Favorite recipies?

[Gray_Area]

Try peanut butter , bacon and banana. It killed Elvis but is oh so good )

Dontcha rememba Electric Company??


So, here's a simple thing to rustle up in the slow cooker. Can be beef or pork. Here I have pork roast.

- pork roast

                 - marinade -
-- blueberry juice (pure, unsweetened)
-- garlic powder
-- chipotle pepper powder
-- oregano leaf
-- salt

(fresh ingredients will make it better, of course)

- sherry, wine, beer, etc

optional: vegies and potatoes, onions, etc.


Throw pork in cooker. Give it a healthy pour of the alc. Mix up marinade and pour on roast. Add vegies if using. Do it in the mornin, come home ta dinna. Or at least eight hours.

[Gray_Area]

Got sauce meat. Yeah, sauce meat.

- ground beef
- garlic powder
- cayenne pepper powder
- sauce (I use a basic marinara from trader joe's - $1.29 a jar)
- oregano
- black pepper
- cinnamon (optional)
- salt
- olive oil (I use an extra virgin kalamata from trader joe's - rich, strong, and has some bite)

Put meat in pan, spread out, and sprinkle garlic and cayenne pepper powder (if using fresh garlic and pepper, mince finely) and roll into meat as pan is heating up. Brown; not too warm so's to not over-cook it. Drain if necessary or desired. Reduce heat to about two/simmer and add sauce, oregano, pinch or two of black pepper, cinnamon if wanting a Med flavour, and olive oil. Stir and let sit/simmer for 15-30 minutes. Take off heat and eat - or let sit and cool, then eat or fridge it for later.

[RacerX]

A recipe for my wife's corn salad. Good stuff, and pretty healthy.


Tammy’s Corn Salad
Please note: All these ingredients are adjustable to your own taste.
2 cans corn drained (or fresh/frozen equivalent)
˝ can of black beans (rinsed and drained)
Ľ cup of red onion (finely chopped)
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes (cut in halves or quarters)
1 cup Feta cheese crumbles (or your preferred cheese)
1 Avocado (diced)

Dressing:
˝ cup of honey
1 tbsp. Cilantro (flakes or fresh very finely chopped)
1-2 tbsp. of Lime Juice (you can use lemon or a combination of both).

Directions:
Combine corn, beans, onion, tomatoes, and cheese in a bowl. I add the avocado to individual bowls, so if there is any leftover corn salad, the avocado won’t go bad (just chop some fresh avocado the next time you serve it). For the dressing, nuke the honey for about 10 seconds in the microwave to make it thin enough to stir in cilantro and lime juice. Pour dressing over corn salad and stir. You can serve right away, or let it sit in the fridge and serve it cold.  Enjoy!

[fanneyjack]

Salmon Pockets.
4 200g Salmon Fillets.
1 Lemon. (thinly sliced)
1 Red Onion. (sliced)
2t Capers .(optional drained and rinsed)
2T Olive Oil.
Ground black pepper.
Preheat oven to 200C (400F)
Place each fillet on a sheet of tin foil.
Add sliced lemon, red onion, capers and black pepper.
Drizzle with oil wrap each to form a pocket.
Bake for 10-12 minutes and serve with vegetables or a salad.
They could also be cooked on the BBQ

[eds1275]

Any time you are making something with refried beans such as 7 layer dip or quasidillas, mix some taco seasoning into the beans. Congratulations, you are a hero!

[Sheirstles]

Breakfast Fajitas

6 eggwhites and a yolk
fat free cheddar cheese
fat free flour tortillas


Beat the whites and yolk and put in a skillet with cooking spray(I personally use canola cooking spray). Then, cook the eggs over a medium flame. Turn eggs over and add some cheddar cheese.
Meanwhile heat up the tortillas in the mike or oven.
Finally, Place eggs in the tortillas and roll up. you might want to add some salsa.

Each fajita: calories 131, carbs 16 grms, protein 15 grms and fat 0.5 grms.

Good luck.

