[flashfiction]

This thread is for the cooks out there

( It's not about do you eat fish on Friday or a Sunday roast weekly or even do you eat poached eggs on toast once a week )

Is there a recipe/ dish that is so good, you would be happy to eat it once a week or even every fortnight ..... ok, maybe not for the rest of your life but for a good stretch?

I've often thought that those I know who do this have probably been able to simplify their domestic life. ( I've never been able to do it although I do get a craze on a particular wow recipe I've discovered.)

If you do, shared links appreciated.

[mrsgrumpy49]

I don't do 'recipes'. Just simple unadulterated food cooked according to mood - maybe with a smattering of herbs/spices
The one thing I have every week is fish. I live in the middle of nowhere but we have a weekly visit from a travelling fish van which brings it fresh from the docks. I usually get hake - it's difficult to find locally. I have it either in my own tarragon sauce concoction or battered. Superb either way.
Another favourite is pork loin fillet cut up and gently fried, flavoured with 5 spice powder.

[flashfiction]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrsgrumpy49

I don't do 'recipes'. Just simple unadulterated food cooked according to mood - maybe with a smattering of herbs/spices
The one thing I have every week is fish. I live in the middle of nowhere but we have a weekly visit from a travelling fish van which brings it fresh from the docks. I usually get hake - it's difficult to find locally. I have it either in my own tarragon sauce concoction or battered. Superb either way.
Another favourite is pork loin fillet cut up and gently fried, flavoured with 5 spice powder.

You're lucky with that fishmonger van - you're getting fish fresher than anyone else will, that's for sure.
Not a lot of experience with hake-Jewish friends of mine love it and I've had it mainly in Spain.
Clearly you are growing you're own tarragon , me too - nice stuff.

We too use a lot of pork - so despite the nice simplicity of a well-cooked chop etc . if I look at what I keep returning to over the decades , it's any type of what the Chinese call "red cooked " pork. (Jap also do a version "Rafte", even Delia does a version) I won't link those as you don't do recipes. (There's also a similar thing for salmon steaks, but quickly cooked - soy, r wine, aromatics etc that has hit the spot for the last couple of decades, but they may not be coming from your docks?)

Anyway, this was really good this week, a much better version of something I've cooked since student days , a better kedgeree which I could stick to, maybe once a fortnight.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1...imate-kedgeree

[molliepops]

I do a very nice vegetarian shepherds pie, or a vegetable soup or a mushroom risotto any of which I would happily eat every week.

[maddie_brundret]

I don't eat meat but I do love fish.
One of my very favourite dishes is fish pie.
Not keen on salmon or prawns so I just have lovely large pure white cod and smoked haddock and onion.
Plain white sauce, not parsley as some people have.
My favourite cheddar cheese mixed with mashed potato on top.

Lovely.

[alan29]

I do a seafood and fish pasta thing that we have fairly regularly.
It always ends with clean plates and garlic bread wiped around the pan, so it can't be that bad.

[degsyhufc]

I try not to have chips every night so alternate with rice, noodles, pasta or beans.

A simple tomato sauce with spaghetti or fusilli.
A stirfry most weekends.


Every two or three weeks I make a big pot of stew.

The last one I did was veggie. A carrot, same amount of swede, 2 large potatoes, a tin of ratatouille, a tin of mixed beans and herbs & spices.

[WombatDeath]

A sort of amatriciana, more accurately known in my household as "bacon spaghetti".

Fry some chopped bacon, sliced onion, chilli and loads of garlic
Add some pasata or tinned chopped tomatoes, simmer for 15 minutes
Make some spaghetti
Combine

It's easily at the top of my "tastiness-relative-to-effort" chart. I probably make it once a week or so.

[Val1]

Something my family requests every week and would be happy to eat twice a week, is a dish they named Chicken Goopies when they were younger. It's about as simple as you can get if you don't mind using canned soups and dried spices and can be changed up/down or sideways depending on what you have in the fridge/pantry.

Heck, I've done it with pork cutlets and everyone enjoyed that too. Personally I prefer to season and brown the pork cutlets in a bit of olive oil and just finish them in the oven with a simple gravy poured over them made from the pan brownings/juices, a can or two of mushroom soup, garlic powder to taste and a splash or two of milk to thin the gravy, then bake at 350 F for as long as it takes to make a pot of mashed potatoes(or whatever) to serve them with.

