# What can I make with these ingredients?



## UAflyer (Nov 28, 2005)

· Flour
· Pasta 
· Chicken
· Eggs
· Oil
· Butter 
· Head of Lettuce 
· Cheese
· Milk 
· Sugar
· Salt
· Pepper
· Onions
· Tomatoes

i have these, what can i make out of these that wouldnt be too hard. i have a "secret ingredient" too, but im not sure waht it is. is there a website i cant plug the ingredients i have and it tells me what i canmake out of it? i know they have it for drinks.


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## Constance (Nov 28, 2005)

Chicken A La King with a small salad. Serve the sauce over pasta and sprinkle cheese on top.


Hey, I love this. Give us another.


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## UAflyer (Nov 28, 2005)

what is chicken a la king? im not sure if i have any of that. i was also thinking of pasta with simple tomato sauce? and i have to make a dessert too.. but i just have no idea what the secret ingredient is. we are having an "iron chef" competition at our place, and the list of basic ingredients was passed out today. maybe some sort of custard, cake?  not much basic ingredietns provided eh?


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## Dina (Nov 28, 2005)

UAflyer,
Chicken a la King 
There are many stories about the origin of Chicken à la King, and many of them sound plausible. It is a dish of diced chicken, mushrooms, green peppers, and pimientos in a cream sherry sauce served on toast. Here are some of the stories. Dates range from 1881 to the 1920s.

1) Either a Mr. or Mrs. Foxhall Keene suggested chicken a la king to the chef at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City, and originally served as Chicken à la Keene. This was in the 'late 1890s.

2) The chef at Claridge's Hotel in London created it in 1881 for sportsman J. R. Keene (Foxhall's father from the story above). J.R.'s horse, possibly also named Foxhall, had just won the Grand Prix in Paris.

3) A variation on #2, that the chef at Claridge's named the dish after his father, J.R. King.

4) Chicken a la King was created at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City in the 'early 20th century.'

5) An American invention created in the 1920s on Long Island, New York, or in Miami, Florida.

6) The most likely candidate. Created by Chef George Greenwald, at the Brighten Beach Hotel, New York in either 1898 or 'the early 1900s. He prepared a special chicken dish one evening for the owners, Mr. & Mrs. E. Clark King II. The next day, either Mr. King loved it and wanted it on the menu or Chef Greenwald asked if he could put it on the menu. In either case, it was added to the menu as Chicken à la King ($1.25), and quickly became a great success.

Also, if you make a custard or any dessert you'll need vanilla extract.


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## Constance (Nov 28, 2005)

Chicken a la King
 In a large saucepan, saute diced onion, celery and garlic on medium heat in 2-3 tbls butter. When vegies are tender, add 2-3 tbls of flour, stir together, and add 3 cups of liquid (milk/and or chicken broth). Taste for seasoning, then stir until thickened. Add chopped cooked chicken, canned drained mushrooms, 1 small jar drained pimientoes, chopped hard-cooked eggs, and a can of drained Le Seur Baby peas. If they don't have peas, asparagus or broccoli are just fine. 
Let simmer until all is warm and thick, adjust seasoning, and serve over pasta, toast, bisquits, in pot pie, puff Pastry cups...phylo cups or what have you. 
How about filling a crepe with a chicken mixture, then using the white sauce to go over the top...then melt some good cheese over the top. 

If you play with it, you can do all sorts of things with this recipe.


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## JMediger (Nov 28, 2005)

Well, what a fun and interesting quandry!

If your cheese is parmesan, you can make an alfredo sauce for the pasta and chicken, starting with a simple white sauce base.  It would actually be good with any cheese if you ask me but more traditional if it were parmesan.  Toss it with chopped tomatoes for some extra interest ...

You could also cook your pasta, toss it with a beaten egg, grated cheese, salt and pepper and press it into a pie plate or sauce pan. Go with the simple white / cheese sauce again and toss with the chicken and tomatoes.  Pour this into the new "crust" and bake for about 30 minutes for a chicken pasta pie.

For a bread side you can make popovers ... 2 eggs, 2 cups flour, 1 cup milk, 1 Tbl oil, and a pinch of salt.  Pour into a popover pan OR simple muffin tin and bake until brown on the outside and firm (about 45 minutes).  Pierce with a fork to let the steam escape.

