Idiot proof recipes.

[swee'pea99]

Tortilla - aka potato & onion omelette. Slice an onion and some spuds, fry in olive oil for 15-20 minutes, turning it over and around a bit so everything gets a go at the heat. When they look done, add beaten eggs - two per eater - cover, and cook gently till the top is just not liquid. Put upturned plate on top and turn everything upside down (ie, the whole pan - the omelette ends up other-way-up on the plate). Put pan back on heat and slide omelette back off plate into pan, cook for another minute or two then serve with a side salad. Cheap, filling, delicious, healthy. Never met anyone who didn't love it.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

The best pasta ever.

Slice up four cloves of garlic very thin and fry with a sprig of basil in olive oil. Once the garlic starts to brown, remove the basil and add a bottle of sieved tomatoes and maybe 4 tablespoons of grated parmesan. Add maybe 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil and then mix well on a medium heat for 10 minutes, blending the oil with the tomato.

Put some pasta on and cook for 7-8 minutes (very al dente)

Add to sauce and let the pasta soak up the sauce

Cook for 5 minutes on a low heat, serve with a heavy sprinkling of parmesan.

Good on it's own or with ham, chicken, meatballs, whatever.

 

[Reynard]

Tortilla - aka potato & onion omelette. Slice an onion and some spuds, fry in olive oil for 15-20 minutes, turning it over and around a bit so everything gets a go at the heat. When they look done, add beaten eggs - two per eater - cover, and cook gently till the top is just not liquid. Put upturned plate on top and turn everything upside down (ie, the whole pan - the omelette ends up other-way-up on the plate). Put pan back on heat and slide omelette back off plate into pan, cook for another minute or two then serve with a side salad. Cheap, filling, delicious, healthy. Never met anyone who didn't love it.

If you do this in a pan with a metal handle, no need to flip. Just pop in a hot oven for a few minutes until set.

I do this regularly; it's another great way of using up random leftovers / veggies that want using up because they're a bit tired. Tortilla, frittata - it's all much of a muchness. It's great with a dab of sweet chilli sauce on the side.

This is also great cold. Makes a wonderful packed lunch and good for taking on a picnic.

 

[MichaelW2]

The best pasta ever.

Slice up four cloves of garlic very thin and fry with a sprig of basil in olive oil. Once the garlic starts to brown, remove the basil and add a bottle of sieved tomatoes and maybe 4 tablespoons of grated parmesan. Add maybe 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil and then mix well on a medium heat for 10 minutes, blending the oil with the tomato.

Put some pasta on and cook for 7-8 minutes (very al dente)

Add to sauce and let the pasta soak up the sauce

Cook for 5 minutes on a low heat, serve with a heavy sprinkling of parmesan.

Good on it's own or with ham, chicken, meatballs, whatever.

My quick pasta sauce includes a small tin of anchovies. I use the olive oil to cook with and add all the anchovies later. They break up in the heat and add lots of flavour. Probably a useful camping recepie but I haven't done it on my Trangia yet.

I was surprised how al dente they do pasta a good restaurants in Rome.

 

[Reynard]

My quick pasta sauce includes a small tin of anchovies. I use the olive oil to cook with and add all the anchovies later. They break up in the heat and add lots of flavour. Probably a useful camping recepie but I haven't done it on my Trangia yet.

I was surprised how al dente they do pasta a good restaurants in Rome.

Likewise if doing a pasta tonnato - the only time I'll buy tuna in oil, as I use the oil to sweat off the onions and garlic and get the sauce going.

 

[Poacher]

Love the way the "Similar threads" features a link to "An idiot abroad".
Will you be consulting m'learned friends, @Andy in Germany ?

 

[slowmotion]

Try Chicken Marbella. It's dead easy. Even I can cook it. It makes life a lot easier if you use prunes and olives with the pits already removed.

https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_marbella/

 

[Andy in Germany]

Woah... I need to start printing things off. Many thanks, and please keep the ideas coming (with the possible exception of @Poacher)

Knödel/Dumplings with Tomato sauce are currently cooking. Will report on success or lack thereof later...

 

[Poacher]

Woah... I need to start printing things off. Many thanks, and please keep the ideas coming (with the possible exception of @Poacher)

 

[Reynard]

Another cheap and easy eat is a chilli con carne - or a chilli non carne.

