Sweet and Sour Pork

My parents went away for a week so i only cooked for them when they came back and during the majority of the week me and Bobby ate junk food.. it was great to be a pig! Anyways, i decided to make something simple to make. So i got out one of my Food Network Magazines and found 11,375 Stir Fries! They give you a list of proteins you can use, 3 cups of different vegetables and your sauce. So me and Bobby choose pork as our protein and for our 3 cups of vegetables we choose carrots, bell peppers and scallions and from the 5 different sauces we choose sweet and sour. The procedure is simple and you can pretty much use anything in a stir fry.

Ingredients:

Marinade:

• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

*Whisk together and toss with protein.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 ketchup
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil

*Mix together.

Preparations:

First, marinade your protein for an hour in the refrigerator.

After your protein has marinated your going to set up your stir fry. Line up your protein, vegetables and sauce in order of how they will be added into your wok, leaving the sauce for last and arranging your vegetable from slowest cooking to fastest.

Then add 2 tbsp of peanut oil and heat on high. Remove protein from marinade and add to wok; constantly stirring. Cook until protein has become opaque; remove from wok and set aside. Clean off wok of any juice/oil.

Heat on medium-high and add 3 tbsp of peanut oil. Add the slowest cooking vegetable first. When vegetable get slightly tender, add the rest of the vegetables. When vegetables have reached your desire, add protein back in and stir with vegetables; about 2 minutes. Then add your sauce and heat until thickened; about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve. Garnish with cilantro, peanuts, sesame seeds or hot pepper flakes.

It was super filling and very delicious. My parents came home to a good meal. I bought some white rice from a Chinese food place and plated it with my stir fry. Definitely going to try other combinations seeing as there are 11,375! Enjoy!

German Chocolate Cupcakes

With my seafood night, i wanted to finally make cupcakes! CHOCOLATE ONES!

I found a good recipe for German Chocolate Cupcakes online at chocolatecupcakes.net. They were beyond scrumptious! They were so moist and soft and creamy with that coconut topping. Perfect way to end a good meal. My dad loved them. He had like 4!! This recipe made about 24.

Ingredients:

Cupcake:

• 1/2 c water
• 4 (1 ounce) squares semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 c butter, softened
• 2 c white sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 c buttermilk
• 2 1/2 c cake flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 4 egg whites

Preparations:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Insert cupcake liners into a muffin pan.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and then set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the water and 4 ounces of chocolate until completely melted.

Remove from the heat and allow the chocolate to cool.

In a large bowl, cream 1 cup of butter and 2 cups of sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Beat in 4 egg yolks one at a time.

Blend in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla.

Beat in the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated.

In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, and then quickly fold in the remaining egg whites until no streaks remain in the batter.

Pour or spoon the mixture into the lined muffin pan.

Bake 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then turn out the cupcakes onto a wire rack.

Frosting:

• 1 c white sugar
• 1 c evaporated milk
• 1/2 c butter
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 1/3 c flaked coconut
• 1 c chopped pecans
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1/2 t shortening
• 1 (1 ounce) square semi-sweet chocolate

Preparations:

In a saucepan, over low heat, combine 1 cup of sugar, the evaporated milk, 1/2 cup of butter, and 3 egg yolks.

Stir constantly until thickened, and then remove from heat.

Stir in the coconut, pecans and vanilla.

Cool until thick enough to spread.

Spread the frosting onto the tops of the cooled cupcakes.

In a small saucepan, melt shortening and 1 ounce of chocolate.

Stir until smooth and then drizzle across the frosted tops.

If you like coconut and chocolate cupcakes, this is the perfect recipe for you..

Seafood!

Its been a while since ive been on here but ive been doing alot...

This past weekend was Labor Day Weekend so i decided this was my chance to finally do my seafood thing. I decided on making Cherrystone clams (which are huge by the way), mussels and shrimp. I combined the shrimp and mussels together in a savory sauce with white rice and i made baked clams.

Seafood is not as easy as it seems. Its very tedious and very time consuming. You always need to make sure your dealing with fresh seafood because it can make you sick. You must make sure all shellfish are cleaned properly and tightly sealed shut when buying and when your about to cook them. Remember shellfish is alive before you purchase it so it may be that the shellfish may open and then close but if it doesnt close at all; its a dead one and not edible.

Cleaning them also on the inside and out buy letting them soak in cornmeal or salt allows the sand to be spit out by the live shellfish leaving you with sand less clams and mussels. Another thing is to make sure you have the proper tools necessary in opening your clams if your not going to cook them to open them. Sharp knives will only end up chipping the shell and damaging the knife, a dull knife or an oyster knife will work fine. Make sure you also hold your shellfish with a towel so that you dont slip and cut your hand.

