Recipes

Paneer

2014-05-18T14:59:00.000-04:00

Made homemade paneer recently, from the recipe here.
Happy to say it turned out great.

Here's how I did it:

I used a large pot, 1 gal of cold, whole milk. Simmered (being careful not to boil) stirring very often until the temperature reached 200F. (this isn't the picture of that, I forgot to take one).

Then I added 1/2 cup of vinegar (you can use lemon juice), stirred a bit and let it sit for a few minutes.

After a few minutes had passed, I stirred the pot gently, then slowly scooped out some of the curd, then drained the rest of the contents into a cheesecloth lined sieve.

Let it drain a bit, then added a sprinkle of salt, and stirred, gently.

After the curd drained a minute or so I put on silicone gloves, the disposable kind. This mixture was still pretty hot, the gloves diffused some of that heat. Then tightly wrapped the mixture in the cheesecloth to strain, shaping it into a flat-ish, round-ish shape.

Then I put it in the sink on a cutting board, with a heavy weight on top (my boiling pot and milk jug, both filled with water).

Let it strain a while. Maybe 20 minutes or so, then put it in the fridge (minus the weight), wrapped in plastic wrap so it could get cold.

Left it there about a half an hour.

After a half hour in the fridge, I had homemade cheese! This was the first time attempting such a thing so I was happy it came out right!

(the little "bits" are some of the milk rind from the bottom of the pot, I didn't strain it and I didn't think to stop it from getting in with the curds. It only changes the aesthetics, not the taste)

I made this!:)

First try, but definitely not my last. This homemade paneer (aka farmers cheese) tasted so fresh and delicious. Went very well with the rajma masala I made this night.

We had some with dinner, and I froze the rest. Delicious!

Baked Salmon

2011-05-27T15:22:00.002-04:00

It's among the easiest of my recipes, but I never think to post it. Since this blog's in danger of becoming a "dessert blog" I thought I should post something healthy too :)

I can remember years ago not liking salmon at all but one day I decided to try it again and I guess tastes do change because I like this a lot these days.

Among the fillet-type fish I used to favor mild white fish, but given a choice (unless one is stuffed, I love stuffed foods) between baked (no-filling) cod (or similar) and baked salmon, I think I'd choose the salmon. It's meaty, but soft and mild. Unlike tilapia, which to me is the 'meatiest' fish I've ever had and I don't like it very much for some reason. Maybe that will change too, someday. For now, bring on the salmon!

Simple Salmon

1 salmon fillet (one side has skin, a lengthwise cut; same method for a steak)
dill (fresh or dried), to taste
lemon and pepper, to taste
non-fat cooking spray (or a little olive oil, or non-stick aluminum foil)

Line your cooking vessel of choice with foil (regular or non-stick).

Spray on some non-stick spray. Lay your fillet skin-side-down (if it's a steak, either side down is fine).

Sprinkle with dill, and drizzle with a little lemon.

Bake at 350ºF, uncovered, until firm and pink throughout. Depending on the size of your fish steak/fillet, about 30-45 min.

Add more lemon to taste. And pepper if you like. Pairs well with rice and veggies or flaked over pasta.

Delicious!

Instructables

2011-03-24T14:14:00.004-04:00

I love the Instructables website. Lot's of how-to's on just about everything and lots of fun stuff in general. Plenty of things I wouldn't dare try but some, like the recipes I do. Here's a few shots of a few I tried, with the links to the relating Instructable. I don't want to detail these because the instructions are pretty good as is.

First thing was the Microwave-in-a-mug popcorn, for when you want just a little bit.

This worked great except I won't use a glass mug anymore because it gets screaming hot and stays that way for a long time. The photos are from the first try, as you can see I used too much popcorn so next time I know to use a little less.

Using the same mug (on a different day), I tried the Brownie for one, a "from scratch," single-serve brownie dessert that you can make as gooey as you like.

It wasn't pretty but it was very good. Definitely a quick fix for a chocolate urge.

I wanted to make thumbprint cookies for Christmas and searched for recipes. The one that looked the best to me were the Miniature Danish Cookies.

These were fun to make. I think I made them smaller than I should have but that just made more cookies, which isn't a bad thing at all. I also made chocolate thumbprints but that was another recipe (found here, minus the mint).

The latest Instructable I tried were the homemade Cadbury-like Creme Eggs.

Wow, these were awesome! Not an exact match to a Cadbury Creme Egg, but as close as you can get. I made a half batch of the linked recipe and that was about 12 mini eggs. I don't have egg molds so I made them into pops. I don't think it would be difficult at all to work our way through a whole batch, so next time I plan to make the full recipe. I froze a couple of them too, so I can see if they're good once defrosted. I stored the rest in the fridge. They didn't last long!

I have a bunch more Instructables saved as favorites to try sometime so I may have more experiments to post at some point. These were fun and easy, always a plus.

Fudgesicles

2011-03-18T14:29:00.000-04:00

Super easy.

Three ingredients:

Soy milk
Glug of half & half (maybe 2 TBL worth)
Healthy squeeze of dark chocolate syrup

(amounts vary depending on how many pops, I used an 8.25oz single serve container of vanilla soy milk)

Mix well or pour into a bottle and shake well until syrup is dissolved.

Pour into your pop molds, freeze several hours or overnight.

Un-mold, usually have to dip the bottom part in hot water. For the molds I used I had to also dip the top part a second.

Enjoy!

I worried about the texture of frozen soy milk because even the Silk website says frozen then defrosted soy milks texture isn't good but supposedly it's fine for desserts/frozen items. And I've used soy milk for ice cream so this was a good experiment. A bit of an icy/watery texture but sufficiently creamy enough for a quick pop fix. Especially for those times when I can't fit my ice cream maker freezer bowl in the freezer, which is pretty often.

