ingredients

2¼ cups cold water 6 green cardamom pods, lightly bruised (crack them, don’t pulverize) 1 small tej patta, indian bay leaf (optional but beautiful) ½ stick ceylon cinnamon (the delicate kind, not thick cassia) 6 to 8 whole black peppercorns 1½ inches fresh ginger, sliced, not grated a pinch of fennel seeds (for bengal) 2 heaping teaspoons assam ctc tea (ctc = granular black tea, find it at indian groceries) 1¼ cups full-fat milk 1½ to 2 tablespoons jaggery (preferred) or sugar tiny pinch of salt (optional, structural)

method

bring the water to a thoughtful simmer. small bubbles at the edges, not a rolling boil.

add the aromatics: cardamom, tej patta, cinnamon, peppercorns, fennel, ginger. let the perfume rise for 3 to 4 minutes.

add the assam ctc. reduce the heat and steep for 2 minutes. (ctc brews fast. that is the point.)

now the milk. pour it in slowly. bring the heat up until the chai swells and almost boils, then calm it. do this twice.

sweeten. jaggery if you can, otherwise sugar. a whisper of salt if you like balance.

let it murmur gently for 5 to 7 minutes, thickening slightly to a deep caramel.

strain into warmed cups. serve immediately. chai is a punctual emotion.

notes

The Ottolenghi - it is vital that you use 1g of this very expensive ingredient. It comes from a 500g bag with a one-week shelf life.

The time machine - 15-minute recipe! First, leave to marinate overnight...

The dishwasher - one-pot recipe! Now decant your ingredients and wipe out your pot. And again. And again. And again.

The optimist - cook the onions until caramelised (2 minutes).

The kindergarten teacher - get one nommable little tree of broccoli and bosh that into boiling water. Delish!

The brand names only - ingredients: Ritz crackers, Philadelphia cheese, Cool Whip, orange Jell-o...

The 1950s palate - use one (1) clove of garlic and a small pinch of chili flakes (omit if preferred).

And when you look it's an Instant Pot recipe where the cook time is in fact three minutes, but that doesn't count prep time, time for the pot to come up to pressure, and sometimes time for the pot to come down from pressure. In reality, it's more like a 30-minute recipe.

Let me change your life real quick.

Take 1/4 cup rice and 1/4 cup water, put them in a freezer safe container, and freeze them. Short or medium grain rice is better

When you’re feeling sick, take the frozen rice out, put it in a pot with 1.5 cups of water. Add a dash of neutral cooking oil, 1/2 tsp powdered ginger, and 1/4 tsp salt. Throw in a pinch or two of white pepper if you have it. Bring to a boil.

Now chop up one or two preserved eggs, and add them to the boiling rice.

Do not skip this step! I’m serious. Even if you never eat preserved eggs, get some to have on hand for this recipe. They are shelf stable and last basically forever. Even if you only ever eat a single one at a time, and only in this, and only when you are sick, they are worth having in your pantry.

Boil the rice for 15-20 min total.

That’s it. Top with whatever you want – scallions are classic, those fried onion things you can use in a green bean casserole are good. People will sometimes add meat floss, or a fried egg, or pickled vegetables. But honestly when you’re sick, just plain is the way to go.

The keys here are the powdered ginger, the preserved eggs, and the rice itself. Broken-up rice is easier to digest, and soup helps you keep hydrated – this is why chicken soup is such a classic. Ginger is known to have anti-nausea properties and may be somewhat anti-inflammatory as well. And preserved eggs, crucially, are somewhat basic, due to the alkaline process that is used to preserve them. They are the closest thing to a food equivalent of Alka-Seltzer, legitimately, and I promise that adding them makes a huge difference, even if you don’t much care for them.

I combined three recipes to get this recipe. These brownies remind you that they are evil. They are *not* good for you, but they also taste like it and smack you upside the head with that fact.

Melted for 30 seconds in the microwave and with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, it is a bit of heaven. The biggest torture is waiting for them to set. so you can take them out of the pan.

To give recipe credit: https://tasty.co/recipe/the-best-fudgy-brownies

I upped the amount of chocolate flavor and used the coffee tip. In doing so, mine ooze, taste like coffee and are fudgy AF.

People loved them, but were also scared of them. lol That's how it should be. The devil's brownies.

