Cooking for Students

[DrAlex]

There's been a little increase in cooking related questions on the boards, so I reccommend the 'student recipe' thread. I'll kick us off.

Simple Stew:
Chop a clove of garlic and fry in a little olive oil.
When the garlic is lightly golden, add half to a full pack of Tesco caserole beef, sliced into small chunks (if not already done).
Fry until browned (if you're vegetarian, I reccommend replacing beef with aubergine).
Add half a red onion finely chopped.
Pour a tin of chopped tomatoes into the pan and stir. Reduce heat and reduce (fancy for let water evaporate so it thickens).
Add a glug of red wine and a glug of balsamic vinegar
Season with oregano, sea salt and/or black pepper.
Continue to let it reduce, taste it, mix it, etc.
If you're feeling fancy, place a small sprig of fresh basil and another glug of olive oil on top and serve with sliced ciabatta.

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La loi est dure, mais l'aigle ne chasse pas les mouches.
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[Oli]

great/recipes/877

There's a couple. And then the thread went astray.

[flarewearer]

You will need;

*Wholemeal flour
*Water
*A thick bottomed frying pan

100g of flour will make 3 chapatis, multiply up for however many you need.

- Sift the flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre, and add some water

- Mix the contents of the bowl, adding enough water until it comes into a firm dough that doesnt stick to the bowl. If its too wet, add some more flour.

- Knead the ball of dough for about 5 - 10 mins, so that it is elastic. Let it sit, covered by a cloth for 20 minutes.

- Break the dough into balls about 1 1/2 inches across. Roll these out on a floured surface into rough, thin, circles

- Heat your pan, dry, as hot as it will go, until steam begins to form on it. Turn the heat down.

- Cook each chapati, for about a minute on each side. When you turn it, press it down with a folded tea towel.

- When the chapati puffs up, it's cooked. Transfer it to a warmed dish, keeping them warm in an oven or grill.

- Serve when all your chapatis are cooked with a good curry and some pickles.

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[flarewearer]

Olive oil has a low smoke point, extra virgin even more so. That is, it begins to smoke at a relatively low temperature. Extra Virgin isnt suitable for cooking with at all, use it to flavour things and in dressings.

Stir Fries need to be done hot and fast. Olive oil just doesnt get hot enough, neither does sunflower oil or 'vegetable' oil (rapeseed). The best oil to use (and check noone around has an allergy, else you might kill them) is groundnut oil, it has a higher smoke point than all other oils. Stick your wok or pan onto the biggest ring on the highest setting with the oil in it (be generous). When there's smoke coming out, throw in the first of your ingredients (and stand well back!) Only do this if you have the window open and extractor on though, or you'll set off your fire alarms and stink the place out.

Cook onions and garlic on a low heat so that they soften slowly over time. Give them 5 - 10 minutes, they'll go soft and sweet and delicious. If you are cooking both, add the garlic after 5 mins.

Cook your veg in the correct order. Dont just throw it all in at once, thats why pre-packed stir frys are silly. You want to cook your onions first, followed by "hard" veg like carrots. Then soft things, like courgettes and peppers, and finally things like peas, sweetcorn and mushrooms that cook quickly.

If you like parmesan, get a block of it and keep it wrapped in foil in the fridge, or else it will lose its pungency quickly. Just grate it when you need it, its far better than that powedered, dried stuff you can buy that comes from Germany.

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[maz]

Meringues are actually very easy to make - contrary to popular belief, and so are a pretty impressive dessert, as everyone thinks you must be some kind of super cook to make them.

6 oz Caster Sugar
3 Large Egg whites

First make sure your bowl is very very clean (NO GREASE) and make sure you haven't got any egg yolk in the whites (not one little bit, it'll ruin them!)

Use electric whisk and whisk egg whites until they stand up in peaks that droop slightly at the top when you take the whisk out.