[Mary_Baker]

Brown-Sugar Barbecue Chicken Drumettes

Found this recipe online and it has become my very favorite ever since!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 6 pounds chicken drumettes, patted dry

• In a medium bowl, whisk together ketchup, sugar, Worcestershire, and vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Set aside 1 cup sauce for tossing raw chicken; use rest for baked chicken.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds; line two rimmed baking sheets with aluminium foil.
• Divide drumettes between baking sheets, and toss with reserved 1 cup sauce.
• Bake chicken until opaque throughout, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating sheets and tossing chicken halfway through. Toss baked drumettes with 1/2 cup sauce, and serve with remaining sauce on the side.

[billknust]

Easy-peasy pizza dough

4 cups bread or all purpose flour (white)
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1 packet active dry yeast, or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil (any good brand), but extra virgin is best
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar, or 1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup milk or 1/4 cup water
Preheat oven 450°F.

I prefer using milk for the liquid in this recipe. It adds flavor to your dough. But if you don't have it, use water.

Using a large ceramic mixing bowl, or any suitable food safe bowl, add the flour, make a "well" in middle, and put in 1 teaspoon salt, stir to
combine well. Set aside.

Prepare the starter: In a liquid measuring cup pour in 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon sugar or honey, and one package of active
dry yeast. Stir for 30 seconds with a wisk and set aside for 5 minutes. Allow to proof.

Next, mix the starter (yeast water) and the milk in the bowl containing the flour with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir together using a stand mixer, wooden
spoon or clean hands.

Note: You will need additional flour to knead on the surface that you're working on. Knead for about 8 minutes or until you get a smooth elastic
rubbery dough ball.

Set aside in bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil to keep the dough from drying out. Let dough sit covered lightly with plastic wrap or use a plate
or damp clean towel to cover it. Allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes to an hour.

Flatten dough and press out into a circle to fit the pan it will be baked in. Spread it out evenly, don't be afraid to lift underneath to stretch the dough. Sprinkle
baking pan with yellow cornmeal or Farina. If you don't have these on hand you can use flour or simply grease the pan with olive oil.

Bake for about 12­14 mins, but watch it! When the bottom looks slightly browned and the pizza looks bubbly, remove from oven.

[billknust]

Meatballs

1/2 pound ground chuck
1/2 pound It sausage or ground pork
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon very finely minced garlic
1/2 cup pecorino romano or parmigiano-regiano
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsely
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 table spoons olive oil

Combine everything but olive old, heat olive oil in skillet, cook.

If you are making a sauce you can just brown meatballs in the pan and finish off for about 30 minutes in the already warmed sauce. If you are using jar sauce or making subs cook meatballs all the way through to 160*

[billknust]

Smoked wings (these take time, but they are worth it!)

Wing Rub

2 bottles of McCormick’s’ Onion and Garlic Seasoning
1 bottle of McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 bottles of Lemmon Pepper (smiliar size to the other bottles)

Eric’s Wing Sauce

3 tablespoons of cayenne pepper paste (1 for mild, 5 for hot)
½ cup of water
½ a onion, chopped
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
½ a tomato, chopped
1 cup of white vinegar
1 stick of butter
1 bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 tablespoon of honey
ÂĽ cup of ketchup
Juice of ½ lemon

Place cayenne paste, water, vinegar and salt in blender. Blend on high for a minute.

Place butter stick on a pan over a medium flame so that it melts. Add onion, garlic, tomato and the whole bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce.

Let all cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Immediately pour into blender and add the pepper sauce. Blend on high for two minutes. Add the lemon juice, honey and ketchup, and blend again for a few seconds. Pour back into the pan where you melted the butter, and let it simmer for a good 20 minutes.
Note: The cayenne pepper paste is something I get at Hy-Vee that comes in a tube like toothpaste. At my Hy-Vee it is located by the refrigerated fresh herbs section. You can play with this by using dried cayenne pepper which you boil down a bit instead if you cannot find it.

Instructions

Mix the seasoning all together in a big shaker bottle, then coat the wings in the mix liberally. Do not be afraid to go heavy as much of the seasoning will be lost throughout the process.

