Wasabi Fried Catfish

Fried catfish has been a food staple amongst my family for many years and has earned its right amongst soul food connoisseurs for decades–even within my family.

Traditionally, in a soul food kinda way, catfish is pretty straightforward with salt, pepper, and/or lemon pepper and breaded with cornmeal… I did something like that, but I did it a little different. I marinated the catfish in wasabi for 24 hours, added soy sauce, pepper and breaded it with cornmeal… After that, I fried it in Japanese sesame oil… Then I prayed.

I’ll admit, when the catfish finished cooking, I was hesitant to eat it. Why? Well, my first thought was that the wasabi would be overwhelming. I pinched off a corner when I removed the catfish from the skillet and surprisingly, it tasted great! The wasabi wasn’t overwhelming, and even though the catfish was browner than usual, it wasn’t overcooked, even though I do like it fried kinda crispy.

I’ve got a new thang going. And I like it!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 catfish fillets
• 1 cup of wasabi paste or sauce
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds
• 1 cup of cornmeal
• 2 cups of sesame oil

DIRECTIONS

1. In bowl, add wasabi paste, black pepper and soy sauce
2. Dip catfish fillets into mixture to cover completely
3. Place catfish fillets in 1 gallon bag or bowl and place in the refridgerator for 24 hours, or 1 hour if in a hurry
4. Discard mixture
5. Mix cornmeal and sesame seeds in bowl and dip marinated catfish in bowl to completely cover
6. Add sesame oil to skillet or wok and turn heat to medium flame
7. Once oil is heat, approximately 4 minutes, add catfish and cook each side until golden brown, about 5-9 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your fish. Turn over and brown (unless you are deep frying)
8. Once browned, remove from pan and place on plate with napkin. Let cool and serve.

Neckbone Ramen Noodles

When I first thought about creating Asian-Soul style dishes, neckbone ramen is the first dish I thought of. Why? Well… because neckbones are a soul food staple that is usually added to collard greens to add flavor (my Mom calls it “sweet meat” ’cause it has a sweet flavor) and ramen noodle is a favorite Asian dish of mine!

First, I had to taste this combination in my mind… Hmmmm, neckbone ramen. I’ll admit, it sounded weird at first, saying it out loud. Frankly, it sounds, well, preposterous. But, I tossed the idea over to my coworkers to see what their opinions were before I created this made-up masterpiece.
“I’ve got an idea… been thinking… thinking about creating Asian-inspired soul food dishes.” I blurted out during our daily lunch pow-wow.

My coworker, Jenny, looked at me with a stilted face and forced a smile, chewing on her bean sprouts and tree bark.. “That sounds interesting.” Her eyes peered towards Amy. So did mine.

I waited on Amy to chime in. She wasn’t always as forgiving. “That sounds, ugh, very interesting.” The smirk on her face lingered for a while. A smirk on my face appeared. She wasn’t as adventurous with food as Jenny.

This is how that social experiment went down:

INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 neckbones
• 1 diced celery stalk
• ½ cup diced carrots
• ½ cup diced green onions
• ½ cup diced leeks
• ½ cup collard greens
• 8 cups water
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1 package ramen noodles or 1 serving size

DIRECTIONS:

1. In large pot, fill with water (enough for halfway) and add neckbones, celery and carrots. Then cook for 45 mins, bringing to boil.
2. Add green onions, leeks, collard greens and cook for an additional 15 minutes.
3. Turn off heat and set aside.
4. Cook ramen noodles according to packaging (about 3 minutes. 2 minutes if they are fresh).
5. Place noodles in a bowl
6. Remove two neckbones from the pot and slice meat from the bone and place on top of noodles.
7. With soup spoon, scoop broth with carrots, celery, and leeks and pour onto noodles.
   You’re done!

Pork Stomach (Hog Maws)

I must admit. When I shopped at the China-town grocer and stumbled upon the package of “meat” that said, “pork stomach,” I got nauseous. I stood there looking at the package for about three minutes before I motivated myself to pick it up, wrap my head around the idea, but I was committed to the food experiment, so I grabbed the protein.

Then I thought: ‘Where was I supposed to start with the recipe?’ I had no idea how to cook pork stomach… Is this even edible?–creeped into my mind.

I Googled “pork stomach recipe.” A few options popped up. Interestingly, for most of the pork stomach recipes, in parenthesis “hog maw” popped up. The search results read like this: pork stomach (hog maw). Hog maws? Shit! My daddy used to cook those when I was a kid, southern roots being from Mississippi. Hog maws, aka pork stomach, has been a soul food staple for as long as I can remember.

Granted, not all soul food connoisseurs eat hog maws. And most soul food lovers don’t even know what hog maws are. For the most part, hog maws are usually mixed with chitterlings or “chitlin’s” for short. Chitlin’s are pig intestines; it tastes good, but smells very bad. People have strong opinions about chitterlings… They love them or hate them. No in-between. I, on the other hand, happen to love them.

Getting back to hog maws: as with any inexpensive meat, they have to boiled for at least one hour to soften them up. These hog maws were cooked for about an hour and a half because I do like to retain some chewiness. You can cook yours for at least two hours if you wish. I am always easy on salt and pepper because I’d rather under season it, where you can add more later, then over season it and the dish is ruined. Also, if you are cooking for others, they can season it to their taste, without losing the essence of the dish. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1-2 pounds of cleaned pork stomach (hog maw)
• 1 quart of water (enough to fill large pot half way)
• 1 whole diced carrot
• 1 diced celery stalk
• 2 cups diced green onions
• 1 cup chives
• ½ cup of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon of peanut sauce (or peanut butter)
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of curry (optional)
• 1 beaten egg (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Add water to large pot and bring to boil
2. Add salt, pepper, soy sauce, ginger, peanut sauce and curry
3. Dice pork stomach into 1 inch squares, add to pot
4. Add celery and carrots
5. Stir and boil for 45 mins, stirring every 15 mins and checking water level
6. Add chives and green onions, boil for another 30 mins
7. Stir in beaten egg (optional)
8. Dip fork and taste one pork stomach slice to check for chewiness.
9. If too chewy, cook for an additional 30 mins. If just right, remove from heat and let cool.
10. Serve in bowl or plate.

Pepper Steak Ramen Noodles

Ramen noodles are the new age food staple that is soon to replace rice, the trusty old standby. You can dress it up with pepper steak, like I did, or dress it down and go vanilla with the contents of the silver packet that comes with the noodles. Either way, you are in for a quick, less-than-20-minute meal that is sure to please your tastebuds and impress others around you with your culinary prowess.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 pound pepper steak
• 1 pack of Ramen noodles
• 2 cups of beef broth
• 1 cup snow peas
• 1 cup of green onions
• ½ cup red peppers
• ½ cup bean sprouts
• 1 cup teriyaki sauce
• 2 tablespoons Thai peanut sauce
• 1 tablespoon of curry
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 2 cups of water

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop pepper steak into strips or cubes
2. Mix pepper steak and teriyaki sauce in a bowl and let marinade for one hour in the fridge (15 mins if in a rush)
3. Once pepper steak is marinated, toss into a large wok or frying pan and brown
4. Add beef broth, Thai peanut sauce, curry, soy sauce and black pepper. Bring to boil.
5. Dice green onions and red pepper into cubes, toss in boiling beef broth.
6. Add snow peas and bean sprouts, boil for 5 mins and turn off heat.
7. In small pan, add 2 cups of water and bring to boil, toss in ramen noodles. Cook for 3 minutes.
8. Place ramen noodles in a bowl and scoop pepper steak mixture on top.

Fried Chicken Breast Stuff with Collard Greens

I heard Steve Harvey, comedian and radio show personality, talk about fried chicken stuffed with collard greens on the radio. I thought, damn, that sounds FANTASTIC! I love collard greens and I love fried chicken, so this culinary experiment will have its first subject–me!
A week ago, I bought a deep fryer from Walmart and have been frying everything that wasn’t nailed down! That includes mushrooms, chicken gizzards, fried green tomatoes and, well, now fried chicken breast.
I cut a slit into the skinless breast to stuff in already cooked collard greens. My concern was too much oil seeping into the slit and the chicken being quite greasy. It wasn’t greasy. Actually, it cooked the fried chicken breast more thoroughly inside. However, next time, I do want to stuff the fried chicken more with collard greens and have to figure out a way to stitch the opening back together… or fry them first and stuff the chicken breast after fried… I’m not sure if I like that, though. This culinary experiment will be interesting nonetheless.

INGREDIENTS

• 2-3 Boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour/cornmeal mixture
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 cup collard greens
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or sunflower/vegetable oil)
• More oil for frying, deep enough to cover skillet/deep fryer halfway

DIRECTIONS

1. Warm up cooking oil in deep fryer or skillet
2. In separate skillet or wok, add peanut oil and collard greens
3. Stir collard greens rapidly for approx two mins, evenly coating with oil, then set aside
4. Mix egg, salt and pepper into medium bowl
5. Cut slit with knife into each chicken breast
6. Stuff breast with collard greens
7. Dip chicken breast into egg mixture
8. Then dip breast into flour cornmeal mixture in separate bowl
9. Repeat for all chicken breast
10. When oil is heated, add chicken breast and fry for 10 mins
11. Remove from oil and drain

Fried Frog Legs Recipe

I’m in love! Partly because I hadn’t eaten fried frog legs since I was seven years old when my daddy brought a live frog home and let my brother and I play with it before he dropped it in a pan, but also, I fried these frog legs in a new deep fryer that I obtained from Walmart for only $35!
I obtained the frog legs from a grocery store in Chinatown. My goal was only to buy a few sauces to coat and marinate my dishes, but I ended up spending $100 in the store!

