Just found this interesting sounding recipes on my hometown paper, by searching for "diced carrots." How cool is that? What are the odds... anyway, haz not tried it out yet but check it out.
http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3554&Itemid=148
(They B 2 funny with the "crust never sleeps" NY ref LOL).
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Cinnamon a well known health food
My college roommates and I were ahead of our times, as we ate cinnamon regularly in the early 1970's. Here is how we used it.
We mixed cinnamon with sugar in a bowl.
We toasted bread in the toaster.
We buttered each slice of bread and then sprinkled sugar/cinnamon mixture evenly over each slice. Thus we made our own "cinnamon toast."
We were also great rice pudding fans, each of us knew how to cook it from scratch ourselves, and we'd sprinkle cinnamon onto the top of each serving.
More recently I would keep the cinnamon shaker handy and add it to a number of foods. I like to sprinkle it on fish, especially where one might have used paprika alone.
I will also sometimes sprinkle it on omelets or scrambled eggs. If one has made an omelet with onions that have been cooked till they carmelize and then sprinkle cinnamon on the top of the completed omelet it is so savory that it is almost like a dessert, but without any sugar.
We mixed cinnamon with sugar in a bowl.
We toasted bread in the toaster.
We buttered each slice of bread and then sprinkled sugar/cinnamon mixture evenly over each slice. Thus we made our own "cinnamon toast."
We were also great rice pudding fans, each of us knew how to cook it from scratch ourselves, and we'd sprinkle cinnamon onto the top of each serving.
More recently I would keep the cinnamon shaker handy and add it to a number of foods. I like to sprinkle it on fish, especially where one might have used paprika alone.
I will also sometimes sprinkle it on omelets or scrambled eggs. If one has made an omelet with onions that have been cooked till they carmelize and then sprinkle cinnamon on the top of the completed omelet it is so savory that it is almost like a dessert, but without any sugar.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Food talk: Thanksgiving
I love to design menus, and also to read what other people are planning for their special meals, including the President, but I also like just seeing what people are buying in the stores, and thus I can surmise their menus. For example, being here in the south, I was delighted but not surprised to see one man buy his turkey along with a packet of dumplings. Even though I've had solo Thanksgiving dinners for many years now, I like to still put in an effort to make a unique but easy "dining experience." Here's what I had.
Night before: Pasta
Dice summer sausage or salami and lightly fry in saucepan. Add tomato sauce (this year I used World Classics Six Cheese flavor) and simmer while flavors blend.
Cook penne (Full Circle Penne Rigate) pasta in boiling water with dash of salt.
Prepare serving bowl by lining bottom with fresh miniature tomatoes.
Layer cooked penne over the tomatoes.
Layer grated Parmesan cheese over the penne.
Spoon the cooked sauce over the top. Serve.
(It was so good, if I say so myself, that I had two bowls and really overate!)
Thanksgiving day:
Bowl of fresh peeled and sliced pink grapefruit (wonderfully provided by Wal-Mart).
Slice of whole wheat bread with peanut butter.
Thick slice from a pre-cooked ham. Top with pineapple rings and heat.
Plain green beans.
Two choices of desert:
Pepperidge Farm Chocolate 3-layer cake topped with Reddiwip whipped cream.
Schlunder Festtagskuchen "Teatime Cake" with almonds and hazelnuts topped with Reddiwip.
Beverage:
Schwepp's Ginger Ale soda pop.
(Yes, I decided not to have turkey this year and resort to ham with pineapple, which is a traditional family holiday dish.)
Night before: Pasta
Dice summer sausage or salami and lightly fry in saucepan. Add tomato sauce (this year I used World Classics Six Cheese flavor) and simmer while flavors blend.
Cook penne (Full Circle Penne Rigate) pasta in boiling water with dash of salt.
Prepare serving bowl by lining bottom with fresh miniature tomatoes.
Layer cooked penne over the tomatoes.
Layer grated Parmesan cheese over the penne.
