By
Administrator on September 13th, 2008
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Although large sea scallops have become a budget buster of late, a local supermarket had them on sale and we decided to indulge ourselves. I checked the web for a seared scallop recipe and found one that sounded pretty good except that the amount of butter it called for looked like “coronary on a plate” to me. The original recipe called for seven tablespoons of butter, but I cut the total to four and think that it might still be quite tasty with only two.
1 1/4 lbs large sea scallops (if the ligament is still attached, remove and discard it)
4 T. butter, cut in 1 T chunks
2 T. finely chopped shallots
1/4 c. dry white wine
1/4 c. white wine vinegar (I realized mid-recipe that I didn’t have any, so substituted natural rice vinegar. If you use rice vinegar, make sure that it is natural, not seasoned)
1 T. finely chopped French tarragon
Pat scallops dry and season with a little salt and pepper.
Heat large cast iron skillet over medium-high flame. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil, or enough to coat the bottom of pan. Sear scallops, turning once, until golden brown and just cooked through, about 5 minutes total.
Transfer scallops to a platter. Add shallots, wine, and vinegar to skillet and boil, scraping up any browned bits, until reduced to about two tablespoonsful. Add juices from platter. Reduce heat to low and add two tablespoons of butter, stirring until almost melted. Add remaining butter and swirl until mixed. Stir in tarragon and salt (if needed). Pour sauce over scallops and serve.
Enjoy!
By
Administrator on November 11th, 2007
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I believe that this recipe was given to my mother by one of my aunts, who actually is Swedish, so it may really be ethnic. If anyone out there is also Swedish and can confirm or deny the authenticity of the "Swedish" label, I’d like to satisfy my curiosity! At any rate, I can tell you that this is a time-saving, but still delicious, substitute for classic apple pie. It might come in handy during the holiday season when you’re pressed for time or when you find yourself throwing dinner together for unexpected company.
SWEDISH APPLE PIE
Fill a 9 inch pie plate with peeled, sliced apples and sprinkle with 2 tsp. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon (I usually mix these together first for more even distribution of the spice). In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup melted butter, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg, and a pinch of salt (make sure that the butter is sufficiently cooled so that you don’t start cooking the egg!) Pour this mixture over the apples and bake at 350ยบ F for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Enjoy!
By
Administrator on July 15th, 2007
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Okay, this morning I decided to make something that my family used to have when I was a kid. I have no idea where the recipe came from or if anyone else ever cooks this. It’s called "Shredded Wheat Omelet" , but is actually more like a frittata. My husband shudders at the very thought, so he has never tried it. (Of course, some of the food combinations that he likes are enough to make me leave the room in a hurry!)
Lightly beat two eggs with a little milk and salt and pepper to taste. Add one crumbled shredded wheat biscuit (the large type — not the "mini-wheats") and mix well. Pour into buttered skillet and cook over medium low heat until set and bottom is browned. Turn over and cook until middle is cooked through. Butter the top, add more salt and pepper, if desired, and serve.
I would really like to hear from others as I’m curious to know whether or not anyone else’s family ever served this. If you try it, I’d love to know whether or not you liked it!
By
Administrator on October 19th, 2006
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If you’re used to the more usual plain bread pudding with raisins or the English bread and butter pudding, this may sound a little weird. Believe me though, once you try it the recipe will be in your recipe box for keeps! I first made this a very long time ago when I was in junior high school (as a matter of fact, the original recipe came in a Home Economics cookbook published by the public school system.)
2 cups milk, scalded (2% works just fine if you’d like to avoid the extra fat and cholesterol)
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (Dutch process is best)
1 cup bread crumbs (almost anything except rye will work)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Scald milk in double boiler. (Tiny bubbles will appear around the edges and the milk will be quite hot to the touch. If you let it heat any longer, a “skin” will form on top of the milk.)
