Zucchini Craisin Muffins Recipe

I made up this batter recipe for Zucchini Bread.  I adapted that recipe for muffins.
Preheat oven to 375.  Grease 2 muffin pans or use muffin liners.  In a bowl, mix together 3 Cups Flour, 2/3 Cups Packed Brown Sugar, 1/3 Cup Sugar, 12oz Craisins, 2 tsp Baking Powder, 1/2 tsp Baking Soda, 1 tsp Kosher Salt, a touch of Cardamom, and a few grinds of fresh Nutmeg.  Hand mix with a wire whip to combine ingredients.  Grate 2 Medium sized Zucchini either on a grater box or with a mandolin.  Add to bowl.  Set aside.  In a 2 cup measuring cup begin stacking these ingredients, it'll save on the cleanup!  1/2 Cup Canola Oil, 1/4 Cup Milk, 1/4 Cup Sour Cream (add sour cream to the cup until line comes to 1 Cup), and 2 Eggs.  Mix with a fork until the egg is broken up and the sour cream is distributed.  Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until just combined.  The batter will seem a bit sticky and possibly slightly dry but not to worry, zucchini is a watery vegetable and will make it all good in the end!

Scoop batter using a 1/4 Cup Scoop into the muffin pan.  Makes 22 muffins.  I always leave a corner open on each pan in order to handle the pan without destroying a muffin.  Place in oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.  You can serve this with Orange Flavored Cream Cheese by combining the Zest of 1 Orange into 8 oz softened Cream Cheese.  Serve muffins warm.

Tilapia Topped with Hand Picked Crabs and Lemon Butter Sauce

This was so delicious topped with local hand picked crabs.  The crabs were cooked perfectly with the right amount of seasoning.  The Talapia was cooked perfectly with the right amount of lemon and butter in the sauce.
Heres what I did.
Buy 6 Crabs.  These came from Mandeville Seafood Market and were $20 a dozen, not bad.  Hand pick crabs.  If you don't know how to do this, buy local crabmeat already picked (and hopefully seasoned.)
First, some prep.  Heat water for pasta.  Rinse and pat dry 1 Tilapia Fillets per person.  Zest and juice 1 Lemon.  Mix 2 tsp Corn Starch with 2 tsp Chicken Broth and set aside.  Cut 1/2 Stick UnSalted Butter into 4 pieces.
Heat empty skillet over medium heat until thoroughly heated.  Add salt and pasta to water.  Add 1 Tbl Oilve Oil and 1 Tbl UnSalted Butter to skillet.  Add fish fillets to skillet and cook until just done turning only once.  The second side will take slightly less time than the first.  Remove the fish from the pan, place on a plate, and cover loosely with foil.
Make Sauce.  Add Lemon Zest and cook for 10 seconds.  Add 2 Tbl Dry Vermouth and cook for 30 seconds.  Add Lemon Juice and cook for 30 seconds until it appears thick.  Add Corn Starch Mixture and 1/4 Cup Chicken Broth. Cook for another minute or 2 allowing it to bubble gently.  Turn off heat and add butter.  Swirl gently.  Add Crab Meat.  Plate up pasta and fish and top with the crabmeat sauce.  Serve with a salad, a buttery white wine, and crusty bread.

Mini Wonton Wrapper Quiche Recipe

These are just perfect as an appetizer, snack, or buffet breakfast / brunch.  My tennis team acknowledged Breast Cancer Awareness last week and this was one of the things we ate.  I baked them in the morning and brought them warm, still in the pan.





Here's what I did.  NOTE: This recipe makes 24 quiches. There are 48 Wontons Wrappers in a package so this can be doubled to make 48 quiches.  

To get a jump on it, the night before, cook 6 slices Thick Slab Smoked Bacon until crisp and grate 1 Cup Emmentaler Cheese.


