Help with Recipes
 

This is a thread for getting help with our recipes. I like to do a lot of experimental cooking which sometimes turns out great and sometimes turns out terrible. This is a place to share recipes that didn't turn out how you wanted and ask for help and ideas on improving them :hamactor:

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So what made me think of this is a stir-fry I made tonight that came out edible, but not good. I often screw up stir-fries. Here's what I put in tonight:

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veggies: kale, white/green cabbage, yellow and green onions, jalapenos

"meat": tofu (firm)

flavoring: lite coconut milk (from a can), red curry paste, fresh basil

carb/protein: quinoa (added to stir-fry at end after I pre-cooked it)

oil: hot sesame stir-fry oil

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To me, all these ingredients sound delicious! But it ended up being quite bland. I salvaged it by adding a red Thai chili dipping sauce but it still wasn't that good, and also I didn't like adding that because it's not healthy (sugar), and I tend to like to cook as natural and healthy as possible, but it gave it a little bit of sweetness and spiciness that it was lacking. Still, it did not mesh all that well with the coconut milk and curry paste.

So my question is how do you think I could improve this recipe? I should note that I love spicy and am vegetarian.

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Love this topic
 

Great thread....subscribing

For me when im cooking and want to add a bit of heat to it i add crushed red pepper flakes and small bit of chill or cheyenne pepper to it. It will give u a bit ofa kick

I didn't use any flavor for the tofu. I threw it all in a wok. And in fact, it was more like I was boiling everything in a can of lite coconut milk instead of stir-frying.

I will try your suggestions. After all you were the one who finally got me making my own salad dressings and loving it! :)

Jennifer,
My own recipe for stir fry consists of only minced garlic and minced ginger for seasonings. This keeps me away from the salt that I cannot have. It can be mixed with your choice of veggies and meat (tofu). I usually cook my rice separately and serve the veggie/meat mixture over it.
Paul

I usually use peanut oil. It will heat to a higher temperature which is what is needed for stir fry.

may i suggest kimchi adds flavor to several dishs

thanks, ocean. good reminder about kimchi (and to think, I have some in the fridge right now!). a jar of kimchi simply added to tofu and veggies in a wok has made a pretty decent stir-fry for me in the past. I love the spiciness of kimchi. It's one of my favorite foods / flavors.

I use kimchi even to akai rice as well :) or to any meat if u eat meats ~ I am not a big fan of meat at ALL ~ seafood dish's ~ a staple product in my kitchen ~ :) also a small amount goes a long way ~

Here's a recipe I use for making stir fry, given to me by a dear friend from when I was in college. He was a practicing vegetarian and I always loved the meals he would make.

Robert's recipe for Tofu Stir Fry

Ingredients:

a bar of Tofu
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Organic vegetables: Carrots & Kale & Brocolli buds
Raw organic almonds
Yakisoba noodles
Organic coconut oil
Spices: sea salt, cracked pepper, chili pepper flakes and Cardamom (optional)

http://goingvegandotnet.files.wordpr...pg?w=300&h=199

Preparation:

1) Take your bar of tofu and slice it up like you would a loaf of bread. Arrange the tofu in a small pan or dish so you can soak the tofu in Soy sauce.

2) While the tofu is marinating in Soy sauce, wash 2 small sized carrots and half a bunch of kale and the broccoli buds. Next, prepare the carrots using a sliced, Julienne method; then slice up the kale into thin strips, as well. If the almonds you have on hand are whole, slice them as thinly as possible too. The brocolli buds should be fairly small: What I do is take each stem of broccoli and make smaller buds from each one.

3) Use a fairly large caste iron skillet (or a wok, if you have one). Heat your pan first, then add about a tablespoon of coconut oil. Keep a brush handy nearby, because you'll want to re-distribute the oil around the pan before you put the Tofu and vegetables in to fry.

4) Once the pan is ready, retrieve the marinated tofu and slice it up into small squares before you put it into the pan.

5) Now, put the tofu into the pan; then begin to add your prepared vegetables to the mixture too. Use a wooden spoon to stir the elements around the pan, on a fairly consistent rotation. Once the vegetables appear to take on brighter colors, this is your cue to open up your package of Yakisoba noodles and add them the mixture of Tofu and veggies that are frying in the pan. I sometimes have to cut up the noodles into smaller portions; but however you choose to untangle the noodles, be fairly quick because you don't want to leave your tofu and veggies unattended for too long.