Anyway, here's the basic recipe for Chicken Goopies:

In a large baking dish(ie.lasagna size) place:
4-6 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mix well and top with:
2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup(or 1 each of cream of chicken and celery)
1 can or so of milk
1/2 - 1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 - 1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 - 1 tsp. chili pepper
1 - 2 tbs. dried, minced onion

Sprinkle each breast with some shredded cheese(whatever you prefer or have on hand), and lastly top with slightly crushed croutons and if you like them some of those crispy, fried onions.

Bake at 350 F. for 1 - 1 1/4 hours, serve over choice of rice/potatoes/noodles and side of vegetables and/or salad.

[flashfiction]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WombatDeath

A sort of amatriciana, more accurately known in my household as "bacon spaghetti".

Fry some chopped bacon, sliced onion, chilli and loads of garlic
Add some pasata or tinned chopped tomatoes, simmer for 15 minutes
Make some spaghetti
Combine

It's easily at the top of my "tastiness-relative-to-effort" chart. I probably make it once a week or so.

Here's another in the same vein BIB, 10 minutes? , for those who like strong flavours, which I have made since I was a student decades ago, so it almost fits the thread.
Pasta alla Puttanesca - all store cupboard stuff. Almost faster than a ready meal?

Fry tin of anchovies ( use a spatter guard though) , chopped garlic, some red chilli in olive oil. Add tin chopped tomatoes,
Simmer add some chunks of tuna and black olives. ( sometimes rinsed capers )Serve with spag or penne etc.


a link for those that prefer links
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...lla-puttanesca

[IvanIV]

Mary Berry's Malay rice. I try a lot of recipes, but there are only a few that I want to do repeatedly, this is one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkdaWetdPmg

[maddie_brundret]

Just a little bit off topic - Sorry flashfiction

I was just wandering round the supermarket the other day and looking in the freezers I saw Goodfella's Apple Crumble Pizza.
Now I do love apple crumble on it's own, no custard or cream or ice cream just plain.
The only pizza I have is cheese and tomato.
It does say the pizza base is sweet.
Sounds dreadful to me may taste ok, but certainly not for me.

[alan29]

Sausag-y Pasta-y Thingie.
Mattessons smoked sausage chopped into a tomato and mushroom pasta sauce served with pasta.
Did it decades ago for the kids. Now they do it for their own kids.

[sarahj1986]

In the last year or so I've started to like tomatoes more than I used to and using them more in cooking. I make my own tomato based sauces at least once a week now. I enjoy it with fish, meats and chicken.

[flashfiction]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddie_brundret

Just a little bit off topic - Sorry flashfiction

I was just wandering round the supermarket the other day and looking in the freezers I saw Goodfella's Apple Crumble Pizza.
Now I do love apple crumble on it's own, no custard or cream or ice cream just plain.
The only pizza I have is cheese and tomato.
It does say the pizza base is sweet.
Sounds dreadful to me may taste ok, but certainly not for me.

ooooo - I don't believe you maddie!
Me neither - I know Americans have a sweet n savoury together thing - but Goodfellas is probably made in Runcorn!

You reminded me - this pizza topping is a standby - no idea what it's like on ready bases - but a lot of people probably have breadmakers these days.

Topping - baked beans, grated cheddar, chopped garlic. Surprisingly good - friends don't believe me until I force it on them!

PS that pub thread was good - i wanted to visit all of them when I read the descriptions.

[flashfiction]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IvanIV

Mary Berry's Malay rice. I try a lot of recipes, but there are only a few that I want to do repeatedly, this is one of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkdaWetdPmg

I'll give that a whirl next week Ivan

Is it the same as this ( haven't watched the vid)
http://www.maryberry.co.uk/recipes/m...hicken-stirfry

[IvanIV]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flashfiction

I'll give that a whirl next week Ivan

Is it the same as this ( haven't watched the vid)
http://www.maryberry.co.uk/recipes/m...hicken-stirfry

It has similar ingredients, but it's not the same. I saw that recipe on TV and I thought I had to try it.

Ingredients here: http://thetalentzone.co.uk/musictv/2...te-favourites/

[Jellied Eel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahj1986

In the last year or so I've started to like tomatoes more than I used to and using them more in cooking.

Tomatoes are great! And also easy to grow if you've got room for growbags.

