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In an effort to be more wifely, I REALLY need to start cooking more. Anybody have some great recipies or ideas? I seem to cook the same thing every time (steak, twice baked potatoes & rolls-- very boring).

I know we have some good cooks out there, so any new ideas would be awesome!

I've been doing a lot with competing flavors (sweet/spicy)Mix chopped jalapenos, ginger and chopped mango, salt and pepper to taste. Mix with a light breading and roll chicken in the mixture. Bake the chicken. I've also been using Chinese 5 spice-same theory-some hot spices, some cinammon, some sweet stuff all mixed in one. That spice is excellent on grilled salmon. Be creative- recipes are "More a framework than actual rules". I really have enjoyed becoming more wifely and my wife has enjoyed it, too!

Husbands love lasagna. It's easy, and has a lot of simple variations to keep it fresh.

Mac & Cheese is always a good call, everyone loves it. This is off the top of my head, but is probably pretty close:


1 lb Macaroni noodles
1 lb shredded cheese (I like a mix of mild & sharp cheddar)
1 pint of whole milk
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2-3 cloves garlic (minced)
salt & pepper to taste


Cook the macaroni noodles how you normally would, drain when they're done.

While they're cooking we'll make the sauce.

In a large saucepan melt the butter, and let the moisture boil out of it. Add the garlic and let that sautee for a minute or two. Whisk in some flour to create a paste (a roux). Keep whisking the roux until it gets a little brown (don't let it burn though, if it does start over!). Start whisking in the milk. I like to add a little milk at a time, get the roux evenly dispersed, then add more milk. Keep whisking the entire time until all of the roux is dissolved in the milk. Bring this mixture to a light boil, reduce heat to just high enough to keep the boil, and continue stirring so as not to scald it. The sauce will thicken after a few minutes of boiling; when it does start mixing in the cheese, a handful at a time. Pour some in, let it melt, mix completely, then add more cheese.

Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni & you're done, great mac & cheese!

If you like it a little less creamy you can put the mixture into a baking dish, cover the top with breadcrumbs, then put into a 350* oven until the bread crumbs brown & get crispy on top & cheese sauce is bubbling.


Like I said, my quantities may be a touch off, but this should do pretty well for ya...it's fairly simple and tastes fantastic. Throw some broccoli in there if you want some veggies too

Ineedbotox wrote:In an effort to be more wifely,

Just be naked waiting for him in the kitchen. He'll forget about dinner.

I find too much carbohydrate slows the metabolism down for those moments when the naked truth is all that counts. Might try a Thai salad. It is kind of like a chef salad, without the cholesterol.

Finely slice some beef (across the grain), and marinade in coarsely chopped ginger, maybe some chopped garlic, definitely chopped chili peppers, some soy sauce, some Thai fish oil, and some sugar. The trick with Thai food is the sugar. Let it sit for 20-30 mins. You can do this with chicken fillets, too.

Meanwhile, make a salad. Try a few different leaves. Any lettuce will do, but options like rocket, hard as it is to admit, helps to improve texture. Anything you would normally put in a salad, really. Lots of fresh coriander, onions, whatever.

Stir fry the beef, let it cool, throw into the salad, a few left over chopped chilis, some lemon or lime juice, a "touch" of sherry/fish oil and Bob's your uncle. My ex tried to convert me to bunny food. It will never work. I could never complain about bunny food served with decent steak though.

And if that is not enough, get a small lump of fillet, or maybe rib eye, slice finely, stir fry to the minimum acceptable definition of cooked. Alternately, charcoal the rib eye to taste, and then slice into finely cut strips.

For the sauce, get a couple of cloves worth of garlic puree (or roast garlic cloves and use the "mush", fry about a quarter of a cup of HOT chilis until they start blackening in the frying pan. Let the chilis cool, add a bundle of fresh coriander, a couple of shallots, juice of one lemon/lime, a couple teaspoons of Thai fish oil, and blend in a food processor. Serveas a dip for the steak strips.

Serve. This is called "Crying Tiger", with good reason. If the crying tiger is too hot, there is not really any escape, because the salad is not far behind either.

hammb wrote:Mac & Cheese is always a good call, everyone loves it. This is off the top of my head, but is probably pretty close:


1 lb Macaroni noodles
1 lb shredded cheese (I like a mix of mild & sharp cheddar)
1 pint of whole milk
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2-3 cloves garlic (minced)
salt & pepper to taste


Cook the macaroni noodles how you normally would, drain when they're done.

While they're cooking we'll make the sauce.