Add tablespoon of sugar at a time and whisk thoroughly after each tablespoon. Your mixture should be glossy, and hold its shape.

place spoonful of the mix on a baking tray covered with greaseproof paper/baking parchment. Place in oven on its lowest heat(140C), and leave the door cracked open. You want to dry out the meringues rather than cook them. After an hour or so turn the oven off, but leave the meringues in there as it cools.

Serve with some whipped cream
yummy !

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Well, I bet that you look good on the dancefloor

[themushroomgod]

The deep fried egg is supposedly quite good - simply crack an uncooked egg into a chip pan, and fry for ~30 seconds.

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Ooh! A Monkey!

[Yemminie]

Here it is. The Super Secret Recipe for those little balls of heaven. I expect undying gratitude for this.

3 cups Bisquick - This is an American product that can be procured in some places, but I don't know of anywhere in St. Andrews. Next time you're in Edinburgh, try Jenners. Or, alternatively, you can mix it up yourself by following this recipe: http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf747410.tip.html Though you'll probably want to cut it down.
2 cups grated cheddar cheese - I usually go wild and use 3 cups, because I think we can all agree - cheesier is better.
1 lb sausage - It might be best to go to a butcher for this, but what I usually do is get a package of nice sausages - Cumberland works pretty well - and squeeze the meat out of the casings. Kind of gross, but the end result is so worth it.
Water as needed.

Right, so you mix the bisquick, cheese, and sausage together in a big bowl with a bit of water. Use enough water to make a cohesive dough. You don't want it to be dry, but you don't want it to be soupy. Mix it up by hand until everything is totally blended together. Roll the dough into balls about 1.5" in diameter. Put the balls onto a baking sheet - they can be pretty close together because they don't puff up very much. Bake for 15 minutesish on 175. Take them out when they're golden brown. Enjoy! These are the perfect party food, perfect drinking food, awesome breakfast food, fabulous snack...if you have any left over, you can stick them in the fridge and reheat them later.

ALTERNATIVELY....

For the vegetarians and/or health conscious:
You can use broccoli instead of sausage. Take a good sized thing of broccoli, and cut off the florets. Chop the florets very fine. Mix it with the other ingredients, add salt and pepper to taste, bake the same as the other version. This is also incredibly tasty.


You all owe me. Forever. That is all.

[DrAlex]

Quoting Yemminie from 19:33, 19th Jan 2006
3 cups Bisquick - This is an American product that can be procured in some places, but I don't know of anywhere in St. Andrews.

My pancakes and I know that Butler and Co sell Bisquick.

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La loi est dure, mais l'aigle ne chasse pas les mouches.
http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37100343

[Rufus]

You're students, you're not supposed to know how to cook

The best website for recipes I've found, is the BBC food one.



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'Love much. Earth has enough bitter in it'
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

[you_can't_cook_for_toffee]

I shudder at you all.

[DrAlex]

I'd invite you to a dinner party, but I don't care about proving you wrong and you probably smell funny.

[hr]

La loi est dure, mais l'aigle ne chasse pas les mouches.
http://standrews.facebook.com/profile.php?id=37100343

[novium]

Roast chicken
you will need:
one chicken
some potatoes
rosemary
a green bellpepper
a lemon or two
some butter
olive oil
crushed garlic
salt and pepper
and a big baking/roasting pan


Peel your potatoes and quarter them, and put them in a pot to boil for fifteen minutes. (until they are soft enough to poke with a fork, but not so soft as to disintegrate).

Take the chicken, remove the neck and gibblets. set it on a rack or in a pinch in just the pan. Peel the lemon and put the peel in the chicken. Then stick some of the branches of rosemary into the chicken. Then cut up the lemon into quarters and put them in the chicken. Melt the butter a bit and smear it all over the chicken, with some of the crushed garlic. put a little slt and pepper on the chicken, and maybe some sage, etc, if you want. Maybe a little garlic powder.

Ok. now back to potatoes. Coat the bottom of the pan in olive oil. Put the potatoes in the pan, slice up the bell pepper into long thin strips, put them in with the potatoes. next, add sticks of rosemary to the potatoes.

