Shangai Soup Dumplings November 6, 2008

I found this great recipe here (or to copy paste http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/SHANGHAI-SOUP-DUMPLINGS-238272).  Once I try it (hopefully in a couple weeks) then I’ll update with the full recipe and what not.  One thing I do know, Drink with a straw and then eat bao (steamed dough).

Pear Fritters September 30, 2008

2 – 3 pears peeled and cored and sliced into 1 inch pieces

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 – 3/4 cup sugar or more if needed

oil for frying

For Batter:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

2 eggs

1/2 to 1 cup milk as needed to make a smooth batter

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Sautee pear pieces in oil.  Add sugar and caramelize.  Set aside when done.  Caramel will dry and stick together so be sure to separate the pieces as well as possible.

Combine all dry ingredients for batter.

Beat egg in 1/4 cup of milk and add to dry ingredients.

Add remainder of milk until a smooth but thick batter is formed.

Heat oil in pot or deep fryer to around 350 degrees.

Coat caramelized pear pieces in batter and fry until golden brown.  They will float so they will have to be turned to brown both sides evenly.

Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.

Top with powdered sugar if desired, however, caramelizing the pears with sugar creates a sweet enough mix so as powdered sugar is not needed.

Take leftover batter and drizzle back and forth off of a fork into the hot oil to form funnel cakes.  Top with powdered sugar.

*A word of warning: In a deep fryer the batter wraps around the gaps in the basket and causes the batter to cook on both sides of the basket making removal impossible without destroying them*

Meatloaf

Here’s a simple meatloaf recipe I concocted.  Enjoy

Meatloaf Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1/4 – 1/2 cup bread crumbs

1-4 tbsp dried onions to taste

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup ketchup

Sauce Ingredients

1/2 cup ketchup

6 tbsp white or apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

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Combine all ingredients for meatloaf and pour into a loaf pan and smooth to to a relatively flat surface.

Combine ingredients for sauce and pour over top of meatloaf.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies

I took this recipe and modified it a little bit.  The result was fantastic, I baked 2 batches of cookies and they are all gone!   The recipe below includes my modifications.  I read somewhere that butter burns easily in cookies and that the shortening does better.  I have to agree that all the cookies I’ve used the shortening with come out perfect and not burnt.

• 1 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs (I used one duck egg and one chicken egg) 🙂
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons molasses (mmm)
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 335 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla and molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chicken in Balsamic Vinegar and Raspberry Sauce June 10, 2008

12 oz Balsamic vinegar
12 oz Raspberries at room temperature
2 tblsp brown sugar
12 Chicken tenderloins
1/2 – 3/4 stick butter melted and heated for pan frying

Combine vinegar, raspberries and brown sugar then blend or puree.
Heat to a simmer and allow to cook down
Meanwhile sautee chicken in butter.
Add about 1/4 cup of raspberry sauce in with chicken after turning
To serve place chicken on a plate and spoon raspberry sauce over the top

Beer Battered Fish

1 cup flour
2 eggs
6 oz beer
2-4 fish portions
salt as needed
Oil for frying

Combine flour eggs and beer well
Dredge fish in batter
Fry until golden brown

Easy Alfredo Sauce

1 cup butter
6 cloves minced garlic
1 8oz package cream cheese
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
one 5-8oz packaged shredded parmesan cheese

Sautee garlic in melted butter
Add cream cheese and whisk until smooth
Slowly whisk in milk and cream
Add parmesan cheese and melt
Cook until thickened slightly
If desired add one 10oz package frozen spinach (thawed and drained) after parmesan cheese
Serve over hot pasta immediately
Sauce will thicken as it cools.

Mexican pizzas January 29, 2008

I worked at Taco hell for a few years as a teenager and young adult, so this is a pretty similar recipe.

10 corn tortillas
canola oil (for frying)
1 lb ground meat (we used a mixture of turkey and lean beef)
1 can refried beans
8 oz salsa
1 cup extra sharp chedder cheese
1 package taco seasoning

Preheat oven to 350° F. Heat the oil in a skillet tell it’s ready to fry (my husband has an instinct on this, I don’t know how he tells) add the tortillas one at a time and cook for approximately 2.5 minutes on each side then transfer to a paper towel. Do this for all 10 tortillas. While they are frying, stir together beans and 8 oz salsa and heat till warmed through. In a seperate pan, brown ground meat and then drain. Add taco seasoning and about 1/4 cup water to ground meat. Cook ground meat until water is evaporated and meat is spiced. Assemble pizzas. Take one fried tortilla, get a spoonfull of beans and layer it on the tortilla, then do a layer of meat, then a layer of cheese. Add another tortilla on top of the cheese and repeat. You should end up with a pizza of two tortillas with layers of meat cheese and beans. Pop it in the oven till all the cheese melts, took ours about 5 minutes. You can also leave them under the broiler for a second if you like the cheese nice and browned. Delicious and easy.

Pork Chops with Raspberry Sauce January 25, 2008

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 (4 ounce) boneless pork loin chops
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup raspberry jam
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine crushed thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. Rub evenly over pork chops.
2. Melt butter and olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Cook pork chops for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, turning once. Remove from skillet and keep warm in preheated oven.
3. In the skillet, combine raspberry jam, orange juice, vinegar, and wine. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until sauce is reduced to desired consistency (sauce will thicken as it cools). Spoon sauce onto pork chops.

Restaurant Review Olive Garden January 14, 2008

Olive Garden 1176 Mt. Zion Rd.  Morrow Ga 30260 and I recommend you stay away.  Dining there was a mistake and it would have been better if we had stayed away.  After not having their health inspection posted anywhere where anyone could see it and having to ask I was disappointed to find that the service was poor with having to wait over fifteen minutes for the only refill of the meal when I was completely empty when it was even seen by the manager and still having to wait.  To top it off the food was bad.  After having to send the appetizer back because of overcooked calamari and sending it back again because of hair in the mushrooms we decided to scrap that and eat our regular meal.  Turns out Kat’s was great except for being slightly undercooked around the edges.  Mine on the other hand left much to be desired.  Mine was completely in edible thanks to steak that was raw in the middle.  After sending mine back and still not having it fixed I decided to cancel the order.  The only advantage was we got one free meal out of it.