Puff Pastry filled with Sweet Potato

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Sandy

puffpastrysweetpotato

Simple, but great tasting recipes.

Puff Pastry – thaw for an hour before using
1 baked sweet potato
1 cup Crushed Ameretti Cookies

While the sweet potato is still warm mix in the crushed cookies.
That is the filling.
Cut the puff pastry into 3 inch squares
Using your finger, put a little water along all the edges.
Add a tsp of filling to center of pastry, close it so it looks like a triangle.
With a fork, seal the edges.
Place on a sheet of parchment paper on your baking sheet.
Make as many as you need for you dinner, I suggest 2 per person.
Brush the pastries with egg wash and
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes until golden brown.

Posted in Brunch, My Bakery, Thanksgiving | Leave a comment

Pickled Shrimp and Peppers, Onions, Green Beans, Asparagus, Carrots!

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Sandy

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Original recipe makes 8 – 1 quart jars
4 Tablespoons old bay seasoning
2 pounds Shrimp Large (26-30 count per pound with tails on)
8 cucumbers, thinly sliced
2 onions, thinly sliced
48 green beans
32 small asparagus spears
16 small peeled carrots trim to jar size.
2 green bell peppers, diced
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch of seedless green grapes
1/2 cup salt
Brine
3 cups cider vinegar
3 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons mustard seed
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
If you want them spicy….
1 tsp chili pepper flakes or you can use sliced jalapeno peppers

If you have fresh shrimp, peel and clean leaving the tail on. Boil for 2 minutes with Old Bay Seasoning. Place in ice water to chill.
While you are heating the brine, pack your jars with shrimp, onions, peppers, garlic, stand the green beans, asparagus, carrots upright, top each with a few grapes.

Pour hot brine over your packed jars to 1/4 inch of top.
Place lids on and allow to cool on your counter.

Keep refridgerated. Eat early at 2 days 3 weeks.
Enjoy on toast or over a Caesar Salad. Awesomebites!

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Crocheted Eggs & Broccoli Bacon Fry

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Sandy

You are probably tired of hearing about my childhood, but my parents would always send us off to school with a hot breakfast. We lived on a small farm and kept animals for food, not for pets – although we had a few pets also. Collecting the eggs was one of my older sister’s jobs and my father would raise pigs and make his own bacon.

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For each person
2 large to extra large egg
Vegetable oil to fry the egg in
1/2 – 3/4 cup of broccoli
2 strips of bacon
Salt and pepper

Yummy!

My mom would fry an egg in oil with the heat a bit hotter and the outside of the egg white would crochet a beautiful lace doily. I loved this crunchy bit with my egg yolk all soft in the inside.

While my mom would serve this with potatoes, I have yielded to a version with less carbs.
Fry bacon and cut into 3/4 inch pieces, remove most of the bacon fat from the pan and fry the broccoli in the bacon fat. Add the bacon back in with the broccoli right before serving. Season with salt and pepper. This tastes awesome served with your crocheted eggs!

Serve with a Bloody Mary or Mimosa.

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Egg in Toast

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Sandy

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IMG_6016Egg in toast

I thought my mother was brilliant as she would deliver this wonderfulness to our table.
Cooking one egg at a time for each of my brothers and sisters.

Yesterday, I made this for my hubby, Dennis. He lapped it up!

Rye Bread
1 large egg
1 ounce favorite cheese – I used Jack which is what I had in the fridge.

Coat the frying pan slightly with olive oil or butter.
Medium heat, not too hot or you will burn your bread!
Cut a hole in your bread with a small glass.
Place the bread in the frying pan along with the circle you removed so it gets toasty also.
Crack your egg into the hole.
Salt, pepper.

When it starts to set, flip it over.
Add cheese.
Remove from pan when it white is set.

Serve with tomato salad
Slice small tomatoes into halves
Drizzle with olive oil and balsalmic vinegar and a little salt and pepper.

Makes a world class breakfast with little effort!
Enjoy this awesomebite!

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Pumpkin Pie

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Sandy

Pumpkin Pie.  All my childhood memories of Pumpkin Pie are from Thanksgiving. My Mom loved to bake.  Today, that is easy to say, I mean I have the help of my Kitchenaid mixer, my Breadmaker which I use mostly to mix the doughs.  Back to my Mom, she made bread and baked and it was an all day affair.  First off, she only had one oven.  It was a big oven and two pies would fit on one rack.  Our table consisted of a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood.  For you non-construction types, that would be 4 feet by 8 feet.  All eleven of us would sit down daily to dinner.  One that same table, a few days before a holiday my Mom would start baking bread and pies and such.     I remember my eyes were just above table height and looking over all the goodies.  It felt like they would go out past my horizon!   Mom made things by two’s; she must have liked the story of the ark.  We had two apple, two cherry, two lemon meringue.  And yes, back to Pumpkin.  That is what you want to know about.  Mom was a better than average baker, and she could  combine the right amount of flavors to make the tastes pop.  I always hoped I would inherit her taste buds.