6) Once you add the noodles to the mixture in the stir fry pan, begin again to stir all the ingredients so that they are evenly heated. Once I add the noodles, it takes about 5 to ten minutes before everything appears to be cooked to a finished appearance. When this happens, then add a bit of sea salt, crack some pepper over it too; then I like to sprinkle a little bit of chili pepper flakes, a hint of cayenne pepper and then about a sprinkle or two of cardamom. After I add the spices, I stir it all up again, then I add a few swirls of Teriayki sauce to it and re-stir again.

7) Turn off the heat to the pan, your stir fry is done.

*** it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to put this meal together.


Here's an example of what it should look like when your finished with cooking your stir fry meal:

http://www.melaniecooks.com/wp-conte...ostco-bowl.jpg

Thanks, Katzchen, that looks so good!

PS to all: I found out on closer inspection that I used an oil that was not supposed to be heated for that ill-fated stir-fry I made.

Maybe next time you could do the stir fry part without the coconut milk, just use canola spray or whatever your preference is, and toss it in a bowl and then pour the coconut milk in the wok and make your sauce separately to dump over it. Then you could spice it to taste.

I vote for marinading the tofu too. Maybe a bit of shoyu, garlic and ginger. I like your ingredient list, but I like a bit of crunch in mine, so I'd be adding some nuts or something as well. Pine nuts are yummy in stir fry.

For toss of you who make stuffed cabbage rolls or other dishes with cabbage leaves.

wrap fresh cabbage in plastic wrap and place in freezers overnight. When thawed the leaves will fall off core ready for use in recipe

Stupid gadget. I don't usually spell this bad on my own.... :blink:

supposed to read " For those of you..... :jester:

Another tip from Kitchen Bliss
 

When selecting herbs for a "little of this and that" dish, instead of just tossing herbs willy nilly into your new dish, take a sniff....

that's right, sniff your first choice, pick up another and sniff them together... if you don't like the 2nd, put it down and select another. Do this until you have a combination you enjoy. You can add spices using this same technique, just don't inhale ...... lol

You can combine herbs using your nose, THEN add to your dish. Avoids turning it into fancy dog food... lol

Happy Cooking!!!

Great suggestion Daktari,

Oh lordy YES, be sure to get the organic that smells and tastes like coconut... omg so yummy... is great for your skin also.. melt it in your hands, and rub it all over your body... does NOT stain clothing or sheets.... makes everything kissable... lol heals many skin conditions, and great for kids. Put it on your toast instead of butter, keeps the munchies away cause your body loves it.... my cats and dogs love it also.

Don't buy the louanne brand, it's horrible. Get the good stuff, you are worth every penny!

The best way to feed yourself if you are not at home in the kitchen is to keep it simple.

Today's example...

You need dip to bring to your poker game tomorrow, (try to make dips a day ahead, it helps the flavors burst) and you don't like the store bought junk.

Get a large container of sour cream, the real stuff, it's good for you.

Add 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese and one heaping teaspoon of Basil Pesto.

Stir up real good. You can put the sour cream in a big bowl to avoid slopping it all over the counter, and put back in container after it's mixed real well.

If you are watching carbs or calories use veggies not chips to dip OR rolled up ham/pepperoni/salami slices stab em with toothpicks to keep them rolled up. Chunks of cheese would be great also.

The next day everyone will think you are a Chef :rrose:

Looking for different recipies for cabbage. Trying to get my daughter (who is 25) to try to eat it. Nothing has worked so far. Lol She is STILL a picky eater. (Must be a healthy one)

Sometimes folks don't like a certain food cooked but love it raw. You might want to try different cabbages, like Bok Choy, which is totally different than regular cabbage (green or purple). My son loves raw spinach, but hates it cooked.

Another thing you might try is giving her seeds to grow her own cabbage, this way she might have a different attitude if it's HER cabbage. She can control the care/feeding/protection of her special plants. They will grow in pots, don't need a garden. :rrose:

Was thinking about coconut oil and found a good site. am not affiliated with this site.

http://www.hybridrastamama.com/2012/...conut-Oil.html

Here's a simple recipe:

cook your favorite pasta, rinse in cold water, drain well.

toss it into a large bowl, add favorite dressing, fav veggies, some shredded cheese, chopped olives, left over meat like chicken or lunch meat, ham?

toss well, chill til cold, serve. An easy make ahead dish for potluck, party, or lunch for the week.

