/8-inch-wide sticks. Place potatoes in a bowl of cold water. Let soak to release excess starches, about 5 minutes; drain.
Pour boiling water over the potatoes until they're covered by a few inches. Let sit for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and transfer onto some paper towels. Blot off excess water and let cool completely, at least 10 minutes.
Place cooled potatoes in a mixing bowl. Drizzle with oil and season with cayenne; toss to coat.
Preheat an air fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Stack potatoes in a double layer in the fryer basket.
Cook for 15 minutes. Slide basket out and toss fries. Continue frying until golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Toss fries with salt in a mixing bowl. Serve immediately.
My variations:
- I left the potatoes unpeeled because ... skin.
- In deference to the management, I skipped the cayenne
- Before cooking I seasoned the fries with paprika, Mrs. Dash's seasoning, and a touch of Kosher salt.
- I put them in a rotisserie for my air fryer so I wouldn't have to turn them. The rotisserie does a good job of mixing and exposing all sides.
- Took about half an hour of cook time.
Yeah, the whole thing took about an hour to do, including prep, wait, cook.
But definitely worth the time. Very little labor involved. Came out crispy on the outside and nice and fluffy on the inside. I imagine if I cut them into thicker pieces, I'd get more of that fluff.
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Saw this recipe and wanted to try it. Never had any luck at home with cacio e pepe
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Tonight will be special:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/152156/vietnamese-aromatic-lamb-chops/
Plus Rosemary roasted pears.
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Trying even more Mediterranean cooking this year. This is tonight but using bone in thighs. Probably add some shallots too.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/skillet-chicken-with-olives/
