Carrot Orange Pineapple Juice

Handful Baby Carrots
One Orange
Quarter Pineapple

"Best Chocolate Chip Cookies"

Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/detail.aspx
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoons hot water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour and chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans and flatten slightly.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Apple Cucumber

2 Granny Smith Apples

1 Cucumber

Pineapple Apple Carrot

1/2 a pineapple

1 apple

3 carrots

Juice!!!

 

I don't eat fruits and vegetables. It's a confession. I think that might be linked to why I keep getting sick... so in an attempt to get more nutrients into the system I got my new kitchen sidekick... the Breville Juice Extractor. And the big book of juices. Now I'm just hoping I'll give myself 5 mins every morning to make juice!

The fruits juices are obviously delicious, but I'll try to add some veges to most of them... maybe one day I'll graduate to green juice (kale, spinach, etc)

French Onion Soup and Roasted Baby Potatoes

Soup: I followed Tyler Florence's French Onion soup: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/french-onion-soup-recipe2/index.html

Potatoes: Followed recipe from Giada de Larentiis: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/roasted-baby-potatoes-with-herbs-recipe/index.html

Snap Peas in Kadhai "Paneer"

Ingredients:

Red chilies

Coriander seeds

Garlic paste

Ginger paste

Tomato paste

Mozzarella Cheese or Cottage Cheese

Curry Leaves

Salt

Directions:

Grind the red chillies and coriander seeds.Heat oil in wok and add garlic paste. Saute till brown. Add the gound red chillies and coriander. Saute. Then add green chillies and ginger. Saute for about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and stir. Add curry leaves, salt and garam masala. Add the snap peas and stir fry. Cook until they are cooked through. I added bits of sliced mozzarella as I didn't have paneer. Let the cheese melt and serve!

I adapted this recipe fom the Kadhai Paneer Recipe in The Indian Menu Planner

Gateau de Crepes

Saw a crepe cake on Best Thing I Ever Ate on Food Network and have been dreaming about it since then. Here's my Gateau de Crepes from Smitten Kitchen's Recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/06/having-my-cake/

I followed most of the directions. I did not use Kirsch or confectioner's sugar. I halved the recipe and I did not wait overnight or check the temperature before adding butter. I think following the instructions would have made it even better- but it was wonderful anyways! Making it was a labor of love- and probably will not be making another one for a while.

For the crepe batter:

6 tablespoons butter
3 cups milk

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour
7 tablespoons sugar

Pinch salt

For the vanilla pastry cream:
2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean, halved and scraped
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
3 1/2 tablespoons butter

For assembly:
Corn oil
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar or more


1. The day before, make the crepe batter and the pastry cream. Batter: In a small pan, cook the butter until brown like hazelnuts. Set aside. In another small pan, heat the milk until steaming; allow to cool for 10 minutes. In a mixer on medium-low speed, beat together the eggs, flour, sugar and salt. Slowly add the hot milk and browned butter. Pour into a container with a spout, cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. Pastry cream: Bring the milk with the vanilla bean (and scrapings) to a boil, then set aside for 10 minutes; remove bean. Fill a large bowl with ice and set aside a small bowl that can hold the finished pastry cream and be placed in this ice bath.
3. In a medium heavy-bottomed pan, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, then place pan over high heat and bring to a boil, whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes. Press the pastry cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the small bowl. Set the bowl in the ice bath and stir until the temperature reaches 140 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Stir in the butter. When completely cool, cover and refrigerate.
4. Assemble the cake the next day: Bring the batter to room temperature. Place a nonstick or seasoned 9-inch crepe pan over medium heat. Swab the surface with the oil, then add about 3 tablespoons batter and swirl to cover the surface. Cook until the bottom just begins to brown, about 1 minute, then carefully lift an edge and flip the crepe with your fingers. Cook on the other side for no longer than 5 seconds. Flip the crepe onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Repeat until you have 20 perfect crepes.

5. Pass the pastry cream through a sieve once more. Whip the heavy cream with the tablespoon sugar and the Kirsch. It won’t hold peaks. Fold it into the pastry cream.

6. Lay 1 crepe on a cake plate. Using an icing spatula, completely cover with a thin layer of pastry cream (about 1/4 cup). Cover with a crepe and repeat to make a stack of 20, with the best-looking crepe on top. Chill for at least 2 hours. Set out for 30 minutes before serving. If you have a blowtorch for creme brulee, sprinkle the top crepe with 2 tablespoons sugar and caramelize with the torch; otherwise, dust with confectioners’ sugar. Slice like a cake.

"Nasi Goreng"

This recipe was from http://www.food.com/recipe/indonesian-fried-rice-nasi-goreng-35551 but I altered it as I didn't have shrimp paste or the time to add meat.

