Dishes to post soon

I have about 3 new recipes/dishes to post but I have been uninspired or just plain lazy to get to it already. I will do it soon though. Give me a bit of time.

Pork stuffed with Bulgar

I made this dish when a friend came to visit my new home. She loves meat more than starches and one of her fav's is pork. I decided to spend the money and get the thick cuts of pork behind the butcher counter instead of the pre-packaged flatter stuff for her special visit. I think when entertaining, it is important to serve the best ingredients you can.

I first seasoned the chops lightly with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. After they were nicely coated, I placed them in the fridge and got on to other things.

When my friend was close to arriving, I started in on the stuffing. Now, I have never used or even tasted bulgar wheat before so this was sort of an experiement to use in this dish. Bulgar is really easy to handle, use and cheap! I chopped up the seasoning, apricots and set them aside. I soaked the apricots and bulgar in a hot water bath for 5 minutes, as per instructions, and then pressed and strained accordingly. At this point, my friend had arrived and we got to talking and exploring.

About 20 minutes before dinner was to be served, I started in on the other ingredients to complete this easy dish. I tossed the stuffing together disregarding the ginger as, 1) I didn't have any, and 2) I didn't think the flavor combination would work. In retrospect, I wish I used it.
I mixed this stuffing with the bulgar/apricot portion and got to the second last step.

I slit a pocket in each pork chop so that the stuffing would have a nice place to sit. I then added some stuffing to each pouch and placed in a very hot oven (broiler) and got the rest of the dinner ready.

Here is the final product.

Verdict: This was a nice meaty, porky dish. The bulgar wheat was very subtle but filling and satisfying. The apricot had a subtle sweet hit which I think made the dish. I highly recommend this fast cook meat. My guest and sister approved. Score in my books.

Souce: Martha Stewart

Recipe:

Ingredients

Serves 4

2/3 cup bulgur wheat
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 scallions, thinly sliced
4 (each 8 ounces and 1 inch thick) boneless center-cut pork chops
1 tablespoon olive oil
Chutney, (optional)

Directions

Heat broiler; set rack 4 inches from heat. Place bulgur and apricots in a fine sieve set in a bowl; cover with boiling water, and let soak 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cool water; press to remove excess water. Set aside.
Make stuffing: In a large bowl, whisk together egg, cumin, ginger, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add almonds, scallions, and reserved bulgur and apricots; mix to combine.
Slice a deep pocket in each pork chop (do not cut all the way through). Fill with stuffing; press to flatten. Place on a broilerproof baking sheet. Rub with oil; season with salt and pepper. Broil until opaque throughout (160 degrees., 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with your favorite chutney, if desired.

Christmas Cookie Round Up

So, I finished all my cookies pretty much weeks in advance and they were all waiting patiently in my freezer to be baked off. I was truly excited to hand out my tins of cookies to my collegues at work and have my family sample my wares.






The overall consensus was that the cookies were really good. The shortbread and the sugar cookies won with the cornmeal-cherry (cranberry) cookies close behind. I was truly proud as people kept coming up to me and complimenting my desserts.



I spent Sunday afternoon baking batch after batch of my cookies. I started with the sugar cookies first. No special reason, I just baked them first. They came out light and lovely. Crisp and chewy is the best way to descrine these suckers.






Next was the cornmeal-cherry (cranberry) cookies. The dough was really soft so I put then back into the fridge for a bit to cool. As I was cutting and placing them on the baking sheet, they continued to melt so I had to hurry. I attribute this to the heat of the kitchen from the stove and the high fat (butter) content in the dough.






The cookies baked up so pretty. They were a nice pale yellow speckled with jeweled red cranberries. So pretty. And, very tasty.






After I put the cornmeal-cranberries to cool, I started in on the lemon-meltaways. I was really excited about these cookies as they are dunked in icing sugar ~8 minutes after they come out of the hot oven.


I popped one of these babies into my mouth the second it was iced and, wow! THe flavors of the lemon really sprang to life because of the icing sugar. Great combination.



I them switched gears to rolling out my almond sandies. Unlike the other cookies where they are cut and dropped onto the baking sheet, these cookies required a roll. I didn't need to flour my hands as they weren't sticky enough but they formed nice balls and baked like a dream.





I think I made them too big as the recipe said I would ge 5 dozen cookies but I got nothing near that amount. Oh well, I was able to feed the crowd so it was all good.




That night I had a friend over but after she left my sister and I popped in a movie to relax. Of course I was restless so while we watched, I whipped up another batch of cookies. This time, shortbread. Now, no one can blame me for making these cookies. They call for a whole 4 ingredients (flour, icing sugar or sugar, butter and vanilla). How simple is that?




