Favourite Recipies

[MountGower]

I had

[moosterbounce]

We have been making a salad with lettuce, english spinach, cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, roast sweet potato, snow peas (and anything else we think goes at the time ) then adding sliced warm lamb steaks. As a dressing (and this is important), we use an olive oil with balsamic lemon and herb (it is a Praise one).

Way simple, way tasty, very healthy.

Of couse, my favourite recipe contains chocolate or custard or cream or stuff like that. Not something I date post here with everyone knowing of my efforts to lose weight!!

Moo...

[Mulger bill]

Two minute noodles five minutes after a big ride

[europa]

Ahh, the two minute noodles.

I tend to make things up as I go along, but this came out of the pan the other night.

Onion, cooked in the pan with a clove of garlic
Lean, minced beef browned in the same pan with the onions
Five (or six or seven or ...) tomatoes chopped and added to the mix, complete with too much pepper and a random selection of herbs ('mixed herbs' is so much easier but there's no challenge in that)
A green pepper (capsicum) and a red pepper chopped and added to the mess.
Thinly sliced carrot (actually, I assault it with the peeler )
Frozen peas and corn kernels - more is better.
Mushrooms (amount chosen on the 'that looks enough so I'll chop another one' basis) minus the bits fed to the six year old because she loves raw mushroom but won't touch cooked mushroom.
Two packets of 2 minute noodles (without the bag of salt and whatever it is) and half a cup of rice added to the now 'wet' mix - fresh tomatoes give off a lot of moisture but I usually panic and add a swag of water. The usual method is to add too much water and then get bored boiling it off, but I guess some of you will do it properly. Adding a glass of red wine probably adds to the flavour, but more importantly, it freaks out the 14 year old who doesn't believe that the alcohol evaporates.

Simmer until either you're sick of it, the rice is well and truly cooked or it's reached a nice consistency. Best eaten with a glass of red chateau cardboard and attractive company, but can be suffered on your own (at the expense of more chateau cardboard)

Richard

[Mulger bill]

You've been cooking over my shoulder.
Except for the mushrooms, I'm just not a fungi *groan*
Like the idea of the overpeeled carrots, I'll try that next time, thanks.

Shaun









Can there be "too much" fresh ground pepper?

[europa]

Can there be "too much" fresh ground pepper?

Hmm, maybe you don't have kids

Richard

[Mulger bill]

A boy 11 and a girl 14, they love it, and chillis and garlic

The only time I cook is when the GLW's at work, she won't leave me alone otherwise I just end up watching.

Shaun

[LuckyPierre]

This is my 'two minute noodel' replacement - it takes all of 10 minutes, requires two purchases (plain or pumpkin gnocchi and Leggos 'Spicy Tuscan Vegetable' stir-through sauce from the pasta section of your supermarket) and uses one pan.
So, starting from the pan ...
Put approx. 3 litres water in a large saucepan and put it on to boil.
Whe it boils, tip in the gnocchi. They take about three minutes to cook. When they're done, drain them and tip them back into the pan, tip the stir-through sauce over them, then plate'm up! Parmesan (and fresh black pepper), a glass of red and you're done!
I use this as a 'day before an event dinner' as is, or stretch it by adding a salad (get pre-packaged mesclun or baby spinach when you're at the supermarket and throw in some semi-dried tomatoes) and crusty bread.
This meal unashamedly falls in the 'best return on time invested' category, rather than being 'natural and healthy' or a 'gourmet delight'.

[europa]

My local grocer sells tomatoes in boxes for about $6. I buy a couple of boxes, chop up the tomatoes (roughly and after giving them a wash), then into a humungous saucepan and boil them down. I don't fuss with peeling them or sifting out the seeds - doesn't look as nice but I reckon there's probaby nutrients in the skin and seeds anyway ... besides, I'm lazy Boil it down to a wet, sloppy paste then freeze. Come cooking time, I just whack on of my pots of tomato sauce into the mix. Takes a bit of time to do, but two boxes gives me quite a few meals. I leave the sauce sloppy because if you don't, you'll usually find you have to add a bit of water to whatever you're cooking. I probably eat more tomato this way too.

Richard

should I mention I bake my own bread too?

[matagi]

Okay, here's my contribution - works very well as a post-ride meal and if you make a big pot of it, you can freeze the remainder. This is an old family recipe and everything is done by eye, so I've made an estimate on quantities.

Pasta Sauce.

