Apple Dumplings

I have to say I am a bit confused as to who invented this recipe......either the pioneer woman or rachel ray. What do you think? Anyway, I just had a little taste of heaven, so it's only fair to share, is it not?
There we go:
Ingredients:
2 cans of crescent rolls or 2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed
2 Granny Smith apples
1 cup sugar or Splenda
2 sticks of butter (or 1 and 1/2 would do as well)
cinnamon
1 small can of Mountain Dew

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Spread the crescent rolls onto your working surface or the puff pastry sheets and cut 8 triangles.
Wash, peel, core and slice the apples into 8 pieces each.
Wrap each apple slice into a dough triangle and place them in a buttered pan.
Melt the butter, add the cinnamon and the sugar and barely stir.
Pour the mixture over the dumplings and then pour the Mountain Dew over the edges.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
Serve warm.
Tastes divine!
The tops will be crunchy and the bottoms sooooooooooft.

Mushroom Pizza....with Pork and Olives

Since we did not have any pepperoni in the house and I wanted to make pizza regardless, I thought I could use some pork. I fried it with salt and pepper on very high heat on the stove in a non stick skillet , sliced it and topped the pizza. Just be inventive !

Ingredients:
For the Dough:
3 to 4 cups of all purpose flour
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
enough water to make the dough come together.
Knead by hand 10 minutes and let rise until double in size, roughly 1 hour, covered. Deflate, and roll out by hand, stretching to be 1/3 inch thick.

Toppings:
For the Sauce:
1 small can of tomatoes
basil, 1/2 teaspoon
salt
pepper
any other seasonings you may like to add
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
Place all the ingredients in a blender, and pulse until a smooth paste has formed.
The toppings in my case were slices of fresh mushrooms, slices of pork steak, olives and cheese.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Grease a baking sheet and sprinkle corn meal then transfer the formed dough.
Bake for 3 to 5 minutes.
Pull out, spread the tomato sauce and add the rest of the toppings.
Bake for at least 15 more minutes or until the cheese is melted and the dough in nicely cooked.
Enjoy!

Corned beef, Mushroom and Onion Soup

Ingredients:
Corned beef, chopped
3 onions, cut in tiny strips
beef broth, 6 cups
oil
mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup Sherry wine
seasonings
Directions:
Cook on high heat for about 10 minutes the onion and mushrooms, add the sherry wine, add the corned beef and the broth and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes and low heat.
Taste to make sure the seasonings are right.
Top with toast and cheese and broil or microwave to melt the cheese.
Enjoy !

I forgot to show you the Cream Cheese Danish....

With some of the dough for the croissants I proceeded to make some cream cheese danish.
For the cream cheese filling I used 1 package of cream cheese , 1 egg yolk, 1 TBSP sugar and vanilla + almond extract.

Soup in bowl

Yep, the end result.

Crusty Bread Bowls

I was thinking of something I have never made, cooked, baked....you name it. So therefore, I proceeded to making those crusty bread bowls. And oh yes, are they something or what ?!? So good and so suitable for any kind of soup ! A definitive keeper !

Ingredients:

1 TBSP yeast (I always use instant yeast)
1 cup warm water
1/2 TBSP sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 egg or 1 egg white to brush the top

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water, add sugar, salt and almost 2 cups of flour.
Beat 3 minutes with a hand mixer and gradually add the remaining flour to make a stiff dough.
Knead on lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic, then place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double in size (approx 1 hour).
Punch down, then divide in 2 pieces.
Form each piece into a ball and place on a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal.
Cover and let rise again until double in size.
Brush with egg wash, wait 2 minutes then cut the tops, making a star., the sprinkle with coarse or kosher salt.
Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, cool and cut off the tops.
Scoop the interior. Use as desired. After you are done eating the soup, break pieces of the bowl and eat.

Alphabet Soup

Yes, I did have a craving for alphabet soup. It is usually a mild and light soup, just right. Especially when you plan to pair it with a hearty bread. We ate it with toast and it was yummy yummy.
Ingredients:
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 parsnip, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 green (or any other color) bell pepper
2 TBSP oil
5 cups water
1 can of white beans, rinsed in cold water
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper or less, to taste
dried basil, 1 tsp
dried parsley, 1 TBSP
100 gr alphabet noodles
Fresh chopped parsley

Directions:
Place the diced carrot, onion, parsnip, tomato, bell pepper and oil in a large pot and sautee for at least 5 minutes, on medium-high heat.
Add 5 Cups water and bring to a boil.
Put the alphabet noodles and the beans and simmer for 8 minutes.
Remove from heat, add the rest of the ingredients and cover after stirring to combine.
Serve with warm toast or poured in bread bowls.
YUM !

