Roasted peanuts

My husband came home with a bag of fresh peanuts today . I dry roasted them in a heavy skillet over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes while turning them constantly , sprinkled salt and a touch of chili pepper and YUMMY !!

Cooking With Cheese 101

Tips for Cooking with cheese

Before cooking with cheese, it's helpful to know which cheeses are best suited to high and low temperatures as well as mechanical manipulation, such as shredding and grating. Following these guidelines will help you cook old recipe favorites as well as concoct new creations using Cheese.


High heat is the enemy of cheese. Hard cheeses tolerate high temperatures better than the  soft cheeses. However, exposing any cheese to high heat for too long can cause it to curdle toughen and separate. Keep cheese warm over low or indirect heat.


When cubing, shredding or grating, remember cheese is best handled cold (Place in the freezer for 30 minutes before cutting /shreading ). Semi-soft and hard cheeses are best for these methods, while soft cheeses should be used for spooning or spreading.


When broiling foods with cheese toppings, place the pan so the food is about 4 to 6 inches from the heat and broil until the cheese is just melted.

``Bananas Hawaiin``

My Old time favorite dessert  !  rich and delicious !

2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 firm bananas sliced (nice and thick not paper thin )
8 tablespoons dark rum
8 scoops vanilla ice cream ( 1 scoop per portion )

Brown coconut in the oven or in a skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from pan; cool and set aside.

Combine the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a skillet. cook over low heat stirring until the sugar dissolves.
 place the bananas in the pan. When the bananas heat through ( 1 minute ) and begin to brown, carefully add the rum. Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum( be very careful and keep face away as you light the rum and hold it away from you .. flames can get high )
When the flames subside,  scoop the bananas  over the ice cream in individual servings . Generously spoon warm sauce over the top of the ice cream, sprinkle with the toasted coconut and serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings.

 Tip: Scoop the balls of ice cream ahead of time and freeze until  your ready to use.

Chicken Curry Salad

1 Whole chicken ( boil and clean meat off the bones .... cut up in cubes ) 
 juice from 1/2 a lemon
3 cups green and red  grapes ( cut in half if grapes are huge )
1 cup shelled walnuts ( leave in bite size pieces ) 
1 cup mayonaise
1/4 tsp mustard
1/4 cup chopped cellery
1/4 cup chopped onion
3 tsp curry spice
salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and chill for at least 1 hour before serving .  Best served in a toasted  pita pocket

Breaded Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus
a dish with 1 cup flour
a dish w/1 egg and a/splash of milk ( whip with a fork )
a dish w/3 cups seasoned bread crumbs plus 1/4 cup grated cheese (mix together)
cooking spray



Preheat oven to 400
wash and cut ends of asparagus  ( peel stems if they are to tough )
dip asparagus  first in flour...then in the egg and then coat with the bread crumb ...place in a shallow baking pan sprayed with Pam (I use the olive oil Pam ...you can also just grease the pan with regular oil if you don`t have pam in the house .) in a single layer  ...spray more pam over the top and place in the oven on the top rack ..bake 10 minutes turn and bake another 10 minutes or till they get nice and golden  in color.

quick sauce = quick meal ! :)

There is nothing better than when your garden starts to produce vegetables ... I love the taste of a fresh tomatoe & the smell of freshly picked basile....

Today I picked a handful of fresh basile from my garden , 2 tomatoes , 1 scallion , 1 fresh garlic  and 2 peppers and made a quick sauce.... chop everything and start with a good extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom of a heavy fry pan add in the scallion till it starts to brown then add the pepper , and the rest of ingredients except for the tomatoes . cook & stir over medium heat a few minutes and add in the tomatoes when the liquid is evaporated add in 1/4 of a boulion and let it stick to the pan but not burnt ... add in 1/4 cup water and cook a few minutes longer .... mix your favorite pasta and toss till well coated and serve with your favorited grated cheese ... My favorite is reggiano, parmigiano.

easy egg rolls my way

When my kids were smaller they didn`t eat many vegetables so to fool them into eating them I gave it to them in an egg roll .


I used the store bought egg roll pasta shells that they sell @any supermarket .    


for the filling , I stir fried( use very little oil ) very thinly sliced cabbage, onion , carrots , cellery , peppers and some peas,   add salt & black pepper and a little soy sauce to taste
( You can use any vegetables you like , even bean sprouts ! )

 then just fill them roll them and fry to a golden brown.  serve w/ duck sauce 

Eggs

The incredible edible egg or not so edible LOL

When my motherboiled her eggs back in the days she would boil them for about 30 minutes and when we ate them we always felt like we would choke on the yoke ... now I know better and boiled eggs are not so bad and never do I feel like I am choking when I eat the yoke . The key is to place your eggs in water and bring them to a boil ... BOIL JUST FOR 1 MINUTE , take it off the heat and put a lid on the pan ... wait 10 minutes and peel your eggs ... they will cook perfect all the time . No more choky egg yokes .

A tip for Fried eggs...... If you fry your eggs on high heat the eggwhite will get hard and cutting them with a fork becomes imposible at times ..... try frying on medium heat and your eggs will be perfect every time . they practically melt in your mouth . I guarantee your kids will like them better that way to.

canolie filled cake w/ coffee cream icing

This recipe is for Christina :)


I take short cuts so I use store bought cake mixes to save time in the kitchen .


to make a 9 inch round cake
 
1 cake mix... I try to use one with a pudding in the mix or extra moist but any one will work great. ... follow the box for directions ... you can bake your cake days in advance and wrap it in plastic and keep in the fridge . depending on how many layers you want ... you can divide the batter and  bake them in separate pans so you don`t have to try to slice an even layer .


For the filling... ( enough to make 2 layers )

2 lbs riccotta cheese
1 cup confectionary sugar ( I don`t like mine to sweet ... add another 1/4 cup sugar if you like it sweet)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

.... in your mixer add riccotta cheese , sugar, vanilla ...mix well  turn off the mixer and add the chocolate chips and stir in with a rubber  spatula .  ... spread onto your layers of cake . 


for the topping....

1 sm container heavy whipping cream 
an equal amount of milk
4 tsp instant pudding mix(chocolate)
3 tsp of instant expresso coffee

whip everything together till you can stand a spoon upright without it tipping over ... don`t over whip or you will have butter .

spread over the top and sides of cake and decorate any way you like

chicken fajitas

Today I was running around all morning with my son Johnny, taking him to his Gastro specialist and pharmacy , to the bank ....that when we finally got home it was already after 1:00 ...My younger son`s Joseph & Adam ask ..... What are we eating for lunch Ma ????? we didn`t even get in past the doorway yet ! LOL

A quick look in my fridge I grabbed the grilled Chicken left from last nights dinner , cheese out of my freezer , can of beans and some salsa which I already had in the fridge and My sister N law was nice enough to give me some tortillas a few days ago and I put together lunch in less than 10 minutes flat !

You just gotta love these quick meals . :)