You could go ethnic and make it a southwest dish, black beans, chili, cheese, tomato, salsa, onion, etc, and serve it hot?

A million ways to experiment.

Does she like potatoes? If so, you might want to think about easing her in with colcannon. It's an Irish dish made with cabbage (or other greens, kale, etc.) mashed together with the spuds, butter, salt and pepper to taste. I love the stuff!

Hey thanks for everyones ideas. I am using a nook until a few days waiting on my charger for my laptop and its does not let me see quite a few things on here for some reason. Sorry. But thank u thank u!

More quick tips for meals.
 

Okay quickie tip.

Love meatloaf?

2 lbs of ground meat
1 pkg herbed stuffing, smash it into crumbs, be sure to poke a hole in the bag first, or you will be vacuuming crumbs for a year.

2 eggs, whipped like scrambled eggs
add other goodies if you like, minced onion (or onion dip pkg, dry), shredded carrot, 1/2 cup applesauce, what ever you love, green pepper etc...

mix well, use your hands, works better and more fun.

make one big loaf or several small ones, (you can throw them in the freezer for quick meals later after baking. You can put a strip of bacon on top, 1/2 strip on little ones, 2 or 3 on one big loaf.

Bake in 350 degree oven for one hour (big one loaf) or 45 min for little ones or meatballs.

OR you can put them in your slow cooker, set the potatoes on top, and you have a meal fit for a KING or QUEEN.... If you put the potatoes on the bottom, the grease from the meatloaf will flavor the taters and your meatloaf will have less grease... just sayin'.

You can even make them into meatballs, bake, freeze and all ya gotta do is thaw or throw in crock pot frozen with a big can (jar) of your fav sauce, put on low, dinner is ready when you get home. Just spend 20 minutes making pasta or grab a loaf of italian on the way home, and you will have a monster meatball sub for dinner, remember to have salad also!

For the best baked potatoes:

wash well, (rub their little brown bodies with oil to keep skins soft) put in crockpot (slow cooker) slow for all day (if you are going to work) or high if you are home and can check on them after a few hours.

DO NOT ADD WATER

Omg soft, and perfect for meatloaf dinner. You can do the same thing with sweet potatoes... yummy

Simmering now:

1lb ground beef
3 Italian sausage
1/2 onion chopped
1 tblsp basil pesto
3 heaping tsp minced garlic
dollup olive oil
1 jar Prego sauce
carton fresh shrooms

mmmmmmmmmmmmm...:rrose:

New taste for lunch.
 

Are you sick and tired of the same old sandwich?

Try this:

Lunch meat: I used tavern ham and genoa salami

Cheese: Asiago (sliced thin)

Condiment: Mayonaise WITH about 1/4 teaspoon of basil pesto smeared over the mayonnaise on ONE slice of the bread (Chicago Italian) mix in good.

add: whatever veggies you like. Onion, lettuce, etc.

The pesto Makes the sandwich. You will never be the same again.

Does anyone make pesto with herbs other than basil?

I wonder what a mint pesto, or Thai basil would be like? This would make a great experiment don't you think? Hoe ly Crow, what about Greek Oregano???

Humm. Mint pesto on fruit? in a smoothie? topping for french vanilla ice cream? Mix in water, then freeze in ice cube trays to add to ice tea? Humm. Add to fudge sauce? Now we're talking...

What about a basil base with italian herbs? ooooooo aahhaahhaa... Can't you just taste it in a pasta salad???

I'm making myself hungry :chef2:

The roomie is a big meat eater, so for lunch I fixed a roast (cooked all morning) and instead of potatoes (her fave) I used italian bread slices to make a open face roast sammich, toasted the bread and used the Basil Pesto sour cream dip on the bread instead of butter or whatever.

It was so good she asked for 2 more... I think I found a winner. Served with steamed brocoli, etc.

Ya, I still got it. :hangloose:

Creamy Garlic Casserole
 

It's not too hot today and since coming home from my mother's house, where she gave me a big sack of garden grown vegetables (sweet bell peppers in orange, yellow, red and green, pepperocini peppers, and a variety of Jalenpeno peppers, a variety of tomatos and kales), I am making a casserole for tonight's supper. You can use pasta or rice or soba noodles, depending on your dietary need.