When I told most people that I was cooking frog legs, they wanted nothing to do with it. Eeek! Yuck! and OMG! Were some of the reactions I got. Fair enough. With that said, the frog legs were very tasty. I describe the flavor as “it tastes like chicken mostly, but on the back end, after chewing it for a minute, you can taste a little bit of a fishy taste.”

INGREDIENTS

• Frog legs
• 1 egg
• 1 cup corn meal
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• ½ cup of ginger
• Peanut oil/corn oil (enough for frying)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat deep fryer according to instructions with enough cooking oil to immerse the frog legs
2. In medium bowl, mix egg, salt, pepper and ginger.
3. Rinse frog legs and dip into the egg mixture until coated
4. Mix flour and cornmeal in a separate medium bowl
5. Dip frog legs into flour/cornmeal mixture and place into oil when hot
6. Deep fry for 5-8 minutes, depending on how crispy you like them
7. Remove frog legs from oil and place onto plate or bowl with napkin lining the bottom

Fried Green Tomatos

Nah, this isn’t that movie starring Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary-Louise Parker and Cicely Tyson. These are real tomatoes, green, that is.

I had been bugging my coworkers for a few weeks about eating fried green tomatoes. It’s something that I don’t normally eat, but occasionally, my palate want’s something different than the regular go-to food choices.

My daddy is from Mississippi, so it’s probably not a coincidence that I would crave this type of food. However, I don’t like complicated recipes. I had my own recipe in mind, but searched for new, creative ways to improve on the dish and make it my own. Some recipes called for milk. I left that ingredient out, although I imagined it is to knock some of the tartness out of it. I do like mine kinda tart. You can dip them in milk if you like.

The other thing was, “Where the heck and I going to find green tomatoes?!” It’s not like the local grocery store has its cup runneth over with them… So my work buddy, Jose, came to the rescue! He vowed that the Mexican supermarket down the block from his house always kept them in, so he brought about six or seven green tomatoes to my desk a few days later. Do you think he deserves a Christmas present?
Dipping tomatoes in egg, cornmeal and flour is messy business. I do believe next time I will use thongs. Got any ideas for dipping sauce?

INGREDIENTS

• 4-6 medium size green tomatoes
• ½ cup of cornmeal
• ½ cup of all-purpose flour
• ½ cup of breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 1/2 cup of milk (optional)
• 1 quart of vegetable oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

1. Slice green tomatoes into medium size chunks
2. Beat eggs & milk in medium bowl
3. Mix breadcrumbs, cornmeal, salt and pepper into bowl
4. Place flour in a separate bowl
5. Dip tomatoes in flour, then dip into eggs, then dip into breadcrumb/cornmeal mixture
6. Set tomatoes on a plate then repeat previous step for all tomato slices
7. Place vegetable oil in frying pan over medium heat until hot
8. Place tomatoes into the oil in single layers
9. Fry for at least 5 mins on each side or until golden brown
10. Remove from oil and place on napkin for oil drainage
    Serve with your favorite dipping sauce!

Pork Rice Noodle Soup

I do love a homemade chicken noodle soup. Sometimes, I do get tired of chicken, so I venture off into beef noodle soup, or, in this case, the first time, pork rice noodle soup.
I went to the local grocery store, Jewel’s, to get a chunk of pork loin when I saw a big slab staring at me from behind the deli meat counter. It was about 3 pounds or so. I told the clerk, “Can I have a half pound?”
The clerk looked at me with a blank stare and said, “I can’t cut it.”
“Really?!” My eyes bulged.
“No,” he shook his head, “But it’s buy one, get one free.”
“How much is that one there,” I pointed to the smallest one.
He picked it up and weighed it on the scale… then looked up at me. “Fifthteen dollars.”
*Gasp* “What about the other one?”
“The same.”
I pondered… I really didn’t need that much pork… I don’t even eat it that much… it does look good though… “Okay. I’ll take it.”
Currently, I’m sitting on $30 worth of pork loin.
How can I get creative with pork? Hmmmm…. Maybe parmesan pork?

INGREDIENTS

• Quarter size of rice noodles
• Can of cream of mushroom soup
• 2 cups of water
• 2 cups of kale
• 1 cup green onions
• 1 cup of portabella mushrooms
• ½ cup of celery
• ½ teaspoon of parsley
• ½ teaspoon of canola/vegetable oil or cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In large pot, toss in water and the can of cream of mushroom soup and bring to boil.
2. Chop pork loin into strips or cubes
3. Add canola/vegetable oil to wok/skillet, then toss in pork loin, tossing to cook ’til done.
4. Add pork to boiling water
5. Add salt and pepper, green onions, portabella mushrooms and kale. Boil for 30 minutes
6. Add celery and boil for another 15 minutes.
7. Add rice noodles and boil for another 7 minutes or until rice noodles is to your liking.
8. Serve in a bowl and sprinkle parsley on top

Thumbprint Cookie Recipes

When you ask what are thumbprint cookie recipes the answer is they are cookies that you mold then fill with something. So what are thumbprint cookie recipes?
They are some simple cookie recipes for good tasting cookies that are easy to make. You don’t need to stick with a traditional filling but place a chocolate
kiss or piece of toffee in the center instead for a simple cookie recipe.

Using Equal for Thumbprint Cookie

Again what are thumbprint cookie recipes? Well this one uses equal for a low calorie alternate and 47% reduced calorie choice and a simple cookie recipe too.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 6 Tablespoons butter
• 1 cup Equal Spoonful
• 2 Tablespoons 2% milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder, and salt and baking soda
• 1-1/4 cup flour-all purpose
• ¾ cup jam or spreadable fruit
• Cookie sheets with non-stick spray

The working steps:

1. Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit
2. Beat well together Equal and butter. Mix the egg, vanilla and milk into the mixture until well blended. Continue to beat while adding flour, salt, baking powder and soda. Make the dough into balls and put on sheets. Make a thumbprint with your thumb on each cookie. Bake approximately 11-13 minutes then let cool before you fill with ½ teaspoon jam or fruit. So now you don’t have to ask what are thumbprint cookie recipes? And this is a simple cookie recipe too.

A Jelly Thumbprint Cookie

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 12 oz butter
• ½ cup sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 2 beaten yolks of eggs
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup pieces of walnuts-optional
• Jelly for filling
• Egg white beaten for egg wash
• Greased cookie sheet

The working steps:

Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Cream together well the sugar and butter. Beat in the vanilla, baking powder, yolks, flour. Drop by the teaspoon on cookie sheet. Push thumb on cookie top then fill the indent with jelly. Add walnuts if desired. Bake approximately 25 minutes and let cool. Another delicious simple
cookie recipe.

Cookie Thumbprints with Chocolate

This is a simple cookie recipe that you can make easily even with your children’s help then serve them for dessert or box them up for a special surprise for a friend.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• ½ cup butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour –all purpose
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup cocoa for baking
• 1 cup walnuts chopped fine
• FILLING
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon butter softened
• 2 teaspoons milk
• 24 chocolate kisses left wrapped
• Egg white beaten for dipping

The working steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit
2. For a simple cookie recipe mix well together yolk, vanilla, butter, sugar and milk until fluffy and light. Mix cocoa, flour and salt separately then add to the butter mix so well blended. Cover and chill in refrigerator approximately 1 hour so you can shape into smallish balls.
3. Dip balls into the egg white then roll in nuts. Press thumb on cookies. Bake approximately 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven.
4. Filling Mix together ingredients well then fill thumbprints with ¼ teaspoon filling, set kiss in it and cool and your simple thumb print cookie is complete.

Sugar Free Cookie Recipes

If you love cookies these sugar free cookie recipes healthy options make. Several simple cookie recipes that will be good for you yet also be healthy for you and taste good too so try these sugar free cookie recipes healthy options. Sugar free they may be but tasty treats they are too and simple cookies recipes too.

Sweeteners

Some of the sugar free cookie recipes healthy options use natural sweeteners like syrups or dates but many use sugar free refined. These simple cookie
recipes have the benefit of being fat free too and low in caloric content too plus they taste good too.

The Cookies – Sugar Free

This simple cookie recipe makes a good choice for a diabetic or someone watching their sugar intake and sugar free cookie recipes healthy options for sure.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• ½ cup shortening
• 1 package butterscotch pudding mix sugar free
• 4-5 packets Sweet & Low
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1-1/2 cup flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 tablespoons warmed water
• 7 oz pkg carob chips sugar free type
• ½ cup seedless raisons
• ½ cup nuts chopped
• Ungreased cookie sheet

The working steps:

Heat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. Mix well the pudding, eggs, sweetener, and shortening. Sift together dry ingredients then add alternately with the water. Add
nuts, raisons and chips. Drop spoonfuls on cookie sheets. Bake 12 minuets. This is really a simple cookie recipe.

Peanut butter Sugar Free Cookies

Another simple good tasting simple cookie recipe

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup natural peanut butter
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/3 cup maple syrup – sugar free
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon sweetener-liquid
• 1-2/3 cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• Greased cookie sheet

The working steps:

Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Don’t over bake these goodies. Combine ingredients and mix them together well. Roll about 1 teaspoon of dough in balls and put
on baking sheet. Dip fork tines in flour and flatten cookies and bake 8-10 minutes. That’s another simple cookie recipe.

