The CalRef Recipe Book

[Catherine]

My mum has this big folder that's full of recipes. It was started by my great granny, passed down to my granny, and then to my mum. There's a mix of all sorts of food in there, both family recipes carefully handwritten, and things tried from books or magazines cut and pasted. My mum is gonna add in her own recipes and then pass it to me to add mine some day.

I figured it could be kind of cool to do a CalRef version of this. Maybe you have perfected a recipe over many years or you just found one online last weekend that worked out great, it's all allowed here!

I'll start with a recipe for my favourite soup, it's really common in my part of Ireland and always reminds me of home.

Ingredients
1/4 cup pearl barley
1/4 cup split peas (you can sub a cup of garden peas of you can't find these)
1/4 cup lentils (any colour)
1½ pints vegetable stock
1 large leek
2 medium or large carrots
3 sticks of celery
25g parsley
A sprig of rosemary
Some thyme
A bay leaf

Method:

1. Put the pearl barley, split peas and lentils into a large soup pot and add the vegetable stock. Put the pot on a high heat.

2. Chop the leek, carrots, celery and parsley and add them to the pot.

3. Using a bit of string, make a little herb bouquet with the rosemary, thyme and bay leaf. Alternatively you can just throw them in, but the string makes it easier to fish out later.

4. Turn the heat down to a simmer and leave for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Remove the rosemary, thyme and bay leaf (or don't, it's up to you), add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Serves between 4-8 depending on how big you want your portions. This soup goes great with a nice crusty bread as you don't blend it and the bread soaks up all the broth.

Freezes well for 6 months.

[Kal]

So I have a contribution. I've found a really good Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I've made it plenty of times and it's always a hit.

Ingredients

250 g butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp hot water
2 tsp vanilla essence
3 1/4 cup plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1-2 cups chocolate chips or a combination of chocolate chips and chopped nuts

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease several baking sheets

Put the butter or margarine and brown and white sugars into a bowl or food processor. Beat or process till pale and creamy, then add the eggs, hot water, and vanilla essence. Beat or process until fluffy.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda, and add to the other ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips, and chopped nuts if using. Drop teaspoonfuls onto the greased sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. As the cookies bake they will rise; if you prefer a flatter cookie give them a gentle press with a fork during baking. Use a spatula to transfer them to racks to cool straightaway.


This recipe is from the book 'Fill the Tins' by Sophie Gray

[Catherine]

That sounds great Kal, I'll give them a try sometime and let you know what I think!

[Nakari]

NAK'S FENNEL SEED AND CHOCOLATE COOKIE RECIPE.

INGREDIENTS

120g softened butter
100g brown sugar
50g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
160g flour
200g chocolate chips (or smashed chocolate bar)
5g fennel seeds

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Crush fennel seeds and chocolate. I smash them with a rolling pin.
3. Mix softened butter and sugar until combined and only just beginning to lighten
4. Fold in egg and vanilla extract
5. Add the dry ingredients and mix
6. Place on baking tray in large blobs. I used a heaping tablespoon. Not too close because they'll spread
7. Bake for 9 minutes, or until golden and no longer wet on top
8. Let cool. ENJOY THE DELICIOUS TASTE OF FENNEL SEED.

[Catherine]

Cat's "Bruh I Need To Use Up A Broccoli" pasta

You will need:

• Some kind of blender
• Pasta of choice (I've been using spiralli cause it's my favourite)
• 1 head of broccoli's worth of florets
• 1 brown onion
• Mushrooms, maybe like 150-200g? This is not a precise recipe, don't worry about it.
• Peas - I've been using a small can of garden peas which is 180g I think?
• A couple cloves of garlic, or a couple of teaspoons of garlic paste (go with your heart, I'm not gonna police anybody's garlic use)
• Some kind of cheese or substitute - cheddar or cream cheese work well
• Some oil of choice (I use olive but I don't think it matters?)
• Seasonings, I've been liberally using an "italian mix" with a little extra rosemary and sage thrown in, salt and black pepper
• Pesto

1. Chop your vegetables. Do it now before you begin because I will forget to tell you later in the method otherwise.

2. Add a little oil to a pan on medium heat and throw in your onion to soften for a minute or two with your garlic and seasonings

3. Add the broccoli and top up with boiling water till covered

4. After idk like 10 minutes, add your mushrooms and peas. Set your pasta to boil at this point too (in a separate pan). Keep an eye on that and drain it when it's cooked.

5. Once the broccoli is soft enough to stab it easily with a fork, you wanna drain it.

6. Add 2 ladles of the pasta water to the broccoli pan and then blend.

7. Set it back on a low heat and add some cream cheese or cheddar or some kinda substitute if you don't have dairy and stir in well till fully melted. Add more water if the sauce is too thick for your liking, and add more salt and pepper if you want to. Nak suggests adding pesto too!

8. At this point you can add your pasta to the sauce, mixing well so it gets fully coated.

Serves 4-6 depending on how much pasta you made and how thick you like the sauce.

It really is just a "use up broccoli" recipe so there is room for improvement, if anyone does try this and makes it better I would love to know!

[Catherine]

I tried this recipe this afternoon (late lunch? early dinner?) and it's good, but I highly recommend adding chilli flakes to it for an even warmer spicier stew.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/bean-halloumi-stew

[Catherine]

Nice vegan pancakes that we had for breakfast this morning!

https://girleatsworld.co.uk/oat-milk-pancakes/

[Nakari]

Pilau rice is surprisingly easy to make so I'm gonna post recipe here.

