one step at a time.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Thursday Thirteen #9




TopChamp's Top Thirteen Recipes

(I forgot to mention earlier that I hardly ever weigh anything out and most of my recipes are made from whatever I have in the house at the time.....)


1) Spaghetti Bolognaise (sort of)
minced beef or pork
tinned tomatoes
stock cube
herbs of choice (can't choose what you don't have...)
onion
garlic
rinsed & drained flageolet beans

Cook off all the dry ingredients, whack in the stock cube and tinned tomatoes. Possibly add some more wet things depending on whether I have drunk all the wine in the house already or not...

Serve with spaghetti.


2) Potato Bake- goes nicely with gammon

Potatoes and white sauce - with any additions you fancy eg. garlic, ham, cheese, herbs.

I used to work in a tearoom whose white sauce recipe goes along the lines of:

Put 1pt milk in a saucepan on a lowish heat. Have a whisk handy then add 1 heaped tablespoon of flour & whisk it in. Bring to the boil. Boil ferociously for 1 minute then turn down and simmer for 3 minutes. Don't add anything to the sauce prior to boiling. After you've boiled it for a minute you can add salt, pepper etc.

Thinly slice potatoes and layer in a greased baking dish. Pour over the white sauce. Bake for an hour & a half. Some people top this with cheese but I prefer it without. I have possibly been conditioned by living with a cheesophobe for the last 4ish years.


3) Thai Green Curry

Chicken/beef and/or vegetables of choice
Thai Green Curry paste

Coconut Milk (half fat is fine)
Dark muscavado sugar (not loads - level tablespoon maybe)
Fish sauce & juice of 1 lime.

I just follow the instructions on the back of the tin of coconut milk - it's GREAT! Don't have one in the cupboard or I'd copy it out for you.


4) Generic Indianesque Curry

Meat (any)
Fresh chopped garlic
Fresh chopped ginger
Ground cumin seeds
turmeric
Chili - ideally fresh but if not cayene pepper or chilli powder
garam marsala (don't know how to spell it - too lazy to go look)
tinned tomatoes OR stock & half fat creme fraiche

I fry off the spices & chilli (not garam marsala) in a little oil then fry off the meat & any vegetables. I then add the tomatoes or stock and cook it off for as long as I have (which usually isn't long enough). I add the garam marsala near the end & if I'm doing a creamy one I add the creme fraiche right at the end.

5) Lemon Sole

This is in here as it's one of my fella's favourites & I'm pretty keen.

Mix flour with pepper and a little salt. Flour the fish with this mixture & fry for a few minutes each side.

6) Cornish Pasties

Recipe link

7) Sunday Roast

8) Fish Pie

Recipe link - this has cheese on top though which I still don't like.

9) Pancakes (boyfriend's favourite)

4oz plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml milk & 75ml water
2oz butter

Whisk it all up with a food mixer then ladle into hot frying pan and play the fun 'who can toss the best (no smut please!)' game!

10) Pineapple Upsidedown Cake

I use a basic sponge recipe but with a tiny bit less butter and I add in some of the juice from a can of pineapple rings, then just lay the pineapple out, pour over the sponge & bake.

11) Gingerbread. This one's a favourite coz I had never made it before Christmas and was very excited to find how EASY it was.

Recipe link

12) Marble Cake

Check out Burekaboy's blog this week (see sidebar). My boyfriend and I last made this for my birthday together. It was great fun.

13) Apple & Blackberry Crumble

Use cooking apples & blackberries. Cook them on the hob with a little sugar if they're too tart (which they might be if you've picked them early) til the mixture is soft but not mush.

Cheat and buy ready made topping from the shops... top and bake in the oven for 20 mins or so til it's brown.



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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged!





22 comments:

Liz Hill said...

TC!! Pineapple Upsidedown Cake is one of my absolute favorites and a family tradition.

Anonymous said...

I love the way you turn a phrase.
Spaghetti Bolognaise (sort of)
Generic Indianesque Curry
Looking forward to the links.
Thanks for sharing,
Frances

I blinded you with Science! said...

