What's 4 Dinner, by Marie

Gingerbread Kid Cookies

2024-12-23T13:23:00.000+01:00

Ingredients

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg

Directions

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth.
Add the molasses and continue to blend.
Mix in egg and vanilla until well incorporated.
Blend in spices, baking soda and salt.
Once it's completely mixed, slowly start adding flour, one cup at a time.

Transfer dough to plastic wrap in order to chill overnight. Shape it into a flattened ball. You'll be rolling it out, so give yourself a head start by having it be flat.

When you are ready to bake:

Preheat oven to 350*F

Roll the dough to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness. thicker if you are using larger cookie cutters. For my 2 inch gingerbread kids, I like thinner dough, closer to 1/8 inch thick. The thicker they are, the softer the finished cookie will be.

Place cookies about an inch apart on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. They do puff up a bit.

Bake 8-10 minutes, just until the edges start to brown.

Pull the parchment paper onto the counter to cool cookies quicker.

Store cookies in a closed container after completely cooled.

Decorate with royal icing, if desired.

Getting ready to decorate with Royal Icing.

I use paste food coloring, starting with green.

Sprinkling of green sugar for the scarves.

After allowing the green to set up and dry for a bit,

I added the white icing.

I sprinkled red sugar for the dresses.

I will allow them all to rest on the kitchen counter

for the day to set up solid before packaging.

Anise Seed Biscotti

2024-12-22T16:10:00.001+01:00

Ingredients:

6 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon Anise Seed

1 cup ground almonds

2 cups flour (or a little more until it's not too sticky to form into a loaf shape)

Almond bark or white chocolate for dipping

*********************************************

Directions:

Heat oven to 375*F.

Set chocolate into double boiler to melt.

Cream butter and sugar. Add each additional ingredient (except chocolate), in order, mixing well between each new addition.

Shape dough into 2 9-10 inch logs, flatten into a loaf shape, on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 375* for 18 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove logs to cutting board. Let it rest for about 10 minutes, or until it's cool enough to handle.

Reduce oven temperature to 325*F.

Using a serrated knife, slice crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Carefully transfer each slice back to another parchment lined sheet, cut side down. You can place them close, not touching, they won't spread.

Bake slices for 20-25 minutes, or until golden. Too cool quickly, slide parchment off the cookie sheet and onto counter. Once cookies are cool, they can be dipped in chocolate. Once they are dipped, lay them back onto a clean sheet of parchment. You can reuse the parchment, just shake off the crumbs.

Allow to cool before storing.

After mixing up the dough, I like to divide it into two loaves for easier handling.

I make a log almost as long as the cookie sheet, then pat it on top to flatten it out a bit.

It might be 3 inches across. It does puff up while baking. Leave space between them.

Out of the oven after the first baking.

I move the loaf to the cutting board, with hot mitts on. I only let it cool enough to move it.

I slice into roughly 1/4 inch slices. It can be a little crumbly, so not TOO thin.

I tip the slices onto the knife and move them to the cookie sheet again for the second baking.

Here they are all ready to bake again. I try to give a little space between them so

the heat and dry them. Sometimes it's a tight fit. Back into the oven they go.

While the cookies are baking, I melt the almond bark for dipping. Make-shift double boiler.

Once the cookies start to brown a little, they come out and cool completely.

Then they get dipped and laid out on parchment paper to dry before packing

away in an airtight container.

Space between them so they don't stick together.

Once they are cool and solid,they can be packaged for

gift giving or storage.

A lovely addition to my Christmas cookie ensemble.

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread

2024-12-21T15:25:00.002+01:00

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped toasted pistachios

1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries

Optional: Extra sugar for dusting the tops

Directions

Cream your butter and sugar.

Add the egg and vanilla and make sure everything is mixed completely.

Add in measured baking powder and salt. Mix well.

Slowly add your flour. After the flour is completely incorporated, add the cranberries and pistachios. Just mix until they are spread evenly through the dough.

Divide the dough in half, wrapping each half in plastic wrap in a log shape. The logs should be about 1.5 inches thick. Chill until firm, at least 20 minutes.

When ready to bake, Preheat your oven to 350* F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and slice dough 1/4-inch thick. Dip each cut cookie into sugar (for a sparkly top). Place each cookie onto parchment prepared trays, leaving about 2 inches space between each.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. Don't overbake them.

Chop the nuts and berries.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap to rest in the fridge.

I slice them right on the wrap.

Slice 1/4 inch slices and dip into sugar for a glittery look.

An easy find at Walmart at the holidays.

Sparkly

These store nicely for holiday gift giving.

Can you see the little bit of sparkle on the top?

It's a natural for Christmas with red and green cranberries and pistacios.

Homemade Dijon Mustard

2022-12-13T16:36:00.002+01:00

Who could have ever guessed that it would be difficult to find mustard in the grocery stores?!? But here, in France, that's what happened this year. Drought, War, Covid, Supply-chain problems, you name it. But there's no mustard or cooking oils in the grocery stores (except for olive oil and sometimes sunflower oil). So when I was thinking about what to make for little gifts this year, I thought of this after finding an interesting handful of recipes. So, here's my take on Dijon Mustard. I have to say it's Very tasty!

I made a lot, for gifts. But this recipe, with amounts listed, will make about a cup.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mustard seeds (I used yellow, but you can find white, yellow, brown or black)

1/2 cup white vinegar + 1/4 cup water - for soaking

3 Tablespoons white vinegar - separate

2 Tablespoons dry white wine

2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

Soak your mustard seeds in 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup cold water. Cover loosely and allow to sit for 24 to 48 hours.

After soaking, strain your seeds, throw away the liquid.

In a blender, blend your seeds with the 3 Tablespoons vinegar and white wine. Add salt and continue blending until very smooth. You may have to scrape down the blender sides to keep it in the reach of the blades. Mine got smooth and fine, but it also thickened nicely. Mine is scoopable, not squirtable. If you prefer your mustard thinner, just add a little bit of water at a time. Maybe a teaspoon at a time.

Once your mustard is finished, allow it to rest in the fridge for a day before using. You will taste it right away, but the flavor will become richer the next day. It's a wonderful thing. So easy. I may never buy mustard again. Next, I'll make yellow mustard. But for now, I have Dijon for a year!

By the way, it keeps a VERY long time! Years. There's no ingredient in it that spoils. But it's so good, you'll finish it in no time!

I found my seeds in the bulk spice aisle of the Asian grocery.

Combine seeds with vinegar and water and allow to soak for a day or two. Longer soaking makes it easier to get a nice smooth grind in the blender. I saw some recipes that didn't soak long, or not at all. I soaked mine for 24 hours.

The seeds plump nicely and absorb much of the liquid.

Use a very fine strainer to strain out the soaking liquid.

I had so much that I had to strain it in two batches.

The seeds absorbed quite a bit. There's not a lot of liquid to throw away.

Not many ingredients; seeds, vinegar, wine and salt.

The only other thing you might need is a little bit of water

if you'd like a thinner mustard in the end.

Adding my premeasured vinegar...

And the white wine.

I added the salt and hit the button!

