Cooking With Tien

Tempura shrimp

2012-01-02T11:45:00.003-06:00

I have been experimenting with different tempura mixes and Kikkoman's Japanese style extra crispy worked out the best. The trick is to make to mix with ice cold water. I mixed 1 cup of the flour mixture with 3/4 cup of water. After stiring the mixture, the bowl is put in the refrigerator for at least an hour. If you fry the shrimp in a cast iron skillet, it retains the heat better. Do not crowd the pan, I ended up putting 5-7 shrimp in at a time. If the shrimp is completed submerged, you do not have to turn them. After I take out the shrimps, I sprinkle them with salt. I did not have very good results with frying squid or bass. The batter worked well on sweet onion rings, califlower, and sweet potato disks. Now I am working on the french bread to make shrimp poor boys.

We give Jeff's Dad big thanks for giving us these delicious Texas shrimps. Now, I am leaving you with a closer look of the tempura shrimp. Happy New Year!

Skordalia (Greek mashed potatoes)

2011-12-31T15:12:00.000-06:00

My friend, A, told me about her family's recipe. We love mashed potatoes. Since this recipe has olive oil instead of cream or half/half or butter. We have been making it at least once week. I usually used yellow yukon potatoes for the creamier taste. After peeling the potatoes, I fill a bowl of water and cook the 3-4 potatoes for 12 minutes in the microwave. While the potatoes are cooking , I crush two garlic cloves with 1/2 tsp salt and a pinch of sugar. The garlic, salt and sugar become a paste with about 1 Tbs olive oil. Adding any more garlic makes the mashed potatoes are too spicy for my son.

After the potatoes are done, smash the potatoes with the mortar and pestle. I add about 1/8 cup more olive oil. Add more salt to your liking. Her original recipe is below.

2 lbs boiled potatoes
3-4 pieces of garlic
Juice from 2-3 lemons
Pinch of salt and peppe
1 cup of olive oil

You can use the mixer making the garlic as paste. Add the potatoes. Mash the mixture adding some of the oil. Add some lemon juice, salt and pepper and keep on mixing. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. The texture must be a bit more 'runny' than the mashed potatoes recipe. Can be used as a side dish if 'thicker' or as a sauce on top of cod fish if 'thinner'.

Banh Bo (Vietnamese steamed honeycombed rice cake)

2011-11-25T12:00:00.000-06:00

It took me forever to find this original recipe on an Asian web forum. Banh means cake and Bo means cow. I can not read Vietnamese so I have to look at pictures and associate the Vietnamese name to the what I remember as a kid. I chose this recipe because I had everything on hand. The cake turned out tasty with the addition of coconut milk as well as have the honeycomb pattern. The recipe was modified by adding 1 Tbs of high gluten flour. The other recipe on the discussion uses baking powder instead of yeast.

Modified recipe:
A:
-1 package of rice flour (1lb)

*1 TBS high gluten flour
-1 tsp sugar
-1 package of yeast (2 ½ tsp)
-2 cups water
*Dissolve yeast and sugar in water and mix with flour. Prove overnight or until the batter rises and falls.

B:
-1 ½ - 2 cups sugar
-1 ¾ cups (400ml) coconut milk
-1 cup water

*Boil until sugar dissolves and cool to the touch (should be warm like bath water).

**Mix together A and B let rest for half an hour before steaming. Steam for about 35 to 40 minutes. Shake the pan to make sure the middle is not watery or jiggly. The cake will puff up in the middle slightly when the middle is firm.

American Spice giveaway and Thai chicken over soy butter rice and broccoli

2011-11-15T07:20:00.000-06:00

The season of sharing is coming up. I wanted to give two 5 oz containers of hickory smoke powder and charcoal seasoning to you if you live in the US. I called up the Great American spice.com to ask them for a sample of the hickory smoke powder. All I needed was a tablespoon of the hickory smoke powder and they sent me a 5 oz container. As we were talking, I was curious to know what their best selling item was and it was the charcoal seasoning. Phil was so kind to send me 4 containers, so I am giving one of my readers two of them. I am sorry but I have to restrict this giveaway to the US. This giveaway will end on Friday, November 18th at noon so that I can mail it out on Saturday, November 19th. Please leave a comment if you would like for me to send you the sample. If you would like to share a recipe later using the spices, please email me a picture and recipe later so that I can share your recipe.

I sprinkled both sides of four chicken tenderloins with the charcoal seasoning, and Spice island's Thai seasoning below.

After both sides were drizzled with olive oil, I grilled the chicken tenderloins on my George foreman grill.

When the chicken tenderloins have grill marks on both sides. It took about 6 to 7 minutes.

Last night, I baked some broccoli heads with olive oil at 400 degrees F until I could pierce the broccoli with a knife. I sprinkle some lemon juice and a couple of drops of golden mountain or flying horse soy sauce over the roasted broccoli. The other really easy side dish that is a favorite at my house is jasmine rice with a couple of pats of butter and couple of drops of golden mountain or flying horse soy sauce.

After cutting the chicken tenderloins into bit size pieces, add julienne strips of Kaffir lime leaves, a couple of drops of golden mountain or flying horse soy sauce and a squeeze of lime or lemon juice.