If you want, you can split the popovers and stuff with the lettuce, shredded chicken, tomatoes and shredded cheese for a new twist on chicken salad sandwiches.

For another starch (OH MY IS THIS FUN!!) you can make hard dumplings with brown butter and serve with baked chicken.  For the dumplings ... beat one egg, add enough flour to make it stiff then add enough milk to loosen (it should still stay on a fork).  Add a pinch of salt and drop by the teaspoon full into salted, boiling water for 3 - 5 minutes.  Remove and drain - do not rinse.  Brown butter in your pan and toss with dumplings.

Like Constance said, you can serve a simple green salad with anything you make.  

For a dessert ... are you given any fruit?  If that is your mystery item, you can sweeten any baked good with the fruit.  Look for a simple pudding recipe (most are just a variation on a simple sauce but thicker) ... OR, going back to the popovers, if you add sugar and scoop them out when you remove them from the oven (remove, let set for about 1 minute, split and remove insides), you can stuff them with any pudding and have a pretty close eclair.

Oh my - what fun!  I agree Constance - give us another!
Good Luck!


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## ironchef (Nov 28, 2005)

Sushi started a thread like this awhile back. It was to name three ingredients and create a dish. It died though because only a few people would post. You would think with everyone on a site called "Discuss Cooking" that there would've been more than just a few responses per ingredient listing.


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## JMediger (Nov 28, 2005)

Another thought ... you could do the pasta pie with the red sauce (or any of them really) if you prefer.
For a simple sauce ... melt butter to coat your pan, add 2 scoops of flour and stir for 2 or 3 minutes, add 2 cups of milk to make a basic white sauce.  From there, you can add cheese for a cheese sauce.  If you start with sauted onion, you can sprinkle the onion with the flour and add the liquid - same end result, just with an onion flavor and it won't be smooth.
Ok, I'm done.


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## UAflyer (Nov 28, 2005)

wow, i would have never thought up half of these ideas without you all. my mouth is already startig to water.... who knew these few ingredients could do that!


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## JMediger (Nov 28, 2005)

Ok, now I have a question for you, UAflyer ... do you have to prepare the dishes and take them to the party OR are you all making one dish there to "judge" OR ... ?  This sounds like a really cool get together idea but with only one range / oven ...?  How are you doing it?


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## UAflyer (Nov 28, 2005)

JMediger said:
			
		

> Ok, now I have a question for you, UAflyer ... do you have to prepare the dishes and take them to the party OR are you all making one dish there to "judge" OR ... ? This sounds like a really cool get together idea but with only one range / oven ...? How are you doing it?


 
there are a few other people on my team, there are 5 teams total, and there is a panel of "judges" (the top bosses =D) and we have a food prep room at our place, with stations that has a range, oven, sink, etc...


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## mish (Nov 28, 2005)

This is an interesting site for ideas using a few ingredients called Cheap Eats. They come up with a breakdown of the costs, as well. I'm a big pasta fan so... I would make pasta with tomatoes onions cheese oil and garlic (if you have some) and any green veggie to add in.  Just noticed you have chicken - broil it w lemon juice, butter, s&p, shred it and toss it in with the pasta or as the main dish.

http://www.bloglander.com/cheapeats/category/recipes/three_dollars/



Here's a little sample:*Quick Basil and Tomato Pasta*
1/2 box Barilla pasta — $0.50
Basil, cut in a chiffonade — Free, hopefully
6 cloves garlic, slivered or minced — $0.10
Olive oil (1-2 tbsp) — $0.10
1 Can Petite Diced Tomatoes — $0.45
Parmesan cheese (1/4 oz of $3.50 8oz can) — $0.11
1 tsp of dried oregano — $0.05
pinch of red pepper flakes — $0.02
1 tbsp sugar — $0.02
salt, pepper — negligible
*Total: $1.35 *

Start boiling a lot of water in a big pot for the pasta. Wash the basil, remove stems so there are only the leaves. Set aside. Peel and mince (or sliver if desired) all 6 garlic cloves. In a skillet, heat up 1 tbsp of the olive oil (extra virgin olive oil tastes best) over medium heat for a minute or so. Add the oregano (if dried, roll between fingers to release more flavor), garlic, red pepper flakes and a few grinds of black pepper to the oil and cook for about 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Don’t let the garlic and oregano burn, turn the heat down if needed.
Open up the can of tomatoes and add it to the pan, along with the liquid from the tomatoes. Add the sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10-20 minutes. Depends on how blended you like your sauce. Meanwhile, add thin spaghetti to boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain pasta in collander, reserving about 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
Now cut up your basil. Add pasta, cooking water, and remaining olive oil to sauce in pan and toss to coat. Add salt, pepper to taste. Serve in plate topped with parmesan cheese and basil. 