After 30 seconds, blended a lot, but chunky, not smooth.

You may like it that way, it's up to you!

A total of about 90 seconds and it's smooth!

If you only make a single batch, it may come together much faster for you.

It is thick, but it's smooth. I like it. I'm not going to add any water.

It's really tasty and has a nice kick to it, like Dijon should.

Vanilla Snowflakes

2022-12-13T15:38:00.006+01:00

This is a pretty cut-out cookie that you can decorate in a snowflake pattern very easily. You can use any cookie cutter and let your creative side come out to play!

Makes about 3.5 Dozen cookies - it depends what size you cut them.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. Butter

3/4 c. Sugar

1 egg

1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract

2 c. Flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar (See P.S.)

P.S. If you don't have Cream of Tartar, you can use 1.5 teaspoons of Baking Powder in lieu of the baking soda & Cream of Tartar

Royal Icing to decorate (See link below)

https://whats4dinnerbymarie.blogspot.com/2020/12/royal-icing.html

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*

Cream softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar. Mix well. Add flour slowly and continue to mix until homogenized.

The dough will be soft, so refrigerate for an hour before trying to roll it out. After an hour, I rolled out 1/2 of the dough at a time, leaving the other half in the fridge to stay cold. You can gather scraps and re-roll, but give them a little time back in the fridge to stiffen up.

Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness, on a well floured surface. Dip your cookie cutter into flour before cutting the dough. Place cookies on parchment lined cookie sheet with an inch between. Allow cookies to rest in the fridge for 15 or so before baking. Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges start to brown.

Cool completely before storing or decorating.

I started rolling out on parchment,

but working directly on the counter worked better.

Just use enough flour.

The cut out cookies need to rest in the fridge for a time before baking. I stacked them in there on sheets of parchment that I just slid onto the cookie sheet before popping into the oven.

After baking, I slid the parchment off the cookie sheet and onto the counter to cool. That way you don't have to handle soft cookies before they cool and you can immediately use the cookie sheet again.

The next day, I decorated with Royal Icing sprinkled with sugar, as well as some colorful sprinkles I have. It was a nice variety of color and textures.

Sparkly Sanding Sugar

Sparkling sugar and nonpareils.

I had leftover Royal Icing, so I made some little colorful candies to add to the cookie plates I give away. I don't like to waste anything.

The round button candies were much easier to lift from the parchment than the thin designs. I really liked the snowflakes, though.

They turned out really cute!

Ready to store before plating out for friends and neighbors.

The candy buttons.

The thicker designs worked out well.

The thin ones broke when I tried to lift them off the paper.

Amaretto Cookie Balls (No-Bake)

2022-12-12T14:05:00.000+01:00

A nice "adult" addition to the cookie plate!

Makes about 3.5 dozen

2 1/2 cups crushed vanilla wafers

1 cup ground almonds

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons cocoa powder

1/2 cup amaretto

3 Tablespoons honey

Additional powdered sugar and/or cocoa powder for rolling

Directions:

Mix together cookie crumbs, almond meal, powdered sugar and cocoa. Combine amaretto and honey; stir into crumb mixture. Shape into 1-in. balls. Roll in additional confectioners' sugar or cookie crumbs. Store in an airtight container.

Make these ahead to allow the flavors to meld together. Substitute flavored vodka or rum in place of amaretto and ground pecans in place of almonds.

The dough is sticky but very easy to handle.

Arrange sugared balls on parchment paper to dry. Remember, no baking.

I used my favorite small scoop and they come out nice and round and

regularly sized. I rolled in white and red sugar to create some variation.

You can also roll in extra cookie crumbs or cocoa powder.

I let these dry (uncovered) overnight before boxing them up.

They felt a little too soft to stack before drying overnight.

Cheesecake with Sour Cream Topping (Sort of!)

2022-05-02T20:35:00.010+02:00

Cheesecake is not supposed to be complicated,

even though it takes a couple days to finish it.

But making it in France adds a bit of complication, as everyday grocery items

are not always available here.

So, come along for the adventure!

Please note: European measurements and exchanges in BLUE.

Ingredients:

Crust (Couche inférieure)

* 3 cups graham crackers crumbs

* (En France J'ai utilisé des cookies Lotus Biscoff, 1 paquet entier)

* 12 Tablespoons melted butter

* (170 grammes beurre)

* 3 Tablespoons sugar

* (38 grammes sucre)

Filling (Garniture de tarte)

* 32 ounces softened cream cheese

* (900 grammes Fromage à Tartiner Nature)

* 4 Large eggs

* (5 œufs)

* 1.5 cups sugar

* (300 grammes sucre)

* 3 Tablespoons flour

* (23 grammes ma farine de blé)

* 1 cup EACH, milk and heavy cream

* (250 ml de lait et 250 ml de crème fleurette entiere)

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* (1 cuillère à café de vanille)

Topping (Couche supérieure)

3 cups sour cream & 6 Tablespoons sugar

* (750 ml de crème fleurette entiere

+ 60gr de lait

+ Jus de 2 citrons moyens, environ 90 ml

+ 4 sachets d'Agar-agar)

* (76 grams sucre)

******************************************************************************************

Instructions (Pour les instructions en français, voir ci-dessous):

Preheat oven to 325*F (163*C)

In the US, Crush your cookies and mix with sugar and melted butter, and press into the bottom of a buttered 9X13 rectangular baking pan. Set aside as you make your filling.

Écrasez vos biscuits et mélangez-les avec le sucre et le beurre fondu, et pressez-les au fond d'un moule rectangulaire 28X36cm beurré. Réserver au fur et à mesure que vous préparez votre garniture. Les cookies peuvent être écrasés dans un sac très facilement.

I tried using parchment paper, I wouldn't do that again. It got too wet and wasn't helpful.

J'ai essayé d'utiliser du papier cuisson, je ne referai plus ça. C'était trop humide et ce n'était pas utile.

For your filling, in your mixer cream the cream cheese, adding eggs one at a time, then sugar, flour, vanilla, milk and cream. Adding ingredients slowly so they mix well but don't splatter out of the mixing bowl. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula as needed.

The bowl will be very full, so move slowly.

Pour votre garniture, dans votre grand saladier, mélangez le Fromage à Tartiner Nature en ajoutant un à un les œufs, puis le sucre, la farine, la vanille, le lait et la crème. Ajouter les ingrédients lentement pour qu'ils se mélangent bien, mais sans éclabousser du bol à mélanger. Racler le bol avec une spatule si besoin.

Le bol sera très plein, alors déplacez-vous lentement.

Pour filling into your baking dish with unbaked crumb crust.

Versez la garniture dans votre plat allant au four avec la couche inférieure non cuite.

Smooth evenly.

Lissez uniformément.

Bake in 325*F preheated oven for about 50 minutes or until set.

Cuisez au four préchauffé à 163*C pendant environ 50 minutes

ou jusqu'à ce que le tout soit pris.

Cool and then refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Laissez refroidir puis réfrigérer au moins 4 heures.

Combine the sour cream and sugar and spread over the top of the cold cheesecake.

Allow to firm up overnight in the fridge.