Smoke the wings (my preference is Applewood chips). Cooking times will vary. My smoker is a gas one and runs hot so I will usually smoke them at just under 300 degrees for about an hour and 15 minutes. The key is to undercook them (basically we’re parsmoking them) and then throwing them in a bowl in the fridge.
When ready to serve (I make mine up the night before) grill on a hot grill about 6 or 7 minutes a side or so. Finish by tossing in the wing sauce or BBQ Sauce and serve.

[rpinson]

Easy-peasy pizza dough

4 cups bread or all purpose flour (white)
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1 packet active dry yeast, or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil (any good brand), but extra virgin is best
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar, or 1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup milk or 1/4 cup water
Preheat oven 450°F.

I prefer using milk for the liquid in this recipe. It adds flavor to your dough. But if you don't have it, use water.

Using a large ceramic mixing bowl, or any suitable food safe bowl, add the flour, make a "well" in middle, and put in 1 teaspoon salt, stir to
combine well. Set aside.

Prepare the starter: In a liquid measuring cup pour in 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon sugar or honey, and one package of active
dry yeast. Stir for 30 seconds with a wisk and set aside for 5 minutes. Allow to proof.

Next, mix the starter (yeast water) and the milk in the bowl containing the flour with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir together using a stand mixer, wooden
spoon or clean hands.

Note: You will need additional flour to knead on the surface that you're working on. Knead for about 8 minutes or until you get a smooth elastic
rubbery dough ball.

Set aside in bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil to keep the dough from drying out. Let dough sit covered lightly with plastic wrap or use a plate
or damp clean towel to cover it. Allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes to an hour.

Flatten dough and press out into a circle to fit the pan it will be baked in. Spread it out evenly, don't be afraid to lift underneath to stretch the dough. Sprinkle
baking pan with yellow cornmeal or Farina. If you don't have these on hand you can use flour or simply grease the pan with olive oil.

Bake for about 12­14 mins, but watch it! When the bottom looks slightly browned and the pizza looks bubbly, remove from oven.

I'll have to save this.  Everytime I think I want some homemade pizza, I scrap the idea because I think it will take too long for the dough to rise. 

[web_traveler]

One of my favorite pizza recipe:

Ingredients:

Grandma-Style Pizza Dough
12 ounces fresh mozzarella, grated (about 2˝ cups)
1˝ cups Fresh Tomato Pizza Sauce
Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) aGrandma-Style Pizza Dough
12 ounces fresh mozzarella, grated (about 2˝ cups)
1˝ cups Fresh Tomato Pizza Sauce
Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) and crushed red pepper flakes (for serving; optional)nd crushed red pepper flakes (for serving; optional)

Recipe preparation

Place a rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 525° or as high as oven will go.

Once dough has risen on baking sheet, top with mozzarella, and dot pie with tomato sauce; sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes, if desired. Bake pie until golden brown and crisp on bottom and sides, 20–30 minutes.



BON APPETITE!

[daywane]

I suggest getting a instance pot or some thing like it. I have a instance pot and a cossori. There mostly the same thing. Cossori is cheaper.
We love them also rice cooker is very handy.
Were cooking hot wings now.
2cups water.
Package of drummettes  4 pound bag Walmart
Lock steam . pressure cook on high 25 min. After timer chirps let out steam. These are not like old style pressure cookers.
Pour wing sauce on drummettes . bake 10 to 15 min 350 degree.
Enjoy

[Mr. Peabody]

We love them also rice cooker is very handy.

I tried a bamboo steamer and an electric rice steamer....eventually I read the package and found following the directions made great rice.

[juliagomez2244]

INGREDIENTS FOR BUTTER COOKIES
200 grams butter ointment (soft at room temperature)
120 grams sugar
280 grams of wheat flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

HOW TO MAKE BUTTER COOKIES

1.- In a bowl we start mixing the butter with the sugar. Remember that the butter must be at room temperature to be able to work well with it. We mix very well.

2.- Once mixed, add the teaspoon of vanilla essence.

