Cooking Thread~ Recipes & Things

[Rakdos92]

I made a not-Chili con Carne which used beef mince, bacon-cubes, kidney- and white beans, onions, garlic, and a pre-mixed spice mix. You may gasp in horror now.

 

[vyor]

I made a not-Chili con Carne which used beef mince, bacon-cubes, kidney- and white beans, onions, garlic, and a pre-mixed spice mix. You may gasp in horror now.

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That sounds delicious.

Bar the bacon.

 

[MadGreenSon]

Something I've discovered recently due to Hello Fresh; sour cream is sooo flexible as an ingredient. I amazed a friend the other day by whipping up some spicy creama sauce for some pork chops she was frying.

Super simple recipe:

Three spoonful of sour cream

1/4 to 1/2 of a lime

Siracha

Put the sour cream in a bowl, add in lime juice and siracha to taste as you stir it up. If the sauce isn't liquid enough to pour, add a bit more lime juice and stir 'til it is.

For extra flavor, add dry basil or dill to it as you stir.


Super easy and really adds to and brings out the flavor of pork chops.

 

[Biigoh]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRKls2LLMqU-uK2csT6FOKw

 

[Raven1138]

A bit of a follow up from my earlier recipe for the Jackie Wells' cocktail. The YouTube channel How To Drink just released their own take on the beverage, and a surprise revelation. Turns out CDPR are not only fans of the channel, but they changed the appearance of the Johnny Silverhand to match the one in his video. Of course, he does apologize for causing all of the bugs because they had to change a drink appearance.



The HtD version uses for the splash of love Irish Mist, a blend of irish whiskey, honey, aromatics and other liqueurs, so with St. Patrick's day near, I may need to do a taste test between my version and the HtD version. As for the recipe it is as follows:

.5 oz lime juice
1oz vodka
1oz irish mist
pour into a shaker tin, add ice and shake
strain over a glass with cracked ice
top with ginger beer

Also there is a fancy version where instead of ginger beer, you use ginger syrup (.75 oz to 1.5 oz vodka), 1oz lime juice and an egg white akin to a sour. Shake with ice, then after straining back into the tin do a dry shake (shake with no ice), then pour, top with selzer and a spray of Irish Mist.

Edit as of April 2nd. Had a chance to grab some Irish Mist and Cock & Bull Ginger Beer, and I can see where HtD is coming from. The ginger spice and lime balances out the up front sweet of the Irish Mist and it makes for a very refreshing tipple. Have yet to try the Legendary version, but that will be a future experiment. Namely because my atomizer is filled with absenth for making sazeracs.

 

[Highlord]

I tossed together a half-drunk experiment on the fly, and was rather surprised at the result.

Cut up an entire ring sausage (cracked black pepper, Johsonville), half a white onion, and a pound of mushrooms (baby bella) and dumped it all in a kettle with about three caps worth of olive oil and two spoonfulls of minced garlic. Tossed in "enough" cayenne pepper and cumin. Cooked it all until the mushrooms started to brown and the onion got soft.

During this I boiled about four cups of water and dumped in four packets of beef Herbox. When the stuff in the kettle looked ready, I dumped in the broth, and let it simmer for, oh, 30 minutes or so. Added a can of chili beans and a can of kidney beans (Bush's) along with their broths. Then, on a whim, I added...call it a cup of half and half to deal with the pepper, and added a can of regular, low-sodium Rotel. Let it cook for another 20 minutes or so.

I did not add salt during any of this, since I figured the sausage and Herbox had more than enough.

And holy hell. I tossed this together with just random stuff from the fridge and soup cupboard, and even my mother is impressed.

ADDITION: I considered adding rice or taters, but I'm trying to cut down on carbs, and I like a chunk of dark rye with my spicy soups.

 

[kinglugia]

Weird barley porridge recipe:
> Wash and soak your barley grains (whichever variant you prefer).
> Dice up a red onion (preferably medium to large size) and a potato. No, not the sweet ones.
> Slice up some old ginger - not the whole thing, dumbass; just a small portion of it. 20~30g of the stuff is enough.
> Get some of those minced garlic. A chive or two would do if you prefer doing it traditionally, but one teaspoonful of it, if it's pre-minced.
> A chicken drumstick, washed, and defrosted. Any other chicken parts would do, but I like me drumsticks -_-|||
> Toss them all into a pot, put a cube of chicken stock (fish would do in a pinch), and have it simmer for however long you think it's needed.
> Don't forget to add water before switching it on!
> Eat it.

