Stop in and relax

POST-DESCRIPTION-HERE

Cooking Tips

Here are some baking substitutions when you're making great dessert recipes you might find helpful: 1 cup Cake Flour : Put 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into a 1 cup measuring cup and fill it the rest of the way with All-Purpose Flour. Blend. Presto! You have cake flour. 1 cup Self-Rising Flour 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. 1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar : 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice. 1 cup Buttermilk : Add a tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice)to a cup of milk and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes. 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk : 1 cup nonfat dry milk, 2/3 cup granulated white sugar, 1/2 cup boiling water, 3 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter (mix in a blender or food processor until smooth). Sour Cream : just use plain yogurt. 1 teaspoon Lemon zest : use orange or lime zest or substitute 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract. 1 cup Honey : 3/4 cup maple syrup plus 1/2 cup granulated white sugar or 3/4 cup light or dark corn syrup plus 1/2 cup granulated white sugar or 3/4 cup light molasses plus 1/2 cup granulated white sugar. 1 ounce Unsweetened Chocolate : 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon butter, vegetable oil or shortening 1 ounce Milk Chocolate : 1 ounce bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate and 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar. 1 teaspoon Baking Powder : 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon corn starch. 1 tablespoon cornstarch : 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour. 1 cup Powdered Sugar 1 cup granulated sugar plus 1/8 teaspoon cornstarch processed in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. 1 cup Shortening : 1 cup butter or margarine for regular or butter-flavored shortening. *DO NOT use vegetable oil for shortening when recipe calls for melted shortening. 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger : 1 teaspoon ground allspice. 1 teaspoon Ground Allspice : 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg. 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice : 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar.

Zucchini, carrot, dates cake

1:41 PM Reporter: EMMANUEL JOSEPH 0 Responses

ZUCCHINI AND CARROT CAKES 3 c. all-purpose flour 1 c. whole wheat flour 2 c. sugar 4 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. cloves (ground) 2 1/2 c. corn oil 8 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 1 (16 oz.) can applesauce 1/2 c. molasses 2 c. grated carrots 2 c. grated zucchini 2 c. chopped walnuts 1 c. chopped dates Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine eggs, oil and vanilla and blend into dry ingredients. Add molasses, applesauce, carrots, zucchini, walnuts and dates. Pour into 3 well greased 9x5 inch loaf pans.

Pumpkin Bread

11:18 AM Reporter: EMMANUEL JOSEPH 0 Responses

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon dry ginger powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup applesauce

3 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup canola oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Butter and flour an 8x4 inch loaf pan

Beat sugar and oil in a large bowl to blend.

Mix in eggs, pumpkin, and apple sauce.

Sift flour, cloves, ginger powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder into another large bowl.

Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions.

Pour into the pan.

Bake until tester comes out clean, usually takes 1 hour.

Transfer to cooling racks and cool for 10 minutes.

Turn out onto racks and cool completely.

Candied Peanuts from the streets of New York

5:19 PM Reporter: EMMANUEL JOSEPH 0 Responses

Ingredients:

2 cups (275g) raw peanuts (you can also use almonds, non-roasted cashews, sliced coconut)
1 cup (200g) sugar
1/3 cup (75ml) water
a sprinkle of coarse sea salt
optional: ground cinnamon or chili powder

In a wide, heavy-duty skillet, mix the peanuts with the sugar and water. Cook the ingredients over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until the liquid seizes up. It will take a few minutes.

At this point, the peanuts will get crusty and the sugar will crystallize.

The peanuts will become dry and sandy, which is perfectly normal. Don’t worry; you didn’t mess up. Lower the heat and keep going, scraping up any syrup collecting in the bottom of the pan and stir the peanuts in it, coating them as much as possible.

As you go, tilt the pan, removing it from the heat from time-to-time to regulate the heat and the syrup, so you can coat the nuts with the liquid as it darkens without burning the peanuts or the syrup. This is the only tricky part—I like to get the peanuts as deeply-bronzed as possible. if the mixture starts to smoke, remove it from the heat and stir.

Right before they’re done, sprinkle the peanuts with a sizable pinch of flaky salt (and pinch of cinnamon or chili powder, if you want), stir them a couple of times, then tilt the peanuts out onto a baking sheet or a marble countertop.

Let the peanuts cool completely, then break up any clumps. Store in an airtight container, where they’ll keep up to a week.

Dessert Tips

5:15 PM Reporter: EMMANUEL JOSEPH 0 Responses

In the old south, most of the great recipes were developed by African Americans and poor white folks who couldn't afford anything but the simplest of ingredients. Many times they would find themselves out of something so they would have to make do with what they had.

If you find yourself in the same spot, here are some baking substitutions when you're making great dessert recipes you might find helpful:

1 cup Cake Flour : Put 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into a 1 cup measuring cup and fill it the rest of the way with All-Purpose Flour. Blend. Presto! You have cake flour.