Mélangez la crème aigre et le sucre et étaler sur le dessus du cheesecake froid.

Laissez raffermir une nuit au réfrigérateur.

To serve, cut into squares with fresh fruit or preserves on top.

The parchment paper was messy. Don't try it.

Pour servir, coupez en carrés avec des fruits frais ou des conserves sur le dessus.

Le papier cuisson était salissant. N'essayez pas.

I used blueberry preserves and fresh blueberries.

J'ai utilisé de la confiture de myrtilles et des myrtilles fraîches.

Pour mes lecteurs français :

Il y a une complication, la crème aigre n'est pas disponible ici. Alors, nous allons fabriquer la nôtre. Je n'ai essayé qu'une seule fois et je n'ai pas été très impressionnée par les résultats, alors je continue à perfectionner cette étape. Juste pour que vous le sachiez, le gâteau au fromage est délicieux même sans la garniture de crème dessus. N'hésitez pas à le servir avec des fruits frais sur le dessus.

Voir ci-dessous, comment j'ai fait la crème aigre. Pour que la creme ait le temps de devenir "aigrer" commencez de la veille de commencer quoi que ce soit d'autre.

Ingrédients:

* (750 ml de crème fleurette entiere

+ 60gr de lait

+ Jus de 2 citrons moyens, environ 90 ml

+ 4 sachets d'Agar-agar)

***lorsque vous mettez la crème aigre sur le dessus du gâteau, vous ajouterez du sucre.

Ne l'ajoutez pas maintenant.

Ajoutez le jus de citron fraîchement pressé à la crème.

Ajoutez le lait.

Incorporez l'agar-agar. Mélangez ensemble.

Versez dans un récipient que vous pouvez fermer complètement et secouez bien.

Après l'avoir secoué, il aura l'air un peu mousseux.

Couvrez avec une serviette en papier, pas avec du plastique ou un couvercle scellé. L'air doit pouvoir pénétrer à l'intérieur.

Laissez reposer sur le comptoir de la cuisine pendant au moins 24 h pour la crème devienne "aigrer". Tout comme le pain au levain, il faut du temps aux microbes pour faire leur magie.

Comme je l'ai dit plus tôt, l'expérimentation continue. J'essaie de faire devenir aigre d'autres produits laitiers, de la crème fraîche et aussi de la ricotta. Je pense que je vais aussi essayer le marscarpone. Il doit être un peu plus épais que ma première tentative.

Savourez!!

Merci Corinne et Thibaut pour la relecture et les NOMBREUSES corrections grammaticales !

Medieval Cookies of Joy

2022-04-08T21:49:00.000+02:00

How could I resist a cookie with a name like "Cookies of Joy?"

I found this medieval cookie recipe in an article by Atlas Obscura. I made a few small changes, but here is the original article for you to enjoy. The history of this recipe is very interesting.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-cookie-recipe

This recipe made 4 dozen small cookies.

12 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup raw honey
4 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups spelt flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves

Melt the butter. In a mixing bowl, mix the honey, brown sugar and egg yolks. Add the salt & spices to the honey mixture. Pour in the melted butter and beat well. When it's homogenous, scrape from the bowl sides to ensure all ingredients are mixed in. Then slowly add the flour. Continue mixing on slow speed until completely incorporated.

The dough will be sticky and wet. Scrape into a smaller bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour.

*****************************************************************

Heat over to 375*F

Try either method:

1. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut circles with a cookie cutter.

2. Using a small scoop, make balls of dough and flatten with a glass.

Bake on parchment paper for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Cool completely and then dust with powdered sugar. Store in sealed container.

Adding melted butter to honey/sugar/spice mixture.

Adding Spelt flour, an ancient grain.

The dough is the consistency of fresh taffy, very soft.

Batter poured and scraped into a clean bowl, to go into the fridge.

Scooped balls of cold dough and flattened with

a glass and parchment paper, 1/4 inch thick

Baked 10 minutes at 375*

I thought they tasted a bit dark and needed a bit more sweetness.

So, I dusted them with powdered sugar.

Another idea would be to sprinkled the dough with sugar before baking.

It added a little pleasant crunch too.

I didn't know what to expect from this recipe. It sounded intriguing.

The taste is reminiscent of gingerbread, but not quite. It's darker, less sweet.

May your heart be filled with Joy!

Chinese Almond Cookies

2022-04-01T14:41:00.001+02:00

If you like Marzipan, you'll LOVE these cookies!

These are great for Chinese New Year!

****** Parchment Paper *****

1 1/3 cups almond flour, lightly packed
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs, divided (one is beaten for egg wash)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Thinly sliced almonds, for decoration
Recipe makes 5-6 dozen cookies.
***********************************************
In your mixer,
Mix together the butter cubes, almond flour, and salt until mixed well.
Add in one of the eggs and the almond extract. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix together your flour, sugar and baking soda.
Slowly add to your mixer, thoroughly incorporating. When the dough is complete, remove from the mixer, wrap in plastic wrap and flatten. Chill the dough at least two hours, overnight is good too.
Preheat your oven to 325*F.
Roll out balls of dough and flatter to about an inch across. Add an almond slice to the top of each. Brush with egg wash.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until gently browned on the edges.
Cool on the counter or a wire rack. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Start with Almond Flour

Mix together the butter cubes, almond flour, and salt until mixed well.

Mix in just ONE of the eggs and....

...The almond extract.

In a separate bowl, mix together your flour, sugar and baking soda.

Add flour mixture to your butter mixture. Mix until thoroughly homogenous.

Remove dough from your mixer and wrap in plastic wrap.

Flatten the dough and chill in the fridge for at least two hours.

Overnight would be fine, too.

Baking Time:

You know I love my small scoop for making uniform sized cookies.

Leave space between.

You can use your hand or a glass with parchment paper to flatten the cookies a bit.

An inch or so across. Not too thin.

Decorate the top of each cookie with a nice almond slice.

Beat the second egg.

Brush the top of each cookie with a bit of beaten egg.

This will give the cookies a nice shiny finish when baked.

Bake at 325* for 13-15 minutes, or until just lightly browned.

Cool before removing from parchment.

Very tasty! A special treat for Chinese New Year!

Cardamom Cookies

2022-04-01T13:44:00.003+02:00

I really like Cardamom and I went looking for cookies I could make with it. I found these and they are very unique in the world of cookies.

This recipe made 5 dozen cookies using my small scoop.

*************** Parchment Paper lined cookie sheet *************

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups flour

16oz. butter, room temperature

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

(+ extra cardamom and powdered sugar for dusting)

****************************************

Preheat oven to 350*F

In your mixer, beat the butter and spices until well mixed and fluffy. Add egg, mix again. Add sugar and beat until thoroughly mixed, stopping to scrape down the bowl sides if it's not mixing completely. Lastly, add the flour, on lowest speed, a little bit at a time, to avoid throwing it out onto the counter and you. It will be a dense dough, go slowly. Stop mixer and scrape down sides again as needed.

Once your dough is homogenous, roll out rounded tablespoons full into balls, or use your small scoop. Leave about 2 inches between them. Once they are onto your parchment lined cookie sheet, flatten them with a glass to about 2 inches wide. If you use a small piece of parchment under your glass, you won't have any trouble with sticking.

