Balls and Walnuts
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Contest: keep it simple
I haven’t even sent out prizes for the last contest (sorry — this weekend, I promise!) and here I am hosting another one.
Here’s the challenge: post your family’s favorite “simple-but-delicious” recipe. Something your family loves. Something they ask for again and again. But most of all, something easy.
Post your recipe in the comments below — or, if you’d prefer, post a link back to your blog. Previously published recipes are fair game. ANY meal is fair game (main courses preferred, but again, if it’s simple and delicious, go for it).
The contest will run until Monday. Monday evening, I’ll draw names to determine the winner. If you give me multiple entries, you’ll have multiple “name slips” for the drawing.
The prize: any Julia Child cookbook available at Barnes & Noble . . . let’s say, $60 or under. That should cover damn near all of them, I hope. I would recommend either Baking with Julia or Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1.
The other prize: why, a whole host of wonderful recipes! But that part is up to you guys.
Have fun.
D.
if we needed another cookbook, i’d be all over this. but since we dont use the ones we got…
if you want an amazing brownie or banana bread recipe, i’ll still tell ya. lemme know.
Umm, well. I’m borrowing this recipe from a friend’s family. It’s in her family’s cookbook but it is a recipe my mother used. Hoe Cakes.
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg, slight beaten
1/3 cup shortening or canola oil
Combine cornmean & baking soda in bowl
Stir in the buttermilk & beaten egg
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat
Pour batter into the skillet and fry until golden brown on both sides (make like pancakes)
Something my family loves?? *sigh* They love things like green bean casserole (you know, the one with mushroom soup) and tuna patties (can of tuna, pkg of saltines, 4 eggs). That or burgers and fries. It’s pitiful.
Wow…I hope there is more on here later.
This recipe is so pathetically easy, a child can make it, and you can add whatever the hell you want to it. I add extra mushrooms and extra cheese.
Easy Spinach Lasagna
1 10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
1 15 oz container ricotta cheese
1 egg 1-2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 jar (about 30 oz) spaghetti sauce (I use Prego, but Doug probably makes his own)
3 cups shredded mozzarella
9-12 uncooked lasagna noodles (Doug makes his own)
Heat oven to 375 Combine first five ingredients. In lasagna pan spread 1/3 of the sauce, then a layer of noodles. Spred 1/2 the ricotta mixture, 1 cup of mozzarella and another 1/3 of sauce followed by another layer of noodles. Then remaining ricotta mixture, another cup of mozzarella, the last noodles, the remaining suace and top with the last cup of mozzarella.
Cover lightly with foil and bake for 45 min to an hour or til noodles are tender. Let sit for 5-10 min before serving.
Okay, Doug, you asked for it. I don’t wanna hear how this is trailer-trash cuisine, okay? These are things that get gobbled up here at Casa Del Jones.
ANYTHING CASSEROLE
1 12oz bag egg noodles
1 10oz can cream of something soup (mushroom, celery, or chicken)
1 15oz can creamed corn
Cooked meat (a can of tuna, or about a cup of chopped leftover meat like chicken or ham – really, anything works)
Chopped Standard Veggies – whatever’s around, onion, green peppers, whatever you put in ‘everything’
Bite-sized Pretty Veggies (again, anything works, a can of your favorite cooked veggies, about a cup of frozen (thawed) or cooked leftover veggies. Cold veggies, like lettuce and cucumber do NOT work. Go for carrots, broccoli, peas, green beans, cauliflower, veggie blends…)
Cheese (a couple of handfuls of any kind of shredded cheese or about a cup of cubed soft cheese, like Velveeta)
Salt, pepper, spices to taste (we always add some salt & pepper, but rosemary, thyme, oregano all are great additions too)
Crunchy Topping (grated parmesan, seasoned bread crumbs, crushed potato chips, whatever you like)
Turn on oven to 375˚ Get a big pan (dutch oven sized or so) and fill 3/4 full of water, bring to boil. Pour in the bag of egg noodles and stir. Keep boiling!! Stir the noodles a few more times while you’re doing the following.
