The Litnet Recipe Thread

[LitNetIsGreat]

I thought it would be a good idea to start a recipe thread and to share a few recipes that have worked for you or that you are going to try out soon. Whether they are simple salads, big tasty complex dishes, desserts or anything in between - it doesn’t matter, share it here – spread the joy of decent food!

I’ll start - Hugh’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, not the healthiest start, but one ify thing a day is fine (and I've had salads and pasta for the last two days so a biscuit is not going to kill me!). ! I’ve just made these and they are great, very easy.

Hugh’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe_p_1.html


Makes 14-16
Ingredients
• 125g unsalted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 75g soft light brown sugar
• 1 medium egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 100g dark or milk chocolate, chopped into smallish chunks

Method: How to make chocolate chip cookies
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.
2. Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan. Put both sugars into a mixing bowl, pour in the melted butter and beat well with a wooden spoon. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and stir them in, then add the chocolate. You should have a pretty sloppy sort of mixture.
3. Dot heaped dessert spoonfuls of the mixture on to the baking sheets, leaving a good 4cm between them as they really spread out. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are turning pale golden brown.
4. Remove from the oven and leave on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes to firm up. Then carefully lift the baking parchment on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Make sure you leave plenty of space when spooning out as they spread widely. Also make sure you use quality chocolate it makes all the difference.

Enjoy!

[JuniperWoolf]

Mushroom and Fried Onion Minute Rice Risotto

For the student who likes to pretend that she still has enough money to eat nice food.

Step one: make minute rice and cook some mushroom soup in seperate pots as you usually would.

Step two: fry some mushrooms and onions together in a biiiig frying pan until they're all brown and delicious.

Step three: pour the mushroom soup and minute rice into the big frying pan and mix it all together with the fried onions and mushrooms.

Step four: Add a lot of mozza and cheddar cheese. Like, a lot. Pepper, too.

That's it, cook it until the mushroom soup is sufficiently absorbed and the cheese is melted. It's cheap, fast and tastes really good.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Oh my, my first go at sponge cakes and what can I say, melt in the mouth delicious - I adapted the recipe and it paid off big time!

Neely's Honey and Lemon Sponge Cakes

Ingredients:

100g self-raising flour
100g butter
90g caster sugar
2 free range eggs
Half a lemon
Table spoon or two of good honey
Icing sugar

Method:

1 pre-heat oven to 170c
2 Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl
3 Beat eggs and add slowly to the mix
4 Add honey, lemon juice squeezed and a little rind
5 Fold in the flour for just a minute
6 Grease in little cake tins/Yorkshire pudding circle things and add the mix
7 Bake for about 20 min
8 Lightly ice the cakes

Serve with a cup o' tea. Beautiful.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I urge everybody to make their own bread as soon as possible. In my opinion, people have been buying the plastic sliced rubbish for too long. It is now time to roll it back and to bake bread as part of your daily ritual. For ages I have struggled with making bread, but now I have the perfect, fool-proof recipe below - just follow the link. If I can do it you can too. For half the price, and twice the quality, with just 10 minutes kneading, you too can have perfect bread. Follow the Neely. Check out the link below right now. Make fresh, lovely, warm bread as standard. Do not accept the rubbish. Do not accept sub-standard produce. Life is too important.

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/simple-white-loaf-recipe_p_1.html

[Emil Miller]

Beans on Toast

Take:

One small tin of Heinz baked beans.

One piece of sliced bread.

Pour contents of tin into a small saucepan and heat for 3 minutes.

Place the bread in a toaster and set for 3 minutes

When beans are heated, place the toast onto a plate and pour on the beans.

Not exactly cordon bleu but it will enable you to get back to reading, computing, playing the piano, writing a novel or any other interesting pastime.

[Delta40]

four fresh eggs beaten
1 garlic clove, crushed
mushrooms sliced
tomato sliced
fresh baby spinach finely chopped
basil or coriander
feta cheese crumbled.

lightly sautee garlic, mushrooms and tomato in frypan
over with beaten eggs
add chopped spinach and herbs
crumble feta
cover and cook on slow till cheese softens
fold and serve

[LitNetIsGreat]

I've never thought of adding garlic to an omelette, great idea.

To add a little spice to the classic Brian's Beans on Toast, try adding a handful of chives, freshly ground black pepper and maybe a few finely chopped chillies for that extra kick of heat. Serve on warm homemade bread, (or good quality bought bread) cut into thick wedges and sprinkle over the top a little blue cheese or cheese of your choice and serve with light mayonnaise or brown sauce. Quick and simple and yum, yum...

[papayahed]

I just can't wrap my head around Beans on Toast. It sounds positively awful.

[The Comedian]

I urge everybody to make their own bread as soon as possible. In my opinion, people have been buying the plastic sliced rubbish for too long. It is now time to roll it back and to bake bread as part of your daily ritual. For ages I have struggled with making bread, but now I have the perfect, fool-proof recipe below - just follow the link. If I can do it you can too. For half the price, and twice the quality, with just 10 minutes kneading, you too can have perfect bread. Follow the Neely. Check out the link below right now. Make fresh, lovely, warm bread as standard. Do not accept the rubbish. Do not accept sub-standard produce. Life is too important.

http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/simple-white-loaf-recipe_p_1.html

Bookmarked!

[LitNetIsGreat]

Bookmarked!

Top man! I have now made three perfect loaves, after the first went a little wrong (due to me doubling the amount of salt required). As I say, half the price of supermarket bread (and that's with using superior bread flour) and twice as good; it's simply common sense to me.

Incidentally, you might be interested in following the exploits of Hugh with his brilliant River Cottage programme. I am currently working my way through the whole lot of them, starting from the first series with him working as a small-holder, turning his little patch of land and raising a few animals, in-between sharing cool recipes. Well worth a watch if you can access it.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/river-cottage/4od

[OrphanPip]

I just can't wrap my head around Beans on Toast. It sounds positively awful.

In Quebec it's standard with breakfast nearly everywhere, though not awful Heinz beans with that disgusting tomato sauce. Ours are stewed in maple syrup and pig fat, delicious.

An alternative would be toast with creton, a pate of boiled pork, onions, and bread crumbs.