 

[QQmember2021]

Home made pumpkin cheesecake

 

[Daonexus]

So I have about 400gms of paneer laying about, any ideas?

 

[Biigoh]

So I have about 400gms of paneer laying about, any ideas?

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I guess it's time for you to make sure curry.

 

[Imabot]

So I have about 400gms of paneer laying about, any ideas?

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Improv Kadai Paneer? Panner cooked with bell peppers in spicy malasa or other spicy sauce served on a Naan or tortilla.

 

[Daonexus]

I guess it's time for you to make sure curry.

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Improv Kadai Paneer? Panner cooked with bell peppers in spicy malasa or other spicy sauce served on a Naan or tortilla.

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I can't actually make any bread, indian or otherwise but I know rice so give me something that goes with rice or some snacks

 

[Biigoh]

I can't actually make any bread, indian or otherwise but I know rice so give me something that goes with rice or some snacks

Click to shrink...

 

[kinglugia]

Best I could do to make curry is to get the sauce from supermarket uwu.

 

[Biigoh]

Best I could do to make curry is to get the sauce from supermarket uwu.

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No shame in using pre-made curry sauce and adding coconut milk to it to make it mild.

 

[kinglugia]

No shame in using pre-made curry sauce and adding coconut milk to it to make it mild.

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Mmm, I personally frown on using excessive coconut milk.

 

[Evillevi]

Mmm, I personally frown on using excessive coconut milk.

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Milk+butter works... But that might be easy worse then coconut milk

 

[Arc-on-Fire]

>QQ has a cooking thread.
Holy Based. Might as well contribute to the thread with some good drunk food/good snack to enjoy.
The Patty Melt and the Ever-Famous Canadian Poutine.

 

[Imabot]

>QQ has a cooking thread.
Holy Based. Might as well contribute to the thread with some good drunk food/good snack to enjoy.
The Patty Melt and the Ever-Famous Canadian Poutine.

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I don't think my arteries would be usable after I ate that!

 

[Biigoh]

Mmm, I personally frown on using excessive coconut milk.

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You could replace with milk or plain yogurt.

 

[Daonexus]

Mmm, I personally frown on using excessive coconut milk.

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Why is there a specific reason? Like is it bad for health or something?

 

[kinglugia]

Why is there a specific reason? Like is it bad for health or something?

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Assuming coconut milk = santan, then yeah. Something about cholesterol.

 

[Daonexus]

Assuming coconut milk = santan, then yeah. Something about cholesterol.

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Meh, it is probably fine once in a while

 

[QQmember2021]

Taco Triangles

 

[Biigoh]

Pico de Gallo Salsa.

Portions were off with insufficient tomatos.

The above is 1 bunch Cilantro (chopped), 3 romano tomato (diced finely), 1/2 small onion (diced finely), juice of 1 lime and 1 lemon, and salt.

I would say portions might better with 6 romano tomato instead of 3.

Just dice the onions first, add salt and let them sit in lemon and lime juice, while you dice up the tomato and cut up the cilantro before mixing it up and letting it sit in the fridge. Recommend letting them sit a minimum of 1 hour in the fridge.

It can last up to 4 days with proper refrigeration.

 

[MizMahem]

Cauliflower Poblano Enchiladas
Serves 2

So I thought I'd add to this thread with this pretty fun and healthy vegetarian dish. But I think it is still a fun dish for everyone, because it doesn't try to taste like meat, but is still hearty and filling like a good meat dish. It's a little bit of work to make, mainly in chopping up all the ingredients and making the cream sauce. But it is still a great dish for a new chef because it is really hard to mess up. Like seriously, it is pretty flexible with substitutions and mistakes. Just don't burn it in the oven and you should be good. The Poblanos here are really the secret ingredient.

Hmm, I wonder, since it has a Bechamel sauce, does this qualify as French-Mex? I'm going to say it does.

Note that the pictures are from when I made a double portion, which serves 4 people. Simply double the ingredients for this, though you'll have to adjust the cook times.

All measurements in US.