Pancakes

2011-03-13T14:02:00.007-04:00

When I want pancakes I usually just open a mix but making them from scratch is so worth the effort. There are plenty of recipes out there and plenty of variations. For my first try at this I wanted something easy that didn't require buttermilk because I never buy that. I used a recipe from here but tweaked it by using some of the suggestions in the comments. Also used soy milk instead of milk. Results? A really light and delicate, very delicious pancake breakfast that was totally worth the minimal effort of measuring and melting.

My adapted version:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar (can really be reduced to 1 TBS)
1 and a 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 Tsp. vanilla extract

For the soy milk, I used a whole single serve container of Silk Very Vanilla which is 8.25oz and sweetened so technically I didn't need the sugar at all. If I hadn't used the whole container, these might have been fluffier but they were fine as is.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a smaller bowl mix the egg, vanilla, and soy milk together. Add the melted butter and mix well. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the heated pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. When bubbles form it's time to flip, cooking until lightly browned on both sides.

Serve hot with butter, syrup, jam, whipped cream and fruit, or any other way you love to eat pancakes. Plenty of options.

Popovers

2009-02-14T16:27:00.004-05:00

A picture sure can be suggestive. I saw a photo of some popovers on Flickr and suddenly wanted to try some. It occurred to me that I'd never made popovers before (or scones for that matter 'till recently) so I'd have to find a recipe (no recipe with the Flickr photo).

No problem there. Lots of recipes out there. I tried this one because it looked easy and you could change the serving size (and have the correct ingredient amounts) with their handy dandy converter.

And I learned a lesson or two as well -- don't use butter to butter the sides or popovers won't pop, they'll have a sunken in spot on the bottom, use non-stick spray...and don't forget to use the non-stick spray as I did once or the popovers will stick to the muffin tin (I don't have a popover pan).

Also, don't be afraid to mix them well. I always worry about over mixing but in this case a few more beats would've been ok.

Still... they came out very good. They were light, airy, and yummy with butter or jam or both. I'll definitely be making them again. A great weekend treat.

The recipe:

2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 450F. Grease and flour six custard cups or the cups of your muffin pan. Or, coat with non-stick cooking spray (as I did on the batch that came out the best for me).

In a medium bowl beat the eggs slightly, beat in the flour, milk, and salt, until just smooth. Try not to over beat. Fill your custard or muffin cups 1/2 full.

Bake at 450F for 20 minutes. Decrease the oven temperature to 350F and bake for 20 minutes more. Immediately remove from cups and serve hot.

The peanut butter ice (cream) experiment

2009-01-18T19:40:00.010-05:00

I knew I had an ice cream maker somewhere in this house. Found it recently and after this little experiment, remembered why I stored it away... I can't make decent ice cream. But I'm going to keep trying (so long as the thing keeps working anyway) because one of these days I'll get right.

This? Was an adaption from a bunch of different recipes and another something I forgot... soy milk added to a cream mixture makes ice milk (or ice, period), not ice cream. Still, for a first try (in so many years), it was ok. I have something else in mind for any future attempts... like actually using cream (not half & half) and also trying this recipe with peanut butter (I'm allergic to hazelnuts) sometime soon.

I should've used all half & half for this recipe but I was trying to "healthy it up" a bit but by doing so it changed the texture. A lot!

The recipe:

1 1/2 cups half & half
1 1/2 cup soy milk
(should have tried 2 1/2 cups 1/2 & 1/2 and 1/2 cup soy milk)
3/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup sugar

I heated all the ingredients in a saucepan until the sugar and powdered milk was dissolved and the peanut butter was melted. Stored the mixture in the fridge and added it to the ice cream maker per instructions the next day.

The result was a peanut butter ice milk concoction (that I took out of the freezer and stirred every hour for a few hours to help thicken it up) that wasn't bad at all but not what I was hoping for.

Better luck next time.

Chocolate cake, ganache, and marshmallow

2008-11-03T13:20:00.016-05:00

This almost worked.

I found the marshmallow frosting and ganache* recipes here.

My version? It wasn't pretty but it tasted good. That's pretty much how most of what I make comes out. Tasty, not pretty. Just eat it! :)

My mistake(s) this time was making the frosting too soon and then (gasp!) refrigerating it. Let that be a lesson to all...do not refrigerate homemade marshmallow frosting until you've already frosted your cake! Silly me.

That said... this was still really good.

I used a boxed cake mix...hey, I considered trying one from scratch but I thought I was being adventurous enough trying the homemade frosting. I've made the confectioners sugar (with and without cream cheese) kind, but never a "cook on the stove" kind. Someday I'm going to brave a butter cream attempt (maybe this one). Not this day though.

I sliced the cake carefully (by hand, no dental floss* trick, though I considered it) into 4 layers. Used this* ganache recipe (fabulous!) on each layer, and the marshmallow frosting on top.

The result? Well, as I said, it's not pretty but it sure was good. The ganache keeps the cake moist and the marshmallow frosting is light (even my soupy version, it thickened up after re-refrigeration) and not too sweet and really brought out the chocolate flavor in the (yep, boxed) chocolate cake. Yummy!

A little picture story... click the images to see the larger versions:

I'd make this again. It was a big hit. I just won't refrigerate the frosting until it's on the cake!
(so it won't get oozy next time)

Apple cake

2008-03-23T08:04:00.003-04:00

...Or overflowing apple cake. Either. My own fault. Always follow your instinct when cooking. I thought I should have split this batter into two pans but for some reason thought it would be fine, and left it as is. Good thing I went with the "cook it on a cookie sheet" option (and listened to that instinctual nudge)!