3.- We continue with the sifted flour. We pass the flour through a strainer before adding it to the bowl. We mix very well.

4.- Now is the time to shape them. The easiest thing is to make a roll as you see below with the help of plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 1 hour or so. From there, what we will do is "cut slices" of 1 cm or so and bake them.

5.- We put them in a cut baking tray and bake them at 180ş for about 11-12 minutes. The moment we see that the edges begin to brown, we remove them. If you see that they are soft, do not leave them anymore because I made that mistake once, when they get cold they harden. So do not worry if you touch any and you see it soft.

[pbj]

Grams?  Where you think you is, chazzer?

[Mike A]

Butter ointment?

[nitrogen_widget]

ketchup and brown sugar mixed together and basted onto ham steaks as you cook them on the grill.

simple and damn tasty.

[Santoro]

Fettucini in Sausage Bolognese

I found this recipe online and adapted it a bit. I switched the fetuccine out for egg parpadelle, and it makes all the difference. This is an amazing dish for a cold winter’s night. Don’t let all the garlic scare you away, it’s roasted, making the garlic warm and sweet.

Yield: Serves about 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3 whole heads garlic
• Olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 celery rib, finely diced
• 1 large carrot, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 pound spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ˝ teaspoon dry oregano
• 3 ounces tomato paste (about half a can)
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• ˝ cup half & half
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, plus extra leaves for garnish
• ˝ cup grated pecorino Romano or parmesan cheese
• 10 ounces fettucini egg parpadelle noodles, cooked and held warm
• Shaved parmesan, for garnish

Preparation:

-Preheat the oven to 400°.

-Cut the tops off of the 3 heads of garlic, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, and wrap tightly in foil; place the foil-wrapped garlic heads into the oven to roast for about 40 minutes, until soft, sweet and golden-brown; once roasted and slightly cooled, squeeze the cloves from the papers, and mash into a paste; set aside.

-Place a large dutch oven or heavy bottom pan over medium high heat; drizzle about 3-4 tablespoons of oil in, and once the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, celery and carrot in; stir the vegetables and allow them to cook for about 10-12 minutes, or until softened and golden-brown.

-Next, add the one clove of minced garlic in, and stir; once it becomes aromatic, add the spicy sausage meat into the mixture, and stir, breaking it up with your spoon into smaller pieces; cook until the sausage is cooked through, about 5 minutes or so.
and stir in.

-Next, add in the tomato paste, and stir, allowing it to cook for about 1-2 minutes to cook out the raw flavor; add in the wine and allow it to reduce for a minute or two, until thickened.

-Add in the crushed tomatoes, the half and half and the reserved roasted garlic “paste”, and stir together to incorporate (it may look like it slightly curdled, but it will blend in nicely while the sauce simmers), then place the lid on partly askew to allow just a little steam to escape, and simmer the sauce on low for about 30 minutes.

-Finish the sauce by adding in the chopped parsley and basil, plus the pecorino Romano or parmesan cheese, and stir to blend; check the seasoning, and add more salt/pepper if needed; then, add in the cooked fettucini, and using a pair of tongs, gently fold the pasta with the sauce; drizzle with a little additional olive oil for a bit of extra richness and gloss.

-Serve in bowls garnished with torn basil leaves and shaved parmesan, if desired.
-Add a couple of pinches of salt and pepper, and the dry oregano and Italian seasoning,

[Xiaou2]

Ages Ago... I worked at an Italian Restaurant... and since the cooks were happy with my work, one of them cooked me
up a "Special Dish".  It was a Spicy Garlic Butter Chicken and Pasta dish.  It also had some shrimps in it... but since Im
not really into Seafood (Other than Fish Fry), I gave those to someone else.