As always, thank you for visiting my blog. I am off creating more recipes with the spices.-Tien

Grated ginger sweet potatoes side dish

2011-11-02T05:06:00.001-05:00

I was watching the new iron chef show the other day where they had to create dishes with pork. One of the side dishes made me curious. It was ginger sweet potatoes. I could not find the recipe on the Food Network show. Here is my take on it.

Microwave three yams in water in the microwave for about 10 minutes. If you can pierce the sweet potato with a sharp knife then it it done. Otherwise, microwave the yams for 5 more minutes. In the meantime, grate 1 inch peeled ginger on a grater (see below). I found mine at the Korean store in town. This grater is also useful to grate Asian pears or apples for meat marinades.

Once the yams cooled down enough to handle, peel the skin and mash them with 2 Tbs light olive oil, 2 Tbs butter, 1 package of Splenda. Taste the sweet potatoes at this point, I should have left it along but decided to grate another 1 inch on ginger. The ginger was too strong for the kids but the adults loved it.

Vegetarian mock duck and poblano pepper stir-fry

2011-11-01T10:21:00.000-05:00

We had so many poblano peppers that I have been making this dish for a couple of weeks now. The mocked duck is made from braised gluten. It is one of the few vegetarian dishes that my husband likes. Companion makes the best brand of vegetarian food. My friend, G, told me about the recipe.

I am not sure how Companion brand could make the texture taste like duck. The pieces even look like duck.

Slice about three pieces to make one meal which uses about 1/2 can of mock duck. The dish is too spicy for the kids.

Slice 1/2 of a sweet onion and three (or any many as you want) poblano peppers. I remove the seeds since the poblanos are hot enough for me. The original recipe uses green or any colored peppers. Since I had so many poblanos from the garden, I found that we liked the dish better with the flavorful poblanos.

Saute the onions in light olive oil until they start to caramelize and brown. Then add the peppers, cook until the peppers soften. Add the mock duck and turn the heat to high. Add two pinches of sugar and stir fry everything so the duck and peppers caramelized. Add 1 Tbs of the juice from the mock duck can, 1 1/2 tsp of Golden Mountain or Flying horse soy sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. I serve this dish over jasmine rice. Enjoy!

Potluck Potato Casserole

2011-10-20T05:31:00.000-05:00

This is another recipe from my best friend, Rachelle. The hash brown casserole shows up at every gathering on both sides of the family.

24 oz frozen hashbrowns
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted butter, divided 1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Partially thaw potatoes. Mix everything together and put in a 3 quart casserole or 9x 13 pan, buttered. Tope with 2 cups crushed corn flakes, corn chex mix or rice chex mixed with 1/4 cup butter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.

Crunchy sweet refrigerator pickles

2011-10-19T16:40:00.000-05:00

My best friend, Rachelle in Wisconsin, gave me this recipe. We went up in the fall to see their family's new home in the country. The cucumbers are sweet so if you do not like sweet pickles, do not make these. Did any of you grow cucumbers this summer and they tasted bitter. I found out through my friend, D, that the cucumbers taste bitter when they are distressed. With summer's drought, I had several that were bitter tasting. In the fall, they were back to their sweet taste. There is one variety that never taste bitter when the plants are distressed, I have to look for seeds for next spring to grow the lemon cucumbers. Back to the recipe, these were great on hamburgers.

7 cups sliced cucumbers
1 cup sliced onions
1 Tbsp celery seed
2 Tbsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup cold white vinegar

Mix salt and celery seeds with onion and cucumbers. Put in sterilized glass jars. Mix vinegar and sugar together. Then pour over cucumbers in jars. Store in refrigerator for two weeks before eating. Makes three small jars.

One last note, if the cucumbers are too big, soft and seedy, do NOT use. The cucumbers are too mushy after a couple of days. I leave you with a view from my friend's home in the country overlooking their trout stream.

Kim's sushi rolls for a kid's lunch

2011-09-03T21:00:00.001-05:00

Making sushi always seem like a lot of work. I did not know if my family would eat it. My friend, Kim, make some one day for her kids and husband for their lunch. She does not put fish or crab meat in them unless the sushi iis consumed right away. I brought them home and one of kids and husband really liked them. So, I went back to Kim's house for a lesson in making sushi. You can put anything as a filler for sushi. Her mixture has the right amount of tartness from the pickled radish. She does not season her sushi rice with rice wine vinegar. It's just a squirt of sesame oil, a couple of shakes of toasted sesame seeds, and a light shake of salt.
Get out two slices of deli ham and slice them into strips.

Saute some spinach with sesame oil and seeds. Squeeze all the liquids out of the spinach.
Take out one pickled radish and cut into long strips.
Saute some julienned carrots in oil and salt and pepper.
Make an omelette and cut into long strips.
Take out a square sushi wrapper and make sure that the lines in the seaweed are parallel to the direction of the roll. I never noticed that seaweed wrapper have lines in them and there is such a thing as rolling against the grain. Lay out some sushi rice over the seaweed wrapper.
When you lay down the carrots , group them together in a row. This was not a good picture to demonstrate that. When you cut the sushi rolls, all the orange color carrots are grouped together.
As you start to roll, press down on the roll and pull it toward you to get a tighter roll.
As you get to the edge, remove the excess rice. I leave a few grains at the end to help seal the edge.
Are you wondering when the bamboo mat was going to be used like I was. Ok, now use the bamboo to roll and squeeze the sushi roll.