Grease a 2.5 to 3 quart casserole dish with nonstick spray or butter/margarine (this is only to make cleaning it up easy, if you’re into scrubbing baked-on-cheese, no need to grease) and set the casserole dish on the counter out of the way. Chop the peppers, onions, or whatever else needs chopped. Stir the noodles! Thaw anything that’s frozen (it’s why God made microwaves). Stir the noodles! Open all the cans (if you’re using canned ‘pretty’ veggies, drain them). Stir the noodles!
When the noodles are done – it’s okay to catch one and taste it to make sure – drain them in a colander in the sink. Return drained noodles to the pan.
Add into the pan:
Meat
Creamed Corn
Cream of Something Soup
Chopped Veggies
Pretty Veggies
Cheese
Spices
Mix it ALL together. Make sure to mix clear down to the bottom of the pan, the deep corners of the pan, all those places where naked noodles like to hide. Make them coated in casseroley goodness!
Pour the casserole stuff into the greased casserole dish. Sort of smooth it out on top so it looks nice. Sprinkle on crunchy topping so it looks even prettier. Put it in the hot oven and bake for *about* 30-45 minutes, until it’s ‘bubbly’. Serve with salad and fresh bread (we like mixed greens salad with tomatoes and a loaf of foccacia)
HAMBURGERS & MUSHROOM GRAVY
Ground beef*
10oz can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
Sliced mushrooms (fresh are best, but canned work great too)
Milk
Salt & pepper
Mashed potatoes, noodles, or cooked rice
*This is another anything dish. You can also use boneless/skinless chicken breasts, pork chops, minute steaks…
Cook meat in large skillet, adding salt & pepper to taste while it’s cooking. Remove meat from pan. Put mushrooms in pan and cook in drippings (only takes a sec for canned ‘shrooms) Add can of soup. Stir and smash soup as you pour in milk. Keep the heat ON! Note: you have to ‘eyeball’ the milk, you’re trying to make gravy so make it as thick or thin as you like the gravy to be. We usually add between 1/2 and 1 cup, apx, I’ve never measured)
Stir, stir, stir, until it looks like gravy, and be sure to scrape up the drippings from the bottom of the pan so they’re in the gravy, too. Return the cooked meat to the pan and spoon gravy over meat. Cook a few minutes until it’s all bubbly. Remove from heat and serve over potatoes, rice, or noodles. Also serve with a hot vegetable (green beans go really great with this) and some fresh fruit.
SUPER EASY CAVATELLI
1 1lb package bite-sized pasta (pick a cool shape, like penne or farfalle)
1lb ground Italian sausage
Sliced pizza veggies (onions, green peppers, mushrooms, black olives, whatever you like)
A little minced garlic (canned or fresh)
1 26oz jar/can of spaghetti sauce
1 2-cup package of shredded mozzarella or Italian Cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese
Italian Seasoning or leaf oregano
Big baking pan (deep dish lasagna pan, small roaster pan, 3qt casserole, etc. All work fine!)
Preheat oven to 375˚ Cook sausage in small skillet. In a separate pan – or mixed with sausage, It’s up to you – cook sliced veggies & garlic in a little oil. Cook pasta and drain. Pour pasta into lightly greased baking pan. Sprinkle sausage evenly on top of pasta. Evenly put veggies on top of that. Put shredded cheese on top of that, making sure it’s evenly distributed clear to the edge of the pan. Sprinkle with some parmesan and oregano. Bake for about 45 min or until lightly browned and bubbly. Serve with salad and garlic bread.
Easy Antipasto
My family all love this, so I only make it at Christmas.
1/2 cup cauliflour or brocolli (choppped)
1/2 cup olives (chopped)
1/3 cup carrots (chopped)
1/3 cup green pepper (chopped)
1/3 cup onion (chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup water
2T sugar
2T white vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t chili pepper
1/2 t hot pepper sauce
I can tuna
Combine everything but the tuna, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until veggies are tender-crisp (~15 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in tuna, breaking it into bitty little chunks. Refrigerate, and serve with crackers.
Cheers
Taco Soup
1/2# lean ground beef
1-3T taco seasoning, depending on desired spice level
1 15 oz. can chili with beans (or ~2c. homemade chili with beans)
Half a large onion, chopped, or 3-4 green onions, chopped
1 ripe tomato, chopped
1 flour tortilla, cut in half, then cut into 1/4″ strips
4 c. chicken broth
1 c. grated Cheddar cheese
2 c. crushed tortilla chips
Brown beef over med-high heat in Dutch oven and drain off fat. Add taco seasoning to taste and stir well for 1 minute, then add chili, onion, tomato, and flour tortilla strips. Bring to a boil, stirring well.
Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, stirring well. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve topped w/ cheese & tortilla chips.
This amazingly flexible recipe is from the 1st edition of the Pike Place Market Cookbook, which we got as a gift when we first moved to Seattle. It is guaranteed to get “Make this again, please” whenever I make it.
Add more or less chili or beef as you desire – we typically use 1# of ground round. Spice it up; tone it down; toss in a drained can of corn; saute diced onions with the beef instead of using the green onions; use canned diced tomatoes instead of fresh; just toss in extra kidney beans – whatever. It can pretty much take it. The only consistent change I make is to saute the onions if I’m not using green onions, otherwise they don’t have enough time to mellow out. Oh, I also add minced garlic, probably 3-4 cloves worth, and I serve it with hot sauce on the side since The Boy doesn’t do spicy…
Ok,I don’t know if it gets any easier than this.
Say you’ve come home late. Traffic has been bad, the kids are ratty and hungry. It’s cold outside.
Boil some water. Put in some pasta. How much? How the hell do I know? Enough for everybody.
While the pasta is cooking, mash or chop or however you fancy some cloves of garlic. How many? How the hell do I know? I generally figure one good-sized clove per person. More if you want it, less if you’re some kind of Commie.
Grate about $3 worth of parmesano reggiano.
When the pasta is nicely al dente (I think about 8 minutes for most dried pasta), drain it and put it to one side. Don’t worry about it cooling down, this is fast recipe.
Put some butter and olive oil in the bottom of the pasta pot and return it to the heat. I use about half and half, generally approximately a tablespoon of each for each two people. Saute the garlic in the oil until it is just softened, about 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and dump the pasta back in. Shake it around while you sprinkle the cheese over it. Soon the cheese will be sticking to the noodles. When you’ve sprinkled all the cheese, it’s done.
Serve and grate more reggiano over top to taste.
Eat it while drinking a glass of Italian wine. The world will look a whole lot better.
If you like it a bit wetter, add more oil. Not too much, you don’t want it swimming, just nicely moist.
This is very simple, very fast, very Italian, and almost everyone likes it. The parmesano reggiano (get the reggiano, it’s worth the price) adds a soft, citrusy, nutty flavour to the noodles.
Okay, so, my family isn’t very gourmet-like, but then again, 2 of them are under 5, so it kinda has to be simple!! The Chicken Sloppy Joes my husband convinced me to add, The Cheese fondue is awesome, and the Greek Chicken I fell in love with – especially when I realized how easy artichoke hearts are to use – I never knew I loved them until this recipe came along.
Rella
My husband’s favorite – Chicken Sloppy Joes.
4-6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (depending on number of servings)
1 bottle (or 2) of your favorite BBQ sauce (I like Diana sauce)
4 Garlic cloves (more or less depending on taste)
Paprika
Basil
Garlic
Oregano
Italian Seasoning
Chili Powder
Kaiser Buns
Put chicken breasts in crock pot and cover with your favorite BBQ sauce. You’ll want to make sure they are covered VERY WELL, so maybe add a second bottle, but if that’s not possible, then just add ketchup! 🙂
Add in your favorite seasonings to taste. I like the above seasonings. A few dashes per seasoning and per breast. (I know, this is very technical) Mince the garlic cloves and add to the mix. Then mix it all up. Turn the crock pot on low and leave!
About 20 minutes (or so) before you are about to eat, fish out the breasts shred them up, placing back into the sauce when you are done. Serve on top of Kaiser Buns. Watch out for how sloppy they can get, but I think that’s the best part!
Cheese Fondue (from our Swiss neighbour)
1 garlic clove (or more!) cut up.
