Simple food tricks

[Dale]

For breakfast I toss oatmeal, low-fat milk and a little ground flax seed into my bowel, nuke it for 2 1/2 minutes

I'll bet nuking your bowel is an experience not soon to be forgotten.

Try a bowl...I suspect it'll be much less painful.

--James

:lol:I think I had my bowel nuked once and, trust me, it wasn't that much fun.

[Denny]

had me worried for a minute....was expecting some quick & easy lion dish....neveremind

[chrisoff]

Wasn't going to post anything in this thread as I'm still very much a learner when it comes to cooking so haven't got many good tips. But as I made it last night and it's sooooo easy here's a good Scottish recipe for left over meat (preferably beef, if you use corned beef I'll kill you):

Stovies

I make enough for two large portions so adjust accordingly depending on how much you want to make

Heat a large pan and pour in a lot of oil, so the bottom is covered. We're talking a good few tablespoons here.

Add in a sliced onion and fry until they go soft

Now add about 6 medium sized sliced tatties. The slices should be of varying thickness. Give it a stir so the oil coats them.

Throw in your leftover meat. I usually use roast beef and just shred it with my hands then throw it into the pot.

Season well then pour in some beef stock (about 400ml of liquid works).

Cover and boil for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until it's a big sludgy mess. It shouldn't be watery.

Serve with oatcakes, brown sauce and a glass of milk.


It's quick to make, a superb way of using leftover meat and potatoes, great for winter and fair fills you up.

[I.D.10-t]

Wasn't going to post anything in this thread as I'm still very much a learner when it comes to cooking so haven't got many good tips.

Dixie's diner use to add bacon and cheese to almost any thing. I think in a way finding tricks that don't a ton of fat is far more difficult.

It wasn't until recently that we have been able to like and eat brown rice. Part of the reason was that buying 2 lbs of something that has been sitting on a store shelf for who knows how long, meant that I have almost always have had rice that went bad. Now we buy only as much as we are going to make for that week and keep it in the refrigerator. We only use it in heavily flavored foods with a lot of texture. We now pair it with meals the same way that people match wines with their food.

It took me a while to figure out that there is a reason that some people would wait an extra five minutes to make oatmeal. The instant stuff turns to past, where as the steel cut oats have a nice texture. Add some rolled barley or rhy and the flavor is improved. The trick is, mix your water with the grains the night before. The next morning your cooking time will be reduced to almost the same as instant oatmeal. Raisins and dried fruit reconstitute if you add them the night before and can also be an interesting addition.

[chas]

Last night I had some leftover mashed potatoes that were rapidly reaching their sell-by date. There were about two servings. I tossed in a couple of beaten eggs and some dried onions and frozen finely shredded potatoes and made latkes/potato pancakes. Quick, easy, and tasty. And appropriate for the season.

ID -- I really like brown rice for stir-fry like kungpao chicken. It stands up well to the salty-hot-sweet-crunchy.

[djm]

Any rice that is at all sticky is bad for you, as it turns to sugar almost immediately in the body. That's why the push for brown rice. Brown basmati rice is the stiffest, least sticky rice I've found so far. If anybody knows of an even better type of rice I'd be interested to know of it.

One article I read recently suggested barley is even better for you than rice, but I haven't found a source for this yet.

djm

[chrisoff]

I prefer the taste of brown rice to white rice and have something in the back of my mind saying it's healthier than white. Either way I only ever buy brown rice and eat it all the time with curries or chili.

Only time I have basmati or white rice is if the supermarket is out of brown or if I've ordered takeaway.

[I.D.10-t]

With the sticky short grain “sushi rice”, we have been adding a grain mixture to it. A combination of rolled barley, flax, millet, and sesame seed. Add about a tablespoon to a cup of dry short grain rice, and the rice is still able to clump together, has more flavor, and has more nutritional value. One thing about Sushi rice is that you use less water to make it than regular long grain rice. This may have as much to do with it being sticker than long grain as any other difference.

With brown rice, I thought the only thing that really changed was that white rice has the oil, bran, and germ removed and so it had more nutritional value. You can buy long grain, basmati, and short grain rice that have not had the hulls removed. Some of the short grain rice comes in different degrees of processing from light brown/red to almost black (DJM, Forbidden rice might be worth looking into). It seems like the same difference between white bread and whole wheat bread.

We have been experimenting with different grain substitutions and have found that many can be used instead of or mixed with rice. We made a barley risotto that was better than most of the rice ones we have made and found some stir-frys to go better with "wild rice" (Zizania palustris L.).

[SteveShaw]

Here is my recipe for Beneficial Snack of Cruciferous Joy: Rinse off fresh broccoli and slice into bite-size flowerets. Nuke (or steam) just until they turn a bright green and not a moment longer. Serve with a side-dish of Hellman's mayonnaise. Dip each floweret into mayo before consuming.

This is also delicious with cauliflower.

Very nice I'm sure but ditch the mayo and instead dip the florets into soft-boiled eggs in eggcups. Manna.

[Berti66]

for a snack, try this.
one small tin (flattish type) of salmon, drain.
add one small tablespoon of mayo and one small tablespoon greek yoghurt.
a big teaspoon of ketchup
freshly milled black pepper.
a tablespoon or more whiskey (bushmills 10 years old is nice )
mix.
serve with crackers.

for replacing rice, try millet.
you can cook it as dry as rice but it clumps together, great with a sauce and veggies or meat in a sauce plus salad.
you can cook it to replace potato puree.
keeps real well.
also great as breakfast.
glutenfree

talking breakfast:
for one person.
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup milk
cooked as per instructions, after cooking add a pinch of salt if you like.
in a bowl, puree one ripe banana with a fork.
sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg, and some cinnamon.
add cooked oatmeal.
top with some maplesyrup.
mix at the table.
will keep you going all morning!

berti