Oh My!

I finally made a loaf of bread!

I was always afraid to because I thought that it would turn out really badly.

Even the bottom of the bread was good!

I never was much of a baker ( I convinced myself that I wasn't)

I followed a basic Jamie Oliver Bread recipe.

It took 30 minutes at 350F

It came out great...Just like real bread!

Rolls

Ok...The inside is pretty cool.

It's also Martha Steward inspired.
Cole slaw mix from Publix ($1.50 per bag)
The Chicken (Cold left over meat from the previous day's fried chicken)
Vinaigrette (from the fridge)
Crumbled Feta Cheese (Publix brand $1.50 at Publix)
Fat Free Sour Cream

Mix all of that together in the bowl
Wraps ($2.00 for 20)

Place in the wraps

Fry till Golden.

Freeze till you feel like eating :)
All kinds of Yum abound.
The insides are so tender and warm and wholesome. The outside is just crunchy

Martha Stewart Fried Chicken

Martha has a great buttermilk baked/fried chicken recipe in her new book. I tried it...

All Kinds of YUM abounded

Only thing is...everyone knows I don't follow the recipe to a tee.

So I used Vigo breadcrumbs instead of fresh breadcrumbs

I used sour cream instead of buttermilk

Parmplus instead of the freshly grated cheese

My own blend of seasonings :)

I also fried instead of baked. I really need to bake it..I mostly bake chicken, so I wanted to fry this time, but it was just more fat added so.... next time BAKED

Umm... so my chicken is Martha Stewart Inspired!

Tasted great though :)

Big Kahuna Cookie

Ok here is how easy this is.
Get one of these (80 Cents) - Betty Crocker, Chocolate Chip mix

Half a stick of butter-softened not melted (1/4 cup)
1tbsp of water
Mix
Spread into ungreased baking pan
Bake for 10-11 minutes
Voila
Share with your neighbors, so you're not tempted because Chocolate Chip is your fav type of cookie :(

Raw Meat

Usually I would go for chicken.
Chicken is a better value for money, however lamb and beef chunks I will get once in a while. Thanks Publix!
Lamb is really tasty, and everyone says that beef is phenomenal.

(Lamb is better)
So I look for that really fresh (pinky) looking meat which is lean.
Lean means that you see less of the white streaks or marbling in the meat, but be careful. Very lean meat means so little fat that you lose a lot of the flavor that fat tends to give to meat.
Also with less fat, in the meat it is easier to cook it to the point where meat becomes really dry.
So season well.
Stew the meat or bake it with a cover on your baking pan (350 F) all the way.
At the end of baking 450 F for 10 minutes to give you the crispy crunchy browned look :)

Tomato Soup with a good twist

This is a 'souped up' soup. I just felt for a spicy tart soup on a warm Florida night!

I start of by cooking 1/4 pound of seasoned ground beef.

Add (to the meat), one can of condensed Tomato soup and 1.5 cans of water

Add crushed red pepper, italian seasoning, chili powder (all to your liking and taste)

Let boil for 10 mins and simmer for another 10

Serve.

Enjoy.

Making Wine

I've decided to try my hand at it.

INGREDIENTS
1 quart of crushed fruit of your choice

1.5 to 2 cups of granular sugar (I use Dixie Crystals)
1 package of yeast (e.g., Fleishman's)

Almost 1 gallon of water (I use distilled & deionized H2O)


MATERIALS
A glass gallon jug or bowl (your fermentation vessel)
Several layers of cheese-cloth and a rubber band

Pyrex measuring cup for measuring sugar, &c.
Glass jar-type blender or a hand blender: for crushing fruit (chop into small pieces first)
Revere-ware sauce pan (at least 3-quart size) for boiling H2O
Collander, cheese-cloth, and large pitcher for straining
2000-ml Erhlenmeyer filter flask, Buchner funnel, and coffee filters for filtering (OPTIONAL)
Funnel (helps in bottling)
...and finally, bottles and labels

And now, HERE'S HOW IT'S DONE!

I froze my fruit for two days to concentrate fruit sugars (ice wine trick)

Crush/blend the fruit after chopping into small pieces.

