Simple dinner recipe ideas

Due to being knackered, I went lazy dinner last night.
Cannelloni for the truly lazy (serves 2)

Go to supermarket
Take pack of this from freezer cabinet and also pick up 1 pack dried cannelloni, 1 package mozarella (plus salad if you want some, Spar had baby plum tomatoes delivered yesterday woooo hoooo)
Put 2 pans on the hob, in one melt down the spinach with mozzarella with a splash of water, keep stirring it until melted and hot. You could add more cheese if you felt like it or indeed a spoonful of green pesto (out of the supermarket brands Bertolli is about the best).
In the other pan boil up some water, then add half a pack of the dried cannelloni and simmer for about 4 minutes. Drain and shock with cold water (stops the cooking, helps it not to stick as much and you won't burn your hands).
Over a baking dish, hold the cannelloni up and use a spoon to fill the tubes with the cheesy spinach. Spead the cannelloni evenly in the dish and tip any extra sauce on the top (it doesn't have to be too exact).
Drain the mozzarella, slice finely and bung on top of the cannelloni.
Bake at 200°C for 15 mins.
Actually you don't need to precook the cannelloni but it takes at least 45mins in the oven then and you might need to cover it with foil to stop it burning. Sheets of lasagne will also work.
I'm a frozen spinach fan, I like it baked with fish, with cheese melted through it (crumbled feta into a pan of Rahmspinat and melted? Shove it on cooked pasta? Oh yes). It is also very cheap and ready portioned (so if you were using a curry paste to make a meal, just drop a few squares of Junger Spinat into the sauce to get more veg in without effort). Rahmspinat has cream in (but less than if you'd put it in yourself), they also do one with gorgonzola too.
Frozen spinach is great for sauces - mind you, you'd have to actually like spinach in the first place!

I've made some tasty Spätzle with the frozen creamed spinach (really impressed my visiting mom, who can't cook to save her life).

Easy-peasy with the prepackaged Spätzle (the fresh kind with a use-by date, not the vacuum packed crap). Just fry it up as usual while heating up the spinach in a separate pan. Once they're both done, mix 'em together and throw in some grated cheese of your choice. Top it, if you like, with some of those crunchy roasted onions, and voila! Yummy Spätzle meal.

That frozen spinach also goes very well with crunchy bacon bits (lardons). It is top gear.

Try this link if you are keen on the Indianized version of cooking...

NDTV Cooks

Enjoy!!!
Bhupesh

OK, hooray, I did it - made my first ever Thai green curry last night using only the info from this TT thread! It was delish!! (If I do say so myself).
I couldn't make my own paste as I don't have a food processor - but got some fresh home-made stuff from the excellent Thai store in Rotkruezplatz and purchased most of the ingredients that were mentioned on here fresh as well and threw it all together.
Thanks for all the help & hints!
God, I've been dying for a proper thai curry for ages that doesn't taste like sweet & sour or some totally different asian dish.
I think that was the spiciest meal I've eaten since I've been in Germany. Yuuummmm. Cheers TT folk!

Nice shop that isn't it? And runs by lovely ladies (i.e. don_riina don't go in there please, you'd never leave and that's a bit too near my flat, like).

It is a great little shop. Really good selection for a little place. They even have other international stuff like PG Tips tea bags, Mc Vities ginger nuts & Heinz baked beans.

Whah! That shop (and a couple of nearby restaurants) are the things I really miss about Neuhausen.

This website is really good. You just click on the ingredient you want to use:

http://www.astray.com/recipes/

I can highly recommend the Risotto with crabmeat and basil. It is super easy to make too.

I bought €15 Spargel on the weekend.

Managed to stuff the last bit down last night. It was tough work, but apparently the locals get as much in as possible during the Spargel window.

Scrummy, but doesn't half may your pee smell.

Oh, a "cooking tip" - don't put salt in the water until its boiling. That way you avoid spots onyour metal Spargel pot.

Two slices of bread, a knife full of strawberry/rhubarb or strawberry/vanilla jam and your away!

This is a simple recipe I tried last night. Pretty darn tasty...

Barbecued Roast Beef Sandwiches

Prep: 20 minutes - Cook: 5 minutes - 6 servings

• Barbecue sauce (see below)
• 1 pound (~450 grams) of thinly sliced (dünn geschnitten) roast beef (rinderbraten or "roastbeef rinderbraten"), cut into 1-inch strips (3 cups)
• 6 hamburger buns (plain brötchen is best)

1. Make the barbecue sauce
2. Stir beef into sauce. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes or until beef is hot
3. Slice and toast the buns
4. Fill buns with beef; enjoy

Barbecue Sauce

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar (weißweinessig)
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard (senfpulver, optional scharf)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• optional spices (e.g. a dash of chipotle tabasco, etc.)