But, if you know me, I like to adjust things to my liking and keep them easy as well.

While you can look at the back of a can of pumpkin and make the pie, I do believe you can do better.  Within the last couple of years I have been playing with Indian spices and one of my favorite spices is Garam Masala.  Many pies are over loaded with cloves and nutmeg – stop already.  Pumpkin pie has to have balance.  This pie has a perfect blend of spice, just right!

1 1/2 c white sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp garam masala

4 large eggs

1 can (29 oz) Libby’s Pure Pumpkin

2 cans (12 oz) Carnation Evaporated Milk

2 unbaked 9 inch pie shells.  I used two tart dishes and filled them to their rims with pumpkin. But you can also use deep dish pie pans.  I also took the left over pie crust and made leaves to decorate the top -this is my Mother in me.  Make it taste good, and make it pretty.  Use egg wash and brush the leaves before baking in the oven for about 15 minutes.  You can also sprinkle with white sugar to make them sparkle. Like adding a diamond to a ring!

Mix all together and pour into the unbaked pie shells.

Preheat oven at 425, then reduce heat to 350 , bake for 40-50 minutes until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Cool on rack and serve. 

Posted in Helen's Kitchen, Pies, Thanksgiving | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Pumpkin, Butternut Squash, Carrot Soup

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Sandy

PumpkinButternutCarrotSoup

It is nearing Halloween and with all the great pumpkins and squash and carrots, it has to be the beginning of soup!

I love soup and give me bread and I am happy. I blame it all on my mother and at the same time thank my mother for being a wonderfully awesome soup chef! When she worked as a Chef/Cook for the San Joaquin County Hospital, all the doctors and nurses would seek her out to find out what kind of soup was going to be available that day.

It tickled her to have her very own fan club and an equivalent of a facebook thumbs up would be their return in the line the next day!

While I am making this soup for my office to feed 25-30 people, my mother would make soup for 300 people!

Olive oil 1/4 cup
Carrot 1 Quart
Pumpkin 1 Quart
Butternut squash 1Quart
1 head of Roasted Garlic
Cayenne 1 tsp
Ginger 2 tsp
Coriander 2 tsp
Ham bone with ham bits
Salt and pepper to taste
Chicken stock 3 Quarts
add water as needed

Roast garlic(wrap in foil), pumpkin, carrots and squash for 40 minutes at 400 degrees. Chop onions into a rough dice and saute in the bottom of a large soup pot with a little oil. Add Roasted vegetables, and 3 Quarts of Chicken Stock and ham bone to pot. Bring to boil and add spices. Let simmer slowly for 1 hour.

Shut off and allow to cool so you can remove the ham bone. Shred the meat and set aside. Using a handblender to the soup until you get a creamy consistency, add water as needed to maintain consistency you like. Add salt and pepper to taste and adjust your spices to your liking. Careful with the Cayenne Pepper. Add the ham back into the creamy mixture.

Serve with a drizzle of Pure Maple Syrup, or a spoon of sour cream, or cinnamon croutons for some fun!
Serve with freshly made bread!

Another awesome bite.

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Chicken Avocado Jalapeno Taquitos

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Sandy

Chicken Avocado Jalapeno Taquitos

¼ Cup Jalapeno Jelly (You may want to add small amounts slowly until you have the taste you want.)
¼ Cup Mayonnaise
¼ Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
2 Cups Roasted Chicken Breast – Chop into medium bite size pieces
1 Avocado cut in cubes
24 Corn Tortillas – the smallest ones you can find.
Grapeseed or Olive oil to fry tortillas

Mix the sauce Mayonnaise, Yogurt and Jalapeno Jelly together. Add to chicken until it is lightly coated. You may not need it all.
Pre fry the corn tortillas just until they are soft and you can roll them. Place on paper towel and spoon filling into tortillas. Roll and refry until lightly brown on each side.
Keep warm in 225 degree oven until all are completed.
Serve with extra Sauce for dipping and also straight Jalapeno Jelly. Two great sauces.