A Vegan Variety Oatmeal Chocolate Sugar Free Cookies

This vegan simple cookie recipe is a perfect example of really delicious cookies with a mouthwatering taste too yet they are also healthy to boot.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 2 ripe bananas mashed until very smooth
• 2-1/4 cup oatmeal
• ¼ cup cocoa
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 Tablespoons soy milk
• ¼ cup maple syrup sugar free if you can find it
• Ungreased cookie sheet

The working steps:

Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. To your bananas stir in peanut butter, soy milk and syrup until they well mixed. Then add the flour and cocoa and mix well. Stir in the oatmeal and mix well again. Put the dough in tablespoon sized drops and then flatten them lightly. Bake the cookies for approximately 15 minutes or until they look golden brown. Let them cool before you eat them. These make an excellent after dinner dessert cookie instead of some of the sugar filled alternatives. So go for sugar free cookie recipes healthy options.

Have a nice day.

Sugar Cookie Recipes

When looking for a good simple cookie recipe you need go no further than the typical sugar cookie recipes. The typical sugar cookie recipes are easy to make
and good tasting too. You can go crispy and thin or refrigerator cookies too. You can even find simple cookie recipes for low carb or low fat too. So do a
guilt free splurge with these simple cookie recipes.

Sugar Pecan Cookies

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 1-1/4 cups brown sugar-light
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• ¼ cup water
• 1 egg
• 2-1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup pecans – chopped or ground coarsely
• 2-1/2 Tablespoons cinnamon – ground
• 1 teaspoon baking soda and powder
• 1 teaspoon allspice – ground

The working steps:

Heat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. For this typical sugar cookie recipes use a mixer to mix the water, honey, sugar and egg and beat for approximately 10 seconds.
Combine flour, pecans, cinnamon and allspice, baking powder and soda and mix well and add to water mix. Drop in teaspoons on sheet and bake approximately 12
minutes.

Cookie Sugar Tarts

Other typical sugar cookie recipes like this one are also a simple cookie recipe.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 2 Cups sugar
• 1 cup shortening
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ¾ cup butter or margarine softened
• 1 egg
• 3-1/2 cups flour-all purpose
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Cream cheese spread
• 8 oz cream cheese softened and ½ cup confectioner’s sugar combined
• Ungreased cookie sheet
• Topping choices fruit, jam, chopped nuts, chocolate chips sliced almonds toasted

The working steps:

Heat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. Beat and mix well on medium speed the shortening, vanilla, sugar, butter and egg. Add the baking powder, salt and flour. Place on lightly floured counter and roll into 1/4th inch piece. Cut out into 3” round shapes and put on sheet 2” apart. Bake 10-12 minutes and let cool. Apply cream cheese spread on the cookies. Refrigerate. This makes a great simple cookie recipe.

Sugar Cookies Old Fashioned and Soft

Another quick and simple cookie recipe for you that will have neighbors asking for the recipe.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 4-1/2 cup flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 2 cup sugar
• ½ cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• Ungreased cookie sheets

The working steps:

1. Heat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. Stir together the flour, salt, baking powder and soda and nutmeg. Beat the shortening smooth and beat in sugar until fluffy and smooth. Beat in both extracts and eggs until well combined. Add flour mix and thoroughly beat. Cut the dough in two and cover with plastic wrap and chill for 3 hours. Roll each out into 1/2” thick pieces for large cookies or 3/8” for smaller cookies. Cut out rounds and put 2-1/2” apart on sheet. Sprinkle with more sugar and bake 10-12 minutes.
2. All of these simple cookie recipes make excellent cookies that are easy to make and tasty too. You and your family can enjoy them for dessert the same day that you make these typical sugar cookie recipes.

Have a nice day.

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes

It is understood a peanut butter cookie initially offered to the American public during the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904 and there is the food value of
peanut butter cookie recipes to consider with their main ingredient of peanut butter or P-butter for short. They are distinguished by the cross hatching on
the cookie top. This simple cookie recipe is a fav of many people young and old. They have an unusual salty plus sweet taste so they really are extra yummy.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe takes 12 minutes and will make 18 cookies. NOTE Baking sugar is finer than regular processed sugar. This is a simple cookie recipe to make.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1-1/3 cups baking sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Greased baking sheet

The working steps:

1. Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit
2. Using a spoon, mix well the egg, sugar, vanilla, and Peanut butter in a bowl. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls and put on greased sheet. Use fork tines to make cross hatches on cookie top. Bake 12 minutes and remove. If desired sprinkle with more sugar and enjoy the food value of peanut butter cookie recipes after you made this simple cookie recipe.

Peanut Butter Crunchiest Cookies

Another simple cookie recipe to make that is tasty and also consider the food value of peanut butter cookie recipes.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar packed firmly
• ½ cup butter or you can substitute margarine
• ½ cup Peanut butter crunchy
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour all purpose
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• Ungreased cookie sheet

The working steps:

1. Cream together the sugars, Peanut butter, butter and salt. Beat in vanilla and egg until light and fluffy. In another bowl sift together flour and baking
   soda then slowly blend into butter mix.
2. Shape into 1” balls and put on ungreased sheet 2” apart. Use fork tines to make cross-hatching and flatten. Bake for 6-7 minutes ‘til light brown around the edges. This is really one of the simple cookie recipes.

Pinwheel Peanut Butter Cookies

Again consider the food value of peanut butter cookie recipes when you make this simple cookie recipe.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• ½ cup shortening
• ½ cup brown sugar – light
• ½ cup sugar – white
• ½ cup Peanut butter – smooth
• 1 egg
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 cups flour – all purpose and sift before you measure it
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips melted over hot water and cooled slightly before using
• Ungreased cookie sheet

The working steps:

To make this simple cookie recipe you cream the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in until creamy the milk, Peanut butter and egg. Sift the dry ingredients into a separate bowl and stir into first mix. Lightly flour some wax paper and put dough on it then use rolling pin to make an 8×15” rectangle. Use same wax paper and roll the dough up, secure and cool for about ½ hour. Cut into ¼” slices and bake 8-10 minutes and enjoy the food value of peanut butter cookie recipes.

Have a nice day.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipes

Simple yet delicious oatmeal raisin cookie recipes are seriously good eats plus they are simple cookie recipes to make too. These simple yet delicious
oatmeal raisin cookie recipes combine classic ingredients of raisons and oatmeal two family favorites with many families both young and old. Because they
really are a simple cookie recipe they make easy presents for the holidays or to greet a new neighbor to your neighborhood. And simple yet delicious oatmeal
raisin cookie recipes may be shared or exchanged and will be a welcome addition to anyone’s simple cookie recipe collection.

Or go with a variation and substitute walnuts or other nuts to the mixture and have a variety of simple cookie recipes for any occasion.

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

This is a chewy version that is a fav of lots of people but it is one of the simple yet delicious oatmeal raisin cookie recipes people collect. Per serving
they contain: Fat: 3.4 grams; Cholesterol: 17mg; Calories: 93

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• ¾ cup butter – softened
• ¾ cup sugar – white
• ¾ cup packed brown sugar – light
• 2 eggs
• 2-3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins – may be golden
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/4 cup flour – all purpose
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon-ground
• Ungreased cookie sheet

The working steps:

1. Heat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. Cream together in a bowl both sugars, and butter. Then beat in vanilla and eggs until they are fluffy and light. Mix the salt, cinnamon, flour and baking soda together and slowly add and beat them with the sugar mixture. Stir the raisins and rolled oats into the mix until combined.
2. Drop by the teaspoon on the cookie sheet. These will bake for approximately 8-10 minutes or until they are golden brown. Let cool.

Oatmeal Spicy Raisin Cookies

This is another simple cookie recipe that will make your kitchen smell so good. It is one of the easy to make a simple cookie recipe which doesn’t take long
to assemble and bake. A cookie serving has Fat: 6.3 grams; Calories: 144; Cholesterol: 19mg

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• ½ cup butter – softened
• ½ cup shortening that is butter flavored
• ½ cup sugar – white
• 1 cup brown sugar light
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon-ground
• 1-1/2 cup flour – all purpose
• 3 cups oats – rolled
• 1 cup raisins – may be golden
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cloves – ground
• Ungreased cookie sheet

The working steps:

Heat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Cream the shortening, butter, two sugars, eggs and vanilla together until smooth and creamy. Mix the cinnamon, cloves, salt, baking soda and flour together and add so mixed well into the butter mixture. Then stir in the raisins and rolled oats so they are mixed well. Drop by the teaspoon on the cookie sheet. These need to bake for approximately 1- – 12 minutes. These cookies are simple yet delicious oatmeal raisin cookie recipes so enjoy.

Have a nice day.

No Bake Cookie Recipes

One of the benefits of no bake cookie recipes is that these simple cookie recipes are super easy to make and your children can almost make them on their own.
Simple cookie recipes are a super way to spend time with your family and the benefits of no bake cookie recipes are that you produce good tasting cookies
too. There is little mess and they are quick which is another of the benefits of no bake cookie recipes. No matter how busy you or your family is there is
always time for these simple cookie recipes.

These simple cookie recipes can be made in advance for a special occasion and you can make them and bring them with you even if you have worked all day.
Taking only minutes to make is one of the benefits of no bake cookie recipes. Try low fat options of simple cookie recipes for a diet option.

30 Minute No Bake Pudding Oatmeal Cookies

This is another simple cookie recipe that your children can easily make. It can serve 24 people. The pudding flavors are interchangeable so you decide the
moment you mix it what that will be. Calories 184; Cholesterol 17 mg; Fat 7.1 grams

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 2 cups sugar – white
• ¾ cup butter
• 3.4oz package instant pudding mix, flavor of your choice
• 3-1/2 cups instant oatmeal
• 6 oz evaporated milk
• Wax paper lined cookie sheets

Standing time 15 minutes or ‘til firm.

