Recipe Exchange?

Pesto is good with everything.

As my mom would say about some food that she liked, "It's good for what ails you. If nothing ails you, it's good for that, too."

 Mmm pesto.. I'll have to try that sandwich! And it doesn't help that I'm hungry but I have no pesto right now.. Must go shopping tomorrow.

for pesto, if you didnt know that already, you can freeze it! i stopped buying it, cause it's so expensive and i could never finish the whole thing before it went bad, so now, when i buy a glass of pesto i make tiny tiny portions and put them in the freezer! (people made fun of me, when i bought the tiny tupperware containers that looked like those cups for uirn samples... haha)

ok, here comes another easy one:

BROCCOLI CREAM SOUP

you need:

one big head of broccoli (or 2 small heads)

about 200g-250g of cream (here it's a small tiny carton, not sure how they're sold where you live)

vegetable broth

mushroom broth, if you have it.

here's what you do

wash the broccoli and cut it into smaller chunks. put it in a pot and put just enough water so it covers it. watch out, broccoli floats, so dont let it trick you into putting too much water. then you boil it until the broccoli is soft. add your vegetable broth and mushroom broth, salt and any extra flavoring you want. (sometimes i add just a smidge of chicken broth as well and a bit of nutmeg) then you have to start crushing the broccoli. what works for me is a big spoon and a fork. when you have crushed it all you can add your cream. let it boil one more time, and voila!

it's a nice soup to do when you are cooking bigger meals as well, cause it doesnt take much of your attention. when i invite friends they always ask for this soup...

but it also makes a nice dinner in itself, when you have some bread to dip into it. i used to make it after work a lot, cause i was too lazy for anything else... :)

 I have a really easy brownie recipe if anyone wants it....

Chuffy

 I have a really easy brownie recipe if anyone wants it....

I'll take it Chuffy!  We do the box thing at my house, which are good, but sometimes you just don't feel like going to the store to get the box (talk about lazy huh!).

I also have a homemade ravioli recipe and an egg roll recipe that actually won a contest way back when (my own creation).

ok, here comes my GOULASH recipe.

ingredients:

200-300 g onions (the book says 500g but i didnt like it too much...)

500 g lean beef (no need for something fancy here. just lean and without bones)

30 g margarine or butter

salt

freshly ground black pepper

paprika powder (you could use the spicy kind if you like that, but it's up to you)

tomato paste

250 ml hot water

1 can of mushrooms (champignons - not sure if thats what you call it in english - fresh is also good)

tabasco

how to make it:

- cut the onions in slices, cut the meat in dices (nice and chunky)

- heat up half the margarine (or butter) in a big pot. then add the meat and stirr the whole thing until the meat has changed color everywhere. then add the rest of the margarine and all the onions and stirr it a little longer.

- add salt, pepper, paprika powder and tomato paste

- add the hot water and let the whole thing boil in low heat for 1-1.5 hours with the lid closed (keep checking back regularily to check if there's still enough water. it didnt say that in the book and it cost me a nice pot and my dignity when the whole thing just burnt into a black clump!!!!)

- add the mushrooms (without the water) and heat it up all together for a little bit. then add more spices accrodingly

- VOILA!

notes:

it also tastes quite nice of you add some red wine.

goes nice with pasta and some salad.

it's convenient to freeze protions of it for later!

ok, since i'm bored, here come my pasta sauces:

TOMATO CREAM SAUCE WITH MUSHROOMS:

ingredients:

200-400 g mushrooms (champignons work well)

2-3 tomatoes

200-250 g cream

1 small onion (or a quarter of one of those huge onions in my case)

3-6 toes (?) of garlic

tomato paste

basil, oregano, pepper, salt, thyme, paprika powder (a ready made italian spices mix will do as well. just dont forget to add your salt)

chop the onions, crush the garlic, cut the mushrooms in slices and the tomatoes in chunks

heat some oil (dont be stingy) in a pot (high heat), then add the onion and gralic. stir until the onions get kinda glassy looking. then add your mushrooms and a bunch of tomato paste. stirr well for a few minutes. add your spices. add you tomatoes. stirr for another few minutes. then add the cream. boil it once, then you're done!

tastes delicious with fusilini and a salad :)

Does anyone have a good recipe for sugar cookies? I need to make a batch for a bunch of pre-schoolers and the recipe I have is a ton of work...

Thanks!!

and my other pasta sauce:

CURRY ZUCCINI:

ingredients:

2-3 zuccini

200-250 g cream

yellow thai curry OR green indian curry

salt

vegetable broth (the powder kind)

black pepper

a bit of butter or margarine

slice your zuccini. heat the butter in a pot, then add your zuccini. stirr until zuccini get sort of glassy looking. add salt and vegetable broth, pepper and curry. stir well. then add cream.

notes:

if you use spicy curry, be careful. i didnt pay attention once and made it so spicy, i couldnt eat it and had leftovers instead! it's delicous when spicy, but wow, did that curry surprise me!

you could also add some chicken, in which case you start with the chicken, THEN the zuccini. the rest of the steps are the same...

The pesto at Costco is super good and it actually works out to be cheaper than buying it in a regular grocery store since it's about $7 for a huge 16 oz. jar.  I just put it into four smaller containers and toss them in the freezer.  Also, I discovered that if you stir a nice glob of pesto sauce into some alfredo sauce, it makes a really good basil cream sauce.

Joyce

fuzzy_dogs_mom

The pesto at Costco is super good and it actually works out to be cheaper than buying it in a regular grocery store since it's about $7 for a huge 16 oz. jar.

That's what I buy too but I didn't know about freezing it. I've got a 1/2 empty jar in the frig that I'm going to freeze when I get home. I love pesto on just about anything.

NO WAY!!!!! that is soooo cheap!!! i am really realy jealous right now! i know lots of things are cheap over here but for pesto i pay that price for about 6-7 ounces (yes, i just went and converted that!!!) WHAAAA!!!!

now you know why i dont go without freezing it. i am not stingy with food usually but i found myself getting on the bf's case for using too much.. pesto is like kitchen gold to me....

janetmichel3009

NO WAY!!!!! that is soooo cheap!!! i am really realy jealous right now! i know lots of things are cheap over here but for pesto i pay that price for about 6-7 ounces (yes, i just went and converted that!!!) WHAAAA!!!!

now you know why i dont go without freezing it. i am not stingy with food usually but i found myself getting on the bf's case for using too much.. pesto is like kitchen gold to me....

It's actually pretty pricey here too, but Costco is almost always a good bargain. Unfortunately, the sizes of their products are sort of industrial, but if it's not perishable or you can freeze it, it's always a better deal.

well, as i said, my normal living expenses here would make most on this board jealous, i am sure, but the pesto thing has always bothered me! i would kill to get a price like that...

hey, but you could make pesto yourself!!!

ok, i will post a pesto recepie here tomorrow. i have never tried it, but i have one in my cooking book. unfortunately i have almost emptied a bottle of wine by now, so i dont think i am up to translating a recipie from german to english... lol...

cakana

It's actually pretty pricey here too, but Costco is almost always a good bargain. Unfortunately, the sizes of their products are sort of industrial, but if it's not perishable or you can freeze it, it's always a better deal.

True.  I ran and got some at SaveMart awhile back because it seemed to make more sense to drive 1/4 of a mile and back than 10 miles and back to Costco, but I paid about $6 for a really small jar of it and it wasn't as good as the one at Costco.

Joyce