The 'I Need a Recipe' Thread

[Zohar]

Thanks! I think I'll go for the chickpeas recipe, with some modification to what I have readily available (though I'm going to the grocery store later so it's no big deal).

[Bakemaster]

I need a reliable tzatziki recipe that either does not include the use of dill, or can be made just as well without the use of dill. Por favor.

[Telchar]

I could use a good Paella recipe that includes calamari/octopus. I'm doing some experimenting, but I seem to either put too much stuff in or not enough. Thoughts?

[Axman]

Yes, cephalopods really easy to overcook. Sear it in the saute pan at high heat and set it aside. Make a paella and stick the seafood back in it at the last minute before serving. If you don't want to use much other seafood but still want the rice to taste seafoody, toss in a small tin of anchovies or sardines into the stock or broth, or make your own stock from seafood (i.e., start buying whole shrimp).

[hermaj]

I need a reliable tzatziki recipe that either does not include the use of dill, or can be made just as well without the use of dill. Por favor.

I don't know the exact quantities for the recipe I use, but they're not crucial. I cut one or two cucumbers in half, scoop out the seeds and then grate them into a bowl, season with salt and pepper and leave them for about 15 minutes to release water, then strain the water away. Then I stir them into a small tub's worth of Greek yoghurt (maybe 350g?) with some garlic paste and a generous dash of lemon juice. And it sounds weird, but a tiny pinch of ground cumin can help tie the flavours together without affecting the taste too much. I've never used dill in a tzatziki recipe so I don't know how it compares, but this is pretty tasty.

[tin]

Does anyone have a good recipe for a chunky Japanese noodle soup? Seafood, meat, vegetable, it's all good really. Although, with a miso base maybe? I've been jonesin' for a nice hot noodle dish with a tasty stock for a while.

[bigglesworth]

I would like to echo the need for one

[Zohar]

And while we're dealing with Japanese food, I'd really want to try to make okonomiyaki at home, specifically the Hiroshima style one, with noodles. But, vegetarian - no pork or fish flakes and so on.

[Axman]

Does anyone have a good recipe for a chunky Japanese noodle soup?

Like anywhere else, Japanese soup is made of whatever the fuck you want in salty water; there aren't real recipes, just methods. It's dashi that makes Japanese soups taste so different (and okonomiyaki, apparently--another something that has no recipe); dashi's usually made by boiling brown seaweed and/or shitake mushrooms with salt for a long time. Lots of salt. It actually makes a kind of MSG (look the shit up, it's a naturally-occurring salt) which is the base for the flavor "umami". You need dashi before you start cooking the other stuff, or you can substitute veal base or veal stock if you're in a hurry.

There's also an order to the ingredients. In your soup pot (cast iron's boss) sear red meats first if including, then add seafood if it's OK to boil, such as shrimp. If it's seafood that stays tough when boiled, like squid, remove the meat, sear it, set the seafood aside, put the meat back in, and continue. Squid seared in beef fond is tits, by the way, pure tits. If you want to save the extra steps, put the seafood in at the last minute.

Pour in the stock or broth, and reduce it at a simmer until the meat is tender again. Then add your green seaweed, your mushrooms (if you're using white or brown mushrooms sear them a little first or they'll be spongy) your fish cakes, your green onions, your tofu, your noodles, your egg, whatever. Season with pepper. If you want it sweeter, add sugar or glucose if you can find it.

Just remember that some stuff tastes better when boiled for a long time; put that in first. Stuff that tastes bad boiled for a long time goes in last. Stuff that tastes better seared, sear it.

As far as meats are concerned, since you're boiling it, go for meat with tougher connective tissue, like chuck, ribeye, or round.

When I make kimchi soup, I like a combination of chuck and ribeye. It doesn't take much, maybe 1/2 to 2/3lb for four people, what with all the other meaty stuff in there. I only sear the chuck; this makes it taste wildly different from the thinly-sliced ribeye.

[cerbie]

Not much salt is needed, and none at all if you're going to throw in miso. Soaking shiitake and not using fish flakes is still quite good, just don't let it stay at a boil for long. The mushrooms need a very light simmer at most. There's also dried fish you can use, but I haven't found any cheap, so I don't know how it is.

If you want a specific Japanese recipe, expect to have to go to Whole Foods and pay way too much money to get all the ingredients. Best to just peruse fresh produce and get what looks and smells good. Getting the right foods sliced to the right thickness every time is actually one of the hardest aspects to manage.

Check out:
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/soup/Soup.htm

[cerbie]

I've got to make lunch tomorrow (just for myself), at room temp. I'd to use up maifun and/or saifun (rice sticks and bean threads) that have been wasting space in the cupboard, in the process, and am drawing a blank. Suggestions?