Spoon the cooked sauce over the top. Serve.
(It was so good, if I say so myself, that I had two bowls and really overate!)
Thanksgiving day:
Bowl of fresh peeled and sliced pink grapefruit (wonderfully provided by Wal-Mart).
Slice of whole wheat bread with peanut butter.
Thick slice from a pre-cooked ham. Top with pineapple rings and heat.
Plain green beans.
Two choices of desert:
Pepperidge Farm Chocolate 3-layer cake topped with Reddiwip whipped cream.
Schlunder Festtagskuchen "Teatime Cake" with almonds and hazelnuts topped with Reddiwip.
Beverage:
Schwepp's Ginger Ale soda pop.
(Yes, I decided not to have turkey this year and resort to ham with pineapple, which is a traditional family holiday dish.)
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Great recipe using leftovers
Here's what I made for dinner just now, and it tasted great!
Earlier this week I had made shrimp salad sandwiches, where I had mixed some mayonnaise with tiny shrimp drained from a 6 ounce can. It was not this brand, but here is a photo of what a can of tiny shrimp looks like. http://www.eastpointseafood.com/shrimp.html?gclid=CJG3086moJYCFQ0xawodm3917A I used half the shrimp/mayonnaise mixture and refrigerated the rest as leftovers.
Earlier this week I microwaved a Stouffer's package of six manicotti (that's the family size of this product line). http://www.stouffers.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=10861&ServingSizeId=0&ProductGroupId=0&SearchText=Easy%20express&ServingSize=&ProductGroup=&cP=1&isPOn=True The package contains a generous amount of flavorable Italian tomato sauce that has a garlicky flavor, so after I ate my portions of the manicotti using only a few spoons of the sauce, I saved the rest of the sauce in the refrigerator for use on leftovers.
Tonight I boiled a serving of Full Circle 100% Organic Penne Rigate pasta. I buy this brand because I really like a 100% organic pasta that is also 100% Italian durum wheat based. When the pasta was fully cooked (I like it softer, not al dente) I drained the water but left the pasta in the hot cooking pot on the stove, adding the leftover tomato sauce and the shrimp. I stirred while the sauce and shrimp heated to the same temperature as the cooked pasta. Right before turning off the heat I took one piece of mozzarella "string cheese" and dropped stringy pealed-off pieces of the cheese on top of the pasta mix so it would melt. Immediately take it from the heat and serve.
I must say the results were great and had such a good restaurant or authentic homemade taste, so I thought I'd share it. So when you have like I did a lot of Italian sauce left over from one convenience food, don't just toss it in the garbage or down the sink, but save it for use in a really good leftover combination.
Earlier this week I had made shrimp salad sandwiches, where I had mixed some mayonnaise with tiny shrimp drained from a 6 ounce can. It was not this brand, but here is a photo of what a can of tiny shrimp looks like. http://www.eastpointseafood.com/shrimp.html?gclid=CJG3086moJYCFQ0xawodm3917A I used half the shrimp/mayonnaise mixture and refrigerated the rest as leftovers.
Earlier this week I microwaved a Stouffer's package of six manicotti (that's the family size of this product line). http://www.stouffers.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=10861&ServingSizeId=0&ProductGroupId=0&SearchText=Easy%20express&ServingSize=&ProductGroup=&cP=1&isPOn=True The package contains a generous amount of flavorable Italian tomato sauce that has a garlicky flavor, so after I ate my portions of the manicotti using only a few spoons of the sauce, I saved the rest of the sauce in the refrigerator for use on leftovers.
Tonight I boiled a serving of Full Circle 100% Organic Penne Rigate pasta. I buy this brand because I really like a 100% organic pasta that is also 100% Italian durum wheat based. When the pasta was fully cooked (I like it softer, not al dente) I drained the water but left the pasta in the hot cooking pot on the stove, adding the leftover tomato sauce and the shrimp. I stirred while the sauce and shrimp heated to the same temperature as the cooked pasta. Right before turning off the heat I took one piece of mozzarella "string cheese" and dropped stringy pealed-off pieces of the cheese on top of the pasta mix so it would melt. Immediately take it from the heat and serve.