The Dish had a lot more Heat than I was used to handling (at that age)... but It tasted so Damn good, that I didnt care.
I got addicted to the Dish.. and was shown how to make it myself, at one point in time.  Its been a while since Ive
made it, but from memory... this was the approximate Recipe:

=============================
      Spicy Garlic-Butter Chicken & Pasta
=============================

Ingredients Needed:

Chicken Breasts
Red Hot Cherry Peppers (maybe 4 to 6, depending on serving amounts + spice levels)
Freshly Minced Garlic (Very Heavy Garlic. Maybe +6 cloves worth)
Spaghetti

Chicken Bullion Powder or Paste (Probably 2 cubes worth)

Black Pepper
White Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes

Dry White Wine  (About 1 Cup of Dry White / Cooking Wine)

Flour
Butter
Olive Oil
-------------------------------------

Get a pot of Boiling water going.  Add a bit of Salt and a dash of Oil to the
water..  then place the desired amount of Pasta into the Pot, and Stir.

=======
Prep:
=======

- Remove Cherry Pepper Tops, and Cut peppers into small pieces. The seeds will be used for
added Heat.

- Remove the white stringy tissue/membrane from the Chicken.

- Trim excess fatty tissue as desired.

- Place the Chicken breast in the center of some Plastic Wrap, and pound it until its uniformly Thin
(if you dont have a meat mallet, you could use a rolling pin, or very carefully use a glass bottle)

- Cut the Chicken into smaller Bite Sized pieces

- Coat the Chicken Pieces in Flour  (easiest to put both into a container, and shake)

===============
Cooking Process:
===============

- Heat Frying pan up... and add in a small ladel of Olive Oil, and Butter (3rd of a stick?)

- Drop in several cloves of Freshly Minced Garlic

- Add the Foured Chicken in

- Fry the Chicken on both sides, for a few minutes each side

- Put a half cup? of water into the pan

- Stir in Chicken Bullion Powder (probably two cubes worth)

- Add chopped up Red Hot Cherry Peppers (keep some seeds in the pan, for the added Heat)

- Add in White, Black and Red Pepper Flakes.  Maybe half a teaspoon each?

- Reduce Heat to a simmer, to allow the spices to mix and infuse

- Maybe 10 minutes later, Mix in a cup of dry White Wine.  Optionally light on fire

- Cook until sauce reduces and thickens a little.

======
Plate:
======

Place Cooked Spaghetti on a plate
Place a Some Chicken on the Plate
Pour some of the Sauce, and Red Peppers, over the Chicken & Pasta

Have a nice Glass of White Wine..  or Milk Ready,  depending on your spice Tolerance levels.

[Xiaou2]

Reverse Seared Steak - Melt in your mouth Tenderness

This might be a Simple One... but its the Process, that makes it a Game Changer.

When I was a little kid, I hated steak.  The reason?  My mother was an AWFUL cook.
The steak she served, was Tough like Shoe Leather.  Hard to Cut, Harder to Chew,
and no seasoning at all.  Often Gray in color.

When she would be at work... I was ocassionally expected to cook dinner for my
Brother and Sisters.  In some ways, I was happy to do it... because I could try to
make food that actually Tasted good.

As an Adult... I eventually discovered what GOOD steak actually tasted like.
I realized that the redish color, was not actually blood, and didnt taste like Iron,
when it was cooked to the proper temp.  Instead, the steak became incredibly Tender
and Mouthwateringly Juicy... when cooked to a Medium Rare temp.

Still... for most of my Steaks.. I just Pan Fried them.  This process tends to
create a Layered effect... where the Outer layers are cooked to "Medium", and the
inner core is Medium Rare.

But when I Discovered the Reverse Sear method... My Steak game, was taken to a whole
other Level.  I could get a steak that had  "Center to Edge"  Medium Rare... with no
other Banding.  Only the first milimenter of the steak, was Crispy.  The rest was
so tender and juicy, that you barely had to chew.

There are many examples of Reverse Searing on the Internet now... But in many of them,
there is One Key FLAW, that many of these people make... which totally ruins the whole
reason for Reverse Searing in the First Place.


Instructions:

- Buy a Thick Cut Steak.  Try to get closest to an Inch in Thickness.

- Take your Steak, and season all sides with Salt, Black Pepper, and Garlic Powder (minimum).

- For a more Seasoned steak, add some dried Thyme and Rosemary.