​






Unless you happen to have an herb garden with fresh basil (and maybe even oregano), you’ll have to buy your herbs and this can be quite expensive. As such, I don’t make this unless I happen to have bought basil from a previous recipe or have gotten it from someone else’s garden.

*To cut basil in a chiffonade*, what you need to do is take 3 leaves or so of basil and roll it up. With a sharp knife cut the roll as thin as you can. Rolling it first is easier than trying to sliver a basil leaf when it’s flat. You should end up with slivers of basil.
I like using Petite Diced Tomatoes in any recipe that calls for diced tomatoes in a pasta sauce. They just seem to be the exact right size for sauce… cooking them for awhile makes them break down just a bit so the sauce is chunky yet homogeneous. Of course, there are those who do the whole roma tomato ice bath method to peel the skins, but I find it’s so much easier and cheaper to use canned.
For more flavor, you can add butter in place of some of the olive oil. I like to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil because it makes it taste sort of fruity and fragrant. It’s especially good when you add a little olive oil straight to your finished pasta dish, because it helps to sort of coat the noodles.


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## UAflyer (Nov 29, 2005)

hey, thanks mish! i think i will continue to use that cheapeats site long after this iron chef deal. very interesting, and so easy! mmm.. i love pasta too.


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## Piccolina (Nov 29, 2005)

> · Flour
> · Pasta
> · Chicken
> · Eggs
> ...



I think that I would make some savoury crepes as a starter with the milk, eggs, butter, oil (I make my crepes with a mix of melted butter and oil, usually) and flour (salt and sugar being optional). I would fry up the onions and tomatoes with salt and pepper (and if you have any some oregano, basil and garlic) and roll that up in the finished crepes (cheese here is optional). That would be the starter. 

For the main course I'd make a roux from some flour and butter, and make a cheese sauce with the milk and cheese (asuming it was a type that lent itself to a cheese sauce ), to which I'd add some cooked chicken meat and peppers. Season to taste and serve over top of the pasta, with a little bit of finely shredded lettuce over top (I know it sounds kooky, but it's actually good!)

BTY - *Welcome to DC UAflyer*


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## mish (Nov 29, 2005)

UAflyer said:
			
		

> · Flour
> · Pasta
> · Chicken
> · Eggs
> ...


 
Chicken - Use the breasts, butterfly or cut a pocket, fill with chopped tomatoes, onions, cheese & s&p to taste, dip in egg, roll in seasoned bread crumbs (didn't see bread, but hoping) and bake on a baking sheet at about 350 till done and juices run clear. (Or pound them flat, add filling, roll em up, secure with picks). Serve with pasta (evoo, garlic S&P).

Stuffed Tomatoes - Not sure what kind of pasta, but if it is a small macaroni/orzo-type, etc. - Hollow out tomatoes, drain on paper towels, prepare pasta, drain, add cheese, butter s & p, (diced onions opt.), stuff tomatoes and bake till cheese is bubbly and heated thru.

Still thinking.

AND Welcome to DC.


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## UAflyer (Nov 29, 2005)

thanks for all your help guys. well, our team didnt come in first, but second?
the secret ingredient was pineapples. but, we just decided to cook some pasta up, a cheese sauce and then grilled chicken kabobs with girlled onions, tomatos, and pineapple on the side. we also cooked the pasta with some pineapple juice --- just so pineapple was somwhere in there. and a salad on the side.  then for dessert, we made cookies and pineapple dipped in chocolate with some paprika. now that i think about it, could of made a pineapple upside cake, but i didnt know how to prepare a simple cake batter.
i wanted to make a pineapple salsa, but we didnt have all o the ingredients.


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## mish (Nov 29, 2005)

That was fun.  Sorry you lost though.  Give us another?


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