I have a few recipes I'd like to share with you guys, and hopefully start a little recipe thread, because, while amasculine, cooking has become a passion of mine as a new hermit. I haven't left the house much for a few years, and in this time, I have had the chance to try some recipes, most of them ending in horrendous and oftentimes expensive failure (Chicken Kiev, America's Test Kitchen, $65 in supplies, 4 hour prep time, all of them leaked and ended up just being flaps of breaded chicken sitting on top of a layer of melted butter.). On occasion, though, I get to make something really good, and it goes in my little recipe box, and here are two of them, along with the iced tea recipe I spent a year perfecting. They are GOOD, and are sure shot, no doubt, without fail good stuff to make if you want to wow some friends, family, or (listen single guys) that girl you're trying to impress.

Pan Roasted Broccoli and Potrabella Mushrooms in Browned Butter Lemon Sauce

3 Cups of Broccoli Florets
1 Cup of Flat sliced Broccoli Stalks
1.5 Cups of Jullienned Portabella caps UNWASHED (Water ruins mushroom's flavor)
1/4 tsp black pepper (fresh is best)
1/2 tsp salt (kosher is best)
5 TBSP warm water
2 TBSP minced Garlic (once again, fresh is best)
1-2 TBSP minced Shallot (fresh)
3 TBSP Vegetable oil
1 tsp minced and/or smashed fresh Thyme
The juice from one lemon, no seeds (About 1.5 or 2 TBSP)
One stick of unsalted butter

1. Put the water, salt, and pepper into a cup and stir until the salt disolves, then set aside.

2. Put the vegetable oil into a 12 inch skillet, and heat at med/high heat until barely smoking. I suggest, for the sake of even heating, using a gas range. If you don't have one, electric works, just not as well.

3. Add the sliced broccoli stalks, in one layer, so that none are over lapping, and cook without stirring or moving for two minutes.

4. Add the florets and mushroom slices and toss with the lid on. Do not stir, as the oil, all of the oil, needs to stay in the pan. Cook an additional 2 minutes without stirring. (You'll notice a 'burnt broccoli' smell, which is ok. That's how you pan roast )

5. Add the water and salt/pepper mix, and cover, cook an additional two minutes, or until broccoli is bright green, and still just barely crisp.

6. Remove Broccoli/Mushrooms, and set aside in a covered Pyrex bowl.

7. Combine garlic, shallots, lemon juice, and thyme in a small bowl, andset aside.

8. Heat the butter in th skillet at medium/high heat until it is completely melted, and startes to smell a little nutty. This will be easily known by, other than the smell, the thin layer of burnt butter on the bottom of the pan, about 2 or 3 minutes. Stir the butter, taking care to scrape off the burnt butter from the bottom of the pan and mixing it in to th rest of the melted butter.

9. Add the shallot/garlic/lemon juice/thyme mixture, and continue to heat and stir until the shallots and garlic becomes fragrant, then cut off heat. DO NOT OVER COOK THE GARLIC.

10. Add the broccoli and mushrooms from the bowl, then stir well, and cover.

That's some GOOD broccoli, and it's all natural. Prep time, 30 min, cook time, 15 min.

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Homemade, from scratch Italian meat sauce:

12 oz. good quality beef, thin sliced(doesn't have to be too great, just enough fat to keep it moist)
5 good sized tomatoes (baseball sized)
1/2 cup minced black olives
1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1/4 cup red wine)
1 TBSP minced garlic
2 TBSP minced shallot
5 TBSP cold first pressed olive oil (any will work, but this tastes best)
3 TBSP chopped chives
1 tsp dried thyme
4 good bumps of salt (to taste really, depends on the size of the tomatoes)
(optional - 1/2 cup green olives stuffed with onions, halfed...my favorite )

Cut the tomtoes into eighths and throw em in a blender. Puree them, or about 6 5-second taps on the blend button, and dump them into a sauce pan. Keep in mind that if you add water, you will have ruined your sauce, so water is a no-no. Mince the meat into tiny little peices, which is easier the thinner the meat is, and dump them, along with all other ingrediants into the pan. Heat at med/high heat until boiling, then cover, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon every other minutes to avoid scorching. If you want a thicker sauce, as this is a real tomatoe sauce and tends to be thin, you can cook uncovered for ten extra minutes to boil out some of the excess water. Now, this is VERY IMPORTANT!... take a cup of your sauce, the liquid portion without chunks, and dump it in your pasta, and cook on med/hi heat for three minutes, stirring lot, so the pasta sucks up the sauce. I recommend Fettucinni. After three minutes, cut the heat, and add the rest of the sauce. A box of fettucinni, about 6 servings, goes perfectly with the ammount of sauce. I usually don't cook the whole box, but still use the whole pot of sauce so I have something to dip my garlic bread in. Also, I suggest dumping like a half cup of parmesean on top of each serving of pasta, because parmesean is goooooooooooood. I'd eat it on my cheerios. Total prep time, 20-30 min, cook time, 30 min.