Grilled Pork and Beef Steak Sandwiches (drooling)

I happen to live PORK, of all meats out there. And it just so happens I love cheese, and homemade bread. And what do all these come together into ? A sandwich !
I grilled the sandwich so that the cheese would melt and seal the meat to the bread. Just delicious !
What I used was:
2 slices of boneless pork
salt
pepper
cooking oil, to spray the pan and the meat
Provolone cheese, 4 slices
French bread, medium size slices
Heat the non stick medium size skillet on medium-high heat for 1 minute, spray some oil and place the meat in.
Spray the pork and sprinbkle kosher salt and pepper and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
Flip the meat and repeat.
Remove from skillet and form the sandwich, then grill it (I have a George Foreman Grill) so that the cheese can melt and the bread can toast a bit.
I also tried with beef. The meat is a bit tough, but still delicious.
Enjoy !

Pine Nuts

I finally got some and toasted them. They should be good in salad. They taste like peanuts to me. LOL

French Crepes

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 TBSP oil
flour enough to make a batter that resembles liquid honey

I used a ladle for every crepe, and I sprayed the pan before every new crepe.
For filling, just about anything goes, as you can see from the picture.

Garbanzo Beans with Cinnamon

Ingredients:
1/2 Lb garbanzo beans which you soak overnight in 4 cups water
2 TBSP cinnamon
3 TBSP sugar
2 tsp oil
pinch of nutmeg

Directions:
Drain the beans, pat them dry and place them in a bowl.
Sprinkle the sugar and add the oil, tossing to coat all the beans.
Place them in a single layer in a baking dish and bake at 350 F for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
After cooking time is over, remove them from the dish and sprinkle nutmeg and cinnamon and toss to coat.

French Bread

Same thing as for the baguettes, only instead of two loaves, I just rolled a big one. The bigger, the better !

Liver Mousse

Ingredients:

1/2 Lb to 1 Lb chicken liver
1 medium onion
salt
pepper, to taste
4 TBSP oil to fry
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 stalks celery
10 olives or a handful
bread to serve on (I used toast)

Directions:

Place the chicken liver and the diced onion along with the oil in a sauce pan and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the liver is pink in the middle, stirring often.
Remove from heat and let sit at room temp. until it has cooled.
When cool, transfer to a food processor and mix along with 1 celery stalk, cut into pieces.
Process until a smooth paste has formed.
Transfer to a bowl and add sliced olives and tiny pieces of celery, for some crunch.
Let sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour, so it cools even more.
Whip the cream and fold it into the liver paste.
Serve garnished with more olives and celery.
Enjoy !

Bread Mix (are you kidding me?)

Ok, so I though I would give a try to a bread mix that has been blinking at me for quite a while. So far nothing uncommon. BUT, when I opened the box....what was inside? Just flour........hmmm I said to myself,.....what is the problem here? So I removed the bag of flour from the paper box and there it was, a pack of yeast ! If you can call that a bread mix. Anyway, the bread turned out very tasty and maybe in the future sometimes, I can give it another try. All in all it's a good bread and I recommend it.

Apple Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
*1 apple (Granny Smith will do fine), peeled, cored and sliced
* 4 TBSP cooking wine or brandy
* 1/2 cup sugar, divided in half
* about 12 baguette slices or 5 brioche slices, crust removed
* 3 eggs, beaten
* 1 cup heavy cream
* vanilla extract and or almond extract
Directions:
Mix the beaten eggs with half of the sugar and the cream and set aside.
Grease a shallow cooking dish and arrange the apple slices in a single layer (my dish was way too small).
Sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the apples and pour the wine/brandy over them.
Arrange the bread slices on top and then pour the egg/cream mixture over.
Let soak at least 30 min.
Bake at 350 for at least 30 min.
Serve warm with Brandy sauce.

Soy Beans Snack

I found (at last) my fav soy snack. Absolutely divine. Yum