The working steps:

1. Combine evaporated milk, sugar and butter in 3 Qt microwave bowl. Cook on high in microwave 2-5 minutes stirring on occasion until it boils. Let settle for 30 seconds.
2. Remove from microwave and stir in oatmeal and pudding mix. Drop on cookie sheets and leave alone until firm.

Macadamia Nut No Bake Cookies

An unusual no bake cookie recipe that has per serving fat- 3.7 grams, cholesterol – 7mg and calories – 100.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 1 cup sugar – white
• 1 cup sugar – brown
• ½ cup soy milk
• ½ cup butter
• 2 Tablespoons powdered carob
• 3 cups oats
• ¼ cup macadamia nut butter
• Cookie sheet lined with wax paper

The working steps:

Put brown and white sugars, milk and carob powder in pan and cook on heat medium high. Boil for 2 minutes and stir occasionally. Take pan from heat and add macadamia nut butter and stir ‘til dissolved. Stir the oatmeal until well mixed. Drop on cookie sheets and place in refrigerator to cool.

A No Bake Cookie with Chocolate and Peanut Butter

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 butter stick
• 4 Tablespoons powdered cocoa
• ½ cup milk
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 3 cups oatmeal
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• Some wax paper

The working steps:

1. Combine cocoa, butter, milk and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil for about 1 minute. Add the vanilla, oatmeal and peanut butter. Take some wax paper and
   place about 1 teaspoonfuls of the cookie mix on it. Let cool until hard. This is the ultimate simple cookie recipe.
2. These make excellent cookies that everyone will enjoy and they take so little time so take advantage of the benefits of no bake cookie recipes.

Have a nice day.

Italian Cookie Recipes

There are good reasons to choose Italian cookie recipes and one is that they are simple cookie recipes to follow. These are why choose Italian cookie recipes
for your family because they taste good. They taste good with a cup of espresso too so that’s why choose Italian cookie recipes and they are easy to make
simple cookie recipes that are healthy for you and taste good too.

A Pignoli Cookie

This is why choose Italian cookie recipes because it is good tasting. People will want to trade this simple cookie recipe with you.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 2 cups almond paste finely crumbled
• 1-1/2 cup sugar powdered
• 2 whites of eggs
• 1 lemon peel zested
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch cinnamon
• ¾ cup pine nuts
• Either well greased cookie sheet or use silpats or greased parchment paper
• Pastry bag

The working steps:

1. Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat almond paste on high speed. Turn down to slow and add sugar so well combined.
2. Mix in the salt, zested lemon peel, cinnamon, egg whites and honey until fluffy and light. Fill pastry bag and pipe one inch balls on cookie sheets. Sprinkle with pine nuts and press them into cookies. Bake 12-14 minutes until golden brown. An excellent and tasty simple cookie recipe.

Biscotti with Pistachio and Chocolate

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar – castor variety
• 1 cup flour all purpose
• ½ cup self-rising flour
• ½ cup cocoa
• ¼ cup unsalted pistachio nuts
• Lined baking sheet

The working steps:

Beat sugar and eggs until creamy and light. Sift cocoa and flour together and mix with eggs. Mix in nuts and mix well. Knead this then make into log about
10” long. Put on baking tray then bake 30 minutes. A very simple cookie recipe indeed.

The Decorative Cavalucci Cookie

This is a very special recipe that many think of as gourmet yet still a simple cookie recipe to make.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 1-3/4 cup sugar
• 6 oz water or as needed
• 1/3 cup candied orange peel finely minced
• 1 Tablespoon anise seed crushed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon extract – almond
• ½ cup ground almonds or you can substitute walnuts
• 2-3/4 cup flour
• Grease then flour a cookie sheet

The working steps:

1. Heat oven to 275 Fahrenheit. Combine in a saucepan water and sugar and bring to boil. Don’t stir. Take off heat and add anise seeds, orange peel, cinnamon, flour, extract, and nuts into a smooth mixture.
2. Knead while adding more flour if needed until you can roll it out. Less flour equals more tender cookies. Roll out dough until about 1/2” thick and cut into oval shapes 1-1/4” wide by 1-3/4” long. Apply designs to the cookie tops with a decorative cookie stamp or a rolling pin with a Springerle design. Cut out the cookies then use a spatula and lift them onto the cookie sheet. Bake approximately 40-50 minutes until moist inside and dry outside. These cookies are why choose Italian cookie recipes and they are wonderful as presents for friends too.

Have a nice day.

Holiday Cookie Recipes

Baking holiday cookie recipes for all season using some of the simple cookie recipes can take you from Christmas to Valentine’s Day or a special birthday or
anniversary. These are holiday cookie recipes for all season. These are simple cookie recipes that are quick and easy that would also make fine presents too.

Dieters

Even people on a diet can enjoy holiday cookie recipes for all season since some of the simple cookie recipes are made using low carb and fat free or low fat
ingredients.

Gingerbread Butterscotch Men

This simple cookie recipe serves 12 people. Have cookie cutters available and any decorations or icing you need.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 1 box butterscotch instant pudding mix – small
• ½ cup butter – softened
• ½ cup sugar – brown
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon ginger

The working steps:

Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Cream the brown sugar, butter, and pudding together in a bowl and beat in 1 egg. Add the baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and
flour, mix well. Roll the mixture out on a floured board then cut with your cookie cutter. Decorate with your choice of decorations. Bake these fo r
approximately 10 minutes then cool slightly before taking off sheet.

Rolled Sugar Cookies

This holiday cookie recipes for all season require 3 hours prep and baking time plus overnight cooling time for the dough.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• ½ cup butter softened
• 2 cups sugar – white
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 5 cups flour – all purpose
• Ungreased cookie sheets

The working steps:

1. For this simple cookie recipe cream the butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla then stir in baking powder, salt and flour. Cover the bowl and
   let cool overnight.
2. Heat oven to 400 Fahrenheit. Roll out cooled dough about 1/4th or ½ inches thick on a floured work surface. Using a cookie cutter cut the cookies out and place one inch apart on the sheets. Bake them 6 – 8 minutes and let cool before serving.

Viennese Crescent Cookies

This simple cookie recipe requires some time to prepare. Calories 95; Fat 5.3 grams; Cholesterol 10 mg

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 2 cups flour – all purpose
• 2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar in a bowl
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup hazelnuts-ground
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup confectioner’s sugar sifted
• 1 vanilla bean that you have cut length-wise to scrape seeds out and mix into ½ cup confectioner’s sugar. Cut the vanilla bean into 2” pieces and also mix in the sugar bowl.
• Ungreased cookie sheet

The working steps:

1. Heat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit. Stir flour, hazelnuts, butter, vanilla, salt and 2 cups sugar in a bowl. Shape into large ball, cover and cool in the
   refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. Form it into one inch balls then roll into a 3” long roll then shape into a crescent. Place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until set.
3. Place on aluminum foil and dust with powdered sugar. Cool this simple cookie recipe. Dust holiday cookie recipes for all season again before serving.

 

Thanks for reading.

Have a nice day.

Cookie Bar Recipes

Got a craving for healthy foods? Try cookie bar recipes as they are really simple cookie recipes and the best thing when you get a craving for healthy foods.
Try cookie bar recipes because they are mouthwatering and you won’t gain a lot of pounds either.

Pecan Butter Chocolate Bar

This is a simple cookie recipe that’s good for you too. Get the following together

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup pecans coarse chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour-all purpose
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1-3/4 cup chocolate chips – semi-sweet
• Baking pan sprayed with non-stick spray

The working steps:

1. Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Mix well together the brown sugar, vanilla, egg yolk and butter. Stir in the flour and salt. Press the dough down in the baking
   pan. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or light brown. Take from oven and sprinkle with chips then the pecans and let cool. Cut in squares to serve. Truly
   a simple cookie recipe.
2. Another one when craving for healthy foods? Try cookie bar recipes like this one. It’s a simple cookie recipe as well.

Apple Danish Pastry Bar

This is a simple cookie recipe that tastes like it’s filled with spicy baked apples in a crust that flakes. When craving for healthy foods? Try cookie bar
recipes like this

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• Heat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
• 2-1/2 cup flour – all purpose
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shortening in a bowl cut into small pieces with a knife
• 1 cup cornflakes
• 1 egg yolk beaten
• 9 Granny Smith apples peeled and sliced
• 1 cup sugar- white
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
• Egg wash 1 egg white mixed with 1 T water
• Topping powdered sugar or whipped cream
• Ungreased baking pan

The working steps:

1. Combine flour and salt then cut into butter pieces. Add egg to milk then mix and combine with other ingredients. Cut dough into 2 pieces and roll out ½ of it
   on floured counter. Put in pan.
2. Sprinkle on the cornflakes then top with apples. Combine sugar, cinnamon and sprinkle on top of apples.
3. Roll out rest of dough and top the other piece and seal together. Slit the top pastry. Brush egg wash on top. Bake 50 minutes then let cool. Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar or cream for a good simple cookie recipe.

Cream Pistachio Bar

This is a simple cookie recipe for sure.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 2 cups flour – all purpose
• 1/3 cup sugar- white
• 1 cup salted butter softened
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 3.4 oz pistachio pudding mix – the small size
• ½ cup pistachio nuts course chopped
• ¾ cup milk
• Ungreased baking pan

The working steps:

1. Heat oven to 325 Fahrenheit. Mix flour and sugar then beat butter in well. Press dough into baking pan then bake approximately 25 minutes. Let cool 30
   minutes or more.
2. Blend confectioner’s sugar and cream cheese and mix in milk and pudding mix well. Spread over crust top, sprinkle with nuts and let chill 1 hour for a very tasty simple cookie recipe and for your craving for healthy foods? Try cookie bar recipes.

