February Cooking with INTERCOT

[Carol]

Share your recipes & tips, ask advice, get ideas...

It's all about Cooking with INTERCOT for February!

:eat: :tasty: :pizza: :popcorn: :mcoffee: :stir:

[Dakota Rose]

It's the middle of winter and I have some free time on my hands so I thought I'd make some freezer-friendly meals for use later.

Do you have recipes you'd like to share?

Here is my favorite:
2 cups cooked rice
2 cups chicken broth (reduced sodium)
2 bags frozen chopped broccoli
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 cups cooked chicken cut up
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup mayo (you can use light, but don't us fat free)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Place rice in bottom of casserole pan. Mix all other ingredients together (except cheese) and pour over the rice. Cover with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. Or, wrap in saran wrap then foil. Label and freeze. Let thaw in fridge 24 hours before baking, or if baking from frozen, bake 60-90 minutes at 350.

[DisneyDog]

My newest thing is to pick a meat, a noodle, some veggies and a sauce and serve them up together.

For example: chicken, brocolli, carrots, penne pasta and a tomato sauce. Boil the noodles. meanwhile, cook up the chicken in some olive oil in a pan, set aside. Put the veggies in and stirfry until they are cooked crisp. Add the chicken back into the pan, add the noodles, pour in the sauce, and you've got a meal!

I've also tried variations. For example, I got these packets of frozen shrimp and scallops (they were less than $2.00 each!), cooked them up with brocolli and mushrooms and added alfredo sauce with a twisty pasta. It was awesome! You could try a different variation every week!

[disneydrmr]

Where are all our cooks/foodies? I'm looking for a quick and easy Irish inspired recipe. We're having a St. Patrick's fellowship at my church so I'm looking for something 'portable', makes a decent amount and something easy as I'm gonna be pressed for time. Anyone have any ideas?

[January-2007]

Hi. Where do you store your garlic? I bought some fresh garlic today and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to leave it out or put it in the fridge. My mom never used fresh garlic so I'm at a loss. Thanks!

[disneydrmr]

Hi. Where do you store your garlic? I bought some fresh garlic today and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to leave it out or put it in the fridge. My mom never used fresh garlic so I'm at a loss. Thanks!

I found you an answer:

First a word of caution: NEVER allow garlic in oil to sit at room temperature. It is a hotbed for botulism. Keep it refrigerated or frozen at all times.

Fresh garlic kept in a dry, dark, cool place will keep for a long time. Some use special containers for storing garlic. A pretty garlic keeper in your kitchen is a cheerful decorating item, but garlic can also be kept in something as simple as a brown paper bag. Just never keep your garlic in your refrigerator. It will sprout and become bitter. If you don't use that much garlic and know that the bulb will be sitting there for a long time, it is better to freeze it or store it by one of the many methods described below.

There are lots of other ways to store garlic. What some people do in order to make them last is cutting them up into thin slices and then drying them. You can get food driers at places like K-Mart or Wal-mart. The sliced garlic can be reconstituted by adding them to a pot or casserole. You may also grind the dried slices into powder. Pureeing is another good method to preserve garlic and always have fresh garlic at hand. Puree in a blender or food processor and freeze. Personally, I prefer the garlic not as a puree, but in small pieces. Using a food processor, I simply pulse until the garlic pieces are the size I want, making sure that I don't place too much garlic in the processor at a time in order to avoid too great variation in the size of the pieces or the garlic turning to mush. Some then wrap the chopped garlic in small packets of plastic and freeze them. You can also add oil to the garlic mixture, 1 part garlic to 2 parts oil, and freeze it in a container or - as I prefer - in ice cube trays. That makes it easy to pop out the garlic you need. Some microwave unpeeled cloves for about 30 seconds and freeze them in plastic wrap or a freezer bag. Some freeze whole heads and tear off cloves as needed, but personally I find that this alters the flavor too much. I prefer storing peeled garlic cloves in oil and keeping them in the freezer, as freezing raw, unprotected garlic greatly changes its flavor and texture. If you prefer to keep your garlic in the refrigerator, submerge the garlic cloves in wine instead of oil. Dr. George York, University of California at Davis has provided this method for acidifying garlic in order to make it safe: Cover peeled garlic cloves with vinegar and soak the cloves for 12 to 24 hours. Drain off the vinegar. It may be reused as garlic-flavored vinegar. Cover the garlic cloves with oil. Refrigerate the garlic/oil and use within 3 months. You may also mix pureed or minced garlic with butter (about 5-6 cloves per stick of butter), shape the mixture into a log rolled in wax paper and freeze, tightly wrapped in plastic. You can then cut off pieces as needed to enhance a steak, drop it into a soup or sauce, or use for sautéing. Just make sure that you use it before the butter goes rancid.

[January-2007]

Thank you so much!

[offwego]

Di what about a stew?

It's for church so I'm not sure if guiness beer would be an ingreditent you would use but make a beef, potatoe, onion, carrot stew (you know brown the meat after dredging in flour, add veggies, 1 can beer to half the amount stock if your using say a 1.5lb have of meat and equal quantity veggies) and cook on low or in crock pot till tender. Much better if reheated next day.

Or shamrock shaped cookies with green sprinkles would be cute. I'm sure the cookie cutter should be around the shops by now and just use a basic sugar cookie receipe for them.

[MissStyles]

Diane - maybe potato leek soup? Here's a recipe for it. It looks really easy.

POTATO AND LEEK SOUP

4 - 5 organic Yukon potatoes
2 whole leeks
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
freshly chopped chives (for garnish)
salt and pepper, to taste

Cube the potatoes and bring them to a boil in the stock.
When potatoes are almost finished, finely chop the leeks and sauté them a small amount of olive oil until they have softened and are sweet. Add leeks to potatoes. Cook for a few more minutes until potatoes are soft.

Add nutmeg, puree whole mixture in a blender. Serve garnished with chives and a drizzle of olive oil.

[JanetMegan]

Just make sure after you cut up the leeks you put them in a BIg bowl of water to get the "grit" out! =)

[disneydrmr]

I know what a leak is.. but a 'leek'? I've heard of them but don't think I've ever seen one... and you have me worried about the 'grit' comment... is it like cleaning mushrooms?

[MissStyles]

You've never seen a leek?? They are like big green onions. I don't like onions myself, but I love the taste of leeks. They are very mild. Don't worry too much about the grit, like Janet said all you have to do is soak them in some water in a large bowl and they'll be fine. Let us know if you end up trying it out!