Favorite simple recipes

One of the things my kids really loved [ and still do ] is a very simple dish with few ingredients.
Chicken breast.
Cream of mushroom soup.
Knorr's mushroom rice. [ you know, those packs that takes about 10 minutes to fix ]

First, get a skillet hot. I mean hot like you're going to cook a steak. Now, rub the chicken with a bit of oil, [ don't over do it ] then brown the chicken. Give it a good sear on the outside but not too long. You're not trying to cook it, just brown it. It gives it a much richer flavor to the whole dish when it's done.
Then put it in a crockpot and add the mushroom soup. I usually use 2 cans, thinned with a bit of water.
After 4 hours on high, the soup thickens and the crust on the chicken blends with the soup and creates a wonderful salty/savory richness. A quick tip, use a spatula when you serve because they'll be fall apart tender.
Put down a bed of the mushroom rice, add a chicken breast on top and spoon on the mushroom soup.
Add some dinner rolls if you like. I bake mine a few minutes longer than needed, because I love that toasty crunch.

That's it. Easy, simple and cheap to make, but very filling and oh so good.
You can throw this together in 10 minutes before you go to work, set the cooker on low and have a full meal ready when you get home.

a reply to: DAVID64

I don't have it anymore, but cream of mushroom soup (Campbells only! but they recently changed the recipe and it's not the same) and rice was a childhood staple, and it sends me back!

Mine's even easier:

Make some rice. Minute rice will do - about 2 servings to 1 can. Then dump in a can of Cream of Chicken Soup. stir it together, maybe warm it back through.

My mom made this one in a pinch when pressed for time. It's like kid comfort food. Sometimes, she'd add chunks of cooked chicken or chicken heart to it.

a reply to: Atsbhct

12oz portabella mushrooms chopped
1 stick butter
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Saute till mushrooms have reduced.

Add 1/4 cup flour and stir it together for a roux.

Add
16 oz chicken broth
4 oz heavy cream
Bring to light boil.
Salt to taste.

It beats anything Campbell's ever produced

My kid only eats simple things u put more than 3 things in a dish she won't eat it

So I cook her alot of hotdogs ... can have anything u can imagin she picks hotdogs

a reply to: Bluntone22

We do something similar, only we add in some crumbled bacon and then stuff it in a hot pita. We do make sure ours is think though.

"Pizza Place On Speed Dial" holds a place of special honor in the Favorite Simple Recipes cookbook of life. It's a favorite dinner solution people from all walks of life can agree on in a pinch

Potato sandwiches.
Peel and slice potatoes 1/8'' to 3/16'' thick. Place the slices one at a time on a very hot, ungreased griddle. The griddle should be hot enough to dance a bead of water on its surface.
Let the slices on long enough that they appear to be dry on the upper side. Check one to see how it is cooking. They should have dark brown to black spots on the cooked side. Then you flip them and cook the same amount on the other side.
Arrange a layer of the cooked potato slices on a slice of warm, buttered homemade bread. Add a layer of thinly sliced onions and salt/pepper to taste. Close with another slice of buttered homemade bread.
It may sound weird, but trust me, these are awesome. I believe it was a depression era thing. My father's family and my family ate them most every Sunday evening for dinner.

a reply to: DAVID64

Very simple.
Macaroni, tomato juice and pepper.
You can't go wrong with that.

a reply to: DrumsRfun

YES!!

Macaroni and tomatoes. One of my all time favorites.

Peasant meals. I grew up on it. Either because of hard times or because only a stunad would waste food.
Mashed potato sandwiches, self explanatory. Ribollita, leftover bread and vegetables, beans made into a stew. Ratatouille with leftover vegetables. Frittatas, vegetables and eggs. Fasuoli cu l'accia (bean and celery soup). Pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans). Good times.

Mac n Chee w sliced hot dog bits or smoked kielbasa sausage

a reply to: DAVID64

Bourbon on the Rocks:

• Large rocks glass
  
• 3 ounces good Bourbon
  
• 3 ounces ice
  
  Pour Bourbon into rocks glass. Throw away ice. Enjoy. Repeat as necessary.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Can it be a recipe if it only has one ingredient?
Asking for a friend.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Yes, if you want this to come out properly.

a reply to: DAVID64

If you grow rosemary, you must try this simple sauce...
Melt half a stick of butter in a frying pan. Toss in a heaping tablespoon of chopped rosemary and stir fry it for a minute or so to release the rosemary oils. (But don't burn the butter!) Slowly sprinkle in 2 rounded tablespoons flour. Stir as you go, keep stirring until smooth, and simmer it for a couple minutes. Turn up the heat a tad and stir in milk to desired thickness. (A cup at least. I never measure. It should be like gravy.) Add salt and pepper to taste.

It is delicious on chicken, fish, pork, seafood, even vegetables like broccoli. I've used it as a soup base. It is savory and buttery and just delicious!

Salted butter + radish + more salt

Toast + sardines + lemon + evoo

Mirin + soy sauce + sake + sugar

a reply to: DAVID64

Prosciutto cotto - Tortiglioni

1 Onion
1 Tortiglioni (hollow noodles like Makaroni but shorter) or Fettuccine (band like noodles) is also good, but then you cut the onion in stripes instead of dices.
200g prosciutto cotto
200ml cream
Canned peas
Spices


Cook noodles, meanwhile:
Dice onion
Dice prosciutto cotto
Slap of butter into a frying pan.
Fry onions until glassy
Throw in prosciutto cotto
Throw in noodles and mix it under
Make free space in the middle of the pan and pour in the cream.
Crank up heat and stir the thickening cream into the noodles.
Now add the peas. Fresh ground black pepper, salt, oregano and herbs de Provence


Kids love it, kids that normally don't eat peas like it too. Some mistaken it for a noodle salad but it is not. The herbs de Provence will give it the buzz it needs and the oregano is appetite enhancing.

It's a mix up of German, Italian and French ingredients.

I make cream of asparagus soup once in a while. I cut asparagus small, even the tough part gets used, cutting it an eighth inch thick so it cooks right. Boil it in water for about twenty minutes, then drain some of the green water and add cream of celery soup and heat till it boils while mixing. Cream of celery soup is fairly reasonably priced on sale, but cream of asparagus soup is expensive and never goes on sale. I like it as much as homemade cream of asparagus soup, but it is so easy to make. You can take the tough part and make soup out of that, all cut short and boiled till tender, and leave all the tender part to eat with your meal as a veggie, that is what I originally used to do with the tough parts.

If you use only the tough part you usually discard, you are basically paying for the cream of celery soup. I tried it with cream of mushroom, not nearly as good in my opinion.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: DAVID64

Bourbon on the Rocks:

• Large rocks glass
  
• 3 ounces good Bourbon
  
• 3 ounces ice
  
  Pour Bourbon into rocks glass. Throw away ice. Enjoy. Repeat as necessary.
  

Thats not even a recipe. You're just a guy pouring something into a glass. Do you want a trophy for liking Bourbon or something?