 

Thanks for reading.

Have a nice day.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Recipes

Healthy chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipes are simple cookie recipes to make. Whether chewy and warm or mixed with gooey chocolate these cookies are certainly one of the healthy chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipes you can enjoy. Add this classic simple cookie recipe to your repertoire of oatmeal cookies in your recipe box and enjoy the benefits of oatmeal in these healthy chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipes.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Chewy Cookies

This simple cookie recipe only takes 55 minutes to make and you will be serving healthy chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipes to your family after dinner for dessert. They also make good and healthy snacks or for packing in the lunch. In fact they can be enjoyed anytime you have a craving for that delicious chocolate chip oatmeal combination and are a simple cookie recipe to make too. In a serving they have Cholesterol 22 mg Fat 8.1 grams Calories 145

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 1 cup butter softened
• 1 cup brown sugar – light and packed
• 1 cup walnuts chopped
• 1 cup chocolate chips – semi-sweet
• ½ cup sugar – white
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/4 cups flour – all purpose
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups oats – quick cooking
• Ungreased baking sheet

The working steps:

Heat oven to 325 Fahrenheit. Cream the sugars and butter. Beat in the eggs and stir the vanilla into the mix. Add the salt, flour and baking soda and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips, walnuts and oats. Drop by the spoonful on the baking sheet. Bake approximately 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes and put on rack. A simple cookie recipe that is simple to make indeed.

Chocolate Chip & Peanut Butter And Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

This is another of the simple cookie recipes for another great version of classic oatmeal cookies. This simple cookie recipe is low fat and low carb too. You can go with a saltier mix using salted roasted peanuts and salted butter or use unsalted butter and unsalted roasted peanuts.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 1 cup packed brown sugar – light
• 1 cup sugar – white
• 3 cups old fashion type rolled oats
• 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon salt, may be course
• 1 cup butter, softened you may use unsalted
• 2 eggs – large
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 cups whole roasted peanuts – may be salted or unsalted
• Greased cookie sheet

The working steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine oats, salt, baking powder and soda and flour in bowl. Mix with a mixer about 5 minutes both sugars, peanut butter and butter in separate bowl so the mix is fluffy and light and well mixed. Add eggs and vanilla then add the oat and flour mix along with the roasted peanuts and chocolate chips.
2. Drop the mixture in approximately 1-1/2” pieces onto the cookie sheet two inches apart. Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes until the tops feel set when lightly pressed. Let stand 5 minutes then put on racks to cool and enjoy healthy chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipes.

 

Thanks for reading.

Have a nice day.

Simple Cookie Recipes

Here are 2 simple cookie recipes for cookie lovers that everyone will enjoy. The thing about cookies is that when you use simple cookie recipes for cookie lovers you will see people of any age biting into that cookie or sneaking one out of the cookie jar. And since they are enjoyed by so many it is always handy keeping simple cookie recipes in your recipe box so that when the need arises you can whip out a batch or two on very short notice. This way your simple cookie recipes for cookie lovers will always provide some cookies.

Desserts or Snacks

Since people are willing to eat cookies just about any time so having simple cookie recipes on hand makes it easy to find the one you like to bake the best. Also cookies make great buffet or potluck items as they are not only easy to make but easy to transport too. So those simple cookie recipes for cookie lovers will make everyone happy and they may ask for this simple cookie recipe too.

A Great Chocolate Chip Cookie

These are big cookies using a simple cookie recipe that’s easy to make at home. You can substitute white chocolate, milk chocolate or peanut butter for the semi-sweet chips or chunks or a mixture of them to your taste. Nuts are optional in this simple cookie recipe.

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 4 cups flour-all purpose
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 cups butter melted
• 2 cups sugar – brown
• 2 Tablespoons vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 additional egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar – white
• 3-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Greased cookie sheets

The working steps:

1. Heat the oven to 325 Fahrenheit. Combine salt, flour and baking soda in a bowl. Cream together the melted butter and both sugars in another bowl and beat together the eggs and yolks and vanilla ‘til creamy and light with them. Add the flour mixture to the eggs and mix well then add the chocolate chips stirring by hand.
2. Drop about ¼ cup of cookie dough on the greased sheet about 3” apart and bake approximately 15-18 minutes until the cookies are golden brown.

 

Cookies from Saltine Crackers

The next one is one of the simple cookie recipes that are very easy to make. For this simple cookie recipe you will need

The Ingredient List for this cookie recipe:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar-white
• Some saltine crackers
• 12 ounces of chocolate chips
• 12 ounces chopped nuts or to taste
• Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil

The working steps:

Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Lay the saltines on the cookie sheet and set aside. Melt the sugar and butter in a pan until it comes to a boil and boil for 3 minutes. Spread the butter mixture on the crackers evenly. Put the pan in the hot oven and bake for approximately 12-15 minutes. Open the oven door and spread the chocolate chips and leave for a minute or so. Add nut mixture when you take out and let cool in refrigerator. This makes excellent simple cookie recipes for cookie lovers.

 

 

A Fancy Florentine Cookie

This is one of the really good holiday cookies that anyone can make. It does take about 2 hours and 20 minutes however one hour of that is for the dough to chill so you can do something else during that time. The actual working time is 40 minutes. It traditionally uses blanched almonds that are slivered but if you like another nut better you can use that one instead. It will make 48 cookies.

The Ingredient List for this simple cookie recipe:

• 1 Cup almonds, blanched and slivered
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ stick butter, unsalted, room temperature
• 2 T corn syrup – light
• 2 T cream – heavy
• ¼ t vanilla
• 1/8th or a pinch of salt, if desired Kosher
• 2 t flour – all purpose
• 4 oz melted chocolate, bittersweet, brought back to room temperature

TOOLS:

1. Parchment lined cookie sheets
2. Food processor
3. Small pan
4. Bowls
5. Wire racks
6. Pre-heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit

The working steps:

1. Using a food processor place the blanched, slivered almonds plus the granulated sugar into the bowl and process ‘til ground finely.
2. Empty the almond sugar mix into a small pan and mix well into tit the corn syrup, butter, vanilla, cream and salt. Cook while constantly stirring over medium heat until the sugar and butter are melted and incorporated which will take about 3 minutes or so.
3. Take off heat and then stir in flour. Place in a bowl and put in refrigerator for about 1 hour until it is firm.
4. Take about 1 teaspoon of dough and roll into small balls. Then put these on the cookie sheets about 3” apart. Dip your fingertips into water and use them to flatten balls into about ¼” thick pieces. In a normal size oven, bake only one of the cookie sheets at a time to bake this simple cookie recipe. Bake ‘til they are golden brown or about 7 – 9 minutes allow to cool one minute. Carefully place on racks to let completely cool.
5. Turn cookies over and spread this side with melted chocolate. With chocolate side placed down on parchment lined pans or plates and set in the refrigerator to allow the chocolate to completely set up. This will take about 5 to about 10 minutes. These cookies will stay fresh for about three days if you store them in a container that is airtight and at room temperature.

Classic Great Chocó-Chips Cookie Recipe

There always has to be one classic and excellent tasting chocolate chip cookie recipe in everyone’s repertoire. This may be the one you choose to add to yours. It is easy to make so you and you kids can make it up and have it for dessert that night. It makes 48 great cookies. The total actual working time is a short 20 minutes. The total time to complete these goodies is only 1 hour. So get to work and enjoy this fabulous and easy to make chocolate chip recipe today. Nuts are optional and you can leave them out if you so choose. Also you can substitute pecans for walnuts or even pistachios. The recipe does contain eggs so if you are allergic to eggs make sure you have an egg substitute on hand.

The Ingredient List for this simple cookie recipe:

• 2-1/4 cup flour, all purpose that has been sifted and leveled before measuring
• 1 t salt, can be Kosher
• ½ t baking soda
• 2 sticks butter, unsalted and at room temperature
• 1-1/4 cup brown sugar, light and packed down
• ¼ cup sugar, granulated
• 2 eggs, large
• 1 t vanilla
• 12 ounces chocolate chips – semi-sweet
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped coarse

TOOLS:

1. Small and Medium bowl
2. Electric mixer
3. Ungreased cookie sheets
4. Cooling rack
5. Pre-heat the oven at 350 Fahrenheit

The working steps:

1. Take small bowl and put in the baking soda, salt and flour and beat together then set aside.
2. In mixing bowl use your mixer set at medium high and beat together the sugars and butter about 2 or so minutes so they are fluffy. The adding each egg separately and beat each one into the mixture. When they are well incorporated beat in the vanilla. Set your mixer down to a low speed and add the flour mix slowly. Don’t over mix this addition but do make sure it is combined well. Then stir in the nuts and chocolate chips if using them.
3. Take a heaping tablespoon of the dough and drop it on cookie sheet spaced 2” apart.
4. You will be baking this simple cookie recipe for a total time of approximately 12 – 15 minutes. Put the sheets cookie sheets in the hot oven and at about 6 minutes or so turn the sheets 180 degrees. When finished they’ll be light brown with soft centers. Let cool before putting on rack to fully cool.

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are something I’ve been dreaming of eating again since going gluten and dairy free over a year ago. They are moist and stay that way for days after baking (stored in a cookie jar) and the combination of pecans and chocolate chips is hard to beat. I’m going to try the recipe with cherries as well next time I make it.

