Indi's How To Cook Properly thread

[Indi]

Inspired and following on from Fes' thread, this thread is a place to share recipes and learn how to cook.
I love cooking and was taught by my father when I was about 10. I even have a massive scrapbook of recipes at home. Cooking is scientifically proven to be therapeutic and helps the body and mind to relax while stimulating all your senses.
So if you looking for a certain recipe, or you want to know more, and you have a fave recipe you want to share with others, drop a post.

Don't give in to fast food and beans on toast!

[Indi]

First recipe and an all-round favourite.


SPAGHETTI A LA CARBONARA

Ingredients:
diced bacon (as much as you like)
6 to 8 button mushrooms sliced
4 oz Spaghetti per person
1 Egg
1 oz Butter
1 pot Single Cream (double makes it go way too thick)
half a clove of crushed garlic
Grated Cheese (a big handful is good)

Instructions:
Right, measure out about 4ounces of spaghetti per person.
Put your spaghetti on and at same time melt butter in a pan and add in your bacon (personally i add a shitload of bacon but that's just me, don't use smoked bacon though as the flavour will be too strong) and mushrooms. Wait until the bacon and mushrooms is done, and then add the single cream and leave it on a low heat.

Crack an egg in a bowl and beat it senseless, add in grated cheese, bout a handful is good but you can add a bit more if you like, and then whisk it all together.

When spaghetti is done, drain it and add a knob of butter, then mix in the cheese/egg mix followed by the bacon/cream mix.

The eggs cook themselves in the hot spaghetti, but if some of you are a bit funny about that then put it back in the pan for about 20-30 seconds.

Serve with a nice crusty bread like foccachia and enjoy.

[Indi]

Here's a nice recipe from the local restaurants here in Nanjing


EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) WITH OYSTER SAUCE (YU XIANG QIE ZI)

Ingredients:
3 or 4 large eggplants (aubergines)
1/2 lb of beef mince
8 finely chopped button mushrooms
soy sauce
oyster sauce
pinch of chilli powder or flakes
sugar and salt to taste


Chop the eggplants into thin slices.

Fry the mince and chopped mushroom with a pinch of sugar and a dash of soy sauce to colour. Set aside into a bowl the cooked mince and mushrooms with the juice.

Put a liberal amount of cooking oil into the wok and fry the eggplant until all the oil is soaked up. Add small amounts of water if needed and fry until all the colour of the eggplant has darkened considerably.

Add the cooked mince and mushrooms to the wok. Then add a nice dash of soy sauce to colour the eggplant, and a nice blob of oyster sauce.

Add a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt to taste, add a touch more oyster sauce if need be. Cook until sauce is thick and the eggplant is juicy. Serve with rice and a pinch of chopped parsley.

Quality

[Indi]

SCALLOPS WARPPED IN PROSCUITTO

Make up a simple chilli garlic butter, by creaming together some salted butter, chopped red birdseye chillies, and plenty of garlic.

Cook spaghetti in salted boiling water. For 3 people, half a packet should suffice.

Preheat oven to about 200*C.

Meanwhile, wrap 9 scallops (and their coral) in either thinly sliced bacon, or slices of prosciutto. Place the scallops at one end, then roll the bacon or prosciutto around the scallop, fairly tightly. Place each one onto an oiled baking sheet. Top each scallop with a little knob of the chilli garlic butter.

Place the baking tray into the oven. You should aim to do this about 5 min into the cooking time of the pasta, and bake the scallops for 5-7 min.

Drain the pasta, then toss with the remaining chilli garlic butter. Also toss through some chopped parsley. Plate up the spaghetti, and serve with 3 scallops each. Drizzle over a little of the melted butter from the baking tray.

SPINACH SALAD
Drizzle some olive oil into the bottom of a casserole dish. Preheat oven to 200.

Slice a medium to large sized aubergine into rounds, then pile these up and slice again, into quarters. Throw the pieces into the dish. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Now slice up a punnet of mushrooms, and toss in with the aubergine. Drizzle a little more oil over top, a little more salt, and maybe a little chilli infused olive oil. Finally, add a punnet of cherry tomatoes, and toss.