Add a little of the hot milk to the cocoa to form a smooth paste. Add more milk until you have a dark chocolate liquid, then add chocolate mixture to the rest of the milk. Add crumbs (these don’t have to be really fine crumbs, in fact, I prefer a little chunkier texture. If using bigger pieces of crumbled bread; however, use more than a level cup or your pudding will not have enough body.) Soak until soft.
Add sugar and salt to slightly beaten eggs and mix well. Add a little of the hot mixture to the eggs and stir quickly. Pour this mixture back into double boiler and cook for five minutes.
Add vanilla and pour into a buttered baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F until firm. Insert a knife into middle of pudding to test. If knife comes out clean, pudding is done.
Serve warm or cold with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
By
Administrator on August 16th, 2006
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This is a recipe adapted from one that was given to me by a former roommate many years ago. I had tucked it away and never gotten around to trying it until a couple of years ago when my yellow crookneck squash plants produced more fruit than I knew what to do with.
This pie is quick, easy, delicious, and probably a lot healthier than a standard custard pie. I gave the recipe to a friend of mine whose husband doesn’t like squash. (He had even accused her of trying to hide the stuff in various dishes). She didn’t tell him what was in the pie and he loves it! As far as I know she’s never told him the “secret ingredient”.
5 c. summer squash, cut in pieces, microwaved or boiled til tender, then drained.
1 c. sour cream (light sour cream works well in this recipe too)
1 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. nutmeg (freshly grated is best)
Line pie pan with your favorite pastry.
Put all ingredients except nutmeg in a food processor, large blender, or bowl of electric mixer. Use medium speed for 1/2 minute in processor or blender—-high speed for 1 minute in mixer. Mixture will be thick and frothy. Pour into pastry-lined pan and sprinkle filling and crust liberally with nutmeg. Bake at 400 F for 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool thoroughly before cutting. Enjoy!
By
Administrator on July 29th, 2006
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A few days ago I broiled a couple of lamb chops for our supper and wanted to make use of some of the large amount of fresh peppermint growing in my herb area. We didn’t have any plain yogurt on hand or I’d have used that, but we did have some store-bought hummus in the refrigerator. My husband suggested using that as a base. With some trepidation, I chopped about 1/3 cup of peppermint and added enough of the hummus to serve as a base. The result was really too thick to use as a sauce, so I added some fat-free half and half to thin it down. Voila! I didn’t even have to add salt and pepper as the hummus already contained enough seasoning. My home-made hummus has more flavor than the store-bought, but I think that the sesame, lemon, and garlic would have blended just fine with the mint as well. It was surprisingly good and has the extra benefit of adding a bit more protein to the meal.
By
Administrator on July 6th, 2006
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The other day I found myself with a basket of ripe peaches, about a cup of black raspberries from the wild canes around the yard, a handful of blueberries, a few Alpine strawberries, and just over half a honeydew melon that really needed to be used up. It was way too hot to light the oven, so I came up with this recipe for a summer fruit compote. (Feel free to substitute just about any kind of fruit except bananas)
Peel and slice six ripe peaches. Add one and a half cups of mixed berries and about a half a honeydew or cantaloupe prepared with a melon baller or cubed. Pour the juice of one lemon over the fruit and toss lightly.
In a small saucepan combine one cup granulated sugar, one half cup water, and one vanilla bean (if you don’t have a vanilla bean, substitute one teaspoon of vanilla extract added after
syrup has cooled.) Simmer mixture, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely dissolved. Add the grated or chopped rind of one lemon.* Cool thoroughly. Carefully slit vanilla bean and scrape seeds back into syrup. Discard pod. Add one teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (cinnamon or allspice would also work instead of the nutmeg) and a tiny pinch of salt — you dont want it to taste salty, you just want to bring out the other flavors. Pour syrup over fruit and mix carefully to avoid crushing the berries. Chill.
This looks particularly pretty served in a martini glass or iced tea goblet. Top with a dollop of sour cream or whipped cream if desired.
*make sure that you use only the colored portion of the rind, not the white inner part which has a very bitter taste.