Ingredients:


2 cups Trophy Basmati rice , cooked
2 tablespoons oil
2 egg, lightly beaten

0.5 large onion, peeled and sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
3 red chilies, sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
sliced cucumber (to garnish)

sliced tomato (to garnish)

bunch of spinach, optional

Directions:

Stir the rice with a fork to separate the grains.

Heat the oil in the wok and fry the onion, garlic and chilies until the onion is tender. Beat the egges and pour in, stirring to scramble. Add the spinach.

Increase the heat to high and add the rice, salt and soy sauce, adding a little oil if necessary, stirring constantly until well mixed and heated through.

Garnish with cucumber, and tomato. The fresh cucumber really makes a diffeence!

Honey Ginger Mahi Mahi

This recipe was from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/ginger-glazed-mahi-mahi/detail.aspx but I changed it a little bit. It's the first time fish was acceptable to the husband so this will become permanent :)

Ingredients


3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic, crushed or to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 mahi mahi fillets

crushed red pepper to taste

chopped green chilies to taste

salt to taste

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1.In a shallow glass dish, stir together the honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic, crushed red pepper, chopped green chillies and olive oil. Season fish fillets with salt, and place them into the dish. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinate.

2.Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from the dish, and reserve marinade. Fry fish for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, turning only once, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.

3.Pour reserved marinade into the skillet, and heat over medium heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze consistently. Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.

Favorite Burgers Remixed

This burger is a mixture of three of our favorite burgers: The Wagyu beef burger from a local Scandinavian restaurant called Hjem, bbq burger from a local pub Grub's, and the cheese and jalapeno stuffed smokehouse from Burger King.

Ingredients:
Ground Beef Chuck 80/20
Jarlsberg Cheese
Chopped Jalapenos
Shredded Cheese
Chopped Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Spinach (optional)
BBQ Sauce (optional)
Buns

Directions:

Take the ground beef in a bowl and add salt and pepper. Add the chopped bits of cheese and jalapenos. Add the shredded cheese. Mix and rest for 10-15 minutes. Make patties, don't press too hard or compress the meat.

I used my new favorite kitchen sidekick, the Presto Liddle Griddle. Heat griddle to 400F. Put the patties on and cook on each side for 6-7 minutes for medium done burgers. Turn the patty only once. During the last minute of cooking, put the jarlsberg cheese slice on top and let it melt. Remove the patties and let rest on a plate. Take the burger buns and put on the griddle. The meat juices add flavor and the buns will be nicely toasted.

Make burgers and top with spinach and bbq sauce or whatever you want :)

BBQ Jalapeno and Chicken Pizza

For the crust:

I used Jay's Signature Pizza Crust Recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/jays-signature-pizza-crust/detail.aspx with some alterations. This recipe makes two pizzas.

Ingredients


Crust:
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:
Pepperjack Cheese Slices
Shredded Cheese
Grilled Chicken Fajitas
Sliced Jalapenos
Parmesan Cheese
Crushed Red Pepper
Pizza Seasoning
Spicy Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Directions
1.In the Kitchenaid mixer bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the warm water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

2.Stir the oil into the yeast solution. Turn on the mixer at speed 2 and use the dough hook attachment. Mix in the flour and then salt. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time. Add more flour if dough is sticky.

3. Place the dough into a well oiled bowl, and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise until double; this should take about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and form a tight ball. Divide dough in half. You can freeze half for later if you don't want two pizzas. I used the other half for the breadstickes below. Allow the dough to relax for a minute and then roll it out.

4.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Oil a pan and put the crust on the pan. Let it rise for about 15-20 minutes. Pierce crust with toothpick several times. Bake for 5-6 minutes. Then apply BBQ sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Add the chicken, pizza seasoning and jalapenos. Top with parmesan and crushed red pepper.

5.Bake pizza in oven until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Chipotle Chicken and Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts
Onions
Chipotle in Adobo Sauce Can
Potatoes
Salt
Oil
Butter

Chicken:

Saute onions in oil until golden brown. Mince chipotle peppers and add to the oil with adobo sauce. Add sliced chicken breasts and salt to taste. Stire fry until chicken is cooked.

Potatoes:

Boil and mash potatoes. Add salt, butter, and chipotle chilies and adobo sauce. Add sauteed onions. Mash and serve.

Spiced Shrimp, Baby Scallops and Perch in Butter

Heat butter. Add chopped garlic and sautee until golden brown. Add shrimp, baby scallops and diced perch. Add salt and crushed red pepper, and fry in butter until cooked. Sprinkle with herbs.

The flaky bits from the perch and the garlic and peppers make deliciousness in the warm butter.

Shrimp in Potato and Snap Peas Dry Curry

Chop onion and fry in oil until brown. Make a paste with ginger, garlic, turmeric and red chili powders. Add the spice paste to the pan. Stir at high heat for 5-6 minutes. If it gets too dry and starts to burn, add few teaspoons of water slowly.

