Recipes:
equivilants:
c. - cup/s min. - minute/s
tsp. - teaspoon/s hr. - hour/s
tbsp. - tablespoon/s servs. - servings or serving size
* - degrees
1 c. butter = 2 sticks butter
1 tsp. emulsion = 1 tsp. extract = 1 tsp paste
emulsions and paste may both be substituted for extracts in any recipe and vice versa
Vanilla and almond are the most commonly used flavors, however any complementing flavors may substitute for a more exotic taste, e.i. coconut and lime/lemon, rum and almond, vanilla and bourbon, coconut and rum, etc.
Roll-Out or Sugar Cookies:
servs.- about 2-3 dozen (Recipe may be doubled.)
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp. almond emulsion
2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 400*F.
1. In a mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Then beat in egg, emulsion, paste.
3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture 1 cup at a time, while mixing after each addition.
4. Knead in a small amount of icing color for tinted dough. (optional)
Do not chill dough!
5. Divide dough into 2 balls.
6. Roll each ball, on a floured surface, into a circle approximately 12 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch
thick.
Dip cookie cutter in flour before each use.
7. Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheet 6-7 min. or until cookies are lightly browned.
Do not through away scraps... keep rolling into balls until every bit of dough is used!
8. Let cookies cool on rack/plate for a few minutes, then proceed to decorate.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9...
My beloved's birthday was this past Monday, and I cooked for him two special meals.
The first was on Monday morning around 2 AM. I made 'Blackened' Tuna on a bed of spinach, with 2tsp of salsa for flavor and sugar snap peas as a side. I put in a piece of challah bread and 4 small Knott's boysenberry cookies for dessert (which is one serving size.)
Birthday Lunch: 'Blackened' Tuna
I sprayed the tuna with some pam on each of it's side to make the cajun seasoning stick to it, put just a light covering of seasoning as you do not want to overpower the fish. I also added some Mediterranean Basil to give an extra kick. After this step, sauté some onions and chopped mushroom chunks with 2 tsp butter until mushrooms have a slight golden color. (Add just a pinch of Mesquite season if you have it.)
Add 1 deseeded (wash out the seeds completely) and diced tomato. Stir it all and then another 3 tsp butter and once melted, add the fish. leave alone for 3 min. Then flip fish over and leave for another 3 min. Cook according to taste but not for too long as fish is best when it isn't over cooked! (I don't cook it for longer than 5 min on each side.)
I set this all nicely on a bed of washed, fresh spinach with fresh salsa (the kind from the produce section of grocers, not the distasteful cheap jar type; there's a great difference in taste.)
Birthday Dinner: Shrimp Curry with Couscous
This took less time to prepare than the Tuna. I started with cleaning the shrimp. I was pressed for time, therefore bought pre-cleaned and deveined shrimp, however I still needed to rinse it with water to decontaminate and get rid of the 'fishiness'.
I started by making some couscous. Boil some water, you need about 1.25 water per 1 part couscous. I made 1 cup couscous, therefore I boiled 1.25-1.3 cups of water with at least 2 tsp butter and 1-2 tsp olive oil. Once the water started to boil, I added the couscous and then stirred it. Turn the heat OFF! (You can also move it to the side burner if you want to just use one burner instead of two.) Then cover and let stand. Couscous can stick together worse than spaghetti so I will stir it every so often even after it's done.
Next you need to sauté the veggies. (You can use fresh or frozen, never canned as they are packed with preservatives and way too mushy.) I had an asparagus stir-fry medley that I got from Walmart, and it worked really well. :)
I chopped a quarter of a red onion and a half of a medium yellow onion, then I sliced up some mushrooms.