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
Cauliflower Florets	12 oz.	This is about half a typical head of cabbage. Chop into coarse bits. Maybe 1/2-1/4".
Poblano Pepper	1	Fresh. Remove seeds and optionally ribs. Chop into coarse bits. Maybe 1/2-1/4".
Chipotle Pepper in Adobo Sauce	1	They sell this in cans, usually in the Mexican/Hispanic food section. If you can get fresh Chipotle you could probably use that, but I don't have experience with that.
Butter	1 tbsp	Salted or Unsalted, doesn't really matter
Flour	1 tbsp	White
Milk	2/3 Cup	Whole preferably, but skim or anything else in between will work fine as well.
Chile Spices	2 tsp	I use Chili and Cummin, but you can use spice mix, or a chili mix (they even got liquid ones) whatever you got. You can use more if you like.
Garlic Salt	1/2 tsp.	You can use more if you like.
Garlic	2 Cloves	Mince/Mash. (You can also just use like 1 tsp or so of minced garlic if you have that). Fresh garlic is better than Garlic Powder will not be as good.
Green Onions	2	Separate the green part from the white part. Finely slice. Maybe 1/8". Can omit if you don't like onions.
Cream Cheese	2 oz.	You can use like onion flavor or something like that if you like. Light cream cheese is also fine. If you really like cream cheese you can double or even triple this and the Garlic and Onions.
Medium Flour Tortillas	6	Can use whole wheat or whatever you prefer. 6" in diameter.

You will also need:

• A good chefs knife
• Cutting board
• A big frying pan, preferably non-stick.
• A saucepan or pot or something
• A small casserole dish 6"x9" - can be metal or plastic or whatever, but should be at least 3" deep, and about as wide as the tortillas
• A stove
• An oven (you could use a toaster oven)
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive Oil (flavored/infused oil works well)

1. Prep the ingredients as indicated in the notes above.
   1. Spoiler: Ingredient Prep

      1. Spoiler: Chopping Cauliflower

         It's actually a lot, especially once chopped.

         
      2. Spoiler: Chopped Cauliflower

         
      3. Spoiler: Chopped Poblano the Secret Ingredient!

         
      4. Spoiler: Chopped onions and garlic

         Putting your ingredients in little dishes like this helps keep you organized but you don't have to. I probably should have minced the garlic more. Do better than me.

         
      5. Spoiler: All the preped ingredients together

         

         
   2. Chop up the pepper and the cauliflower. These bits will be the filling, so I like to make them somewhat on the finer side of coarse. 1/2 to 1/4" bits, maybe a bit larger for the Poblano. Make sure to get all the seeds out. You don't have to remove the ribs if you don't want to.
   3. Slice the onions up thinly and separate the white and green portions. The white portions will go in the filling, the green bits will be garnish, so the thinner you can slice the white onions the better. You'll probably have more green bits than you need. If you don't like onions, you can omit this.
   4. Preheat the Oven to 425*F.
2. Make the cream cheese part of the filling. Mix the cream cheese, garlic, and the white part of the onions. If the cream cheese is thick you can zap it for a sec in the microwave. This is a small amount to control calories/fat, but if you like you can double or triple this portion.
   1. Spoiler: Cream Cheese mix

      
3. Cook the rest of the filling.
   1. Spoiler: Cooking the Filling

      When you cook the cauliflower it breaks up a bit more, which is fine, though ideally, you would do it less than I did. It can be hard to tell when it is done especially when cooking a lot like I did, as it won't brown well. This is also fine, though browning it is better.

      

      

      

      

      
   2. In a big skillet, cook the cauliflower and poblano with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. If you have a seasoned oil like basil olive oil or something, it's okay to use it here as the flavor should come through. This is a lot of stuff to cook, so you'll probably should use the biggest pan you have.
   3. Season with the Chilie Spices, Garlic Salt, and pepper to taste. If you like it really spicy you can add more seasoning than I listed, but the amount listed is a good amount. The poblanos themselves do have a small bit of kick.
   4. Cook on medium-high heat until the cauliflower starts to get a little brown. If you don't use enough heat it may soften before browning. That's okay, move on to the next step when it starts to get a little soft/glassy. Takes about 4 minutes or so.
   5. After they have browned a little, add 2 Tbsp water. Cover and cook until tender 7 minutes or so. The cauliflower should be tender and soft, but not mushy. The poblano should be cooked through and tender. Take off of the heat when done.
4. Make the enchiladas.
   1. Spoiler: Making the Enchiladas

      1. Spoiler: Cream Cheese Filling

         
      2. Spoiler: Adding the cauliflower and poblano

         
      3. Spoiler: Enchiladas in the dish

         I used a bigger dish because I'm making a double portion.