By
Administrator on June 7th, 2006
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Okay, this isn’t so much an actual recipe as it is part method and part moan! I was feeling kind of sick of our usual chicken/fish/93% lean hamburger diet and saw in the newspaper ads that a local market had whole lamb loins on sale for $3.99 per pound. That sounded pretty good so we went out and bought one.
I did some research on the Food Network for recipes, but most of them called for exotic ingrediants that we don’t have on hand. Most of them started out by saying “trim the fat and silverskin and de-bone the meat”. Okay. I got out one of my good knives and started to “have at it”. By the time I’d “trimmed” off fat weighing about half the total weight of the piece, I was definitely re-thinking this “sale price”! I probably won’t be in any great rush to buy this cut again; however, I browned the bones with the accompanying bits of meat and now have a nice lamb stock to use some other time. I gathered the remaining strips of meat and rolled them with a paste made of two garlic cloves and about 2 to 3 tsp. dried rosemary ( ground together with a mortar and pestle) in the middle. I tied it with kitchen twine in several places and put it in a small roasting pan greased with cooking spray. I then poured the juice of a lemon over it and sprinkled with salt and freshly ground pepper. I roasted it uncovered in a 425 F degree oven for 30 minutes, then let it rest for about 20 minutes. Although it registered 135 degrees internal temperature on the meat thermometer, I thought it looked a little too rare to be safe, so I zapped each portion for 1 minute in the microwave before serving. I have to say that it was a bit more work than I’d planned on, but it sure was tasty! My husband didn’t even miss his customary mint sauce.
By
Administrator on April 10th, 2006
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As I’ve been spending the past few days NOT enjoying the gift of a virus that my husband has shared with me, I’m a bit late getting back here to make an entry.
Today’s gift to you is a traditional British recipe sent to me by the elder of my husband’s two daughters. Please don’t let all the tired jokes about English cooking put you off!
Raspberry Buns (makes 12) Traditional British recipe
225g/8oz self-raising flower
1 tsp baking powder
75g/3oz butter
75g/3oz caster sugar
1 large egg (lightly beaten)
milk
extra caster sugar for dusting buns
raspberry jam
Preheat oven to 180 degree C/350 degree F/ gas mark 4
Sift flour & baking powder into bowl. Rub in butter til looks like small breadcrumbs. Stir in the 3oz sugar. Add the egg and just enough milk to form a soft dough. Divide the dough into 12 and roll into balls.
on a lightly floured surface, flatten each ball slightly and place half a teaspoon of rasberry jam in the centre. Dampen the edges with a little milk and close the dough over the jam. Tur the buns over and place on a greased baking sheet. Brush the buns with a little milk and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake in oven for 15 - 20minutes.
Cool on a wire rack, and serve when cold, or slightly warm. DON’T eat straight from the oven, no matter how gorgeous the smell, the jam centres will be very hot and will burn!!
By
Administrator on March 29th, 2006
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Free Cookie Recipe
Greetings to anyone who’s found this space. The gift I’d like to give you today is the following free cookie recipe. I’m not sure where the original recipe came from, but I have adapted and adjusted it over the many years that I’ve been baking these. They are quick, easy, delicious, and (if cut carefully) handsome enough to serve at the most formal of parties or to give as a gift.
1 c. butter
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 c. flour
1 egg yolk
1 tsp.vanilla
10 to 12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate bits
1 c. finely chopped nuts (I prefer walnuts for this, as they seem to cut down the sweetness a bit, but you can use any type that you like.)
Blend butter and sugar until creamy. Add flour, egg yolk, and vanilla. Spread on lightly buttered cookie sheet (10 inch by 15 inch or a bit larger).
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle evenly with the chocolate bits. Turn off oven and return pan to oven for 5 minutes. Remove again and spread the now melted chocolate. Sprinkle with nuts and cut into squares while still warm. (You will need to cut again over the same lines after cookies have thoroughly cooled).
I’ve never seen anyone refuse these except for one person who was allergic to chocolate. Poor thing!