Cooking In General

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Made brownies...and they are actually very tasty. Used caramel-coated nuts instead of regular ones...oh the joy.

 

Thats a good idea. What kind of nuts did you use Uytuun?

 

Almond and hazelnut. What we call a brésilienne mix. Mmm..might actually make some more this weekend.

 

I made a delicious caramel sauce this weekend. It took me three tries. The first one was scorched, the second one was undercooked (because I didn't want to scorch it again) and was thin with clumps in it that actually tasted fairly good as candy. The third try I got it perfect and it is almost gone already.

I used this recipe.

 

BTA,
but in case that burns, you got real a pan'o'glue
Beware: Burning your skin with caramel is nasty! Back to reading ...

 

I figure i will add a couple of recipies to the mix.

Oven Barbeque Ribs.

4 lbs pork ribs
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon hickory smoke salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
2 cups of your favorite barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix together the sugar and spices to make the rub.

Apply rub to ribs on all sides.

Lay ribs on two layers of foil, shiny side out and
meaty side down.

Lay two layers of foil on top of ribs and roll and crimp edges tightly, edges facing up to seal.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 2-2 1/2 hours or until meat is starting to shrink away from the ends of the bone.

Remove from oven.

Heat broiler.

Cut ribs into serving sized portions of 2 or 3 ribs.

Arrange on broiler pan,bony side up.

Brush on sauce.

Broil for 1 or 2 minutes until sauce is cooked on and bubbly.

Turn ribs over.

Repeat on other side.


Also. Easy Peanut Butter Fudge.

3 Cups Sugar
1 Cup Evaporated Milk
1/2 stick butter(or Margerine)
1 cup Peanut Butter (or more to taste)

Place the sugar and Milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Boil the sugar mixture stirring constantly for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat Butter a large plate or plastic container and add the butter and peanut butter to the sugar mixture. Whip with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Pour into the buttered container or plate and refrigerate for 2 hours.

 

Here's a recipe that I learned from a fellow backpacker. It's oatmeal for breakfast.


Cream of Corn Oatmeal

Ingredients: I have some problem with the measurements, as we just cooked whatever we had during those times. So you might want to experiment or adjust as you see fit.

1 pack of Knorr Cream of Corn Soup (or you can substitute it with other brands or canned)
1 pack 250grms Whole Oats (if memory serves me right)

optional ingredients:
nuts (peanuts, cashew nuts, almonds, etc. basically, which ever suits your taste)
sugar (to suit your taste, although the nuts does add some sweetness)

Cooking Direction:

Cook Cream of Corn soup (follow the instructions on the label). Or just heat Cream of Corn Soup if it's canned. Add whole oats and boil until cooked. Take note of how much soup you have will determine if it's going to be a Cream of Corn Soup with oatmeal or Cream of Corn flavored oatmeal.

For the nuts, there are two ways of adding them.
First one is cook them, just add them when the oats are starting to get cooked. Basically, you get soft nuts, and you oatmeal will be sweetened by these nuts.

Second is to add them during serving. Raisins can also be used. Perhaps even some fruits.

Sugar, add them as you like them.

Serves: 4-5

Personally, I go for cooking the nuts. The flavors becomes part of the oats. So far, the people I served this recipe enjoyed it and where impressed with the idea. I'm also pondering on using cream of asparagus... although I haven't tried it yet.

Hope you enjoy it.

 

@ Dethwynd - I've actually never made ribs before but I've always wanted to because I think my family would really like them. The Peanut Butter fudge would be greatly appreciated by my sons so I will definately be making that.

@ Nior - I wonder if you could substite a can of cream corn (and some seasonings) for the Cream of Corn soup?

@ Blackthorne - Now that I've got the hang of the Caramel Sauce recipe I find that it is actually quite easy and very fast. I haven't tried any other caramel sauce recipes though. Do you have a good recipe I could try?

 

@dragonfly, I think you can use substitutes.

 

I made chocolate pudding pies today. Mom being close to death got me nostalgic.

 

@Kuemper, I hate it about your mom. Is the pie recipe hers? I'm not a very systematic cook, but one of my sisters is, and she treasuers the recipe box that belonged to my mother. It's a cheap plastic box stuffed with tattered 3x5 recipe cards.

Hang on to your mom's recipes. They will be wonderful to have in future years.

 

Mom's Pudding Pie:

1. Back 2 pie shells and let cool
2. Cook the pudding flavor of choice (mine's chocolate)
3. Pour pudding into pie shells and let cool
4. Listen to your kids whine because the pie has "that gross skin on it!"

I make it with instant pudding (just add milk) because I hate the skin cooked pudding gets.

Meanwhile...

I found a baby deep fat fryer! Fried onion rings and French fries!

 

Don't forget the donuts Kuemp. Actually Nakia's hushpuppies sounded kind of good too.