         
      4. Spoiler: Extra in a ramekin

         
      5. Spoiler: Put it in the oven

         
      6. Spoiler: Cooked

         
   2. This amount should make 6 enchiladas, but picking the right amount of filling for each is always tough. Sorry, I don't have a magic method for this.
   3. So put the cream cheese filling you made previously down as a base a spoonful each, and then maybe I dunno, half a cup of the poblano and cauliflower each on top.
   4. Wrap them up and put them in a casserole dish, seam side down. The enchiladas should basically fill the entire dish. If you have left-over filling cram it in there with it on the sides or you can cook it by itself in a little ramekin or something.Bake for ~9 minutes or so at 425*F. The enchiladas should be golden brown.
5. While the enchiladas bake we will make the sauce.
   1. Make the white/cream sauce. This is also called a Bechamel.
   2. If you want the enchiladas really swimming in the sauce, you can double up the amount here, or even triple it.
      1. Spoiler: Making the White Sauce

         Sorry I didn't capture any pictures with the Chipotles

         
      2. Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium-ish heat.
      3. Stir in the flour with the melted butter and stir it constantly, so it doesn't brown. Keep going till it bubbles a little, ~2 minutes.
      4. Add the milk and keep stirring while it thickens and continue until it boils.
      5. Add salt and pepper to taste. It should taste kinda like a creamy soup base.
      6. Reduce to just below a simmer, and stir for a couple more minutes. The sauce should be reduced slightly.
   3. (You can also substitute lots of shit for the Bechamel, like cream of chicken/cream of celery soup, it'll work but obviously, it'll taste different).
   4. Add the Chipotle Pepper in Adobo Sauce to the white sauce. You should find like a number of small Chipotles in the can. Add one or two, as well as some of the adobo sauce.
   5. Mix together under medium-low heat poking and mashing the chipotle until it basically dissolves. 3 minutes or so.
   6. Add 2 tbsp of water and bring to a simmer.
   7. Once simmering, cook for 3 minutes or so until it thickens up a little. Should be a nice yellow-orange color, almost like an egg.
6. Top the enchiladas with the sauce and the green parts of the onion.
   Spoiler: Topped with the sauce

   

   

   
7. Eat and Enjoy!

The final result!

 

[MizMahem]

Mushroom Stroganoff
Serves 2

What's that you said? More vegetarian recepies? Well sure! This variation on classic Stroganoff is super easy to make and very tasty. Easier than regular Stroganoff I would say. It uses Italian noodles, french broth, and greek seasoning (or at least I do) making it a truly continental dish! It's a nice and hearty dish, just like regular Stroganoff except, you know, more mushrooms.

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
Campanelle Pasta	6 oz.	You can use any thick noodle or "egg noodles"
Cremini Mushrooms	10 oz.	These are just young or "baby" Portobello mushrooms. You can use regular portobello instead. Coarsely chop into 1/4" bits.
Garlic	1 Clove	Mince/Mash. (You can also just use like 1/2 tsp or so of minced garlic if you have that). Fresh garlic is better than Garlic Powder which will not be as good.
Grated Parmesan	1/2 oz.	As much as you like really
Concentrated Mirepoix Broth	4 tsp.	This is a tricky one. If you don't have this or can't find it, you can just use a condensed Vegetable soup or even just like a chicken or beef soup/broth. Anything with a clearish base.
Savory Spices	2 tsp.	You know the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" plus like, Oregano, Basil, uh Savory, Onion Powder. Basically, all the savory spices you have on your rack that you might put with chicken or beef dish. Personally, I like to just use Greek Seasoning which has a lot of Oregano and MSG but you can use whatever.
Sour Cream	2 oz.	You can use more if you like your sauce thicker. Less keeps the calories and fat down though.
Chard	4 oz.	This has a bitter savory taste but turns a little sweet when you cook it. You can use spinach instead if you prefer. Or even Kale or Collard Greens. Stem and coarsely chop into 1/4" bits.

You will also need:

• A chef's knife.
• A cutting board.
• A frying pan (preferably non-stick)
• A medium-small pot, 4 quarts or so.
• A colander is helpful for draining the water
• Measuring utensils
• A stove
• Olive Oil (flavored/infused oil works well for this dish)
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions

1. Prep Work
   1. Spoiler: Ingredients Prepped

      
   2. Coarsely chop the mushrooms into 1/4" bits.
   3. Stem chard (Chard has a thick stem to the leaf so you can just slice along it or rip the leaves off with your hands).
      1. Cut stems into 1/4" slices and coarsely chop leaves. Keep stems and leaves separate.
      2. If you are using regular spinach you can just chop that up coarsely. You might add some onions or celery as well in this case. Chad stems have a more mild flavor which is good though.
   4. Mince garlic. (This just means to chop it up finely, the finer the better, though you can get a garlic press that also works well)
2. Cook the Pasta
   1. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil, add 2 tsp of salt if you like your pasta salted. I think it is better that way for this dish.
   2. Add noodles and boil until "al dente" which means "to the teeth." Um, it should be just a little firm I guess. 8-10 minutes, depending on your type of noodles.
   3. Take out about 1/2 a cup of the cooked pasta water (you will use it later). Drain the rest.
3. While the noodles are cooking, cook the Vegetables
   1. Spoiler: Cooking the Vegetables

      Have some Videos Cooking Vegetables. Almost Done. Finished!

      
   2. Add the mushroom and chard stems to a frying pot as well as like 2 tsp olive oil (an infused oil like a basil olive oil works well here).
   3. Stir often until lightly browned on medium-high heat. 8 minutes or so.
   4. Add the chard leaves and the garlic. Stir until the leaves start to wilt/shrivel up.
   5. Remove from heat.
4. Finish dish
   1. Video of Finishing the Dish.
   2. When the noodles are done, add them to the vegetables in the pan.
   3. Add the sour cream, seasonings, and the mirepoix.
   4. Add the starchy pasta water until you get to a thickness that pleases you. The sauce should thickly coat the noodles but not be too watery.
   5. Stir until heated through. You aren't cooking this, just getting it all nice and mixed and warmed up. Should only take a couple minutes.
   6. Once combined add the parmesan and maybe some more salt, though the seasoning mix I use has a lot of MSG so I don't need to add much.
5. Enjoy! Serve with some garlic bread.

The finished product!

Spoiler: Some more pictures just for fun

 

[MizMahem]

Greek Spinach Quesadillas
Serves 2

Wait, you want even more vegetarian dishes? Well sure. Spinach quesadillas are a classic, but why not spice it up a bit of a greek twist. Because spinach is delicious and feta cheese is delicious, so this Greek-Mex dish is even more delicious! (Does Mozzarella make it Italian? I dunno). Also easy to make if you know how to make Quesadillas, and if you don't, well now is a great time to learn!

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
Baby Spinach	1 cup	You can also just use regular spinach. Just a little less tender. Chop coarsely.
Chimichurri Seasonings	2 tsp.	sometimes called Argentinan Pesto, you can just use Parsley and Oregano. Or Parsley and Greek Seasoning (seriously that stuff is great, you can use it with everything!)
Feta Cheese	2 oz.	the secret ingredient! You can use more if you want
Garlic	2 Cloves	Mince/Mash. (You can also just use like 1 tsp or so of minced garlic if you have that). Fresh garlic is better than Garlic Powder which will not be as good.
Green Onions	2	Separate the green part from the white part. Finely slice. Maybe 1/8". Can omit if you don't like onions.
Lemon	1	you won't need a whole lemon probably, maybe only half. You can just use lemon juice if you have it.
Roma Tomatoes	2	These are more fleshy than regular tomatoes, but you can use 1 big tomato or cherry tomatoes or whatever instead if you want though.
Shredded Mozzarella	3 oz.	You can use more.
Medium Flour Tortillas	6	Can use whole wheat or whatever flavor you prefer. 6" in diameter. Optionally you can also make just like two bigger quesadillas, but I think the tortilla is an important part of the dish, and so smaller ones work better.
Sour Cream	2 oz.

You will also need:

• A chef's knife.
• A cutting board.
• A frying pan (preferably non-stick)
• A mixing bowl
• Measuring utensils
• A stove
• Olive Oil (flavored/infused oil works well for this dish)
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions

1. Prep the Ingredients
   1. Spoiler: Ingredients Prepped

      I could have chopped the spinach better, but since I overcooked it a bit, it didn't end up mattering too much

      
   2. Slice the onions up thinly and separate the white and green portions. The white portions will go in the filling, the green bits will be in the topping. If you don't like onions, you can omit them.
   3. Chop the tomatoes into 1/4" bits. Optionally core the tomatoes first, which gets out some of the seeds and a bit of the juice. But I don't do this because I like tomatoes a lot.
   4. Coarsely chop spinach. Don't do it too much though, you want it to be kinda floofy.
   5. Mince garlic. (This just means to chop it up finely, the finer the better, though you can get a garlic press that also works well)
2. Make the Filling
   1. Spoiler: Cooking the Filling

      Note that in this one I used about half the spinach I listed in the ingredients. More spinach = more better.