[The Utilitarian]

So I just got back from Vegas a couple days ago, which of course meant several days of buffet madness. While there, my girlfriend and I had the oppertunity to eat some very tasty spanish rice. We have some rough reports about how to make this but there seems to be a lot of variability in recipes.

Ultimate Spanish Rice recipe: GO!

[voidPtr]

And while we're dealing with Japanese food, I'd really want to try to make okonomiyaki at home, specifically the Hiroshima style one, with noodles. But, vegetarian - no pork or fish flakes and so on.

If I had a hot grill and could make Kansai-style okonomiyaki -- with squid bits, bacon, the works -- I'd be a happy happy man and would consider my life a little more complete.

[pooteeweet]

I've got to make lunch tomorrow (just for myself), at room temp. I'd to use up maifun and/or saifun (rice sticks and bean threads) that have been wasting space in the cupboard, in the process, and am drawing a blank. Suggestions?

What do you mean you have to make lunch at room temp? No cooking?

Well, this involves some cooking, but not too much; and I think it could be fine served cold.
Abridged Bun Thit Nuong:
Sear very thin sliced pork or chicken (or... tofu?)
Prepare the rice/bean noodles according to package directions.
Make nuoc cham: More or less equal parts fish sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice; a bit of sugar; garlic, and hot sauce of some kind. Maybe this would be ok with soy sauce instead of fish sauce if you're a veggie?
Put noodles and meat (/tofu) in a bowl with cucumbers and carrots chopped up like matchsticks. Garnish with cilantro, mint, and peanuts. Pour nuoc cham on top.

This is pretty much one of my favorite things ever.

[cerbie]

Well, that was awhile ago...but no, as in it needed to survive for several hours in my car, and then be eaten at room temperature, so as to remove the temptation to spent a significant amount of money on calorie-containing non-food in vending machines.

So I just got back from Vegas a couple days ago, which of course meant several days of buffet madness. While there, my girlfriend and I had the oppertunity to eat some very tasty spanish rice. We have some rough reports about how to make this but there seems to be a lot of variability in recipes.

Ultimate Spanish Rice recipe: GO!

For that half-crunchy texture, with browned goodness, cook the rice dry in the pan a bit, first. Beyond that: ???

[Amie]

You will forgive my ignorance because I am new to all this cooking but does anyone have a recipe for a vegetarian dish that I cook with potatoes, tomatoes and well whatever else you can think of? Except broccoli and asparagus because finding those here would be a bitch of a thing to do? Or should I just stay away from the kitchen?

*Hides*

[Rinsaikeru]

With tomatoes and potatoes? You could make a soup out of that pretty easily with the addition of some onions, garlic (any other veggies that you like) and water/veggie broth.

My favourite thing to do with potatoes lately is to roast them in the oven--cut them into a prefered shape--I usually make wedges (if it's a large shape partially boil them first for about 5 minutes)--toss in oil and seasonings (for 3 potatoes about two Tablespoons of oil). Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 for 20 minutes turning once. Seasonings---salt and pepper if you like it simple, cayenne if you like heat, rosemary is pretty good too.

Hmmm tomatoes broiled with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesean are really good.

[Amie]

With tomatoes and potatoes? You could make a soup out of that pretty easily with the addition of some onions, garlic (any other veggies that you like) and water/veggie broth.

My favourite thing to do with potatoes lately is to roast them in the oven--cut them into a prefered shape--I usually make wedges (if it's a large shape partially boil them first for about 5 minutes)--toss in oil and seasonings (for 3 potatoes about two Tablespoons of oil). Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 for 20 minutes turning once. Seasonings---salt and pepper if you like it simple, cayenne if you like heat, rosemary is pretty good too.

Hmmm tomatoes broiled with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesean are really good.

Those... are awesome suggestions! I am going to make the wedges and the tomato with cheese soon. I hope I don't mess up. Thank you =)

[Nath]

There's a tangy potato and tomato dish called 'aloo cutt' (probably from the word 'khatta'). Sadly, it's hard to Google, so I can't point you to an authentic recipe, but this looks pretty similar. The main difference seems to be that cutt tends to start with toasted cumin seeds, before you add the onions. Can also be made with boiled eggs instead of potatoes, in which case it becomes 'egg cutt'.

[Amie]

Thanks, you! That looks delicious and by the looks of it, not too hard to cook. I like mucho!

[Telchar]

Sort of fits here:

Doing a crab dinner for the gf who just finished her first semester of the LPN program here. Struggling with side dishes. Artesian bread sounds good, along with maybe rice/potato? I was also gonna go with steamed broccoli and maybe a light salad, but I don't eat salad so I don't know what's good.

Anyway, any suggestions would be helpfull.

