Friday, December 27, 2013

Herring Under Fur Coat Salad Селедка под шубой

It’s hard to know what to make of this dish at first glance. From a distance, its vaguely cake like appearance often leads it to be mistaken for a dessert, when it is actually a type of salad. In fact, this dish, which consists of one layer of salted herring, vegetables and eggs, with a topmost coating of mayonnaise and grated beets lending a rich purple color, is probably the most popular of all Russian salads. It is found on nearly every New Year’s table, and often makes an appearance at birthdays and other holidays as well. I been eating this salad as long I can remember. My mom always made it for us. It became my favorite salad since I can remember.

Ingredients: ( For large 12 inch plate)
12-16 oz Herring Fillet (or Smoked salmon)  
7 large beets (Boiled or Baked)
4 med-large potatoes (Boiled or Baked)
3 med carrots (Boiled or Baked)
9 large eggs (Boiled)
1 med sweet onion
1 cup mayonnaise 
salt to taste 

 Boil or bake beets, carrots, potatoes, eggs until ready. Peel bake beets, carrots, potatoes and eggs.
Grate beets on small size grater. Let all liquids come out. Pour liquids out and pat it with a paper towel.
Mix beets with 5-6 tbs of mayo. 
Cut  herring filet into small pieces. 
This is optional: add unrefined sunflower oil to the herring.  
Mince onion and mix in with the herring; or you can make it as a separate layer. 
Use a zip lock bag for mayonnaise. Fill it up and cut a small hole in one corner. Its easy to spread it like that.    
Grate potatoes on large size straight to the plate. Sprinkle salt. It will make the salad airy. Add mayo on top. I use unrefined sunflower oil to sprinkle the potato too.
Add herring with onion gently spread it. Do not press it in. Add mayo.
Grate carrots next. Sprinkle salt and spread mayo on top. 
Grate eggs and spread mayo, sprinkle a little bit of salt.
Very gently spread beets all around the salad. Keep the salad in the fridge. 
Enjoy!!!  

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Chopped Salad of Flank Steak Mango Avocado and Cucumber with Honey Lime Vinaigrette


It has been a while since I had fixed a dinner salad and every so often it hits the spot perfectly.  Last night I had a nice sized piece of flank steak leftover from Saturday nights dinner and found the perfect use for it as the star of this tasty dinner sized salad.

For this salad I started with crunchy fresh romaine lettuce which I washed and dried completely and placed in a mixing bowl large enough to toss the salad with plenty of room. To the lettuce I added the left over flank steak which is cut into bite sized pieces, 1 small diced mango,  some diced English cucumber, 1/2 of a diced avocado, a little diced red onion and grated pepper jack cheese.  The perfect balance of sweet, spicy, salty, sour and crunch. 

The vinaigrette was equally well balanced and very easy to prepare.  Simply combine the juice and zest of 1/2 lime, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon honey, 2 tablespoons and olive oil and salt and combine.  Wisk together until an emulsion forms and lightly dress the salad.  Toss the ingredients together thoroughly and serve with some good crusty bread.
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Cornish Hens with Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffing

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This recipe was given to me by Steves Aunt Melissa. Ive been meaning to make it for a very long time but it never seemed to make the menu. Now that Ive tried it I will make it more often. It was excellent! I cant wait to use this stuffing on a nice big oven stuffer chicken!

Melissas Cornish Hens with Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffing

Ingredients:

6-8 Cornish Hens
1 lb Italian sausage (removed from casing)
1 large shallot chopped
4 or 5 cloves garlic chopped
¼ c white wine
½ lb sliced mushrooms
1 pkg Uncle Ben’s wild rice
paprika
lemon juice

Directions:

Cook the sausage, shallots, and garlic in olive oil. When cooked, turn up heat and add ¼ cup white wine and ½ lb sliced mushrooms. Cook all together and put aside. Cook Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice (1 pkg) as directed. Add to stuffing and stuff hens. Rub Hen’s with paprika and lemon juice. Heat oven to 350 degrees and cover Hens with foil. After 1/2 hour remove foil. Cook Hen’s for 1 hour.

Enjoy!
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Cafe Rio Chicken



If you guys have not made this cafe rio recipe yet than you need to its a must and its so good. This is a great recipe to try if you are taking cooking classes as it is flavorful yet very easy to make.