In an hour, you can now make a genuine made from scratch meal that is, dare I say, gourmet.

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Iced Tea:

Ok, this is an odd recipe, but bear with me, it's worth it. First, you want to bring 2 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Then, add 14 Luzianne Decaf teabags, and turn heat down to low, and steep for five minutes. While steeping, fill your iced tea jug to the one gallon mark with ice. I use the stuff int he bag at the store because it doesn't have chlorine or lead in it, and I don't like cancer with my decaf tea. As soon as the timer goes off, leech off the tea bags and discard. Dump in a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup honey, along with the juice from one lime into the hot mix, and stir until all sugar is disolved. Then, just dump it into the ice cubes. Not only do you have really good tea, but it's immediately idea cold, and ready to drink. The Sugar can be replaced completely with honey, if you want something au natural. It takes about 7 minutes, and yields slightly over one gallon. Cost is about a 2 bucks a gallon, depending on how much honey you use.

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That's all I'm giving up from my secret stash until someone else adds something.

Seriously, you can;t expect me to give away all of my tricks, can you? If I get ten more recipes posted on here, I'll disclose my beef jerky recipe.
YBIC,
Ian, the Hermit Chef

OK I will "bite"
So its gonna be the guys teaching the girls here it seems. This recipe I made up when I came back from eating out. I had the worst dry vegetarian patties and decided I am sure one can do better. Well, I can asure you this is great, even if I say so myself. You can substitute the cornflakes for more bread, but you will lose some of the texture


OK you take, 1 small eggplant (aubergine for the fancy people)
1 small onion
4 Baby marrows
4 cloves garlic
2 Large brown mushrooms
to taste some fresh coriander stalks and all
half teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce...I think you will survive if you use either of them twice instead of light and dark
a Splash of fish sauce (I know its smelly, but great in food anyway)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 egg
about 4 cups of cornflakes or enough to get the mixture thick.
half slice of stale bread
half teaspoon of :coriander powder, cumin,cinnamon, and one teaspoon turmeric.

Chuck it in a food processor and make a rough paste. Make hamburger patties.
If it does not hold nicely together, add more bread.

Rub some tomato puree over the patties, the Italian kind you get in a bottle will be great.

Butter your flat oven dish and place the patties on it. This will make about 9 decent patties.

Heat your oven to 180 C Here we work with Celsius as we think the other Fahrenheit thing does not make sense in the Southern Hemisphere. I think this might be gas mark 7 ....and leave it in for about 30 min. You will smell them when they are getting ready.

Now for the sauce. (Sorry we're not done yet)
Reduce one cup of balsamic vinegar (mix it with about 1 quarter cup brown sugar) until half.Add a little chili oil to taste.
Grate some fresh Parmesan cheese over the patties, drizzle the balsamic over and add some freshly chopped coriander and voila!!
Easy as pie.

ENJOY

I will try the ice tea for sure and let you know.
I got some recipes also. My husband has just lost a 100 pounds mostly from the recipes I use. I would just change them up alittle.
Alot of mine is just or or three ingredients.
I am about to one today and here it is.
one cup Peanut Butter
one egg
half cup of Spenda(sugar sub.)
combine all and mix will
Put on a cooking sheet and bake for 12 min. at 350. Now you got Peanut Butter Cookies. IT IS GREAT
Kim

Okay I'm in.......got some good ones that my men folk like. Now that my son is grown up with a family of his own he likes to cook too.... and so does my husband.....he's a great cook!

Northwest Indian Salmon.....part Skip's recipe and part of a friend who's Indian....they both combine each other's recipe for what we call Northwest Salmon...Yum!

A garlic bread to die for.....just kidding secret from a french restrurant....Yum.