Now for Kim's last clever trick, moisten your hands with some sesame oil and rub it on the sushi roll to seal the edges.

Use a really sharp knife and cut the sushi rolls.
For a novice, I was cranking out 6 rolls in about 20 minutes. It was not as intimidating as I thought.

Kim's red bean mochi cakes

2011-09-03T06:51:00.000-05:00

It's been such a hot summer, I have been uninspired to cook much. After tasting homemade red bean mochi cakes at my friend, Kim's house, I needed to post this recipe. I know that you can buy red bean mochi cakes from the Asian markets. They are an acquired taste and are usually coated with corn starch. Kim has never measured before making these cakes. Usually the cakes do not have a much of a taste except for the filling, these are tasty with the addition of sugar and salt. The powder that surrounds the mochi cakes is roasted soybean powder, not raw corn starch. You will find this in most Korean grocery stores. I must caution you that the sweet rice flour mixture is extremely HOT when you form it. Kim's fingers were used to the heat. I would start out with using two spoons when scooping out the hot mixture onto the plates with the roasted bean powder. I did not start trying to make them until the end because I was scared.
Recipe:
1 box of Mochiko sweet rice flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c sugar
2 1/4 cup warm water

Stir to fully incorporateCover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 4 minutes. Take out the hot bowl and stir.
Use a big spoon to stir the sweet rice flour from the bottom of the bowl.

Cover the bowl again with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 5 more minutes.
While the sweet rice flour mixture is cooking in the microwave. Cut open a bag of fine red bean paste and dump it into a bowl. There is another bag with coarse red bean paste. The sugar has already been added to the red bean paste mixture.

On two plates, dump out a couple of tablespoons of roasted soybean powder on each plate so that the hot sweet rice mixture does not stick to the plate. Now you have to move fast to flatten the dough into disks, remember the mixture is very HOT.
Put a teaspoon of red bean paste in the center and pinch the ends together into a ball. Mine initially looked like flat UFOs. Then, you have to roll the mochi balls to shape them into balls.

Here's one of the plates of the red bean mochi cakes. The sweet rice flour mixture will make about 14 to 16 mochi balls depending on how big you make them.Store these in a tupperware with plastic wrap under the lid so that mochi balls do not dry out. For long term storage, you can wrap them in wax paper and aluminum wrap stored in a ziploc bag in the freeze. After taking them out of freezer, let them defrost in the refrigerator or counter. They will still be amazingly soft after defrosting. Store any leftover red bean paste in the refrigerator. Enjoy.

Thai Baked Salmon

2011-07-25T11:27:00.000-05:00

I have not liked eating salmon often in the past until I tried this recipe. I had it my friend, R's house and tried to replicate it at home. Because the salmon is baking dish is wrapped in foil and backed in a broth of tamerind water and diced tomatoes, the salmon stays moist.

1package of skinless and boneless salmon (4 or 5 pieces)
1 Tbs Tom Yum soup mix
1 or 2 fresh diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander (1/8 cup of cilantro leaves and stems)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp fish sauce
1/4 cup tamarind water

Take the salmon out of the package and give them a quick rinsing. Sprinkle the salmon on both sides with cumin, coriander, garlic powder and then add them to tamarind water, fish sauce, and Tom Yum soup mix. Add the diced tomatoes on top. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Dorothy's Bailey Irish Cream Cake with Butterscotch Pudding

2011-07-11T06:17:00.012-05:00

I have made this cake after trying Dorothy's cake at her home. My cake was just not as pretty as the cake above. The filling in between the layers is the butterscotch pudding. With all the steps, it will seem like a lot of work, but the moist and rich cake is well worth the effort. Please enjoy her recipe below. She found it in a magazine when she was at the doctor's office and just wrote down the recipe.

IRISH CREAM CAKE

½ C. butter
½ C. shortening
2 C. granulated sugar
5 lg. eggs, separated
1 T. vanilla (yes, that is one tablespoon)
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. Irish Cream Liquor
1 C. chopped pecans, toasted

Grease and flour 3 – 9” round pans. Heat oven to 350°.

Beat butter and shortening until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, one at a time, continually beating. Add vanilla. Combine flour & baking soda. Add slowly to butter mixture, alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Blend at low speed until blended after each addition. Beat egg whites in separate bowl until stiff peaks form; fold into prepared batter. Pour into prepared pans, trying to put same amount in each pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when testing. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan; set on rack to cool. Brush each layer with Irish Cream Liquor, using pastry brush.

