Scots Taffer on 14/1/2010 at 02:58

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how do you feel about frilly toothpicks?

Fafhrd on 14/1/2010 at 03:00

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Why in god's name are you putting chili in your Italian food? How is it not overpowering the flavours of everything else?

For sandwiches: Fresh (and I do mean fresh) sourdough bread is your best friend in the world. Thin sliced London broil on fresh sourdough with mayo and a slice or two of Jarlsberg is fantastic.

Scots Taffer on 14/1/2010 at 03:11

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Chili is an optional extra to the quintessentially Italian spaghetti aglio e olio and is fairly a common staple in South Italy, but one of my favourites, also a long held traditional recipe, is penne arribiata. How do you make pasta angry? CHILI MOTHERFUCKER.

So I believe the question is, why the hell are you not putting chili in your Italian dishes? Because you're missing out on some of my favourites.

I'm not saying add chili to carbonara or lasagna, but it is appropriate in many of their red based sauces, and moderation, my dear fellow, is your friend at all times to moderate flavour.

PeeperStorm on 14/1/2010 at 03:25

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Some basic poverty survival recipes that require only idiot-level cooking skill. All of them were used to keep me alive back in the day. They're very general, so there's room to wing it when inspiration strikes.

Fresh veggies made easy: Get some fresh veggies (broccoli for instance). Wash it and cut it up. Put it in a microwave-safe bowl and add just enough water to cover it halfway. Cover the bowl (use a plate if you don't have a proper cover) and microwave it until the water just starts to boil, then drain it, and be careful not to burn yourself from the hot steam. Put a little butter (or similar flavoring stuff) on it and eat.

Fun with Minute Rice or any other instant rice: First, learn how to make instant rice in a microwave. Got it so far? Now instead of just plain water, make it with a can of soup substituted for an equal amount of water. Start with something simple like chicken noodle soup for your first attempt. That's it. If you want veggies with it, dump in some frozen peas or carrots or corn or any other frozen vegetables before you nuke it. If you want some meat, cut up a hotdog or two and put them in.

Spaghetti and stuff: Learn to boil spaghetti noodles. Learn how to add store bought spaghetti sauce to the noodles. You can then do any or all of the following additional things:
Add some cooked veggies.
Add come meat. A cooked sliced hot dog or two works fine, but you can use things like salami or whatever leftover meat you have handy.
Sprinkle ground parmesan cheese over it.
Mix in a small amount of red pepper flakes (my favorite).

Salad: Get lettuce. Wash it. Shred it or cut it into large pieces and put it in a bowl. If that's too hard, you can buy bags of "ready to use" lettuce at the store. Mix equal parts of olive oil and wine vinegar in a container that you can shake the hell out of, then shake it up and sprinkle as much as you want over the salad. Save the extra in the fridge for future salads. If you want, sprinkle a little black pepper or ground parmesan cheese on it. You can also add sliced raw vegetables if you want. You can also get some blue cheese and add little chunks of it too.

The one minute hot ham sandwich: This one's good for when you're in a hurry. Keep some sliced ham and sliced cheese singles on hand. When hungry, use one or two slices of ham and one or two slices of cheese to make a sandwich (mayonaise optional). Then take that sandwich and microwave it for 30 seconds, or 1 minute if there's a lot of ham. Now eat. Don't burn your tongue. You can also do the meatless version, which just omits the ham.

CCCToad on 14/1/2010 at 03:46

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Ingredients are key with sandwiches. I find that usually any mayo does. The Meat is a key factor: a sandwich made with boar's head meat(all else being equal) is gonna taste much better than one made with wal-mart brand meatn.