| Recipes and Cooking Links! |
| Submit your favorite recipe or cooking tips each month to be featured on this page! Be sure to include a list of all measured ingredients, clear perparation instructions, number of servings, and nutritional information (if available) Rate your recipe's prep as "Beginner," "Intermediate," or "Chef!" |
| FEATURED RECIPES |
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| Almond Cream Puffs |
| SERVINGS: 12 RATED: Intermediate OVEN: 375 degrees F INGREDIENTS/DIRECTIONS: Cream Puff Dough: |
| 1 C water 1 stick margarine/butter 1 C flour 4 large eggs In 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring water and margarine to a boil. Remove from heat, add flour all at once; with wooden spoon, vigorously stir until mixture leaves side of pan and forms a ball. Add 1 egg at a time, mixing well with wooden spoon afer each egg, until batter is smooth and satiny. Spoon batter in large heaping spoonful onto greased cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. With moistened finger, gently smooth each drop into a round shape. Bake 55-60 minutes. Remove puffs to cooling rack. Prepare filling. |
| Filling: |
| 1 C Heavy whipping cream 1 package vanilla instant pudding (4 servings) 1 1/4 C Milk 1/2 t almond extract In samll bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form: set aside. In large bowl, with wire whisk, prepare instant pudding as label directs, but use only 1 1/4 C milk. With rubber spatula or wire whisk, gently fold whipped cream and almond extract into prepared pudding. Using a pastry bag, push tip of bag into side of puff. squeeze filling into puff until full. Refrigerate if not serving right away. |
| * Plan the Perfect Party |
| * Adult Humor |
| * A Night on the Town |
| * Hurray for Hollywood |
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| Kitchen Tips |
| - Cake Grease for Baking: Don't waste your time greasing and flouring baking pans. Make it easy and mess free every time! Here's all you need: 1 1/4 C vegetable shortening, 1/4 C flour, 1/4 C vegetable oil. Mix all three ingredients well and store in an airtight container. A recycled margarine container with lid works great. To use, just brush a thin layer around pan with a pastry brush. No mess, and gauranteed NO STICK! Store it away with your baking tools for convenient use anytime! |
| - Wipe those tears away! Cutting onions is a sure way to get the tears flowing! This tearful reaction is caused by sulfuric compounds and enzymes in the onion, called Sulfoxide Lyase. There are many suggested remedies for curing this reaction, however, most are useless wive's tales. Two have proven quite effective. The first, wearing goggles while cutting the onions, however, is not necessarily an appealing solution! The second is solution seems to work quite well - keep a candle burning on the counter where you will be cutting the onions. A gas burner can also be used. The flame changes the activity of the thiopropanal sulfoxide by completing its oxidation. This is a sure way to make cooking with onions a tasteful, not tearful experience! |
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| SERVES 1 RATED: Beginner Prepare the filling (recipe follows) and then begin making the omelet. The filling recipe makes enough for two omelets and can be doubled. You can make one omelet after another in the same pan, although you may need to reduce the heat. For the best results, serve all omelets, including this one, on warmed plates. 3 large eggs 1 tablespoon cream or milk Salt and ground black pepper ½ tablespoon unsalted butter 2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (about ½ cup) 1. Beat the eggs, cream or milk, and salt and pepper to taste with a fork in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. 2. Heat the butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the foaming subsides and the butter just begins to turn color, pour in the eggs. Cook until the edges begin to set, about 2 to 3 seconds, then, with rubber spatula, stir in a circular motion until slightly thickened, about 10 seconds. Use the spatula to pull the cooked edges in to the center, then tilt the pan to one side so that the uncooked egg runs to the edge of the pan. Repeat until the omelet is just set but still moist on the surface, 1 to 2 minutes. 3. Sprinkle the cheese evenly across the surface of the omelet and allow to partially melt, 15 to 20 seconds. With the handle of the pan facing you, spoon the filling over the left side of the omelet. Slide the omelet onto a warmed plate, filled-side first, and, with a slight twist of the wrist, invert the pan so that the other side of the omelet folds over the filling. Serve immediately. |