Ingredients

for 9 servings

4 oz good-quality chocolate, semi-sweet 72% cacao chocolate chips

16 tablespoons butter (2 sticks)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons Mexican vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

5.5 grams of instant decaf espresso (about 2 tablespoons) (you can use a 1/4 teaspoon if you just want a richer chocolate flavor) You can use caffeinated, but be prepared to be wired.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) square baking dish with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and then add the white sugar gradually until well blended, then beat in the eggs and vanilla for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture becomes fluffy and light in color.

Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, espresso, and salt. Fold to incorporate the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix as this will cause the brownies to be more cake-like in texture.

Fold in the chocolate chunks, then transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish.

Pour onto the top swirls of honey.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on how fudgy you like your brownies, then cool completely.

ingredience:

lemons/limes (this needs to make up the bulk of the fruit being used, like at least 80%)

whatever other fruits or fruit scraps you want, plus any herbs/other flavorings you want to try. by fruit scraps I mean things like cherry pits, apple peels, pineapple cores, strawberry ends, things like that.

granulated white sugar, the coarser the better, 50% by weight of total citrus rinds + 100% by weight of any additional fruit. you'll measure this after you prep the fruit.

water as needed

equipment:

a few nonmetallic mixing bowls

a mesh strainer

a chinoise, ricer or some cheesecloth

a kitchen scale

a citrus juicer or reamer (manual or electric)

a potato masher

juice the citrus through a strainer - saving all rinds -  and refrigerate the juice for the time being. dice the rinds and other fruits if any, keeping the rinds separate. make note of weights, and measure your sugar.

 Place sugar in a large nonmetallic bowl. If using non-citrus fruits and/or any other flavorings, mix them in with the sugar and mash with potato masher. add diced citrus rinds, mix thoroughly, and mash again. cover and let stand at room temperature for at least 4 hours. this allows the sugar to draw out flavors that would otherwise get discarded with the rinds, and the rinds' acids should be enough to dissolve the sugar into a syrup.

Afterward, mash one last time, then collect the syrup by pressing the macerated mixture through a strainer/chinoise or ricer, or squeeze it through cheesecloth. if you want, this can be saved as a standalone syrup at this point, for use in cocktails or desserts. if not, slowly pour the reserved juice through the solids to to help get the remaining syrup out, and squeeze/press again. do the same thing one more time with warm water (roughly the same amount of water as juice). discard solids (or try making sangria with them!).

taste the mixture and add more water if necessary. a stronger mix is totally fine if you anticipate serving over ice on a hot day, or adding booze, or if there was a lot of non-sour fruit. keep in mind that it will taste a bit less sweet once it's chilled. pour into a pitcher and refrigerate.

citrus oils will float to the top, so stir/shake before serving. love you. enjoy.

some tried and true flavor combos:

straight lemon or lime, or any combination of the two, is of course an untouchable classic

lemon & strawberries (that's pussy babe!)

lemon & orange with a hint of vanilla (creamsiclemonade...?)

lemon & apples or apple peels with cinnamon/ginger/allspice (for late summer)

some cocktail type combos, booze optional:

lemon or lime & berries with basil + gin

lime & mint + white rum

lime & ginger + dark rum

lime & cucumber + gin

lime & orange (berries optional) + tequila

I am a pretty competent cook, so don't worry about that bit. I just want to know if this dish sounds familiar, so someone can fill me in on the parts I don't remember. It's a chicken dish made with flat chicken cutlets. I think she used to hammer them a bit with a kitchen mallet, dredge them in flour, and pan fry them in a little butter so they would brown nicely. The sauce is the part I am a little lost about. She used white wine (probably chardonnay) and sour cream, that part I am sure of. There were canned peaches too, which were slightly browned and served on top. I'm sure there was something more to it than that, any thoughts? The flavor was tangy, not particularly sweet except for the peaches, and the sauce was opaque and kind of a beige color. Does this sound like a dish you are aware of? While her food was great, her dishes were usually pretty simple. It is likely that this is not something she invented herself, but it might be something that she simplified. Does anyone know what this is or what it is called so I can look it up and try and get it right? She used to serve it with grilled zucchini brushed with garlic butter. Thank you. Edit -- I am blown away with how helpful and kind you all have been. I have taken little hints from each of your posts and a lot of them have jogged my memory. I think some sort of composite from these suggestions will produce something close. I am going to try to make it when I have the chance, and I will update when I do. Thank you, reddit. <3