I've made this recipe twice so far. First time I had the overflow problem, second time I split what looked like too little batter into two separate pans. Good thing. That too-little-looking batter totally filled both pans. So definitely split this into two pans if it looks like a lot. The pan shouldn't be more than 1/4 full.

I got the recipe from here. You can frost this cake but I chose not to.

First time, instead of dicing, I shredded the apple and followed the rest of the recipe as-is. The second time I shredded half and diced half, to see if it made a difference in the texture, and used 1 & 1/2 cups of sugar instead of two. I wanted to see if cutting down changes anything. For some reason the two cups of sugar to only two cups of flour seemed like an awful lot. Using 1/2 cup less of sugar didn't seem to make any difference so I'll make this using 1 1/2 cups of sugar from now on.

The recipe:

4 cups peeled and diced apples (1st try, I shredded 8 small apples, which was about 3-3 1/2 cups or so; 2nd try, half diced and half shredded was about 4-4 1/2 cups)
2 cups sugar (second time, I used 1 1/2 cups sugar, and will from now on)
1/2 cup salad oil
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour (all purpose, not self rising)
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

Heat your oven to 350ºF degrees. In a large bowl, mix apples and sugar thoroughly.

(The original recipe adds the rest of the ingredients to the apple mixture but I kept the apples and sugar in one bowl and the rest in another and mixed them together after prepping each.)

Add the oil, nuts, eggs and vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the apple mixture.

Bake in a greased 13x9 inch pan for 1 hour. (I used one 13x9 pan the first time and had the overflow problem, second time I used a 13x9 pan and a 9x9 pan, worked perfectly) Slightly underdone is better (according to the recipe, see link above) than overdone. I'd agree with that because you have to factor in carryover*.

Start checking this at the half hour mark if you split the batter. My second (split) batch took 35 minutes to cook.

This will turn a very toasty shade of brown. That's ok, it's from all the sugar and the cinnamon.

Taste-wise...this was very moist, and tasty. And surprisingly, not overly sweet at all. Dicing the apples does make a difference in the texture. The apple pieces get all soft and pleasingly gooey. I think dicing half and shredding half is a good mix.

I wanted something different from the cobbler-type dessert I usually make when I have a surplus of apples and this worked great. Quick and easy and just the something different I was looking for.

This froze and defrosted well too. I cut up the cake from the second pan into single servings (zippy bagged them) and froze them to take to work. It was just as good as the day I baked it.

Stuffed Mushrooms

2007-10-06T16:23:00.000-04:00

Something I threw together while making something else. I didn't have a recipe, just went with what seemed right. I was pretty happy (considering I had no recipe) that it came out good! :)

I used large white mushrooms (I had 8 at the time) with the stems removed, and reserved. Lightly salted the insides. Baked the caps empty-side-up, for about 20-25 minutes in a toaster oven on 325F, until they lost some of their moisture, but still held their shape.

For the filling, I finely chopped the following and put it in a small bowl:

1/2 celery rib
1/4 onion
1 plum tomato
8 stems with the (picked side) ends cut off

To this I added one shredded baby carrot, 2-3 tablespoons of flavored breadcrumbs, one tablespoon (store bought) shredded Parmesan cheese, and about a tablespoon of melted butter. Mixed it well, and filled each mushroom cap evenly, and overfilled them with what was left.

I baked this in a toaster oven at 350F for about 30 minutes.

The result? Oh, they were delicious! And I will definitely be making these again. I didn't realize how easy this kind of treat could be. And because the filling would change depending on what ingredients I have handy, it would end up a little different every time. That would add some variety to my usual veggies. Maybe next time I can skip the butter and use a spray on salad dressing instead, or some butter flavored (non-stick) spray.

Sweet Cheat Popcorn

2007-08-05T15:58:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to make a kettle-corn style popcorn and an easy caramel type popcorn for ages. By "easy" I mean-- one pot, no separate caramel making, no additional baking, with butter and salt being optional. Easy, you know?

Every time I just tried adding a little (1/4 cup or less) brown sugar to the heating kernels (stove top popcorn prep), I'd end up with hard granules attached to the corn. Not quite what I was looking for. Not to mention a little hard on my teeth.

I think I finally did it though. It was a total fluke. While the kernels were heating up (again, stove top prep, kernels cooking in a little oil) I added some brown sugar, like usual. Only this time, instead of just stirring and hoping for the best, I also added a little water.

This made all the difference! The water dissolved the sugar (have to stir this mixture until the kernels start popping, then continue cooking with the cover on, keeping the pot moving), and the whole works boiled and became a syrupy consistency by the time the kernels started to pop. The syrupy mixture cooked onto the newly popped kernels and finally I had easy stove top sweet popcorn! Yum!

Of course, this probably isn't a secret, and many of you out there, likely already knew this. Silly me though for never thinking of it 'till recently. (I worried that adding water to popcorn makes mush; it probably does if the kernels have popped, but not while they're still kernels.)

So, this adds to the many ways you can make popcorn. To this sweet mixture I've drizzled butter on top and added salt. Very tasty! But probably best as an occasional treat.

The best thing is, made this way, it's tasty as-is, which is exactly what I wanted. A little sweet, without the added butter or extra steps trying to make caramel or having to bake it. Still have to be extra careful of the unpopped kernels. Now they'll likely stick to the popped ones. Eat carefully!

Cinnamon Gnocchi

2007-06-19T20:40:00.000-04:00

I saw this recipe on Everyday Italian, only, the recipe that was in the episode doesn't quite match the recipe on the website. Strange.

In the episode, she used a half of a cup of sugar, and a tablespoon or so of cinnamon, which is different than the website version.

