Wednesday, November 05, 2008
We lose again...
I can't believe this. Yet another New Jersey governor gets taken away by the White House!
After all the fighting, now comes the hard work...
Barack Obama is voted as the 44th President of the United States (POTUS). What I want to know is, where is Jack Bauer?
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Making Decisions
I really have a hard time purchasing items whose price tag has more that two digits. It takes me a couple of weeks to convince myself that I really need the item. Thanks to truenorthgal for helping me decide.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Replacing Your Passport
If you have a non-machine readable passport by April 2010, you may be out of luck trying to travel six months beforehand. I suggest you start checking out your country's individual passport status. That or you may just opt to stay where you are.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
A Lazy Afternoon...
I finally find the time to post all the baked goods and food I've been making for the past month or so. Like my wife says, it takes a while before you get around to post. Unless I specify otherwise, most of these recipes were borrowed from the NY Times.
We bought this ridiculously large bag of all purpose flour from this warehouse store. Truenorthgal really loves to bake so we thought it was a good purchase. Past forward a year later and the bag is still there. Usually I leave the baked goods to her but as she is busy with work, I thought I would take a crack at it. Here I made an Applejack Apple Cake. I could not find a decently priced bottle of calvados so the friendly fellow from my local liquor store suggested applejack.
Applejack Apple Cake
Time: About 1 hour, plus one hour’s resting
2 sticks butter, softened, more for greasing pan
Flour (if using bundt pan)
2 medium apples (about 8 ounces), peeled, cored and quartered
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup bourbon, Calvados, Cognac or brandy
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch rectangular pan with butter, or butter and flour a 9-inch bundt pan. Put apples in a blender or food processor and purée; remove and set aside.
2. In food processor, combine 1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tablespoons) with 1 1/2 cups sugar and pulse until combined. With motor running, add eggs one at a time. Add apple purée and process until just combined.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add about a third of flour mixture to apple mixture in food processor. Then, with motor running, add about half of milk; add another third of flour, followed by rest of milk, then finally last of the flour. Process until batter just evens out.
4. Turn batter into prepared pan and bake until middle is set (your fingers should leave only a small indentation when you gently press cake), 45 to 50 minutes. When done, cool in pan for about 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, combine 1 cup liquor in a small pot with remaining butter and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and liquid is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then pour over cake; let it sit for at least an hour before serving. (For bundt, let it sit for an hour, then unmold). Store at room temperature, covered with waxed paper, for up to 2 days.
I also had a craving for fish tacos. A while back I went to Atlanta for some training and surprise surprise there was a Baja Fresh restaurant there. I promptly ordered the fish tacos and they were good. Anyway, so whenever I get a chance I try to order fish tacos if it was available. Here I started making tortillas.
Grandma Salazar's Tortillas
Adapted from Traci Des Jardins
Time: 25 minutes plus 20 minutes to 1 hour for dough to rest
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons bacon drippings, lard or vegetable shortening.
1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add bacon drippings and mix by hand or with a pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly. Slowly mix in 1 cup cold water. Add just enough additional water (about 1/3. cup) to make a smooth, slightly sticky dough.
2. Divide dough into 12 balls of equal size. Place on a board or baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel; allow to rest for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll tortillas into 8-inch rounds. Place between sheets of waxed paper. At this point dough may be covered and refrigerated until cooking time, or used immediately.
4. Heat a griddle over medium heat. Remove tortillas from waxed paper and cook one at a time until puffy and slightly brown, about 30 seconds a side. Wrap in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm until serving.
Once the tortillas were done, I proceed to make the salsa verde.
Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
1 cup water
4 tomatillos (husks removed)
2 jalapeno peppers
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 lime (juice and zest)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Place the water and tomatillos in a pot.
2. Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Place everything but the water in a food processor and blend.
Finally, I start making the fish itself. Yep, it was a long night but I could not wait to taste the results.
