Nestle's Mini Skillet Cookies

Have you ever gone to a restaurnant and ordered a hot cookie and it came served in a mini skillet?  I knew we would have fun with the mini skillets I gave to my son for Christmas!  We were at Costco and my son wanted to buy a tub of Nestles Cookie dough.  First, it was larger than we would eat in a month.  Second, I told him I didn't think it had real butter and in reading the label, I was right.  Third, it was $7, not a bad price, but I already had all of the needed ingredients at home.  

I offered to make the cookie dough which I store in a plastic container so he could bake the mini skillet cookies when he wanted.  We've made 3 skillets twice so far and I think we have enough to make 3 more, if not 3, then 2.  The only thing that would make it better is to place a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream on top when serving!  But this is an awesome dessert!

Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly grease each skillet with a thin coating of Crisco.  Make the Nestle's cookie dough using the recipe found on the package.  Scoop about 1/2 Cup of dough into each skillet and press with the back of a spoon to even it out.  They will rise when baking.  Bake for about 12 minutes and reduce the heat to 350 to let them finish cooking.  Mine seemed brown on the edges and still light in the middle, so I decided to reduce the heat for an even bake.  Let rest for no more than 5 minutes and enjoy with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream or a cold glass of milk!

Spiralizer Vegetable Pancakes

I have been intrigued by the Spiralizer for sometime and being drawn to kitchen gadgets, I bought one.  Bed, Bath & Beyond sells the OXO for $40, $32 after the discount.   I chose that one because of the way the suction mechanism works.  It will get lots of use, though I am not so sure about zucchini cut into spaghetti and then cooked like spaghetti because I like my zuchinni carmelized. Because it's so watery, cooking in water seems like the workings for a watery mess to me.  We'll see, maybe it's pictured raw with olive oil and herbs but we are led to believe it's cooked.  

So first up for me was vegetable pancakes.  I make potato pancakes often enough but wanted to try vegetables along with a small Sweet Potato for a change.  They were fun to make and very tasty.  You can combine many vegetables, including things I chose but also, turnips, rutabagas, scallions, shallots, onions, bean sprouts, black olives, zuchinni, summer squash, jicama, etc.  Really anything you are in the mood for.

We just got a local Whole Food a few weeks ago.  They have tri-colored carrots on their immense salad bar so that became my inspiration.  I figured they must sell them as well and I was right.

It takes a little practice to use the spiralizer and the short ends of the carrots didn't work as well because there isn't anything to grip.  The fatter halves worked better, so I cut them in half.

What I spun created 12 nicely sized vegetable pancakes.  Spiralize onto a sheet pan, 1 Small Peeled Sweet Potato, 1 Peeled Orange Carrot, 1 Peeled Red Carrot, 1 Peeled Yellow Carrot, 1 Medium Zuchinni. To this I added 1/2 Red Onion cut along the radius to make long strips.  Place all of the vegetables in a bowl.  Beat 2 Eggs with a few TBL of Milk.  Add to vegetables.  Generously add S&P to taste.  Add enough Flour to coat the vegetables so the excess moisture is absorbed.  Right before cooking, I dusted with a bit more flour so the vegetable mixture isn't soupy.  

Preheat the oven to 250 and have ready a sheet pan with a cooling rack inserted.  Preheat a skillet over medium heat and add 1/2" Canola Oil.  Make small pancakes and place in hot oil.  Flip over one time once golden brown.  You can add additional S&P if needed to the cooked side.  What's neat is because the spirals come out as very long strands, you have to break them apart and the result is that no 2 are alike.  

Place the cooked pancakes on the cooling rack and place them in the oven once they are all cooked.  Serve warm!

Grilled Skirt Steak

I found skirt steaks recently and they are not always available unless you really look or ask.  The first time I had skirt steak was at the Fog City Diner in SF.  This was in the 80's, mind you, but that was the dish to order.  It was served, unsliced, with a huge pile of delicious shoe string fries!

