Cooking In General

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Here's one from my mom's kitchen.

Crunchy Hamburgers

1 lb. ground beef
2 beaten eggs
1 sleeve crackers, crushed
(2 c. crushed corn flakes is a great substitute for crackers)

Crush one sleeve of crackers on a plate or a pie tin. Beat eggs in a large, shallow bowl. Make as many patties as you can from the ground beef. Dip each patty into the eggs until well-coated. Place on plate with crackers. Bread the patty thoroughly on both sides. Place each patty into a skillet with 2 tblsp of oil (to prevent sticking).

Cook hamburgers until done (flipping when necessary); juices should run clear. I sacrifice one and cut it in half to ensure doneness. Serve with mashed potatos and corn.

 

Here is an easy recipe for awesome bread to go with Italian dishes.

1 loaf of Italian bread
1 8oz package of sliced provolone cheese
Softened butter (about 1/2 to 3/4 of a stick will do)
Garlic powder \
Onion powder > to taste
Salt /

Take the Italian bread and slice it in half length-wise through the loaf (like you were going to make a huge sub/hero/grinder). Then liberally butter the two halves, then shake on garlic and onion powder and salt to taste. Then take the provolone cheese slices and cover the two halves, overlaying them until it is fully covered. Bake at 400 degrees for about five minutes until the cheese is fully melted, then I switch to broiler for a minute until the cheese browns nicely. Slice up and serve hot. Nothing fancy but even the kids eat well.

P.S. Watch carefully under the broiler, it only takes a minute to burn it pretty badly.

 

More questions about salmon fillets. I only have 2 more fillets, so this should be the last.

I want to use a marinade. Soaking the fish I get, but how do I cook it? I don't have a broiler (it's full of useless cr*p) or a workable toaster over. So, my cooking options are the oven or stovetop.

I want the fish to cook in the marinade and soak up more flavor. How can I do that? Aluminum foil? How does the liquid stay inside and not drip out? Can I use a shallow dish covered with foil? please; I'm hungry.

 

Cooking something in a liquid is called poaching, and you can do it either on the stovetop or in the oven. Here's a recipe for salmon fillets poached in the microwave, but you could you use foil instead of parchment and plop it into a 400 degree F oven for about 15 minutes instead.

Your idea of a shallow pan covered with foil will also work well.

 

Take a piece of foil 3 times the length of the fish, place fish on one half fold foil over. Seal sides by folding about 2cm in and then again pour marinade in through top and seal in same way. this steams the fish if you use shallow dish it bakes more than steams up to you. Hope that helps

 

Hmm, anyone happen to have a good recipe that uses lentils? I abought some and now I realize I have no idea what to do with them...

 

Lentils go great with curry Ara. I know that you like to make curry. Actually you can throw lentils into a lot of different soups for a nice addition as well.

 

@Arabwell -

*If you like soups thi is the one for lentils*
______________________________________________

Colombian Lentil Soup


Serving Size = 4

Ingredient

1 1/2 cups of uncooked lentils
3 large cloves of garlic -- chopped
1 cup of chicken or vegetable broth
4 cups water
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 small onion -- chopped
1 can tomatoes -- (14 1/2-ounce) drained and chopped
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro or parsley -- divided
2 teaspoons of strained fresh lemon juice
2 hard-cooked eggs ? sliced
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Spread lentils in batches on plate. Pick through them carefully, discarding any stones. Rinse and drain lentils. Combine lentils, garlic, broth and water in medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat 20 to 30 minutes or until lentils are tender.
Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet. Add onion and saut? over medium heat, stirring often, about 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cook 5 minutes or until sauce is thick. Add to lentil soup and return to a boil. Remove soup from heat. Add 1-tablespoon cilantro, and salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Serve soup garnished with slices of hard-cooked egg and sprinkled with remaining 1-tablespoon cilantro.

Hope you like it

 

Any funny pastas, anyone?

