Posts about misc (old posts, page 1)
Cheese Steak Sandwich
2020-10-16 08:28
Thanks to the Fresh Prince, everyone's heard of a Philly Cheese-Steak, but you can't get those outside of Philadelphia, so this recipe doesn't claim to be one. What it is, is a tasty steak, onion and cheese sauce sandwich.
There are multiple variations you make, even down to how thickly you slice the steak pieces, either way, the cheese sauce can get quite messy if you put enough on (and you want there to be enough).
Build your own pizza
2020-10-15 10:59
A simple, easy to make meal for a bit of fun - building your own mini-pizzas (and letting the kids do theirs)
The basic set of ingredients is quite simple, but you can adjust to add/remove anything that suits you - just make sure it's pre-cooked as they only go in the oven long enough to heat them up
If you allocate 2 muffins per person, they get 4 mini pizzas - so a pack of 6 will feed 3 people
Spaghetti and Hotdogs
2020-10-14 08:08
A quick, simple meal made famous by The Big Bang Theory - Spaghetti with little pieces of hotdog cut up in it
Can be served on it's own or with garlic bread
Welsh Rarebit
2020-09-10 10:45
Cheese on toast is hard to beat, the only thing that could be better is mixing in some beer and egg
This Welsh Rarebit recipe adds in some Worcester sauce and paprika for additional flavour - you could use cayenne pepper instead/as well
Cheese Scones
2020-07-05 08:52
I prefer fruit scones, layered with cream and jam, but a savoury cheese scone is nice too - especially when still warm from the oven and coated in butter.
This will make 6 reasonable sized scones
Cinnamon Soda Bread
2020-03-22 14:11
Soda bread can be a bit heavy and flavourless, so I figured I'd try and sweeten it up and give it a little bit of flavour. Ginger takes some of that edge back off.
You can use all Plain or all Self-raising if you don't have one or the other.
Best served hot with a thick glob of butter - even better if you make an open-face sandwich with bacon and steak on top
Seperating Isopropyl Alcohol and Water
2020-03-15 10:08
Not really a recipe in the sense of what I normally post here, but it seemed like the best place to file it all the same.
With COVID-19 raging worldwide, vulnerable people in our family, and limited availability (due to others hoarding/panic buying), I wanted to make my own hand sanitiser. Unfortunately, I only had Isopropyl 70% on the shelf, which isn't sufficiently strong once watered down with the other sanitiser ingredients.
This is a technique to seperate the Isopropyl and water from a 99.9 Isopropyl solution, in order to extract more concentrated alcohol - it's not technically purification as we're not doing anything to the alcohol itself.
Water and alcohols like Isopropyl are miscible - they can be mixed together in all proportions, so there isn't a way to "filter" the alcohol out.
This process is known as "salting out" or dehydrating Isopropyl. Essentially what it's doing is taking a mix of Isopropyl and water (such as you might have in Isopropyl 50% or 70%), and dissolving salt into the water to make brine - the heavier brine will sink to the bottom forming a seperate layer.
Care must be taken with this, Isopropyl is extremely flammable. It can also be absorbed through the skin and poison you.
Home made hand sanitiser gel
2020-03-15 10:01
Not really a recipe in the sense of what I normally post here, but it seemed like the best place to file it all the same.
Hand sanitiser is currently sold out pretty much everywhere, however we've people in the family who might be especially vulnerable to COVID-19 so need to minimise the chances of us contracting and communicating on.
So, as I keep some Isopropyl around anyway, I decided to make my own. The consistency isn't quite the same as shop-bought - it's a little more runny.
The recipe also uses some tea-tree essential oil, as it's supposed to have anti-bacterial and anti-septic effects. Unfortunately I can't stand the smell of the stuff, so I added a few drops of lime essential oil to help mask it a bit.
The measures below will create about 60ml (give or take depending on the essential oil), you should increase proportionally if you need more - to be effective the alcohol content must be at least 60%, the measures given will create a 64% concentration (assuming your total essential oil addition weighs in at 1ml, which is perhaps over generous).
You need 99.9% Isopropyl for this, using 70% won't work as you'll water it down below that important 60% mark. You can, however, dehydrate 70% Isopropyl (or even 50%) to get near-pure alcohol.
Homemade Pasties
2019-05-28 15:49
I love pasties, so I thought I'd take a shot at making my own.
We ate ours hot out of the oven with chips and veg.
Microwave Rice Cooker
2019-05-22 08:52
A little while ago, I bought one of these Microwave rice-cookers. It saves a bit of time and hassle, and a lot of energy compared to boiling rice on the hob.
The only real downside, really, is in trying not to lose the booklet which gives the cooking timing, so for ease of reference they're detailed in this page
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Grain | Grain Amount | Water | Time | Resting Time |
| | (cup) | (cup) | (mins) | (mins) |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Couscous | | | 2 | 0 |
| Couscous | | | 2 | 0 |
| Couscous | | | 2 | 0 |
| Couscous | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Quinoa | | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Quinoa | | 1 | 11 | 1 |
| Quinoa | | 1 | 12 | 1 |
| Quinoa | 1 | 2 | 13 | 1 |
| Long grain rice | | 1 | 10 | 3 |
| Long grain rice | | 1 | 10 | 3 |
| Long grain rice | | 1 | 11 | 3 |
| Long grain rice | 1 | 2 | 11 | 3 |
| Long grain rice | 2 | 4 | 14 | 3 |
| Long grain rice | 3 | 5 | 16 | 3 |
| Orzo whole wheat pasta | | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| Short grain rice | | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| Short grain rice | | 2 | 13 | 0 |
| Minute white rice (Whole grain) | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The cup referred to in the measurement table is the 200ml plastic cup that comes with the cooker (i.e. it's smaller than a US cup)
For a slightly saner measurement, 1/4 cup of short grain rice weighs in at 45 grams. 1/2 cup at 90g