Here are the recipes for the clams and mussels:

Baked Stuffed Clams (foodnetwork.com):

• 3 pounds Littleneck/Cherrystone clams
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 3 cups bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons pesto
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 pound clarified butter

Preparations:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place clams in a bucket of cold water with cornmeal and salt. Set aside.

Place bread crumbs, Parmesan, lemon juice, zest, garlic, pesto, parsley, and olive oil in a bowl. Mix all of the ingredients together with half of the clarified butter. Mix together until moist but not too wet. Use additional butter only if needed.

Open each clam and place mixture on top. Place in oven and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Thai Steamed Mussels and Shrimp: (allrecipes.com)

• 5 pounds fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 2 pounds fresh medium sized shrimp, deveined and shelled
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 (13.5 ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 cups chopped fresh cilantro

Preparations:

In a large stock pot, combine the lime juice, coconut milk, wine, curry paste, garlic, fish sauce and sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar and curry paste and bring to a boil over high heat.

Boil for 2 minutes then add mussels. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mussels are opened, 5 to 8 minutes.

Once mussels are opened, add shrimp and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat and discard any unopened mussels. Pour mussels and liquid into a serving dish and toss with cilantro.

Serve over white rice.

The clams were good but i was a little heavy with the breading. The Thai sauce with the shrimp and mussels was so good. It had such a good flavor, i was a little upset that it went so quickly. The mussels were rubbery or overdone and neither were the shrimp. DELICIOUS. I am definitely going to try this again.

Yes, shellfish can be time consuming but i think you can have your shellfish cleaned up and opened on a half shell if your looking to stuff them by the fish butcher. Thats definably a big recommendation if your trying this for the first time at home. Enjoy those yummy flavors..............

Ending of Summer 2010...

As quick as it came is as quick as it went......

School starts in October and i made a pact with myself that i would lose some weight! So here i go...

My new blog schedule is going to be as follows:

Monday and Wednesday - Dinner

Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday- Off

Friday - Dessert

Saturday - Lunch

We will see how this works out with school and cooking when i get out AND trying to lose weight! Say a little prayer for me :)

Bye Bye Summer -- you will be missed...

Fig Tart

If you havent tried figs yet, do! FAST! They are only in season from early July through middle of October. The most common one in NY to find is Black Mission. I thought that figs tasted like a prune but they dont. They taste like almost a strawberry would. Same texture but a little less tart. They are almost creamy. So good. I fell in love this summer....

So i decided before summer was over i was going to make one. Now i love hazelnuts so i decided to Google a recipe for a hazelnut tart crust and i found one and i used that with a filling i found on epicurious.com, the filling had to include marscapone cheese because ive been reading everywhere how figs go well with it. So i combine both recipes to make this tart.

Ingredients:

Crust: (godiva.com - Hazelnut Crust)

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling: (epicurious.com - Fresh Fig Tart with Rosemary Cornmeal Crust)

• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese (8 oz)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons red-currant jelly
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 1/2 lb fresh figs

Preparations:

Crust:

Place sugar and hazelnuts in bowl of food processor and process until nuts are finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add flour and salt and pulse once or twice to blend. Scatter butter pieces over mixture and pulse 7 or 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk, water and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over flour mixture and pulse 5 or 6 times until dough just comes together. Scrape dough out onto work surface and gently knead 6 to 8 times, until smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until chilled.

Position oven rack in center of oven. Heat to 375°F.

Place chilled dough on work surface and roll out to large rectangle that is about 1/8-inch thick. Drape dough over tart pan, gently pressing it into the interior of pan. Roll rolling pin over dough and remove excess dough. Press dough into pan evenly, removing excess dough, if necessary.

Line each pan with square of parchment paper and fill with dried beans or rice. Blind bake tart for 15 minutes until crust begins to turn golden brown at edges. Remove weights and parchment paper from pan and let tart shell cool while preparing the filling.

Filling:

Whisk together sour cream, mascarpone, sugar, zest, and salt in a bowl.

Heat jelly and honey in a small saucepan over moderately low heat, whisking, until jelly is melted, about 4 minutes, then cool glaze slightly.

Remove side of tart pan and spread mascarpone cream in shell.

Cut figs lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices and arrange decoratively over cream.

Brush figs with honey glaze.

This fig tart was delicious. The figs had so much sweetness and texture and the combination of mascarpone cheese and figs was amazingly good. Mascarpone cheese is heavenly on its own but with fresh fruit; its even better. My mom loved it and Bobby has yet to taste but its definitely a hit in my book.