How long you bake the chicken depends on how big it is. but it's usually between one and two hours at 176 C (that's 350 f right?)

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"those who wish to be feared must inevitably be afraid of those whom they intimidate"
"In anger nothing right or judicious can be done."

[bramble]

My oat cookies are legendary, my flatmate describes them as 'little drops of sunshine' but theres no way im telling you lot my secret recipe
MWAHAHAHA

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We're threading hope like fire
Down through the desperate blood
Down through the trailing wire
Into the leafless wood

[Duggeh]

SPAM:

Open tin, apply spoon, consume.


Adventurous chefs may try adding brown sauce or even mustard.

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IMAGE:www.macintyre42.plus.com/images/tb2-100.jpg
Duggeh: Master Of Ceremonies
[s]http://www.thismanwillkillyou.com[/s]

[Steveo]

Bloody Jamie Oliver wannabes.

I'll stick to my proper Northern Food.

Lemon in chicken makes it taste like toliet cleaner.

A stew needs vegetables, not bloody tomato.

WHERE THE CHRIST IS THE LARD? I bet hardly any of you use it.

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Strangers passing in the street, by chance two seperate glances meet.

[novium]

It does NOT. the lemon is very subtle, and works very well with the rosemary, garlic, and butter.

Quoting Steveo from 03:21, 20th Jan 2006
Bloody Jamie Oliver wannabes.

I'll stick to my proper Northern Food.

Lemon in chicken makes it taste like toliet cleaner.

A stew needs vegetables, not bloody tomato.

WHERE THE CHRIST IS THE LARD? I bet hardly any of you use it.

[hr]

Strangers passing in the street, by chance two seperate glances meet.

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"those who wish to be feared must inevitably be afraid of those whom they intimidate"
"In anger nothing right or judicious can be done."

[novium]

pssst, don't tell the feds, but here is my atomic (fudge) recipe (apologies if my conversions are off)

* 3 cups (710 ml) sugar
* 1 ¾ cup (415ml) flour
* 1 ¾ cups (415ml) baking cocoa
* 1 ½ teaspoon (7 ml) baking soda
* 1 ½ teaspoon (7 ml) baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt (5ml)
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup(235 ml) milk
* ½ cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extrac
* 1 cup (235 ml)boiling water
1. mix the dry ingrediants well in a large bowl
2. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla and vegetable oil and mix well. Then add the water. Mix it until it has a lot of little bubbles. This batter will be very thin.
3. Pour into two greased 9 inch round baking pans
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 350F (175C) for thirty minutes.
Frosting/filling

Note: this should only be done after the cake has cooled and is ready for frosting.

* 1/8th cup (30 ml)cocoa
* 7 oz (200 g) dark chocolate
* 1/8th cup (30 ml) boiling water
* 1/16th cup (15 ml) sugar or powdered sugar
* 2/3rds cup (156 ml)Whipping cream

1. Melt the chocolate by placing it in a small bowl or pot and placing that in boiling water.
2. Mix the sugar and cocoa together in a small bowl and mix in the water.
3. Stir the sugar/cocoa/water mix into the melted chocolate
4. quickly stir in the cream and mix until it has a nice smooth consistancy.
5. Immediately 'frost' the cake with this, and make sure that there is quite a bit between the two layers of cake. The cake will need to be refrigerated to harden the fudge, so don't worry about its relatively liquid nature.
6. Refrigerate Cake

This cake is meant to be served warm- that is, after being refrigerated. So, slice a piece and microwave it for about 20 seconds. It is heavenly as the fudge melts and soaks into the cake. Serve with ice cream if you so desire. One final note: a higher quality of chocolate and baking cocoa will make a HUGE difference in this cake. It is very worth the extra expense.

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"those who wish to be feared must inevitably be afraid of those whom they intimidate"
"In anger nothing right or judicious can be done."

[Lindsay]

http://www.recipesource.com/

This site's pretty good. Covers fairly mundane dishes right up to Elephant Stew (no kidding!)