      
   2. Add the white parts of the onions to a hot frying pan and cook over medium-high heat with 2 tsp olive oil (an infused oil like a basil olive oil works well here). Cook until tender and a little clear, should only take a couple of minutes.
   3. Add garlic and cook a bit to bring out the smell, doesn't take long, less than a minute.
   4. Add spinach and the seasoning. Stir until the spinach is wilted, a couple of minutes.
3. Make the Topping
   1. Spoiler: Topping

      
   2. Combine tomatoes and green portions of onions.
   3. Halve the lemon and squeeze in its juice.
   4. Add 1 tsp. olive oil, again a flavored/infused oil works well here (can you tell I like these a lot?)
   5. Salt and pepper to taste.
   6. You can either add the sour cream in here and mix it or serve it separately.
   7. Mix, duh.
4. Make the Quesadillas
   1. Spoiler: Making the Quesadillas

      1. Spoiler: Assembling a quesadilla

         
      2. Spoiler: All assembled

         
      3. Spoiler: Quesadillas in the pan

         
      4. Spoiler: Cooked Quesadillas

         
      5. Bonus Video
   2. As always, portioning the filling is tough and I don't have a secret to it. We'll be making 6 quesadillas.
   3. But anyways, put some of the Feta and some of the mozzarellas on one side of the tortillas, and then put the spinach filling on top. Fold in half. Ideally, you want like a flat quesadilla.
   4. Add some more oil to the pan (just regular oil is fine here) and cook on medium-ish heat.
      1. Getting the heat right here is tricky and important. You want it to be hot enough to brown, but low enough that you can cook it without burning it.
      2. Cook until golden brown. Takes a couple of minutes per side.
   5. Add more oil if the pan gets dry. You can cook as many in a pan as you can manage at a time. Better to take longer than to burn them.
5. Top with the tomato topping and sour cream, add some more lemon juice if you want, you have half a lemon left! Enjoy!

The Finished Result!

 

[MizMahem]

Tomato Lemon Salmon with Broccoli
Serves 2

So I don't just cook vegetarian. I'm really more of a pescatarian who also sometimes occasionally eats pork or beef. So you know, basically just a regular person who is trying to cut down on the meet portion of my diet. And so today I've got for you a seafood dish. Simple and not many ingredients and pretty easy to make. It also scales up and down pretty easily if you are cooking for more or less than two people.

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
Broccoli	1 Head (I dunno, this is maybe 3/4 pounds?)	Chop Coarsely
Butter	2 tbsp
Lemon	1	We are just using this for lemon juice so you can just use lemon juice instead.
Salmon	2 Fillets maybe 6 oz each?	I mean you can use bigger pieces if you like
Shallot	1	Slice or Chop Coarsely You can also use like half a regular onion. You can omit if you don't like onion.
Sour Cream	4 tbsp
Tomato Pesto	4 tbsp	I just buy this at the store. This is the secret ingredient so if you want to get a fancy kind, you can/should.

You will also need:

• A chef's knife.
• A cutting board.
• A frying pan (preferably non-stick)
• Measuring utensils
• A stove
• An oven
• A couple of mixing bowls.
• Olive Oil (flavored/infused oil works well for this dish)
• Salt and Pepper

1. Roast Broccoli
   1. Spoiler: Prepped Ingredients

      There is actually way more Broccoli than this, I underestimated the size of the container I needed. Pretty foolish.

      

      I should have sliced the shallots finer. Whoops.

      
   2. Spoiler: Roasted Broccoli

      These could have stood to stay in the oven just a little longer.

      
   3. Chop up the broccoli. You are aiming for bite-sized pieces.
   4. Slice the shallots/onions. You want these a bit smaller than bite-size, you know usual dice size or whatever.
   5. Toss the broccoli and onions with 2 tsp olive oil (like always, a flavored oil works well here, like a basil or lemon oil) and half a tsp of salt or so, plus some pepper.
   6. Roast broccoli at 400°F for like 15 minutes. The broccoli should be a little browned and tender.
2. Make sauces
   1. Spoiler: Sauces

      Lemon Sour Cream

      

      Butter Tomato Pesto (Ideally this would be a bit more combined but it will melt on the fish so it is fine)

      
   2. Combine the sour cream and juice from like half/quarter of the lemon (to your taste), and some pepper. This is the topping for the broccoli.
   3. Combine the butter with the pesto, and like half/quarter of the lemon (to your taste). If the butter is to stiff you can zap it in a microwave for a sec. You want it creamy but not melted. Don't stress if it doesn't completely mix though, it will melt on the fish. This is the topping for the salmon.
   4. Don't let the portions fool you, you don't need much for the fish. You can make a larger portion of the sour cream if you want though, though it was plenty for us.
3. Cook the Salmon
   1. Spoiler: Prepped Fish

      
   2. Spoiler: Cooking the fish

      Bonus Video!

