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[quote=Fletcher1138]Fletcher's "Forgot What to Buy" Gumbo

Prep Time: an afternoon
Makes: enough to freeze some

Roux

6-7 Tbsp flour
1 cup water
(sometimes I use an instant Roux mix, if I have any. In which case, use 8 tbsp mix, 1 cup water)

Main Ingredients

(This is only a suggestion. I had a completely different recipe, but ((as the title implies I was at the store already when I decided to make gumbo, and completely forgot what to buy. You can essentially make Gumbo out of anything. It's one of those "End of the Week Specials.")) )

1 1/2 cups okra, sliced
1 1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped
2 qts. chicken or seafood stock
1 lb. chopped chicken meat (or two large chicken breasts)
1/2 lb. andouille sausage (or smoked sausage)
1/2 lb. crab meat
1 white (or Vidalia or 1015) onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper , chopped
6 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp gumbo file (ground sassafras)

COOK THE MEAT FIRST! Very important. The chicken and sausage have to be cooked.

*Make roux by stirring the flour and water together until thick (or follow instructions on the mix package).
*Set aside.

*Cook okra and tomatoes over med heat until squishy, then mash the hell out of them.
*Add to roux and bring to a boil.
*Add stock and boil for 30 min.
*Add everything else (excetpt file), boil for an hour or so.
*Add file and allow to thicken over med heat.
*Serve over rice, dirty rice or whatever was on the plate already.
*Freeze the rest and save for the next time you want gumbo, but don't have all damn day.

[quote=slambie]Slambie's Black Bean & Rice Salad (originally from the pages of Sunset magazine with some personal revisions)

Prep Time: about 25 minutes
Makes: 5 cups; 4 or 5 servings

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 lime juice (2 large limes make about a 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 cups cooked basmati rice, cooled (Thai Jasmine rice also works well with this)
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup finely diced carrots
3/4 cup raw corn kernels
3/4 cup finely chopped tomato
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
Salt & pepper

In a serving bowl, stir olive oil, lime juice, and cumin to blend. Add rice, beans, carrots, corn, tomato, green onion, and cilantro. Mix it all together. Salt and pepper to taste.

This salad is awesome! So, so yummy! And even better the next day after chilling overnight in the fridge.[/quote]

[quote=Kiri]

Russian Vinaigrette Salad

Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
3 carrots peeled
1 potato ( you can use 2) peeled
1 16oz container of saurkrat
1 16 oz can of peas drained
1 16 oz can of beets drain and reserve the liquid
1 pickle any type ( I prefer dill)

Cook the potato and carrot in water. Rinse the saurkrat so all the sour is out and all you have is cooked cabbage. Be sure to wring all excess water from the cabbage before mixing with other veggies.

Cut the carrots, potato, pickle and beets into 1/4" pieces

In a bowl, mix the carrots, potato, beets, cabbage and peas. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add pickles and mix. Add 1TBSP of oil and the beet juice. Mix thoroughly.
This dish may be served immediately; however, it is best the next day. [/quote]

[quote=duckideva]

SingleCrow asked about making stuffed baked olives...and thus, here are some recipes:

Cheddar and Olive Balls

INGREDIENTS:

* 18 1/2 ounces extra sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 teaspoon paprika
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 45 pitted green olives

DIRECTIONS:

1. Allow cheese to sit out until it is at room temperature. In a large bowl, mix together the cheese, butter and paprika using a pastry blender. Gradually mix in flour, first using the pastry blender, then using your hands. Mix until the dough pulls together. It should form a solid ball with a smooth appearance, but have a crumbly texture when pulled apart. If dough appears too dry, add more shredded cheese.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Pinch off a small piece of dough, and cover an olive with it. Roll gently between your palms to smooth and seal the olive inside the ball. Place onto an ungreased cookie sheet and repeat with remaining dough and olives. Place the tray of covered olives into the refrigerator for 10 minutes to firm up.

3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Freezing:

Roll dough around olives, and place in an airtight container, separating the olive balls with layers of waxed paper. To bake, do not thaw and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.

Alternate recipe using green pimento stuffed olives:

Baked Cheese Olives

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
* 2 tablespoons butter, softened
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 24 pimento-stuffed green olives

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine cheese and butter or margarine. Stir flour and cayenne pepper into the cheese and butter mixture. Blend well. Wrap a tablespoon of dough around each green olive. Arrange the wrapped olives on a cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
[/quote]

[quote=slambie]Paradise Pasta Salad
I whipped up a batch of this last night and realized it needs to be shared with other Goodgers. It's that good!

Ingedients:

1 12oz. package Rainbow Rotini pasta
1 1/2 cups of fresh chopped broccoli
1 cucumber, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped (1 if really large)
3/4 cup chopped sweet red onion (green onion also works well)
1 3.8oz can sliced black olives
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1-1 1/2 cups Italian Salad Dressing (Use your favorite. I use Kraft Zesty Italian.)

Preparation:

Bring a pot of water to boiling and add the pasta. Do not overcook! 9 minutes maximum should do it. Drain the cooked pasta and run cold water over it to cool, then dump it in a big bowl.

