Recipes for scrumptious and reasonably healthy food

[Welder]

I prefer when possible to use fresh ingredients but it isn’t always practicable.
This goes well with fresh linguine pasta.

Pack of pre cooked mussels.
(Fresh mussels are even better but you need to know what you’re doing with them. Get it wrong and you’ll be ill. Read up on it if you’re interested in doing them fresh.)
It’s quick to make so you might want to get the pasta organized and cook both together. The sauce below takes about 20 mins. Cook in the frying pan if it’s deep. Makes enough for 2 or 3 portions.

1 large tablespoonful of butter or margarine. Butter tastes better for this or you can use olive oil.
4 large cloves of garlic
10 shallots
Black olives
2 tins of chopped tomatoes. I think its worth investing in good quality Italian tomatoes for this.
Sun dried tomatoes in alive oil
Capers
10 to 15 fresh basil leaves
Tomato puree
Fresh ground black pepper
Fresh washed wild rocket
Fresh parmesan

Peel and chop the cloves of garlic and the shallots. No need to mince, just rough chop.
Take about 20 black olives, take out the stones if necessary and cut the olives in half.
Open the tinned toms and drain the juice out of ONE can into a glass.
Roughly chop about ten of the sun dried tomatoes.
Roughly chop the fresh basil leaves.

Melt the butter in the pan. Don’t burn it!
Add the chopped garlic and onion and gently cook for 2/3 mins. You want to cook but not brown.
Add the mussels. Don’t add any of the water/juice that comes in the pre packed mussels..
Cook on a medium heat for about 5/6 mins. The art here is to cook without burning any of the stuff in the pan so you need to stir and watch lots.
Tip in both the tins of tomatoes and add 8 inch strip of tomatoe puree from a tube or 3 heaped teaspoonfuls from a jar and the sundried tomatoes.
Add the black olives, capers, chopped basil and loads of black pepper.
Cook this gently on a medium heat fro a further 10/12 mins stirring often. The sauce should be fairly thick. If it looks too runny cook for a bit longer, too thick, add some of the tomatoe juice from the glass.
Add a generous handful of the rocket and a generous sprinkling of parmesan to serve.

[goraman]

One of my favorite cold,rainy day dinners.
4.5 pounds corned beef,2 pounds babey carrots,2 pounds small red potatos and under the meat 2 heads of cabbage and one packet of dill weed,garlic,red pepper,black pepper corns and sea salt.
4 hours later and your eatting,one hour later and your crapping(cabbage is better than prunes).
BTW:boil the meat 3 hours ,then add the potatos,carrots 1 hour,then add the cabbage 30 min.

[goraman]

The only thing I ever ate that made my eyes water,not from spices but a powerful urge to vomit with every bite,a Balut.
Yet, I ate it with a smile like it was my favorite.
I didn't eat the rats,just the Balut all these pictures came from an online artical about strange foods.
But the 21 day duck egg called a Balut was offered to me by a coworker,who ate them all the time.
He is from Cambodia and even eats roasted Jerusalum crickets(potato bugs!)


How about a wine recomdation:
The Balut with champain for breakfast.
The Rats with a dry red like Merlot.
The crunchy soft centered bugs with a pink Zinfindale or Blush.
I think the right wine would be key,and even more importaint in large amount.

[Alex_UK]

The only thing I ever ate that made my eyes water,not from spices but a powerful urge to vomit with every bite,a Balut.

That is one of the most disgusting things I have ever heard of!

Why? - just, WHY?

[Marco]

I nearly heaved up my breakfast.....! As they say in Glasgow, that is just PURE BOGGIN'

Describe the flavour, though......

Marco.

[Jac Hawk]

well you know what the chineese say, "if it's back faces the sky, it's eddible".

anyway would any of you guys like an authentic recipie for chicken & chorizo paella, and also sangria to wash it down with?

[Marco]

Yes please, Mike!

Marco.

[Jac Hawk]

Ok this is for you Marco.

Chicken & Chorizo Paella

Ingedients

2 large chicken breasts
1/3 of chrizo ring (you can get good ones in lidle they're in plastic bags, and they are the same shape as mattersons sausages but thinner)
1/2 jar of roasted red peppers (once again availabe in lidle)
1 large red onion
3 cloves garlic
1 cup of frozen peas
2 cups rice (i like risotto type, but its up to you)
1 pint of stock (chicken or veg)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 or 5 saffron threads (powdered) or 1 tsp turmeric
salt / pepper
4 or 5 tbsp olive oil

So to start cut your chicken into medium cubes and cut your chorizo into 5mm slices, roughly chop your onion, peel and finely chop the garlic then powder your saffron with a pestle and mortar

then take a very large frying pan and heat your oil on a medium high heat and gently fry your chicken and chorizo for about 3 or 4 minutes.

Now add the onion, garlic and cayenne and continue to cook unit the onion softens. now turn the heat up and add the rice and saffron / turmeric and fry for about 2 minutes, now turn the heat down and add the stock.

leave the pan on the stove simmering (it need to simmer gentley) while you slice 4 or 5 of the roasted pepers up, they are packed in jars in there own juice so you could add a little of the juice to your paella (i do), after about 4 or 5 minutes add the peppers and peas and continue to cook until the liquid has been absorbed. now test the rice, if it still is a bit hard add some water and cook a bit longer.
Now turn the heat off, cover the pan and leave it to rest for about 4 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste and serve.


Sangria

1 bottle of the cheapest red wine you can find
1 can fanta orange
1 can fanta lemon
1 orange
1 lemon
Cointreau to taste


ok get yourself a very large pitcher, chop the fruit up into cubes, add the wine and fruit to the pitcher, then both cans of fanta, give it a stir, then add about 1/4 bottle of cuantreau stir again, stick it in the fridge for about an hour.

Take it out and get hammered drunk

[Marco]

Cheers, Mike - I'll defo give that a go this week and report back!

Marco.

[shane]

Not sure about healthy, but we made a belter of a crumble the other night. Every year we go out and pick sloes to make sloe gin for Christmas. Simply cover the sloes with gin and sugar for about 3 months and bob's yer uncle. This year we decided to try damsons as well, but when it came to bottling time it seemed a waste to throw the damsons away after decanting the gin, so into the crumble they went.

Can't remember what it tasted like.....