This past Friday night, I made up my own quick marinade.  Skirt Steaks are long so I cut it in half.  One end is thicker than the other so if you want them both the same done-ness, place the thick one on the grill first.  For the marinade, I used about 2 Tbl Soy Sauce, 1 Tbl Rice Vinegar, 1 Tbl Stone Ground Mustard, 2 Tbl Brown Sugar, 2 Tbl Water, 1/4 tsp Coriander and Cracked Peppercorn to taste. You can add Garlic or even Red Pepper Flakes for more bold flavor.

Years ago, I bought a neat Tupperware container for marinating.  It has a waffle design so the marinade touches whatever you are marinating.  You add the lid, a similar design, and just flip the container e very so often.  It all goes in the dishwasher.  I highly recommend investing in something like this if you marinade a lot; I use it just about weekly.  I make my marinated right in the container and simply add the meat.  Marinate the skirt steak(s) for at least an hour.  When ready, preheat the grill with the lid shut, to at least 600-650 degrees.

Oh, I should add, we finally replaced our infer-red grill!  I am back to doing what I love!!

To grill the steak, place on the grill on the diagonal.  You are going to cook both sides twice to get cross marks.  For medium rare, cook the first side for about 3-3.5 min then flip and cook for another 3-3.5 minutes.  Then turn 90 degrees to the marks you have on the first side and cook for at least 3-4 minutes.  Then finally flip to the 2nd side again and cook for at least 3-4 minutes.  The grill will cool down so you may even had to go 4 minutes on the second cooking.  NOTE: Think about your flipping before you mess with this so your marks are good. 


I served mine with oven made Fries.  I thinly cut elongated New Potatoes and tossed in good quality Olive Oil and cooked til crispy.  They take over an hour in a 375 oven, turning about every 20 minutes. 

The skirt steak can be grilled and served whole or can be sliced after resting for 5 minutes.  The sliced steak is delicious leftover in a Fajita or Steak Quesadilla!!

Parmesan Cheese Grater

If you need a gift for Mother's Day, this is an awesome idea!!  I use this tool, which resembles a file, to grate a fresh hunk of Parmesan Cheese over pasta dishes.  (I use it to grate Fresh Ginger, too.)  I typically wrap the cheese in deli-paper and bring it to the table, just like a restaurant.  It's absolutely delicious.  If you plan to get one, they can be found at local high end kitchen stores and Williams and Sonoma.  Don't forget the cheese to go with it; buy a fresh piece of real Parmesan Reggiano at the cheese counter.

Note:  This isn't a kids tool without strict training.  It will cut like a razor.

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.

Sharping Your Knives

One of the most dangerous things in the kitchen besides broken or damaged tools are unsharpened knives.  As long as I don't fly to vacation, I always pack my own knives.  I traditionally bring a paring knife, a serrated tomato knife, and a 5" Santoku although in the past I used to bring my 6" Chef's knife.  I have mentioned this in previous posts but am reminded again, as I am on vacation, and once again I would have been subject to the wooden block with all of the cheap knives.  I drove here so I don't have to use these knives, but they are horrible.

When a knife is dull, instead of cutting through the food, the blade actually moves or rolls the food and causes your fingers to be under the blade.  A finger cut doesn't stop bleeding very quickly.  Keep your knives sharp by learning to use a steel.  Run the blade over it a dozen times or so before each use.  It takes a little extra time but it is worth it.  I finally bought a knife sharpener and use it every few months to get a good blade on all of my knives.  It cost about $80.  It has 3 wheels in different grades, course to fine, which spin.  There magnets set at a 45 degree angle to the wheel.  You pull the knives past the spinning wheel to sharpen both sides of the blade.  The sharp blade holds for a good month depending on how much use it gets.  Pull out your steels today and to remove the burrs and nicks and I guarantee you will feel the difference.