Fish Tacos (from Food Network but I added my own touches)
1 lb tilapia fillets
1/4 cup canola oil
Juice from 1 lime
1 tbsp chili powder
1 chopped jalapeno
1/2 cup cilantro
1. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, chili powder, jalapeno and cilantro. Pour over fillets and let marinate for 20 minutes.
2. Heat up your grill. Place marinated fish on grill and flip after 4 minutes. After about a minute, remove fish from grill and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
Here is my fish taco dinner.
On another night, I had some left over shrimp. I haven't used my chopsticks for a while now so I thought about making a chinese dish. Here is what I had:
Stir-Fried Shrimp With Black Beans
Time: 30 minutes
1 1/2 tablespoons black bean garlic sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine
About 1 1/2 pounds uncooked shrimp, in the 20 to 30 per pound size range, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 clove garlic, sliced, and 1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 pound bok choy or other cabbage, trimmed, washed and dried
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon peeled and minced or grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup minced scallions
3/4 cup water
1. In large bowl, marinate shrimp in 1/2 teaspoon sugar, sliced garlic, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
2. Separate bok choy leaves from stems; chop stems into 1/2 - to 1-inch pieces, and roughly chop leaves.
3. Preheat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and raise heat to high. When it begins to smoke, add minced garlic and, immediately thereafter, shrimp and its marinade. Cook shrimp for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon it out of wok or skillet.
4. Put remaining peanut oil in wok or skillet and, when it smokes, add ginger, followed immediately by bok choy stems. Cook, stirring, until bok choy is lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes, then add leaves. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add 3/4 cup water and let it bubble away for a minute.
5. Return shrimp to wok or skillet and stir; add black beans and their liquid, scallions, and remaining sugar and soy sauce. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Turn off heat, drizzle remaining sesame oil on top, and serve.
I have on occasion purchased a bag of chocolate chip cookies, popped a couple of them into the microwave and been disappointed. So I said to myself time to make my own batch of chocolate chip cookies! Hey, I have to finish of about 36oz of semi-sweet morsels anyway.
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Joy of Cooking 2006 Ed)
1 cup and 2 tbsp of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 375degF. Whisk together flour and baking soda.
2. Beat in a separate bowl the butter and sugars.
3. Add to the mixture the egg, salt, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat until well combined.
4. Pour in flour mixture until the the texture of the mixture looks somewhat grainy. Add in the chocolate chips/morsels.
5. Drop a heaping spoonful of the mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches of space between drops.
6. Place sheets into the oven for about 8 minutes or until the cookies are slightly brown.
7. Once done, let cookies stand then place on racks to cool.
Hmm, I think I need something spicy in my life. Truenorthgal really loves these thai meatballs we made a while back. I just did it because I wasn't using that particular cookbook for a while now.
Fragrant Thai Meatballs (based on a recipe in wok & STIR-FRY)
1 lb ground pork
1 tsbp chopped garlic
1 finely chopped tanglad
4 scallions finely chopped
2 tsbp chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsbp red curry paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp patis
1 egg
flour for dusting
peanut oil for frying
fresh ground pepper
sprigs of cilantro for garnish
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp red curry paste (or more if you really want it spicy)
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp unsalted peanuts
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup gata
1. Heat vegetable oil in sauce pan. Add curry paste and fry for about a minute.
2. Place peanut butter, peanuts, sugar, lemon juice and gata in the sauce pan also. Once the mixture boils, lower heat to simmer for about 5 minutes. When the sauce thickens, remove from heat and set aside.
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients thoroughly(excluding the flour, peanut oil, and sprigs of cilantro).
4. Shape meat mixture into small balls then dust with flour.
5. Heat the peanut oil in a pan and deep fry meatballs. Drain cooked meatballs on paper towels. Serve with peanut sauce and sprigs of cilantro.
Here is my dinner!
It was nice afternoon yesterday. The sun was out and I was done with all my chores. I bought a pint of heavy cream last Tuesday with plans of making scones during the weekend. Since the weekend was here, time to whip up a batch of scones!