And Texas Chili a friend from Texas gave me the recipe .....My son entered this chili recipe in a contest at work.....he got second place only because the guys said it was because of the upper upper boss that won....political. Funny thing though Eric made two larage crockpots full.....everyone ate it all up and were soaking up the sides with bread ....but the boss's chili no one ate it up.....three fourth of it was still left over.....looked kind of sad sitting on the table being number one.....and the pot still full.....and second place's two pots were all gone!

Can't do the recipes today......making Greek pastry for appitizers.....yum. This sounds like a great thread......I want to try them. \

God Bless. marie

THe guys in my house likes this.
Wild Salmon and pour a bottle of 1000 Island over it. Cover and put in frig. for an hour. Take out and put Mayo on it and wrap up in foil and bake.

Taco Soup. The guys love this also.
one pd of ground beef
one package of frozen veg. Or I put in a can of peas, beans, carrots and two cans of corn. Put in crock pot for around 3 hours then put in a package of taco seasoning mix and a full bottle Ranch Dressing. Heat and serve.
Kimi

For those that like cottage cheese...

Congealed Fruit Salad

One sml pkg orange jello.
One can mandrian oranges drained
One can Pinapple chuncks drained
One qt cottage cheese (small curd)

Boil water add one cup of water and mix with jello until disolved. Stir in the other three ingredients and refrigerate until firm.

This is the best congealed fruit salad! ...and it is healthy too! You can change out the flavor of jello and fruits you add, it is all good!

Strawberry Dream Cake

One store bought cake mix, white or yellow.

Make cake according to directions. Cool and cut the cake rounds in half accross the whole width of the cake, not like you would slice it..so that you now have four layers.

One small container of cool whip
One pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
One cup milk
One qt fresh or frozen strawberries ( you can change the type of berries to suit your taste)

Mix the pudding mix according to directions except cut the milk to one cup add the cool whip and blend in.


Layer cakes with pudding mixture and sliced strawberries until the cake is 4 layers high. You will need to refrigerate this. This is the best summer cake! Slice and enjoy! You can arrange some strawberries on the top as a finishing touch. Your friends will think you are the best pastry chef!

Either of these receipes can substitute the sugar free versions for cutting calories or for diabetics. You can also use an angel food cake in place of baking the cake. You will need to carefully slice it into four layers to build the cake.

ENJOY!

Yummmy,,,,,,,,,,,,,, God knows we like to eat............ I like it easy.........

Got a roaster.................... all in one roaster and bake............ wahla'


One huge pot roast carved fat free
(or two small roasts)

one entire bottle of ketchup

one onion diced

one container of fresh mushrooms chopped

two shaved green peppers

two cups of water

lightly sprinkle all with brown sugar

add a touch of garlic ... salt and pepper

put the lid on and bake at 350 until you can take two forks and shred the roast into stringy pieces of meat effortlessly............

stir and put it on a big bun............................ yummy......
Bar-B-Qued Pot Roast.

hint* just check the water level............. too much water and you make soup.
if it boils down to nothing............ not good.................... just right you have sauce. Great crowd pleaser.

All Tony Hawk Underground style...

>4 MORE RECIPES NEEDED TO UNLOCK EW'S ULTRAMEGA STUPID AWESOME JERKY RECIPE<

oh yeah, and bump.

Good salmon recipe;
some good salmon with the skin on (portions)
Heat a griddle pan to very hot.
Oil the salmon both sides with some olive oil
Drop skin side on the pan and watch....it will go white slowly.

Now depending on how you like your salmon..I like mine still raw on the inside, sushi style. So I do not overcook it, I flip it once for a few seconds to color the skinless side (the skin should be crispy by now)

Now grate a fennel bulb(or slice it in thin slices) and add a squeeze of lime. Place the salmon on the grated fennel.

Draw a circle of mayo around the fish. I use the Japanese mayo that they use in the sushi-bars. Its salty and its the only salt you use in this,No salt gets added to the fish.

Make sure your fish is nice and pink on the inside

love C

My Homemade Meat Spagetti Sauce

1 lb Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage
1/2 pkg Peperoni

2 Bell Peppers diced
1 large onion
1 Pkg of fresh mushrooms washed, stemed and sliced.


(Fresh or dried herbs-chopped fine) (adjust to taste the mesurements)
2 T. Oregano
4 T. Sweet Basil
4 T.Garlic

5-6 Bay Leaves

1 can stewed tomatoes
1 #10 can crushed tomatoes

Take meat and brown in skillet with bell peppers and onions. Drain. Put in large dutch oven or soup pot . Add Stewed tomatoes and crushed tomatoes. Add the herbs and mushrooms. Stir ingredients gently. Don't over cook the sauce.