Heat all ingredients to boiling in 1-quart (0.96 liter) saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

@randy

Mmm thanks! That looks lovely.

We made some hamburgers this week which were also really easy.
Just:

• Hackfleisch vom Rind
• garlic
• salt & pepper
• finely chopped onions
• bbq sauce (can also use ketchup or Worcestershire sauce)
• small bit of bread crumbs

Mush it all up in a bowl and make your patties (you want to make them a fairly decent size as there will be considerable shrinkage in the pan...also don't make them too thick) They were really easy and really tasty. The real trick is to cook them on low heat so that the inside cooks just as well as the outside, without burning.

Now I know most people probably already make their own and know this but we are real cooking virgins so it was a major feat for us

My favorite fast/easy dinner is Spaghetti alla Carbonara.

You'll need:
3 eggs
1/2 cup or more Parmesano Reggiano (or half Pecorino Romano and half Parmesano Reggiano)
about 125 grams of pancetta (or prosciutto), chopped in small cubes
500 grams spaghetti
about 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
garlic (as much as you like), sliced very thin
about 1/2 cup dry white wine
salt and fresh ground pepper

Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta. Meanwhile break the eggs into a bowl, add the cheese and whisk. I also go ahead and add my salt and pepper at this time but the first time you make it you should add them at the end so you can find out by tasting how much you like.

Salt the water, add the spaghetti, and cook until just under al dente.

Meanwhile heat a large frying pan over medium, add the olive oil, then add the pancetta and sauté until it's crispy, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another minute. Add the wine and let it reduce while the spaghetti continues cooking.

When the spaghetti is nearly done, drain it and add it to the pan with the pancetta and garlic with a bit of its cooking water. Stir until the spaghetti is cooked to your liking. Dump the contents into the bowl with the eggs, stir, and add salt and pepper to taste. Yum.

This is simple, but takes hours. Its a really basic beef stew/casserole thang, but gets all the steps right, and its difficult to really screw up.

600g chuck steak - this is the shoulder, so its schulter or something in krout. Get one big slice if possible
Couple of onions (or peel 6 shallots to be classy if you want)
Couple of carrots
Few cloves of garlic
REd wine vinegar
Can of beef soup (consomme)
Bottle of red bordeaux
Big old pinch of herbes de provence

Preheat the oven to 150 deg
Peel carrots, and quarter lengthways
Peel onions and slice roughly (or just leave peeled shallots whole if you are being all fancy)

Heat up a frying pan.
Cut beef into a few massive chunks - like small steaks. Pour a handful or two of flour onto a plate, and sprinkle with salt. Dredge the beef through the flour, on all sides, patting off excess. The flour will cook and forma coating around the meat, which will eventually thicken the casserole.
Make sure your pan is actually hot. Chuck a big knob of butter in the pan, and throw in the floured steaks. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, then check the cooked side - if it is getting a nice brown colour, turn them over and repeat on the other side. If not, leave them a bit longer, check again, then turn when you have some colour.
Put steaks in a big pot.
Empty the excess fat from the frying pan, then chuck in the onion, garlic and carrots. Fry for a while until the carrots and onions are taking on a bit of colour. Chuck the veg into the pot with the steaks.
Put the pan back on the heat, and add a goood glug of vinegar. Scrape up any residue (burnt bits) in the pan with a wooden spoon. When the vinegar has almost completely evaporated, add half a bottle of red wine. Let it bubble away and evaporate by about 1/3
Pour this liquid into the pot with the beef and veg, and also pour in the can of consomme, and a big pinch of herbs.

Bring to the boil, then dump it in the old oven for 4 hours. You could lob a load of button mushrooms in half an hour before the end of cooking of you fancied. Might be nice.

You really cannot actually go wrong. Don't fry the beef properly? Never mind. Not good at chopping stuff? Leave it in whacking great lumps, who cares. Vegetarian? Well, that's your own problem. Get therapy, sort yourself out, have a bacon sarnie.
Good to do on a sunday morning whilst you are making brekky, 'cos it just appears as a nice sunday lunch later.

I just thought of one more. This one is slow and easy.