Carton of passata
One large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
Bay leaf
Oregano
Smoked paprika
Chilli flakes (to taste)
Black pepper
One stock cube of choice

Make tomato sauce in the usual way - see my pasta bake recipe. A basic tomato sauce is a building block of loads of different dishes. Then add the following:

One can of kidney beans, drained
250g beef mince or green lentils, cooked (100g uncooked weight) or soya mince. (Or a combination thereof)

Once the sauce is made and simmering, dry fry the beef and add along with the kidney beans (and lentils or soya mince if using). Simmer for a further 20 mins (if making on the hob) or leave longer if using a crock pot. Check the final sauce for seasoning, and then finish off with a few squares of bitter chocolate.

Serve with rice, with grated cheese, salted tortilla chips and half fat sour cream or creme fraiche on the side.

Alternatively, use to top jacket potatoes, or else make enchiladas. Roll the filling in corn tortillas, cover with grated cheese and some sliced, pickled jalapenos and bake in the oven for 20 mins.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

By the way, I can recommend this guys channel. His parmesan omelettes are fantastic and these potatoes are delicious -

View: https://youtu.be/XOatJPocjDo

 

[perplexed]

I like the chicken tom Hotpot. any details?

Currently working on a dead simple pizza dough for starters...

The below is how I make pizza at home. This is sufficient for two adults.

Topping:

Fry off a reasonably finely chopped onion in as little oil as you can get away with and set aside
Drain a tin of tuna
Capers
Olives
Mozzarella, sliced up
Tomato puree
Anchovies (controversial, but I love 'em)


For the base:

6 oz flour
Quarter teaspoon of baking powder
A pinch of coarse sea salt
A pinch of coarse ground pepper
Splash of olive oil
Mix in a bowl, slowly adding small quantities of cold water to get a consistency which is rollable and not soggy
Roll into a size and shape roughly the size of a dinner plate

In the pan you used to fry the onion (I would just add the caveat that the frying pan you use needs to be able to be shoved under the grill for the best results), 'dry fry' your pizza base for a few minutes. No need to add any oil, the residue from your onion juice is fine. When it lightly browns, remove the pan from the heat, take a dinner plate, stick it face down over the pan and then invert the pan so the pizza comes out cooked side up.

From the plate, slide the pizza base back into the pan to cook the other side. Again, no need for any more oil.

Lower the heat. Spread some tomato puree with the the back of a spoon over the pizza, whilst the other side is cooking. Sprinkle on the onion you cooked and set aside earlier.

Spread out the drained tuna, and cover with mozzerella. Add the olives, capers and anchovies.

By now, the underside should be cooked.

Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and bung the pizza, still in your grill-suitable pan, under the grill for a few minutes until the cheese melts/starts to brown.

Sometimes I'll stick an egg on top too if I'm feeling extravagent.

We have it with salad.

This sounds more complicated that it is, but it's a doddle and actually pretty quick.

 

[iandg]

I have 4 children. There was a meal they used to call '1st night away tea' because it's what I cooked every time my wife was away somewhere easy to cook and quick to cook after a day at work.

• Boil up enough pasta, add frozen or tinned sweetcorn to the water while it's cooking
• Fry up Quorn chicken style pieces and add some spice while frying (Cajun, Moroccan, Jamaican - what ever takes your fancy).
• Drain cooked pasta/sweetcorn and add the fried Quorn pieces, and stir in with a veggie Oxo stock cube.
• Grate cheese into the mixture and stir in so it becomes nice and stringy.

Kids wolfed it down

 

[swee'pea99]

Tuna, egg, mayo salad. Hard-boil some eggs. Upend can of tuna on plate, chop a bit with a fork so it doesn't look quite so can-like. Slice eggs and arrange round tuna, sort of flower-petal stylie. Squirt on mayo to taste. Serve with salad.

 

[Skanker]

Today I'm making Knödel which is a local dish based on soaking old bread in milk and making it into balls with onions and salt and pepper added. I think that's called dumplings in the UK but I'm not sure.

Sounds very similar to a dumpling.
I’ve never actually had a savoury Knödel, pm me a good recipe please, but I used to ski in Austria most years and GermKnödel is the greatest thing ever invented, so a good recipe for that would be appreciated too!