Put the vegetables into the oven to roast, for about 15-20 min. Meanwhile, take a packet of marinated tofu. The best kind to use for this sort of salad is a medium-firm set tofu, marinated in soy sauce and ginger. Cut the tofu into chunks.

Toss the tofu, some baby leaf spinach and the roasted vegetables in a vinaigrette of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

[Indi]

MOULES MARINIERE


Ingredients:
Bag of frozen mussels (unless you go to a fish market you wont find fresh ones)
White Cooking Wine
half an onion
Parsley (a small handful chopped)
Garlic (1 clove crushed)
pot of Double Cream
Some lovely bread

Instructions:

Really really simple. Cook onions in a pan in some olive oil, then add mussels. Pour in a fair amount of white wine, say a couple of mugs worth. Put it on a high heat until it starts bubbling, then add in chopped parsley, the crushed garlic and about a cup full of cream. Let it reduce down as much as u can without turning the mussels rubbery.

Serve in a bowl and get loads of nice bread. Eat the mussels and then take all the shels out, then get your bread and soak up the sauce with it and eat away

Fecking gorgeous

[Indi]

One of my own recipes, this is so simple yet so fucking nice:


Lemon Pepper Chicken Pitta Pockets
Serves 2 - 4 people


4 Chicken Breasts, cut into thin strips
Cucumber and carrot, shredded
1 clove of crushed garlic
4 Pitta breads

For the marinade:
3 or 4 lemons
fresh ground black pepper
finely chopped coriander
olive oil
pinch of sugar


Squeeze the lemons into a large bowl.

Add the black pepper, coriander, pinch of sugar and a slug of olive oil to the lemon juice, and mix.

Add the chicken strips and mix well, making sure the marinade covers the chicken. Leave the chicken to marinate for a minimum of an hour, for best results leave in the fridge to marinate overnight.

Fry the vegetables with the crushed garlic and set aside in a bowl.

Cut open the pitta breads along one side. Take the marinated chicken and fry gently.

Serve in the pittas with the vegetables in the bottom and with the chicken on top of the vegetables

Enjoy

[Indi]

Here's a good recipe for when you're having a special lady around and you want to get in her pants


LOBSTER THERMIDOR

Ingredients:
1 Lobster
Shallots (onions will do)
Fish Stock (can be a cube from a pack in hot water for u cheapos out there!)
White Wine
Double Cream
Parmesan Cheese (normal cheese if your cheap again)
English Mustard
Parsley
Lemon Juice

Instructions:
Crack the lobster down the side with the back of a knife, take off the top part of the shell. Remove all claw and tail meat and dice it up. Remove all meat from the head and throw it away. Place useable meat back inside the shell.

The Sauce: Cook shallots in a shallow pan in a little olive oil. add the fish stock and white wine (about half a pint to 3/4 in total)
Reduce it down for about 5-10 mins on the boil, add the cream , lemon juice, parmesan and a teaspoon of english mustard and the chopped parsley. Reduce it down till its fairly thick.

Pour on top of the lobster meat in the shell and put it under a pre-heated grill for approximately 10-12 mins. (check the meat is cooked properly though, because your grill might be crap )

Then serve it up with some salad or garnish on the side and some nice bread.


If your bird will eat fish (I've found a lot of girls dont like it) then you will most definately get some great sex if you cook her this

[Indi]

And here's a nice starter


ROASTED PEPPERS STUFFED WITH CHILLI CRAB

Ingredients:
Crab Meat
Green or Red Pepper (your preference, i think green goes best with this)
Mayonnaise
Fresh Yoghurt
Lemon
Lime
Spring Onion
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
Red+Green Chilli

Instructions:

Pretty simple stuff, chop pepper in half and get all seeds/white shit out. Drop on a tray in the oven with some olive oil.

In a mixing bowl put in the crab meat, and half mayo half yoghurt, add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and paprika. Squirt in some fresh lemon and lime juice.

Finely chop some green and red chillies and soem spring onion.
Mix all it in with the crab and mayo and season to taste.
When your peppers are stating to nicely brown take them out and stuff the mixture in and serve with some garnish.