| Denver Omelet |
| BACK TO... |
| SERVES: 4 to 6 as main course, 6 to 8 as side dish To streamline the process, prepare the bread-crumb topping and shred, crumble, and grate the cheeses while you wait for the pasta water to come to a boil. This dish can be on the table in about half an hour. Topping 3 to 4 slices white sandwich bread with crusts, torn into quarters ¼ cup (½ ounce) grated Parmesan cheese ¼ teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper Pasta and cheese 4 ounces Italian Fontina cheese, shredded (about 1 cup) 3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (about ¾ cup) ½ cup (1 ounce) grated Pecorino Romano cheese ¼ cup (½ ounce) grated Parmesan cheese 1 pound penne 4 ounces chopped prosciutto 2 teaspoons unsalted butter 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour 1 ½ cups heavy cream ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 1 C frozen peas 1. For the topping: Pulse the bread in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about ten 1-second pulses (you should have about 1 ½ cups). Transfer to a small bowl; stir in the Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Set the mixture aside. 2. For the pasta: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 500 degrees. 3. Bring 4 quarts water to a rolling boil in a stockpot. Combine the cheeses in a large bowl; set aside. Add the pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to the boiling water; stir to separate the pasta. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk the flour into the butter until no lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Gradually whisk in the cream, increase the heat to medium, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally; reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer 1 minute to ensure that the flour cooks. Stir in ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper; cover the cream mixture to keep hot and set aside. 4. When the pasta is almost al dente (when bitten into, the pasta should be opaque and slightly underdone at the very center), drain about 5 seconds, leaving the pasta slightly wet. Add the pasta to the bowl with the cheeses; immediately pour the cream mixture over, then cover the bowl with foil or a large plate and let stand 3 minutes. Uncover the bowl and stir with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom of the bowl, until the cheeses are melted and the mixture is thoroughly combined. 5. Transfer the pasta to 13 by 9-inch baking dish, then sprinkle evenly with the reserved bread crumbs, pressing down lightly. Bake until the topping is golden brown, about 7 minutes. Serve immediately. |
| Baked Four-Cheese Pasta with Prosciutto and Peas |
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| - No More Sticky Pasta Dissolved starches in a crowded pot are a recipe for a pasta clump. You must cook pasta in abundant water (4 quarts for 1 pound of pasta) to keep it from sticking. When cooked in less water, the strands of pasta will stick together, but why? As the pasta cooks, various starches dissolve in the water. If there's plenty of water in the pot, the starches don't cause a problem. However, if there's not much water in the pot, the starches find each other—and the pasta—and form a sticky, starchy tangle. Keeping the water at a strong boil—such that the bubbles in the water move the pasta around—will also help keep the dissolved starches and pasta from sticking. |
| When a recipe calls for egg whites to be whipped, separate the eggs at least 1 to 1 1/2 hours ahead of time. Eggs separate easiest when they are cold, but they whip up lighter, and to a greater volume when at room temperature. Always store the yokes covered, in the refrigerator until using, as they have a tendency to dry out. If the recipe doesn't call for the yokes, don't throw them out. Unbroken yokes may be placed in a wire strainer, (not one of the new plastic ones) and simmered in enough water to cover until hard cooked; use them in salads, sandwiches, etc... For breakfast, scramble the yokes with a little milk, cheese and bacon bits for a tasty meal. When using egg white meringue, always make sure that you spread it to the edges, this helps keep it from shrinking and pulling away. To "Fold" egg whites into a mixture such as cake batter, heap them on top first. Then pass the spoon or spatula down through the center and across the bottom og the bowl; then bring up some of the mixture and place on top of the whites. Give the bowl a 1/2 turn and repeat until the whites are evenly combined. |
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| - Egg Tips |