Post Your Favorite Recipes

Hey guys please keep this thread recipes and kitchen tips only we can pm comments thanks. Also Orion Girl is going to be compileing all the recipes and makeing them a book PM her for info.





Well, I've been at AC a little bit now and gotten to "know" some of you. Recently I had the favorite breakfast thread I posted on a lark and frankly, some of that stuff sounded good! So I figured, "Hey, why not a recipe thread?" Why not, eh? So, let's lay down some...

RULES:
1. No "off the package" recipes. Yeah, I really like the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe too, but I can read that any old time. I am more interested in old family recipes or stuff you made up. So, unless your last name is Nestle...

2. Only one recipe per post. This just simplifies things in case someone (hint, hint) wants to show off their layout skills and put together an AC .pdf recipe book.

3. If you can, please use measurements. I know a lot of us, myself included, just know how much of what to put into our dishes and also go by taste and smell. If you can, though, please guess. We all know to cook to our own tastes so if you use 2 cloves of garlic and I prefer five one day, I'll do it. Still, guessing the measurements will at least give us a baseline to go from.

4. Have fun! I know from reading that breakfast thread a lot of us like to eat and at least some of us like to cook, so share and share alike! Regional recipes are VERY encouraged.

Well, I think that kind of says everything I wanted it to. And, to get the ball rolling:

Harlock's Spicy Guiso

• 5-6 pounds of cheap beef. I use rump, shoulder or chuck roasts
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 Tbs of Worchestershire Saunce
• 2 cups of beef stock/consumé
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1/4 Cup of Chili powder
• 1/8 cup of Cumin
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup of corn starch
• 3 heaping Tbs pickled jalapeno slices

Butcher the roast(s) into 3/4 inch cubes. Trim as much fat as you can and want to. There is no need for it. In a large pot (at least 5 quarts) add the cubed beef, 1Tbs of salt and cook over med high heat. You're only trying to brown the outside of the beef, not cook it through at this point. Keep stirring the pot until all of the beef is braised steamed. You will produce quite a bit of juice during this stage. If you trimmed your beef properly, very little of it is fat, but rather more a broth so don't pour it out! Add beef stock/consumé, worchestershire sauce, tomato paste, cumin, garlic, chili powder and about 1 tsp. of black pepper and add water to cover top of meat. Turn the heat to high and bring it all to a boil. Let it boil on high, ocassionally stirring for 15 minutes. Then, cover, reduce heat to low and allow it to simmer gently for 3 hours giving it a stir every 10-15 minutes. Add water as needed to keep it at the same level as the meat. After three hours, add jalapeno slices and taste. Add more salt and pepper as desired (or anything else that sounds good to you!) Cover and let simmer another hour, stirring as before. By now your house smells like a Mexican restaurant and you're drooling profusely, so, in a small mixing bowl add the corn starch and 1/8 cup of cold water. Stir it until all corn starch is dissolved, making a slurry. Slowly add the slurry to the guiso while stirring the guiso to prevent slurry from creating lumps. At this point, some of the beef may be falling apart, and that's fine, that means it is tender and tasty! If you want the sauce thicker, use more corn starch. Serves a bunch of people but fewer Texans. Serve with sour cream, cheese and your favorite Mexican fixings wrapped in a tortilla. Delicioso! I vary the recipe nearly every time I cook it. I have used Ketchup instead of tmato paste when I have found myself short a can of the paste. I also sometimes add a splash or two of mesquite liquid smoke and tobasco. You could certainly use real jalapenos, but add them in when you add the first spices before the long simmer to cook properly. I hope you enjoy this recipe half as much as my family does. We eat it at least once a month on average and more in the winter time.

Harlock's Mucho Hot Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1 large (28 oz) can of whole tomatoes, drained
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 tsp minced cilantro
• 2-3 serrano peppers
• 1 Tbs salt
• optional: 1 tsp. lime juice, if it's in season

Background: None of the comemrcially made salsas do it for me. I live in West Texas where there is a decent Mexican food place around every corner and there are several top notch Mexican food places as well. Mexican food chains would die here, and have. Just too much good food. Anyway, I really like this recipe and if you're a garlic fiend like me, you'll love it.

Whatcha Do: Now, I have a food processor. If you don't you can mix it all by hand... and I really mean use your hands. No other way really squashes the tomatoes fine enough for me. Use less garlic and peppers at first, you can add the rest later once you determine how hot and garlicy you like it. If you have a food processor, you can skip the mincing and just chuck it all in and give it a spin. After it has blended to a consistency you want (like chunky, I prefer smooth) get a tortilla chip and sample it. At this point, add more salt, lime, peppers, garlic or whatever you think it needs. This salsa seems to get universal appeal from people I know. My Indian friends love it. I have a friend that spent two years in Thailand and swears it reminds him of that time... Me, I just like salsa!