While the pasta is cooking wash and begin chopping the fresh vegetables - broccoli, cucumber, tomato, onion. Chop them into 1/2 to 1 inch chunks (do the onion smaller) and add them to the pasta. Drain the liquid from the black olives and add to the bowl. Add the Parmesan cheese and mix everything up.

I've estimated amounts in the ingredients list above to at least give you a rough guess on how much is needed. At this point you can adjust amounts to whatever looks good to you. Pour on the Italian Salad Dressing and give it a final mixing to distribute evenly and your pasta is ready to go.

This is one dish I like to make ahead of time and chill over night for best effect. Enjoy![/quote]

[quote=Haakon7]
Homemade Chicken Korma (Restaurant Styl-ee)
I wasn't quite sure where to put this/these lovely Indian recipes, so I went with the Mixed-Affairs book. I have tried several recipes for Korma, but these from the Curry House have proved to be the best & most fool-proof (since I am, of course, a fool). I've made my own modifications and made them abit more US-friendly. If you want some other options, try some of the other curries here.

These take several hours and dedication to make, but sweet Zombie Jesus, the final product is delicious. Of course, you could always just go to a restaurant and have them make it for you, but where's the fun in that... So here goes:

This Basic Curry Sauce is a foundation for lots of other curries, including the Korma that I prefer. Its much easier to double or triple a batch once and freeze the remainder in an airtight container, than to try to make it same-day for each curry.

- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter – You can pick this up at just any Indian grocery. Smells awful.)
- 1 medium onion - finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic - peeled and sliced
- 1.5 inch piece root ginger - peeled and thinly sliced (similar volume to the garlic)
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin seed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
- 5 tablespoons plain passata (tomato purée) or 1 tablespoon tomato paste mixed with 4 tablespoons water

1. Heat the oil in a heavy pan then add the chopped onion and stir for a few minutes with the heat on high.
2. Add the ginger & garlic. Stir for 30 seconds then put the heat down to very low.
3. Cook for 15 minutes stirring from time to time making sure nothing browns or burns.
4. Add the turmeric, cumin and coriander and cook, still very gently, for a further 5 minutes. Very important, as the burnt flavor will ruin any complexity of flavor in the lighter curries. You can dilute abit with a tsp or so of water to avoid that.
5. Take off the heat and cool a little. Put 4 fl oz cold water in a blender, add the contents of the pan and blend until very smooth. Add the passata and stir.
6. Put the puréed mixture back into the pan and cook for 20 - 30 minutes (the longer the better) over very low heat stirring occasionally. You can add a little hot water if it starts to catch on the pan but the idea is to gently "fry" the sauce which will darken in colour to an orangy brown. The final texture should be something like good tomato ketchup. Thick but not too thick. I have a tendency to cook the sauce down too far, which limits the final volume

This Korma is a lovely, almost-sweet dish that doesn't have any of the bite of other curries. I generally use chicken, but turkey or vegetables would work well, I think. This recipe will serve 4-5 people in its current form.

- 4 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into approx. 1 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or ghee
- 2 inch pieces of cinnamon
- 2 cardamon pods (or 1 tsp ground cardamon)
- 1.5 batch of Basic Curry Sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon hot chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon concentrated tomato purée
- Salt to taste (1/2 teaspoon or so in my case)
- 8 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 can of coconut milk (or 4 tsp chopped cream coconut)

1. Heat a little of the oil in a large heavy frying pan then fry the chicken pieces over moderate heat until they are sealed and have turned white. Remove them from the pan and set aside
2. Heat the rest of the oil in a heavy pan over a moderate heat then put in the cassia (and cardamon pods, if using them) and stir for a few minutes
3. Turn the heat to low then add the Basic Curry Sauce, chilli powder, ground cardamon (if using), tomato purée and salt. You can add a little more tomato purée if the colour isn't rich enough but no more than another half teaspoon.
4. Add the chicken pieces and simmer on a low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add hot water if the sauce gets too dry.
5. Finally, add the cream and creamed coconut and heat through until the creamed coconut has melted. By the end of the cooking the sauce should be silky and not too thick. If its too thin, I like to add some natural yogurt to the sauce to thicken & smooth it. Not too much, as you don't want to lose the flavor.

Serve it over basmati or jasmine rice. If you feel really adventurous, find some Naan bread and use that as your utensil.

[quote=gromit]
Mom's Chickpea and Spinach Soup
Very basic but tasty and filling soup. Experiment with this and other ingredients and their quantities.

1 or 2 potatoes (not very big because you're going to also add the chickpea)
1 or 2 carrots
1 large onion
Spinach
Chickpea (I'm assuming ready to use, not dry)
Olive Oil (I have no idea how it would taste with any other)

The potatoes, carrots and onion all go in a large pan in big pieces to boil. Add salt to taste. The pan should have enough water that all vegetables are more than covered in water.
When that is done add the chickpea, wait for a couple of minutes and then use some kind of hand-blender (?) to make all the vegetables into a cream in the pan. At this point add a generous amount of olive oil and taste for salt. You should also check the consistency of the cream and add water if it is too thick to your liking. The thing to remember is that the next day it will be will be less watery, not more.
Add the spinach and let that cook (10 minutes or so).
Enjoy! It lasts around a week in the fridge.