Tag: recipes

Flavorful Chicken Kebobs

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ChickenKebob1
Chicken Kebob from Gastronomy

These chicken kabobs are great. They have good flavor and the yogurt helps tenderize the chicken. Cook them on a very hot grill so they get a nice char but don’t get too dried out. You have to try these. They taste great and are really easy to make.

Ingredients:

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Let marinade for at least 3 hours. Put chicken onto skewers and grill till chicken done through. Good sides are rice and/or humus w/toasted pita bread and raita on the side.

Recipe from: http://gastronomy.ddns.net

Make your own Butter in 5 minutes

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It is really easy to make you own fresh butter. It has a fresher taste than store bought butter and it really doesn’t cost too much more. What I did was buy 1 quart of heavy cream at Sam’s Club, which cost about $3.99. I poured about 1/3 of the heavy cream into a small food processor with the chopping blade in. I turned on the food processor for about 3-4 minutes and the butter formed a clump. I poured off the liquid (which is butter milk). You can use it as you would regular milk. I drank some and it tastes like whole milk to me. Then I used a rubber spatula to press the butter to squeeze the butter milk from any pockets in the butter.  You can add salt to the butter to draw out more of the butter flavor if you’d like. You just sprinkle a pinch of salt on the butter and knead it in with the spatula. It made about 2/3 stick of butter for me with the amount of heavy cream I used. You can use it on toast or on a muffin or anywhere butter is one of the main flavors and you will notice the freshness.

Deviled Eggs the Perfect Hors D’oeuvres

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CI-0103 Classic Deviled Eggs
Classic Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are simple to make, taste great, come in the perfect size for Hors D’oeuvres and can have many variations. At your next party or gathering these can be one of your go to dishes. You can start out by cooking the perfect eggs (See my article on “The Art of Making a Hard Boiled Egg” from 2/24/16) or you can choose to go with a short cut, like buying the hard boiled eggs pre-cooked and removed from their shells (Costco sells them: Costco Hard Boiled Eggs).  After you cook the eggs you can follow one of the recipes below:

Classic Deviled Eggs:

Cook and remove eggs from the shell. Next cut the eggs in half and remove the yolks and put in a bowl. Add 1/2 tsp mayo to 1/8 tsp of mustard for each egg yoke. Mix with a fork or blender for larger batches. Spoon the mixture back into each half of the egg or use a piping bag for a fancier look, then sprinkle with paprika or smoked paprika and serve. If you like it a little more tangy, you can add 1/8 tsp white vinegar per egg.

Or you can go with the many variations:

  1. Bacon/Cheddar: Use the above recipe, but add shredded cheddar to the yoke when mixing and top with bacon. Or cut bacon into bits and mix in with the yoke.
  2. Spicy: Add minced jalapeno and cheddar to the yoke when mixing.
  3. Topped: Top the classic recipe with pepperoni, ham, chives, bacon, etc.
  4. Buffalo: Add Frank’s Hot Sauce (Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce, 5 oz) in place of mustard and drizzle with ranch dressing.
  5. Or come up with your own topping or variation.

However you make them it is hard to go wrong with this delicious snack.

 

The Art of Making a Hard Boiled Egg

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hard-boiled-egg

Although Making a hard is a simple process, getting it cooked just right makes a difference on how it tastes. A hard boiled egg tastes best when the yoke is just cooked through, but not over cooked and the yoke has a creamy consistency that you will notice when you eat it. Secondly there is the matter of being able to peel the egg without the shell sticking. These are two things that I will discuss here. Cooking the eggs is a simple matter of putting the eggs in a pan and adding room temperature water until the eggs are covered by 1/2″ to 1″ of water, bringing the water in the pan with the eggs in it to a boil over medium high to high heat. Then turning off the heat and letting the eggs set in the water till it has cooled. When the eggs are over cooked they start getting a black color on the outside of the yoke and the texture of the yoke is much less creamy (See picture above for a egg cooked correctly). Altitude can be a factor which you will need to adjust for. I am at 1200ft Above Seal Level and when I cook the eggs I just bring the water to a boil. Not a full rolling boil, but just so the bubbles are rippling the surface, and not just little bubbles coming up. Then I leave the pan on the burner and shut it off and remove the eggs when they are fully cooled and eat them or put them in the fridge for later. That describes the cooking process, now to get the shells to not stick to the egg white. I find that after eggs have set in the refrigerator for 1.5 to 2 weeks before cooking them, they stick less, very fresh eggs have a lot of problems with the shells sticking. You know when the egg is fresh, the insides fully fill the shell, aged eggs have a small air pocket in the shell. The second thing I do to reduce the sticking is put about 1 tsp of salt in the water being used to boil the eggs. Then when I peel the eggs, I tap them with my finger and crack the shell all around into small pieces and then lightly squeeze the egg on all sides to loosen the shell from the white. Then I remove the peel from the egg. Now when it comes to eating them, lots of people like them with some salt or pepper or both. I like to cut them in half and take a little bit (maybe a 1/4 tsp) of spicy brown mustard and put on them. Hope you try making the eggs this way, I am sure you will enjoy the finished product.