 

I had a St. Patrick's Day party at my house on the 17th. I made an attempt at a Beef & Guinness Stew. It went over pretty well. Here's the recipe I used:

3 lbs lean stew beef sliced into ½” pieces
4 strips of bacon
4 potatoes, pealed and chopped (I used Golden, but any kind will work)
4 carrots, pealed and chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 package sliced mushrooms (optional)
½ cup flour in plastic bag
2 cans Guinness (Draught or Stout)
1 ½ cup beef broth
TB red wine vinegar
Bouquet Garni (4” green part of a leek, 4” stalk of celery with leaves, tsp or sprig of parsley, tsp of thyme, tsp of rosemary) These are removed before serving!!
Salt
Pepper


Place stew beef in plastic bag of flour, shake until beef is coated. Cook bacon in large saucepan. Remove bacon and set on paper towel to drain. Leave bacon drippings in pan, and add floured beef. Cook until browned.

Chop bacon into bits and place in crockpot. Add beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and mushrooms to the Crockpot. Pour Guinness, red wine vinegar and beef broth into Crockpot, and place bouquet garni on the bottom of the Crockpot. Slow cook on “High” for 3 hours, add salt and pepper to taste, then set cooker to “Low” for at least 3 hours. You may need to add small amounts of flour to the stew to thicken the broth. Remove the bouquet garni before serving.

 

If I already posted this my apologies.

Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts

1 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
2/3 cup Italian salad dressing
1/3 cup soy sauce

Mix the Italian dressing and the soy sauce together. After washing and patting dry the chicken breasts put them in a zip top plastic bag and add the dressing/soy sauce mix. Close the bag, pressing out as much extra air as you can and making sure the seal is tight Put it in a bowl (in case it leaks) and refrigerate at least one hour, up to eight hours, turning occasionally so the marinade coats the pieces evenly.

Now you can cook the breasts on an outdoor grill or pan cook them on the stove top - the outdoor grilled breasts taste better, I think, but the stove top takes less time.

On the stove top, use a nonstick large frying pan or a regular finish large frying pan wiped with olive oil. Don't use a lot of oil; the marinade has some oil in it. Cook the breasts over medium to medium high heat, about 8-10 minutes on each side, depending on the size of the breasts. Cut a slit in one to test for doneness. No pink allowed, please!

On the outdoor grill, start the grill (charcoal or gas, whatever your grill uses) and wait for it to reach medium-high heat. Put the chicken breasts on the grill - you can paint on some of the marinade right after you do this but don't do it again, since once the meat starts cooking you risk contaminating it with the raw juices in the marinade. How long they take on the grill depends on the heat you've attained, but I'd check for doneness on one side starting at about 5 minutes. You'll need to turn them at least once; my sister, who developed this by adapting a printed recipe, turns them every minute or so to keep them from developing scorched spots.

These are great eaten immediately, hot, with side dishes like rice or mashed potatoes and asparagus (a family favorite), broccoli, etc. They are equally good refrigerated up to about three days then cut up and used to top a dinner salad - you can heat the cut pieces in the microwave for one to two minutes or you can just use them cold (but I think they're way better reheated).

Lately I've been making a batch of these a week on the stove top. They're easy, tasty, and quite healthy. Little of the marinade actually stays with the chicken so only minimal salt and fat is added. You just have to be careful not to scorch the marinated skins.

 

For breakfast, for two persons:

1 pound of mushrooms
some butter
3 eggs
salt, pepper

clean and chop mushrooms
fry them on medium heat under cover
add three eggs, with salt and pepper and fry until ready

 

Um, Ragusa, sounds good. Even I could do that. Except there's only one person and 3 eggs do not divide evenly - hmm.

 

OK, I have no idea if this is any good, but the idea is fun. Comes from Chef Walter at WVLT-TV in Knoxville, TN.


Leftover Easter Candy Cake

Ingredients Needed:
2 cups coarsely chopped leftover Easter candy (use what you like Such as: Chocolate eggs, marshmallow chicks, chocolate bunnies, candy eggs, jellies.)
2 3/4 cup sifted flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
Confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 deg. Butter a tube or bundt pan (10 to 12 cup capacity) and dust with flour. Tap out excess flour. Set pan aside. Stir together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. In large bowl, cream butter until soft, add vanilla, and sugar. Mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. On low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients with sour cream, scraping bowl as necessary. Place 1 1/2 cups mixture in prepared pan. Add candies to remaining batter, fold in gently. Pour this mixture into pan over plain batter. Bake 1 hour or until tests done. Cool 15 minutes. Cover pan with rack and invert. Remove pan. Let cake cool. Serve plain or with confectioners' sugar dusted on top.

NOTE: This is a great way to use up any holiday's leftover candy - Halloween treats, Christmas candy canes, Valentine sweets, etc.

My note: of course this assumes you actually HAVE leftover candy . . .