Bake at 350* for 13-15 minutes. They will be lightly browned. Allow them to cool completely on the parchment paper, which you can pull off your cookie sheet onto the counter. Once they are cool, give them a dusting with a mixture of powdered sugar and cardamom powder. Keep them wrapped and in the fridge and they will last a long time for snacking.

I didn't want to crowd them, so only one dozen on the tray.

I use a glass with parchment paper to flatten them to about 2 inches across.

Still plenty of space between. They will continue to spread out.

Browned but not too browned.

A light dusting of cardamom and powdered sugar.

Don't they look delicious? They truly are!

Royal Icing

2020-12-04T16:52:00.002+01:00

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar (1 pound)
4 large egg whites, about 1/2 cup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Add vanilla to egg whites.

Add in your powdered sugar.

Mix well. When everything is wet, increase speed and whip until stiff and glossy.

Use to decorate your favorite cookies with solid frosting. Color as you'd like.

Basic Cookie Baking Procedures

2020-12-04T11:50:00.001+01:00

Throughout Christmas Cookie installments,

you can return to this page to view the basics.

We start with room temperature butter. Whip it up well. Light and fluffy is the name of the game. It isn't written into the recipe, but air is a big part in any baking good recipe. You want airy and light baked goods. Whipping air in is important.

Adding sugars. Whip... This is after sugars have both been added and whipped up. See how the mixer has pushed some up the sides? Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and whip a bit more. Get everything incorporated well. Also, do not try to push the stuff down the sides with the mixer running. You could ruin your mixer, your spoon and your face if it through the spoon up into your eyes. It's not worth it. Just turn it off.

All whipped and beautiful! Now add dry ingredients (except flour), mix well. I like to mix dry and wet separately so that everything is well incorporated. No one wants a clump of salt or spice in their dough.

We often need egg yolks. There are fancy gadgets out there to separate egg whites from yolks, but honestly, the egg shell is the best tool. Back and forth between the shell halves and the white falls into a bowl. Yes, I save the whites. I have other recipes that call for whites. Royal Icing also is made from whites. Egg white can even be frozen for use later. Add the yolk to the mixer and blend well.

After the wet ingredients, all that's left is the flour. Add flour slowly so it doesn't fling out of the mixer. Here's the finished dough.

After it's done, I put it into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and into the fridge to chill. :) The chilling is a necessary step. If you dipped out spoonfuls now, the cookies would spread farther and maybe burn, but surely have less loft and would not hold their shape. There are only a few cookies that need to be used with room temperature dough. They are clearly stated as such. Basic chocolate chip cookies can be done immediately. I'll show the difference in my white chocolate chip cookies in a later installment.

Flounder à la Meunière with Capers

2020-05-24T08:38:00.002+02:00

Much simpler than it sounds

Flounder Fillets

milk to dip

flour to dip

one stick butter

1/3 cup capers

lime juice

***********************

In a small pan, melt butter and add capers, cooking over medium heat. The butter will need to brown and the capers will pop open. I always start this first.

Dip fish fillets in milk, then flour, and pan fry in hot oil until nicely browned.

To serve, sprinkle fish with lime juice and spoon over a bit of the caper and butter sauce.

I usually serve this with broccoli, as I like the caper butter on the broccoli as well. :)

********************

I was unable to find flounder this day, so I chose a thin white fish.

This is not as thin as flounder, but I would not want to go any thicker than this.

Get your coating ingredients ready.

Sauce ingredients at the ready.

A small pan with capers and butter, set on low heat. You don't want to burn the butter. I start the butter and capers before starting the fish.

Dip fish into milk and then coat with flour.

Then coat with egg wash.

Then into bread crumbs.

Place in hot pan in a single layer.

Butter is melted and capers are heating. Butter is starting to bubble. Low heat, don't burn the butter. Keep an eye on it.

I used Panko crumbs here, it's what I had on hand. Standard bread crumbs are just fine.

Sorry this is out of focus, checking the capers, they are not popping yet, keep going...

Check them frequently.

Butter is browning, can you see?

I remove the fish as it is finished.

Keep peeking at the capers.

Ah, here we go. The capers are popping and browning. That is when they are finished!

The butter is nicely browned, the capers are popped and crispy. It smells so good!

I lightly sprinkle the fish fillets with lime juice.

Spoon the caper sauce over the top. I like the sauce on the broccoli as well. A nice touch!

A very tasty dinner that everyone loves!

One last thing... Cooking fish can stink up the house for days. Put on a small pan with water and cinnamon. Simmer it slowly and the cinnamon will counteract the fish smell in the house. I start this as I finish the fish and let it simmer while we eat.

Pork Medallions with Sage and Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

2020-05-24T08:17:00.001+02:00

A family favorite

1.5 lb. Pork Tenderloin

Flour

Salt

Pepper

2 Tablespoon butter

2 Tablespoon oil

2/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dried Sage

********************************************************

Dredge pork slices in seasoned flour. Brown in hot butter and oil mixture. It may take a couple of batches to get it all browned. Don't overload the pan, they won't brown. As they brown, remove to plate. When all meat is browned, pour off excess fat. Add vinegar to pan, scraping brown bits into liquid. Reduce to 1/2. Add stock and juice from plate. Boil until reduced to a dark, shiny sauce, about a minute or so. Add Sage. You can pour over pork and serve, or quickly add pork back to pan to warm up.

Serve over hot noodles.

Enjoy!

Gather ingredients

Dredge pork in seasoned flour.

Add to hot pan, with room to breathe.

If you crowd them, they won't brown nicely.

Turn them as they brown on one side.

Once they are browned nicely on both sides, remove them from the pan to rest while you make the sauce.

Cover them with foil to keep them warm.

Add in the broth and vinegar to pan.

Boil the vinegar until it reduces to about half.

That looks to be about half. Turn off the heat.

Any juices on the plate can be put back into the vinegar sauce.

Add the sage to the sauce. Mix well, and it's finished!

Arrange your pork in an attractive presentation.

Spoon the sauce over the pork and noodles.

Delicious and tender! A little tangy and just a touch sweet from the vinegar.

Sourdough Starter (without yeast)

2020-05-17T14:09:00.001+02:00

Baking bread when you have no yeast!

Come along with me on a new adventure!

This is a recipe shared by dear friends. I'm having trouble finding yeast, so this is a way of harvesting wild yeast from the air!

Starchy potatoes - 1 large or a couple smaller, about a pound.
water a few cups
sugar - 1 1/2 teaspoons
salt - 1 teaspoon

Glass or ceramic bowl.

Day 1

We'll start with fresh potatoes.

I'm boiling a few I cut up. Maybe a pound. Boiled until nice and soft.
Remove potatoes and measure out 20 ounces of the liquid.

Sugar and salt measured out and into a ceramic bowl.

The water has cooled, it's lukewarm now.

I'm mixing my sugar and salt in first.
My sugar is not fine grained and I want it to incorporate well into the mixture.

Adding in the cup of flour.

Mix well.

The bubbles are just from the whisking I gave it.

