3/4 cup sourcream
2 Tbl sugar
sprig of mint finely chopped
1 tsp vanilla
dash white pepper
Mix together and add
2 cups diced fruit of your choice. I totally cheat and use a combination of those fruit cup thingies such as citrus salad, tropical mix, pineapple and peaches
Yum
Monday, May 29, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Karl's Killer Cod (no K on the cod)
1 lb cod fillets
1 cup tomato puree
5 or 6 large basil leaves torn into small pieces
Cheese Sauce
1/2 small onion finely diced
2 Tbl butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 cups milk
8 oz finely shredded sharp cheddar
4 oz finely shredded colby jack cheese
salt and white pepper to taste
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 Tbl melted butter
Preheat oven to 350
In a bowl or baggie mix the tomato puree, basil and cod fillets. Toss to coat, set aside while making cheese sauce.
In a medium saucepan melt the 2 Tbl butter add the onion season with salt and white pepper and saute briefly. Add the flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the sherry stirring constantly, slowly add the cream then the milk. Bring to a boil remove from heat and once it stops bubbling add the cheese a large handful at a time, stirring after each addition until cheese is melted. If the cheese doesn't want to melt you can briefly return the pan to very low heat.
Place the cod/tomato mixture evenly in a lightly oiled baking dish. Top with all of the cheese sauce. Mix the bread crumbs with the melted butter and sprinkle evenly over the top. Cover pan with foil and bake 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Remove foil and bake 10 minutes more until bread crumbs are crispy. Remove from oven and allow to rest 5-10 minutes before serving.
We had brown rice seasoned with onion, garlic and green pepper with this. Yum.
1 cup tomato puree
5 or 6 large basil leaves torn into small pieces
Cheese Sauce
1/2 small onion finely diced
2 Tbl butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 cups milk
8 oz finely shredded sharp cheddar
4 oz finely shredded colby jack cheese
salt and white pepper to taste
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 Tbl melted butter
Preheat oven to 350
In a bowl or baggie mix the tomato puree, basil and cod fillets. Toss to coat, set aside while making cheese sauce.
In a medium saucepan melt the 2 Tbl butter add the onion season with salt and white pepper and saute briefly. Add the flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the sherry stirring constantly, slowly add the cream then the milk. Bring to a boil remove from heat and once it stops bubbling add the cheese a large handful at a time, stirring after each addition until cheese is melted. If the cheese doesn't want to melt you can briefly return the pan to very low heat.
Place the cod/tomato mixture evenly in a lightly oiled baking dish. Top with all of the cheese sauce. Mix the bread crumbs with the melted butter and sprinkle evenly over the top. Cover pan with foil and bake 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Remove foil and bake 10 minutes more until bread crumbs are crispy. Remove from oven and allow to rest 5-10 minutes before serving.
We had brown rice seasoned with onion, garlic and green pepper with this. Yum.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Shrimp Toast
It'd been a long time since I'd ordered shrimp toast as an appetizer. As a child I loved the stuff, Crisp toast, sweet and fragrant shrimp puree with that little sprinkling of sesame seeds on top. But like my love for egg drop soup my taste moved on to slightly more sophisticated fare. Shrimp toast was a fond memory.
Friday evening after a 12 hour shift at work we decided to head to Golden Buddha. Ironic almost that this would be the place that I rediscovered my love of shrimp toast as it is also a recovered treasure from youth. We ordered our usual House Special Sizzling Rice Soup, Egg Foo Yung and Shrimp with Pine Nuts and in a spirit of adventure decided to forego the usual pot stickers in favor of well...shrimp toast.
They were just as lovely as I remembered them to be and it inspired me to try my own version.
1/4 lb peeled and deveined raw shrimp
1 4 oz can water chestnuts
1-1/2 piece of fresh ginger finely grated
1/2 small shallot finely minced
2 Tbl sherry
1 Tbl soy sauce
2 Tbl cornstarch
1 egg white
1/4 tsp each white pepper and salt
2 Tbl Sesame seeds
8 slices white sandwich bread.
Oil for frying
Finely mince the shrimp and water chestnuts, combine with the seven ingredients and set aside. Using a spoon back lightly smoosh the bread to form a shell, divide the filling evenly between the bread and smooth over to edges. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cut each piece of bread diagonally into quarters. Fry in hot oil, shrimp side down a few at a time about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and serve with hot mustard and plum sauce.
Friday evening after a 12 hour shift at work we decided to head to Golden Buddha. Ironic almost that this would be the place that I rediscovered my love of shrimp toast as it is also a recovered treasure from youth. We ordered our usual House Special Sizzling Rice Soup, Egg Foo Yung and Shrimp with Pine Nuts and in a spirit of adventure decided to forego the usual pot stickers in favor of well...shrimp toast.
They were just as lovely as I remembered them to be and it inspired me to try my own version.
