Cooking with TJ

Hey hey. Most of you know I'm a big guy. Its not because of fast food, or sweets. Its because I cook really good food, and other things that do not need to be discussed here. I know a lot of you guys dont cook, dont know how, or are students with a tight budget. My recipes are cheap, easy, very tasty.

The basic shopping list. This is stuff I regularly use. Some can be substituted, and some not. The ones that can be substituted with have a *. Most of the items are cheap, and a couple are kind of pricey, but they add so much to the flavor its worth the extra pennies.

1. Good olive oil. You dont need to buy the super expensive type, but the better the oil, the better the taste. All I use is Extra Virgin. This cannot be substituted. :tsk:

2. A whole piece of imported Percino Romano cheese. DO NOT buy shaker cheese. If you cant find Percino Romano use imported Parmesan cheese, but once again, buy it by the piece and grate your own. This cannot be substituted. :tsk:

^^ These 2 things are the most expensive, but you use much less and get way more flavor. So in the end, you're not spending than much more than the crappy stuff.

Spices. These can be found at most dollar stores for cheap, along with most Asian markets. Asian markets are a good source for all kinds of stuff.

Hot pepper flakes.
Oregano.
Italian spice blend.
Dehydrated onion pieces.
Whole black peppercorn. Buy a cheapo pepper grinder.
Kosher salt. *
Celery seeds.
Cumin
Chili powder.
MSG (Accent)
Whole garlic. No powder, or jar. :tsk:
Bottle of pepperoncinis.

Other...

LaChoy soy sauce. *
Wishbone Robust Italian dressing. *
Kens Low Fat Caesars dressing. *
Teriyaki sauce. * I think Butcher Block is the best.
Hot sauce.
All purpose flour.
Bread crumbs.
Butter, no margarine. :tsk:
Sugar.
Baking soda.

I'll add more as they are needed.

Feel free to post your own recipes!!!

Happy cooking!!!

Marinated chicken wings. (Italian)
Meatloaf.
Anchovies and Spaghetti/Linguine and clam sauce.
Beef Stew
Shepperd's Pie
Chicken Tortilla soup! by Jayrob.
Meat sauce by Crazy Jay.
Lazy Lasagna by Crazy Jay.
Banana Pancakes by Asherz.
Fresh Ahi Salad by Chipdouglas
Stuffed Jalapenos wrapped in Smoked Bacon by Chipdouglas
Lychee Martini by Chipdouglas
Bacon Explosion by Hakzaw1
Texas Armadillo Eggs by Hakzaw1
Ice chest potatoes by Hakzaw1

Marinated chicken wings.

12 whole wings. You can use thighs if you cant afford wings. They will have to marinate 2 hours longer, and add 10 minutes to the cooking time.

1 cup Wishbone Robust Italian dressing.
3 Tbsp LaChoy soy sauce.
Large pinch of red pepper flakes. We dont want the wings hot, we are building flavors.
2 cloves crushed fresh garlic.
A few grinds of black pepper.
3 Tbsp olive oil.
Romano cheese.

Prep...

Mix everything in a bowl except the chicken and cheese.
Place chicken in a gallon zip lock bag. 2 bags if you buy cheap ones.
Add marinate, close bag, shake, open bag and push all the air out, and set on a plate in the refrigerator for 2 hours. After 2 hours flip the bag and let marinate for another 2 hours.

Time to cook!

Preheat oven to 400 F. Drain bag of remaining marinate, and place chicken on a cookie sheet making sure they dont over lap. They stick to foil, so I always use a cookie sheet with raised edges. This part is optional, but I think it makes a huge difference in taste. Grate some Romano cheese over the chicken to cover.

Place chicken in the oven on a middle shelf, and bake for 40 minutes.

Tada you have some of the best wings you'll ever taste for cheap. You can do this on a grill too. Refrigerate any of the wings you dont eat. Cold chicken wings have also been my favorite too.





Enjoy.

Awesome man, thanks for sharing!

Going to give it a go, now that bbq season is on again! :beer:

(BTW the thread name "freaked" me out, I am sick and am hallucinating, I read "Cooking in TJ"...first thought that sprang to mind was, damn legal issues for c0ld haha)

Meat loaf.

1lb ground meat. You can use any meat, or combination of meat you like, except fowl.

1 egg
3 Tbsp LaChoy soy sauce.
Quarter cup Italian, or plain bread crumbs. Italian has more flavor.
2 Tbsp dehydrated onion pieces.
Couple of Tbsps of oil if you are using lean meat.
Splash of water.