The recipe calls for cheesecloth. I don't have any,
so I'm hoping this thin kitchen towel will do the job.

This will develop for a number days. I'll check it and stir it each day.
**************************************************************
Day 2. 24 hours later...

It seems to have separated a bit. Heavier flour fell out of solution, to the bottom.

So, I stirred it all up again. I covered it with the towel again to let it sit another day.

**********************************************
Day 3.

It had gone through a bubbly stage last night and I stirred it down. It was a very warm day yesterday, over 80F degrees (28C)

It needs fed today. I'm adding 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1/2 cup flour.

Water added and stirred.

Now the flour...

All stirred up again.

A few hours later, just checking on things.

It's so much thinner than how it started the first day when it was so thick. Now it's about the consistency of melted ice cream.
***********************************************************
Day 4

I thought it looked kind of flat and still today, but my dear friend said I should feed it. So, I did. :) Another 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and 1/2 cup of flour, whisked in as before.
*********************************************
Day 5

Today, I see very small bubbles, I will stir it and feed it again today. It has been much cooler the last few days, unlike Day 1. I'm sure that has slowed the development of my sponge.
**********************************************************
Days 6 - 10

Every day, I am feeding the sponge with 1/2 cup warm water and 1/2 cup flour. This goes on for a few days. I could probably use it to bake now, but I'm going to wait a few days.

Every day, this is what it looks like. The water on top, heavier solids fall to the bottom.

Every day, I stir it up smooth and feed it.

And today is the day!! We are going to get ready to bake!!
Remember, you prepare the dough the day before baking! Feed the starter before we begin.

From the bowl of starter, I take one cup of well mixed starter. To that, add 1 3/4 cup warm water, mix well.

Add 5 cups of flour, one cup at a time, mixing well between additions.

The first two cups of flour I mixed in with my whisk. I also added the salt at this time, to make sure it got well incorporated.

After two cups of flour, it got too thick to use the whisk. I switched to a wooden spoon.

After incorporating the five cups of flour, allow to rest for one hour, covered, on the counter.

After one hour, the dough needs to be turned. It's very sticky.

Flour the counter before turning the dough out.

Do your best to get all the dough out. Do you have a little scraper?

OK, dough is out. Now, mostly just flip it around a couple times, keeping flour where it touches the counter.

Sorry this is sideways. Ball up the dough and put it back into the bowl.

The dough was so sticky, I had to use my scraper in the bowl as well as the counter.

Covered again and allowed to rest for another hour.

Second flipping, after the hour resting.

It is a little less sticky, but I keep a little flour to put on as I flip it. Both for my hands and the counter.

I'm dusting the bowl with flour before putting the dough in so it doesn't stick too bad.

Covered and allowed to rest for another hour.

After the last hour of rest. One more time...

Third and Last turning.

This looks like bread dough now.

Return the dough to the well scraped bowl.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap.
Into the fridge it goes for at least 8 hours, and up to 48 hours.

Almost 24 hours later. Remove cold dough from the bowl.

Dough ball is turned out onto the floured counter. Seam side up. Don't knead it.

The dough will now rest on the floured counter, covered in plastic wrap, for 15 minutes, to warm a little.

This is a lot of dough, maybe more than one loaf?

I'm going to make two loaves instead of one large one. I just cut it gently with a long sharp knife.

I've dusted the parchment paper with flour so the bread doesn't stick.

Dough is shaped into two loaves and dusted with flour.

Covered with a clean towel, will now rest and rise for 3 hours. If you have a warm kitchen, it may be ready sooner for you.
**Preheat oven to 450F degrees half an hour before baking.**

3 hours rising time on the counter. It's time to bake. The oven has been preheating for 20 minutes. With a dry pan in the bottom to hold some water.

After 3 hours rising time, cutting slashes across the top to allow steam to escape.

Put loaves into the hot oven. Pouring about a cup and a half of boiling water into pan at the bottom of the oven.
**Bake at 450F for 25-35 minutes until very brown and crusty**

It's hard to see through this door, but sneaking a peek.

Good and crispy, I'd say. They also sound hollow when tapped.

Take them out to cool, or turn off the oven and allow bread and oven to cool, with the door slightly ajar.

It didn't rise a ton, but it was very nice. Good chew and very crisp crust with the steaming it got while baking. All in all, a very successful science experiment!

Thai Noodles with Ground Chicken and Crispy Shallots

2020-05-16T16:16:00.001+02:00

Let me warn you. This is NOT a weeknight recipe. It took about 2 hours! Next time, I’ll cut time out by pre-doing some things. I’ll give you those hints as I go through the recipe with you here.

I got this recipe from Bon Appetite Magazine. It was a request from a woman who’d eaten this at the Tong Thai Brasserie in New York. Bon Appetite got her this recipe. It sounded interesting so I wanted to make it for you.

Vegetable oil for frying

4 large shallots, cut into ¼ inch slices, and separated into rings
5 cloves garlic total, 3 sliced thinly
3 quarts chicken broth
1 pound chicken thighs cut into large cubes
1 Tablespoon Thai Fish Sauce
8 ounces Rice Noodles, broken in half if they are long
8 ounces fresh green beans, or Chinese Long Beans, cut into 1-inch pieces

Small Bowl #1
2 Tablespoons Asian Sesame Oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed

Small Bowl #2
¼ cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)
Tablespoon raw sugar (I used regular sugar)
¼ teaspoon cayenne powder
3 Tablespoons Thai Fish Sauce

Small Bowl #3
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup chopped fresh green onion
2 Tablespoons chopped salted roasted peanuts (I did not use)
Tablespoon raw sugar (I did not use any additional sugar)

Hot Sauce Sriracha for addition at the table
***********************************************

Deep fry sliced shallots in a couple inches of hot oil. If your oil is too hot when you put the shallots in, the pan will boil over. I’d rather you put them in and increase temperature to fry. This step took almost 20 minutes. The recipe said 8 minutes. Hmm. When they are browned and crispy, remove to paper toweling to drain. Now, fry garlic. This will take only a minute or two. There’s much less moisture in the sliced garlic. Remove to paper toweling again. You can mix with shallot, it won’t matter. Once this is done, you are done with the oil. You can move it away from the stove.

Mix together the two cloves of pressed garlic and the sesame oil.

Put your chicken broth into a large pot and bring to a boil. While you are awaiting the boil, process your chicken in the food processor to grind it up. It should look like pink hamburger when it’s done.

Once the chicken is ground and the broth is boiling, add the chicken to broth, breaking up so you have small pieces not big chunks of meat. When meat is cooked, remove from broth with a slotted spoon. Put it into a large bowl, large enough to hold the entire recipe, when finished. Stir in one Tablespoon of the fish sauce.

Bring broth back to the boil, cook noodles until tender. Remove from broth and add to bowl with chicken, mix.

Bring broth back to the boil and cook beans. When tender, remove and add to noodle and chicken. Mix in.

Mix in everything in Bowls #1 and #2.

After mixing well, transfer mixture to large shallow dish for table presentation.

Sprinkle everything from Bowl #3 onto the top before serving. I only used half of everything and brought the extra to the table so everyone could add more if they chose.