Add 1/2 cup red wine or 1/2 cup sugar while still cooking about 10 minutes before serving. This cuts down the acid of the tomatoes. Remove whole bay leaves before serving.

Serve over your favorite pasta or use as Pizza sauce.

You can also make homemade meatballs and add to this.

1 1/2 lb Ground beef
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1 t oregano
1 T dried oinion
1 T powdered garlic
2 eggs

Mix and form into 1 -2 inch meatballs. Cook on cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Add to sauce and enjoy!

Top spagetti with shreaded mozerella cheese and/or fresh grated parmasean cheese.

In the south we serve this with coleslaw and garlic bread!

Homemade Coleslaw

1 head green cabbage
2-3 carrots

Clean and peel the carrots. Wash cabbage and remove the heart and outer leaves. Shread both ingredients with hand grater or Food processor. Mix in large bowl 2-4 Tablesoons of Mayonaise and 1/4 cup sugar. Pour in shreaded cabbage and carrots and coat with mayo mixture. Cover and regrigerate before serving about 1 hour.

OK... I made this tonight. Well, I guess I'm playing it fast and loose with the word "made"... LOL!

If you are in a hurry and want a hearty, yummy, and easy easy soup:

Combine:
1 can of cream of celery
1 can of Campbell's fiesta nacho cheese soup
1 can of cream of potato
2 cans of milk
1 tablespoon of dried minced onions
pepper to taste


Heat and eat! This is great with some crusty bread.

I used to work at a catering restaurant, and the chef there would spend ALL DAY making a cheese/potato soup. This quick recipe is just as good, and takes literally about five minutes.

Italian Sausage Ziti (not for the weight watcher! LOL!)

2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Medium onion minced
3/4 pound Italian Sausage
2 cups of heavy cream
1 pound box of Ziti
red pepper flakes to taste
pepper to taste

Put on water for pasta. In a skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Pour in olive oil. As soon as the oils are heated on medium high heat, add onion and cook until transparent. Add sausage, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Once sausage is brown, turn down to medium low and cook slowly for about 15 minutes while the pasta boils (be sure to salt your pasta water!!!). When the pasta is finished, pour in heavy cream over sausage mixture and heat sauce for about two minutes. Combine ziti and sausage cream sauce in a large bowl. Serve in individual shallow bowls. Serves 4.

YUM!

I like the fairly new Ziploc steam bags you use in the microwave...

I take red baby new potatoes and quarter them..

Nuke them in the bag for about 4-5 min depending on the amount and size..

Then add a little hunk of smart balance margarine

a few shakes of Kraft Parmesan cheese and

a couple of shakes of bacos to taste (fake bacon pieces)

Yumo...fast and delicious. No need to add additional salt.

Lots of pepper though if your a pepper lover.

I'm so glad someone started a thread for this. I like sharing recipes. These sound so good. And I'm looking forward to trying the Spaghetti sauce (whoever posted that one....thank you).

I made this one last night. My girls love this Cabbage Soup recipe. And its very healthy for you. I personally like to use the V8 juice to cook the vegtables in and just add a little bit of water.

6 large green onions
2 green peppers
1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)
3 Carrots
1 Container (10 oz. or so) Mushrooms
1 bunch of celery
half a head of cabbage
1 package Lipton soup mix
1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional)
1 48oz can V8 juice (optional)
Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc.
Directions:

Slice green onions, put in a pot and start to saute with cooking spray.

Cut green pepper stem end off and cut in half, take the seeds and membrane out. Cut the green-pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.

Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.

Clean carrots, cut into bite size pieces, and add to pot.

Slice mushrooms into thick slices, add to pot.

If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper now.

You can use beef or chicken bouillon cubes for seasonings. These have all the salt and flavors you will need.

Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the V8 juice), cover and put heat on low. Let soup cook for a long time - two hours works well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

We need a little down home.. fattning... southern recipes!
Apple Dumpling

2 Granny Smith apples (quartered)
2 Cans crescent rolls
1 ½ C sugar
2 stick real butter
2 t cinnamon
1 can mountain dew or sprite

Wrap peeled apples in crescent rolls and pour rest over rolls. Bake @ 350 30 min
Covered.30 min-uncovered. You can put some of the sugar and cin. inside rolls.