Peach Cobbler

I had this at an interfaith even that I went to and it was amazing! normally i dont like deserts of any sorts but this was just soooo good.

Ingredients:

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches

2 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup water

8 tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/2 cups milk

ground cinnamon, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan, and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer until sugar is dissolved (around 5 mins). Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter, do not stir. Spoon fruit on top. Gently pouring in syrup, sprinkle top with ground cinnamon if desired. Batter will rise to the top while baking.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the top is golden brown.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Potato and Leek Soup

I've been craving soup lately so I googled a bunch of random recipes. I tried this one today. It's pretty easy and so creamy and buttery and yummy. I think it'd be really good with little chunks of beef in it too.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks

2 leeks, only the top, white part, washed thoroughly and chopped finely

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

2 shallots, finely chopped

1/2 stick of butter

1-2 cups of chicken broth or water

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Sautee the shallots and leeks in half of the butter until tender or about 5-7 minutes. Add the water or chicken broth, celery and potatoes, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are very mushy. Mash the potatoes in the pot with a potato masher or puree in a blender if you want a very smooth soup. Add the cream, milk, and the rest of butter and heat for another few minutes. Taste (the butter and broth will already make it salty) and then add salt and pepper to taste. The original recipe called for parley to garnish but I added a little bit of fresh dill and it was great.

Steak Quesadillas with the fixin's

They have these at Chili's and I decided to recreate them at home with my own variations. This is just a fun and easy dinner idea.

Ingredients:

I used NY strip steak, cut into thin, 1-inch-long strips (you can also use chicken)

1 medium onion, sliced thick

tortillas

shredded cheese of any kind. you can usually find a "mexican" cheese mix at the grocery store

sliced jalapeños (I used the pickled kind you get in a jar)

red chili powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, paprika, lime juice and salt

Sautee the onions in butter and a bit of oil until caramelized and tender. Set aside. In the same pan, add more oil if you need and throw in the steak strips. Add in the seasonings and cook for about 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Set aside.

On warmed tortillas, sprinkle a little cheese on one half, then add the steak strips, and then some jalapeño slices then cover with more cheese. Fold the tortilla over and toast in a clean frying pan, covered, until brown and crispy and the cheese is melty. Cut into triangles. Serve wiiiiiiiith.....

Home-made Guacamole:

Mash together a few ripe avocados, chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, salt, red chili powder/minced green chilies, cumin powder, garlic powder.

Also serve with salsa and sour cream.

Koshary

I was recently introduced to this delicious dish that is a staple in Egyptian cuisine. It's simple but has so much flavor and is easy to make. It goes perfectly with some yummy kabobs.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice

1 cup WHOLE masoor dal/lentils

1 cup macaroni pasta

a handful of vermicelli or angel hair pasta

1 can chick peas

olive oil

garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:

1 small onion, chopped

handful of celery leaves, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 jalapeño, chopped 

about 2 cups tomato sauce or 2 tbsp tomato paste mixed with water

1/4 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp paprika 

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper 

salt and pepper to taste

Sliced, fried onions 

Cook the rice with chicken broth or chicken cube dissolved in water. Boil the lentils and pastas separately until cooked. Mix everything together including the chick peas and drizzle with olive oil, garlic powder, adobo seasoning, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat oil and add onions and jalapeño, sautee for 2 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and celery leaves and stir. Add tomato paste/sauce and stir well. Add spices and let simmer for 10 minutes. Blend with immersion blender until smooth. 

Garnish with fried onions.

You can either serve them separately or mix it all together before serving. I like to serve it separately so you can add as much sauce as you like.

Super Easy Sugar Cookies and Home-made Frosting

I was in the baking mood today and decided to try THESE! Really easy and really yummy sugar cookies!

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening (1 stick)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda (I actually didn't have any so I used baking powder and it turned out fine)

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 pound (about 2 to 2 1/2 cups) confectioner's/powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the shortening and sugar. Beat in the egg, then add the flour, salt and baking soda and stir to form dough. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. The dough doesn't spread too much so I had to flatten the balls of dough and it worked better. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. They shouldn't be golden brown or anything.