Prep...

Add everything, besides the water, to a bowl. Use your hands to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Add small amounts of water till the mixture doesn't feel dry. Form into a ball.

Some people add whole hard boiled eggs, or olives to the mixture. Add what you like, just dont put so much in that it over powers the other flavors.

Lets cook!

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place ball in a pan big enough to have plenty of room around it. You do not want it to fill the pan because there will be no where for the grease to go. I use a glass pie dish. Push ball down to make it like a really fat hamburger. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes. You'll know when its done when you stab it to the center, and nothing but clear juice flows.

Some people also make a ketchup sauce to add on top before baking. I dont, so if you want that you'll have to look it up. Cold meatloaf also makes awesome next day sandwiches.

I'm making this tomorrow, and will post a pic.

Enjoy.

brtaman said:

Awesome man, thanks for sharing!

Going to give it a go, now that bbq season is on again! :beer:

(BTW the thread name "freaked" me out, I am sick and am hallucinating, I read "Cooking in TJ"...first thought that sprang to mind was, damn legal issues for c0ld haha)

Click to expand...

I cant wait to BBQ. I have my grill cleaned and prepped, just need the gas.

A lot of people tell me I can easily sell my food, so maybe in the future I'll open a little mom, and pop dinner.

Kens Low Fat Caesars dressing. *


Being low in fat doesnt help if you drowned the dishe with it.

Nice recipes so far TJ, look forward to seeing some more.

I'll have to give a few of these ago (by this I mean print off the recipes and give them too my private chef known as mum.)

Can't beat chicken wings.

rangedunits said:

Kens Low Fat Caesars dressing. *


Being low in fat doesnt help if you drowned the dishe with it.

Click to expand...

I use that type because of flavor. For some reason its much more flavorful than the regular Caesars dressing. Obviously none of my recipes are low fat LOL.

Tech_Junkie said:

I use that type because of flavor. For some reason its much more flavorful than the regular Caesars dressing. Obviously none of my recipes are low fat LOL.

Click to expand...

As long you stop eating when you"re full its fine.


I might try to chicken wing recipe this summer. But there some snow outside.


There some good Worcestershire sauce for wings.

They come out great in the oven. They fall off the bone, because the soy sauce makes a great tenderizer. I'm addicted to the stuff, and use it in just about all my meat recipes.

This kinda cooking is way too "classy" for me . Almost all my meals are cooked using a microwave...

Before I was married I used to do a little cooking every once and a while. Usually to try and show off for whatever girlfriend I had at the time.

The only thing is that it can get costly, if every time you decide to cook you start with a empty fridge. If you cook once or twice a week you can keep a pretty good supply of the basics on hand. Then just buy your main ingredients like meats or fresh ingredients for what ever meal you have planed.

I like that you use MSG as an ingredient

Personally i'm more into asian (indonesian, indian) food, but its an ingredient i keep on hand too.

As for using whole meat pieces, a tenderizer like papain can also be very useful to keep handy - it can save a lot off cooking time on meats that you stew like beef or lamb.

Thanks for the recipes! I think I'll try them wings...


I'm no chef, but I have a few favorites that I make... Ribs and stuff like that.

I don't know if this is a 'share recipe' thread or not. So if you would rather not see other recipes in this thread, just let me know TJ...

But I want to share this really easy recipe for some awesome Chicken Tortilla soup!

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

INGREDIENTS
1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
(A rotisserie chicken at the grocery store deli will yield about 1 lb. after you de-bone and skin)

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS
Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a large pot. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
Or…
Put all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.

Serve with Tortilla strips on top. You can also garnish with grated cheese, avocados, squeeze some fresh lime juice.
Recipe yields 8 servings.


Make Your Own Tortilla Strips (Optional)
(7 corn tortillas & 1 tablespoon vegetable oil)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.

You will love this soup, and it's really easy to make!

Those are the kind of recipes I like... the really easy ones that still taste like a million bucks!

BBQ and grilling are two different things. Real BBQ takes time and smoke.
I do all the main course cooking here and I use most of the stuff mentioned above plus whatever is fresh in my herb garden.
Greek seasoning -- OMG it's loaded with MSG -- A little is OK but where's the flavor? I make my own using my own herbs and dried garlic. Salt can be added at the table. SelGris anyone?

HMike

This is the "other" forum so cooking should be OK. It's that time of year when real men light up the cookers !!!!! I LOVE BBQ RIBS. I slow cook them with smoke for 2 -3 Hours. That gets all the grease out of them and allows the Moppin' sauce to get in.