I must say the results were great and had such a good restaurant or authentic homemade taste, so I thought I'd share it. So when you have like I did a lot of Italian sauce left over from one convenience food, don't just toss it in the garbage or down the sink, but save it for use in a really good leftover combination.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Guilt free popcorn recipe
Warning: Experienced and careful adult cooks only please! This involves working with hot oil.
I don't like fake butter and I've read the same as all of you about the dangers of the ingredients that go into the yellow goop that bagged microwaveable popcorn contains. So here is how I make my popcorn.
I use a large frying pan with a transparent lid top. I use Emeril cookware and love it. Use popcorn that you buy in a jar or a sack that is not packaged for microwave, such as what I am using, "Orville Redenbacher's Original" that comes in a 30 oz plastic jar.
Pour olive oil into the cold frying pan to a depth that is more than coating the bottom. A good gauge is to put one kernel of popcorn in the center of the pan, the oil should come up about half way up the kernel in depth. Leaving the one kernel in the pan, cover and bring it to high heat (on my range I heat to 7 out of 10). Stand by and wait for the test kernel to pop. When it does, pour the remaining popcorn in quickly, which you have pre-measured (I find about 7-8 spoonfuls work in the large pan). Immediately cover. You don't have to shake the pan continually, but I tend to tip it from side to side so the oil moves a bit until the corn all starts to pop. It will pop quickly, and when the sound of popping stops take it off the heat right away. With a transparent lid you can also see how the popping is going, and that's always fun. Kids can peak but shoo them away before you remove the lid, for reasons I explain below. Also be sure the lid fits well and that you did not use too much popcorn. If the lid is not the right size for the pan it is very dangerous because hot oil will spatter through the crack. Likewise if you use too much popcorn it will force the lid upward as it expands, pushing it out of position and also creating a hot oil spatter hazard. Experiment with small amounts of popcorn first to see what amount fits your pan's capacity.
The pan will be enormously hot so be careful. When you remove the lid, tilt it slightly holding it over the popcorn still in the pan. Some hot oil will have collected on the lid and what you want is to tilt it so it runs back onto the popcorn. It will hiss and be very hot so be careful. When you've done that dump the popcorn from the pan into your serving bowl, and a glass one works great. Season the popcorn with salt (I like using coarse sea salt from a grinder). Serve.
See, you are not using butter or margarine (or fake goop) at all for the flavoring; it all comes from the olive oil, which is 100 percent healthy and safe. It's more subtle than butter but it is delicious. I'm eating some now in fact as I type this. If you just use olive oil instead of butter even half the times you have popcorn, it's a great improvement, since olive oil is one of those heart and other bodily organ healthy "miracle foods."
I re-emphasize only adult cooks experienced with cooking in grease or oil should do this. Remember that the pan will be very hot when you are done and will make a steam explosion if you put it into any water, so let it cool off first on one of the back burners of your stove. When you do start to cool it with water, use professional cook safety instructions which is to start with just a few drops of water to trigger the steam, very very VERY gradually dripping a few drops of water over the surface. One of the basics you learn in cooking is that a pan that has been heated with grease or oil becomes very hot and the remaining oil can create explosive and damaging steam if doused with water before it has completely cooled.
Enjoy! And please do this safely!!!
I don't like fake butter and I've read the same as all of you about the dangers of the ingredients that go into the yellow goop that bagged microwaveable popcorn contains. So here is how I make my popcorn.
I use a large frying pan with a transparent lid top. I use Emeril cookware and love it. Use popcorn that you buy in a jar or a sack that is not packaged for microwave, such as what I am using, "Orville Redenbacher's Original" that comes in a 30 oz plastic jar.