Thinly cube potatoes and snap peas. Chop peeled and deveined shrimp. Add to the pan. Add salt to taste. Stir fry for 5-6 minutes in high heat. When vegetables are brown and shrimp is pink, add quarter cup of water and cover and cook until everything is cooked. Check to see if you need to add water. Once cooked stir fry again. I like the spices and the potatoes to be slightly burnt.

Deshi Style Latke

Adapted the recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/potato-latkes-i/Detail.aspx

Ingredients

2 cups peeled and shredded potatoes
4 tablespoon grated onion
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup oil for frying
Green Chillies
Red Chili Powder

Directions
I used my Borner V-Slicer to shred the potatoes.

1.Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, extracting as much moisture as possible. - this is very important!
2.In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour, chili powder, green chili slices, and salt together.
3.In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Let drain on paper towels. Serve hot!

Latkes

Nutella Chocolate Cookies

Recipe from http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate_nutella_cookies/

I used 1/3 of the recipe and it made 21 cookies. I didn't have nuts, so I used a chopped planters nut bar.

10 minutes was good enough for me... 12 would have made them too crispy. They come out really soft but harden as they cool. It's important to let it rest on the sheet about two minutes before transferring to rack.

Cookies

Chicken in Cashew Nut Sauce

Adapted this from the Best Ever Indian Cookbook

Ingredients
Paste of 1 onion
2 tbsp ketchup or tomato paste
0.5-1 cup cashews (grinded in spice grinder or food processor)
1.5 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
0.25 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon yogurt
Oil
Fresh cilantro
2 Large Boneless Chicken Breasts, cubed
Chicken Stock or Water

Heat oil. Add onion paste and fry until brown. Add tomato paste, ground cashew, garam masala, garlic, chili powder, lemon juice, turmeric, and salt. Fry for a few minutes. When spices are cooked, add half the cilantro and the chicken. Fry until chicken is cooked and not pink anymore, and add 1.5 cups water or chicken stock. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes. Add the remaining cilantro and serve.

Another Naan Recipe

I keep trying to find the perfect naan recipe, yet none turn out like deshi naans. Some taste even better, but not the same. This one was pretty good too, but again was thicker and "breadier" than the deshi ones.

I adapted the recipe from the Best Ever Indian Cookbook:

Ingredients

2.5 cups bread flour
0.5 tsp salt
1 tsp dry yeast
4 tbsp plain yogurt
1 tbsp ghee or butter and more for brushing

Mix yogurt and yeast and let rest for 15 minutes. Sift flour and add salt. Add the yogurt mixture and  ghee to the flour. Knead for about 10 minutes. Put dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.

Divide dough into 4 parts. Roll each into any shape naan you like.

Heat oven to 450F. Bake the naans for 3-4 minutes or until puffy. Remove from oven and brush with ghee or butter.

These are really filling!

Sweet Dinner Rolls

 This is the best dinner roll recipe I've found so far, the rolls are utterly soft and delectably sweet. I found it here from Allrecipes.com. Here's the recipe, modified in someways:

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast or 2.25teaspoons

Directions
1. Mix water and milk and heat for a minute in the microwave. Add sugar and stir. Add yeast and let it sit until foamy (about 10-12 minutes).
2. In Kitchenaid mixer or by hand, add egg, 1/3 cup butter, and salt and mix. Add flour, half cup at a time and continue mixing.
3. If using mixer, continue kneading until it forms a ball and clings to hook. If kneading by hand, knead for about 10 minutes. Cover and keep in a warm place for 45 minutes to let rise.
4. Divide into small balls, about 16. Spray baking tray with cooking spray and put in the balls of dough. They may not all fit in one tray. Don't crowd the tray, keep atleast 2 inches gap between balls. Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour.
5. Heat oven to 350F. Bake rolls for about 10-15 minutes.

You can also make the shape below as in the original recipe.

Clay Pot and Tablescape

I like watching Sandra Lee's Tablescapes on the Food Network. Although they look great, I've never made the effort to do a fancy table setting. But I got a claypot from Bangladesh and I rediscovered some table linens I had. So here it is:

The lovely claypot from Jatra. Can't wait to use it!

Shrimp in Ginger Chili Sauce

Ingredients


Shrimp:
Cornstarch
Salt
Raw shrimp
Cayenne Pepper


Sauce:
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoon rice vinegar
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1.5 tablespoon chinese chile paste (the jar with the green lid)
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger root
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup very finely diced onion
1/4 cup slivered green chilies
1/4 cup green bell peppers

Shell, devein and wash uncooked shrimp. Dry with paper towels. Coat shrimp in cornstarch and season with some salt and cayenne pepper.

Heat oil in pan and fry shrimp until cooked and set aside.

In the same oil, saute the onion and garlic until slightly brown. Add ginger and fry for 30 seconds. Add the other ingredients and stir. Finally, add the shrimp and toss to heat through and coat with sauce. Add the chilies and bell pepper and stir for a few more minutes.


For this sauce I used almost the same recipe as the Crispy Ginger Beef.