- For best flavor.. put in the Fridge for a day, to allow the spices to penetrate deeper.

- For immediate use... Leave the Steak on the counter for about 15 minutes, to get
up to Room Temperature + allow the spices to sink in.

- Pre-Heat the Oven to 250F

- Place Steak on a Heavy Duty Plate, or Pan.. and cook until the internal temp is about 115F.

(an Internal Oven Thermometer would help.  If you dont have one... you will have to be very
attentive, checking the internal steaks temp often.  Its very easy to go past the desired temp,
once the steak gets up to a certain temp threshold)

- Place the Steak on the Counter. The internal Temp will continue to rise, and should eventually
reach  "Medium Rare".

- Leave the steak on the Counter for about 20 minues.  This is IMPORTANT !!!  If you try to
Sear too soon... the external layers of the steak will over-cook.

- Heat up a Cast Iron Frying Pan, until its pipping Hot.

- Add a Generous amount of Peanut Oil / High Smoke point Oil to the pan... and wait until the
oil starts to smoke a bit.. or is at least, very Hot.

- Use some Paper Towels, to dry off the steak (you dont want any moisture on the surfaces)

- Place the Steak in the Cast Iron Pan, and wait for 60 seconds.  Dont move the steak at all,
until that 60 seconds is up.

- Flip the Steak over, and let it Sear for 60 seconds.

- If both sides are Crisp as Chips... then Sear the Sides, and Plate.  You can eat it Immediatly,
since the Steak had already "Rested" earlier in the Cooking Process.  This was just the finishing
Sear... so it doesnt need any additional Resting period.

- If the steaks surfaces are not Cripy enough... Flip the steak over again, and Sear each side
for 30 seconds. Flip and Repeat, until the desired Crispy External Texture, has been Attained.

Notes:

- If your Stoves Temps are a little Low.. the Searing could take a little longer than
60 seconds per side.

- If you left too much Moisture on the surface of the Steak... the surfaces might not get
Crispy enough... and or, will take too long.. and might cause the steak to reach
"Medium" temp.. rather than staying within Medium Rare temps.

- Make sure not to cook a steak that has not yet risen to room temp.  That can cause internal temp
differences... resulting in an unevenly cooked result.

- Remember, above All Else.. to wait 15 to 20 minutes, to allow the steak to COOL down... before
Pan Searing it.


Sides:

- Pan Fried Mushrooms and Onions, go extremely well as a Steak topping.
(Seasoned and grilled "Sherry Mushrooms", are the absolute Bomb, as a Side)

- A nice Baked Potato, will also be a great Side to the Steak.  Cook it in the oven (which was
already heated from the steak), at a higher oven temp... until the skin becomes crunchy like
a Crisp... and slightly Charred.  Serve cut open, with Butter, Salt, and Black Pepper.
(You could probably pre-microwave the potato, for about 4 minutes, to reduce some oven time)

- Asparagus also goes fantastic with Steak.  Boiled is Ok... but Grilled or Oven Roasted, is Best.
Apply a small amount of oil, Soysauce, balsamic vineagar, salt and Black Pepper.. and coat all of the
Asparagus, before placing on baking sheet, and oven-roasting them (Make sure you pre-break off
the stringy/tough ends, before cooking them).

- A Dry Red Wine... is MUST Try, when eating a good Steak.  There is something Magical that happens
when the Red Wine is drank, after a bite of Steak.  It improves the taste of the Steak, as well as
makes the Wine more enjoyable too.  It doesnt have to be anything expensive, either.  Just make
sure its a Dry Wine, not a Sweet Wine.  I often prefer to just use Boxed Wines, as they are
fairly Cheap per Volume... and the taste is perfectly fine to my pallette.

[Xiaou2]

================================
     Salt Potato's  &  Backed Potato Tricks
================================

 Living in Upstate NY... we have a special Potato dish, called  "Salt-Potatoes".