Juices from fruit

Dissolve the sugar in 1 quart hot water on the stove.

There will be some residual grains of sugar left in the Pyrex measuring cup. Use this cup to warm about 2 cups of water in the microwave, and dissolve the yeast in it.

The yeast should start to foam slightly in less than half an hour.

After the sugar-water in the sauce pan has cooled, pour it in the jug/bowl with the fruit.

Then add the dissolved yeast (make sure the jug's contents have cooled at least to 100F or below so as not to kill the yeast!).

Finish filling the jug/bowl with the rest of the pure water (up to about 2 inches from the top).
Yeast should be bubbling in the jug within an hour or so.
Cover the jug/bowl mouth with cheese-cloth (at least 4 layers)

Seal edges or tie with rubber band and place in a clean area out of bright light.

After 2 or 3 weeks, strain the wine with the collander & cheese-cloth in the pitcher.
If you wish, you can also filter the wine through a coffee filter using the vacuum flask & Buchner funnel (helps remove more residual yeast.
Bottle your wine and let it "age" for at least another 2 weeks or so (preferrably a couple of months or more to get rid of the yeasty flavor).
When you think it's ready, pour some wine in a nice glass .
Savor the wonderful aroma ...AHHHH!!! And think of the hard work and expertise that went into it. Kick back and relax and enjoy the finished product!

Spicy black bean soup

For those stormy nights when the wind is howling outside because weather all over the world has suddenly become wacky.
Inconvenient truth :(
Open a can of black beans
Pour into 2 cups water
Add crushed red pepper flakes (1tbsp)





Add whatever you want
Eat
Enjoy :)

Choux Pastry

I did the write up for these before.

One thing I wanted to point out is that smaller than these is probably better.

Also smooth down the points, because in they oven they cook too fast and may burn on you.

Raisin Bran 3D cookies

Ingredients

Make simple syrup

(boil 2 cups water and 1.5 cups sugar till it makes a fairly thick syrup).
This takes about 25 minutes. You can tell by how it bubbles furiously. You almost feel scared by it. Its so sci-fi!

Keep and eye on it.

When the syrup is thick, add the nuts and some chocolate.

Mix into syrup.
The heat should be on low at this stage
Add 3/4 cup raisin bran

Add peanut butter (2 tbsps) and mix in

Add 1/2 cup raisin bran

Mix.
Remove from heat.
Place in container and shape with spoon (because it is molten lava hot!) into cookies.

Place in fridge to cool for at least 1 hour (they will harden).

Makes 6 large cookies.

If you are doing low carb and deside to snack carb...then go high fiber (raisin bran)

Nutella

Nutella is my favorite spread.

I don't have it often at all but the hazelnut and chocolate mixture calls to me on occasion in the Publix.

Giardia DeLaurentis says it's her favorite too...

I first had it in Trinidad. I think because we were a British colony we get all the imports from there first. :)

I've seen cookie, cake and dessert recipes utilizing nutella.

I would put it on chicken too!

Hey they use peanut butter in Thai food so.....

One pot/dish meal

Baked Chicken, Vegetables

Add frozen (and fresh) vegetables when chicken is halfway done

Cover and place back into oven till vegetables are done.

Celebrity Spread

So I didn’t get to meet Roseanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson when they visited on Saturday, but I went backstage and saw the ‘spread’ that they had for them.

Umm yeh…It kinda sucks.

A vegeplatter and coffee. LOL

Sausage and Peppers

It’s a favorite of a lot of people.
When the peppers are sauteed really well they turn sweet (hence the name Sweet peppers)

As with any meat, the sausages need to be cooked through.

You don’t need to add oil because enough fat comes out of the heated sausage. You can add one tablespoon water and cover the pot.

Lower the heat to low-medium.
The sausages will cook thoroughly and the amount of liquid in the pot will triple

I always use the Home Style Foods HOT smoked sausage because its well seasoned and very spicy. It's only 3.99 for 3 LONG links

You don’t need to add anything to it.
So if you are low carbing it you can have the sausage and peppers with maybe some broccoli.

But if not just add some rice