At the table, everyone can sprinkle on the Sriracha sauce as they’d like to taste. It really did add a Thai dimension to the dish.

The dish went over VERY well. We all loved it! Next time, I’d make this recipe on the weekend.

Other time saving ideas:
• Cut and separate shallots earlier. It took way too long before cooking.
• Shallots and garlic may be fried up to two hours before dinner. Just hold the fried veggies at room temperature until you need them.
• Chicken, noodles and beans could all be cooked earlier and saved in the fridge for dinner later. I’d just get the broth boiling, add all three and heat to temperature and remove all, together, from the hot broth to the mixing bowl, and go forward from that point.

P.S. Don’t throw away that broth! It’s delicious too! Add some noodles, or enjoy as it!

Fried shallots, finally done.

Chicken all ground in the food processor. Chicken goes into boiling broth. All done, scoop it out...And into a big bowl.

Add one tablespoon of the fish sauce and stir it in. Jonathan said this was so good, he could just eat it now. LOL! Bring broth back to boil. Add the rice noodles. Jonathan saying... hurry mom, my arm's getting hot!

Noodles are done, add them to the chicken in the bowl.Bring broth to boil and add beans.While the beans are cooking, prepare the other smaller bowls of ingredients. First set... Lime juice, sesame oil and garlic, cayenne and sugar and fish sauce. Shallots, garlic, green onions and cilantro. If you use the chopped peanuts, they would be in this step.OK, beans are done. Add them to the bowl. Mix well. Pour in ingredients, stuff labelled Bowls #1 and #2.

Mix well and then put in nice presentation bowl to go to the table. Now garnish with ingredients from Bowl #3.

Serve with Sriracha Sauce. I found mine at the regular grocery store in the ethnic foods aisle near the Thai and Chinese ingredients. Short of grabbing by handfuls, this is the only way I could lift it all from the bowl for serving. One large spoon and the noodle spoon, together. Sriracha Sauce. Nice and thick, not TOO spicy, nice flavor. It was almost the crowning touch on the recipe. Tabasco wouldn't do it. Too Vinegary.

Enjoy!

Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

2020-05-15T10:14:00.003+02:00

1/2 cup butter

6 Tablespoons sugar

6 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup semi-sweet Ghirardelli chocolate chips
3/4 Ghirardelli white chocolate chips
***************************************
Makes about 3.5 dozen cookies
***************************************

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350*

Cream butter and sugars.
Add egg, extracts, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
Add flour, allowing mixture to blend well.
Add both varieties of chocolate chips, mixing slowly, but well.

Drop by rounded teaspoon onto cookie sheet, preferably lined with parchment. Bake for 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the sheet before removing.

****************************************************************************************

You all know how to mix cookie dough. Here's the dough, ready to go. This dough does not need to be chilled.

I have found that putting cookies onto parchment is a life saver. They NEVER stick, the cookie sheets never get old enough to throw away. No worries! And believe it or not, parchment is reusable. I use it till it burns or gets ripped up. Just shake off the crumbs and store between your cookie sheets to protect it from wear and tear.

Another tip, using a scoop to get evenly sized cookies. This is the smallest, about 1.25 inches.

Cooling racks are key for fast production. There are 4 separate racks standing here.

Here they are in use. I put two trays of cookie dough, ready to bake, one on the counter top, one immediately above that. One rack stays empty as an air break. The hot cookies right out of the oven go onto the top two racks to cool. I only have 4 cookie sheets, so once the baked cookies have cooled for a few minutes, I pull the parchment off onto the stove or a free counter to finish cooking, then I load those cookie sheets with another parchment sheet and raw dough. It's a very efficient way to crank out tons of cookies in no time at all. I mixed the dough while making dinner, almost no effort. I then baked 8.5 dozen cookies in 30 minutes.

After the cookies cool completely on the counter, I stack them in a travel box for Jonathan to take to school in the morning.

Done... Don't they look delicious? P.S. I doubled the recipe to make this many cookies. I had all of these plus a bowl with 20 cookies for us, at home.

All finished with the cooling racks. They collapse and get put back into the cupboard. All four racks, about 1 inch high.

Rotisserie Grilled Chicken

2020-05-15T10:04:00.002+02:00

This is a great way to cook in the warmer months. Keep the kitchen cooler.

Whole chicken
spices

A grill with a rotisserie motor
**********************************

Rinse your chicken and impale on the rotis bar. Grill on rotisserie for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature registers 160F* in the thigh, not touching bone or metal.

If you don't have a grill with a rotis feature, I'm really sorry. :( After having one, I'd never buy another grill without one!! Grills don't last forever, so when yours dies, splurge a teeny bit and get one that has the rotisserie. You'll never regret it!!

For a GREAT selection of spice mixes, check my favorite place... http://www.penzeys.com/

Washed and ready to grill!

Get the hardware in place, but don't screw down the grippers till you center the bird on the grill in front of the rotis burner.

Once I've got the chicken on the grill, I skewer the grippers carefully so that I grip each leg with a stake to hold them as they go around. As it cooks, the joints get loose. If you don't hold the legs up, they'll drop lower as they go along and flop around. You don't want them dragging over the dirty grill bottom. They may also burn as they'd be the thinnest place exposed to the heat. Once nicely skewered.. I fold the wings back, like you would for a Thanksgiving Day turkey. They would also flop around if you didn't secure them. They don't need to be skewered though. Folding them will be sufficient. And yes, those are the chicken livers in the pan under the chicken. I lay them in the pan (where I catch the drippings so they don't yuk up the grill). Those are MINE! Chef's prize. :)

This is my choice of spices today. Penzey's Bicentennial Rub. I mix it up and change the spice mix frequently. This is one of my favorites. Check out their website. I've put the link above in the recipe directions.

Spread it all around as the chicken goes round and round. The chicken is slightly damp from it's earlier bath, so it sticks nicely. No need for oil or butter.

All ready to go. Rotisserie is on high, for those you can adjust. Close the lid and go away for an hour. :) I LIKE this kind of cooking!! Taking a peek after one hour. I also check the temperature. 120 degrees. Needs more time. Aiming for 160F*.

90 minutes. 140 degrees. A little longer...

1 hour 45 minutes. 160 degrees. This was a nice large hen, and still slightly frozen inside. So do check yours after it hits that first hour to see how the temperature is progressing. Going a bit over the 160 degrees really isn't a problem on the rotis. The turning motion keeps the juices in the bird and doesn't allow them to just fall to the pan like in the oven. Better a little over 160 degrees than under.

Remove rotisserie hardware and allow the bird to sit for 5-10 minutes while you get the side dishes on the table. This allows the juices to settle into the meat so they don't just run out at your very first cut. Come, sit, enjoy! Rotisserie chicken with a side of green bans, bread and butter, and Jonathan's special noodles. You'll find the recipe for that on another note.

Crispy skin all around! What more could you want?

Duck à l’Orange

2020-05-14T15:53:00.000+02:00

Not as difficult as it sounds, just time consuming. Allow 3 hours, minimum total elapsed time.

