Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category
Posted by forsythkid on August 4, 2010
As a younger man, I made this sandwich fairly often. It was a fast and cheap meal that took no time to make. In more recent times, I have tended to steer away enjoying tuna due to dolphins getting caught in the nets and to the presence of mercury as reported by the media. Note: Light tuna is generally made from skipjack, and as such, is much lower in mercury than most other varieties.
Ingredients:
1 5 oz can of tuna in water, drained and rinsed
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 pickle spear, chopped
3 tblsp Mayo
White bread
Dash of pepper
Lettuce leaf (optional)
Procedure:
Open the can of tuna and place the contents in a wire mesh basket or colander. Rinse briefly under running water. Place tuna into a medium mixing bowl.
Chop up the pickle and celery either by hand or in a small electric chopper.
Add this to the tuna along with 3 tblsp of Mayo. Mix well.
Add to the bread to make a sandwich. Add a slice of lettuce as an option. Serves 2 to 4.
Notes: The tuna I used in this recipe was purchased from a local grocery and was a generic brand called ‘Best Choice’ Chink Light tuna in water. The can advertises that the tuna is ‘Dolphin Safe’ and ‘Wild Caught’. I’m not sure what the later term means. This was also a product of China.
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Posted by forsythkid on August 1, 2010
Here’s a summer recipe that I like which combines banana peppers with taco flavored hamburger and a little cheddar cheese. It’s simple, can be made up before time and goes well with almost any side. This works well for me as I’m lazy!
Ingredients:
4-6 banana peppers, with the tops and seeds removed
½ tblsp taco meat
4 tsp shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp dried basil
Hot sauce (optional)
Directions:
Start off my making up a batch of taco flavored hamburger using McCormick’s Taco mix or similar. Follow package directions.
Prep a gas or charcoal grill to medium high heat.
Take 4 large banana peppers and remove the tops and seeds. Rinse and then stuff each pepper with the taco meat mixture.
Take the stuffed peppers and pace them on the grill for about ten minutes, turning frequently. Towards the end of the time, test for doneness using your fingers. When the shell of the pepper feels soft, they are done.
Remove from the grill and sprinkle on a little shredded cheese and hot sauce if you prefer. Serve promptly!
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Posted by forsythkid on May 28, 2010
Someone back many years ago (maybe a doofus like myself) accidentally dropped a tablespoon’s worth of chili on a hot dog and thought ‘what the heck’ – then ate it anyway. Voila! A new meal was born! Chili dogs are way up there on the scale of ‘comfort foods’ in my book and if you have not tried one, please do so. They have it all going for them in terms of taste, spiciness and ability to fill a hungry stomach. Note: I do not have a nutritional analysis on this recipe. Put plainly, it’s not very healthy to eat. But my Gawd, who cares as long as you eat this stuff sparingly!
Ingredients:
6 strips of bacon bacon cut into small pieces
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
2 chopped garlic cloves
8 ounce can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp molasses or honey
½ Tbsp sweet paprika
½ Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp chili powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt as needed
12 all beef hot dogs
12 buns
Chopped red onion, for garnish
Shredded cheddar (or jack) cheese, for garnish
Directions:
Make the chili well before you do the dogs. Fry the bacon over medium heat until it begins to get crispy, then add the chopped onions and fry over high heat, stirring often, until they begin to brown. Add in the ground beef and stir in well. Cook this, still over high heat and stirring occasionally, until the beef is browned. This will take a few minutes. When the beef is about halfway browned, toss in the chopped garlic and mix well.
Once the beef is well browned, add the tomato sauce, molasses and beef broth. Add all the spices except the cayenne and stir well. Bring to a simmer and taste. Add salt or the cayenne if it needs it. You can of course add much more cayenne or chili powder if you like things really spicy, but it’s best to taste first and then add more. (You can make this up a day before if you choose. It only gets better with time).
Let the chili cook on a gentle simmer for at least 30 minutes before you start grilling the hot dogs. You can cook it several hours if you want to, adding a little more beef broth here and there if the chili gets to dry.
Grill your hot dogs over medium heat until they get a light char. Grill the hot dog buns briefly if you want – no more than a minute, as they will burn fast. You can also paint the buns with vegetable oil or butter before grilling if you’d like.
Dog goes in bun, chili goes on top, sprinkle on chopped red onion and shredded cheese, and enjoy! Now, what about some fries slathered with ketchup?