Cream Scones (Joy of Cooking 2006 ed)
1 3/4 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup cranberry raisins
1. Preheat oven to 450degF. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Combine well.
2. Make a small well in the middle of the dry mixture and pour in the heavy cream. Add cranberry raisins as well. Mix in as few strokes as possible.
3. Handling the dough as little as possible, make some balls onto a baking sheet. Flatten using the palm of your hand or the bottom of a wide bottle.
4. Place sheet in the oven for about 15 minutes or until edges are a bit golden.
Here is my breakfast.
Here is a closeup of the scones.
I hope that made you hungry and itching to make some yourself.
We bought this ridiculously large bag of all purpose flour from this warehouse store. Truenorthgal really loves to bake so we thought it was a good purchase. Past forward a year later and the bag is still there. Usually I leave the baked goods to her but as she is busy with work, I thought I would take a crack at it. Here I made an Applejack Apple Cake. I could not find a decently priced bottle of calvados so the friendly fellow from my local liquor store suggested applejack.
Applejack Apple Cake
Time: About 1 hour, plus one hour’s resting
2 sticks butter, softened, more for greasing pan
Flour (if using bundt pan)
2 medium apples (about 8 ounces), peeled, cored and quartered
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup bourbon, Calvados, Cognac or brandy
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch rectangular pan with butter, or butter and flour a 9-inch bundt pan. Put apples in a blender or food processor and purée; remove and set aside.
2. In food processor, combine 1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tablespoons) with 1 1/2 cups sugar and pulse until combined. With motor running, add eggs one at a time. Add apple purée and process until just combined.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add about a third of flour mixture to apple mixture in food processor. Then, with motor running, add about half of milk; add another third of flour, followed by rest of milk, then finally last of the flour. Process until batter just evens out.
4. Turn batter into prepared pan and bake until middle is set (your fingers should leave only a small indentation when you gently press cake), 45 to 50 minutes. When done, cool in pan for about 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, combine 1 cup liquor in a small pot with remaining butter and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and liquid is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then pour over cake; let it sit for at least an hour before serving. (For bundt, let it sit for an hour, then unmold). Store at room temperature, covered with waxed paper, for up to 2 days.
I also had a craving for fish tacos. A while back I went to Atlanta for some training and surprise surprise there was a Baja Fresh restaurant there. I promptly ordered the fish tacos and they were good. Anyway, so whenever I get a chance I try to order fish tacos if it was available. Here I started making tortillas.
Grandma Salazar's Tortillas
Adapted from Traci Des Jardins
Time: 25 minutes plus 20 minutes to 1 hour for dough to rest
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons bacon drippings, lard or vegetable shortening.
1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add bacon drippings and mix by hand or with a pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly. Slowly mix in 1 cup cold water. Add just enough additional water (about 1/3. cup) to make a smooth, slightly sticky dough.
2. Divide dough into 12 balls of equal size. Place on a board or baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel; allow to rest for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll tortillas into 8-inch rounds. Place between sheets of waxed paper. At this point dough may be covered and refrigerated until cooking time, or used immediately.
4. Heat a griddle over medium heat. Remove tortillas from waxed paper and cook one at a time until puffy and slightly brown, about 30 seconds a side. Wrap in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm until serving.
Once the tortillas were done, I proceed to make the salsa verde.
Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
1 cup water
4 tomatillos (husks removed)
2 jalapeno peppers
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 lime (juice and zest)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Place the water and tomatillos in a pot.
2. Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Place everything but the water in a food processor and blend.
Finally, I start making the fish itself. Yep, it was a long night but I could not wait to taste the results.
Fish Tacos (from Food Network but I added my own touches)
1 lb tilapia fillets
1/4 cup canola oil
Juice from 1 lime
1 tbsp chili powder
1 chopped jalapeno
1/2 cup cilantro
1. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, chili powder, jalapeno and cilantro. Pour over fillets and let marinate for 20 minutes.
