Odds and Ends Cookery

[BlackShanglan]

It's actually one of my favorite kinds of cooking - the "What can I do with what I have in the house?" variety. Stimulates the little gray cells!

I did this today and it came out beautifully.

Sausage and White Bean Soup

Slice 1/2 onion thinly and saute it in olive oil (using a large pot). After a couple of minutes, add four chopped cloves of garlic, and then a couple of minutes later, three medium vine tomatoes roughly chopped. Season with a couple of generous pinches of thyme, pepper, and three bay leaves.

Add two cans of navy beans and one can of whole tomatoes (same volume as the bean cans), chopped and with all liquid. Slosh in perhaps 1/4 cup red wine, then add about one bean-can worth of water and a beef stock cube. Chop and add three slices of cooked bacon and two cooked Italian sausages. Simmer fifteen minutes and you're set.

Good with some nice toasted crusty bread and butter.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Oh, that sounds good!

I love Great Northern beans, myself. My recipe; Chop a whole chicken into peices, or use leg-and-thighs if you'd rather. Brown them in your big pot. Pour out the fat, and replace with olive oil. Dump in your onions-garlic-herbs, including a generous dash of Cumin. Saute the garlic and onions for a couple minutes, as best you can with the chicken getting in your way, and then dump in a can of tomatoes, and at least two cans of white beans. A little wine if you've got it-- it's usually red, around here, but I don't let that stop me

Cover the pot loosely so that steam can get out, turn down to a simmer and wait till it's cooked.

The beans are tastier than the chicken!

 

[SeaCat]

Dinner tonight.

(Now remember I enjoy cooking and have a ton of bagged pre-cut and marinated meats in the freezer.)

One container of Soup Stock. (Cut fifty-fifty with water.) One bag containing roughly one pound of garlic marinated grilled Beef Tips. Pearl Onions, Baby Carrots glazed with Honey, Elbow Macaroni, two Ancho Chilis, a pinch or three of Sweet Basil, a can of Pinto Beans, two Bay Leaves and half a cup of Crumbled Bacon.

Bring the whole thing to a boil then cover and simmer for several hours.

Oh this was good.

Cat

 

[BlackShanglan]

Stella, that sounds delicious. I've always loved coq au vin, and the beans sound like a great variation.

A couple of months ago we came up with this for sandwiches - simple but very nice. We sliced and panini-grilled some crusty bread (just brushed it with olive oil and grilled it by itself) while we broiled some skinless chicken breasts seasoned with lemon juice, cayenne, and tarragon. I took the zest from the lemon and some chopped garlic and mashed them into a couple of tablespoons of mayonaise. That, together with some greens, made the sandwiches, and they were very nice. We've done that lemon-garlic mayonaise several times since. (I seem to think black pepper was involved as well, now that I think on it.)

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'm going to remember that mayo trick!
I love black pepper-- I love the actual flavor of it.

Seacat-- your recipes always make me laugh and salivate at the very same time!

HOney-glazed carrots in the soup?

What kind of stock was it?

 

[jomar]

Yes, mystery "casseroles" can be surprisingly good. Or not.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Yes, mystery "casseroles" can be surprisingly good. Or not.

As in the case of the curry the SO made when we ran out of plain yogurt.

The SO used vanilla.

*shudder*

 

[neonlyte]

As in the case of the curry the SO made when we ran out of plain yogurt.

The SO used vanilla.

*shudder*

Quite! Now chocolate with well hung game... the Mexicans have a lot to answer for.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Quite! Now chocolate with well hung game... the Mexicans have a lot to answer for.

You don't like molè? We are outside the realm of odds and ends here, but I love it-- I make it from scratch, with these raw cocoa nibs someone gave me.

 

[neonlyte]

You don't like molè? We are outside the realm of odds and ends here, but I love it-- I make it from scratch, with these raw cocoa nibs someone gave me.

I love it... however I rarely have any chocolate leftovers to use. When I have made it for a specific meal I've used Valrhona 73% cocoa solid beans. If found these to be too bitter to eat more than a handful

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I'm back to being creative with ramen noodles...

cheap little suckers...

I make a mean thai chicken with them.... yummy peanut butter sauce...

sooo bad for you, all those horrible carbs...

we're having pizza tonight, tho, even worse. I miss pizza! No one delivers out here.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Me Grandma's Irish Potatoe Soup. I'm the only grand kid who could ever do it right for some reason.

One Large Potato/person, diced and boiled with onion and garlic until tender,
Remove from heat and drain. Turn OFF the range burner. Add 1-1/2 cups of whole milk per serving and a large dollup of cold butter. Return to the burner (which is now cooling). When the butter melts, it's done. Leave it on heat longer and it will "break".

I eat this a lot.

 

[jomar]

As in the case of the curry the SO made when we ran out of plain yogurt.

The SO used vanilla.

*shudder*

Ouch. But it's fun to experiment.