I made my own version so I guess it doesn't matter. I was kind of bummed that I couldn't get the sugar to dissolve in the butter. At least it looked that way but in the end, the sugar dissolved and this came out pretty good.

I've never had gnocchi before so this was a completely different dessert for me and definitely not the way I intended to have it initially. Nice change. (I intended to add the gnocchi to tomato sauce)

This is how I made this:

1 & 1/2 cups gnocchi, boiled in salted water until tender (per package instructions), and drained

Set this aside.

In the same saucepan that I cooked the gnocchi in (empty now but still hot) I added:

1/2 stick butter
1 cinnamon stick

Melt the butter, and then add:

1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Cook this mixture until the sugar melts, or, 3-5 minutes on low to medium heat, stirring often.

Remove the cinnamon stick. Add the drained gnocchi.

In both the website and TV episode version of this recipe, that was it. Done. In my version, I cooked the gnocchi in the sauce another two minutes.

That's it. Plate it and enjoy.
Definitely have to serve this warm!

I felt better having used much less butter, but wondered if more butter made the sauce thicker. Possibly. But I'd rather have a slightly looser sauce and know I used a lot less butter.

Another good thing about this recipe is the wonderful way it makes your kitchen smell. Dessert and aromatherapy all in one. Nice!

Birds in a Nest

2007-03-26T13:23:00.000-04:00

I was half watching a 30 Minute Meals episode and discovered this fun twist on eggs and toast.

My version for two requires 4 eggs, 4 pieces of bread (any sliced bread, I used Italian, and cooked up the cut-outs too), 1-3 TBS. butter, and salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat a frying pan on medium heat. (If you're using a small pan, you can cook these in smaller batches) Use a small cup or circular cutter to cut a circle in the center of each piece of bread. Lower the heat to medium. Melt 1 or two TBS. of butter in the hot frying pan. Arrange your bread in the pan. (I placed the bread in the pan, allowed it to soak up a little butter, then turned it over)

Carefully break an egg into the center of each piece of bread. Pepper to taste. Add a dash of salt if you wish. Cook to desired doneness.

You're basically frying your toast instead of baking it. If you like your eggs soft side up you will be done within 3-4 minutes. If you like them over-easy, just flip and wait a minute.

I like mine well done.

This was kind of fun (new twist, cute name) so it worked nicely. Might try spicing it up a bit next time or sprinkling on some cheese (parmesan or cheddar) right at the end.

A.B.'s Peanut Butter Fudge (easy!)

2007-02-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

I saw this recipe on Good Eats. Yummmmy!

Sure looked easy. Alton Brown uses a microwave, but I don't have one (really!) so I did this on the stove top. The episode recipe is here. I think mine is the same except that I don't have a scale so I checked for conversions and came up with what I thought was close enough. Someday I hope to try his chocolate fudge. Looked really good in the episode.

This peanut butter fudge recipe is easy!

Before you start, prepare a square (8"x8" or 9"x9") pan by lining it with non-stick foil, waxed paper, or parchment paper. Set aside.

You'll need:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup creamy (smooth) peanut butter

Melt this in a saucepan on low heat (or in your microwave), stirring often.

In a (metal or heat safe) bowl, add 1 lb (or about 3 and 3/4 cups) sifted confectioners (powdered) sugar.

Add 1 Tsp. vanilla to the bowl.

When the peanut butter and butter is thoroughly melted, add the mixture to the bowl and stir to combine. Mix well! Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and cover with a piece of waxed paper. Refrigerate for a couple of hours (or overnight) and when cool, cut into squares and enjoy!

These were melt in your mouth delicious! Good for the occasional treat.

I also tried a chocolate version of this recipe. I wasn't brave enough to try it without some peanut butter added in case it added something to the texture.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth)
1 and 1/4 cups chocolate chips
2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1 Tsp. vanilla
Prepared the same way as above.

For a little variety, the peanut butter chocolate fudge would work out pretty good. A different mouth feel than the version I usually make (when making easy chocolate "fudge"). Fun to experiment sometimes.

Bread Pudding

2007-01-20T15:50:00.000-05:00

There are so many variations of this recipe out there. I just winged it, and usually do with this recipe. I've made this before and it comes out a little different every time. It always tastes good though, and that's the point. Something about the nutmeg and the milk, comfort food for sure. Very yummy.

This is the recipe I used the last time I made it, and the only thing I would do differently, is add more soy milk. In the bread pudding pictured, I used about 2 cups. The next time I'll use about 2 1/2 to 3 cups.

Ingredients:

8-10 slices white bread, cut in to cubes
2 1/2 - 3 cups soy milk (I used vanilla flavored, you can use regular milk of course)
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 TBS to sprinkle over the top
Dash salt
4 eggs beaten
1 Tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon & nutmeg (about 1 Tsp. or to taste, plus a couple of dashes on top)
Non-fat cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 325ºF -- preheat to 350ºF if using metal baking dishes. I used corningware in aluminum, so I cooked this longer, at a lower temperature.

Spray a baking dish with non-fat cooking spray and set aside. Set aside a larger baking pan. The smaller one will sit in the larger one, along with some water.

Place your cut up bread in the smaller baking dish. In a bowl with a whisk, beat the eggs well. Add the soy milk and whisk together. Add the 3/4 cup sugar, the nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt, and mix well.

Slowly pour the mixture over the cubed bread. Make sure you do not fill your baking dish to the very top. The mixture will rise when cooked and might overflow if the container is too full. Gently press the bread so all of it soaks up the egg mixture.

Sprinkle the remaining 2 TBS. sugar over the top. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and nutmeg over the top as well. Lightly cover with foil (make a little tent so the foil isn't touching the top of the bread pudding), and poke a few holes in the foil so the steam can vent while cooking.

