h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Good morning (it's actually afternoon here, but I'm too lazy to get up that early on my day off...)

I am The Lazy Chef. I would copyright the phrase, but can't be bothered to do so, as that would entail effort. Anyway, the only gourmet cooking I do is the accidental kind. My food tastes good, and I'm not likely to change my methods ion order to reach for perfection, but I still want to share some recipes with you on the chance that you want to cook something tasty and not too hard to prepare. If you want to hold out for something on Julia Child's level, don't hold your breath waiting for me to rise to that level. Ain't gonna happen! But if your first souffle takes hours to prepare, and you get too hungry in the meantime, I have some food here....

I'm cooking two recipes today, but I'll only cover one of them in this post. The other will be covered later when I get around to it.

RECIPE: Lentil soup with ham

3/4 cup lentils
1 potato, diced
1 onion, chopped (you don't have to use Julia Child's method of chopping)
2 cloves of garlic, or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
carrots (however many you feel like adding)
2 stalks of celery, chopped any which way suits you
a can of tomatoes
5 cups of water, or more if the lentils swell up too much while cooking
1 tsp of thyme
1 cube of chicken bouillon
pepper, to taste
a package of frozen spinach, or half of a 1-pound bag of froZen collards
some diced ham. 6 ounces would be nice

Okay, throw everything into a pot together. Bring to a boil, then put the lid on and simmer for an hour.

I'll be eating this recipe in a few minutes, and I will let you know if it's any good.

Oh, do.

It would never have occurred to me to put garlic and collards in lentil soup.

Mine's just German style - suitable for dumping a sausage in the middle of...

It turned out to be very tasty. If you have sausages, by all means use them instead of the ham. I just happened to have an 8-ounce hamsteak on hand for adding to the cassoulet recipe, and it seemed easier to slice off some of the ham for the lentil soup.

Recipe #2:

Cassoulet

Chicken or turkey [I usually use three or four chicken legs, which I buy in bulk for the sake of economy]
ham, diced [the rest of the ham that went in the lentil soup]
olive oil, as needed
onion, chopped
cabbage, chopped {I buy a one-pound of cole slaw vegetables and just use them whenever a recipe calls for cabbage)
1/2 cup of brown rice
1 can of Roman beans [you may use cannellini or Great Northern beans instead]
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pepper, to taste
1 tsp thyme, dried
1 tsp paprika
2 cloves of garlic, or 1/2 tso of garlic powder
1 cube of chicken bouillon
4 cups of water
1/2 cup of white wine

Dump ingredients into a cooking pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 or 40 minutes. If you are using white rice, it won't need as long to cook, so you might wait for the other stuff to simmer a while before adding it.

I am beginning to see a pattern here...

I'm loving this thread already paul! Thank you!

Everyone who thinks Lazy Chef would be a great feature...

*raises hand, ala Horshank (sp?)* Oo, ooo!

raises mine

Mine too

Fine. How do I interest them in my cooking lessens?

I'll go fetch someone

Actually, on second thought, it'd probably be better if I sent you here: U54963

I'lland get some wood for the stove Paul

Thanks. Just be careful you don't wake Pinocchio up.

Hi Paulh.

Well I have also just cooked some lentils, but I have done them so that I can make a lentil salad, and then used the stock I cooked them in for the base for a soup.

I actually make my cassoulet quite differntly 0 however as I cannot remember exactly how I made it I must go and find my French cookery book and will then share it with you. I know there is cabbage, and ham and lots of other kinds of meat in it, but cannot remember what. I think it is probably a sort of french sauerkraut. I also love that. But have not had it for ages.

well done my dear friend. getting us started.

With affedtion Mr. LC - I prefer to say Laid back!!!,

Christiane
AR80

7/III/2919 18.40 GMT

Thanks, Christiane.

There must be thousands of different recipes for cassoulet out there. Olives and clams sometimes turn up as ingredients, as well as any number of different kinds of game, especially duck or goose.
When I was in Prague, I ate in a restaurant named after Copernicus. I had read that a local specialty was duck stewed with cabbage, so I tried that and found it delicious. It's not much of a stretch to have chicken and cabbage and wine in the same recipe. Some cassoulets have rice in them, and others do not. I add the rice, because I know I won't be eating bread with it. The recipe I posted makes 3 or 4 servings...

It's time to dump and stir again. Today I'm cooking Ravioli soup:

Ravioli Soup Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 pound ground beef
2 cups water
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1-1/2 cups chopped onion
greens
2 zucchini
1 green pepper, chopped
garbanzos
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cube of beef bouillon
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese ravioli
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, or whatever cheese is handy in your refrigerator

Today's greens are collards. I have have a bag of chopped frozen collards in the fridge, so I throw the water, spices, hamburg and collards in the pot together with a little olive oil and (of course) the water. I bring them to a boil. While they're heating, I chop the rest of the veggies. When the stuff in the pot is boiling, I add the veggies, the tomatoes, and the ravioli. When these are boiling as well, I simmer for about 25 minutes, after which I stir the tomato paste into the mixture. This is now ready to serve with cheese and possibly margarine or butter.

The reason I hold off on the tomatoes and tomato paste is because I don't want them to stick to the sides and bottom of the pot.

I will be back soon for Portugese soup with chicken and sausage.

Oh I do so love this thread Paul. Can I ask you how many garbanzos you added? I presume they were precooked.

(btw us Brits call them chickpeas - _and_ they are almost a staple food over here in the Canaries.)



Lanzababy

I used one can, which holds about 14 ounces.

thanks Paul.

I hope you've made enough for two because I am on my way over. The aroma is enticing