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Mar-12-2007 00:11

So, if I have to eat one more grilled chicken breast, one more bowl of spaghetti with jarred marinara sauce, one more taco with the crispy shell-that-came-out-of-a-box, I'm going to impale myself on a spork.

So here's my idea: everyone has to eat, right? And I'll bet almost everyone out there in Sleuthville has a favorite. A sure-fire, go-to, I-have-the-ingredients-in-my-house-at-all-times winner of a meal. I say, let's share. Cuz I think my family will kill me if I serve them chili again, uh, ever.

Simple, complex, fancy, casual - bring it on.

I'll start...

Mar-14-2007 00:18

Bad memories or bad chicken? If it's the latter, I'd advise sitting down, like hasty-hasty. That's what you get for buying chicken from a scalper standing over a warm air vent :P

Mar-14-2007 02:51

hominy is in mundo

Mar-24-2007 22:49

Now , hominy is okay, especially as an ingredient for tomale pie. Yum!

May-2-2007 11:45

TRIED & TRUE CLASSIC MUFFIN RECIPES

Homemade High-Sugar-High-Fat-But-Really-Really-Tasty Muffins
(Prep: 10 minutes ~Bake: 10-15 minutes~Makes 12 muffins )

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
1 large egg
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract (no artificial stuff here)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Great twelve 2 1/2" by 1 1/4" muffin-pan cups. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In medium bowl, with fork, beat milk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla until blended. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy).

2. Spoon batter into prepared muffin-pan cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean, 10-15 minutes. Immediately remove muffins from pan. Serve muffins warm, or cool on wire rack to serve later.

Optional~
SURPRISE!-Filled Muffins: Prepare as directed but fill muffin-pan cups one-third full with batter. Drop 1 rounded teaspoon of whatever you want (I'm hoping it's jam, but then again this makes a great prank) in center of each; top with remaining batter. Bake as directed. (I am not responsible for anything you put in the muffins.)
Blueberry or Raspberry Muffins: Prepare as directed; stir 1 cup blueberries or raspberries into batter.
Walnut or Pecan Muffins: Prepare as directed; stir 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans into batter. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar before baking.
Chocolatey-Drop Muffins: Prepare as directed; stir desired amount of chocolate chips into batter or sprinkle on top before baking.

Each muffin (original recipe): About 225 calories, 4g protein, 30g carbohydrate, 10g total fat (6g saturated), 41mg cholesterol, 312mg sodium.

Great thread, Zanjana! I'll be back with another MUFFIN RECIPE! Yahoo! :D

May-4-2007 00:50

I like this site:

www.meals.com

Just ignore the commercials. Its easy to navigate and you can get good ideas for new recipes.

Aug-12-2007 19:14

Future cook thats me

Aug-13-2007 02:02

I went three years to a chef school and did pick up a couple of things. But when I'm at home I prefer improvising. I know a lot about handling the food stuffs and preparation and lemme tell ya food will always taste much better if you take great care with the preparations and handling the raw material.

Also cooking good food is an art. Any fool can make beef fillet taste good. Just fry it in some proper butter and voila. But to take whatever's at hand (perhaps you have a limited budget) and make a tasty meal out of that it's what the art's about.

Also you don't become a fully fledged chef by going to school. You need practical experience, so get some cook books and start cooking. Old cook books that don't assume you get all the ingredients half pre-fab and instead go into detail in how you gut the fish and rinse and clean and cut and so on are great. After a while you learn how long this should bake and how you handle this and that, and so on and that's when you become good at cooking.

Assuming you already are well versed with the inns and outs of cooking one of my favourite recipies is proper Provencal bouilabaisse , with clams, some kind of white fish, shrimps, bayleaves and lots of saffron. Go to Provence to pick up someone's granny's old recipie. ;)

Finally, if you have or can get your hands on a gas stove those are the best. I have one at home and I will defend it with my life. Electical stoves just don't cut it.

Good luck in the kitchen and never turn your back on milk on a stove.

Aug-13-2007 12:08

I'm with you on the electrical stoves. Hate them. HATE them. I'd show you how much I hate them, but I can't get the font any bigger. But UGH. Loath, even.

Aug-13-2007 23:07

Reenact the printer scene from Office Space with an electrical cooker. Tape it and send to me. ;)

Aug-14-2007 06:46

I've had Chicken Tortilla Soup b4 and its yummy!

I dont know if its the same or not but my mom makes Mexican Chili, and its great. It has chicken in it, corn,beans, and other stuff.....then as topping, we crumble our tortilla chips in the soup,along with sour cream and green onion to top it off, and its deeeelicous!! I will have to post the recipe when I get the chance to! Mexican Cornbread goes wonderful with it too :)