In a seperate bowl mix together the powdered sugar, egg, melted butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. This will thicken a bit while it sits. Frost the cookies when they are completely cool.

Easy Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair Pasta

Hubbs is on call today. Which means I've exhausted all things that could possibly keep me busy/entertained and I'm officially bored. I was also hungry and had no idea what to eat soooo I whipped this up in like 5 minutes and it was gooooood!

Ingredients:

Shrimp, peeled and thawed

about 3-4 tbsp butter

couple tbsp vegetable or olive oil

1 minced garlic clove

about 1 tsp parsley flakes

parmesan cheese. lots of it.

crushed red pepper

salt and black pepper to taste

Boil the angel hair pasta for about 5 minutes or until al dente. It probably doesn't even take 5 minutes.

Heat the oil and butter until melty and add the shrimp and fry until cooked. Add the garlic and stir for a minute. Add the parsley, crushed red pepper, parm, salt and pepper and stir. Add the pasta and stir to coat. There won't be a lot of sauce but the pasta will be coated and buttery and yummy. I added more parsley and parm on top. YUM.

Tropical Fried Rice

This is a different and refreshing take on regular fried rice and goes well with the coconut shrimp recipe I posted.

Ingredients:

2 cups cold cooked rice

1 cup pineapple tidbits

1 onion, chopped

1 small bell pepper, chopped

2-3 green onions, sliced

1-2 green chilies, sliced

1 tomato, chopped

1-2 eggs

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tbsp fish sauce

2-3 tbsp soy sauce

1 lime

black pepper to taste

red chili sauce/sambal to taste

chopped cilantro to garnish

I made this with small cubes of chicken. So first, I cooked the chicken over medium high heat until cooked and set aside. Scramble the eggs and set aside.

Add the ginger-garlic paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, and veggies to the wok and stir fry for a minute or two. Add the rice and stir thoroughly. Add the pineapple, chicken, egg, squeeze the lime over the rice, throw in the cilantro and mix thoroughly. Taste test and add more soy sauce or red chili sauce to taste.

I feel like you can totally play around with this recipe and add other things like mandarin oranges or coconut. Yum!

Coconut Shrimp

This is sooo easy and turns out exactly like restaurant quality coconut shrimp! I'm so excited.

Ingredients:

Large, uncooked shrimp; peeled, deveined and thawed

2-3 egg whites

1/2 cup all purpose flour

about 1 cup of unsweetened, shredded coconut

about 1/2 cup of Panko bread crumbs

red chili powder (optional)

lime zest (optional)

salt to taste

Heat enough oil to deep fry shrimp over medium heat. Don't let it get too hot or the breading will burn and the shrimp will remain uncooked.

Whisk the egg whites with a couple pinches of salt and red chili powder if you like some heat. Mix together the coconut, bread crumbs and lime zest (optional). Dredge the shrimp in the all purpose flour, then coat with the egg mixture, then coat with the coconut mixture. Kind of pressing the coconut mixture onto the shrimp ensures a good coat of breading. Fry the shrimp in the oil until they turn golden brown, or about 3-5 minutes.

The website I got the original recipe from had reviews from people who said the shrimp went well with some kind of chipotle or habanero dipping sauce. I didn't make any sauce because...I forgot. BUT...I did serve it with some really yummy tropical fried rice....recipe to follow.

Grilled Veggie Salad

My mother-in-law made this salad this past weekend and it was so good!

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

1 large tomato

1 large onion

2 jalapeño peppers

2-3 cloves of garlic

Do not peel or cut any of the veggies. Place them all into a small baking dish and broil until brown and wrinkly. My MIL said some people drizzle olive oil over them before broiling. Let the veggies cool after they are done. Peel and smush the garlic cloves. Peel everything else and chop into small cubes. Mix together with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a pinch of cumin powder. I can't remember but I think she may have added something green and leafy...cilantro? mint? parsley? Anyway, serve cold.