 

Sorry, I am not a pasta expert *shrgs* i can only make v. basic carbonnara and my mom's super sekrit stuff.

What is there to do with beans beyond soups and chili? I have been sticking 'em ont he pan with bacon, bell pepper and omnion and eating the result with pita bread, but I would like something new - especially since I have, oh, 6 differentr saorts of beans in my pantry

 

Try a Cassoulet or variations thereof they like beans and it's a stew/casserole type thing as in recipe

 

Since St Patrick's day is just around the corner, here is a recipe for N.Irish soda bread (not the inferior southern Irish version):

1 CUP SELF-RISING FLOUR
1/2 TSP. SALT
1 TSP. BAKING SODA
1 CUP BUTTERMILK

Mix all ingredients together. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead for approximately 3 minutes. Shape into an 8" round. Using a floured knife, cute round into quarters.

Lightly flour a round griddle and place soda farls on griddle once the flour turns brown. Cook each side approximatley 5 minutes. Stand each farrel on end for approx. 2 minutes to make sure inside is cooked.

This makes great sandwhich's and excellent pizzas.

**Please note that corned beef is not Irish, and St Patrick is buried in Downpatrick N.Ireland, not Dublin S.Ireland**

 

Does anybody know if merengue cookies can be made with a sugar substitute instead of sugar or is sugar necessary to get the desired effect of merengues?

 

Behold, for I am going to share with you the secret of my success!

PASTA CARBONARA FOR DUMMIES:

INGREDIENTS (2 people)
- 1 small bottle of cream
- 6 mushrooms
- 2 rashers (bacon)
- 1 large onion
- about 5 fistfuls of any pasta you like (bar spaguetti, spaguetti is evil)
- salt
- black pepper
- oregano
- grated cheese (white cheddar does wonders)
- oil


PREPARATION

- Put some oil in a non-stick frying pan and add some salt (if you are not adding rashers later) and some pepper. Heat at medium-high.
- Chop the onion in small bits and the mushrooms in six/eight parts each. Add to the frying pan.
- Stir until mushrooms and onions are covered with at least some pepper. Add oregano.
- When they are almost done, add the rashers cut in small stripes and cook separated from the veggies until done. Then, mix all and keep cooking at a very low intensity.
- Boil half a litre or water and add 2 big spoons of salt. Add the pasta and a drop of oil, to keep it from sticking.
- Pasta should be ready in about 10-15 minutes. When time is near ready, pour the cream in the frying pan with the veggies (and rashers) and add about three fistfuls of grated cheese. Add some more pepper. Add more cheese to taste.
- Drain the pasta and mix it well with the sauce in the frying pan.
- Serve and enjoy.

 

Hmm, the fettucine a la carbonara that I learned in Italy was completely different.

It had no cream in it and was a very simple blend of parmesan cheese and eggs (the heat of the freshly cooked pasta cooked the beaten eggs which were poured over them). Divine, especially with fresh home-made pasta (the most important ingredient - once you've had fresh home made pasta you'll never buy it at the shop again!)

 

Bah! Like if Italians knew anything about pasta...

 

Yes HB an italian carbonara is so much nicer than the gloopy cream version and I make nearly all of my pastas myself.

@BTA You can't substitute the sugar in meringue without the whole lot just not baking right, believe me as a type II diabetic I've tried and gave up and used sugar.

 

Funny you should say that D.S. I actually made a batch today. I decided to make the completely dried out kind not the soft-in-the-middle kind. The texture was actually very nice. The flavour however was about as tasty as rotting squid guts. Apparently real sugar masks the flavour of cream of tartar. I used Splenda which can be baked but I ended up with a really nasty flavour in them. If I had a copper bowl then I wouldn't need the cream of tartar.

 

Good stuff, DarkStrider. Glad I wasn't just dreaming about what carbonara was supposed to be. Nothing beats fresh pasta.