(This recipe was found on a website called Simply Recipes and was posted by Elise)!
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Posted by forsythkid on May 23, 2010
“Thar ain’t nuthin I like better than catchin myself a briar rabbit and cookin him up in some thick mustard sauce!” – Danomanno 2010
You will probably get the kidneys with your rabbit. It is your choice whether to keep them or not. I always do, and I think they are the second-best part of the animal after the hind legs. Rabbit kidneys are mild in flavor and are a warm, soft, rabbity morsel in this dish. If you choose to use them, strip off all the fat, as well as the gossamer membrane that surrounds them.
Ingredients:
1 rabbit, cut into serving pieces
Salt
4 tablespoons butter
2 large shallots, chopped
1 bottle white wine
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup grainy country mustard, like Dijon
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Directions:
Salt your rabbit pieces well and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour.
Heat the butter over medium heat in a large sauté pan with a lid. Pour yourself a nice big glass of wine. Pat the rabbit pieces dry and brown them in the butter. Do this at a moderate pace – you don’t want the butter to scorch – and don’t let the rabbit pieces touch each other. Do it in batches if you need to. Once the rabbit is browned, remove it to a bowl. Add the shallot and brown it well. This will take 3-4 minutes. While you’re waiting, how about another glass of vino!
Pour in a cup of white wine and turn the heat to high. Scrape off any browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the mustard and water and bring to a rolling boil. Taste the sauce for salt and add some if needed.
Add the rabbit pieces, coat them with the sauce, then drop the heat to low. Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes. You want the meat to be nearly falling off the bone. It might need more time, but should not need more than an hour total. Wild rabbits sometimes need more time.
When the meat is ready, gently remove it to a platter. Turn the heat to high and boil the sauce down by half. Turn off the heat and add the cream and parsley. Stir to combine and return the rabbit to the pan. Coat with the sauce and serve at once.
Serve this dish with crusty bread and a big flavored white wine, such as white Bordeaux, white Cotes du Rhone blend or a buttery California Chardonnay. If you prefer beer, try pairing this with an unfiltered wheat beer.
Serves 4.
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Posted by forsythkid on May 9, 2010
Some days you just want to make soup, but depressingly you are missing some of the key ingredients. That’s where you can do what I do! Scrounge around and make the damn thing on the fly! On this occasion, I had some old frozen beef stew meat, a can each of diced tomatoes, corn and green beans. Green onions from the garden filled in for the real thing and then there were carrots I discovered in the bottom of the ‘crisper’. (They were not crisp but still good to go). Lastly, I had an old russet potato that had seen better days along with a few stalks of fresh celery. This cobbled collection was minced, diced and otherwise adulterated, then thrown with no ceremony into a pot containing one quart of beefed up water. I then turned my heat to simmer and covered the whole deal with a lid.
One hour later, I had managed to produce some pretty tasty vegetable beef soup. (This only goes to show that cooking is mostly an art with some luck thrown in). Preparation took about ten minutes and like most soups it should taste even better after a night in the fridge.
Ingredients:
½ lb beef stew meat cut in to bite sized pieces
1 can of corn, drained and rinsed
1 can of green beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced up
1 medium Russet potato, cut into chunks
2 green onions, chopped
2 teaspoons beef powder
In addition to the above, I added a tablespoon of dried basil along with a splash of hot sauce and some pepper. Note: I never add salt during the preparation or cooking phase, rather I will add ‘fake salt’ when the soup is served. Anyone wanting to use real salt, go for it!
This thing about making soup with me anyways, is to never try to exactly repeat a recipe. Using different ingredients (especially leftovers) is part of the economy and fun of making this dish. So, get out there and experiment!
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Posted in Carrots, Diet, Soups, Tomatoes, Vegetable Soup | Tagged: Danomanno, Forsythkid, Scrounged soup, Vegetable soup | Leave a Comment »
Posted by forsythkid on April 28, 2010
One afternoon while I was looking through some old books I had stored in the basement, I came across a real gem from my distant past. It was a book called Alice’s Restaurant Cookbook and contained a collection of recipes that Alice May Brock used in her Brooklyn New York establishment made famous by Arlo Guthrie in a song and then later in a movie of the same name directed by Arthur Penn.
The book and the recipes therein were written in the footloose and fancy free spirit that so characterized the times. It was published in 1969 by Random House and was an instant success for a whole generation of hippies and flower children like myself. One recipe that caught my interest was Alice’s Famous Chili which I have produced exactly from the book.