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We don't know what the weather will be like on March 26th but at least the air will be clear...

[Lodestone]

Lodestone's Improv Curry

A three-dish curry for serving with some nice basmati rice, and there's not a tomato in sight. Takes about an hour to make and eat. This will serve four.

Lodestone's Improve Takha Dahl
Do this first, 'cause the len tils take about forty minutes.

Pour a mugful of red split lentils into a pot, and just cover them with water. Boil them with plenty of turmeric and coriander until they form a nice thick gloop. You'll need to stir a lot towards the end.

Lodestone's Improve Vegetable Garam Masala

Dice two carrots, a dozen-or-so large mushrooms, half an onion, and three medium sweet potatoes. Boil the hard vegetables until soft, but not falling apart. Make a roux sauce

HOW TO MAKE A ROUX SAUCE.
- Melt lots of butter in a frying pan
- Gradually add flour, stirring vigorously
- Gradually add milk, stirring vigorously
- Alternately add milk and flour until a thick, smooth sauce is formed. It;s a bit tricky, but once you've got the knack you can use it for everything.

Add chili, paprika and garam masala to your roux. Dump in all the vegetables. Stir and let sit so that the vegetables cook through.


Lodestone's Improv Bombay Sag
Do this last, although you'll need to set the spinach on the boil ready.

Take a bag of spinach, and get rid of all the stems and that, until you've got a nice pile of leaves. Boil these until tender. Meanwhile, chop half an onion, a wodge of spring onions, and a large green chili. Remember, the kick of a chili is in the seeds, so include or exclude these to taste. Fry these in lots of butter. Drain the spinach. Stir the spinach in with the onions in the lots of butter. Next, at two generous table-spoons of peanut butter and stir as if your life depended on it. Do not let the spinach get crackly. Finally, add generous spoonfuls of cumin, stir, and sit.

[flarewearer]

Lodestone didnt explain this properly;

Melt a knob of butter on a low heat
Add some sifted flour until you get a dough-like ball that doesnt stick to the pan
Add milk slowly until you get a smooth consistency.
Turn up the heat and stir utinl i thinkens.

A roux is the basis for many sauces;

Add lots of grated cheese, and you get cheese sauce.

Add a bay leaf and nutmeg to the milk and you have bechamel ('white') sauce. Take the bay leaf out before you use it.

A roux can be used to thicken a french-style soup, such as onion.

More bloody obvious tips

To crack an egg, hold it firmly and hit it on a *FLAT* surface, not a corner. This way you will not run the risk of driviing bits of shell into the egg. It will split and you can pull it apart.

Do not crack or boil eggs straight out the fridge as they are more likley to shatter. Let them come up to room temperature first, or to speed it up, sit them in cold water for 10 mins.

To poach an egg, add white vinegar (i.e. malt, white wine, cider) to enough water to cover the egg water in a shallow, non-stick pan. Do not add salt as this alters with the setting of the yolk.. Bring the water to the boil and crack the egg gently in. If you arent confident with cracking the egg right in, crack it onto a plate first and slide it in off of that. Do not boil the egg, simmer it as gently as you can until the white sets. If you don't like runny yolk, add about 3 more minutes after the white sets. Add salt and pepper when you remove the egg.

Likewise, do not boil an egg on a high heat, rather, do it on a low simmer so that small bubbles only are forming on the base of the pan.

now this may seem bloody obvious, but iv'e seen so many people get this wrong;

To boil pasta, bring the largest pan of water you can to the boil and add a good 2 or 3 teaspoons of salt. Add the pasta to the boiling water (not to cold water that you then bring to the boil.) When the water boils again, reduce it to a simmer and cook for as long as the packet says. You can add some olive oil to the water (before you add the pasta) if you want. This gives the pasta a thin film of oil, and makes it less likely to stick to the pan, and to itself. It also means that sauces are less likely to stick to the pasta, which can be good or bad depending on what you are after.

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