Oh my gosh. If I could cook I would be cooking these they all sound very tasty. If you don't mind I'm going to save some of these and give them to Matt (he's the cook!).

Also, I love Curry, it is so good! I have many Indian places near me and I can't enough of their food. Hmm, I haven't had lunch yet...

Happy TT!

John Holland said...

All this talk of food is making me hungry.

My 13 are up.

TopChamp said...

Frances - I think it's just my Britishness. Hate to offend people so I have to try to be polite..... And I doubt if you were Indian or Italian you'd be impressed by the recipes!

Barb said...

YUMMMM... good looking, mouth watering recipes! Thanks for dropping by!

Oh.. about verification.. It's just something I ask people to try doing without for a few days. Makes commenting a lot easier. It's a personal choice though :)

Jo said...

Gday, hmm thx for that im hungry now.. lol ..great receipe's

Anonymous said...

The Apple & Blackberry Crumble sounds great. What no Shepard's pie?

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

oooo marking today's post for future reference

Travis Cody said...

I like the idea of whatever-is-in-the-house ghoulash!!

Maryam in Marrakesh said...

I want pics of you and your man (although I appreciate the lemon sole....)

TopChamp said...

I hereby pledge that never shall a proper photo of me ever be published unless it be for professional reasons!

I can prob sneakily get him snapped though... Or I'll change my profile pic for a day or two...

Anonymous said...

I'm hungry.

TopChamp said...

Me too.

Caylynn said...

Yummy! Those sound great. :) Gingerbread is delicious and easy to make - we baked a whole bunch last Christmas, but didn't try any baking in Germany this year - I'm still not confident in all the substitutions I need to make!

Thanks for stopping by and have a good day. :)

Annelisa said...

yum!

and yum again!

Had a chuckle at your first one... as if there's ever wine to spare for cooking - it loses it's alcohol, doesn't it? :-D Then, the next one, I read "have a whisky handy" - I thought 'this girl's so like me... I do like to have a glass while I'm cooking (not whisky, usually wine)!

Love the recipes - and yes, I'd call them recipes, cos you're being resourceful with the ingredients you've got... if it happens to come in a tin - what's wrong with that?! :-D I often cook your ad-lib way... it was the way my dad used to cook too (he did all the savoury stuff and mum made all the sweet stuff)...

I think I'm going to have to try doing that linky thing with the posts so I can find this one again easy (or you could put a separate link in the side-bar for all us drooling food addicts! :-D)

Lori's Light Extemporanea said...

Hey, that's ok, I'm visiting now...and it's nice to visit. I enjoyed looking at your recipes. I love to cook, especially ethnic foods. We had our favorite Indian meal last night (vindaloo).

Happy TT, a day late!

Ash said...

I am now VERY hungary. Thanks!

Lee Ann aka Dixie said...

Gee thanks Topchamp... now I'm hungry...

I love Pineapple Upside Down cake... one of my favorites... guess now I will have to make one this weekend.. like I really need it.

Duncan Heaney said...

There is no greater food then the humble pancake.

Except meat. Meat's good.

TopChamp said...

Hey Dinksplat - I guess you're updating now you're back studentlanding again.... On my way over now.

burekaboy — said...

hey tc....missed all this! been so busy, haven't been doing all my reg visits.

great choices :) though i've heard of it for years, i've never had a cornish pasty before; sounds like a fun experiment. i can see you're a meat fan ;P i love it too, when i'm in the mood for meat.

thanks for the mention, btw.

did u use the recipe i posted for the marble cake or another one? asking cause wondering what u thought of it (instructions, taste, etc...), if indeed u did use that particular one. in either case, they are fun to make and u can get some pretty cool designs when you cut it. upside down pineapple cake, need we say more? LOL. i did one in my blog, too that i love. has pecans instead of the usual cherries (which i kinda don't like). anyway, great post :)) now i MUST eat, reading all of this!!