Place the empty, larger baking dish on a center rack in your oven. Carefully place the smaller, foil covered baking dish inside the larger one. Carefully pour hot tap water in the larger baking dish until the water level is just less than 1/2 up the side of the smaller baking dish.

(This is called a "water bath" and is to ensure even, gentle heating of your custard)

Depending on your cooking vessel and oven, cook for 30-40 minutes and remove the foil cover. Cook for another 20-40 minutes, checking at the 20 minute mark. When the bread pudding is done, it will rise a little in the baking dish, be golden brown on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean.

This is my version which is much thicker. In a milkier version, (the kind I'll make next time!) the bread pudding custard will be a little runny, and will feel slightly firm, and even jiggle a little when the baking dish is gently shaken. The toothpick should still come out clean though.

This is best served warm, and can be gently reheated. Very much a tasty comfort food.

Devilled Eggs

2006-12-18T20:57:00.000-05:00

There are many devilled egg recipes out there. This is a quick version I tried. They weren't pretty but they sure tasted good.

You will need:

6 hardboiled eggs, shells removed
1/2 Tsp. ground mustard seed or 1-2 Tsp. mustard (the kind you'd put on your sandwich)
1-2 TBS. (per taste) cider or red wine vinegar
1/4 cup (plus 1 TBS. if needed) mayonnaise
Pepper (to taste)
Dash of salt
Paprika

Cut the eggs in half and reserve the yolks in a small bowl. Arrange the egg halves on a plate. Add the mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, and some of the mayo to the bowl of egg yolks and mash together with a fork or the back of a tablespoon. Add a little more mayonnaise as needed to make the yolks loose enough to spoon or pipe into your egg halves.

I spooned the yolk mixture into the egg halves, then sprinkled with paprika.

As an alternative, you can use a zip top or flap top sandwich bag, spoon the yolk mixture into the bag, work the mixture to one corner, snip the corner with a clean pair of scissors, and squeeze the mixture on to each egg half in a decorative swirl. That would create a much prettier result than mine.

These were tasty though, and I made them because wanted to see how difficult they were to make (they were easy!) and how they would taste. For a gathering, I would try a little harder to make them look better. For a snack at home with family, these were very good as is.

Easy Appetizer Meatballs

2006-11-24T18:04:00.000-05:00

A few years ago my aunt started making these scrumptious meatballs for holiday snacking and I've always wanted to try making them myself because they were just so good. Had I known how easy they could be to make, I would've made them much sooner. (She always calls them "Swedish meatballs" but technically they're just flavored, and very tasty!)

She uses frozen meatballs for this but you can make your own, which is what I did. If you use frozen meatballs, prepare those per package instructions or bake them as I baked my home made ones.

Her recipe is a lot like the rest of the recipes in our family, kind of loose without exact measurements so you can experiment with the amounts to find what you like the best.

If anyone knows the original recipe for this I would be happy to attribute it.

This is how I made them:

--Meatballs--

1 lb ground beef (any ground meat of choice or combination would do fine but since it's the sauce that make this so good, you might want to save the more expensive stuff for another meal)
1 egg
1 onion finely diced or shredded (I shredded)
dash of milk
3 baby carrots, shredded (for moisture, and an added touch of "veggie")
1/2 cup or so of breadcrumbs plain or flavored (or 2 slices of bread, dampened with water, then squeezed of the excess water; I used Italian flavored breadcrumbs)
Dash of pepper
Dash of thyme

Mix the above ingredients together well.

On a baking sheet (the kind with sides, lined with foil, or a wire rack with a tray to catch the fat) that you've sprayed with non-stick cooking spray-- roll the mixture into small 1 inch or smaller balls and place on your bake ware of choice. Only a small amount of room in between meatballs is required. They do not lump together when cooking.

Cook at 350ºF for about an hour. Halfway through the cooking time you can turn each one (or if you're using the pan with sides, just give the pan a little shake) and continue cooking.

When the meatballs are cooked (cut one in half and make sure it's cooked all the way through) remove them from the oven and lower your oven temperature to 325ºF.

Place your meatballs in a baking dish. I used a corningware casserole container for the next step.

--The Sauce--

In a small bowl mix the following together:

1 cup of barbeque sauce
4-5 heaping tablespoons of grape jelly (yep, I was surprised too)
1/4 cup water (optional, I added this water, it wasn't part of the recipe)

Pour the mixture over the cooked meatballs.

Bake (at 325ºF) covered (I cover with foil) for 45 minutes to an hour. The mixture will be bubbly and dark.

And that's it, you're done!

Serve with toothpicks at your next gathering, or as a sweet and special side with some veggies and your favorite potato or rice.

I think the only thing I would do differently next time is make these meatballs just a little smaller. Mine were slightly bigger than the inch size. Other than that, they were very good. There is a taste-difference between the packaged (ready-made) meatballs and home made of course, but it all comes down to how much time you have and what you're making them for. Making this for a party? The frozen variety will save you prep time, and they taste good so go for it.

It was good to make these, and find they tasted as good as my aunt's version. Something different and tasty that reminds me of holidays and family time. Can't go wrong with that.

Mini Pizza (a variation)

2005-10-22T20:33:00.000-04:00

I saw a commercial recently that showed those easy-bake biscuits being used for various other things like flaky desserts and little pizzas and ooh, that all looked very good.

I didn't have a recipe for this or anything, but here's a little variation of the english muffin mini pizza I'd have made otherwise.

