April 27, 2010

Ginger Steak Salad


Next time I might add some red pepper! Muy Bien!


  • MARINADE INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon Sherry
  • 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
  • 2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
  • 1 whole Rib-eye, Strip, Or Sirloin Steak
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • _____
  • FOR SALAD DRESSING:
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons White Sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
  • 2 cloves Garlic, Finely Diced
  • 1 Tablespoon Fresh Ginger, Minced
  • ½ whole Jalapeno, Seeded And Diced
  • _____
  • SALAD INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 whole Green Onions
  • 8 ounces, weight Salad Greens (baby Lettuce, Endive, Radiccio, Etc.)
Preparation Instructions

Combine steak marinade ingredients in a Ziploc bag. Mix and place steak into bag. Marinate for 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Combine salad dressing ingredients and slice green onion.

When steak is finished marinating, add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a hot skillet. Cook steak about 1 1/2 minutes per side, or until medium rare. Remove from skillet and keep on a plate, allowing to cool slightly.

Toss salad greens in 3/4 of the salad dressing. Place steak on cutting board and slice thinly, then pour juices from the plate over the top. Mound tossed salad on a platter, then place sliced steak on top of salad. Pour remaining salad dressing over the top. Sprinkle green onions over the salad, and add cherry tomatoes if that makes your skirt fly up.- Pioneer woman

Heavenly Angel food Cake

  • 12 eggs
  • 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sugar

Directions

  1. Separate eggs; discard yolks or refrigerate for another use. Measure egg whites, adding or removing whites as needed to equal 1-1/2 cups. Place in a mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, sift confectioners' sugar and flour together three times; set aside. Add cream of tartar, extracts and salt to egg whites; beat on high speed. Gradually add sugar, beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form. Fold in flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. Gently spoon into an ungreased 10-in. tube pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert pan; cool completely before removing cake from pan.

April 25, 2010

Rich peanut butter cookies

1cup packed brown sugar
1/2cup peanut butter
1/2cup butter or margarine, softened
1egg
1 1/4cups flour
3/4teaspoon baking soda
1/2teaspoon baking powder
1/4teaspoon salt
1cup peanut butter chips
Granulated sugar
1.Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in peanut butter chips.
2.Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Dip tops of balls into granulated sugar. Place balls, sugared sides up, about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet (do not flatten).
3.Bake cookies 9 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
flour

Creamsicle Cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange zest (for me that was the zest of 2 oranges)
2 cups Guitard Choc-Au-Lait Vanilla Chips (I used Ghirardelli white chips)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and chips.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Do not flatten cookies; it will make them dry. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Do not overcook! Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

BBQ sauce!!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 TBSP chopped fresh garlic
2 TBSP salt
1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (I left out)
1 TBSP paprika
1 TBSP chili powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cups cold water
1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 TBSP worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup tomato paste
a dash of liquid smoke

Melt butter and add onion, garlic, and salt. Coo over low heat until onion is tender. Add crushed red pepper, paprika, chili powder, and pepper, cook and stir for 1 minute.

Add water, vinegar, brown sugar, and worcestershire sauce; bring to a simmer. Stir in molasses. Whisk in tomato paste until smooth. Bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook, uncovered for 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally. (longer the better).

April 19, 2010

Chicken Piccata

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (pounded to an even thickness)
2 tablespoons butter (for frying)
1 tablespoon oil (for frying)
Breading-
4 tablespoons of milk
2 large eggs
¾ cup flour
1 ½ teaspoons seasoning salt
1 teaspoon paprika
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Sauce-
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup white wine
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
1 onion (chopped)
½ lb fresh sliced mushrooms
4 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)

Step 1: Pound chicken breasts to an event thickness between two sheets of wax paper (if they are really thick cut them in half). In a shallow bowl or plate combine flour, paprika, seasoning salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Mix well.
Step 2: In another bowl beat eggs and milk together.
Step 3: Dip chicken first in the egg mixture and then roll in the flour mixture and coat thoroughly.
Step 4: To make the sauce- whisk together chicken broth, lemon juice, wine and cornstarch – set aside for now.
Step 5: Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the coated chicken breasts and sauté on both sides until golden brown but do not cooking completely. Remove chicken breasts from the pan.
Step 6: Add mushroom slices to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes. Add in garlic and onions and Sauté for 3 minutes. Pour the sauce mixture into the pan and simmer over medium heat.
Step 7: Add chicken breasts back into the pan. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 25 minutes or until fully cooked. Top with fresh parsley.

April 04, 2010

Chantilly Potatoes


These potatoes were good- I added garlic and butter to the mashed potatoes. I would also add some kind of seasoning to give it a little punch!


3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, chilled 3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Place the potatoes in a large microwave-safe bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave the potatoes on high for 8 to 12 minutes, giving the bowl a shake halfway through, and cooking until the potatoes are tender. Mash the potatoes well with a potato masher (or you can use a potato ricer set over a second large bowl). Cover the potatoes again with plastic wrap and microwave the mashed potatoes until they are heated through, 3 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and stir well.

In a large bowl, beat the chilled cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Gently fold 2/3 of the whipped cream into the potatoes with a rubber spatula until the cream is mostly absorbed. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. Carefully spoon the potatoes into the baking dish. They don’t have to be evenly flat on top – you want to take care not to deflate this potato layer. They will look slightly uneven. With a rubber spatula, fold all but 1/4 cup cheese into the remaining cream. Spread the cheese/cream mixture over the potatoes and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

At this point you can either cover the potatoes and refrigerate until baking (I made these the morning before I wanted to serve them). When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake the potatoes, uncovered, for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are hot and the top is golden brown. If you are making the potatoes to eat immediately, preheat the broiler and broil the potatoes until the top is golden, 2 to 3 minutes (don’t let them burn!). Let rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

Easter Carrot Cake


Perfect dessert to celebrate Easter Sunday! I loved the frosting!

Ingredients: 2 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces – I always weigh my ingredients if the option is given b/c it is a no-fail way to make sure you aren’t adding too much or too little) 1 1/4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 1/8 tsp ground cloves 1/2 tsp table salt 1 lb. medium carrots (6 to 7 carrots), peeled 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces) 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces) 4 large eggs 1 1/2 c. vegetable oil , safflower oil, or canola oil

Frosting: (I doubled the recipe below to frost the two 9-inch cakes I made) 8 oz cream cheese, softened but still cool 5 Tbsp unsalted butter softened, but still cool 1 Tbsp sour cream 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 1/4 c. confectioners’ sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

Directions: Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13 by 9-inch baking pan (I used two 9-inch round pans).

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside. In a food processor fitted with large shredding disk (I used a fine shredding disk), shred carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside.

In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or in large bowl and using hand-held mixer), beat granulated and brown sugars and eggs on medium-high until thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds. Reduce speed to medium; with mixer running, add oil in slow, steady stream, being careful to pour oil against inside of bowl (if oil begins to splatter, reduce speed to low until oil is incorporated, then resume adding oil). Increase speed to high and mix until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 45 seconds to 1 minute longer. Turn off mixer and stir in carrots and dry ingredients by hand until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.

Pour into prepared pan and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time (I didn’t rotate my 9-inch pans). Cool cake to room temperature in pan on wire rack, about 2 hours (I cooled my cakes about 30 minutes and then inverted them onto a wire rack to cool completely).

When cake is cool, mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla at medium high speed in clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment (or in large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, about 1 minute. Frost and eat!