Butterscotch filling:

½ C. brown sugar, packed
2 T. butter
½ C milk
2 lg. eggs, lightly beaten
½ tsp. vanilla
4 T. flour
½ tsp. salt
½ C. milk (this is 2nd ½ C. milk)
¼ C. chopped pecans

Whisk brown sugar, butter and ½ C. milk in heavy saucepan on low heat. Stir constantly until melted and blended. (This is where I wondered if I had written something down wrong, as it looked curdled.) Whisk remaining milk, flour and salt together; stir in hot brown sugar mixture slowly and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk half of hot mixture into lightly beaten eggs to temper mixture. Whisk together remaining hot mixture and continue cooking on low heat for two minutes. Let cool. Stir in pecans and vanilla. (Makes 2 cups.)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 – 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ C. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 – 16 oz. pkg. powdered sugar

Beat first three ingredients until creamy. Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until blended; then high speed until smooth.

Spread the bottom two layers with 1/2 of the butterscotch filling, as you place them atop each other, with none on top of the top layer. I didn’t put it all the way to the edge, so it wouldn’t ooze out into the frosting. Frost with cream cheese frosting. Press toasted chopped pecans on sides of cake. This is where the top of the cake was supposed to just have 12 pecan halves placed in a decorative fashion on top of the cake, but I continued with the chopped nuts.

When cake baking, I grease and flour the sides of the pans, but I use parchment paper cut to fit the bottoms.

The ABC Grannies Cookbook's Russian Carrot Salad

2011-07-03T18:57:00.015-05:00

I had heard about Dorothy Buhr's amazing desserts for months from my husband before I sampled some of her food. When I found out that she and her two friends, Verna Ackerman and Janet Cornelius, and made a cookbook documenting their three families favorite recipes, I was thrilled. The name of the cook book is the first letters of their last names. Dorothy was kind enough to give me one and I have handed them out as prizes in my cooking class. The desserts were amazing but I really loved the Russian carrot salad. The salad has all the flavors that I love. It's tart, and sweet from the sugar, carrots and apples. I usually bring the salad to a potluck and have friends guess the ingredients. This salad should be eaten within a couple of hours because the grated apples turn brown.

If you are interested in getting a copy of their ABC Grannies cookbook ($14), you can email them at jcorn@wigi.us or dbuhr39@yahoo.com to get additional shipping costs.

Russian Carrot Salad by Janet Cornelius

3/4 lb carrots
1 Tbs horseradish (already minced, in the condiment section of the grocery store)
1Tbs vinegar
salt to taste
2 large apples, cored (I use Gala apples)
1 Tbs Olive oil
1 Tbs sugar

Peel and grate carrots and apples. Add other ingredients. Chill. Serve with walnuts and canned apple slices.

The cookbook has Dorothy's frozen Mocha Loaf recipe.

INDEX

APPETIZERS AND MUNCHIES
Taco Dip
Yucatan Black Bean Dip
Guacomole Dip
Guacomole Dip
Derek's Hot Salsa
Smoked Salmon Cheesecake
Salmon Log
Artichoke Crab Dip
Hot Crab Dip
Salmon Spread
Shrimp-Crab Dip
Spinach Dip
Potato Chip Dip
Tzatziki
Hummus
Cheese Ball
Sweet Pineapple Cheese Ball
Fruit Dip
Baked Cranberry/Apricot Brie
Cranberry Delight Spread
Oyster Cracker Snacks
Pizza Snacks
Barbecued Chicken Wings
Stuffed Mushrooms
Zucchini Appetizers
Artichoke Crostini
Olive-Cheese Balls
Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms
Cucumber Sandwich
Sausage Pinwheel Appetizer
Red Pepper Jelly Brie Bites
Biscuit-Blue Cheese Appetizer
Savory Crescent Roll-up
Rattelsteak
Chipotle Deviled Eggs
Meat Balls Hawaiian

BEVERAGES
Dad's Daiquiris
Slush
Margarita
Pisco Sour
Bloody Mary
Peach Schnapps
Caipirinha
Apricot and Wine Liqueur
Cran-raspberry Punch
Vanilla Fruit Smoothie
Raspberry Cider Slush
Mexican Coffee
Cappuccino Mix
Cinnamon-Nutmeg Chocolate
Eggnog
Hot Spiced Tea

BREADS AND ROLLS
Dill Bread
Pan de Muerto
Zucchini Bread
Mexican Corn Muffins
Angel Biscuits
Jumer's Rolles
Beef House Dinner Rolls
Holiday Bread
Grasmere Shortbread
Pumpkin Spice Bread
Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl
Tea Braid
Poppy Seed Butter Crescents
Banana-Apricot Nut Bread
Christine's Banana Bread
Alabama Blueberry Bread
Strawberry Bread
Apple Bread
Raspberry Nut Muffins
Blueberry Streusel Muffins
Banana Bran Muffins
Kristin's Muffins

COFFEE CAKES, EGGS, CASSEROLES
Bluebery Streusel Coffee Cake
Breakfast Cheesecake
Coffee Cake
Apricot Crumble Cake
Sour Cream Blueberry Coffee Cake
Baked French Toast
Easy Cherry Filled Coffee Cake
Country French Omelet
Mini Sausage Quiches
Omelet
Bacon and Cheese Oven Omelette
Swiss Eggs
Farmer's Skillet
Sausage/Cheese Buffet
Ham and Asparagus Bake
Brunch Crab Quiche
Pineapple Brunch Casserole
Shrimp and Grits
Della's Cheese Grits
Motul-Style Eggs
Whole Grain Waffles
Sausage and Apple Bake
Oven Breakfast
Baked Oatmeal
Chicago's 110 Granola with Yogurt Sauce