But a new favorite for me, from a West African friend.

chop some onions, bit of garlic and fry till soft, or bit caramelised. Add uncooked rice. Add tin of chopped tomatoes, or fresh chopped tomatoes + stock. Add some beans or peas..

Then some cooked/chopped smoked ham hock, chopped smoked sausage (Mattessons, or there's loads of Polish sausages around now). Or add flaked fish bits.

Trick is to cook the rice in the juices, so it's ready when the rice is done and has soaked up most of the liquid. So that kind of drives the time for cooking meat/fish. If it's pre-cooked meat like sausage, it's done when the rice is done. But a quick & tasty one-pot dish that's also classic African/Cajun/Creole.

makes for tastier rice than just cooking it in water though

[IvanIV]

Roasted chicken thighs with paprika. Preheat oven at 180C, season the thighs with salt and black pepper, put in a pan. Heat up a bit of vegetable oil in a small pan, add a tea spoon of paprika, careful, it can burn quickly, but doing this makes a difference in taste for me. So best is to take the pan with oil from the stove before adding it. Mix it with a spoon, pour it over chicken thighs, rinse with a bit of water and pour it in the pan with the thighs. Put in the oven for about 45 minutes. Every 10 minutes or so pour juices over the thighs with a spoon to prevent the paprika from burning. Optional: mix 2 crushed and chopped cloves of garlic with a bit of oil and spread over the thighs 10 minutes before done. Your kitchen will smell amazing You can prepare the whole chicken like that, of course.

[aggielane]

I have these cheesy broccoli chicken parcels at least once a fortnight http://bestlife4moms.weebly.com/best...ken-foil-packs

[Isambard Brunel]

Curry. End of thread.

[degsyhufc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jellied Eel

Tomatoes are great! And also easy to grow if you've got room for growbags.

But a new favorite for me, from a West African friend.

chop some onions, bit of garlic and fry till soft, or bit caramelised. Add uncooked rice. Add tin of chopped tomatoes, or fresh chopped tomatoes + stock. Add some beans or peas..

Then some cooked/chopped smoked ham hock, chopped smoked sausage (Mattessons, or there's loads of Polish sausages around now). Or add flaked fish bits.

Trick is to cook the rice in the juices, so it's ready when the rice is done and has soaked up most of the liquid. So that kind of drives the time for cooking meat/fish. If it's pre-cooked meat like sausage, it's done when the rice is done. But a quick & tasty one-pot dish that's also classic African/Cajun/Creole.

makes for tastier rice than just cooking it in water though

I do something similar. Not sure what it would be called but to me it's a variation on a jambalaya (I guess many countries have a similar dish).

[degsyhufc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by maddie_brundret

Just a little bit off topic - Sorry flashfiction

I was just wandering round the supermarket the other day and looking in the freezers I saw Goodfella's Apple Crumble Pizza.
Now I do love apple crumble on it's own, no custard or cream or ice cream just plain.
The only pizza I have is cheese and tomato.
It does say the pizza base is sweet.
Sounds dreadful to me may taste ok, but certainly not for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flashfiction

ooooo - I don't believe you maddie!
Me neither - I know Americans have a sweet n savoury together thing - but Goodfellas is probably made in Runcorn!

Not sure of the brand but I was in Tesco the other day and spotted a chocolate pizza.

[maddie_brundret]

Quote:

Originally Posted by degsyhufc

Not sure of the brand but I was in Tesco the other day and spotted a chocolate pizza.

Tesco was where I saw the apple crumble pizza I think there was a chocolate one too , chocolate fudge I think it was.

[sarahj1986]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jellied Eel

Tomatoes are great! And also easy to grow if you've got room for growbags.

But a new favorite for me, from a West African friend.

chop some onions, bit of garlic and fry till soft, or bit caramelised. Add uncooked rice. Add tin of chopped tomatoes, or fresh chopped tomatoes + stock. Add some beans or peas..

Then some cooked/chopped smoked ham hock, chopped smoked sausage (Mattessons, or there's loads of Polish sausages around now). Or add flaked fish bits.

Trick is to cook the rice in the juices, so it's ready when the rice is done and has soaked up most of the liquid. So that kind of drives the time for cooking meat/fish. If it's pre-cooked meat like sausage, it's done when the rice is done. But a quick & tasty one-pot dish that's also classic African/Cajun/Creole.

makes for tastier rice than just cooking it in water though

I might give this a try although I might use chorizo?