One 5-6lb duck

S&P

1/4 cup Frozen orange juice concentrate or marmalade

2 Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons Soy sauce

************************

Thaw duck if frozen. I leave it in the fridge for a couple days on the bottom where it's out of the way.

Preheat oven to 350*

Remove from wrapper and remove the goodies from inside, usually livers, heart, neck and sauce mix. I never use the sauce mix. It's filled with all kinds of extraneous ingredients. Yuk.

Rinse the duck, inside and out. Pull off any extra fat you find. Prick the skin thoroughly with a fork. Place on a rack in a roasting pan, and pour a couple cups of boiling water over it. This help tighten the skin. Let it sit for a minute to cook again. Lift the duck to drain water out of cavity, leaving the water in the pan. Dry the duck, inside and out. S&P inside and out and return to rack, folding neck skin underneath.

Bake for 45 minutes and remove from oven so you can flip the bird, er, I mean, turn the duck over. This way you give all the skin a chance to crisp up. So, at the end of 45 minutes, take the pan out, with your tongs lift the duck up to drain liquid from cavity into pan. Turn over, back side up. Feel free to poke it a bit more with the fork, if you'd like. It helps to release the fat from under the skin. Duck is very fatty, if you want crisp skin, the fat needs to melt away.

Put it back into the oven, bake another 45 minutes.

After the second 45 minutes, take out, flip again, poke again and back in it goes for yet, a third 45 minute baking session.

You now have about 45 minutes. Start your side dishes and get ready to finish the duck. Mix your orange sauce: 1/4 cup OJ concentrate or orange marmalade, 2T soy sauce, 2T butter. Melt in a pan and baste over duck the last 10 minutes, at which time I switch the oven from bake to broil. This just concentrates the cooking to the top, where it'll crisp up the skin and glaze the duck with the orange sauce.

My family doesn't care for stuffing so much. So, I roast without stuffing. You can stuff yours. Just realize that it will add to the baking time and you must check internal stuffing temperature to reach 165F*.

Pull off extra fat.

Poke well with a fork.

Can you see the fork holes?

Don't run out and buy one of these, but if you find a rack that is built with a V shape, it's great for keeping your bird, or meat, from rolling around in the roasting pan.

Pour the boiling water over.

Remove from rack, and dry off nicely.

Salt and Pepper, inside and out.

This is where you practice your massage techniques and no one will whine that it's too rough or too soft. ;)

Really... inside too.

I guess I shoulda put a picture in before this, but you DID remove the goodies, right?? I won't mention names, but someone I love cooked a whole Thanksgiving feast and found the giblet package at carving time. :) Hey, that only happens once!

Please don't use the orange sauce packet that comes with the bird. For comparison's sake. I've looked at the orange sauce mix that came included with the duck. Ingredients: OJ from concentrate, water, sugar, modified corn starch, dextrose, citric acid, salt, natural flavor (of what? orange?), torula yeast, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate, caramel color, spice, extracts of paprika, onion powder.

Ok, our duck is all massaged and relaxed, warmed up with the boiling water bath and now, time to hit the sauna, er, oven. Shh, when I invited him to dinner he had no idea he WAS dinner!

350* for 45 minutes

First 45 minutes is done.

Drain out liquids.

Flipped over, breast side down. Now, back into the oven for the next 45 minutes.

Second 45 minute baking session complete. Starting to look browned and crispy. :)

Turn the duck back over, breast side up, allowing the juices to drain from the cavity, as you turn it. Feel free to poke some more. I always give extra attention to the area around the legs where there are fatty deposits. Bake in for the last 45 minutes. This is when you start your side dishes. Tonight, we are having French Bread, Wild Rice and Broccoli.

Orange sauce ingredients to melt together.

Sauce ready to baste with.

10 or 15 minutes before the end, I take the duck out and cut it in half. Turn cut side facing down.

I don't change the temperature, but I change oven from bake to broil. 5 minutes under the broiler and then it's ready to baste with sauce which is just finishing.

Baste with orange sauce. Back under the broiler for 10 minutes. Keep watch, you don't want it to burn.

10 minutes under the broiler. Look how nice and crispy and brown! Baste it again when it comes out. :D

Use a serrated knife or kitchen scissors to cut into quarters. Some people are hungry enough to eat a half. That looks nice to serve. We just don't eat that much.

For a holiday meal, I'd add a nice healthy green salad too. But we've been nibbling dips and veggies all afternoon! :)

Broccoli, wild rice and fresh hot bread to go with. Yum!

Saucy Porkchops, Sauteed Spinach and Boiled Potatoes

2020-05-14T14:33:00.001+02:00

Under an hour meal....

Pork Loin
Onion
Flour
S&P
Chicken Broth

Fresh or Frozen Spinach
Garlic
Oil

Potatoes
*********************************

Slice pork loin into chops, dip in flour, brown in oil (I use bacon grease!) on both sides. Once the chops are browned, layer sliced onion on top and pour in can of broth. Put lid on after bringing to simmer. Allow to simmer until everything else is done. The longer, the better.

Spinach: Saute crushed garlic in olive oil. Once it's slightly browned, add a pound of sliced or chopped spinach to pan. Slowly saute over low heat, turning often, until tender.

Cut up washed potatoes and boil.

To serve, place a chop with gravy over boiled potatoes. Add spinach and a fresh salad and you're good to go! :)

Slice the pork loin into chops, slice the onion. Flour for the chops.

Flour the chops and add to hot oil in pan.

Pans all going.... Saute Garlic in pan.

Flip the chops as they brown, pepper both sides.

Add sliced onions and broth.

Cover and simmer.

Sauteed spinach. Adding salt.

Done simmering, gravy is thickening.

Serve with gravy.

Thai Coconut Chicken Chili

2020-05-14T14:21:00.002+02:00

I found this recipe in BH&G magazine. It looked interesting so I thought I'd share it with you.

12 oz. boneless skinless chicken, cut into small cubes
1 large onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1.5 teaspoon chili powder
1.5 teaspoon ground ginger
1 Tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 can coconut milk
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
1 can white cannellini beans, white northern beans
3 medium carrots, shredded
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 green onion, sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried

Fresh basil leaves and/or sliced jalapenos for garnishServe over hot rice.
**********************************

Cut up your raw chicken, and onions. Cook quickly in pot along with salt, pepper, ginger and chili powder.

Once chicken is no longer pink, add flour, mixing in well. Cook one minute longer.

Stir in coconut milk, peanut butter, beans (including juice), carrots, celery, green onion, garlic and chopped basil. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until veggies are tender to your liking. You may add up to a cup of water if it seems too thick for you.

P.S. I upped the amount of spice X2, I also added additional salt and black pepper. It seemed a bit lackluster before the additions.

Gather your ingredients. I ran the celery and carrots through the food processor to speed things up. The green onions I keep frozen after cutting up a couple pounds of them. I also grated fresh ginger instead of using powder.

All the spices. I prefer to mix up my own chili powder. About equal amounts of cayenne, oregano and cumin. Also here you'll see the salt and black pepper.