2 large onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
olive oil
250g pork spare ribs (the streaky fatty ones, not the bony ones)
750g minced meat
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bottle tomato puree
red wine
water
salt and pepper

Heat some olive oil on a low heat in a large stockpot (enough oil to cover the base to the depth of a couple of millimetres), gently brown the ribs, remove from the pan.

Next fry the diced onions and the crushed garlic in the same oil until brown and and the edges have just started to burn. Add the minced meat and mix until all the lumps in the mince have broken up and the meat has started to brown.

Mix in the tomato paste and fry for a couple of minutes more, stirring to make sure it doesn't stick. Add the jar of tomato puree, then a slurp of red wine (about 1/3 of a bottle). Return the ribs to the pan, check the liquid level and if necessary add enough boiling water to cover the meat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to the boil, turn down to low heat and simmer for around 1.5 hours. Add more boiling water from time to time, if the level looks too low and the sauce begins to stick.

The final sauce should not be watery - it should be sort of thick and gloopy.

Serve on your choice of pasta sprinkled with freshly grated Italian Parmesan (not the crap Australian stuff that comes pre-grated) You can either remove the ribs and serve them on the side, or shred them and mix them back in with the sauce. And as with all of these things, this sauce tastes much better the next day.

Note: If you don't like pork, you can leave the ribs out and it will taste just fine, but the ribs do add something to the flavour.

[tuco]

131888

[matagi]

131888

Only if you have no tastebuds.

[Mulger bill]

Oh them, once a month tops.

[mikesbytes]

Breast Chicken, high in protein, low in fat, low in carbs

[tuco]

Oh them, once a month tops.

Same here, if that and usually only after a race in the morning and a good solid 500+ calorie hill walking/jogging.

[matagi]

Oh them, once a month tops.

Same here, if that and usually only after a race in the morning and a good solid 500+ calorie hill walking/jogging.

Yuk! No, it's the worst thing you could have after heavy exercise! Too much fat and salt.

[europa]

Okay. I admit defeat. What the hell are you talking about?

Richard

[tuco]

Okay. I admit defeat. What the hell are you talking about?

Richard

Dominos phone number 131888

[stryker84]

Ah, I figured it musta been Pizza Hut. My bad.

[europa]

Ah, Dominos. I don't use their fast dial number ... because it connects me to a shop that's miles away. My local shop is only 2km from home, but according to their damned computer system, isn't local, so I ring their direct line ... not that I ever buy pizzas of course ... well, not thaaaatttttt often (so why is the number underlined in my phone book?)

Richard

[tuco]

Ah, Dominos. I don't use their fast dial number ... because it connects me to a shop that's miles away. My local shop is only 2km from home, but according to their damned computer system, isn't local, so I ring their direct line ... not that I ever buy pizzas of course ... well, not thaaaatttttt often (so why is the number underlined in my phone book?)

Richard

Don't you hate that!

Years ago (pre being healthy) I ordered at work then left to pick it up at the store I used when ordering from home but there was no order waiting. I had been put through to the store only 500m from work.

[europa]

Dammit you lot. I just went to the butchers, without a list ... and spent twice what I normally do

Then got home and found that I hadn't bought what I went there specifically to buy, the meat for tonight's stew So we're having Irish Chicken Stew instead

My son has soccer training twice a week. Tonight, just to annoy me, they've thrown on an extra game. Normally I manage to have frozen meals on hand to defrost but that doesn't work so well on nights when I've got my daughter as well, so I use the slow cooker to do something. Yep, was going to have a stew tonight, still am only it's got chook instead of beef or lamb in it. The slow cooker is supposed to be a healthy way of cooking - don't know why or if it is, but it's darned convenient when you have to be out of the house for the two hours immediately prior to needing to serve up a meal.

Richard

[mikesbytes]

Okay. I admit defeat. What the hell are you talking about?

Richard

Dominos phone number 131888

Isn't the LPS better ?

Burn plenty of Glycogen
training log

[tuco]

Okay. I admit defeat. What the hell are you talking about?

Richard

Dominos phone number 131888

Isn't the LPS better ?

La Porchetta (spelling? - restaurant if you don't have them in your area) is better if not the best.
The chicken (pizza) tastes like it was freshly killed and not frozen for 8 weeks.

[europa]

The best pizzas are the ones you make yourself. I use Lebanese bread for the base, good coating of tomato paste, low fat shredded cheese, then healthy handfuls of whatever you feel like adding (provided it's in the fridge or pantry). So good my six year old prefers them to bought pizzas Of course, she likes being able to lick the tomato paste spoon, and steal the ingredients and be involved with the cooking and just being with Dad (kids are kinda neat that way )

Richard