Pecan Pie Bars

I have been meaning to do these for a while and last weekend I finally found some time to do them. I haven't been cooking anything worth mentioning lately, mainly due to staying at the office late and when I get home I don't feel like cooking anything fancy. I came across this recipe sometime in December and from the picture I thought they looked really good. After reading the reviews where everyone raved how good they were and being that I love pecans, I was convinced I had to try it and see for myself. Lets just say that I will definitely be making these again !

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup margarine
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
• 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Lightly grease a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan.
   
2. In a large bowl stir together the flour, 1/2 cup white sugar and the salt. Cut in 1 cup of margarine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the prepared pan, and press firmly. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven.
   
3. While the crust is baking prepare the filling. In a large bowl mix together the eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, 3 tablespoons butter, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the chopped pecans.
4. Spread the filling evenly over the crust as soon as you take it out of the oven. Bake for another 30 minutes in the oven, or until set. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing into bars.

The original recipe was from http://www.allrecipes.com

Buffalo Chicken Wings

I love buffalo chicken wings at restaurants and this weekend I decided to make them myself. I must have looked at a hundred recipes before I chose the one I thought was good, there are so many different ways to make these ! I thought that next time I make these I will try one of the other recipes I saved to experiment a little, but I'm really pleased with how this turned out so I will probably end up using this recipe. The chicken wings I had were on the largish side but the quantities for the recipe were enough.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup hot sauce
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 chicken wings
• oil for frying

Directions

1. In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place the chicken wings in a large nonporous bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.
2. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended.
3. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375˚F, the oil should be enough to cover the chicken wings entirely. Fry the coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until parts of the wings turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in a bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together.
   

The original recipe was from http://www.allrecipes.com.

Vegeterian Potato Kugel

I have this somewhat old recipe book which belonged to my mother, it has some really good recipes. I usually make a Zucchini Slice recipe from it which I really like, but I didn't have any zucchini so I thought I'd make the recipe next to it since it looked kind of similar and I had all the ingredients. I don't think it's that good by itself but it was great with the chorizo sausage and green beans that I served it with. I also think mine turned out too flat, since I have the impression that potato kugel is usually a bit thicker, but that was probably because of the pan I used to bake it in. This made me want to try other kugel recipes, I was looking around online and there are a million recipes with different ingredients !

Directions

• 3 medium potatoes, grated
  
• 2 small carrots, grated
  
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
  
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
  
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
  
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup milk powder
• 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup natural yogurt
• 2 shallots
  

Directions

1. In a large bowl mix together the potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic. Pour the egg and the oil over the vegetable mixture, then add the parsley, bread crumbs and milk powder. Mix well.
2. Spread mixture into a well greased pan, base measuring 7 inches, and dot with butter. Bake in a preheated oven of 300˚F for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the Cheddar cheese and bake for a further 15 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
   
3. Serve warm or cold topped with combined yogurt and chopped shallots.
   

Stuffed Mushrooms

I am a big fan of mushrooms, especially stuffed mushrooms. I have made stuffed mushrooms in various different ways and they always turn out good, but I believe these are the best I have made so far. I never thought to try it with cream cheese, and when I saw this recipe I immediately thought that I had to try it. Next time I make these I will try sprinkling bread crumbs on top, I think they will be even better. I served these with grilled steak with rosemary, it was great. The recipe is for 12 large mushrooms, but I had smaller ones and it was enough for 24 mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 12 large mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off the stems and chop stems extremely fine.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chopped mushroom stems and fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.
3. When the mushroom and garlic mixture cools, stir in the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. The mixture should be very thick. Using a teaspoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing.
   
4. Place the mushrooms on a lightly greased cooking sheet and bake in a preheated oven of 350˚F for 20 minutes, or until mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under the caps.

The original recipe was from http://www.allrecipes.com.

Fried Shrimp Cakes

Yesterday I was looking for a different way to cook shrimp and came across this recipe. Since I never tried anything like this with shrimp I decided to give it a shot. I also thought that they needed some sort of sauce and while browsing for ideas I found a recipe for "Angry Mayonnaise" which seemed to go with it. They complement each other so well I couldn't have found anything better to go with the shrimp cakes. I wouldn't have been too crazy about the shrimp cakes by themselves but together they were delicious ! I didn't feel like taking out the food processor so I cut everything into small pieces and it was still ok, but I suppose it's best to use one to make the shrimp cakes so they are more manageable.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound shrimp
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 scallions, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons Sherry
• olive oil for cooking

Directions

1. Process or blend the shrimp with the garlic, scallions, salt, flour and Sherry to make a thick batter. Let stand, covered with plastic film, for about 1 hour.
2. Fry in drops of 1 heaping teaspoon in olive oil poured to a depth of 2 inches in a pan for about 1 minute on each side, or until golden brown.
3. Drain on paper towels.

Angry Mayonnaise


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 12 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 chili pepper, finely chopped
• 1 cup fresh basil, torn in smaller pieces
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest
• salt & pepper
  

Directions

1. Add the olive oil to a large saute pan and place over high heat. Add the garlic and cook until just starting to turn golden brown. Add the chili peppers to soften them a bit.
2. Add the basil leaves and stand back, the basil will crack and pop. Let the basil get crispy and toss in the orange zest for about 30 seconds. Pour the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for a few minutes to cool.
3. Meanwhile mix the mayonnaise with the lemon juice. Fold the basil mixture into the mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper to taste.

The original recipe was from http://www.foodnetwork.com.

Rolled Sugar Cookies

I meant to make sugar cookies for Christmas but unfortunately never got around to it. I still wanted to make them even though a few days late. This was also the first time I made sugar cookies and I was a little nervous since I had to roll the dough, it seemed like a bigger task than it actually is ! They turned out great and I really liked the icing. The only thing is that the next day the icing didn't remain shiny as I thought it would be but I thought it was better than any sugar cookie frosting I tasted before. I made 60 cookies with this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour or overnight.
2. Roll out the though on a floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased cooking sheet 1 inch apart.
3. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven of 400˚F for 6-8 minutes.

Sugar Cookie Icing


Ingredients

• 2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 4 teaspoons milk
• 4 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• assorted food coloring

Directions

1. In a small bowl stir together the confectioner's sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If the icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
2. Divide into separate bowls and add food coloring to desired intensity. Paint the cookies with a brush.

The original recipe was from http://www.allrecipes.com.

Seafood Risotto

I love seafood but for some reason I have always been scared to cook it myself. The other day I felt brave and got a package of assorted shellfish and seafood. I wasn't sure what to do with it and after looking around for recipes I decided on seafood risotto. There seems to be different ways to make seafood risotto but this seemed good, and it was ! I mostly followed the recipe but used brown rice instead of Arborio rice because I like it better.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup red onions, chopped
• 6 cups seafood stock
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 cups brown rice
• 1 lb assorted shellfish and seafood
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 3 tablespoons green onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  
• salt & pepper

Directions

1. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper. Saute until the onions are slightly soft, about 3 minutes. Add the stock and garlic, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 6 minutes.
2. Add the rice and simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
   
3. Clean the shellfish and seafood and season with salt and pepper, add to the rice and continue to cook for 6 minutes.
   
4. Stir in the butter, cream, Parmesan cheese and green onions and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, spoon the risotto in a shallow bowl and garnish with parsley.

The original recipe was from http://www.foodnetwork.com.