2 1/4 cups dry white wine
6 cups (1 1/2 lbs) shredded cheese
(3 emmental + 3 Gruyeres)
3/4 tsp baking soda
3 Tblsp flour
1/4 tsp pepper
2 dashes garlic salt
3 Tbsp Kirsch
Day old crusty bread
1. Rub fondue pot with garlic – really well!! (set aside garlic)
2. Simmer wine in Fondue pot until it bubble – do not boil
3. In a bowl toss cheese with baking soda & flour (to thicken)
4. Add cheese mix, 1/4 cup at a time to hot wine, stir in a figure 8.
5. Add in garlic.
6. Add pepper, garlic salt & Kirsch. Stir – Heat 5 minutes just to blend in.
7. (If you couldn’t do this in your fondue pot, then heat up your pot and pour the mixture in now)
8. For serving, spear cubes of day old crusty bread (Rye or French is good) with fondue fork. Dip and swirl to your heart’s delight!
Cheese variation – Monterey Jack and Swiss
Greek Chicken (Serves 2) I always double this, it goes over so well!
1/2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, pressed
1/2 to 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 of a 14 ounce can or artichoke hearts in water, chopped (never used these before now, but they add a great salty flavour!)
1/2 tomato, chopped
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 1/2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 TSP dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
In a skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter; add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add chopped chicken and continue cooking, stirring occasionally until gold brown, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Drain and chop artichoke hearts, add them to skillet along with chopped tomato, feta cheese, fresh parsley,lemon juice and dried oregano. Cook until heated through about 2 to 3 minutes.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve over penne pasta.
CHEESE GUYS
grate cheese. cheddar works best. mozz etc can be added if you want. If you’re very lazy, buy the pre-grated cheese.
put butter on one side of 2 tortillas
put one into heated skillet (buttered side down) over medium heat
sprinkle cheese onto tortilla. add chopped cooked chicken if you want and maybe sprinkle chili power or any other stuff: cooked onions, mushrooms, whatever you want. Even (ugh) tuna. though I think that’s totally disgusting.
Put the other tortilla on top of the cheese etc, butter side up.
couple minutes later flip whole thing over. Gunk will fall out but that’s okay. It’s more fun that way.
heat until cheese has melted.
Cut like a little pizza and serve with sour cream (or yogurt) and salsa.
Note: purists say rice and refried beans (from a can, naturally) go on side. I say throw them inside with the cheese etc. After all the top tortilla is there to hide the mess which can look like dog food.
DESSERT
open can of chocolate or plain reddi-whip.
shake well
tell family members to open mouths
spray reddiwhip into each mouth, being careful not to allow nozzle to hit mouth or tongue–no cooties, please.
Dont’ forget to hold the thing upsidedown.
Always a hit.
If it’s plain reddi whip–another recipe.
Take Trader Joe’s frozen raspberries from freezer and put in bowl. Wait a while. It should thaw out pretty soon. If you get impatient and put it in the microwave, i might get mushy. Spray with plain reddi whip. Yum. Seriously.
Or if you’re an effete. make a topping by mixing some cream cheese, a bit of yogurt (or sour cream) (about 1:1 ratio) and a touch of sugar and some lemon peel. If you’re a grown-up effete, add a touch of Grand Marnier. Protein, fruits (which are just like veggies) dairy etc. I don’t know why this can’t be a main dish for god’s sake.
OTHER DESSERT
Melt chocolate chips with a tad of half-n-half (JUST A TAD, and maybe coffee) in microwave. Check it a lot.
Dip things in it. Graham crackers. Fruit. Cake Fingers.
Okay, I knew I couldn’t leave it at just one… This one also gets plenty of “make this again, please”s in our house, though YMMV depending upon how y’all feel about tofu. From the January 2005 issue of Cooking Light, we have:
My standard changes:
1. Use extra, extra firm high-protein tofu. It isn’t packed with water, so you can skip the pressing and draining part and just cut it into cubes. It also browns nicer than ordinary tofu, and we think it has a better flavor & texture. Trader Joes carries it, as do many natural markets.
2. I brown the tofu in a little Pam first, set it aside, and toss it back in when I’m finishing the pork. You get crispier, nicer tofu that way.
3. I omit the chili-garlic sauce and serve it as a condiment along with the green onions since I like 1 or 2 teaspoons per serving, while The Boy would find the recipe’s 1 teaspoon overwhelming.