1. Wash and drain ur rice. However much u want for ur meal.
2. Optional: fry an onion.
3. Put rice in pot. Put oil in pot. Fry the rice with spices. I used let's say half a teaspoon of pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, garlic powder, salt, coriander, fennel seeds. Lots of turmeric, like a tablespoon maybe. Stir it up until all the rice is yellow and coated with spice and it smells nice and toasty.
4. Pour in however much water cooks ur rice amount. Add some chicken stock if you're feeling spicy.
5. Cook it however long you cook ur rice. Idk all rice is different ur the expert on your own rice.
6. The rice will taste so good I am literally just eating spoonfuls of it.

[Nakari]

https://www.glutarama.com/dairy-free-baileys-recipe/

I used this recipe today to make vegan Bailey's and it SLAPS SEVERELY.

Notes: I used 500ml of oat milk instead of any cream, and the texture is pretty good. Could have used some cream but wouldn't be worth it for how little it would need. I'd add a bit less whiskey though. It may be a TINY bit strong. Maybe 200ml instead of 250.

[Kitran]

Award winning "Three Meat Spicy Shire" Chili. - Came in first place at the last ECW Chili Cookoff out of roughly 25 entries with it's "rustic" flavors.

I'm not going to include measurements since the size of the pot is a big factor and I cook with my heart rather than my measuring cup.

Fill your pot ~1/4th up with water then add:
Spicy V8
Goat cheese
Bacon braunschweiger
Turkey burger
Venison burger
Corn or onion, whichever you like better (or both)
A random hot sauce that's been sitting in the fridge for ages (bonus if it was a leftover from a restaurant you can't identify)
A variety of beans - precooked from jars preferred, though I do enjoy adding a can of Bush's now and again.
Lotsa chili powder, few shakes of white pepper, salt and pepper to taste.
If it's too spicy add honey, not spicy enough, more white pepper or hot sauce.

Simmer on med-low heat for 4ish hours. Refrigerate overnight and simmer again for another 4ish hours.

Enjoy!

[Kitran]

My go to poor man's Chicken & Dumpling soup.

Again, actual measurements will depend on the size of your pot.

Soup base:

• Water
• 1 or 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1/2 bag wide egg noodles
• 1 or 2 cans of sliced carrots. (Any brand, really. I go for cheap.)
• 1 or 2 cans of precooked chicken. (Feel free to substitute fresh cooked chicken for the canned chicken. I like the canned for the convenience.)
• 1 or 2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup.

Dumplings:

• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt (a must have for any kitchen)

Fill your pot about 1/3rd with water and add the bouillon cubes (use the ratio of cubes to water per the directions of your brand of bouillon). Optional: Crack your can(s) of carrots and chicken and pour the liquid into the pot as part of the base. Bring to a boil. Add the egg noodles and simmer uncovered until almost soft. ~ 5 minutes

While the noodles are boiling, make your dumpling mix. Put the flour and Lawry's into a small/medium mixing bowl and combine so the salt is spread throughout the flour. Add the eggs and stir them in to make a sticky dough. Add just a splash of milk to make sure all of the flour is wet and part of the dough.

The noodles should be cooked enough by this time. Add the cream of chicken soup with a can of water and stir in until smooth. Add in the carrots and chicken. You'll want to add ingredients based on how much room there is in the pot. You can always add more water and bouillon if there's still lots of room. Leave at least two inches from the top of the pot for the dumplings. Bring it all back to a boil.

To add your dumplings, grab a metal fork and get a dollop of dough. Dip it into the boiling soup and it should fall off the fork with a little shake. Some people like their dumplings bigger, some like them smaller. My only input is that you don't want them to be too dense because they'll taste too much like flour.

Boil for another 5ish minutes after you've put in your last dumpling, then serve and enjoy!

 

[Kitran]

Daggumit, I'm making it to Refugi...

Homemade Venison Jerky

This one's more labor intensive, but it's a holiday tradition at our house.

Things you'll need:

• Optional: Meat grinder
• Largish bowl
• Handheld cookie press or pasta extruder with "slit" attachment. (The hole is usually a 1/8" x 1" rectangle.)
• Metal baking racks
• An oven
• Patience

Ingredients per batch:

• 3 lb ground venison
• 3 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• Any other seasonings you want to try in a jerky. Some of my favorites are liquid smoke, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, hot sauce, teriyaki, white pepper, cumin, or that random seasoning you've had in the back of the cupboard for a year and only used once. There is no right or wrong mixture here. Have fun with it, but keep track so you figure out what your favorites are and can replicate it next time.

We generally start with steaks from Grandpa's hunting excursions in November and put them through a meat grinder, but you can get pre-ground meat too. Put your ground meat, Lawrey's, and other seasonings into a largish bowl and mix thoroughly by hand.

Load the meat mixture into your cookie press/extruder and put on the slit attachment. Squeeze out your mixture onto the metal baking racks in rows.

Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees. Place the racks in the hot oven. Leave the oven door closed for the first 30 minutes, then crack the oven door. We usually place a metal butter knife in the door so it's open just a tiny bit. Just enough for the moisture to easily make it's way out.

Wait about three hours. This is where the patience comes in play because it's going to smell really good but you can't eat it yet.

When it's good and dry, remove from the oven and let it cool before cutting the strips into 1 inch squares and storing them a ziplock. (Or you know, just eating them all. They don't last long at our house.)

Enjoy!