“In half an inch of oil or bacon fat, sauté until soft: 3 chopped onions, 3 chopped green peppers, and 3 large cloves of finely chopped garlic. In another pan brown 1 or 2 pounds of chopped beef. Drain the fat from the beef and add the beef to the onions and peppers ( or add the onions and peppers to the beef). Now add 1 or 2 cans of tomatoes, 1 can of tomato paste, and 2 to 8 tablespoons of chili powder. (You can always add more chili powder later, so start off easy). Add 1 tablespoon of sugar, a sprinkling of salt, pepper and paprika, 2 bay leaves, a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of basil and a pinch of cayenne or some hot chili sauce. Simmer all this for at least half an hour until it is good and thick. Then add 1 or 2 cans of kidney beans. Serve this on rice and top it with some chopped raw onions. (Makes 6 to 8 servings.)”
While I’m a little leery of using a half an inch of any oil in a recipe, I do want to give this recipe a fair shake. To that end I’ve decided to do a You Tube movie some time soon which will appear on the Danomanno Channel.
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Posted in Chili Recipe, Meals, Onions, Recipes | Tagged: 1969, Alice's Restaurant, Arlo Guthrie, Chili Recipe, Danomanno, Forsythkid | Leave a Comment »
Posted by forsythkid on January 31, 2010
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Posted in Danomanno, Diet, Health, Herbs, Meals, Nutrition, Onions, Recipes, Spaghetti | Tagged: Danomanno, Forsythkid, low calorie meals, mushrooms, Spaghetti, Tomato sauce, Wine | 1 Comment »
Posted by forsythkid on January 10, 2010
While I was roaming around on the internet recently, I came across a home-made tomato sauce recipe published on a blog site called The God’s Cake. The author is English and is named Michael, I think, he indicated he has recently returned from Korea. His recipe was listed as follows:
“800g Tinned Whole Plum Tomatoes or You(sic) own poached Tomatoes, peeled (around 9 tomatoes with juice, roughly chopped), 3 garlic cloves, 1 glass of red wine, 1 glass of chicken stock, 1 large onion, hand full of fresh thyme, 2 tsp of sugar, salt and pepper to season.
First slice thinly the garlic and the onions and in a large pan with olive oil sauté until golden brown and soft, once done add the glass of wine and simmer for around 5 minutes, then add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix together until the sugar starts to thicken. Then add the tomatoes and stir. Simmer the mixture for a further 5 minutes and then stir in the chicken stock followed by a grind of pepper and salt. Bring the sauce to the boil and let it bubble for 5 minutes. Turn down the heat and simmer for 2 hours adding the thyme leaves. After set the sauce aside and let it cool at room temperature to capture all the flavors.”
I decided to give this one a go. I had most everything in stock. I was forced to go with a can of crushed tomatoes (its winter here), but was good to go on everything else.
Ingredients List:
1 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
10 oz red wine
15 oz can of chicken broth
½ large whole onion, sliced thin
1 tblsp dried thyme, dried basil
1 tsp sugar (I’m assuming white)
1 tblsp olive oil
Salt and pepper as needed
Cooks Notes: I was not sure how much a ‘glass of wine’ or ‘stock’ actually is as was specified in the original text, so I guessed on this. (The author later sent me a note saying it was 250 ml or a little over a cup US) I also guessed at the correct amount for the olive oil. Fresh thyme is also not available where I live, so I substituted some dried. At the last minute, I added some fresh mushrooms and dried oregano for the halibut.
I had a bit of this sauce with some spaghetti for lunch, just a little to test the taste. It was surprisingly good and I will want to make it again. I hope to publish a final personal actual recipe in a future blog after having a chance to adjust some of the ingredients more to my individual tastes! One thing I noted that I have not been able to figure out is the slightly peppery taste. I did not use much black pepper at all, but that is the only source I can think of. Also, in case I didn’t mention it elsewhere, there was enough sauce for about four medium sized plates. So, if you do elect to make some for company make sure you scale the recipe accordingly.
A final note: I have done a video on this which is so-so, but does show how to make my version pretty well. I hope to also come up with a low sodium version of this sometime soon.
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Posted in Meals, Recipes, Spaghetti, Tomatoes | Tagged: Danomanno, Forsythkid, homemade, Pasta, The God's Cake, Tomato sauce | 2 Comments »
