777 start ahead Recipes

water, old bay seasoning, garlic cloves, cut in halves, bay leaves, cayenne, to taste (very potent , so start with a pinch and increase to desired taste), salt and pepper, to taste, kielbasa or 1 1/2 lbs smoked sausage, sliced into 1-inch pieces, new potatoes, washed, carrots, scraped and cut into fourths, ears corn, husks removed and cut into thirds, white onions, peeled, shrimp, in shells, lemon, sliced, chopped fresh parsley (optional)

dried shrimp, dried shiitake mushrooms, fresh ginger, sheet dried kelp (konbu, about 4 inches in length), water, hawaiian sea salt (you can use coarse salt or kosher salt, start out with less salt if using kosher), msg (aji no moto) (optional)

fresh baby asparagus (you ll need about 18 stalks depending upon size), chopped scallions (2 or 3 stalks ) or 1/3 cup fresh sliced chives, slightly beaten eggs, flour, half-n-half , light cream or milk, frozen spinach - drained really well of its water and thawed, shredded cheese , use a combination of two or more cheeses such as goat, swiss and gouda or swiss, cheddar and monteray jack for some pizazz., pie crust (pre-made ok to use...so it s ok to cheat on this step my peeps), salt, fresh cracked pepper, garlic powder, nutmeg (preferably fresh if possible), homemade rustic pastry shell, flour, salt, chilled shortening, butter, freshly grated parmasean cheese, equipment needed : 1 working oven at 450 to start, fresh chicken eggs just laid (just kidding), bag of dried beans out of their plastic, tin foil to help with baking pie shell blind (not you but the pie shell of course), steamer for asparagus, couple of bowls to make work easier and a cookie sheet to make clean up easier by placing cookie sheet under pastry shell when baking quiche in avoiding any spills that may occur.

any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that, answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture)., by reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. you can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not., this is 1 of the most important tools in the kitchen , believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal., literally any liquid can be reduced ., a few uses, wine is frequently used in cooking , both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat., there are some problems with it though, 1 of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people., on the other hand , if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of gourmet ., more , you don tsp have to make your reduction on the night you prepare your meal. you can reduce a liter of grape juice at any time to the consistency and flavor you want; then just store it in the fridge., you can do the same thing with any fruit juice - prune is sensational - and store it until needed. just about all of them will do things for ice cream, pies or tarts that will have your guests demanding the recipe, pork with apple sauce use a carton of fresh apple juice from the supermarket and reduce it. and if you want a real sensation add in a glass of apple brandy during the reduction process., are you getting an idea of how simple this is, take any carton of fresh stock straight of the shelf and reduce it. you will transform it into something even the manufacturer won tsp recognize. but beware, you need to start out with good quality in the first place, because when you reduce a liquid you intensify all the flavors, and not just the good ones., if it s salty to start with, for example, it will be salty beyond belief by the time you ve reduced it even by half. so if you are going to use a supermarket stock, make sure it s an extremely good 1., believe me when i tell you that stock cubes should not be used for reduction sauces., thickeners, because you will be tasting as you go (won tsp you ), you may find that you get the flavor you want before the desired consistency is reached., a couple of hints right now for your sauces., sweet ones can be thickened successfully without loss of color by adding in liquid glucose early on in the reduction process. surprisingly, this will add little in the way of sweetness and produces a beautiful velvety sauce when whisked., if you get it wrong and add too much, no problem. stir in a little extra water to thin it., reduction pans, reductions need to happen rapidly in serving to preserve flavors. and the greater the surface area of the liquid the faster the water will evaporate., however you may want to whisk something into the sauce while its cooking - such as butter or olive oil for example - and for that i find a small wok is best; 1 with a handle., a wok is less likely to reduce so fast that the sauce is burnt while your back is turned. but try both methods and see which you prefer. you may even end up using something totally different., no magic to this. whatever works for you, that s what you should use, in this and everything else to do with cooking., just bear in mind that what you re after is speed and ease of use. as well as a great tasting result, of course. :>), keeping, if they should dry out , simply add a little water and heat through., sauces containing meat juices of any kind must be frozen if you re going to keep them, and should be brought to boiling point before being used again. there is no need to thaw them out to do this, in fact it s better not to. simply drop the frozen cubes into a saucepan, melt them over a gentle heat, and then bring swiftly to the boil., why do you do this to avoid food poisoning, that s why. you are making sure that any bugs introduced into the sauce during the preparation process are killed off., worry , this will not be because of anything you have done wrong (i hope!), but because bacteria are part of our everyday lives and they exist in every kitchen, however clean., in fact your food , and especially your meat, is crawling with wildlife that you will never see. don tsp worry about them. careful handling and simple precautions will ensure that these miniature monsters can never multiply enough to harm either you or your guests.