This recipe yields a dozen cookies and takes about 30-40 minutes to make including cooking time.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup softened dairy free/gluten free “butter”
• 1/2 cup white sugar (I used fructose this time)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp gf* pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp gf baking soda
• 1/4 tsp gf baking powder
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup quinoa flour
• 1/4 cup potato flour
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 3/4 cups gf vegan chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Procedure :

1. *gf as you may have guessed stands for gluten free, some of these common baking ingredients have hidden gluten and should be double checked.
2. Start by turning the oven on to 350 to preheat.
3. Then beat the softened “butter” and sugars together in a large mixing bowl, add the water, egg and vanilla and beat thoroughly.
4. Once the liquids are well combined and the texture is smooth I add the three types of flour, the baking soda, baking powder, and xanthan gum to the mixture and stir them until the dough has a smooth texture.
5. Then I pour the chocolate chips and pecans into the bowl and mix again. When everything is well combined I take a tbsp measure and scoop out the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. I leave room for the cookies to expand because they flatten out a lot and once I’ve filled the tray I press the cookies down with the flat of my hand or the back of a spoon creating a flatter, smoother cookie shape. Once that is finished I pop the cookies into the oven for 8-10 minutes checking at the eight minute mark. I darkened the edges of the first batch so on round two the results were better which involved me checking in at around 8 minutes and hovering until the edges of the cookies turned light brown and the tops of the cookies were golden (at around 10 minutes).

Hope you enjoy these. I made them for Scott’s birthday and they were a hit!

Thai Red Curry – my quick and easy version

As you must have noticed by now, we’re really into Asian food, particularly Thai. And I love a good thai curry, however, they can be a bit complicated to prepare at times – especially if you do it “properly”, making your own paste, etc – which is well worth it, but not always practical.

This recipe takes about 30 minutes start to finishing, including the prep (assuming you’re fairly quick with your chopping and are organised). I’m not going to make any “thirty minute meals” claims, but it’s easily do-able on a school night.

You will need (serves 3-4, depending how much you eat!):

• 1 red onion, half sliced, half finely diced
• 2-3 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced (or 2-3 bay leaves, left whole)
• 2-3 tbsp of finely sliced lemongrass
• A thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped or grated
• 2-3 crushed garlic cloves
• Fresh red chilli to taste – I used about 4 birds eye chillis – very finely sliced
• A small handful of fresh basil (sweet or thai basil if possible), chopped
• A small handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• Approx 300-400g of meat (pork, chicken, duck, beef – your choice), cut into slices – about the size of a 50p coin, but twice as thick
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder (to taste)
• 1 tsp Palm Sugar (or light soft brown sugar)
• 1-2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1-2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 lime, cut in half, read to squeeze
• 1 red pepper, sliced
• 1 small aubergine, cut into chunks
• 1 tin good quality coconut milk (NOT light)

Method

1. The ingredients above are grouped together, deliberately. Before I start cooking, I prep them all and put each group into a little bowl – bit of extra washing up, but it makes the actual cooking a lot simpler!
2. Heat a large sauce pan (or casserole dish) on a medium heat and add a good splash of olive oil. Soften the onions with the lid on, until they go translucent. Add your mix of ginger/garlic/chill/etc and give it a good stir, until fragrant (you’ll suddenly notice the lovely smell – thats when you’re ready to continue).
3. Add the meat and brown it off for a couple of minutes. Then add your tomato puree, cumin and chilli powder (if using), stir well, return the lid and leave for a few minutes.
4. Once the meat is more or less cooked through, add the ‘wet’ ingredients – fish sauce, soy sauce, squeezed lime juice (drop the limes in afterwards if you like, just remember to fish them out at the end), and add the vegetables. Stir well, replace lid, leave for approx 5 minutes to cook in.
5. Finally, add your coconut milk. If there isn’t enough sauce, or it’s too thick, add a little water – but not too much or it’ll end up very runny. Stir well, leave for a few minutes to simmer and then taste and adjust.
6. If it’s not hot enough, add chilli powder. If it needs salt, add a little fish sauce and soy. If it’s too hot or salty, add a little more palm sugar and maybe a touch more tomato puree – you get the idea. Once you’re happy, simmer for a couple of minutes and serve – you should be able to prepare this in about the time it takes a serving of nice brown rice to cook!

Anti Fatigue Kitchen Mats: What are the different materials used to manufacture it?

You wonder every Sunday evening, why are you exhausted and have back pain visiting you after you have completed your heavy cooking for your Sunday dinner. You realized the long durations that you spent in the kitchen created the discomfort to your feet and your back ache. You wanted a solution as you could not miss out on the family ritual of cooking a large dinner for your family every Sunday. When reading a health magazine you came to know about anti fatigue kitchen mats.

What are these mats all about?

Anti Fatigue Kitchen Mats are scientifically designed to create comfort, when you are exposed to standing for long durations on a hard surface in your kitchen. When you stand on a normal mat you would be exposing your feet to stress and this would create unnecessary fatigue and poor circulation in your body. All the above factors would create problems in your health. When you stand on these specialized mats your body is not exposed to absorb shocks when you are moving in the same place for long periods. In fact these mats absorb shock and create good body posture. This prevents stress and fatigue from setting in.

What are the different types of these specialized mats available in the market?

You would be surprised by the variety of these specialized anti fatigue mats available for your use in the kitchen. Some of the varieties are:

• Anti Fatigue Mats made from Foam

This is one of the most common materials used to manufacture these anti fatigue kitchen mats. These mats offer medium body support and anti fatigue support system. The thickness of these foam mats are between one fourth inches to three fourth inches. These foam mats are comfortable but are not too soft. It has been estimated that soft materials encourage stress to creep in than harder surface. These mats come in different colors and at affordable rates.

• Anti Fatigue Mats made from Gel

These are the most popular form of anti fatigue kitchen mats available in the market today. These mats are made of gels which are tough and are covered with a rough exterior plastic sheath. These mats enjoy the best features of support and anti fatigue elements in them. These mats can be used in both wet and dry floors and are resistant to slippage. It should be mentioned that these gel mats are on the expensive side.

• Anti Fatigue Mats made from Rubber

Rubber made anti fatigue mats are similar to their cousins the foam mats. The two exceptional qualities they enjoy are that, they are more durable in nature. Other factor that they enjoy is that they can be used in a wet kitchen floor, when you are washing clothes in your kitchen sink. Since they are made from rubber they have better anti fatigue elements and absorb shock better. Foam rubber can be cleaned on a daily basis and needs little maintenance.

Depending on your kitchen flooring and personal requirement, choose your anti fatigue mats for your kitchen. When investing in these mats you would say goodbye to your stress and pain in your feet forever.

Anti Fatigue Kitchen Mats

Does your leg pain after prolonged hours of standing in your kitchen, when you undertake your kitchen washing and cooking on a daily basis? When you spoke to your best friend regarding your back and knee pain, she suggested that you use Anti Fatigue Kitchen Mats. What are these mats and what is so special about them? These mats in the kitchen are specially designed to reduce fatigue and stress in your back and foot when you cook for long durations.

What is the difference between regular mats and these special mats used in the kitchen?

A common home owner might question the necessity of using these specialized mats when a simple cushioned mat in the kitchen would provide the same comfort. But they are certain differences which are:

• Normal cushioned mats used in the kitchen are made of materials like rubber and other soft materials. They add comfort but they are not designed specifically to relief stress. Anti Fatigue Kitchen Mats are made from gels which prevent stress in your feet and back pain, after working in the kitchen for a few hours.
• These mats which are anti fatigue in nature are specifically cushioned to relieve the stress and pains. These mats are made from gel which adds comfort to your tired feet’s.

Basic queries that need to be answered before you invest in these specialized mats

As a homeowner you are aware that these anti fatigue kitchen mats are expensive investments. You may have a few queries in your mind which are:

• How are these mats designed to lessen the stress in your feet when you are working hard in the kitchen? You would be surprised with the revelation that soft materials create more stress and pain for your hard working feet’s. It has been researched and proved that these specialized mats enjoy a surface that reduces level of stress.
• Normal mats used in your kitchen do not improve body posture which leads to stress exposure and poor circulations. These specialized anti fatigue mats in the kitchen provide the body stability and good body posture, even when you are working for long hours in the kitchen. When your body enjoys good circulation, you would not be visited by aches and pains often.
• Specially designed anti fatigue mats are very responsive to your body weight movement. When you are cooking or washing in your kitchen, you adopt several standing postures and the mat reacts in different ways. A normal mat would not react and thus stress would be created on the surface. When you use these specially designed responsive mats, the mats add comfort to the various body postures that you take when standing and working in the kitchen. When stability is present, discomfort is absent and thus you enjoy a stress free environment.
• Your normal mats used in your kitchen do not have the ability or is designed to absorb shock. When a condition of prolonged discomfort is created, your body would be exposed to discomfort and pain. You would also feel tired. But the anti fatigue mats used in your kitchen is designed to absorb shock. This prevents discomfort and your feet’s do not feel any discomfort when exposed to long hours of chores in the kitchen.
• Can these mats being cleaned easily? When you are using mats in a kitchen, it is natural for it to get dirty with dust and other types of particles on it. Most home owners clean it on a regular basis. But they are apprehensive if these specialized mats can be cleaned. The manufacturing companies understand this very well and you can be re assured that you can clean these mats on a regular basis.
• Are these mats durable? Unlike normal mats which are changed after a few months. You can be assured that your investment in these specialized anti fatigue mats will not go to waste. In fact some of the companies provide warranty periods of more than three years. This factor does indicate the durable feature of these specialized mats.

Now that you have most of your queries clarified, invest in anti fatigue kitchen mats and introduce your world to a new world of comfort.

