Skep's Place

Fried Rice with Pork Muscle (and Salmon)

by Aid ⭐

Rice, veggies, egg, pork muscle

“One of my usual dishes I tend to make with the family! The salmon was a bonus since I went shopping on the day and it was on discount, normally it’d just be the protein. Pork muscle was also out of the norm since we usually do chicken breast. It came out really tender, maybe the meat was a little saltier since my quantities were not for this meat type, but I had an exquisite experience.”

Temple Dahl / Courgette & Bay Curry

by Flint ⭐

Temple dahl: lentils, tomatoes
Courgette & bay: courgette, potatoes, tomatoes, onion

“These dishes come from the cookbook for a regional Indian restaurant chain, which my partner and I picked up on a whim after our first time in the local branch and having a wonderful time: a chance realisation while browsing the book that these two recipes shared many ingredients got us to experiment in combining them, and discovering greatness. This was shortly after we moved into our first flat together, and cooking these together became a regular occasion for us including throughout the pandemic lockdowns, hunkered tightly side-by-side in our tiny kitchen. They’ve got all the great qualities of comfort food, while also being healthy enough that you don’t feel bad for overindulging. Because they’re vegan and thus good for most palates to eat, they’ve become our go-to dish to prep when going to IRL potlucks or when we have guests over. Despite being ‘inherited’ from a restaurant, they’ve become so much a part of our home cooking menu that they’re effectively ours now.”

Mint Beans

by Miela ⭐

White beans, mint, grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, French vinagrette

“I make a variation of this for loads of potlucks. The best part of it is that if someone asks me to make it again, it will be entirely different next time, as the entire prep process is equally based upon vibes and which fresh herbs are at the grocery store the night before. The flavor is also dependent on how many of the kalamata olives I eat while making it. Today, it was a lot.”

Summer Rolls

by Myrtletribe

Rice paper, assorted vegetables, prawns or tofu, sauce

“One of my favourite dishes to make, because it’s easy, healthy and delicious. It’s especially fun to make with friends if you keep the ingredients separate, and you can make different combinations each time. The only downside is that there is some preparation involved but it’s so worth it! A must try.”

Scalloped Potatoes

by Sephlow ⭐

Shredded potatoes, milk, butter, three-blend cheese

“Scalloped potatoes are my favorite dish to make when I’m feeling homesick. My mom makes a really good batch, so I’m trying to follow in her stead!”

Cucumber Salad

by Tyler ⭐

Cucumber, tomato, purple onion, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper

“Being raised on salads of many kinds, and lucky to have a giant appetite for raw vegetables, my salad adventures have come to their natural conclusion: Why top your salad when you could make a topping salad? Cucumber salad is easy to prepare, crisp, and provides that little zip I crave without the full-on pickle flavor, which I’m rather picky about.”

Mom’s Famous Roasted Red Pepper Soup

by Emily ⭐

Red pepper, tomato, cream, thyme, basil, parsley, garlic, chives

“The story behind this roasted red pepper soup is that when I was a teenager, my mom found this recipe in a magazine. My parents had switched careers in the past couple of years, and with more income, she’d started cooking more adventurously than the Midwestern meat and potatoes stuff she had made when I was a kid. I don’t know what magazine this recipe came from, but it was fancy. The first time she made the soup, it involved things like roasting your own red peppers and making vegetable stock from scratch. Bouquet garni? What’s that? It took two days to make and the result was...ok. For some reason, she became obsessed with the recipe and tweaked and tweaked it to be simpler and taste better. The result is something that everyone now asks for at every Thanksgiving. And it only takes about 90 minutes to make.”

“Although it’s called roasted red pepper soup, it’s really more of an aromatic soup. The strongest flavors are thyme, basil, and garlic. The roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and cream all balance the herby flavors with sweetness, richness, and tang. I took the opportunity to use fresh thyme, basil, and parsley from my garden for this batch, as well as fresh chives for garnish. Serving with a good quality bread is imperative. It’s worth a trip to the bakery for this one.”

Vegetarian Nachos

by MSX_POCKY

Corn chips, onion, tomato, crushed garlic, crushed chilli, jalapenos, mushrooms, cheese

“This started as a very quick and easy recipe I made often while I was studying, which I’ve since gradually improved on over time. My girlfriend also says it’s good which is the closest thing to a review quote I can put on my cooking!”

“I made the salsa with cooking oil, diced onions, crushed chilli, crushed garlic, and of course diced tomatoes. Usually I’d mix in black beans, but turned out I didn’t have any left in the pantry, so please accept sliced jalapenos and mushrooms being mixed in instead. The corn chips are heated in the oven before being poured into bowls, which the salsa is then poured on top of. The nacho cheese meanwhile is made with milk, butter and edam cheese.”

“When I was in my late teens this recipe simply consisted of me pouring a jar of pre-made salsa on top of corn chips and then sprinkling grated cheese on top, and putting them in the oven. Then I started making my own salsa, experimenting with more ingredients, and most recently making nacho cheese at the suggestion of my girlfriend about a month or two ago. It took me multiple failed attempts, but I’m getting the hang of it now and think that the nacho cheese I made for this potluck is the best I’ve managed so far, it’s very flavourful and creamy!”