green beans (i used a combo of green and purple beans) trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces, diced pancetta, (if you don tsp have pancetta , you can use bacon), extra virgin olive oil, onion, diced, whole tomatoes, peeled and diced (you don tsp have to peel them, but i like them better without the peel. if they are especially seedy, go ahead and remove the seeds otherwise, i would just leave them in. also, i peel my tomatoes by holding ad turning them, on a long fork, over an open flame until they pop, peel with a knife, the peel comes right off), dried italian herbs, red pepper flakes, salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

boneless skinless chicken breasts, cream cheese (filling starts here), shredded colby cheese, lemon juice, feta (to taste), dried marjoram, dried italian herb seasoning, fresh dill, chia seeds (coating starts here), quinoa flour (or all-purpose flour), black pepper, dried garlic, dried marjoram, dried italian herb seasoning

sour cream (don tsp use low fat), fresh grated horseradish, grated shallot, worcestershire sauce (i like to use a bit more, but start with 1 tsp and you can always add more), fresh lemon juice (i start with 1/8, depending on your taste), dijon mustard (optional), salt, pepper, sour cream, prepared hot horseradish sauce, grated shallot, lemon juice, dijon mustard (optional), salt, pepper

firm tofu, cubed (small packs ), soy sauce (i use braggs), olive oil, steak sauce (hp sauce works well), margarine (such as earth balance), onion, diced, celery rib, finely chopped, carrots, sliced, waxy potatoes, chopped into 1 inch pieces, garlic cloves, minced, guinness stout (ours comes in 440 ml cans), vegetable broth, flour (start with 2 tbsp if you use reg ), fresh thyme, finely chopped, brown sugar (optional), salt and pepper

all-purpose flour (start cupcake), baking soda, salt, buttermilk, sour cream, drops orange food coloring (optional), unsalted butter, softened, granulated sugar, eggs, orange extract (end cupcake), unsalted butter, softened (start icing), sugar, vanilla extract, water, orange extract, drops orange food coloring (optional, end icing ), non-dairy whipped topping (start filling), left over orange buttercream frosting (from above. see instructions, end filling)

turkey giblets, croutons, salt (may be y to start with so start with 1 1/2 and increase from there), garlic salt, pork sausage (save grease), celery soup, marjoram, eggs, onion, chopped, sauerkraut, pepper

skinless and boneless cooked chicken or 6 cups cooked turkey, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, sea salt (start low and adjust to taste), white pepper (start low and adjust to taste), lemon pepper (i use tones seafood seasoning, which is much like ) or 1/2 tsp lime pepper (i use tones seafood seasoning, which is much like ), garlic powder, dried thyme, dried marjoram, dried basil, light olive oil, fresh lemon juice (have more on hand to adjust flavor at the end), celery, finely diced, chopped fresh parsley, leaves only, green onion, whites and greens, sliced thinly, chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup pecans, mayonnaise (no substitutes)

whole milk mozarella cheese, enough flour in a bowl, start with 1 cup, beaten or as needed eggs- fork beaten, enough italian breadcrumbs in a bowl, start with 1 cup, oil to deep fry

maple pecan sticky buns, melted butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, chopped pecans, thawed bread dough or fresh made bread dough, butter, softened, sugar, cinnamon, pour melted butter into the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. drizzle evenly with maple syrup, then sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans; set aside. roll out dough into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. spread softened butter over the surface. stir together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over butter. roll up dough (starting with the short side) and pinch seams to seal. cut dough into 9 slices and place in prepared pan. cover and let stand in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled in size. preheat oven to 350f. bake for 20 to 25 minutes. let stand for 5 minutes, then invert rolls onto a serving platter., makes 9 rolls

real mayonaisse, sour cream, fresh chopped dill, fresh chopped parsley, honey mustard to taste to sweeten, champagne vinegar to taste, start with a few tsp, salt and pepper to taste

omelet jelly roll style, flour, milk, tb butter, melted, eggs, crumbled bacon (cooked ), grated cheddar cheese, preheat oven to 350. line jelly roll pan (15 x 10 x 1) with aluminum foil. generously grease foil with cooking spray. mix together flour, milk, butter and eggs until smooth. pour carefully into prepared pan. sprinkle with bacon. bake until eggs are set 15-18 minutes. remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with cheese. starting at narrow end of pan and using foil to lift roll the omelet. wrap with foil and return to warm oven for a few minutes. when ready to serve slice into 1 or 1 1/2 inch slices. serves 3-4.

boiling water & chicken buillon to match water amount, chicken broth, head of cabbage, cubed ham, carrots sliced, potatoes cubed, cut onion...amount is up to you..i like onion and used about 2/3 cup., parsley, garlic salt, garlic powder, black peppers, peppercorn, sea salt, white cooking wine, white wine vinegar, always good to start out with a small amount and add to it....

ground pork best to start with whole cuts and grind your own, thai basil finely chopped, garlic finely chopped, scallions finely chopped, nuoc mam, sriracha, brown sugar, cornstarch, coarse ground black pepper, salt, ground pork best to start with whole cuts and grind your own, garlic finely chopped, ginger finely chopped, jalapeno or other hot pepper finely chopped, zest of 1 lime, nuoc mam, light soy sauce, fresh lime juice, brownsugar, five spice powder, cornstarch, fat free mayo, scallions finely sliced, sriracha, carrots julienned, daikon radish julienned, rice vinegar gently warmed, brown sugar, salt, crushed red pepper, shallots thinly sliced and fried til golden, cilantro 4-6 per sandwich, sliced chiles thinly sliced , 4-6 slices per sandwich, sliced cukes peeled, halved, seeded, thinly sliced, french baguettes cut in 6 portions, liver sausage or pate enough to spread

ground beef (comes in this quantity at most wholesale clubs), onions, chopped, catsup, mustard, wine vinegar, salt, worcestershire sauce, frozen green beans, frozen corn, potatoes, cooked and mashed according to preferred method, try crockpot recipe suggested in notes above