Efests Recipe Book

[nightcrawler13]

i hate buying recipe books because they are usually shit with a few good ones hidden inside, i've been compiling my own little books of tasty treats recently and thought it would be a good to have a thread where people can share any nice recipes they know or have?

from soups to sandwiches, fish curries to cheescake, what tastes f**king nice that you know how to make?

[eFestivals]

oooo, excellent idea .... could defo do with some new ideas.

[dakyras]

Steak Diane.

Get some sirloin or rump steak, cut off the fat, roll it out with a rolling pin.

Add a bit of olive oil to a pan, sear the steak a minute on either side, remove from pan.

Put some butter in the pan, add shallots and mushrooms and sweat them a bit, crush in some garlic, then add worcestershire sauce and then a couple of dollops of dijon mustard.

Add some brandy, flambé off the alcohol. Add double cream, then put the steak back in. Garnish with parsley.

I don't really do things by measurements, just add as much as I think is prudent. Or, follow this recipe.

Another fancy thing I like to make is Sichuan crispy duck breast, from the BBC Chinese food made easy thing. Here.

[saratink]

Chicken breast wrapped in bacon with cheese in middle

It's lush

Get the raw chicken, slice a slit in the top (don't slice it all the way through else the cheese will go to bottom of baking tray and burn..) stuff as much cheese as you want inside (you can use cheddar which is nice or cream cheese stuff like laughing cow but cheddars nicer) and wrap with raw bacon (2-3 slices). Spray lightly with oil and sprinkle salt, pepper, herbs and easy garlic powder stuff on top lightly spray with oil.

Then put in a hot oven, and i usually bake it for about 15/20 minutes and check its not burning, and then sprinkle cheese on the top if you like, then put back in. You know its cooked when you shuffle it around the tray and NO juices run from it.

Lovely served with garlic wedges....

Put the kettle on. Put oven on high Chop up potatos into wedges and put them into a saucepan. Put boiling water on top and boil for about 8 minutes. Drain, and put them on a oiled baking tray. Season with salt, pepper and easy powdered garlic. spray with oil. Put in oven on high and check after a while. and turn them over and season a bit more in between cooking. Should end up with lovely (and healthy if you dont use too much oil) wedges.

Usually i Put the spuds to boil, and then prepare the chicken quickly to put in. Usually cooks in around the same amount of time, give or take a few minutes

[Paul ™]

Oh jeezz.. Neil can you ban a certain member from posting in certain threads?

[rachbon]

Oh jeezz.. Neil can you ban a certain member from posting in certain threads?

this is going to go way off topic.

[pehaw]

Spicy Stew!

1 courgette diced

1 large onion diced

1 red pepper diced

½ bunches of parsley and basil, torn or roughly chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock

1 tin of butterbeans

½ large sausage of chorizo roughly diced (remember to take the thin membrane of skin off)

1 tablespoon paprika

2 chicken breasts cut into chunks or the leftover meat from a roast chicken

Salt and pepper

Oil (a glug or two)

Heat oil in a large pan - add the chorizo when the oil is hot.

Turn the heat to medium and cook for a few minutes until its starting to turn golden and the oils in the pan are red with the paprika coming out of the chorizo.

Add the paprika, onions and garlic and stir everything together over a low heat to get a good coating in the juices, sweat the onions to soften them, but don't burn them.

Turn the heat up and add the chicken. Stir and cook until lightly brown.

Add all the vegetables, butterbeans (drained) and tomatoes and stir.

Add the stock, bring the to the boil then simmer until the vegetables for about 20 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper and add the herbs and stir.

Serve in a big bowl with loads of bread and butter.

Can be re-heated and eaten the next day.

[treacle]

Here's my tablet recipe as it's getting close to Halloween

2lb sugar

2oz butter

1/2 cup whole milk

Put into a thick bottomed pot over a low heat and stir occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved

Add

3/4 tin light condensed milk

then boil for 10 minutes

Add

1 tbsp golden syrup

slow boil for 7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and beat with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes before pouring into a greased tray to set. Mark into squares with a knife before fully set.

ENJOY

[Kowalski]

It's got to include a recipe for steak pie in foil!

[bunique]

Amazing tasty chocolate chip cookies (dairy/egg free but you could probably mess about with the recipe):

(recipe courtesy of the post punk kitchen)

You're better off undercooking these depending on your oven (I take them out after 12 mins). They will seem soft but the outside will harden up after 5 minutes leaving a delish soft and chewy inside. Makes about 32 good sized cookies.