The following morning, first take the wontons out of the refrigerator so they warm up and become pliable, otherwise they will crack.  Preheat oven to 350.  While oven is warming, do some prep.  Melt 1/2 Stick Butter.  Crumple the bacon.  Cut 12 Grape Tomatoes in half the long way.    Brush all the cups of a mini-muffin pan with the melted butter.  To a bowl, (I used a batter bowl for easy and quick pouring) add 5 Eggs, 1/2 Cup 1/2 & 1/2, 1 Tbl Flour, S&P to taste.

Keep the wontons in a stack and cut all 4 corners off.  Working 1 at a time, brush each wonton with butter and arrange it in each of the cups, butter side down. Fill each cup with Egg Mixture.  Add 1 tsp of Grated Cheese, crumpled Bacon (you have enough for 1 slice per 4 cups) and top with a Grape Tomato, cut side up.  Place in hot oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Serve at once straight out of the pan!

Frozen Chocolate Mousse with a Chocolate Cookie Crust

If you want to impress your friends, make this dessert.  It's a bit time consuming but it's all cleaned up by the time you entertain.  My inspiration came from a spring-form pan I found that is 3" tall and 6 1/2" in diameter.  I basically made my chocolate mousse recipe, with a few changes, and froze it.
For the Cookie Crust, in a food processor, add 12 Nabisco Chocolate Wafer Cookies.  Add 1 Tbl Sugar and 1 Tbl melted UnSalted Butter.  Grind until you have find crumbs.  Lay a piece of plastic wrap in the pan to ensure your mousse won't stick.  It should hang over the sides.  Add a generous layer of crumbs in the bottom of a spring-form pan and gently tap using a flat bottomed glass or a round meat tenderizer.  Place in freezer.
The mousse recipe is made in 3 basic steps.  Organize how you will use 2 pots and 3 bowls, as you need 2 double boilers.

To a bowl that will fit into a pot to create a double boiler, add 6 oz Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate, 6 oz UnSalted Butter and 1/4 Cup Water.  Fill pot with 2" water and heat over medium heat.  Place the bowl in the pot.   Melt the mixture while stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat and allow to return to room temperature.

Separate 4 Large Eggs, the whites into a mixing bowl and the yolks into a bowl that will fit over a pot of water.  In the second bowl, over 2 " simmering water, use a hand mixer to beat 4 Egg Yolks with 1/3 Cup + 2 Tbl Sugar and 4 Tbl Frangelico.  This will take about 15 minutes.  It should be fairly thick, almost like runny mayonnaise.  Remove from the heat and place the yolk mixture bowl in an ice bath in order to cool the bowl and therefore yolk mixture.  Continue beating the mixture until is is cool to the touch.  This may take about 15 minutes.

Fold the Chocolate Mixture into the Yolk Mixture.

Beat Egg Whites until frothy.  Continue beating until they begin to hold their shape. Add 1 Tbl Sugar and beat until shiny and add 1 tsp Vanilla.

Fold 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate mixture.  Do this 2 more times.  Add this on top of the cookie crust.  It should fill the pan to the top.  Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.  To serve, whip 1 Cup Heavy Cream with 1 Tbl Sugar until the peaks hold.
Remove the ring from the frozen dessert and discard the plastic wrap.  Cut the frozen dessert with a sharp knife and place on a plate.  Add a dollop of whipped cream.  Either sprinkle with leftover cookie crumbs or chocolate shavings and serve at once.