In a large saucepan melt the butter, and let the moisture boil out of it. Add the garlic and let that sautee for a minute or two. Whisk in some flour to create a paste (a roux). Keep whisking the roux until it gets a little brown (don't let it burn though, if it does start over!). Start whisking in the milk. I like to add a little milk at a time, get the roux evenly dispersed, then add more milk. Keep whisking the entire time until all of the roux is dissolved in the milk. Bring this mixture to a light boil, reduce heat to just high enough to keep the boil, and continue stirring so as not to scald it. The sauce will thicken after a few minutes of boiling; when it does start mixing in the cheese, a handful at a time. Pour some in, let it melt, mix completely, then add more cheese.

Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni & you're done, great mac & cheese!

If you like it a little less creamy you can put the mixture into a baking dish, cover the top with breadcrumbs, then put into a 350* oven until the bread crumbs brown & get crispy on top & cheese sauce is bubbling.


Like I said, my quantities may be a touch off, but this should do pretty well for ya...it's fairly simple and tastes fantastic. Throw some broccoli in there if you want some veggies too

I'll vouch for this one. Prepared it with some diced ham and it was excellent

Ineedbotox wrote:In an effort to be more wifely, I REALLY need to start cooking more. Anybody have some great recipies or ideas? I seem to cook the same thing every time (steak, twice baked potatoes & rolls-- very boring).

I know we have some good cooks out there, so any new ideas would be awesome!

Where the hell have you been?

Scones:

2 cups (270g) flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
6 tblspn unsalted butter (cold)
3/4 cup heavy cream (chilled)
2 lg eggs

preheat oven 375d

Food processor:
wiz together first four ingreditents. Cut butter into 6-7 pieces and add in. Pulse until coarse meal consistency (wet sand). Put in bowl and make well in center. Mix together cream and eggs and add into well. If you want any variations such as dried fruit, citrus zest, and/or nuts, add them at this time.


Fold until JUST combined but don't over mix. If there's lumps, that's fine. place in round and cut into pie shaped pieces.

Bake until done (20-25 minutes.)

One precaution. Make these when you have a good night's rest and AFTER you have coffee. If you don't, you'll pretend like you're making waffles and add MELTED butter to the cream.

I'm having lemon blueberry Panscones this morning.

I'll share a couple fundamentals which easily convert into other dishes.

Oven roasted chicken breast. Please keep in mind that I will be using language which may be offensive to some: liberal and breast. These are culinary terms only.

I get a bag of those frozen chicken breast. Inexpensive and easy.

First thaw the breasts in microwave and preheat oven to 350.

Place oven safe pan (I have a stainless sautee pan which has been my workhorse for years) on stove top and heat to medium high. Apply liberal amount of olive oil on the "nice" or presenation side of the chicken breast. Salt and pepper breast and place breasts presentation side down in the pan. Leave them until it feels right and they are nice and golden brown on that one side.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Steelclippe ... 1869061426

Turn for another 2-3 minutes. Next, put pan in the oven for another 5-7 minutes until done (touch test: medium well on a steak).

Take out and put breast on cutting board or plate to set. This is where you have a choice. Pan sauce or something else? If it's a pan sauce, get rid of any pieces of white fat in the the pan and place pan on medium heat. Add chopped or sliced shallots and a little olive oil. Cook down shallots. Add either chicken stock or wine (I've done a little of both) to bottom of pan and scrap up all the fond at the bottom of the pan. For something with zip, you could use a chile vinegar mixed with stock. Cook down. You can just leave it hear or add whatever else suites you pallet. Mushrooms is a favorite of mine. Steamed asparagus, leaks (some people can't take a leak, however), broccoli and cauliflower, you name it.

At the end, you could "lift" the sauce with a couple cubes of butter or plain yogurt.

Just experiment. This whole thing takes about a half an hour. While the chicken is is the oven, cook some pasta, make salad, whatever.

Rightupinthere wrote: Please keep in mind that I will be using language which may be offensive to some: liberal and breast.

Who doesn't like a liberal display of breasts?

h2oville rocket wrote:

Rightupinthere wrote: Please keep in mind that I will be using language which may be offensive to some: liberal and breast.

Who doesn't like a liberal display of breasts?

Cincinnati.

Stole this from a recipe website while trying to find something quick and easy to make with chicken breasts tonight and it turned out pretty damn good:

Preheat oven to 375, beat two eggs in a shallow dish, and in a separate dish, combine buttered cracker crumbs (I used bread crumbs, actually, unbuttered) with 1/2 tsp or whatever of garlic salt, some pepper, a decent amount of Parmesan cheese and a half packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix. Coat the chicken with the egg, then in the crumbs. Put in a 13x9 baking dish and bake for 40ish minutes.

Basically homemade shake-n-bake, but it was pretty good and easy.