I wanted a huge batch but that didn't work out as planned. I only made half a batch but in the end I created less that a pan full of warm cookies.



My first batch of Christmas cookies! (I forgot to take a picture of the almond sandies)







In any case, they were really really good and I just cut them up into really small pieces so they could share.


Here is a tin of the cookies. Not the prettiest picture but great product nontheless. Next year, I will be more adventurous and try out some really different types of holiday cookies. Now that I know I can create such good treats, I want to continue and feed my baking monster.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Pecan (Almond) Sandies

I decided to make these cookies as I didn't feel I had enough to go around for my cookie-giving at work. This recipe was chosen because it was easy, fast and looked tasty. Once again, I created the dough in advance (1 week before baking this time) and baked them off along with my other Christmas cookies one day before I gave them out to my collegues at work.

These were beyond easy to make. In fact, I made the dough a night that I couldn't sleep so I decided to bake at 11:00pm. I don't know why but I just felt restless so I put my energy to baking use.

I first started off with the dry ingredients of ground almond, flour, sugar and baking powder.

Side note: The original recipe calls for ground pecans but since I HATE pecans with a passion I subsituted with ground almonds.

I then mixed the wet ingredients in a seperate bowl and added the whole lot together. I ended up with a nice sitcky ballish shaped roll which I placed in parchment and placed in the freezer.

Overall, this was beyond easy and quick to make. I finished the cookies from start to finish in under 15 minutes. Not bad for 11pm cookie creating.

The final product will be posted in my final Christmas cookie blog; to be posted soon.

Recipe:

Ingredients

Makes about 5 dozen
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup pecans, finely ground
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

Mix ground pecans with flour and salt, and add to butter mixture. Beat, beginning on low speed and increasing to medium, until combined, about 1 minute.

Lightly flour palms, if necessary, and roll dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place on an ungreased baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake until just brown on edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheet while still warm; sift confectioners’ sugar over tops.

Beef Stroganoff - Slow cooker style

I decided to make a beef stroganoff in the slow cooker as I was having friends over today for an evening meal, even after a hectic, over-booked weekend. I have a nack for putting myself in tight corners. In any case, making a meal the long way (non slow cooker way) would have been hard as I had to work yesterday morning, rush home for our dishwasher install and then get ready for a great night of partying, company Christmas party style. This morning I had to be up before the birds to work the part time job again, and then rush home to make the rest of the meal so that I would entertain my friends.

I liked using the slow cooker as it saved heaps of time and energy. When I walked through the door this afternoon, the smell perfuming the air was unbelievable. I was so happy with my new handy, dandy friend.

I have never made beef stroganoff before but it looked nice and hearty and filling. Perfect winter meal. I served it with egg noodles and peas.

Here we go:

Before the party yesterday, I cut up some lovely lean cubes of beef into about 3 pieces each. I then placed it in the fridge for further dressing later. After the party but before bed, I added the chunks of onions and mushrooms required for the stroganoff. I put the beef, mushrooms and onions into the slow cooker (minus the cooker part itself) and placed in the fridge for the night.



Before I left for work this morning, I added 1 cup of beef stock (diluted with water as some of the reviews said the recipe lacked liquid), pulled the cooker in, placed it on low and left the house.


When I came home, I was greeted by a wonderful beefy smell and this wonderful sight.



The meat was nice and tender at this point (about 6 hours after leaving the house) so I turned the slower cooker to keep warm instead of cooking. After my friends arrived, we chatted and chilled and the semi-stroganoff just hung out itself. About 20 minutes before dinner, I put on a pot of water to boil for the pasta, put the peas to cook and started in on the final part for the beef.

First, I took the slow cooker off. I then mixed the water and cornstarch. I then added this combo to a pot along with some of the cooked beef juices. After about 1 minute, in which the liquid got thick, I turned off the heat and started in on the meat.



I added the mustard to the stew.



Then the sour cream.



Last but not least, the cornstarch liquid. I mixed the strogranoff up and got onto the rest of the meal.



Here is the final plating.



Verdict: Everyone enjoyed it. Even my friends' 2 year old son ate the beef. The meat was tender and succulent, the broth was thickish and nicely seasoned (without a lot of seasoning). Couped with the tender noodles, we had a winner. I will make this recipe again. And, my slow cooker is my new bestest cookery friend.