1/4 lb peeled and deveined raw shrimp
1 4 oz can water chestnuts
1-1/2 piece of fresh ginger finely grated
1/2 small shallot finely minced
2 Tbl sherry
1 Tbl soy sauce
2 Tbl cornstarch
1 egg white
1/4 tsp each white pepper and salt
2 Tbl Sesame seeds
8 slices white sandwich bread.
Oil for frying
Finely mince the shrimp and water chestnuts, combine with the seven ingredients and set aside. Using a spoon back lightly smoosh the bread to form a shell, divide the filling evenly between the bread and smooth over to edges. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cut each piece of bread diagonally into quarters. Fry in hot oil, shrimp side down a few at a time about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and serve with hot mustard and plum sauce.
Maitre D' Butter
Maitre D' butter is one of life's sinful joys. Take something as simple yet luxurious as a properly cooked steak, plop on a heaped spoon of maitre d' butter and the result of hot meat, melting butter and rich juices makes the most divine sauce ever.
1 4 oz stick real butter softened
4 oz blue cheese
1 smal shallot finely minced
1 tsp Chicken grill seasoning or favorite herb blend (mine has thyme, rosemary, orange peel, red pepper flake, dehydrated garlic and oregano)
Combine all ingredients smashing them together with a fork to blend. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to get the full effect. Stays fresh in fridge about a week, in freezer about 6 months if tightly wrapped.
1 4 oz stick real butter softened
4 oz blue cheese
1 smal shallot finely minced
1 tsp Chicken grill seasoning or favorite herb blend (mine has thyme, rosemary, orange peel, red pepper flake, dehydrated garlic and oregano)
Combine all ingredients smashing them together with a fork to blend. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to get the full effect. Stays fresh in fridge about a week, in freezer about 6 months if tightly wrapped.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Chicken and Dumplings
Depending on where you come from chicken and dumplings can mean a lot of things to different people. I happen to live in Evansville and most people around here think of chicken and dumplings as a thickish square egg noodle cooked in chicken broth with chicken. My parents however are from elsewhere and I think of chicken and dumplings as a light fluffy biscuit type thing cooked in chicken broth with chicken.
I've never been a fan of from scratch dumplings or biscuits for that matter. The most likely reason being that I may be congenitally unable to make light and fluffy dumplings or biscuits. However this evening we were rushed, we had to make several unplanned stops and when we went to the store I forgot the Jiffy mix. Being just a little too tired to schlep myself back to the store and feeling that it might be totally unfair to send Karl who was equally as stressed and tired as I was, I resigned myself to from scratch dumplings. I decided to take a different approach...
Boil a chicken, seasoning it well with salt and pepper in a large pan with enough water to cover until chicken is done between 45 minutes to an hour or so. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool.
4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup lard
1/4 vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup (at least) milk
Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening and the oil using a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk and enough regular milk to form a loose but thick dough. Set aside.
Check the broth from boiling the chicken for seasoning add more salt and pepper if needed. Pick the chicken from the bones and add this to broth. Bring the broth to a boil. Drop about half of the dumpling mixture by large tablespoons over the boiling broth until top of broth is covered evenly in a single layer. Bring broth back to a boil, reduce heat cover tightly and simmer for twenty minutes. Remove lid and either serve the dumplings or skim them into a large shallow dish. For the second batch check the broth if it's very thick you can add more chicken broth or some water to thin it out. Repeat the same process for the second batch of dumplings.
These turned out very light and fluffy and pretty yummy too. Is this the end for Jiffy Mix? Probably not, I still can't make a decent biscuit, but in future not having it on hand will definitely not be the point of stress it's been before.
I've never been a fan of from scratch dumplings or biscuits for that matter. The most likely reason being that I may be congenitally unable to make light and fluffy dumplings or biscuits. However this evening we were rushed, we had to make several unplanned stops and when we went to the store I forgot the Jiffy mix. Being just a little too tired to schlep myself back to the store and feeling that it might be totally unfair to send Karl who was equally as stressed and tired as I was, I resigned myself to from scratch dumplings. I decided to take a different approach...
Boil a chicken, seasoning it well with salt and pepper in a large pan with enough water to cover until chicken is done between 45 minutes to an hour or so. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool.
4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup lard
1/4 vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup (at least) milk
Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in the shortening and the oil using a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk and enough regular milk to form a loose but thick dough. Set aside.
Check the broth from boiling the chicken for seasoning add more salt and pepper if needed. Pick the chicken from the bones and add this to broth. Bring the broth to a boil. Drop about half of the dumpling mixture by large tablespoons over the boiling broth until top of broth is covered evenly in a single layer. Bring broth back to a boil, reduce heat cover tightly and simmer for twenty minutes. Remove lid and either serve the dumplings or skim them into a large shallow dish. For the second batch check the broth if it's very thick you can add more chicken broth or some water to thin it out. Repeat the same process for the second batch of dumplings.
These turned out very light and fluffy and pretty yummy too. Is this the end for Jiffy Mix? Probably not, I still can't make a decent biscuit, but in future not having it on hand will definitely not be the point of stress it's been before.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)