response 433 of 494:

Aug 31 15:50 UTC 2008

Tea?  I knew I was forgetting something... ;-)  Actually, the scones were 
consumed with good, strong coffee.  Although tea sounds delightful.

I'm most pleased with the curry recipe.  It was out of Everyday Food 
Cookbook.  What drew me to this particular recipe was its ease and the 
fact it didn't contain coconut milk or sour cream.  I made some couscous 
dressed with lemon juice, chopped scallions and apples, and it was a good 
fit for the sauce.  I'll most certainly be adding this to my favorites 
collection.

By the way, I froze all but the two scones we had from that recipe and 
have now tried 'em only to find it they taste as good as day one.  Nice.

response 435 of 494:

Sep 1 08:17 UTC 2008

  
   I had a bagel bought the other day from Barry's. I froze it, but thawed
it in the toaster.

   I'm planning on making chicken soup on Tuesday.

   It's really easy

   You need:

   1 pot
   1 whole chicken, cut up or not, depends on how lazy you feel.
   1/2 bunch of celery or celery hearts
   1 onion
   1 small bag of baby carrots. If you don't like em, don't use em.

   Several gallons of water.  Ok maybe only 1 or so. It really doesnt matter
too much. Just don't let it boil away.

  Put the chicken in the pot, add the veggies. Turn on TV watch for 1 hour
while chicken and veggies cook. It might be a good idea to add some bay
leaves, or whatever spices you'd like inc salt and pepper.
  When show is over, retrieve pot from stove. Remove chicken to a bowl. At
this point you need 1 ziploc bag and your hands. Sit down on sofa in front
of TV and begin picking every piece of meat from the bones. Caution, chicken
will still be a bit warm, so let it cool, willya?
  Add bones to ziploc bag and freeze. You'll need them for the batch of soup.
You should save all your bones from bbq, KFC, whatever. Bones=flavor.

  When you have picked all the meat off the bones, it's time to add the meat
to the broth. Add dried noodles if you have them, but if you don't, don't
worry. Add new spices, add some new veggies if you like, and simmer for 30
mins. When you cannot stand it, turn off the stove and eat your soup.


   This is another one. I was inspired by the GEICO cavemen.

   CaveMan Soup

   1 caveman... oops, wrong recipe.

   5 potatoes
   1/2 bunch of celery
   1 onion
   2 cups milk (the good stuff, like from Calder's and not that lowfat crap,
OK?)
   3 cups water
   2 tablespoons flour
   2 tablespoons butter (the good stuff again, and don't cheap it out by using
margariene)

   Make a roux. If you don't know how, it's easy. Melt the butter in the
bottom of a small saucepan. Add the flour and stir while over high heat. It
should be a paste, but don't let it burn. When 5 mins has elapsed, set it
aside.
   Boil the taters in the water, and when they're done cut into small pieces,
or you could just cut the taters before you cook them. My mother once said
that if you cut them first they cook faster. Your pick on this one. 
   When the taters are done, add the onion that you have chopped into fine
pieces along with the finely chopped celery. Add the milk and the roux. Stir
well, let it simmer for about 20 mins, or until the celery is tender. The soup
will thicken upon standing, that is IF it lasts that long. Add salt and white
pepper from Pakistan at your discretion and enjoy.


   Mac and Cheese from a box.

   This one works well.

   Background:  
   We all know how nasty Mac and Cheese from the box is. Maybe if someone made
it right, it would be served more often. 
   The secret is the cheese powder mix. Think gravy.

   It would be silly and gross to pour powdered gravy mix over your potatoes.
But this is EXACTLY what you're doing when you make mac and cheese. So...try
this

    you need 

    3/4 c milk
    2 tbs butter
    cheese powder

    Combine in a small saucepan the milk butter and cheese powder. Mix well,
leaving no lumps. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly over med heat. When
the sauce cools, it should be thick. Add pasta (mac) to the sauce and enjoy.
If the sauce binds up, add more milk, but just little amounts at a time.