This was dinner:

Two (from the canister) biscuit dough rolls, kneaded into a flat round disk each, and placed on a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray. Add sliced tomatoes and spray each lightly with butter flavor cooking spray. Bake at 350F (or in your toaster oven, as I did on high/500F) for 5 minutes. Need to partially bake the biscuit dough so it isn't soggy and so the dough can thoroughly cook.

Remove from the heat and add your toppings. I used french fried onions (the kind from the can), oregano, pepper, and 2% fat shredded cheddar cheese (pre-packaged, this was a very quick & easy dinner). Bake for 15 minuntes or until the dough is golden and the cheese is bubbly.

Made for a tasty, easy meal. Not one I'd have everyday but once in a while something like this hits the spot. Sometimes I put a chunk of cheese in the center of these (from the canister) type of biscuits and bake with a bit on top. Goes well with dinner, or alone for breakfast on a weekend.

Stuffed Chicken

2005-06-01T23:45:00.000-04:00

I usually like anything that's stuffed. Fish, chicken, veggies, mmmmmm! If it's got something in it, chances are I'll try it (though, there are some exceptions).

I had recently read about an interesting recipe for chicken roulade. The stuffing was a mix of asparagus and goat cheese (among other things) and sounded like it would be very good. But of course, I had neither fresh asparagus (canned or jarred might've been too mushy) and no feta (that's almost a crime!).... but I still wanted to give this a shot.

So, I used what I had... and made my very first roulade! (well, sort of...) I think this could be fun to experiment with different filling combinations. For now, this is what I threw together. This was enough for two, served with some rice and veggies.

This is what I used:

1 celery stalk, 3 baby carrots, 1/2 small onion, diced fine (also called a mirepoix)
butter, about 4 TBS
pepper
1/2 - 3/4 cup bread crumbs (I used Italian flavored)
1 boneless chicken breast
nonstick cooking spray
wooden toothpicks

Line a baking/roasting pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. An oven-safe container without foil, but sprayed with the nonstick spray will work nicely too.

Heat up a small sauce pan and add the butter. Once melted, add the diced celery, onion, and carrot mixture and let that saute a bit on very low heat, stirring occasionally.

Lay out a large sheet of clear plastic wrap (I did this on a cutting board) and place your chicken breast on top towards one side, and cover with the remaining plastic. You want the piece of chicken to be in the center. With the flat side of a meat tenderizer (food mallet, can bottom, anything that's hard, unbreakable, that you can use to) flatten the chicken breast until it's a little (flatter and) wider than what you started with. You want it thin enough to roll but thick enough to be able to hold the stuffing.

This took me a little time because I didn't want to create any holes so I didn't bang too hard. Basically you need to pound the meat in the center (or) where it's the thickest and slide outwards. Also, I'm not sure which side is the better side to pound, but if this breast had skin (it didn't, but if it did), I pounded the skin side (and flipped the piece over before adding the filling). It just seemed like the other side was more delicate and might tear too easily.

Add the breadcrumbs to the butter, celery, carrot, and onion mixture and stir to mix well. Take off the heat.

Remove the top layer of plastic wrap from your chicken and spoon on your filling, with more filling on the wider end because you will roll from here. Don't over-stuff! Too much stuffing just ends up oozing out the sides of the roll (like in the picture below). It's ok if you have extra filling, it can be wrapped in foil and cooked separately.

Using the plastic wrap to help you, but being careful not to include the plastic wrap inside the chicken, roll your flattened chicken breast from the wider side to the narrower side (though now, I wonder if it would've been better to roll from the narrower side to the wider side). Use two-4 toothpicks to secure. Still using the plastic wrap to hold your roll, place your rolled chicken open/seam side down on your prepared baking dish and then discard the wrap.

Use a fork or wooden toothpick to gently poke some holes along the top and sides of the roll. Shake on some pepper. Bake (uncovered) until the juices run clear (when poked with a toothpick).

I cooked this in a toaster oven on high (450-500°F), for about 35-40 minutes. In a regular oven, I'd start checking it after 25 min (at 350°F). Also cut it in half to be sure it was cooked through. First time making this, seemed like a good idea to make sure.

Maybe next time I'll try rolling the other way (narrow end to wide end) and see if that's easier. I didn't have time to refrigerate the roll for a few hours before cooking it, but doing so might've prevented the filling from oozing out a bit too. So that, along with a different filling mixture is something to consider the next time I try this.

Although it's nothing like the recipe that sparked the urge to try this type of thing, all in all, I'd say it came out pretty good.

Tofu - pudding/pie filling?

2005-02-27T14:52:00.000-05:00

I saw a recipe in a magazine for tofu pudding. Sounded simple and easy, and of course, tasty. Also saw something similar on a Good Eats episode. Both recipes were meant to be used as a pie filling.

Since the magazine recipe had only 3 ingredients (1 pkg. firm tofu, drained, 12 oz. melted chocolate chips, 1 tsp. vanilla, blend on high until smooth in a blender), I figured it wouldn't take too long (and it didn't).

I wonder if the resulting texture was correct though. It was more, fudge-like than pudding like. It would've made a great pudding dessert if served right away because it had a fluid texture and was smooth (though slightly bland with a darker chocolatey color). But once refrigerated, the fluid-like texture becomes very firm and thick (and the color lightened). So I'm not sure how this would be in a pie. With cream (or whipped topping) folded in it might make a nice cake filling.

Still..... healthy chocolate? Mmmmm. I think next time I'll add honey (as in the Good Eats recipe) and maybe some Kahlua for added flavor.

If you try this, make sure you drain the tofu well; place wrapped in paper towels with a weight/heavy can on top so the water can drain. Let it drain for about an hour.

Both recipes recommended using a blender but I think I'll try this in a food processor to see if it comes together quicker. Plan to also try using silken tofu to see if that changes the texture after refrigerating.