Butternut Squash Risotto

This is a wonderful autumn dish that can go with any number of meats (ham, pork, lamb, beef or poultry) or can be eaten as the entree.  This dish takes time to cook so you shouldn't plan on walking away while it is cooking as it needs periodic attention.
First, skin a Small Butternut Squash.  If you haven't worked with one, the neck is solid meal and the bulb is where the cavity.  Cut the squash in half where the two sections meet.  Place the cut side on a board and using a sharp knife, remove the skin using a top to bottom motion, turning as you go until all that is remaining is the meat.  For the neck, cut long slices about 1/4" thick.  Cut the slices into 1/4" strips and dice into 1/4' cubes.  For the bulb, cut in half and remove the seeds.  Place squash on a board so it represents a dome.  Cut 1/4" slices, cut the slices into 1/4" strips and the strips into 1/4" cubes.  Some of these pieces will be misshapen because of the curves but try to keep the general dice uniform so it cooks for the same length of time.  Dice a Small Vidalia Onion into 1/4" cubes.  Heat an empty sauce pan over medium heat.  Add 2 Tbl Olive Oil.  Once the oil is hot, add the vegetables and cook stirring often for about 6-8 minutes until the onion has sweated and the squash begins to become soft.  Do not brown the onion.  Add 1 Cup Arborio Rice.  Stir for about 1 minute.  Begin adding 32 oz of good quality Chicken Broth, 1/4 cup at a time.  (NOTE: If you are serving this to a vegetarian, use vegetable broth.)  Stir during and after each addition.  As the rice absorbs the broth, it's time to add more.  Continue adding broth until the rice is cooked but not mushy.  You may or may not use all of the broth.  Add Kosher Salt and White Pepper to taste.  Serve with Grated Parmesan Cheese.  Though I didn't add any herbs, after eating this I concluded that I would add finely minced Rosemary or Thyme.

Pumpkin Gruyere Souffle

I have adapted this recipe from a recipe in The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook.  I bought this book about 15 years ago for side dish ideas.  This recipe is originally made by cooking Golden Nugget Squash, removing the meat and re-stuffing the squash to bake it.   It is very tasty and I will make it that way when the squash is available.  For now though, I found pie pumpkins are arriving in the produce section, so I used one.  I apologize the souffle fell before I photographed it (it rose to just above the rim of the souffle dish) but I an assure you this is a very tasty recipe.  Here is my adaptation.
Cut 1 Pie Pumpkin in half and and place it in a very large pot, fitted with a steamer basket and about 2" of water.  Cook over simmering water for about 20-25 minutes or until meat is tender.
While the pumpkin is cooking do a little prep.  Butter (all the way to the top) and sugar 8 individual souffle dishes.  Place them on a sheet pan.  Separate 3 Eggs, the whites into a bowl ready to beat and the yolks into a small dish for adding to the butter/flour mixture. Using a grater box, grate 1/2 Cup Gruyere Cheese.  Preheat oven to 415F.  To a medium bowl, scrape and mash the pumpkin, discard the skin.
Melt 4 Tbl of Butter over medium heat.  Add 3 Tbl Flour and stir for about 1 minute.  Gradually add 2/3 Cup of Milk, stirring to keep the mixture smooth.  Cook for another minute until the mixture is thick.  Remove from the heat.  Add the egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add grated gruyere and stir until it is smooth.  Add about 1/4 tsp Freshly Ground Nutmeg.  Add this to the pumpkin and stir until blended.  Using a hand mixer, beat egg whites until stiff.  Fold into the pumpkin mixture.  Add mixture to the souffle dishes and bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed up and set.
Use a strong spatula to transfer each souffle dish to a dinner plate.  Warn your diners that the souffle and the dish are quite hot.  Delicious served with your fall favorites!

Fruit Smoothies

We make smoothies a lot, all year long.  I make them many different ways but here is the recipe for the smoothie shown.  Mango's are very inexpensive (around $1).  I love them in a smoothie.  This recipe makes two smoothies, one for me and one for my son.  To a blender, add 1 banana, 1 Mango, 5 Strawberries, 2 rings Fresh Pineapple, 1/2 Cup Milk, 1 Scoop Raspberry Sherbert, 15 Ice Cubes.  Blend until smooth and pour into glasses.

For non-dairy, use juice or a milk substitute.

Cutting a Mango

Mangos are tricky to cut.  Without this gadget, there is more waste than is necessary.  The pit is an odd shape and you have to know how it lays inside the fruit to know how to cut the fruit.  Using this handy gadget eliminates the mystery.




Set the Mango on one of the its ends.  Push down.  You will be left with 2 halves and what appears to be solid fruit but is actually the pit.  Discard the pit.




