24 Haziran 2012 Pazar

Restaurant Style Salsa

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I have made salsa a few other times but the results were never anything to write home about. I came across this recipe on Pioneer Woman's site and thought that it sounded right up my ally. Since I prefer my salsa with no large chunks in it, the food processor was definitely my best friend when making this. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can make it as chunky or smooth as you like it. Heck you can make half of the batch chunky and half of it smooth. Really, it is so easy and foolproof.


I typically hate cilantro but thought that a teeny bit would be ok in the recipe. I was right, it was fine. Actually this recipe was quite delicious. Even my husband, the condiment hater, was scooping it up all night long. I took my leftovers into work the following day and the entire batch of salsa was polished off in a matter of a few hours.By the way, this recipes makes enough salsa for a small army. I think I had about 4 1/2 cups of it when all was said and done. Another thing to think about is draining the Rotel. The recipe does not mention it, but I did it. It seemed like the salsa would have been to watery if I had not. Enjoy!


Restaurant Style Salsa
Adapted from
The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
1 can (28 Ounce) whole tomatoes with juice
2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel
¼ cups chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin
¼ teaspoons sugar
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons ground cumin
½ cups cilantro (or more to taste!)
½ whole lime juice

Preparation Instructions
Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.
Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos.

Garlic Herb Braid

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I have been baking bread for about five years now. In that time many different sizes and shapes of bread have graced my dinner table, yet I have never experimented with a braided loaf. The concept is easy, three ropes of dough are carefully maneuvered back and forth until the end of the ropes are reached and a beautiful braid is achieved. Lets just say there is a reason you do not see a picture of my loaf before it was cut. Let's just say that I am going to have to practice this technique. :)


This was one of the quickest yeast bread recipes that I have ever made. The whole process from raw ingredients to baked loaf could not have taken much more than an hour and a half. The end result was quite delicious and went well with the chicken manicotti and salad that was served at my monthly scrapbooking night. This is definitely a recipe that I will make again.


Garlic-Herb Braid
as seen on
Christy's Kitchen Creations from Taste of Home

Ingredients
4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 packages (1/4 oz each) quick-rise yeast
2 teaspoons dried basil
1-3/4 teaspoons dill weed
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter, melted


Directions
In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast and seasonings. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, water and cubed butter to 120-130 degrees. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add egg; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

Divide dough into thirds. Shape each into a 15-in. rope. Place ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid; pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 25 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chipsters

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I reached for Dorie Greenspan's cookbook the other day when I felt like baking up something delicious. My plan was to find a recipe in the book that I had all of the ingredients for and that I was able to make right then and there . When I came across this cookie recipe it sounded pretty good so I thought that I would give it a try.


If you were to take a peanut butter cookie, an oatmeal cookie, and a chocolate chip cookie and cram them all together into one bite these would definitely be what it would taste like. My husband and I enjoyed the cookies and so did all of my co-workers (especially the pregnant one). I did not have enough of any one kind of chocolate to put into these so I used a combination of bittersweet, semi-sweet, and white chocolate. These were a huge hit all around and I am already planning on adding the recipe to my list of favorites.



What is your favorite kind of cookie? Is there any kind of cookie that you would like me to feature here on Amber's Delectable Delights?

Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
from
Baking, From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups -bought chocolate chips or chunks.

Directions
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla.Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Mix in the chips.If you have the time, cover and chill the dough for about 2 hours or for up to one day. (Chilling the dough will give you more evenly shaped cookies.)
If the dough is not chilled, drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. If the dough is chilled, scoop up rounded tablespoons, roll the balls between your palms and place them 2 inches apart on the sheets. Press the chilled balls gently with the heel of your hand until they are about 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be golden and just firm around the edges. Lift the cookies onto cooling racks with a wide metal spatula - they'll firm as they cool.
Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Storing - wrapped airtight or piled into a cookie jar, the cookies will keep at room temperature for about 4 days. Wrapped and frozen, they'll be good for 2 months.

Banana Streusel Muffins

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It has been forever since I had made banana muffins and I figured it was time to give them another go. Before I began to look around for recipes I knew exactly what I wanted. I envisioned a soft, delicate, lightly sweetened muffin with a crunchy streusel topping. I came across this recipe and it sounded like it fit the bill perfectly. I quickly mixed up a batch with a couple of bananas that had ripened beautifully and soon after had a delicious banana muffin for an afternoon snack.


This recipe is definitely my new go-to banana muffin recipe. The muffins rose up high and produced the perfect crumb. The banana flavor was so intense and and the crunchy streusel topped the muffin perfectly. This is a people pleasing recipe that you should definitely make soon.




Banana Streusel Muffins
Adapted from
Allrecipes

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

Streusel Topping
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. In a small bowl, beat eggs, sour cream, butter and bananas; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
For streusel, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; cut in butter. If using almonds stir them in at this time. Sprinkle over muffins. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.

