And always rehydrate your beans in brine water. It keeps them from splitting when you cook them. Unless that's what you want.

As an example, see post #1988 in this thread.

Admittedly, I glammed it up a bit, but at its root, that's basic Cuban peasant food that's absolutely delicious and will go for days. And if you hit up the local Asian grocer, you can pick up whatever piece of pork is the absolute cheapest and toss it in, knowing that it will soften and become palatable in the mix.

What the others said. One of my favorites is lentil soup, but I add smoked pork of some kind to generate some flavor. Something like this:
https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/f...il-soup-236772

^ Also a winner. I love lentil soup. And yeah, some cubed ham really works well.


Last night, pork chop, seasoned and pan-fried, topped w/ softened butter and mashed sweety drop peppers*. Asparagus and red onion topped w/ asiago.


* I'd never heard of these until recently. Decided to try them on a whim. They're quite good, but costly.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b56da59af3.png

The meat from Aldi used to be my go-to. Their flank steak was consistently top notch, and I never had any issues with the rest of their meat. Then they remodeled to compete with Lidl. First the flank steaks disappeared. Lately, all of their meat has been turning bad well ahead of the expiration date. Very disappointed as of late, and will probably switch to Lidl, which sucks, since it's 10x more crowded.

Most meals from scratch are going to be poverty as long as you stay away from meats that are more than $7 a lb. Here is Jasper complaining that he didn't want the broccoli (steamed) on his plate (though he did want and eat some later--kids). Next to that is store brand tots and a sloppy joe made with ground turkey. Because kids and full time jobs, we make a lot of quick and cheap meals like this. Weekends can get more creative, but weekdays are usually 45 minutes or less so we can fit in baths and a reasonable bedtime.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/J_...w1594-h1197-no


A few others that recur on our weekly menu (seriouses, there is a google docs spreadsheet that goes back a few years with almost all of our dinners):

• fried / broiled / baked / grilled fish (we had a salmon share of 50 some odd pounds)
• home made pilaf or spanish rice is super easy and cheap. you can do brown rice in an instant pot under pressure to save time.
• steamed veg / roasted veg (if you plan right, you can roast your protein and veg in the same oven)
  • Roast cauliflower with yogurt-sour cream, garlic, chipotle powder, lime juice, and salt on it wins erry time.
• home made hamburger helper
• cheap flat beef steak tacos with quick pickled onions (boil red wine vinegar, sugar, sliced jalapeno then submerge thinly sliced red onion until it all cools to room temp=winner) + pico de gayo (red onion, tomato, cilantro, lime juice, salt, pepper, jalapeno, chipotle powder) + cotija cheese
  • + above spanish rice and some ranchero beans and mm baby. (see below)
• use that leftover salmon for tuna salmon casserole (right on the campbell's soup website)
• frittata! again, see below. A fave is farmers market chorizo, feta, and whatever veg are leftover from the previous week (use them up instead of wasting them = poverty winner)
• pulled pork from the crock/instant pot. It's incredibly versatile
  • tacos, duh, just swap in for the steak above.
  • ramen (chicken broth/soy/fish/etc. + thinly sliced onions + ramen noodles, pulled pork, shredded carrots, cilantro, scallions, top with fried egg + sriracha)
  • on a bun with bbq sauce and a side of cole slaw
• buy your chicken from whole foods in the family pack. it's air chilled goodness and half the price of a lot of other stores organic options. thighs > breasts.
  • or buy a whole chicken, spatchcock it, and roast it.
• short pasta (corkscrew or penne style) + sauteed italian sausage + sauteed vegetables (onions, peppers, mushrooms, wilted parsley, italian spices, dash of olive oil, etc) in a bowl
• yogurt kabobs and basmati pilaf was also a big winner: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipe...en-kebabs.html
• some other more complicated options:
  • moroccan chicken Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken - Fixjunk Wiki
  • chicken apple brussels sprouts skillet Harvest Chicken, Apple, Brussels Sprout, Sweet Potato Skillet - Fixjunk Wiki
  • chicken chile verde https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipe..._chicken_stew/

Also, I try to save all the recipes I like or use frequently or have modified from existing ones to my own wiki site. I could update it with a ton more but this is what I have for now. Category:Recipes - Fixjunk Wiki

ALSO omg get the recipe filter extension for chrome. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/d...cfnhiioiadakae

Anyway, I think this is more than you asked for.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/D1...w2125-h1195-no

http://www.lakedividefarm.com/upload.../543643985.jpg

spinach and artichoke turnover pocket things.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ce6079a22b.png

+cat for the filter. That's a total game changer. I was skipping recipes just because i hated reading through so much BS.