Overall, this was good. Dense and heavy, but pretty good.

Turkey Meat Loaf

2005-02-16T09:15:00.000-05:00

Mom's meat loaf...

I always knew there was a secret to some recipes. Like the tasty stews and meat loaf meals that my mother made (and still makes). I always tried so hard to make them come out just the way she did, but never managed it. Finally I asked her what her secret was, and what was I doing wrong?

It turns out there are these "flavor packets" (powder mixes) for stews, meat loaf, and other such meal items (like the bake-in-a-bag roasted meals, those need a nice secret mix too).
Surprise! She thought I knew. Nope. And yep, she had a good laugh about it too.

Ok... now I know. And won't ever make another meat loaf (or stew) without a mix! Ah, but not the whole mix. If you use the whole mix, it usually comes out too salty (for us anyway). So you have to adjust for taste. If you like it really salty, use the whole mix, if you don't, use about half.

This is her basic meat loaf recipe, only, a healthier version, made with ground turkey instead of ground beef. Little by little I've managed to decrease the red meat we were having too often with "other white meat" meals. Like this one. (turkey tacos anyone? they're pretty good too...but thats another recipe and not-so-secret mix)

1/2 to 3/4 ground turkey
1 egg, beaten
2-3 TBS milk (or half & half)
1-2 pieces of sliced bread, (dampen it with water, squeeze excess)
dash onion powder
dash (dried) sweet basil
dash (dried) oregano
dash (dried) paprika
pepper to taste
1/2 packet "meat loaf mix" (seasoning packet, pick your favorite brand, there are a few)
1 8oz. can tomato sauce

Mix everything together except the tomato sauce. Make sure the bread is mixed in well. Place the mixture in a loaf pan (we usually put it in a foil lined loaf pan, for easier cleanup). Pour the tomato sauce on top and add a little more pepper and onion powder.

Bake at 350°F (in the center rack of your oven) for 1 and a half hours.

Tasty!

We accompanied this particular meal with onion potatoes and brussel sprouts.

For the potatoes, mix a little oil (just enough to coat the potatoes) and some onion soup mix (there's another mix!) in a baking/roasting pan, add some potatoes (cut however you like them, we usually do a large dice) and mix well. Make sure the potatoes are all coated with the oil and soup mix. Add a little water and bake for an hour or so (same temp). I found the onion potato recipe on the onion soup mix box, and have made it before. I just don't usually mix this in a plastic bag as they recommend. Too messy (and you can't get all the mix out of the bag afterwards, so it's kind of a waste).

A night or two later, the leftover meat loaf became (with the help of a seasoned tomato sauce) a very satisfying meat sauce for spagetti.

Quick Tomato sauce

2 8oz. cans tomato sauce
add a dash of: oregano, pepper, crushed rosemary, onion powder, salt
leftover meat loaf, crumbled

In a sauce pan on low heat, bring the sauce and seasonings to a slow simmer and cook for about 20-25 minutes. Use it on your favorite pasta. Mmm!

Easy Chocolate Fudge

2005-01-19T09:30:00.001-05:00

My cousin passed this one along a few Christmas's ago. Love how easy this one is. No complications and it always comes out great. Granted, it's not the same as the kind you need a candy thermometer for, but when you need a chocolate fix, this does the trick quite nicely.

You will need:

12 oz. milk chocolate chips
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated)
1 1/2 - 2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 TBS. butter
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
chocolate chips, chopped nuts, sprinkles --optional topping variations

In heavy saucepan, over low heat, heat up the sweetened condensed milk (do not boil!). Stir this as it's warming so it doesn't scald. When it's hot (but not boiling), add the chocolate chips and stir until smooth.

When all the chocolate chips are melted, turn off the heat and add the vanilla. Add the butter and stir quickly until it melts. Add the nuts (if you're adding any) and mix well.

Spread evenly into a wax (or parchment) paper lined 8-inch square pan.
Chill 2 to 3 hours (or better, overnight) until firm.

When you're ready to cut...turn fudge onto cutting board; peel off paper and cut into squares. Store loosely covered at room temperature. This can be stored in the fridge for a week or so, just take it out an hour or two before you want to eat it.

If you want a topping (nuts, chocolate chips, sprinkles), you can add them on top before putting the fudge in to the refrigerator to cool. When you're ready to cut the fudge, instead of turning the pan over, use the wax (or parchment) paper to pull the fudge out of the pan, and cut then cut it into squares.

Adding the topping to the pan before adding the fudge sometimes leads to it being mixed in and when you turn the pan over later, the topping ends up uneven; adding it on top just before refrigerating, you can press it lightly onto the top of the fudge and it will stay in place better when cutting.

This is a soft fudge that tastes very much like the chips you use, so you'll want to use a kind you like. Milk chocolate works better than the semisweet variety in this recipe.

Chocolate nut clusters

2005-01-14T23:31:00.000-05:00

Just something tasty that's very quick. I tried this two ways. The first attempt was using some corn syrup and a little butter along with the chocolate. Seized! Obviously did something wrong and since I'm not sure what, (maybe the order I added the ingredients, or maybe it was steam; I used a big metal bowl over a small saucepan with boiling water-- a do-it-yourself double boiler), the second time I tried what works.

I was aiming for a nice sheen and some snap. Maybe next time.
The second attempt worked just fine.

I had some leftover cashews from an unsalted snack container and some sliced almonds leftover from the cookies I made.

This is easy.

Bake about 2 cups worth of whole (shelled, unsalted) nuts (mixed, on a foil lined baking sheet) for about 5 minutes in a 350°F oven. Stir and check them every other minute or so because nuts burn so quickly. Take them out of the oven when they're very lightly browned (or tanned... too brown makes them bitter).