Beef and Veggie Rice Wraps

This recipe serves 2 hungry people (approximately 6-8 wraps) and can be easily adapted to serve more or less. And once you get the hang of making the wraps they take no time to make. This recipe takes about 20 minutes to make, start to finish.

Ingredients:

• 0.3 k beef strips (more or less depending on how many people are eating)*
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1 tsp sweet chili sauce
• 1 tsp hot chili sauce or hot sauce
• 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into sticks
• 1/2 large cucumber, sliced into sticks, seeds removed
• 1 handful of bean sprouts
• 1 handful of basil or mint leaves

*Beef can be replaced with shrimp or chicken with no alteration to the process and with great results. Marinated tofu is also quite good.

First I saute the beef strips in a small amount of olive oil, adding the sweet chili sauce, lime juice, and hot chili sauce to the pan and thoroughly coating the beef strips, continue sauteing the beef until completely cooked through.

Next, I slice up all the veggies and place them on a plate. Then I separate the basil leaves (or mint) from the stems and lay the leaves on the plate with the veggies.

Then I take a deep plate (one with a raised edge) and pour warm water into it. Next, I place one rice wrap in the water until it is slightly sticky and pliable. Then I remove the rice wrap from the water and place it on a cutting board or a large plate.

Next I add the basil, then the veggies, then a single strip of beef.

I gently roll up the outer edges of the wrap and then roll the front of the wrap over the veggies and then using my fingers to hold the veggies in place I roll up the rest of the wrap making a complete rice roll.

I continue doing this until all the ingredients are used up. Then I pour a little bit of sweet Thai chili sauce on a plate, slice the wraps in half and enjoy!

Gorgeous Guacamole

This green bowl of goodness is hard to beat after work on a summer evening. It takes next to no time to prepare and half of that to disappear. This guacamole might be a little spicier than versions you’ve had before but in a pleasant way.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 medium-large avocados, pitted and mashed
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped into small chunks
• juice from 1 lime
• 3 cloves of garlic finely diced
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 – 1 tsp cumin seeds
• a handful of fresh cilantro

For guacamole you simply pit and mash the avocado in a small mixing bowl, add the diced onions, garlic, spices stirring them all together. Then the tomatoes and a healthy handful of fresh cilantro. Stir everything together and voila — guacamole!

Vegan Coffee & Walnut Cake

Here we go again folks – another vegan bake! We go to a baby-wearing group where some of the other attendees are vegan, so when we take cakes (or other goodies) along, I have a go at turning my hand to vegan bakery.

At first it was very intimidating, however, there are easy replacements for almost every ingredient – the only tricky bit is the eggs, and once you get the hang of that, it’s not so scary!

So, this time I made a recipe from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible, which is a brilliant book. Her Coffee and Walnut Traybake is a cake we’ve enjoyed immensely before, so when we found it hard to find a ‘vegan coffee cake’ recipe online (lots of cakes to go WITH coffee, not so many containing it!), I veganised it.

Cake Ingredients

• 225g vegan margerine/spread (hydrogenated fat free)
• 175g light brown sugar
• 300g self raising flour
• 2 level teaspoons of baking powder
• 2 tablespoons of soya milk
• 2 tablespoons (ish) of strong decaf coffee
• 75g chopped walnuts

Egg replacements

• 3/4 of a cup of soya yoghurt
• 1tbsp white wine vinegar, mixed with 1tbsp water and 1tsp baking powder

And the icing

• 75g vegan margerine
• 225g icing sugar
• 4 teaspoons (ish) of strong decaf coffee
• A small splash of soya milk to loosen, if required

And the method? Easy peasy!

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 (fan 160) and grease/line a tray (or a cake tin if you prefer). Use a little bit of vegan marge or some olive oil for greasing – don’t grab the butter!
2. Put all the cake ingredients, with the egg replacements in a bowl and beat until well combined. Tip into the tray and place in the oven (make the top as level as possible).
3. Cook for about 35 minutes, or until it has shrunk back a little from the sides and springs back when you press with your fingertips. Leave to cool – it’ll sink down a fair bit, but don’t worry, it’ll still be lovely.
4. To make the icing, mix the margerine, sugar and half of the coffee together and beat. Gradually add the remaining coffee until you get a consistency which you like – if it’s too runny, add a little bit of plain flour or sugar to thicken it (if you’re used to making icing, this will come out a little thinner than you are used to, but will set up once poured on the cake). Top the cake and put some walnut halves on to decorate (we forgot these)!
5. If you’re not vegan, you can use 4 eggs instead of the ‘replacements’, but why not give it a go as is!

Blueberry, Buckwheat and Honey Cake with Blueberry Sauce (Gluten and Dairy free)

This recipe is a family favourite. My Nanie G. and my Mom often make this cake in the summertime when we have nice fresh blueberries. But frozen ones work too! This recipe will take about 15-20 minutes to mix and an about an hour to bake. This makes a large cake, easily serves 16, but if you like a nice big piece of cake there’s no rule that says you can’t share with fewer people.

I’ve adapted my Mom’s and my Nanie’s recipe(s) to be gluten and dairy free.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup applesauce
• 3/4 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 c soy milk
• 2 cups blueberries
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

First turn the oven on to 350 and grease and flour the pan.

Then, add the applesauce, honey, eggs, soy milk, lemon juice, and vanilla to a large mixing bowl and combine thoroughly.

Next, add the buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, xanthan gum, and baking soda to the bowl and mix with the wet mixture until nice and smooth.

Then add the blueberries and gently mix through. Turn out the batter into the cake pan (I use a tube pan but any large sized pan will do). Then place it in the pre-heated oven for 45-60 minutes. Test with a toothpick to see if the centre is cooked through, if you tap the top and it is firm and springy then its a good bet that its ready!

When the cake is finished I let it sit for a bit before taking the cake out of the pan. I dust it with cinnamon and sugar and let cool.

While the cake is cooling I start to make the Blueberry Sauce.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries
• 1 cup sugar or 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 c. brown rice flour
• 2 cups hot water
• pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp vegan butter (or regular)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Add everything except the butter and vanilla to a large sauce pan and set the heat to medium low and let everything simmer and once it starts to bubble add the “butter” and vanilla and let simmer until nice and thick.

Then once the cake is cool and the sauce is ready, slice the cake and serve in a shallow bowl and ladle warm sauce over the top. Enjoy!

Chocolate, Cranberry, Ginger Buckwheat Pancakes

This is a breakfast that tastes just right on a rainy Saturday morning.
Serves 4 people easily and likely more.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup toasted carob powder (or 2 tbsp cocoa powder)
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tbsp gluten free baking powder
• 1-2 tbsp roughly chopped crystallized ginger (or if you prefer 1 tsp vanilla extract can replace the ginger)
• 1/2-1 cup frozen cranberries (a handful or so)
• 1/4 cup vegan (gluten free too) chocolate chips
• 2 eggs (or egg replacer)
• 2/3 cup apple sauce
• 2 1/4 cup water

Procedure :

*Optional: chopped walnuts, hemp seed, or ground flax. I often add hemp seed to pancakes and this time I decided to add walnuts as well. When I make blueberry banana pancakes flax seed often finds its way into the mix.

First I place all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl (both kinds of flour, carob powder, baking powder, and xanthan gum). Then add the applesauce, water and eggs and blend with a hand blender.

Then I add the cranberries and blend it again.

Next I add the hemp seeds and walnuts. Then I place the crystallized ginger pieces in a coffee grinder and lightly pulse and then add the ginger to the bowl. Finally add the chocolate chips and stir.

Once everything is mixed in together I pour about a 1/2 cup batter into the pan with some heated olive oil. When the pancake starts to bubble in the middle then its time to flip the pancake over and fry on the other side until its firm.

Finally I pop the pancakes into the toaster oven to keep warm until the batch is completely ready. Then we like to eat these with fresh orange slices and a few pieces of aged white cheddar. I hope you enjoy these!

Hummus, Vegan “cheese” Sandwich

This sandwich is my new addiction. Now that I’ve finally figured out how to make decent bread of the gluten and dairy free variety I’m enjoying sandwiches again. And this one is hard to beat.

Ingredients:

• fresh bread
• hummus
• vegan cheese
• 1 or 2 eggs
• and hot sauce

Procedure:

1. So, to make this fantastic sandwich start by placing a little olive oil in a frying pan on the stovetop on low-medium heat.
2. Next, place a heaping spoonful of hummus on one slice of bread and spread it evenly (I use about 1 1/2 tbsps). Next place a slice of “cheese” on top of the hummus, then put the other piece of bread on top of the sandwich base. Once this is done, beat an egg or two in a shallow bowl (the number of eggs depends on how many sandwiches you’ll be making, but one egg is definitely enough for two or three sandwiches). Dip the sandwich in the egg mixture on both sides.
3. Then place the sandwich in the frying pan and flip (very carefully) once the bottom is golden. Then do the same to the other side. Plate it with hot sauce and enjoy:D I absolutely love this sandwich.
4. I’ve also tried it with jalapenos, and another option is a fresh garlic dill pickle slice!

Homemade Tomato Ketchup – The Cottage Way!

A recent facebook poll about where ketchup should be kept (and a friend’s comment that she hadn’t had too much success with recipes) has prompted me to post mine. We love it – and it really doesn’t take long to make (besides, it keeps for ages so you can do a large batch now and then). It’s also the base for most barbeque sauces – although thats another topic altogether!

As with many of my favourite recipes, this one originally came from a book, but has been “tweaked” to our tastes – we found the original a bit too sweet, so we are in the process of refining it a batch at a time. The book is called ‘The Preserving Book’, by Lynda Brown (see Amazon link) and is brilliant – everything from ketchups, to pickles, to homemade cider, preserving fruit and veg and drying mushrooms or chillis. Well worth a go.

