Slot Car Cooking

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Gelato usually has egg yolks. A lot of ice creams do too, but unless its a cooked recipe, there's no need. Its plenty rich without them, and lasts a lot longer in the freezer. My mother used to use a cooked recipe and the saved egg whites would become meringue for lemon, chocolate or caramel pies. I loved her caramel pies. She burned sugar to make it, but my grandmother used the very old recipes that involve heating and stirring milk (dulce de leche), that go back to pre-Moorish Spain. She didn't know that, she just knew that milk has enough sugar in it to caramelize and she simmered it while stirring to make it.

[Ember]

Time for another pasta sauce.

Cheat's Matriciana
Saute lardons of bacon or speck until fat starts to render. Add finely chopped onion, red chili (seeds optional) and green capsicum. Saute until onion softens. Add a splash of wine (whatever you have in the glass in your hand is fine) to deglaze the pan. When wine has evaporated off add a can of tomatoes (I use chopped tomatoes because you get more fruit in the can than whole ones). Add a pinch of salt, pinch of sugar, plenty of fresh ground black pepper, oregano and basil. Cook slowly stirring occasionally for at least a half hour, though an hour is better. Stir in a little fresh basil if desired before tossing through your favourite pasta shape.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Ah, a Roman speciality. I've always seen that word with an "A" in front of it. Its great stuff, and fixes up fast. I saw a Jamie Oliver show when he did that one.

[Ember]

I don't promise to speak Italian, only cook it. :) Some day, if you're a good boy, I might post my 8 hour ragu.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Oooooo! I'll be good, I'll be good.

[Ember]

Seeing as you folk are deep in the middle of winter you might enjoy my mulled wine recipe. This is not the traditional way of doing it, but it gives the spices a better chance to release their flavour without the risk of losing the alcohol to accidental boiling.

Fruit and spice mix
1 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
zest of one orange
zest of one lemon
half cup sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
1 bay leaf (fresh is best, but dried will do)
1 small knob of ginger, bruised
6-8 cloves
6-8 all spice berries
small piece of nutmeg (I use the tail end that I can't grate without donating blood)
1 tbl honey

Place these ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer. Simmer for at least 10 minutes and allow to cool. When you're ready to make the mulled wine add a litre of cheap red plonk and warm but don't let it boil.

I tend make a double dose of the spice mix, to which I add 2 litres of wine and store it in the fridge. When I want one I pour a glass and warm it in the microwave. If you'd like an extra kick of warmth add a glug of brandy to the warm spiced wine.

[2FER SLOTS]

Simple food today.....
The very last of the holiday turkey,nuked to thaw,chicken gravy from a jar and large egg noodles.
Frozen green beans,salad from a bag and a hunk of warmed up garlic bread( the kind that comes in the foil bag)
I'm going to miss that bird :D

[RazorJon]

I made chicken and dumplins today, my first time, the wife started and got the flu bug I think, so I stepped up and made dumplins

3 cups of flour
2 cups of chicken stock
2 eggs
salt
pepper
splash of milk
splash of Franks hot sauce

put flour in large bowl
add salt and pepper
in chicken stock add milk and franks
make a bowl in the middle of your flour and put eggs in it stir and just take flour from the edge as you stir, slowly add the chicken stock, cooled or you get scrambled eggs keep stiring in liquid until you have a ball, flour your table, roll out dough 1\8th -1\4 thick cut with pizza cutter 1" strips, turn at 45 and cut 2" strips, add to your boiling chicken and cook slow boil 30 min

[RazorJon]

Stuffed steak

1 round steak, salt and peper to taste and brown on stove, after steak is done use 1 box of stove top, cook as box just not as long,
place stuffing in the middle of steak and roll it up place in a bread pan and top with a can of cream of mushroom soup bake for 20 min covered with foil, remove foil and bake another 5-10 , best served with twice backed potato's

[Ember]

[Florida_Slotter]

[Fast Co.]

Steve's Southwest Chili and Cornbread:

Chili:

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb dark red kidney beans
1 lb light red kidney beans
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 4 oz can diced green chilies
3 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground chipotle peppers
1 tablespoon minced garlic (I like roasted)
Cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
2 tablespoons dried cilantro (fresh is even better to garnish)

Brown ground beef in frying pan. Drain most of the beef fat from pan if you want to keep this healthy. Fry onion in remaining beef fat until onion begins to sweat. Add all ingredients except to a large crock pot and let it cook all day on low heat. If using dried cilantro add it to crock pot about an hour before serving. If using fresh cilantro serve it chopped fresh as a garnish atop the chili. Serve with shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, colby etc...) and sour cream

Green chili cornbread:

1 package Jiffy Corn Muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup sour cream
1 4 oz can green chilies
1 8 oz can sweet corn, drained
4 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 400°
Melt butter in iron skillet or Pyrex baking dish. Meanwhile, beat egg and sour cream in large bowl. Stir in chilies, corn and muffin mix. Pour mixture on top of melted butter into skillet or baking dish and bake for about 20 minutes or until cornbread is nicely browned on top and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Serve hot with additional butter.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Lynne, my friends from South Africa make that, and they call it Dunkers. They made it in my kitchen once and I almost didn't let anyone have any after I had the first bite. I tried to get them to make another batch and let me eat the first batch right then and there. I would have had a whole pot of tea for myself with that. Great stuff.

[Ember]

Biscuits to us are crispy sweet things that you dunk in tea (if you're a sinker). Cookies are soft and semi-cake texture. Oh and crackers are dry biscuits.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

When I was boy in Ontario, Canada our next door neighbor used to make "chockly biscuits" and pass them out to all the kids. We loved her, of course.