 (They actually sell Salt-Potato kits in our grocery stores, with potato's and the massive salt package, included)

 You take a bag of small round white potatoes (these tend to be about 1 to 1.5" thick).
(If you cant find these, maybe use Fingerlings.  Anything that isnt too thick)

 Then you pour a metric Ton of salt into a large pot of water.  Stir the salt into the water... until it all dissolves.
If it all dissolved... keep adding more salt... until you reach a level where the salt will no longer absorb into the water.

 Heat the water to a Boil... then Add in the Potatoes.

 Boil them, until they can easily be pierced with a fork.  Slightly resistant on the outside, and creamy on the inside.
(dont overcook them to be too mushy / fragile.  You dont want them to easily break apart)

 Drain all of the water out of the pot... but  DO NOT RINSE THE POTATOES !!!

 You will quickly see that Potatoes start to turn a very White-Ish color... as the Salt Coating Cools down.

 If you want, you can eat them as-is.  However, they tend to heat up a bowl of melted Butter... and Dip them
into the butter, before chomping down on one.

 These things are much more Tasty, than you would Imagine.  They are very Addictive, too.

 If you have any Left-Over... they keep extremely long in the Fridge, due to the salt levels acting like a preservative.


===================
   Backed Potato Trick
===================

 Rinse a large Russet potato  (or any large potato), with Tap Water.
 While still very wet... rush to sprinkle Heavy amounts of a Seasoning Mix, on the Exterior of the Potato
 
 This could be a simple Beef/Steak Seasoning mix.  Or you could make your own... using:

- Salt
- Black Pepper
- Cheyanne pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Thyme
- Rosemary
(or add some "Italian Seasoning" spice mix in, which already has Thyme and Rosemary in it)

 Mix these into a small bowl or cup... and then taste to see if its "Good".  Adjust spices and salt levels, until you
get a good tasting Spice Mix.


 Place the seasoned Potato on a baking sheet, and cook at like 400f... until the skin gets very Crispy, and has started to
Crack + is slightly Charred.

 If you dont want to wait that long... and dont want the superior taste and texture..  then you can just Microwave
the Potato.

 The water helps dissolve the seasoning mixture, and helps it stick to the Potatoes surface.

 If you have Seasoned the Potatoes heavy enough... you wont actually need to apply any additional Salt, Pepper, or
Seasoning.. to the Potato.   Just cut, and Eat, as is.  Or Cut open... add butter, and eat.  These are so good
when done properly.. that you wouldnt even miss not using any butter.

 The thickness of a Potato can play a factor in whether or not you need additional Salt / Spices.  If the thing
is an absolute Monster of a Potato.. then make sure you use a lot more Seasoning on the exterior.

 This method is Somewhat similar to the effects of a Salt Potato.. but not quite.  You should still try Salt Potato's,
on their Own.


 Note:  That a potato's surface doesnt hold water very well... so as soon as you wet it... make sure to pull it out
with excess water dripping off it of.. and IMMEDIATELY coat the sucker, on all sides, in Spices.  Use your wet hands to
get those spices into all of the crevices, as you spin the potato around in circles... while you coat it.

 You could alternatively coat the potato in oil, to get spices to stick.  However, I believe the water actually works better
as far as I remember.   As the water helps dissolve the salt and spices, better than the Oil... thus, I believe you
experience more Flavor from the water method.

[Xiaou2]

No Fat Salad Dressing  &  Sauce / Marinade Base

 In a small cup or dish, mix   Soysauce  and   Balsamic Vinegar.

 Use More Balsamic than Soysauce, or it will be too Salty.

 Balsamic has a sweet flavor to it... and the Soysauce has that salty flavor bomb.  When Combined,
they form a very delicious "Savory" flavor.. that is unique to itself.

 This can be used straight up on Salads.. without the need to use any Base-Oil.  The stuff imparts fantastic
flavor, sticking to the leaves quite easily on its own.


 If you wanted to improve this as a Dressing... you could add in other Ingredients, like:
Garlic Powder, Thyme, Rosemary, Black Pepper, Onion Powder... etc.

 This Base, can also be used for other recipes / sauces / and or as a marinade.

 While its a very simple thing... its quite profound.