Test Kitchen/Dinner Group

To help me resolve my little recipe problem, I decided to start a weekly dinner group/test kitchen combo.

Basically, I'm going to make at least one recipe from my (ahem) archives each Thursday and invite all of my Orem/Provo peeps for dinner every week.

I was thinking I would send out a weekly email with the plan for the main dish, a side-dish sign-up list with a couple of slots, and then let everyone else know to bring $3-$8 to help pay for ingredients, depending on how exotique the ingredients are. (So... if it's lobster, everyone brings $8-ish. If it's tortilla soup everyone brings $3.)

What do you think? Is it tacky to ask people to bring money? Should I just have them bring ingredients? If it were you, what would you prefer?

Would you participate in something like this if someone else was hosting?

Filipino Recipes

Last Saturday a Filipino couple in my ward taught an international cooking class to the Relief Society (we had a Thai class a few weeks before that).

Here are the recipes we tried (they were all delicious!).

Beef Afritada
Ingredients:
-1 kilo beef
-1 medium to large carrot
-3 potatoes
-1 green bell pepper
-1 can green peas (or the equivalent in thawed frozen or fresh peas)
-5 cloves garlic
-1 onion
-1 cup grated cheddar cheese
-beef broth as needed

I don't have the directions, so I'm guessing it goes something like this: Brown the garlic and onions. Add the potatoes. Add the carrots. Add everything else. Cook. Enjoy. (Yeah, I'll have to get back to you on this...) I do remember, though, that they boiled the beef separately before cooking, and then they just added it towards the end so it could soak up some of the flavors. That way it is much more tender.

Chicken Adobo
Ingredients:
-1 kilo of medium-sized bone-in chicken parts (legs, thighs, wings, whatevah)
-5 cloves garlic
-1 onion
-1/2 cup special filipino soy sauce (you can use regular soy sauce if you don't have a store where you can find filipino products)
-1/4 cup vinegar (any kind except basalmic, I think they said. I think they used red wine vinegar)
-1 tsp. pepper

Brown garlic and onion. Add everything else, cook until done.

Chicken Curry
Ingredients:
-1 kilo chicken, sliced into 1 by 2 inch strips (roughly)
-grated ginger (maybe 1/3 cup? they didn't write how much down as a part of the recipe)
-1 onion
-1 can coconut milk
-1 cup chicken broth
-1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
-1 tsp. cumin
-1 tsp. turmeric
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. pepper
-1 tsp. chili oil or hot sauce
-1 tsp. ground cinnamon
-1 tsp. dry mustard (yellow)

Brown onion, add ginger. Add everything else, cook until done.

I know. It's very precise. Regardless, they were ALL really delicious, so if any of them sound good to you, maybe try searching for more exact recipes on a recipe database site. Or just Google "Chicken Adobo."

Enjoy. 'Cause I sure did. Yum.

Quinoa

Denise asked what quinoa is, and to be honest I wouldn't know, either, unless someone had made it as part of our community dinner a few years ago in the Foreign Language Student Residence at BYU.

Here is a brief excerpt from the Wikipedia page about quinoa. There's information about it's use and cultivation, etc. which is interesting as well, but I thought I would just include the information about the nutritional aspect of quinoa, which is really what interests me.

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Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthful choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.[3] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.[3]

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The orange text is what I think is so great, in addition to the fact that quinoa tastes great and seems very versatile. (I haven't ever cooked it myself, I've only enjoyed it in pre-cooked meals or meals made by others, but I've liked it every time.)

I had a great quinoa and coral lentil salad last week that I bought at Monop' across from the Centre Pompidou (along with an awesome bulgur wheat salad), and then Black*Eiffel posted about it, which lead to me getting the recipe I mentioned from one of the people who commented.

Do you guys ever use quinoa? Have any recipes you especially like?

The one I'm going to make for my family reunion is here.

What is Your Favorite

vegetarian or vegan recipe?

Mine is currently tabouleh. Can't get enough of it. Good thing there are a bazillion Lebanese places in Paris.

But I have to admit, I also really love fresh (not fried) veggie spring rolls for a light lunch. (I like the fried ones, too... but let's be honest. They may be vegetarian, but that doesn't make them healthy...)

And I just got the most amazing recipe for quinoa apple curry salad. Hello! Doesn't that sound good?

Any big favorites you're inclined to share?

Friday Faves - Recipe Edition

Today's friday faves are brought to you by my recipe box.

I love to cook. I'm not necessarily a great cook, just a willing one. :) Cooking good food makes me feel productive and collected.

Most of my favorite recipes were discovered at family functions or at the homes of my friends during high school. If you want any of the actual recipes typed out, leave a comment and I can come back and add them. What is given below is a general description of the dish and the process (VERY general in some cases).
Note: All Recipe Names are based on what I call them and may or may not be actual names of recipes.

1. Tabouleh (non-traditional) - a tangy and delectable mixture of cooked and cooled bulgur wheat, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, parsley, with a lovely dressing of tomato sauce, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic powder. Recipe source: Nancy Peterson, my cooking kindred spirit.

2. Best Ever Creamy Tomato Soup - 'nuff said. Well, almost enough. You got that it's tomato soup, and that it's creamy, but just from the title alone you wouldn't be able to tell that it's really quite easy to make and has just the right amount of diced/stewed tomato to make it more robust than a canned counterpart, but not chunky enough that it resembles a stew more than a soup. Oh, yummy. It's cold outside, and I want some... Recipe source: Aunt Denise.

3. Niçoise chicken - discovered in my high school French class. I volunteered to make it for some kind of party we had in class, and I am officially hooked for life. A deliciously sweet and savory one-pot wonder made of cooked chicken, quartered tomatoes, onions, tomatoes and halved garlic cloves simmered in white wine (okay, apple cider or apple juice for me--that's where the awesome sweetness comes in). Incredibly tender and delicous. Garnish with olives if desired (i don't desire, even though I love olives). Recipe source: the Amazing Charlotte Touati.

4. Frito casserole - my family's comfort food and a budget-friendly one-dish flavor extravaganza. Combines elbow macaroni (I go for the high-fiber kind), stewed diced tomatoes, corn, chili pepper, cayenne, cumin, tomato sauce, garlic, cheddar cheese, and (of course) Fritos. The recipe actually says to bake it (thus the 'Casserole'-ness), but I prefer to just mix it all (except the chips) together in a large pot like goulash, and then use Fritos Scoops to eat every last morsel. I'm pretty sure Amy lived off of this one recipe for the larger part of her college life. Everyone loves this. Recipe source: Sister Williams from our ward in West Valley.

5. Caprese salad - Okay, this wasn't really discovered through my family, but it is a favorite of mine, so here it is. Sliced tomatoes, sliced fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves. Layer one tomato, one basil leaf, and one slice mozarella. Alternate until the salad is a satisfactory size. Drizzle with your favorite olive oil, basalmic vinegar, and sprinkle on a smidgen of sea salt. Alternately, you can simply slice the fresh basil into thin strips and sprinkle it on top of the tomato/mozzarella combo. This one dish convinces me--every time--that I should have been born in Italy. (Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure it was Denise who originally introduced me to this, just in another version as described here by Josh).

What are your family's go-to recipes? How did you discover them?