Never Fail Biscuits November 13, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch , add a commentThe most delicious tea biscuits ever! And very quick and easy!
- 2 cups flour
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 tsp. cream of tartar (buy this in the spice section of the grocery store if you don’t have any)
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup margarine or butter
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup milk (I used rice milk and it worked great)
Mix dry ingredients together. Cut in margarine or butter with two knives or a pastry blender until the consistence of crumbs. Beat eggs slightly and add with milk. Stir only til dough follows fork around bowl. Turn out on floured board (or clean counter top), and knead for 1 minute. Pat out 1/2 inch thick, cut with 2 or 3 inch biscuit cutter (or whatever size you prefer). Bake on ungreased cookie sheet – I used my pizza stone from Pampered Chef and it works perfectly for a single recipe – in hot oven 400°F for 15 minutes. Makes 12-14 biscuits.
Recipe from the Lutheran Family Cookbook
Crunchy Japanese Fish with Crunchy Noodle Toss November 4, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Dinner , add a commentAnother great recipe! 
Rachel Ray calls it “make your own take-out.” I used snapper (or was it perch), so I think it would work with any fish you have (thawed). Preheat oven to 400 °F.
- coarse salt
- 2 pounds haddock fillets (or other fish)
- 2 pinches of cayenne pepper
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 3 cups rice crispie cereal (half crushed, half left whole… I did more like 2 cups crushed, 1 cup whole and that worked fine)
- 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 3 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
FOR THE LO MEIN (NOODLE TOSS)
- 1/2 pound thin spaghetti (spaghettini or angel hair), about one small box.
- 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil (recommend grapeseed if you have it)
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- fresh ginger, a piece about 2 inches long, chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots (or 1 carrot peeled and cut into matchsticks)
- 2 cups bean sprouts (which I didn’t have, but made the recipe anyway)
- 1 can of sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped (8 oz or 237 ml)
- 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
- 6 scallions, sliced on an angle
- 1/3 cup dark aged soy sauce (tamari), or the best soya sauce you’ve got
Bring a pot of water to boil, add the pasta and salt the water. Cook the pasta until slightly undercooked, and drain.
While the pasta is cooking, prepare the fish. Season the haddock with salt, pepper, lemon zest, and the juice of 1/2 the lemon. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges and reserve. Crush half (or so) of the rice crispies in a plastic bag, then combine with the whole cereal, parsley, and chives. Dip the fish in the melted butter, then coat evenly in the cereal coating and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 17 or 18 minutes, until evenly golden and crisp.
After the fish goes into the oven, heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the vegetable oil, garlic, ginger, and carrots. Cook for 1 minute, stir-frying the mixture, then add the bean sprouts, water chestnuts, red bell peppers, and scallions. Stir-fry for another 2 minutes then add the drained, hot pasta. Add the tamari (soy sauce) and remove from heat. Toss for a minute for the pasta to absorb the tamari (soy sauce) and vegetable juices, and divide the Lo Mein among 4 plates. I admit I left off a few of the veggies, simply because I didn’t have them, but the noodles still turned out very yummy! Serve with the crispy oven-fried fish and pass the lemon wedges at the table. Enjoy!
Eggs-traordinary Toasty Baskets November 3, 2008
Posted by Teresa in : Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch , add a commentThis recipe is another gem from Rachel Ray’s 365: No Repeats cookbook! Great for any meal (not just breakfast). Preheat the oven to 400 °F.
Get out your muffin tins!
- 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 slices soft white bread (but I used multigrain and it was delicious as well)!
- 3 Tbsp. melted butter (unsalted)
- 1 tomato (vine-ripened, if you have), chopped
- 4 eggs
- grated parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or other cheese
Preheat a small skillet over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp olive oil (once round the pan) and the chopped bacon, and cook for 3 minutes, or until the bacon is crisp. Add the garlic, onions, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook until the onions start to turn translucent, about 3 minutes.
With a serrated knife, cut the crusts from the bread. With a rolling pin (or a large jar or glass), flatten each slice or bread as thins as you can get it. Nestle each thin slice of bread into the cup of a non-stick standard 1/2 cup muffin tin, pushing the bread down on the bottom of the tin and pushing it up the sides. It should be all the way up the sides, or slightly above. If the bread rips, don’t worry about it, just smoosh it together a little. If your muffin tins aren’t non-stick, put some melted butter in first, then the bread. Either way, once the bread is in, brush it lightly with melted butter.
Add the tomatoes to the bacon and onions. Turn the heat up a little to evaporate some of the liquid of the tomato, about 1 minute. Also, one time when I made these, I cheated and used bacon bits (gasp!) instead of real bacon, and it worked okay! I just don’t buy bacon very often! So I added the bacon bits now, after the tomatoes, and stirred it all together.
Working one at a time, crack the eggs into a small bowl and the carefully transfer to the bread-lined muffin tins. The goal is not to break the yolk. Alternately, you can scramble the egg and pour it in that way. I found that I had to pick the smallest eggs I had – the large ones would flow over the side. So, I was also thinking that if your eggs are big, you could scramble 3 and pour them into 4 muffin tins (I’m going to try this next time I make them). Anyways, you get the idea. Sprinkle the egg with salt and pepper. Top each egg with some of the tomato-bacon mixture (1/4 each) and then a little cheese. Place in the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes! How easy was that?!? You could also change up the ingredients a little – like using feta cheese (my idea), adding green olives or sausage instead of bacon (Rachel Ray’s idea). Experiment (but don’t go crazy)!