If you get the mixture just right you should have a little tang of chilli with the lemon but then the smoothness of the crab and mayo

[Indi]

Here's a nice chicken dish that will keep you going for ages:


SPICE RUBBED CHICKEN

Ingredients:
3 or 4 large chicken breasts
1 lemon
2 or 3 cloves of garlic per chicken breast
olive oil

The Rub:
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt
8 whole cloves
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 stp corriander seeds
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp briwn sugar

Roast spices in a hot pan and then grind them togther in mortan/pestle or a coffee grinder for spices only

Take the chicken breasts and butterfly them (that's where you cut the chicket breasts in half but not all the way through, so the meat opens up like butterfly wings). Rub them with the spice mix (all surfaces of the chicken), slice a lemon in half and cut one half into small slices. Fold a couple slices of lemon and some cloves of garlic in the butterflied breast.

Squeeze the other half of the lemon into a bowl with some olive oil and whisk the two together.

Put the breasts in an oven-safe dish with oil/pam/something non-stick on the surface and coat them with the lemon/oil mix. Bake those up until theyre done to your liking (i roast these at 400F for an hour so that it shreads nice and easy).
remove the lemons, squeeze whats left of the juice on the chicken if you want and throw out the garlic cloves.

I usually serve this with couscous made with lemon juice, mint, almonds, and dried apricots in it. Its also good in a pita or sandwich wrap.


You can also make a really good sauce to serve either with the warm dish or the pita or wrap:

1/2 cup olive oil
2 shallots, sliced
1 fresh chili pepper
1/2 lb pitted green spanish olives
2 tbs sherry wine vinegar
1/2 lemon, juiced

Saute the shallots and pepper until carmalized then put that and the rest of the ingrediants in a blender and puree

[Indi]

I love this so much, its one of my favourite dishes.


BEEF WELLINGTON

Ingredients:
1 8oz Fillet Steak
Puff Pastry
Onions
Mushrooms
Your favourite pate (brussels works well with this one)
Red Wine
Demi Glace (if you dont have any of this then use an onion gravy)

Instructions:
Ok first off, if your broke, a nice rump will do if fillet is too expensive (but if you want pure pleasure, then get a fillet or a nice sirloin!!)

Cook in a pan some onions and some mushrooms. take about 3-4 spoonfuls of the onions and the mushrooms out of the pan and leave in enough to make a sauce.
Add red wine and demi glace and reduce down to a nice thick sauce (use beef gravy if can't get demi glace.)

Sear your fillet steak on all sides and cook it till its very rare (if you like your steak well done, if think you should die for ruining a perfectly good steak.) Then place your fillet steak on some rolled out pastry (enough to wrap around the whole thing comfortably.)

Next get your onions and mushrooms in a bowl and your pate and mix them all together. Then place a couple of spoonfuls of the mixture on the fillet steak. Then brush egg (or milk) on the pastry on the inside, and fold it all in. Then egg the outside and place on a baking tray in the oven at about 180 degrees. Cook until the pastry is golden brown and serve it up.

If done right, the steak should come out medium rare and will taste bloody lovely. Pour your sauce on the top and enjoy.

[Indi]

SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN CURRY


First, take:

3 tbsp tomato puree or tomato sauce (not ketchup!)
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
2 teaspoons Garam Masala
1-2 tsp Chilli powder
1 clove garlic pulped
2 tbsp mango chutney
1 tsp salt

and mix together well.

Warm 2-4 tbsp corn oil in pan/wok, and add above mixture. Heat through.

Add 700g (1 1/2lb )cubed chicken, and stir till the chicken is coated coated. Gradually add 150ml (2/3cup) of water to the pan and cook until chicken is done to your liking.

Optionally, you can add 2 fresh chopped green chillies (leave these out if u are a wimp), 2 tbsp single cream and 2 tbsp fresh corriander. Cook for 2 more minutes.

Serve with rice and naan bread.

[Indi]

Here a banging cheesecake recipe I read somewhere.


CHOCOLATE ORANGE CHEESECAKE

Ingredients:
Large Bar of Milk Chocolate
Double Cream
Sugar
2 Oranges
Gelatine
Full Fat Soft Cheese
Digestive Biscuits (nice ones)
Butter

Instructions:
Grab your digestives, and blend/crush them up into fine crumbs. Melt some butter and add it to the digestive crumbs, so it moistens them up. Throw the mixture into the bottom of a cake tin and firm it down so youve got about a cm of base. Pop it in the fridge.

