Brownie in a Mug

Brownie in a Mug

from freckafree (alternate version below from peedin)

2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dash salt
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions:

In a 12 oz coffee mug, add water, butter, vanilla and dash of salt. Whisk well.

Add cocoa powder, whisk well. Add sugar, whisk well. Add flour, whisk well.

Microwave for 60 to 90 seconds. Center should be slightly molten.

It will be very hot, so be sure to add a big ol' scoop of ice cream.

Alternate version from peedin:

Alternate brownie in a mug recipe: Buy No-Pudge Brownie mix (Trader Joe's has their own version which is just as good). Mix 2 TBS. brownie mix with 1 TBS vanilla yogurt and nuke. One serving may not be enough.

Syrian Chicken

Syrian Chicken
from janis_and_c0

Gather around me, chilluns and I will tell ye of the Syrian Chicken.
First of all ye must have the chicken pieces, as many as will feed ye family, thawed well. Then ye must have the butter, athough the margarine will do. And ye must apply the pot to the fire, and melt the butter, and put the garlic into it. and the garlic should be chopped fine, and should be about half a bulb's worth. And when ye have the garlic butter, then it is time for the adding of the chicken. And the chicken shall be sauteed until brown-ish on the outside, but not too long. The chicken is removed from the pot, and the fire shall be dwindled to about medium. And the can of Tomato paste is added. and a cup of water that is hot and more cinnimon that ye think should go in there, at least a spoonsfull, and the salt and the pepper. Still the pot well. Add the chicken and the potatoes that have been chopped. Cover with water, and let the fire cook until the chicken is all cooked. And ye can add a bag of vegatables, if ye desire.  

Janis' Nommy Potato-cheese-beer soup

Janis' Nommy Potato-cheese-beer soup
from janis_and_c0

6-8 large potatoes, cut into chunks
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese
1 bottle beer
milk
4 T margarine or butter
salt & pepper to taste

Melt butter in bottom of large pot & saute onions & celery till soft
add potatoes & fill up pot halfway with water
stir in beer & add enough milk to pot to cover potatoes, then salt & pepper.
simmer until potatoes are soft.
remove from heat & stir in cheese.
Allow to cool & serve.  

SpazCat's Modfied Jambalaya

SpazCat's Modfied Jambalaya
from SpazCat

Spaz says: "I'm going to share my jambalaya recipe with y'all and for later recipe blogification. It's good stuff. It's called modified because it's based off of the Campbell's Kitchen Jambalaya on Allrecipes.com. I left a few things out and added a few things in to personalize it to my taste."

2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1-2 green peppers, diced
1-2 onions, diced
2 cups of celery, diced (I like to use the center stalks of the celery and the leaves)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 kielbasa or andouille sausage, cut into chunks
1 cup white rice

Pull out your slow cooker. Add onion, green peppers, celery, tomatoes, and sausage. Mix it up a little. Add rice over the top. Add red pepper flakes over the top of that. Cover and cook on low for about 7 hours. Enjoy.

Note: I added 1-2 teaspoons of cumin (can't remember how many now) to the pot I'm making now. I'll let you know how that goes.  

Spicy Parsnip Soup

Spicy Parsnip Soup
From: ScareyFaerie (with a note from Filbert)

Swampy, there isn't a recipe as such, usually it involves whatever happens to be in the fridge along with a mound of parsnips!

This time it will be parsnips, carrots, onion, garlic, celery, vegetable stock (enough to cover the chopped veggies), hot curry powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt. The proportions of curry powder depend on your taste, I like mine with quite a kick so I put three teaspoons of curry powder in, with a teaspoon and a half of cumin, a teaspoon of cayenne and sometimes a bit of chilli powder too. Bring to a boil, cook for about 20mins until the veggies are tender, throw it in a food processor and blend to your chosen consistency. I like mine quite thick, so I don't blend it too much. Then service with a swirl of sour cream or creme fraiche, if you feel like it.

From Filbert:
My spicy parsnip soup involves roasting parsnips (and random other veg), along with spices, then blending with stock. I has quite a few homegrown parsnips this year, so I've been trying to find new ways to eat 'em.

Jynxster's Brussels Sprout Recipe

Jynxster's Brussels Sprout Recipe

From: Jynxster

Cut off stub end and throw away.
Cut sprout in halves.
Chop up some onion
Brown some pine nuts it about 1/4 tbsp of buttah, set aside.
Melt 1/2 a stick of buttah in a fry pan.
Add chopped onion to pan
Place brussel sprouts face down in the buttah and onions
Put heat on medium high
Cover
Leave it alone for 8 minutes or so.
Check in to see if you need to add more buttah (I always add at least another 1/4). Brussel sprouts should start to looked burned, thats the way you want them.
Remove cover and continue to cook to your taste consistency.
Serve with pine nuts.
Die of a heart attack because you just consumed most of a stick of butter in one sitting.