SALADS
Frozen Cherry Salad
Pineapple Snow Salad
Cranberry Relish
Raspberry Salad
Frozen Strawberry-Banana Sald
Fresh Fruit Salad
Alice's Apple Salad
Peachy Keen Fruit Salad
Cranraspberry Jell-O Salad
Asparagus Tomato Salad
Corned Beef Salad
Spinach Salad with Raspberries
Strawberry Chicken Salad
Chicken Salad
Icebox Vegetable Salad
Russian Beet Salad
Polynesian Pasta
Oma's Potato Salad
Russian Carrot Salad
Greek Village Salad
Artichoke-Shrimp Salad
Poppy Seed Dressing
SoMen Noodle Salad
Seafood Salad
Spinach Salad
Caribbean Shrimp and Black Bean Salad
Broccoli Salad
Seven Layer Salad
Picture Perfect Luncheon
Taco Salad

SOUPS
Clam Chowder
Vegetable Soup
Non-Generic Soup
Beef Vegetable Soup
Ham Lentil Soup
Corn and Squash Soup
White Chicken Chili
Oyster Stew
Potato Leek Soup
Chili
Sopa de Lima (Lime Soup)
White Wine Coq Au Vin
Garden Gazpacho
Boeuf Bourginon
Savory Kale Soup

MEAT, POULTY, SEAFOOD
Diane's Italian Beef
Spiced Short Ribs with Cabbage
Eric's Shish-ka-bob
Perfect Roast Chicken
Chicken Cacciatore
Sour Rabbit
Hot Chicken Salad
Pollo Pibil
Breast of Chicken with Capers and Olives
Mustard-Apricot Pork Chops
Smoky Almond Pork Tenderloin
Pork Roast with Cranberry Sauce
Honey Apple Ribs
Red Snapper Veracruzano
Glazed Salmon
Tilapia Toss
Salmon Patties
Baked Halibut
Balsamic Honey Mustard Salmon
Scalloped Oysters
Honey of a Barbecue Sauce

MAIN DISHES
Tortilla Beef Bake
Pizzaburgers
Burrito Blitz
Old Word Sauerkraut Supper
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Feijoada (Black Bean Casserole)
Texas Hash
Chicken Pot Pie
Valerie's Linguini with Clam Sauce
Chicken Alfredo
Lasagna
Spaghetti Carbonara
Chalupa
Stuffed Shelled

VEGETABLES
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Hobo Beans
Barbecued Greens Beans
Three C's Casserole
Orange Glazed Carrots
Wild Rice with Water Chestnuts
Brocolli Casserole
Mushroom Casserole
Yellow Squash Casserole
Sweet Potato Casserole
Zesty Green Beans
Three Bean Baked Beadns
Harvard Beets
Roasted Eggplant & Peppers
Honey-Glazed Carrots
Fried Green Tomatoes
Potato Casserole
Danish Tomatoes
Scalloped Corn
Moroccan Chick Peas and Couscous
Zucchini-Artichoke Casserole
Light Corn Casserole
Green Beans
Mushroom Marinara

DESSERTS
CAKES AND ICINGS
Rich Silver Cake
Grandma Poll's Pineapple Feather Cake
Cecilia's Best Pound Cake
Yellow Angle Food Cake
Martha Washington's White Cake
Pie Filling Cake Dessert
Easy Pina Colada Cake
Lemon Ambrosia Cake
Dark Devil's Food Cake
Double Boiler 7 Minute Frosting
Decorator's Icing
White Fluffy Frosting

COOKIES, BARS AND CANDIES
Anchor Cookies
Christmas Sugar Cookies
Benne Cookies
Russian Tea Cakes
Old Fashion Sugar Cookies
Date Swirls
Spritz Butter Cookies
Praline Cookies
White Chocolate/Butterscotch Pumpkin Cookies
Ranger Cookies
Favorite Cookies
Apricot Cherry Fantasies
English Toffee
White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies
Caramels
New Year's Cookies
Chocolate Sheet Cake Brownies
Pumpkin Bars
Penuche Fudge
Zucchini Bars
Crisp Almond Bars
Marshmallow Brownies

PIES PASTRIES, AND OTHER DESSERTS
Apple Pie with Crumb Topping
Sugar Cream Pie
Butterscotch Pie
Cherry-Blueberry Pie
Lemon Angle Pie
Key Lime Pie
Grasshopper Pie
Easy Strawberry Pie
Peanut Butter Pie
Never-Fail Meringue
Sheet Apple Pie
Meringue
Lemon Pie
Pie Crust
White Chocolate/ Raspberry Cheesecake
Cheesecake
Swiss Pastry
Buttery Apple Crumble
Olive's Apple Cobbler
Butter Peach (or Apple) Crisp
Pumpkin Crunch Cake
Butter Tarts
Apple Crisp
Rhubarb Cobbler
Cream Puffs with Custard Filling
Apricot Dessert
Pumpkin Dessert
Strawberry Squares
Fruit Tart with White Chocolate
Pumpkin Roll
Apple Dumpling Pinwheels
Chocolate Mint Dessert
Bread Pudding with Sauce
Pumpkin Pie Squares
Frozen Mocha Loaf
Peach Buttermilk Ice Cream
Homemade Ice Cream
Vanilla Ice Cream
Baked Alaska
White Chocolate Frozen Mousse
Strawberry Margarita Freeze
Fried Ice Cream

MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES
Apricot-Cranberry Chutney
Candied Pecans
Peanut Brittle
Teddy Graham Dip
Pesto
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Cherry Rhubarb Jam
Marbleized Chocolate Dipped Apricots
Curried Fruit
Finger Jell-O
Spiced Honey Butter
Garden Fresh Salsa
Peanut Butter Dip for Apples
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Seafood Bagelwiches
Roasted Pecans
French Honey Dressing
Poppy Seed Dressing
Aroma at Christmas
Simple Salad Dressing
Dirt and Worms
Puppy Chow

Julie's Yummy Yummy Pad Thai

2011-07-03T16:45:00.004-05:00

I can not tell you how much I love this Pad Thai recipe. The peanut sauce will have you dreaming about it the next day. My friend, Julie, was telling me about her pad thai recipe. It is close to a small Thai restaurant in Vancouver, OR. I will have to find the name of the restaurant to tell you later. I have just gotten into Thai dishes. She has tried many pad thai dishes. After researching on the web, I have not found a recipe close to hers. My husband tried it and claimed that it was the best pad Thai. We had discussed soaking the rice noodles vs cooking the rice noodles. She had better luck and experience with the cooked rice noodles. I am posting her recipe so that I do not lose it. I hope that you give it a try and enjoy it as much our family did.

Peanut Dipping Sauce (makes about 1 cup)

2 Tbl peanut oil
1 small onion, finely chopped (½ cup)
2 garlic cloves minced (or 1 tsp)
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
½ tsp curry powder
¼ cup smooth peanut butter
¼ cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 Tbl brown sugar
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp salt
¼ cup cup chopped peanuts

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until translucent-about 3-5 minutes. Transfer to blender. To the same skillet, add the chili sauce and curry powder. Stir until fragrant-about 1 minute. Add to blender. Add the peanut butter, coconut milk, sugar, vinegar, salt and Tbl warm water, and peanuts to the blender. Blend until smooth

Pad Thai

1 lb dried rice noodles
8 Tbl vegetable or peanut oil
4 Tbl chopped garlic
1 lb chicken breast
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 Tbl fish sauce
8 tsp brown sugar
8 Tbl (½ cup) chopped peanuts
2 cups bean sprouts
2 limes-quartered

Additional-
1 cup peanut sauce
1 Tbl chili garlic sauce
1 Tbl pad thai sauce

Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a wok or large, deep skillet heat 4 Tbl oil on med-high heat. Add chicken and once it is cooked through add garlic and toss with chicken for 30 seconds. Remove chicken and garlic from pan and set aside.

Add the egg to the same pan and tilt to spread it into a thin sheet. As soon as it is opaque, scramble and break it into small lumps. Remove from pan and set aside with chicken.

Add remaining 4 Tbl of oil, heat for 30 seconds and add cooked noodles. Add fish sauce and turn noodles until they are well seasoned. Add the sugar and peanuts, turning noodles a few more times. Add peanut sauce, chili garlic sauce, and pad thai sauce.

Serve with beans sprouts and lime wedges to squeeze

Pok Pok Restaurant's grilled sweet corn on the cob with salty coconut cream

2011-06-20T13:23:00.007-05:00

This summer if you are looking for a variation in grilled corn. You should give Pok Pok restaurant's grilled sweet corn on the cob with salty cream corn a try. I do add a Tbs of sugar in with the corn when I boil it since it is not quite the prime time for corn. This version reduces the amount of salt by about 1/2 tsp. You can always taste the cooked coconut cream and add the amount of salt to your taste. The pandanus leaf is just added frozen from the freezer to coconut cream and it was not cut in any way. The grilled marks on the corn is from my George foreman grill.

1 box UHT coconut cream (see note) (Walmart is the only place that carries it, I could not find it locally at the Asian stores)
1 frozen pandanus leaf, scrunched and bruised (see note)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tsp Kosher salt
10 ears fresh corn, shucked (leave the stem on as a handle)
Lime wedges
In a medium pot combine the coconut cream, pandanus leaf, sugar, and 1 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes to reduce slightly. Remove from heat and cool. Refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to cook the corn, prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When the water boils, add 1 tablespoon sugar per quart of water and add the corn. Return the water to a boil, and blanch the ears for 3 minutes. Remove the corn, and immediately transfer to the ice bath. You may need to blanch the corn in batches.
Prepare the grill to medium-high. Lightly brush each ear of blanched corn with the cream mixture and grill until golden brown all over, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from grill, and brush again with the cream mixture. Serve immediately with lime wedges.
Note: UHT (Ultra High Temperature) coconut cream is shelf-stable coconut cream that is sold in boxes. Pok Pok uses Aroy-D brand, which FOODday found at some Asian markets. Canned Savoy brand coconut cream is a good substitute. Do not substitute coconut milk or cream of coconut (which is sweet).