Grab your chocolate and break off a line to save for decoration. Place the rest of the bar of chocolate in a pyrex bowl above some boiling water on the stove.

In a mixing bowl put in the melted chocolate, about third of a large tub of soft cheese and add about a pint of cream. Zest both your oranges and make sure it is very fine zest. Add that in then squeeze every drop of orange you can into it. Add half a cup full of sugar if the orange overpowers a little bit.

Put a little bit of water in a pan and boil it, add 6 sheets of gelatine until you can see now lumps. Put the gelatine in the mixture and whizz it all up. The mixture should be a bit thicker consistancy than double cream.

Put this into the cake tin, and then grate the left the chocolate left over onto the top. Leave overnight in the fridge.

It should set perfectly. Slice and eat it as quickly as possible

[Indi]

A classic dish for all to enjoy.


CHILLI CON CARNE

Ingredients:
Beef Mince (although technically you should make it with strips of meat!)
Onions (diced)
Mushrooms
Garlic
Mixed Herbs
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper
Ground Cumin
Red+Green Chillies
1-2 Scotch Bonnets (if you dare)
Kidney Beans
Chopped Tomatoes
Tomato Puree
Chocolate Powder
Worcester Sauce
Beef Stock


Instructions:
First, add your onions in a large cooking dish. Cook till soft and add in the mince and the mushrooms. Cook till the meat is starting to all be coloured, then add in your beef stock.

Start to reduce it down and then add in your garlic, chillies and the mixed herbs. Then get your ground cumin and add in quite a large amount of it, followed by a sprinke of cayenne pepper, paprika and some cocoa powder. Add in the tomato puree and the kidney beans. Finally throw in the chopped tomatoes and leave it on the stove stirring occasionally on a low heat for about an hour or maybe longer.

Season it up and taste it. It might be a good idea to get some chilli powder, to spice it up a little more if it isnt quite hot enough!

Best idea with chilli is just to throw it all in and basically let it reduce down to a fairly thick sauce and let all the flavours cook out nicely.

Cant really go wrong, just whatever you do dont rush it or it will taste bland.

Serve with rice and a swirl of sour cream.


Also as a side dish, you can get a bag of crunchy tortilla chips, lay them out on a plate and cover with sliced jalapenos and grated cheese (monterey jack or mozzarella is good), and then place under a low heat grill until the cheese melts. Serve and eat with salsa.

[Indi]

I bought this book about 8 years ago called 101 Gourmet Burger recipes, and I love homemade burgers so I picked it up and never regreted it. Here's one of my favourites from the book.


BLUE CHEESE STUFFED BURGERS
Servings: 4


1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon country-style Dijon mustard
4 onion buns
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced thin
2 medium onions, sliced 1/8" thick
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 slices ripe tomato


In medium bowl stir together ground beef, salt and pepper. Form into 8 large patties.

In small bowl stir together blue cheese, cream cheese and mustard.

Place about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture on top of each of 4 patties. Top each with remaining meat patty. Press around edges to seal.

Place hamburgers in 10" skillet. Cook over medium heat, turning once, until desired doneness (12 to 15 minutes for medium).

Place hamburgers on buns.

In same skillet with drippings place mushrooms and onions; add some salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until tender (4 to 5 minutes).
Put a tomato slice on each hamburger; top with grilled mushrooms and onions.

Serve with spicy potato wedges, and some sour cream and barbeque sauce.

[Indi]

And here's a chinese one from my ex-girlfriend, she's gone but the recipe remains.


SHRIMP & BROCCOLI IN CHILLI SAUCE
Serves 4


Ingredients
1-1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons minced seeded jalapeno pepper (about 2 peppers)
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1-1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup chili sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
3 cups broccoli florets
8 ounces of noodles/vermicelli


Combine the first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl; cover and chillfor 1 hour.

Combine water and next 4 ingredients (water through salt) in a small bowl; set aside.

Heat oil in a stir-fry pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add broccoli; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add shrimp mixture; stir-fry 5 minutes or until shrimp are done. Add cornstarch mixture, and bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens.

Serve over noodles.