Pour olive oil into the cold frying pan to a depth that is more than coating the bottom. A good gauge is to put one kernel of popcorn in the center of the pan, the oil should come up about half way up the kernel in depth. Leaving the one kernel in the pan, cover and bring it to high heat (on my range I heat to 7 out of 10). Stand by and wait for the test kernel to pop. When it does, pour the remaining popcorn in quickly, which you have pre-measured (I find about 7-8 spoonfuls work in the large pan). Immediately cover. You don't have to shake the pan continually, but I tend to tip it from side to side so the oil moves a bit until the corn all starts to pop. It will pop quickly, and when the sound of popping stops take it off the heat right away. With a transparent lid you can also see how the popping is going, and that's always fun. Kids can peak but shoo them away before you remove the lid, for reasons I explain below. Also be sure the lid fits well and that you did not use too much popcorn. If the lid is not the right size for the pan it is very dangerous because hot oil will spatter through the crack. Likewise if you use too much popcorn it will force the lid upward as it expands, pushing it out of position and also creating a hot oil spatter hazard. Experiment with small amounts of popcorn first to see what amount fits your pan's capacity.
The pan will be enormously hot so be careful. When you remove the lid, tilt it slightly holding it over the popcorn still in the pan. Some hot oil will have collected on the lid and what you want is to tilt it so it runs back onto the popcorn. It will hiss and be very hot so be careful. When you've done that dump the popcorn from the pan into your serving bowl, and a glass one works great. Season the popcorn with salt (I like using coarse sea salt from a grinder). Serve.
See, you are not using butter or margarine (or fake goop) at all for the flavoring; it all comes from the olive oil, which is 100 percent healthy and safe. It's more subtle than butter but it is delicious. I'm eating some now in fact as I type this. If you just use olive oil instead of butter even half the times you have popcorn, it's a great improvement, since olive oil is one of those heart and other bodily organ healthy "miracle foods."
I re-emphasize only adult cooks experienced with cooking in grease or oil should do this. Remember that the pan will be very hot when you are done and will make a steam explosion if you put it into any water, so let it cool off first on one of the back burners of your stove. When you do start to cool it with water, use professional cook safety instructions which is to start with just a few drops of water to trigger the steam, very very VERY gradually dripping a few drops of water over the surface. One of the basics you learn in cooking is that a pan that has been heated with grease or oil becomes very hot and the remaining oil can create explosive and damaging steam if doused with water before it has completely cooled.
Enjoy! And please do this safely!!!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Food Talk: Homemade fish sandwich recipe
Here's what I'm having tonight and it's a fun and healthy food for individuals or families.
Select sandwich size fish fillets. Defrost if frozen by running under warm water a few minutes.
(I used 1 small cod fillet from the bag of frozen fillets I bought at Walmart).
Place the fillet in a microwavable glass pan. Include enough fluid (water, milk or fish fluid) to have the bottom of the glass pan coated. Sprinkle on the top of the fish either paprika (for the taste) or cinnamon (for the taste and its a traditional health wise spice). Microwave for about a minute and a half until it's cooked through (flakes with fork).
(I used the fluid from the inside of the cod fillet's plastic bag and I used cinnamon).
Toast two regular slices of bread. Put on them a spread of your choice, such as butter, mayonaise, or mustard. Steer away from cocktail or tartar sauce because they overpower the taste of the fish and thus it's not very zen, since you're only tasting the very strong tangy sauce and not the individuality of the fish. Also it's a way to avoid yet another processed food additive.
(I used butter because I love the taste of cod and wanted subtle. Otherwise I would have used the wonderful Zatarain's Creole Mustard).
Place the filet on one toast and salt and pepper to taste. Put the other slice of toast on top and cut the completed sandwich in half. Serve.
(Here's a tip if your fish is very flaky. Cut the toast into halves before you put the fish on it. That's what I do so I don't mash the whole sandwich when cutting it into halves. I cut the toast into the sizes I want to serve, halves for example, apply the spread, then cut the fish in the pan and put matching sized pieces on each part of toast).