Grilled Thai chicken breast over garlic fried rice

2011-06-17T11:47:00.017-05:00

Since our outdoor grill broke, I picked up an indoor George Foreman grill and absolutely love it.
After defrosting the chicken breast, I slice it lengthwise and season the chicken with seasoning salt and light olive oil for the kids, or Cajun seasoning for my husband and I. I recently tried with my favorite Thai seasoning. I usually sprinkle the Thai seasoning over ground beef to make a Thai beef salad. That will be another post. Here is the Thai seasoning that I use.
I have found it locally at Schnucks or County Market. I just sprinkle the Thai seasoning(ingredients: chili peppers,salt, dehydrated garlic, red pepper, dehydrated Jalapeno peppers, lemon peel, natural flavor) on both sides, drizzle the chicken breast with light olive oil and close the grill lid. It takes about three minutes for both sides to make crispy grilled marks. To make the garlic rice, start with browning some sliced red onion or 1 shallot in 1 Tbs of light olive oil.

Sprinkling some sugar over the red onions will help it caramelize the onions.Remove the caramelized onions to garnish the rice and chicken later. Use the flavored oil to put day old rice and one minced garlic to make the garlic rice. You do not brown the garlic first, just cooking the garlic with the rice and a sprinkle of garlic salt and a pinch of sugar to flavor the rice.
To make the toasted ground rice, take a tablespoon of jasmine rice and toast to a golden brown.
You have to stir constantly otherwise the rice will brown unevenly.
Once the toasted rice cools, pulverize the rice in the coffee grinder. As you can see, 1 Tbs of jasmine will make a lot of ground toasted rice. Just store it in an airtight container for later.
The last step is to julienne some mint, kaffir lime leaf, and thai basil. If you do not Kaffir lime leaves, you can use thin strips of lime peels. You do not need much herbs, just a couple of baby leaves will go a long way.
Now just cut the grilled chicken into bite size pieces, sprinkle crunchy caramelized red onions, julienne herbs, and ground toasted rice, some more Thai seasoning and a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. I add some Flying Horse soy sauce to rice mixture before I eat. It's a light and quick dish that has some interesting Thai flavor and texture.
Enjoy!

Billy's vanilla, vanilla cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes from Martha Steward's website

2011-06-06T09:36:00.004-05:00

After looking at all the cupcakes at Martha Steward's website, I settled on these two recipes, Billy's vanilla, vanilla cupcakes fro Billy's Bakery in New York City and Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla french buttercream. The only changes that I made was to use the Billy's basic vanilla butter cream recipe for both recipes and I added the seeds of one vanilla bean to the recipe because all I had was the cheap imitation vanilla extract. The frosting recipe called for 6-8 cups of powder sugar. It was spreadable enough with 6 cups of powder sugar. I still have enough frosting to make another batch of cupcakes. The cupcakes were light and delicious. If you are looking for some basic vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, I would encourage you to try these recipes. Martha also has recipes for fun kids cupcakes, a flourless chocolate cupcake and flourless chocolate cakes without almond meal.

Lilia's Flan

2011-05-27T21:58:00.004-05:00

This recipe was on my list to post for a couple of years. It's been a busy spring. I have spent most of the month trying to get my lawn back into shape. I will have to post some before and after pictures. Back to the flan story, Lilia is a friend that I meet at the grocery store one day. I was admiring her cute daughter who was about my daughter's age. Shortly after I meet her, she invited me to an international party who I have meet some wonderful people. They hosted a potluck and she brought this flan. I have never had flan before. I am not sure where she got this recipe. She liked it because it was not as sweet as other flan recipes. After looking at other flan recipes, most have eggs in them. This one does not. I have not tried Lilia's recipe since she moved to CA. I have not made the caramel sauce for the flan recipe before so I used the third review's recommendation for caramel sauce.

Caramel sauce
1 box brown sugar (2 and 1/4 cups packed brown sugar)
1 stick butter
1 cup half/half
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Boil first four ingredients for 3 minutes and add vanilla extract after you turn off the heat. Put a thin layer at the bottom of a baking pan.

Flan
1 can sweet condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 can milk (fill empty can of evaporated milk with whatever kind of milk you have)

8 oz. cream cheese

Mix in blender. Cook for 1 hour at 350F in a bano de maria (water bath style). Let the flan sit overnight. I will have to let you know if it unmolds well or I may serve it with the caramel on the bottom.

Pork on a popsicle stick

2011-04-17T19:11:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine, M, brought this over for kids to eat. Here's her recipe. You can find the popsicle sticks at Hobby Lobby. Just remember to soak them for 15 mins before you bake so they will not burn.

1 lb. ground pork

1/2 lb. thin-cut bacon, chopped

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tsp. grated peeled ginger

2 tbsp. minced cilantro

1 tsp. sugar

2. tbsp. soy sauce (I used light soy sauce)

Kosher salt (about 1/4 tsp.)

Pepper (about 1/4 tsp.)