[Bakemaster]

Wells are artesian. Bread is artisan. I don't think I'd do bread *and* potato, as that would be a bit of a starch overload. Rice would probably be a good contrast for the rich crab. Salad is pretty easy, just pick a leafy green or mix and add some veggies; tomatoes are standard, red onion and green pepper give a salad bite, cucumber and carrot are a bit more relaxed/subdued, and personally I like raisins and sunflower seeds. Fruit is also fine on salads.

[Telchar]

Wow. I'd literally typed artesian bread into google for the last 2 years, and I'd never noticed it was auto-correcting me.

Yeah, I agree with the too much starch. Will probably do some low flavor rice with steamed brocccoli.

[Zith]

Please do! I'm looking for the dough that wraps the potato filling especially, not just layers of phyllo dough.
Thanks!

If you're still interested, I have a recipe from school that I find good. Not sure if it's traditional or not; wasn't aware it was a Jewish thing until read your post.
'
4c pastry flour
1tsp salt
8oz cold butter
3oz vegetable shortening
3/4c - 1c cold water

Mix dry ingredients, cut the butter in until it resembles coarse crumbs, press butter "crumbs" into flat pieces, add 3/4c water, mix until it just comes together - adding more water if necessary. Put it in a small mound on a work surface, press straight down to flatten somewhat, then fold it onto itself and flatten again, repeating as necessary until it seems not quite finished mixing (rolling it out is when it gets fully mixed). Do take your time with this instead of rushing - it likes to be kept cool and would much rather be underworked than overworked. Shape into one-pound rounds (you should get two of them) and cut each into sixths.
Refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze up to a month.

When you make the knish, roll it out into a circle, making the edges of the circle thinner than the middle. Bake at 350F until it's done - which should mean a lovely brown. Oh, and we'd also take a third of the pieces and cut them in half to form smaller, thinner circles to top the knish with. Or maybe we just used a portion of each piece? Sorry, it's been a couple years.

I can convert to metric if needed.

[Ulc]

So, anyone that has a good idea for something to make?

On wednesday I'm making food for the computer scientist student revue* together with one of my mates (I just recently participated in my eight revue), it's going to be around 40 people all together.

I need a recipe for something to make, I would like it to be not too expensive, fairly easy to make and not too common - I would like to avoid lasagne, tomato-pasta-sauce and all those kinds of things you usually make when you need to make food for a lot of people.

Any suggestions?

[PAstrychef]

You could check out Cook Illustrated's Chicken Bryani for a crowd with a free 14 day membership. It's very easy and if you get chicken thighs it's even cheap. And it's great eating.
A big pot of bulgar or couscous, with assorted toppings like roasted vegetables in a large dice, sauted bits of chicken or beef, chopped dried fruit, various sauces and so on-or baked potatoes to go under said toppings would also work.
A pot of soup and a sandwich bar or grilled cheese sammies (Costco has very cheap cheese).
Fried rice can be made in batches using very small amounts of "stuff"-green onion, frozen mix vegetable mix (the one with corn, carrots, peas and beans) and ham or those litte teeny cocktail shrimps. Plenty of garlic and ginger, too.

PS-Zith, thanks for the recipe. Knishes this weekend!

[Zith]

I'll be trying out this bell pepper bruschetta for my mother to make at a family reunion next month, seems like it could be what you're looking for:
4 large bell red, yellow, and/or orange bell peppers (green would be too bitter)
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, spices, herbs, whatever - I'd think dried green herbs like basil and thyme would be good

Slice up the bell peppers (cut off the top, remove any seeds, trim the white flesh from the inside) into long strips, toss with the olive oil, place skin-side down on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper and whatever seasonings you want. Roast at 450F for 30min or so - you want them tender, browned on the edges. Or you could work on a stove top if you like, whatever.
That part can be done ahead of time and keeps well. Fresher is better, of course.

Day of, slice up a baguette 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Slow: brush each side with olive oil or melted butter, bake at 425F for 2-3min. Fast: toast them in any way, then brush with oil. Bonus points: take a halved shallot or clove of garlic and rub it across the bread.
Chop up the bell peppers. Optional but recommended: toss with whatever you like - fresh herbs, chopped pine nuts or walnuts, grated lemon zest, salsa, ricotta cheese, olives, minced garlic, sauteed onions... whatever, as little or as much as you want.
Either layer the mixture over the toasts and plate, or plate the toasts and have the pepper mix in a bowl.

[mrnotcrazy]

i need something with oreos not a cake,not icecream or pie or anything conventional i need something new and tasty

[AntonGarou]

I need a recipe for something to make, I would like it to be not too expensive, fairly easy to make and not too common ...Any suggestions?