Ingredients (to make approx a pint)

• 1kg tomatoes, roughly chopped (get the best tomatoes you can – throw in a box of ‘heritage’ style tomatoes, a mixture of varieties, if you can.
• 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 celery stick – all diced
• A pinch of ground cloves
• A bay leaf
• 2 blades of mace
• 1 tsp salt (sea salt for preference)
• 150-200ml red wine vinegar
• 20-30g (light) soft brown sugar

Method

1. Put everything except the sugar into a big saucepan – I use my largest stock pot as it has the biggest surface area, so it’s easier to reduce sauces in. Boil it up, then reduce to a very low heat and simmer for 30 mins (lid on). Take the lid off and simmer for another 15 mins, stirring regularly. Use 150ml of vinegar initially, hold back 50ml for later.
2. Take out the mace and bay leaf (don’t want any surprises later on!) and put the mixture through a blender to get a puree, then work it through a seive, back into a clean pan.
3. Add the sugar – 20g to start with – and bring the mixture to the boil. Give it 5 mins, or until it reaches a thick consistency (like double cream).
4. At this point I like to adjust – although it’s hot, you get a very good idea of the flavour you’ve created. If it’s not sweet enough, add more sugar – 5g at a time. If it’s too sweet, add vinegar, a splash at a time – you may need to reduce for a minute or so if you add quite a bit. Add more salt if desired and you can even spice things up with black pepper (or sezchuan pepper), tabasco, worcestershire or any other favourite flavours.
5. Once you’re happy with the taste, pour it out into jars or containers to cool and put it away – if you want to keep it in the cupboard, then decant into sterilized preserving jars and keep them sealed until ready to use. We just put ours straight into squeezy bottles (or old “shop bought” ketchup bottles), because it doesn’t last long.

Will post about BBQ sauce soon – I normally make it straight after, as I can increase the ketchup quantity accordingly and avoid using bought-in sauces altogether.

Sugar-Free Banana & Blueberry Cake!

With the little monkey’s first birthday rapidly approach, party planning is in full swing here, with a whole range of little-one-friendly nibbles on the agenda as far as the kitchen goes.

And then there’s the birthday cake. As you may have gathered by now, we’re not fans of additive laden processed foods and nor are we particularly keen on the idea of stuffing him full of sugar – he’s bouncy enough without it to be honest!

So. Research duly done and some recipes for sugar free cakes found, but they all seem to require “no sugar apple sauce” or “frozen apple concentrate”. While I could make the first (and have no clue about the second, it’s presumably American), adding apple (sauce) to some cakes just feels a bit weird. I often reduce the amount of sugar in baking anyway, so figured I’d have a go at a tried and tested recipe – and just get rid of it altogether.

A lot of the things I’d read suggested adding some wholemeal flour to absorb extra moisture as that’s one of the functions sugar fulfils, so I figured that’d be a good plan as well.

Ingredients

• 175g White Self Raising Flour
• 150g Wholemeal Self Raising Flour
• 3 eggs
• 3-4 very, very, very ripe bananas (the riper the better) – approx 300g
• A cup of frozen blueberries – approx 120g
• 4tbsp Olive Oil
• 1tsp Vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to fan 160C and grease/line a tin of your choice.
2. Mix the flours together in a bowl. Throw in the blueberries and toss them around. Mash the bananas with a fork and in another bowl, mix with the eggs, olive oil and vanilla extract. Tip the wet mixture into the flour and mix it together (I was quite rough, which smashed up the blueberries and turned the whole mixture blue/purple).
3. Put into the tin, bake for half an hour – then lightly cover with foil and bake for another half an hour (or until cooked through). Voila!
4. It’s a little odd at first as it’s clearly cake, but isn’t particularly sweet (unsurprisingly), but it’s got a good flavour nonetheless. We’re going to put some icing on top for the adults so there’ll be something sweet there, but if you want a very child friendly cake – off you go!

Homemade Creme Fraiche

Milk products, such as cream, yogurt, butter milk, clotted cream, soured cream and creme fraiche, have a myriad of uses in sweet and savoury dishes. Though commercially available, the latter three are easily made at home.

Here I’m going to tell you how to make creme fraiche easily at home. Creme fraiche is a partially soured, tangy cream which has the added bonus of not separating during cooking. In the following creme fraiche recipe along with the addition of double cream you can add sour cream or plain yogurt to make the creme fraiche tastier and creamier. You can use creme fraiche as flavouring for soups, sauces and savoury dishes. It is also delicious with fruits and sweet dishes. Following is the easy homemade creme fraiche recipe.

Ingredients:

• 500ml butter milk
• 250 ml double cream

Method:

• Mix 500ml butter milk and double cream in a bowl.
• Put the bowl over a pan of hot water and heat to 30°C.
• Pour the warm mixture into a glass bowl; partially cover. Let stand at room temperature for 6-8 hours. Then refrigerate the finished creme fraiche after it has thickened.

Poach a whole bird

Gentle poaching is a classic way of cooking any kind of bird like chicken, duck, goose or even turkey. It leaves the meat tender and juicy. Poaching not only brings a pleasing taste but also produces a delicious broth. The poaching time depends on the weight of the bird. Trussing the bird before poaching ensures it retains the shape of the bird during poaching over a gentle heat on top of the stove. A whole bird poached in flavorsome broth can be one of the most delicate dishes you will ever experience. You can also poach bird’s breast or thighs, with or without stuffing.

Personally I prefer to poach with stuffing as the meat will absorb all the flavors of the stuffing, bringing a wonderful lift to the taste. From all the birds which are been used for cooking, chicken is the bird most preferred bird among all of us. So I have to say that poached chicken meat is perfect for pie fillings as well for sandwiches. Here is a fuss free method on how to poach a whole bird.

Method :

1. Truss the whole bird, including the neck if you like, and place in a large pan. Pour over enough cold water to just cover the bird. Bring the water slowly to the boil over a medium heat.
2. Skim the surface of the bird with a slotted spoon, lower the heat and add sliced carrots, onions and a bouquet garnish. If you wish you could add some more varieties of herbs or maybe garlic and chillies. Poach, partially covered, for the calculated cooking time which is allowing 20 minutes per 450 grams.
3. When the bird gets tender, remove from the poaching liquid and drain as much liquid as possible over the pan. Remove the trussing string and cut the chicken into pieces. If you wish you could discard the poached liquid but I recommend to use the poaching liquid as a basic chicken stock or else you could reduce the heat and thicken the liquid to make a tasty chicken sauce.

The Basics Of Stainless Steel Cookware

Cooking is a major bit of everyone’s life. Despite whether you regard being inhabitant house cook or you are the one routinely sitting tight for the sustenance to be served, plainly, your kitchen must be outfitted with the most sensible kitchenware. Notwithstanding the likelihood that you are not the sort to love cooking that much, it can be impacted pleasurable and captivating in case you to have the right cooking thing in your kitchen. Wonderful among different ones open in the market is stainless steel cookware and it most likely got your thought at any rate once even. Regardless, what unequivocally impacts stainless cookware to make? Read reliably and find.

What are stainless steel cooking things?

Stainless steel isn’t plain steel joined with wonderful parts to have the capacity to spurn recolor. In a general sense, stainless steel is a mix of different metals, making it a compound. Its central metal fixings are iron, nickel and chromium, among other crucial metals. Stainless steel things, particularly cooking things, keep running with a cleaned finish in light of nickel and it is in like manner the metal in charge of its rust debilitating to heads quality. Dependably, the base of stainless steel cooking thing has copper and aluminum that licenses compelling warmth conduction.

What are the upsides of stainless steel cookware?

Stainless steel cookware isn’t criticized in light of nothing. It offers interminable, which are recorded underneath.

• It is inside and out unprecedented. Stainless steel is known to be difficult to the point that it can really continue going for quite a while, even quite a while other than. It doesn’t chip, rust and stain easily. It will take a really hard blow of a hard material to be engraved, so consistent wear and tear is something that it can without a considerable measure of an expand continue on. With everything thought of it as, is indestructible.
• It looks brilliant and acceptable. Stainless steel cookware has high rich quality. It will despite look like new out of the case new even after various states of utilization. It stays beautiful not because of it is high upkeep – its nickel content keeps it looking mind blowing.
• It ensures the sort of the sustenance. Not in any way like specific sorts of cookware, stainless steel ones are made in a way that none of the metal bits will leave a taste on the sustenance cooked in it. This is a brisk possible result of the non-stick covering that it keeps running with.
• It is everything seen as ensured to be used as a touch of cooking. Stainless steel cooking things are hard and non-porous, making it impenetrable to parts, scatter and breaks. There is likewise no requirement for you worry over metal hurting in light of the course that as appeared over, no metal will keep running with the sustenance.

How to clean stainless steel cookware?

Keeping up and cleaning stainless steel kitchen and cooking things is fundamental. Here are some critical ways to deal with oversee keep your stainless steel cookware doing what ought to be done state.

Removing stain from a stainless steel thing is fundamental. You can get a sensitive surface and touch it on olive oil. Rub the material in the recolored part and a short time span later rub it with another flawless surface.

In case there are spots on the stainless steel cookware, which may from time to time be accessible, essentially use vinegar to wipe it off.

Unprecedented rusting may in like way happen, however in such case, any basic family cleaning thing will offer help.

Never use steel downy in cleaning stainless steel cookware.

I suggest you to use following stainless steel cookware because it perform best now

Cuisinart 11-Piece Cookware Set