Popsicle sticks (soaked in water for about 15 minutes)

Sweet chili sauce

Vegetable or Olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F

2. Line a baking sheet with foil and brush with oil

3. Mix all the ingredients except the sticks, chili sauce, and oil, in a large bowl

4. Dampen hands with water.

5. Form the meat mixture into 10-12 balls. Thread a piece of stick through each ball and press the meat mixture to form like a sausage-like shape

6. Put the pops on the foil-lined sheet pan and bake until golden brown about 10 minutes (3-4 minutes per side)

Note: For chili sauce, you can use tabasco with ketchup, or just ketchup for kids

Kansas Zwiebach

2011-03-28T14:35:00.002-05:00

I just made this Kansas Zwiebach recipe. It's worth the time making them.

Doctoring a brownie mix

2011-03-27T17:01:00.006-05:00

This recipe is very quick and easy. I found a fudge brownie mix on sale for a dollar. After adding 1/2 tsp of raspberry extract to the ingredients to found on the back of the brownie mix, I added a handful of dark semi-sweet chocolate chips to the top of the unbaked brownies. I followed the recommended backing time and temperature on the back of the brownie mix.

Oh, No -Fire at Zorbas in Champaign Il

2011-03-24T05:55:00.002-05:00

I am so sad to report that there was a fire at the beloved Zorbas yesterday. You can read more about it here.

Corn Pudding

2011-03-06T16:51:00.001-06:00

I am sorry to say that my blog has been neglected since I started working. I admired the dedication that people who write blogs and work at the same time. The other excuse is that my computers have had viruses on them. I am using an older computer that I have to find the drivers for the camera to download the pictures of food to. The good news is that I have found my corn pudding recipe. I can not tell you how happy I am to find this recipe. I am posting it before I lose it again without the pictures. I am just going to post the recipes until I can get the camera picture downloaded again.

Corn pudding
2 cans of cream style corn
1 can drained corn
2 eggs
1 box Jiffy
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup canola oil (olive oil)
1/2 tsp salt

Grease an 8x8 baking pan. Combine all ingredients in the pan. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

3 min and 20 sec microwave chocolate and raspberry truffles

2010-12-20T07:22:00.006-06:00

Happy holidays to everyone. after my friend, M shared the recipe with me I have made these over and over this month. Finally, the process is simplified so I can post. I have made truffles in the past before, my son likes the taste of these better. Schnucks sells the small gold foil candy wrapper. On page 31 of original Schnuck's recipe, it called for 3/4 tsp almond extract and toasting almonds, grinding the almonds and rolling the truffles in ground almonds. 1 bag milk chocolate chips 6 Tbs butter 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream In a glass bowl, add all above ingredients in bowl. Using the microwave, melt chocolate at 8z setting. On my microwave, it takes about 3 minutes. Heat the bowl for addition 20 secs on high. 1/2 cup powder sugar 1 1/2 tsp raspberry extract Using a hand mixer, blend until the mixture is smooth. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll into balls and store in an air tight container. Or, to save more time and effort, I just put the warm chocolate mixture directly into the the candy paper cups. They look like Reeses peanut butter cups. Store in an airtight container until the chocolate truffles solidify.

Pok Pok restaurant's green papaya salad (Portland, OR)

2010-11-27T14:33:00.028-06:00

It's taken me about a year to post Pok Pok restaurant's Green papaya salad at Food and Wine's website . Why has it taken me this long? After watching Diners, Drive-ins and dives, I wanted to be true to the restaurant's name and get a proper pestle and mortar. The name of the restaurant is from the sound made when using the pestle and mortar. I wanted to get a huge one but they were really expensive to ship. It turned out that I did not have to buy. The mortar is actual a stone bowl that I bought a long time ago to make Korean bim bim bop. You heat the oiled bowl filled with rice and toppings to make the rice crispy. I finally found a wooden pestle at Amko for $2.49.

I made the sauce in the pestle and mortar first, then drained the sauce to a different bowl. I must not have cleaned the mortar very well when I lightly crushed the green beans and tomatoes. Let's just say that I was showered with fish sauce and tomato pulp. It's not the type of conditioner that I would recommend. If I were to make it again, I would follow the below procedure.

Buy a green papaya at the Far East Grocery store, peel the skin and use the tool below to shred it.Soak the shredded green papaya in cold water in a salad spinner.Drain all the cold water , spin the papaya dry and store in the refrigerator. Soaking and spinning tthe green papaya will keep it crisp.

To prepare the long green beans and cherry tomatoes.
Cut the long green beans into 2" lengths, and slice the cherry tomatoes in half.Lightly crush the green beans first, then gently crush the cherry tomatoes.Clean out the mortar and wipe dry. Add 1/8 cup of dried shrimp and crush the shrimp.

Add 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons palm sugar or light brown sugar, and crush a garlic clove.Crush a hot green pepper.Add3 Tbs fresh lime juice and 2 Tbs fish sauce. Depending on the heat of the green pepper, I added an additional 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper.Combine the thick sauce over shredded papaya, cut long green beans, and sliced cherry tomatoes right before you serve. If you combine a few hours before, the shredded papaya will start to get limp. Enjoy!