PUFFS! :)

NO CHILL SIMPLE PUFF PASTRY FROM SCRATCH

1 stick butter
1 c. water
dash of salt
1 c. flour
2 eggs


Bring butter, water and salt to a rolling boil. I added a dash of paprika.

Mix in 1 cup flour very well

Raise saucepan a few inches above heat.

Stir briskly.

Mixture will come away from sides of pan and form a ball in center
Remove from heat

Break in 1 egg at a time and beat well with wooden spoon.

Beat until eggs disappear.
Remember to add one egg at a time and beat until smooth after each addition.

Drop by spoonfuls, however large you'd like them onto cookie sheets, making sure they won't touch while baking or else they might cook together.
Bake at 375-400 degrees until puffed and golden and they look dry, though the center will still be soft.

You may have to adjust heat if they brown too quickly, being very careful while opening oven door if you don't have an oven light.
Good for all things that you normally use puff pastry for, from puddings, to eclairs, to about anything else you need a good dough for. I like cheese paste or tuna salad filling

Strawberry crumble Squares

STRAWBERRY CRUMBLE

BASE:
1 c. flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. chopped almonds
Strawberry Jam or preserves

Method:
Cut butter into flour and sugar

Add nuts and mix in

Reserve 1/4 cup for topping.

Press base into 8x8 inch pan.

Add Strawberry jam to base

Spread evenly

Cover with rest of crumble base

Sprinkle a little sugar to the top

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Tip: Go crazy with the nuts...add more if you want! :)

Let cool in fridge if you want great squares

Hold back on the jam if you don't want too much

Pholourie Bakes

I don't know how to make pholourie but this started out as Bara for doubles from Trinigourmet.com. Nikki noted that the bara ingredients are similar to that for pholourie...

I wanted to experiment and subsititued yeast for baking powder and egg white. I added more curry and made more of a batter than a dough
It tasted like pholourie when I was done but didn't look like it, so I am gonna make this my recipe for pholourie bakes :)

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour

½ tsp salt

2 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon gheera (cumin)

½ tsp ground pepper

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup warm water

1 well whisked egg white

Oil for frying

Method

Mix all ingredients

Drop spoonfuls of mixture into hot oil

Fry till golden

The egg yolk ended up here too :)

The bakes tasted light and airy and soo good!

Marcel Vigneron

The only Top Chef contestant that I ever found interesting. I don't know much about him except for what I saw on TV but what I saw I really liked.


I think that we may have similar personalities too. I could see that when they were given a challenge, he would start to think and work things out in his head. I realized that because he wasn't as sociable and mainstream as the other contestants, they couldn't feel comfortable around him. They needed him to entertain them and he wouldn't. I felt he may be an INTJ like me.


I really GOT him and what he was like. The other contestants thought he was arrogant and he grated on their nerves. The thing is though, he never was mean to any of them. He was straightforward and not even rude! They just couldn't deal with the fact that they couldn't figure him out, so they put a label to him..Whatever! They were mean and rude to him!


He has so many facets to him, and is so confident in his abilities. He is also so smart about what he does and who is is, and what he won't tolerate. I just DIG this dude so much. I kinda wish I could talk to him. I read a couple of articles and interviews that he gave, and one of my favorite interviews he did was for the GOTHAMIST.


In that interview he said that his idea of comfort food was this " I’ll get some cabbage and bacon, and braise it. Just really tasty stuff. It could be a grilled cheese sandwich, a BLT, fried chicken, collard greens."



I was kinda surprised by Food and Wine Magazine online article. It seemed like a fluff piece compared to the Gothamist. But they had a good picture at least :(


Geez I want to meet this guy!

Shrimp and Yolk Bisque: Semi Home made

The Shrimp Bisque with Seasoned Yolks.


This is so good.


Start by opening a can of Campbell's Cream of Shrimp soup. Betcha didn't know they had this!


Add two cans of water and bring to a boil then simmer.




Mix two egg yolks with a quarter cup of sour cream( 1tbsp) and water (5 tbsp) emulsion.



Add 1/4 tsp chilipowder and 1/4 tsp salt



Add mixture to a hot skillet.


Let cook for 2 minutes and scramble.



Add egg to bowl of shrimp bisque soup


Serve.

Ohhhhh sooooo goood. I bet Nigella Lawson would like this :)

Baked not Fried

Jalepeno and Cream cheese bites

So Yummy...

Art show spread

Andrew Ross
Representing, Envirochina: An FSU-China Design Collaboration
Opening Reception
See my main blog for the art stuff...
So that is what I went to to see the art, which was really good.
I didn't eat anything but I had to take picture of the spread.
I think it was meant to be minimalist and under-indulgent :)
Know what's annoying?
When people get their food then stand right there and the serving table to talk.
It's not only un-hygenic...it's rude!!!!!!!!!!!!
MOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEE!

Souflee things

I called this souflee thing, because I got the recipe from Trinigourmet.com and then promptly didn't follow the instructions to a tee.
It tasted really great but didn't puff like a souflee should.
I changed the seasonings, type of flour, amount of egg white, the cheese, the baking tin and milk (sour cream and water emulsion).
Nikki yuh know how Trini gyul is!


INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter plus additional for buttering muffin cups
2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1tbsp Crushed red pepper flakes
1teaspoon italian seasoning
2 tablespoons fat free sour cream, mixed with 5 tbsp water (emulsion)
1 tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
1teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 egg whites
2 egg yolks

METHOD:
1. Butter baking tin.
2. Dust bottom with flour mixture, knocking out excess.
3. Sprinkle bottom with a little of the Parmesan Plus
4. Melt butter in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately high heat.
5. Add flour and crushed red pepper flakes
6. Cook, stirring, 2 minutes.
7. Whisk in sour cream emulsion (mixture will temporarily look curdled) and bring to a simmer, whisking, then cook, whisking constantly, until thick and smooth, about 3 minutes.
8. Transfer to a bowl and add cheese, salt, pepper, mustard, chili powder, Italian seasoning, and egg yolks, stirring until mixture is well blended.
9. Cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
10. Meanwhile, put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 400°F.
11. Beat egg whites in a small deep bowl by hand with a fork at high speed until it just barely holds stiff peaks.
12. Stir one fourth of whites into soufflé mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
13. Spoon baking tin.
14. Bake soufflé until puffed and golden, 9 to 11 minutes.
15. Cool in pan on a rack just until warm.

Fried Breadfruit

Is one of my favorite things to eat.
But I recently saw that you can make a mash with sweet potato that looked really good.
I can't try it...Breadfruit is the ultimate in carbs.
Sis sent me this pic of the breadfruit they fried up.
After you fry it, just throw a little salt on it...SO Yummy

Cabbage: Low Carb dinner

I like to sautee cabbage.
Its easy to buy the closeslaw mix and sautee it!
Add to it some chicken and you are set for dinner :)

If It's still in print

Go ahead and pick up the Better Homes and Gardens BEST BUFFETS (1963).
Take a really good read through.
It's really interesting and I really like the old cookboks from the 50's and 60's, including the Time Life series.

They always show you how to set your table, where to put everything and in what order.

However, the photographs of the food look all plastic and way too shiny! Hahaha.

I also like how they are so non PC yet funny.
Check out this title "High Society Suppers With Franks and Burgers"

Their food styling techniques are a bit extreme!
Now I am all for food styling, but seriously I think they used a lot of Shellac, or varnish, or something on the food before they photograph it.

Dinner

A salad: Very simple
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Raisins
Dressing
Chopped fried chicken livers.
It's good Y'all.....:)