Quarter Pound Cookies

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I always say that I am going to stop trying new chocolate chip cookie recipes yet it seems like every time I make them I am using a new recipe. When I saw these outrageously huge 4oz cookies on Shawnda's blog I knew that I would not be able to resist. I grabbed some extra cold butter from the freezer and set out on my marry way. The dough started out on the dry side and I was worried that it would not come together correctly but I was mistaken. By the time the chocolate and nuts were mixed in, the dough was perfect. I pushed the tops of my dough balls down a bit which made them wider and a tad flatter than others, if you want to make sure you have nice tall puffy cookies keep the dough in a ball when you place it onto the cookie sheet.


These cookies are definitely quite impressive in both size and flavor. These quarter pound cookies measure about 4 1/2 inches across and about 3/4 of an inch thick. A slightly crisp outer shell partnered with a gooey buttery inside makes these cookies pretty much irresistible. I will definitely be making these amazing cookies again. I recommend you try them out, immediately.


Levain Bakery-ish Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from
Confections of a Foodie Bride

yields ~12 cookies

Ingredients
8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter (very cold, shredded with your food processor)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour (13 1/2 oz)
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
12oz good quality semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Beat the cold butter and both sugars until just combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat just until incorporated.

Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to the mixer bowl and mix just until blended. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts and mix until distributed. (The dough will be VERY stiff at this point.)

Divide the dough into 12 balls, approx 4 oz each (think a little larger than a golf ball; a slightly rounded 2.5-inch scoop will do the trick perfectly) and place on an ungreased baking pan. Chill the dough for 20 minutes. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until browned on the edges and set in the center. Let cool completely on the pans before transferring to airtight storage.

23 Haziran 2012 Cumartesi

7-year itch? Nami-Nami food blog anniversary post and a recipe for a Swedish shrimp salad (Räksallad)

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IMG_1247.jpg

Nami-Nami foodblog is now seven years old. On June 15, 2005, I wrote my first English-language blog post. Back then I was seven years younger. I had just finished my PhD in Sociology of Nationalism at the University of Edinburgh in bonnie Scotland, and about to start my first post-doctoral fellowship at the same university. I hadn't yet met my dear K, who seduced me back to Estonia in October following year (I met in him on November 1, 2005, four and half months after starting blogging, at a reception in Edinburgh), and I definitely didn't have any gorgeous kids back then (and, consequently, I had much more time for blogging :))

Those seven years have been fun - it's been fun meeting other foodbloggers from all over the world, it's been fun taking part in various foodblogging events. It's been educating and entertaining thinking more about what, how, and why we eat, being more reflexive about our dietary choices, eating habits and the food culture in general.

And nope, there's definitely no seven-year itch in my relationship to Nami-Nami foodblog. We're still going strong, and I have no intention of quitting just yet. Furthermore, there are some extremely interesting blogging-related trips and meet-ups lined up for the near future, so stay with me and Nami-Nami :)

For today's recipe, I'll give you this Swedish shrimp salad, something that was offer on the recent Swedish buffet. Although I do cook and blog about dishes from all over the world, then I do feel most happy and confident when blogging about Estonian, other Nordic and possibly also Eastern European dishes. This is a very Nordic salad flavour-wise - fresh, herbal, light and very summery. You can serve it as a simple salad or perhaps on top of some buttered toast.


Swedish shrimp salad
Serves six (can be easily multiplied)

400-500 g hand-peeled cooked shrimps*
100 ml (7 level Tbsp) of good-quality mayonnaise
100 ml finely chopped fresh dill
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp mild paprika powder
0.25 tsp freshly ground pepper (preferably white pepper)

* I prefer the ones in a light marinade or brine to the frozen ones, but both will do. Just make sure the netto weight after defrosting and draining is about 400 g.

If using frozen shrimps, then thoroughly defrost them (I take them from the freezer and put into the fridge on the previous night). Drain thoroughly, then squeeze gently to remove as much water as possible. If using shrimps in a brine/marinade, then simply drain them.
Put couple of shrimps on the side, if you want to use them for garnish.
In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise and dill, season with lemon juice, paprika powder and pepper. Add the shrimps and stir gently, until combined.
Transfer the salad into a serving bowl, garnish with some shrimps and dill.

Serve at once, or cover with clingfilm and place into the fridge for an hour or two.

Christmas Cookie Round-Up

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With only 10 days until Christmas I thought it would be nice to round up all the cookies of Christmas past for easy baking reference. [The holidays kinda snuck up on me this year, but last December I was a cookie-baking fiend.]

chocolate gooey butter cookies


dried cherry and almond cookies

vanilla spritz

candy cane cookies

traditional thumbprint cookies

spiced gumdrop slice cookies

and: candy cane oreo truffles[technically not a cookie, but made with cookies]
Happy Holiday baking!