Pilaf- basically you get rice and various additions+scpices, mix everything in a big oven dish(it shouldn't be more then half height on the dish), add in boiling broth and/or water(if you use water, be a bit more aggressive with the spices) until the mixture is almost covered, cover tightly with aluminum foil and put in an oven on 200C(about 400F) until all liquids have been absorbed- usually it takes 1.5-2 hours. If you want specific recipes www.epicurious.com has a huge, and recommended, collection of recipes for about everything.

[Bakemaster]

i need something with oreos not a cake,not icecream or pie or anything conventional i need something new and tasty

Why? What is the purpose of the oreo thing, so that we can brainstorm?

This post brought to you by my middle-of-the-year resolution to flame less in the Food subforum.

[Telchar]

I need a recipe for something to make, I would like it to be not too expensive, fairly easy to make and not too common - I would like to avoid lasagne, tomato-pasta-sauce and all those kinds of things you usually make when you need to make food for a lot of people.

Yeah, rice is always going to be good for inexpensive+lots of people.

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=3676&start=600#p2066257

I'd triple that recipe for 40 people. Could also do varying degrees of spiciness.

[pooteeweet]

How about a big roast of some kind? Depending on what you roast it could get a bit more expensive, but you get to just prep it and throw it in the oven (and you can roast veggies along with it for a side). No worries about assembling 40 servings of something.

[mrnotcrazy]

i need something with oreos not a cake,not icecream or pie or anything conventional i need something new and tasty

Why? What is the purpose of the oreo thing, so that we can brainstorm?

This post brought to you by my middle-of-the-year resolution to flame less in the Food subforum.

well i like oreos and iv pretty much done everything with them food wise i can think of.

[Bakemaster]

Stuffing for a roast duck?

That's all I've got, really. Oreos are wonderful, magical hydrogenation demons and are probably as good as they'll ever get when eaten with milk or in ice cream.

[PictureSarah]

Howbout dirt pie, complete with gummy worms and served in a (clean) flower pot with a trowel?

[pooteeweet]

But dirt pie is a pie (if only by name) and the poster said no cake, ice cream or pie. I'm pretty stumped as to what else you could do with them--I mean, I think it pretty much has to be a sweet dish as I can't imagine Oreos tasting good as a component in anything savory. But I can't think of what desserts you could make with them that wouldn't just be really similar to a pie, ice cream, or cake.

Cookie bars? (similar to cake and pie)

Pudding? (similar to ice cream)

Oreo-stuffed or garnished cupcakes? (really the same as cake)

Deep-fried oreos of course... Come to think of it I bet you could get some interesting ideas from thisiswhyyourefat.com

Hmm... If you were really ambitious you could try making a charlotte with oreos instead of ladyfingers to line the pan.

[Telchar]

Should really be an ingredient in the entrée round of Chopped with like....bratwurst or something. And violet mustard.

You could make some sort of sweet Oreo reduction, but it'd still probably be desert. Pork goes with sweet things, but generally better with citrus. We don't eat a lot of lamb here in MT, but...maybe? Again, it probably wouldn't be Oreos themselves, but some sort of sweet caramel-esque reduction.

[PictureSarah]

I need a recipe for a salad to take to the company picnic. Something I can make in a big batch, relatively inexpensively. I was thinking some sort of bean salad...I have a feeling there will be a lot of green salads and fruit salads there already.

[Zohar]

I don't know how cheap you can get it there but I'm making some quinoa salad myself for this weekend, maybe it will suit you. It's basically quinoa, walnuts, dried cranberries, arugula (or almost any other herb) and cubes of feta cheese (needs to be relatively firm). Just mix everything up (I have no idea about quantities), season with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. It's really refreshing, too. If you'd like to switch for cheaper ingredients, I suppose you could use rice or couscous instead of quinoa. I don't know what you could switch instead of the cheese - it really adds to the dish. Raisins would probably go just as well as dried cranberries (at least here they're cheaper), you'll already get the sour flavor from the lemon juice so it's no biggy.

[mrnotcrazy]

But dirt pie is a pie (if only by name) and the poster said no cake, ice cream or pie. I'm pretty stumped as to what else you could do with them--I mean, I think it pretty much has to be a sweet dish as I can't imagine Oreos tasting good as a component in anything savory. But I can't think of what desserts you could make with them that wouldn't just be really similar to a pie, ice cream, or cake.

Cookie bars? (similar to cake and pie)

Pudding? (similar to ice cream)

Oreo-stuffed or garnished cupcakes? (really the same as cake)

Deep-fried oreos of course... Come to think of it I bet you could get some interesting ideas from thisiswhyyourefat.com

Hmm... If you were really ambitious you could try making a charlotte with oreos instead of ladyfingers to line the pan.

I have tried fried oreos they taste....interesting, you wouldn't happen to have a recipe for that Charolette would you?