Cut-up chicken, onions, ginger and spices into the pot. I poured the spices onto the pot, not onto the meat or onions. With the heat up high, I wait for the smell of the toasting spices to reach my nose before I stir up the pot. Toasting the spices just brings out their aroma. :)

All stirred up. Now, I go start the rice, smash the garlic and open cans of coconut milk and beans, while the chicken is cooking.

Chicken is no longer pink, add the flour. After mixing in thoroughly, cook one more minute before adding more ingredients.

Peanut butter. A bit of a Thai flavor. Not overwhelming at all.

Add coconut milk.

Bring heat up so it starts to boil.

Add beans.

Carrots and Celery.

Green onions and garlic.

Stir it all up well and bring up to boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and gently simmer for 20 minutes. Stir every once in a while, so it doesn't stick to pan bottom and scorch.

Yum! Serve over rice. Very tasty!

Slow-cooked Korean BBQ Pork Butt

2020-05-14T14:18:00.002+02:00

** I thought I'd try another version of this yummy Korean BBQ sauce that I found at Super H Mart. So, here goes!

Pork Butt roast
BBQ Sauce (see picture)
( I will be coming up with a recipe for this sauce, homemade, since I cannot get it here, in France. Stay Tuned. )
Crock Pot
***********************

It is so simple, it seems silly to write it. But all I did was put the roast into the crock pot at 9AM, pour about 1/4 of the bottle of sauce over the roast, cover and cook on low until 6PM when we ate. It turned out delicious and tender. Not at all spicy hot. Very flavorful and saucy. If you want to use the gravy, make rice or noodles. I served ours with green beans, biscuits and red salad.

Lots of leftover. It will make some extraordinary BBQ sandwiches. :) I can hardly wait!

Large pork butt roast. This is boneless. It doesn't matter if it has bones. It will get so tender it'll fall off the bones if there are any. 9:00AM

Pour sauce over.

I used a spoon to spread the sauce over all of the meat.

Cover Crockpot. Set to LOW. Cook for 8-10 hours. Longer will not hurt it.

Here's the sauce. I used about 1/4 of the bottle.

6:00PM. All done, and scrumptious. Next time, I'll trim the visible fat off the roast. It was a little fatty in the gravy. There's plenty of marbleized fat in the meat, don't worry about it being dry.

There's lots of gravy in the Crockpot. Feel free to serve over noodles or rice. The incredible part was really enjoying this roast for the next couple of days. I pulled the meat off the fat and laid the cooked meat into tortillas with cheese and it made FANTASTIC pork and cheese quesadillas. Lay it on top of hot biscuits and make pulled pork sandwiches. It reheats in a flash and my family fought over who was going to eat the last of it!

Pork Roast with Sauerkraut

2020-05-13T13:01:00.000+02:00

Again, it's so simple.

Pork Roast, loin or tenderloin

Large can of sauerkraut, including juice
Optional:
Carrots, caraway seed, potatoes

Lay your roast in the baking dish, cover with sauerkraut. S&P to taste. Bake at 350*F until it reaches an internal temperature of 140F. Allow to rest outside the oven for a few minutes. The temperate will continue to rise. Don't over cook or it will become dry. One of the best lessons I've learned over the last few years is that pork can be eaten cooked to medium, a little pink inside.

I spread a bit of the sauerkraut in the bottom of pan, then laid the pork loin on top. Then I spread the balance of the can on top, don't drain the kraut's liquids down the drain, you'll want those in the pan with the roast.

Served here with a crusty French loaf and baked apples. There's something particularly good about the combination of pork, sauerkraut and hot apples. :) Enjoy!

Simple Shrimp Alfredo

2020-05-11T10:16:00.000+02:00

For as much as you have to pay for Alfredo pasta at restaurants, it really is SO simple to make!

Heavy Cream, or Half & Half, 16 ounces

Butter -1 stick

Parmesan -2-3 cups

Shrimp -1.5 lb.

Garlic -4-5 cloves, smashed

Onion -1 large

Parsley

Pepper

Fettuccine

P.S. This is NOT a fat free recipe <3

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Saute garlic and onions in olive oil or butter until softened. Add Shrimp. If they are frozen, it's better to rise them in cold water to remove any excess ice. Otherwise you need to cook off the moisture and it slows things down. When shrimp are about fully cooked, which doesn't take but a few minutes, add a stick of butter, melt in. Add a pint of cream (or half-n-half), stir well. Then 2 cups of fine Parmesan. Mix well and allow to bubble gently to melt together. Give it a few minutes. If you'd like it thicker, add the third cup of cheese. If you'd like, add in cooked hot broccoli. Spoon over hot fettuccine. Feel free to sell it for $20 a dish, like they do at restaurants! LOL!

Gather ingredients

I love my garlic press.

Garlic ready in a minute!

Onions in the pan too.

Just barely softened.

Time for the shrimp.

One stick of butter.

Into the onions and garlic. While butter is melting...

Getting the broccoli into boiling water since the sauce is almost done.

Beautiful Tomato, Garlic, Basil Fettuccine into the boiling water also.

Add cream.

And of course, the cheese!!

While it is simmering gently, I add a healthy dash of black pepper.

And parsley... Steaming broccoli in the way. LOL!

Pour broccoli out to drain so you don't add extra water to your sauce.

Yummy pasta drained.

You can add the broccoli directly to your sauce or serve it up separately. The Alfredo sauce is good on the broccoli as well as the pasta.

Enjoy!

City Chicken

2020-05-11T10:02:00.000+02:00

A favorite from my childhood, and it's not chicken

Pork Loin

Flour to dip

Egg to dip

Panko Crumbs to dip

Oil for frying

Bamboo Skewers

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For my Ohio friends, you'll notice that this is not the traditional veal, pork and beef version. For those who've never heard of this dish before, it's a traditional working class meal from the Depression Era. From what I understand, pork was cheaper than chicken, especially for those who lived far from the rural areas where chicken were bred. So, they put cubes of meat on skewers to fake a chicken leg and fried them. You'll find this dish primarily in the Midwestern vicinity of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and parts of New York State.

My mother used to make City Chicken half and half, veal and pork. Mine is all pork. Feel free to adjust the recipe to your own tastes.

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Cut slices of pork loin into cubes and thread onto skewers. 6 inch skewers are most easily handled. You'll see that I used 8 inch, couldn't find 6 inch and they are too long to fit into the dish of flour, etc. Messy.

Flour, egg wash and crumb the skewers and add to pan with hot oil. Fry until browned and crispy.

Very simple; yet crisp, tender and extremely moist. The crumb coating locks in the moisture and they are always delicious.

Don't worry if you have leftovers. They are delicious cold as lunch the next day.

I start with whole pork loin. Even with a hungry family with teenage boys, I can get three generous meals from one loin.

Cut loin slices into cubes.

Thread cubes onto skewers.Just touching, not PACKED on.

Fill the skewer.

Flour, egg wash and Panko Crumbs. Regular bread crumbs are just fine as well.

Ready to fry.

Into the hot oil they go.

I pepper them. I pepper just about everything but ice cream. :)

You have some time. Clean up as you go...

Turn them so all sides get browned.

Remove to plate with paper toweling under to catch excess oil.

To the table. Served tonight with wild rice, green beans, mandarin oranges and garlic bread. :)