I'm using pasta for tonight's dish, but I've made it with Jasmine or Brown or Wild rice or with soba noodles or even baby red potatos. I think it's the combination of the creamy garlic roux (sauce) and the vegetables that makes this dish the perfect supper to serve.



Creamy Garlic Casserole


Step 1: recipe for making creamy garlic roux sauce.

Take a complete bulb of garlic and slice up each clove into almond shaped pieces. Place about a tablespoon of Coconut oil in a skillet and sear the cloves of garlic until they appear caramelized. Reduce heat to a medium low temperature. Quickly take 3/4's of a pint of cream (or half n half) and a 1/3 cup of flour and shake it up in a glass jar. Pour roux mixture over the caramelized garlic. While mixture is heating up in the skillet, sprinkle a bit of sea salt and cracked pepper corns over the mixture. Stir well as mixture thickens in the skillet. Set mixture aside, until ready to combine with other casserole ingredients.

Step 2: preparing vegetables and pasta.

4 - Sweet Bell Peppers (use half of each: green, yellow, orange and red)
2 - Pepperocini Peppers
1 - Jalepeno Pepper
1 - Red Chili Pepper
A handful of vine rippened cherry or plum tomatoes
A small block of Monterey Jack cheese (about 4 ounces)
2 cups of cooked pasta (or your choice of: rice, soba noodles or potatoes).

Directions: wash and clean peppers and slice them into bite sized pieces.
In a separate bowl, wash and clean and slice up the tomatoes into diced up bits. Slice up the block of Monterey Jack cheese into bite sized cubes. Place about a tablespoon of Coconut oil in a skillet and add all the peppers. Sear them in the skillet until they turn a bright color. Reduce heat and add the pasta (rice or noodles or potatos). Stir pasta and peppers together thoroughly in the skillet, then add the cubed Monterey Jack cheese. Turn the heat off the skillet. Cap the skillet and let the pasta, creamy garlic roux sauce and cheese meld together for about 15 minutes. When ready to serve, place some fresh bits of tomato on top of each serving and sprinkle with a bit of Parmesan cheese.


*Enjoy!*


:)

8 steps for freezing herbs in oil -great idea
 

Freeze Fresh Herbs In Olive Oil to use when not in season and it’s a great way to have herbs ready immediately for winter stews, roasts, soups, and potato dishes! I LOVE THIS!

8 Steps for Freezing Herbs in Oil
1. Choose firm, fresh herbs, ideally from the market or your own garden.
2. If you wish, you can chop them fine. Or leave them in larger sprigs and leaves. Here I froze a combination of finely-chopped and whole herbs such as rosemary, fennel stalk, sage, and oregano.
3. Pack the wells of ice cube trays about 2/3 full of herbs.
4. You can mix up the herbs, too; think about freezing a bouquet garni of sage, thyme, and rosemary to add to winter roast chickens and potatoes!
5. Pour extra-virgin olive oil or melted, unsalted butter over the herbs.
6. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
7. Remove the frozen cubes and store in freezer containers or small bags.
8. Don't forget to label each container or bag with the type of herb (and oil) inside!
• Preserving herbs in oil reduces some of the browning and freezer burn that herbs can get in the freezer.

Spinach leaves make a great pesto too.

Hello Nycfem,

It might be a little bit more work but the end results I hope will be satisfactory to your taste.

You can use a heat tolerant oil to get the dish started and flavor it with a dash of sesame so it doesn't burn. To me sesame oil is more for flavoring the dish because it starts to burn so easily with the heat. When you cook the yellow onions especially in stir fry, onions sweat a lot so you might want to cook them first and get rid of all the access water from them.

It might be a good idea to marinade the tofu in the coconut milk and some basil to flavor it and add these three items at the end of the cooking process. (I do apologize, I have never cooked with tofu) I only say this because tofu I believe is a moist item and you don't want to dry it out.

The point of all of this is so your dish will not be full of moisture and you will taste every item in the dish and not taste just the sauce because it cooked all together, it tends to loose some flavor.

I hope this helps and don't forget to season, a bit of Himalayan salt and a dash of pepper

Bon Appetite! :)

I would say for best, roasted flavor in stir-frys Sesame Oil is by far my favorite. Coconut oil is my second favorite.
Either way, they are both great for you .
I have included below one of my fav stir fry dishes!!
Enjoy. :D So, easy to prepare too!

http://minimalistbaker.com/tofu-that...good-stir-fry/

That recipe looks soooo good! I especially like the hints about making good quality tofu.