Additional suggestion: If you really like the taste of the fish itself, halve the use of bread by making open faced sandwiches. So you serve the fish on the bottom slice of bread and don't use a topper slice of bread. This allows you to taste the fish itself more. But if you are cooking for your kids I'd give them a good size of fish and both slices of bread per sandwich.
If you are trying to get your kids to sit down at table with you here's a suggestion. Bring the toast and the pan of cooked fish fillets to the table and let them choose from among a variety of spreads that you have collected. If you have interesting variety of mustards, barbecue sauces, and spreads often kids will enjoy even "healthy" fish sandwiches when they customize them to their own taste, and it's something to talk about during dinner. Even if you have to resort to a cheese sauce option for the really fast food and picky eater, that's fine because the sauce can be a little fattening in the service of getting them to eat the healthy fish and good nutrition bread! Just think how great it could be if you get your kids to eat one fish sandwich a week and they enjoy it with their own spread.
Remember, by microwaving fish cooks up VERY fast (even a thick fish takes only about 3-4 minutes) and you are not frying! You are avoiding all that grease and fat. Instead of "breaded" fillets with fat, grease, food additives and un-nutritious bread crumbs you are cooking the fish with no fat or additives and then putting it on clean and wholesome slices of bread of your choice.
Select sandwich size fish fillets. Defrost if frozen by running under warm water a few minutes.
(I used 1 small cod fillet from the bag of frozen fillets I bought at Walmart).
Place the fillet in a microwavable glass pan. Include enough fluid (water, milk or fish fluid) to have the bottom of the glass pan coated. Sprinkle on the top of the fish either paprika (for the taste) or cinnamon (for the taste and its a traditional health wise spice). Microwave for about a minute and a half until it's cooked through (flakes with fork).
(I used the fluid from the inside of the cod fillet's plastic bag and I used cinnamon).
Toast two regular slices of bread. Put on them a spread of your choice, such as butter, mayonaise, or mustard. Steer away from cocktail or tartar sauce because they overpower the taste of the fish and thus it's not very zen, since you're only tasting the very strong tangy sauce and not the individuality of the fish. Also it's a way to avoid yet another processed food additive.
(I used butter because I love the taste of cod and wanted subtle. Otherwise I would have used the wonderful Zatarain's Creole Mustard).
Place the filet on one toast and salt and pepper to taste. Put the other slice of toast on top and cut the completed sandwich in half. Serve.
(Here's a tip if your fish is very flaky. Cut the toast into halves before you put the fish on it. That's what I do so I don't mash the whole sandwich when cutting it into halves. I cut the toast into the sizes I want to serve, halves for example, apply the spread, then cut the fish in the pan and put matching sized pieces on each part of toast).
Additional suggestion: If you really like the taste of the fish itself, halve the use of bread by making open faced sandwiches. So you serve the fish on the bottom slice of bread and don't use a topper slice of bread. This allows you to taste the fish itself more. But if you are cooking for your kids I'd give them a good size of fish and both slices of bread per sandwich.
If you are trying to get your kids to sit down at table with you here's a suggestion. Bring the toast and the pan of cooked fish fillets to the table and let them choose from among a variety of spreads that you have collected. If you have interesting variety of mustards, barbecue sauces, and spreads often kids will enjoy even "healthy" fish sandwiches when they customize them to their own taste, and it's something to talk about during dinner. Even if you have to resort to a cheese sauce option for the really fast food and picky eater, that's fine because the sauce can be a little fattening in the service of getting them to eat the healthy fish and good nutrition bread! Just think how great it could be if you get your kids to eat one fish sandwich a week and they enjoy it with their own spread.
Remember, by microwaving fish cooks up VERY fast (even a thick fish takes only about 3-4 minutes) and you are not frying! You are avoiding all that grease and fat. Instead of "breaded" fillets with fat, grease, food additives and un-nutritious bread crumbs you are cooking the fish with no fat or additives and then putting it on clean and wholesome slices of bread of your choice.
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