 

Awesome Grilled Chicken Breast

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This is the most flavorful grilled boneless skinless chicken breast I have eaten. People who have tried them have said this is better than I can get in most restaurants. One trick is to make sure and slice the chicken breast in half or thirds long wise to make them thinner so the marinade soaks in properly.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons Coarse ground prepared mustard
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 lime juiced
  • 1/2 lemon juiced
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • ground pepper
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 bnls sknls chicken breasts sliced into half or thirds.

Directions

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and marinate for about 8 hours can do as little as 2 hours. Grill till it has a slight char, serve and enjoy

Recipe from http://gastronomy.ddns.net

 

Healthy Blueberry Pie Oatmeal

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BlueberryPieOatmeal

Oats are a healthy breakfast and can be really good also, you just need the right recipe. I really like to have this in the morning, it is like you are eating something you shouldn’t it tastes so good and it is something you can put in the microwave while getting ready.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup of Coach Oats Coach’s Oats 100% Whole Grain Oatmeal, 4.5 lbs
  • 1 cup water
  • 10-20 fresh blueberries
  • 1 tsp unpacked sugar (about 16 calories or 4.2g carbs) add more for sweater or substitute maple syrup to lower glycemic index.
  • pinch of ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions

  • Combine ingredients and stir in a 1 Qt bowl to avoid overflowing and microwave for 6 minutes at 40% power. Let cool for 3-5 minutes and eat.

From: http://gastronomy.ddns.net

Wonton with Red Chili Sauce

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wonton_in_red_chili_Sauce_small

The best wontons that I have had previously were ones my wife made. Maybe I have not gone to the right restaurant yet and I have tried quite a few, but I haven’t tasted any this good. I like when they have a little more meat to them and a really good sauce. I went through several recipes on the internet and tried to see if I could make even better wontons than hers, of course with my wife’s help, I combined ingredients from several recipes and these are the best yet. It is really good if they are served in a bowl with enough sauce they can soak in it. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

Wonton:

  • 50 wonton wrappers
  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 10-15 slices of water chestnut minced finely (From a can)
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp finely minced ginger
  • 1 tbsp finely minced green onion

Chili Oil Sauce

Directions

Mix last 6 ingredients for wonton in a bowl. Take a wonton wrapper and add about 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp on the filling to the center of the wonton. Dip your finger in water and moisten the edge of the wonton wrapper and then fold into a triangle and pinch edge together. Then take the two opposite ends of the triangle and moisten the tips and bring together and pinch. When you have made all the wontons you can begin cooking them. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add wontons into the water. Do not over crowd the pot with the wontons. Boil for about 5 minutes. They will float and then around the meat area will wrinkle slightly. Remove from the water and set aside. Continue till all are cooked. They can also be frozen raw and cooked later. Just don’t clump them when they are freezing. When cooking the wontons mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and when wontons are cooked put about 6-8 wontons in a bowl and put about 2 tablespoons of the sauce in the bowl with them and serve. I am sure you will enjoy, I did.

From: http://gastronomy.ddns.net

 

Bean with Bacon Soup

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When I was growing up my Dad used to make a can of Campbells bean with bacon soup and we would both enjoy it together. I am trying to eat more healthy now and avoid the canned soups since they are loaded with sodium. This recipe tastes even better since the vegetables are fresh and you can control the amount of salt you add.

Ingredients

  • 1 can white beans, rinsed drained (navy or cannelini, I used low sodium)
  • 2 – 3 slices thick cut bacon
  • 1/2 carrots, minced fine
  • 1/2 stalks celery, minced fine
  • 1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • salt and pepper to taste.

Directions

Chop bacon and Fry until most of grease is rendered, but not crispy and set aside. Add onion, carrot, and celery to pan an fry in bacon grease until they are tender. Add beans broth, water and bay leaf and some pepper. Simmer on low for an hour or two. Add tomato paste and cook for another hour. Use an immersion blender to beak up about 2/3 of the beans to thicken and blend the soup. Add salt to taste and server. This makes about 3 bowls of soup.