Put the onions and mushrooms into the pan, then add the (thawed) veggie stir-fry. Stir together for a few minutes. Then add half your shrimp and about 1/4 cup of milk with 1-2tsp of cornstarch mixed in (which will provide thickness to the sauce.) Add about 2 tsp of Panang or the curry of your choice. Stir all of it together for another few minutes. now add the rest of the shrimp. Stir it up too keep from burning especially when sauce is a bit low, and lower the heat to lowest number. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to make this, with about 5 min to prepare the ingredients. (That's why I usually love to make curry, especially with shrimp, but chicken or sliced red meat can be used instead for those who are allergic to shellfish. Just add the other meats in the beginning instead of the end as they require longer cooking times.)
Tea, cold or hot, companions these meals well, however wine, great beer, soda or water can work as well. We had cool lemon tea with our dinner and i suspect he had soda with his lunch. :P
It was a great and mostly healthy meal, except for the fact that after we finished off dinner we went out for Ice-cream Sundays, shhh... ;-)
The first was on Monday morning around 2 AM. I made 'Blackened' Tuna on a bed of spinach, with 2tsp of salsa for flavor and sugar snap peas as a side. I put in a piece of challah bread and 4 small Knott's boysenberry cookies for dessert (which is one serving size.)
Birthday Lunch: 'Blackened' Tuna
I sprayed the tuna with some pam on each of it's side to make the cajun seasoning stick to it, put just a light covering of seasoning as you do not want to overpower the fish. I also added some Mediterranean Basil to give an extra kick. After this step, sauté some onions and chopped mushroom chunks with 2 tsp butter until mushrooms have a slight golden color. (Add just a pinch of Mesquite season if you have it.)
Add 1 deseeded (wash out the seeds completely) and diced tomato. Stir it all and then another 3 tsp butter and once melted, add the fish. leave alone for 3 min. Then flip fish over and leave for another 3 min. Cook according to taste but not for too long as fish is best when it isn't over cooked! (I don't cook it for longer than 5 min on each side.)
I set this all nicely on a bed of washed, fresh spinach with fresh salsa (the kind from the produce section of grocers, not the distasteful cheap jar type; there's a great difference in taste.)
Birthday Dinner: Shrimp Curry with Couscous
This took less time to prepare than the Tuna. I started with cleaning the shrimp. I was pressed for time, therefore bought pre-cleaned and deveined shrimp, however I still needed to rinse it with water to decontaminate and get rid of the 'fishiness'.
I started by making some couscous. Boil some water, you need about 1.25 water per 1 part couscous. I made 1 cup couscous, therefore I boiled 1.25-1.3 cups of water with at least 2 tsp butter and 1-2 tsp olive oil. Once the water started to boil, I added the couscous and then stirred it. Turn the heat OFF! (You can also move it to the side burner if you want to just use one burner instead of two.) Then cover and let stand. Couscous can stick together worse than spaghetti so I will stir it every so often even after it's done.
Next you need to sauté the veggies. (You can use fresh or frozen, never canned as they are packed with preservatives and way too mushy.) I had an asparagus stir-fry medley that I got from Walmart, and it worked really well. :)
I chopped a quarter of a red onion and a half of a medium yellow onion, then I sliced up some mushrooms.
Put the onions and mushrooms into the pan, then add the (thawed) veggie stir-fry. Stir together for a few minutes. Then add half your shrimp and about 1/4 cup of milk with 1-2tsp of cornstarch mixed in (which will provide thickness to the sauce.) Add about 2 tsp of Panang or the curry of your choice. Stir all of it together for another few minutes. now add the rest of the shrimp. Stir it up too keep from burning especially when sauce is a bit low, and lower the heat to lowest number. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to make this, with about 5 min to prepare the ingredients. (That's why I usually love to make curry, especially with shrimp, but chicken or sliced red meat can be used instead for those who are allergic to shellfish. Just add the other meats in the beginning instead of the end as they require longer cooking times.)
Tea, cold or hot, companions these meals well, however wine, great beer, soda or water can work as well. We had cool lemon tea with our dinner and i suspect he had soda with his lunch. :P
It was a great and mostly healthy meal, except for the fact that after we finished off dinner we went out for Ice-cream Sundays, shhh... ;-)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday night...