Ingredients

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups soft brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla essence (you can swap one tsp of this for a tsp of orange essence - not too strong but smell nice. You could use mint essence too)

Half a banana - is a good egg replacement and you can't taste the banana in the recipe. You can do without this altogether and just use the soymilk below

1/2 cup soymilk (I use chocolate Alpro - one can never have enough chocolate in these cookies!)

2 cups plain flour - slightly more flour will get you lighter and fluffier/chewier cookies

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips (I use a whole packet of Tesco dark chocolate ones - sometimes more)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C.

Mash the half banana and mix up with the soymilk a bit. Put to one side.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a separate large bowl whisk together oil and sugar. Add the banana/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla essence (and/or orange essence if using it)

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Variations:

For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract, and replace 1/2 the chocolate chips with dried cherries.

For chocolate nut cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with a nut extract (almond, walnut, what have you) and replace the chocolate chips with 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts all are good).

[gratedenini]

Steak Diane.

Get some sirloin or rump steak, cut off the fat, roll it out with a rolling pin.

Just a bit to add Mr Darky... if you got the time... if you marinate the meat for a period (even overnight)the results would be even better.

Bit of oil,salt and maybe some garlic and/or spices in a dish..cover the meat with it,cover and leave in the fridge. Bring it out in plenty of time before cooking to reach room temp.

Lovely served with garlic wedges....

Sounds lush! Wedges... probably the easiest way is to cut em up... put them in a plastic bag (or a carrier bag for you student types).Mix some spices of your choice..anything you fancy..with some oil in a small bowl.

Tip the lot in the carrier bag... then do some fiddlin with the bag to coat all the wedges... put on yer baking tray and place towards top of the hot oven.

Dip yer bread in hot oil!!!

den

[brighteyes]

I don't cook much but I do make an excellent Beans On Marmitey Toast. Its basically just beans on toast, except the toast has butter and lots of Marmite on it. Add pepper and Worcester Sauce to the beans, maybe a bit of cheese on top to finish it off.

Yer i dont cook much.

[Ed209]

Tried this for the first time the other night. Not exactly gourmet shit, but tasted damn fine, and its cheap and easy. If you've got some cod fillets ...

melt 50g butter, squeeze in the juice of two lemons.

Make up a mixture of 25g plain flour, season flour with salt and pepper. Dip the cod in the butter/lemon mix, then cover them in the flour mix, put them in a baking dish, pour on the rest of the butter mix. Sprinkle some praprika over the top. Bang in the oven for half an hour at 190, bosh, bob's your uncle.

Or my magical potato fillings. Bake some potatoes, meanwhile fry up a finely diced v large onion (or 2 small), a chopped pepper, shrooms, and bacon bits (or cut up sauages). when all done, scoop the potato into the pan, and put the skins back in the oven. Add to the mix a large amount of butter/marg and a stack of blue cheese. Stir on a low heat till its all melted into a big goo. Spoon back into the crisp potato skins. Bam

Both great student fodder.

[theampersanddevil]

If you put some peppers, mushrooms, onion and garlic in a pan with a little oil, and fry on a low heat. Add some lemon.

Then put in a wrap with some cheese and then put on a george foreman, it makes a great lunch.

[dakyras]

Just a bit to add Mr Darky... if you got the time... if you marinate the meat for a period (even overnight)the results would be even better.

Bit of oil,salt and maybe some garlic and/or spices in a dish..cover the meat with it,cover and leave in the fridge. Bring it out in plenty of time before cooking to reach room temp.

Normally I just coat the steak in salt and pepper just before cooking, but I will give this ago next time I can afford steak.

[RABun]

I got loads as i love to cook

But first a hearty spicy parsnip soup, the asiest thing in the world. I'm guessing the quanitities as i tend to make it up as i go along

4 or 5 parsnips

1 large potato

1 1/12 pints of vege stock

Cubed Pancetta or sliced streaky bacon(optional for veggies)

1 red or green chilli - seeds in or out depending how spicy you like it

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

In a large saucepan fry the bacon/pancetta on a medium to high heat until crispy, then remove from the pan leaving some of the fat in the bottom. Keep to one side.

Turn down the heat and fry the spices for a minute, adding the chopped chilli, add the parsnips and potato to the pan and stir to coat with the spices. Add the veggie stock and the salt and pepper and leave to simmer for 30ish minutes, then blend to taste. Serve with the crispy bacon/pancetta on top.