2. Heat up your grill. Place marinated fish on grill and flip after 4 minutes. After about a minute, remove fish from grill and let it rest for about 5 minutes.
Here is my fish taco dinner.
On another night, I had some left over shrimp. I haven't used my chopsticks for a while now so I thought about making a chinese dish. Here is what I had:
Stir-Fried Shrimp With Black Beans
Time: 30 minutes
1 1/2 tablespoons black bean garlic sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine
About 1 1/2 pounds uncooked shrimp, in the 20 to 30 per pound size range, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 clove garlic, sliced, and 1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 pound bok choy or other cabbage, trimmed, washed and dried
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon peeled and minced or grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup minced scallions
3/4 cup water
1. In large bowl, marinate shrimp in 1/2 teaspoon sugar, sliced garlic, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
2. Separate bok choy leaves from stems; chop stems into 1/2 - to 1-inch pieces, and roughly chop leaves.
3. Preheat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and raise heat to high. When it begins to smoke, add minced garlic and, immediately thereafter, shrimp and its marinade. Cook shrimp for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon it out of wok or skillet.
4. Put remaining peanut oil in wok or skillet and, when it smokes, add ginger, followed immediately by bok choy stems. Cook, stirring, until bok choy is lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes, then add leaves. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add 3/4 cup water and let it bubble away for a minute.
5. Return shrimp to wok or skillet and stir; add black beans and their liquid, scallions, and remaining sugar and soy sauce. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Turn off heat, drizzle remaining sesame oil on top, and serve.
I have on occasion purchased a bag of chocolate chip cookies, popped a couple of them into the microwave and been disappointed. So I said to myself time to make my own batch of chocolate chip cookies! Hey, I have to finish of about 36oz of semi-sweet morsels anyway.
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Joy of Cooking 2006 Ed)
1 cup and 2 tbsp of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 375degF. Whisk together flour and baking soda.
2. Beat in a separate bowl the butter and sugars.
3. Add to the mixture the egg, salt, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat until well combined.
4. Pour in flour mixture until the the texture of the mixture looks somewhat grainy. Add in the chocolate chips/morsels.
5. Drop a heaping spoonful of the mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches of space between drops.
6. Place sheets into the oven for about 8 minutes or until the cookies are slightly brown.
7. Once done, let cookies stand then place on racks to cool.
Hmm, I think I need something spicy in my life. Truenorthgal really loves these thai meatballs we made a while back. I just did it because I wasn't using that particular cookbook for a while now.
Fragrant Thai Meatballs (based on a recipe in wok & STIR-FRY)
1 lb ground pork
1 tsbp chopped garlic
1 finely chopped tanglad
4 scallions finely chopped
2 tsbp chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsbp red curry paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp patis
1 egg
flour for dusting
peanut oil for frying
fresh ground pepper
sprigs of cilantro for garnish
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp red curry paste (or more if you really want it spicy)
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp unsalted peanuts
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup gata
1. Heat vegetable oil in sauce pan. Add curry paste and fry for about a minute.
2. Place peanut butter, peanuts, sugar, lemon juice and gata in the sauce pan also. Once the mixture boils, lower heat to simmer for about 5 minutes. When the sauce thickens, remove from heat and set aside.
3. Mix the rest of the ingredients thoroughly(excluding the flour, peanut oil, and sprigs of cilantro).
4. Shape meat mixture into small balls then dust with flour.
5. Heat the peanut oil in a pan and deep fry meatballs. Drain cooked meatballs on paper towels. Serve with peanut sauce and sprigs of cilantro.
Here is my dinner!
It was nice afternoon yesterday. The sun was out and I was done with all my chores. I bought a pint of heavy cream last Tuesday with plans of making scones during the weekend. Since the weekend was here, time to whip up a batch of scones!
