Tuesday, September 14, 2010

No Sugar Banana Muffins

I made these for Janie and she loved them!

http://hubpages.com/hub/No-Sugar-Added-Banana-Muffins-Recipe

Ingredients:

3 lg. bananas
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/3 c. melted butter

Preparation:

Mash bananas.
Add cinnamon and slightly beaten egg.
Add melted butter.
Sift dry ingredients together and add to above mixture.
Mix until moistened.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

This makes one dozen muffins.

Note: I have made these with 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and 1/3 cup chocolate chips added.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Berry Tart

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/berry_tart/

I used all strawberries in this, and no liqueur. Instead of liqueur, I added 1 tsp sugar and 1 tbsp water to the marmalade and heated them in a pot so the sugar dissolved.

The crust is a pain and a lot of work, but it gets rave reviews. I served this to a couple of DH's economics department friends that we had over for dinner, and one asked for the recipe. It would be SO much easier if I had a food processor. But I used a pastry cutter and did it by hand. Which took forever.

My 9 inch tart pan was a bit small for all the cream filling. The strawberries were piled pretty high. Next time I make this, I think I will use half as much mascarpone/cream/sugar. Not sure if the cream is necessary, but it definitely tasted great.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Spinach and Ham Quiche

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Light-and-Fluffy-Spinach-Quiche/Detail.aspx

Alterations:
5 eggs
instead of 8 oz cheddar, used half cheddar half feta.
used plain yogurt instead of mayo.

Next time only do 1/4th feta. Too much salt.

This was good. I added 3-4 oz chopped ham and used a bunch of fresh spinach that I sauteed with onions until they were dry enough.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Orange-Chicken-Stir-Fry-353398

This title is a misnomer because there is zero spice in this chicken. I added some garlic and chopped ginger to this dish. I don't think I have ever cooked something where DH liked it so much and I hated it so much. It was perfectly edible, I just didn't like the flavor.

Stir-Fried Egg and Tomato

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stir-Fried-Egg-and-Tomato-352835

This was good. It would be better with garden fresh sweet tomatoes.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup lowfat plain yogurt
1 cup plain milk kefir (or just use more yogurt)
1 cup lowfat 1% milk
1/3 cup agave nectar

I am experimenting with sweeteners.

This turned out pretty well. It was very tart (due to the kefir). It would have been great with swirls of chocolate sauce, or with choc chips or something.

Stir-Fried Beef, Broccoli, and Yams

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stir-Fried-Beef-Broccoli-and-Yams-352549

This was good. I only used 1/2 tsp brown sugar and swapped oyster sauce for fish sauce. DH liked it a lot. But he'll give high ratings to anything with beef in it, I swear.

Vanilla Soymilk Ice Cream

2 cups soymilk (unsweetened whole fat)
1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup brown sugar (not packed)
2 tsp vanilla

Mix and put in ice cream maker.

---

I got an ice cream maker for my birthday. I wanted to make ice cream soon afterward but had run out of milk and white sugar. Hence was born the above creation. It turned out pretty well, considering. The texture after being frozen was not very creamy. It upset my stomach too (but most ice cream does). I am going to experiment with using different sweetners.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Chicken Curry

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Kai-Kang-Dang-Chicken-Curry-with-Coconut-Milk/Detail.aspx

This was really good. Of course, it is fattening so it had better be. I made some brown basmati rice to go with it.

I used one can coconut milk in this recipe. I don't think it was 2.5 cups (maybe 14 or 15 oz though), but it was plenty. The bamboo shoots added a nice crunch. I found a can of them at the store but could not find Thai basil. I used regular basil instead and it tasted great. I left out the sugar since DH doesn't like sugar in his food. Instead of frozen veges, I used a head of broccoli. I thinly sliced the broccoli stem and added it to the sauté pan a few minutes after the broccoli florets so that the stem pieces would be a touch crunchy.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Irish Soda Bread

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/irish_soda_bread/

I've made this at least 3 times and it is fantastic. It makes a lot of bread though, so unless you have a large family then halve the recipe.

Cranberry Scones

http://www.gelskitchen.com/blog/recipe-archive/breakfast-cranberry-scones/

These were not as good as I'd hoped, but still ok. Definitely serve with jam to add sweetness. The dough was difficult to work with and I wasn't able to separate the wedges easily so the edges baked together. I much prefer Irish Soda bread.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Red Bean Chili

http://lululuathome.com/2010/06/red-bean-chili.html

This chili was good. It had a lot of flavor, but I think there is still room for improvement. Serving it with the red onion garnish was a good idea. It added some nice crunch. I didn't let is simmer for 2 hours (was like 1.25 hrs) and I didn't have carrots or corn, so I left those out. You could probably sub beef broth for the beer if you prefer. I've kept a bottle of dark lager beer in the cupboard for a while since I see it every now and then in recipes. Like this one.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tarragon Egg Salad

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tarragon_egg_salad/

This recipe turned out great! I love tarragon. So should you.

DH ate it on toast and I ate it on salad. No dressing necessary! It was a great combination.

Note: The leftovers are not that great. This recipe serves like 6 people, so adjust accordingly so it all gets eaten up right away.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Mexican Quesadillas

I did not make this recipe, but rather watched a friend from Mexico make it last night.

3 lb masa dough (lime treated corn meal mixed with water)
1 cup white flour
water

Knead ingredients together until you get a soft pliable dough.

Use a cast iron tortilla press (which is lined with plastic from a cut apart zip lock bag) to press dough into rounds. Then put a small amount of filling into the center of the pressed dough (but to the side of the place where you will fold) and fold the dough over (which is still sticking to the zip lock bag). Through the plastic, seal the edges of the dough together. Then peel off the plastic and drop quesadilla into boiling hot oil. Deep fry until medium brown and crispy on both sides.

"Picadillo" Filling:
ground beef
chopped carrot
peas
white onion, chopped,
tomatoes, chopped

She sauteed the vegetables with raw ground beef for at least 30 minutes until everything was cooked.

Chicken Filling:
Shred the chicken from four chicken breasts. She boiled the chicken breasts (still on the bone) in water that was salted and had a large clove of garlic in the water as well as half an onion. After it is cooked, remove from water and let cool enough to touch. Shred the chicken. Mix chicken with chopped white onion and chopped tomato. Sauté mixture until onions are cooked.

While putting filling in the quesadillas, she would use either filling. Sometimes when she used the chicken filling she would also add some mozzarella cheese.

The amount of dough made about 16 quesadillas. (They looked like empanadas.)

To eat, cut open the quesadillas and put sour cream, grated fresh cheese (queso fresco), avocado, and salsa.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Chicken Marsala

https://web.archive.org/web/20140110054056/http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicken-marsala-recipe/index.html
This was really good with a touch of sweetness to it. I attempted to double the recipe (for leftovers) but the sauce didn't thicken very well. This might have also been because I used almond meal instead of regular flour to "dredge" the chicken in. I don't think the almond meal works nearly as well as a thickening agent as flour. Next time I make this I will just make one recipe and actually follow the directions this time. Instead of making the "essence" I just put a few pinches of spices into the flour mixture.
10/26/2010 update:
I made this again tonight and followed the recipe. It turned out really delicious. I had some flour left over after "dredging" and put some of it in the liquid to help thicken, but it probably wasn't necessary. Marsala has a really unique flavor. David and I both really like it. We ate it over brown rice with asparagus.