Source: Martha Stewart's Beef Stroganoff

Recipe:

Ingredients - Serves 8

2 pounds beef chuck, trimmed of excess fat and cut into thin slices (about 1/2 inch thick and 3 inches long)
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and halved (or quartered, if large)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Cooked thin egg noodles, for serving
Chopped fresh dill, for garnish (optional)
Directions
In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, toss beef, onion, and mushrooms with 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt and teaspoon pepper. Cover, and cook on low until meat is tender, about 8 hours (or on high for 6 hours).
In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, whisk cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water. Ladle 1 cup cooking liquid into measuring cup; whisk to combine. Pour into a small saucepan, and bring to a boil; cook until thickened, about 1 minute. With slow cooker turned off, stir in cornstarch mixture, then sour cream and mustard. Serve beef over noodles; sprinkle with dill, if desired.

Christmas Cookies: Part III – Sugar Cookies

These cookies were ridiculously easy to make and I am sure will be just as easy to eat. I got the recipe from Foodtv.ca instead of Martha Stewart (like my lime meltaways and corn-meal cherry cookie recipes) because of its simplicity.


Sugar Cookies

I started off with the dry ingredients first. It was just flour, baking powder and salt. Very easy.

Onto the wet ingredients.

I then added the dry to the wet in 3 installments as per the recipe. It made my life easier also as I was mixing by hand and kept the flour splatters to a minimal.

Instead of wrapping the rolls (dough divided into 2 logs) in plastic wrap and cooling for 1 hour in the fridge, I placed them in parchment after forming logs. After I secured the sides of the parchment, I placed my cookies in the freezer.

I love sugar cookies because they are incredibly light and subtle in taste despite their vast amount of buttery richness.

At this point, I have made 3 batches of cookies, but I don’t think I have enough. My list of people to gift keeps growing. I might have to create some more but I think I will actually make them the day I am baking off these and the other 2 set of cookies to make my life a bit easier. Any suggestions on other cookie recipes?

Source: Sugar Cookies

Recipe :
Ingredients:

Sugar Cookies
· 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
· 1/2 tsp baking powder
· 1 pinch salt
· 3/4 cup butter, softened
· 1 cup granulated sugar or 1 cup packed brown sugar
· 1 egg
· 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Sugar Cookies
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease; set aside.
3. Spoon flour into dry measure, filling until heaping.
4. Using flat side of knife, sweep off excess flour.
5. Place in bowl; add baking powder and salt, stirring to combine. Set aside.
6. In large bowl and using electric mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy; beat in sugar in 3 additions.
7. Beat in egg and vanilla.
8. Using wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture in 3 additions.
9. Divide dough in half; flatten each slightly.
10. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or for up to 24 hours.
11. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough, 1 piece at a time, to 1/4-inch (5 mm) thickness.
12. Using 3-inch (8 cm) star shaped cookie cutter, cut out shapes.
13. Press scraps together to reroll.
14. Bake in centre of oven for about 10 minutes or until light golden on bottom and edges.
15. Let cool for 1 minute on baking sheets.
16. With spatula, transfer to racks; let cool completely.

Christmas Cookies: Part II – Lemon Meltaways

I chose this cookie purely based on the name. I mean come on, lime and meltaway in the same sentence made my mouth water. I felt that I really had no choice with these cookies. They chose me not the other way around. For this recipe, I opted for lemons as that is all I had on hand and I was not going to buy any limes at this point.

Just like with my Cornmeal-Cherry cookies, I started off with softened butter and made my way to bulk barn for some of the ingredients. The final product requires a generous amount of icing sugar which I bought at the bulk store also. Once again, this is not a product I use a great deal of so getting in bulk and paying a fraction of the cost is well worth it the brief trip.

I started off mixing some icing sugar and butter by hand. I don’t have an electric mixer as required but this step was fine mixing by hand. I then added the lemon zest, juice and vanilla and mixed until fluffly and light.

I then started out on the dry ingredients. Afterward, I slowly added in the wet ingredients as to not make a mess since I was combining by muscle power not electric.

At this point, I divided the dough into 2 portions as per instructions and rolled them into logs ready for the parchment paper. I placed each roll into the parchment and prepped for freezer storage until later baking.

I am especially excited about these cookies. They look so delicious and smooth.

Source: Lime Meltaways


Recipe :

Ingredients

Makes about 3 dozen.
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Finely grated zest of 2 limes
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions
1. Put butter and 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add lime zest and juice and vanilla, and mix until fluffy.
2. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add to butter mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined.
3. Divide dough in half. Place each half on an 8-by-12-inch sheet of parchment paper. Roll in parchment to form a log 1 1/4 inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log. Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove parchment from logs; cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, toss cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 weeks.