Skewered Brussels Sprouts a la flytrap

Skewered Brussels Sprouts a la flytrap
from: carnivorousplant

Steam the sprouts in the microwave for three minutes so you can get them on a skewer.
Marinate ten of the above sprouts with two cloves of garlic, a marble sized piece of ginger, chopped green onions, olive and sesame oil while the ribs cook.
Skewer the sprouts, alternating with bacon.
Grill until charred all over.

Prime Rib Soup (or Prime RLB, you pick!)

Prime Rib Soup
From: Taters

On why the RLB. You might have to click on the thread and go up a few posts to get the joke....

Make stock or broth with big rack from the big prime rib roast. I leave all the meat in between the bones and all that yummy caramelized goodness on. In the stock, I toss in a couple of bay leaves, onion, and celery leaves, along with some pepper.

I also toss in the the lovely gelatin that forms under the fat from the drippings because the flavor is so concentrated. Since I had a big 12 quart pot this year, I did add a carton of beef stock and a little bit from a carton of beef broth. The rest was water to fill the pot up and cover the bones.

Let the stock/broth simmer for a good long time.

When it's done, remove the bones pick off the meat and toss it back into the stock pot. Since I still had left over roast, I added some of that meat too.

I then sweat some celery, onion and carrots and add them to the broth. I let it go for awhile until the veggies are almost done, and add some barley. I let it go again until the barley is pretty close to done, and add egg noodles.

Some years I add peas or corn, but this year I didn't.

The soup always receives rave reviews and this year's stock was especially dark and rich. I had enough left over to actually do two 8 quart pots of soup, so I put the stock for the second pot of soup in the freezer.

It helps that the prime rib roast I buy is preseasoned and marinated and I haven't found a roast yet that beats this one.

Pork and Ginger Pot Stickers (Link)

Pork and Ginger Pot Stickers
Shared by: gardentraveler
From: Food Network (Ming Tsai - actually his mom's recipe)

We made these for Christmas Eve as appetizers and they were gobbled up.  They make a lot, but extras can be frozen.

We bought wrappers, because we were in a rush and didn't have ground pork, so we used ground beef instead.  Am going to make another batch because I still have some cabbage and ground beef and ginger.  Will make the dough from scratch because the reviews highly recommend it.

Found a really good set of links starting here with additional ideas and cooking technique recommendations. A couple more links with slightly different approaches and dipping sauces.

The technique is really easy.  Use just a little oil to brown the bottoms of the dumplings initially (maybe 1 T.). Once they're browned, take the frying pan lid in one hand and the cup with liquid in the other. Add liquid in the recommended amount (I think it came up to about 1/4 inch in the pan) and cover quickly to prevent splatter.

Let cook until the liquid evaporates. This allows the bottoms to get crisp again.  One of the links says that skilled cooks flip the pan over onto the platter so that the browned side of the dumplings faces up.

If you've been scared to make potstickers, this is an excellent recipe to start out with.

Bert's Superb (and Kickass) Barbecue Sauce

Bert's Superb (and Kickass) Barbecue Sauce
From: gardentraveler

From a family friend, developed from a recipe originally published in a Good Housekeeping cookbook.  The original (or one claiming to be) is published here. Ingredients are similar, but it's really a much different recipe with lots more flavor, I would guess.  If you've mixed it correctly, it should be a little bit orange and have a slightly mustardy flavor.  If you can taste the ketchup, then you need to add a bit more mustard. Not part of any tradition that I'm aware of, so those of you who belong to a particular barbecue denomination won't be able to fight over it. :D

I wondered about the lemon pieces.  Leave them in. They sink to the bottom of the jar, so you won't encounter any surprise rind.

This is traditionally served over ribs, but we had it with pork chops (chops were braised in liquid with sauce added to it and then served with additional sauce).

Ingredients:

First set
1/2	cup white vinegar
3/4	cup water
4	tbsp sugar
2	tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1	tsp pepper
1/2	tsp red pepper flakes (we used a bit more)
1	whole lemon, chopped into 16-32 pieces (about 3/4 inch long)
1	large onion, diced
1/4	cup olive oil
Second set
1	cup ketchup
4	tbsp Worcestershire sauce

 Instructions:

Part 1
1.	In a saucepan, mix vinegar, water, sugar, mustard, pepper, red pepper flakes, lemon, onion and olive oil. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Part 2
1.	Add ketchup and Worcestershire sauce and bring back to a boil, cooking an additional 10 minutes.
2.	Makes 3 cups and keeps very well in the refrigerator.

Sesame Marinade

Sesame Marinade
From: gardentraveler

4	oz soy sauce
2	oz rice wine (you can substitute rice vinegar or other mild vinegar or wine)
2	oz sesame oil
20	drops each Tabasco(can use other hot sauce; I've used 1/2 tsp of sambal oelek) and fish sauce
1/2	tsp ginger
1/2	tsp mustard
1	tbsp minced garlic
3 oz	maple syrup (if you prepare this in a measuring cup, just fill to the 12 oz line)

Mix all ingredients. Pour over 6-8 chicken thighs and marinate as long as you'd like (I don't usually bother with too long since I bake the chicken  in the marinade).