:party:

Also, i tried to save some time and be lazy. These things suck. Do not buy them.
Tortillas are so insanely easy and quick to prepare. Not sure what i was thinking.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...625133ebfd.jpg

Were you thinking of an elephant?

Don't think of an elephant. I dare you.

My presentation is always such crap.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c46cc6daa8.jpg

Also, i never eat this much meat. It will get packaged up with the leftover asparagus and potatoes for lunch tomorrow.

Needs more hotter pan. :)

I'm with you though. I make delicious stuff. It always looks terribad. :rofl:

I preteneded I was on the Central Coast last weekend...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8p...w1599-h1200-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Rw...w1599-h1200-no

Technically not exactly because I used pinto instead of pinquito beans, but whatever.

Stopped in the town of Scott near Baton Rouge for boudin & cracklings. Good stuff.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8086339afc.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1642e504b7.jpg
Ginger beer. Experimenting with two different ginger bugs.

Had fun making crepes today. Shredded Havarti, horseradish/dill cream sauce, and cold smoked salmon.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c8b694a41f.jpg



Bought a whole duck yesterday. Decided to use the breast to make tacos this evening. Topped with radish, mango, and scallion and elotes on the side.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...45d8877fa1.jpg

All that sounds amazing! We didn't take pics, but we went crazy this week. Pulled pork, mac and cheese, I'm kind of upset to think what I spent on ingredients this weekend.

Been a while since there's been activity in this thread. I feel partly to blame, as I've been doing a heck of a lot of repeats lately.

On this, the 243rd anniversary of the greatest breakup letter in history, many men are grilling various meat products over flame. I have chosen a rather more casual approach.



There seems to be a universal consensus amongst the residents of the Carolinas that BBQ needs to be weak, watery, and generally displeasing, with a few hush-puppies on the side.

I do not accept this.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...dc56f06c94.png



That's about 3 lbs of pork shoulder, sliced into quarters and rubbed with a blend of brown sugar, smoked paprika, ground mustard, salt, and black pepper. It sits atop one yellow onion, coarsely chopped. To this has been added a sauce consisting of cider vinegar, more brown sugar, Worcestershire, crushed red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, garlic, and brown mustard. I'd be lying if I said I'd tasted anything yet. This is cooking by feel and intuition.

8 hours on low was about right. I shall now shred the pork.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3444b0d43d.png




Now, there is a hell of a lot of liquid left in the slow-cooker pot, along with the onion. Were this traditional North Cackalacky cuisine, I'd just mix it all together, water it down a bit more, toss in some powdered chalk and otter poison, and call it dinner.

But my parents were not siblings. So that won't do.

At this point, residents of North Carolina will recoil in horror as I transfer the remaining liquid and onions from the slow-cooker into a pan and reduce it for 20 minutes over medium heat. A bit of flour is added as a thickening agent. Roux much?

It begins:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8ef6a5dd08.png


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9183f9c6fd.png


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...0a7f7bf06c.png






While that was happening, a simple slaw. Cabbage, carrot, green apple, and sweet corn. The sauce is your traditional mayo / sour cream / cider vinegar / honey / mustard / salt / pepper blend.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6da3e02512.png




And now I'm going to piss on the grave of Christoph von Graffenried just a little more, and take the meat for a brief sear in a hot skillet:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8d1fb19949.png




Plate, combining with the reduced sauce and onions:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b1ee67be57.png



All in all, one of the more satisfying burritos I have ever had.

'Mericuh!

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation...k-burger-quest

I'm 99% positive I have shared this before, but on Saturday we finally took the short drive down to El Reno for some onion burger goodness. These started in El Reno, there a few places in OKC, but even as close as Tulsa there are no "onion burger" joints.

I read a few different articles before sharing this one again, it's the only one that agrees Robert's is superior to Sid's......and after our experience, it's not even close how much better Robert's is. As is there interesting coney that puts a slice of Kraft under an all beef dog, their homemade chili topped with homemade vinegar/mustard slaw. Not a traditional coney I'm used to, but it was also outstanding.

Sid's burger-to-bun ratio was way off, way to make bread, perhaps it's really designed to eat a double? Meat and onions were under-seasoned, maybe not seasoned at all.


We didn't bother trying Johnnie's, one we were full, and two, we recognized the logo from "Johnny's Charbroiler" restaurants in the OKC area and they are mediocre and average priced. Although we may try when go back just to say we did.

Joe, you can also spread out the pork in a sheet pan and broil it to get it brown and crispy.

Nothing wrong with your juice-based sauce, but it is not so much a roux because you aren't really cooking the flour.

Now answer me this: why do all the recipes I see use tons of honey?

Easy way to get some sweet, caramelization.