Pulled Pork Sandwich with Cherry Chipotle Chutney

Ingredients:
1 pork roast

Dry Rub:
7 tablespoons extra hot red chile powder
4 heaping tablespoons raw sugar
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 heaping tablespoons sea salt
fresh ground pepper until your arm gets tired
1 heaping tablespoon cumin seed, crushed

Combine all ingredients and rub all over meat that has been rinsed and dried with a paper towel. Use plenty. Of course there will be more of the dry rub than needed for one roast--save the rest for future roasts. (Or scale the recipe down if you won't be making that many roasts).

Wrap roast in foil and place in the oven at 125° C for about 7 hours. The meat will be very tender and can be pulled with 2 forks when it's done.

Serve on toasted poppyseed or sesame seed buns (i.e. poppyseed Brötchen...but you can of course use whatever bread you like)
with the Black as Night Chutney (or another sauce of your choice).

Cherry Chipotle Chutney

1 head roasted garlic (chop top of a head of garlic off so the cloves are exposed, place on a square of foil, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, wrap in the foil and roast at 180° C for about 45 minutes...the cloves can be squeezed out once it cools a bit)
3 small onions, or 1 big one, chopped
1 cup raw sugar, or more, to taste
2 cups orange juice, or more, to taste
3/4 cup rice vinegar
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 cups, or more, dried sour cherries
a handful of currants
a small handful of candied orange peel (optional)
2 minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or more, to taste
a little salt, to taste

Put the cloves of roast garlic in a large, heavy saucepan along with all the other ingredients. Simmer for 2 or 3 hours until dark and rich in color. Adjust seasoning to taste. This should keep for 1 month in the refrigerator or it can be frozen.

@blimeygirl: I like to add an egg to my burger mix (which otherwise sounds pretty much the same as yours). I means that the mixture sticks together better during cooking...

Yeah my bf adds egg too. Not sure if it's just egg white or yolk, or all of it, but he adds egg.

I add a whole egg...

Just checked, he adds the whole thing too

Yeah I have done the egg thing in the past...but found that the bbq sauce works pretty much the same...and is tastier

There are so many variations...the next one we try is going to be with Worcestershire sauce...it's apparently really nice too.

I tried this idea out more or less (exact measurements are actually against my religion - and handfulls are relative...) but I used turkey (couldn't find any edible looking chicken at the supermarket) and added about 4 heaping teaspoonfulls of dijon mustard and also used a few sloshes of white wine before I put the cream in. It was good, but very, very rich. I think I'll try using Creme Legere (15%) as opposed to Creme Fraiche (30%). Or is there another obvious way to thin the sauce? Put water in?

If tired of the usual starch sources i.e. potatoes, pasta, rice, I find Couscous a great addition to add variety. It´s also the easiest to prepare out of the 4. The basic recipe is 1.25 parts water to every 1 part couscous. The directions are SIMPLE:

1. Boil water
2. Add couscous (and cover pot)

Wait 5 minutes. Vuoila

So here's the predicament: I'm still staying in a corporate apartment which has limited kitchen space (i.e. microwave and stove top with top cooker elements). Not to mention the area which I stay in is limited as far as shopping goes (i.e. there is only a Plus nearby). So I've exhausted my "easy" recipes for dinner consisting mostly of pastas and frozen pizzas and eating out. Anyone have some easy, yet tasty, recipes for dinner which I could likely get all the ingredients from Plus and cook with the limited equipment that I have? Please help!

Topics merged by admin

Boiled mince.
Instructions: 500 grams mince (ground beef), place in pot of boiling water, boil until translucentish, drain water, cover in tomato sauce. Serve with toast, goes well with a nice merlot.

invest in a sandwichmaker (under twenty euros). The ideas are boundless.

get some curry

I still haven't got me one of those...wanna swap yours for something brokenm?

Staple food, beanz on toast innit ?

There are pages of ideas on this thread: Simple Recipes

Chicken Hearts au Don_Riina

Those curries in arshoo's piccy are nice, I like the palak paneer one.
You could also try simple soup recipes?

@ Timmeh. Goes well with dogfood by the sounds of it ;-)) 'Boiled mince'? What's wrong with regular frying, after you've done the onion and the garlic. Whack in a tin of tomatoes, tom puree, balsamic, soy sauce, drop of that there merlot, dash or two of italian/mixed herbs, any other gack you want to throw in let it simmer while you cook the spag and bobs your dinger, spaggy bol. replace italian herbs with oregano, add chilli beans, sweet corn if you want, dash or so of chilli powder, bingo - chilli.

also thai curries are a piece of the proverbial. just get a tub of thai curry paste (from the asiamarkt, NOT the local supermarkt), fry it for a minute, lob in coconut milk to simmer, then meat until cooked, thena jar of chopped bamboo shoots or other asia veg, fish sauce, palm sugar, bit of coriander - done. takes about the same time as rice too cook.

mmm, fecking starving now, off for lunch.

boil potatoes, mash them together with tuna, add salt, olive oil, lemon juice and curry powder.