      

      Cook one side. Then the other! (Nailed the color here I think)

      
   3. Pat the salmon dry if necessary with some paper towels.
   4. Season the flesh side of salmon with some salt, pepper, and other seasonings if you like (maybe some basil or oregano, you can also never go wrong with that greek seasoning). That said, you probably don't want to overpower the butter, so take it easy.
   5. Prep a frying pan with 1 tsp olive oil (unlike other times just regular oil is fine here, save the fancy stuff... though lemon oil would be good too ).
   6. Cook the Salmon over medium heat, starting with the skin side up. Time is hard to predict because it depends on the thickness of your fillets, but it should be golden brown. But shouldn't take long, maybe 5 minutes a side.
4. Eat and Enjoy!
   1. Spoiler: Before the topping

      
   2. Top the broccoli with the sour cream and the fish with the butter pesto.

The final product!

 

[MizMahem]

Roasted Creamy Pesto Gnocchi with Peppers

Today I have another tasty vegetarian dish for you, Roasted Gnocchi in a Creamy Pesto sauce plus peppers and other veggies. Gnocchi is a kind of Italian potato pasta, much heartier than regular noodles. Usually it is boiled but today we will be roasting it. This dish is a lot of fun and is actually really easy to make, and ends up looking really colorful and beautiful. A delight to eat with the eyes, but tastes good too!

Note that the pictures are from when I made a double portion (well more like 2 and half), which serves 4 people. The cook times should remain basically the same.

All measurements in US. (though in this dish you do not have to be really precise with anything, pretty much all ingredients can be done to taste)

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
Basil Pesto	1 tbsp	You could use more or a different kind if you like.
Lemon	1	You can also use lemon juice.
Butter	1 tbsp	Salted or Unsalted, doesn't really matter
Flour	1 tbsp	White
Milk	2/3 Cup	Whole preferably, but skim or anything else in between will work fine as well.
Seasoning	2 tsp	I used my favorite Greek Seasoning along with some garlic powder, but you can use any flavor combinations you like.
Parmesan	1 oz	You can totally use the kind from a can, but shredded parmesan is better for this.
Gnocchi	~1 lb	You could probably use a little less of this. The kind I get is shelf-stable and you can use right out of the package. If you get dried gnocchi you will need to boil it first.
Peas	3 oz	You can use canned or frozen (or fresh if you can get them). I prefer frozen.
Shallot	1	Peel and Slice into strips. You can also use like half a regular (yellow) onion. You can omit if you don't like onion.
Bell Pepper	1	Any kind of non-green bell pepper will work. Red, yellow, or orange. Green will work as well, but they are sweeter and a little tougher and not preferred for this dish. Seed and slice into strips.

You will also need:

• A knife or other sharp cutting implement
• Something to cut on
• An oven of some other enclosed box which gets hot and with which you can control the temperature. (Even a little toaster oven can work for this dish)
• A pan that can fit in said oven. (Actually, a cooking sheet is more appropriate, not sure why I called it a pan, well, I'm to lazy to fix it, you can figure it out I'm sure)
• Measuring utensils (maybe)
• A pot (preferably metal)
• A stove or something else that gets hot.
• Maybe a bowl, maybe not, depends on how you want to serve the dish.
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive Oil Fancy oil not that necessary for this dish.

How to Make It!
Unlike some of my other dishes, this one isn't much prep-work and is mostly waiting on things to cook.

• Roast the Gnocchi
  • So as mentioned in the ingredients section, the kind of Gnocchi I get is 'shelf-stable which is basically like fresh gnocchi which they do some kind of food science magic to that makes it keep. This kind of Gnocchi can be used straight out the package. I have also seen dried gnocchi sold. This kind you will probably need to boil at least briefly before using. If you make fresh gnocchi (you bad-ass, you) you can also just use that right after you finish it.
  • Spread the gnocchi out on a pan optionally hitting it with some non-stick spray first. I sometimes line the pan with aluminum foil first, it makes clean-up easier.
  • Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the gnocchi and mix it up to get it all nice and coated. Using some flavored oil is okay here, but not necessary.
  • Put it in the oven at 425°F for about 20-25 minutes.
  • About halfway through that time, open it up and give it a good mix.
  • When the gnocchi is done it should be crispy on the outside but still soft inside. Parts of it may turn golden brown, but not all of it. That is okay.
  • Spoiler: Roasting the Gnocchi

    Spread it out on a pan.