You may need a bit more stock, but basically i use enough to cover the veg plus an inch. If that makes sense.

This works with sweet potato/squash or any other root vegetables. Though with squash i prefer to roast the squash and then blend with the stock which creates a sweeter taste.

[The Nal]

Thai Lime Chicken Stir Fry

My favourite stir fry by a mile. Not as complicated as it looks. Only takes 20 minutes. I always throw a few prawns in there too.

SERVES 2+

Ingredients:

• 3-4 chicken breasts, cut into strips or bite-size pieces

• 2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green), chopped into bite-size pieces

• 1 small cooking onion, chopped or cut into thin wedges

• handful of fresh basil

• 2 Tbsp. canola or other vegetable oil for stir-frying

• a little white wine (or white cooking wine) for stir-frying

• SAUCE:

• 3 spring onions, sliced

• 1 fresh red chili

• 6-8 lime leaves

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce

• 1 Tbsp. lime juice

• 1/2 cup fresh basil

• 2 Tbsp. coconut, canola, olive, or other good-tasting and healthy oil

• 2 Tbsp. regular soy sauce

• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce

• 1 tsp. brown sugar

1. Make the sauce by placing all sauce ingredients in a blender.

2. Process to form a thick sauce or paste. Set aside.

3. Place 2 Tbsp. oil in a wok and set over medium-high heat. Add the onions and chicken.

4. Stir-fry 6-8 minutes, or until chicken is well cooked. Use some white wine too.

5. Add the bell peppers, and stir-fry another 2-3 minutes.

6. Turn heat down to minimum. Now add the sauce. DO NOT OVERHEAT.

7. Tilt onto a serving dish, add a topping of fresh basil, serve with rice.

Edited October 8, 2010 by The Nal

[gratedenini]

Normally I just coat the steak in salt and pepper just before cooking, but I will give this ago next time I can afford steak.

Exactly! I managed to get a bit of rump on Giro day. Reduced...Lidl finest.

Ey, but honestly Mr D... you must marinate! Makes a massive difference.

There were 2 bits I had... I marinated one piece as a whole for a typical Steak meal.. y`know with a JP and veg.. the other piece I cut into thin slices and waded that into garlic,ginger,oil and some five spice... had that the next day.

And chicken.... for chinky boos and indian.

Key here is egg white and cornflour.

For chinese... if your chicken is frozen cut it whilst still quite a bit frozen...this means you can cut it into really thin slices (goes further and cooks very quickly).

Put it into a bowl with a little oil,salt and the white of an egg and mix. This is called "feathering".

Leave for as long as you can, but even a few hours will do--and honest,I`m tellin yer-- when you cook it (drain is req) in hot oil..it will be melt in the mouth.

For Indian.. cut the chicken a bit bigger of course... and as above but use cornflour.

Once again--you should see a marked difference in the end result.

Anybody who doesn`t marinate... you MUST try it.

With any meats or fish.

den

[rachbon]

i'm definitely going to try the parsnip soup and tablet recipies

[Paul ™]

treacles tablet is the best ever..

[greenfairy43]

treacles tablet is the best ever..

+1 !

[greenfairy43]

Here's my tablet recipe as it's getting close to Halloween

2lb sugar

2oz butter

1/2 cup whole milk

Put into a thick bottomed pot over a low heat and stir occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved

Add

3/4 tin light condensed milk

then boil for 10 minutes

Add

1 tbsp golden syrup

slow boil for 7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and beat with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes before pouring into a greased tray to set. Mark into squares with a knife before fully set.

ENJOY

Oh, we do!!

[the_hedge]

I'm gonna have a bash at that Tablet recipe this weekend me thinks

[gratedenini]

Aye, I`m gonna try the tablet too, when i can afford the sugar and treacle!

I suspect there could be a few burnt pans round the efest households in the process mind. Be careful.

Tablet? Is that a Jockism?

Doesn`t sound very nice does it?

"Larmer, do you want a treacle tablet?"

"Dad, I`m bekker now.. I dont need any tablekks any more!"

den

[Pogues Mcgogues]

Chili Wocester Beans

Get Beans (brand make). Cook them. When cooking them put some chili powder in and some Lee and Perrins sauce. Careful with the chili powder but go for it with the sauce. f**k boring beans!