@grazzenger, far too much work. Boiling is a one step process, putting meat in boiling water, then voila! Always comes out tender and moist.

You also have a nice mince stock to use for soups afterwards!

Beans in Coconut Milk to go with Coconut Rice.

Ingredients:

Kidney Bohnen in a Tin.(Drain and rince this in clear water)
Chopped onions
Chopped tomatoes
Paprika powder(tsp)
Kurkuma powder(tsp)
Crushed Garlic
Cooking Oil
Salt to taste
Rice (Basmati)
Coconut Milk

Beans in Coconut:

Fry the onions in oil till they turn goldenish,add the tomatoes,Garlic,Kurkuma,Paprika and salt.Cook together untill the tomatoes cook well,add the beans and the coconut milk,let it simmer.Add dreid petersil on it before serving.

Rice in coconut:

For 1 cup rice add one cup coconut milk and one cup water,add salt to taste and a (tbs) oil and let it simmer under low heat till its dry or if u have a rice cooker just put all in it and let it cook.

Let me know how it turned out.

Guten Appetit!!

ZKA

yup, i guess that is as simple as it gets! just, y'know, i have this image of a plate of boiled mince for din dins! mind you, my wife used to make pasta and add tomato ketchup. the first (and only) time she suggested this to me, i persuaded her that it only takes the time for the pasta to boil to make a simple tomato sauce and never, ever, suggest to me again that i eat pasta with tomato ketchup!

i'm nowhere near don riina's standard but i do like taking a bit of time to prepare something reet tasty.

Turkey and Tomato Hot Pot

Cut 25g white bread (crusts removed) into small cubes and put in mixing bowl. Sprinkle 2 tbsp milk over and leave to soak 5 minutes.

Add 1 garlic clove (crushed), 1/2 tsp caraway seeds, 225g minced turkey and seasoning to the bread. Mix well.

Whisk 1 egg white until stiff, then fold, half at a time, into the turkey mixture. Chill for 10 minutes.

While turkey mixture is chilling, put 350mL chicken stock, 400g can tomatoes and 1 tbsp tomato puree into a large saucepan and bring to boil.

Add 90g (1/2 cup) easy-cook rice, stir, cook briskly for about 5 minutes. Turn head down to gentle simmer.

Meanwhile, shape turkey mixture into 16 small balls. Carefully drop them inot the tomato stock asn simmer for a further 8-10 minutes, or until balls and rice are cooked.

Serves 4, but I think it serves 2 hungry people with a snack for the next day.

Fragant Chicken Curry
(n.B. I realise this would be better with whole spices and grinding it, but I doubt they are all available at Plus)

Rinse 75g (1/2 cup) red lentils under cold water. Put in a large, heavy-based saucepan with 2tbsp mild curry powder, 2 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp cumin seeds and 475mL vegetable stock.

Bring to boil, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Add 8 skinned chicken thighs (I used 2 breasts, chopped into chunks), 225g fresh shredded spinach (or frozen, but thawed and well-drained). Cover and simmer gently for a further 40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked.

Stir in 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander (likely impossible to find at the Plus, but worth the effort to find) and season to taste. Serve with rice.

is this place yours on the weekend? while those recipe suggestions are easy, it's a big difference if you are cooking at your own place.

during the week i would stay at pensions w/mini apartments, but i always went home on the weekends & had to take everything with me (so spices & the like were out)! i used to make baked potatoes with quark or yoghurt or lots of tomato/mozzarella salads or ramen noodles where i would add a few carrot slices.

My bible for cooking in the kitchen is a book my ex wife gave me. "Cooking for Blokes" leads you on a journey explaining what things are called in the kithchen, cooking bolied eggs, using what is left over in the cupboards when you get in from the pub to cooking full on "proper" food, - like me Mum cooks.

Chorizo and Butter Bean Stew with Garlic and Thyme (4 people)

50ml olive oil (I used a teasp because the chorizo gives off so much oil)
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (I used one)
225 g hot chorizo sausage, thinly sliced
1 onion
175 ml red wine
400 gr can chopped tomatoes
1 tbls thyme leaves
2 x 400 g cans butter beans, drained (I used one)
2 tbsp chopped flat leafed parsley

1. Cook garlic in oil until it begins to sizzle. Add chorizo and cook until lightish brown and then add the onion. (I put chorizo and onion in together) Cook until the onion is soft.