    

    Add oil and Shove it in the oven.

    

    Roasted Gnocchi

    
• Prep Work
  • Seed the bell pepper and optionally cut out the little ribs. Then slice it into well, slices. You could dice it up if you like, but with gnocchi, I think it is better to have larger pieces. Doing it horizontally would be cool, make some nice shapes!
  • Peel and slice the shallot. Again we are opting for larger slices rather than dicing it. Additionally, these onions will not be cooked as much as normal, only roasted briefly. So a larger size makes sense. That said, if you don't like onions, now is the time to cut them out of the dish. While you can always substitute a regular onion for a shallot, shallots work nicely in this dish as they have a more mild flavor then regular onions I think.
  • Spoiler: Sliced Veggies

    I was making a larger portion so used multiple peppers. I got a red, yellow, and orange one, but if I was to do it over again, I would have just gotten red. Strictly because I think the yellow and orange color did not stand out as much as I would have liked in the end.

    
• Make the sauce.
  • Again we are making a bechamel sauce. This is the most difficult part of the dish to make. There is no shame in using like a cream soup as a substitute instead here if you like. You need ~4oz.
    • Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium-ish heat.
    • Stir in the flour with the melted butter and stir it constantly, so it doesn't brown. Keep going till it bubbles a little, ~2 minutes.
    • Add the milk and keep stirring while it thickens and continue until it boils.
    • Add salt and pepper to taste. It should taste kinda like a creamy soup base.
    • Reduce to just below a simmer, and stir for a couple more minutes. The sauce should be reduced slightly.
    • Spoiler: Making the bechamel

      Melt the butter.

      

      Add in the flour. Honestly, I messed up a bit here and added too much flour. Or maybe I should have cooked it a little longer. Not that big a deal, just added more milk later. Ideally, it wouldn't get this clumpy though. Add the milk and stir I dunno, learning how to make this sauce is tough, and I'm no expert. Watch a youtube video or something.

      

      But here is a video giving an idea of the consistency you should end up with.

      
  • Add in the Pesto and the juice of like one half a lemon, as well as the seasoning you are going to use (we used greek seasoning and garlic powder).
  • Don't be afraid to be liberal with the seasonings in this dish, unlike other pastas, gnocchi has a significant potato flavor (which gets even stronger when roasted like this) so a nicely seasoned sauce goes well with it.
  • Spoiler: More making the sauce

    Lemon Juice

    

    Pesto! MY FAVORITE

    

    Finished sauce.

    
• Roast the vegetables
  • Spread the peppers, frozen peas and onions out on a pan. As before you can zap it with some cooking spray and line it with aluminum foil to make cleanup easier.
  • sprinkle 2 tsp of olive oil on the vegetables and season with salt and pepper to taste (again don't be shy with the pepper, salt you can take it easy on though).
  • Mix the vegetables up and shove them in the oven at 425°F for about 20 minutes
  • If you are using frozen peas you can just dump 'em in at the start. If using fresh or canned peas, wait until the vegetables are about 3/4 done (about 12 minutes or so) before you add them. Obviously drain canned peas first.
  • Depending on how long the other steps took the gnocchi may be done before this point or not. Doesn't really matter. If you only have one pan you can set the gnocchi aside and use the same pan to cook this one.
  • Spoiler: Roasting the Vegtables

    Vegetables in a pan

    
• Mix it all together!
  • Once the vegetables, gnocchi, and sauce are done we will mix 'em all together.
  • Combine the gnocchi and the vegetables together on one pan (just dump one on top of the other).
  • Pour the sauce mix on top.
  • Add the parmesan cheese on top of this mix. Use as much as you like, but you know, cheese makes you fat .
  • Put it back in the oven at 425°F for about 5 minutes. The cheese should be melted.
  • Spoiler: The final combination

    Gnocchi and roasted vegetables, together at last!

    

    Add the sauce.

    

    Mix.

    

    And the cheeeese!

    

    Put in Oven

    

    DONE!

    
• Dish it up and eat it!

The final Result!