Cream Scones (Joy of Cooking 2006 ed)
1 3/4 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup cranberry raisins
1. Preheat oven to 450degF. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Combine well.
2. Make a small well in the middle of the dry mixture and pour in the heavy cream. Add cranberry raisins as well. Mix in as few strokes as possible.
3. Handling the dough as little as possible, make some balls onto a baking sheet. Flatten using the palm of your hand or the bottom of a wide bottle.
4. Place sheet in the oven for about 15 minutes or until edges are a bit golden.
Here is my breakfast.
Here is a closeup of the scones.
I hope that made you hungry and itching to make some yourself.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Amer Idol Redux
I didn't expect that. Congrats to him! BTW, Carrie Underwood's performance reminded me of Shania Twain. Dang those go on forever...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Amer Idol 3
Final Round!
The World I Know - David Cook with guitar
- Definitely one record you can get by (Collective Soul) Randy
- I truly applaud you... Paula
- Nicest, sincerest contestants we have... completely wrong song choice for you... Billy Jean Simon
** Same same...
Imagine - David Archuleta
- Dude you are so good tonight you are exactly what this show is about... Randy
- ... you've left me speechless... stunning, stunning... Paula
- In my opinion you came out here to win and what we have witnessed is a knockout... Simon
** A little over the top though he could have brought this out in round one
The World I Know - David Cook with guitar
- Definitely one record you can get by (Collective Soul) Randy
- I truly applaud you... Paula
- Nicest, sincerest contestants we have... completely wrong song choice for you... Billy Jean Simon
** Same same...
Imagine - David Archuleta
- Dude you are so good tonight you are exactly what this show is about... Randy
- ... you've left me speechless... stunning, stunning... Paula
- In my opinion you came out here to win and what we have witnessed is a knockout... Simon
** A little over the top though he could have brought this out in round one
Amer Idol 2
Round Two!
Dream Day - David Cook with guitar
- King of the duel! Sing your face off! Randy
- Great way of taking a song we don't know and loving it... Paula
- End was ok made the most of what you had, didn't feel like a winning moment for me... 6.5/10 Simon
** Rock and Roll baby!
In This Moment - David Archuleta
- You could sing the phone book and it would be good... Randy
- You are on fire tonight... Paula
- Chose the better song... round two goes to David Archuleta Simon
** Definitely much better
Dream Day - David Cook with guitar
- King of the duel! Sing your face off! Randy
- Great way of taking a song we don't know and loving it... Paula
- End was ok made the most of what you had, didn't feel like a winning moment for me... 6.5/10 Simon
** Rock and Roll baby!
In This Moment - David Archuleta
- You could sing the phone book and it would be good... Randy
- You are on fire tonight... Paula
- Chose the better song... round two goes to David Archuleta Simon
** Definitely much better
Amer Idol 1
Round One!
Haven't Found What I'm looking for - David Cook
- His voice was hawt! Randy
- We have found what we are looking for! Paula
- Phenomenal! Simon
** Smooothhh....
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - David Archuleta
- Right time to peak! Crazy vocals! Randy
- Chills up and down my arms... so much sunshine from your singing... Paula
- Last week your were ok... tonight is the best you've done so far... round 1 to Archuleta Simon
** Voice could go higher...
Haven't Found What I'm looking for - David Cook
- His voice was hawt! Randy
- We have found what we are looking for! Paula
- Phenomenal! Simon
** Smooothhh....
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - David Archuleta
- Right time to peak! Crazy vocals! Randy
- Chills up and down my arms... so much sunshine from your singing... Paula
- Last week your were ok... tonight is the best you've done so far... round 1 to Archuleta Simon
** Voice could go higher...
Monday, March 17, 2008
The T 2's
It's our second year. It's still great. It's quite a ride. It's like falling in love all over again. Now gotta go as it's August Rush.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Pil Pil, Baking and Peppers
Since coming back from a quick Christmas and New Year rendezvous with truenorthgal, I was too tired to start cooking again. I am glad that my mom and dad gave me a couple of weeks worth of food so I don't have to worry about what to do for dinner as I was adjusting to my regular work schedule again. Anyway, I wanted to eat something just cooked so I got a couple of things from my local supermarket and started cooking away. Here are a couple of things I've been doing for the past two weeks.