Using a sharp knife, score each half, making cuts spaced 1/2" apart, first in the lengthwise direction, then perpendicular to those cuts.  The skin has a concave shape.  Place your fingers on the outside of the skin and push upward to make a convex shape.  Run the knife along the inside of the skin releasing the cubes of fruit. Hopefully these pictures will help you.

Changed My Label System

You will notice a new look to the side bar labels.  My labels began to have too many cross references.  The labels are supposed to resemble an index in a cook book, however, there isn't a way to break down the labels to subsets.  For example, in a cook book you see 'Meat' broken down further into sub groups, for instance Chicken, Beef, Pork, Lamb, etc.  I like that system and am searching for a way to list my recipes in that fashion.  If it can't be done on this blog, I may move my blog to a location where that is an option.  Any feedback is welcomed!!  The comments section is open to all.

Bread Stuffing For Roast Cornish Game Hens

I am so ready for autumn.  Labor Day weekend marks the change from summer to autumn for most of the country... though not for SE Louisiana.  Being a New Yorker I still struggle with the extra month of summer.  Whenever we get a cloudy day during this time of year, I can't resist roasting something in the oven.   We have a tropical storm dropping rain on us so I decided to make a bread stuffing and roast Cornish Game Hens.

Here it is, Oct 2012, I noticed this post getting a considerable amount of hits in the past month or so.  I decided to re-read the recipe for exactness and found I never posted one!  I am sorry.  I know I have a few missing recipes, but I didn't know this was one of them.

As I mentioned, I am a Yankee, and if I am going to stuff a bird, these are the flavors I am craving.  Oh and we call it dressing, not stuffing.  Here in the south, you may be more apt to see a cornbread stuffing or even a rice of some sort served on the side that may have pulverized chicken and oysters or giblets.  I'll just leave it at that.  But if you come to my Thanksgiving table, you will see this.

My father is in charge of making the dressing at family gatherings.  He is an engineer and he has crafted multiples of the very old recipe (some 60+ years) to precise weighs and measurements.  I would be remiss if I didn't share that the recipe begins with the pouring of your favorite libation.  This task always begins following dinner on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Thursday.  I am a bit loser in my style except for the libations part. That is a strict ingredient. 

To some degree I tend to wing the ratios depending on what I am stuffing but in general I use the exact seasonings, just not in the exact quantities.   I save the heals of bread for either my own bread crumbs or for dressing.  Pull all of those bags out of the freezer.  Cube 12 Cups worth of Bread Cubes and place them flat on a sheet pan.  If more is needed, use fresh bread.  If this is done early in the day, they will get dry which is what you want.  Otherwise, this is done at night and allowed to dry out over night.

Clean, peel, and dice 2 Stalks of Celery.  Dice 1 Large Onion.  Melt 1 Stick of Butter over medium in a skillet.  Add vegetables and cook stirring often for about 10 minutes.  While they are cooking, measure out, 2 tsp Poultry Seasoning, 1/2 tsp Sage, 1 tsp Salt, 1/2 tsp White Pepper, 1/4 tsp Paprika, 1/4 Cup Freshly Chopped Parsley and add to the bread cubes.  In a small bowl, lightly beat 1 Egg.  Stir in 1/4 Cup Chicken Broth.  Add the cooked vegetables to the bread cubes and stir til combined.  Add the egg and broth and continue to stir.

Preheat oven to 350.  Fill the bird(s) with the dressing without packing it too tightly.  Coat the outside of the hens with 1 Tbl of Butter Each.  Salt and Pepper the outside.  As the butter melts, you will use this for basting.  If you plan to make gravy, Quarter a Small Onion and peel apart some of the layers and add to the roasting pan.  Roast for about 1 hour and 15 minutes basting every 15-20 minutes.

Let rest for 20 minutes before either carving or simply split down the middle in 2.  If there is any leftover dressing, foil line an oven safe dish and place the rest in there, then cover it by overlapping the foil.   This will bake for about 40 minutes in a 350 oven. 

So there you have it, pretty simple and a tradition that I plan to carry on.