Mirza Ghasemi

by Myrtletribe

Tomato, grilled eggplant, egg

“I’m half Persian and grew up in The Netherlands, and am always looking for ways to incorporate half of my heritage in my daily life here. This is the most recent recipe I learned (so it’s probably not perfect) and that brings me a little closer to getting in touch with that side of me! Enjoy!”

Black Bean Burgers

by Skep ⭐

Black beans, muenster cheese, heirloom tomatoes, red leaf lettuce, red onion, whole wheat buns

“My doctor tells me I need more fiber in my diet, so apparently I’m into black beans now. Black beans are the best; they’re tasty, versatile, and cheap. I’ll do them up as burgers when I’m feeling fancy; mash them and mix ’em up with lime juice, cumin, breadcrumbs, and mayo, then shape them into patties and fry or bake. When they’re done, throw them on buns and go wild with fixings. Great way to satisfy a burger craving.”

Cilantro-Lime Cookies

by Divergent Rays ⭐

Cilantro, lime (shocker, I know)

“I love cilantro but I’d always thought of it as a savory thing, not a sweet. I was curious to see how this would turn out.  Cilantro is a bold flavor but in this cookie it takes a back seat to the zing of the lime zest, providing an herbaceous note that is not overpowering at all. My cookies are naked but the recipe suggested they could be dusted with powdered sugar and I bet that would be delicious!”

Gochujang Cookies

by Divergent Rays ⭐

Gochujang in a snickerdoodle-ish dough base

“This is another one of those recipes that sounded so interesting it went into my ‘try this one day’ hoard of recipes. I have never had gochujang prior to this but the recipe site promised a ‘spicy Snickerdoodle’ and that sounded pretty legit. The taste was very subtle! Basically this is a damn good sugar cookie/snickerdoodle recipe with some subtle taste and warmth from the gochujang. My son immediately asked if I had read the recipe right and used enough gochujang - the recipe only called for 1 tablespoon. When I make this again I’m going to double that amount. These are also ridiculously large cookies! The recipe called for you to scoop out 1/4-cup (60 gram) portions. Nothing wrong with that! Just if you’re looking at the picture and thinking they look a bit large - they are!”

Edible Coffee Cookies

by Emily ⭐

Flour, cocoa, sugar, butter, salt, hazelnut, espresso powder

“Have you ever thought, ‘I would like to eat coffee in solid form but I don’t want it to be gritty?’ You’re in luck! OK, I had some instant espresso powder that I wanted to use up and so I made this recipe. And wow they taste like coffee. Nestle always wants you to add an insane amount of mix-ins to your batter, so I reduced the amount of chocolate chips and replaced part of them with chopped hazelnuts, too. If I were to make them again, I would cut back on the espresso powder by about half, but they are a very good bittersweet adult cookie. I made the dough in a big batch and kept it in the fridge, scooping out and baking about a half dozen at a time in the toaster oven--a great way to always have warm, soft cookies on hand.”

Lemon Pie with Meringue Topping

by inthemeantimewecry ⭐

Pastry crust, lemon-flavored condensed milk filling, and meringue

“even though i have made this dessert several times, i can’t quite get the hang of it yet, especially the meringue. on this occasion the meringue turned out quite runny, but it tastes wonderful, i swear! this is a very popular dessert where i’m from (chile), so even if you can’t cook it, you can get it at basically any café or bread/pastry shop. since i haven’t cooked a dessert dish in a while, making this was so much fun!”

Strawberry Lemonade Fritter Cake

by June ⭐

Strawberries, lemon juice, flour, eggs, milk, sugar, cream cheese

“My friend sent me the recipe for this cake years ago, and I’ve made it at least once every summer since. It’s best served cold out of the refrigerator. The lemony flavor makes it really refreshing in the summertime.”

Scones and Homemade Jam

by Twig ⭐

Scones: plain flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, butter, buttermilk
Jam: berries, water, and sugar

“When I was a teen, the supermarket nearby used to sell these big, yummy, fresh scones (British style). Then they stopped selling them at some point, and I was baking a lot around those times, so I tried making my own. I had found this recipe that had orange peel in the batter, I think, and I’d say it was even better than the supermarket ones! Unfortunately I’ve lost the recipe and had to use a different one for these, annnd I might’ve fumbled a bit, but they turned out okay. The jam is some raspberry and blueberry jam mom made recently.”

Stewed Cinnamon Apple and Trail Mix Crumble with Vanilla Ice Cream

by Vúi and Jude ⭐

Cinnamon, honey, dried fruit, pumpkin and pepita seeds, red apples, oats, coconut, vanilla ice cream, brown sugar, and the remnants of an attempt at making bread...

“Originally planned to be a dried fruit and seed loaf. A combination of insufficient batter and baking powder and baker inexperience made it destined to be a flat, cookie-like creation instead. Subsequently was crushed up. Was it out of embarrassment? Perhaps. Friend saved the day by making stewed cinnamon apples, which were paired with the crushed-up quasi cookie/cake and vanilla ice cream. Stewed apples can be served hot or cold. Tasted AMAZING altogether though.”

“Some things that were said about the photos included, ‘The apples look really capsicum-y 💔’ and ‘capscium, croutons and mash potatoes TRUST’ ദ്ദി;-;)”