On the stovetop in a small saucepan (direct, didn't try the double boiler method the second time) melt three quarters of an 11.5oz bag (or all of it if you like) of milk chocolate chips on very low heat. Stir this continuously once the chips start to melt. When all the chips are melted and your chocolate is smooth, take this off the heat. Add the nut mixture and stir well to coat.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on to wax or parchment paper. It's best if this paper is on a cookie sheet that will fit in your refrigerator. Once you've spooned out the chocolate nut clusters, refrigerate until they're set. A few hours or overnight (if like me, this is the last thing you make after several batches of other cookies; it's time to rest then).

I usually put these (types of goodies) in little paper baking cups or arrange them on a dish. Presentation isn't really important because it's chocolate and chocolate never lasts long :)

Also think these taste best when they're room temperature. Store them in the fridge and take them out an hour or so before you want to eat them.

If you can wait that long. Mmmmmmmmmm!

More pictures here and here.

Fenikia (Greek Honey Cookies)

2004-12-31T11:58:00.001-05:00

My grandmother taught me how to make these just this way. They always come out perfect even though it's bit unorthodox in it's measurements. The size of your glass determines how big a batch you will end up with. It's a favorite because they're tasty and fun to make (well I think so). There are more precise recipes out there, but I follow this one.

The mastika* can be found at specialty shops and international markets. We usually get ours from my grandmother who gets it from Greece when she's there. I've also found it online. Without the mastika, this would come out just as good, but the flavor would be a little different.

In a large bowl, mix together the following:

1 glass (8-16 oz) of oil (vegetable or other light oil)
1 stick (8 TBS) melted butter or margarine (if butter, let the milk solids settle to the bottom of your saucepan and use only the clear butter)
1/2 glass orange juice
1/2 glass sugar (can be reduced to 1/4 glass)
3/4 glass of farina (uncooked)
mastika (masticha), crushed (use a rolling pin and crush with sugar)
dash cloves (powdered)
dash cinnamon
1 Tsp. baking powder
1/2 Tsp. baking soda
dash salt
Flour, sifted

optional, when shaping cookies, fold a walnut (or other nut) into the center,
or, you can add crushed nuts with a little sugar and cinnamon (this is also used as a garnish on the honey-dipped variety)

In a mixing bowl add everything except the last four ingredients and blend well.

Add sifted flour, enough to form a workable dough. Add more flour as needed. The dough will be oily, more flour helps firm it up. Refrigerating the dough helps too.

Shape dough into oblong ovals (kind of like a halved hard boiled egg) and with your thumb, press a slight indentation into the top, the long way. If you dip these, the syrup will pool there (a bit) and have a better chance of being absorbed.

Place the shaped dough about an inch apart on your (ungreased) cookie sheet.

Bake in a (preheated) 400° oven for 15-20 minutes. They should be firm and a light brown in color, slightly brown on the bottom.

These can be eaten as-is, or you can dip them in the following syrup:

Boil in a small saucepan:

1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
lemon juice (2 TBS. or so reconstituted type, or a firm squeeze of fresh)

Bring the first three ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan and let boil for at least 5 minutes. Take off the heat and add a good squeeze of lemon (or the 2 TBS. reconstituted lemon juice). You can reheat this on low heat to warm it back up if it cools before you're done.

Dip the cookies into this syrup; keep submersed for a few seconds and then place on wax paper or a draining rack. The cookies will absorb more of the syrup if they're still warm. Garnish with a sprinkle of the nut mixture.

For the nut mixture, mix together in a bowl:
1 cup crushed nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, peanuts, any type), 1/3 cup sugar 1 Tsp. each of cinnamon and cloves.

These are dense, satisfying, and very tasty. The undipped version can be saved for a week or so in an airtight container (and dipped later, or just eaten plain). Store layered on paper towels. The dipped variety never lasted very long around here :)

You can view two more pictures here and here.

Butter balls (cookies)

2004-12-25T12:13:00.001-05:00

I've seen some variations of this recipe, as well as different names but this is the recipe and name I use most often. Usually I make these at Christmas time because they're often requested. They're fancy-looking when they're done, and most importantly, they taste good (especially with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate; it's a dry cookie). They're really easy to make and would probably be good anytime, but even so, I consider them a special occasion kind of cookie.

I should also probably admit that my butter balls almost always end up as butter semi-flats (not completely flat, thankfully). Not sure why, maybe because of the amount of butter. Nobody every complains so I guess that's a good enough reason not to worry about it. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely chopped nuts (usually walnuts but almonds or pecans are good too)
1 TBS vanilla extract
2 - 2 & 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Preheat your oven to 350° F.

Cream the butter in a mixing bowl. Gradually add the sugar and salt and beat until light & fluffy. Add the nuts and the vanilla extract; mix well. Blend in flour gradually and mix thoroughly.

Refrigerate for a few hours so the dough can firm up a bit and is easier to handle (even chilled, this will be a soft dough).

Shape into teaspoonful sized balls and place about an inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° F for 15-20 minutes. The cookies should be a light golden color. Soft but firm.

Sift some confectioner's sugar on wax paper. Place the (hot, just from the oven) cookies on the wax paper and sift confectioner's sugar over each to coat.

Alternately.... you can pour some sifted confectioner's sugar in a paper or zip bag and place some of the cookies inside. Gently shake well so the sugar completely coats the cookies. Sometimes these cookies come out very tender (and fragile!) and this method of coating them can cause breakage. Usually I use the wax paper method because I don't want to risk it.

I also double the batch. Maybe this is why they're usually butter flats. Ah well, they're good, that's all I care about!

There is another picture here and here.