This was actually our first recipe that we ever posted! Its that good that i want some of you new readers to try it!




Recipe found HERE




and if you make this green salsa with it -its even better- yummy!




try them out let us know what you think


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Thursday, December 26, 2013

Woo hoo look at my new blog banner!

When I saw the LaCucina, Digital Scrapbook Kit by Amy Stoffel, was on offer at Scraporchard, I just had to get it. I have been feeling that my blog banner needed updating, can you see the cows through the window? This was such a lot of fun to make, I hope you enjoy it too.
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Light Banana Bread


I love my moms banana bread. I really, really do BUT its not the most healthy recipe out there, even though I try to convince myself that if it has fruit, its healthy. I had some bananas that were too overripe to put in my cereal so I googled "Light Banana Bread Recipes" and I came across this one at Cheap Healthy Good.  She found the recipe at cooking light and she made some adjustments.  I followed her changes but did add about 1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips and I used a bundt pan instead.  Not sure how that works with the suggested portion sizes and all but I am okay with that.  Anway, let me get to the taste.  I tasted this when it was warm and I thought it was a little weird tasting but when I tasted it the next day it was fine.  The flavor is good, its just the consistency that is different which Im guessing is from using egg whites.  Bottom line, for a low fat recipe, its great, Ill make it again.  When I fall of the healthy eating bandwagon....Im going back to Moms.

Light Banana Bread
Adapted from Cooking Light by Cheap Healthy Good

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup sugar
2-1/2 T butter, softened
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 4 bananas)
3 T skim milk
3 T fat-free sour cream or vanilla yogurt
2 large egg whites
½ t vanilla extract
Cooking spray


Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat loaf pan with cooking spray.

2) In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

3) In a different large mixing bowl OR stand mixer bowl, combine sugar and butter. "Beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended." Stop beater. Add banana, milk, sour cream, and egg whites. Resume beating until well combined.

4) Pour flour mixture into banana mixture and beat until everything is well-blended.

5) Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake 60 or 70 minutes, or until loaf passes the toothpick test. (Insert a toothpick in the middle of the bread. If it comes out clean, youre golden.) Remove from oven. (SEE NOTE BELOW) Let sit for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Pry bread from pan and let it cool totally on that same wire rack. For best flavor, wrap in tin foil and let sit overnight.

Note: If using a bundt pan - bake for approx 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool and invert. 

Click here for a printable recipe for Light Banana Bread.

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Khara masala stew

Khara masala stew

 
Ingredients
  • Mutton ½ kg half boiled
  • Onion 2 large thinly sliced
  • Oil ½ cup
  • Chopped ginger 1 tbsp
  • Chopped garlic 1 tbsp
  • Mixed Whole spices 1 tbsp
  • Yogurt ½ cup
  • Crushed coriander 1 tbsp
  • Whole button chilies 10
  • Salt 1 tsp heaped
  • Green chilies whole 4
  • Coriander leaves 2 tbsp
  • Tomatoes chopped 2
Method
  • Boil mutton in 1 cup water for just 15 minutes till half done, heat oil ½ cup add sliced onion, fry till half done, do not brown, add mixed whole spices, chopped ginger garlic, white cumin whole, chopped tomatoes, yogurt, button red chilies, crushed coriander and boiled mutton, cover and leave it to cook for 20 minutes then fry well till mutton tender and oil comes on top, serve garnish with chopped green chilies and coriander leaves.
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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Som tam Polamai Thai Fruit Salad




      SomtamPolamai:A great and nutritious appetizer.. I learned this  great thai recipe from my maid. I love the creativity of Thais in about anything. Thai Cooks maintain standard not only in terms of nutritional values and tastes but also in food presentation.i always observe how thai food is being garnished and presented on the table.Thai salads are different from their western counterparts. They are made up of wide variety of ingredients and prepared to have a great presentation and flavor. Thai cooks combine colors,flavors and aromas to give the best and most pleasurable eating experience. If we talk about salads, I want to combine aesthetics and health considerations. Take a look at this!
The color combination is inviting itself, isnt it? Its called "Somtam Polamai" or sweet and sour mixed fruits salad . Fresh fruits include dragon fruit, guava, Apple,rose apple,Grapes, etc. and sprinkled with broiled peanuts and shredded carrots. Great and nutritious appetizer!
The original taste of this dish should be the balance taste between sweet, hot, salty, and sour. 