1 cup Self-Rising Flour 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar : 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar or lemon juice. Banana Pudding

1 cup Buttermilk : Add a tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice)to a cup of milk and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk : 1 cup nonfat dry milk, 2/3 cup granulated white sugar, 1/2 cup boiling water, 3 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter (mix in a blender or food processor until smooth).

Sour Cream : just use plain yogurt.

1 teaspoon Lemon zest : use orange or lime zest or substitute 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract.

1 cup Honey : 3/4 cup maple syrup plus 1/2 cup granulated white sugar

or 3/4 cup light or dark corn syrup plus 1/2 cup granulated white sugar

or 3/4 cup light molasses plus 1/2 cup granulated white sugar.

1 ounce Unsweetened Chocolate : 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon butter, vegetable oil or shortening

1 ounce Milk Chocolate : 1 ounce bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate and 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar.

1 teaspoon Baking Powder : 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and 1/4 teaspoon corn starch.

1 tablespoon cornstarch : 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour.

1 cup Powdered Sugar 1 cup granulated sugar plus 1/8 teaspoon cornstarch processed in a food processor fitted with a metal blade.

1 cup Shortening : 1 cup butter or margarine for regular or butter-flavored shortening.

*DO NOT use vegetable oil for shortening when recipe calls for melted shortening.

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger : 1 teaspoon ground allspice.

1 teaspoon Ground Allspice : 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg.

1 teaspoon Lemon Juice : 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

5:12 PM Reporter: EMMANUEL JOSEPH 0 Responses

Here's what you're gonna need:

For the casserole:
5 large sweet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream

For the topping:
1/2 cup butter, softened
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup of miniature marshmallows

Here's what you need to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven or the microwave until they begin to soften. When cool, peel.

In a large bowl, mash the sweet potatoes. Mix in the salt, 1/4 cup of butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Pour into the baking dish. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the rest of the butter along with the flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture. Sprinkle the miniature marshmallows over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F, until topping is crisp and the marshmallows are lightly browned.

I'm sure you're whole family will agree that this recipe for sweet potato casserole is a real winner!

Fried Apples

5:07 PM Reporter: EMMANUEL JOSEPH 0 Responses

Ingredients
3 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced thick
1/2 (1 stick) cup of butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 to 1/2 cup of hot water

Here's what you need to do:

Melt the butter in a large heavy bottom skillet.

Stir in the salt and brown sugar. Cook while continuing to stir for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the apples. You can use pretty much any kind of apple you want except maybe a soft apple like a MacIntosh. MacIntosh would probably become mushy. My personal favorites for this recipe are honeycrisp, gala and golden or red delicious.

Continue cooking over medium heat until the apples give up their juice and then the juice thickens and the apples become tender. Depending upon the type of apple you use, this could take a little while.

Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and enough water to make it the desired consistency. I like mine the consistency of pure maple syrup. Not too thick and not too thin. Stir and continue cooking another 3 to 4 minutes. If for some reason you get it too thin, you can always make a little slurry of 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 1 Tablespoon of cold water and add it to your apples to thicken it back up a little.

I think you're gonna love this fried apples recipe!

Chicken and mashed potato casserole

5:03 PM Reporter: EMMANUEL JOSEPH 0 Responses

This easy chicken and mashed potato casserole will not only use up those leftover potatoes but will leave you whole family wanting more.

Here's what you are going to need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon of dried sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 pound of frozen California Blend Vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and carrots)
4 cups of leftover mashed potatoes
Paprika for sprinkling on top of the casserole

Here's what you need to do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large skillet, mix together the 2 cans of soup, sour cream and poultry seasoning. Bring to a simmer over medium low heat.

Cut the chicken breasts into bite sized cubes.

Stir in the chicken and onions.

Add the frozen vegetables and mix well. Bring back up to a simmer. Cover and simmer on low 15 minutes.

Pour into a 2-quart casserole dish.

Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the gravy mixture in several mounds around the dish.

Carefully spread the potatoes over the entire top of the casserole all the way to the edges.

Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake at 375 F for an hour. If the potatoes are not browned enough, place the dish under the broiler for a few minutes to brown.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Zucchini, carrot, dates cake

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon dry ginger powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup applesauce

3 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup canola oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Butter and flour an 8x4 inch loaf pan

Beat sugar and oil in a large bowl to blend.

Mix in eggs, pumpkin, and apple sauce.

Sift flour, cloves, ginger powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder into another large bowl.

Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions.

Pour into the pan.

Bake until tester comes out clean, usually takes 1 hour.

Transfer to cooling racks and cool for 10 minutes.

Turn out onto racks and cool completely.

Friday, June 22, 2012