Spicy Dinner
Gambas Pil Pil
I found this recipe from one of the Spanish cookbooks truenorthgal and I found a couple of months back. I bought a package of deveined shrimp in early December but never had a chance to take them out of the freezer. Considering that the basic ingredients are shrimp, garlic and olive oil, this is definitely easy and yummy!
1 lb peeled, uncooked shrimp (keep the head on but remove the antennas)
a good measure of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic (or as much as you want), chopped
1 or 2 chopped dried chilies
salt
1. Place a skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil.
2. Line a pan with aluminum foil. Place the pan in the oven for two to three minutes at 350 deg F.
3. After the olive oil is hot enough, add the garlic and crumbled dried chilies. Add the shrimp and once they turn pink, pour the entire contents of the skillet onto the pan.
4. Sprinkle the salt on the shrimp and serve immediately! Use crusty bread to mop up the spiked olive oil while eating. Try not to burn your fingers or your tongue.
Baking Frenzy
Whenever I have breakfast, I am on the lookout for scones. There is something about this nice bread which may or may not contain fruits, nuts, chocolate or spices. I like them with butter and jam, peanut butter, and cream cheese. Hey if they are not plain, I have them as is. So while trying to remove any unused items in our pantry, I found some flour and a brownie mix. I thought since I liked scones I might as well try my hand making some. I have to say that I had mix results with making bread before (translation: hard disks or tough loaves) so I was hesitant to try it out. Since I had an excess amount of flour, I said I had nothing to lose anyway. So here is the recipe I used for these scones.
Cream Scones
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar plus some more for sprinkling
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1. Sift all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Preheat the oven to 450 deg F.
2. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the heavy cream. Using a large spatula, mix the ingredients with as few strokes as possible. When I tried this, it took me about 8 to 10 strokes. It may look lumpy but that's ok as you can see below.
After Mixing Ingredients
3. On a lightly floured board, pat the dough into a 8 inch round and about 3/4 inch thick. The trick here is to handle the dough as lightly as possible. You can run your hands through cold water to minimize transferring heat to the dough. Cut the dough into 8 wedges or small rounds.
4. Place the dough onto a ungreased pan. Brush the the wedges or rounds with egg whites and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
Prepared Cream Scones
5. Place pan into the oven and bake until golden brown. It will take about 15 minutes. Serve warm with butter, jam or clotted cream!
Creamed Scones after 15 minutes
Oh as for that brownie mix, I just added one egg and 1 cup of vegetable oil. Then just for a chunkier consistency, I added some slivered almonds and roughly chopped unsweetened chocolate. This is one wicked brownie.
Mmmm Chunky Brownie
Lacking Veggies
After a couple of days, I noticed that I wasn't getting enough veggies in my meals. I resolved to look for some vegetable recipes. It still took til this past Friday (past 2130) before I got to cook the stuffed peppers though but it was worth it!
Stuffed Bell Peppers
4 bell peppers
salt
5 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
five cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
dash of habanero, tabasco or whatever hot sauce you like
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the bell peppers whose tops and seeds have been removed. Make sure the peppers are submerged for about three minutes. Remove the peppers from the water and let cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 deg F. In a skillet, heat the 4 tbsp olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook them until they are soft and translucent. Add the meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the stuffing until the beef is pinkish as seen below.
Half Cooked Stuffing
3. Using the remaining olive oil, spread them on the inside of the peppers. Put the peppers in a baking dish with 1/4 cup water. Place the stuffing in the peppers. Mix the hot sauce, 1/4 cup water and ketchup in a bowl. Spread the mixture on top of the stuffing. Place the baking dish in the oven for about 45 minutes.