2. Add wine and cook until almost reduced to nothing.

3. Add tomatoes, thyme, beans and simmer for 15 minutes. (I just warmed it through)

4. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with fresh crusty bread.

@SOS - MMMM...Yummy. That sounds tasty. And looks like you cook like me. Hmmm, recipe says this, so I'll do it like that instead. hehe...will have to try it next week.

Let me know how you get on 'ajohnson' - that recipe was meant for 4 but we polished it off between the 2 of us! I love chorizo so am constantly searching for new ways to use it.

2 Chicken breasts, sliced diagonally into 3 or 4 pieces per breast
Nice big piece of chorizo, cut inot nice big thick slices.
1 Green pepper, de-seeded and cut into diamond shapes
1 onion (big ones, metzgerzwiebel is the one. AKA Spanish onions if you're english) peeled, and cut into large bits
2 cloves garlic
Tomato passata
Fresh thyme and parsley
white wine
white wine vinegar
Bit of flour (scant handful) on a plate, seasoned with salt & pepper
Paprika powder

Few minutes of chopping stuff, and your prep work's is done (the mise-en-place as poncy chefs call it. Well important.
Dredge your chicken bits in the flour, and shake them in your hands to get rid of excess. DUst them with paprika.
So, get a big frying pan (or a cool spanish cazuela if you are posh), heat it up on full heat, and chuck in a goood glug of olive oil, then fry your chicken bits for a couple of minutes to get a brown colour starting to happen. Throw in the chorizo, and cook for a minute before adding the onions and pepper and a couple of sprigs of thyme. Stir fry it all up for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic. Fry another minute, then add a generous splash of white wine vinegar, stir it through and when its almost reduced completey, add a glass of white wine, and again reduce unitl almost gone.
Add a good squirt of the passata, and let it simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Finish with a glug of olive oil if its looking a bit dry, and a handful of roughly chopped parsley.

Serve it all up with some rice or boiled potatoes. Or pasta. Or a lump of baguette and a green salad. Whatever really. Tastes good. You can also do this with big prawns - just omit the chicken, cook the chorizo and veg together, then pop raw prawns into the sauce at the "simmer for 10 minutes" phase.
Finish

I would however advise against using chorizo with lentils in an approximation of that Italian new year's dish cotechino con lenticchie (the oily sausage brings wealth and the puy lentils look like tiny coins).
Tastes fabulous but I'm surprised that I still have walls left in my apartment.

Thanks to Katrina posting about lentils, I had to walk for an hour this morning to go and bloody buy some. Also a lump of bacon and some fresh sausages. I know I have some duck fat somewhere, and I have a few standard stock vegetables lying about, so its gonna be some toulouse style lentil thing with bags of flavour from the veg and bacon, the sausages on top and maybe a couple of roasted shallots.
Should be actually a very servable dish, and should use only 1 pot, 1 roasting tray, a big spoon and a big knife. I'll post the recipe once I've cooked it.

"What to make for dinner", its the bane of house wives everywhere. Firsts a little background is in order. I've been a house husband (no kids) for about 5 years and dinners mostly have consisted of what ever can be fried or mic'd, cooking meals was the wife's job (we usually made large meals and froze them on them on the weekend). Lunch is the main meal Chris eats at work most days so I'm on my own, lunch (dinner) usually consisted of take away or perhaps a fry up. But I'm getting sick of eating out and I'm bored of my limited menu.

So out of Sheree boredom I tried my hand at cooking, and I'm shocked to discover I really enjoy it. Surprised the wife even more when yesterdays dinner turned out to be really good (see next posting) Its a lot of fun, and to boot I get a great meal out of it, the Donner Kebab guys going really miss me but hey what can I do.

Soooo housewives I need some help. So what's your favourite quick and easy meal. I'm not into (yet) 5 course meals but I love nothing better than a one pot meal that can be frozen for latter use.

Topics merged by admin

Hearty Chicken Stew simple and cheap

4 small onions,
6 cloves garlic, peeled
Bunch carrots, peeled and cut into -2inch chunks (I diced them instead)
2 pounds chicken thighs Chicken Breast is a lot less work.
2 handfuls green beans
3 or 4 potatoes diced
Knorr Chicken broth

In a large pot combine the onions, garlic and carrots and whole chicken breast add water chicken broth and boil till soft (about an hour)

Remove chicken breasts and slice and dice

Add potatoes and cook till soft add green beans and bring to boil and set aside. Taste best when left to cool and reheated in the mic.

Has great colour and tastes fab. Best part you can make several meals out of this.

Really shocked the Wife with this one.

Rob