I just have to mention how glad I am that my boyfriend cooked dinner for me. I worked Sunday night, and didn't get out until 9:30PM, an hour later than usual. I arrived home after getting some gas, a soda and a Slurpee from 7-11, with the thought that I really didn't want to cook. Thank God, he thought of that and went ahead with making our dinner, as well as enough food for the next few days.
We had tacos Sunday night. :)
He browned the meat. Then put the meat on a tray with some diced tomatoes, chopped onions, and cubed avocado. He even remember to pic up some fresh salsa from the grocery store. All I really had to do when I arrived home was heat up the taco shells and add water with taco seasoning to the meat. 10 minutes and dinner was served. I actually got to sit down as he brought it to me. Hmm, third night in a row he's brought me dinner, I wonder what he wants? Lol ;-)
Monday for dinner will consist of Spaghetti with meat sauce, that turned out really well. He did cheat a little with some Tomato sauce that I bought, Barilla Green and Black Olive, but then added sautéed mushroom chunks and onions, green peppers, and the nicely browned meat. (For lunch we will have the spaghetti with a clam sauce variant, yes from canned clams, but it's still so good.) ;-P
:-* Thank you so much my Darling Dearest. *HUGS*
We had tacos Sunday night. :)
He browned the meat. Then put the meat on a tray with some diced tomatoes, chopped onions, and cubed avocado. He even remember to pic up some fresh salsa from the grocery store. All I really had to do when I arrived home was heat up the taco shells and add water with taco seasoning to the meat. 10 minutes and dinner was served. I actually got to sit down as he brought it to me. Hmm, third night in a row he's brought me dinner, I wonder what he wants? Lol ;-)
Monday for dinner will consist of Spaghetti with meat sauce, that turned out really well. He did cheat a little with some Tomato sauce that I bought, Barilla Green and Black Olive, but then added sautéed mushroom chunks and onions, green peppers, and the nicely browned meat. (For lunch we will have the spaghetti with a clam sauce variant, yes from canned clams, but it's still so good.) ;-P
:-* Thank you so much my Darling Dearest. *HUGS*
Gumbo, possibly.
Here's a really simple creation for someone who has lots of mouths to feed but not too much time to stand around the kitchen cooking.
It all starts with knowing how to make rice. (I use brown rice as it isn't bleached, but white rice is good too.) Use 1 part rice to 2.25 parts water, the little extra water means more cooking time but softer rice too.
Chop one portuguese sausage, and drop it in with the rice along with some seasonings. I use cajun seasoning as well as a dash of crushed peppers (leave out for less spiciness,) an Italian blend, cumin, and oregano. Then I put about a tsp of whole peppercorn and 2 tsp sea salt. Blend it all together in an Hatachi (slow cooker) or pot, and put the heat to high. Cover the pot and check on it occasionally to stir. After about 13min, add chopped veggies. You can use the frozen soup mix that has corn, chopped green and red peppers, and ocra. Stir and then cover once more while lowering the heat to low-med.
In a saucepan add a few tsp of real butter... then stir-fry: some onions, mushrooms and some more sausage. Once browned and cooked to taste, stir this into pot of rice mixture. When rice is nearly done (about 15 minutes,) bottom will start to stick. Just stir it and reduce temperature to low or turn off.
Depending on how much rice you make, will depend on the amount of people it will feed and for how long. When I make it I use about 2^ cups of rice and we usually have leftovers for around 4 days. (Eat before day 5.)
For a breakfast change, add a serving spoonful of this to a plate of fried eggs and sautéed veggies. Just don't eat very often as it's high in cholesterol.
For a breakfast change, add a serving spoonful of this to a plate of fried eggs and sautéed veggies. Just don't eat very often as it's high in cholesterol.
*Seafood may also be added in. Shrimp around the last 5 minutes, but I always cut a few up to put it in the very beginning to liven up the flavor. Clams should be put in the very beginning. Remember that once you add seafood, the fridge-life will decrease a couple days as seafood goes bad quickly.
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