4. Brown rice, white rice – doesn’t matter. We prefer jasmine rice, ourselves…
5. If you use more pork or tofu than the recipe calls for, don’t forget to increase the amount of sauce!
6. We generally don’t obsess over the low-sodium aspects… and the taste difference between reduced fat tofu and ordinary tofu is pretty big for what seems to me to be very minor fat savings.
7. We also add frozen green peas (1-2 c. or so – probably closer to 1 than 2) when we add the sauce. It increases the cooking time slightly, but the peas come out just right and it makes for an easy one-dish meal.
The recipe recommends serving it with chilled melon & a cold glass of dry riesling. We’ve found it goes nicely with pretty much any kind of tropical fruit as a side, as well as any kind of white wine that can stand up to the chili-garlic sauce. We’re partial to some of the cold sakes, ourselves… Again, this is a very forgiving recipe. The only thing you really have to worry about is overdoing it with the oyster sauce which will make for a very salty dish.
The ongoing mission of the starship “Kitchen” is to boldly feed where none have fed before.
With a crew of 2 finicky pre-teens, the Captain adopted a strategy of deception and distraction to limit rejection of what was offered.
Most successful has been an exotic naming strategy.
“What are we having tonight, Dad?*”
“Chicken Cleopatra, oh fruit of my loins.”
“Gosh!!!”
This is, of course, just chicken strips pan fried (slightly caramelized) in cheap Dolmio garlic and basil pasta sauce, with a side order of home made baked potato chips, some raw carrot on the side (the Crew doesn’t like it cooked) and a mound of peas. But it fast became a favourite, even now the pre-teens are long past pre.
Cleopatra was chosen just to sound exotic, but maybe there’s an opportunity for a whole class of Ironic Poor Taste Food Names too. Myocardial Infarction Burger, anyone?
Re: Chicken Cleopatra PS
I have of course, since discovered that the name “Chicken Cleopatra” already exists.
Being (according to Madeleine’s Restaurant):
“Breasts of chicken, sauteed with slipper tail lobster, flamed with. cognac in a minted mascarpone cream sauce”
But if you think the budget of the Starship “Kitchen” extends to lobster and cognac – (and &diety knows what “mascarpone” is or how you coax it into becoming a cream sauce), then you haven’t been told about the recent Starfleet budget cuts.
How fun! I’ve printed out the page for the recipes! Who needs Julia Childs?
OK – the easy family recipe –
“Pasta Carbanara à la Sam”
Make bisgetti, as my twins called spaghetti when they were kids. While the spaghetti is cooking, fry bacon until crisp.
When Spaghetti is cooked, drain and put back in saucepan. Add the chopped, cooked bacon, two egg yolks, black pepper, and enough cream or sour cream to make a light sauce. Toss. (You can use low fat sour cream.)
Sprinkle with lots of grated cheese or parmesian.
Serve with green salad and balsamic dressing (I teaspoon dijon mustard, three tablespoons balsamic vinegar, six or seven tablespoons olive oil.)
Tada.
Two simple, yummy recipes:
Easy Recipe 1)
Get a crockpot.
Get a whole chicken.
Rinse the chicken in the sink.
Stick the chicken in the crockpot and turn the crockpot on. (That bit’s very important.)
Pour half a bottle of italian dressing over it. (NOT LOW-FAT!!!)
Go away. Come back later, perhaps after work. Savor the smell of dinner already done as soon as you walk in the door. Eat. Make someone else do the dishes, since She Who Cooks Never Cleans.
Easy Recipe 2)
Pound of ground turkey (or burger, if you prefer)
4 Cans: Chicken broth, corn, carrots, garbanzo beans.
Brown meat in the bottom of your soup pot, drain if it’s greasy (this is why I use turkey–no draining!). Season it however you like, I put in garlic, salt, pepper, and rosemary. I don’t measure any of the seasonings–just until it smells nice. And loads of garlic, you can’t have too much.
Pour in the 4 cans.
Make it boil, then serve it up. Eat.
Make someone else do the dishes, because She Who Cooks Never Cleans.
That’s my cooking style. Easy peasy recipes, make someone else do the hard part, aka the dishes. Can I have a cookbook now?
[…] Recipe contest: we have a winner! By Walnut Thank you all for participating in the Balls and Walnuts First Annual Ridiculously Easy Recipe Contest. You’re welcome to add more recipes, but the contest is now CLOSED. […]