Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. —--Harriet Van Horne
From Feb. 28, 2012
I wanted to add directions to a yummy desert we made here for Valentines Day:
Softhearted Sweetheart Chocolate Cakes
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces (1/2 pound)
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped or 1-1/3 cups semisweet chocolate pieces
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
Whipped cream (optional)
Raspberry Sauce and/or fresh raspberries
Directions:
1. Lightly butter eight 8-ounce ramekins or 1-cup souffle dishes (I had neither of these dishes, what I did have was a texas muffin tin so I used it instead and I think it worked very well); line bottoms with parchment or wax paper. Place the prepared ramekins on a shallow baking pan or on a large cookie sheet. Set aside.
2. In a heavy-bottomed, medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; cool slightly. (Or, in a mixing bowl, combine the butter and chocolate. Place mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water and melt butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove bowl from the simmering water pot; set aside to cool slightly.)
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and egg yolks with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes or until thick and lemon-colored. Mix a large dollop of the beaten eggs into the butter-chocolate mixture. Gently fold until combined. Add butter-chocolate mixture to remaining beaten egg mixture and fold. After a few folds, sprinkle in sugar, flour, vanilla, and salt. Continue to fold until the mixture is combined.
4. Quickly divide the batter evenly among prepared ramekins. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 9 to 10 minutes or until cakes feel firm to the touch on top edges, but still soft in the center when pressed with a fingertip. Remove from oven; set ramekins on a wire rack. Let cakes cool completely in ramekins.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. When cakes are cool, use a small metal spatula to loosen edge of cakes from side of ramekin and unmold onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. The centers of the cakes are supposed to be soft. (If not using immediately, wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use.)
6. When ready to serve, place cakes on a microwaveable serving plate. Heat in a microwave oven on 100 percent power for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until warm. (Center of cake will slightly pop up.) Serve with whipped cream and garnish with a splash of Raspberry Sauce and/or fresh raspberries, if you like. Makes 8 servings.
Raspberry Sauce
Yield: 2/3 cup
Ingredients
10 ounce package frozen and thawed red raspberries in syrup (I used frozen raspberries from a garden, they were not in a syrup)
Directions
In a blender container or food processor bowl, cover and blend or process one 10-ounce package frozen and thawed red raspberries in syrup until pureed. Use a fine sieve to sieve berry mixture. Cover and refrigerate the sauce till ready to use. Makes 2/3 cup.
I want to find a way to make a really good syrup for the next time I do this. But it was very rich, while time consuming it was very easy, just several steps. I will make it again. Thank you Pinterest! :-)
2012
No Bake Cookies
(By Request)
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter (1 cube)
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions: In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil, and cook for appx. 2 minutes, striing constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.
Jan.10, 2012
Oreo Layer Pie
(Death by Oreo--K)
1 Package of Oreo Cookies
1 Large Package of Chocolate Pudding
1 8 oz package of softened Cream Cheese
2 8 oz tubs of softened whip topping
1 cup of powder sugar
1 cube of butter (a cube is 1/2 a cup)
Directions: Mix pudding per directions, set aside in the refrigerator to set up. In a food processor crumble the entire package of cookies. Save out about 1/2 cup after they are crumbled in a separate bowl. Dump the crumbled cookies into a 9x13 pan. Pour melted butter onto cookie crumbs in pan and mix together and "pat" into the pan forming a crust. In a bowl mix the cream cheese til smooth, add powder sugar and mix well together and then fold in whip topping. Mix well until creamy. Spread this onto the crust. Next spread the pudding onto the crust and layer one. Follow this by spreading evenly the whip topping on the top of the pudding. As a final touch, sprinkle the remaining cookies on top of the pie and chill until ready to eat. Very rich! Very Yummy!
Friday, Sept.23 , '11
This week I canned some of my Dad's relish. I thought I share here.
Lou's Blue Ribbon Relish
Ingredients
12 C shredded unpeeled zucchini
4 C chopped onion
5 TBS canning salt
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
6 C white sugar
2 1/2 C vinegar6 C white sugar
1 TBScornstarch
1TSP ground nutmeg
1 TSP ground turmeric
2 TSP celery seed
1TSP mustered seed
In a food grinder grind the first 5 ingredients. Place the ground ingredients in to two glass gallon jars with 2 1/2 TBS of canning salt in each jar. Place the jars in the refrigerator to brine overnight.
The next day rinse the vegetables out using a colander to rinse the salt off the vegetables. Then in a large heavy stock pot mix the remaining ingredients together to form a syrup. When the sugar has dissolved put the vegetables in the pot and cook for appx 20 minutes. Next place the relish into sterilized glass jars. Seal with lids and rings and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.
Saturday, Sept. 18, '11
Balsamic Glazed Chicken Breasts
4 chicken breasts with skin and bone removed and washed.
1/2 C Balsamic Vinegar
1 TBS Olive Oil
2 TBS Italian Seasoning
Brown sugar (appx 2 TBS)
1 C Balsamic vinegar set aside
Potatoes (red ones look nice if you have them, leaving a few peals on the spuds)
Salad greens (a bag mix works well)
In a bowl mix the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and seasoning together. Place chicken breasts in a ziploc gallon size bag or a sealed container and pour the marinade mixture in. Gently toss to ensure an even coating. Let marinate for appx 3 hrs.
About an 1/2 hr before you put the chicken on, peal potatoes and put on to cook. Wash salad greens.
In a large skillet pour a small amount of Olive oil into a warm pan. Gently put chicken into the skillet. Cook until done (we recommend cooking all meats--undercooked meats may make you ill). While this is cooking in a separate bowl prepare a glaze. Use 1 C of balsamic vinegar and brown sugar, mix well. Set aside, this is the glaze. Mash potatoes when done, doing as your normally would prepare mashed potatoes.
When the chicken is done remove from pan and pour the glaze into the still warm/hot skillet. Let this cook and it will begin to almost caramelize. Quickly, while this is happening (but keep an eye on the glaze) arrange potatoes and fresh greens on plate. Arrange chicken breasts and drizzle glaze on chicken. Enjoy!
I am still working on the glaze my second attempt (here) is still a little to sweet, thus carmel like and thicker than I like. Practice with what you like!
Sunday, Aug. 14
To combat this lack of taste and ho-hums I came up with something different to put inside our burgers. Sarah named them Yum Yum Burgers.
Take your ground beef and put it in a bowl, into the bowl and ground beef add some Johnny's season cheese blend (you can buy it at Costco), enough to flavor the amount of meat you are using. When it's all mixed together form into patties, but make them fairly thin. You will be in essence stacking two on top of each other. To one of the patties add a slice of your favorite cheese then cover with another patty sealing the edges. Grill to your desired doneness. Eat of a grilled bun with lettuce and onion garnish. You can also add jalapenos, grilled onions, etc to the burger. This is a crowd pleaser!
The greatest delight the fields and woods minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me and I to them. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I see you are sporting the "kids in the kitchen" button! thank you!!! feel free to link up older posts like these to our linky on tuesdays! God bless-
ReplyDeleteI will. Thank you for visiting!
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