Place chicken in baking dish and pour marinade over.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. Chicken meat will darken because of the marinade, so you may need to look at texture to judge doneness.

We serve this as part of a salad with greens, sugar snap peas, red bell pepper, scallions and mandarin oranges. Garnish with thin chop suey noodles and/or toasted almonds.

Bananananas No/Low Sugar Cookies

Bananananas No/Low Sugar Cookies
From: Filbert

(Responding to a request from April R):

Here ya go Apes, it was nicer last time I did it, but the bananananas were too big this time and not very sweet, so I didn't add any sugar at all- they still all got et though:

Ingredients
8oz porridge oats
2 ripe bananananas- made up to 8 oz with brown sugar if needed
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4oz marg/butter/oil or combination thereof
1 beaten egg

and, if available - 1 oz dark chocolate chips.


Mix everything but butter together, making sure there's no big lumps of nana left. Melt marg/butter/oil in a saucepan and mix thoroughly.

Drop walnut size blobs onto a greased baking tray, and squish them down a bit (I use greased greaseproof paper), allowing space for cookies to run.

Bake in middle of moderate oven for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and still a tiny bit soft.

Turkey Fricasse

Turkey Fricasse
From: gardentraveler

Inspired by my Puerto Rican friend's Pollo en fricasé, one of my favorite comfort foods. I made this one a ojo porciento, i.e. improvised, so amounts can vary to your taste. I used some ingredients you might not have and have listed easy substitutes.  It'll be very tasty any way you make it.

3 cubes of frozen sofrito* (or substitute a combination of :1/2 cup or so finely chopped onion, 2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced; generous handful of cilantro, minced)
3 cups or so of leftover turkey roughly chopped

1/4 of an 8 oz. jar of alcaparrado (olives, pimiento and capers; substitute stuffed olives)
1 envelope tropical sazón (available in the Hispanic section of your grocery; it often contains MSG, so watch out if you're sensitive to that; if you don't use this, add 1/3 or so more onion and garlic)
1 envelope Swanson's chicken flavor boost (or bouillon)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
5 peppercorns
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. wine
3 yukon gold potatoes
10 or so baby carrots
1/2 cup frozen peas

Saute the sofrito or onion/garlic/cilantro in a bit of olive oil until fragrant.  Add turkey-wine and then add water just to cover.  Stir to ensure ingredients are mixed.

Cook over low heat for about an hour. Turkey will be softened and sauce should be reduced a bit.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  It should be a bit saltier than you want, since the potatoes and carrots will absorb quite a bit of salt.

Add potatoes and continue to simmer for about 20 minutes; potatoes should still be very firm.  Add carrots and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Add peas, stir thoroughly and remove from heat.

It will taste really good at this point, but if you have a reasonable amount of will power you should let it cool and refrigerate it overnight to let the flavors blend properly.

It tastes wonderful by itself, but Puerto Ricans serve it over rice. You can also add green pepper slices or a small jar of chopped red pimientos and a little bit of cayenne if you like.

 *Every few weeks, I make a simple sofrito, which is a finely ground mixture of onion, garlic and other herbs and vegetables that varies from country to country. In my case it's a mixture of onion, garlic and cilantro, chopped very finely in a food processor, frozen in an ice cube tray, and then stored in a ziploc bag; I also make cubes out of just onion and garlic. My great grandmother always kept a jar of ground onion and garlic in the fridge and started many recipes out by sauteing it in olive oil.

Crock Pot Beast Loaf

Crock Pot Beast Loaf
From: VunderBob

In response to my request, Bobbio writes:

GT, dear, I am ashamed to say there's no special recipe or trick to Crock Pot Beast Loaf. You should be able to do your favorite recipe without much modification. The important part of this discovery is the method, not the ingredients.

I made an ordinary meatloaf for me, although it was a big bigger than usual. As a matter of form, here is the recipe I did, inspired by one I saw on Allrecipes, but definitely my own.

2 1/2 lbs beast loaf mix
1 lb hamburger
2 aigs
1 cup panko
~ 2 t meat tenderizer
Dehydrated chopped onion to suit
~2 t powdered onion
salt and pepper to suit
1 small can tomato sauce, divided


(would have used onion soup mix instead of the dehydrated onion, but didn't have any) Mix everything well, saving out 1/2 of the 'mater sauce. Form into a loaf that fits your cooker. If you don't have a rack for the bottom to hold the loaf up, clean and halve 2-3 onions and put them in the bottom to keep the loaf out of the grease. Set the cook temperature for medium, and let it go for about 3 hours. Loaf is done when the internal temperature hits 165.

When the thermometer gets to about 150, put the remaining half of the 'mater sauce over the top and continue cooking.

The result was very moist and not greasy in the least. Just the way I like it.

Rosie's Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Rosie's Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie Soup
From: anyrose

Open 1 can of Progresso® Chicken Pot Pie Soup.
Dump it into a very large microwave safe bowl
Add 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use Sargento® brand)
Stir it thoroughly then nuke on high for 6 minutes.
Stir again and serve.