Cooked Stuffed Peppers
A Close Up of a Pepper
Stuffed Peppers with their Caps
Dinner!
Spicy Dinner
Gambas Pil Pil
I found this recipe from one of the Spanish cookbooks truenorthgal and I found a couple of months back. I bought a package of deveined shrimp in early December but never had a chance to take them out of the freezer. Considering that the basic ingredients are shrimp, garlic and olive oil, this is definitely easy and yummy!1 lb peeled, uncooked shrimp (keep the head on but remove the antennas)
a good measure of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic (or as much as you want), chopped
1 or 2 chopped dried chilies
salt
1. Place a skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil.
2. Line a pan with aluminum foil. Place the pan in the oven for two to three minutes at 350 deg F.
3. After the olive oil is hot enough, add the garlic and crumbled dried chilies. Add the shrimp and once they turn pink, pour the entire contents of the skillet onto the pan.
4. Sprinkle the salt on the shrimp and serve immediately! Use crusty bread to mop up the spiked olive oil while eating. Try not to burn your fingers or your tongue.
Baking Frenzy
Whenever I have breakfast, I am on the lookout for scones. There is something about this nice bread which may or may not contain fruits, nuts, chocolate or spices. I like them with butter and jam, peanut butter, and cream cheese. Hey if they are not plain, I have them as is. So while trying to remove any unused items in our pantry, I found some flour and a brownie mix. I thought since I liked scones I might as well try my hand making some. I have to say that I had mix results with making bread before (translation: hard disks or tough loaves) so I was hesitant to try it out. Since I had an excess amount of flour, I said I had nothing to lose anyway. So here is the recipe I used for these scones.
Cream Scones
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar plus some more for sprinkling
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1. Sift all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Preheat the oven to 450 deg F.
2. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the heavy cream. Using a large spatula, mix the ingredients with as few strokes as possible. When I tried this, it took me about 8 to 10 strokes. It may look lumpy but that's ok as you can see below.
After Mixing Ingredients
3. On a lightly floured board, pat the dough into a 8 inch round and about 3/4 inch thick. The trick here is to handle the dough as lightly as possible. You can run your hands through cold water to minimize transferring heat to the dough. Cut the dough into 8 wedges or small rounds.
4. Place the dough onto a ungreased pan. Brush the the wedges or rounds with egg whites and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
Prepared Cream Scones
5. Place pan into the oven and bake until golden brown. It will take about 15 minutes. Serve warm with butter, jam or clotted cream!
Creamed Scones after 15 minutes
Oh as for that brownie mix, I just added one egg and 1 cup of vegetable oil. Then just for a chunkier consistency, I added some slivered almonds and roughly chopped unsweetened chocolate. This is one wicked brownie.
Mmmm Chunky Brownie
Lacking Veggies
After a couple of days, I noticed that I wasn't getting enough veggies in my meals. I resolved to look for some vegetable recipes. It still took til this past Friday (past 2130) before I got to cook the stuffed peppers though but it was worth it!
Stuffed Bell Peppers
4 bell peppers
salt
5 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
five cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
dash of habanero, tabasco or whatever hot sauce you like
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the bell peppers whose tops and seeds have been removed. Make sure the peppers are submerged for about three minutes. Remove the peppers from the water and let cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 deg F. In a skillet, heat the 4 tbsp olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook them until they are soft and translucent. Add the meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the stuffing until the beef is pinkish as seen below.
Half Cooked Stuffing
3. Using the remaining olive oil, spread them on the inside of the peppers. Put the peppers in a baking dish with 1/4 cup water. Place the stuffing in the peppers. Mix the hot sauce, 1/4 cup water and ketchup in a bowl. Spread the mixture on top of the stuffing. Place the baking dish in the oven for about 45 minutes.
Cooked Stuffed Peppers
A Close Up of a Pepper
Stuffed Peppers with their Caps
Dinner!
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