Ingredients:
1.      3 cup fresh fruit, cut into well cubes (Guava, Dragon fruit, Apple, Pineapple, Rose apple, Pomelo, Grape, etc.) 
2.      6 cloves garlic
3.      4 to 5 Thai spur chilies
4.      1 tablespoon soy sauce
5.      1 tablespoon lime juice
6.      2 teaspoon palm sugar or brown sugar
7.      1/2 cup roasted skinless peanuts
8.      1/2 white onion sliced
9.      Salt to taste
 Method:

1.      Use mortar and pestle to crush the chili and garlic.
2.      Add sugar, salt and half peanut into mortar, continue beating with the pestle.
3.      In large bowl add fruits and season with soy sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. 
4.      Then mixed all ingredients well.
5.      Transfer to a serving plate.
6.      Serve with rice or sticky rice.
Note: In original dish add shrimp and fish sauce (Nam Pla). Some restaurants use shredded carrots and tomato too . 
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Easy to make tofu recipes

Tofu is one of the more healthy food, you should integrate into your diet program. It is low in cholesterol, and calories, but it may be high in protein and minerals. Also called tofu, tofu is often used in soups. It is fairly easy, to ready and with some simple and quick tested recipes you can a meal with tofu everyday in the week.

You can create it, frying pan, to it salads, you combine with meat, fish, and it is sandwich fillings of Info for. Find a set of members, you will be able with your tofu. For a single you can be produced it as a dip for your crackers and chips. All this requires is, are sauteed garlic and onion, tofu, blend in a food processor and some salt and pepper to the taste. You turn out safely, that you take so much water as possible from the tofu, initial mix above it all. This is usually a very healthy dip, which can be used for snacks and also for parties.

In recent times turn more and more people from tofu and love it, be used if I could combine. Tofu sales in the supermarket have been a steady improvement. Tofu is an excellent replacement for meat protein, because compared to meat, it contains more protein and less cholesterol. And with much new tested recipe- s, prepare tofu, you get tired not of him.

Tofu dishes are often really tasty, especially because just about any condiment or an ingredient will take off. Tofu in itself is far from tasty. So even with very little condiments, you can pretty much a tasty tofu dish. You only need to know how to be prepare you. You can easily place tofu on the top rated a plate but not actually the best way to prepare tofu set.

1 Is to make court, which is pretty easy tofu with mushrooms are combined. You must have a single significant fungi for this, because you the log part can be filled with tofu. Ready to be the tofu, filling with the addition of spring onions, crushed, a little bit of soy sauce, a little bit of oyster sauce, garlic and salt and pepper to taste. When you are done filling of the fungus, baking you that not much longer than 15 minutes. This is quite a pleasure.

If you want something to spice up your food, a chilli tofu dish can work well. What you do is cube bowl of chili powder tofu in a very mixed with soy sauce and garlic marinade. After learning to marinade for 15 minutes or so place the tofu with the marinade in a heated pan with olive oil. Prepare the tofu until they are crispy on the pages. The waste oil from the tofu, you place really with a towel cuisine should work.

It is possible, of course your plate tofu combine with other combinations. Lamp, Burger, crab meat, white potatoes, pasta, and rice would go great with your tofu dishes.

You can make even a tofu Burger. All you need is flour to make tofu and the patties on a frying pan or grill to mix. You can contribute ketchup and mustard bottles afterwards. If you want to be fancy, can barbecue sauce add great as be beautiful. These are just a few of the fast and simple quality recipea s for the tofu dishes that you make.


More information on cooking and useful tips for chefs, visit cooking101.org and check out boiled egg kitchen.

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Daikon Salad

This is a very easy to make salad. We love it, and if  you try it, you might like it.

Ingredients: 
1 Daikon
1 bunch green onion
Dill
Sunflower oil unrefined (Best to buy in the Russian store)
Vegeta salt


Print option


Shred daikon like strips. If you dont have a shredder you can cut it by hand in strips. Slice green onion and dill. Add to the bowl.
Add vegeta and oil. Mix and Enjoy! It taste better right after you make it.


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