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Tomato, Sweet Pepper and Garbanzo Soup with Rosemary

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Sandy

Roasted Tomato and Sweet Peppers with Garbanzo Beans and Rosemary
Ingredients:
32 oz of Clamato Juice
4 cups of chicken broth – may need to add more as you go
4 12.5-ounce can of garbanzo beans, drained
3 Tablespoons Cumin
1 Tablespoon Paprika
2 yellow onion, peeled and chopped
4 chopped celery stems
6 cups fresh tomatoes, oven roasted, roughly chopped
3 cups sweet red peppers, oven roasted
Drizzle of olive oil, enough to coat the tomatoes and peppers
Salt and Pepper to taste
7 sprigs of Rosemary for garnish, fried in olive oil

Serving suggestion: Side of Pita Bread, or French bread
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes and peppers on a baking sheet. Drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes.
2. In a large-sized soup pot or Dutch oven sauté chopped onions and celery until tender. Add Clamato juice and chicken broth and all ingredients except the garbanzo beans and rosemary and bring to simmer.
3. After 30 minutes add the tomatoes and peppers that are roasted.
4. Process the hot soup in a blender to smooth consistency and put back into soup pot.

5. Add garbanzo beans to the soup pot, sea salt and pepper to taste and ½ the rosemary. Cover and let simmer 20 minutes. minutes.

To serve: Ladle into bowls and top with fried rosemary sprigs for garnish.

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Fettuccini with Cilantro Lime Shrimp in Ginger Cream Sauce

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Sandy

Fettuccini with Cilantro Lime Shrimp in Ginger Cream Sauce
16 oz heavy cream serves 4
2 T powdered ginger 30-45 minutes to prepare
2 eggplant – 1 cut in batonetts using the outside aubergine edges.
1 eggplant cut diagonally into ¼ inch diagonal slices (To be used as garnish).
2 zucchini cut in batonettes using the outside peel edges.
4 T Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
1 pound of fettuccini noodles
1 ½ pounds of shrimp Approximately 24 Shrimp shelled and de-veined, with tails on.
2 T butter
2 T Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
¼ cup finely chopped sweet onion
¼ cup cilantro chopped and 10 whole leaves for garnish
1 Can – 12 ounces of Canada Dry Ginger Ale
4 limes – juice 3 and serve the last as garnish on each plate.

Add 6 quarts of water and salt to stock pot and bring to boil. When water is boiling, add pasta and cook until just al dente.
In heavy small sauce pan, add cream and ginger. To attain the delicious creamy texture, you can use cream chargers delivery Melbourne. They have the best collection of equipments. Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer and allow to reduce to 1/3.
Lightly coat eggplant and zucchini with oil and salt and pepper, bake eggplant and zucchini batonetts for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Top eggplant slices with cilantro leaf using oil to stick the two together. Bake until just slightly browned. Set aside.
Your pasta should be in the pot cooking before this next step of cooking the shrimp.
Heat a sauté pan on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium high and add the olive oil and butter. Once the butter melts, add the garlic. Sauté for a minute and add onion and sauté for another couple of minutes. Add Shrimp. Then add ginger ale and stir to combine and coat the shrimp with the butter. Spread shrimp in even layer in the pan. As soon as the shrimp are almost all pink, add ginger cream sauce and lime juice and cilantro. Add fettuccini to pan, stir allowing to absorb the cream sauce.
Add zucchini and eggplant batonetts: plate pasta, divide shrimp equally among 4 plates, garnish zucchini and eggplant batonetts, cilantro, lime, and zucchini and eggplant slices.
Variations: Serve with linguini, rice or crusty bread. If you want to heat it up, you can add diced jalapenos while sautéing the onions for the shrimp.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp, Ginger Cream Sauce - Aubergines and Zucchinis

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Scones – Best Ever!

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Sandy


I am a about to take a professional cooking class and so you probably are going to not like what I am going to say, but I have to say it.
The best scones in the whole wide world are made with two pre-made mixes.
Don’t get all uppity, I love baking from scratch. Just try these and you’ll know I am right!

Krusteaz Sugar Cookie Mix
Bisquick Biscuits
2 tsp of vanilla extract or black walnut extract
1 cup diced black walnuts
1/2 cup rolled oats
Optional – Choose one: Raisins, Dried Cranberries or nothing at all!
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 T water or milk

Prepare as you would according to the directions, although in this case mix the dry ingredients together of both mixes and then the wet ingredients include the extracts and then combine. Then add chopped black walnuts and optional raisins or cranberries.
Divide into two parts and then with your hands pat into rounds on baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprayed with Pam.
While patting down pour 1/4 cup of rolled oats on top of each round.

With a long knife, cut into 8 pieces as you would a pizza.
Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown at 375 degrees.

After you take the scones out of the oven, combine the confectioners sugar and 1 T water or milk and combine until the mixture resembles heavy cream.
Drizzle the topping over the golden scone. Hurry and eat before they are gone!

Awesome Scones!

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