   This works with any brand from the cheapie walmart brand upto the Kraft
dinners. You will never make it like the box says ever again.

response 437 of 494:

Sep 1 17:52 UTC 2008

  what? no comments on my recipes?

set vain=off

response 439 of 494:

Sep 2 00:25 UTC 2008

Omni, I make up my chicken or turkey soup in a similar fashion as you 
do. And when I do, I make a big pot and freeze leftovers in smaller 
containers to have some other day when I don't want to cook...

Void, I',ve never had almond milk but just recently, I heard about it; 
it sounds like it might be good.

Mary, when are you going to open up a weekend bakery?  :-)  I love bread
 pudding and I bet the added blueberries would be awesome.   Oh, I meant
 to ask the other day when talking about your scones--of course tea is a
 necessary drink to go with the scones [even the queen thhinks so]. But 
do try a bit  of devonshire [or clotted] cream and/or lemon curd. I 
prefer to  have one or the other on an individual scone [or a bite of 
one], but I've seen people dollop them both on the same bite.  Some 
people also use some kind of jelly or preserves but hey--for me and my 
scones, I want something a bit more unordinary.  :-)

response 441 of 494:

Oct 27 19:18 UTC 2008

Wow, easy.  I'll have to try this.

response 443 of 494:

Oct 28 12:17 UTC 2008

I'm going to make a dirty confession.  Last night I made a chicken 
casserole using Campbell's cream of mushroom soup.  I remember it from my 
childhood as being creamy and full of goodness.  My Aunt Jenny made it all 
the time.  So I went to the Campbell's website, made the dish, and 
couldn't eat it.  Way too salty and I like salt.  The chicken legs look 
pale and unappealing.  It lacked color.  Did I say it was very salty?

Now, the whole time I'm slapping this together my head is saying, "brown 
the chicken"and "add peas", "maybe some broccoli bits".  But I wanted the 
traditional version.

Dinner bombed.

response 445 of 494:

Oct 28 12:23 UTC 2008

Could you use 1/4 as much salty soup?

response 447 of 494:

Oct 28 14:50 UTC 2008

No, I used the 99% fat free cream of mushroom soup.

So I'm going back to Ina's chicken and biscuit recipe.  Ill get my 50's & 
60's fix watching "Mad Men". ;-)

response 449 of 494:

Jan 4 17:44 UTC 2009

I've found every single recipe of Ina's I've tried to be a keeper. So 
the other day, looking to find a fried chicken recipe that was good but 
not an aorta buster, I made her version.  

Starts with a long buttermilk soak, then flour, then a flash browning in 
oil but then moved to an oven to bake until done.  Wow.  Very moist and 
flavorful.  

As an aside I found myself trying to figure out how to judge the 
temperature of the hot oil.  She suggests 360 degrees.  I don't have a 
high heat thermometer.  But I found a suggestion on the internet that if 
you put a kernel of popcorn in the oil, it will pop between 350 and 365 
degrees.  Worked like a charm or at least it appeared to as the chicken 
immediately seared and very little oil was lost in the cooking process.

response 451 of 494:

Jan 5 03:01 UTC 2009

I'd imagine.  If your oil isn't hot enough, it's simply going to soak up
the oil.

response 453 of 494:

Jan 5 05:18 UTC 2009

I just read that McDonald's fries its potatoes at 340 deg F.  The author of
the posted article also claimed that water and oil combined to make soap. 
(Alkali and fatty acids make soap).

response 455 of 494:

Jan 5 18:14 UTC 2009

I used to cook oven baked fried chicken at ASH basically the way mary
describes in 449. I always thought it came out very well. And if *I* can
do it, anyone can do it.

response 457 of 494:

Jan 8 12:32 UTC 2009

Here is the recipe I made.  One itsy-bitsy change was to use a dozen 
drumsticks instead of assorted pieces.  We're a dark meat kinda family.

http://tinyurl.com/9m8m2h