Update 6 days later:

My mom passed away a few years ago. I needed help trying to recreate a chicken recipe of hers that I have been craving, because I could only remember a few ingredients. You amazing people of r/recipes came through and gave me so many wonderful suggestions. With a mix of all your advice, I made it tonight. I was nervous as I was putting it together. I felt like there had to be something more to it, but I went with using just the ingredients I knew (as suggested by Ethril). I felt like there was something I was forgetting. Something about brown specks in the sauce. I went with it anyway, and figured I would know what to add at the end by taste. I took chicken cutlets and hammered them flat. Dredged in flour and sauteed in butter (high heat). I burned the butter a little. I remembered my mom saying that butter is the one thing that is ok to burn (as long as it is not smoking furiously) so I left it alone, and smiled at the memory. I was pleased to see the chicken brown to the color I remember. When I flipped the chicken I added the zucchini spears and browned those too. When the chicken was done (just a couple minutes) I set it aside and covered it in tinfoil to keep it warm, then turned the zucchini and browned the peaches in the same pan. It only took a few minutes to brown everything and when the zucchini and peaches were done I put them aside with the chicken. I deglazed the empty pan with chardonnay. My mom wasn't a big wine person, so I went with the cheapest they had. I suddenly remembered that sound the wine would make when it hit the hot pan, a huge hiss. Mom used to tell me to step back before she poured it in, because it would splash a little. I felt like I was nine years old again. I added three big dollops of sour cream and dissolved it in the hot wine. I didn't know what I was going to do next, this was all I had planned. Then I saw the little brown flecks come up. It was that burned butter! I just about cried. I tasted it, and suddenly in my mind I was standing in her kitchen as a kid watching her cook. This was it. It was that simple. I added a couple spoonfuls of the liquid from the canned peaches to take away a little of the wine's tartness, and the sauce was perfect. Just like she used to make. Keep in mind that I am no food stylist, but I assure you that this tasted 10x better than it looks: http://i.imgur.com/Qgk6u.jpg The whole thing took less than 20 minutes to make. And I fucking nailed it. Thank you so, so much reddit! You brought me back, and I love you. The smell is still lingering in the house.

The secret is in the water; literally, it’s IN the water.

See, when you boil potatoes, a lot of special starches and sugars and stuff leeches out into the water. When you drain the water before mashing them, you throw away a lot of good stuff, which is a big part of what makes mashed potatoes “dry” and bland, even when you add large amounts of cream and butter and things.

So don’t throw out any water.

Here’s how you do that:

First, cut your potatoes into smaller cubes than you probably do. (I’ve left the skins on for flavor and also, that’s where a lot of a potato’s nutrients are, like protien and iron and vitamins B and C, just to name a few)

The reason for cutting them smaller (besides avoiding giant peices of skin) is so that there is less space in the pot between each peice for water to fill, so you use less water to cook them. That’s important because you won’t be draining any water, so you can’t afford to have too much water! For the same reason, just barely cover them with water when they go on the stove.

But! Before you do that, put the pot on the stove with some butter, garlic, and seasonings; let the butter start to sizxle just a little then put most of a single layer of potatoes in the pan and let the brown and sear. Turn them, brown them on all sides, get ‘em fairly dark (I forgot to get a pic here because I was worried I’d burn the butter).

Ready? now throw the rest of the potatoes in right on top, and add your water, give them a stir. This way, you’re boiling in some of that lovely fried potato/french fry flavor.

Okay, so, as they cook, you may need to add a little water, not too much! ideally the very highest piece of potato will be poking just above the surface. Now, when your potatoes are really really soft, mash them directly into the water. Just pull them off the stove, leave all the water in, and start mashing. Trust me. At first you’ll think there’s too much water. If you get them mashed and they ARE a little too liquidy, just put ‘em back on the stove. You’ll have to stir often or constantly, but they will steam off additional water without losing any good stuff.

Now add some salt, and taste. Right?! And you haven’t even put in any cream or cheese or anything yet.

Speaking of which, you can use like, a third of the amount of butter or cream or anything, and they will still taste better than usual. So they taste better AND they are higher in nutrients AND lower in fats and salts! That’s a lot of win — enjoy your potatoes!